General

The headquarter program is the executable which deals with creation
and management of player teams in Titans of Steel.

Work on it began 5 years ago when Vicious Byte tried to do Titans of
Steel for the first time. Therefore, its graphics are a bit dated and
the interface is far from perfect, but it should do its job.

There are two executables located in the progs directory. You can
access them via the Vicious Byte Menu located under Start/Programs.

hqW is a windowed version; hqX is a DirectX fullscreen version. They
have the same functionality.

This is a short help on how to create new jocks and build teams. You
can navigate through the different screens with the two arrow keys at
the screen bottom. When active they are shown in green; otherwise,
they stay black.

When you launch the HQ, you have to decide which team file to edit.
These files are used during startup of the battle module, as well as
when modifying/repairing your titans in the factory module. They are
located in the data directory as team1 to team4. If the team does not
exist, it will be created and your new team will start with $500000
initial money and no jocks or titans.

Next, you are in the main menu of your team management software.
Here you can :
Some basic team data is displayed. The team's total fights are divided
in wins and losses. Cost shows the team's monthly maintenance
which is automatically deducted from the team's cash after each battle.

a) Rename Team

To rename your team, click on the word TEAM in front of its name. The
default name is VICIOUS WITCHES.

b) Hire Jock

To search the database, you must enter the search criteria like name,
callsign, race, and sex. You are only allowed to hire new jocks if you can
pay $25000 to release them from prison.

Note :
The first jock you will hire will have a small increase in leadership skill
and is likely to become your team leader. Increase his leadership, which
increases the chance that subsequent jocks will start with better
attributes/skills than the average.

The second hired jock will have a small boost in business skill and should
become your team's manager. This job is very vital as his skill will be
valuable in all sorts of monetary matters.


Your jocks can be of one of four different races:
Human, Android, Replicant and Cyborg.

Humans are like you and me; therefore they get a +1 bonus on charisma :-)

Androids are like those you may know from Alien II or Alien IV movies.
In our game they have self healing abilities and are sexless. They do
not benefit from the healing capabilities of life supports, but they are
less vulnerable to radiation effects caused by neutron blasters or
engine explosions. Androids gain +1 on both reaction and neural
sense attributes.

Replicants are like those you may know from the movie Bladerunner.
They are cloned humans, genetically enhanced either in dexterity
or intelligence. Therefore they receive +2 on one of those attributes.

Cyborgs are sturdy humans enhanced with cybernetic implants. They
receive +1 on constitution but suffer a -1 penalty on charisma.
Cyborgs are less vulnerable to certain effects caused by damaged
life supports or cockpit hits.


If you choose male jocks, you are granted a additional +1 bonus on
constitution; females receive +1 on instinct. 
   
After you have entered all necessary data, you will be presented with
the result of your search. Now you are on the jock development screen.

A jock is defined by 7 attributes and 19 skills in 3 categories. Each
skill can be developed to a limit determined by its primary and
secondary attributes. This limit is calculated as follows:

Max  =  5 * ((2 * primary attribute + secondary attribute) / 3)

A skill's primary and secondary attribute are displayed when your
mouse pointer is over the skill's name. 
   
Attributes range from 5 to 20, thus allowing a maximum skill of 100%.
The attributes are :
Neural Sense needs some explanation. Recon and light titans are piloted
manually by the jocks, so dexterity and reaction are their primary/
secondary attributes. Medium, heavy, and assault titans are controlled
with the help of a neural bridge, connecting the jock with its machine.
Each character has a personal sensibility towards this device, called
neural sense. Therefore, neural sense and dexterity are the primary/
secondary attributes for piloting medium & heavy titans.

Please note that intelligence limits the number of skills a jock can
improve. Each point of intelligence allows training in one skill.

Rookies start with 300 development points (DP) in each of the three
categories--piloting, combat, and other--which they can distribute
amongst their skills and/or attributes. These points represent their
initial training.
   

A jock can improve his attributes (at a very high cost) by left clicking
on the attributes name. The better the attribute, the more DPs he has
to pay to for it. Jocks can improve skills by 1 point to their limit by left
clicking. Shift-left click adds 10 points. Same goes for reductions with
the right mouse button. Reductions can only be done during the initial
hiring and may not go below the initial value.

The cost of increasing the attribute or skill are displayed in the DP column.
Note that the cost for attribute increases is deducted from all three
categories!

There are three types of skills: piloting, combat and others.
They are:
Piloting Combat Others
Recon/Light Close Combat Electronic Warfare
Medium/Heavy Guided Missiles Scanner Systems
Assault Unguided Missiles Defensive System
Jump Cannons Damage Control
- Energy Weapons Leadership
- Indirect Fire Recon
- - Business
- - Survival
- - Medical
Most of the skills are self-explanatory. The are described in detail
in Appendix A.

After you have finished to distribute the DPs you can go back and
hire more jocks up to a maximum of 8 per team. This number is also
limited by your leaders leadership skill.

NEW :
You can create tournament teams by hiring a pseudo jock with name
MONEY and callsign xxx (xxx is a number). This team  immediately
receives this amount of money. You can hire a pseudo jock with name
SKILL and callsign xxx (again a number). All subsequent jocks will start
with xxx development points in each of the three skill categories
instead of 300. These teams do NOT receive experience points after
battles and should only be used for single battles between humans
players. They are not suited for campaigns.

c) Transfer Jock

Select a jock from a different team for transfer. The transfer cost
will depend on his rank. If the other team is out on mission (has a
running game in the battle module) it can not be selected for
transfers. The transfer cost is partially paid to the team the jock
was drafted from. If you choose to transfer a jock, his and your
team data files are automatically updated and saved; there is no
undo for this action.

d) Browse Factory Titan Database

Select the titan database to buy titans for your team, up to a maximum
of 16. You can select among premade designs and those created with the
factory module. The cost is modified by your team manager's business
skill.

e) Browse Team Jock List

Have a look at your jocks. Here you can fire them and allocate them to
a titan for the next battle. Your team manager is chosen automatically,
he/she is the one with the highest business skill. If this skill is lower
than 70%, the difference is added to the cost when buying and subtracted
when selling titans. The biggest penalty is 40% for managers with 30%
or less skill in business. Business skill in excess of 70% gives a bonus;
i.e., a jock with a skill of 100% receives a 30% discount.

Your team leader is also chosen automatically. He is the one with the
highest leadership skill (modified by his rank). A good leader has a
chance to attract better rookies from prison. Furthermore, leadership
skill directly influences the number of jocks a leader can recruit
(skill / 10). There are eight ranks [Acolyte, Adept, Priest, Curate,
Perfect, Canon, Lama and Patriarch] a jock can be promoted to. Each
promotion depends on gaining enough xps or by performing an
outstanding battle.

f) Browse Team Titan List

Have a look at your teams titans and sell them if you want. Damaged
titans are displayed with a red number in front of their name and
should be repaired in the factory.

g) Save Team Data

Select save to write changes to the team data file.

h) Dismiss Team

Dismiss your current team and reset the team data so you can start
a new one from scratch.

i) Logout from Database

Select logout to quit the headquarter. If you haven't saved your team
data during your visit at the Headquarters, you will now have a last
chance to do so.
Note : 

If your team is out on mission (you have started a game with the battle
module and not finished it yet) you can NOT choose menu points a - f!
Instead, you get the option to retrieve your team from battle for $500000.
This will result in no team updates from the battle module if you decide
to finish the mission.

Appendix A : Skills

All skills are listed by name and their [Primary/Secondary] attributes which
limit the maximum skill level.

I. Pilot Skills

a. Recon/Light [Dexterity/Reaction]

This skill is needed to pilot recon and light titans (up to 70t). These titans
are still piloted by sticks, so dexterity and reaction are the attributes which
limit the maximum skill level. This is a vital skill, especially for rookies
which can't pilot bigger titans.
 
b. Medium/Heavy [Neural Sense/Dexterity]

This skill is needed to pilot medium or heavy titans (up to 140t). These
titans are piloted by neural bridges, therefore neural sense and dexterity
are the primary and secondary attributes. Jocks have to reach adept
rank to improve this skill.

c. Assault [Neural Sense/Dexterity]

This skill is needed to pilot assault chassis titans (up to 200t). These
are also controlled by neural bridges. Only jocks of curate rank or
better can improve this skill.

d. Jump [Dexterity/Reaction]

The jump skill is required to perform jump maneuvers on any titan
which is equipped with jump ports. This is a vital skill if you want to
make good use of the titans jump capability.

II. Combat Skills

a. Close Combat [Instinct/Reaction]

This skill is used for hand to hand combat. This includes punches,
kicks, and close combat weapons, as well as charges.

b. Guided Missiles [Intelligence/Instinct]

The deadly guided missile racks depend on this skill. This skill is very
useful in conjunction with the indirect fire skill.

c. Unguided Missiles [Dexterity/Reaction]

The unguided short and long range and napalm missile racks depend
on this skill.

d. Cannons [Reaction/Dexterity]

MGs, autocannons, and the gauss cannon are fired with this skill. It
is also used for the meson guns. This is a typical skill for rookies,
but is useful for all ranks. High values here will allow you to make called
shots with cannons.

e. Energy Weapons [Reaction/Dexterity]

This skill applies to lasers, plasma guns, tesla bolts, black ray and
cold light guns as well as to the flamer and the neutron blaster. Again,
this is a useful skill for rookies. High values here will allow you to make
called shots with energy weapons.

f. Indirect Fire [Instince/Intelligence]

All missiles (guided and unguided) can be fired in a ballistic arc on
targets on which you do not have a direct line of fire. This skill reduces
the penalty for indirect fire. Guided missiles are better suited for this
task than unguided ones. Indirect fire is also used to get a better
range modifier if you have established a scanner link.

III. System Skills

a. Electronic Warfare [Intelligence/Instinct]

This skill influences a wide variety of actions. In combination with the
battle computer it is used for calculation of the time to lock enemies.
It influences the time to toggle the E.C.M device. It also helps defeat
active scans and is used for threat level calculation.

b. Scanner Systems [Intelligence/Neural Sense]

Needed to calculate time for toggling the scanner as well as performing
active scans and scanner links. It influences the maximum number of link
partners. It is most valuable for succeeding in active scans.

c. Defensive Systems [Dexterity/Intelligence]

This skill is very useful if your titan have flares and/or a shield. It is
used to calculate the time to activate these devices. A successful skill
check will prolong the duration of flares and will prevent shield
overloads. A jock can also fine tune his heat regulators, making them
a bit more effective (0.3 C/sec).

d. Damage Control [Intelligence/Dexterity]

This skill is needed to efficiently use damage control systems and to
avoid ammo explosions. It is also used to calculate the cost for titan
repairs after battle. The team automatically uses its best member for
this job.

e. Leadership [Charisma/Intelligence]

A good leadership skill will help your team to recruit better rookies. This
skill divided by 10 is the maximum number of jocks in a team (up to 8).

f. Recon [Intelligence/Instinct]

The recon skill is used to keep scanner links stable. Even better, a
successful recon skill roll will allow your titan to move quicker in
rough or wooded areas. A motionless titan with a good recon skill
will also be harder to hit in forest hexes.

g. Business [Intelligence/Charisma]

This is used for all kinds of financial transactions, especially buying/
selling titans. This is a vital skill for your team. You should have one
jock with a good business skill!

h. Survival [Instinct/Intelligence]

This is vital for successful and quick ejects as well as useful to reduce
the effect of damaged shock absorption.

i. Medical [Intelligence/Dexterity]

This skill is needed to use the healing capability of life supports and
to stop bleeding.

Appendix B : Rank System

A jock can gain 8 different ranks during his career :
Level Rank Title Experience Points needed
1. ACOLYTE 0
2. ADEPT 6000
3. PRIEST 14000
4. CURATE 25000
5. PREFECT 40000
6. CANON 60000
7. LAMA 80000
8. PATRIARCH 100000