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Dmitry Usmanov.
THEATRE EUROPE (P.P -----------------------
This game gives you the opportunity to simulate on your home computer the probabilistic course of military actions in Europe in the 1980s, if such actions were actually taking place.
The armies of the Warsaw Pact countries strive in a "quick war" to clear the European continent of NATO armed forces before the main forces of the United States are brought to Europe. The NATO armies are trying to hold back the enemy's advance by all means until reinforcements arrive. This game considers a scenario of armed aggression by the Soviet Union. We will not dwell on the foreign policy aspects of the game - this should concern us the least right now.
The war in this game is conducted with the most modern means: nuclear and chemical missiles, satellite weapons, armored vehicles, and aviation. You are invited to take on the role of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of one side, and your actions will be monitored by the military headquarters.
So, you have loaded the game and the first menu has appeared before you:
1. PLAYER VS COMPUTER
2. PLAYER VS PLAYER
3. COMPUTER VS COMPUTER
If you press "1", your opponent will be the computer; "2" is for two players, and the "3" key will allow you to view one of the scenarios of the war's development, where the computer plays for both sides.
If you did not choose the last option, you will be prompted to choose a control device:
1. KEYBOARD
2. KEMPSTON JOYSTICK
3. DEFINE KEYS
Initially, the keys are set as follows:
Q - up, A - down,
O - left, P - right,
Enter - select.
After selecting the control method, you will need to choose the side you will play for: "N" - for NATO countries, "W" - for Warsaw Pact countries.
Then you will be prompted to choose the difficulty level of the game: from 1 to 3. Your choice will affect the enemy's ability to conduct additional operations, the preparedness of enemy troops, the number of reserve divisions, and so on. After that, you will enter the menu:
PRESS A FOR ACTION SCREENS
PRESS N FOR NONE
Here you choose the type of game. If you press "A", you will be able to participate in combat actions.
But if you are not very inclined to break the joystick, then press "N", and the battles will be conducted solely based on the distribution of forces of the opponents.
And the last menu will offer you:
J - load a saved game,
R - reset game parameters,
P - start the game.
If you are satisfied with the selected control and do not intend to continue an old game, press "P" and the field of future combat actions will appear before you.
The authors have maximized the scale of the map, so the entire landing area - Western Europe - fits on one screen.
The countries of the Warsaw Pact are marked in white on the map, NATO countries in blue, and non-aligned countries in green. The armies of the opposing countries are marked with colored circles on the map.
Here:
- The armies of the Warsaw Pact countries are marked in red.
- NATO troops are blue.
- The troops of non-aligned countries are yellow.
As you can see, the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries significantly outnumber the armies of NATO and non-aligned countries combined.
At the top of the screen is a message line from the computer, which we will discuss in more detail a little later. Below this line is a yellow-highlighted section - here data about the cursor's location is reported: if there is nothing in the line, it means the cursor is on flat terrain; if the message "MOUNTAINS" appears - then in the mountains; if "SEA" - then in the sea. If you hover the cursor over the capital of any state (they are marked with red dots), you will read its name in this line; if the cursor is on someone's army, the name of the army and which state it belongs to will be displayed.
Information about the army is given in three lines:
ARM (ARMOURED FORCE) - the number of armored divisions.
AIR (AIR FORCE) - the number of aviation divisions.
SUP - if someone translated this abbreviation as "soup," they were close to the truth: it stands for "SUPPLY" - supplying troops with food and ammunition.
The last two indicators appear only if this army is under your command.
In the center of the second line, on a purple background, is a calendar marking the number of days since the start of the war; to the right of it is intelligence information about the possibility of the opposing side using a massive nuclear strike. The higher the number of this indicator (DEFCOM), the lower the likelihood of a global atomic war starting.
So, you begin. Before each turn, the computer waits a few seconds for you to press the "Q" key (Quit) to go to the exit menu. In this menu, you can interrupt the game with the "R" key (Restart) or save the game position to an external medium with the "S" key (Save).
If you did not press "Q", the game proceeds to the troop movement phase. This is indicated by the information line: "WARSHAW PACT(NATO) MOVEMENT PHASE".
Hover the cursor over your army, press "FIRE". Now move the cursor to the destination and press "FIRE" again, the troops will move to that place, and a dot will appear in the circle on the map - which means you will not be able to give any commands to that army for this turn.
An army that has moved into the mountains can only move once every two turns; any army can only move to an adjacent position in one turn. However, if you play for the Warsaw Pact, you will have the first airborne army (1-ST AIRBORNE ARMY) at your disposal, which you can drop deep into the enemy's rear, but only once.
Also included in the Warsaw Pact forces is the first amphibious army (1-ST AMPHIBY ARMY), which initially moves on landing ships, but once it reaches land, it turns into a regular army.
After moving all armies, press "SPACE" and you will enter the attack phase (ATTACK PHASE). Hover the cursor over your unit, press "FIRE", point the cursor at the enemy position and press "FIRE" again. You can only attack an adjacent army; there is a possibility of attacking one army with several units.
After assigning all attack directions, press "SPACE" to proceed to the next phase of the war. If you assigned arcade inserts with the "A" key at the beginning of the game, you will be prompted to select a battle location (the information line will display "SELECT BATTLE"). Hover the cursor over the unit you have chosen as the target of the attack and confirm your choice with the "FIRE" button. You will see a depiction of the combat actions - a small town filled with enemy military equipment; at the bottom are four pictograms: a person with a machine gun, a howitzer, a rocket launcher, and an airplane. These are different types of troops you can use.
With the cursor shaped like a crosshair, you can select the type you like. These are (from left to right):
INFANTRY - shooting is done quickly and without leading. It takes several hits to destroy armored vehicles, it is difficult to shoot down a helicopter, and it is impossible to hit a fighter - you won't have time.
ARTILLERY - fires on a ballistic trajectory, which is higher the further the target is from the weapon. When choosing this option, you need to lead your fire. Air targets cannot be hit this way. And do not forget that the screen also has a "depth" direction, which must also be taken into account when firing.
GUIDED MISSILE - the missile follows the crosshair. To destroy any enemy unit, one hit is enough. The rocket launcher is the most effective type of weapon here.
AIR-STRIKE - very much resembles shooting a cannon at sparrows. You select this pictogram with the crosshair (it turns blue), then move it to the battlefield and press "FIRE". When the sky is free of enemy aircraft, your bomber will arrive and "cover" one of the ground targets. The only plus is that you don't have to aim, but the effect is only felt when the planes fly one after another.
To the right of the pictograms is a gauge with the name of the type of weapon, below it is an indicator of remaining ammunition for this type of weapon (SHOOTS) and a gauge of damage to the enemy (HITS). By hitting any target from ground armored vehicles, you add one to this indicator. Air targets are worth three points. You are given about 45 seconds for the battle - during this time you need to score about 25 "hits". Notably, you can participate not only in the battles when you attack yourself but also in those where the enemy attacks and even (which is particularly strange) in battles between the enemy and the armies of non-aligned countries. By the way, the latter do not attack anyone at all and are in the position of "punching bags" from both sides.
But now the battle is over, and you can count the losses and fill the gaps by transferring reserve divisions to the positions. First, you will be prompted to reinforce armored vehicles (ARM), then aviation (AIR), and finally the supply of troops (SUP). Never forget about good supply for your troops; remember that a hungry soldier is a dead soldier! The indicator of the number of reserve units is in the upper right corner of the screen. After assigning each type of supply, do not forget to press "SPACE".
If you play at one of the higher difficulty levels, the computer will ask you for permission to use chemical weapons (CHEMICAL RELEASE. PRESS Y or N) after each turn until you give permission. When you press "Y", you will receive the following fax from the military headquarters:
WARCOMP. ON LINE.
I CONFIRM YOUR CHEMICAL RELEASE ORDER. CHEMICAL WEAPONS TO BE USED IN ATTACKS ON ENEMY UNITS.
................................
CIVILIAN DEATHS WILL BE MINIMISED WHERE POSSIBLE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
WARCOMP. OFF LINE.
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS ON LINE.
I CONFIRM YOUR ORDER TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS. CHEMICAL WEAPONS MUST BE USED IN ATTACKS ON ENEMY UNITS.
................................
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES SHOULD BE MINIMIZED WHERE POSSIBLE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. MILITARY HEADQUARTERS. END OF COMMUNICATION.
You will often receive similar faxes; as you will soon see, these statements do not play a significant role, and chemical weapons will be used exclusively against civilians - to undermine supplies.
At the end of each turn, you will be able to redistribute resources. A table will appear before you:
MISSION: RESERVE:28
AIR SUPREORITY 23
COUNTER AIR 6
INTERDICTION 6
RECONNISSANCE 2
ASSAULT-BREAKER(10) 0
DEEP-STRIKE (12) 12
IRON-SNAKE (11) 0
Here:
RESERVE - the number of troops in the rear.
MISSION - the names of operations (moreover, the first four operations are primary, and the last three are additional).
AIR SUPREORITY - air dominance, an extremely important function.
COUNTER AIR - air interception.
INTERDICTION - holding back the enemy.
RECONNISSANCE - reconnaissance.
Additional missions (the numbers in parentheses are the minimum number of divisions required for operations).
ASSAULT-BREAKER (10) - allows you to irradiate enemy armies with deadly radiation from a satellite.
DEEP-STRIKE (12) - an operation to destroy the enemy's supply communications.
IRON-SNAKE (11) - the "iron snake" operation. Unfortunately, I could not determine what happens when using this mission. In my opinion, nothing happens at all.
If you have transferred enough divisions to the "ASSAULT-BREAKER" operation, during the game you will be asked for a target for the satellite (ASSAULT-BREAKER TARGET). Specify it with the cursor. After the operation, the enemy usually loses one or two divisions in each type of troops.
To the right of the mission names are numbers indicating how many divisions are already involved in the operation. Moreover, if the numbers are green, it means you have more troops in this mission than the enemy; if the numbers are black, then the same; and if they are red, it means the enemy has the advantage here.
First, you must transfer divisions from the rear to the reserve (to later distribute them after the battle to the armies). This is indicated by an arrow on the right with the inscription "FROM". After that, press "SPACE" and you can remove some troops from operations and transfer them back to the rear (the arrow with the inscription "TO").
After finishing with the distribution of reserves, you enter the special operations menu. Here:
STRATEGIC NUCLEAR LAUNCH (key "M") - launch of nuclear missiles;
STRATEGIC CHEMICAL LAUNCH (key "C") - launch of chemical missiles;
REFLEX SYSTEM ON/OFF (key "R") - turn on/off the automatic retaliatory strike system (you will gain access to it if you manage to open the "nuclear briefcase");
MAINTAIN PRESENT STATUS (key "N") - maintain the current status.
Below is an indicator of the operation of the automatic retaliatory strike system ("ON" - on, "OFF" - off).
If you press the "C" key, the computer will automatically select one of the capitals of enemy states, which is most important in terms of supplying troops, and will launch several missiles with chemical warheads at it.
A message will come from the military headquarters informing you of the details of the attack: the name of the city, the list of gases used, the method of attack (multi-aerosol), and the results of the attack (the city is incapacitated, civilians died in large numbers).
If you press "M", the military headquarters will ask you to enter the access code for the "nuclear button". During the next 30 seconds, to the pleasant screams of the siren, you will need to call England and obtain the access code from the program authors.
"Call the authors? That's exactly what I'll do!" - I thought, loading the disassembler. After obtaining trials and errors, the access code was found; it turned out to be "MIDNIGHT SUN".
Type it in when the cursor appears, and the "nuclear briefcase" will open before you. Here you can choose operations:
FIRE PLAN FIRST KISS - under such a strange name hides a massive nuclear strike. In the best case, by using this mission, you will achieve nuclear winter; in the worst case - a global atomic catastrophe. But in either case, humanity will perish.
SINGLE STRATEGIC LAUNCH - a single missile launch, you choose the target yourself. It is better not to scatter on cities but to destroy particularly strong armies this way.
STANDBY - do nothing.
In the lower right corner of the screen is an indicator for safe exit from the computer "FAILSAFE (ON/OFF)".
If a nuclear missile explodes over a city, you will see a dynamic depiction of the incident and be informed by the military headquarters: the name of the city (or army), the method of attack (airborne nuclear explosion), and the results (the city is completely destroyed).
If, however, the irreparable has happened, and a massive nuclear strike has been delivered, you will receive the last fax:
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS ON LINE.
CRITICAL DAMAGE. ALL SYSTEMS DESTROYED. SUICIDE CAPSULE IN THE THIRD HOLDER.
WE USUALLY WIN... EM... ME... GOODBYE.. BYE.. BYE ...
At the end of the game, you will be informed of the results of the war, the winner will be named (if there is one), and your command skills will be evaluated.
Interestingly, the idea of this game is much more serious than just simulating modern warfare. A person who plays "THEATRE EUROPE" for a long enough time will surely become a convinced opponent of nuclear weapons - after all, they will feel how easy it is to make a wrong step and destroy humanity. This is especially evident when playing between two people.
In the simplest scenario, it looks like this: the Warsaw Pact attacks, methodically destroying the enemy's armies with nuclear missiles; NATO responds in kind, but since there are significantly fewer NATO armies, the losing commander makes a "draw" with a nuclear strike.
This is how this game often ends when played by two. Hence the logical question: WILL SUCH A SITUATION REPEAT ITSELF IN REAL LIFE, when people start to "play war" for real?
* * *
Contents of the publication: Spectrofon #05
- Экспертиза - Дмитрий Усманов
Description of 'THEATRE EUROPE' game mechanics simulating hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict in the 1980s, with emphasis on strategic decisions and potential nuclear scenarios. Players manage military units with options for offensive and defensive strategies. Explores the severe consequences of nuclear warfare.
- Дебют - Дмитрий Усманов
Description of the text adventure game 'Robin of Sherwood: Touchstones of Rhianon' by Adventure International. The article provides a walkthrough for the game's initial challenging locations. Emphasizes the game's real-time mechanics and encourages frequent saving.
- Экзамен
Quiz section 'EXAM' in Spectrofon #05 remains popular, receiving many answers from readers about 'ROBIN OF THE SHERWOOD'. New questions are posed and readers compete for journal issues. First correct answers win issues of the journal.
- Обзор - Анатолий Хоробрых
The article provides an expert review of 'ELITE-3', covering its features and challenges. It discusses civilized software distribution in Russia. Key gameplay elements and missions are explored in detail.
- Архив
Description of the strategy game '1812' involving troop command and battlefield choices. Highlights include game mechanics, strategic options, and in-game scoring based on player performance. Updated version optimized for speed with save state features.
- Фантазия - Анатолий Хоробрых
A computer novella based on the game 'NIGHT RUN' by DIVIDE BY ZERO, following agent John Ladd's mission against double agents and a treacherous general. The story highlights Ladd's dangerous encounters and his relentless pursuit of justice. It’s an arcade adventure for fans of 'VENDETTA'.
- Система
Introduction of 'GRAPHIC ADVENTURE CREATOR' by INCENTIVE SOFTWARE for creating adventure games, featuring an unprotected version with an example. A detailed review is available in 'ZX-REVU' 1994. Includes instructions for using the software to create a standalone game.
- Горячий привет - Сергей Симонович
Analysis of adventure games evolution from text-based to multimedia. Discussion of simplification and challenges in modern adventure games. Nostalgia for classic gameplay and potential for Russian game development.
- Реклама
Advertisement for the Spectrofon magazine with distribution details and call for authors, artists, and musicians.
