Firstly, thanks to you for taking the time to download/leech/beg/borrow/steal this mod.
It's been an experience creating it, and we'd hope that others have as much fun with it as we have.
Quake & Conquer is (knowing the stigma attached to the cliche) unique. We do mean this. QandC is a real-time strategy (RTS)
game using the Quake 2 engine. What makes it more interesting (aside from anyone wanting to see an engine made to do unintended things)
is that QandC is truly three dimensional. Whereas many RTS games are essentially a flat plane with obstacles,
QandC utilises the 3D qualities of a first person engine to provide a neat experience. Other players could come from
any direction, including up and down. It's quite feasible to find two opposing forces sandwiched on
top of each other (sort of like a layer cake, only messier).
Return to index
Introduction, part II
As was hinted in the introduction, you should approach Quake & Conquer a bit differently from other
RTS games. The first big change you will notice is that your viewpoint is a floating camera. You can
zoom freely around the level, though you'll notice that you can't travel through solid surfaces. If you
find yourself stuck, just try angling away from the surface you are facing. Now take a moment to revel
in this new found freedom. You should notice a menu on the right hand side of the screen. This menu is the
first thing that you will get every time you enter a QandC level. As you may have guessed, it is asking you to
pick a colour. This colour will appear on all the units you build. You can't choose a colour that someone else
already has. If someone already has a colour, it won't be shown on the menu. Use the mouse scroll wheel (or the [ and ])
keys to move between entries. Use the middle mouse button (or the enter key) to select an option. Upon selecting a colour,
you'll be transported to a starting spot with a starting unit. The basic interface of QandC is fairly straight forward. Aside from a few
exceptions (essential for enforcing the rule), actions consist of clicking with the crosshair. The crosshair is
fairly important, and you can experience several fruity flavours using the crosshair command. (Press '~', followed
by typing "crosshair X", where X is a number between 1 and 3)
Become a control freak in 24 Hours
You order around your minions by using the select command (bound as default to left mouse button), and then clicking again,
either at a patch of ground to make your unit move there, or on another object to have your unit "interact" with it. The
interaction depends upon what kind of object you click on. If you click on an enemy unit, your selected unit will attack.
If you click on on a button/lift/door, your unit will try and use it.
They're units, not numbers
You have probably noticed by now that you start with only one unit. This unit is a flyer, one of the most
basic units, it's not very tough, but it's useful. The flyer can build machines and harvest resources. In QandC a machine is
like the buildings of other RTS games. Each one does a different task, but most are concerned with the production of new units.
Try clicking once on the flyer, and then once on a patch of ground. Your minion should wander over to where you clicked.
Getting the show on the road
The first machine you need to build in your empire of destruction is a Central Thing. This machine acts as a hub for all the others,
and is one of the few buildings that can be used by your flyers to drop off resources. To build this modern day wonder, first click on
your flyer, and then press the menu button (bound as default to the right mouse button). The menu should reappear
on your right, but with some new options. Choose the option 'build' which will take you to a new menu. Now, point at where
you would like to build your central thing, and choose the 'Central Thing' option. If you've done this correctly, your flyer will
toddle off and leave a marker showing where the Central Thing will be built. You will also notice that the number display on the
top left of your screen has changed. It used to say 500, now it says 250. This is your count of the resource in QandC called stuff.
Resource stocks are up
As with most RTS games, one of the important aspects is harvesting resources. In QandC, the resource is stuff. Stuff
appears as blue crystals around the level. When your flyer has built a Central Thing, it will go out and harvest resources
automatically. Each trip it makes adds 50 stuff to your stockpile. It's important to make sure you're getting a good flow of
stuff, otherwise you won't be able to afford some of the neat toys that come down the track. Once your
Central Thing has been built, bring up the menu again, and this time, choose the 'train' option. Select
Central Thing, and then move over the entry 'flyer'. Press the select button about 4 times. This will queue
your Central Thing to build 4 more flyers. As each one comes out, they will start to harvest stuff crystals for you.
You may notice that flyers aren't the smartest of units, and complex things like walls tax their little brains. To help
them, you can build a structure called a Resource Point which your flyers can visit instead of the Central Thing.
A good strategy if you find a clump of stuff crystals away from your main base is to build a Resource Point there
and then send some flyers over to work it.
Working for the man
Once they can harvest, flyers are pretty single minded about it. This means
that getting them to build something can be a bit tricky. Plus, they can't build
the full range of machines anyway. If you go to the train menu, choose Central
Thing, and then queue a 'Technician'. A technican may look like a floating barrel,
but it's really very useful. It can build you all your machines, as well as
repairing them. You build machines with the technician the same way as you built
the Central Thing with the flyer. First select the technician, then bring up
the menu, choose build, and pointing at where you want to build your machine,
choose the option you want. The technician will run along and merrily build
your new machine. There is a condition however. You can't build a machine or
turret too far away from your other buildings. The exceptions are the Shriekers
and the Resource Points.
Playdough for the masses
The next machine should try and build is the Infantry Press. This machine is
responsible for light infantry, and also allows you to build heavier machines.
Using a technician, build an Infantry Press. Once it has been assembled, cackle
evilly, and bring up the menu. Choose train, then Infantry Press, Followed by
one of the options listed. Like the Central Thing, you can queue units to be
built. Building an Infantry Press also allows you to build some defences. If
you select a technician, bring up the menu you know so well now, and select
build, you can now choose the sub menu 'turrets'. You build a turret just like
another machine, so make sure you're pointing at where you want the turret to
go when you select which one you want. Pick one of the different sorts, if you
have enough stuff.
Taking off the training wheels
Now you've got the basics, there are some more advanced things you can do. Firstly, there are some
extra things you can do with unit control. If you hold down the shift key (or whatever key you have bound to +use)
when you select units, you will not just select one, but will add units to a selection group. You can
also assign these groups to keys (the numbers 0 to 9). To assign to a key, have a/some unit(s) selected,
hold down the shift key, and press a number between 0 and 9. You should get a confirmation message. Now,
without holding the shift key, you can press the number you assigned to re-select those units. Another
modifier to unit behaviour is the force attack command. If you hold down the control key (or whatever key is bound to +attack)
and click on the ground or other entity, the selected units will attack that location/thing. You can't force attack
on your own units however. That just wouldn't be nice. The final modifier to unit behaviour is the
stand ground command. If you have a key bound to standground (no default, but you can bind your own), you can use
that command to make selected units not move, but attack from where they are. Pressing again will get selected units
moving again. If you somehow get units stuck somewhere, or just want to get rid of them, you can use the destruct command.
This will instantly kill any selected units. As a tip, don't bind this to any key you might bump accidently.
The final advanced command is the setendpoint command (default key is g). If you have a machine selected,
using this command will set the rally point (shown by a flag) of that machine to where you are pointing.
With all that knowledge, you've earned your QandC licence. From here, the best thing is to play with building
all the machines and units, and more importantly playing some games against other people.
Return to index
There are two common reactions to QandC: 1)"Hey, that's a rather neat idea." 2)"What are these guys
on and where can I get some?" For those wondering, we did it naturally, we don't need drugs. Others would
argue that this statement suggests a course of a completely different class of drugs. This is something
you might wish to discuss with us. Another thing might be QandC. If you have any feedback/suggestions/ego stroking
drop us a line at qandc@bluestar.com.au. We will read every message, and
we'll try to reply back to them too. If you have retarded flames/hate mail/things to sell and you send a message
we will also read it, but there may be a short delay in our reply as we craft just the right kind of response.
Return to index