Alien Front Online Manual
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Alien Front Online Manual Manual
Story………………………………………………………..2-5
Controls……………………………………………………..6
Starting Up…………………………………………………7
Options……………………………………………….7
Online…………………………………………………7
Tactics………………………………………………..7
Arcade………………………………………………..7
The Game Screen………………………………………..8
Army Technology………………………………………..9
Vehicles…………………………………………….10
Sub Weapons………………………………..10-11
Alien Technology……………………………………….12
Vehicles…………………………………………….13
Sub Weapons………………………………..14-15
Staying Alive……………………………………………..16
Game Modes……………………………………………..18
Tactics Mode……………………………………..18
Arcade Mode……………………………………..18
Online Play……………………………………………18-21
Modes……………………………………………….20
Auto Join…………………………………………..20
Create……………………………………………….20
Tips………………………………………………20-21
Voice Chat…………………………………………21
Thank you for purchasing Alien Front Online. Please note that this software is designed only for use with the
Dreamcast console. Be sure to read this instruction manual thoroughly before you start playing Alien Front Online.
contents
2 3
They came without warning,
without mercy…
…unleashing unimaginable devastation on the people of Earth.
Known as the Triclops, the aliens struck fear into the human race.
They preyed on man, woman, and child alike, devouring them
whole; their three-eyed gaze impassive, betraying no hint of
emotion—making their actions all the more horrific…
The air forces of the world were useless, picked out of the sky by
the orbiting alien motherships. Only the surface forces are able to
fight back, to give the aliens pause. The world government has
called out its cavalry, and the tank brigades are beginning to
make headway against the onslaught. The battles have been
fierce, but sporadic so far.
Now is the time for an all-out offensive. Now is the time for you
to get involved. Will you fight side by side with your fellow man,
or will you accept your role as food in a world ruled by aliens?
you must choose your fate
4 5
humans! low level life forms,
tiny and weak…
…struggle to evolve against their very nature. They resist us with
their manufactured vehicles and weapons. Though they fight us
and destroy their own cities in the process we, the mighty Triclops
army, will persevere and take control of this planet. We are
stronger in numbers, destructive power, and sheer terror…
After the destruction of the human air ships the mothership commanders
deemed it time for our forces to dominate the surface as
we had the skies. Now we’ve taken the fight to the humans and
are attempting to devour their hopes, dreams, and spirit. The fight
has not been an easy one though! How can such a poorly evolved
creature put up such a tremendous fight for survival?
We must rally as the time for human annihilation has come! The
mothership commands you to descend to the Earth’s surface and
join your fellow Triclops. Will you fight side by side with your
three-eyed brethren or will you let these lowly organisms take
their planet back?
you must choose your fate
7 6
Controls
These are the default controls. There are several control schemes you can use;
experiment with them to find the one that’s right for you.
Default Control Setting
Forward—Analog Stick Up
Reverse—Analog Stick Down
Left—Analog Stick Left
Right—Analog Stick Right
Strafe Left—Trigger L + Analog Stick
Strafe Right—Trigger R + Analog Stick
Fire Primary Weapon—A
Fire Sub Weapon—B
Change Camera Perspective—X
Voice Chat (Team)—Y (press and hold Y once)
Voice Chat (All)—YY (press Y twice, hold down on second press)
Pause Game—START
NOTE: Controller Configuration #7 has optimized control settings for the Sega Steering Wheel Controller.
Dreamcast Controller
Y Button
Analog Stick X Button
D-Pad
Trigger R Trigger L
A Button
B Button
Start Button
Starting Up
Save Files
In order to save your game, you must have a VMU inserted in your controller.
When starting the game, the VMU Select screen will appear. Select
the VMU you wish to save your game files on; each Save File takes 8
blocks of memory. To name your Save File, use the D-Pad to highlight, A
to select, Enter to end, and Done to begin using the file.
Note: The file name that you choose for your save game will be used as
your handle name for online play. Please do not use any information as
your file name that you would not want others to know.
Title Screen
On the title screen, press START to begin playing Alien Front Online. This
will take you to the Main Menu.
Main Menu
Options—Change settings for the game, such as controller settings,
sound, jump pack, and more.
Online—Initiates an online gaming session. See the “Online Play” section.
See page 16 for more detailed directions and requirements.
Tactics—Starts a single-player campaign game. You may select which
side you wish to play: Army Campaign or Alien Campaign.
Arcade—Begins a single-player timed match. You can play as either the
Army or the Aliens.
8
The Game Screen
This is what you’ll see when playing
Alien Front Online.
In the upper left corner of the screen
is the radar. Red dots are enemies,
green dots are allies.
Your health bar takes up the top
portion of the screen. When you are
severely damaged, the screen will
get a “shattered glass” overlay.
In the top right corner of the screen is the tally bar. Depending on the mission
objectives, this will show the number of enemies remaining.
Below the tally bar is the sub weapon display. This tells you what your
current sub weapon is, and how much firepower you have left before it is
used up.
The center of the screen contains a targeting box, which changes shape
depending on whether you have a target.
In Online and Arcade modes only, the bottom right and left corners of the
screen contain team information.
The Army vehicles and weapons are
machines of exceptional firepower.
Each has strengths and weaknesses,
and you should make your selection
based on the mission
objectives.
Army Technology
11 10
Grenade launcher: Also known as the drop-and-pop.
Very effective for damaging enemies that are using
protective cover.
Army Technology
Vehicles
MK2 Merkava: Lightly armored, but speedy. Carries a 105mm smoothbore
cannon. Great for advanced scouting.
M1A Abrams: Not as fast or maneuverable as the Merkava, primarily due to
its heavier armor plating. A 120mm smoothbore cannon is its primary gun.
M109-A2: A self-propelled 155mm Howitzer cannon. Heavy armor and very
slow, but it packs the biggest wallop in the Army arsenal.
Sub Weapons
Hellfire Missile: The Hellfire’s massive rate of fire helps
prevent enemies from getting a lock on you by keeping
them off-balance.
Homing Missile: Also known as a fire-and-forget missile.
Most effective at a distance.
Guided Missile: Can be controlled by the player while
the sub weapon button is held down. The player can
maneuver the missile to its target and the camera follows
the missile as it travels.
Machine Gun: An automatic gunner with the fastest
re-fire rate of any sub weapon, it can track the
movement of the enemy.
Nuclear Missile: The most powerful weapon the Army
has. This is an “area of effect” weapon that can instantly
damage or destroy many vehicles at once. Once placed,
there is a 3-second countdown.
Flame Thrower: A steady stream of concentrated flame
turns the aliens extra-crispy.
Turbo Engine: Your tank’s speed is increased for a short
period of time.
13
Vehicles
Hov Craft: Very light armor, and faster than any other vehicle in the
game. A plasma laser provides the Hov Craft with its best line of
defense.
2L Walker: The 2L Walker is an all-purpose vehicle. It carries a slightly
more powerful plasma laser than the Hov Craft, and has better armor.
Unfortunately, it is a much slower machine than the Hov Craft.
SP Walker: Destruction has never been more beautiful. The SP Walker
has both heavy armor and the most powerful cannon in the game.
However, it is also the slowest vehicle in the game.
The Alien vehicles have been grown using
alien organic technology, and thus are less
machine than entity. A translucent bubble
encases the cockpit; from here,
the aliens operate the controls
for their plasma weaponry.
Alien Technology
14 15
Alien Technology
Sub Weapons
Cyclops Blast: The most destructive plasma weapon in the
alien arsenal, the Cyclops Blast delivers a plasma shock of
immense force. It can destroy a Merkava in one shot.
Light Swarm: This weapon launches a dizzying swarm of
plasma particles at the enemy.
Gravity Ball: Prevents an enemy from firing on you by encasing
it in a null-gravity field and lifting it several meters off the ground.
When the field disappears after a few seconds, the enemy crashes
to the ground, causing major damage to the enemy vehicle.
Flying Drone: This hornet-like projectile is similar in operation
to the Army’s Guided Missile.
Seeker Wing: Once locked on to its target, the Seeker
Wing will stalk its prey mercilessly.
Cloaking Spore: Less of a weapon than a defensive measure,
the Cloaking Spore makes your vehicle invisible to the
enemy. Beware, though—it does not cloak your footsteps!
Alien Spike: A stinger-like weapon that strikes enemy
vehicles with a charged particle beam. It must be used at
close range.
Meteor Shower: A radio-signaled orbital onslaught called
in from the alien motherships. The single most devastating
attack the aliens can use, the Meteor Shower can destroy
or damage a multitude of vehicles in a single strike.
17
Staying Alive
You will discover just how difficult it can be to maintain your vehicle in good
working order during a fight. There are several mechanisms for achieving
optimal performance.
The Motor Pool
The Army maintains a repair facility during campaign play. It appears on the
field as a lighted, green-lined box. Parking your tank within it will repair
damage; the more damaged you are, the longer it will take. The staff at the
motor pool will also upgrade your vehicle with subweapons, provided any
are available.
The Healing Bath
The Aliens use a heavy-UV light bath to repair damage to their organic
vehicles. It appears in campaign play as a lighted, red-lined circle beneath a
floating bath-ship. Parking your vehicle within the circle will repair any damage
you may have; heavily damaged vehicles take longer to repair. If any
subweapons are available, the bath-ship will attach them to your vehicle.
Med-Bots
Found only in Arcade and Online play, med-bots heal up to one-third of your
vehicle’s total strength. They are dropped by vehicles that get destroyed in
battle, appearing as small white boxes with a red cross emblazoned upon
the side; merely run over them to pick them up.
16
To begin an online session, you must 1) have an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) with dial-up service; 2) have your Dreamcast’s modem connected to
an active phone line; 3) have your Dreamcast configured for online use via
the Sega Web Browser GD-ROM (which came bundled with your Dreamcast).
Follow the Sega Web Browser instructions for connecting to the Internet.
game modes
Each online mission is timed. When time runs out, your score for the mission
will be tallied, then you will be taken to a new mission. Play continues in this
manner until you quit the game by pressing START, then B to quit. Up to eight
players may take part in a mission, with up to 4 players per team.
If you get unintentionally disconnected during play, the game will automatically
try to reestablish your connection to the Internet.
During online play, if you join a game after it has already started, you will not
receive any stars for that battle. On the tally screen, you will receive an “NA”
to show that your score was not affected by the results of that battle. Also,
other players that were involved in that battle will only receive the points that
they earned after any new users have joined, so please understand that the
points that you receive at the end of any battle will not always be 100% accurate.
After the next battle is started, however, if everyone plays from start to
finish, you will receive the appropriate number of points.
In order to increase the response time of this game online, we have had to
very slightly decrease the consistency of the data being transferred across the
network. It is an online game, so the quality of the connection, among other
factors, might affect the results at the end of any online battles. Please understand
that the results of any online battle may be slightly incorrect (i.e. the
number of gates destroyed in fortress mode is incorrect) from time to time.
Note: The file name that you choose when creating an Alien Front Online save file for your VMU will
be used as your online handle name. For your file name, please do not use any information that you
do not wish others to know.
Online Play
19
Tactics Mode
Arcade Mode
Arcade Mode is a single-player timed match. You
should kill as many opponents within the time limit as
possible. You are allotted 3 credits, so you can continue
twice before the game ends. Your highest score
will be uploaded to the servers the next time you log
onto the network and posted on the “Worldwide High
Score Ranking” table.
Tactics Mode is a single-player campaign with
branching missions and objectives. You can
play as either the Aliens or the Army.
Missions become progressively harder. In
order to advance to the next higher tier of
missions, you must successfully complete all
missions prior to the branching point.
online play
• During a battle, you can talk to your team members by pressing and
holding the Y button. There is a five second time limit for each message
in voice chat.
• If you should wish to talk to everybody in a battle, including members
of the opposing team, press the Y button twice and hold it. Again,
voice chat messages are limited to five seconds in length.
Modes
• Team Death Match: At the end of the time limit, the team with the
highest number of frags (kills) wins.
• Fortress: The offensive team must destroy all 4 enemy fortress gates. The
defending team must defend the fortress for the duration of the time limit.
• Flag: Hold onto the enemy’s flag for 150 seconds. Note that whoever
has the flag cannot carry power-up items, and is therefore very vulnerable.
Auto Join
This feature allows players to automatically join the first available online
game, regardless of game type. It affords players a fast and easy way to
access available games, without having to worry about searching for
games themselves.
Create
In Online Mode, once you are in the lobby, the option to create a game
room will be available. This will allow you to create a “room” from which
you can launch a new game. The creator of the room can select the number
of players, the type of game, the stage, and other options. Once all the
options are set and a satisfactory number of players have joined the room,
the creator of the room may start the game. The created game room will
remain until all other players leave.
Tips
• Each session continues until nobody is left, so if you want to quit, you
must press START, then press B, to quit out of the game.
Online Play Online Play
21
• If there is no input from the controller for 15 minutes, the server
connection will automatically be severed.
• Your online ranking will rise depending on your performance and wins in
battle. There are a total of 10 ranks. The beginning rankings are as follows:
Stars Rank
00-09 Cadet
10-19 Private
20-29 Corporal
Voice Chat
To engage in voice chat during an online session, you must have the
Dreamcast Microphone for Voice Recognition Input (included with Alien
Front Online) plugged into your Dreamcast Controller. Refer to the instruction
manual for the Microphone for installation procedures.
WARNING: Sega.com is not responsible for the content of voice chat. While using voice chat, you are subject
to the SegaNet Terms of Service, and the portion governing member conduct. For further details,
please see the SegaNet Terms of Service located at: www.sega.net/seganet_pc/help/termsofuse.jhtml
CREDITS
The following credits are a list of the staff members responsible for the
localization, marketing and manual production for the US version of Alien
Front Online. Credits for the original development staff of the game are
listed in the credits of the game itself.
Product Development
Vice President of Product Development
Jin Shimazaki
Localization Manager
Osamu Shibamiya
Localization Producer
Klayton Vorlick
Lead Tester
Shawn Dobbins
Assistant Lead Testers
Joe Mora
Daniel Airey
Testers
Jose Venegas
Robert Reich
Derek Wong
Jake Covert
Daniel Kingdon
Brian Ivanhoe
Walter Kim
Seth Benton
Marketing
Director of Product Marketing
John Golden
Product Manager
Rich Briggs
Associate Product Managers
Noah Musler
Cord Smith
Public Relations
Gwen Marker
Teri Higgins
Creative Services
Director of Creative Services
Bob Schonfisch
Project Manager
Angela Santos
Project Coordinator
Arianne Pitts
22
Manual Production
Writer
Ted Chapman
Special Thanks
Peter Moore
Mike Rhinehart
Sandy Castagnola
Makoto Uchida
Shinobu Shindo
Sega.com
Executive Producer
Jerry Markota
Network Producer
Ryan Hurth
Administrative Support
Joyce Takakura
Network Test Manager
Lance Nelson
Lead Network Analyst
Jason Nolen
Assistant Network Analyst
Cliff Wilhelm
Network Analysts
Darren Nagtalon
Eric Wilhelm
Nic Azizian
Leland Smith
24 25
26 27
NOTES NOTES