% UNDERSTANDING YOUR MECHA Doc Jan 6 2003
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***  UNDERSTANDING  YOUR  MECHA  ***
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 Maneuverability, abbreviated as MV on the display, indicates how
 agile your mecha is. A high MV score will allow you to dodge attacks
 in combat more easily.
 
 Targeting, abbreviated as TR on the display, indicates how good your
 onboard targeting systems are. A high TR score will allow you to hit
 enemies more often in combat.
  
 Sensors, abbreviated as SE on the display, indicates how much
 information about the outside world your mecha passes on to you. A
 high score means that your mecha has a wonderful sensor package, with
 resolution enhancers and target highlighters. A low score could mean
 that you're forced to stare out a tiny window at the front of your
 cockpit while listening for pings from your obsolete radar unit.
 
 Mass is listed in either kg or tons, depending upon the scale of the
 mecha being described. It doesn't have much direct effect upon the
 game, but it does determine the base values for maneuverability,
 targeting, and speed.
 
 
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***  TYPES  OF  MECHA  ***
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 Mecha can be built according to one of several design types. There
 are a few things that all mecha have in common. They are all
 constructed from a series of modules. They all require a body
 module, a cockpit, an engine, a gyroscope, and sensors.
 
 Battroids are traditional giant robots. They usually have two arms,
 two legs, and a head but can vary significantly from this plan. They
 have good maneuverability and targeting scores. Battroids don't have
 any special bonuses other than their versatility, but then again they
 don't have any special weaknesses either.
 
 Groundhuggers are low-lying wheeled or hover vehicles. Because of
 their sloped design and compact propulsion, groundhuggers have a
 better targeting score and better armor protection than battroids.
 However, their maneuverability is worse. Possibly the greatest
 advantage that groundhuggers have is their ability to use the
 turret module; weapons mounted in a turret may be fired in a
 360-degree arc.
 
 Zoanoids are mecha built in the form of animals. Often these mecha
 are designed to resemble either big cats or dinosaurs. Because their
 frame construction exactly mirrors that of a living creature, these
 mecha have incredible strength and maneuverability. Unfortunately this
 design also prevents zoanoid mecha from optimizing their weapon arrays,
 so their targeting score suffers.
 
 Arachnoids are walking tanks. They usually resemble spiders, though
 they may have as few as two legs. Their legs provide a great
 range of motion and they therefore have better maneuverability than
 groundhuggers, while the stability of their form gives them a better
 targeting score than battroids. Arachnoid mecha can make use of
 turret modules.
 
 
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***  MECHA  COMBAT  ***
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 The best way to survive an attack is to not get hit. If you're a
 mecha pilot, this means that you're going to have to practice
 the Mecha Piloting skill. It is this skill which determines whether
 or not any attack will hit your mecha. A good MV score, some cover,
 and a long distance between yourself and the opponent will also
 help you to avoid attacks.
 
 Of course, not even the best pilot is going to dodge every shot.
 Fortunately mecha have very thick armor. The first couple of shots in
 any battle are likely to bounce off this protection without causing any
 apparent damage. However, with each hit the armor gets a little bit
 weaker. Eventually the armor will give way and the mecha will collapse
 like a house of cards.
 
 Weapons like machine guns and swarm missiles are good for weakening
 armor, since they can hit the target several times with each attack.
 High damage non-repeating weapons like gauss rifles and beam swords
 are more likely to penetrate armor on the first hit, but don't tend
 to weaken the armor as well as a low damage weapon with a high burst
 value. Most mecha have at least one weapon of each type, allowing them
 to choose an attack suited to their opponent's skill level and armor
 rating.
 
 The ultimate weapon would have both a high burst value and
 high damage, but it would likely be both prohibitively expensive to
 manufacture and too heavy to mount on anything short of a Monstrous.
  
  
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***  ATTACK  ATTRIBUTES  ***
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ANTI-AIR
    Flying targets are harder to hit. Anti-Air weapons ignore this
    penalty.
 
ARMORPIERCING
    Armor-Piercing weapons are good at penetrating armor. Your target
    gets only half armor protection from attacks of this type.
 
BLAST <X>
    Blast weapons affect everything in a radius from their detonation
    point.
 
BRUTAL
    Brutal weapons cause a lot of messy, obvious damage. They eat
    through armor at twice the normal rate.
 
DRONE
    Drone weapons release a number of small robotic airplanes which will
    then attack your enemies.
 
EXTEND
    Extended melee weapons may be used to attack at a target up to two
    squares distant, as opposed to regular melee weapons which are limited
    to a range of one.
  
FLAIL
    Flails are flexible weapons. They may not be easily blocked or parried.
 
GAS
    Gas weapons do no damage, but release a toxic gas which can quickly
    kill living beings.
 
HYPER
    Hyper weapons are particularly devastating. They deal damage to every
    component piece of a target simultaneously.
  
INTERCEPT
    A weapon with the Intercept attack attribute may be used to shoot
    down incoming missiles.
 
LINE
    A line attack affects every target in a straight line.
 
OVERLOAD
    These weapons cause electrical interference to an enemy mecha's
    powerplant.
 
SCATTER
    Instead of dealing a single powerful hit, scatter weapons divide
    their damage into multiple smaller attacks, thereby spreading out
    over more of the target.
 
SMOKE
    Smoke weapons cause no damage, but may be used to provide cover.
 
SWARM
    Swarm weapons spread out to attack multiple targets simultaneously.
 
THROWN
    Throwable melee weapons may be thrown. The range depends on your
    character's BODY stat.
 
THROWN, RETURNING
    Some throwing weapons will return to the user after they've been
    thrown. Things like boomerangs and rocket-powered tridents fall in
    this category.
 
 
