Call of Combat : Quick Start Guide

This guide is very brief, so as not to bore you, with links to more detailed information if and when you require it. If you are having performance problems with the game please refer to our FAQ, or contact a MP or member of staff in the Hall of Combat.

Quick Links

The Lobby

Ok, you've reached this website, you've created a username and you've authenticated the name. For authentication issues go here

Next you download and install the Hall of Combat, the game lobby (Call of Combat will check for updates each time you run it, and if there are updates it will auto install them for you). Java Web Start will ask you to accept a certificate before it runs the lobby, you should click on Always, it won't hurt we promise.

In the lobby first stop is the top left Options menu, and Choose A Different Mirror. Click check mirror speeds, then highlight the mirror with the highest speed and click ok. This'll ensure your download speed for the game itself will be as fast as we can get it for you.

Having done that you need to choose a room for your first game:

• No Points rooms do exactly as they say, they don't record the games played in them, these are the best rooms to use if they're available. Asking if a player in the Main Lobby can help show you the ropes is a good method of getting a game in No Points rooms (they're usually empty).
• Player Stats rooms are open games for anyone and everyone to join, if you join one of these its best to advise the people in there that you are new, Call of Combat players get overexcited very quickly and may expect more of you than you are able to do.
• Ag stats rooms are for "clan" games and therefore the wrong place for your first game.

To join a room merely press the Join! button along and to the right of the room you want.

Game Rooms

When you first download the game you are presented with a game settings screen, its very important that you limit your fps speed to the default 30. Once the game is working, tweaking is possible. See here for information on other game settings.

First a little info on the chatbox, through the chatbox you can speak to the whole room with All, those on your team (or those not on a team if you aren't) with Team, and those in your AG. You can also use the chat options to speak privately to just one person, or create your own Group. You can also opt to not hear any chat from any number of players that you don't wish to hear from.

In the pre-game screen:

Currently there are two alternative pre-game phases, which differ in the ways that teams are selected for combat. Either random team generation, or selected teams can be applied. The player with highest rank in the room has control of the room settings and is able to change the map, the number of players / side, and the team selection method.

Upon joining a room, a game may already be playing. In this case, in the top right corner of the main window it will say"Game in Progress", and it is not possible to join a game mid way through. Typing "/time" in the chat box will tell you how long the game has left to run.

However if the game is not in progress:

• If there are other people in the room and if the right hand screen area is brown, click the join random button above your name. This is a Random Teams Game.
• If there are two sets of teams, then either Join Axis above your name, or Join Allied below, if either or both of these are greyed out then teams are full. This is a Team-Select Game.
• If you're alone in a no points room, you can change the Game Settings (Top-middle of the main window) so that you can play a 1 v 0 game.

Once you've joined a team you need to press the rather long-winded "Yes I'm Ready To Play" button, when thats done the red check mark next to your name should change to a green one. You are now good to go, and you'll be waiting for others to Rdy up.

The Game

Deployment Time

Once everyone is Rdy'd up, the game starts, it takes approx 20 seconds to load depending on computer and connection speeds. When its loaded you should see three main areas, a chat window, a green control panel with a lot of buttons, and a main window showing an isometric view of the play area. If you do not see these three things (especially if you see a black screen where the main window is) then go here.

The game starts in Deployment Time with the timer counting down, during this time you cannot leave the little green box you start in. This time is available for the CO to set up his chain of command, assign available extra weapons and give out orders. If you are unsure about orders, its important that you ask any questions within the Team chat.

As soon as the Deploy Timer hits 0 it starts to count down in mission time, this is the maximum length of time the game will last. If the game lasts this long then the winner is decided by a comparison of points (which are shown in the top left corner of the main window). Points are gained for possessing VPs and for kills (currently a team gains 4 points per kill in Player Stats and No Points games). The game will only finish early if one of the teams has been annihilated. Don't despair if this happens, most games finish this way.

Controls

Screen Controls:

• Use right click on your mouse to re-center the map.
• Use your mouse wheel, or the magnifying glass buttons to zoom in and out.
• The two buttons next to the zoom buttons allow you to rotate the map clockwise or counter-clockwise.
• Finally you can hold down shift and right mouse button, and then mouse movements will either rotate the map or adjust the viewing angle. Be warned, adjusting the viewing angle can make things confusing.

Control Panel

The top row of the control panel controls all your men at once. Except for the Grenade throwing button, which has no action on the top row. Each individual row then controls a particular player, identified on the map by the pips.

In order, here are the usages and uses of the various commands and info:

Fire At: Generally all aiming by your squad is done automatically choosing the target they are most likely to hit. This can be overridden in two ways. Firstly by forcing your soldier(s) to aim at a particular target. Secondly by forcing your men to Hold Fire [link to be added]. Fire At is useful to force your men to shoot at a particular target to support an attack either by yourself or another team member. Bear in mind that you aren't just firing at soldiers to shoot them, you are also firing at them to prevent them shooting you (see Stress) [link to be added]. To use left click the Fire At command and then left click the soldier you wish to fire at. If the enemy soldier disappears from LOS [link to be added] then your soldier will return to firing automatically.

Run to : Left click run to, then left click a point on the map, your soldier(s) will then attempt to reach that spot. They will try to do this even if it involves running into, through or past the enemy, unless commanded they will not stop to shoot the enemy. Your squad has to stay within a set distance of each of its members, you cannot send a soldier somewhere that is further than this distance (roughly about 12 tiles). Your soldier(s) can however exceed this distance whilst travelling to a point that does not exceed it.

Crawl To : Use as Run To. This is effectively an advanced command. Under no circumstances should you use Crawling if you are under fire. Its use is for when you are unseen by the enemy (beneath a window or behind a wall) and you need to move whilst remaning unseen. See LOS [link to be added]

Face : Your men can see what each of your other men can see, and you can also see with the men of squads further down the Chain of Command [link to be added] to yourself. However your soldiers can only see in an arc in front of them, and a small distance behind them. Using the Face command allows you to watch in multiple directions using each of your men. Also, when seeking Cover [link to be added] its important that you Face into the object you are using as cover, otherwise it will not serve its purpose.

Down (Changing to Up when active) : Click this button to force your soldier(s) to alternate between laying and standing. Double click this as quick way to cancel an order (for example Run to, or Throw Grenade). Laying down is useful to hide, and it should be added that its harder to shoot someone in the prone position than someone standing. Equally there are advantages in firing speed to being prone. It does though take longer to throw Grenades or run away if you're lying down!

Throw Grenade : Usage, left click button, then left click ground around your soldier where you wish the grenade to land. Grenades have a throwing range of approx 4-5 squares depending on angle of throw, direction of throw (with respect to the direction you're facing) and movement of the thrower. The have a stun range of approx 2 squares, and a stun time of approx 15 seconds BUT this is variable. There is also a possibility that a grenade will kill a soldier rather than stun him. Grenades also affect your own squad and teammates too, so be warned, players don't take kindly to being attacked by both teams, and deliberately setting out to kill your teammates is against our rules. The number next to the grenade icon indicates how many grenades your soldier(s) are carrying.

Walk To : Like Run To but slower... don't use it.

Auto Fire : Returns your soldiers to their default state from Fire At or from Hold Fire.

Hold Fire : Prevents your soldier(s) from firing. Useful in ambush situations, or when sneaking up behind the enemy. Also useful in training games to allow the two teams to watch each other without dying every few seconds.

Information Panel (to the right of controls):

Action : What your soldier(s) are currently doing, unfortunately Aiming and Firing override the other information here, other "actions" are Cover, Standing, Running, Walking, Laying, Crawling.

Stress : This gives a value between 1 and 10 that denotes how disturbed your soldier is by the bullets whizzing past his head. This is important, because the more disturbed he gets, the less likely he is to fire, and when he does fire he's not going to aim that well because he's scared witless. This doesn't relate directly to how likely your soldier is to die. If he is in cover then having a stress doesn't mean he is likely to be shot (he could be, but its unlikely). However if he leaves cover, he is highly likely to die :) Generally speaking, you don't want to be moving your soldiers if their stress is high (unless you have to).

Hit % : This is % reading of how likely your last shot was going to hit the target. Ie a 100% shot means you killed someone. In a firefight it gives you an idea of whether you're wasting bullets, if the hit % is below 1 or 2%, and you aren't going to attack (in which case you'd need to lay down cover fire to increase the stress of the opposition team) its sometimes worthwhile to hold fire and conserve ammo. Equally, if one of your men is shooting at the enemy and getting a 10% hit likelihood, then it might be worth all your men firing at that guy.

As far as game controls go, thats a quick yet thorough summary of commands. Call of Combat is an action/strategy game, where the two concepts conflict. A superior strategy can beat good reflexes, and vice versa. Important things to remember are that dead men can't kill anyone, so staying alive is of paramount importance both for yourself (see Game Over) and for the team. And that if you are new then chances are everyone on your team can see what you see, plus what they can see (see Chain of Command), since they have superior information, they should take the risks!

For information on command button go here

For information on trade button go here

Game Over

The game ends when the mission time runs out or one team has been annihilated. In the latter case, only the victors get the spoils. The points gained from kills and VPs held [link to be added] are converted to PPs (promotion points) [link to be added]. These points are then distributed by the highest ranking survivor on the team to other surviving members of the team, as he sees fit.

Surviving: At the start of the game, the server decides that one of your squad is effectively you. For you to survive at the end of the game and receive PPs then this particular squad member has to survive. You are not told which of your squad is you. This basically means that if none of your men die, you will definitely be able to receive PPs at game end. If all your men die then you will definitely not be able to receive PPs at game end. And as more and more of your men die, the less it is likely that you will survive.

The purpose of this is to place in your mind a quandary between following orders and surviving. Do you follow orders and help the team when you're down to 2 men (you have a 50% of chance of survival) or do you look to your own survival? Bearing in mind that the majority of games end through annihilation this question usually has a simple answer, that holding together with the team is usually the best route to survival. Though following orders may not be the best route to survival. The quandary there is that the CO makes the orders, and the CO dishes out the PPs at the end, and he won't be impressed if you don't follow orders.

If the game is ended through the mission time counting down, then both teams will get to distribute available PPs to their surviving players. And the games winner is the team with the greatest number of points at mission time end (ie stealing the VPs in the last minute is considered "tactical acumen").

Note If you are only the only survivor on your team, you need to assign yourself PPs, do this quickly by pressing the Split PPs button and then the Apply button. Watch out though, you only have a limited amount of time in Debriefing.

Related Relevant Concepts.

Chain of Command

At the start of a mission, the mission commander assigns subordinates (the chain of command). A player can see everything that his subordinates can see (as well as everything that their subordinates can see, and on down the chain of command). While new to the game, you typically won’t get a lot of subordinates, but when you do get subordinates, it can be quite useful to see where other players are on the map. Also remember that you often help your teammates, merely by being a subordinate, by seeing enemies so that they can see them as well.

Command Window

The command window displays the chain of command. At first, having enrolled as a private, you will most probably start at the bottom of the chain. However, as you progress through the ranks, you will find that you yourself will be granted subordinates, and will obtain their 'eyes.'

Extra Weapons

An important feature of the command window is that of assigning and passing additional weapons. In deployment time, you may be fortunate enough to recieve supplies from your commanding officer. In addition to your standard guns, one can be assigned either a BAR/MG42 or a Thompson/MP40 (Allied/Axis) or both.

In order to assign an item, click on it and the soldier that you wish to transfer it too, and then click the bottom 'give out.' You should also be aware, that if you possess subordinates, that you may be expected to pass a certain amount of supplies down the chain depending on your commanders wishes. To pass an item, click it, then click the subordinate, then click the top 'give out.'

Please note: Weapons can only be assigned in the Deployment ZONE, but can be applied anytime outside the Deployment time.

Weapon Trading

The trading button allows you to swap guns and greandes from living soliders on your team, and dead soldiers of the enemy. An easier and quicker way of performing a trade is by clicking the chosen soldiers gun icon. Once the trading panel has opened, you simply click 'swap' on the items that you which to exchange.

LOS (Line of Sight)

One final important concept to understand is line of sight. Soldiers don’t have eyes in the back of their heads, but can only see in front of them. Thus, if you’re facing away from an enemy, he can sneak up behind you without you seeing him. If you’re in an area that can be flanked in this manner, it is important to at least periodically have a soldier look to see if there are enemies to the side, or behind you. If you see the enemy a considerable distance away, you may be able to do something about a flank, but if you don’t know that the enemy is there until your soldiers are mysteriously stunned from grenades, or shot from behind, it’s too late.

Orders

Call of Combat is a team based game, and players are generally expected to follow the orders that the mission commander gives them. More experienced players can deviate from them somewhat, a while into the game, if they see an opportunity to help the team by doing something else. Regardless of your experience with the game, it is absolutely critical that you follow orders at least at the very start of the game. As a new player, you should probably stay where the mission commander sends you for the entire game until you get a better feel for the tactics involved, or updated orders.