FEDERATION
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o n l i n e
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15th September 2001
mdickie@lineone.net
www.mdickie.com

This is no ordinary wrestling game. This is a wrestling TV show which you are mostly in charge of. Every time you load up the game it is another night of your show. You must arrange your roster to fight entertaining matches night after night and gradually climb the TV ratings list. 
As the nights go by many changes will occur, and your show should develop into a formiddable force in Sports Entertainment.

--------------------------CONTROLS---------------------------------------------------------
MAIN MENU CONTROLS
You always proceed through the screens by pressing ENTER.
In the unlikely event that your promotion gets too messed up, you may reset everything by pressing Ctrl + R at the menu screen.
F1 = Low Resolution
F2 = Normal Resolution
F3 = High Resolution

GAME CONTROLS
Cursors = Move/Climb
(Press UP to climb the top turnbuckles, and DOWN to climb the bottom ones - use DOWN again to climb off)
A = Punch/Weapon Shot/Aerial Attack To Standing Opponent
Z = Kick/Ground Attack/Aerial Attack To Grounded Opponent
C = Strong Attack
S = Grapple/Grab Legs or Head
S x 2 = Pick up opponent
X = Pick up/carry item
D = Pin
Ctrl = set fire to item (only certain ones are flammable)
Space = Taunt/Drop Item/Cancel holds and pins
ESC = Quit
Enter = skip entrances
(if you don't call to end your entrance, you've got as long as you want - it doesn't end normally until you spend a bit of time inside the ring)

ARENA EDIT
You may remove features during play, which helps in the event of slowdown...
F1 = Destroy Announcers
F2 = Destroy Friends
F3 = Destroy Enemies
F4 = Destroy Referees
F5 = Destroy Items
F6 = Destroy Front Crowd & Other luxuries (the best thing to do)

---------------------------GRAPPLING---------------------------------------------------------
STANDING
Grab your opponent with "S", then...
S + Direction = throw in any direction

A = German Suplex
A + Up = Suplex
A + Down = Back breaker
A + Left = Brainbuster
A + Right = Northern Lights Suplex

Z = Body Slam
Z + Up = Press Slam
Z + Down = Falling Slam
Z + Left = Belly 2 Belly
Z + Right = Side Slam 

X = DDT
X + Up = Powerbomb
X + Down = Piledriver
X + Left = Shoulder breaker
X + Right = Sitting Powerbomb

D = Mixed Combo
D + Up = Big Punch
D + Down = Big Kick
D + Left = Punch Combo
D + Right = Kick Combo

C = Neckbreaker
C + Up = Hurricanranna
C + Down = Atomic Drop
C + Left = Bulldog

You may notice that your character collapses after/during a move - this is not a mistake, it's simply that their knee gave way, they stumbled, etc.. - that's the risk of doing moves instead of attacks.
Some moves can be delayed for extra effect. You can only delay as long as your STRENGTH will allow. To bring the move down you must press the key button again. i.e. to do a snap suplex press S + Up to launch and then press S again to follow through.  

SPECIAL
If you celebrate when your Heat is rocking you will temporarily become Special. Pressing SPACE in a grapple will now launch the finisher. Each wrestler has their own unqiue finisher.

GROUND HEAD
Grab your opponent by pressing "S" near his upper body, then...
S = Bring to feet
A = Camel Clutch
Z = Headlock
X = Choke

GROUND LEGS
Grab your opponent by pressing "S" near his lower body, then...
S = Bring to feet
A = Sharpshooter
Z = Walls Of Jericho
X = Ankle Lock

* by holding left/right you can travel slightly during a hold...

------------------------------ GAME FEATURES --------------------------------------------------
PRODUCTION
Your show starts very basic, so it's important to develop improvements. You may give your production team a project to work on, then it will gradually get made as each night goes by. You can change projects at will, without losing work done, but only one project can be worked on at a time. There is a large variety of project types: you can develop actual items, hire useful staff, or even learn new aspects of wrestling. What you decide to make, and when, is totally up to you - and those decisions are vital to a show's success. 

WRESTLER SKILLS
A wrestler's talents are portrayed through 4 basic attributes:
- POPULARITY
How entertaining they are. Matches with popular wrestlers will score higher.
Since your show is just starting out NONE of your wrestlers are popular...
- SKILL
How good they are at performing wrestling/submission moves. A skillful wrestler is less likely to hurt themselves AFTER a move.
- STRENGTH
How much damage they inflict, and how well they can perform power moves. A strong wrestler is less likely to collapse DURING a move, and they can delay for longer.
- AGILITY
How fast they can run, how far they can fly and how well they can perform graceful moves.
*All of these attributes are subject to change throughout a wrestler's career...  

PUSHES
Whenever a wrestler is victorious in a match there is a chance that they will get over more with the crowd. So effectively you can PUSH wrestlers by regularly putting them in situations where they will win. The chances of a wrestler getting over are massively increased at PPVs.

TV NETWORK
The biggest thorn in your side is the network that commissions the show. Without them you wouldn't have a job, so you're at their mercy. Unfortunately they don't understand wrestling so you will often find yourself in unfair situations, but working through them will make you a better booker. They can enforce a whole range of rules, from banning items to taking your whole show off the air (in which case you would gain NO ratings). Lawyers can oppose these decisions quite successfully...

MULTIPLE WRESTLERS
The game allows you to use as many wrestlers as you have available, which in future versions could be as high as 40. HOWEVER, each wrestler demands more memory from your computer and your game may *crash* if you request more than your system can handle. I cannot tell how many wrestlers your computer can handle, so you'll have to learn by error. Also, the more wrestlers you choose the longer the match will take to load. A decent computer should not have any problems. 

TEAM MATCHES
In team matches you cannot attack anyone until the match has officially started. The Heat icons at the top of the screen are NOT a representation of the teams. They are ordered only by when they were chosen, which means teammates are separated by an enemy icon. Many of the matches will display scores and statistics, such as the number of falls for each wrestler and the total for their team. 

TITLES
Federation Online rules state that a title is on the line WHENEVER a champion competes (although singles belts are not on the line in team matches, and vice versa). Team titles can only be contested in pairs (i.e. 2 on 2), but the singles belts can be contested by any number of wrestlers.

------------------------------ PPVS ----------------------------------------------------
Every 5 nights (see your Statistics for the exact night) your promotion stages a PPV. Each of the 5 PPVs is a golden opportunity to boost your ratings. PPV matches have the potential to be more entertaining than usual, so you should make the most of them. Additionally, some PPVs carry exciting gimmicks:

BIG BUMPS
The year starts with a basic no-frills PPV. The only gimmick here is that the stars of the Big Bumps game become available. At this time of year the fans love to see the Big Bumps stars, so they generate bonus excitement whenever they appear. 

XPLOSIVE
This highly dangerous PPV thrives on shocking everybody in the arena. Every single match only has 10 minutes before the whole arena explodes, hurting every wrestler in the match. It might hurt your guys, but the fans love to see the explosions so you should try to make matches go the distance. 

FATAL FURY
The hottest event of the summer is one massive street fight. Every match at this PPV has to be To The Death or To The Injury. On paper it sounds repetitive, but the fans love to see the stars throw away the wrestling for one night and fight at the most basic level.

JAGGED ALLIANCE
This PPV has a military gimmick, and even makes several marines available for the night.
The PPV also introduces the unique WAR! match, in which two teams strive for supremacy by stealing members of the opposing team. 
The WAR! Match Rules
- When a wrestler is eliminated they will work for the opposing team. Team captains (the first selected for each team) cannot be eliminated.
- The war is won when a team is reduced to just one man: the captain.
- At the time limit the biggest army will win.

SHOW GIRLS
The year ends with a fun PPV, which pleases both the wrestlers and the fans. The arena is littered with beautiful women (to the delight of the fans) and they also become available to use as valets (to the delight of the wrestlers).

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To find out what's planned for the next installment of the game check the Previews at: www.mdickie.com

For the sake of the next game please report any current problems or requests to:
mdickie@lineone.net
