1861: Civil War (Player's Manual)
Unit plug-in and netmap created by
Cydonian for Myth II:Soulblighter

A CREATION product
www.creationgames.com

Copyright Information:

Copyright 1998 in whole or in part by Bungie Software Products Corporation. Created with Fear and Loathing by Cydonian (cydonian@mail.com) and others (see credits and thanks). Original elements which were created by Cydonian and are not owned by Bungie or created with their tools (see credits, below) are copyright 2000 by Cydonian (Bill Erickson). Certain sound effects or other elements not created by Bungie or Cydonian are from unattributable sources and assumed to be in the public domain, except where otherwise stated.

The Conflict Between 1861 and 1865, the United States of America were no longer united. A series of complex issues had divided its people and propelled their nation into a Civil War. The movement toward the abolition of slavery, an entrenched institution upon which much of Southern industry was heavily dependent, was only one of these issues. Tensions between the North and the South had been building for more than thirty years. Former North-sponsored tariffs on European goods, repealed but not forgotten, had long turned a large profit for Northern industry at the expense of the South. As populations grew in the large urban areas of the North and Midwest, the Southern States felt their own political power dwindling. Reminiscent of the plight of the former American Colonies under British rule nearly a hundred years before, the people of the Southern States perceived that their own interests were being ignored or challenged by the changing face of the Federal government. Many firmly believed that individual States would do better to govern themselves. The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, a President sympathetic to the abolitionists, only further discouraged the South; and to many, compromise no longer seemed possible. The State of South Carolina seceded from the Union shortly after Lincoln's election, and was soon joined by six other Southern States in forming a new nation, the Confederate States of America, under elected President Jefferson Davis. War officially began in April of 1861, with the Confederate capture of South Carolina's Federal-held Fort Sumter. As the Federal government organized a military campaign to quell the rebellion, it saw more States join the Confederacy. Lincoln's desperation while holding together what remained of the Union was made clear when he said, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky". The Confederate States, fighting against the superior resources of a Federal army that had effectively choked Rebel supply lines, were finally forced to surrender after four years of war, and were re-admitted to the Union. | The Battlefield The weapons and field tactics of the American Civil War were primarily those of the Napoleonic Era of half a century earlier. Cannons, muskets, and cavalry played significant roles, and even swords were often more than ornamental. Revolvers and breech-loading or repeating rifles were relatively new and scarce, or too expensive to be standard-issue. Some commanders actually spent large sums of their own money to purchase superior weapons for their troops. The average Federal infantry soldier carried a single-shot muzzle-loaded rifle; and older muskets were common, especially among the often poorly-equipped Rebel forces. It was a war in which the outmoded and the antiquated were the order of the day, and often a brilliant strategy and sheer courage made the difference in a battle. The Myth II Plug-in This Civil War unit tagset strives for a great level of detail and historical accuracy. Union and Confederate forces are rendered from separate 3D models, creating authentic-looking uniforms, with several 'hue change' permutations adding visual variety to each unit type. Animations faithfully depict such important details as soldiers firing, then kneeling and reloading their Springfield rifles in a 32-frame sequence. New sounds, flags, destructible scenery, and voice characterizations complete the package. A three-mesh netmap plug-in (1861: Civil War) is also included with the download. The unit plugin may be used in combination with your own new maps, recreating many historic (or fictionalized) battlefields of the American Civil War, as you guide Federal or Confederate infantry soldiers, sharpshooters, field doctors, cannons and mounted officers to storied victories or crushing defeats.

How to use the "1861: Civil War" plug-ins:

Place both the 1861-CW-units plug-in and the 1861CW_map plug-in into your Plug-ins folder inside your Myth II directory.

The host must activate the units plug-in when creating the game for net play. All players in a multi-player game must have the units plug-in, and the map that is to be played.

When activated, the units plug-in will also convert standard Myth II units to Civil War units, allowing you to play on Myth II netmaps with a mixed army (just for fun). You can also play Civil War solo or co-op games on the Myth II single-player levels, although they don't all work correctly with the substituted units.

Playing the single-player level:
If you have also downloaded the solo level plug-in, place the 1861DCBsolo plug-in in your plug-ins folder, and click "new game" while holding the shift key. "1861: Deercreek Bridge" should appear in the list of maps. You can also play cooperatively with other players by checking "use single-player levels" in your game hosting options and selecting the map. Note: the solo level plug-in includes all unit tags in order that it may be played offline. The Units tagset plug-in does not need to be activated when playing the solo level.

The Units

|  | Soldiers Regular infantry troops make up the bulk of your army. The soldier's rifle must be reloaded after each shot, and is tipped with a bayonet for hand-to-hand combat. Supplies of ammunition are often short, and soldiers carry only 60-80 rounds. When these run out (it takes about 11 minutes of sustained firing to expend 80 rounds), bayonets are their only weapons. At close range, they will automatically use the bayonets to attack. The special ability key will order a bayonet charge at any range.

Sharpshooters Sharpshooters carry breech-loading repeating rifles, which can fire seven rounds rapidly when fully loaded. When the first seven rounds are spent, they reload at about the same rate as a regular soldier. They can then fire one round at a time or continue reloading, as desired. Sharpshooters have a longer range and more accurate aim than regular infantry. They move slightly faster, and have unlimited ammunition. However, they have no bayonets or any other useful melee attack (they will try to run away if engaged hand-to-hand). Sharpshooters are distinguishable from regular infantry by their rank insignia (on the sleeve), and by their lack of a backpack. Their blue Mana Bar (when selected) displays how many rounds are currently loaded in their rifles. |  |

|  | Mounted Officers Officers are fearsome opponents on the Civil War battlefield. Armed with a revolver and a sabre, they use each weapon well. Officers fire three shots from their pistols at a distance, and the sabre is automatically used at close range. The special ability key orders a sabre charge at any range. The speed of their mounts also allows them to scout the field and retreat quickly.

Field Doctors Soldiers or officers of the Medical Corps, Field Doctors carry a bag of instruments, tools and dressings to treat the wounds of the rest of the army -- and are even able to keep a wobbly cannon patched together. Their satchels hold enough supplies to heal twelve of the walking wounded. Anything more must wait for the field hospital or the funeral cart. Field Doctors carry a revolver with which to defend themselves, but they only fire one round per attack. Their healing skills are activated by the special ability key. |  |

| Brigadier Generals The Brigadier General only appears in the Assassination game. As you might imagine, he is the target. His gray beard and white horse distinguishes him from the other officers, and makes him a very visible target. Luckily for him, he's the fastest unit on the battlefield. Try to corner him, because only your own general could hope to catch him. |

| Field Cannons (Rifle Cannon, Napoleon Cannon) Cannons fire explosive shells at great range, and fire "shot cans" when the enemy gets a little too close. Shot cans or "grapeshot" historically consisted of musket balls, nails, chains, and/or other shrapnel that spread like a shotgun blast to halt or disrupt enemy charges. The 1861: Civil War unit set has two different cannons. The iron Rifle Cannon has a fearsome range, while the brass Napoleon Cannon's range is somewhat shorter. The Rifle cannon has the special ability to fire "solid shot", a non-explosive iron ball primarily used to destroy obstacles or cover. The Napoleon cannon's special ability launches "hot shot", a flammable projectile used to set fires.

Civil War Weapons
(information and pictures compiled by Steven Cento)

| Muskets The smoothbore muskets were a standard of the army. They were inaccurate but very deadly at close range. The rifled musket with the minie ball was more accurate than the smoothbore. It had a range of half a mile, but it only shot two rounds a minute.

Spencer Carbine The most popular US Cavalry shouder arm of the war, the 39 inch, .52 caliber repeating gun could shoot seven-rounds before reloading. The Spencer repeating rifle was rugged and its metallic ammunition wasn’t vulnerable to rain or fording rivers. |

| Artillery The standard artillery piece in the army was the brass smoothbore 12 pounder Napoleon. It shot a ball 4.5 inches in diameter, and had a range of a mile, but was highly inaccurate. With the correct ammunition, the Napoleon was highly effective at close range. The case shot was a thin walled shell with a charge and 50 lead slugs. The canister was a metal cylinder with a charge and 200 to 300 bullets. A more accurate type of artillery was the Parrot gun. The Parrot guns shot twice as far as the Napoleons and were cheaper to manufacture. Of the Parrot guns, the most common were the 10 and 20 pound versions.

Custom Civil War Formations (by Steven Cento):

Battle Line
(Formation 1): 12 units abreast, 2 to 3 rows deep
The battle line is the basic civil war formation. Used for short advances, defense and attack. It is not wise to charge this formation.

Skirmishes
(Formation 2): 24 units abreast, 1 to 2 rows deep
This is the secondary attack line. It is used from a superior position from which you want to deliver massive fire power. It can easily be broken and destroyed by a charge. Skirmishes are good for punching them hard before turning tail and hiding.

Maneuver Column
(Formation 5)
A box formation (also called a road line), good for moving troops. It keeps them compact and ready to switch to other formations.

About the multiplayer netmap:

The 1861: Civil War netmap is designed as a team map with 2 starts. Obviously, one team will control Union forces and the other will control Confederate forces. Most of the Myth II game types are supported. There are three meshes, "Call to Arms", "Skirmish", and "Outlaws and Deserters". "Call to Arms" has the largest number of troops (for larger teams), and you can trade for more of the higher-powered units. "Skirmish" provides a smaller, more manageable force for unranked one-on-one games. "Outlaws" has 6 starts, and all the units are confederate deserters.

Using the Civil War Units plug-in to create your own maps:

To make your own Civil War maps, playable by anyone who has the Units plug-in, start by simply disassembling the Units plug-in to your "local folder" with Tag Extractor (Mac) or Topaz (PC). You should be able to find these programs at Vista's website (http://vista.theresistance.net) or from other Myth map-making sites on the internet.

Once you've created your map and placed the Civil War units and scenery, you can build a plug-in that includes only the following:
The .256 image file for your map, your .MESH tag(s), .STLI (string lists) that name your map(s), your overhead and pregame images, and any Myth or Civil War tags you've modified. The fewer tags you modify, the fewer you will need to include, and the smaller your plug-in file size will be.

Your plug-in "read me" documentation (if you should publicly release your map), in addition to the Bungie-required copyright, should contain the following notice:
For use with the Civil War Units Tagset plug-in created by Cydonian (cydonian@mail.com) and Creation (www.creationgames.com)

If you make any modifications to the unit tags (using Fear), your "read-me" file must also state:
Modifications by (your name) have been made to the original unit tags, and any resulting bugs, problems, or things you deem to be strange are not the fault of Creation. =)

Credits:

Steven Cento (of #Anictolyte#) provided many suggestions and much helpful direction in unit development, research assistance, and preliminary design elements for cannon artillery tags, and was a great help in perfecting and finalizing the content of the Units Tagset.

3D modeling and texturing for new units and elements by Cydonian, except for:
The horse model used in creating the officer sprites, which is based on a model by Hash Inc, included with the Animation:Master software for royalty-free non-profit use.

All animation, rendering, and sprite assembly by Cydonian.

Fear editing by Cydonian, with auxiliary assistance from Steven Cento.

Myth-to-Civil War unit-conversion tags and customized formations by Steven Cento.

"1861: Civil War" color map and mesh by Cydonian.

Voice characterizations by Dez Valentino and Cydonian.

"1861: Deercreek Bridge" solo level scripted by REDDEK, designed by Cydonian.

Sounds (for weapons and special effects) not owned by Bungie or created by Cydonian are royalty-free or in the public domain, and come from a variety of sources, including the internet.

Most of the natural scenery (trees, bushes, rocks), and the buildings, ambient sounds, and ambient life (birds and deer) in the map set were created by and/or owned by Bungie Software Products Corporation, and appeared in the Myth II:Soulblighter game. It was necessary to include an edited version of a scenery collection in order to make these objects properly destructible in Civil War games (the original collections do not support their use for projectiles).

Civil War era photographs and illustrations are from either the National Archives or the Library of Congress.

Historical quotes in unit 'flavor' texts are attributed to the speaker/writer whenever their identity is known. Unattributed quotes were made by unknown historical persons or created by Cydonian.

Beta-testing by members of: my order Los Geezers, the Federation order, the Anictolyte map-making group, and Creation.

Special Thanks to:

Spanky (creator of American Soil) for initially getting me interested in attempting this project, for helpful suggestions, and for assistance with research and 'flavor' quotes.

Thanks also to Vodi and Pythos for developing tools that almost make this stuff easy.

Steven Cento wishes to thank those who assisted with his contributions to this plug-in:

Research Help: JON (drector@pacificnet.net)
Beta Testing: Federation Order
Special Thanks To: Paul Whittle, Jesse Talbert, Black Sam, Michael Poe, Doogie, Et'he Visionary, Gandalf MoR, Billy Green, Brad

Cydonian, 5-13-00
cydonian@mail.com