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"And cannons to bring them back to crust."

Air Buccaneers Beta 2 Player's guide Version 2.0 by -]RONO[-Bahamut A.K.A Rob

Section 1 - Introduction & Contents

Welcome to the Air Buccaneers Player's guide! This guide already assumes you know the cough cut and thrust of Air Buccaneers, so if there's something you don't get, refer to the manual shipped with Beta 2, or check it out at:

http://ludocraft.oulu.fi/airbuccaneers/index.php?description

In the guide we will cover how to become a more efficient downing machine! :)

The guide employs shortcut codes. To find a section quickly, simply enter the appropriate bracketed shortcut code into the Find box.

Section 1 : Introduction & Contents
Section 2 : Your Balloon (2222)
Section 3 : The crew positions (3333)
Section 4 : When the going gets tough (4444) Section 5 : Miscellaneous (5555)
Section 6 : How to beat a bot (6666)
Section 7 : Buccaneer Rankings (7777)
Section 8 : Version History (8888)

Section 2 - Your balloon (Shortcut code : 2222 )

The balloon comes in two varieties.

Regular - This is what (probably) the most of your flights will be courtesy of, it's small, manuverable, and packs some power due to the attached cannon pointing to starboard. The regular balloon contains 4 actual positions (aimer, loaded, firer, and pilot), but you may want to include a 5th person for Scout duties (more on that later). The Regular balloon will sink from 2 direct hits from a a double loaded cannonball or gunpowder pouch.

and

The Battleship - (bs) - The king of balloon warfare, only 1 battleship is found in each base. It is a hulking great ship, and so, the manuverability suffers greatly. The battleship has 4 (!) cannons, two on port, and two on starboard, so you can deliver a devastating volley to either side. The cannons, however, have a severely reduced angle of movement compared to the cannon on a regular balloon, meaning the rear of the battleship is vulnerable, which is something to watch out for. However, the cannons on the battleship are more powerful, with a greater range than the peashooter on board a normal balloon. Although, the battleship's massive basket is also rather easier to land a cannonball or gunpowder pouch in, so do watch out! The battleship contains 13 (!!!) positions ( aimer, loader, firer for each of the 4 cannons, and a pilot). You might also want to save room for a scout. The Battleship can withstand a huge amount of pounding (an entire 12, or 6 double-loaded cannonballs), which is just as well, since the size of the battleship means you won't be dodging anything.

I personally prefer the regular balloon, as they are far harder to shoot down, which I think is an acceptable tradeoff for being weaker and with less firepower.

Most of the time, it is not reccomended to fully man a balloon, as that crew could split up and man several balloons.

Section 3 - The crew positions (Shortcut code : 3333 )

There are 5 crew positions, although do remember that, with enough effort, 1 person can perform all 5 tasks to reasonable efficiency. However, this is not recommended, as the constant position switiching will get to you, causing you to make what could be deadly mistakes.

The crew positions are as follows.
(B) next to the name of a position indicates a bot can fill this crew position.

Pilot - Quite possibly the most important position, without a pilot, you ain't going nowhere! It is the pilots job to make sure the ship's cannons are pointing in approximately the right direction, navigate through the skies to your objective, outmanuver your foe, and dodge incoming fire in a graceful fashion.

The Ship's wheel icon is the Piloting action icon.

Aimer - The aimer has one duty, but also one of the toughest. Make sure that the cannons are pointing in towards the foe. When in this position, remember that cannonballs travel in a curved arc as they are affected by gravity. The longest shot is fired at about 45 degrees.

The curved arrows is the icon of the Aimer

Loader (B) - The Loaders job is a simple one. In between shots, put more cannonballs, gunpowder pouches (not necessary to fire),or yourself into the cannon. Not much to go with this one, but remember you can put in two cannonballs at once for a more powerful shot.

The loader has no icon, simply stand near the end of the cannon, with cannonball in hand and press the fire button.

Gunner (B) - The Gunner also has a quite simple job. Light the fuse at the right time to send that cannonball flying into your foes. Remember, cannonballs take time to travel, so you may need to lead your shots a bit.

The gunner's icon is the flame icon, stand close, looking at it with torch in hand, then press fire to light the cannon fuse.

And an "unofficial" one :

Scout - The scout's job is to scan the skies, looking hard with the telescope to spot a target. This job is important, as the other crew members may be too engaged in their job to keep a lookout. The socut's second task to to shoot down incoming cannonballs using the musket. A scout can also act as a "Spare", so if one crew member bites the dust (or falls out, lol), the scout can assume the job of the missing crew member. The scout could act as a pilot on a completely different balloon, speeding ahead then TeamSay-ing warnings and hostile positions back to a less expenible balloon further back (eg. a battleship, or one chock-full of people).

The scout has no icon, but this is because it is not an actual position. The scout's "weapon" of choice is the telescope.

Section 4 - When the going gets tough (Shortcut code : 4444 )

This section is all about how to give yourself the advantage in almost any encounter situation. In the diagrams, (A) represents your balloon, while (F) represents an enemy balloon.

Equal footing

This is the most common of all combat situations. The two opposing balloons approach side by side and exchange fire until one is defeated. It looks something like this:

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|                   |
|                   |
| A          F      |
|                   |
|                   |
|--------------------

In an equal footing situation,the balloons must fly parallel to each other if they are to score hits. Equal footing is not a particularly good situation to try and board the opposing balloon, as it will have several shots at you as you approach.

Enemy below

This is a benificial situation, as it is far harder to shoot upwards than downwards. Also, it is a short step from "Bombs Away", which is pretty much the best combat situation you could possibly hope for. Boarding is somewhat easier than in the Equal Footing situation, as your height means the enemy will have difficulty in hitting you. If you want to board, go until you are almost on top of them, then sharply drop down and jump aboard.

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|                   |
| A                 |
|                   |
|          F        |
|                   |
|--------------------

You may just be able to hit the crew of the foe balloon with a gunpowder pouch if you are close enough and your aim is true.

"Bombs away!"

The best aerial combat situation. The enemy balloon is directly below you, so stand at the edge of your balloon and drop gunpowder pouches onto the top of their balloon. This will have the same effect as a direct hit from a cannonball, but is much, much quicker to pull off. If you get the foe in this position, even a battleship will go down in seconds.

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|  A                |
|                   |
|   F               |
|                   |
|                   |
|--------------------

Terror at 450 feet

This situation involves the enemy being at a greater height than you. This is bad, as you may be unable to hit them while they hit you. Do the Sharp Rise combo and hope that you draw to Equal Footing before your opponent gets too much of an advantage.

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|                   |
| F                 |
|                   |
|          A        |
|                   |
|--------------------

Death from above

This is the worst possible combat situation you can get yourself into. If your foe is quick off the mark and realizes this, then deploys the "Bombs Away" strategy, then there is really NOTHING you can do. However, if you are quick enough, you may JUST be able to put into the Equal Footing situation using the Sharp Rise combo, or you could attempt to speed away using the fast-forward combo.

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|                   |
| F                 |
|                   |
|  A                |
|                   |
|--------------------

Section 5 - Miscellaneous (shortcutcode : 5555 )

Every balloon has a barrel on board, which can be used to store an extra 12 cannonballs and 8 extra gunpowder pouches. To do this, simply press ThrowWeapon so the objec lands in or near the barrel. There will then be a clunk, and when you go to the barrel, you will be able to take the ammo out again when you need it.

Max storage for 1 person (if you have a barrel all to yourself)

Max Cannonballs = 12 inventory + 2 in cannon + 12 in barrel = 26 cannonballs.

Max Gunpowder pouches = 8 inventory + 8 barrel = 16 gunpowder pouches.

The 3 Manouver comboes are activated by entering key combinations while in the Pilot position :

Quick Climb - Up Up Up Up
Will make you suddenly gain height rapidly. Be careful not to go so high the air is unbreathable!

Quick Dive - Down Down Down Down
Will make you suddenly lose height. Try not to hit the ground, I can't stress that enough.

Fast-forward - Down Down Up Up
Will double your balloons forward movement speed. Useful for getting to your objective rapidly.

All 3 of these comboes are extremely useful for throwing off the aim of your opponents. Manouvers can be performed once every 45 seconds, so save it up for an opportune moment, or when you are absolutely sure you will meet no-one for the next 3 quarters of a minute.

Remember, that the crew of a balloon is also vunerable. If you are incredibly skillful enough to land a cannonball or Gunpowder pouch in the foe balloon's basket, all the people on board will spill out, and the balloon will be harmless.

Boarding a balloon is a simple concept, but difficult to execute. However, if you manage to pull it off, chances are you will take the crew by surprise and be able to kill them all, claiming the balloon for your own. The best way to board a balloon is to get into a "Bombs Away" position, then quickly lower the balloon, and a few seconds before you draw level, jump into their balloon. If you are brave, stupid, or just plain crazy, you could climb into the cannon, then get a crewmate to aim the cannon and fire you over to the opposing balloon.

AirMines are NOT to be fired at opposing balloons, because if they hit a balloon, the mine will not activate and the rocket will be harmless. This will also happen if a rocket fuse runs out at too low a height. To use a airmine to it's full effect during combat, try to make the mine deploy in the foe balloon's flight path.

Bots are difficult to manipulate. However, once in a position, they stay there, so use the voice menu to order them to join your crew, stand at the far end of the balloon to them, and hopefully they should stay on. I would reccommend bots for reload purposes only, as they have a rather random response time to a "fire" request. Bots load one cannonball, so if you load one too, you can double load a cannon in under a second. Deadly.

Sabotaging enemy balloons is an effective way of reducing the amount of resistance you encounter. You can go to the enemy base and cut their balloons loose so they drift all over the place, or you could cut all the small balloons loose and take the battleship for yourself. Since the balloon will bear the foe's logo, there is a chance that the foe will mistake you for one of their own pilots, allowing you to get a surprise attack in combat.

A good rule of thumb : A dead crewman is a useless crewmen. If there is absolutely no chance of you winning (eg. You are alone on a balloon which is in such poor condition, the top is blazing. Out the the mist comes, cannons primed, a undamaged, battleship manned by 5. There isn't a chance in hell you'll win (unless you are phenomenally skilled, and they are the worst players in history), so quickly spin round, and use the fast-forward combo to get out of there double quick!

Think tactically in 3-D. If you have another friendly balloon nearby, and a enemy in the distance, go round one side whilst they go round the other. Especially if they are piloting a regular balloon (they only have 1 cannon, therefore, only one business end), they will be overwhelmed.

Balloons do strange things when they collide, at the moment. If you crash them together, things may benifit you, they may not. Either way the risks of them getting stuck somehow outway the potential benifits. In other words, try not to ram your foe. :)

To jump is better than to fall. If your balloon is near a large body of water, and you are dealt the final blow, jump overboard and try to land in the water.

Remember, in the frantic furies of combat, it's difficult to tell between a manned balloon and an empty one. This is very difficult to pull off, but if you can get an unmanned balloon floating up there (mid-air balloon switch?:P) the ememy may fire at that. Especially effective if you jump to a balloon of the other side's color before they see you :D

Communication is key. Use the CrewSay effectively, and you can co-ordinate the attacks perfectly. Alternatively, you can use the Voice Menu commands, which have the same effect, but you do not need to type it out.

Section 6 : How to beat a bot shortcutcode : (6666)

NOT how to beat one on the opposite team, that's too easy ;) Instead, this section teaches you how to better command the cheese-brained AI. First, press O to open the orders menu, and tell the bots you want to join your crew. Stand on the balloon you want to use, at the far end of the balloon from the dock. They should jump on, though it may take them a few tries to get it right. Once on board, cut the ropes, paying special attention to not hitting the bots (the sword has a habit of seeking human flesh), or if in doubt, you can use your hands to undo the ropes. Once you take off and get going, you can tell the bots to shoot airmines, load the cannon (they do this automatically) and fire the cannon (although this is not reccomended unless you are aiming the cannon at the same time, as the bots have a rather random response time to commands), all this can be done via the orders menu, accessable by pressing O (default).

Bots will NOT :

Shoot enemy cannonballs from the sky with the musket Throw gunpowder from the balloon
Climb into the cannon (so stop trying, you sadist.) Destroy the fuel dump
Fire airmines whilst on a balloon
Steer the balloon
Aim the cannon

Section 7 : Buccaneers Rankings shortcutcode : (7777)

Buccaneer rankings are displayed below your name on the scoresheet, and below your score on the normal screen. They are not important, bestow no extra abilities, and are only for show (and bragging rights). It takes two enemy drops to raise a rank (that is, you have to be part of the balloon crew when it scores the drop, you will still get a promotion while steering or loading), and ranks last between maps (they are not reset when there is a map change).

Without further ado, here is a list of all the rankings :

"Landlubber" 2 drops
"Deckrat" 4 drops
"Rigweasel" 6 drops
"Flamewarden" 8 drops
"Rookbombardier" 10 drops
"Crowlieutenant" 12 drops
"Ravencommander" 14 drops
"Owlblood Captain" 16 drops
"Ragged Fleetlord" 18 drops
"Mighty Fleetlord" 20 drops
"Far-famed Fleetlord" 22 drops
"Sage of Air" 24 drops
"Elder Sage of Air" 26 drops
"Savant of Four Winds" 28 drops
"The Gnarly King of Air" 30 drops

Section 8 : Version History shortcutcode : (8888)

1.0 : Wrote main content of guide.
1.5 : Added consiberable new content to the misc. section 2.0 : Updated info rendered incorrect by upgrade to 2.1, added "How to beat a bot", and added the section "Buccaneer rankings"

End.

Remember, this is only version 2.1, and if I think of anything else, I will update the guide. e-mail : rob_kemp2001@yahoo.co.uk (also works for MSN)