Mega Lo Mania
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| Mega lo Mania | |
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| Developer(s) | Sensible Software |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Interactive |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES, DOS |
| Input | Mouse, Keyboard |
Mega Lo Mania is a real-time strategy mission oriented and resource gathering computer game. It was developed by Sensible Software. The object of the game is to conquer 28 islands divided into sectors, with three islands per Epoch and one for the final Epoch. Mega Lo Mania was released in the Northern America as Tyrants: Fight Through Time.
The player must take on the role of one of four Gods: Scarlet (Red), Oberon (Yellow), Caesar (Green) or Madcap (Blue). As their God, the player must lead his people by instructing them to do a number of different tasks such as create buildings, design weapons, mine for elements or form an army. The ultimate aim is to defeat all the other Gods by destroying their towers and their people.
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[edit] Epochs, Islands, Sectors
There are multiple sectors on each island, and multiple islands spanning different Epochs.
Each sector can be either empty, or be occupied by a particular people. Although the player cannot see before they occupy a sector, each has different types of minerals and elements available to it that can put the occupier at an advantage or disadvantage.
Every island has a differing shape with different numbers of sectors dividing it. Islands in this game can have anywhere between two and sixteen sectors on a four by four grid. Some islands are small enough to only allow two different Gods to play against each other, whilst others are strategically designed for various gameplay scenarios, such as islands that are not connected, requiring flight in the form of jetplanes or biplanes for armies to attack each other.
Epochs determine the base technology level that each group of people begin with. For example, in the 1st Epoch, the starting technology level is equal to that of 9500 BC, meaning that each starting tower resembles a caveman's dwelling. In each Epoch (except the final Epoch) there are three islands and each must be conquered before proceeding to the next.
[edit] Gameplay
In each Epoch the player selects an island, then a starting sector and a number of men (from a pool of 100); each other God playing this island also chooses their starting sector. Once the game starts, the player allocates men to various tasks:
- Create designs: There are three types of design; shields (to repair buildings), defences (to place in the building turrets), and weaponry. Designs only become avaible when there are enough appropriate resources, thus improved designs appear mining has taken place. Creating designs will also increase the technology level of the player, resulting in more resilient buildings, faster design speeds, and makes the laboratory available for construction. The highest level designs for the current epoch only appear after a laboratory has been constructed.
- Mine for elements: whilst some elements can be collected by hand and do not need to be mined, others must be mined by allocating men. When a mine is constructed (during the 4th Epoch or later), further elements will become available that were not previously discovered. Elements are the resources required to build shields, defences and weapons.
- Deploy armies: Armies are created by selecting from available weapons. Simple weapons are constructed automatically from available resources and require one man; others must first be produced at a factory and may require two or more men to field. Armies are moved sector-by-sector and attack enemy armies and buildings automatically. Men can also be deployed unarmed, but as they cannot damage enemy buildings this is only useful for constructing a new tower in another sector, or in desperation whilst defending a sector.
- Deploy defences: As with armies, defenses are created by selecting from available weapons, requiring one or more men each (with the exception of some automated defenses during the later Epochs). They are deployed in turrets mounted on buildings.
- Construct buildings: Men can be assigned to construct a mine, factory or a laboratory when they become available. Towers may also be constructed by armies in empty sectors providing the player has not entered an alliance.
- Start production runs: Advanced designs must be build in a factory. Men can be assigned to produce a certain number of designs or to keep production going indefinitely. Production ends when the required elements run out.
- Do nothing: Men that have not been assigned will breed automatically, improving the workforce over time.
In addition, the player may undertake the following actions:
- Repair buildings: if shields have been created and are available, damaged buildings can be repaired. Sectors can also be shut down through this menu (see below).
- Check blueprints: The player may examine his current designs and the quantity of elements required to construct each. Designs can be trashed, leaving it available to be redesigned. This can be useful when new elements have been discovered, as the redesign may implement these new elements.
- Forge an alliance: in any map where there are two or three opposing gods, the player may attempt to ally with another team by clicking on the shield of their opponent. The computer controlled teams sometimes offer the player an alliance. Allied gods are not able to construct new towers in empty sectors.
[edit] Final Epoch: Mega-Lo-Mania
The final epoch has just one, square island: Mega-Lo-Mania. The rules here differ in that only one action is available - forming an army. Although you form the army as 'unarmed men', each man is in fact armed with laser pistols and the sole objective is to destroy every other tower and all other men on the island.
The number of men available to the player on this island depends on the number of men shut down in previous epochs. Shutting down a sector can only be performed when the highest tech level (2001 AD) has been reached, sufficient men are in the tower, and at there are at least some men outside your tower (so that you are not defeated immediately). Every man in the tower is then cryogenically frozen to be made available in the final battle.
[edit] Table of Epochs, their Starting Dates, and their Islands
| Epoch | Date | Islands | Description | Offensive Weapon | Defensive Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 9500 BC | Aloha, Bazooka, Cilla | Neolithic | Rock | Stick |
| 2nd | 3000 BC | Dracula, Etcetra, Formica | Bronze Age | Slingshot | Spear |
| 3rd | 100 BC | Gazza, Hernia, Ibiza | Iron Age | Pike | Bow and Arrow |
| 4th | 900 AD | Junta, Karma, Lada | Medieval | Longbow | Cauldron of Boiling oil |
| 5th | 1400 AD | Mascara, Nausea, Ocarina | Renaissance | Catapult (two men per unit) | Crossbow |
| 6th | 1850 AD | Pyjama, Quota, Rumbaba | Industrial Age | Cannon (three men per unit) | Musket |
| 7th | 1915 AD | Sinatra, Tapioca, Utopia | Global War Era | Biplane (two men per unit) | Machine Gun |
| 8th | 1945 AD | Vespa, Wonka, Xtra | Cold War | Jet Fighter (three men per unit) | Bazooka |
| 9th | 1980 AD | Yoga, Zappa, Ohm | Space Age | Nuclear missile | Nuclear deterrent |
| 10th | 2001 AD | Mega-Lo-Mania | Information Age | Flying saucer (ten men per unit) | Laser Turret |
[edit] Release information
Mega Lo Mania was ported to several platforms.[1]
[edit] Amiga
- Publisher: Image Works (1991)
- United Kingdom, Germany, Italy
[edit] Atari ST
- Publisher: Image Works (1991)
- United Kingdom, Australia
[edit] DOS
- Publisher: UbiSoft (1992)
- Ported By: Audio Visual Magic, Ltd.
- United States
[edit] Mega Drive / Genesis
- Publisher: Virgin Interactive (1992)
- United States, United Kingdom
- CSK Research Institute Corp. (April 23, 1993)
- Japan
[edit] SNES
- Publisher Imagineer Co., Ltd. (1993)
- France, Germany, United Kingdom.
- Japan (July 23, 1993)
[edit] Other information
A sequel to Mega-Lo-Mania was in development by Sensible Software, but this was never released; a few screenshots were shown in an issue of Amiga Power.
Mega-Lo-Mania had what was at the time a fairly unique anti-piracy protection system. The game would periodically check for the presence of "bad sectors" on the game media which were hard to replicate with standard copying software. If these sectors were not found the game would auto-nuke the players starting sector and endlessly loop the "It's all over!" sound sample, ending the game and locking out the controls so the user had no option but to reset the machine.
