The struggle between the CCA and the US forces in space is escalating. The Americans have followed the Russians to the Jovian system in pursuit of the Fury technology, and have fanned out across the four major satellites. On Europe, Callisto and Io, their battle is moving back and forth, with no sign of a victor yet, but nothing has happened on Ganymede…until now.
You arrived on Ganymede two weeks ago with the Black Dogs, and were assigned a simple protection job – watching over the dozen or so Scavengers as they gather bio-metal. You and your two wingmen have little to do but follow them s they roam the surface of the moon.
Today, they have moved out to a large scrap filed in an impact crater a hundred kilometers from the main base. You set your Grizzly down in a crevice near the carter wall, and settle back to a day of relaxation.
You have almost dropped off to sleep when your radio crackles to life. It is one of your wingmen, from his vantage point high on the far wall of the crater.
“Wolves in the flock, sir!”
You glance up sharply, in time to see two wingmen setting off into the crater. You launch the tank as you strap yourself back into the seat, and look for the Scavengers. Even as you find them on the radar and point the craft in the right direction, a light catches your eye, and you look up to see a Scavenger erupt in a ball of fame. As you speed closer, you can see that there are indeed two small tanks darting around within the group. They look like NSDF scouts at first, but, closing the distance more, you see that they are gray, with a star painted on each side. Not Russian, you think, but are unable at first to place the insignia.
Then, as the two raiders notice you and your men, you hear a burst of radio chatter – it is unmistakably Mandarin. The Chinese!
You max the throttle in an effort to reach the intruders before your colleagues, but just as you prepare to launch your first salvo, you lose sight of tanks. “Where’d they go?” shouts one of the wingmen.
You assign one of your wingmen to protect the remain-ing five Scavengers. As they head for cover, you and the remaining Grizzly tanks head up to the high ground on the edge of the crater to look for any sign of the Chinese tanks.
At the top your radar registers a massive amount of bio-metal beyond a nearby ridge.
“Base, this is Delta 3-0…we need backup here…base?” You hear nothing but static. “OK, Delta 3-1; we need to go in and see this for ourselves.”
You head over the ridge, and turn back almost instantly. Below the rock wall is the largest base you’ve ever seen in space. The Chinese must have been there for weeks!
Even as you start to head for base, a large tank appears from nowhere, only yards ahead of you. You skip to one side to avoid it and push the engine to maximum.
Thrusters screaming, you jump over a small mound, and nearly land on another of the big machines. Twisting your head back, you can see it turning slowly and opening up on your wingman.
Scarcely two hits send him cart wheeling into a cliff to erupt into a cloud of flame and debris.
You speed yourself on, but to no avail – a third shot slams home in your tank’s engine housing, blasting the whole machine forward a hundred feet, in flames. The first blast of exploding fuel licks at the back of your head as you fumble for the ejector seat…
3-Feb-70
Commander Level Eyes Only
Largest satellite in the solar system; moon of Jupiter
3269 miles across.
Mean temperature – 85 degree
The surface of Ganymede is generally characterized by rolling hills and valleys, although there are some areas where sheer-sided canyons are common. There are many impact craters, affording useful cover in a firefight. Bio-metal is liberally strewn around the moon, as a result of its very thin atmosphere; this stopped the metal from burning up on entry, as it wuld on a planet with a thicker atmosphere.
Yesterday, contact was lost with 4 Platoon, a unit on scrap collection duties some distance north of our HQ on Ganymede. We have received no word from them for forty-nine hours, and none of our reconnaissance patrols have seen any trace of them. We suspect Russian involvement, but have no evidence that there are any CCA forces on Ganymede. Patrols are to be sent out to the area where 4 Platoon was when it last checked in with HQ, hopefully to find the platoon, or at least offer some clues as to what happened to them. Other duties continue as normal, with scrap collection proceeding effortlessly on other parts of Ganymede, and regular defensive patrols keeping guard over our operations. Some of these patrols have reported anomalous EM readings for short periods while on operations, but these are probably a result of inaccuracies caused by Ganymede’s magnetic field, since our instruments were designed to work on the Moon, with no magnetic field.
Forces on Ganymede are currently limited in manpower and resources, but operations will be confined to a small area, so we are unlikely to find ourselves over-stretched, should the need for combat operations arise. You should use this to your own advantage by becoming familiar with areas on Ganymede, so that you can operate more effectively should combat return you to the same areas. There are certain areas where operations will be particular frequent, because of large scrap deposits; you should find yourself quickly becoming attuned to the terrain in these areas and its potential advantages and disadvantages in combat.
You should use this lull in operations to refresh your skills in a Scavenger at some point – illness or injury may well result in redeployment of manpower, so combat pilots could easily find themselves temporarily piloting Scavengers. In particular, you should bear in mind the deployment of turrets and artillery units, since the procedure for picking up scrap bio-metal is the same, as a result of common mechanical components in each.
Razor
Functionally equivalent to standard NSDF Razor; the Black Dog variant carries two cannon hardpoints, one rocket and one specialized. Standard armament is twin miniguns.
Identical to standard NSDF model in function, but standard armament is an SP Stabber and Prox-mines.
Wolverine
Again, identical to standard NSDF model in every respect, except that standard armament includes a Shadow Rocket launcher.
Now aging considerably, but still a mainstay on the battlefield, Black Dog turrets are generally held together by countless emergency repairs, but are sturdy and reliable, nonetheless. Standard armament is a single minigun.
Identical to standard NSDF model in every respect, but showing its age compared to the more modern Grizzly. Fitted with an AT-Stabber as standard.
Equally heavily armed as its standard NSDF counterpart, with twin Rocket launchers as standard, the Black Dog variant of the Thunderbolt is easily recognizable by its shark nose markings.
Longbows must be deployed before they can fire, but are potent weapons when placed carefully. A single Longbow can easily command hundreds of meters of ground if placed on a high platform. Fitted with long range howitzers as standard.
Unarmed, and vulnerable without an escort, despite its thick armor. Each APC carries five soldiers as standard, who can be deployed at a moment’s notice.
Standard armament is twin AT-Stabbers. Walkers can operate as the mainstay of any assault, owing to the massive amount of damage they can take.
Black Dog rear-echelon units such as Recyclers, Scavengers and Factories are all identical to the standard NSDF vehicles, apart from their markings and insignia. You should refer to your NSDF Field Briefing Manual for information on these units.
The Chinese presence on Ganymede is well established, and their vehicles have all been built with operations there in mind. We know little about their offensive capabilities, or any features they may have, so you should prepare yourself for any eventuality.
The Mongoose is a light attack craft, with relatively low armor, but devastating speed, and a knack for passing defenses undetected with uncanny ease. Watch out for it.
The Naga is a nimble tank, often used to attack a position from some distance with its TAG Cannon while other units move ahead to draw fire away from it.
The Yeti would seem to be the backbone of the Chinese forces in space; it is functionally equivalent to our Grizzlies, but is slightly hardier.
The crowning glory of Chinese forces in space, the Emperor is a formidable adversary in any situation, despite its slow speed. Its main armament appears to be a new, more powerful variant of the Stabber family of weapons, which, coupled with its heavy armor plating, makes the Emperor a vehicle to be feared.
As the main Chinese heavy strike craft, the Phoenix is a bomber easily equal to our own Thunderbolts.
The Adder’s main armament is a bank of miniguns that make it a tenacious defender, tearing through armor with frightening power. Its only Achilles’ heel is its slow turning speed.
The Archer is the Chinese artillery unit. It is capable of shelling distant targets, but, like our own Longbows, is very vulnerable at close range.
Named after the mythical fire breathing beast, the Dragon more than lives up to its name, with vicious rocket armament. Its weak point is its light armor.
Based on walker technology stolen from the Soviets by the Chinese, the Mongo is identical to the original Soviet Golem, apart from a re-spray.
Intelligence reports suggest that the Red Army has a full complement of support units identical in function to standard NSDF or CCA vehicles.
Recent intelligence suggests that the Chinese are in possession of some kind of cloaking device. Our best guess is that it is derived from some Cthonian technology that is able to move objects instantly from one place to another, by means of ripples in an alternate dimension. We guess that the cloaking device shifts objects partially into this dimension, rendering them totally undetectable in any way in this dimension. As an upshot, though, this would render the user unable to fire any weapons.
Note: When playing as the Chinese you can activate/deactivate your ship’s cloak by pressing the “G” key. Note that not all Chinese ships have the cloaking ability.
You should refer to your Battlezone manual for basic combat and navigation instructions. The menu system in The Red Odyssey is essentially the same as in Battlezone.
The first important difference you’ll notice is that there are no training missions in The Red Odyssey, since it is aimed at players who are already experienced in piloting Battlezone’s tanks. Furthermore, you’ll see that the NSA missions have been replaced by the Black Dog missions and the CCA missions option has been replaced by the Red Army missions. The Red Army missions are aimed at more competent players than the Black Dog missions, but any player should be capable of beating them after completing the Black Dog campaign. Note that The Red Odyssey story may not make much sense if you have not completed Battlezone, but is not a prerequisite. Also, the Red Army missions are likely to make more sense if you play the Black Dog missions first.
Note: When playing as the Chinese you can activate/deactivate your ship’s cloak by pressing the “G” key. Note that not all
The Red Odyssey will default to your Battlezone control setup, so once it is installed, you can run it from the item created in the Start menu, and start the game almost straight away. There are a few new controls to note, though, such as the “G” key to cloak in some units.
Note: Team evolve strongly recommends that you switch OFF “Automatic Leveling” in the Gameplay Options menu, as it allows you far greater control over your vehicle in the game. It may take some practice before you are proficient without automatic leveling, but many parts of the game will be far easier with the extra maneuverability afforded by manual levels.
The Red Odyssey operates in essentially the same way as Battlezone as far as multiplayer is concerned; you can, however, use The Red Odyssey’s own vehicles and features. For instance, you’ll find that some vehicles are able to cloak (press G), becoming almost totally invisible to the naked eye, and completely undetectable to radar. Bear in mind, though, that you will not be able to fire, since your vehicle is not entirely a part of this dimension while cloaked.
You are eligible for 60 days of “getting started” support. This support covers installation and basic use of the included software. It does not cover use of software or files not included with this product, or problems caused by your operating system and/or computer system.
Here’s how to contact the Macmillan Computer Publishing User Services team.
If you contact us, please be prepared to give us the following information:
Email: support@mcp.com
Telephone: (317)581-3833
Fax: (317)817-7488
Mail: Macmillan Computer Publishing
Attention: User Services
201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, IN46290
Free technical support is available directly from Team Evolve via email. Before contacting our support service, please have the information requested below. We will be more able to quickly solve your difficulty if this information is provided.
· Complete Product Title.
· Exact Error Message reported (if any). There may be a description of the problem inside the file named debuglog.txt inside your main Odyssey directory, please send us the contents of the file to help accelerate the resolution.
· Brief Description of what you were doing just prior to the problem occurring.
Contact support@teamevolve.com with your problem.
Also, please check our Online FAQ (at the Web site listed below) regarding The Red Odyssey to see if your questions is answered there before sending in your problem.
For updates to The Red Odyssey, please refer to:
http://www.teamevolve.com/products/odyssey on the Internet World Wide Web.
Producer
Robert E. Waring
Writer
Tom Cleghorn
Level Design
Richard Farrelly
Toni Chaffin
Mick Brown
Art
Dan Tudge
Stephen Karl
Joel Walden
Crista Forest
Bryan Ekman
Programming
Matt Houser
Shane Powell
Sound
David Spell
Music
Kochun Hu
Voice Actors
Joe Harrell
Mark Lipsky
Ed Paiva
Phil Graves
David Spell
Dan Asma
Kochun Hu
Robert E. Waring
Mageara Cameron-Spell
Kevin Yost
Bill Waring
Scott Waring
Producer
Steve M. Schafer
President
Douglas S. Bennett
Software Specialist
David Carson
Publisher
Stacy Hiquet
Marketing Manager
Angela Nelis
Design Manager
Robin Laset
Project Manager
Deborah Edwards
Designers
Tim Amrhein
Jason Grisham
Manager, User Services
Brandon Penticuff
Special thanks to everyone at Activision for their help with this product, especially Philippe Erwin, James Riordan, Peter Karpas, Matthew Paul and Christopher Hewish.