VV VV MM MM JJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
VV VV MMMM MMMM JJ
VV VV MM MM MM MM JJ
VV VV MM MMMM MM JJ
VV VV MM MM MM JJ
VV VV MM MM MM JJ
VV VV MM MM JJ
VV VV MM MM JJ
VVVV MM MM JJ JJ stands for Vantage master
VV MM MM JJJJ the Mystic Far East
FOREWORD
Welcome! This is a complete guide to the famous japanese SLG game - Vantage
Master the Mystic Far East, released by Nihon Falcom. As a sequel to VMO,
it is also a time-based battle chess which does not require you a quick
reaction but really drilling your brain.
This game is for sale in Japan and there should be a Chinese version.
Whether a English version exists or not depends on the mood of Falcom. I
am here to give you some information about the game. The first part is
game manual for those who are new to this fruitful game. The second part
is indroduction guide of all summoners and natials for those who can't read
Japanese but really want to dig in. The third part is calculation guide for
those who are addicted to this game. The information listed here are mainly
based on its power up kit.
CLAIM
DON'T consider this as a translation guide. I am not from English speaking
countries. More importantly, I don't know Japanese at all. Most of natials
name, characters's name, magic name are either copied from the web or
invented by me. If you hate the name like "magical hen with 3 legs" or you
don't understand the name like "Comma-shaped bead", you are welcome to
rename them. (I was tried to respect their original meanings, but I found
a lot of difficulties.) Remember that I am just a game addictor not a
professional translator. Again, if you have good ideas, just gives them
their coolnames. (Not necessarily restricted by original meanings)
SOMETHING IMPORTANT
I heart that there is an AI bug in Chinese version. You have to download
the patch from TTIME in order to fix the bug. How to identify the bug?
Play free mode, choose both side to be COMPUTER and watch their match.
Computer AIs highly favour heaven unit in unpatched version. If you found
ill-advisedly actions for computer, your version is unpatched. (e.g Summon
plenty of "Flying Ships" for both sides) I don't know whether it contains
other bug. The AI in Japanese version is almost perfect to me.
Please use NJSTAR to see Japanese / Chinese fonts.
STORY
After the end of the period of the war between opposing countries, Japan
was ultimately united under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate at the
beginning of the 17th century. However, the world of VM Japan is anything
but stable or happy, as a ceremony named Falling Stars has brought
hardship to Japan. The people are suffering as the country is being
dragged into depression, instability and resentment soon after.
Under those unfortunate circumstances, there are eight characters who try
to survive and to save Japan. The story begins with...
INSTALLATION
The game requires 1.3 Gbyte harddisks space, and required pre-installed
DirectX 8.0a or newer version to run. After insert Disk 1, if DirectX 8.0a
is not installed, you see a dialog with 3 buttons.
1. Install game
2. Install DirectX
3. Exit
Otherwise, installation program will run. Enter the path, click OK.
(The RIGHT button is OK; The LEFT button is Cancel. It bothers me quite
a long time)
If yours is CD version, second dialog will appear to ask you for disk 2.
(This time, the RIGHT button is Cancel; The LEFT button is OK)
At last, 2 icons are created. One is standard kit; The other is power
up kit. After installation, insert play disc to start both games.
GAME MENU
In standard kit, game menu are written in English with one exception.
If you finish scenario mode, you will see there are 2 more options.
One of them written in Japanese means "Festival". In power up kit,
you can play the secret modes in standard kit directly. There is one
more option - tournament mode.
SCENARIO MODE
After you click scenario mode in main menu, choose your difficulty
level. Next, you will be redirected to another menu. Choose your
favourite summoner and click OK button at bottom right corner.
After that, you will see an introduction and game conversation.
Click Skip button located at top left corner to skip conversation.
At last, choose a location and the mini map will be displayed on
upper right screen. Below that is the button OK. There is a thinking
time setting dialog below OK button. From left to right, it reads
short, medium, long, infinite. After you defeats certain number of
enemies, new maps will be unlocked.
Choose a map to play with, go through the conversation, you are now
in real battle. See other sections to know how to play.
There is a fan with a character at top left corner. Click on it,
there will be another menu.
The options are following :
1. Save
2. Back to main menu
3. Back to map menu
4. Give up
5. Redo/Undo
6. Magnification factor
7. Helper dialog
8. Chat dialog
9. Records
10. Game options
11. IP address
Grayed options are currently unavailable. e.g In scenario mode,
you cannot choose IP address since it is not a network play.
{Check, Check}
1. Save - choose if you want to save your game. In map menu,
that is a permanent save. In battle, that is an unfinished game
save. After continues the battle, you lose the save.
2. Back to main menu - Before return to main menu, program will
ask you whether you want to save a permanent game. LEFT button
is YES; RIGHT button is NO.
3. Back to map menu - Before return to map menu, program will ask
you whether you want to save an unfinished battle. LEFT button is
YES; RIGHT button is NO.
4. Give up - Give up and see statistic data. Then return to map menu.
5. Redo/Undo - The program do not offer infinite Redo/Undos. If you
give 2 wrong moves, you can only redo/undo once. However, you can
use this option many times.
6. Magnification factor - can be X1/2, X1, X2
7. Helper dialog - You can either enable or disable it.
8. Chat dialog - Only available in network play. You can either
enable or disable it.
9. Records - see your own records, including results in scenario
mode, mini-games etc.
10. Game options - configures your game. A submenu will be displayed
as following
a. music volumn
b. sound volumn
c. music on/off
d. sound on/off
e. background animation on/off
f. computer retreat on/off
11. IP address - only available in network play. In particular, if
you choose "HOST" in connection. You need to tell this IP to your
friend in order to play with him/her. He/she joins you by inputing
this IP in "GUEST" connection.
FREE MODE
After you click free mode in main menu, you need to select a map
from map menu. Click the arrows in main window to select the map
in other pages. At bottom right, there is a time setting dialog.
You can choose a custom thinking time. From left to right, it
writes short, medium, long, infinite. In scenario mode, it is always
infinite. You see a mini map description on top right after you
actually click on a map (a place name). Below which, it is a OK
button. Next, you have to choose you characters and customize their
abilities. There are 3 buttons at the bottom of screen. From left
to right, it reads player 1 character setting, match, player 2
character setting. Click on character setting, you can choose a
different character and customize his/her skill points. Above them,
there are 2 buttons. The left button is for player 1; The right
button is for player 2. Initially, player 1 is user; player 2 is
computer. You can choose other combinations by toggling them. You
can also select or deselect the magic items for both sides. If you
found difficulty to read character's information, please refers to
my character's guide.
That finishs the setting. Please refer to other sections in this
manual to know about how to play.
NETWORK MODE
After you click network mode in main menu, input your name. Then
you have to choose the method of connection. There are 4 different
connection methods. From up to down, they are TCPIP, IPX/SPX,
modem, and serial port.
TCPIP - Point to point connection on WAN. You can use TCPIP
connection in local LAN play (e.g in campus - but not recommend !).
At least one IP is needed.
IPX/SPX - Another connection protocol, cannot be used on WAN.
Modem - direct connection accross 2 computers by 2 modems.
Serial port - direct connection accross 2 computers by serial
crossover cable.
After choosing your connection method, you have to specify
connection mode, either HOST or GUEST. Upper option is HOST;
lower option is GUEST. For choosing HOST, you may need to enter
session name if you are in TCPIP connection. For choosing GUEST,
you may need to enter the host's IP and then choose a session name.
Conceptually, HOST could enter the session first, and GUEST should
find him/her in map menu. Under map menu, the middle right dialog
shows you about the connection status for both side. You may find
difficulty in reading them. They are "connect out", "not ready yet"
and "Ready", experiment which is which yourself. At bottom right
screen, there is a thinking time dialog. You can change your name
in map menu. You should also find a chat message box enabled by
default. The character custom menu appears if both of them select
the same map in map menu. Next, both of them can customize their
summoners. It is exactly the same menu you have seen in Free mode.
You can set your character, color of your side and view your
opponent's setting. If both you and your opponent click the Match
button, the battle starts.
Appendix
1. Chat message dialog - Maximum character length per line is 48
bytes. Capacity is 12 lines. F1 to F12 are hotkeys for quick
messages. You can define your own quick messages by pressing
SHITF + F*.
2. Thinking time limit - either short, medium, long, infinite.
"Infinite" means no time limit. There are 2 type of time limits
- basic time limit and extra time limit. For each turn, your
thinking time is limited by basic time limit. If you are
controlling the summoner, this basic time limit will be longer.
You have also several extra time bars, provided extra thinking
time capacity. Notice that they cannot be refilled. If your
thinking time exceeds basic time limit and you are running
out of extra time, your character will be forced to WAIT.
See time limit table.
time limit short medium long
summoner 30s 60s 120s
natials 15s 30s 60s
time bars 3 4 5
bar length 30s 60s 120s
3. Interrupt and continue a network game. Both GUEST and HOST
can either save a permanent game or a unfinished battle. A
message "The game is saved" will be acknowledged to your friend
after you choose save. There will be a prefix "NE" on saved
network game for identification. Notice that if you would like
to load your saved game, you MUST connect as HOST. (You may
save your game as GUEST) After that, wait your friend to join
the game again.
TOURNAMENT MODE
After you click tournament mode in main menu, choose your difficulty
level. Next, you will be redirected to other menu. Choose your
favourite summoner and click OK button at bottom right corner.
After that, you will talk to the master of ceremonies. Click Skip
button located at top left corner to skip conversation. You will see
a tree diagram. Click OK button at bottom right corner. Choose a
location and the mini map will be displayed on your upper right.
Below that is the button OK.
That finishs the setting. Please refer to other parts in this menu
to know about how to play.
At last, I would like to remind you that you cannot use the save
option in map menu screen. However, you can use the save option
in battle. See SCENARIO MODE section for details.
FESTIVAL MODE
Actually, those are 2 mini games. Upper button refers to Reversi
(A chess game). Lower button refers to a shooting game.
In Reversi, there are 2 buttons on right hand side. Upper button
means Redo/Undo. Lower button means Give up.
LOAD DATA
Load or continue a saved game. The program will ask whether you
want to continue first. LEFT button is YES; RIGHT button is NO.
"Continue" a saved game means that the saved game will be destroyed
after loading. In contrast, you "Load"s a saved game many times.
MAIN GAME SCREEN
The battle screen will be displayed as followed.
|---------------------|----------|
| | B |
| | |
| A |----------|
| | C |
| |----------|
| | E |
|---------------------| |
| D |----------|
| | F |
|---------------------|----------|
Region A - battle area, a hexgonal chess board. You move your
characters to fight against your enemies here. Click on the fan
at upper left corner to call system menu. You can scroll your
battle screen by putting your mouse in the margin of screen.
Symbols on units
1. A dog sign - being upgraded
2. A ghost sign - being downgraded
3. A talisman sign - magic banned
4. A heart sign - being charmed
5. A skeleton head sign - being poisoned
6. Abnormal shape and color - being turned to a stone, gold,
or ice.
Region B - mini map. At the top of mini map, you see title of
map and time. At the bottom of mini map, there is a status bar
displaying the time lasted for flood / drought effects.
4:00 - 7:59 dim
8:00 - 15:59 bright - day type natials have advantages
16:00 - 19:59 dim
20:00 - 3:59 dark - night type natials have advantages
Region C - Information for both camps. In upper region, you see
summoner's name, his MP status for red camp. In lower region,
you see the information for blue camp.
There are 3 magic bars for each summoner.
a. Magic pool and current MP
b. MP recovery per hour
c. MP spent per hour
Net MP gain per hour = MP recovery per hour - MP spent per hour
Region D - Message dialog
Region E - Unit information - You can refer to natial's guide,
but some information provided here are extremely important.
Unit information dialog looks like this
XX1 XX2 XX3 ?
--- HP 9 * * * * * * * * *
&&& XX4 ? ATT ?? DEF ??
&&& MAG ?? MAG DEF ??
&&& XX5 ? SPD ?? MOV ??
> MOVE TYPE ??
status %1 ??? %2 ??? %3 ??? %4
level @@@ --------------------
XX1 - summoner or natials
XX2 - name
XX3 - day or night type or neither
&&&
&&&
&&& - facing direction of unit
>
XX4 - OA time, specify how much time (mins) needed to wait
until next move. If you see OA time in this form "14(+120)",
the unit is being petrified (freezed). It needs to wait 120 mins
more until spell effect vanishs.
XX5 - move sequence, specify who will move first, and who is the
next, etc.
%1 - effective time of upgrade / downgrade in minutes
%2 - effective time of magic banning in minutes.
%3 - effective time of being charmed in minutes.
%4 - specify whether the unit is poisoned.
@@@ - no @s is level 1; @ is level 2; @@ is level 3;
@@@ is level 4; A big @ is level 5. On the left, it is EXP bar.
Region F - terrain and time limit information, it looks like
terrain
[----] height 3
[----] terrain's name
[----] land effect 20%
time limit
***** 12 ====-----------------------
MAIN GAME CONTROL
Left click on your unit, a rhombus menu appears. It reads
WAIT
ATTACK MAGIC
SUMMON
If you choose SUMMON or MAGIC, you will be redirected to other
menus. You have to select your magic or natial. Look at the graph
if you don't understand Japanese. Try to memorise their name as
well.
Right click on any unit, another menu appears. It reads
Additional Information
Move Range Effective Range
Attack Range Move + Attack Range
Attack + Scale Effect Move + Attack + Scale Effect
Magic Range Move + Magic Range
Magic + Scale Effect Move + Magic + Scale Effect
Detail Destroy
Some notes on them
1. Effective Range is union of all range including magic and attack.
2. Magic, Magic + Scale Effect, ... does depend on which magic you
have selected in popup menu.
3. You can choose Destroy only when it is your summoner's turn.
A dialog will ask you really
to destroy the natial. Upper choice is Yes; Lower choice is No.
If you right click on a area with no units, the following windows
will be displayed out. It looks like
Units list
camp attribute name HP status level EXP OA time
red water Bottle Crane 3 charmed 1 34 0
blue none Himika 10 30 0 12
red none Lorenz 10 30 0 8(+14)
red fire Fire kylin 10 2 12 30
It shows you roughly all information of all units for both camps.
GAME RULES
Let's me explain a little bit here. Basically, like many battle
chess, the objective of game is to kill your opponent's master.
You can summon monsters (call natials) in helping you to achieve
your goal. Each different natial has different MP cost. you have
to pay for maintenance costs to your natials per each hour. If
you are running out of MP, your natials will disappear. In order
to recover your MP, you need to grab the magic stones distributed
in the map. Purple magic stones are unoccupied. Red magic stones
are occupied by red camp. Blue magic stones are occupied by blue
camp.
Different natials have different abilities. Some of them adepts
at fighting. Some of them are gifted shooters. Some of them are
winner in foot race. Some of them are experts of magic. You should
look particularly careful on their attributes. They are superiors
and inferiors to one another according to the element ring. See
natials guide for details.
Once you kill your enemy's master, you win the game.
There are some hints to the game.
1. You should try to attack your enemies from their back. Damages
taken by your enemies would be larger.
2. You should hide your characters in a terrain which has higher
land effect. It really makes a great difference.
3. There is a term called ZOC (zone of control). The walk/swim
type character cannot move exceed the region one hexagon surrounding
the enemy's characters. It is named the zone of control. ZOC does
not affect movement of flying units.
4. The battle chess is time based. After each action by unit, there
will be a waiting time for it. It is named OA (open to attack) time.
While this unit is waiting, the others move. This unit can move again
if OA time is over. OA time could be larger if you choose shooting,
or casting magic. OA time is shortest if you choose waiting. "Move
and attack" will give you a longer OA time than a stay attack.
5. Your characters get healed if they are standing on magic stone.
No to mention that there are 30% defensive bouns on them.
6. You can use your character to block your enemy's shooting attack.
So they can hurt your important characters.
7. Unlike natials, your master have many magics to cast. Use your
master's magic to aid your natials.
8. Notice downhill and uphill terrains. They affect both movement
and shooting range of your characters.
See calculation guide to learn for more tactics.
CONCLUSION
I am now just playing the expert mode (I choose Momosuke). This game
really make me crazy. Originally, I would like to write a complete
walk through for VMJ. After I played the expert mode in VMJ, I was
totally discouraged. Let me tell you a secret, I haven't finished
expert mode in VMO too. At the begining, I thought VMJ should be
easier than VMO because VMJ is much complicated than VMO. It is more
difficult to program the AI in VMJ than that in VMO. I am now regretting
my naivete. If you got some brilliant ideas on how to crush your
computer AI (NOT SEARCHING FOR ITS BUGS) in expert mode, please share
your experience with all VM fans.
Hope you enjoy this FAQ guide and of course the game as well. Special
thanks to Nihon Falcom for producing this wonderful game.
AND MORE ...
Do you think that is a good strategy game? Can it be further improved?
Here are my suggestions and some opinions from others.
1. Multi-player battle
VMJ only supports one to one battle, maybe there are some limitations
of its AI. Nevertheless, multiplayers campaign or free battle map sounds
really good. You can team up with your allies or try to beat several
opponents by yourself. It does really make this game amusingly fun.
The idea is great but practically very hard to implement. It is because
VMJ is not a purely strategy game or other turn based battle chess. It
do really a very complicated system. Even for 3 players battle, it has
much more varieties in tactic. Fortunately, it is not impossible.
However it is a challenging problem to prevent AI being underrated. I
hope this can be done on the next vantage master.
2. Morale system
That is what I think it must be added to VMJ. Let's me describe the
system. First, each summoner has his/her own morale bar. Maybe some
is longer and some is shorter. They gain morale point by killing enemies,
friendly units getting killed, healing, or etc. The way of getting morale
point should depend on summoners. (e.g Shadai gains more morale point
by hurting enemies; Mary Lu gains more morale point by healing) Once
their morale bar are charged up, they can unleash their super power.
(e.g Shuren grants her water natials additional attributes within 6
hours; Lilia grants her units recovery ability within 6 hours etc) This
system make all summoners more unique, but it also makes some summoners
to be superior to some others. (e.g. An earth expert rules against a
water expert) To keep the game fair, morale cost should be large
so you cannot overuse super power of summoners.
3. Map, natials, summoners editor
This idea is from Warcraft 3. Needless to say, it increases its replay
values. That is, develop your own chess and play with the others. I
don't think it is possible to retain Computer AIs there. There should
be some AI tricks in the original and particular chess system. Those
tricks shouldn't hold after you modified the rules. If it is really
done, I will consider it as bonus.
4. Battle net system
This is also an idea from Warcraft 3. VMJ does not feature a battle net
function. As a result, it is pretty difficult to find a competitor from
net. Sadly, Nihon Falcom is not a large company although it produced
many excellent games. The other point is that VMJ is not a well
known game. Maintaining a server liked that would be wasteful.
