JAGGED ALLIANCE A Strategy Role-Playing Simulation Location and History Metavira - a remote island in the South Atlantic. Once used as a controlled nuclear testing site, today it is a scientific research center and the only known source of toxic sap, proven to be a promising treatment in the fight against a degenerative children's disease. Unfortunately, the sap is the product of seedless tree which cannot reproduce. Scenario Brenda Richards, a researcher, and her father Jack have dedicated their lives to the tapping of the trees, discovering and documenting the delicate procedure necessary to bring the sap in with no loss of potency. The sale of this sap to a major pharmaceutical company has allowed them to fund a research team to hopefully discover methods to increase the availability of sap to the population. Brenda had made major breakthroughs in determining the reasons behind the sterility of the tree when they suffered a major setback. A fire completely destroyed the original research facility and much of Brenda's scientific journals in the process. A fellow researcher, Lucas Santino, convinced Brenda and Jack to rebuild two facilities on the island, so that combined, they would have a better chance of regaining the knowledge lost in the fire. Trusting Santino, they agreed to his plan. Too late they discover that he has his own agenda, one motivated by greed and inspired by resentment. Seeking to control the only supply of the much-needed medicine, he brings in foreign interest and muscle, driving Brenda and Jack to a remote compound on the eastern tip of the island. In fear for their safety, Brenda and Jack's work force refuse to venture into the hostile territory, and collection of the sap comes to virtual standstill. Your Mission In desperation, Brenda and Jack turn to you, a person with connections to AIM (the Association of International Mercenaries), a person familiar with conflict and combat, with the resolve to ensure that the trees are protected and calculating enough to regain control of the island. Entrusting you with the entire operation, they ask for your help in restoring the safety of the island so they may continue their sap collection, and even more importantly, their research into the tree's ability to reproduce. Acting as the sole agent for a host of mercenaries, AIM provides information into the files and backgrounds of each of their members. Your connections to AIM give you access to this source of talent making it possible for you to try to get a team together capable of restoring the safety of the island. You'll choose your mercenary team from AIM's files, but your achievements and reputation, in addition to your available resources, will dictate whether you'll be able to hire on all those who you would like. Like anyone, each mercenary has his or her own unique blend of talents and personality, and monetary requirements, and it will be up to you to maintain the cohesiveness of your team and work with the dynamics of the individuals. Each assignment you hand out to the individual team members will determine the training and experience they receive, allowing you to build your characters to the levels they deserve. As you restore safety to the island, a piece at a time, the native tappers will become more secure in venturing forward to continue the tapping of the trees. The collection of the sap will of course supplement your income and provide you with the additional resources to build your team's abilities even further, and allow you to hire on some of AIM's more talented and experienced members. You'll need to strategically plan your approach to your ultimate goal of completely restoring the safety of the island. Will you secure the island a small piece at a time, making sure to protect your back, all the while advancing toward your ultimate goal? Or will go send your mercenaries in a surge toward the main compound of Lucas Santino? Game Play Each day, you'll select your preferred choices of mercenaries from AIM's files. Depending on the personalities of the mercenaries you seek to hire, those that you may already have in the team, and your achievements to date, you may or may not get all the members you hope to hire. Throughout the game you'll need to stay on top of your financial situation monitoring the inflow of cash from the trees against the costs of running an expensive and delicate mercenary operation. Once you've got your team together, you'll decide who does what for the day. You may choose to send out only a few of your team into hostile territory, assigning others to remain behind to repair your weapons and supplies, and others to perform or receive medical treatment. Some may be too fatigued from prior forays and others still may benefit from additional training. Once you've given out assignments, your mercenaries will head out into the field. You'll watch and control them in a realistic overhead perspective, in real-time. You'll see and respond to the action as it happens. Combat takes place using a unique real-time and phased combat system with as many as 8 different battles occurring simultaneously. Your mercenaries can respond automatically to danger but you'll need to stay on top of the situation and step in to maneuver your mercenaries in a strategic fashion where necessary. You may stop the action at any time to plan out and issue orders to your mercenaries. When action is restored, your mercenaries will proceed with the instructions that you've handed out. You'll need to carefully explore each sector, making sure that the enemies have been ferreted out and that the sector is safe for the native workers to return to. Santino's forces will not stand idle however. You can expect them to throw up obstacles, lay traps or mines, setup strongholds or otherwise impede the advancement of your forces. You'll be able to strategically respond to these attempts, throwing up your own obstacles to their attempts to stop you. You'll want to make sure that you don't let your mercenaries or tappers get cut off from Brenda and Jack's main compound, as not only may your forces be trapped until a link is restored, but you won't be able to return any sap that has been collected and of course, won't receive the income from its sale. In addition to your ultimate goal, the volatility of the situation may require you to carry out a number of secondary objectives. Vital pieces of hidden information, new and more powerful weapons, enemy command posts, and any number of tasks may be critical to your ultimate success. Your strategy will dictate your sector and mission objectives, making each game different from the other for complete replayability.