:::::: :: :: :::::: :: :::::: :::::: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :::::: :: :: :::::: :: :: :: | :: ::: ::: :: :: :: :: :: | \ | / :: ::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: \ | / --*-- --*-- / | \ ::::::: ::: :: ::::::: ::: :: :: :: / | \ | :: :::: :: :: :::::::: :: :: | ::::: :: :: :: ::::: :: :: :: :::: :: :: :::: :: :: :: :: ::::::: :: ::: ::::::: :: :: :: Documentation Divison /\-| PROTOSTAR from ACCOLADE |-/\ Supplied: Dray Cracked : Terminator Packaged: The Hawk Typed : Dray Full Documentation (Argh, I'm gunna retire from Doc makin'!) Protostar: The object of the game is to establish relations with the local sentients, then rally them to your cause. In the process you will frequent Outposts, meet lively characters, explore distant worlds, visit alien cities, and engage in both stellar and surface combat. There is no time limit for completing Protostar, but financial management is crucial to the success of your mission. Your funds will pay for vessel maintenance, trade capital, crew salaries and, most importantly, the support of defense forces in the home Sector. Characters in Protostar feature believable intelligance. Each follows an agenda based upon attitude and objectives. You directly affect the behavior of other characters through your actions and conversations. There are few ways to "spoil" the game, so feel free to experiment. The Icons: CHOOSE :Interact with a character and display dialogue. DESCRIBE :Offer a personal observation about the subject. TSUNAMI WAVE:Give you the choices of Save, Restart, Sounds, or Exit. SAVE, RESTORE, RESTART, EXIT are pretty obvious. If you can't figure them out, buy the game! SOUND :allows you to change sound cards and select volume of the music. Outposts: Newfront has established three outposts on the frontier. Each Outpost offers equivalent services. These are available through the Com-Terminal, Exchange Center, Biotech Center, Frontier Craft, and the Lounge. A central junction links all Outpost facilites. Com-Terminal :You may review announcements and contact Director Hawking at the ComTerminal. Game developments and general information are broadcast in the Announcements. These are organized by Stardate. You will learn of conditions in the home Sector when you contact Hawking, and have the opportunity to transfer funds in support of the Human defense forces. Exchange Center:Newfront purchases lifeforms, products and materials through the Exchange Center. Newfront prices do not fluctuate. Biotech Center :Crew members that are disabled during combat are placed in cryogenic suspension. These characters may be revived in the Biotech Center through Emergency Treatment, at a cost of 5000 credits for procedure. The game ends if your character is disabled. A detailed analysis of any registered lifeform is available through the Biotech Library. Frontier Craft :These are the premiere engineering facilities in the sector. Systems may be purchased for, transferred between and sold from your vessels using Frontier Craft services. Highly rated systems will greatly improve the effectiveness of your Starship and Explorer. The Lounge :This is an ideal place to escape the pressures of saving Humanity. Your leisure pursuits may be shared by others. Trade Centers and Bartering: Trade centers are accessed within cities on the surface of planets. You may barter for goods and converse idly with the mercants that operate these establishments. A Mobile Exchange Center will asist you in conducting a business. You must choose the approach that you will use for bartering when you first enter a Trade Center. The effect of each technique varies with each alien species. You may change approach at any time thereafter. Merchants represent the interests of their species. Like yourself, they want to benefit from the goods that they Purchase and Sell. Merchants are pleased when they make a profit, disappointed when they take a loss, and lose patience when you push too hard. There is an oppotunity to generate substantial income through bartering. YOu may conduct this activity with Starship Commanders by selecting the Trade Topic during conversation. Starship Vessel: The Starship accommodates a large portion of game activity. You should become familiar with its features at the earliest opportunity. Stardate: Your Stardate display shows Hour:Day:Year. The rate at which Game Time advances varies according to current location and activity. Time progresses fastest during Regional Travel and Hyperpath Tunnel. Location: The Regional coordinates of your Starship within Thule Sector. Fuel : All vessels in the game are fueled by Stabilium. Monitor your fuel level with care. Tactital Display: An immediate tactical breakdown of the subject most directly in front of your ship, within an encounter. Radar : In an encounter, your vessel is represented by the static Blue Icon at the center of the Auxiliary Viewer. Any additional Icons depict the relative position of other subjects. Icons that are dimmer than the Blue Icon are below your Starship, while those that are brighter are above your vessel. Status Gauges: The orange indicators show the condition of the characters operating the seven Stations . Disabled crew members are removed to cryogenic suspension. The blue-grey indicators show the condition of the Stations themselves. Your Starship is destroyed when it loses Command. Starship operations are directed from Command, Navigation, Contact, Science, Tactical, Engineering, and Biotech Stations . With the exception of Command, choosing the button for any Station will enable a menu of functions. Some functions are available only under certain conditions. The effectiveness of a function is determined by the skill of the character assigned to the Station. At the start of the game, you character is inexperienced in the operation of Newfront vessels. You should seek out and employ crew members to assist you. Character skills gradually increase coinciding with Station assignments . COMMAND : This is your character's station. It is the center of Starship operations. All Station functions are directed from Command. NAVIGATION: Functions involving Starship movement are controlled through Navigation. The three modes of travel in Protostar are Hyperpath Tunnel, Regional Travel, and Maneuvering within an encounter. Hyperpath Tunnels are used to transverse great distances, such as between solar systems. This mode is accessed from the Sector Map. Hyperpath Travel consumes a considerable amount of time and fuel. Regional Travel occurs within a spherical domain that encompasses one Sector coordinate. This mode is activated when you reach a Hyperpath destination, cease Maneuvering, Depart an Outpost, or Exit Orbit. To travel within a region, simply choose a location within the sphere. You will encounter other vessels when your Starship Icon touches a green square Icon. Your Starship will enter orbit of any other Icons that you Choose as a destination. Maneuvering begins when you choose the blue control pad on the bridge of your Starship. Move your cursor to a location on the pad which best reflects your desired direction of travel within three dimensional space. For example, move the cursor to the upper right corner to travel up and right, move the cursor to the center to travel straight ahead. Select with the Exit cursor to cease maneuvering. You can not return to Regional Travel until all other subjects you may have encountered are beyond the range of your Radar. NAVIGATION FUNCTIONS: The SECTOR MAP activates a map showing current location and all possible destinations within the Sector. You may plot a hyperpath course for long distance travel. The EXIT ORBIT discontinue orbital pattern and return to Regional Travel. The DOCKING PROFILE may be used to access an Outpost from orbit. In an encounter, you may doc with any vessel that has surrendered or that has now systems from these vessels using the corresponding engineering function. The DEPARTURE PROFILE is used to launch fron an Outpost and return to Regional Travel. This function is also selected to detach from a vessel with which you have docked. CONTACT : All internal and external communications are directed through contact. You may also review personnel files and assign duties from this Station. CONTACT FUNCTIONS: The INITIATE CONTACT is used to hail vessels within an encounter. Keep in mind that other commanders operate under their own agenda, and will choose how long they wish to converse. The INTERCOM lets you speak with any character aboard your ship that is not disabled. Value the advice of those who serve with you. The VIEW PERSONNEL shows you an updated current description, condition summary and skills assessment for each charcter abroad your Starship. The STATION ASSIGNMENT is used to place a crew member in control of a station. The performance of a vessel relies upon the skills of those crew members assigned to its stations. Any station that is unassigned defaults to the control of your character. The SURRENDER is used when there is no other way to spare your Starship and crew. Most hostile opponents will seize cargo from your vessel whe you surrender. The reaction of other sentients may be less extreme or more ruthless. Both your weapons and defenses must be inactive for this function to be available. SCIENCE : A clever commander will utilize the data from scientific scans to forward their objectives. SCIENCE FUNCTIONS: The SUBJECTIVE SCAN allows you to scan subjects whild in orbit or from within an encounter. Planetary data indicates what you can expect to find when you launch to unknown planets that you scan and register. Data regarding vessels that you encounter can be used to your tactical advantage. The SURFACE SCAN gives you a topographical scan of a planet from orbit. This data appears as a map, and is accompanied by an Altimeter. You may choose and launch to a landing destination. (NOTE: Your explorer can not land on planets with a gravity greater than 8.0g) TACTICAL : All newfront vessels are equipped to contend with hostile entities. Use force Judiciously as news of conflict spreads rapidly among factions. TACTICAL FUNCTIONS: The ARM/DISARM WEAPONS will do what it says. Other vessels will view active weapons as a combative posture. Your Starship is equipped with a Wave Gun, Accel Cannon, and Pursuit Pds at the start of the game. Choose the control pad to enter maneuver mode, then right select to toggle between weapons cursors. Left select with a cursor to fire the corresponding weapon. Your first action in any combat should be to activate your defenses. Enery shields reduce the damage inflicted by Accel Cannon while dampening fields protect against Wave Gun. There is no defense for Pursuit Pods. Your Starship consumes fuel twice the normal rate during Regional Travel while your defenses are active. WAVE GUN: This gun is slow to rechare between shots. The large surface area of its projectiles increases the chance of hitting a target, and it inflicts heavy damage. ACCEL CANNON: This weapon reloads fastest, but inflict the least amount of damage per burst. These are best used when there is little chance of missing a target. PURSUIT POD : This weapon will target the closest opponent and chase it until impact. Only one of these projectiles may be active at a time. Pursuit pods inflict the greatest amount of damage, but consume 10 cubic meters of fuel each shot. ENGINEERING : The heart of any vessel. Your Starship is maintained, its systems are arranged, and your cargo is managed through engineering. ENGINEERING FUNCTIONS: Performing DIRECT REPAIRS lets a mechanic drone patrol your Starship, performing arbitrary repairs. You may direct this drone to service any one station until it is fully restored. The drone the resumes random repairs. The TRANSFER SYSTEM allows you to move vessel systems between your Starship, explorer and cargo section. You may equip your craft for optimum performance using this function. The destinations for some systems may be limited. The CARGO MANIFEST allows you to review the quantity and type of goods aboard your Starship. Choose any manifest entry that you wish to jettison. The modular cargo section transfers to your explorer when you launc to a planet. The ACQUIRE CARGO allows you to acquire cargo and systems from any Starship with which your vessel is currently docked. The RETRIEVE CARGO allows you to dispatch a cargo drone to retrieve worthwhile materials from the debris in an encounter after starships are destroyed. BIOTECH : Medical services and biological data are accessed through the biotech station. BIOTECH FUNCTIONS: DIRECT TREATMENT allows injured characters aboard your Starship that are assigned to a station to receive arbitrary treatment from a medical drone. You may direct the drone to service any one character until they are fully healed. The Drone the resumes random treatment. The BIOSCAN function allows you to scan lifeform recognition from orbit or within an encounter. Unregistered lifeforms will appear as unknown. The LIFEFORM ANALYSIS function allows you to examine any lifeform in your cargo section. Biological data and an audio analysis are presented. The home sector benefits from any unknown lifeforms that you register. Explorer Vessel: The explorer is used for activity on the surface of planets. Your primary objectives include gathering materials and lifeforms, and trading within alien cities. Interaction aboard this vessel is conducted as if you are in a continual encounter. Explorer functions and layout are derived from the Starship bridge, with some peripherals differences. Your crew members and cargo section are transferred to the explorer when you launc to a planet. Location shows that lattitude and longitude postion of your explorer. Both vessels and surface subjects register on the Tactical Display. Cities, lifeforms, and materials are now represented on the Radar. They may also be indicated on your main viewer. When one of these subjects passes below your explorer, the blue Icon representing your vessel on the Radar is encircled by an Alert Ring. GATHER: While maneuvering, left select with the gather cursor to collect a lifeform or material as it passes below you. The THERMOGAUGE measures surface temperature. Your exploere can withstand most any envoirnment. The ALTIMETER indicates distance from the surface floor. The altitudes to which your explorer will ascend and descend are limited. Lifeforms and cities are more abundant at lower altitudes. Materials are concentrated at higher altitudes. PARTICLE GUN: Your explorer is equipped with a particle gun. Through this is a sole armament, it inflicts heavy damage and resets at a good rate. EXPLOERER FUNCTIONS: Starship functions that are not available on the exploere include Sector Map, Exit Orbit, Surface Scan, and Retrieve Cargo. Options that are accessible only from the explorer are approach site and return to orbit. The APPROACH SITE allows you to land at a city which is below your explorer. You will immediately enter into a Trade Center. To RETURN TO ORBIT allows you to put your Starship back into orbit. The Explorer travels on an ion steam during this procedure, so neither fuel nor an engineering station are required. NOW THIS CONCLUDES THE FULL DOX TO PROTOSTAR. I DUNNO IF I'M EVER GUNNA TRY TO PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS AGAIN, BUT HAVE FUN! -Dray Greets: Lord Thinker : Be home sometime man! The Hawk : The .NFO file still says MUNSTERS on the top! Blade Runner : Hows the weather up in Canada? Vertigo : Hope ya got yer money back from Incubus Bandieto : How's life in the fast lane? Mr. Fizz : Eat rice, it binds you. Speed Master : Call me and pick up yer damn mudderboard! Califboy : Don't have sex with too many girls man. SpaghettiO : I'll send the laptop and the motherboards, just chill! Lord Evercore: When are ya gunna send me my stuff man :) Union Jack : Thanx for the date! Sicko : I'll get you those 2 4 meg chips, call me! TRSI : Keep it going man! SKILLION : Where are ya guys man? Fairlight : Nice comeback. INC : Finally decided to get out of the shade huh? Untouchables : Can't touch this. Dun dun dun dun, ah ah! THG : How long have you guys been around? RAZOR : I cut my finger with a razor blade once, it hurted! WHOEVER : Peace out! NOTE: Now onto a trainer for this damn game!