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1992-08-18
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TACSTAR Version 1.0
Copyright (c) 1992 by
Murray Giesbrecht, Bruce Leenstra and Marshall Morales
Disclaimer
TACSTAR is distributed "AS IS". The authors hereby disclaim all
warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied,
including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose. The authors will not be liable for any
special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to
loss of data or any other reason, even if authors or an agent of the
authors has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The person
using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the
software.
Shareware Distribution
TACSTAR is shareware. You may distribute this game to anyone as long as
the following conditions are met by you:
1. You include all documentation, files and programs that come
with TACSTAR.
2. You do not change or modify the software or documentation in
any way.
3. You do not charge anyone for the copy of TACSTAR that you
give them.
The authors reserve all rights for commercial sale and future
modifications to TACSTAR. We also reserve the right to make changes or
modifications to TACSTAR without notification to anyone.
General
This file includes portions of text which are repeated in the
TACSTAR.DOC file. We strongly suggest you read all the documentation
files (.doc) we have included with the game. You should also print the
COMMANDS.DOC file so you can refer to it while you are playing. This is
very important if you are not going to use a mouse. For those of you who
wish to get off to a quick start this file provides registration
information, installation instructions, and instructions on how to get the
game started.
Registration Information
TACSTAR is the product of hundreds of hours of work by three people
over the course of three years and a considerable investment in hardware
and software. If you and your friends or co-workers enjoy this game
please support us by sending $35.00 to:
Murray Giesbrecht XPS
418 Eastland Place S.E.
Salem, OR 97301
Please include your return address and make sure to specify 3 1/2" or
5 1/4" disk and drive density.
In return for your $35.00 registration we will send you a disk with
many new scenarios and ships and the latest release of TACSTAR.
Additionally, upon request we will send registered owners a two player
modem version of TACSTAR which will allow you to play over the phone. We
expect the modem version to be completed in 1993. Your support will also
enable and encourage us to continue to add new features to TACSTAR and
develop other multi-player games. Please write us with any suggestions,
questions or problems! We need your input for future releases.
If you have a problem please include as detailed a description as
possible of what was happening in game when the error occurred. If you
are a registered owner and we find the "bug" we will send you an update
disk with the corrected code. (You can register at the same time you
report the problem.)
Marshall Morales can be reached on COMPUSERVE at 76066,3134. Marshall
will check his mail at least once a week. We would like to hear from you
by mail or bulletin board no matter what your reaction is to the game.
Tell us what you think. This is our first effort and we need to know if
we are wasting our time or if there is sufficient support for us to
continue making improvements to TACSTAR.
Hardware Considerations
You will need a network with at least two workstations (IBM (R) PC's or
100% PC compatible) attached. Each PC needs to have VGA graphics and
should be a 286 or faster model. Each PC should have 515K of free DOS
memory. (You may need to dump some TSR's). Three and four player
scenarios will require additional workstations for the third and fourth
players. TACSTAR also supports mouse play, so you may want a mouse.
Please make sure you are using the latest mouse driver available. (We
have experienced problems with mouse drivers released prior to the 3rd
quarter of 1992, ie. random dots and lines on the screen.)
The game will play at close to real time speed if you are running a 386
server with 386SX workstations. The game will run slower if any of the
stations are 286 or slower. We do not recommend playing on anything
slower than a 286. If you are fortunate enough to have a 486 server and
full 386 or 486 workstations the game will play considerably faster than
real time speed. Game speed also varies depending on the number of
players and ships in a given scenario.
If you plan to play TACSTAR on a non-dedicated NOVELL server you can use
the server as a server, but do not try to play on the server itself. We
have experienced system lock-ups in this situation.
TACSTAR places a considerable load on the network server and
workstations it is running on. We do not recommend playing this game
during work hours unless you are confident that your network has excess
capacity available.
Game Installation
TACSTAR has been run successfully on NOVELL NETWARE (R) 2.15 and 3.11
and ARTISOFT LANTASTIC (R).
1. Make a new directory on one of your network drives and name it
TACSTAR (You can use a different name if you want to.)
2. Copy the TEXEC.EXE file into the new TACSTAR directory.
3. Run TEXEC in the new directory. All the files will be uncompressed.
4. MAKE ALL THE FILES IN THE TACSTAR DIRECTORY SHAREABLE. (For Novell
Netware (R) the command is FLAG *.* +s or FLAG *.* /shareable.)
If you are using a peer-to-peer network such as LANTASTIC (R) make
sure that you are not invoking the DOS SHARE command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files.
5. Make sure that everyone who will want to play the game has
READ/WRITE access to all the files in the TACSTAR directory. If you
encounter any 162 or 163 errors while attempting to run TACSTAR
chances are that you have a problem with file sharing. Make sure
that the files are not being locked for any reason.
6. You should now be ready to play.
Consult your DOS manual, network operating system documentation, or
someone knowledgeable about DOS and networks if you need help with any of
the above.
Starting the Game
1. Make sure all players are in agreement as to what scenario you are
going to play and what player number (1 or 2 or 1 - 4) each
person will be.
2. Make sure that everybody's current directory is the network TACSTAR
directory.
3. Before you begin a new game always have one of the players
run the scenario generating program for the scenario you
wish to play. This must be done BEFORE anybody tries to start
TACSTAR. For this release run either PATROL2 (the two
player scenario) or PATROL4 (the four player scenario).
4. Run TACSTAR.
5. TACSTAR should start now.
6. Wait for the opening screens to end or press ENTER to end them
early.
7. Fill out the START-UP screen info using the mouse or the left and
right arrows keys and ENTER key. Pick the scenario you wish to play
and the player number you want to play. MAKE SURE THAT YOU CHOOSE A
DIFFERENT PLAYER NUMBER THAN YOUR OPPONENTS! (Unless you have moved
your scenario and command files to a different directory you should
leave the SCENARIO PATH and COMMANDER PATH boxes blank).
8. Game play should begin when all players have finished with the
START-UP screen.
NOTE: TACSTAR will wait a reasonable amount of time after one player has
entered the game for the other players to also enter the game. If too
much time passes before all players have entered the game TACSTAR will
shut them out and begin running with whomever is already in the game. The
same is also true if someone aborts or terminates the game unexpectedly,
TACSTAR will wait awhile and then continue without them.
NetWare is a registered TM of NOVELL, INC.
IBM is a registered TM of International Business Machines, Inc.
LANTASTIC is a registered TM of ARTISOFT, INC.
Scenarios
TACSTAR is a flexible system which allows an unlimited number of
different combinations of ships, objectives, and time limits. Each unique
situation is called a scenario. We have included two scenarios in this
release. One for two players and one for four players. Registered owners
will receive a disk with many more scenarios, new ship designs and
additional documentation. Future plans include supplying a ship design
program and scenario designer for an additional fee to registered owners.
These programs will allow you to create any scenario possible within the
limitations of the base program.
Currently, TACSTAR supports up to four players in a single scenario with
each player controlling up to five ships.
Object of the Game and Scoring
The object of TACSTAR is to have the highest score when a scenario ends.
Points may be scored for any or all of the following reasons:
Damaging or destroying enemy ships.
Finishing the game within a specified distance of a point in
space.
Surviving until the end of the game.
In some scenarios players may also receive points at the start as a
bonus to balance the game. Damage done to some ships may score higher
than damage to other ships. In some cases you may even be able to win
after all your ships have been destroyed! In these games you will be
outnumbered or outgunned from the beginning and can win by making a good
account of yourself before all your ships are destroyed. The scenario
description and Display Orders command (see Commands) will give you the
objectives for each scenario.
At the end of a scenario the computer will display scores for all the
players. The computer will also display your score if all your ships are
destroyed, but you will need to wait until the scenario finishes before
you can see the scores of the other players.
NOTE: In scenarios where points are given for ending the game within a
certain distance of a point in space, if all players choose to end a game
early, location points will be awarded on the basis of where the ships are
at the time the game ends. It may be in your best interest to wait to
until your ships are within scoring range of the location before
confirming an end of game request by other players (see Commands).
In scenarios where you are allied with another player your scores will
be totalled together at the end to give you a group score as well as your
individual score.
It is possible to damage your ships or those of your allies with your
own bombs. Damaging friendly or allied ships is court martial offense and
will result in heavy penalties being deducted from your final score.
The Basics
TACSTAR is a tactical space warfare game. The keyword is tactical!
Your tactics while playing TACSTAR will determine how well you do.
Tactics is the art and science of maneuvering units on the battlefield.
By employing superior tactics it is often possible to win even when
outnumbered or outgunned. Luck will sometimes make a difference, but to
win consistently you must employ tactics that are better than your
opponents.
There are seven basic elements that you will have to manage effectively
to win in TACSTAR. How you manage these elements makes up your unique
tactics. The seven elements are: Electronic Warfare, Detection, Movement,
Weapons, Armor and Timing. Six of these are covered in the sections
below. The one area that is not covered is timing. When to fire, how
fast to move, when to switch electronic systems to different modes, etc...
are all critical to your success, but something that you can really only
develop through practice.
Movement
Unlike present day rockets which have a very limited fuel supply and
burnout quickly, the ships in TACSTAR are powered by nuclear fusion
engines and have enough fuel to use their engines continuously throughout
the game.
Movement is based on vector mathematics and is very realistic. This
type of movement is very similar to the old ASTEROIDS arcade game except
that once your ships are moving they will NEVER slow down until you apply
thrust (accelerate) in the opposite direction. Also, there is no maximum
speed! A ship can continue to pick-up speed for the entire game and reach
very high velocities.
The vector movement system also creates an interesting situation which
some people find difficult to understand; your ships can be facing in a
completely different direction than the one they are moving in! In fact,
to slow a ship down quickly you will have to face in the exact opposite
direction it is moving and apply maximum acceleration.
Basically, the more acceleration a ship has the more maneuverable it is.
Ships with damaged engines will lose some of their acceleration ability
which means it will take them longer to speed up, slow down, or change
direction. Ships with no engines remaining will simply drift at their
last heading and speed until destroyed or the scenario ends.
To move a ship you point the nose in the direction you wish to go and
accelerate. Your ship will gradually pick-up speed in that direction. To
slow down or reverse direction you point the nose in the opposite
direction you are heading and accelerate. In time, the ship will stop and
then begin to pick-up speed in the new direction. Pointing the nose in
other directions causes your ship to veer in that direction and gain or
lose speed at the same time.
Watch your speed carefully while playing. It takes a long time to
reverse direction if you overshoot your target or objective at high speed.
We recommend beginning players keep their speed under 2.00 km/sec (even
this is very fast for fighting). Remember to shut your engines down (set
acceleration to zero) after you have completed a maneuver or reached your
desired speed, otherwise your ship may gain too much speed in the wrong
direction and you may not be able to get it back to the battlefield for a
very long time. It is very important to check the Ships Stats display
(see Display Descriptions) constantly and see which ships have their
engines on, how fast they are going, and what direction they are heading.
Engine temperature is another important consideration. As ships use
their engines they will start to heat up. When the engine temperature
reaches maximum (10000 Kelvin) the on-board computers will automatically
reduce power to prevent engine meltdown. We call this reduced power level
"cruising power". This means that a ship will be more maneuverable when
its engines are cold and after they heat up, less maneuverable. Engines
will gradually cool down when they are not in use. Maximum engine
temperature can be adjusted using the Engine Temperature Cutoff command
(see Commands). We DO NOT recommend setting the temperature higher than
101 (10100 Kelvin) as there is a very high probability that you will
burnout the engines and lose all thrust for the remainder of the game.
When maneuvering your ships you should avoid "bunching up". Ships that
are close together will all be damaged if a bomb goes off near or amongst
them and may also be damaged by the explosion of a friendly ship when it
is destroyed or badly damaged. We recommend you try to separate your
ships by least at 25 km. The best way to understand the movement system
is to play the game. After a few games you will gain an instinctive
understanding of what to do.
Electronic Warfare
All ships have an inherent electronic warfare capability which is based
on the technology level of the control systems. Some ships may have
additional systems which increase these capabilities above the normal
levels, these are called scanners and ECM (electronic countermeasures or
jammers).
Scanners are advanced detection and fire control systems. Ships with
scanners will be able to detect enemy ships at greater ranges and will
have improved chances to hit targets with lasers and cannons. Due to the
large antenna arrays required by scanners they must be mounted on the
outer edges of a ships hull.
ECM systems consist of two distinct elements, jammers and stealth
technology. Jammers are designed to lower the enemies chance to hit with
lasers and cannons and block the enemy from scanning important information
about the ships condition and design. Stealth technology is built into a
ships hull and reduces the chance for enemy ships to detect your ships.
The jammer element of ECM can be located in any part of the ship.
Scanners and ECM can be used in two modes, ACTIVE or PASSIVE. Switching
your scanners to active mode will increase your chance to detect enemy
ships and increase your chance to hit with lasers and cannons. Active
scanning will also enable you to actually see the internal structure of
enemy ships occasionally. Active ECM is used to counteract the effects of
active enemy scanning. WARNING: Your ships will be at significant
disadvantage in a battle if the enemy is using active scanning and ECM and
you fail to switch your systems to active mode also!
The disadvantage of switching electronic systems to active mode is that
any ship with electronics in active mode can be detected at much longer
ranges by enemy ships. This is because all ships carry sensitive
receivers which can detect the emissions of scanners and ECM at very long
ranges. If you want to sneak around or hide you must switch your systems
to passive mode.
The final option available to you is to shutdown all electronic systems.
This is done using the Shutdown command (see Commands). Shutting down
your electronics will decrease the time a ship is disabled by bomb EMP
(see Bombs and Disablement). You should only shutdown your systems when
you know a bomb is about to go off, as your ship will be completely
disabled until you bring your systems up again by using the Up command
(see Commands and Shutdown).
Detection
Detection is a critical consideration in TACSTAR. You won't be able to
do any fighting until you know where the enemy is! Although bombs can be
launched "blind" this is usually a waste of an important weapon.
Friendly and allied ships are always visible to each player. There are
six factors used to determine the chance to detect enemy ships; target
size, range to target, your scanner rating, the enemy ships ECM rating,
target engine temperature and whether or not the enemy has electronics in
passive or active mode. Any ship sending a communique to another side
will be detected momentarily by that side. Briefly: The farther away a
ship is the harder it is to detect. Smaller ships are harder to detect.
If your ships have scanners they will be able to detect enemies at longer
than average range. Enemy ECM will reduce the range that you can detect
them at. If you switch your scanners to active mode you will greatly
increase your chances to detect the enemy, but the enemy can detect you at
very long ranges. Most ships cannot be detected past 500 km even if you
have your scanners in active mode (unless they have their ECM or scanners
in active mode, in which case you could detect them at approx. 1000km).
Finally, ships with "hot" engines are easier to detect.
EXAMPLE: A small enemy ship with cold engines and all electronics in
passive mode will be difficult to detect.
Weapons
There are three types of weapons in this version of TACSTAR. Magnetic
accelerator cannons (cannons or accelerators), X-ray lasers (lasers) and
nuclear cluster bombs (bombs). Each type of weapon has different effects
and limitations.
Magnetic Accelerator Cannons
Cannons use a series of magnetic fields to accelerate a solid
cannonball like projectile to a very high velocity. Cannon hits cause
serious damage to armor and will destroy internal systems very rapidly.
Their main disadvantage is that it takes time for the warhead to reach the
target and ships with good acceleration may be able to dodge them (this is
part of the chance to hit calculations, you do not actually maneuver ships
to dodge incoming fire). Also, because moving parts are used in cannons
they vibrate which causes them to be inherently less accurate than lasers.
Factors in determining your chance to hit with cannons are; range to
the target, target size, target acceleration capability, the firing ships
scanner rating and the target ships ECM rating. Small ships with high
acceleration capabilities are difficult targets for cannons and you will
have to be very close to score hits. Cannons cannot be fired at ships
which are not detected or at friendly ships belonging to your group.
Cannon tubes must be long and straight for maximum efficiency and must,
therefore, be mounted on the outer edges of a ship in revolving turrets.
These weapons are battery powered and can run out of charges (ammo) during
a game. Cannons have an effective range of about 300 km against medium to
large targets and much less against smaller targets.
X-Ray Lasers
Lasers use an intense beam of x-rays to burn a hole through the armor
and outer hull of a target and then damage the internal systems. Although
lasers do not cause as much damage to armor or internal systems as
cannons, they are much more accurate. The factors that apply to a lasers
chance to hit are the same as those that apply to cannons, except that
target acceleration capability is not taken into account due to the nearly
instantaneous travel time of a laser beam. Lasers can be mounted deep
inside a ship since the beam can be guided to the outside through special
reflectors. Like cannons, lasers are battery powered and can run out of
charges. Lasers have an effective range of about 400 km, much less
against small targets.
Nuclear Cluster Bombs
These are circular patterns of dozens of fusion bombs (H-bombs) that
cause damage by burning the target with high energy radiation. In
addition to burning the target, bombs produce an effect known as the
electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The EMP can cause overloads and failures in
electrical and computer systems which can disable a ship until backup
systems can be brought "on-line". This effect covers a very wide area in
comparison to the fireball radius (4 times the fireball radius).
Bombs can cause massive damage to targets caught in the fireball. Armor
will protect a ship, but will be damaged or completely burned off on any
side exposed to the fireball. Non-armored targets are usually badly
damaged or vaporized if caught in the fireball. Occasionally, a ship will
be undamaged even if caught in the fireball. This simulates the small
chance that the ship was between the fireball radii of the individual
bombs in the cluster.
The only protection against EMP is to shutdown your electronics (see
Commands) before a bomb explodes. Shutting down electronics will decrease
the time a ship is disabled. Extra control areas will also reduce the
time a ship is disabled (extra control areas represent additional back-up
systems).
Bombs are different than other weapons because they are released and
drift towards the target. A mechanical timer is used to determine when
detonation will occur; this also makes bombs invulnerable to enemy ECM.
Bombs are completely covered with radar absorbing material (RAM), kept at
space temperature, and have no launch rockets or explosive release
mechanisms, this makes them impossible to detect, even at the moment of
launch. Each bomb bay holds only one bomb and once it has been released
there is no way to recover it or stop it from detonating.
Bombs are very heavy weapons and after releasing a bomb (or bombs) many
ships will gain acceleration capability due to reduced mass.
Bombs were originally designed to destroy planetary targets and fixed
orbit space stations. Shortly after war broke out enterprising captains
began to use them against other ships. This type of attack takes skill in
maneuvering plus a good deal of courage on the part of the crew, as bombs
will almost always damage the launching ship unless escape maneuvers are
undertaken after release.
Bomb Aiming and Launching
Although bombs aren't detectable by enemy ships you will find that it
is difficult to hit a non-disabled (moving) target. You must steer your
ship to intercept the target, release the bomb when an intercept vector is
achieved, then clear the fireball radius before the bomb detonates. The
timer setting selected is crucial to your chances of hitting a moving
target. The shorter the timer, the less effect a course change by the
target will have on your chances to hit it, however, this will also give
the launching ship less time to escape the fireball radius. We recommend
a minimum timer setting of 200 seconds when you are learning to play
TACSTAR.
Remember, a bomb is always aimed perfectly to hit the launching ship!
You must change course, accelerate, or decelerate, after launching a bomb
or your ship WILL BE caught in the fireball! The lower the timer setting
the more drastic your escape maneuvers will have to be. If the timer is
set too low there will be no escape. Keep in mind that bombs can damage
all targets in the fireball radius, including friendly ships.
Stationary targets and ships with no engines remaining are much easier
to hit since they cannot change course or accelerate out of the fireball
radius. Long timer settings can be used when attacking these types of
targets. Use a timer setting that will give you plenty of time to escape
the fireball.
Just before your bomb(s) detonate you should issue the Shutdown
Electronics command (see Commands) if you are in the EMP radius. This
will shutdown all vulnerable systems and greatly reduce the time your
ships will be disabled by the EMP. After your ships have recovered make
sure to issue the Up command to bring electronics back on-line again (see
Commands).
An adjustable bomb predictor has been supplied with TACSTAR and you
will find it invaluable in helping you to aim your bombs. The predictor
can be set to the fireball radius of the type bomb you are planning to
release and will show you exactly where the bomb will detonate when the
timer reaches zero. When attacking moving targets launch the bomb when
the fireball circle of the predictor is overlaid on the fireball circle of
the target ships predictor. The Main Scanner Display (see Display
Descriptions) shows the fireball radius and time remaining until
detonation for all "friendly" bombs currently in play.
Firing Lasers and Cannons
Firing lasers and cannons is relatively simple. Lasers and cannons can
be targeted on any detected enemy ship (see Commands) by supplying the
target number in the upper right-hand corner of the targets display on the
Main Scanner Display (see Display Descriptions). After you have targeted
a laser or cannon, a box will appear around the target to indicate that
the weapon is now locked-on. If you don't select a target the weapon(s)
will automatically target the closest enemy ship at the instant it is
fired. When you are satisfied with your targeting, issue the fire command
for that weapon and the computer will determine whether you hit or missed.
If you hit, the computer will calculate damage to the target and update
the enemy ships capabilities to reflect the damage.
After a weapon is fired it will take a certain amount of time to build-
up power before you can fire it again. This is an important consideration
because you may want to hold your fire until a target is at a better range
or positioned differently.
Also, each weapon has a limited number of charges, when they have all
been expended you will no longer be able to fire that weapon. Lasers and
cannons can be set to fire automatically as soon as they are up to full
power, again, remember your "ammo" supply is limited.
Firing Bombs
Bombs are different because they are "fired" with a timer setting and
will not cause any damage until they detonate. Since bombs affect an
area, they may be fired at any time, even if you can't see any enemy
targets. Any ships in the fireball or EMP radius will be effected whether
they are detected or not. When detonation occurs the computer will
determine which ships are in the EMP or fireball radius and apply
appropriate damage to all effected ships. Bombs are one shot weapons, so
be sure you want to fire one before you issue the command!
Armor
A ships' ideal defense is to avoid being hit by any of the enemies
weapons. ECM, acceleration ability, size and range all effect the chance
for enemy weapons to hit your ships. Once a hit has been scored only
armor will limit or save your ship from damage. When a ship is hit the
armor on the area hit will be damaged or destroyed. When all the armor on
that spot is gone, any further damage will begin to destroy the internal
systems under the armor. Larger weapons may be able to destroy the armor
and cause internal damage with a single hit. This is usually true when a
large powerful ship is firing at a smaller ship, such as a battleship
attacking a patrol vessel.
Most ships have been designed to withstand a few hits from a ship of the
same size or firepower. Larger ships usually have thick armor and can
often take a tremendous pounding from smaller ships before being damaged.
Bombs are very effective in destroying armor. If a ship is caught in
the fireball, the bomb will damage ALL the armor on one side of the ship.
The side damaged will be selected at random. After all the armor on a
side is destroyed a ship will be very vulnerable to further damage on that
side. Most ships are armored on the front and sides. Armor cannot be
applied to the engine exhausts, therefore, the rear of any ship is very
vulnerable to damage from all types of weapons. You should try to keep
the front or sides of your ships facing towards the enemy. At the same
time try to hit the enemy in the rear. Bomb explosions behind a ship can
be devastating, often leaving a ship with no operating engines.
Damage
Once a weapon has pierced the armor protecting an internal system that
system will be destroyed. Destroyed systems will protect systems
underneath them until completely eliminated. (This is similar to a door
destroyed in a car wreck continuing to protect the driver even though it
will no longer function properly.) The reason that control systems are
usually buried deep inside the hull of a ship is the protection gained
from the systems around them. You can view the internal systems of a ship
by using the Display Layout command (see Commands).
A SHIP WILL BE DESTROYED WHEN ALL OF ITS CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE ELIMINATED.
Destroyed ships will be removed from play and replaced on the Battlefield
Display with debris.
Losing a system will have an effect on a ships performance depending on
what the system is. Here are the effects of losing the various systems.
Control: The ship will be temporary disabled. IF THERE
ARE NO CONTROL SYSTEMS LEFT THE SHIP WILL BE
DESTROYED and removed from the game. Control
systems are shown as a "C" on the layout.
Engine: The ships maximum acceleration will drop. If all
engines are destroyed the ship will no longer
be able to change heading or speed, but can still
change facing. Engines show as an "E" on the layout.
Cannon: The cannon is out of action for the rest of the
scenario. Cannons show as an "A" (for
accelerator cannon) on the layout.
Laser: The laser is out of action for the rest of the
scenario. Lasers show as an "L" on the layout.
Bomb: The bomb is destroyed and can no longer be
launched. If you already launched the bomb then
the bomb bay was destroyed and you didn't lose
much. Bombs cannot be ejected if destroyed
before launching and the carrying ship will not
gain any acceleration ability normally given had
the bomb been launched. Bombs show as a "B" on
the layout.
Hold: Losing a cargo hold will not have any effect on
the ship. Holds show as an "H" on the layout.
Scanner: The scanner rating of the ship will drop to its
inherent level which is determined by the
technology level of the control systems. Also,
the scanners will be switched to passive mode
until made active again. Scanners show as an "S"
on the layout.
ECM: The ECM rating of the ship will drop to its
inherent level which is determined by the
technology level of the control systems. Also,
the ECM will be switched to passive mode until
made active again. ECM is shown as a "J" (for
jamming) on the layout.
Disablement and Shutdown
Besides physical damage to a ships systems, bombs can temporary disable
a ship with the EMP effect. The length of disablement is determined by
the distance from the explosion, the number of undestroyed control systems
and their technology level, and whether or not the ship has prepared for
EMP by issuing the Shutdown Electronics command (see Commands). While a
ship has electronics shutdown it will suffer the same effects as a
disabled ship except that it will be able to issue the Up command to bring
everything back on-line. A ship will also be disabled when a control
system is destroyed. Being disabled will cause the following problems:
1. The ship will no longer accept any commands from the
controlling player and commands in process (such as STOP)
will be canceled.
2. The ships ECM and scanners will switch to passive mode.
3. All target lock-ons for that ship will be lost.
4. The ships engines will shutdown.
5. The ship will not be able to detect any enemy ships.
6. The ships ECM rating will not be used in determining
whether the enemy can hit it with lasers or cannons.
7. The ships acceleration ability will not be used in
determining whether enemy can hit it with cannons.
8. The scanner screen for that ship will be blanked out.
9. All weapon recharging will be suspended.
10. The ship will be detected by all enemy ships at any
range.
Secondary Explosions
When 50% of a ships systems are destroyed further hits may cause
secondary explosions as engines, power couplings, and power storage
systems become unmanageable and begin to overload. These explosions may
cause further damage which can lead to more secondary explosions and so
on. The chance for secondary explosions increases as the percentage of
destroyed systems increases. Secondary explosions will also disable a
ship just like bomb EMP. They can also damage and disable any ships
within 12 km of the of the effected ship.
Tactical Advise
Although you will no doubt develop your own playing technique here are a
few words to help you get started.
Try to keep your ships together in some type of a group. If you scatter
it will be impossible to concentrate your firepower when you need to and
you will leave yourself open to being shot-up piecemeal by the enemy. Do
not, however, keep such a tight formation that all your ships can be
blasted by one bomb. Watch each ships speed and heading carefully! You
can easily scatter your fleet by not keeping the speed and heading of each
ship very close to others. Once your fleet scatters it can take a long
time to get it back in order.
Use a small fast ship to scout ahead of your main fleet. This will
allow you to check out the battlefield before you get too close and may
prevent you from receiving a nasty surprise.
When approaching the battlefield keep your engine temperature down.
This will allow you to sneak in and possibly surprise the enemy. Also,
leave your electronics in passive mode until you are close to your
objective. If your turn them "on" too early you will give away your
position and heading to the enemy. This may allow them to make a surprise
bomb attack on you. Once you are within firing range make sure to turn
everything "on" or you will make an easy target for the enemy.
Concentrate your fire. When targeting your weapons it is usually best
to aim everything at the weakest enemy ship first, then once it is
destroyed or crippled switch to the next weakest and so on. This will
take out the most enemy firepower in the shortest time. Obviously, you
should only do this if the ship you are targeting on is close enough to
all your ships for you to have a reasonable chance to hit. When in doubt
it is best to aim at the closest weakest enemy ship.
Ships with good acceleration, bombs, and weak armor should make a high
speed bombing run on the target with the shortest safe timer setting
possible. This will allow them to quickly move out of the effective range
of enemy weapons before they can fire too many times.
Vary your fleet's speed and direction constantly while in battle. This
will make it difficult for the enemy to get a good bomb launch on you.
You should maintain a constant acceleration long enough to significantly
alter your course or speed, wait awhile, then change course again and so
on.
When you are within firing range of the enemy keep the front or sides of
your ships facing towards the most powerful enemy ships. All ships are
very vulnerable to engine damage if hit from behind. By the same token,
try to hit the enemy from behind when the opportunity presents itself.
Do not waste your ammo on long range shots that have little chance of
hitting. It is possible to run out of ammo before the game is over,
leaving you defenseless. This is especially important when launching
bombs as you only get one shot.
If you are playing a scenario where you can receive points for ending
the game within a certain distance of a point in space make sure to leave
yourself enough time to get there before the game ends. You may even have
to break off pursuit of the enemy!
Finally, don't be afraid to leave if you are losing. It is better to
pull a badly damaged ship out of battle while it is still capable of
accelerating than to let it get destroyed when it can no longer make a
worthwhile contribution to your firepower.
Start-up Screen
The Start-up Screen is the first screen you will see after TACSTAR has
loaded and you have gone through the XPS Logo screen and the animated
planet picture.
To move from one area to another on this screen you can point with the
mouse and click the left mouse button once or you can use the left and
right arrow keys and press ENTER to confirm your choices.
The SCENARIO PATH BOX in the upper left corner of the screen is used to
enter an alternate path to your scenario files. If you have loaded your
scenario files into the same directory as TACSTAR you should leave this
box blank. The COMMANDER PATH BOX next to the SCENARIO PATH BOX works
exactly the same way and is used to give you an alternate path to your
commander files.
Commander files are the start-up defaults that the game uses to set-up
function keys and initial display settings.
IMPORTANT: IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU HAVE A COMMANDER FILE OF SOME TYPE
available to TACSTAR or the game may not function properly. The
DEFAULT.CMD should be loaded into the same directory as TACSTAR and can be
used if you don't have or want a custom commander file, DO NOT ERASE THIS
FILE IF YOU DON'T HAVE A REPLACEMENT!
You can select the scenario you want to play by moving the selection bar
up and down in the SCENARIO BOX. A description of each scenario will be
displayed in the lower half of the screen as you move through the various
scenarios.
After you have keyed in any alternate paths and selected a scenario you
must enter the player number you want to play in the PLAYER NUMBER box
located next to the COMMANDER PATH BOX.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that each player enters a different player number
than the rest of the players. You must not have two people using the same
player number! You should decide before the game what scenario will be
played and who will play each side.
After you have selected your player number the START GAME button should
turn green. To start the game press ENTER or click on the START GAME
button. The TACSTAR screen should come up. Once all players have
finished the start-up process the game will begin running. The start-up
process may be canceled by pressing the EXIT GAME button. If one of the
players is having trouble entering the game you should press the PAUSE key
to avoid timing them out. After all players have entered the game press
any other key to resume play.
Display Descriptions
There are several displays on the TACSTAR screen. Some of the display
areas can be changed to show more than one type of information. Players
should pay particular attention to the Main Scanner Display and Ships
Statistics Display as these show the most important game information.
Main Scanner Display
The entire right half of the screen is called the Main Scanner Display.
The Main Scanner Display can show two types of information, a view of the
battlefield or the structural layout of one friendly or enemy ship.
The Battlefield Display is very similar to an advanced air traffic
control screen. It is used to show where all the friendly and enemy ships
are located in relation to a point in space. Normally, the screen will
stay centered around one of your ships. By using the View command you can
select which ship the screen will be centered around. The mouse buttons
located on both sides of the ship number box may also be used to increment
or decrement the current viewing ship number. You may also view from a
different point in space by using the View X Y command or by offsetting
the view using the mouse buttons in the upper right-hand corner.
You can zoom the screen in and out by using the Magnification command or
by clicking on the mouse buttons on either side of the magnification box
at the top of the screen. Lower magnification numbers will "scrunch up"
the view and allow you to see "further" while higher numbers will spread
it out. You may want to zoom in when the ships on the screen get so close
together that it is difficult to separate them visually. Each ship on the
Battlefield Display may be surrounded by up to four numbers or letters.
Each number gives you important information about a ship. For enemy ships
the amount of information revealed will depend upon how well your ships
are scanning them at the time. The upper left-hand number is the side
number. The lower left-hand number is the ship number. These two numbers
uniquely identify each ship in the game. In the upper right-hand corner
is the target number. This number is used to identify which ships you
wish to target your weapons on. The lower right-hand corner may display
two different types of information. If you are scanning an enemy fairly
well, it will display an abbreviation of the ships size, as follows:
VSM=very small
SML=small
MED=medium
LRG=large
VLG=very large
If you have the best possible scan it will show a three letter
abbreviation of the type of ship it is, as follows:
SCT=Scout ship
PAT=Patrol ship
GUN=Gunship
INT=Interceptor
CAR=Cargo ship
DES=Destroyer
LCR=Light cruiser
HCR=Heavy cruiser
BCR=Battle cruiser
BSP=Battleship
BAS=Base
PTR=Pirate ship
Three range rings may be displayed on the screen. Range rings are
circles that give you a rough idea of how far away targets are from the
center of the screen. Since the screen is usually centered around a
friendly ship the range rings are useful in determining when enemy targets
are close enough to begin firing on. The range rings may be adjusted to
different sizes (ranges) using the Range Ring command.
If your bomb predictors are "turned on" you will see a line with a
circle at the end of it projecting from each ship. The circle shows the
position and fireball radius of bomb detonation if it were released "now".
The bomb predictor is constantly updated to show the new detonation point
and fireball radius based on the current bomb timer and radius settings
(see Commands and Bombs). "Friendly bombs" which have already been
launched show as circles on the screen with a countdown timer running in
the middle. The circles size shows the fireball radius of the bomb. When
the count reaches zero the bomb will detonate. It is a very good idea not
to have any friendly ships inside the circle when the count reaches zero.
If you issue the Display Layout command a block diagram of the selected
ships internal structure will be displayed. When viewing enemy ships you
will not be able to view the structure unless you have a top level scan of
that ship. Systems that are OK will be displayed in light blue. Systems
that are out will display in red and systems which are totally destroyed
will be red on a black background. Also, shown on the layout screen are
four numbers around the ship. These show the average armor factors per
square for the four sides of the ship. To return to the Battlefield view
issue any type of View ("V") command.
Other data shown on the right half of the screen are the display ship
number and the current magnification setting, both on the top line. On
the bottom line are the current X and Y position of the viewing ship,
number of enemy targets currently detected, and the time remaining until
the end of the game.
Command Line
On the upper left-hand side of the screen is the Command Line. The
Command Line shows any commands or messages as you type them so that you
can check your typing. To clear the Command Line press ESC. You may also
use the BACKSPACE key to make corrections. After you have typed your
command(s) press RETURN to execute it. After the RETURN key is pressed
the Command Line will be cleared. (If you hear a beep after entering a
command you have made a mistake, try again.)
Ship Statistics Display
Right below the Command Line is the Ship Statistics Display. There are
5 rows and 12 columns in this display. Each row is used to display the
stats for one ship starting with ship number 1 on the top row. Each
column has a heading which abbreviates the information displayed. Below
are the column descriptions.
From left to right:
"F" - Ships current facing in degrees
"H" - Heading in degrees
"V" - Velocity in kilometers per second. Keep a close eye on
this one!
"A" - Acceleration power level. Another one to watch
carefully.
"MA" - Maximum possible acceleration power level
"ET" - Engine temperature in 100's Kelvin
"G" - Group number, shows which other ship this ship is linked
to. If the group and ship number are equal the ship is
not linked.
"ST" - General status. This shows the condition of the ship.
OK means OK. MAX means the ship is accelerating at full
power. STOP indicates the ship is trying to execute a
STOP order. Blue numbers show the ship is disabled for
the number of seconds shown.
"BT" - Bomb Timer setting in seconds
"BR" - Bomb Radius setting
"D%" - Percentage of systems out of action
"TYPE" - An abbreviation of the type of ship it is
Left Middle Display
Below the Ship Statistics Display is a multi-display area. This part of
the screen can be changed to show five different types of information.
The possible settings are, macro scanner, weapons stats, mouse movement
menu, help, and detailed ship statistics.
Macro Scanner
To display the macro scanner enter the Display Macro Scanner command
(dms) or click the mouse button that looks like a small radar screen. The
macro scanner is a miniature version of the Main Scanner Display and is
normally used to show long range targets. The magnification of this
screen is adjustable using the Macro Magnification command (mm) or the
mouse buttons on the top line of the display.
Weapon Stats
To display weapon stats for the current view ship enter the Display
Weapons command (dw) or press the lightning bolt mouse button. There are
10 columns in the weapons display.
From left to right:
"#" - Weapon number
"T" - Weapon type. "A"=accelerator cannon, "L"=Laser, and
"B"=Bomb
"R1" - Weapon rating 1. Higher ratings indicate more
destructive weapons
"R2" - Weapon rating 2. Future release.
"R3" - Weapon rating 3. Future release.
"CNT" - Countdown until weapons are recharged and can fire again
"AMO" - Number of charges left until weapon is empty
"A" - Autofire flag. "Y" indicates that weapon is on autofire
"L" indicates locked autofire
"T#" - Target number. Shows the target number that weapon is
locked on to.
"RNG" - Range (in kilometers) to the target
Mouse Movement Menu
To bring up the Mouse Movement Display enter the Display Mouse Movement
command (dmm) or click on the white arrow. A little experimentation is
all you need to understand this display.
Help Display
The Help Display will show the correct format and options for all the
commands in the game except the switches. You can access this anytime
during the game when you aren't sure how to key a command.
To access the Help Display enter the Display Help command (dh) or click
on the "?" icon. Each successive click will move the help screen forward
one page. You may also enter a Display Help (dh) followed by a specific
page number if you are using the keyboard. Example: DH3 means display
help page 3. If you are using only the mouse to issue commands the help
display is not very useful.
Ship Statistics
Physical statistics for a particular ship can be displayed by entering
the Display Statistics command (ds) followed by the ship number you want
to display. Example: DS11 means display stats for target number 11. You
may also click on the mouse icon that resembles a calculator. Information
on this screen that is not available on other screens includes; engine
temperature for enemy ships, scanner and ecm ratings for both passive and
active modes, general status of enemy ships, current and maximum
acceleration for enemy ships, ships mass, hull size, number of weapons on-
board, control rating, ship type and ship class. A brief explanation
about ship type and class: Class is the general group that the ship
belongs to, such as, battleship, cruiser, destroyer, etc...Type is the
particular model within that class, such as Eagle or Orca. Example: I
can tell you that I drive a sports car (the class), but if I also tell you
it's a Porsche 924 (the type) you will know exactly how it will look and
perform even if you have never seen my car.
Lower Left Displays
The lower left-hand area of the screen can display the following; mouse
firing menu, security codes, game orders, incoming communiques, and
function key settings.
Mouse Firing Menu
The Mouse Firing Menu can be displayed by clicking on the red arrow icon
or by entering the Display Mouse Weapons command (dmw). With a little
practice you will be able to figure out how to use the mouse to fire your
weapons.
Security Codes
The Security Code screen can be displayed by clicking on the padlock
icon or by entering the Display Security Codes command (dsc). From left
to right the columns are:
"P#" - Player number
"SC" - Security Code. Codes for enemy players are your guess not
their actual code (unless they have given them to you)!
"G#" - Group number. Shows what player you are grouped (allied)
with. If your number is the same as another player's
number you are allies.
"FL" - Fire Lockout indicator. "Y" means you have locked them
out and cannot target that player's ships.
"PFL" - Permanent Firing Lockout indicator. Same as above except
you cannot change it. This is used when a scenario
requires you to be allied with another player.
Game Orders
Your orders for the scenario you are playing can be viewed by clicking
on the HQ icon or by entering the Display Orders command (do). To move to
the next page of orders click on the HQ icon again or enter the Display
Orders command followed by the page number you wish to view.
Incoming Communiques
Incoming communiques can be displayed by clicking on the mailbox icon or
by entering the Display Communiques command (dc). You can page through
the communiques by entering a P or clicking on the mailbox icon again. In
the first part of the communique two numbers will displayed. The first
number is the side number that sent you the communique. The second number
is the ship number that sent the communique.
When someone sends a communique to you, you will hear a jingle to prompt
you to look at your communique display. This will occur even if the sound
is turned off and whether or not you have the communique display up.
Function Key Settings
To view the function key settings click on the Fn icon or enter the
Display Function Key command (df). This will bring up a display of
function keys 1-10 and what orders they will execute when you press them.
These orders appear exactly as they would if you entered them on the
Command Line. Please note that one function key can execute multiple
orders. If you change your function key settings it will be necessary to
reissue the Display Function Key command or click again on the Fn icon
before the changes will be visible.
Index
Bomb
EMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10, 12
predictor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 16
timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10, 13, 16, 17
Bug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Commands
movement commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6, 17, 18
switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Communications
communiques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 19
Damage
damaging friendly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5
disable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 12
disablement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12
EMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10, 12
Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Displays
display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 6, 9, 11, 14-19
display descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 14
macro scanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
range rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 16
screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3, 12, 14-18
screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 18
start-up screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 14
Electronics
active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 11, 12, 18
ecm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8, 10-12, 18
jammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
jammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
passive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 11-13, 18
scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 11, 12
shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9, 12
Engines
cool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
hot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8, 13, 17, 18
Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 18
Firing
lockout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Game Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 8, 12, 17-19
linked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3, 14, 15, 17, 18
Movement
accelerate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7, 9
acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13, 16-18
facing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 10, 11, 13, 16
heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6, 11-13, 16
movement commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6, 17, 18
Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 17
Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 18, 19
Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4, 7, 12, 14, 19
Player number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 14, 19
Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5, 14, 19
Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15-17
Registration
register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
registered owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4
Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5, 11, 13, 14, 19
scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 14
Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5, 8
Security
security code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 19
Ships systems
armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16
cannon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9, 11, 17
cannons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 15
control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18
engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18
engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7, 9-12
hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11
hull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8, 11, 18
jammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
jammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
laser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9, 11, 17
lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 11, 12
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6, 11, 12
systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12, 16, 17
Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 10, 15, 16, 18
Starting the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 16
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 18
Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7, 12, 13
Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
tactical advise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 12
Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13
target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7-10, 12, 13, 15, 17-19
targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8-10, 15-17
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10, 12, 13, 15, 16
Type of ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 17
Weapons
ammo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 10, 13
bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7-13, 16
cannon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9, 11, 17
cannons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 10, 17
laser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9, 11, 17
lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
magnetic accelerator cannons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
nuclear cluster bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8
x-ray lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8
Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5
