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First Expedition
Copyright 1992
All rights reserved
Steve Englestad
[Also for The Quest for the Trinity Controllers]
Release 1/1/92
Steve Englestad
9921 Carmel Moutain Road
Suite 301, Dept. FE
San Diego, Calif 92129
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
"This program is produced by a member of the Association
of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure
that the shareware principle works for you. If you are
unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP
member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able
to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute
or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide
technical support for members' products. Please write to
the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-
9427 or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe Mail to
ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536"
CONTENTS
Background and Goal
Introduction and
Support Packet - 1
Screens - 3
Landing an Islands - 4
Installation - 6
Start Up - 6
Instrumentation - 8
Functions - 11
Options Screen - 11
AUTOPLOT
Marksmanship
Sound
Game Speed
Trading - 12
Cache - 12
Cannon - 12
Night Sky - 13
AUTOPLOT - 14
Radar Scanning - 15
Radio / Rescue - 15
Playback - 16
Doctor - 16
Flag - 16
Landing at Island- 16
Save / Restore - 17
Quicken Play - 17
Medical Kits - 17
Environment - 18
Keyboard Summary - 20
BACKGROUND AND GOAL
The Comet Halistrom is a periodic comet that passes the planet of
Yorland every several hundred years. It would destroy all on
this planet if not for the three Sun Spheres that resided on
Shandola. These three spheres put out a shield that protects the
planet from the comet's rays.
Many generations ago a terrible race, only known as The Menace,
came to this planet. They began in the Northwestern portion of
the world to conquer Yorland, island by island. They got the
idea to steal the Spheres and hide them. They intended to leave
the planet until the comet passed, destroying all on the planet
and then returning to replace the Spheres and take over the
planet with minimal effort.
They did obtain the Spheres but a great storm blew their armada
to far corners of the world. Instead of removing the Spheres,
they hid them on the planet and then, those that survived, left.
Generations came and passed. From fear of the Terror, no one
would travel on the seas until finally the Yorax and their
splintered tribes ventured out in their sailing vessels. For the
most part they were a hostile tribe but not all factions were
pirates. Those that would fly flags were friendly to the
islanders. Only those not flying a flag proved to be pirates.
Closer and closer came the date the comet was due to return.
Into the land Braun is born to the ruler of Holm Island. He and
an old salt (who has sailed about Holm Island and to Shandola
only) set out to explore those seas that no civilized nation
would venture on for many years. He only has an old chart with
some of the islands charted and an old star chart to guide him.
He will meet the Yorax, both friendly and hostile. His quest is
to find the three Sun Spheres and return them one by one to
Shandola in a effort to get all three in place before the final
one hundred days pass and Halistom returns.
You are Braun and this is your quest.... Good Luck.
Page 1
INTRODUCTION
First Expedition is a real-time first-person adventure. It takes
place on an ocean world with you at the helm of an explorer craft
navigating to known islands and searching out unknown islands.
You are operating with a boat of specific food and fuel capacity.
The food capacity is the number of days of food you have. Food
and fuel can be obtained from various islands. You start with
some cash to purchase your supplies up to the capacity limit of
your craft. To make such purchases, you must land at the pier of
an island. Some islands have piers and others don't. The
shoreline of each island may provide food at no cost or may be
hostile causing you to lose food and fuel. You will certainly
note these conditions as your explorations take you to different
islands. Each day is intended to be approximately an eight
minute period. A parameter permits you to adjust the speed of
the game for your machine. During the day, food is taken from
the supplies. The world being explored is measured 20,000 by
20,000 units. Longitude and latitude are measured by these
coordinates for plotting on the Island Charts.
***** SUPPORT PACKET *****
The materials supporting your adventure are listed below and will
be sent upon receipt of the registration fee plus shipping and
handling. See the README.DOC file for the registration form.
These items are not in a form that can be included on a disk.
First Expedition is intended to involve the explorer with some
degree of manual charting and is thus best enjoyed using the
supporting charts and tools which are listed below. With these,
First Expedition becomes an experience unlike any available on
the market today.
Island Charts:
The Island Chart covers the entire world`s surface and shows the
best known position of the known islands. Part of your adventure
is seeking out and finding islands not known at the time this
chart was reconstructed. The units of longitude and latitude are
given along the edges of the charts in thousands of units. Each
small square is 100 by 100 units.
Star Chart/Star Catalogue:
This one page-chart gives the star configuration over the planet.
It is essential to navigation and is used along with the Star
Catalogue which provides the corresponding planet coordinates for
some of the stars. On the backside is a keyboard layout. If you
have an Epson compatible printer you can create a printout of the
Star Chart and Catalogue by running STARS at the DOS prompt.
Compass:
The circular compass with the arm is used to plot the heading for
traveling from one point to another on the surface of the world.
By placing the compass centered at your current position (with
Page 2
North at the top) and swinging the arm about to align with your
desired destination, you determine the necessary heading to set
your craft on. The compass is also used to determine your
position at night using the night sky. More on this later.
The Years of Terror:
This booklet contains the history behind Braun's First Expedition
along with information that will provide hints on solving the
adventure.
First Expedition will run and is fully functional as is without
the support packet. The above items provide the tools to navigate
and better understand the adventure. Note that you can make your
own version of the Star Chart and Catalogue on an Epson printer
by running STARS at the DOS prompt. The printer must be NOT be
set for IBM printer emulation mode (DIP switch setting).
The adventure begins at Holm Island with a class-1 craft and a
sum of money. Through the trading function you can buy and sell
items needed for your journey. Money is gained in the following
ways:
o Sink a pirate. The higher your skill level of shooting, the
greater the money gained.
o Find an person willing to help fund you quest.
o Find money hidden in mazes.
o Sell something.
The money you gather will be needed to buy supplies at piers. If
you are able to save up enough you can buy a larger capacity
craft to conduct your further explorations with.
The following sections will help you to start up the adventure
and take you on a tour of the instrumentation of the exploration
craft.
Page 3
SCREENS
There are a number of graphic screens possible in First
Expedition. These screens are briefly described below.
Stern View
The stern view shows you the stern of the boat and the horizon.
It is selected by the function key F10 while 'at sea'.
Instrument View
This is a forward view as is the bow view only here you have the
instrument panel laid out along the bottom of the screen. It is
selected by the function key F6 while 'at sea'.
Top View
When the explorer craft is close to landing at an island, First
Expedition automatically puts the display into Top View. This
screen shows the island as green with the boat as a red dot
moving on the blue sea. The instrument panel is laid out along
the bottom of the screen as in the Instrument View. While in top
view, you cannot select the other previous views.
Night Sky
The night sky view is available from any of the previous views
via the N-key. It shows the night sky which is needed for
navigation. Of course, the night sky view can only be selected
at night (yes, there is day and night). Much more on night sky
and navigation later.
Radar Scan
A radar scan is taken by firing a rocket. This produces a
'snapshot' of the area about the craft. As the rocket ascends it
scans the ocean surface about the craft for a considerable
distance (1000 units is each direction) and, via telemetry, sends
its data back to the ship. Once this data is stored on board,
the explorer may call it up on the screen. The details of this
screen are discussed under the function of the same name, Radar
Scan.
Page 4
LANDING AT ISLANDS
Landing at an island is made by moving the red dot representing
the craft up to make contact with the shore of the island or into
contact with a pier. Landings are made while the display is in
top view with the boat showing as a red dot.
Each island may or may not have natives which may or may not be
hostile. Some islands may not have food. Natives and food
availability pertain only to the island proper. That is, when
landing at the shore of an island the explorer may lose food and
fuel if the natives are hostile and may receive food if food is
available. As one revisits islands that are hostile, the odds of
being met with hostility is reduced and the chances of finding
food on an island originally without food increase. These odds
are shown in the window that appears at every such landing. Note
that even if an island is marked as hostile, that hostility only
causes harm if you are in your craft at the shore for any period
of time. You can quickly disembark by shutting down the engine
and pressing the I key. You can then move to a building, enter
it and explore and then return to your craft without problems but
once back in your craft, you had best shove off from the shore as
quickly as possible. There is, admittedly, a degree if illogic
to this but it plays well.
Any landing at a pier always provides repair of any
instrumentation damaged by pirate boardings. Note that piers
represent settlements and that the rest of an island may be
hostile or unfriendly to an explorer. Hence when landing at a
pier, the window reflects the nature of the rest of the island.
Thus, you may be able to buy fuel and food at a pier and still be
advised by the window that chances of food are 0%. When landing
at a pier the boat is brought to a stop and returned to neutral
automatically.
All landings provide you statistics about previous landings at
the island and give you the chance to cache or retrieve money
from the island. At this time you also learn if there is any
treasure on the island which will appear as cached money along
with the word TREASURE. The cache function can be called up when
landed at a island by entering the key C.
All landings at piers also give you a trade menu to buy or sell.
This functionality can be recalled by entering the key T when
landed at a pier.
Once you have landed at an island, either at it's shore or at a
pier, you can get off of the boat with the I-key but only if your
health is not less than 50. On an island there may be a building
(square shape) or a village/ruin (odd shape). By moving the
cross hairs which appear when you disembark to the red dot at the
lower right corner of the shape, you either get an experience
message or get entered to the building. The size of the move
is greater with the Shift key held down. NOTE: It may be
necessary to use the shifted arrow key to jump over your craft if
the cross hairs are placed at the end of the pier or you will
keep returning to your craft.
Page 5
Experience message may result in you receiving some money from a
benefactor. They will also provide important information. There
can be multiple experience messages as a given island but a
number of days (2-7) must pass before you can get the following
one(s). You will be advised when there are no more messages at a
given island.
The buildings were left by an ancient race that came and left
this world before your adventure started. They contain robotic
beings that will approach and drain your health. Once in the
building the keypad arrows move you about. The 5-key will shoot
in the direction you are facing destroying either blocks that are
in your way or a robot. The robots face in directions too. They
are represented as black arrows. If one is facing you, he can see
you. You are a green arrow and can only see robots in the
direction you are facing. Thus, you should look behind you now
and again to insure no robot sneaks up behind you.
In each building will be a box. It will appear as a green box
when you come into sight of it. Move over it to pick it up. In
some instances you will be asked to enter a code word to pick it
up. During your adventures you will learn what to enter. Until
that time you can just enter the Enter key by itself to be backed
off of the box. Once you have a box, exit the building by moving
back to the lower right corner of the maze and moving out from
the building. Take the box back to your craft. Its contents
will then be revealed. It may contain one of the Sun Spheres you
are looking for.
Watch out for trap doors. If you move too fast you may hit one.
If you move slowly, it will appear as a red block when you are
next to it. You do not want to move over it.
Page 6
INSTALLATION AND START UP
This adventure requires CGA graphic capability and 320 RAM. Any
resident utilities should be removed to insure the proper
function of this adventure.
The CONFIG.SYS file must assign FILES=20 and it is suggested that
you set BUFFERS=10. See your DOS manual for instructions for
setting up a configuration file. A sample CONFIG.SYS file comes
on Disk 1 and can be copied to the root directory of your hard
disk if you do not have one.
The disk(s) are not protected and backups should be made with
DISKCOPY.
*** SEE OPTIONS SCREEN FOR ADJUSTING SPEED FOR YOUR COMPUTER ***
Floppy System [No installation required].........................
Insert Disk 1 into desired drive.
Make that drive current : >A: [for drive A]
Change to subdirectory EX1: >CD EX1
Start the adventure : >EX1
>EX1 S [for a silent start-up]
When told, remove the Disk 1 and insert Disk 2. (For single 3.5
inch diskette distribution, no switching of disks is necessary.)
Leave the disk in the drive until completely exiting the adventure.
The disks must not be write protected.
Hard Disk System.................................................
Installation:
Create a subdirectory on your hard disk: >MD EX1
Make it the current directory : >CD \EX1
Insert Disk 1 in the drive of your choice.
Enter at the DOS prompt,
a:INSTALL a x
substitue for 'a' the letter of your floppy drive and substitue for
'x' the letter of the hard drive you are copying to. Repeat this
with Disk 2 if you have a two disk distribution.
Note that some distributions have a SCRNS.COM file that contains
some EGA scenes of The Dezerian Assignment, another adventure I
have finished some months ago. This new adventure requires EGA
graphics capability. I have included some scenes from that
adventure which you can see if you have EGA graphics. SCRNS.COM
is a 'self-extracting' file you can copy to another floppy or to
a hard disk. When you run it, it will 'pop' open to a number of
files. Run SCENES at the DOS prompt to see the screens.
Running:
Change to proper subdirectory: >CD EX1 [for hard disk subdir EX1]
Start the adventure : >EX1
>EX1 S (for a silent start-up)
Always exit the game before turning off the computer.
Page 7
First Expedition gives you three types of adventures to pursue.
These three are described below.
1.
This option starts a 'normal' expedition.
Within a normal expedition, it may become necessary to call for
a rescue. This is all explained later in this document.
2. 3.
These options start you off on a rescue mission. Option 2 places
the lost craft somewhere in the upper left or lower left
quadrant of the world. You are told which quadrant but not the
coordinates of the lost craft. It is for you to search within
the proper quadrant using the tools available and within the
allotted time. Option 3 is the same except that the lost craft
is placed in one of the right two quadrants making it closer to
Holm Island. These adventure options give the explorer a
specific mission; to find a lost craft.
Note that until you has earned a class-3 vessel by obtaining
enough money and buying one, First Expedition does not offer you
a selection. Once you have operated under 'normal' expedition
mode and have made sufficient funds to purchase a class-3 vessel,
the three options will be available after the next initialization
and will always be available from that point on.
Upon starting the game initially, there should be a top view of
Holm Island, the starting port of your explorer craft. Note the
red dot of the boat docked at the pier. Some islands have piers,
others don't. At this point you have no food, fuel or
ammunition. You do have some cash to get started. The amount is
shown at the bottom right of the instrument panel. You need to
use the Trade function (T-key) to buy what you need before taking
off.
Along the bottom is shown the instrument panel. In a second
we'll take a look at the instrument panel but first, a few more
words about start up. In particular, how to exit from once you
have finished your session.
To exit First Expedition, hit the S-key to save or exit. This
key provides two options; continue or exit. Exit automatically
saves your current position.
Page 8
INSTRUMENTATION
Following the name of each instrument are listed the keys
affecting it if there are any.
Engine: E
The engine light indicates when the engine is running. Hit the E
key and watch it go on and off. Gear must be in neutral to start
the engine. Fuel is consumed when this light is on.
Gears: F5 F7 F9
Forward, neutral and reverse. Must be in gear before moving.
Light shows what gear you are in. Must go through neutral when
going from one gear to another. Try it.
Anchor: A
Anchor is up (up blue arrow), down (down blue arrow) or down and
touching bottom (down red arrow). To move, anchor cannot be
touching bottom.
Compass / Heading:
Both an analog dial and a digital readout provide data on heading
of boat. This shows the direction the boat is aiming. Heading
is based on a 360 degree circle. 0 is north, 90 is east, 180 is
south and 270 is west. The left and right arrow keys change the
rudder position thus changing the boat's heading. (See Rudder)
Food:
This instrument shows the number of days of food remaining. The
capacity is determined by the class of the boat. If it falls
below -3, you are a goner! That's three days without food.
We've got to draw the line somewhere.
Class:
This indicator shows current classification of the boat, class 1,
2, 3 or R for rescue. More on this later.
Knots: Up-arrow Down-arrow
The current speed of the craft is shown here. Up and down arrow
keys accelerate and decelerate the craft. These keys are toggle
type keys. For example, hitting the accelerate key starts
acceleration. Hit it again and the speed stops increasing. Play
with them while at sea and you'll get the hang of it. Make sure
you are pointed in the right direction. Engine must be on,
anchor not touching bottom and gear in forward or reverse. (4
knots maximum in reverse).
Rudder: [Shift] Right-arrow [Shift] Left-arrow 5-key
The rudder has seven positions to left and right. The left and
right arrow keys alter the rudder setting. The 5-key centers the
rudder. Your craft has the very useful characteristic of being
able to turn while standing still. The engine must be on to turn.
Shift-arrow-key is a quick way to set full rudder to left or right.
Page 9
A red pointer on the instrument panel shows the setting of the
rudder. Full rudder should be used for making a turn. As you
would expect, the slower you are moving, the sharper the turn you
can make. Partial rudder settings are useful for offsetting
currents that are slowly pulling your craft off course. There
are different currents and you are told the current's direction
and strength each day.
Ammo:
This shows the count of cannon ammunition remaining. More on
this under the function 'Cannon'.
Fuel:
This shows the amount of fuel left. A red indicator light shows
when less than 1/4 of a tank is remaining. The faster the craft
is moving, the faster the fuel is consumed.
Day:
This shows the number of days into the current expedition.
During a rescue mission, a red number shows the number of days
left to return to Holm Island.
Survey Rockets: F1 VF
This portion of the instrumentation shows the number of rockets
remaining for radar scanning purposes.
Messages: +
Messages will appear across the bottom of the instrument panel
when there is information for you or when your second mate is
talking to you. Each message or statement scrolls across and is
announced by a series of three rising tones.
At the coming of evening, a message will advise of the strength
and direction of the sea current. The direction is the degrees
from which the current is coming. The degrees are the same as
those on your plastic compass, 0 to 360. Remember that you are
given the direction the current is coming from, not heading.
This information will be useful is helping you set the rudder to
compensate.
If the instrument panel is not being displayed when a message
comes (maybe you are using the aft or nightsky view), the tones
will advise that a message has come through. Call up the
instrument view (F6) and recall the last message by entering the
+ key on the keypad. This will recall past messages.
Striking the space bar will halt the display of the current
message being scrolled across the screen which is useful as there
will be some messages you will get to recognize and not want to
wait for the message to complete its scrolling.
Money:
This number shows the amount of money you have.
Page 10
Health:
This value (0-100) shows your state of health. If it falls below
50, you can not disembark onto any island. You need to call a
doctor while at a pier and pay his fee to get well. 0 level does
not mean you are dead.... just in pretty bad shape.
Page 11
FUNCTIONS
So much for the instrumentation. This might be a good time to
take your craft out for a short spin. Keep in mind that nothing
you do will ever result in a quick and terrible death but a few
more comments might be appropriate.
Before leaving Holm Island you need to spend some of your money
for fuel and food. You may want some ammunition too if you plan
to stray very far from the island. The key T gets you into trade
mode.
As you leave the island the scene will automatically revert to an
instrument view. Remember that the instrument view gives a
forward horizon perspective. Select the stern view (F10) and see
Holm Island as a profile receding behind you. Play the rudder
and watch the compass and heading alter. You might want to head
out at a fixed angle (such as 90 degrees - East) so that even if
the island goes out of view you can turn around and head back at
270 degrees to return to the island.
Note the occasional bird. This is a sure sign that you are near
to an island. As you head back to Holm Island it will reappear
over the horizon. As you venture out on open seas the sight of
the birds and ultimately the peak of an island over the horizon
will come to be a grateful sight with hopes that food and fuel
will be available.
As you once again approach Holm Island a low-key sound will be
heard. This indicates the immediate presence of the island which
is especially useful at night when the skies are black except for
the myriad stars passing over head. Again, the scene reverts to
a top-view as the boat approaches the island. You want to guide
your craft back into harbor and up to the pier. NOTE: Landing on
the shore of an island or at a pier at a speed of greater than 5
knots will cause the loss of a day. You lose one day's food.
This can be critical if you are landing on an island with no food
or if you are in rescue mode (more on rescue later) and are
operating within a specific time limit.
NOTE: The only way your expedition is terminated is if you
exceed you food count by more than 3 days or if, in rescue mode,
you take too long to rescue and return to Holm Island. If the
food counter gets to -3, termination will occur at the next
morning if you are unable to find an island with food or shoot
one of the large sea creatures of this world. See the function
Radio/Rescue for yet some further functions of First Expedition.
Options - ESC
The option screen can be displayed by hitting the escape key
(ESC). The option screen allows you to tune First Expedition to
Page 12
your own desires and level of expertise. There are four options
which are discussed below. The space bar toggles the selections
within an option box. The return key moves you to the next
option box. The currently selected box is bordered by red. The
option within the box which is selected is in red. Once set, the
option settings are saved when exiting (other than sound which is
always ON at startup). The option screen fuctions as a good way
to Pause the adventure also. Hit ESC whenever you want to take
a break and not exit the game then exit the option screen to
resume play.
The first option is AUTOPLOT. If this option is selected, the
navigation procedure is simplified and does not require the use
of the compass which is included with First Expedition. If this
option is set of OFF, a more realistic and manual method for
navigating is used. Both navigational procedures are explained
under the function Night Sky.
The second option determines the accuracy needed to hit both
pirates and sea beasts with the cannon. The beginner level is
the easiest. As you become more proficient, you can raise the
level of marksmanship to give yourself a greater challenge. The
level you use determines the amount of money received for sinking
a pirate. The higher the level, the more money.
The third option toggles sound on and off. Sound is alway on at
each startup of the game. Sound is important as it gives warnings
and other information that is needed for successful play. To skip
the opening music, enter EX1 S to start the game. The sound flag
is still set to on but the entry music is skipped.
The fourth option allows you to adjust the game speed to your
computer. The setting goes from 0 to 400. 0 yields the fastest
setting (for XT type machines) and AT class machines may run best
at 150 to 250 depending on their clock speed. One complete day
cycle (from morning to morning) is intended to take about eight
minutes real time.
Trading - T
The Trade function is activated by the T key. When the boat is
at an island pier, the T key activates the trade function.
Otherwise, it activates the tracking function. The trade
function permits you to buy and sell fuel, food, ammunition and
even your boat, moving up to a higher class craft. You can not
sell you boat to move down. Fuel is bought and sold in 10 gallon
increments. The up and down arrow keys are used to buy and sell.
Cache - C
When you land at a pier or island you are advised of the status
of the island and given a chance to store some money or retrieve
money you have left there earlier. You can on cache money, not
supplies. This is important since if you are boarded by pirates,
they take a fraction of the money you have with you. This
function can be reentered while still landed by entering the C
key. A rescue boat can not cache, only retrieve.
Page 13
Cannon - F8 I J K L M
Each class of craft is able to carry a number of rounds for the
cannon. This capability permits one to shoot both sea beasts for
food and pirates that might be coming at you to board and relieve
you of some fuel and a day's food. The cannon is operational only
when the craft is at open sea (not close to any island). The
function key F8 activates the cannon cross hairs. The keys J and
L move the cross hairs left and right with the key K firing a
shot. Holding down the shift key moves the cross hairs in larger
increments. The keys I and M move the cross hairs up and down.
The higher the cross hairs, the further one shoots. Every now
and then a sea creature will appear. If the creature is not
visible forward, select the stern view. At first only the tip of
the creature will be visible. If food is needed or one is out
for sport, the creature can be approached and fired upon. Be
sure to approach close before firing. Remember that if red dots
appear in the water as you fire, you are not close enough. If
there are no red dots and you are still not hitting your target,
lower the cross hairs as you are firing over your target. Every
shot will not necessarily score a kill. Successfully firing upon
a beast results in gaining three days of food. These beasts
become much more important when you are out exploring the
uncharted parts of this world but remember that chasing a beast
around for half a day may take you off course enough to require a
night sky scan and replotting of your position to reestablish
your heading.
In the case of the pirates, one must fire upon an oncoming ship
successfully several times to sink it. Keep in mind that the
higher one aims, the farther the cannon will fire. If firing too
short, a red mark will appear in the water to so indicate. If the
red dot does not align with the crosshairs, some pirate has
knocked the sights throwing them off of alignment. You must
compensate for their misalignment until you land at a dock at
which time they are automatically reset. The more pirate
boardings, the greater the misalignment can become. The cannon is
available on the explorer type vessel, both fore and aft.
Night Sky - N
This feature provides the key to navigating across the expanse of
this world. When night is upon the land you can select the night
sky view by hitting key N. This can be selected while at sea or
anchored hear an island and in top view. Note that if in top
view the boat must be anchored (red down arrow for anchor) for
the N-key to function. While in the night sky function, all
other key functions are inactive until you exit the function.
The Return key exists you from the night sky screen
The night sky appears on the screen showing the star pattern
immediately above the craft. If moving at sea this pattern
slowly moves based on the craft's heading and speed. If the
night sky is being shown on the screen and either day comes or
the craft approaches close enough to an island to activate the
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top view, the screen will automatically switch as necessary.
How to navigate?! Using the Sky Chart which shows the entire
star field over the world, match the patterns on the screen to
the stars on the chart. The distinct constellations should make
this a fairly easy task along with having an estimate of your
current position. Find a star on the screen that matches a
numbered star on the chart. Move the cross hairs to center on
the star. To move cross hairs, use keypad arrow keys as well as
the 7,9,1 and 3 keys for diagonal movement. Holding the shift
key down at the same time moves the cross hairs in larger steps.
For the most accurate readings and plotting, stop the craft
before going to night sky and taking your readings. This is
especially important if you feel you are close to an island and
need to establish one last heading. With the desired star within
the cross hairs, hit the keypad 5-key. This will result in a
degree value being displayed. This is how many degrees the craft
is from the star. Jot down the degrees and repeat this for
another star on the screen. You are through with the night sky
now and can use the chart to plot your current position. To exit
the night sky function, enter the Return key.
Take the Island Chart. The Star Catalogue gives the longitudes
and latitudes of the numbered stars you just scanned. Find the
coordinates on the Island Chart for one of the stars. Center the
compass on that point and rotate the arm to the degrees copied
from the screen. Your craft in somewhere along this line.
Repeat this procedure with the second star and plot another line.
Where the two lines cross is where you are on the world.
After a couple of such plottings, the procedure will prove to be
quite simple. Such readings are strongly suggested whenever a
new island is found. Dock or land, anchor and wait for night.
Plot your newly found island on the Island Chart.
AUTOPLOT is an alternative means of plotting your position. This
option can be turned on via the option screen (ESC key). With
AUTOPLOT turned on, the procedure for plotting your position is
simplified and does not require the use of the compass.
Using AUTOPLOT, you center the cross hairs on a star that is
numbered on the Star Chart and hit the 5 key to register your
selection. Your are prompted for the star's latitude at the
right of the screen. From the Star Catalogue enter the longitude
and hit the Return key. You are then prompted for the star's
longitude. Enter it from the Star Catalogue and hit the Return
key. A mistake results in a low pitched tone. A successful
entry results in high pitched tones. A second star must be
selected and entered as was the first star. Once you have
correctly entered two stars in this way, your craft's longitude
and latitude are displayed at the right of the screen. Note them
before hitting return to exit the Night Sky function.
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Note that fog conditions can make birds and island profiles
invisible and at night, block the stars.
Radar Scanning - F1
You can send a missile aloft to take a radar scan of the
surrounding area. The scan covers an area approximately 2000 by
2000 units. The launching of the missile is accomplished by the
function key F1. Note that a limited number of missiles are
onboard. Note also the important point that though fuel, food
and cannon ammunition is available by docking at any island with
a pier, only Holm Island is able to replenish the missiles.
These are automatically resupplied when you return to Holm Island
at no cost. Note also that the rescue ship is not provided with
radar missles; they are for explorer craft only.
Once a missile has been sent aloft, the V key will produce a
display showing a full 2000 by 2000 unit area about the craft.
The position of the explorer craft is at the very center of the
display where the solid axes cross. Islands are shown as green
dots. The data is displayed in a standard north upward and east
to the right configuration regardless of the direction the craft
is facing. This data is stored and can be redisplayed at any
time though would shortly become obsolete as the craft moves
across the world. Thus the explorer can always see the most
recent scan that was taken. Note that saving the game (S key)
does not preserve the most recent scan.
While the radar scan data is being displayed, the adventure is
halted. Hitting any key exits from the radar display screen.
Radio / Rescue - R
The radio function is selected by the R key. Use the radio to
report your current coordinates whenever you use the stars to
calculate where you are. If you should ever get into that
unfortunate position where the food has run low and there seems
to be no choice but to expire, this same function can be used to
call for a rescue. One wants to do so only as a last resort.
The rescue capability of First Expedition provides an adventure
within an adventure. A lost craft exists somewhere out on the
surface of this world. The rescue craft is docked at Holm
Island. As skipper of this craft you are provided the latest
reported coordinates of the lost craft and are given a fixed
number of days to find the lost crew and return to Holm Island.
If you fail to do so, First Expedition terminates the rescue
mission. While in rescue mode you have a class-R boat.
When you have come to within 600 units distance of the lost craft
an audible beacon will be heard. The tone of the beacon gets
higher as you get closer to the lost craft and lowers if you are
getting further. If at open sea the lost boat will eventually be
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seen and should be approached until the screen advises that the
lost crew has been transferred to the rescue craft. If in top
view, the lost boat will appear as a green dot if visible from
the rescue craft. If in a cove or behind the island it will not
be visible until the rescue craft is brought into line of sight.
Approaching the lost craft will result in the transfer of the
lost crew to the rescue craft. Now you must get back to Holm
Island. Note that one day of food is lost at both sunset AND
sunrise rather than just once a day at sunrise once you have
picked up the lost crew. More people eating now you know!
Knowing what islands to land on and the use of your cannon can
become quite important at this point.
A rescue craft is not an exploration craft. You may find an
uncharted island bu not award is given. You can not cache money
but can retrieve money left there by the lost explorer. A rescue
craft can not find treasure either. Hence, any new islands
landed on by the rescue craft should be revisited by an
exploration craft later.
Playback - P
Full-screen experience messages appear when you land at islands
and go into villages or visit ruins. These screens give you
important information to further your quest and may result in
your receiving contributions of money. These screens are all
numbered and any screen that has been seen can be recalled using
this feature in case you need to reread one of them.
Doctor - D
While at a pier, entering the D-key will call up a doctor who
will return your health to 100 if you have sufficient funds. No
partial healing is permitted if you don't have enough money for a
full cure.
Flag - F
As you meet sailing craft on the open sea, you need to determine
if they are friendly or hostile. Friendly craft may board you
and give you supplies if you are low. Or they may ask for
assistance if they need help. If you refuse you could be making
an enemy. Friendly craft fly flags. You can check out if a
craft is flying a flag by entering the F-key as a sailing vessel
approaches. The problem is, if they are not close enough you may
not see the flag at first. You might want to call up the cannon
sights, aim and then use the F-key to keep looking for a flag as
long as you are willing to hold fire. A low tone is given for no
flag, a high tone when there is a flag.
Landing At An Island - I
When at a pier or at the shore of an island, you can disembark
and move about the island by pressing I. If your health is below
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fifty, you can not get off your boat. Once on an island, the
keypad arrow keys will move you about. Doing so is useless
unless there is a building (square shape) or a village/ruin (odd
shape) to visit. Further details have been given earlier in this
document.
Save / Restore - S
First Expedition provides a true escape into a world that holds
new sights and some surprises that may be just over any horizon.
It is meant to provide an ongoing adventure and towards this end
each session of exploring is saved by use of the S key.
Upon entering First Expedition, if a previous session has been
saved, the user can select to continue the adventure or to start
over. Starting over destroys any previously saved progress and
initializes data about previous landings at islands. One returns
to a class-1 craft.
Continuing a saved game restores pertinent data about the last
position and condition of the craft. Upon restoring, the craft
will be stationary, facing north with the engine off and in
neutral. It is up to you to start up the engine and head off in
the desired direction.
Quicken / Reset Pace of Game - Q
The options screen (ESC) permits you to set the timer value to
slow this game for the speed of your computer. The Q key alternates
between setting the speed parameter to 0 then back to the value
you have set with the options screen. On faster machines, this
permits one to speed up the action for a brief period. On occasion
this can be helpful but use this key discreetly for it speeds up
fuel consumption, etc. At the first sign of a ship or beast
approaching, set the game speed back to the proper one for your
machine by pressing Q again or you will never be able to deal
with the ship or beast. The clock rim turns red when you are in
a quickened mode.
See Environment for more on when to use this capability.
Medical Kits - M
Medical kits permit you to raise your health level to 70. They
are useful when you are not able to get a doctor such as when
far into Menace territory. A number are available about the
world at no cost... you just have to find them. The H key brings
up the help screen which tells you how many you have. Each kit
can be used for only one recouperation. They are important when
you want to get off of your craft but your health has fallen
below 50.
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ENVIRONMENT
Finally, a few more items to explain the nature of the world in
which you are exploring.
Some islands will be hostile. This means that if you land on the
shore, some food and fuel will be periodically lost. That is,
once an island is found to be hostile, you had better get off
shore as fast as possible. The irony is that such islands can
also provide you with food. When food is available from an
island, it is provided immediately upon landing. If the island
is hostile and you stick around you will begin to lose food and
fuel. Remember that you can get off of your craft quickly and
visit a building at a hostile island as long as you cast off as
quickly as possible once back at your craft.
Some islands have no food available. This means that landing at
the shore will provide you with no free food. There may be a
pier on the same island where you can buy food if you have money.
NOTE: Islands that are hostile will become less hostile with
repeated visits. Also, as days pass after an initial landing at
an island with no food available, food will start becoming
available. Each time you land at any island other than Holm
Island, a window provides data about the island. It gives the
day count of the first time you landed at the island, the number
of visits made and the status of food and natives. These
statuses are be given as the percent chance of finding food or
being met by hostile natives. The percents change as you revisit
islands, the chance of finding food increasing and the hostility
of the natives decreasing.
Fog can occur at any time, day or night, and will last for
varying lengths of time. Some parts of the world tend to be more
foggy than others. Fog will turn the day sky to white. If you
are approaching an island, the birds won't be visible and either
will the island profile when it would normally come within
visible range. If you happen to come close enough to an island
for a top view, the top view will take place regardless of the
fog. To assist in fog and darkness, a sound is heard when you
are getting near to an island. It is the waves on the shore and
the pitch of the sound rises as you get closer to the island. If
the pitch begin getting lower, you know you have passed the island
and need to change course.
As you get away from an island and into open sea you can expect
to see pirates now and then. Their mast may suddenly appear over
the horizon. This is a good sign that you had best change your
course or prepare to do battle with your cannon. They can also
come up from behind you so you had better glance at the stern
view now and then. If you're lucky, your second mate will warn
you. These rascals will head towards you with intentions of
gaining some loot. If they are able to approach close enough
they will board you and help themselves to some food and fuel and
in a random manner proceed to bust things up. Being boarded
results in the loss of some of your cash on hand. If some
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function fails to work after such a boarding....well, you know
who to blame. Try to make it to an island with a pier to land at
for repairs. On the other hand, sinking pirates earns money so
if you are well armed, you may be glad to see them. The higher
your level of marksmanship on the option screen, the greater the
money rewarded for sinking a ship. Be aware they come in groups
sometimes. Once warned of their presence, keep a watchful eye
even after sinking one. Note again that not all craft are pirates.
Better check with the flag function until you are sure or you may
be sinking a friend. You may need them later to get food and fuel
if you are stranded at sea. Whenever I am expecting a ship to be
approaching, I stop my craft so as to reduce the speed of our
coming together if they are headed at me.
Storms can occur at any time. Sometimes there will be warning
signs that may give you time to find refuge at an island if you
happen to be near one. Storms have no effect on you if you are
in top view distance of an island. Storms will only rage briefly
during which you have no keyboard control. The effects of a storm
are to shift your position randomly. The degree of the shift is
determined by the severity of the storm. You will need to
redetermine your position by the stars after being caught in a
storm. If the storm is particularly bad, you can lose food or
fuel. There are places on the world where your compass can go
crazy, where you are forced off of you desired course and where
your craft can not move through the water at its full speed. One
interesting island that is not even visible to scanning rockets
is surrounded by such area that must be fought against to reach
the island. Sometimes you may have to fight the currents to head
where you want. If the dots on the water and the stars on the
horizon keep moving normally, then the problem is magnetic. If
they start shifting left or right, then your craft is actually
torn off course and you need to use the rudder if you wish to
fight it.
Another thought to pass on is that while you are in night sky mode
with the star field on the screen while you are under way, the
adventure continues operating. Pirates can come upon you, fog can
suddenly obscure the stars or you may come upon an island. Since
your First Mate tends to give you warnings and since his messages
are accompanied with a tone, if you are looking at the stars and
plotting when you hear the tones indicating he has said something,
you may want to exit to the instrument view and use the + key to
replay any one-liner you may have missed. Remember that the space
bar will kill the scrolling one liners once you recognize the
message.
Also, even if you run out of fuel at sea and you do not want to use
the rescue function, wait for a ship to come along. Friendly ships
will share their supplies with you if they see you are in need and
you have shared with them on earlier meeting and have not sunk them.
The Q key can help on faster machines to speed things up when you
are forced to await the coming of a ship. No guarentees here but
it's worth the try. If you have alienated a friendly ship by
sinking one of their kind earlier, they will eventually befriend
you. How long it takes depends on how many times you have sunk
a friendly ship. If you run out of fuel while in top, your are
a goner with no hope other than running a rescue.
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KEYBOARD
Escape key (ESC): Options screen / Pause
Function keys:
F1 Fire Survey Rocket
F5 Forward gear F6 Bow view
F7 Neutral gear F8 Cannon crosshairs on/off
F9 Reverse gear F10 Stern view
Keypad:
Up arrow - Accelerate on/off
Left arrow - Left rudder [Shift arrow for full left]
Down arrow - Decelerate on/off
Right arrow - Right rudder [Shift arrow for full right]
5 - Center rudder
+ - Review one-line messages
Keypad (Night Sky):
1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9 Keys - Move cross hairs
[Press shift key to move faster]
5 - Enter coordinates for selected star or
to receive angle from selected point.
ESC - Exit night sky
Letter Keys:
A - Anchor up/down
C - Cache/retrieve money
D - Doctor
E - Engine on/off
F - Flag
H - Help screen
I - Disembark at an Island
[The following 'diamond' of keys operates when the cannon
is active]
J - Cannon left [Shift key moves cross hairs faster]
L - Cannon right [Shift key moves cross hairs faster]
I - Cannon up
M - Cannon down
K - Fire cannon
M - Medical kits
N - Night Sky
P - Playback full screen messages
Q - Quicken play / reset to Options value
R - Radio/Rescue
S - Save/Exit
T - Trade
V - View of last radar data for a given session
