You
will start in each new sector with a well established complex on a fertile
world. This complex produces the raw and finished materials you need to
expand to other planets. Your objective is to claim all of the planets
in this sector for your empire. As you will soon discover, there are others
with the same plans. Three opponents will be fighting for the same small
group of planets. The only sure way to defeat an opponent is to destroy
all of its colonies and freighters, halting its expansion efforts in this
sector.
To
expand your empire, you must simply visit the planet of your choice and
land there, planting a flag in the dirt and claiming it as yours. There
are two different types of planets in the galaxy. Green planets are habitable
and can build a colony which produces the finished goods which supply your
empire. Gray planets are generally either close to the sun or on the extreme
outer fringes of the system. Though unsuitable for human colonization,
they serve as strategic outposts and build tech facilities which increases
your chances of developing an upgrade. Since they can't build a colony
complex, they depend on imported goods via merchant traffic from green
worlds near and far. Your transports will attempt to keep the world supplied
when materials are depleted from battle damage or if the resources are
used to build a new fighter. Once you have successfully landed, freighters
from your empire will automatically be dispatched to do the hard work,
that of digging sewers, making buildings, and otherwise scratching up a
good place to call home.
Once
a ship construction facility has been completed, the new complex is capable
of building freighters and fighters. As the war ensues, you may decide
to have new fighters constructed closer to the action. New fighters are
constructed by Tech Centers and by Space Docks. To instruct a ship construction
facility to be the fighter manufacturing location, you must visit there
personally. After you have landed there, future fighters will be constructed
there.
One
of the most challenging manoeuvres you must perform is landing your ship.
There are two locations at which you can land your fighter safely, the
flight deck of a Startbase and the surface of a planet. The beginning player
will find landing on the surface of a planet much easier than the Starbase.
The Starbase has the advantage of being able to fix structural damage to
your ship much more easily. Due to the zero-g conditions, repairs are made
much faster on a starbase. Planetary facilities can repair your fighter
also but it takes considerably longer. In either case, supplies must be
available at the facility in order for repairs to take place.
To land on a planet or Starbase, you must move
your fighter into contact at the correct rotation and at a slow enough
velocity. In either case, you must rotate your ship so that both thrusters
are firing against the force of gravity. Allow the planet's gravity to
draw your ship toward the landing site, firing thrusters as necessary to
keep your speed down. The ship's velocity indicator lights up a bright
green when your speed is slow enough to land safely. If your ship is rotated
incorrectly, it will be damaged and often settles to a stop in the proper
orientation. Excessive speed will cause the immediate destruction of your
ship upon landing.
The
view window provides the primary view of your fighter and other ships.
This window maintains a view of one of your ships at all times; it is scrolled
automatically to keep the selected ship in view. Using the mouse in this
window, you can select ships or facilities in your empire to watch. With
the exception of fighters, the selected unit is drawn in white to set it
apart from others of its kind. A view of your opponents' fighters can be
selected using keyboard commands. The
selected unit will appear in the Radar Display surrounded by a white box.
The selected unit is also shown with white text in the Ship List.
Opponent
Status - The row of four colored boxes indicates which opponents are still
battling for this sector. As opponents are defeated, their corresponding
colored box will turn black. When your labs have a new development ready,
this box will flash
The radar display provides a reduced view of the
entire sector. Stars are shown as large yellow dots. Planets are shown
as medium-sized green dots or gray dots. A colored box will appear around
explored planets, indicating which player has claimed it. Ships are displayed
as small colored dots. All freighters appear in the same color regardless
of allegiance as they are strictly commercial vessels. The selected ship
in the View Window will appear surrouned by a white box in the Radar Display.
The selected ship appears in the Ship List with red text.
The
status indicators show the overall condition of your fighter. From left
to right and top to bottom, the following brief descriptions detail the
display.
Clock
- This shows your current system time. If it's incorrect, you should check
your Control Panel.
Weapon
Type Indicator - Different weapon types have different attributes. The
type of weapon currently installed on your ship is indicated by color.
A bar splitting this indicates rapid fire technology.
Fast
Turn Indicator - With the new Fast Response Side Thrusters, you'll be able
to out-maneuver your opponents with lightning fast turning ability...well,
maybe not..
Rocket/Missile/Bomb
Count - If your fighter has been fitted with rockets, missiles or bombs,
your remaining ammunition will be displayed here.The color of this display
will correspond to the type of munition installed. Purple indicates rockets;
white is for missiles and yellow indicates planet buster bombs.
Fighter
Orientation - This displays the current orientation of your fighter. This
is useful for navigating your fighter when your display is zoomed out.
Shields
Indicator - A bright circle around your fighter indicates a type of shields
have been installed on your ship. When shields become low, friendly starbases
and planetary facilities are equipped with Emerson Coils which will quckly
restore your shields to factory original. If your shields are completely
gone however, the control module has burnt out and you have to wait for
your Tech Centers to engineer you a new one. It's been rumored that a new
null-shield weapon is being developed which is unaffected by shields.
Nearest
Star Indicator - The yellow indicator always points to the nearest star
to your fighter.
Nearest
Planet Indicator - The green/gray indicator always points to the nearest
planet to your fighter and indicates the type of planet by color.
Nearest
Enemy Indicator - The red indicator always
points to the nearest enemy unit to your fighter. The indicator will turn
bright red when you are near an enemy unit.
Velocity
Indicator
- An arrow indicates your speed relative to your maximum speed. You will
find that accelerating to full speed and decelerating to a complete stop
will take a considerable distance. The indicator bar will turn bright green
when you are moving slowly enough to land. The small bar at the slow end
of the Velocity Indicator is the landing speed mark.
Damage
Indicator
- A solid purple bar indicates no damage. As your ship accumulates damage,
segments of this bar will become red. When this bar is completely red,
your fighter is destroyed. Your fighter has six structural points.
The ship list shows information about all of your units, except your fighter. Each list entry is composed of three lines of information as follows:
Unit
name - This information identifies the unit type. If a friendly unit other
than your fighter is selected in the view window, this text will be displayed
in white and scrolled into view. Space Docks and Sensor Arrays will appear
under the starbase to which the unit is attached. If a unit is attacked
or damaged, it will go on Red Alert status and call for help. The text
will remain red until visited by your friendly fighter at which time they
will declare all clear and return to normal status. Red Alert does not
affect the unit in any way it is only an indicator so you know when someone
is being attacked.
Damage Indicator - This indicator shows damage accumulated by the unit. When the bar is completely red, the unit is destroyed. In this list, the damage indicators are scaled such that the relative strengths of the various units is apparent.
Materials Indicator - This bar shows the amount
of materials stored by the unit. In the case of Freighters and Colonies,
this is a measure of 'raw' materials. For Bases and Starbases, this is
a measure of 'finished' materials. Refer to The Economic
Model of Gravity Well for a description of how materials are manufactured
and expended.
Game Setup | Table Of Contents | The Machines of War |