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1991-09-06
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Page I
┌───▐░░░░░░ ▐░░░░ ▐░░ ═───▐░░░░ ▐░░░░░░▐░░░░░░░░▐░░▐░░░░░░ ═─┐
├───▐░░ ═──▐░░ ▐░░▐░░ ═──▐░░ ▐░░▐░░ ═─────▐░░ ═─▐░░▐░░ ═─────┤
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├───▐▒▒ ▐▒▒▐▒▒ ▐▒▒▐▒▒ ═──▐▒▒ ▐▒▒▐▒▒ ═─────▐▒▒ ═─▐▒▒▐▒▒ ═─────┤
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├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
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└───▐░░░░░░▐░░ ═─▐░░▐░░ ═──▐░░▐░░ ▐░░▐░░░░░░ ═───────────────┘
As Played With Series-3 By Tom Bradford
This documentation is provided as a tutorial on correctly and
effectively interfacing the Series-3 Galactic Empire interface.
Many users at first find it confusing and hard to handle and are quickly
turned away before discovering the raw power and ease of the program and
its various systems.
Before ERASEing this software package, please take the time to read this
documentation. It will better help you understand the workings of Series-3.
Just as you were new to Galactic Empire (and of course, not very good at it),
You are new to this software and it will take time and practice to be
familiarized with using it properly.
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
---------------------------------
1 ... Learning How To Fly: The Movement Compass .................. 1
2 ... Learning How To Get Around: SensNav System ................. 3
3 ... Learning How To Kill: The Targetting System ................ 4
4 ... Things That Will Make The System Easier .................... 5
Page 1
- 1 - Learning How To Fly: The Movement Compass - 1 -
-----------------------------------------------------
Active When Keypad Navigation Is Turned "ON" With Ctrl-F3
The movement compass is used for quick navigation to 1 of 8 directions.
It will allow you to travel in factors of 45 degrees in the quick movement
mode, and will also let you set specific velocity factors and directions
when you press the [Del] key in the 0: state.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
┌───────────┐ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ │
│ Val: ░░░ │ │ Movement Factor: │ 1-99 Or Maximum │ │
│ │ │ └─────────────────────┘ │
│ \ │ / └──────────┘ │
│ ── ── ┌──────────┐ [Up=0°] │
│ / │ \ │ │ │
│ │ │ [Home=-45°] │ [PgUp=45°] │
│[Ins] [Del]│ │ \ │ / │
└───────────┘ │ \ │ / │
│ \ │ / │
0: State - Is used for │ [Left=-90°] ────────── ────────── [Right=90°] │
specific changes in │ / │ \ │
navigating the ship. │ / │ \ │
0: State is indicated │ / │ \ │
by OFF in the Val:ue │ [End=-135°] │ [PgDn=135°] │
Box on the compass. │ │
│ [Down=180°] │
1: State - Is used for │ │
swift controlled moves │ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐ │
1: State is indicated │ │ 0: [INS] Impulse │ │ 0: [DEL] Warp Drive │ │
by a value > OFF in │ │ 1: [INS] Set Max │ │ 1: [DEL] Navigate │ │
the Val:ue Box. │ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] Can Be Used To Cancel A 1: State navigation request.
┌────┬────┬────┬────╖
│Esc │Num │Scrl│Sys ║ The numeric keypad is best used for controlling
│ │Lock│Lock│Req ║ your ship. With it, you can navigate with the use
╞════╪════╪════╪════╣ of one hand, while controlling other ship features
│ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │PrSc║ with your left hand. The best time to use the 1:
│Home│ │PgUp│* ║ state of navigation is to get out of the path of a
╞════╪════╪════╪════╣ torpedo or to make fast turns in a battle.
│ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ - ║ Otherwise, you will want to use the [DEL] key in
│── │ │ ──│ ║ 0: state to make specific changes in your velocity
╞════╪════╪════╪════╣ or the SensNav system to navigate to various
│ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ ║ sectors, planets and ships. A few examples of
│End │ │PgDn│ ║ using this control system are shown next. Keep
╞════╧════╪════╡ + ║ in mind that these navigation controls tie into
│ 0 │ . │ ║ the targetting and SensNav systems. So you should
│ Ins │Del │ ║ refrain from typing WARP or IMPULSE at the console
╘═════════╧════╧════╝ when using them.
Page 2
To travel at Warp 3, 45 degrees to the right: (WARP 3 45)
----------------------------------------------------------
Press:
(Be sure Val=OFF) [Del] [W] 3 [Enter] 45 [Enter]
Or
[PgUp] [PgUp] [PgUp] [Del]
Or
(If Your Max Speed=3) [Ins] [PgUp] [Del]
To travel at .99 Impulse, 90 degrees to the left: (IMP 99 -90)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Press:
(Be sure Val=Off) [Del] [I] 99 [Enter] -90 [Enter]
Or
[Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Left] [Ins]
Or
[Ins] [Left] [Ins]
To turn around 180 degrees and travel Warp 1: (WARP 1 180)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Press:
(Be sure Val=Off) [Del] [W] 1 [Enter] 180 [Enter]
Or
[Down] [Del]
As you can see, there are a few ways to accomplish the same task. The
only requirement is that you DON'T type in the game commands (WARP x x or
IMP x x) because the interface does not scan your input for these
commands (though future version may do so). The system knows your current
velocity by the most recent navigational command you entered and will
control certain systems according to your current velocity (for example:
phasers will lock automatically and the system will determine whether a
regular PHASER command will be issued or a HYPER command will be issued
depending on your velocity).
Alt-0 is a general macro that will issue a WARP 0 0 and clear Series-3's
current velocity setting. This key SHOULD be used to stop your ship
in ALL cases.
Page 3
- 2 - Learning How To Get Around: SensNav System - 2 -
------------------------------------------------------
The SensNav system is a complex navigation computer that is activated by
the Alt-N key. When pressed, a prompt will be displayed, asking for a
destination. Destinations can be one of the following:
- Long Range (-)
- Hyperspace Travel (+) (You Must Be In Hyperspace)
- A Ship Letter (A-Z,[,\,],^,',~,_,`)
- A Planet Number (1, 2 or 3)
- A Sector Number (3 Digits)
SensNav will scan your input and determine the destination type. It will
then scan the proper systems to determine the correct bearing. If you are
at dead stop (Alt-0), the ship will be rotated by that bearing, if you are
at .80 Impulse, the system will send IMP 80 with the proper bearing and so
on.
To get to sector 135 from sector 290, you would hit:
----------------------------------------------------
[Alt-N] 135 [Enter]
If you are currently at Warp 3, a command like this will be issued:
(You will also be shown an Estimated Time Of Arrival)
WARP 3 nnn
nnn All depends on your current heading and the relative heading that
290 is from 135.
To get to planet 2 in the current sector (if there is one), you would hit:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Alt-N] 2 [Enter]
If you are currently at .80 Impulse, a command like this will be issued:
(You will also be shown an Estimated Time Of Arrival)
IMP 80 nnn
nnn All depends on the bearing given from a scan of planet 2 (SCAN PL 2).
Page 4
- 3 - Learning How To Kill: The Targetting System - 3 -
-------------------------------------------------------
Series-3's targetting system has been designed to keep track of 4
targets simultaneously. It is also tied into the navigation system and
is aware of your current velocity, this is useful to determine whether
a PHASER or HYPER command will be issued. The targetting system has the
ability to automatically lock onto a target and fire upon it almost
immediately after the fire command has been issued.
If your targetting slots are empty, the targetting system will begin
to fill the empty spaces on scans. It will not repeat a ship letter
that has already been scanned. You can set a target slot to a specific
ship with the [Alt-G] key. Press Alt-G, then select a target slot
number and finish by typing the ship symbol. (My personal preference
when engaging a single ship is to fill all the slots with that symbol).
To attack a target, Alt-1 for target 1, Alt-2 for target 2, Alt-3 for
target 3 and Alt-4 for target 4. It is suggested that you scan the ship
off and on to check its velocity. To scan a target, use Alt-5 for
target 1, Alt-6 for target 2, Alt-7 for target 3 and Alt-8 for target 4.
When Alt-1, Alt-2, Alt-3 and Alt-4 are pressed, the ship is attacked with
the selected weapon (Torpedos, Phasers, Missiles and RA Phasers). If
Phasers are selected, the target is first scanned to check the bearing and
then attacked with PHASER or HYPER depending on your current speed. To
select various weapons, use Alt-T for Torpedos, Alt-P for Phasers,
Alt-M for Missiles, and Alt-R for RA Phasers.
The following is a example of how to utilitize this targetting system:
You will be at IMP 99, an enemy will be at WARP 2, dropping to impulse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Type [Alt-P] to select phasers.
As soon as your target drops out of hyperspace, hit the following keys:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Alt-1] to attack with phasers
[Alt-T] to select torpedos
[Alt-1] to attack with 3 sequencial torpedos
By this time, if a torpdeo from your enemy is inbound, press:
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Up] to select 0 degrees (forward) factor 1
[Del] to engage warp drive
[Alt-P] to select phasers
When your enemy enters hyperspace, press:
-----------------------------------------
[Alt-1] to attack with hyper phasers
[Alt-0] to issue a full stop (and drop out of hyper space)
When you have stopped, hit:
---------------------------
[Ins] [Up] [Ins] to move forward at .99 Impulse
And repeat the sequence.
Be sure to type FLUX when your flux levels get low (usually around 10000).
This will protect you from losing warp drive and shields when in battle.
Page 5
- 4 - Things That Will Make The System Easier - 4 -
---------------------------------------------------
Ctrl-F1 will toggle scan filtering. Normally, Series-3 filters out scans
that it issues so as not to clutter up your screen with what it is doing.
This will cause a short delay when Series-3 is scanning, so you may want
to turn it off. By default, Scan filtering is ON when you load Series-3.
Be sure the galaxy is set to the correct dimensions with the Ctrl-F2 key.
Games Galaxy's GE Galaxy is 20x20, Whereas Apogee is 80x80.
When in battle, you'll want to turn off ScanBack, because it can cause
problems in the heat of fighting. Enemies may also find it in their
strategy to scan you (for an auto-scanback) in hopes to confuse you so
that they may get the upper hand. You'll also want to have the Scan
display turned off because with only part of a screen being displayed,
things tend to fly by fast. To turn off ScanBack, Hit [Alt-B] and to
turn off the Scan Screen, hit [F7].
If you are navigating using SensNav, you'll have to adjust your course
occasionally by repeating your navigation command. Ships move, and
bearings become more defined when long distances become short distances.
That's about it. If you have any comments, suggestions, or bug reports,
please let me know about them (Wiz on GG, Doctor on Argus).
- Tom Bradford
Future Shock BBS
(617) 567-8993
(2400/1200 Baud)