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Text File | 1990-09-07 | 28KB | 608 lines

FULL DOCUMENTATION FOR SPACE WRECKED 14 BILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH TYPED IN BY SANDMAN MAMA SAID THERE'D BE DAYS LIKE THIS... Sent to explore a newly discovered planet--little more than a faint blip on the sensor scree--you find nothing more than an oversized asteroid. Dejected, you lift off from the planet surface and run smack into the scattered debris of an exploded moon. Great..just great. Even your lightning-quick reflexes aren't enough to get you through the moon's remains untouched. Warning lights flash like crazy...there goes System 3...No! not the reserve tanks! You'll never make it back to Earth without that fuel. Clutching at straws, you program the computer to perform continuous wide-ranges seek-and- follow sensor scans, hoping on the off-chance that it will lead your ship to something--a planet, another ship, anything--that can rescue you from your crippled craft before you run out of fuel and are left floating in space forever. Resigning yourself to fate, you place yourself in Cryongenic suspension, and wish that sometimes, just once in awhile, things would go your way... Seven years have passed. Groggily, you drag yourself out of the Cryogenics chamber to see why the computer wok you up. It means that you're either about to be rescued--or that your ship is about to fall to pieces. Pondering this, you turn the corner onto the bridge and are immediately struck with the awesome spectacle of an entire fleet of 20 Scientific Survey Craft floating in your wide-screen viewer. "What the...?" you mumble to yourself. "The Darwin Biological Survey Fleet," responds your computer. "Computer," you say excitedly, "open all frequencies!" The Communications Channel crackles to life, and with a sinking feeling you hear the echo of a distress signal, dated light years ago. Looks like you won't be getting much help here. Unless... "Computer, I need the following data: Survey Fleet mission, last recorded flight logs, lifescan of the ships, and the ships' operating conditions." It seems the routine biological survey mission to the Orion Galaxy turned into a space nightmare. The Fleet's 20 ships time-warped into the eye of the exploding Wolf-Roert nova, instantly crippling most on-board systems and snapping the locks that held the bizarre alien biology specimens captive. The helpless crew members--frozen in Cryogenics during the accident--are alive but must have suffered extreme mental deterioration during the dreaded Slow Thaw, every space traveller's nightmare. You shudder at the thought. The ships were equipped with the antiquated Interlock Navigational System, which runs the entire fleet as a single unit from the flagship deck-- a technology that was phased out decades ago due to its inherent design flaw when one ship goes down, the entire fleet grinds to a halt. So, instead of simply repairing the nearest ship and getting out of here, you'll need to board each of the ships in turn, repair all of their systems, and then activate the fleet from the flagship birdge. To do this you must: * Find the spare Energy Flux Decoupler and deliver it to the Power Room * Find the Inhibit Lock and return it to the bridge; * Repair all the ship's systems to at least 80% efficiency. As you investigate the malfunctioning systems, you will learn that, in most cases, a lack of liquid coolant has caused the problem. By replacing the coolant fluid in that particular system room, you're likely to solve the problem. To carry out a repair, you'll need to: * Locate a Manufacturing Room on board the ship and make some receptacles in which to carry the coolant. * Find a laboratory and fill your receptacles with liquid coolant. * Finally, go to the room of the system you wish to repair and attempt the repair. Once you've made all repairs, found the Inhibit Lock, and replaced the Energy Flux Decoupler, a message will prompt you to go to the bridge-- after which you'll move on to the next ship in need of repair. THE GAME SETUP SCREEN The first screen you'll see after Identifying the alien is the game setup screen. (from left to right the icons are: ) 1) Exit. SELECT this icon to proceed into the game. 2) Save Game. This icon allows you to save your current game to disk. You must have a blank disk ready already formatted in order to save a game. 3) Load Game. You can load a previously save game by SELECTING this icon. 4) Music and Sound Effects. This icon allows you to toggle the game music and sound effects on and off. 5) Character Select. This icon lets you choose your character in the game. 6) Password. TDB. MANAGING YOUR INVENTORY Throughout the Inventory Screen you will control all items you find on-board the ship. To access the Inventory Screen, SELECT the Inventory Icon on the Main Game Screen. _____ ________ | | | | | __________ |__|__| | | | | 6 | | | | | ____ | | BASIC LAYOUT OF SCREEN |__|__| | 2 | | 4 | | 7 | | | | | | |____| | | |__|__| | | |__________| _ | | ______________ 1 | |HELD | | | 3 | | | | | | |______________| |_|___| |________| ____________________ __ | | 8|. | | 5 | |__| |____________________| These are the windows on this screen: 1) HELD. Items held in each hand. 2) PACK. All the items stowed in your pack. 3) BELT. Everything you are carrying on your belt. 4) WORN. Only items you can wear on your body can be placed in this window. 5) ROOM. Shows all articles lying in the room you are in. 6) ROBOT BUTTONS. SELECT one "active" robot at a time from these. 7) ROBOT. This window shows what the "active" robot is carrying. ( The large selection of this window), what weapon the robot is currently armed with (The single box in this window) and what program cartridges the robot is loaded with (the bank of four spaces in this window) Cartridges are fully detailed in an upcoming section on robots. 8) EXIT. Takes you back to Main Game Screen. If you glide the cursor over an item, the message panel will tell you what it is and its serial number. Each item also has a designated weight. The number in the bottom right of the message panel shows the present total weight of all the objects in the window that the cursor is over, followed by the maximum weight allowed for that window. In the Room window, you'll see the total weight of all the items added together--and no maximum allowed weight, as there is no limit to what you can find in a room. Nor is there a weight limit to what you can wear or carry in your hands. To move items between windows, move the pointer over the item and SELECT it. You will now be carrying that item with the cursor. You can drop it into any box of any window by SELECTING the designation box. The message panel lists what you are holding at all times. Certain larger items must be placed into the special larger boxes. The smaller items will fit into either of the box sizes. You can exchange two items by picking one up as described above, moving over another item in any window and SELECTING the other item. You will deposit your carried item in the box, and the item that was in the box now becomes the carried item. You cannot leave this screen if you are "carrying" an item with the cursor. If you want to move an item from one robot to another, SELECT the robot button of the "from" robot. Pick up the item from the robot windows and temporarily put it in another window--for example, the Room window. Then SELECT the button for the "to" robot and move the item into that robot's windows. PICKING UP ITEMS To pick up items you find on your journey, SELECT the items in the Room window and move them, as described above, to the window in which you wan them placed. REPAIRING ITEMS Also in the inventory Screen, you can repair certain items that break along your journey by using the repair kit--once you find it. Move the cursor over the repair kit and pres BUTTON2, then SELECT the item you wish to repair The message panel will indicate the result of the repair attempt. You can even repair robots that are broken or malfunctioning by using the repair kit Follow the procedure described above, except SELECT the button for the robot you wish to repair. USING YOUR ITEMS To use an item in your inventory, place it in one of your hands and return to the Main Game Screen. At that screen, move the cursor over the item you wish to use and press BUTTON2. You will learn how and when to apply your items most effectively. These are two that will require the most use: * WEAPONS When faced with an opponent, you may fight it only if you have a weapon in your right hand. At the Main Game Screen, if you move the cursor over the main viewing screen, it will turn into a crosshair. The size of the crosshair will vary according to the weapon--some weapons are easier to hit your target with than others. You must fight the jiggling of the crosshair-- driven by the rush of adrenaline into your system--and when you have the crosshair over the enemy, press BUTTON1. You will hit the enemy if any part of the crosshair is on it--but it will have more impact if the center of the crosshair hits the enemy. If the weapon runs out of shots or energy, then it is useless. Some weapons may be recharged in a recharging station and used again, others must be thrown away. * ACCESS CARDS The doors aboard ships are special energy fields that are airtight and prevent viruses or contamination from spreading throughout the ship. You can safely pass through this energy field and into the location beyond, unless the door is security coded. Grey doors are not encoded, so simply walk through them. A color door indicates the level of security required. To pass through you will need to use a security Access Card, and it will need to be of high enough clearance to get you in. Security doors are ranked as follows, from least to greatest: RED ORANGE YELLOW GREEN BLUE WHITE A white pass will open any door, but an orange pass will only open an orange or red door, and so on. Passes lose color as they are used, but may be recharged in a recharging station. Security coded doors turn grey when opened with a pass, but will return to their previous security color oce you pass through them and back again. GAME CONTROL FUNCTIONS The six Game Control Functions buttons on the Main Game Screen will always list the Game-Setup Icon and the Inventory icon, which will, repectively, take you to the screens already discussed. In addition, there are five other screens that can be accessed through Game Control Function Icons: COMPUTER ACCESS This icon will appear whenever you have access to a computer droid or enter a Terminal Room. SELECTING this icon will offer you five new icons to choose from. * DECK PLANS The deck plans are built up as you explore the ship. Areas you have not visited will not appear on the plans. The deck plans will also show any areas that robots under your control may have visited. On the plans, special rooms are colored, with the key shown at the top of the screen. Any rooms not specifically color-coded will appear green. Corridors are brown. Robots under your control will appear as crosses. Your own position will appear as a flashing black arrow, pointing the way you are currently facing. The white bars on the map signify doors. The message area below shows your position, including the room number. As you move the cursor over the map, the message are will list what the room is and its number--useful when you want to return to a room and can't remember where it is. These numbers are also essential for programming robots for remote journeys. There are three decks on the ship, the Main, Lower and Dorsal. You can switch among them by SELECTING the upper icon button marked with an arrow. The lower button exits the screen. * STATUS SCREENS This icon lets you check on the ship's systems. The names in yellow are major systems, and the names in white below each major system are the components of that system--the galley, lighting, doors and radiation filters are all controlled by the Life Support Control Room, for example. To the right of the names is a bar chart showing the current power level of each system. The longer the green bar, the more power remaining on the ship. Further to the right is a "quick glance" display of the status of each system. This display will read either: FUNCTIONAL - Working just fine. INTERMITTENT - Working on an intermittent basis. The system name PREDICTED EFFICIENCY FOR THAT SYSTEM - Stable, Increasing or decreasing. PREDICTED SUCCESS INDEX - How likely is a successful repair. PREDICTED DOWNTIME INDEX - How long before the system is likely to malfunction. Finally, Total Power is an indication of the ship's remaining cumulative power. The longer the green bar, the higher the ship's power. * CREW ROSTER You can examine the ship's crew roster and identify the crew members should you meet them. USe the left and right arrow icons to move through the roster. * ALIEN DATA You can examine the roster of the alien samples carried aboard the ship--and perhaps pick up clues on dealing with them should you meet them. Use the arrow icons to mve through the roster. THE RECHARGING SCREEN When you enter a Recharging Station, an icon will appear on the main game screen that will allow you to access the Recharger. SELECTING this icon takes you to the Recharging Screen. When you are recharging: 1) Item Category Selection. (3 panels on screen) Choose among Robots, Access Cards or Miscellaneous power items, like flashlights. 2) Recharge. Recharge the currently SELECTED item. (bottom left icon) 3) Left/Right Arrows. Cycle through all the Robots, Security Passes or items available to be recharged in this location. 4) Exit. Return to Main Game Screen. (bottom right) A robot can be recharged in increments of ten points up to the maximum level for that particular robot. Security passes are recharged one color at a time. All other items are increased by one. Each of the Recharger drains a bit of the ship's total power, so avoid extensive and wasteful use of the Rechargers. THE MANUFACTURING SCREEN You can make up to six receptacles at a time--ranging in size from one to five liters capacity each. Note, however that making a receptacle usesthe ship's power, and the larger the receptacle, the more power it requires to make it. On the other hand, larger quantities of coolant increase your chance to repair a system, and consequently it's easier to carry large quantities in fewer but larger receptacles. You must learn from experience the best sizes to make. At the right of the screen is a zoomed view of the handset of the manufacturing machine. SELECT the size of receptacle you want to build. The receptacle will be made and placed on the floor of the room. Simply pick it up through the Inventory Screen and you are read to go. THE LABORATORY SCREEN Choosing this icon will take you to the Laboratory Screen: Here you can fill as many receptacles as you are carrying. SELECT the receptacle size you want filled. The coolant is a highly acidic and toxic substance and the receptacle must be flawless, so the lab computer will check the receptacle for flaws--flawed receptacles will be rejected and dumped. If your receptacle passes Q.A. it will be filled with liquid coolant. Keep SELECTING as many sizes as you want filled. SELECT Exit when you have finished. THE REPAIR SCREEN The final part of your mission is to carry out the system repairs. As mentioned, all of the ship's systems fall under the control of just four major systems: Bio Control, Life Support, Computer and Communications. These are accessed and repaired via the Biological Control, Life Support, Bridge, and Communications Rooms respectively. Entering one of these rooms will show a Repair Icon on the Main Game Screen. SELECT this icon to enter the Repair Screen. To make a repair you will need a repair kit, and at least one liter of liquid coolant. In most cases, it will also help to have a coolant applicator, and a robot with repair capability--although neither are absolutely necessary. At the right of the screen is one of your full receptacles. The reservoir can hold up to 5 litres of coolant, pump in any more and it will overflow. SELECT the receptacle you wish to empty using the top right button. When you are happy with the amount of coolant in the reservoir, you can attempt a repair. SELECT the Spanner icon on the bottom left of the screen. The coolant will be pumped into the system and the message panel at the top will show the result of your attempt. ABOUT THE ROBOTS - ROBOTS YOU'LL ENCOUNTER There are six types of robot that you may find as you wander through the ships. Most have one built-in function, and you can add other functions by plugging in cartridges that you'll find in the ship. These robots are: BATTLE DROID - Has combat capability built-in. SENSOR DROID - Has a life scanner built-in. It will report the approach of any hostile crew members or aliens. JANITOR DROID - Has the ability to clean up spilled liquid coolant. FIXIT DROID - Can repair items or assist in repairing the ship's systems RAT DROID - Has no built-in function. However, you can plug in cartridges to make it useful. COMPUTER DROID - Allows you to access the ship's computer without having to be in a Terminal Room. When a robot is available for you to command, its icon will appear on the Main Game Screen in the second row of the six buttons. There are two methods of controlling your robots. A robot can either be with you and under your direct command, in which case a blue light appears under its icon, or you can be in contact with it via remote communicator if you send it elsewhereon the ship. Even though you may have all six robots with you, only three can appear in the Main Viewing Screen at a time. Clicking on a Robot Icon on the main screen takes you to the Robot Screen. THE ROBOT SCREEN This screen provides you with important information about you robot, including what type of robot you have, where it is, what its mode of execution is, and its current condition. There are four modes of execution: STAY HERE - Discussed under Directing you robot. FOLLOW ME - Also under Directing your robot. PROGRAM - Indicates the the robot is running a customized program that you have written for it. POWER DOWN - Indicates that the robot has been switched off. In the center of the screen is the power bar. The higher the green bar, the more energy the robot has. Above the power bar you can see what weapon your robot is carrying, if any. Next to it is the robot inventory window. These are the same as the three robot windows in the inventory screen. You can move items between the windows as you would be in the Inventory Screen. However, only cartridges can be held in the Cartridge Window. The box marked Cartridges tells you which cartridges are plugged into your robot. Below this are two icon buttons labeled Program and Exit. PROGRAM - Takes you to the Programming Screen to write a customized program. EXIT - Lets you leave the Robot Screen. Along the bottom of the screen are twelve buttons which indicate the functions which the robot can perform. Each robot is already assigned a specific function--automatically indicated by the first six buttons, one for each robot. The rest will be labelled as you plug cartridges into your robots. * DIRECTING YOUR ROBOTS You can command the robots you find using the Direct Mode or the Program Mode. In Direct Mode, simply SELECT the icon from the Robot Screen and the command will be executed immediately. In Program Mode you must SELECT the icon from the Programming Screen and the command will be executed as part of a program. The six standard icons are, from left to right: POWER ON/OFF. Switches the robot on and off. None of the command icons will work if your robot is switched off. FOLLOW ME. Put the robot into Follow Me Mode. This means the robot will follow you wherever you go. Since the robot is behind you, it will not appear on the Main Viewing Screen. STAY HERE. Put the robot into Stay Here Mode--the robot won't move until you tell it to. Both Follow Me and Stay Here commands will cancel out the previous mode your robot was in. If the robot was executing a program, it will abort the program. GO TO. (followed by a room number). This will instruct the robot to travel to the numbered room via the shortest route, guided by its own internal map. Obstacles such as enemies or structural damage may bar the robot from completing this function. Use the Deck Plans Screen in the Terminal Room to learn the various room numbers as you map out the ship. PICK UP. Can be implemented through Program Mode only. You will be asked for an item serial number, which is listed on the Inventory Screen. The robot will pick up and carry this item if it is available. DROP ITEM (program mode). You will be asked for an item sreial number If the robot is carrying that item, it will drop it at the point in the program where the command is given. * ROBOT CARTRIDGES You can plug up to four cartridges into a robot by picking up cartridge items and placing them in the Cartridge Window. These cartridges are: REPAIR CARTRIDGE. (Direct Mode). You may SELECT any item appearing in the Robot Item Windows to attempt its repair. The result of your attempts shows in the message panel at the top of the screen. REPAIR CARTRIDGE. (Program Mode). You are asked for an item's serial number. If the item is available, the robot will try to repair it. COOLANT MANAGEMENT CARTRIDGE. Make Recpetacle. The robot must be in a Manufacturing Room when it executes this function. First you must choose a size for the receptacle, the the robot will try to construct it for you. FILL RECEPTACLE. The robot must be located in the laboratory to complete this function. It will attempt to fill a receptacle of the size you indicate, as long as that size is available. SELF DESTRUCT CARTRIDGE. You must type in a delay time in seconds. In executing this function, the robot will explode after the given delay, killing everything nearby--including you if you don't get away in time. MEDICAL CARTRIDGE. A robot with this cartridge can help you recover lost stamina points. SCANNER CARTRIDGE. This makes a Sensor Droid perform frequent life scans. It is useless with any other robot. ATTACK ROBOT. Allows you to switch your robot in and out of combat mode. To arm your robot, place a weapon in its weapon window. It can't fight without one! If an armed robot in Combat Mode meets an enemy, it will engage the enemy and fight it. COMMUNICATIONS CARTRIDGE. Allows you to switch your robot in and out of report mode. Report Mode lets you keep in conact with your robot if it is elsewhere on the ship. However, you can't receive reports without a communicator. The robot will let you know as it completes each stage of its program, as well as send you error messages or report any problems it encounters. Your reports will appear on the message panel on the Main Viewing Screen, accompanied by the reporting robot's serial number. (for example, '3: arrived' means that Robot 3 has arrived at its destination. * THE PROGRAMMING SCREEN The Program Screen will appear in the center of the Robot Screen when you SELECT the program icon. 1. Main Program Listing Window. In it are listed the instructions that nake up a program. A program may consist of as many as ten instructions. 2. The icons Insert,Delete,Clear, and Execute. These will be discussed later. Below them is the Exit Icon, which will take you back to the Robot Screen. Along the bottom of the screen are the functions available for this robot. To enter an instruction and begin a program, simply SELECT the function icon and answer any questions using the keyboard. The appropriate instruction will be generated and listed in the Main Program Listing Window. If you wish to put your robot into Combat Mode or Report Mode, SELECT those icons once and a Mode On line will be inserted in the program. For Mode Off, simply click on the icon once more. There are four special icons: INSERT. This allows you to insert an instruction into the middle of a program. After SELECTING Insert, use the mouse to position the blue bar in the place where you want to add a line. Then SELECT the function icon that you wish to insert. The instruction will be added and the blue bar will return to the bottom of the program. DELETE. This deletes one line of your program. SELECT delete, then use the mouse to position the blue bar over the instruction you wish to erase, and SELECT the button to the left of the line. The line will be deleted. CLEAR. This will delete your entire program. EXECUTE. This puts the robot into Program Mode. As soon as you return to the Robot Screen, the robot will begin executing the program you have just written. it will complete each instruction one at a time, in the order they appear in the program, before moving on to the next one. note: The robot will complete your orders exactly as they are written it is up to you to put the instruction in a logical order. Of the robot attempts to execute an illogical instruction (for example, to Drop an item that it doesn't have, or Manufacture Receptacle when it's not in a Manufacturing Room,) it wil simply ignore that instruction and continue on to the next one. If the robot is capable of reporting back to you (see report function), it will send you an error message. You can edit the robot's progam at any time, even while its executing your instructions. It's possible to halt the program by turning the robot off or putting it into Stay Here or Follow Me Mode. However, when you put it back into Program Mode, it will begin the program again from line 1. The program will remain in the robot's memory until you SELECT the Clear Icon. This enables you to re-execute the same program over and over again. When the robot completes its program it will go into Stay Here Mode and remain where it is until its next command. ROOMS ON BOARD THE SHIP This is a list of the rooms on board the ship, and their significance. THE BRIDGE - Houses the Computer Major System. LIFE SUPPORT - Houses the Life Support Major System. COMMUNICATIONS - Houses the Communications Major System. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL - Houses the Bio Control Major System MANUFACTURING ROOM - Where receptacles are made. LABORATORY - Where you fill receptacles with coolant. POWER ROOM - Where the Energy Flux Decoupler must be taken. TERMINAL ROOM - Where you can access the ship's computer. RECHARGING STATION - Where you can recharge robots, passes and items. GALLEY - Where you can eat food for extra stamina. STASIS CHAMBER - Alien specimens are held in a Stasis Field in these rooms if the stasis fields malfunction, the aliens will be released into the ship. CRYOGENICS CHAMBER - The ship's crew may be held in Cryogenics in these rooms. If the cryogenics fail, the crew will defrost and be released into the ship. Docs typed in By Sandman of Paradise Greetings to all Paradise Members -- Sage,Junior,Rafal,Flashback -- CALL ARSENAL PARADISE USA HQ 1-614-852-2384 Nice talking to ya Professor...Maybe next time IBM !