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Text File | 1990-09-07 | 29KB | 739 lines

____ _______________ _______________ / \ / \ / \ / /\ / // \ / / \ / _________// _____ \ / / \ / / //\ / /\ \ / / \ / / // \ \ / \ \ / / \ / \_______// \ \ / \ \ / / / \ \ \ \ \ \ / / / mUb \ \ \ \ \ \ / \________/__ __\_________ \ __/ \_____/ \ \ \ / \ / / \ // \\ / \_______________/ \______________________/ \_____________________/ \ \ \ / / / \ \ \ / / / \ \ \ / / / \ \ \ / / / \______________\/ \____________/ \/____________________/ P R E S E N T X E N O M O R P H M A N U A L Typed by SIDEWINDER/LSD. Manual supplied by THUMPER. NOTE: THIS IS ANOTHER OLDIE, BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE AMIGA. INTRODUCTION ------------ Welcome to Xenomorph, a whole new world will open up before you when you take your first steps from your space ship. To help you survive why not try out the game controls within the confines of your ship, the Mombassa Oak. Once you are familiar with the game controls detailed in the intro section, seat back and read the Novella. The Novella contains a history of events leading up to your present position. The sections on Equipment and Weapons are intended to be used as reference so why not leave those sections until you find objects with which you are unfamiliar. Xenomorph is not just a game but a test of survival, your ultimate aim is to return to civilisation (ALIVE!). Hint: remember, short controlled bursts. KEYBOARD CONTROLS P - Pause Up Arrow - Move forwards Down Arrow - Move backwards Right Arrow - Turn right Left Arrow - Turn left SCREEN LAYOUT +------------+----------------------+ | 2 | | | | | +------------+ 1 | | 3 | | | | | +------------+-----------+----------+ | 4 | 5 | 6 | | | | | +------------+-----------+----------+ The game screen is divided into one large area and five smaller ones. AREA 1 - Is the main view of the outside world. AREA 2 - Is the statistics area. AREA 3 - Is the special equipment area. AREA 4 - Shows what is contained in the left hand. AREA 5 - Contains the movement icons. AREA 6 - Shows what is contained in the right hand. The six movement icons allow you to move about the ship and mining colony. ARROW 1 - Rotates you anti-clockwise through 90 degrees ARROW 2 - Moves you forward 10 feet ARROW 3 - Rotates you clockwise through 90 degrees ARROW 4 - Moves you left 10 feet whilst maintaining the direction you are facing ARROW 5 - Moves you backward 10 feet ARROW 6 - Moves you right 10 feet whilst maintaining the direction you are facing. Simply place the mouse over the respective movement icon and press the left mouse button. Holding down the mouse button will continually move you in the chosen direction. Alternatively use the keyboard controls to emulate the mouse icons. THE INVENTORY Objects may be stored for later use by entering the inventory screen. to do this press the right mouse button. The main view area of the screen will be replaced by your inventory screen and now you can place objects in the pack area of the inventory screen. Objects may be carried in your back pack and placed in any one of the twenty five zones within it. Placing an object on an already occupied zone will exchange your currently held object with it. You can place objects quickly into your pack without accessing the inventory screen by placing the object onto the stats screen and then pressing the left mouse button. The object will be thrown into the pack's next available zone. MOVING OBJECTS To pick up objects the hand pointer must be visible. If it is not then click on the right mouse button once, so that the hand icon appears. The reason the hand icon is not visible is because you are in the fire mode. Point at the object you wish to pick up and press the left mouse button. The hand icon will disappear and it will be replaced by the objects image. Failure to successfully pick up an object off the floor usually means you are standing too far from it. Try moving closer to the required object. Objects can be stored in the packs inventory for later use. Try experimenting with objects you are unfamiliar with to see what they do. STATISTICS When you choose your character he or she will have five sets of statistics which describe how well they are. Each column cannot be increased above its maximum e.g. you cannot by artificial means increase your health beyond 100% by continually taking drugs. The red column displays HEALTH As you suffer damage from attacking aliens your health decreases. When the red zone reaches zero you will die. Your health can be increased with the correct medication. The blue column displays STAMINA As you rush about the mining colony you will become tired and your stamina will decrease. When your stamina reaches zero you will be too exhausted to carry on. You can regain your stamina by simply resting or by use of certain types of drugs. The white column displays RADIATION ABSORBED DOSE Due to the widespread use of radioactive elements in many day to day items, leaks are inevitable. Some areas aboard the ship also have high background level of radiation. The white column indicates the cumulative amount of radiation received by you. As it reaches maximum your health and stamina will begin to suffer. As time goes by you will become progressively more and more poisoned by radiation. To decrease the amount of radiation poisoning a series of drugs have been developed and these can totally counteract the effects of radiation sickness. The green column displays FOOD LEVEL Food is an indication of how starving you are. When you run low on food your stamina suffers as well as your health. Eating food will increase your food level up to a maximum of 100% Eating food when your food level is at maximum is wasteful and has no effect. The yellow column displays WATER LEVEL Water is essential to life and how thirsty you are will effect your stamina and eventually your health. Dehydration is increased when you run or wear environmental suits. Dehydration is also enhanced by the air conditioning units. Drinking will increase your water level. LOAD/SAVE GAME Select the inventory screen by clicking on the right mouse button. Select the small disk icon at the top of the inventory screen. To save your current position, select the save game icon and follow the on screen prompts. To load a previously saved game select the load game icon and follow the on screen prompts. To return to the game select the game icon. THE SHIP -------- MOMBASSA OAK Ship name: MOMBASSA OAK Ship type: VETZ TYPE TU/3C Owner : CONLANE (58% Essen owned charter firm) Layed down: 13th May 2129 Length: 180 ft. Height: 65 ft. Width: 80 ft. Weight: 2150 tons Computer: Second generation Tashita central nervous System (CNS) Haulage rating: 0.1% failure 9800 tons 50% failure 20127 tons (estimated Drives In-system :Villards 49 Reaction drive Max 4.9g acceleration (unladen) Crossover :Nysan type 5/knb Fuelled by Nysan CT pellets (CT/5/knb) Crew 4 max. (Normal deep sleep compliment for routine hauls 1) MOMBASSA OAK LOG Shakedown Tour Date Left: 22nd Oct. 2130 Returned: 18th Oct. 2131 destination: New Bali, Proxima Centauri distance: 4.5 ly time: 326 days in crossover total. carrying out: 5000 tons seeds/microchips/organsplasms/medical supplies. carrying in: 6700 tons Biospecimens/mineral samples/letters/videos. Notes: Orbital rendezvous with the 'Ghost of Komodo'. Ship performed well, on outward leg crossover drive showed reluctance to re-enter normal space, estimated 0.002 milliseconds delay. No structural damage. No problems on return leg. Date Left: 23rd Jan 2132 Returned: 5th Apr. 2133 destination: Part of Survey Convoy to Barnards star distance: 6 ly time: 436 days in crossover total. carrying out: 9600 tons (300 people (deepslumberers + personal effects) scientific equipment. carrying in: empty Notes: Uneventful outward leg. Inward leg: 0.001 millisecond delay in crossover on re-entering normal space. Fault untracable. Date left: 1st Jun. 2133 Returned: 26th Jun. 2133 destination: Deep range 7, Oort cloud distance: 0.2 ly time: 18 days in crossover total. carrying out: 3200 tons basic supplies/luxuries carrying in: 9800 tons petrochemicals/plutonite slabs Notes: Food dispenser malfunction, fixed easily. Date left: 10th Sept. 2133 Returned: 5th Dec. 2133 destination: Testudo nine slowboat distance: 1.2 ly time: 92 days in crossover total. carrying out: 4000 tons basic supplies/luxuries carrying in: 415 returning opt-outs (deepslumberers). Notes: Outward bound slight crossover failure, overshot by 600 million miles. No tracable cause. Return leg: Uneventful. Date left: 3rd Jan 2134 Returned: destination: Atargatis mining station Sirius system distance: 8.7 ly carrying out: 9800 tons water/basic supplies/luxuries carrying in: ? Notes: EQUIPMENT --------- MOTION DETECTOR: This device detects micro changes in air density caused by the motion of a body. It emits radar beams in the xe band and triangulates using Doppler and phase shift. It has a three position coordinate switch used to select scan direction. Position 1 is used to scan in front of you. Your position is located at the bottom of the scanner. Position 2 is used to scan behind you. Your position is located at the top of the scanner. Position 3 is used to scan around you. Your position is located in the centre of the scanner. The detector has a power level indicator which will tell you when to change the power module. The power module is of the universal type 1. The main screen shows points of light corresponding to the approximate direction and distance of the moving object. Each square on the scanner represents 10 feet in distance or one move location. ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSER Determines whether or not the atmosphere is capable of sustaining human life. When activated, many litres of air are sucked in and sampled in only a few seconds... A miniature spectrum analyser determines the presence of various chemicals in the sample and displays them on a bar chart. As long as the chart only reads in the green zone then the air is safe to breath. An L.E.D indicator is provided on the power module to indicate charge remaining. The power module is of the universal type 1. PERSONAL COMMUNICATOR Everyone has a personal communicator. Not only does it enable you to talk to any other communicator in range but it also updates the ships computer on your health and location. The communicator runs from a standard power module and an L.E.D indicator shows the power remaining. Switch one sets the device to the local band and enables you to communicate with the ships crew and computer. Switch two sets the unit to wide range and allows contact to be established to those within a hundred mile range. Switch three allows you to place calls via a main computer to anyone anywhere there is a local network. STANDARD POWER MODULE Used to power all types of equipment. It actually consists of a miniature cold fusion chamber able to provide megawatts of energy for short periods. The power module comes in four different power capacities, from low capacity as used in domestic electrical equipment, to high capacity ones such as those used in heavy weapons. Simply plug one in to the appropriate slots on your device and you're ready to go. SECURITY PASS Basically an electronic key in the shape of a standard credit card. The pass enables access to various parts of the ship. Each card is colour coded and each colour represents a different level of access. The lowest card level, as issued to loaders etc., would not enable them to access the flight deck. Security droids are also linked in with the security systems to protect the most sensitive installations. I.D. CARD Everyone is issued with an I.D card. It contains personal data about the holder including their medical records. The cards built in circuits also monitor the holders life functions and can advice computer central of any anomalies. The card enables access to various ships equipment such as the store and medical units. Each card contains a retina scan of the holder so that the card can only be used by the person to whom it was issued. The card also contains a special transponder that transmits the location of the user and his health stats. CREDIT CARD Everyone is issued with a credit card. It contains a record of the holders bank balance. The card is automatically updated by his employer when the user works and is automatically debited when the holder purchases items. The card has totally replaced cash and now the credit is the standard monetary unit throughout the system. Like the I.D card the credit card contains the retina scan of the holder but this is only used for purchases of over 50 credits. COMPUTER CONSOLE This device allows you to interrogate the ships data banks. To operate simply insert your data disk and the disks contents will be displayed. Scroll up and down the message using the arrow keys provided. Special programme disks can be inserted to reprogramme the ships computer. For instance say you wanted to update the navigation systems destination. You would just insert the appropriate disk and the data will be uploaded automatically. MEDICAL The medical unit is able to dispense almost any drug required from headache pills to birth control pills. However to stop the abuse of such items you have to insert your I.D card in the slot provided and tap in the appropriate code for the medication required. Caution medication should be taken seriously and proper medical advise should be sought as soon as possible. The medications I.D code can be provided by a qualified doctor or the ships computer. Warning keying the wrong code could be very dangerous. C.N.S The Central Nervous System is the ships 'brain'. It controls all the ships functions from lighting to life support. Should in the unlikely event that one of the C.N.S units become damaged then spare C.N.S boards and chips can be easily substituted by a skilled technician. C.N.S circuits are self configuring and any chip can be substituted for any other chip. The unit programs the chip to provide whatever function is needed. KOPEK COFFEE MACHINE Remember if the Kopek patent zero-gee coffee percolator fails, the ship fails. This machine allows you to purchase Kopek coffee. Drinking coffee reduces thirst but Kopek coffee does much more than this. To operate the machine insert your credit card in the slot and click on the button next to the coffee type required. The cost of the purchase is indicated next to the button and this amount will be debited from your card. DRINK-O-MAT This machine allows you to purchase drinks. Drinking reduces thirst. Becoming dehydrated will effect your health and could eventually kill you. To operate this machine insert your credit card in the slot and click on the button next to the name of the purchase required. The cost of the purchase is indicated next to the button and this amount will be debited from your card. SNAK-O-MAT This machine allows you to purchase food. Food will increase your stamina level and make you less susceptible to damage from attacks. To operate the machine insert your credit card in the slot and click on the button next to the name of the purchase required. The cost of the purchase is indicated next to the button and this amount will be debited from your card. ANTI-MATTER DRIVE This is the heart of the ship. It supplies all the energy needed to power the ship and the crossover drive. The unit is heavily shielded so that the anti-matter fuel rods cannot come into contact with the outside world. Three such units drive the Oak and all three must contain an anti-matter pod to allow the ship to function correctly. Anti-matter pods are extremely dangerous and very fragile, only qualified personal should attempt replacement of drained or damaged pods. FIRE EXTINGUISHER A standard 14lbs of solid carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher. The Co2 is released on activation of the button and lasts for several minutes. Although the bottle itself weighs 14lbs a small built-in anti-grav device enables the bottle to contain over 200lbs of solid carbon- dioxide. Although carbon-dioxide is non toxic caution should be exercised, as use within a small compartment could cause all the air to be expelled. ANTI-MATTER POD When matter and anti-matter come together, huge amounts of energy are released. In the process both the matter and the anti-matter annihilate each other. If this process were not controlled, one pod would release the equivalent of a trillion mega tons of explosive energy. Large power plants control the interaction of the matter and anti-matter to provide several petawatts of power continuously for years. The MOMBASSA OAK has one of these anti-matter power plants located in the main engine room. If this fails the emergency nuclear power backup comes into operation. This will not have sufficient power for hyper- space travel or for a take off from the planets surface. Special shielded containers are used to transport the pod containing the anti-matter as the pod itself is very unstable. WEAPONS ------- 10mm PISTOL ACP Standard side arm for flight crew, it is a gas operated recoilless pistol firing mainly teflon coated uranium, caseless 10mm ammunition. The magazine holds 15 rounds and an L.E.D indicator on the weapon shows how many rounds remain. The rate of fire is selectable via a three position switch: Setting 1. One round is fired every time the trigger is pulled. Setting 2. Three rounds are fired every time the trigger is pulled. Setting 3. Rounds are continuously fired until the trigger is released. 10mm ASSAULT RIFLE Standard rifle issued to armed forces. Like the 10mm pistol it is gas operated firing caseless teflon coated ammunition. Unlike the pistol it fires a longer round and the two are not interchangeable. Rounds are fired at a higher rate than in the pistol. The magazine holds 30 rounds and an L.E.D indicator on the weapon shows how many rounds remain. The rate of fire is selectable via a three position switch. Setting 1. One round is fired every time the trigger is pulled. Setting 2. Three rounds are fired every time the trigger is pulled. Setting 3. Rounds are continuously fired until the trigger is released. LASER PISTOL A high power chemical laser whose beam will cut through plasteel in seconds. The high power is derived from a small fusion reaction in the power module which runs out quickly with continuous use. However in stopping power it more than rivals a 10mm round. The laser will penetrate body armour where a 10mm round will be defeated. An L.E.D indicator is provided to indicate charge remaining. The power module is of the universal type. LASER RIFLE A very high power chemical laser whose beam will cut through plasteel in milliseconds. The very high power is derived from a small fusion reaction in the power module which runs out very quickly with continuous use. This weapon is not usually carried aboard ships because of the very real danger of breaching the outer hull and causing explosive decompression. It is normally only used by the military in ground based operations. The power level is selectable from medium to high each level being double the power of the previous power level. An L.E.D indicator is provided to indicate charge remaining. The power module is of the universal type. 20mm SUPER MAGNUM This weapon can really make your day. Originally designed for the police and security forces it has found much favour with all who use it, as its stopping power is unrivalled by any other similarly sized sidearm. Since the weapon fires a 20mm exploding shell don't expect to question the target after he has been shot. The standard row of L.E.D's displays the current load status. NEEDLE GUN This weapon fires tiny needles at high velocity. On impact with soft tissue they inject a fast acting sleep agent or poison. The needles will not penetrate body armour but will pierce a space suit. The rupturing of a suit with such a small hole is not dangerous as suits have an automatic sealing system that can cope with such an event. The needle gun once loaded with a suitable magazine displays ammunition remaining via a row of L.E.D's. STUN GUN This weapon discharges a huge electrical charge into a target. It will disrupt neurological systems of a lifeform to such an extent that it will render the subject unconscious. It will stun a man size target for several minutes with no lasting damage. Its effect on robotic systems is not recommended as it can cause unpredictable results. A three position switch allows the charge to be adjusted from level 1 (a painful zap) to level 3 (comatose for several minutes). The weapon has the standard row of L.E.D's to indicate charge remaining and it is powered by a standard power module. 75mm ROCKET LAUNCHER Designed for anti-armour use, this weapon can be loaded with a variety of shell types. 1. FRAGMENTATION 2. SMOKE 3. INCENDIARY 4. HIGH EXPLOSIVE 5. TEAR GAS 6. NERVE GAS See the section on grenades for the effect of each round type. To use the weapon simply load it with the required shell type and push the fire button. PARTICLE ACCELERATOR A very powerful weapon which accelerates a beam of fast neutrons towards a target. This weapon will punch a hole through almost anything but uses large amounts of power. The device is powered by a heavy duty power module and a row of L.E.D's shows how much power remains in the weapon. The three position switch is used to select the power level used, each level being twice the power of the preceding level. Extreme caution should be employed when using this device as firing it aboard ship can cause a hull breach and the associated explosive decompression of the compartment. GRENADES There are many types of grenades but all have common features. They are not all the same size, they all have a 5 second fuse and are not reusable. 1. FRAGMENTATION 100 grams of high explosive send wire shrapnel in all directions. It has a kill ratio of 50 feet and will not rupture plasteel walls. 2. SMOKE A cloud of coloured smoke issues forth for 10 seconds. In an enclosed compartment with no ventilation asphyxiation may occur. 3. INCENDIARY 20 grams of high explosive sends 100 grams of pyrophoric material in all directions setting fire to anything flammable within 50 feet. It will not rupture plasteel walls. 4. HIGH EXPLOSIVE This definitely will rupture plasteel walls and as such must never be used in pressurised compartments. Used mainly in demolition this advanced phelonic nitrate explosive is five times more powerful than TNT. 5. TEAR GAS Not actually a gas at all but a very finely powdered lachrymatic irritant. When the 'gas' comes into contact with the body's moisture it reacts causing extreme irritation. Not usually fatal. 6. NERVE GAS Always fatal to man, fluoroisopoxymethylphosphine oxide is kept under pressure and on activation will fill a room of 20 cubic meters with a lethal dose. The gas will oxide in a few minutes due to the action of the catalyst rendering it harmless. PROXIMITY MINES Once activated and after a delay set by the three position switch the device will detonate when an object enters its location. A variety of types are available: 1. FRAGMENTATION 2. SMOKE 3. INCENDIARY 4. HIGH EXPLOSIVE 5. TEAR GAS 6. NERVE GAS Refer to section on grenades for the effects of each mine type. GRAVITY MINE When activated and after a delay set by the three position switch the mine remains passive until something steps on it, whereupon it will exert a huge gravitational field above itself. This will squash anything completely flat. The device functions only once (squashing itself in the process) and is completely safe for use aboard ship. It is now much favoured over the standard proximity mine as it produces no collateral damage to nearby sensitive systems. ROBOMINE When activated this mine will sprout legs and go in search of moving objects. When it enters the moving objects location it detonates its high explosive charge. A three position switch sets the time delay before the Robomine starts searching for targets. CAUTION THIS DEVICE TRACKS ALL MOVING OBJECTS INCLUDING YOU. The Robomine is powered by a standard power module and an L.E.D indicator shows the power remaining within the device. ATARGATIS SIRIUS SYSTEM The sirius system is normally considered to be binary. The primary Sirius A is of spectral class A7, and seen from Earth is the brightest star in the sky. Sirius B, a white dwarf of class A1, is much fainter. From Earth Sirius B is invisible to the naked eye. The presence of Sirius B was postulated by F.W.Bessel in 1834 to account for irregularities in the proper motion of Sirius, it wasn't until 1862 that A.Clark actually observed it. Not surprising considering it is vastly outshone by its primary; the ratio is 10,000 to 1. However the Sagan telescope launched in 1997 clearly showed a massive planet and a haze of debris orbiting Sirius B. The planet was obviously a gas giant, but very large, this led onto several astronomers classifying it as a brown dwarf. This debate gained momentum when early probes discovered that it radiates several orders of magnitude more energy than it receives. The Sirius B system including the Brown Dwarf (Some now call Sirius C) are currently under license to the ESSEN mining group (until 31st Dec. 2140). This license was granted by the Earths Stewardship board for exploration, and small scale mining after an ESSEN probe had discovered large (1 cm.) crystals of Leighnarium on the surface of the Shepherd in 2120. Leighnarium is a Bipolar Cobalt Lattice used in CNS computer production, it crystallizes extremely slowly (roughly 1mm. per 5000 years), and requires high pressures and temperatures. Industrial production is thus impractical. The Shepherd is around 150 miles across, its composition indicated to ESSEN that bigger crystals may be found deeper in. In 2129 after lengthy negotiations ESSEN gained the license and dispatched one of their VN-II Von Neumann machines to pre-build the mining station. The VN-II takes about a year to get a fully livable environment setup, at the end of this time it shuts down leaving a modular constructed habitat ready for the first workers. The mining base built on the Shepherd was named Atargatis. ATARGATIS Stage 1 The license agreed limits the exploration to Sirius C orbitals within 1.5 AU's. Size: Standard multi-level VN-II construct. Commissioned: Jan 2131 Workers: 200 (incl. 50 research staff) End.