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Federation ABOUT THIS MANUAL This manual was written to be used with the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS compatible versions of FEDERATION. To avoid listing three separate keys for each command, we have simply labelled each key and referred to it by its label in the text. For example, when describing the Navigation System, we refer to the Lock Course key, which in the 5 key (numeric keypad) on the Atari and the RETURN key on the Amiga and the IBM compatibles. Loading instructions, the list of keys, and other machine specific instructions are in the center of this manual, beginning page 5. We hope you enjoy FEDERATION. THE STORY History of the Federation In the early 21st century, Earth was dying. Pollution had devastated the environment. Energy-hungry industrialized nations had drained the world's oil reserves dry. Unemployment and poverty were rampant. Crime turned cities into battle zones. The "greenhouse" effect turned farms into arid wasteland and created widespread famine. Most of the problems could be traced to one inescapable conclusion: there were more people on the planet than the ecosystem could support. When fusion power research inadvertantly created the faster-than-light Lambert Drive, several nations seized on the idea of financing one-way trips to the stars to solve the crisis. Vast numbers of colonists fled the planet to build a new life. At first, the colonies were heavily dependent on Earth. Each colony relied on the home planet for virtually all of the goods necessary to survive until they could create industries of their own. Just as in Europe's Age of Colonization, a healthy trade developed: raw materials from the colonies were sent to Earth, processed goods were shipped back. Unfortunately, something else from the past appeared as well - piracy. The first space freighters were unarmed; there simply weren't that many ships, and no one had thought armaments necessary. Then, as more and more ships plied the space lanes, someone mounted a mining laser to the front of a small scout, and the star pirate was born. The nations that started colonies now has new problems. The space navies needed to protect their interstellar trade would have a huge territory to patrol. The expense of maintaining such large fleets would soon become too much for already strained economies. One by one, the declared themselves out of the space business. The colonies, granted independence by governments unable to maintain them, had to find their own way. For the colonies, this was a death sentence. Their only hope was to find some way to rebuild the trade. Private pilots began to make the voyage to Earth, to fill the gap. These Free Traders helped the colonies to survive, and enough cargo made it through for them to prosper. Several Traders grew wealthy, enough to hire other pilots to take the risks. The most successful, and daring, of the Traders was Simon MacPherson. MacPherson flew his heavily armored ship to Barbary, the planetary base of the most notorious of the pirates, Lawrence Barnett, to make a deal. Barnett, better known as the Laser Bandit, agreed to fly protection for MacPherson's convoys. As word spread of the deal, independent pilots began to contact the Bandit for similar service. Most armed escorts were hired, and Barnett was able to form the FEDERATION OF FREE TRADERS. The Federation Today The Federation has evolved from a small group of freighter escorts to an extensive (though loosely bound) interstellar police force, performing a wide range of activities to make space travel safer. Individual pilots have a great deal of independence. Although any pilot over the rank of Cadet may 1 choose to wear the Federation crest, there is no uniform, and only cadets are required to carry an ID card. The chain that links the Federation, however, is GALNET. Pilots get orders, file reports, receive promotions, and are even paid through this central communications web. For all the Federation's informality, there is a rigidly enforced rank structure. The Missions Office gives assignments solely on this basis: high-paying (read: more dangerous) missions go to high-ranked pilots; cadets get whatever is left. Promotions are given on the basis of number and difficulty of missions completed and number of hostile ships destroyed. The Promotion Board will send you a notice via GalNet when you have earned a promotion. The Federation's ranks are: Cadet Chief Initiate Commander Rookie Wing Commander Pilot Admiral There is only one active Admiral at any given time; he is the ultimate head of the Federation. Currently, the Laser Bandit is Admiral, although rumor has it that he is grooming a replacement. Your Background In the years since the Federation was formed, space has grown only slightly less dangerous. When you were very young, your father, a Free Trader, was killed when a computer "accident" caused the destruction of the space station where he was based. Pirates were believed to be responsible, although Federation investigators could not prove it. All that you have left to remember him by is an old but still functional Hartley Mark I. The Hartley Mk I was one of the earliest starships widely available for use as a small trading vessel. Although quite old, it is a very reliable and common ship. It is equipped with a Class 3 Ion Drive, which is capable of .05C (15,200 km/s) in real space and a 78 light year jump in Hyperspace, although limited fuel capacity (50 metric tons) prevents a jump of larger than 50 light years. The ship is armed with standard forward-firing 1 MegaWatt Lasers and two Lima Missiles, with another pair of hard points for mounting a tertiary weapon system. The shields are Class 1 - minimally effective. One emergency escape pod is attached. The ship's computer is a Fedcomp Series 472 "EDI", considered state-of-the-art at the time it was build, and is completely adequate for your needs. Its main function is communications; it also maintains a small ship recognition library. Additional computers are used for navigation and damage control. Finally, the ship has an ample 100 ton cargo capacity, which is fairly large among single-man vessels. In FEDERATION, you have no set objective to achieve. You possess the means to attain any goal you wish to pursue, from amassing a trader's fortune to becoming Admiral of the Federation. The decision is yours. 2 FLYING THE SHIP Controls The Hartley Mk I is equipped with attitudinal thrusters under each wing and on the top and bottom of the ship's nose. These thrusters are controlled by the joystick, and operate in the following manner: /\ /\ \|/ /\ / \ /\ /\ / \ /\ \|/ __||__/ \/ \/ \__||__ __||__/ \/ \/ \__||__ a. Joystick left b. Joystick right ________________________ _______________________ \|// | / | /_________________________| /________________________| /|\ c. Joystick up d. Joystick down Push the joystick left to activate the left wing thruster; the ship rotates counter-clockwise. Push right for the right wing thruster; the ship rotates clockwise. Push up for the top nose thruster; the ship rotates forward (dives). Push down for the bottom nose thruster; the ship rotates back (climbs). Use the Accelerate and Decelerate keys to alter your speed. The Time Skip key can be used to reduce your travel time at sublight speeds. Time Skip is not available when hostile forces are present, or while docking. The distance you travel during a Time Skip is, of course, relative to your speed when it is used. Radar The radar screen at the bottom center of your control panel is the most important piece of equipment you use to fly the ship. It shows a three-dimensional view of the space around you. Your location is the white dot in the center of the display. The "V" represents the area directly in front of your ship. Objects on the radar screen appear as a glowing dot with a colored "stalk" attached. if the glowing dot is at the top of the stalk, the object is above you' if it is at the bottom, the object is below. The stalk's length indicates how much the object is above or below you. Its color indicates the type of object. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1. Color codes for radar stalks Color Object Color Object |-------------------------------|---------------------------------| | White Space station * | Blue Unidentified | | or Convoy ship | Grey Satellite | | Red Hostile (Pirate) | Glowing Missiles | | Green Friendly ship | | |-------------------------------|---------------------------------| * Space station size is three times as wide as normal ship. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 _________ /\ /\ / \ |=|----------------Ship 1 /----\---/----\ / \ / _ \ / ^ |_|-----------Ship 2 Your position----/---------| |_| \ / |-| \ / | | ____ \ Ship 3----------------|_| |_| | \ / |_| | |------\--- Space Station / |____| \ /-------------------------------\ Zoom 001 ----------------Magnification factor This figure shows a typical radar display. Your location is the center of the display, at the bottom of the V. Ship 1 is directly in front of you, and would be visible if he were in range. Ship 2 if off to your right and above you. Ship 3 is directly to your left, and a long way below you. The space station is almost directly behind you. "Zoom 001" shows the largest area of any magnification factor. If you want to intercept an object (for example, to dock with a space station), rotate your ship left or right to move its stalk into the V, then rotate up or down until it is flat (just a dot.) The ship will then be directly in front of you. If the object disappears from your radar, use the Zoom Radar Out key to enlarge the area your radar is scanning. When the ship moves into the lowest section of the V, press the Zoom Radar In key to get a better view of its location relative to you. There are eight levels of magnification. When a hostile ship comes within range of your ship, a siren will sound, and your status lights will change to Red Alert. This range is the area of magnification level 5. Weapons and Combat Although piracy has been on the decline since the organization of the Federation, it is still a serious problem throughout the universe. Fortunately, your ship is equipped to deal with this threat. WEAPON SYSTEMS Your ship can carry up to three weapon systems, designated as Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. The primary weapon is built into the body of the ship, and cannot be changed, although it may be upgraded. Thus, you may not replace your lasers with, for example, plasma guns, but you may upgrade it to a 5 megawatt system. Secondary and tertiary systems are built onto hard points on the hull of the ship, and can be changed or added at will. Your ship starts with a Lima missile launcher as the secondary system; the hard points for the tertiary system have not been used. The only restriction to adding or replacing weaponry is that you are not allowed two systems of the same type. Thus, you could not add a second laser system, or attach two fusion guns. 4 AMIGA REFERENCE System Requirements 1. An Amiga 500, 1000, 2000, or 2500, with at least 512K RAM. 2. A joystick. Loading Instructions Turn on your monitor and computer. If necessary, insert Kickstart 1.2 or higher. At the Workbench prompt, insert the game disk. The game loads automatically. Saving and Restoring Games You must have a blank disk to save a game. Press S to save a game. Only one game may be saved to a disk. You may only save when docked at a space station, or when on a planet. To load a saved game, press L. You may restore a game at any point except when using the computer systems or Hyperspace. ATARI ST REFERENCE System Requirements 1. An Atari 520ST, 1040ST or Mega ST. 2. A color monitor. 3. A joystick. Loading Instructions Place the game disk into the internal drive (drive A:). Turn on your monitor and computer. The game loads automatically. Saving and Restoring Games You must have a blank disk to save a game. Press S to save a game. Only one game may be saved to a disk. You may only save when docked at a space station, or when on a planet. To load a saved game, press L. You may restore a game at any point except when using the computer systems or Hyperspace. 5 AMIGA KEY REFERENCE Ship Controls Launch <BACKSPACE> Accelerate <CTRL> Decelerate <ALT> Time Skip J Hyperspace H Arm Escape Pod 1 Disarm Escape Pod 2 Abandon Ship <ESC> Dock D Dock Instantly <SHIFT>-D Communications Mode <F1> Arm Primary Weapon <F2> Arm Secondary Weapon <F3> Arm Tertiary Weapon <F4> Toggle Red Alert Siren <F5> Activate Ship's Computer <F6> Activate Navigation Computer <F7> Activate Damage Control <F8> Zoom Radar In <F9> Zoom Radar Out <F10> Navigation Controls Move Cross-hair <cursor keys> Mission Destination L Zoom In <HELP> Zoom Out <DEL> Lock Course <RETURN> Galactic Jump G Navigation Library D Exit Library <Spacebar> Short Range Scan S Exit Scan <Spacebar> Exit Navigation <Spacebar> Miscellaneous Play Music M Load Music <HELP> Scroll Up <cursor up> Scroll Down <cursor down> Kill Music K Save Game S Load Game L Exit Damage Control <Spacebar> 6 ATARI ST KEY REFERENCE Ship Controls Launch <BACKSPACE> Accelerate <Control> Decelerate <ALternate> Time Skip \ Hyperspace H Arm Escape Pod 1 Disarm Escape Pod 2 Abandon Ship <ESC> Dock D Dock Instantly <SHIFT>-D Communications Mode <F1> Arm Primary Weapon <F2> Arm Secondary Weapon <F3> Arm Tertiary Weapon <F4> Toggle Red Alert Siren <F5> Activate Ship's Computer <F6> Activate Navigation Computer <F7> Activate Damage Control <F8> Zoom Radar In <F9> Zoom Radar Out <F10> Navigation Controls Move Cross-hair <cursor keys> Mission Destination L Zoom In <HELP> Zoom Out <Undo> Lock Course 5 Galactic Jump G Navigation Library D Exit Library <Spacebar> Short Range Scan S Exit Scan <Spacebar> Exit Navigation <Spacebar> Miscellaneous Play Music M Load Music <HELP> Scroll Up <cursor up> Scroll Down <cursor down> Kill Music K Save Game S Load Game L Exit Damage Control <Spacebar> 7 Ship's Display 1. Escape Pod Status: Shows status of escape pod: Green - Pod armed Blue - Pod disarmed Red - No pod attached 2. Alert Condition Lights: Shows the Alert Status of the ship: Red - Hostile ship in range Glowing - Unidentified ship Green - Normal Blue - Docked/Landed 3. Left & Right Shields: Shows the current level of each shield. 4. Viewscreen 5. Navigation Status: Shows green if a course is locked in, red if not. 6. Passive Warning Radar: Shows ships that are using targeting radar to launch missiles at your ship. 7. Radar 2 -----| |--------- 1 |------- 2 |--------|-----------------------|-------------|----------| | |-|--| O O |--|--| | | |----| |-----| | | |||||---------------------------------------------||||| | | ||||| ||||| | 3 ---|-||||| |||||-|--- 3 | ||||| ||||| | | ||||| ||||| | | ||||| 4 ||||| | | ||||| ||||| | | ||||| ||||| | | |--|| |-- 5 ||--| | | |--||--|-------------/-------\--------------------||--| | | ( 6 ) O | /\/\ | |-----| |-----|| | |----| | /----\ | | | | || | |----| \---|---/ |-----| |-----|| |--------------------------|------------------------------| 7 Viewscreen 1. Directional Indicator: A beacon for the inhabited planet of the solar system (see Docking at space stations and Landing on planets). 2. Gunsight: Use this to line up on ships you wish to communicate with (see Contacting Other Ships) or fire weapons at (see Weapons and Combat) 3. Weapon Status: Shows a three letter code for currently selected weapon, and vital statistics about it. 4. Speed Indicator: Shows the ship's speed in 100's of kilometers per second. (100's km/s). Negative numbers indicate backward motion. |---------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | --\/\/-- | | | | | | 5PD 000--|--- 4 | -- -- | | | | 2 LSR 100 | |---|----------------------------------------------|------| | | 1 3 8 Table 2. Effectiveness of weapon types * ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 megawatt 2 megawatt 3 megawatt 4 mw 5 mw Lasers 1 2 3 4 5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lima Dart Siera -- -- Missiles 25 50 75 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mk 1 Mk II Mk III -- -- Fusion Guns 16 32 48 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plasma 1 giga-erg 2 giga-erg 3 giga-erg -- -- Projectors 8 16 24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gauss Standard Rapid Fire Very Rapid -- -- Guns 2 4 6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Standard Hi Intelligence Sentient -- -- Drones 25 50 75 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Numbers in body of table represent damage caused by weapon relative to the 1 megawatt laser. For example, a 3 giga-erg plasma projector will cause 24 times as much damage as the 1 megawatt laser. Lasers - Lasers fire continuous beams of amplified light at targets. When activated, a gauge in the lower right corner of the screen shows the charge remaining in the laser's storage capacitors. Each tap of the joystick button drains 4% from the capacitors. Holding the button down drains them rapidly, but energy is continually diverted from the engines to recharge them. More powerful lasers recharge faster and do more damage with each blast. Missiles - Missiles are purchased in pairs, and each comes with its own non-reusable launcher. Missiles can only be fired when the pilot has achieved missile-lock. When the missile is locked onto a target and fired, it will home in on the target using an onboard radar system. If it misses on the first pass, it will continue to return to the target until it hits, or runs out of fuel. Once a missile is used, it must be replaced. More expensive missiles do greater damage and are more resistant to the Electronic Counter-Measures (ECM) systems built into every ship. ECM, or "jamming" is used to confuse the homing signal of the missile. Plasma Projectors and Fusion Guns - These energy weapons fire gas that is ionized and energized; plasma projectors fire in pulses and fusion guns fire a cloud of the gas. In fusion guns, the gas actually proceeds to fusion. Fusion guns cause more damage than plasma projectors, but are very difficult to aim and use. Like lasers, both have storage capacitors which bleed power from the engines. Each plasma pulse drains the capacitors by 20%. Fusion guns require a full charge to be fired. Gauss Guns - Gauss guns use magnetic force to accelerate small pieces of metal to a high velocity and fire it at enemy targets. Once the Gauss gun is installed, metallic scrap, sold in 1 metric ton blocks, must be purchased as ammunition. Each tap of the button fires 10 kg of metal; thus a ton of scrap is 100 shots. More powerful Gauss guns accelerate the metal to higher speeds and cause more damage. Sand Dispensers - Sand dispensers are a defensive system. They release a cloud of abrasive particles into the path of enemy targets, reducing the effectiveness of lasers, fusion guns, and plasma projectors, disrupting missile fire and drones and interfering with the flight of enemy ships. Once the dispenser is purchased, sand canisters must be purchased as ammunition; each holds 100 cubic meters of sand. Drones - Drones are an advanced type of missile. Instead of relying solely on radar signals to home in on targets, drone are equipped with several detection systems and an onboard computer to select and home in on targets. To use a drone, just press the joystick button when the system is armed. If there are no hostile ships in range, the drone will simply fly along 9 side your ship, waiting. When a hostile appears, the drone will automatically home in on it. Drones have special safeguards built in to prevent them from attacking friendly or unidentified ships. USING YOUR WEAPONS To activate a weapon, press the Arm Primary Weapon, Arm Secondary Weapon, or Arm Tertiary Weapon key. The gunsight on your viewscreen will change to reflect the active system. The weapon status will show the code for the type of weapon that is active, and a three digit status of the weapon. All weapons are fired with the joystick button. Table 3. Weapon status Type of weapon Weapon code Digits represent: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laser LSR Percentage of charge in capacitors Missiles MSL Missiles remaining Fusion Gun FUS Percentage of charge in capacitors Plasma Projectors PLA Percentage of charge in capacitors Gauss Gun GAU Amount of metal remaining, in 10 kg units Sand dispensers SAND Amount of sand remaining, in cubic yards Drones DRO Drones remaining ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ESCAPE POD Your ship is also equipped with an escape pod. Activate the pod with the Arm Pod key. when your ship is about to be destroyed, eject by pressing the Abandon Ship key. The ship will self-destruct when you are at a safe distance, and the pod will take you to the nearest space station, where you will receive an identically equipped ship. Any cargo you were carrying is lost. DOCKING AT SPACE STATIONS Each system has a Federation-maintained space station, which carries a full stock of supplies for starships and interstellar travellers, as well as extensive trading facilities. However, because of the piracy problem, all stations are built with anti-detection equipment. Ships must make an approach to the system's inhabited planet before the station will be revealed. To find the main planet, look for the direction indicator in the lower left corner of the viewscreen. This is a white cross-hair with one or two arrows on it. If it is not on the screen, rotate the ship up or down with your joystick until it appears. When you see it, rotate the ship left or right until there is only one arrow, either up or down, the rotate the ship up or down until the indicator changes to a glowing diamond. You are now on course to the planet. If the planet appears as a very small circle on screen, you can reach it most rapidly by accelerating your shipt to its top speed, then using the navigation computer (see page 15) to lock on a course for the system you are in, and making a short hop through Hyperspace. You use no fuel in this way, and you will jump across the system quickly. When the planet is close enough that you can see the terminator separating the light and dark side (the planet will appear to have two colors), use the Time Skip key instead of Hyperspace to move even closer. Soon the planet will be too large to fit completely on your viewscreen. When this happens, reduce your speed to 20, and continue to Time Skip until you see the following message: GO TO STATION FOR IMMIGRATION CONTROL 10 The station should now be visible on your radar screen; it has a white stalk that is three lines wide. If it's not visible, use the Zoom Radar Out key until you do see it. Center it in the V by rotating the ship left or right, then rotate up or down until the stalk is flat. Accelerate to top speed to get to it as quickly as possible. When you can see it on your viewscreen, press the Dock key to turn on the docking computer. To bypass the docking sequence, press the Dock Instantly key. LANDING ON PLANETS You may want to land on a planet to get better prices in trading, or to fulfill a mission. You must dock with a space station before you can land on a planet. Space stations function as Customs and Immigration Control for the planets they orbit, and you will not receive clearance to land until you dock. Once you have docked and completed any business you may have on the station, you may leave the station by pressing the Launch key. The station's massive Docking Bay doors will open and Station Control will launch you with a speed of 20. Use the direction indicator to set course for the planet just as before, and Time Skip to make your approach. Be certain you are on course before each press of the Time Skip key! If you are off course when you enter the planet's atmosphere, you will burn up on re-entry! When you enter the atmosphere, the screen will turn red with heat. If your re-entry is successful, the viewscreen will show a projection of your ship flying through the atmosphere. |-- 1 |----------------------------|----------------------------| | __ __ ||| 2 ---|----------- | | | ----------|||-- 2 | --| --|-- |-- ||| | --| |-- ||| | --|-- o--/\--o -- 4 --|-- ||<-- 3 | | --| |-- ||| 6 -- |<-- -- --| _ _ |-- ||| | | --| | | |-- ||| | __| |_ _|---- 5 | ||| 7 -- | RANGE 60 | |---------------------------------------------------------| 1. Roll indicator: Shows how much the ship is turning. 2. Pitch meter: Shows angle of climb or descent. The line in the center of the screen is flat level. If the indicator is above the line, the ship is climbing; if the indicator is below the line, the ship is descending. 3. Altitude indicator: Shows how far the ship is above ground level. 4. Ship 5. Gunsight: Aims lasers. 6. Direction indicator: See Docking at Space Stations. 7. Range: Shows distance to the runway. 11 Use the direction indicator to guide you to the runway. Some planets have laser installations on the ground that may try to shoot at your. You may avoid their fire by flying very high until you get to the runway, but the final descent will have to be very steep; you run a good risk of not being able to pull up in time to avoid making a crater. If you fly low, the lasers may be able to destroy you. You can use your lasers to knock them out of commission, but be sure to pull up before you crash into the ground. As you close in on the runway, start nosing your ship down until you are flying just above the surface. Watch out for mountains. When you reach the runway, you must touch down in a very shallow dive. If your descent is too sharp, you will plow into the ground. When you touch down correctly, Ground Control will complete the landing automatically. If you miss the runway, pull up to climb out of the atmosphere and try again. When you have finished your business on the surface, use the Launch key to leave the planet base. Ground Control will launch you into the air. Pull up sharply on the joystick to climb through the atmosphere and into space. THE SHIP'S COMPUTER Your ship's computer is the most important tool you have. Through it, you can communicate to the rest of the Universe, trade on the open market, re-equip your ship, and study your potential adversaries. To use the ship's computer, press the Activate Ship's Computer key. NET - Logging into GalNet The Universe conducts its business on GALNET, the Galactic Network. Instant communication to any point in the Universe, including Federation headquarters, as well as all trading is done via the network. To log on to GalNet, type NET at EDI's main level. A welcome message will appear, with a request for your user ID. Welcome to GalNet New users please enter HELP at the prompt. Logon? If you are logging for the first time or if you have forgotten your ID code, type HELP. The network will ask you to enter your name, then ask if this is a new game. After you reply, you will be told your ID number and the possible commands will be listed. If you have mail, you will be notified. If you forget a command, you can always type H for Help. Network Commands E - ENTER TRADING LEVEL Type E to enter the trading level. Here you may buy and sell on the commodities market, or purchase supplies or equipment for your ship. The trading level is only available at space stations or planetary bases. 12 Commodities Trading - Remember, you are a member of the Federation of Free Traders. As a member of the Federation, you are entitled to full access to the GalNet Commodities Exchange. A wide range of goods is available for you to buy and sell, as you attempt to make a profit. The trading level is completely menu driven, and operates at three levels. The top level lets you choose from six broad categories of products: Metals/Rare Earths, Arms, Agricultural Products, Manufactured Goods, Drugs/Medicines, or Luxury Goods. (You may also choose Equip Starship: see Fitting Your Ship, below). Simply press the number of the category you wish to select or Q to leave the trading level. The next level shows the goods available in the selected category, and their current prices. These prices fluctuate as the quantities available rise and fall. Remember the Law of Supply and Demand: as more goods become available, the price drops; but when the product becomes scarce, the price rises. Press the number of the specific product you want to buy or sell. Press Q to go back to the top menu. The lowest level displays the current trading price, the amount of cargo space aboard your ship, your bank balance, the amount of the product in stock, and the amount you have in your cargo hold. Any transactions you choose to make are carried out by representatives of the Office of Interstellar Trade, who charge a 1% handing fee for moving the cargo to and from your hold. Press B to buy and S to sell. The game then asks the amount you wish to buy or sell. The money is automatically deducted or credited to your account. If you don't have enough money to make the purchase, or if there is not enough stock for you to buy or sell, an error message appears. Press Q to go back to the previous menu. Fitting Your Ship - You may upgrade your ship in several ways: adding new and better weapons, replacing the engines with a more powerful drive system, beefing up your shields, or attaching extra fuel pods or repair droids. Press 7 at the top trading level menu to enter GalNet Central Stores. Press 1 to see the weaponry available, 2 for engines and shields, and 3 for miscellaneous equipment. The Weaponry and Engineering sub-,menus let you choose a type of weapon or drive, or shields, then select the specific system. When you add or change a weapon, you are asked if you wish to replace the Secondary or Tertiary system (see Weapon Systems, page 4). When you replace an existing system on your ship, the shipyard gives you a trade-in credit for your old system. This credit is about 60% of the price of the system, after depreciation, labor, handling charges and taxes are deducted. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 4. Engine drives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drive Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------- | Max | Jump | Max |Jump | Max |Jump | Max |Jump |Max |Jump | Speed|Range |Speed|Range|Speed|Range|Speed|Range|Speed|Range ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------ Ion Drive | 136 | 74 | 144 | 76 | 152 | 78 | 160 | 80 | 168 | 82 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------ Plasma Drive| 144 | 76 | 160 | 80 | 176 | 84 | 192 | 88 | 208 | 92 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------- Fusion Drive| 152 | 78 | 176 | 84 | 200 | 90 | 224 | 96 | 248 | 102 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------- Photon Drive| 160 | 80 | 192 | 88 | 224 | 96 | 256 |104 | 288 | 112 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------- Matter/anti-| | | | | | | | | | matter Drive| 166 | 82 | 208 | 92 | 248 |102 | 288 |112 | 328 | 122 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------- Star Drive | 176 | 84 | 224 | 96 | 272 |108 | 320 |120 | 368 | 132 ------------|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------ 13 T - TRANSMIT MESSAGE Press T to make a direct communications link ("phone call") to another GalNet user. The following prompt will appear: Enter user to transmit to Contacting the Federation - When you see the prompt, type FOFT to contact the Federation. If you have not received a mission, the Federation selects one for you. If you have a mission in progress, and have not yet reached your destination system, you are reminded of your active mission. After you have reached your destination system and have successfully completed your mission, report to the Federation to receive payment. Note: You may only contact the Federation when you are docked at a space station, or when you have landed on a planet. Contacting Other Ships - Not all trade is conducted in the Trading level. When you encounter another ship in space, press the Communications Mode key. Center the ship in the cursor to learn their GalNet code (the code appears on the left side of the screen and EDI keeps track of it). Use the ship's computer to log into GalNet, then press T. At the prompt, press <return> and EDI fills in the number for you. If the alien does not wish to speak to you, this message appears: Connection Refused. Otherwise, when you see: Direct Connection Made start the conversation by tying in a message then pressing <return>. Start with small talk, then try to turn the conversation to trade. Perhaps he has something he wants to sell. You may have picked up something from another trader that you'd like to sell. Once you find something to trade, haggle over the price to get the best deal. Remember two things: 1) There are as many con artists in the Universe as honest traders, and 2) Items traded between ships in this manner are contraband and cannot be sold on the Trading level. When you decide to end the conversation, type LOGOFF. P - PRINT MESSAGE Type P to view any mail sent to your account. R - READ BULLETIN BOARD Press R to view any messages posted to GalNet's "Bulletin Board." I - SHOW INVENTORY Press I to see your ship's manifest. The first page shows information regarding the configuration of your ship (fuel, tankage, shields, weaponry, and engines), your current rank, points, and bank balance. The following pages report the amounts of various commodities stored in your cargo bay. Q - QUIT Press Q to disconnect from GALNET. The time you were connected is displayed, and you return to EDI's main level. SHIPS - THE SHIP RECOGNITION LIBRARY EDI maintains a database with simulations of all known ships. Type SHIPS at EDI's main level to view these. 14 QUIT - Leaving EDI When you have finished with EDI, return to the main level and type QUIT. THE NAVIGATION COMPUTER The Navigation Computer is used to set courses for Hyperspace Travel. You may travel to any world in the current galaxy, or to a neighboring galaxy, provided you have the jump capability and the fuel. You may also examine the characteristics of inhabited worlds in your galaxy with the Library, and you may perform a Short Range Scan of the planets in your current location. To enter the navigation computer, press the Activate Navigation Computer key. Press the Exit Navigation key to leave. Setting Courses When you activate the Navigation Computer, a view of your current galaxy appears. The red cross-hair indicates your current location; a white cross-hair indicates your current destination. If you have received a mission from the Federation, you may press the Mission Destination key to move the white cross-hair to your destination. When the galactic view appears, some stars may overlap others. To see these, you may rotate the galaxy in three dimensions using the joystick. You may also zoom in and out using the Zoom In and Zoom Out keys. To lock in a course, press the Lock Course key. You should see a message indicated that the course has been locked in. If nothing happens, the star is either farther than your fuel supply will stretch or outside your engine's range. You may have to make several small jumps to reach your destination. If you wish to jump to a new galaxy, lock in a course to any star, then press the Galactic Jump key. You must have a drive capable of a 100 light-year jump to generate enough energy for a Galactic jump. Once you lock in a course, leave the Navigation Computer by pressing the Exit Navigation key, then press the Hyperspace key to fly to your destination. Navigation Library Your Navigation Computer maintains an extensive library of data regarding the inhabited planets of the universe. To access this data, select a planet with the white cross-hair, then press the Navigation Library key when you are at the Navigation Computer's main level. The right half of the screen will show a diagram of orbits and relative positions of all planets in the system. The main inhabited world in the system will be indicated by a flashing ring. The left half of the screen shows several statistics about this planet. Press the Exit Library key to return to the main navigation level. PLANETARY STATISTICS These statistics include: the quality of the planet's starport, the diameter of the planet (in 1000's of miles), its atmosphere, and the percentage of its surface covered by water. Four other statistics require more explanation. 15 Population - This is not the exact population, but a representation of the magnitude of the population. For example, Earth (1990 population: approximately 5.5 billion) might be listed as having a population of 1,000,000,000 - indicating that the population is measurable in the billions. If the population of the United States (1990 pop.: approx. 240 million) packed up and moved to Mars, the population would be listed as 100,000,000. Government Type - Although every government in the Universe is unique, the Federation rates them on a scale from 0 to 15. The scale indicates levels of government control over the citizenry. Some examples: Level 0, showing anarchy, might describe Lebanon. Earth, 1990 would be level 1, showing no central government, but a variety of competing regional governments. The United States might rate level 3 or 4, most Western European governments about 5 or 6. At the other end of the scale, The People's Republic of China would rate about 12 or 13. Tech Index - Tech index is a measure of the level of technology the planet has achieved. Some examples of these levels: primitive cannons become available at level 2, airplanes appear at level 5, interstellar travel indicates level 9, and the fusion gun shows up at level 15. Level 0 is very primitive. Earth, 1990 is about level 8, and the FEDERATION average is somewhere around 11 or 12. Law Level - Law level is a rating similar to government type, but refers solely to private ownership of weaponry. At level 0, there are no restrictions. All firearms are prohibited at about level 7, and all personal weapons, including knives or daggers, are outlawed at level 10. Short Range Scan Press the Short Range Scan key to display a map of the relative positions of all the planets in the current star system. Press the Exit Scan key to return to the main navigation level. DAMAGE CONTROL Activate the Damage Control system with the Activate Damage Control key. Any damage that your ship suffers can be repaired by allocating repair droids to the job. You start with three droids, and you may purchase up to six more. Press your joystick button to activate the system selector, then move it up or down until the damage system is selected. Move the joystick right to allocate droids, and left to remove them. The more droids you allocate, the faster repairs will be made. MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS FEDERATION includes 20 different songs that you can play as background music during your space adventures. You may load or play a song at any point except when you are in Hyperspace or using one of the computer systems. To load a song, press the Load Music key. A menu appears, with the > marking the currently selected song. Use the Scroll Up and Scroll Down keys to mark a song, the press <return> to load it. The song plays automatically when it has loaded. To play a song over when it has ended, or to restart the current song, press the Play Music key. To interrupt music and activate sound effects, press the Kill Music key. 16 ============================================================================ DOCS PROVIDED BY -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D. ============================================================================ ..... ..... ::::::: The Courts of Chaos o Prodigy USHQ o (501) 470-3751 ::::::: :: Over 1 gig of Amiga & PC o Worlds Largest Docs Library Online :: : All Prodigy & Decade releases are Free o Other Major Releases : . Free Daily o Call it if your Not too Slow . . .