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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Star Flight II Supplied by Enlightened One Typed by Enlightened One The folks at Phantom Networks Game made by Electronic Arts %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Introduction -- Orientation Briefing -- Interstel Date: 22-10/4638 Chaired by: Phexipotex, Director of Starport Outpost 1 Greetings and welcome to the frontiers of space. Thank you all, veterans and raw recruits alike, for volunteering for a particularly hazardous and probably fatal mission. We're especially thankful to have with us again those heroic individuals who, just 19 years ago, saved Arth and each of our respective posterior ends from an untimely annihilation. In case no one mentioned it before, we're all very happy not to be dead, and we have you to thank for it. You probably want to know why we're offering huge rewards that could include (but aren't limited to) cash prizes, stock options, and piles of stuffed animals. Well, we wouldn't have offered except that we're in BIG trouble. In case your mission briefing didn't give you an idea of how big BIG is, we'll tell you now. Discovery of Noah 2 ------------------- First, let's look at the events that lead to our current crisis. About 35 years ago, archaeologists on the planet Arth stumbled upon an ancient, underground network that had once been inhabited by a group made of Humans, Velox, Elowan, and Thrynn -- in short, all of the folks we find on Arth today. A spaceship -- the Noah 2 -- was also found among the ruins. Now, we'd all grown up with epic tales of the Great Earth Empire and the Noah 2 colony ship sent to Arth, but few believed they were more than just children's stories. Earth had always been a "mythical" world; the fall of Earth was just another adventure story. But the discovery of the underground fortification and the actual Noah 2 spaceship forced people to look at the old tales as actual historical accounts. Records found among the ruins revealed that the Humans on Earth once controlled a huge, interstellar empire that was closely allied with the neighboring Elowan, Thrynn, and Velox. For centuries, Earth dominated the region -- until one day hordes of aggressive alien species arrived seeking new worlds to settle. The aliens -- Gazurtoid, Uhlek, Spemin -- were being driven from their home regions by a wave of flaring stars that obliterated everything in its path. Sharing wasn't a popular concept among these aliens (they prefered invasion), so Earth formed a coalition with her alies to defend the empire. The coalition sucessfully repelled the first onslaught, but as fleet upon fleet of enemy warships arrived, the empire's defenses quickly buckled. Just before Earth's final destruction, project Noah was launched as a last ditch effort to save a remnant of the empire. The last of Earth's meager resouces were mustered and a dozen or so colony ships were scattered in all directions. The second colony ship, Noah 2, landed on Arth and planted the seeds of our culture. Unfortunately, a planetide catastrophe caused the descendants of the colonists to lose the knowledge and technology of their forefathers. Arth civilization fell into an age of darkness (and chaos). When the Noah 2 ruins were uncovered, scientists immediately began to reconstruct the Faster-Than-Light (superphotonic) technology of our forefathers. We couldn't have got it at a more critical time -- the same flaring star thing that had driven the alien hordes toward Earth centuries before was just then reaching Arth. Without superphotonic technology -- and the Endurium fuel found in the ruins -- we never could've pushed beyond our system and unraveled the mystery of the flaring stars. And without unraveling the mystery, we'd all be one big Arth flambe. Ban on Endurium --------------- None of us who lived through those days will ever get over the shock of what we learned on the Crystal Planet:the secret of Endurium and how its use was responsible for the wave of flaring stars. Once the Crystal Planet was safely destroyed, the High Council of Arth banned the use of Endurium as fuel and strongly suggested that other species do the same. Of course, other species don't really care what the High Council says, and with no fuel for our warships, our ban amounts to little more than finger-shaking. That isn't to say that the call for a ban on Endurium has been unversally ignored. Naturally, the more noble species understand the moral issues involved and have given up -- or at least curtoiled -- their use of the substance. Agressive species, however, have not only ignored the ban but are using it as an opportunity to take advantage of our vulnerable state. Spemin Aggression ----------------- This brings us to our current situation. As if fuel weren't a big enough problem, the loathsome Spemin recently acquired some powerful new technology -- seemingly out of nowhere. Armed with new weapons and an unlimited new fuel source, the Spemin -- once just a dangerous nuisance -- are now a deadly threat. Last week they issued Arth another unlimatum demanding that we willingly enslave ourselves to them or be destroyed. At this point in time, our skeletal defenses couldn't withstand a concerted attack by their fleet. only natural Spemin cowardice has kept them from striking (as we all know,"spinless" applies to the Spemin in more ways than one.) But we can't count on their fear forever. And I think each of us wuold agree that kneeling before an arrogant mass of slime isn't a viable option. But hope is not lost. About two years ago we learned the location of the continum flux that leads to the region of space where this new fuel and technology originates. (knowing that the Spemin like to boast, a commander of an Arth installation cleverly tricked a Spemin by saying "I suppose you know that we hve the same technology as you. We got it by going through that flux at....um, where was it again?") Since then we've built this outpost and learned a few facts about the region. It's inhobited by approximately 20 to 30 species, 6 or 7 of which possess spacefaring technologies. Several of the sentient species in the region are hostile, which has made collecting information difficult. Mission Objectives ------------------ This is where you come in. As outlined in your mission briefingly, your objectives are to find the souce of the fuel substance known as Shyneumand acquire the technology the Spemin possess. I think you now know how vital it is that we accomplish these objectives -- it's the only way we're going to avoid serving mucous cocktails to the Spemin overlords. Are there any questions? Navigator Krk Pectok... Krk Pectok: Can you elaborate on the Spemin's new technology? What do they have that we don't? Phexipotex: Aside from having all the fuel they want, the Spemin have new shields that function in nebulas. We've given their shields a Class 6 rating. Their ships are also armed with plasma bolts, a nasty weapon they obtained from the Uhlek. As you may or may not know, you can outrun a phasing artifact that lets them make short "jumps" in combat. This phasing capability makes them difficult to hit with missiles and almost impossible to escape. Another question... Yes, Captain Briggs... Cpt. Briggs: If this new region of space is as hostile as you claim, we'll need to upgrade our ships and train our crews in order to meet any threats. That takes cash. Trade has been suggested as a good means of acquiring capital. Can you suggest any markets for the goods we acquire? Phexipotex: Each of you passes a copy of starmap which interstel bought from the best merchants in the region, the Humna Humna. All star systems known to be inhobited by sentient beings are marked with a small cross. When you find a planet inhobited by sentients, you Science Officer can access the trade buoy info to find out whether they'll trade goods or not. We've provided you with some standard Trade Goods to get you started. We suggest you try to sell some of them to the Tandelou, the species closest to starport. As you'll soon discover, they're agreeable aliens, though a little long-winded on theological matters. We have time for one more question. Captain Ariel... Capt. Ariel: The Humna Humna seem to have done much for us. Can we consider them allies? Phexipotex: The Humna Humna are driven purely by the profit motive. However, they recognize that goodwill and mutual respect are indispensable to profitable trade relations. Show them your good intentions and you'll find their friendship very beneficial. That includes keeping your weapons disarmed around their trade ships -- they're sensitive about that. Well, that's about it. We sincerely hope you fare better than our last group of explorers. Good night, good luck, and don't forget: the Spemin are finks. End of introduction - Oh boy, isn't that long?? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Command Summary %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Selecting Commands ------------------ You run your starship and command your crew by selection options from the screen. To select an option, use the cursor key or the arror keys on the numeric keypad to move the highlighted cursor to the option you want and press the spacebar. Note:Enter is equivalent to the spacebar everywhere except during combat. Movement -------- Move your character, terrain vehicle, and starship using the numberic keypad. [INS] = Cruise Control. Press [Spacebar] to open doors and confirm selections. *Cruise Control Cruise Control lets you travel through hyperspace or a planet without holding down a movement key. You can also use cruise control to travel quickly across a star system. To set your ship or terrain vehicle on cruise control, begin moving in a diretion and quickly press [INS] on the neumeric keypad. To deactivate cruise control, press the [spacebar] or any cursor key. Scrolling --------- In this manual, scroll means to move a highlighted bar up and down a list of items or options. Use the up/down cursor keys to move the highlighted bar to the item or option you want. Press the [spacebar] to make your selection. You can exit a list by pressing the right/left cursor keys. Reading Text ------------ Text appears in the Text window. Anytime the border around the Text Window is highlighted, there's more text to read -- press the [spacebar] to continue. Sometimes you'll need to press the [spacebar] twice to continue. Confirming Commands ------------------- You'll occasionally be asked to confirm important commands such as launching your ship, entering trade centers, etc. Press the right cursor key to confirm your command; press the left cursor key to abort the command. Pausing the Game ---------------- Press [Pause] to pause the game. Tandy users, press [hold]. To resume the game, press any key. If you don't have a [pause] key, press [ESC] to bring up the Game Options. Sound On/Off ------------ Press Ctrl-S to turn the sound effects on or off. Boss Key -------- If you wnt to hide your compulsive game habit from others, press Ctrl-B to pause the game and bring up a phony DOS prompt. Type any command you want after the prompt. To return to the game, press Ctrl-B again! (neat, eh!) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Navigation Calibrator (The protection) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Before you leave starport, you'll be asked to calibrate the ship's navigation system. You'll need the trademap and navigation calibrator include in the package. The omputer will ask you to place the navigation calibrator on the correct coordinates and count certain stars in the square. Note: On some trademaps, dark blue stars look purple. Consider any purple looking stars as dark blue. -------- Starport -------- Entering Starport Modules ------------------------- To enter a module, use the left/right cursor keys to move your character to the module's entryway -- the module's name appears at the top of the screen; press [spacebar] to enter. Personnel --------- When you select Create, your first crewmember is automatically placed in File #1. Use the up/down cursor keys to choose the crewmember's species and press the [spacebar] Next type the name of the crewmember and press the [spacebar]. Now you can press the up cursor key to advance to the next file. Crew Assignment --------------- Assign your crews! ----- Space ----- Combat ------ Once you've selected combat, use the numberic keypad to accelerate and maneuver your ship. Press the [spacebar] to fire weapons. To disengage Compat, press [Enter] Playback -------- Select Playback from the Communication office's option to review conversations you've had with aliens. If you don't want to review the entire file, you can exit Playback by pressing the right cursor arror and then the [spacebar] If you've recorderd a lot of messages, you may encounter a graphics problem in which parts of your screen get pulled up or down while scrolling through the playback files -- the result can be a messy screen. If this happens, you can exit Playback and select Starmap from the Navigator's options. Exit the starmap and the ship's console will look like it's supposed. Jump Pods --------- To initiate a jump, select Jump Pod from the Engineer's options. When the starmap appears, use the numeric keypad to move the crosshair to the desired destination and press the [spacebar]. Launching Blasto Pods --------------------- Press F1O to launch a blasto pod. The targeting mechanism automatically appears on the Main View Screen as a group of concentric rings. Use the numeric keypad to move the detonation point close to your opponents. Press the [spacebar] to confirm the detonation point. ---------- Planetside ---------- Describe -------- Select Describe to activate your terrain vehicle's sensors and describe a specific object in the vicinity. Use the numeric keypad to move the target cursor to the object you want to describe and press the [spacebar] Weapons ------- Select Weapons to re weapons at a specific object in the vicinity. Use the numberic keypad to move the target cursor to the object you want to hit and press the [spacebar] Entering Trade Centers ---------------------- To enter a trade center, position your terrain vehicle next to or on top of the trade center and press the [spacebar] to stop your vehicle. You'll be asked if you want to trade. Press the right cursor key to enter the trade cetner;press the left cursor key if you decide not to go in. End of dox...