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*** STARLORD USER COMMANDS *** Following is a list of commands available to the user and their function: <F1> - "STATUS" Pressing the <F1> key from the 'COMMAND' prompt will cause the computer to switch to the status screen. The upper left block of the status screen (labelled "Current Status") Provides information about the ship's NAME, the RANK and NAME of the commander (you), the ship's POSITION (horizon- tal then vertical on the grid), the ship's CONDITION, the status of the SHIELDS, and the current MISSION number. Status conditions are as follows: DOCKED - the ship is docked. The use of weapons is not allowed, although the shields may be up or down. GREEN - the ship is not docked, but the shields are down and the ship is not engaged in combat. This is a perilous condition to operate the ship in. YELLOW - the ship is not docked, and the shields are up. This is the normal cruising mode, providing maximum pro- tection in case of sudden attack or other misfortune. RED - the ship is engaged in combat. The "Critical Systems" block in the lower left hand corner shows the current condition of the ship's critical equip- ment. Each system name is accompanied by a light bar divi- ded into ten blocks, each representing 10% of the maximum allowed for that system. The "Shuttles" block on the right hand side of the screen displays the status of the ship's four shuttles. Since this part of the program has not yet been implemented, the four "lights" will always glow green, for docked. The "Efficiency" block in the lower right hand corner dis- plays the player's CURRENT efficiency rating in points, the OVERALL rating (the current rating added to the previous rating, and the efficiency points REQUIRED for advancement to the next rank. <F2> - "TRANSFER" Pressing the F2 key causes the transfer screen to overlay the command console. The transfer screen provides a list of all Empire ships available for command transfer and their position. Pressing the number adjacent to the listing for the selected ship will immediately cause teletranspor- tation to the command console of that ship. You must remem- ber, however, that no provision has been made to prevent you from transferring to a "dead" ship (meaning a ship damaged so badly as to prevent maneuvering or re-transfer but NOT de- stroyed - you cannot transfer to a ship that has been de- stroyed), so be careful! If your rank is "Cadet", or if your "Commlink" status is lower than 25%, you will be unable to transfer and the transfer screen will not appear. <F3> - "TRACTOR" Pressing the F3 key will activate the ship's tractor, allow- ing you to tow disabled vessels (Imperial or otherwise) to an Imperial installation to collect an efficiency bonus. If you attempt to tow an enemy vessel that has not been disabled (in combat), the commander of that ship will probably object. A friendly word of advice... It is always good practice to maneuver your ship so that the only ship it is adjacent to is the ship you wish to tow. Otherwise, you may end up attempting to tow a vessel that neither needs nor desires the service. Activating the tractor causes crystal consumption to increase dramatically. For this reason the tractor will not activate if the ship's supply of crystal is low. Vessels in tow are automatically received when the ship is DOCKED, but there is no other way of releasing the towed vessel. CAUTION! For the purposes of the game, the ship you are towing is destroyed. If you end the game while towing an Imperial Vessel, you will lose it. <F4> - "MAP" Pressing the F4 key activates the ship's long range scanner. A "Local Area Map" will appear in the center of the command screen. Your ship will be located in the middle of the map and all objects within ten impulse units will be displayed. pressing the up, down, left, and right arrows will cause the cursor to move about the map. Pressing the <S> key will ac- tivate the scanner, and a readout will appear across the top of the map screen. If the ship's COMPUTER status is less than 75%, the map will not appear. <F5> - "END" Pressing the F5 keys will save the current game environment and end the game. Current Efficiency/Currency Points will be added to the total leaving the current efficiency 0. To resume the game, simply type "START" from DOS. <ALT-A> - "ATTACK" Pressing the <ALT> and <A> keys simultaneously causes the "Weapons Control" screen to activate. This screen is divi- ded into three sections. The top section provides an up- dated summary of the ship's most critical combat systems. The middle section also provides an updated summary, but in this case it is only a general status of selected sys- tems. If one of these systems is above 75%, the box adja- cent to the system name will glow green. If the system's status is between 50% and 75% the box will glow yellow. If the system's status is between 25% and 50% the bow will glow red, and if the status is less than 25% the box will be black. The bottom section of the Weapons Control Screen provides actual weapons control. The first line allows you to select the weapon you wish to use using the right and left arrow keys. When you have decided which weapon to use ("B" for Beam, "T" for Torpedo), cause its box to become lit using the arrow keys, then press <ENTER>. You must then decide whether to use the weapon in the Automatic ("A") or Manual ("M") mode. This is done in the same way as select- ing the weapon. If you choose "M" for manual, you will be prompted alternately to enter the targets "X" and "Y" co- ordinates. This is done by pressing the right arrow keys. Once one of these two keys is pressed, the target calcula- tor will scroll automatically. Press the <ENTER> key when the desired setting is reached. If you select "A" and the ship's computer is severely damaged it will be unable to calculate a target coordinate and will reset the target calculator to zero. You must then enter the desired coordinates manually. Also, if you select "A" and there is more than one target within range, the automatic target calculator may not select the target you would have chosen. In this case you should select your target manually. After you have made the above selections the weapon will fire on the target you have specified. You cannot specify any object that is friendly to the Empire, although you may fire on an object that is not a target (though there is no reason to do so). You will be provided with a message detailing the result of the attack. After you have fired your salvo you have six options as follow: 1. Press <U> to view an update of your ship's status. 2. Press <S> to view the enemies status after the attack. 3. Press <M> to activate the impulse engines. 4. Press <T> to transfer (if another ship is available). 5. Press <Q> to end the attack (return to command mode). 6. Press <ESC> to restart the firing sequence. <ALT-C> - "CAPTURE" Pressing the <ALT> and <C> keys simultaneously will tele- transport Imperial troops to any adjacent enemy to attempt to capture it. In order for the capture to be successful the enemy installation must have been sufficiently damaged beforehand to prevent its occupants from mounting a strong defense. If you attempt to capture an enemy ship, planet, or base which still has the use of its beam weapon the attack will probably be unsuccessful. The Imperial troops will be repelled and your efficiency rating will suffer. In the case of capturing an enemy vessel, it becomes a neutral vessel which may be towed to the nearest Imperial Installation for an efficiency bonus. In the case of an enemy planet or base, these will become "Imperial Vassals" which will be re- presented on the map in the same way as an Imperial Planet. You may dock your vessel at any of these installations and receive automatic consignment of crystal, however you will never receive an automatic consignment of weapons from an Imperial Vassal - these must be purchased in trade with Efficiency/Currency Units. You must be adjacent to an enemy installation for this command to work. <ALT-D> - "DOCK" Pressing the <ALT> and <D> keys simultaneously will send a docking request to any adjacent Imperial planet, base, or neutral planet or base having friendly leanings toward the Empire. In the case of an Imperial Installation or Vassal (denoted by green symbols on the map and viewing screen), docking is automatically granted and certain fees are auto- matically assessed. The docking fee at an Imperial Instal- lation or Vassal is always 10 E/C Units. In addition to the basic fee, your vessel may automatically be consigned weapons and crystal (or crystal only in the case of docking at an Imperial Vassal) in quantity determined by local availability of these items. If you have sufficient E/C units, you will automatically be assessed a fee for items recieved never to exceed your current E/C available at a somewhat reduced rate. If your current E/C rating is 9 or less, you will be granted credit for docking only, however your current rating will be represented in negative numbers. If you attempt to dock at a Neutral Installation you may be denied docking, depending on the local political situation. If you are granted permission to dock, you will be informed of the amount of the docking fee you must pay to receive docking services. You must decide if you wish to pay (or if you are able to pay) this fee. Neutral Installations rarely if ever grant credit to Imperial Vessels. If you decide to pay this fee, you will be assessed charges for automatic consignment as above. While docked, you may repair your vessel at a substantially reduced rate and trade with the locals to obtain goods for your vessel. You will never be attacked while docked nor are you subject to local weather conditions, however you will find that your weapons are not allowed to be armed in dock, your engines will be secured, and your short range scanner will be inoperative. You will be allowed to raise your shields in preparation for embarkation. <ALT-E> - "EMBARK" Pressing the <ALT> and <E> keys simultaneously while docked will cause all operational space systems to activate and your vessel will no longer be docked. Pressing <ALT-E> while underway will cause the message "SPACE SYSTEMS ACTIVE" to be displayed, but you should already have known that. <ALT-I> - "IMPULSE" Pressing the <ALT> and <I> keys simultaneously while opera- ting in any condition other than Docked or Combat will engage the ship's impulse engines if they are operational. You may then use the numeric keypad to pilot your vessel through space one unit at a time. Impulse engines are normally used for close-in manuevering, as opposed to the Warp Drive which is used for long range space travel. Use of the Impulse Engines will reduce your crystal by one to five units per move (or per second, whichever occurs first), depending on the operational status of the engines. <ALT-L> - "LINK" This command is used to assist crippled Imperial Vessels which may be unable to reach dock. The effect of this com- mand is to transfer 1/2 of your vessel's torpedoes and crystal to the disabled vessel. In order for this command to work you must be adjacent to the vessel you wish to assist. Also, if there is more than one vessel in the immediate vicinity, you should be sure to maneuver your vessel so that the disabled vessel is the only one you are adjacent to. Otherwise, you may Link with a vessel that does not require your assistance. <ALT-P> - "PICKUP" This command is used to pick up stray torpedoes which in- evitably occupy the area surrounding any major battlefield. You must be adjacent to a torpedo in order to pick it up, however this command allows you to pick up as many weapons as you are adjacent to. The reasons you may wish to pickup stray torpedoes is two- fold. Primarily you will want to re-equip your own vessel so that you can reuse the weapons against an enemy. Also, you will want to rid the area of these weapons because a ship accidentally colliding with one will be damaged, per- haps severely. <ALT-R> - "REPAIR" The use of this command is very important for obvious reasons. Pressing the <ALT> and <R> keys simultaneously will cause the Repair screen to overlay the command screen. Here you will be asked to select which system you wish to repair and how many E/C units you wish to expend on the repair. Effecting repairs while docked will cause the repair points to be assessed at a flat rate from your current rating except in the case of repairing Hull Damage, which is ten times the amount per percentage point of repair as the rest of the sys- tems. Repairs while underway require ten times the amount the same repair would cost in dock. You are never granted efficiency credit for effecting repairs. <ALT-S> - "SHIELDS" This command operates the shields. Pressing the <ALT> and <S> keys simultaneously while the shields are lowered will cause the shields to be raised if they are operational. The same combination of keys while the shields are raised will cause the shields to be lowered. While the shields are raised any "hit" on the ship will be absorbed by the shields, the resulting force being deducted from the ship's supply of crystal. If, however, the ship's crystal supply decreases to 25 or less units, the shields will automatically be turned off, allowing the remaining crys- tal to be used for propulsion. <ALT-T> - "TRADE" Pressing the <ALT> and <T> keys simultaneously WHILE THE SHIP IS DOCKED ONLY will cause the Trade screen to overlay the command screen. Here you will be offered the opportunity to purchase crystal and torpedoes at a rate and quantity deter- mine by local supply and demand. You will not be granted credit while attempting to make pur- chases using this option. <ALT-W> - "WARP" Pressing the <ALT> and <W> keys simultaneously while opera- ting in any condition other than Docked or Combat will engage the ship's warp drive engines if they are operational. You may then use the numeric keypad to pilot your vessel through space five units at a time. Warp Drive engines are normally used for long range space travel, as opposed to the Impulse Engines which are used for close-in manuevering. Use of the Warp Drive Engines will reduce your crystal by five to twenty-five units per move (or per second, whichever occurs first), depending on the operational status of the engines.