JOAN OF ARC ^^^^^^^^^^^ TYPED BY THE TWINS/DEFCON PLAYING THE GAME YOUR CHARACTER : You are Charles, the Dauphin of France. Your legitimacy as successor to the throne is questioned; the English are sieging Orleans, the key to your entire defence system. You are waiting for a miracle... YOUR AIM : Firstly, you must be crowned King in Rheims with the help of God and Joan of Arc, and then save France by chasing the English out of the Kingdom and by freeing all the french provinces one by one. YOUR MEANS : A map that allows the player to determine his/her policies, and to chart conquest and losses. The various political powers (to be selected via the fleur-de-lys on the map), which can be used by a king and which can only be accessed once you have been proclaimed king. You can also count on the presence of Joan of Arc at your side. Isn't that a sign from God, that a country girl guides the actions of your armies? Will the kingdom of France finally led to peace? But watch out! As she herself said during a private meeting, her position amongst the nobles of the kingdom is very precarious; she has too many enemies. So, use her to your best advantage and for the greater glory of your kingdom. THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME The adventure begins on 1st May 1429. You have an army for which you had to scrape the bottom of your coffers. You have put Joan of Arc at the head of this army with the aim of freeing Orleans and then leading you to the Champagne province and Rheims for your coronation. You will then be granted the political powers of a legitimate King of France which are: 1. Diplomacy 2. Espionage 3. Helping Hand 4. The Royal Treasury 5. Royal Justice 6. Raising of the royal army 7. Starting a campaign 1. DIPLOMACY Procedure used to establish relations with enemies in order to reach an agreement. Select the opponent, the subject and the town for the negotiations by positioning the cursor on the name chosen. To select the two ambassadors, the English hostages in France or the french prisoners in England, consult the CHARACTERS table. To exchange a French town occupied by the English for a certain sum of money, select the province of the town chosen on the map and then select the town. Use your royal SEAL to validate the message, but be careful, it will then no longer be possible to rectify the said message. You can, however, delete it and start again. Wait for the results of the negotiations. If an agreement is reached, use your SEAL to ratify it. If money must be paid in either direction, it is automatically paid into or taken from the Royal Treasury. The various types of negotiations possible are: CEASEFIRE temporary suspension of any hostile act. PEACE ending of a conflict between two states. ALLIANCE union contracted between two states. FREEING of a french character or a town occupied by the English agaist payment of a sum of money. LIBERATION of an English charater against payment of a sum of money. WARNINGS Choose your ambassadors carefully from the characters at your disposal. Too many failures may lead to very bad results, such as the uncontrollable reaction of your people and vassals. Or worse still: your ambassadors may be taken captive by your wiley opponent. Do not underestimate diplomacy despite its apparent complexity; It can help to make a gradual progress in your policy. 2.ESPIONAGE : Intelligence mission in enemy provinces. 3.HELPING HAND : An action, the aim of which to make your policy advance in subtle and often decisive way. For These Two Options: Select the spy or right hand ma, the premium and the mission by placing the cursor on the name or the sum chosen. The spy profession is one of high risk and it is strongly recommended that you preserve the life of your agents as far as possible by paying them handsomely, within the limits of your finances, of course. Otherwise, you will see the numbers of candidates diminish. Use your royal SEAL to validate the mission, but be careful- it will then no longer be possible to rectify the said mission. The various missions possible : ESPIONAGE: Information on... -The garrison in the town, for example before starting a military campaign (to be selected on the map). -The situation of an enemy army toY! COMBAT TWO Similar to Combat one only it simulates full "SPACE SNAKES" in both size and other subtle variations. As Space Snakes are by far the most common of the various enemies you are likely to meet, you will find this a most useful game. If you are to survive eve the simplest mission it is essen- tial that you develop a technique for despatching these deceptively dan- gerous creatures. COMBAT THREE The latest and most sophisticated of the "COMBAT" series. This game e- mulates practically every alien type you will ever meet and this variety makes it perhaps the most interesting game in the series. The only thing missing seems to be bonuses, but as always, you pay for what you get and the "COMBAT" series are free! "DISASTEROIDS" A faithful recreation of that all time classic of video entertainment "SPACE PONG" (or something like that). This is the latest addition to NEST51's simulator room and the most puzzling as it appears to bear no relation to any part of a typical mission, yet it has been give a high realism rating. (Maybe the COUNCIL know something we don't). Gameplay is simple and needs no explanation, so we won't bother (try it!). SPACE SIM The first "true simulation", SPACE SIM includes much more attention to detail than previous games. Features include bonuses, background scenery, improved ship control and hyperspace beacons. Fly into the beacons for a mystery bonus! PLANET SIM (Listen to this guys and girls: Only on AMIGA VERSION-Ed.) Planet Sim provides the player with a chance to experience the exhila- ration of flying low over the surface of a planet. Gameplay involves shooting a required number of small, innocent aircraft. An interesting feature is the novel way in which aircraft defend themselves. This invol- ves leaving a trail of small explosive devices set to explode one second after launching. This simple technique is surprisingly effective, making lost planets very dangerous places to visit and is, in fact, the main reason why this simulator was developed. It is therefore recommended that all pirates gain at least a few hours experience with this simulator before visiting ANY planets. SPACETRUCK SIM This one is absolutely vital and is best played before going out on each mission. The player is given the chance to attack and dock with an ex- tremely realistic simulation of a spacetruck. The simulator will increase in difficulty as you progress to bigger missions. Here the traditional "GRIDSCROLL" backdrop of most simulators is dispen- sed with in favour of the inky blackness of space. There are several ways to disable a spacetruck. For instance, in the case of a class A ship it's simply a case of shooting at the moving parts until the shields are drai- ned and docking can take place.  3. NOW WHAT?  Your objective is very simple but far from easy: to become a successful (that means rich), and preferable not dead, COSMIC PIRATE. This will in- volve developing a number of skills - already practised on the simulators - which will test both your strategic and joystick wielding powers. Money is earned by taking on "missions", which means attacking innocent space trucks and selling their cargoes. MISSIONS Inthe game, a mission is a piece of information concerning the where- abouts of a particular spacetruck, together with details of it's size, cargo etc. As NEST51 is a business, this information must be paid for li- ke anything else and the price is 1000 units x size of ship - thus, an A class mission will cost 1000 units and a Z class will cost 26.000 units. Your eligibity for a particular mission is decided by the Council and their decision is final. The calculations made in order to reach this de- cision are complex but they are based entirely on your Piracy Statistics. Remember, never let your shooting accuracy fall below 30%; if it does, no missions will be given (it's back to the simulators). The Council like a better than even chance and will not tolerate amateurs. If your bank account goes into the red you are i BIG TROUBLE. You will be permitted to carry on trading but not to makepurchases. Also a big reward will be offered for your capture, so expect a few bounty hunters to show interest (and they mean business). A "TYPICAL" MISSION (Or how to be a COSMIC PIRATE in ten easy steps) 1. LAUNCH FROM NEST51 (after paying your bill of course!). 2. ENTER HYPERSPACE (this is automatic). 3. EMERGE FROM HYPERSPACE IN CORRECT GALAXY AND SECTOR. 4. FIND A HYPERSPACE BEACON AND PAY TOLL (KILL ENOUGH ALIENS). 5. USE COSMIC SECTOR MAP TO CHOOSE NEW SUB-SECTOR DESTINATION. 6. EMERGE FROM HYPERSPACE AT YOUR CHOSEN DESTINATION 7. IF SPACE TRUCK IS NOT PRESENT HERE THEN GO BACK TO 4. 8. FIND SPACETRUCK AD DISABLE IT (easier said than done!). 9. DOCK WITH TRUCK AND RE-ENTER HYPERSPACE, DESTINATION NEST51. 10.MISSION COMPLETE. THE COUNCIL TAKE 90-99% OF YOUR PROFITS. A LITTLE KEYMAP FIREBUTTON: tap for bullet hold for smart bomb SPACEBAR on computer = pause ESC key on computer = quit game HYPERSPACE BEACONS Each sub-sector of the galaxy contains a hyperspace beacon which is the only way to reach another sub-sector. The beacon can be found by flying toward the cursor which is on the screen at all times (in this case shaped like a cross with a "T" in the centre). The cursor gives you an idea of the distance and direction of the beacon and it will move toward the centre of the screen as you approach. The gravitional pull of a beacon attracts all manner of space debris including aste- roids and old wrecked spaceships which are harmless and serve as an indicator that you are approaching the beacon. The beacon is activated by flying into its centre. If there is no toll or you have killed the required number of aliensthen you will enter hyperspace. If not, the amount of the toll will flash on screen and your score must reach this number before you will be allowed to leave. As you enter hyperspace the toll will be deducted from your score and 25% of your ship's damage will be repaired (only on toll beacons). If your score is greater than the toll thenyou get to keep the rest which will go towards your next toll. If you have any score at the end of the mis- sion then this is converted into cash - tax free! THE SECTOR MAP Each time you enter hyperspace beacon you will be presented with a sector map. A sector is divided into a matrix of 12 x 9 sub-sectors and this makes up the map. Each sub-sector on the map is colour coded from black through blue to bright orange. These colours represent alien activity in that sub-sector and translate to a toll demanded by the hy- perspace beacon (bright orange represents a toll of 7000, black means no toll). Your position on the map is represented by a flashing skull and cross- bones icon. At this point you may choose your destination by pushin up, down, left or right on the joystick. Other icons on the map repre- sents planets, spacetrucks, and other pirates (same icon, not flashing). Your ultimate destination is always the sector containing the fish- shaped spacetruck icon but you are free to take any route you wish (the easiest route is rarely the shortest). You may for example wish to vi- sit a planet to pick up some extra cash or you may decide to rid the whole sector of aliens. Once a sub-sector has been cleared of aliens it may be visited again and no toll will be charged at the hyperspace beacon. If you move into a sub-sector containing another Pirate or visa versa then according to the rules of piracy, you must fight it out. This means a duel to the death in a mysterious area of nothingness between hyperspace and real space. If your bank account ever falls below zero then a reward will be offered for the recovery of your ship which will attract other pirates who always attack in groups. So long as you stay in the black, however, you are unlikely to be attacked. ALIENS Throughout the game you will be relentlessly attacked by a large va- riety of aliens in all shapes and sizes. Points are awarded for each one killed depending on size, difficulty, number of shots needed etc. Rather than attempting to describe all the aliens we suggest you try the simulators and see for yourself. Use your scanner to watch for ap- proaching aliens and be ready for them, it's possible to shoot them before they appear on screen. Aliens killed in order to pay a toll are called "NECESSARY KILLS", once you have the toll, any further kills are "UNNECESSARY KILLS". These are worth twice as much when counted toward your PIRACY STATUS. BONUS OBJECTS Sometimes, when an alien is killed it will leave behind small "bonus" objects and theese should be collected by flying into them. If a bonus is not collected or destroyed it will, after a few seconds, turn into a homing missile which is very fast, can't be out run and is extremely dificult to shoot. The bonuses are colour coded and each colour will have a different effect on your ship. COLOUR EFFECT YELLOW..............Adds 50 points to score. WHITE...............Adds one "SMART BOMB". GREEN...............Increases shield. RED.................Kills all aliens and bonuses on scanner. BL