I. INTRODUCTION Federation of Free Traders (FOFT) is a space simulation developed over a period of 24 months by Paul Blythe for Gremlin Graphics. Featuring filled 3D graphics, professionally composed music and excellent graphics. The game includes over 8 million planets to visit in a play area approximately 10^34 metres across (18 trillion light years*). With variable weapons systems, a real shipboard computer with its own basic-like language, navigation systems, a sophisticated communication system that lets you talk with other ships, trading and fighting missions. FOFT is the nearest thing to real space flight on a home computer. (* E.g. our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 100,000 light years wide and 15,000 light years thick and contains about 200,000,000,000 stars). II. HISTORY OF THE FEDERATION GENERAL HISTORY Just after the end of the twentieth century, research into fusion power accidentally led to the discovery of the Lambert faster-than-light drive, and colonisation of the universe began. Soaring unemployment, chronic pollution, and rising crime on Terra led to vast numbers of emigrants leaving for the stars was turned into a flood when the governments of several countries found that financing one way trips to the stars was an excellent way to solve their over population problems. The new colonies relied very heavily on Terra for all the items they could not produce themselves, and the Colonial Transport Service was inaugurated to carry the vast amounts of cargo between the colonies (and to carry the payment for the aforementioned cargo back to Terra). Originally the convoys of freigh- ters were completely unprotected and piracy unheard of, but colonising a new planet is a hard life and as some of the colonists began to get tired of scraping a living on an alien world, they turned to crime. The unprotected freighters began to mysteriously disappear on routine missions. Space piracy was born. Scout ships, originally used to survey potential colony planets, were hastily converted to police ships and used to escort the freight convoys. Terra was now paying the price for its rapid colonisation programme; the area the newly formed space cops had to police was vast and hence. The space fleet had to be vast, and hugely expensive. The expense was so great that is soon became impossible for Terra to cover the costs of the space cops and freighters and planetary bankruptcy looked a certainty. In a last desperate attempt to prevent a collapse of the Terran economy, Terra severed all ties with the colonies. The space cops were disbanded, their ships sold off, and Terra gradually re- covered, but the colonies were desperate. Any object sold from Terra soon had a value on the colonies so great the private citizens began to take the risk and fly unprotected to the colonies. And for a time the colonies scraped by on the cargo from these free traders, although the pirates still took their share of any unwary traveller. The most succesful of the free traders became very rich and began to hire pilots to take the risks for them. In 2079 Simon MacPherson, one of the richest free traders on Terra, flew his heavily armoured spacecraft to the pirate base of the most notorious pirate in the galaxy - Laserbaiter! MacPherson persuaded Laserbaiter to join him and fly protection for his convoy of free traders. So successful was he at the job, that soon free traders from all over the galaxy tagged on to his convoys for the protection he provided. As the size of the convoys grew, Laserbaiter had to employ extra pilots to guard them an this led to the birth of the Federation of Free Traiders. The Federation is a collection of individuals tied together by use of the Galnet. All the pilots receive their orders over the net and report on completion the same way, they are even paid over the net. The Federation has no uniform, but anyone over the rank of cadet can wear the Federation crest. Cadets wear an ID card so that any qualified pilots they meet will keep an eye on them. Although the individual pilots have a great degree of freedom, there is a rigidly enforced rank structure which affects the missions a pilot is given. The highly paid jobs go to the high ranks, and the cadets get what is left. The rank structure is shown below:- Cadet Chief Initiate Commander Rookie Wing Commander Pilot Admiral There will only be one Admiral at any one time and he is the ultimate head of the Federation. At the present time Laserbaiter is the Admiral and the last three Wing Commanders who challenged for his position have vanished mysterious- ly. Promotion is handled automatically. Head office monitors your progress via the net and will review your performance at the completion of each mission. If they consider you have earned a promotion, you will be notified over the net when you receive your next mission. The new mission will be one commensurate to your new rank. To be recruited to the Federation of Free Traders, all you require is a ship fitted with a laser and a stardrive. Once recruited you need lightning reflexes, an ice cool mind and an ability to trade in some of the most dange- rous markets in the known universe, if you are to survive. Young recruits are given low risk tasks such as delivering packages to distant planets, or escorting freighters in the more civilised areas of the universe, but, since the jobs are low risk, they are also badly paid jobs. To progress in the Federation the young pilot must use this time to trade in the goods on the planets that he visits and build up his capital for the difficult times ahead. As the new cadet progresses, it is vital that he spends some of his hard earned capital on enhanchements to his ship. It is no good being rich when you still have shields that crumble at the first laser hit. III. CHAPTER 1. STORY When you were five, a tragic computer failure caused the destruction of a space station on which your father worked. Although your memories of your father are very distant, you still have a few of his things to remember him by. One of the items you have treasured is his old Hartley MkII, one of the oldest starships still in service and as soon as you were old enough, you learnt to fly and took the old beast for joy rides around the solar system of your home world. Now the time for joy rider is over. This morning you received your papers and you are now a member of the Federation. Taking the earliest shuttle, you soon arrive at your ships berth in space station N3 and take stock of your belongings. Although old, the MkII is equipped with type 3 ion drives that will make .5C in real space, and produce enough energy for a 50 light year jump in hyperspace. She also carries 2 type 1 lasers firing foreward and four hard points, for the mounting of additional weapons. Cursing your lack of funds to buy these 'additional weapons' you turn to the ships defences. The type 1 shield genera- tors will melt even under moderate fire and since the hull is not armoured that will mean a fast evacuation or an even faster death in the vacuum of space. Vowing to upgrade your shield as soon as possible, you board your ship to inspect the bridge. The familiar cockpit layout cheers you a little as you seat yourself in the pilot's chair. With expert ease you run your fingers over the controls and the panel springs to life. The 472 series Fedcomp springs to life to your left. Although as old as old as the rest of the ship, the 472 series are excellent computers and ED1 will serve you well, handling all the communi- cations necessary for space flight and providing entertainment for your quieter moments. To the far left is fitted the passive warning radar, a warning device that will tell you that the navigation computer and the damage control system. Quickly you check over the systems and find that your three repair droids have been busy and the ship is in top condition. The pre-flight checks complete, you turn to the glowing screen of your radar. Although useless while inside the space station, this is your primary flight system, if damaged the ship is virtually blind, but the radar checks out O.K. and you are ready for launch. Turning to EDI, you decide to check for any messages on the Galnet. The Galnet is the nervous system of the universe, it provides instant communication with any point in the known universe through a network of specially trained tele- paths. It is through the net that you will receive all your missions from Federation Headquarters, and also do all your trading. All commerce is regulated by the Office of Interstellar Trading and has to pass through their warehouses where hundreds of robots scuttle about loading and unloading craft of all shapes and sizes. The OIT charges a flat 1% handling charge on all trandsactions, but this is a small price to pay for the convenience of automated goods handling. EDI has one message for you, so you hit the display key. To your surprise it is not another unpaid bill or tax demand, it is a personall message. Eagerly you scan the screen. "You don't know me, but I was a friend of your fathers, and ever since the accident I have kept my eye on you. Now I hear you have become a Free Trader. Your Dad's old ship will serve you well if you look after it and treat it right, but a ships only as good as the Pilot so keep your shields up and your lasers hot, boy. As I remember it, that old rust bucket could do with a bit of work, and no doubt you blew the last your creds in the bar last night, so I've taken the liberty of dropping a little something in your bank account to help you along. Make good use of it. L.B." As you watch, the message fades from all your efforts, the file is lost. Wondering who the mysterious L.B. is, you use the net to check on your bank balance and wonder turns to amazement when the screen shows 150 credits at your disposal. Whoever this L.B. is he isn't short of money. Filled with excitement, you key up the space chandlers section of the net and check whats in stock. The full range of missiles, lasers, fusion guns, space drives and shields spring up on the screen but most are well out of your price range. Selecting a pair of class 1 missiles from the display takes care of 80 of your new found credits but greatly increases the strike capability of your ship. After spending 10 more credits on the hydrogen fuel for your ion drive, return to EDI's communi- cation circuits. Keying in 'FOFT' at the transmit message prompt you wait patiently as the Federation central computer searches its records and reviews your past record. Then you find yourself staring at the screen in bewilderment. It's arrived. The orders for your first mission are on the screen. RENDEZVOUS WITH CONVOY AT SYSTEM 273.12 DEFTEST AND ESCORT TO SYSTEM 273.22 GREFTER An escort job! Your first mission is to escort a convoy between two solar systems. The hardened space veterans would call it a milk run but to you it's your first real challenge. Looking back to the message you carefully copy the co-ordinates onto your flight log and move to the navigation computer to decode them. The first three digits (273) designate the galaxy. As is usual with all cadets you are operating in your own galaxy for the time being. The next two digits designate the solar system within the galaxy, a quick dash to the nav comp soon finds 273.12, 25 light years away, one jump. Tapping the decode button on the panel forces the nav comp to search its records and soon all the information available is displayed on the screen. Since the system is only one jump away, amoment later the course is locked and you prepare to launch on your first mission for the Federation. Pre-flight checks completed, you issue the order to launch and sit back while the huge space doors slide apart revealing the inky blackness of deep space. A short blast on the main motors is enough to jet your ship out of the space station and into orbit. You pull right on the joystick and eagerly the ship complies by rolling about its axis. When the planet is directly beneath you, you ease off the stick to stop the rotation and then pull back to rotate up the throttle and the planet slips away. 20 secs out you rendezvous with the convoy you are to escort. Three class 1 light transports and an eagle. A quick check on radar shows the area is clear of all other traffic, but you can never be too careful so you decide to check out your weapons systems. Arming your primary weapons system, always lasers, shows that the storage capa- citors; when you are empty your lasers are useless. Thankfully some of the energy from your ion drives is continually being diverted into the capacitors so a short wait will return the lasers to full power. Satisfied with the condition of your lasers, you turn to your secondary weaponry, the two missiles you purchased earlier. The familiar circle appears in the centre of the screen and a message confirming that both your missiles are aboard. Once armed any craft in range that passes through the circle on your screen is locked into the missile targeting system. A box will appear on the screen showing his position. Get him in the centre of the screen and a shoot prompt will appear. From then on a single press of the trigger will un- leash one of your missiles on a deadly mission of destruction. To complete this mission, though, the missile will have to fight its way through the maze of electronic defences automatically deployed by the target spacecraft. Misses are common with the cheaper missiles. Suddenly the raucous sound of the defence siren cuts through the silence of space. A glance at the passive warning radar indicates a single unidentified target painting your craft with targetting radar, the dot on the screen shows it to be up in volume, from your position so you haul back on the stick and roll her round till you're head on to him. At this range it's hard to tell what sort of craft you're up against and a missile lock is impossible so you stamp on the throttle and watch your speed build up. Any lingering doubts as to the intentions of the unknown craft vanish as a bolt of laser fire crashes against your shield. Nervously you eye your shield level indicators as the sky around you is lit up by laser fire; from the damage you're taking he must have type 3 lasers at least. You begin a series of roll manoeuvres in an attempt to dodge some of the incoming fire but your left shield is getting dangerously low. For a moment you toy with the idea of switching back to your own lasers and firing back but the range is closing fast and at last you can ID the target. It's an Asp. The Asp is a small, fast highly manoeuvrable strike craft bound to have good shielsd. By the time your lasers have smashed their way through his shields, you will be a molten lump of space debris. Gritting your teeth, you hang on and wait for a missile lock, laser fire is still coming in but your opponent was too cocky, his capacitors are low and his fire rate is dropping fast. At last you slap the sights on him and are greeted with a missile lock. Levelling out, you bring him into a firing position and press the fire button. The ship shakes a little as the missile is blown away from your wing and streaks off into the distance. For a few heart stopping moments, you watch the missile veer off course as the ECM systems on the Asp begin to attack the missiles guidance systems. Suddenly your ship screams out in torment as the left shield gives way. Hauling the stick hard up and left you start a wide, spiralling roll in an attempt to avoid the incoming fire but relentlessly it follows you. Hit after hit is getting through now and despe- rately you throw your craft around space. Just when you think your time has come, the fire stops. Dragging your battered ship around you arrive in time to see the last of the Asp spinning to destruction. Your missile got him. It's your first kill. The time has come to see what damage he has done to you, so you key up the damage control computer and look down the list. 20% damage to your hold is not serious on this trip as you are not carrying any cargo but the 40% damage done to your ion drive is quite serious. You quickly allocate all three of your re- pair droids onto the task of repairing your drive which gives a repair time of some 13 centihours; not a good situation but it could have been worse. Leaving the repair droids to continue their jobs, you return to the station by the convoy and prepare for the trip through hyperspace. A final check on your destination and you apply full power to the field generators; within a few seconds your ship accelerates to within a few percent of the speed of light, planets whizz by and even the stars move visibly as you approach the impossi- bility of faster than light travel. At ninety nine percent of the speed of light a hole opens up in the fabric of space time and like a bullet your ship flies through into the colourful world of hyperspace. The mighty hyperspace generators then bend the fabric of space time so that your destination is only a few million million kilometres away and at your current speed, that is only a few seconds flight. Once their job is completed, the generators shut down and your ship drops back into real space. It takes you a few seconds to reorientate yourself, but a quick glance shows you have arrived at the correct solar system and the convoy is with you. The beacon on your target planet has been picked up by your guidance systems and a symbol has appeared in the bottom left hand corner of your screen indicating its relative position. Following on the top of your panel are shining pure green, indicating that there are no hostile forces in your immediate area, although a quick check on the radar indicates several at long range, so you give a quick pulse of power to the field generators. This has the effect of accelerating your craft to speeds very close to the speed of light for an instant. The field generators will not work if hostile forces are nearby. If an energy weapon hits the field generator when it is running, the result will be a rift in the fabric of space time large enough to destroy an entire solar system, so all field generators are fitted with a failsafe preventing use when under fire. The manufacturers were also requested to make it impossible to pulse the generator in the vicinity of space stations to prevent collisions. Using the pulsed field generators in this way you are soon within a short distance of the space station which is your destination. The ship's guidance system picks up the space traffic control computer's signals and so you engage the docking computer and sit back to watch the show,your first mission is over! IV CHAPTER 2. GUIDE TO F.O.F.T. Check other text-file named "F.O.F.T. instructions II". V HINTS AND TIPS Build up the amount of credits before taking a mission. This will then enable you to update your ships, weapons, fuel capacity, shields and star drive. About 30,000 credits should be sufficient but, beware this can take some time. If you want to go straight into a mission, ensure you have bought extra fuel. Whilst under attack, it is easier to control your ship if you decrease your speed. Hyperspacing in your own galaxy is a quick way to reach your destination, but remember the distance you travel is relative to your speed. Therefore, if your target planet is close, use the simeskip or hyperspace at a slow speed. Docking can take some time. A tip worth remembering is to turn off the docking computer then turn it on again the ship will dock much quicker. If you have to find a satellite they are always placed beyond the Space Station therefore fly past the Space Station on your radar, you should see the Grey stalk of the satellite, it is normally on its own, keep flying until it comes into view.