1 THE FUNCTION OF THE COMPUTER The computer forms the nerve centre of your ship. It handles messages and mail, it is your contact with Headquarters. It allows you to trade on the open market, re-equip your ship, communicate with other ships and allows you to write programs, using the Simple language, with up to 16K of memory for your entertainment. To activate the computer press F8. At the prompt you need to decide whether you want to trade, re-equip your ship, write a program or contact FOFT Headquarters for your mission. These options are contained within three areas:- Programming pack -EDI Communications Pack -NET General Pack -Ship's Library 2 PROGRAMMING PACK Typing HELP at prompt will give you a list of commands: On the screen will be printed: EDIT NEW FOR THE PROGRAMMING PACK YOU DO NEED SAVE NET AND SHIPS (THESE WILL BE EXPLAINED LATER) LOAD ERASE CAT RUN INIT NET SHIPs Before you start programming you must type NEW. Remember to do this every time you want to write a program. Then type EDIT. You are now ready to begin programming using Simple. The programming pack is only used for programming. It uses the Simple Language. Listed below is a short explanation of the commands. EDIT Access the simple line editor. NEW Clear the current buffer. SAVE Save the current buffer to disk. LOAD Load a buffer from disk. ERASE Remove a file from a disk. CAT List the files on an external disk. RUN Execute current program. INIT Format external disk. 3 THE SIMPLE LINE EDITOR (SLE) SLE is a simple line editor and interpreter for the simple language. The commands definitions are shown the following form Command # (Parameter 1) # (Parameter 2). Any parameter shown in square brackets [] are required parameters and any shown in curved brackets are optional parameters. Any spaces are shown as hash '#' signs. IMPORTANT NOTE: To avoid repeated syntax errors do not use spaces that are not required. SLE Commands Position Commands U[n] Moves the current line up the buffer N lines. D[n] Moves the current line down the buffen N lines. G[n] Go to line number N. 4 EDIT COMMANDS I Inserts a line after the current line. R Replaces the current line. With the two commands above, immediately after pressing RETURN the editor will prompt with the line number of the line to be changed and will wait for the new line to be entered. This editor will then check the format of the new line and, if the line is legal will then modify the buffer accordingly. If the line is illegal, an error message will be displayed and the buffer left unmodified. - Delete the current line. L[n] Label the current line as label N. The label command is used with the Simple jump and call commands. You can label a line at any time, but the editor does not require lines to be labelled before you can enter jump or call commands. c[n] insert comment number n at the current line. The comment command allows you to add comments that will be ignored at runtime but appear in all listings. After pressing return, you should type in one line of text as your comment. If you want to use a label at another place in the buffer, press return twice and the comment will appear at both positions. Valid values for N are 0 to 9. 5 OUTPUT COMMANDS S#(N1)#(N2) Display the current buffer on the screen. P#(N1)#(N2) Display the current buffer on the printer. The two optional parameter N1 and N2 are the start and the end line of the block in the buffer that are to be displayed. 6 OTHER COMMANDS e..Exit the SLE level. This command returns you to the SCLI level, leaving the current buffer in the temporary store ready for use. 7 THE SIMPLE LANGUAGE Below is a list of the simple instructions in the following format. The first line of the description gives the name of the command, below is a brief de- scription of what the command does. This is followed by the syntax of the statement and a brief example of its uses. The syntax of the statement is shown in the following form:- STATEMENT {field One Parameters} {field Two Parameters} Field parameters are; imm immediate data num immediate numerical data str immediate string data var variable name # access current array element ;num string number Valid string numbers are ;0 to ;9 and strings are 16 characters long. Valid variable names are 'a' to 'z' and variables are 16 bit signed integers. The array is of size 20 by 16 elements. ADD Purpose Arithmetic addition of field two to field one. Syntax ADD {var} {var,imm,#} Example ADD A 1 - add 1 to variable A ADD B # - add the contents of the current array element to variable B. AND Purpose Logical AND of field two to field one Syntax AND {var} {var,imm} Example AND A 255 and variable A by 255 BEEP Purpose start one of the system sound effects Syntax BEEP {var,imm} Example BEEP 1 start sound effect 1 BEEP A start sound effect number A Valid sound effects are numbers 0 to 14. CALL Purpose start execution of subroutine Syntax CALL {label} Example CALL L1 start subroutine at label 1 CHAR Purpose Print the specified ASCII character at the current cursor position. Syntax CHAR {var,imm} Example CHAR 65 - print 'A' at the current cursor position CLR Purpose Clear the screen and home the cursor Syntax CLR Example CLR CRT Purpose Print the value of field one at the current cursor position. Syntax CRT {var,imm,;num} Example CRT 1 - Print '0001' at the current cursor position. CRT A - Print the value of variable A CRT ;1 - Print previously defined string DIV Purpose Divide the field one by field two Syntax DIV {var} {var,imm,#} Example DIV A 16 divide A by 16 DIV A B divide A by B DIV A # divide A by the value in the current array element. DRAW Purpose Draw a line from the last point plotted to the field one, field two [x, y] Syntax DRAW {var,imm} {var,imm} Example DRAW A B draw line to A, B ENDCALL Purpose End the current subroutine and return to main programme. Syntax ENDCALL Example ENDCALL ENDIF Purpose End all currently active tests Syntax ENDIF Example ENDIF ENDPROG Purpose End the current simple programme and return control to the SCLI level. Syntax ENDPROG Example ENDPROG EQU Purpose Execute the following block of code if the result of the last test instruction was equal to zero. Syntax EQU Example EQU GT Purpose Execute the following block of code if the result of the last test instruction was greater than zero. Syntax GT Example GT JUMP Purpose Transfer programme control to the labelled point in the programme. Syntax JUMP {label} Example JUMP L1 KEY Purpose Scan the keyboard and return the Atari keynumber of the key pressed Syntax KEY {var} Example KEY A LET Purpose Assign value to a variable Syntax LET {var,#} {imm,var,#} Example LET A 200 assign value 200 to variable A LET # 200 assign value 200 to current array element LPRINT Purpose Output to printer Syntax LPRINT {;str,var,imm} Example LPRINT A output the previously defined string number 1 to printer. LT Purpose Execute the following block of code if the result of the last test instruction was less than zero. Syntax LT Example LT MOVE Purpose Move the cursor to the defined screen position. Syntax MOVE {imm,var} {var,imm} Example MOVE A B move the cursor to position A,B MOVE 10 10 move the cursor to position 10,10 MUL Purpose Multiply field one by field two and place the result into field one Syntax MUL {var} {var,imm,#} Example MUL A 10 Multiply A by 10 MUL A B Multiply A by B NE Purpose Execute the following block of code if the result of the last test instruction was not equal to zero. Syntax NE Example NE NEWLIN Purpose Move the cursor to the left of the screen and one line further down the screen. Will scroll the screen if necessary. Syntax NEWLIN Example NEWLIN PLOT Purpose Plot the destined point. Syntax PLOT {var,imm} {var,imm} Example PLOT 20 20 plot the poin 20,20 PLOT A B plot the point A,B RND Purpose Generate a random number Syntax RND {var} Example RND A RASTER Purpose Waits for the start of a television frame Syntax RASTER Example RASTER SUB Purpose Subtract the value of field two from field one. Syntax SUB {var} {var,imm,#} Example SUB A 1 subtract one from A SUB A B subrract the value of B from the value of A SETPOS Purpose Set the current array element position. Syntax SETPOS {var,imm} {var,imm} Example SETPOS A B current array element is element A,B SETPOS 10 10 current array element is element 10, 10 SETSTR Purpose Assign a value to a string variable Syntax SETSTR {;num} {str} Example SETSTR ;1 hello there TEST Purpose Test the value of the definited field and store the result for later evaluation. Syntax TEST {var} Example TEST A UNPLOT Purpose Erase the point field one, field two to background colour Syntax UNPLOT {var,imm} {var,imm} Example UNPLOT A B 8 EXAMPLE OF A SIMPLE PROGRAM Example of how to insert a program. gO i 1 CLR i 2 LET a 1 i 3 MOVE b 2 L1 i 4 CHAR 32 i 5 MOVE a 2 i 6 CHAR 175 i 7 RASTER i 8 ADD a 1 i 9 LET b 20 i 10 SUB b a i 11 TEST b i 12 NE i 13 LET b a i 14 SUB b 1 i 15 JUMP L1 i 16 ENDIF i 17 LET a 1 i 18 LET b 19 i 19 JUMP L1 When running the program you can stop at any point by pressing - Control and C simultaneously. 9 COMMUNICATIONS PACK The Galnet is the central communications network used by all space-faring nations. It allows instantaneous communication over vast distances by use of specially trained telepaths. To log onto the network, type NET (Return). You will be greeted by the NETs title page and a request for identification. Enter you ID number if you have one. If this is your first mission by typing help followed by your name an ID number will be issued. Make a note of this number and use it when requested. In the event of forgetting your ID number type HELP followed by your name to recall your ID number. The Galnet recognices the following commands:- H HELP Displays the available commands. E ENTER Enter the trading sublevel. T TRANSMIT Transmit a message. P PRINT Print any mail pending. R READ Read any general messages. I INVENTORY Display the ship's manifest. Q QUIT Drop the line and return to SCLI. 10 TRADING USING NET The main function of trading is to earn extra credits, to re-equip your ship. The commercial level of the net is available by typing E at the net command level. Once in, you will be shown a series of menus. Pressing the indicated keys will take you to various sub menus until you arrive at the item you are interested in. Watch the stock level carefully, if people are selling then the stock level will rise and the price fall. Careful timing is necessary to get the best deal from the market. Once you have made your purchase the funds are automatically withdrawn from your account, and the goods loaded into your hold. 11 BLACK MARKET TRADING The other option for trading is to trade on the black market. You can only trade on the black market when in space. Select communication mode by pressing F1 then fly around until a ship passes across the water line symbol on your head-up display. If you do this correctly a number will appear on the left hand side of your screen. Do not bother to write this number down as the ship's computer has logged this number for you. Enter the net as usual then press "T" to transmit a message. At the prompt "User to Transmit Too" just press RETURN. You should be greeted with "Direct Connection Made", but you may get other responses if the ship is not in a taklative mood. Engage the ship in idle chatter for a while then mention trading. If you are lucky he may be carrying items not normally available at space stations suck as class 4 missiles, but take care; not all aliens have high moral standards, and you may find yourself lumbered with rubbish. If you decide to buy something then feel free to haggle over the price. One point worth noting - any goods bought on the Black Market cannot be sold in Space Stations or on a planet. To finish communication type LOGOFF. Then return. 12 RE-EQUIP YOUR SHIP To re-equip your ship you must also use the Net. Equipment is grouped into three basic levels:- 1. Weapons. 2. Engineering. 3. General. Your ship is capable of carrying three weapons systems, named Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. The primary system is always lasers but you have the option of five different types of lasers for your ship. The better the lasers are, the fater they recharge after use and the more damage they do when a hit is scored (see Weapons Statistics(i)). The secondary and tertiary systems are a matter of taste. You begin with two missiles as your secondary system and no tertiary system, but any system can be replaced at will. When you purchase a new weapons system you will be given the option of replacing the Secondary or Tertiary system. If you replace an existing system, the old one will be removed and you will be credited with the value of the old system, less 10% business tax, 1% handling charge, 5% de- preciation and 24% workshop charges. Please note, the weapon control system will not allow two similar systems to be fitted at the same time. You can also buy new drives and shields providing you have enough credits, obviously the better you buy the more effective they are (see drive charge-ii). It is advisable that if you buy a Class 5 star drive, you also buy the bigger fuel tanks, which will enable you to travel greater distances. (i) _______________________________________________________________________________ Weapons Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Statistics Hit/Shot Hit/Shot Hit/Shot Hit/Shot Hit/Shot Comments ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Lasers x2 2 4 6 8 10 Rapid fire ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Gauss x4 4 8 12 Rapid fire ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Fusion x32 32 64 96 Difficult to use ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Plasma x16 16 32 48 64 Slow Fire Rate ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Missile 50 100 150 Expensive ------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+ Drones 50 100 150 Very Expensive _______________________________________________________________________________ Drones are the top weapon system. Once you own a drone it can be fired at any stage. The drone will wait until your ship is threatened then automatically flies towards the hostiles and destroys them. (ii) _______________________________________________________________________________ Drive Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 ------------+------------+-----------+------------+------------+--------------+ Max Max Max Max Max Speed Jump Speed Jump Speed Jump Speed Jump Speed Jump ------------+------+-----+------+----+------+-----+------+-----+------+-------+ 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 Plant 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 GENERAL PACK The general pack is used to access the ship's library. The library can be called from the opening screen of the computer by typing SHIPS. You are given a visual display of various common craft. It is useful to familiarise yourself with certain ctaft so that you can identify their various strengths and weaknesses when in Combat with them. 14 COMPUTER SUMMARY The computer forms the centre of the game, so it's worth spending time to get a good understanding of exactly what it can do. Points worth remembering are: (a) You can only trade on the open market whilst docked or on a planet. (b) Programming can be done at any time although we advise the best time is in a space station - the reason being that your ship is vulnerable whilst in flight, and if you are programming, you may not be aware of events happen- ing around you. 15 FOFT MISSIONS To find your first mission enter the net and press T - To transmit. Follow the message and at the prompt type - FOFT, then press return to display your mission. It is advisable to make a note of your mission as this is the only time it is printed on screen. See Navigation for course setting. 16 NAVIGATION Once you have received your mission from FOFT Headquarters, you disengage the computer - pressing Q to take you out of NET. Then type Quit to leave the main computer. You are now back at the bow doors. Press F6 to activate the navigation computer. You will now see a view of the spiral galaxy. If you have a mission to perform, a route will have been high- lighted for you by your ship's system. Try moving the joystick - you will see that the view of the galaxy is three-dimensional and you can adjust your position. To reset back to your target system press L. Pressing the HELP key zooms in on the galaxy and pressing DELETE zooms out. To lock onto a course, press RETURN. If you cannot lock a course, look at the distance between you and your target. Either you do not have enough fuel or your engines are not capable of such a big jump. You can trade on the net to earn more money for fuel or to buy a bigger engine. If you do not have enough money, cut your journey into smaller stages. Use the arrow keys to move the white cross hair on the galaxy display to another system. When you have locked onto a system press Space to return to hangar doors. Press Backspace to open the doors. Finally, press H to enter Hyperspace. You can, however, leave the space station without hyperspacing if you wish to fly around in space for a while. 17 NAVIGATION LIBRARY LEVEL Once a system has been selected, indicated by the white cross-hair, you can download solar information on it by pressing D. The diagram displays the orbits and relative positions of the planets in the current system. The planet which supports life is indicated by the flashing ring. This is your target planet. Government level indicates how much personal freedom an individual has on the main planet. At level 0 there is total anarchy and at level 15 virtually no personal choice. In between you pass through democracies, balkanisations, bureaucracies, oligarchies and dictatorships. Law level is slightly different from Government level in that law level only relates to weapons. A planet with a law level of 0 allows free ownership of weapons and a planet with a high level has heavy restrictions on weapon owner- ship. The Tech Index, is measure of how technologically advanced the planet is. A low tech level indicates a poor level of technical knowledge. For example, inter- planetary flight becomes available at tech level 7 and matter transportation at level 16. To return to the main navigation level press 'SPACE'. 18 SHORT RANGE SCAN Pressing 'S' from the main navigation level will display a short range scan of your current solar system. This shows the relative position fo the planets only. To return to the main navigation level press 'SPACE'. 19 SPACE FLIGHT - SHIP CONTROL Upon leaving the space station your ship is controlled using the joystick. Push Forward - Tilt down Pull Back - Tilt up Left - Rotate left Right - Ratate right The control of your ship will take some practice due to the inertia effect of space. To Increase your speed - Control To Decrease your speed - Alternate 20 TIME SKIP To reduce the travelling time you are able to skip time. This is achieved by pressing J. You can only use this when there are no hostile aliens in your present zone or a space station. The distance skipped is relevant to the speed you are flying at. The second option to reduce travelling time is to Hyperspace within your own system. To do this: Enter navigational computer - F6 Align the white cross-hair with the red cross-hair and lock your course. Press space to re-enter flight view then press 'H'. To hyperspace in your own solar system you must remember to be at full speed. Extreme care must be exercised to avoid crashing into a planet. Please note the use of hyperspace is not economical on fuel. 21 INTERGALACTIC HYPERSPACE You are able to explore other galaxies by using Intergalactic Hyperspace. By entering a new Galaxy you have new solar systems and planets to explore. You can only Galaxy hop if your engines are powerful enough to make a Jump of 100 light years. Enter navigation computer. Lock a course on any solar system. Press G then a message reads "Galactic Jump locked". Press Space. Then H to to hyperspace. You should now be in a new Galaxy. 22 RADAR The radar appears in the centre of the ship's control panel. The image it displays represents a three dimensional model of the space surrounding you. You are shown as a white spot in the centre of the display. The display shows a 3-dimensional view of the space around you. The "V" re- presents a 3-dimensional view of the area in front of you. Any object which enters the space around your ship appears as a colour coded stalk. If the ship is hostile a siren will sound to warn you of the oncoming danger. If you wish to turn the siren off press F5. The following key should help you identify friend of foe. WHITE - SPACE STATION OR CONVOY MEMBER RED - HOSTILE GREEN - FRIENDLY BLUE - UNKNOWN GREY - SATELLITE If the dot is below the stalk, the object itself is beneath you. If it appears above the stalk, the object is above you. Function keys 9 and 10 control the magnification of the radar. This is indi- cated below the radar the range of 1 - 8. Remember - The only viewing area is the 'V' of the radar, the nearer to the bottom of the 'V' the object is, the closer it is to you. By tilting the ship up and down you will see that the stalk can be reduced in size. Once it becomes a dot you know you're on target. 23 DOCKING AT A SPACE STATION Line up with attitude advisor, which is in the bottom left hand corner of your screen. When the advisor becomes a diamond you know you are on target. By use of time skip or hyperspace you shortly approach the target planet. Approach the target planet. A message will appear on screen "Go to Station for Immigration Control". SET ZOOM FACTOR 1. Align the ship with the space station on the radar, in the "V" of the radar. Once in the line, manoeuvre your ship so that the white stalk of the space station appears as a dot. Manoeuvre the dot down to the bottom of the "V" and wait for the docking atatus light to flash, (see panel layout and panel defi- nitions) then press D and the computer will take over and dock you. 24 LANDING ON A PLANET Planet landings are necessary for better trading prices, or to fulfill a mission. The fastest way to land on a planet is to dock with a space station. Once docked press Backspace to leave the station, and use the alternate key to reduce your speed (shown on the right of your heads-up-display) from 020 to 000. You are now stationary (a negative number means you are in reverse). At the bottom left of your screen is the attitude advisor. The arrow heads show the position of the nearest planet. There should only be one arrow head, point- ing down. Push forwards (UP) on the joystick to tilt the craft's nose down. Shortly you should be facing the planet. The attitude advisor becomes a diamond when you are on course. Increase your speed to 020, then hold down J to time skip - unless enemy craft are present. Watch the attitude advisor in case you have drifted off course. The screen should turn red with heat as you enter the atmosphere of the planet. Use the attitude advisor to line up with the runway and when you are over it, point the nose down into a shallow dive. If everything is safe, the on-board systems will take over and land the ship for you. It takes time to reach a runway. Should you miss it, your best bet is to pull back and leave the planet then re-enter. You can fly either high and safe, or low and dangerously. When you need to shoot something, tap forwards (UP) to briefly dip the nose and move the cursor to the hostile and don't forget to pull up. If at any stage you should want to leave the planet simply pull up and fly out of the atmosphere. 25 ESCAPE POD Your ship is equipped with one escape pod. It can be used as a last resort if you feel your ship is about to be destroyed. To activade press key 1 then press ESC. You will be ejected from your ship, which will then self destruct, and you are automatically transported to the nearest space station, where you will receive a new ship. If you decide after activating the pod, you no longer wish to eject, pressing key 2 will disarm the escape pod. 26 DAMAGE CONTROL DAMAGE CONTROL SYSTEM To repair damage to your ship all that is required is to allocate your repair droids. Enter the damage control level by pressing F7. Engage droid allocation mode by pressing 'RETURN' and select the desired system by moving the box with the left and right arrow keys. When you are at the de- sired system, press '+' on the keypad to allocate a droid and '-' to de- allocate a droid. Careful droid management is essential for your continued existence. 27 KEYBOARD CONTROLS F1 Communication Mode F2 Arm Primary Weapons System F3 Arm Secondary Weapons System F4 Arm Tertiary Weapons System F5 Audible Threat Warning On/Off F6 Navigation Computer F7 Damage Control F8 Ship's Computer F9 Radar Zoom + F10 Radar Zoom - H Engage hyperspace engines, if a course is locked. P Pause J Jump in pulse mode. CTRL Accelerate. ALT Decelerate. BSPC Launch ship from space station or planet. D Engage docking computer. K Sound effects on. 28 MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS FOFT is supplied with a disk of 20 tunes for your enjoyment. To select a tune simply press 'HELP' when in flight mode, and a prompt will ask you to insert the music disk. After you have complied with this request, you select the tune you wish to hear by using the up and down arrows in the keyboard, and pressing return will load in the tune. Once you have loaded in a tune, pressing 'M' will replay the tune without having to reload from disk. If you do not want to listen to music then press 'K' to activate the sound effects. This key also kills the currently active sound effect. 29 LOADING AND SAVING GAMES You cannot save a game whilst either EDI (the ship's computer), the navigation computer on Galnet are selected. We advise the best place to save your game is while docked at the space station. To save a game simply press S and follow the on-screen instructions. To reload, insert saved games disk and press L. If you should have any problems with Federation of Free Traders, feel free to call the FOFT helpline - Telephone Number: 0742 753423.