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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
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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??
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Command Summary
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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!)
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Navigation Calibrator (The protection)
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Planetside
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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... (
geocities.com/timessquare/maze) (
geocities.com/timessquare)