398 lines
17 KiB
Groff
398 lines
17 KiB
Groff
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*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
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(*) (*)
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(*) UNIVERSE II DOCUMENTATION (*)
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(*) (*)
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(*) Brought to you by: (*)
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(*) (*)
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(*) Dr. Fix (*)
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(*) (*)
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*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
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These docs are verbatim from the manual, except where noted. Eight
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asterisks denote chapter titles. A phrase/word that has an asterisk on
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either side or is in all caps in mid-sentence is eithr bold-faced or
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italicized in the documentation. All caps on a single line delineate a
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major subheading in a chapter. "<|" and "|>" brace comments from me.
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Enjoy.
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********INTRODUCTION*********
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THE STORY SO FAR ...
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*History*
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During the latter part of the First Stellar Expansion, is became evident
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that the technology from planets in the Home Cluster could not support
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the ever expanding colonization effort.
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The hyperdrive had opened an era of fast, economical travel between the
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stars. Journeys that used to consume decades could be made in a matter
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of days. However, the hyperdrive was not without its problems. Its
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unrefueled maximum range was a major limitation. After 3 or 4
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hyperjumps, the ship would be completely out of the inhabited regions,
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with nowhere to refuel. Its fuel capacity was also part of thge second
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hinderance: the so-called "Mass Limit." Stated simply, it sets a severe
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limit on the maximum size of a spacecraft that can enter hyperspace.
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Because of these problems, the experts were predicting an end to the
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rapid expansion that had previously characterized Earth's emergence as
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an insterstellar civilization.
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In 2105, a research ship traveling through the far reaches of the Tau
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Ceti starsystem discovered a huge alien artifact. Entie scientific
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communities came to study the artifact and, several years latr, the
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purpose of the great machine was discovered. It was a hyperspace boostr.
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It had the capability to "push" spacecraft not tens but thousands of
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light-years. Since the booster itself did not enter hyperspace, ships up
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to the mass limit could travel a thousand lightyears with minimal
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power.
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Years of research continued. Why had the aliens abandonned the booster?
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Where had they gone? The scientists were unable to say. The booster
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contained a mapping sustem depicting millions of stars, but very few of
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them had recieved any special mention.
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Finally, the control system was deciphered and test flights were made.
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They proved the machine to be fully functional and technician's
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knowledge of the control system, adequate enough to allow regular use.
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The Second Stellar Expansion started.
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You are in a cluster of stars known as the Local Group. It is impossible
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to communicate with Earth because travel using the booster is strictly
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one-way. Up until 40 years ago, small capsules containing the latest
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news and technical examples used to arrive every month from the Home
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Clustedr. Then one day they stopped. There was no indication that there
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was anything wrong in the Home Cluster. The ensuing panic and fear in
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the Local Group nearly destroyed civilization; as it is, the LG has been
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divided into two mutually hostile govenments, set on the brink of war.
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Fortunately, 20 years ago, a second hyperspace booster was discovered at
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the planet Diftalpa, right in the Local Group. The second booster is
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currently being towed to Cetus Amicus, where is will be studied in
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greater detail. It is hoped that in the near future thre wll be two-way
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communication between the Local Group and the Home Cluster ... if the
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Local Group doesn't destroy itself first.
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*Who You Are*
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The Local Group has been divided into two governments, the Federated
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Worlds (FW) and the United Democratic Planets (UDP). Although trade and
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travel continue between the two governments, the situation is
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deteriorating rapidly.
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Almost 8 years ago, you "retired" from the Federated Worlds Special
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Forces (FWSF), an organization whose function is to gather intelligence
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data and perform covert operations within the United Decmocratic
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Planets. Now you carry the personna of a free trader from Vrommus Prime.
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Your cover is quite airtight. Occasionally, the FWSF provides you with
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money and special equipment, but only to send you out on a mission. Not
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all of your crew is even aware that you are anything else but a trader.
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So during your travels and missions, you're ging to have to earn a
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living.
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--------------------------------
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******* GETTING STARTED ********
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--------------------------------
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<| I skipped the game warranty & repair section and the paragraphs
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dealing with how to set up Universe II on your Macintosh, Ibm or
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Zenith. D.F.|>
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HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL
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This manual is broken up into 8 major sections. They are: INTRODUCTION,
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GETTING STARTED, PLAYING UNIVERSE II, FILE CONTROL, FLIGHT, STARPORT,
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DRYDOCK, and APPENDIX.
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*Introduction* contains the background history on which the game is
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based.
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*Getting Started* explains the game warranty and repair policies,<|sorry
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to deprive you of that|> how to boot the program and get it running on
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your particular computer, how to operate the user interface (pull down
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menus, buttons, mouse, etc.), and playing tips to help you jump right
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into the game withut having to go through the whole manual.
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*Playing Universe II* is a guide to the way the systems on your ship
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work in concert. It details the functions of the various systems
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availible for your spacecraft, your crew and what to do with them,
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insterstellar commerce, the on-board computer, astrogation, warfare,
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energyd and time, and your mission as a deep-cover agent for the
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Federated Worlds.
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*File Control* Explains how to create a new player file, check yuor
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disks for any errors, delete old player files, and save current player
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files.
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*Flight* describes the workings of each of the various sections involved
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in operating your spacecraft.
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*Drydock* describes all of the various services available at the orbital
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drydocks, including the Labor Mart, new parts, new supplies, and even
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purchasing a totally new spacecraft.
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*Starport* explains how to use the text parser, a user interface which
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allows you to: type in sentences to move about the starports, talk with
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other characters in the game, and find special clues to help you finish
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successfully. It also describes the Transaction Terminal, which enables
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you to buy and sell products, exchange ores for currency, accept and
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discharge passengers, and send your crew to a technical school to
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increase their grade.
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*Appendix* is a convenient collection of tables and data neede to play
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Universe II. It also includes a glossary, instructions on using the
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Universe electronic bulletin board, and an index. <| I cut the index
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because I didn't try to match the page numbers of the actual
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documentation, and I cut the bit about the Universe BBS because you use
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have to have an account based on your purchase of the game. |>
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We suggest that you read THE STORY SO FAR ... and PLAYING TIPS.
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Following that, you should read the entirre PLAYING UNIVERSE II chapter
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to understand the ideas behind each of the program sections. Then, you
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only need to read the sections in FLIGHT, DRYDOCK, and STARPORT as you
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need them.
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Enjoy!
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RUNNING UNIVERSE II ON YOUR COMPUTER
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APPLE II
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System Requirments
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Apple //e with a 128K 80 column board or Apple //c, 2 disk drives,
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optional Apple Mouse.
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*Starting Omnitrend's UNIVERSE II*
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Universe II is distributed on five disk sides labeled A,B,C,D, and E. To
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run Universe II, place disk A into drive 1 and turn on the computer.
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Disk A must not be write protected.
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The 128K 80 column board must be enabled so that the double
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hi-resolution graphics are active. See the 80 column text card manual
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for more information on enabling the double hi-resolution graphics.
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*Using the Menus With a Mouse*
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If you have a mouse connected to your computer, you can use it for
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selecting menu entries. To display a menu, point to its name on the
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white bar at the top of the screen and press the mouse button. Hold the
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button down and move the pointer to highlight the entry you wish to
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select. Once the pointer is positioned correctly, release the button.
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You may often see a window on the screen in which there will be one or
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two buttons. A button is a rectangle with a word in it such as
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"Continue". You may click that button by pointing to it with the mouse
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and pressing the button.
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*Using the Menus Without a Mouse*
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Too use the menus without a mouse, press the ESC (escape) key in the
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upper left corner of the keyboard. This will enable you to use the arrow
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keys to select the items in the menus. To move the pointer in a certain
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direction, just use the four arrow keys. When the item you want is
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highlighted, press the RETURN key.
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You may also use the key equivalents to select menu entries in the game.
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When you pull down a menu, you will see the apple character followed by
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a letter next to every menu entry. To select an entry, press either
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apple key (located on either side of the space bar) and the letter for
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that function. The apple key works in the same way that the shift key
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works, so you should press the apple key first and hold it down while
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you press th letter. It is not necessary to pull down a menu to use the
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key equivalents.
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You may often see a window on the screen in which there will be one or
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two buttons. A button is a rectangle with a word in it such as
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"Continue". To press a button with the keyboard, just press the key that
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corresponds to the first letter of the word in the button. For example
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if the work in the button is "Continue" the you may press the 'C' on te
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keyboard to press it. Note that buttons override menu entries, so if a
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menu function's key equivalent was "C" and the buttonn "Continue" were
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on the screen, pressng "C" would "click" the button instead of selecting
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the menu function.
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You may use either upper or lower case letters when using the keyboard.
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*Making Backups"
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We suggest that you make backups of disk sides B,C,D, and E. The disk
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with side A is copy protected, so you will neeed to... <| get a cracked
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copy. (I left out the mailing instructions, etc.) For those of you with
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Unidisks, you may want to consider buying this program... |>
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Omnitrend Software is offering a free game update for Unidisk 3.5
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owners. When your original game disks have been received, we will mail
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you a 3.5" version of the game, which fits entirely on one disk.
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<| more mailing instructions that I left out... |>
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PLAYING TIPS
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These are a few playing tips to help you get started with Universe II.
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* Check the vidscomm frequently. * Many of your assignments and clues
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will come from listening to vidcomm messages. Don't forget that the
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government affiliation of the planet you are orbiting will determine
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which vidcomm messages you receive.
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* There is a drydock nearby. * When you are starting the game, take
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advantage of the drydock above Axia to obtain additional supplies and
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parts.
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* There is a starport nearby. * When you are starting the game, go down
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to the Axia starport and pick upsome products. Check the planet chart
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and the culture chart so you will know what products to buy and where to
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bring them. Hint: Zeath is a good place to bring products from Axia.
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* Be patient. * It takes some time to become familiar with Universe II.
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* Use the Save & Continue feature. * By frequently backing up your game,
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you can see whether a particular strategy works before committing
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yourself to it.
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* Check your ship's status frequently. * Go into C&S every so often and
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check your ship's damage levels, supplies and crew. Chances are someone
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will get a promotion.
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* Check if anyone is locked-on. * When you are orbiting a planet and
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ready to send shuttles or ore-processors down to the surface, you are
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rather vulnerable to enemy attacks. Make sure that no one is shooting at
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you before launching landers.
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* Talk to people. * It's a good idea to talk to everyone you meet in a
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starport.
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* Check in. * Check into the FWSF headquarters on Vromus Prime every so
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often. Admiral Bresheliah may have something important.
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* Plan ahead with crew, * You may find that it will save you money to
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purchase low grade crew early in the game, so that when you need high
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grades, you won't have to send anyone to expensive technical school.
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* Don't purchase too quickly. * When you are at a starport waiting to
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buy something, watch a single brand of product to get an idea of what a
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good price is. Many times, buying the first product you see won't yield
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much profit, expecially when you are paying premium price for it.
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* Check part requirments. * When purchasing a complicated system such as
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an ore processor, make sure that you have all of the accesories for
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using it (ex., pilots, marines, eneregy, resource scanner, programs,
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etc.) before leaving the drydock. This will eliminate many unnecessary
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trips.
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* What to do first. * When you begin the game your Agora class
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spacecraft is in the Hope starsystem, but not around any planet. Do a
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solar transfer to Axia, get into a low orbit, take the orbital shuttle
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down to the starport, get products and passengers for the planet Zeath,
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and then go there. From there, it's up to you!
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>-- UNIVERSE II DOCS, part II --<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<-- By: Dr. Fix -->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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-----------------------------
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**** PLAYING UNIVERSE II ****
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-----------------------------
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This section of the manual illustrates the functions of the various
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compnents (or *systems*) of a state-of-the-art spacecraft. There are
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seven different types of systems. They are: Drive, Energy, Command &
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Support (C&S), Scanning, Lander, Weapon, and Mining. Notice that each
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spacecraft design available to you has these seven sections in it. The
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capacity of each of the sections determines the spacecraft design's
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primary goal. For example, ore processors and the ramscoop may only be
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placed in the mining section. If a spacecraft has a large mining
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section, such as the sutter, then it is primarily suited for minng.
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SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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All systems have several common characterisics. They are:
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*Damage Points (DP)* -
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This is a measure of the abount of damage that a part can take before it
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is destroyed. The higher the damage point level, the more likely the
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part will survive an attack. Damaged parts can be brought back to their
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original damage point level by an enginner or by the repair crew at a
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drydock.
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*Size* -
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The measurement of a part's bulk. The larger the part, the more room it
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will take to fit it in a section.
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*Visibility* -
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The measurement of how likely a part is to be his during an attack. This
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is based upon two factors: the part's size and the visibility modifier
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of the spacecraft section the part is inside. To calculate the part's
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visibilitym the appropriate section's visibility modifier is added to
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the part's size. For example, if you have a hyperdrive of size 5 in an
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Angora class spacecraft, its visibility wouold be 3, because the
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visibility modifier for the drive section is -2. This means that the
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drive section is concealed enough so that anything inside of it
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"appears" smaller to the outside than it really is and thus presents
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less of a target. The actual visibiliy of a part may never go below 1.
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*Sophistication* -
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This is the same as the sophistication of the drydock where the part was
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purchased. Only high-grade engineers and high sophistication drydocks
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can repair the most sophisticated parts. Typically, the sophistication
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parts are the best (and costliest).
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In addition, some systems have the following characteristics:
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*Partial operation* -
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Any system marked as such will operate at a fraction of its normal
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efficiency if damaged. The percentage of efficiency is calculated by
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dividing the current dp level of the part by its maximum dp level. For
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example, if a sub-light drive with 15 dp maximum and 500 gravities of
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acceleration is reduced to 11 dp, then its top acceleration is reduced
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to 367 gravities (11/15 =.734 and .734 * 500 =367). Note: partial
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operation will affect all of a part's functions adversely.
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*Constant drain* -
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If a system has the note "constant drain" in the Parts List, it will
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consume power even if it has been severely damaged, although it will
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stop draining if it is removed or destroyed.
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