Introduction

You can be a space ranger, a bloodthirsty pirate, a peaceful trader or a miner, or you can simply be a tourist exploring uncharted worlds. In every case the game will play out differently for you.

So, you are starting your combat and business career. To begin with, you have a Cobra Mk III and 100 credits (CR). The ship carries enough fuel for a hyperspace jump of 7 light years and is armed with three homing missiles and a pulse laser on the front mount. You start from the space station orbiting the planet LAVE, where novice pilots are issued their licences.

The ship has a deflector shield system powered by four energy units. The cargo bay holds 20 one-tonne canisters. This capacity can be increased by buying a cargo bay extension, which does not affect the ship's handling. The canisters are held magnetically to the cargo brackets.

Status page

The commander's name is shown at the top of this page, followed by this information:

• PRESENT SYSTEM — the planetary system you are in.
• HYPERSPACE SYSTEM — the planetary system the hyperdrive is currently set for.
• FUEL: 7.0 LIGHT YEARS — your fuel.
• CASH: 100 CR — your cash, in credits.
• LEGAL STATUS — your legal status. Normally it is CLEAN, meaning the Galactic Police have no complaints against you. As you commit offences it can change to OFFENDER and even to FUGITIVE. In the latter case you may be attacked by police ships.
• RATING — your combat rating. HARMLESS is the lowest rank and means you are completely harmless to anyone. As you gain combat experience your rating will change.

Saving and loading

While you are docked at a space station you can save the game. Press CTRL or ALT to open the save and load menu. The game is also saved automatically on every docking, so if you lose your ship you can carry on from the last station you visited.

Combat rating

To become an ELITE fighter you need great skill and great patience. Only by building up funds through skilful trading will you be able to buy additional weapons and equipment: a beam laser, extra missiles, energy bombs, a galactic hyperdrive, a docking computer and so on.

You will live with your combat rating. Starting as HARMLESS, you will move up to MOSTLY HARMLESS. Then, as you gain combat experience, you will become POOR, then AVERAGE, ABOVE AVERAGE, COMPETENT, DANGEROUS and finally DEADLY. And only a very few will become ELITE.

Your victories are recorded automatically and sent to the Galactic Federal Centre, and your rating changes accordingly.

Fly your ship carefully and act wisely. Remember that other pilots may try to raise their rating by attacking trading ships or police Vipers. If you adopt such tactics (or start trading in illegal goods), your combat rating may rise, but your legal status will get worse: CLEAN — OFFENDER — FUGITIVE.

You can become public enemy number one and, make no mistake, you will not be left in peace.

Navigation

The Galactic Federation includes more than 2000 inhabited planets scattered across eight galaxies. A planet's government is an important factor to consider when navigating: many planets are in a state of anarchy, and visiting them in a poorly armed ship is very dangerous. A planet's economy is also important.

Your strategy depends on your goals and on how much risk you are ready to take. The more you risk, by travelling to dangerous planets or trading in illegal goods, the faster you will earn money and equip your ship, but the faster you may also die. You will soon realise that life in interstellar space is a matter of balance, and that the path of piracy, which leads to a quick rise in rating, just as quickly leads to the end.

This game does demand a fighter's skills, of course, but they are not the main thing. The ability to think and make the right decisions is just as important.

Space stations

Each inhabited planet has several Coriolis space stations in orbit. These stations are "neutral" territory, jointly run by the Galactic Development Centre and the planetary administration. In recent years dodecahedron-shaped stations have appeared, which is why they are called "Dodos".

All space stations have powerful shields against pirate attacks and unskilled docking, and a fleet of police Vipers. Refuelling, unloading and loading are done at these stations. Each station is 1 km across and can take up to 2000 ships at once.

Any aggression within a station's control zone (the S indicator on the control panel) will be punished immediately.

Docking

Docking is a very difficult process unless your ship has a docking computer (switched on with the C key).

We recommend the following sequence:

1. Approach the station. The entrance slot always faces the surface of the planet.
2. Fly past the station and head towards the planet, watching your altitude.
3. Turn around so that you are looking towards the entrance slot.
4. Dock at low speed.

If you touch the walls of the slot it may be fatal, but it may only damage the ship and cargo. At a very low speed, even if you touch the walls, everything may end well, though with a loss of shield energy.

You can practise docking: launch from the station, reduce speed to zero, turn around and carefully fly back into the station.

Control panel

In the centre of the panel is an elliptical display, the scanner. It shows a three-dimensional picture of what is in the immediate vicinity of your ship. The view is arranged as if the observer were behind and above your ship.

To the left and right of the scanner are gauges for the various instruments, and two circles. The one on the right is the space compass: it points to the planet, and near the planet, to the station. The circle on the left changes colour. Green means there is no danger to you, yellow indicates possible danger and red real danger. Flashing red means a critical state. It occurs if an enemy ship comes close to your ship, if you fly too close to the Sun, and so on.

The gauges:

• FS and AS — the energy of the shields: FS is the front shield, AS the aft shield.
• FU — fuel level.
• CT — cabin temperature; it rises as you approach a star.
• LT — laser temperature; it rises while you are firing. If it overheats, the laser switches itself off to avoid being damaged.
• AL — altimeter. Flying too low over a planet is dangerous.
• SP — speed. Keep it at maximum when approaching a planet, low when manoeuvring near a space station, and at minimum at the last moment of docking.
• RL — roll rate, right / left.
• DC — dive/climb rate, down / up.
• 1, 2, 3, 4 — the state of the energy banks. The level drops when the shields absorb enemy fire, when the laser is used heavily, or when the E.C.M. anti-missile system is used. When the fourth bank is empty the message "ENERGY LOW" appears. Under normal conditions the banks refill gradually by themselves from the ship's built-in reactor.

At the bottom of the left-hand column is a missile symbol. This gauge shows the number of missiles aboard and their state:

• green — the missile is targeted;
• black — the missile is untargeted;
• red — the missile is armed and ready to fire.

Combat

Not every ship in open space is a pirate, but if you destroy a pirate ship or an alien Thargoid ship, you will receive a handsome bounty.

The Cobra Mk III is an excellent, highly manoeuvrable fighting ship. It has a fairly small turning radius, although this grows as speed increases. Thanks to its speed and manoeuvrability the ship can escape most opponents, but not a missile.

One sign of danger is that you cannot make a hyperspace jump: it means someone is nearby. Another sign is the reading of the indicator on the display: if it is yellow or red, an enemy ship is approaching you.

Flashing streaks on the screen mean you are under laser fire. The shields deflect this fire with a faint grating sound. If the sound becomes low, beware: the fire has broken through the shield.

The approach of a missile is reported by messages on the on-board computer's screen.

Many space pirates are not brave and flee when they meet resistance. Others know no fear and fight to the end, Thargoid ships in particular.

Possible enemies

Bounty hunters

Unless you have the legal status FUGITIVE, they will not touch you: they are not interested in such insignificant ships as yours. They fly the extremely effective Fer-de-Lance. They can be found outside space stations, especially around "dangerous" planets, where they hunt pirates. Their combat rating is always DEADLY or ELITE. They seldom answer the hails of passing ships, and usually kill anyone who comes too close.

Pirates

Pirates can fly ships of many different types, so identifying them visually is quite difficult. They can be anywhere in space, but gravitate towards planets with an unstable political structure, in particular anarchies and feudal worlds.

How can you recognise them?

• Small ships far from planetary systems are usually pirates.
• Large ships surrounded by swarms of smaller ones are also, as a rule, pirates.
• Ships that refuse to answer a hail are pirates.

Near planets ruled by autocracies or clans, pirates are sometimes paid not to touch passing trading ships. Piracy is a mighty and very complex business. A novice pilot who wants to survive must soon learn to recognise pirate ships from indirect evidence.

Police

The police usually use the small, very fast and manoeuvrable Viper. These ships are on constant duty at Coriolis and Dodo stations and are ready to attack a pirate within seconds. They do not arrest — they kill. The police have many divisions: some deal with pirates, others with drugs, others with slave trading, but all of them are equipped with the same ships.

Thargoids and Thargons

Thargoids are the worst enemies of humanity. In the eight galaxies there are at least 50 zones where fighting goes on continuously with varying success. The Thargoids are a highly developed civilisation, an insectoid race. They are currently at war with 17 other forms of intelligent life as well.

All Thargoid pilots are fearless and ruthless in combat. Most of them are rated ELITE.

Small Thargoid ships very often carry out raids. They are extremely fast ships and always carry an E.C.M. anti-missile system. In addition, most of their warships carry several small remotely controlled fighters equipped with a laser. These are the so-called Thargons.

The Galactic Combat Forces are developing a remotely controlled ship of their own and are ready to pay a lot of money for a Thargon delivered to them.

Rumour has it that the Thargoids have learned to "hover" in hyperspace and can intercept passing ships there.

Other space objects

Hermits

Aged pirates and exiles from the planets very often settle on lonely asteroids. They usually choose a larger asteroid and set up a beacon warning off prospectors.

They enjoy the protection of galactic law, and since the minerals of most asteroids have already been mined out, hermits are of no interest to anyone.

Generation ships

Before hyperdrives were invented, humanity set out to the stars in huge ships on which more than one generation lived out the voyage. Up to 70 thousand such ships are still flying in space. On many of them 30 generations have already passed. The punishment for attacking such a ship is universal contempt and complete exile.

Space platforms

These gigantic factory ships can be found in regions where there has been a war or a natural disaster. They are tens of miles long. People who survived the catastrophe live on them. The platforms are heavily armed and have fleets of fighters. Avoid them at all costs.

Defence

The best defence is to stay under the protection of a space station.

Shields and energy units

At the start you have front and aft shields. After a shield is broken through by enemy fire, energy is drawn from the energy banks. Beyond that, enemy fire can damage your cargo and weapons, and then destroy your ship.

Using the laser or the E.C.M. system also lowers your energy reserves. The on-board computer keeps you informed of their state.

You can buy a more modern extra energy unit, which doubles the recharge rate.

E.C.M. system (E key)

This is an anti-missile system and can be used repeatedly. Pressing the E key destroys all missiles within sight (including your own). Enemy ships may also have this system. The on-board computer reports its presence by displaying a large letter E.

Escape pod (Q key)

If you press Q during a fight, you will be rescued and taken to the nearest space station. Your bank balance remains, but your cargo is lost.

The pod comes with an insurance policy under which you will be issued a new ship with equivalent equipment. Since the police registration is tied to the ship, this also wipes your legal status clean. It is an oversight on the part of the police, but it may come in useful for you.

Equipment

• Fuel. It can be bought on all planets. You can only refuel to a full tank (no less).
• Fuel scoops (also cargo scoops). They let you replenish your fuel without refuelling at a station, by flying at high speed close to a star. With this device you can also take cargo canisters and fuel from defeated ships aboard. To do so, keep them at the bottom of the screen and move towards them.
• Cargo bay extension. Increases your cargo capacity from 20 to 35 tonnes.
• Docking computer. Docks with a space station automatically. Switched on with the C key.
• Galactic hyperdrive. Engaged with the G key, then H. Single use.
• Mining laser. Used to break up asteroids that contain minerals. The fragments are collected with fuel scoops, which must be fitted beforehand.

Trading

Some trade goods are illegal, and you had better stay out of them. They are slaves, narcotics and firearms.

It may seem strange to you that slaves are measured in tonnes, but this includes the cryogenic suspension system needed to deliver the goods alive.

Your ship can carry 4 lasers, 4 missiles and one energy bomb. Fully armed, you can trade even in places infested with pirates. But we strongly recommend against doing so unless your rating is DEADLY or better. Do not approach planets marked in the system data as anarchies or feudal worlds — ANARCHY or FEUDAL.

Choose your trade goods and think!

1. What might the planet need?
2. What is its social function?
3. Do not import luxuries into hungry worlds.
4. If the profit is not worth it, take your goods somewhere else.

Other ways to get rich

Bounty hunting

Galactic insurance companies pay large bounties for the destruction of pirate ships. Usually all you need to do is fly to a place where pirates may be and wait to be attacked.

Piracy

It is widespread in all eight galaxies. Many pirates are not hardened criminals but simply ruined businessmen. To survive in these conditions you need considerable combat experience.

If your ship is fitted with fuel scoops, you can pick up cargo canisters from wrecked ships and trade them.

Asteroid mining

There is plenty of value in asteroids, but to mine them you need a mining laser and fuel scoops to collect the fragments. Bear in mind that asteroids get in the way of navigation, so the largest bounty is paid for destroying them.

Cargo canister hunting

As a result of fighting or natural disasters, canisters of goods are left uncollected in space. You can collect them for free for yourself if you have fuel scoops fitted. But be careful: there is a chance you will pick up a canister of illegal goods by mistake.