User manual GAMES PC INDEPENDENCE WAR 2 - EDGE OF CHAOS

Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 2 EPILEPSY WARNING A very small percentage of individuals may experience epileptic seizures when exposed to certain light patterns or flashing lights. Exposure to certain light patterns of backgrounds on television screens while playing computer games may induce an epileptic seizure in these individuals. Certain conditions may induce undetected epileptic symptoms in persons who have no history of prior seizures of epilepsy. If you or anyone in your family has an epileptic condition, consult your doctor prior to playing. If you experience any of the following symptoms while playing a computer game: dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, any involuntary movement, or convulsions ­ IMMEDIATELY discontinue use and consult your doctor. Welcome to the Edge of Chaos In the twenty-fourth century, the citizens of the Core Systems lead a life of opulence and luxury. However, far from Earth and its notions of justice, powerful corporations rule the Badlands Cluster with an iron fist. The brave few who were prepared to make a stand have paid the ultimate price for their courage... On the cold frontier of Known Space, the murder of one man will set in motion events that could lead to freedom for the Badlands ­ or to the utter annihilation of humanity. Cal Johnston You are Cal Johnston, tough, smart and a born leader. You were only 12 years old when you witnessed Caleb Maas brutally murder your father, Felix. Now, 15 years later, you may finally be able to exact your revenge. Jefferson Clay Clay is a one-of-a-kind computer simulation of an ancient war hero. When he died more than a century ago, his personality and knowledge were preserved. Clay serves as your mentor and guardian. Jafs A gifted smuggler and forger, Jafs is Cal's best friend and confidant. He is also a skilled cargo pilot and an adept negotiator. Azraelle Takagi Cool and enigmatic, little is certain about Azraelle. However, she is an exceptional combat pilot and was once a pirate of some considerable renown. Az has never really revealed her true reasons for joining Cal. Lori Trieste Young and idealistic, Lori is Az's close friend and ally. What she lacks in combat experience she makes up for with dogged persistence. Lemuel Smith Despite his towering stature and partially cybernetic body, Smith is genial and popular. A self-taught engineer, he has remarkable skill in any field involving machinery. Caleb Maas Sadistic and cruel, Caleb is the recent heir to the Maas Industries fortune. His keen instinct serves him well in both starship combat and the boardroom. PACK CONTENTS · · · · 2 CD ROM Disks This Manual Edge of Chaos Control Guide Registration Card CAUTION Mishandling can damage the CD-ROMs that hold INDEPENDENCE WAR 2: Edge of Chaos. Please remember to fill in the questions on your registration card and return it. The information will help us in developing future games you want to see. Thank you. QUERIES If you should find either the program or the documentation unsatisfactory in some way, please write and let us know. EDGE OF CHAOS On The Internet To keep informed with all things related to the INDEPENDENCE WAR universe visit Infogrames' website at www.edgeofchaos.net. Here you will find a wealth of information for pilots, heroes and rogues of all abilities. For more information on the Independence War Universe, visit Particle Systems website at www.independencewar.com. 3 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 4 Rules and Regulations . . . . . . . . 30 Shields and Self Defence. . . . 40 LDA shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Ramming speed!. . . . . . . . . . 40 Power management . . . . . . . . 40 Home Sweet Home . . . . . . . 41 The Base Computer Interface. . 42 HANGAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 TRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 INVENTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 RECYCLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 MANUFACTURING . . . . . . . . . 42 COMMUNICATIONS . . . . . . . . 42 ENCYCLOPEDIA . . . . . . . . . . 42 The Hangar and Maintaining Your Ships . . . . . . 43 LOADOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 CUSTOMIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 ADD CARGO . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 MANIFEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Customizing Your Loadout . . . . 43 Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Hardpoints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Heat and power requirements 44 Internal cargo space . . . . . . . 45 Further information . . . . . . . . 45 Trading For Fun And Profit . . . . 45 Trades list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Doing the deal . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Getting tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Manufacturing goods . . . . . . . 46 Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Piracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Cargo and pods . . . . . . . . . . 47 Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Hauling it home . . . . . . . . . . 48 CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Contents Welcome to the Edge of Chaos . . . . . 3 Cal Johnston . . . . . . . . . . . . Jefferson Clay . . . . . . . . . . . Jafs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Azraelle `Az' Takagi . . . . . . . . Lori Trieste . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lemuel Smith. . . . . . . . . . . . Caleb Maas . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hardware Requirements . . . . . Minimum specification: . . . . . Recommended specification: . Installing EDGE OF CHAOS. . . . The Readme File . . . . . . . . . Infogrames Customer Service Numbers . . . . . . . . . Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . Story Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . Instant Action . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-player . . . . . . . . . . . . . Become a Combat Pilot in 60 Seconds . . . . . . . . . . . Moving Around . . . . . . . . . . . Defending Yourself . . . . . . . . More Information . . . . . . . . . Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . START NEW GAME . . . . . . . LOAD GAME. . . . . . . . . . . . INSTANT ACTION . . . . . . . . MULTIPLAYER. . . . . . . . . . . OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOVIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QUIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GAME TYPES . . . LAN GAME. . . . . INTERNET GAME OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 GRAPHICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3 CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3 Escape Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3 3 How to Pilot The New 3 1502-X Command Section . . . . . 15 3 Flying Your Ship . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3 Linear Displacement Drive (LDS) 17 6 The Heads-Up Display . . . . . . . 17 6 RETICLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 6 CONTACT LIST . . . . . . . . . . 18 6 6 ORB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 MFD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 SYSTEM STATUS . . . . . . . . . 20 GRID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CONTRAILS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 BRACKETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . 8 8 8 8 Using the Command Menu . . . . 21 MAIN MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 NAV SUBMENU . . . . . . . . . . 22 AUTOPILOT SUBMENU . . . . . 22 WEP SUBMENU . . . . . . . . . . 22 CMD SUBMENU . . . . . . . . . . 23 DOC SUBMENU . . . . . . . . . . 23 COMMS SUBMENU . . . . . . . . 23 Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 AUTOPILOTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 THE STARMAP . . . . . . . . . . . 24 THE CAPSULE DRIVE AND LAGRANGE POINTS . . . . 25 Using Weapons Systems . . . . . 26 Weapon selection . . . . . . . . . 26 Targetting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Discipline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Shares and bonuses, in order of payment . . . . . . . 30 Command structure . . . . . . . 30 Final word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Lefty's Advanced Flight Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Advanced Piloting . . . . . . . . . . 31 The flight computer . . . . . . . 31 Lateral thrusters. . . . . . . . . . 32 Free flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Heat and Power . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Heat and overheating . . . . . . 33 Power and brownouts . . . . . . 34 The Engineering Screen. . . . . . 34 Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Alert lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 System information. . . . . . . . 35 TRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Power output . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Status display . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Lefty's Advanced Combat Tactics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Group tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Wingmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Turret Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Tactical camera . . . . . . . . . . 37 Getting the Edge . . . . . . . . . . 38 Sub-targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Sneaking around . . . . . . . . . 38 Remote piloting . . . . . . . . . . 38 Weapon tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 LDSi missiles and LDSi fields . 39 Particle beam cannon . . . . . . 39 REM missiles . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Disruptor missiles. . . . . . . . . 39 .7 . . . . 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 Multiplayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5 4 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 6 Installation Guide EDGE OF CHAOS is designed for computers using the Microsoft Windows®95b, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows ME operating systems. The game also requires Microsoft DirectXTM8.0, and you will be able to install this on your computer as part of the installation process. Hardware Requirements Minimum System Requirements: · AMD® K6-2 350 MHz or Intel® Pentium® II 300 MHz or better. · 64 MB RAM. · 16 MB DirectX-compatible 3D Video Card. · 600 MB hard drive space for installation. · 128 MB hard drive space after installation. · Microsoft DirectX-compatible sound card. · 4x CD-ROM drive. Recommended specification: · AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium III or better. · 128 MB RAM. · Microsoft DirectX-compatible sound card. · 16x CD-ROM. · 600 MB hard drive space for installation. · 128 MB hard drive space after installation. · 3-axis 4 button joystick with a 4-way hat switch. · 28.8 Kbps modem for internet multiplay. In addition your machine should have the following: · Microsoft DirectX 8.0 (installed by the game). Installing EDGE OF CHAOS After starting your computer place the CD marked "EDGE OF CHAOS Install Disk" into your CD-ROM drive. Follow the on screen instructions to install the game. If you do not have Autoplay enabled, open My Computer and double-click on the icon for your CD-ROM drive, then double-click on SETUP.EXE to start the install program. If you do not have Autostart enabled, open "My Computer" and double click on the CD-ROM drive icon. Double click the SETUP.EXE program. After the game has installed you can play from the Windows Start button by selecting Program Files -> EDGE OF CHAOS. Customer and Technical Support (U.S. & Canada) Assistance Via World Wide Web Get up-to-the-minute technical information at the Infogrames,Inc. web-site, at: http://www.us.infogrames.com, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Through this site you'll have access to our FAQ documents (Frequently Asked Questions), which contain our latest troubleshooting information. You'll have access to a Message Board and links to our E-Mail area where you can leave us your tech support problems and questions if you do not find your answers within the FAQ. Help Via Telephone/Fax Or Mail In The United States & Canada For phone assistance, call Infogrames, Inc. Support at 425-951-7106. We have an Interactive Voice Response and Faxback system that is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If you should need live support, we are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM (PST). Please note that live Tech Support may be closed on major holidays. We ask that you do the following when calling: be at your system; have your system information ready for our technicians. It will expedite your handling significantly. You may also fax in your Technical Support questions or problems to: (425) 806-0480, or write in to the address below. INFOGRAMES HINT LINE - 1900-454-HINT: $.99/minute. If you're under 18, get a parent's permission before calling. Product Return Procedures In The United States & Canada In the event our technicians at 425-951-7106 determine that you will need to forward materials directly to us, please include a brief letter explaining what is enclosed and why. Make sure you include the Return Merchandise Authorization Number (RMA#) supplied to you by the technician and your telephone number in case we need to call you. Any materials not containing this RMA# will be returned to you unprocessed. Your mail should be sent to the following address: Infogrames, Inc. 13110 NE 177th Place Suite # B101, Box180 Woodinville, WA 98072-9965 Attn: Technical Support RMA#: (include your RMA# here) Warranty Policy In The United States & Canada If our technicians determine that the product storage medium is found to be defective within ninety (90) days of original purchase, (unless otherwise provided by applicable law), Infogrames, Inc. will replace the item free of charge, to the original purchaser, if the item is accompanied by the original dated receipt and packaging. If you do not have the original receipt, or if the warranty period has expired, Infogrames Entertainment S.A. will replace the product storage medium for a nominal fee. Other Please do not make unauthorized copies. The program you've purchased was produced through the efforts of many people who earn their livelihood from its lawful use. Don't make copies for others who have not paid for the right to use it. To report copyright violations to the Software Publishers Association, call 1-800-388-PIR8 or write: Software Publishers Association 1101 Connecticut Ave., Suite 901 NW Washington, DC 20036 This program is protected by United States federal and international copyright laws. 7 6 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 8 Quick Start Guide You don't need to read the whole of this flight manual before pitting your wits against the cutthroats of the Hoffer's Wake system, but you are likely to live longer if you do. At least read this guide before powering up your starship and heading out into the lawless Badlands Cluster. There are three ways to play EDGE OF CHAOS: · Story Mode To play the story mode, and have the full EDGE OF CHAOS experience, click Start New Game from the Main Menu. In the prelude to the story, Jefferson Clay will teach you how to fly and fight. We recommend that you play at least part of the story before trying Instant Action or Multiplayer. Clay has been around for a long time and knows all there is to know about surviving space combat, so be sure to learn all you can. You are going to be putting those new skills to good use later on. · Instant Action Perfect for a quick fix of space combat. The enemies come thick and fast. And they get harder and better equipped the longer you survive. · Multiplayer Take on your friends and make new enemies over a LAN or on the Internet. We recommend that you get a little practice in Instant Action or Story Mode before taking on skilled human pilots... Become a Combat Pilot in 60 Seconds We recommend using a joystick to play, and this manual assumes that you are using a joystick with hat switch and throttle. If you don't have a joystick, don't despair - all joystick functions are available via the keyboard. Refer to the separate control guide for more details. Moving Around Controlling your ship is quite simple. Moving the joystick back and forth will point the nose up and down. Moving left and right turns to the left or right. To speed up and slow down, adjust the throttle using the Throttle Wheel or the + and - keys on the keyboard. Defending Yourself The green circle in the center of the screen is the targeting reticle ­ your weapons will fire at objects in the center of this circle. To target an enemy, position your reticle over their ship and press Joystick Button 2 or the T key. Cycle through your primary weapons (guns) with joystick button 4 or the Enter key, and secondary weapons (missiles) with button 3 or the Backspace key. Finally, take aim and pull the trigger to fire at your target. More Information For more in-depth information refer to the main flight manual on page 15. Good luck, Captain! "Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another." Plato (428 BC ­ 348 BC), The Republic 8 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 10 Main Menu After starting EDGE OF CHAOS you will see the screen shown here. This is the main menu. START NEW GAME Begin a new game in Story Mode. The plot picks up straight after the death of Cal's father at the end of the intro movie. LOAD GAME Continue a game you have previously saved in Story Mode. INSTANT ACTION Select this for a quick space battle. Pick a ship from the list and enter the fray. A succession of enemy ships will appear through the jump point for you to engage and destroy. The longer you survive the tougher the waves of ships become. If you score highly, you may be able to earn new ships to fly. MULTIPLAYER Play against your friends over a LAN or via the Internet. Refer to the Multiplayer section below for details. OPTIONS Configure EDGE OF CHAOS to your personal taste. Refer to the options screen section on page 12 for details. MOVIES View any of the movies you have seen so far in Story Mode. The further into the story you get, the more there will be to see. Press Space to stop watching a movie. CREDITS View the list of people responsible for making EDGE OF CHAOS. Press Space to return to the Main Menu. QUIT Exit the game and return to Windows. · Team Deathmatch Join Team Alpha or Team Beta and take on the enemy with the help of your human wingmen. Ganging up on enemy ships will win the day. · Capture the Flag A real test of strategy. Your team must steal the other team's flag and return it to your base to score points. · Bomb Tag The player who grabs the bomb first scores points by killing all the others, but be careful not to let someone steal it from you. Watch out! The bomb is full of unstable antimatter, and you don't want to be near it when it goes off... In Multiplayer your enemies are always highlighted in red on the heads-up display, and any friends in blue. In Deathmatch all the other players are red, because they all want to take you out... Any light blue objects are power-ups, which are almost always going to help you out. LAN GAME To play a multiplayer game over a LAN, all the computers must be able to communicate using the TCP/IP network protocol. If you are not sure whether you have this protocol or how to install it, consult your system administrator or Windows documentation. When you enter the LAN GAME screen, the system will search for and display a list of all the games currently being played on your network. When the search is complete, the Searching... message changes to Refresh. Click this button to update the list of games. If you move the mouse pointer over an entry in this list, additional information about the server is displayed at the bottom of the screen. This includes the map, game type, and maximum number of players. To join a game, click on its entry in the list. INTERNET GAME Make sure your Internet connection is active before trying to play an Internet game. For more information, consult your Windows documentation. When you enter the INTERNET GAME screen, the system will connect to the GameSpy master server and download a list of games currently being played on the Internet. This process may take several seconds. When the search is complete, the Searching... message changes to Refresh. Click this button to begin a new search for games. The entries in the list are sorted by ping time, which is a measure of the connection speed between your computer and the game server on the Internet. You will generally have a smoother and faster game on a server with a lower ping time. Multiplayer The Multiplayer Screen allows you to set up your player options, search for LAN and Internet games, or host a Multiplayer game on your own computer. GAME TYPE · Deathmatch Play a standard frag fest. The winner is player with the most kills at the end of the game, or the first to reach a specified number of kills. Make good use of the weapon power-ups to gain an advantage! 1 0 1 1 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 12 If you move the mouse pointer over an entry in this list, additional information about the server is displayed at the bottom of the screen. This includes the map, game type, and maximum number of players. To join a game, click on its entry in the list. Escape Menus Whenever you are playing the game, you can press Escape to pause and bring up a menu. This menu contains the following options: · Resume game Return to the game and continue playing · Load game Quit your current game and load a new game · Options Open the options screen · Quit Quit your current game and return to the Main Menu If you are in the base interface, you will have the following extra option: · Save game Save your progress and then continue playing Advanced users: You can also find and connect to Internet games using GameSpy Arcade, included on the EDGE OF CHAOS Install Disk. For more information, check out our readme file and http://www.gamespyarcade.com/. OPTIONS Enter the name by which you wish to be known by other players, and select the ship you wish to fly. The different ships all have their own strengths and weaknesses, so choose wisely. HOST SESSION Here you can host a Multiplayer game of EDGE OF CHAOS on your computer. Select the type of game you want to play, set frag and/or time limits, and click START to enter the fray. The ADVANCED menu allows you to play against AI bots and adjust other server options to your taste. Note that the game saves automatically when you launch from the base, using the slot labelled AUTOSAVE. Options The options screen is accessed from the Main Menu and allows you to configure EDGE OF CHAOS to your personal taste. From the options menu you can access the following screens to tailor specific areas of the game to your computer. GRAPHICS To change the display resolution, click the Resolution button and select your 3D Accelerator (if you have more than one in your computer) to display a list of resolutions. Highlight the desired resolution and click Apply to change. The other options on the graphics screen allow you find a balance between performance and visual quality to suit you and your computer. Some of these options are intended for advanced users only. SOUND Adjust the volume levels for music, speech and sound effects. CONTROLS Select your desired control style from the list. The default style is recommended for all EDGE OF CHAOS pilots. Other options allow you to modify aspects the control style, and adjust the strength of Force Feedback effects if you are using a Force Feedback joystick. 1 2 1 3 Manual E_of_K GB 1st 7/30/01 12:21 Page 14 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 15 NSO Laplace 1502-X Command Section: Provisional Prototype Flight Manual NSO Laplace "Armadillo-Works" R&D Facility, Bessus, Hoffer's Wake 5th February 2325 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL ­ EYES ONLY ­ "This flight manual sometimes reads more like a sales brochure. I guess they wrote this back when they were still trying to sell this Command Section to the Navy. I've added some notes to fill in the gaps. So pay attention, kid. Clay" 1 5 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 16 How to Pilot the New 1502-X Command Section NSO Laplace is proud to present the new 1502-X Command Section. This advanced prototype allows you to fully command any compatible starship from the comfort of an armored yet high-visibility bubble cockpit, giving maximum combat and operational effectiveness for minimum investment in personnel. "In fact, most of the test pilots couldn't handle the extra workload. But I reckon you're better than that". Previous designs required a skilled bridge crew to operate a vessel. However, using Laplace's patented avionics and command and control technology, a whole starship can now be controlled by a single person. The first thing any starship commander needs to do is learn to fly their ship. Don't be daunted - it's a lot easier than it looks. With our new command section, every vessel from the smallest tug to the deadliest warship is flown in exactly the same way. And remember, the 1502-X is a capable ship in its own right. It can ferry three people around a star system in comfort, giving convenience for owner and crew. Flying Your Ship Most of the time, you will be in conventional flight, with your ship's course and speed controlled by your drive and thrusters. The drive assembly at the rear of the ship vents superheated plasma from the main reactor ring to move the ship forwards. An array of smaller maneuvring thrusters all over the outer hull are used to point the ship in the desired direction. You control the maneuvring thrusters with your joystick in a similar fashion to aircraft controls. Moving the joystick back and forth will point the nose up and down (pitch). Moving left and right turns to the left or right (yaw). You can rotate the ship around its long axis (roll) by using the twist action on a 3-axis joystick, or by holding down Joystick Button 2 and moving the stick left and right. To control the drive, choose your desired forward speed with the Throttle Wheel on your joystick or the "+" and "-" keys on the keyboard. This is called your set speed. Your flight computer will fire the drive automatically to reach your set speed in the direction you are pointing. Linear Displacement System (LDS) Your drive and thrusters are powerful, but using them to traverse the large distances between planets would be uneconomic. The Linear Displacement System, or LDS, propels your ship forward with a series of microscopic inertia-less spatial distortions. A ship in LDS can approach the speed of light, which makes interplanetary travel feasible. Under normal circumstances your Autopilot will engage the LDS drive for you. It is possible to engage manual LDS using the L key but this is only recommended for advanced pilots and those who need to get out of the way of someone in a really big hurry. Once in manual LDS, control your direction in the normal way, and change speed using the throttle controls. "Be careful with that Manual LDS override! If you hit any planets travelling at half the speed of light, you'll leave a heck of a hole." The Heads-Up Display Your Command Section cockpit does not contain any traditional instrumentation ­ all the flight and combat information you need is presented by the Heads-Up Display, or HUD. The HUD is projected onto the inside of your specially designed helmet visor, so it's always in your field of view. The main purpose of the HUD is to display information about your ship, your current target, and other ships or stations that your sensors have detected. The HUD consists of a number of different displays, which we will discuss in detail. · RETICLE The green circle in the center of the HUD is the reticle. It displays critical information about your ship and your current target. It is the single most important display on the HUD. The left side of the reticle is the speed display. In conventional flight you can see your speed in meters per second to the left of the center. The orange arc displays your speed graphically, with the small orange triangle marking your set speed. Above the conventional speed display is the LDS speed display. When the LDS drive is engaged, the green arc indicates your speed, and the small green triangle your set speed. The LDS speed scale is geometric, so for each increase of the throttle, the speed is multiplied by 10. "Remember kid, when you fly this thing I'm gonna be in the cockpit with you. You might be a hot-shot, but you still have a lot to learn." 1 6 1 7 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 18 To the right of the reticle, you can see information about your current target, including its name, hull strength, range and speed. If the target is outside the reticle, an arrow within the reticle points out the way you should turn to bring the target back into your sights. The green arc to the lower right of the reticle displays your hull strength, and changes color through yellow to red as you are damaged. If it falls too low it might be time to retreat and repair yourself. Urgent warnings and other status information will flash up in the area below the reticle. One of the contacts on the list will be highlighted as your current target. To pick a new target, move the highlight up and down the contact list with the "," and "." Keys, or joystick. All contacts are colour-coded, and this colour is used in each area on the HUD where information about that contact is displayed. The following colours are used: Yellow: Neutral contacts, and contacts not yet identified by your sensors. Red: Hostile vessels and stations. Blue: Friendly or allied vessels and stations. Light Blue: Mission-critical vessels, usually which need to be protected. Green: Waypoints. Each line of the contact list displays the following information about the contact: Faction: The group that owns the vessel. This could be the police, one of the megacorporations, or even indicate that the vessel is an illegal. "Don't ignore these warnings, except maybe the ones about speed limits. Hey ­ forget I said that." Pop-up icons around the reticle provide information about your current status. Clockwise from 9 o'clock, these icons are as follows: Autopilot: Approach Formate Pursuit Dock LDS ramp-up Running Inhibited Incoming Missile Flight Assist Off Laterals Docked Brightness Capsule drive charging Jump In Progress Heat Type: What kind of vessel the contact really is. If the contact is unidentified, its type will be UNKWN. Range: The distance to the contact, displayed in meters if it is nearer than 10km, or kilometers if it is further away. Name: The name of the contact. · ORB The 3D sphere in the top-right of the HUD is the ORB, which shows the location of contacts in space around you. The ORB sphere is a 3D representation of a 1km radius around your ship. You are always at the center. Each contact is shown as a point and a stalk attached to the ORB. Contacts closer than 1km are shown as stalks pointing inward, and contacts further away are shown as stalks pointing outward. Power The icons are covered in more detail later. · CONTACT LIST The box in the lower-right corner of the HUD displays all the contacts your sensors have detected in the area of space around you. A contact might be a ship, space station, or other object. Your contact list also displays waypoints, which mark specific locations in space to allow you and other pilots to reach them. "It takes a while to get used to reading the ORB ­ it's easier to pick out individual targets with the contact list and reticle, but the ORB lets you know where the bad guys are concentrated in a battle." All contacts are color coded as for the contact list, and the current target is indicated with a flashing blip. 1 8 1 9 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 20 · MFD The large display in the upper-left of the HUD is the MFD, or Multi-Function Display. This presents several useful pages of information depending on the circumstances. In-flight comms: Whenever another person (in another vessel or on-board your own) wishes to talk to you, their portrait or a camera view of their ship is displayed in the MFD, and subtitles are displayed at the top of the HUD. If you are asked a question, you will be presented with a list of responses. Pick the response you want using Up and Down on the Joystick Hat or keyboard Arrow Keys, and press Fire or Enter to broadcast it. Targeting: Most of the time, the MFD will display your current target. For waypoints, stations and other geography you will only see the name and type of the target. If you have targeted a ship, more information will be displayed, including the target's hull strength, and for advanced pilots, the current subsystem you have targeted. Scanning: When you target a cargo pod, your sensors can read the UCP (Universal Cargo Profile) code stencilled onto the pod and display the contents. · SYSTEM STATUS The row of indicator lights in the top-center of the HUD, between the MFD and ORB, displays the status of each of the individual systems on your ship. A system is represented by two lights, one above the other. The upper light shows the system's damage level. An undamaged system has a green light, with the color changing through yellow to red as the system becomes more damaged. If a system is not in perfect condition, the light will blink as a warning. The lower blue light shows the system's power level. If the system loses power, the light will blink and become dim. · GRID When flying in space, a grid of translucent lines is projected onto the HUD. The end of each line is fixed in space, so the lines provide a frame of reference as you move past them. This shows you that you are in motion, how fast you are travelling (represented by the length of the lines) and in which direction. The grid is colored orange in conventional flight, and changes to green when the LDS drive is engaged. · CONTRAILS If your sensors detect a vessel that is in motion near your ship, the HUD will display a contrail for that contact. The contrail shows the vessel's path, and allows you to see where it has been, as well as predicting where it might go. · BRACKETS All contacts detected by the sensors, whether in motion or not, are surrounded by brackets on the HUD to show their size and position. Waypoint brackets are shown as a small diamond. · CLOCK This clock display shows how much time has elapsed since your ship last left port. Using the Command Menu One of the most important features of the HUD, and an essential part of the interface between you and your ship, is the command menu. This allows easy access to all the functions on your ship using a common interface, and is perhaps the most innovative avionics feature in the 1502-X. "Hmm... This interface is a lot more elegant than those in my day." The menu is operated with the Joystick Hat or the Cursor Keys. To display the menu, push the Hat in any direction or press one of the Cursor Keys. Once the menu is displayed, select an option by moving in the appropriate direction. You can close the menu by pressing Joystick Button 2 or the Backspace key. Some menu selections open further submenus containing more commands, and others perform actions, labelled with an icon. After performing an action, such as engaging the autopilot, the menu will close automatically. Other menu selections open one of the full-screen HUD displays. These displays can be closed in the same way as the menu, using Joystick Button 2 or the Backspace key. "When these things light up like a Christmas tree, you know you're in trouble..." If a system is either underpowered or damaged, it will function less well, and may go offline completely until it is repaired. Repairs are carried out automatically by your auto-repair system, if one is installed. The systems are ordered left to right, with critical systems on the left and minor systems on the right. 2 0 2 1 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 22 The command menu is split into four sections, as follows: · MAIN MENU NAV: Open the navigation submenu WEP: Open the weaponry and combat submenu CMD: Open the Captain's commands submenu ENG: Open the engineering screen. · CMD SUBMENU DOC: Open the documents submenu. REM LINK/REM UNLINK: Remote-link to your current target, or cancel a remote link. COMMS: Open the communications submenu. MENU: Return to the main menu Remote piloting is covered in more detail in the Advanced Combat Tactics section on page [36]. · DOC SUBMENU LOG: Open the mission log screen OBJECTIVES: Open the mission objectives screen STATISTICS: Open the combat statistics screen CMD: Return to the command submenu · COMMS SUBMENU WINGMEN: Open the wingmen orders menu CMD: Return to the command submenu Giving commands to turret fighters and wingmen is covered in more detail in the Advanced Combat Tactics section on page 36. You also may be able to communicate with other team members using the COMMS submenu. Navigation · AUTOPILOTS Your shipboard navigation computer can assist with many basic piloting tasks. Three autopilot modes are provided as standard, which can be accessed from the command menu or the keyboard. Approach: Fly to a location or object and stop. (Keyboard shortcut F6) "Hey, that sounds a lot like the bridge workstations on my old corvette. Maybe less has changed than I thought." · NAV SUBMENU STARMAP: Open the starmap screen. UNDOCK: Detach your ship from stations and other vessels. AUTOPILOT: Open the autopilot submenu. MENU: Return to the main menu · AUTOPILOT SUBMENU PREV: Select previous autopilot NEXT: Select next autopilot APPROACH/FORMATE/DOCK/PURSUIT: Engage the selected autopilot. DISENGAGE: Stop the current autopilot and return to manual control NAV: Return to the NAV submenu Autopilots are covered in more detail in the Navigation section on page 23. · WEP SUBMENU ZOOM IN/OUT: Zoom the HUD view in to allow you to inspect and target distant contacts. Only available if an imaging module is installed and functioning. TOGGLE AIM ASSIST: Engage or disengage aim assist, which uses the gimbal mountings on your guns to track your target automatically. Only available if a CPU is installed and functioning. MENU: Return to the main menu Formate: Fly to another ship and maintain formation with it, following wherever it leads. (Keyboard shortcut F7) Dock: Attach your ship to another ship or station. (Keyboard shortcut F8) "There's also a special combat autopilot called Pursuit. It isn't fitted as standard, but you might be able to persuade somebody to give you the software. 2 2 2 3 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 24 In general, autopilots are most useful for travelling long distances, both in-system and between systems. They also perform precision tasks like docking. To use an autopilot, select a target from your contact list and then engage the autopilot using the command menu or the appropriate keyboard shortcut. Once the autopilot is engaged, you can change your target to another contact without affecting the autopilot's destination. If you have engaged an autopilot and wish to return to manual control, disengage the autopilot using the command menu or by pressing F5 on the keyboard. To move around the map, use the command menu controls, i.e. the joystick hat or cursor keys. Press Left and Right to cycle through all the waypoints at the current level, or zoom in and out with Up and Down. To select the current waypoint as your navigation target, press Fire or Enter. The waypoint is then added to your contact list and becomes your current target. When a target is selected, the map closes automatically. You can then use your autopilot to approach the waypoint. When the map is first opened, it centres on the nearest navigation waypoint to your ship. If you zoom all the way out of the system, the map will change to displaying the entire Badlands Cluster and the star systems within it. Select a star system to view using Left and Right, and zoom in on it with Up. If you have set a destination and engaged the autopilot, your route is marked with a red line on the starmap. "You can never use your autopilots too much. Why make life hard for yourself?" · THE STARMAP The Starmap is an essential navigation tool, used to find your way around the stations, planets star systems of the Badlands Cluster. To activate the starmap, use the command menu or press SHIFT-M. To close the map, press Joystick Button 2 or SHIFT-M again. The starmap displays the following different kinds of navigational waypoint: "We can't leave Hoffer's Wake until we get our hands on a Capsule Drive. Hardware like that is real hard to come by, so someone's going to have to owe us one hell of a favour." · THE CAPSULE DRIVE AND LAGRANGE POINTS The gulf between the stars is vast. Even using the LDS drive it would take years to travel between systems. The Capsule Effect generates a tiny bubble of independent space-time around a ship. This capsule universe is then detached from normal space and reattached at the destination point, allowing ships to travel immense distances without traversing the intervening space. The Capsule Effect requires vast amounts of energy, and is impossibly expensive in dense gravity fields. For this reason, ships can enter and leave Capsule Space only at Lagrange Points, where the local gravity fields of orbiting bodies cancel each other out. If you are close to a Lagrange Point, the HUD displays a 3D representation at the point's location. Ships enter Capsule Space from the blue side of the point and leave it from the red side. Star Space Station Gas Giant (large planet) Lagrange Point Planet Asteroïd Moon Asteroïd Base "Whatever you do, keep clear of the red zone ­ if a big freighter comes through the point, it isn't going to be able to stop for you." To make use of Capsule Space your ship must be fitted with a Capsule Drive. Once you have acquired the hardware, you simply select your destination on the starmap, and let the autopilot take you there. Waypoints are arranged according to their orbits, with the system's primary star at the centre of this map. Zooming in on the primary star allows you to cycle through all the planets orbiting it. Zooming in on one of these planets allows you to cycle through its moons and orbital stations, and so on. 2 4 2 5 Manual E_of_K GB 2nd 7/30/01 12:26 Page 26 Not all destinations can be reached from each Lagrange Point, so the autopilot may have to perform several Capsule Jumps before arriving at the destination. If you have a Capsule Drive, the autopilot will also make use of it to cut down on in-system travel time by using local Capsule Jumps to cover the distance. Experienced captains may wish to select destinations manually and execute their own Capsule Jumps. To do this, fly to the Lagrange Point you wish to depart from and open the starmap. Zoom in on the Lagrange Point and select your destination, then press Fire. When you fly through the point from blue to red, your Capsule Drive will engage and jump you to your destination. Using Weapons Systems Please be advised that NSO Laplace does not advocate the use of weapons in anything but self-defense, and use contrary to this proviso may break the terms of your service agreement and/or limited warranty. Consult your ownership contract and master's license for more details. · Targeting Your weapons are always locked on to your current target. For primary weapons, your HUD displays a lead sight that indicates where you should fire to hit the target, compensating automatically for the movement and range of the target. The lead sight is a cross, composed of four arrows. If the arrows point outward, you are out of range for the current weapon. If the arrows point inward, you are in range. If the sight is rotating, the target is outside the fire arc of your current weapon. When the arrows point inward and stop rotating, the target is in range and guns are locked on ­ open fire! For more information on weapons and tactics see the Advanced Combat Tactics section of this manual on page 36. "Ignore them - now we're getting to the fun stuff!" · Weapon selection Spacecraft weapons are broken down into two broad categories: Primary weapons: Usually energy or ammo-fed guns, primary weapons have large or unlimited ammo supplies. Secondary weapons: Usually guided missiles, unguided rockets, or other special-purpose weapons. Generally in shorter supply than primary weapon ammo, but with more destructive potential per shot. The currently selected weapon is displayed on the left of the HUD below the MFD. Select from your primary weapons with Joystick Button 4 or the Enter key, and secondary weapons with Joystick Button 3 or the Backspace key. To fire a weapon, press Fire or Space. The current weapon display indicates the charge level of energy-based weapons, or the remaining ammo for missile launchers and ammo-fed guns. If you have several identical weapons, they may be linked and fired simultaneously, in which case the ammo count of each weapon will be displayed. "Keep an eye on your ammo counts ­ it isn't nice to be caught short at the wrong end of someone else's particle cannon." 2 6 2 7 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 28 "Lucrecia, your grandma, gave this manual to everyone who signed on with her. She may have been an outlaw, but she ran a tight ship. You could go far by following her advice." Pirate's Charter and Crew Manual "Fighting, freedom and a fair share" Lucrecia Johnston, Xing Liu, and Lefty O'Hare 2 8 2 9 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 30 >:: Rules and Regulations :: Now I know you didn't sign up to be a pirate in order to keep your nose clean, but as long as you're in my crew, you'll dance to my tune. And if you don't like it, you'll leave. Discipline We run a tight operation and I expect reasonable discipline. Any crewmembers starting fights, drinking on duty and the like will be warned. If they repeat the offence they will lose shares. Anyone who wilfully endangers the safety of the base and crew, anyone who betrays our location or my trust, will be spaced. No exceptions. Off-duty crew can do what they want, provided it doesn't break the above rules or get in the way of operations. Shares and bonuses, in order of payment "She was a tough cookie, and reading this brings it all back. She's right, too ­ learn all her extra tricks and tactics, and you'll be set for anything they throw at you." > > > > > > > Life support and maintenance fund: Six shares Lucrecia Johnston: Four shares of all operations Lieutenants: Three shares Engineering team leaders: Two shares Flight wing leaders: Two shares plus kill bonus Pilots: One share plus kill bonus Base crew: One half share At my discretion, rich hauls and feats of notable daring or bravery may net bonus shares for those responsible. Command structure I'll keep this simple ­ pilots report to wing leaders, base crew to engineering team leaders. Leaders report to Lefty and Xing Liu, and they report to me. You don't need to salute your superiors, but you'd better jump if they say so. Final word That's it for the rules and regulations, apart from one more thing: read the rest of this manual and pay attention. I don't want anyone showboating or taking stupid risks, but I do want you flying to the limits of your ability. So learn, and then put what you've learned into practice. It'll serve you well in the long run. Good luck and good hunting, Lucrecia Johnston >:: Lefty's Advanced Flight Techniques :: Before you can fight like a pro, you need to fly like a pro. Don't think you can ignore this and survive. One of the pilots I knew who ignored ship management and piloting technique to concentrate on his gunnery learned the hard way. He didn't keep an eye on his life support systems, couldn't repair them when he needed to, and died a cold lonely death on the way back from an op. Advanced Piloting The Flight Computer When you move the joystick, your ship's flight computer is translating your movements into instructions for the thrusters mounted on your ship. For example if you pull the joystick towards you, the belly thrusters fire to pitch your ship upwards. When you release the stick, thrusters on the opposite side fire to bring you to a halt. 3 0 3 1 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 32 The same principle applies to your main engines. When you move the throttle, you're choosing a set speed, not controlling the engines directly. So if you are stationary and set the throttle to 500 m/s forward, you will hear your engines burn while you accelerate 500 m/s2. Once you get there, they'll stop burning and you'll coast along, carried by your own inertia. If you were then to pitch your nose up ninety degrees, the computer will fire the belly thrusters and main engine to cancel your original velocity and again leave you travelling at 500 m/s in the direction your ship is pointing. This is called assisted flight, since the computer is helping you out and making your life easier. Lateral thrusters Even if flight assist is switched on, you can directly activate your lateral thrusters and main engine using the thrust override controls. This gives you an edge over pilots relying solely on the computer, and some extra maneuvrability. To override your main engines or retros, use the keyboard W and S keys. long as the key is down, or toggle assist on and off for long periods of time by pressing N. When assist is off, the throttle setting is ignored, and you will drift in whatever direction you were last travelling unless you use your laterals or thrust override controls. You can make use of this drift to strafe large ships ­ set yourself up on a course along their length, then turn off flight assist and you can rotate to bring your guns to bear. You'll still be moving, but not towards the ship, so you their turrets will have a tough time tracking you, and you'll not crash into them. "Turning off flight assist might seem like a bad idea, but sometimes it can give you a real edge in a fight." Heat and Power Heat and overheating A combat starship is basically a big hot fusion pile with a cabin and guns on it. This generates a lot of heat, which has to be radiated into space by your heat sink. If you are damaged, or you over-use your energy weapons, it's possible to generate more heat than the sink can get rid of. Your hull temperature will then start to rise, and this can eventually cause critical damage. To help prevent this, the HUD displays your temperature on a dial to the lower right of the reticle. Pips count around the dial as the temperature increases. If your hull temperature gets too high, the computer will have to shut down systems to prevent serious damage. Although rare, it has been known for ships to be destroyed by over-zealous pilots who ignored the heat warnings. If you find yourself in this situation, you can try the following ways of reducing temperature: "Be careful. It's easy to keep your finger on the override and end up travelling at several kilometers per second. But it'll always take as long to stop as it did to get up to speed. This is bad if you're flying towards something big and solid, like a space station." To fire your lateral thrusters manually, you can hold down ALT and move the joystick. Your ship then moves in the direction you choose, so pushing left slides left, pushing up moves the ship straight up, and so on. The left and right lateral thrusters can also be fired using the keyboard A and D keys. This is often more useful, as you can sideslip to dodge an enemy's shots, and at the same time rotate with the joystick to keep your nose (and guns) pointing at him. > Avoid using weapons, especially energy weapons > Avoid using your thrusters and main engines > Reduce your reactor power in the engineering screen "Not flying into stars can help with that too..." "We called this circle strafing, and it can often tip the balance of one-on-one dogfights." Free flight When you control your laterals directly like this, you'll still have the benefit of flight assist. Sometimes it's useful to be able to turn this off too. Luckily, you can. Either hold CTRL to turn off flight assist for as Power and brownouts All systems on your ship draw energy from the ship's power plant. Most of the time you'll have plenty of surplus power, but if you load out too many systems, or your reactor is damaged, then you might suffer a brownout. This is when one or more systems are forced go offline due to a power shortage. 3 2 3 3 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 34 The HUD displays the power plant's output level next to the temperature icon. The icon will hide itself if the power level is not changing, and there aren't any power problems. You can also see the power levels of your individual systems on the HUD system status display, or in the engineering screen. System information Below the three warning lights is the system information bar. Highlight this bar and move left and right to cycle through all the systems on your ship. Each system will display a series of status bars, which display damage status and power consumption. Some systems may provide additional information, for example, ammo counts for weapons. The Engineering Screen The engineering screen allows you to inspect, and in some cases control, the systems on your ship. Don't forget that you can't modify your loadout from this screen ­ you need to go back to base and fit the equipment there. Use the command menu controls (Joystick Hat or Cursor Keys) to move the highlight around the engineering screen. The options available depend on the control you currently have selected. We'll look at all the options, from top to bottom. Designation At the very top of the screen is the name and class of the ship you are flying. Certain systems may be activated and deactivated. For example, you might want to turn your active sensors off to keep other ships from spotting you. Press Fire or Enter to toggle a system on and off. TRI The Tactical Resource Interface lets you adjust the way power is distributed between engines, weapons and shields, boosting one group of systems at the expense of the others. To adjust the TRI, select one of the power bars and move left or right to change its level. The other bars will also you allot power, and the point in the TRI will move to graphically display the current balance. Each bar is labelled with an icon: "Just in case you forget. Heh heh." Below this is your current IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) code. This is a unique signal that must be legally broadcast by every ship, allowing other ships to identify it. In some circumstances you might be able to change your IFF transponder and (for example) run under enemy colors. This is very useful for piracy and stealth missions, since enemy ships won't know you're trouble until they can actually see you. Alert lights Below the IFF code are three alert icons to let you know if you have problems with either power, heat or hull damage. These are the same as the HUD heat, power and emissions icons. ICON SYSTEM Propulsion and Drive Systems Weapons Systems Shield Systems To return the power balance to normal, so that all systems have an equal share, highlight the RESET TRI control below the power bars and press Fire or Enter. Power output Below the TRI is the power gauge. This displays the amount of power that your ships power plant is currently generating. Highlight the bar and move left or right to adjust the amount of power output. The plant may take a few seconds to respond to your changes. Reducing the output reduces the amount of heat generated and can make it harder for other ships to detect you. Most of the time though, you'll want to operate on full power. 3 4 3 5 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 36 Status display Finally, at the bottom of the screen there are overall status displays. From left to right the status displays show: > > > > System operation lights Overall hull integrity Emission levels Hull temperature "If you order your wingmen to do something dumb, such as defend an enemy or attack an ally, they'll usually complain..." If your wingmen succeed in their objective, they'll return to formation with you until you give them another order. >:: Lefty's Advanced Combat Tactics :: OK, now you've read all my wise words about flight, you get to learn about the fighting part. There's a lot to take on board here, and you'll likely survive without it for a while. There are as many favorite tactics as pilots, so the best approach is to try a few of these tricks in each new encounter to find what works for you. Turret Fighters You might have heard of T-fighters, but I doubt it. They're reported to be a prototype development of the C-fighter technology from the Independence War, but add some interesting wrinkles: when docked to a larger vessel they can act as rotating turrets, or be undocked and support the ship as independent fighters. T-fighters under your command are given orders in the same way as wingmen, using the COMMS submenu of the command menu, or number keys. You'll probably never get to use these, but what the heck... Group tactics Wingmen It's a rare thing that you'll be fighting alone ­ our pilots usually fly in wings of two or three ships. Lucrecia likes to keep things this way since it raises our odds of success. If you're experienced enough to be a wing leader, you'll be able to give orders to the other ships on the operation: your wingmen. Wingmen orders can be issued with the command menu (from the CMD/COMMS/WINGMEN submenu) or using the number keys on the keyboard. You can issue the following orders: Key 7 8 9 0 Turret Fighter Command Cease fire Attack my target Fire at will Attach/detach "We heard about the T-Fighters when we stole your command section from Laplace, but we never found out where they were keeping the prototypes. Damn shame too ­ Lefty and Xing Liu were really keen on the idea." Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wingman Command Report in Defend me Attack my target Defend my target Dock to my target Halt Tactical camera Most of the time, you'll use your eyes and the view out of the cockpit window to fly. In a complex furball, it can be easy to lose sight of your target, and this is where the tactical camera comes in. Your HUD will display an external view of your ship in the lower part of the screen, with the camera always locked to your target in the center. Some pilots find this makes controlling the ship harder, but it's great for keeping an eye on your target. Select the tactical camera with F2, and press F1 to return to the cockpit. 3 6 3 7 Manual E_of_K GB 3rd 7/30/01 12:24 Page 38 Getting the Edge Sub-targeting If you get close to an enemy ship, you can target its individual systems and take them out. A system targeted in this way is called a sub-target. This is great for piracy, since you can destroy a freighter's thrusters or LDS drive to prevent it escaping. protocols are standard across a wide range of vessels, but there are also clever security systems to prevent (say) heartless pirates from making off with freighters remotely... "Actually, we did do this once, but that's a story for another time." To remote pilot another ship, select it as your current target. Attempt the REM-link using the CMD submenu of the command menu, or by pressing SHIFT-R. If the remote link is successful your HUD will display a camera view from the other ship, and your control inputs will be routed through the link, allowing you to control the target ship. Cancel the link in the same way you established it. A word of warning: while you are REM-linked, your own ship is dead in space, and may get into trouble. "You can also sub-target cargo pods docked on to freighters, so you can see if they're worth pirating." To select a sub-target, place your reticle over your current target and press Joystick Button 2 or the Y key. The current sub-target is shown in the MFD. Sneaking around There are times when you will wish to conceal the presence of your ship from your enemies. Perhaps you want to sneak into a system and attack a key target, or maybe the cops are taking just a little too much interest in your whereabouts... In these situations you'll want to take steps to make yourself less detectable. The HUD displays an emission level dial to the lower right of the reticle. This shows how easy it is for other ships' sensors to detect you. The higher the reading on the dial, the less stealthy you are. Your emissions are mainly determined by: > Class of your ship. Larger ships are often less stealthy > How much heat you are generating > Your thrusters usage ­ all that plasma is easy to see > Whether your active sensors are enabled Try the following to reduce your emissions: > Reduce the power plant output in the engineering screen > Don't use thruster overrides, and keep the throttle setting low > Turn off your active sensors in the engineering screen > Don't go shooting your weapons all over Weapon tips "Pretty sensible, really." LDSi missiles and LDSi fields Normally, an LDS drive can be used just about anywhere. Unless you disable it with an LDSi (LDS-Inhibit) field, that is... LDSi field generators are commonly mounted inside space stations to keep local traffic from hitting the station at LDS speeds. You can generate your own LDSi field by firing an LDSi missile or mine. The missile will track a target in LDS and generate a large LDSi field when it detonates. We often use these devices to stop freighters from getting away. Don't forget that the effect of an LDSi missile dissipates over time, so you need to press your advantage and disable the target quickly before it can get away. Particle beam cannon Most of the energy guns you will use are based on particle beam cannon (PBC) technology. Here comes the science bit: PBCs divert plasma from your ship's power plant and use it to emit focused blasts of charged particles at your target. The focussing effect dissipates with range, so PBCs are most effective close-in. Ideally you want to keep one or two kilometres between you and your target. And remember that the most vulnerable part of any ship is its unshielded drive section. REM missiles Remote missiles differ from ordinary missiles in that they are guided by REM-link instead of an internal guidance system. When you launch a remote missile, you REMlink to it automatically as soon as it arms. Fly the missile into your target, or press the Fire button to detonate. The space that would have been used for the guidance system is used for a larger payload, so remotes are often more deadly than standard missiles. You need a steady hand though, so they aren't for everyone. Disruptor missiles A special guided weapon that disables the systems on enemy ships, leaving them vulnerable and tumbling. This is particularly useful if you can use the window of vulnerability to cripple or destroy the ship. "Back in the war I knew a Commonwealth captain who thought stealth tactics were cowardly. He died unnecessarily." Remote piloting All commercial and military ships have an emergency control back-up system, which allows them to be controlled remotely. REM-link 3 8 3 9