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Galactic Empire

(c) Copyright 1988 - 1993

M. B. Murdock & Assoc.

All Rights Reserved

USERS GUIDE

version 3.2

Revised 02/01/94

Table of Contents

-----------------------------

1.0 ...... Introduction

2.0 ...... Game Environment

3.0 ...... Your First Ship

4.0 ...... Navigating

5.0 ...... Owning Planets

6.0 ...... Game Strategy

7.0 ...... Battle Strategy

8.0 ...... Planetary Battles

9.0 ...... Cyborgs and Cybertrons

10.0 ...... Scoring

11.0 ...... Commands

12.0 ...... Enhancements

1.0 Introduction

It is 3250 in the standard year, 975 years since man has developed inter-planetary space navigation, and 412 years since neutron flux warp technology was perfected by the ship builders of Zygor. They currently lead the industry with the state of the art ships and weapons systems.

These are good times where a commander with a good ship and some business sense can make himself very very rich. Many of the planets in the known universe are ideal for basing industries to supply the demands of the interstellar fleet. These are also times when the less scrupulous commanders can overrun a distant settlement and claim the planet for his own. It is not a good idea to leave a distant settlement unprotected and the Galactic Command (an ad hoc legal body) recommends that commanders check up on their colonists regularly.

Once you have secured your ship, it is yours to command and keep maintained. The Zygorians will outfit you with enough supplies to get you started but you will surely run out if you encounter any rouge ships. The Galactic Command recommends you find and settle some planets immediately to secure a supply source for your ship. Or you can purchase supplies from other commanders with whom you have established trade agreements.

The object of the game is to build and maintain as large an empire as you can sustain, using any means you find appropriate. You can do this by yourself or with a team of other players. Your System Operator will inform you of the prizes and awards for becoming the top player(s) in the game.

Good luck and beware the dreaded Cybertrons at all cost.

2.0 Game Environment

The game takes place in a universe with millions of sectors and thousands of known planets. Each sector is 10000 by 10000 parsecs square. The entire navigable galaxy is 6000 by 6000 sectors numbered from the center of the galaxy to the edges. Sectors are mapped on a two coordinate system giving a galactic map that looks something like this;

+--------------------------------------+

|-300,-300                    +300,-300|

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                 0,0                  |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|-300,+300                    +300,+300|

+--------------------------------------+

Each sector is measured 10000 by 10000 parsecs square measured from the top left to bottom right as follows;

+--------------------------------------+

|0,0                             0,9999|

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|              5000,5000               |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|                                      |

|9999,0                       9999,9999|

+--------------------------------------+

In each sector there may be between 0 and 9 planetary bodies. Each planet has various environmental and resource qualities. The best planet has very good resources and a very good environment.

Sector 0 0 is governed by the Galactic Command and is a declared neutral zone. This policy is maintained by the enforcer planet Enforcer-9. A single hostile action by any player in this sector will be met with a swift and preemptive strike from the Galactic Commands top secret weapons base on Enforcer-9.

Sector 0 0 also has the first planet Zygor, the leaders in state-of-the-art weapons and ship hardware. Zygor manufactures the various ships and the weapons they carry. It is also home of the Galactic Monetary Reserve Fund, the only duly authorized financial institution in the Galaxy.

Planet number two in Sector 0 0 is Tahanian Station, a embarking station for colonists and mercenary soldiers. This is also where you can purchase food supplies.

There are several wormholes in sector 0 0 which provide portals to other distant sectors.

Once out of Sector 0 0 it is a free for all, and you have to decide how to best defend yourself and your planets.

Additionally Sector 0 0 has three portals (stable wormholes) to other parts of the galaxy. These can be used to help you cross the galaxy faster or to escape enemy ships.

3.0 Your First Ship

Your first ship is an Interceptor class fighter. It is outfitted with neutron flux warp drives and standard sub-warp impulse drives. The impulse drives can attain speeds of up to .99 percent light speed while the flux drives can attain warp 5.

The Interceptor is an extremely fast response, light weight fighter designed for scouting. It is outfitted with Mark-1 shields and Mark-1 phasers, hyper-phasers, torpedoes, and defensive decoys. The torpedoes are controlled by a Fire Control System that locks onto the target and guides the weapon to the target. Torpedoes are very fast and carry a fixed but powerful charge, and cannot be used when in hyper space.

The phasers are line-of-sight weapons which you fire in a specific direction. Hyper-phasers are automatically chosen when in hyper-space as they are the more powerful weapon, taking hyper-energy directly off the neutron flux. Plasma-phasers have an additional feature of being focus able allowing you to create a wider beam that has less "punch" but is easier to score a hit on a moving target.

The Interceptor has defensive systems that include deflector shields, and decoy's. The deflector shields are useful for protecting from plasma-phasers, and lightly charged missiles, but will not stand up to many torpedo blasts. Decoys are small drone ships used to distract, confuse, and divert incoming missiles and torpedoes. It gives off an electronic image that resembles a much larger ship, will attract an incoming weapon, and self destruct destroying the incoming weapon.

The ship has a communications console with three separate transmission channels. You can set each to a specific channel or to the HAIL setting which permits you to receive all general hailing messages. If you create alliances you can set one radio to an agreed upon channel and have a private and secure communications path between members of your alliance.

Finally, your ship has facilities to support a small complement of colonists, troops, fighters, and supplies. The ship can hold a maximum of 500 tons of these supplies.

4.0 Navigating

An explanation of the coordinate system and some of the terms used in navigating in the galaxy will help you get started. Galactic Empire functions on a 360 degree compass and is strictly two dimensional. The major bearings are illustrated as follow;

         315  0  45

            \ | /

             \|/

       270----*----90

             /|\

            / | \

         225 180 135

BEARING - Bearing is always used to indicate where a particular ship or planet is in relation to you. It is relative to the direction you are facing and expressed in a number from -180 to +180. If a object is bearing -90, it is to the left of you, if +90 it is to the right of you, if 0 it is directly in front of you, and if - or + 180 it is directly behind you.

HEADING - Heading is the relative direction of the other ship. It is used to indicate when a ship is facing toward or away from you. A heading of 0 means the ship is facing toward you, while a heading of 180 is away from you.

GALACTIC HEADING - This is the absolute heading in the galaxy. A galactic heading of 0 means you (or the other ship) is facing north up.

WORMHOLES - Wormholes are fairly rare galactic anomalies caused by a paired spatial singularity. The effect it to create a means of "leaping" across the galaxy to another sector. To navigate through a wormhole you must carefully approach it directly at about 1/4 impulse. You will be pulled into the wormhole and emerge at the terminal sector. If you approach too fast you will simply miss the event horizon. If you approach too slow you may oscillate between terminal sectors. Each time you pass through a wormhole some damage to systems may occur. Passing through a wormhole while severely damaged is not recommended. Wormholes are usually by-directional but an even rarer form of one way wormhole has been speculated to exist.

The NAV command can be used to assist with inter-sector navigation. It will always produce a direction and distance to the upper-left corner of a sector.

5.0 Owning Planets

In order to build up wealth you must colonize planets and maintain them. Planets are claimed by simply going into orbit around one and using the ADMIN command. You should be choosy at first about which planets you put a population on, as surviving on a poor planet can be very difficult and require frequent supply runs.

Planets are rated on two factors, resources, and environment, with the following categories, POOR, MARGINAL, GOOD, and VERY GOOD. The resources factor rates the natural resources of the planet. A rating of good or very good will insure that your population has plenty of natural resources to use in the establishment of the colony, and the manufacture of goods. The environment factor rates the hospitality of the planet and how difficult it will be for a colony to survive. A rating of good, or very good, will insure that the majority of their efforts go toward producing goods and not simply surviving.

Once you have claimed a planet you need to establish a population on it. This is done with the TRANSFER command to shuttle items from your ship to the planet. Once a colony is established they become an somewhat independent society. Anything you transfer to the planet belongs to them, you cannot transfer it back. If you wish to retrieve items from a planet you must purchase them from the planet at the base price.

It is a good idea to leave some additional items on a planet besides men. They are;

FOOD - If you fail to leave food on the planet you will find your men and troops all dead when you return next time. It is a good idea to leave a case for each 10 men & troops you have.

TROOPS - Troops are mercenaries who produce nothing but serve to defend your planet from outside attacks, and squelch social unrest. They must be fed well, and will fight to the death when attacked.

FIGHTERS - Fighters will defend your planet from both ground troop invasions and fighter attacks. They provide a primary defense force for your planet. Your troops will not be called into action unless the fighters are all destroyed.

ION CANNON - This is a large defensive cannon which will attack any hostile ship that is in orbit around your planet. It will fire once every few seconds, and can destroy a ship in just a few blasts. An attacking ship won't stay long with an ion cannon firing upon them. You can have multiple ion cannons, but only one will be active at a time.

There are several other factors you may adjust when you establish a planet. When the planet is first established your colony is instructed to divide their efforts evenly between the manufacture of food and the pro-creation of population (an ardous chore to be sure) You may wish to alter this to provide for the production of supplies or let your planet grow at maximum rate, its up to you.

Additionally, you can tax your planet at a specific rate. The harsher the tax the less the productivity. Tax is your principle source of income for purchasing supplies for your ship. This tax is kept in the planetary bank until you arrive to collect it.

The higher the taxes the more social unrest there is likely to be. Troops must be maintained to keep the social discontent from becoming a full scale revolt.

Your colony will produce all the supplies you need for your ship if managed properly. These goods are cheapest at your own planets as Zygor charges three times the base rate for goods. The cash you spend on supplies goes into the planetary bank and is used to purchase more raw materials when the Inter-galactic supply ships come around.

You can decide to sell supplies to other players if you like, and even mark up the price to other players. If you wish to be selective in who can purchase from your planets you can establish a trade password for your planet and only those who know the password can buy from you. This is also useful in establishing an alliance with other players where you all would set your planets to the same password and agree on the price to charge each other. Non-members will be excluded from trading with your alliance.

Remember that the better your planet, the more attractive it is to marauders. Nothing can take the place of a well rounded defense system and frequent supply runs. Leaving a planet un-checked for more than a few days may spell disaster for your colony.

6.0 Game Strategy

Your ship is equipped with nothing when you first enter the game, you are not in any eminent danger as sector 0 0 is a neutral zone. You are provided with an interceptor and an amount of cash with which you must decide what you are going to do.

On Zygor you can purchase shield systems, phaser systems, missiles, torpedoes, fighters, decoys, and ion cannons. Note: some of these may not be available or useful on some ship classes (see HELP CLASS for more information).

On Tahanian Station you can purchase colonists (men), troops, and food. Your first goal should be to secure an income for yourself, and therefore provide a source for taxes you will need to expand your empire, and keep your ships fully stocked. To do this you should purchase men, troops, food, and some fighters. Locate as good a planet as you can find and colonize it. It is advisable that you steer clear of other ships unless you know they are friendly.

An alternative, albeit somewhat immoral, strategy is to purchase weapons and lie waiting for other ships to leave sector 0 0. When they do mount an attack and upon destroying their ship, gain what remains of the supplies on their ship. After several successful attacks you may have enough to colonize a planet or two.

When you do colonize a planet you should redirect the majority of the effort to producing men, food, and troops, and gaining cash with which you can purchase larger and more powerful ships and expand your empire.

Remember, these are only a couple suggested strategies, and others are only limited by your imagination.

7.0 Battle Strategy

The flexibility of Galactic Empire precludes an exhaustive discussion of all the strategies involved in user versus user battling. Some suggestions are simply put forth here to get you started.

When in a potential battle situation make sure your shields are up, and keep moving. The easiest target is a ship with shields down, sitting still.

If your ship has a cloaking system, use it sparingly as it consumes incredible amounts of energy. It is most useful in covering a retreat.

If you have incoming torpedoes you can ditch them easily by making a jump to light speed. This does not work for missiles though.

Launching decoys does not guarantee that the incoming missiles or torpedoes will be destroyed. Launching more decoys than incoming weapons increases the chance of destroying an incoming weapon.

When launching an attack try to get close to the target and use the faster torpedoes as they will have less time to react.

If a target goes to light speed be prepared to make the jump with him and use Hyper-Phasers as soon as you pass warp 1.

If you get hit with a Hyper-Phaser immediately go into a series of 180 degree high speed turns as your opponent will have difficulty locating you. Go out of light speed in another sector and immediately cloak (if you have a cloaking system) as a last ditch effort to loose your pursuers.

Form alliances to help protect each other from marauders. Remember two ships are twice as powerful as one.

When you are under attack you cannot EXIT the game to avoid your attackers. If you hang-up while you are under attack your ship will be destroyed. Remember "Death before Dishonor"!!

If you are damaged try to make it back to sector 0 0 or to one of your own planets where you can get your ship repaired with the MAINT command. Remember the cost for everything is much more expensive in Sector 0 0.

When you kill another ship you will get some of his goods on his ship. This can be very helpful when you are running low.

When you want to find another player in hyper space use the SCAN RA command if the player is close or SCAN LO if the player is far away. The long range scanner will tell you where another player is in the galaxy.

8.0 Planetary Battles

Planets can defend themselves with troops, fighters, and ion cannons. If you have no troops or fighters then your planet can be easily overrun.

FIGHTERS are Nova Class Battle Fighters commanded by a fully automated tactical computer. They have inboard and outboard photon cannons capable of powerful and deadly offensive and defensive attacks. When pitted against troops the fighter is deadly, capable of taking out between 10 and 50 troops in a pass. When pitted against other fighters they are fairly evenly matched.

TROOPS are trained mercenaries, and serve no other function than the defense or attack on a planet. The consume food, maintain there skills, and mostly play cards. But when needed they will fight to the death.

ION CANNONS are the very powerful fixed focus, ion-plasma transmitters, capable of taking out a Star Class ship with only a few strikes. They are strictly defensive weapons controlled by a fully automated system. When the planet comes under attack they will automatically locate the attacker and commence firing upon the ship.

When attacking a planet you are always at a disadvantage, as the local troops and fighters are better supported and fresh. Knowing this you should always plan on commencing a battle with superior numbers.

Begin with a fighter attack. If they have no fighters you will overpower the troops rather quickly. If they have fighters you will be in a better position to do battle.

After each wave your fighters or troops will return to your ship. If you wish to send them back you can do so. Remember, you will not take a planet so long as 1 fighter or 1 squad of troops (5) exists on the planet.

9.0 Cyborgs and Cybertrons

Cyborgs are a race of automatons which are bent on the destruction of all humans from the universe. They command a class of ship manufactured specifically for them, the Cybertron. Both pilot and ship function as a single fighting unit and they can be quite deadly.

The Cybertron is armed with phasers, and torpedoes, but has no missile capability. They can be deadly in hyper space with hyper-phasers, but cannot recycle the phaser as fast as most other ships. Cybertrons are prone to battle failure, and they will malfunction occasionally. This is often noted by strange transmissions from their ship.

When attacked the Cybertron may summon other Cyborg Class ships to aid in the battle. If a Cybertron gets damaged too much they may launch jammers to cover a retreat. Be careful as they may often mine an area prior to leaving.

Finally, Cybertrons will not attack interceptors and freighters unless first provoked, so don't mess with them unless you know what you are doing.

10.0 Scoring

The Score Board is updated in real time and each night, during the nightly cleanup of the system.

Scores are based upon the size of your empire and the number and class of kills you have accumulated is ship to ship combat. Each class of ship is worth a different number of points as detailed below;

Interceptor 10

Light Freighter 25

Heavy Freighter 75

Destroyer 150

Star Cruiser 200

Battle Cruiser 250

Frigate 300

Dreadnought 500

Freight Barge 200

Cybertron Scout 75

Cybertron Battle Cruiser 200

Additionally you are awarded as a bonus, a small percentage of the killed players score on top of the ship points.

Finally, when you kill another player, his score goes down also. This means that you can actually knock him down on the top player list making it easier to overtake him (or pass him further).

While you can quickly gain a good score with points gained from ship to ship combat, over the long haul the scoring system awards the highest scores to players who create planetary empires and manage them well.

11.0 Commands

All commands can be abbreviated to 3 characters for speed. Most commands have a full explanation displayed if they are entered with no options or improperly.

11.1 ABANDON - Abandon a planet previously claimed

The abandon command will release ownership of a planet previously claimed. You must be in orbit around the planet to be abandoned. Issue the abandon command as follows;

abandon

simple enough.

11.2 ABORT - Abort a self destruct sequence

This command will abort a self destruct sequence.

11.3 ADMIN - claim and administer a planet once in orbit.

This command is used to claim and administer a planet. If the planet is un-owned then you will be asked if you wish to settle it;

Do you wish to settle this planet, Sir! (y/n)? --->

If you respond YES then you own the planet and will be prompted;

The Protocol Officer requests an appropriate name for the planet Sir, (20 characters max) --->

Once you declare a name you can now adjust your policies with the ADMINISTRATION MENU.

Planet Administration Menu

-----------------------------------

1 - Get accounting report

2 - Collect taxes ($)

3 - Alter work assignments and

adjust trade policy/pricing

4 - Rename planet

5 - Adjust Tax Rate

6 - Set Trade Password

7 - Set Beacon Message

x - Exit to command mode


Please Select (1 - 6) --->

1 - Displays a full accounting report on the planet as follows;

    Planet Accounting report for Cyclops 1

   --------------------------------------

   Item          Rate Qty  Price Resv S Mkup  Sold

   men            50 1911     2 10000 N   10    0

   missiles        0   25    20   100 N   0    20

   torpedoes       0    7     7   100 N   0     1

   ion cannons     0    0    33   100 N   0     0

   flux pods       0    0   200   100 N   0     0

   food cases     10  790     2  1000 N  50     0

   fighters       40   17    50  1000 N 100    41

   decoys          0   12    18   100 N   0     0

   troops          0  100     1   100 N   0     0

   jammers         0    0    50   100 N   0     0

   zippers         0    0    50   100 N   0     0

   mines           0    0    50   100 N   0     0

   --------------------------------------

   Cash in Planetary Bank ..... 266

   Tax Revenue ................ 2229

   Tax Rate ................... 50

   Trade password.............. none

    --------------------------------------

"Rate" is the percentage of the effort of the population being put into the production of this item. The total of all items cannot exceed 100%.

"Qty" is the number on hand.

"Price" is the base price set by the Galactic Command. You cannot charge any less than this amount. This is also the price charged to the "owner" of this planet for each good (explained further below).

"Resv" is the number of each item to reserve for the use of the population or the "owner". Your colonists will only sell what is in excess of this amount.

"S" is the flag indicating whether this good is for sale at all. A "N" indicates that it is not for sale, while a "Y" means that it is.

"Mkup" is the amount over the price to charge for each item. The "owner" will not be charged the marked up price, only other players.

"Sold" is the quantity of the item sold.

"Cash in Planetary Bank" is cash that has been paid for goods sold. This cash is not available to the owner as it belongs to the colonists. They will use it to purchase raw materials from Galactic Command Supply Ships. Having a cash surplus enhances the production of goods.

"Tax revenue" is the amount of taxes collected from the colonists. This amount is available to the "owner" and can be collected with selection #2.

"Tax Rate" is the percentage of tax being assessed on the colonists. The higher the tax the more tax revenue collected, but the lower the production of the colonists. A tax rate of 100% will assess a 1 C tax per person per day. Example: in the above display there are 1911 colonists, and a tax rate of 50%. This will generate 955 C's each day.

"Trade Password" is the password you have set with selection #6. This password will be asked of anyone before they can buy any goods. It is also asked prior to permitting a ship to get repairs at your planet. If set to "none" then no password will be required.

2 - Will permit you to collect taxes from the planetary bank and place them on your ship. The Galactic Command recommends you do this often as an attacker will gain all the taxes if they overtake your planet.

3 - Will permit you to adjust your policies concerning a given item. When selected the following menu is displayed;

Select the item to adjust

----------------------------

men = adjust men

mis = adjust missiles

tor = adjust torpedoes

ion = adjust ion cannons

flu = adjust flux pods

foo = adjust food

fig = adjust fighters

dec = adjust decoys

tro = adjust troops

zip = adjust zippers

jam = adjust jammers

min = adjust mines

----------------------------

Select now -->

Select an item to adjust and you will be prompted;

Select the percentage of effort toward men. --->

Select an amount between 0 and 100 percent. Remember if you already have assigned most of the activity you may need to first reduce an item before increasing one.

Charge how much for Men. --->

Enter the amount to charge to other ships, if you are not going to sell this can be 0.

Sell men to other ships? (y/n) --->

Enter Y if you wish to permit anyone (yourself included) to purchase goods from this planet, enter N if not.

Reserve how many men for stock piling --->

Enter an amount of goods to reserve for yourself, or the planet. This is useful in preventing another ship from purchasing too many goods (such as fighters) and endangering the colony.

4 - Will permit you to change the name of the planet. You will be prompted;

The Protocol Officer requests an appropriate name for the

planet Sir, (20 characters max) --->

5 - Will permit you to set the tax rate to charge the colonists, you will be prompted as follows;

Enter the new TAX rate (0 - 100) --->

A tax rate of 0 will entice the colonists to produce as much as possible, while a tax rate of 100% will reduce their productivity to 20% of full production.

6 - Will prompt you for the new trade password as follows;

Enter the new password "team" or "none" --->

If you enter the word "team" the planet becomes a team planet and any member of your current team can trade with your planet. If you change teams later you MUST change the password to "team" AGAIN as this is when the team ID is read and recorded.

If you enter the word "none" there will be no trade password in effect. Any other word will become the trade password. This is useful for creating alliances as all the members of an alliance can set their password to the same word and all can trade and get repairs from each other.

7 - Will set a beacon message that is broadcast to all ships who come within range of your planet.

X - Will return you to command mode.

11.4 ATTACK - Attack a planet with Fighters or Troops

Issue the Attack command as follows;

attack [<number>] [tro/fig]

number = number of troops or fighters to attack with;

tro = send <number> troops to the surface.

fig = send <number> fighters to the surface.

Examples: attack 100 tro

attack 30 fighters

Provided you have sufficient fighters or troops to send to the planet the battle will commence, you will see a blow by blow report of the progress of the battle. After the attack, and provided there are any survivors, your remaining forces will return to the ship. You can then decide to attack again, or lick your wounds and go away.

If the planet has an Ion Cannon then any hostilities will trigger the ion cannon to fire. The Ion Cannon will continue to fire so long as you are in orbit.

Should your attacking forces meet little or no resistance than you will conquer the planet and its goods, funds, and civilization is yours.

TIP: Match fighters against fighters and troops against troops. If fighters are present on the planet, begin with a fighter attack until the fighters are knocked out. Then proceed with a ground assault using troops. Pitting troops against fighters will yield disappointing results.

11.5 BUY - Buy goods or colonists from a planet

The Buy command will permit you to purchase goods from one of your own planets or another players planet. Issue the Buy command as follows;

buy [<number>] [men/tro/mis/tor/ion/flu/foo/fig/dec/min/jam/zip/gol] [<password>]

number = the number you want to buy.

men = buy men

tro = buy troops

mis = buy missiles

tor = buy torpedoes

ion = buy ion cannons

flu = buy flux pods

foo = buy food

fig = buy fighters

dec = buy decoys

min = buy mines

jam = buy jammers

zip = buy zippers

gol = buy gold

password = optional trade password may be required by planet.

examples:

buy 1000 men

buy 3 ion

buy 500 foo drowssap

All goods put onboard your ship must be purchased, or if permitted, transferred up. The cash will go towards improving the general conditions of the population. Additionally the population will use the cash to purchase more supplies and increase its production levels.

11.6 CLOAK - Turn on or off the cloaking system

The Cloak command will turn on or off the cloaking system, if your ship is equipped. The cloaking system consumes large amounts of power and you should be careful not to drain all your energy pool. Due to the time it takes to charge the ST-Coils there is a few seconds of delay before the ship actually becomes invisible.

Issue the command as;

Cloak [ON/OFF]

Example: cloak on

cloak off

11.7 CLS - Clear the screen using ANSI Clear Screen Sequence.

The CLS command is useful if your screen becomes cluttered and you want to clear it.

11.8 DECOY - deploy a decoy

The Decoy command deploys a single decoy. Decoys proceed away from your ship and send a sensor signature that resembles your ship. If a torpedo or missile comes near the decoy the decoy will explode and destroy the inbound weapon. The decoy will self destruct after a period of time to prevent stray decoys floating around in your navigation path.

11.9 DESTRUCT - Start the self destruct sequence

The Destruct command will begin a self destruct countdown timer that when it reaches zero will destroy your ship. The countdown can be aborted with the ABORT command.

11.10 FLUX - Load a new flux pod into the neutron engines

The Flux command will replace an exhausted Flux Pod from the energy pool with a new one. This command presumes that you want it changed now, and does not warn you if there is still a good percentage of power left in the old pod. The old pod is jettisoned. Your power is restored to full charge automatically.

11.11 FREQ - Sets the communications channel frequency

The freq command permits you to specify the channels you want your ships communication system set to.

Issue the freq command as follows;

freq [<channel>] [hail/<freq>]

<channel> = Your communications channel A, B, or C as set by the FREQ command.

hail = Sets the channel to accept all hailing messages.

<freq> = The frequency to set this channel to.

examples: freq A 12345

freq b hail

freq c 23221

note: Channel frequencies above 20000 are converted to hyper space modulation packets and transmitted through hyper space.

Channel frequencies below 20000 are transmitted in the current star system only.

11.12 HELP - Display help information

Issue the help command as follows;

help [<topic>/<command>]

Commands: abandon abort admin attack buy cloak cls decoy destruct flux freq help impulse jammer maintenance mine missile new orbit phaser planet price rename report roster rotate scan send set shield torpedo transfer warp zipper

Topics: battle class communicate cybertron galaxy navigate planets scoring sector starting strategy

The Help command will display a vast amount of information on Galactic Empire.

11.13 IMPULSE - Engage the impulse engines

The Impulse command directs your impulse (sub-light) engines and sets your course and speed. Issue the Impulse command as follows;

impulse [<speed>] [<heading>]

speed = the impulse speed between 0 and 99 (99 is .99 light speed)

heading = the heading from your current direction

Examples:

impulse 5 0 would alter the speed to impulse 5 and not change the heading.

impulse 10 5 would alter the speed to impulse 10 and turn the ship 5 degrees to the starboard (right).

impulse 10 355 would alter the speed to impulse 10 and turn the ship 5 degrees to the port (left).

11.14 JAM - Launch a Jammer

The jammer command will cause a jammer device to be launched. It disrupts all scanner systems on all ships within range of the device, yours included. It is useful for covering an escape or distracting an opponent.

Issue the jammer command as follows;

Jammer

Simple enough!

11.145 JETTESON - Jetteson some or all of an item type

The JET command allows you to dump some or all of a given item. This frees up cargo space for other items. Issue the command as follows;

jettison [ALL/<number>] [men/tro/mis/tor/ion/flu/foo/fig/dec/min/jam]

examples:

jettison ALL ion

jettison 500 foo

11.15 LOCK - Lock fire control on a particular ship

The Lock command permits you to lock your fire control systems onto a specific ship no matter what its letter designation changes to. As long as the ship is within scanner range the fire control systems will remain locked onto that specific ship. This is extremely useful when in heated battle and multiple ships are in the vicinity. Ship letter designated -A- may become -B- or -C- as other ships move closer to you. The Lock command permits you to stay locked on to the ship as distances and letter designates change.

Commands like MISSILE and TORPEDO can be then be used with the Lock option to fire on the ship you have locked onto. Issue the Lock command as follows;

lock [<ship letter designate>]

-or-

lock

examples: lock A would lock onto the closest ship.

lock B would lock onto the second closest ship.

lock would cause the lock to be released.

Note: Once a ship is killed the lock is released automatically.

11.16 MAINTENANCE - Requests maintenance from a planet.

The Maintenance command functions when you are in orbit at your own planet or Zygor. The maintenance crews will start repairing your ship and charge you a nominal fee of 200c's at your own planet and 2500c's at Zygor.

Leaving orbit early will cease all repairs on the ship.

11.17 MINE - Launch a Neutron Mine

The MINE command causes a neutron mine to be deposited at your current location. You specify how long until detonation permitting you time to leave the spot for safety. Mines are useful when you are being tailed by another ship. Beware that they are very powerful and you can also be damaged by them if you don't get far enough away.

Issue the MINE command as follows;

mine [<time>]

time = the time till detonation in centocks (approx. 5 seconds).

This can be set from 1 to 50.

Example: mine 10 will deposit a mine to detonate in 10 centocks

11.18 MISSILE - Fire a missile

The Missile command instructs your ship to fire a hyper-missile at a given ship with a given charge. This missile guidance system will attempt to lock on the ship prior to firing the missile. If a lock is made the missile is launched. Missiles are slower and you determine the amount of charge to place in them. They are basically a Hyper-drive engine with a target tracking system, designed to produce a Neutron flux implosion of any remaining energy when it nears its target. They will continue to track a target into Hyper space to deliver its charge.

Issue the Missile command as follows;

missile [<ship letter>/@] [<energy>]

ship letter = the ship you are firing upon

@ = to fire at the locked on ship

energy = the energy from your Neutron Flux Pile to charge into the missile.

Examples:

missile A 100 would fire a missile at ship A which will only cause minor (if any) damage.

missile C 20000 would fire a missile at ship C which will cause major damage.

missile @ 10000 would fire on the ship that a previous Lock command has locked on to.

Note: the energy imparted to the missile must come from your charged neutron flux pile and will drain the pile by 10% of that amount.

11.19 NAVIGATE - Invoke the navigation assist function

The navigate command will give you a bearing and distance to a sector. Please issue the Navigate command as follows;

navigate [sector]

sector number = the sector number you wish to navigate to.

Examples: navigate sector 0 0 give a bearing and distance to sector 0 0.

11.20 NEW - Purchase a new ship, phaser system, or shields.

The New command permits you to purchase from the ship yards at Zygor one of several types of shields, phaser systems, or even a new ship.

Issue the New command as follows;

New [shield/ship/phaser] [<type>]

type = the class type of the shield, phaser, or ship you wish to purchase.

---- Shields ----   ---- Phasers ----   ------ Ships ------

  Mark-1 Shield = 1   Mark-1 Phaser = 1   Interceptor     = 1

  Mark-2 Shield = 2   Mark-2 Phaser = 2   Light Freighter = 2

  Mark-3 Shield = 3   Mark-3 Phaser = 3   Heavy Freighter = 3

  Mark-4 Shield = 4   Mark-4 Phaser = 4   Destroyer       = 4

  Mark-5 Shield = 5   Mark-5 Phaser = 5   Star Cruiser    = 5

  Mark-6 Shield = 6                       Battle Cruiser  = 6

                                          Frigate         = 7

                                          Dreadnought     = 8

Examples:

new ship 2 purchase a new Heavy Freighter

Note: you must be orbiting around Zygor in Sector 0 0 to issue this command.

Prices of shields and phasers can be obtained from the HELP NEWPRICE command.

11.21 ORBIT - Enter into an orbit around a planet

The Orbit command instructs your ship to enter into orbit around a given planet. Issue the Orbit command as follows;

orbit [<planet #>]

planet # = the planet you are wishing to orbit.

Example:

orbit 2

Note: You must be 250 or closer to orbit a planet!

11.22 PHASER - Fires either the normal, or Hyper-phasers.

The Phaser command directs your ships phasers to fire in a given direction with a given beam spread. The more narrow the beam the stronger the hit, but the more difficult it is to get a hit.

Issue the Phaser command as follows;

phaser [<direction>] [<spread>]

direction = the heading to fire the phasers at, usually the same as the bearing of another ship given in the "scan sh" command.

spread = the focus of the beam (0 to 5). 0 gives the most concentrated beam but is so narrow that you must be dead on to get a hit. 1 and 2 are good numbers to use if you know where a target is located. Use 5 if you know he is close but cloaked.

Examples:

phaser 4 1 fire 4 degrees off starboard, focus 1.

phaser 180 5 fire directly behind focus 5.

When in hyper space the normal ships phasers are useless. The Hyper-Phaser however can be deadly. The Hyper-Phaser Beam is very narrow but very powerful and can destroy another ship with only a few well placed shots.

Issue the Hyper-Phaser command as follows;

phaser [<direction>]

direction = the heading to fire the phasers at, usually the same as the bearing of another ship given in the "scan sh" command. With the Hyper-Phaser you must be pin-point accurate to score a hit.

Examples:

phaser 4 fire 4 degrees off starboard.

phaser 180 fire directly behind you.

Note: The Fire Control System automatically switches to Hyper-Phasers when in hyper space.

11.23 PLANETS - Lists the planets in your empire

Produces a list of the planets registered to you. This list is only current as of 3AM each day. Any planets added to your empire today will not appear in the list until tomorrow due to the nightly processing involved.

11.24 PRICE - Get a price quote prior to a purchase

The Price command permits you to get a price for a quantity of goods prior to actually purchasing them. Issue the Price command as follows;

price [<number>] [men/tro/mis/tor/ion/flu/foo/fig/dec/min/jam/zip/gol]

men = price men

tro = price troops

mis = price missiles

tor = price torpedoes

ion = price ion cannons

flu = price flux pods

foo = price food

fig = price fighters

dec = price decoys

min = price mines

jam = price jammers

zip = price zippers

gol = price gold

examples:

price 1000 men

price 3 ion

price 500 foo

11.25 RENAME - Rename your ship

The Rename command will change the name assigned to your ship. Issue the Rename command as follows;

rename <new ship name

<new ship name> is the new name for your ship.

Example:

rename Hippo will rename your ship to "The Hippo"

Note: leave off the "The" as it will be automatically inserted.

11.26 REPORT - Generates several types of status reports

The Report command gives you status information on navigation, ships systems, inventory, and accounting.

Issue the Report command as follows;

report [nav/sys/inv/acc]

Examples:

report nav - produces a navigational report

report sys - produces a systems report

report inv - produces an inventory report

report acc - produces an accounting report

11.27 ROSTER - Displays a top players roster

The Roster command will display the Top Players Roster.

Issue the Roster command as follows;

roster [all]

Examples:

roster - Produce a top 20 list

roster all - Produce a complete list of all players scores.

11.28 ROTATE - Rotate the ships heading

The Rotate command will cause to directional thrusters to rotate the ship a specified number of degrees. The ship must be stationary first. The ship will automatically turn in the direction which causes the shortest arc to arrive at the given heading.

Issue the Rotate command as follows;

rotate [<heading>]

-or-

rotate [@<absolute heading>]

heading = the heading from your current direction

absolute heading = the galactic heading you wish to go (ie. 0 = north, 90 = east, 180 = south, 270 = west)

Examples:

rotate 5 would turn the ship 5 degrees to the starboard (right).

rotate -5 would turn the ship 5 degrees to the port (left).

rotate @355 would turn you to absolute 355 degrees.

Note: that the heading is relative from your current heading and not fixed unless you use the @ flag.

11.29 SCAN - displays several types of tactical scans

The Scan command permits you to direct the ships tactical scanners in a number of different ways.

Issue the Scanner command as follows;

scan [se/sh/pl/ra/lo] [<ship letter>/<planet #>/<range>]

se = sector scan showing the ships and planets in this sector

sh = ship scan showing detail on ship <ship letter>

pl = planet scan showing detail on planet <planet #>

ra = close range scan for range <range> 1 to 9

lo = long range scan of neutron distortions

examples: scan se

scan sh a

scan pl 1

scan ra 9

scan lo

NOTE: The SET command allows you to customize some scan options. Type HELP SET for more details.

11.30 SELL - Permits you to sell goods back to Zygor-3.

The Sell command will permit you to re-sell back to the Empire excess goods. The Empire will charge a small Tranfer Tax on each transaction.

Issue the Sell command as follows;

Sell [<number>] [men/tro/mis/tor/ion/flu/foo/fig/dec/min/jam/zip/gol]

number = the number you want to sell.

men = sell men

tro = sell troops

mis = sell missiles

tor = sell torpedoes

ion = sell ion cannons

flu = sell flux pods

foo = sell food

fig = sell fighters

dec = sell decoys

min = sell mines

jam = sell jammers

zip = sell zippers

gol = sell gold

examples:

sell 1000 men

sell 3 ion

sell 500 foo

11.31 SEND - Sends a message to another ship

The Send command is the only means of communication between ships and team members. Please issue the Send command as follows;

send [<channel>] [<message>]

channel = Your communications channel A, B, or C as set by the FREQ command.

message = Your message to be sent.

Examples:

send A Why you scum guzzler, I am gonna get you

send C This is a warning to all ships.... I am here!!!!

11.32 SET - Sets player options

The Set command permits you to specify certain user preferences as detailed below;

Issue the set command as follows;

set [scanfull/scannames/scanhome] [on/off]

scanfull controls is SCAN RA displays the full screen format which includes ship details on the right side of the screen.

scannames if scanfull is ON this option will add the ships name to the detail on the right side of the screen.

scanhome this option enables ANSI HOME SCREEN before each display. This can be useful when performing

repeated scans.

examples: set scanfull on

set scannames off

set scanhome on

11.33 SHIELD - Turn the shields on or off

The Shield command will raise or lower the ships shields. The shields will begin charging upon being raised for the first time. They are providing immediate yet limited protection until fully charged. When fully charged the shields come up immediately when issued. The shields do drain on the neutron flux pile, and will automatically come down when the energy drops to dangerously low levels.

Note: When firing a weapon with the shields up, the shields will be automatically lowered. They WILL NOT be automatically raised after the firing.

Issue the shield command as follows;

shield [up/down]

examples: shield up would raise the shields

shield down would lower the shields

11.34 SPY - transfers down a spy to the planet.

Issue the Spy command as follows;

Spy

Provided you have a spy onboard and are in orbit around another planet you may transport a spy to the planet. Provided the spy is not caught or killed you will from time to time get intellegence reports in your mail (or GEmail) from your spy.

11.35 TEAM - Perform one of several team functions

The Team command allows you to perform a number of functions related to teams. It allows you to join a team, create a new team, leave a team, and get team scores. Additionally the team founder (or anyone with the founder password) can expell a team member, change the Team Password, or change the team name.

Teams are identified by a 5 digit team code created by the founder when they started the team. This code never changes even though the team name may be changed.

Team Founder commands are;

TEAM START nnnnn ssssssssss pppppppppp <team name>

starts a new team with code nnnnn, Founder Password ssssssssss, Member Password pppppppppp, and with the team name <team name>.

Example: Team start 12345 frogdung toadspit The Murdonian Constant

TEAM KICK ssssssssss <user name>

permits a team member with the Founder Password to kick another team member off the team. Note: if you don't also change the password the kicked player can simply rejoin.

Example: Team Kick toadspit John Doe

TEAM NEWPASS ssssssssss pppppppppp

permits a team member with the Founder Passowrd to assign a new Member Password pppppppppp.

Example: Team newpass toadspit birdbait

TEAM NEWNAME ssssssssss <team name>

permits a team member with the Founder Password to change the team name to <team name>.

Example: Team newname toadspit The Klystron Klan

NOTE: All the above commands require the team Founder Password. If you don't know it then you are not a "founder".

11.35 TEAM (cont.)

Team Member commands are;

TEAM JOIN nnnnn pppppppppp

permits a player to join the team nnnnn provided they have the correct member password pppppppppp

Example: Team join 12345 toadspit

TEAM UNJOIN

permits the player to leave the current team they are a member of.

TEAM SCORE

displays a list of the current teams and their scores.

TEAM MEMBERS

displays a list of the members of the players current team.

Scoring: Team scoring is the product of the result of the sum of the individual scores divided by the number of team members plus a bonus score for each team member (A/B)+(C*B). This means that a player with less of an individual score dilutes the whole teams score. You can make up for this in numbers but the best scores will be larger teams with good individual scores.

11.36 TORPEDO - Fire a torpedo at another ship

The Torpedo command instructs your ship to fire a torpedo at a given ship. This fire control system will attempt to lock on the ship prior to firing the torpedo. If a lock is made the torpedo is launched.

Issue the Torpedo command as follows;

torpedo [<ship letter>/@]

ship letter = the ship you are firing upon

@ = the locked on ship.

examples: torpedo A would fire a torpedo at ship A.

torpedo @ would fire at the ship you locked on with the LOCK command.

11.37 TRANSFER - Transfers freight to a planet

The Transfer command permits you to transfer goods from your ship to a newly established planet, or from a planet to your ship. Issue the transfer command as follows;

transfer [up/down] [<number>] [men/tro/mis/tor/ion/flu/foo/fig/dec/min/jam/gol]

men = transfer men

tro = transfer troops

mis = transfer missiles

tor = transfer torpedoes

ion = transfer ion cannons

flu = transfer flux pods

foo = transfer food

fig = transfer fighters

dec = transfer decoys

min = transfer mines

jam = transfer jammers

zip = transfer zippers

gol = transfer gold

examples:

transfer up 3 ion

transfer down 500 foo

11.38 WARP - Engage the warp drive engines

The Warp command starts the warp drives (provided your type of ship has them) and directs your course and speed.

Issue the Warp command as follows;

warp [<speed>] [<heading>]

speed = the warp speed between 0 and 50

heading = the heading from your current direction

Examples:

warp 5 0 would alter the speed to warp 5 and not change the heading.

warp 10 5 would alter the speed to warp 10 and turn the ship 5 degrees to the starboard (right).

warp 10 355 would alter the speed to warp 10 and turn the ship 5 degrees to the port (left).

Note: you can push the warp engines beyond their rated speed for short durations. The faster and longer you do this, however, the greater the damage to the engines.

11.39 ZIPPER - Launch a zipper

The ZIP command launches a defensive (and sometimes offensive) weapon which interferes with the timing mechanism on mines. The effect is to trip all mines in the vicinity of the players ship into exploding immediately. This weapon can be used to "trip" an opponents mines after he has laid them but before he can distance himself from them, causing the mines to do damage to the opponents own ship. Issue the zipper command as follows;

zipper

Easy enough!

12.0 ENHANCEMENTS

As Galactic Empire is an evolving game, with over 200 new enhancements being added each year, we value your input as a player. If you wish to see some features changed, or have identified some problems, or have some ideas for enhancements, we would be happy to hear from you.

Send your suggestions to;

M.B. Murdock & Associates

P.O. Box 2194

Pinellas Park, Fl 34665

Include with as much detail as possible the changes you would like to see. Your involvement in this game is much appreciated.

Also, we are collecting any newsletters, T-shirts, and other Galactic Empire novelties created by you the users. We would be extremely pleased to accept any items of this type that you are able to send.

Finally, this game has been a labor of love and adventure for us since early 1987. I am astounded by the phenomenal support and enthusiasm you have shown this game and wish to say THANK YOU for making Galactic Empire the outstanding success that it is.

Mike Murdock