%PROGRAM : Elite %COPYRIGHT : British Telcommunications plc (Firebird), 1985 %AUTHORS : R.J.M. Pinto, D.M.N. Prior, M. Wighton, P. Mochan %INSTRUCTIONS : Command your Cobra space ship in a fantastic voyage of discovery and adventure, a supreme test of your combat, navigational and entrepreneurial skills. Trade between countless planets, using the proceeds to equip your ship with heat-seeking missiles, beam lasers and other weapons - corporate states can be approached without risk, but unruly anarchies may be swarming with space pirates. Black market trading can be lucrative but could result in skirmishes with local police and a price on your head! However you make your money, by fair means or foul, you must blast onwards through space annihilating pirate ships and hostile aliens as you strive to earn your reputation as one of the Elite! YOUR RATING AS A COMBATEER To become an elite combateer requires great skill and great patience, because expert trading is essential before the necessary more powerful armaments and equipment available to the Cobra ship can be bought: beam lasers, more missiles, energy bombs, a docking computer, galactic hyperdrive, etc. As you sail through space between the stars, and as you trade, you will live with your combat rating. You will begin as HARMLESS. If you survive your first skirmish you may be reclassified as MOSTLY HARMLESS. But on the slow climb to a status level that reflects a growing talent for combat you will have to engage many different ships, in many different skirmishes, in the System Space of many different worlds. You will then be classified as POOR, then AVERAGE, then ABOVE AVERAGE, then COMPETENT. Then you will become DANGEROUS, then DEADLY. And at last a few will become ELITE. Your kills are photographed and transmitted by TS ComDirect to the nearest GalCop Federal Law Centre. Your rating as a combateer will increase in direct proportion. Fly your Cobra craft wisely and carefully. Remember: other pilots may be attempting to increase their own combat rating by attacking either innocent traders, or police Vipers (the ships of the GalCop Police Force). If you resort to such tactics (or if you adopt the fast-credit routine and trade in illegal goods) then your combat rating may rise, but your legal status: CLEAN -> OFFENDER -> FUGITIVE, will make you Public Enemy Number One with the Federation Crime Monitoring Authority and you will not be left alone. CONSOLE READINGS +----+------------+-------------------------------------+------------+----+ | FS | |||||||||| | __ ___________ __ | |||||||||| | SP | | AS | |||||||||| | / \ __--- ---__ /* \ | || | RL | | FU | || | \__/ / \ \__/ | || | DC | | CT | || | < FLIGHT GRID SCANNER > | |||||||||| | 1 | | LT | | \__ __/ | |||||||||| | 2 | | AL | |||||||||| | E ---___________--- | |||||||||| | 3 | | -> | | | | |||||||||| | 4 | +----+------------+-------------------------------------+------------+----+ Front shields Status (Green, all safe; Yellow, Speed Aft shields possible danger; Red, immediate Roll Fuel level danger; Flashing, critical.) Dive/Climb Cabin temperature Compass (Centres on planet or Energy bank 1 Laser temperature space station; when dot is not Energy bank 2 Altitude solid, object is behind you.) Energy bank 3 Missile status ECM detector - ECM activity near Energy bank 4 EQUIPMENT Item Tech Level Price/CR Fuel Always Varies Missile Always 30 Large Cargo Bay Always 400 ECM System 2 600 Pulse Laser 3 400 Beam Laser 4 1000 Fuel Scoops 5 525 Escape Capsule 6 1000 Energy Bomb 7 900 Extra Energy Unit 8 1500 Docking Computers 9 1500 Galactic Hyperdrive 10 5000 Mining Lasers 10 800 Military Lasers 10 6000 HINTS AND TIPS * Agricultural worlds need specialist food and raw materials, but mostly basic machinery and spare parts. If they are rich, they need luxuries and high tech industrial machines. They produce food in quantity, raw materials and specialised 'organic' items, like some textiles. * Industrial worlds need agricultural produce, raw materials (for refining), resource exploitation machinery, and (if rich) high tech goods. They produce basic items of need for civilised worlds: beds, seals and gaskets, power storage units, basic weapons, mass produced fertiliser, mass produced medicines, etc. * Trade in illegal goods (Slaves, Narcotics and Firearms) is the most profitable, but may harm your Legal Status. * Destroying pirate vessels earns a bounty, but attacking innocent traders may harm your Legal Status. * Once your Cobra is within automatic-docking and protective range of the Coriolis space station, the scan console will display an S next to the compass. * Asteroids (and spacecraft!) can be mined with the appropriate lasers, and the debris collected in fuel scoops. * Thargoid (alien) battle-cruisers may 'hover' in Witch-Space (hyperspace) and attack through-coming craft. * Using an Escape Capsule effectively resets your legal status to Clean. DOCKING PROCEDURE Docking with a Coriolis space station is never easy, unless the ship is equipped with an automatic docking computer (in which case C will activate it). The Navy Training Manual recommends the following approach and dock sequence. Locate the Coriolis station and approach it. The entrance tunnels to all these stations face the mother planet. Fly near to the station and then on towards the planet (monitoring altitude carefully). By turning a half circle you will now find your ship orientated towards the entrance. Approach the final moments of docking at DEAD SLOW SPEED. Failure to dock cleanly can be fatal but may simply result in your scraping the sides of the aperture, with consequent loss of defensive shield(s) and quite possibly your cargo. Manually control the Cobra's roll motion to match the rotation of the Coriolis station. The entry port must be nearly as horizontal as possible. If docking is successful, the protective field across the station entrance is penetrated, and a break pattern appears on the screen. Berthing is handled automatically. QUICK KEY CONTROL GUIDE Space Flight Controls Anticlockwise roll N - or joystick Clockwise roll M - or joystick Dive S - or jotstick Climb X - or joystick Increase speed SPACE Decrease speed SYMBOL SHIFT Front view 1 Back view 2 Left view 3 Right view 4 Space Combat Controls Fire laser A - or fire button Target missile T Fire missile F Unarm missile U ECM E Energy bomb W Energy capsule Q Docking computer on C Docking computer off C Navigation Controls Hyperspace H Intergalactic jump G then H Distance to system D Cursor cross home B Cursor cross control N, M, S, X (left, right, up, down) Galactic chart I Local cluster chart O Trading Controls Launch from station 1 - only while docked Buy cargo 2 - only while docked Sell cargo 3 - only while docked Equip ship 4 - only while docked Galactic chart I Local cluster chart O Data on system P Market prices K Status page L Inventory ENTER Find planet R - only while docked Game Controls Torus jump drive J Freeze game CAPS SHIFT Continue game SPACE Initiate save SYMBOL SHIFT - only while docked Other Controls Note: these controls can only be used when the game is frozen Keyboard recentering toggle R Keyboard damping toggle D Keyboard/joystick toggle K Reverse joystick Y - Y-direction only Reverse joystick B - both directions Sound effects off Q Sound effects on S Start new game 1 The keyboard recentering toggle R will disable and re-enable the recentering in roll and dive/climb control. When recentering is enabled, a small amount of climb (or clockwise roll) cancels any dive (or antclockwise roll) and vice versa. The keyboard damping toggle D will disable and re-enable the automatic damping of a roll, dive or climb while in keyboard control. The B key will reverse both directions of the joystick enabling it to be held either way around. The Y key will reverse the Y-direction only so that pushing the joystick forward will result in a climb and pulling it back will result in a dive; roll will not be affected. The B and Y keys can be used in conjunction. %REVIEWS : %COMMENTS : %MISC : Instructions edited and written by Bob Tinsley %CREDITS : Coverdale Page -- -- Bob Tinsley (mauqx@csv.warwick.ac.uk)