CAPTAIN BLOOD AMIGA REFERENCE BOOKLET GETTING STARTED What You Need ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amiga computer; 512K minimum Single disk drive Monitor or TV (color recommended) Formatted disk for saving games (optional) Loading Instructions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Make sure your mouse is plugged into Port 1. 2. Turn on your monitor and computer. If necessary insert Kickstart version 1.2 into the disk drive. 3. When asked for a Workbench disk, insert your Captain Blood game disk into the disk drive. The game will load into your computer's memory and the title screen will appear. 4. Follow the on-screen prompt to "Press Left Mouse Button" to begin the game. THE STORY ~~~~~~~~~ Trapped in a universe of your own creation - a world populated by strange creatures in unlikely scenarios, extensions of your own over-active imagination - but it's only a game, right? Wrong. It's every hacker's worst nightmare..and you're living it! As the erstwhile programmer who calls himself Captain Blood, you're in one heck of a predicament. The Hyperspace warp that sucked you into the game also fragmented your genetic structure, creating five exact duplicates of yourself that are now hiding somewhere in the galaxy of Hydra. You must find your clones and assimilate them to replenish the vital fluids you so desperately need. PLAYING THE GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the game begins you will see the interior of your spaceship, followed immediately by a view of the nearest planet. The arm you see on the screen is your own - move the mouse to move your arm around the screen. Because you lack necessary vital fluids, you are continually degenerating. As you degenerate, your arm will start to shake, making it difficult to select options from the control panel. An on-board clock keeps track of elapsed time in hours, minutes, and seconds. You have approximately 2 1/2 real-time hours to find a clone and get back some vital fluid before your arm becomes completely uncontrolable. If you do find a clone, you gain another 2 1/2 hours of playing time. The first planet that comes into view each time you begin a new game will always be inhabited. After that, you're on your own. NOTE: The program recreates the galaxy each time you begin a game. This means that the coordinates of inhabited planets are not valid from one game to the next. PLANET VISION SCREEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Planet Vision Screen is the first screen that appears when you begin a new game. The planet that you see is the one nearest to your present location. Several options are available to you on the Planet Vision Screen: GeoPhoto Vision, Planet Destruction, and OORXX Landing Mission. These options are described individually below. The Control Panel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The control panel in front of you contains various buttons, only a few of which are active at any one time. Six control buttons are positioned diagonally on either side of a large central button. These buttons will be referred to (from left to right) as Buttons 1-6. Use the mouse to move your hand around the control panel. Unless otherwise instructed, select an option by pointing your hand's index finget to it and clicking the LEFT mouse button. GeoPhoto Vision ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To get a close-up view of the planet surface, activate the GeoPhoto Vision mode by clicking on Button 6. Diamonds on the planet surface indicate enemy missiles. Click on this button again to get an even closer view. Click on Button 2 to return to the Planet Vision Screen. Planet Destruction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To destroy the planet on the Vision Screen, click on Button 5 (the one marked with an "X"). OORXX Landing Mission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To activate the OORXX landing mission, click on Button 4 (the one marked with a down arrow) from the Planet Vision Screen. An OORXX will be transported immediately to the planet surface and a vector image of the landscape will appear on your viewing screen. FLYING THE OORXX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because your ship is too large to land on a planet, you must view the planet's surface through the eyes of an OORXX - creatures designed for just such missions. You guide the OORXX as it flies across the planet surface. Move the mouse left, right, up or down to guide the OORXX in the corresponding direction. The two red markers on either side of the screen indicate your altitude above the planet surface. The horizontal, red dotted line along the bottom of the screen indicates your speed - the longer the line, the greater your speed. Press the left mouse button to decrease speed, and the right mouse button to increase speed. Landing Sites ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each planet has a designated landing site, located at the end of a long, narrow valley. As you fly, a red on-screen sight indicates your current position. If you are headed in the righ tdirection, the sight will appear as a flashing diamond shape. If you are off target, an arrow on the left or right side of the sight will point you in the direction you should turn. When you reach the landing site, the OORXX will land automatically and the resident alien (if there is one) will appear. Avoiding Missiles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If enemy missiles are present on the planet surface, they will immediately begin homing in on the OORXX; a continuous beeping noise lets you know that you've been sighted. To avoid the missiles, you must fly as low as possible without crashig. When a missile locks in on your positon, red arrows appear on either side of the screen and begin moving toward each other. The closer the arrows get to one another, the closer the missile is the the OORXX; if the arrows meetin in the center of the screen, the OORXX will be destroyed and you will be returned to the ship's interior. Fractal Landscapes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can request a complete fractal image of the landscape during a flight by pressing the space bar; the OORXX will stop flying and the landscape will gradually fill in on the viewing screen. Press the space bar again to continue flying. You are advised not to request a view of the landscape while flying through the vallye - the OORXX, thinking it has reached the landing site, tends to get confused and lose its way! THE UPCOM ~~~~~~~~~ To communicate with aliens, you must use the UPCOM (Universal Protocol of Communication) icon system. Once you land, the UPCOM Module appears automatically on the screen if an alien is presnt. Receiving a Message ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the alien speaks, icons will appear on the left side of the UPCOM Module. To receive a translation of a certain icon, simply point to the icon in question; the translation will appear on the right side of the screen. See your Game Manual for a complete list of all icons and their meanings. If the central "mouth" is still moving, it means the alien has more to say. Click on the "mouth" to read the rest of the message. Sending a Message ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may respond to the alien using any of the highlighted icons shown in the UPCOM window. The window shows only a small portion of the available icons. To scroll left or right, simply point to one of the scroll selectors located on either side of the icon window. To scroll more quickly, click and hold on the scroll bar located at the bottom of the window, then move the mouse left or right to move the icons in the corresponding direction. To select an icon, simply point to it and click the mouse button. That icon will then appear on the right side of the UPCOM Module. You may select up to eight icons for each sentence. When you message is complet, click on the "mouth" to transmit your message to the alien. The left-arrow shaped button lets you delete an icon, and you may also insert an icon into an existing sentence - see you Game Manual for complete instructions. Teleporting ~~~~~~~~~~~ If an alien agrees to be teleported, the Teleport icon will appear on the bottom left of the screen. Click on this button to teleport the alien onto your ship. To teleport an alien from your ship onto a planet's surface, click on the Teleport icon button once you land. Returning to the Ship ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click on the triangular-shaped button on the right side of the Module to return to the ship. THE SHIP'S INTERIOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To return to the ship's interior from a planet surface, click on the triangular-shaped button located on the rifht side of the screen. From the Galaxy Map or Planet Vision screen, click on any inactive button to return to the ship's interior. The main control panel is shown at the bottom of the screen - the creature to the right is an OORXX. Interior Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Button 1 is used to save your game to a formatted data disk - do not save to your program disk! Complete instructions for saving and loading games are given below. To activate the Planet Vision Screen for a view of the nearest planet, click on Button 2; click on any inacive button to return to the ship's interior. To view the Galaxy Map, click on Button 3 (the one marked with a "nebula" shape; click on any inactive button to return to the interior. The Fridgitorium ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have teleported an alien or clone onto the ship, it will appear in the Fridgitorium on the left side of the screen. While in the Fridgitorium, the alien will not be able to communicate. To disintegrate a creature in the Fridgitorium, click on the button directly below the Fridgitorium. When a creature is disintegrated, you recover its vital fluids. However, only the clones' vital fluids are compatible with your system. Once you giude an OORXX to a planet's landing site, the OORXX remains ther and may be reactivated at any time. If you have already landed on the planet whose corrdinates are shown at the top of the screen (i.e. the nearest planet), a question mark will appear on the right side of the screen. Click on the question mark to reactivate the OORXX on that planet's surface. THE GALAXY MAP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To view the Galaxy Map, click on Button 3 from the interior. The horizontal and veritcal lines superimposed on teh Galaxy Map allow you to select a specific planet from among the 32,768 possible choices. Coordinates ~~~~~~~~~~~ The location of each planet in the galaxy is expressed by a set of coordinate numbers, X/Y. The veritcal line is the X coordinate line and the horizontal is the Y line. The nearest planet is the one located at the intersection of the two lines. The coordinates of this planet are displayed at the top of the screen. Selecting a Planet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As you move your hand aroun on the Map, the coordinates of the planet you are pointing to at any given moment are shown in the box on the upper left side of the screen. To select a destination planet, first point to the vertical X line and hold down the left mouse button. As you move the mouse right or left, the value for the X coordiante will change accordingly in the box on the upper right side of the screen. When the desired X coordiante appears in this box, release the mouse button to lock in that coordinate number. To select a new Y coordinate, point to the horizontal coordinate line and hold down the left mouse button. As you move the mouse up or down, the value for the Y coordinate will change accordingly in the box on the upper right side of the screen. When the desired Y cooridate appears in this box, release the mouse button to lock in that coordinate number. Hyperspace ~~~~~~~~~~ To travel to the new planet you have selected on the Galaxy Map, activate the Hyperspace option by clicking on the centrol control panel button (the one marked with an up-arrow). When the Hyperspace sequence is over, the new planet will appear on the viewing screen. NOTE: To bypass Hyperspace, click first the LEFT mouse button then the RIGHT mouse button on the centrl control panel button. SAVING A GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may save your game to a formatted data disk at any time AFTER five minutes of play. To save a game, insert a formatted data disk into Drive 0. Return to the ship's interior and click on Button 1 (the disk icon). The faved file will be called BLOOD.CPT. If the game was not successfully saved, the disk icon will flash for a few seconds; in this case, check your data disk and try again. Each tme you save to the same data disk, the new saved game will replace the old saved game. Although you cannot pause the game during play, you may save your progress at any point and return to your game at a later time. Loading a Saved Game ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may load a saved game ONLY DURING THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF GAME PLAY. To load a saved game, first begin a new game using your program disk. When the Planet Vision Screen appears, click on any inactive button to proceed to the ship's interior. Then insert your data disk into Drive 0 and click on Button 1 (the disk icon). Should you wish to load a saved game after five minutes have expired, you will have to reboot your computer. THE END ~~~~~~~ To survive, you must find all five clones and disintegrate them in your ship's Fridgitorium. The last clone should give you the coordinates of the planet where Torka - the beautiful alien Ondoyate - is waiting. once you go there and teleport her onto your ship (note that she does not stay in the Fridgitorium!), you've won. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get yourself out of the game.... TIPS & HINTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Whatever you do, don't blow up the first planet without going down and speaking to the alien there - you MUST get him to give you the coordinates of another inhabited planet. (The chances of finding one on your own are about 1 in 500!) 2. Be persistent! It almost always pays off to keep talking to an alien, even if it seems like you're not getting anywhere at first. 3. Keep going back to planets you've already visited, even if you didn't get any information there the last time - aliens often change their minds and decide to talk. 4. Some aliens will not give you information until you tell them what they want to know, or perform a certain task. 5. Don't be too quick to kill aliens, even if other aliens ask you to; your intended victim may have the information you're looking for. 6. If youtransport certain aliens to a strange planet, they may provide helpful information. Keep track of where you leave them - you may need to bring them back! 7. Be sure to keep track of planet and character NAMES as well as planet coordinates; other aliens may ask you for them. 8. Because people and place names are translated from alien languages, they often don't sound like names at all - here are a few examples; Alien Names: DEAD GENETIC, MISSILE BRAVE, INSULT 4, NO NO, GOOD UNKNOWN, HOWDY PRISION, GREAT BOUNTY, GOOD NONSENSE. Planet Names: TRAP 4, SMALL HOME, IDEA 762, KILL YOU, INSULT 80, GREAT FEAR, BOW BOW, REPRODUCTION 14, BAD TRAP. 9. Aliens use a variety of icons to identify themselves and their planets. Some variations: Me_________, Identity________,Identity Me =_________; Plante ________, Planet Me_________, Planet =__________, Identity Planet_____. For example a Buggol might say: "IDENTITY ME = POP UNKNOWN" and "PLANET = MIND 137". 10. Some important aliens to look out for: Izwals (especially YOKO and NO NO), Buggols (especially GOOD UNKNOWN), Croolis-Ulvs, Croolis-Vars, Migrax (GREAT BOUNTY and MISSILE BRAVE), Sinox (GOOD MIND and BRAIN RADIOACTIVITY), Antennas and Robheads. 11. If you're having trouble getting information, try asking questions based on what an alien says to YOU. For instance: Alien: CROOLIS-VAR GREAT PEOPLE GREAT WARRIOR You: ME WANT KNOW IDENTITY CROOLIS-VAR Alien: IDENTITY CROOLIS-VAR = POOR GENETIC You: ME SEARCH PLANET POOR GENETIC Alien: PLANET POOR GENETIC = TRAP 1 You: YOU SAY COORDINATE PLANET TRAP 1 Alien: COORDINATE 178/102 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAPTAIN BLOOD MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE STORY......................................................4 PLAYING THE GAME...............................................6 Locating Aliens...........................................6 THE CONTROL PANEL..............................................7 The Planet Vision Screen..................................7 THE OORXX......................................................8 Flying the OORXX..........................................8 Landing...................................................8 COMMUNICATION WITH ALIENS......................................9 The UPCOM Module..........................................9 Receiving a Message......................................10 The Icon Window..........................................10 Sending a Message........................................10 Teleporting..............................................11 Getting Information......................................11 THE SHIP'S INTERIOR...........................................12 The Friditorium..........................................12 OORXX Reactivation.......................................13 Interior Controls........................................13 THE GALAXY MAP................................................14 Hyperspace...............................................14 THE REWARD....................................................15 ICON DICTIONARY...............................................16 Using Icons..............................................24 THE ALIENS....................................................25 THE STORY ~~~~~~~~~ The computer game to end all computer games...that was Blood's goal. (No one knew his real name - he had always gone by the programming pseudonym "Captain Blood".) There were more than enough mindless shoot-em-ups out there, Blood decided. He was determined to create the ultimate science-fiction adventure, complete with incredible visual effects, a strange and complex story, and most important of all, a life of its own... Months went by, and Blood programmed on. A whole world came into being, lovingly created down to the last detain. The world was Hydra - a vast galaxy of innumerable planets, each one different. He created 14 unique alien races, complete with their own languages and complex social systems. To facilitate nterplanetary communication Blood developed the UPCOM (Universal Protocol of Communication) Module - a sophisticated system of icons available to all aliens. For speedy travel between planets, Blood envisioned Hyperspace (a somewhat psychedelic spacewarp option). And, of course, he inserted an adventure-loving, intergalactic hero named (what else!) CAPTAIN BLOOD. Finially, it was done. The last routines were in place. Holding his breath, Blood gave the mementous commands: EDIT....COMPILE....RUN. The monitor went blank for a moment, then began to glow with an eerie blue light that grew stronger - and stronger. Blood was mesmerized. He stared nto the monior, unable to look away. Stars and planets began approaching; slowly at first, then faster and faster. Blood felt himself being drawn into the screen, pulled by some incredibly powerful force. As the force intensified, he started losing consciousness. The glow in the room began to fade, as the monitor dimmed - an then went black. Blood had disappeared. He regained consciousness slowly. An intense paid shot through his head...and his right arm felt kind of funny, too. He looked around, unable to figure out what had happened. "Where the @#%$!?#! ami I?" he mumbled to himself. A computerized voice immediately responded, "Well, Captain, we were headed for Corpo 1, but something went wrong during the Hyperspace warp. I'm not sure, but I think - uh, that is, I'm afraid you've been...." "Who are you?" barked Blood, as he tried to focus on his surroundings. "Whaddya mean, 'Corpo 1'? That's a planet in Hydra - the universe I created!!...." "This is the Bio-Monitor speaking, Captain. You ARE travelling through the galaxy of Hydra. You'd heard about the Ondoyante, remember? Beautiful creatures, but very lonely. You thought perhaps you'd pay a visit, and..." "Oh my god, it's true," groaned Blood, noticing for the first time the immense, blue-lit control panel in front of him. "I've been sucked into my own game - trapped..probably for good! Now what!!!?" "Don't get excited, Captain," the Bio-Monitor answered soothingly, "I'm sure you'll find a way out sooner or later. In the meantime, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. The malfunction during the last space warp..well, your genetic structure was fragmented, slightly. That is to say, you've been cloned. Five clones, to be precise. Ther're hiding somewhere in the galaxy, and you've got to find them - fast. It's the vital fluids, you see. The clones absorbed most of YOUR vital fluids, and without them you're not going to survive much longer - not in human form, anyway. You may have noticed that the auto-bionic sensor has already started replacing some of your essential parts..." Blood looked down at the wires and fuses that now comprised most of his right arm. "Great, just great," he snapped. "Not only do I get draggedinto my own @#$%$^#! computer game, but I end up being cloned on top of it! Clones...the last time I wrote a game with clones was back in..." "Captain," the Bio-Monitor interrupted, "we'd better get started. You've only got a couple of hours left before.." "O.K., let's get on with it," sighed Blood, "What do you suggest?" "I'm not sure of our location," came the reply, "Why don't you activate the viewing screen and see what's out there? Just press that button to your left..that's it." Blood manipulated his partially bionized arm over the control panel and hit the indicated button. A revolving planet immediately appeared on the viewing screen. "Yes, there's life down there all right," said the Bio-Monitor encouragingly, "Why don't you go in for a closer look - someone in this universe has got to know where your clones are hiding. Just activate one of the OORXX - you'll be able to guide it simply..." "I know, I know," Blood grumbled as he reached for the button, "I did create the game myself, remember?" Captain Blood activated the OORXX for a landing mission, thinking to himself, "Five of them - and I'm sure they can't wait to be found. Why did I have to create so many planets?!! How many are there? 32,000!? "Almost, Captain. To be exact, 32,768...." PLAYING THE GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Captain Blood, you must find your five clones and disintegrate them in the ship's Fridgitorium to replenish the vital fluids you so desperately need. Because you lack these vital fluids, you are continually degenerating. The ship's auto-bionic sensors are gradually replacing your limbs and internal organs with mechanical gizmos. unless you find your clones and restore your vital fluids, you will eventually become a completely bionic human substitute...a robot. All game functions are directed from the control panel in front of you. The slightly mechanical arm you see is your own. Most options are selected by pointing the index finger of your mechanical hand to the appropriate control and pressing the selection button. See your Reference Booklet for complete instructions on how to select options. An on-board clock keeps track of elapsed time in minutes and seconds. Because you are degenerating, your arm will start to shake as time goes by. You have approximately 2 1/2 real-time hours to find a clone and get back some vital fluid before your arm becomes completely uncontrollable. If you do find a clone, you gain another 2 1/2 hours of playing time. Locating Aliens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the game begins you will see the interior of your spaceship, followed immediately by a view of the nearest planet. The galaxy of Hydra contains a vast number of planets - 32,768 to be exact - only a handful of which are inhabited. If you decide to search for life forms at random in the galaxy, you will almost certainly get lost and not see anyone for millions of years. Be forewarned: Don't go flying off without first getting the coordinates of an inhabited planet! Fortunately, the first planet that comes into view each time you begin a new game will ALWAYS be inhabited. To find out the coordinates of other inhabited planets (and hopefully the planets where your clones are hiding), you must fly an OORXX landing craft onto the first planet and speak to the alien there. With a little luck, the alien will eventually give you the coordinates of other inhabited planets. Follow up all leads, no matter how unlikely they seem - it's your only hope of getting the information you need before time runs out! It's very important to keep track of planet coordinates as you play the game. Write down the coordinates of the first planet that appears, and the name or race of the alien on that planet (they should identify themselves for you). When you are given other planet coordinates by an alien, be sure to write them down immediately - the alien might not repeat them! NOTE: THE PROGRAM RECREATES THE GALAXY EACH TIME YOU BEGIN A GAME. THIS MEANS THAT COORDINATES OF INHABITED PLANETS ARE NOT VALID FROM ONE GAME TO THE NEXT. THE CONTROL PANEL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The control panel remains visible at the bottom of the screen throughout the game. It contains various buttons, only a few of which are active at any one time. Six control buttons are positioned diagonally on either side of a large central button. These buttons will be referred to (from left to right) as Buttons 1-6. ---------------Present Coordinates (X/Y) | !-------------------|-------------------------! ! \|/ ! ! -->>>/ 138/054 \<<<-- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ________!___GeoPhoto Vision ! | ! Activator !-------------------------------------|-------! (Button 6) ! \|/ ! ! 0 ! ! ! ! 0 X ! ! \|/ /|\ ! ! /|\ |___________!__Planet Destruct ! | ! Activator (Button 5) !----------------------------|----------------! |____OORXX Landing Activator (Button 4) The Planet Vision Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the Planet Vision Screen, oly three buttons are active: The OORXX Landing Activator (Button 4), the Planet Destruct Activator (Button 5), and the GeoPhoto Vision Activator (Button 6). See your Reference Booklet if your have difficulty selecting one of these options. The GeoPhoto Vision Screen reveals the presence of enemy missiles on the planet surface. Furing GeoPhoto Vision, you may alternante between standard and magnified screens. Button 2 returns you to the Planet Vision Screen. The Planet Destruct Activator will destroy the planet on the Vision Screen. Before you decide to vaporize a particular planet, however, make sure that you don't need anything (or anyone) on it! Once it's gone, it's gone for good. The OORXX Landing Activator will eject an OORXX onto the planet surface for a reconnaissance mission - then get ready for the flight of your life as you guide its every move through steep mountains and narror canyons! THE OORXX ~~~~~~~~~ Your ship is equiped with an unlimited supply of OORXX - useful little creatures designed especially for reconnaissance (and destruction) missions on the planets of Hydra. You guide the OORXX by remote control, never leaving the control panel of your ship. Although the ship is itself far too large to land on a planet surface, you will be able to see and hear all that goes on down below through the eyes and ears of the OORXX. To begin an OORXX landing mission, select the OORXX Landing Activator (Button 4 - the one marked with a down arrow) from the Planet Vision Screen. An OORXX will be transported immediately to the planet surface and a vector image of the landscape will appear on your viewing screen. Flying the OORXX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The OORXX are very sensitively calibrated creatures that respond immediately to your every command. You can accelerate and decelerate, as well as move the OORXX up, down, left or right by using the proper controls. See your Reference Booklet for complete instructions on guiding the OORXX. All planets have a designated landing site, located at the end of a long narrow valley. As you fly, an on-screen sight indicates your current position. If you are headed in the right direction, the sight will appear as a flashing diamond shape. If you are off target, an arrow on the left or right side of the sight will point you in the direction you should turn. If enemy missiles are present, they will immediately begin homing in on the OORXX; a continuous beeping noise lets you know that you've been sighted. To avoid the missiles, you must fly as low as possible without crashing. If the OORXX is destroyed by a missile, you will be returned to the ship's interior. Although OORXX are hardy creatures, they're not indestructible...after seven or eight crashes, an OORXX will be damaged beyond repair and will disintegrate into a thousand little pieces. If this happens, you'll be returned to the interior of the ship and will have to start the flight over again - with a new OORXX. Landing ~~~~~~~ Once you reach the narrow valley, you will no longer need to watch the direction arrows on the sight - simply follow the valley as it twists and turns. When you reach the landing site, the OORXX will land automatically and the resident alien (if there is one) will appear. Receiving a Message ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the UPCOM appears the alien will speak first, after which you will generally be given a chance to respond. As the alien speaks, icons will appear on the left side of the UPCOMM Module. To read the icons, simply point to them one at a time; the word for each icon will then be shown on the right side of the screen. If the "mouth" in the center of the UPCOMM Module is still moving, it means that the alien has more to say. Point to the mouth and press your selection button to view the next set of icons. When the mouth stops moving the alien is finished speaking. The Icon Window ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The icon window is located in the center of the UPCOMM Module. You will notice that some icons are not highlighted when the UPCOMM Module appears. This means that those icons are not part of the present alien's vocabulary, and are therefore unavailable for use. Only a small portion of the available icons are displayed in the window at any given time. Point to the scroll selectors on the bottom left and right sides of the Module to view all the available icons. To scroll through the icons more quickly, point to the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and press and hold your selection button; then move your control left or right to move the icons in the corresponding direction. To see the meaning of a particular icon, simply point to that icon; the English translation will then appear on the right side of the screen. A complete list of all the icons and their meanings is given below in the section entitled ICON DICTIONARY. Sending a Message ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To respond to an alien, point to an icon in the icon window and press your selection button; that icon will now appear on the right side of the UPCOM Module. The response area can accommodoate up to eight icons at a time. If you seleect a ninth icon, it will take the place of the eighth one. A small cursor located under the response area allows you to insert and delete icons anywhere in the sentence. To insert an icon into an existing sentence, point to the icon TO THE LEFT OF WHICH you wish to insert another icon and press your selection button; the cursor will now appear under that icon. Then point to the icon to be inserted and press your selection button again. The new icon will now appear to the left of the cursor. To delete a selected icon, point to the icon TO THE RIGHT of the icon you wish to delete and press your selection button; the cursor will now appear under that icon. Then point to the left-arrow shaped delete button located on the right side of the Module and press your selection button again. The icon to the left of the cursor will not be deleted. When you message is complete, point to the central "mouth" and press your selection button to transmit your message to the alien. To return to the ship, select the triangular-shaped button located on the right side of the Module. Teleporting ~~~~~~~~~~~ To teleport an alien, you must first gain its confidence and convince him that he will not come to any harm. If he agrees to be teleported, the teleport icon will appear on the bottom left of the screen. Select this button to teleport the alien onto your ship. If you have already teleported an alien onto the ship, the button will allow you to place him down on an uninhabited planet. Getting Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Easy type of alien has its own vocabulary; some are quite talkative, others just say nonsense or speak in code. Some races are timid and peace-loving while others do nothing but insult and threaten - a large part of your strategy should be determining the best way to get information out of each type of alien. Bribes work with some, threats with others. If an uncooperative alien agrees to be teleported, try putting him down on an uninhabited planet and see if he changes his tune! Some aliens cannot survive on certain planets; if you put one down on a planet whose atmosphere is inhospitable, you may be unpleasantly surprised. An alien can, for reasons best known to himself, break off a conversation at any time. If this happens, you will be returned to the interior of your ship. Select the triangular-shaped button located on the right side of the control panel to return to the ship of your own accord. THE SHIP'S INTERIOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As was mentioned above, the triangular-shaped button located on the right side of the control panel will return you to the ship's interior from a planet surface. To return to the ship's interior from the Galaxy Map or Planet Vision Screen, select any INACTIVE button. In the ship's interior, the main control panel is again shown at the bottom of the screen - the creature to the right is an OORXX. Elapsed time is shown under the planet coordinates at the top of the screen. Fridgitorium ---------------Present Coordinates (X/Y) | | !-----|-------------|-------------------------! ! | \|/ ! ! | -->>>/ 138/054 \<<<-- ! ! | ---------- ! ! | \ 1725 / <-----------------!-----Time ! !---|-------! !-----------! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! --!---!----OORXX ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !-----------! !-----------! ! |---!-----0 ?--------!----OORXX Reactivator | ! \|/ !----! ! | ! !<---! ! | ! !--! 0 !----! ! | ! !--! | S ! /\ ! ! | ! | | | !----! ! | !-----|-------|----|---------------------------! | | | |Galaxy Map Activator (Button 3) | | | | | |Planet Vision Activator (Button 2) | | | |Save to Data Disk (Button 1) | |Disintegrate Being in Fridgitorium The Fridgitorium ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For safety reasons, a teleported alien will be placed in the Fridgitorium located on the left side of the ship's interior. The Fridgitorium is a cryonization cylinder which keeps the alien in a state of suspended animation until needed. For your convenience, the Fridgitorium is also equipped with a disintegration feature. This is especially useful once you locate a clone - disintegrating your clones is the only way to assimilate their vital fluid and regain a portion of your strength. (Unfortunately, all other forms of vital fluid are incompatible with your system.) The icon located directly below the Fridgitorium allows you to disintegrate the creature in the Fridgitorium. If you teleport an alien into the Fridgitorium while it is occupied, you will unfortunately disintegrate the alien already in there. In some cases, an alien will not agree to be teleported unless the Fridgitorium is empty. OORXX Reactivation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you have guided an OORXX to a planet's landing site, the OORXX remains there and may be reactivated at any time. This feature lets you return to previously visited planets and quickly resume your conversation with the resident alien. If you have already landed on the planet whose coordinates appear at the top of the screen (i.e. the nearest planet), a question mark will appear on the right side of the ship's interior. Select the question mark to reactivate the OORXX on that planet's surface. Of course, if you ENJOY flying the OORXX, you can always guide another one down - just for the fun of it! Interior Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Button 1 is used to save your game to a formatted data disk - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SAVE TO YOUR PROGRAM DISK! Complete instructions for saving and loading games are given in your Reference Booklet. Button 2 activates the Planet Vision Screen for a view of the nearest planet. Button 3 (the one marked with a "nebula" shape) allows you to view the Galaxy Map. See your Reference Booklet if you need help selecting these options. THE GALAXY MAP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select Button 3 to activate the Galaxy Map. The location of each planet in the galaxy is expressed by a set of coordinate numbers separated by a slash (/). The first number is the "X" coordinate and the second number is the "Y" coordinate. The coordinates of the nearest planet are displayed at the top of the screen. |Indicated Coordinates | | |Present Coordinates (X/Y) | | | | |Destination Coordinates | | | !----|------------------|---------------|-----! ! | 217/035 | ! !----|---------------------|------------|-----! ! 156/002 | 162/047 ! ! | ! ! | ! ! | ! ! | ! !--------------------------|------------------! ! | ! ! | ! !--------------------------|------------------! ! /|\ ! ! 0------------------------!---Hyperspace Activator ! ! !---------------------------------------------! As you move your hand around the Map, the coordinates of the planet you are pointing to at any given moment are shown in the box to the upper left of the screen. The box to the upper right of the screen shows your destination planet.