+-------------------------------------+ | Universe Documention | | Part 2 | +-------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------+ | A T-Men & Wareforce Dox File | +-------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------+ | Typed up by | | The Camel Jockey | +-------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------+ | Special Thanx to | | Silicon Warrior | | & | | A.P.G | +-------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------+ | Written for | | | +-------------------------------------+ +---------------------------+ | Mortgage, Buying a Ship | | & | | Creating the Players Disk | +---------------------------+ +---------+ | Morgage | +---------+ +---------+ | Purpose | +---------+ Here is where the game begins. In order to purchase a ship and supplies, you need money. Since stealing is out of the question (morals are assumed here), you must take out a loan. The Central Bank of Axia, so you hear, is the easiest to borrow from. In fact, they don't even do a credit check! +-----------+ | Operation | +-----------+ The back, being located at the commercial center of the Local Group, sees a lot of your type looking to buy a ship. Thus, they have devised a load called the "Merchant's Loan Package". The total value of this package is 300,000 credits and includes the following: +----------+---------+----------------+---------------+--------+--------------+ | Part # | Sys # | System Name | Type | Quan | Cost (Units) | +----------+---------+----------------+---------------+--------+--------------+ | | | | | | | | 00 | 00 | Hyperdrive | Quantum Div | 00001 | 35,000 | | 04 | 01 | Sub-Light Div | Ion | 00001 | 20,000 | | 11 | 02 | Bridge | Xorconn | 00001 | 03,500 | | 14 | 03 | Accumulators | Alkis Group | 00008 | 08,000 | | 17 | 04 | Converter | Fuel Cell | 00001 | 10,000 | | 88 | 36 | Processor | AE3504 | 00001 | 10,000 | | 93 | 37 | Mass Storage | Skandis | 00001 | 05,000 | | 27 | 07 | Orbital Scan. | Manx | 00001 | 10,000 | | 49 | 13 | Shield Gen. | Koto Co. | 00001 | 08,000 | | 68 | 26 | Cryogenic V. | Ageless Ind. | 00001 | 07,000 | | 71 | 27 | Orbital Shu. | Quentrix | 00001 | 10,000 | | 79 | 33 | Ore Storage | Baynus | 00001 | 02,000 | | 82 | 34 | Crew Quarters | Kraakobinir | 00001 | 02,000 | | n/a | n/a | Fuel | Ore IV | 15000 | 15,000 | | n/a | n/a | Hulls | Standard | 00031 | 77,500 | | | | | | | | +----------+---------+----------------+---------------+--------+--------------+ | | +--------------------------------------+--------------+ | Total Cost (if purchased Seperately) | 223,000 | +-----------------------+--------------+--------------+ | Package Cost | 173,000 | +--------------+--------------+ The part number and system number of the item in the package are given so that you may use appendix C to look up the specifics on the parts listed. You must, of course, eventually pay back the load. The payback periosd is flexible, however. You may choose any period between five and sixteen years. +----------------+ | Implementation | +----------------+ Payment of the load is done entirely at the end of the period. The nack officer will tell you what year the load is due based on your decision. If, for instance, the offiver informs you that the load is due in 112, you must apy the load between 112.00 and 112.99. Since you are paying interest on the loan, the longer the payback period you select, the more credits you will eventually have to pay. The bank officer will give you the current interst rate and the amount that will be due at the end of the load period. To pay back the load, you must visit the Axia drydock withing the due year. The customs agaent will guide you over to a back official and giv eyou the opportunity to pay the loan. You will also be required to give your name and the name of your ship to the bank officer. This is recorded on your loan agreement in the even that the back needs to locate you. You should enter you last name only. The goods will be sent to the Axia drydock where you can later place them on your ship. When you have finished obtaining your loan, you will be ushered over to the drylock to select a ship design. +---------------+ | Buying a Ship | +---------------+ +---------+ | Purpose | +---------+ Once you have secured a loan from the back, it is time to purchase a ship. You may use part of the 127,000 credits remaining from your "Merchant's Loan Package" to pay for the ship. +----------------+ | Implementation | +----------------+ You find yourself in the drydocks of Axia, talking with Zefrep, the sales manager. he will lead you over to a terminal from which you can view the current selections of ten ships. It is important to remember that these ships are merely framework, and that you must fill it with hulls and parts from the Merchant's Load Package in order to make it operational. A menu of ship names will appear on the screen. to obtain information on one of the designs, type the number corresponding to the name and then press the return key. The terminal will go blank for a few seconds while it accesses the proper information, then display the first of several screens of information on the ships. The top half of the screen will give you an angled view of the ship. The bottom half will relate the specifications of the ship. The specifications are defined as follows: +-------------------------------------+ | Designation...The model name for the| | design | + + | Company.......The company who | | constructed the ship | + + | Year..........The year construction | | was completed | + + | Price.........Current cost of | | purchase | + + | Length........Overall length of the | | ship in meters | + + | Beam..........Overall width of the | | ship in meters | + + | Draught.......Overall height of the | | ship in meters | + + | Mass..........Mass of the ship in | | millions of kilograms | + + | Max. Hulls....The maximum numbers of| | hulls the ship can | | hold | + + | Visibility....The overall visibility| | of the ship (this is a| | number between 0 and | | 99; the higher the | | number, the more | | visible the ship is to| | other ships.) | + + | Integrity.....The overall strucural | | integrity of the ship | | (this is a number | | between 0 and 99, the | | higher the number, the| | more strucurally sound| | the ship is.) | +-------------------------------------+ When you are finished reviewing the data, press the return key and the computer will access the next screen information. The last screen of data is a ship overview. When you are finished reviewing the data, hit the return key and you will find yourself back at the selection menu. You may now select another design to review. You can obtain additional information on the ships from Appendix H. This will list the size and visibilies for each section on the ship. Ships are divided into maximum of eight different sections. Each section is capable of holding a particular number of hulls. Hulls are the main measure of a parts size. The larger sections will be able to hold more hulls, therefore more parts. Sections also have visibility factor. This is a measure of how visible the individual section is to another ship. This is a value between one and ten inclusive. The higher the value, the more visible the section is. The more visible sections have the greatest chance of being hit by enemy fire. A good strateg is therefore to place vital parts in the section with te lower visibility factors. Once you are finished reviewing ship designs, you may purchase a ship by pressing the select key when at the selection menu. Zeprep will thn ask you which ship you want to purchase. To do this, press the number corresponding to the ship you want, then press the return key. The cost of the ship will automatically be deducted from the credits you have. The ship will be moved from the storag area to the drydock area so that you will later be able to place your hulls and parts aboard yur ship. +----------------------------+ | Creating the Player's Disk | +----------------------------+ +---------+ | Purpose | +---------+ This section will create the player's disk for the game. This is the disk that is used throughout the game to keep track of all the data on your ship. (See version specifics section for more information on this process.) +----------------+ | Implementation | +----------------+ While Zefrep is moving your ship into the drydock area, he will ask that you assist the computer in creating the player disk. You wil be asked to remove the construction disk from the disk drive, then press the return key. You will need a black disk to use as the player disk. The computer will ask you to place this disk in the disk drive and press the return key to begin formatting. The format procedure will take almost a minute. If the format is successful, the computer will ask you to replace the construction disk. The format may fail if the disk proves to be defective. In this case, the computer will allow you to place a different disk in the drive and try again. When you get a successful format and have replaced the constuction disk, the computer will then begin the process of moving data onto the player disk. Simply follow the instructions the omputer gives for inserting disks. Several disk insertions will need to be made during this process. Above all, be patient! Universe is a complex game that requires over three quarters of the space on the player disk for data. Zefrep will inform you when the process is complete. At this point, your ship, parts, and hulls are in position and you are ready to boot the computer with the flight disk. After booting the flight disk, you must proceed DIRECTLY to docking control (this is a section on the docking control menu). This section will allow you to place the parts included in the load onto your ship. after placing the parts, you must select purchase items (also on the docking control menu). Here, you will need to hire at least 10 crew members (you may wish to hire at least 15 if you plan to use orbital shuttles) and to purchase enough provisions to last them until you return to a drydock. This procedure must be followed in the given order. If you fail to do so, you may find yourself sitting in your ship with no parts or crew. This will end the game rather abruptly.