IBS GUARDIAN from DETO SOFT is released as a Shareware item. It is not a free program, but has been released so that you might use it on a trial basis. If the program is not for you and you have no intention of making it part of your library, just delete the files or give your copy to a friend. If, on the other hand, you enjoy and use this program the writers anticipate compensation. A charge of $10.00 is asked for the program, though you may remit any amount that you feel the program warrants or your wallet can part with. You determine the worth of the program--any remittance is appreciated. Should you find bugs lurking in the program, or should you wish to make comment on the program, you may do so by writing to the address below or by leaving e-mail on GEnie Services in the mailbox of d.edwards8. *************************************** * * * D. L. Edwards * * 52 Smith Rd. * * Bellville, OH 44813 * * * *************************************** Remember that your support of DETO Software determines its future. Thanks, Dan Edwards & Ted Oney Disclaimer: Neither the writers of this program nor Deto Soft make any warranty, express or implied, with respect to this program or the accompanying documentation as to quality, performance, or fitness for any purpose. It is the responsibility solely of the purchaser/user to determine the suitability of the products for any purpose. In no case will Deto Soft be held liable for direct, indirect or incidental damages resulting from any defect or omission in the program or its documentation, including, but not limited to, any interruption of service, loss of business, anticipated profit, or other consequential damages. IBS GUARDIAN GAME MANUAL INTRODUCTION If you already have played the PD game of IBS Starsearcher, you'll be well on your way to playing this enhanced game of IBS Guardian. If you have not seen or played Starsearcher, this manual should help get you started. Most of the commands are the same for Guardian as they were for Starsearcher, however the keys for single-key entry of commands have been relocated, and new commands exist for this game. The new keys for the general commands are the function keys. Be careful if you've been playing Starsearcher for a while. NEW IN IBS GUARDIAN: In addition to the new key location for single keystroke entry of commands, you'll find that the Guardian has three decks as opposed to Starsearcher's one. Two shuttle bays exist on Guardian. Guardian's engines can be shut down to conserve power. You were permitted to make one trip to home base with your ship in Starsearcher in order to get supplies, repairs, and crewmen. With the Guardian you'll send the shuttles as often as you like for supplies etc. Returning the Guardian itself to home base ends your game. In this new game you can destroy all the enemy crafts in a battle then locate a new battle and continue your game. This can go on for as long as your supplies and power hold out. Beware of starting a new battle when in doubt about power. It's better to return to home base and live to tell your grandchildren about your adventures as captain of the Guardian. PLAYING THE GAME OF IBS GUARDIAN: NAVIGATION Movement of the IBS Guardian is accomplished by entering NAVIGATION or NAV. After accessing the navigation section, you must enter the command for the direction you wish to move. To swing the ship to the left, you must enter TO PORT. Entering TO STARBOARD will bring the ship around to the right. Also, advancing or retreating from the enemy can be accomplished with ADVANCE and RETREAT. Power units required to move the ship one degree either port or starboard are ten ( 10 ). It is best to keep this movement to a range of from ten to one hundred power units, though any movement can be accomplished. Power units for advance and retreat are set at a minimum of 100. PROBE A certain amount of skill must be acquired to properly use the probe. This will, however, come with usage. PROBE is the key word to enter to access this useful tool. Once this command has been entered, you will be asked for the x,y coordinates. The game screen grid is set up on a 40 by 20 grid in relation to a column/row format. When the enemy is attacking, the shields of the entire enemy fleet must be lowered as each ship fires. The enemy will become visible momentarily on the screen --time enough for the experienced probe user to sight a ship for probing. Once you believe you have located the approximate position of an enemy ship, the probe can be accessed. Enter the approximate x,y ( column/row ) coordinates into the probe. If the coordinates are incorrect, the probe marker will show as a flash. If, however, the coordinates are correct, the enemy ship will show within the probe marker. At this time a weapon can be fired, or the coordinates will be saved for later use. ( See RECALL in this manual ) LASER The use of the key word LASER will activate this section of the weaponry. The laser is non-directional, therefore, if no enemy is within direct laser sights, you will need to navigate to port or starboard. Though the strength of a laser burst is relatively small, its strength, as with other weaponry, increases with nearness to the target. Remember, however, that the IBS Guardian, as with the enemy, becomes more susceptible to damage in relation to the nearness to enemy fire. MISSILE To fire a missile at an already identified target, you must activate missile control by entering MISSILE. When missile control has been reached, you can enter the x,y (column/row) coordinates as obtained by the probe. TORPEDO After entering TORPEDO, firing can be accomplished exactly as with the missile. The torpedo is about half the strength of a missile. RELIEVE CREW There are three shifts of crewmen aboard Guardian. They must be rotated during the course of the game or they will fall prey to fatigue. If this occurs the ship will be lost. Entering RELIEVE CREW will change shifts. The crews should be relieved as often as you see fit, but should, under no circumstances, be allowed to work beyond 29 minutes real time. A half hour real time is the limit of their endurance. HOMING Enter HOMING to locate a new battle or return to home base and end your game. LOCATE ENEMY will cause homing to find your next battle. Returning to home base is accomplished by entering HOME or HOMEBASE. You'll want to do this when power is getting low aboard the Guardian. CREW Any crewman may be removed from one area and placed into another with CREW. You will need to enter the number of crewmen to be removed from the specified area. Next you're asked to which area the crewmen should report. Enter the number of the area to which you wish to move, and the crewmen will relocate. An area which cannot operate due to a shortage of crew can be helped by an area which has no further use. EMERGENCY If Computer Control (discussed later in manual) is not functional and you lose all communication facilities, you can use EMERGENCY to get help. This special communications channel is nearly indestructible and is in operation even when Computer Control has failed. Nearly all posts will be temporarily deserted by crewmen in order to rush repairs on the mainframe computer. This emergency repair results in a tremendous expenditure of power units, but Computer Control should be operational in very short time. SELF DESTRUCT Though it is hoped that this command will never be needed, it must be mentioned none the less. If at any time a captain finds that his crew and ship cannot possibly defeat the remaining enemy craft, he is under order of the officiating powers of United Earth to SELF DESTRUCT. Entering Self Destruct or DESTRUCT will accomplish this. Under no circumstances should the Guardian fall into the hands of the enemy. *** COMPUTER CONTROL *** COMPUTER CONTROL The last main command can be entered to access the mainframe computer aboard the ship, your main communications link. COMP or COMPUTER will connect you with the mainframe. ********** COMP ********** STATUS The status of your crew and the ship's damage, along with weapon availability, can be accessed with STATUS or STATS. Using this command will keep you updated. Remember: Computer Control must be accessed before accessing status or any further command in this manual. Also remember that you will get only the status of the current deck. Switch decks to get the status of the others. SEARCH The command SEARCH will cause the ship's computer to scan the battle area for any existing enemy vessels and report the number found to you. RECALL When the probe is used, the x,y coordinates are stored directly in the ship's computer. If the last coordinates used were correct in identifying an enemy craft, then these coordinates can be obtained for missile or torpedo placement with RECALL. Therefore, an enemy craft can be located, then you can go about other business without losing the coordinates. Once a missile or torpedo has been fired, the coordinates are reset to zero, otherwise they remain unless the probe is used again. COMMUNICATIONS A communications link can be set up with COMMUNICATIONS or COMM. The medical and repair teams can be reached anywhere in the ship by this means, and the shuttles can be launched. ** The remaining two commands ** ** are used with COMM ** MEDICAL TEAM A correct procedure for reaching the medical team is: COMP COMM MED (each item must be entered separately). MEDICAL, HOSP, or HOSPITAL will work for the last entry. When the medical team has been reached, enter: RELOCATE after which you must specify an area in need of the team's attention. REPAIR TEAM The repair teams are reached the same as the medical team with the exception of specifying REPAIR for the link after communications has been reached. There are three repair teams aboard Guardian, one for each deck. The repair teams cannot leave their assigned decks, so have the proper deck selected when moving a repair team. LAUNCH SHUTTLE You can launch a shuttle to get more supplies. After selecting the shuttle bay from which to launch (press the 2 key), enter LAUNCH SHUTTLE or LAUNCH. If the shuttle makes it through it will return with supplies. ** NOTE ** When an area of the ship has too few crewmen or is too severely damaged, it is non-functional. Medical attention to the wounded or repairs to the ship will only take place if the captain directs the specific crew to the area in need. ** SHIP AREAS ** All areas of the ship are referred to by numeric notations. When an area must be specified, be sure to use the correct number from the list below. NUMERIC CODE AREA CREWMEN Deck 1 1.............LASER...................5 2.............PROBE...................5 3.............BRIDGE..................6 4.............NAVIGATION..............5 5.............HOMING..................5 Deck 2 6.............COMPUTER................7 7.............LIFE SUPPORT............5 8.............HOSPITAL................5 9.............ENGINE..................4 10............COMMUNICATIONS..........5 Deck 3 11............HOLD ONE................2 12............HOLD TWO................2 13............MISSILE.................8 14............BAY ONE.................4 15............TORPEDO.................5 16............BAY TWO.................5 ** COMMANDS ** Below are listed three keys to select deck, bay, and engine on/off, and the commands available in IBS Guardian. The commands are listed in such a manner that command words working within a certain context are listed indented and below the initial command. An example is if first you input NAV, you could then input any of the four directions listed below NAVIGATION. The keys used for single key entry are also listed. KEYSTROKES: 1 DECK SELECT 2 BAY SELECT 3 ENGINE ON/OFF KEYSTROKES: KEY WORD: F1 NAVIGATION or NAV A ADVANCE R RETREAT P TO PORT S TO STARBOARD F2 PROBE F3 LASER F4 TORPEDO F5 MISSILE F6 COMPUTER or COMP Z STATUS or STATS S SEARCH R RECALL C COMMUNICATIONS or COMM M MEDICAL or MED or HOSPITAL or HOSP R RETURN R REPAIR R RETURN L LAUNCH SHUTTLE or LAUNCH F7 HOMING L LOCATE ENEMY H HOMEBASE F8 RELIEVE CREW F9 CREW F10 EMERGENCY ESC DESTRUCT NOTES: The game of IBS Guardian is much more complicated than IBS Starsearcher. You should, therefore, watch your damage closely so that important areas of the ship can be repaired and the crew can receive proper medical care. Don't forget to relieve your crew on a regular basis. More often than not, your game will end because of neglecting this rather than by damage to the ship. NEVER leave an area after just sending out a shuttle. If the Guardian leaves the area to seek out another battle, the shuttle crew will never find it. You'll find it best to send a shuttle out shortly after entering into battle. This gives the shuttle plenty of time to make the trip to home base and return. If the shuttle fails to return after a lengthy period of time, it has probably been destroyed. Scratch one shuttle. Be certain you have enough power to engage in another battle before locating more enemy ships. Once started, a battle cannot be left. Your only recourse at that time would be to self- destruct. If you want to make the most of the power available to the Guardian, kill the engines when not needed. Over a period of time this may save enough power to engage in further battles.