THE OFFICIAL OUTPOST HELP FILE: SIMULATION OR REALITY? As a simulation, OUTPOST is a model of a theoretical system to be implemented in the real world. Although we have not yet colonized other planets, there have been a lot of studies on the subject, initiated by NASA, private corporations, public space organizations, and other governmental space agencies. Based on the best scientific data available, this simulation allows you full control over a space colonization effort. You will plan your colonies, choose what you need to take with you, choose the star system you wish to colonize, and deal with the problems of building a civilization in a hostile environment. One of the keys to a successful colony is the morale of your population. Your colonists will show their approval or disapproval of your management through changes in factory production, the rate of scientific research, and other forms of protest. As the leader of the colony, you can choose to make your people happy or ignore them entirely until society starts breaking down. Although you have total freedom of action, part of the challenge of a simulation is to learn what resources you have and how you can wield them within the framework of the game. Natural laws, the needs of your people, and practical realities can all have a limiting effect on the interconnected systems of the colony model and the decisions you can make. THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD: OUTPOST is a fact-based strategy / simulation game which allows you to explore new worlds, research new technologies, strive to rebuild human civilization on distant planets...and survive. Your colonists are the chosen few who have been given the chance to flee from the impending destruction of the Earth. Using a ship built by an international conglomerate, you must lead your colonists to safety on a new planet in another star system. There will be no turning back. OUTWARD BOUND: When you arrive at your chosen planet, you'll have to conquer a hostile environment to build your new home. In the full game, while you're still in orbit, you will be able to launch any of the satellites (navigational, solar power, meteor defense, etc.) you may have brought with you on the mothership. Surface probes and your SEED factory will also be launched from orbit. Your Artificially Intelligent advisor will tell you when the robotic SEED factory has created a habitat for the first human colonists, allowing you to deploy your humans and begin the full colonization effort. This special preview of the game picks up after all these events have occurred, putting you directly into the colony simulation. THE ARCHITECT OF THE FUTURE: In the full game, you will have a wide variety of structures to choose from in the construction of your colonies. Mining will provide the raw resources you require to build structures, feed your people, and maintain the operation of your colonies as you spread out over the surface of the new world. Your main enemy will be the hostile planet itself, since Earth-type worlds will be very rare. Every day you survive will be a victory for you and your civilization. In this preview demo, you have a limited set of structures to build and operate so that you can get the general feel of how the simulation works. Structures that do not require heavy shielding from the hostile environment or radiation will be built on the surface of the planet. Other buildings, such as Residential Modules, Research Laboratories, and Light Industry, must be built underground for the protection of your colonists. Structures require a certain amount of resources to be built and to maintain their functions each turn. In this demo, the SEED Factory brings a certain amount of resources down from the orbiting mothership to get you started, but all other resources for the continued expansion of your colony must be mined by Robot Miners. The STRUCTURES available to you are as follows: SEED FACTORY -- This automated lander sends out four stored robots (a miner, a digger, a bulldozer, and an explorer) upon arrival. In this demo version, the explorer will automatically start looking for any mines in the area of your landing site. These mines will show up as red circles on the large area map at the top right of your screen. The SEED Factory itself shows up as a blue dot on that same map. The SEED also produces power for the first few structures, giving you time to build a Solar Receiver Array to supply your future energy needs. (In the full game, there will be multiple sources of power.) Robots are manufactured by the SEED factory at the rate of 1 every 5 turns. By clicking on the SEED factory after the first few turns, you have the capability of choosing the type of robot you'd like to build. COMMAND AND CONTROL -- After the SEED factory generates the Command and Control structure, this becomes the focal point of your colony. Clicking on this Command structure allows you to see the master report, known as the Executive Summary, which gives you the overall status of your colony. SOLAR POWERSAT RECEIVER ARRAY -- In this demo, one Solar Power Satellite (PowerSat) has been deployed in orbit around your new planet. To make use of the microwave power that the PowerSat is beaming down to the planet's surface, you must erect at least one Solar Powersat Receiver Array (two are required to make optimum use of the energy). The power generated by a receiver array varies depending on the planet's distance from the local star. Under optimum conditions, when the star is close enough to the planet, 2000 units of power per turn are generated by a single receiver array. AGRICULTURAL DOME -- Produces the food you need to maintain your population. In the full game, the Agricultural Domes will be the primary food source, but others can also be created through Research. ROBOT EXPLORER -- Automatically deployed in the demo to seek out potential mining locations. There is only one, but it will eventually search the entire area surrounding your SEED factory, locating all the mines and any other unusual features. ROBOT DOZER -- Can be placed to prepare a smooth surface for future construction. ROBOT DIGGER -- Can be placed to dig underground tunnels for habitation. Certain structures, such as Residential units, can only be built underground so as to take advantage of the soil for protection from cosmic radiation, meteorites, the hostile planetary environment, and other really nasty things that can ruin a human's day. When the Digger finishes work on the surface, it leaves an airlock behind. ROBOT MINER -- Can be placed on a potential mining location, marked with a red beacon on the main map, to dig for resources. Depending on the difficulty of the terrain, it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 turns to dig down one level. When the Robot Miner has dug through the surface layer, that spot is marked with an Active Mine tile that will remain there while the Miner continues to dig as deeply as possible (up to four levels underground, depending on the planet and terrain). ACTIVE MINE -- After a Robot Miner starts digging mine shafts, the Active Mine tile will appear to mark the position of the mine. As soon as ORE is being produced by the mine, it will be stored temporarily. Every few turns, the stored Ore will automatically be transported to the Smelter for processing. (In the full game, this will not be an automatic function.) SMELTER / ORE PROCESSING FACILITY -- Processes Ore from the mines and turns it into useful resources that will show up on reports. As soon as the resources are processed, they are added to the general pool of resources available for building new structures and maintaining the operations of existing structures. CHAP -- The CHAP facility creates the self-contained, breathable atmosphere that is piped through your colony structures. Humans love this sort of thing because they can keep breathing air to maintain their metabolic functions. SPEW -- The Sewage Processing and Environmental Waste (SPEW) Facility is one big recycling unit. Buildings and wastes are recycled to form a Multi- Purpose Goo (MPG) that can be used in place of any normal resource. MPG is quite valuable, so it is produced at a very slow rate and requires a great deal of recycled material. RESIDENTIAL -- Residential units are placed underground for their own protection. You can reach the underground portion of the demo by using the pull-down "Control" menu and selecting the underground level (there is only one underground level in the demo). The underground area must be prepared by a digger before you can build a structure in that position. These are required to maintain your population. Each one can handle up to 25 people, but their Morale won't be very good if you crowd them together so much. The optimum for a Residential unit is 20 people, but they'll be even happier if they have more space (extra Residential units). UNDERGROUND LABORATORY -- Underground laboratories are clean facilities that are placed underground for the protection of their human inhabitants. You can reach the underground portion of the demo by following the instructions above in the "Residential" description. LIGHT INDUSTRY / LUXURY MANUFACTURING -- These are factories that produce consumer items and other things that have little impact on the environment. In the full game, there will be numerous options for items to produce, but this demo is limited to just a few to give you an idea of how the factories are going to work. The produced items will show up on reports so that you can maintain control over the supply. Luxury items directly affect the Morale of your population, which means they'll produce more goods in your factories, perform better scientific research, control the level of crime, and all kinds of good things if they have enough Luxury items to go around. If they don't have enough...well, you'll find out. REPORTS: The status of various structures is reflected in the reports that the artificial personality generates for you. You can study one of these reports by clicking on the appropriate structure: the Lab gives you a report on current research, the Factory report shows current production, the Mine shows a report on mining and resources, and the Command building gives you the Executive Summary report. ROBOTS ARE YOUR FRIENDS: In the full game, there are a wide variety of robots you can build and operate, including Explorer robots, Miner robots, and Bulldozer robots. After you develop the technology through research, you can also build human worker replacement robots, which will be very handy when your humans are complaining about the lack of any air to breathe. Due to the limitations of this demo, you won't get the dictatorial thrill of dealing with these mechanical slaves until you buy the actual game. SPECIAL EFFECTS WIZARDRY: Although the images you see in this preview demo are nifty 3-D rendered graphics, the final game is loaded with animations that will knock your eyes out (it's painful, but it's worth it). With its hard-science orientation, 3-D graphics, speech, sound effects, and music, the level of realism in OUTPOST is unmatched by any other product. TECHNO-WIZARDRY: In this preview demo, many functions are automatically handled by the game. For example, the ore generated by a mine is automatically shipped to the Smelter for processing every 5 turns, assuming that a Smelter has been built. In the full game, you will be required to use trucks or a monorail to ship the ore to the Smelter. TERRAFORMING: Terraforming is not available in this demo, which only runs for a limited number of turns. However, you can exert almost total control over your planet in the final game, meaning that you can create an atmosphere if you're on the right kind of planet with the right kind of resources and research capability. It takes a long time, but it will make your population really happy when they won't have to wear spacesuits to take a stroll on the surface of the planet. TRADE: There are no trading agreements with other colonies in this preview demo, but there will be in the final game. Really. Trust me. HEY, THERE'S A BUNCH OF STUFF MISSING! Well, this is a demo, after all. Just think of it as a teaser, an appetizer, an aperitif, and a way of luring you into buying the rest of the meal so that you can get to the dessert. OKAY, EXACTLY HOW DO I GET STARTED IN THIS DEMO? 1. Pick a landing site by clicking with your mouse on the overhead area map at the top right of the screen. The section you click on will be displayed on the diamond-shaped close-up terrain map. 2. Click on the SEED factory in the small Tile Type window, then move the cursor over the terrain map and select the landing site for your SEED factory. (There are several different terrain types, including one that is IMPASSABLE, which you can't build on.) 3. Click twice on the planet icon in the lower right hand corner to indicate you have finished your movement for two turns. (The Turn number will be displayed in the title bar at the top of your screen.) This gives your SEED factory time to build its companion Command center. 4. As they become available, more tiles will appear in the Tile Type window. The stored robots on the SEED factory can now be deployed. The Digger should be placed on a tile somewhere near the SEED factory. The Miner should be placed at a location with an "M" on the local map (also represented by a red circle on the big area map at the top right of your screen). The Dozer should be placed on a nearby spot where you'd like to build a structure, since the surface must be prepared before work starts on a building. 5. Keep preparing surfaces to build on, selecting structures to build in those locations, and placing Miners to develop your resources. You must keep moving the Digger robots on the underground levels to prepare tunnels to accept structures. Diggers aren't very bright, so you have to keep placing them where you want them to tunnel. 6. Refer to your reports to manage your resources. In this demo, the humans will come down as soon as the Command and Control facility is built by the SEED factory, but they'll get grumpy if you don't give them Residential space to live in as soon as you can. 7. You're on your own.