IBS STARSEARCHER from DETO SOFT is released as a Public Domain item. It is a free program, released to introduce you to the series of IBS games. Two other games exist in the IBS series: IBS Guardian and IBS Pegasus. Both are Shareware items, far more detailed than this introductory game, and can be found on GEnie Services. Feel free to give copies of IBS Starsearcher to your friends. 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 STARSEARCHER CAPTAIN'S MANUAL INTRODUCTION Your selection as captain of this Inter-galactic BattleShip testifies to your abilities as a commander and guardian of the perimeter. It is anticipated, however, that as a new captain of the most powerful ship to safeguard our United Earth, that you may come across heretofore unencountered problems. This manual is intended as an aid in your adjustment. All pertinent information has been covered. With the use of this information and your apparent ability in matters of strategy, the free system will survive. Good luck, Captain. ** CAPTAIN'S COMMAND COMPUTER ** ( CCC ) NAVIGATION Movement of the IBS Starsearcher can be accomplished directly from the main command section. Normal navigation can be accessed by entering NAVIGATION or NAV. Both are understood by the Captain's Command Computer ( CCC ). After accessing the navigation section, you must instruct the CCC in the matter of direction. 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 one unit per kilometer. Therefore, to advance on the enemy by a factor of 1000 kilometers, you will need to expend 1000 units of power. 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 into the CCC to access this useful tool. Once this section has been reached by the CCC, you will be asked for the x,y coordinates. Your CCC scope is set up on a 20 by 40 grid in relation to a row/column format. When the enemy is attacking, the shields of the entire enemy fleet must be lowered as each ship fires. ( See Derston's ENERGY vs. ENERGY c.sd.G826gy ) The enemy will become visible momentarily on the CCC scope --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. As is the case on other Inter-galactic BattleShips, 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 Starsearcher, as with the enemy, becomes more susceptible to damage in relation to the nearness to enemy fire. The laser burst, however, has become the most energy efficient weapon in your arsenal since the installation of the newly incorporated Pulse Burst EV Field Synthesizer. ANTI-MATTER 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. Anti-matter missiles are nearly always totally destructive ( even against the enemy's Negative Field Shields ), so if a missile fails to destroy the target ( other than in the case of a failed detonator -- which has been too often the case ), you may be too distant from the target to get an accurate hit. Closing with the enemy by as little as a few hundred kilometers can alleviate this problem. TYPE T NEUTRINO TORPEDO After entering TORPEDO into the CCC, firing can be accomplished exactly as with the anti-matter missile. The new Type T Neutrino Torpedo is nearly half the strength of a missile. This is over 25% more powerful than those previously carried on the Starsearcher. HOME BASE One return can be made to home base during any battle by entering HOME or HOMEBASE. You can pick up any available crew, along with torpedoes and missiles. Some power will be replenished at this time also. You may find that you do not have a full complement of crew and weaponry. Due to the ongoing war with the enemy, crewmen and weaponry have been in short supply. The key word RETURN will return you to the scene of your battle, at which time you can attempt victorious completion of your battle. Power consumption on your visit to -- and return from -- homebase will vary accordingly with your distance from base. 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. This method of strategically placing your crew can spell the difference between victory and defeat. 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 or DESTRUCT. Under no circumstances must the Starsearcher fall into the hands of the enemy. *** COMPUTER CONTROL *** COMPUTER CONTROL Our last command can be entered into the CCC. This command will access the computer aboard the ship, your main communications link. COMP or COMPUTER will connect you with this -- your most powerful tool. ********** 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. 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 in the CCC, 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 through Computer Control with COMMUNICATIONS or COMM. The medical and repair teams can be reached anywhere in the ship by this means. ** 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 team is reached the same as the medical team with the exception of specifying REPAIR for the link after communications has been reached. ** 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. This method of team deployment has proved to be the most effective. *** UE RULES & REGULATIONS *** For United Earth rules and regulations aboard a ship in its service, see UE document 3Y9BN67. For trials or court martials while in space, see document UE00.397v c.gy. It is the responsibility of each captain in the service of United Earth to guarantee proper conduct of crew members on his ship. Further, a captain must, in a timely manner, conduct inquiries into any illegal or questionable activities on the part of his crew. ** 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 1.............LASER...................5 2.............PROBE...................5 3.............NAVIGATION..............5 4.............MISSILE.................8 5.............COMPUTER................7 6.............HOSPITAL................5 7.............TORPEDO.................5 8.............HOMEBASE................5 9.............COMMUNICATIONS..........5 ** COMMANDS ** THROUGH CCC TERMINAL KEYSTROKES: 1 NAVIGATION or NAV A ADVANCE R RETREAT P TO PORT S TO STARBOARD 2 PROBE 3 LASER 5 MISSILE 4 TORPEDO 7 HOMEBASE or HOME R RETURN 9 CREW 0 EMERGENCY 8 DESTRUCT 6 COMPUTER or COMP THROUGH COMPUTER CONTROL Z STATUS or STATS S SEARCH R RECALL C COMMUNICATIONS or COMM THROUGH COMMUNICATIONS M MEDICAL or MED or HOSPITAL or HOSP R RETURN R REPAIR R RETURN ** THESE ARE THE ONLY KEY WORDS RECOGNIZED ** IBS STARSEARCHER ** STATISTICS AND CAPACITIES ** GROSS WEIGHT (FULLY ARMED AND MANNED)..........50,000 gt WIDTH..........................................2793 gy DEPTH..........................................3422 gy HEIGHT.........................................2346 gy SPEED (HYPERSPACE DRIVE).......................NEAR INSTANTANEOUS SPEED (PHOTON DRIVE)...........................46,000 gp/s RANGE..........................................LIMITED BY POWER TORPEDOES......................................50 MISSILES.......................................35 CREW...........................................100 plus SUPPLIES (INCLUDING ALL MEDICAL, FOOD, ETC.)...300,000 cgcu gt.....galactic tons gy.....galactic yards gp/s...galactic perlons per second cgcu...cubic galactic cargo units