hardnova
Contents
1. A h v 5 DR RN m mt o 1 ELECTRONIC ARTS wi Ne 4 WHO GARES IF IT S ILLEGAL IT S JUST BAD FOR BUSINESS You re the most sought after mercenary in four frontier systems known for your many unique talents You re a smuggler a kidnapper a terrorist an assassin and a guerrilla warfare specialist Your services are for sale for the right price and you have a very lucrative business You start hearing rumors People you ve never worked for are talking about the great jobs you did for them And the best part these people say is that you work for free Your investigative skills were never as big an asset as your body but it doesn t take you long to uncover a monstrous Conspiracy Someone cloned you from a strand of hair you dropped on a bar stool They re sending hundreds of these clones into the frontier systems to be mercenaries just like you The clones are as good as you no one can tell you apart and they all work for free Suddenly no one wants to pay for your brand of mayhem anymore You re out of business You leave the system to find business elsewhere and soon your old clients find that the clones are obsolete They can only do the jobs you ve already done and they can t learn how to do anything new And since you ve left the systems to find clients who ll pay for your work your old clients are stuck But they brought it on themselves by not paying you what you were worth T2. Pays Accelerate neiaa Ce na Elevation 4 5 6 7 8 3 t ji mu ZAE zana WERE Pope Ak BF Turn Left z IB Turn Right iie Ji urn Le iz LJ urn Rig K u 1 2 3 Decrease Hold down SHIFT and press a key to 3 ENI Elevation turn in the direction indicated Decelerate HOVERSHIP FLYING PROCEDURE USING THE MOUSE To fly the hovership using the mouse click on the following areas to perform the actions described Click in an area to face that direction Increase Elevation ESC ENTER ORBIT Decrease d JES pe Elevation Press ESC or click on it with the mouse to leave the planet surface and rejoin your J 21c Delphenus You can also set your speed by pressing Shift and a number key on the top of your keyboard NOT the numbers on the keypad Press Shift 0 to stop and press Shift 3 for full speed SCREEN COMPONENTS FORWARD VIEW Your view of the planet from the cockpit of your hovership Any pertinent messages from your navigation computer are displayed here for example when the hovership sustains damage or when the fuel level runs dangerously low DISPLAY This display is tied to the Cargo Bay Camera and the Targeting Computer Normally this display shows a view of your cargo bay When you target a ship with your weapons this display shows a shuttle graphic and a text message describes the ship type and strength FUEL GAUGE The fuel status of the hovership The longer the green bar is the more fuel th
3. To sell an item place it in the pool and then press Z Your account is credited the amount that store thinks the item is worth Note that arms and ammo are bought and sold at different rates in every store Note To access the store you must be in ITEM mode on the Profile screen For more information see the 3 ITEM section in Crew Profiles To leave the store press F6 or select the Room icon Don t forget you must eguip any new weapons to use them For information on eguipping weapons see the 4 WEAP section in Crew Profiles FLYING IN YOUR HOVERSHIP Once you drop from orbit to the planet surface you fly to your destination in your hovership Forward View Display UE ZUCH Pilot er Controls 3 CARGO BAY EMPTY SEE SMUG SERVICES me Fue Gauge Your Ship Damage Gauge m Cargo Bay Ta ES Camera The m ee enoni I JAZ eZ i j JA T i x iii Targeting Landscape _ NATAS Computer EP DAJE ZN KIM Closeup Map Landing Info Box View While in Hovership 14 THE LANDSCAPE A digital 3D topographical map of the planet surface surrounding your hovership A ship graphic represents your hovership s altitude and orientation and it s always above the center of the map Other nearby spacecraft are represented by a ship graphic of a different color HOVERSHIP FLYING PROCEDURE USING THE KEYPAD To fly the hovership using the keypad press these keys to perform the actions de scribed
4. Holo Space Map see Screen Compo nents of Flying Through Space TALKING To talk to the target select the Talk icon or press F7 You must target a sentient before you can talk to it You cannot talk to hostile sentients they are too busy trying to kill you to talk THE DIALOG BEGINS The sentients you talk to always get the first word Their words are red Your state ments are green Conversation Choices Dialog Screen Read what the sentient says in the Dialog Box then look at your possible responses below in the Reply Box Choose the statement you want and then press the letter of that response on the keyboard or click on it with the mouse The statement you chose is echoed in the Dialog Box followed by the sentient s response When the conversation is over press F1 to return to the Map and Target Profile You can exit a dialog at any time by pressing F1 but you stand to lose important informa tion that cannot be learned from subseguent conversations Note that pressing the right mouse button or selecting icons also exits you from dialog prematurely SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT TALKING WITH SENTIENTS Talking with people is your main source of information but that should not intimidate you Here are some guidelines for role playing in the Four Systems Many conversations yield useful information some do not Just because a character doesn t tell you anything you consider significant that doesn t necessar i
5. SMG70X BELT 90 SL20 Sniper HUMAN SL20 CLIP 30 M23 30AR HUMAN M23 CLIP 50 Slug Thrower DARCATOR SLUG PACK 40 Grav Gun DARCATOR GRAV G CLIP 50 Standard Weapons Stats SPECIAL WEAPONS These are mostly energy weapons Generally if the target is visible on the floor plan they are in range O weapon Race Damage Min Max Ammunition Rounds M III Laser HUMAN ENERGY CELLS 25 JW2 Blaster HUMAN ENERGY CELLS 25 Comp Blaster HUMAN ENERGY PACK 50 Blast Rifle HUMAN ENERGY PACK 50 ThermoCaster HUMAN THERMO PACK 25 Grav Disruptor DARCATOR GRAV BOOSTER 25 Radiation Grenade HUMAN N A Standard Weapons Stats To throw a Radiation Grenade press asterisk It affects everyone within one step of the target even if there is a wall between them and the grenade Only you Nova or Stark can throw grenades They must be in your personal inventory but they don t need to be equipped You are immune to the effects and the amount of damage a grenade can cause is based on your DEMOLITIONS ability ARMOR There are two types of armor Protective Armor and Automated Medical Lining Here are listed the available types of armor the races that can use them and other signifi cant stats PROTECTIVE ARMOR Except for bad aim protective armor is usually the only thing between your skin an enemy weapon Here are the three things you need to know about armor PROTECT how much protection the armor gives the
6. The Bremar sgueals We can t leave them You grab the alien by the neck and shove it down the corridor We can t open the door It s too late Now move We re trapped Nova Get us out of here She s gonna blow You cram A kri Janr into the pod and climb in You jump into the crash couch and punch the button Your body flattens as the pod is hurled from your ship first by its main thruster and then by the massive explosion as the Rontgen drive on your ship detonates You awake from the nightmare Six months have passed since you and A kri Janr got picked up in the Rouyn system The odds against a hull breech from a meteor collision are astronomical and bad luck killed your whole crew except A kri Janr You had no choice but to leave them Dying with them wouldn t have helped The life of a frontier mercenary You ve been a freelance merc for the Starkiller Mercenary Group for three years Gerard Kendall relies on you for his most delicate and demanding jobs After the accident he gave you a new ship but it s up to you to recruit a new crew Your last crew was the best but now they re gone and you have to start over No one is irreplaceable not your crew not even you That s the life of a frontier mercenary Your name is Nova And you re one of the best damn mercenaries in the Four Systems You spend your time doing different activities which might be called illegal if there were any laws on the frontier You smugg
7. and a number key on the top of your keyboard NOT the numbers on they keypad Press Shift 0 to stop and press Shift 9 for full speed v s Click in an area to face that direction Accelerate Increase Elevation 7 8 3 4 si 4 5 6 gt Turn Left z z Turn Right 1 2 3 Decrease Elevation Decelerate 23 SCREEN COMPONENTS SHIP STATUS PANEL The Ship Status Panel lets you control most of the systems on your ship For information on how to control ship systems using this panel see Using the Ship Status Panel DISPLAY This display is tied to the Communications Computer and the Targeting Computer When you target a ship with your weapons this display shows different information about the target The level of information depends upon your Technician s skill See Scanning Targets in Space for more information SPEED GAUGES The Speed Gauge above the Space View is divided into ten seg ments When only the leftmost segment is lit the only blue segment the thrusters are not engaged When all the segments green are lit the thrusters are set to maximum thrust The Speed Gauge below the Long Range Scanner shows your speed in numeric torm FUEL GAUGE The Fuel Gauge shows the number of fuel cells remaining in your J 21c Delphenus When you run out of fuel cells you must use the batteries to fly to an orbiting space station where you can buy more While flying on batteries your maximum speed is Speed 5 an
8. higher the better SLOWNESS how much the armor slows you the higher the slower STEALTH how much noise your armor makes the higher the louder Uniform HUMAN Hardened Vest HUMAN Body Armor HUMAN Flak Vest HUMAN Kevlar Suit HUMAN Battle Armor HUMAN Skin Suit BREMAR Glide Shield DARCATOR Grav Blocker DARCATOR 1 3 3 4 5 8 1 6 w os s ZORB Q GQ Protective Armor Stats AUTOMATED MEDICAL LINING Medical lining is an advance technological artifact crucial to quick healing during combat and every effort should be made to wear better and better AMLs All races can use all types of AML HEALING how fast the AML heals you by injecting drugs applying heat and directing low level radiation The lower the number the better the AML Issue Extended Rush Automated Medical Lining Stats 41 APPENDIX C VIEWER DISKS Your Matrix 9 reads optically encoded library disks which usually contain historical information and other background data The standard library has sixteen disks and there are eight additional slots for any additional disks you may find Matrix 9 Data Hand Held Viewer To activate your Matrix 9 Hand Held Viewer press F9 from most any mode You cannot use the Viewer in Hovercraft mode To read a viewer disk press the letter of the disk When you re finished with viewer disk library press ESC to leave the viewer Here is an index for the standard
9. sentient s picture The sentient s HEALTH is on the right If you want to kill a sentient attack it until its health goes to zero OPTIONS include special activities like activating elevators picking up objects or performing other miscellaneous tasks To perform an activity press the key shown in parentheses or click on the activity with the mouse Note Special options appear in certain locations For instance some doors require a magnetic key entry Mag Card If you have the item required select the option by pressing the key shown or by clicking on it If you don t have the correct item for an option the option still appears but it s dimmed You must get the correct item before the option becomes active Landing Party STATS show the health and marching order location of each member of the landing party ROOM This screen is identical to the target screen except a room description replaces Target Info To see the Room Description click on the room icon or press F6 to see its profile in the Info Box Name Description ei Options A V A KRI JANR CENTER HEALTH 89 OF 29 ri sj ACE ELCATOR RECRUIT HEALTH 21 OF 21 a Room Description Landing Party Stats Read the room description carefully as you walk to get more information about your surroundings Important information is often presented in the room descriptions OPTIONS include special activities like activating elevators picking u
10. top of the Profile tells you the basics about that crew member name health position in the marching order experience and cash You Nova or Stark carry the cash for the whole party You re not stupid Your rank in the Starkiller group is divided into three classifications Starkiller Enlisted SE Starkiller Officer SO Starkiller Leader SL You get promoted to an officer when you reach 10th level and you become a leader when you reach 20th level You need increasing numbers of experience points to advance to new levels and each time you advance a level your experience drops back down to zero For information on gaining experience see the following section 2 ABIL To see the stats regarding the equipped weapon look in the Info Box next to the weapon icon Listed is the name of the weapon along with information regarding how effective the crew member is with that weapon TO HIT The percent chance he or she will hit a target at close range SPEED how often he or she can use the weapon DAMAGE how much damage min max the weapon inflicts These numbers are basic guidelines They do not take into account the armor skill or distance of the target If the target has good armor better skills or is far away they are harder to hit and harder to hurt To see the stats regarding the equipped armor look in the Info Box next to the armor icon Listed is the name of the armor along with information rega
11. weapon bay Select a Weapon CLEAR THIS BAY BUY A7 COMET BEAM 25000 TOTAL BUY PIKE RADAR 300 TOTAL BUY D52 SHARK VIS 200 TOTAL BUY D91 MANTA JETC 200 TOTAL RETURN TO BAYS TAS AOT gt When you select a weapon it costs the amount of money shown If you replace a weapon you get credit for the weapon you return in exchange for the new one The actual costs benefits will depend on the station For details on the different weapons see Space Weapons and Countermeasures SMUGGLER TRADE OFFERS You can pick up jobs smuggling goods Press the letter to the left of your choice to select it The specific jobs vary from planet to planet In general the more money you re offered for a delivery run the more dangerous the mission High paying smuggling missions usually result in a hostile welcoming party 21 The reward of each item follows the assignment offer SOs gt m After you make your selection you re told the name of the planet and the coordinates where you are to take your cargo The cargo is automatically loaded onto your ship Press A to select a different smuggling mission or press B to return to the hub of the Space Station To Drop off smuggled goods fly to the designated coordinates The Ship Status Panel indicates that you can unload your cargo Press U to unload Your account is automati TO ROUYN TO ARIEL ALIEN FOOD 9000 TO TIKORR FUEL CELLS 5000 TO CIBERAN FUEL CELLS
12. 29000 RETURN TO STATION HUB cally credited with your reward FLYING THROUGH SPACE Interstellar travel is possible because the Starkiller Mercenary Group has licensed you to use one of their J 21c Delphenus spacecraft The spacecraft is designed to transport WEAP PARTS 15000 you from star to star through stargates and it can carry the weapons reguired to get you to your destination safety Speed Gauge Your Ship Holo Space Map za GA za ni IM FIKERAD SIGNATURE J 2lc DELPH eed e 4 A ARIEL CRUISER k g a R LL A N m x c Space View 22 Display Long Range Scanner Speed and Fuel Gauges HOLO SPACE MAP A digital 3D map of the region of space around your spacecraft A ship graphic represents your spacecraft s orientation and it s always at the center of the map Other nearby spacecraft are represented by different ship graphics depend ing upon ship type The ship icons do not reflect the size or armament of the actual ships they represent SPACECRAFT FLYING PROCEDURE USING THE KEYPAD To fly your J 21c Delphenus using the keypad press these keys to perform the actions described K Be Hold down SHIFT and press a key to turn in the direction indicated SPACECRAFT FLYING PROCEDURE USING THE MOUSE To fly your J 21c Delphenus using the mouse click on the following areas to perform the actions described You can also set your speed by pressing Shift
13. D OR REDUCED TO ANY ELECTRONIC MEDIUM OR MACHINE READABLE FORM WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF ELECTRONIC ARTS P O BOX 7578 SAN MATEO CALIFORNIA 94403 7578 ATTN CUSTOMER SERVICE ELECTRONIC ARTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WITH RESPECT TO THIS MANUAL ITS QUALITY MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE THIS MANUAL IS PROVIDED AS IS ELECTRONIC ARTS MAKES CERTAIN LIMITED WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THE SOFTWARE AND THE MEDIA FOR THE SOFTWARE PLEASE SEE THE ELECTRONIC ARTS LIMITED WARRANTY SOFTWARE 1990 KARL BUITER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MANUAL BY ERIC LINDSTROM INSTALLATION AND STARTING GUIDE BY DAVID LUOTO 1990 ELECTRONIC ARTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 342805
14. Status Panel displays a list of options Press B to orbit the planet For information on actions you can take while at a space station see Visiting Orbiting Space Stations CONFIGURING INDOOR SOUAD This mode lets you define a marching order for your drop crew and it also lets you reassign your crew members to different posts aboard your 21c Delphenus For a description of this process see Configuring Your Indoor Sguad in Flying Through Space USING THE SHIP STATUS PANEL The Ship Status Panel is where you control all of the functions of your J 21 Delphenus a t Operations F1 Software F2 Communications F3 Crew Assignments F4 Signatures F5 FIKE RAD SIGNATURE J 21 DELFH Es Weapons F6 A AVIONICS E THRUSTER C FUELCELI DLASERSVYS E MISSILES F COUNTERS Ship Status Panel To activate any of the six system interfaces press the key listed on the above illustra tion or click on the icon with the mouse The Ship Status Panel displays the interface for the selected system F1 OPERATIONS The illustration above shows the Ship Status Panel in Operations mode The top half of the panel shows Damage and Repairs status of the ship The bottom half shows the Weapons and CounterMeasures status of the ship The name of your ship is to the upper left and the date is to the upper right based on Mastassini Standard Time DAYS YEAR DAMAGE AND REPAIRS The functions of your ship are divided into six cat
15. a crew member you must move the armor to the pool You can then return the armor to that crew member s personal inventory and it will not be eguipped until you specifically eguip it 5 AMED This lists the crew member s items including weapons ammunition armor medical lining and miscellaneous items Only medical lining that can be used by that crew member are highlighted To eguip medical lining press the letter to the left of the medical lining or click on it with the mouse The crew member now uses that medical lining Medical lining is an advance technological artifact crucial to quick healing during combat and every effort should be made to wear better and better AMLs To remove medical lining from a crew member you must move the AML to the pool You can then return the AML to that crew member s personal inventory and it will not be equipped until you specifically equip it ARMS STORES On most planets you can find arms stores to meet your weapon and ammunition needs Items for Sale M POOL ALT PI CYCLE POOL I GIVE TO TARGET OPROF EJABIL HITEM COWEAP HARMA GAMED Arms Store The available items are listed next to their prices 13 To buy an item press the letter next to the item or click on it with the mouse The item goes into the pool and the price is subtracted from your account The amount of cash you have is shown under the list of items for sale check it to make sure you can afford the item
16. a list appears Select your choice by pressing the letter to its left or by clicking on it To exit Scout mode click on the Scout Icon or press F8 The scouting crew member returns to the landing party While scouting Darcators and Droids cannot talk to sentients and they cannot pick up or drop items And remember they are not invisible If they are discovered hostile sentients will fire at them ARMOR POOL This is the armor you the player are using Or if you have items in the pool this flashing icon shows the top item If there are no items in the pool this icon shows armor even if you have no armor equipped DISPLAY LINE The left of the Display line tells you what weapon you re using The middle tells you the mode you re in The right tells you the armor you re using or the top item in the pool INFO BOX This box displays different information depending on the mode you re in TARGETING To interact with a sentient or a ship you must first target it Interactions include a number of things from talking to killing to giving items To target a sentient or a ship press the spacebar or the right mouse button The target flashes on the screen if it s visible Press the key or button repeatedly to cycle through all the available targets To target a spaceship beyond visual range press 2 Pressing repeatedly cycles through all the ship targets beyond the range of the Holo Space Map For information about the
17. a third of the board press 3 for the left third 4 for the middle third 5 for the right third or click on the third you want below the board Winning pays 3 for 1 43 To bet on a color press 6 or click on the option You re shown a list of the eight colors and you select the color you want by pressing the letter to its left or by clicking on it on the list Winning pays 8 for 1 To set the amount of your bet after you make it select one of the listed options by pressing the letter of your choice or by clicking on it A BET MORE Increase bet by 10 B BET LESS Decrease bet by 10 C SET LAST WAGER O Bet the same amount as the last bet D SET BET Set the bet and return to the main menu E DO NOT PLAY BET Cancel the bet and return to the main menu To finish betting and drop the ball press 7 or select BETS PLACED The ball is dropped and the results are shown on the Display Line Any winning bets are high lighted in the Bets Placed area and your account is credited or debited accordingly Note If you bet the maximum number of table bets 8 the ball drops automatically To finish playing and leave the table press 8 or select LEAVE THE TABLE ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES IN ORBIT AT SPACEPORT MALIBU Karl Buiter is the evil genius behind such past products as EOS and Sentinel Worlds He divides his time between programming his computer in starlight playing his drums in dim lounge light and riding the waves of Mal
18. ach crew member s picture tell the status of a player s skill and weapon load te 4 Experience ZOZ E i Ammunition a Status Indicators If a crew member has gained experience the top bar lights white For information on improving your abilities with experience see the 2 ABIL section in Crew Profiles If a crew member s weapon runs out of ammunition the bottom bar lights red As crew members empty their clips the clips are automatically replaced if the crew members have more If they don t have any more ammo you must give them new ammunition from the pool or eguip a different weapon to keep them fighting For information on the pool see the 3 ITEM section in Crew Profiles WEAPON This is the weapon you the player are using Click on it or press Enter to fire your eguipped weapon at the target This icon is crossed swords if you re using a Close Combat weapon or if you re unarmed For information on eguipping weapons see the 4 WEAP section in Crew Profiles 4 TARGET This is the sentient you the player are targeting To see information about the target click on its face or press F5 to see its profile in the Info Box For information on targeting sentients see Targeting Name Weapon Health Armor Options A KRI JANE CENTER HEALTH 29 OF 29 Landing Party ACE ELCATOR RECRUIT HEALTH 21 OF 21 Stats Target Information The target s NAME WEAPON and ARMOR appear next to the
19. ack other hoverships first target them then fire To target a hovership press the spacebar or the right mouse button The targeted ship flashes on the Landscape and the Display shows a graphic of the target and indicates its strength To fire the hovership lasers at the target press Enter The target is destroyed when its strength goes to zero ORBITING PLANETS Standard orbits are the transition between flying in deep space and landing on planets You can choose the planet coordinates you want to drop to or you can visit an orbiting space station Pomuded View Pilot Schematic Landing Info Box Topo Scale Planet Map Closeup Map Orbit View 17 SCREEN COMPONENTS FORWARD VIEW Your view of the planet from the bridge of your 21c Delphenus spacecraft PLANET MAP A digital topographical map of the planet surface The cross hair indicates the currently programmed drop site Special locations you freguently visit are marked by red dots TOPO SCALE This scale shows the correspondence between land altitude and color The color at the top of scale indicates the color of the highest altitudes while the color at the bottom of scale indicates the color of the lowest altitudes CLOSEUP MAP A magnified view of the currently programmed drop site as marked on the Planet Map by the cross hair This scanner does not detect hoverships near the planet surface LANDING INFO BOX Lists information about the planet including the
20. al lining and miscellaneous items Anyone can carry any item The pool consists of the items held by the landing party but not necessarily held by anyone in particular Items in the pool are never lost but they cannot be used unless they get assigned to a particular person To put an item in the pool press the letter to the left of the item or click on it with the mouse That item is taken from the inventory of the crew member and placed in the top of the pool To take the top item from the pool press P This places the item in the crew member s personal inventory so he or she can use it You can also click on P FROM POOL with the mouse to take the top item from the pool To bring a different pool item to the top of the pool press Alt P This cycles the items in the pool to bring a different item to the top To give an item from the pool to the target press I or click on I GIVE TO TARGET with the mouse This gives the top item in the pool to the target You must transfer an item to the pool before you can give it away and you must have a target If the target doesn t want the item you fail to give it To drop an item from the pool display the Room description by pressing F6 or clicking on the Room icon If you have an item in the pool one of the Options in the Info Box is C DROP POOLED ITEM Press C or click on the Option to drop the item at the top of the pool You must transfer an item to the pool in ITEMS mode and r
21. ame If you have more than six crew members you can press X to switch pages To assign that crew member to a post on the spacecraft press the letter that corresponds to that post R PIL Pilot S TECH Technician T ENG Engineer U GUN Spacecraft Gunner V BNAV Bremar Navigator W HOV Hovercraft Gunner To define a new marching order select the position you want that crew member to assume either Center or Trail Note that you can only bring two additional crew members with you on the hovership and you either Nova or Stark are always on the Point at the head of the marching order X CENTER Y TRAIL To chose a different crew member to assign press Z and then press the letter for the next crew member 31 To see if a crew member has gained experience check the color of the name of the crew member s name If the name is blue they haven t gained enough experience If it s white you can allocate ability points This convention does not include you the Commander For information on allocating ability points see the 2 ABIL section in Crew Profiles To leave crew configuration press Esc Note You should assign crew members to roles in accordance with their abilities Then you should increase their abilities in their specialty as they gain experience F5 FALSE SIGNATURES The illustration below shows the Ship Status Panel in False Signature mode Ship Signatures The signature of
22. an area from orbit Because this is a defense against invasion the shields do not activate to prevent hoverships from leaving the planet surface to reenter orbit LEAVING ORBIT To leave orbit and fly into space press ESC or click on ESC ENTER SPACE on the Pilot Schematic with the mouse You can also leave orbit by clicking the mouse on deep space not on the planet in the Forward View VISITING ORBITING SPACE STATIONS There are space stations around every planet except Cascade in the Rouyn System At space stations you can refuel repair or re outfit your ship Station A RETURN TO YOUR SHIP kA E FUEL CELL SUPPLY Services REPLACE DAMAGED SYSTEMS D CHANGE WEAPON BAYS E SMUGGLER TRADE OFFERS Ship Status Screen Il THRUSTEJ FUELCELI Ship Damage MISSILES WNTERS Ship Weapon Bays Fuel Cells Cash View While at Space Station SCREEN COMPONENTS STATION SERVICES These services relate to the maintenance of your J 21c Delphenus Press the letter to the left of the service to select it RETURN TO YOUR SHIP FUEL CELL SUPPLY REPLACE DAMAGED SYSTEMS CHANGE WEAPON BAYS SMUGGLER TRADE OFFERS moO gt Note Not all station services are available on every station Dock with a station to see which services are available Fuel Cell Supply You can buy fuel cells or you can sell surplus fuel cells for cash Press the letter to the left of your choice to select it The cost or benefit of each item f
23. competing claims and the squabbling began Ariel launched an attempt to take over Ciberan The Lanta which are divided into two groups the Fragmentarialists Frags and the Dispossessionalists Disps brought their philosophy wars out from the Core to the world Varon The various battling forces relied increasingly on mercenaries for everything from border skirmishes to full scale invasions The conflicting objectives of each subsidiary pitted the mercenary groups against each other Rivalries quickly developed between the three major groups the Delta Coro the Zero L and the Starkillers Then all Hell broke loose Pretty soon it seemed like everybody was fighting everybody else It looked like the only winners would be the mercenaries but they fought among themselves so much their casualties ran high as well It got so bad you were sure it couldn t possibly get any worse Only one thing could prove you wrong the future GETTING STARTED To install and begin playing Hard Nova first follow the instructions in the Installation and Starting Guide Also see the guide for information on loading and saving games and Ouitting Hard Nova The interface is designed to make it easy to do what you want when you want to do it Most of the functions on the screen have their keystrokes listed next to them and most of these functions can be activated by clicking the left mouse button on them There fore learning how to conduct yourself is a
24. d on Original Concept by Karl Buiter Producer Associate Producer Christopher Erhardt Roland Kippenhan III Assistant Producer Technical Director James R Bailey Jesse Taylor Lead Tester Ouality Assurance Steve Smythe Steve Matulac Product Manager David Bamberger Package Art Direction Package Design Nancy Fong Lance Anderson Package Illustration Richard Kriegler Documentation Documentation Layout Eric Lindstrom Jennie Maruyama TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you have questions about the program our Technical Support Department can help If your question isn t urgent please write to us at Electronic Arts Technical Support P O Box 7578 San Mateo CA 94403 7578 Please be sure to include the following information in your letter e Product name e Type of computer you own e Any additional system information like type and make of monitor video card printer modem etc e Type of operating system or DOS version number e Description of the problem you re having If you need to talk to someone immediately call us at 415 572 ARTS Monday though Friday between 8 30 am and 4 30 pm Pacific Time Please have the above information ready when you call This will help us answer your guestion in the shortest possible time If you live outside of the United States you can contact one of our other offices In the United Kingdom contact Electronic Arts Limited P O Box 835 Slough SL3 8YN UK Phone 044 753 46465 In Austra
25. d you cannot fly through stargates LONG RANGE SCANNER The Long Range Scanner displays the significant contents of deep space around your spacecraft The range of the Scanner is approximately 1 O R Orbital Radius The scanner displays the following features Feature Size Color Stars LARGE WHITE Planets LARGE BLUE Stargates LARGE MAGENTA Missiles LARGE RED Asteroids SMALL GREY Ships SMALL VARIOUS Long Range Scanner Symbology The green dot in the center of the scanner represents your ship The colors for other ships depend on their signatures Over time you can learn which scanner ship color corresponds to which ship type 24 To change the magnification of the scanner click on SCANNER 1 below the actual scanner or press ALT L SCANNER 1 is no magnification SCANNER 2 is 2x magnifica tion SCANNER 3 is 4x magnification and SCANNER 4 is 8x magnification To target a spaceship beyond visual range press Pressing the key repeatedly cycles through all the ship targets beyond the range of the Holo Space Map For information about the Space Holo Map see Screen Components of Flying Through Space COMBAT To attack other spacecraft first target them and then fire at them To target a spacecraft press the spacebar or the right mouse button The targeted ship flashes on the Space View Pressing the key or button repeatedly cycles through all the ships on the Holo Space Map The Display may
26. disks included in your library A VIEWER DISK INSTRUCTIONS I MASTASSINI PLANET B ARIEL PLANET J ZERO L MERCENARIES C TIKORR PLANET K DELTA CORO MERCS D ROUYN PLANET L STARKILLER MERCENARY GROUP E CASCADE PLANET M BREMAR RACE F CIBERAN PLANET N DARCATOR RACE G VARON PLANET O LANTA RACE H HOLBROOK PLANET APPENDIX D PLAYING ZERO G ROULETTE In the bars and casinos of the Four Systems there are many games of Zero G Roulette The game is very similar to regular roulette except for a few exceptions In normal roulette there are two colors and 38 slots 0 00 and 1 36 In Zero G Roulette there are eight colors and 26 slots A Z The slots X amp Y are not colored and they corre spond to 0 and 00 on a traditional roulette wheel Zero G Roulette The wheel is actually a sphere and the ball is suspended in the center of the sphere by a magnetic field When the sphere is spun the ball is dropped and eventually stops on one of the twenty six slots Zero G Roulette is otherwise played the same as normal roulette except the betting odds are different to reflect the different number of colors and slots To bet on a letter press a letter A Z to bet on that letter or click on the letter on the actual board Winning pays 24 for 1 To bet on half of the board press 1 for the left half 2 for the right half or click on the half you want above the board Winning pays 2 for 1 To bet on
27. e hovership has The higher your altitude as you fly the more fuel you burn DAMAGE GAUGE The damage status of the hovership The longer the red bar is the more damage the hovership has sustained Damage can come from enemy fire or from collisions If you destroy the hovership a lifeboat is sent from your spacecraft to pick you up and you must buy a new hovership Note Damage to the hovership is automatically repaired whenever and wherever you dock CLOSEUP MAP A view of the planet at the hovership s current coordinates shown at the same scale as the Closeup Map seen in your J 21c Delphenus Small white dots indicate other hoverships in the area CARGO BAY CAMERA Click on this icon with the mouse to change the Display to the Cargo Bay Camera The text message describes any cargo TARGETING COMPUTER Click on this icon with the mouse to change the Display to the Targeting Computer If the computer is not targeting a ship the display continues to show the Cargo Bay 16 LANDING INFO BOX Lists information about the planet the name and the current position of your ship in coordinates The coordinates start at 0 0 in the upper left corner Moving down and to the right increases both coordinates DOCKING AT A HOVERDOCK All settlements towns and cities have hoverdocks They are marked by a large red arrow To dock fly directly over the dock arrow so your shadow covers the arrow and press D COMBAT To att
28. e type 36 APPENDIX A GREW MEMBER ABILITIES gt There are two types of abilities Land Based and Ship Based LAND BASED ABILITIES Land Based abilities apply to all members of the landing party They relate to how well crew members conduct themselves on the surface of a planet AGLI a RS The ability to quickly fire multiple rounds from a weapon and the ability to dodge enemy fire TEATRA a ie The ability to avoid detection by nearby hostiles PITINESS Ee Km The better your fitness the more total health you have when you gain a level of experience APTITUDE asc awai The better your aptitude the more your abilities increase when you gain a level of experience TACIS o AMA The ability to fight using any weapon indoors CLOSE COMBAT The ability to fight hand to hand FIREARMS Kocen The ability to fight using a firearm SPECIAL WEAPONS The ability to fight using high power weapons DEMOLITIONS The ability to use explosives grenades Some sentients do not have certain abilities and some sentients are remarkably able in certain areas See the chart below YES YES YES Agility YES Stealth YES EXCEPTIONAL Fitness YES YES Aptitude YES YES Tactics YES YES Close Combat YES YES Firearms YES YES Special Weapons YES YES Demolitions YES NO Land Based Abilities Availability Chart 37 SHIP BASED ABILITIES Spacecraft Based abilities apply to all me
29. ebinecseguenbeatabes 15 SCEEFA A RNIN EMIS INS na cates os Gana sa ca traps Sis dass re RA teas GEA A EEEE peh 16 Docea SLA DIO wc cae AGO EG EO OE NINO aa 17 ON REA EMER ROWE gt oto NOZ O OCET WEW WCC Na 17 ORBITING PLANETS assess CN isks a bako ooo 17 SORE COMPONE E BR chodzik kJ AE EO GE A oud Oly AA ah 18 DIOD Te p ae ea AAC O AOKI WORK EMEA 18 W io EN ANN E ANN CZATA 19 COVER io oble RE WATT YEN OOO k A ENT bv enega ee 19 VISITING ORBITINE SPACESTANONS sina vesa SaaS Nea ane 19 STONE ANNE panna EK veh rana E E E DA dv EEA JE T 20 FLYING TNROUEN SPACE nana nasa iko sy a Aaaa 22 Space rat Friyina Procedure USING NE KEVDAA nccrsorsessossesvesterverseressoevecsoosanneenscconraseyqnernenewes 23 Spacecrait FIYINE Procedure Using THIS MOUSE vsa die kane kVA eraros roseo Edesa aaa Kokr kere eros 23 Sereen COMKAMEM IS CG AC GE EEOAE EEE A RN 24 6 1 A ENEE E VOEE PECO E TOE eg OTORIRE CI IETA CN W 25 A O TE E E E OAK AO AAKG S EE 25 EO A NE PE eo ri ar i o oj A e R 25 DOCIGDE A ee CONN RN o po Ne ee EEE T 26 CODE RONA aken cine nani E RA a ol PA A AAA 26 USING PE RENER ANE oiai SRAMNE tai a ar 26 ei ej cn REA o A o ee AT R PN A 26 SR 04 Ono od ZE a O PSOM va ANN dle 28 FS Space COMNNAMICAUOMS ai na ab kao oven o E EENEN E ENEAS SEEI ab edine 29 Pa CONE NS NENA 21 RN EN 0 asy OW EO ia O ORA ea 30 ESA IDE GOTO a dY O ROG a o E 32 E6 WGABON DAVE aw GOA OO O OE OE AEG GS GA 33 SPACE WEAPONS AND COUNTERMEASURES ccscac
30. egories and each category has an indicator light that functions as follows GREEN ssaka No Damage Fully Functional GREEN YELLOW Light Damage Some Loss of Function pi dka haw nds Moderate Damage Substantial Loss of Function YELLOW RED Heavy Damage Not Functioning REDE sa NM Destroyed Cannot be Repaired Must be Replaced Example When a system sustains light damage it begins flashing green and yellow More damage turns the indicator solid yellow Even more damage makes the light flash yellow and red and so on Note Try to avoid flying too close to other spacecraft While collisions are uncommon when they do occur they tend to destroy entire systems on your spacecraft To repair a system press the letter of the system to order your engineer to begin repairs on that system A AVIONICS ie Ship controls and hull integrity 5 THRUSTER nanan The Rontgen Drive unit C FOEL CELL usa Fuel supply damage causes leaks D LASERSYS usa Laser discharge units E MISSILES cnc Missile bays and deployment units PF COUNTERS sis Weapon countermeasures The engineer attempts repairs to the extent of his ability until the system is completely repaired The engineer can only repair one system at a time Systems with solid red indicators not flashing cannot be repaired they must be replaced at a space station Note The switches on the lower half of the panel still light when you turn them on
31. encvecescocescnsccondunsetoseenbndecsse ssensenssccersunebeibesesececnsensth 33 LASERA RUE NAT OAK A a L E EE AO ad REKE OO ZEG WGA 33 i oe trad zn tea LE ra rine nana a en A OE Km 34 Bb NA ai ga z ii NR ae Ne JANJE OJ A cds a wea OO Z N Ewa co KAKA 35 SCANNING TARGETS IN SPACE aso GG GEE AGGIE 36 APPENDIX A CREW MEMBER ABILITIES oso ocaociok 0000 ooo ooaocik aoc OAZA 37 APPENDIX B WEAPON AND ARMOR STATS csesiverexcssnestasscessesresceveosussteienccnicaveses eissvaesseeteasbsinsstooiecs 39 APPENDIX C VIEWER DISKS OGAE GEO GORA 42 APPENDIX D PLAYING ZERO G ROULETTE 22000 0006500050020046540640000044500036050000050000000006000000005090090000000 43 TT BEGINS WITH A BANG We ve got a hull breach Main drive section You slam your palm on the switch to cut the alarms and lights cursing the idiot who designed the warning systems I m on my way You turn and trip over A kri Janr your navigator The short pale alien wails incoherently Pressures dropping AutoSeal and garbled failing Get out of there Carter you shout Elsie Nojer Get to the escape pod You round the corner in time to see the pressure door to engineering close A kri Janr screeches behind you They re trapped inside The Rontgen garbled cascading garbled losing her You hear the words and know your ship will be a ball of plasma in less than a minute You make the decision and turn to A kri Janr Run Punch Get to the escape pod
32. epend on what you have purchased A D24 PIKE RADAR B D24 PIKE RADAR C D52 SHARK VIS D D91 MANTA JETC To select a weapon bay press a key A through D The weapon you select will fire when you target a ship and press Enter Note The number of missiles left in a bay is shown by the number of missile icons shown in that bay SPACE WEAPONS AND COUNTERMEASURES Much of a spacecraft s technology is designed toward staying intact while destroying other spacecraft All ships have countermeasures for each type of missile but there is no countermeasure for laser weapons LASERS Lasers are high energy beams of coherent light They tend to have a devastating effect on spacecraft when dispensed in large doses There are two types of laser available for your spacecraft Pulsar and Beam A4 PULSAR Your J 21c Delphenus comes equipped with a permanently mounted A4 Pulsar laser cannon This laser cannot be removed The advantage of the 33 A4 is that there is no countermeasure to defend against it The disadvantage is that the weapon isn t very powerful and it uses up fuel cells To fire your A4 Pulsar at the target make sure an A7 Comet Beam is not selected in a missile bay in the Ship Status Panel in Weapons mode Then return to the Ship Status Panel in Operations mode and press G or click on G FIRE LASER The A4 will then fire repeatedly until the target is destroyed Unless it destroys you first or if you run out of fuel or i
33. eturn to the Room Description before you can drop the item Note The pool does not have infinite capacity Transfer items from the pool to crew members as needed Drop items you no longer need 4 WEAP This lists the crew member s items including weapons ammunition armor medical lining and miscellaneous items Only weapons that can be used by that crew member are highlighted To eguip a weapon press the letter to the left of the weapon or click on it with the mouse The crew member now uses that weapon To see the stats on the eguipped weapon return to the Profile screen by pressing 1 Note Some weapons can only be used by certain races If a crew member has a weapon only usable by another race it s merely considered an item and cannot be eguipped To unarm a crew member press or click on I UNARMED with the mouse 5 ARMR This lists the crew member s items including weapons ammunition armor medical lining and miscellaneous items Only armor that can be used by that crew member are highlighted To eguip armor press the letter to the left of the armor or click on it with the mouse The crew member now uses that armor To see the stats on the eguipped armor return to the Profile screen by pressing 1 12 Note Some armor can only be used by certain races If a crew member has armor only usable by another race it s merely considered an item and cannot be eguipped To remove armor from
34. even if they are damaged beyond repair If the thruster to your J 21c Delphenus has a red indicator the ship is still capable of flying at Speed 1 27 WEAPONS AND COUNTERMEASURES The weapons and countermeasures of your ship are divided into six categories and each category has an indicator light that turns on when the system is turned on G FIRE LAS BOARDING SHADOW RADR ECM VS FLASH JETCOLOR Fires A4 Pulser repeatedly on the targeted ship if it s in range The A4 Pulser is a permanently mounted laser cannon and is separate from your weapon bays Attempts to lock onto and board an enemy ship if it s within range and has a universal airlock design Follows the targeted ship mirroring its movements This is especially useful in conjunction with FIRE LAS Attempts to jam the guidance systems of radar guided missiles Attempts to confuse optically guided missiles with powerful strobe lights Attempts to confuse missiles that home in on exhaust signature by injecting various flammable chemicals into the drive exhaust For more information on ship signatures see F5 False Signatures For more informa tion on Missiles and CounterMeasures see Space Weapons and Countermeasures F2 SOFTWARE The illustration below shows the Ship Status Panel in Software mode Ship Software Efficiency The technician can hack the software and try to improve its efficiency The efficiency of each system is ra
35. ey order for 7 50 The foregoing states the purchaser s sole and exclusive remedy for any breach of warranty with respect to the software product Warranty Exclusions EA expressly disclaims any implied warranties with respect to the media and the software including warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose Any warranties implied by law are limited in duration to the warranty period Some states do not allow limitations on the duration of an implied warranty so the above limitations may not apply to you This warranty gives you specific legal rights You may also have other rights which vary from state to state Limitation on Damages EA shall not in any case be liable for incidental conseguential or other indirect damages arising from any claim under this agreement even if EA or its agents have been advised of the possibility of such damages Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or conseguen tial damages so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you Unless indicated otherwise all software and documentation is 1990 Electronic Arts All Rights Reserved NOTICE ELECTRONIC ARTS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCT DESCRIBED IN THIS MANUAL AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT NOTICE THIS MANUAL AND THE SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS MANUAL IS COPYRIGHTED ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED NO PART OF THIS MANUAL OR THE DESCRIBED SOFTWARE MAY BE COPIED REPRODUCED TRANSLATE
36. f the target goes out of range about half of the radius of the Space View A7 COMET BEAM At certain select space stations you can purchase an A7 Comet Beam laser cannon This laser is superior to the A4 in that it can fire continually at a target instead of just in pulses The disadvantage is that the A7 uses significantly more fuel consumption than the A4 To fire your A7 Comet Beam at the target select it in the Ship Status Panel in Weap ons mode Then return to the Ship Status Panel in Operations mode and press G or click on G FIRE LASER The A7 will then fire rapidly until the target is destroyed Unless it destroys you first or if you run out of fuel or if the target goes out of range about half of the radius of the Space View Note Since both lasers use fuel cells they stop functioning when you run out of fuel MISSILES Missiles are guided explosive tipped rockets A direct hit by one of your missiles usually destroys a target completely There are three types of guided missile Radar guided Visually guided and Jetcolor guided D24 PIKE The D24 Pike is a radar guided missile It homes in on the radar signature of its assigned target D52 SHARK The D52 Shark is a visually guided missile It homes in on the optical signature of its assigned target D91 MANTA The D91 Manta is a jetcolor guided missile It homes in on the emission spectra of its assigned target 34 To select and fire a missile at the tar
37. get select a weapon bay in the Ship Status Panel in Weapons mode Then return to the Ship Status Panel in Operations mode and press Enter The missile will fire and track the target The missile has a limited fuel supply and it will lose its track if it runs out of fuel before hitting the target To avoid overshooting the target fire early Missiles fly for some distance before they begin tracking so they will overshoot their targets if you fire them while you re close to the target if the target is displayed on the Space View it s way too close To quickly hit the target with a missile do not fire directly at the target fire at a slight angle If you fire missiles directly at the target they often miss on the first pass because their guidance systems think they re on track even though they re a bit off target If you fire at a slight angle the guidance system is forced to update the flight trajectory early and it homes in on the target more accurately COUNTERMEASURES JAMMERS Countermeasures are your best defense against enemy missiles in space You have countermeasures for each type of missile Radar guided Visually guided and Jetcolor guided J RADR ECM Pressing J or clicking on this bar turns on the Radar Electronic Countermeasures This broadcasts radar signals which confuse the radar tracking guidance systems K VS FLASH Pressing K or clicking on this bar turns on the Visual Flash Countermeasures This sends
38. he above scenario also applies to computer software Hard Nova was produced by many people associated with Electronic Arts designers programmers artists writers and others We re depending on you to pay for our software so we can make enough money to create and develop new and better software Who cares if it s a violation of federal law It s just bad for business ours and yours As a member of the Software Publishers Association SPA Electronic Arts supports the fight against the illegal copying of personal computer software Thank you for helping us in our effort to control software costs and stay in business by eliminating software theft CONTENTS KETTE NV RI opmer rrin iig a a en GRY vod en ao aii 2 DIOS oSA AG GESZER A EPON AGO WAGA O EE OEG UN 2 Walking Around Using be Koypad za FA AE Ech ja ke ah ous 3 Walkinp Amounad Using tne MOUSE ca EVA ae E ARa aA ali ok a ene 3 EON peer o omo a o ooo TEM 3 WRT MN oh cig cee access A REN opo Pe A E NN 2 ANO WANNA NI 7 Talking wh Special MOES sssaaa SRN NA AN KARO KAI 8 Oj ZE Ij o oe a oe ogaben A O GOA aaa 10 RA TT OE A MUTA O OO TE OE RA NIT OI 13 FLANGAN VOV Ci SPREE ap Wassceccesnscoghetnecscnchesteasesnenccoodbaniighadlvessiecipeberttassuelocastbdedtennbetceesbedebits 14 Hoverhin FDE Procedure Using the Keypad c sicersckeccsesceesshccecresacecsasstesiian sets a AS zoo 15 Floveishio Fine Procedure Using the MOUSE i cccxcdiccasasvnencednovdccncncbeosasokbunedertonc
39. hen decodes space comm messages received by direct transmission and by intercepting space chatter The speed at which the communications officer decodes incoming space comms depends on his or her ability Whenever the technician finishes decoding a new space comm the Ship Status Panel automatically changes to Space Communications mode to display the newly decoded message To read through your space comms press A to scroll through the messages They re numbered in chronological order so you can keep track of the order in which you received the messages Note If your technician is not very adept at decoding space comms Star Comm Ability it could take a long time to decode space comms F4 CREW ASSIGNMENTS The illustration below shows the Ship Status Panel in Crew Assignments mode Crew Assignments You are the commander There are five other posts to assign crew to on the spacecraft COMMANDER You Nova or Stark STARPILOT Pilots your J 21c Delphenus TECHNICIAN Decodes space comms and hacks ship software ENGINEER Repairs and maintains ship systems WEAPONS Aims weapons you must target and fire BREM NAV Navigates your 21c Delphenus through stargates To change the posts your crew members are assigned to press A You can also change the marching order of your drop team the crew you bring down with you to planet surface missions Crew Configuration To select a crew member press the letter to the left of their n
40. ibu in the sunlight Scott Fisher started college at Santa Barbara studying computer science He learned 8086 assembly code specifi cally for Hard Nova and now he s studying law When he isn t learning socially conscious law he tries to shoot people with paint guns Mark Dickenson was born and bred in Tennessee and he started college as a premed student Then he teamed up with Karl Buiter and headed out west After creating the art for Hard Nova he s now pursuing an art degree in Southern California PLANETSIDE AT ELECTRONIC ARTS Eric Lindstrom was raised by wild dogs in a typical California suburb At age eighteen he left the pack and entered mainstream society After serving a four year sentence at the UC Berkeley Engineering School he s now on probation as a writer at Electronic Arts wi WIZ a zB UE U MF Jeff Haas was born in Monterey California and was infected with the science fiction bug one step out of the cradle He also enjoys flying stunt kites body boarding in the Pacific and he s an award winning sleight of hand magician di z z M aj ry IE Game ok amp THE Tools Programmer Karl Buiter Scott Fisher Computer Art Additional Computer Art Mark Dickenson Peggy Brennan Cynthia Hamilton Michael Lubuguin Karl Buiter Music Composition Music Technology Jon Medek Rob Hubbard Sound Technology David Warhol Story Writing amp Implementation Eric Lindstrom Jeff Haas Base
41. le cargo you buy low and sell high usually arms and ammo and you do odd jobs for Gerard Kendall as a free lancer in the Starkiller Mercenary Group You basically do anything anyone s willing to pay you for and there s plenty of work to keep a merc busy in the Four Systems The frontier worlds were colonized as a commercial venture Yttro Enterprises Unlimited started a subsidiary group called Altron and Associates after its president Damien Altron and colonized the gas giant Ariel the first frontier world in the newly surveyed sector that could become self sufficient The Ariel system had three stargates leading to other systems and other large corporations in the Core worlds opened subsidiaries in these adjacent systems Soon the Four Systems became a thriving collection of economically stable communities and they no longer relied upon the bloated bureaucracy of the Core Worlds The Four Systems was born Ariel became the only self sufficient world and it exercises tight control over transpor tation The Rouyn System was colonized solely by miners who now supply most of the mineral needs of the Four Systems The Ciberan system was abundant with water and ice and it supplies everyone s drinking and fusion fuel needs The Mastassini System became the slums of the Four systems the home of cheap and tawdry entertainment and ultimately mercenary groups Soon thereafter the skirmishes began Each system had staked out
42. lia contact EAE ECP 4 52 Lawrence Drive Nerang 4211 Oueensland Australia Phone 75 963 488 Limited Warranty Electronic Arts EA provides to the original purchaser of the computer software product for a period of ninety 90 days from the date of original purchase the Warranty Period the following limited warranties Media EA warrants that under normal use the magnetic media and the packaging provided with it are free from defects in materials and workmanship Software EA warrants that the software as originally purchased will perform substantially in conformance with the specifications set forth in the packaging and in the user manual Warranty Claims To make a warranty claim under this limited warranty please return the product to the point of purchase accompanied by proof of purchase your name your return address and a statement of the defect OR send the disk s to us at the above address within 90 days of purchase Include a copy of the dated purchase receipt your name your return address and a statement of the defect EA or its authorized dealer will at our option repair or replace the product and return it to you postage prepaid or issue you with a credit equal to the purchase price 47 To replace defective media after the 90 day warranty period has expired send the original disk s to the above address Enclose a statement of the defect your name your return address and a check or mon
43. lso some characters will tell you different things after significant events This is especially true of your boss Gerard Kendall who will have many different conversations with you as you work together Don t worry about being a jerk You don t have to be nice to everyone you meet to successfully complete your missions Feel free to be as polite or obnoxious as you want just listen carefully to a character s replies to see if you re going too far Some characters resent you if you re too abusive but they give you the opportu nity to back off before they clam up completely Other characters won t tell you what they know unless you hammer them a little CREW PROFILES In Crew Profile mode you can examine the stats of each crew member you can equip different weapons and armor and you can increase your skills as you gain experience To display the Crew Profile for one of your crew click on his or her picture or press the function key for their slot F1 F4 The Profile appears in the Info Box There are several submodes you can select from the Crew Profile screen by pressing the numbers 1 6 These selections are always available in all six submodes 1 PROF Profile 2 ABIL Abilities check your abilities or improve them 3 ITEM Item give take drop or transfer between party members 4 WEAP Weapon equip or unequip a weapon 5 ARMR Armor equip armor 6 AMED Automated Medical Lining equip medical lining 1 PROF The
44. ly mean you chose the wrong statements Some characters don t have anything important to tell you until after certain events occur Other characters might say things that seem meaningless at first but take on new significance later And some characters do nothing but add to the atmosphere of the locations you visit Don t think of each conversation as a puzzle to solve You don t have to choose certain statements to get significant information out of characters There are many different paths to the information you need and you shouldn t worry about which is the right thing to say Conversations are not meant to be trial and error exercises If you sense that your conversation is not going the way you want it to you can try a different approach before the conversation is over You don t have to reload the game if a conversation doesn t go well If you anger a character too much and they end the conversation you don t have to reload the game to get at their information unless you irritated them so much that they killed you If they have something significant to tell you they ll give you another chance if you talk to them again Talk to sentients more than once If you think you didn t get all the information you could from a character because of what you said talk to them again Even though most characters don t say the same things the second time you talk to them they usually give you the opportunity to ask the important questions again A
45. mbers of the crew while flying in the space craft For a crew member s skill to affect performance that crew member must be assigned to the post the ability corresponds to SHIP EVASION A Pilot s ability to evade enemy attacks STAR COMM a A Tech s ability to decode Space Comms and to analyze target ship scans PROGRAMMING A Tech s ability to improve the efficiency and function of ship software MECHANIC S si sava An Engineer s ability to repair a ship s mechanics avion ics thrusters and fuel cells ELECIRONICS An Engineer s ability to repair a ship s electronics Laser Tracking Missile Delivery and Weapon CounterMeasures STAR GUNNER A Weapons officer s ability to shoot accurately at hostile ships while piloting the J 21c Delphenus HOVER GUNNER A Hover Gunner s ability to shoot accurately at hostile ships while piloting the hovership NAVIG SONG usa A Bremar s ability to navigate through stargates Low ability in this skill wastes fuel during stargate passage This ability is exclusive to the Bremar race Some sentients do not have certain abilities and some sentients are remarkably able in certain areas See the chart below Ship Based Abilities a ae ei Ship Evasion STARPILOT Star Comm TECH Programming TECH Aeronautics ENGIN Electronics ENGIN Star Gunner WEAPONS Hover Gunner WEAPONS Navig Song BREM NAV Ship Based Abili
46. name the currently selected drop coordinates and whether or not the drop location is clear The coordinates start at 0 0 in the upper left corner Moving down and to the right increases both coordinates PILOT SCHEMATIC A control panel used to drop to the planet surface or to leave orbit DROP PROCEDURE To drop to the planet in the hovership you must select drop coordinates before you descend To select a drop site press the arrow keys or click on the Planet Map with the mouse to move the cross hair The cross hair marks the currently selected drop site and the Landing Info Box displays its planet coordinates To drop to the selected site press Enter or click on ENT DROP HERE on the Pilot Schematic You can also drop by clicking the mouse on the rotating planet in the Forward View Note You can only change drop coordinates in increments of 20 Check the actual coordinates to see which direction you must fly from the drop site to get to your destination UNAVAILABLE DROP SITES Some planets have locations that are electromagnetically shielded from orbit If you want to reach a site under a shield you must drop elsewhere and fly to the desired coordinates under the shield Note that on the planet Cascade in the Rouyn system no drops are possible due to the intense gravity Note Shielded areas activate when they sense a ship attempting to drop from orbit They do so to defend against hoverships dropping directly on
47. nked on a scale of A to H where A is minimal functioning and H is highly efficient functioning To hack some ship software press the letter of the system to order your technician to begin hacking that system Following the name of each system is the operating efficiency of the system for example as shown below OP B means the program is operating at efficiency rating B A AVIONICS OP B How quickly you can maneuver the ship This also affects the computer s ability to Shadow targets B THRUSTER OP B How quickly you can accelerate the ship C TARGET OP B How quickly the computer can achieve a target lock on another ship D SPACECOM OP B How well the computer helps the tech decode ship signatures E EVASIVE OP B How well the computer helps the pilot evade enemy fire The technician attempts to hack the software of that system to the extent of his or her ability for a length of time The technician can only hack one system at a time After you order the technician to hack a program the message below the programs changes When the technician is done the message returns to TECHNICIAN CODING NOTHING Note If your technician is not very adept at hacking software Program ming Ability he or she can actually reduce the efficiency of the program F3 SPACE COMMUNICATIONS The illustration below shows the Ship Status Panel in Space Communications mode Space Communications 29 The Communications officer receives and t
48. ollows in parentheses The actual costs benefits will depend on the station BUY 1 FUEL CELL 15 EACH REFUEL ENTIRE SHIP 0 TOTAL SELL 1 FUEL CELL 15 EACH RETURN TO STATION HUB 00 gt Look at the Ship Status Screen Il to see how much fuel and cash you have Your J 21c Delphenus can hold up to 200 fuel cells Replace Damaged Systems You can replace whole ship systems Press the letter to the left of your choice to select it The cost of each item follows in parentheses The actual costs benefits will depend on the station REPLACE AVIONICS 400 TOTAL REPLACE THRUSTER 400 TOTAL REPLACE FUELCELL 400 TOTAL REPLACE LASERSYS 400 TOTAL REPLACE MISSILES 400 TOTAL REPLACE COUNTERS 400 TOTAL RETURN TO STATION HUB Ammon gt 20 Look at the Ship Status Screen II to see the damage your ship has sustained and the amount of cash you have See F1 Operations in Using the Ship Status Panel CHANGE WEAPON BAYS You can change the weapon in each of the four weapon bays Press the letter to the left of your choice to select which bay to access A CHANGE BAY A B CHANGE BAY B C CHANGE BAY C D CHANGE BAY D E RETURN TO STATION HUB Look at the Ship Status Screen II to see the weapon that is loaded in each bay and the amount of cash you have Note The standard weapon for your J 21c Delphenus is the A4 Pulser laser cannon All other weapons are expendable when you use them up they are ejected from their
49. out powerful strobe light pulses which saturate optical sensors of visual tracking guidance systems L JETCOLOR Pressing L or clicking on this bar turns on the JetColor Countermeasures This injects chemicals into your ship exhaust which confuse exhaust emission sensors of spectrum tracking guidance systems Note All three countermeasures use fuel Be sure to use only the necessary countermeasure at all times to avoid wasting fuel SCANNING TARGETS IN SPACE When you target a ship in space the technician begins analyzing the signal Over time how much depends on the technician s Star Com ability the technician discovers more and more information about the target The target must remain targeted for the technician to continue his or her analysis Status IAMAGE 12 Damage Picture Type I AREN EA Countermeasures Target Scan This is the order in which information is determined Unknown Picture Status Damage Type Missile Countermeasures Signature Captured and Usable mn amp o Missile Countermeasures tell you what missiles the target is carrying if any and the countermeasures it s using The three sguares correspond to your three countermea sure indicators Radar Flash and Jetcolor from left to right Engaged countermeasures are blue and disengaged countermeasures are magenta Check to see which type of countermeasures the target is not using and fire missiles that correspond to that guidanc
50. p objects or performing other miscellaneous tasks To perform an activity press the key shown in parentheses or click on the activity with the mouse Note Special options appear in certain location For instance some doors reguire a magnetic key entry Mag Card If you have the item reguired select the option by pressing the key shown or by clicking on it If you don t have the correct item for an option the option still appears but it s dimmed You must get the correct item before the option becomes active Landing Party STATS show the health and marching order location of each member of the landing party TALK Talking with people is the most important thing you do next to killing them Talk to people to get information to get assistance to get them in your crew or to get them the hell out of your way To talk to the target select the Talk icon or press F7 You must target a sentient before you can talk to it For information on targeting sentients see Targeting For information on talking to sentients see Talking SCOUT If you have a darcator or a droid in your landing party you can separate them from the party and order them around at a distance Darcators are exceptionally stealthy so they can be useful in scouting out dangerous territory Droids can be useful because security droids don t consider them a threat To enter Scout mode click on the Scout Icon or press F8 If you have a crew member who can scout
51. rding how effective the crew member is with that armor PROTECT how much protection the armor gives the higher the better SLOWNESS how much the armor slows you down the higher the slower STEALTH how much noise your armor makes the higher the louder 2 ABIL This lists the crew member s abilities the higher the number the greater the ability For an explanation of each ability see Appendix A Crew Member Abilities Not all abilities apply to all sentients To get experience each crew member must gain experience by succeeding in combat or in the performance of duties on the spacecraft When enough experience accumu lates to translate into improved abilities the Experience Status Indicator next to that crew member s picture turns white The more experience you get the more ability points you get to allocate To improve your abilities when you have enough experience press the letter of the ability you want to improve Because it takes time to improve abilities it s a good practice to improve each crew member s specialty before trying to broaden his or her skills into new areas A crew member s specialty is the role he or she is assigned to on the spacecraft To survive in the Four Systems you must have a tough crew Weak mercs are dead mercs Practicing in the robomaze on Mastassini is a safe way to improve your abilities 3 ITEM This lists the crew member s items including weapons ammunition armor medic
52. se click the mouse button on the following areas to perform the actions described Click in front to move forward Click Anywhere Else to Turn That Direction SCREEN COMPONENTS MAP This floor plan displays the area around you and your landing party You are marked in green and your party is yellow Hostile sentients are red and non hostiles are blue The flashing sentient is the current target PARTY MEMBERS This column displays you and your crew members To display the Crew Profile for a crew member click on their face or press the function key for that sentient The Crew Profile for that sentient appears in the Info Box For more information on Crew Profiles and how to use them see Crew Profiles POINT F1 You re always the character in the top slot either Nova or Stark You re the boss so you re always in the lead called the Point position CENTER F2 This is the crew member assigned to the Center position in your marching order RECRUIT F3 This slot is reserved for any sentients you recruit while on the ground When you return to your spacecraft the recruit will leave your landing party To put that crew member in your landing party you must specifically reassign him or her or it See F4 Crew Assignments in Using the Ship Status Panel for more information TRAIL F4 This is the crew member assigned to the Trail position in your marching order STATUS INDICATORS The two bars to the left of e
53. show information about the target and its strength depending upon the skill of the Technician in your crew To fire lasers at the target press G to activate FIRE LAS If you have a weapon bay selected that contains an A7 COMET it will fire continuously at the target as long as it s in range If you have a special missile selected the A4 Pulsar fires at the target repeatedly as long as it s in range To fire a special weapon at the target press Enter The weapon you fire depends on the weapon bay you activated in Weapon Bays mode FLYING THROUGH STARGATES To fly through a stargate fly your ship directly to it If you have a Bremar assigned to the post of Bremar Nav the Ship Status Panel informs you that you can enter the stargate Press A to order your navigator to pilot you through the stargate If you do not have a Bremar assigned as the Bremar Nav or if you have no fuel you cannot enter the stargate Note Bremar navigators are extremely scarce Take great care not to needlessly endanger your Bremar A kri Janr because if he dies you ll be stranded in the solar system you re in p ORBITING PLANETS To orbit a planet fly your ship directly over it The Ship Status Panel displays a list of options Press A to orbit the planet For information on actions you can take while in orbit see Orbiting Planets 25 DOCKING ATA SPACE STATION To dock at a space station fly your ship directly over a planet The Ship
54. straightforward process Throughout this manual you re often told to click on parts of the screen with the mouse All mouse clicks are assumed to be left button clicks unless specifically called right mouse button clicks Note Because you ll meet many alien beings in the Four Systems many of which do not qualify as people the term sentients will be used to refer to sentient beings both human and otherwise You ll do much of your work on foot talking to sentients killing sentients and hanging out in bars This is the way mercenaries conduct most of their business This is what you See Party Members The Floor Plan Status Indicators vi Point F1 SR SA Target F5 Center F2 4 ska Room F6 Recruit F3 Rik ORE z Talk F7 Trail F4 PIB ti Scout F8 Weapon Armor Pool si si Display Line AKRI JANE CENTER HEALTH 23 OF 29 l OF 3 f RCE EL ATOR RECRUIT HEALTH gt Indoor View 2 THE FLOOR PLAN displays the area around you and your landing party You are marked in green and your party is yellow Hostile sentients are red and non hostiles are blue The flashing sentient is the current target WALKING AROUND USING THE KEYPAD To walk around indoors using the keypad press these keys to perform the actions described Forward Turn Left 7 Tum Right 2 3 Backward WALKING AROUND USING THE MOUSE To walk around indoors using the mou
55. ties Availability Chart APPENDIX BS WEAPON NAD ARMOR STATS Weapons and Armor are designed for one reason to help you kill them before they kill you Here are lists of all the weapons and armor you can use in the Four Systems and all the statistics you could ever need If you find an item that is not on these lists experiment to see which race or droid can use it and how effective it is WEAPONS There are three types of weapons Close Combat Standard and Special The statistics of each weapon do not account for the defensive status of the target Here are the available weapons listed by type the races that can use them the unmodified damage potential and the ammunition if any required CLOSE WEAPONS These are bladed or charged weapons that have a limited range You must be within two steps of the target or one diagonal step to hit Weapon Race vee Min Max Ammunition RE Stiletto HUMAN Stun Club HUMAN na Power Fist HUMAN N A Gyro Pike HUMAN N A Edge Spinner HUMAN N A Electron Blade HUMAN E BLADE CELLS 50 Sonic Mace BREMAR N A Grav Blade DARCATOR N A Close Weapons Stats STANDARD WEAPONS These are mostly projectile weapons Generally if the target is visible on the floor plan they are in range Damage Min Max Ammunition Rounds 2 8 XL10 CLIP 20 Derrin XL10 HUMAN AutoMagnum HUMAN 4 12 AMAG CLIP 20 Spike Caster HUMAN SPIKE SACK 50 SMG 70X HUMAN
56. your ship is the unigue way it appears on other ship scanners You can change this signature artificially to fool other ships into believing you have a different ship like a transport or a friendly The current signature you re using is shown below the Weapons and CounterMeasures indicators on the Ship Status Panel in Operations mode The normal signature for your ship is J 21C DELPH To change the signature of your ship to fool enemies press the letter to the left of the signature While flying under a false signature can fool enemies at a distance they will realize your true identity at closer ranges Note that a signature that fools one kind of ship in one solar system may not fool that same kind of ship in another system To acquire more signatures to use your technician must analyze the signatures from other ships Your technician automatically analyzes the signature of the targeted ship and learns different information about it over time Eventually the technician can learn to mimic the signature of that type of ship and the name of that ship appears in your False Signatures Status Panel for you to select If your technician is lacking Star Comm ability capturing a ship s signature will take a long time 32 F6 WEAPON BAYS The illustration below shows the Ship Status Panel in Weapon Bays mode Oe Weapon Bays Your J 21c Delphenus has four weapon bays in addition to the A4 Pulsar laser cannon The specific weapons will d
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