                         Docs to "The Colony"
                                 by
                             Keefer Stang

(These docs are from the Mac version of this game, hope it hasn't changed too much!)


                              "The Colony"


The console lit up, illumination from below the visage of the captain of the
craft who had been, up until a moment ago, sleeping on it. The sub-space 
radio crackled and the awakening Space Marshal yawned in reply.

"We have a condition Red-2 in your sector, marshal," hissed the comlink.

"Huh?" The eyes cracked opened to slits and a hand moved to open the channel.
"Red-2? Where?"

The dispatcher responded, "Delta 5-5. We haven't been able to raise them for
several hours and their last message was rather cryptic."

"Playback."

"This is Commander Bagdasarian of space frontier colony Delta 5-5. We have 
been overrun. I repeat, we have been overru........". The recording ended in
a wash of static.

"That's all we've got." The dispatcher spoke with the deliberate and 
unemotional tone that always signified trouble. "As Regional Marshal it's up
to you. We don't want anything fancy here, not another 'Ganamede Incident'. 
Just find out if there are any survivors and get them out. This was Settler 
Plot. You know...families."

"Children?"

"Yes."

"Damn!"

"Rescue any survivors and assure that whatever happened to Delta 5-5 does 
not happen anywhere else. You will be receiving hard copy of your orders by 
tele-link".

The next several hours were not comfortable ones as the Armored Cruiser 
headed towards its destination, Delta 5-5. Images from the Ganamede tragedy 
filled his head and he remembered the screams of the dying.

"Not again!"

Suddenly the emergency console lit up.

               -- GRAVITATIONAL FLUCTUATION --

"Black hole!?! But there's none charted in this sector. Where - what is going
on here?"

               -- POWER DRAIN CRITICAL --

"I've go to save power for life support." The switch flickered red then 
green. "Good. There's enough for a while."

Suddenly, the emergency console flashed again.

              -- MASS IMPACT INEVITABLE --

With a resigned sarcasm that was very atypical of the common space marshal, 
he spoke as if to an unseen audience. "What a way to go. Welcome to Delta 
5-5, jewel of the cosmos. Come, get sucked planetward by our own special 
black hole. See our....."

Suddenly the disturbance ceased as suddenly as it had begun.

"What? Black holes just don't up and walk away. What is..."

             -- PREPARE FOR IMPACT --

The ship hit hard - but not as hard as it would have were the emergency 
retros not fired at the last possible second.

The impact had a much harder effect on the captain. It would be a while 
before he would regain consciousness.


BRIEFING

The DAS Armored Cruiser is the standard transport vehicle for Space Marshals
in the Outpost Segment. It comes with the following standard equipment:

High-Impact Carbonic Meta-Plastoid Hull
Linear Output Enclosed Reactor Drive
150*i Giga HP Engines
Planet Smasher Anti-Matter Detonation Device
Full-Seal Dual Ported Airlocks
On-Board Hydroponics Garden
Living Quarters for Two
Armored Space Suit (F-21) Supply and Support Facilities

The DAS Cruiser is one of the most reliable space vehicles presently in 
commissioned service. However, if anything should happen to your vehicle, 
the DAS Cruiser has been equipped with the latest in high-efficiency safety 
devices.

HULL-		The hull of the DAS Cruiser should be able to withstand 
impacts of up to 5 Mega-Gs (gravities) with ease. This should allow for safe
passage through most meteor showers and battle situations.

REACTOR-	The reactor used on the DAS Cruiser conforms to standard 
fitting specs, and also advances the state-of-the-art with several 
enhancements. Any serious system damage will cause the reactor to enter 
"Power-Down" state. In this mode the reactor core is essentially dead. It 
has been set so that only enough power for basic system functions and 
life-support will be provided. This should minimize the possibility of 
containment contamination and will enhance the life-expectancy of the 
occupants of the DAS Cruiser. (NOTE: For Gov't issue vehicles, minimal power
will also be available for use of the F-21 Armored Space Suit)

AIRLOCKS-	The Full-Seal Dual Ported Airlocks have been designed with 
security in mind. Upon sustaining any severe impact stress, all airlock 
doors will immediately close and seal. Only by using the provided universal 
decoder can you unseal the decompression compartment.

RETROS-		If an emergency situation should result in the dramatic loss
of altitude over a planetary mass, do not fear. The retro rockets included 
with the DAS Cruiser incorporate the latest life-saving technology. Long 
before actual impact, the retros should fire automatically, gently easing 
the craft into a 3 G "touchdown". This should be enough to eliminate all 
damage to the craft. After the pilot recovers, we suggest that power levels 
be checked as this impact will also cause the reactor to enter "Power-Down" 
state.


F-21 Armored Spacesuit (and Installer)

The F-21 Armored Spacesuit comes with the following advanced features and is
designed to provide the wearer with near invulnerability in almost all 
"Close-Encounter" situations.

	Direct Contact Installation
	(3) Armor Types
	(3) Weapon Types
	Heads-Up View
	Keyboard Operation
	Free-Form Operation
	Multi-Control
	Universal Power Absorption
	Air Conditioning

You can activate the installer by standing on the Contact-Pad and choosing 
both the armor and weapons types that you would like. Before you make your 
selection, be sure that your reactor has enough energy available to correctly
power your weapons and armor selection. Failure to install a suit with the 
proper amount of energy can result in energy drain and system failure. See 
warning below.

WARNING: DO NOT attempt to operate the F-21 Armored Spacesuit without the 
prerequisite amount of energy. This suit has been outfitted with a Universal
Power Absorption facility. This option allows your suit to store and utilize
any form of radiant energy it comes in contact with. If there is not enough 
energy being supplied to the suit at any time, it will resort to drawing its
energy from it occupant.


F-21 Heads-Up Display

There are several different items which make up the F-21 heads-up display 
with which you need to be familiar.

Support Systems Display

This display presents you with the current power levels for you weapons and 
armor, as well as a personal health monitor. This information is presented 
on a logarithmic scale. In order to increase these levels, power must be 
supplied to the suit from an external power source ( such as an active 
energy matrix). Life-support enhancements will also be able to increase the 
users ambient health while wearing the suit. Standard operation will, of 
course, drain these levels.

Overhead Display and Compass

Your F-21 suit also comes with a simulated overhead display and compass 
facility. The position of the suit is always located in the center of the 
square overhead display. Objects in close proximity to the suit will be 
represented as circular objects. Relative sizing is estimated. (This unit is
identical to the personal unit issued as standard equipment to all Space 
Marshals.)

The lower circle is the integral compass. This compass is designed to fix 
upon the strongest magnetic source it can locate. This means that the top-
most point of the compass is not guaranteed to be North, but for all intents
and purposes, it can be treated as such.

Viewport Controls

The F-21 Armored Spacesuit comes with the most advanced and easy-to-use 
control system yet built into any such suit. This is the Free-Form control 
option.
The x and y cartesian axes are utilized where the y-axis is the forward and 
backward velocity control and the x-axis is the left and right angular 
velocity control. In simpler terms, move the pointer above the crosshair and
you go forward, move it under and you go backwards, move it to the left and 
you turn left, move it to the right and you turn right. You can also use it 
for any combination of the above to arc around a corner. To fire the laser 
while in this mode press either the spacebar or the mouse button.

F-21 Movement Control

The F-21 has two modes of movement control with which you should be familiar.

Keyboard Control

This is by far the simplest mode available and has been the standard control
in all spacesuits issued in the last several years. The standard key commands
are always available from any mode. These commands are:

	W		move forward
	Q		rotate left
	E		rotate right
	S		move backwards
	A		move left
	D		move right
	X		look behind
	Z		look left
	C		look right
	spacebar	fire laser
	1-5		variable speed control(used only for keyboard 
			control)

Mouse Control

Mouse Control allows you to simply ÒwalkÓ the spacesuit by pointing in the 
direction you wish to move. Following the guide of the ÒFree-FormÓ control 
axes, you should be able to guide the suit smoothly through any terrain. In 
this mode the mouse button activates the laser firing sequence.

Firing Controls

The F-21 Armored Spacesuit also has the latest in computerized system fire-
power support. Two different firing modes are available to the occupant at 
all times.

	Automatic Tracking
	Manual Targeting

Automatic Tracking

Automatic tracking is the default mode setting of the F-21 Armored Spacesuit.
In this mode, you need do nothing to target your opponent. Simply move so as
to face your target and your Targeting Crosshair will indicate an 
On-Target lock.

Manual Targeting

Manual targeting is much more complex and requires some practice before you 
can become proficient with it. However, it can prove to be a much faster and
even more accurate system.

You will not see a targeting crosshair using this system. You will only see 
a large crosshair in the center of the heads-up display and the standard 
movement crosshair that you have been using for steering control. Using the 
steering control cursor, you can now not only turn, but you can turn and 
fire.

The action of the Motion and target cursor is geared so that you are able to
turn quickly and fire. Careful attention should always be paid to the fact 
that you are always moving the F-21 Armored Spacesuit as you are firing it.

DO NOT FORGET THIS!!!

There have been several accidents reported in instances where close combat 
fighting was required. In an attempt to turn and fire it is possible to 
misjudge the turning/firing arc and inadvertently fire upon friendly targets.

It is because of this slim possibility that we recommend you only engage the
Manual targeting control when you are in a lone combat situation, or you are
in a wide combat arena.

General Weapons Tips

Firing is one of the most costly actions you can undertake power-wise. We 
have equipped the F-21 Armored Spacesuit with the capability to auto-fire, 
but we greatly discourage its use unless in an extreme situation. Generally,
short controlled bursts are the best combat tactic.

MANIPULATING OBJECTS

Manipulating objects in The Colony is quite simple. While you are walking 
around inside The Colony you will see everything as line or solid-modeled 
representations. (This is the three dimensional version of the object.) In 
this state you can not directly manipulate these objects. In order to work 
with an object you must first go up to it and it will be presented in a two 
dimensional or bit-map mode. In this state you can work with the object. If 
you wanted to read what was on a computer screen, you would need to click 
the mouse cursor on the screen and you would then see a dialog box 
representing the contents of the screen. To remove the dialog box you would 
need to click once more on the dialog itself to remove it. If you want to 
open a desk drawer, the operation is just the same. Click on the drawer 
and it will open. If you wish to move the scissors from its current place in
the drawer to the top of the desk, click and drag the item to the new 
location. To do this, position the cursor on top of the item you wish to 
move and press and hold the mouse button. Then, move the cursor, and the 
item, to the new location. When you release the mouse button, the item will 
be placed in it s new location.


USING THE DECODER
(this section is not included, if you need the decoder then you don't need
 these docs!!!)


USING DOORWAYS

You activate doorways in much the same manner as you do other objects. 
Standing in close proximity to the doorway will bring you to a 
two-dimensional representation of the door. To open this door you must first
click on the + next to the door. This will cause the central iris of the 
door to open. (This is assuming that you have entered the correct code into
the airlock security control panel.) You will then be presented with the 
door open in front of you. In order to go through the door to the other side,
click the mouse in the center of the open doorway, and you will pass through
the door.


The captain of the craft awoke in the darkness. His head slowly began to 
clear.

Damn! Impact must've sent the reactor into Power-Down. He looked around 
trying to distinguish the central control panel from the rest of the 
blackness. Let's just hit the lights and find out where we are.

Still shaken, he switched on the lights. Now that's a whole lot better.

He quietly made his way to his cabin and examined his face in the mirror. 
Well', he said to himself, Time to strap on the ole' six-gun and go shootin'.
Got to rescue them tha'r children and save the world...again.