			      Star Command

1. Introduction....................................1

2. Background......................................1

3. Beginning Play..................................2
	The Main Menu..............................3

4. Characters......................................3
	Attributes.................................3
	Making Your Characters.....................3
	Character Classes..........................4
	Rank.......................................4
	Basic Training.............................4
	Other Attributes...........................5
	Advancement................................7

5. Starport........................................7
	Game Conventions...........................7
	Star Command Structure.....................7
	Personnel..................................8
	Buy........................................8
	Sell.......................................8
	Drydock....................................8
	Training...................................8
	Fuel.......................................9
	Game Save..................................9
	Headquarters...............................9
	Inspect....................................9
	Christen...................................9
	Leave......................................9
	Medical....................................9
	
6. Equipment.......................................9
	Weapons....................................9
	Armor.....................................10
	Hand Weapons..............................10
	Sighting Hardware.........................10
	Miscellaneous Equipment...................10
	Starships.................................10
	Ship's Equipment..........................11

7. Space Travel...................................12
	Screen Display............................13
	Moving Through the Galaxy.................13
	Planetary Interaction.....................14

8. Starship Combat................................14
	Communications Phase......................14
	Movement Phase............................14
	Combat Phase..............................15
	Combat Tactics and Numbers................15
	Salvage Value.............................16

9. Squad Combat...................................16
	Setup.....................................16
	The Screen................................17
	Terrain...................................17
	The Combat Phase..........................17
	Firing....................................18
	Damage....................................18

10. Complexes.....................................18
	Traps and Such............................18
	Special Events............................19

Appendix..........................................22
	Armor.....................................22
	Shields...................................22
	Defensive Systems.........................22
	Weapons...................................23
	Starship Data.............................23
	Esper Data................................25
	Ship's Weapons............................25
	Missile Killers...........................27
	Hand-to-Hand Weapons......................27
	Sighting Hardware.........................27
	Miscellaneous Equipment...................27

Parts Inventory:
The IBM version of Star Command should come with the following:

* One game box
* Three 5-1/4" Game Disks
* Two 3-1/2" Game Disks (for use with 3-1/2" drives)
* This rulebook
Note: Other versions include a card listing specific instructions for that
version.

1. INTRODUCTION

Star Command is a role-playing game of the far future.  You, the player,
are in command of a group of eight characters of your own creation.  These
characters are assigned missions by Star Command, the organization that is
responsible for keeping humanity safe.  You must take these green troopers,
equip them with what you can, and complete your missions to save mankind. 
This is, unfortunately, a difficult task.  The galaxy at large is a
dangerous place, filled with dangers of every kind imaginable, from pirate
ships that will ambush you as you try to deliver food to hungry colonists,
to alien creatures that you must battle your way through in order to reach
your goal.  As your characters complete missions, they will gain in power,
allowing them to take on greater challenges.

The goal in Star Command is to complete each mission assigned to your crew,
from your first anti-piracy patrol all the way through the climatic final
mission to save mankind.  Of course not all games of Star Command are the
same.  There are many missions that will be assigned to your group when you
play for the first time that will not necessarily be assigned the next time
you play (and of course there are many missions that may not appear the
first time you play the game).  This allows for a role-playing adventure
game that you can finish several times, playing a slightly different game
each time.

The emphasis in Star Command, however, is not on hand-eye coordination. 
This is not a video game where the best reflexes win.  Careful planning is
required before, and during, each battle.  Your crew's skills and equipment
must be balanced, so that no critical skill is missing.  In Star Command,
good strategy can often overcome superior firepower.

In addition to combat, both in space and on the ground, Star Command
emphasized exploration and character interaction with the plotline.  While
your crew is exploring space stations and secret enemy bases on exotic
planets, they will encounter many types of alien creatures and devices. 
Many are hostile, but some can be very valuable sources of information. 
Adventure awaits... Good luck Star Commanders!

2. BACKGROUND

Star Command takes place far in the future centered in a remote section of
the galaxy.  The earth is nothing but a dim, distant memory, having been
destroyed by hostile beings.  Although the human race is still a major
force in the galaxy, the human population is concentrated in a small
portion of the galaxy known as "The Triangle".  It is called this because
of the triangular shape formed by the three starports which form its
borders.  The three starports are the headquarters of the military forces
of mankind, known collectively as "Star Command".

The area to the right of the Triangle is known as the Alpha Frontier.  This
area was once used primarily for mining but has become so overrun with
human pirates that it is now considered enemy territory.  The pirates of
the Alpha Frontier were initially too disorganized and lacking in
technology to present much of a threat tot he Triangle.  However, in the
last ten years or so, they have become organized under the leadership of a
man who calls himself "Blackbeard".  They have become so bold that they
frequently make runs on escorted freighters and tankers within the
Triangle.  In fact, the situation is so bad that almost all military
starships have been assigned to escort duty.

The threat from the pirates is great indeed, but presently the greatest
concern of Star Command lies in the opposite direction.  The area to the
left of the Triangle, referred

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to as the Beta Frontier, is the territory of a race of intelligent insects
that threaten to exterminate the human race.  The existence of the insects
has been known for over a hundred years.  They have always been very
hostile and only a little is known of their culture and language.  About
five years ago, one of our battleships was disabled and captured by the
insects and the technology has been copied.  They now have ships and
weapons equal in power to ours.  They have amazing resources and production
capabilities, leading some experts to believe that their fleet may already
exceed ours in power.  For the past few months they have been stepping up
their attacks on Triangle shipping and it is believed that they are
planning an all out war soon.

The rest of the galaxy, beyond the Alpha and Beta frontiers is more or less
unknown.  Some ships manned by robots have been reported.  They are said to
be extremely efficient and deadly but they never invite the Triangle.  The
origin of the robots is not certain.  Some say they were made by the
insects, others say that they are a human experiment gone astray.  In any
event, they pose no immediate threat to those in the Triangle.  There are
rumors of other intelligent races occupying the unknown region, but those
are unconfirmed.  The galaxy is so large that it is inaccessible to all but
the largest Triangle ships due to fuel constraints.  Unmanned space probes
have charted thousands of planets which have life forms of some sot, but
only the insects (and robots) are known to have reached our level of
technology.  The navigation systems of all Triangle ships contain
information about those star systems which contain life or other important
resources.  Other star systems do not appear on navigation screens.

Due to the current emergency situation, Star Command is working under
unusual rules.  New recruits are being forced to take combat duty in poorly
equipped scout ships while veterans in better ships take escort duty.  Each
group of recruits is given a budget with which they must buy a ship and
equipment.  They receive reward money for defeating enemy ships and
completing missions.  This money, plus any other money they obtain, can be
used to buy more and better equipment.  The better equipment will be very
helpful in completing the later, more difficult missions.

3. BEGINNING PLAY

Before you begin playing Star Command, you should make a copy of each disk
or copy every file to your hard disk drive.  Once you make a copy, put your
master disks away and work from your backup copies.  As Star Command has no
physical protection, you may make plenty of backup copies of the disks for
your own protection.  However, there are copy protection questions that
will appear each time you wish to save the game.  You will need to look up
the answers to them in this rulebook.

Playing the game with 1 floppy disk drive:

Insert your copy of disk A in drive A and type "starcomm" at the A> prompt.
The game will then load normally.  During the game you will be prompted to
insert disk C as needed by the program.

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Playing the game with a hard disk drive:

After copying all of your files to your hard disk, type "starcomm" and the
game should load normally.  If it does not, make sure you are in the
directory or sub-directory where you placed all of the files from the
disks. If you are playing off a hard disk, the game will expect to find all
of the files for the game in the same location (ie., the same
sub-directory), so make sure all of the files were copied to the same place
on the hard disk.

The Main Menu

After the game is loaded you will see a menu with five options:

	1-Play Star Command

	2-Begin New Game

	3-Two Floppy Disk Drives

	4-Sound On/Off

	5-Color Graphics

Option 1 is the command used to continue an existing game of Star Command,
or to begin a game for the first time.  If you wish to start a game over
again, use option 2.

Option 2 allows you to remove all your old characters and their equipment
from the disk.  This option is only used to restart a game.  Using this
option will erase any characters currently saved on that disk.

Option 3 allows you to select which type of disk configuration you have;
one floppy, two floppies, or a hard drive.  This is a toggle so just select
it until the desired drive configuration appears.

Option 5 allows you to select which type of display adapter you have; color
graphics or EGA graphics.  As with the drive selector, this is just a
toggle.  In selecting this option, remember that the EGA graphics are
likely to be much slower.  If you have no EGA adapter, this option will not
appear.

A demonstration mode for Star Command is available, but only from DOS.  You
simply type "Demo" at the A>, and a continuous demonstration of Star
Command, using actual graphics from the game, will be displayed.  It can be
stopped by pressing "Esc".

4. CHARACTERS

As in any role-playing adventure, the game is centered around the
characters that the player creates.  The characters are the player's link
to the game world, they are his "alter-egos", if you will.

Attributes

Each character has a number of attributes that represent the characters'
physical and mental abilities.  The attributes that each character
possesses are:

Strength - this affects hit points, movement rate, and the amount the
character may carry.

Speed - this affects movement rate more directly than strength.

Accuracy - this affects the character's ability to hit in combat.

Courage - this affects the character's ability to hit in combat.

Willpower - this affects hit points.

Esper - this affects the character's ability to learn the skill Esper.

Intelligence - this affects training rate in various skills.

Attributes range from 30 to 70 when the character is first generated and
have no upper limit.  The only exception to this is the Esper attribute. 
This attribute varies from 0 to 60 for a beginning character.

Making your Characters

At this point, you should have loaded the program and made it to the main
menu.  Select Option 1 and you will find yourself in the Starport.  You
should next select option "A", which is the personnel department.  The rest
of the options will be explained more clearly in section 5 (STARPORT).  Now
you will make your team.

After selecting "A", you will have three options. "A" allows you to recruit
a new squad member, "B" allows you to remove a squad member permanently,
and "C" reorders the party members.  Select option "B" and you'll get your
first character.  The attributes of the character will be displayed along
with a question of whether or not

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you'd like to keep the character in question.  If the answer is no, then
type 'n' and you'll go back to the last menu.  If, however, you wish to
keep the character you've just created, then just type 'y'; you'll have
just volunteered that character for entry into the Star Command and will
have to choose which of the classes you want this squad member to be.

Character Classes

There are four character classes that a character may belong to.  They are
Pilot, Marine, Soldier, and Esper.  Each of them have different skills that
they can learn and different strengths and weaknesses.  It is generally
recommended that a party consist of two Pilots, at least two Soldiers, at
least one Marine, and one Esper (this is the maximum number of Esper's
allowed).  This will provide the party with a good balance and will allow
the learning of all skills by at least one party member.  Note that in
order for a character to become an Esper, the character must have an Esper
attribute of at least 51.

Rank

In addition to character class and attributes, a character will possess a
rank.  This rank starts at Private and many progress both before and during
the game.  Rank affects the amount of pay a character receives.  Months of
pay are accumulated and then given to the characters in a lump sum at the
end of each mission.  The amount received is based on the following table:

	Rank		Monthly Pay

	Private		1500
	Corporal	2000
	Sergeant	2500
	2nd Lieutenant	3100
	Lieutenant	3800
	Commander	4700
	Major		6000
	Colonel		7800
	Brigadier	10000
	Commodore	15000
	Admiral		22000
	Fleet Admiral	30000
	Grand Admiral	45000

Basic Training

Your character enters at age 20 and spends the first eight years in the
Star Command, in Basic Training, which goes by rather quickly.  For each
year of Basic Training, the character will get to select one training area
from the Training Table for their class, and they will either get one or
two levels in the appropriate skill, or, if they fail to make the grade,
they will get an assignment chosen by Star Command.

Training Table:

Class			Training Areas
-----                   --------------
Marine			Medical
			Scouting/Recon
			Survival School
			Hand Weaponry
			Light Arms
			Heavy Arms
			Officer's School
			Special Forces

Pilot			Pilot
			Astro Gunner
			Code Breaking
			Officer's School
			Light Arms
			Medical
			Ship Repair

Soldier			Survival School
			Medical
			Hand Weaponry
			Light Arms
			Heavy Arms
			Explosives
			Officer's School
			Special Forces
			Chemical Weaponry

Esper			Astro Gunner
			Hand Weaponry
			Light Arms
			Esper
			Medical

The training areas of Special Forces and Survival School represent training
schools designed to increase a character's attributes.  Survival School
will increase willpower and strength by three to seven points each while
Special Forces will increase speed and accuracy by two to

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six points each.  Officer's School simply promotes the character by one
rank automatically.  Officer's School may only be chosen twice per
character.  There is also a small chance that the team member will be
promoted a rank after each training year.

There are 12 basic skills a character may possess.  Each skill starts at
level zero and may reach as high as eight.  After level three is reached in
a skill, each increase will begin to be worth less and less. Fractional
skill levels are possible, but the fractions are dropped when calculating
the effective level.

Unless otherwise stated, a character with a zero skill level will have a
50% chance of completing an associated task and this chance goes up by 5%
per skill level to a maximum of 90%.  The skills in the game are:

Pilot: A character must have Pilot skill level 1 in order to fly a starship
or dropship.  Also, every point in this skill will drop an enemy's
effective chance of hitting your ship in combat by 5%.

Astro Gunner: Every point in this skill adds 5% to a characters base 50%
chance of hitting an enemy ship in combat.  Of course, this is modified by
the type of gun the character is using, the type of ship being fired at,
and the skill of the opposing pilot.

Scouting/Recon: The team member with the highest level in this skill will
act as the scout for the team.  While on a planet's surface, this ability
may allow the character to avoid enemy encounters.  If enemies do approach,
the scout may spot them before they spot you, giving you the option to hide
from them.  If a confrontation does occur, the scout can help the party
surprise the enemies, particularly if someone has a motion detector in
operation (these are discussed in detail under the miscellaneous equipment
list).  While exploring space stations or planetary bases, the scout may
spot hidden traps and avoid them or disarm them altogether.  The scout can
also help to surprise enemies on bases and stations, just like on planetary
surfaces.

Medical: A character with a medkit (also on the miscellaneous equipment
list) has a 10% chance per level of this skill of healing four points on a
wounded character.

Explosives: This skill determines a character's chance to hit with a
chemical weapon (see the personal weapons list).

Code Breaking: Code Breaking represents a character's chance to break a
particular code or alien language.  While in space, only the co-pilot gets
a chance at this.  If the character is successful, the party will be
allowed to communicate with the encountered beings. If not, ESP is the only
hope for contact (see the Esper ability).

Light Arms: This skill determines a character's chance to hit with a light
weapon (see appendix).

Heavy Arms: This skill is identical to the Light Arms skill, but applies to
heavy weapons.

Hand Weaponry:  Hand Weaponry is usually used by characters that are either
out of ammunition or that have had their weapon destroyed.  This skill lets
a character use knives, axes, etc. (see appendix for list of Hand
Weaponry).

Repair: Characters have a 10% chance

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per point of this skill to repair damaged locations on the ship.  This task
is made 35% easier by the presence of a ship's repair kit (see
miscellaneous equipment list).  If any attempt is made at repairing any
location on the ship and the attempt fails, then that system must be
repaired by starport technicians, for a modest fee of course.  If life
support systems or engines are broken and are not repaired on the first
try, the crew will die before help can arrive!  This skill also applies to
repairing personal equipment, although this is far less dangerous.

Esper Ability: Only an Esper class character may learn this skill.  The
Esper skill gives a character five abilities, which become available once
the character's Esper attribute reaches the appropriate level, as seen in
the following chart:

Attribute Lvl.		Ability Gaines

Level 1			Mindshock
Level 3			Communications
Level 5			5 point Healing
Level 7			View Rooms
Level 8			Psychic Scream

Mindshock is a psionic attack that always succeeds and does damage as per
the Esper Chart (see appendix).  You have a limited number of mindshocks
that may be performed each combat, due to the terrible strain that the
attack puts on the Esper's mind.

Communication is an Esper skill that gives the Esper character a percentage
chance of communicating with a group of enemies encountered in combat on
indoor exploration.  The percentage chance of communication is equal to the
character's Esper Attribute.

Healing is a 5 point healing that can only be used on fresh wounds in
combat.  There is a limit on how many of these may be performed each
combat.

The number of heals allowed to an Esper each combat is listed on the Esper
Chart (see Appendix).

View Rooms is a skill that an Esper may use to look into a room while
indoors.  You can only do this a few times on each trip out from Starport
(See Appendix).

Psychic Scream is used by the Esper only in personal confrontations, and
generally only as a last resort.  It has a base percentage chance (see
appendix) of success, and if it succeeds, the target of the attack dies.
Period.

In addition to the above skills, the Esper may use a special type of hand
weapon, called the lightsword.  It inflicts 40 points of damage on a hit,
and is only available to Espers.  No one else may buy them or use them.

Other Attributes

Characters have several secondary attributes that are determined by their
seven primary attributes.  These attributes are:

Hit Points: These are determined by strength and willpower, and represent
the number of hits the character may take before dying.

To Hit Bonus: This number is added to a character's basic chance to hit in
combat to determine the overall chance to hit.  It is determined mostly by
accuracy and slightly by courage.  An average character will have a zero
bonus.

Defense Bonus: This number is determined by speed, and is subtracted from
the enemies' basic chance to hit.  It is zero for an average character.

Maximum number of Kilograms Carried: This is determined entirely by
strength, and represents the amount that the character may carry without
incurring movement penalties.  For each kilogram carried over this limit, a
character's movement rate is dropped by one.  When a character attempts to
carry in excess of two times the character's maximum carrying allowance,
then the characters movement rate drops to zero.

Movement Rate: The number of meters per second that a character may move
(unless, of course, your character is over-

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burdened). This attribute is determined by strength and speed.

Advancement

Characters will receive training after each mission that they complete. 
This training allows advancement in both attributes and skills.  Training
may also be purchased at a rate of 200,000 credits per training session.

When training, the first thing the character's will choose is the attribute
to concentrate training.  Although non-Esper characters may train their
Esper attributes, this is not helpful as a non-Esper character may never
learn esper abilities.  When advancing in attributes, characters will
advance 5-9 points if the affected attribute is less than 100, and only 2-4
points if the attribute in question is greater than 100.  In addition, a
character may be promoted one rank.

The next thing selected in the training process is the skill that the
character wishes to train in.  This skill is then increased by one level
(or less if the skill is already above level two).  The skills available to
the character are the ones listed on the training table.

5. STARPORT

The starports are the most important places in the game.  They are where
you will spend all of your non-mission time, and are where you will
purchase all of your equipment, training, repairs, etc.  The starports are
all identical in their function.

Game Conventions

Throughout the game, you will refer to a character with a single letter: P
for the pilot, C for the Co-Pilot, and 1 through 6 for the squad members. 
Also, most game functions are accessed by single letter/number keystrokes. 
In addition, the "Return" key will exit from most menus.

Note: Some special menus will require you to type in the entire word "yes"
or "no" in order for it to accept that response.  "Y" or "N" will not work
for those menus.  This is for protection against accidentally pressing the
wrong key.

Starport Command Structure

Main Menu
	Sub Menu
		Sub Menu
			Sub Menu

M 	S	S	S

A - Personnel

	A - Recruit New Squad Member
	B - Dismiss Squad Member
	C - Change Positions

B - Buy (you must specify buyer)

	A - Buy Personal Equipment

		A - Regular Weapon

			A - All Weapons (Scroll)*
			B - Bullet (Scroll)*

	C - Needler
	D - Electric
	E - Ion

			F - Grenade
			G - Heavy Bullet
			H - Heavy Flame
			I - Heavy Rocket
			J - Heavy Laser
			K - Chemical Weapons
			L - Explosive Weapons

		B - Ammunition
		C - Hand Weapons
		D - Sighting Hardware
		E - Armor (Scroll)*
		F - Miscellaneous

	B - Buy Ship's Equipment

		A - Ship's Guns (Scroll)*
		B - Ammo for Missiles
		C - Shields
		D - Defense Hardware
		E - Missile Killers
		F - Armor

	C - Buy Ship (Scroll)*

		A - Sell Personal Equipment
		B - Sell Ships Equipment
		C - Sell Cargo
		D - Sell Ship
		E - Declare Bankruptcy

	D - Drydock

		A - Repair Ship's Equipment
		B - Repair all Personal Equipment
		C - Remove Armor from the Ship

	E - Training

		A - Next Character
		B - Buy Training Session
		C - Inspect (Character)
		D - Use Training Session

	F - Fuel (Refuels the Ship)
	G - Game Save
	H - Headquarters
	I - Inspect

				7

M	S	S	S

	A - Inspect Ship
	B - Inspect Squad
	C - Cargo List (Scroll)*
	D - Espionage List (Scroll)*
	E - Miscellaneous List (Scroll)*

L - Leave
M - Medical

	A - Squad Health
	B - Rest in Sick Bay
	C - Make Clone
	D - Use Clone

T - Time Delay (1-9999)

*(Scroll) means that you may scroll through the menu using the space bar.

Personnel

This is the section of the starport where you recruit your characters, get
rid of dead ones, and move the ones you have around.

Buy

The buying of equipment is a common portion of the game.  In this part of
the Starport, you must first specify who is buying, and then you choose
that you wish to buy.

When purchasing ammunition for hand weapons, you will be presented with a
list of the weapons available.  You then select which weapon is to be
resupplied with ammunition, and it will increment the number of clips left,
as shown on the screen.

It should be noted that hand weapons, sighting hardware, and personal armor
cannot be sold or exchanged between characters.  These systems are custom
fitted to the individual, and are not usable by anyone but the person the
device was designed for.  If you wish to sell the device to buy a better
model, you must simply buy a new one, replacing the old one.

Whenever a ship's gun or a ship's shield is purchased, the computer will
ask you where the system is to be placed.  This refers to the facing of the
gun or the shield as per the chart in the appendix.

If a new ship is purchased, all equipment that was removed from the last
ship (if there was any) will be reinstalled automatically.

Sell

As a general rule, when items are sold, they will bring approximately 80%
of their value, even if damaged.

When you sell your ship, all equipment on the ship will be automatically
removed and placed in holding for the next ship to be purchased.  As
mentioned above, when the new ship is purchased, the old equipment will be
reinstalled, but for a 15% fee (that's 15% of the total value of all
equipment installed into the new hull).  This fee is deducted from the
money received from the sale of the ship.

Declaring bankruptcy is a very bad thing to do, and will be necessary if
you get yourself into debt and have insufficient equipment to complete your
next mission.  It causes great loss of face with Headquarters but will get
rid of your debts and will get you a 90,000 stake with which you may try to
purchase your needed goods.  Of course, your previous equipment is all
confiscated and sold to help pay your debts.

One other option available to you here is selling cargo.  Cargo may be
purchased at any world, any you may be able to turn a profit selling it.

Drydock

This is where damaged equipment gets repaired by professional starport
technicians.  These folks are excellent at their job, but are expensive. 
If you have damaged personal equipment, or damaged ship's equipment, these
guys and gals will get the job done.

Removing armor from the ship is done generally to lighten the ship in order
to increase speed.

Training

Training sessions are the things that increase your character's attributes
and skill levels, as noted earlier.  This section begins by listing your
first character, "P".  It also lists the number of training sessions left
to "P" and gives the aforementioned options.

It should be mentioned that training is

					8

sometimes a dangerous activity.  Your squad can become injured by training.
Nothing serious, but it may cost you a day or two at the medical center.

Fuel

Your ship may refuel for free here.  As a general rule, always refuel your
ship when you reach starport.

Game Save

This allows you to save the game without exiting, as well as quitting the
game.  This is where the protection questions will be asked. If you fail
the questions twice consecutively, then you will still be able to play, but
will be prohibited from saving that game.

Headquarters

This is where you will be assigned all of your missions and where you may
go to review a mission in progress.

Inspect

you may inspect your squad in order to examine a squad member's  primary
and secondary attributes.

In addition to examination of your squad and ship, this section allows you
to check your list of contraband picked up on espionage missions, as well
as a list of cargo picked up on scientific missions, and miscellaneous
items picked up in complexes.

Christen

This is used to name your new ships for the first (and only) time.  You may
not rename them later, so make it a name you like.

Leave

This is how you leave the spacedock to go out into the galaxy.

Medical

The skilled physicians of the starport medical center are here to heal you
free of charge.  You may be required to stay a day or more in their
facilities so that they can make sure you are fully heated, but they do a
perfect job every time.

One other option available here is cloning.  Cloning allows a character to
make a duplicate of him or herself, and then have it stored until the
character meets with disaster.  Then the clone is activated, and the
character lives again.  The clone will have slightly lower attributes than
the original, but will keep indefinitely.  Cloning costs 30,000 credits.

Of course, the clone may be created after death has already occurred.  In
this case, it costs 100,000 credit to do so.

6. EQUIPMENT

Weapons

The weapons listing is in the appendix.  It lists all important information
about each weapon.  There are 54 weapons to choose from in the personal
weapons list.  Each of them has the following statistics:

Damage: The maximum amount of damage the weapon can do.  On the average, a
weapon will do about 70% of the maximum.  Armor subtracts directly from
this number to determine the actual damage to the victim.

ROF: Rate of Fire.  This is the number of times the weapon can fire during
a single combat round.

Weight: This is the weight of the weapon, fully loaded, in kilograms.

Range: This is the effective range of the weapon in meters.  If a target is
out of range, it will be more difficult, but not impossible, to hit the
target.

Cost: This is the weapon costs in credits.

Type: This is an indication of the skill used with this weapon.

Ammo Capacity: The number of shots that the weapon has in each

				9

magazine/power pack.  A laser with a 20 shot power pack and a ROF of four
must be reloaded every five rounds.  Each weapon comes fully loaded.

Ammo Weight: This is the weight, in kilograms, of each magazine/power pack.

Cost of Ammo: This is the cost of each magazine/power pack in credits.

To Hit Bonus: This number is added directly to the "To Hit" percentage, and
thus makes it easier (or harder, as appropriate) to hit with this weapon. 
Obviously, the larger the number here, the better.

Damage Type: An indicator of the type of damage done by the weapon, as well
as how many targets the weapons will affect.  Bullets, shotguns, needlers,
electricity, radiation, and laser damage will only affect one target. 
Flame, rockets, chemical, and explosive weapons will usually affect more
targets in a target group.

Armor

Armor comes in many different types and stops damage equivalent to its
protection factor. Armor, as mentioned previously, may not be resold or
given from one character to another.  It is body fitted and therefore
usable by only one person.

Hand Weapons

There are six different types of hand weapons.  The skill Hand Weaponry is
the one used with these weapons.  All of these weapons are again specific
to the user and may not be sold.  They cost nothing to purchase.

Sighting Hardware

The four sighting devices give the user a bonus to hit.  They are
unsalable, as armor and hand weapons are, and may not be traded from
character to character.  These devices are specifically fitted to each
individual's brain wave patterns.  Note that sighting hardware may only be
used in personal combat.

Miscellaneous Equipment

Medkit: This device allows you to try to use your Medical skill to cure an
injured character.  If successful, the injured character is healed four
points, up to the character's original maximum.

Repair Kit: This device allows you to repair equipment and weapons as per
the description under the repair skill.  These kits are far too heavy to
carry into personal combat, and are therefore left on the ship most of the
time.

Helmet Scanner: Whenever a party is walking through enemy territory, this
device can be used to detect moving beings and thus reduce the party's
chance of being surprised.  While exploring bases and space stations, you
must activate the helmet scanner before it will be of any benefit. 
Eventually, it will wear out.

Motion Detector: This is a more powerful version of the Helmet Scanner.

Sonic Torch: Used to blast through doors in complexes.

Chemical Torch: A more powerful version of the Sonic Torch.

Lockpick Set: Needed to make attempts at picking locked doors in complexes.
The scouting/recon skill helps in using the lockpick set.

Oxygen Mask, Oxygen Cylinder, and Environment Suit: These are required in
unbreathable atmospheres.  Each person in the party needs a full set.

Radiation Detector: If used in complexes, they will often detect radiation
traps before they poison a member of the squad.  As with the motion
detector, it must be activated first.

Starships

Your starship in Star Command is your only mode of transportation from
mission to mission and is therefore your home away from home.  You must
take good care of your starship lest you be caught unawares by an angry
enemy destroyer and be destroyed.

There are 9 different classes of starships available to you in Star
Command.  They range in capabilities and performance (and, of course,
price).  Each of them has the capability to carry 8 crew (that's you) and
some additional weaponry, armor, and other devices.  Your first two party

				10

members, "P" and "C" are the pilot and co-pilot of your ship.  Both should
be pilot class characters, especially since the "P"ilot must have pilot
skill in order to fly the starship and the "C"o-pilot must have pilot skill
in order to fly drop ships, which are the squad's method of getting to a
planet's surface.  The other 6 squad members double as gunners.  Each gun
position corresponds to the individual firing it.

All ship classes have a number of statistics that they begin the game with
(see Appendix).

Initial Weight: This is in tons.  The starting weight of the ship, without
any additional installed equipment.

Maximum Weight: The maximum the ship may weigh before it slows down.

Price: The cost of the ship in credits.

Defense Bonus: This number is, like the personal defense bonus, subtracted
from an opponents chance of a hit.  On the larger ships, which are easier
targets, this number is indeed negative.

Maximum Movement Rate: This is the limit to the ship's speed, in squares
per turn.

Armor Cost/Point: This is the amount, in credits, that it costs to install
an additional point of armor on the ship.  Armor on ships works somewhat
differently than armor in ground combat.  Fire that reduces the armor,
doing less damage than the armor remaining, may still penetrate and damage
internal systems.

Armor Points/Ton: The number of points of armor that are added to the ship
for each ton of armor.  It should be mentioned that armor on ships is very
much unlike personal armor.  Ship armor is worn down, and need not be
exceeded in one shot for penetration to occur.

Fuel Capacity: This is the number of points of fuel that the ship may
carry.  Since all ships use fuel at the same rate (not including laser
fire), this also represents the range of the ship.

Drop Ships: This is the number of drop ships carried by the ship.  The only
advantage of multiple drop ships is that one can be damaged and you may
still land on planets.

Ship's Equipment

There are several systems that are standard on a new starship, many of
which are necessary to the proper function of the ship.  They cannot be
purchased but can be repaired if damaged.  These systems are:

Drop Ships: These are used to explore planets.  Your co-pilot will pilot
the drop ship.

Computer: This system provides you with lists of what your ship is towing,
kill lists, and a description of your current mission.

Communications: If this system is damaged, then your co-pilot will not be
able to communicate with enemy ships, using Code Breaking skills.

Tow Linkage: This is used only to tow enemy ships back to starport after
boarding and capturing them.  You may not tow more than 10 ships at once. 
This does not slow you down.

Hull Integrity: If your hull is penetrated, it will have holes in it.  The
only real problem, however, is that you will find it more difficult to
convince an enemy to surrender if your hull has been penetrated.

Engines: If your engines are shot out in combat, you will be unable to move
at all.  If you fail to fix them using repair, you will never see home
again.

Retros: These are needed to turn in combat.  If they are damaged, then
you'll be unable to turn.

Life Support Systems:  If this system is shot away in combat, your crew
will perish in moments.

Power Generator: Loss of this unit will stop the ship from moving, but
batteries will allow the ship to continue fighting.

Guns: These are what allow you to fight

				11

back when attacked.  The positions of the guns are shown on the back page
of the manual.  You may have up to six of them on your ship (one for each
squad member, excluding the pilot and co-pilot, who have other duties to
keep them busy!).

Missile weapons use ammunition as normal personal weapons.  The number of
reloads, as shown on the weapons display, is the number of reloads of that
type for ALL the weapons of that type on the ship.  For example, if you
have 2 Anti-matter Missile systems on board, and 12 reloads, then you have
12 reloads for BOTH missile launchers, not 12 each.  (see appendix).

Laser weapons use energy from the ship's reserves rather than ammunition. 
Each shot by a laser weapon uses one unit of fuel. (see appendix).

Shields: There are four shield positions on a ship.  They are front
(position 1), right side (position 2), rear (position 3), and left side
(position 4).  Shields are used to deflect incoming attacks.  If they are
penetrated, then the attack hits the ship's armor and may penetrate to the
ship's interior. (see appendix).

Defense Hardware: These are systems that will not only reduce an enemy's
chance to hit, but will increase your movement allowance as well (up to a
maximum of six). (see appendix).

Missile Killers: These shoot down incoming missiles.  The percentage listed
is the percentage chance of intercepting each missile.  The system can
attempt to intercept as many incoming missile attacks as necessary. (See
Appendix).

7. SPACE TRAVEL

During the game, you will have to travel through much of the galaxy in
search of objects, people, and enemies.  Although there are thousands of
planets, only some of them are inhabited by intelligent life, and only a
few of those have items of interest to Star Command Headquarters.  They
will give you many clues as to which ones are the ones to check out.

Screen Display

While travelling through space, you will constantly have a screen display
showing not only a map of where you are, but quite a bit of information
vital to you during this portion of the game.  A short description of the
screen display follows:

Map Display: This is the map portion (the upper left portion) of the
screen.  The map tells you at what zoom level you are (the options are
"Galaxy Scan", "Long Range Scan", "Sector Scan", and "Visual Scan"), as
well as displaying everything in your detection range for the appropriate
zoom level.

Text Display: This is the portion of the screen just below the Map Display.
It is where messages and menus will appear.

Fuel Display: This display tells you how much fuel is remaining.  Be warned
that running out of fuel is very bad.  Not only does it cost a lot of money
to get refuelled in deep space, but the wait for the rescue ship could be
fatal to sick crew members.

Armor Display: This is right below the Fuel Display and it tells you how
much armor is left on the ship.

Status Display: This display reads either Green, Yellow, or Red depending
on where you are and if you're in combat or not.  Green means you're in
safe territory and hostile enemies are unlikely (but not impossible). 
Yellow means that you ARE

				12

in hostile territory and that attacks are likely.  Red means that a
critical situation has arisen, such as a hostile encounter.

Weapons & Squad Display: Located on the center right hand portion of the
screen, this display shows squad status at all times.  If any squad member
is dead, this will be indicated on this display.  Under the weapons columns
(the right hand side of this display), the list will either have dashes
(indicating no weapon) or some text indicating weapon status.  "Okay" means
that there is a laser type weapon operational on that mount and controlled
by that squad member.  Numbers here mean that the mount is a missile system
and the numbers represent the number of shots the weapon has left, and the
number of reloads left.

Ship Orientation Display: This is located in the upper right corner of this
display.  It shows the current facing of the ship,a nd whether or not there
are shields on all four of the shield facings.  if a shield is there, the
ship will have a colored arc covering that portion of the ship.  A thick
arc indicates a working shield while a thin arc indicated a broken one.

Moving through the Galaxy

The galaxy is divided into a 32 by 32 grid of sectors, with 1.1 being the
lower left as per a normal cartesan coordinate system.  The sector you are
in will be shown at the top of the visual display, along with the zone.

Using A and D keys, you may zoom in and out and look at the different scan
levels.  This is known as "Up Scan" and "Down Scan".  Zooming in and out
will become necessary during the game because many of the missions require
you to examine planets, which are found by scanning individual star
systems.

Movement is accomplished by moving the little white square on the visual
display.  This square represents your ship.  You may move it freely using
the cursor pad, but may only travel through the galaxy (this means leave
the sector that you're in currently) on the Long Range Scan level.  If
you're in Sector Scan and you try to drive off the edge of the map, you'll
simply stop at the edge.

The different scan levels are:

Galaxy Scan: This level shows the entire galaxy and is used purely for
reference purposes.  You may not drive your ship on this map.  This scale
is too large to show every star, so it is used primarily for navigating
back to your starbase.

Long Range Scan: This is the normal level for driving through the galaxy.
It will display a block of 8 by 8 sectors at a time.  Every star and
starport in each sector will show up on a long range scan.  This is also
the only level where you can move your ship from sector to sector.  In
addition, the main menu is displayed at this scan level.

Sector Scan: This level shows every star, starport, or other hidden space
station in the sector.  As always, your location is shown by a white
square.  Stars are numbered from left to right and top to bottom.

System Scan: This shows a star and all surrounding planets.  Once again,
movement is restricted to within the system and your ship is represented by
a white square.  Planets are numbered from the inside out.

Visual Scan: This is the lowest level of scan and it shows a direct view of
the planet, starport, or space station that you're near.  Each planet, when
examined at this level, will list the components in the atmosphere, whether
or not the atmosphere is unbreathable, the mass, gravity, density, and
diameter of the planet, and whether or not the planet has life. If life is
detected, it will be analyzed on a very basic level.

When travelling from place to place, there are several types of potential
encounters.  You may find a space station that you didn't expect to find,
for instance.  A more likely occurrence, however, is the encountering of
another ship.  In this case, the other ship will be automatically scanned. 
It may be identified as friendly, but if identification is not made, then
you will pro-

				13

ceed to starship combat (section 8).

Planetary Interaction

At the Visual Scan level, you will have an entirely new menu to select
from.  You may examine the planet with a scientific mission in an attempt
to find materials needed for a mission (some missions send you after
special materials that can only be found on a few types of worlds), send a
squad down on an espionage mission in an attempt to break into the
underworld portion of the society on the planet (obviously, this only works
on planets with a hi-tech life form), and even send down a drop ship with
the intent to purchase cargo (or sell it!).

Planetary encounters may occur when your team is on an espionage mission, a
scientific mission (less likely), and on a cargo mission (least likely). 
When they do, you may have to fight your way out, as in any personal
confrontation.

8. STARSHIP COMBAT

When you find another ship while in your wanderings, and your scanners
cannot identify the opposing vessel(s), then you will find yourself quickly
in the middle of a conflict.  However, not all unidentified ships are
enemies.

During starship combat, time is divided into rounds lasting just a few
seconds.  For the sake of convenience, each round is further divided into
three phases, the communications phase, the movement phase, and the combat
phase.

Communications Phase

This phase first occurs after discovering that an opposing ship, or ships,
is unidentified.  At that point, your co-pilot will try to use the code
breaking skill in order to establish communications with the unidentified
ship or ships.  If your co-pilot is unsuccessful at the first try, then you
will be unable to communicate for the rest of the combat.  If successful,
however, you will be able to communicate during the Communications Phase of
each combat turn.

Once communications are established you must decide on an approach to take.
You choices are Bargain, Plead, Ask, Demand, Impersonate a Deity, or
nothing at all.  If you choose nothing, then you proceed to movement. 
These approaches are in ascending order of pushiness.  If you Bargain, then
you are trying to get the unidentified craft to take some of your money as
incentive to leave.  Pleading, Asking, Demanding, and Impersonating a Diety
are all approaches that should be taken in increasing positions of
strength.  The response you receive will depend heavily upon how your
opponents perceive the approach, and on how much they believe that you are
more powerful than they are.

Once you choose an approach, then you will be presented with a list of four
objectives that you are trying to obtain.  These choices are Fuel, Truce,
Tribute, and Surrender.  Fuel means that you want the other ship's fuel, or
enough to top off your tanks.  Truce means that you'd like to have both
sides just go their own way.  Tribute is a nice way of saying, "Give me
your money or else!"  Of course, Surrender is just what it sounds like, a
request for unconditional surrender.

Movement Phase

Once the Communications Phase is passed, then the Movement Phase begins. 
This means that you're in combat now.  if the ships you're encountering are
really friendly, then they won't fire at you and shouldn't be fired upon. 
Destroying unarmed freighters is not worth anything.  If they do fire,
however, you should defend yourself.  The movement phase is divided into
six segments, with the fastest ships moving in all six segments, and slower
ships moving only in some of the six.  In each of the six segments, your
ship will have the following options:

A - Rotate Counterclockwise: This means that your ship will turn 45 degrees
    to the left.

B - Rotate Clockwise: This means that your ship will turn 45 degrees to the
    right.

C - Scan: This shows a long range scan of

				14

    the area and will reveal any ships that have run off the tactical
    screen but that are still in combat.  In this scan, the status of each
    enemy vessel is reported, along with a location.

D - Visual: This shows a view of all ships within firing range.

E - Skip Move: You may use this if you are satisfied with where your ship
    is on the tactical map.

F - Switch Positions: This may be used to change positions of some of your
    squad members.  This takes their entire turn, so those squad members
    will be unable to act for the rest of that turn.

G - Jump to Hyperspace: This is an emergency-only measure that will get
    your ship away as a last resort.  It will require 40 units of fuel (if
    there are less then the chance of success is much less).  Jumping to
    Hyperspace will moe you out of the combat.

Also available during the combat phase are the movement cursor keys.  You
may move using the cursor pad, as you would normally.

The tactics in the Movement Phase are simple enough.  Try to fight only one
opponent at a time and try to stay behind that opponent.  Of course, if
there are lots of opponents and they are all faster than you, then this may
be impossible.  However, the best place to be is usually behind your target
and with only one target to fight at a time.

Combat Phase

In the combat phase, each gunner on your ship (and the enemy ships) will
have the opportunity to fire a ship's gun.  This, of course, assumes that
the gunner has a gun to fire, that it is in working order, that the gunner
is above, and that the target is within the firing arc of the guns (see the
diagram on the back page).  If all these criteria are met, then you'll get
to fire.  As a general rule, opponents are easier to hit if they are closer
and vice versa.

Your options, during the Firing Phase are as follows:

W - Wait: This means do nothing. Wait and watch.

F - Fire: This means fire your gun.  There will be a list of targets
    available (A, B, etc) and you must select which target to engage.

R - Rapid Fire: This allows a gunner to fire twice as many times as is
    normal, with half the chance to hit.  This is only useful against very
    big, very slow targets.

L - Load: Reloading your guns is needed on occasion, but only for missile
    weapons.  Lasers need not reload.  Reloading may be done even if your
    gun is not empty, but it is a bit silly.

M - Aim: Aiming at a target will allow you to gain a 50% bonus to hit on
    your next shot, but takes an entire round.  This means that you would
    fire every other round using this option.  If you still wish to Aim,
    you may do so, gaining another 30% bonus.  If you Aim for a third round
    in a row, then you'll gain another 20% bonus, for a grand total of a
    100% bonus to hit.  There are very few things that you'll miss with a
    100% aiming bonus.  Note that if you turn so that the gunner doing the
    aiming can no longer see the target, or if the target goes out of
    range, then the aiming bonus is lost.

Combat Tactics and Numbers

As mentioned before, the idea in starship combat is to isolate one or two
of them and then hit them with all you've got.  Fighting enemy ships in one
at a time is much easier.  There are other considerations, however.

If you get too far away from an enemy ship, so that you can no longer see
it when using a Scan command, then that ship, or your ship depending on who
was running, has escaped from the encounter.  Thus, in addition to jumping
to Hyperspace and successful negotiation, there is another visible method
of getting away from an unwanted encounter.

Another possible outcome of the combat is boarding.  If you are up against
only one remaining opponent, then you may attempt to board.  This is done
by driving

				15

your ship to within 1 square of your opponent (don't worry, no ramming is
allowed).  If you board, you will get to execute a personal confrontation
using your squad in normal hand-to-hand combat.  If you win, you'll capture
the opposing vessel.  This will gain you a large reward when you return to
Headquarters and will also refuel you ship (with their fuel).

Once again, you should remember how the percentages work in starship
combat.  A gunner's percentage chance of a hit is 50%, plus 5% for each
level of Astro Gunner, plus up to 25% bonus for being very close, plus any
aiming bonus, minus 5% for each level of the opposing pilot's skill, minus
(or plus) the target size bonus of the opposing ship.  If the final number
is greater than 90%, then the hit number will drop to 90%.  The same is
true on the other end of the scale.  If the percentage to hit is below 10%,
then it goes to 10%.

Salvage Value

Ships destroyed in combat are worth 20 credits per ton of the vessel in
reward money from Star Command Headquarters.  In addition, if you towed the
vessel back for salvage, you get an additional 10 credits per ton. 
Remember that you can only tow back up to 10 ships, and that you must have
a functional tow linkage to tow any at all.

9. SQUAD COMBAT

At several points during the game, personal confrontation will occur. 
These confrontations usually mean combat, and that is when your choices of
personal equipment and weaponry gets tested to its fullest.

Setup

Before actually beginning an encounter, you will be provided some
information regarding that combat.  First, the computer will display a list
of factors that may affect the combat.  These factors are gravity,
atmosphere and fatigue factor.  In addition, before a combat begins you
will be presented with a number of symbols that represent offensive,
defensive, clear, and inaccessible terrain.  These will be discussed
further below.

Gravity will affect the fatigue factor directly.  In many space stations, a
normalized gravity of 1.0g will be maintained.  Unfortunately, many planets
have other than 1.0g, and if this gravity is higher than the standard 1.0g
then the fatigue factor goes up by an equivalent factor.

Atmosphere comes in only two types, breathable and non-breathable.  If the
atmosphere is non-breathable, and the character is not wearing an oxygen
mask, an oxygen cylinder, and an environment suit, then the character will
fatigue VERY quickly, and will be of little use.  Be warned that if you try
to enter a space station or alien base with an unbreathable atmosphere and
without the appropriate breathing apparatus, the unequipped party members
will die.

The fatigue factor is calculated from the gravity and then adjusted up if a
specific character is unable to breathe (breathing is pretty much a
necessity and doing without IS pretty tough).  The higher the fatigue
factor, the less useful your squad will be in combat.

At this point, the game will switch over to a tactical display.

				16

The Screen

The screen in personal combat deserves some explanation.  In the upper left
corner of the screen is an animated display of what it is that you're
facing, along with a text description of the foes.  To the right of the
animated display will be a 4 by 5 block grid with small weapons in it. 
This grid represents the individual opponents and the type of weapons that
they carry (the one with many notches on barrel represents a laser, the one
with the wide, nozzle like end is a flamethrower, and the one with the
hollow barrel is a rocket launcher). If a weapon is white on a black
background, then that opponent is still alive and fighting back.  If the
weapon turns black on a white background, though, then the opponent is dead
or unconscious.

Below the enemy displays is the squad display.  In this display, you'll
find your six ground team members, their current hit points (HP), their
current condition (either okay, dead, or rad), and their weapon status. 
This weapon status is very much like the one for starship combat; the "A"
column represents the number of shots left on that magazine while the "R"
column represents the number of magazines left.  Note that the number of
shots left will remain at nine until the magazine gets down to under nine
shots left, so magazines with 100 ammo will stay at nine for a while.

The bottom lines of the screen are for menus and text displays, just as in
all other facets of the game.

Terrain

The only portion of the screen that need detailed explanation is the map
portion, which fills up the right hand side of the combat display.  This
map is filled with a number of different symbols which represent three
different types of terrain, the enemy groups, and your squad.

The terrain symbols displayed in the setup portion of the combat will
appear at different locations on the map.  You squad always starts in the
center of the map while the enemy squads start in somewhat random
locations.

Terrain has a very significant effect on the combat.  Offensive terrain,
such as tables or boulders to stand on, gives you a 25% bonus to hit when
your squad is in that terrain type. Of course, nothing is free.  When in
offensive terrain, your squad is also 25% easier to hit (standing on a
table in a firelight is probably dangerous).  Defensive terrain, on the
other hand, is just the opposite.  It gives your opponents a negative 25%
to hit bonus because your are in good cover.  Once again, nothing is free. 
Hiding behind that tree or chair may make you harder to hit, but it also
makes it harder for you to hit an opponent.  So, as before, the 25%
negative modifier applies to your firing as well.

The other type of terrain is impassible.  Impassible terrain is simply
that, impassible.  Your squad may not enter impassible terrain, nor may the
enemy squads.

Unlike terrain, the enemy squads are represented by letters, A thru D (if
there are four enemy squads), instead of symbols.  These letters correspond
to the letters on the enemy display in the upper portion of the screen.

The Combat Phase

Just as in starship combat, the combat phase is divided into three
portions, the communications phase, the movement phase, and the firing
phase.  Also just like in starship combat, the movement phase is divided
into six pulses.  Your squad will move at the rate of the slowest party
member.

When combat begins, the first thing that occurs is the communications
phase.  Once again, if you fail to establish communications the first time,
you will not have a communications phase for the rest of the combat.  Code
Breaking skill is the skill used to establish communications, but if this
fails, then the party Esper, assuming there is one, will attempt to
establish communications using the Esper skill.  If this is successful,
then communications operates normally.  With the exception of not being
able to represent fuel, the available commands and approaches for personal
communications are the same as for

				17

starship communications.  See the section on Starship Combat for details.

The next phase is the movement phase.  The squad will move at the rate of
the slowest party member, and dead members do not slow you down.  Each
squad member's movement rate is equal to his personal move rate divided by
five and rounded off.  Thus, a movement of between 18 and 22 will result in
a movement rate of four.  Movement is similar to movement in starship
combat except that you cannot rotate (nor do you need to).  Party members
may not change positions in combat, mainly because if doesn't matter.  They
all get shot at and they can all fight back.

Fatigue is a big part of personal combat.  Each player has fatigue points
equal to his or her movement rate times three.  All actions, including
firing, movement, and even doing nothing, use fatigue points.  The amount
used is multiplied by the fatigue factor (low gravity helps to make you
last longer in a fight) but is greatly increased if the party member in
question cannot breathe.  Once a party member runs out of fatigue points,
the member will rest for a round, regaining all fatigue points.

Firing

Each character who is alive, not resting, and who did not change weapons
this round, will be presented with a list of enemy groups.  The enemy
groups that appear in capital letters are in range of that character's
weapon while those that appear in small letters are out of range and will
cause a 25% to hit penalty to be applied if chosen as the target.  Enemy
groups that aren't listed at all are totally out of range and may only be
fired at at the cost of 50% penalty to hit.  Hand weapons may only attack
targets in adjacent squares.

One special type of attack is the Esper attack.  The Esper may try to use
several of his/her special abilities during the combat phase, instead of
attacking.  The options are as listed in the Esper section.

To attack an opponent, you simply type in the letter of the group that you
wish to attack, and if the weapon is not an area attack type of weapon
(such as a grenade), then you must also specify the specific number of the
target to be hit.  Grenades have a chance of hitting an entire group.

Damage

Once a target is hit, the damage for the weapon is determined for and then
applied against the armor.  If the weapon does more damage than the armor
stops, then part of the damage will penetrate and hurt the individual
inside. In addition, penetration can result in damaged armor and or
equipment.  It is entirely possible to have your gun blown out of your
hands, so carry spares.

10. COMPLEXES

Several missions that may be assigned to your crew involve indoor
exploration of unknown complexes.  These facilities are often filled with
dangerous traps, villains, and unknown devices.  Caution is important in
the unknown.

While exploring indoors, a map will be created for you as you move from
room to room.  This map will automatically show the entire extend of the
room and all of the terrain features in it (chairs, tables, control panels,
etc.).  In the upper right corner of the screen, a short description of the
room will be printed.  Just below this is a space where the type of room
(either enclosed, semi-enclosed, or open) is listed.  You are more likely
to be surprised by an enemy in an enclosed room.

Traps and Such

While you are exploring, you will encounter traps.  There are basically two
types of traps, explosive traps that do damage and radiation traps that
poison your squad members.  If your party has a member with a high
Scouting/Recon skill, then you will often find traps without setting them
off.  You may then try to disarm them, using the same skill.

Another problem you can encounter during your exploration of complexes is
that of

				16

unpenetratable doors.  You may occasionally come across a door that is very
difficult to pass.  If this happens, there are only two ways through.  One
is to pick the lock.  You may only attempt this once, and if it fails, then
you may not try again later with someone else.  So, if your Scouting/Recon
specialist cannot pick the lock, then you must bast your way through. 
Torches can be very useful for this, but they are not the only answer. 
Your firearms can cause damage to the door.  Warning: if you fire at a door
with a weapon, you will continue to fire until either the door gives or the
gun runs out of ammunition on that clip.

One thing to remember during exploration is to turn on any motion detectors
and radiation detectors you might have.  This is done through the "U"se
command.  Once you turn them on, you will notice a pair of moving dots on
the edges of the screen for each device you enable.  Motion detector dots
are the ones moving from left to right and radiation detector dots move
from top to bottom.

Special Events

In some rooms you may find that you want to interact with certain objects
or beings.  If there is anything of interest in a certain room then the
player will be asked to enter a special command.  The arrow keys will be
used to move through the list of commands.  If the command you are looking
for is not in the list of commands, then you may enter a specific command
using the "Enter Command" function.

The list of special Commands is as follows:

Options 1 through 9 are used if you are offered a number of choices by
something or someone.

Leave is used to leave the object or person that you are interacting with.

Attack/Blow it Up is for initiating a fight or destroying something.

Search/Inspect will sometimes reveal more information about the thing that
you are interacting with.

Greetings should be self explanatory.

Demand/Get Information is also self explanatory.

Demand Tribute is equivalent to saying "your money or your life".  Not
nice, but it gets the point across.

Take It is the command used to take an object.

Use It is an attempt to manipulate the object in question.

Follow the Advice is used to follow someone's instructions.

Yes is for answering questions.

No is also for answering questions.

Pay for Information is for offering to pay a small amount for some
important information.

Enter a Single Word Command is where you enter any command that you'd like
to try that isn't on the above list.  Spelling is not vital as only the
first few letters are examined.  It is important to understand the idea of
the single word command.  This is a vital function that you will be using
during the game.  Commands entered will always be one word commands, but
will sometimes lead to other one word commands.  For instance, if you
wished to tell the computer that you wanted to fry a newly acquired egg
with a fusion pan you'd found, you would type in "EGG".  The computer would
then respond with, "What do you wish to do to the egg?"  Your next single
word command would then be "FRY".  The computer might then ask, "What will
you fry the egg with?"  Of course you'd type in "PAN" or something
equivalent and the computer would then say, "You fry the egg with the pan. 
while you fry the egg, you notice something strange..."

				19

                             APPENDIX

				20

				21 

ARMOUR
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor Type			Protection	Weight		Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flight Suit				3	1.5		60
Ballistic Cloth Jumpsuit		5	3		252
Standard Combat Suit			6	5		312
Reinforced Combat Suit			7	7		408	
Antihixotropic Plastic Armor		6	3.5		444
Semi-rigid Plastic Armor		7	7.5		384
Metalized Plastic Armor			8	8.5		576
Microbonded Steel/Resin Armor		9	15		528
Polymerized Titanium Armor		10	9.5		1260
Biphase Carbide Armor			12	12		2076
Scout Exo				11	4		4392
Infantry Exo				12	8		3108
Heavy Assault Exo			13	10		3432
Electroactive Armor			15	5.7		34488
Surface Effect Stasis Armor		13	4		11424
Stabilized Neutronium Plated Armor	16	20.3		5628
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHIELDS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name					Weight	Protection	Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-Inertian Screen			.2	30		3000
Reaction Damping Field			.5	45		5880
Vector Translation Screen		1.5	90		14040
Surface Effect Stasis Shield		1.2	100		21600
Variable Stasis Shield			4.0	150		67620
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name					Defensive    Movement
			      Weight	  Bonus	      Bonus	Cost
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stealth Pod			.5	15		0	8100		
Enhanced ECM Pod		.2	25		0	18756
Maneuvering Thrusters		3.0	30		1	11652
High Performance Thrusters	2.5	40		2	26184
Inertialess Drives		4.6	60		2	69432
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
				22

WEAPONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
						Max	Weight
				Damage	ROF	Ammo	(KG)	Range
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.56mm Palm Gun			8	2	8	.4	20
11mm Wrist Gun			15	2	2	.3	10
9mm Revolver			12	2	6	1.0	50	
9mm Automatic			12	2	8	1.0	50
12mm Automatic			14	2	7	1.3	50
11mm 'Automag'			15	2	8	1.5	75
5.56mm MiniMAC SMG		10	7	50	2.5	100
9mm MAC-10 SMG			11	5	30	3.5	90
11mm 'Lead Hose' SMG		12	6	30	4.0	90
5.56mm 'Streetsweeper' SMG	10	8	100	5.3	100
5.56mm Assault Rifle		13	4	30	5.5	205
7.62 Assault Rifle		15	3	20	6.3	210
7.62/20mm AR/Grnd Lnchr		20	3	20	7.3	210
12ga 'Slugmaster' Riot Gun	22	2	5	4.5	100
12ga Automatic Shotgun		18	2	5	5.3	50
10ga Rotary Mag.Shotgun		21	2	5	6.0	75
1mm Slivergun			10	12	250	1.3	30
2mm Needler			14	10	220	1.8	100
2.5mm Gauss Rifle		16	10	200	3.3	200
40KV Taser			18	1	20	2.5	10
1.1MV Taser			27	1	15	3.0	10
40GHz EMP Gun			12	1	5	8.0	250
TWT Amplified EMP Gun		18	1	4	11.0	250
2-Coil Ion Gun			15	3	25	5.5	15
3-Coil Ion Gun			25	3	12	7.5	20
5-Coil Neutron Gun		30	3	8	9.3	215
Incendiary Grenade		30	1	1	.2	50
.458 Magnum Rifle		18	2	5	6.5	220
.600 Nitro Express		20	2	2	6.0	210
7.62mm 'Puff Pack' Minigun	15	9	250	18.5	220
12.5mm Long Barrel MG		25	4	50	12.0	225
20mm Flame Thrower		20	1	12	6.0	30
25mm Flame Thrower		25	1	10	6.5	30
'Supernova' Flame Gun		30	1	8	8.3	40
6mm Microjet Rocket Gun		16	2	12	5.5	150
10mm Rocket Rifle		19	2	10	5.8	180
Zero-G Assault RL		22	3	20	4.3	75
20mm Auto Rocket Rifle		25	1	15	8.2	200
40mm 'Panzerjaeger' RL		30	4	12	9.2	210
LAWS Anti-armor Rocket		35	1	4	3.0	205
HAAWS Heavy Rocket		43	1	4	5.0	210
1MW Laser Carbine		15	4	100	3.5	210
1.5MW Laser Rifle		18	3	100	4.3	210
2MW Laser Assault Rifle		20	3	50	4.8	215
Freq. Agile Sniping Laser	24	2	40	4.0	225
1 Compression Laser		27	2	30	5.3	100
2 Compression Laser		32	2	30	5.8	150
Nerve Gas Container		38	1	1	.3	75
Caustic Mist Bomb		43	1	1	.2	70
Fragmentation Grenade		25	1	1	.4	60
Enhanced Splinter Grenade	40	1	1	.5	50
Concussion Grenade		20	1	1	.3	75
1500 Microton Nuclear Grenade	60	1	1	.5	40
Neutron Grenade			50	1	1	.1	80
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damage Type: 1-bullet; 2-shotgun; 3-needle; 4-electrical; 5-particle;
6-flame; 7-rocket; 8-chemical; 9-explosive; 10-nuclear,

				23

WEAPONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
		Damage	Reload	Reload	Hit	Weapon	Intim.	Weapon
		 Type	Weight	 Cost	Bonus	Cost	Factor	Type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
		1	.4	4	-10	20	0	2
		1	.1	5	-20	20	0	2
		1	.2	1	0	299	1	2
		1	.3	5	0	338	1	2
		1	.3	6	-5	282	1	2
		1	.3	7	0	516	2	2
		1	2.6	10	0	1279	2	2
		1	.9	10	0	898	3	2
		1	1.3	11	5	1084	3	2
		1	5.1	35	10	2433	4	2
		1	1.5	16	0	1218	6	2
		1	.4	15	0	1130	7	2
		1	10.9	55	0	1577	8	2
		2	1.1	8	-5	1125	5	2
		2	1.1	3	20	973	4	2
		2	1.4	13	20	1440	8	2
		3	.3	8	5	5370	0	2
		3	.9	9	5	5434	1	2
		3	1.2	14	10	5861	2	2
		4	.5	20	0	570	0	2
		4	.5	40	0	1330	1	2
		4	.2	75	5	677	5	2
		4	1.5	90	5	740	5	2
		5	.3	50	10	959	2	2
		5	.3	50	10	2709	2	2
		5	.3	50	10	5520	3	2
		11	.2	83	-5	83	2	2
		1	.8	10	10	1093	4	1
		1	.5	3	5	1149	4	1
		1	5.3	113	10	6276	10	1
		1	2.8	155	15	4760	9	1
		6	3.0	35	35	1160	6	1
		6	3.0	35	30	1571	6	1
		6	4.5	75	45	2645	7	1
		7	1.2	18	0	788	6	1
		7	1.5	18	10	1276	7	1
		7	2.0	30	5	2071	7	1
		7	3.5	38	25	1907	8	1
		7	2.5	41	35	7786	9	1
		7	3.0	850	10	3771	10	1
		7	5.0	1200	15	7638	10	1
		12	2.0	40	10	3035	6	1
		12	2.5	60	15	3335	6	1
		12	2.5	60	20	2765	6	1
		12	3.1	50	30	3115	4	1
		12	3.7	100	5	2986	7	1
		12	4.0	225	0	5038	7	1
		8	.3	209	25	209	0	3
		8	.2	343	40	343	1	3
		9	.4	40	10	40	1	4
		9	.5	258	15	258	2	4
		9	.3	18	25	18	2	4
		10	.5	1299	50	1299	3	4
		19	.1	625	50	625	0	4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11-incendiary; 12-laser.  Weapon Type: 1-heavy arms; 2-light arms;
3-chemical weaponry; 4-explosive weaponry.
	
				24

STARSHIP DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
				Drop	Initial		Max.	Starship
Name				Ships	  Tons  	Tons	Price
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wasp class Scoutship		1	40		52	70800
Hornet class Scoutship		1	42		52	57600
Dagger class Escort		1	85		112	146400
Katana class Escort		1	80		102	124800
Salamander class Corvette	1	149		199	280800
Fire Drake class Corvette	2	152		195	264000
Hunter class Frigate		2	200		270	456000
Warrior class Frigate		2	210		300	516000
Ranger class Frigate		3	200		266	420000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ESPER DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
					Esper Rating:
Esper Ability				51-54	55-59	60-64	65-69
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Mindshocks/Combat		2	2	3	3
Damage of Mindshock			12	13	15	16
Number of Heals/Combat			1	1	1	1
Number of Views/Trip from Starport	2	2	2	2
Psychic Scream Percentage		12	13	15	16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHIP'S WEAPONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
							Max
Name					Damage		ROF	Ammo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hypervolocity Rocket			75		6	24
High Speed Emission Tracker		100		4	16
Bofors Medium Torpedo			150		2	12
Bofors Heavy Torpedo			250		4	10
SS-28 "Rogue" Missile			200		2	8
SS-29 "Bulldog" Missile			250		2	6
LTV "Ranger" Seeker Missile		200		2	8
SS-31 "Bounty Hunter" Missile		275		2	4
500 KT Nuclear Missile			175		4	24
1.25 MT Nuclear Missile			300		2	16
"Pilgrim" Capital Ship Missile		380		1	2
Neutral Particle Torpedo		310		2	4
Antimatter Missile			340		2	4
Singularity Warhead Missile		500		1	1
Gauss Cannon				50		5	..
.75 GW Laser Cannon			100		3	..
1.4 GW Laser Cannon			150		2	..
Frequency Agile Laser Cannon		200		1	..
20 Compression Laser			240		1	..
Multi-barrel Laser Cannon		100		4	..
Ion Cannon				225		1	..
Resonant Cavity EMP Cannon		275		1	..
Light Plasma Cannon			250		1	..
"Thunderbolt" Plasma Cannon		300		2	..
FMC Anti-Ion Cannon			400		1	..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

					25

STARSHIP DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial		Defense		Max	Armor	   Armor	Max
Armor		 Bonus		Move	Cost.Pt.  Tons.Pt	Fuel
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0		30		7	5	.005		100
0		30		7	5	.005		100
125		5		6	12	.008		200
150		10		6	12	.008		200
250		-5		5	27.5	.011		300
275		-10		5	27.5	.011		300
500		-20		4	50	.020		400
450		-15		4	50	.020		400
450		-25		4	50	.020		400
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ESPER DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
70-74	75-79	80-84	85-89	90-94	95-99	100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3	3	4	4	4	4	5
17	18	20	21	22	23	25
2	2	2	2	2	2	3
2	3	3	3	3	3	4
17	18	20	21	22	23	25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHIP'S WEAPONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight		Reload		Reload		 Hit		Weapon
(1000 KG)	Weight		 Cost		Bonus		 Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
.5		.4		60		5		1200
.8		.4		78		15		12672
1.4		.4		114		20		18756
2.2		.6		468		15		52284
2.4		.4		240		20		33312
2.4		.3		630		20		61044
4.6		.3		174		25		27960
3.8		.6		786		30		71472
11.0		.9		108		10		20664
10.0		3.1		336		5		48864
2.4		.7		1650		20		122628
7.7		.3		1116		15		89796
5.8		.5		984		20		89304
7.3		1.1		5010		25		244560
.8		n/a		n/a		0		2940
1.5		n/a		n/a		-5		15000
2.0		n/a		n/a		0		37968
2.4		n/a		n/a		0		50004
4.5		n/a		n/a		-5		55296
1.3		n/a		n/a		10		23088
3.5		n/a		n/a		5		54924
6.4		n/a		n/a		10		67020
7.3		n/a		n/a		0		40128
8.2		n/a		n/a		5		148176
9.1		n/a		n/a		0		210984
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

				26

MISSILE KILLERS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
						% Chance
Name				Weight		To Kill		Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Defense Turret		.5		10		7584
Full Spectrum Jammer		3.0		25		24996
"Skynet" Antimissile System	5.0		50		84852
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

HAND-TO-HAND WEAPONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name				Damage		Weight		Hit Bonus
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stiletto			 8		.1		0
Shock Glove			 10		.4		0
"Ugly Stick" Crowd Control Baton 12		.8		5
Stasis Blade			 16		1.0		15
Marine Assault Axe		 20		1.5		0
Light Sword			 40		1.0		30
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SIGHTING HARDWARE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name					Cost	Weight	Hit Bonus
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser Targeter				432	.5	10
Self Calibrating 4x Optical Sight	936	.8	15
Integral Helmet Sight			2928	.3	25
Compusight Aiming Assistant		5484	1.0	35
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name			Cost		Weight
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medkit			420		2.0
Repair Kit		1440		100.0
Helmet Scanner		1800		1.0
Motion Detector		2400		1.2
Sonic Torch		900		2.0
Chemical Torch		480		4.0
Lockpick Set		120		.5
Oxygen Mask		300		1.0
Oxygen Cylinder		48		.8
Environment Suit	3000		3.0
Radiation Detector	1440		1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
			
				27

                           STAR COMMAND

                         Data Card - Amiga

IMPORTANT: You must make a copy of both disks, for you own use only, before
beginning play.  Both copies must be named the same as the original disks. 
For example: when you copy "SC1" the copy will be named "copy of SC1". 
Simply rename the newly copied disk "SC1".  Don't forget to rename "SC2". 
Play off the copies and do NOT write protect the disks as the game writes
and saves to the disks during play.  The mouse interface will not work for
much of the game, so you will need to use the keyboard during play.

LOADING THE GAME:

	1) Turn on your Amiga.

	2) Insert your KICKSTART disk (Amiga 1000 owners only)

	3) When you are prompted to insert the WORKBENCH disk, simply
           insert your copy of disk 1.  The game will automatically boot.

INSTALLING STAR COMMAND ON A HARD DRIVE:

Note: The following assumes your hard drive is referred to as DH0, and that
you have basic knowledge about creating directories, copying files, and
using ED to edit your startup-sequence.  Please see your manual for more
information.

	1) Create a directory on your Hard Drive named SC, for example.

	2) Now copy everything from both disks into the newly created SC
           directory on your Hard Drive.

	3) You will need to copy the T directory from the newly created SC
           directory to the T directory at the root directory of your Hard
           Drive.

	4) Now edit the Startup-Sequence in the S directory of your Hard
           Drive and add the following five lines:

	Assign SC1: DH0:SC
	Assign SC2: DH0:SC
	Copy DH0:SC/EL to RAM:
	Copy DH0:SC/Free.run to RAM:
	RAM:Free.run

LOADING STAR COMMAND FROM THE HARD DRIVE:

Boot your computer and click on the Hard Drive icon containing the SC
directory.  Go to CLI or a shell, change the directory to SC and type
COMMANDO.  Example:

	1) CD DH0:SC
	2) DH0:SC>Commando

Remember to set the drive option to "Hard Drive" during game startup.

============================================================================
         DOCS PROVIDED BY  -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D.                                                               
============================================================================