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** Drive Systems **
Hyperdrive -
Used for interstellar travel. The only way to move from one starsystem
to another is to use the hyperdrive. The hyperdrive is too inaccurate
to use for moving from planet to planet.
Sub-light Drive -
Used to travel between planets within a starsystem. Unable to propel
yoour spacecraft faster than light, the sublight is too slow to be used
for moving between starsystems.
Gravity Generator -
Generates gravity for environmental and protective purposes. The gravity
generator will also protect you from acceleration caused by the
sub-light drive.
** Energy Systems **
Converter -
A power generator that transforms Ore IV into energy units.
Accumulators -
Store energy units made by the converter. This system is primarily used
whenn another system, such as the hyperdrive, requires a large amount
opf eneregy at a rate much faster than the convertoer can produce.
Essentially a large collection of batteries.
Ore Storage -
Holds the 4 different types of ore (I-IV).
** Command and Support Systems (C&S) **
Bridge -
The command cneter of your ship. If the bridge is destroyed, the game
ends.
Crew Quarters -
The living quarters and off-duty stations for your crew.
Computer -
The central computer for your spacecraft. It is very powerful, but not a
true machine intelligence.
Autodoctor -
An automatic medical repair unit used for raising you and your crew's
health percentage.
Hibernaculum -
A cold-storage unit for transporting passengers. The process is
dangerous and you should expect to lose a certain percentage of the
passengers upon revival.
Vidcomm -
The video communications device for your spacecraft. In this game it is
limited to receive only. Messages are stored by repeater units in orbit
around all of the habitable planets, so you won't miss any messssges
that you might need.
Cargo Hold -
Stores cargo that you purchase down at the starports or that you capture
from enemy vessels.
Atmospehrics -
The environmental control for your spacecraft. If this sustem is
destroyed, everyone on the spacecraft will die.
** Scanning Systems **
Solar/Planetal Scanner -
Scans the starsystem that you are in or the planet that you are
currently orbiting.
Resource Scanner -
Scans the surface of habitable or airless planets for the best available
mining site.
High Definition Scanner -
Provides a detailed scan of any spacecraft within your range.
** Lander systems **
Orbital Shuttle -
Used to travel to and from starports, which are found on the surface of
almost all of the habitable planets.
** Weapon Systems **
Missile Launcher -
Powers and launches missiles at enemy ships.
Missile Rack -
The system of racks and conveyors used to store missiles and load them
in the Missile Launcher.
Enhanced Beam Weapon (EBW) -
A type of highly destructive particle-beam weapon.
Shield Generator -
Generates a sphere of disruptive gravity waves around your spacecraft,
lessening the effects EBW or missile hits upon your spacecraft.
Docking Adaptor -
Used only for docking and boarding an enemy spacecraft. It will adhere
to the other spacecraft's hull and, if marines are deployed, burn a
breach right through the outer hull.
Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) -
A variety of jamming equipment which renders your ship invisible to
enemy scanners.
Assault Capsule -
A lander used on habitable planets with a population sophistication of
40 or greater when you wish to mine ore illiegally. The capsules are
siimilar to the orbital shuttles, but they carry marines, are covered
with armor, have a cannon mounted on top, and can land almost anywhere.
** Mining Systems **
Ore Processor -
Another lander, this one greatly resembles a flying off-shore oil rig of
the 20th century. Used to mine ores on habitable and airless planets.
Ramscoop -
A recently invented device which allows you to collect ore IV directly
from the atmosphere of a gaseous planet.
CREW: USE AND MAINTAINANCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Running a complex starship of the 24th century requires the aid of many
skilled technicians. Although you are initially provided with a few
crewmen, as ou expand your ship you will find the need to hire more.
Each crewman has a number of characteristics on which they should be
judged. Hiring the right crewman can make the difference between winning
and losing.
The characteristics for each crewman are:
Health -
A measurement of a crewmember's ability to perform his duty. If the
health percentage reaches 0, the crewmember dies. Reduced health may
result from battle damage, injury when moving dangerous cargo, and
changing watch. A crewman with a health percentage of less than 70% may
die of untreated injuries during any watch. This is especially true for
older crewmen.
Age -
In the time period that Universe II depicts, a crewman's age runs from
20 to 130. All crewmen automatically retire when they reach 130. On a
dossier, the promotion date is also the birthdate. Age primarily
determines a crewman's ability to resist death from injuries. Older
crewmen are more likely to die from untreated (below 70% health)
injuries.
Specialty -
Every crewman has a specialty, which they may not switch. They are:
Captain -
The supreme authority on a spacecraft. Captains are invariably
asomnigenated and technically always on duty.
Astrogator -
The person responsible for getting the spacecraft from one place to
another. An astrogator's grade is especially important for hyperspace
jumps. The higher grade astrogators will break the ship out of
hyperspace much closer to the habitable zone of a starsystem, thus
saving a great deal of time and energy.
Gunner -
The gunner is an expert on all the various forms of weaponry that your
ship may carry. A superior gunner hs a greater accuracy with missiles
and more skill in using ECM's.
Pilot -
The pilot is the person who flies the orbital shuttles, ore processors,
and the assault capsules. All lander-type vehicles require one more
pilot to operate. The higher-grade pilots' ships will receive less
damage when descending through the atmosphere. In addition, when an
assualt capsule is on the ground, the pilot mans the cannon and the
higher grades are better shots. Pilots also move cargo to and fromm the
cargo hold.
Miner -
They are the crewmen who land on habitable and airless worlds to mine
the various ores. They are required to launch ore processors. The
higher-grade miners (15 and above) will recover even more ore than the
resource scanner indicated for the mining site. Since miners work in
gangs, it is important to realize that their grades are averaged and
that it is the average which determines a particular ore processor's ore
recovery rate.
Marine -
Marines are used in two circumstances: boarding & ground assaults. When
boarding an enemy spacecraft, the marine works as a individual,
neutralizing enemy marines, providing cover fire or capturing control
panels. During ground assaults, the marines move as a squad,
neutralizing enemy ground squads and attacking enemy defense stations.
All marines are outfitted with various types of exosuit armor and
portable cannons. As a marine's grade rises, his ability to move and his
accuracy of fire improve.
Engineer -
the fix-it man for your ship. Engineers are very expensive to keep,
being the highest paid of all the specialties. As an engineer's grade
rises, his speed and ability to repair the various ship-board systems
improves.
Grade -
A measurement of a crewman's knowledge of his specialty. Grades run from
1 to 20, grade 20 being the highest. Once a crewmember has been hired,
his grade will rise once a year. To speed things up, a crewman can be
left at a technical school, where it will take much less than a year per
grade (and several thousand credits!).
Promotions -
Promotions happen once a year, on the crewman's birthday. A promotion
increases the crewman's grade and income. Once a crewmember's grade
reaches 20, promotion day only signifies his next birthday.
Income -
Income is based on the crewman's grade and specialty. The pay scales
are:
Specialty | Base Income Raise Per Grade
------------------------------------------------
Captain | N/A N/A
Astrogator | 15,000 750
Gunner | 10,000 600
Pilot | 7,000 250
Miner | 8,000 300
Marine | 4,000 1300
Engineer | 19,000 1000
Crew can be paid when entering a drydock, in the Pay Day section. Any
crew member which has not been paid in over 60 days will quit.
Watch -
Watch determines which part of the day the crewman is on duty. The day
is broken up into three 8 hour watches. Astrogators and gunners stand
regular watches. Pilots, miners, marines, and engineers have special
watches: They only work when their duties are needed. You as the
captain, have undergone a process called asomnigenation. Asomnigenation
alters the body's chemistry and makes it unecessary for you to sleep.
Astrogators and gunners can also be asomnigenated. Anyone who is
asomnigenated is on a "full" watch and are always available.
**Provisions**
One provision includes enough food, water, etc. to keep one person alive
for one day. Usually it is convenient to think of the provisions supply
in terms of days, that is, with the current complement of crew, how long
before they starve. To calculate the number of provision/days, divide
the number of provisions by the current number of crew.
COMMERCE IN THE LOCAL GROUP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Local Grooup, the basic unit of currency is the credit. The
credit has been fixed by the Interworld Trade Commision, at the famous
Meeting of 2167, as being equivalent in value o one unit of Ore IV.
Since Ore IV is a common substance, but tedious to refine, it provides a
stable monetary base.
Your primary goal, as an interstellar merchant, is to earn money. The
four sources of revenue available to youuare: trading, passenger
transport, mining, and orbital piracy.
** Trading **
The object of trading is to buy an item on a world where it is
commonplace and relatively inexpensive and brin it to a world whose
sophistication is from 1 to 10 points lower. Suddenly, your product
becomes state-of-the-art and highly desirable. Multiply your profit
times the 10 products you can carry per trip and you have a sizable
amount of credits.
Certain products are even more marketable. Not only will food/spice,
lifeforms, narcotics, and jewelry sell at a starport 10 sophistication
points lower than the point of purchase, they can be sold at starports
up to 10 sophistication points higher than the point of purchase. This
reflects the fact that these product types have a more universal appeal
and that they are not as dependent on local technology.
Products have several characteristics. They are:
Name -
This is the product's brand name.
Type -
The product's classification. Almost every culture has product types
which are illegal to import. In the appendix is a list of the cultures
and their illegal product types.
Cargo Size -
A measurement of the product's bulk.
Sophistication -
A measurement of the product's complexity. This figure is always the
same as the product's planet of origin. At best, products appeal to a
range of 20 sophistication points. This reflects the fact that products
too simple for the buyer have been out-moded (no one buys grindstones
anymore) and products that are too complex do not have the other
supporting technologies required (an ancient Egyptian would not have any
use for a television set).
Price -
The value of a product is based upon its sophistication and its original
manufacturer's price (a figure you will never know exactly). Note that
products up for sale at their planet of origin or on planets outside of
the sophistication's range of appeal will be worth 0 credits.
** Mining **
Mining is a fairly straightforward way of earning money. It requires at
least one ore processor, a mining squad, a resource scanner, a scanner
program, and patience. In additio, depending on how intent you are in
the pursuit of ore, you may need some assault capsules and their
paraphernalia.
Once the ore has been collected and refined, it is brought to a
starport, where it can be exchanged for credits.
The disadvantages of mining are numerous. High concentrations of ore are
difficult to find. LAnding on airless worlds is usually very dangerous.
The start-up costs in minng are very high, typically above 50,000
credits.
** Passenger Transport **
At every starport in the Local Grou there are people waiting for flights
to other planets. You, as a merchant, are continually hopping from
planet to planet. Equipped with a hibernaculum, you can carry these
people for a fair amount profit, which is based on the distance and
sophistication of the destination from your current starport.
** Orbital Piracy **
In many of the less-developed starsystems, complete anarchy in orbit is
the rule. Properly outfitted, you can profit from this situation.
Capturing another spacecraft, though, is not a simple process. You need
to select a suitable target, scan it, and destroy its entire complement
of crew and marines, all without destroying the ship. If it isn't
possible to destroy all of the marines, you will have to send over some
of your own and hope the can secure the ship.
Once the target ship is captured, you will be able to take all of the
credits, ore, and products on board... if you survive.
THE ON-BOARD COMPUTER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to operate, your spacecraft must be equipped with an on-board
computer. The computer controls many of the other systems on your ship.
The speed of the computer is measured in *tevops per minute* (trillions
of operations per minute). Program size is measured in the number of
operations which must be executed in a complete run. So, to find the
amount of time it takes for a program to completely run, divide the
program's size (tevops) by the computer's tevops per minute figure. This
will give you the time in minutes.
The following is a list of the programs available for your computer:
Hyperspace Navigation -
Calculates the course, energy, time, and distance required to make a
hyperespace jump. This program must be available for the hyperdrive to
work.
Normalspace Navigation -
Calculates the course, energym and time required to move your ship
anywhere within a starsystem. This program must be available for the
sub-light drive to work.
Autodoctor -
Controls the autodoctor. This program must be available for the
autodoctor to work.
Hibernaculum -
Controls the freezing and thawing of passengers in the hibernaculum.
Thie program must be available for the hibernaculum to work.
Solr/Planetal Scanner -
Interprets the data gathered by the solar/planetal scanner. This program
must be available for the solar/planetal scanner to work.
Resource Scan -
Interprets the data gathered by the resource scanner. This program must
be available for the resource scanner to work.
High Definition Scan -
Interprets the data gathered by the high definition scanner. This
program must be available for the high definition scanner to work.
Shuttle Guidance -
Controls the ascent and descent of orbital shuttles. This program must
be available to launch orbital shuttles.
Ore Processor Guidance -
Controls the ascent and descent of ore processors. This program must be
available to launch ore processors.
Assault Capsule Guiudance -
Controls the ascent and descent of assault capsules. This program must
be available to launch assault capsules.
Missile Track -
Aims and launches missiles at a target object. This program must be
available to launch missles.
EBW Track -
Aims and fires the EBW at a target object. This program must be
available to fire the EBW.
ECM -
Controls the ECM unit. This program must be available for the ECM to
function.
Athena IRS -
The information retrieval system program. This program contains hundreds
of important facts and figures which can be recalled by typing a key
word.
When you sell a computer, all of the programs you have purchased for it
will be lost. Once a program has been purchased, there is no way to
remove it short of selling the computer.