Alien Legacy-Manual PDF

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αβ
Contents

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INTRODUCTION ————————————————— 4

GETTING STARTED ———————————————— 6


About This Manual —————————————— 6
Manual Changes And Additions ————————— 6
Installing Alien Legacy ————————————— 6
System Requirements ————————————— 6
Installing Alien Legacy On Your Hard Drive ———— 7
Starting Alien Legacy ————————————— 7
Start-Up Problems ——————————————— 7
Changing Sound Options ——————————— 8

HISTORICAL BRIEFING ——————————————— 9

QUICK REFERENCE ——————————————— 12


Control Screen Diagram ——————————— 12
Game Controls ——————————————— 14
Commands ———————————————— 14

ORIENTATION TOUR —————————————— 20

CALYPSO CONTROLS GUIDE ——————————— 27


Startup Menu ——————————————— 27
Universal Commands ———————————— 27
Bridge ——————————————————— 28
General Options Menu ——————————— 30
Video Phone ———————————————— 31
Comm. Panel ———————————————— 31
Advisor Screens —————————————— 32
Technology Manager ———————————— 34
Inventions ————————————————— 34
Sciences —————————————————— 35
Vehicle Manager —————————————— 36
Missions —————————————————— 37
Cargo ——————————————————— 40
Launching Or Changing A Mission —————— 41
Mercator Map ——————————————— 42
Inactive Map Options ———————————— 42
Active Map Options ————————————— 43
Ship Controls ———————————————— 44
Surface Exploration Screen —————————— 46
Main Window ——————————————— 46
2 Control Panel ———————————————— 47
Other Displays ——————————————— 48
εζ
Space Map ————————————————
Main Window ———————————————
Space Map Controls —————————————
Planet Options Menu ————————————
Colony Manager ——————————————
Colony Grid ————————————————
Graphical Summary —————————————
Installations Window ————————————
Captain’s PDA ———————————————
50
50
51
52
53
55
56
56
58

η
Log ———————————————————— 58
Library —————————————————— 59
Status ——————————————————— 59
Damage —————————————————— 59
Game Options ——————————————— 60

CAPTAIN’S REFERENCE ————————————— 61


Exploring Planets —————————————— 61
Colonies —————————————————— 61
Resources ————————————————— 62
Resource Types ——————————————— 62
Collecting Resources ————————————— 63
Installations ———————————————— 64
Building Installations ————————————— 64
On-Line Status ——————————————— 65
Habitats —————————————————— 66
Power Plants ———————————————— 67
Factories —————————————————— 67
Research Labs ——————————————— 68
Technology Advancements —————————— 68
Creating Technologies ———————————— 69
New Technologies —————————————— 69
Effects Of Technological Advances ——————— 69
Combat —————————————————— 70
Strategy —————————————————— 70
The End —————————————————— 72
Glossary —————————————————— 75
Advisor Dossiers —————————————— 76

Technical Support —————————————— 78


Customer Services ————————————— 86
Credits —————————————————— 91
Index ——————————————————— 92
3
α
Introduction
“Officer on Deck!”
The crew snaps to attention.
“Welcome to the Bridge, Captain,” says your Science
Officer.

“As you were,” you say as you return the salutes of your
Bridge officers and turn to view the Space Map. The star
centered in the display is larger than Sol, and its harsh blue-
white glare makes you squint despite the Space Map’s
heavy filters. This is Beta Caeli, over 55 light-years from
Earth. It is to be your new sun.

You’re freshly awakened from many years of cryogenic


sleep. As the rejuvenating vitamin injection returns your
body to real-time, you realize you can spare only a few
moments to enjoy the view. You must start making vital
decisions here, and quickly. You have just resumed com-
mand of the United Nations Ship Calypso. Your bridge crew
awaits your orders. And as you are soon to find out, far
more than your career is now at stake.

Welcome to Alien Legacy. The seedship UNS Calypso is an


ark packed with the human refugees of a horrendous
interstellar war. Your mission here, in this unknown quad-
rant of the galaxy, is to continue the human race. The
challenges facing you are truly awesome, as are the odds.

You must explore planets and moons to discover viable


colony sites in potentially hostile environments. To ensure the
survival of the colonies, you must locate critical resources
such as ore and energy, and establish reliable supply lines.
You must direct the growth of your colony sites, balancing
population growth against production capacity and resource
consumption. You’ll have to make hard choices between
essential priorities: building habitats for life support, power
plants for energy, factories for robots and vehicles, or
research labs for the advanced technologies and knowledge
that will be your ultimate salvation.

And those are the least of your challenges. Beta Caeli is


lethal to the unwary, and a harsh teacher to the unwise. You

4
may be facing cataclysmic natural disasters, hostile life
forms, and even colonial rebellions if you start losing
control. What’s more, the blackness around you teems with
ancient, sleeping mysteries: some that can save your
fledgling civilization, and others that can totally annihilate it.
You are racing the clock to find out about them before they
find out about you.

From the bridge of the Calypso, you will control, guide, and
inspire the activities of thousands of people. But with this
power comes grave responsibility. These people may
represent the last tiny remnant of humanity. You must lead
wisely to maintain their confidence and assure the success of
the colonies. While you may be able to delegate some tasks
to your expert Advisors or trusted Planetary Governors, you
bear ultimate responsibility for the mission at all levels. The
clock is ticking. There is no alternative. And there is no
going back.

5
β
Getting Started
About this Manual
The “Getting Started” section helps you install the game,
provides a historical briefing, and features the Alien Legacy
game commands in quick reference form.

The “Orientation Tour” introduces you to the Alien Legacy


control screens by walking you through the start of the
game.

The “Calypso Controls Guide” describes the workings of


each control screen in detail on a screen-by-screen basis.

The “Captain’s Reference” provides general background


information on building and managing your colonies.

Manual Changes and Additions


If any changes are made after the manual is printed, they
will be described in a README file on your Alien Legacy CD
or floppy disk #1. To view the file, simply change to the
appropriate drive, type README, and press [Enter].

Installing The Alien Legacy installation software automatically

Alien Legacy optimizes the game according your computer’s speed,


graphics, sound board, and input devices. You can use it to
specify the game’s default hard drive location, change
preferences, and make a boot disk.

System Requirements
Alien Legacy requires the following hardware and software.
• IBM PC/compatible, 386-20SX or better
• 4 MB RAM: 570K Conv.+ 2.5 MB extended memory
(XMS)
• DOS 5.0 or higher
• Extended Memory Manager (EMM386, QEMM386,
etc.)
• VGA or better w/256 Color
• Hard drive w/22 MB free
• 3.5" floppy drive or CD-ROM, as appropriate
• MS Mouse or compatible
6
Recommended:
• Sound Card: Sound Blaster, Adlib, PAS
• 486, SmartDrive w/512K buffer

Installing Alien Legacy on Your Hard Drive Note: Don’t try to


The following directions call your floppy drive A:, your CD install Alien Legacy to
drive D:, and your hard drive C:. Please substitute the your hard drive with
appropriate drive name(s) for your system as needed. “copy” commands. The
1. After starting your PC, insert the Alien Legacy CD or game files are
disk 1 into the appropriate drive. compressed to save
2. Type the appropriate drive letter (A: or D:) and press disk space, and won’t
[Enter]. run unless decom-
3. Type INSTALL and press [Enter]. pressed by the
4. Press [Enter] to close the System Requirements screen, installation program.
and press it again to close the Memory Requirements
screen. On the menu that follows, select (highlight)
Install Alien Legacy with the Up/Down arrow keys, and
press [Enter] to start the installation.
5. If installing from CD, select a MINIMUM or FULL
installation. The MINIMUM install takes less room on
your hard disk but requires you to play from the CD, so
the game may run slower if you have a slow CD drive.
The FULL Install lets you play without using the CD, but
takes more disk space.
6. When prompted, type the drive letter where you want to
install the game (typically C). You’ll then be shown the
default directory name (SIERRA\ALIEN). If you wish to
install to a different directory, you may specify it now.
When the directory name is correct, press [Enter].
7. Follow the on-screen instructions.

To start Alien Legacy once it is installed, follow these steps: Starting


1. If you are playing the CD version, first insert the CD into
your CD-ROM drive. Alien Legacy
2. Go to the Alien Legacy directory on your hard drive. (If
you installed Alien Legacy to the default directory, type
C: and press [Enter], then type CD\SIERRA\ALIEN and
press [Enter]. If you’re using a different drive or
directory, substitute as needed.)
3. In the Alien Legacy directory, type AL [Enter]. You’ll see
the opening credits (press [Esc] or click to skip).
4. When the Start-up Menu appears, click New Game to
start a new game, or Load Game to start a previously
saved game session from the point you last saved it. 7
You can also Quit to DOS if you do not want to play
now.

Start-up Problems
Even if you have the minimum 4 MB of RAM, Alien Legacy
may not run correctly unless the RAM is configured (set up)
correctly. You will need at least 570K (583,680 bytes) of
free conventional memory and 2.5 MB of free extended
memory (XMS).

If Alien Legacy does not start correctly, use the MS-DOS ®


MEM command to see if you need to free up some of your
computer’s memory. From DOS, type MEM and press
[Enter]. “Largest executable program size” is your free
conventional memory; “bytes free (XMS)” is your extended
memory. If you don’t have enough conventional memory, go
to the Technical Support section in the back of this manual to
find a way to set up your memory to run Alien Legacy. You
can also consult your DOS and memory manager software
documentation for detailed information about system
memory.

Changing Sound Options


You can change your Alien Legacy game settings from DOS
at any time without having to re-install the game. Follow
these steps:

1. Go to the Alien Legacy directory on your hard drive. (If


you installed Alien Legacy to the default directory, type
C: and press [Enter], then type CD\SIERRA\ALIEN and
press [Enter]. If you’re using a different drive or
directory, substitute as needed.)

8
Historical Briefing
2.
3.
4.
In the Alien Legacy directory, type AL S [Enter].
Select the option you wish to change from the menu.
Follow the on-screen instructions.

This section quickly recaps the origin and intent of the


Calypso’s mission and your directives.

little from the centuries before it: always more people


competing for always fewer resources, with technology
playing an ever greater role in the pace and magnitude of
events. Most developed countries launched exploration and
colonization missions into near space in the perpetual
γ
Human history in the first half of the 21st century differed

search for new resources and living space for their swelling
populations. Even in the asteroid belt, however, national
rivalries and territorial conflicts kept humans spending much
of their energy battling each other rather than the harsh
realities of this ultimate frontier.

But then, in 2043, everything changed forever. What first


was thought to be a previously unknown comet was
suddenly discovered to be the vast “light-sail” of an alien
probe apparently originating from Alpha Centauri. The U.S.
scout ship Friendship was diverted from a mining survey of
the Neptunian moon Titan to intercept.

The first Friday in October, 2043, after days of repeated


attempts to contact the visitor, the Friendship closed to within
200 miles of the alien probe. Suddenly, without any sign of
acknowledgment, the alien ship locked on to the unarmed
U.S. ship and opened fire with powerful energy-beam
weapons, destroying the Friendship within seconds.

Despite subsequent counter-attacks by other vessels in the


following weeks, the probe drove on relentlessly toward
Earth. The probe survived several missile barrages and
finally fired missiles of its own. Most of these missiles were
successfully intercepted by Earth-based ABM systems, but
one struck in the reclaimed croplands of the Sudan, killing
millions with a murderous viral weapon. At heavy cost to all
of Earth’s governments, the probe was finally destroyed.
Thus began the Human-Centaurian War.
9
This first violent contact was the catalyst that finally joined
the great governments of the Earth under the leadership of
the United Nations. They realized that only by combining
their strength would they be able to mount an effective
defense against this obviously advanced and ruthless alien
menace.

The attack also ignited a furious technological revolution,


causing explosive growth in human technology. Transcen-
dent breakthroughs came quickly in the fields of electronics,
super-construction, and propulsion, including the first
working Bussard ramjet. This innovation used a gigantic
scoop to capture and store the trace hydrogen in the
interstellar medium as fuel for fusion engines. This meant an
almost endless fuel source for long voyages, and allowed the
design of huge new ships with few limits on size or mass.
Previous space classes that had to carry all of their fuel
could never accelerate for long, while ramjet-equipped

10
starships could accelerate halfway to their destination before
having to turn and decelerate.

Within just a few short years, the United Nations was


building the first interstellar battle cruisers, intended to take
the fight to the Centaurians and destroy them before they
could destroy Earth. In tandem with this great war effort was
the attempt by mankind to persevere in the face of potential
extinction. The great Odessa-class seedships were designed
as gigantic arks to carry mankind from the cradle of Earth to
systems known to contain M-class (Earth-like) worlds.

In 2119, the Odessa Class 3-B seedship UNS Calypso was


launched towards the Beta Caeli star system. At over 17
parsecs from Earth, Beta Caeli was the farthest colony yet
attempted. For that reason, it was considered to be the
colony with the best ultimate chance of success at evading
the Centaurian’s genocidal wrath. The UNS Tantalus was
launched in 2135, also to Beta Caeli. Thanks to its new
Ramikin fusion engine, the Odessa Class 4-C Tantalus was
expected to arrive at the Beta Caeli system some 21 years
ahead of its older sister ship.

Preliminary scanner reports from Navigation report no

11
δ
Quick Reference
Control
Screen
Diagram

VEHICLE HANGAR

NOTE: The Mercator Map may be


accessed via Exploration missions
from the Vehicle Manager.
VEHICLE MANAGER
NAVIGATION ADVISOR

MILITARY ADVISOR

NOTE: A dashed border


indicates screens you can
open from the General
Options (GO) menu.

SCIENCE ADVISOR

12 TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
MERCATOR MAP

SURFACE EXPLORATION

SPACE MAP

COLONY MANAGER

ENGINEERING ADVISOR

COLONY GRID

NOTE: The Calypso Colony Grid


may be accessed directly from the
Bridge via “View Ship
Resources.”

COMPUTER

GAME OPTIONS PERSONAL DATA ASSISTANT 13


evidence of the Tantalus or any of the colony sites it is
presumed to have founded. Further reports will be forthcom-
ing from your Advisors as soon as possible. Despite this
troubling news, you must proceed with the mission with all
possible dispatch. Time is of the essence.

Alien Legacy features a stylish and easy-to-use “point-and-


click” interface that helps you move around the game
quickly and easily. From the Bridge, you’re just a click away
from the Advisor Stations, the Space Map, and the

game Calypso’s Site Grid, and just two clicks away from the
powerful Colony Manager, Vehicle Manager, and Technol-

controls ogy Manager screens. You can also pilot any of your
spacecraft using the Mercator Map and Surface Exploration
screens.

Most of Alien Legacy is mouse-controlled. Some actions can


also be performed with keyboard commands. To “click” or
“left-click” means to click the left-hand mouse button once.
To “right-click” (r-click) means to click the right-hand mouse
button. To “double-click” means to click the indicated button
Commands twice, quickly.

Using keys. Key commands are indicated by brackets: [Tab],


[Enter], [Esc] for example.

Anywhere
Exit Game [Alt]+[X]

Skip Movie Sequence


[Esc] or Click
Pause Game [P]
Return to
Prev. Scr. [Esc]
or Leave
Save Game
[Alt]+[S] Set
Game Speed 1, 2,
…0
Load Game
[Alt]+[L]
14
Bridge
General Options Menu [Tab] or R-click anywhere Answer Comm. Panel
Select Advisor [Space] or Rt/Lf Arrow Keys Active Button

Space Map
View Solar System

Military Advisor

Navigation/Vehicle Mgr.

Calypso Colony Grid


View ship resources

Engineering/Colony Mgr.

Computer/PDA/Game Settings

Science/Technology Mgr.

Space Map General Options Menu


[Tab] or R-click in view

Planet Mercator
Double-click planet

Planet Menu R-click planet


—Colonies: View col. on or orbiting
—Vehicles: View ships on or
orbiting
—Follow: View follows planet’s
orbit
—Anchor: View centered on planet
—View:
Zoom In Planet
ClickMercator
Max R-click

Zoom Out Click


{

Max R-click
{

Game Speed Up/Dn Stop time Move point of view Click Foreground View Click
Drag Slider Click Max R-click Anchor View R-click

15
With Vehicle
Send Ship Explore Sector Scan for Energy
Click sector Click ship Click Energy icon
Select sector, [Enter]
Scan for Ore Scan for Sites
Vehicle Menu
Click Ore icon (Must invent)
Mercator Map R-click vehicle

General Options Menu


R-click vacant sector

Select Sector
Click Sector Arrows
or use Arrow Keys

Colony Options
R-click Colony

{
Build Colony Cargo Limit Load: On Board/Max.
Click Equipment icon Fuel Energy: Units left

Direction Explore Sector


Sector Map View

Collect item Click Hand cursor


Fire Laser R-Click Target cursor

Cargo Limit Load: On Board/Max.

Fuel Units left


(1,000 fuel = 1 energy)

Return to Orbit
Leave
{

Overhead View On/Off Plasma Bomb


Move Ship Arrows
Scan Cargo View or Sector Map View
16 Compass icon Cargo Bay icon
Technology Manager

Research Needed

Astr Chem Elect Geol Biol Math Phys

Research Available
{

View Inventions Click Lf/Rt Arrows, Invent Current Click Invent


Spacebar
Vehicle Manager

Filter Vehicle List


(By Mission, Planet, Colony)

Select Vehicle
Click on vehicle listing

See more Vehicles


Click Up/Down arrows

Vehicle Hangar
Select Mission
# Trips To/From:
Select Pipeline Mission

Load Item Select Destination


Click to increase
R-click to decrease Select Pilot
(Ore, Energy, Life
Support, Humans,
Robots)

Select Different Vehicle Launch Ship Now Cancel Mission 17


Colony Manager
List of Advisors Colony List
stationed at colony Click Colony Name to bring Summary to
top

{
Colony Summary
(Habitat, Factories, Power, Labs,
Ships, Missiles, Ore, Energy, Life
Support, Humans, Robots)

See More Colony Summaries


Click Arrows or Up/Dn Arrow
Keys
Visit Site Grid
Click Colony Summary

Colony Grid Controls


Options Menu R-click empty area
Move Grid View Drag mouse to edge
Installation Menu R-click on building

Choose New Installation


Click selector box arrows
Click/R-click selector box

Build Installation
Drag from selector box, place on
empty grid

Change Colony Name


Click name, edit, [Enter]

Delete Colony
Remove all, R-click
Go to Vehicle Manager Go to Colony Manager
Click Vehicle icon
18
Personal Data Assistant (PDA)
Select Entry Click entry, Up/Dn Arrows Select Mode [Space]
Open Library Entry Select, click or [Enter] to cycle through Log, Library, Status, Damage

Leave PDA
[Esc] or click Power

Select Log
Select Library
View Status
View Damage
{

Scroll Entries Delete Log Entry


Up/Dn Arrows Select Entry, click Delete

Game Options

Save Current Game


Resume Earlier Game
Start New Game

Turn Sound On/Off


Turn Music On/Off

Speed Up/Down
Click/R-click Speed

19
ε
Orientation Tour
This tutorial runs you through a quick tour of the Calypso
control screens to get you familiarized with the intuitive
point-and-click displays and controls at your disposal. Click
means left-click; right-clicks are specifically indicated where
needed.

If you have not already done so, start Alien Legacy, press
[Esc] to clear the opening credits, and select Start New
Game.

Video Phone Screens


After the introductory “cinematic” sequence, new games
start with your Science Advisor briefing you via the Video
Phone on the Calypso’s arrival. You’ll see a screen like this
whenever you answer an Advisor’s “Comm. Panel” message
alert, or when someone breaks in with an urgent bulletin. To
“scroll” through the briefing, click the Up and Down arrows
on the right. To exit when finished, press [Esc] or [Enter], or
click the Power switch at the lower right.

Game Options
After exiting the Video Phone screen, you will see your crew
at their stations on the Calypso’s Bridge. Until you know
your way around, set the game to its slowest speed in the
Game Options screen. To do this, point to and click on the
robot at the bottom right of the Bridge (“Consult Robot” will
be displayed). This takes you to the Computer station. (See
the station name in the upper left?) Now, click the Game
Options button. When the Game Options menu appears,
right-click on Game Speed until you reach 1. (Click Game
Speed to speed up again later, if you wish, or just type the
number for the Game Speed setting you want.)

To return to the Computer station, click on Leave. (Through-


out the game, Leave or pressing [Esc] takes you to the
preceding screen.)

Advisor Stations
The Computer station works just like the other Advisor
Stations. Advisors will have an official message for you each
20
time you consult them. If you ask for their advice, you may
get a more detailed or candid opinion. To see what extra
advice the robot has, click Advice.

Most Advisor stations also provide access to other areas


such as the Captain’s PDA, or the Vehicle, Technology, or
Colony Manager screens. We’ll go to the PDA next.

Captain’s PDA
From the Computer station, click Captain’s PDA to display
your Personal Data Assistant. Use your spacebar or the
purple buttons on the right to change the PDA’s function
“mode.” The Log shows your current list of notes, clues, and
things to do. The Library mode shows detailed background
and Advisor reports (click one to open it). The Status screen
lets you review the overall status of your colonies, and
Damage lets you review your total losses.

When you’re done exploring the PDA, return to the Com-


puter station by clicking Power or pressing [Esc]. Return to
the Bridge by clicking Bridge.

Bridge
Move your mouse pointer around the various parts of the
Bridge. You’ll see the action you can perform in each area
described at the bottom of the screen. “Consult” options take
you to an Advisor station. (“View Solar System” opens the
Space Map, and “View Ship Resources” opens the Calypso’s
Colony Grid. More on these later.)

Briefly visit your other Advisors. At the Advisor stations,


notice the pictures on the “sidebar” at the right. This lets you
consult another Advisor by clicking on his, her, or its picture.
You’ll see that the Science station (lower left) lets you access
the Technology Manager screen, the Navigator’s station
(middle left) lets you access the Vehicle Manager, and the
Engineer’s station (middle right) lets you bring up the Colony
Manager. For now, return to the Bridge.

Comm. Panel
If the Communications (Comm.) Panel has appeared at the
top left of the screen, it means one or more of your Advisors
has a Video Phone report for you. To respond, simply click
21
the illuminated switch and read the report. These messages
will often contain data that will be stored in your PDA for
future reference. Once you have exited all pending reports,
the Comm. Panel closes.

Space Map
For a quick exploration of the Space Map, click on the
Bridge’s window (“View Solar System”). The Space Map
displays all of the worlds in the Beta Caeli star system. You
can change your current view with the arrow and zoom but-
tons along the bottom. To view the planet front and center,
click its picture on the sidebar at right. Clicking on a planet
in the main window will open its Mercator Map—once you
have a spacecraft on that planet, you’ll be able to explore its
surface. (To return to the Space Map from Mercator view,
click Leave or press [Esc]). When you’re done exploring the
Space Map, click Leave or press [Esc] to return to the
Bridge.

Now we’ll use the Manager screens to start your first colony
on Gaea. (You can always abandon and restart later when
you begin playing for real.) The first task after building a
colony site is to send robots and materials there and build a
Habitat for human settlers. Materials for the first Habitat are
already at the first Gaean site, but you must transport at
least five robots there from the Calypso to build it.

Vehicle Manager
From the Bridge, go to the Navigator’s station and click
Vehicles to open the Vehicle Manager. When first opened,
this screen will list all of your available ships, including the
Calypso and Vehicles 1-4. Click on Vehicle 1. This will open
the Hangar screen, where you load and launch the ship.

You can transport Ore, Energy, Life Support, Humans, and


Robots on your ships, as indicated by the icons in the middle
of the Hangar window. To load five Robots, simply click five
times on the Robot icon. In addition to the Robots, add some
Ore, Energy, and Life Support to the cargo. (No Humans
until you have a habitat for them!) The Load window on the
right will show you how many items are loaded. To unload,
right-click the item.

The bank of resource icons on the right shows inventories at


22
the current site (currently, the Calypso). You start the game
with four spaceships and a healthy supply of ore, energy,
life support, and robots. You also have 2,000 settlers in
cryogenic hibernation on the Calypso who will be wakened
in groups and appear in inventory (if you have built habitat
space for them).

Click on “Click for mission,” and select Transport as the


mission type. You do not have to choose a destination
(“Click for dest”) since you have only one colony at this time.
To send the spaceship to New Terra, click on Launch. Allow
a few moments for the spaceship to get to Gaea by returning
to the Bridge.

Colony Manager
On the Bridge, the Comm. Panel will alert you to a message
from Navigation when Vehicle 1 arrives at New Terra. After
you receive this report, go to Engineering and click on
Colonies. This opens the Colony Manager screen, which lists
and graphically summarizes your colonies.

The upper row shows you the number of installations (habi-


tats, factories, power plants, research labs), spaceships,
(and later, missiles) at the colony. The lower row shows the
resources (ore, energy, life support, humans, robots). For
resources, the display shows number of units over any net
annual change. Red numbers show any net loss per year
(consumption exceeds production) while green numbers
show any net surplus per year (production exceeds con-
sumption). A white zero shows static or balanced produc-
tion/consumption.

Later on, when you have many colonies, you’ll use the
colony list on the right or the scroll arrows to find the colony
summary to go to. To go to the New Terra colony site, click
anywhere on its graphical summary. This opens its Colony
Grid.

Colony Grid
The Grid shows a map of New Terra and the installations
there. To see more of the grid, hold the mouse button down
and “drag” the cursor to the edge of the current view or
scroll with your numeric keypad number keys. At the bottom

23
Note: You can click on of the screen is the colony’s graphical summary. At the
the Vehicle icon at the upper right, you’ll see the colony and planet name.
bottom, or use the
right-click General Just below the planet name is the small Installations window,
Options menu to jump which shows what kind of installations you can build. If your
to the Vehicle Man- robots have arrived, you can build a Habitat. Click the right
ager. To return to the or left arrow or mouse button until the Habitat is showing,
Colony Manager, click drag its picture over to any opening where it casts a shadow
Colonies or Leave. on the Grid, and release it. Construction commences
immediately. You can now begin transporting humans down
to the colony. Refer to the “Installations” section beginning
on page 64 for resource requirements of other installation
types.

In the Colony Manager, click on the Calypso’s summary and


look at its Grid. (You can also get here from the Bridge by
clicking “View Ship Resources.”) Calypso already has a
Habitat, Factory, Power Plant, and Research Lab on-line.
Right-click one of these installations to view its on-line
options, and then press [Esc] once to return to the Grid.

General Options Menu


On the Calypso’s Colony Grid, press [Tab] or point to an
empty area and right-click. This pops up the General
Options (or GO) menu, which provides a convenient short
cut to many of the major screens. It is available in most
areas of Alien Legacy—use it now to go to the Technology
Manager (also accessed via the Bridge and Science Advisor
station).

Technology Manager
This screen lets you manage the research efforts of your
colonies. To select a new technology to invent, click the red
arrows at the bottom, or click/right-click the invention
picture. If you have the science resource “points” to invent
the current selection, the screen will display “Capable of
Inventing.” If not, you’ll see the areas where you need more
research highlighted in red.

Your researchers can study Astronomy, Chemistry, Electron-


ics, Geology, Biology, Mathematics, and Physics. The
number above and below each discipline shows the points
required and accumulated for the current invention. You can
accumulate points by assigning your Research Lab(s) to
24
work in that science, or from gathering scientific discoveries
during planetary exploration. To create an invention you
have the research points for, click Invent or press [Enter].

Press [Tab] or right-click the invention’s description to open


the General Options menu. Click on Vehicle Manager. In
the Vehicle Manager, select Vehicle 1, which is parked at
New Terra. Choose Exploration from “Click for mission,”
and then click Launch to open the Mercator Map.

Mercator Map
This screen shows the surface of the selected planet divided
into sectors to help you navigate. You can also access this
map from the Space Map, but you need to launch an
Exploration mission to see or scan the surface.

You should see your ship above New Terra in sector D-2 of
Gaea. Choose a sector to go to by clicking the red direc-
tional arrows, or using your arrow keys. When the sector
you want is highlighted, send the ship there by pressing
[Enter]. For a short cut, simply point to a sector and click,
and the ship goes there immediately.

Under the map view is a control panel that opens up only


during Exploration missions. The mine car icon is an Ore
scanner, and the lightning bolt icon scans for Energy. The Note: Scanning
construction machines icon lets you build new colony sites depletes fuel quickly.
(in suitable sectors). You may be able to develop other
scanners as well.

Click on the mine car icon and hold it down to scan for Ore.
As the scanner circles spread, they’ll reveal sectors on the
planet where Ore resources can be found. Move your ship
to a sector where you saw Ore on the scanner. Click again
or press [Enter] to descend to the planet surface and open
the Surface Exploration screen.

Surface Exploration Screen


This screen lets you view or scan the planet from low altitude
so you can gather Ore, Energy, and other valuable items
from the surface. The round white mouse cursor aims your
ship’s lasers, which you can then fire by right-clicking.

To move the spacecraft, click or press on the three gold


directional arrows on the control panel (or use your arrow 25
keys). If you see an Ore or Energy unit or anything else
appear as you travel, stop and move the cursor over the
item. When the cursor changes into a hand, click to load the
item into your ship’s cargo bay (if there’s room).

To the left of the movement arrows on the ship’s panel are


four other control icons. At the far left is the Overhead View
switch, which lets you view or scan the sector from a high
viewpoint. Next is the Scanner button, which scans for all
resources and clues. Next is the Plasma Bomb, which can
destroy surface targets (and resources!) beneath the ship.
Fourth from the left is the Cargo View switch. Click on it to
open and view the ship’s cargo bay; click again to return to
the sector view. Up top, you’ll see the compass that keeps
you oriented when flying on the surface, and your current
pilot. (You have a robot pilot now, but can send a human
pilot or even an Advisor.)

The Rest is Up to You


That’s it! You have now seen all of the screens and major
controls you’ll use while playing Alien Legacy. The rest is up

26
ζ
Calypso Controls Guide
This section introduces you to the controls and functions of
each of the menus and screens available to you as Captain
of the Calypso. Click means left-click; right clicks are indi-
cated where needed.

Each time you start Alien Legacy, you’re presented with the
Startup menu. This menu lets you select the game you want Startup
to play.
Menu
Start New Game. This option lets you start a new game
from scratch: orbiting Gaea with only the New Terra colony
grid established.

Load Saved Game. This option lets you resume a previous


game session from the point that you last saved it. You’ll be
presented with a list of saved games. Select the one you
want to play with the mouse or the Up/Dn arrows.

Quit to DOS. This option lets you exit to DOS immediately.

Universal Commands
The following commands work in most areas of Alien
Legacy.
• Exit Game. Press [Alt]+[X], and click Yes or press Y.
This is your Panic or Boss button. It helps you get out of
the game in a hurry, but won’t save your latest
changes.
• General Options Menu. Press [Tab] or R-click on an
empty area. This opens the General Options menu and
lets you move around the game quickly.
• Skip Movie Sequence. Press [Esc] or click the mouse
during the sequence to exit a start-up screen or “cin-
ematic” sequence.
• Return to Previous Screen. Click Leave or press [Esc].

27
Bridge From the Bridge, you can confer with your Advisors, re-
spond to Comm. Panel message alerts, and go quickly to all
other parts of the game. The Bridge is the command hub of
your activities as Captain of the Calypso.

You’ll start each new game on the Bridge (following your


initial briefing). You can return to the Bridge using the Gen-
eral Options Menu, the Bridge buttons at your Advisor sta-
tions, or by leaving a screen you jumped to from the Bridge.

Move your mouse pointer around the various stations on the


Bridge. As you point to an station, you’ll see the action you
can perform there described at the bottom of the screen. To
go to a station, simply click the mouse or press [Enter]. You
can also use your left and right arrow keys or spacebar to
select a station.

Clockwise from the lower left, the Bridge provides the follow-
ing stations:
• Consult Scientist: Receive the reports and advice of
your current Science Advisor, and access the Technol-
ogy Manager screen for managing your research and
development.
• Consult Military: Receive the reports and advice of your
current Military Advisor.
• Consult Navigation: Receive the reports and advice of
your current Navigation Advisor, and access the Ve-
hicle Manager screen for loading and deploying your
spacecraft.
• View Solar System: View the Space Map display, zoom
in on any planet or moon, and access the Manager
screens for any colonies or vehicles there.
• Consult Engineering: Receive the reports and advice of
your current Engineering Advisor, and access the
Colony Manager screen for overseeing colony building
and production.
• View Ship Resources: Go straight to the Colony Grid
screen for the Calypso and view current production,
installations, and inventories.
• Consult Robot: Receive the reports and advice of your

28
Comm. Panel

Space Map
View Solar System

Military Calypso Colony


Advisor Grid
Engineering/
Colony
Navigation/Ve- Manager
hicle
Manager

Science/ Computer/
Technology Man- PDA/
ager Game Options

Computer, and access the Captain’s PDA (log and li- General Options Menu
brary) and Game Options screens. [Tab] or R-click
• To open the General Options Menu, press [Tab] or
right-click anywhere on the Bridge. This menu lets you Select Advisor
jump directly to the Space Map, Colony Manager, Ve- [Space] or L/R Arrow Key
hicle Manager, Technology Manager, Captain’s PDA,

29
General or Game Options screens. It also lets you pause or quit
the game, and shows your Game Turns at the bottom.
Options The convenient General Options menu (or GO menu) pro-
Menu vides easy short cuts throughout Alien Legacy, and also lets
you monitor your Game Turns status. You can open it from
most screens by pressing [Tab], or by pointing to an empty
area and right-clicking.

Most of this menu’s selections are self-explanatory. If you


change your mind, you can close the General Options menu
again by pressing [Esc] once or clicking outside of the menu.

• Bridge takes you back to the Bridge of the Calypso.


• Space Map opens the Space Map.
• Colony Manager opens the Colony Manager screen.
• Vehicle Manager opens the Vehicle Manager screen.
• Tech Manager opens the Technology Manager screen.
• View PDA opens your Captain’s PDA.
• Pause halts the game just like pressing the pause key
[P]. The game will stop and “Game Paused” will be dis-
played in the middle of your screen. To unpause, press
any key.
• Options take you to the Game Options screen where
you can save your game, load a new one, or adjust
your game settings such as sound effects and speed.
• Quit lets you exit Alien Legacy. You’ll see a window
that says “Quit Playing Alien Legacy? Yes/No.” To exit
without saving your latest progress, click Yes. To resume
playing, click No or press [Enter].
• Game Turns shows the progress of time in the Gaean
calendar year (approximately 2.1 Earth years). Each
turn is about two weeks of Gaean real-time, and there
are 24 turns in a production year.

• Dismantle Colony. (In Colony Grid only.) If you remove


all resources and dismantle all installations at a colony,
you can use this option to dismantle the colony itself.

30
The Video Phone screen lets you communicate with your Ad- Video Phone
visors without having to go to their sta-
tions on the Bridge. New games start
with your primary Science Advisor re-
porting to you via Video Phone about the
Calypso’s arrival. You start off in orbit
above the planet Gaea, with your first
surface colony already built. You’ll see a
similar Video Phone screen each time
you respond to a Communications Panel
(Comm. Panel) message alert, or when
your Advisors or Planetary Governors
break in with urgent reports. You can see
the Advisor and read the message at
your own speed.

Some reports may be longer than the screen. For these,


you’ll have a “scroll bar” on the right hand side of the mes-
sage. To “scroll” through a lengthy report, click the red Up
or Down arrows on the scroll bar at the right, or use your
Up or Down arrow keys. For some reports, your Advisors
will place information in your Personal Data Assistant (PDA)
so you can refer to it later. When you’re finished reading
the message, you can shut off the Video Phone and exit to
the preceding screen by pressing [Esc] or clicking the Power
switch at the lower right.

You will occasionally receive reports from your Planetary


Governors. Governors are responsible for making sure colo-
nies on their planet run smoothly, and will not contact you
unless a genuine crisis is in the making.

Comm.
The Communications (Comm.) Panel will appear at the top
left of the screen with its green alert light(s) glowing if one or Panel
more of your Advisors has a message for you. The green
light indicates which Advisor has a report. To respond, sim-
ply click the illuminated switch for that Advisor or use the
following function keys: [F1] NAV, [F2] ENG, [F3] SCI, [F4]
MIL, [F5] COM. The Video Phone screen will open for that
Advisor. Read the report and click the Power switch or press
[Esc] when finished to return to the previous screen. Often,
these messages will contain data that will be stored in your
PDA for future reference. Once you have seen and exited
from all pending reports, the Comm. Panel closes.
31
Advisor
Screens When you’re on the Bridge, you can consult with each of
your five current Advisors: Science, Military, Navigation,
Engineering, and your computer’s Robot. Advisors can give
you valuable reports and advice to aid your command deci-
sions. They also provide access to the various Manager
screens you’ll use in guiding the development of your colo-
nies.

To select an Advisor to consult with on the Bridge, simply


Advisor Sidebar point to and click on the station you want. You can also use

Station Name

Current Advisor

Manager Screen(s)

See Advice

Return to Bridge

Official Report {
Advice (if any)
{
your arrow keys to move through the Advisor stations in
turn, and press [Enter] when the one you want is displayed.

Your primary Advisors are already selected from the available


staff and assigned to their posts on the Bridge when the game
starts. In addition to your four Human Advisors, you have the
Robot Advisor who manages the Computer Center station. If
you send a Human Advisor on a mission, a secondary Advisor
will assume the absent Advisor’s post and duties until the Advi-
sor returns (if the Advisor returns). In this hostile environment,
you can never permit secondary Advisors to leave the Calypso
due to their relative inexperience and lack of replacements.

The Advisor Sidebar on the right gives you an easy way to


go directly to one of your other four Advisors. Simply click
on the picture of the Advisor you want to consult with next.

The Bridge button lets you exit to the Bridge immediately.


32
The Advice button prompts the Advisor for a personal opin-
ion. Advisors have an official report for you each time you
consult them. If you ask for their advice, you may get a more
detailed or candid opinion. To see what extra advice the
Advisor has, just click Advice and the added information
will be displayed below in a contrasting color. It’s up to you
to know each of your crew member’s strengths and weak-
nesses, and to judge the usefulness of the advice you receive
accordingly.

Each Advisor except Military provides you with access to a


Manager screen(s) for their area of expertise. If you use these
buttons to access a Manager screen, you will return to the Advi-
sor when you select Leave in the Manager screen. (The func-
tions for these screens are described in their own sections, fol-
lowing.)

The Science Advisor is in charge of technological research


and advancement. This Advisor is also your Executive Offi-
cer, and will question your actions or decisions if they ap-
pear to jeopardize the mission. The Technology button
opens the Technology Manager, where you can manage
your research and development.

The Military Advisor is responsible for colony security, and


will be entirely responsible for dealing with hostile actions or
insurrections per your orders. After any such action, this Ad-
visor will report the outcome.

The Navigation Advisor reports to you concerning the Calypso


and your fleet of spacecraft. The Vehicles button opens the Ve-
hicle Manager, where you can issue or change orders concern-
ing spacecraft missions, cargoes, and destinations.

The Engineering Advisor is in charge of constructing and


maintaining your colonies, both orbital and planetside, and
advises you about pertinent developments and requirements.
The Colonies button opens the Colony Manager, where you
can view the status of each colony and go to its Colony Grid
to manage production.

The Robot at the Computer station helps you manage the


mission’s data banks. The Captain’s PDA button opens your
Personal Data Assistant, which contains your mission Log, Li-
brary, Status, and Damage screens. The Game Options button
33
Technology lets you save games in progress, and control various game set-
tings such as sound and speed. See “Advisor Dossiers” for
Manager background files on each of your human advisors.

The Technology Manager screen lets you evaluate and direct


the research efforts of your colonies, which in turn will ulti-
mately determine the success of your mission. New technolo-
gies can help you produce and use resources more effi-
ciently, fly ships farther with more cargo, or develop awe-
some new capabilities to improve your life or perhaps save
it from equally awesome new threats.

You can access the Technology Manager from the Bridge via
the Science Advisor’s station, or through the General Op-
tions menu. The top part of the screen illustrates and de-
scribes the new technologies you have invented or are ca-

Research Needed

Astr Chem Elect Geol Biol Math Phys

Research Available
{

View Inventions Click Lf/Rt Arrows, Invent Current Click Invent


Spacebar

pable of inventing. The lower part shows the progress of


your research as as science resource points are produced by
your research installations or collected from your explora-
tions.

Inventions
To scroll through the technologies available to you, click or
right-click the invention picture, or click the red arrows at the

34
bottom. (You can also use your Spacebar or Left/Right ar-
row keys.) If you have the research “points” to invent the
current selection, the screen will display “Capable of Invent-
ing.” If not, you’ll see the areas in which you need more re-
search highlighted in red. The description can help you de-
cide if a potential technology is worth the investment. When
you develop a technology that supersedes a previous tech-
nology, the earlier technology will be removed.

Sciences
The sciences your researchers are working in are, from left
to right, Astronomy, Chemistry, Electronics, Geology, Biol-
ogy, Mathematics, and Physics. The number above each
science’s symbol shows the points required (or spent) for the
currently displayed invention. The number below each sci-
ence shows the research points accumulated. You can accu-
mulate points in each science by assigning your Research
Lab(s) to work in that discipline, or from collecting new dis-
coveries during planetary exploration. To create an inven-
tion you have the research for, click Invent and your scien-
tists and engineers will go to work developing the new tech-
nology. The screen will display the number of turns required
to complete the invention.

35
Vehicle Leaving the Technology Manager
You can exit the Technology Manager by clicking Leave to
Manager return to the previous screen, or by right-clicking for the
General Options menu.

The Vehicle Manager screen is where you will assign mis-


sions to Calypso and your other vehicles by specifying the
ship, mission type, destination, and cargo. You’ll use your
spacecraft to explore planets, transport people or resources,
establish colonies or space stations, gather resources or
clues, and to defend your colonies. This screen also lets you
exit without launching the mission, or change a mission al-
ready underway.

You can access the Vehicle Manager in many ways. From


the Bridge, go to the Navigator’s station and click Vehicles.
From the General Options menu, select Vehicle Manager.
From the Colony Grid, you can click the Vehicle icon at the
bottom, or use the General Options menu. From the
Filter Vehicle List
(By Mission, Planet, Colony)

Select Vehicle
Click on vehicle listing

See more Vehicles


Click Up/Down arrows

Mercator Map, you can right-click a colony site and select


Use Vehicle (if a vehicle is present at that colony). From the
Space Map, you can right-click a planet to open the Planet
Menu, and then select Vehicles (if a vehicle is present at that
planet).

Vehicles
When first opened from the Bridge, General Options menu,
or Colony Grid Vehicle icon, the Vehicle Manager lists the
36 Calypso and all your other Vehicles in its left-hand column
Vehicle Hangar

Select Mission
# Trips To/From:
Select Pipeline Mission

Select Destination

Select Pilot

Load Item
Click to increase
R-click to decrease
(Ore, Energy, Life Support,
Humans, Robots,
Missiles)

Select Different Vehicle Launch Ship Now Cancel Mission


by number. The title for each vehicle also shows its current
mission status (Parked, Orbiting, Transport, Pipeline, Space
Station, Missile, or Special), fuel status, pilot, and location.
You can Launch a new mission for any Parked vehicle, or
Change any mission already underway.

The windows on the right let you “filter” the Vehicles list for
easier vehicle selection and management. To filter the list by
current Mission Type (top), and then By Planet (left) or by
Colony (right), simply click the appropriate options. For ex-
ample, to see a full (unfiltered) list, click All Missions in the
top window. Then, to see all ships on or near Gaea, click
Gaea under By Planet. To see just those ships at New Terra,
click Parked/Orbit for mission, and then New Terra under
By Colony. You’ll use these filter options more as the game
progresses, as you may eventually have up to 150 ships.

When you see the vehicle you want to work with, click it di-
rectly or click the Up or Down arrows to scroll through the
list. When the ship you want to use is highlighted, click or
press [Enter] to go to the Vehicle Hangar where that ship is
located and choose its mission settings.

When you open the Vehicle Manager from a Planet menu,


the list of ships is initially limited to those at that planet. You
can go back to select a different ship by clicking the Ve-
hicles button at the bottom of the screen.

37
Missions
Once you select a ship, click Click for Mission to specify
what you want the ship to do. There are five basic mission
types available most of the time: Exploration, Probe,
Transport, Pipeline, and Space Station. Your advisors may
alert you to other mission types later. While the Calypso can
perform only Probe missions, the rest of your fleet is made
up of multi-purpose spacecraft that can perform most
mission types.

The Exploration mission lets you explore a planet’s surface


for colony sites, resources, and clues. To explore a planet,
you must have a vehicle parked at an established colony or
space station there, in orbit about the planet, or parked on
the Calypso orbiting that planet. You must also have ad-
equate Energy for the mission. Note: Game time stops while
you are on a Surface Exploration mission.

The Probe mission lets you send a ship to orbit a planet,


moon, or asteroid and gather preliminary data about it for
Note: You cannot your PDA library. The probe remains in orbit until you
transport humans to change its mission. The probe ship can also be sent to ex-
any colony or space plore the planet surface if it has enough fuel remaining. You
station without ad- can use the Probe mission to move the Calypso to a new
equate Habitat space.
planet, moon, or asteroid.

The Transport mission lets you move vehicles and resource


cargoes from one colony to another. There are five types of
resource units you can transport: ore, energy, life support,
38 humans, and robots. You may load and transport these re-
sources in any combination up to the maximum number of
units allowed by your current generation of spacecraft. Use
the point-and-click Cargo List in the middle of the Hangar
window to load the current ship. Once launched, the ship
will automatically unload its cargo at its destination, and will
remain there until you give it new orders.

The Pipeline mission lets you run any number of transport


“round trips” between the launch location and another
colony. When you select Pipeline, a Trips window opens
under the Cargo list for you to specify the number of trips
and the type of cargo both To and From the destination. Note: Be certain about
Given sufficient fuel at each end, the ship will refuel, reload, the number of pipeline
and relaunch automatically. You can specify from 1 to Infi- trips you set. You may
nite round trips. (The default setting, the sideways “8,” is the unintentionally strip a
symbol for infinity). For example, you might order a ship on colony of a resource
a planet to continuously transport 3 Energy units, 3 Life Sup- by leaving the Trip in-
port and 4 Humans to a colony on a metal-rich moon and dicator at infinite.
bring back 20 ore units on every return trip.

The ship will continue the pipeline whether the specified


cargo is ready or not. Pipeline missions continue until the
specified number of trips is completed, you change the
spacecraft’s mission, or the ship is destroyed or runs out of
fuel.

The Space Station mission lets you send a ship to a remote


planet, moon, or asteroid and construct an orbital platform.
You can then use this platform to build an orbital colony, or
use it simply to stockpile energy units for refueling even
more distant explorations and probes. Each world (planet,
moon, or asteroid) is allowed to have one space station.

Destinations
Once you’ve selected a mission, click on Click for Destina-
tion to select an appropriate destination. Destinations de-
pend on the mission type: for example, you can’t launch a
space station mission to a world that already has one. When
you point to a destination, you’ll see the mission’s fuel and
time requirements displayed below the Hangar window.
These requirements will vary greatly depending on the rela-
tive orbital position of the mission’s origin and destination
sites. Some missions won’t be possible until the planets
swing closer together. Others won’t be possible until you
build space stations or colonies farther out in the system to
use as refueling points.
39
Pilot
To change the pilot for your spacecraft, click on the Pilot
Selector window to the left of the Load window. This opens
the Pilot menu, which lets you select from the robot, human,
or Advisor pilots available at that location.

Robots are often the best choice for pilots: their high toler-
ance to “G” forces lets them fly faster and maneuver better,
and they can survive wider temperature ranges. Human pi-
lots are better where pilot initiative is required. You’ll be no-
tified when you need to send an Advisor somewhere. While
the primary Advisor is gone, you will work with his or her
replacement, the secondary Advisor, on the Bridge.

Cargo
You can carry cargoes of ore, energy, life support, and ro-
bots on any sort of mission. (You can carry humans only if
you choose a mission and destination on which humans can
survive.) To load an item, simply click on its icon on the
Cargo List or Stockpile icon bars in the Hangar window
screen. For example, to load robots, simply click on the ro-
bot icon. To load many items quickly, hold the mouse button
down. To unload, right-click or hold down the item. You can
load any combination of cargo up to the maximum units
allowed by the current generation of ship (see the Load win-
dow).

If you are loading cargo for a Pipeline mission, you will


need to set the type or number of units To and From the des-
tination. You will also need to set the number of trips, if you
don’t want to use the default setting of “infinity.” (An “infin-
ity” setting means the pipeline continues until fuel runs out,
the destination orbits out of range, or the ship is incapaci-
tated.) Click or right-click Trips to set the trips number.

The Load window on the right shows the number of items


currently loaded, along with the maximum number possible.
Your first ships have a load limit of 30, which can go up as
you develop new technology and upgrade your vehicles.
Below the Energy window is another bank of resource icons
showing inventory stockpiles at the current location: colony,
space station, or Calypso. You’ll notice how these amounts
change as you load or unload cargo.

40
All ships are launched fully loaded with fuel if the current
location has the energy units to spare. (One “lightning bolt”
energy icon = 1,000 fuel units.) The Energy window shows
the fuel load-out of the selected vehicle, which in turn deter-
mines the ship’s maximum mission range. Your first genera-
tion of ships has a limit of 2,000 fuel units, which can be
increased later on with new technology and upgrading.
It’s up to you to ensure that your ships have sufficient energy
to return from their missions. While your ships can carry
extra energy units as cargo, the ship must land at a space
station or colony to off-load, convert, and reload this energy
as fuel. Ships that run out of fuel during Surface Exploration
will crash, killing the pilot and destroying all cargo.

Launching or Changing a Mission


Once you have selected the ship, mission type, destination,
pilot, and cargo, you can launch the mission with its current
settings by clicking the Launch button at the bottom of the
screen. You’ll see “Vehicle Launched” displayed in red be-
low the Hangar window to confirm.

If you select a ship that already has a mission underway


(that isn’t Parked), you’ll be opening the Vehicle In-transit
window (space background) rather than the Vehicle Hangar
window. The vehicle’s current mission status will be dis-
played. To change the mission type and/or destination, first
select a new mission and destination as you did when
launching the mission initially. (You can’t change cargo until
you land somewhere. Also, you can’t change to a destina-

41
Mercator tion not reachable with current on-board fuel, or one that
will kill any humans on board). Then change the mission
Map settings by pressing the Change button at the bottom of the
screen. You’ll see “Vehicle Mission Changed!” displayed in
green below the In-transit window.

Note: The “gas giant” This screen shows you the selected planet, moon, or asteroid
planets Zeus, Cronus, laid out in navigational “sectors.” The Mercator Map is your
and Poseidon do not best source of information about a world. If you have a ship
have Mercator Maps on or orbiting the planet, you can launch the ship on an Ex-
because you cannot ploration mission and use the Map to maneuver across the
explore or establish world’s surface, scan for resources, and scout and build new
colonies on their sur- colony sites.
faces.
From the Space Map, you can access theColony
Mercator
Options Map by
R-click Colony
clicking on a world, or by right-clicking a world and select-

Select Sector
Click Sector Arrows
or use Arrow Keys

General Options Menu R-click vacant


ing View from the Planet menu. sector
You can also access it from
the Vehicle Manager by selecting an Exploration mission for
a ship orbiting that world or parked at one of its planetside
or orbital colonies.

Inactive Map Options


Unless you have launched a ship on an Exploration mission
to the world’s surface, the Mercator Map is inactive: a clear
shield will cover the controls on the lower right. The world’s
name is displayed at the lower left. You may still view any
sectors on the world from orbit by using your arrow keys or
clicking the red sector movement arrows to the left of the
42 main window. You’ll see a purple sector highlight move
around as you try these controls. If you already have a
colony on the world, you can point to it to display its name,
or double-click it to access its Colony Grid. You can also
right-click it to open its Colony menu and Use Vehicle (if
any) or Go To Colony.

Each sector is denoted by two coordinates: its letter (the With Vehicle
“parallel”) and number (the “meridian”). For example, the
colony New Terra is in sector D-2 of Gaea. Large planets Send Ship
will have more sectors than can be displayed on one Click sector
Select sector, [Enter]

Explore Sector Click


ship
Vehicle MenuR-click vehicle
Scan for OreClick Ore icon

Scan for Energy Click Energy icon

Scan for Sites (Must


invent)

Cargo Limit Load: On Board/Max.


Fuel Energy: Units left

Build Colony
Click Equipment icon
Mercator screen. To see beyond the initial map display,
move the sector highlight beyond the right-hand edge of the
display. Small moons and asteroids may have only a few
sectors.

Active Map Options


If you have launched a ship on an Exploration mission of the
world’s surface, you’ll see a ship symbol. You can now use
the Mercator Map to direct the ship, scan for resources,
build colony sites, or choose a sector for surface explora-
tion.

If launching from a colony, you’ll see the ship over the


colony where it was parked. If launching from a Space Sta-
tion or the Calypso, you’ll see the ship in the lower left win-
dow with the message “Select Landing Sector.” Choose the
sector to go to by clicking the red Up/Dn Rt/Lt arrows to the
left of the map, or using your arrow keys. When the sector 43
you want is highlighted, send the ship there by pressing [En-
ter]. For a short cut, simply point to a sector and click, and
the ship goes there immediately. Notice that moving the ship
consumes fuel at a rate proportional to the number of sectors
the ship travels. Watch your fuel!

Ship Controls
Once you have launched a ship on an Exploration mission,
the Mercator Map opens and becomes active: the “dash-
board” will open up to give you access to the ship controls
there. The Mercator Map is a high-altitude view of the Ex-
ploration mission, letting you scan and get around the
planet quickly. From here, you can build new colony sites or
locate sectors you want to explore on the surface.

The Ore Scanner (mine car icon) lets you scan the planet for
sectors with significant ore deposits. To use it, click and hold
the Mine Car icon. As the scanner beams radiate outward,
they’ll reveal sectors on the planet where resources can be
found. Initially, you can find only surface deposits. You may
be able to improve scanning technology later to locate
larger, subterranean deposits. Note: Scanning consumes the
ship’s energy in a hurry. It’s more fuel effective to move the
ship and scan only nearby sectors.

The Energy Scanner (lightning bolt icon) scans for sectors


with significant energy deposits. It works the same way as
the Ore scanner.

The Construction control (construction machines icon) lets


you build a new colony site if you find a suitable sector.
Simply click the Construction control over a suitable location,
and a small “city” symbol appears on the map, indicating
that the Colony Grid is open for development. “Building a
New Colony” will appear in green in the lower left. If the
current location will not support a colony, “Area Unsuitable for
Colony” will appear in red, and no colony will be constructed.
Once the site is established, you can start transporting re-
sources to it and building Habitats. It takes a modest expen-
diture of ship’s energy to establish a colony site, but costs no
resources to maintain it. You can have up to 48 colonies.

Some theorists predict that you may be able to develop an


advanced life-form scanner called an Eco-Scope, given a
breakthrough in materials technology. Such a device could
44
locate viable colony sites. If you are able to develop this, the
scanner control will appear at the upper right corner of the
dashboard. If you are able to develop another type of ad-
vanced scanner, its control will appear in the upper right of
the screen.

Load/Energy
The Load window shows how many cargo items the vehicle
is carrying along with its load limit. (First-generation ships
are limited to 30 units.) Once you have a full load, you must
return to a colony. Returning to a colony unloads and refuels
the ship automatically (assuming the colony has energy to
spare). You may then resume exploration immediately.

The Energy window shows the fuel load-out of the selected


vehicle, which in turn determines the ship’s maximum mis-
sion range. Your first generation of ships has a limit of
2,000 fuel units. While your ships can carry extra energy
units as cargo, the ship must land at a space station or
colony to off load, convert, and reload this energy as fuel.

Vehicle Menu
In a Mercator Map screen with an active ship, the General
Options menu is changed to include current Vehicle com-
mands. Right-click to open it. Over a colony, the commands
include: Park Vehicle, Unload Vehicle, Return Vehicle to
Colony, Return Vehicle to Orbit, or Leave Mercator (ship
returns to launch point). Over other sectors, the commands
include: Explore Surface, Build New Colony, Send Vehicle
to Orbit, and Leave Mercator.

Explore Surface
To have your exploring ship descend to the world’s surface
or a colony, move the ship to the appropriate sector, and
then click or press [Enter]. If the ship is over a colony, the
Colony Grid will open. If the ship is over an uncolonized
sector, you’ll be in the Surface Exploration screen where you
can directly view the surface and collect resources and clues.

Leaving the Mercator Map


You can exit the Mercator Map by clicking Leave to return to

45
Surface the previous screen, or by right-clicking for the General Op-
tions menu. If you have an active ship on the Map, you can
Exploration leave by parking the ship at a colony or space station, or by
descending to the surface for a Surface Exploration.
Screen
This screen lets you accompany a vehicle as it explores a
world’s surface from low altitude. From here, you can gather
ore, energy, and other valuable discoveries directly from the
surface. You’ll also use this screen to conduct planetside
combat, should that ever become necessary.

Direction You can access this screen only from the active Mercator

Sector Map View

Collect item Click Hand cursor


Fire Laser R-Click Target cursor

Cargo Limit Load: On Board/Max.

Fuel Units left


(1,000 fuel = 1 energy)

{
Overhead View On/Off Plasma Bomb
Move Ship Arrows
Scan Cargo View or Secor Map Return to Orbit
Note: Game time stops Compass icon Cargo Bay icon Leave
during Surface Explo- Map when you have a ship on an Exploration mission. From
ration. [P] Pause is dis- the Mercator Map, move the ship to the sector you want to
abled. explore and click or press [Enter]. You can also open the
Vehicle Menu (right-click) and select Explore Surface to de-
scend to the surface at the current location.

Main Window
The Exploration screen’s main window shows your ship’s
forward view over the sector’s surface. To move the ship,
click on one of the gold Movement arrows on the control
panel (or use your Left, Right, and Up arrow keys). The view
in the main window rotates around your craft as you bank
46 and turn. The view in the small “map” window to the right
stays aligned to the North—use the Direction indicator
above it to see your ship’s current orientation relative to the
map.

The round white mouse cursor in the window aims your


ship’s lasers, which you can then fire with the right-hand
mouse button. As you fly over the surface, you will run
across icons for Ore, Energy, Life Support, Science re-
sources, clues, and exotic minerals. You can collect these
items by moving the mouse cursor over them. When the cur-
sor changes to a hand, click to grab the icon and place it in
your ship’s cargo bay.

Some resource icons represent more than one unit of the


item. A particularly rich ore icon may contain over 15 ore
units, for example. They’ll all be loaded when you click on
the icon, providing you have room in the ship. If you don’t
have room, the icon will remain so you can come back and
pick up the remaining units later.

Some science resources, clues, and exotic minerals you pick


up will be accompanied by a message describing what you
found. Read them carefully: while the most important clues
are saved in your PDA Library, others will appear only once.
These items take up no room in your cargo bay.

Control Panel
In addition to the movement arrows (described above), the
Surface Exploration panel has four other control icons.

At the far left is the Overhead View switch (large ship icon).
Clicking this icon switches your view to a remote camera
probe far above your ship. This lets you see all around your
ship, but not as far to the front as the surface view. It also
shows your ship’s current compass orientation. To return to
the surface view, click the View icon again.

Second from the left is the Scanner button (small ship icon).
Clicking and holding this icon down switches you to Over-
head View and sends out pulsating waves that reveal any
ore, energy, or other items in the surrounding area. Provid-
ing you have the fuel, you can continue the scan until you
have scanned the entire sector (shown on the small map at
right). An item revealed by this scanner remains on the sec-
tor map until you pick it up or leave. Please note that this
option uses up your ship’s fuel at a tremendous rate. 47
Third from the left is the Plasma Bomb (the Fireball icon),
which you can use to attack surface targets below your ve-
hicle. The plasma bomb has a much wider kill radius than
the laser, but takes more energy as well. Warning: If you
bomb a sector, you destroy all the ore and energy units in
sight.

Fourth from the left is the Sector Map/Cargo View switch.


When it shows a Compass, click it to open and view the cur-
rent contents of your cargo bay in the small window at right.
When it shows an open Cargo Bay, click it to return to the
default Sector Map view.

Other Displays
Use the Direction indicator at the upper right to see which
way you’re facing in the main window. You’ll soon become
proficient at using this instrument with the sector map, and
main window to navigate the surface.

To the right is the Pilot you designated for this mission. The
pilot cannot be changed unless you return to a base.

The Sector Map/Cargo Bay window below switches be-


tween your Sector Map display and Cargo Bay when you
click the Cargo View icon. The Sector Map shows the terrain
surrounding your current position (the small red cross) in this
sector. While this map will scroll across the surface with
your ship as you move, it is always oriented to North. If you
illuminate items with the scanner, this sector map will display
the scanned item’s location until you pick them up or exit the
screen.

To view the current contents of your ship’s cargo bay, click


the Cargo/Sector Map View switch. The window will then
display the type and number of items you’ve collected so far
on this exploration. Ore, Energy, and Life Support items take
up room in the Cargo Bay, but not Science resources or
other items you find.

The Load field shows how many cargo items the vehicle is
carrying along with its load limit. (First-generation ships are
limited to 30 units.) When the ship is full, you can return to

48
a colony to unload, and then refuel and resume exploration
with an empty hold.

The Energy field shows the fuel load-out of the selected ve-
hicle, which in turn determines the ship’s maximum mission
range. Your first generation of ships has a limit of 2,000
fuel units. Your ship consumes fuel as you fly over the planet
and scan. While your ships can carry extra energy units as
cargo, the ship must land at a space station or colony to off
load, convert, and reload this energy as fuel. When you run
low on fuel, return to the Mercator Map so you can return to

49
Space Map base and refuel. If you run out of fuel during Surface Explo-
ration, your ship will crash, killing the pilot and destroying
the entire cargo.

Leaving the Surface Exploration Screen


From the Exploration screen, you can go to the Mercator
Map only. To exit and return to the Mercator Map, click
General Options Menu
Leave or press [Esc].
[Tab] or R-click in view
The powerful Space Map display lets you view the entire
Planet Mercator
Double-click planet

Planet Menu R-click planet

Zoom In Click
Max R-click

Zoom Out Click


Max R-click

{
Game Speed Up/Dn

{
Drag Slider Move point of view Click Foreground View Click
Max R-click Anchor View R-click
Stop time Click
Beta Caeli star system from almost any perspective you
want. You can use this screen to observe the status and loca-
tion of your active colonies and spacecraft, and to zoom in
on the Mercator Map view for any planet, moon, or aster-
oid.

You can access the Space Map from the Bridge, the General
Options menu, or when leaving the Mercator Map screen.
To exit, click Leave or press [Esc].

Main Window
The main Space Map window allows you to view the Beta
Caeli system from many perspectives and monitor the status
and position of your ships and orbital stations. When first
opened, the Space Map view is “anchored” to the sun Beta
Caeli. This means that the zoom and directional arrows be-
50 low the main window will change your view relative to Beta
Caeli. You can change the anchor to another planet, if you
wish, which changes the center of the zoom and directional
arrow buttons as well.

To view a planet, you can select it from the Planet Sidebar


on the right. To view the Mercator Map for the planet, click
on it in the Main Window. The Mercator Map will be inac-
tive (dashboard covered) until you launch a ship to explore
the surface. To exit the Mercator Map, press [Esc] or click
Leave.

Spacecraft and orbital stations are shown as pulsing colored


lights. The Calypso is the purple light. Your space stations
are blue, and your other spacecraft are green. Any unidenti-
fied ships that appear are indicated by red or yellow lights.
You can go to the Calypso’s Colony Grid by clicking on the
ship in the Space Map. Similarly, you can go to any ship’s
Vehicle window by clicking on it.

The Space Map accurately simulates orbital physics, which


means you’ll need to account for the planets’ relative orbital
positions in planning journeys. For example, a first-genera-
tion ship on Gaea cannot reach Rhea at those times when
Rhea’s orbit takes it opposite of the sun from Gaea.

Space Map Controls


Status Window. The brown window on the bottom left gives
you the name and status of any object you point to in the
Map window. For example, it shows the name and number
of current colonies on planets. For the Calypso and space
stations, it will display the name and number of available
vehicles. For vehicles, it will show the current mission. It will
also show your current game turns if you change game
speed or stop the game.

Time Slider. Drag this slider control up or down to speed up


or slow down the game speed. For example, if you are un-
able to send a ship to Rhea because it is on the opposite
side of the sun, you can speed up the game until Rhea is
close enough for the mission to be launched. Keep in mind,
however, that all other parts of the game will be proceeding
at the same pace: resource consumption, etc.

Stop Button. Use this button to Stop the game while using
the Space Map. The message Game Stopped will be dis-
played on the left. To resume, click it again.
51
Directional Arrows. Click these arrow buttons to change
your view of the system in all directions relative to the cur-
rent anchor. You can also use your arrow keys. For ex-
ample, if you are anchored on Gaea, click the Up arrow
button (or press [Up Arrow]) to rotate your view above the
planet’s orbital plane. Click the Down arrow button to re-
verse. To go quickly to the furthest extreme view possible
with any button, right-click on it.

Zoom Arrows. These buttons let you “zoom” your view in or


out from the center of the current anchor quickly. To zoom in
slowly, click the Zoom-in button (arrows facing in.) To zoom
out slowly, click the Zoom-out button (arrows facing out). To
go to the extreme view on either button, right-click the but-
ton.

Planet Sidebar. This sidebar has a button for each planet,


with the current planet highlighted in grey, and the current
view anchor highlighted in white. To quickly change your
view to a particular planet, click its picture. (The default view
anchor is the sun Beta Caeli.) To change the view anchor to
that planet, right-click it instead. Once the planet is in your
foreground view, you may open its Options menu by right-
clicking on it, or open its Mercator Map by double-clicking
on it. You may also cycle through all planets and asteroids
using the spacebar.

Planet Options Menu


Right-clicking on a planet, moon, or asteroid in the Space
Map will open its Options menu. The yellow Colonies and
Vehicles options, if available, let you access the Colony
Note: You cannot an- Manager and Vehicle Manager screens regarding the colo-
chor your view on a nies and spacecraft on that planet only.
moon or asteroid.
The blue Follow, Anchor, and View options let you control
how you view the planet. Clicking Follow keeps the planet in
your foreground view as it orbits Beta Caeli. Clicking An-

52
chor lets you reorient the Space Map’s center from the de-
fault, Beta Caeli, to any planet. This resets all directional Colony
and zoom commands relative to the new anchor point. Now
if you use the arrows or zoom in/out buttons, all system Manager
movement is around the selected world. Clicking View opens
the Mercator Map for that planet, moon, or asteroid. (If you
have a spacecraft on the planet, you’ll also be able to ex-
plore the surface.)

The Colony Manager screen summarizes the current status of List of Advisors
each of your colonies and space stations. At a glance, you stationed at colony

Colony List
Click Colony Name to bring
Summary to top

Colony Summary
(Habitat, Factories, Power, Labs,
Ships, Missiles, Ore, Energy, Life
Support, Humans, Robots)

Visit Site Grid


Click Colony Summary

See More Colony Summaries


can see the installations, vehicles, advisors, and crew at
Click Arrows or Up/Dn Arrow
each site, as well as your current resource inventories and
Keys
their net change per turn. This display helps you see which
colonies need attention so you can go straight to their
Colony Grids and manage their building and production
activities. The continuing growth and expansion of your
colonies is vital to the success of the entire mission. Your
colonies must be thriving and able to generate the resources,
technology, and ships you’ll need to prevail.

You can access the Colony Manager from the General Op-
tions menu, or from the Bridge by going to the Engineer’s
station and clicking Colonies. From the Site Grid, you can
click the Colonies button at the bottom. From the Space
Map, you can right-click a planet to open the Planet Menu,
and then select Colonies (if the planet has at least one
53
colony or space station. The colonies listed will be limited to
those at that planet.)

Starting with the Calypso, the Colony Manager lists your


Note: You start the colonies in their order of creation. The left side of the screen
game with four space- lists each colony by graphical summary; the right side lists
ships and a healthy just the names in the same order. Orbital space station colo-
supply of ore, energy, nies have an SS prefix. To see a colony summary at the top
life support, and robots of the list, just click its name on the name list. (This becomes
on the Calypso, as well very handy once you have more than 3 colonies.) If either
as a good starter sup- list extends beyond the window, you can click on the red Up
ply on New Terra. You or Down arrows (or your arrow keys) to scroll through the
also have 2,000 set- concealed items. You can have up to 48 colonies total.
tlers in cryogenic hi-
bernation who will be The upper row of the graphic summary uses icons to show
woken in groups as you the number of installations (habitats, factories, power
you make room for plants, research labs), spaceships, and missiles at the
them in your habitats colony. Additional facility types may become available as
later. your technology progresses. The lower row shows the re-
sources (ore, energy, life support, humans, robots). For re-
sources, red numbers show any net loss per 24-turn Gaean
year (consumption exceeds production) while green numbers
show any net surplus per 24-turn year (production exceeds
consumption). One of the most challenging aspects of the
simulation is shepherding the balance of each resource for
each site. This can mean changing production, upgrading
facilities, or turning them off, or using pipelines between
colonies to supply materials that another site can’t produce
fast enough on its own.

If one or more of your Advisors is at a site, you’ll also see


their title (ENG, NAV, etc.) and a green light, similar to the
Comm. Panel.

54
To go to the Colony Grid for a particular colony, point to its
graphical summary (highlight it in red) and then click. Colony Grid
Leaving the Colony Manager
Colony Grid Controls
You can exit the Colony Manager by clicking Leave to return
to the previous screen, or by right-clicking for the General
General Options Menu
Options menu. Again, to go to the Colony Grid for a par-
R-click empty area
ticular colony, point to its graphical summary (highlight it in
red) and then click.
Scroll View
Drag mouse, or use arrow keys

Installation Options R-click on building


Change Prod/Science
Click Change Prod

Choose New Installation


Click selector box arrows
Click/R-click selector box

Build Installation
Drag from selector box, place on
empty grid

Dismantle Colony
Remove all, R-click, select
“Dismantle Colony”

Go to Colony Manager
The Colony Grid shows an overhead view of the selected
colony and the installations you’ve built there. You’ll use this Go to Vehicle Manager
screen to decide what installations to build, upgrade, or dis- Click Vehicle icon
mantle, and when to change production. It also helps you
see which sites need resources to cover an imminent deficit Change Colony Name
or build a new installation, and which sites have surplus re- Click name, edit, [Enter]
sources you can transport elsewhere. You can quickly see
the results of your decisions as the net resource change goes
up or down on the status summary below.

You can access a Colony Grid by clicking that colony’s


graphical summary in the Colony Manager. (Access the
Colony Manager from the General Options menu, through
the Engineer’s station, or through the Space Map’s Planet
menu.) You can directly access the Calypso’s Colony Grid Note: You cannot
from the Bridge by going to the View Ship Resources station. change the names of
From an inactive Mercator Map (dashboard covered), you Calypso or New Terra.
55
can double-click a colony site, or right-click it and select Go
To Colony.

Colony Name
At the upper right is the Colony Name field, which displays
the default (system-assigned) name for the current colony.
Default names include the colony’s location (with an “SS”
prefix for Space Station), and its order of creation: Rhea1,
SSHermes10, etc. You can change the default name if you
wish by clicking on it, typing in a new name of up to 8 let-
ters, and pressing [Enter]. This will change the colony name
everywhere it appears, such as the Colony Manager, Ve-
hicle Manager, etc.

The field just below displays the name of the planet, moon,
or asteroid that the colony is on or orbiting. (The Calypso’s
colony always shows Calypso here, wherever you move the
ship.) You can’t change the world name.

Grid Window
The Grid window shows a partial overhead view of your
colony. This is where you’ll build installations or change
their activities. To see other areas, use your numeric keypad
keys or drag the mouse cursor to the edge of the current
view to make the view scroll in that direction. Each colony
when founded has a Vehicle Hangar and other support
buildings. You’ll notice that the grid and installations appear
quite different for planetside colonies, space station colonies,
and the Calypso (itself a colony).

Graphical Summary
At the bottom of the screen is the colony’s graphical summary,
which displays the same information as that in the Colony Man-
ager. The upper row shows the resources (ore, energy, life sup-
port, humans, robots). The lower row displays the number of in-
stallations (habitats, factories, power plants, research labs) and
spaceships at the colony. For resources, red numbers show any
net loss per 24-turn Gaean year (consumption exceeds produc-
tion) while green numbers show any net surplus per 24-turn
56 year (production exceeds consumption).
Installations Window
Below the Colony name fields is the Installations window. It
shows you the kind of installations allowed by your current
technology, as well as the resources required for each. At all
stages of the game, you can build habitats, factories, power
plants and research labs. Other installation “levels” and
types may become available later if you develop the appro-
priate technology. You can have no more than 16 installa-
tions per colony.

To page through the various installations and their require-


ments, click on the Installations window or the red arrows
just beneath it. If you don’t have the resources at the colony
to build a particular installation type, or have no place to
put it, its picture will be obscured by the gray “no” symbol.
In some cases, you may need to dismantle one facility to
build another.

Below the installation picture is a description that tells you if


you can create the displayed facility, and what resources it
will cost. If you lack one or more of the required resources,
the description will read “Cannot Create” and the lacking
resource(s) will be shown in red. You’ll have to produce or
transport at least that many resources to proceed with con-
struction.

If you do have adequate resources, the description reads


“Drag to Create.” You can then use the mouse to simply
“drag” the installation from the Installations window to a
valid location on the Grid window. A square shadow will
appear beneath the installation as you move it to show you
locations where you can place the building. Try to group
your installations in an organized manner so you can find
installations more easily later. Note: Calypso and
New Terra cannot be
The first installation you’ll build at any new colony is a Habi- dismantled.
tat (since humans require Habitats, and humans are re-
quired to build any other type of installation). You can then
transport humans and other resources to the site to build
other installations and make the colony as self-sufficient as
possible. See “Installations” for details.

Dismantling a Colony
You can remove a colony by first dismantling its installations
(Habitats last), and transporting all people, resources, and
ships away from the site. Once the colony is “empty,” right- 57
click to open the General Options menu. At the top, you’ll
Captain’s see Dismantle Colony. Click Dismantle Colony to remove
the Colony from the Colony Manager.
PDA Leaving the Colony Grid
You can exit the Colony Grid by clicking Leave to return to
the previous screen, or by right-clicking for the General Op-
tions menu. You can also click the Colonies button to return
to the Colony Manager, or click the Vehicle icon button for
the Vehicle Manager.

Leave PDA The “Captain’s PDA” is your Personal Data Assistant and
[Esc] or click Power information manager. This is where you will receive probe

Select Entry
Click entry, Up/Dn Arrows

Open Library Entry


Select, click or [Enter]

Select Mode [Space]


to cycle through Log, Library,
Status, Damage
{

Scroll Entries Delete Log Entry


Up/Dn Arrows Select Entry, click Delete

and Advisor reports, monitor the ship’s log, and review mis-
sion progress. You can open it by going to the Computer
station and clicking the Captain’s PDA button. You can also
access it by opening the General Options menu and select-
ing View PDA. When you’re done using the PDA, exit by
clicking the Power button or pressing [Esc].

The PDA has four information “modes” that you can select
from using the purple buttons on the right: Log, Library, Sta-
tus, and Damage.

Log
58 The Log displays your current list of notes, clues, and action
items (things to do). As you complete each task entry, the
computer will remove it from the list automatically. You can
scroll through your current log entries using your arrow keys
or by clicking on the purple Up and Down arrows below the
PDA screen. If you find your log entries piling up, you can
use the Delete button to remove those you no longer need.
To delete an entry you do not intend to perform, just high-
light it, click Delete, and then click Yes or press [Enter] when
asked to confirm the deletion. Note, however, that when you
delete an item, it’s gone for good.

Library
The Library mode lets you store and retrieve detailed ar-
ticles, radio transmissions, probe reports, Advisor and Plan-
etary Governor reports, and clues or artifacts discovered
during explorations. To select a Library topic, click on the
topic title to highlight it. You can also click the Up/Down
arrows or use your arrow keys to move the highlighting to
the topic you want, and then click or press [Enter] to open
the topic.

To scroll through long library entries, you can click the Up/
Down arrows or use your arrow keys. When done reading
the entry, click Exit or press [Esc] to return to the PDA. As
the game progresses, you may accumulate a lot of Library
items you no longer need. To delete an entry, just highlight
it, click Delete, and then click Yes or press [Enter] when
asked to confirm the deletion. Note: When you delete an
item, it’s gone for good.

Status
The display-only Status screen lets you review the current
summary of overall mission status for the Calypso and all of
your colonies, including facilities, vehicles, robots, people,
and resources. For resources, you’ll see your total invento-

59
Game ries, along with any net gain (+ green numbers) or net loss (-
red numbers) per year, or zeroes for static or balanced pro-
Options duction. At the bottom, you can see your progress for total
population and technological advances.

Damage
The display-only Damage screen lets you
review the total losses you’ve suffered
due to disaster, revolution, or attacks. It
also shows damage you have inflicted on
other forces as “Kills.”

This screen lets you save or load your


games, and change your game settings
such as speed, sound effects, and music.
To open it from the Bridge, click on the
Computer station and then the Game
Options button. You can also access it by opening the Gen-
eral Options menu ([Tab] or right-click) and selecting Op-
tions.

On the left, you’ll see the game logo and morphabetized


credits. The option buttons at the right work as follows:
• Save Game. Saves your current
game session in progress. You can
save as many games as you have
room for on your hard drive: each
takes about 210K. You can assign
the saved game names yourself or
use a system default. After you save
the game, you can resume your cur-
rent game or exit. Also, you can
press [Alt]+[S] to save anywhere in
the game.
• Load Game. Abandons the current game and lets you
resume a previous game session from the point that you
last saved it. You can also Delete saved games. When
you select this option, you’ll be presented with a list of
saved games. Select the one you want to resume or de-
lete with the mouse or the Up or Down arrows, and

60
Captain’s Reference

η
Planets are the foundation of your new civilization. As Cap-
tain of the Calypso, you will need to establish colonies on
several planets to support your people and increase your
resources, production, and research. Each new world has
new or unique resources that will contribute to your efforts,
and each should be explored thoroughly.

To reach distant planets, moons, and asteroids with your


fleet, establish remote space stations with fuel reserves. Use
the Space Map to make the most of the planets’ orbital posi-
tions when launching probe and space station missions.
Planets are treasure troves of naturally occurring ore and
energy resources, and can provide startling new science
finds to catalyze your research efforts. You will find Ore,
Energy, Life Support and Science to collect during surface
exploration. In addition, you may find exotic minerals (met-
als, jewels, crystals, etc.) and clues, which in turn can pro-
vide you with vast new capabilities or knowledge. Finding
them should be one of your highest priorities.
Exploring
Planets

Colonies are the population and production centers you can


build in the Beta Caeli system. In addition to your initial Colonies
colony on the Calypso, you can establish colonies on planet
surfaces and on orbital space station platforms. They also
serve as refueling points for your ships and as stockpile
points for resources and weapons.

You can create planetside colonies from the Mercator Map


during active Exploration missions. You can create one or-
bital colony space station site per world by sending a space-
craft on a Space Station mission to that world from the Ve-
hicle Manager. For example, you can have one space sta-
tion colony above a planet and one above each of its
moons.

Once a colony site is established, you can begin transport-


ing resources there and build a habitat. With a Habitat in
place, you can bring in humans and start building the pow-
erful Factories, Power Plants, and Research Labs that will
help make the colony self-sufficient. Eventually, your colonies
can begin producing surplus resources, robots, ships, and
other items for transport to other locations. Managing the 61
progressive growth of your colonies is your primary task.
Without thriving colonies, you will lag behind in production
and population growth. In addition, the colonists in your
care will grow angry and may revolt.

Planetside colonies can mine ore directly from the planet,


and therefore are better for producing equipment that uses
ore in its production. They’re also better for housing the bulk
of your population. Please note that mining colonies may
eventually run out of ore, however.

Orbital space station colonies can produce energy and life


support quite effectively, in many cases enough for export.
Also, orbital colonies allow you to “siphon” fuel from the
giant gas planets Zeus, Cronos, and Poseidon, even though
you can’t land on these planets. Similarly, space stations
help you mine asteroid belts.

Orbital colonies are excellent refueling stations. By stockpiling


energy at an otherwise abandoned space station, you can re-
fuel your ships on their way to distant parts of the system.

Resources There are several basic resources you’ll require in Alien


Legacy. Ore, Energy, and Life Support are the consumable
resources that your colonies need in constant supply for pro-
duction and maintenance. Science resources are consumed
as your scientists and engineers strive to advance your tech-
nological capabilities. Humans and Robots are the perma-
nent staff resources your colony facilities require to operate.

Even installations that produce these resources consume re-


sources in the process. This makes resource management a
key aspect of success in Alien Legacy. Running short on one
type of resource can bring installations and entire colonies
to a halt, or make a shambles of your pipelines. On the
other hand, having several strong colonies that produce re-
sources in abundant surplus will enable your exploration
and research efforts to meet any challenge.

Resource Types
Ore represents all consumable building materials, including
metals, stone, fibers, ceramics, and wood. It is the raw mate-
rials from which you construct robots, spacecraft, and create
and maintain installations. Ore can be found in natural de-
62 posits during planetary exploration or created by a factory.
It is most plentiful on the inner planets of the star system.
Energy represents
Comm.all Panel
forms of consumable energy, including
fossil fuels, electromagnetism,
Space Map plasma pods, nuclear energy,
and solar power. Energy is necessary to keep colonies fully
View
functional and on-line. It is converted Solar
to fuel forSystem
your space-
craft traveling between worlds and Military Advisor
exploring planet sur-
faces. Energy can be found in natural Navigator/Vcle
deposits duringMgr.
plan-
etary exploration, created by a Power Plant, or siphoned by
a factory orbiting a gas planet.

Life Support refers to the various consumable necessities that


sustain human life. On habitable worlds, it stands for food,
water, andCalypso
medicalClny
supplies. In artificial and hostile environ- Computer/
Gridincludes space suits and oxygen tanks. Life
ments, it also PDA/Game Set
Support units are generated by Habitat facilities. Science/
Engineering/ Tech Mgr.
Science resources are the natural discoveries and applied
Clny Mgr.
research breakthroughs that are invested in the development
of new technologies. There are seven types of science re-
sources, one for each science displayed in the Technology
Manager screen. You may come across these science re-
sources while exploring the system, or produce them at Re-
search Labs.

Humans are the personnel that you brought with you in


cryogenic suspension on board the Calypso. As they are
awakened and sent to various colonies, humans will begin
to reproduce and increase their numbers—given time and a
secure environment.

Robots are tireless humanoid automatons that excel at con-


struction, menial labor, and difficult space missions requir-
ing tolerance to radiation and high accelerations. To add to
your supply of robots, you must devote one or more factories
to producing them.

Humans and Robots are not “consumed” like other re-


sources. They are taken from the colony’s surplus labor pool
when you begin construction of an installation, and some
are required to maintain the facility later. If the facility goes
off line, however, they are returned to the labor pool and
become available to work on something else or be trans-
ported elsewhere.

Collecting Resources
You can add to your resources by collecting them or produc- 63
ing them. First, you can collect Ore, Energy, Science, and
sometimes Life Support resources from natural deposits and
discoveries you find during planetary surface exploration.
Ore, Energy and Life Support resources are added to the
first colony the ship lands at after collecting them, while Sci-
ence resources become available immediately in the Tech-
nology Manager. Second, you produce your resources. Fac-
tories can mine Ore on planets, or siphon Energy from orbit
around a gas planet. Power Plants generate Energy, Habi-
Note: An orbital tats generate Life Support, and Research Labs generate Sci-
colony with an opera- ence resources. As your facilities become more technologi-
tional factory above a cally advanced, they can produce resources more efficiently.
gas giant can siphon
off the top layers of As you begin to collect or produce surplus resources at some
hydrogen from the up- colonies, you can start to transport the surplus to other loca-
per atmosphere. You tions. For this purpose, you have the Pipeline mission, re-
can then set up a pipe- peated transport round trips that you can set up as de-
line mission to bring scribed in the Vehicle Manager. Someday, you may also be
this abundant energy able to use a Mass Driver, a giant electromagnetic catapult
to your other colonies. that hurls large ore packets to a selected destination. The
main advantage of the Mass Driver is that it releases space-
craft from pipeline missions for other purposes.
Installations are the buildings you create at a colony to
Installations house your colonists and to produce resources and other
items. There are four primary installations available: Habi-
tats, Power Plants, Factories, and Research Labs. Technologi-
cal advances may allow you to upgrade these installations,
or to build new types of installations. You can have up to 16
installations per colony, and you’ll use the Colony Grid
screen to build and manage them.

Building Installations
You can construct any installation at a colony if you have the
resources to build it and an empty place on the colony grid
to place it. Use the Installations window in the Colony Grid
to view your options. When you start construction, the re-
quired resources are subtracted from the colony’s inventory.
The resources required will vary depending on the
installation’s location (planet or space station), and its tech-
nological “level.” Each installation takes a number of months
or even years to complete and go on-line. While installa-
tions are being built, they flash a blue light.

As your technology improves, you’ll be able to build new,


more efficient installations with higher production levels, or
64 upgrade older ones. The production increase in each new
level of installation varies with the type of installation, its Note: Habitats are al-
location, and type of product. In general, each new level of ways the first installa-
facility can produce more goods in fewer turns than the pre- tion you will build at
vious level, but will also require more resources to build and any colony. You need
maintain. You’ll be wise to have surplus resources on hand habitats before you
to cover current needs until the new facility starts producing. can transport humans
You’ll also want to upgrade your facilities fairly evenly. For to the colony, and you
example, you’ll find it difficult to keep a Level-3 factory on- will need humans to
line with Level-1 power plants supplying its energy needs. build and maintain all
other installation types.
On-Line Status
Each installation has a range of operational “status” modes
indicated by colored lights. A green light means the instal-
lation is on-line and capable of producing. A red light
means it is off-line. A blue light means the installation is un-
dergoing construction, upgrading, or retooling (production
change.) A yellow light means the installation can be up-
graded.

An installation goes on-line (green light) when it is com-


pleted and has available resources for maintenance. Each
on-line installation has a yearly maintenance cost in Ore,
Energy, and Life Support, and most require both Robot and
Humans on staff. Maintenance requirements may vary de-
pending on the installation’s location (planet or space sta-
tion), and its technological level. If the colony lacks one or
more of these resources, installations that need them go off-
line and stop producing (red light). Installations that are cur-
rently on-line and producing something display a flashing
green light. Installations that are on-line but haven’t been
given an assignment display a steady red light.
Note: Right-click an
An installation that is off-line (red light) is dormant and nei- installation in the Grid
ther manufactures anything nor uses up maintenance re- screen to access its
sources. Installations go off-line if you turn them off, or if Installation Options
they run out of maintenance or production resources. In menu.
some cases, a factory that is mining ore will go off-line be-
cause the ore supply at that site has been exhausted. A
newly upgraded facilty may go off-line if you aren’t pre-
pared to supply its higher levels of resource consumption.

You can Change Production for Factories and Research


Labs. The installation will be shut down for a short time to
“re-tool,” and then comes back on-line creating the specified
new item. Installations being re-tooled display a blue light.
65
Note: You cannot dis- You can Dismantle installations that are outmoded, that re-
mantle all Habitats at a quire more resources than you can supply, or take up a
site without first remov- colony space you would rather use for something else. Dis-
ing all of the Humans. mantling removes the installation, returns some of Ore used
to build it to the colony supply, and releases its Human and
Robot workers for other tasks. Installations that are being
dismantled shine a blue light.

As your colonies grow and you make technological ad-


vances, you will be able to Upgrade your installations or
build new, more efficient ones. Improved installations are
much more productive, and upgrading can cost less than
half of building a whole new installation from scratch. On
the other hand, your installation will be unproductive while
the upgrade is taking place (i.e., don’t try to upgrade all
your facilities at once). An installation that is capable of be-
ing upgraded will display a yellow light. While upgrading is
taking place, the installation will display a blue light.

Once you upgrade an installation at a colony, all new fa-


cilities of that type that you build there will be of the new
level. For example, if you upgrade a Level-1 factory to a
Level-2, you can build only Level-2 factories from then on at
that colony—unless you dismantle all Level-2 factories on the
grid.

Habitats
Habitats are the living quarters for humans at a colony.
When on-line, they also produce new Humans and Life Sup-
port units. You must maintain adequate habitat space for the
total population of a colony, or else colonists may revolt.

You can upgrade Habitats as the human population in-


creases at a colony. For example, you can upgrade a Level-
Note: Habitat up- 1 Habitat to Level-2 once your colony population passes
grades depend solely 200 humans. Other upgrade thresholds are at 300, 600,
on colony population. 800, and 1,200 colonists. More advanced Habitats can
house more people, and produce Life Support units more
efficiently, but will also require more resources to build and
maintain.

You cannot send humans to a colony without Habitats. Off-


line Habitats can house humans (but they can’t produce Life
Support units). Habitats will fill up as your colonists propagate.

66 Building a Level-1 Habitat on a planet takes 2 ore, 1 energy,


1 life support, and 5 robots. Once built, it can support 100
humans. If on-line, it will produce 5 life support units every
10 turns while using 2 ore, 3 energy, 1 life support, 3 humans,
and 2 robots for yearly maintenance. Requirements vary
slightly for space station habitats.

Power Plants
Power Plants create Energy units. Each Power Plant must pay
a yearly maintenance fee in ore, energy, and life support to
stay on-line. You can always turn a plant off to save re-
sources, although you may starve other installations and
force them off-line.

Building a Level-1 Power Plant on a planet takes 6 ore, 9


energy, 10 life support, 16 humans, and 7 robots. Once on-
line, it can produce 6 energy units every 12 turns. Its yearly
maintenance requires 1 ore, 1 energy, 3 life support, 6 hu-
mans, and 3 robots. Requirements vary slightly for space
station power plants.

Each new level of power plant can produce considerably


more energy than the previous level, but will also require
considerably more resources to build and maintain.

Factories
Factories are the industrial backbone of each colony. On
planets, they can mine ore, and manufacture items such as
robots and vehicles. In space stations, they are able to si-
phon gas (when orbiting around a gas planet), but cannot
mine ore in orbit. While on-line, Factories require heavy
ore, energy, and life support for yearly maintenance, espe-
cially when producing ships or robots. Factories go off-line if
you turn them off or can’t keep them supplied.

Use the “Change Prod” option to tell an on-line factory what


item to manufacture. Initially, you can mine ore, or build
robots or spacecraft. You may be able to build additional
items later on if you develop the appropriate technology. If
you change production, the factory goes off-line while it re-
tools.

Building a Level-1 factory on a planet takes 6 ore, 8 energy,


6 life support, 4 humans, and 10 robots. Once on-line, it
can mine 5 ore units every 9 turns, build 1 robot in 12 turns,
or build 1 Level-1 ship every 24 turns. Its basic yearly main- 67
tenance (for mining) requires 1 ore, 3 energy, 2 life support,
8 humans, and 4 robots. To build 1 robot requires an addi-
tional 2 ore, 3 energy, 3 life support, 2 humans, and 3 ro-
bots. To build 1 Level-1 ship requires an additional 9 ore,
10 energy, 7 life support, 4 humans, and 12 robots. Re-
quirements vary slightly for space station factories.

Each new level of factory can produce considerably more


goods in fewer turns than the previous level, but will also
require considerably more resources to build and maintain.
Note: Installations pro-
duce no resources Research Labs
while being retooled or
Research Labs produce science resources, which are in turn
upgraded.
used to develop new technologies in the Technology Man-
ager. The seven science resources include Astronomy, Biol-
ogy, Chemistry, Electronics, Geology, Mathematics and
Physics. You may also find some of these resources while
exploring planet surfaces.

When a Research Lab comes on-line, you select the science


that it will study. The lab continues to produce that science
resource until it goes off-line or you select a different science
for it to study. Science resources vary by the number of turns
required to produce them. For example, a Level-1 Lab re-
quires the following number of turns for each type to output
one science unit: Astronomy 11 turns, Biology 12, Chemistry
8, Electronics 15, Geology 9, Mathematics 11, and Physics
6 turns. You might try to find the more costly resources dur-
ing exploration, rather than dedicating labs to them.

Building a Level-1 Research Lab on a planet takes 5 ore, 3


energy, 3 life support, 12 humans, and 5 robots. Its yearly
maintenance requires 10 ore, 6 energy, 4 life support, 8
humans, and 4 robots.

You can begin to upgrade your labs after completing a cer-


tain number of technological advances. In turn, each new
level of lab takes one less turn to output a given science re-
source than the previous level. The respective ratios for each
science,
From thehowever, will mission,
start of your stay the same. For
you will example,
need to havea engi-
Biology
Technology resource
neers andwill always
science taketoiling
teams six more turns
away in than a Physics
Research Labs unit.
to
discover better ways of getting things done and increasing
Advancements the productivity of your installations and spacecraft. As new
problems and threats arise, you will also have to find new
ways to deal with them. Technology advancements will help
68
you improve the efficiency of your colonies and overcome
the dangers awaiting you.

Creating Technologies
The development of new technologies is managed in the
Technology Manager screen at your Science Advisor’s sta-
tion. There you can see what new technologies are available
to build, and you can select which ones you want to build,
assuming you have the science resources to complete them.

Progress comes at a price. You should consider carefully


which new technologies you want to pursue, given the best
advice of your Science Advisor. Results still may not be what
you expect. Also, some new technologies may come before
you’re ready for them. You may find yourself with very pro-
ductive Factories, for example, without the resources to keep
them on-line.

New Technologies
You can discover new technologies in several ways. You
may find natural phenomena that spark new discoveries, or
find artifacts that spur a breakthrough in your labs. Much of
your progress will still come through dedicated, continuous
research in your labs. Your Science Advisor will tell you
when the technical staff is on the verge of a breakthrough
with a new technology.

Effects of Technological Advances


Many new technologies take effect as soon as they are built.
For example, some discoveries will let you upgrade your
Factories or Power Plants immediately, or upgrade your ve-
hicles automatically the next time they dock.

Other technologies allow you to build new objects in your


Factories. Whenever a technology advance is announced,
you should check your Factories to see if you can build some
new item.

Ship upgrades cost nothing. Whenever your vehicles land at


a colony, they are automatically upgraded with the latest
available armor, lasers, and engines.

Some items have no immediate use, but may be required to


build future technologies.
69
Combat At some point, you may find yourself under attack by rebel-
lious colonists or other forces. Combat may take place in
space or on a planet. Your Military Advisor will offer you
recommendations for engagement based on the situation.

Technological advances to your spacecraft (new weapons,


armor, better engines) will make your space fleets more ef-
fective in combat. If you develop advanced ship designs,
your spacecraft will be upgraded automatically as soon as
they dock at one of your colonies. Please note that the Ca-
lypso is by no stretch of the imagination a warship. If it is
attacked, there is a very good chance that you and it will be
destroyed.

Should you develop the requisite technology, you’ll be able


to produce missiles at your colonial Factories. Missiles are
initially stockpiled where they are produced. You may use a
special Missiles mission that will let you relocate missiles to
ships, colonies, or a planetary orbit.

You can conduct planetary combat missions directly using


the Surface Exploration screen via an Exploration mission.
This allows you to engage surface targets with the Plasma
Bomb or lasers, both of which draw energy from your ship’s
fuel. When you drop a bomb, you destroy all enemy targets
currently in the viewing window plus all ore and energy
icons. You do not destroy science resources or clues by
bombing.

You can also attack targets with lasers. Position the round
white target cursor on the intended target, and right-click to
fire the laser. Lasers are more precise than bombing, don’t
destroy uncollected resources, and use less energy—but they
don’t pack the same wallop, either.

Strategy 1. Keep your colonies balanced and growing, and stock-


pile resources when you can. If you run out of re-
sources, your installations stop producing. You will then
have to gather resources via Surface Explorations or
divert ships to transport missions.

2. Space stations turn out energy or life support resources


more efficiently than planetside colonies do, but cannot

70
produce ore. Use pipelines to supply space stations with
ore while bringing energy or life support units in return.

3. Do not try to get too many colonies up and running at the


same time. You may run out of resources, particularly ro-
bots, before you’re able to produce more. You’re better off
getting one or two colonies self-sufficient before starting
others. Be sure you have the surplus ore, energy, and life
support production you need on-site to support robot/ship
Factories or Research Labs. Also, don’t build ships unless
you need them.
.
4. Space stations are an excellent way to quickly extend
the reach of your spacecraft throughout the Beta Caeli
system. Send energy along with any mission to a new
world. The ship can then build a space station there
and use the energy it carried to refuel.

5. Build colonies on or orbiting several worlds, not just


one. This will help you exploit the unique riches of each
world: inner planets tend to be richer in ore, while the
outer planets have more energy. Also, spreading your
colonies out reduces the potential losses from unknown
threats or disaster at any one location.

6. Explore planet surfaces carefully. You don’t want to


overlook any possible clues or discoveries that can give
you an edge. The game clock is stopped while you ex-
plore, so you have nothing to lose by being thorough. If
you have abundant energy, use your scanners to speed
up your searches.

7. Manage your time. Remember that the Pause button [P]


is available, and you can speed or slow things as you
wish by typing a speed setting 1…0. When the situa-
tion is relatively calm, you can speed things up. When
chaos strikes, slow things down to make sure you get
everything done.

8. Pay attention to your Advisors. Their advice can keep


you prepared for many eventualities. Similarly, check
your PDA frequently.

9. As Captain, you may have to send senior officers on


extremely hazardous missions. Nevertheless, such a risk
may be absolutely vital to the success of the mission.
71
10. Save your games as you go.
The End Alien Legacy has many paths, and many endings to its story:
few paths lead to victory. No matter how numerous or bus-
tling your colonies, or how advanced your production or
technology, you will need great vision, leadership, and luck
to avoid seeing humanity’s last hopes reduced to cosmic de-
bris.

When you reach the decisive moment in the game where the
fate of your colonies is sealed (for better or worse), you’ll
see the Mission Summary screen. This screen displays your
overall achievements as Captain. If you bring the mission to
a successful conclusion, your performance will also be
scored and assigned a victory level as described under Scor-
ing, below. (There is only one way to lose: disastrously.)

Continued Play
Once you exit the Mission Summary screen after a victory,
you may continue playing and saving the current game.
However, further playing will not change your score or af-
fect the outcome. This simply gives you an opportunity to
complete your colony development or system exploration, or
try out other things you were too busy to do while preoccu-
pied with survival.

Replay
Your most powerful ally in your quest for ultimate success is
the saved game. If you have prudently saved your games as
72
you go, you can overcome even total annihilation by simply
backing up to a crucial junction and replaying with a differ-
ent and (fingers crossed) winning strategy.

Even if you’ve already finished the game victoriously, keep


in mind there are several very different ways to successfully
complete the mission. You can use your saved games to ex-
plore these alternate endings, as well.

Scoring
You must ensure the survival of your colonists to achieve any
level of victory. Otherwise, the number of colonies you build
won’t matter a bit. Once you bring the mission to a success-
ful end that secures the future of your colonists, the Victory
level you achieve is based on the following scoring:

• Planetside Colonies: 50 points each.

• Space Stations: 80 points each.

• Installations
Habitats: 1 points each (all levels).
Research Labs: 2 points each (all levels).
Power Plants: 3 points each (all levels).
Factories: 4 points each (all levels).
Special Installations: 6 points each.

• Resources
Ore: 1 point per 100 units.
Energy: 1 point per 100 units.
Life Support: 1 point per 100 units.
Humans: 1 point per 50 units.
Robots: 1 point per 50 units.
Vehicles: 10 points each.

• Technologies: 10 points for each invention you create.

• Cinematics: These are the “movie sequences” you trig-


ger in the game. While you don’t get points for these,
the number you trigger gives you an idea of how many
plot elements you’ve explored.

Scoring Levels

73
Your game score is categorized as follows.

• Disastrous Loss. Not a victory. Everybody dies. Try


again!

• Marginal Victory (0—1,000 points). Your colonies


have passed the test of survival, but barely. Your contin-
ued existence is likely to be desperate, grim, and short.

• Tactical Victory (1,001—2,000 points). A bleak future,


but at least your colonies can be self-sustaining most of
the time.

• Grand Tactical Victory (2,001—3,500 points). Your


colonies are capable of stable, and perhaps expanded
production.

• Operational Victory (3,501—5,500 points). Your colo-


nies are thriving, and your production base should be
adequate to meet the many challenges before it.

• Grand Operational Victory (5,501—8,000 points).


You have abundant colonies and resources, and your
colonists enjoy a high quality of life. Your colonies have
retained enough population and capacity to eventually
complete colonization of the system, and perhaps be-
yond.

• Strategic Victory (8,001—12,000 points). Outstanding


success. It won’t be long before your people can create
new seedships and colonize new systems (given a se-
quel...).

• Grand Strategic Victory (12,001 + points). Superlative


achievement! You have brought your colonists through
this time of trial with amazing success. Throughout Beta
Caeli, your name will be spoken with awe and rever-
ence for the remainder of time.

74
Antigen. Substance that stimulates the body’s production of antibodies.
Anti-matter. Matter composed of opposite energy charges to common matter. Matter/anti- Glossary
matter reactions can be both a source of tremendous energy or destructive power.
ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.
A.U. Astronomic Unit. The average distance from Earth to the Sun, or approximately 93 million
miles.
Celestial Sphere. The spherical view of the sky relative to the observer.
Collector Net. A large scoop for gathering interstellar hydrogen for ramjet fusion engines.
Ecliptic. The annual path of the sun on the celestial sphere.
FTL. Faster Than Light.
Gas giant. Large planet composed primarily of gas compressed by immense gravity. Unin-
habitable, but a rich energy source.
Heliocentric. Centered on the sun, such as a planetary orbit.
Light year. The distance travelled by light in a vacuum in one year, or about 6 trillion miles.
Mass Driver. An immense electromagnetic catapult capable of hurling large packets of ore
from low-gravity moons or asteroids to other planets.
Mutagen. Substance capable of causing mutation.
Nucleotides. Product of some nucleic acid reactions. A primary component of carbon-based
life.
Oort Cloud. Spherical “layer” of comet material that encircles solar systems.
Panspermia Hypothesis. A theory that states the chemical components of life exist
throughout the galaxy, and are introduced to conducive planetary settings by meteors and comets.
Parsec. The distance you’d have to be to see the Earth’s distance from the Sun as one sec-
ond of arc (1/360th of a degree), or about 3.26 light years.
Perihelion. Orbiting body’s nearest point to the sun.
Positronic brain. Sophisticated artificial intelligence used in advanced robots.
Plasma Bomb. Hydrogen-fueled energy weapon capable of vaporizing targets over a wide
area.
Precession. Gradual advance in planetary equinoxes due to gravity effects of other bodies.
Ramjet Fusion Engine. An engine that makes use of the vehicle’s velocity to provide
fuel intake via a collector net.
Seedship. Giant colony ships or arks intended to “seed” human populations in new star sys-
tems.
Spectroscopic analysis. Studying stars through an analysis of the light they emit.
Superconductor. A substance that conducts electricity perfectly. Allows complete effi-
ciency of electronic devices.
Theta waves. Type of brain wave. Its existence is conjectural.
UNS. United Nations Ship.

75
Advisor Hausmann, Otto
Rank: Commander, Science Staff

Dossiers Date of Birth: 2090 (Biological age: 28)


Education: University of Munich
Previous Positions: Lead Science Advisor for UNS Prague,
Asst. Department Head at U.N. Medical Research Facility #149
Personality Profile: Otto has a checkered service record, reflecting both his excellent command
decisions and contributions to the U.N. Science Program, and his unfortunate difficulties dealing
with authority figures. Otto was transferred off of the UNS Prague after he almost assaulted its
Captain. When asked why the near-attack took place, Otto broke into a rage, screaming the word
“Incompetent!” and then would speak no more of it. After a sterling record of service as Assistant
Department Head at U.N. Medical Research Facility # 149, Otto has returned to service in space,
his past difficulties behind him.

Patel, Rajvinnder
Rank: Lieutenant, Science Staff
Date of Birth: 2100 (Biological age: 18)
Education: People’s College of Science, U.A.R.
Previous Positions: None.
Personality Profile: Rajvinnder has led an undistinguished life so far. In her parent’s eyes, she was
born a failure by not being born a son. In her hopeless attempts to please her parents, she has
always followed their advice and has never made any major decisions on her own. When her
father informed her that she would be attending the College of Science, Rajvinnder agreed without
question. Rajvinnder graduated after three years of average performance. Again at her parent’s
direction, she joined the U.N. Space Program so that she might be part of the colonization of other
worlds. Rajvinnder’s father died three weeks after the launch of the Calypso.

Giacommo, Fabian
Rank: Commander, Navigation Staff
Date of Birth: 2104 (Biological age: 22)
Education: No Formal Education
Previous Positions: Flight Group Commander, 5th U.N. Reconnaissance Wing
Personality Profile: Fabian’s lack of formal education has always been offset by his ability to take
charge and give good, solid advice under pressure. At the age of 19, he was given command of an
entire Flight Group after his quick thinking and lack of personal fear saved the lives of a visiting
committee of U.N. delegates. After being decorated several times for service as a pilot, he
requested transfer to the outgoing UNS Calypso. As a Navigator, he has proven his worth many
times.

Wu, Mai-lin
Rank: Lieutenant, Navigation Staff
Date of Birth: 2080 (Biological age: 38)
Education: U.N. Astrophysics Academy at Singapore
Previous Positions: Assistant to the Head Astronomer, Mt. Lick Observatory
Personality Profile: Mai-lin has always felt a deep attraction to space, and spent the years of her
youth watching the sky and identifying constellations with her home-made telescope. It was
natural for her to pursue a career in astronomy, and her interest was strong enough to attract the
attention of her teachers, who recommended her for a scholarship to the Astrophysics Academy.
She graduated with honors. After completing an internship at the Mt. Lick Observatory, she rose on

76
her merit to become Assistant to the Head Astronomer. Mai-lin applied for a space assignment with
the hope of getting closer to the stars that she loves.

Antonelli, Gianna
Rank: Lieutenant, Engineering Staff
Date of Birth: 2104 (Biological age: 22)
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Previous Positions: None
Personality Profile: Gianna has always had a happy, positive outlook on life and a desire to help
others. At the age of 18, Gianna decided to become an engineer and try to improve the world and
the lives of its people through the use of technology. She was an apt pupil and graduated near the
top of her class. Fresh out of college, Gianna is eager to provide a home for the future generations
that the Calypso has brought to space.

Lee, Edward
Rank: Commander, Engineering Staff
Date of Birth: 2090 (Biological age: 28)
Education: Stanford University
Previous Positions: Unit Commander, 5th U.N. Engineering Group
Personality Profile: Ed has always exhibited an unusual talent for making things work, even without
the proper materials or equipment. Ed was decorated for his service during the Tokyo Flood of ’14,
where his quick thinking and unmatched engineering talents saved thousands of lives and millions
of dollars in property from the rising flood waters. Ed is a prize addition to the Calypso’s crew and
his advice should be well heeded.

Romanov, Dimitri
Rank: Colonel, Military Staff
Date of Birth: 2115 (Biological age: 31)
Education: West Point Military Academy; Sun Tzu Academy of War; U.N. Strategy and Tactics
School
Previous Positions: Commanding Officer, Zweibrucken Air Base; Commander, 5th U.N. Armored
Attack Group; Commander, U.N. European Defense Command
Personality Profile: Dimitri has been considered very intense since early childhood, and both
teachers and his parents have always found him to be somewhat aloof. Graduating from high
school early with spectacular success, Dimitri was nominated and admitted to the West Point
Military Academy. His exceptional performance there earned him a recommendation and finally an
invitation to attend the prestigious Sun Tzu Academy. After completing his schooling, he joined the
U.N. Military Forces and rose rapidly through the ranks. He was assigned to the UNS Calypso with
the task of assuring the survival of the colonies which could well be humanity’s last bastion of
civilization.

Williams, Melinda
Rank: Commander, Military Staff
Date of Birth: 2095 (Biological age: 23)
Education: University of Chicago
Positions Held: Assistant to Military Consulate, Saarbrucken Germany; Military Advisor, UNS Prague.
Personality Profile: Although young and relatively inexperienced, Melinda is aggressive, intelligent,
and a valuable asset to the Calypso. She is very ambitious and has been known to “play politics.”
In tight situations, however, she can be counted on to put the welfare of the ship and crew first.
Requested transfer to UNS Calypso when UNS Prague was decommissioned December 23, 2115.

77
Technical Manual Changes and Additions
Any changes made to Alien Legacy after the manual is
Support printed are outlined in the README file on the CD or pro-
gram disk #1. To view the file, simply change to the drive
PC 1158 + 4635 where the CD or disk 1 is located, type README, and press
[ENTER].

For Game System Requirements and Installation, see “Get-


ting Started” on page 6.

Configuring Memory
Even if you have the minimum 4 MB of RAM, Alien Legacy
may not run correctly unless the RAM is configured (set up)
correctly. You’ll need at least 570 K (583,680 bytes) of free
conventional memory and 2.5 MB of extended memory. To
configure extended memory, you’ll need a memory manager
such as HIMEM.SYS/EMM386 (which comes with MS-DOS
5.0 or higher) or QEMM386 by Quarterdeck.

If Alien Legacy DOES NOT start correctly, use the MS-DOS


MEM command to see if you need to free up some of your
computer’s memory. From your MS-DOS prompt, type
MEM and press [Enter]. “Largest executable program size”
is your free conventional memory; “bytes free EMS” is ex-
panded memory, and “bytes free XMS” is extended
memory, used by Alien Legacy.

Freeing up Memory
1. If you cannot run Alien Legacy because of low memory,
try the Install program’s “Make Boot Disk” option as
described below. A boot disk is a fast and effective
way of freeing more memory to run the game.
2. Try customizing the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
start-up files on your Boot Disk if you continue to have
problems. See “Customizing the Boot Disk,” below, for
details.

If you do not have enough memory, you probably have resi-


dent or “background” programs and device drivers taking
up memory that the game needs. This means you’ll need to
free up memory for Alien Legacy by removing one or more
of these programs, or moving them into “upper memory.”
Consult your DOS and memory manager software documen-
tation for detailed information about system memory and
how to optimize it.
78
Creating a Boot Disk
A boot disk is the simplest way to configure your computer’s
memory for running Alien Legacy. (See Configuring
Memory, above.) The Alien Legacy Install program has a
“Make Boot Disk” option that makes creating a boot disk
easy. If you set it up successfully, all you will have to do is
put the boot disk in your floppy drive and restart the com-
puter to configure its memory correctly and launch the
game.

Note, however, that the “Make Boot Disk” option will not
copy over any QEMM lines in your start-up files, and may
not copy over your mouse or CD-ROM drivers correctly.
This means that you might have to make additional changes
to the boot disk to get the program running. If you’re hav-
ing trouble starting the game, try the “Make Boot Disk”—it
can’t hurt. If it doesn’t work, see the “Customizing the Boot
Disk” section, following.

“Make Boot Disk” procedure


You can use the Install program to format and create a Alien
Legacy boot disk for your computer’s A: drive. Before you
start, have a blank or formattable floppy disk for your A:
drive ready. (Any files on it will be erased.)

Before you start, you’ll need a blank, formatted diskette for


your A: drive. When your boot disk is ready, see “Using A
Boot Disk,” following.

If you have two floppy drives (5.25" A: and a 3.5" B:):


1. After starting your PC, insert the Alien Legacy CD or
disk 1 into the appropriate drive.
2. Type the appropriate drive letter (B: or D:) and press
[Enter].
3. Type INSTALL and press [Enter]. The Install program will
start.
4. Press [Enter] to close the System Requirements screen,
and press it again to close the Memory Requirements
screen. On the menu that follows, select (highlight) the
MAKE BOOT DISK option with the Up/Down arrow
keys, and press [Enter].
5. The Boot Disk Maker will guide you through the pro-
cess—follow the on-screen prompts carefully.

79
If you have one floppy drive (3.5" A:):
HC H 1. After starting your PC, insert the Alien Legacy CD or
disk 1 into the appropriate drive.
2. Change to that drive. (Type the appropriate drive letter
(usually A: or D:) and press [Enter].)
3. Copy the Alien Legacy install files to your ALIEN direc-
tory. For example, if you’re using the default directory,
type COPY INSTALL.* C:\SIERRA\ALIEN and press [En-
ter].
2

4. Copy the file DISK.ID to your hard disk root directory.


Using the preceding example,
type COPY DISK.ID C:\ and press [Enter].
5. Change to your ALIEN directory on your hard disk. For
example, if you’re using the default directory, go to
C:\SIERRA\ALIEN.
6. Type INSTALL and press [Enter].
7. Press [Enter] to close the System Requirements screen,
and press it again to close the Memory Requirements
screen. On the menu that follows, select (highlight) the
MAKE BOOT DISK option with the Up/Down arrow
keys, and press [Enter].
8. The Boot Disk Maker will guide you through the pro-
cess—follow the on-screen prompts carefully.

When the process is finished, exit the Install program. You


can then re-boot your computer with the boot disk in the A:
drive.

Using a Boot Disk


The boot disk you’ve created with the Install program’s
“Make Boot Disk” option contains a stripped-down version
of your usual start-up files. You must start (or restart) your
computer with the boot disk in the A: drive for it to work.
(Note: A boot disk will work only in the A: drive.)

1. Place the boot disk in the A: drive and start the com-
puter. (If your computer is already running, exit any
programs and restart the system with your PC’s Reset
button, or use [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] from the keyboard.)
2. The computer will start up using the boot disk’s memory
configuration. (If you created the boot disk with the
Install program, it will also try to start the game auto-
matically.) Otherwise, start the game manually by en-
tering AL as usual in your SIERRA directory. (To return
your computer to its normal setup later, just restart it
80 again without using the boot disk.)
If the game still will not run, or the drivers for your mouse,

CH C H
sound card, or CD-ROM drive will not load correctly, you’ll
need to customize the start-up files manually. See the follow-
ing section “Customizing the Boot Disk.”

Customizing Your Boot Disk


To customize a configuration for your specific system, you
can edit the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT start-up files

3
on the boot disk the Install program created, or create a new
Boot Disk from scratch. CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
are simple text files that you can edit using your DOS Edit
utility, the Windows Notepad, or your preferred word pro-
cessor in its text-only mode. On your hard drive, these files
tell your computer how to arrange its memory for normal

2
operation. On the boot disk, these files tell your computer
how to arrange its memory specifically for running Alien
Legacy.
Note: If you haven’t
Warning: Manually altering the CONFIG.SYS and already tried the Install
AUTOEXEC.BAT start-up files can be a trial and error pro- program’s “Make Boot
cess. When opening a file to edit, triple-check to MAKE Disk” method, try that
SURE you are working with the files on your boot disk in first before starting
the A: drive. Otherwise, you may change the CONFIG.SYS here. Even if that boot
and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on your hard drive instead, which disk doesn’t let you run
in turn may impair the normal operation of your system. Alien Legacy, it will at
least give you a good
If you prefer to create a boot disk from scratch, you’ll need a place to start customiz-
freshly formatted system diskette for your A: drive. (See your ing the configuration
MS-DOS manual for details on how to create a system dis- files.
kette.) You can then create a new CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT from scratch right on the boot disk.

Compare the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on


your boot disk to the following examples. Differences may
indicate places where you can remove a driver, load it into
upper memory, or change a device switch to use less
memory. As always, refer to your system reference manuals
if unsure about anything.

Sample Boot Disk CONFIG.SYS File


These examples show a “minimum configuration” that will let Note: Parentheses indi-
you run Alien Legacy on many PCs. The lines in your start cate comments that are
up files will differ according to your system’s drivers and NOT part of the file.
directory names, and the version of DOS you use.
81
λ − λ0
z = —— = ——
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

λ0
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 1024
(You may use a different expanded memory manager)
DOS=HIGH,UMB (Loads DOS into Upper Memory)
FILES=30
BUFFERS=20
BREAK=ON
LASTDRIVE=Z
DEVICEHIGH=C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.SYS (See “Mouse Driv-
ers,” below.)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE (Only if
using DBSLSPACE. See “Disk Compression Drivers,” below.)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220
(Only if playing Alien Legacy from CD. See “CD ROM Driv-
ers,” below.)

Sample Boot Disk AUTOEXEC.BAT file


PROMPT Sierra Boot Disk $P$G (If you are working with
files created with “Make Bootable Floppy Disk.”)
PATH=C:\DOS
∆λ

SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
λ0

LOADHIGH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM (Only if you don’t


use MOUSE.SYS in CONFIG.SYS. See “Mouse Drivers,” be-
low.)
C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 (Only if playing from CD.
See “CD ROM Drivers,” below.)
CD C:\SIERRA\ALIEN (From “Make Boot Disk.” Changes to
the Alien Legacy directory.)
AL (From “Make Boot Disk.” Starts Alien Legacy.)

To disable a line in one of your start-up files, you can just


type REM in front of it. For example,
REM PROMPT Sierra Boot Disk $P$G will remove the
prompt. To re-enable it, just take the REM back out again.

Mouse Drivers
You should have one mouse driver line in either your
CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file—but not both! For
example:
DEVICEHIGH=C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.SYS (Used in the
CONFIG.SYS file only)
LOADHIGH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM (Used in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file only)

82
If you have a different mouse driver name (MOUSE.EXE,
IMOUSE, GMOUSE, HPMOUSE, etc.) or if you keep the
driver in a different directory (C:\MSMOUSE, C:\DRIVERS,
etc.) the path and driver name will be different. See your
mouse manual if unsure.

Mouse Hints
Use MOUSE.SYS rather than MOUSE.COM or MOUSE.EXE,
if possible. MOUSE.SYS is smaller and takes less memory.

Make sure you don’t have a mouse driver line in both the
CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. If you do, remove
one, because you’re needlessly loading two mouse drivers
into memory.

CD-ROM Drivers
If you are running Alien Legacy from a CD, you’ll need to NOTE: We recommend
include a CD-ROM line in both the CONFIG.SYS and the that you use the latest
AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Refer to your CD-ROM manual for version of
your specific details. MSCDEX.EXE to insure
the best CD access. As
The boot disk’s AUTOEXEC.BAT file needs an MSCDEX line. of this writing, the cur-
Depending on your CD-ROM type, it should look much like rent version of
one of the following: MSCDEX is 2.23.
C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001
LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

LOADHIGH /L:14429 C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

The Boot Disk CONFIG.SYS file needs a CD device driver


line. Depending on your CD-ROM type, it should look much
like one of the following:
DEVICE=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220
DEVICEHIGH /L:14652 =C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220

Note that this CD ROM device name is the same that follows
the “/D:” switch as the MSCDEX line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. If your Dynamix CD program requires expanded
memory, you will also want to add the “/E” switch to the

end of the MSCDEX line. For example: DEVICE=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /


D:MSCD001 /P:220 /E

83
Reminder: For the boot Disk Compression Drivers
disk to work, you must If you use disk compression on your hard disk, you must in-
REBOOT your com- clude the correct disk compression driver statement on your
puter with the boot disk boot disk, or your mouse or other drivers may not load cor-
in your A: drive. Place rectly. The example CONFIG.SYS shows the correct state-
the boot disk in drive ment if you are using the DBLSPACE utility from MS-DOS
A: and press your PC’s 6.0 or later. If you are using Stacker 3.1 or later, use the
Reset button, or following line instead:
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del]. Your DEVICEHIGH=C:\STACKER\STACHIGH.SYS
computer will now For other compression utilities, refer to your manual.
reboot, using the start-
up files on the boot
disk in A:. Have a Additional Boot Disk Instructions
great time! If you have a modem, you can download additional boot
disk instructions and a boot disk maker from the Sierra Bul-
letin Board Service, or BBS. The file to download is
BDALL.EXE or BDALL.ZIP (BDALL.ZIP is compressed—you’ll
need the PKUNZIP shareware utility to open it.). After
downloading this file, select the set of instructions that will
match your system best.

In the U.S., the BBS number is 209-683-4463; in the U.K.,


the BBS number is (44) 734 304227. This file is also avail-
able from the CompuServe Sierra forum: GAMAPUB (Sierra
76004,2143).

Troubleshooting
Problem: I have installed Alien Legacy on a compressed
drive, and it doesn’t run.
Possible Solution: Alien Legacy may need more disk space.
Compression software estimates available disk space using
an expected compression ratio of 2 to 1 or more. However,
many Alien Legacy files won’t compress much. This means
you may need to free up to twice as much space as the com-
pression software says.

Problem: My computer has at least 4 megabytes of memory,


but I receive a message saying that I don’t have enough con-
ventional or expanded memory.
Possible Solution: Your computer’s conventional memory
may be taken up by background programs or device driv-
ers, or not configured correctly. Try creating a Boot Disk, or
see your DOS or memory manager software manuals.
84
Problem: When trying to load the program or after running
the program, the computer locks up or I am returned to the
MS-DOS prompt.
Possible Solution: Although your computer may satisfy all of
the hardware and software requirements, there may be a
configuration or software conflict in your computer while
running Alien Legacy. Try loading the program after booting
from a boot disk.

Problem: My program hesitates or locks up during game


play. I am using a SoundBlaster or compatible sound card.
Possible Solution: Run the install procedure from the game
sub-directory and select “PC Internal Speaker” for the sound
option. Then run the game. If the program operates prop-
erly, there may be a configuration problem with your sound
card. Call your sound card manufacturer for assistance in
configuring your sound card for proper operation, or call
Technical Support at Sierra On-Line.

Problem: When running from a boot disk, my mouse doesn’t


work.
Possible Solution: You may need to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT
or CONFIG.SYS files on the boot disk to include the com-
mand to load your mouse driver. See “Customizing the Boot
Disk.”

Error Messages
This section offers possible solutions for error messages you
may encounter.

YOU NEED xxx MORE BYTES OF FREE MEMORY AVAIL-


ABLE TO RUN THIS GAME. Try using a boot disk.

GENERAL FAILURE READING DRIVE (game drive letter).


You may have a low density drive that can’t read the high-
density game disks.

CRC ERROR.
DATA ERROR READING DRIVE (A or B)
SECTOR NOT FOUND READING DRIVE A
These mean you have a faulty game disk, and should return
it for a replacement.

85
Customer The best customer service in the industry.
Services “You don’t just buy our games—you buy the support of
the whole company.”

Sierra On-Line is dedicated to helping you with each and


every question or problem. Whether it’s memory shortages,
software compatibility, or any other issue affecting our prod-
ucts, we guarantee your satisfaction.

If your question concerns returned merchandise, back or-


ders, defective merchandise, or general game information,
contact the Customer Service Department.

If you have problems with hardware or software set-up or


compatibility, contact the Technical Support Department.

If you want information on purchasing other Sierra products,


contact the Direct Sales Department.

Customer Service
Contact the Customer Service Department for questions per-
taining to returned merchandise, back orders, defective mer-
chandise, and general game information. In the U.K. and
Europe, use these contacts for Technical Support, Returns,
and Direct Sales as well.

United States
Sierra On-Line Call 1-800-SIERRA-5
Customer Service (1-800-743-7725)
P.O. Box 85007 Fax 206-562-4223
Bellevue, WA 98015-8507

United Kingdom
Sierra On-Line Limited Call (44) 734 303171
4 Brewery Court, Fax (44) 734 303201
The Old Brewery, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.,
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Parc Tertiaire de Meudon Call 33-1-46-01-4650
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U.S. Technical Support
In the U.S., contact the Technical Support Department for
help in installing or configuring your Sierra product, or re-
solving hardware or software compatibility issues.

Automated “800” Technical Support


1-800-376-2683
Sierra On-Line offers a toll-free, 24-hour Automated Techni-
cal Support line with recorded answers to the most fre-

∆E x ∆t ≥ ——
quently asked technical questions. To access this service,
call
1-800-376-2683, and follow the recorded instructions to
find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to
solve your problem, you may still write, fax, email, or call
our Technical Support Department as described below.

Technical Support Department


If you are unable to resolve a problem with your game using
this manual or through the Automated Support line, contact
our Technical Support representatives directly. You may call,
write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via BBS.

If you choose to write or fax us with your request, please


provide detailed information on your computer system and
the nature of your problem. In addition, please include your
address and telephone number should we need to call back
or send you further information.

U.S. Technical Support


Sierra On-Line
Technical Support
P.O. Box 85006
Bellevue, WA 98015-8506

Call (206) 644-4343


Fax (206) 644-7697
8:15 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. PST,
Monday–Friday

Sierra On-Line U.S. Technical Support


is also available through:


h

Sierra BBS: U.S. (209)683-4463 or U.K. (44) 734 304227


CompuServe: GAMAPUB (Sierra ID 76004,2143)
Prodigy: Technical Support ID- WBWW55B
America Online: Keyword Sierra (Private Email DynamixTS)
GEnie: Private E-mail to SIERRA.SUP 87
sierra on CompuServe
Sierra offers technical support and patch files via its
CompuServe forum. In addition, you’ll find demos, hints,
and reviews of many Dynamix products as well.

Members of CompuServe can type GO GAMAPUB and


leave a message for us at Sierra (CIS ID 76004,2143). If
you are not currently a member of CompuServe, call toll-free
1-800-848-8199 and ask for Representative 461 for your
FREE introductory membership and usage credit.

Patch Disks
If you have spoken to a Sierra Technical Support Represen-
tative or have read about an available patch (repair) disk in
our magazine InterAction, please send in your request to the
address below, or contact us via BBS. Let us know the game,
version number (VER# on the front of your game disk(s)),
and the disk type you have.

Sierra On-Line
Patch Disks
Dept. 10
P.O. Box 485
Coarsegold, CA 93614-0485

U.S. direct sales


To order games, hint books, or hardware, redeem coupons,
use special discounts, or to find out where you can purchase
Sierra games in the U.S., contact our Direct Sales Depart-
ment.

U.S.
Sierra On-Line
Direct Sales
P.O. Box 53250
Bellevue, WA 98015-3250

For direct orders:


Call 1-800-757-7707
Fax 206-562-4223

88
The Sierra No-Risk Guarantee!
THE PROMISE: We want you to be happy with every Sierra product you
purchase. Period. Complete and return the enclosed owner registration card,
and we’ll be able to serve you better if you contact us with a problem. If you’re
unhappy with one of our software products for any reason, you can return it for
an exchange or full refund within 30 days of purchase. (If it was purchased
retail, please include the original sales receipt.) Note: this policy applies to the
original owner only.

THE ONLY CATCH: You have to tell us why you don’t like it, so we can
improve. If you send it back and tell us why, we’ll do our best to make you
happy.

Software Warranty & Replacements


If your Sierra software or disk fails within 90 days of
purchase, we’ll replace it free of charge. To replace faulty
software, return the CD or diskette #1 directly to us. Include
a copy of your sales receipt, a note stating your game
machine or computer type, and the type of disk(s) you need.
More than 90 days after purchase, you must also include a
$10.00 U.S. (£6.00 in U.K.) replacement charge.

In the U.S., return your software to:

Sierra On-Line Fulfillment


P.O. Box 485
Coarsegold, CA 93614
Attn: Returns

Overseas, return your disk(s) to the appropriate Sierra


Customer Service center, marked “Attn: Returns.”

89
IT IS ILLEGAL TO MAKE UNAUTHORIZED COPIES OF THIS SOFTWARE
This software is protected under federal copyright law. It is illegal to make or distribute copies of this software except to make a backup copy for
archival purposes only. Duplication of this software for any other reason including for sale, loan, rental or gift is a federal crime. Penalties
include fines as high as $50,000 and jail terms of up to five years.

Sierra On-Line, Inc. supports the industry’s effort to fight the illegal copying of personal computer software. Report Copyright Violations To:
SPA, 1730 M Street N.W. Suite 700,
Washington, D.C. 20036 - (202) 452-1600

This manual, and the software described in this manual, are copyrighted. All rights are reserved. No part of this manual or the described
software may be copied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without the prior written consent
of Sierra On-Line, Inc., 3380 146th Place SE, Suite 300, Bellevue, WA 98007.

® and ™ designate trademarks of, or licensed to Sierra On-Line, Inc. © Sierra On-Line, Inc. 1994. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

QEMM-386™ is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. IBM® , PC® are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
Microsoft® , MS-DOS®, Windows™, HIMEM ™, are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Sound Blaster® is a trademark of Creative Labs, Inc.
ThrustMaster® and ThrustMaster WCS® are trademarks of ThrustMaster. Stacker® is a trademark of Stac Electronics. AdLib® is a trademark of
AdLib Incorporated.

Ybarra Productions, Inc. is a Creative Insights, Inc. Company.

Limitations on Warranty
UNAUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIONS: SIERRA WARRANTS ONLY THAT THE PROGRAM WILL PERFORM AS DESCRIBED IN THE USER
DOCUMENTATION. NO OTHER ADVERTISING, DESCRIPTION, OR REPRESENTATION, WHETHER MADE BY A SIERRA DEALER, DISTRIBUTOR, AGENT,
OR EMPLOYEE, SHALL BE BINDING UPON SIERRA OR SHALL CHANGE THE TERMS OF THIS WARRANTY.

IMPLIED WARRANTIES LIMITED: EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE, SIERRA MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT.
SIERRA DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SOFTWARE IS FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY DURATION OF THIS LIMITED EXPRESS WARRANTY AND IS OTHERWISE
EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO
THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES: SIERRA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF
SIERRA IS ADVISED OF OR AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS MEANS THAT SIERRA SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE
FOR LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, OR FOR DAMAGES OR COSTS INCURRED AS A RESULT OF LOSS OF TIME, DATA OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE,
OR FROM ANY OTHER CAUSE EXCEPT THE ACTUAL COST OF THE PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SIERRA’S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE
PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO
THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

YOU ARE ENTITLED TO USE THIS PRODUCT FOR YOUR OWN USE, BUT MAY NOT SELL OR TRANSFER REPRODUCTIONS OF THE SOFTWARE,
MANUAL, OR BOOK TO OTHER PARTIES IN ANY WAY, NOR RENT OR LEASE THE PRODUCT TO OTHERS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF
SIERRA. YOU MAY USE ONE COPY OF THE PRODUCT ON A SINGLE GAME MACHINE, COMPUTER, OR COMPUTER TERMINAL. YOU MAY NOT
NETWORK THE PRODUCT OR OTHERWISE INSTALL IT OR USE IT ON MORE THAN ONE GAME MACHINE, COMPUTER, OR COMPUTER TERMINAL AT
THE SAME TIME.
90
Ybarra Productions Credits
A Creative Insights Company
Producer: Joe Ybarra
Team Leader: Andy Riedel
Art Director: Mark Dickenson

Design: Scot Amos, Michael E. Moore, Rich Waters


Programming: Mike McAulay, Jeffrey McArthur, Andy
Riedel, Roy Eltham

Audio Engineering: Biard MacGuineas


Music and Sound: Biard MacGuineas, Steve Baker

Art and Animation: Fred Butts, M. S. Dunhour, Botu Green,


Brian E. Kumanchik, Donna Taylor, Jean Xiong

Test Manager: Tawn Rice


Lead Tester: Rich Waters
Playtest: Scot Amos, Wendy Barlow, Joe Cannon, Mark
Dickenson, M. S. Dunhour, Roy Eltham, Eric Fischer, Carol
Fuscher-Burns, Patrice Jones, “Fuzz” Lokajicek, Jim
Mazrimas, Leonard Micko, Ross Nicholls, Dan Porzio, Dana
Porzio, Alisa Schaefbauer, Marshall Whitworth, Thomas
Wilkinson

Manual: Scot Amos, Michael E. Moore, Tawn Rice, Rich


Waters

Special Thanks: Ken Williams, Tony Reyneke, Jeff Tunnell,


Dave Rice, Kathy Gilmore, and Forrest Walker

Dynamix, Inc.
Quality Assurance Manager: Dave Steele
Lead Tester: Dan Hinds
Testers: Gerald Azenaro, Barbara Beyer, Jan Carpenter,
James Domico, Eli Haworth, Tim McClure, Duri Price, Corey
Reese, Chris Singleton
Publications Manager: Kevin Lamb
Manual Editor: Kurt Weber
Manual Design: Sue Roberts

91
Index A
Advisors, 32, 76
H
habitats, 66
R
research labs, 68
anchoring view, 50 hangar, vehicle, 17, 36 resources, 62
humans, 63 Robot Advisor, 33
robots, 63
B
bomb, 48, 70 I
building installations, 56, 64 installations, 56, 64 S
Bridge, 15, 27 installing game, 6 scanners, 16, 44, 47
inventions, 34 Science Advisor, 33
sciences, 35, 68
C settings, 19, 60
Captain’s PDA, 19, 58 L Space Map, 15, 50
cargo, 40 launch mission, 41 speed, game, 51, 60
cargo bay, 48 laser, 46, 70 starting game, 6
change mission, 41 library, 19, 59 startup menu, 27
change production, 65 life support, 63 Status PDA screen, 59
colonies, 61 log, 58 status, installation, 65
Colony Grid, 18, 55 strategy tips, 70
Colony Manager, 18, 53 support, product, 86, 87
combat, 70 M surface exploration, 46
Comm. Panel, 31 memory problems, 78
Computer, 33 Mercator Map, 16, 42
construction, colony, 44 messages, comm. 31 T
controls, game, 14 Military Advisor, 33 Technology Manager, 34
missions, 38 technology advance, 68
missiles, 70 time, Gaean, 54
D troubleshooting, 84
damage, 59 tutorial, 20
delete colony, 57 O
delete game, 60 on-line status, 65
destinations, 39 ore, 62 U
dismantle installation, 66 orientation, 66 upgrade installation, 66

E P V
energy, 63 PDA, 19, 58 Vehicle Manager, 17, 36
Engineering Advisor, 33 pilot, 39 vehicle menu, 45
exploration missions, 38, 43, 61 pipeline mission, 39 video phone, 31
planet options menu, 52 view, planets, 50
power plants, 67
F preferences, 8
factories, 67 probe mission, 38
fuel, ship, 40, 49

Q
G quick reference, 14
Game Options, 19, 60
gathering resources, 47
General options menu, 14, 30
Glossary, 75

92

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