/-\_/-\_/-0_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-0_/-\_/-\_/-\ \ / / Rescue on Fractalus \ \ / / Flight Training \ \ / / Manual \ \ / / Issued by Black Cat \ \ / /-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\ Galactic Command has sent out hundreds of probe crafts in search of life in the universe. These probes have gone to every corner of the galaxy. Some have found barren worlds, others have found advanced civilizations. Some never returned...Being one of the hot shot fliers in your squadron you were selected to help carry out the search for the lost pilots of the probes. The exclesior craft (your ship) are the best equipped search ships around. Let's take a look at the controls of the ship you will soon fly... On your console keyboard you have these keys to use. L-=>Execute landing sequence S-=>Main systems off/on A-=>Airlock open/close B-=>Ignite orbital booster rockets Ctrl-S-=>Sound system on/off Ctrl-R-Abort your mission Esc key-=>Pauses the mission Left & right arrow keys-=>Throttle Left arrow key-=>Select level (before the mission begins) On your control column (joystick) you have these controls to use. Stick-=>Flight direction Button 0-=>Fire photon cannons Button 1-=>Start/stop landing sequence and power up systems for flight Your instrument panel displays a great deal of information in a small amount of space. Let's examine it in further detail. There are 3 quadrants to it. Quadrant 1 displays your throttle position, it is a very good indication of speed because your ship responds well to the engines. It also gives you a warning when the ship gets too close to the ground. The second quadrant (center) displays positional status and general performance. You have an artificial horizon indicator labeled "AH" to show the ship's attitude when you are flying "blind" like at night or when the ground is not visible. There are two red bars at the top of the quadrant to indicate the distance to mountains. the larger the bars the farther the obstruction. They are included due to limited sideways visibility. Next you have your altitude gauge which is labeled "A". The purple bar shows your ships altitude from the ground. The orange bar indicates distance to large mountains directly in your flight path. Use it to avoid slamming into a steep mountain. In the center you have a screen, this screen shows when a target is centered on the gunsights and when you are heading toward a pilot's ship. Use this screen to determine what that point of light is in the distance. Is it a friend or foe ? Now, to the right of that screen is another bar graph, this important indicator is labeled "E", the bar indicates your energy level. It starts flashing red when you run low on fuel, pay attention to it! Below the screen you have a set of lights. Those lights tell the condition of the ship's systems, they are not too important for immediate attention. The last thing in the center quadrant is the long range radar scope. It picks up the emergency beacons from stranded ships. It plots the friendly ships relative to you, with you being at the bottom of the scope. Its range is about 9 units. That is near the visual limit. It will not pick up enemy installations due to clever jamming techniques. The last quadrant is on the right. This section gives you mission data. There are three indicator lights at the top. One tells when your ship has made contact with the ground. The second light flashes on when your base is near enough for docking. And the third one indicates whether the airlock on the ship is open or closed. Then there are 3 digital readouts...The first one marked "R" displays the range to a friendly pilot to be rescued. The second one labeled "E" keeps track of how many pieces of alien armament you blew up. And the third one labeled "P" reminds you of how many pilots you need to save before your base comes out to you. There are some other things to know about like the autosights, these are projected on your windshield when a target to blast is nearby. Your total mission score is printed on the top right of the screen. Messages from the ship's master computer are flashed on the upper left side of the screen. Last but not least is a good old magnetic compass mounted right above the windshield. Sounds like a lot to learn, but it is really easy and you should have no problem. Many cadets have mastered it and there are thousands of them flying around in these ships. Now on with the mission objective and profile. The objective of the mission is to rescue as many stranded pilots as you can without getting obliterated. Also, try to blow up every enemy craft and installation that is possible. The mission profile is as follows: Boot up your flight disk and board your spacecraft. Once aboard, you'll be facing a screen that shows what level you have selected. Use the arrow keys to change it, the range is 1-16. Then press the space bar to return and launch out to a planet. You'll see the screen split in two. Seconds later you are shot into space. The computer finds a suitable planet and then begins a short re-entry sequence. That only takes a few seconds too. You are now skimming the planet and looking for stranded pilots. Pay close attention to your two scopes, they are very useful and always reliable. When you see an enemy, blow him out of the sky with your photon cannons. When you spot a pilot's ship get ready to land near it. You should reduce speed to around 2 or 3 notches and fly close to ground, heed the warning of the micro-altimeter in quadrant 1. Look at your range display and make sure it is less than 3 units for the distance to the ship. If not, the pilot won't run that far. When it reads 2 you should start the landing sequence. If you are too high the computer won't land the ship. Upon a successful landing shut down your systems and wait for the pilot to salvage any fuel he can from his ship. He'll then give it to you upon boarding your ship. Be sure to open your airlock for the pilot. Sometimes it is best to leave the airlock shut till the pilot comes and knocks on it. There may be an alien instead of a pilot, in that case quickly power up systems and fly away. Usually the neutrino blast from the engines will kill the alien, it will also kill a pilot as well, we don't want a dead pilot. When the pilot is safely aboard, takeoff and continue with the mission. When you have enough pilots call your base. It'll give the computer the co-ordinates for a quick rendezvous in orbit. Then you are ready for another mission, the next one is harder. The higher ones have bad weather and changing between day and night. Your ship is durable, but try to avoid crashes and brush-bys, they drain energy. If your mission was well done you'll be able to record your name on a plaque with other pilots. When you are done with rescue operations give Space Station One a call at these galactic co-ordinates: 312-893-7346. Also check out Time Travel Ae at this location too: 312-529-6779. If there are any errors in this manual please report them at once, your co-operation is greatly appreciated. Cmdr. Cat