********* Welcome to Project 64! The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. Please accept our apologies for these limitations, alterations, and possible omissions. Document names are limited to the 8.3 file convention of DOS. The first characters of the file name are an abbreviation of the original document name. The version number of the etext follows next. After that a letter may appear to indicate the particular source of the document. Finally, the document is given a .TXT extension. The author(s) of the original document and members of Project 64 make no representations about the accuracy or suitability of this material for any purpose. This etext is provided "as-is". Please refer to the warantee of the original document, if any, that may included in this etext. No other warantees, express or implied, are made to you as to the etext or any medium it may be on. Neither the author(s) nor the members of Project 64 will assume liability for damages either from the direct or indirect use of this etext or from the distribution of or modification to this etext. Therefore if you read this document or use the information herein you do so at your own risk. ********* The Project 64 etext of ~Psi 5 Trading Co.~, converted to etext by anonymous, supplied by Jens Jindrak . PSI5TC10.TXT, August 1998, etext #390# Note from Jens: This is the manual for psi 5 trading co., my personal cbm favourite. I have no idea where it came from, only remember getting it upon request from a website that I can't remember and find anymore. Note from manager: Formatting was pretty bad, some blocks of text had to be broken up by context and may not match the original. ********* You are about to command your ship through one of the great edge-of-your seat adventures of the 35th Century. Summon your management skills and man the bridge. The physical and economic survival of the Psi 5 Trading Company is in your hands. You must first choose your cargo and course through the Parvin Frontier. Then select the best crew possible from a cast of human and nonhuman characters. As you take command of your space freighter on its perilous voyage, your challenge will be to command the mission by successfully managing your resources and allocating task assignments to your crew. TO START THE GAME For Commodore 64/128: 1. Turn off your Commodore 64 or 128 and remove all cartridges. 2. Connect your joystick to port 2. 3. Turn on your Commodore 64 or 128, disk drive and monitor. 4. After the red "busy" light on the disk drive goes off, Insert the Psi 5 disk into the disk drive with the label side up and close the disk drive door. 5. Type: LOAD "*". 8. 1 and press RETURN. For Apple II: 1. Insert the Psi 5 disk into the disk drive with the label side up and close the disk drive door. 2. Turn on your Apple Computer. TO PAUSE THE GAME For Commodore 64/128: Press the RUN STOP key. For Apple II: Press the ESC key. Press return or fire button to continue. CONTROLS In general, all game options may be selected by using the joystick or keyboard. Using the joystick, move the highlighting or cursor to the appropriate place and press the fire button. You can also (optionally) make your selection from the keyboard by pressing the key corresponding to the first letter (or number) of the desired command. Note: The function keys on the Commodore or direction keys on the Apple act as joystick control: Commodore Joystick Equivalent Apple F1 fire button up arrow F5 move left left arrow F7 move right right arrow COURSE SELECTION The display of possible courses will include their distance, cargo and reward/payment for completion. The larger rewards indicate greater risk, difficulty, danger and challenge in nature of your cargo. You must arrive at your destination within a reasonable length of time. To select your course, use the joystick and fire button (left = up, right = down) or enter the course number on the keyboard. CREW SELECTION In addition to the control console which you operate as captain, your space freighter has been retrofitted for five other departments scattered throughout its creaking hull. These are: Weapons, Scanning, Navigation, Engineering andRepair. You must carefully select your crew from thirty potential candidates-five groups of six individuals trained in each department specialty. These "assorted beings" consist of humanoids, aliens and vaccdroids, each with different backgrounds, skills, personalities and reactions under stress. The six candidates for a department position will be displayed. To examine the resume for any individual, type the first letter of the character's name or move the joystick and select by pressing the fire button. Once selected, the candidate's resume will be displayed for your scrutiny. The two options presented at the bottom of the screen will be "Welcome (name) to theCrew" or "Exit". The options may be selected by using the Joystick or typing W or E. "Welcome. . . " hires this person to fill the department position and the candidates for the next department will be displayed. "Exit" returns to the same department to allow You to examine the resumes of other candidates. TO PLAY After the last department crew member is selected, You will be prompted to remove the disk and flip it over to reinsert with the back side up. Then press the the RETURN key or fire button to continue. Play takes place with you (the Captain) sitting at the communications console. The ship's view of space will be displayed on the left console screen and the communications screen on the right will display the department crew member with whom you are interacting at any given time. There will also be indicators on the console showing weapons, motion, speed and pending messages.The initial command options (main menu) may be selected via keyboard orjoystick and include the ability to acknowledge pending messages(communications) from any department or interact with any specificdepartment. In general, when you select a department, you can examine thestatus of department activities or make (ask assignments/commands by removing, adding, or reprioritizing the list of functions to be performed by that crew member. Because time is money and you are in the freight business, we suggest the first command you give is to tell the Navigator to accelerate the ship to a given speed. If you (the Captain) don't issue specific orders, the crew persons in Repair, Weapons, and Scanning will eventually get bored and startperforming tasks on their own. The detailed command options for eachdepartment are described below. Note: Selecting "?" on any department command line will display pending messages. Note: A quick exit out of any department can be taken by pressing the CLR/HOME key for Commodore or =+ key for Apple. WEAPONS DEPARTMENT Status: Display statistics of past performance (i.e., number of shots and kills). Through this you can learn how effective the weapons specialist (crew member) is with each weapon. Display: Show the activity list (assignments) for the weapons specialist to perform. The information includes the type of weapon, number of shots, target (indicated by scanning ID). priority and status of weapons/target. Cancel: Removes a weapons command from the list. Rank: Reprioritizes the weapons list. Fire: Adds a command to the weapons list. SCANNING DEPARTMENT The general function is to identify and keep track of other vehicles in space. Status: Assigns ID letter to a new object in space and adds it to the end of the list. As time progresses. more of the following information is gathered regarding a target: Blinking Activity Character o)) blinking symbol appears if this object is being examined. (o) blinking bullseye appears if Weapons Department has outstanding orders for this target. the class (of people) type (friend or foe) locked on to continue tracking (L) position of object in space (P. O.) Position (PO) In Range Out of Range Fore (in front) Fi Fo Aft(behind) Ai Ao Port (left) Pi Po Starboard (right) Si So Display:This is a prioritized list of what the scanner crew person Is to do (examine). The Information shows damage to the target ship and recommended weapon to use.Cancel:Flemoves an action Item from the list.Rank:Reprioritlzes the list.Examine:Adds a target to the list to be examined. Note: Before the Weapons Dep;rtment can fire upon a target. the Scanning Department must examine the target long determine class and damage and suggest a weapon. This is enough to get a lock on It. Continued examination will done by adding the target to the scanning list at a high priority and waiting to give the scanning crew member enough lime lo fill in the appropriate data. NAVIGATION DEPARTMENT In this department, the crew member can fly a specific course/speed and control evasive maneuvering.Status:This displays course description which Includes shortest path. medium deviation to Porl/starboard, and full Port/starboard circumvention. it also shows estimated time of arrival (ETA). risk factor, requested speed, Current speed and evasive maneuvering. INF (information) scanner must be operational for PSK (Risk) column to operate. For RETA (relative estimated time of arrival): means early. Means late.Display:Shows prioritized list of possible courses.Cancel:Eliminates evasive maneuvering.Rank:Selects course,Accel:Sets speed and allows selection of standard or evasive maneuvering, ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT This department is responsible for managing and allocating power oriented devices that can be controlled. Different sections of the ship can be shut down to conserve energy (i.e.. the port shields can be turned off it the pirates are on the starboard side). Defensive weapons such as shields require a set amount of energy just to be turned on (in operation). They can deflect an enemy shot 5by countering it with an equal amount of energy which is drawn from reserve battery power (it the charge is sufficient). Note that engine power consumption is variable, depending on actual speed.Status,This displays the Device ID, a description of It, and Its enabled state. The ' idevice types include shields, weapons. Information Scanner and two batteries.Display:Show classes of power, power drain, level of activation (yes, no, partial).Rank:Prioritizes devices in relationship to available power and thus determines which devices are on, partially on (subject to "Brown Outs") and off. As an example, if in Navigation the speed requested = 5 but the current speed = 4. it Is because the engines are only partially on (at a lower priority on the list).Cancel Unlike corresponding commands In other departments which and act upon the "Display" list, these cancel or enable devices on theEnable:status list. This will cause a corresponding change of status to RqC (Request cancel) or RqE (Request enable) for pending requests. REPAIR DEPARTMENT This department is responsible for repairing damaged devices on the ship. There are three forms of damage to a device: 1. It can still operate (at a higher power consumption), 2.The damage can be repaired. 3.The device is destroyed/dead and cannot be repaired. The repair person is assisted by a number of robodroids. When one of them is re-allocated or completes a task, they won't be immediately available. It will take some time for them to return to the department, get tools. assignments and instructions before they can begin their next task. The robodrolds can have the following status: 1.Active - available to work. 2.Damaged - will become an item to be repaired. 3.Dead - Can never be reactivated. Looting Note: It your ship is helpless (where engines. shields and weapons are not functioning), the pirates can board your vessel and start looting. You will slowly lose your cargo until one of the above items is repaired. Status:The first number on the first line indicates the number of robodroids ready for assignment. The second number indicates total robodroids available, although some may be broken, in transit. or working on a job. This lists up to the first 16 items to be repaired and includes I/D, description, ETFI (estimated time of repair) and items being worked on currently (indicated by '). A blinking check mark ( N/ ) appears before the item ID it a repair order has been given to fix the device. 6Display@Shows what is currently being repaired (up to 8 items) and how many robodrolds are working on it (and the number of them assigned to work on 11). Cancel:Removes an item from the repair list. Rank:Reprioritizes the repair list.Assign:Adds an Item to be repaired (and number of robodrolds to work on it) to the repair list.TO RESTAR T.- Selecting the QUIT function from the main menu allows you to restart the game with the existing course and crew selection. SUGGESTED TRAINING MISSION.-As an introduction to the game to gain familiarity with the functions and better understand the interrelationship between departments, try the following procedure for your first mission. 1)Select the ENGINEERING department and prioritize the ships power classes to shields, weapons, charge shield battery, scanners. engines. and charge emergency battery using DISPLAY and several RANK commands. 2)Select the NAVIGATION department and accelerate the ship to speed 1 using the ACCELERATE command. 3)Select the SCANNING department and get a status report by using the STATUS command. 4)Watch scanning status until the first unknown vehicle Is detected. 5)Select NAVIGATION and use ACCELERATE to stop the ship. 6)Select SCANNING and use EXAMINE to get detailed Information on the first vehicle. 7)Use scanning DISPLAY to watch for class of vehicle, damage,. and' suggested weapon to be filled in. 8)Do a STATUS command. 9)Select WEAPONS and FIRE AT-WILL at the target using the suggested weapon. 10)Experiment with STATUS and DISPLAY functions within both the SCANNING and WEAPONS departments. 11) After the target is destroyed, repeat steps 2 through 7 and remember: use the run/stop key to pause the game so you can catch your breath and gather your thoughts. To continue playing. any key will start up the game 12)Select ENGINEERING and turn some shields off using STATUS and CANCEL. 13)Select WEAPONS and FIRE one shot at a target, This will make them mad, even if they are normally friendly, 14)Select REPAIR and get a STATUS report. Observe entries being added as hostile targets shoot at your ship. 15)ASSIGN one robodroid each to fix several items. Flip back and forth between STATUS and DISPLAY. 16)When you have had enough, select ENGINEERING and use STATUS and several ENABLE commands to turn the shields back on. 17)Complete the repairs, start the ship moving. experiment, and enjoy! Of course,being Captain on a space frieghter full of unknow equipment can be intimidating. The best way to be is to Imagine yourself actually as the captain andYour duties as captain require you to investigate and monitor the different crew members and departments often. Working too long in one department, while ignoring some others can lead to your downfall. A wise strategy is to load up your repair, scanning, and weapons officers with several tasks. This will insure they will stay productive while you are busy elsewhere; One powerful capability of the ship's computer is to monitor one department's STATUS or DISPLAY while giving commands In another. Here are some playing hints on a department basis: Weapons:Confirm targets to be hostile (foes) or known enemies before shooting normally peaceful ships. Scanning:Examine any new targets as quickly as possible. Navigation:Be sure to monitor the RISK column on the STATUS report. Change course to avoid overwhelming odds, but not as often to delay reaching your destination. Engineering:Pick power priorities to match your strategy. Consider turning off (CANCEL) power to individual items to increase your power management options. Repair:Be sure to fix mission critical components as soon as possible. (such as cargo support devices, life support systems, and power reactors). Fix other items as to best serve your strategy. If damage seems out of your control, it is often wise to stop the ship, divert power to shields and weapons, and fight between many actions depend on the Psi 5 ship to be in working order. If something appears not to be working, check the Engineering STATUS and DISPLAY, the Repair STATUS, and ACKNOWLEDGE messages to gain clues to possible causes.We have given you enough information to be well on your way. We have purposely not given you every gruesome detail, because there Is fun In learning by using your mind, Imagination. common sense, and by experimenting. I wish you the best of luck on your perilous mission and may the winds of Xaldur be In your favorite was not easy to fit the entire 35th Century on two sides of a floppy disk. Please let me know how you like the Psi 5 Trading Company and what aspects you enjoy the most, You can write to me at Accolade, Inc., 20863 Stevens Creek Blvd., B-5/E. Cupertino, CA 95014. Sincerely, OaAdmiral Mike Lo en [Star Base 27 Command] *********