Ships

All ships are controlled by a fixed number of attributes. These attributes control the ships speed, acceleration, turn rate, weaponry, shield strength etc. This section briefly explains how these attributes function.

Displays

The tactical displays are shown on the right side of the screen. The upper display is the position display. It shows the actual positions of all ships relative to your flagship. You may set the magnification of this display to allow for a finer resolution. The lower display is the ships' Systems Status display. It shows the condition of five ship systems. They are the Phaser Banks, Torpedo Tubes, Probe Launchers, Warp Drives, and Shields.

Within the System Status display a period is used to indicate a system is discharged or turned off. If this symbol is blinking it tells you that the system has been damaged and is non-functional.

The dash, equal and triple equal symbols are used by the Bank and Tube systems to indicated the last three cycles of their charge time. The small 'o' symbol is used by the Tube and Launcher systems to indicated a loaded and ready condition. The Warp Drives and Shields use the three shaded solid block symbols to indicated the state of these systems. For the Warp drive they indicated temperature, for the Shields they indicated strength. A blink block tells you a system is about to fail.

Display related commands are: Scan, Range.

Helm

The helm controls the direction and velocity of the ship. The ship will not always respond instantly to helm commands. Response depends on the size of the ship you are commanding and the current helm settings. Generally, the larger the ship or the faster the current speed, the slower the ship will respond to course and speed changes. The exception to this is that all ships respond instantly if the current speed and the requested speed are both warp one or less. For specific ship class attributes, consult your ships' library computer or refer to Appendix C.

Helm related commands are: Helm, Pursue, Elude, Report.

Weaponry

Available to you are a three different weapon systems that vary from ship class to ship class. Most ships have all three although of few of the smaller ships do not. These weapons are Phasers, Torpedoes and Probes.

All phasers banks and torpedo tubes may be locked on a specified ship or turned to a specified relative angle off the current heading (mark). The target or course of a probe is specified at launch time since probes are "smart" in that they may pursue a specified target or course and may be controlled after they leave the ship.

Phasers are short range weapons that hit their target instantaneously. The closer you are to the target, the better the hit. Torpedoes travel at a specific velocity determined by the class of torpedo your ship carries although it is generally very fast. If the tube is locked on a target, the tube will "lead" the target to compensate for the target's course and velocity. Most classes of torpedo cannot change course once they are fired.

Probes are very slow in comparison to torpedoes. The advantage of a probe is the ability to pursue a target, and it's relatively large warhead. Probes may also be controlled after they are launched. They may be set to a specific heading or re-locked on to a target. Consult your ships library computer for specifics on these weapons or refer to Appendix C. Weaponry related commands are: Fire, Lock, Turn, Status, Torp, Phaser, Probe

Shields

Shields protect the ship from being damaged by enemy (or ally) weapons. A shield will weaken in proportion to the magnitude of the hit on that shield. This type of damage is actually only temporary and the shield will regenerate slowly over time. If the hit is larger than the shield can absorb, then the ship will sustain damaged.

The amount of damage will depend on the strength of the hit. Any of the ships systems may be damaged including the shields maximum strength. This damage is permanent and may only reduce the effectiveness of the system as in the case of reactors, engines or shields, or may totally disable the system as with phaser banks or torpedo tubes.

Shield related commands are: Raise, Lower, Status, Shields

Status

All commands will result in the ending of your "turn" except for commands that only display status. The status command will display the current state of the entire ship, phaser banks, torpedo tubes, probe launchers, shields or active probes. This also includes scanning enemy or ally vessels and ally reports.

Status related commands are: Report, Status, Banks, Tubes, Launchers

Computer

All ships are equipped with a library computer. The library computer will display information on any ship class, torpedo class or probe. Appendix C contains a copy of all information available throught the library computer.

Computer related commands are: Library, Computer, Help

Damage Control

All ships have a damage control crew which automatically makes repairs to any disabled ship system. The efficiency of damage control is related to the number of crew remaining. Once a system has been fully repaired you will receive a message informing you that repairs have been completed. The condition of your damage control is displayed on the damage report.

Damage related commands are: Damage