ABSOLUTE ZERO


*****MANUAL CORRECTIONS*****

The following are changes for various sections of the manual.

TARGETING SIGHT
(See the "Game Controls" section)
Instead of the sight glowing red in the edge(s) as you move closer, and then turning green when you have a good shot, the sight now uses a Lead Reticle to compute where the target will be and where you should fire according to the speed of your weapon.

There is a Yellow "Lead" box to tell you where your best shot at hitting the locked-onto target is. When you line up the Crosshair with the Lead Reticle, the Crosshair will become enhanced in red to show you you're lined up properly.

This is the most accurate way to fire, but remember that the Lead is only showing where the target will be based on current information. Should the target change course after you pull the trigger, you will still miss.

Also, the info next to the target sight will change colors to indicate the heat status of your weapon. Green is cool. Yellow is hot. Red is on the brink of overheating. If your weapon overheats, you can't fire it until it cools for a while.

ALSO NOTE: When you lock onto a target, the "Virtual Arrow" appears in the lower middle of your visor screen. It points directly at the target you've locked onto so you can keep track of it even when it moves off-screen. The red ball floating by the point of the arrow is the "front" of the pointer.

MOVEMENT CONTROLS
(See the "Game Controls" section)
Missing from these tables are the Maneuvering Thrusters (a.k.a. Maneuver Verniers). They can slew the vehicle right or left without banking it, to help you maneuver. Some vehicles (like the Maglock and the Valkyrie), have excellent Thrusters, allowing them to turn on a dime in mid-air, while others (like the air-car), should rely more on banking for turns. Use the "," and "." keys (which are also the < and > keys when shifted) to utilize your Thrusters.

The "Braking Thrusters" have been linked permanently to your throttle for ease of control. Now, whenever you choose a throttle setting below your current speed, you will decelerate to that speed as quickly as possible with all Thrusters firing. Therefore, no key option is available for Braking Thrusters.

WEAPON AND DEFENSE CONTROLS
(See the "Game Controls" section)
Several key commands were changed to allow joystick sets to be created. Many "specialty keys" (i.e., caps lock, shift, etc.), can't be used with joysticks.

W  Change weapon
S  Erect force shell
D  Blackout device/theta generator

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
(See the "Game Controls" section)
There is no "score" feature in the game.

DAYLOGS
(See the "VR Tunnel Interface" section)
No voice audio is available for daylogs or e-mail.

VR HELMET
(See the "Background" section)
Two things not mentioned on the Diagram are Airspeed and Altitude. There are two increasing bars on the HUD to display this. On the HUD, on the lower left, is an Altitude Indicator. This shows how many Meters off the ground you are, and it turns red whenever you drop below 100 meters. You have a flight ceiling of 3,000 meters.

To the lower right is the Airspeed indicator, showing your current speed in Kilometers per hour (KPH). Watch to make sure you don't accidentally set your speed below your Minimum Speed (see Flight Characteristics), or you may be getting a severe case of Low Altitude Sickness real soon.

To the right and left of the Crosshair, you will see the Pitch Ladder. This shows your angle from the horizon, in 10 degree increments. This is read by reading the number closest to the center (crosshair). For example if it reads -5, you are in a 50 degree dive towards the ground.

Above the Clock is a Damage Bar, showing you how much armor you have remaining. This bar only shows up if you don't have the Damage MFD in an MFD window.

SCANNER
(See the "Scene Info 1-6" section)
The scanner has become an automatic function and information is gained on any object destroyed. This information is reflected in the InfoStat portion of the interface after a mission is completed. You no longer have to fire a scanner--it has become a passive sensory device.

PULSE LASER
(See the "Scene Info 1-6" section)
The barrage is 1 shot, not 4 as indicated.

FORCE FIELD
(See the "Scene Info 1-6" section)
One thing should be noted, a Force Field will only stop a percentage of the shot that hit you, and the larger your vehicle, the less percentage it will stop, even at maximum effectiveness. Some higher-powered weapons will still do damage to you even when your shield is fully "up".

One other thing that can't be stressed enough is that when you fire, your shield is down. A mini-MAAC may be a great weapon, but all the time it's firing you are defenseless.

FUSION MISSILES
(See the "Scene Info 1-6" section)
Fusion missiles may only be fired at air targets.

FORCE SHELL
(See the "Scene Info 7-13" section)
The Force Shell has been upgraded since the manual was printed. The Shell, when activated, adds +100% to your Force Field's strength, and lasts for approximately 10 seconds. During this time, your weapons will be useless (you can't fire through the shell). After it shuts down, there is a high probability of the Force Shell generator burning out, preventing you from erecting the Shell again. However, your Force Field will still function.

TUNNEL BREAKER MISSILES
(See the "Scene Info 7-13" section)
Tunnel breakers may only be fired at ground targets.

*****GAME SET-UP*****

BEGINNING A GAME
Double-click on the "Absolute Zero" icon. Then, after the initial loading is complete just click on "New Game" and type in what you'd like the name of your saved game to be.

The column on the right (with the slider bar), allows you to select a scenario to play. At first, you'll only be able to select "What's Out There?" but later, after you complete a few scenarios, you'll be able to select which one you wish to play.

If you have NOT completed a scenario, a dash will precede the scenario name. If you HAVE completed a scenario, a diamond will precede it instead.

You can start up to three different games if you desire. To load a new game, just click on the button with the appropriate saved name and the program will load the status of that game.

When you are ready, just click on "Start" to begin play.

****DO THIS BEFORE YOU BEGIN PLAYING****

Once you get to the VR Tunnel, move your mouse up to the upper, left corner of the screen and pull down the "File" menu to select "Visor Controls".

The "Visor Controls" screen will then appear over the top of the VR Tunnel. The control screen is shown above so you'll know if you're in the right place.

SPEED OPTIONS
There are four speed options you can use to enhance gameplay if you'd like to speed your game speed during play. They are:

Flat Shading
This turns off the gouraud-shading of the terrain and shows you flat-shaded polygons instead. Although the terrain visual is not as visually exciting, this can increase the gameplay speed.

No Sky
Well...there is still a sky, but Jupiter and the stars won't be in it. This takes little away from gameplay, but gives you a small increase in speed.

Line Skipping
This lets the program draw every other vertical line on your screen. This makes the overall picture a bit darker, but speeds up the program.

Low Resolution
This doubles the size of each pixel, allowing the computer to do a lot less work to draw your screen.

AESTHETICS
Show Intro
This toggles the intro sequence on or off. The intro normally plays each time the game is restarted.

Voiceovers
When marked, all voiceovers in the VR Tunnel segments are played as soon as you see them. If toggled off, then voiceovers only play if you hit the sound symbol at the top of the screen.

Show Lose Screen
If toggled off, then losing a scenario moves you straight to the VR Tunnel.

Auto-Hints
When "on", you receive a mission hint immediately after you lose a scenario. If toggled off, you don't automatically receive these hints, but must pull down the "File" menu and select "Hints" to receive them.

SOUND
Although fairly self-explanatory, you can adjust the various sound portions of the game to your own personal tastes. The default settings are recommended for the full game experience. It is highly recommended that you DO NOT turn off voices.

CONTROLS
Your keyboard settings can all be adjusted to your personal preference by clicking on the "Settings..." button. Once inside "Settings...", just click on one of the keystrokes you'd like to change and then type a new letter on the keyboard to change it. There are four screens of key commands you can alter.

Once you are satisfied with your keyset, click on the "Save" button, enter the name of your new keyset and then click "Save" again to keep it for future use. You may have as many keysets as you desire.

There are also several example keysets you may choose from if you'd like to see some alternate layouts.

Once you decide on your keyset, then decide on which type of controller you'll use in the game: keyboard, mouse or joystick.

If you'd like to use a keyboard, then click on the "Keyboard" button.

If you want to use a mouse, then click the "Mouse" button.

If you want to use a joystick, then click the "Joystick" button.

You are now ready to play. Click on the left cheek screen to go back to the VR Tunnel and begin your Absolute Zero experience!

*****FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS*****

All the air vehicles have different Flight Modeling, so each one handles differently than the others.

The CHARGER has a standard flight model, with average maneuverability and good speed. Maneuver Thrusters on the Charger are weak, so slewing will be a problem, but it pitches and rolls quite well. Max speed--750. Min speed--150.

The DRAGONFLY has a slower flight model and less maneuverability, but has a lot more armor and armament. It's Thrusters help make up for the maneuverability deficiency. Max speed--625. Min speed--100.

The MAGLOCK is a bear to fly. It's lack of speed and maneuverability make it a pain in the butt, but its damage potential (in both how much it can take and inflict), is unmatched. It's Thrusters are remarkable and should be used as the primary source for turning and rotating. Max speed--500. Min speed--50.

The VALKYRIE is a hot-rod. The fastest most maneuverable, (and least armed and armored), vehicle the Terrans have. The Val does not appear in the game until the Force Field is in use and it has the best shield in the game. It's Thrusters are excellent, making it the most agile thing in the sky. Max speed--875. Min speed--200.

NOTE: Be careful not to go lower than the minimum speed or you'll start to drop out of the sky!

*****GENERAL PLAYING HINTS*****

Play with headphones on to get the full stereo '3D sound' effect. This helps you judge where the other objects are in reference to your own position.

If what you're doing gets you killed, then change your tactics. Be flexible.

Many of the aliens are agile fliers. "Joust" with them by going to max velocity, getting some distance, and then doubling back to shoot again.

Shields take energy to sustain. The same amount of energy is expended to deflect low-powered shots as high-powered shots. Use your low-powered, high rate of fire weapons to take enemy shields down and then hit them with your big guns.

When playing as a turret, USE YOUR VIEWS! It's much faster to look left then to spin left.

Learn to use your speed keys when flying. Moving at the same velocity all the time gives your enemy too much advantage. Vary your speed and you'll do a lot better.

Use your positional thrusters to line up shots. It's a lot easier than trying to bank or roll into position.

Your Target ID window is quite useful for identifying long-range opponents.

The aliens tend to do the same things in the same situations (like we do). Learn their tactics and anticipate their moves.

The aliens are not afraid of ramming you. Beware.

If your missiles never seem to hit, watch the aliens closely. They may be shooting them out of the air. They can't do that if you fire the missiles from behind them.

Pay attention to your speed. If you go too slow, you'll fall out of the sky. A fun option--cut your engines, fall a bit, then go to max thrust again. You can change altitudes quickly this way.

Remember, whenever you fire, your shield is DOWN! If you can't avoid a collision, stop firing!

*****ABOUT THIS MANUAL*****

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This manual is set up to do three things:

1) Begin acclimating you to your new environment on Europa;

2) Familiarize you with key commands and interface items, and;

3) Give you specific game control information for each scenario you play through.

This information is not complete. A great deal of information will be given to you during the game as you progress.

If you thoroughly read the manual, you will gain information that lets you fully understand your surroundings and "hit the ground running" as far as gameplay is concerned.

However, it is not necessary to read this manual. But this manual will give you a lot of hints and tips, so you might want to come back to it later if you're frustrated.

*****GAME SYNOPSIS*****

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The year is 2374 A.D.
The Terrans have been mining the Jovian system for over 110 years. Since Europa has large amounts of water ice available to refuel space craft (which utilize fusion drives), it was the first of Jupiter's moons to be colonized. There are three cities on Europa: Orion, Aegis, and Europa City. They hold well over 200,000 people. All of these people are associated with mining in some way, shape, or form.

Recently the "core bore" operations on Europa (mining the rocky center of the moon), detected an open space within the core. They dug close to it and awakened a long-sleeping race of aliens. The aliens reacted angrily, killing the miners in the core and used a powerful weapon to blow their way out of the moon's interior, destroying the colony's capitol, Europa City, in the process.

The Terrans are now faced not only with humankind's first extraterrestrial contact, but also their first extraterrestrial war. Since the colony is not a military base, few weapons or specialized military vehicles exist. Everything has to be cobbled together from existing mining devices, extra side plating, guts and ingenuity.

Since one person is rarely critical in all places, you'll move from character to character as they become pivotal in the storyline. In addition, you'll fly and drive vehicles, as well as helping to man defensive positions during alien attacks, offensive campaigns, scouting missions, and rescue attempts.

The world is large and varied and you will be in, on, and above most of it. From the extensive drydock maintenance facilities, to operational mining areas, to the gigantic floating arcologies, you'll see the Europan colony in full working order. You'll also go inside mines, through alien tunnels, and get up close and personal to some of the large alien structures.

The VR Tunnel interface allows you to outfit your vehicles, hear news from all over Europa and the entire solar system, read your character's diary information and e-mail, as well as to receive briefings and examine intelligence on the alien crafts.

As the game progresses, RepDep will provide you with improved vehicles, weaponry, and defenses as your missions become more ambitious and complicated. Be sure to refer to this manual and the VR Tunnel interface as the game progresses so you can best utilize the new technology when it comes about.

*****GAME CONTROLS*****

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VR VISOR
Your visor jacks into the vehicle console and displays all the informational systems at your command. You normally see the "ghost" lines of your vehicle outside the helmet's confines so you have reference of which way you're looking through the vehicle.

You can toggle off the VR visor so your vision is unimpaired and you see nothing but the vehicle ghost lines and any forward view gauges you have turned on.

Key: m
Function:Toggles the entire VR visor on/off. Forward view functions and ghost lines still show.

FORWARD VIEW DISPLAYS
Your "forward view" consists of four things: the pitch ladder, your radar screens, the targeting sight, and a compass. These four items can all be on, off, or in any combination of on/off possible (i.e., the pitch ladder and target sight are on, but the radars are off). You begin each scenario with all forward view gauges in the "on" position.

Compass
The compass gives you directional information telling you which way you're facing. The numbers on the compass are the degrees from north (counted clockwise). These are simplified by removing the trailing zero on the number (i.e., 120 degrees from north is shown as "12" on the compass). Simple math shows you that 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees is south, 270 degrees is west and zero degrees is north.

Pitch Ladder
The pitch ladder gives immediate visual information as to which way the vehicle is banking, as well as its climb/dive speed. The ladder tilts left and right as you bank each respective direction. Also, the horizontal lines in the ladder move vertically at increasing speed the faster you climb or dive.

Radars
When you toggle this feature on, you get two displays. The one on the left is your "boresight" radar. This radar looks straight ahead of the vehicle in a cone shaped field--the farther out you look, the smaller the cone. The radar on the right is the "topdown" radar. This gives you an overhead view looking down on the area you're at. All non-friendly craft on radar are shown as red, and all friendlies are blue.

Each of the radars can be adjusted to three different scales:

Boresight can be viewed with a 40km range/20-degree cone; a 20km range/45-degree cone, or a 10km range/90-degree cone.

Topdown can be viewed at a 10km, 5km, or 2km radius. The advantage to lower radius views is a greater degree of separation between the objects.

Targeting Sight (Crosshairs)
The targeting sight reflects the type of weapon selected. There are separate sights for laser, particle accelerators, projectile throwers, and payload delivery mechanisms. Each of those sights give you hints as to where you need to position it to hit a target. As you move the crosshairs, the sight will compute the lead time necessary to hit the target and it will glow red in the edge(s) you should move the sight toward to increase your chance of hitting. If you're very near the spot the computer determines to be optimal, the sight will glow green all around.

In addition, the crosshairs have heat and ammo information next to them so you don't have to look at the MFD screen each time you want weapon information. The small colored light next to the crosshair glows green if the weapon can fire and red if it's overheated or is reloading. A number next to the crosshair indicates how much ammo is remaining in the weapon.

Key: z
Function: Toggles the compass on/off

Key: x
Function: Toggles the pitch ladder on/off

Key: c
Function: Toggles the radar screens on/off

Key: v
Function: Toggles the boresight radar to the next range/cone setting. Cycling three times returns you to the first setting.

Key: b
Function: Toggles the topdown radar to the next range/cone setting. Cycling three times returns you to the first setting.

Key: n
Function: Toggles the crosshairs on/off

Key: ctrl
Function: Changes weapons (and turns on crosshair if toggled off)

MFD SCREENS
The MFD screens are commonly referred to as "cheek" screens because they are located in the lower left and right corners of the VR visor you see when piloting your vehicle. There are six different software modules you can toggle through while playing the game. Not all of these modules are available at the start of the game. Some are added as new devices are invented during the progress of the story. The various modules are described in Scene Information so you can read about them as you progress.

Each of the two MFD screens can display any of the six modules--you can even have both screens displaying the same information if you so desire.

Key: [
Function: Toggles your left MFD screen one screen forward. Toggling through all six screens brings you back to the first one.

Key: ]
Function: Toggles your right MFD screen one screen forward. Again, cycling through them all brings you back to the first one.

MOVEMENT CONTROLS
Movement works with joystick, mouse, or keyboard controls.

JOYSTICK & MOUSE CONTROLS:
Pull back
Climb or pivot turret up

Push forward
Dive or pivot turret down

Push left
Bank left or pivot turret left

Push right
Bank right or pivot turret right

Button 1
Fire weapon

Button 2
Cycle to next weapon choice

Button 3
Target lock the current enemy in your crosshairs

If your joystick has analog throttle controls, you can alter your speed by using those controls. Otherwise, you'll need to use the keyboard controls listed below for speed changes.

KEYBOARD COMMANDS:
Down arrow
Climb or pivot turret up

Up arrow
Dive or pivot turret down

Left arrow
Bank left or pivot turret left

Right arrow
Bank right or pivot turret right

1-9
Throttle set to percentage of maximum (1 = 10%, 2 = 20%, etc.)

0
Maximum throttle

-
Decelerate 10% of velocity per second in 1% increments

+
Accelerate 10% of velocity per second in 1% increments

`|v105,0.Braking thrusters (doubles normal deceleration)

WEAPON AND DEFENSE CONTROLS
space
Fire weapon

ctrl
Cycle to next weapon choice

bksp/delete
Toggle through available enemies (when Target I.D. MFD is on)

shift
Erect force shell

caps lock
Use blackout device or theta generator

t
Target lock the current enemy sighted in your crosshairs

VIEW CONTROLS
o
toggles between outside view and VR visor view

The view controls are toggled between panning the view around and snapping the view completely to one of the cardinal directions. If your VR visor is turned on, then the visor's displays will move with your head no matter where your view turns.

insert
toggles between the two control sets|v0,0.

-------------------------------1------------------------------
del
Rotate view left

page down
Rotate view right

home
Rotate view up

end
Rotate view down

page up
Rotate view back to front and center|v0,0.

-------------------------------2------------------------------
del
Left view

page down
Right view

home
Forward view

end
Rear view

page up
Look up

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
esc
Quit

p
Pause

h
Help screen (summary of keyboard commands)

s
Score (lists of kills, friendly deaths, efficiency ratings, etc.)

enter
Enter the virtual reality (when VR Tunnel MFD is on)

g
Toggle ground grid on and off

*****VR TUNNEL INTERFACE*****

When you start the game, and when you enter the VR Tunnel by clicking on the appropriate MFD module, you gain access to a network of information used throughout the Europan colony. There are six branches within the tunnel for your use. Each of these areas accesses different types of information, each of which is described below.

OVERLINK
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Originally designed for EMC managers to coordinate field teams, OverLink is useful for giving information quickly and graphically when allocating resources and determining personnel placement. Merely entering this area triggers a briefing on the task chosen for you and your teammates. Audio can be played, or not played, by hitting the "Sound" button on the left of the screen.

INFOSTAT
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This library section gives you constant updates on any modifications made in RepDep as well as providing information on any new models in the field. You can gain a great appreciation for the vehicles you're driving or piloting by paying attention to this area.

REPDEP
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RepDep is the maintenance area in the VR tunnel. Here, requests for repairs and modifications are made and SysDef units have even used RepDep to outfit weapons on their vehicles.

ENN
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The Earth News Network is the community's link to the Inner System as well as a constant source of news here in the colony. InterSol is the inner system news network, while LocalNet is the EMC broadcast channel. A new feature, In-Depth, commonly airs items that are topical on that day and provide understanding and background. News items are stored for long periods of time, so they can be reviewed at your convenience. All news items are read aloud, if desired, by hitting the "Sound" button on the left of the screen.

DAYLOGS
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The colonists on Europa generally feel responsible to leave a living record for future generations to look back on as they carve a living out of an iceball far from the warmer inner system. To do so, almost everyone keeps a diary and an e-mail archive in the Daylog section. Entries can be reviewed at any time. Daylogs are voice-recorded, so playback can either be through audio or text, as you desire.

GEODAT
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This cartographical section is used, at one time or another, by almost every individual on Europa. Besides providing excellent topographical detail on the EMC area of Europa, it can often be cross-referenced with OverLink to allow crews to review route information (by hitting the "Overlay" button), without needing to contact their supervisors via OverLink again.


OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
EMC and Authority announcements, as well as emergency bulletins, are displayed in marquee-style across the text window at forehead level. The messages move across at a moderate reading rate and loop when finished to allow you to read any material missed. The announcements are displayed at all times while in the VR tunnel.
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*****BACKGROUND*****

WHO ARE WE?
The Europan Project was founded by the Europan Mining Coalition, a group of megacorps working together to fund this extensive endeavor. The colony started with Landfall over 110 years ago at the site of Europa City and the landing of the first colony pods. As soon as the colonists had landed, the resource materials that were launched behind them began to arrive and the colony began growing.

A bit over a century later, the colony has grown to over 200,000 people, three of the mile-wide arcologies, 13 major mining complexes, and hundreds of minor ground installations. The colonists have created outposts at Ganymede, Callisto, the Asteroid Belt, and in orbit around Io.

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And the Coalition has prospered mightily. Recently, however, Earth Authority has been sending System Defense (SysDef) people to Europa "in case of inter-corp conflicts"--which is usually the catch-phrase meaning that other megacorps may be planning a very hostile takeover. No major equipment has arrived as yet, so most people aren't overly alarmed, but the spectre of hostilities now hovers above the colonists' heads.

JUPITER AND EUROPA
Europa is one of the four major moons of Jupiter. There is no official count of the actual number of moons of Jupiter, simply because no one has been able to decide on the minimum size of an object to be classified as a moon. There are thousands of objects rotating around Jupiter in and around its thin ring system.

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Jupiter's magnetosphere is a tremendous drag on its moons. In the case of Io, this creates violent vulcanism as the drag, and the gravitic tidal forces, push and pull that moon's core into molten rock. In Europa's case this causes the ice to buckle, crack, and melt causing massive seismic quakes and an odd sort of water vulcanism as warmed water rises quickly through the ice cracks to freeze again on the surface.

This sort of seismic disturbance is fairly constant, although mostly on a minor scale. However, the EMC projects commonly rely on sophisticated seismic equipment to warn them enough to get up and off Europa's surface when large quakes are coming.

For mining operations and factory equipment, this means having maglock and skyjumper units available for quick pick-up operations to avoid quake damage. For the larger operations, such as the CoreBore Station, massive shock reduction facilities are in place to prevent misalignment of the fusion cannon there.

But, in the case of civilian life, the EMC authorities have gone a step further. The arcologies have massive propulsion units in them allowing them to counteract Europa's 1/6g pull and lift off the surface. They are capable of sustaining that lift for up to 10 hours before the engines need to be shut off and maintenanced.

To allow the cities to grow with population, the "suburb" design was implemented. This allows smaller archeology segments to link with the main city body and create a cohesive unit when on the ground, but lets them break free from the main body to lift off under their own power when conditions make it necessary. This puts less strain on the main body's propulsion systems and ensures less loss of life should some disaster occur.

The civilian population commonly uses aircars and skybikes to move from city to city, but most in-complex travel is done via hovercar. New models of these three vehicles change from year to year as new designs and craft are brought from farther in-system, but the basic forms are always similar.

MINING OPERATIONS
Europa is important to EMC operations for three reasons: plentiful water ice for fusion engine refueling; as a home base for operations on the other Jovian moons and the asteroid belt; and lastly, for the minerals locked within its icy mantle from millennia of frozen meteoric collisions.

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EMC mineral operations are based on two things: available ore deposits and available manpower. Until the last 20-30 years, Europan efforts have been mostly restricted by manpower. The original Landfallers only brought about 1500 people to Europa and most concerns were with establishing a base and surviving the day-to-day trials of existence on the Jovian moon.

Out of this came the use of mining drones. Drones were designed to be carried in the undercarriage of a flying transport vehicle, namely, the Dragonfly. This vehicle carries the drones to a specific site pinpointed by GeoDat and releases the drones to carry out their programmed actions.

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The drone then flies, under its own power, to that site. There it releases a micromesh net on the surface and trails a long, heavily insulated umbilical, along with its rear processing unit, behind it as it uses its powerful lasers to melt through the ice. It follows the pre-programmed path to the deposits and then flash vaporizes the mineral deposits through a process known as EHT (Extremely High Temperature) mining. These gaseous vapors are then vacuumed through the drone's large forward vents and passed through the heated umbilical until finally reaching the processing unit. This unit slowly cools the gases until the specific flashpoint for each element is reached. When that element recondenses, it is passed to the solidifying chamber before finally being passed out to the net. Each element in turn is thus collected.

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When finished, the drone returns to the surface and broadcasts a signal to the Dragonfly's crew. The vehicle then returns for pickup and lifts the drone and net to return to the mineral depot.

At the depot, the minerals are placed in an ore bin and picked up by either M.U.L.E. or Maglock, dependent on the roughness of terrain needing to be crossed. They then take the ore to either a nearby collection point or directly to the Magrail station. M.U.L.E. trains are common sights across the ice fields as the tractors pull 5-10 trailers each in large convoys on a daily basis.

Once the ore reaches storage, it is eventually queued up for delivery to orbit on the MagRail. This facility is basically a gigantic magnetically-accelerated cannon. Ore, (and sometimes people in specially-designed capsules), are placed within a bullet-shaped, engine-less vehicle and then loaded into the Launcher's accelerator housing. When acceleration is applied to the load, magnetic fields on the line create a near frictionless cushion to ride upon. Each stage of the accelerator kicks the orecar into higher and higher speed until finally, the orecar leaves the rail and is launched into a stable orbit around Europa.

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Then, once monthly, company freighters come by to pick up the orecars in orbit. This arrangement prevents freighters from having to land on Europa's surface and allows the company to save money by building its freighters for zero-g environs only. In fact, even the freighters' fuel (ice water), is delivered into orbit for them.

Once every two months crew freighters come by the Europan colony for pickup and delivery of personnel. Until those two months are up, only civilian transports (few and far between), come and go to the Europan world. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the colony be self-sufficient--help is a long way off.

VR HELMETS
During the corpwars of the last century, vast improvements were made in the way that pilots receive information from their systems. One of the most accessible of these changes was the VR helmet.

The basic reason for creating the helmet was that computers were fantastic at gathering and displaying information, but were barred from making logical assumptions due to public prejudice after the Darkside Cybellion of 2297.

Thereafter, instead of the computer announcing threats, the pilot was forced to go back to interpreting data from multiple screens and gauges in the cockpit. Even so, most pilots preferred to trust their own eyes, and cockpit windows became critical again as pilots insisted on more visual input around them.

The VR helmet was designed to do two things: a) get more visual input for the pilot, and: b) make cockpit construction cheaper.

The pilot's helmet now has VR display screens mounted in its visor. This allows the computer to interpret the pilot's viewing angle and then display the visual information the wearer would receive as if the vehicle were not in the way. Thus, the pilot is no longer constrained by windows and can look freely about as if seated in an invisible vehicle. (Windows are often left in vehicle design as a backup system, however.)

The "freefall" feeling this gives pilots resulted in some early difficulties, so a "ghost" outline of the ship is now overlaid onto the surrounding world information to give the pilot a reference point at to which direction is being viewed.

This helmet has been so successful that it is now employed in almost all vehicle construction, including civilian models (although civilians often choose to use the lighter "eyeglass" models rather than a bulky military helmet).

The helmet is jacked into the vehicle's console via a universal coupling mechanism and the helmet's processor then interfaces with the vehicle's on-board computer.

Many helmets use specialized software modules with the helmet's multi-functional display (MFD) system, increasing the usefulness of the HUD-style environment. This is certainly true with military models.

*****SCENE INFO 1-6*****

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ATTENTION!!!
This section is designed to help you play the scenarios as you encounter them.

It will ruin the element of surprise and prematurely reveal Scene information if you read ahead! (On the other hand, it may increase your sense of anticipation.)

We strongly recommend reviewing a new Scene only when you have fought and survived your way to it. If you're the kind of person that reads ahead in a book, then go ahead...check out some of the upcoming features. Otherwise...wait. It will make your gaming experience more pleasurable.

Each Scene has a call-out number on the right page that is easily seen when flipping through this section. That allows you to go directly to the correct scene without spoiling any future surprises.

That Scene description gives you information about new weapons, defense systems, and other new features developed by that time in the alien conflict. You'll read tips on how to use features as well as learn their appropriate keystroke commands.

SCENE 1
What's Out There?
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NEW WEAPONS
Laserlance (category--laser)
This laser is a high-powered version of the standard mining laser. Its focal length has been extended and it now draws power directly from the vehicle's fusion feed, but it is still a steady-state ruby laser. The laser has a relatively low intensity when compared to military lasers, but its heat coefficient is low, allowing it to be fired continuously for lengthy periods before it must be allowed to cool. Continued firing past the overheat point can result in the melting of the focusing mechanism, thus destroying the laser.

Range: 42,000 M
Velocity: Very fast.
Heat: Heats quickly and cools quickly.
Ammo: No
Barrage: Single-shot, 0.3 seconds between shots.
Damage: Light
Tips: The laserlance is a straight-line weapon, with an muzzle velocity as fast as the universe allows. Therefore, it's not necessary to lead a target when firing. Also, it cools rapidly and overheats slowly, making it a good mainstay weapon. However, it doesn't pack much of a punch, making it necessary to hit a target multiple times before it's destroyed.

Scanner (category--laser)
The scanner has been in use for over 75 years. It's beam uses ultra-sound, light gamma ray bombardment, and wide-spectrum light analysis to examine and catalog surface and interior features of any object it is played across.

Range: 42,000 M
Velocity: Very fast.
Heat: n/a
Cool: n/a
Ammo: No
Barrage: 6-shot barrages, 0.2 seconds between shots
Damage: Not applicable
Tips: The scanner is straight-line, like the laserlance, but is fired in barrages of six shots. Each of these shots gathers different information, so the more hits scored, the more information gathered. Any information gained is shown in the InfoStat segment of the VR Tunnel at the start of the next Scene (it takes time for the info to be analyzed by the folks back at HQ). The six-shot barrages allow you to spray the effect over an area as you fire the weapon, thus increasing the odds that a shot or two will hit. However, a concentrated burst in one area will garner more information if it hits.

NEW DEFENSES
Armor
Most of the vehicles used by the EMC are composed of light aluminum ceramite. This light metal and layered ceramic combination is strong, tough, and insulates well. It is rapidly deteriorated, however, by such adverse conditions as direct hits by lasers, bullets, and particle beams.

Tips: Don't get hit--armor never comes back. And when it's gone, so are you.

NEW FEATURES
Flying
One of the first things you may notice is that some weapons don't appear to fire from the exact center of your view. That's because the weapon is not mounted where your head is. In fact, many weapons are mounted on a craft's wings, belly, nose, or top, and they fire from those locations. This affects targeting mostly when you're close to an object because your aim will be affected by the "convergence point" of the weapon. In layman's terms, that "convergence" is the point at which a round fired from you weapon hits an invisible straight line extending from the nose of your ship out to the horizon.

Certain weapons use convergence, and others fire directly parallel to your nose/tail direction. You'll have to experiment to determine exactly which weapons hit where. Remember to rely on your targeting sight--it gives you color-coded clues to where you need to move your crosshair to in order to hit a "locked-on" target.

You'll also need to get familiar with the different performance issues of the various vehicles. You'll notice the maglock is sluggish and difficult to get out of dives and climbs, while the Valkyrie pivots on a dime and has acceleration to spare.

Pay attention to your compass and check your Map MFD frequently. It's sometimes quite easy to get turned around in all those canyons.

NEW MFD SCREENS
Map
The Map module displays a 40km x 40km area around you as you move across the world. The flashing blip is your position on the map. The only other features that show up are waypoint indicators. You'll have to rely on your radar screens for enemy and friendly unit positions.

Virtual Tunnel
The Tunnel screen is your window into the VR world. When you have this window selected and you hit the "Enter" key, you'll enter the Virtual Tunnel and have access to all the information gathered therein.

SCENE 2
To The Rescue
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NEW WEAPONS
Mini-MAAC (category--projectile)
The mini-MAAC is a scaled down version of the military MAAC (Magnetically Accelerated AutoCannon). It is commonly used as a light civilian defense weapon. it's cheap and easy to produce and takes a minimum of skill to operate, making it usable by megacorp security and affordable by most budgets.

The mini-MAAC uses powerful electromagnets to stabilize ceramite flechettes as they pass at very high speeds (over 3,000M/sec) toward their target. When that flechette hits, the target is damaged due to the difference in kinetic energy potentials.

Unfortunately, the mini-MAAC's electromagnets are not polarized precisely enough for long range work, so the flechette begins tumbling after a few thousand meters and becomes dramatically less effective.

Range: 16,000 M
Velocity: Fast
Heat: Heats slowly and cools rapidly.
Ammo: Barrels of 400 rounds are common.
Barrage: Single-shot, but only 0.1 seconds between rounds
Damage: Light
Tips: Although the mini-MAAC has a high muzzle velocity, some lead time is necessary for medium- to long-range targets. Since the flechettes are so tiny, they don't have much of a visual signature and a tracer round is used one out of every three shots. Three-shot barrages allow you to scatter shots easily in a small area, increasing your chance to hit--watch the "splash" hits when firing at ground targets to determine how close you are coming to your target.

NEW FEATURE
Turrets
When firing from a turret, all the weapons you'll use are mounted directly on the turret. Because of this, you won't notice the weapon convergence angles like you do when piloting a vehicle with weapons mounted in various places. However, you may notice some odd effects as you fire weapons at angles other than exactly in the direction your vehicle is moving. Bullet drift and lead distances are a bit different and take some getting used to, but use your targeting sight and you'll quickly learn where you need to fire in order to hit your targets.

NEW MFD SCREENS
Weapons Status
You'll see a top-down view of the vehicle you're piloting, or a schematic of the turret if you're manning a turret. On it, you'll see the position of the weapon currently selected brightly lit in red. The other weapons available are a dimmer color. As you hit "ctrl" and cycle through your weapon options, the different weapons are highlighted in turn. Next to the vehicle schematic, you'll see visual indicators telling you the weapon's heat status and whether it's ready to fire.

Target I.D.
When this module is activated, you can toggle through the available field of enemies using the "backspace" key. When an enemy is selected, its image appears in the cheek screen, the virtual arrow appears next to that image, and a "lock" ring appears around the target. The lock ring allows you to keep track of the enemy you're chasing. The virtual arrow is another tool to do the same thing. The arrow points in the direction the enemy is in, making it easy to identify which direction you should turn when the enemy goes behind you. It's a great assistance in dogfights. Also, target I.D. is required when guided weapons are used against enemy--without a lock, the weapon will only fire in a straight line and won't guide.

Once you have a lock on an enemy, a yellow "lead" reticle shows you the approximate location you should fire your weapon to hit the locked-on target.

SCENE 3
Capture
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NEW WEAPONS
Gatling Blaster
This weapon accelerates subatomic particles to extremely high rates of speed. The resulting barrage of countless particles eats away at the target in rapid fashion. Since the particles are delivered in short, but intense, barrages, they often create a concessive effect when they hit. However, the recharge rate of the particle accelerator is fairly slow (over half a second), so eight of the blaster tubes are linked in series to fire one after another. Since the barrels are mounted in circular fashion around a central axis, the resulting discharge comes out in spiral barrages of eight shots, making this an excellent area cover weapon.

However, the particle packets tend to become unstable at long ranges, so the weapon is best used for medium- or close-range attacks.

Range: 10,000M
Velocity: Medium
Heat: You can easily get 5 or 6 good barrages off before letting the blaster cool off. It cools fairly quickly.
Ammo: None
Barrage: 6-shot barrages, 0.05 seconds between rounds
Damage: Light
Tips: As you fire the gatling blaster, slew the target sight around the area to be hit. This greatly increases your chances of hitting the target.

Bombs
Bombs are carried in racks of 20 each. When the target sight is switched to bomb view, your view will automatically change to directly below you. You can then use your Target I.D. to lock onto a target. The orange diamond sight you see is the place your bombs will hit on the ground. Line that orange diamond up with the yellow "lead" reticle and release your bombs--they'll hit every time. You can also bomb areas without using the target sight if saturation bombing is your desire.

Range: All the way to the ground
Velocity: 6M/sec/sec
Heat: Not applicable
Ammo: 20 per rack
Barrage: Single-shot, but you can drop them as fast as you can fire.
Damage: Heavy
Tips: Used carefully, bombs can be incredibly destructive. They are best used against stationary targets, but, in a pinch, they can do some great damage to moving targets...if you can hit them. Be sure to read the section on Target I.D. for more information on how to use the bombing sight.

NEW MFD SCREENS
Damage Reports
When your vehicle is hit, many bad things can happen: systems can short out, weapons are destroyed, life support can go out, etc. Your damage report module lets you know what has been damaged, so you can react accordingly. Also watch the text scroller at forehead level--you'll gain additional information there.

SCENE 4
Canyon Ambush
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NEW WEAPONS
Pulse Laser
A more powerful version of the industrial laser, the pulse laser has large capacitors linked in series. The charges are built up in those capacitors and then released quickly, one after another, in a hail of laser death. Because the charges are released in a shorter burst, the energy is more concentrated than the laserlance and often causes more damage. It is, however, harder to hit with because of its shorter beam.

Range: 42,000 M
Velocity: Very fast
Heat: This laser heats up slowly and cools quickly.
Ammo: None
Barrage: 4-shot barrages, 0.2 seconds between rounds
Damage: Light
Tip: Point and shoot. The speed of the pulses compensates well for the stacatto bursts of the pulse laser.

SCENE 5
Foothold Ridge
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NEW WEAPONS
MAAC
You'll love the big brother of the mini-MAAC. This weapon hyper-accelerates big flechettes through the air, giving extreme cases of kinetic energy poisoning to its targets. Although its rate of fire is somewhat low, the impact at the far end more than makes up for it.

Range: 16,000 M
Velocity: Fast
Heat: The MAAC cools down as fast as it is fired, so heat is not a problem.
Ammo: Barrels of 75 rounds are common.
Barrage: Single shot. 0.6 seconds reload time between rounds.
Damage: Medium
Tip: The 75-round barrels are easily depleted by the casual MAAC user. If care is taken, however, large targets can be easily destroyed with a few hits of this powerful cannon.

NEW DEFENSES
Force Field
Your vehicle is now protected with a force field. This field is a large spherical orb of protection completely surrounding you as you move. It can sustain quite a bit of damage, but will eventually come down despite its recharge rate (which is, unfortunately, quite slow).

The field cannot be fired through. Because of this, your force field will be dropped for part of a second each and every time you fire a weapon. This makes you vulnerable to attacks during that time. Be wary.

The field absorbs part of the impact of each incoming shot. The stronger your field is, the more of the impact will be stopped. However, each time your field is hit, it becomes less effective.

SCENE 6
Boiling Point
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NEW WEAPONS
Fusion Missile
RepDep finally came up with a guided weapon to use. These mini-missiles are carried in racks of eight and can be fired at any target that you have manually locked onto. If you don't have target lock on your target, then the missile will fire straight-line only.

The missiles have a small fusion warhead that delivers a shaped charge, allowing it to punch into a softer interior and deliver its potent explosion.

Range: 20,000 M
Velocity: Slow
Heat: Not applicable
Ammo: 8 missiles per rack
Barrage: Single shot. Minimum of 1.5 seconds between launches.
Damage: Heavy
Tip: Since the missiles track their targets, they're great for taking out agile opponents before they get close enough to be a nuisance.

Jump Mines
These mines can be dropped from either ground or air vehicles. Once laid upon the ground, they wait patiently for air vehicles to pass over a cone of effect extending 3000M above them. When a non-EMC vehicle passes through that cone, the mine activates and a small guided fusion missile leaps into the air, locked onto that enemy target.

Range: 5,000 M
Velocity: Slow
Heat: Not applicable.
Ammo: 32 mines per rack
Barrage: Single shot. Minimum of 0.4 seconds between launches.
Damage: Medium
Tip: The mines are most effective against low altitude targets because higher up targets have more capacity to dodge or get out of range.

NEW MFD SCREENS
Shield Status
The shield status module is overlaid on a top-down view of your vehicle and lets you know what percentage of your shield is remaining before failure. You have two layers of shields--inner and outer. The outer shield is represented by the large wedge shapes around your vehicle and the inner shield is the smaller wedges. The large shield goes through six bi-level color shifts before failing, while the inner shield goes through three simple color shifts before failing. These shifts are:

Outer Shield
blue-blue
orange-blue
red-blue
empty-blue
empty-orange
empty-red

Inner Shield
blue
orange
red

NOTE: If your shield is failing, try to avoid being hit for a while and it will slowly regenerate back.

*****SCENE INFO 7-13*****

SCENE 7
Attack on Aegis
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NEW DEFENSES
Blackout
It has been theorized that the alien psi weapons lock onto human minds from their active patterns. It seems that reducing those patterns to an unconscious, inactive state, prevents the psi weapons from locking onto their targets. Therefore, in an attempt to make those weapons "lose their lock" a theta-wave device has been installed in all miner helmets that fires concentrated theta waves through the skull. These waves "overload" the brain, producing a brief period of unconsciousness while the thetas are generated. The subject quickly regains consciousness when the waves stop beaming. If the knocked-out period is brief enough, a clever pilot can blackout, lose the psi locks, and wake up before the vehicle being piloted crashes. Tricky, but effective.

SCENE 8
Inside the Mountain
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NEW DEFENSES
Force Shell
This emergency ability diverts all available power straight from your fusion engines to your shield generator. During the next 3-4 seconds, your ship is surrounded by a near invulnerable shell of force. However, it cannot be lowered during this time, so you will not be able to fire your weapons while it is in effect. You must wait 10 seconds before using the shell again. Using it sooner than that can damage your systems, sometimes quite severely. If your field status MFD is on when you use the force shell ability, your shield indicators will blaze bright blue during the time it is in effect.

SCENE 9
Counterattack
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NEW WEAPONS
Blaster Cannon
This weapon charges a particle packet similar to that of the gatling blaster, but massive in scale. After building up briefly in the cannon's bore, the charge is let loose and tears toward the target, impacting catastrophically against it.

Range: 10,000 M
Velocity: Medium
Heat: Heats slowly, but cools even slower. You can rapid fire the cannon, but it's usefulness will be minimal for a minute or so thereafter.
Ammo: None
Barrage: Single shot. Minimum of 0.6 seconds between shots while recharging.
Damage: Medium
Tip: The cannon's particles are slower than the MAAC, making it harder to hit with, but it can't run out of shots and does almost as much damage.

NEW DEFENSES
Theta Generator
The generator is the (much needed) evolution of the blackout device. Instead of overloading the pilot's brain with theta waves, the waves are effectively used as a screen preventing the aliens from locating your mind.

However, the process of erecting a field within the confines of your cabin seems to have horrific, but luckily temporary, effects on delicate machinery therein. Most importantly, your VR visor becomes mostly inoperative. Extra screening in your helmet allows the outside VR picture to still be imaged, but the snow in the picture makes it difficult to look at.

While the generator is in effect (about 4 seconds per use), psi weapons can't lock on. Typically, it takes a while for the generator to reset its capacitors and recharge before it can be used again (5-10 seconds).

SCENE 10
Evacuation
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NEW WEAPONS
Drop Mines
These are typical land mines, but they can be laid from either ground or air vehicles. When a non-EMC vehicle approaches within 25M of a drop mine, it pivots toward the target and unleashes a volley of small, high velocity projectiles in that direction. To safely drop them from an air vehicle they must be dropped at less than 300 kph velocity and at lower than 500M altitude  higher or faster than that invariably destroys the drop mine.

Range: Not applicable
Velocity: Not applicable
Heat: Not applicable
Ammo: 32 mines per rack
Barrage: Single shot. 0.4 seconds between launches.
Damage: Medium
Tip: These are effective when someone is chasing you. Lay one in front of someone and it will ruin their entire day.

SCENE 11
Behind Enemy Lines
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NEW WEAPONS
Tunnel Breaker Missiles
These missiles have a powerful fusion warhead designed to cause massive explosions in a contained, shaped charge. Again, you must lock onto your target before firing these missiles or the missile will be unguided and fire in a straight line.

Range: 5,000 M
Velocity: Slow
Heat: Not applicable
Ammo: 4 missiles/rack
Barrage: Single shot. Two seconds between launches.
Damage: Heavy
Tip: These missiles can wreck even the most hardened of targets, but you can't carry many of them, so use them sparingly.

SCENE 12
Encounter
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NO NEW ABILITIES

SCENE 13
Hammer and Anvil
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NEW WEAPONS
Fusion Cannon
The fusion cannon harnesses the full strength of your vehicle's reactor, charging a gigantic super-heated ball of plasma and ejecting it at your chosen target. It does an incredible amount of damage. Unfortunately, it also dissipates its energies quickly, making it a short-range weapon. Only the M.U.L.E.s and Maglocks have the reactor capacity to charge this weapon and it has proved unwise to fire it while flying, so only the M.U.L.E. carries the cannon.

Range: 8,000 M
Velocity: Medium
Heat: Heats extremely quickly and cools slowly, but because of the long reload time, this is rarely a problem.
Ammo: None
Barrage: Single shot
Damage: Super-heavy

*****CREDITS*****

THE DOMAIN TEAM

Producer
Dave Georgeson

Lead Programmer
Colin "Bozz" Boswell

Second Lead Programmer
Michael Kelly

"Critical Fiddly Bits" Programmer
Francine Hunter

SGI Art & Animations
Andrew Osiow
Rebecca Shearin

Model Art & Textures
Jesse Conklin
Rebecca Shearin

Scenario Design & Layout
Dave Georgeson
Matt Miller

In-Game 3D Models & World Construction
Joe Marullo

Intro & Cut-scene Music & FX
Mike Ash

In-game Music
Joe Myers (MIDI version)
Mike Ash (Conversion for Mac & PC)

In-game Sound FX
Mike Ash

Storyline & Script
Dave Georgeson

About Screen Background
Christy Wiseman


ORIGINAL ENGINE DESIGN
David Payne
Jonathan Newth


VOICE TALENTS

Bob Ayres
Greg Foss

Peggy Koorhan
Maria Guerrero

J.S. Gilbert
Carlton "Hap" Mitchell
Toshiro Watanabe

Trish Tillman
Becca Doyle

Brian Vouglas
Wassem Bokai

Mary Windishar
InterSol announcer, Ellen Trin
