********* 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. ********* The Project 64 etext of the ~Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday RULE BOOK~ provided by Kevin Smith . NOTE: The Table of Contents lists the manual AS PUBLISHED. I've also placed each individual page number where they were in the manual, so halfway down a page or in the middle of a sentence you may see [Page (number)]. This is to assist in the "doc check" copy protection. BRCDRB10.TXT, March 1998, etext #332# ********* -BUCK ROGERS- COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY RULE BOOK SSi STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 What Comes With the Game? 1 Before You Play 1 Getting Started Quickly 1 Using Menus 1 Beginning to Play 2 MODIFYING CHARACTERS AND TEAMS 3 Team Creation/Training Menu 3 Non-Player Characters (NPCs) 3 Viewing Characters 4 Character Status 4 ADVENTURING 5 Display Screens and Points of View 5 3-D and Area Views 5 Combat View 6 Overland Map 6 Solar Map 6 Adventuring Options 6 Outposts 7 Encounters 9 Combat 9 After the Battle 10 Space Combat 11 After Space Combat 12 [Page 1] + INTRODUCTION -What Comes With the Game? You should find the following items in the game box: *Disks *Rule Book *Log Book *Data Card This Rule Book is designed to explain all your options and guide you through playing the game. If you are not familiar with the BUCK ROGERS XXVc game system, you will find helpful information about how things work in the Log Book. The Log Book contains a variety of information including details about character careers, technology, combat and an introduction to the adventure story. The Log Book also includes the maps, information, rumors, and stories that you will need to play the game. You will discover for yourself which of the tales you hear are fact and which are fiction. The Data Card explains how to start the game and select items and menu options with your specific computer. It also shows how to get right into the game without having to read through the rules. -BEFORE YOU PLAY There is no copy protection on your COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY disks, so please make backup copies and put the originals away for safekeeping. When you start the game, you will be asked to answer a verification question from this Rule Book or the Log Book before you can play. Turn to the page as indicated for either this Rule Book or the Log Book, find the indicated word, type it in and press the Return or Enter key. -GETTING STARTED QUICKLY COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSOAY comes with a ready-made team that allows you to begin adventuring immediately. Use the instructions on the Data Card to load the saved game that has been provided and begin playing. These rules and the Log Book will answer any questions during play. -USING MENUS All commands are menu based, and the concept of the active character is central to the game. Outside of combat the active character's name is highlighted on the display. During combat the active character is surrounded with a cursor at the start of his combat segment. During combat the active character is chosen automatically according to the characters' initiative and random factors. Other times you may select which character is active before choosing other commands. If a command affects the whole team, just select the command. If the command affects one character, make that character active and then choose the command. Example: To look at a character's equipment, select that character, choose the VIEW command, and then choose the GEAR command. The computer displays a list of that character's gear. Menus are displayed either vertically or horizontally. Vertical menus select the character or item to be acted upon. If there are more choices than will fit on the screen at one time, use the NEXT and PREV commands to view the additional selections. Example: When purchasing gear, selections are made from a vertical menu list of equipment. Horizontal menus list what that character can do or what can be done to the character. In the rules. menus are shown with all [Page 2] of their options. In some cases, options will not be available every time a menu appears. Example: Booty Menu: VIEW TAKE POOL DIVVY EXIT The options TAKE and DIVVY will only appear if there is booty to take. The Rule Book only lists the general menus. Special menus will appear with many encounters that indicate available options. -BEGGINNING TO PLAY To begin playing the game you must load a saved game or make characters and band them together into a team. CREATE NEW CHARACTER ADD CHARACTER TO TEAM LOAD SAVED GAME INITIALIZE MOUSE/JOYSTICK (Some computer Systems) EXIT TO DOS/WORKBENCH (Some computer Systems) CREATE NEW CHARACTER is used to build a character. Detailed information about characters, races, careers and so on is available in the Log Book. This command starts the process of making a new character. *PICK RACE lists six races a player-character can be in the twenty-fifth century. *PICK GENDER lists the sex the character can be. *PICK CAREER lists the careers a character is qualified for based on race. The computer randomly generates the character's ability scores, If you are not happy with the scores, you may roIl them again. Remember that you can use the MODIFY CHARACTER command on the Team Creation/Training Menu to change the character's ability scores and hitpoints (HP) after the character has been generated. *CHARACTER NAME provides a 15 letter space to type in the character's name. On some computer systems the character is named after the abilities scores are generated. *ALLOCATE SKILL POINTS allows you to allocate points to the character's Career and then General skills. This phase really determines a character's strengths and weaknesses. See the section on skills in the Log Book for more information. *SELECT CHARACTER ICON allows you to select the shape that will represent the character in combat. You can select new combat icons from the Training Center menu. On some systems the character will be saved after the combat icon is selected. *EXIT from any of the character creation menus will display the Team Creation Menu. ADD CHARACTER TO TEAM allows you to add characters to the team from the save game disk. A team is a group of characters composed of up to six player characters (called PCs) and up to two non-player characters (called NPCs). A team should have a balanced mix of characters with different careers. For more information about building teams see the Log Book. LOAD SAVED GAME permits you to resume a game that had been previously saved. The saved game provided with COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY can also be loaded. INITIALIZE MOUSE/JOYSTICK sets up the joystick or mouse. (Only available on some computer systems). EXIT TO DOS/WORKBENCH ends play. (Only available on some computer Systems). [Page 3] + MODIFYING CHARACTERS AND TEAMS The Team Creation/Training Menu shows the characters currently in your team and lists the commands for creating and modifying the team. Not all of the options will be available at all times. -TEAM CREATION/TRAINING MENU CREATE NEW CHARACTER PURGE CHARACTER MODIFY CHARACTER ICON SELECT TRAIN CHARACTER VIEW CHARACTER ADD CHARACTER TO TEAM REMOVE CHARACTER FROM TEAM LOAD SAVED GAME SAVE CURRENT GAME BEGIN ADVENTURING EXIT TO DOS/WORKBENCH (Some computer systems) PURGE CHARACTER eliminates a character from the team and erases him from the saved game disk. A purged character may not be recovered. MODIFY CHARACTER can change the character's ability scores and HP. Use MODIFY CHARACTER to change a character generated in COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY to match a favorite BUCK ROGERS XXVc game character. A character cannot be modified once he has begun adventuring. ICON SELECT allows you to select a new icon to represent a character in combat. TRAIN CHARACTER increases a character's level when he has gained enough experience points (EXP). Characters can only advance one level at a time. If a character has gained enough experience to advance more than one level, he will advance one level and then lose all experience in excess of one point below that required for advancement to the next level. See the section on Experience Points in the Log Book for an example. Characters get additional points to allocate to skills as they advance, and Warriors gain weapon skills. See the Advancement Tables starting on page 40 of the Log Book for EXP requirements. There is no charge for training characters. VIEW CHARACTER displays information about a character. for more information see the Viewing Characters section on page 4. REMOVE CHARACTER FROM TEAM transfers a character from the team to the saved game disk. SAVE CURRENT GAME stores the current game to the save game disk or directory. BEGIN ADVENTURING starts the game. EXIT TO DOS/WORKBENCH quits the game. -NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPC's) During the game the team will encounter Non-player Characters (NPCs). They may talk to the team. attack or offer to join the team. NPCs that join the team are treated like player characters with a few differences. The computer generally commands NPCs in battle. Characters with Leadership skill may be able to put NPCs who have joined the party under direct control (this is difficult). NPCs have morale--if things are going badly for the team, NPCs may run. Gear can be traded to some NPCs, but they cannot be traded from conscious NPCs to other characters. If an NPC dies, however, you can use the TRADE command on the Gear Menu to take his gear. Only two NPCs at a time may join the team and they may insist on taking a share of all booty found. -VIEWING CHARACTERS The VIEW command displays the character summary screen. Encumbrance is the total weight the character is carrying. As a character becomes more encumbered, his combat movement speed drops. Encumbrance is based on the weight a character carries above the weight allowable by strength. Combat Movement is how many squares a character can move during a combat round. This is based on his readied armor, strength, and total encumbrance. -CHARACTER STATUS OKAY means that the character has positive HP and can move and fight normally. POISONED means that the character is suffering from the effects of some poison, and must have a Medic perform a Treat Poison immediately after combat or become Comatose. UNCONSCIOUS means that the character has exactly 0 HP. He cannot move or fight, but is in no danger of dying. COMATOSE means that the character is severely injured and has lapsed into a coma. Comatose characters require hospitalization or shipboard Medical Center care to recover. DEAD means that the character has died. FLED means that the character fled from the battle. After the battle he will rejoin the team. GONE means that the character was abandoned during a combat and the body has been lost forever. [Page 5] From the View Menu several options are available to inspect the active character. Not all of these commands are available at all times. VIEW MENU: GEAR SKILLS WPN SPEC TRADE EXIT GEAR will show all the equipment the character is carrying. Items preceded by a YES are ready for use. Not all commands in the Gear Menu are always available. Gear Menu: READY TRADE DROP HALVE JOIN SELL EXIT *READY is used to change the ready status of a weapon, armor, or other item. Only readied gear can be used in combat. Characters can only ready one weapon at a time, except that a grenade can be readied while a character has a readied grenade launcher. On some systems there are items that can only be readied or unreadied while in either camp or combat. *TRADE on the Gear Menu is used to transfer an item from one character to another. Choose the item and then the character to receive it. Remember that a conscious NPC will not give up an item once he has it. *DROP permanently removes items from a character. Dropped items may not be recovered. *HALVE will divide a bundle of grenades or poison antidotes into two bundles. For example, halve would turn one bundle of 24 grenades into two groups of 12 each. *JOIN combines grenades and poison antidotes into one line of the gear list. No more than 100 items can he joined onto one line. This is handy because there are a limited number of slots available on a gear list. *SELL (only available at shops) causes the shopkeeper to make an offer on the highlighted item. Sold gear may not be recovered. *WPN SPEC allows Warriors to examine their weapon specialization bonuses. *TRADE on the View Menu is used to transfer credits from one character to another. Indicate which character is to receive, and then indicate what and how much is traded to the other character. On some systems this option is only available if you select the View Menu from outpost shops or from the Booty Menu after combat. + ADVENTURING After setting up your team and reading the background information in the Log Book, it is time to head for adventure, fame, and glory. Your team will engage in fierce battles, find booty, and sometimes have to stop, and recuperate from battle. -DISPLAY SCREENS AND POINTS OF VIEW During the adventure, teams must travel from planet surfaces to the reaches of space. There are several points of view or areas that are displayed for different regions. -3-D AND AREA VIEWS 3-D view appears in towns, aboard enemy rocketships and so on. This view appears at the top left of your screen and shows the surrounding area from the team's perspective. Rotate the team's facing and move using the directional controls. The direction controls for your computer are described on the Data Card. Area view provides an overhead view of the team's surroundings, replacing the 3-D view. Choose the AREA command from the Adventure Menu. This view is not available in many regions. In the area display a cursor shows the team's position. On some computer systems, the cursor is an arrow that indicates current team facing. On some computer systems you may move around while in the area view, on others this view is only to help you get your bearings. [Page 6] To the right of the point of view window, in either 3-D or Area, are the map coordinates, current time, facing direction (N, S, W, E) and what the team is doing. Every time the team moves a square, one minute of game time passes. -COMBAT VIEW Combat view occurs automatically whenever the team engages in battle. The combat screen is a detailed view of the area the team was in when the encounter began. -OVERLAND MAP This view displays a large region and is used to move across planetary surfaces. Move the team with normal direction controls. -SOLAR MAP Solar Map view is used when the team is traveling in its rocketship to another planet or outpost. Simply move the ship towards the destination as you would move in any other view. The difference between this view and others is that destinations are orbiting the sun, and they move as the ship does. The relative speed of the ship is very fast, so reaching destinations is not difficult-that is if there are no encounters with pirates or RAM warships. Each move on the solar map takes three days of game time. -ADVENTURING OPTIONS The Adventure Menu controls normal game options while exploring or traveling between planets or outposts. While travelmg on the solar map, some commands are not available. Adventure Menu: MOVE AREA VIEW LOOK CHANGE ROCKET SAVE MOVE is used to actually get to where you can move the team around the map. The team can turn right or left, turn around, or move forward. Refer to the Data Card for computer-specific movement information. Select EXIT to return to the Adventure Menu. AREA toggles between the area and 3-D view. In many regions this command may not be available. VIEW displays the character screen and the View Menu. LOOK is used to search an individual square. Looking in a square takes ten minutes of game time. CHANGE is used to change the characters in the team and the parameters of the game. Change Menu: ORDER PURGE MESSAGES ANIM LEVEL EXIT *ORDER changes how the characters are listed on the screen and how they are deployed in combat. Characters at the top of the list tend to be on the front line in combat. *PURGE eliminates a character from the team and erases him from the saved game disk. A purged character is gone forever and may not be recovered. *MESSAGES controls the rate at which messages are printed on the screen. If the game is running too slowly. use the FASTER command to speed up the displays. If you have trouble reading messages, try the SLOWER command. *ANIM allows you to toggle the animation of the close-up pictures on and off. Turning the animation off speeds up the game. This command is not available on all computers. *LEVEL permits you to adjust combat difficulty. [Page 7] Level Menu: NOVICE CADET TROOPER VETERAN ACE The game is preset at the Trooper level. This is the level at which we consider the game to be balanced. To make the combats easier, choose either the Novice (easiest) or Cadet level. To make the combats more difficult, choose either the Veteran or Ace (hardest) level. When you choose to make the game more difficult, you are rewarded by receiving more experience points from your combats. When you choose to make the game easier, you are penalized by receiving fewer experience points from your combats. Receiving fewer experience points will slow the rate at which your characters advance levels. Advancing at a slower rate will give you less powerful characters which, in the long run, may more than offset the benefits of playing at an "easy" level. ROCKET is used to examine the team's rocketship. This is only available during space travel, and may not be on all computer systems. SAVE stores the characters and current game to the save game disk or directory. Saved games may be loaded either from the first menu or from the Team CreationI Training Menu. Save often--especially after surviving really tough encounters. See your Data Card for computer-specific saving instructions. -OUTPOSTS Outposts are pockets of humanity, if not civilization, sprinkled around the solar system. They range in size for city-sized installations on planets to glorified rocketship service stations among the furthest asteroids. Outposts are where teams can buy new gear and ammunition, get ship repairs and purchase fuel. The Outpost Menu allows the team to get to the various facilities that may be found in outposts. Larger stations, of course, have a greater variety of services to offer than the smaller frontier outposts. OUTPOST MENU: BANK DOWNTOWN HOSPITAL PORT TRAINING BANK will allow you to deposit credits for safekeeping. An extensive computer network keeps track of accounts so that you may withdraw your funds from any branch in the solar system. Bank Menu: DEPOSIT WITHDRAW EXIT *DEPOSIT prompts you for the number of credits you wish to deposit. *WITHDRAW allows funds to be retrieved from the team account. *EXIT returns to Downtown Menu. DOWNTOWN is where Shops, Restaurants, and so on are located. Downtown Menu: SHOP LIBRARY BAR RESTAURANT EXIT *SHOP allows characters to buy and sell equipment. Shop Menu: BUY SELL AMMO VIEW POOL TAKE DIVVY EXIT BUY displays the available gear and costs. Select items for the active character to buy. SELL puts you in the Gear Menu with the SELL option highlighted. If this option is not available on your system, then select the VIEW option, then the GEAR option and then choose SELL. AMMO is used to purchase ammunition for a character's weapons. This includes recharges for battery packs on energy weapons such as lasers. VIEW displays the character screen with the SELL command available in the Gear Menu. POOL places all of the team's credits into a pool which can he used by any member to make purchases. Use the TAKE or DIVVY commands to pick up the credits pool after all purchases have been made. TAKE is used to pick up credits from the team credits pool. DIVVY picks up everything from the pool and distributes even shares among the team. EXIT returns to Downtown Menu. *LIBRARY is where the team goes to get information. To effectively use a library, at least one character needs to have Library Search skill. *BAR and RESTAURANT are places where characters go to hear the latest gossip and news. The quality and class of clientele in these establishments varies a great deal. Going to a high-society place may get you a different type of information than a dive. Bar Menu: BUY DRINK TALK WAIT EXIT BUY DRINK purchases a round of drinks for the team so that they can relax and listen to the latest gossip unobtrusively. TALK has members of the team chatting with patrons and trying to coax information. WAIT has the team sit tight and see what happens. EXIT returns to Downtown Menu. Restaurant Menu ORDER FOOD TALK WAIT EXIT ORDER FOOD has the team sit down to a meal and listen to gossip. TALK has members of the team chatting with patrons and trying to coax information. WAIT has the team sit tight and see what happens. EXIT returns to Downtown Menu. HOSPITAL offers first rate medical services. for a fee. Hospital Menu: HEAL EXIT *HEAL will have the hospital staff give medical treatment to the active character. *EXIT returns to the Outpost Menu. PORT is where ships are repaired, resupplied, fueled, and launched. Everything in port is paid for from the team's NEO salvage account. This is the account that is credited with the salvage value for enemy ships the team has defeated. At Salvation Station port facilities and materials are free. All other stations charge the going rates. Port Menu: LAUNCH REPAIR FUEL AMMO MED SUP EXIT *LAUNCH exits the outpost and puts the team in space. *REPAIR has your ship repaired at the port shipyards. The cost of repairs will vary with the amount of work required. *FUEL allows you to purchase fuel for your ship. *AMMO allows you to purchase ammunition for your ship's weapons. *MED SUP allows the team to restock the shipboard Medical Center. *EXIT returns to the Outpost Menu. TRAINING allows characters to go to a Training Center and advance in level. You can also modify the team using the Team Creation/Training Menu. [Page 9] ENCOUNTERS When a team comes across opponents or NPC's, anencounter occurs. If the team attacks immediately it may receive a bonus to its initiative in combat. If the opponents surprise the team, the opponents can attack immediately and get a bonus to their initiative in combat. If the opponents do not attack immediately. the team can react by choosing from an Encounter Menu. Encounter menus vary and they list options for new situations. SAMPLE ENCOUNTER MENU: COMBAT WAIT FLEE TALK In this menu you have opportunities to attack immediately, wait and see, run away, or try and talk, Combat During combat the computer chooses the active character. Characters with higher dexterity will tend to go before characters with lower dexterity. A character may hold his action until later with the WAIT command. There is a more detailed description of how combat works in the Log Book. The active character will be centered on the screen at the start of his combat segment. The active character's name, HP, AC, and current weapon are displayed. The Combat Menu lists the character's options. COMBAT MENU: MOVE TARGET VIEW INTIMIDATE OUICK AID SPRINT DODGE JETPACK WAIT GUARD END MOVE allows a character to move normally. Characters can attack with combat weapons by attempting to move into an opponent's square. NOTE:If a character selects SPRINT or DODGE, all further movement by that character during that round will be sprinting or dodging. TARGET allows weapons to be aimed. If the character has shot an opponent in a previous segment, the cursor will come up on that target. When targeting. the range to the target will be displayed above the menu bar on some systems. If a character moves adjacent to an enemy, and has no more movement remaining, the TARGET command can be used to attack with a melee weapon (mono knife, sword, etc). The TARGET command can also be used to survey the condition of your team and enemies. As you move the target cursor over a character or opponent, HP and weapon information will be displayed on the right of your screen. Target Menu: NEXT PREV MANUAL ATTACK CENTER EXIT *NEXT is used to look at all possible targets, starting with the closest target and then going to the next farthest and so on. NEXT and PREV only indicate targets in the character's line of sight. *PREV (Previous) is the opposite of the NEXT command. Use this command to look at the possible targets starting with the farthest, and working hack toward the character. This command is most often used to select a target for a missile attack. *MANUAL permits the player to aim anywhere on the map. Only targets in the character's line of sight can actually be attacked. *ATTACK is used to fire a weapon. throw a grenade, or attack an adjacent enemy with a melee weapon (mono knife, sword, etc). If this option is not displayed the target is out of range or not in line of sight. *CENTER will center the screen around the cursor. This is helpful when manually targeting. This option is not available on all computer systems. [Page 10] VIEW displays the character screen and View Menu. INTIMIDATE is the skill to project an aura of menace and to frighten adjacent opponents. Intimidated opponents will be too frightened to move or fight for one round. QUICK turns control of the character over to the computer. Press the space bar to regain maual control of characters. Under computer control, a fighting character with a readied missile weapon will tend to hang back and attack from a distance. If the character has no readied ranged weapon, he will ready a melee weapon and charge. Characters will remain under computer control for all subsequent combats until manual control is again selected. AID only appears if a team member is bleeding to death. Only characters with First Ald or Treat Light Wounds skills can use this command. The command will perform either First Ald or Treat Light Wounds, depending on the characters abilities. Also, medics with the Treat Stun/Paralysis skill can also use the AID command to treat stunned characters. The team member using the AID command must be adjacent to the victim. SPRINT allows a player to run at double normal combat move distance. The character cannot shoot or guard after sprinting. DODGE has the character move and try to evade enemy fire at the same time. The character will receive a temporary AC bonus that increases as he advances in level. The character cannot do anything else in the same segment-including attack or fire weapons. JETPACK allows a character with a jet pack to fly over the battle to any square in range. Anyone with a ranged weapon attacking a character using JETPACK is firing at long range. Any opponents guarding in squares adjacent to the destination square can attack when the character lands. JETPACK can only be used in outdoor fights, and the character must have a jet pack and Use Jet Pack skill. WAIT causes the character to hold his turn until after the other characters and opponents have acted. GUARD sets a characf~r ~rTY~Pd \~7ith ranged, non-area effect weapon (laser rifle, bolt gun, etc.) to fire automatically at the first opponent to move. Characters armed with melee weapons will attack the first opponent to move adjacent. END finishes a character's turn. -After the Battle When combat is over team Medics will treat wounded characters and you will see how much experience each character receives. After this the Booty Menu is displayed. Most of the Booty Menu commands work like the commands in the Shop Menus. Booty Menu: VIEW TAKE POOL DIVVY EXIT VIEW displays the character screen and View Menu. TAKE permits the active character to pick up any gear or credits left by defeated opponents. This will only appear if the opponents had booty or the team has pcoled its funds. Take Menu. GEAR CREDITS EXIT *GEAR lists the equipment in the booty. Frequently, the weapons and armor used by opponents are not listed because they are poor quality and not worth taking. *CREDITS displays the amount of credits found after a battle. *EXIT returns to the Booty Menu. [Page 11] POOL is identical to the Shop Menu command. DIVVY is identical to the Shop Menu command. EXIT leaves the scene of the battle. If any booty remains. the option to return to the Booty Menu is displayed. -Space Combat The solar system is a dangerous place in the twenty-fifth century. Space travel is filled with the constant threat of pirates and RAM warships. In space combat there are two basic menus; one for the pilot, and another for the crew. Not all options in space combat menus are always available. Pilot Menu: FIRE TARGET QUIT VIEW CLOSE WITHDRAW RAM BOARD FIRE allows the pilot to attack with the ship's K-cannons and missiles. This attack has the greatest chance to hit, and will affect random systems on the enemy ship. TARGET allows the pilot to fire the ship's K-cannons and missiles at specific systems on the enemy ship. Targeting is more difficult than the general FIRE command. QUIT ends the pilot's turn. VIEW allows you to examine either the ship or the pilot. CLOSE shortens the distance between your ship and the enemy ship. If the enemy ship is faster than yours, and attempts to WITHDRAW, you will not be able to close. WITHDRAW attempts to escape the enemy ship. If your ship is not faster than the enemy ship, you will not be able to disengage. RAM is an attempt to crash your ship into the enemy ship. RAM uses the pilot's Pilot Rocket skill to determine success. When ships ram, the damage inflicted on each ship is the tonnage of the other ship. For example, if a 150 ton ship rams a 50 ton ship, the larger ship suffers 50 points of hull damage while the smaller ship suffers 150 points of hull damage. BOARD is only available if the enemy ship can no longer maneuver and the range is zero or one. When you board your team docks with the enemy ship's airlock, and they must fight their way in. The only way to salvage a ship is to board it and capture both the control bridge and engineering sections. Sections that have been destroyed do not have to be secured. Only characters with spacesuits or armor can board ships with zero life support. Crew Menu: FIRE TARGET LOAD JURYRIG QUIT VIEW COMMAND AID BOOST ENGINES SENSORS FIRE is similar to the Pilot Menu command, except that crew members may only fire lasers. TARGET is similar to the Pilot Menu command, except that crew members may only fire lasers. LOAD reloads ship's weapons. This command only appears when a weapon is empty or not fully loaded. The weapons that are ready to be loaded are displayed when LOAD is selected. JURYRIG appears when some weapon or system has been damaged, and if the character has the Jury Rig skill. Ship's systems can only be successfully jury rigged once per battle. Weapons can be jury rigged whenever they are nonfunctional. The chance for success and degree of accomplishment is based on the character's skill level. When this command is selected a menu of damaged systems will come up. [Page 12] QUIT ends the character's turn. VIEW allows you to examine either the ship or the character. COMMAND only appears when the pilot is dead or incapacitated. COMMAND orders the current character to take control and pilot the ship. Remember: Put a character with good Pilot Rocketship skill into the pilot's position if the first pilot is incapacitated--this skill is crucial in space combat. AID only appears when a character is bleeding to death, and the current character has either a Treat Light Wounds, or First Ald skill. BOOST ENGINES attempts to squeeze extra speed from the rocket engines. This command only appears if the current character has Nuclear Engine Repair skill. The engines may be damaged if the skill check fails. Engines can only be boosted successfully twice during a battle. SENSOR only appears if the current character has Sensor Operation skill. This is an attempt to probe the enemy ship. -After Space Combat After your team has defeated the enemy ship. boarded it, and secured both the bridge and engineering sections, a salvage beacon is attached to the hulk and a NEO tug will pick it up. The team is automatically credited the salvage value of the ship in their NEO salvage account. This account can be used to pay for ship repairs, fuel, ammo, and medical supplies at any space port. At the same time as the beacon is being placed, all salvageable fuel from the defeated ship will be transferred to your ship. Medics on the team will perform whatever services they can for the wounded, and additionally, all possible field repairs will be made on the ship. If there are any valuables on the captured ship a Booty Menu will also come up. ********* End of Project 64 etext of Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday RULE BOOK *********