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                  InterStellar Annihilation Version 0.994
                    Copyright (c) 1996-2003 Andy Stewart
        Portions Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Minds Edge Productions Inc.
                             All Rights Reserved.

               InterStellar Annihilation v0.994 Players' Manual
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Originally written by Myles Bunbury
			   Updated by Andy Stewart


                                 The Scoop:
                                 ~~~~~~~~~~
        The year is 2843. The last obstacles on your planet have been
   conquered. The oceans have been colonized, poverty has been abolished,
   and world peace has spread. Even the other planets and moons in your
   solar system have been colonized. Life is good.
        As the newly elected emperor of your planet, you have forged ahead
   with the development of interstellar travel. The planetary SETI programs
   have picked up signs of other civilizations inhabiting your galaxy, and
   some astronomers have theorized about the possibility of life in distance
   galaxies. With your acceptance speech, you have kicked off your
   civilization's quest to become a great InterStellar Empire. As you look up
   at the stars, with the thirst of power twinkling in your eyes, you know
   that nothing will stand in your way of becoming leader of the greatest
   civilization ever to climb to the stars - even if that means total
                         INTERSTELLAR ANNIHILATION!!!

                          Do you have what it takes?


                              The Introduction
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Welcome to InterStellar Annihilation (ISA)! This is a fast paced game
   that forces you to employ strategy, diplomacy, covert tactics, and more
   in your quest to become the #1 empire. You command an InterStellar Empire,
   and you must use all available resources at your disposal to achieve your
   goal. Ally yourself with other empires to crush larger ones; then declare
   war on your allies and obliterate them before they can respond. In war,
   there are no rules, and remember, there's no points for second place!

                                  The Game
                                  ~~~~~~~~
How to Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~
        The game itself is quite simple to play: you are in COMPLETE
   command of your empire.  Managing it can be as easy or as difficult
   as you wish.  The default settings for your empire will suffice, and
   will get any novice player off to a decent start. However, those with
   more experience may wish to "fine-tune" their empire, and make it the
   best it can possibly be. Hints and examples of what decisions you are
   expected to deal with, as well as more detail on the information you
   will be presented is explained in this document.

Your Stats:
~~~~~~~~~~
     1) % Empire that is peaceful:  This is the percentage of your empire
        which is not engaged in civil unrest.  It is important to keep this
        number as close to 100 as possible, because it helps determine:
        (a) How many people leave you empire, 
        (b) How much money you make on your tourist planets, 
        (c) and how willing your spies are to defect.

     2) % Army Efficiency:  This is the percentage efficiency with which
        your army will fight.  It is important to keep this number as
        high as possible because your army will defend and attack more
        effectively.

     3) Tax Rate:  This determines how much money you will generate from
        taxing your people.  The higher the % the more money you will
        make; however, if the number gets too high people will start to
        leave your empire as a result.

     4) Draft Rate:  This number determines how many people will be
        conscripted into your army.  (NOTE: You must also have Army Boot
        Camps planets to train them in).  The higher this number, the more
        greater the amount of people will join your army; however, as with
        the tax rate, if you set this percentage too high, people will
        leave your empire.

Military Weapons:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Troops:
     ------
        Knife Troops:  These Troops are the cheapest to buy and easiest to
        train.  They do not need ammo, but do not fight as strongly as the
        either Machine Gun or Laser Troops.

        Machine Gun Troops:  These Troops are easier to train the Laser
        troops but harder to train than Knife Troops, they DO require
        ammunition in order to fight, but fight better than knife
        troops. You can produce ammo by setting your industrial
        percentages below 100%. The remainder will go to the production
        of ammo.

        Laser Troops:  These are the strongest type of Troop since they do
        not require ammo.  However, they are not much stronger than Machine
        Gun Troops and are harder to train.

     Aircraft:
     --------
         Fighters:  Fighters are used mainly for Air-to-Air attacks and as
         such they are not very efficient at attacking ground troops, fighters
         also make for poor defensive weapons as their design is primarily for
         attacks.

         Bombers:  Bombers are used for taking out ground troops and
         artillery.  They are more effective than Fighters against
         anti-aircraft fire and more effective at taking out ground
         troops.

    Anti-Aircraft:
    -------------
         Anti-Air Machine Guns:  These are used to destroy attacking
         aircraft.  They are purely defensive and DO require ammo. You
         can produce ammo by setting your industrial percentages below
         100%. The remainder will go to the production of ammo.

         Anti-Air Lasers:  These serve the same purpose as Anti-Air
         Machine Guns but they do NOT require Ammunition and are a bit
         more effective.

Building an Army:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Forces may be accumulated by purchasing them at the government
        spending menu, or by producing them with industrial planets.
        Troops may be trained on Army Boot Camp planets.

        A well balanced military is always the best way to go. Those armies
        lacking certain components are always at a disadvantage in battle.

Recons:
~~~~~~
        You many also use covert government agents to weaken the
        opposing empires.  Once you have bought a recon unit, a menu with
        the various options will appear. You only get a limited number of
        covert operations a day, so deploy them carefully. 

        The following is a list of covert operations that you may perform:
        1) Recon on another Empire - This option will attempt to gain you the
        other empire's stats. It's equivalent see his Empire Status. You only
        get to see this once per successful operation, so take note of
        anything important while it's on the screen!
        2) Demoralize another Empire's Troops - This option will attempt to
        lower the military effectiveness of an enemy empire. If successful,
        his forces will not fight as well in battles until he pays to improve
        their moral.
        3) Terrorize Civilians - This option will attempt to lower the
        percentage of the empire that is at peace.
        4) Bomb Civilians - This option will attempt to kill off a portion of
        the opposing empire's population. 
        5) Bomb Troops - This option will attempt to kill off a portion of the
        opposing empire's troops. Great for taking out chunks of your enemy's
        military.
        6) Bomb Military Weapons - Similar to option 5, however this will
        target Non-troop units.
        7) Talk Enemy Agents into Defecting - This option will attempt to
        persuade enemy recons from an opposing empire to come join your ranks.
        Effective - especially considering the cost of Recon Units!
        8) Monitor Enemy Transmissions - This option will attempt to break
        into your enemy's communications network. If successful, you will
        receive all the messages that he does for a given period of time.

        Remember, these babies are EXPENSIVE! Therefore, use them wisely!

Planets:
~~~~~~~
 Class Surface            Atmosphere       Description         Example
 ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~            ~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~~~         ~~~~~~~
   A   tenuous, may       reducing;        radiates heat,      Jupiter
       not be present     methane, etc.    "failed star"*

   B   tenuous, may       reducing         non-radiant         Neptune
       not be present

   C   iron/silicate      reducing;        high surface        Venus
                          dense            temperature

   D   nickel-iron/       (A-G) none;      asteroids           Ceres
       silicate           (H-N) tenuous

   E   silicate,          reducing/        large molten        Janus VI
       some metals        oxidizing        core

   F   silicate,          oxidizing        very young          Delta-Vega
       some metals                         (< 1 Gyr)

   G   silicate           oxidizing,       desert planet       Rigel XII
                          thin

   H   silicate           variable         geologically        Gothos
                                           active

   I   metallic/          fluid,           small, young        Excalbia
       silicate           very dense

   J   silicate           very tenuous;    moons               Luna
                          noble gases

   K   silicate           tenuous;         adaptable with      Mars
                          some water       pressure domes

   L   silicate/          oxidizing        geologically        Psi 2000
       water                               inactive

   M   silicate/          oxidizing        geologically        Terra
       water                               active

   N   water entirely     oxidizing        pelagic planet      Argo

** This chart is currently provided for interest only. However, in future
** versions of ISA, expect to see these type of planets, rather than just
** "Urban" or "Industrial".

        Urban:
        -----
          Urban planets are used to house your population and to attract
          people to come to your empire.  A large number of Urban planets
          will make your empire solid and less likely to collapse.  As well
          by attracting more people to your empire you will make more money
          from taxes. However, larger populations require more food.

          An empire MUST have at LEAST 1 Urban Planet to survive.

        Food:
        ----
          Food planets will produce food to feed your people and troops.
          As well, any excess food may be sold to the Inter-Galactic
          food market for profit.  If you have a shortage of food, it
          may also be purchased from the Market, IF there is any in the
          Market!

          It's always wise to be self-sufficient in food production. By
          relying on the food market, you risk it being empty one day
          and having your empire collapse!

        Army Boot Camps:
        ---------------
         These planets are used to train soldiers which will join your
         army.  The more planets you have, the more troops will be
         trained.  The type of troops that are trained by these planets
         is determined by your Military Training Percentages (these can
         be changed at the 'Other Government Options' menu ['G' from the
         government spending menu]), and the draft rate.

        Industrial Planets:
        ------------------
         These planets are very similar to army boot camps; however, they
         produce Fighters, Bombers, and Anti-Aircraft guns.  The percentages
         may also be changed from the 'Other Government Options' menu.
         REMEMBER: Left over percentages are used to make needed Ammo!!

        Tourist Planets:
        ---------------
         These planets are used to make money for your empire in times
         of peace they will make more than mines however your income
         from them will decline if your empire is not peaceful.

        Mines:
        ------
         These planets will produce a steady income for your empire.  Also
         some times if you are lucky a rare substance will be found in
         your mines, which will increase your mining income significantly.

Attacking:
~~~~~~~~~
    You may attack any other empire playing as long as they are not
    under "Protection".  The inter-galactic police provide new empires
    with a certain amount of protection from older empires (the number
    of turns of protection is configured by your sysop).

    There are two types of attacks:
      1- Regular Attacks - These are "normal" attacks and will allow you to
         capture planets.
      2- Devastation Attacks - These attacks are purely used to destroy
         your enemy's forces and will not capture planets.

Treaties:
~~~~~~~~~
If you wish to make alliances with other members of the game you
may select the "Change Diplomatic Relations" option from the Inter-
Stellar Affairs menu. This will allow you to choose what type of treaty
you would like to send.  Either an Armistice, Anti-Recon, or Peace Treaty
may be selected. Any empires that you do not have a treaty with, you are
considered at war with. The person you send this offer to will have
the option of accepting or rejecting it. If it is accepted your treaty
will be enforced by the galactic police.

Messaging:
~~~~~~~~~
The current messaging system allows for only 3 lines of text to be
sent. You can send a message to any empire you wish. To send a message,
simply access the "Communications Menu".
    
Random Events:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are many random events that can happen while you are playing
ISA. Some of these events are purely random, others are not so
random, but are based on things that you do.  There are both good and
bad events that can happen to you so make sure you always have some
money in reserve in case something unexpected happens to you. =)

InterBBS Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ISA is an InterBBS capable game. This means that, if your sysop wishes,
your BBS can play against other BBS'. If ISA is set up as an InterBBS
game, you will see some new features available to you. You will have the
option of doing both local and remote (to other BBS') attacks, local and
remote recons and messages. You can rank yourself among other players in
the league, to see how good you REALLY are!

Hidden/Secret Features & "Cheats":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are *NO* hidden and/or secret features to be found within ISA. There
are definitely *NO* cheats either. ISA is a clean game. All options are
available to all players to allow for everyone to have an equal
opportunity at winning. Therefore, don't go looking for them, and
definitely don't go asking for them.

Registered Features:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ISA is freeware, therefore there is no need to register.  However, if you
feel inclined to donate a couple bucks, I wouldn't object.  Always happy
to accept a few bucks for my kids' Happy Meal Fund. :)

Hot-Keys:
~~~~~~~~
Note: Most menus are hot-keyed, that is you may select an option
from the menu before the menu has finished displaying, this will
abort the text display and carry out which ever option you have
selected.

As well, most other text display maybe aborted with, 'S',
<Return> or <Space>.

                                   Conclusion
                                   ~~~~~~~~~~
That concludes the player documentation. If there were some questions that
were left unanswered here, or you want some tips on strategy, ask a fellow
player, or check out one of the many Message Echoes dedicated to ISA and/or
door gaming in general! But most importantly, remember that this is only a
game, and therefore, one important rule applies above all others:

                                >>>HAVE FUN!!!<<<

After-thought:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        ISA is continually being developed and improved upon. If you have
        an idea that would improve the game, feel free to write a message to
        the author. In the mean time though, here are some of the things ISA
        is working towards:

        * Full Screen Message Editor
        * ANSI Animated Movie Sequences
        * Dynamic Battles
        * Improved InterBBS Capabilities
        * Improved InterBBS Security
        * More Random Events
        * More Player Control Concerning Attacks
        * And MUCH MORE!

P.S. - Thanks for reading!

