KORONIS RIFT - Operations Manual

24 Febrius, 2249.


For three days your Scoutcraft has been traveling through empty space, 
on its way from one forsaken part of the galaxy to another. You're a 
technoscavenger, making a living searching for abandoned technological 
systems - but for all the luck you've had in the last month you might as 
well be an intergalactic drifter. Psytek, your science droid analyzer, 
is monitoring the instruments. There isn't much to do - not much, that 
is, until suddenly Psytek flashes an urgent message:

POWERFUL RADIATION FLUX
DETECTED:
COORDINATES 45:90 RELATIVE
AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION
Powerful is right! Your instruments indicate rads in the ten thousand 
range. "Any idea what it might be?" you ask.

NEGATIVE. CHARTS INDICATE
EMPTY SPACE FROM HERE TO STAR
SYSTEM 583
   Strange. And stranger still, when you deploy the Scoutcraft's optical 
sensor, you discover a large, solitary planet - one that simply doesn't 
exist according to the charts. But there it is, it's surface cut with 
deep chasms and ancient rifts.
   You call up a dimensional coordinate grid of the radiation flux. Sure 
enough, the lines of the grid are ruler straight until they reach the 
area of the radiation flux. There, they become as warped and tangled as 
the wiring of your third-hand Scoutcraft.
   A powerful radiation flux...a planet cut with deep rifts...
   Suddenly a wild idea occurs to you. Have you stumbled upon the 
legendary Koronis Rift?
   Seven hundred thousand years ago, the Ancients ruled the stars - a 
confederation of over thirty different races whose technological 
achievements were unsurpassed. According to legend, the Ancients used 
the deep rifts of a planet called Koronis as a testing ground for their 
most powerful weapons. Finding the fabled Koronis Rift has been a dream 
of technoscavengers for centuries. Now, just maybe, you're the one....
   As soon as your ship moves within range, you activate your on-board 
detector. Tuned to the Ancient's standard wavelength, it should tell you 
whether this mysterious planet contains any caches of powerful 
technology.
   Instantly, the detector registers the loudest alarm you've ever 
heard. Koronis Rift...it must be!
   You signal Psytek. "Prepare the Surface Rover for descent."
   Using the optical sensor, you snap an orbital photograph of a section 
of the planet's surface. A moment later Psytek announces:

SURFACE ROVER READY FOR
DESCENT.
"What about the Repo-Tech Robot?" you ask.

RT ROBOT EQUIPPED AND ON BOARD.
   The Scoutcraft, with Psytek in control, will orbit while you explore 
the planet in your Surface Rover. You can always summon Psytek to come 
pick you up at any time - as long as you're in the clear and not under 
attack.
   There's no time to lose. Koronis Rift, the greatest treasure trove of 
technology in the galaxy, is waiting....


QUICK START

1. Launch Scoutcraft
Once your disk boots up, you'll find yourself inside the Surface Rover, 
ready to explore the planet Koronis. To start scavenging, press the fire 
button on your joystick.
2. Koronis Rift
The planet Koronis is cut by deep valleys, called rifts, which are 
ringed by mountain ranges and sprinkled with hills. You land in Rift One 
which looks to be the least dangerous.
3. Hulks
The vehicle you see on the ground before you is just what you've been 
hoping to find - an abandoned hulk, a war machine of the Ancients.
4. Video Displays
Check out the video displays at the top of you're screen. To the far 
left, the circle with a glowing dot at the top is your directional 
display. The glowing dot points toward the nearest hulk, directly in 
front of you.
5. Search
To search the rest of Koronis Rift for Ancient technology, just turn 
your ship until the dot is at the top of the display, and then move 
forward.
6. Drive
To turn on forward drive, just push the joystick forward. To turn off 
forward drive, pull it back. Push the joystick left or right to turn in 
those directions. Simple.
7. Guardian Saucers
Those are Guardian Saucers swooping in. They are out to destroy you. New 
waves will keep coming until you destroy their base on Rift 20. You've 
got only two choices - to evade, or to destroy them. To fight back, use 
your joystick to position your targeting cursor - the small cross hair 
that moves within the viewing window. With the cursor centered on an 
enemy saucer, push the button on the joystick. One hit may not be 
enough. After all, these Guardian saucers will stop at nothing to 
protect the hulks of Ancient technology. And that's exactly what you're 
after.
8. Looting Hulks
The radiation levels on Koronis are enough to fry a Dromodite. So you'll 
have to send your Repo-Tech Robot out to loot the hulks you find. But 
you can't do anything, until you've destroyed all the attacking saucers 
and positioned your Rover next to the hulk. Then you'll see the options 
"LOOT HULK" and "CALL SHIP" appear beneath your viewing window. To enter 
the option area, move the cursor to the bottom of the viewing window and 
press the button. Move the cursor to the right until the indicator light 
above "LOOT HULK" comes on. To issue the command to your RT Robot, press 
the button on your joystick. The RT Robot will bring back any useful 
systems it finds in the hulk. To return to the Scoutcraft, activate the 
indicator light above "CALL SHIP" and press the button on your joystick.
9. Final Objective
Destroy the saucer base on Rift 20 by gradually increasing your 
capabilities on the earlier levels. You can end the game anytime by 
returning to your Scoutcraft to cash in on all the technology you've 
found, but you cannot claim the entire planet for yourself unless you 
destroy the Guardian Base.
10. Pause and Restart
Press the SPACE BAR to pause the game. Press it again to resume. To 
reset the game press ESC.

SYSTEM ICONS
The following lists standard military systems of the Ancients, along 
with symbols commonly used to identify them. Other types exist that have 
not yet been identified.

LASER - Chromoquantized laser, capable of emitting a beam of destructive 
energy in a single color frequency.
SHIELD - Chromoquantized shield, capable of defending against energy 
weapons of various colors.
GENERATOR - comprising stand power supply.
POWER RESERVE - a high capacity energy storage device.
RADAR - Remote sensing device, designed to locate a specific type or 
class of objects. May also serve as compass or direction finder.
ECM - Electronic countermeasure device, capable of interfering with 
enemy detection gear and rendering the user harder to detect.
DRIVE - Propulsion module, for augmenting or changing the ability of the 
Rover to move over terrain.

       *      ****       **      ******               **         *
**********   *    *     *  *     *    *     *                   *    
    ******  *  **  *    *  *    **    *     *         **      **     
      *     *  **  *   **  **   **    *  *******   ********   ** * * *
    *****    *    *    * ** *    *    *   *****    **    **   **     
   *******    ****    ** ** **   ******    ***      **  **      * 
                      * **** *            * * *      ****        *
                                 POWER                **
   LASER     SHIELD  GENERATOR  RESERVE   RADAR      ECM       DRIVE

STRATEGY AND TACTICS

  Add a new module to an empty slot by selecting the slot and hitting 
the fire button. Use the "Add Module" option only to replace existing 
modules.
  Some strategies will score more points than others. For high points, 
either try to bring back lots of modules for dismantling, or try to 
gather enough powerful weapons quickly, then get to Rift 20 and destroy 
the Guardian base.
  Most radar modules point only to hulks made by the same race. If you 
first figure out what kind of modules an Ancient race is good at, then 
you can use radars made by that race to tell you if and where you may 
find more of those modules. Save the radars of useful races with Psytek 
for use on later rifts.
  Mapping the rifts will help you from game to game. Some modules will 
help you in making maps.
  Pay careful attention to energy flow. Powerful modules may require 
more energy than you can afford. If you add stronger shields and lasers 
to your Rover, you'll need to get stronger generators and power reserves 
too.
  Unusual modules may work only on certain colored saucers, or for 
limited amounts of time. Pay attention and experiment. You may find 
improved versions in later rifts.
  Note the progression of colors in the saucer weapons and shields. Once 
you recognize the pattern, you can plan ahead by having the modules 
you'll need to defeat or evade the saucers coming up.
  Differently shaped saucers have different attack patterns. Adapt your 
attacks to their patterns.
  Cutting through passes and staying near mountains can throw saucers 
off their pursuit, particularly if you have a good generator and drive.

