                       WRAITH BLASTER
                        Version 1.0

                    Instructional Summary

(Please note:  these instructions are limited.  The full game
manual is also on one of your game disks, in ASCII format.)

GAME RATIONALE

You are a young, ambitious, and inexperienced person just itching
to get involved in interplanetary trade and adventure.  You have
200 credits in your electronic account, you have just purchased
your first spaceship, and you will soon be taking off for new and
exotic worlds.

Before you leave, however, you'd better get acquainted with your
ship controls and the economic realities that govern life in the
galaxy.  Some parts of that galaxy are extremely dangerous and
death comes quickly to those who are unaware.

Save your position frequently!

The game operates in two modes, Ship and Planet.  As the game
begins, your ship is in space dock on a space station; you are in
a spaceport on a planet.  There are places to go and things to do
on nearly every planet.  You should go everywhere and examine
everything you find carefully.  Most items you find will be of
some value to you somewhere in the game.  Some items you will be
able to sell; others will get you out of a jam if used correctly.
(NOTE:  Each time you start a new game of Wraith Blaster, many of
these items are randomly distributed around the galaxy.  You will
not necessarily find them in the same places from game to game!)

If the planet has a trading post, you can buy or sell items for
trade with other planets.  Be careful!  Prices vary; a good deal
on one planet is a rip-off somewhere else.

You can beam up to any planet's space station when you are in its
spaceport; just enter "UP".  If the space station has a Ship
Improvement Shop, you can upgrade your ship's weapons both
offensive and defensive, as well as buy fuel and other ship
improvements.  Beam down to the planet by entering "DOWN".

While on board your ship, you can travel from planet system to
planet system, and encounter and do battle with other ships. 
This takes fuel!  Keep an eye on your ENERGY level; you could get
permanently stranded.

WINNING THE GAME

Trading with other planets will increase your wealth.  Becoming
an experienced pilot and space fighter will increase your rank. 
Eventually, though, you will find you have achieved all your
goals and will want to retire.  In order to win, you must:

    have at least 30,000 credits (IMPORTANT:  see "MONEY", below)
    have achieved the rank of "Master"
    find the right place to retire

VOCABULARY

Wraith Blaster understands most basic commands found in most
adventure games.  In addition to the basic vocabulary, this game
understands the following verbs or commands (with abbreviations):

ORBIT (O)           GIVE               SELL
DOCK (DO)           HAND               CARGO (C)
STATUS (ST)         PAY                INFLATE
LOCATE (LO)         SENSORS (SS)       ENERGY (EE)
IDENTIFY (ID)       FLEE
BUY                 REPAIR (RE)
PURCHASE            GIVE
CREDITS (CR)        SHIELDS (SH)       
SHOW                RANK (RA)

There are also a few more specialized commands.
              
INTERACTING WITH CHARACTERS

There are several people in the game with whom you may interact. 
Most of these interactions will be limited.  It will often be
useful to SHOW (an item in your possession) TO (a trading post)
PROPRIETOR.  It may also be necessary to SHOOT (someone) WITH
(some weapon).

COMMON COMMANDS

The function keys control the most common nondirectional commands
in the game.  Pushing a function key causes the command to appear
on the screen.  If you need to input a noun, the game will wait
until you do so and press enter before continuing.  A command
which does not require a noun, such as "LOOK", will be obeyed
immediately.  You don't need to type enter.

Function Key                 Command

  F 1                         GET
  F 2                         DROP
  F 3                         EXAMINE
  F 4                         READ
  F 5                         OPEN
  F 6                         CLOSE
  F 7                         INVENTORY
  F 8                         LOOK

You can move in the eight most common compass directions, as well
as up and down.  To move in any direction, type the direction you
wish to take.  All of these can be abbreviated to one or two
letters.  You can also control direction by using the cursor keys
as though they point to the four cardinal directions on a map. 
The other directions can be controlled as follows:

HOME     northwest
PAGEUP   northeast
PAGEDOWN southeast
END      southwest
"-"      up
"+"      down

If you are unsure of where to go at any time, you can enter "LIST
EXITS" and the game will give you the options for your current
location.

SAVING AND RESTORING

You can save your position at any point in the game.  Just enter
"SAVE"; the game will prompt you for a file name.  The game can
work with a maximum of eight save files in the game directory. 
To restore a previously-saved position, just enter "RESTORE"; the
game will list the available save files and ask you to choose
one.

SHIP CONTROLS

Once in orbit, the cursor keys and home, end, page up, and page
down control the ship's movement through space.  (Or you can type
in the direction.)

Cargo (C)

This command gives tells you three things:  your cargo bay
capacity; how many units of trade goods you are carrying whether
in the cargo bay or held outside the ship by a tractor array; how
many units of each kind of trade good item you are carrying.

Controls (CN)

This command gives you a list of the ship's controls, with
abbreviations, and describes their functions.

Dock (DO)

This command is used to dock the ship when you are in orbit.

Energy (EE)

You can check your fuel level with this command.  A full charge
of fuel may be purchased at ship improvement shops for 50
credits.  While you may purchase a new charge without having
exhausted the last one, partial charges are not available.

Fire (Shoot)

This command fires the weapon.  You must SHOOT (ship name) WITH
(weapon name).  You will be told whether you have hit or missed. 
If hit by a strong enough weapon, the ship is destroyed.  If hit
by a weaker weapon, the ship may be damaged or not.  To do this,
you must know the name of the ship (see below).

Flee

This command causes your ship to dock at the nearest space
station.  It is best used when under attack by large numbers of
ships.  While not foolproof, you have a better chance of
surviving if you FLEE than if you just DOCK.

Identify (ID)

This command will state the class of an uncloaked ship that has
been located.  

Locate (LO)

This command allows one to locate a ship that is not cloaked,
once the sensors are on.

Orbit (O) 

This command puts you in orbit around the current planet.

Repair (RE)

When in space dock, this command restores your shield strength. 
Each repair job costs 30 credits.

Sensors (SS)

This command turns on the ship's sensors and must be used to
locate and identify ships.

Shields (SH)

This command gives you a report of your shield strength.

Status (ST)

This command will tell you whether the ship is docked or in orbit
and at which station or around which planet.

SPACE COMBAT

You may or may not encounter other ships during orbit.  Ships may
be hostile (must be destroyed before they destroy you) or
friendly (will not harm you unless attacked).  Your Early Warning
System will tell you if another ship is nearby.  You must then
gather information about it before you can decide whether to
attack it.

Destroying the ships of pirates or criminals will pay a bounty. 
In addition, sometimes a passenger ship contains a criminal.  If
such a ship is destroyed, a bounty is paid.  Finally, you can
purchase a tractor array that recovers cargo.  If you destroy a
cargo ship and there was cargo aboard, the tractor array will
recover the cargo automatically.  The tractor array can hold an
unlimited number of objects OUTSIDE the ship.  Units of trade
goods picked up by the tractor array therefore are not affected
by your cargo bay capacity.  These are reported as item units and
added to the total number of units you are carrying.  They can be
sold at trading posts like other items.

Rank

Destroying certain ships also increases one's rank.  The more
dangerous or aggressive the ships destroyed, the faster your rank
increases.  One's rank affects weapon accuracy; the higher your
rank the less frequently you will miss with a particular weapon.

You can determine your rank at any time in the game by entering
the command "RANK" or "RA".

ATTACK STRATEGY TIPS

To destroy a hostile ship, the pilot must first locate it using
the ship's sensors and determine what kind of ship it is.  Then
the appropriate weapon must be fired.

Certain types of weapons are required to destroy certain types of
ships.  If a player has not yet purchased the weapon and meets a
hostile ship that requires it, the player must flee or die.

Different planets have different levels of ship traffic. 
Dangerous ships are more likely to hang around some planets than
others.

ARMOR vs. SHIELDS

The force shield is a ship's first line of defense against
attack.  A direct hit with any weapon will reduce shield
strength.  Different types of weapons reduce shield strength by
different amounts.  Once shield strength is 0, the next accurate
shot will hit the ship's armor directly.  The strength of the
armor determines whether actual damage will occur to the ship
from such a hit.  The more powerful a weapon, the better chance
it has of damaging or destroying an unshielded ship.

YOUR SHIP

Your ship is initially equipped with a laser and 5 missiles.  It
has weak armor and a class 1 shield (Shield1).  You can upgrade
your weapons and shields, but your armor, being a structural
element of the ship, cannot be improved.

OTHER SHIPS

There are ten ship classes in use in the galaxy.  These are
detailed in Jane's Guide to Spaceships, which you may be able to
purchase at some point in the game.  Jane's gives detailed
information on each ship's weaponry, both offensive and
defensive, as well as the strategy employed by the typical pilot
of each class of ship.

Unlike your ship, other ships have varying strengths of armor,
but no shields.  Passenger and freight vessels, and some armed
vessels, are not aggressive and therefore do not fear attack
under ordinary circumstances.  Aggressive armed vessels are
outlaws not permitted to purchase weapons or ship improvements on
the open market.  They can obtain weapons, cloaking devices and
cloaked detectors on the black market, and these items are easily
installed by amateurs.  Shields, however, are very high-tech,
complex equipment which can only be installed in registered Ship
Improvement Shops.

Aggressive ships are actively wanted by vigilante societies;
their destruction pays a bounty calculated according to the
aggressiveness and dangerousness of the ship.

SHIP WEAPONS

Offensive Weapons

You must have a weapon powerful enough to destroy a particular
ship.  A more powerful weapon can kill a weaker ship, but a weak
weapon can't destroy a more powerful ship.

A laser, missile launcher and 5 missiles are standard equipment
on your ship.

The following additional offensive ship weapons are available:

   Weapon                    Price

laser                         standard
missile launcher              standard
missiles                      5 for 250
phaser                        2000
photon torpedoes              5 for 1200 
particle beam                 5500 
beam recharge (50 shots)      500                 
disintegrator                 8000
cloaked detector              8000

When you have a weapon which must be reloaded, you can enter a
command to learn how many shots you have used.  These commands
are:

Missiles:          STATUSM (STM)
Photon Torpedoes:  STATUST (STT)
Particle Beam:     STATUSB (STB)

Defensive Weapons

The standard class 1 ship shield is rated 100.  Other defensive
ship weapons available include:

    Weapon                  Price

class 2 shield2 (150)        750 
class 3 shield3 (250)        2500
class 4 shield4 (400)        5000
cloaking device              10,000

PERSONAL WEAPONS

You will need hand weapons to survive a number of situations on
various planets.  You will have to look sharp to find the right
weapon.

MONEY

You start out with 200 credits.  All money transactions are
handled electronically; you never have any cash in hand.  Trading
posts and ship improvement shops are always honest and will buy
and sell for the posted prices.  Other folks may not be so
reliable, but you have no choice.

VERY IMPORTANT!! - - - - - - - - VERY IMPORTANT!!

For reasons too complicated to explain here, you CANNOT HAVE MORE
THAN 32,767 CREDITS.  If you sell something that should give you
more than that, you will suddenly find yourself with LESS THAN 0
credits.  If you have more than 30,000 credits, concentrate on
reaching Master rank so you can win.  Buy and sell in such a way
that your credits do not go over 32,767.  (A fuller explanation
of this appears in the MANUAL.TXT file on your game disk.)

TRADE

Certain planets have trade opportunities.  You can purchase goods
at some planets and sell them at others.  Different planets sell
and buy at different rates.

Trade items are purchased and sold in standard units for each
type of item, one unit at a time.  The amount of goods you can
buy depends on the state of your bank account and on the size of
your cargo area.  Your ship's standard cargo space hold 20 units,
and you can add an extra cargo bay.  

PLANETS

Most planets are inhabitable.  Some are hostile to human life but
can be explored if you have the right equipment (which you will
probably find sooner or later).  The inhabited planets are at
various degrees of development.  Some have Trading Posts on their
surfaces.  Others have Ship Improvement Shops on their space
stations.  A very few have both.

All planets are worth exploring.  You may find profitable trade
markets.  Or you may find valuable treasures for which the
proprietors of certain trading posts will pay handsomely.  Or you
may find the equipment you need to explore previously fatal or
inaccessible places.

Any planet can be dangerous if you don't have the right weapons
or protection.

Good luck!