




















		BRIDGE CREW PLAYER GAME MANUAL 

			      For

		  SHAREWARE VERSION SW1.12D































 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the world of computer assisted co-operative role-playing. 
Bridge Crew is the first of a series of computer assisted multi-player 
role-playing games designed to be played on the current generation of 
high power DOS PCs.

Like all role-playing games, BRIDGE CREW is played with a game master 
who develops a scenario for the players and may get actively involved 
during the playing of the scenario.  The players roll up characters just 
as they would in a normal role-play game.

The players play the part of the crew of a starship.  Each player is a 
bridge officer in a universe created by the GM.  The typical players are 
Captain, Beam Weapons officer, Helm Officer, Missile Weapons officer, 
Communications officer, Security officer, Computer officer, Damage 
control officer, and others.  Obviously most players have more than one 
function, so things can get quite hectic for the players.

The PC's system console, which all players can see, reflects the 
starship's tactical display.  Ideally this is an overhead projector 
which has a projection panel placed on it, or a large video screen. 
Most crews can't afford the expense, so they make do with a 14" monitor 
on a table.

Whilst non combat scenarios can be built, it is essentially a combat 
driven game, hence most scenarios have starship combat.

Each player has a computer terminal with which he/she can pull up 
various reports about the state of the ship and the state of the 
universe.  He/she can also enter commands that relate to the player's 
assigned functions (e.g. the helm officer can set course and speed). 

Like the bridge of a modern warship, the captain gives orders and 
expects the crew to either obey or make sensible alternative 
suggestions.  The crew is expected to run the relevant parts of the ship 
without specific orders.

















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 Main Console

When the game is started, the monitor of the host PC (or the display 
panel, if one is available) will show the main display.  Examples of the 
display are shown in DISPLAY1.BMP and DISPLAY2.BMP below, along with 
explanations of the objects found on the screen.

 HOW THE GAME PLAYS (OR THE COMPUTER AS A RULES LAWYER)

Bridge Crew is a multi player co-operative role-play game in which the 
players role-play the crew on the bridge of a starship.

Bridge crew is played by two or more players and a Games Master.  A 
normal complement of players would be; three crew members, a captain 
(without a terminal) and a Game Master.  In this configuration you will 
need four terminals or PCs daisy chanined see GETSTART.TXT for details of 
how to wire up BRIDGE CREW.

A normal arrangement is to have the main system console/monitor at the 
end of the table and the other terminal/PCs set up so that all players 
can see the main system's console.

The program, when running on a sufficiently powerful machine, will 
refresh the screen every 2 seconds.  This 2 second interval is called a 
turn.  Turns happen in real time i.e. 2 seconds = 2 seconds of real 
time.  In one turn each player may enter and have processed by the 
computer, one command.  A type ahead buffer is used to store extra 
commands, however only one will be processed each two seconds. 

 SPACE

For the purposes of this game, space has been divided into TSUs (Time 
Space Units.)  The game universe is a square 999,999 TSU by 999,999 TSU.  
For simplicity's sake, space has been flattened into 2 dimensions (so 
forget about reality, this is a game).  The universe is bounded by the 
points (1,1) in the bottom left hand corner and the point 
(999999,999999) in the top right hand corner.  When quoting locations, 
the x co-ordinate is first (x=horizontal, y=vertical).  Within the game, 
the notation used is a dot (decimal point between the co-ordinates).  
(E.g. the point (12,450567) becomes 12.450567)

The speed of light in space is 10, which means that in 2 seconds light 
would travel 10 TSU.

Because of the very long travel times (e.g. to travel 70 light years at 
eight times the speed of light would require about nine years) we have 
compressed space very significantly.  This has been done to facilitate 
game play, so that journeys between stars can be completed in a three 
hour play session.



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 DIRECTIONS

All directions are entered in tenths of a degree e.g. a course of 900 = 
90 degrees, as shown below :

	 0       
   3150  |  450  
	\|/      
2700<----+---->900
	/|\      
   2250  |  1350 
       1800      

Some directions are absolute, which is to say that they are based on the 
directions shown above and others are relative to the heading of the 
ship (e.g. the AIM angle of weapons).

Absolute directions are used in the issue of the commands COURSE and 
DIRECT as well as in the information returned from RECON and THINGS.

Relative directions are also used when displaying the arc of fire of 
beam weapons and the initial heading of missile weapons.

 TIME

Each milli-stardate tick occurs every 43 turns (86 seconds).  There are 
1000 milli-stardate ticks in a normal 24 hour day.

The stardate is shown on the main display.  The section after the dot on 
stardate shows divisions of day by thousands (milli-stardates).

 ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Starships (hereafter known as ships) use energy to do things.  How much 
energy varies from ship to ship. The tasks that require energy are:

Cloaking the Ship to hide it
Sensors
Loading Missile Weapons
Moving the Ship
Charging the Shields
Charging Beam Weapons
Charging the Battery
Using Transporters

Energy is created each turn by the warp and impulse engines and is 
available for use in that turn.  Unused energy is placed in storage in 
the battery (if the battery is full, excess energy is lost).  If energy 
is needed then the energy will be taken out of this turn's supply.  If 
there is not enough, then the battery will be depleted.

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Damage done to the functions associated with the impulse engines and the 
warp drive will reduce the amount of energy available in a turn, and can 
be seen with the command "report engines".

The order in which energy is used is as follows

1.      Cloaking the ship to hide it
2.      Sensors
3.      Loading missile weapons/using transporters
4.      Moving the ship
5.      Charging the shields
6.      Charging beam weapons
7.      Charging the battery

If all of the ship's energy is used up by the first two functions 
(Cloaking and sensors) then the missiles will not load, the ship will 
not move etc.

All of the energy using functions can be adjusted so they use no energy, 
Specifically:

1.      Turn off the cloaking using the "CLOAK" command.
2.      Turn off one or more sensors "SENSOR".
3.      Don't load the missiles "MLOAD" or use the transporters "TRANS".
4.      Reduce your speed "SPEED".
5.      Reduce the charge to the shields "SHIELDS ALL 0".
6.      Do not initiate the charging of the beam weapons "CHARGE" or 
	"BCHARGE"
7.      You can not stop excess energy going into the battery this has NO 
	negative side effects on play.

Energy will not be used unless  enough is available to complete the 
operation for that turn.  E.g. if the battery contains 200 EU (Energy 
Units) but it requires 300 to charge the beam weapons, then the battery 
will not be depleted to 0, because 200 is less than 300.



 MOVEMENT

Each turn, ships move a number of TSUs equal to their speed in the 
direction of their current heading.  Additionally, ships can rotate on 
their axis at a specific speed (depending on the ship) to put them in a 
different direction next turn.  The turn rate of a ship is fixed, e.g. a 
Monarch will always turn at 10.  However, dependant upon your speed, 
the distance travelled whilst you turn may in practical terms increase or decre







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 THE MAIN DISPLAY

The main display has 2 modes of operation, TACTICAL and STRATEGIC.  The 
helm officer may swap between the modes using the MODE command.

The TACTICAL mode is suitable for combat and manoeuvre.  It shows the 
direction and current location of all visible ships, starbases, planets, 
stars and visible missiles.

The STRATEGIC mode is suitable for campaign planning and strategy 
conferences.  It shows the last known location of the known starships 
and the correct location of the stars.  In strategic mode, the direction 
in which the ships are travelling is not indicated by the ship 
silhouette (the ships are shown in direction 0).  If a starship is shown 
as a red blob, this means that it is within sensor range of a sensor 
that does not provide a clear picture.

Objects on the main display are not shown to scale.  Their size can be 
changed with the "MAGNIFY" command.

The scale of the main display can be changed with the "SCALE" command.  
The scale is the number of TSUs from the centre of the screen to the top 
of the screen (the radius of the circle with centre at the centre of the 
screen).  E.g. "SCALE 5000" will display 5000 TSUs from the centre of 
the screen, i.e. 10,000 TSUs from top to bottom and 10,000 TSUs from 
left to right.

 TYPES OF OBJECTS

The game has 5 kinds of objects that can be seen on the main console:

Starships
Starbases or Outposts
Planets/Asteroids etc.
Stars
Missiles

 STARSHIPS

If your ship's sensors can 'see' a starship (Use the 'RECON' command to 
see what your sensors are detecting) on the main display, and if SCALE, 
MAGNIFY, MODE and VIEW are set correctly then the main display will 
display the starships that can be seen by the sensors.







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 PLANETS

Planets are treated as starships with a zero movement allowance.  
Planets however, do not disappear when they are destroyed.  Note that 
using the Scenario designer, it is possible to build a planet that has 
most of the properties of a starship; movement and weapons etc.
  
 STARBASES OR OUTPOSTS

Starbases are treated as starships with a zero or reduced movement 
allowance.  Note that using the Scenario designer, it is possible to 
build a starbase that is indistinguishable from a starship, with full 
movement and weapons etc.

 STARS

The universe has a backdrop of stars.  These are shown on the main 
display and may be listed by the use of the "SYSTEMS" command.  The 
shareware version of Bridge Crew has only a few stars; the registered 
version has 46 stars.

 MISSILES

If ships fire Missile Weapons, these can be shown on the main console.  
Note that using the Scenario designer, it is possible to build ships 
that fire invisible missiles.

Three events are also indicated on the main console
Missile weapon explosions or self destruction
Beam weapons firing
Hits on the players ship

 SENSORS

A sensor only uses energy when switched on.  It operates from the ship's 
current position in a radius around the ship as dictated by the sensor's 
range.

There are two types of sensor.  One which will give you a 'Clear 
Picture' - a proper silhouette on the main screen.  The second type or 
'Poor Picture Quality' will only give you a red blob on the main screen.  
Only a good quality picture can be used for locking missile weapons and 
for the 'ANALYSE' command.  A poor quality picture will however, be 
sufficient for the use of beam weapons and for the 'SCAN' command.

All sensors are limited to a speed range for detection purposes.  In 
real terms this means that your sensor will only register ships within a 

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given warp range - e.g. WS Sensors cannot detect a ship going at under 
warp speed i.e. speed 10 or less.  EM Sensors cannot detect ships 
travelling above speed 10.

Each ship has a reflectivity for each type of sensor.  If a sensor 
cannot detect a ship's reflectivity (based upon a ship's sensor cross-
section) then the ship is invisible.

 CLOAKING

Certain ships can cloak (hide from sensors).  This process works by 
reducing the sensor echo for a given class of sensor.  Ships with 
cloaking normally require energy to maintain the function.  Cloaking is 
controlled from the strategy position and ships generally have one 
cloaking device for each sensor from which the ship is hiding.

Cloaking devices come in several types, following the general rules laid 
out below:

+       They may or may not allow the firing of beam weapons while cloaked, 
	depending on the type of cloaking device used.
+       They may not or may not allow the firing of missile weapons while 
	cloaked, depending on the type of cloaking device used.
+       They may require several turns before they can be reactivated.
+       They may force the beam weapons to unload when decloaking.
+       They may force the missile weapons to unload when decloaking.
+       They may require energy to remain turned on.
+       They may not be powerful enough to hide from all ships (especially 
	those with sensitive sensors)
+       If damaged they will not be as effective - they degrade slowly.


When warp engines are asked to perform above the speed at which they can 
dissipate sufficient heat, they get hotter.  When their temperature 
reaches 100 HSU then they have a probability of failure.  The rate at 
which they reach these temperatures varies from ship to ship and can be 
quite slow or very rapid.  When the temperature reaches 100 HSU, damage 
is done to the warp function.  In blowing out, the warp engine cools and 
if not fatally damaged, the reaction will continue, usually resulting in 
a further warp blowout until the engine is sufficiently damaged to 
prevent further overheating.

The effects of heat strain are only modelled in the game when the 
parameter overheating is set to on.  (See the SETP and SETV commands for 
details.)

 MISSILES

Missiles use energy for one turn in order to load (called the missile's 
"Energy to Load").  Missiles fire at an original aim angle relative to 
the starship from which they are fired.  A missile will manoeuvre like a 
starship in terms of turn rate and speed.  However, as each missile has 
its own sensor, once released it will operate independently of your 

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ship.  The sensor in the missile is relatively unintelligent and will 
only track an object that it is already locked on to.  This is why you 
must lock onto a target using the ship's sensors.

Before being fired, a missile must be told how far away from the target 
to explode.  This is called the proximity and is set with the "PROX" 
command.  See the section on 'Granularity' for the effects of proximity.

Missiles have a recognition signal keyed into them so that they will not 
deliberately explode when near friendly vessels.  You cannot, therefore, 
attack friendly vessels with missiles.  Neutral or hostile vessels can 
be targeted with missiles.  Note that the missile will explode when it 
comes within proximity distance of any "non-friendly vessel."  Missiles 
can therfore be blocked by "sacrifical" actions of other ships.

Any given missile type has a blast radius, doing damage depending upon 
how close to the centre of the blast radius an object is.  This means 
that if your ship is too close to an enemy ship when your missile goes 
off you will be damaged.  The purpose of setting a proximity is to tell 
your missiles how close to another ship they get before exploding.  A 
low proximity will inflict maximum damage; a high proximity will inflict 
little damage, but has an increased range and suffers less from the 
effects of Event Granularity.

E.g.  A Monarch Class vessel fighting a hostile vessel with a proximity 
of 10 will have a base range of 1210 and a damage of 300.  The same 
missile with a proximity of 300 will have a base range of 1500 and a 
damage of one, if it detonates at extreme range.  NB the Monarch class 
is included with the registered version of Bridge Crew

All ships have a limited number of missiles which they can carry at any 
time.  If a ship runs out of missiles it must go back to a starbase in 
order to be reloaded.

Note that using the Scenario Designer's Kit, it is possible to build a 
ship which can reload itself and other ships.

Missile weapons also move each turn and are checked to see if they are 
in proximity at the start and end of their movement.

 Granularity (or the Problem with Missiles)

Put simply, Granularity is the amount of time or movement between 
events.  In the case of BRIDGE CREW, this is 2 seconds.

The Bridge Crew software only checks the position of a missile for 
proximity (and therefore detonation) before it moves the missile and 
after it moves the missile.  The sequence of a turn is therefore:

1.      Move ships.
2.      Test missiles.
3.      Move missiles.
4.      Test missiles.

Using this sequence, it is possible for a missile with a low proximity 

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to miss a target by moving over it.  Here's how:

Proximity 50
Missile speed 120
Target speed 10 (Towards the missile)
Current distance 70 

1.      Move the ship.  Current distance now 60.
2.      test missile (outside proximity)
3.      Move missile (distance now 120-60 = 60)
4.      test missile (still outside proximity)
5.      the missile now starts to turn back toward the target, but will, 
	in most cases, miss.

The golden rule here, is that proximity should always be set to greater 
than or equal to half the missile speed to ensure a detonation.

Also with this sequence, it is possible for a missile with a low 
proximity to detonate against a non-facing shield by moving past the 
target.  Here are 2 ways that this can happen:

Proximity 50
Missile speed 120
Target speed 80 
Current distance 60

1.      Move the ship (Current distance is now -20 i.e. behind the target 
	ship)
2.      Test the missile (which is inside proximity, so it will detonate 
	and attack the back shield)

Proximity 90
Missile speed 120
Target speed 0 
Current distance 100

1.      Move the ship (Current distance is now 100)
2.      Test missile (outside proximity)
3.      Move missile (the distance is now (100-120) = -20 - i.e. behind 
	the ship.)
4.      Test missile (which is now inside proximity, so that it will 
	detonate against the back shield).

The golden rules here, are that to increase the chance of hitting the 
facing shield, proximity should always be set to greater than the 
missile speed and greater than the target speed.

Because the ship moves before the missile when firing across the path of 
an opposing ship, a glance can occur where the ship moves into and out 
of proximity in one movement.  This will tend to occur more with lower 
proximity and higher ship speeds.  The golden rule here is that 
proximity should be not less than the target ship's speed.




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 BEAMS

A beam weapon is the space age equivalent of a cannon.  This means that 
if you can see it, make the weapon face it and have it within range you 
can shoot it.  Like a cannon, beams have a point blank range.  If you 
are at point blank range you will do maximum damage.  Damage will 
decrease as you move further away from an object, up to a point where no 
damage occurs, as you are out of range.

Beam weapons require a number of turns to load, and use energy in every 
turn in which they are loading.
  
 TRANSPORTERS

All transporters have a maximum distance at which they will work.  In 
order to successfully use the transporters, you must maintain a speed 
equal to or lower than the maximum speed for your transporter type.  
Energy cost for using transporters is calculated per person or crew.  
Transporters also have a shield penetration value.  If any shield is 
below this value (in points, not as a percentage) then they will be able 
to transport crew onto the vessel.  If your transporter will not 
penetrate a shield, you can ask friendly ships to lower their shields 
using the 'ORDER LOWER' command.  If you wish to transport to/from 
unfriendly ships, you must lower their shields by other methods.  All 
transporters also have a maximum number of people they will transport at 
any one time.  If you are unaware of your transporters capabilities then 
a 'REPORT TRANSPORTER' should respond with the information needed.

 SECURITY

The game could not be played without this function.  The security 
officer is the person who assigns the ships functions.

It is also the job of the security officer to key in the ship's 
condition e.g. Red.  Some ships will only obey orders under condition 
Red or Blue; please consult the world book to discover the appropriate 
times to declare a change of condition.  When a condition red or blue is 
declared, then other ships may fall under your command.

 SHIP'S FUNCTIONS

The ship is divided into up to twenty functions.  Each of these 
functions has the following properties: 

1. Each function has a certain quantity of native hit points.  This is called 
   original damage.  As the function takes damage, the number of 
   points remaining drops.  When it drops below the failure point, the 
   function will no longer operate at full capacity.  When the hit 
   points drop to zero, the function is totally destroyed.

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2. The function may additionally require crew in order to be 
   operational.  If it does not have sufficient crew, then it will 
   perform at less than 100% efficiency.
 
3. If a function is damaged but still has at least one point of damage 
   remaining, then any crew above and beyond those needed to make it 
   100% operational will start to restore the function to full operating 
   potential.  Different starships and different functions will all 
   restore at different rates, so the same number of crew will restore 
   the same function at different rates on different ships.

4. When a function has been damaged beyond easy restoration, which is to say 
   its points have reached Zero, the function will need to be 
   repaired.  In order to do this spares will be required.  If spares 
   are not available then that function is crippled (which may cripple 
   the entire ship).  If the ship cannot repair itself, it will require 
   the services of a starbase repair facility (only useful if one can be 
   reached).  On some occasions, if a ship is completely crippled, a 
   repair ship may be sent.

5. In order to prevent the entire crew rapidly fixing a function an 
   artificial limit has been placed into all functions allowing varying 
   maximums of extra crew in each function.  This maximum crew is the 
   game's way of limiting skill bases and repair rates on each ship.

6. Each function has a physical space requirement limiting the maximum 
   number of people allowed in the function, this includes passengers 
   and crew.
  
7. One function may or may not be related to one weapon, or sensor.  
   E.g. all 10 missile weapons could rely on one ship's function if the 
   scenario (ship) designer designed it that way.

 COMMUNICATIONS

Starships may send one line messages to each other over "warp space 
communications".  Non-player Starships will automatically respond to the 
messages "HELLO", "ID" and "NEWS".  Other communications that are sent 
by the players to non-player ships will be redirected to the GM's 
terminal.  Most GMs do not like large amounts of idle chatter which they 
then have to read and in such circumstances may miss important messages 
that you send.  The scenario designer can pre-program multi-line 
messages which can be read by any officer.  (Future versions of bridge 
crew will have enhanced multi-line communications facilities).

 SHIELDS

Starships have four shields.  One at the front, one at the back and one 
on either side.  For game purposes there are no gaps between shields.  
All attacks of any nature will be stopped by shields if the shields are 
up.  (Note: there is a difference between a shield being up and a shield 
being charged).  A shield is charged when it is at 100% of its shielding 

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capacity.  It can, however, be below its full capacity and still be 
charged.  Shields take energy to charge, however a fully charged shield 
takes no energy to maintain.  A shield with a strength of 300 points is 
capable of taking 300 points of damage (DV).  Any damage done to it 
above this amount will penetrate the shield and effect damage on the 
ships functions and cause crew casualties.  Each turn, a shield that is 
down but is still capable of recharging will attempt to recharge itself 
in the following order; front, right, back and left.

The shield officer may alter the rate of recharge of one or all shields 
to assist with starship energy management.

E.g.  If the shield charge rate is set to 100 for all shields and 250 EU 
are available and the current state of the shields is 
front 300, (100%),
right 100, (30%), 
back 30 (10%),
left 150 (50%)
and the ship has a shield efficiency of 5%, then this turn the shields 
will recharge as follows:
	front 0 
	right (will take 100 points of energy and give 5 points) 105
	back (will take 100 points of energy and give 5 points) 35
	left (will not recharge at all as there is insufficient energy left 
	     to recharge i.e. 50) 150.  
This would be an undesirable situation if an enemy was currently on your 
left bow.  A trained and efficient shield officer would reduce the 
charge rate on the right shield (assuming it is not facing an enemy 
ship) to 50 or less to allow the left shield to recover.  Obviously this 
kind of decision is often made by the Captain as he or she knows which 
shields will be used next.

 SCIENCE

The science officer is responsible for the sensor and the scanning and 
analysis of other ships.  If objects are visible on the sensors then the 
science officer, with the assistance of the ships computer, may be able 
to ascertain information about various aspects of the object or ship.  
The basic rule is that scan will operate with poor picture sensors and 
analyse will only work with a good picture.  The two functions i.e. scan 
and analyse are independent of each other and may or may not work at the 
same time.  For general usage, if you can't scan it, analyse it; if you 
can't analyse it, scan it.  In many situations, the two commands will 
give you virtually the same information, but this is not always true.

 BRIDGE OFFICERS

 HELM OFFICER

The Helm Officer's main function is to steer the ship in the manner and 
speed directed by the captain.

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Instructions from the captain may be given in exact form or as general 
instructions.  The Helm Officer should be flexible in approach.

The Helm Officer is also responsible for the main view screen and should 
provide advice on views, scales and magnification at any time where it 
may be appropriate.  This includes keeping the starship centred in the 
display with the VIEW command.

A common abbreviation is the use of the term warp for speed.  Speed is 
given in tenths of a warp, so the captain ordering a speed of warp four 
would be asking for a speed of 40.

In the FIP universe, the Helm Officer is responsible for answering 
questions about direction and travel times to various objects.

 DAMAGE CONTROL

The Damage Control Officer is responsible for assigning crew to repair 
stations.  He or she should, without instruction, assign crew to damaged 
functions in the priority sequence desired by the captain, whilst the 
ship is in combat.

When the ship is low on crew (e.g. as a result of combat) the DC Officer 
may need to recommend a sensible crew distribution in line with the 
general needs of the captain.

 BEAM WEAPON

The Beam Officer is responsible for firing and loading the beam weapons.  
The Beam Officer should not lock or charge the beam weapons on his or 
her own initiative unless condition red or blue has been declared.

If directed to "fire at will", the Beam Officer should fire at all 
possible opportunities. During a "normal" combat the captain must 
specifically authorise a list of targets.

Beam Officers should be aware of the problems associated with charging 
the beam weapons during energy crisis situations, and adhere to the 
captain's needs in such situations.

The Beam Officer should also advise the captain of beam firing 
opportunities and of manoeuvres that favour beam firing opportunities.

The Beam Officer should decide on the beam firing ARC before combat and 
set it without recourse to the captain.

Many captains like to be advised of beam hits made against enemy 
starships.



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 MISSILE WEAPONS

The Missile Officer is responsible for firing and loading the missile 
weapons.  The Missile Officer should not lock or load the missile 
weapons on his or her own initiative unless condition red or blue has 
been declared.

If directed to "fire at will", the Missile Officer should fire at all 
realistically possible opportunities, without unnecessarily wasting 
ammunition.  During a "normal" combat the captain must specifically 
authorise a list of targets.

A common command is to "keep lead in the air", which authorises the 
Missile Officer to fire even if a hit is not a certainty.

The Missile Officer should advise the captain of missile opportunities 
and manage the use of missiles.  It is common protocol to periodically 
advise the captain of the number of missiles remaining.

The Missile Officer should decide on the proximity setting before combat 
and set it without recourse to the captain.

Many captains like to be advised of missile hits made on other 
starships, since the main display is not to scale.

 COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications Officer is responsible for the sending and reading of 
messages from and to other ships.  He or she should bring any reports 
that may be relevant to the captain's attention.  The Communications 
Officer should not send any unauthorised messages.

The Communications Officer is also responsible for the sending of orders 
to other ships.

 COMPUTER OFFICER

The computer officer is responsible for scanning the ship's computer for 
information that may be of use to the captain in the current scenario.  

The computer will normally contain extracts from the FIP charter, and 
from any relevant FIP treaties, along with scenario specific 
information.







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 ENGINEERING

The Engineering Officer is responsible for advising the captain on the 
state of the engines and transporter.

Repairs will be needed at various times.  The Engineering Officer will 
be responsible for their execution.  Remember to liaise with the captain 
to ensure the optimum use of spares and starbase facilities.

The Engineering Officer also performs any transportation of passengers 
and crew.

 SECURITY OFFICER 

The Security Officer is responsible for the allocation of bridge 
functions to the crew.

Unless ordered otherwise, if the captain dies, he or she should assume 
command of the ship.

He or she is also responsible for the safety of passengers, cargo and 
Prisoners on the ship.

He or she should move rapidly to bring the ship to alert status of 
yellow, red or blue, on the captain's order.

 SHIELD CONTROL

The Shield Control Officer is responsible for the raising/lowering of 
shields and the recharge setting on the shields.

Given the serious effect that damaged shields have on energy management, 
he or she should advise the captain of the options available to him/her 
and be quick to respond to instructions given.

 SCIENCE

The Science Officer is responsible for gathering information about the 
objects encountered during a mission and advising the captain of any 
anomalies. that are apparent.

He or she should also control the ship's sensors as required.

During combat he or she should offer advice to the captain on sensor 
usage and damage done to hostile ships.

Many captains expect the Science Officer to constantly monitor the 
damage status of enemy shields and functions and to advise any changes 
of status.

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 15

 STRATEGY OFFICER

This member of crew is a 'behind the scenes' advisor to the captain.

His or her main function is to keep the captain advised of the strategic 
situation in which the ship is operating.

POSITION UPDATES of vessels being tracked by Deep Space Fleet will be 
transmitted to the strategy officer who should assess them for 
importance and advise the captain accordingly.











































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 PLAYER COMMANDS

Only the first four characters of a command need be entered.  When 
entering function names or system names (i.e. anything that is shown in 
italics) the full word needs to be entered - abbreviations are not 
accepted.  For example, to get a RECON, you only need to type RECO into 
the computer, but to get a report on your impulse engines you need to 
type "FUNC IMPULSE".
-----------------------------------------------------

 GENERAL COMMANDS

The following commands are available to all players.  

DIRECT   end_location   [start_location]

Reports the distance and heading from start_location to end_location.  
End_location  and  start_location can be either  x.y  co-ordinates or an 
Object Id.  If an Object Id is used, then the last known  x.y  location 
of that object is considered.  The default for start_location is your 
own ship.

ETA  start_location   speed   end_location

Calculates an time taken to travel to end_location from start_location 
at constant speed.

End_location  and  start_location  can be either  x.y  co-ordinates or 
an Object Id.  If an Object Id is used, then the last known  x.y  
location of that object is considered.

Speed is in TSU per turn.

It also tells you the stardate based on the current stardate, plus the 
travel time to end_location, along with the elapsed play time, in 
minutes.

FROM  ship_id  start_ship_id

Lists known objects regardless of sensors relative to a specific ship. 
Objects include ships, starbases and planets.

All known objects are stored in a list. The 'FROM' command will list up 
to 10 objects from this list starting from the start_ship_id.  Ship_id  
specifies which ship to use as the origin for calculating Heading and 
Distance values.

For example:

FROM  F2        will list the first 10 known objects relative to ship F2

FROM  K1  X7    will list the first 10 ships starting from X7, 
		relative to K1.

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 17

The 'FROM' command is similar to the 'THINGS' command but calculates the 
listed Heading and Distance from a specified ship.

An example of the report is shown below

Id Heading Distance  Xpos.Ypos   Tagged
F1  2992     1420  500090.196277 Tagged
F2  1178       26  501353.195571 Tagged
K1   123    10149  503500.205500 Tagged
K2   195     9461  504500.204500 Tagged
K3   177    10409  504500.205500 Tagged

FUNCTION function_id

Lists crew and damage status of a function.

Report For WARP
Crew Needed 65 Actual 65 Maximum 75 
Damage at Start 100 Damage to Degrade 70 
Current Damage 100 Current Performance 100% 
Repair rate 0 Spares held    2 
Casualties 0 Passengers 0 Max People 76 

The function_id can be found from the command REPORT FUNCTIONS.

GET message number

Retrieves the multi line message from the ships computer.  Message 0 is 
usually the scenario orders.
HELP command

Where command is a player's command or security code.

NOTE: This command is designed to assist only those players who are 
familiar with the game.  It is not designed as a tutorial, or to tell 
the player what effect the commands will actually have.  Its objective 
is to assist with the syntax of less commonly used commands.

INTERCEPT ship_id [speed]

Tells the players of the speed and course needed to intercept a given 
starship.  In order for the command to be effective, the starship must 
be visible on sensors at the time that the command is given.

LOG [text]

Makes an entry in the ships log. Text is the message entered.  This is 
stored in a file called BCREWLOG.DAT.

If text is empty, the command lists the last ten logged messages.





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MACRO number text

Sets up a user macro, where number is a number from 0 to 9, and text is 
the command that you wish to have available as a macro.

For example, the Helm officer may set up macros for the command VIEW and 
certain headings as follows:

	Macro 0 View
	Macro 1 Course 0
	Macro 2 Course 900
	Macro 3 Course 1800.

To recall the macro (and therefore enter the command in the macro), he 
or she can subsequently simply enter the number of the macro at the 
terminal.

E.g. entering 2 will execute the command COURSE 900 at his or her 
terminal.

Macro recall occurs on a 0 through 9 at the beginning of the line

Macros may include %digit, which is evaluated to the digitth word in the 
player command.  Digit can only be 0 through 9

Eg:  MACRO 0 MLOCK %1 PT1 PT2 followed by 0 K1 evaluates to MLOCK K1 PT1 PT2

This is also known as parameterised macros (for those of you with a bent 
for programming.)

MACGET filename

Where filename is a digit between 0 and 9.

This will restore a set of previously saved macros.  See MACSAVE for details.

The user must have entered their name using the ME command for this to 
work (the player must have entered the same name as when he or she did 
the MACSAVE).

MACLIST

Lists your macros:

In the example given for the command MACRO, the following report would 
be returned.

0 VIEW
1 COURSE 0
2 COURSE 900
3 COURSE 1800





Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 19
MACSAVE filename

This command will save the macros currently used by the player to a .BCM 
file.  In order to use this command, the player must be logged on using 
the ME command.

Filename is a number in the range 0 through 9.

E.g 
	ME fred
	MACSAVE 2

ME name

Registers the character (or player's) name at the terminal, so that it 
can be used for log reports and for saving macros.


PORT [port_number RESET]

This command can be run on any terminal.  If it is run with no 
parameters, it will list the status of all active terminals that the 
Bridge Crew program is aware of.

Its main use, however, is to reset the communications line to a 
particular port after a failure has occurred (eg someone tripping over 
the cable and unplugging it).

Eg:  PORT
lists the status of all ports that the Bridge Crew program beleives a 
terminal is attached to.

	PORT 2 RESET
Restarts communications to port 2.

READ message_number

Displays a message that was received in the players' queue.

RECON

List all objects detected by the sensors on that turn. Objects include 
ships, starbases and planets. Ships outside the range of the sensors or 
that are effectively cloaked for that turn will not be listed.

An example of the report is shown below

Id Heading Distance  Id Heading Distance
F1   3320    836
F2    830    810

Note:  if more than 30 objects are visible, only the first 30 will be 
shown.

To list all ships regardless of sensors use the 'THINGS' command.



Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 20
REPORT CREW

Lists the status of your ships crew.
An example of the report is explained below.

Function Needed Actual Spare max Function Needed Actual Spare max
    HELM    15    15     0    25       DC     1    45    44    50 
     PH1    20    20     0    30      PH2    20    20     0    30 
     PH3    20    20     0    30     MIS1    25    25     0    35 
    MIS2    25    25     0    35    COMMS     5     5     0    15 
    WARP    65    65     0    75  IMPULSE    25    25     0    35 
  SHIELD    20    20     0    30     COMP     5     5     0    15 
   TRANS     5     5     0    15    SENS0    20    20     0    30 
   SENS1    20    20     0    30    SENS2     7     7     0    17 
    HULL     1     1     0    10    OTHER     0     7     7    10 

Function        identifies the ship functions that crew are assigned to.
Needed  refers to the minimum number of crew needed for normal 
operations of the system at 100% efficiency.
Actual  refers to the number of crew are currently assigned to the 
functions.
Spare   calculates the number of 'Actual' crew over the 'Needed' crew 
for each function.  These 'extra' crew could be restoring damage 
and are not necessarily spare.
Max     The maximum number of crew that can be assigned to the function.

Function OTHER represents miscellaneous functions.

REPORT CLOAKING

This command reports on the status of the cloaking devices, if any are 
featured on the players' ship.

REPORT COMPUTER

This command lists the multi-line messages in the computer and lets you 
know which ones you can access.

REPORT CROSSSECTION

Lists the sensor echo for your craft for all of known frequencies.

The example crosssection report is shown below:
EM          69
WS          78
SR          69
SE          67
PS          77
ZZ          66

Note:  In the current release, frequency ZZ is not actually used.





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REPORT ENERGY
This report simply lists the energy required to maintain various speeds.

Energy management is critical at high warp speeds.  Normally the warp 
engines provide surplus power that is used in the ships power grid. At 
high warp speeds they may consume more than power than they create. The 
meagre output of the impulse engines and battery reserves are needed to 
supplement this.

This table assists the crew in managing energy and determining the 
amount of energy needed.

REPORT ENGINES 

Lists the current state of the engines

Current Energy Generation 1500
Current Maximum Speed 80
Impulse Energy Available 400
Warp Energy Available 1100
Engine Temperature 0
Warp Max speed (safe) 80 (60)

REPORT FUNCTIONS

Reports on damage status of  ships functions.
An example of the report is explained below.

Function  Orig remain fail perf   Function  Orig remain fail perf
    HELM   100   100    50 100%         DC   100   100    20 100%
     PH1   100   100    80 100%        PH2   100   100    80 100%
     PH3   100   100    80 100%       MIS1   100   100    50 100%
    MIS2   100   100    50 100%      COMMS   100   100    70 100%
    WARP   100   100    70 100%    IMPULSE   100   100    30 100%
  SHIELD    20    20    10 100%       COMP   100   100    10 100%
   TRANS   100   100    80 100%      SENS0   100   100    90 100%
   SENS1   100   100    90 100%      SENS2   100   100    90 100%
    HULL   500   500   100 100%      OTHER   100   100   100 100%
Function        identifies the ships functions.
Orig            is the amount of damage a function can sustain before being 
		destroyed when undamaged (i.e. ignoring current damage).
remain          is the amount of damage a function can sustain before being 
		destroyed allowing for current damage.
fail            is the value which 'remain' has to fall to or below for the 
		system to fail.
perf            is a percentage of effective performance allowing for current 
		damage.
Function OTHER  represents miscellaneous functions.








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REPORT PEOPLE

Reports on casualties amongst crew and passengers.
An example of the report is explained below:
Function Crew Pass Invade Casual Function Crew Pass Invade Casual
    HELM   15    0     0     0         DC   45    0     0     0 
     PH1   20    0     0     0        PH2   20    0     0     0 
     PH3   20    0     0     0       MIS1   25    0     0     0 
    MIS2   25    0     0     0      COMMS    5    0     0     0 
    WARP   65    0     0     0    IMPULSE   25    0     0     0 
  SHIELD   20    0     0     0       COMP    5    0     0     0 
   TRANS    5    0     0     0      SENS0   20    0     0     0 
   SENS1   20    0     0     0      SENS2    7    0     0     0 
    HULL    1    0     0     0      OTHER    7    0     0     0 

Function        identifies the ship functions.
Crew            refers to the number of crew assigned to that function.
Pass            refers to the number of passengers assigned to that function.
Invade          refers to the number of invaders performing a boarding 
		action.
Casual          refers to the number of casualties taken in that function.

Function OTHER represents miscellaneous functions.

Note:  Invaders are not included in the current release, so the column 
with heading Invade will always contain 0.

REPORT SECURITY

This report lists each of the security positions along with the terminal 
that is allocated to that position.

REPORT SHIP

A quick summary of your ship's damage status.  An example of the report 
follows.

Damaged Functions    0
Casualties           0
Damage Remaining  2120
Failure Point      585
Hull Before Fail  1535

Damage Functions is the number of ship's systems that are currently 
subject to any damage.
Casualties refers to casualties amongst the crew and passengers.
Damage Remaining is the damage remaining in all functions.  In role play 
terms, this is the ship's current hit points.
Failure Point when 'Damage Remaining' falls below this point, the ship 
falls apart.
Hull Before Fail is 'Damage Remaining' minus 'Failure Point' and is the 
amount of damage in DV that you can take before the ship falls apart.




Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 23
REPORT TRANSPORTER

Reports on the properties of the ship's transporters.

Transporter Features :
  Maximum Range      400
  Energy per person  50
  Shield Penetration 20
  Capacity in people 5
  Maximum Speed      9

SYSTEMS  start_system

Lists star systems in the current sector (game play area).

Star systems are stored in a list. The 'SYSTEMS' command will list up to 
10 star systems from this list starting from the start_system.  For 
example, 

	SYSTEMS SOL

will produce the following report:

    Name Heading Distance       X.Y
      SOL 2492   524404  10000.10000
     XING 3523   787341  394688.975699
ALPHA_CEN 2507   453093  72667.46326
  PROXIMA 2511   455525  69507.48027
  MENKENT  242   347792  643265.512640
    PLATO  170   650166  690899.817163
ARISTOTLE  269   624878  784087.752323
 EINSTEIN 3152   474395  165830.531725
   SCARAB   47   643722  554254.836974
   PLANCK 3389   316940  385945.491014

The registered version of Bridge Crew (which contains 46 stars) will 
show the first ten stars; the shareware version will show less as the 
shareware universe has less than 10 stars.

TELL  system

Reports on the status of a star system.


TERM [BS|ECHO ON|OFF]

This command configures the terminal characteristics for the port that 
the player is on.  If entered without any parameters, it will display 
the current characteristics for the terminal.

The characteristic BS is used to control the printing of the Backspace 
character. When this option is switched on, it will echo a backspace as 
character 8. When the option is switched off, it will use an ANSI escape 
sequence.

The terminal characteristic ECHO controls whether the command is echoed 
back by the Bridge Crew program.  This allows for easier development of 

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 24
"smart" terminal emulators to provide a better/friendlier user-interface 
than the 'dumb terminal' currently used. 

Eg:     TERM BS ON
Sets the backspace character echo to character '8' for this terminal.

THINGS  ship_id

Lists known objects regardless of sensors. Objects include ships, 
starbases and planets.

All known objects are stored in a list. The 'THINGS' command will list 
up to 10 objects from this list starting from the ship_id supplied.  If 
no ship_id is supplied, it will start from the player ship.

For example:

THINGS  will list the first 10 known objects (starting with the player 
ship).

THINGS F2       will list the 10 known objects starting at F2.

Objects are listed with their last known position, updated from your own 
and other friendly sensors.  At any time during the game, the ships' 
true positions may be nowhere near their last known position.

An example of the report is shown below

Id Heading Distance  Xpos.Ypos   Tagged
F0     0        1  500500.195500 Tagged
F1  3306      790  500111.196188 Tagged
F2   797      758  501246.195639 Tagged
K1   167    10440  503500.205500 Tagged
K2   239     9848  504500.204500 Tagged
K3   218    10770  504500.205500 Tagged

Note:  The "Position updated ..." messages received by the strategy 
officer indicate that the last known position of the starship concerned 
has changed.

The 'FROM' command is similar to the 'THINGS' command, but calculates 
the listed Heading and Distance from a specified ship.

A more graphical display of the last known location of known objects is 
obtainable by switching to strategic mode and selecting a large scale.

WHO

Lists who you are, your terminal and your current security assignments.

An example of the report follows.

port 1
      HELM          DC        BEAM  
      MISS       COMMS         ENG  
       SEC      SHIELD         SCI  
     STRAT        COMP  

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 25

The port number is the terminal number. The codes are explained below:

HELM    Helm Officer
BEAM    Beams Weapons Officer
COMMS   Communications Officer
SEC     Security Officer
SCI     Science Officer
COMP    Computer Ops Officer
DC      Damage Control Officer
MISS    Missile Weapon Officer
ENG     Engineering Officer
SHIELD  Shield Operations Officer
STRAT   Strategy Officer

Note:   The name entered by the 'ME' command will also be shown.

VERS

Will tell the player the current version of Bridge Crew that is running.

ZONE  location

Reports who owns the space at location.  Location  can be either an  x.y  
co-ordinate or an Object Id.  If an Object Id is used, then the last 
known  x.y  location of that object is considered.  Ownership may be 
currently contested.





























Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 26
 Helm Officer

The following commands are available only to the Helm Officer.

AUTOVIEW [ON|OFF]

If this command is entered without parameters it will display the 
current AUTOVIEW setting.

This command switches the main display into and out of auto view mode. 
When in AUTOVIEW mode, the players' starship is automatically centred on 
the screen each turn.  This mode makes it difficult for inexperienced 
players to tell if the player ship is moving.  AUTOVIEW can be disabled 
by the GM for any given universe.


COLOUR number

This command changes the colour scheme of the main display.  Its major 
use is with mono monitors or liquid crystal displays.  Values for number 
are:

0       Full colour (16 colours)
1       Grey ships (suitable for grey scale LCD displays).
2       Black & blue (0,1) (mono).
3       Black, blue, green, cyan (0, 1, 2, 3) (4 colours)
4       Black & white (0, 15) (mono)

	COLOUR 1 

sets the colours for the display.

COURSE angle

Sets the ships course, in tenths of a degree.  Angle can be any number 
from 0 to 3599.  See the diagram below:

	  0       
    3150  |  450  
	 \|/      
 2700<----+---->900
	 /|\      
    2250  |  1350 
	1800      

MAGNIFY number

Sets the magnification of ships.  Number can be any number between 1 and 
300.  Some examples  of MAGNIFY are:

MAGNIFY 130     The default; i.e. normal size.  Ships will be shown this 
size when the game starts.
MAGNIFY 50      Small
MAGNIFY 200     Large


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A large magnify can be used to take a good look at a previously unknown 
ship, thereby providing clues to its origin.

MODE TACTICAL|STRATEGIC

Sets the main view screen mode.

The TACTICAL mode is suitable for combat and manoeuvre.  It shows the 
direction and current location of all visible ships, starbases, planets, 
stars and visible missiles.

The STRATEGIC mode is suitable for campaign planning and strategy 
conferences.  It shows the last known location of the known starships 
and the correct location of the stars.  In strategic mode, the direction 
in which the ships are travelling is not indicated by the ship 
silhouette (the ships are shown in COURSE 0).  If a starship is shown as 
a red blob, this means that it is within sensor range of a sensor that 
does not provide a clear picture.


SCALE number

Scales the viewport size in TSU measured from the centre of the screen 
to the edge.  The view screen is a square with sides twice the length of 
the scale.  A command of SCALE 5000 will give a view screen that is 5000 
TSU from the centre to each side, and 10 000 TSU from top to bottom and 
left to right.

SPEED speed

Sets the ship's speed.
Speed 1         1 TSU/turn
Speed 10        10 TSU/turn
Speed 100       100 TSU/turn

STARS star size

Sets the size of stars between 1-100.  The default star size is 20.

TRACK ship_id

Sets the ship that is being tracked on the main screen.

VIEW location

Sets the centre of the view screen.  If location is left blank, then the 
current location of the players' ship is used.  If location is used, 
then the centre of the view screen will be the ship, system, or  x.y  
co-ordinates of the location parameter.  

E.g. if the helm officer enters VIEW F5, and F5 is not currently 
visible, the screen will be centred on F5, and the players' ship will 
not be shown on the screen.  This is a good way to confuse the captain.



Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 28
DAMAGE CONTROL

ASSIGN function1 number function2

This command moves a number of crew from function1 to function2.  For 
example:

	ASSIGN WARP 3 SHIELD

will move 3 crew from the function warp to the function shield.  A 
situation where this might be required would be if the shields were 
damaged, but the warp engines were fully functional.

Use the REPORT CREW command to see which types of crew members (and how 
many) can be moved to a different location.

Note that if the Damage Control function is damaged, you can only order 
crew to and from the HELM (Bridge) until DC is repaired.




REPORT DC

This useful report is only available to the Damage Control officer and 
is as follows:

Function  Damage Fail Spare Perf  Function  Damage Fail Spare Perf
  HELM 1     0     0     0 100%       DC 9     0     0    44 100%
   PH1 0     0     0     0 100%      PH2 0     0     0     0 100%
   PH3 0     0     0     0 100%     MIS1 0     0     0     0 100%
  MIS2 0     0     0     0 100%    COMMS 0     0     0     0 100%
  WARP 2     0     0     0 100%  IMPULSE 1     0     0     0 100%
SHIELD 1     0     0     0 100%     COMP 0     0     0     0 100%
 TRANS 0     0     0     0 100%    SENS0 0     0     0     0 100%
 SENS1 0     0     0     0 100%    SENS2 0     0     0     0 100%
  HULL 0     0     0     0 100%    OTHER 0     0     0     7 100%

Function           the id of the ships function.
Unlabeled field    the number of spares - the report will not show more 
		   than nine spares.
Damage             the total points of damage done to the function.
Fail               the points needed to be repaired to make the function 
		   perform at 100%.
Spare              the number of excess crew assigned to the function.  
		   If the figure is negative, then it shows the number 
		   of crew needed to bring performance to 100%.  
		   Eg  a spare of 2 means that there are two crew 'extra' 
		   assigned to the function; a spare of -5 means that 
		   five more crew members are needed for 100% performance.






Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 29
 BEAM WEAPON OFFICER

ARC angle weapon_list

Sets the dispersion angle of the beam weapons.  In the current version 
of Bridge Crew, no advantage can be gained from setting it to anything 
other than the default (10).

BLOCK target weapon_list

Locks a list of weapons functions via the ship's sensors.  The Beam 
Weapon Officer cannot lock onto the target ship unless it is visible on 
the ship's sensors.  Weapon List is an abbreviation of the beam weapons 
- the beam weapons for your ship can be found by using the REPORT BEAM 
command.  E.g.:

BLOCK K3 LP FP RP

will lock the beam weapons LP, FP, and RP onto target ship K3.

Prior to combat, you will often know which ships are potential targets.  
This command would normally be loaded into several macros (one for each 
target) to maximise the firing opportunities for the Beam Weapon 
Officer.  If there are numerous targets, a parameterised macro would be 
useful.  Eg - load the macro:

	MACRO 3 BLOCK %1 LP FP RP

to lock onto another ship, say, X4, type:
	3 X4 
this will execute the command 

	BLOCK X4 LP FP RP.

BFIRE weapon_list

Fires the weapons in the weapons list.  E.g.

	BFIRE LP FP RP

will fire the beam weapons LP FP and RP.

This command would normally be loaded into a macro to maximise the 
firing opportunities for the Beam Weapon Officer.

If the ship being fired upon is not within the firing arc of the 
weapons, no shot is fired.

BUNLOCK weapon_list

Unlocks the weapons in the weapons list.  Eg

	BUNLOCK FP RP

unlocks beam weapons FP and RP.

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 30


CHARGE weapon_list
or
BCHARGE weapon_list

Initiates a charge sequence which uses energy for a significant number 
of turns.  E.g.

	BCHARGE LP FP RP

will charge the beam weapons LP FP and RP.

This command would normally be loaded into a macro to maximise the 
firing opportunities for the Beam Weapon Officer.

REPORT BEAM 

Provides a report of the beam weapons:

Id  Arc Firing-Arc Function Perform Dam   Aim Status  Lock
 LP  10 2699-1          PH1 100%    300    0   Empty  NONE 
 FP  10 3149-451        PH2 100%    300    0   Empty  NONE 
 RP  10 900-0           PH3 100%    300    0   Empty  NONE 
End report

Id              The weapon identification string.  Usually meaningful 
		(e.g. LP = Left Phaser).
Arc             Dispersion Angle (set by the 'ARC' command).
Firing-Arc      The firing arc of the weapon relative to the starship 
		heading.
Function        The ship's function that governs the beam weapon.
Perform         Current performance (misfire chance) based on damage and crew.
Dam             The damage it will do at point blank range.
Aim             Manual aim angle (for future expansion).
Status          Charged, charging, or empty.
Lock            The current target ship.



















Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 31
 MISSILE WEAPON OFFICER

LOAD weapon_list
or
MLOAD weapon_list

Initiates a missile load sequence.  This uses a missile from the 
magazine and also uses energy.  E.g.

	MLOAD PT1 PT2

will load the missiles PT1 and PT2.

This command would normally be loaded into a macro to maximise the 
firing opportunities for the Missile Weapon Officer.

MFIRE weapon_list

Fires the weapons in the weapon list.  E.g.

	MFIRE PT1 PT2

will fire the missile weapons PT1 and PT2.

This command would normally be loaded into a macro to maximise the 
firing opportunities for the Missile Weapon Officer.

If the weapon is damaged, a misfire can occur.  A misfire will either 
unload the launcher or reduce the speed, turn rate and endurance of the 
missile.  In many ships, misfired missiles may travel more slowly than 
the ship that fired them.

MLOCK target weapon_list

Locks a list of missile weapons' functions.  Weapon List is an 
abbreviation of the missile weapons - the missile weapons for your ship 
can be found by using the REPORT MISSILE command.  E.g.:

	MLOCK K3 PT1 PT2

will lock the missile weapons PT1 and PT2 onto target ship K3.

Prior to combat, you will often know which ships are potential targets. 
This command is normally be loaded into several macros (one for each 
target) to maximise the firing opportunities for the Missile Weapon 
Officer. If there are lots of targets, a parameterised macro is useful.

MUNLOCK weapon_list

Unlolcks the weapons in the weapons list.  Eg

	MUNLOCK PT1 PT2

unlocks missile weapons PT1 and PT2.


Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 32

PROXIMITY range  weapon_list

Sets the proximity range on the missile weapons.  E.g.

	PROXIMITY 90 PT1 PT2

See the Chapter How the Game Plays (sub-heading Missiles) for advice on 
the setting of proximity, along with the section on Granularity.

RELOAD starbase

Allows you to reload your missiles provided you are within transporter 
range of a starbase or tender ship.

REPORT MISSILE

Provides a report of the missile weapons:

    Id   Prox Ammo  Function Perform Dam   Sp End  Aim Status  Lock
     PT1   0    30      MIS1 100%    300   120 10    0 Empty   none
     PT2   0    30      MIS2 100%    300   120 10    0 Empty   none
End report

Id              The weapon identification string.  Usually meaningful 
		(e.g. PT1 =Photon Torpedo 1).
Prox            Current proximity.
Ammo            Number of missiles ready in the magazine.
Function        The ship's function controlling damage to this weapon.
Perform         Current performance (misfire chance) based on damage and 
		crew.
Dam             Damage done if a direct hit is scored.
Sp              Speed at which the missile will travel.
End             Endurance (number of turns before the missile self-destructs).
Aim             Initial launch direction relative to the ship.
Status          Loaded, loading or empty.
Lock            Current target.



















Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 33
 Communications Officer

DELETE message_number

Removes a message from the queue to make room for new incoming messages.  
Only twenty messages can be held in the queue at any one time.

DETAIL ship_id

Lists intelligence information about the ship given in shipid.  The 
resultant report is shown below:

Ship class   COOK CLASS
Delloits Attack Rating 104  Delloits Defence Rating 155
Ship Name    LASAGNE
mission
TO PATROL THE QUADRANT

The mission is only given if the ship is in your command.

The following three commands (MODIFY, MODSPEED and ORDER) are related; 
the explanatory notes follow the command definitions.

MODIFY dsf_ship  angle  distance

Changes the station-keeping parameters of a ship.

MODSPEED dsf_ship  speed  [rotate]

Modifies the speed of a starship under your command.

ORDER dsf_ship  mission details

Orders a ship to a specific mission type.


Explanatory notes for MODIFY, MODSPEED and ORDER:

dsf_ship        is a Deep Space Fleet ship under your command.
angle           is an angle in tenths of a degree.
distance        is a distance in TSUs
speed           is the requested speed and can be a number from 0 to 300, or 
		the following text messages:
		FULL    the starship's maximum warp speed
		SAFE    the starship's maximum safe speed
rotate          is an angle to "orbit the selected craft by".  It is in 
		tenths of a degree per turn and may be in the range -450 to 
		450.  Negative numbers rotate anti clockwise.  It is an 
		optional parameter.
mission details a list of commands for the subject starship to follow.  
		Permitted commands are in the table below:



Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 34
Command                         Meaning

wait                            Do nothing till further orders but attack 
				hostiles.
escort ship                     Escort and defend
trade location location         Move to and from pausing to load/unload
shadow ship                     Follow, hide, don't attack (Works best for 
				captain 20)
attack ship                     Attack
patrol location location        Defend and watch
scout  location location        Just watch
goto   location                 Go there
fleet  ship                     Join a fleet and keep station
lower                           Lower your shields for 10 turns for us to 
				transport crew retreat location, Get the hell 
				out of here

location        can be an object id (i.e. a ship or system) or an 
		x.y co-ordinate.

Examples:

	order f2 attack k1

	Order ship F2 under your command to attack enemy ship K1.

	order f5 retreat

	Order ship F5 under your command to retreat (get out of there!)

	order f3 patrol Xenophon 12378.12345

	Order ship F3 under your command to patrol between Xenophon (a 
	star-system) and the point 12378.12345.

Order will only work on vessels under your command.  Some merchant ships 
will react to your commands if you call a condition red or blue.

To get an escort to circle you, try the following:
	order f1 escort f0
	modspeed f1 safe 50
	modify f1 900 1000


QUEUE

Shows messages that are waiting to be read and their status.

READ message number

Displays the message on the user's console.
This command is actually available to all players.

SEND ship_id  message 

Sends a message to an object via the comms function.


Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 35
The command will not return anything if the COMMS function on the 
receiving ship is damaged.

Standard messages are:

ID Gives ship ID
HELLO   Opens friendly communications
QUERY   Request object mission Must be in your command or will not 
	return factual data
NEWS    Request scenario relevant news
STATUS  How bashed up are  you? (Must be in your command)

Any non-standard messages will be passed on to the GM's queue.











































Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 36

 COMPUTER OFFICER

NOTE in sw1.12d the ships computer is rather empty

GET and REPORT COMPUTER are general commands, able to be performed by 
anyone.  

REPORT COMPUTER

This command lists the ten multi-line messages in the computer and lets 
you know which ones you can access.

GET message_number

Retrieves the multi line message from the ships computer where 
message_number is a number between 0 and 199.  Message 0 is usually the 
scenario orders.

SEARCH key1 [key2] [key3]
Lists the first ten  entries with the key or keys, for use with a subsequent Gecommand.

FIND key1 [key2] [key3]

Finds the first occurance of a record with matching keys and retrieves that 
record.



 SHIPS ENGINEER

REPAIR starbase  function

Allows you to repair a function if within transporter range and speed of 
a starbase, repair ship, or planet.  REPAIR also allows you to repair 
yourself if you have that ability -to do this enter your own ship_id in 
place of starbase.

	REPAIR S5 Shield

	Repairs the function Shield when within range of starbase S5.

TRANSPORT CREW crew TO|FROM ship_id  ship_function

Provides for the transport of crew to and from a specific area of 
another ship.

TRANSPORT PASSENGERS pass TO|FROM ship_id  ship_function

Provides for the transport of passengers to and from a specific area of 
another ship, were pass is the number of passengers.


Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 37
 SECURITY OFFICER

CONDITION GREEN|YELLOW|RED|BLUE

Allows the alert status to be set.
green   normal
yellow  man stations
red     under attack
blue    seriously damaged

The play effect of setting alert status is that some starships are 
programmed to accept your orders only when your condition is red or 
blue.

Other effects of changing the alert status are up to the Games Master.

GIVE security_id  port

Assigns ships functions to the crew (i.e. the players).  Each player 
(except the captain) has a terminal (or PC running a terminal emulator) 
which is connected to a port on the computer running Bridge Crew.  The 
ports have ids 0, 1, 2, 3 etc.

Security Ids are

HELM
DC      (Damage Control)
BEAM
MISS    (Missile)
COMMS   (Communications)
ENG     (Engineering)
SEC     (Security)
SHIELD
SCI     (Science)
STRAT   (Strategy)
COMP    (Computer)

The Game Master assigns Security to the relevant officer; it is up to 
the security officer to assign the rest.  E.g. the command

GIVE COMMS 1

will assign communications to the player at the terminal (or PC) 
attached to the computer's port number 1.

Note that the WHO command will give you the current port number.








Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 38
 SHIELD CONTROL OFFICER

REPORT SHIELDS

Lists the current status of the shields.

SHIELD ALL|FRONT|BACK|LEFT|RIGHT charge_value

Sets the charge rate for the various shields.

SHIELD ALL|FRONT|BACK|LEFT|RIGHT  UP|DOWN

This command raises and lowers the relevant shield.  Up to raise, Down 
to lower.

Note that shields do not lose any strength when they are lowered, they 
just don't stop any damage.





































Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 39
 SCIENCE OFFICER

ANALYSE LIFE|FUNC|BEAM|MISS|GEN ship_id  [via_ship_id]

Provides a detailed scan of the object, showing only those functions 
which the federation has the ability to analyse.  The ship must be 
clearly visible by the ship doing the scan, or by the ship referred to 
in the via_ship_id clause.  The reports for each type of scan are shown 
with the corresponding command to scan your own (ie the players') ship - 
the same as this command, with ship_id omitted..

ANALYSE GEN

Provides an analysis of the players' ship.  The resultant report is 
shown below:

Front : 560 100 100% UP  
Right : 560 100 100% UP  
Back  : 560 100 100% UP  
Left  : 560 100 100% UP  
Battery 462
Energy  0
Class COOK CLASS
Race  Human
Course 237  Speed  60
End scan F1

ANALYSE LIFE

Provides an analysis of the players' ship.  The resultant report is 
shown below:

Function Crew  Pass  Function Crew    Pass
    HELM 15     0          DC 50        0
     PH1 20     0         PH2 20        0 
     PH3 20     0        MIS1 30        0 
    MIS2 30     0       COMMS 12        0 
    WARP 55     0     IMPULSE 25        0
  SHIELD 20     0        COMP 5         0
   TRANS 5      0       SENS0 20        0
   SENS1 20     0        HULL 1         0
   OTHER 2      0

ANALYSE BEAM

Provides an analysis of the beam weapons on the players' ship.  The 
resultant report is shown below:
   ID      Damage
       LP 180 
       FP 180 
       RP 180 



Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 40
ANALYSE MISS

Provides an analysis of the missile weapons on the players' ship.  The 
resultant report is shown below:

   ID      Damage
      PT1 180 
      PT2 180 

ANALYSE FUNC

Provides an analysis of the functions on the players' ship.  The 
resultant report is shown below:

Function Status    Function Status
    HELM 100%            DC 100%   
     PH1 100%           PH2 100%   
     PH3 100%          MIS1 100%   
    MIS2 100%         COMMS 100%   
    WARP 100%       IMPULSE 100%   
  SHIELD 100%          COMP 100%   
   TRANS 100%         SENS0 100%   
   SENS1 100%          HULL 100%   
   OTHER 100%   

REPORT SENSOR 

Lists the status of the various sensors.  The resultant report is shown 
below:

  Id State Sensitiv Cost Range Speed Perform Function
0 SR ON       40    300   9500 0-100   100%  SENS0
1 SE ON       40    100   6000 0-180   100%  SENS1
2 EM ON       40     20   3500 0-9     100%  SENS2

SCAN LIFE|FUNC|BEAM|MISS|GEN ship_id  [via_ship_id]

Initiates a scan of the requested ship (ship_id), which need only to be 
visible as either a ship silhouette or as a blob.  The via ship is any 
friendly ship  which can see the target ship.

The scan command can scan for; Life, Function, Beam Weapons, Missile 
Weapons or do a General Scan.

SENSOR ON|OFF sensor_id

Switches a given sensor on or off.  See the REPORT SENSOR function for 
examples of sensor-id.








Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 41
 SHIPS STRATEGIST

CLOAK ON|OFF cloak_id|ALL

This command controlls the cloaking devices on the ship.  Use the 
'REPORT CLOAK' command to get the names of your cloaking devices.

Eg:  CLOAK ON SE

	will switch on the SE cloaking device

Eg:  CLOAK OFF ALL

	This command will decloak the ship (switch off all cloaking devices).

DETAIL ship 

Lists intelligence information about the ship given in ship.  The 
resultant report is shown below:

Ship class   COOK CLASS
Delloits Attack Rating 104  Delloits Defence Rating 155
Ship Name    LASAGNE
mission
TO PATROL THE QUADRANT

The mission is only given if the ship is in your command.

SCAN LIFE|FUNC|BEAM|MISS|GEN ship_id  [via_ship_id]

Initiates a scan of the requested ship (ship_id), which need only to be 
visible as either a ship silhouette or as a blob.  The via ship is any 
friendly ship  which can see the target ship.

The scan command can scan for; Life, Function, Beam Weapons, Missile 
Weapons or do a General Scan.

See SCAN under the Science Officer commands for a full description of 
this command.

TAG ship

Displays the id of the ship on the main viewer.

UNTAG ship

Removes the display of id from the ship on the main viewer.







Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 42
 Glossary

Clearly Visible
	A starship that is visible to a sensor that can resolve the ship's 
	outline.

Course
	A direction between 0 and 3599 in tenths of a degree.

DV
	Damage Value.The amount of damage done by a weapon or stopped by the 
	shields.  For internal damage, 1 DV - one point of damage to one 
	function.

Energy
	An imaginary amount of energy measured in units called EU (Energy 
	Units).

Energy Crisis
	When a ship is using more energy each turn than it is generating and 
	its battery is flat, it is said to be going into energy crisis.

EU
	See energy.

Granularity
	The amount of movement each turn.

HSU
	Heat Strain Units.  The warp engines of a ship that exceeds its 
	maximum safe speed generate excess heat measued in heat strain units.  
	A ship that reaches 100 HSU runs the risk of permanently damaging its 
	warp drive.

Ship
	Throughout this document, the word ship refers to space faring ships, 
	i.e. starships, not vessels that float on water.

Speed
	A number representing the number of TSU travelled in a two second 
	turn.

Tag
	A note on the main console showing the ship ID of the ship 
	silhouette.

TSU
	Time Space Unit

Visible 
	A starship is said to be visible if it can be detected by 1 or more 
	sensors of the players' ship.  A starship may be visible but still 
	shown as a blob if it is no being detected by a sensor with good 
	picture resolution.


Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 43
Warp
	A speed of 10 equal to the speed of light e.g. warp 2 would be a 
	speed of 20.


Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd 1993, 1994, 1995 All Rights Reserved


















































Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 44
			TABLE OF CONTENTS

   INTRODUCTION..............................................1
   Main Console..............................................2
   HOW THE GAME PLAYS (OR THE COMPUTER AS A RULES LAWYER)....2
   SPACE.....................................................2
   DIRECTIONS................................................3
   TIME......................................................3
   ENERGY MANAGEMENT.........................................3
   MOVEMENT..................................................4
   THE MAIN DISPLAY..........................................5
   TYPES OF OBJECTS..........................................5
    STARSHIPS...............................................5
    PLANETS.................................................6
    STARBASES OR OUTPOSTS...................................6
    STARS...................................................6
    MISSILES................................................6
   SENSORS...................................................6
   CLOAKING..................................................7
   MISSILES..................................................7
   Granularity (or the Problem with Missiles)................8
   BEAMS.....................................................10
   TRANSPORTERS..............................................10
   SECURITY..................................................10
   SHIP'S FUNCTIONS..........................................10
   COMMUNICATIONS............................................11
   SHIELDS...................................................11
   SCIENCE...................................................12
   BRIDGE OFFICERS...........................................12
    HELM OFFICER............................................12
    DAMAGE CONTROL..........................................13
    BEAM WEAPON.............................................13
    MISSILE WEAPONS.........................................14
    COMMUNICATIONS..........................................14
    COMPUTER OFFICER........................................14

Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd                     Page 45
    ENGINEERING.............................................15
    SECURITY OFFICER .......................................15
    SHIELD CONTROL..........................................15
    SCIENCE.................................................15
    STRATEGY OFFICER........................................16
   PLAYER COMMANDS...........................................17
    GENERAL COMMANDS........................................17
    Helm Officer............................................27
    BEAM WEAPON OFFICER.....................................30
    MISSILE WEAPON OFFICER..................................32
    Communications Officer..................................34
    COMPUTER OFFICER........................................37
    SHIPS ENGINEER..........................................37
    SECURITY OFFICER........................................38
    SHIELD CONTROL OFFICER..................................39
    SCIENCE OFFICER.........................................40
    SHIPS STRATEGIST........................................42
   Glossary..................................................43
