User Guide

11
• The Heat-Seeking missile automatically locks on a target when you’re on his tail. When lock is
possible, a red circle (the lock indicator) appears on your viewscreen. Maneuver until this is posi-
tioned on your target. When the lock indicator blinks and the words “Missile Locked” appear in the
right
VDU screen, fire the missile.
• The Image Recognition missile automatically locks on a target when you’ve held it in the
viewscreen for a few seconds. Wait until the red, circular lock indicator blinks, then fire.
• The Friend or Foe missile automatically targets the nearest enemy ship. When launched, it seeks
out the closest enemy (or the nearest ship with a damaged communication system!).
Torpedoes . Capital ships are equipped with special shields that are invulnerable to the weapons
fighters normally carry. Special missiles called torpedoes are necessary to penetrate these shields.
To fire a torpedo, press
W
until the torpedo is selected. Then press
L
to lock the target ship. If
the target is a valid torpedo target, the lock indicator will slowly move toward the target. From this
point onward, until you complete the lock, you must not maneuver your ship too quickly. There’s a
little leeway, but you must fly mostly straight toward the target—any significant deviation will break
the lock, forcing you to start all over again. (For this reason, only turret-equipped ships, the Sabre
and Broadsword, carry torpedoes, even though any of the other fighters could theoretically handle the
missiles.)
When the lock is complete, the red targeting crosshairs begin to flash. At that point, press
e
(or both joystick- or mouse-buttons) to launch the torpedo. A single torpedo will generally kill a
freighter or corvette, unless the target’s flak cannon shoot down the incoming missile. It takes one or
two torpedoes to get through the armor on the larger capital ships, followed by another torpedo or
two into the now-unprotected side to finish the ship off.
Tactical Tip: Once you start the torpedo run, reduce your set speed and switch to the turrets. Your autopilot
will keep a straight course and will inform you when the torpedo lock is complete. If there is any enemy
fighter cover, your only defense during the torpedo run will be your turrets.
Turrets (Broadsword, Sabre).
Two of the ships you fly, the Broadsword and the Sabre, have multiple guns. In addition to the stan-
dard complement of front-firing weapons, the Sabre has a turret in the back, and the Broadsword has
three turrets (one to the rear, one to the left and one to the right).
To access a turret, use the view keys (
@ - $
):
@
) Switches you to the Broadsword’s left turret
#
) Switches you to the Broadsword’s right turret
$
) Switches you to the Broadsword or Sabre’s rear turret
From the turret, you can fire turret-mounted blasters and use the tractor beam.
Blasters . When you switch to a turret, your ship goes on autopilot—flying straight as possible while
attempting to avoid ships and other obstacles. The joystick (or mouse or keyboard) now controls the
horizontal and vertical movement of the turret. White tick marks on the turret’s radar screen indicate
the limits of turret movement. When a white line is centered in the radar screen, you have rotated
the turret as far as it will go in a given direction.
As in the front viewscreen, crosshairs appear in the middle of the turret screen. Center your target
in the crosshairs and press joystick button #1, the left mouse button or
x
to fire. As you fire,
your blaster indicator shows the power level of your ship’s gun capacitors. When you run out of
power, your guns stop firing until the capacitors have at least partially recharged.
Tractor Beam . In addition to standard turret-mounted weapons, the turrets in the Broadsword and
Sabre are equipped with a new device—a tractor beam.
First, maneuver next to the target and match speeds with it. Access the rear turret as described