THE MAIN SCREEN

The main game screen includes a large window displaying a portion of the galaxy, a right side panel with planetary information and/or control displays, and a row of buttons at the bottom of the screen to access other control and information screens. In the galaxy window, you can select stars or fleets of ships. If you select a star that you have colonized, the right panel can be used to allocate its resources, build ships in its docks, relocate completed ships to other colonies, or transfer population to other star systems. If you click again on an already selected star system, the display will change to show you more information about that star. If you select a star that you have not colonized, the right panel displays what information you have about that star system. If you select a fleet orbiting a planet, the right panel lets you order ships from that fleet to other star systems. If you select a fleet already in space, the panel displays its composition, destination, and ETA.

RATIO BARS

You control the allocation of your planetary spending, and the distribution of your research efforts, using ratio bars. A group of ratio bars shows how a resource is being divided among several different areas. The total value of all the bars must always equal 100% of the resource being allocated. Therefore, if you reduce one bar, another will lengthen; lengthen a bar, and another must get shorter. To change the setting of a ratio bar, you simply click in the bar area at the position you want the setting to be. Other bars will change their settings to compensate, so that the total values of all the bars still adds up to 100%. You may have finer control over bar settings by pressing the arrows on the left and right of the bars, or by using + and - keys when the ratio bar is selected. If you wish to lock down a bars setting, so that changing other ratio bars does NOT affect its setting, click on the bars title, at the left of the bar you wish to lock. The title will change color, and changing ratios in other bars cannot affect the locked bars resources. You can unlock the ratio bar setting by clicking on the title again.

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Buttons at the bottom of the Main screen access other screens with more detailed information and control displays: Game: lets you save and load games, change settings for sound, and quit the game. Design: lets you design new types of ships. You can have no more than six types of ships active at any one time. Fleet: shows you where all of your ships are, what their specifications are, and lets you choose any ship types to scrap to make room for newer designs. Map: displays an overview of the entire galaxy. Races: controls your interactions with other races you have contacted. Here you can speak to their ambassadors, send out spies, and see how your race stands compared to others. Planets: summarizes information about all of your colonies, and your empires economic status. Tech: shows you the technological advances you have, and allows you to set the ratios for your six areas of research. Next Year: ends this turn, and sends the game onto the next one.

OTHER GAME FUNCTIONS

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QUICK START QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
If you are familiar with mouse-based interfaces, and want to leap immediately into the game without reading the manual, the following answers cover many of the basic how to concepts youll need to play Master of Orion. How do I send my ships to another planet? Select one of your ship icons in orbit around a planet. The right panel will display which ships are in orbit around that world. Use the arrow buttons by each ship type to change the number of ships you will send. Choose a destination planet for your fleet, then select the ACCEPT button. See the manual for more information. How do I create a new colony? Send a colony ship there (i.e. a ship equipped with a special colony base device). If the planet is habitable, you will automatically be asked if you want to land and establish a colony there. Your colony ship is disassembled and its parts used to establish the colony. Once you have set up your colony base, you should immediately transport more colonists to that planet, to help it grow more quickly. How do I TRANSport my colonists to another planet? Select the planet you wish to transport your people FROM. Select the TRANS button from the panel on the right, then select the planet you wish to send your people to. After you have chosen the destination planet, you can use the slider bar on the right panel to decide how many people you want to send, up to half the population of your source planet. Note that you cannot send people to a planet that has not yet established a colony base, and you cannot transport to a planet you have not yet explored. If you are sending transports to an enemy colony, you do the same thing. The people you send to an enemy world are automatically armed with the latest technology for ground combat. Note that enemy ships and missile bases can destroy your transports before they can land. This combat happens automatically when your transports arrive at their target world, and you see only the results. For more information, see the manual. Why cant my colony ships travel as far as my scouts do? Your scouts are equipped with a special device called Reserve Fuel Tanks that let them travel to planets 3 parsecs farther away than your other ships can. At the start of the game, your scouts can reach any star within six parsecs of any of your colonies, but your other ships can only reach planets 3 parsecs away.

SPECIAL THANKS:

The Master of Orion team would like to thank the following people who provided design suggestions, caught bugs, and otherwise helped to polish v1.2 of the game: Don Aldrich, Gail & Patrick Barnes, Ken Fishkin, Tom Holsinger, Tim Jordan, William Kutscher, Marvin Lamb, Kelly McCauley, Stephen Mintenko, Jerry Pournelle, and David Weinstein.
Part 1 Playing Master of Orion

THE MAIN GAME MENU

The main menu allows you to continue currently running games, load previously saved games, and start new games. Continue Game: Any time you exit a game from the game options screen, the game will be automatically saved. The continue game option then loads and runs the most recently played game. Load Game File: This option allows the user to restart a previously saved game. New Game: This option generates a completely new universe with random placement of the stars, different planetary environments, and up to five opponents. Quit To DOS: Exits the program and returns control back to DOS.

NEW GAME OPTIONS

When creating a new game, you have a great deal of control over the actual game play by deciding what size galaxy you want to play in, the number of opponents, and the intelligence of your adversaries. Size: Small 24 stars. A quick game, and contact with other races is almost immediate. This is actually more difficuilt than playing in larger galaxies. Medium 48 stars. Long enough to develop most technologies. Large 70 star systems. Huge 108 stars. For epic games with huge empires and massive star fleets. Note that the game can be very slow in a huge galaxy. Difficulty: The difficulty setting affects several components of the game, including your opponents production rates, expansion rate, technology development, and willingness to ally with you. It also determines the size of your initial fleet. Opponents: Choose the number of opposing races in the galaxy, from 1 to 5. The fewer opponents you have the longer you will have to develop your empire before contact is made. Race Choice: Races are chosen from the following: The Alkaris an avian race of superior pilots. The Bulrathis a large bearlike race with superior ground troops. The Darlok shape-changing spies. The Humans outstanding diplomats and traders. The Klackons productive insect workers. The Meklars cybernetic masters of automated production. The Mrrshan a catlike race with accurate gunners. The Psilons brilliant researchers. The Sakkra prolific lizards. The Silicoids crystalline beings immune to hostile environments. For more information, see the chapter The Alien Races. 2
Choose Banner: Your choice of banner will determine the color used to represent your space fleets and colonies during the games. This also determines the style of ship icons you can use. Your Name: The name of your Emperor. Home World: Customize the name of your home world or use the default value given. Cancel: Returns to the Main Menu. OK: Accepts the settings currently displayed and starts the new game.

NEW GAME OPTIONS (CONT.)

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THE CONTROL SCREEN

The galaxy movement screen is the most commonly used display in the game. From this screen you can move starships, view star systems, and manage planetary production. You can also examine unexplored star systems, scan incoming enemy fleets, and view enemy colonies. Galaxy Map: The galaxy map contains a variable number of star systems and nebulas. Most of the star systems will have one planet that can support life. The type and size of the planet depends on the color of the primary star. Yellow stars provide the most habitable planets, while planets around purple neutron stars are more likely to be mineral rich. When play begins, each star system will remain unknown until scouted by one of your ships. The only information that you will have until then will be the color of the star. One of your first objectives should be to explore all nearby systems in order to decide where to begin colonization. When a star system has been colonized, the name of that star system will appear below the picture of the star, in the color of the race that colonized it. If the star is outside of your scanner range, its name will appear in a dark color. You will only be able to see ships that are within the range of your scanners. Nebulas: Nebulas are great particle clouds of matter. Starships traveling through a nebula are reduced in speed to warp 1 (one parsec per year), and perhaps more importantly, deflector and planetary shields do not function inside nebulas. However, nebulas increase the chance of planets inside being mineral rich. Nebulas are illustrated on the galaxy maps as great purple clouds. Changing Current Star System: The star system currently being viewed is surrounded by a green pulsating border. The information on the right side panel will refer to that star system. To change the currently viewed star system, click on the intended star. If you have colonized the star system, the right side panel will be replaced by the Planet Production panel. You will be able to change the type of starship being constructed and alter the distribution of resources. If you do not have a colony in the system, only the planets environment, size, and special characteristics will appear on the right side panel. If you click on a star system that is already selected you will see the Planet View Screen, a full screen view of the planet with all the information concerning that planet.

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If you do not have any new terraforming technology to build and all the waste has been removed, CLEAN will be shown in the construction box. Remaining resources will be used to improve the existing ecology and increase the growth rate of the colonys population. If sufficient resources have been allocated to increase the normal growth rate, +#POP will displayed indicating the number of additional colonists being born. (For additional details on population growth, see the Colonizing Planets.) Technology (Tech): Resources allocated to technology are used to fund research projects to develop new and useful devices. Resources are converted to research points that are then combined with the research from all your other planets and are used to achieve higher technology levels. You will get more benefit from research by investing a few points in technology over several turns than by allocating a large amount in a single turn. Ships Button: Each planet is allowed to produce only one type of starship at a time. To change the current starship to another design, press this button. You can cycle through the list of starship designs until you find the one you prefer. If you have the technology necessary to build star gates, you will also be given the option to build a star gate instead of a ship. Relocate Button (Reloc): The relocate button allows you to direct the planets newly built ships to another star system that you control. There will be an appropriate delay from production to arrival since the ships must travel to the new destination normally. This allows you to produce starships in a far corner of your empire and then redirect those ships to a system along an enemy border without having to move each ship yourself. A blue line will appear on the star map to indicate those planets which are redirecting ship production to other planets. Colony Transports Button (Trans): You may transport colonists to any planet where a colony has been established. No more than half of a planets population can be transported in a single turn. Before sending colonists to uninhabited planets, you must send a ship with a Colony Base Special Device to establish a Base on that planet. Some planets will have hostile environments that require advanced technology to land on. Colonists may also be sent to assault enemy colonies if you have the technology to land there. When your colonists arrive they will battle the enemy population for control of the planet.

STATUS SCREEN

Each bar is a logarithmic representation of a races power in each area. Only those races that you are in contact with will appear on the status screen. The Fleet section shows the relative strength of the starship fleets of each race. The Population section is a straight census for each players race. The total technology level of each race can be found in the Tech section. Planets show the number of planets each side owns that can produce at least 100 BC. Production gives the total production of each planet on a logarithmic scale. As the bar extends to the right each unit of length represents more and more production. Finally, total power is a relative rating of the strength of each race. The most powerful race is shown as a full bar and every other race is shown proportionally.
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ENEMY REPORT SCREEN

The report screen gives a list of the most advanced eight items of technology in each of the areas. You can also see any treaties or wars that are currently in effect for that race. The report will be updated every turn if you have at least one spy in the enemys empire. Otherwise, the report will indicate when the last reliable report was.

AUDIENCE SCREEN

The Audience screen will allow you to initiate negotiations with any race that you are in contact with. The menu at the bottom of the screen will show you the areas that you may discuss with the other empires. Any items currently unavailable for discussion will be darkened. The possible areas of negotiation are: Propose Treaty: lets you choose the type of treaty to propose: A Peace Treaty is signed to end a state of war between races. The better the war is going for you the more likely your opponent will be to want peace. If your enemy is winning the war it is unlikely that you can get him to sign a peace treaty. A Non-Aggression Pact allows your ships to co-exist peacefully in orbit if there is not a colony in the system. Sending your fleet to the other races colonies will still provoke an attack on those ships and could easily break the non-aggression pact. An Alliance prohibits any fighting between the two allies, and allows each ally to use the others planets for refueling. Allies are expected to come to each others aid in war. Also, as long as the Alliance is in effect, any troop tranports sent to an allys world are automatically destroyed. You can also try to influence an empires relations with other races. You may ask an emperor to break alliances or declare war on other races. 21

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THE TECHNOLOGY SCREEN (CONT.)

Technology Review

Acquiring New Technology: Technology can be acquired in several ways: resource points spent on technology research, stealing technology from other races, exchanging technology with other races, or finding remnants of technology from conquered enemy planets. Review Technology: A list of advances acquired in each area of technology can be displayed by clicking on the respecRatio Bars tive button in the upper left corner of the screen. The button highlighted in red is currently active. The advances acquired in the active area are listed in the section below the buttons. Clicking on a particular technological advance will give a detailed description of that advance at the bottom of the screen. Technology Ratio Bars: The technology ratio bars on the right allow you to divide up the total research points accumulated from all of your planets between the six areas of science. To adjust the current ratios, click the mouse icon on the appropriate bar position that you wish to change. The arrows at either end of the bar can be used for exact adjustments. The full length of the bar represents 100% of the total research points and the total allocations between all six sciences cannot exceed the 100% limit. Therefore, increasing allocations for one science will decrease the ratios for the other areas. If you wish to lock an area so that it cannot be altered, press the ratio description to the left of the bar. This will change the description and bar colors to red signifying that you can no longer change that technology ratio bar. Press the description again to unlock the ratio bar. Each device has a base research cost that must be spent before the device can be completed. The light bulbs by each technology bar show how close you are to reaching that cost by filling up. Each year you spend money on research after the light bulbs are filled, you get a chance, shown as a %, of your scientists completing that device. The % chance continues to go up as you continue to allocate research to that area, but stops entirely if you stop spending on that field. Reduced Costs and Miniaturization: Advances in technology will reduce the cost and the size of technological devices. The higher your technology is above the minimum required level, the less it costs to build and the less space it takes on your ships. Although there are no new devices above the 50th level, you can still decrease the size and costs of producing existing technology.

KLACKON workers are

incredibly productive.
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DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS (CONT.)
Finally, there will come a time when one empire recognizes its superior position and will attempt to eliminate all weaker competitors to win the game. At this time no amount of tribute will prevent the enemy from attacking. Declarations of War: Once war has been declared, the enemy withdraws their ambassadors and existing treaties and trade agreements are broken. Until relations stabilize, the ambassadors will not return to even talk over peace agreements. You can increase your opponents willingness to sue for peace by successfully attacking ships and destroying his colonies. On the other hand, if they are succeeding, they will not be eager to discuss peace. If neither side attacks for a while, relations will eventually stabilize, ambassadors will return and be willing to negotiate for peace. Starting Diplomatic Relations: When play begins, each race starts with a diplomacy rating that reflects their suspicions and prejudices concerning the other races in the game. Then, as the game goes and the diplomacy ratings change, relations will always gravitate back toward the starting diplomacy setting. Therefore, if you wish to remain allied with another race, you must continually perform positive diplomatic actions. The table below shows the starting diplomatic relations for each race. Note that the Humans in general are the most favored, while everyone hates the Darloks.
Races Alkari Mrrshan Humans Klackons Meklars Psilons Darloks Sakkra Silicoids Bulrathi
Alkari Restless Relaxed Unease Neutral Neutral Unease Unease Neutral Neutral
Mrrshan Restless Relaxed Unease Neutral Neutral Unease Wary Neutral Unease
Humans Klackons Meklars Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Unease Unease Relaxed Neutral Neutral Unease Unease Relaxed Neutral Neutral Neutral Relaxed Neutral Neutral Unease Unease Relaxed Neutral
Psilons Neutral Neutral Relaxed Neutral Neutral Unease Neutral Neutral Neutral
Darloks Unease Unease Relaxed Unease Unease Unease Unease Unease Unease
Sakkra Unease Wary Relaxed Unease Unease Neutral Unease Neutral Neutral
Silicoids Neutral Neutral Relaxed Unease Relaxed Neutral Unease Neutral Neutral
Bulrathi Neutral Unease Relaxed Neutral Neutral Neutral Unease Neutral Neutral
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TRADE AND TRIBUTE

Trade: By exchanging trade goods with your opponents, you are actually receiving needed resources that will increase your total income while improving your relations with the race that you are trading with. As long as you are not actively engaged in a war with a race, you will be able to trade with them. By signing a trade treaty, you agree to exchange a specified amount each year, up to 25% of the lesser players production total. Both players then receive a percentage return based on the number of years the treaty has been established. Since establishing trade requires an initial investment for organizing patrolled trade routes and establishing customs, your income from a trade treaty begins at 30% of the treaty amount. Each turn thereafter, your trade income increases by +05%, so you usually do not generate a positive income until after 1012 years. The trade revenues are then divided up among your planets in proportion to their productions. Your income percentage continues to increase until it reaches a maximum of 100% of the treaty amount. Humans get an additional +25% on all trade returns. For example, you could control two planets that have a combined production total of 500 BC while your neighbor has three planets with a production total of 400 BC. The maximum that you could trade would then be 100 BC per turn (25% of your neighbors production). You both agree to exchange the maximum. After twenty turns the percentage return has reached 25%, indicating that you and your neighbor are making a profit of 25 BC per turn from the trade. The profits are distributed proportionally among your planets. If one of your planets was producing 200 BC per year and the other 300 BC per year, the first would receive 10 BC trade profit and the second 15 BC profit. If an already existing treaty is in effect, the percentage return begins as the average of your current return and 30%. This new return rate is then applied to the new treaty amount. For example, you have a trade agreement for 100 BC per year, currently at a 50% return rate and you establish a new agreement for 200 BC a year. The percentage return becomes 10% (the average of 50% and 30%), applied to the new treaty amount of 200 BC, generating a trade income of 20 BC. The return rate continues to grow again at +05% per turn, until reaching 100% of the new amount.

ALKARI are skilled pilots, able to evade enemy fire.
Space: With the addition of each device, the ships total space will be reduced according the physical size of the device and the space required for the engines to power the device. Higher levels of technology reduce the physical size of a device (miniaturization) just like technology reduces cost. Each ten levels of technology above the minimum required level decreases the size of the device by 25%. Weapons miniaturize at a rate of 50% for every 10 levels. Computers: Battle computers direct all ships fire. The more advanced the battle computer the better the chance a ship has of hitting an enemy target. In addition, better battle computers provide faster response time and improve a ships combat initiative (the order in which ships move and fire). For the precise effects of battle computers in combat, see the section on space combat. 46
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Shields: Force fields are essential to the survival of a starship. Shields absorb damage from all incoming attacks an amount equal to their class. For example, Class V shields absorb 5 hits of damage from all attacks. Obviously, a superior shield can make a ship nearly immune to enemy attacks. ECM Generators: ECM units (Electronic Counter Measures) reduce the chance of enemy missiles striking the protected ship. A ships missile defense is the sum of the ships beam defense plus its ECM rating. Without a powerful ECM generator most advanced missiles will almost always hit. Armor: Armor protects a ship from all attacks by increasing the ships total hit points. There are two types of armor for each material: standard and double hull. The standard hull always take the same amount of space, regardless of the material. Double hulls (displayed as II) on the other hand require twice the normal amount of space and increase the hit points of the ship by an additional 50%. Refinements in designs from improved technology reduces the size of armor just like all other devices (50% per ten levels). Engines: Not only do ship engines move a starship, but they are also responsible for powering all of the ships devices. Each engine generates 10 units of power times its warp rating, i.e. a fusion engine produces 40 units of power. On the galaxy map, each level of warp moves the starship one parsec per year, i.e. Fusion engines (warp 4) move a ship 4 parsecs per turn. In combat, a ships maneuverability increases a ships inherent defense against beam and missile weapons. So why not always choose the best warp engine available since you move faster on the galaxy map and have a better defense in combat? The answer is space. Since nearly every device on a ship requires power, a miniaturized engine (lower level) will allow you to fit quite a bit more on a ship. Maneuverability: Unlike galaxy map travel, combat movement requires rapid changes in direction and speed. On the galaxy map, ships can take a long time to accelerate into hyperspace. In combat, a ship requires more thrust to overcome inertia and alter course quickly. To do so requires more engines to provide the needed thrust. The actual number of engine units needed to move a ship 1 space per turn depends on the ships size. The larger the ship, the more thrust required to move in combat. The engine units shown to the right of the combat speed is the total number of engines that are required to power all ships systems and move the starship in combat. Your combat speed increases by one for every two levels of maneuverability. Weapon Types: Each ship may have at most four different types of mounted weapons. The following list details and explains weapon attributes. Beam Weapons are direct fire weapons that strike the target instantly. Damage is shown as a range, with the minimum damage being scored if the attacker rolls the minimum to hit and maximum damage

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Inertial Nullifiers generate an damping field that negates the effects of inertia, making the starship more maneuverable and adding +4 to the maneuverability and +2 to the combat speed. Inertial Stabilizers reduce the effects of inertia and add +2 to the ships maneuverability and +1 to the combat speed. Lightning Shields surround the ship in a devastating energy field that destroys incoming enemy missiles 100% of the time, reduced by 1% per tech level of the missile. Neutron Stream Projectors hit all ships in a group and reduce their current armor by 40% +1 for every attacking ship. Oracle Interfaces focus all of your ships beam weapons into a simultaneous attack at a single point on the enemy ship. This effectively halves the targets shielding for all your beam weapons. Pulsars are waves of energy generated by specially modified engines. They damage all ships adjacent to yours. The maximum damage an Energy Pulsar can do is 5 points plus 1 point for every two ships firing pulsars. For Ionic Pulsars, the damage can be up to 10 points plus one for each attacking ship. Repulsor Beams hurl enemy targets back 1 space away from the firing ship each turn. Reserve Fuel Tanks increase the range of ships by three parsecs. Stasis Fields trap one group of enemy ships in a time vortex for one turn of combat. While trapped the enemy ships cannot fire or be fired upon. Ships equipped with stasis fields are automatically assumed to use their stasis fields against the first enemy that they attack each round, unless you intentionally turn off the stasis field. Subspace Teleporters teleport ships to any space they want and give them first firing opportunity regardless of enemy initiative. Planets with Subspace Interdictors can nullify Subspace Teleporters. Technology Nullifiers overload enemy computers and ECM generators. Effected targets temporarily lose 1-3 classes of battle computer and ECM, rolled separately for each. The effect is cumulative, and after a ship has been hit several times, its ability to attack will be severely impaired. If the victim ship survives, the damage will be automatically repaired when the battle ends. Warp Dissipators disrupt the normal operations of ship engines and reduce enemy target combat speeds by 1 each shot. If the disrupted ships survive the battle, the warp engines will be restored after combat. Zyro Shields surround the ship in an energy field that destroys incoming missile attacks 75% of the time, reduced by 1% per tech level of the missile.

Construction Tech is a generalized form of engineering primarily dealing with advanced structures and materials. Construction tech can be used to develop advanced armors, reduce industrial waste emissions, and decrease the cost of building new factories. In addition, for each level you have attained in construction tech, the amount of available space on a starship increases by 1%. Automated Repair Units automatically repair damaged ships at the end of each round of combat. Automated repair units can repair up to 15% of the ships original hits in damage each turn. Advanced damage control units can repair 30%. Improved Industrial Tech reduces the cost of building new factories. The number following the title indicates the cost of new factories in billions of credits (BCs). Since factories which exceed a planets population cost an additional 50% for each level of robotic control, improved industrial tech can be very important if you wish to have a large factory to colonists ratio. Powered Armors provide troops with superior power and mobility by mechanically magnifying their natural strength. Troops equipped with Battle Suits gain a +10 bonus in ground combat, +20 with Armored Exoskeletons, and +30 with Powered Armor. Reduced Industrial Waste decreases the amount of pollution generated by operating factories. Normally, each factory produces 1 unit of pollution. With reduced industrial waste, the amount of waste is decreased to the amount following the title. For example, Reduced Industrial Waste 80% only produces 8 units of waste per 10 factories. Reserve Fuel Tanks increase a ships range by three parsecs. Starship Armors increase the damage capacity of starships and transports. Each level of armor increases the base hits of a starship by +50%. Armor, like devices, can be miniaturized at 25% reduction for every 10 levels of Contruction Technology.
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FORCE FIELD

Force Field sciences involve the practical applications of advanced field physics such as deflector shields, repulsor beams, stasis fields, damage shields, and the black hole generator. Black Hole Generators create fields that destroy all life. The generator has a 1 space range. Once fired, 25100% of the targeted enemy ships will have their crews killed, eliminating the ships from the battle. Deflector shields reduce the kill ratio by 2% per class of shield. Cloaking Devices hide ships from enemy scanners and detection devices. As long as the cloaked ship does not attack, it can add +5 to its defense. When the ship does attack, it strikes first regardless of initiative. Once the ship has attacked though, it must wait one complete turn before recloaking. Deflector Shields reduce the damage taken from all enemy attacks. The shield can absorb its class in hits, i.e. a Class X deflector shield reduces all attacks by 10 hits. Shields do not function within star systems that are in nebulas. Lightning Shields surround ships in a powerful energy field that can prematurely detonate incoming enemy missile and torpedo attacks. Zyro shields destroy the missiles 75% of the time while Lightning shields destroy them 100% of the time. Their effectiveness is reduced by 1% per tech level of the missile. Personal Shields provide individual ground troops with protection of a force field and reduces their chances of being hit by enemy fire. Personal Deflector Shields add +10 to troops combat bonus, Personal Absorption Shields add +20, and Personal Barrier Shields add +30. Planetary Defense Shields act like deflector shields, except that the force field protects missile bases, colonists, and factories from space attacks. The planetary shields are automatically built once the technology has been obtained, with the resources being supplied from each planets defensive spending. As with deflector shields, planetary shields do not function within star systems that are inside nebulas. Planetary shields cost 100 BC per class to build. Repulsor Beams push adjacent enemy starships one space away. Stasis Field Generators trap enemy ships in a time bubble. While trapped, the ships cannot attack or be attacked until the following turn. The stasis field generator has a range of one space.

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Ecological Restoration reduces current levels of pollution. When the game starts, you can eliminate two units of waste for 1 BC. Improved ecological restoration eliminates 5 units of waste per BC, advanced ecological restoration eliminates 10 units of waste per BC, and complete ecological restoration eliminates 20 units of waste per BC. Soil Enrichment converts standard environments to fertile environments that increase population growth rates by +50%, and increase the planets base size by +25%. The conversion costs 150 BC and is automatically built from surplus ecology spending above the necessary amount to clean up industrial waste. Advanced Soil Enrichment converts standard and fertile environments to gaias with double normal population growth and 50% larger base size, for a cost of 300 BC. Terraforming increases the effective size of a planet by improving their habitability. The bonus following the title indicates how much the planet size can be increased by. Terraforming costs 5 BC per unit of size increase. Advanced terraforming techniques eventually decrease the cost to 2 BC per size increase. If your planet can be terraformed beyond its current maximum, a + is displayed next to its POP MAX # on the Control Screen.

PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY

Propulsion sciences are used to develop new and more powerful ship engines, extend ship ranges, and construct special power systems such as inertial nullifiers, subspace teleporters, and high energy focus units. Combat Transporters provide instantaneous teleportation of ground troops to planet surfaces at great distances. Colony transports equipped with these teleporters have a 50% chance of landing troops on enemy planets before the transport enters combat in orbit. Displacement Devices shift your ships into and out of subspace several times per second, making all weapons (but not Special Devices) miss 1/3rd of the time. High Energy Focuses increase the range of a ships weapons by three spaces. A fusion beam normally has a 1 space range. Ships equipped with a high energy focus can attack out to 4 spaces with their fusion beams. The ship still takes the normal range penalties for firing beyond 1 space. Increased Ship Ranges allow your starships to travel deeper into the galaxy. At the start of the game your ships can move 3 parsecs from colony worlds. Through improvements in fuels, your range increases until eventually you can move anywhere on the galaxy map. 62