"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it." - William Arthur Ward
TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK Trade
While docked at factories or trading centres, you will find various ways of interacting with the other races. Bulletin Boards may have news items about events in the universe, profitable trade opportunities and even entertainment. They will provide many chances for you to take advantage of the dynamic economy by responding to news. There will be additional chances for you to strike good trading deals, carry out missions or haul resources or products for other traders. Sometimes you might even read about interesting rumours of potential profits that you will have to be quick to respond to, in order to cash in on them. Good opportunists, who are willing to take risks, will also find value in salvaging what others have missed or have seen no Credits in. Despite the risks, there may also be gains to be made from various shady characters that might provide you with new possibilities for wealth and recognition.
Whether you are a pirate, assassin, warrior or trader, even if you are just minding your own business, the fight will come to you. Having to fight for rewards or just for your own right to exist, you will find the universe a hard place to survive in, let alone prosper and grow. It will be up to you to explain in your own forceful way that you intend to stay. Pirates will view you as a target, Xenon will just want to terraform you and the Khaak will attempt to erase you. If you prove yourself to be a worthy opponent with deadly skills, you will gain recognition from the high and the low, who will want to pay highly for your services to do whatever dirty work they require. As you enhance your skills, new avenues will open to you, as long as you have improved your ranks and the ships that you own. You may even become one of the few with the extreme fighting ability that can build a force strong enough to take on any enemy.
In between your adventures it would be wise to start developing your empire by building factories and complexes to increase your financial resources. It would be wise to explore all the new and interesting places, and find additional markets for you to increase your status and wealth. Building and trading in all the sectors of the different races, for instance the Paranid, will provide you access to many of the technologies that only they produce, while also improving your race rank with them at the same time. Spinning your corporate web all over the universe will not only enhance your status with everyone, but will at the same time ensure that whatever perils the universe faces, you will be included in any unstoppable changes it experiences. Your Credit-making skills will develop over time from your first factory to your multi-sector empires. As you become aware of all the possibilities to improve your profits, you will be able to take your ambitions to new and exciting extremes.

Context Menus When you double-click on any target object, either in the radar circle or on the screen, it executes the first icon of the context menu, which will have opened with the first click. That action is the default for the object you are clicking on. E.g. if its a ship, it will cause you to follow that ship, if its an enemy it will cause you to attack, if its a station it will cause you to dock. Examples of context icons:

Context All

Enemies Your Ships Station
Default Actions Fly to (default for ships) Dock at (default for stations) Map to mini monitor Attack (RED icon) Attack (default) Fly to (not default with enemies) Follow me Protect me Kill enemies Map cockpit to monitor Dock at (default)
Radar Symbols In the interface view you will see the multi target radar symbols. Grey coloured ones are sector ships. Red ones are enemies. Green ones are your ships and missiles. The three or more blue dots at the side of the symbol indicate the ship status. The current target has a directional arrow as shown on the graphic on the right, which is also pointing in the direction of the ship. Using the [ PgUp ] and [ PgDn ] keys you can change the active target. You can also select a target using M.O.U.S.E control. To do so, simply right-click to activate the M.O.U.S.E control. Then left-click on the desired target icon. Once more right-click the M.O.U.S.E to restore normal control. The symbols indicate the class of Stations

and ships.

L.Tow.

A.Sat Rock. Astro

Station
Flying by M.O.U.S.E In M.O.U.S.E cursor mode, clicking somewhere on the screen (outside any icon areas) will turn off the autopilot if it was on and will then set a direct course towards a spot underneath the M.O.U.S.E cursor location several KM in front of the ship. This means the ship can be turned in steps of 45 degrees (at a 90 degree POV) relatively fast. The M.O.U.S.E is the most effective input device for interacting with the Ship Interface. Apart from being able to direct the ship to fly with double-clicks on ships, factories or anywhere on the screen, it provides command control over all the ship controls and weapon systems. The context menus will respond with the most common actions like: Communications, Map to monitor (only top right monitor), Stop playership (which was executing a command), Protect me (your ships), Enter (One of your ships either from suit or with Transporter device) and many other actions. HUD The head up display is situated in the middle of your view and has various functions to aid your navigation and combat. The two numbers on the top left are your current speed and selected target speed. This is an image of an active HUD. The HUD is active when you have a target selected. The number in the top right is the targets current speed and at the bottom is its current distance away from you. Graphic of docking with speed above limit: When an enemy is targeted the same data appears on the HUD, but this time in red. In combat a series of red, decreasing size markers point in the direction of the enemy vessel to aid target acquisition. The target ship is surrounded by the laser-targeting computer indicator (brackets), which calculates where you should fire to hit your foe. This is referred to as leading the target. If you fire where your foe is then your shots will miss, as the enemy will have moved by the time your shots get there. So you need to fire ahead of

Quick Start 2 x Salvage insurance Credits Ship Beta Particle Accelerator Cannon Beta Impulse Ray Emitter 5 MJ Shield Flight Command Software MK2 Flight Command Software MK1 Trade Command Software MK1 Triplex Scanner Duplex Scanner Boost Extension Best Selling Price Locator Best Buys Locator Singularity Engine Time Accelerator Video Enhancement Goggles Engine Tuning Cargo Bay
Quickstart 100,000 Buster 4x 3x X X X X X X X X X 175.86-175.86 108-108

Quickstart Mercury 2x X

Normal 5000 Buster 2x 2x

X-treme 450 Buster 2x 1x

X X X X X 75-100 3000-4000 X X 163.3-175.86 108-108
X X X 163.3-175.86 23-108
With any of the levels you start there are a few recommended upgrades that are helpful to have installed, above what the ship is equipped with: Trading system extension, Navigation Command Software If you are starting Normal and X-treme modes the Best Buys and Best Selling upgrades are also recommended for you to purchase and install.

WHERE ARE YOU?

You start in Argon Prime the main sector of the Argon race, there are four gates North, East, West and South (NEWS). This sector is in the middle of a number of Argon Sectors, which extend to the borders of other races and their territories. Races and their sectors (Whats it like out there?) Argon - This is where you start (you are here) in the sector of Argon Prime, which is at the centre of their main territory. Argon sectors are fairly law abiding, well-policed and reasonably safe places to be. The Argon ships have a very industrial and functional look about them, reflecting the nature of the Argon. There is the odd pirate, but fairly active patrol ships let them know they are not welcome. Argon sectors offer a fairly safe haven for you to start your trading, and have nearby pirate sectors for you to develop your combat and ship capturing skills without damaging your good reputation too much. Boron - Sometimes referred to as the boring Boron, they are in fact a very peaceful underwater race that are allied to the Argon. They are disliked very much by the Split, who are their exact opposites. Boron ships have an organic feel and look to them, often lightly shielded, average weapons but reasonably fast, and despite their good looks, are often cheaper than similar classes of ships elsewhere. There are only a few pirates in these sectors as like the Argon ones they are well patrolled, and pirates find them too mundane for their types of business. Teladi -Traders by nature, profits and commerce drive their sectors interaction with all other races. Their sectors can be infested with pirates and as a result can be both profitable and dangerous places to deal in. Teladi ships are built with other-race technologies, and are designed with profits in mind, having larger than average cargo bays but good shields. Where other races place restrictions on what ships and equipment they will sell you, the Teladi sectors only apply this rule in a limited fashion. You can't directly raise your Teladi rank by killing pirates, as the Teladi do business with them. Split - The Split sectors can be relatively safe places to trade. Although they are mildly tolerant of some illegal trades such as space flies and slaves, and hence have some minor pirate activity in their sectors, they are not too friendly to anyone, including pirates. Their ships

Universe Map This is a visual impression of all the systems in the Universe that you have visited so far. Like the system display, the Universe map is updated automatically for all areas you have visited so far or have Satellites in. You can use the arrow keys to move the map view from system to system or press the first letter of a system name to jump straight there, repeat to go to the next system that begins with the letter. Information and the history of the selected Sector is displayed on the right.
"The journey is the reward. - Taoist Saying

STRATEGIES OF PLAY

In this section there are two main general routes or strategies for you to start your game play. In both of these the main aim is to obtain more Credits, to buy upgrades, bigger or different ships. You also need a good reputation with the races from which you are buying these upgrades and ships. The first strategy is for you to go through the basic steps in using Trading for your Credits, which can be supplemented by also completing Bulletin Board missions. When you trade and do missions in a race sector, your reputation will increase the more they get to know you. The second route that can be equally or even more profitable is to fight your way to riches by gaining reputation and rank, while you take on the baddies by destroying or even capturing ships. You can take the equipment of these captures to upgrade your own current ship or even obtain bigger ships, by claiming, repairing and swapping your current equipment into them. Information about capturing and claiming are detailed just a bit further on. You might also mix both of these strategies and by alternating between them, ensure that all your race reputations, trading and fighting ranks all increase together.

HOW TO PROGRESS

Reputation is everything To get what you want, as mentioned, you have two routes, one is to buy good ships and equip them with advanced upgrades, but you will need a good reputation with that race to buy some of their upgrades, weapons and an even higher reputation to buy some of their more classy big ships. You can do this by trading with them and or by helping them to remove hostiles like Khaak, Xenon or Pirates. In the trading menu on the right you can see some items are listed in red as you do not have a high enough race rank to buy them. At the bottom left you will see your current reputation with the Argon is in this case Argon Trusted Ally but to buy the Beta Flak Artillery Array weapon, you can see on the bottom right that the rank of Argon Federation Marshal is required, which is a further two steps away from the current ranking. There are a number of things you cannot do or are restricted in doing because of your current fighting rank and race notoriety. If you improve these you can: You can earn more on combat missions if you have a higher fighting rank Buy or sell higher-grade tech and weapons obtained by any means Barter for better trading profits with ill-gotten cargo Gamble your wealth for higher gains Get paid more Credits for trading missions

Once the factory is positioned, you need to do a few more things: Transfer enough money for its transporters to buy supplies with. Assign some transporters by setting the new factory as their home base. Then, using the command console, use the trade menu to order them to buy resources (must have Trading Software installed). Set the buying price for resources and the selling price for products. Define the jump setting. This determines the maximum number of gate jumps a ship is allowed to do to buy or sell goods. If you increase the buying prices for a resource, the jump distance for the available factories selling at that price will decrease. In the Command Consoles additional command slots you may set the Auto money transfer to player account funds limit.
Note: If ships are allowed to travel too great a distance, your factory may often run out of resources or your ship might have to travel across too many hostile sectors and get destroyed. Remember that Free Trader ships will never sell to your station; they only buy your products if the price is right. Moving Factories with a Tractor Beam There are many reasons you may want to reposition your factory, for instance changing its position for better complex joining, deciding to organise their locations according for grouping by manufactured goods or you simply change your mind where you wanted it to be sited. The Tractor Beam can be used to pull objects you own from one place to another. Attempting to tow away someone elses property may earn you some unwelcome company. Firstly you'll need to have a ship capable of mounting this device, either a TL or an M6, and then once acquired, install it in the appropriate weapon bay. The range at which the Tractor Beam (TB) locks onto an object can vary according to the object's magnetic field density. Generally a lock can be achieved up to 3.75km distant. When sufficiently close fire the TB at the object, bear in mind that some objects may not even appear to be in range of the beam, due to the weapons systems not being optimised for this newly developed technology. Once the TB has been established you should see a green energy beam linking your ship with the object being towed. The optimum towing speed is between 1-10m/s (forward and reverse). Due to inertia, travelling at speeds greater than 10m/s will cause the TB to lose integrity and eventually the beam's lock will be broken (you will notice an unwelcome change in the beam's colour before it disconnects). To avoid a break of lock, you can simply slow down and allow the object to catch up. The beam's integrity will also return to nominal levels. The magnetic field of the object, coupled with the effect of the Tractor Beam, can cause the towed object to rotate in reaction to fluctuations in the magnetic field. Pilots should be wary of this. There is sometimes a 'sweet spot', especially when towing mines, in which the TB is not

so affected by the object's magnetic field and the object actually stops rotating. Finding this, for most pilots, involves trial and error. Setting up Factory Loops A factory loop is where you have for instance an end product like Energy, with all its required resources supplied by your factories, which may also solve any local supply problems. The universe can often have an economic downturn and if you want to have lots of your factories working effectively, a closed loop may help supply the energy they need. There are three types of factory loops that can be set up, according to the requirements of the local supply and demand. (a) Closed loops, where only your factories supply each other. (b) Mixed loops, when some factories are open to trade with local traders. (c) Open loops, where all of your factories are open to local traders like the multiple factories above. Here is an example of a basic energy-supplying closed loop: 1 Solar Power Plant 1 Crystal Fab 1 Silicon Mine 1 Cahoona Bakery 1 Cattle Ranch Your end product and supply to your other stations Supplies the Crystals for the Solar Power Plant Supplies the Silicon to the Crystal Fab Supplies the Cahoonas to the Crystal Fab Supplies the Argnu Beef to the Cahoona Bakery
The last two are food resources that will be different for the Crystal Fabs for each race. The Solar Power Plant may not use all of its output for factory resources, which could allow it to sell the remaining portion to free traders. The above very simplified definition of basic factory loop set-up would require a number of transports to move resources between them, but there is an alternative. This is to build factory complexes where all of these factories have supply tunnels interconnecting them to each other, almost completely avoiding the need for TS Transporters altogether. How to build your first Super Factory Complex Complex Building Why is it better? Using a Boron Dolphin as an example with rounded up figures to make it easier to work out. A BoGas and BoFu factory would need 3 freighters to work. The cheapest and thus most likely to be destroyed costs 600,000 Credits each. A Complex construction kits cost 260,000 Credits to link 2 factories. So a small complex including a BoFu and BoGas factory linked by 1 construction kit would need 1 freighter to buy energy and thats it.

With the buy wares you can buy from the merchants wares that are on offer, with details on the amounts and the size of cargo bay required. You can equally use the sell wares to barter what wares you have that the merchants might be willing to buy. If you dont have the right goods that the merchant is interested in, you could try cash and see if you can still get a good profit out of the deal. Or you even may spot good value opportunities from other merchants, who may sometimes be trying to get rid of surplus stock, at a discount price. There is additional information from the merchants listing where you can select a merchant and an information screen will show a list of the wares, on that merchant's buy and sell lists. You will have to have enough goods to roughly equal the value in a fair trade. The merchants that inhabit these stations have personalities as diverse as their range of wares. Though some of these merchants might be willing to take a small loss on a trade, others might offer you a bad deal, by trying to milk as many extra Credits out of you as they can. If you have been trading a lot in a particular sector, you may get to know some of these merchants, as they will have probably benefited from your sector activities.

HOW TO FIGHT AND CAPTURE

If your intention is to make fast Credits by taking what others have, you are best advised to familiarised yourself with your Weapons Control System in the earlier Interface section. Why capture ships? For many the first aim will be to obtain a decent M3 Class fighter with 25MJ shields and if you have chosen the QuickStart you already have an Argon Mercury Transporter. Powerful shields are one of the first survival must-haves, but an M3 equipped with them can cost two million or more Credits. Additionally, at the start of the game, you do not have a high enough reputation to buy one. But there is a quick way to get one on the cheap. Fight/Capture Pirates = Credits, ships, rank and notoriety. These factors work together to produce faster financial gains than other options, but at a cost - your life (salvage insurance) and hull damage. This is a more risky choice but with potentially quick and profitable returns. You start with a Argon Buster with four Beta Particle Accelerators Cannons (PACs) and three 5MJ Shields. With the Buster you can take out Pirate M5s, M4s and M3s with 5MJ shields. If you are very good, with missiles and cannons, you might even capture a M3 with 25MJ Shields intact. If you capture an M3 class fighter you can then repair and it kit out with the profits from selling other ships and equipment from your smaller captures. Targeting When you first target the ship it can be useful to make sure the auto-target is switched on with the [ k ] key. At a distance it will show as a red X on your targeted ship. When you are within weapons range it will change to the auto-target reticule. To use the Auto-Target feature (Fight Software I & II) press the [ k ] key once for basic Auto-Target (FS1) and twice for the improved Auto-Target (FS2). As you fire, aim for this auto-target reticule as that will compensate for the direction and speed of the ship that you are aiming and firing at (leading the target). Fighting and Firing The best way to use your weapons is first to keep your selection of lasers to a couple of powerful ones like Alpha HEPTs and a couple of basic ones like Beta Particle Cannons per group. If you also have some Ion Disruptors in another group (Note: Ions can hit locals and damage your rep if you are not up close and in line of sight with the target) you can use these to quickly knock down their shields. With your different groupings, you can quickly select your weapons of choice mid-fight.

possible for you to buy Police licences, so you get paid for your kills. You will then have an [L] after the race rankings in your pilot info, for each race you have bought a licence from. Q: I accidentally made a Station an enemy, can I make it friendly again? A: If you manage to upset a sector station, you can find a pirate station within three sectors and look for a BBS message for any shady characters offering hacking services to change your status with that station. Q: I launched a fleet attack on a race whose sector I wanted, would they take it back? A: Yes they will start to rebuild their stations in that sector and if any of your freight/fighter ships travel through any of their sectors, they will destroy them. You will also find they will no longer sell you any goods or buy from your stations and it will take you a long time to earn their trust again. Q: Why do my ships keep attacking other race ships? A: Check the ships command console and race settings to change the Friend/Foe details and then make sure you have not left the ship setting Show as enemy if enemy to me - Yes. If you have and then make an enemy of a Paranid ship, the other ships with this setting will attack Paranid ships. Q: Is my Fighting Rank reduced if I do not fight for a long period? A: Your combat rank will decrease slightly over time if you do not fight, but the decrease is
more noticeable if you use SETA for long periods other than travelling.
Q: How do I apologise for friendly fire? A: Should you accidentally cause damage or death to a ship, to which you had no hostile intentions, you can contact local sector police or military vessels to declare the incident and avail yourself of any punishment.
"Dream the impossible dream, Fight the unbeatable foe, Strive with your last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable star." Unk Nown

MISSIONS

Non-Plot Missions (Got ship need Credits) When docked at a Station, select Station, Bulletin Board (BBS), read the news and see what missions are available. There are a number of trading and non-trading missions you can obtain from station Bulletin Boards. These can sometimes help you increase your reputation and more importantly increase your Credits. Here are some of the more basic missions you can use to get started. It is important to note that some of these will require a particular trading and or fighting rank for you to be accepted for them. Taxi Runs (Take me here, there and everywhere) This is a very simple mission that can make you some decent money at the start of a new game. It requires you to take the person offering this mission to the station of his choice within a certain amount of time. If you succeed in bringing him or her to the station on time, you get paid. If not, you get a nasty message and a bad record in your personal info screen. The time limit is very long, so it is easy to make lots of money, albeit slowly, with these missions. The higher your rank and status the higher the payments will be, as your reputation will determine how reliable you are. You can use the Jumpdrive without penalty to get there quicker. Equally if you are late you will not get paid. Unlike the next missions it will be unlikely that you will encounter hostile forces. Shady Taxi Runs (Xenon Invitations) These are like sending out invitations to the Xenon for captures, Credits and reputation. You will be asked by some character to help them get for Location A to Location B, but they will warn you that you are likely to encounter some Xenon or hostile forces that may try to stop them reaching their destination. If you have bitten off more than you can chew and are completely out-gunned, a simple strategy is to head for the nearest gate at great speed. Then on the other side of the gate you will be able to catch them in ones or twos at a time. Xenon Invasion Missions (Help wanted) Here is another chance for you to not only impress the locals and get plenty of race and fighting rank increases, but you will also get paid good Credits for your troubles. To find these missions, dock at various trading stations that are one to three sectors from any Xenon sector and check out the Bulletin boards. The amount of and types of Xenon will increase the higher your ranking, so they will always tax your current skills and abilities, but the rewards will also increase accordingly. This is also a good way to acquire lots of race rank boosts; with lots of enemies to clear up, the locals will be very grateful and your status will improve with them. Trading Missions These are usually requests to collect and deliver some urgently needed resources for a station in the same or other sectors. There are usually quite strict collection and delivery timescales, so it is important to have a Jumpdrive and a range of ships available. Some missions may require the class of your current ship and others may need a TS Transporter class ship. Plot Missions 1 to 7 [SPOILER] When you start in Argon Prime you will have an Argon Buster M4 equipped with a Jumpdrive and will receive a request from Ban Danna that you join the squadron that is waiting for you in the sector of Home of Light. In this first mission Gamma Flight will be waiting by the north gate of that sector.

System Override Software System Override Software, outlawed throughout the known sectors, is available only through clandestine pirate factions. This device directly interfaces with and overwrites the unique ownership ID and serial data of the target ship. Once initiated, the target will reset all security systems and allow you full onboard access. The software, though expensive, allows you to claim a ship by positioning your ship very close to the captured ship (within 35 m) and claiming it by selecting Target-Claim without having to eject from your ship. Trading system extension Using the trading system extension a pilot can request detailed price information for all goods without actually docking to a factory or space station. This can be very useful for frequent traders. Trade Command Software Trade software MK1 is included in the standard build of all TS Class ships. Transporter Device / Freight Beamer The Transporter device is a development based on the remains of the jumpdrive first introduced with the Xperimental ship and reverse engineered by the best scientists of all races. Using this device you can get from one ship into another ship within a range of 5km without using your spacesuit. It works equally well for transporting wares between ships. Triplex Scanner The Triplex scanner increases the Radar scanner range by a factor of 3. This technology detects greater variations in the gravitational fields generated by ships, stations and other bodies. The processed information directly feeds both the sector map and the Radar display. Video Enhancement Goggles Invented by the Argon during the Boron Campaign it allowed their fighter pilots an advantage by being able to spot fighter crafts from long distances. Since then the product has been adapted by the commercial sector and is now widely available in its recent shape fitted specifically to the various races.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

WEAPONS

Weapons are divided into types. Each type has a version, indicating the strength of that weapon. Most weapon types have several variants: Alpha, Beta and Gamma. The Alpha costs the least, has the fastest fire rate and uses the least energy, but does the least damage. The Gamma variant is the most expensive, slow firing and energy draining, but does the most damage. Unsurprisingly, the Beta variant is somewhere between the two. Alpha Electro-Magnetic Plasma Cannon The Earth Fleets powerful and highly advanced Alpha EM Plasma Cannon is the most common weapon found on Terran fighters. Beta Electro-Magnetic Plasma Cannon The Earth Fleets powerful and highly advanced Beta EM Plasma Cannon is the most common weapon found on Terran capital ships. Fighter Drone A fighting drone can be launched against an enemy ship and attacks the target autonomously. Flak Artillery Array The Flak Artillery Array is a new weapon that fires bursts of energy into space, acting as a defence barrier that stops most missiles and light fighter-ships. High Energy Plasma Throwers The radiation is so dangerous that the weapon had to go through many Jazuras of research and development until it could be placed on the market. This was worked around by adding a radiation sink into the weapons main design, purging the weapon of all excess radiation between shots. Impulse Ray Emitters The Impulse Ray Emitter is one of the oldest energy based weapons around. They require not much power to fire, and they usually have quite a rapid rate of fire. No one actually knows when the weapon was first developed. Ion Disruptor This weapon is unlike any other weapon encountered. Developed by Boron scientists, this weapon fires a steady stream of ion particles in the direction of a ship. Then the stream is ignited. The result is a lightning effect that affects ship systems and shields, while leaving the hull relatively untouched. Although this weapon is relatively new, it has undergone extensive testing to make sure it maintains high Boron safety standards. Kyon Emitter This weapon is of Khaak origin. It generates and emits Kyon particles that line up in a straight line. How these particles are generated is not currently known. They are most commonly found on Khaak ships.

launched either simultaneously, or in swift succession, allowing the pilot to strafe the target with a barrage of missiles.

Seekers

Blizzard Missile Yield (10000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: FF Swarm Seeker The Blizzard Missile offers combatants the ability to effectively deal with multiple targets with the use of one missile. While not as powerful as a one-shot direct unit, the missile will split into several independent components that will track separate enemies using your shipcomputer's friend or foe (FF) signatures. Tempest Missile Yield (60000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: FF Tracking Seeker Dependent on the IFF settings of the ship computer of the vessel it was launched from, the Tempest Missile scans for enemy targets and establishes priority of attack. In doing so, if the primary target is lost, it will immediately lock down the secondary, and so on, until it either runs out of fuel, or makes contact. Thunderbolt Missile Yield (75000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: Heat Seeker The Thunderbolt Heat seeker Missile uses inbuilt guidance systems to lock on to heat signatures in both visible and infrared spectrums. Doing so allows it to track targets in areas where doing so would otherwise be impossible. Classically used when engaging targets at distance, although pilots have since found other more ingenious uses for them.

Image recognition (IR)

Mosquito Missile Yield (200) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR The Mosquito Missile is the most commonly used light missile in space fight. The main purpose of this weapon is missile defence for craft without a rear gun turret. Excellent for destroying fighter drones. Most ships can use this missile. Rapier Missile Yield (4000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR Fresh from the drawing boards of the Argon Military Research Labs and not yet in official production, the Rapier missile can acquire and lock down targets at speed, launching a lightning-quick attack against an enemy vessel, far faster than many pilots reflexes. Used in close-range combat, often in numbers, as well as through medium-range evasive routines, this device is considered to be an essential backup to any standard array of laser weaponry. Disruptor Missile Yield (10000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR The disruptor missile is an invention of the pirate faction, the Yaki. The missile uses enhanced ion particles to disrupt the electronics and engines of the vessel it hits, leaving the hull and other systems intact. Cyclone Missile Yield (20000) Fusing: Proximity Guidance: Swarm IR Similar to the Blizzard, the Cyclone Missile offers the same ability to deal with multiple targets with one armament. Lacking the power of a single larger weapon, this missile will split at a certain distance from the target into several smaller units that will use Image Recognition tracking to engage confirmed enemies in the field of engagement. Silkworm Missile Yield (24000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR The Silkworm Missile combines the quantum technology with a warhead able to destroy even heavily protected targets. This missile will be typically used for attacks on large fighters or transports. Banshee Missile Yield (?) Fusing: Proximity Guidance: IR A powerful military-grade medium range image-recognition missile, the Banshee offers pilots the chance to show their enemies the true meaning of fear. While not the fastest missile available, its yield and strong acquisition ability allow it to be used in a wide range of combat scenarios against medium to heavy fighters.

THE TERRACORP COMPANY

TerraCorp Headquarters,,this is the most important station belonging to the TerraCorp Company, based in Home of Light. Parts of this facility are open to the public, although most of the station is closed to personnel only. These include research facilities and company offices. A range of technology can be found here, and some rare devices that are only offered by one particular race. Materials are often required and are bought by the TerraCorp Company for a fair price. A small fleet of ships can usually be found nearby making the station highly guarded. The station also incorporates state of the art recreation and commerce facilities, including Hotels, Sport Domes, Cinemas and Restaurants. Most races are welcome here to trade.
Today throughout the X Universe there is no contact between the Xenon and any other race. The Xenon are not allied to any trading organisation or to either of the Guilds. They do not use the Credit nor is it known what currency they use. They appear to have no interest in either the technology or the trade of any other race. Despite many attempts to discover it, the location of the Xenon home planet is still unknown, so is the size of the territory that the Xenon control. Hence on most star maps possible Xenon sectors are indicated only by question marks. Not many ships dare venture into this territory and unfortunately many brave enough to do so have never returned. Xenon ships are very aggressive, their only directive is the policy - If it moves shoot it. They are fast, well protected and heavily armed, and their engines give off a distinctive blue after-glow. Xenon Ships The Xenon have also developed further still, unnoticed by all the other races. You will notice more and more new ships and they seem to be better shielded and faster too. The Xenon, if the robot psychologists are to be believed, seem to be developing more of their own self awareness, consciousness and their own understanding. Whether this development is a step in the right direction is still undecided, as the Xenon continue to attack first and dont bother asking questions after. A special undercover department, based at the Argon Federation Space Academy on Argon Prime, has researched the Xenon for many years and is currently engaged in cross referencing and documenting all positive Xenon ship sightings. There is some talk that, sometime in the future, they are planning to finance an undercover expedition, deep into Xenon territory in an attempt to locate the Xenon home planet.
The Khaak are a hive race, in which individuals only exist to serve the hive, and will sacrifice themselves for that purpose. The Khaak are trying to destroy the universe with crystalline "cluster" ships that can be grouped together. Khaak interceptor, scout, and fighter vessels can link up and break apart on demand to better engage the enemy. Despite their increasing presence in the universe, there is still very little known about them; where they come from, how many of them there are, and what their intentions are. Their ships are unusual and appear similar to pyramids and other crystalline shapes. It is also interesting to observe how the Khaak act. If you have ever seen a flock of birds suddenly change direction, you might agree it's an amazing sight. The Khaak fighters mirror this behaviour by chasing down sector patrol ships, and once their target is destroyed, they will turn as one swarm and take on their next victim. But as you may find out yourself, your view can change very quickly from distant amazement, to gut-wrenching horror, when you realize that you are their next chosen victim. The Khaak neutralise anyone and everything they encounter; they take no prisoners.

PIRATES

Not a race themselves, but groups of like-minded criminals who specialise in various illegal activities. They have their own bases, usually hidden from view and well defended and most pirate bases have large fleets of ships that will send out raiding patrols on a regular basis. They are known to be very aggressive and if they spot you across the sector, they may start heading your way. If you spot pirates and you have a local law enforcement license, you can report a pirate after you have scanned the pirate ship with the freight scanner, note you can't see the cargo hold without actively scanning the ship and that scanning is illegal if you don't have a (police) license. Pirate Ship You will also encounter Pirate vessels of all types as the pirates use other races ships, modified for their own ends and the wealthy pirate groups even have their own custom ship designs, often including non-standard ship colours. Do not confuse pirates with smugglers they are a bit more clever, using normal race ships to conceal their activities. Yaki Pirates The ruthless Yaki pirates have taken advantage of the weak Argon fleet to carry out raids on Argon facilities and other sectors in the universe. The Yaki Pirates with their Yaki Disruptor are becoming a real organized force to be reckoned with. The Yaki Disruptor is quite a devastating new weapon, which they use to disrupt ship engines, before they take the ship and sell those onboard as slaves. Their activities have all the hallmarks of deliberate creation of chaos and disorder to undermine law and order throughout the universe. They are known for the frequent attacks on remote traders as they are easy targets, often without fighter support.
Egosoft would like to thank you for buying X: Reunion
UNLOCKABLE GAME START POSITIONS

Enemy of the State

Tolerated by few, accepted by none. Only you will ever know whether your criminal branding is justly deserved, and only you can redeem yourself. if you even care to bother trying
Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline Name Species Gender Age Difficulty Storyline

A novel from the X-Universe

HELGE T. KAUTZ

Translated from German language by Steve Miller and Andreas Fuchs
Ayse continued to study the object, gripped by the feeling that something was wrong and unable to put words to her fear. A craft of a type normally used for orbital transport found in deep space, travelling at near light speed? For a moment her thoughts went back to Earth and the entrancing vision of the blue planet from space. It was a sight shed witnessed on a hundred shuttle trips and every time she yearned for more. John she started, her tongue suddenly large in her mouth. John, there arent any view ports or windows, not even a cockpit! Friedmann frowned and shrugged his shoulders. Youre right but, but that doesnt necessarily atsui! Ayse winced when she realized why John had made this outcry of surprise. She sat rooted in fear, a wave of horror flooding her body as the under-side of the rotating ship tumbled into view, revealing a large symbol emblazoned onto the light-swallowing alloy. A simple drawing, a few distinct lines. Almost child-like. John and Ayse recognized it at once. The symbol of the Terraformer Fleet. Other X Universe novels There is a list of online mini X novels, available in the Creative Universe - Fan Fiction forum and some PDF novels available to be downloaded from the Egosoft Site. Dominion (English) by Darren Astles (30188_49) X-universe: v. 1 (English) by Darren Astles (ISBN: 1412019559) Traders Tale (English) by Stephen Haworth NOPILEOS (German) by Helge T Kautz (ISBN: 3833210419) Farnhams Legende (German) by Helge T Kautz (ISBN: 3833212047)

CREDITS

Director Bernd Lehahn Lead Designers Markus Pohl Christian Vogel Lead Programmer Martin Brenner Shader Programming Andreas Itze Engine Programming Chris Burtt Jones User interface Mike Apoch Lewis Thomas 'Bala Gi' Maier Klaus Meyer Universe Programming Tim ticaki Kiemen Carsten Krmer Sebastian Rouaiha Sebastian Schlicht Michael 'Burnit' Baumgardt Matthias Kalthoff Christian Rousselle Story by Andrew S. Walsh Carsten Krmer Bernd Lehahn Script & Content Writer Ivan Tefalco Andrew S. Walsh X Fictional Mastermind Helge Kautz Co-authors Ivan Tefalco With thanks to Michellee Imperial Music Alexei Zakharov Voice by Natalia Yakovleva Thomas Egeskov Peterson Conceptual Graphic Design Ulrich Zeidler Sound Effects Martin Hensler Alexander Koch Map design Jonathan Handby Wolfgang blueshadow Helbing Brian Brianetta Ronald Helen Angel Forster Greg Abyss Kingston Ship value calibration and names: Michael Kessel Michael 'Burnit' Baumgardt Economy Design Jeff Burianek Manual Michael Terrabyte Madden Greg 'Abyss' Kingston Proofreading Mark Toastie Wilson Greg 'Abyss' Kingston Michael Cueball Wilson BBS Mission programmer Kasper West-Hansen Anthony Anth Andrews Sebastian Uerdingen Robert Gebhardt Markus M. Thorn Schmidt Adrian 'spooky' Jesshope Oleg Krilov Support Team Andrea Beckers Theo Lehahn Monique Beckers Sales and Publisher relations John Williams Koch Media Team Klemens Kundratitz Stuart Chiplin Craig McNicol Kerri Davies Georg Larch Ute Palmer David Blundell Juri Vaisman Sebastian Lindig Daniel Oberlechner Enlight Team Publishing Director Trevor Chan and Paul Lombardi Executive Producer Parrish Rodgers Voice Production Violetmedia - Klaus Schmid Thomas 'Elf' Buchhorn EGOSOFT Office Hannelore Lehahn Chia-Chen Lehahn BBS News authors Florian 'unlogisch' Bircher Bruce Biavati Steven Virgo Brian Ronald Michael King aka Winter Dragon Forum and XNEWS Online editors Michael 'Burnit' Baumgardt Darren Steel Astles Paul Knibbs Herbert R Hohenburger aka. Commander Jamieson Tristan -TD-13- Fisher David Apothos Rickerby Helge Kautz Olaf Stormsong Schweppe Wolfgang blueshadow Helbing Localisation German Dorian Krause Thomas 'Barron' Hangl Georg 'PIC' Armbruster Olaf Stormsong Schweppe French Andr 'The Fly' Gaul Thomas 'Thoto' Szapiro Marc 'Bugsman' Huhardeaux Benot 'PrizzZ' Baliguet Nicolas 'NalinElfleg' Brax Adrien 'Photon' Siebert Polish TomekSauron11Placzke Marcin 'Marcybiskup' Wojtulewicz Italian Federico Persano aka Confucio Dutch Remco 'Merroc' Jeckmans Bug Tracking Team Graham Graphil Pursey Olaf Stormsong Schweppe Graphics Tristan -TD-13- Fisher Stewart TSM Barnes Sound Tristan -TD-13- Fisher Stewart TSM Barnes Text and Voice Ivan Tefalco Federico Persano aka Confucio Mark Toastie Wilson Helen Angel Forster Non plot missions Franz Ksx Wintzer Ronald D. Nichols aka beast-master Dave Seawolfe Musser

-Sound errors can also be caused by a corrupt game installation, particularly one where the wrong updates or patches have been installed. -Its recommended to have a separate sound card (i.e. not onboard) and drivers really can make a difference. Many problems occur because of poor sound hardware, poor sound drivers or incorrect audio codecs. Crashes: 1. Eliminate system configuration issues first. - It is perfectly possible for problems with a game to be caused by the configuration of the system it is running on, even if it runs other software and games without problems. - If there is a problem while installing, make sure you switch off any drive emulation software that the copy protection system might have problems with. Check that the CD or DVD is clean, update the drivers for them. - If you are overclocking any part of your system, then throttle it back to normal speed. - Check your other hardware. Hardware problems with components such as the graphics card and system memory can show in one game even if those are fine when running other games. - Check for viruses and also for other software interfering with the game. A wide range of software can do this, from anti-virus software to utilities such as drive emulators, instant messaging software and file-sharing tools. - Update your drivers. If they are already up to date, try older ones. Use a driver cleaner between versions. If you are having problems with third party drivers, use drivers supplied with the original hardware. - Try different audio codecs. One of the most common causes of game crashes is the installation of third party codec packs. Ironically, installing such codec packs can often also be a solution to codec problems because of the way Windows handles its codecs. 2. Once you have eliminated system problems, check the game itself. - Make sure that you have downloaded and installed the latest updates and patches. Check that you have installed the right versions for your copy of the game, and that you have installed them to the correct location. - It is possible for savegames to become corrupted, either by external causes or by game problems. Try starting a new game and see if the problem still occurs. Save regularly and use several save slots so as not to get caught out by this. - Try uninstalling and reinstalling the game. The installation may have become corrupt due to a disk error, or an important file may have been overwritten. After reinstalling, try starting a new game first before trying your savegames again. - A frequent cause of in-game problems is the installation of third party scripts or mods. If reinstalling the game, but not installing these additional items solves the problem then the chances are high that they are the cause. When submitting a fault via our helpdesk please include the following information: Exact error message, if any. Steps that should be taken to reproduce the error/fault. Details of programs running at time of fault, including Anti-Virus and firewall applications. Most importantly, email to us a Direct X Diagnostic report. Follow the instructions below: Click the START button on your Windows task bar, and then click run and type dxdiag in the box that opens. The DirectX diagnostic toolbox should automatically run. This tool details your whole system and the details can be dumped to a log file by clicking on the "Save All Information" button at the bottom. This will save a text file called "DxDiag", which you can just attach to any correspondence. This information will best assist us in resolving your query as quickly as possible. Additional support can also be obtained from the official X website: www.x3reunion.com. You can also visit the official forums here and read through questions sent by other X: Reunion players. Here you will also find a multitude of hints and tips to enhance your gaming experience, plus a host of other wide-ranging topics. Please view the Readme file on the game CD/DVD for the latest information.

STARTING THE GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME

Starting X: Reunion

1. From the Start Menu, point to Programs, point to Egosoft, and then point to X: Reunion. 2. At the initial start-up screen, you may change some basic settings, such as Screen Resolution and other Graphics Settings. It is recommended that settings such as antialiasing are selected here rather than on your graphics card settings. The Effects factors (4x etc) are automatically selected for your graphics card, raising these numbers above the suggested ones will decrease performance, lowering them will improve performance. You will also get the chance to alter some of these graphics settings from within the game.
EAX - stands for Environmental Audio Extensions. This Creative Labs technology provides an improved audio experience including special audio effects such as "occlusion". You can read more about it on the page: http://eax.creative.com Ignore last settings and start with default is an option for resetting the game start options to their default settings if you experience any start-up problems, for instance after an upgrade. Run as Benchmark will provide you an output of FPS (frames per second) performance measurements of the game. 3. Click Start X. You may skip the opening sequence, if you wish, by pressing the [Esc] key. Note: The game name will have the version on the above start-up screen, which will be relevant for Technical Support and for any upgrades that may be available.
Getting Started Welcome to X: Reunion
Say goodbye to social life and/or sleep It is recommended that you at least play through the combat training whether you are new to the X-Universe or not, before progressing into the game proper. Otherwise, pressing NEW GAME will start a new game from the beginning. If you have a savegame, then you should instead select CONTINUE. From here, you will be taken through the first parts of the storyline in X: Reunion. You will meet one of the main characters and they will help you to get started. Once youve finished your introduction to the plot, youll be flying your new ship in no time at all. From this point on, its all up to you. You can follow the plot or go off and have your own adventures. You can jump in and out of the plot, as you dont have to respond to the requests immediately. This will allow you to start building your resources by trading, building, fighting and exploring the universe, as parts of the plot may require considerably more than what you start with. A little tip: you can delay meeting friends on missions until sometime later into your travels. They will wait for you, and so you dont forget, they will send you a reminder message every now and then. Keys, Controller settings, Profiles and Menus will be detailed in the following sections or you can jump to the Main Menu if you are very familiar with the X series already; even so, you are advised to familiarise yourself with the controller profiles, which are new to X. With such an open-ended X universe, many have joined the very extensive and helpful online community at the Egosoft forums. Exchanging their experiences, providing help and answers to each other and producing topics with ideas and hints, they have taken their gaming experiences much further. Join the community in the X Universe at http://www.egosoft.com/ Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. Arthur C. Clarke

In between your adventures it would be wise to start developing your empire by building factories and complexes to increase your financial resources. It would be wise to explore all the new and interesting places, and find additional markets for you to increase your status and wealth. Building and trading in all the sectors of the different races, for instance the Paranid, will provide you access to many of the technologies that only they produce, while also improving your race rank with them at the same time. Spinning your corporate web all over the universe will not only enhance your status with everyone, but will at the same time ensure that whatever perils the universe faces, you will be included in any unstoppable changes it experiences. Your Credit-making skills will develop over time from your first factory to your multi-sector empires. As you become aware of all the possibilities to improve your profits, you will be able to take your ambitions to new and exciting extremes.
There are many discoveries to be made by exploring sectors to find their hidden mysteries and the possible treasures or secrets that the less observant may have missed. The misty corners of strange and unusual formations will give you the chance to seek and find many new things that could enrich your travels and possibly your Credit account. On your travels, you will find places or information that could even help you decide to setup a home base, which you can protect and build as your empire grows. Even when many great events have happened, you will find new adventures, challenges and personal goals to enrich your experience.
Your journey and interactions in the universe will affect all that exists to become a reflection of your own ambitions, in wealth, construction and combat. From thousands to millions of Credits, management of corporate strategy, to heroic battles; your successes, skills, and abilities will shape the universe in your own image. The universe is made for you; the challenge is to make it yours.
Who am I? I am but the sum of my experiences and today I am more than I was yesterday. Terrabyte
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SHIP INTERFACE
The controls of each ship are positioned in the standard layout whichever the vessel, but you will find that the visibility from of all ships to be slightly different dependant on the ships hull design. In this instance the view from the ship, the interface and associated briefings below are taken from the Argon Nova M3 class ship. The Interactive Assistance System. This feature of your ship computer will automatically present information about common tasks you may wish to perform for the first time you do something, based on your current location and situation. Data will be streamed to your onboard computer should you encounter species or items requiring further information essential to your survival. If at any time you wish to disable this data-stream, you may do so from the Options-Gameplay menu of your ship interface, by changing Beginner to Veteran. Main Ship Interface

If you want to impress a particular race, so you can increase your status with them quickly to buy that M3 or M6 class ship you want, there are a few additional ways to achieve this:
a) Obtaining a Police license will in itself require a reasonable status to be able to purchase one. They are only available when a race trusts you, after you have repeatedly removed the unwelcome from their sectors. With a Police license you will then get paid for each of your kills and you will also be able to use a Freight Scanner legally, which should also provide the less honest with additional bonuses of cargo you force smugglers to drop. It is not easy to discover a smuggler as they naturally do not advertise what they are doing and when you have scanned a ship and you find illegal wares you can/must ask them to drop the wares. Most smugglers will be sensible and drop the illegal cargo, but some who are natural foes of the local race may try to avoid dropping the cargo. Sometimes when scanned the smuggler may turn out to be a pirate. Scanning of large ships is recursive so if illegal cargo is in a ship that is docked within another, it will still be revealed. If you are successful with scanning and in making them drop their illegal wares, you will gain additional reputation with the local sector race. b) By accepting Xenon Taxi missions to escort shady characters, you will then have the chance to impress the locals and gain reputation at the same time, by clearing up the Xenon mini-invasion you provoked by doing this mission. c) Jumping in and out of Xenon sectors and destroying Xenon ships will cause the Xenon to call for replacements. As these replacements then travel through other race sectors to reach the Xenon sectors, you will then have the chance to help the local race remove these invaders, which will benefit your recognition with them. d) You can enlist in Xenon Invasion missions that not only provide substantial Credit rewards, but they also give you the chance to improve your reputation with the locals. e) The destruction of Khaak clusters is a great way to improve reputation as they provide a reasonably large number of ships for you to gain notoriety by eliminating. f) Trading by selling goods or containers to a race will also improve your standing with them. Setting up factories in their sectors also has the same effect.
g) Placing standard or advanced Satellites in sectors provides a very effective way to locate Pirates and other enemies in transit. You can jump to the gate they are heading towards and make your kill or capture, increasing your fighting and race rank. For best placement of Satellites, when you enter a sector, nose-up your ship 30 degrees and place well above the middle of the sector.
h) Reputation can be earned by understanding the conflicts of the different races in the universe. If you are prepared to lose or lower your reputation with one race, you can target ships from their traditional enemies. Gain rank with Argon Boron Paranid Split Teladi By killing Paranid, Kha'ak, Xenon or Pirates in Argon space Split, Kha'ak, Xenon or Pirates in Boron space Argon, Kha'ak, Xenon or Pirates in Paranid space Boron, Kha'ak, Xenon or Pirates in Split space Kha'ak or Xenon in Teladi space (No rep gain for killing Pirates)

You might notice that after you have made your purchase the selling price for the Energy increases because the factory now has less to sell. On each option you will be able to see how your Credits are affected. If you refer back to the previous picture, you will see how many Credits we have at the start. NOTE: It is important to remember that you can only buy products and not resources in any factory. Similarly, you can only sell resources and not products to any factory. Now, after our transaction of buying 2970 units of Energy Cells, the screen will change to reflect the purchase. You can also see from the status bar near the bottom that there is no longer any space left in our cargo bay. So we need to sell the Energy Cells as soon as possible and make some money on our trade. You will remember that we had planned to sell this cargo in the Weapon Component Factory Alpha in Argon Prime. This now is a key part of trading. On one hand, you may spot a trade opportunity and act accordingly to fill the need (you have to be quick though someone else might get there first!). On the other hand, you may simply spot a great buying opportunity at a price that is too good to resist, and then start looking around for somewhere to sell your goods afterwards. Arriving at the Weapon Component Factory Alpha, we again enter the Trade Menu, but this time we wish to sell our goods instead of buy. Again, the commands to sell the goods are very similar to those used to buy: 1. Enter the number of units using the Left Cursor and then hit the Return key. The cargo is sold and transferred from your cargo hold. The Credits are transferred to your account. 2. Press Home and then Return. This will transfer all (if the factory is able to accept that amount) of your cargo of that ware. The Credits are transferred to your account. 3. Alternatively, use the Left and Right Cursor Keys to increase or decrease the amount you wish to sell, and then hit Return once you have decided. The Credits will be transferred to your account. The picture (right), after our trade, shows our new account balance of 148,790 Credits. We bought 2970 units of Energy Cells at 12 Credits and then sold them all for 19 Credits. That short trade run gave us a profit of 20,790 Credits and we only started with 128,000!
Larger, dedicated transport ships can carry far more and also more varieties of cargo so you may find that huge profits can be made once you can afford one of these ships. Example of a One Million Credit Trading run The Quick Start is a well-equipped start level with 100,000 Credits that provides a good start to trading. As this is a trading run, we will move some equipment from the Argon Buster to your Argon Mercury Transporter. Dock at the Equipment Dock and from the menu select [Station], [Ship], [Freight Exchange] to transfer the Best Buy Locator, Best selling price locator, Boost extension, Triplex Scanner and Navigation Command Software into the Mercury, then change ships with the menu [Personal] [Change Ships].

to look for more and better profit margins, when buying or selling, as the Best Buy and Sell upgrade will allow you to then look each sector in turn to see a good deal, without having to be in that sector. Bartering spare stocks is an effective way to sell goods you do not have an immediate market for, and with a good rep also pick up some good bargains to sell. Buy the largest transporters you can afford, for example a basic Mercury with 4,000 cargo space full of resources that you can sell at 20 Credits profit per unit makes 80,000. But a cargo bay of 11,000 will make you 220,000 profits. Make sure you upgrade the speed optimisations of your ship, so you can deliver faster, time is money and delay is lost opportunity and sometimes you will have to race against a Free Trader to get your stock delivered first. Make use of the Trading Extension upgrade and check before you dock to make a delivery in case a Free Trader has wiped out the margin by delivering to the factory just before you do, if they have, use the Best Sell option to sell elsewhere, in that or another sector. Factories can hold very large stocks, so the largest cargo bay and expansions you can add to your ships will mean greater profits per trip. For instance Ore can be bought at low prices and sold for very high prices, especially in Boron sectors. You will however need a very large 4000+ cargo bay to buy all the stock in one go as Ore takes up a lot more space per unit than other wares. Exploit smaller sectors for quick profits with your slower freighters, and send your faster ones to the bigger sectors. Explore other sectors like the Borons and find additional trading routes for items like BoFu, this applies to the other race sectors and their main food resources. Opportunities also exist for good deals as mentioned in the BBS as transporting Delexian Wheat from Argon sectors to Boron Sectors will also produces good profits. Trading in food and bio offers good profits, trading in Minerals like Ore and Silicon provide even better profit margins. High tech and some illegal wares can yield very high profits, but you will need a high reputation. Complexes create additional benefits of multiple products being sold by them and a one-stop shop for you to deliver large volumes of resources. Upgrading to a Super Freighter with 11,000-cargo bay will provide a faster return for its purchase price.
Understanding the X Universe Economy
The economy in the X Universe is unique in that it is dynamically priced. What this literally means is that the prices of goods are affected by supply and demand or by wars and theft. As an example, if a Solar Power Plant is well stocked with Energy Cells then the selling price will be low this is the principle of supply. However, if a Weapon Component Factory is low on the Energy Cells that it needs to continue producing Ammunition, then that factory will pay a premium price for any Energy Cells delivered to it, as the demand is high. If you spot two stations stocks that match this criteria, then congratulations you have just discovered a very profitable trading opportunity. You may find that some sectors have what can be classed as milk runs, that is where there is (nearly) always a profit to be made. Trade routes such as this will be very important to you as you strive to gain more Credits. Later, as you gain more Credits, you will find methods and upgrades that will make trading even more profitable and easier. In addition to factories, you will also find Trading Stations scattered around the X universe which will buy and sell a limited amount of products at fixed prices.

How to hire a TL-class large transport ship Start the setting up of a single station by hiring a Transport Large-class ship. These enormous ships with ST cargo bays are required to carry the construction kit, materials and drones for factories and stations around the sectors. These huge ships are amazing to watch, as they transport three or more stations at a time, but it wise to keep clear of their path as they are slow to stop or turn and will just plough through you if you are in their way. A checklist of items for your first station. Ensure: You have researched where you are going to place your factory by ensuring that there will be a demand for your products. You have enough Credits to: o Buy the factories o Pay the TL Captain up to 10,000 Credits for each sector they travel through. (Warning if you do not have enough Credits for the whole journey, your factory might be sold by the captain, and you might lose your Credits). o Buy one or more well equipped TS class transporters, to buy resources for your factories. o To invest in the initial raw materials or alternatively have a large starting stock of resources to get it started o Have a 200,000 Credit start-up fund for your station to pay for resources. Factories may cost between 400,000 to almost 20 million Credits, so in deciding to go for one of the basic factories with all the above, a rough figure of about 1,000,000 Credits would be required. Class TL Argon Mammoth The first step is to contact a TL Captain by getting within 8km of the ship and using the comm. Instruct the Captain to follow you. Then head to the Shipyard. As you arrive comm. the TL Captain again and ask them to move to the shipyard, and then select the Shipyard from the map. If you select the shipyard from your flying ship and press [ I ] you will be able to buy and sell without docking (if Trading System Extension is installed). The factories available will turn from unavailable red to available white when the TL has docked with the shipyard. Purchase the factory and comm. the TL Captain to follow you or to move to the sector you want to set your factory up in. Take this opportunity, by using the [ PgDn ] key, to purchase the TS ships that you will need to get the resources for your factory. Remember that you have to be in the sector where you need your station, to get the TL Captain to place your station. Should your hired TL be destroyed while carrying your precious cargo, you will receive a message to that effect. When the TL is in the immediate area of where you want it to be, comm. the TL Captain and ask them to drop your freight here. Use the Factory Positioning and [ Insert ] keys to position it in the X and Y-axis and set its orientation. (More info at Command Keys - Factory Positioning) Alternatively if you are constructing a Silicon or Ore mine, you have will have to ask the TL Captain to move to position, by selecting the target asteroid as the position to move to. When it gets within 4 km of the asteroid ask the TL Captain to Drop your freight and select the asteroid.

Battleships Maybe some pirates from a nearby Pirate Station just took a shine to your ship, or maybe you even have a mission that requires you to have a small fleet or armada of ships, or maybe you are just greedy and want the sector that someone else has. There will be times you will want to assemble a large fleet of big ships, to let the universe know that you are not to be messed with. Here are a few tips to make those memories good ones. Capital ships can have an extensive array of weaponry and shields fed by their powerful generators. With large stocks of lasers and missiles they can intelligently use laser loading to change the class of laser used; so they can fire endlessly or even with the next class down from the optimum they will still be able to fire three or four times longer. Additionally they can re-direct power from their very powerful generators, so that the lasers on one side of the ship
can use the energy of the lasers currently not firing on the other side. Their powerful multiple Giga Joule shields provide an almost indestructible barrier even though they are very slow to recharge.
Class M2 Teladi Phoenix Destroyer. Your first destroyer is going to be one of your first 100 million+ Cr investments. To get one you will have to be very wealthy, will also have reached a high enough fighting rank and be on good enough terms with the race you are buying it from. An M2 Destroyer costs more than just its purchase price, you will have to buy all the upgrades and equipment, several high-grade Giga Joule shields, multiple sets of all laser cannons and missiles. With a destroyer costing around ninety million Credits, you can add another fifty percent to that purchase price to the cost of fully maxing it out with everything it will need. So make sure you are wealthy enough to bear the full cost, as there is nothing worse than seeing a slow, toothless, and half-baked destroyer limping across a sector. Class M1 Paranid Zeus Carrier. Carriers are large ships with formidable shielding, point defences and a large capacity for carrying a number of different smaller ships within their hangars. They are crewed by highlytrained personnel and captains chosen for their skill and aggression. Carriers rarely change their direction to avoid smaller ships. Remember that due to the size and density of the hulls of these great ships, to repair one percent of damage to their hulls will cost you more than what you would spend on a new M3 class ship, but that should be small change to some one as wealthy as you will be. Yes, when you fly one of these giants other ships do look like insects and if you plough through one, as well as scratching your hull and making a mess of the paintwork, the cost to your reputation could be very high. When you arrive in a sector, it is suggested that you rise high above the main travel lanes before you carry on flying. Plan ahead. The universe does not carry enough stock of big guns and shields for when a rich player like you arrives. So set up some factories early on in your empire building, which will serve as stock building complexes and stores for your fleet of big ships. Likewise your pit

all the ones you want are entered, adding the same sector a second time, clears it out of the list. Then select the "Multi-Sector Patrol" command. Q: What is the MK1 Engine Booster and how do you use it? A: The Mk1 Engine Booster can be bought at a Pirate Base. To use it you will need to have Energy cells and/or space flies. At the command console select 'additional commands and then the fusion injector. Q: How do I rotate the camera around the ship while flying? A: Press F2 key for the external camera, and then use the numeric arrows to rotate it. If you press the [ 0 ] key you can toggle the view between the front and rear of the ship. Q: How do I deploy Squash Mines? A: Eject them from the cargo bay. Target them with and press [ i ] to bring up the info screen of the Squash Mine. Select the command menu and arm them. Q: How do I set up a Laser tower? A: Eject it from the cargo bay. Target it and press [ i ] to bring up the information screen of the Laser tower. Select the Command menu and set the Friend/Foe settings. It will attack any foe that comes into range. Q: How do I use Fighting Drones? A: Drones are a very good disposable that can save your pilots seat from getting toasted. You can eject them and set them on your enemy, which will do a few things for you; firstly, it will totally distract your enemy into spending time fighting them off and secondly, it will give you time to recharge your shields, run for it or add your own firepower to the drones to turn the tables on the ship that attacked you. They are pretty essential if you are just trading in a TS ship. To launch them, go to your Freight menu [ f ] key, highlight your drones and with the [ Right Cursor ] key select the number you want to use and press [ Enter ] eject them. Go to your sector menu, select a drone, Command Console, Broadcast to all my ships in the sector, Broadcast Sector, Fighter Drones, and select command "Protect me", "Attack all enemies" Attack or "Protect". Or use the Hot keys [ Shift+8 ] keys to command the drones to Attack Target or the [ Shift+9 ] keys to command them to Protect you. Q: How do I get a ship to le me know that it has completed a command I gave it? A: Command complete notification. There is an option to have ships contact you once they have completed their current command. In the command console for the vessel in question, locate the Configuration section. The first setting there is Notify me when order completed. Enabling this by selecting Yes tells the computer to send you a message when your remotely commanded ships have completed the tasks they have been assigned. This ensures that none of your ships are left idle for extended periods, losing you potential profit. Never arrive with two ships if its enough to do the job. Bring ten. Steel

You then head down onto Antigone and are chased by some miscreants. They are hard to hit, but using auto-target you should be ok. Having escaped the planet you end up floating in your damaged spacesuit. On your left will be a spaceship amongst the asteroids, put your speed up full and head towards it, you will then be beamed on to it. Mission3: The White Crystal On your way to Farnhams Legend you will need to fill your cargo bay with Energy and have a Jumpdrive, when there, head towards The Marauder shipyard.
In the next few stages you will need to destroy the pirates and attack the Talon. It will then jump to another sector, for which Saya will give you the location. Repeat at each jump and keep attacking the Talon to get its shields down. When the Talon gives up the crystal, Saya will collect it. Mission 4: The Race In your mission to find Thomus Beckitt you will need to go to the Trading Station in Freedoms Reach, south of Dannas Chance; it would be good to stock up on more Jumpdrive energy on the way. The racing is fairly easy, when you start you just put the throttle on full and aim for each marker, you dont have to hit the marker exactly, near it will be enough, as you reach it the next marker will appear. If you dont succeed, you will be invited to try again. If successful, you will need to jump to Ore Belt to find Thomus in his ship, Solitas, near the East Gate area of the nebula. After your meeting with Thomus you will need to rendezvous with Ban Danna on the Argon One in AP. Mission 5: The Convoy Go to Home of Light and comm. the Convoy Leader. Escort the convoy through the South gate. When the Khaak appear you will be transported into a turret of one of the TL ships, again use the K key to activate the auto-target and kill as many Khaak as possible to improve your reputation. Remove any remaining Khaak in your own ship. As there is a solar Power Plant nearby, take the opportunity to get some more Energy for your Jumpdrive. Mission 6: Ocracoke's Storm You will need to Jump to Empires Edge and then head West from the North Gate into Savage Spur and then through its South gate. In the asteroid you should take your time and watch the cycle of the scanners to find your best window to run through them. At the first set of scanners, aiming for the middle of the two sets of beams, weave between them to get to the hole in the wall. At the second set wait until the first scanner has started to sweep across and fly through it staying close to the wall on the left, which will help you avoid the second scanner. At the next scanner you will see a Port on the wall. Time it right and fly through it. With the next scanner, stay on the right of the wall to avoid it. After that it is fairly easy to travel through the remaining corridors, ports and scanners. When you arrive there will be a cut scene and the mission will be complete. You will then be back in CBSW and the Talon will appear with some pirate ships. Get rid of those and the Don will, after a chat, ask for your help in finding his daughter. Mission 7: The Pleasure Complex When you arrive at Thuruks Pride go to the Trading Station and read the BBS, which will have a message from the Manager of the Silicon Mine. You will be directed to the Pleasure Complex in Teladi Gain, near the East gate. Follow Saya maintaining >5km distance. When she is captured, start destroying the mines and take out the Yaki pirates. After the cut scene you will enter the station for the next task. When entering the complex turn tight towards the marker and when you come to the big open area, turn left to pick up Sayas Ship, enter it and continue on your original path, further into the complex. The indicators will lead you to the first generator on the left, which you will need to destroy. The corridor with the shield will now be clear and you just need to take out the lasers, if you dont mind a bit of a shield hit you can get past them. Go into the corridor and turn left at the next section. At the next section (on the left corridor you will see the blue forcefield at the end of the corridor) take the right corridor that goes down, at the next section go down again. Keep going past the laser fire until you come to a cross section, carry on a little further take the turn to the left, and left again into the next large area, then destroy the second generator. Now reverse your path until you see the big blue arrows pointing you to where the blue forcefield corridor was before, now on your right.

High-Yields

Hurricane Missile Yield (6000) Fusing: Proximity Guidance: IR After some concern that this armament would be nothing more than a continuation of the SQUASH Mine's unethical usage, the Hurricane Missile firmly rooted itself in military circles as being the weapon of choice when dealing with large numbers of small targets. Perfect for both Kha'ak cluster engagements as well as breaking up tight formations of Pirates. Hornet Missile Yield (49000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR The Hornet Class Missile is the most powerful weapon known today. The gigantic resources needed to produce this monster also make it extremely expensive. The missile works by setting off a small nuclear charge causing a reaction between three differing elements that are then combined on impact to create a large explosion powerful enough to disrupt even the largest shields. The hornet is, on the other side, the slowest of the known missiles, and is best used against immobile or slow moving targets. Firestorm Torpedo Yield (50000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: IR One of the slowest and most powerful projectile weapons in the current armoury, the Firestorm Torpedo possesses devastating destructive force, at the expense of speed and manoeuvrability. While remarkably easy to shoot down, this weapon, if successful, can inflict great damage to a station, and in volume, even destroy it. Its success against large combat craft can be equally devastating when employed on close-range attack runs. This missile even has some hull protection, so it can survive a few hits before it blows up - needless to say big bangs require big Credits Wildfire Missile Yield (?) Fusing: unknown Guidance: unknown The Wildfire missile is a prototype missile developed by the Industritech Corporation before the Kha'ak attacks. However a production stage has not yet been reached. Some missiles have reportedly gone missing, but official sources have denied that this is the case.

Other Missiles

Remote Guided Warhead - Yield (100000) Fusing: Contact Guidance: Remote The Remote Guided Warhead is designed to be part missile and part drone. It is fired normally however the pilot remotely controls the missile into an accurate firing line. This projectile is similar in build to the Torpedo but with the ability to be guided remotely by the pilot to avoid missile defence fire. It inflicts slightly less damage than the torpedo, however if the player controls it well there is a good chance of causing critical damage to the target. Khaak Sting, Needle and Thorn missiles - Yield (4000, 7450, 15000) Fusing: Proximity These are fast missiles that will explode near the target ship. They have a deadly power against all fighter ships.
Shields Shields are vital for survival in space. They protect the ship from small impacting objects like mini asteroids as well as during fights. Their one weakness is that they do not inhibit electrical current. Their inability to inhibit current makes them susceptible to ion disruptors. Shields are an energy field, and MJ are the units for quantifying their performance. Shields project field strength of X MJ - they don't "absorb" X MJ of energy.

Rastar Oil Rastar is oil produced from the animal fat of the Chelt, a farmed sea-bound animal on Split. This oil, once refined, is very fine and is used by most races to lubricate engines and other moving mechanical parts. It is refined in Rastar Refineries and sold in large barrels known as Gretts. Scruffin Fruits Scruffin is a large type of edible vegetation similar to sweet potatoes. It is grown by Split farmers in large open fields, as well as on gigantic space installations called Scruffin Farms. It is a versatile foodstuff that, when processed, provides a number of Split food types. Even though scruffin is traded inside and outside the Split territory it is mainly demanded by various Split food factories. Silicon Wafers Silicon is the main mineral resource that all modern technology goods are based on. It is usually found just below the surface of asteroids and mined in huge Silicon mines in space. Slaves Pilots who lost their freedom and are captured by pirates often end up being sold as slaves on illegal markets. Spaceflies This creature is a small unintelligent spacefly that lives in the vast emptiness of deep space. They are the size of a small bird and seem to be made out of delicate shining gossamer that reacts to light and shimmers and shines in a multitude of colours. The Markus live in vast complex hives in hollowed out parts of asteroids and perform a valuable function by collecting space junk and other debris, which they capture and take back to their asteroids to be used in the construction of their hives. They travel together in great swarms and communicate with a series of musical notes, similar to bird song, that impossibly echo in space. Their beauty, and the beauty of their music, is famed throughout the X Universe and all intelligent space races delight in seeing them. Pilots will stop to watch a swarm fly past. Creatures working on the outside of ships and space stations have claimed that the Markus will fly near them and even perch on them, singing all the while. However, throughout space, sightings of The Markus Space Fly are becoming very rare. This is mainly due to the actions of The Split, who capture and use the small space fly to power their spaceships. Currently the Foundation Guild are pressing for the Markus to be made a protected species and pressure is being put on the Split to change their system of powering their spaceship engines. It is believed that, despite a universal ban on their capture or trading, some pirates still hunt and capture this creature in order to sell them to the Split. Space Fuel Members of the Argon race never trade Argon Whisky openly. It is known as Space Fuel and is smuggled in containers known as Fuel Tanks as only few stations have a trading concession. A cheap imitation of Argon whisky, called space fuel, is produced in whisky producing plants, and smuggled into all other race sectors.

Khaak Invader
Crush the insolent and unworthy realm of inferior beings that so thoughtlessly invaded your world and destroyed your home. Let nothing stand untouched!
Khaak ? ? Are you insane?! Disabled
BOOKS BASED UPON THE X UNIVERSE
You can follow up your interests with the X Universe with some fictional novels, written by fans, which can be obtained from the Egosoft Online Shop. It has been said that each release of the X series, are chapters in one big continuing story, and this is an accurate description. Farnhams Legend is without doubt, the Book of Truth for all X-fans. It represents the first and second chapters of the X story, brought to life in X - Beyond The Frontier and X-tension. This book successfully explains, in stunning depth, the story behind the X Universe, while also providing the best possible historical account of the events leading to X2: The Threat and X: Reunion, the third and fourth chapters in the epic saga of the X Universe. Reading the book will have X-BTF and X-T veterans scrambling for their copies of these games once more. If you want to fully understand the story of the X Universe, there is no other greater recommendation I can give than Farnhams Legend terrabyte Available for the Egosoft Online Shop
A novel from the X-Universe

HELGE T. KAUTZ

Translated from German language by Steve Miller and Andreas Fuchs
Ayse continued to study the object, gripped by the feeling that something was wrong and unable to put words to her fear. A craft of a type normally used for orbital transport found in deep space, travelling at near light speed? For a moment her thoughts went back to Earth and the entrancing vision of the blue planet from space. It was a sight shed witnessed on a hundred shuttle trips and every time she yearned for more. John she started, her tongue suddenly large in her mouth. John, there arent any view ports or windows, not even a cockpit! Friedmann frowned and shrugged his shoulders. Youre right but, but that doesnt necessarily atsui! Ayse winced when she realized why John had made this outcry of surprise. She sat rooted in fear, a wave of horror flooding her body as the under-side of the rotating ship tumbled into view, revealing a large symbol emblazoned onto the light-swallowing alloy. A simple drawing, a few distinct lines. Almost child-like. John and Ayse recognized it at once. The symbol of the Terraformer Fleet. Other X Universe novels There is a list of online mini X novels, available in the Creative Universe - Fan Fiction forum and some PDF novels available to be downloaded from the Egosoft Site. Dominion (English) by Darren Astles (30188_49) X-universe: v. 1 (English) by Darren Astles (ISBN: 1412019559) Traders Tale (English) by Stephen Haworth NOPILEOS (German) by Helge T Kautz (ISBN: 3833210419) Farnhams Legende (German) by Helge T Kautz (ISBN: 3833212047)