SPACE SHIP OF DEATH -- Instructions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Background: The year is 2150. Space travel and life is now commonplace for humans. Space has opened new frontiers and crime has followed. The top crime boss is recruiting new assassins to do his dirty work. You wish to become one of his men because you would be paid well and live a life of luxury. The Space Ship of Death is the place where your assassination skills will be tested. The boss transports groups of his prospective men to this ship to let them fight it out to the death! The first person to achieve fifteen kills will become an official assassin! Objective: Your mission is a simple one, kill others before they kill you! This is accomplished by using weapons that you construct from parts which are laying about the ship. Each weapon is made of two different parts, both of which must be in your possession for the weapon to function. Also strewn about the ship are defenses to the different weapons. These defenses are complete when they are found. You can only carry FOUR items at one time, and only TWO of them can be defenses. The weapon parts and corresponding defenses are below: Weapons Defenses ------------------------------------------------------------- Machine Gun & Ammo Clip.....................Bullet Proof Vest Laser Pistol & Battery......................Mirror Atomizer & Uranium..........................Radiation Suit Vial Cobra Venom & Hypodermic Syringe.......Poison Antidote Gas Grenade & Deadly Gas....................Gas Mask Once in possession of both parts of a weapon, it may be used indefinitely. You can [L]eave any item you are carrying in any room you desire. It will become necessary for you to change your weapons and defenses, since your target may change their defenses. NOTE: There are SIX sets of each weapon and SIX of each defense type. This makes a total of 90 items. As the ship fills up, the harder it will be to find the objects you need. Right now the Ship's capacity is 20 people. You will be given 60 moves per day. If you get killed on a certain date, as a penalty you cannot play until the next day even if you have moves remaining. The number of moves you have can be adjusted up or down by using the Ship's Computer to squeal on other would-be assassins. This will be discussed in detail later... Before entering the Space Ship, you must [P]ick a target if you do not already have a target. This target is the person you must hunt down and kill. You cannot use your weapons on any other persons in the ship except for your target, this is what tests your skill. Ship Commands: [N]orth, [E]ast, [W]est, [S]outh, [U]p, and [D]own are obviously used to choose a directions to move through the Ship. All exits are told to you, there are no secret passageways. [T]ake -> Allows you to add an object that is in the room to your inventory if you have space for it. [L]eave -> Allows you to drop an item from your inventory. This command will be used often as you will need to shift around the objects you are carrying often. [K]ill -> If you locate your target, use this to attempt to kill them. This command will not work unless you have a complete weapon. Note: If your target has the defense to the weapon you use, he will fight back with his complete weapon if he has one! Thus when attacking, be cautious and try to have some defenses as well as your weapon. [I]nventory -> This gives you a list of what you are carrying. Feel free to use this command whenever necessary due to the fact that it does not count as a move. It's a FREE command. [C]omputer -> This accesses the Ship's computer to allow you to add to squeals on others' locations or to read previously entered squeals. This option can also be accessed when not in the Ship. This is also a free command. [H]elp -> This will print a summary list of commands in case you forget them. (Free command) [Q]uit -> This command is used to end your turn for today. If you have moves remaining, they will be stored for the rest of the day in case you return later. If you don't play again until the next day, these moves are lost and you start again with 60 moves. Squeals: By using the Ship's Computer, you can gain or lose moves by ratting on your opponents. Using the computer costs you credits. You are given FIVE credits per day for computer use. For ONE credit you may read the squeals. This will give a list of the last 15 squeals which were entered into the computer. However, it will not tell you if the person is still at that location, you could waste moves going on a wild goose chase. You will be told how many of the squeals are still true, but not which ones... For TWO credits you can add to the squeals. To execute this option you must also have at least 20 moves remaining. You will GAIN twenty moves if you give the correct location of a person that has not already been squealed on. However, if you leave a false squeal, you will LOSE twenty moves! A smart player will see a good use for losing moves... Also, you cannot gain moves by correctly squealing on yourself! Stun Traps: There are only two of these objects floating around the ship. You can [T]ake these traps and leave them wherever you desire. The strategy is to [L]eave them in the room of a living person, preferably the person who is out to kill you! These traps are perfectly safe to walk by, pick up, or carry around. They are set by [L]eaving them in a room. They only go off when a person [E]nters from the Main Menu into a room with a trap in it. Whenever you [E]nter the ship, you risk setting off a stun trap. If one has been left in your room, it will go off, you lose twenty moves, and drop everything you are carrying! The stun trap is then randomly transported to another room. NOTE: You may use Stun Traps on ANY person, not just your target! HINTS: - Use the NEWS and the SQUEALS to help give you hints on where your target might be before you enter the ship and try to find them. The News can give you ideas on what weapons/defenses your target has been using and the general area they might have been. Reading the Squeals can really help you find your target... - Whenever you run into a live person while in the Ship, SQUEAL on them using the [C]omputer... If the computer already has the squeal you won't be penalized, but if its a new squeal you get 20 more moves! - If your sysop doesn't provide you with access to the ASCII map, then map it out yourself. The Ship has 4 decks and 105 rooms! Its hard to be a good assassin if you get lost all the time! - Watch your moves. When you are running low, try and find a place to hide in an out of the way area. Don't end your day standing in the middle of a hallway or busy intersection. Too many people will pass by you and you have high odds of being killed! MORE HINTS: - Switch your weapons/defenses occasionally. If you continually kill people with the same weapon, your hunter will notice that from reading the News and will make adjustments... - When you [R]evive yourself after being killed, make sure you Enter the ship and move. Upon reviving your body becomes alive in the ship and if you don't move you are a sitting duck. - If you go to Pick a target and there are None to select... Go ahead and enter the ship and use some of your moves to hide in a different area of the ship. Then call back later in the day as new targets may become available. - MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN!!!