- NEBULA -


1.1  THE STORY

        Intercorp  is  the largest galactic peace keeping force in the known
Universe.  During the intergalactic wars, damage to a vast majority of their
defense systems was sustained.  When the wars had ceased, repair work began.

        The  moon  of  Europa,  which  orbits  the  planet  of  Jupiter, was
partially destroyed during the wars.  Intercorp decided to re-build the moon
and include an incredibly powerful orbital stabiliser into the central core.
Without  this,  the  moon's  orbit  would  decay  and it would be completely
obliterated.   The  moon  was  renamed 'UROPA' and because of it's strategic
position  ,  has been set up as a major link in communications and detection
of hostile fleets entering our galaxy.

        The  control  and  protection  of  Uropas'  systems was given to the
Tekites,  when  the  moon  was  repaired.  Unfortunately, a group of Tekites
rebelled  against  the government and civil war broke out.  Soon after, they
were  all  but  destroyed.  Only a handful of rebels escaped.  Now they have
returned  after building up their forces, calling themselves 'KAPONES'.  The
Kapones  are  now  an  advanced form of droid with full emotions and have an
intelligent thinking pattern.  Unfortunately one of their strongest emotions
is  greed.   Since  communications with Uropa has stopped, it is feared that
this  very  emotion  has  been exploited by an intergalactic race.  It seems
that  the Kapones have been paid a large fee to close down and, if possible,
destroy Uropa.

        There  are  a large number of Energy-Rigs scattered over the surface
of  the  planet.  These devices have been set up by the evil Kapones and are
draining the power of the stabiliser, causing the Uropa's orbit to decay...

1.2  OBJECTIVE

        From  the  title  screen  the game commences, pressing the space bar
will  start  the  game  in  keyboard  mode, or pressing the fire button will
select  joystick  mode.   Your mission starts with teleportation to your GBV
(Ground Based Vehicle).

        Time  is  limited.   You  have two hours to restore the power to the
central stabiliser.  Failure to do so in this time will mean the destruction
of Uropa and the Uropan force.

        Your  objective is to destroy all Energy-Rigs on the moon's surface.
To  do  this,  you  need  to drop AER (Anti-Energy Rig) bombs near each rig.
These  bombs  have  a set radius of destruction and therefore you should not
stay  too  close.  These bombs are released from the rear of your GBV.  Once
in place, simply detonate the bomb to destroy an Energy Rig.
        You  can only carry nine bombs and there are ten Rigs on the surface
of  the  moon.   Sometimes  when  an enemy GBV has been destroyed, they will
leave  an  AER  bomb behind.  Pick them up as soon as you can.  This is your
only hope.

        As  a  bonus, your GBV has been fitted with a cloaking device.  When
activated,  enemy  vehicles  cannot  see  you.   Now, for the bad news.  The
device  only  lasts  a  very  short time.  When de-activated, it will slowly
recharge, so use it only in emergencies.

So, as your Commissioner says, "Be careful out there".



2.  GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

2.1  SCREEN DISPLAY

2.1.1 STATUS PANEL

When  travelling in your GBV, this panel displays the current status of your
vehicle and messages from the Nentransar moon.

2.1.2 RADAR SCREEN

The  radar shows a limited range relative from your vehicle.  Enemy vehicles
are shown as yellow and Chromolite crystals in green.

2.1.3 GBV PANEL

There are six sections in this panel.  They are;


        SCORE:  This is purely for high score buffs....
        TIME:   The amount of time left before the moon is destroyed
                is shown here.
        ENG:    Current energy for your GBV is shown here. Once your
                energy has run out, you're a sitting duck...
                The only way to keep going is to pick up Chromolite
                crystals on the surface of the moon. They are converted
                to fuel for your GBV. (Chromolite crystals are a mineral
                native to this moon)
        SHL:    This shows the current shield value for your GBV. The
                shields are constantly, but slowly, increased.
        CLK:    Cloak level. This indicates the amount of cloaking
                energy left. When not active, the cloak crystals begin
                to very slowly recharge.
        AER:    The number of AER bombs left is shown here. No more than
                nine can be held in stores. If you try to collect more,
                the will explode.


2.2 LOCATION

        Your  current location is shown by the two, two digit numbers on the
top  left  section  of  the  dashboard.   The  first two digits are your 'x'
co-ordinate and the other two digits are your 'y' co-ordinate.


2.3 COMPASS

        The compass gives your current heading in degrees. (0-360) North
is indicated by a value of zero. Heading in this direction will move your
position directly upwards on the map. (See section 4.1)


3. CONTROLS

3.1 COMMON CONTROLS


 These keys are used regardless of joystick or keyboard mode.

        'HELP'  -       Help screens
        'M'     -       Map toggle
        'B'     -       Drop AER bomb
        'D'     -       Detonate bomb
        'P'     -       Pause mode toggle
        'K'     -       Select keyboard mode
        'J'     -       Select joystick mode
        'C'     -       Cloak mode toggle
        'F10'   -       Reset game
        'Q'     -       Quit the game

3.2 KEYBOARD MODE CONTROLS


        '<'     -       Turn left
        '>'     -       Turn right
        'S'     -       Forward thrust
        'X'     -       Backward thrust
        'A'     -       Laser fire


3.3 JOYSTICK MODE CONTROLS


        Stick left      -       Turn left
        Stick right     -       Turn right
        Stick forward   -       Forward thrust
        Stick backward  -       Backward thrust
        Fire button     -       Laser fire


4. OTHER FEATURES

4.1 USING THE MAP


        The  surface  of  the  moon  is  divided  up  into a grid of 64 * 64
sectors.  This map shows the entire surface of the moon and the locations of
all  the  Energy  Rigs.   We have calculated that no two Energy Rigs will be
found  within  one  sector.   Rig  positions are indicated by an orange dot.
Your  position are indicated by a yellow dot.  By using the compass, you can
fly to any position on the moon.

4.2 HELP SCREENS

        By  pressing the HELP key at any time, except during pause mode, the
help  facility  will  be  activated.   The  first  screen gives a VERY brief
outline of the game.  Clicking on the NEXT PAGE gadget will bring up the key
controls for the game.

        To exit back to the game, simply click on the EXIT gadget.

4.3 RUMOURS

        It  is  rumoured  that a strange device exists on the surface of the
moon.   If  you  find it, please don't destroy it, but bring it back for our
scientists to look at.

        The  Kapones have been working on a new GBV.  No sightings have been
reported at this time....