The Reference

By: C. Pirx

Last updated 20th of May 1995


Planeteers, fellow Privateers and the rest of the galaxy, This is a collection of the best material I could find on my tours through the vast and endless voids of the never ending Internet. To have the best use for it, download it, as the whole reference is on one page by simply using the “Save as” command in your browser. You can also download a file that contains “The Reference”, written in Word 6.0, very good for easy printing. But check the release date carefully, sometimes this online reference will be more up-to-date. You will find all the information you need on a usual day in the echo cluster. All authors, from whom I took those information have been asked and they kindly gave me their permission (thanks a lot folks!) to use their work. It is not easy to keep up with all the modifications that are coming up all couple of months, so if you notice a mistake, or something else that can be improved, send me a note. If you do point out an error or give a good suggestion for how “The Reference” can be improved I will include it in the next version. Your name will also be added to the credits list. Just send me a note. Have fun playing VGA Planets,
Pilot Pirx


ContentsThis is the table of contents. This version covers:


Engines Table of Contents

Engine Tech Cost Dur Tri Mol
StarDrive 1

1

1

1

5

0

StarDrive 3

2

2

2

5

1

StarDrive 3

3

3

2

3

5

SuperStarDrv 4

4

10

3

3

7

Nova Drive 5

5

25

3

3

7

HeavyNova Drv 6

6

53

3

3

15

Quantam Drive 7

7

170

3

3

15

Hyper Drive 8

9

200

13

3

25

Transwarp Drive

10

300

16

3

35


Fuel UsageTable of Contents

Engine Warp 1 Warp 2 Warp 3 Warp 4 Warp 5 Warp 6 Warp 7 Warp 8 Warp 9
Star Drive 1 100.00 200.00 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00 900.00
Star Drive 3 100.00 107.50 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00 900.00
Star Drive 3 100.00 106.25 107.78 337.50 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00 900.00
Super Star Drive 4 100.00 103.75 104.44 106.25 300.00 322.22 495.92 487.50 900.00
Nova Drive 5 100.00 103.75 104.44 106.25 104.00 291.67 291.84 366.41 900.00
Heavy Nova Drive 6 100.00 103.75 104.44 106.25 104.00 103.69 251.02 335.16 900.00
Quantam Drive 7 100.00 103.75 104.44 106.25 104.00 103.69 108.16 303.91 529.63
Hyper Drive 8 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.04 109.38 529.63
Transwarp Drive 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

The units are per 1/100,000 of a KT per LY I.e. 100 corresponds to .001 KT-fuel/KT-mass/LY A 200 KT ship going 20 LY at Warp 8 with Nova Drive 5 engines would take about 15 KT of fuel (.0036641*200*20) NOTE: Fuel usage formula is approximate with about a +/- 5 KT error


Beam TableTable of Contents The following table compares the various beam weapons. No major revelations here. Disrupters are the best beam weapons early in the game and Heavy Disrupters and Heavy Phasers are the weapons of choice among discerning warriors.

Name Tech MC/Beam Damage Kill Sweep/Trn Trit Dur Moly
Laser

1

1

3

10

1

1

0

0

X-Ray Laser

1

2

1

15

4

1

0

0

Plasma Bolt

2

5

10

3

9

1

2

0

Blaster

3

10

25

10

16

1

12

1

Positron Beam

4

12

29

9

25

1

12

5

Disrupter

5

13

20

30

36

1

12

1

Heavy Blaster

6

31

40

20

49

1

12

14

Phaser

7

35

35

30

64

1

12

30

Heavy Disrupter

8

36

35

50

81

1

17

37

Heavy Phaser

10

54

45

35

100

1

12

55

Finally, one little known fact makes these tables more useful. In a battle, the kill factor does nothing to help beat down shields. So if your object is to destroy ships, get the highest damage rated weaponry you can. But if you want to capture ships, balance the kill rating with enough damage rating to break through the shields.

Name Tech Cost Dur Tri Mol Mass Kill Damage
Laser

1

1

0

1

0

1

10

3

X-Ray Laser

1

2

0

1

0

1

15

1

Plasma Bolt

2

5

2

1

0

2

3

10

Blaster

3

10

12

1

1

4

10

25

Positron Beam

4

12

12

1

5

3

9

29

Disrupter

5

13

12

1

1

4

30

20

Heavy Blaster

6

31

12

1

14

7

20

40

Phaser

7

35

12

1

30

5

30

35

Heavy Disrupter

8

36

17

1

37

7

50

35

Heavy Phaser

10

54

12

1

55

6

35

45


Torpedo TableTable of Contents This table compares the ten different torpedoes available to the Echo Cluster. Note that the tech level is NOT the level your starbase needs to be able to build the weapon. Rather it is the tech level host uses to calculate the number of mines created by a torpedo type. (The same is true of the Beam Table, below.) In the original spreadsheet extra calculation columns are added. The user inputs a number into a cell. The program then calculates the number of mines and the radius of the minefield created. Please observe that the most cost-effective mine laying torpedo is the Mark 4 at 0.36 mines/megacredit but it only creates 36 mines per torp. The Mark 7 is second at just 0.44 mines/MC. For this author, the early game mine layer is the Mark 4 and the Mark 7 is the torpedo of choice. But be careful of falling into a rut! Mix in a few other types when you get opportunity and keep your opponents guessing!

Name Tech Mines MC/Tube MC/Torp Damage Kill
Mark 1

1,00

1,00

1,00

1

5

4

Proton

2,00

4,00

4,00

2

8

6

Mark 2

3,00

9,00

4,00

5

10

3

Gamma Bombs

3,00

16,00

6,00

10

2

15

Mark 3

4,00

25,00

5,00

12

15

9

Mark 4

5,00

36,00

20,00

13

30

13

Mark 5

6,00

49,00

57,00

31

35

17

Mark 6

7,00

64,00

100,00

35

40

23

Mark 7

8,00

81,00

120,00

36

48

25

Mark 8

10,00

100,00

190,00

54

55

35


Name MC/mine Min/100mine MC/kill MC/dmg Trit Dur Moly
Mark 1

1,00

100,00

0,25

0,2

1

1

0

Proton

0,50

25,00

0,33

0,25

1

0

0

Mark 2

0,56

11,11

1,67

0,5

1

4

0

Gamma B.

0,63

6,25

0,67

5

1

3

1

Mark 3

0,48

4,00

1,33

0,8

1

1

5

Mark 4

0,36

2,78

1,00

0,43

1

4

1

Mark 5

0,63

2,04

1,82

0,89

1

7

14

Mark 6

0,55

1,56

1,52

0,88

1

2

7

Mark 7

0,44

1,23

1,44

0,75

1

3

8

Mark 8

0,54

1,00

1,54

0,98

1

1

9

Best value/MC: Mark 4 torps
Best value/Min: Mark 8 torps Mines Laid = # torps * (torp position)^2
Mines Swept = # beams * (beam position)^2 * mine sweep rate Mine Field Radius = sqrt(# mines)
NOTE: The formula for laying/sweeping mines is based on the POSITION of the type of torp, not the actual tech of the torp e.g. Mark 7 (tech 8, pos 9) gives 9^2 = 81 mines, not 8^2 = 64 mines


Mine TableTable of Contents This table shows the number of torpedo’s required to create a field of a certain diameter

Diameter # of mines Mk2
of field deployed Mk1 Prot Gam Mk3 Mk4 Mk5 Mk6 Mk7 Mk8

10

25

25

6

3

2

1

20

100

100

25

11

6

4

3

2

2

1

30

225

225

56

25

14

9

6

5

4

2

40

400

400

100

44

25

16

11

8

6

4

50

625

625

156

74

39

25

17

13

10

6

60

900

900

225

100

56

36

25

18

14

9

70

1225

1225

306

136

77

49

34

25

19

12

80

1600

1600

400

177

100

64

44

33

25

16

90

2025

2025

506

225

127

81

56

41

32

20

100

2500

2500

625

277

156

100

69

51

39

25

The table shows the number of mines that have to be deployed per light-year radius.

Light-year radius Number of Mines Light-year radius Number of Mines Light-year radius Number of Mines Light-year radius Number of Mines Light-year radius Number of Mines

1

1

31

961

61

3721

91

8281

121

14641

2

4

32

1024

62

3844

92

8464

122

14884

3

9

33

1089

63

3969

93

8649

123

15129

4

16

34

1156

64

4096

94

8836

124

15376

5

25

35

1225

65

4225

95

9025

125

15625

6

36

36

1296

66

4356

96

9216

126

15876

7

49

37

1369

67

4489

97

9409

127

16129

8

64

38

1444

68

4624

98

9604

128

16384

9

81

39

1521

69

4761

99

9801

129

16641

10

100

40

1600

70

4900

100

10000

130

16900

11

121

41

1681

71

5041

101

10201

131

17161

12

144

42

1764

72

5184

102

10404

132

17424

13

169

43

1849

73

5329

103

10609

133

17689

14

196

44

1936

74

5476

104

10816

134

17956

15

225

45

2025

75

5625

105

11025

135

18225

16

256

46

2116

76

5776

106

11236

136

18496

17

289

47

2209

77

5929

107

11449

137

18769

18

324

48

2304

78

6084

108

11664

138

19044

19

361

49

2401

79

6241

109

11881

139

19321

20

400

50

2500

80

6400

110

12100

140

19600

21

441

51

2601

81

6561

111

12321

141

19881

22

484

52

2704

82

6724

112

12544

142

20164

23

529

53

2809

83

6889

113

12769

143

20449

24

576

54

2916

84

7056

114

12996

144

20736

25

625

55

3025

85

7225

115

13225

145

21025

26

676

56

3136

86

7396

116

13456

146

21316

27

729

57

3249

87

7569

117

13689

147

21609

28

784

58

3364

88

7744

118

13924

148

21904

29

841

59

3481

89

7921

119

14161

149

22201

30

900

60

3600

90

8100

120

14400

150

22500


Planetary/Base DefensesTable of Contents Defense Posts for n Fighters: n*(n-1) + 1 Ex: For 5 fighters
Defense Posts for n Beamtech: 2*n*(n-1) + 1 5*4+1 = 21 defense posts
Defense Posts for n Beams: 3*n*(n-1) + 1 (see table below) NOTE: Base defense is taken into account ONLY when determining the # of beams.
It does NOT affect the # of fighters or the beam tech level.


Planetary Defense Post TablesTable of Contents

DP Ftr Bm Clans Tech DP Ftr Bm Clans Tech

1

1

1

1

1 *

85

9

5

1257

7 *

3

2

1

3

1

91

10

6

1710

7

5

2

1

5

2 *

111

11

6

3740

7

7

3

1

7

2

113

11

6

3987

8 *

13

4

2

13

3 *

127

11

7

5940

8

19

4

3

19

3

133

12

7

6897

8

21

5

3

21

3

145

12

7

9027

9 *

25

5

3

25

4 *

157

13

7

11445

9

31

6

3

31

4

169

13

8

14151

9

37

6

4

37

4

181

13

8

17145

10 *

41

6

4

41

5 *

183

14

8

17672

10

43

7

4

43

5

211

15

8

25890

10

57

8

4

95

5

217

15

9

27855

10

61

8

5

165

6 *

241

16

9

36435

10

73

9

5

567

6

271

16

10

48780

10

`*’ Denotes a beam tech level increase. NOTE: Having 181 Defense Posts means that when the planet is attacked it will use Heavy Phasers in its defense; it does not mean that a starbase over the planet will have a tech 10 beam level. In other words, just because the tech level of beams used to defend a planet against attack increases due to a high number of defense posts does not mean that the tech level of beams that a starbase can produce goes up. NOTE: The tech level of beams used to defend a planet will not be lower than the beam tech level on a starbase above the planet; however, it may be lower. NOTE: If you increase your beam teach level, than the tech level of beams used to defend a planet will also be increased


Misc. InfoTable of Contents

MC Tri Dur Mol Sup
Mineral Mine:

4

0

0

0

1

Factory:

3

0

0

0

1

Planet Defensive Unit:

10

0

0

0

1

SB Defensive Unit:

10

0

1

0

0

Fighters (in base):

100

3

0

2

0

Fighters (on ship):

0

3

0

2

5

Set ship mission **
Torpedoes (on ship): *

1

1

1

0

Set FC to mkt
Starbase:

900

402

120

340

0

Fuel (from Neutronic Refinery): 1 Sup + 1 Mineral -> 1 Neutronium
Minerals (from Merlin): 9 Sup -> 1 Tri + 1 Dur + 1 Mol – see FC for other info * For MC cost, see above torp list and add 1 e.g. to build 10 Mark 8 photons on a ship with Mark 8 launchers, you need 10 of each mineral in the cargo and 10*54+1 = 541 MC on board ** For Rebels, ship building is automatic – no ship mission


Happiness InfoTable of Contents Colonists change =
trunc(10 – sqrt(# colonists/1,000,000) – abs(temp – 50) /33 (# mine + # fact)/300 – tax_rate*.8) Natives change =
trunc(5 + native_gov/2 – sqrt(# natives/1,000,000) – (# mine + # fact)/200 – tax_rate*.85) NOTE: native_gov goes from 1(anarchy)-9(unity): see table below Hiss effect is +(hiss value)*(# ships hissing)


Planetary EconomyTable of Contents

Planetary Temp Happiness Attitude Native Gov. Tax Factor
85-100 desert 90-100 happy (1) Anarchy

20%

65-84 tropical 70-89 calm (2) Pre-Tribal

40%

40-64 warm 50-69 unhappy (3) Early-Tribal

60%

15-39 cool 40-49 very angry (4) Tribal

80%

0-14 arctic 20-39 rioting (5) Feudal

100%

(-300)-20 fighting (6) Monarchy

120%

(7) Representative

140%

(8) Participatory

160%

(9) Unity

180%


Tax InfoTable of Contents Natives:MC received from natives: = (native pop)*(tax rate setting)*(native gov tax factor)*(.001) NOTE:
1) you must have 100 colonists for every MC collected
2) for Insectiods, see Native Race Advantages section Example: 8,000,000 natives
10% native taxes
Humanoid / Tribal
1200 Colonists( 8000000 ) * ( 0.10 ) * ( 0.80 ) * 0.001 = 640 megacredits
Colonists:MC received from colonists: = (colonist pop)*(tax rate setting)*(.001) Example: 7,000,000 colonists
10% taxes(7000000) * (0.10 ) * 0.001 = 700 megacredits


Mine OutputTable of Contents Mine output in kt = # of mines * mineral density.
I.e: 100 mines at 95% density -> 95 KT


Growth Rate InfoTable of Contents Colonists growth % = 5*sin(temp*pi/100)/(1 + tax_rate/5)= 0if either
1) temperature arctic/desert (< 15 or > 84)
2) happiness < 70 (unhappy or worse)
or
3) max population would be exceeded Natives growth
Natives growth % = 4*sin(temp*pi/100)/(1 + tax_rate/5) = 0if either
1) happiness < 70 (unhappy or worse)
or
2) max population would be exceeded


Population Limit InfoTable of Contents Arctic:
29 clans + 20 clans / degree (e.g. 3 degrees: 89 clans) Desert:
9 clans + 20 clans / degree (e.g. 97 degrees: 69 clans) Colonists: a) If climate limits population and climate death rate (CDR) is 0%:
max pop = 10,000,000*sin(temp*pi/100)colonists (won’t die if exceeded) b) If climate limits population and CDR is not 0%:
1) planet is desert,
max pop = {[(100 – temp)*200] + 100}/CDR colonists(will die) 2) planet is arctic,
max pop = {[(1 + temp)*200] – 100}/CDR colonists (will die) 3) all other temps= 10,000,000*sin(temp*pi/100) colonists(won’t die) NOTE: If overpopulation eats supplies you can have more than the max population, though not by many. Fascists and Robots can support at least 6000 colonists on desert planets, and Rebels can support at least 20000 colonists on arctic planets – more if the formula allows.
c) If climate does not limit population:
max pop = 10,000,000 colonists — CDR does nothing (won’t die) Natives: Max native population = 15,159,000*sin(temp*pi/100) natives


Planetary StructuresTable of Contents maxdefense = 50+sqrt(clans-50) maxfactories = 100+sqrt(clans-100) maxmines = 200+sqrt(clans-200) ^^^ below this number of clans, the ratio is 1 structure/1 clan


Ground Attack/DefenseTable of Contents For each defense post on a planet, your ground defense goes up by .05 x ground defense # against ground attacks. For each 20 defense posts, the ratio changes by the ground defense # exactly. Example: Lizard’s 30:1 ground attack against Birds 2:1 ground defense:

Defense post

Ratio

Ratio Formula: (att #):((def #)*(DP*.05 + 1))
0

15:01

1 lizard colonist will kill 15 enemy colonists
10

10:01

eg (30:(2*(10*.05 + 1)) => (30:3) => (10:1)
20

7.5:1

(30:(2*(20*.05 + 1)) => (30:4) => (7.5:1)
30

06:01

(30:(2*(30*.05 + 1)) => (30:5) => (6:1)
40

05:01

60

3.75:1

80

03:01

100

2.5:1


Sensor Sweep HidingTable of Contents Odds of detection = 100 – (number of defense posts * 6,6 %) Any planet with less than 15 factories, 20 mines, and 0 defense posts will not be detected. 20 or more defense outposts will shield a planet from bio scanners. A Cat’s Pawn will receive changing readings (from turn to turn) and will thereby find out that someone has to be on this position.


Mission OrderingTable of Contents Loki Class decloaks ships (Tachyon Field)
Super Spy
Beam up/down from/to a planet owned by Y O U
Privateer Rob mission
Transport between ships
Transport down to an unowned or enemy planet (eg drop colonists)
Gather mission (beam up from any planet)
Alchemy missions
Mine laying
mkt – making torpedoes after mine laying and before COMBAT
Ion Storms
Mine Sweeping
Mine Field check
Web Field check
Repairing of ships
Building of new ships
Cloning
Federation Super Refit mission before movement somewhere
Surrendering
Movement (Includes HYP)
Intercept Missions
Glory Device (D19 and Saber Class Starships)
Star Base Functions
Colonize Missions
COMBAT!
Science Ship Missions (Planet Climate changing) after COMBAT!
Fascists Pillage/Rebel Ground Attack missions after COMBAT!
Planet Production
Exploration


Obscure RulesTable of Contents

  • For every 20 defense posts the ground combat ratio increase by 1, so a planet with 100 defense posts does ground combat at 5:1 instead of 1:1.
  • Privateers robbing cloaked ships is host configurable so check it when you play them.
  • To break a tow at Warp 9 you have to have a waypoint set farther than 1month (81 ly) away, just having the warp set to 9 at a planet will NOT prevent a tow.
  • Tech 8 torp’s are cheaper and just as good for battle but cost the same amount of money as Tech 10 torp’s for the same size minefield.
  • Cloaked ships have the same chance as uncloaked of hitting web mines.
  • Hyperspace ships will not hit a mine if they HYP into and out of a minefield.
  • Force a surrender mission takes place before and after movement now IONIC PULSE
  • If a planet detects that it is a victim of a super spy mission and it has more then 30-defense outposts, it can burn up 10 of the defense outposts to emit an ionic pulse that will uncloak all cloaked ships in orbit. A planet has about a 20% chance of pulling this off.
  • Hyper jumping ships do not get sucked into planets by warp wells.
  • Hitting a deep space mine will slow a ship by 10 ly.
  • Cloaked ships that hit a mine and are damaged will come out of cloak.
  • Engine shield bonus is not in effect when a ship is attacking a planet.
  • A Loki will decloak all ships even if those are of the same race as the Loki (except Fed and Lizard ships). E.g. privateer owned Loki would decloak all privateer ships.

First Ships Table of Contents Solar Federation :

  • Outrider Class Scout Cargo = 40
  • Nocturne Class Destroyer Cargo = 0 / 150 torpedo’s loaded

LIZARDS :

  • Serpent Class Escort Cargo = 20
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

BIRDMEN :

  • Swift Heart Class Scout Cargo = 20
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

FASCISTS :

  • D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser Cargo = 120
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

PRIVATEERS :

  • Outrider Class Scout Cargo = 40
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

CYBORGS :

  • B200 Probe Cargo = 15
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

CRYSTALLINE :

  • Opal Class Torpedo Boat Cargo = 0 / 19 torpedo’s loaded
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

EVIL EMPIRE :

  • RU25 Gunboat Cargo = 1
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

ROBOTS :

  • CAT’s Paw Class Destroyer Cargo = 0 / 300 torpedo’s loaded
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

REBELS :

  • Taurus Class Scout Cargo = 140
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

COLONIES :

  • Taurus Class Scout Cargo = 140
  • Small Deep Space Freighter Cargo = 70

Friendly CodesTable of Contents Mine fields:
“mdh” mine drop half your torps
“mdq” mine drop one quarter of your torps
“md1” mine drop 10 torps
“md2” mine drop 20 torps
“md3” mine drop 30 torps
“md4” mine drop 40 torps
“md5” mine drop 50 torps
“md6” mine drop 60 torps
“md7” mine drop 70 torps
“md8” mine drop 80 torps
“md9” mine drop 90 torps
“md0” mine drop 100 torps “miN” will lay a minefield in an enemies ID, were N is the ID number of the enemy that you want the mines laid as. N = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b) These mines will not effect the enemy race, but they can and will damage you if you fly through the field. “msc” If you mission is set to mine sweep this code will cause the ship to scoop up the mines and convert them back into torpedoes. Glory device codes (see Glory Device).
“pop” This code will cause the D19 or Saber class starships to EXPLODE after moving, if they have fuel. “trg” This code will cause the D19 or Saber class starships to EXPLODE after moving, if they have fuel and any cloaked enemy ship is detected. Alchemy ship codes.
“ald” Alchemy Duranium. This code will cause an alchemy ship to produce only Duranium. “alt” Alchemy Tritanium. This code will cause an alchemy ship to produce only tritanium. “alm” Alchemy Molybdenum. This code will cause an alchemy ship to produce only molybdenum. “NAL” No Alchemy. The ship will not do any alchemy this turn. Planetary friendly codes.
“NUK” causes planet to attack all enemy ships in orbit. (note: some fascist and birdmen ships are immune to attack) “ATT” causes planet to attack all enemy ships in orbit that have fuel. (note: some Fascist and Birdmen ships are immune to attack) “bum” beam up megacredits to all ships in ships in orbit (including enemy ships). If more then one ship is in orbit then the megacredits will be split between all the ships. “dmp” Dump old parts. If there is a starbase in orbit around this planet then all the parts in the starbases storage bins will be converted back into minerals and dumped to the planet surface. It is worth noting that below the 500 ship limit the ship will be built and then all remaining parts dumped (also applies at 500 ship limit if a ship is built at that starbase that turn). At the 500 ship limit (if a ship is not built at that starbase) ALL parts at the starbase, including those involved in any ordered ship build WILL be recycled. Ship to enemy ship transfers
“btt” Beam Transfer Torps. This code will transfer torpedoes of like type from the ship with this code to all enemy ships at the same point in space that have the same make of torp tube. “btf” Beam Transfer Fighters. The code will transfer fighters from the ship with this code to all enemy ships at the same point in space that have fighter bays. “btm” Beam Transfer Megacredits. This code will transfer megacredits from the ship with this code to all enemy ships at the same point in space. “gsN” Give Ship. This code will give starship to N race, where N is the number/letter code of another race. When the starship has this code the race represented by N will take control of said starship on the next turn. (i.e., a friendly code of gs1 would give your starship to the Feds on the next turn. The crew becomes crewmembers of the new controlling race. For this to work there must be an enemy ship belonging to race N with colonists at the same point in space as the ship with the “gsN” friendly. “nbr” No boarding party. This code will cause the Privateers or Crystal People to NOT use their tow capture beam to take over enemy ships that are out of fuel. Ship to enemy planet transfers.
“bdm” Beam down Megacredits. This code will dump the megacredits from the ship to the planet that it is in orbit around, no matter who owns the planet. Other codes.
“lfm” Load fighter minerals. This will load all the minerals and money onboard the ship to build as many fighters as possible and tells the ship to build fighters, regardless of the ships mission. This code will only work for the Robots, Rebels and Colonials. “cln” Clone a Ship. This tells the starbase that you own and are in orbit with to make an exact copy of the ship with this code. The starbases’ tech levels must be equal to or greater then the ship being cloned. This will in most cases cancel out the normal starship building on the starbase any turn that there is a starship with this code in orbit. The cost of cloning a ship (megacredits) is 200% of the original cost of building the ship. The Privateers and Crystal People can not clone. You can not clone ships that your race can already build. “HYP” Hyperjump, this will cause a ship that has a hyperjump drive to jump 350 light years and burn 50 KT of fuel. The waypoint of the jumping ship must be greater then 25LY and the ship must have at least 50 KT of fuel. It is best to set the warp speed to 1 for the jump. “mkt” Make torpedoes in space. Load your ship up with the items needed to build torpedoes and your ship can construct them in space or over a planet. The items needed to build torps include one of each mineral type plus the megacredits required. “con” Configure Message. Have the host send a listing of the current host configure settings next turn. “NTP” Disable Torpedo Systems. A ship may now disable its torpedo systems by using the friendly code “NTP” ( No torpedo’s ). If two ships that are enemies use the “NTP” friendly code they will still fight. This is also a special case where matching friendly codes does not count. This will also disable fighter launches. Friendly code battle orders.
All ships have an attack order. They will fight in an order that depends on the friendly code. The friendly code can give an attack value from 1 to 999. To use attack values your friendly code must begin with a number value. The attack values will NOT affect the way in which a ship fights, it only effects the battle order. Your enemy’s attack values will NOT effect your battle order. An attack value of 1 is the lowest possible attack value. Here are examples of attack values base on some friendly codes where “x” is any non-number character. Here are examples of attack values base on some friendly codes where “x” is any non-number character. FC Attack values
xxx 1000
1xx 1
10x 10
01x 1
999 999
123 123
18x 18
x23 23
xx2 2 The ship with the lowest attack value will attack first. If two ships have the same attack value then the ship with the lowest ID number will attack first. Battle Ordering: All ship to ship combat has two combat stages:

    1. Intercepting ships with a cloaking device attack their intercept targets.
    2. The Friendly Code Battle orders.

Intercepts Attack: Under HOST.EXE Version 3.20 ships on intercept missions that have a cloaking device will attack their intercept target ship first. The highest ID ships with a cloaking device on an intercept mission attack before the lower ID ships with a cloaking device on intercept missions. Anytime a ship on an intercept mission goes into combat it looses its intercept lock. REMEMBER: You must set your primary enemy to the race of the ship you are intercepting if you wish to attack them. Universal minefield friendly code rules (HOST 3.22a):Rule 1:
Minefields have friendly codes. The minefield’s friendly code will be the same code as the planet that is owned by the owner of the minefield that is nearest the minefield center. So if you laid a minefield at Nixon and you own Nixon and Nixon’s friendly code is “Q1m” the minefield would have a code of “Q1m”. Any starship with that friendly code would be able to travel through the minefield and not activate any mines. If the planet’s friendly code is changed the minefield’s code will change to match it. The minefield friendly code takes effect as soon as the mines are dropped. The web field will not drain any ship in a web minefield that has a friendly code that matches the web minefield. A ship will not minesweep a minefield with a matching friendly code and it will not show up on starmaps or in messages. Rule 2:
A planet with a friendly code beginning with “mf” will cause ALL mine fields belonging to your race to have this code as the mine field universal friendly code. If you set more than one planet’s friendly code first two letters to “mf” the highest ID planet will be used to set the mine field universal friendly code. The character following “mf” can be any letter or number. Example: If one of your planets friendly code is set to “mfK” then all your mine fields will have the universal friendly code of “mfK”. Rule 3:
If a Birdman ship sets the friendly code of any enemy planet using the super spy mission to a friendly code beginning with the letters “mf” and the planet has more than 30 defense outposts the planet will use an ion discharge overload to knock the ships out of cloak. Rule 4:
A ship can use rule 1 or rule 2 to safely pass through a minefield. Both rules are in effect. The ship can use the “local” friendly code or the “universal” friendly code. Notes: It is worth noting that high ASCII FC’s can now, no longer, be used! You can not set your FCODE to any non-printable ASCII code. If you do it will be reset to “AAA” ADD-ON FRIENDLY CODESRACEPLUSFeds:
HUD – Improve native government up to Feudal. (Planet code) Lizards:
!xx – Activate Chameleon Device and emulate ship type xx (see chart in Lizard Ability Section)
!!x – Activate Chameleon Device and emulate ship type 10x (see chart in Lizard Ability Section) (Ship Codes). Birds:
EGG – To place a bomb on targeted enemy ship. (Ship code). Fascists:
BAC – To send boarding part on to enemy spacecraft. (Ship code). Privateers:
TCC – Transfer clans as crew to target vessel. (Ship code). Cyborg:
STB – Activate Super Tractor Beam. (Ship code). Crystals:
MKx – Planet code for starbases built over Siliconoid Planets.(x = 1-8 or P = proton torps, G=Gamma Bombs). Empire:
GWG – Activate Gorbie Gravity Well Generator. (Ship code). Robotics:
RDV – Repair Damaged Vessel. (Ship code). Rebels:
BBT – Activate Boobytrap (Planet code) – On a Rebel ship this friendly code makes them immune to boobytraps. Colonials:
SFG – Stealth Fighter Gather mission activation. – If set on target planet of the SFG mission it will make the defenses of the planet inactive. (Ship code). xxx – Friendly code on Gemini where xxx equals target planets ID# (Ship code). JUMPGATE
BJG – Build Jump Gate
AJG – Attack Jump Gate
RJG – Repair Jump Gate
Jnn – Jump to Jump Gate ID# nnTACHYON
TPn – Tachyon Pulse at (n) time ten light years (0=10)
ITD – Incorporate Tachyon Device (planet friendly code) STARBASE+
Minefield Fcodes:
SMF – Sweep Minefield
MSC – Scoop Up Minefield
LMF – Lay MinefieldComponent Transport Codes:
GEn – Get Engine Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
GBn – Get Beam Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
GTn – Get Torp Launcher Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
UEn – Unload Engine Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
UBn – Unload Beam Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
UTn – Unload Torp Launcher Tech (n) (n = 1-9)
UAP – Unload All PartsASTEROIDS
IAn – Intercept Asteroid number (n)
TAn – Tow Asteroid number (n)
GQn – Gather Quadbenium from Asteroid number (n)
QJn – Quadbenium Jump (n) times ten light years (0=10) ALIENS!
NMN – (planetary) Defend colonists at expense of the natives.
DIS – Destroy infected ship
ODP – Clean infected planetFHOST
FBx Fighter Bomb Planet
FPx Fighter Patrol Area
FTx Fighter Transfer to
FTR Fighter Transfer Receive
FGx Fighter Gather Resources
FGy Fighter Gather (part2)
TAx Torpedo Attack Ship
TBx Torpedo Bomb Planet
BSG Build Stargate
Cid Complete Stargate
BSr Build Stargate To Race
ASG Attack Stargate
RSG Repair Stargate
Jid Jump Through Stargate
BCT Build Core Torpedo
RCT Report Core Torpedo
FCT Fire Core Torpedo
BSB Build Sunbuster
RSB Report Sunbuster
FSB Fire Sunbuster
SSC Activate Sunscoops (Ruby Class)
KSP Kill Ship (Deathstar)
KPL Kill Planet (Deathstar)
AFC Automated Fighter Construction
ATC Automated Torpedo Construction
GSr Give Ship To Race
EXC Exchange Ships
BUM Request Self Destruction
MTN Maintenance OrderPHOST
I don’t have the codes !


Race AdvantagesTable of Contents Solar Federation

    • Super Refit
    • Double taxes
    • Only mine at half the normal rate
    • “Scotty Bonus”, all weapons remain online no matter how much damage the ship has and shield regenerate 25% between each battle in a turn
    • Bohemian Survey Ship = Heats planets to climate type 50
    • Eros Research Ship = Cools planets to climate type 50
    • Brynhild Escort = Bioscanner will detect type and number of natives and climate type of 20% of the planets within range of its Sensor Sweep mission (Will not work on planets with 20 or more DP’s)
    • Loki Destroyer = Loki will detect and uncloak all cloaked starships within 10LY and attack those at its coordinates (Will not uncloak Fed and Lizard ships)

Lizards

    • Ships with LIZARD CREWS ONLY can take 150% damage
    • 20x ground combat
    • Mine at double the normal rate
    • The Lizard HISSSSSS! mission calms a planet down (only ships with beam weapons can do this)
    • Cloaking ship; Reptile Destroyer, Lizard Cruiser, Saurian Light Cruiser
    • Eros Research Ship = Cools planets to climate type 50
    • Loki Destroyer = Loki will detect and uncloak all cloaked starships within 10LY and attack those at its coordinates (Will not uncloak Fed and Lizard ships)

Birdmen

    • Cloaking battleships
    • Super Spy mission(like an exploration with a little extra info and the friendly code of the planet)
    • Ship that cloak will cloak during SuperSpy
    • Enhanced Super Spy mission can change planets friendly code 100% of the time with 5 ships at the planet
    • Cloaking ships: Swift Heart Scout, White Falcon Cruiser, Bright Heart Destroyer, Fearless Wing Cruiser, Resolute Battle Cruiser, Red Wind Carrier, Dark Wing Battleship

Fascists

    • Pillage planets mission (20% of natives and/or colonist are killed and their belongings are turned into money and supplies)
    • Takes about 6 turns for riots to occur
    • Can have small colonies of up to 6,000 colonists(60 clans) on desert worlds
    • Cloaking ship: D7 Coldpain Cruise, D3 Thorn Destroyer, Deth Specula Frigate
    • Glory device: Saber Frigate, D19b Nefarious Destroyer

Privateers

    • Rob enemy ships (steal there fuel and cargo), this is one of the earliest occurring missions for the HOST. It happens before movement.
    • All beam weapons do three times(3X) there normal Kill damage for the Privateers
    • Three(3) of there ships have Gravitonic Accelerators which allow them to go twice as fast as normal ships (ships traveling at Warp 9 will go 162LY instead of just 81LY)
    • Privateers robbing cloaked ship are host configurable so check it when you play them.
    • Cloaking ship : Dwarfstar Transport, D3 Thorn Destroyer, Red Wind Carrier
    • Cloaking ship with Gravitonic Accelerators: BR4 Gunship, BR5 Kaye Torpedo Boat, Meteor Blockade Runner
    • Lady Royale Cruiser = Lady Royale is a gambling ship that generate 1MC for every clan onboard
    • Privateers can capture ships in space with no fuel by initiating a tow on the fuelless ship, some of the crew from the towing ship will be transferred to the towee

Cyborgs

    • The Cyborg will convert a native population into Cyborgs when Cyborg colonists are placed on their planet (normally the entire population will be converted within 10-15 turns)
    • They can repair there ship damage at 10% per turn while in space, while repairing they cannot move
    • When the Cyborg destroy an enemy ship the debris is beamed aboard as minerals
    • The B200 Probe can use the HYP friendly code to hyperspace 350LY years from there current position. The waypoint has to be set at least 20LY in some direction and a warp speed of something set (i.e. Warp 6)
    • Hyperspace ship : B200 Class Probe
    • Firecloud Cruiser can Chunnel , takes 50KT of fuel and two Fireclouds with the same friendly code to create a chunnel

Crystalline

    • The Crystalline’s biggest advantage is they can lay WEB mines.
    • These mines only do 1/10th the damage of normal mines
      • When you are hit by one, your ships stops where it struck the mine
      • 25KT of fuel is drained from you ship
      • If you were cloaked, you are now uncloaked
      • CLOAKED ships have just as much chance as uncloaked ships of hitting WEB mines
      • As long as you are inside the minefield 25KT of fuel will be drained each turn whether you strike a mine or not
    • They can also live on desert worlds if the HOST is set to Crystal like desert worlds
    • Their highest population growth will be on desert worlds
    • Onyx Frigate: Heats planet to 100
    • Crystals can capture ships in space with no fuel by initiating a tow on the fuelless ship, some of the crew from the towing ship will be transferred to the towee

Evil Empire

    • The captains of all ships in the Evil Empire can use the “Dark Sense” to detect enemy colonist living on planets within 400LY. There is a 20% chance that colonists on a single planet will be detected. The “Dark Sense” is never wrong! Nothing can hide a planet from the “Dark Sense”.
    • The “Dark Sense” cannot find the Rebels no matter how hard it looks!!!!
    • The PL21 Probe can use the HYP friendly code to hyperspace 350LY years from there current position. The waypoint has to be set at least 20LY in some direction and a warp speed of something set (i.e. Warp 6)
    • PL21 Probe: Hyperspace ship :
    • Super Star Destroyer can initiate an Imperial Assault. To do this drop 10 clans from this ship on any enemy planet no matter how many colonist or DP’s and you will capture it intact The Super Star Destroyer is immune to all NUK/ATT attacking planets if the Imperial Assault mission is turned on. It does not matter which race owns the Super Star Destroyer, it is immune. It is a ship thing, not a race thing.
    • Starbases build 5 fighters each turn using minerals only

Robots

    • When Robots lay mines, they make four times the number of mine units per torpedo, thus their minefields are four times the size for the same number of torpedo’s used as any other race
    • Can have small colonies of up to 6,000 colonists(60 clans) on desert worlds
    • They can build fighters in space if they have (for one fighter):
      • 3 tritanium
      • 2 molydenum
      • 5 supplies
    • Pawn Baseship: Bioscanner will detect type and number of natives and climate type of 100% of the planets within range of its Sensor Sweep mission (Will not work on planets with 20 or more DP’s)

Rebels

    • The Rebels have a very nasty mission called the REBEL GROUD ASSAULT, this mission destroys these things:
      • 30% of the planets money
      • 40% of the planets supplies
      • 20% of the planets defense posts
      • 60% of the mineral mines
      • 30% of the factories
      • 20% of the colonists
      • In doing so the natives will become very happy, while the colonist will RIOT!! This mission occurs after movement.
    • Can have small colonies of up to 6,000 colonists(60 clans) on desert worlds
    • Can have small colonies of up to 20,000 colonists(200 clans) on arctic worlds
    • They can build fighters in space if they have (for one fighter):
      • 3 tritanium
      • 2 molydenum
      • 5 supplies
    • Hyperspace ship: The Falcon Escort can use the HYP friendly code to hyperspace 350LY years from there current position. The waypoint has to be set at least 20LY in some direction and a warp speed of something set (i.e. Warp 6)

Colonies

    • The Colonies can use their fighters to sweep mines for them. Each fighter destroys 40 mine units per turn. They can do this up to 100LY away from their ship, The ships beam weapons will also mine sweep to if they are 25LY or closer to the minefield
    • Can have small colonies of up to 6,000 colonists(60 clans) on desert worlds
    • They can build fighters in space if they have (for one fighter):
      • 3 tritanium
      • 2 molydenum
      • 5 supplies
    • Cobol Research Cruiser has a Bioscanner that will detect type and number of natives and climate type of 20% of the planets within range of its Sensor Sweep mission (Will not work on planets with 20 or more DP’s)
    • Cobol Research Cruiser has a Ram Scoop that generates 2KT of Neutronium for every 1 LY traveled in deep space
    • Aries Transport: Aries turns any mineral into Neutronium one for one at no cost
    • Lady Royale Cruiser = Lady Royale is a gambling ship that generate 1MC for every clan onboard

Native Race BenefitsTable of Contents

Native type Benefit
Humanoid Tech 10 Hulls
Bovinoid 1 supply for every 10,000 Bovinoids, 1 supply per clan
Reptilian Double the mining rate if there are more than 100
Avian Can be overtaxed
Amorphous Will eat 5 clans per turn, can’t be taxed or assimilated
Insectoid Double taxes
Amphibian Tech 10 Beam weapons
Ghipsodal Tech 10 Engines
Siliconoid Tech 10 Torpedoes

Hyperdrive ShipsTable of Contents

Ship Race Cargo Fuel Crew
PL21 Probe Evil Empire 20 180 6
B200 Class Probe Cyborgs 15 80 1
Falcon Class Escort Rebels 120 150 27

To use the hyperdrive set the ship’s waypoint to a point farther than 20 light years and set the friendly code to “HYP”. The ship will jump about 350 light years and burn 50 units of fuel. The ship will come out of hyperspace at speed zero and with no waypoint set. Ships in hyperspace avoid all minefields. The hyperdrive can not be used to escape a tow. This will not work if the ship is on an intercept mission. A ship using its hyperdrive can not tow another ship Under HOST 3.2 hyperjumping ships that end up within a box (-2,-2)-(+2,+2) from a planet will be pulled into the planet, unless the waypoint distance is between 340LY and 360LY. Under HOST 3.20 If the player sets a waypoint using winplan to any point that is between 340LY and 360LY the ship will jump to this exact point in space. When a ship does one of these exact jumps gravity wells will not effect it.


Research ShipsTable of Contents There are three ship classes that are able to transform a planet’s climate just by orbiting it. Each ship will change the climate type by 1 each turn.

    • Bohemian Class Survey Ship: Feds warmer till type 50 reached
    • Eros Class Research Vessel: Feds, Lizards cooler till type 50 reached
    • Onyx Class Frigate: Crystals Turns to desert (type 100)

HCONFIG (Default Standard Setup)Table of ContentsRecycle rate of colonizing ships 75% Defines the amount of minerals that are retrieved from the hull of a ship that is recycled using the COLONIZE mission. Odds of a large meteor impact 2% Defines the chance that one large meteor will hit ONE of the 500 planets …. Mine fields YES Determines whether new minefields can be dropped but has no effect on existing minefields. Web Mine Fields YES Determines whether new Web minefields can be dropped but has no effect on existing Web minefields. Alchemy Ships YES Allows alchemy ships to convert supplies into minerals or supplies and/or minerals into fuel. Delete old messages NO Deletes old (unread) messages each turn … if set to NO a player will receive their old messages as well as new messages if the host failed to receive a TRN file for their race during the last host run. Disable all passwords NO Determines whether players may protect their RST files using the internal VGAP password protection facility … on CompuServe this is often not used because the host archives the RST files in a ZIP file password protected by a password known only to host & player.Ground Combat Attack RatiosThe number of defending clans on a planet that, assuming a ground defense ratio of 1, will die for every clan dropped from a ship belonging to the attacking race. The default values are as follows: The Solar Federation 1:1
The Lizard Alliance 30:1

The Empire of the Birds 1:1
The Fascist Empire 15:1

The Privateer Bands 1:1
The Cyborg 1:1

The Crystal Confederation 1:1
The Evil Empire 1:1

The Robotic Imperium 1:1
The Rebel Conf. 1:1

The Missing Colonies of Man 1:1
Ground Combat Defense RatiosThe number of clans attacking a planet that, assuming a ground defense ratio of 1, will die for every defending clan on the planet (assuming the attackers have that many). The default values are as follows: The Solar Federation 1:1
The Lizard Alliance 10:1

The Empire of the Birds 1:1
The Fascist Empire 5:1

The Privateer Bands 1:1
The Cyborg 1:1

The Crystal Confederation 1:1
The Evil Empire 1:1

The Robotic Imperium 1:1
The Rebel Conf. 1:1

The Missing Colonies of Man 1:1
Free Starbase FightersNumber of fighters generated for free (“no money”) at starbases for any given race (in the standard game only the Evil Empire receives free fighters at their starbases) … default values are as follows: The Feds 0
The Lizards 0

The Bird Men 0
The Fascists 0

The Privateers 0
The Cyborg 0

The Crystal People 0
The Evil Empire 5

The Robots 0
The Rebels 0

The Colonies 0 Note: Each fighter still requires 3KT tritanium and 2KT molybdenum.
Mineral Mining RatesThe percentage of normal extraction rates a given race’s mines can extract minerals (from ground) at … e.g. Lizards will mine at double the rate of any other race … meaning fewer mines are necessary on Lizard held planets. The Feds 70%
The Lizards 200%

The Bird Men 100%
The Fascists 100%

The Privateers 100%
The Cyborg 100%

The Crystal People 100%
The Evil Empire 100%

The Robots 100%
The Rebels 100%

The Colonies 100%
Tax Collection RatesThe percentage of normal taxation rates a given race can tax its natives and colonists at … e.g. in the standard VGAP game the Feds will gain twice the MC’s from natives that any other race will. The Feds 200%
The Lizards 100%

The Bird Men 100%
The Fascists 100%

The Privateers 100%
The Cyborg 100%

The Crystal People 100%
The Evil Empire 100%

The Robots 100%
The Rebels 100%

The Colonies 100%
Race AdvantagesRebels build fighters in space YES If set to YES the Rebels will build free-fighters in space (assuming 5KT Supplies, 3KT Tritanium & 2KT Molybdenum are present and the ship is one with fighter bays!) Colonies build fighters in space YES If set to YES the colonies will build free-fighters in space (assuming 5KT Supplies, 3KT Tritanium & 2KT Molybdenum are present, the mission is set to BUILD FIGHTERS and the ship is one with fighter bays!) Robots build fighters in space YES If set to YES the Robots will build free-fighters in space (assuming 5KT Supplies, 3KT Tritanium & 2KT Molybdenum are present, the mission is set to BUILD FIGHTERS and the ship is one with fighter bays!) Cloaked ships may be robbed NO Defines whether or not The Privateers may rob fuel, money & minerals from ships that are cloaked. Empire’s Dark Sense range 200 LY Defines the range at which the Dark Sense will work for The Evil Empire. Lizards can use hiss mission YES Defines whether the lizards are able to use their discontent suppressing HISS mission. Rebels can use ground attack YES Defines whether the rebels can use their REBEL GROUND ASSAULT mission to attack enemy & self owned planets. The Feds can super refit YES Defines whether The Feds are able to use their Starbase SUPER REFIT mission. Cyborg assimilation rate 100% Defines the percentage of natives (of the number of Cyborg colonists present on the planet) that will be assimilated into Cyborgs. Colonial fighter mine sweep rate 20 Defines the number of mines that each colonial fighter can destroy during one sweep (turn!) Colonial fighter can sweep webs NO Defines whether or not colonial minesweeping fighters can sweep web mines! Effect of HISS mission 5 The HISS mission works by beaming down happy units to the planet at which the ship is situated thus offsetting the negative happy units gained by over taxation and other similarly nasty problems. IN the default settings each ship in orbit beams down 5 happy units per turn. Rob mission failure rate 1% Defines the percentage of times the ROB mission will FAIL. Planets can attack Rebel ships NO Defines whether or not a planet may attack a Rebel ship that is using the REBEL GROUND ASSAULT mission. Setting this to YES will effectively remove the Rebels GROUND ASSAULT mission. Planets can attack Fascist ships NO Defines whether or not a planet may attack a Fascist ship that is using the FASCIST PILLAGE mission. Setting this to YES will effectively remove the Fascist’s PILLAGE mission. Science ship bonus YES Defines whether or not Terraformer’s may actually Terraform planets. Fed crew bonus YES Defines whether the Federation Crew bonus (25% shield boost between battles, 2 extra fighter bays on ships with less than 9 fighter bays) is in operation or not.Ranges and Rates IOdds that a cloak will fail 0% The chance (percentage) that any given ships cloak may fail in a turn. Fuel used to cloak 5 The amount of fuel required (per turn) to cloak 100KT of ship hull (weaponry and cargo excepted) Ships without fuel can move YES Impulse power switch … if set to yes then ships can move some small distances without fuel. Ship visible range (StarCharts) 300 LY The range (in light years) at which a ship becomes visible if it not cloaked or orbiting a planet. Sensor mission range 200 LY The range (in light years) at which the SENSOR SWEEP mission will detect planetary factories and mines (enemy owned). New natives will appear YES If set to YES and a planet is selected by host that has no natives then new natives will be discovered hiding on that planet. Planetary ‘NUK’ friendly codes YES Defines whether the planetary friendly codes “ATT” & “NUK” will operate to attack fueled and fuelless ships in orbit. Over populations eat supplies NO Colonists will eat supplies to survive if the planet is overpopulated. If insufficient supplies are produced to maintain the population the population will cease growing. Isotope Trans-uranium Mutation rate 5 The number of KT’s of a mineral (LARGE MASSES density only … lower densities will reflect that fact) produced per turn for any mineral within a planet. Planetary structures decay rate 1 The number of planetary structures (mines, factories and defense posts) that will decay per turn if the number existing exceeds the maximum allowed. Web mine decay rate 5% The percentage of Web mines that are lost by normal decay from a Web minefield (Crystalline) each turn. Mine field decay rate 5% The percentage of mines that are lost by normal decay from a minefield each turn. Odds of hitting a mine per L/Y 1% The percentage chance of hitting a mine within a minefield for each light year traveled … so for an 80 light year jump through a minefield a ship will (at default settings) have, in effect, a die with 100 sides rolled and if the number 1 is rolled the ship will have hit a mine. Odds of hitting a web per L/Y 5% The percentage chance of hitting a Web mine within a Web minefield for each light year traveled … so for an 80 light year jump through a Web minefield a ship will (at default settings) have, in effect, a die with 100 sides rolled and if a number less than or equal to 5 is rolled the ship will have hit a Web mine. Maximum mine field radius 150 LY The maximum possible radius of a minefield in light years. Mine detect range 200 LY The range (in light years) at which the MINE SWEEP mission will detect a minefield. Mines destroy enemy mines YES Defines whether two overlapping minefields (different races) will neutralize (destroy) each other.Ranges and Rate IIEngine tech boosts shield power NO Defines whether engine tech will boost the power of a ship’s shields. Engine tech boosts shield power %50 Defines the percentage level of boost shields will receive from Hi-Tech Engines. Mine field sweep rate 4 Defines how many mine-units an X-Ray Laser will sweep in one turn and how many hundreds of mine-units will be swept by a Heavy Phaser. Web mine field sweep rate 3 Defines how many web mine-units an X-Ray Laser will sweep in one turn and how many hundreds of web mine-units will be swept by a Heavy Phaser. Mine field sweep range (LY’s) 5 Defines the distance (in light years) from a minefield a ship must be before its beams will begin to sweep mines. Web mine field sweep range (LY’s) 0 Defines the distance (in light years) from a web minefield a ship must be before its beams will begin to sweep web mines. Cloaked ship will hit mine odds 0.5% Defines the odds that a cloaked ship will hit a mine for every light year traveled across a NORMAL minefield (cloaking does NOT affect the danger potential from web mines) Amount of damage that prevents cloak 1 Defines the percentage level of damage a ship may have AND still be able to cloak Ships with one engine can tow NO Defines whether one-engine ships can tow or not. Hyperdrive ships YES Defines whether the three Hyperdrive ships in the game are allowed to use those drives. Climate death rate 10% Defines the percentage of the current colonist population on a planet that will die until the population reaches its maximum level (which is one except where races show special climate-based advantages). Planets have gravity wells YES Defines whether ships less than 3.001 light years from a planet will be drawn into orbit around that planet. Crystal people like desert worlds YES Defines whether the Crystal Peoples can live better on high temperature (desert) worlds i.e. that they will reach their maximum population level (250,000 clans) on high temperature desert worlds (50,000 on temperate-warm worlds) Normal mines destroy web mines NO Defines whether normal mines will neutralize (destroy) web minefields when the two overlap. Climate limits population YES Defines whether the climate of a world has any effect on population growth. A planet can support a maximum of 250,000 clans where climate is not an issue.Meteor ImpactsOdds of small meteor impact on all 0% This defines the odds (percentage) that a small meteor will hit a planet (every planet is checked every turn) Minimum Neutronium 10
Minimum Duranium 10
Minimum Tritanium 10
Minimum Molybdenum 10
Maximum Neutronium 200
Maximum Duranium 200
Maximum Tritanium 200
Maximum Molybdenum 200 These define the maximum and minimum amounts of the 4 minerals in VGAP that will be deposited on a planet if they are subject to a small meteor strike. These are useful to a host if depleting minerals in a game start to cause the game to stagnate. Number of LARGE meteors impacting 0 This defines the number of large meteors that will hit planets each VGAP host run. Minimum Neutronium 100
Minimum Duranium 100
Minimum Tritanium 100
Minimum Molybdenum 100
Maximum Neutronium 10000
Maximum Duranium 9000
Maximum Tritanium 9000
Maximum Molybdenum 7000 These define the maximum and minimum amounts of the 4 minerals in VGAP that will be deposited on a planet if they are subject to a LARGE meteor strike. Send Meteor Messages YES Defines whether players are informed that LARGE meteors have struck in territory they DON’T own and whether their own planets are the subjects of small meteor strikes.
Cloning and OtherMaximum income per planet 5000MC Defines the maximum number of megacredits a planet can produce in a single turn. Ion Storm activity 5 Storms Defines the maximum number of Ion Storms that can exist within the game. Firecloud Warp Chunnel YES Defines whether the Firecloud ship is able to Chunnel or not. Advanced Birdmen Super Spy YES Defines whether Birdmen starships are able to change a planets friendly code to match their own or not. Ion storms hide minefields YES Defines whether Ion Storms (if active) hide mines from ships using the MINE SWEEP mission. Glory device (D19, Saber) YES Defines whether the D19 Nefarious and Saber class ships can be set to explode with the friendly codes “trg” and “pop” or not. Loki Class Anti-cloaker function YES Defines whether the Loki Class ship will force cloakers within 10 light-years to decloak or not. Lady Royale Gambling Ship YES Defines whether the Lady Royale starship will generate megacredits from the proceeds of gambling or not. Cloaked ships can attack YES Defines whether or not a cloaked ship will attack a visible ship belonging to the race that matches its primary enemy setting or not. Ship Cloning YES Defines whether all races (except the Privateers & Crystals who can’t) can clone captured or exchanged ships …. a process which requires the correct tech-levels at a Starbase, the FC “cln” on the starship to be cloned, the required amount of minerals AND twice the required number of megacredits. Crystal/Privateer Boarding Party YES Defines whether a Crystalline or Privateer ship can capture a fuelless enemy ship just by locking a tow (tractor) beam on the enemy. Star Destroyer Imperial Assault YES Defines whether the Imperial Star Destroyer can capture a planet (& Starbase if it exists) simply by dropping 10 clans onto the surface of the planet. Cobol class free fuel per LY 2 KT Defines how much fuel the Cobol Class Research Cruiser will scoop for every light year it travels. Aries can convert minerals to fuel YES Defines whether the Aries Class Transport can convert minerals into fuel or not. Bioscanners YES Defines whether the Cobol Class Research Cruiser, Pawn Class Baseship & Brynhild Class Escort can detect life on other planets if they are using the SENSOR SWEEP mission. Hull Tech not slowed by mine hits 7 Defines the tech level at or above which a ship WILL NOT be slowed down (by 10 light years) if it suffers a mine-hit.


CreditsTable of Contents Portions of the data and information in this file are from documentation for the following software, and from other texts which are owned by their respective copyright holders: VGA Planets copyright 1994, 1995, 1996 by Tim Wisseman Eden Tan: Infolist Eden Tan (The Last Gentleman), [email protected]
II, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII GammaMark: The PlaneteerGammaMark, [email protected]
III, IV The Undead HedgeHog: The PlaneteerThe Undead HedgeHog, [email protected]
XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XIX, XXX Unknown Author(s) V, VI, XII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII Wrich : Wrich [email protected]
X,XII,XIX Commander Pirx : Commander Pirx, [email protected]
VII, VIII, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, and XXIII Subjects: II Engines, Fuel Usage
III Beam Table
IV Torpedo Table
V Mine Table
VI Planetary/Base Defenses, Planetary DP Tables
VII Misc. Info, Happiness Info
VIII Planetary economy, Tax Info, Mine Output
IX Gowth Rate Info, Population Limit Info
X Plan. Struct., Ground Att/Def, Sensor Sweep
XI Mission Ordering
XII Obscure Rules
XIII First Ships
XIV to XVII Friendly Codes
XIX Race advantages
XXII Native Race Benefits, Hyperdrive & Research Ships
XXIII to XXX HCONFIG (Default Standard Setup) As you certainly know, there are tons of materials floating around the Internet and it is not easy to keep track of all the authors. Therefore, all authors that feel they are not mentioned properly should contact me ASAP, so I can update the credit list. THX for your understanding, Pirx


Contact the author: Table of Contents I hope you enjoyed this version of “The Reference”. Please feel free to contact me any time if you have question, ideas or contributions. Contact Pirx Regards, Pirx


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