This is the remixed version rather than the original Retro Fusion one, and I've taken the opportunity to squeeze more in. Those who played the original will notice a lot of changes. It could take some time to complete... Encyclopaedia Galactica has been tested on 48K, 128K and +2 and uses ULAplus where enabled. GAME CONTROLS ------------- Keys are 2W90M with Z to teleport and H to quit. Alternatively, use a Kempston, Sinclair or cursor joystick. DESCRIPTION ----------- You begin the game on a space station in the star system of Eridanus. Move the cursor left and right to select a planet to visit, or you can select the magenta X in the top-left corner to exit the star system and find another star with more planets. Press fire to select. Later on in the game you may wish to revisit the space station to get your ship repaired. Once you have selected a planet, you will find yourself in a lander craft. Move around the planet and select a place to land. You may thrust left, right or up, gravity will automatically move your ship down. Try to avoid hitting the surface of the planet too hard or this may damage your craft. When you have landed and the craft is perfectly still, you may exit the ship by holding the fire button down. At this point you will be able to wander around the screen and pick up and flora and fauna and perhaps some other artefacts before returning it to the ship to research. Press fire to re-enter the ship. If you get stuck and are unable to return to the ship, press the teleport button. This takes some of your ship's energy, so should not be undertaken lightly. Three separate specimens of each organism must be researched in order to fully understand it, and thus write an article for the encyclopaedia for which you are then paid. Some animals - and even the odd plant - may be hostile. These need to be sedated with a tranquiliser dart before they can be collected. While on foot, you may press fire to launch a dart. Be careful, as you only have a limited supply. Extra darts can be obtained from the shop. The first specimen of each species collected initiates the DNA decoding sequence. This is a minigame where you must attempt to re-arrange the letters which make up part of the organism's DNA sequence to match the sequence at the top of the screen. Select the highlighted tiles you wish to swap using left and right, then press fire to exchange them. Match the sequence before the time expires for a $50 bonus. Travelling between planets can be a risky business. There are asteroid belts to circumnavigate, and you may encounter other characters on your travels. Occasionally, your former colleague Dr Wolff may send you a helpful message, but other than that you are on your own. At any point while you are in your craft, you may press down to bring up the shop screen. This is your character's personal shopping list, and includes items which may be of use in your mission. These are fuel, Zaphod's Old Dirigible (Theo's favourite tipple), cages, stasis traps, a plankton filter, a chemical scanner, an hydrogen engine and tranquiliser darts. Fuel is needed to power your ship. Cages enable you to store more specimens on board simultaneously. When you first begin the game, you start with two cages so you can only research two specimens at any one time. Extra cages increase this capacity and enable you to conduct research faster. A stasis trap can be left on a planet's surface to collect awkward creatures. You may deploy a stasis trap by pressing down while on foot. You may then fly off to a different planet should you desire, to carry on collecting specimens elsewhere. When the trap is deployed a message appears in the window in the bottom-right corner of the screen. The organism is kept in stasis until you arrive to collect it. The plankton filter enables you to filter tiny lifeforms out of any seawater you travel through. These tiny, simple lifeforms do not require cages and are relatively quick to research. A chemical scanner scans for lifeforms on the selected planet, looking for organic compounds. A positive result gives a good indication that lifeforms may be present, although it may occasionally return a false positive. Likewise, a negative result does not necessarily mean that there isn't some form of life somewhere on that planet. A hydrogen engine gives your thruster rockets more power. You may upgrade your engines twice. Tranquiliser darts come in packs of 6, and are used to sedate deadly lifeforms. TIPS ---- Don't fly too fast around the planets as you'll sustain damage should you hit anything at any sort of speed. You can repair the ship at the space station in the system where you start the game, although this costs money. You need three of each species in order to complete an article for the encyclopaedia. Unfortunately, you begin the game with only two cages. Buying more will enable you to research more alien lifeforms simultaneously. To capture hostile aliens, use darts or stasis traps. You can leave a stasis traps around the planets and they will send notification when activated so that you can return to collect them. Do not leave a stasis trap on a planet which does not appear to contain any life. The plankton filter will automatically find microscopic lifeforms whenever the ship is submerged. Microscopic life will be found on different planets each time you play. To reduce fuel costs, buy a hydrogen scoop and despatch it to the gas giants. In due course it will return with more fuel. The scoop pays for itself after three journeys. If you find yourself needing cash quickly, alien loan sharks may offer to lend you money at a rate of 20% interest. As soon as the cash is transferred to your account it starts to be slowly repaid, $1 at a time. While exploring, you may discover ancient and long-abondened alien civilisations. If you pick up any artefacts along the way, you might encounter Digby Blizzard. He'll offer cash for any artefacts you find. Always barter to improve his offer. The space police patrol the galaxy, going from system to system and they don't take kindly to you ferrying flora and fauna around. Fortunately, they're corrupt and can always be bribed. Should you encounter them, don't move straight to the next star or you'll encounter them again very quickly. Instead, try a star a few systems away. Dr Wolff pops up from time to time with helpful information. He'll tell you whether or not life is likely to exist on a planet. It may be useful make a note of any communications you receive from him. Old Dirigible is Theo's favourite tipple. However, it won't aid your quest and will make the controls less responsive for a while. Do not go near any lava while on foot as regenerating the player takes its toll on your craft. Should you get stuck, you can teleport back to the ship, but this also takes its toll.