Lord Philemon
Vice Admiral
Joined: 12 Mar 2002
Posts: 556
Location: Germany
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 Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2002 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Introduction
What is SpaceTrace?
SpaceTrace is a real time space strategy simulation. the target of the game is to gain points by successful space battles.
each player is the ruler of a planet that can build fleets with spaceships.
by optimal tuning of the individual fleet sections and particularly through co-operation with other players in alliances, crucial advantages in the fight against hostile planets can be achieved.
during the game you can research new ship-types with special abilities to arrange more skillful fleet combination.
the SpaceTrace universe is a fully simulated galaxy and all movements are in real time. the thrill of the game is the development of interesting strategies and particularly in the possibility to fight in alliances together in space battles against other players.
What else can be found in this manual?
how to start - a few tips for newbies
Story - the story of spacetrace
Communication - how can i find other players and contact alliances?
Production and Research - how can i build ships and invent new ones?
Races - info about the 5 main races in the universe?
Fleets - how can i organize my fleets and send them outa space?
Battle - explanations about the time flow of space battle
Technologies - a list of all technologies that can be researched
Tech-Tree - a diagram that shows the dependencies of the different technologies
Forum - here you can post your questions and suggestions
How to Start
protection
when you start the game you are under protection for the first two days. nobody can attack you during that time, but you cannot attack either. use this time to build your fleet and start researches.
your first fleet
build a fleet, that consists of ships of every class (1 to 4). you need at least one mothership in a fleet, to open a hyperjumpgate for that fleet.
you have about 5000 manpower (MP) and it is good to use them all for your fleets, so you have a strong fleet that is capable of defending your planet and can attack other planets.
always leave some ships in your base fleet to protect your shipyard and research center.
and important: always be aware of the attitude of your fleets (see the attitude section in fleets)
probes
in the beginning you should send your investigation-probe to seek out new lifeforms (e.g. other players). your planetary SETI-scan has a radius of 10 sectors, so you should send out your i-probe (investigation-probe) to a distance of 20 sectors.
(you can use the travel time calcuator (TTC) to check out the distance)
if your i-probe finds other planets, it establishes so called "communication-links" to them that you can see on your com-screen. once an i-probe reaches its destination you can destroy it; the com-links will remain!
communication
in your com-center you´ll see a list of other players. the com-links are automatically added whenever you find another player with an investigation probe or whenever you have contact in another way.
you can send messages to other players if you click on their names. you can even send a message to players not listed in your com-list through the player search on that page. the planets-screen shows the coords of uninhabited planets and the names of players that abandoned their planets (if you don't log in for 8 days, your planet is considered 'abandoned', that means you won't meet any fleets at the abandoned planets, because their fleets and buildings are dimensionally displaced sub-space if you don't log in for 31 days, your planet will vanish from the galaxy).
you can leave messages on the planets and sometimes they reveal ancient technologies.
Story
it took place in a small galaxy with 2.3 million planetary systems.
the galaxy is 100.000 lightyears (ly) wide and in the center 10.000 ly.
the galaxy is inhabited by 5 races: e-rays, mycilloids, humans, kazuuula and nanites.
they all have their own story.
Communication
basics of communication
communication is the most important feature of the game.
you can send messages to other players, therefore you have a com list.
messages
you can send messages to every player, if you know the name of his planet or its ruler.
arriving messages show up in the message window in the middle of the screen. to send a message to a player just click on the name.
com list
each player that sends you a message is automatically added to your com list as well as those you attacked or who attacked you. you can send out probes to find other players. all players found by probes are added to your com list.
in the player search on that page, you can search and add other players to your com list, if you know their names. if you also know their coords, you can add these to your list too. you can also delete them from your com list. if you do so, the coords of that player, that you found out already will not be lost. if you add them again, the coords are still there.
planet list
the planets-screen shows the coords of uninhabited planets and the names of players that abandoned their planets
abandoned planets
if you don't log in for 8 days, your planet is considered 'abandoned'.
the fleets of the players of the abandoned planets cannot be attacked. they shifted into subspace. they only come back, if the players log in again.
pre-warp-planets
on the pre-warp-planets you can leave messages and sometimes they reveal ancient technologies.
alliance communication
all players in your alliance are listed in the alliance screen, found in HQ. you can also send a message to all your alliance members there. you can also send messages to other alliances in the alliance statistic screen.
production and research
research
to research anything, you need a research center.
it can be destroyed by enemy attacks ( it's not easy to destroy, 3500 hit points are needed). you don't need any manpower but a lot of time to build a new one.
There are four kinds of inventions that can be researched:
basic researches ( needed for following inventions)
ships ( without ships, no movement in space  )
buildings
and probes
production
to produce ships you need a shipyard. like the research center it can also be destroyed by attacking fleets (also 3500 hit points).
you can only produce ships that you have previously invented in a research process.
recycle ships
all the ships in your base can be recycled. you get the manpower free to produce new ships.
(you will not loose points this way)
Technologies:
Ships
this is an overview over all ships
to view the full descriptions click on the names.
class 1 ships AP/LP manpower needed research
fighter (1/1) 1 shipyard
small fighter
mosquito (0/3) 1 advanced tactics
has no cannons, but stronger shielding
bounty hunter (0/1) 4 leadership
the bounty hunter can destroy an enemy ship completely that already has been damaged (it is ineffective against buildings and the holo-fleet-carrier)
only race: humans
commando-fighter (1/1) 5 leadership
if commando-fighter takes its turn, all following fighters get double firepower. but it will destroy all commando-fighters in your fleet, so only one commando-fighter will be active, all others just increase the chance for them to get their turn at all. (caution! self destruction!)
emp-fighter (0/1) 1 emp technology
capable of jamming one enemy class 1 vehicle.
only race: kazuuula
holo-fleet-carrier (0/200) 200 holo technology
equipped with a holo projector, that materializes a whole fleet with ships of all classes. (50 fighters, 10 destroyers, 1 cruiser and 1 mothership) the holoprojections all have aan attack ande defense of 0/1. this class 4 ship acts in class one
only race: e-rays
interceptor (0/1) 1 leadership
the interceptor is a special ship to wipe out class 1 ships, but it's useless against ships of other classes. it deals 1 damage to two enemy ships each
mine-deployer (0/1) 5 improved targeting
this ship deployes a mine (0/1) between the enemy ships of class 2 that deals 10 damage to an enemy ship.
kamikaze (35/1) 1 fanatic warfare
under self destruction it deals 35 damage to one enemy ship, but also destroys two more ships of your own fleet. (caution! self destruction!)
penguin (2/1) 1 fanatic warfare
a stronger fighter, that is destroys itself at the end of any fleet confrontations (caution! self destruction!)
prophet (4000/1) 150 fanatic warfare
destroys one ship or building but also your whole fleet. it can travel on its own, with warp 1, but it is an easy target, so one fighter can make it explode and destroy your whole fleet in an atomic explosion (it destroys your buildings too, so do not keep it at home) (caution! self destruction!)
class 2 ships AP/LP manpower needed research
destroyer (10/10) 8 shipyard
a medium sized battle-ship.
eagle (2/10) 4 advanced tactics
modified destroyer with a smaller cannon
shield generator (0/2) 4 improved field theories
a defense system that detects impacts on your ships. if a ship is not destroyed, it immediately generates a shield around it. if the first hit destroyes the ship, the shield comes too late to save it. if a ships is protected this way, it is dimensionally displaced and keeps alive a sub-space carrier wave to the remaining ships nearby (in the same class). if all other ships in that class are destroyed, it looses the carrier wave, thus it cannot return to normal space directly. in that case it will return at the end of battle. ...more
c-cannon-module (0/4) 20 nano technology
this construction-ship cannot shoot, but it can mount a module on a c-cannon-platform. that platform gets 70 additional attack points for each mounted module (see c-cannon-platform)
only race: nanites
holo-clone-ship (0/5) 12 holo technology
makes a holographic clone of the actual enemy ship.
only race: e-rays
missile-launcher (0/10) 10 improved targeting
a destroyer with a missile-launcher that shoots a missile (17/1) into class 3
multi-emp-vessel (0/10) 12 emp technology
can jam 3 enemy ships
only race: kazuuula
pirate-ship (0/5) 20 leadership
steals the actual enemy ship, but only for the actual battle
only race: humans
troika (0/10) 16 nano technology
splits itself into 3 small class 2 ships (4/4)
only race: nanites
disable ship (0/10) 40 science recycle methods
emits tachyon pulse waves that disable the technology on several sophisticated ships: missile-launcher, cruiser and commando-fighter. ships with a disabled system stay in the battle, but they are no threat anymore
plasma emitter (0/10) 10 science recycle methods
the plasma emitter reduces the firepower of 7 own ships by 1 and 7 enemy ships by 2
class 3 ships AP/LP manpower needed research
cruiser (100/100) 60 shipyard
heavy battleship with an effective torpedo-defense-system. each cruiser destroyes one incoming torpedo (see warcruiser)
cyclops (0/100) 120 improved field theories
sends out a disruptor carrier wave, that destroys 100 class one ships
c-cannon-platform (10/50) 30 nano technology
an enormous cannon, that can enforced with extra modules (see c-cannon-module)
only race: nanites
cluster-cruiser (0/60) 40 nano technology
this ship deploys 10 battledrones. these battle drones are 1/1 fighters that are destroyed at the end of the class-combat. (caution! self destruction!)
only race: nanites
minor reconstructor (0/100) 100 gravobionics
this ship collects scattered pieces of fallen mycelloid ships and reconstructs up to 100 class 1 and 10 class 2 ships. only one minor reconstructor can operate.
only race: mycilloids
shock-wave-cruiser (0/100) 65 improved targeting
generates a shock wave that deals 1 damage to 30 enemy ships. an important ship to counter missile attacks.
warcruiser (0/200) 100 improved targeting
a cruiser with a powerful torpedo-launcher. The torpedo causes 180 damage-points. the warcruiser is ineffective against standard cruisers.
kamikaze-cruiser (0/100) 350 fanatic warfare
blasts itself to destroy all class 4 enemy ships and also your own class 4 ships. it's not easy to use kamikaze-cruisers, but it can be a scary deadly weapon against ships. (caution! self destruction!) ...more
class 4 ships AP/LP manpower warp needed research
mothership (0/1000) 320 5 shipyard
a very huge ship containing a warpfield-generator. you need this ship if you want to travel across the galaxy.
core driver (0/250) 100 1 gravity
a simplified, slow and less armoured mothership
doomstar (0/900) 2300 – gravity
this ship has a core that can create a black hole which destroys the doomstar and gulps all ships of class 1, 2 and 3 on both sides. (caution! self destruction!)
fleet tender (0/500) 350 8 gravity
a fast warp-ship, but it cannot be used in battles because it has an instable warp-core that destroyes the whole fleet if it gets enemy contact (even one enemy mothership is too much). (caution! self destruction!)
major reconstructor (0/150) 400 – gravobionics
this ship collects scattered pieces of fallen mycelloid ships and reconstructs up to 7 class 3 and 1 class 4 ships. only one major reconstructor can operate. after one reconstruction commando only the reconstructor hull remains that can be recycled in the home base.
only race: mycilloids
time slipper (250/300) 1000 8 gravity
this ship is equipped with technology that can generate a bigger warpfield
carrier (0/100) 600 – interceptor
releases 500 interceptors after the battle that stay in your fleet. they are ready for the next battle.
cloak generator (0/2000) 4750 – cloaking technology
a huge station that orbits your planet and surrounds it with a cloaking shield.
shadow star (0/1000) 550 – cloaking technology
one of these huge ships can generate a sphere that cloakes the whole fleet.
Buildings
transwarp-network
this is the accessgate to the transwarp-network between the planets of your alliance. within the transwarptunnels you can travel at high speed.
once you leave a tunnel the fleet continues with normal warp-speed.
transwarp can only be used between alliance members which both have a transwarp-gate built.
holo-relay-station
with this building you can run holo-suites on your ships. this increases the moral of your people.
only race: e-rays
research center
the intelligence facility of your planet.
if the research center is destroyed, you cannot start any new researches until a new building is completed. destroying a research center gives the attacker 500 points
shipyard
in the shipyard you build your ships.
destroying a shipyard gives the attacker 500 points
Basic Research
advanced tactics
develop sophisticated tactics for interstellar warfare
researchtime: 24 h
needed research:
research center
following researches:
leadership - 48 h
trace probe - 48 h
mosquito - 12 h
eagle - 2 h
improved computer technology
enables you to build components with artifitial intelligence and remote abilities
researchtime: 24 h
needed research:
research center
following researches:
improved targeting - 48 h
wide-range scan probe - 1 h
nano technology - 48 h (only nanites)
holo technology - 48 h (only e-rays)
improved field theories
deepen your knowledge about all kinds of fields
researchtime: 24 h
needed research:
research center
following researches:
gravity - 48 h
deep scan probe - 2 h
shield generator - 24 h
cyclops - 48 h
emp technology - 48 h (only kazuuula)
gravobionics - 48 h (only mycilloids)
emp technology
the basics for emp-waves.
researchtime: 48 h
only race: kazuuula
needed research:
improved field theories
following researches:
emp-fighter - 48 h (only kazuuula)
multi-emp-vessel - 3 h (only kazuuula)
gravity
extended knowledge
researchtime: 48 h
needed research:
improved field theories
following researches:
cloaking technology - 72 h
time slipper - 48 h
doomstar - 48 h
fleet tender - 24 h
core driver - 2 h
gravobionics
gravimetric enforcing of biomateria
researchtime: 48 h
only race: mycilloids
needed research:
improved field theories
following researches:
minor reconstructor - 3 h (only mycilloids)
major reconstructor - 48 h (only mycilloids)
improved targeting
the rennaissance of an old technology, that was a consequence of the omnipresent resistance of warships against weapons based on electromagnetic fields
researchtime: 48 h
needed research:
improved computer technology
following researches:
science recycle methods - 72 h
missile-launcher - 24 h
shock-wave-cruiser - 24 h
warcruiser - 2 h
mine-deployer - 24 h
leadership
lets you build more sophisticated command structures for your fleets
researchtime: 48 h
needed research:
advanced tactics
following researches:
fanatic warfare - 72 h
commando-fighter - 3 h
interceptor - 24 h
pirate-ship - 3 h (only humans)
bounty hunter - 48 h (only humans)
nano technology
the basics for nano-structures are essential to the nanites
researchtime: 48 h
only race: nanites
needed research:
improved computer technology
following researches:
c-cannon-platform - 24 h (only nanites)
c-cannon-module - 24 h (only nanites)
troika - 2 h (only nanites)
cluster-cruiser - 48 h (only nanites)
holo technology
project full-color stereoscopic images and force fields in three dimensions.
researchtime: 48 h
only race: e-rays
needed research:
improved computer technology
following researches:
holo-relay-station - 36 h (only e-rays)
holo-fleet-carrier - 48 h (only e-rays)
holo-clone-ship - 2 h (only e-rays)
mobile TWG
the mobile transwarp-gate is connected to the transwarp net of the alliance. only the leader can use it. you pay 1500 points when you build it, but you also win 1500 points if you shoot one ...more
researchtime: 48 h
needed research:
transwarp-network
following researches:
cloaking technology
enables you to build cloaked ships and probes
researchtime: 72 h
needed research:
gravity
following researches:
decloakingprobe - 24 h
shadow star - 3 h
cloak generator - 24 h
fanatic warfare
enables the production of kamikaze ships.
researchtime: 72 h
needed research:
leadership
following researches:
kamikaze-cruiser - 72 h
kamikaze - 24 h
prophet - 48 h
penguin - 48 h
science recycle methods
the global research methods lead to more and more futile side-affects. this is the rectifiable rejects of years of scientific research
researchtime: 72 h
needed research:
improved targeting
following researches:
final exploration - 72 h
oscillation probe - 24 h
plasma emitter - 24 h
disable ship - 48 h
final exploration
enables you to maintain 4 probes at a time but you can use only two fleets. this, you can never change back, so be sure you want to change your possibilities in the game! (you have only two fleets in your fleet-screen then)
researchtime: 72 h
needed research:
science recycle methods
following researches:
Probes
investigation probe
scans target sectors for nearby planets. once positioned it can establish relays for communication with all planets
speed: warp 10
scanradius: 10 sectors
researchtime: 8 h
buildingtime: 4 h
needed research:
shipyard
deep scan probe
can detect fleet signatures. on contact, it sends out com relays to the ships in that sector. it can also detect cloaking signatures
speed: warp 10
scanradius: 5 sectors
researchtime: 2 h
buildingtime: 7 h
needed research:
improved field theories
trace probe
registers all hyperjumps within the scanradius and records the target coordinates of the fleets. cloaked fleets are not detected. a sophisticated technology with transwarp
speed: transwarp 20
scanradius: 4 sectors
researchtime: 48 h
buildingtime: 12 h
needed research:
advanced tactics
wide-range scan probe
scans target for inhabited planets and pre-warp worlds. this probe scans a bigger radius, but is much slower, than the investigation probe
speed: warp 2
scanradius: 17 sectors
researchtime: 1 h
buildingtime: 8 h
needed research:
improved computer technology
decloakingprobe
this probe can decloak a whole fleet
speed: warp 10
scanradius: 2 sectors
researchtime: 24 h
buildingtime: 4 h
needed research:
cloaking technology
oscillation probe
this probe can detect other probes through special oscillating beams, that reveal artifitial objects in space
speed: warp 10
scanradius: 7 sectors
researchtime: 24 h
buildingtime: 4 h
needed research:
science recycle methods
Races
e-rays
this is a photonic lifeform.
they have holo-technology.
special researches:
holo technology
holo-relay-station
holo-fleet-carrier
holo-clone-ship
mycilloids
a fungus lifeform.
they have sophisticated technology that enables them to reconstruct destroyed ships.
special researches:
gravobionics
minor reconstructor
major reconstructor
humans
this lifeform is the only one with such a low level of morality, that they specialized in piracy and bounty hunting.
special researches:
bounty hunter
pirate-ship
kazuuula
this is an insectoid lifeform.
they are specialized in defensive EMP-technology they use to jam enemy ships.
special researches:
emp technology
emp-fighter
multi-emp-vessel
nanites
this lifeform exists as a collective of tiny nano robots.
they have special ships that can separate into smaller pieces.
special researches:
nano technology
c-cannon-module
troika
c-cannon-platform
cluster-cruiser
Fleets
classes
a fleets can consist of ships of 4 different classes. you have 3 fleets in which you can organize your ships. a fleet is only complete if it has ships from all 4 classes.
see also battle
warp
you need at least one class 4 ship with a warp drive (for example a mothership) in your fleet to travel in deep space. most class 4 ships can generate a warpfield around your fleet and open a hyperspace gateway through which the fleets travel.
when you loose all your warp capable ships in a fleet, this fleet hangs in space and can only return when you send another fleet with another warp-capable ship.
attitudes
you can set the attitude to "attack", "defense" or you can define your own secret attack-code.
all encountering fleets in space that have different attitudes fight against each other.
fleets with the same attitude stay in peace. your planet always has a defensive attitude, so if you want others to help you they have to put their fleets on defense also, otherwise they would fight against your planet.
cloaked
a cloaked fleet is invisible to other fleets and cannot fight.
you need at least one ship with a cloaking device to cloak your fleet.
see also battle
basics of space combat
the first thing is the attitude, see the attitude section in fleets. all fleets with different attitudes fight against each other.
each ship has attack points (AP) and lifepoints (LP). before combat the order of the ships in each class is shuffled and a random fleet starts to fight against one other fleet, until all fleets fought against each fleet.
for each battle between two fleets the ships shoot in alternate order always ship against ship. some ships have special abilitys, that also depend on this order.
if the fleets stay in the battle area after the fight, then they just stand there and don't fight against each oher until the next confrontation time is over which is after 24 hours. (the remaining time is shown in the fleet screen)
detailed battle example
classes
the battle happens in the order of the classes. the smallest classes fight against each other first.
if one fleet has no ships in that class, then the next bigger class is approached. ships of different classes cannot fight against each other unless one of the players has classes, that contain no ships.
special ship abilities
jamming
some ships have the ability to jam other ships. if a ship is jammed it cannot fight anymore, and the next ship of the other player has its turn.
example:
100 EMP-fighter vs 100 destroyer
i.g. all destroyers are jammed this way ( exception: tha player with the destroyers shoots first, then in this battle one EMP-fighter would be destroyed)
cloning
the clone ship transforms into the clodes ship, until end of combat. it has exactly the same abilitys like the original.
reconstruction
a reconstructor-ship reanimates disabled ships (ships with 0 lifepoints). ships with less lifepoints than 0 are completely destroyed and cannot be reconstruted. examples:
- a destroyer that was hit by a destroyer has 0 LP and can be reconstructed
- a fighter hit by an eagle (2/10) cannot be reconstructed because it has -1 lifepoint
score
at the end of each combat, you get points equal to the manpower (mp) of the destroyed ships minus the mp-value of your own losses.
for example: ( mp to build a fighter: 1)
your losses: 50 fighter
enemy losses: 100 fighter
your score: +50
enemy score: -50
the score for the destruction of the shipyard and the research-center is 500 for each.
battlereport
after each battle a report is generated and send to you. the battlereport contains all confrontations and all special effects of the involved ships.
you can view all old battlereports in HQ.
[ This Message was edited by: admin on 2002-07-28 22:54 ] |
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