EMPIRE 128.
( FIREBIRD. A.B.K.. STARS OF KELADAN )
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Allow me to present to your attention the undeservedly forgotten game EMPIRE (do not confuse with EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) from the company FIREBIRD, which can probably compete with the famous ELITE.
To our great regret, when converted to disk, the game stopped being 48K and now requires 128K of memory. But it has gained the ability to save states both on a regular disk and on RAM. In addition, several other innovations have appeared, not to mention that we literally reworked this program from the Magic version. But we have already said a lot about this, so we will allow ourselves one more subtle hint for those wishing to become ELITE-class pilots - You will become one.
And owners of 48-computers - accept our sincere apologies and one piece of advice - buy a 128-computer.
Now about the game itself. We could not find any decent description of this game, so we decided to write our own. We will honestly admit right away - we did not complete this game, so we ask you not to scold us too much if we make any mistakes. In this case, we ask knowledgeable people to send us their letters, and their corrections will definitely be published.
So, all events unfold in one of the arms of our galaxy, where the Invincible Earth Empire has already extended its tentacles. Despite its intimidating name, the Empire is quite a peace-loving star state that has united several humanoid races. The Empire, of course, has its own military fleet, but it mainly performs peacekeeping functions, so serious conflicts between planets are impossible. And there are no wars in the Empire, except for minor local conflicts that quickly come to an end.
Between the planets, Traders roam - lone pilots engaged in trade and sometimes carrying out various "dirty" or "clean" assignments, i.e., mercenary traders.
And then, one fine moment, everything collapsed. In one of the new, explored areas, an unknown warlike race of "aliens" appeared. The invasion ships of this race began a wide expansion. No one knows how it happened, but on yet another equally fine day, it turned out that alien fighters are in every system. And only total war and the creation of large military-cosmic bases in the newly explored territory can stop the invasion. The first blow must be taken by the Traders.
As you have probably guessed, in this game you play the role of a Trader. You can complete the missions offered to you, or you can deliver necessary raw materials and people to the bases. In the first case, after successfully completing the task, you will be awarded various new equipment, while in the second, you will gain the opportunity to trade between planets. But perhaps the wisest choice would be the third option - to do both.
All inscriptions in the game are in English, but they are quite simple to understand. The appearance of the game is simple - you look at your ship from above through a kind of porthole, a sort of All-Seeing Eye. While flying over the planets, the view changes dramatically - you observe events from your cockpit.
And since we touched on the screen, let's describe the instruments you can see. Let's start from the top. The layout of the instruments is shown on the next page.
1 - fuel indicator; if it is empty, you urgently need to "consume" a container of radioactive ore;
2 - time indicator until the end of the mission completion contest; i.e., the time given to you to dock with the base ready to offer you a mission;
3 - reserve fuel in the turbo booster, which you may receive upon successful completion of one of the missions; the indicator appears only if the corresponding device is available;
4 - time until the end of the mission; if it runs out and the mission is not completed, then ... it is considered failed;
5 - the upper part of the main overview screen, the very "All-Seeing Eye";
Next, the lower part of the screen:
1 - energy systems indicator of the ship; if it reaches zero, you quietly and peacefully turn into a pile of scrap metal;
2 - cockpit temperature indicator; if it reaches the maximum, the shashlik is ready, but you won't be able to eat it - after all, the shashlik is you; the temperature rises either from the operation of your weapon systems (this is almost not scary) or as you approach a star (and that is damn dangerous);
3 - compass showing direction (arrow) and distance (color of the inner part) to the target, which can be either a base ("SB") or a navigation point you have chosen ("PO"), and when flying between systems, this compass points to the new system ("NS");
4 - onboard computer screen; all messages, warnings, and help regarding keys will be displayed here;
5 - timer showing the time elapsed since the start of the game;
6 - auxiliary compass indicating the mission target during its execution, or the old star system ("OS") during interstellar flight;
7 - radiation level indicator in the cockpit; we think modern people do not need to be explained the importance of this indicator and what will happen when it exceeds. Remember one thing - you can transport radioactive ore, so do not forget about it;
8 - status of the protective energy shields around the ship; if the shields are at zero - energy will decrease;
9 - the main character and the cause of the celebrations, your ship.
The game has several modes: space flight, flight over a planet, map viewing.
Space flight.
This is the main mode of the game, and perhaps it is worth talking about the control keys first.
You can control the ship's turns and movements either with a KEMPSTON JOYSTICK (if you pressed J at startup - KEMPSTON selection), or with the keys:
O - turn the ship counterclockwise;
P - turn clockwise;
X - shoot;
Sym.Shift - engine activation; when this key is pressed, the engine turns on, when released - it turns off;
M - braking.
Other keys:
S - release external cargo clamps;
W - retract external cargo clamps;
G - call up the map of the galaxy area, more details on it below;
T - call up the map of the current star system;
Break - pause.
Star bases.
As you have probably guessed, your flight takes place not in open (and therefore deserted) space, but within star systems populated by planets, stars, bases, and ships. All your explorations begin near a certain structure consisting of two disks, each of which consists of concentric circles. This structure is the star base, with which you need to dock by flying into the space between the disks and orienting the ship so that the bow points to the center of one and the stern to the center of the other. You must dock with the cargo clamps retracted. If you had containers on your external suspension, the station will automatically take them as soon as you retract your dirty, disgusting, ubiquitous clamps.
Once docked with the base, you enter the menu:
1. TRADE
2. DISK
3. MISSION
4. PODS
Selection is made by pressing the corresponding numeric key. If you do not want to select anything, just press Space and continue your flight. Now about the items.
1. TRADE - trading. For normal trading, several conditions must be met: you must have a trader's card (Trading Pass, which is given after completing the first mission) and the base must have excess resources.
2. DISK - working with the disk.
This submenu has LOAD GAME and SAVE GAME options, which allow you to either read the game from the disk or write it there, or return to the previous menu. After selecting SAVE or LOAD, you will need to enter the file name. If you want to keep it the same as in your last access to the disk, just press ENTER. If you want to save/load the state from the RAM disk, type the word RAM in the file name.
When working with the disk, all disk errors are intercepted, which corresponds to the spirit of the times. In addition, when loading, a message 'DISK ERROR. TRY AGAIN Y/N' may appear if:
1) such a state file does not exist;
2) the loaded file has an incorrect checksum, i.e., the file is remotely related to Empire 128;
3) when a disk error occurs, you answered ABORT to the prompt 'CAN'T PROCEED READING THIS TRACK. RETRY OR ABORT ?'.
If during writing it turns out that a file with that name exists, it will be automatically overwritten, and if that file was also a state file of Empire, it will be overwritten in the same place on the disk.
3. MISSION - obtaining a mission, reporting on its completion, and rewards.
It is worth noting that this option makes sense to check only at bases that have announced their readiness to offer you a mission. If the base offers you a mission, the mission text appears on the message screen, and after you depart from the base, the countdown to its completion begins. If you have just completed a task, then by selecting this option, you will receive your due reward.
4. PODS - containers (more precisely, capsules).
In some cases, such as the "random" capture of your container by the base, receiving a new device for your ship, or purchasing some resource at the base, your containers appear, and they are displayed at the top of the screen. This option serves to "release" them into space. You will be offered to select any container and press ENTER to release it into space.
Planets.
Each station is in a constant orbit above one of the planets, so if there is a base nearby, there is also a planet nearby. The planet looks like a huge circle that does not fit on one screen. More precisely, this is not the planet itself, but the outer radius of the force field that repels everything that collides with it, including any ships. But it is possible to land on the planet. At the diametrically opposite station point of the planetary orbit is the central portal-gate, entering which any body must fly through a curved tunnel and ultimately enter the planet's atmosphere.
If you have done all of the above and successfully passed through the protective tunnel, your ship switches to atmospheric flight mode. Since you landed on the planet in troubled times, you are immediately fired upon by robotic anti-aircraft installations, but you can dodge or shoot down their missiles. We managed a couple of times to shoot down all the missiles, after which we could peacefully enjoy atmospheric flight and leisurely commit our misdeeds. And our (and your) misdeeds consist of this: the planet is a raw material base, which means you can export the necessary resources from its surface into space. All resources somehow fly through the air in containers, but this is even better - you do not need to waste fuel on landing, just "bump" the container image, and it teleports outside the planetary force perimeter, and even in double quantity.
All containers in the game represent a circle with a label that indicates the contents:
(P) - container with people;
(M) - with minerals;
(O) - with radioactive ore;
(X) - this is not a container, this is a teleport that will help you return to space.
After you decide to leave the planet's atmosphere, an automatic device teleports you straight into space, depriving you of the opportunity to "fly" in the tunnel again. Upon returning, near the portal, you will find all the containers you "caught" - now you can distribute them to any star bases in any quantity.
Galaxy area map.
(GALAXY MAP)
Here you see the current star system (flashing dot), as well as a cursor marking the position of the target system. Information about the current system (CURRENT) and the target (TARGET) is also displayed here - name (name), population (pop), amount of radioactive ore (ore), minerals (min), and alien invasion forces (inv); using the CURSOR JOYSTICK (keys 5, 6, 7, 8), you can move the cursor from one system to another. Exit from this mode is by pressing SPACE. For reasons we do not yet understand, information sometimes does not display, instead appearing with the message "No info," even in the information window of the current system. We do not know what this is related to, and we do not wish that for you either.
It also shows what percentage of star systems are controlled by aliens (ALIEN'S SYSTEMS) and how many you control (SYSTEMS WITH YOUR STARBASE).
Current star system map.
(SYSTEMS MAP)
In the center, of course, is a star (which you are strictly advised not to approach), and then the planets and orbits around which these planets rotate, and bases are shown. Containers are also displayed as small green dots. And most importantly - your navigation point, which you can move around the map using the CURSOR JOYSTICK.
In addition, using the keys from rows A-L you can decrease the scale of the map, i.e., make it more detailed, and with the keys from rows Q-P, on the contrary, increase it. The current scale and the area of the system that you can see at this scale is displayed on the left side of the map. This is a green square, inside which your field of vision is shown in purple. If the entire square is purple, it means you see the entire map of the system as a whole, which corresponds to the maximum scale of the map.
Flight between systems.
In essence, this is an ordinary space flight, but under unusual conditions. There are neither planets, nor bases, nor aliens, but there are a mass of chaotically flying asteroids that will complicate your life in every way.
To make an interstellar flight, you just need to fly beyond the system's boundary. As you approach the boundary, a warning "NEARING THE EDGE OF THE SYSTEM" will be displayed on the message screen - "approaching the system's boundary," after which, if you do not change direction, you will exit the system ("OUT OF SYSTEM"). At this point, the left main compass shows the direction to the new system ("NS"), while the auxiliary compass points to the old one ("OS").
That's basically all we wanted to tell you about this game. You will surely be interested to learn about other gameplay moments yourself in the course of fighting the alien invasion. And also, read the incoming messages carefully - we somehow "foolishly" missed a message that in such-and-such a system the production of a ship with a hyperdrive has begun!
Contents of the publication: Oberon #02
- Introduction
Introduction to the second issue of Oberon magazine, with insights into its delays and team expansion. The editorial team acknowledges past misunderstandings and introduces the new issue's contributors. Details on distribution, contributions, and user interaction features are provided.
- Scroll - Alex Noman
Game manual for 'Peking', detailing controls, menu options, and gameplay strategy, involving matching pairs of crates under time constraints.
- Scroll
Empire 128 is a strategic space game where players act as merchants dealing with an alien invasion. Gameplay involves trading, mission completion, and space exploration. The game requires 128K memory and offers both disk and RAM save options.
- Scroll
Description of various space ships, including their specifications, weapon systems, and purposes. Each model differs in speed, armament, and functionality. Includes notes on origins and uses.
- Review
Review of ZX Spectrum games and tools: Double Xinox 128 offers a modern twist on Xonix with 80 levels and new challenges. UFO 2: Terror in the Deep has multiple versions with improvements and issues noted. Shadow Dancer for ZX Spectrum shows graphical evolution but maintains classic gameplay elements.
- Review - Unbeliever
Analysis of the 1996 ENLIGHT demo competition in St. Petersburg, evaluating participants and results across platforms. Highlights the achievements and critiques of notable entries. Provides insights into the dynamics of the competition and perspectives on the ZX Spectrum demos.
- Our Response
Reader feedback and editor's response regarding magazine content, the need for more graphics, and the state of local Samara software distribution.
- About Everything
Critique of Sinclair software quality, concerns about poor programming affecting computer lifespan, and commentary on CODE BUSTERS group's practices.
- Educational Program - Paul Atrides
An in-depth examination of the eight essential stages of software development, from defining technical requirements to testing and distribution. The article provides insights into the necessity of each stage and critiques poorly executed examples. It emphasizes the importance of systematic programming for both commercial and personal software projects.
- Hardware
The article discusses synchronization issues in various Spectrum models and provides a circuit solution to correct INT signal delays for improved graphics performance.
- Announcement - M.M.A
Introduction of new column highlighting Samara programmers' works, detailing projects like ZX-WINWORD, UNRECOGNIZED FORMATTING OBJECT, and DESIGNER ANALYSIS FUNCTIONS. ZX-WINWORD aims to be a publishing system for Spectrum, while U.F.O. offers advanced disk copying. DESIGNER ANALYSIS FUNCTIONS aids in mathematical graphing and function analysis.
- Programming - Unbeliever
A humorous narrative featuring Stirlitz, a fictional intelligence officer, in absurd and surreal situations involving Gestapo, programming, and secret plans.
- Pogurammim - Unbeliever
A humorous and fictional narrative involving Shtrilitz's spy adventures during a covert operation with many unexpected turns and satire.
- Advertisement
Advertisement for electronics and components store offering used equipment, software, and literature.
