This file is etc/motd


















        help files further into the motd


        Admin: me <me@mymachine.world>







mymachine.world is a Sparc 10 with 32 Megs ram running Solaris (SunOS 5.3)

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   Help on ANY aspect of paradise is available via WWW access:
                http://www.cis.ufl.edu/~thoth/paradise

    You can ftp new clients from both:

 ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu:/pub/netrek.paradise/ntparadise.[version].[system].gz
 ftp://ftp.reed.edu:/mirrors/netrek.paradise/ntparadise.[version].[system].gz


















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Planets
-------

Planets are the core of the game.  Defense of a planet is important.  However,
different planets have different values depending upon their attributes.  To
find out the attributes type 'i' (the Info key) while the mouse is on the
planet.  You will see a window similar to:

                                   Name

                                   The planet's Name

                                   Owner

                                   Which team owns the planet (Black
                                   and White Monitors use this).

                                   Armies

                                   How many armies are on that planet. 
                                   You must always have at least 3 armies
     on a planet, or you take a risk of loosing it to a revolution.  Any
     armies above 4 show up on the map.

     Resources

     Resources are current variables to the planet which CAN and do change
     through the play of the game.  Resources are linked with a surface
     attribute (srfc).  For an attribute to appear the surface must be
     available on the planet.  Resouces can be destroyed by continual
     bombing of a planet, after excess armies have been destroyed.  All
     Resources which can appear are:



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       RPR: Repair Station.  These will raise the repair rate of your ship
           if you orbit the planet and enter repair mode (repair mode is
           entered through the 'R' key).  Repair Stations require Metal
           deposits on a planet ('M').
       FUEL: Fuel Station.  Fuel Stations quickly refuel the ship (rather
           than waiting for the recharge).  Fuel Stations require
           Dylithium deposits ('D').
       AGRI: Agricultural planets.  This is somewhat of a misleading name.
           An AGRI planet will boost army production (when in reality
           the planets which would boost army production would be metro
           planets).  Agricultural planets require Arable Land ('A').
       SHPYD: The Shipyard.  Shipyards are entrance points for players.
           A Shipyard cannot appear unless a Repair Station is available.
           Shipyards, as Repair Stations, require Metal deposits on the
           planet ('M').
             NOTE: Player entry is figured by taking first the most valuble
             Shipyard, or, if no Shipyards are available, it is the
             most valuble planet.  Armies and resources are taken
             into consideration when figuring the most valuble planet.
             _If you refit on a planet it becomes your home port_, and
             you appear there until the Shipyard is destroyed or you
             refit elsewhere.


     Atmospheres

     The Atmosphere of a planet effects the Army production rate.  The
     best Atmosphere to have is a Standard Atmosphere.  Toxic Atmospheres
     are the lest favorable, and can actually destroy armies after a certain
     number of them exist.  Atmospheres are:

      STND (Standard), THIN (Thin), TNTD (Tainted), and TOXC (Toxic)



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     Surface

     The Surface of a planet defines what Resources can be developed upon
     it.  If a surface type does not exist, that relative Resource can
     never be developed there.  Surface types are:

        D = Dilithium deposits (Fuel--usually poisons the atmosphere to Toxic)
        M = Metal deposits (Repair/Shipyard)
        A = Arable land (AGRI)

     Time

     The time since your team last recieved an update on the planet.  Planets
     do not instantly update, your team must make a physical effort to get
     updates.  To do this each ship has a scaner.  Due to the fragility and
     expense of the equipment scanner ranges for war vehicles are rather
     limited, usually not extending past their shields, with the exception
     of scouts who have a much larger increased range (Bases also have a larger
     scanner).

       NOTE: Scouting is _EXTREMELY_ important!  Enemies can take planets and
       your team can be completely unaware of it.  Have one roving scout AT
       LEAST every 5 minutes.  If you wonder which planets have been scouted
       lately, toggle the galactic map until there are solid, grayed, and
       empty planets.  This is the scout display.  Solid planets represent
       those which information is so old it is obviously unreliable.  Open
       planets represent those where the information is generally reliable.

     Visit

     Visit represents which teams have gotten information on that planet, at
     some point in the game.


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Movement
--------

There are 3 different engines available on most ships, which in return
provide 3 different speed types.  They are Impulse, Warp and
Afterburners.

     Impulse

     Impulse is the speed used while in regular combat.  It is suggested
     that you dogfight at slightly lower than normal cruising speed to
     give you greater maneuverability and higher fuel recharge.

     Impulse speeds are regulated by the 0-1 keys as well as ^number (for
     speeds higher than 9).  The Greater and Less than signs will adjust
     impulse speed by one poing relatively.
     
     Warp

     Warp is a set rate for each ship.  It is a quick way of getting
     somewhere without intense fuel consumption and engine temp.

     Warp is actually figured in two segments.  There is the initialize
     time, where you wait at a low idle speed while the warp coils
     build up energy, followed by the actual transport period.  While
     in either stages of Warp a ship cannot fire nor cloak.

     Warp is initialized with '-'.  Warp engagement can be suspended
     in the initialization stage with '^-' (control minus) and engaged
     after a pause with the same key ('^-').

     While in warp initialization a tractor or pressor will disrupt
     the process, causing a ship to drop into impulse speeds.

     NOTE: Warp is not transwarp, please do not call it such.


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     Afterburners

     Afterburners can be extremely handy when in a dogfight, however they
     require a high level of skill to use without burning up a ships
     engines.  Afterburners are engaged with the ` key and disengaged
     by initiating any Impulse speed.

Messages
--------

Messages are the root to playing in Netrek.  The game is designed to use a
high element of teamwork.  You _CAN_ survive without working as a team, but
those who learn to work together using the "buddy" system usually stomp
across the galaxy.  All communication between players uses the message
system.

There are several 'boards' to the messages system.  The main board
is the ALL board.  Any message sent to this will be seen by everybody.
Following the ALL boards are the team boards, the GOD board, and lastly
the personal board.  To send message to any board, place the cursor in a
message window.  To specify the board use any of the following keys:

      'A'  -> ALL board                'F' -> FED board
      'R'  -> ROM board                'K' -> KLI board
      'O'  -> ORI board                'G' -> GOD board (these are logged)

Any lowercase number/character relative to a players connection is used
as a reference for that player's personal board (i.e. player F4 would be
a FED on connection 4).

  NOTE: Because using the message board is so important the server will
  send a Cluecheck to each player.  Simply reply as it requests to avoid
  getting ejected from the game.  You have 5 minutes to reply so do not
  panic.  Keep in mind, the server will not run a cluecheck on you
  when you immediately log in, but rather at a random later time.


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     Lingo

     Once you begin reading messages you will see lots of terms which
     may seem unfamiliar.  This is a quick overview of the most common:

     OGG: to attack or suicide a specific person (ie: OGG 4! means to kill
          player 4 using every means possible (suicide if you must))

     <player> ++  means that the player <player> is carrying armies (ie: 4++)

     STONEAGE: to bomb EVERYTHING off a planet, including ALL the resources.

     Planet references are usually done with: <planet>:<star> (ie: Cla:Sol)

     Player location are said as: <player>@<planet>:<star> (ie: 4@Cla:Sol)

     SCUM: somebody who does 1 thing above all else, often equated with
           planet scumming (taking planets with fervor).











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Ramblings
---------

 * The idea of the game is to conquer the other race.  Taking
   planets on the periphery which are nowhere NEAR the frontline is simply
   a waste of time, and is considered 'scummy' and 'twinkish'.

 * If somebody does something which frustrates the hell out of you, rather
   than getting pissed and quitting, study how they do it, and try to repeat
   the same maneuver on them.

 * Paradise (NetrekII) is not Netrek

 * Netrek is not Startrek (nor is it Starfleet battles (not the comp game))

 * the rule of attrition:  In paradise EVERYTHING will wear down after a
   while.  All you have to do is keep the heat on.  IF the enemy is placing
   the heat on you, do NOT take a defensive position and try to dig trenches,
   it wont work!  Take the offensive immediately, get in their faces, bomb
   their planets, SCREW THEM!  Only by doing this can you win.

 * The buddy system is the key to stomping across the galaxy, work as a
   team.








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