This game is getting old now, but if you haven't played it yet....
a go - it's a classic!!                                       S.P

	                          ***OIDS***

Doc typed out by RAISTLIN.

FREE THE OIDS

The evil Biocretes, rulers of the wealthiest parallel universe in 
the  cosmos,  have  created a race of android  slaves  they  call 
"OIDS."  The Biocretes treat the gentle,peace-loving  OIDS  worse 
than space debris; they abuse them in every way imaginable. While 
the downtrodden OIDS toil in filthy,  dangerous energy factories, 
the  Biocretes live lives of gluttony and  greed,  savouring  the 
fruits of the OIDS' labor.

The OIDS are allowed to rust from neglect of their basic need for 
oil.  Often  they  are  forced  to work with  one  or  two  limbs 
completely rusted off.  When the OIDS are finally fatigued to the 
point  of collapse,  the Biocretes tortuously melt them alive  to 
build  new  OIDS  "They're  just  stupid  heaps  of  metal",  the 
Biocretes rationalize. "They have no hearts". "We built the OIDS, 
so we have the right to treat them as we please".

The  OIDS  do not have hearts,  but they do have  souls,  and  no 
creature,  whether  biological or mechanical,  should be  treated 
like the Biocretes treat the OIDS.

You,  as  a  member of a compassionate race,  were so  moved  and 
angered by the mistreatment of the OIDS that you vowed to  devote 
your life to freeing the OIDS from the yoke of Biocrete  slavery. 
You joined the intergalactic organization "SaveOIDS" and  through 
your courage and passion quickly rose through the ranks to V-Wing 
Pilot Commander. 

As  a  V-Wing  Pilot,  you  have four  V-Wing  fighters  at  your 
disposal.  Equipped  with the latest technology,  nuclear  pellet 
guns and NovaBombs, you are deployed from an interplanetary range 
mother-ship; your small fleet is ready for action.

Using  your almost limitless supply of nuclear pellets,  you  can 
destroy all but the most hardened Biocrete ground bases, and your 
super-destructive NovaBombs can make quick work of those.  The V-
wing  craft  is  swift  and  maneuverable,   something  you  find 
comforting as you scour the twisting and treacherous passages  of 
the Biocrete planetoids,  searching for enslaved OIDS. Of course, 
caught in the grip of a Biocrete gravity base you often wish your 
small ship had a bit more thrust,  but you knew the odds when you 
took the mission.

In their long history, the Biocretes have colonized planetoids in 
galaxies  throughout the universe.  Central Command  has  decided 
that  each  fleet should concentrate its efforts in  a  different 
galaxy. As lead commander, you are given first pick from the list 
of target galaxies.  If you do well on this mission,  your reward 
will  be another more demanding one.  Good  luck  commander,  and 
remember the battle cry:

                                   Free the OIDS!

GETTING STARTED

When the title animation is complete,  the top of the screen will 
read SELECT A GALAXY TO DEFEND!

Use the up and down Cursor arrows to select the galaxy you  would 
like to defend.  Each galaxy is a complete game. Note: the galaxy 
'Novoids' is an introductory game for beginners. We recommend you 
try it first before playing the more advanced galaxies.

After you have selected a galaxy,  press the return key to  begin 
play.

Joystick Users: you may also select a galaxy by using the forward 
and reverse movements on the joystick.  Press the fire button  to 
begin play.


SHIP CONTROL

The V-Wing spacecraft controls are similar to a lunar lander,  so 
when flying it you must take into consideration the normal forces 
of nature--gravity,  acceleration and velocity. Gravity is always 
pulling at your ship,  so you need to occasionally thrust  upward 
to counteract this pull. The ship has only a forward thruster, so 
any  speed  attained by thrusting in one direction  can  only  be 
decreased by thrusting in the opposite direction. You may find it 
helpful to practice thrusting in one direction for a few  seconds 
then turning around and thrusting in the opposite direction until 
your  ship comes to a stop.  Do this until you  feel  comfortable 
with the controls.

If your ship crashes into a mountain or any other obstruction  on 
the ground,  it will explode. Therefore, it is important that you 
learn to turn your ship around and brake soon enough to prevent a 
crash.  If  disaster is inevitable,  it is possible to save  your 
ship from destruction by using your force shield. We'll talk more 
about this later.

The nect section describes your ship controls. Normally, you will 
turn, thrust, and operate other ship controls using the keyboard. 
However,  you can also use a joystick to control most of the ship 
functions. If you wish to use a joystick, you should plug it into 
the joystick port on your ST keyboard.  Note:  the keyboard has a 
seperate  socket  for the joystick.  OIDS will not respond  to  a 
joystick plugged into the mouse socket.


KEYBOARD CONTROL

There are two groups of ship controls on the keyboard.  The right 
side of the keyboard has controls to thust, and fire weapons. The 
left  side has controls to turn the ship and engage your  shield. 
Note:  the section ADVANCED OPTIONS describes how to  reconfigure 
the keyboard.

X              Press X to rotate your ship clockwise
Z              Press Z  to rotate your ship counter-clockwise
RIGHT SHIFT    Press the right most SHIFT key to thrust
/              Press / to fire your nuclear pellet gun (hold down 
               for machine-gun action)
.              press  the full stop key to launch a NovaBomb  (if 
               key  held down,  NovaBomb will detonate  when  you 
               release)
LEFT  SHIFT    Press  the  left  most SHIFT key  to  engage  your 
               shield (Note:  shield slowly weakens until it will 
               no longer protect you)
SPACEBAR       Press  the  SPACEBAR   to  start  recharging  your 
               shield.  You  will  hear a beeping sound  as  they 
               recharge.  Note:  if you use your shield you  will 
               abort the recharge cycle
ESC            Press the ESC key to pause the game.  Press  again 
               to continue
Q              Press Q to quit the game


JOYSTICK CONTROL

                              Thrust
                                 |
                 Rotate left   -- --   Rotate right
                                 |
                              Shield
                              on/off

Fire- push once for Nuclear Pellets. 'Double click' for NovaBombs

Most  of  the  ship controls can be  operated  from  a  joystick. 
However,  you must use the keyboard to recharge your shield or to 
pause or quit the game.


STATUS DISPLAY

During play, the top of the screen displays you game status.

From left to right these are:

     your current score 
     a   bar  indicator  to  show  your  fuel   reserves.   Fully 
extended to  the right means you have a full load  of  fuel.  The 
display  is also colour coded.  Green means  full,  yellow  means 
partly full, and red means almost empty.
     a  circular  display which shows the charge  state  of  your 
shields.  Green means you have a fully charged shield,  and white 
means your shield is gone.
     the next shows how many ships remain in your mother-ship.
     next shows how many OIDS your rescue ship is carrying. Note: 
these  OIDS  are  not rescued until you get  them  back  to  your 
mother-ship.  Note:  your mother-ship will not return to pick you 
up  until  you have a full load of eight OIDS or until  you  have 
picked up the last OID on the planetoid.
     the last shows how many NovaBombs you have left.


GAME DETAILS

YOUR SCORE 
You  recieve  points  for  heroic  actions,  such  as  destroying 
Biocrete ground-bases and spacecraft, and rescuing OIDS. There is 
no  reward during play for high scores;  bonus ships are  awarded 
only for rescuing OIDS. However, if you achieve the highest score 
for  a particular galaxy,  you can record your name in the  high-
scores list.

FUEL
Fuel  is a precious commodity.  Your life depends on  a  constant 
supply.  You  start  the game with a full tank,  which  is  spent 
propelling  yopur  V-Wing spacecraft and powering  your  on-board 
shield regenerator.

You can replenish your supply of fuel in two ways.  One way is to 
pick  up a full load of OIDS (eight is a full load  unless  there 
are  no more OIDS remaining on the planetoid) and return them  to 
your  mother-ship.  You  can  also refuel by landing  next  to  a 
Biocrete fuel base.

SHIELD
Your V-Wing spacecraft is equiped with an energy shield which can 
protect  you from enemy fire,  collisions with enemy  ships,  and 
from crashing into the ground. However, the shields energy drains 
quickly  and  recharging  it  requires  fuel.  Also,  the  shield 
depletes faster if hit by enemy fire.  The worst strain is placed 
on  your shield when it comes into contact with  another  shield. 
The two shields rapidly drain each other and complete failure can 
happen in seconds!

Your shield can be replenished by your shield regenerator, but it  
costs fuel to do this.  The weaker your shield is,  the more fuel 
will be needed to fully recharge it.  Charging is automatic, once 
started,  and  is  indicated  by an  audible  recharge  tone  and 
flashing indicator.  Normally,  using your shield will  disengage 
the recharger. A special quick-charge is available in emergencies 
by  pressing recharge while the shield is on,  but this  is  very 
costly in fuel.

BONUS SHIPS
Bonus  ships  in OIDS are not based on  score,  but  instead  are 
rewarded for the successful rescue of OIDS.  One reserve ship  is 
gained  by recuing eight OIDS,  which is a full load.  A  running 
total is always kept.

WEAPONS
Your ship is equiped with two types of weapons;  nuclear  pellets 
and NovaBombs.  Nuclear pellets are your primary means of attack. 
To fire,  push the nuclear pellet fire button on the keyboard  or 
joystick. Hold down the fire button for machine-gun action.

Your  V-Wing spacecraft can also hold four NovaBombs.  There  are 
two  ways to fire a NovaBomb.  On the keyboard push the  NovaBomb 
key;  on the joystick,  double-click the fire button. Normally, a 
NovaBomb  will  explode  only when it contacts the  ground  or  a 
shield.  However, it's possible to launch a NovaBomb under manual 
control.  On  the  keyboard push and hold the  NovaBomb  key  and 
release  when you want it to explode;  on the  joystick,  double-
click and hold then release to explode.

When  a  NovaBomb detonates it creates a huge  nuclear  fireball. 
Anything  that  comes  in  contact  with  the  fireball  will  be 
destroyed or severely damaged.

RESCUING OIDS
Your main objective on each of your missions is to rescue all the 
OIDS  on each planetoid in the galaxy.  To rescue the  OIDS,  you 
must first destroy the Biocrete factories in which they are  held 
captive.  Be careful,  becuase it's possible to kill the OIDS  if 
you blast open a factory with more than a sngle nuclear pellet.

Once you have blasted a factory open,  OIDS will run out and wave 
to you. Find a flat surface nearby and land your ship. Be careful
not to catch the OIDS with your ships exhaust or your shield,  or 
they will be killed.

Once eight OIDS have climbed aboard,  or you have rescued all the 
OIDS on the planetoid, you have a full load and it's time to dock 
with  your  mother-ship to unload them.  The OIDS  shown  on  the 
status display at the top of the screen will wave when it's  time 
to go.

Your mother-ship will aoppear near the drop-off point.  When  you 
approach her,  she will drop a docking probe.  To dock,  approach 
her  from  the underside and try to place the nose of  your  ship 
into the probe.


THE GAME EDITOR

With the built-in editor,  you can create your own planetoids and 
galaxies.  A  galaxy  is  simply  a  collection of  one  or  more 
planetoids.  The  names  of existing galaxies are listed  on  the 
SELECT A GALAXY TO DEFEND! menu.

A  planetoid  is an individual section of terrain  which  can  be 
populated with Biocrete ground-bases,  trees,  and OIDS. With the 
OIDS  editor you can modify any planetoid in any galaxy,  or  you 
can create new planetoids and galaxies.

To enter the editor,  select the EDITOR MENU line on the SELECT A 
GALAXY  TO DEFEND!  menu and press return.  To exit  the  editor, 
select QUIT EDITOR on the editor menu.  You may edit an  existing 
planetoid by selecting LOAD A PLANETOID FROM FLOPPY,  or start  a 
new planetoid by selecting BEGIN A NEW PLANETOID.

From  the editor menu,  you may flip back and forth  between  the 
editor menu and the edit screen by pressing the ESC key. The edit 
screen  is  where  you  will  actually  create  and  modify  your 
planetoids.  The  edit screen looks similar to the  game  screen, 
except  it  has  additional  controls that  let  you  sculpt  new 
mountain ranges and place Biocrete bases on them.

In the centre of the edit screen is a "cursor" which is displayed 
as a chunk of mountain range or a Biocrete base.  Using the arrow 
keys  and the SHIFT and CONTROL keys,  you can  select  different 
mountain shapes and bases and precisely place them on the screen. 
Press and hold the SHIFT key to move the cursor faster.

To  select a different mountain shape or a different  base,  hold 
down  the control key and press the arrow keys.  The up and  down 
arrow  keys select a different group of mountains or  bases.  The 
left  and  right arrow keys select a different shape or  type  of 
base within a group.  Then, you can press the INSERT key to place 
the  mountain shapes or bases onto the planetoid.  The  UNDO  key 
removes the last placed item.

The  editor has additional controls that help you properly  align 
the mountain ranges or correct mistakes.  We'll describe these in 
the  summary that follows.  First,  you need to know about a  few 
limitations on how mountain ranges may be placed.

Mountain ranges are composed of two types of pieces;  top  pieces 
and  bottom  pieces.  Bottom pieces are lighter coloured  on  the 
bottom  outside  and top pieces are lighter on the  top  outside. 
Mountain  pieces  can only be placed in vertical columns  on  the 
screen,  and in any column you can have only one bottom piece and 
up  to two top pieces.  If you try to place more than one  bottom 
piece or more than two top pieces,  one of your previously placed 
pieces will be destroyed.

After you have designed your planetoid, return to the editor menu 
by pressing the ESC key. Then, save your planetoid to a galaxy on 
your game disk by selecting SAVE PLANETOID TO  FLOPPY.  Important 
note:  if  you save a planetoid over an existing  planetoid,  you 
will lose the original planetoid forever. Before modifying a game 
planetoid,  use  the Game Librarian to save a copy of the  galaxy 
containing the planetoid to a library disk. (See the section GAME 
LIBRARIAN.)

The editor menu also has additional controls that let you  select 
the  difficulty  level  for  the  loaded  planetoid,   delete   a 
planetoid,  or rename a galaxy or a planetoid.  Note:  Renaming a 
galaxy will reset the current high score for that galaxy.


EDIT SCREEN KEYS

Here  is  a  complete summary of all the commands  for  the  edit 
screen.

ESC      Pressing  the ESC key switches between the  edit  screen 
         and the editor menu.                     

ARROWS   When  editinga planetoid,  the screen shows  a  "cursor" 
         which resembles either mountain terrain or a  base.  The 
         arrow keys move this cursor about the screen.

SHIFT    Holding  down  a SHIFT key while pressing an  arrow  key 
         will make the cursor move faster.

CONTROL  Press  and  hold the CONTROL key to select  a  different 
         base  or  mountain shape.  The up and  down  arrow  keys 
         select  a  different group of objects and the  left  and 
         right arrows select a particular base or mountain  shape 
         within a group.

INSERT   Press INSERT to "draw" with the current cursor  picture. 
         For example,  when the cursor shows a base,  the  insert 
         key will place this base onto the planetoid.  Press UNDO 
         to remove a placed base or mountain.

DELETE   Press  DELETE to remove the mountain or base the  cursor 
         is closest to. Note: when placing mountains, DELETE will 
         only  remove mountains,  and when placing  bases  DELETE 
         will only remove bases.

UNDO     Press  UNDO to remove the last placed base or  mountain, 
         or to unDELETE the last deleted mountain or base.

P        Press P to start up the game for playtest with a ship at 
         your   current  cursor  position.   Press  Q   to   quit 
         playtesting and resume editing.

M        Press  M  to start  up the game for  playtest  from  the 
         point where your mother-ship drops you off.  Press Q  to 
         quit playtesting and resume editing.

R        Press  R  to  restore all the  ground-bases  which  were 
         destroyed during playtesting.

A        Press  A  to  examine and adjust  alien  difficulty  and 
         general  difficulty settings for the planetoid  you  are 
         editing.

HELP     The  HELP key will "align" your mountain to the  closest 
         mountain to the left or right of your cursor, or if your 
         cursor  is  a base it will align the base  with  closest 
         mountain beneath the cursor.

F         The F key shows you a full-view 1/8th scale map of  the 
         entire "planetoid" in the editor.  Yellow dots are home-
         bases,  blue  dots are refuelling-bases,  the  rest  are 
         represented by white dots.


THE GAME LIBRARIAN

The Game Librarian provides a way to copy galaxies from the  game 
disk  onto  a seperate disk we call a library disk,  or  to  copy 
galaxies from a library disk onto the game disk.  A library  disk 
is an ordinary ATARI ST formatted disk.

There  are several reasons to save galaxies onto  library  disks. 
The  primary  reason  is to keep backup copies  of  galaxies  you 
create,  or to save copies of galaxies you want to modify on  the 
game disk.  Second,  you may wish to create library disks to give 
copies of galaxies you create to your friends.  Third,  the  game 
disk  may  run  out of room and you may make  library  copies  of 
galaxies  you wish to delete from the game disk.  Since  you  can 
only  play and edit galaxies which are on the master  game  disk, 
this is an important function.

To enter the Librarian,  select LIBRARY MENU on the SELECT GALAXY 
TO DEFEND!  menu.  To exit the Librarian,  select QUIT LIBRARY on 
the library menu.

To copy a galaxy to or from a library disk, select COPY A GALAXY. 
The Librarian will then prompt you to select the galaxy you  wish 
to  copy.  To create a new library disk,  select CREATE A  GALAXY 
LIBRARY. To delete a galaxy select the DELETE A GALAXY menu item.

When  copying galaxies it is very important not to remove a  disk 
from  the  disk drive until the computer prompts you  to  do  so. 
Removing the disk too soon could cause a galaxy to  be lost. As a 
double  check,  do  not  even touch the disk  drive  if  the  red 
activity light on the drive is on.


ADVANCED OPTIONS

This   section  describes  several  expert-level   features.   We 
recommend  that  you first become familiar with OIDS  before  you 
attempt to use any of these features.

Reconfiguring the keyboard
The SELECT GALAXY TO DEFEND!  menu has a special menu option that 
lets  you redefine the keys that control your V-Wing  ship.  When 
selected,  the  CHANGE  KEYS option will prompt you  to  indicate 
which key you would like to control each function.  Press ESC  at 
any key prompt to restore the original key setting supplied  with 
the game.

Edit screen options
Advanced  OIDS  users  can take advantage  of  several  short-cut 
features when editing planetoids. Here is a list of them: 

CONTROL L will load a planetoid while in the edit screen. This is 
faster than first returning to the editor menu.

Likewise, CONTROL S will save a planetoid from the edit screen.

CONTROL  B erases the current planetoid,  removing all bases  and 
mountain shapes.

CONTROL D will prompt you to delete a galaxy from the game disk.

CONTROL G lets you rename a galaxy on the game disk.


