Glossary

AMBROSIA (AMB): Ambrosia is a rare drug that increases worker productivity. Unfortunately, it is also highly addictive and causes severe psychosis upon withdrawal.

CHEMICALS (CHE): Chemicals are used to build ships and defenses. Chemical (type c) and raw material (type r) worlds produce chemicals.

CLASS: The class of a world is an indication of its environment. Some worlds are barren and lifeless, making human habitation difficult; others are fertile and hospitable to life. The class of a world will affect different industries. For example, a barren world is not ideal for agriculture; an ocean world is poor in metals, etc. (see: World Classes).

COMMAND BASE: A command base is a mobile starbase that produces LAMs as a base planet or capital.

DESIGNATION: A world in an empire may be designated to produce a specific resource according to the wishes of the emperor or empress. The type of the world is changed by the World/Designate command.

DISRUPTER: A construction capable of blocking enemy jumpships from moving through jumpspace. All enemy jump-equipped ships within three sectors of a disrupter are forced to travel at warp speeds.

EFFICIENCY: A measure of the bureaucratic competence of a world. Efficiency affects such areas as production, defense, technology increases, etc.

ELITE INFANTRY (ELT): Genetically engineered supermen, elite troops are warriors created and trained on elite academy worlds. An elite infantry legion is the equivalent of five normal legions in combat.

FIGHTERS (FGT): A fighter is a small interceptor based around a small warp engine. Fighters are small and inexpensive, but possess only light firepower and no armor. Fighters are the weakest kind of ship and are particularly vulnerable to GDMs and starships. Only capitals, base planets and transport bases build these ships.

FLEET: A fleet is a group of ships that acts as an entity. You must deploy a fleet to move ships and materials from world to world, or to attack another world. Use the Fleet/Deploy command to deploy a fleet, the Fleet/Transfer command to move ships and material to and from a world, and Fleet/Set Destination to change the destination of a fleet.

FORTRESS: A fortress is a mobile starbase. It has all of the capabilities of a command base and additionally possesses a limited gate that can move any fleet to a target up to five sectors away.

GATE: The ultimate technological achievement of an empire, a gate is a construction that enables any fleet to teleport anywhere in the galaxy in a single year.

GROUND DEFENSES: Advanced worlds ordinarily have a complement of GDMs, ion cannons, and defense satellites to defend against ground assault. Less advanced worlds will have only GDMs. Fleets attacking these worlds must destroy these defenses before landing troops on the surface.

HUNTER-KILLERS (HKR): Hunter-killers, like jumpships, can travel ten sectors per year with their jumpdrives. A hunter-killer's main advantage, however, is its invisibility to enemy scanners. A fleet of hunter-killers can be detected by sophisticated equipment found only on starbases. Capitals, base planets, and jumpship bases build these ships.

INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: This giant construction is a deep-space shipyard of great efficiency. An industrial complex can automatically use raw materials from friendly worlds in adjacent sectors.

ISSP: Industrial Self-Sufficiency Percentage. The industry of a world is allocated so that the raw material industries (chemical, metals, trillum, and supplies) produce enough to support the principal industry (generally, ship-building). If you wish the world to produce more or less than what it needs, you can change the ISSP value for each of the raw material industries. For example, lowering the ISSP value for metals to 50% will instruct the planet to produce only half of the metals that it needs (see: Production).

JUMPFLEET: A fleet composed exclusively of ships that travel in jumpspace (ten sectors per year): hunter-killers, jumpships, and jumptransports.

JUMPSHIPS (JMP): Jumpships are medium sized warships equipped with jumpdrives. They can travel ten sectors per year and possess modest armor and armaments. Capitals, base planets, and jumpship bases build these ships.

JUMPTRANSPORTS (JTN): Jumptransports are small cargo ships that carry only a fifth of a transport's hold. Like jumpships, however, they are equipped with a jumpdrive, enabling them to travel ten sectors per year. Capitals, base planets, and jumpship bases build these ships.

LAMs: Long-range Attack Missiles. Capitals and base planets build these weapons. They are as powerful as GDMs, but are able to hit targets up to five sectors away.

METALS (MET): Metals are needed to build ships, defense and industry on a world. Metal mines (type m) and raw material mines (type r) produce metals. Worlds generally need an initial input of metals to begin building up their industry. Metals, like all other materials, are carried on transports and jumptransports.

OUTPOST: An artificial world designed to detect and scan enemy fleets.

PENETRATORS (PEN): Penetrators are second only to starships in power. Their advanced warp drive enables them to travel up to two sectors per year. In addition, penetrators are equipped with stealth technology that makes them difficult to detect in deep space.

SRMs: Self-Replicating Mines are devices that can defend entire sectors against jumpships. Any jump-equipped ship that attempts to pass through an SRM field has a chance of being destroyed by the mines.

STARBASE: An artificial construction of military nature. This term usually applies to outposts, command bases, and fortresses.

STARSHIPS (STR): Starships are the most powerful type of ship. Although they are slow (one sector per year) and very expensive to build, they are unmatched in firepower and armor. Capitals, base planets, and starship bases build these ships.

SUPPLIES (SUP): Supplies include the basic necessities of life such as food and medicine. Although most planets are self-sufficient, some may be too primitive to be able to support themselves.

TECH LEVEL: The technological development of a planet places it at a certain tech level. Worlds that have just deployed atomic reactors are atomic level; worlds that can build jumpdrives are jump level, etc. (see: Technology Levels).

TECHNOLOGIES: The individual engineering designs that empires possess; for example, hunter-killer technology and outpost technology. Each technology must be discovered individually before it can be used. Each empire must be at a prerequisite tech level before it even has a chance of discovering a certain technology. For example, an empire must be at least bio-tech level before it can master hunter-killer technology (see: Technology).

TRANSPORTS (TRN): Transports are giant cargo ships that carry resources between worlds. Capitals, base planets, and transport bases build these ships.

TRILLUM (TRI): Trillum, a high-yield nuclear fuel, is used to build ships and power fleets. Trillum mines (type z) and raw material worlds (type r) mine this important substance. When a fleet is deployed, it automatically takes as much fuel as it can carry in its tanks; more trillum may be carried in transports and jumptransports, however.

TYPE: The type of a world is an indication of its main industry. For example, a jumpship base builds jumpships, a metal mine mines metals. You may set the type of the worlds you own with the World/Designate command.

WARP FLEET: A fleet that travels in warp space (one sector per year). Any fleet that contains fighters, starships, or transports is a warp fleet.

WARP LINK: A warp link is a sophisticated structure that can teleport a fleet to any other warp link or gate in a single year.