Lords of Cyberspace
-------------------
Lords of Cyberspace is a multi-user cyberpunk computer terrorism game. In
LoC, your goal is to use the hardware and software you acquire to cause
as much trouble in cyberspace as is humanly possible.

What is Cyberspace?
-------------------
In the near future, people will use computer "cyberdecks" to "jack" into
cyberspace- the global computer network. What makes cyberspace different
from today's internet is that the advanced technology of the cyberdeck
creates a virtual reality out of the network. Your central nervous system
is connected directly to your cyberdeck (via electrode plugs in the base
of your neck), so when you're in the net, you're really IN the net. You
experience it as if you were really there.

OK, so it's still the 20th century and virtual reality technology for BBS's
is still a pipe dream. So, in LoC you experience cyberspace through an ANSI
display. 

ANSI & IBM Characters
---------------------
You must have ANSI enabled in order to play Lords of Cyberspace. LoC is a
"full screen" game, with the screen divided into a number of distinct
regions. These regions are updated using a variety of special ANSI screen
codes. If you are having problems with your screen getting messed up,
make sure that you are using either ANSI or VT100 as your terminal emulation.
If the five line scrolling text region at the bottom of your screen does
not display properly, try changing the number of screen lines your BBS
account is set for. If it's set to 24, try 25. If it's set for 25, try 24.
LoC should work with most communications programs, provided you have the
correct settings for screen size and terminal emulation.

You can choose to view the net either using regular ASCII text characters
or the IBM extended character set. The game looks nicer if you use IBM
characters, but if you have problems displaying them, you can turn them
off and switch to ASCII by entering the command "option 1".

Playing the Game
----------------
Your main goal in the game is to score enough points and become powerful 
enough to enter "end-game" and try to win (become a Lord of Cyberspace). 
We'll talk about end-game later (it'll be a while before you're ready for 
that monumental task). For now, let's talk about the nuts and bolts of 
scoring points and becoming more powerful.

LoC does not make use of very many phony "stats". For the most part, YOU are
your character in the game. YOUR intelligence is your character's
intelligence, YOUR dexterity is your character's dexterity, etc. So what
determines your power in the game? Essentially it boils down to your
hardware, your software, your bank account, your score rank, and your health.

Hardware
--------
Your cyberdeck consists of a number of seperate pieces of hardware. You start
out with a simple cyberdeck with enough hardware to get you going. It's up
to you to raise the cash necessary to upgrade your cyberdeck's hardware (or
replace hardware that gets wrecked while you're jacked into cyberspace).
To purchase hardware upgrades, go to the offline services menu (using the
"services" command).

  Interface
  ---------
  Your deck's interface is the electrodes and wires that connect you to your
  deck. You either have an interface or you don't. If you don't have an
  interface you won't be able to jack into cyberspace until you get one.

  CPUs
  ----
  Your CPUs (Central Processor Units) are what allow you to run programs.
  It takes one CPU to run one program. So, if you have four CPUs you can
  run four programs simultaneously.

  CPU Speed
  ---------
  The faster your CPUs, the faster your programs will run. This is an
  important consideration, since in cyberspace slow usually means dead.
  How fast a program "runs" has two different meanings. First, there is
  program execution speed - how long it takes to do whatever it does.
  For example, a Bulldozer program might take 20 seconds to break through
  a wall when run on a speed 1 CPU, but only 10 seconds to run on a speed
  11 CPU. Secondly, programs that are mobile (that move around in the net)
  can move faster, depending on CPU speed. Starting at CPU speed 6, programs 
  that move get to move twice as fast. CPU speeds 1-5 allow mobile programs 
  to move one space per second. At speed 6 and up, they can move two spaces 
  per second.

  Note: you cannot mix CPUs of different speeds. If you elect to purchase
  a new CPU (or CPUs) that have a different speed from your current ones, 
  then you trade in the current ones (for 1/2 their original price) and 
  replace them with the new CPUs.

  Memory
  ------
  Memory is where you store your programs and stolen documents. Each memory
  unit has a storage capacity of 8. Programs and documents vary in size,
  so you could, for example, store two size four programs in a single memory
  unit, or three size two's and two size one's, etc.

  Wall Strength
  -------------
  Each system (and cyberdeck) has, as part of it's layout, a wall that
  encloses it's CPUs and memory (to keep the criminals out). The stronger
  the wall, the harder it is for would-be hackers to break in.

  Gate Strength
  -------------
  Each system (and cyberdeck) has as part of it's layout one or more gates.
  These allow authorized personnel to come and go as they please. They also
  are places where hackers can attempt to gain entry to the system. The
  stronger the gate, the more difficult it is to break in.

  Chip Reader
  -----------
  A chip reader allows you to access backup chips (more on those in a
  moment). You either have one or you don't. If you don't have one, you
  cannot access backup chips.

  Backup Chips
  ------------
  Backup chips are where you can safely store programs and documents. You can
  only access your backup chips while offline (i.e. not jacked in), so this
  is where you would store programs and documents you won't be needing on
  your next cyberspace run. Although your memory is vulnerable to attack
  while in cyberspace, your backup chips are not. The only way to lose them
  is to have your deck physically confiscated by the cops (more on that
  later). 

  L/D Phone Link
  --------------
  You can purchase a private L/D phone link for your Cyberdeck from Internet.
  Although there is an initial purchase cost for the hardware and a 
  subsequent daily rental fee, there are no additional charges for making
  L/D hops using your private link. Owning your own private L/D phone link
  can be quite handy, since you can jack into Cyberspace and hop to a 
  different city without first having to venture out of your Cyberdeck to 
  find a public L/D phone link.

Software
--------
You use your programs to perform actions in cyberspace. They protect you,
they attack other systems, programs and players, they let you break into 
systems, etc. There are many different programs in the game, many of which
you won't need (or even find) until you've played for a while. For a
complete list of all the programs in the game, type "? proglist". For
an explaination of what an individual program does, type "? name" where
name is the name of the program in question.

To see what programs you have, type "programs". You can also run a program
using the programs command, or you can just type the name of the program
you want to run (at the main prompt) to run it. 

A program's strength determines how well it performs it's designed function.
I.E. a strength 2 program is better than a strength 1 program (obviously).
Generally speaking, when two programs go at it with each other, the one
with the higher strength is going to win. Random chance is also figured in,
so that is not ALWAYS true, but generally stronger is better.

There are two ways to get programs. You can either purchase them from a
software vendor system or steal them (from any kind of system). You start
out with a few simple programs. Here's what they are and what they do:

  Cloak
  -----
  Cloak hides your cyberspace signal from programs and other players, making
  it harder for them to track and attack you. If you are hacking a system
  it's a good idea to run some kind of cloak. Note: Cloak interferes with
  your Cyberspace signal and causes you to slowly de-rez. If you leave Cloak
  running indefinitely, you will eventually lose signal and drop out of
  Cyberspace. So, it's a good idea to only run Cloak when you need it.

  Probe
  -----
  Probe gives you additional information about something you encounter in
  cyberspace. It is handy for testing the strength of walls and gates.
  Naturally, when you're just starting out you'll want to find the easiest
  systems to invade (systems with low gate and/or wall strength).

  Knight
  ------
  Knight is used to attack programs. It will attempt to hunt down the
  specified target program and destroy it. If successful, it will cause
  the targetted program to stop running (drop out of cyberspace) and reduce
  it's strength. If the target's strength is zero or less, the program is
  destroyed (removed from memory). You would use Knight to attack programs
  that are either attacking you or preventing you from invading a system.

  Unlocker
  --------
  Unlocker is used to unlock programs and documents. Most programs and
  documents you will come across when invading systems will (for security
  purposes) be locked. You can't do anything to a locked file, so if you
  want to steal or destroy it, you need to unlock it first.

  Bulldozer
  ---------
  Bulldozer is used to crash through a system's wall (so you can get inside).

  Shield
  -----
  Shield protects you from programs that attack you (it repels the attack).
 
  Armor
  -----
  Like Shield, Armor also protects you from programs that attack you.
  Additionally, it protects you from damage-dealing programs if it fails
  to totally repel the attack.

Bank Account
------------
Money is pretty important in LoC and serves a variety of purposes:

  Hardware and Software
  ---------------------
  As previously mentioned, you use money to purchase hardware and software.

  Doctor Bills
  ------------
  Certain programs in the game can cause you actual physical damage
  (remember those electrodes in your neck?) A visit to the doctor can fix
  you up, but it ain't free.

  Net Access
  ----------
  There are a variety of ways to enter the net, and they all cost money.

  Rent
  ----
  Sometimes you have to live on the street to avoid the cops. But most of
  the time you'll want to rent a flat (an apartment) because it's cheaper
  to pay for a dedicated connection to the net than it is to pay by the
  minute on a street link-up.

  Fines
  -----
  As a hacker, you're bound to run afoul of the law on occasion. Better hope
  you have the money to pay the fine!

  Relocating
  ----------
  If you want to physically relocate to a new city, airplane tickets in LoC
  cost money like everything else.

So, how do you get money? There are several ways:

  Buying and Selling Programs
  ---------------------------
  To sell a program, go to a software vendor system and use the "memory"
  command to move the program from your memory into the vendor's memory. The 
  Cashier will credit your bank account with 1/2 the program's re-sale value. 
  To buy a program, just do the opposite; move the program from the vendor's 
  memory into your deck's memory. The Cashier will debit the program's sale 
  price from your bank account. 
  
  NOTE: Be VERY careful that you have enough money in your bank account to 
  cover the cost of the sale! If you do not have enough money to pay for the 
  purchase, the previously benign Cashiers will attack you! To help prevent
  your accidentally purchasing a program that you cannot afford to buy, the
  Cashiers will LOCK all programs that cost more than you have in your bank
  account. So, do not mess with locked programs in a vendor system's memory
  (unless you intend to steal them and deal with the consequences).

  Selling Documents
  -----------------
  When invading systems, you will come across a variety of different
  documents. Depending on the document and the system from which it came, it
  may be of value to the various criminal information organizations scattered
  throughout cyberspace. To sell stolen documents, simply move the document
  from the system's memory into your deck's memory (again, using the "memory"
  command) and go to a Criminal system. In the Criminal system you will 
  encounter a program called "Fence" (if the Criminal system has not itself
  been invaded and attacked). The Fence will sit in one of the criminal
  system's gates and wait for hackers such as yourself to bring it documents.
  Simply move to a space adjacent to the Fence and if you have any documents
  of interest to the Fence, it will tell you how much it is willing to pay
  for each valuable document. 

  There are 6 different types of documents, listed in order of increasing
  value:

  1. Useless Memos (basically valueless nattering, and of no value to a 
     criminal system)
  2. Insider Information
  3. Secret Information
  4. Top Secret Information
  
  The more sensative the information, the more valuable the document. Also,
  the more powerful the system from which it came, the more valuable the
  document. Additionally, there are two special document types that can only
  be found when invading Internet Hub and Worldbank systems. These documents
  contain bank and internet access codes which you can use to steal money
  or internet access from other players (these are quite naturally, extremely
  rare and difficult to acquire). To see what kind of document you have,
  just read it (using the "memory" command).

  Stolen Bank Codes
  -----------------
  You can steal other players' money by hacking their bank access codes. You 
  can either try your intuition and just guess at what someone else might be 
  using for their bank access code. Or, you can break into a Worldbank system 
  and look around for documents that might contain another player's access 
  code.

  Completing Criminal Missions
  ----------------------------
  You can undertake a criminal mission by going to a Criminal system and 
  meeting with the Fence. More on that later.

  Pawning Hardware
  ----------------
  If you're really desperate for cash, you can sell off some of your hardware
  (at half what you paid for it). The pawn shop is accessable from the
  Offline Services menu.

Scoring Points
--------------
You score points for your various nefarious accomplishments in cyberspace. At 
various scoring threasholds, your character gains "rank" (each rank with it's 
own unique title). For example, when you first start out, you have a score of 
0 and a rank of 1. The rank 1 title is "newbie". As you score points, you 
will eventually reach rank 2 (ruggie), and so on.

There are a number of ways to score points:

  Attacking Programs
  ------------------
  When using Knights to attack other programs in Cyberspace, you score a 
  number of points points equal to the amount of damage done by the Knight.

  Erasing Programs
  ----------------
  You score points for simply erasing a program (though much less than if
  you had destroyed it in tactical combat).

  Selling Documents
  -----------------
  You score points by selling documents to Criminal systems. The more 
  valuable the document, the more points you score.

  Erasing Documents
  -----------------
  If you don't feel like selling documents, you can also score points by 
  simply destroying them (face it, erased or stolen, it's still irritating
  to the system you're attacking, and hence worthy of points). The more
  valuable the document, the more points you score.

  Improving Programs
  ------------------
  You can score points by attempting to hack a program. What you're trying to 
  do is increase the strength of the program by applying your programming 
  skills to the task. The higher your rank, the greater your odds of success. 
  However, the higher the strength of the program, the greater your odds of 
  failure. If you succeed, the program's strength and value will increase and 
  you will score some points. If you fail, the program's strength and value 
  will decrease and you will lose some points. If you REALLY screw up, you 
  will destroy the program.

  Destroying Systems
  ------------------
  You can score points by destroying all of the CPUs in a system, thus 
  causing it to crash out of the net for an extended period of time.

  Note; Destroyed means just that- destroyed by the Torpedo program. Crashing
  a system simply by crashing all of it's CPUs (using a Crash program) does
  not score you any points.

  Completing Criminal Missions
  ----------------------------
  You can undertake a criminal mission by going to a Criminal system and 
  meeting with the Fence. More on that later.

So, why worry about your score and rank? First of all, you need to reach a 
very high rank before you can attempt to win in end-game. Also, your rank is 
used to determine a few other things:

  Employment
  ----------
  Life is not all glory-hacking in the net. You still have your day job
  to keep body and soul together (and give you a little extra ching to help 
  pay for that new memory unit you've been lusting after). Your salary is
  determined by your rank (the higher your rank, the higher your salary).

  One note about employment; when you relocate cities you have to look for
  a new job. You have one chance each day to find a job. The higher your
  rank, the easier it will be for you to find a job. (There is no "command"
  to hunt for a job, it just happens when you sign on for the first time on
  any given day). As a new player, you automatically start out employed.
  You can't get fired, so the only way to lose your job is to relocate to a
  new city.

  Improving Programs
  ------------------
  As previously mentioned, your rank is used to determine whether or not you
  can successfully improve a program.

  Long-Distance Jumping
  ---------------------
  During the course of your Cyberspace explorations, you will be making
  what are called "long-distance jumps" (more on these later). The higher
  your rank, the farther you can jump.

Health                                 
------
Health points represent how much damage you can physically sustain from
ICE (Intrusion Counter Electronics) attacks. Most ICE is designed to either
simply knock you out of the net, attack your programs, or attempt to
damage or destroy your hardware. However, certain ICE programs (commonly 
referred to as "Black ICE") attempt to cause you physical damage. They 
accomplish this by sending pulsed frequency signals through the wiring and 
directly into your body (remember, to experience the virtual reality of 
cyberspace, you are physically connected to your cyberdeck). Depending on the 
program in question, the physical attack can either damage your brain 
(causing you to lose score points), or damage your body. You can sustain 20 
points of physical damage before you are "dead".

Now LoC is, after all, a game. And getting permanantly dead in a game that
you spend weeks or months playing isn't a whole lot of fun. So, we wink
at "reality" here and let you live. Still, getting dead has to have some kind
of penalty, so here it is: When you get reduced to 0 health points, you
lose a rank. If you die when you're rank 1, then you're done playing for the 
day. You either have to commit suicide and start over, pay to heal yourself 
back up to at least 1 health point, or wait until you regenerate enough 
health points to get back to having at least 1. You heal (for free) 1 health 
point per day.

Jacking-In
----------
OK, so you're ready to tackle cyberspace. The first thing you do is jack-in.
You have your choice here. You can either jack-in using a street connection
or a direct net connection. Here's the difference; a street connection means
you're out on the street someplace connecting via a public net link (much
like a pay phone). You pay by the minute and you pay IN ADVANCE. It costs $1
per minute, and whatever time you don't actually use, you lose. No refunds.
Not a very desireable option. The only time you'd ever want to use a
street link is if you're living on the streets and don't have any other 
option or if you've stolen someone else's bank access code and you're not
spending your own money anyway. Why would you ever be out on the streets? 
Well, you could get kicked out of your flat for failing to pay the rent. Or 
maybe you just relocated cities and haven't rented a place to live yet. Or 
maybe you used to have a flat, but the cops traced your signal and were about 
to break the door down before you fled into the streets... Anyway, normally 
you'll connect via a direct net connection. When you are renting, you have a 
dedicated net connection that you pay for by the day. It costs a flat rate 
and you can connect as often as you like, for as long as you like.

OK, so you're jacked-in; your cyberdeck is now connected to the net. What 
you're looking at after you jack-in is your cyberdeck in virtual reality, 
complete with walls, gates, CPUs and memory. To find out what all the little
icons are, just type "? icons" for a list. 

Designing Your Deck
-------------------
If you want to change how your deck is configured in the net, use the 
"design" command. Using the design command, you can move your CPUs and memory 
units around, as well as add and/or remove gates and walls. When you're 
jacked into the net, your cyberdeck is as vulnerable to attack as any other 
system, so if you're worried about other players trying to break in and 
attack your deck, you'd better redesign the layout to make that as difficult 
as possible. You can also give your cyberdeck a new name using the design 
command (all decks start out named simply "Cyberdeck").

Viewing the Net
---------------
There are three views available to you while jacked-in: Global, City and 
System. 

  Global View
  -----------
  The global view will show you what city you are in and where you
  are in relation to all of the other cities on the world net map. 
  
  City View      
  ---------
  The city view is your local region of Cyberspace. In this view you see all 
  the different systems that are connected to the net in this city. 
  
  System View
  ------------
  In the system view you see the details of the system you are in (if any), 
  i.e. it's walls, gates, CPUs and memory. 
  
To see what all the different icons in the various views mean, type 
"? icons". To change your view, use the look command: "look g" for global, 
"look c" for city, or "look s" for system.

In addition to the icons for systems, you will occasionally see letters
in the net display. These are programs. The letter corresponds to the
first letter of the program name (example, G for Guardian). If you've
lost track of what programs are around, just type "look" and it will
tell you what programs and players are in the immediate area.

Navigating the Net
------------------
You move around in the net using the movement commands north, south, east,
and west. North=Up, South=Down, East=Right, West=Left. You can abbreviate
these commands to a single letter (n,s,e,w).

When moving around in a system you can only move onto a blank space, an
open gate, or a dead wall (a wall that was destroyed by some program). The
only exception to those rules is that you can always walk through the gates
of your own cyberdeck, regardless of whether or not they are open. You 
cannot move on top of a memory unit, but running into one is a quick way
to get a memory display for that particular memory unit. Running into a
program is generally considered to be an attack (more on that later).

When you move "off the edge" of a system, you exit that system and move into
the corresponding city space next to the system. If that space is empty (i.e.
there isn't another system there), you will be presented with the city view
of your current city (showing you all of the systems in the city). If you
move onto a system space in the city view, you will once again enter the
system view (of that particular) system. 

When you move "off the edge" of a city, you are now moving on the world map
level. You will see a city view display for the new net space you've entered.
If it's a city, you'll see systems. If it's just Frontierspace (the space
that lies between cities) you won't see much of anything. You can walk
pretty far passing through Frontierspace from city to city, but eventually
you'll get stuck. You can only move so far on the global level before you
stretch your signal too far and can't go any further. 

Long-Distance Hopping
---------------------
OK, so what are you telling me? That I can only make three world view net
moves in any direction from my home city? What about all those cities and
systems on the other side of the world??

OK, calm down, Ace. That's not the end of the story. All cities have handy
little internet long-distance links. To make a long distance jump, simply
move onto the L/D link space, and then type the direction (n,s,e,w) you want 
to move. You can then make a long-distance jump. How far you can jump depends 
on your rank. Anyone can jump one, two or three spaces. Players rank 11 and 
up can jump up to four spaces, and players rank 21 and up can jump up to five 
world net spaces. 

Aha, but there's a catch. Internet ain't no charity, my friend. Long distance 
hops cost cold cash, and the longer the jump, the higher the cost. So, isn't 
that going to add up to an awful lot of $? You bet it would... if you were 
honest. But you're not, are you? Of course not! 

There are two ways to make those jumps for free. First, you can use someone
else's bank access code to pay for it. You haven't stolen any bank codes
yet? OK, then crash through that link! Your odds of successfully crashing
though an L/D link depend on the security level of the link (which varies
from city to city) and how far you're trying to jump. The longer the jump,
the greater the odds of getting caught. Still, if you're not greedy you 
should (most of the time) be able to crash through and not spend a dime. 
Uh, was that "most of the time"? Yep, sometimes you get caught, and then bad 
stuff happens- you get to deal with THE EYE. The Eye is the law-enforcement 
branch of the net. They don't take kindly to people stealing their services, 
and depending on how much they decide to dislike you, they will do one of 
the following:

 Fines
 -----
 If you're "lucky", they'll just hit you with a fine. This could be as
 little as fining you the amount you would have had to pay had you just
 paid for the hop in the first place, all the way up to several hundred
 dollars. If they fine you, that's it. They bill your internet account and
 let you go. Consider yourself fortunate.

 RoboCops
 --------
 If you're unlucky, they'll decide to make an example of you and dispatch 
 some of their roving RoboCop units. If they're able to trace your signal, 
 they'll send it after you specifically. RoboCops don't sleep, and they don't 
 give up very easily... better watch your back for a while! If they can't get 
 a good trace on you, they'll simply send a RoboCop to the "scene of the 
 crime" and have it hang around for a while. Any known net criminals that 
 show up will immediately activate the RoboCop, and the hunt is on. Time to 
 jack-out? Yeah!

 MeatCops
 --------
 Oh man, you have REALLY screwed up. They traced you, they know where you
 live and you already hear sirens off in the distance. You've got just
 a few seconds to abandon your flat and hit the streets. You don't want
 to stick around and deal with the meat (real-world) cops. If you're lucky,
 they'll just confiscate all of your hardware. If your luck is bad... hmm,
 which do you prefer? Frontal lobotomy or being beaten to a lifeless pulp?

One other note about crashing an L/D link. This built-in ability of your
cyberdeck creates quite a strain on the hardware, and even if you succeed
in successfully crashing through the link, you will find that your Cyberspace 
signal will be weakened in the attempt, thus partially "de-rezzing" you. 
Eventually, if you continue to make illegal jump after illegal jump, you'll
simply de-rez totally (lose signal) and drop out of the net.

Backing Up
----------
You can quickly retrace your steps using the "back" command. It moves you
back one net move. So, say you walked three net moves, made two long
distance jumps and then walked three more net spaces. Typing "back" would
back you up through all of that, one net move/jump at a time. Keep typing
back and eventually you'll be back in your Cyberdeck.

Rez
---
All players and programs in the net have a "rez" factor. The rez factor is
a player or program's cyberspace signal; i.e. how strongly they are connected
to the net. Rez is measured in a simple percentage- 100% rez means a full,
perfectly clear signal. 0% rez means disconnected. When a player reaches
0% rez, they drop out of the net. When a program reaches 0% rez, it stops
and must be re-run.

Under normal circumstances, rez factors are always 100%. However, there are
a number of programs that attack rez in an attempt to stop a program or knock 
a player out of the net.

Your rez is always 100% while you're inside your home system (your
Cyberdeck). So, if your rez is getting low and you don't want to jack-out,
just go back to your deck and it will jump back up to 100%

CyberCrime
----------
OK, so you're in the net, you're moving around, and now you're ready for
some action. So, you just waltz into the nearest system and start pounding, 
right? WRONG! All that's going to get you is a lesson in the suicide watusi. 
The first thing you do is START SMALL. The easiest systems in the world to
hack are Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's). They're open to the public, and
they have NO security. They also don't have a whole lot of worthwhile stuff,
but sometimes they do. Some crazy sysop or desperate hacker might just have
stowed a fancy little program in that BBS, and it's just sitting there for
the taking. So, take it! If it looks like a program you can use, keep it. If
not, take it to a vendor and sell it. Now that you've got a little money,
take a look around at what the vendor has to sell. Maybe there's something
there you could use? A better Cloak? A nice GateCrash? Become familiar
with all the programs. If you see one you've never heard of, type "? name"
(where "name" is the name of the program) to find out what it does.

Once you've nailed all the BBS's for miles around, it's time to move up to
a "level 1" system. Level 1 systems are generally small business, public
schools, minor municipal government offices, etc. Level 1 systems have a 
little bit of security, but usually nothing deadly or super-strong. Also, 
their walls and gates tend to be weaker than other more powerful systems. 

Start out by getting your defenses up- if you have a cloak, armor, shield or 
any other defense program, run them. Next, go find a level 1 system in your
city and enter it. You'll probably see a Guardian program appear. This is
the first (and usually only) line of defense for a level 1 system. Don't
worry about it. It won't bother you until you do something evil (like try to
break through a wall or gate). Use a probe to check out the walls and gates,
note their strength. Go take a look at any other nearby level 1 systems,
and probe the strength of their walls and gates. When you find the weak
spot, it's time to hack. 

Choose the system with the weakest wall (if you're going to use Bulldozer to 
get in) or the weakest gate (if you're going to be using GateCrash), and then 
run your invasion program. If you're lucky, the program will succeed and 
you'll get in. If you're unlucky, Guardian (or something else) will punt you 
out of the net. Oh well, no big deal, jack in and try again. It's not until 
you start attacking the really nasty systems that you'll need to worry about 
being seriously harmed by ICE programs (and by then, you should have learned 
how to deal with them). 

Don't forget to use Knight to protect yourself against ICE attacks. Target
your Knight at the program that's chasing you and hope to the cybergods
that it defeats your enemy. Once inside, you can either concentrate on
eliminating the ICE (using knight or other program destroyers), or you can
try to "hit-and-run" the memory. I.E. try to keep away from the ICE and
steal whatever you can before it catches up to you again.

Again, the rewards are sparse when raiding level 1 systems (rewards just
always seem to be commensurate with the risks, don't they?). Still, you
will come across the occasional useful (or at least, sellable) program
as well as documents that might be worth something to a fence. Basically
you're using your time getting familiar with how the game works, building
up a little reserve of cash, and maybe even finding some useful programs.
Once you feel like you've started to get the hang of things, try invading
some more powerful systems. But, be careful. You should never even enter
a level 4, level 5, bank or hub system until you're damn sure about what
you're doing. These are high security systems with loads of Black ICE, and
you can get awfully dead awfully fast in there.

Saving Your Ass
---------------
Sometimes things just don't go right. You screw up, your programs screw up,
things were a lot tougher than you thought they'd be, whatever. Stuff
happens. And when it does, remember to JACK OUT. You must've played an
adventure game at least once in your life? What do the weasels do when the
big bad monsters are about to slice them open from stem to stern? Why, they
hang up their modem, right? Well, same principal here. And we all know that
computer terrorists are the biggest weasels to ever walk the earth. The 
evilest program in the world can't hurt you if you're not in the net, Ace. 
So, if things go bad, JACK OUT. 

The command to jack out of cyberspace is again, "jack". It almost always 
works (grin). OK, so I'm evil, so sue me. Yes, there is a small chance that
your jack-out attempt will fail. If that happens, just wait a couple of
seconds and try again. The only exception to that is jacking-out from your
home system (your cyberdeck). If you're in the safe confines of your deck,
you will almost always be able to jack-out on the first attempt.

God, did he just say "almost always" again? Yeah, sorry, I'm REALLY EVIL.
So, sue me twice. There are programs in the net specifically designed to
keep you from jacking out. If you get nailed by one of these mean little
buggers, you will be prevented from jacking out for a good long time (like
up to a minute or so). So, if you get locked into the net, cross your
fingers and hope you can ride it out :>

Program Classes
---------------
Programs come in a variety of classes, with each class having a different
general sort of behavior. These behaviors can be categorized thusly:

  Statics
  -------
  Static programs affect a non-moving target and are themselves immobile. 
  Most of the "utility" class programs (Locker, Unlocker, etc) are statics, 
  as well as programs such as Crash, Bulldozer, GateCrash, etc.

  Hunters
  -------
  Hunters are mobile programs that don't do a whole lot until they detect
  the specific kind of target that they are designed to hunt. Hunters
  include such programs as Mason, Snout, AntiVirus, etc.
  
  Chasers
  -------
  Chasers are mobile programs that are specifically targetted at one 
  enemy. They will pursue the enemy until they are next to them, and then
  attack. Some seekers are restricted to their home system, others
  will chase their target beyond the immediate confines of their home
  system. Chasers stop running if their target vanishes. Chasers include
  such programs as Knight, Guardian, Icebolt, Firebolt, Banshee, etc.

  Intrinsics
  ----------
  Intrinsics are programs used by players that become an instrinsic part of
  their cyberspace signal. Intrinsics can be both defensive (Cloak, Shield,
  Armor, etc) and offensive (Phaser, Tentacle, Cobra, etc).

  Hydras
  ------
  Hydras are extremely advanced forms of ICE that include many of the
  properties of a player. They are designed to attack players (as chasers)
  but derive their offense and defense from intrinsics. Much like the
  multi-headed monster of mythology that is it's namesake, Hydra class 
  programs have multiple methods of offense and defense. If you get ahold of 
  a Hydra, you can "configure" it (using the "programs" command) with 
  any intrinsics you have available. Basically, the Hydra uploads the 
  intrinsic and it becomes part of the Hydra program itself. The more
  powerful the Hydra, the greater the number of intrinsics that it can
  upload. The most powerful Hydra can have four intrinsics.

  Note: configuring a Hydra is a one-way street. Once it uploads a program,
  that program becomes part of the Hydra and cannot be retrieved. The
  strength of the individual instrinsic is irrelevent- a Hydra's original
  strength is always it's strength, regardless of the strength of it's
  uploaded intrinsics.

  Common Hydras are Fiend, Devil and Satan. The Eye's RoboCops are also
  Hydras.

  Aliens
  ------
  You will occasionally come across programs in your travels that don't
  seem to originate from any known system. These rogue Hydras are pretty
  much of a mystery to everyone. No one knows where they came from, why
  they are here or what they might do at any given moment. Several
  theories claim that they are either programs that have somehow achieved
  independent sentience, or perhaps alien programs that have somehow
  gained access to the net. In any case, they are very dangerous and
  should be avoided by all but the bravest cyberspacers.

Close Combat
------------
As previously mentioned, there are a number of offensive intrinsics. These
are used to attack both programs and other players. To attack using an
offensive intrinsic, you basically "run into" your enemy (i.e. attempt to
move on top of them). Each attack by an intrinsic causes it to re-run (i.e.
it's loading time is reset). So, you can "bonk" into your target as often
as you like, but the intrinsic will only attack every few seconds (depending
on the loading time of the program and the speed of your CPUs). 

Hydras also use this method for their attack, so if a Hydra is attacking you
and you don't want to fight back, move away from it (or JACK OUT!)

Internet Accounting
-------------------
Everyone has an account with internet (accessed using your individual access 
code). Most internet costs (daily connection, fines, etc) are billing 
deferred, i.e. you don't have to pay immediately. As you accrue expenses, 
your account is debited. Once per day (during system cleanup), internet 
attempts to collect from your bank account whatever amount you owe them. If 
your bank account can't cover what you owe, your internet credit rating
goes down by one. If your credit rating ever reaches zero, you will be 
refused further access to the net (other than paying cash for a street 
connection) until such time as you settle your debt. Once you bring your
account out of the red, your credit rating will start increasing. It
increases by one each day that you pay off your bill. Ten is a perfect
credit rating.

Criminal Missions
-----------------
You can undertake a criminal mission by going to a Criminal system and
meeting with the Fence program. Move to a space next to the Fence, and it
will ask you if you want to be assigned a criminal mission. If you say yes,
you will be assigned a mission. Your mission will be to either go crash some
specific system, or go to a specific system and destroy one of it's
documents. If you succeed in completing your mission, you will be rewarded
with cash and score some points. You can take as long as you like to complete 
your mission. If you don't like your current mission, just wait a while and 
you'll be able to go request a new one. Use the "mission" command to display 
your current mission (if any).

End-Game
--------
To "win" the game and become a Lord of Cyberspace, you must enter Valhalla
and destroy the Divine Document. Sounds simple? Well, not quite....

1. You have to become a /\/\aster (rank 29) before you can even get into
   the Valhalla Cyberplex (a nasty conglomeration of mega-vicious systems). 

2. You have to actually find Valhalla. Valhalla is someplace in Frontier,
   the specific location of which changes every day.

3. You have to acquire the three different keys to Valhalla. These keys
   are programs that you can find throughout the game in different systems.
   They are WhiteKey, GreyKey and BlackKey. To enter the Valhalla Cyberplex, 
   you need to be running all three of the key programs. 

4. You have to find the Divine Document, of which there is one copy
   secreted someplace in amongst the dozens of systems that make up the
   Valhalla Cyberplex. Once you find it, all you have to do is unlock
   it and erase it, and BOOM, you're a Lord of Cyberspace!

Good luck, Ace. You're gonna need it!


