              Walkthrough of STARFLIGHT II
              ============================
               (compliments of GRAYBEARD)

                       Part 1
                       ======
 INTRODUCTION

 This walkthrough of STARFLIGHT II is divided into four parts:
INTRODUCTION, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, and TOP SECRET. The INTRODUCTION
contains tips on game mechanics; if you've played STARFLIGHT, you can
probably skip most of it. CONFIDENTIAL conveys useful playing
information that is _not_ pertinent to the goal of the game, while
SECRET contains hints that _are_ pertinent to the goal of the game. TOP
SECRET includes explicit instructions for winning the game. The four
sections are intended to be read in sequence as you play the game; each
successive segment assumes that you're further along in the game.

 Outfitting the Ship

 The first thing to do when outfitting your ship is sell the weapons for
extra funds. You want to make friends, not enemies. The few races who
are not friendly cannot be hurt by lowly class 1 weapons. Wait until you
have enough money for at least class 3 weapons before buying any
weapons. Missiles are better than lasers. Also if you are close enough
to use lasers, you are close enough to take hits and will suffer
expensive damage. In most cases you can move far enough away to use
missiles, and the distance allows you to dodge enemy missiles.

 Jump pods and Blasto pods are of marginal use.

 One or two extra cargo pods in the beginning are useful. Be careful not
to overload the ship. You want to maintain Excellent acceleration at all
times.

 Top priority goes to upgrading your engine at least to class 3 before
upgrading your armor or shield. Thereafter, upgrading to class 5 engines
is still a high priority, but no longer top priority.

 Selecting the Crew

 Humans make good Science Officers. Veloxi make good Navigators and
Engineers. Thrynns make good Communications Officers. Elowans make good
Communications Officers and Doctors. However Elowans have low
Durability. They die all too easily and are not recommended for that
reason. In the beginning, a human Doctor will suffice. Hint: If given
the opportunity to trade crew members with Dweenle, trade the Doctor.

 Skills are of little use until they reach the maximum. For that reason,
concentrate on training for one skill only until it has reached the
maximum for the character.

 You will not have enough money to fully train everyone in the
beginning. The important skills to train in are Science (for the Science
Officer( and Communications (for the Communications Officer). Spend the
leftover money to train the Navigator as much as possible. The Navigator
does not need a high skill rating until you venture beyond the local
cluster where Starport is located. You'll need the maximum use of the
Navigator's and Communications Officer's skills immediately. Beware of
the flux point in the local cluster (33,70). If you accidentally go into
it, you will become lost if the Navigator's skill is too low.

 Train the Doctor next, and the Engineer last. You only need the
Engineer's skill to repair battle damage. In the beginning, you're most
likely to be totally destroyed in any battle, so you shouldn't need the
Engineer's skill until much later in the game, when you have to fight
some battles.

 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

 The best way to make money is to find colonizable planets. (Hint: Check
the M class star in the Starport cluster.) Finding colonizable planets
is a matter of luck and diligent searching. Check all Earth-type planets
(brown, blue, and white in EGA/VGA displays) that are within the
Ecosphere. Log all planets that meet the requirements, no matter how
marginal they are; even the most marginal planet is worth a lot of
money.

 The next best way to make money is to trade Specialty Trade Goods.
Those are always in demand, although only at specific places. When the
Specialty good is marked with an asterisk (*), the item is particularly
special at that place. Do not sell your entire supply of goods marked
with asterisks. They are more useful when sold in small quantities as
bribes to make the locals friendly, and in certain cases they're needed
to buy Very Important Products.

 Every planet wants some native and foreign life forms that are lacking.
Importing foreign life forms is not very profitable unless you know
ahead of time that you'll be going to that planet. It's very worthwhile
to capture native life forms for sale on that planet.

 Trading in Standard goods is a gamble. Demand is random, so you have no
assurance they can ever be sold. It makes good sense to buy Standard
goods only if you can get them at an especially low price (e.g., 70%
discount or more) -- and even then, just buy a little.

 Mining is totally worthless, except for minerals needed to make
repairs. It is worthwhile to mine 10 to 15 cubic meters of those
minerals, just in case you need them later on to repair battle damage.
The exception is cobalt, if you get the Shield Disabler.

 Trading is done at Trade Centers. When you find a Trade Center, note
its location. On many planets, the centers are always in the same place.
On others, the location moves around but the place where you found one
the last time is still a good place to start searching for the new
location. Shyneum can be bought at trade centers.

 How to Make Friends and Influence Enemies

 Throughout the game you'll have encounters in space with various races.
Most will be friendly. Some will be hostile. A few hostile races can be
made into friends. However, all friendly races can be made into enemies
if you do the wrong thing. Talk to the friendly aliens. Ask questions
until they cut off communications. The detailed clues you need to play
the game and win are obtained mostly by talking to aliens. The locations
of a few other clues are also gleaned from talking to aliens. Consider
the answer before asking another question, as some answers are hints to
specific follow-up questions. Some clues are deliberately obscure and
misleading.

 The best way to handle an encounter is to first move to a safe
distance, then scan the alien ship. After a while, you can tell which
race you're dealing with by scanning the ship. All races have their own
unique ships, although some races use more than one type.

 The right posture (FRIENDLY, OBSEQUIOUS, or HOSTILE) is important. Most
races respond to FRIENDLY. (Hint: The Tandelous respond best to
OBSEQUIOUS.) (Hint: At least one race respond best to HOSTILE.)

 Galactic Expressways

 Traveling through normal space is slow and expensive in terms of fuel.
Once your Navigator is fully trained, you can use jump fluxes to speed
up the journey. Making a jump through a flux automatically records it in
your Starmap, and it is the only way to find out where the flux goes to.
If you find a flux, jump through it just to record it. If it does not
take you to where you want to go, just jump back. Be aware that there
are several flux clusters in which it's very easy to jump through the
wrong flux. In these cases, you have to make a local map of the relative
locations of the various fluxes. The Starmap scale is too large to
differentiate between the various flux points when they are too close
together.

 Game Aids

 Get a sheet of transparent acetate and lay it over the map that comes
with the game. Use marker pens to make notations on the map. Mark off
any system you have already explored.

 The copy-protection scheme is error-prone because it's color-based.
Under tungsten light, the red and orange stars look alike. The white
stars have a yellow tinge. Dark blue and purple both tend to look black.
When you're asked to count stars of those colors, double check the
colors.

 Get lots of 3"x5" index cards or note pads. They're useful for
recording information about each system you explore, and for noting
other important information.

 A spreadsheet program is very helpful for tracking the locations in
which the various Specialty items are bought and sold. It makes it
easier to plan trading trips and compute profit and loss.

                        Part 2
                        ======

 CONFIDENTIAL

 From: Adzel, Acting Captain of the Muddling Through
 To: Nicholas Van Rijn
 Subject: Trip Report

 David Falkayn is in stable condition at the hospital. The doctors think
they can reverse the catatonic condition. The problem occurred while we
were in the Teeelveee system, but I suspect the entire downspin half of
the big nebula is hostile to humans. I recommend that only ships with
nonhuman crews be sent into that system in the future, and that the
nebula be avoided altogether. The Teeelveee system is inhabited by a
very hostile race with weapons too superior for us to fight.

 Our first stop was at the neighboring Tandelou systems. The Tandelous
are divided into two religious sects that are currently engaged in a
religious war but are friendly to neutrals. The Tandelous at 29,74 have
a System Scanner but will sell it only to someone who can provide them
with Godmasks. The only source of Godmasks is the Dweenle at 54,195.

 The Kher at 214,178 sell a Psychic Probe. We found it very useful for
encounters and trading. It glows green when someone is friendly, yellow
when they are cautious, and red when they are hostile. All ships should
be equipped with this probe. The Kher also sell Dreamgrids.

 The Aeoruiiaeo at 184,148 sell a Field Stunner to anyone who sells them
Dreamgrids. Our terrain vehicle's weapons are more efficient than the
stunner for most purposes. However, the stunner is useful for quick
getaways when dealing with hostile natives. By the way, the TV shield
that Starport sells will not work with the more dangerous life forms,
but it's still worthwhile.

 We found that the Dweenles are easier to trade with if we first sell
them some Amusoballs. The Djaboon at 161,52 and Humna Humna at 237,41
are two sources of Amusoballs. The Dweenles are also great lovers of nid
berries. Dweenle space captains will give large amounts of shyneum in
exchange for paltry amounts of nid berries. They also become very
talkative after such an exchange. Nid berries can only be found at
132,6. I recommend that all our ships carry some nid berries when going
into Dweenle space.

 The Humna Humna all will offer better trade terms after being sold
Livelong. Selling Livelong is the only way to buy a Flux Scanner from
the Humna Humna at 216,45. Livelong can only be bought from the
Teeelveee who especially want Tandelou Happy Juice. The Flux Scanner
locates flux points in the Starmap. It is very useful for locating new
flux points. I recommend that all ships be equipped with one.

 The Draffa Bustii at 242,165 has a Planetary Teleporter that they'll
sell in exchange for Grow Goo from the Bga-Seng-Diul at 203,106. The
Teleporter takes the terrain vehicle back to the ship from anywhere on
the planet. It greatly expanded our ability to search planets for useful
items.

 The Humna Humna at 237,88 has an Encounter Scanner. In the Starmap it
pinpoints the location of nearby ships. It greatly facilitates avoiding
unwanted encounters. It was also useful when we wanted an encounter.
Unfortunately, the scanner does not indicate whether the encounter will
be friendly or not. We found this scanner very useful when evading ships
in the Big Nebula.

 We understand that there is a Mining Drone at 101,85. However, the
planet was inhabited by very hostile Spemins. Since mining is such a low
profit activity, we decided not to search for it.

 All ships should be warned that Gas Slugs are very dangerous cargo. The
gas is a psychedelic drug that cannot be filtered out with our
technology. It will get into the ship's air supply. It is very dangerous
to keep onboard a ship, as it seriously degrades the crew's performance.

 From: Chee Lan To: Nicholas Van Rijn Subject: Trip Report Supplement

 I knew Adzel would not mention this. We ran into a race called the
G'nunk. They have a wonderful philosophy, even if it is a little
extreme. They are hostile to all who have not shown themselves to be
G'nasch. "G'nasch" is anyone who can defeat them in combat. Naturally
Adzel found them to be very distasteful, and we could never establish
full contact with them, as he would not fight them.

 Anyway, we learned from the Humna Humna that they have some sort of
Shield Disabler: It disables an enemy ship shield for a short time.
What's more, they give you a Disabler when you become G'nasch! Think of
what this means in combat!

 ***Personal Communique***

 Chee, we are traders, not fighters. These G'nunks are not someone we
want to deal with. They still burn Endurium. We will have nothing to do
with them. Besides, I understand this disabler burns up cobalt for fuel,
and the G'nunk will not tell anyone how to operate it. You have to have
a G'nunk on the ship to operate one. How would you like to spend months
on a ship with a G'nunk? Think of poor Adzel.... -- Nicholas

 [Thanks to Jon Urban for telling me about the Shield Disabler.]


                          Part 3
                          ======

 SECRET

 From: Limmar Poynets
 To: Starport Foundation
 Subject: Big Nebula

 The next time you guys want someone for a suicide mission, don't call
me! Based on Van Rijn's tip, I checked around the Big Nebula. There's
some race called the Umanu living in there. They've got some kind of
really long-range lasers that can penetrate a class 5 shield like it
wasn't there. They also have a cloaking device. I nearly got fried in my
encounters with them. Fortunately, with class 5 engines and the psychic
probe, I was able to run away from any encounters with them.

 The danger area seems to extend from about spin 180 downspin to the
edge of the Big Nebula at spin 90. It's definitely only humans that are
affected. If a human has not gone comatose, leaving that area
immediately results in a complete recovery. I'm pretty sure the Umanus
are connected in some way with this phenomenon.

 From: Limmar Poynets
 To: Starport Foundation
 Subject: Tandelou Civil War

 The Tandelou civil war is due to the loss of The Precious Thing that
was stolen by the Spemin. I tracked the Thing to a Spemin planet at
158,183, but the Spemin sold it to the G'nunk. It was a Humna Humna who
told me where to look on the G'nunk home planet. Returning the Thing
ended the civil war, although they still continue to spar over religious
differences.

 Ending the civil war enabled me to finally get some information out of
the Tandelou's Guardian Gorzek. The Lowar found it and set it up as the
Tandelou's Guardian, but that's not what it was originally built to do.
I have been unable to discover what it was built for, but I suspect it's
Leghk in origin.

 Based on what it was able to tell me about the Past, plus the Leghk
messages at 105, 75 and the recordings from the abandoned Lowar ship at
198,154, I can make the following speculations:

 1. *** CENSORED ***

 2. *** CENSORED ***

 3. *** CENSORED ***

 4. The Spemin obviously also found the Hall, because their new
technology is clearly Leghkian. However it now appears that they are a
minor nuisance compared to the *** CENSORED ***.

 I strongly recommend we *** CENSORED *** find the Halls of Memory.

 From: Limmar Poynets
 To: Starport Foundation
 Subject: Halls of Memory

 I located the Halls of Memory. I found information on the exact
location of three Lowar worlds from a Dweenle. On one of them at
28N,45E, I found the ruins of a Lowar research institute. It gave me the
coordinates of the Halls of Memory and other information, which allowed
me to narrow down the location of the Hall world to just two small
nebulas. The key was discovering from another Dweenle the old Leghk
names of the local star clusters.

 Unfortunately the Spemin have looted the place. It's totally empty.
That's a dead end. The only thing left is to use the *** CENSORED ***.
We know the Lowar did it, and according to some information I got from
an Arla captain, I think class 5 shields are sufficient to survive the
trip.

 If you approve the trip, I will need 75,000 SP to buy shyneum.
(Handwritten note appears here: "Authorized -- Hari Seldon.")


                         Part 4
                         ======

 TOP SECRET

 From: Limmar Poynets
 To: Starport Foundation
 Subject: The Anomaly

 I don't like suicide missions, and to think I recommended this one
myself! With class 5 shields up, we were able to enter the Anomaly at
244,149. On the other side, we were immediately jumped by hostile Leghks
and barely got away. The Big Nebula was not there, so the time period is
clearly in the past. We headed straight for the Halls of Memory at
132,219, using the Encounter Scanner to avoid the Leghks. Unfortunately,
in this time period, the Guardian satellite is still operating; we could
not get past it.

 Remembering that the key had been left with the Dweenle, we went
hunting for one. We got singed several times when the encounter turned
out to be with Leghks. The nid berries were the key to getting the
Dweenles to talk. The location was given in a riddle that the Dweenle in
the past still remembered. We deciphered it. The key was located at
105,17 at 0,0 on the planet.

 We entered the Halls (30S,134E) and got the full story from the 48
Leghks still unaffected by the UHL. The Leghk had developed a weapon
against the UHL, but the first part was on a planet that had been
overrun by possessed Leghks before it could be completed. The Leghks
gave us the other half. It was then an uneventful trip back to the
future.

 Coming back through the Anomaly, I played a hunch and visited Gorzek. I
was correct: It's the other half of the UHL weapon. Anyway, this is my
last report. I'm retiring. I'm getting too old to run around the galaxy
getting shot at.

 From: Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, Starport Command
 To: Captain Worf, ISS Enterprise
 Subject: UHL

 Your orders are to locate and neutralize the menace known as the UHL.
Intelligence indicates the location of the UHL may be found at the
former Lowar world at 139,135.

 ***Personal Communique***

 Worf, I realize the sudden replacement of all human personnel on the
Enterprise has greatly decreased the combat efficiency of the
Enterprise, but it is necessary. I have the fullest confidence in your
ability to bring the new crew to full fighting efficiency in the short
time alloted you. The new shield and plasma torpedoes should help
greatly.

 From the Leghk records, the UHL appears to be intelligent. You are the
mission commander. The final decision rests with you. I can only ask you
to consider a peaceful, negotiated solution if it is at all possible. No
matter what you decide, I want you to know that you have my complete
support.

 Good luck old friend. -- Jean-Luc

 From: Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Crusher, Chief Engineering Officer
 To: Captain Worf, ISS Enterprise
 Subject: New Equipment Analysis

 The new class 7 shields can be blown down by 3 hits of the Umanu class
5 missiles. They provide little protection against the Umanu's
long-range laser, which is primarily an anti-personnel weapon. The Leghk
battle jump appears to be our only defense against it.

 The Umanu must turn off their cloaking device to fire the laser. We can
now determine when an Umanu ship is about to fire the laser from the
energy buildup. Any ship that is about to fire will appear as a blinking
dot on the battle screen. One caution about the battle jump: We do not
fully understand how it works, and jumps are semi-random. It is possible
for us to jump out of sensor range of the Umanu ships. Their lasers have
a longer range than our sensors, and we will suffer hits from them until
we can move back into sensor range.

 The plasma torpedoes provide a partial solution to their cloaking
device. Once locked on target, the plasma torpedoes will track an Umanu
ship, even with the cloaking device on. However, we have been unable to
integrate the tracking mechanism with our targeting computers. We can
target an Umanu ship only when the cloaking device is off.

 The UHL Weapon remains a mystery. We only know how to launch it.

 From: Captain Worf, ISS Enterprise
 To: Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, Starport Command
 Subject: UHL

 We proceeded to the former Lowar world at 139,135 and found a message
indicating the location of the UHL. We proceeded there, whereupon a
large Umanu fleet attacked us. After a hard fought battle, we defeated
the Umanus. I commend the crew of the Enterprise. They performed
admirably. After the battle, the UHL appeared. The psychic probe glowed
green. Pursuant to orders, I attempted to make friendly contact. After a
brief message, the UHL attacked. I launched the UHL weapon, which
attacked the UHL and severely wounded it before being destroyed. The UHL
then sent a message that it would leave the sector if we would cease
hostilities. I replied yes, and the UHL left. We then received a message
from the planet below. The Umanu are the descendants of the lost Noah 6
colony ship and had been held in thrall to the UHL. The departure of the
UHL had freed them.

 Mission accomplished. Casualty list follows.

--<eof>

