The Last Resort Survival Manal

From:  http://librenix.com/sst/tlrman.html


The Last Resort Survival Manual


Welcome to Io
Welcome to Io, once a beautiful moon of Jupiter, developed into a grand
resort world for asteroid miners of the old Sol system. Now it is about
all that is left in the old Sol sector. These days Io is a dangerous,
semi-abandoned, post-apocalyptic wasteland crawling with desperate
loners just trying stay alive long enough and earn enough microbots to
get launched back into space. In short, people just like you.


Trading and making money
There are automated ScrapBins, MiniBars, and ToolShops spread throughout
the hotels on Io. Those are vending machines that sell Iron, Alcohol,
and Hardware, respectively. Each machine type must buy the types of
goods that is doesn't actually produce itself. Therefore, you can make a
tidy profit in microbots by buying hardware from ToolShops and selling
it to ScrapBins, etc. There are also Pantries in the hotels -- with
their locks long since broken off. You can take free goods from a pantry
and sell them to the vending machines. That will increase your profit
margin substantially.


Kiosks and equipment purchases
There are also Gambling Kiosks scattered around the hotels of Io. Kiosks
sell all manner of equipment to make your stay more pleasant. You can
upgrade your fannypack to a nice, roomy backpack for a few thousand
microbots and you can then outfit the pack with additional boxes to
carry more cargo. Kiosks also sell directory services; for a few
microbots they'll tell you the location of the nearest Pantry, Transport
Booth, or neutral Milibots. Oh, and you'll want to make some milibots
yourself, too, for safety. You'll need microbots and iron (get iron at a
ScrapBin or Pantry, remember...) to make milibots.


Milibots and self-defense
Milibots can be used to attack other players, but that's probably a bad
idea for a recent arrival on Io. Rather, build as many as you can and
just keep them with you. They'll defend you -- even when you sleep.


Escaping from Io
Now, your first priority should be to get off of Io -- it's crowded,
dangerous, and economically depressed due to the large numbers of new
arrivals trading there. Fortunately, Io has a working spaceport
accessible from room 2000001 of the first hotel. You can buy a jetpack
at any kiosk and just fly straight to the spaceport by typing in the
room number. Or, you can save your microbots and find the first room of
the hotel you are in. That room will have a doorway to the first room of
the next lower hotel. You can keep going from hotel lobby to hotel lobby
-- always to lower room numbers -- until you reach room 2000001. Once at
the spaceport, it costs 100,000 microbots to purchase a railgun launch
into space. Of course, you'll need a starship; a fannypack just isn't
appropriate equipment for space travel. Unfortunately, the spaceport
won't take fannypacks in trade. You'll have to upgrade to some kind of
backpack before the spaceport will accept your gear in trade along with
the 100,000 microbots, and outfit you with deep space equipment. Note
that you become much more visible to the other denizens of Io once you
trade in your Camouflaged Fannypack for one of the larger, brightly
colored backpacks. Also, you'll need to pass through room 2000001 to
reach the spaceport. There may be unsavory types lurking there. Don't
loiter at the Spaceport; type T to (T)rade with the spaceport quickly --
or click on the spaceport if using a browser -- and get out of there
fast! Once launched, you'll again be a sitting duck in Sector 1 of
space. There will be a wormhole there. My advice is to take the wormhole
immediately and keep moving from wherever it takes you. Only when you're
several sectors away from the wormhole exit should you stop to ponder
your next move.


Welcome to Deep Space
Now that you've put some distance between you and the wormhole exit, you
can look around. Type I from telnet -- or click the Inventory link from
a web browser -- to assess your situation. You'll see that you are in
some galaxy, possibly a spiral or cluster or any of several other common
galaxy types. You'll see the size and location of the galaxy as well.
You may also notice that the spaceport exchanged much of your
terrestrial gear for equivalent deep space equipment. Here are some of
the things that might be useful in space:

Battleship (Traded for a Battlepack): A fine ship that holds many, many
pieces of military and sensory equipment. The tradeoff of the more
military-oriented ships (and packs) are that they won't hold as much
cargo; you have many advantages over a Freighter, say, but you can't
make money as fast as a ship with more cargo capacity and fewer
equipment bays.
Cargo Holds: While every ship comes equipped with a minimum of 40 holds
(the equivalent of pack boxes on Io), more holds are better for
efficient trading.
Planet Locator (Traded for a Pantry Locator): With one of these you can
type L at any time and Locate the nearest Planet. (Click 'Locate Planet'
from a browser).
Planet Scooper (Traded for a Pantry Scooper): This lets you automate
trading planet/port combinations with a single $ command. (Click on
auto$scoop from a browser).
Navigation module (Traded for your GPS): These are used for locating
TradingPosts (similar to Kiosks), finding Black Holes (much like the
malfunctioning Transport Booths of Io, only they throw you farther), and
seeking out fleets of Neutral fighters (like neutral Milibots, you can
park your ship under these while you sleep for some minimal protection.)
Shields (Traded for Armor Plates): You can carry up to ten of these,
depending on the equipment capacity of your ship. Each shield gives you
10% more fighting efficiency when attacked by enemy fighters.
Targeting Systems: You can also carry up to ten of these. Each targeting
system adds 10% to your fighting efficiency when you attack enemy ships
and fighter fleets.
Rocket Boosters (traded for Jetpacks): You can carry many of these. A
booster is a one-use device that lets you warp to any other sector in
space.
Computer: A computer augments other equipment, letting you automate some
functions that would otherwise be tedious. Also, a computer will assist
your Planet Locator and Navigation Module to ensure that you always
calculate the shortest path to objects you're seeking. When used with a
Planet Scooper you can automate the building of fighters when hovering
over an iron-rich planet.
Fighters (traded for Milibots): These are the basic defensive and
offensive fighting unit in space. You can build one from one hold of
Iron and 400 microbots. Make lots of these. They fly mostly under their
own power so it doesn't take much antimatter to carry lots of them
around. When left with your ship, they guard you while you're sleeping
and can be used to attack other ships while you're flying around the
universe.
Scout Launcher: With one of these you can launch a fighter on a random
course to report back to you everything it encounters. You can send
scout fighters long distances, but the longer the mission, the more
antimatter it requires to launch them.
Sector Scanner (Traded for a Room Scanner): This device lets you see
enemy Starbases and fighter fleets before you actually enter a sector. A
sector with a ! (exclamation point) appended holds a starbase and a
sector with an = (equals sign) contains enemy fighters. These are very
useful if you're traveling in an area containing attack-mode starbases.
Computrade and Automove also avoid enemy starbases if you're equipped
with a Sector Scanner.
Black Hole Orbiter (Traded for a Transport Booth Jammer): This lets you
actually enter a sector containing a Black Hole. If it weren't such an
obvious tactic, such sectors would be great places to hide. However, a
Black Hole orbiter is quite useful to prevent you from being thrown to
some random place in the universe when you accidentally warp into a
black hole sector.
Statistics Module: Also called a Statmod, it will let you generate a
Player ranking report, view your Facts of Commerce information, and will
also keep statistics on your Planet Scooper's efficiency. This last
feature will optimize your autoscooping to ensure that the maximum
profit margin is automatically maintained.
Tractor Device (Traded for an Antigravity Device): A tractor device will
let you move ports to other sectors and also move your fully-upgraded
bunker, if you have one, into another sector. Moving your bunker will
help to keep enemies guessing at your location.
Homing Device: When you attack another ship you will also get an option
to simply attach a homing device to them -- if you have one. The 'Your
Deployed Forces' report will show you the location of any ships carrying
your homing devices.
Homing Device Launcher: This lets you place a homing device in a sector
where it will attach itself to the next passing ship. Seed your favorite
galaxy with a few homing devices and keep tabs on the other residents --
as well as careless travelers just passing through.
Microbots: Money. Fiat Currency isn't accepted anymore -- but common
industrial microbots make a handy substitute. Further, they retain their
industrial functions and can be used to make things like milibots,
bunkers, and starbases.
Antimatter (traded for energy): Antimatter is ship fuel. Your ship will
manufacture antimatter at a steady rate, perhaps more than 100,000 grams
per hour. Without antimatter your ship won't move at all. Use antimatter
wisely and, if you have more than you can use, build a bunker and store
the excess there.
Reputation Points: When you attack other forces -- or an enemy attacks
you or your forces -- you'll get reputation points. These get added to
your score, resulting in your score remaining unchanged even after you
expend many fighters attacking an enemy. Your enemy, on the other hand,
as the non-aggressor, will receive far fewer rep points and will drop in
the Player rankings.
Objects in Space


Starbases
You may encounter enemy starbases in your travels throughout the
Universe. Generally, starbases are built to guard a sector to keep other
ships out. A starbase may guard a normal planet, a nice TradingPost, or
an enemy bunker. A very large, expensive starbase usually is hiding
something important. Perhaps a whole team of battleships or a resort
world is behind that Level 14 starbase. Starbases can be configured to
attack any enemy ship that enters the sector, so be careful out there.
Stumbling into an attack-mode starbase might cost you thousands of
fighters, most of your cargo holds, and your military equipment.
Attack-mode starbases are the main reason you might want to carry a
sector scanner while trading in unfamiliar galaxies.


Resort Worlds
There are 25 resort worlds scattered among the galaxies. You already
know about Io, the resort world in sector 1 where you started out. The
other 24 are somewhat randomly spread across the universe. Each resort
world contains hotels with a total of 80,000 rooms. Unlike Io, these
lost worlds are far less crowded and are likely to have far more
lucrative trading possibilities as a result. Further, a resort world
might be guarded by a single starbase. If you find a completely
uninhabited resort world, you might not want to advertise the location!


Other Starships
Space is huge, but sooner or later you'll encounter other starships in
your travels. Most ships you see will be inactive and will show the
captain's name followed by the tag [asleep]. If you see a ship tagged
[awake] you might want to quickly move out of that sector. The captain
may be an enemy, an opportunist, or may mistakenly believe that you're
there to attack! If there is a huge fleet of fighters accompanying the
ship, leave very quickly! Of course, if you're the aggressive type, such
an encounter may be an opportunity to make a new enemy...


Fighter Fleets
Some captains deploy fleets of fighters to guard a sector or the ships
within a sector. A defensive fleet will prevent any other ships from
entering their sector. Also, fighters can be deployed as spies to report
the passing of other ships. Even spy fighters, which will peacefully
allow you to pass through the sector and even to trade there, will
defend any other ships in the sector.


Wormholes
Wormholes are naturally occuring short-circuits in the mesh of space.
The useful thing about wormholes is that they can be used for a free
trip to another galaxy. It is also possible to artificially create a
temporary wormhole -- if you have enough microbots. TradingPosts have
the technology necessary.


Connection Information
TLR is a free game and anybody can create an account and play. The web
login page is at Ioresort.com

You can telnet to Ioresort.com, port 2323 to play via a pure text
session. The Linux command to connect is:
telnet ioresort.com 2323


...More coming...