SPACE BATTLE 2091
by Adam Manning
from Computer Gamer, July 1985

In this game, two players control opposing governments, each bidding for
complete control of the solar system. Player 1 controls the inner half of the
solar system, whilst player 2 controls the outer half. Total control of the
solar system can be achieved in four ways: by taking over planets one by one
(building up your Astro Navy all the time); surrendering; an all-out attack
on your opposing navy; forming an alliance with your opponent,

At the start, player 1 controls the planets from Mercury to Mars, player 2
controls the rest. To make the naming of new planets more logical, planet's
names start with the name of their parent sun and then its position out from
that sun. Thus Mercury (nearest to the Sun) is called Sol 1, Venus (next
nearest) is Sol 2. In later years (around 2505) the number part was changed
into Roman numerals.

Here is the starting data on the planets, most of which will be useful to the
players:

SOL 1
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Mercury
Surface Area:                     74,815,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              29,224,66
Max population:                   1,891,700,000
Capital State:                    Qicksla
Population of Qicksla:           113,483
Date of Colonisation:             July 2016
People working of F.143 at start: 438,700
Planetary rating of F.143:        45%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  1,893,400 tonnes
Satellites:                       None, apart from several artificial ones
(F.143 is short for Ferantium 143)

SOL 2
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Venus
Surface area:                     460,260,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              1,372,900,000
Max population:                   11,736,630,000
Capital State:                    Afrotz
Population of Afrotz:             4,923,337
Date of Colonisation:             January 2013
People working on F.143 at start: 123,561,000
Planetary rating of F.143:        40%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  4,320,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       None, apart from several artificial ones

SOL 3
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Earth
Surface Area:                     511,180,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              12,829,000,000
Max population:                   13,035,090,000
Capital State:                    Singpore
Population of Singpore:           36,776,026
Date of Colonisation:             Pre-historic
People working on F.143 at start: 0
Planetary rating of F.143:        0%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  0 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 3 Alpha
                                  Some authorities prefer Sol 3 being
                                  called Sol 3A and Sol 3 Alpha as Sol 3B.

SOL 4
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Mars
Surface Area:                     144,710,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              323,950,000
Max population:                   3,690,105,000
Capital State:                    Radau
Population of Radau:              1,161,713
Date of Colonisation:             August 2015
People working on F.143 at start: 35,634,500
Planetary rating of F.143:        30%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  337,500 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 4 Alpha, Sol 4 Beta.

SOL 5
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Jupiter
Surface Area:                     240,870,000,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              5,688,200,000
Max population:                   6,142,185,000,000
Capital State:                    Zetsun
Population of Zetsun:             22,088,229
Date of Colonisation:             June 2055
People working on F.143 at start: 853,230,000
Planetary rating of F.143:        5%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  16,000,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 5 Alpha to Sol 5 Nu
                                  (asteroidal types not included)

SOL 6
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Saturn
Surface Area:                     161,880,000,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              40,814,000
Max population:                   ?
Capital State:                    Riggsed
Population of Riggsed:            186,712
Date of Colonisation:             June 2112
People working on F.143 at start: 8,162,800
Planetary rating of F.143:        4%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  360,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 6 Alpha to Sol 6 Iota

SOL 7
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Uranus
Surface Area:                     8,429,600,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              15,902,000
Max population:                   21,664,800,000
Capital State:                    Hicronis
Population of Hicronis:           80,799
Date of Colonisation:             January 2207
People working on F.143 at start: 3,975,500
Planetary rating of F.143:        10%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  1,980,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 7 Alpha to Sol 7 Epsilon

SOL 8
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Neptune
Surface Area:                     7,697,600,000 sq.kms
Starting population:              1,889,915
Max population:                   196,288,800,000
Capital State:                    Mreen
Population of Mreen:             10,183
Date of Colonisation:             January 2325
People working on F.143 at start: 566,975
Planetary rating of F.143:        12%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  1,740,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 8 Alpha, Sol 8 Beta

SOL 9
Pre-Space Colonisation Name:      Pluto
Surface Area:                     28,274,334 sq.kms
Starting population:              1,348
Max population:                   7,209,955,200
Capital State:                    Tobak
Population of Tobak:              1,294
Date of Colonisation:             August 2426
People working on F.143 at start: 472
Planetary rating of F.143:        15%
Ferantium 143 in stock at start:  184,000 tonnes
Satellites:                       Sol 9 Alpha
                                  Some authorities prefer Sol 9 being
                                  called Sol 9A and Sol 9 Alpha as Sol 9B.


Meaning of Titles

Pre-Space Colonisation Name. This is the name given to the planet before the
Colonisation of Space program began in 2010.

Surface Area. This is the surface area of the planet in square kilometres.

Starting Population. This is the human population of the planet at the
beginning of turn 1.

Max. Population. This is the maximum human population the planet can support.
It is 25.5 times the surface area.

Capital State. The principal human settlement on the planet.

Population of Capital. Population of the settlement and its immediate
surroundings.

Date of Colonisation. The date in which the planet had an appreciably sized
number of humans living on it. If the number is over 2091 it is a computer
assisted prediction.

People working on F.143. The number of humans working on the production of
Ferantium 143, a mineral used to build houses, hospitals, construct space
ships and fuel vehicles. Curiously it is not found on Sol 3.

Planetary rating of F.143. This is the rating (as a percentage) of how good
the planet is at producing F.143.

F.143 in stock. How much the planet has in its stores in tonnes at the
beginning of turn 1. Tonnes is termed ts in the program.

Satellites. The name of any satellites the planet has orbiting it, excluding
asteroidal types.

When the game is first loaded, the title screen is displayed and the computer
will ask the player what his title is. Say you are player 1 and you wished to
be known as "Emperor Ming". You would type in Emperor as your title and Ming
as your name. It is then the second player's go at typing in his name and
title. After this, the computer will display the title screen for the
beginning of each turn. It will print the turn number, which player is now
playing, and that player's name and title. It will then say how many planets
they rule and will graphically illustrate them. Next to be displayed is how
much money the player has in doruz. The standard unit of money throughout the
solar system is the doruz which the sign for is 'DZ'. One doruz is equal to
approximately 1430, so it is not surprising that most people deal in the
milli-doruz. The computer will then display which planets the player
currently rules and will wait until they press 'ENTER' to continue.

The computer will then display the main menu. The choices in this menu will
now be described in detail.


Readout on Planets.
This will display the information above, also adding the amount of Astro Navy
ships that are guarding the planet. All the information has been updated and
will change as the game progresses.

Buy Ferantium 143.
The computer will display which planets the player rules, and will ask from
which of these planets do they wish to buy the F.143. It will then display
how many tonnes the planet has in stock and how many doruz the planetary
supplier wishes for one tonne. If the player wishes to return to the main
menu without buying any F.143, he can do so by typing in -1 when asked from
which planet you want to buy F.143. It then displays how many tonnes the
player is buying and ask what price he is going to pay per tonne. It will
then display whether or not the planetary supplier agrees or not. If the
supplier does not agree to sell it at that price, it will go back to asking
how many tonnes the player wishes to buy. A turn is considered to be over
after the player has bought some F.143.

War Manoeuvres.
When the player asks for this option, the computer will display a sub-menu
with several options on it. These are:

Spy on next planet.
After paying the sometimes quite high fee, the computer will display
approximately how many ships are guarding the next planet in or out of the
boundary.

Alter Navy Posting.
This section is used to post ships around planets. The computer will ask what
percentage of the whole fleet do you want around a certain planet.

Attack next planet.
Accessing this option allows the player to attack the next planet in or out
of the boundary. If you control the outer half of the solar system, your
ships will attack the next planet in from the boundary and vice versa if you
control the inner planets.

All-out attack.
With this the player can mount an all-out attack on the opposing player's
fleet. All your ships will attack and all your opponents will defend. The
cost of losing an all-out attack is high, so it is not a good idea to do so
unless you are sure you have a much more powerful Astro Navy than your
opponent. Option 5 allows you to return to the main menu.

Diplomacy.
Choosing option 4 on the main menu - Diplomacy - allows you to communicate
with your opposing ruler. There are two options in the sub-menu:

Force him to surrender
Choosing this, you can ask your opponent whether or not he wants to surrender
his forces peacefully.

Ask him if he wishes to form an alliance.
With this you can form an alliance of governments, and you will have unified
the solar system peacefully.

Option 3 allows you to return to the main menu.

Readout of general info.
This allows you to examine all the general data, such as what percentage tax
you have imposed on the people, how many people you rule, how strong your
Astro Navy is, etc.

Surrender.
This option on the main menu allows you to surrender peacefully if you are
doing badly.

Alter Taxes.
With this you can change the amount of taxes which is imposed on your people.
The more tax you impose, the more money you will obtain at the end of a turn,
but be warned, too high a level of taxation and the people will revolt,
forcing you to start again!

Save Game.
And finally, the last option allows you to save the game at the position you
have achieved.

Secret information for player one only.
Your password to access the all-out attack option is DNA. This must be typed
in correctly, or else you will not be able to attack.
At the start of the game you have:
10ts of F.143 in government stocks.
20% of the F.143 is used at the end of each turn.
40% of the F.143 used is used on the Astro Navy.
A 10% level of taxation on the people.
No ships. Sol 1,2,3,4 under your rule.
A random amount of doruz (between 0 and 1 million).

Secret Information for player two only.
Your password to access the all-out attack option is UK. This must be typed
in correctly when asked for your code number.
At the start of the game you have:
0 tonnes of F.143 in government stocks.
30% of the F.143 is used at the end of each turn.
50% of the F.143 used is used on the Astro Navy.
A 15% level of taxation on the people.
No ships. Sol 5,6,7,8,9 under your rule.
A random amount of doruz (between 0 and 10 million).
5,746,807,300 people under your rule.

For both players:
Near the start of the game, both of you will have to post your ships as they
are not set at the beginning.
The amount of F.143 you have in government stocks will determine how strong
your navy is. For example, say you have a thousand tonnes of F.143 and the
amount of F.143 you use at the end of each turn is 60%. If the percent of
F.143 used that is used on the Astro Navy is 50% then the total amount of
ships in your whole fleet will be 1000 x 60% x 50% = 300 ships. The amount of
ships you have in operational condition does not get added onto at the end of
each turn, but changes according to how much F.143 you are using. It is
therefore imperative to keep up your stocks of F.143.

On the battle screens, the attacker is represented by the X-Wings, whilst the
defender is the Viper. The number of ships is not the actual amount of real
ships the player has, but a ratio. The defender is always represented by 7
ships.

As stated under Taxes, more money can be gleaned from the people's pockets by
raising tax. However, too high a level of taxation and the people will
revolt. Also, a revolution occurs if not enough F.143 is used for civilian
needs.

At the end of each turn, the player will be asked if they wish to change the
amount of F.143 used. If the player wishes to change it, he has to type in
the percent used. The rest will just lie in government supplies. The player
can also change the amount of F.143 used on his Astro Navy.
