Manual
Manual
net/
For those of you who have played the original, read the first section
(starting the game and bug reports) and the last sections (Super Melee
and control summary), and you'll be good to go.
Simply invoke the executable from the directory you installed UQM in
to run the game. (Under Windows, this is uqm.exe; under Linux, it's
uqm.) This will use the default settings. The defaults and how to
change them are listed under COMMAND LINE OPTIONS, below.
After a splash screen, you will see the main menu, which has five
options:
- Load Game: Restores a Full Game session that was saved earlier.
- Super Melee!: Puts the game in Super Melee mode, where you may
hone your space combat skills or challenge your friends to fleet
battles. See the SUPER MELEE section below for details on this
section.
The default options for an UQM install are 3DO music, 640x480 windowed
mode, and pure SDL graphics drivers. The initial defaults may vary on
the Windows install if you selected "Mimic PC" or "Mimic 3DO" as the
install type. You may pass various command line options to customize
your experience:
Sets the screen resolution. Unless --opengl is set, the only valid
values are 640x480 and 320x240.
-f (or --fullscreen)
-o (or --opengl)
-x (or --nogl)
Do not use OpenGL drivers. This is more likely to run on systems with
poor or no 3D acceleration, and is often faster, especially on older
or less well supported cards. Only the 320x240 and 640x480
resolutions are available when not using OpenGL.
-k (or --keepaspectratio)
-c (or --scale=mode)
-b (or --meleezoom=mode)
Melee zooming mode (pc or 3do); 'step' is an alias for 'pc' and 'smooth'
is an alias for '3do'. Default is 3do. Slower machine owners can set it
to 'pc' to get better performance in melee.
-s (or --scanlines)
-g (or --gamma)
Sets gamma correction. 1.0 causes no change (unless your graphics card
is originally set to a different value). Higher than 1.0 makes the
image brighter, lower than 1.0 makes it darker.
-p (or --fps)
-C (or --configdir)
Set the directory where the game will store the config data.
-n (or --contentdir)
Set the directory where the game will seek its data.
-l (or --logfile)
-M (or --musicvol)
-S (or --sfxvol)
-T (or --speechvol)
Set speech volume (0-100). If set to 0, the game runs in 'no speech'
mode and the oscilloscope reacts to the music.
Use the 3DO remixed soundtrack for songs that were in fact remixed.
The default.
-q (or --audioquality)
-u (or --nosubtitles)
Disables subtitles.
--cscan pc
--menu pc
--menu 3do
--font pc
--font 3do
--scroll pc
Scroll voice-over/subtitles 1 page at a time when using left/right arrow keys
Default.
--scroll 3do
Scroll voice-over/subtitles smoothly while holding down left/right arrow keys
Use the 3DO intro and ending movies (if you have them).
The default.
Use the PC intro and ending sequences and slide shows. These will be also
played if you do not have 3DO movies, regardless of -i option.
--shield pc
--shield 3do
Use 3DO style throbbing slave shield graphic. This somewhat increases the
load on CPU while in orbit. Do not use if your CPU cannot handle that.
Start the game in safe mode. Safe mode will ignore stored user settings,
like resolution, fullscreen mode, sound driver, etc. This is useful if
you have somehow wrecked your configuration files and cannot get to the
in-game setup menu to change the settings.
Specifies the default port that the bottom or top player respectively
will connect to or accept incoming connections on. If this parameter
is not specified, 21837 will be used. This value can be changed later
in the SuperMelee Net menu. Your firewall needs to be set up to allow
TCP connections from/to the used port.
Set the default input delay (in frames). See the Super Melee section
for details.
BUG REPORTS
- Whenever possible, for bugs that only occur under certain conditions,
include a save game with your bug report that duplicates the bug.
In the case of a crash, a stack trace can be very helpful for us too.
If you don't know what a stack trace is, don't worry about it.
- If your issue is more like "support request" than bug report and you
want help from other users, then posting it to our forum might be
more appropriate: http://uqm.stack.nl/forum/
For the past decade, Earth and the rest of the Alliance of Free Stars
has fought the Ur-Quan and their Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. In the
course of the War, the Earthlings discovered a factory world by the
'Precursors' - an impossibly advanced that disappeared tens of
thousands of years ago. This colony, Unzervalt (aka Vela I), lost all
contact with Earth shortly after landfall.
You are Captain Zelnick, a human that was born on Unzervalt and who
possesses a remarkable knack for Precursor technology. You were the
one who worked out how to activate the Precursor installation.
INTERPLANETARY EXPLORATION
When in a Solar system, use the thrust and steering controls to move
about the system. Intersecting a planet will move you to the
planetary system; flying over a planet or moon will then put you into
orbit. From there you can talk to the inhabitants, or, if the planet
is uninhabited, send a lander down to gather minerals, investigate
energy readings, or capture life forms.
PLANET LANDING
BASE METALS (iron, tin) are grey. These are common, and usually worth
harvesting, but not terribly valuable. 3 RU per unit.
NOBLE GASSES (argon, xenon) are blue. 4 RU per unit.
However, there are many hazards on planetary surfaces. Life forms are
often hostile, and need to be subdued with your stunner or evaded.
Earthquakes (expanding circles) can hurt your crew, lightning may
crisp them, or lava flows and hotspots can fry them. Be careful,
especially on hotter or more seismically and atmospherically active
worlds. If your crew level starts dropping dramatically, flee quickly
with the ESCAPE key!
Landing on a planet costs fuel, and the heavier the planet, the more
fuel it requires. Make sure you don't spend so much fuel exploring
planets that you can't get back to Sol!
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL
When you leave a solar system, you will push up into HyperSpace. In
HyperSpace you can travel great distances quickly, but you must
continuously thrust to move. Otherwise, you will gradually slow to a
stop.
While you can fly about in HyperSpace just like you do in a star
system, the Galaxy is LARGE, and you will usually want to use the
Auto-Pilot. To use the Auto-Pilot, select "Starmap" on the menu.
This will show you a map of the quadrant (the galactic Core is in the
upper right corner). To fly to a location, move the cursor there and
press Enter. Then press Space to engage the Auto-Pilot.
DIPLOMACY
When you encounter an alien starship, you will usually get a picture
of their task force and a chance to choose between conversation and
fighting. If you choose to fight, you will transition immediately to
space combat (below). Otherwise, you will talk first. If talks go
poorly, space combat will likely ensue.
If the task force shows ships streaming off in all directions, you
have reached a fortified world, and there are an unlimited number of
starships facing you. You cannot win such a fight - if combat ensues,
you will need to warp out.
SPACE COMBAT
When combat begins, you are prompted to select a ship from your task
force. A one-on-one space combat then begins, and continues until
either the enemy fleet is destroyed (in which case you salvage the
wrecks and continue the game), your flagship is destroyed (ending the
game), or your flagship warps out of combat (consuming 5 fuel units
but ending the encounter).
Each ship has two major stats: Crew and Combat Battery. Crew are
effectively hit points. Getting hit by weapons kills crew, and if all
crew are eliminated, the craft is destroyed. Firing weapons typically
requires energy from the combat batteries, which is replaced over
time. The precise speed of energy regeneration and cost of weapons
fire varies by ship.
Each ship has a primary and secondary weapon mode, unique to that
race's craft. The descriptions of those follow.
SHIP DESCRIPTIONS
Androsynth Guardian
Primary weapon: Fires homing acid bubble clouds.
Secondary weapon: Transforms into the 'Blazer', a comet that does
considerable damage by ramming its opponents.
Ariloulaleelay Skiff
Primary weapon: Auto-aiming, short-range laser
Secondary weapon: Random teleport
Note: The Skiff is inertia-less, and stops instantly when thrust is
removed.
Chenjesu Broodhome
Primary weapon: Crystal Shard. Will travel until the fire button is
released, then shatters.
Secondary weapon: De-energizing Offensive Guided Interceptor.
Launches an autonomous DOGI that rams the opponent to drain their
combat batteries.
Chmmr Avatar
Primary weapon: Immensely powerful short-range laser
Secondary weapon: Tractor beam.
Note: Has three orbiting "ZapSats" that attack anything that gets in
range.
Druuge Mauler
Primary weapon: Long range, high-recoil cannon
Secondary weapon: Sets one crew on fire to gain combat energy.
Earthling Cruiser
Primary weapon: Homing nuclear missile
Secondary weapon: Point-defense laser
Ilwrath Avenger
Primary weapon: Short-range flamethrower
Secondary weapon: Cloaking device
Kohr-Ah Marauder
Primary weapon: Spinning blades that stop and home when the fire
button is released
Secondary weapon: Fiery Ring of Inevitable and Eternal Destruction
(F.R.I.E.D.), a short-range corona of energy that blocks shots and
inflicts lots of damage
Melnorme Trader
Primary weapon: Charged shot. The longer the fire button is held, the
stronger the shot.
Secondary weapon: Confusion beam that scrambles enemy controls.
Mmrnmhrm X-Form
Primary weapon: Lasers (X-form) or homing missiles (Y-form).
Secondary weapon: Switch between X-Form and Y-Form.
Mycon Podship
Primary weapon: Homing Plasmoid.
Secondary weapon: Regenerate 4 crew.
Orz Nemesis
Primary weapon: Howitzer cannon.
Secondary weapon: Secondary with left and right arrows rotates the
primary cannon. Secondary with Primary launches space marines that
invade the enemy ship and kill their crew.
Pkunk Fury
Primary weapon: Three-way cannon
Secondary weapon: Fling insults at opponent. This is the only way the
Pkunk can regenerate combat energy.
Note: On occasion, a destroyed Fury will be resurrected with full fuel
and power.
Shofixti Scout
Primary weapon: Energy Dart.
Secondary weapon: Glory Device. When pressed three times, the ship
will self-destruct, inflicting vast damage on nearby vessels.
Slylandro Probe
Primary weapon: Lighting weapon.
Secondary weapon: Absorb a nearby asteroid and convert to combat
power. This is the only way the Probe can recharge.
Note: The Probe is inertia-less and always in motion. Pressing thrust
will reverse its direction.
Spathi Eluder
Primary weapon: Simple forward cannon.
Secondary weapon: Backward Utilized Tracking Torpedo (B.U.T.T.), a
homing missile fired from the rear of the vessel.
Supox Blade
Primary weapon: Forward firing glob weapon
Secondary weapon: Secondary + left or right will cause you to drift
laterally, while Secondary + thrust will make you fly backwards. This
cancels your current velocity, so be careful!
Syreen Penetrator
Primary weapon: Particle Beam Stiletto.
Secondary weapon: "Syreen Call" - psychic attack that induces enemy
crew to jump ship, where you (or your opponent) may capture them to
add to your complement
Thraddash Torch
Primary weapon: Straightforward blaster cannon.
Secondary weapon: Afterburner. The afterburner exhaust does more
damage then the blaster, so use it as a weapon!
Umgah Drone
Primary weapon: Anti-Matter cone. Does not require combat batteries to use.
Secondary weapon: Fly backwards suddenly and at high speed.
Note: The Drone only recharges batteries if you do not fire for a long
time, and then the energy all returns in one lump.
Ur-Quan Dreadnought
Primary weapon: Fusion Blast.
Secondary weapon: Launches autonomous fighters to harrass the enemy.
When they run low on fuel, they will fly back to the Dreadnought.
Catch them before they expire. Each fighter requires one crew to
pilot it, so take care not to weaken the core ship.
Utwig Jugger
Primary weapon: Six-shot cannon. Requires no combat battery energy to fire.
Secondary weapon: Force shield. Absorbing hits re-energizes your
batteries. When the batteries are exhausted, the shield is
permanently disabled until combat ends.
VUX Intruder
Primary weapon: Gigawatt laser.
Secondary weapon: Limpet mines that track enemy ships and slow them
down dramatically if they hit.
Yehat Terminator
Primary weapon: Twin autocannons.
Secondary weapon: Force shield.
Zoq-Fot-Pik Stinger
Primary weapon: Anti-matter spray gun.
Secondary weapon: "Tongue attack", a point-blank range attack that
does grievous damage.
SUPER MELEE
Super Melee mode is pure combat. It's designed to let you hone your
skills for the full game, or to challenge your friends to fleet
matches. Selecting "Super Melee!" from the main menu will bring you
to the super melee main screen.
This screen is dominated by the fleet design screen. Move the cursor
over a ship slot and press ENTER to change the ship assignment, or
press DELETE to remove the ship. You may select the fleet name and
press ENTER to edit the fleet name to something of your choice. The
number next to the fleet name lists the fleet strength; this is simply
the sum of the point values of all ships in the fleet.
The right hand side of the screen has buttons for managing the battle.
Each side has four buttons associated with it: LOAD, SAVE, CONTROL,
and NET. The LOAD and SAVE buttons let you load and save fleets. A
variety of fleets of various strengths are pre-defined, and you may
add your own by saving fleets you design.
The CONTROL button has one of five settings. HUMAN CONTROL puts the
fleet under the control of a human player. (The precise controls for
that player are set in the Setup menu, but the bottom player's
controls are always the same as the full game's controls.) Then there
are three levels of computer control:
- WEAK CYBORG is not a particularly good shot, and will only use
special weapons if the ship absolutely requires the special weapon
to function at all (Pkunk, Slylandro). This difficulty level only
appears in the full game when fighting crippled ships.
- GOOD CYBORG will actually use its special weapon, but it's still
not much of a threat. The Good cyborg provides a gentle
introduction to Star Control combat if you are unfamiliar with the
gameplay. However, you will soon wish to switch to...
The last control option is NETWORK CONTROL, which will be set if that
side is controlled by a non-local opponent. To set up a network game,
push the NET button on the side you wish to be under your opponent's
control.
Once the port and delay are set, one player must select the first
option (Wait for incoming connection), while the other enters his
opponent's hostname or IP address into the Host field and then pushes
"Connect." Once the connection is established, the control scheme for
the remote player will flip to NETWORK CONTROL to register the
connection. To disconnect, change it away back to one of the HUMAN or
CYBORG options. Once connected, you are both free to edit your fleets
to provide a properly balanced battle.
Once all fleets are in readiness, press the BATTLE button in the
center right. (In a network game, both players must select it with no
intervening fleet edits. Moving away from BATTLE or having your
opponent change their fleet will cancel your readiness state, and you
will need to reselect the BATTLE button.) When all players are ready,
the battle begins.
To return to the main menu after finishing with Super Melee mode, push
the QUIT button in the lower right.
Space flight
UP Thrust
LEFT and RIGHT: Steer
SPACE or RIGHT SHIFT: Main menu
Menus
Conversations
Star Map
Space Combat
UP: Thrust
LEFT and RIGHT: Steer
RIGHT CTRL or ENTER: Fire Primary Weapon
RIGHT SHIFT: Fire Secondary Weapon
ESCAPE: Emergency Warp Escape
Planet Exploration
UP: Forward
LEFT and RIGHT: Steer
RIGHT CTRL or ENTER: Fire stun bolt
RIGHT SHIFT or ESCAPE: Blast off
Top Player
W: Thrust
A and D: Steer
V: Fire Primary Weapon
B: Fire Secondary Weapon
Bottom Player
UP or ENTER: Thrust
LEFT and RIGHT: Steer
RIGHT CTRL or ENTER: Fire Primary Weapon
RIGHT SHIFT: Fire Secondary Weapon
These controls are configurable from the Setup Menu. You may define
up to six "Input Templates" and assign a template to either or both
players. Some commonly used key configurations are pre-defined, as
well as popular variants. To change key bindings, select the binding
you wish to change and press ENTER. At the dialog box, press the key
(or joystick gesture) that you wish to assign to this action.
SAVED GAMES
The saved games are kept in your personal directory for uqm data.
This directory is automatically created the first time you start the
game. The location of this directory varies per system.
ADD-ONS
As of version 0.3, The Ur-Quan Masters has basic support for add-on
packages. Though it is not very elaborate yet, you can install some
content add-ons. Add-ons created for UQM releases prior to v0.7 are not
compatible with this release. To continue using your current add-ons,
you will have to obtain or create new add-on packages.
Unlike previous releases, 3domusic and 3dovoice are now standard add-ons,
and can be turned on and off from the in-game setup menu.
The Precursors UQM Remix project is intended to be used as an add-on.
If you install UQM 0.7 from the Windows installer, the remix packs
are available as options. The remix add-on can also be turned on and off
from the in-game setup menu.