Battlecruiser Millenium Gold Edition Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ by Kasey Chang released August 18, 2003

Table of contents 0 Introduction 1 Battlecruiser Millennium General Info 2 Starting a Career 3 Commander on the Bridge 4 Primary Systems 5 Secondary Systems 6 Defensive and Offensive Systems 7 Flight Dynamics and Navigation 8 Personnel Operations 9 Security Operations 10 Emergency Operations 11 Docked Operations 12 Advanced Operations 13 Not in Manual: Cargo / Inventory 14 Not in Manual: Money 15 Not in Manual: Emergency Ops 16 Not In Manual: Career Questions 17 Tips and Tactics 0 Introduction

This section is for "what the FAQ is about" and things like that. Feel free to skip this section. If you like the FAQ, please send me a dollar. :-) See [0.3] This FAQ is about Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition, though most of the information should also cover Battlecruiser Millennium and Battlecruiser 3000 as well.

0.1

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

There doesn't seem to be any FAQ for this fun little game, so here it comes. This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. Not that you really need a manual to play this little gem. This USG only covers the PC Version, which is the only one that exists. Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM and XCOM2: TFTD FAQ's, among others. 0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION

This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2003, all rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section. This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following conditions: 1)This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this document: "Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2003 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved except as noted in the disclaimer." 2)This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no change to the content, then no permission is needed. 2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no HTML borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and esp. no adding your site name to the site list. [Small exception: a "small" toolbar with no banners embedded is okay. See IGN or Neoseeker for examples.] 3)No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its distribution. Free is preferred, of course. Sale of this information is expressly prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, contact me (see below). 4)If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it is plagiarism. 5)The author hereby grants all games-related websites the right to archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided that all above restrictions are followed. Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e. archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow them, then you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, and therefore

you have no right to display this document. If you do so, then you are infringing upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites that don't seem to understand this. For the gamers: You are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, I do ask for a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar if you live in the United States, and if you believe this guide helped your game. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of US stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. 0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION

Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would be very appreciated. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. For the record, out of ALL the FAQs I wrote (42 at last count) over the past nine years or so, I've received exactly 9 dollars and 3 sets of stamps, as of release of this guide. So I'm NOT making any money off these guides, folks. 0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME

PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark, mistakes, and thereof... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in the USG, e-mail it to me at the address specified below. I'll try to answer it and include it in the next update. Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is the job of the publisher. Try the official site at http://www.3000ad.com for tech support requests. You will need to register with a VALID keycode. Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already answered in this FAQ/guide. It makes you REALLY idiotic. I will NOT answer stupid questions unless I'm in a really good mood. If you send stupid questions, do NOT expect a reply. If you must write me, the address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers can't use spambots on it: Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT Yankee-Alpha-Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike

To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word except for the numbers and the punctuation. This is "military phonetics" or "aeronautical phonetics" in case you're wondering. This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97. Some editing was done with Editpad (editpadclassic.com). 0.5 THE AUTHOR

I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I kept doing it. Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM, XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wing Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3 Expansion Pack, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics, Starfleet Command Volume II, DS9: The Fallen, DS9: Dominion War, Driver, Warlords: Battlecry, Monopoly Tycoon, Dungeon Siege, and a few others. To contact me, see 0.4 above. 0.6 DISCLAIMER / COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Derek Smart created Battlecruiser series. As for the history of it, I'll point you to his website. This USG is not endorsed or authorized by Derek Smart, 3000 AD, or Dreamcatcher Games. The information compiled in this USG has been gathered independently through the author's efforts except where noted otherwise. A lot of the information was summarized from various suggestions and posts from the official BC Forum at http://www.3000ad.com. Contributors are too numerous to list. The head designer/programer, Mr.Derek Smart, was a great resource. This document is based on the BCM Gold Eidtion, V1.00.01 release, and thus information listed here may NOT apply fully to earlier versions. 0.7 HISTORY 18-AUG-2003 Initial release

1 1.1

Battlecruiser Millennium General Info THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Can you send me the game (or portions thereof)? A: No. It's too complex for you any way.

Q: Can you send me the install code? A: That's a part of the game, so see above. Q: Can you send me the manual? A: That's a part of the game, so see above. Q: Can you send me the keycard? A: That's a part of the game, so see above. Q: Can you send me the map? A: It's in the appendix, AND in the game, AND on the keycard. Q: The manual seems to be missing a lot of things. A: That's why there's the appendix... Q: Can you tell me how to play the game? A: Read the manual, please. It's VERY long but it's worth it. Q: Is there going to be a sequel? A: Battlecruiser Generations is being worked on, and after that, expect to see the MMOG version, right now just called Battlecruiser Online. 1.2 BATTLECRUISER HISTORY

Battlecruiser 3000 AD was first released in... 1998, though the game was started in... 1993. That's right, BC is THAT old. Derek Smart back then was talking about a game where you can do everything, such as... * pilot anything from ground vehicles to shuttles and fighters to cruisers and carriers * command dozens of different ships, from unarmed freighters to battlecruisers and carriers * shuttles that collect cargo, deliver items, land on planets and moons, and more * marines that patrol your ship against intruders, board enemy ships, land on planets * ships that fly differently, have different upgrade paths, and so on * zoom from the planet surface all the way out to space * mine planets and moons for minerals to be sold * trade items at various starbases, from spare parts to illegal items * dozens of different missiles and mines, even orbit to surface bombardment weapons * join any of the dozen different factions in the galaxy * jump outside and look at your world in FIRST-PERSON, either in space or on ground * galaxy with HUNDREDS of planets, DOZENS of star systems, and THOUSANDS OF SHIPS * have careers as ship commander, fighter pilot, or space marine * advanced AI driven by neural net technology * and much more Would you have believed him? I would show some reservation myself. All the big name companies turned him down. Finally, one company

called Take 2 Interactive decided to try him. It was a major disaster. The game was released in beta form (that required at least 2 more months of work) without Derek's consent, using only PART of Derek's code. The result is a game that is unplayable out of the box, and STILL buggy throughout. Of course, back then a lot of the features in the above list are missing. Most magazines gave this game some extremely bad ratings, mainly due to the bugs. A lot of people saw the potential in the game, as there is a lot of freedom, when things work right. Remember, this is YEARS ago, when DOS is the operating system of choice, and people are still using 386's and 33 MHz is considered fast. For a definitive take on the history, see this website: http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.27/guest/ Mr. Smart continued to support the game, even as the original publisher basically left it to die. The game actually sold relatively well in Europe, but again, Derek had to do his own support, as Take 2 simply cannot support the game (having no experience with it) and refuse to. Derek then sued Take 2 for breach of contract. Mr. Smart continued to release patches and add new features, while the lawsuit is pending. After protracted legal struggle, Derek managed to get his game's publishing rights back, while he worked on the 2.0 version. As a demonstration, he released the latest "original" version FREE, and it was included on many game magazine demo CD's. That generated enough interest to entice Interplay into a publishing deal for "V2.0 Developer's Version". BC3K 2.0 was published by Interplay. By this time, the game was ported to 32-bit Windows (Win 95 to be exact). The game didn't sell that well either, probably due to the complexity and freeform nature of the game. Still, it was released as a "budget" title. The final version is V2.09. This version is now available free on the 3000ad.com website. Mr. Smart continues to work on the game. The next version became known as Battlecruiser Millennium. It continues to add new features and fix bugs. This time around, Mr. Smart has had enough with the various publishers, and he chose to self-publish the title. As a result, the only distributor that will carry it was Electronic Boutique (and the chain, including EBX). Derek then started working on Battlecruiser Generations, which started out as an expansion to Battlecruiser Millennium, but eventually grew into its own product. It is supposed to have better multiplayer support as well as DX9 graphics engine and 3D positional sound engine, plus many other enhancements. DreamCatcher, who is better known for adventure games, decided to help Derek Smart publish the game. People wanted multiplayer support NOW, so Derek decided to do another release... Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition, which uses BCM's main program kernel, but has several new features, including a new terrain engine, first-person modes, and multiplayer support.

So just we get the terminology straight: BC = Battlecruiser, usually the series BC3K = Battlecruiser 3000 AD, the original title, released in 1996 BC3KV2 = Battlecruiser 3000AD V2.0, released in 1999 BCM = Battlecruiser Millennium, released in 2001 BCMG = Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition, released in early 2003 BCG = Battlecruiser Generations, the next release due in late 2003 1.3 BATTLECRUISER MILLENNIUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

From the official website... Minimum Requirements: WIN 98SE/ME/2K/XP (with all service packs) DirectX 8.1b or higher Pentium II 300Mhz or AMD K6-2 350Mhz processor 64 MB RAM (128MB minimum for WIN 2K/XP) 16MB DirectX 8 compliant 3D graphics card 16Bit DirectX 8 compliant sound card 8X CDROM or DVD-ROM 500MB uncompressed hard drive disk space Microsoft compatible mouse

Recommended Requirements Pentium III 500Mhz or equivalent AMD processor 128 MB RAM 32MB DirectX 8 compliant 3D graphics card with TnL DirectX 8 compliant joystick Ultimate Requirements WIN 2K/XP (with all service packs) Pentium III 1Ghz or equivalent AMD processor 128 MB RAM 64MB DirectX 8 graphics card with TnL & pixel+vertex shader DirectX 8 or higher compliant joystick

Multiplayer Requirements Client requires 56K or broadband modem Server requires LAN or broadband (cable, DSL etc) connection 1.4 HOW DOES THE GAME PLAY?

The game can almost be described as 'Grand Theft Auto in Space' in first person. It offers you TOTAL freedom to do what you want

in the galaxy of many different star systems, from mining to trading, from shooting to repairing, even upgrading your ship. The universe is alive, with ships moving around you, each with their own objectives. Even your crew does things automatically... If they are hungry, they will go find food. If they are too tired, they will go to their quarters and sleep, and so on and so forth. You can even transfer your alter ego (avatar) from the ship to a shuttle or a fighter, and pilot that instead. Jump out of your ship in space, and move around like a space marine. Transfer to a ground vehicle (use the transporter, or land via a shuttle or the whole ship) and drive around on the ground... Or jump out and look around in first person... AND use your weapons in first person. All these features are in the SAME GAME. In "roam" mode, there is no objective, other than survival. If you find that boring, try the advanced campaign mode (ACM) where you must accomplish several missions in strict time limits, and you are responsible for safeguarding your sector against any and all threats. Add this to multiple starting points, careers, alignments, factions, ship choices, equipment, upgrades, trades, in a galaxy that contains dozens of systems and hundreds of planets and moons (and you can LAND and explore most of them!), and you have a game of unparalleled freedom. Grand Theft Auto 3 doesn't even come CLOSE to what this game can offer. The Gold Edition added full multiplayer, first-person careers as marines (3 separate types), 2 fighter pilot careers, and various other enhancements. 1.5 BUGS AND FIXES

This FAQ only discusses the BCMG (Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition), so only BCMG patches are listed. The current patch is V1.01.00, dated June 02, 2003. Though new patches are released periodically fixing various problems and adding gameplay enhancements. You should check the official website at http://www.3000ad.com for updates. The fixes are listed in each release as a "version control file". It's too big to be included in the FAQ. Patches and other things are being worked on DAILY. If you REALLY have a problem, download the latest patch and try it. Chances are, it'll fix your specific problem. Oh, and one more thing. During a BIG battle, when LOTS of missiles were launched, the game may slow down significantly. Just keep waiting, and after a while the game should return to normal speed. This is NOT a bug, just a lot of things to process. 1.6 DOES IT HAVE MULTIPLAYER?

Yes BCMG sure does. Join an existing server and play in the

server's galaxy, where the next ship you run into may be piloted by a human! 1.7 EXPANSION PACKS? SEQUELS? RELATED TITLES?

BCMG is the latest of the series, and thus will not have any expansion packs. There was one planned, but the features have been rolled into the next version. Next version will be Battlecruiser Generations. 1.8 MISC. INFORMATION

If you already own Battlecruiser Millennium, there is a $10 rebate form in BCMG box for you. As you can often find BCM for about $5, that will bring the net cost of BCMG down to about $25 if you have never tried the BC series before. 1.9 BEGINNER'S GUIDE

One of the most often asked question by newbie is... "what do I do in this game?" The freedom is so complete, most people are UTTERLY LOST as to what to do. My first suggestion is... read the manual. While it is LONG and TEDIOUS, it is also full of information that is needed for you to understand the game. This is a FULL STARSHIP SIMULATOR with a living universe. You WILL need to know EVERYTHING, maybe not all at once, but soon. Start a Roam mode campaign, ship commander, and pick a super cruiser. While carriers are more fun, the fighters, not you, do the fighting. A cruiser goes into direct combat more often. And a super cruiser is more powerful and more likely to survive. My first suggestion is for you to stay put in Sol sector, near GalcomHQ, which is a very safe spot to be. You won't *do* much, but at least you won't die. When you think you got enough experience and has upgraded to a decent ship, then go further out. Do NOT attack hostile star stations. Those have extremely high amount of firepower. They are quite capable of killing a ship in about 5 seconds, BEFORE you get into weapons range. They are also EXTREMELY hard to kill by yourself. So don't even try until you know what you're doing. First thing to do is to buy at least 1500 units of Radine, so you have 2500 total. You don't want to run out of fuel, EVER. It's embarrassing and wastes a lot of time. Second, sell off extra stuff you don't need, like mines (unload them from the tubes), 1300 nutripaks (you have 1500, and you only need 200 or so for your crew), extra vacuum paks, etc. You should now have plenty of starting capital. Third, buy up all the expensive items that you can at GalcomHQ.

You'll sell them elsewhere for profit. Pick spare parts would probably be best. Use up all the money that you can. Fourth, have your navigation officer plot a course to Lyrius, in Sirus system (just "southeast" of Sol system). Go there (just turn on autopilot), dock at the Wraith station, and sell ALL your spare parts. Sell all your mines too as you will probably never use them and they are worth a lot (you may need to unload them from the launch tubes first). Wraith station has inflation level of 30%, while GalcomHQ has inflation of 0%, so you should make about 30% profit on most items you sell here. You can ignore any enemies you encounter on the way as you will probably outrun them. Go back to GalcomHQ and buy more goodies. Fifth, repeat the trading run until you have 20 to 30 million credits. Now buy all the upgrades that your ship needs (shields, engines, reactor, and armor) and stock up on STS missiles. After that, it's up to you. Go kill some enemies, take over star stations... and see how you do in this galaxy... But you should REALLY read the whole manual at least once, and maybe ALL the FAQs here.

Starting a Career

Please see section 2.0 in your manual "Starting a career". Q: What do I start out as? A: The default choice, Galcom / Terran Military, is fine. When you are more experienced, you can try as the Insurgents, or any of the other factions and alignments, or try the pilot/marine careers. Q: What is the REAL difference between the factions? A: The factions mainly differ in the equipment they have access to and starting positions, and who they consider as enemies and friends. Q: What ship should I choose? A: For newbies, I recommend a super cruiser, like Warmonger. It doesn't have cloak or fighters, so it's more of a "direct" shooter, and less things to manage. Later, you can try one of the hybrid carriers (some fighters, but still main guns), cloakable ships, or fleet carriers (up to 8 fighters). Q: What is the difference between roam and ACM? A: ACM makes you responsible for a sector and give you strict time limits on accomplishing some missions.

Commander on the Bridge

Please look over section 3.0 of your manual. Q: I'm in my ship now, I see the Logistix screen. Now what? A: Before you leave, go to TRADCOM and buy at LEAST 1500 units of

Radine (your nuke reactor fuel) so you have total of at least 2500. Without Radine your ship is DEAD in space. As you won't travel too far, 2500 is sufficient for now. Later, when you go for LONG distances into enemy territory, bring more fuel (the maximum your tank fits, like 10000 or more). Also get more plutonium (shield fuel). Before you leave, consider spending your remaining credits on just about anything, but preferably weapons and spare parts. You can trade them to other stations. Q: Did the trading and such. Now what? A: If you log off the computer, you should end up at the "starbase" screen with login / logoff buttons. Login takes you back into the system. Logoff sends you on your way into space. Incidentally, you get this screen whenever you dock at a base. Q: Okay, I'm in space. Anything I should do first? A: Get into the habit of turn OFF power to launch control, to prevent intruders taking one of your shuttles. Then set about 34 marines on SEARCH mode immediately so they'll patrol the ship for intruders. Set 3-4 more "prep for combat". It'll take about 15 minutes or so for them to be ready. Things are quiet so far, so send some of your officers to take a nap (off duty). When the marines prepped for combat are ready (their status will say 'READY' instead of 'ACTIVE' in about 15 minutes), then send them to search, while send the ones searching to rest or prep. Then just keep switching the groups so you always have 4 or so marines on patrol. Keep 4 more prepped so you can set them to search immediately should more intruders arrive. Also power on shields (if not already on), and send somebody (marine, flight engineer, etc.) to one of the shuttles (probably SC1). You will need a shuttle to fly around almost at all times. 3.1 FLIGHT CREW

Please see [8] for more information about your crew. Q: Why don't I have a research officer (RO)? It says "absent" and I have only 8 officers. A: If your ship cannot mount one of the artifacts, you don't need an RO, thus you don't have one. For which ships can use artifacts, see the HTML appendix. Q: Who is Resnig? I've A: Paul Resnig is your the marines. He's been tactical decisions and 3.2 SUPPORT CRAFTS heard all the jokes about him... combat officer, i.e. the guy in charge of known to make some... "interesting" is the source of plenty of jokes.

Q: I told my shuttle to retrieve/tow something, but the shuttle just circles the objective but never got closer than a certain amount. Why? A: Your pilot's AI is too low to accomplish the rendezvous. Order it to halt, then retry the order. If that still doesn't work, bring it back and send in someone else (a different pilot, a different shuttle, whatever). In general, never send anyone with

AI less than 15% to pilot a shuttle. Preferred level is like 25% or higher. Q: I issued some waypoint orders through TacOps to my shuttle. Why did my shuttle never stops moving, and immediately came back to the ship? I want it to stay! A: The "RTB" (return to base) order after last waypoint is implied. If you want it to wait on the ground, order HALT on the last waypoint (add a waypoint if you need to). Q: I gave the shuttle waypoints, but it's not moving! A: Are you sure you launched it? Q: I can't launch it! A: Does the shuttle have at least one crew member (as pilot)? (status button should turn green). Q: I still can't launch it! A: Did you allocate power to the launch controls? Q: How do I replace a lost shuttle, fighter, mining drone, or ground vehicle? A: You can buy them as SC ASSET, FIGHTER ASSET, Mining Drone, and OC ASSET, respectively, subject to availability of course. This is in the manual errata. Q: But why is a GSV-xxx only like 150K, where as OC ASSET is like 1.25 M? A: That GSV-xxx is packed in shipping crates, and is a blank shell that's not usable without extensive preparation (that must be done by a base/station), where as OC ASSET means you get a vehicle appropriate for you and ready to go. Q: My shuttle won't land! It just buzzes all around me! A: Did you allocate power to the launch controls? Without it the landing systems won't work.

Primary Systems

Please look over section 4.0 of your manual. Nothing yet, maybe next update...

Secondary Systems

Nothing yet, maybe next update...

6 6.1

Defensive and Offensive Systems PRIMARY WEAPONS SYSTEM

Q: What is the damage power of one of the "main guns" at 100%

power? A: At full power, each shot is 100 damage, but PWS shots dissipate over distance. Q: How many main guns does my ship have? A: See the appendix for the ship's stats. Q: When should I change the power level? A: When fighting smaller enemies, esp. fighters and such, power down PWS to 50% or even 30%. This will allow you to shoot faster (more shots) but each shot is weaker. Q: Why can't I hit ODS or a marine with PWS? A: ODS is only a dozen or so meters long and marine even smaller. Your guns are a bit too big to hit something that small. 6.2 PASSIVE TARGET ACQUISITION SYSTEM

Q: What exactly does this system do? A: It's your secondary turrets in an automatic defensive network. PTAS will fire at the most appropriate target(s) in range (closest or largest). You can't control them, nor would you need to. Q: How many turrets does my ship have? A: See the appendix for the ship's stats. Q: What does adjusting the power level do? A: The lower the power level, the faster the turrets recharge and shoot the second bolt. Thus, at lower power the turrets fire a more shots, like a machine gun or a hose. At higher power, it shoots fewer but more powerful shots. Q: When should I adjust the power levels? A: 50% is a good general usage. Against ships, set it to 100%. Against fighters, consider setting it lower, like 20% or 30%. 6.3 FAST TARGET ACQUISITION AND LOCK (FATAL)

Q: What exactly does this system do? I don't quite understand the manual. A: It allows you to "prelock" targets for your missiles. Then when you're close enough, computer will automatically launch the missiles when the target is in range. Q: When should I use this? A: When you don't have time to worry about locking and firing multiple missiles. FATAL will fire ALL FATAL-designated missiles that are within the launch envelope and have a valid lock. However, additional missiles must be designated manually. 6.4 MISSILE LAUNCH SYSTEMS

Q: How do I reload the launch tubes for the missiles? A: If you have enough in inventory, it should be automatic. Else, whatever missile of the same type will be loaded. (In other

words, if you have STS missiles loaded, only other STS missiles will be used in reloads) It just takes a little time. Q: How do I unload the launch tubes for the missiles? (So I can sell them or something?) A: Tactical / Loadout, then select the appropriate craft (CC, FC, SC, or OC). 6.5 MINE LAUNCH SYSTEMS

Nothing yet. 6.6 CLOAKING SYSTEM

Nothing yet. 6.7 HULL, ARMOR, AND SHIELD SYSTEMS

Q: Hull/Armor can be upgraded, and shields can be upgraded, right? A: Right. You can also upgrade the reactor and engines, but that's for another section. Q: How do I upgrade my ship? A: See manual appendix section [7.11] (and yes, you MUST undock from the station first). Then select the component, and select upgrade. Then you'll need to assign the crew to complete the task. You can re-dock with the station and let them work on it after the initial task is completed. Q: What upgrades are compatible with my ship? A: See C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\upgrades.html 6.8 TRACTOR BEAM SYSTEM

Q: Why do my shields go to 0 when I engage tractor beam? A: That's the way it works. Tractor beam won't work with shields on. If you want shields, turn off the tractors, and vice versa. NOTE: You can cut the tractor by raising shields. This may be useful in certain situations. You will need to turn the shields back on later. Q: But I still need to tow something, AND I need shields! A: Send someone else to do it, like a shuttle. Though if you're under attack, the shuttle wouldn't survive very long. Enemy ships are smart enough to pick on easy kills.

7 7.1

Flight Dynamics and Navigation INTER/INTRA SYSTEM TRAVEL

Q: How do I go somewhere? A: Easiest way is order the ship to set course for a particular "landmark", such as station, moon, comet, planet, jump point, and so on. Q: Can you be more specific? A: Click on the ship icon (right side), which should pop up with a long list of commands. Pick "fly to", then pick the item out of the list of items that's categorized. You can do this in Tacops or the Bridgeviewer. Q: But I'm STILL not moving! A: Did you turn on the A/P? (autopilot) Q: But I don't want to use autopilot! A: Align on the heading then manually engage hyperspace jump. Q: How do I go to another star system? A: Order the ship to JUMP TO, then pick one of the jump locations: jump gate, flux field, or wormhole. Your ship will fly there and jump. Q: I was at the jump gate, but I flew straight THROUGH it and I didn't jump! A: If your NO is not on the bridge, you must keep the gate targeted for the jump to work. Else you won't jump. Crashing into the gate will prevent you from jumping as well. Q: What are the two different modes of autopilot (A/P) any way? A: The "green" mode is the regular one, it simply takes the ship "there". The Red/Orange one is the "A/I" mode, where the ship will perform actions as specified in TacOps. Q: Why is my ship moving so slowly? A: Each ship has a different top speed in normal space. Most are under 2000 kph. Q: What is the ship's top speed without hyperspace jump? A: See your manual appendix for specific ship's stats. C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\appendix.html Q: But I want the ship to go REALLY REALLY fast! A: If you have a destination set, try using hyperspace jump. Q: I can't jump! It's not working! A: Hyperspace engine must recharge after each use, and have a valid target. Make sure your HJ engines are fully charged. If your A/P was set, A/P will simply move at the destination at best possible speed, and engage HJ when ready. Q:Ack! I'm flying right at a planet! A:Don't worry about it. While in hyperspace you'll pass right THROUGH planets and moons. Q: How do I make the hyperspace engine recharge faster? A: You can't. The recharge rate is a part of the ship specifications at C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\appendix.html

NOTE: One of the "artifacts" can give you instant jumps. Just beware that saboteurs want to steal those first, and not all ships are compatible with artifacts. Q: How do you get A: Go through the (not visible), or the skill of your to another star system or planet then? jump points (looks like jump gates), wormholes flux field (not visible). Some of these need navigation (astrogation?) officer.

Q: What is the difference between jump gates, wormholes, and flux fields? A: Try the manual. However, here's a summary... jump gate: artificial point-to-point travel. Go in, and you go out the corresponding gate in the other end. Must go THROUGH the gate. If you crash into side of the gate you won't go through. Usually also require the gate to be targeted. wormhole: natural point to point travel. Go in and appear on the other end. No physical gate, just touch the general region and you're suddenly on the other side. flux field: randomly drop you into one of the multiple exits, no way to know which one. If you are adventurous, give it a try. Q: What's the difference between hyperspace jump and jump gates/wormholes any way? A: Hyperspace jump is for INTRA system travel, like between planet and the moon, planet to the jump gate, and so on. Maximum speed is limited to c. Even at that speed, it takes a while to go from planet to planet, much less between star systems! Q: Why can't I plot a course in Navitron computer? I keep clicking but nothing happens. A: If the nav officer is not on the bridge, the Navitron is useless. Q: What is "region - X" any way? A: Those lead to "sub-regions" of the map. For example, Jupiter has 4 other regions, each with more moons and bases and such. 7.2 WAYPOINT SYSTEM

There are two types of waypoints: intragalactic waypoints, and intrasystem waypoints. The intragalactic waypoints are the ones you plot in the Navitron computer. Say you want to fly from Earth / Sol to Majoris / Alpha Majora, you need to go through Pluto / Sol, Centris / Alpha Centauri, Tranis / AC, Treas / AC, Arima / Tau Ceti and Xylan / Tau Ceti. Each of those systems are waypoints on your journey. However, you can also set intrasystem waypoints, which exist on the Tacops 3D map (which is fully 3D and rotate-able and zoomable), by using the WAYPOINT menu at the bottom. 7.3 DOCKING PROCEDURES

Q: How do I dock to a star station? A: Get within 0.5 km, and hit the appropriate key to dock. Q: Uh... it's not working. A: You must also have the star station targeted. Q: My autopilot won't fly any closer. A: Some times the A/P stops at about the 35 km mark. If that's the case, fly manually (turn off A/P) to the station. 7.4 ORBITAL AND PLANETFALL PROCEDURES

Q: How do I land on a planet? A: Issue the craft 2 waypoints. First is the "entry" waypoint, with orders to "proceed to next". Add another waypoint, and change the orders at that waypoint to do the appropriate stuff (probably "halt"). Q: Uh, how do I do that? A: Use TacOps (ALT-S) computer. Q: I want my shuttle to land, not the ship! A: Then issue the order to the shuttle (SCx), not the CC (command craft).

Personnel Operations

Q: What does each of the officers do again? A: See appendix: C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\crew.html Q: Why don't I see a Research Officer? A: If you ship cannot mount an artifact, you don't need a research officer (RO). See "upgrades" to see if you can use an artifact. Q: Why don't I see any pilots? A: You're probably not commanding a carrier, thus no fighters and no pilots. Q: If I don't have any pilots, who will fly the shuttles? A: Any of the crew can do it, including your AE, the marines, the flight engineers, and so on. Q: I tried to drive an OC, but it shows as "unmanned" A: Again, you need to assign someone to drive it. Q: Why aren't the system engineers dispatched automatically for repairs? A: Your CE (chief engineer) needs AI level of 35 or higher to do that. See appendix. Q: My marines are ACTIVE or READY. What is the difference? A: Marines that are ACTIVE are simply alive. Marines that have been through "Prep for Combat" show "READY". The combat

effectiveness is quite different between the states. So whenever possible, you should prep the marines first before sending them out to patrol your ship. However, prep for combat uses up 1 combat pak per prep and about 15 minutes. Keep those in stock, and prep the marines ahead of time. Q: What does the fatigue level mean? A: Green means completely effective, fresh as a daisy. Yellow means "normal, maybe a little tired". Red means "I'm about to fall over. I'm going to bed..." Q: How do I reduce fatigue level of crew? A: You can let them rest ("off duty"), and they will recuperate. If medibay is active, you can send the crew to medibay and be treated. According to the manual, they heal faster in medibay. Q: My crewmember is wounded. How to heal him/her? A: If Medical Officer is on duty and has AI of 15% or higher, she will automatically dispatch medics to roam the ship looking for wounded crew and heal them and/or take them to medibay. Else, order the crewmember to go to Medibay. If a medic or medical officer is on duty they will perform the necessary actions on the wounded crewmember when s/he arrives. Q: How does a crewmember get wounded any way? A: Intruder in the area, marine and intruder fight in the area (or nearby), or the section of the ship where the crew is at suffered damage. Or life support went out on that section of the ship (due to damage or bad power allocation), or radiation, or infection/disease, or volatile chemicals/minerals in the cargo bays... Q: What is hunger level? What are nutripaks? A: Hunger level indicates how hungry a person is. Hunger level of 500 means the guy is hungry enough to go look for food in the galley and ignore his job. Hunger level of 900 means the guy is starving to death and will lose health. If you have enough nutripaks in your cargo hold, the crew member will automatically move to the galley, consume a nutripak, and return to their job. If you don't have any... They'll eventually starve and start losing health, and eventually die... Q: I ordered _____ to go to medibay but s/he doesn't move! A: If the person is too tired to move they won't move. If the passage way is damaged between his position and destination and there is no way through they won't move either. Finally, the crew may not wish to leave his/her position yet. Q: I ordered _____ to go to ______ but s/he is not there yet! A: The crew member must actually MOVE through the intervening locations, like turboshaft, corridor, etc. Give them a little time. See "ship operations" for a list of ship locations. Q: I lost _____. Can I get a replacement? A: If it's one of your department officers, and your cloning module is working, you can clone him or her back to life, but they'll lose any of the AI gains since the beginning of the game. If it's replaceable crew like engineers and marines and so on, just recruit new ones from the next star station you dock to (subject to availability, of course).

Q: Can I recruit more crew members as standby? A: Unfortunately, no. Each ship has a limit on how much crew it needs.

Security Operations

Q: Why is my ship at yellow alert when I don't see any enemy ships? A: You have intruder(s) onboard. SAS light should be flashing. Another possibility is one of the prisoners escaped. There may also be cloaked ships about (and may have beamed intruders onboard your ship!) Go to PERSCAN and see how many. Q: So what do I do? A: SHUT DOWN launch control ASAP, and set ALL prepped marines to search (I hope you already have them PREPed...) and start prepping the others. Send marines to medibay and detention hold. Q: Uh, how do I shut down launch control? A: Go to Logistix / Power and turn off its power. That essentially locks the bay doors and no shuttle can enter or leave. Q: What do intruders want? A: They want to KILL YOU (your AE, actually), and/or to steal nice items from your ship and escape, either by transporter, or in one of your shuttles. Q: Where do Intruders come from any way? A: They may sneak onboard while you are docked at a station. Prisoners in the detention hold may escape (esp. when power was lost to that area). Or a cloaked ship may beam intruders onboard. (In BC, shields stop weapons only, and does NOT prevent the use of transporters). Q: Is there a full list of ship locations? A: Most locations are listed on page 80 of the manual. The "inbetween" locations like turboshaft, fore corridor deck 1, etc. are not listed, but can be inferred. Basically, it's "fore" / "mid" / "aft". Different ships have slightly different layouts. Q: How do I prevent intruders from getting onboard any way? A: You really can't. One suggestion is to periodically cloak (if you have cloak), as cloak prevents the transporter from working (both ways). Here's another: if you see your screens crackle with short burst of static, there's probably a cloaked ship nearby. Hit retro rockets or after burner and start zig-zaging. Q: Any other way of dealing with intruders? A: Your marines on search duty will find them and kill/capture them, but will likely take casualties. Or you can dock with a star station. Star station security will sweep your ship and put any intruders into your detention hold as prisoners. Q: So what do I do with the prisoners? A: Dock with a star station (with prisoners already in the detention holds) to get some EP bonus.

10

Emergency Operations

11

Docked Operations

12

Advanced Operations

13

NOT IN MANUAL: Cargo / Inventory

Q: What are Combat Paks for? A: When you order your marines to "prep for combat", they use up 1 combat kit each. Thus, it is necessary to keep them supplied. Else, they will be fighting with their bare hands! The preparation takes about 15 minutes. Q: What are medpacks used for? A: Quick healing of somebody who is injured. In the Medibay, you can choose to "heal" somebody by clicking on the person, and click on "heal" button. That consumes 1 medpack per attempt. The effects are NOT instantaneous, so don't use more than one. NOTE: When in first-person mode, you can use medpak on yourself, as 2 are issued to everybody. Q: What are Nutripacks for? A: That's "food" for the crew. When a crew's "hunger level" reaches over 500, they will leave their post to get some food (at the galley), then come back to work. Some, however, will only go to eat during off-duty hours. It takes a while for the crew to be hungry, so you need only about 150 or so. Q: What are Vacpacks for? A: That's the vacuum suit and necessary stuff for EVA work. Every shuttle should need a couple for EVA work. Your crew will automatically take some. Q: What is Radine used for? A: That's fuel for your nuclear reactor, your primary source of power. Keep it ABOVE 2000 at all times, preferably 10000 or more if you go on long trips. When you get advanced reactors with lower fuel consumption, you may be able to reduce the fuel reserve amount. Q: What is Plutonium used for? A: That's fuel for your shields. To keep your shields up, you

need it. Usage is pretty low, figure 250 to 500 units should be sufficient, unless you upgrade to bigger shielding, which also lowers the plutonium consumption per unit of protection. Q: What is Iridium used for? A: Iridium powers the cloaking system. So unless you HAVE a cloaking system, you don't need it. It is also quite valuable. Q: How do I unload some missiles from the tubes so I can sell them (and presumably replace them with better ones)? A: Tactical / Loadout / select craft to unload, then do so. You can also unload mines and/or probes this way. Q: My shuttle has some cargo onboard and I want to sell it but I can't find it. Where's the cargo? A: Go to Tactical / Loadout / shuttle and UNLOAD the cargo into your ship's cargo bay(s). THEN you will find the cargo. Q: I have retrieved my mining drone full of minerals. Where are they? A: Go to Tactical / Loadout / shuttle / drones, and UNLOAD the drone.

14

NOT IN MANUAL: Money

Q: How do I make money? A: There are three ways to actively make money in BCM: mine for minerals and trade them, trade items from station to station, and kill/capture hostiles for bounties/loot. 14.1 MINING Q: How do I mine for minerals? A: Deploy a mining drone on a planet or moon using a shuttle. As for how, please see Manual Appendix section [7.21] and/or [7.20] Q: How do I tell how well the mining is going? A: Use Tactical / Loadout / SC / # / Drone, and pick the one you wish to know more about. The drones will roam the landscape and collect minerals, and you'll read how full they are (as a percentage). When they're full, send a shuttle over to retrieve them. You can also see detailed loadout (how much of each) by using the Tacops computer, turn on video, and select the drone. Q: Where do I sell the collected minerals? A: In general, sell them at a high inflation station is best. On the other hand, the prices for minerals are pretty stable. See manual appendix C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\lbases.html for a list of star stations and their "base" inflation rate. Q: I retrieved the drone with the minerals and the shuttle has docked. Where are the minerals? A: They are still in the shuttle's cargo hold. You need to unload them into the ship's cargo hold.

Q: How do I speed up the mining process? A: Mine a system/planet/moon with higher mineral density (you learn this by docking at a station and look at INFO) screen. For example, Moon/Earth/Sol is only 1%, while Moon-2/ Lyrius / Sirius is 11% or so. Each moon/planet will be slightly different. Listing them all would simply be too long. 14.2 TRADING Q: How do I make money trading? A: In general, you want to take cargo from the low inflation stations to the high inflation stations. The more expensive the item, the more profit you should generate. Beware, that the ACTUAL amount of inflation WILL vary somewhat, thus actual profit is not guaranteed. The list of bases is in C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\lbases.html Q: What are all those HT, AD, and all that? A: Difference specialties. Some stations specialize in a particular area. A station specializing in HT will sell HT at 10% discount off their "general" rate (which is base rate plus inflation), and sell all non-HT items at 10% surcharge (since it's imported). See HTML Appendix, Launch Bases (the link given above) for explanations. Q: So to exploit the difference, I should locate a low-inflation station, buy up its specialties, then find a high-inflation station that specialize in something else, and sell the stuff there? A: Exactly! Q: What are some good trade routes? A: One suggested route is GalcomHQ / Earth / Sol to Wraith / Lyrius / Sirius. It's only 3 jumps, and about 30% difference. If you do it in a shuttle you can go even faster. Or you can go from Pluto / Sol to Lyrius / Sirius. That's about 20% difference, in only 2 jumps. Another suggested route is to Saron / Sarien / Alpha Canis, which has cheap stuff. Saron has TRELLIS, HULL REPAIR KIT, and/or REACTOR REPAIR KIT that can generate good profits... If you have enough capital to get started. Sell what you don't need at Majoris / Alpha Majora, which has about 50% difference, taking into account the "specialty" bonus. Q: Any other trading suggestions? A: One of the suggested methods is leave your CC next to GalcomHQ, and do your trading in a SC. Your SC moves faster. Run to stations and buy up things to fill up your hold (SC's cargo hold, without any drones or OC, is 5000 units, same as a ship's cargo bay), then take your CC somewhere to sell off the stuff. Obviously, your SC is extremely weak and easily destroyed... So don't run to hostile environments with it. With that speed, you should be able to avoid most enemies. 14.3 BOUNTY HUNTING Q: How do I make money as "bounty hunter"? A: In general, capturing hostile ships will make you some money,

as well as earn you experience points (EP). For the exact amount, please see the appendix C:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\3000AD\Battlecruiser Millennium Gold\docs\appendix\ep.html Q: How do I capture hostile ships? A: After the ship is disabled, tractor it (must be range less than 1 km), and tow it to a base, then dock to the base. When the base asks if you want to deliver the ship, answer Y(es). BEWARE: While tractor beam is active, you have NO SHIELDS! Do NOT attempt under hostile conditions! Q: Is there any other way? What if I need to tow multiple ships? A: Send a shuttle (or two, or three...) Have the shuttle "tow" the target, then "deliver" to the base. Neutral bases are fine. You'll still get the credit for it. Beware that shuttles are extremely vulnerable, and you need a smart pilot to perform delicate maneuvers such as towing. 14.4 OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME Q: Any other way to make money? A: You can collect cargo pods that are just spinning in space. Any ship that was destroyed has a chance of spewing a cargo pod or two. Have shuttles on standby, and launch them to "cargo sweep" missions to pick up those pods. That's FREE merchandise you can sell. (The pod may be empty though) For how to recover cargo pods, see Manual Appendix section [7.13]. Remember to transfer the cargo from the shuttle's cargo hold to the ship's cargo hold! Remember shuttles are vulnerable to enemy fire. Retrieving stuff near a hostile star station is very hazardous to the shuttle's health (and its crew's health as well!). BEWARE docking at a LEGAL station with contraband onboard results in a violation (and violations CANNOT be erased!)

15

Not in Manual: Emergency Ops

Or... "All right, I'm in a REALLY bad situation here. Can you save me?" Q: I am out of fuel (radine). What do I do? A: Re-orient your ship so you get SOME power from the solar reactors. Shut down EVERYTHING except life support (primary AND secondary) and launch control (you should have enough power for that). Put your AE into the shuttle, and FLY it to the nearest friendly base to buy radine. Fly back, and transfer the radine to the ship, and turn on everything again. Or you can tow the ship to a friendly base as well. Or send someone else to the shuttle and have HIM tow the ship back.

Q: I forgot where I placed the mining drone. How do I find it? A: You should at least know which moon it's on, or which system it's in. Go to that system, and try to observe the moon, then zoom to view the unit (should be in the list somewhere). If not, it's not there. Try a different moon and/or different system. Q: Help, I exited the CC, and the CC went elsewhere! A: Use TacOps, order the CC to halt, then fly back to it. Q: How do I get back inside the CC? A: Look for the "enter craft" key on the keycard (slash). Q: Help, there are intruders near the bridge, and my AE is already wounded, and won't survive another attack. What do I do? A: Order your ship to halt, then EXIT the ship, and hide outside for a while. Use medpak on yourself to heal, then get back inside to see if your marines have taken care of your problem. You can also ride on the hull and use TacOps to order your ship to dock at a station, which will also take care of your intruder problem. Q: Help, my ship is crippled. What can I do? A: 1) Launch a shuttle (with you in it or someone) and tow the ship to a friendly port 2) Call for a tow if you have no shuttle 3) If you can't even do that (COMMLINK is down), then it's time to self-destruct and start over.

16

Not In Manual: Career Questions

Q: I belong to GalCom / EarthCom. I took in some cargo pods as loot and when I docked to the station, I was notified that I had contraband (illegal items) onboard, and I was chalked up with a violation! What do I do? A: You can have up to 10 violations before you got courtmartialed, so don't worry about it if this is only your first or second time. Q: But what do I do to prevent this from happening? A: Several possibilities: a) Don't pick up cargo pods from enemies who deal in contraband b) Pick up the cargo pods, but inspect them and eject illegal stuff before docking c) Load the contraband in the shuttle and launch the shuttle before you dock. Tell the shuttle to return after you undock. d) Don't dock at "legal" stations while you have contraband onboard. Q: Can I reduce violations? Do they "expire" after a while? A: Unfortunately, NO. Violations cannot be reduced and do NOT expire. So, don't commit any violations. You can have up to 10, so don't go around making them all over the place.

17

Tips and Tactics

17.1 COMBAT Detune weapons when fighting fighters When fighting fighters, turn down your main gun and PTA guns to 50% or even 30%. This allows you to pump out more but weaker shots, increasing possibility of hitting something small like fighters. 17.2 CAPTURES Extra Shuttle Loot When you fight hostile ships in a relatively neutral spot (a neutral station nearby, for example). and you destroy the hostile ship, the ship will often have a shuttle the escapes and goes for the station. However, if you're close enough to the station, (under 200 km, maybe?) you may be able to tractor the escaping shuttle before it reaches the station as it cannot escape into hyperspace. By delivering the shuttle, you gain extra EP and bounty. -------New entries are always welcome... Feel free to submit them via the e-mail address above. --THE END--