IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2

FINDING YOUR WAY

VENTURING OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Players who have amassed 50 hauling credits can leave the claustrophobic confines of the Solar System and visit truly strange new worlds - those built by other players.

Star systems are grouped into economic and political units called cartels, ruled over by a Plutocrat. They own the hub system which links the cartel to the rest of the Galaxy.

Each system has an Interstellar Link, which you use to jump through hyperspace to the link in another system. When you are in a cartel, you can jump directly to any of the systems within the cartel, but to move to another cartel you must go via the hub system. If you have goods in your hold then you will pay a customs levy on the cargo when you enter a new cartel.

New systems that link to the game are automatically put into the Sol cartel, of which the Solar System is the hub.

In Sol, the Interstellar Link is situated a few sectors to the west of Titan on the edge of the Solar System. To travel through hyperspace to another star system, the command is 'JUMP systemname', which sends you to the link in the specified system, assuming there is a direct link between the systems. Typing 'JUMP' on its own lists the systems you can jump to from your current system. 'JUMP' can be abbreviated to 'J'.

'DISPLAY SYSTEMS' will list all of the systems and give a little information about each one, including the planets contained in it. It will only show you the systems that are currently open; to see all of the systems, including the closed ones, use 'DISPLAY SYSTEMS ALL'. 'DI SYSTEM systemname' will give you more details about the specified system and its planets, including which cartel it is in; if you leave off the system name, you will be given information on the system you are currently in. 'DI PLANET planetname' tells you about the planets; again, you can leave off the planet name and you'll be told about the world you are on.

To find out what system a planet is in, without getting all the other information that the planet display gives you, type 'WHEREIS planetname'.

Once you are in the new system, you can fly around, land on the planet, explore it, and die just as you can in the Solar System. Player-planets can be much more hazardous than Sol Space, so when exploring them, make sure you are insured. If the system has a hospital of its own, your death will transport you there, and insurance will be on sale at your bedside; if it does not, you will be shipped back to the hospital on Earth.

Should you annoy the owner of a star system, they could decide to deny you admittance in future by exiling you. This means you won't be able to jump into the system but will be turned back at the border. If you are already in the system when they issue the order or banishment, you will be unceremoniously chucked out. You can see a list of all the planets and those who have been exiled by typing 'EXILE'.


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