BACKGROUND

In a not so distant future life on our galaxy has become more and more scarce. To the point were months can happen until two humans contact with each other.

Communication has become so extrange and uncommon that the languages that we all know and employ have become memories from a brighter past. In this new reality the distinction between humans and machines is so vague that it is no longer possible to tell which one are you talking to.

This game pictures the everyday life of an anonymous inhabitant of this universe in his fight to keep his ship running through space a little longer.

OBJECTIVES

Life in this solitary space consists in managing your resources correctly. Inhabited planets where refueling your beaten up ship are hard to find and fuel is a limited resource that is requiered for everything around the spaceship.

But not only the outside universe limits your range of action. Your trusty ship, that has been with you through the years has very limited instruction memory. Which runs out of space when executing the smallest of codes.

With these factors in mind the pilot has to manage to protect his ship from the debris floating around space and find new planets to continue his journey.

MECHANICS

The pilot's task is to give the right orders to keep the ship and himself safe. As good old machine, the ship, requires its orders using a programming language, that prevents any possible ambiguity. This language consists of the following rules, that can always be consulted by pressing :

• shield(s): Activates a shield that protects the ship from impact during s seconds.

• power(m): Turns on motor m (from 0, 1 or 2) Speeds up the ship but increases fuel use.

• goto(x,y): Head the ship to (x,y) coordinates. Locations can be consulted in the minimap.

• fire(): Fire a laser beam that clears the ship sorroundings from asteroids.

• refuel(): While on a planet, it allows refilling the fuel tanks of the ship.

To enter these commands the ship provides the user with a console terminal where they can be written.

Every time a program has to be executed, by pressing key the code is first compiled and executed if everything is correct. But do not worry, because it provides a useful set of error messages than can guide you through the most difficult syntax errors and misspellings.

Not everything can be coding orders and the ship provides you with two additional source of information:

• A minimap: Depicting the closest planets to the ship at any given moment

• A status monitor: Showing the state of the individual parts of the ship along with the motors, shield and fuel.

Wish you luck in your journey and hope you always find a planet before running out of fuel.