
         PSI 5  Trading Company         

          (c)1985 Accolade Inc.         
                                        
                                        
You  are  about  to  command  your  ship
through one  of the  great  edge-of-your 
seat adventures of the 35th Century.Sum-
mon your  management skills  and man the 
bridge. The physical and economic survi-
val of  the Psi 5 Trading Company  is in 
your hands.                             
                                        
You  must  first choose  your  cargo and 
course through the Parvin Frontier. Then
select  the best  crew  possible  from a 
cast of human and nonhuman characters.As
you take command of your space freighter
on its  perilous voyage, your  challenge 
will be  to command  the mission by suc-
cessfully  managing  your  resources and
allocating task assignments to your crew
                                        
TO START THE GAME                       
1. Turn off your Commodore 64 or 128 and
remove all cartridges.                  
2. Connect your joystick to port 2.     
3. Turn on your Commodore 64 or 128,disk
drive and monitor.                      
4. After the red 'busy'light on the disk
drive goes off,insert the Psi 5 disk in-
to the disk drive with the label side up
and close the disk drive door.          
5. Type: LOAD '*',8,1 and press  RETURN.
                                        
TO PAUSE THE GAME press the RUN/STOP key
Press RETURN or fire button to continue.
                                        

CONTROLS                                

In general, all game options  may be se-
lected by using the joystick or keyboard
Using the joystick,move the highlighting
or cursor to  the appropriate place  and
press the fire button. You can also (op-
tionally) make  your selection  from the
keyboard by  pressing the key correspon-
ding to the  first letter (or number) of
the desired command.                    
                                        
NOTE: The function keys on the Commodore
act as joystick control:                
   F1  fire button                      
   F5  move left                        
   F7  move right                       
                                        

COURSE SELECTION                        

The display of possible courses will in-
clude their distance,  cargo and reward/
payment  for completion.  The larger re-
wards indicate greater risk, difficulty,
danger and  challenge  in nature of your
cargo.  You must arrive at your destina-
tion within a reasonable length of time.
                                        
To select your course,  use the joystick 
and fire button (left = up,right = down)
or enter  the course number  on the key-
board.                                  
                                        

CREW SELECTION                          

In addition to the control console which
you  operate   as  captain,  your  space
freighter has been retrofitted  for five
other departments  scattered  throughout
its  creaking hull.  These are: Weapons,
Scanning,Navigation,Engineering  and Re-
pair.                                   
                                        
You must carefully select your crew from
thirty potential candidates, five groups
of  six individuals  trained in each de-
partment  specialty. These 'assorted be-
ings'  consist of  humanoids, aliens and
vaccdroids,  each with  different  back-
grounds, skills, personalities and reac-
tions under stress.                     
                                        
The  six candidates for a department po-
sition will be displayed. To examine the
resume for any individual,type the first
letter  of the character's name  or move
the joystick  and select by pressing the
fire button.  Once selected,  the candi-
date's resume will be displayed for your
scrutiny.  The two options  presented at
the bottom of  the screen  will be 'Wel-
come (name)  to the Crew' or 'Exit'. The
options  may be  selected  by using  the
Joystick or  typing W or E. 'Welcome...'
hires this person to fill the department
position and the candidates for the next
department will be displayed. 'Exit' re-
turns  to the  same department  to allow
you to examine the resumes of other can-
didates.                                
                                        

TO PLAY                                 

After the last department crew member is
selected, you will be prompted to remove
the disk  and  flip it over  to reinsert
with the back side up.Then press the the
RETURN key or fire button to continue.  
                                        
Play takes place  with you (the Captain)
sitting at  the communications  console.
The  ship's view  of space  will be dis-
played on  the left console  screen  and
the  communications screen  on the right
will display  the department crew member
with whom you are interacting at any gi-
ven time.  There will also be indicators
on the console  showing weapons, motion,
speed and  pending messages.            
                                        
The initial command options  (main menu)
may be selected via keyboard or joystick
and include the  ability  to acknowledge
pending messages(communications)from any
department or interact with any specific
department.  In general, when you select
a department, you can examine the status
of department activities or give assign-
ments/commands by removing,adding or re-
rioritizing  the list of functions to be
performed by that  crew member.  Because
time is money and you are in the freight
business, we  suggest the  first command
you give is  to tell  the  Navigator  to
accelerate the ship to a given speed. If
you(the Captain)don't issue specific or-
ders, the crew persons in Repair,Weapons
and Scanning  will eventually  get bored
and start performing tasks on their own.
The  detailed  command options  for each
department are descri bed below.        
NOTE:Selecting '?'on any department com-
mand line will display pending messages.
NOTE: A quick exit out of any department
can be taken by pressing CLR/HOME key.  
                                        

WEAPONS DEPARTMENT                      

STATUS:  Display statistics of past per-
formance(i.e. number of shots and kills)
Through this you can learn how effective
the  weapons specialist (crew member) is
with each weapon.                       
DISPLAY: Show the activity list (assign-
ments)  for the  weapons  specialist  to
perform.  The information  includes  the
type of weapon,  number of shots, target
(indicated by scanning ID), priority and
status of weapons/target.               
CANCEL:  Removes a  weapons command from
the list.                               
RANK: Reprioritizes the weapons list.   
FIRE: Adds a command to the weapons list
                                        

SCANNING DEPARTMENT                     

The  general function is to identify and
keep track of other vehicles in space.  
STATUS:Assigns ID letter to a new object
in space  and adds it  to the end of the
list.As time progresses,more of the fol-
lowing information is gathered regarding
a target:                               

Blinking Activity Character             
o)) blinking symbol appears  if this ob-
    ject is being examined.             
(o) blinking bullseye appears if Weapons
    Department  has  outstanding  orders
    for this target.                    
the class (of people)                   
   type (friend or foe)                    
   locked on to continue tracking (L)      
   position of object in space (P. O.)     
                                        
Position (PO)    In Range / Out of Range
  Fore  (in front)    Fi         Fo     
  Aft     (behind)    Ai         Ao     
  Port      (left)    Pi         Po     
  Starboard(right)    Si         So     
                                        

DISPLAY:  This is a  prioritized list of
what  the scanner crew person  is  to do
(examine).  The information shows damage
to the target ship and  recommended wea-
pon to use.                             
CANCEL:  Removes an action item from the
         list.                          
RANK: Reprioritizes the list.           
EXAMINE: Adds a target to the list to be
         examined.                      
NOTE: Before the Weapons Department  can
fire upon a target, the Scanning Depart-
ment must examine the target long enough
to get a lock on it.  Continued examina-
tion will determine class and damage and
suggest a weapon. This is done by adding
the target  to the  scanning  list  at a
high priority  and  waiting  to give the
scanning crew member enough time to fill
in the appropriate data.                
                                        

NAVIGATION DEPARTMENT                   

In this department,  the crew member can
fly a  specific course/speed and control
evasive maneuvering.                    
                                        
STATUS: This displays course description
which includes shortest path, medium de-
viation to port/starboard and full port/
starboard circumvention.  It also  shows
estimated time of arrival(ETA),risk fac-
tor,requested speed,current speed and e-
vasive maneuvering.INF(information)scan-
ner must be operational for RSK(Risk)co-
lumn to operate.For RETA (relative esti-
mated time of arrival):  - means early.       
                         + means late.  
DISPLAY:Shows prioritized list of possi-
        ble courses.                    
CANCEL: Eliminates evasive maneuvering. 
RANK: Selects course.                   
ACCEL:Sets speed and allows selection of
      standard or evasive maneuvering.  
                                        

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT                  

This department is responsible for mana-
ging and allocating power oriented devi-
ces  that can  be controlled.  Different
sections of the ship can be shut down to
conserve energy(i.e.the port shields can
be turned off  if the pirates are on the
starboard side).  Defensive weapons such
as shields require a set amount of ener-
gy just to be  turned on (in operation).
They can  deflect an enemy shot by coun-
tering it with an equal amount of energy
which is drawn from  reserve battery po-
wer (if the charge is sufficient).  Note
that engine power consumption varies de-
pending on actual speed.                
                                        
STATUS:This displays the Device ID,a de-
scription of it  and its  enabled state.
The device types include shields,weapons
information scanner and two batteries.  
DISPLAY:  Show classes  of power,  power
          drain, level of activation    
          (yes,no,partial).             
RANK:Prioritizes devices in relationship
to available power  and thus, determines
which devices are on, partially on (sub-
ject to 'Brown Outs')and off.As an exam-
ple,if in Navigation the speed requested
= 5 but the current speed = 4, it is be-
cause the engines are only  partially on
(at a  lower priority  on the list).    
CANCEL AND ENABLE:  Unlike corresponding
commands in other departments  which act
upon the 'Display' list, these cancel or
enable devices on the  status list. This
will  cause a  corresponding  change  of
status to RqC(Request cancel) or RqE(Re-
quest enable) for pending requests.     
                                        

REPAIR DEPARTMENT                       

This  department is  responsible for re-
pairing  damaged  devices  on  the ship.
There are three forms of damage to a de-
vice:                                   
                                        
1.It can still operate(at a higher power
  consumption).                         
2. The damage can be repaired.          
3. The device is destroyed/dead and can-
   not be repaired.                     
                                        
The  repair person is assisted by a num-
ber of robodroids.  When  one of them is
re-allocated  or completes a task,  they
won't be immediately available.  It will
take some time for them to return to the
department,get tools,assignments and in-
structions  before they can  begin their
next task.  The robodroids  can have the
following status:                       
                                        
1.Active - available to work.           
2.Damaged -will become an item to be re-
  paired.                               
3.Dead - Can never be reactivated.      
                                        
Looting Note:  If  your ship is helpless
(where engines, shields  and weapons are
not functioning),  the pirates can board
your vessel and start looting.  You will
slowly lose your cargo  until one of the
above items is repaired.                
                                        
STATUS:  The  first number  on the first
line indicates  the number of robodroids
ready for assignment.  The second number
indicates total robodroids available,al-
though some may be broken, in transit or
working  on a job.  This lists up to the
first 16 items to be repaired and inclu-
des I/D, description, ETR(estimated time
of repair)and items being worked on cur-
rently (indicated by *).A blinking check
mark (V) appears before the item ID if a
repair order  has been given  to fix the
device.                                 
DISPLAY:  Shows what is  currently being
repaired(up to 8 items) and how many ro-
bodroids are working on it (and the num-
ber of them assigned to work on it).    
CANCEL:  Removes an item from the repair
         list.                          
RANK: Reprioritizes the repair list.    
ASSIGN: Adds an Item to be repaired (and
        number of  robodroids to work on
        it to the repair list.          
                                        

TO RESTART                              

Selecting  the  QUIT  function from  the
main menu allows you to restart the game
with the existing course and crew selec-
tion.                                   
                                        

SUGGESTED TRAINING MISSION              

As an  introduction to the game  to gain
familiarity  with the functions and bet-
ter understand the interrelationship be-
tween departments,try the following pro-
cedure  for your first mission.         
1) Select the ENGINEERING department and
prioritize  the ship's power classes  to
shields, weapons, charge shield battery,
scanners,  engines  and charge emergency
battery  using  DISPLAY and several RANK
commands.                               
2) Select the  NAVIGATION department and
accelerate the ship to speed 1 using the
ACCELERATE command.                     
3)Select the SCANNING department and get
a status report by using the STATUS com-
mand.                                   
4) Watch scanning status until the first
   unknown vehicle is detected.         
5) Select NAVIGATION  and use ACCELERATE
   to stop the ship.                    
6)Select SCANNING and use EXAMINE to get
  detailed information  on the first ve-
  hicle.                                
7) Use  scanning  DISPLAY  to  watch for
class of  vehicle, damage and  suggested
weapon to be filled in.                 
8) Do a  STATUS  command.               
9)Select  WEAPONS  and  FIRE AT-WILL  at
  the target using the suggested weapon.
10) Experiment with  STATUS and  DISPLAY
functions  within both the  SCANNING and
WEAPONS departments.                    
11)After the target is destroyed, repeat
steps 2to7 and remember:Use the RUN/STOP
key to pause the game, so you can  catch
your breath and gather your thoughts. To
continue playing, any key will  start up
the game.                               
12) Select  ENGINEERING  and  turn  some
    shields off using STATUS and CANCEL.
13)Select WEAPONS and FIRE one shot at a
target; this will make them mad, even if
they are  normally friendly.            
14)Select REPAIR and get a STATUS report
Observe entries being added, as  hostile
targets shoot at your ship.             
15) ASSIGN one robodroid each to fix se-
veral items. Flip back and forth between
STATUS and DISPLAY.                     
16) When you have had enough, select EN-
GINEERING  and use  STATUS  and  several
ENABLE commands to turn the shields back
on.                                     
17) Complete the repairs, start the ship
    moving. Experiment and enjoy!       
                                        
========================================

Galactic Greetings,                     
                                        
playing the role of a Captain on a space
freighter  full of unknown people and e-
quipment equipment can be  intimidating.
The best way to become familiar and suc-
cessful is  to imagine yourself actually
as the captain and  put yourself  in the
game.                                   
                                         
Your  duties as captain  require  you to
investigate  and  monitor  the different
crew members and departments often. Wor-
king  too long in  one department, while
ignoring  some others  can  lead to your
downfall.  A wise strategy is to load up
your repair, scanning, and weapons offi-
cers with several tasks.This will insure
they will  stay productive while you are
busy elsewhere;  one powerful capability
of the ship's computer is to monitor one
department's STATUS or DISPLAY while gi-
ving commands in another.               
                                        
Here are some playing hints on a depart-
ment basis:                             
                                        
WEAPONS:  Confirm targets to be  hostile
(foes) or  known enemies before shooting
normally peaceful ships.                
                                        
SCANNING:  Examine  any  new targets  as
           quickly as possible.         
NAVIGATION:  Be sure to monitor the RISK
column  on  the  STATUS  report.  Change
course  to avoid  overwhelming odds, but
not as often to delay reaching your des-
tination.                               
                                        
ENGINEERING:  Pick  power priorities  to
match your strategy.Consider turning off
(CANCEL)power to individual items to in-
crease your power management options.   
Repair: Be sure to  fix mission critical
components as soon as possible  (such as
cargo support devices, life support sys-
tems and power reactors).Fix other items
as to best serve your strategy.If damage
seems  out of your control,  it is often
wise to  stop the ship,  divert power to
shields and weapons, and  fight  between
repairs.                                
                                        
Many actions depend on the Psi 5 ship to
be in working order.If something appears
not to be working, check the Engineering
STATUS and DISPLAY,the Repair STATUS and
ACKNOWLEDGE  messages  to gain  clues to
possible causes.                        
                                        
We have given you  enough information to
be well  on your way.  We have purposely
not given you every gruesome detail, be-
cause there is fun  in learning by using
your mind, imagination, common sense and
by experimenting.                       
                                        
I wish you the  best of luck on your pe-
rilous mission and may the winds of Xal-
dur be in your favor!                   
endofscroll
                                        
It was  not easy  to fit the entire 35th
Century on  two sides  of a floppy disk.
Please let me know how you like the Psi5
Trading Company and what aspects you en-
joy the most, you can write to me at    
   Accolade, Inc.                       
   20863 Stevens Creek                  
   Blvd., B-5/E. Cupertino, CA 95014.   
                                        
Sincerely,                              
                                        
Admiral Mike Lorenzen                   
Star Base 27 Command                    