COSMOS CHRONICLES International Edition (ATARI ST & WINDOWS)

BETA VERSION 0.95 (ENGLISH) 
The original game is in french. This is a beta version of the international edition. There may be a few bugs, and the English translation is not yet perfect: I'm counting on you all to let me know of any corrections to ensure correct English.


Game compatible :
- Windows PC
&
- ATARI STF
- ATARI STE (ideal configuration)
- ATARI MEGA ST
- ATARI MEGA STE 8-16Mhz
- ATARI TT (a little fast)
- FALCON 030 (too fast?)
Minimum memory: 1MB
Game fits on a single 720kb floppy disk
Blitter operation on equipped machines.
DISK or HARD DISK versions


INTRODUCTION

It's the year 1815 of the Hegemonic Era, you're living in exile on the poor satellite planet Acriel, orbiting wealthy Nova, capital of the Hegemony, with your aunt and uncle. Your Grandfather, former Lord of the Hegemony on Nova, was murdered for treason. Mother is dead, defeated by the Yellow Plague, and Father, a space merchant, has been missing for 10 soils, mysteriously leaving his ship in Uncle Vetea's hangar.

You're destined for a life as a farmer, wondering if Father might still be alive somewhere among the stars... He was an archaeologist at heart before becoming a merchant. He wanted to understand where you came from and what the Hegemony was hiding from us.

ALL THE UNIVERSE IN YOUR ATARI ST

The whole universe in your ATARI ST: 200 billion galaxies, hundreds of billions of stars and planets in each galaxy (*), the possibility of visiting every patch of grass or rock on every planet, houses, caves, the ultimate open world.

The ability to eat, drink, poop, shower, repair your ship, booze in the pub, fight in arenas, play in casinos and arcades, pray to the Gods, buy condoms, go on space trips, slalom between asteroids, see things no one has ever seen at the edge of space, to infinity and beyond.

(*) In this version, it will not be possible to leave the original galaxy, even if other galaxies virtually exist. This could be unlocked in a sequel.


The uncompromising ROGUELIKE:
- Persistent universe
- You only have one true life
- There's no going back. You die, it's over... just like in real life ;)

A combined tribute to :
- ULTIMA IV and V, for gameplay & visual rendering (which draws heavily on the imagination)
- ELITE and ELITE FRONTIER (for the open world and space trading)
- SUNDOG (for futuristic adventure and numerous gameplay possibilities/interactions)

A game supported by :
RICHARD GARRIOTT (Ultima Series), who agreed to be in the game in 16x16 pixels.
BRUCE WEBSTER (Sundog on Apple II)
+ 1 Twitter like from DAVID BRABEN (Elite Series)

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND?

The game will be updated regularly according to your feedback and suggestions.

If the game is successful and demand is high, we'll consider a boxed version with improvements + goodies: map of the local universe, galactic backpacker's guide...

A sequel could be envisaged! Or a DELUXE version (with lots of additions) for Atari ST with 4MB RAM.


SUPPORT THE AUTHOR

The game is free! But if you want to support the author, for the 26 months spent developing the game, for the updates to come, and for future versions (physical bigbox release? Deluxe 2Mb version? other support?), think about making a small donation, so he can buy himself... a pack of Zot in Belgium and drink it to your health :)

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KEYS:

DIRECTIONAL ARROWS
Move character/Spaceship
UP to enter a building/access a machine

ENTER
interactions/validate

BACKSPACE
Take-off/go into space
Exit a menu screen

SPACE
Ship interior view
Change scale on galactic map

ESC
Suicide/quit game

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LIFE & SAVE CONCEPT

"Extreme Roguelike":
- Only one life, you die = game over
- No going back on a save (you pick up where you left off)
- You have to save in the hibernation chamber in the ship's pilot room. Only in space
- Abruptly quitting the game with ESC = suicide.

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DOCUMENTATION

Old piece of paper found in the ship :



SPACE NAVIGATION :

DEUTERIUM MOTOR
Magnetic fields containing deuterium cores, generating thrust up to 10% of light speed.

AUXILIARY MOTOR
Under 5% Deuterium, the auxiliary motor takes over and recharges very slowly.

DISTORSION MOTOR
Indispensable for star-to-star travel: expands space-time at the rear of the ship and contracts at the front, thanks to negative energy, known as dark energy. 3 types of module exist: Hyper 200,600 and 2k

DARK ENERGY
Negative energy is contained in black spheres whose technology remains mysterious and kept secret by the Hegemony. Only Guild members have access to this energy source.

SPACE JUMPS
The greater the distance between jumps, the less accurate they are (depending on your equipment). The calculator cannot take into account all the parameters of the local universe.

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3 VERSIONS :
COSMOS.ST, image disquette (720ko) du jeu
COSMOSHD.ZIP, version disque dur/Ultrasatan
COSMOS_WINDOWS.ZIP, version PC Windows