FEDTERM MANUAL - PLAYING FEDERATION 2 WITH FEDTERM

SENDING COMMANDS TO THE GAME

General Commands

Fed2 is a text game, and you tell it what you want to do by typing commands into the input window and pressing return. There is a full list of the game commands on the web site at http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/commands/index.html.

You can only type one command at a time into the input window.

You can edit your commands in the input window as normal until you press the return key to send it off to the game. 'Home' and 'End' move the cursor to the start and end of the line; if you have typed enough text to move you onto a second line, 'Ctrl-Home' and 'Ctrl-End' move you to the start and end of the text.

You can cut and paste between these two windows, or between FedTerm and another program, using the standard Windows keys - 'Ctrl-Ins' or 'Ctrl-C' for copy, and 'Shift-Ins' or 'Ctrl-V' for paste - or by using the 'Copy' and 'Paste' commands in the 'Edit' Menu. You can also access these commands through the standard windows right-click menu - just click the right mouse button. Note that you cannot paste text into the output window.

Movement Commands

There are a number of different ways you send the movement commands to the game - apart from typing them into the input window, of course!

Underneath the map are eight movement arrows, arranged in the shape of a compass. Click on one of the arrows and the appropriate command will be sent. Note that FedTerm has no way of knowing if it is possible to move in a certain direction or not, so it will send the command regardless of whether there is an exit that way.

There are two buttons which will move you Up and Down, but if you want to use the commands 'IN' and 'OUT' you will have to type them. To speed up getting in and out of your ship, the 'B' button generates the 'BOARD' command.

You can also move around using the numeric keypad. You must click on the map first, so it has the focus, otherwise FedTerm will think you are typing a number into the input window. Keypad movement works better if you have NumLock turned on - without it, the map jumps about a bit each time you move.

The keys correspond to the eight compass directions as follows:

In addition you can generate the following commands from the keypad:

Examining a Player, Object or Mobile

If you want to take a look at a player, object or mobile that is in the same location as you, double-click on the name in the location panel at the top left of the main window. This issues the 'EXAMINE' command. If it's a player, the description will be displayed in the panel at the top of the screen, with a character portrait (if you have it). The description won't go on the main screen, but it will be added to the story page, so will be included in logs. Press any key to close this window.

If it's an object or mobile, the description will appear in the main window along with normal game output.

Buying Commodities from an Exchange

If you are in a trading exchange, you can click on the name of a commodity in the list of prices which are displayed in the panel at the top of the screen to issue a buy command. The command will be sent to the game, but you will only actually purchase the goods if you are at the correct rank to trade on the exchanges.

The Command Button

If you click on the 'Command' button underneath the movement arrows, a small box comes up allowing you to enter a command. When you press return the command is sent and the box vanishes. The focus is returned to the map so you can carry on using the keypad to move.

You can also press the asterisk key * on the keypad to open this box.

Storing Text on F-Keys

If there are commands that you use frequently then you can tell FedTerm to remember them, and then send them to the game at the touch of a key. You can store up to 400 characters of text on each of the function keys (F1 to F12).

To put commands on f-keys, select the 'F-Key and Startup' item from the 'Options' menu. This brings up the f-key box where you type in the commands you want to assign to that key. You can have more than one command on an f-key - just put each command on a separate line. Use the 'Next' and 'Last' buttons to move between the different f-keys. When you move to a different key, you will be asked if you want to save any changes you have made or revert to the previous version.

Pressing the f-key will send the text for that key to Federation - the equivalent of you typing it into your input window and pressing return.

Pressing Control and the f-key will add the text for that key to your input window without sending the command to the game, so you can type extra characters before pressing return. However, this will not work properly if the key has more than one command on it; all the commands will go into the buffer and combine into one command which will probably have a peculiar effect!

We do not advise that you put too many commands on a key - sending too many commands in one go can be dangerous, particularly if they are movement commands, because if you make a mistake you cannot stop the game acting on all the commands sent.

Start-up Commands

The F1 function key has a special purpose: whenever you log onto the game, FedTerm will send the F1 commands automatically. So you can set it up to issue all the commands you normally do when you log on - set your mood, read the noticeboard, turn spynet notices on, send a greeting to the comms and so on.

The F1 key also works like an ordinary f-key so you can send the commands at any time by pressing it.

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