Noctis: the latin word for "night", and the title of this simulator. Night, after all, is just the word we use to describe the absence of light while the Earth is turned away from the sun, and in space, there is no light but the distant pinpricks of ancient stars. Space is a lonely place, but it harbours some truly spectacular secrets; eerily glowing pulsars, enormous red giants, glittering, beautiful nebulae, and deadly, all-consuming singularities to name but a few. For most people, the thought of going into space and exploring such sights is an impossible dream. But no longer; Noctis allows you to do just that. In technical terms, it is a fully 3D galaxy, which allows you to explore thousands of stars, their planets and moons. From the moment you first play Noctis, you'll be hooked.




In-Game Help

When you're in Noctis, you can always press F1 to get a list of keys and what they do. There are two different ones, one for when you're on the stardrifter, and one for when you're on planets (or moons). That's because some of the keys in one mode don't apply to the other mode. About Your Ship

You explore the Noctis galaxy in a vehicle called a Stardrifter, a term that applies not only to the ship, but to its pilot. There are many Stardrifters exploring the galaxy, though it is incredibly unlikely you will ever come across another by chance. The Stardrifter is a perfect vessel for exploration, being as it is equipped with a wide variety of tools to facilitate the investigation and navigation of unknown solar-systems. What is important to remember when playing Noctis is that you directly control only yourself, not the Stardrifter. In order to use the Stardrifter, you must use the various computers inside, the most important of which is built into the main window at the "front" of the ship.

Moving Yourself

All of your own movement is controlled by the mouse. Moving the mouse will move you backwards and forwards and turn you from side to side. To look up and down, or to strafe from side to side, hold the right mouse button. If you stand in the middle of your Stardrifter and press the up arrow key, you will climb outside to stand on top of the ship (You're protected by a space-suit, so this is safe). You can then go back inside by walking through the proximity-activated doors in the cupola. While inside the Stardrifter, double-clicking the right mouse button will move you automatically to the main screen. When on planets, there are several other movement commands. Firstly, you can hold down the left button to run forwards (or swim if you're in water). Secondly, pressing one of the number keys (0-9) will also make you run forwards, at a speed appropriate to the number you pressed. This has the advantage of allowing you to take your finger off the mouse-button. Thirdly, pressing Page Up will raise your helmet's anti-radiation visor, giving you a slightly clearer view. Page Down will lower it again.

There's also a mouselook option for when you're on planets. Press the up arrow key to try it out (That'll cycle between these three states: mouselook off, mouselook on, mouselook on with y axis inverted). If you're in your Stardrifter, there's a menu option for that as well (Extended->More options->Mouselook).


Using The Computers

In Noctis, you wear a heads-up-display, or HUD, which is a computer screen built into your suit's visor. The HUD displays a lot of important information, and is directly linked to the Stardrifter's main computer. However, all the Stardrifter's main functions are accessed through the main computer display. When you look at the far left of the front window, you will see a menu displayed on the glass. One of the four options on this menu is highlighted, in the same way you would expect from a Windows application. However, instead of a mouse, you use an infra-red unit in your helmet, a bit like a TV remote-control, meaning that you can select different menu options by looking directly at them. To confirm your choice, click the left mouse button while looking at the menu item you want to activate. Just to the right of this menu, if you look up a little, there are a series of other options running horizontally, underneath which are details relating to your actions. Selecting a menu option, whether from the main menu to the left, or from the sub-menu above, changes the options on the sub-menu, a bit like clicking on the "file" button in a Windows application, thereby revealing a second list of options that relate to the file. Each of the menu options in Noctis also has a shortcut key, which can be pressed wherever you are in the Stardrifter, even if you're not looking at the screen. These keys are displayed on the top rim of your HUD.



The Head-Up-Display

Whenever you're inside your Stardrifter, your HUD displays a lot of information from your main computer. At the top of the screen are displayed the class and name of your remote target and local target (More on classes later). In the bottom left are displayed your distance from your remote target in light-years, and your distance from your local target, in dyams. You'll also notice that there are messages displayed on the inner rim of your helmet's visor itself. In the very top left corner, the date is displayed (the Felisian timekeeping system is explained later in this document), and along the top right are displayed the shortcut keys for the currently selected menu on the computer window. Along the bottom of your visor rim are displayed the current gravity (in FGs), temperature, air-pressure and your own pulse-rate. Finally, in the bottom right of the HUD's main screen is displayed your computer's status. This can be one of many different messages, most of which should be f airly self-explanatory, so no list is provided here. Your HUD is lit by four small diodes in the corners of the visor rim. To brighten or darken these, use the "+" and "-" keys on your keyboard.



Finally, please note that when you are on a planet's surface, your HUD will not normally display any data on its main screen (though the data around the helmet rim will remain in place). When you press a key, it may display a status message in the center of its main screen to let you know what pressing that key did.

Piloting the Stardrifter

Now, the most important functions the computer is capable of are those relating to the movement of the Stardrifter. Select the "Flight Control Drive" option from the main menu by clicking it with the left mouse button, and have a look at the options that appear on the sub-menu to the right. The first of these is "Set Remote Target". Select this in the same way.

You will now be presented with a little cross-hair that moves as you turn around. This allows you to select the star you want to visit, so point it at a star through one of the windows and double-click the right mouse button. Now, underneath the menu options on the main screen, some details appear about the star you have selected.

Stardrifters travel between the stars using their powerful lithium powered Vimana drives. Once you have selected your remote target, IE the star you want to visit, select the "Start Vimana Flight" option. Your Stardrifter will now power up its Vimana Drive and head at incredible speed towards your remote target. You'll notice that information appears on your HUD regarding your distance from the target.



Moving Within Solar-Systems

Now, when you arrive at a star, you'll no-doubt want to start exploring its planets and their moons. This is done in much the same way as travelling to stars. Select the "Set Local Target" option from the menu and then select one of the star's planets in the same way you selected the star in the first place (After you're targetting indicator is on the planet or moon you want, double-right-click to actually target it). Alternatively, once you have selected the "Set Local Target" option, type the planet's number on your keyboard and press ENTER. In this case, if you wish to select a moon, type the number of the moon in relation to its planet, a forward slash, then the number of the planet, and press ENTER. For instance, if you wanted to visit the fourth moon of the seventh planet, you would type "4/7" and press ENTER. Either way you select your target, a description of the planet appears beneath the bar-menu. Now, select "Start Fine Approach", and your Stardrifter will activate its in-system drives to approach the planet.

Landing On Planets

Now, the really fun part: select the "Deploy Surface Capsule" option from the "Flight Control Drive" menu. Once you have done this, head over to the right wall, where there are three screens. The one to the far right displays a section of the planet's surface area. Move close enough to this screen for it to activate (A light will turn on just above when you're in range). Now, using the arrow keys on your computer's keyboard, move the cross-hair so it points at the place on the planet you want to land. Once you've done this, press the ENTER key to confirm your choice.

The Stardrifter has a central cupola through which you can see the galaxy. However, this doubles up as a surface capsule. When you press ENTER, both halves of the cupola come together, with you in the middle, and drop through the floor of the Stardrifter. Once the capsule lands, you will be able to wander around the planet. Go on, go as far as you want; the Stardrifter is connected to the pod by a bright beam of light that allows you to see what direction the pod is in. This means you'll rarely get lost. When you want to return, head back to the pod and it will automatically transport you back to the Stardrifter.

There are two keys you can use which change how planets are shown. The first is the cloud filter (Press 'c' to toggle it). Your stardrifter scans the planet to get an idea of the surface terrain. When the cloud filter is on, the drifter will display the planet with the clouds filtered out, by using the information from its scan. The other key is the terrain-filter (Press 'x' to toggle it). When the terrain filter is active, your stardrifter does a detailed scan of the surface, and actually displays the planet's terrain using different colors to represent different terrain types. If you're using the "Deploy Surface Capsule" screen, it should also tell you the terrain type of the point you've selected.

Taking Photographs

While you're on planets, or even while in space, you'll inevitably come across such spectacular or beautiful sights that you want to record them. Luckily, there is a camera built into your helmet for this very function. Look at what you want to photograph and press the asterisk (*) key on your keyboard to take a photograph. The camera is on the inside of your helmet, and your HUD will use this to your advantage by printing useful information onto its screens as the photograph is taken, such as the planet's name, the coordinates the photograph was taken at, which direction you were facing, etcetera. This is useful because it allows other people who have seen your photographs to find the places they were taken at, or just reminds you where the scenes were located so you can return. The camera also has the ability to take panoramic widescreen shots, which can be very useful if, for instance, you want to capture a wide ravine of mountain range. To do this, press the forward slash ( /) key. However, when doing this, it is important to make sure that you are facing levelly towards the horizon, in order that the image does not become distorted by the camera's angle to the ground. All photographs are saved in the "gallery" sub-directory.

Leaving Your Mark

Okay, so you've found a beautiful planet, complete with fascinating wildlife and spectacular geography... So obviously you'll want to name it, so you can go back there later and tell other Stardrifters about it. To name celestial bodies of any kind, select Onboard Devices from the main menu, then Galactic Cartography. You will now be presented with several options. Select "Label Star As...". Your HUD will now display the word "Prompt" at the bottom of the screen. Use your keyboard to type in the name you want to give your remote target. Once you have finished, select "Assign Star Label" from the menu (It's in the same place as the "Label Star As..." option was), or press ENTER to confirm. Now, to label planets or moons within the system, set them as your local target and select "Label Planet As...", and follow the same steps. In real life, this data is saved in "Starmap.bin". When you've named a lot of stars and planets, or found something particularly interesting, you may want to submit this file so your stars can be added to the official Starmap. This way, other Stardrifters can visit your stars, and you theirs. For information about submitting your starmap, please read the section later in this document entitled "Submitting Your Data".

Using The Starmap

Now, supposing you want to go back to a star you've already been to and named, or one which somebody else has discovered? To do this, go to the Galactic Cartography menu and select "Show Targets In Range". A box will be displayed on your HUD containing a list of all the stars within sensible range. You can scroll up and down this list using your arrow keys, and pressing ENTER will set the named star as your remote target. Press ESC to close the list. Or, if you remember the star's name, you can use the GOES console's ST command (see the "Using the Goes.Net Console" section)

Making Non-Targetted Vimana Jumps

It is also possible to make a Vimana Jump without first having specified a star as a remote target. The Felisian race, of which you are a member, has divided the galaxy into units called Parsis. Select the "Set Target To Parsis" from the Galactic Cartography menu. Now, type in the X, Y and Z coordinates you wish to jump to within the galaxy, each separated by the ENTER key. Once you have finished, your HUD will tell you that your remote target has been set to direct parsis coordinates. If you activate your Vimana drive, you will be taken to those coordinates. This may currently seem rather useless, but once you have learned to use the Goes Net Starmap Search Utility, it will prove invaluable. More on that later...

Lithium

The Stardrifter uses lithium ions for fuel. Lithium ions occur only in two forms: Li+, and Li++. Stardrifters use Li+ for fuel. Your Vimana drive works by stimulating the lithium's nuclear forces. Their vibrations can then create a velocity amplification field, which can accelerate your Stardrifter up to five billion times its natural speed using its in-system drives. However, this process uses up the lithium involved, so you need to continuously replenish your fuel. To do this, you will need to find a suitable source of the substance.

When a star explodes as a nova, it leaves behind a Grey Giant star. These stars are ancient, fossil stars, and due to the fifth interaction, whereby gravity becomes a repulsive force, they constantly emit streams of heavy elements from their outer layers, amongst them, rather conveniently, Li+ ions. So, if you want fuel, Grey Giants are a good place to start. Once you've Vimana-jumped to such an object, select "Emergency Functions" from the Onboard Devices menu. Now select "Scope For Lithium". Because Li+ ions have an electric charge, they can be collected by controlled long-range magnetic fields. This is how a Lithium Scope works. Once you have activated your scope, just stay around, and your lithium supplies will gradually increase. While you are scoping, you can do nothing else, so you must deactivate your scope before flying away. A useful hint here is that time passes in the Noctis galaxy whether or not you're actually playing it, so if you start scoping and then close the program and go to sleep, you'll wake up the next morning with ludicrous amounts of fuel.

There will, however, be situations when you run out of fuel in deep-space and can't reach a Grey Giant. This means you're stranded, but don't worry; there are other Stardrifters in the galaxy. Select "Send Help Request" from the Emergency Functions menu, and your Stardrifter will emit a distress signal. After some time, another Stardrifter will respond, and give you a few grams of its fuel. After all, what're a couple of lithium ions between friends? Of course, this also provides you with an interesting photo opportunity... To cancel a help request, select "Clear Status" from the Emergency Functions menu.

Your lithium supplies are also very slightly drained by various other functions of your ship, including your in-system drives, planet finder, starfield amplificator, and internal light.

Rebooting The Onboard Computer

There are occasions when the computer starts to run slowly or just stops functioning altogether. This is usually due to having taken radiation damage when you've deactivated the Stardrifter's radiation limiter. The remedy is to reboot the system using the "Reset Onboard System" option on the Emergency Functions menu.

The Pitch Controls

At the far left and right of the screen are displayed arrow symbols which light up when you look at them. These are the Stardrifter's pitch controls, which allow you to rotate the craft in order to get better views of the stars and planets around you. Selecting either arrow (by facing it and pressing your left mouse button) will rotate the Stardrifter. Another way to achieve the same effect is to press the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. Also, you can reverse the directions of the on-screen arrows, so that the one on the left of the screen turns the craft right and the one on the right turns it left. To do this, select the Preferences option from the main menu, then activate the option "Reverse Pitch Controls".

Display Preferences

The Stardrifter onboard computer's display can be customised in several ways to suit your preferences. At the bottom of the main menu is an option labelled "Disable Display". This clears the screen of all the displayed data, allowing you to see through the window more clearly. To reactivate the display, simply deactivate the Disable Display option. You can also set the display to automatically disable itself if you turn away. To do this, select "Automatic Screen Sleep" from the Preferences menu.

The default behaviour of the sub-menus along the top of the screen is to disappear when you are not looking directly at them, which can be irritating on occasion. To correct this, activate the "Menus Always Onscreen" option on the Preferences menu. The options bar will now always be displayed (Unless the display is deactivated).

The Starfield Amplificator

This handy utility is accessed through the Navigation Instruments menu (On the sub-menu of the Onboard Devices menu). When activated, the computer searches for traces of distant stars and superimposes their images onto the screen so they appear alongside all the other stars. The effect is that you have a wider variety of remote targets to choose from.

The Local Planets Finder

This feature is also accessed through the Navigation Instruments menu. When active, it displays a list on the Navigation Instruments display screen of all the planets and moons in the current solar-system.

Drive Tracking Modes

This is another feature of you Navigation Instruments menu. It allows you to set the method by which the Stardrifter orbits planets. Setting this to "Fixed Point Chase" means your Stardrifter will follow a fixed point of the planet as it orbits the sun. "Syncrone Orbit" means your Stardrifter will gently orbit the planet's equator, and of course a "High-Speed Orbit" will do the same but at high speed. This one's good for getting nice orbital shots. "Near Chase" and "Far Chase" will make your Stardrifter follow the planet either close up or at a distance.

The Stardrifter's Radiation Safety System

Many celestial bodies, particularly pulsars, are very radioactive. Luckily, the Stardrifter is shielded against this, so you can never be harmed by it. However, some forms of radiation can penetrate far enough through the defenses to damage the computer systems, so the Stardrifter is programmed to stay out of range of the radiation given off by such objects. There is a way to override this, though, if you want to get close to a pulsar (They do look quite nice), for instance. Simply deactivate the Force Radiations Limit option on the Navigation Instruments menu. Now, when you activate your vimana drive, you'll be taken all the way into the system, close enough to see the star's surface. Looks good from the roof...



Turning The Light Off

The Stardrifter is lit by a bulb in the center of the floor. If you want to turn it off (So the inside of the ship is lit purely by the closest star), you can do so through the Miscellaneous Menu, amongst your Onboard Devices. Simply select "Internal Light" to turn it on or off.

Depolarization

Two of the most common elements in known space are oxygen and silicon, which are, amongst many other things, the two components of SiO2, more commonly known as quartz. Oxygen is a very reactive substance, a property readily apparent in the rapid formation of metal oxides (iron oxide is more commonly known as rust). Since silicon exists in large quantities on many planetoids (our own moon is an example of this), it is relatively common for large amounts of quartz to form, sometimes covering the surfaces of entire planets. This abundance was one of the reasons that Felisian space-craft were often constructed from the substance, and Stardrifters were no exception. However, quartz in its natural form is translucent, which makes it unsuitable for making walls of any kind. To remedy this, the quartz from which your Stardrifter is made is polarized by having an electric current run through it. This gives it the property of blocking light, thereby making it opaque. In order to depolarize the Stardrifter, you must shut down the electric current. This can be done by selecting the "Depolarize" option from the Preferences menu. The effect is to make all the walls of your Stardrifter translucent, so you can see the stars through them.

Additionally, you can actually make the walls, floor, and ceiling appear invisible (The option for that is in the Extended->Visual Options menu).

The HUD Data Displays

These are accessed from the "Miscellaneous" tab in the "Onboard Devices" menu. Each of these options will display a small screen on your HUD with the selected data. The three different data displays available are "Local Target Data", "Remote Target Data", and "External Environment Data".

The Stardrifter's Weapon Systems

Yes, the Stardrifter does have weapons. When the Felisians created the Stardrifters, they armed them in case they should encounter hostile alien life. Thus all Stardrifters carry fationic cannon, which are powerful enough to destroy whole planets... However, Felisians are a peaceful, non-destructive race, so no feature has been included in Noctis that allows you to use your cannon.

Star Classes

Your navigation instruments and HUD will often describe stars as being of a particular class. When you select a remote target, your HUD will display something like, "UNKNOWN STAR / CLASS S06". The number given tells you what kind of star you have selected, and learning these codes will prove invaluable when trying to find a particular kind of stars (It's especially important to remember that Grey Giants are class S06, as these are the stars that emit the lithium ions you use for fuel). There are eleven different classes of star:

# Class S00 Yellow Star

    Class S00 stars are just like our Sun, and if you're looking for planets supporting life and breathable atmosphere, you should definitely take a look around class S00 stars. In fact, such planets are possible even around other stars, for example live planets have also been discovered around a few class S03 stars. A well known, catalogued system is Miracle. However, this is rather rare, so it's best to look for life around S00 stars.

# Class S01 Blue Giant Star

    Class S01 stars are huge, and often support large solar-systems. Some Blue Giants have anything up to twenty or thirty planets. However, travelling within Class S01 systems often takes a long time, as the orbits of the planets tend to be spread over a very wide area.

# Class S02 White Dwarf Star

    These stars are the remains of class S00 stars that have exploded as Red Giants, then shrunk down to only a highly dense core. These rarely have any planets, as any orbital objects were usually burnt up when the star exploded. If you do find any surviving planets, they will most likely be a long way from the star. Gas giants and other massive bodies may also have survived.

# Class S03 Red Giant Star

    These are class S00 stars that have exploded, and now cover a massive area. They have usually consumed all their planets as they have expanded, so it is rare to find objects orbiting these. However, it is not impossible; the Miracle system is a well known class S03 system that nevertheless harbours a planet with an oxygen based atmosphere and water, IE one that could support life. However, the planet's discoverers found it to be cold and frozen, with no surface life. They were so disappointed that they named the planet "Piece Of Ice".

# Class S04 Orange Giant Star

    These are just very large stars, otherwise similar to class S00 stars. However, you will rarely find life-bearing planets around these, as the planets' orbits tend towards being very distant, making them cold and inhospitable.

# Class S05 Brown Dwarf Star

    These aren't really stars; they are closer to the gas giants you will often find orbiting other stars, and as such give out very little light. They do not have enough mass to produce the gravity necessary to support a solar-system, so don't expect to find planets around them. Occasionally, they do support one or two objects, but because of the lack of light, you won't see much if you land on them. Try not to get lost... Oh, one other detail; it's rare, but not unknown, for Brown Dwarfs to emit lithium ions. The reason is that they're not hot enough to consume their heavier elements, and so these are "squeezed" from their outer layer. However, there is rarely enough to fuel a Stardrifter.

# Class S06 Grey Giant Star

    These are fossil stars, the remains of novae and super-novae. They are cold and dead, but have a very useful property: they emit lithium ions. Not all class S06 stars will be suitable for lithium scoping, as about fifty percent of them emit Li++, which you cannot use. Search around a bit; if you find stars suitable for lithium scoping, it's a good idea to name them so you can return to them later if you run low on fuel.

# Class S07 Blue Dwarf Star

    These are very small, hugely dense stars, and it's not a good idea to get too close; they have horrendous gravitational forces, are highly radioactive, and rarely have any planets.

# Class S08 Multiple Star

    These are actually two or more stars that have come so close that they have been caught in each other's gravity wells and actually started to orbit each other. These are curious systems, with unpredictable gravity. Felisian planets are surprisingly common in these systems.

# Class S09 Infant Star

    This is a star that has only recently been born. Stars are created when the particles of nebulae form nuclear reactions, until the nebula condenses into a star. These newly created stars are known as class S09 stars, which usually have a lot of proto-planets, which will eventually break up and collide until the system stabilizes. These objects are usually not suitable for landing, however.

# Class S10 Runaway Star

    These are stars that have been catapulted off-course, usually by the combined gravity-wells of two or more other stars, and now travel at great speed across the galaxy. They are usually weak, red stars, and rarely have planets.

# Class S11 Pulsar

    These are very similar to Blue Dwarfs, but are entirely made up of neutrons (The neutral particles in the nucleus of an atom). They are incredibly dense, being that they are only the size of a small planet, and spin at huge speeds. The reason for this is that it has contracted very quickly down to a tiny fraction of its normal size. This is the same effect that occurs if you sit on a wheelchair with your arms outstretched and spin round, then quickly withdraw your arms. Your speed will increase. Pulsars also have an unpredictable surface, and emit light and radiation from some sectors but not from others, making them look like they are eerily pulsing. They sometimes have planets, but these are usually highly compressed gas-giants, which are unsuitable for landing on. Pulsars are hugely radioactive and have an immense gravity well, so it's not a good idea to get close to them.



Using The Goes.Net Console

On the right hand wall of the Stardrifter is a pair of computer consoles. These are your access to the Goes.Net Data Network. This is the medium through which you can communicate with the other Stardrifters. The Goes.Net console is very similar to an MS-DOS Prompt. Typing the name of a program in the left window will run that program in the right window. Programs (or "modules") used in this way are stored in the "modules" sub-directory. To access the consoles, simply stand in front of them until the light above turns on, in the same way as the landing screen.



Directly Accessing The Starmap

The Goes.Net modules "SL.EXE", "DL.EXE", "PAR.EXE", "ST.EXE" and "CLEAN.EXE" allow you to get direct access to the Starmap.

Note: Whenever you enter an object name, you don't have to type the whole thing. Just type the beginning of it, and the GOES console will try to figure out what object you meant. If there's more than one object which starts with what you've typed, the GOES console will let you know their names.

To use them, stand in front of the Goes.Net input screen and call them using the following syntaces:

SL [Range]

SL, if called with no parameter, will provide a full listing of all the stars referred to by the StarMap. Adding the optional "Range" parameter will only list stars within the distance you specify. Example:

SL 150

DL [ObjectName][:Range]

The parameter "ObjectName" can be either a star or a planet. If a star, DL will return a list of all the planets and moons of the star you refer to. If a planet, it will only list the moons of that planet. Bear in mind that parameters are always separated by a colon! If called with no parameters, DL gives a dependencies listing of the current system. Example:

DL Fenia

or

DL Fenia:150

PAR ObjectName [:Range]

This is a very important function, as it returns the parsis coordinates of the object you refer to in the command line. Obviously, this information can be used to perform a direct parsis jump. Example:

PAR Fenia

or

PAR Fenia:150

ST ObjectName [:Range]

The ST module will simply set your remote or local target to the star or planet you specify in the "ObjectName" parameter, and turn on either your in-system or vimana drive, whichever is appropriate. If the object is a planet or moon in another system, the GOES console will tell you what system it is in (but won't target it automatically). Example:

ST Fenia

or

ST Fenia 150

WHERE PlanetName

This module returns the name of the star which the named planet orbits. It is useful if you know the name of the planet you wish to visit, but have forgotten what system it is in (Of course you ST can tell you too now).



Accessing the GUIDE

The GUIDE is a large repository of all the information the Stardrifters have noted down about the planets they have discovered. A copy of the GUIDE and the StarMap are stored on all Stardrifters, and mastercopies exist in an incredibly ancient, but remarkably intact computer bank in the Fenian system. Stardrifters often make notes in the GUIDE about planets they have visited, and add new locations and names to their StarMaps, but this information is not immediately disseminated. Instead, every so often, a Stardrifter will return to Fenia and add the information from his GUIDE and StarMap to the mastercopies, and update his own copies from it, meaning that eventually, the information is spread out amongst all Stardrifters. To access the GUIDE, use the GOES console, but use the modules "CAST.EXE", "CAT.EXE", "DELE.EXE", and "REP.EXE". Here are the appropriate syntaces:

CAST ObjectName:Notes

CAST is the module which allows you to write data to the GUIDE. To use CAST, the parameter "ObjectName" should be the name of the star or planet you want to write about, and the parameter "Notes" should be the notes you want to write. If you do not have enough space to fit in all your notes, enter what you have already written, then write more using the same syntax (The words "CAST {ObjectName}" will be left on the input monitor ready for you to do this when you enter a note). Example:

CAST Fenia:This is the system in which the Stardrifters were created.

CAT ObjectName[:Record1..Record2]

CAT allows you to read the notes on a given object. "ObjectName" should be the planet or star you wish to read about. "Record1" and "Record2" should be numbers. If the parameters "Record1" and "Record2" are omitted, all notes on that object are returned. If, however, you use these parameters, only notes from Record1 to Record2 will be shown. For instance, "CAT Fenia:2..5" would display notes 2, 3, 4 and 5 about the star Fenia.

DELE ObjectName[:Record1][..Record2]

DELE allows you to delete notes from the GUIDE, though it will only allow you to delete notes that have not yet been added to the mastercopy. Calling it with only the parameter "ObjectName" will delete all notes from that object. If only "ObjectName" and "Record1" are used, all notes starting with the number defined in "Record1" will be deleted. If "Record2" is also used, all notes from the number "Record1" to the number "Record2" will be deleted. Example:

DELE Maksanthris

or

DELE Maksanthris:3..5

REP ObjectName:RecordNumber:Notes

REP allows you to replace a record in the guide with another. Example:

REP Maksanthris:5:This planet is also rich in wildlife.

PRI ObjectName[:Record1..Record2]

PRI works in essentially the same way as CAT, but instead of printing its output to the output screen in the Stardrifter, it sends its data to your printer, giving you a physical printout of all the GUIDE data for the object you specify. All PRI's parameters work in the exact same way as CAT's.

PRIF ObjectName[:Record1..Record2]

This works identically to PRI, except that it writes its output to the 'gdoutput.txt' file in your Noctis folder, instead of hte printer.

IMPORTGD ObjectName[:Record1..Record2]

This imports guide entries from the old guide files into the new ones. You can use this on guide entries which are still relevant (many of them aren't because the terrain and planet surface generation has changed in Noctis IV CE). The old guide files were used with Noctis IV and NICE (Noctis IV CE) before Release 9. Release 9 and newer use the new guide format instead.

What to Write in the GUIDE

So, you know how to write in the GUIDE and StarMap, but what should you write? Well, here are the rules, first:

# No real object names should be used.

    The Noctis galaxy is not the Milky Way. You shouldn't name any stars after real stars, or planets and moons after real planets and moons.

# All writing should be in English.

    Obviously, we all need to be speaking the same language in the GUIDE, and the selected language is English. That doesn't stop you from naming stars in whatever language you want, of course, so long as you stick to rule one.

# Profanities should be entered in neither the GUIDE nor the StarMap.

    Apart from anything else, the profanities used by humans are generally based very specifically on aspects of human culture, or are derived from religious beliefs, legal elements or historical events, and therefore no analogue for such vocabulary would necessarily exist in the felisian language. Certainly, there are no expletives in the felisian tongue which are derived from sexual acts, as the felisian attitude to such matters is so much more simplistic than our own. Secondly, as the Stardrifters are scientists, and the GUIDE and StarMap are official documents, it would be strange indeed to find emotive language of any description in them, let alone profanity. In reality, this rule certainly isn't a matter of censorship, but of maturity; since there's no specific reason to use expletives in the GUIDE, either in its purpose or in the character of the felisian whose role you play in Noctis, the only reason people would swear in the archives would be because they are immature and think it's funny, and even if your joke is funny, the GUIDE isn't a joke book by any means... How many scientific documents have you read that made you laugh? Exactly.


Now you know the rules, here are some instruction on what you should write in the GUIDE.

The GUIDE is a repository of information for Stardrifters, collated by Stardrifters, about the planets they have visited, so there are two things that it should be used for when you decide to write about a planet. Firstly, when you name a new star, you should make a NOTE of its discoverer (yourself), and its discovery date. For instance, if your name was James Johnson and you had discovered a star you'd called "Maskathrius", you might CAST the note:

"Star discovered by James Johnson, Epoc 6011:556.926"


The date, of course, is given in Felisian form. For more information on that, please see the section entitled "Notes On Units of Measurement".

The second thing you should use the GUIDE for is making notes on a star you have visited or a planet you have explored. As an example, you might write:

"Initial planetary survey has revealed many interesting rock formations, possibly caused by volcanic activity in the planet's past."


Feel free to write as much as you want. When you have finished making notes on an object, add your name and the Felisian date in parantheses to the end of your entries. For instance:

"(Notes by Ryan Bury, Epoc 6011:556.930)"

Also, feel free to add notes to stars and planets discovered by other people. Perhaps you have explored a previously unexplored planet in a system someone else discovered, or perhaps you have found something new out about a planet already mentioned in the GUIDE. Either way, just add your entries, and end with your name and the date.

When you've put enough information into your copy of the GUIDE and the StarMap, you will probably want to add your notes to the mastercopies in Fenia. For instructions on how to do this, please see the section entitled "Submitting Your Data".

Submitting Your Data

As has already been mentioned, the StarMap and Guide have to be updated every so often from the mastercopies in Fenia. In real life, you should run SyncStarmap.exe every so often to check for the latest updates for these files. The Starmap and Guide files grow because each person playing Noctis submits their files every so often, and their data is added to the mastercopies. That way, your discoveries and notes can be gradually disseminated through the Noctis community. To submit your data and get updates, first run SyncStarmap.exe (which is in your Noctis folder) (From windows, NOT from the GOES console). The first thing that'll do is check for updates, download them, and merge them into your copy of the Starmap and Guide. Then it'll write all your new data into a file named "outbox.7z" in your Noctis folder. If you want to send it in, just send that outbox.7z file to starmap@noctis.sl.ecwhost.com. Your data will, however, only be added if you have conformed to the Rules stated above.

Guide entries from Notes On Units Of Measurement

Noctis uses several units of measurement you won't be familiar with. This chapter will explain these in more detail.

Select "Onboard Devices" from the main menu, then "Galactic Cartography". Under this menu are displayed the current time (in epocs/triads), your current galactic position (in parsis), and your current pitch bearing (set by using the pitch controls to rotate your ship).

The Felisian time system is based on large measurements called epocs, and smaller measurements called triads. There are three types of triad, the triad dexter, triad medius and triad sinister, or dexters, medii and sinisters for short. A triad dexter is the same length as a human second. The current number of triads dexter is displayed on the right of the Triad Display. There are a thousand triads dexter to a triad medius, which is therefore about sixteen and a half human minutes long. Triads medius are displayed as the middle figure in the Felisian clock, and each time the triads dexter counter reaches a thousand, the value of the triads medius counter increases by one. When it reaches a thousand, the left-most counter increases its value by one. This is the amount of triads sinister, which are about the equivalent of two hundred and seventy five human hours. When this value reaches a thousand, a whole epoc has passed. Thus an epoc is a thousand million seconds long, or about thirty one and a half human years.

Parsis galactic coordinates are a useful measurement for finding your position in the galaxy. The galaxy is about one hundred and eighty thousand light years wide (diameter from rim to rim), and about six thousand light years thick. A single parsis is about 0.00005 light years squared, so there are about four billion parsis between each opposite rim of the galaxy. Parsis coordinates are always given in the format X, Y, Z, and when you first play Noctis, you will be at Parsis +3797120, -4352112, -925018. The centre of the galaxy is at about -72000000, -1400000, 55000000 in parsis units. The word "parsis" actually comes from the name of the Felisian scientist, Parsis, who first introduced the galactic coordinates system.

Dyams are another spacial measurement, used to measure the far smaller distances between planets. A dyam is roughly 94.6 million human kilometers. Earth is about 1.57 dyams from its sun, whereas Felysia is around 2 dyams from its sun. The dyam is therefore the Felisian equivalent of the human Astronomical Unit (AU), by which we measure the distances between objects in our solar-system.

The masses of objects are given in Bal.Ms (Or BMs). This is short for "Balastrackonastreyan Mass", and 1BM is about the equivalent of the mass of the star the unit takes its name from. In fact, the star is now ever so slightly larger than 1BM, as stars in the Noctis galaxy actually produce small amounts of matter as part of their nuclear reactions, and the Bal.M unit was introduced many epocs ago, since when the star's mass has increased.

Your pulse is measured in PPS, or "Pulses Per Sithra". A sithra (plural: "sithris"), is a measurement of time equal to fifty triads dexter. As a triad dexter is the same length as a human second, you may understand the pulse reading on your HUD as being "Pulses Per Fifty Seconds".

Finally, gravity is measured in Felysian Gravity Units, or FGs. The gravity of Felysia is 1FG, which is slightly less than the gravity on Earth. Therefore, gravity on all planets is measured by comparison to that of Felysia. The Artificial Gravity Field produced by your Stardrifter has a strength of exactly 1FG.

The History Of The Felisian Race



The Felisian race evolved from the large cat-like creatures indigenous to the world Felysia in the Balastrackonastreyan system. They developed very quickly indeed, far more quickly than humans, certainly. This was mostly due to their long life spans. Because humans last only sixty to a hundred Earth years, when a truly brilliant scientist is born, he only has enough time to put forward the theories that future generations can work from, and therefore scientific advances are very slow. Felisians, however, live for anything between a hundred and a hundred and forty epocs, or about four thousand five hundred Earth years, so their sophistication progressed enormously. However, this speed of progress led the Felisians to a scientific recklessness greater even than that of humans. They developed an almost total disregard for Felysia's environment. By epoc 4100, Felysia was a foul, polluted wasteland. The Felisians had even raped their planet's only moon, Jachrastalun, of all its resources, using its minerals to build their space-craft and its rocks to construct their massive buildings. By the end of epoc 4103, there was nothing left of Jachrastalun whatsoever. Felysia's foul and dangerous environment began to erode Felisian society, and slowly, their previously united civilization broke down into smaller, independent communities. Finally, in epoc 4112, only forty generations since the dating system was introduced, the Felisians were forced to abandon their planet as the surface became radioactive and life gradually became extinct.

Once again, their society united, and they used their excellent technological skills to terraform two of the moons of a Balastrackonastreyan gas giant called Fal Galmatrifal. These soon became verdant paradise planets, and all was well.

The Felisians abandoned their former recklessness, and instead concentrated on slowly mapping the nearby star systems. However, this was a lengthy process, and so the Felisian scientists created a fleet of ships they called "Stardrifters" to explore the galaxy. These vessels were all equipped with the newly invented "Vimana Drives", which utilized the nuclear forces between lithium ions to accelerate the ships up to five billion times their normal speed. The Stardrifters' mission was to collate data on the galaxy, storing it in a massive database known as the Starmap. And so the Stardrifters set off into the unknown.

However, in epoc 5991, the Stardrifters returned to Balastrackonastreya to find the system empty. The Felisians were gone; both the moons were covered only in ruins. The Stardrifters had no idea what had happened. Had the Felisians moved elsewhere in the galaxy? Confused, the Stardrifters searched for signs of their civilization across the stars, but within two epocs, they gave up and decided to simply continue with their original mission. Again, they made their way into the lonely void of interstellar space and continued to add data to their Starmap. The year is now 6011, and still no trace of the Felisians has been discovered. The Stardrifters are loners; they rarely communicate with one another, but the current theory that has spread amongst them is that the Felisians have abandoned the galaxy entirely, though why they should have done this is a complete mystery. And why would they abandon the Stardrifters? This theory has led to a slight resentment of the Felisians by the remaining Stardrifters, who feel betrayed by the people they were doing a service for in the first place. If the theory is true, then there is no way for the Stardrifters to follow; the gaps between galaxies are enormous, and the Stardrifters cannot carry enough lithium to make the journey. Sadly, because many of the Stardrifters were very old in the first place, several have died despite the Felisians' long life-spans. Several others have disappeared entirely, presumably having fallen foul of the dangers of space. The Stardrifters are very safe vehicles, but they're still not infallible. Thus the number of Stardrifters has dwindled even further.

The Physique of a Felisian

Felisians are descended from the cat-like creatures native to their home-planet, and still retain many physical features from their ancestors. A felisian's head is recognisably that of a cat, though much larger than you might expect. Their fur comes in several different colours, though not as many as that of the domestic cats of our universe. Interestingly, unlike humans, they have never fought any racially motivated wars, or committed any form of persecution based on fur-type. Fur colour is thought of in a similar way to that in which we think of hair colour, and it is not necessarily hereditary, so two black-furred parents could birth a litter including ginger kithis (A "kitha" being the correct term for a felisian cub). The possible fur colours are black, brown, ginger, grey, and, perhaps strangely, green. White is also a possibility, but it is rare. Felisians, unlike their feline ancestors, have an opposable thumb in addition to their three fingers, which is the feature that set them apart from their non-tool-using cousins in the evolutionary past. Their feet are very much like large cat paws, but their hands have evolved into a more human form, though they still have small pads. Indeed, felisians can stand either erect, like a human, or on all-fours, like a cat. It is generally considered polite to stand erect in company, but in private most felisians assume their more comfortable quadrupedal posture. This is why the Stardrifters were designed in the way they were, and the computers are accessed in the way they are.

Points Of Interest

Balastrackonastreya is near parsis coordinates 0, 0, 0. It is an interesting system. Felysia itself has now become fertile once more, the radiation having decayed over the epocs. Now, it is once again a place of life, the only reminders of the Felisians who once lived there being the ruins of their buildings. All that remains on the two moons are ruins, too. But it is still a beautiful planet, despite the ghostly reminders of your mysterious past...


Look for the class S00 star called Fenia. This was an ancient Felisian science base, used entirely by the navy. What makes it especially important historically is that it was the system in which the Stardrifters were created. Well worth a look...

Ever wondered where your food's kept onboard the Stardrifter? Well, it's in a refrigeration unit on the left wall. But ignore that stuff; it's horrible processed paste that the onboard computer synthesizes from raw elements collected from the planets you visit. If you want to eat good food, you'll have to catch it yourself. Bear in mind you're a creature descended from cats, and go do some hunting! If you can catch a bird, you can string it up and take it back to your ship for lunch. To learn the technique, just watch your cat hunting something, or, alternatively, just play with some string with it, and copy the way it attacks.


Noctis is primarily the work of Fottifoh (Alex), who can be mailed at http://anywherebb.com/tellalex.html.

To visit the Noctis forums, and to find other programs by Alex, go to http://anywherebb.com. Unfortunately, Alex isn't online very often nowadays, but he kindly released the source to Noctis IV and gave permission for it to be modified. From that came Noctis IV CE (eventually), which you probably have if you're reading this version of the manual. The Noctis IV CE website is at http://noctis.sl.ecwhost.com.

This manual, its non-screenshot graphics, and its soundtrack, "Noctis", were written by Ryan J. Bury of RJB Software, who can be contacted at Ryan@rjbsoftware.co.uk.

For Ryan's software, including the highly acclaimed Evowok series and the action-packed StarGun games, visit http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk.

Good luck, and happy drifting... Remember, though you'll want to spend a long time playing Noctis, don't neglect your cat! Remember to feed it and let it in when it's cold!

Ryan J. Bury, 2001
(Updated by SL in 2005)