When you play Strange Adventures In Infinite Space, try to think of yourself as a futuristic Darwin, Sinbad, Magellan or the "enterprising" captain of a well-known fictional starship. If you do, you should get a feel for the game right away. Also, don't panic! You can always evoke help screens by pressing F1 at any time during the game.

1. THE OBJECT OF THE GAME is to explore as many star systems as possible in ten years. Your starship must return to your home star system (Glory) within this period of time to achieve the highest scores.

Along the way you will discover new planets, and collect various items, creatures, allies and special artifacts. You will also encounter various aliens and alien patrols. Some aliens are peaceful and cooperative; others are hostile and combat will occur. Yours is a voyage of survival in deep space among far flung stars. You will have to be ready for anything!

2. Just before you begin a new game you will see the START NEW ADVENTURE screen. When you first see this screen, all you need do is CLICK OK TO GET RIGHT INTO THE GAME.

The first few times you play, simply use the default settings. This is the "average difficulty" setup and the one you will probably use most of the time. Later, when you understand the game better, you can adjust these settings to make the game easier or harder.

3. This main game screen is the STAR MAP VIEW screen. At the start of the game you will see your ship rotating (in orbit) around a star called Glory.

YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS AND ENDS AT THE GLORY STAR SYSTEM. This is the star system to which you must return to end the game properly and earn your reward. Your Earth-like home planet in the Glory system, Hope, is also indicated.

4. To MOVE YOUR SHIP FROM STAR TO STAR, first click on a destination star system and then click ENGAGE. Your ship will then glide through deep space at best speed to its destination star. This is called star lane travel. Note that both the length of the star lane (in light years) and the travel time (in days) are always displayed near the center point of the star lane.

5. You will often encounter OBSTACLES along your way. The most obvious are large areas of pinkish purple NEBULA; the Purple Void. Nebulae will slow your ship down to a crawl and waste much of your 10 year mission time. Note that you may obtain special star drive engines during your adventure which will allow you to travel through a nebula at "normal" speeds, or even ignore them completely.

Another obstacle is a matter-hungry BLACK HOLE. Some are visible on the star map when you first start the game. Others may be discovered during the course of your voyage. In either case, don't get too close or your ship may be sucked into oblivion and your adventure will end. Note that faster star drive engines will allow you to travel closer (but never through the center) to a black hole without being drawn in.

6. When you ENCOUNTER an unidentified space vessel or flotilla (a patrol group) you will be alerted. A radar screen will display the number of nearby ships and their relative sizes.

At this point you must decide whether to investigate or back off. If you back off, your starship will automatically leave the system and travel back to the star system you explored previously. If you choose to investigate, you will encounter friendly, neutral or hostile alien forces. If this is your FIRST CONTACT with the aliens in question, a brief description will be displayed.

7. When STARSHIP COMBAT occurs, the game view will switch to the TACTICAL VIEW screen. To move one of your ships, simply select it (click on it) and then click anywhere on the tactical view. Your ship will begin to move to that position at best speed.

You may also target an alien ship in the same fashion. When in range, your ship will fire its weapons automatically. When all enemy ships are destroyed, the view will switch back to the star map view. Any discoveries, items, artifacts and the like are now yours to keep.

Allied ships are controlled in much the same way. Read the online help screens (F1 key) for more information about starship combat and fighting effectively with allies.

Keep in mind that frontal, head on assaults are not always the best tactical course of action. It is an easy way to lose an ally or two as well. If your starship is destroyed in combat, your adventure will end, so plan your tactics carefully!

8. You may UPGRADE starship weapons and ship systems with new technologies that you discover. You may also upgrade an ally ship.

After combat you can REPAIR your damaged hull or inoperative ship systems. You may also repair ally ships.

You may USE devices and artifacts.

All of these operations are performed by clicking the appropriate icons next to the item name in either the upper left hand corner ship system view or listed in your cargo hold.

Read the online help screens (F1 key) and your SAIS manual for more information about using items, upgrades and repairs.

9. Always keep in mind that YOU HAVE 10 YEARS TO COMPLETE YOUR MISSION. Watch the TIME AND DATE CLOCK in the upper right corner of the screen. Nearly every action uses up time, so plan and manage your starship voyage carefully. If you return to Hope late, your score will be penalized.

And one last time: You can always evoke help screens by pressing F1 at any time during the game.

Well, that's about it for starters. If you made it this far, shame on you. You should have been playing the game by now. Good luck, and may all of your adventures be strange!