www.ar chive.org
`415.561.6767
`415.840-0391 e-fax
`
`Internet Archive
`300 Funston Avenue
`San F cancisco, CA 94118
`
`AFFIDAVIT OF CHRISTOPHER BUTLER
`
`l. I am the Office Manager at the Internet Archive, located in San Francisco,
`California. I make this declaration ofmy own personal knowledge.
`2. The.Internet Archive is a website that provides access to a digital library of
`Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide
`free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. The Internet
`Archive has partnered with and receives support from various institutions, including the
`Library of Congress.
`3. The Internet Archive has created a service known as the Wayback Machine. The
`Wayback Machine makes it possible to surf more than 450 billion pages stored in the
`Internet Archive's web archive. Visitors to the Wayback Machine can search archives
`by URL (i.e., a website address). If archived records for a URL are available, the visitor
`will be presented with a list of available dates. The visitor may select one of those
`dates, and then begin surfing on an archived version of the Web. The links on the
`archived files, when served by the Wayback Machine, point to other archived files
`(whether HTML pages or images). Ifa visitor clicks on a link on an archived page, the
`Wayback Machine will serve the archived file with the closest available date to the page
`upon which the link appeared and was clicked.
`4. The archived data made viewable and browseable by the Wayback Machine is
`compiled using software programs known as crawlers, which surf the Web and
`automatically store copies of web files, preserving these files as they exist at the point of
`time of capture.
`5. The Internet Archive assigns a URL on its site to the archived files in the format
`http://web.archive.org/web/[Year in yyyy][Month in mm)[Day in dd][Time code in
`hh:mm:ss]/ [Archived URL]. Thus, the Internet Archive URL
`http://web.archive.org/web/l 9970 l26045828/http://www.archive.org/ would be the
`URL for the record of the Internet Archive home page HTML file
`(http://www.archive.org/) archived on January 26, 1997 at 4:58 a.m. and 28 seconds
`(1997/01/26 at 04:58:28). A web browser may be set such that a printout from it will
`display the URL of a web page in the printout' s footer. The date assigned by the Internet
`Archive applies to the HTML file but not to image files linked therein. Thus images that
`appear on a page may not have been archived on the same date as the HTML file.
`Likewise, if a website is designed with "frames," the date assigned by the Internet
`Archive applies to the frameset as a whole, and not the individual pages within each
`frame.
`6. Attached hereto as Exhibit A are true and accurate copies of printouts of the
`Internet Archive's records of the HTML files or PDF files for the URLs and the dates
`specified in the footer of the printout (HTML) or attached coversheet (PDF).
`7. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
`
`DA TE: 1.- /
`
`t..-5 /i .. .:>
`
`GL---\ '2---
`
`Christopher Butler
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 1
`
`

`

`
`Exhibit A
`
`Exhibit A
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 2
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 2
`
`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`Home | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`HOME FAQ FORUMS SUPPORT SCORES IPAD
`D.L.C
`DEMO « BUY NOW
`OVER 100,000 PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT GRATUITOUS SPACE BATTLES SO FAR...
`
`WELCOME TO GSB!
`GSB is the ultimate space strategy game from UK indie developer Positech Games. It's a strategy /
`management / simulation game that does away with all the base building and delays and gets straight to the
`meat and potatoes of science-fiction games : The big space battles fought by huge spaceships with tons of
`laser beams and things going 'zap!', 'ka-boom!' and 'ka-pow!'. In GSB you put your ships together from modular
`components, arrange them into fleets, give your ships orders of engagement and then hope they emerge
`victorious from battle (or at least blow to bits in aesthetically pleasing ways).
`
`GRATUITOUS
`NEWSLETTER
`Get all the latest news and updates direct to your
`inbox with the Gratuitous newsletter!
`
`SCREENSHOTS
`Check out some of the screenshots from Gratuitous Space Battles! Click any
`image to see it in it's gratuitous full-size glory
`
`VIDEO
`
`Click here to get downloads of cool GSB desktop starship wallpaper.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626123706/https://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
`
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`Exhibit 1016
`Page 3
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`

`2/7/2020
`
`Home | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`gratuitous space battle screenshot 9
`
`IN THE PRESS
`
`"Thoughts of the greatest Star Trek: Deep Space
`Nine episodes like "Sacrifice of Angels" passed
`through my mind the second I've tried one of these
`battles."
`
`"You know how the space combat scenes in
`Battlestar Galactica were terrible and epic and oddly
`serene, all at once? This game is like that. It has
`lovely graphics, a lot of depth, an alarming amount of
`replayability, and a great sense of humor, to boot"
`
`"Prettiest 2D game to come along in some time.
`Battles are actually gratuitous."
`
`Games32.com
`
`Tom Chick
`
`GameShark.com
`
`THE MAKING OF GSB
`
`BATTLECRUISER
`MODEL
`
`Check out a behind the scenes look at the making of
`Gratuitous Space Battles!
`
`Yep, an actual Battlecruiser in the palm of your hand!
`You can even grab one for yourself!
`
`HOW TO PLAY GSB IN 3 EASY STEPS
`Second, you select from your list of ships, a
`First, you put together the spaceships you want to use
`fleet composed of fighters, frigates and
`in your fleet, building them from a variety of basic hulls
`cruisers, position them in formations and issue
`and over a hundred different ship components, even in
`each ship with orders telling it which targets it
`the basic game. (You are given some basic ships as
`should attack, and at what range, with special
`examples).
`orders such as escort, protect or concentrate
`fire.
`
`stages 2
`
`Gratuitous Space Battles aims to bring the over-the-
`top explodiness back into space strategy games. The
`game is for everyone who has watched big space
`armadas battle it out on TV and thought to
`themselves 'I could have done a much better job as
`admiral'. This is not a game of real-time arcade twitch
`reflexes. GSB is about what ships you design, and
`what you tell them to do. Your individual ship
`commanders have total autonomy during the chaotic
`battle that unfolds. This is not a tactical game, it is a
`strategic one. These gratuitous space battles are not
`won by plucky heroes with perfect teeth, but by the
`geeky starship builders who know exactly what ratio
`of plasma-cannons to engines each ship in the fleet
`will need.
`
`Third, the battle is played out, with you able only to
`watch, not to control. You can pause the battle and
`play it faster or slower, and can view the
`effectiveness of each individual shot, both during the
`battle and afterwards, so you can fine tune your fleet
`design.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626123706/https://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
`
`2/3
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`Exhibit 1016
`Page 4
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`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`Home | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`appstore
`
`Home
`
`FAQ
`
`Forums
`
`Support
`
`Scores
`
`Demo
`
`DLC
`
`BUY NOW ©All Rights Reserved Positech Games 2011
`
`Site Design by
`
`Fully Illustrated
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626123706/https://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
`
`3/3
`
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`Exhibit 1016
`Page 5
`
`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`FAQ | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`HOME FAQ FORUMS SUPPORT SCORES IPAD
`D.L.C
`DEMO « BUY NOW »
`
`HOW DO YOU PLAY GSB?
`The game is divided into a number of missions, which are big space battles fought in the name of something-or-other of no consequence. The aim is always the
`same: Destroy the enemies space fleet, and enjoy celebration drinks amidst the floating hulks of your vanquished enemy. Each mission has a different location,
`which may affect ship effectiveness due to local spatial anomalies and nebulas. You will fight against a fleet of fixed cost and number of pilots, and you will have to
`design a custom fleet for each battle, as both the situation, and the enemy fleet you face will be different for each mission
`IS THIS AN RTS GAME LIKE HOMEWORLD?
`Not really. It looks like an RTS in some screenshots, but the game is much more like a 'tower defense' game, in that you are not directly controlling your units, but
`placing them pre-battle and issuing orders. Imagine tower-defense, but with moving towers that you can design from scratch, in space, with cool laser effects. That
`is a fair approximation of GSB. You do not have control of individual ships during battle. The battle phase of the game is for visual feedback of how your fleet did.
`You can speed up and slow down and pause the battle to see what happens in some detail, and there are post-battle statistics showing who shot and killed who.
`HOW DOES A TYPICAL GAME PLAY OUT?
`Firstly you check out the pre-battle deployment screen which shows you a rough intel report of what you are up against. Once you have selected your battle, you go
`to the deployment screen, which is the main management part of the game. From here, you drag and drop pre-designed ships into position for the battle (limited by
`the battle fleet budget) or you can create entirely new modular ship designs and add them instead. You also issue orders to your ships, telling them what ranges to
`fire at, and which target types to engage. Once you are happy with the fleet deployment, you click the 'fight' button and pay close attention as the battle rages. At
`the end of the battle there are post-battle statistics that will show you why you won or lost. If you won, there is a good chance you earned enough 'honor' from the
`victory to unlock some new starship components for the next battle...
`HOW MUCH CONTROL DO YOU HAVE OVER SHIP DESIGN?
`GSB ships are basically empty hulls, that come with a fixed hull cost and some basic power production and possibly a few bonuses. Those hulls have a fixed
`number of slots which you fill with modules of your choosing. All the modules have different capabilities, and you might choose to design some heavily armored anti-
`missile ships, or a number of highly-powered and shielded ships with a few big beam lasers, or anything you like. Different weapons are effective in different
`situations, so you will need to design a balanced fleet. there are very few restrictions. You have to balance power, cost, crew requirements and weight, but you can
`build a ship with no weapons and all engines if you wanted to for some reason. Apart from turrets (which get drawn and animated on the ships) your ship layout will
`not affect the ships appearance.
`WHAT SORT OF PRE-BATTLE ORDERS CAN BE ISSUED?
`As supreme space-admiral, you don't get your hands dirty during the battle, but you give instructions to your underlings in charge of each ship. You can order them
`to fight to the last man, or retreat if damage exceeds a certain level. You can give them different ranges to engage the three classes of enemy ship, you can also
`add further AI behaviors such as "protect this ship" or "stay in formation relative to this ship". You can also issue targeting preferences such as 'vulture' which
`encourages that ship to open fire on enemy ships that are already damaged or 'co-operative' which encourages them to group their fire onto single targets. Your AI
`captains will do their best (within reason) to follow your orders during the battle.
`SINGLE OR MULTIPLAYER?
`The focus of the game is singleplayer, but the game has an element similar to the 'massively singleplayer' aspect of Spore, in that a player can design his/her
`ultimate fleet for a given mission, then 'challenge' another player through our servers. The challenge data is uploaded and the player is notified that an enemy fleet
`is available to kick their stellar ass. They can then battle against this new 'enemy' fleet, and stats on how many attempts were needed to ensure victory are stored
`and displayed back to the challenger. In this way, you can play against your friends in a sort of 'play-by-email' method, but without the email :D
`DOES THE GAME USE ANY DRM?
`
`No.
`
`Home
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`FAQ
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`Forums
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`Support
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`Scores
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`BUY NOW ©All Rights Reserved Positech Games 2011
`
`Site Design by
`
`Fully Illustrated
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626093300/http://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/faq.html
`
`1/2
`
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`Exhibit 1016
`Page 6
`
`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`FAQ | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626093300/http://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/faq.html
`
`2/2
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 7
`
`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`BUY | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`HOME FAQ FORUMS SUPPORT SCORES IPAD >
`D.L.C
`DEMO « BUY NOW
`
`Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`Gratuitous Space Battles
`$14.95
`Gratuitous Space Battles
`$14.95
`Purchase Gratuitous Space Battles for Windows andPositech GamesPositech Games Purchase Gratuitous Space Battles for Windows and
`
`
`instantly get it DRM-free.
`instantly get it DRM-free.
`
`
`Get the basic, original game.
`
`GSB collectors edition
`
`Enter your email address
`Enter your email address
`
` Purchase as gift
`Purchase as gift
`Select one of the payment options below to complete your purchase.
`Select one of the payment options below to complete your purchase.
`
`PayPal
`
`
`
` Or by credit card:
`$16.95
`Gratuitous Space Battles Collector's EditGratuitous Space Battles Collector's Edit……
`
`$16.95
`Purchase Gratuitous Space Battles Collector's EditionPositech GamesPositech Games Purchase Gratuitous Space Battles Collector's Edition
`
`
`for Windows and instantly get it DRM-free.
`for Windows and instantly get it DRM-free.
`
`Enter your email address
`Enter your email address
`
` Purchase as gift
`Purchase as gift
`Select one of the payment options below to complete your purchase.
`Select one of the payment options below to complete your purchase.
`
`
`Get the basic, original game, Plus the Tribe, Order and
`Swarm Expansion packs all in one package.
`
` Or by credit card:
`
`PayPal
`
`
`
`GSB On the MAC
`Explody fun, but on the
`Apple Mac platform...
`
`GSB Collectors Edition
`On the MAC
`The collectors edition,
`but on the Apple Mac
`platform...
`
`Are you looking for expansion packs for the core game? Click here!
`
`If you have any problems ordering, just email me personally at cliff@positech.co.uk
`
`The usual positech games guarantee applies. We never charge you again for re-downloading your game. We don't limit your installs or use securom or anything
`similar. You can burn your game to a disc as a backup, and contact us for a re-download if you ever lose the link and your files. We ensure you can always play
`your game. We won't treat our customers as criminals. You are the people who help us pay the bills, and you can bet your ass we appreciate that.
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626101251/http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/register.html
`
`1/2
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 8
`
`

`

`2/7/2020
`
`BUY | Gratuitous Space Battles
`
`Home
`
`FAQ
`
`Forums
`
`Support
`
`Scores
`
`Demo
`
`DLC
`
`BUY NOW ©All Rights Reserved Positech Games 2011
`
`Site Design by
`
`Fully Illustrated
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120626101251/http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/register.html
`
`2/2
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 9
`
`

`

`https://web.archive.org/web/20120603152121/http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
`media/GSB%20Manual.pdf
`
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 10
`
`

`

`Manual for Gratuitous Space Battles. Version 1.1
`
`Introduction
`Gratuitous Space Battles (GSB) is a strategy / management game and space-battle simulator. The game puts you in the
`role of Fleet Commander for large, very large, and gratuitously humungous fleets of spaceships. Your mission is
`simple: Blow up the enemy spacefleet in as total and aesthetically pleasing a way as possible. There is no diplomacy in
`GSB, there is no option to retreat. There is no way to avoid battle, no negotiation, and no sub-plot. There are just zetta
`tons of metal and many exameters of organo-silicon circuitry and other alien technologies exploding gratuitously
`against a background of unfeasibly garish nebulae.
`
`Unlike ‘real-time-strategy’ games, GSB does not give you direct control over each ship in your fleet. Highly competent
`Spacefleet Captains have not sweated blood and strained their tentacles for years at the academy to be nano-managed at
`every step of the battle. Your job as Supreme Commander of the fleet is to design and deploy a balanced battlefleet that
`ensures glorious victory, and to issue orders on exactly how to kick alien ass. You can then hover behind the battlelines
`in your command podule and gleefully observe the gratifying destruction of your enemies on the holoscreen.
`
`
`“Observe the destruction of your“Observe the destruction of your
`
`“Observe the destruction of your“Observe the destruction of your
`
`enemies with glee”enemies with glee”
`
`enemies with glee”enemies with glee”
`As Exalted Admiral, your role can best be split into four discrete tasks. Firstly, there is starship design. Thankfully you
`won’t be firing up 4D Starship MAX to actually decide where each girder goes, you can leave that to your minions.
`Your task is merely to decide the selection of key components for each ship, so as to build a balanced armada capable
`of defending itself against alien scum, and also causing galaxy-shattering amounts of destruction and ultimately total
`obliteration of your opponents’ spacefleet.
`
`Your second task is to take those expertly designed ships and assemble them into fleet formations for each battle.
`Because you do not yet rule the galaxy, supplies are limited, and you will be restricted by budget and the availability of
`trained pilots. These limitations will inevitably determine the capabilities of the fleet you can send forth into honorable
`battle.
`
`The third task is one of observation. Post-battle stats are fine, but nothing beats being able to see exactly which piece of
`alien space flotsam managed to breach your shields. Whether you win or lose, watching the battle unfold is a key part
`of your supreme role. By observing enemy fire, you can identify areas where your fleet was weak, or where a different
`combination of ships or specialist hardware might have swung the pendulum of fate towards the wormhole of victory.
`
`Your final task is to undertake the post-battle post-mortem. It’s no good just randomly throwing the few remaining
`Captains out of the airlock when you lose. That’s so last millennium. The post-modern Supreme Space Commander
`takes time to analyze why his/her/its ships and indeed the enemy ships got blown apart and others made it back to base
`with hardly a scratch. Learn from your mistakes. To err is human, but humans have such low standards.
`
`1
`
`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 11
`
`

`

`Ship Design
`Take time to familiarize yourself with the ship design screen. Work here is vital to success, and although it might not
`be as glamorous as pushing fleets of mega-cruisers around on the galactic battle-map, it’s a key part of how you’re
`going to win whatever huge space-war it is you’re fighting these days.
`
`There is no limit to the number of ship designs you can put together, but you do have a limited number of basic hull
`designs to work with. Thankfully, all our hulls have been designed in a modular fashion so you can bolt together almost
`any combination of starship components. A ship is received from the shipyard as a basic empty hull (which may have
`some minimal power production capability, and provide certain bonuses) which you supplement with modules of your
`choosing. The ship hulls come in three distinct sizes, fighters, frigates and cruisers. Modules, which you use to equip a
`ship for battle, include engines, shields, armor, crew accommodation and weaponry beyond your wildest dreams,
`although evidently not beyond the sick and twisted dreams of the weapon designers.
`
`
`“Fighters are the spitfires of space”“Fighters are the spitfires of space”
`
`“Fighters are the spitfires of space”“Fighters are the spitfires of space”
`Fighters
`Fighters are the spitfires of space. These tiny one-lifeform crewed vessels are great at zapping at high speed towards the
`enemy and taking out their fighters. They are also the only craft that can easily attack an enemy ship directly from
`within its shield. This manoeuvrability comes at a price, so buyer beware. Firstly, piloting a fighter is a highly
`specialized skill and dispensable (only if you fail miserably at your task) academy-fresh pilot numbers are limited for
`each battle. Secondly, the variety of fighter modules with which to customize your ship is very limited. Thirdly, a lot of
`the larger ships have enough armor or shielding to make the fighter weapons all but useless.
`
`Frigates
`Frigates are the mid-range ships in terms of
`speed, cost and weaponry. Standard space-battle
`doctrine suggests a number of frigates
`accompany each cruiser. These craft are faster
`moving than cruisers, and smaller, both of which
`make them harder to hit by the huge tera-guns.
`Frigate weapons tend to be fast tracking, which
`means they can be good at shooting down
`incoming enemy fighters before they even reach
`the main line of battle.
`
`Cruisers
`Cruisers are the insanely big floating theme
`parks of death and mayhem that we all know and
`love. The most gratuitous weaponry and the
`most impressive gadgets are only available for
`these big boys of the fleet. This comes at a cost. Cruisers weigh a silly amount and often limp along at the speed of a
`Rigelian ultraslug on its way home from a beer festival, making them almost impossible for the enemy to miss.
`
`Modules
`Ship modules are specific to ship type. You can’t put a fighter module on a frigate, and so on. They also come in two
`types, standard, and hardpoint. Standard modules have square icons and slots whilst hardpoint modules are shown by a
`hexagonal icon and slot. The trick is remembering you can put a standard module in a hardpoint slot (a tragic waste of
`destructive potential), but not vice versa. Basically the hardpoint modules are your guns. You will notice that some
`slots on each ship hull have lines to multiple points on the ship. This is purely aesthetic, and means that in battle,
`weapon turrets placed here will be visually duplicated on the ship. It does not make them more powerful. It just looks
`absolute-zero cool.
`
`There are some modules that have diminishing effects when ‘stacked’ on a ship. For example, adding multiple shield
`modules will reduce the efficiency of each shield module. You can see the current efficiency of a module by hovering
`your mouse over its location on the ship.
`
`2
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`Supercell
`Exhibit 1016
`Page 12
`
`

`

`Although it is legal to leave empty sockets (maybe to save weight or cost), it’s generally a good idea to pack your ship
`full of hardware. You are paying for the hull, and after all this isn’t ‘Proportional-Response Battles’, what were you
`thinking.
`
`Shields, Armor and Hitpoints
`Two of the most important modules in the game equip your ship with shields and armor. You can give ships either,
`neither or both of these methods of defense. Understanding the way they defend your ships is vital to success.
`Firstly, damaged armor does not regenerate (although it can be repaired if an appropriate module is on-board), so every
`shot that damages it will likely be a permanent reduction in its defensive strength for that battle. This means even a tiny
`amount of armor damage per shot can add up.
`
`On the other hand, shields do regenerate over time, until they are completely knocked out by being reduced to zero.
`Separate shield modules operate independently, so it’s possible for 2 modules to be disabled and the third one can still
`regenerate back to its full strength (albeit giving you one-third the shield strength).
`
`So far, so ordinary, but this is only part of the story. In order to inflict damage to armor, a weapon needs to have
`sufficient armor penetration power. Without armor penetration being higher than the average armor strength for a ship,
`the shot will bounce off, achieving nothing. Think of hitting a watermelon (low to average armor) with a tennis ball
`(low penetration power) where not much happens, compared to firing at the watermelon with a high penetration cruise
`missile which results in impressive cabin splatter Pollock style and finding seeds in your hammock for months to come.
`Average armor is the total armor strength of all the ship’s armor modules, divided by its number of modules. This can
`be viewed in the ship stats window, which (depending on how gratuitous your observation podule is) is either at the
`bottom of the design screen, or launched through the ‘graph’ button at the top right of the ship window.
`
`Shields have a similar capability with their ‘resistance’. Some shields have high strength and low resistance, and vice
`versa. A shot that hits with a shield penetration value less than the shield resistance will have zero effect.
`This is VITAL to understanding the defense of your ships. Some ships could be totally invulnerable to some weapons.
`In some cases, combinations of ships will be required to take down an enemy cruiser. One ship may be firing shield-
`damaging weapons, and once they are down, other ships in the fleet will fire armor-damaging weapons to break
`through to the hull.
`
`Shield Stability
`There is another, sneakier way to overcome enemy shields without just getting big, high-shield-penetration weapons.
`You can ‘destabilize’ shields using special shield-destabilizing weapons, such as the frigate disruptor bomb. These
`devices reduce shield stability, and once it reaches zero, the shield will flicker off entirely for a short period of time,
`leaving the ship defenseless just long enough for a plucky space-gunner to deliver a red-hot beam of high energy
`explodiness.
`
`Close-Range Attacks
`Another tactic is to get fighters in so close to a ship that they actually attack from within the shield bubble. These
`attacks effectively bypass the shields entirely. This sounds attractive, but be aware that the enemies armor will still be
`in full force, and the fighters will be an easy target if the cruiser in question has some dedicated anti-fighter defense
`lasers or missiles. This is also a good reason to not rely 100% on shields for defense against the enemy, especially one
`that is fighter-happy. A cunning Space Admiral might screen his cruisers from fighter attacks with a line of cunning
`anti-fighter frigates to ensure they are turned to space-dust before they even get within range.
`
`Hitpoints
`Every module on a ship has a number of hitpoints, and this represents the physical strength of that piece of equipment.
`Once the shields and armor are destroyed, further hits on your ship will damage the individual modules, reducing their
`hitpoints. When a module’s hitpoint score reaches zero, it is disabled. When all of the modules on a ship are disabled, it
`will explode in a tastefully choreographed ball of flame and you won’t be getting your deposit back.
`
`Ship Capabilities
`Every ship module has a giga-ton of data associated with it. Selecting a module will display details about it. You can
`view the modules in one big group, or by selecting the tab buttons at the top of the ‘module picker’. Depending on
`which modules you select, the final capabilities of your ship will vary.
`
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`The speed of your ship is a measurement of the combined thrust of its engines, against its total weight. Turning speed is
`directly related to speed. Some modules have lighter (and more expensive) variants, which may appeal to you.
`Apart from weight and speed, you will want to keep an eye on crew and power requirements. Basically, you have to
`supply room for all the crew you need, and power for all the energy you use. This means that almost every ship will
`need a crew module (or multiple modules) and some power-plant modules. It’s a bit of a balancing act to get the right
`combination of components so you are not wasting power supply or crew capability. Be thankful you don’t actually
`have to balance on one tentacle whilst deciding. You cannot save a ship design that violates the crew and power
`requirements. The starship design council will slap you in the tentacles if you even try to do this, or more likely, they
`will just disable the ‘save’ button.
`
`Saved Designs
`Once you have re-arranged the components on the selected ship hull, you can save it with whatever design name you
`like. Although infamous Space Admirals gravitate towards names such as ‘Galactic Death Cruiser’ or ‘Glorious Chariot
`of Laser-Fury!’ you might start off with more helpful names such as ‘Long Range Beam Cruiser’ to aid you later
`during fleet composition and analysis.
`
`Unlike most games, GSB does not give you a big pile of ships to play with. The few ships you are given at the start of
`the battle are just examples, and any true Space Admiral would be better off ditching them and designing his/her/its
`own ships from scratch.
`
`Missions
`So you have a vast array of expertly designed floating platforms of giga-death, and you are eager to teach Johnny-Alien
`a lesson. Not so fast. We can’t just hurl spaceships at our enemy like a farmer feeding his space-chickens. Your ships
`will need to be placed into a formation, and given their orders. If you haven’t done so already, you need to select the
`‘battle’ option from the main menu, and pick your fight…
`
`
`“Floating platforms of giga-death”“Floating platforms of giga-death”
`
`“Floating platforms of giga-death”“Floating platforms of giga-death”
`Choosing A Mission
`
`At the start, you will only have the option of the first battle.
`The opportunity to fight bigger and more glorious battles
`will come when you have proven yourself with this trivial
`encounter. Different battles will pitch you against various
`enemies (of which we have three). Battles will be fought in
`different locations, and there may well be spatial
`phenomena to deal with. In some cases, a nebula may
`reduce weapon range, or ship speed. This is worth noting
`before you go any further.
`
`The mission selection screen also shows you three boxes
`that indicate if you were previously successful in battle on
`medium, hard or expert difficulty. There is no ‘easy’
`option. If you wanted easy, you should not have signed up
`for the space navy and you are not fit to take command of a fleet of Andromedan space mites.
`
`The two key things to be aware of when selecting a mission are the number of pilots available and the fleet budget. All
`this nonsense about money not being a problem for equipping the space-navy is nonsense. You have to win this war on
`a budget. A gratuitously huge budget, but a strict budget nonetheless. The politicians back on the homeworld have
`better things to spend their money on than endless spacefleets. They need to build mega metropoli, nano-factories (on
`the scale of things, more expensive than you might think) and zero-g swimming pools (vital for party fund-raising).
`
`Survival Mode
`Most of the missions are ‘skirmish’ missions, which involve fighting against a single fixed enemy fleet. There are also
`‘survival’ mode missions, which pit you against endless waves of enemies attacking from all directions. Skirmish
`missions can be uploaded as challenges to other players, whereas survival missions are strictly single-player affairs.
`However, survival mode allows you to upload your high score and pour scorn on the feeble attempts of other, lesser
`
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`admirals to match your heroic success. You can tell which mission is which by the icons on the left of the mission
`names.
`The Deployment Screen
`
`
`“A smorgasbord of devastation”“A smorgasbord of devastation”
`
`“A smorgasbord of devastation”“A smorgasbord of devastation”
`The deployment screen is where you place the individual ships in battle formation and issue orders on how to engage
`the enemy. This is your last opportunity to influence how the battle will play out for your fleet, so take the time to get
`things right. Don’t forget that cruisers move slowly, and fighters move quickly. Position is as important as orders. Once
`you are happy with a deployment, you can save that for later use. You can have a large number of different saved
`deployments for each mission.
`
`The map in the center of the screen shows
`your fleet as green starship silhouettes,
`and the enemy fleet for this battle as red
`ships. The highlighted area around your
`fleet is your ships’ ‘deployment zone’.
`
`Ship Positions
`To move one of your ships, you can click
`and drag it around the screen with the
`mouse. Don’t drag a ship outside the
`deployment zone, or it will be deleted.
`When you select a ship, a series of
`overlaid circles will display. These are
`the weapon ranges of that ship, and you
`might find this useful in terms of
`positioning the fleet. Right clicking any
`of your ships opens up a menu to delete
`or rename