Elite 3 Novosibirsk © 1993 Shadow Soft
Instructions translated from Russian by Rafał Miazga, 2009
Polished by Sard and Shadow Maker  v 1.1

When the game loads , a menu presents itself (in Russian) with 6 options (plus R to Play the game)

Below is a translation of each of the 6 option texts.
Enjoy 
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1. Introduction
You have purchased a diskette of the program Elite 3.
You have made the right choice!

Before you start playing, make a copy of the game on your disk drive, following the instructions from Chapter 2. Elite 3 doesn’t work with every non standard ROM memory. Please, do not complain if it happens.
At some computers with non standard data bus, the program won’t load (it will crash after the loading screen)
(Pentagon owners, contact Valeri: Moscow, Studentecheskaya Street 1, room 2124)
Apart from that, you should only use 80 tracks, double-size diskettes and Tr-Dos 5.03 or higher (he way how to get a copy using 40 tracks double-size diskette - for big fans of such crap is described in Chapter 2).
Computers such as “Profi”, “Hobbit”, “Scorpion”, “ATM Turbo” and other monsters, if they have a standard bus and you can block extra features and they should work with this game.
If Elite 3 hangs while playing more often than once a day, you should take your computer to a repair service.
If you already know Elite well, you will get double the pleasure in playing Elite 3. You will notice many enhancements and improvements while playing.
If so you can continue a previously saved commander and save your game state to the disk as a 102 byte long file, but it’s better to start it from scratch.
Good luck !
V. L. Kladov
13th of January, 1993
The earlier game name “Elite 2” has been changed to “Elite 3”, to avoid confusing it with some other crappy homemade versions which are also called “Elite 2”.
3rd of October, 1993

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2. Program copying
Elite 3 has copying limitations and a warning about it appears during loading.
A program copy can be obtained with the built-in copier in the disk menu. You can begin this with the “3” key, when the disk menu is shown on screen. If you have the right to make a program copy, a utility called “COPY” will begin. Otherwise, you will see information on how many successful flights you need to complete, to be able to create your next copy.
After entering the copier, you will see an unique identification number of your copy in the top part of the screen , followed by the number of copies made (if there were any) after a hyphen, followed by a number of copies that may be done after a colon.

A third generation copy (with three part number  NNNNN,NNNNN,NNNNN type) can’t be used for copying. When entering COPY utility, only the identification number of it will be displayed.
The legally purchased program, at the start allows you to make one copy to a formatted and checked diskette. The next copy can be only made after 256 successful flights. The program number consists of one part as it is a first generation copy.
An illegally copied program will hang after trying to enter the disk menu.
The same can happen with your copy if you use incompatible disk drive. Try to find a good disk drive (only for making a single copy) and make your copy using two disk drives. Into  the “good” disk drive put the source diskette and into the other drive, the diskette a formatted disk. Run the game and run the COPY utility, then follow the command “INSERT OLD/NEW DISK” and connect the disk drive with necessary disk. It can be made completely safely if you have connected the power to both drives earlier and setup the data bus into size of the used device. Both drives should report as disk A.
This method works with 40 tracks disk drive too. You need to find 80 tracks disk drive for only one use, to get the first copy.
It is forbidden to restore the disk with programs like DCU, ADS etc.
If the purchased diskette cannot be read on your disk drive, it can be exchanged only if its damage is not your fault.

Order of copying
1. Prepare formatted and verified disk (2 sides, 80 tracks). Every smallest error on first eight cylinders may mean big problems
2. Enter DISK MENU (SYMB.SHIFT)
3. Run autocopy utility (“3”)
4. Answer Y(ES) to the question “ARE YOU SURE (Y/N)?”
5. After the message “INSERT OLD/NEW DISK...” insert into disk drive A, a source disk or a new disk as required and press Enter.
6. When copying is completed, your computer will reset and automatically go into obtained copy loading.
There will be two files created on the destination disk:
BOOT (BASIC) – 2 sectors
ELITE3 (CODE) – 209 sectors
These two files cannot be moved or copied in any way apart from with the built-in copier.  Any other files can be copied to disk using ordinary means.
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3. Elite3 vs Elite. The Main Differences
Space Stations:
- Manual landing at a space station is a very complicated operation in Elite 3. At any moment another craft may fly out of the exit well. Crashing into it usually leads to disaster.
- Opening fire against friendly craft or against Federation forces craft when close to the station will result in an immediate attack by the police.
- Similarly, if the station is captured by Thargoids or pirates, you will be attacked by Thargoids or pirates.
- In a station controlled by Federation forces, you can perform active military operations against the Federation’s enemies. 
- You can destroy asteroids and it will increase your status.
- A station, just like any other craft uses in an intelligent way E.C.M – a system which destroys only the missiles fired at the base itself. It is fully possible for you to use missiles against other targets (that means your Cobra is vulnerable too  :)
- Destroying a space station or a police viper will turn you into public enemy number 1 of the Federation. In galaxies 2 to 8 while approaching a planet, you may be met by a police “Elite Viper Squad”
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(5 police Vipers attack..  serious trouble here)
Other craft:
- Ships now fire not only at your ship but also at other craft using lasers, missiles and E.C.M systems or even sometimes energy bombs. It is possible to encounter of groups of craft fighting against other groups. You can join in if you like, but just be careful not to find yourself between the two warring sides.

( A Mamba leaves a station)
- Other ships now scoop up cargo canisters, dock at stations using docking computers, and both craft and escape capsules can hyperspace out of danger (if they are quick enough)

(A Cobra Mk3 makes its jump into hyperspace)
- Some ships may carry smaller craft (Pythons may transport up to four other craft of interstellar class, which don’t have the independent capability of hyperspace).

(A Python releases a Sidewinder, a Krait and an Adder as defensive fighters)
Apart from that, you also will meet three new generation ships.
-	                                         Thargoid-6 (no picture available)
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-	Cosmology:
- Flights in interstellar space (between planets) using the J-Engine (Torus Jumpdrive) has now become possible. You will find the gyrocompass useful here. It shows the cardinal directions (North,South,East,West) of your current position in the 2D view of the galactic map.

(Gyrocompass showing Northerly direction)

- In solar systems, if you travel far enough from the sun, you will approach a meteorite belt in which you may sometimes meet other mineral hunters.

Old missions:
- The three missions present in the original Spectrum Elite are also present here, but in Elite 3 they may be repeated more than once.

New weapons of Cobra-MK3:
-	Star compass. (below) It shows two blinking points which indicate the direction towards a sun or a planet. Turn it on using CAPS+C
-	.
- Advanced Scanner is turned on with CAPS+L.

(Advanced Scanner : 2 ships behind our cobra show up as “X”s. Craft in front display as “+”)

- Super Laser. It can be purchased at a planet with a tech rating of 15. The price is 33000 CR.

New missions:
Mission 4:
While searching for minerals, find crystallized life forms.

Mission 5:
Capture a Thargoid remote control device, the “Alien Computer”. It allows you to use and launch owned Alien items (use “D” and “F” at the same time).
Mission 6:
Buy a Cobra MK-4 (250000 CR)
Cobra MK-4 parameters:
- Purchase up to 4 devices like Fuel Scoops, E.C.M system, Energy Bomb and so on.
4 energy charging devices will increase 5 times the speed of charging energy banks and 4 large Cargo Bays will increase the possible load to 80 tons.
- A big increase in speed and maneuverability if you keep the “J”Drive key pressed while making a maneuver.
- The ability to turn around the laser gun chassis at every time (CAPS + A)
- The ability to make a hyperspace jump into any galaxy and into any location of the current galaxy (during the countdown keep pressed the keys 1-8)
Mission 7:
Take part in a great war against the Thargoids and get as high a rank as possible.
            7.1 Evacuate personnel from a “Coriolis” type station located in a military zone.
7.2. Deliver supplies and weapons to fighting planets
7.3. Make a landing in an occupied station
7.4. Destroy a secret Thargoid base located in Witchspace far from local planet systems.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Controls
Elite 3 doesn’t use a joystick port, it uses only the keyboard.
Gameplay Control :
1 – Front view
2 – Rear view
3 – Left view
4 – Right view
A – Laser fire
S – Down	N - Left
X- Up		M – Right
CAPS SHIFT – decrease speed
SYMBOL SHIFT – increase speed
T – Target Missile
U – Un-Target Missile
F- Fire Missile
D and F – Use Alien Computer (launch Alien items)
E – E.C.M Anti missile system.
W – Energy Bomb
Q – Escape Capsule 
Y – Cloaking Device
C – Docking Computer
H – Hyperspace
G and H – Galactic Hyperspace
J – Torus Jump Drive (or J-Drive)
I – Galactic Chart
O – Short Range System Map
P – System Data Screen
K – Market prices on the current planet
L – Status
ENTER – Inventory
CAPS SHIFT – Pause

Map control:
S – Up		N - Left
X- Down	M – Right
D – Move cursor to the nearest star
P – Information about the nearest planet system
B – Return the cursor to the current planet system position

Base control:
1 - Exit base
2 – Buy goods
3 – Sell goods
4 – Buy weapons
SYMBOL SHIFT – Enter disk menu

“Pause” mode control
BREAK – exit pause mode
Q – Game reset , restore an earlier saved game.
A – Rotate Laser Gun position (Cobra MK-4 only!)
C – Toggle  Star Compass Mode
L – Toggle Advanced Scanner
S – Toggle Sound
F – Toggle  “Witchspace” forced mis-jump.
B – Switch all the ships movement control keys to the opposite direction (it enables normal movement control for the rear view)
Y – Swaps the up and down keys
K - Instead of the usual S-X-N-M keys, the cursor keys 5-6-7-8 can be used. You can fire lasers with 0 or A. However if you want this to work, you must press left (5) in response to “PRESS SPACE, COMMANDER” at the games beginning.
D – Keyboard Damping Toggle
R – Keyboard Recentering Toggle

Disk menu control
S – Up
X – Down
N – Left
M – Right (move cursor around file catalogue)
1 – Load file
2 – Save file – you are asked your name, and after that it is possible to:
- enter your name and when you press ENTER a new file will be created or the data will be written into an old file, if one exists.
- just press ENTER and the save will be made into the highlighted file
- press and hold BREAK until you leave the disk menu: your state will be saved in computer memory.
3 – Go to the internal Elite 3 file copier. If you don’t have copying rights, it will show how many successful flights you need to obtain them.
4 – Turn on the demo mode.
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5. Answers
This chapter contains answers to the questions, that usually you don’t need to answer
If you like to discover things yourself, don’t read further and press BREAK quickly!

You are assigned old missions after every message “RIGHT ON COMMANDER”.
You won’t get during normal game play any messages about missions 4-6 or about the standard “Cloaking device” mission. Furthermore, these missions aren’t compulsory to complete, they are however, extra possibilities which for you to discover and cleverly exploit as you go about your business. Read this chapter only if you are a man who likes to know the ending of detective stories before reading them.
Mission 4 – FIND MINERAL LIFE
You need to find a star system on the main diagonal of any galaxy..

The main diagonal connects the left upper and right lower corners of the galaxy.
In such a galaxy, you need to fly away from the sun, until it decreases to the size of a little star and then search for minerals there.
When you check your cargo list, if instead of common minerals, a cargo called “MINERAL LIFE” is in your hold, consider yourself a wealthy man. A ton of these goods costs 1000 CR.
Apart from that, any captured or bought tons of ordinary mineral ore is absorbed by your guests and becomes valuable mineral life too.
However if you have less than 3 tons of living crystals, they will turn into ordinary minerals. Because of that, nobody will buy less than 3 tons from you. There is also an upper limit – 63 tons (for greedy owners of Cobra MK4)
If you want to save and breed MINERAL LIFE and turn your craft into a kind of space farm, you must remember that they need to feed to live. They only eat your jewels at the moment of hyperspace. Making a characteristic noise, they eat 1 gram of GEM STONES for every ton of their own weight. If you forget to feed them three times in a row, you can forget about farming.
If your pets have died, the cargo bay of your Cobra will be inhabited by residual crystalloids, which will dissolve any real live mineral coming to your craft and you won’t succeed in breeding MINERAL LIFE any more, until you exchange the bay after rescuing the Refugees (Mission 1).
Mission 5 – ALIEN COMPUTER
You need to fight with a Thargoid until a container is ejected from a defeated Thargon ship (old construction type). This container is similar to ordinary cargo containers. It appears quite far from the place where you destroyed your opponent and has its own engine which makes capturing it harder. What’s more, if there are other Thargoids nearby, they will try to capture it before you, and you know how fast they are. If you fail to obtain this trophy, it doesn’t mean that the possibility of capturing it is forever lost. You can continue your hunt and those who seek, will eventually find!
After capturing the “ALIEN COMPUTER”  you can, using your missile targeting system, use captured “ALIEN ITEMS” (Tharglets. Realeased from Motherships) (press “D” and “F” at the same time). When you destroy your target with a laser or collision, your “ALIEN ITEMS” will, like a boomerang, return back to your ship. You just have to maneuver carefully to avoid hitting it (it won’t damage you much, but it may be harmful to the item).
ALIEN ITEMS are useful only in fights against Thargoids or during destroying orbital stations. Other craft will easily defend against and destroy them with their lasers.
Mission 6 – BUY A COBRA MK-4
It can be completed only in a planet system situated on the main galaxy diagonal (the same as in Mission 4 – Mineral Life).
You must fly towards the sun. If you manage somehow to go through the dangerous zone, where there are attacks all the time, you will eventually reach two “Coriolis” type stations situated close to the star. You should dock with one of them. The best way to do this is manually, so have a practice before..
If you haven’t forgotten to bring 250000 credits with you, the MK-4 is yours.
Well, you can always become a mechanic and keep flying an updated MK-3 type, but you will never reach colonel rank that way, and without a Cobra MK-4 it is practically impossible to make a landing at an occupied planet station.
Mission 7 – THARGOID INVASION
At some point of the game, when you reach the rank of ELITE and the game starts to get a bit boring, a huge Thargoid invasion into Galaxy 1 will commence !
You will receive a message about it on your main screen:
“MAYDAY!  GALAXY 1 INVADED!”
You don’t need to hurry, you will have enough time. After arriving in Galaxy 1 you will notice that some planet system forces are undertaking battle maneuvers (RESISTING) and some are already captured by these damn insects (OCCUPIED). Check the planet information, and you will notice that the center of the invasion is located at the west side of galaxy, close to the “TIBEDIED” system.
It’s a dangerous thing to make your flights close to a frontline zone. You might be met in interstellar space by groups of Thargoids (sometimes up to 6 ships, and many of them are often invisible) and visiting occupied planets practically equals suicide. Try it yourself.
The general war scenario is the following. In the beginning the Thargoids will make a rapid attack and with every advancement of their armada you will receive the “MAYDAY” message. But in time the galaxy will get more and more support. Simple traders like you will join the groups of voluntary defenders (although defectors and traitors will appear also) and the Thargoid blitzkrieg, planned for centuries will lose its momentum. They capture a big part of the first galaxy, but their plans are doomed. When the Federation starts to win, S.O.S. messages will stop appearing and a quick liberation will begin.
You can ignore the war and get on with your own business. The war will begin and end positively without your help. But you may join Federation forces and try to build a war career for yourself, and if your missions go well, you may speed up the victory of the good guys.
You can join galaxy voluntary forces at any fighting planet (RESISTING). Just answer “YES” to the question that you will be asked.
You will get Lieutenant rank and obtain the following missions:

1. Evacuate refugees from warring (RESISTING) planets. It’s almost the same as the standard Mission 1, but it’s not a one time only job. You must make journeys from resisting planets to planets untouched by war. You must continue until your command decides to increase your rank. After your last successful flight, when you come to collect your next group of refugees, you will be informed about your reaching the rank of “CAPTAIN” and about your new goals.

2. Deliver firearms and food to frontline planets. Like any other volunteer you are on your own. You must buy the required items on non-resisting planets, transport them and then sell them on a station located in the military zone. Of course, if you act smart, you can also earn a little bit of extra money along the way.

3. Your next rank is Major and your next task is more complicated (and more interesting) than the previous two.
You must perform a landing operation into a Thargoid occupied station. You collect  troops at a resisting station (key “2” buy, just like getting the refugees in missions 1 and 7.1). From that moment on, you will have a small “Sidewinder” type craft on board which is equipped especially for landing and has had most of its weapons removed, except for the autopilot system. Instead of a missile firing, the ship will undock and will fly towards the target chosen by you, which should be a station located on any occupied planet. The problem lies in reaching such a station, as unwanted visitors are met by a pack of Thargoids, just like super fugitive pilots are met by police squads in galaxies 2 to 8. To avoid the destruction of your landing ship by Thargoids, approach the station as close as possible and only then launch the landing ship. You don’t need to worry about close 1 to 1 combat, because as soon as the landing ship goes into the station, you will get the message “RIGHT ON COMMANDER” and you can turn on your docking computer.

4.Your next rank is Lieutenant-Colonel and here is your next (and final) task. You must locate and destroy a Thargoid command base (they are using a stolen “Coriolis” station for this purpose). They have moved it into an unknown galaxy sector. Your headquarters only knows that it is located somewhere close to the “TIBEDIED” system. To find it you must use all methods of movement in Witchspace (explanation for dummies: Witchspace is where there aren’t any planets or stars).
If you don’t even manage to accomplish this mission, you will receive, at the end of the war, the rank of Colonel  anyway.
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6. Announcements
Attention! 
In 1994 ELITE 4 is expected, with new loading from disk levels featuring improved graphics, musical co-processor support and other miracles. There will be new missions, new adventures and puzzles. Everybody who presents an original copy of ELITE 3 will get a big discount during purchase.
To business people!
For half  price, you can buy Elite 3 diskettes of null generation, with a right to make 255 (or less) first generation copies (you will get diskettes with a right to make one copy).
Contact Vladimir Kladov, Shamsurina Street 20, flat 48 on Tuesdays on Sundays before 2 p.m. or after 6 p.m.
 Note : A few small pics have obviously been added to help. Also the new ship names have been changed from “Mamba” to “Advanced Mamba B-Type” , and also “Gecko” to “Gecko Mk2” This is due to both of these ships being already available in the original BBC disk (and other) versions, and looking clearly very different to the new designs here. Elite canon IS law you know ?