Exodus FAQ by Tim Fountain (tim at acornarcade.com).
Version 1.02.
Last revised on 30/5/98.
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Contents
0. About the FAQ.
0.1 The Copyright Notice.
0.2 Foreword
0.3 Contacting the FAQ authour.
0.4 How can I get the most recent version of the FAQ?
1. About the Game. (General stuff)
1.1 What is Exodus?
1.2 What is the aim of the game?
1.3 How many people can play?
1.4 What do I need to play the game?
1.5 What is provided with the game?
1.6 Who is the game by?
1.7 What other games are they working on?
2. Novice questions about the game. (Questions asked by people new to the game)
2.1 How does the copy protection work?
2.2 My games always end after a few months; I get attacked and my enemies are always stronger.
2.3 When I wait one month, the report says 'unable to produce X battle units'. Why?
2.4 I can't transfer goods between fleet and planet!
2.5 My people are angry, and they don't seem to get happy again!
2.6 I don't understand space combat, it happens so fast!
3. Pirates.
3.1 How often do the pirates attack?
3.2 What is special about the pirate's weaponry?
3.3 Do the pirates have any weaknesses?
4. Science and Inventions.
4.1 What makes me get inventions quicker?
5. Planetry Defence.
5.1 My advisor keeps telling me that my planets don't have enough defences, what should I do?
5.2 What do the robots do?
6. Artificial Planets.
6.1 How do I make an artificial planet?
6.2 What are the differences between an artificial planet and a normal one?
6.3 What is the point of moving an artificial planet around?
7. Miscellaneous.
7.1 When do I get each title?
7.2 What do the native villages do?
7.3 Is there always one race that will try and attack you, break alliances etc.?
8. Exodus related WWW pages.
8.1 Are there any Exodus related pages on the World Wide Web?
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About the FAQ
0.1 The Copyright notice.
My permission is needed for this FAQ to be reproduced in part or in full in any electronic or written form. If you wish to mirror this FAQ on your website,
0.2 Foreward.
This FAQ was created to answer some of the many questions regarding Exodus that were being asked on
0.3 Contacting the FAQ authour.
I can be contacted by email using the following address: tim at acornarcade.com .
0.4 How can I get the most recent version of the FAQ?
The most recent copy of this FAQ will always be available from the Exodus pages of the Acorn Arcade website at . If you don't have access to the World Wide Web, you can drop me an email (see section 0.3) and I will send the most recent copy to you. Please specify whether you want the HTML version (for offline viiewing on a web browser), or the text version.
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About the game.
1.1 What is Exodus?
Exodus is a simulation featuring the conquest and colonisation of a galaxy while playing versus 14 intelligent opponents of different races. The player has to conquer planets, build them up, defend them againnst other lords, and make trading or war alliances.
Further, the player has to build a fleet and defend it against space pirates. Skillful officers in the command staff will help to execute all tasks correctly.
The player's own people have to be treated well, otherwise they might start a revolution. Inventions are necessary to improve the living standard and the security of people and the Empire. The secret service can sabotage the enemies in a variety of ways, (spies must not be caught, of course....)
1.2 What is the aim of the game?
The game's aim is to fulfil a certain mission to satisfy the Space Guild and become the Guild Master - which basically means to be the acknowledged leader of the galaxy.
1.3 How many people can play?
The game can be played with up to five human players. During the turn of one player, the other players are acting as automatic players, i.e. the decisions of an empire are made by the computer officers of that player.
1.4 What do I need to play the game?
Exodus needs an Archimedes or RiscPC with atleast 3mb RAM and a hard disc. The game also requires RISC OS 3.1 and above. It is StrongARM compatible. The game needs approximately 10mb of hard disc space..
1.5 What is provided with the game?
The package contains three 1.6mb discs (800k discs are available on request), a comprehensive manual and a quick start card.
1.6 Who is the game by?
The game was programmed by Jan Klose of
1.7 What other games are they working on?
Artex Software are currently working on 'Tek', a real time strategy game. See their website (http://memebers.aol.com/artexsoft/) for more details. They are also working on Ankh, which is a Simon the Sorcorer still adventure game set for release in March 1998. Again, see their website for more details.
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Novice questions about the game.
2.1 How does the copy protection work?
You will be presented with something like: 'Offset 12/1' To find the code, look on page '12' of the manual, where you will find two numbers at the bottom of the page. /1 means it is the number on the leeft, /2 means it is the number on the right.
2.2 My games always end after a few months; I get attacked and my enemies are always stronger!
The planet has to be defended right from the beginning, one of the first things you should do is build army production units (atleast one, preferably two). If your enemies are still too strong then you should buy some troops from a trading ally.
2.3 When I wait one month, the report says 'unable to produce X battle units'. Why?
The army production units need to be allocated money. To do this use the arrows on the surface map until the line with 'Ar' doesn't flash red any more. If you can't allocate enough money, then you'll neeed to build more cities to increase the monthly MC of the planet.
2.4 I can't transfer goods between fleet and planet!
To transfer goods from your fleet to a planet, the planet needs a spaceport (remember the spaceport is made up of three different buildings), your fleet also needs to be in the system.
2.5 My people are angry, and they don't seem to get happy again!
It takes a while for the people to get happy again, you should check that you haven't modified the laws in a bad way, and that you have enough food. Building parks and holding festivals makes the peoplee happier (but costs money).
2.6 I don't understand space combat, it happens so fast!
Clicking on the 'Manual' button will change your ships to automatic, and then you can work out what's going on.
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Pirates
3.1 How often do the pirates attack?
Every month each planet has a 1:200 chance of being attacked by pirates.
3.2 What is special about the pirate's weaponry?
The pirates weapons are extremely accurate, almost every shot will hit it's target.
3.3 Do the pirates have any weaknesses?
The pirates have two weaknesses:
Their infantry gets blown up by air defence mines.
They can't hurt your infantry when covered.
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Science and Inventions
4.1 What makes me get inventions quicker?
The progress of your scientists depends on three things:
The number of planets you have (with cities on them), as each planet does it's own research.
The amount of money that you have assigned to 'science' (this can be changed from the CTRL menu, 'change officers and taxes).'
Your science officer. A good officer will speed up development immensly.
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Planetry Defence
5.1 My advisor keeps telling me that my planets don't have enough defences, what should I do?
Your advisor looks at the number of battle units and calculates the average number of units needed to defend a planet against an 'average' enemy. He warns you if there are less units at your planets.
5.2 What do the robots do?
The robots prevent revolutions (by frightening civilians). 5 units are needed to control each city. They are also valuable trading goods. They will totally prevent an attack if you have enough of them, (but don't forget, the cities may expand!).
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Artificial planets
6.1 How do I make an artificial planet?
Got to the CRTL menu from the main star map, and select 'Build Artificial Planet.' Artificial planets are built in three stages, so you need to do this three times. There are certain inventions needed bbefore you can do this.
6.2 What are the differences between an artificial planet and a normal one?
An artificial planet behaves like any other planet except that it can be moved, and you can't mine it. Food grows very well on it, and it also comes with some battle units and a lunar base!
6.3 What is the point of moving an artificial planet around?
Moving an artificial planet around has three advantages:
It is hard for the enemy to send an attacking fleet if the planet is frequently changing location.
You can take all your trading goods with you by taking the whole planet!
If you intend to attack a really strong enemy, then you can fill your fleet up andtake the artificial planet, meaning you can have 'two waves' to your attack.
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Miscellaneous
7.1 When do I get each title?
Wooooo! I feel a table coming on.....
Title Small galaxy Medium Large
The Warrior 2 3 4
The Strong 4 6 8
The Conqueror 6 9 12
The Mighty 8 12 16
The Great 10 15 20
The Warlord 12 18 24
The Emperor 14 21 28
7.2 What do the native villages do?
You can use the native villager's agriculture for your cities, meaning you don't have to build so much yourself. Native villages expand similar to your cities. Sometimes the inhabitants will offer you ppresents. Beware: If you build a city adjacent to a native city, there is a possibility that the natives will quietly take over your city!
7.3 Is there always one race that will try and attack you, break alliances etc.?
The standard attributes for the races are the same in each game: The Urkash are always aggressive, the Teri are friendly, the Gordoon are shy, the Yo'Kon are not reliable etc.
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Exodus Related WWW pages
8.1 Are there any Exodus related pages on the World Wide Web?
Yep, there are a few:
Acorn Arcade's Exodus pages (http://www.acornarcade.com/) - The home of this FAQ (and where you are probably reading this from).
Artex Software's Exodus pages (http://www.artex.oaktree.co.uk/) - Home of Exodus, general info about the game.
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© Tim Fountain, Acorn Arcade 1998
Comments, questions, queries, money, etc. to: tim at acornarcade.com