IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2
FED AND THE ART OF SPACESHIP MAINTENANCE
FUELLING UP
You've bought your new ship. You've been whizzing back and forth across the Solar System, exploring, buying drinks for people in Chez Diesel (SC of the SS) and generally having a good time. Suddenly, a warning buzzer sounds... this indicates that you are in imminent danger of running out of fuel.
When you buy your first ship it will come with half a tank of fuel, courtesy of the management. As you move around space this will be used at the rate of 1 ton per move for the basic small ships. Of course, larger ships guzzle fuel and are consequently more expensive to run, as you will discover when you can afford to trade up.
If you look at your ship's status (type 'STATUS' or 'ST') it will tell you how much fuel is in the tank. The warning buzzer sounds when the level reaches ten tons and continues until you top up the tank, or you run out completely. 'BUY FUEL' will fill up your tank. Fuel, of course, is a volatile substance so Galactic Administration regulations on hazardous materials prohibit the refuelling of ships while you are still on board unless there is an emergency. So although you can buy fuel anywhere, we strongly recommend that you arrange for your ship to be refuelled while you are on a planet, not least because of the cost.
Fuel bought when you are grounded costs 10 ig a ton; the cost in space is 50 ig a ton, since there are no service stations in the Interplanetary Wastes and the fuel has to be shipped out to you. A loophole in the regulations means that the fuel companies can charge the space premium even if your ship is in orbit, so long as you are still on board.
To avoid this embarrassment, the Idiot's Guide recommends that you refuel every time you touch down on a planet.
If you are stupid enough to run out of fuel in space, only buy the absolute minimum you need to reach the nearest planet. You can buy less than a tankful with 'BUY tons FUEL' where 'tons' is, of course, the number of tons you wish to purchase.
If you run out of fuel and don't have enough money to buy more, you can cadge a loan from another player - so long as you are not stranded in space. If that happens you are really in trouble!
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