The Jovian fleet is invading United Planet System space. As commander of the starship Endever, your mission is to destroy every Jovian warship before they wipe out all UP bases. The galaxy is vast, time is short, and the Jovians don't wait for you to make up your mind.
Everything happens in real time. While you're reading the scanner, a Jovian is firing at you. While you're typing a maser angle, a base on the far side of the galaxy is under attack. Speed and decisiveness win. Hesitation kills.
When the game loads, you are asked to select a difficulty level from 1 to 9:
| Level | Expected fleet size | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | ~12-24 ships | First-time players |
| 3-5 | ~36-60 ships | Experienced commanders |
| 6-7 | ~96-112 ships | Veterans only |
| 8-9 | ~128 ships | Nearly impossible |
Each of the 64 quadrants has a level/8 probability of spawning Jovians. Below level 6, quadrants with Jovians hold 1-2 ships; at level 6 and above, they hold 1-3. The exact count varies from run to run.
After selecting your level, the mission briefing appears:
YOUR MISSION:
DESTROY THE FLEET OF 40 JOVIAN SHIPS BEFORE THEY DESTROY
THE 8 UNITED PLANET SYSTEM BASES
GOOD LUCK!
Press any key to begin.
The main screen shows two areas:
Upper area — Tactical View. This is your window into the current quadrant. You see the Endever, any Jovian ships, the starbase (if present), and stars scattered across space. Weapon fire appears as visible lines streaking across the display.
Lower area — Status Panel. Continuously updated readouts:
STARDATE 3 QUADRANT 2 4 DEFLECTORS 100%
ENERGY 68% MISSILES 5 CONDITION GREEN
COMMAND?
| Symbol | Color | Meaning | ASCII shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron shape | Blue/red | The Endever (you) — twin red engines | "V" |
| Angular bracket shape | Red | Jovian warship | <*> |
| Spoked ring | Blue | United Planet base | +O+ |
| Dots | Mixed colors | Stars and Planets (white, blue, red) | . |
| Line from ship | Blue | Maser beam | |
| Ball | Blue | Triton missile | * |
| Line from enemy | Red | Jovian weapons fire | |
| Expanding ring | White→Red→Blue | Explosion |
Black holes are invisible. You only discover them when a weapon shot vanishes into empty space, or when you fly into one (which destroys you instantly).
Commands are entered by pressing a number key. Some commands require additional input (angles, coordinates, codes). You can move the Endever with the arrow keys at any time — even while typing another command. Press CLEAR (backslash key) to cancel any command in progress.
Input format:
2 3 5 jumps to column 3, row 5).90 followed by ENTER is the same as 090.123 and fires on the
third digit.Press 1 to see the status of your five ship systems and the overall war situation:
42 JOVIANS LEFT 6 BASES LEFT
DAMAGE
ION ENGINES 81%
HYPERDRIVE 19%
SCANNERS 57%
DEFLECTORS 77%
MASERS 82%
Each system shows its operational percentage. At 100%, the system works perfectly. As damage accumulates, systems degrade:
Field repair heals one system at a time, in priority order, up to a maximum of 75%. Systems below 25% are too damaged for field repair — only a starbase can fix them. This means a hard fight can leave you permanently weakened until you dock.
Press any key to return to the tactical view.
Press 2, then enter a two-digit destination: column (0-7) then row (0-7). The Endever warps instantly to the new quadrant, arriving at a random position.
Hyperdrive consumes energy based on distance (Manhattan distance × 2, max 10 energy per jump). If hyperdrive is heavily damaged, the warp may fail or send you to the wrong quadrant.
You always arrive at a safe position — the ship will never spawn inside an inescapable gravity well.
Press 3 to replace the tactical view with the galaxy map:
LONG RANGE SCAN
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 B 0 B 0
1
2
3 B 3 B 2 B 1
4 1 1 1 B 3
5 1 E B 0 1 B 1
6 B 2 1 2 M B 2
7 B 1
The scanner shows the state of the galaxy as of your last scan. Jovians move between quadrants, so the map goes stale. Scan frequently.
If your scanners are damaged, some quadrants may show garbled or missing data.
Press any key to return to the tactical view.
Press 4 to toggle shields UP or DOWN. No energy cost to maintain shields.
Shields UP: Incoming Jovian beams are absorbed by the deflector system instead of damaging ship systems. Each hit reduces deflector health by 15%. Below 40% deflector health, some damage bleeds through to other systems. At 0% deflectors, shields are forced DOWN.
Shields DOWN: No protection. All damage hits ship systems directly. But you must lower shields to dock at a starbase.
At 0% deflectors: Pressing 4 diverts 25 points from your hyperdrive
system to rebuild deflectors to 25% and auto-raises shields. This requires
at least 25% hyperdrive health; below that, you get a NO POWER reject and
must limp to a starbase. The tradeoff is real — you trade warp range for a
partial shield right now.
The tradeoff: Shields protect you but degrade with every hit. Once deflectors drop below 40%, the protection becomes unreliable. Field repair only restores deflectors to 75% — you need a starbase for full recovery.
Press 5, then enter a firing angle from 0 to 360 degrees:
The maser beam appears as a visible blue bolt streaking from the Endever across the tactical view. The bolt travels along its path and stops at the first obstacle — a Jovian, a star, or any other object in the way. Masers cannot fire through obstacles. If a star is between you and a Jovian, you need a clear line of sight.
If the bolt hits a Jovian ship, damage is dealt based on distance (closer = more damage) and your shield level (higher shields = weaker masers).
Masers do not destroy in one hit — it typically takes 2-4 shots depending on range and shields. Masers consume ship energy with each shot.
If your maser system is damaged, the beam is weaker.
Press 6, then enter a firing angle from 0 to 360 degrees (same compass as masers).
Triton missiles are your heavy weapon: one hit, one kill at any range. The missile is a red energy ball that moves from the Endever to the target, alternating between + and x shapes as it flies.
But they're scarce. You start with 10 and can only restock by docking at a base. Each base carries only 25 missiles total. Docking refills your supply up to 10 from the base's pool. After 2-3 docks, the base runs dry — no more missiles from that base, ever. Across the galaxy, missiles are a finite resource.
Triton missiles are blocked by stars and other obstacles — if the flight path intersects an obstacle, the missile detonates harmlessly.
Each missile shot costs 5 energy (masers cost 10). Use missiles when you can't afford to miss, or when a target is too far for effective maser fire. Waste them and you'll face the endgame with masers only.
Press 7, then enter the code 123 and press ENTER.
A countdown begins: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… displayed in the command area. The countdown runs in real time — the game continues during the countdown. You can move, fire, dodge enemy beams. Each count lasts about half a second.
To abort, type 7123 during the countdown. The display shows ABORT and the self-destruct is cancelled.
You can also press the CLEAR key (backslash on most keyboards in XRoar) at any time during command input to cancel the current command and return to the COMMAND prompt.
If the countdown reaches zero, the Endever detonates in a massive explosion. Any Jovian within range takes 200 damage — enough to destroy even a full-health ship. Proximity-killed Jovians chain-explode in sequence.
This is a last resort — useful when you're surrounded and doomed, and taking the enemy with you is better than letting them survive to attack more bases.
The game ends after self-destruct.
Press and hold the arrow keys to move the Endever within the current quadrant:
The Endever accelerates smoothly when you hold an arrow key — a quick tap moves exactly 1 pixel, while holding builds to full cruise speed over 3 frames. Release the key and inertial dampers bring the ship to a controlled stop in 2 frames. Diagonal movement works by holding two keys simultaneously.
You can move while entering other commands — this is critical for dodging enemy fire while lining up a shot.
Movement consumes a small amount of ship energy. If ion engines are damaged, maximum speed is reduced. If they're destroyed, you're a sitting target.
To dock at a United Planet base, maneuver the Endever directly above or below the base using the arrow keys. When you're close enough, the status panel shows ENDEVER DOCKED and your condition changes to DOCKED.
Docking restores your ship:
Docking takes time — stardates continue to advance while you're docked, and Jovians elsewhere in the galaxy continue their assault on bases. Don't linger.
The Jovians are not passive targets. Each Jovian has a unique genome that determines its personality — aggression, pilot skill, speed, and appearance.
No two Jovians are identical. Their genome controls:
Jovians react emotionally to events:
Emotion affects everything: fire rate, engagement distance, detection sensitivity, and sprite color. A calm Jovian keeps its distance; an enraged one charges in firing rapidly.
Everything bumps. The Endever cannot fly through Jovians — you'll stop against them. Jovians cannot fly through you or through each other. Use this tactically: you can block a Jovian's path to a base.
Black holes are invisible. They occupy a position in the quadrant but nothing appears on the tactical display. You discover them when:
Black holes have a powerful gravity well that extends 30 pixels in all directions. As you approach, the pull grows stronger. At the outer edge you can fight free with ion engines; closer in, escape becomes impossible. If you notice your ship drifting for no reason, reverse course immediately.
Stars also exert a weaker gravitational pull within 10 pixels. Flying too close to a star destroys the Endever on contact.
Once you've detected a black hole by observing a blocked shot or a gravitational pull, remember its approximate position.
Magnetic storms block scanner readings. Quadrants affected by storms show M on the long range scan instead of contents. You won't know if there are enemies, bases, or nothing in a storm-affected quadrant until you warp there.
Storms can also interfere with hyperdrive navigation through affected quadrants.
You win when all Jovian ships are destroyed and at least one UP base survives:
YOU HAVE DESTROYED ALL 40 JOVIAN SHIPS
THE UNITED PLANET SYSTEM IS SAVED YOUR SCORE IS 168
CARE TO PLAY AGAIN?
You lose when:
THE ENDEVER HAS BEEN DESTROYED
THE UNITED PLANET SYSTEM WILL BE CONQUERED YOUR SCORE IS 0
CARE TO PLAY AGAIN?
Your score (1-250) reflects your overall performance:
A score of 200+ on difficulty 5 or higher is exceptional. A perfect 250 on difficulty 9 may not be achievable.
Scan first. Always check the long range scan at the start. Identify where the bases and Jovians are. Plan your route.
Prioritize SOS alerts. When a base calls for help, warp there immediately. Once a base is gone, it's gone forever — and you need bases to dock and resupply.
Toggle shields tactically. Shields UP absorbs damage but degrades deflectors with each hit. Below 40% deflector health, damage bleeds through. Drop shields when you're confident, raise them when outnumbered. Remember: shields must be DOWN to dock.
Save triton missiles. Each base only carries 25. After 2-3 docks, a base runs dry. Use masers for most combat. Save missiles for distant targets, guaranteed kills, or when energy is too low for masers. In the late game, missiles may be gone entirely.
Dock strategically. Docking is the only way to fully heal — field repair caps at 75% and can't fix systems below 25%. But each dock draws from the base's limited missile pool. Don't dock just for missiles if your systems are healthy.
Keep moving. A stationary Endever is a dead Endever. Use the arrow keys constantly, especially during combat. The Jovians' aim isn't perfect — movement makes you much harder to hit.
Watch your energy. Every action costs energy. If you're below 20%, find a base and dock immediately. Running out of energy in a quadrant with enemies is a death sentence.
Remember black hole positions. If a shot vanishes into empty space, note where it happened. Don't fly there.
COMMANDS TACTICAL SYMBOLS
1 Damage report Blue chevron = Endever
2 Hyperdrive (enter col, row) Red shape = Jovian
3 Long range scan Blue ring = UP Base
4 Deflectors (toggle UP/DOWN) Colored dots = Stars
5 Masers (enter 0-360 degrees) (invisible) = Black hole
6 Triton missiles (enter 0-360)
7 Self-destruct (confirm: 123) SCANNER SYMBOLS
CLEAR Cancel current command E = Endever B = Base
1-3 = Jovians M = Storm
MOVEMENT
Arrow keys — tap or hold CONDITION
Smooth accel, inertial damping GREEN = No enemies
(works during any command) YELLOW = Jovians in galaxy
RED = Jovians in quadrant
DOCKING (shields must be DOWN) DOCKED = At base
Fly onto a base SOS = Base under threat