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%This is part of the "UFO:Alien Invasion"-Reference Manuals Tex sources.
%Copyright (C) 2006 Eric Goller.
%See the file ufo-manual_EN.tex for copying conditions.

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%  date		/		changes																	/		comment						/ author
%	06.10.06	/	rev. 0.0.5 (alpha) released											/	complete aspell-check		/	Elbenfreund
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\section{Intro}

\subsection{About the game and its history}

\subsection{UFO:ufo defence - the idea}

\subsection{UFO:AI - the beginning}
The original engine development was done as an extreme modification of IDs famouse Quake 2 engine by a team around Herby (see credits in the appendix) in \textbf{????}. After \textbf{??} years people lost interest on the project while additionally Herby didn't had the as much time at his hand as in the early days.
To prevent that all the work already invested till that stage (tech demo 2) is lost he took the offer of one of the former contributors (Mattn) to make it open source.  Since those days the source code is hosted by sourceforge.org and given to the community which is asked to use this chance to resurrect one of the most unique and influential games ever. After a short time it became clear that the interest in supporting the development of UFO:AI was unbroken and a bunch of volunteers found together to add their flavour and skill up to what you have in front of you nowdays.

\section{Free games / the community}
This game is brought to you by the UFO:AI Development team and its countless contributors. All of them share at least one thought: to make UFO:AI a great free % Link / footnote -> free as in freedom
 game. Besides detailed legal implications, mentioned in the following section and given in the appendix, most of all this means that every piece of code used to create this game is publicly available. Even more: you are free - even wanted - to change everything you want by yourself whenever you feel you can help making UFO:AI a better way to waste time. This may start with typos or end with complete mods or patches - it's up to you.  With UFO:AI being  an open-source development by a bunch of non profit orientated people this does also mean there is no big company in the back to pay for extensive testing, balancing or hardwarechecking. So whenever you encounter a bug, a hardware incompatibility or any other problem it would be a fair gesture to give something back to the community - even a carefully filled out bugreport helps a lot. So we hope to do our little share to promote free software and build up a productive open-source gaming community. And no matter what kind of skills you call your own, if you are a coder, 3D-moder, map-designer, even film-script writer, musician, concept-art designer (all of these made UFO:AI what it is today) be assured that there is a project out there waiting for your help - enriching the pool of free software.

\subsection{License}
As stated on the title page, this manual comes under the GNU Free Document License which can be found  in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License" in the appendix.
Furthermore UFO:Alien Invasion is published under the "GNU General Public License" which is stored in the gamefiles ( ) and is also given in the appendix.

\subsection{Contact / Support}
Support, additional information, FAQs and the forum can be found at http://wwwufoai.net. %set link
For a release history, latest releases and bugfixes as well as the bug -and featuretracker please see our project page at sourceforge.org. %set link
Sourceforge also offers you to take a look at our project page (where you find detailed status reports, contribution -and memberlists) as well as the official UFO:AI-mailinglist to its members. In addition to the forum we also host channel UFO:AI on the freenodes IRC network (irc.freenode.org).  As usual and according to netiquette pleases make sure you try to find solutions for rather trivial problems on your own before asking on the board or on IRC.\\
For interested media we also provide screenshots and offer further support for any planed coverage - feel free to contact us personally by one of the above ways or using the sourceforges Development-team list.
Financial support is also gladly welcome. For further information see www.ufoai.net

\newpage

\section{Story}
\subsection{Prelude}
It is the year 2084. Earth, never the most stable of places, enjoys a time of relative peace. The violent beginnings of the 21st century are far away now; distant memories, but not so distant that they've been forgotten. To most of Earth's people, the Second Cold War is a dark shadow from the past, much like the World Wars were to the children of the late 20th.\\
Conflicts have gotten rarer near the end of the century as new technology and universal health-care finally became available to the third world. Even the fires of terrorism have cooled in the wake of the Second Cold War, with its horrors and inhumanities still fresh in the minds of the people, from the old United States to the ravaged Indian subcontinent. Class struggles are ascending to the political battlefield now that every nation is guaranteed fair representation in the UN, and the global standard of living is slowly on the rise down to the most impoverished corners of the planet. Countries have solidified, stabilised around a restructured United Nations that successfully polices the world governments. Fragmented clumps of smaller nations, frightened at first by the vast power blocks accumulating around China and the European Union, have banded together into powerful political leagues of their own -- then found themselves with no neighbours they could safely fight. For the first time in the history of mankind, there is law and order across more than three quarters of the world.\\
To many people on Earth, it seems like things are going all right.\\
The first attack hits the city of Mumbai on the third of May, 2084. Six small UFOs appear out of nowhere and come screaming down from orbit, undetected by the vast radar installations covering the skies over Mumbai, and set down in the single most densely-populated city on Earth. They offer no warning, no explanation. Twenty thousand innocent civilians and three battalions of elite troops are massacred over the course of twelve brutal hours before massed Commonwealth soldiers manage to bring the aliens' advance to a standstill. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, they retreat to their craft and vanish back into orbit, leaving only the ravaged streets of Mumbai as evidence.\\
An emergency meeting of the UN provides no conclusive direction. The incursions continue faster, larger and more savage than before, this time in Bonn, Johannesburg and Bangkok. Some nations attempt diplomacy, sending messages in a thousand different languages to the aliens ravaging across the countryside. Their words are ignored. Within hours, all three cities are emptied of human life. The attack is over by the time the various militaries are given permission to strike back. The aliens leave nothing behind them but concrete and blood. All the UFOs disappear without a trace -- but no one doubts they'll be back.\\
Eighty-seven hours after the initial attack on Mumbai, Earth declares war. For two weeks, the armies of humanity each try to fend off the mysterious alien attackers to the best of their ability. They score precious few successes.\\
Left with only one alternative, the UN takes action. Ancient equipment is dusted off, some of it more than a century old, and the long-defunct anti-extraterrestrial agency of the former United States -- PHALANX -- is resurrected under a new UN banner. Its sworn duty is to combat the alien threat, and to ensure the survival of the human race at all costs.\\
Funded by all eight of the political powers, and drawing its soldiers from the elite of their armies, PHALANX is the best of the best. It is Earth's first and only line of defence. It can't afford to fail; because if it does, humanity doesn't stand a chance. 

\subsection{First instructions}
TO: Base Commander, PHALANX, Atlantic Operations Command\\
FROM: SecGen. Mahouf Serra, United Nations, New York City\\
DATE: 01 January 2084\\
SUB: Good Luck\\
Welcome to your new post, Commander. You now have full command over the PHALANX Extraterrestrial Response Unit. Your mission is to protect the citizens of Earth and stop the alien threat at all costs. How you accomplish this is up to you; our only requirement is that you succeed.\\
Your first order of business is to set up a headquarters. The UN has access to military bases all over the world, so you may consider any region for your base of operations. Choose the location wisely, because it will have great influence on the success of the PHALANX project.\\
A recent analysis of the attacks on Mumbai and Bonn reveal that UFO sightings and alien activity seems to focus on the most densely populated regions of Earth, including coastal North- and South-America, Europe, Eastasia, South and Mediterranean Africa, and Australia. You should consider including these territories in your field of operations.\\
Once you've established your first base, you must prepare your soldiers. The recruits we have assigned to PHALANX must be stationed on your dropship, then equipped for battle.\\
Take care of them, Commander. The rest of us are all counting on you, and praying for you.\\
That is all. Good luck and good hunting. \\
\subsection{Goal of the game}
As a consequence of the lack of knowledge about the alien threat your very immediate goal is to find out as much as possible about the invaders, their goals, methods and technical... and to save as much Innocent citizens as you can in order to prove your worth to the UN.\\
To reach this goal you will have to distribute your rare resources choosing priorities carefully, expand the effective action radius of your task force and other challenges to your management skills. But on the other hand there waits a victory to be achieved in every tactical mission you fight. All your management serves just one final goal. To beat the alien threat wherever you encounter it. Using a global map (geoscape) and flexible tactical interface (battlescape) you will have to show that you are able to command your troops and outsmart an enemy who - without doubt - is far superior technologie-wise.
