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CENTER RETICULE

HardWar is a first-person shooter meaning that the game is played from the perspective of being seated in the cockpit of a Moth and looking through its windshield. Displayed on this windshield is the Heads-Up Display or HUD. It's just like flying.

The center of your screen is occupied by the 'Center Reticule' of your HUD. At dead center is the 'targeting square'. This is where a target must be for your shots to hit it. It will turn red when you are in range of a target. One type of targeting square is small with sharp corners. This is for cannons that must be fired straight ahead and require more accuracy. The larger, rounded-cornered square is used by self-targeting weapons like missiles and the laser turret. Accuracy isn't as important for these weapons.

To the left of the targeting square is your current speed. At the right is your altitude. The white number is your absolute altitude. The red number is your relative altitude. When your relative altitude is zero, you are bumping the ground.

If you get Flight level 2 software, an attitude indicator appears around your targeting square. This tells you whether you're pitched up or down and how steeply you are banking. Comes in handy for staying level.

Beneath the Center Reticule, near the bottom of your screen, you can see what weapon is currently selected. Below that is your throttle indicator. It tells you how much throttle is being applied either forward or backward. Lights to the right indicate forward throttle, to the left indicate reverse throttle. No throttle light indicates zero throttle.

COMPASS

The compass is above the Center Reticule at the very top of your screen. You will see a number which is your bearing in degrees. Beneath that is the name of the crater you are currently in. As you turn, your bearing changes. You will see the name of another crater when you are aligned with a tunnel that will take you to it. Using the compass comes in handy for 'flying blind'.

Say you are losing a dogfight and need to escape. One of the best places to go is into a tunnel and to another crater. You have your enemy targeted and don't have time to target something in another crater. Just break off and begin a full-throttle turn until you see a crater's name appear in your center compass. Level out and fly straight keeping the crater's name centered in your compass. This will lead you straight to the tunnel without having to take time out to target anything.

MOTH DATA

Data about your Moth is in the upper left of your HUD. It consists of a series of colored bars. From top to bottom they are:

Power -- How much energy your cell has before you run out. It's your Moth's fuel guage.

Recharge -- Only available with the purchase of Power Level 2 software. It shows the recharge rate of your cell. Very handy for telling you when you are centered in a Light Well and charging optimally.

Discharge -- Only available with the pruchase of Power Level 3 software. It shows the drain on your cell. I don't use this one much myself.

Shields -- A standard bar. It shows how much strength your shields have left. When your shields are gone, your structure and systems take hits.

Systems Status -- Cycles through your Moth's systems and shows you their status. Keep an eye on Structure. When your structure is zero, you are dead. End of Game.

BUSINESS

In the upper right of your HUD you can see the date/time, how much cash you have, and whether or not you have new messages.

WEAPONS' STATUS

Weapons' Status is located to the right of the HUD beneath the Business section. It tells you what weapons you have fitted how many of each missile, flares, etc. you have. And the order in which you cycle through the weapons. You can cycle forward or backward through your weapons bank, but cannot always order your weapons like you'd wish.

RADAR

The Moth's radar is at the bottom right of your HUD in a square. Inside this square you'll see different colored triangles. These are the objects in radar range that are not buildings, i.e. moths and booty.

The triangles are color-coded as follows:

Yellow -- Other moths.

White -- Booty on Titan's surface.

Red -- The object you currently have targeted.

Blue -- The monorails.

Whenever you see a white triangle see what it is. It might just be a few Narcotics or a Fusion Cell just laying around.

TARGET VIEW

This function is located at the bottom left of your HUD in a square similiar to the radar. It gives data about your current target including speed, distance, name, and a picture relative to you.

The two most important items in the target view are the Cargo and Shield strength. Cargo appears above the target's image and shield strengh below. The absence of a cargo reading means that the target isn't carrying any cargo.