Shootout at the OK Galaxy

With billions of defenseless Federation citizens behind you and a horde of
barbarian starships in front of you, Patrol Zone O/K 2.7345-9.02 is your OK
Corral. Instead of a Colt 45 Peacemaker, your weapon is the FSS Demona,
perhaps the best starship in the depleted Federation fleet.

The Demona has shields, hyperspace drive, and deadly lasers which can blast a
barbarian raider out of existence with a single shot. Their hits, by contrast,
will just scratch her shields, which you can easily reinforce with more
energy. Energy is the catch, though. Every shot and hyperspace jump consumes
an appreciable amount, while life support drains the ship as steadily as a
clock ticks. More than their lasers, the barbarians’ maneuverability is their
deadliest weapon. Get a little too eager with your rapid-fire lasers and
you’ll have nothing left for that pesky life support system. Take too long to
destroy all the enemies in your patrol zone, and they’ll slip through to lay
waste to the Federation’s most populous planets.

A single supply ship exists, which you can visit as often as you need. Just
make sure you don’t run out of gas getting there or lining up with its fuel
pod. Hyperspace jumps also take a certain deftness. While dogfights within a
sector range across unlimited three-dimensional space, hyperspace is flat and
there’ll be no jumping with the Demona’s nose pointing off the galactic plane.
Heading and azimuth are on the main screen, which is dominated by a view of
the starry void, complete with crosshairs. When you do jump successfully,
those stars disappear, then slowly expand from a thin, horizontal line as you
enter the new sector. Energy, shields, and sensor readings are packed into the
main screen, too. Separately, a map is available showing enemy presence in the
sectors you have scanned, along with the location of that vital supply ship.

Dogfights rest on interpreting the trajectory of the barbarian raiders in
order to draw them into your crosshairs and meet them there with a slightly
anticipatory laser blast. Fifteen levels of difficulty are available; at
higher levels an occasional second raider in the sector can make their shots a
genuine hazard. Nonetheless, the primary challenge of higher difficulty is
life support’s rate of energy consumption. With the energy level ticking down
faster, each dogfight becomes a race to target the enemy raider and return to
the supply ship while there’s still air in your lungs.