manual

Appearance - Probably the first thing you should do is select an appearance. There are four distinct ship designs. Each ship has the exact same abilities as the others so the choice of a design is mostly for cosmetic appeal. Players with the same ship designs are on the same team. You may also specify your name in the Appearance section.
Controls - You may specify your key controls. The <SHIFT> key is very important as it modifies all the other keys. For example, holding down the <SHIFT> key while pressing the fire key allows you to change weapons. Similarly, holding down the <SHIFT> while pressing thrust allows you to move backwards. The <SHIFT> key also allow you to move a special item in your list rather than selecting a different item in your list. You should become familiar with the modifying action of the SHIFT key.
Environment - In the Environment section, you can specify the level of difficulty for games against the computer (solo play or network games in cooperate mode). In this section you may also select from 3 different "maps", turn on/off fog-of-war, and enable/disable cheats.
Optimizations - If you play Battle for the Universe over AppleTalk, you will want to uncheck (remove) the latency compensations. Most likely, you will always want to leave the animation on "smoother" unless you have a very slow Mac.

Single Player - To begin a single player game against the computer, simply press the "Single Player" button.
Multiplayer - Click on "Multiplayer", select a tracker (Misty Software's Tracker is pre-selected), and then join a game by clicking on the "join" button. If no games appear, then host your own by clicking on the "host" button and then wait for another player to join you. If you are hosting a game, click on either "cooperate" or "compete" to begin the game after all the players have been gathered. For the time being, suppoort for the built-in tracker is being discontinued, but support may be resumed in the future.

Celestial Bodies

Station - Simply fly on top of your station to refuel and repair your ship.
Bases - Your bases build power-ups (weapons, shields, special items, and add-ons) that will help you defeat your enemy. A green light indicates that an item is built and ready to be sent to you. A red light indicates that the base is building an item. The indicator at the bottom displays how much time remains until the item is built. Once an item is built, you must "request" the item (set your "controls" to specify which key will request items). Once you request a built item, the base will send you that item in a canister. Run over the canister to retrieve the built item. You can also specify which items you would like your bases to build by toggling through the item list (set your "controls" to specify which key will toggle through items).
Wormholes - Flying through a wormhole will immediately transport you to the far-reaches of the solar system.
Nebulae and Planets - These features are included for visual effect only.
Small Rocks - These green materials refuel and repair your ship.
Asteroids - Blow up these puppies to reveal the valuable materials inside them. Run over the minerals to increase your fuel levels and repair damage.

Objects

? - Builds a random object.
Radar - The radar is a powerful object as it can lead you to your opponent's location and warn you of an approaching enemy as well as partially penetrate a cloak.
Shield - The shield protects a player from all weapons. Be careful, though. The shield consumes a lot of fuel and can be countered with the "dispel-shields" special item.
Bullets - The wimpiest weapons in the galaxy.
Fireballs - A good weapon. They are fast and cause damage.
Missiles - Nasty as can be.

Ally - produces two wing fighters which fight by your side. They will stay with you until they need supplies or are destoyed.
Base - Lets you build one base anywhere you place it in the galaxy. Smart players will deposit them in the opponent's solar system for a strategic advantage.
Bomb - Very dangerous. Useful for destroying enemy bases. Bombs can be detonated by being fired upon or by an enemy being too close.
Cloak - Turns your ship invisible. Its numerous applications need no explanation. A radar dish can partially penetrate the cloaking effect.
Clone - Produces a holographic image of your ship that moves as you do, thereby confusing your opponent.
Daze - Causes your opponent to lose his sense of direction.
Dispel Shields - This item prevents your opponent from raising his shields.
Freeze - Gunks up your enemy's jets, causing him to be easy target until he can break away.
Half Speed - Reduces ship functions of your opponent to one-half normal speed.
Hyperspace - Let me see you move!
Pulse - Ya don't have to aim this baby. A few in rapid succession can scare away your opponent.
Rock - Disguises your ship as just a simple asteroid.
Teleport - Two objects bring players together. Another teleports you to your station.

Panels

Fuel and Damage Gauges - Keep a close eye on these indicators. Run out of fuel and you run out of luck. You are a sitting duck without fuel.
Target - You can specify a player to receive a message or be teleported through the target panel. You can specify which key will toggle through the player list from the "controls" section before you begin the game.
Telecomm Panel - By default, messages are now broadcasted to all players. You can send messages to the player specified in the target panel from by ending your message with a backslash (\). You can broadcast a message to your allies (and not your enemies) by ending a message with an asterix (*).