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\r
7 <title>Super Star Trek</title>
\r
12 <firstname>David</firstname>
\r
13 <surname>Matuzsek</surname>
\r
16 <firstname>Paul</firstname>
\r
17 <surname>Reynolds</surname>
\r
20 <firstname>Tom</firstname>
\r
21 <surname>Almy</surname>
\r
24 <firstname>Eric</firstname>
\r
25 <othername>Steven</othername>
\r
26 <surname>Raymond</surname>
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31 <literallayout format='linespecific' class='monospaced'>
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62 Produced For Your Enjoyment
\r
70 With Modifications By
\r
79 <para>Permission is hereby granted for the copying, distribution,
\r
80 modification and use of this program and associated documentation
\r
81 for recreational purposes, provided that all references to the
\r
82 authors are retained. However, permission is not and will not be
\r
83 granted for the sale or promotional use of this program or program
\r
84 documentation, or for use in any situation in which profit may be
\r
85 considered an objective, since it is the desire of the authors to
\r
86 respect the copyrights of the originators of Star Trek.</para>
\r
90 <chapter><title>Introduction</title>
\r
91 <para>The Organian Peace Treaty has collapsed, and the Federation is at war
\r
92 with the Klingon Empire. Joining the Klingons against the Federation
\r
93 are the members of the <quote>Romulan Star Empire.</quote> As commander of the
\r
94 Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, your job is to wipe out the Klingon
\r
95 invasion fleet and make the galaxy safe for democracy.</para>
\r
97 <para>Your battleground is the entire galaxy, which for convenience is
\r
98 divided up into eight rows of eight quadrants each, like a
\r
99 checkerboard. Rows are numbered from top to bottom, and columns are
\r
100 numbered left to right, so quadrant 1 - 8 would be in the upper right
\r
101 hand corner of the galaxy.</para>
\r
103 <para>During battle you will be concerned only with those enemies that
\r
104 occupy the same quadrant as yourself. Quadrants are divided up into
\r
105 sectors: ten rows of ten sectors each. Sectors are numbered in the
\r
106 same way as quadrants, so the sector in the upper right corner is
\r
107 sector 1 - 10. You have a short-range scanner which allows you to
\r
108 look at the entire quadrant in a single display.</para>
\r
110 <para>Enemies recharge during your absence. If you leave a quadrant
\r
111 containing a weakened enemy, when you return to that quadrant he will
\r
112 be strong again. Also, each time you enter a quadrant, the positions
\r
113 of everthing in the quadrant (except your ship) are randomized, to
\r
114 save you the trouble of trying to remember where everything in the
\r
115 quadrant is. Notice that this refers only to the positions of things
\r
116 in the quadrant—the numbers of each kind of thing are not changed
\r
117 (except for black holes and the Super-commander, which move around
\r
118 the galaxy). If you kill something, it stays dead.</para>
\r
120 <para>The Romulans are not as serious a threat to the Federation as the
\r
121 Klingons. For one thing, there are not as many of them. For
\r
122 another, the Romulans are not as treacherous. However, Romulans are
\r
123 not to be trifled with, especially when you are in violation of the
\r
124 Romulan Neutral Zone.</para>
\r
126 <para>There are two kinds of Klingons: Ordinary Klingons, which are
\r
127 bad enough, and Klingon Commanders, which are even worse. Commanders
\r
128 are about three times stronger than ordinary Klingons. Commanders are
\r
129 more resistant to your weapons. Commanders can move about during
\r
130 battle while Ordinary Klingons stay put. And finally, Commanders have
\r
131 a thing called a <quote>long-range tractor beam</quote> which they can
\r
132 use, at random intervals, to yank you away from what you are doing
\r
133 into their quadrant, to do battle with them. There is also a special
\r
134 commander, called the <quote>Super-commander.</quote> This character
\r
135 is so bad he is reserved for the Good, Expert, and Emeritus games.
\r
136 Fortunately, there is just one Super-commander in a game. In addition
\r
137 to the undesirable traits of Commanders, he can move from quadrant to
\r
138 quadrant at will, seeking out and destroying your starbases and any
\r
139 helpful planets he runs across. He also has a spy planted aboard your
\r
140 ship, giving him valuable information about your condition. Using
\r
141 this information, he can do dastardly things like tractor beam your
\r
142 ship when you are in bad shape. And once you've been tractor beamed
\r
143 by the Super-commander —</para>
\r
145 <para>But the advantages are not all on the side of the enemy. Your ship
\r
146 is more powerful, and has better weapons. Besides, in the this
\r
147 galaxy there are from two to five starbases, at which you can stop to
\r
148 refuel and lick your wounds, safe from phaser attack or tractor
\r
149 beams. But you had best not dally there too long, since time is not
\r
150 on your side. The Klingons are not just after you; they are
\r
151 attacking the entire Federation. There is always a finite <quote>time
\r
152 left,</quote> which is how much longer the Federation can hold out if you
\r
153 just sit on your fat behind and do nothing. As you wipe out
\r
154 Klingons, you reduce the rate at which the invasion fleet weakens the
\r
155 Federation, and so the time left until the Federation collapses may
\r
156 actually increase. Since Klingons are the main threat to the
\r
157 Federation, the Romulans do not figure into the <quote>time left.</quote> In
\r
158 fact, you need not kill all the Romulans to win. If you can get all
\r
159 the Klingons, the Federation will abide forever, and you have won the
\r
162 <para>Space is vast, and it takes precious time to move from one place to
\r
163 another. In comparison, other things happen so quickly that we
\r
164 assume the take no time at all. Two ways that time can pass are when
\r
165 you move, or when you issue a command to sit still and rest for a
\r
166 period of time. You will sometimes want to do the latter, since the
\r
167 various devices aboard your starship may be damaged and require time
\r
168 to repair. Of course, repairs can be made more quickly at a starbase
\r
169 than than can in flight.</para>
\r
171 <para>In addition to Klingons, Romulans, and starbases, the galaxy
\r
172 contains (surprise) stars. Mostly, stars are a nuisance and just get
\r
173 in your way. You can trigger a star into going nova by shooting one
\r
174 of your photon torpedoes at it. When a star novas, it does a lot of
\r
175 dammage to anything immediately adjacent to it. If another star is
\r
176 adjacent to a nova, it too will go nova. Stars may also occasionally
\r
177 go supernova; a supernova in a quadrant destroys everything in the
\r
178 quadrant andmakes the quadrant permanently uninhabitable. You may
\r
179 <quote>jump over</quote> a quadrant containing a supernova when you
\r
180 move, but you should not stop there.</para>
\r
182 <para>Supernovas may happen spontaneously, without provocation. If a
\r
183 supernova occurs in the same quadrant you are in, your starship has an
\r
184 <quote>emergency automatic override</quote> which picks some random
\r
185 direction and some random warp factor, and tries to throw you clear of
\r
186 the supernova. If the supernova occurs in some other quadrant, you
\r
187 just get a warning message from starfleet about it (provided, of
\r
188 course, that your subspace radio is working).</para>
\r
190 <para>Also a few planets are scattered through the galaxy. These can
\r
191 sometimes be a great help since some of them will have <quote>dilithium
\r
192 crystals,</quote> which are capable of replenishing the ship's energy
\r
193 supply. You can either beam down to the planet surface using the
\r
194 transporter, or take the shuttle craft <quote>Galileo</quote>.</para>
\r
196 <para>Finally, each quadrant will contain from zero to three black
\r
197 holes. These can deflect or swallow torpedoes passing near them. They
\r
198 also swallow enemy ships knocked into them. If your ship enters one
\r
201 <para>Star Trek is a rich game, full of detail. These instructions are
\r
202 written at a moderate level—no attempt has been made fully to
\r
203 describe everything about the game, but there is quite a bit more
\r
204 here than you need to get started. If you are new to the game, just
\r
205 get a rough idea of the kinds of commands available, and start
\r
206 playing. After a game or two you will have learned everthing
\r
207 important, and the detailed command descriptions which follow will be
\r
208 a lot more meaningful to you.</para>
\r
210 <para>You have weapons: phasers and photon torpedoes. You have a defense:
\r
211 deflector shields. You can look at things: long-range scaners,
\r
212 short-range scanners, and a star chart. You can move about, under
\r
213 warp drive or impulse power. You can also dock at a starbase, rest
\r
214 while repairs are being made, abandon ship, self destruct, or give up
\r
215 and start a new game.</para>
\r
217 <para>The Klingons are waiting.</para>
\r
220 <chapter><title>How To Issue Commands</title>
\r
222 <para>When the game is waiting for you to enter a command it will
\r
229 <para>You may then type in your command. All you have to remember for each
\r
230 command is the mnemonic. For example, if you want to move straight up
\r
231 one quadrant, you can type in the mnemonic (case insensitive)</para>
\r
237 <para>and the computer will prompt you with</para>
\r
240 Manual or automatic-
\r
243 <para>Say you type in <quote>manual</quote>. The computer then responds</para>
\r
246 X and Y displacements-
\r
249 <para>Now you type in <quote>0 1</quote> which specifies an X movement of zero and a Y
\r
250 movement of one.</para>
\r
252 <para>When you have learned the commands, you can avoid being prompted
\r
253 simply by typing in the information without waiting to be asked for
\r
254 it. For example, in the above example, you could simply type in</para>
\r
260 <para>and it will be done. Or you could type in</para>
\r
266 <para>and when the computer responds with the displacement prompt, you
\r
273 <para>and it will understand.</para>
\r
275 <para>You can abbreviate most mnemonics. For <quote>move</quote>, you can use any
\r
282 <para>successfully. For your safety, certain critical commands (such as to
\r
283 abandon ship) must be written out in full. Also, in a few cases two
\r
284 or more commands begin with the same letter, and in this case that
\r
285 letter refers to a particular one of the commands; to get the other,
\r
286 your abbreviation must be two or more characters long. This sounds
\r
287 complicated, but you will learn the abbreviations quickly enough.</para>
\r
289 <para>What this all boils down to is:</para>
\r
292 <listitem><para>You can abbreviate practically anything</para></listitem>
\r
293 <listitem><para>If you forget, the computer will proompt you</para></listitem>
\r
294 <listitem><para>If you remember, you can type it all on one line</para></listitem>
\r
297 <para>If you are part way through entering a command and you change your
\r
298 minde, you can cancel the command by typing -1 as one of the
\r
299 parameters, with the exception of the manual move command.</para>
\r
301 <para>If anything is not clear to you, experiment. The worst you can do is
\r
302 lose a game or two.</para>
\r
305 <chapter><title>List of Commands</title>
\r
307 <sect1><title>Short-Range Scan</title>
\r
311 Shortest abbreviation: S
\r
312 Full commands: SRSCAN
\r
317 <para>The short-range scan gives you a considerable amount of information
\r
318 about the quadrant your starship is in. A short-range scan is best
\r
319 described by an example.</para>
\r
322 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
\r
323 1 * . . . . R . . . . Stardate 2516.3
\r
324 2 . . . E . . . . . . Condition RED
\r
325 3 . . . . . * . B . . Position 5 - 1, 2 - 4
\r
326 4 . . . S . . . . . . Life Support DAMAGED, Reserves=2.30
\r
327 5 . . . . . . . K . . Warp Factor 5.0
\r
328 6 . K . . . . . * . Energy 2176.24
\r
329 7 . . . . . P . . . . Torpedoes 3
\r
330 8 . . . . * . . . . . Shields UP, 42% 1050.0 units
\r
331 9 . * . . * . . . C . Klingons Left 12
\r
332 10 . . . . . . . . . . Time Left 3.72
\r
335 <para>The left part is a picture of the quadrant. The E at sector 2 -
\r
336 4 represents the Enterprise; the B at sector 3 - 8 is a starbase.
\r
337 There are ordinary Klingons (K) at sectors 5 - 8 and 6 - 2, and a
\r
338 Klingon Commander (C) at 9 - 9. The (GULP)
\r
339 <quote>Super-commander</quote> (S) is occupies sector 4 - 4, and a
\r
340 Romulan (R) is at 1 - 6. A planet (P) is at sector 7 - 6. There are
\r
341 also a large number of stars (*). The periods (.) are just empty
\r
342 space—they are printed to help you get your bearings. Sector 6
\r
343 - 4 contains a black hole ( ).</para>
\r
345 <para>The information on the right is assorted status information. You
\r
346 can get this alone with the STATUS command. The status information
\r
347 will be absent if you type <quote>N</quote> after SRSCAN. Otherwise
\r
348 status information will be presented.</para>
\r
350 <para>If you type <quote>C</quote> after SRSCAN, you will be given a
\r
351 short-range scan and a Star Chart.</para>
\r
353 <para>Short-range scans are free. That is, they use up no energy and no
\r
354 time. If you are in battle, doing a short-range scan does not give
\r
355 the enemies another chance to hit you. You can safely do a
\r
356 short-range scan anytime you like.</para>
\r
358 <para>If your short-range sensors are damaged, this command will only show
\r
359 the contents of adjacent sectors.</para>
\r
362 <sect1><title>Status Report</title>
\r
366 Shortest abbreviation: ST
\r
369 <para>This command gives you information about the current state of your
\r
370 starship as follows:</para>
\r
374 <term>STARDATE</term>
\r
376 <para>The current date. A stardate is the same as a day.</para>
\r
380 <term>CONDITION</term>
\r
382 <para>There are four possible conditions:</para>
\r
385 <term>DOCKED</term>
\r
386 <listitem><para>docked at starbase.</para></listitem>
\r
390 <listitem><para>in battle.</para></listitem>
\r
393 <term>YELLOW</term>
\r
394 <listitem><para>low on energy (<1000 units)</para></listitem>
\r
398 <listitem><para>none of the above</para></listitem>
\r
404 <term>POSITION</term>
\r
406 <para>Quadrant is given first, then sector</para>
\r
410 <term>LIFE SUPPOR</term>
\r
412 <para>If <quote>ACTIVE</quote> then life support systems are functioning
\r
413 normally. If on <quote>RESERVES</quote> the number is how many stardates your
\r
414 reserve food, air, etc. will last—you must get repairs made or get to
\r
415 starbase before your reserves run out.</para>
\r
419 <term>WARP FACTOR</term>
\r
421 <para>What your warp factor is currently set to.</para>
\r
425 <term>ENERGY</term>
\r
427 <para>The amount of energy you have left. If it drops to zero, you die.</para>
\r
431 <term>TORPEDOES</term>
\r
433 <para>How many photon torpedoes you have left.</para>
\r
437 <term>SHIELDS</term>
\r
439 <para>Whether your shields are up or down, how strong they are
\r
440 (what percentage of a hit they can deflect), and shield energy.</para>
\r
444 <term>KLINGONS LEFT</term>
\r
446 <para>How many of the Klingons are still out there.</para>
\r
450 <term>TIME LEFT</term>
\r
452 <para>How long the Federation can hold out against the
\r
453 present number of Klingons; that is, how long until the end
\r
454 if you do nothing in the meantime. If you kill Klingons
\r
455 quickly, this number will go up—if not, it will go down. If
\r
456 it reaches zero, the federation is conquered and you lose.</para>
\r
461 <para>Status information is free—it uses no time or energy, and if you are
\r
462 in battle, the Klingons are not given another chance to hit you.</para>
\r
464 <para>Status information can also be obtained by doing a short-range scan.
\r
465 See the SRSCAN command for details.</para>
\r
467 <para>Each item of information can be obtained singly by requesting it.
\r
468 See REQUEST command for details.</para>
\r
471 <sect1><title>Long-Range Scan</title>
\r
475 Shortest abbreviation: L
\r
478 <para>A long-range scan gives you general information about where you are
\r
479 and what is around you. Here is an example output.</para>
\r
482 Long-range scan for Quadrant 5 - 1
\r
488 <para>This scan says that you are in row 5, column 1 of the 8 by 8 galaxy.
\r
489 The numbers in the scan indicate how many of each kind of thing there
\r
490 is in your quadrant and all adjacent quadrants. The digits are
\r
491 interpreted as follows.</para>
\r
497 <entry>Thousands digit:</entry>
\r
498 <entry>1000 indicates a supernova (only)</entry>
\r
501 <entry>Hundreds digit:</entry>
\r
502 <entry>number of Klingons present</entry>
\r
505 <entry>Tens digit:</entry>
\r
506 <entry>number of starbases present</entry>
\r
509 <entry>Ones digit:</entry>
\r
510 <entry>number of stars present</entry>
\r
516 <para>For example, in your quadrant (5 - 1) the number is 316, which
\r
517 indicates 3 Klingons, 1 starbase, and 6 stars. The long-range
\r
518 scanner does not distinguish between ordinary Klingons and Klingon
\r
519 command ships. If there is a supernova, as in the quadrant below and
\r
520 to your right (quadrant 6 - 2), there is nothing else in the
\r
523 <para>Romulans possess a <quote>cloaking device</quote> which prevents
\r
524 their detection by long-range scan. Because of this fact, Starfleet
\r
525 Command is never sure how many Romulans are <quote>out there</quote>.
\r
526 When you kill the last Klingon, the remaining Romulans surrender to
\r
527 the Federation.</para>
\r
529 <para>Planets are also undetectable by long-range scan. The only way to
\r
530 detect a planet is to find it in your current quadrant with the
\r
531 short-range sensors.</para>
\r
533 <para>Since you are in column 1, there are no quadrants to your left. The
\r
534 minus ones indicate the negative energy barrier at the edge of the
\r
535 galaxy, which you are not permitted to cross.</para>
\r
537 <para>Long-range scans are free. They use up no energy or time, and can be
\r
538 done safely regardless of battle conditions.</para>
\r
540 <sect1><title>Star Chart</title>
\r
544 Shortest abbreviation: C
\r
547 <para>As you proceed in the game, you learn more and more about what things
\r
548 are where in the galaxy. When ever you first do a scan in a quadrant,
\r
549 telemetry sensors are ejected which will report any changes in the
\r
550 quadrant(s) back to your ship, providing the sub-space radio is
\r
551 working. Spock will enter this information in the chart. If the radio
\r
552 is not working, Spock can only enter new information discovered from
\r
553 scans, and information in other quadrants may be obsolete.</para>
\r
555 <para>The chart looks like an 8 by 8 array of numbers. These numbers are
\r
556 interpreted exactly as they are on a long-range scan. A period (.) in
\r
557 place of a digit means you do not know that information yet. For
\r
558 example, ... means you know nothing about the quadrant, while .1.
\r
559 menas you know it contains a base, but an unknown number of Klingons
\r
562 <para>Looking at the star chart is a free operation. It costs neither time
\r
563 nor energy, and can be done safely whether in or out of battle.</para>
\r
566 <sect1><title>Damage Report</title>
\r
570 Shortest abbreviation: DA
\r
573 <para>At any time you may ask for a damage report to find out what devices
\r
574 are damaged and how long it will take to repair them. Naturally,
\r
575 repairs proceed faster at a starbase.</para>
\r
577 <para>If you suffer damages while moving, it is possible that a subsequent
\r
578 damage report will not show any damage. This happens if the time
\r
579 spent on the move exceeds the repair time, since in this case the
\r
580 damaged devices were fixed en route.</para>
\r
582 <para>Damage reports are free. They use no energy or time, and can be done
\r
583 safely even in the midst of battle.</para>
\r
586 <sect1><title>Move Under Warp Drive</title>
\r
590 Shortest abbreviation: M
\r
591 Full command: MOVE MANUAL <displacement>
\r
592 MOVE AUTOMATIC <estination*gt;
\r
595 <para>This command is the usual way to move from one place to another
\r
596 within the galaxy. You move under warp drive, according to the
\r
597 current warp factor (see <quote>WARP FACTOR</quote>).</para>
\r
599 <para>There are two command modes for movement: MANUAL and AUTOMATIC.
\r
600 The manual mode requires the following format:</para>
\r
603 MOVE MANUAL <deltax> <deltay>
\r
606 <para><deltax> and <deltay> are the horizontal and vertical
\r
607 displacements for your starship, in quadrants; a displacement of one
\r
608 sector is 0.1 quadrants. Specifying <deltax> and <deltay>
\r
609 causes your ship to move in a straight line to the specified
\r
610 destination. If <deltay> is omitted, it is assumed zero. For
\r
611 example, the shortest possible command to move one sector to the right
\r
618 <para>The following examples of manual movement refer to the short-range
\r
619 scan shown earlier.</para>
\r
622 Destination Sector Manual Movement command
\r
627 (leaving quadrant) M M 0 .2
\r
630 <para>The automatic mode is as follows:</para>
\r
633 MOVE AUTOMATIC <qrow> <qcol> <srow> <scol>
\r
636 <para><para>where <qrow> and <qcol> are the row and column
\r
637 numbers of the destination quadrant, and <srow> and <scol>
\r
638 are the row and column numbers of thedestination sector in that
\r
639 quadrant. This command also moves your ship in a straight line path
\r
640 to the destination. For moving within a quadrant, <qrow> and
\r
641 <qcol> may be omitted. For example, to move to sector 2 - 9 in
\r
642 the current quadrant, the shortest command would be</para>
\r
648 <para>To move to quadrant 3 - 7, sector 5 - 8, type</para>
\r
654 <para>and it will be done. In automatic mode, either two or four numbers
\r
655 must be supplied.</para>
\r
657 <para>Automatic mode utilizes the ship's <quote>battle computer.</quote> If the
\r
658 computer is damaged, manual movement must be used.</para>
\r
660 <para>If warp engines are damaged less than 10 stardates (undocked) you can
\r
661 still go warp 4.</para>
\r
663 <para>It uses time and energy to move. How much time and how much energy
\r
664 depends on your current warp factor, the distance you move, and
\r
665 whether your shields are up. The higher the warp factor, the faster
\r
666 you move, but higher warp factors require more energy. You may move
\r
667 with your shields up, but this doubles the energy required.</para>
\r
669 <para>You can move within a quadrant without being attacked if you just
\r
670 entered the quadrant or have been attacked since your last move
\r
671 command. This enables you to move and hit them before they
\r
675 <sect1><title>Warp Factor</title>
\r
679 Shortest abbreviation: W
\r
680 Full command: WARP <number>
\r
683 <para>Your warp factor controls the speed of your starship. The larger the
\r
684 warp factor, the faster you go and the more energy you use.</para>
\r
686 <para>Your minimum warp factor is 1.0 and your maximum warp factor is 10.0
\r
687 (which is 100 times as fast and uses 1000 times as much energy). At
\r
688 speeds above warp 6 there is some danger of causing damage to your
\r
689 warp engines; this damage is larger at higher warp factors and also
\r
690 depends on how far you go at that warp factor.</para>
\r
692 <para>At exactly warp 10 there is some probability of entering a
\r
693 so-called <quote>time warp</quote> and being thrown foward or backward
\r
694 in time. The farther you go at warp 10, the greater is the
\r
695 probability of entering the time warp.</para>
\r
698 <sect1><title>Impulse Engines</title>
\r
702 Shortest abbreviation: I
\r
703 Full command: IMPULSE MANUAL <displacement>
\r
704 IMPULSE AUTOMATIC <destination>
\r
707 <para>The impulse engines give you a way to move when your warp engines are
\r
708 damaged. They move you at a speed of 0.95 sectors per stardate,
\r
709 which is the equivalent of a warp factor of about 0.975, so they are
\r
710 much too slow to use except in emergencies.</para>
\r
712 <para>Movement commands are indicated just as in the <quote>MOVE</quote> command.</para>
\r
714 <para>The impulse engines require 20 units of energy to engage, plus 10
\r
715 units per sector (100 units per quadrant) traveled. It does not cost
\r
716 extra to move with the shields up.</para>
\r
719 <sect1><title>Deflector Shields</title>
\r
723 Shortest abbreviation: SH
\r
724 Full commands: SHIELDS UP
\r
726 SHIELDS TRANSFER <amount of energy to transfer>
\r
729 <para>Your deflector shields are a defensive device to protect you from
\r
730 Klingon attacks (and nearby novas). As the shields protect you, they
\r
731 gradually weaken. A shield strength of 75%, for example, means that
\r
732 the next time a Klingon hits you, your shields will deflect 75% of
\r
733 the hit, and let 25% get through to hurt you.</para>
\r
735 <para>It costs 50 units of energy to raise shields, nothing to lower them.
\r
736 You may move with your shields up; this costs nothing under impulse
\r
737 power, but doubles the energy required for warp drive.</para>
\r
739 <para>Each time you raise or lower your shields, the Klingons have another
\r
740 chance to attack. Since shields do not raise and lower
\r
741 instantaneously, the hits you receive will be intermediate between
\r
742 what they would be if the shields were completely up or completely
\r
745 <para>You may not fire phasers through your shields. However you may use
\r
746 the <quote>high-speed shield control</quote> to lower shields, fire phasers, and
\r
747 raise the shields again before the Klingons can react. Since rapid
\r
748 lowering and raising of the shields requires more energy than normal
\r
749 speed operation, it costs you 200 units of energy to activate this
\r
750 control. It is automatically activated when you fire phasers while
\r
751 shields are up. You may fire photon torpedoes, but they may be
\r
752 deflected considerably from their intended course as they pass
\r
753 through the shields (depending on shield strength).</para>
\r
755 <para>You may transfer energy beteen the ship's energy (given as
\r
756 <quote>Energy</quote> in the status) and the shields. Thee word
\r
757 <quote>TRANSFER</quote> may be abbreviated <quote>T</quote>. The
\r
758 ammount of energy to transfer is the number of units of energy you
\r
759 wish to take from the ship's energy and put into the shields. If you
\r
760 specify an negative number, energy is drained from the shields to the
\r
761 ship. Transfering energy constitutes a turn. If you transfer energy
\r
762 to the shields while you are under attack, they will be at the new
\r
763 energy level when you are next hit.</para>
\r
765 <para>Enemy torpedoes hitting your ship explode on your shields (if they
\r
766 are up) and have essentially the same effect as phaser hits.</para>
\r
769 <sect1><title>Phasers</title>
\r
773 Shortest abbreviation: P
\r
774 Full commands: PHASERS AUTOMATIC <AMOUNT TO FIRE> <NO>
\r
775 PHASERS <AMOUNT TO FIRE> <NO>
\r
776 PHASERS MANUAL <NO> <AMOUNT 1> <AMOUNT 2>...<AMOUNT N>
\r
779 <para>Phasers are energy weapons. As you fire phasers at Klingons, you
\r
780 specify an <quote>amount to fire</quote> which is drawn from your
\r
781 energy reserves. The amount of total hit required to kill an enemy is
\r
782 partly random. but also depends on skill level.</para>
\r
784 <para>The average hit required to kill an ordinary Klingon varies from 200
\r
785 units in the Novice game to 250 units in the Emeritus game.
\r
786 Commanders normally require from 600 (Novice) to 700 (Emeritus). The
\r
787 Super-commander requres from 875 (Good) to 1000 (Emeritus). Romulans
\r
788 require an average of 350 (Novice) to 450 (Emeritus).</para>
\r
790 <para>Hits on enemies are cumulative, as long as you don't leave the
\r
793 <para>In general, not all that you fire will reach the Klingons. The
\r
794 farther away they are, the less phaser energy will reach them. If a
\r
795 Klingon is adjacent to you, he will receive about 90% of the phaser
\r
796 energy directed at him; a Klingon 5 sectors away will receive about
\r
797 60% and a Klingon 10 sectors away will receive about 35%. There is
\r
798 some randomness involved, so these figures are not exact. Phasers
\r
799 have no effect beyond the boundaries of the quadrant you are in.</para>
\r
801 <para>Phasers may overheat (and be damaged) if you fire too large a burst
\r
802 at once. Firing up to 1500 units is safe. From 1500 on up the
\r
803 probability of overheat increases with the amount fired.</para>
\r
805 <para>If phaser firing is automatic, the computer decides how to
\r
806 divide up your <amount to fire> among the Klingons present. If
\r
807 phaser firing is manual, you specify how much energy to fire at each
\r
808 Klingon present (nearest first), rather than just specifying a total
\r
809 amount. You can abreviate <quote>MANUAL</quote> and
\r
810 <quote>AUTOMATIC</quote> to one or more letters; if you mention
\r
811 neither, automatic fire is usually assumed.</para>
\r
813 <para>Battle computer information is available by firing phasers manually,
\r
814 and allowing the computer to prompt you. If you enter zero for the
\r
815 amount to fire at each enemy, you will get a complete report, without
\r
816 cost. The battle computer will tell you how much phaser energy to
\r
817 fire at each enemy for a sure kill. This information appears in
\r
818 parentheses prior to the prompt for each enemy. Since the amount is
\r
819 computed from sensor data, if either the computer or the S.R. sensors
\r
820 are damaged, this information will be unavailable, and phasers must
\r
821 be fired manually.</para>
\r
823 <para>A safety interlock prevents phasers from being fired through
\r
824 the shields. If this were not so, the shields would contain your fire
\r
825 and you would fry yourself. However, you may utilize the
\r
826 <quote>high-speed shield control</quote> to drop shields, fire
\r
827 phasers, and raise shields before the enemy can react. Since it takes
\r
828 more energy to work the shields rapidly with a shot, it costs you 200
\r
829 units of energy each time you activate this control. It is
\r
830 automatically activated when you fire phasers while the shields are
\r
831 up. By specifying the <no> option, shields are not raised after
\r
834 <para>Phasers have no effect on starbases (which are shielded) or on
\r
838 <sect1><title>Report</title>
\r
842 Shortest abbreviation: REP
\r
845 <para>This command supplies you with information about the state of the
\r
846 current game. Its purpose is to remind you of things that you have
\r
847 learned during play, but may have forgotten, and cannot otherwise
\r
848 retrieve if you are not playing at a hard-copy terminal.</para>
\r
850 <para>You are told the following things:</para>
\r
853 <listitem><para>The length and skill level of the game you are playing</para></listitem>
\r
854 <listitem><para>The original number of Klingons</para></listitem>
\r
855 <listitem><para>How many Klingons you have destroyed</para></listitem>
\r
856 <listitem><para>Whether the Super-Commander has been destroyed</para></listitem>
\r
857 <listitem><para>How many bases have been destroyed</para></listitem>
\r
858 <listitem><para>How many bases are left</para></listitem>
\r
859 <listitem><para>What bases (if any) are under attack; your subspace radio
\r
860 must have been working since the attack to get this
\r
861 information.</para></listitem>
\r
862 <listitem><para>How many casualties you have suffered</para></listitem>
\r
863 <listitem><para>How many times you have called for help.</para></listitem>
\r
866 <para>This same information is automatically given to you when you start to
\r
867 play a frozen game.</para>
\r
870 <sect1><title>Computer</title>
\r
874 Shortest abbreviation: CO
\r
877 <para>This command allows using the ship's computer (if functional) to
\r
878 calculate travel times and energy usage.</para>
\r
881 <sect1><title>Photon Torpedoes</title>
\r
885 Shortest abbreviation: PHO
\r
886 Full commands: PHOTONS <NUMBER> <TARG1> <TARG2> <TARG3>
\r
889 <para>Photon torpedoes are projectile weapons—you either hit what you aim
\r
890 at, or you don't. There are no <quote>partial hits</quote>.</para>
\r
892 <para>One photon torpedo will usually kill one ordinary Klingon, but it
\r
893 usually takes about two for a Klingon Commander. Photon torpedoes
\r
894 can also blow up stars and starbases, if you aren't careful.</para>
\r
896 <para>You may fire photon torpedoes singly, or in bursts of two or three.
\r
897 Each torpedo is individually targetable. The computer will prompt
\r
898 you, asking for the target sector for each torpedo. Alternately, you
\r
899 may specify each target in the command line.</para>
\r
901 <para>Photon torpedoes cannot be aimed precisely—there is always some
\r
902 randomness involved in the direction they go. Photon torpedoes may
\r
903 be fired with your shields up, but as they pass through the shields
\r
904 they are randomly deflected from their intended course even more.</para>
\r
906 <para>Photon torpedoes are proximity-fused. The closer they explode to the
\r
907 enemy, the more damage they do. There is a hit <quote>window</quote> about one
\r
908 sector wide. If the torpedo misses the hit window, it does not
\r
909 explode and the enemy is unaffected. Photon torpedoes are only
\r
910 effective within the quadrant. They have no effect on things in
\r
911 adjacent quadrants.</para>
\r
913 <para>If more than one torpedo is fired and only one target sector is
\r
914 specified, all torpedoes are fired at that sector. For example, to
\r
915 fire two torpedoes at sector 3 - 4, you type</para>
\r
918 PHO 2 3 4 (or) PHO 2 3 4 3 4
\r
921 <para>To fire torpedoes at, consecutively, sectors 2 - 6, 1 - 10, and 4 -
\r
928 <para>There is no restriction to fire directly at a sector. For example,
\r
929 you can enter</para>
\r
935 <para>to aim between two sectors. However, sector numbers must be 1 to 10
\r
939 <sect1><title>Dock at Starbase</title>
\r
943 Shortest abbreviation: D
\r
946 <para>You may dock your starship whenever you are in one of the eight
\r
947 sector positions immediately adjacent to a starbase. When you dock,
\r
948 your starship is resupplied with energy, shield energy photon
\r
949 torpedoes, and life support reserves. Repairs also proceed faster at
\r
950 starbase, so if some of your devices are damaged, you may wish to stay
\r
951 at base (by using the <quote>REST</quote> command) until they are
\r
952 fixed. If your ship has more than its normal maximum energy (which
\r
953 can happen if you've loaded crystals) the ship's energy is not
\r
956 <para>You may not dock while in standard orbit around a planet.</para>
\r
958 <para>Starbases have their own deflector shields, so you are completely
\r
959 safe from phaser attack while docked. You are also safe from
\r
960 long-range tractor beams.</para>
\r
962 <para>Starbases also have both short and long range sensors, which you can
\r
963 use if yours are broken. There's also a subspace radio to get
\r
964 information about happenings in the galaxy. Mr. Spock will update the
\r
965 star chart if your ask for it while docked and your own radio is dead.</para>
\r
968 <sect1><title>Rest</title>
\r
972 Shortest abbreviation: R
\r
973 Full command: REST <NUMBER OF STARDATES>
\r
976 <para>This command simply allows the specified number of stardates to go
\r
977 by. This is useful if you have suffered damages and wish to wait
\r
978 until repairs are made before you go back into battle.</para>
\r
980 <para>It is not generally advisable to rest while you are under attack by
\r
984 <sect1><title>Call Starbase for Help</title>
\r
991 <para>[Originally, this command was called <quote>HELP</quote>, but
\r
992 these days it might be misinterpreted as built-in
\r
993 documentation!]</para>
\r
995 <para>When you get into serious trouble, you may call starbase for
\r
996 help. Starbases have a device called a <quote>long-range transporter
\r
997 beam</quote> which they can use to teleport you to base. This works
\r
998 by dematerializing your starship at its current position and
\r
999 re-materializing it adjacent to the nearest starbase. Teleportation
\r
1000 is instantaneous, and starbase supplies the required energy—all
\r
1001 you have to do is let them know (via subspace radio) that you need to
\r
1002 be rescued.</para>
\r
1004 <para>This command should be employed only when absolutely necessary. In
\r
1005 the first place, calling for help is an admission on your part that
\r
1006 you got yourself into something you cannot get yourself out of, and
\r
1007 you are heavily penalized for this in the final scoring. Secondly,
\r
1008 the long-range transporter beam is not reliable—starbase can always
\r
1009 manage to dematerialize your starship, but (depending on distance)
\r
1010 may or may not be able to re-materialize you again. The long-range
\r
1011 transporter beam has no absolute maximum range; if you are in the
\r
1012 same quadrant as a starbase, you have a good chance (about 90%) of
\r
1013 re-materializing successfully. your chances drop to roughly 50-50 at
\r
1014 just over 3 quadrants.</para>
\r
1017 <sect1><title>Abandon Ship</title>
\r
1024 <para>You may abandon the Enterprise if necessary. If there is still a
\r
1025 starbase in the galaxy, you will be sent there and put in charge of a
\r
1026 weaker ship, the Faerie Queene.</para>
\r
1028 <para>The Faerie Queene cannot be abandoned.</para>
\r
1031 <sect1><title>Self-Destruct</title>
\r
1034 Mnemonic: DESTRUCT
\r
1038 <para>You may self-destruct, thus killing yourself and ending the game. If
\r
1039 there are nearby Klingons, you may take a few of them with you (the
\r
1040 more energy you have left, the bigger the bang).</para>
\r
1042 <para>In order to self-destruct you must remember the password you typed in
\r
1043 at the beginning of the game.</para>
\r
1046 <sect1><title>Quit Game</title>
\r
1053 <para>Immediately cancel the current game; no conclusion is reached. You
\r
1054 will be given an opportunity to start a new game or to leave the Star
\r
1055 Trek program.</para>
\r
1058 <sect1><title>Sensor-Scan</title>
\r
1062 Shortest abbreviation: SE
\r
1065 <para>Utilizing the short-range sensors, science officer Spock gives you a
\r
1066 readout on any planet in your quadrant. Planets come in three
\r
1067 classes: M, N, and O. Only class M planets have earth-like
\r
1068 conditions. Spock informs you if the planet has any dilithium
\r
1069 crystals. Sensor scans are free.</para>
\r
1072 <sect1><title>Enter Standard Orbit</title>
\r
1076 Shortest abbreviation: O
\r
1079 <para>To land on a planet you must first be in standard orbit. You achieve
\r
1080 this in a manner similar to docking at starbase. Moving to one of
\r
1081 the eight sector positions immediately adjacent to the planet, you
\r
1082 give the orbit command which puts your ship into standard orbit about
\r
1083 the planet. Since this is a maneuver, a small amount of time is
\r
1084 used; negligible energy is required. If enemies are present, they
\r
1085 will attack.</para>
\r
1088 <sect1><title>Transporter Travel</title>
\r
1091 Mnemonic: TRANSPORT
\r
1092 Shortest abbreviation: T
\r
1095 <para>The transporter is a device which can convert any physical object
\r
1096 into energy, beam the energy through space, and reconstruct the
\r
1097 physical object at some destination. Transporting is one way to land
\r
1098 on a planet. Since the transporter has a limited range, you must be
\r
1099 in standard orbit to beam down to a planet. Shields must be down
\r
1100 while transporting.</para>
\r
1102 <para>The transport command is used to beam a landing party onto a planet
\r
1103 to mine <quote>dilithium crystals</quote>. Each time the command is given the
\r
1104 landing party (which you lead) moves from the ship to the planet, or
\r
1105 vice-versa.</para>
\r
1107 <para>You are advised against needless transporting, since like all
\r
1108 devices, the transporter will sometimes malfunction.</para>
\r
1110 <para>The transporter consumes negligible time and energy. Its use does
\r
1111 not constitute a <quote>turn</quote>.</para>
\r
1114 <sect1><title>Shuttle Craft</title>
\r
1118 Shortest abbreviation: SHU
\r
1121 <para>An alternate way to travel to and from planets. Because of limited
\r
1122 range, you must be in standard orbit to use the shuttle craft, named
\r
1123 "Galileo". Shields must be down.</para>
\r
1125 <para>Unlike transporting, use of the shuttle craft does constitute a
\r
1126 <quote>turn</quote> since time is consumed. The time naturally
\r
1127 depends on orbit altitude, and is equal to 3.0e-5 times altitude.
\r
1128 Shuttling uses no ship energy.</para>
\r
1130 <para>You should use the same travel device going from the planet to the
\r
1131 ship as you use to go from the ship to the planet. However it is
\r
1132 possible to transport to the planet and have the Galileo crew come
\r
1133 and pick your landing party up, or to take the Galileo to the planet
\r
1134 and then transport back, leaving the shuttle craft on the planet.</para>
\r
1137 <sect1><title>Mine Dilithium Crystals</title>
\r
1141 Shortest abbreviation: MI
\r
1144 <para>Once you and your mining party are on the surface of a planet which
\r
1145 has dilithium crystals, this command will dig them for you.</para>
\r
1147 <para>Mining requires time and constitutes a <quote>turn</quote>. No
\r
1148 energy is used. Class M planets require 0.1 to 0.3 stardates to mine.
\r
1149 Class N planets take twice as long, and class O planets take three
\r
1150 times as long.</para>
\r
1152 <para>Dilithium crystals contain enormous energy in a form that is readily
\r
1153 released in the ship's power system. It is an excellent idea to mine
\r
1154 them whenever possible, for use in emergencies. You keep the
\r
1155 crystals until the game is over or you abandon ship when not at a
\r
1159 <sect1><title>Load Dilithium Crystals</title>
\r
1162 Mnemonic: CRYSTALS
\r
1163 Shortest abbreviation: CR
\r
1166 <para>This is a very powerful command which should be used with caution.
\r
1167 Once you have dilithium crystals aboard ship, this command will
\r
1168 instruct engineering officer Scott and Mr. Spock to place a raw
\r
1169 dilithium crystal into the power channel of the ship's
\r
1170 matter-antimatter converter. When it works, this command will
\r
1171 greatly boost the ship's energy.</para>
\r
1173 <para>Because the crystals are raw and impure, instabilities can occur in
\r
1174 the power channel. Usually Scotty can control these. When he
\r
1175 cannot, the results are disastrous. Scotty will use those crystals
\r
1176 that appear to be most stable first.</para>
\r
1178 <para>Since using raw dilithium crystals for this purpose entails
\r
1179 considerable risk, Starfleet Regulations allow its use only during
\r
1180 "condition yellow". No time or energy is used.</para>
\r
1183 <sect1><title>Planet Report</title>
\r
1187 Shortest abbreviation: PL
\r
1190 <para>Mr. Spock presents you a list of the available information on planets
\r
1191 in the galaxy. Since planets do not show up on long-range scans, the
\r
1192 only way to obtain this information is with the <quote>SENSORS</quote> command.</para>
\r
1195 <sect1><title>Freeze</title>
\r
1200 Full command: FREEZE <FILE NAME>
\r
1203 <para>The purpose of the FREEZE command is to allow a player to save the
\r
1204 current state of the game, so that it can be finished later. A
\r
1205 plaque may not be generated from a frozen game. A file with the
\r
1206 specified <file name> and type '.TRK' is created (if necessary) in
\r
1207 the current directory, and all pertinent information about the game
\r
1208 is written to that file. The game may be continued as usual or be
\r
1209 terminated at the user's option.</para>
\r
1211 <para>To restart a game created by the <quote>FREEZE</quote> command,
\r
1212 the user need only type <quote>FROZEN</quote> in response to the
\r
1213 initial question about the type of game desired, followed by the
\r
1214 <file name>.</para>
\r
1216 <para>NOTE: A <quote>tournament</quote> game is like a frozen game,
\r
1217 with the following differences. (1) Tournament games always start
\r
1218 from the beginning, while a frozen game can start at any point. (2)
\r
1219 Tournament games require only that the player remember the name or
\r
1220 number of the tournament, while the information about a frozen game
\r
1221 must be kept on a file. Tournament games can be frozen, but then they
\r
1222 behave like regular frozen games.</para>
\r
1224 <para>A point worth noting is that 'FREEZE' does not save the seed for the
\r
1225 random number generator, so that identical actions after restarting
\r
1226 the same frozen game can lead to different results. However,
\r
1227 identical actions after starting a given tournament game always lead
\r
1228 to the same results.</para>
\r
1231 <sect1><title>Request</title>
\r
1235 Shortest abbreviation: REQ
\r
1236 Full command: REQUEST <ITEM>
\r
1239 <para>This command allows you to get any single piece of information
\r
1240 from the <STATUS> command. <ITEM> specifies which
\r
1241 information as follows:</para>
\r
1247 <entry>Information</entry>
\r
1248 <entry>Mnemonic for <item></entry>
\r
1249 <entry>Shortest Abbreviation</entry>
\r
1253 <row><entry>STARDATE</entry> <entry>DATE</entry> <entry>D</entry></row>
\r
1254 <row><entry>CONDITION</entry> <entry>CONDITION</entry> <entry>C</entry></row>
\r
1255 <row><entry>POSITION</entry> <entry>POSITION</entry> <entry>P</entry></row>
\r
1256 <row><entry>LIFE SUPPORT</entry><entry>LSUPPORT</entry> <entry>L</entry></row>
\r
1257 <row><entry>WARP FACTOR</entry> <entry>WARPFACTOR</entry><entry>W</entry></row>
\r
1258 <row><entry>ENERGY</entry> <entry>ENERGY</entry> <entry>E</entry></row>
\r
1259 <row><entry>TORPEDOES</entry> <entry>TORPEDOES</entry> <entry>T</entry></row>
\r
1260 <row><entry>SHIELDS</entry> <entry>SHIELDS</entry> <entry>S</entry></row>
\r
1261 <row><entry>KLINGONS LEFT</entry><entry>KLINGONS</entry> <entry>K</entry></row>
\r
1262 <row><entry>TIME LEFT</entry> <entry>TIME</entry> <entry>TI</entry></row>
\r
1268 <sect1><title>Experimental Death Ray</title>
\r
1271 Mnemonic: DEATHRAY
\r
1275 <para>This command should be used only in those desperate cases where
\r
1276 you have absolutely no alternative. The death ray uses energy to
\r
1277 rearrange matter. Unfortunately, its working principles are not yet
\r
1278 thoroughly understood, and the results are highly
\r
1279 unpredictable.</para>
\r
1281 <para>The only good thing that can result is the destruction of all
\r
1282 enemies in your current quadrant. This will happen about 70% of the
\r
1283 time. Only enemies are destroyed; starbases, stars, and planets are
\r
1284 unaffected.</para>
\r
1286 <para>Constituting the remaining 30% are results varying from bad to
\r
1289 <para>The death ray requires no energy or time, but if you survive, enemies
\r
1290 will hit you.</para>
\r
1292 <para>The Faerie Queene has no death ray.</para>
\r
1294 <para>If the death ray is damaged in its use, it must be totally replaced.
\r
1295 This can only be done at starbase. Because it is a very complex
\r
1296 device, it takes 9.99 stardates at base to replace the death ray.
\r
1297 The death ray cannot be repaired in flight.</para>
\r
1300 <sect1><title>Launch Deep Space Probe</title>
\r
1304 Shortest abbreviation: PR
\r
1305 Full command: PROBE <ARMED> MANUAL <displacement>
\r
1306 PROBE <ARMED> AUTOMATIC <destination>
\r
1309 <para>The Enterprise carries a limited number of Long Range Probes. These
\r
1310 fly to the end of the galaxy and report back a count of the number of
\r
1311 important things found in each quadrant through which it went. The
\r
1312 probe flies at warp 10, and therefore uses time during its flight.
\r
1313 Results are reported immediately via subspace radio and are recorded
\r
1314 in the star chart.</para>
\r
1316 <para>The probe can also be armed with a NOVAMAX warhead. When launched
\r
1317 with the warhead armed, the probe flies the same except as soon as it
\r
1318 reaches the target location, it detonates the warhead in the heart of
\r
1319 a star, causing a supernova and destroying everything in the
\r
1320 quadrant. It then flies no further. There must be a star in the
\r
1321 target quadrant for the NOVAMAX to function. </para>
\r
1323 <para>The probe can fly around objects in a galaxy, but is destroyed if it
\r
1324 enters a quadrant containing a supernova, or if it leaves the galaxy.</para>
\r
1326 <para>The target location is specified in the same manner as the MOVE
\r
1327 command, however for automatic movement, if only one pair of
\r
1328 coordinates are specified they are assumed to be the quadrant and not
\r
1329 the sector in the current quadrant!</para>
\r
1331 <para>The Faerie Queene has no probes.</para>
\r
1334 <sect1><title>Emergency Exit</title>
\r
1338 Shortest abbreviation: E
\r
1341 <para>This command provides a quick way to exit from the game when you
\r
1342 observe a Klingon battle cruiser approaching your terminal. Its
\r
1343 effect is to freeze the game on the file 'EMSAVE.TRK' in your current
\r
1344 directory, erase the screen, and exit.</para>
\r
1346 <para>Of course, you do lose the chance to get a plaque when you use this
\r
1350 <sect1><title>Ask for Help</title>
\r
1354 Full command: HELP <command>
\r
1357 <para>This command reads the appropriate section from the SST.DOC file,
\r
1358 providing the file is in the current directory.</para>
\r
1362 <chapter><title>Miscellaneous Notes</title>
\r
1364 <para>Starbases can be attacked by either commanders or by the
\r
1365 <quote>Super-Commander</quote>. When this happens, you will be
\r
1366 notified by subspace radio, provided it is working. The message will
\r
1367 inform you how long the base under attack can last. Since the
\r
1368 <quote>Super-Commander</quote> is more powerful than an ordinary
\r
1369 commander, he can destroy a base more quickly.</para>
\r
1371 <para>The <quote>Super-Commander</quote> travels around the galaxy at a speed of about
\r
1372 warp 6 or 7. His movement is strictly time based; the more time
\r
1373 passes, the further he can go.</para>
\r
1375 <para>Scattered through the galaxy are certain zones of control,
\r
1376 collectively designated the <quote>Romulan Neutral Zone</quote>. Any
\r
1377 quadrant which contains Romulans without Klingons is part of the
\r
1378 Neutral Zone, except if a base is present. Since Romulans do not show
\r
1379 on either the long-range scan or the star chart, it is easy for you to
\r
1380 stumble into this zone. When you do, if your subspace radio is
\r
1381 working, you will receive a warning message from the Romulan, politely
\r
1382 asking you to leave.</para>
\r
1384 <para>In general, Romulans are a galactic nuisance.</para>
\r
1386 <para>The high-speed shield control is fairly reliable, but it has been
\r
1387 known to malfunction.</para>
\r
1389 <para>You can observe the galactic movements of the
\r
1390 <quote>Super-Commander</quote> on the star chart, provided he is in
\r
1391 territory you have scanned and your subspace radio is working.</para>
\r
1393 <para>Periodically, you will receive intelligence reports from
\r
1394 starfleet command, indicating the current quadrant of the
\r
1395 <quote>Super-Commander</quote>. Your subspace radio must be working,
\r
1398 <para>Each quadrant will contain from 0 to 3 black holes. Torpedoes
\r
1399 entering a black hole disappear. In fact, anything entering a black
\r
1400 hole disappears, permanently. If you can displace an enemy into one,
\r
1401 he is a goner. Black holes do not necessarily remain in a quadrant.
\r
1402 they are transient phenomena.</para>
\r
1404 <para>Commanders will ram your ship, killing themselves and inflicting
\r
1405 heavy damage to you, if they should happen to decide to advance into
\r
1406 your sector.</para>
\r
1408 <para>You can get a list of commands by typing
\r
1409 <quote>COMMANDS</quote>.</para>
\r
1412 <chapter><title>Scoring</title>
\r
1414 <para>Scoring is fairly simple. You get points for good things, and you
\r
1415 lose points for bad things.</para>
\r
1417 <para>You gain—</para>
\r
1420 <listitem><para>10 points for each ordinary Klingon you kill,</para></listitem>
\r
1421 <listitem><para>50 points for each commander you kill,</para></listitem>
\r
1422 <listitem><para>200 points for killing the <quote>Super-Commander</quote>,</para></listitem>
\r
1423 <listitem><para>20 points for each Romulan killed,</para></listitem>
\r
1424 <listitem><para>1 point for each Romulan captured.</para></listitem>
\r
1426 <para>100 times your average Klingon/stardate kill rate. If you lose
\r
1427 the game, your kill rate is based on a minimum of 5 stardates.</para>
\r
1430 <para>You get a bonus if you win the game, based on your rating:</para>
\r
1431 <para>Novice=100, Fair=200, Good=300, Expert=400, Emeritus=500.</para>
\r
1435 <para>You lose—</para>
\r
1438 <listitem><para>200 points if you get yourself killed,</para></listitem>
\r
1439 <listitem><para>100 points for each starbase you destroy,</para></listitem>
\r
1440 <listitem><para>100 points for each starship you lose,</para></listitem>
\r
1441 <listitem><para>45 points for each time you had to call for help,</para></listitem>
\r
1442 <listitem><para>10 points for each planet you destroyed,</para></listitem>
\r
1443 <listitem><para>5 points for each star you destroyed, and</para></listitem>
\r
1444 <listitem><para>1 point for each casualty you incurred.</para></listitem>
\r
1447 <para>In addition to your score, you may also be promoted one grade in rank
\r
1448 if you play well enough. Promotion is based primarily on your
\r
1449 Klingon/stardate kill rate, since this is the best indicator of
\r
1450 whether you are ready to go on to the next higher rating. However,
\r
1451 if you have lost 100 or more points in penalties, the required kill
\r
1452 rate goes up. Normally, the required kill rate is 0.1 * skill *
\r
1453 (skill + 1.0) + 0.1, where skill ranges from 1 for Novice to 5 for
\r
1456 <para>You can be promoted from any level. There is a special
\r
1457 promotion available if you go beyond the <quote>Expert</quote> range.
\r
1458 You can also have a certificate of merit printed with your name, date,
\r
1459 and Klingon kill rate, provided you are promoted from either the
\r
1460 <quote>Expert</quote> or <quote>Emeritus</quote> levels. This
\r
1461 <quote>plaque</quote> requires a 132 column printer. You may need
\r
1462 print the certificate to a file, import it into your word processor,
\r
1463 selecting Courier 8pt font, and then print in <quote>landscape
\r
1464 orientation</quote>.</para>
\r
1466 <para>You should probably start out at the novice level, even if you are
\r
1467 already familiar with one of the other versions of the Star Trek
\r
1468 game—but, of course, the level of game you play is up to you. If
\r
1469 you want to start at the Expert level, go ahead. It's your funeral.
\r
1470 The emeritus game is strictly for masochists.</para>
\r
1473 <chapter><title>Handy Reference Page</title>
\r
1475 <literallayout format='linespecific' class='monospaced'>
\r
1476 ABBREV FULL COMMAND DEVICE USED
\r
1477 ------ ------------ -----------
\r
1478 ABANDON ABANDON shuttle craft
\r
1480 CALL CALL (for help) subspace radio
\r
1481 CO COMPUTER computer
\r
1482 CR CRYSTALS (none)
\r
1484 DEATHRAY DEATHRAY (none)
\r
1485 DESTRUCT DESTRUCT computer
\r
1488 FREEZE FREEZE <FILE NAME> (none)
\r
1489 I IMPULSE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> impulse engines
\r
1490 IMPULSE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> impulse engines and computer
\r
1491 L LRSCAN long-range sensors
\r
1493 M MOVE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> warp engines
\r
1494 MOVE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> warp engines and computer
\r
1495 O ORBIT warp or impulse engines
\r
1496 P PHASERS <TOTAL AMOUNT> phasers and computer
\r
1497 PHASERS AUTOMATIC <TOTAL AMOUNT> phasers, computer, sr sensors
\r
1498 PHASERS MANUAL <AMT1> <AMT2> ... phasers
\r
1499 PHO PHOTONS <NUMBER> <TARGETS> torpedo tubes
\r
1501 PR PROBE <ARMED> <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> probe launcher, radio
\r
1502 PROBE <ARMED> AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> launcher, radio, computer
\r
1504 REQ REQUEST (none)
\r
1505 R REST <NUMBER OF STARDATES> (none)
\r
1507 S SRSCAN <NO or CHART> short-range sensors
\r
1508 SE SENSORS short-range sensors
\r
1509 SH SHIELDS <UP, DOWN, or TRANSFER> deflector shields
\r
1510 SHU SHUTTLE shuttle craft
\r
1512 T TRANSPORT transporter
\r
1513 W WARP <FACTOR> (none)
\r
1515 L. R. Scan: thousands digit: supernova
\r
1516 hundreds digit: Klingons
\r
1517 tens digit: starbases
\r
1519 period (.): digit not known (star chart only)
\r
1521 Courses are given in manual mode in X - Y displacements; in automatic
\r
1522 mode as destination quadrant and/or sector. Manual mode is default.
\r
1523 Distances are given in quadrants. A distance of one sector is 0.1 quadrant.
\r
1524 Ordinary Klingons have about 400 units of energy, Commanders about
\r
1525 1200. Romulans normally have about 800 units of energy, and the
\r
1526 (GULP) "Super-Commander" has about 1800.
\r
1527 Phaser fire diminishes to about 60 percent at 5 sectors. Up to 1500
\r
1528 units may be fired in a single burst without danger of overheat.
\r
1529 Warp 6 is the fastest safe speed. At higher speeds, engine damage
\r
1530 may occur. At warp 10 you may enter a time warp.
\r
1531 Shields cost 50 units of energy to raise, and double the power
\r
1532 requirements of moving under warp drive. Engaging the high-speed
\r
1533 shield control requires 200 units of energy.
\r
1534 Warp drive requires (distance)*(warp factor cubed) units of energy
\r
1535 to travel at a speed of (warp factor squared)/10 quadrants per stardate.
\r
1536 Impulse engines require 20 units to warm up, plus 100 units per
\r
1537 quadrant. Speed is just under one sector per stardate.
\r
1541 <chapter><title>Game History and Modifications</title>
\r
1543 <sect1><title>Tom Almy's story</title>
\r
1545 <para>Back in (about) 1977 I got a copy of this Super Star Trek game for
\r
1546 the CDC 6600 mainframe computer. Someone had converted it to PDP-11
\r
1547 Fortran but couldn't get it to run because of its size. I modified
\r
1548 the program to use overlays and managed to shoehorn it in on the 56k
\r
1549 byte machine.</para>
\r
1551 <para>I liked the game so much I put some time into fixing bugs, mainly
\r
1552 what could be called continuity errors and loopholes in the game's
\r
1553 logic. We even played a couple tournaments.</para>
\r
1555 <para>In 1979, I lost access to that PDP-11. I did save the source code
\r
1556 listing. In 1995, missing that old friend, I started converting the
\r
1557 program into portable ANSI C. It's been slow, tedious work that took
\r
1558 over a year to accomplish.</para>
\r
1560 <para>In early 1997, I got the bright idea to look for references to
\r
1561 <quote>Super Star Trek</quote> on the World Wide Web. There weren't
\r
1562 many hits, but there was one that came up with 1979 Fortran sources!
\r
1563 This version had a few additional features that mine didn't have,
\r
1564 however mine had some feature it didn't have. So I merged its features
\r
1565 that I liked. I also took a peek at the DECUS version (a port, less
\r
1566 sources, to the PDP-10), and some other variations.</para>
\r
1568 <para>Modifications I made:</para>
\r
1570 <para>Compared to original version, I've changed the
\r
1571 <quote>help</quote> command to <quote>call</quote> and the
\r
1572 <quote>terminate</quote> command to <quote>quit</quote> to better
\r
1573 match user expectations. The DECUS version apparently made those
\r
1574 changes as well as changing <quote>freeze</quote> to
\r
1575 <quote>save</quote>. However I like <quote>freeze</quote>.</para>
\r
1577 <para>I added EMEXIT from the 1979 version.</para>
\r
1579 <para>That later version also mentions srscan and lrscan working when
\r
1580 docked (using the starbase's scanners), so I made some changes here
\r
1581 to do this (and indicating that fact to the player), and then
\r
1582 realized the base would have a subspace radio as well — doing a
\r
1583 Chart when docked updates the star chart, and all radio reports will
\r
1584 be heard. The Dock command will also give a report if a base is under
\r
1587 <para>It also had some added logic to spread the initial positioning of
\r
1588 bases. That made sense to add because most people abort games with
\r
1589 bad base placement.</para>
\r
1591 <para>The experimental deathray originally had only a 5% chance of success,
\r
1592 but could be used repeatedly. I guess after a couple years of use, it
\r
1593 was less <quote>experimental</quote> because the 1979 version had a 70% success
\r
1594 rate. However it was prone to breaking after use. I upgraded the
\r
1595 deathray, but kept the original set of failure modes (great humor!).</para>
\r
1597 <para>I put in the Tholian Web code from the 1979 version.</para>
\r
1599 <para>I added code so that Romulans and regular Klingons could move in
\r
1600 advanced games. I re-enabled the code which allows enemy ships to
\r
1601 ram the Enterprise; it had never worked right. The 1979 version
\r
1602 seems to have it all fixed up, but I'm still not overly happy with
\r
1603 the algorithm.</para>
\r
1605 <para>The DECUS version had a Deep Space Probe. Looked like a good idea
\r
1606 so I implemented it based on its description.</para>
\r
1609 <sect1><title>Eric Raymond's story</title>
\r
1611 <para>I played the FORTRAN version of this game in the mid-1970s on a
\r
1612 DEC minicomputer. In the late 1980s Dave Matuszek and I became
\r
1613 friends; I was vaguely aware that he had had something to do with the
\r
1614 original Star Trek game. In October 2004, sitting in Dave's living
\r
1615 room, we got to talking about the game and I realized it would make a
\r
1616 great exhibit for the <ulink
\r
1617 url='http://www.catb.org/retro/'>Retrocomputing Museum</ulink>.</para>
\r
1619 <para>A few quick web searches later we found Tom Almy's page. We
\r
1620 downloaded his code and Dave verified that that it was a direct
\r
1621 descendent of UT Super Star Trek — even though it had been translated
\r
1622 to C, he was able to recognize names and techniques from the FORTRAN
\r
1625 <para>Thus, this game is a cousin of Eric Allman's BSD Trek game, which is
\r
1626 also derived from UT Super Star Trek. However, this one has had a lot
\r
1627 more stuff folded into it over the years — deep space probes,
\r
1628 dilithium mining, the Tholian Web, and so forth.</para>
\r
1630 <para>One signature trait of this group of variants is that the sectors are
\r
1631 10x10 rather than the 8x8 in Mike Mayfield's 1972 original and its
\r
1632 BASIC descendants) Also, you set courses and firing directions with
\r
1633 rectangular rather than polar coordinates. It also preserves the
\r
1634 original numbered quadrants rather than the astronomically-named
\r
1635 quadrants introduced into many BASIC versions.</para>
\r
1637 <para>This game is now an open-source project; see the <ulink
\r
1638 url='http://developer.berlios.de/projects/sst/'>project
\r
1639 site</ulink>.</para>
\r
1641 <para>Here are some good pages on the history of Star Trek games:</para>
\r
1645 <ulink url='http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/startrek/'>http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/startrek/</ulink>
\r
1646 </para></listitem>
\r
1648 <ulink url='http://www3.sympatico.ca/maury/games/space/star_trek.html'>http://www3.sympatico.ca/maury/games/space/star_trek.html</ulink>
\r
1649 </para></listitem>
\r
1651 <ulink url='http://www.cactus.org/%7Enystrom/startrek.html'>http://www.cactus.org/%7Enystrom/startrek.html</ulink>
\r
1652 </para></listitem>
\r
1655 <para>Modifications I made:</para>
\r
1659 I converted the flat-text SST.DOC file to XML-Docbook so it could be webbed.
\r
1660 (That's what you're reading now.)
\r
1661 </para></listitem>
\r
1663 I cleaned up a lot of grubby FORTRANisms in the code internals.
\r
1664 </para></listitem>
\r
1666 I fixed a surprising number of typos in the code and documentation.
\r
1667 </para></listitem>
\r
1669 I changed the freeze logic to emit an identifiable magic number and
\r
1670 the thaw logic to check for it.
\r
1671 </para></listitem>
\r
1675 <sect1><title>Authors' Acknowledgments</title>
\r
1677 <para>These are the original acknowledgments by Dave Matuszek and Paul
\r
1680 <para>The authors would like to thank Professor Michael Duggan for his
\r
1681 encouragement and administrative assistance with the development of
\r
1682 the Star Trek game, without which it might never have been completed.</para>
\r
1684 <para>Much credit is due to Patrick McGehearty and Rich Cohen, who assisted
\r
1685 with the original design of the game and contributed greatly to its
\r
1686 conceptual development.</para>
\r
1688 <para>Thanks are also due to Carl Strange, Hardy Tichenor and Steven Bruell
\r
1689 for their assistance with certain coding problems.</para>
\r
1691 <para>This game was inspired by and rather loosely based on an earlier
\r
1692 game, programmed in the BASIC language, by Jim Korp and Grady Hicks.
\r
1693 It is the authors' understanding that the BASIC game was in turn
\r
1694 derived from a still earlier version in use at Penn State University.</para>
\r
1697 <sect1><title>References</title>
\r
1700 <listitem><para><citetitle>Star Trek</citetitle> (the original television
\r
1701 series), produced and directed by Gene Rodenberry.</para></listitem>
\r
1703 <listitem><para><citetitle>Star Trek</citetitle> (the animated
\r
1704 television series), produced by Gene Rodenberry and directed by Hal
\r
1705 Sutherland. Also excellent, and not just kiddie fare. If you enjoyed
\r
1706 the original series you should enjoy this one (unless you have some
\r
1707 sort of a hangup about watching cartoons).</para></listitem>
\r
1709 <listitem><para><citetitle>The Making of Star Trek</citetitle>, by
\r
1710 Steven E. Whitfield and Gene Rodenberry. The best and most complete
\r
1711 readily available book about Star Trek. (Ballantine
\r
1712 Books)</para></listitem>
\r
1714 <listitem><para><citetitle>The World of Star Trek</citetitle>, by
\r
1715 David Gerrold. Similiar in scope to the above book.
\r
1716 (Bantam)</para></listitem>
\r
1718 <listitem><para><citetitle>The Star Trek Guide</citetitle>, third revision 4/17/67, by Gene
\r
1719 Roddenberry. The original writer's guide for the television
\r
1720 series, but less comprehensive than (3) above.
\r
1721 (Norway Productions)</para></listitem>
\r
1723 <listitem><para><citetitle>The Trouble With Tribbles</citetitle>, by
\r
1724 David Gerrold. Includes the complete script of this popular show.
\r
1725 (Ballantine Books)</para></listitem>
\r
1727 <listitem><para><citetitle>Star Trek</citetitle>, <citetitle>Star Trek
\r
1728 2</citetitle>, ..., <citetitle>Star Trek 9</citetitle>, by James
\r
1729 Blish. The original shows in short story form.
\r
1730 (Bantam)</para></listitem>
\r
1732 <listitem><para><citetitle>Spock Must Die</citetitle>, by James Blish.
\r
1733 An original novel, but rather similar to the show <citetitle>The Enemy
\r
1734 Within</citetitle>. (Bantam)</para></listitem>
\r
1736 <listitem><para>Model kits of the Enterprise and a <quote>Klingon
\r
1737 Battle-Cruiser</quote> by AMT Corporation are available at most hobby
\r
1738 shops.</para></listitem>
\r
projects / super-star-trek.git / blob