X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?p=super-star-trek.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=sst-doc.xml;h=aaabe0e4197bf7d747337a99825bdfbb19f27bb0;hp=20fa43ae33f7a0a09bca49891972ed5823f5461b;hb=d7051042510328714d15d56272eee792adff285c;hpb=8629b4a298e31f81ba0db0debb4796356c3966c7 diff --git a/sst-doc.xml b/sst-doc.xml index 20fa43a..aaabe0e 100644 --- a/sst-doc.xml +++ b/sst-doc.xml @@ -1,8 +1,10 @@ - + "docbook/docbookxx.dtd"[ + + +]> Super Star Trek @@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ respect the copyrights of the originators of Star Trek. Curses Interface By Stas Sergeev - SST 2K polishing by + SST 2K polishing and historical research by Eric S. Raymond @@ -172,7 +174,7 @@ game. Space is vast, and it takes precious time to move from one place to another. In comparison, other things happen so quickly that we -assume the take no time at all. Two ways that time can pass are when +assume they take no time at all. Two ways that time can pass are when you move, or when you issue a command to sit still and rest for a period of time. You will sometimes want to do the latter, since the various devices aboard your starship may be damaged and require time @@ -768,18 +770,18 @@ instantaneously, the hits you receive will be intermediate between what they would be if the shields were completely up or completely down. -You may not fire phasers through your shields. However you may use -the high-speed shield control to lower shields, fire phasers, and -raise the shields again before the Klingons can react. Since rapid -lowering and raising of the shields requires more energy than normal -speed operation, it costs you 200 units of energy to activate this -control. It is automatically activated when you fire phasers while -shields are up. You may fire photon torpedoes, but they may be -deflected considerably from their intended course as they pass +You may not fire phasers through your shields. However you may +use the high-speed shield control to lower shields, +fire phasers, and raise the shields again before the Klingons can +react. Since rapid lowering and raising of the shields requires more +energy than normal speed operation, it costs you 200 units of energy +to activate this control. It is automatically activated when you fire +phasers while shields are up. You may fire photon torpedoes, but they +may be deflected considerably from their intended course as they pass through the shields (depending on shield strength). You may transfer energy beteen the ship's energy (given as -Energy in the status) and the shields. Thee word +Energy in the status) and the shields. The word TRANSFER may be abbreviated T. The ammount of energy to transfer is the number of units of energy you wish to take from the ship's energy and put into the shields. If you @@ -1010,15 +1012,15 @@ Klingons. Call Starbase for Help -Mnemonic: CALL +Mnemonic: MAYDAY (No abbreviation) [Originally, this command was called HELP, but -these days it might be misinterpreted as built-in -documentation!] +these days that might be misconstrued as an attempt to browae built-in +documentation! In some later versions it was CALL.] -When you get into serious trouble, you may call starbase for +When you get into serious trouble, you may call a starbase for help. Starbases have a device called a long-range transporter beam which they can use to teleport you to base. This works by dematerializing your starship at its current position and @@ -1400,9 +1402,9 @@ inform you how long the base under attack can last. Since the Super-Commander is more powerful than an ordinary commander, he can destroy a base more quickly. -The Super-Commander travels around the galaxy at a speed of about -warp 6 or 7. His movement is strictly time based; the more time -passes, the further he can go. +The Super-Commander travels around the galaxy at +a speed of about warp 6 or 7. His movement is strictly time based; +the more time passes, the further he can go. Scattered through the galaxy are certain zones of control, collectively designated the Romulan Neutral Zone. Any @@ -1509,7 +1511,6 @@ The emeritus game is strictly for masochists. ------ ------------ ----------- ABANDON ABANDON shuttle craft C CHART (none) - CALL CALL (for help) subspace radio CO COMPUTER computer CR CRYSTALS (none) DA DAMAGES (none) @@ -1521,6 +1522,7 @@ The emeritus game is strictly for masochists. I IMPULSE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> impulse engines IMPULSE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> impulse engines and computer L LRSCAN long-range sensors + MAYDAY MAYDAY (for help) subspace radio MI MINE (none) M MOVE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> warp engines MOVE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> warp engines and computer @@ -1572,6 +1574,85 @@ Impulse engines require 20 units to warm up, plus 100 units per Game History and Modifications +Origins + +The original Star Trek seems to have been written by Mike +Mayfield at the beginning of the 1970s. His first version was in +BASIC for a Sigma 7 in 1971; in 1972 he rewrote it in Hewlett Packard +BASIC. The source is available on the +SST2K website. In January 1975 it became part of the DECUS library +under the name SPACWR. + +While some people claim to have recollections of playing Trek +games in the late 1960s, the earlier ones seem actually to have been +variants of + +SPACEWAR, the earlier space-combat game on the +PDP-1. Mayfield wrote +in 2000 that he invented the Trek-style galactic grid, and the +evidence seems to back that up. Some of the confusion probably stems +from the fact that Mayfield's original and several early descendants +were distributed under the name SPACWR. + +Many different versions radiated from Mayfield's original; most +og the ones in BASIC are descended from a SPACWR version that David +Ahl published in 101 BASIC Computer Games, +July 1973. This was a port of Mayfield's version obtained from the HP +Contributed Programs library. + +Our SST2K is descended from a Taurus BASIC program by Grady +Hicks dated 5 April 1973. This does not appear to have been derived +from Ahl's SPACWR. The header says "GENERAL IDEA STOLEN FROM +PENN. U.", and the game has several features not present in SPACEWR: +notably, the Death Ray, ramming, and the Klingon summons to surrender. +And, of course, it predates Ahl's book. The source is available on the +SST2K website. + +Dave Matuszek, Paul Reynolds et. al. at UT Austin played the +Hicks version on a CDC6600, but disliked the long load time and +extreme slowness of the BASIC program. (David Matuszek notes that the +Hicks version he played had a habit of throwing long +quotes from Marcus Aurelius at the users, a feature he found +intolerable on a TTY at 110 baud. It must, therefore, have been +rather longer than the one we have.) The Austin crew proceeded to +write their own Trek game, loosely based on the Hicks version, in +CDC6600 FORTRAN. At that time, it was just called "Star Trek"; the +"Super" was added by later developers. + +At the time the CDC6600 FORTRAN source was translated to C +it emitted the message "Latest update-21 Sept 78". Thus, it actually +predated (and may have influenced) the best-known BASIC version, the +"Super Star Trek" published by David Ahl in his November 1978 sequel +BASIC Computer Games. + +Ahl's "Super Star Trek" had been reworked by Robert Leedom and +friends from (according to Leedom) Mayfield's HP port. There is +internal evidence to suggest that at least some features of Leedom's +SST may have derived from the UT FORTRAN version. In particular, Dave +Matuszek recalls implementing command words to replace the original +numeric command codes, a feature Leedom's SST also had. + +One signature trait of the UT FORTRAN game and its descendants +is that the sectors are 10x10 (rather than the 8x8 in Mike Mayfield's +1972 original and its BASIC descendants). The UT FORTRAN version also +preserves the original numbered quadrants rather than the +astronomically-named quadrants introduced in Ahl's SST and its +descendants. + + + + +Eric Allman's BSD Trek game is one of these, also descended from +FORTRAN Star Trek via translation to C. However, the mainline S (now +SST2K) has had a lot more stuff folded into it over the years — +deep space probes, dilithium mining, the Tholian Web, and so +forth. + + Tom Almy's story Back in (about) 1977 I got a copy of this Super Star Trek game for @@ -1664,7 +1745,7 @@ fired upon. Probe target you enter is now the destination quadrant. Before I don't - remember what it was, but it was something I had difficulty using) + remember what it was, but it was something I had difficulty using. Secret password is now autogenerated. @@ -1698,36 +1779,26 @@ better anyway. +My changes got merged into SST2K in 2005, and I work on it now. + Eric Raymond's story -I played the FORTRAN version of this game in the mid-1970s on a +I played the FORTRAN version of this game in the late 1970s on a DEC minicomputer. In the late 1980s Dave Matuszek and I became friends; I was vaguely aware that he had had something to do with the original Star Trek game. In October 2004, sitting in Dave's living room, we got to talking about the game and I realized it would make a great exhibit for the Retrocomputing Museum. +url='&retro;'>Retrocomputing Museum. A few quick web searches later we found Tom Almy's page. We downloaded his code and Dave verified that that it was a direct descendent of UT Super Star Trek — even though it had been translated to C, he was able to recognize names and techniques from the FORTRAN -version. +version he co-wrote. -Thus, this game is a cousin of Eric Allman's BSD Trek game, which is -also derived from UT Super Star Trek. However, this one has had a lot -more stuff folded into it over the years — deep space probes, -dilithium mining, the Tholian Web, and so forth. - -One signature trait of this group of variants is that the sectors are -10x10 rather than the 8x8 in Mike Mayfield's 1972 original and its -BASIC descendants) Also, you set courses and firing directions with -rectangular rather than polar coordinates. It also preserves the -original numbered quadrants rather than the astronomically-named -quadrants introduced into many BASIC versions. - -This game is now an open-source project; see the This game became an open-source project; see the project site. @@ -1766,7 +1837,7 @@ I made the internal pager work, and in the process got rid of a number of platform dependencies in the code. -The HELP/CALL/SOS command is now MAYDAY. SOS and CALL are still accepted. +The HELP/CALL/SOS command is now MAYDAY. Status report now indicates if dilithium crystals are on board. @@ -1774,6 +1845,10 @@ Status report now indicates if dilithium crystals are on board. At Dave's prompting, restored the Space Thingy's original elusive behavior. + +Clean separation of game engine from the UI code, improving Stas +Sergeev's excellent work on the curses interface. + Here are some good pages on the history of Star Trek games: