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SSSSS U U PPPPP EEEEE RRRRR
S U U P P E R R
SSSSS U U PPPPP EEEE RRRRR
S U U P E R R
SSSSS UUUUU P EEEEE R R
SSSSSSS TTTTTTTT A RRRRRRR
SSSSSSSS TTTTTTTT AAA RRRRRRRR
SS TT AAA RR RR
SSSSSSS TT AA AA RR RR
SSSSSSS TT AA AA RRRRRRRR
SS TT AAAAAAA RRRRRRR
SS TT AAAAAAA RR RR
SSSSSSSS TT AA AA RR RR
SSSSSSS TT AA AA RR RR
TTTTTTTT RRRRRRR EEEEEEEEE KK KK
TTTTTTTT RRRRRRRR EEEEEEEEE KK KK
TT RR RR EE KK KK
TT RR RR EEEEEE KKKKKK
TT RRRRRRRR EEEEEE KKKKK
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Produced For Your Enjoyment
By
David Matuszek
and
Paul Reynolds
With Modifications By
Don Smith
Resurrected By
Tom Almy
Permission is hereby granted for the copying, distribution,
modification and use of this program and associated documentation
for recreational purposes, provided that all references to the
authors are retained. However, permission is not and will not be
granted for the sale or promotional use of this program or program
documentation, or for use in any situation in which profit may be
considered an objective, since it is the desire of the authors to
respect the copyrights of the originators of Star Trek.
----------TABLE OF CONTENTS----------
SECTION PAGE
INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
HOW TO ISSUE COMMANDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
DESCRIPTIONS OF COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SHORT-RANGE SCAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
STATUS REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
LONG-RANGE SCAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
STAR CHART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
DAMAGE REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
MOVE UNDER WARP DRIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
WARP FACTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IMPULSE ENGINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
DEFLECTOR SHIELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PHASERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
REPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
COMPUTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PHOTON TORPEDOES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
DOCK AT STARBASE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
REST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CALL STARBASE FOR HELP. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ABANDON SHIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
SELF-DESTRUCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
TERMINATE THE CURRENT GAME. . . . . . . . . . . 16
SENSOR-SCAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
ENTER STANDARD ORBIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
TRANSPORTER-TRAVEL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
SHUTTLE CRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
MINE DILITHIUM CRYSTALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
LOAD DILITHIUM CRYSTALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
PLANET REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
FREEZE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
REQUEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
EXPERIMENTAL DEATH RAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
LAUNCH DEEP SPACE PROBE . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
EMERGENCY EXIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
ASK FOR HELP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CLOAKING DEVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
CAPTURE KLINGONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
GET THE SCORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
SCORING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
HANDY REFERENCE PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
MODIFICATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
-----INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME----- 1
The Organian Peace Treaty has collapsed, and the Federation is at war
with the Klingon Empire. Joining the Klingons against the Federation
are the members of the "Romulan Star Empire." As commander of the
Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, your job is to wipe out the Klingon
invasion fleet and make the galaxy safe for democracy.
Your battleground is the entire galaxy, which for convenience is
divided up into eight rows of eight quadrants each, like a
checkerboard. Rows are numbered from top to bottom, and columns are
numbered left to right, so quadrant 1 - 8 would be in the upper right
hand corner of the galaxy.
During battle you will be concerned only with those enemies that
occupy the same quadrant as yourself. Quadrants are divided up into
sectors: ten rows of ten sectors each. Sectors are numbered in the
same way as quadrants, so the sector in the upper right corner is
sector 1 - 10. You have a short-range scanner which allows you to
look at the entire quadrant in a single display.
Enemies recharge during your absence. If you leave a quadrant
containing a weakened enemy, when you return to that quadrant he will
be strong again. Also, each time you enter a quadrant, the positions
of everything in the quadrant (except your ship) are randomized, to
save you the trouble of trying to remember where everything in the
quadrant is. Notice that this refers only to the positions of things
in the quadrant--the numbers of each kind of thing are not changed
(except for black holes and the Super-commander, which move around
the galaxy). If you kill something, it stays dead.
The Romulans are not as serious a threat to the Federation as the
Klingons. For one thing, there are not as many of them. For
another, the Romulans are not as treacherous. However, Romulans are
not to be trifled with, especially when you are in violation of the
"Romulan Neutral Zone."
There are two kinds of Klingons: Ordinary Klingons, which are bad
enough, and Klingon Commanders, which are even worse. Commanders are
about three times stronger than ordinary Klingons. Commanders are
more resistant to your weapons. Commanders can move about during
battle while Ordinary Klingons stay put. And finally, Commanders
have a thing called a "long-range tractor beam" which they can use,
at random intervals, to yank you away from what you are doing into
their quadrant, to do battle with them. There is also a special
commander, called the "Super-commander." This character is so bad he
is reserved for the Good, Expert, and Emeritus games. Fortunately,
there is just one Super-commander in a game. In addition to the
undesirable traits of Commanders, he can move from quadrant to
quadrant at will, seeking out and destroying your starbases and any
helpful planets he runs across. He also has a spy planted aboard
your ship, giving him valuable information about your condition.
Using this information, he can do dastardly things like tractor beam
your ship when you are in bad shape. And once you've been tractor
beamed by the Super-commander ---
2
But the advantages are not all on the side of the enemy. Your ship
is more powerful, and has better weapons. Besides, in the this
galaxy there are from two to five starbases, at which you can stop to
refuel and lick your wounds, safe from phaser attack or tractor
beams. But you had best not dally there too long, since time is not
on your side. The Klingons are not just after you; they are
attacking the entire Federation. There is always a finite "time
left," which is how much longer the Federation can hold out if you
just sit on your fat behind and do nothing. As you wipe out
Klingons, you reduce the rate at which the invasion fleet weakens the
Federation, and so the time left until the Federation collapses may
actually increase. Since Klingons are the main threat to the
Federation, the Romulans do not figure into the "time left." In
fact, you need not kill all the Romulans to win. If you can get all
the Klingons, the Federation will abide forever, and you have won the
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
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
to repair. Of course, repairs can be made more quickly at a starbase
than can in flight.
In addition to Klingons, Romulans, and starbases, the galaxy contains
(surprise) stars. Mostly, stars are a nuisance and just get in your
way. You can trigger a star into going nova by shooting one of your
photon torpedoes at it. When a star novas, it does a lot of damage
to anything immediately adjacent to it. If another star is adjacent
to a nova, it too will go nova. Stars may also occasionally go
supernova; a supernova in a quadrant destroys everything in the
quadrant and makes the quadrant permanently uninhabitable. You may
"jump over" a quadrant containing a supernova when you move, but you
should not stop there.
Supernovas may happen spontaneously, without provocation. If a
supernova occurs in the same quadrant you are in, your starship has
an "emergency automatic override" which picks some random direction
and some random warp factor, and tries to throw you clear of the
supernova. If the supernova occurs in some other quadrant, you just
get a warning message from Starfleet about it (provided, of course,
that your subspace radio is working).
Also a few planets are scattered through the galaxy. These can
sometimes be a great help since some of them will have "dilithium
crystals," which are capable of replenishing the ship's energy
supply. You can either beam down to the planet surface using the
transporter, or take the shuttle craft "Galileo."
Finally, each quadrant will contain from zero to three black holes.
These can deflect or swallow torpedoes passing near them. They also
swallow enemy ships knocked into them. If your ship enters one - - -
3
Star Trek is a rich game, full of detail. These instructions are
written at a moderate level--no attempt has been made fully to
describe everything about the game, but there is quite a bit more
here than you need to get started. If you are new to the game, just
get a rough idea of the kinds of commands available, and start
playing. After a game or two you will have learned everything
important, and the detailed command descriptions which follow will be
a lot more meaningful to you.
You have weapons: phasers and photon torpedoes. You have a defense:
deflector shields. You can look at things: long-range scanners,
short-range scanners, and a star chart. You can move about, under
warp drive or impulse power. You can also dock at a starbase, rest
while repairs are being made, abandon ship, self destruct, or give up
and start a new game.
The Klingons are waiting.
-----HOW TO ISSUE COMMANDS----- 4
When the game is waiting for you to enter a command it will print out
COMMAND>
You may then type in your command. All you have to remember for each
command is the mnemonic. For example, if you want to move straight up
one quadrant, you can type in the mnemonic (case insensitive)
move
and the computer will prompt you with
Manual or automatic-
Say you type in "manual". The computer then responds
X and Y displacements-
Now you type in "0 1" which specifies an X movement of zero and a Y
movement of one.
When you have learned the commands, you can avoid being prompted
simply by typing in the information without waiting to be asked for
it. For example, in the above example, you could simply type in
move manual 0 1
and it will be done. Or you could type in
move manual
and when the computer responds with the displacement prompt, you can type in
0 1
and it will understand.
You can abbreviate most mnemonics. For "move", you can use any of
move mov mo m
successfully. For your safety, certain critical commands (such as to
abandon ship) must be written out in full. Also, in a few cases two
or more commands begin with the same letter, and in this case that
letter refers to a particular one of the commands; to get the other,
your abbreviation must be two or more characters long. This sounds
complicated, but you will learn the abbreviations quickly enough.
What this all boils down to is:
(1) You can abbreviate practically anything
(2) If you forget, the computer will prompt you
(3) If you remember, you can type it all on one line
If you are part way through entering a command and you change your
mind, you can cancel the command by typing -1 as one of the
parameters, with the exception of the manual move command. If
anything is not clear to you, experiment. The worst you can do is
lose a game or two.
-----DESCRIPTION OF COMMANDS----- 5
********************
* SHORT-RANGE SCAN *
********************
Mnemonic: SRSCAN
Shortest abbreviation: S
Full commands: SRSCAN
SRSCAN NO
SRSCAN CHART
The short-range scan gives you a considerable amount of information
about the quadrant your starship is in. A short-range scan is best
described by an example.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 * . . . . R . . . . Stardate 2516.3
2 . . . E . . . . . . Condition RED
3 . . . . . * . B . . Position 5 - 1, 2 - 4
4 . . . S . . . . . . Life Support DAMAGED, Reserves=2.30
5 . . . . . . . K . . Warp Factor 5.0
6 . K . . . . . * . Energy 2176.24
7 . . . . . P . . . . Torpedoes 3
8 . . . . * . . . . . Shields UP, 42% 1050.0 units
9 . * . . * . . . C . Klingons Left 12
10 . . . . . . . . . . Time Left 3.72
The left part is a picture of the quadrant. The E at sector 2 - 4
represents the Enterprise; the B at sector 3 - 8 is a starbase.
There are ordinary Klingons (K) at sectors 5 - 8 and 6 - 2, and a
Klingon Commander (C) at 9 - 9. The (GULP) "Super-commander" (S) is
occupies sector 4 - 4, and a Romulan (R) is at 1 - 6. A planet (P)
is at sector 7 - 6. There are also a large number of stars (*). The
periods (.) are just empty space--they are printed to help you get
your bearings. Sector 6 - 4 contains a black hole ( ).
The information on the right is assorted status information. You can
get this alone with the STATUS command. The status information will
be absent if you type "N" after SRSCAN. Otherwise status information
will be presented.
If you type "C" after SRSCAN, you will be given a short-range scan
and a Star Chart.
Short-range scans are free. That is, they use up no energy and no
time. If you are in battle, doing a short-range scan does not give
the enemies another chance to hit you. You can safely do a
short-range scan anytime you like.
If your short-range sensors are damaged, this command will only show
the contents of adjacent sectors.
6
*****************
* STATUS REPORT *
*****************
Mnemonic: STATUS
Shortest abbreviation: ST
This command gives you information about the current state of your
starship as follows:
STARDATE - The current date. A stardate is the same as a day.
CONDITION - There are four possible conditions:
DOCKED - docked at starbase.
RED - in battle.
YELLOW - low on energy (<1000 units)
GREEN - none of the above
POSITION - Quadrant is given first, then sector
LIFE SUPPORT - If "ACTIVE" then life support systems are
functioning normally. If on "RESERVES" the number is how many
stardates your reserve food, air, etc. will last--you must
get repairs made or get to starbase before your reserves run
out.
WARP FACTOR - What your warp factor is currently set to.
ENERGY - The amount of energy you have left. If it drops to zero,
you die.
TORPEDOES - How many photon torpedoes you have left.
SHIELDS - Whether your shields are up or down, how strong they are
(what percentage of a hit they can deflect), and shield
energy.
KLINGONS LEFT - How many of the Klingons are still out there.
TIME LEFT - How long the Federation can hold out against the
present number of Klingons; that is, how long until the end
if you do nothing in the meantime. If you kill Klingons
quickly, this number will go up--if not, it will go down. If
it reaches zero, the federation is conquered and you lose.
Status information is free--it uses no time or energy, and if you are
in battle, the Klingons are not given another chance to hit you.
Status information can also be obtained by doing a short-range scan.
See the SRSCAN command for details.
Each item of information can be obtained singly by requesting it.
See REQUEST command for details.
7
*******************
* LONG-RANGE SCAN *
*******************
Mnemonic: LRSCAN
Shortest abbreviation: L
A long-range scan gives you general information about where you are
and what is around you. Here is an example output.
Long-range scan for Quadrant 5 - 1
-1 107 103
-1 316 5
-1 105 1000
This scan says that you are in row 5, column 1 of the 8 by 8 galaxy.
The numbers in the scan indicate how many of each kind of thing there
is in your quadrant and all adjacent quadrants. The digits are
interpreted as follows.
Thousands digit: 1000 indicates a supernova (only)
Hundreds digit: number of Klingons present
Tens digit: number of starbases present
Ones digit: number of stars present
For example, in your quadrant (5 - 1) the number is 316, which
indicates 3 Klingons, 1 starbase, and 6 stars. The long-range
scanner does not distinguish between ordinary Klingons and Klingon
command ships. If there is a supernova, as in the quadrant below and
to your right (quadrant 6 - 2), there is nothing else in the
quadrant.
Romulans possess a "cloaking device" which prevents their detection
by long-range scan. Because of this fact, Starfleet Command is never
sure how many Romulans are "out there". When you kill the last
Klingon, the remaining Romulans surrender to the Federation.
Planets are also undetectable by long-range scan. The only way to
detect a planet is to find it in your current quadrant with the
short-range sensors.
Since you are in column 1, there are no quadrants to your left. The
minus ones indicate the negative energy barrier at the edge of the
galaxy, which you are not permitted to cross.
Long-range scans are free. They use up no energy or time, and can be
done safely regardless of battle conditions.
8
**************
* STAR CHART *
**************
Mnemonic: CHART
Shortest abbreviation: C
As you proceed in the game, you learn more and more about what things
are where in the galaxy. When ever you first do a scan in a quadrant,
telemetry sensors are ejected which will report any changes in the
quadrant(s) back to your ship, providing the sub-space radio is
working. Spock will enter this information in the chart. If the radio
is not working, Spock can only enter new information discovered from
scans, and information in other quadrants may be obsolete.
The chart looks like an 8 by 8 array of numbers. These numbers are
interpreted exactly as they are on a long-range scan. A period (.) in
place of a digit means you do not know that information yet. For
example, ... means you know nothing about the quadrant, while .1.
means you know it contains a base, but an unknown number of Klingons
and stars.
Looking at the star chart is a free operation. It costs neither time
nor energy, and can be done safely whether in or out of battle.
*****************
* DAMAGE REPORT *
*****************
Mnemonic: DAMAGES
Shortest abbreviation: DA
At any time you may ask for a damage report to find out what devices
are damaged and how long it will take to repair them. Naturally,
repairs proceed faster at a starbase.
If you suffer damages while moving, it is possible that a subsequent
damage report will not show any damage. This happens if the time
spent on the move exceeds the repair time, since in this case the
damaged devices were fixed en route.
Damage reports are free. They use no energy or time, and can be done
safely even in the midst of battle.
9
*************************
* MOVE UNDER WARP DRIVE *
*************************
Mnemonic: MOVE
Shortest abbreviation: M
Full command: MOVE MANUAL <displacement>
MOVE AUTOMATIC <destination>
This command is the usual way to move from one place to another
within the galaxy. You move under warp drive, according to the
current warp factor (see "WARP FACTOR").
There are two command modes for movement: MANUAL and AUTOMATIC. The
manual mode requires the following format:
MOVE MANUAL <deltax> <deltay>
<deltax> and <deltay> are the horizontal and vertical displacements
for your starship, in quadrants; a displacement of one sector is 0.1
quadrants. Specifying <deltax> and <deltay> causes your ship to move
in a straight line to the specified destination. If <deltay> is
omitted, it is assumed zero. For example, the shortest possible
command to move one sector to the right would be
M M .1
The following examples of manual movement refer to the short-range
scan shown earlier.
Destination Sector Manual Movement command
3 - 1 M M -.3 -.1
2 - 1 M M -.3
1 - 2 M M -.2 .1
1 - 4 M M 0 .1
(leaving quadrant) M M 0 .2
The automatic mode is as follows:
MOVE AUTOMATIC <qrow> <qcol> <srow> <scol>
where <qrow> and <qcol> are the row and column numbers of the
destination quadrant, and <srow> and <scol> are the row and column
numbers of the destination sector in that quadrant. This command also
moves your ship in a straight line path to the destination. For
moving within a quadrant, <qrow> and <qcol> may be omitted. For
example, to move to sector 2 - 9 in the current quadrant, the
shortest command would be
M A 2 9
To move to quadrant 3 - 7, sector 5 - 8, type
M A 3 7 5 8
and it will be done. In automatic mode, either two or four numbers
must be supplied.
10
Automatic mode utilizes the ship's "battle computer." If the
computer is damaged, manual movement must be used.
If warp engines are damaged less than 10 stardates (undocked) you can
still go warp 4.
It uses time and energy to move. How much time and how much energy
depends on your current warp factor, the distance you move, and
whether your shields are up. The higher the warp factor, the faster
you move, but higher warp factors require more energy. You may move
with your shields up, but this doubles the energy required.
You can move within a quadrant without being attacked if you just
entered the quadrant or have bee attacked since your last move
command. This enables you to move and hit them before they
retaliate.
***************
* WARP FACTOR *
***************
Mnemonic: WARP
Shortest abbreviation: W
Full command: WARP <number>
Your warp factor controls the speed of your starship. The larger the
warp factor, the faster you go and the more energy you use.
Your minimum warp factor is 1.0 and your maximum warp factor is 10.0
(which is 100 times as fast and uses 1000 times as much energy). At
speeds above warp 6 there is some danger of causing damage to your
warp engines; this damage is larger at higher warp factors and also
depends on how far you go at that warp factor.
At exactly warp 10 there is some probability of entering a so-called
"time warp" and being thrown forward or backward in time. The farther
you go at warp 10, the greater is the probability of entering the
time warp.
*******************
* IMPULSE ENGINES *
*******************
Mnemonic: IMPULSE
Shortest abbreviation: I
Full command: IMPULSE MANUAL <displacement>
IMPULSE AUTOMATIC <destination>
The impulse engines give you a way to move when your warp engines are
damaged. They move you at a speed of 0.95 sectors per stardate,
which is the equivalent of a warp factor of about 0.975, so they are
much too slow to use except in emergencies.
Movement commands are indicated just as in the "MOVE" command.
The impulse engines require 20 units of energy to engage, plus 10
units per sector (100 units per quadrant) traveled. It does not cost
extra to move with the shields up.
11
*********************
* DEFLECTOR SHIELDS *
*********************
Mnemonic: SHIELDS
Shortest abbreviation: SH
Full commands: SHIELDS UP
SHIELDS DOWN
SHIELDS TRANSFER <amount of energy to transfer>
Your deflector shields are a defensive device to protect you from
Klingon attacks (and nearby novas). As the shields protect you, they
gradually weaken. A shield strength of 75%, for example, means that
the next time a Klingon hits you, your shields will deflect 75% of
the hit, and let 25% get through to hurt you.
It costs 50 units of energy to raise shields, nothing to lower them.
You may move with your shields up; this costs nothing under impulse
power, but doubles the energy required for warp drive.
Each time you raise or lower your shields, the Klingons have another
chance to attack. Since shields do not raise and lower
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
through the shields (depending on shield strength).
You may transfer energy between the ship's energy (given as "Energy"
in the status) and the shields. Thee word "TRANSFER" may be
abbreviated "T". The amount 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 specify an negative number, energy is drained
from the shields to the ship. Transferring energy constitutes a turn.
If you transfer energy to the shields while you are under attack,
they will be at the new energy level when you are next hit.
Enemy torpedoes hitting your ship explode on your shields (if they
are up) and have essentially the same effect as phaser hits.
12
***********
* PHASERS *
***********
Mnemonic: PHASERS
Shortest abbreviation: P
Full commands: PHASERS AUTOMATIC <AMOUNT TO FIRE> <NO>
PHASERS <AMOUNT TO FIRE> <NO>
PHASERS MANUAL <NO> <AMOUNT 1> <AMOUNT 2>...<AMOUNT N>
Phasers are energy weapons. As you fire phasers at Klingons, you
specify an "amount to fire" which is drawn from your energy reserves.
The amount of total hit required to kill an enemy is partly random.
but also depends on skill level.
The average hit required to kill an ordinary Klingon varies from 200
units in the Novice game to 250 units in the Emeritus game.
Commanders normally require from 600 (Novice) to 700 (Emeritus). The
Super-commander requires from 875 (Good) to 1000 (Emeritus). Romulans
require an average of 350 (Novice) to 450 (Emeritus).
Hits on enemies are cumulative, as long as you don't leave the
quadrant.
In general, not all that you fire will reach the Klingons. The
farther away they are, the less phaser energy will reach them. If a
Klingon is adjacent to you, he will receive about 90% of the phaser
energy directed at him; a Klingon 5 sectors away will receive about
60% and a Klingon 10 sectors away will receive about 35%. There is
some randomness involved, so these figures are not exact. Phasers
have no effect beyond the boundaries of the quadrant you are in.
Phasers may overheat (and be damaged) if you fire too large a burst
at once. Firing up to 1500 units is safe. From 1500 on up the
probability of overheat increases with the amount fired.
If phaser firing is automatic, the computer decides how to divide up
your <amount to fire> among the Klingons present. If phaser firing
is manual, you specify how much energy to fire at each Klingon
present (nearest first), rather than just specifying a total amount.
You can abbreviate "MANUAL" and "AUTOMATIC" to one or more letters; if
you mention neither, automatic fire is usually assumed.
Battle computer information is available by firing phasers manually,
and allowing the computer to prompt you. If you enter zero for the
amount to fire at each enemy, you will get a complete report, without
cost. The battle computer will tell you how much phaser energy to
fire at each enemy for a sure kill. This information appears in
parentheses prior to the prompt for each enemy. SInce the amount is
computed from sensor data, if either the computer or the S.R. sensors
are damaged, this information will be unavailable, and phasers must
be fired manually.
13
A safety interlock prevents phasers from being fired through the
shields. If this were not so, the shields would contain your fire
and you would fry yourself. However, you may utilize the
"high-speed shield control" to drop shields, fire phasers, and raise
shields before the enemy can react. Since it takes more energy to
work the shields rapidly with a shot, it costs you 200 units of
energy each time you activate this control. It is automatically
activated when you fire phasers while the shields are up. By
specifying the <no> option, shields are not raised after firing.
Phasers have no effect on starbases (which are shielded) or on stars.
**********
* REPORT *
**********
Mnemonic: REPORT
Shortest abbreviation: REP
This command supplies you with information about the state of the
current game. Its purpose is to remind you of things that you have
learned during play, but may have forgotten, and cannot otherwise
retrieve if you are not playing at a hard-copy terminal.
You are told the following things:
. The length and skill level of the game you are playing
. The original number of Klingons
. How many Klingons you have destroyed
. Whether the Super-Commander has been destroyed
. How many bases have been destroyed
. How many bases are left
. What bases (if any) are under attack; your subspace radio
must have been working since the attack to get this
information.
. How many casualties you have suffered
. How many times you have called for help.
This same information is automatically given to you when you start to
play a frozen game.
************
* COMPUTER *
************
Mnemonic: COMPUTER
Shortest abbreviation: CO
This command allows using the ship's computer (if functional) to
calculate travel times and energy usage.
14
********************
* PHOTON TORPEDOES *
********************
Mnemonic: PHOTONS
Shortest abbreviation: PHO
Full commands: PHOTONS <NUMBER> <TARG1> <TARG2> <TARG3>
Photon torpedoes are projectile weapons--you either hit what you aim
at, or you don't. There are no "partial hits".
One photon torpedo will usually kill one ordinary Klingon, but it
usually takes about two for a Klingon Commander. Photon torpedoes
can also blow up stars and starbases, if you aren't careful.
You may fire photon torpedoes singly, or in bursts of two or three.
Each torpedo is individually targetable. The computer will prompt
you, asking for the target sector for each torpedo. Alternately, you
may specify each target in the command line.
Photon torpedoes cannot be aimed precisely--there is always some
randomness involved in the direction they go. Photon torpedoes may
be fired with your shields up, but as they pass through the shields
they are randomly deflected from their intended course even more.
Photon torpedoes are proximity-fused. The closer they explode to the
enemy, the more damage they do. There is a hit "window" about one
sector wide. If the torpedo misses the hit window, it does not
explode and the enemy is unaffected. Photon torpedoes are only
effective within the quadrant. They have no effect on things in
adjacent quadrants.
If more than one torpedo is fired and only one target sector is
specified, all torpedoes are fired at that sector. For example, to
fire two torpedoes at sector 3 - 4, you type
PHO 2 3 4 (or) PHO 2 3 4 3 4
To fire torpedoes at, consecutively, sectors 2 - 6, 1 - 10, and 4 -
7, type
PHO 3 2 6 1 10 4 7
There is no restriction to fire directly at a sector. For example,
you can enter
PHO 1 3 2.5
to aim between two sectors. However, sector numbers must be 1 to 10
inclusive.
15
********************
* DOCK AT STARBASE *
********************
Mnemonic: DOCK
Shortest abbreviation: D
You may dock your starship whenever you are in one of the eight
sector positions immediately adjacent to a starbase. When you dock,
your starship is resupplied with energy, shield energy photon
torpedoes, and life support reserves. Repairs also proceed faster at
starbase, so if some of your devices are damaged, you may wish to
stay at base (by using the "REST" command) until they are fixed. If
your ship has more than its normal maximum energy (which can happen
if you've loaded crystals) the ship's energy is not changed.
You may not dock while in standard orbit around a planet.
Starbases have their own deflector shields, so you are completely
safe from phaser attack while docked. You are also safe from
long-range tractor beams.
Starbases also have both short and long range sensors, which you can
use if yours are broken. There's also a subspace radio to get
information about happenings in the galaxy. Mr. Spock will update the
star chart if your ask for it while docked and your own radio is dead.
********
* REST *
********
Mnemonic: REST
Shortest abbreviation: R
Full command: REST <NUMBER OF STARDATES>
This command simply allows the specified number of stardates to go
by. This is useful if you have suffered damages and wish to wait
until repairs are made before you go back into battle.
It is not generally advisable to rest while you are under attack by
Klingons.
**************************
* CALL STARBASE FOR HELP *
**************************
Mnemonic: CALL
(No abbreviation)
[Originally, this command was called "HELP", but these days it might
be misinterpreted as built-in documentation!]
When you get into serious trouble, you may call 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 re-materializing it
adjacent to the nearest starbase. Teleportation is instantaneous,
and starbase supplies the required energy--all you have to do is let
them know (via subspace radio) that you need to be rescued.
16
This command should be employed only when absolutely necessary. In
the first place, calling for help is an admission on your part that
you got yourself into something you cannot get yourself out of, and
you are heavily penalized for this in the final scoring. Secondly,
the long-range transporter beam is not reliable--starbase can always
manage to dematerialize your starship, but (depending on distance)
may or may not be able to re-materialize you again. The long-range
transporter beam has no absolute maximum range; if you are in the
same quadrant as a starbase, you have a good chance (about 90%) of
re-materializing successfully. Your chances drop to roughly 50-50 at
just over 3 quadrants.
****************
* ABANDON SHIP *
****************
Mnemonic: ABANDON
(no abbreviation)
You may abandon the Enterprise if necessary. If there is still a
starbase in the galaxy, you will be sent there and put in charge of a
weaker ship, the Faerie Queene.
The Faerie Queene cannot be abandoned.
*****************
* SELF-DESTRUCT *
*****************
Mnemonic: DESTRUCT
(no abbreviation)
You may self-destruct, thus killing yourself and ending the game. If
there are nearby Klingons, you may take a few of them with you (the
more energy you have left, the bigger the bang).
In order to self-destruct you must remember the password you typed in
at the beginning of the game.
******************************
* TERMINATE THE CURRENT GAME *
******************************
Mnemonic: QUIT
(no abbreviation)
Immediately cancel the current game; no conclusion is reached. You
will be given an opportunity to start a new game or to leave the Star
Trek program.
17
***************
* SENSOR-SCAN *
***************
Mnemonic: SENSORS
Shortest abbreviation: SE
Utilizing the short-range sensors, science officer Spock gives you a
readout on any planet in your quadrant. Planets come in three
classes: M, N, and O. Only class M planets have earth-like
conditions. Spock informs you if the planet has any dilithium
crystals. Sensor scans are free.
************************
* ENTER STANDARD ORBIT *
************************
Mnemonic: ORBIT
Shortest abbreviation: O
To land on a planet you must first be in standard orbit. You achieve
this in a manner similar to docking at starbase. Moving to one of
the eight sector positions immediately adjacent to the planet, you
give the orbit command which puts your ship into standard orbit about
the planet. Since this is a maneuver, a small amount of time is
used; negligible energy is required. If enemies are present, they
will attack.
**********************
* TRANSPORTER-TRAVEL *
**********************
Mnemonic: TRANSPORT
Shortest abbreviation: T
The transporter is a device which can convert any physical object
into energy, beam the energy through space, and reconstruct the
physical object at some destination. Transporting is one way to land
on a planet. Since the transporter has a limited range, you must be
in standard orbit to beam down to a planet. Shields must be down
while transporting.
The transport command is used to beam a landing party onto a planet
to mine "dilithium crystals". Each time the command is given the
landing party (which you lead) moves from the ship to the planet, or
vice-versa.
You are advised against needless transporting, since like all
devices, the transporter will sometimes malfunction.
The transporter consumes negligible time and energy. Its use does
not constitute a "turn".
18
*****************
* SHUTTLE CRAFT *
*****************
Mnemonic: SHUTTLE
Shortest abbreviation: SHU
An alternate way to travel to and from planets. Because of limited
range, you must be in standard orbit to use the shuttle craft, named
"Galileo". Shields must be down.
Unlike transporting, use of the shuttle craft does constitute a
"turn" since time is consumed. The time naturally depends on orbit
altitude, and is equal to 3.0e-5 times altitude. Shuttling uses no
ship energy.
You should use the same travel device going from the planet to the
ship as you use to go from the ship to the planet. However it is
possible to transport to the planet and have the Galileo crew come
and pick your landing party up, or to take the Galileo to the planet
and then transport back, leaving the shuttle craft on the planet.
***************************
* MINE DILITHIUM CRYSTALS *
***************************
Mnemonic: MINE
Shortest abbreviation: MI
Once you and your mining party are on the surface of a planet which
has dilithium crystals, this command will dig them for you.
Mining requires time and constitutes a "turn". No energy is used.
Class M planets require 0.1 to 0.3 stardates to mine. Class N
planets take twice as long, and class O planets take three times as
long.
Dilithium crystals contain enormous energy in a form that is readily
released in the ship's power system. It is an excellent idea to mine
them whenever possible, for use in emergencies. You keep the
crystals until the game is over or you abandon ship when not at a
starbase.
***************************
* LOAD DILITHIUM CRYSTALS *
***************************
Mnemonic: CRYSTALS
Shortest abbreviation: CR
This is a very powerful command which should be used with caution.
Once you have dilithium crystals aboard ship, this command will
instruct engineering officer Scott and Mr. Spock to place a raw
dilithium crystal into the power channel of the ship's
matter-antimatter converter. When it works, this command will
greatly boost the ship's energy.
19
Because the crystals are raw and impure, instabilities can occur in
the power channel. Usually Scotty can control these. When he
cannot, the results are disastrous. Scotty will use those crystals
that appear to be most stable first.
Since using raw dilithium crystals for this purpose entails
considerable risk, Starfleet Regulations allow its use only during
"condition yellow". No time or energy is used.
*****************
* PLANET REPORT *
*****************
Mnemonic: PLANETS
Shortest abbreviation: PL
Mr. Spock presents you a list of the available information on planets
in the galaxy. Since planets do not show up on long-range scans, the
only way to obtain this information is with the "SENSORS" command.
**********
* FREEZE *
**********
Mnemonic: FREEZE
(no abbreviation)
Full command: FREEZE <FILE NAME>
The purpose of the FREEZE command is to allow a player to save the
current state of the game, so that it can be finished later. A
plaque may not be generated from a frozen game. A file with the
specified <file name> and type '.TRK' is created (if necessary) in
the current directory, and all pertinent information about the game
is written to that file. The game may be continued as usual or be
terminated at the user's option.
To restart a game created by the "FREEZE" command, the user need only
type "FROZEN" in response to the initial question about the type of
game desired, followed by the <file name>.
NOTE: A "tournament" game is like a frozen game, with the following
differences. (1) Tournament games always start from the beginning,
while a frozen game can start at any point. (2) Tournament games
require only that the player remember the name or number of the
tournament, while the information about a frozen game must be kept on
a file. Tournament games can be frozen, but then they behave like
regular frozen games.
A point worth noting is that 'FREEZE' does not save the seed for the
random number generator, so that identical actions after restarting
the same frozen game can lead to different results. However,
identical actions after starting a given tournament game always lead
to the same results.
20
***********
* REQUEST *
***********
Mnemonic: REQUEST
Shortest abbreviation: REQ
Full command: REQUEST <ITEM>
This command allows you to get any single piece of information from
the <STATUS> command. <ITEM> specifies which information as follows:
INFORMATION MNEMONIC FOR <ITEM> SHORTEST ABBREVIATION
STARDATE DATE D
CONDITION CONDITION C
POSITION POSITION P
LIFE SUPPORT LSUPPORT L
WARP FACTOR WARPFACTOR W
ENERGY ENERGY E
TORPEDOES TORPEDOES T
SHIELDS SHIELDS S
KLINGONS LEFT KLINGONS K
TIME LEFT TIME TI
**************************
* EXPERIMENTAL DEATH RAY *
**************************
Mnemonic: DEATHRAY
(No abbreviation)
This command should be used only in those desperate cases where you
have absolutely no alternative. The death ray uses energy to
rearrange matter. Unfortunately, its working principles are not yet
thoroughly understood, and the results are highly unpredictable.
The only good thing that can result is the destruction of all enemies
in your current quadrant. This will happen about 70% of the time.
Only enemies are destroyed; starbases, stars, and planets are
unaffected.
Constituting the remaining 30% are results varying from bad to fatal.
The death ray requires no energy or time, but if you survive, enemies
will hit you.
The Faerie Queene has no death ray.
If the death ray is damaged in its use, it must be totally replaced.
This can only be done at starbase. Because it is a very complex
device, it takes 9.99 stardates at base to replace the death ray.
The death ray cannot be repaired in flight.
21
***************************
* LAUNCH DEEP SPACE PROBE *
***************************
Mnemonic: PROBE
Shortest abbreviation: PR
Full command: PROBE <ARMED> MANUAL <displacement>
PROBE <ARMED> AUTOMATIC <destination>
The Enterprise carries a limited number of Long Range Probes. These
fly to the end of the galaxy and report back a count of the number of
important things found in each quadrant through which it went. The
probe flies at warp 10, and therefore uses time during its flight.
Results are reported immediately via subspace radio and are recorded
in the star chart.
The probe can also be armed with a NOVAMAX warhead. When launched
with the warhead armed, the probe flies the same except as soon as it
reaches the target location, it detonates the warhead in the heart of
a star, causing a supernova and destroying everything in the
quadrant. It then flies no further. There must be a star in the
target quadrant for the NOVAMAX to function.
The probe can fly around objects in a galaxy, but is destroyed if it
enters a quadrant containing a supernova, or if it leaves the galaxy.
The target location is specified in the same manner as the MOVE
command, however for automatic movement, if only one pair of
coordinates are specified they are assumed to be the quadrant and not
the sector in the current quadrant!
The Faerie Queene has no probes.
******************
* EMERGENCY EXIT *
******************
Mnemonic: EMEXIT
Shortest abbreviation: E
This command provides a quick way to exit from the game when you
observe a Klingon battle cruiser approaching your terminal. Its
effect is to freeze the game on the file 'EMSAVE.TRK' in your current
directory, erase the screen, and exit.
Of course, you do loose the chance to get a plaque when you use this
maneuver.
****************
* ASK FOR HELP *
****************
Mnemonic: HELP
Full command: HELP <command>
This command reads the appropriate section from the SST.DOC file,
providing the file is in the current directory.
22
*******************
* CLOAKING DEVICE *
*******************
Mnemonic: CLOAK
Shortest abbreviation: CLOAK
Full commands: CLOAK ON
CLOAK OFF
The cloaking device prevents your ship from being seen by any enemy
vessels. When the cloaking device is in use, your subspace radio will
not receive transmissions, torpedoes will be less accurate, you cannot
dock, and you cannot use your warp engines. Enemy ships will get a
chance to attack you when you turn clocking on.
The Treaty of Algeron with the Romulans in Stardate 2311 prohibits the
use of cloaking devices. If a Romulan ship observes you cloaking or
uncloaking after this point in time you will be in violation, which
will hurt your final score.
The Faerie Queene does not have a cloaking device.
********************
* CAPTURE KLINGONS *
********************
Mnemonic: CAPTURE
Shortest abbreviation: CA
The capture command provides a more humane way to end a battle than
just destroying the Klingon battleship with the crew aboard. Assuming
the subspace radio and transporter are working, and there is room in
the brig, this command will ask the captain of the weakest Klingon
ship in the quadrant to surrender. If the captain agrees, some of the
crew will transport to your ship and the Klingon ship will be
destroyed. This command does take time and you will be attacked by any
other enemy ships if the surrender occurs.
When you dock, any captured Klingons will be transferred to the base
and you will be credited with the lives you save.
*****************
* GET THE SCORE *
*****************
Mnemonic: SCORE
Shortest abbreviation: SC
Shows what the score would be if the game were to end naturally at
this point. Since the game hasn't really ended and you lose points if
you quit, this is perhaps a meaningless command, but it gives you a
general idea of how well you are performing.
**********MISCELLANEOUS NOTES********** 23
Starbases can be attacked by either commanders or by the
"Super-Commander". When this happens, you will be notified by
subspace radio, provided it is working. The message will 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.
Scattered through the galaxy are certain zones of control,
collectively designated the "Romulan Neutral Zone". Any quadrant
which contains Romulans without Klingons is part of the Neutral Zone,
except if a base is present. Since Romulans do not show on either
the long-range scan or the star chart, it is easy for you to stumble
into this zone. When you do, if your subspace radio is working, you
will receive a warning message from the Romulan, politely asking you
to leave.
In general, Romulans are a galactic nuisance.
The high-speed shield control is fairly reliable, but it has been
known to malfunction.
You can observe the galactic movements of the "Super-Commander" on
the star chart, provided he is in territory you have scanned and your
subspace radio is working.
Periodically, you will receive intelligence reports from starfleet
command, indicating the current quadrant of the "Super-Commander".
Your subspace radio must be working, of course.
Each quadrant will contain from 0 to 3 black holes. Torpedoes
entering a black hole disappear. In fact, anything entering a black
hole disappears, permanently. If you can displace an enemy into one,
he is a goner. Black holes do not necessarily remain in a quadrant.
they are transient phenomena.
Commanders will ram your ship, killing themselves and inflicting
heavy damage to you, if they should happen to decide to advance into
your sector.
You can get a list of commands by typing "COMMANDS".
----------SCORING---------- 24
Scoring is fairly simple. You get points for good things, and you
lose points for bad things.
You gain--
(1) 10 points for each ordinary Klingon ship you destroy,
(2) 50 points for each commander ship you destroy,
(3) 200 points for destroying the "Super-Commander" ship,
(4) 3 points for each Klingon captured.
(5) 20 points for each Romulan ship destroyed,
(6) 1 point for each Romulan captured.
(7) 500 times your average Klingon ship/stardate kill rate. If you
lose the game, your kill rate is based on a minimum of
5 stardates.
(8) You get a bonus if you win the game, based on your rating:
Novice=100, Fair=200, Good=300, Expert=400, Emeritus=500.
You lose--
(8) 200 points if you get yourself killed,
(9) 100 points for each starbase you destroy,
(10) 100 points for each starship you lose,
(11) 100 points for each violation of the Treaty of Algeron observed,
(12) 45 points for each time you had to call for help,
(13) 10 points for each planet you destroyed,
(14) 5 points for each star you destroyed, and
(15) 1 point for each casualty you incurred.
In addition to your score, you may also be promoted one grade in rank
if you play well enough. Promotion is based primarily on your
Klingon/stardate kill rate, since this is the best indicator of
whether you are ready to go on to the next higher rating. However,
if you have lost 100 or more points in penalties, the required kill
rate goes up. Normally, the required kill rate is 0.1 * skill *
(skill + 1.0) + 0.1, where skill ranges from 1 for Novice to 5 for
Emeritus.
You can be promoted from any level. There is a special promotion
available if you go beyond the "Expert" range. You can also have a
certificate of merit printed with your name, date, and Klingon kill
rate, provided you are promoted from either the "Expert" or
"Emeritus" levels. This "plaque" requires a 132 column printer. You
may need print the certificate to a file, import it into your word
processor, selecting Courier 8pt font, and then print in "landscape
orientation".
You should probably start out at the novice level, even if you are
already familiar with one of the other versions of the Star Trek
game--but, of course, the level of game you play is up to you. If
you want to start at the Expert level, go ahead. It's your funeral.
The emeritus game is strictly for masochists.
----------HANDY REFERENCE PAGE---------- 25
ABBREV FULL COMMAND DEVICE USED
------ ------------ -----------
ABANDON ABANDON shuttle craft
C CHART (none)
CA CAPTURE subspace radio, transporter
CALL CALL (for help) subspace radio
CL CLOAK cloaking
CO COMPUTER computer
CR CRYSTALS (none)
DA DAMAGES (none)
DEATHRAY DEATHRAY (none)
DESTRUCT DESTRUCT computer
D DOCK (none)
E EMEXIT (none)
FREEZE FREEZE <FILE NAME> (none)
I IMPULSE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> impulse engines
IMPULSE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> impulse engines and computer
L LRSCAN long-range sensors
MI MINE (none)
M MOVE <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> warp engines
MOVE AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> warp engines and computer
O ORBIT warp or impulse engines
P PHASERS <TOTAL AMOUNT> phasers and computer
PHASERS AUTOMATIC <TOTAL AMOUNT> phasers, computer, sr sensors
PHASERS MANUAL <AMT1> <AMT2> ... phasers
PHO PHOTONS <NUMBER> <TARGETS> torpedo tubes
PL PLANETS (none)
PR PROBE <ARMED> <MANUAL> <DISPLACEMENT> probe launcher, radio
PROBE <ARMED> AUTOMATIC <DESTINATION> launcher, radio, computer
REP REPORT (none)
REQ REQUEST (none)
R REST <NUMBER OF STARDATES> (none)
QUIT QUIT (none)
S SRSCAN <NO or CHART> short-range sensors
SC SCORE (none)
SE SENSORS short-range sensors
SH SHIELDS <UP, DOWN, or TRANSFER> deflector shields
SHU SHUTTLE shuttle craft
ST STATUS (none)
T TRANSPORT transporter
W WARP <FACTOR> (none)
L. R. Scan: thousands digit: supernova
hundreds digit: Klingons
tens digit: starbases
ones digit: stars
period (.): digit not known (star chart only)
Courses are given in manual mode in X - Y displacements; in automatic
mode as destination quadrant and/or sector. Manual mode is default.
Distances are given in quadrants. A distance of one sector is 0.1 quadrant.
Ordinary Klingons have about 400 units of energy, Commanders about
1200. Romulans normally have about 800 units of energy, and the
(GULP) "Super-Commander" has about 1800.
Phaser fire diminishes to about 60 percent at 5 sectors. Up to 1500
units may be fired in a single burst without danger of overheat.
Warp 6 is the fastest safe speed. At higher speeds, engine damage
may occur. At warp 10 you may enter a time warp.
Shields cost 50 units of energy to raise, and double the power
requirements of moving under warp drive. Engaging the high-speed
shield control requires 200 units of energy.
Warp drive requires (distance)*(warp factor cubed) units of energy
to travel at a speed of (warp factor squared)/10 quadrants per stardate.
Impulse engines require 20 units to warm up, plus 100 units per
quadrant. Speed is just under one sector per stardate.
********MODIFICATIONS******** 26
Back in (about) 1977 I got a copy of this Super Star Trek game for
the CDC 6600 mainframe computer. Someone had converted it to PDP-11
Fortran but couldn't get it to run because of its size. I modified
the program to use overlays and managed to shoehorn it in on the 58k
byte machine.
I liked the game so much I put some time into fixing bugs, mainly
what could be called continuity errors and loopholes in the game's
logic. We even played a couple tournaments.
In 1979, I lost access to that PDP-11. I did save the source code
listing. In 1995, missing that old friend, I started converting the
program into portable ANSI C. It's been slow, tedious work that took
over a year to accomplish.
In early 1997, I got the bright idea to look for references to "Super
Star Trek" on the World Wide Web. There weren't many hits, but there
was one that came up with 1979 Fortran sources! This version had a
few additional features that mine didn't have, however mine had some
feature it didn't have. So I merged its features that I liked. I also
took a peek at the DECUS version (a port, less sources, to the
PDP-10), and some other variations.
Modifications I made:
Compared to original version, I've changed the "help" command to
"call" and the "terminate" command to "quit" to better match user
expectations. The DECUS version apparently made those changes as well
as changing "freeze" to "save". However I like "freeze".
I added EMEXIT from the 1979 version.
That later version also mentions srscan and lrscan working when
docked (using the starbase's scanners), so I made some changes here
to do this (and indicating that fact to the player), and then
realized the base would have a subspace radio as well -- doing a
Chart when docked updates the star chart, and all radio reports will
be heard. The Dock command will also give a report if a base is under
attack.
It also had some added logic to spread the initial positioning of
bases. That made sense to add because most people abort games with
bad base placement.
The experimental deathray originally had only a 5% chance of success,
but could be used repeatedly. I guess after a couple years of use, it
was less "experimental" because the 1979 version had a 70% success
rate. However it was prone to breaking after use. I upgraded the
deathray, but kept the original set of failure modes (great humor!).
I put in the Tholian Web code from the 1979 version.
I added code so that Romulans and regular Klingons could move in
advanced games. I re-enabled the code which allows enemy ships to
ram the Enterprise; it had never worked right. The 1979 version
seems to have it all fixed up, but I'm still not overly happy with
the algorithm.
The DECUS version had a Deep Space Probe. Looked like a good idea
so I implemented it based on its description.
In 2013 I added the CLOAK and CAPTURE commands and also fixed lots
of bugs. The CAPTURE command is based on the one in BSDTrek. When
making this change I also changed text so that killing Klingons
became destroying Klingon ships reflecting that a Klingon ship does
have more than one Klingon aboard! The CLOAK command and some other
bug fixes and correction of typos are thanks to Erik Olofsen.
----------ACKNOWLEDGMENTS---------- 27
The authors would like to thank Professor Michael Duggan for his
encouragement and administrative assistance with the development of
the Star Trek game, without which it might never have been completed.
Much credit is due to Patrick McGehearty and Rich Cohen, who assisted
with the original design of the game and contributed greatly to its
conceptual development.
Thanks are also due to Carl Strange, Hardy Tichenor and Steven Bruell
for their assistance with certain coding problems.
This game was inspired by and rather loosely based on an earlier
game, programmed in the BASIC language, by Jim Korp and Grady Hicks.
It is the authors' understanding that the BASIC game was in turn
derived from a still earlier version in use at Penn State University.
----------REFERENCES----------
1. "Star Trek" (the original television series), produced and
directed by Gene Rodenberry.
2. "Star Trek" (the animated television series), produced by Gene
Rodenberry and directed by Hal Sutherland. Also excellent,
and not just kiddie fare. If you enjoyed the original series
you should enjoy this one (unless you have some sort of a
hangup about watching cartoons).
3. "The Making of Star Trek", by Steven E. Whitfield and Gene
Rodenberry. The best and most complete readily available
book about Star Trek. (Ballantine Books)
4. "The World of Star Trek", by David Gerrold. Similiar in scope
to the above book. (Bantam)
5. "The Star Trek Guide", third revision 4/17/67, by Gene
Rodenberry. The original writer's guide for the television
series, but less comprehensive than (3) above.
(Norway Productions)
6. "The Trouble With Tribbles", by David Gerrold. Includes the
complete script of this popular show. (Ballantine Books)
7. "Star Trek", "Star Trek 2", ..., "Star Trek 9", by James Blish.
The original shows in short story form. (Bantam)
8. "Spock Must Die", by James Blish. An original novel, but
rather similar to the show "The Enemy Within". (Bantam)
9. Model kits of the Enterprise and a "Klingon Battle-Cruiser"
by AMT Corporation are available at most hobby shops.
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