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* THIS DOCUMENT IS LOOKING BEST WITH COURIER FONT *
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CONTENTS OF THIS FOLDER:
- README.TXT - THIS FILE
- STARTREK32.EXE - GAME EXECUTABLE FILE
- STARTREK.DOC - ORIGINAL GAME INSTRUCTIONS
- MSGTABLE.TXT - GAME MESSAGES (ENCRYPTED)
- DO NOT EDIT MSG TABLE - REMINDER NOT TO OPEN IT IN EDITOR
1. MODIFICATIONS TO ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS GAME
===================================================
WHEN I STARTED TESTING THE GAME, I NOTICED THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD
I AM TRYING TO BEAT THE 'EMERITUS' LEVEL - THERE IS SIMPLY NOT MUCH
LUCK ON MY SIDE. WELL, I DECIDED TO ADD SOME POWER-UPS TO REMEDY
THIS SITUATION.
1.1 WHEN 'DOCK' COMMAND IS EXECUTED SOMETIMES MORE PHOTON
LAUNCHERS ARE ADDED, SO SHIP CAN FIRE MORE PHOTON TORPEDOES IN ONE
BURST. THIS EVENT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE PER GAME (FOR NOW).
THE NUMBER OF TORPEDOES PER BURST IS INDICATED ON 'TORPEDOES' LINE
IN SHORT RANGE SCAN REPORT. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ADDED LAUNCHERS IS
THREE, SO IN ALL SHIP CAN HAVE UP TO SIX TORPEDOES FIRED PER BURST!
1.2 WHEN 'DOCK' COMMAND IS EXECUTED IT IS POSSIBLE SOMETIMES TO
RECEIVE QUANTUM TORPEDOES INSTEAD OF NORMAL ONES. THESE ARE NEW
WARHEADS DESIGNED BY STARFLEET ENGINEER CORPS. THE QUANTUM CHARGES
DO NOT SUFFER THE LOSS OF TARGETING WHEN PASSING THROUGH SHIELDS AS
MUCH AS NORMAL TORPEDOES. AND OF COURSE, THEY PACK QUITE A PUNCH!
"ENTERPRISE" WILL RECEIVE SIXTEEN QUANTUM CHARGES AND "FAERIE
QUEENE" WILL GET EIGHT. THESE CHARGES MUST BE EXPENDED BEFORE THE
NEXT DOCKING PROCEDURE, OTHERWISE THE TORPEDOES WILL NOT BE
REFILLED BY THE BASE. SO, DO NOT SAVE YOUR QUANTUM TORPEDOERS! GET
INTO SOME QUADRANT AND MAKE A SHOOTING GALLERY OUT OF POOR SUCKERS!
ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE SIX PHOTON TUBES.
I WAS THINKING TO ADD SOME NEW WAYS TO GATHER ENERGY IN GALAXY, BUT
SO FAR NOTHING COMES TO MIND. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON THAT I WILL
BE GLAD TO HEAR IT.
1.3 ANOTHER NICE TO HAVE MODIFICATION IS THAT OUTPUT HAS TRUE
COLOURS. THESE COLOURS ARE NOT STANDARD WIN32 CONSOLE COLOURS,
BUT IN FACT, MY CONSOLE WINDOW IS A REAL WIN32 WINDOW, SIMULATING A
CONSOLE I/O.
1.4 SOME DELAY ADDED WHEN OUTPUTTING LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA - IT
IMPROVES READABILITY, SINCE I HAVE NOT IMPLEMENTED THE SCROLLING OF
MY CONSOLE WINDOW (FOR NOW).
1.5. NEW 'LOG' COMMAND ADDED INTO THE GAME. IT ALLOWS SAVING ALL
GAME I/O INTO THE FILE CALLED 'STARTREK.LOG'. THIS FILE IS RE-
CREATED EACH GAME, SO IF YOU NEED TO ANALYSE ANY PREVIOUS GAMES YOU
HAVE TO RENAME THAT FILE AFTER THE GAME.
1.6 SINCE I HAVE TRUE COLOURS IN THE GAME I DECIDED TO IMPROVE
THE GALAXY CHART. ALL QUADRANTS WHERE 'SRSCAN' COMMAND WAS GIVEN
WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED WITH DIFFERENT COLOUR. IT MAY BE USEFUL IN
LOCATING A PLANET. ALSO, THE SHIP'S QUADRANT IS HIGHLIGHTED TOO.
2. SOME STRATEGY HINTS
======================
"STAR TREK" IS A GAME OF STRATEGY. I GOT THAT WHILE PLAYING
IT DURING MY TESTING PHASE - I WAS PLAYING FOR HOURS EVERY DAY!
I GOT A LOT OF BUGS FIXED, AND AT THE SAME TIME I GOT SOME INSIGHTS
INTO THE GAME. MOST OF THESE CAME WITH A KNOWLEDGE OF READING THE
SOURCE CODE FROM PDP-11. HOWEVER, I CAN ADD SOME OF MY OWN. AND,
OF COURSE, SOME LUCK IS MUCH NEEDED, ESPECIALLY ON THE "EMERITUS"!
SO, LET'S BEGIN!..
2.1 IMAGINE THAT YOU HEAR ON SUBSPACE, THAT A BASE IS UNDER
ATTACK AND YOU REALISE THAT TO GET THERE AT WARP 5 OR EVEN AT WARP
6 IS NOT POSSIBLE. YOU HAVE THE ENERGY, BUT THE MOVE WITH WARPS
OVER 6 WILL DAMAGE THE ENGINES AND YOU'LL GET STRANDED OR YOU'LL
HAVE TO DRAG AT WARP 4. IN SUCH A CASE I USE WARP 8, BUT I MAKE
SHORT TRIPS - EACH TRIP IS NO LONGER THAN 5 SECTORS. THERE IS A
PROBABILITY OF DAMAGING THE ENGINES, BUT THAT PROBABILITY IS MUCH
LOWER FOR SHORT JUMPS. ALSO, GO WITH SHIELDS DOWN TO SAVE ENERGY.
IF YOU GET TRACTORED - YOU'LL HAVE A CHANCE TO RAISE SHIELDS FOR
BATTLE. IN FACT, ALWAYS LOWER SHIELDS, WHEN BATTLE IS OVER.
2.2 IF YOU REALISE THAT BASE WILL BE DESTROYED AND YOU STILL IN
A NEIGHBOURING QUADRANT AND NOT ENOUGH TIME TO GET TO BASE - 'HELP'
COMMAND CAN BE USED TO JUMP STRAIGHT INTO DOCK. HOWEVER, THIS MAY
END BADLY, BECAUSE 'HELP' COMMAND IS PRONE TO RE-MATERIALIZATION
FAILURE AND YOU'LL LOSE THE GAME. ON THE OTHER HAND, JAMES T. KIRK
LOVES TO RISK! AND YOU ARE BECOME HIM, REMEMBER?..
2.3 WHEN YOU ENTER THE QUADRANT WITH ENEMIES - THEY ATTACK
RIGHT AWAY. YOU CAN ATTACK WHEN THEIR ATTACK IS OVER, HOWEVER, YOU
HAVE ONE CHANCE TO MOVE BEFORE ATTACKING, SO USE IT WISELY. FOR
EXAMPLE, YOU CAN FLY INTO THE MIDDLE OF ENEMIES, SO YOUR WEAPONS
WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE ON THE SHORT DISTANCE. IT WORKS FOR BOTH
PHASERS (LESS ENERGY SPENT ON A BURST) AND TORPEDOES (PRECISION AND
HIT ENERGY WILL BE INTENSIFIED).
2.4 SIMPLE FACT: WHEN STAR IS HIT BY A TORPEDO - IT BECOMES A
NOVA. NOVA DESTROYS (OR HEAVILY DAMAGES) ALL OBJECTS IN 8 ADJACENT
SECTORS. YOU CAN USE IT IN BATTLE. IF YOU HAVE ONLY 2 TORPEDOES
LEFT, BUT THERE ARE 5 KLINGONS IN THE QUADRANT, HOWEVER, THESE
ENEMIES ARE ADJACENT TO TWO STARS. THEY ARE UNLUCKY ONES! FLY INTO
A POSITION, WHERE YOUR TORPEDOES WILL SURELY HIT THOSE STARS AND
FIRE! ENEMIES WILL BE DESTROYED (MOST LIKELY). THERE IS A SMALL
PROBABILITY THAT NOVA CAN BECOME A SUPERNOVA - THAT WOULD BE BAD. I
ONCE EXPERIENCED THAT IN MY TESTING.
2.5 BEWARE OF ROMULANS! - THEY HAVE MORE POWER THAN MOST
KLINGONS. ALSO, THEY USUALLY FIRE TORPEDOES - NOT A GOOD PROSPECT.
TRY TO KILL OFF ROMULANS (AND COMMANDERS) FIRST WHEN IN BATTLE.
2.6 ALWAYS TRY TO ENTER THE CORNER SECTOR OF A QUADRANT WITH
ENEMIES OR CLOSE TO CORNER SECTOR. IT MINIMIZES THE ENEMY POWER
AND THEY CANNOT INFLICT AS MUCH DAMAGE AS IF YOU ENTER THE SECTOR
5-5. ALSO, IF YOU AT CORNER SECTOR - IT KEEPS THE THOLIAN FROM
MOVING AND WEAVING ITS WEB.
2.7 SOMETIMES YOU NEED A QUICK SCAN OF THE GALAXY. IT CAN BE
DONE WITHOUT TOO MUCH ENERGY SPENT ON FLIGHT. SIMPLY FLY INTO ANY
CORNER OF THE QUADRANT AND THEN MOVE JUST ONE SECTOR TO GET TO THE
ADJACENT QUADRANT AND GIVE BOTH 'SRSCAN' AND 'LRSCAN' COMMANDS. BY
DOING IT ONLY THREE TIMES (3 SECTORS TRAVELLED) YOU CAN SCAN FOUR
QUADRANTS ON SHORT RANGE AND TWELVE ON LONG RANGE.
2.8 AFTER THE BATTLE ALWAYS KEEP YOUR SHIELDS ON FULL OR CLOSE
TO FULL. YOU CAN BE TRACTORED BY A COMMANDER AT ANY TIME AND YOU
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER THE ENERGY - ONLY TO RAISE SHIELDS.
2.9 HOW TO FIGHT A LOT OF KLINGONS? IMAGINE THAT YOU ENTER A
QUADRANT AND IT HAS SEVEN KLINGONS OR MORE. EXPERIENCE SHOWS THAT
TO KILL ALL ENEMIES WITH PHASER IS NOT FEASIBLE WITHOUT OVERHEATING
PHASERS. IN THIS CASE THE MANUAL PHASER FIRE WILL HELP. USING
THIS METHOD YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH ENERGY IS NEEDED TO KILL EACH
ENEMY. SIMPLY ENTER FOR EACH ENEMY SOME AMOUNT OF FIRE KEEPING IN
MIND THAT PHASERS BEGIN OVERHEATING AT MORE THAN 1500 UNITS IN
TOTAL. THE OVERHEATING IS HIGHLY RANDOM - I ONCE FIRED 2500 AT
SUPER-COMMANDER IN A FAR DISTANCE (COULD NOT MOVE CLOSER) AND MY
PHASERS WERE NOT OVERHEATED! SO, WHEN YOU ENTER THE MANUAL AMOUNTS
FOR EACH ENEMY AND FIRE - IT WILL WEAKEN THE ENEMIES, SO THEY WILL
NOT BE ABLE TO FIRE AS MUCH IN THEIR NEXT WAVE OF ATTACK. USUALLY,
YOUR SECOND PHASER SHOT WILL KILL ALL SEVEN KLINGONS. YOUR RESULTS
MAY VARY, HOWEVER! THAT'S WHY THIS GAME IS SO ADDICTIVE! ANYTHING
CAN HAPPEN DURING BATTLE!
2.10 IF THE ENEMY IS CLOSE TO BLACK HOLE (PREFERABLY 1 SECTOR
DISTANCE) - IT IS POSSIBLE TO DISPLACE THAT ENEMY INTO A BLACK HOLE
WITH A TORPEDO FIRED ON THE SAME VECTOR. I ONCE WAS IN A SITUATION
DEPICTED BELOW AND WAS ABLE TO KILL SUPER-COMMANDER WITH JUST ONE
NORMAL TORPEDO!
. E . . S @ . . .
3. NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT
=======================
3.1 I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HEAR SOME NEW IDEAS ABOUT THE GAME. YOU
CAN E-MAIL ME (asmguru62@hotmail.com) TO GIVE AN INSIGHT OR ADVICE.
3.2 I WAS NOT HAPPY TO DISCOVER (READING THE SOURCE CODE) THAT
COMMANDER'S TRACTOR BEAM WORKS ON A GREAT DISTANCES. BASICALLY,
THE SHIP CAN BE PULLED FROM ONE CORNER OF THE GALAXY TO THE OTHER!!
THAT DOES NOT SEEM LOGICAL TO ME. I WANTED TO ADJUST THE GAME, SO
THE DISTANCE WILL BE A FACTOR, BUT I LEFT THAT AS IS - TO PRESERVE
THE ORIGINAL IDEA FOR NOW.
3.3 BUGS!! OF COURSE, I AM GLAD TO HEAR SOME BUG REPORTS. LET'S
MAKE IT A NICE GAMING EXPERIENCE - 70s STYLE!.. DURING TESTING I
HAVE SEEN SOME STRANGE ISSUES, HOWEVER, I WAS NOT ABLE TO REPRODUCE
THESE IN A CONSISTENT MANNER.
3.4 TAKE A LOOK AT POSITION BELOW:
1 2 3 4 5
1 E * . . .
2 . . . . .
TO MOVE TO SECTOR 2-2 THE SHIP NEEDS TO TRAVEL AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE
DOWN AND TO THE RIGHT AND IT SEEMS LIKE NOTHING IN THE WAY. BEWARE
OF SUCH CONDITION - IN MOST CASES THE SHIP WILL BE BLOCKED BY STAR
AT SECTOR 1-2. I ANALYSED THE CODE AND IT SEEMS, WHEN SHIP MOVES,
IT WILL APPROXIMATE ITS LOCATION TO THE NEAREST SECTOR WITH HALF
SECTOR PRECISION. FOR EXAMPLE: SECTOR 1-1.5 WILL BE ROUNDED TO
SECTOR 1-2 AND THIS WILL CAUSE COLLISION WITH OBJECT AT THAT SECTOR
IF ANY. THAT SEEMS ILLOGICAL, AS SPOCK WOULD SAY. HALF OF THE
SECTOR CANNOT BE COMPARED WITH THE SHIP'S LENGTH TO BE ABLE TO
COLLIDE WITH ANYTHING. I ALSO, LEFT THAT FACT INTACT FROM ORIGINAL
CODE. SIMPLY DO NOT PLOT YOUR COURSE TOO CLOSE TO OTHER OBJECTS.
THE SAME CONDITION EXISTS FOR TORPEDOES TOO, BECAUSE THE SAME CODE
IS USED TO MOVE A TORPEDO.
4. FASM SOURCE CODE
===================
I HAVE INSERTED THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHT NOTE FROM PDP-11 FORTRAN
SOURCE. YOU CAN MODIFY THE CODE, BIT ONLY FOR FUN - NOT FOR PROFIT.
THE SOURCE CODE WAS NOT WRITTEN TO BE FAST. IT WAS WRITTEN TO MIMIC
EXACTLY THE LOGIC OF FORTRAN SOURCE. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO MAKE
OPTIMIZATIONS IN THE CODE - IT WILL NEVER BE DONE. I USED MY OWN
IDE FOR FASM TO CREATE THAT CODE. YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DATES IN
FILES AND FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH TIME IT TOOK TO WRITE THAT CODE. THIS
WAS MY THIRD (!) ATTEMPT TO RE-CREATE ONE OF MY FAVOURITE GAMES.
IN THE FIRST ATTEMPT I TRIED TO RE-DESIGN THE ORIGINAL SOURCE TO BE
MORE STRUCTURED. NO NEED TO SAY - IT FAILED MISERABLY! THE LOGIC
IN SOME CASES WAS LOST.
IN THE SECOND ATTEMPT I WROTE THE FASM CODE TO MIMIC FORTRAN CODE
EXACTLY. HOWEVER, I FAILED TO SEE THAT THERE SHOULD BE TWO THREADS.
ONE THREAD SHOULD RUN THE CONSOLE WINDOW AND THE OTHER ONE SHOULD
DEAL WITH GAME LOGIC: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM CONSOLE.
WELL, THIRD TIME'S A CHARM!
AsmGuru62
August 23, 2009