Gold Medal Software 3/Gold Medal Software - Volume 3 (Gold Medal) (1994).iso/games/egavga/terra703.arj/WHATS.NEW

Text File | 1994-02-13 | 19.4 KB | 452 lines

Greetings from the N.U.G.I. ConSorTium 'HomeBrew' BBS!


             Version 7.03

I need to thank Robert McClure and all the folks from the Eat Flaming Death
BBS for helping out so much with this 7.03 beta test. Lots of new and great
ideas came from these folks...... Thanks Guys/Ladies........

1. Ship to Ship REAL time attacks! Now you can blow up your buddy while
online together!

2. Need a level 25 or greater Colony ship to purchace a Death Probe. This
keeps new players from blowing up old players and not hanging around with the
game long enough to get into it.

3. Anti-Probes will keep your Colony Ship safe from those big mean and
nasty Death Probes!

4. Scanner scrolling by to fast in some sectors has been fixed!

5. You can no longer build a Satellite within 3 sectors of the game launch
sight. This gives beginners a shot....

6. Where am I? From the Computer Menu now has a map of the Terra Universe.
Some Guru from Nowheresville was supposed to help me out with some great
looking ANSI screens but I guess he died or something. I ain't no ArTeest!

7. Intergalactic prices will now stay the same no matter how many times you
log in.

8. You cannot buy Co-Pilots in the unregistered Version......

9. Transporting Colonists no longer takes 56 key strokes. Streamlined and
smooth!

10. Updated the Zmodem Player Doc file downloading routine.

11. You can now view your colonists destinations from the main menu!

12. You can now input a 0 in the Trading Partner routine. For some reason
this went south for awhile.

13. Fixed bug in the Co-Pilot Nightly Cycle routine.

14. Fixed bug in the Hit a Sector Protector routine that was logging players
out of the game every now and then.

15. Messages about logging into a trading partners satellite were scrolling
by at great rates of speed! This has been fixed.

16. Improved the INSTALL program....

17. Long range Fighter attacks now are more realistic. They now need fuel
for their trip!

18. Some mis-pellings were corrected......<G>

19. The defender of an on-line attack has a 3 in 10 chance of being able
to escape from the sector once he is under attack.

20. The co-pilot routine now checks to make sure you have not entered the
same sector trice.

21. Colony readings from scanners and scout ships now say whether they
are yours or other players.

22. There is now a player editor available to Registered sysops!

             Version 7.02

I need to thank Mike Anderson aka Peter Rabbit of FiDoNet 379 for pointing
out some rather flawed areas of my Sysop.Doc and assisting me greatly
with ideas for the newer setup for Multinode.

1. Cleaned up some silly errors, mostly line spacing and screens flashing
by at a great rate of speed.

2. Completely changed the Startup procedure for Terra. The new Command line
looks like 'TF.EXE TERRA1.CFG' This helps out a great deal in a multinode
setup. While not making anything more difficult for a single node setup.
Just run the install program. It comes with it's own help screens and
everything is explained in the TFSYSOP.DOC.

3. To play in LOCAL mode you must now enter LOCAL on the command line.
TF LOCAL

4. Sorry, thats it! I had to deal with these problems before I can add more
features. I was also completing my new Door game The Hacker, which I am going
to release shortly after it comes out of beta....





             Version 7.00


First of all I need to thank Tilmon Hocutt, Neysa Dormish and Shawn
Hayden of Fido Net 3651. Without these guys a lot of the improvements
you will enjoy with Terra-Firma would not have been Possible.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Terra-Firma has gone interactive! If multitasking or running on a Lan,
Terra will send messages between nodes. I have not installed real time
ship to ship attacks yet. I want to see how everything works out with
the messages first.

2. (As of 11-1-93 Not Complete) Higher level ships now have more cargo holds!

3. Planet Defenses have been beefed up. You can now be attacked with
anything up to 50000 fighters. Be careful in those hostile sectors!

4. Rumors have been coming in from deep space about possible War Lord
Pirates that have gathered together smaller bands of pirates into
formidable fighter fleets. They are tricky! The Universal Council will pay
handsome rewards for these bandits!

5. Bounders are new! Now you can purchase Bounders from any level 5 planet.
Bounders leap into sectors ahead of your Colony ship to make sure you have
not accidentally headed into a sector with a NOVA or Black Hole etc..
Bounders will not help with Satellites as they can be easily programmed to
ignore them. Also bounders do not fool Pirates, rebels, raiders etc.....

6. Inactivity timeout has been increased to 5 minutes.

7. You will no longer be able to unload all Colony ship supplies to a
satellite and wait for the inactivity timer to throw you out, then sign
back in with a full load still on your Colony Ship. I have fixed this
problem.

8. Robot Transports can no longer increase productivity on a satellite past
100% In fact a satellite can not be increased past 100% at all.

9. High Level ships should now have no problem launching all fighter ships.

10. Scout ships will no longer go into the negative.

11. The attack mode of launching a group of fighters against a satellite
has been fixed. You will no longer loose massive amounts of fighters from
a satellite unless of course you loose them in a fair fight.

12. The Report Generator has been fixed! Everything listed in the report
generator will now be up to date.

13. I also separated the report options for the Report generator into a
menu of choices.

14. Planetary fighters and Pirate attacks are now a bit more unpredictable.
Not to mention dangerous!

15. Electronics and Metals can no longer be moved from satellites until they
go into the negative.

16. Players no longer get a free Satellite when they are killed and sign
back into the game.

17. You no longer have the option of signing back into the game after death
with a new alias. You must use the original name you signed in with.
You will have to wait 30 days for the nightly cycling
program to delete you, if you want to change your alias.
It was playing havoc with my data files.

18. Players will now loose 10% of fighter ships and a level of their
Colony ship besides all personnel on board when you hit a sector
protector. Players were hitting a sector protector and then with nothing
else to loose, running around the Universe taking out all the Sector
Protectors they could find.

19. All scans now detect colonies. How did we miss this one? The only
scan in previous Versions that picked up colonies was the sector probe.


20. You no longer loose your bank account when your ship is destroyed.

21. The docking bug with the Robot Transports has been fixed.

22. The cycle program was not deducting the correct amount of cash from
satellites after running the Robot Transport routine.

23. The non-stop feature in the sector probe readout sometimes stopped.
This has been fixed.

24. All Data files have been redone as have the .EXE portions of Terra.
This has created a much smaller zipped file for downloading.

25. Changed the message editor to one I wrote for Who-Dunit. This is
easily expandable if you need more that three lines. Please let me
know.

26. I am presently working on interactive ship to ship attacks. You can
still attack a Colony ship that has been parked in a sector over night.
Along with this I am working on ship to ship docking to enable trading
back and forth between online players. As of now you can both be on the
same satellite and Trade goods that way.

27. I have added a Zmodem download feature to the main menu for Downloading
the Player.Doc file and the whats new file. In the Zip version of Terra700
you will see a file called TERRADOC.ZIP. This file should be left alone as
it is the file a Player will download containing the PLayer.Doc and the
Whats.NEW file. The SysOp must have DSZ.EXE or COM in the TERRA sub-directory
or in his path command to enable this feature. Terra is a big game and
requires players to read the docs. Lots of players have asked for this
feature as they loose to much online time reading the docs.

28. Fixed intermittent time bug.


29. Added Co-Pilots! Now your colony ship can colonize the Universe while
you are off-line!


Following is a list of things I am working into the game:

Ability to program satellites to produce whatever you want, instead of just
Fighter Ships and Torpedoes.

Shields for the Colony Ships

A game End. I haven't decided just what to make the ultimate goal yet,
any suggestions out there?

Upgradeable planets, with the ability to make a planet fortress which
would be Death Probe Defendable.

While I'm on the subject. I have received a lot of suggestions to add
features that can be found in Tradewars. I will entertain any ideas that
do not include something already used in another game. Come on guys be
creative!

Tactical Fusion Nukes for wiping out individual sectors.

The ability to purchase a Co-pilot Robot that will continue colonizing
planets while you are off line.

These are just a few of things I am presently working on
for Terra. I love suggestions. If you didn't see a suggestion of yours
here. I may still be considering it just not enough time yet........





             Version 6.00

1. All I added to this version is the new report generator. So Many sysops
   and players have asked for this feature that I had to include sooner or
   later! You can now get a location for all of your Satellites, sector
   protectors and colonies. * IMPORTANT * You must restart Terra with the
   TER_INT.EXE program or the Report Generator will only see Colonies, etc
   that were made after you started playing ver 6.00.


2. Terra will now run local from within the BBS environment.


3. There is a known bug in the Sysop feature which lets you subtract time
   from a player. You can subtract the time but at the next timer update
   the players time goes back to where it was. This is a problem in the
   EasyDoor software I use for my comm routines. I have waited for the
   Author to give me some feedback on this long enough. I know he will get
   around to it sooner or later as he has always come through in the past.
   As the bug is not a real problem to the game I will wait for the next
   Terra update to fix it. For the time being I have deleted it's use in the
   TFSYSOP.DOC.


             Version 5.05

1. Version 5.05 is mainly a bug fix version. (was when I started now there
   are some rather big changes!!!)

2. Fixed the opening quote in Chat mode.

3. The timer was not functioning correctly. Was letting users play for
   hours! The sysops loved me for this! It's working well now....

4. The warp engines on the satellites were doing strange things to the supply
   lists. All is under control.

5. The Death Probe option was not coming up for Registered sysops! This is
   now functioning properly.

6. Fixed a few things in the Player Editor. I realize this is a ruff program
   But I never intended to send it out. It was mainly for my use in testing.
   I will make it more user friendly before the winter is out....

7. Fixed a log on bug that would not let players on a BBS that does not
   require full first and last names to log in properly.

8. Docking at your satellites has now been automated. The relay uplink
   can still be used, but now as soon as you dock at your satellites your
   ship computer will be auto linked to the satellite computer.

9. Fixed an error in the pirate attack routines that was intermittently giving
   back negative numbers!

10. Fixed error that was dropping carrier on callers who ran the game out of
    time....Game will now save all files and return to BBS when the 1 minute
    mark has been passed.

11. Cleaned up group listings in transporters. Big numbers of colonists were
    scrolling off the screen.

12. Players can now input groups with a higher number then 9 in the colony
    transporter. How did we miss this one?

13. Now your colony ship is worth half it's value for a trade in on a higher
    level ship....

14. I would like to thank Kim Newman and David Murphy a couple of great sysops
   who have their &^%$ together! They helped me out more in a few weeks of
   having Terra on their BBS than 15 beta test sights!  I also need to
   include Hans Hansen in here. The man is full of ideas! He has also helped
   me to find a few :) errors!!

15. This is a big thanks for nothing to all you beta test sights that couldn't
   wait to put Terra through the paces!







             Version 5.00 is here (and a long time coming!)


1. Fixed a few bugs that some of you SysOps sent in. The biggest one being
   the launching of all Robot Transports when one was launched. Found a cute
   little bug in the colony count/subtract.

2. This Version of Terra is ShareWare! Price $20.00

3. Added support for Multinode/38400 locked ports.

4. Terra-Firma is now MultiTasker aware!

5. Terra will auto detect fossil driver or run internal comm routine!

6. Avatar support.

7. Updated Install and Cycle programs.

8. Wrote a small Terra Hint Booklet which will be coming out in an upcoming
   issue of DoorNet Magazine. (possibly not, as I pissed off Steve Lin)

9. Can now move from sector to sector just by entering the sector number.

10. NO more quitting and cheating by putting all your credits in the bank
    then killing yourself and signing back in to 50000 more credits!


          Anyone can presently call my Support BBS 413-445-7519 and
      register Terra-Firma while online with a visa, master charge,
      discover or American express credit card. This registration will work
      for all my door games which include WhoDunit, Enquirer and the Busted
      Door. I have a new Door coming out soon. This will also be included.
      Once you register any one of my games the Registration number will
      work for all. So in fact it is like getting 5 doors for the
      price of one! A player Editor for Terra-Firma will also be made
      available on my BBS to all Registered users.
      A list of my current Door Games will be posted at the end of this
      document. All new users have a full 90 minutes of DownLoad time.
      All files are FREQ. from 1:321/227 9600 v32/v42b or HST speeds from
      1:321/210

     ***********
     *IMPORTANT**************************************************************
     ***********                                                            *
                   If you are a REGISTERED owner of any Previous NUGI game  *
                   the old REGISTERED KEY will no longer work! You must call*
                   my BBS and leave me a note on how I can get a new key to *
                   you. I will NetMail, SnailMail or upload it to your BBS. *
                   Just give my bbs a call 413-445-7519 and let me know.    *
                   Or leave me a message in FidoNets DOORWARE Echo DDS_ECHO *
                   or DoorNets D_SYSOP or NUGI Support Echo.                *
                   I will take care of you the same day. Also, there is a   *
                   player editor available for D/L pr FREQ from my BBS for  *
                   Registered Sysops.                                       *
     ***********                                                            *
     *IMPORTANT**************************************************************
     ***********




          Version 4.01 is here with the short awaited Death Probe!

1. The Death probe can search a 25 X 25 sector area in 12 hours. During this
   time it has enough destructive energy to destroy 25 colonies, 25 sector
   protectors, 5 satellites and 5 colony ships. It's sweep through the
   Universe is completely recorded in the News option from the Computer menu.
   At this time there is no defense against the Death Probe. Star bases are
   the only place you can purchase a Death probe if you have 1 million
   credits! The Death Probe will not destroy anything that belongs to the
   Player who launched it.

2. Added a Warp Drive for your Satellites. The Warp Drive enables you to
   move your Satellite to any other sector in the universe providing it
   does not have another Satellite in orbit. It also must have a planet
   to put the satellite in orbit around. Warp Drives can be purchased only
   at a Star base.

3. Did lots of cleaning up. Some of the menus will look different. Some of
   the screens will be easier to read. I think you will enjoy it....

4. The Registered key you receive For the price of $20.00 will
   work for all N.U.G.I. door software (Who-Dunit/Enquirer/BUSTED!)
   so it's 4 for the price of 1. All future versions and NEW programs
   from N.U.G.I. will work with this registered key. A great deal!

5. Last but least. The Death Probe option will not operate unless Terra-
   Firma is REGISTERED. This is a thanks to all the great SysOps out there
   who have registered Terra-Firma. It also helps me feel better about the
   systems out there which have been running Terra-Firma but could care
   less about paying. I have been improving and backing up my Door SoftWare
   for almost three years and will continue to do so in the future.

    Version 3.01 has a three new upgrades I hope you will enjoy.

1. No more inputting a sector with those stinking commas!
   From the main menu you can just enter "M" then the sector number you
   wish to go to and your off! Providing you have the fuel <GRIN>.
   This option was brought to my attention by Al Grundy of the Grundy BBS
   in South Carolina (803)-776-0323 <With Exclusive Married With Children
   Giffs!> Who wishes my move routine was more like Tradewars! Well it's
   closer now.

2. Robot Transports which you can buy and dock at your Satellite. They can
   be programmed to go back and forth to the nearest star base and transport
   back whatever you wish to your Satellite. They can move 12 times in a
   24 hour period. This is to help you build up your Satellites faster.

3. Sector Probes (Different from AREA Probes) will now look into each
   sector of a direction you choose and will report back everything they
   find in the sector to include: How many planets and of what level and
   type. The type of star. Satellites and other players to include other
   players colonies. Thanks go out to Roann Vecchia and Michael Richardson
   for reminding me of just how large a 10000 sector Universe is and how
   hard it can be to find other players.


   Any Ideas are welcome!! I love suggestions!

                                    Dave Wendling
                                    N.U.G.I. Central ConSorTium
                                    (413)-445-7519 FiDoNet 1:321/227
                                                   DoorNet 75:7413/2