Software Vault: The Games Collection 1

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Text File | 1992-09-20 | 39KB | 842 lines

(4.0) STARBASES Starbases perform two important functions. They can construct one new starship per turn if they are ordered to do so and they add to the planets defenses by being a fighter base and defense platform. (4.1) DEFENSE AND FIGHTERS You may add to the starbase's defense strength through the use of duranium and megacredits. The higher the defense strength of a base, the better able the base is to defend against attacks from enemy ships. You may build and store up to 60 fighters in a starbase and you may put fighters on board any starship equipped with fighter bays. The fighters on board a starbase will be used to defend the base and planet against attacks from enemy starships. If a planet comes under attack the fighters on a starbase and the fighters on the planets surface are launched against the attacking ship. The defense posts on the planets surface and the defense weapons on the starbase will be fired against the attacking ship. The higher the defense strength of both the planet and the starbase the greater number and power of the planetary defense system beam weapons. (4.2) A BASE'S ROLE IN SHIP BUILDING AND ARMING Each starbase has four independent tech levels. The four areas of technology are starship hulls, starship engines, starship beam weapon and torpedo launcher construction. The starbase is able to repair one damaged ship per turn that is in orbit around the same planet as the starbase. Starbases are able to build both torpedoes and fighters. The starbase is able to load torpedoes and fighters onto ships that are equipped to handle them. When you build torpedoes remember to build only the torpedo types that matches the launcher types that you are using on your ships, otherwise the torpedoes will remain in storage. Starbases can construct one starship per turn from starship components in storage. You can also construct and store new starship components such as hulls, engines and weapons for use at a later time. (4.3) STARBASE ORDERS You can give a starbase a primary mission order. The primary base order instructs the base to take one of five automatic actions. 1. Refuel: The base will load neutronium onto any ship at the bases location that is of your race or have the same friendly code as the planet. 2. Max defense: The base will automatically build up defense strength to max. 3. Load Torpedoes: The base will automatically load torpedoes of the proper type onto all ships that have torpedo launchers at the base location that are of your race or have the same friendly code as the planet. 4. Unload Freighters: The base will automatically unload all cargo from ships at the base location that are of your race or have the same friendly code as the planet. 5. Repair Base: The base will repair damage done to the base by enemy ships. (4.4) PLANETARY / STARSHIP FRIENDLY CODE The friendly code is only valid when your ship is in orbit around an 'enemy' planet with a matching planetary friendly code and a starbase that has it's primary mission orders set to refuel, load torpedoes or unload all freighter cargo. A starbase with the primary mission orders set to refuel acts as a automatic refueling station to all ships that stop there that have the same friendly code as the planet. This is so different races can share fuel and torpedoes in the event they form an alliance against a common enemy. (4.5) STARBASE SCANNER The starbase scanner is the same as the planetary scanner. You can move the scanner beam around with the arrow keys or a mouse. You can use the beam to view or list enemy and friendly ships traveling through open space or in orbit around any of your planets. The circle at the end of the beam is green, but when you move the beam locks onto a planet or ship it turns yellow. Enemy ships show up as red dots and friendly ships show up as green dots. Planets with blue rings are one's that you own. Planets with green rings have one of your ships in orbit around them. Enemy ships can hide behind planets that you do not own and do not have a ship orbiting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (5.0) THE STARCHART The planets always have the same names and positions in space, only their stats are different every game. The starchart map shows planets as white dots, your ships as green dot and enemy ships as red dots. Any planets that you own will have blue circles around them. If you have any ships in orbit around any planets they will show up as green circles. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to move around the starchart. When you move the red cross in the middle of the screen on top of a planet or a starship a pair of arrows from the sides of the screen will indicate a lock on that object. The name of the object will appear in the information box. If you press the left mouse button you will lock onto the nearest planet. If you are very near a ship in deep space the right button will lock onto that ship. If the object you have locked onto is one of your ships you may press the <F1> button to switch to that ship's control screen.] If the object is a planet that you own you may press the <F5> to see a mineral / native life survey or you may press the <F2> button to switch to the planetary control screen. If you have a ship in orbit around an enemy or uncontrolled planet you also use the <F5> button to see the mining survey. The <S>earch command allows you to search for any planet by ID number (1-500). After giving a ID number from 1 to 500 the starchart will lock onto that planet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (6.0) VICTORY CONDITIONS It is best if everyone playing the game agrees on what the exact victory conditions are before starting the game. You could play a game so that when a player emerges as the most powerful and no other player has any hope of winning the players can call the game. You can also play a timed game. Set a date when the game will end. The player with the highest score at that date is declared The winner. The score is based on the number of planets, ships and bases you own. Here is a break down of the points for each idem owned. Freighters : 1 point each Planets : 10 points each Capital Ships : 10 points each Starbases : 120 points each (6.1) LIST OF STARSHIP TYPES ( * stolen ship design from another race ) Freighters: ( All races can build these ships ) Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter Solar Federation ships: Tech Level: 1 Willy Class Scout Tech Level: 2 Dole Class Destroyer Tech Level: 3 SCruz Class Survey Ship Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier Tech Level: 4 Ergo Class Research Vessel Tech Level: 5 Loklear Class Frigate Tech Level: 6 Independence Class Cruiser Tech Level: 6 Banshee Class Cruiser Tech Level: 7 Jonl Class Escort Tech Level: 8 Bush Class Destroyer Tech Level: 8 Boston Class Frigate Tech Level: 8 Missouri Class Battleship Tech Level: 9 Hampsire Class Frigate Tech Level: 9 Ohio Class Cruiser Tech Level: 9 Finback Class Carrier Tech Level: 10 Nova Class Super-Dreadnought Lizard ships: Tech Level: 1 Serpent Class Escort Tech Level: 3 Reptile Class Destroyer Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier Tech Level: 4 Lizard Class Cruiser * Tech Level: 4 Ergo Class Research Vessel Tech Level: 7 Saurian Class Light Cruiser Tech Level: 9 Madonnzila Class Carrier Tech Level: 10 T-Rex Class Battleship Bird Men ships: Tech Level: 1 Swift Heart Class Scout Tech Level: 3 White Falcon Class Cruiser Tech Level: 3 Bright Heart Class Destroyer Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier * Tech Level: 4 Small Transport Tech Level: 5 Fearless Wing Class Cruiser Tech Level: 6 Valiant Wind Class Carrier Tech Level: 6 Deth Specula Class Frigate Tech Level: 7 Resolute Class Battlecruiser Tech Level: 10 Dark Wing Class Battleship Fascist ships: Tech Level: 2 D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser Tech Level: 2 Little Pest Class Escort Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier Tech Level: 4 D7 Coldpain Class Cruiser * Tech Level: 4 Small Transport Tech Level: 5 Ill Wind Battlecruiser Tech Level: 5 D3 Thorn Class Destroyer Tech Level: 6 D19b Nefarious Class Destroyer * Tech Level: 6 Whitewind Class Carrier * Tech Level: 6 Deth Specula Class Frigate Tech Level: 8 Saber Class Frigate Tech Level: 10 Victorious Class Battleship Privateer ships: * Tech Level: 1 Willy Class Scout Tech Level: 1 BR4 Gunship * Tech Level: 2 D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser * Tech Level: 2 Little Pest Class Escort Tech Level: 3 Dwarfstar Class Transport Tech Level: 3 BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat * Tech Level: 4 Small Transport Tech Level: 5 Meteor Class Blockade Runner Tech Level: 5 Skyfire Class Cruiser Tech Level: 5 Lady Royale Class Cruiser * Tech Level: 5 D3 Thorn Class Destroyer Tech Level: 8 Red Wind Class Carrier Tech Level: 10 Bloodfang Class Carrier Cyborg ships: Tech Level: 1 B200 Class Probe Tech Level: 1 Watcher Class Scout Tech Level: 2 B41 Explorer * Tech Level: 2 Iron Slave Class Baseship Tech Level: 5 B222 Destroyer Tech Level: 5 Quietus Class Cruiser Tech Level: 6 Firecloud Class Cruiser Tech Level: 9 Biocide Class Carrier Tech Level: 10 Annihilation Class Battleship Crystalline ships: Tech Level: 2 Opal Class Torpedo Boat Tech Level: 3 Ruby Class Light Cruiser Tech Level: 3 Topez Class Gunboat Tech Level: 4 Small Transport Tech Level: 5 Sky Garnet Class Destroyer Tech Level: 6 Emerald Class Battlecruiser Tech Level: 8 Onyx Class Frigate Tech Level: 9 Diamond Flame Class Battleship Tech Level: 10 Crystal Thunder Class Carrier The Evil Empire's Ships: Tech Level: 1 RU25 Gunboat Tech Level: 1 Mig Class Scout Tech Level: 1 PL21 Probe Tech Level: 2 H-Ross Class LT Carrier Tech Level: 3 Moscow Class Star Escort Tech Level: 4 Super Star Frigate Tech Level: 5 Super Star Carrier Tech Level: 6 Super Star Destroyer Tech Level: 9 Super Star Cruiser Tech Level: 10 Gorbie Class Battlecarrier Robot ships: Tech Level: 2 Cat's Paw Class Destroyer Tech Level: 2 Iron Slave Class Baseship Tech Level: 3 Q Tanker Tech Level: 3 Pawn Class Baseship Tech Level: 4 Cybernaut Class Baseship Tech Level: 6 Instrumentality Class Baseship Tech Level: 9 Automa Class Baseship Tech Level: 10 Golem Class Baseship Rebel ships: * Tech Level: 1 Cygnus Class Destroyer * Tech Level: 1 Taurus Class Scout Tech Level: 2 Falcon Class Escort Tech Level: 3 Rebel Deep Space Scout Tech Level: 4 Gaurdian Class Destroyer Tech Level: 4 Rebel Transport * Tech Level: 4 Small Transport * Tech Level: 4 Cobol Class Research Cruiser * Tech Level: 4 Aries Class Transport Tech Level: 5 Sage Class Frigate * Tech Level: 5 Sagittarius Class Transport Tech Level: 6 Tranquility Class Cruiser Tech Level: 6 Patriot Class Light Carrier * Tech Level: 6 Gemini Class Transport Tech Level: 9 Iron Lady Class Frigate Tech Level: 10 Rush Class Heavy Carrier The Colonies of Man Ships: Tech Level: 1 Taurus Class Scout Tech Level: 1 Cygnus Class Destroyer Tech Level: 2 Little Joe Class Escort Tech Level: 4 Cobol Class Research Cruiser Tech Level: 4 Aries Class Transport * Tech Level: 4 Small Transport * Tech Level: 4 Gaurdian Class Destroyer Tech Level: 5 Sagittarius Class Transport * Tech Level: 5 Sage Class Frigate Tech Level: 6 Gemini Class Transport Tech Level: 6 Scorpius Class Light Carrier * Tech Level: 6 Tranquility Class Cruiser * Tech Level: 6 Patriot Class Light Carrier * Tech Level: 9 Iron Lady Class Frigate Tech Level: 10 Virgo Class Battlestar (6.2) A REVIEW OF THE RACE FLEETS The Solar Federation Of Planets: The Feds fleet is made up of many medium size ship that are designed to serve a variety of different missions. They have only one ship that serves as a fighter carrier. The Feds do not like to use fighters except as a last ditch measure when starbases or planets fall under attack. The weapon they most favor is the torpedo. For some unknown reason they like to paint their warships bright white and put external lighting systems on them. This tends to make them easier targets in a fight, but it also has the effect of scaring the daylights out of enemies. After all any one who would light up their ships so brightly has got to be unafraid of all enemies and have a very powerful ship or they are just plain stupid. The Lizards: The Lizards are a very small alliance of large boulder throwing humaniod lizard men with large nasty teeth. There are only a few starships types that they build. They have the plans to one Fed research vessel that the like to use for scouting out minerals. The smaller Lizard ships tend to be solidly built with large cargo holds and medium firepower. The Lizards's high tech ships are very large and have a vast amount of firepower. Any ship that takes on a Lizard battleship will more then have their hands full. The Bird Men: The Bird Men share several ship designs with the Fascists. Bird Men like to paint their ships to look like giant birds so that they can make low passes over planets and really scare the pants off the native population before landing and jumping out in their armored bird suits to take over the planet. Bird Men ships tend to be solidly armored and pack heavy firepower. They have a tech 6 carrier that can hold up to 80 fighters that can be very dangerous. The Bird Men battleship is even larger then the Lizard battleship and has more firepower. Fascists: The Fascist weapon of choice is the beam weapon. Their ships do better then most when they are attacked by fighters, because of the higher them average number of beam weapons which can be used to destroy the incoming fighters. The tech level 5 Fascist D10 Battlecruiser as much beam weapon firepower as a battleship ( 10 banks! ). Many of the Fascist ships are of Bird Men design. Privateers: The Privateers tend to use very small ships. They have a few ship designs that they stole from the Fascists. Their favorite activity is stealing unescorted freighters. Privateers make very good use of mineral resources because of the small size of their ships, but in a toe to toe war they don't stand much of chance. The Cyborg: The Cyborg are a half humaniod and half machine race. The Cyborg have many small scout ships and probes. These come in very handy in finding their enemy's home world. The Cyborg battleship is the size of two Bird Men battleships. Any enemy that is foolish enough to allow the Cyborg to build one of these monsters stands very little chance of damaging it, let alone destroying it. Crystal People: Crystal People are a silicon based life forms about 3 foot tall, with no limbs and a metallic color. They have two large glowing eyes in the middle of their polyhedron form. The larger Crystalline ships are very powerful and tend to favor beam type weapons. They have several small ship types that are useful in exploring planets and capturing freighters. The Evil Empire: The Evil Empire depends heavily on fighters for attacking enemies. They have only one ship type that is able to launch torpedoes. Most the Empire's ships are very large and expensive. The Empire's battle carrier is the largest and most heavily armored fighter carrier in the universe it has 10 beam weapon banks, which is most impressive for a carrier. Robots: The Robots are a race of that have survived the death of their makers. It is thought that the makers of the Robots were a race similar to the Lizards only smaller and weaker. The Robots base most their ship designs around the basestar fighter carriers. The Robots have only one ship type that can launch torpedoes. Even the Robot's fuel tanker is able to launch fighters which can come in handy at times. The favorite ship in the Robotic fleet is the tech 6 Instrumentality class baseship. It is the size of a battleship and can carry up to 80 fighters. The largest basestar can carry ( 300 fighters ) more fighters then any other ship. Rebels: The Rebels are a group of warriors who depend on their fighters to provide a low cost offensive power. Their ships follow no standard design. They are mostly converted freighters and armored transports. The ships may not be pretty but they get the job done. Rebel ships have only a few weapon banks at best. THE COLONIES OF MAN: The Colonies Of Man are very similar to the rebels and share many of the same ship designs. The however the flag ship of their fleet is one of the most powerful ships in the universe. This mighty ship is the tech 10 Virgo class battlestar that can hold up to 40 more fighters then the Evil Empire's battlecarrier and is only about half the size. Even with all those fighters it still has room for a pair of beam weapon banks. (6.3) PERSONALIZED RACE NAMES If you would like to change the race names you can. You may wish to name the race after yourself or your login. See NAMERACE.DOC for more details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (7.0) STARTING THE GAME If you are hosting the game you must run MASTER.EXE to build the game universe master data files, choose the races you wish to be in the game and assign a game password to each player. Only run MASTER.EXE when you want to start a new game. Running it after you have started a game will erase the game currently being played. After you have run the MASTER.EXE program, you must run HOST.EXE to generate the first set of .RST files that are then sent out to each player in the game so they can play out their first game turn. The whole game resides on the host computer in the .HST files ( these are the universe master data files ). The HOST.EXE program allows the .TRN files from the players to interact with the universe master data files and other player files. (7.1) STARTING IF YOU ARE NOT HOSTING THE GAME All you have to do is install the game in on your computer. Then you transfer your .RST file from the computer that is hosting the game by way of BBS, Email, Net or Floppy and run the UNPACK.EXE program to uncompress the .RST file into data files so you can then run PLANETS.EXE to play the game. After you are done playing run MAKETURN.EXE to compress your new game moves into a .TRN file that you then send back to the host computer. (7.2) THE GAME FILES ( A BRIEF LIST ) The host computer only needs the following host files MASTER.EXE HOST.EXE RACE.NM NAMERACE.EXE *.DAT *.HST *.MOF The players need the following player files on their machine PLANETS.EXE VCR.EXE UNPACK.EXE MAKETURN.EXE RESOURCE.PLN NAMERACE.EXE RACE.NM *.DAT *.MOF If you are ONLY hosting the game on a machine, such as a BBS you can erase following files to save disk space; PLANETS.EXE, VCR.EXE, UNPACK.EXE MAKETURN.EXE and RESOURCE.PLN. The following files are sent from the host machine to the players machines. PLAYER1.RST ( player 1 the Federation ) PLAYER2.RST ( player 2 the Lizards ) PLAYER3.RST ( player 3 the Fascists ) PLAYER4.RST ( player 4 the Bird Men ) PLAYER5.RST ( player 5 the Privateers ) PLAYER6.RST ( player 6 the Cyborg ) PLAYER7.RST ( player 7 the Crystal People ) PLAYER8.RST ( player 8 the Evil Empire ) PLAYER9.RST ( player 9 the Robots ) PLAYER10.RST ( player 10 the Rebels ) PLAYER11.RST ( player 11 the Colonies of Man ) The following files are sent from the player machines to the Host machine. PLAYER1.TRN ( player 1 the Solar Federation ) PLAYER2.TRN ( player 2 the Lizards ) PLAYER3.TRN ( player 3 the Fascists ) PLAYER4.TRN ( player 4 the Bird men ) PLAYER5.TRN ( player 5 the Privateers ) PLAYER6.TRN ( player 6 the Cyborg ) PLAYER7.TRN ( player 7 the Crystal People ) PLAYER8.TRN ( player 8 the Evil Empire ) PLAYER9.TRN ( player 9 the Robots ) PLAYER10.TRN ( player 10 the Rebels ) PLAYER11.TRN ( player 11 the Colonies of Man ) (7.3) LIST OF PLAYER FILES UNPACK.EXE : This is a program that decodes .RST file from the host program. This program takes information encoded into the .RST file and splits it up into several data files used by PLANETS.EXE. You must run UNPACK.EXE before you run PLANETS.EXE. PLANETS.EXE : The main game program used by every one playing the game. It consists of many screens of controls, pictures, graphics and information. MAKETURN.EXE : This program is ran after you are finished with your game turn and exited PLANETS.EXE. This program reads the game data files and looks for any changes. It then encodes the new data into a .TRN file which you send back to the host computer. *.DAT : These files that contain all the data on a players game. *.DIS : Data files that are formed by UNPACK.EXE these contain all the new information from the host. TECH.MOF : The game's font file. VCR.EXE : A sub program used by PLANETS.EXE to show ship combat. It can NOT be ran outside of PLANETS.EXE and can only be ran from PLANETS.EXE after ship combat has taken place. RESOURCE.PLN : All the graphics used in the game. SWEEP.BAT : A batch file that erases non-vital data files, use this files to clean up your planets directory after you have uploaded your .TRN file to the Host. RACE.NM : A data file of all the different race names. NAMERACE.EXE : A program used to change the names of the different races to fit your personal tastes. (7.4) LIST OF ALL THE HOST FILES MASTER.EXE : The program that forms all the hosts data files. It is only run once at the beginning of the game to start the game. This is were you are able to activate which races you will have in the game and assign each one their own password. HOST.EXE : This is the program that takes all the .TRN files from all the players and forms .RST files to be sent back to all the players. This program is run once per turn to end the old turn and begin a new one. *.DAT : These files contain data important to the game. *.HST : The host data files. This is the universe. This is all the data on every ship, planet and base. TECH.MOF : The game's font file. TURN.BAT : A batch file for use when you are playing on a single computer. After ALL the players are done playing out their turns, exit planets and type in TURN and the batch file will run the MAKETURN, HOST, UNPACK and return you to the main program PLANETS. All the players can then play out their new turns. RACE.NM : A data file of all the different race names. NAMERACE.EXE : A program used to change the names of the different races to fit your personal tastes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (8.0) SUPPORT If you need help with a problem you are having with the game or have a question you can call me during my "office" hours here at home or you can write me. Tim Wisseman PO BOX 204 NORTH FORK CA. 93643 My phone number is (209) 877-2320 please call on Saturdays between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM PST and on Sundays between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM PST (8.1) REGISTRATION The Shareware version of this program is for you to try out for a limited period of time. If you find that you like the game please register it. The fee is only $10. Everyone who becomes a registered user will be sent a special expanded non-shareware version that only registered users are allowed to have. The expanded registered version has the following new features 1. tech levels 7 through 10 2. two or more new hull types per race 3. three new engine types 4. three new torpedo types 5. four new beam weapon types The expanded registered version is completely compatible with the evaluation version. ( You can switch to the registered version in the middle of a game without messing up your game. ) If you have a printer you can print up the file ORDERFRM.DOC send it in. I have made a set of four 8 1/2" X 11" starcharts that show the position, names and ID numbers of all the planets in the game. If you would like a set of starcharts send $3 and I'll sent you a set postpaid. If you want more then one set of starcharts send $1 for each additional set. You don't have to be a registered user to order the starcharts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (9.0) Bug in version 1.1 There was a bug in the HOST.EXE and UNPACK.EXE files in version 1.1. The HOST.EXE was not packing data on the planets into the .RST files. The only way around that error was to send the XYPLAN.DAT file along with the PLAYER*.RST files to the player machines. Version 1.2 fixes the problem. (9.1) Version 2.0 Version 2.0a Many small bugs fixed. 1. The Shift 3 transporter key 2. The 5 transporter key 3. The "None" colonist bug 4. Disappearing fighter(starbase) 5. Disappearing torp(starbase) New features! 1. Host saves messages when a turn is missed. 2. ESC key pops you out of <F1> <F2> <F3> windows. 3. Shields are worn down by multi-ships battles. 4. Ship pick window gives you more info. 5. Mouse buttons work on mini scan windows. (9.2) Version 2.0b Bugs fixed: 1. Ghost ships crashed program 2. Maketurn crashed on dead empires 3. Bug in build ship display 4. VCR was showing false battle outcomes 5. Some little screen printing goofs New!: 1. The unload freighter command (starbase) works on in coming freighters now. It was working on out bound freighter...(silly). 2. Host writes to a error log (ERROR.LOG) to tell the host person what went wrong! 3. Shields are now worn down from attacks from multible ships in the same turn. 4. Shields can not be greater then 100-damage 5. If you miss a turn your messages are held over til next turn 6. Revolts on planets no longer crash host (9.3) Version 2.1 Same as Version 2.0b, but with some doc changes. Game seems very solid now. Small glich that I currently can't figure out the cause: Sometimes the XYPLAN.DAT file is corrupted I think it is a problem with my hard drive. If this should ever happen to you install the game again. This will over write the bad XYPLAN.DAT file with a good copy. Installing again won't harm your current game data files. All vga planets program read data from XYPLAN.DAT and never write to the file. You can make XYPLAN.DAT a read only file, maybe that will help. I have only had this problem one time. There was a bug in the HOST.EXE in version 2.1. When a player tried to build a starbase the HOST.EXE would crash. The Host program on this disk has been fixed. When you run HOST.EXE the version number should read version 2.11 (9/1/92). Please pass this version of HOST.EXE along to anyone who is hosting a game using the old version of HOST.EXE ( version 2.1 ). They will also need a RACE.NM data file. A bug in MAKETURN.EXE that cause many copies of the same message to be sent the same person has been fixed. The fixed MAKETURN.EXE should read Version 2.11 ( 9/6/92 ). Pass this fixed EXE file along to anyone using the old version of MAKETURN.EXE ( version 2.1 ) One very strange bug that I have trying to track down has been a problem with two planets showing up with exactly the same stats. Then the next turn they revert back to normal. It is almost like a dimensional rift opens up in the planets linking two planets together, one over laping the other. I haven't been able to find the cause. I have also heard of whole planets disappearing and ships blinking out... and then reappearing as if nothing ever happened. True it does make the game more interesting but, I would still like to know what exactly is going on. The bug tends to happen to players who are suffering from a lack of sleep or are confused... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have found and fixed the dimensional rift bug as of (9/12/92) The bug was in PLANETS.EXE. My friend Dave found it one night when he was really sleepy. Thanks Dave! This fixed version of PLANETS.EXE should read version 2.1 (9/12/92). New feature added due to player DEMAND! The MASTER.EXE program now allows you to set the distance between home worlds to be farther apart when you start a new game. You now have a choice of short, medium, long and very long ranges. The game in the past used the medium range, which is the range that I like the best, because it makes the game far more interesting to know all your enemies are very close. Even if you know where your enemy's homeworld is, defeating the enemy's main planet in the first few turns will be almost impossible. Use "very long" range at your own risk. You may end up homeworlds at opposite ends of the star cluster. At warp factor 9 it may take up to 34 turns to reach your enemy's homeworld. If you use "long" range the maximum time between homeworlds is 8 turns at warp factor 9. If you use "medium" range the maximum time between homeworlds is 5 turns at warp factor 9. At "short" range the maximum time between homeworlds is 4 turns at warp factor 9. Small bug fixed in HOST.EXE New Version 2.11.(9/17/92). The beam weapon tech level of planets fighting starships is now fixed. The bug caused planets with defence greater then 200 to have the same beam weapon tech level as the attacking ship. The tech level now will be 10. (9.4) What versions will work together. Version 1.0,1.1 and 1.2 will not work with version 2.0 and later programs. Version 2.0b and Version 2.1 are 100% compatible. (9.5) Future Versions.... I am working on Version 3.0 right now which will include many improvements based on suggestions from players. I am planning to add to the game. 1. A HOST configure program 2. A way for the host person to send messages to the players 3. Meteor showers 4. A way to recycle old starships 5. Worm holes 6. Starship ID Library program 7. Special Race Ablities 8. Strange events 9. Mysterious areas of space 10. The Natives will be more interesting 11. Mine (BOOM!) fields in space 12. Mine sweeping Version 3.0 will not be released until spring 1993. So if you have any suggestions please write and mean while enjoy Version 2.1. VGA Planets will continue to grow and change until it is the very best game possible, but I don't want to put out a long series of releases, so Version 2.1 is frozen in time. The only changes to Version 2.1 will be any needed bug fixes. All my new improvements that players and myself come up with will be put into Version 3.0. I am very happy with Version 2.1 and I hope you are having fun with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------