The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/sre0986g.zip/SRE.DOC

Text File | 1992-08-17 | 11KB | 224 lines

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         Solar Realms Elite v. 0.986                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Copyright 1992 by Amit J Patel

Written by Amit Patel at the Solar Realms BBS, [phone] [1:106/900]
Distribution managed by Harold Wiess at Pier 7, [phone] / 477-2682
   [1:106/477]
Canadian Distribution and Registration managed by Hardy Rosenke at
   Home HARDware (!) BBS, [phone] [1:153/923]

──[ INTRODUCTION ]─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

This game is an IBM version of Space Empire Elite (S.E.E.), an Atari ST
online game.  Space Empire, S.E.E.'s ancestor, was written by Jon Radoff.
Then S.E.E. was written by Jurgen Van Den Handle, and the newer versions of
S.E.E. are updated and maintained by Carlis Darby and David Pence of
HyperSpace Software. David Pence now supports S.E.E. for the Atari ST
computers.  Carlis Darby is working on an IBM version of S.E.E.  SRE was
originally a clone of S.E.E., written from scratch on the IBM without the
source code to S.E.E., and from there it has evolved differently than S.E.E.
Although S.E.E. is (and probably always will be) superior to SRE, we wrote
SRE to give IBM users a chance to play this game.

SRE is a game in which players build an empire and at the same time
build a military to defend against other empires.  Up to 25 players can build
empires in each Galaxy.  The Galactic Coordinator ("It"), controlled by
computer, is the ruler of the Galaxy.  It offers protection for the empires
to build up without fear of being destroyed by larger empires, and It sells
soldiers, fighters, defense stations, heavy cruisers, carriers, generals, a
command ship, planets, covert agents, lottery tickets, and food to each
empire.  In return, the Galactic Coordinator collects taxes from each empire;
It uses most of the taxes to distribute Galactic funding daily so that each
empire may have spending money outside of its own profits.  Large empires
usually make more money than the funding, but smaller empires make a
significant amount of money from funding.  Empires can attack each other to
capture planets for themselves, or use covert operations to cause internal
disorder in opponent empires.  They can also attack 9 pirate teams, which
are computer-controller.  There is also great potential in peaceful relations
between empires:  there are 6 treaty types to encourage either military or
peaceful alliances.  Also, empires can trade with each other to take
advantage of reduced prices in smaller empires and increased money in
larger empires:  large empires can buy items cheaply from smaller empires,
and the small empire can make a profit.

──[ SETUP ]────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Setting up SRE should be simple for most SysOps.  First, be sure you have
read SYSOP.DOC.  It explains the steps to configure the game to work with
your BBS, attempts to explain setting up your BBS to run SRE, and most
importantly, tells you to run "SRE RESET", because that will set up your game
for you.  It also tells you how to upgrade without erasing your old game.  If
you want to customize your game, read RESOURCE.HLP.  It explains how to set
up a resource file to set up your own options.

──[ RUNNING ]──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

SRE has several features that makes it easier for the sysop to run the game:

   1.  SRDOOR is an *external*, not internal, door converter.  If your BBS
       doesn't want to cooperate with SRE, you can do several things to get
       your doorfile converted to DOORFILE.SR.  (They are listed in the
       documentation for SRDOOR.)  For example, Genesis Deluxe sysops can use
       a program called "GENPC" to convert from Genesis format to SRE format
       without using SRDOOR.  Searchlight and Maximus BBS software do not
       need a door converter at all.

   2.  Chat mode is activated by 'F10' and deactivated with 'ESC'.  The chat
       has color support (^R followed by a digit 0-9 changes color), and when
       you exit, it will restore the line the user was on before you entered
       chat.

   3.  Auto-deletion of players occurs after 10 days of inactivity.  This
       kills players who aren't playing anymore, so you don't worry about the
       game becoming too full.

   4.  "SRE EDIT" allows you to delete players manually, change their empire
       name, or change the user name (in case the user has changed handles on
       the BBS).

   5.  Numerous hangups/lockups/freezes!  This extraordinary feature of SRE
       is explained in BUGS.LST.  ;)

   6.  Help on function keys that you can use is available by pressing F1.
       (Even while a player is playing.)

   7.  Running "SRE HELP" lets you see the help topics; selecting
       "SRE-command-line-options" lets you see all the command line options
       that SRE supports.

   8.  The sysop can easily modify many configuration options by editing
       RESOURCE.DAT.  (See RESOURCE.HLP for details)

──[ EXTRAS ]───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

You can now have ANSI screens if you'd like (or text screens) to "enhance"
the game.  They should be placed in a subdirectory called SCREENS and these
are the filenames and when they are displayed.  (They are only displayed some
of the time so that users won't get tired of them.)

REVOLT.ANS      Planet revolt (random events)
THIEVES.ANS     Space pirates/rogues steal money (random events)
FOODLOST.ANS    Food is stolen (random events)
PLANETS.ANS     Planets are captured by computer enemies (random events)

HIGHTAX.ANS     Violence in the empire due to high tax rates
NUCLEAR.ANS     A black market agent offers a nuclear bomb
CHEMICAL.ANS    A black market agent brings a barrel of lethal chemicals

COLLAPSE.ANS    The user's empire has collapsed

WINWAR.ANS      The user has just won a conventional attack
LOSEWAR.ANS     The user has just lost an attack
GUERILLA.ANS    Guerilla attack
NUKEWAR.ANS     Nuclear war
CHEMWAR.ANS     The user is attacking with chemical weapons
RAIDWAR.ANS     A pirate raid

TWOTIMER.ANS    A covert agent is found to be a double spy
COVBOMB.ANS     An agent bombs an enemy food market
CIVILWAR.ANS    The user goes through civil war

You may not want to worry about these until you know more about the game.
(Then come back here and try creating some ANSI if you'd like.)  This is
a way to customize your SRE games.  You can also edit the text in HELP.DAT
(see SREHELP.DAT for details).  These are the other files you can add in the
SRE directory (not SCREENS):

BULLETIN.ANS    Shown before the list of bulletins available
SRBBSAD.ANS     Before the user returns to the BBS (REGISTERED)
REGISTER.ANS    Shown to the user at the end of the game, to explain how
        he can help register the game.  (UNREGISTERED)

LOCKOUT.ANS     The user is locked out of the game
NOMORE.ANS      The user can't play because no more users are being accepted
GAMEFULL.ANS    There are no open slots in the game
NEWUSER.ANS     A user has just started to play

Also, any of these screens can have the extension ".TXT".  If a user plays
with ANSI, SRE searches for the .ANS file first; if the .ANS file is not
found, it searches for the .TXT file.  If the user does not have ANSI, then
SRE will search only for the .TXT file.

These files are NOT included with SRE, but we do have sample ANSI screens
available by Rick Barrowclough.  The capability is there, however, for you,
the sysop, to customize your game with these ANSI screens to be more
"personalized" for your BBS.  Have fun!

──[ HOW IT WORKS ]─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Your BBS creates a door file containing user data.  SRDOOR interprets that
door file.  Since there are many different types of BBS door files, SRDOOR
needs to know how to interpret the file.  SRDOOR has a setup file called
SETUP.SR that contains this information.  Then SRDOOR writes the information
to a file called DOORFILE.SR.

Then SRE runs.  SRE reads from DOORFILE.SR.  Most door games read the BBS
door file directly.  Why do we have a separate program?  One thing is that
if someone has a BBS that SRE doesn't support, they can write a new program
to replace SRDOOR.  So far, I've heard of WW4SR, GENPC, STDOOR, P2SR, and
SFDORFIL, all of which interpret the doorfile and convert it to DOORFILE.SR.
Also, if you want to play without a BBS, you can create a DOORFILE.SR and run
SRE, without having to go through a BBS.

I hope that if you have trouble with SRE, you can tell us at which step
the program stops working.

──[ KEYS ]─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

These are the special keys for the sysop:

F1          Help on what the special keys are
F2        Status windows
F5          Return to BBS
F7          Decreases time left
F8          Increase time left
F10         Chat mode
Alt-J       Jump to DOS

These are the special keys for the user:

^D          Exit SRE
ESC         Exit out of chat mode

──[ REWARD ]───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Here's the reward for reading the docs:

If you add the "Menu yes" option into the RESOURCE.DAT, you will get an extra
menu in SRE that lets you read the news files and see bulletins.  To edit
bulletins, see SREHELP.DAT.

──[ CONTACT ]──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

If you have any more questions/comments/problems, you can contact the author
of SRE by snailmail:

    Amit J. Patel
    4851 Cairnsean
    Houston, TX 77084-2541

Please do not send mail one year after the release date of SRE.  You can check
the release date by running SRE; before the title screen, it displays the date
of release.  This is so that you won't send to a non-existent person!  (Just
in case I move away...)

If you are on the Internet, you may email me at [e-mail].  This
account will be open until MARCH 1993, so don't email after that!

You can also call SunStriker's BBS, The Solar Realm, at [phone].  There
is no validation required (full access on first call), so you can download SRE
if you would like to.  The 'N' key in the main menu allows you to leave some
comments to me.  Be warned:  the board is very busy!  If you want to save time
while logging on, you can log on under an 'anonymous' user called GUEST.  It
will not create a user for you, but you will be able to access the files
quickly.

You could send FidoNet mail to The Solar Realm:  1:106/900.  File-requests
of "BRE", "SRH", "SRE", "AC6", "LEA", "PC", and "SCE" are also available.
Pier 7 [1:106/477] is in charge of the Solar Realms game fidonet echo called
SRGAMES.