By Tobias J. Ricter,Gervinusstr. 46A,6100 Darmstadt, W-Germany
In General:
Space, the final frontier
-When on the 09.08.66 the first part of ST flickered over American TV screens, a series started which is still not matched. Even if the beginnings were modest ( although it was one of the most expensive series) the right success did not take off. After two years the stop of the series was prevented by a deludge of fan mail to the broadcaster, but ST disappeared into the night program and after another year the final came out. This caused a new start, because now private stations bought the ST series and broadcasted it all over the country. Up to now there are only a few countries in which ST has not yet been shown. In germany the series was called "Raumshchiff Enterprise" by the name of the ship, prehaps the most famous one of its kind.
Soon plans came up to start a second series ST2 and after years of waiting Paramount finally decided to shoot a movie. With more than $40 million it became one of the most expensive films in 1979 and which were ever made. It was followed by several other movies.
For a few years a new series exists in the USA ST The Next Generation which puts across the same old flair of the old one with new stars and a new ship. In the autumn of 1990 it might be possible to see it in germany. All these activities were mainly supported by the big ST Fandom. Prehaps in comparison to a lot of other fandoms the trekies are very active, do something for their hobby. Also this game originates from one of those Trekkies, and I hope more fans will be there through this.
STAR TREK - The Game
Overall it took two years until the game was finished, included are the phases in which I simply wanted to give up because no end seemed to be near. Well, it is done, everything else forgotten. The finale code is about 160KB long, the source code circumspands about 0.5MB. In the 512KB version I edited unnecessary sounds, but changed nothing in the game itself. You lose a bit atmosphere but the memory did not let me compromise. Who has got more than 1MB memory can copy the datadisk into the Ram, by that you increase th speed.
The game is completely written in Aztec v3.6 and a bit of assembler. You can steer ST with a mouse 100%, but also supports a joystick in
port 2 with which movements can be steered.
Aim Of The Game:
There is no set aim, it is mainly important to stay captain of the Enterprise. To achieve the orders have to be carried out, the crew has to be looked after and to get on reasonable on general. A thoughtless captain will not stay in power just as little as a whimpish on would.
The Menu Points:
Mainscreen 1 The bridge (in top view or from the command chair)
In the middle are four beams. The top one shows the Impulspeed, the second one the warpspeed, the third one the energy level and the forth indicates damages to the exterior.
Engineering:
With the slide-regulator on the left side one can set the grade of the repair works. To do repairs there has to be enough energy. Also crew members could get hurt during major repairworks. On the left side the speed can be set. ATTENTION: Impulspeed can only be activated when warp 1 is switched on. In the middle there mare displays for the shield configuration and the damages to the ship.
Communications:
Here the messages, which are indicated by whistling, are being sent. ATTENTION: The messages will not be stored. It is advised therefor to look up important things right away. With <condition> one can change the alarmstate of he ship. With <Own Messages> all at time available messages will be shown, which then can be sent with <send it>.
Weapons/Defense:
At this place you can set the zeroing for the phaser and the photon torpedoes. With the help of <fire> you shoot at the aim. In the middle part you can activate the shields with <activate> or deactivate. Only activated shields use energy. For each of the 4 sides of the ship there exists one shield. Activated shields save the ship from damage during an attack.
Quit/Save:
Here you can end the game, store it or newly load it. The game always demands a disk with the name "STGAME". It is therefore important that not to change this name. At the same time there has to be a file with the name ST on it (Usually the game itself). Otherwise loading/storing will not function. You can always load or store one game which is put onto the STGAME: disk under the name "STGAME1". By copying or recalling you can read other files as well which only have to have the name STGAME1. With <cancel> you return into the game.
Helmsman:
In the same way like in weapons/defense you can set the weapon system and fire with <tactical> a small tactical masque will be inserted into the main screen, in which you can read the distance and identity of foreign ships. Apart from that the energy level is shown on the left hand bottom corner, the lines right on the bottom represents shields. At the right is a small red rectangle showing weather the shields are activated. The big rectangle is the aim - zeroing, the smaller one is the phaser one. On the left in the Helmsman widow are the speedregulators for the impulsjets and in the middle the main steering which you will require during entrance into orbit (edge of planet) or return to the dock.
Turbolift:
Here you can reach different sections of the ship from the bridge (See Main Screen).
Bridge:
Switch over onto on look. There you have the same function like from the command chair.
Navigator:
Left again the speedregulators for. Warpjets and Inpulsjets. With <change Target> aims can be given to which one wants to fly. By pressing the mouse key the aim is recognized, weather it is a planet or a station, you will fly there. Otherwise you will fly to the given space point. A correction in course will follow automatically. The actual position of the enterprise is shown as a red cross - the aim by a green one. Space positions, which are connected with the missions are colored. Aim planets yellow, planets where you have to obtaining something green, position of other ships blue and enemy forces red. Attention: Flying with warpseed (faster that light) is only useful if an aim is given.
Pause:
The game waits until <pause> is pressed again.
Damage and repair:
On the left side you can install the repair works. 100% means that the relevant area is afterwards at disposal again. Repairs cost energy and prehaps affect the health of some crew members the degree of damage is shown on the right side, as well as the setting of the shields.
Science and computer:
Here Mr Spock has got the say. He gives different information about the relevant planets, ships attacker and anything unpredictable that might happen. With <suggest> you can sometimes also find out what might be the best to do.
Status:
Here are sometimes the most important data of the ship like speed, course, shields and damages indicated.
Mainscreen 2 - Ships Overall View
The series of small gadgets on the right give information about different decks.
Bridge:
Back to Mainscreen 1
Officers Lounge:
Here missions can be indicated which have to be done at the moment. With repeated clicking of <missions> they will be paged, starting with the earliest date until it starts at the beginning again. By <crew attitude> you find out how well liked you are by the crew. One ought to keep a look on it, since a few captains got fired by their crew.
Transporter:
You get in the transporter room. From here you can easily move odjects or persons. The transporter requires energy for this. If there is not enough energy you will have to take a shuttle instead.
Odjects can be beamed to and from the Enterprise. In the relevant masque the objects are shown which are at you disposable. By clicking the arrow you can chose the wanted odjects. The status tells weather the transporter is allright and ready shows weather you can beam. (If you encounter another ship you can, even if your own transporter is broken, use the on on the other ship, ready therefor is green.) The more intense the green is the higher the actual energy level is.
Medical:
From "Pill" you can find out on the right the state of the crew and your own at the moment. If the crew is very decimated, it might become a problem to lead the ship. Dr Mc Coy also gives a few good tips on th right side.
Engineering:
See Mainscreen 1
Cargo Bay:
To find out what is loaded in the enterprise you can enter the hold. There you can have a look at the load via pointer.
Landing Bay:
With the shuttle, which you have chosen in the hanger, you can bring things to and from the planet surface. The gadgets in the shuttle are for left- and right thrust, forward thrust (up) and upwards jets (down). aim is the outward flight out of the Enterprises. If you have a crash the shuttle requires repair. In the hanger you have to choose a new shuttle.
Credits:
Here you can determine the amount and the frequency of the orders and events. With <sound on/off> you can switch off the background noises. With <reset> set the game onto the start values (click twice).
Hanger:
Four shuttles are at your disposal which are either in repair (red) or ready to go (green). In each shuttle you can set the acceleration and the gravitation adjustment. The further on the right the controllers are the more sensitive the shuttle reacts.
Single Phases-Tips:
-During entrance into orbit you have to try to set your sight on the gates of the entrance, since the dock doesn't move. The flight will be stopped if the deviation is to big.
-If the transporters are broken and all the shuttles in repair you have no alternative but to wait, or to get to the next dock where the transporter will be repaired quicker.
-In the dock all repairs run at full speed. Also the energy will be bought up slowly to the highest level. But it takes time, if big damages are present.
-During an enemy attack you should always try first to bluff the opponent. This saves energy, damages and increases the moral of the crew.
-The more experience you have gathered the more difficult orders you will receive from Starfleet. Let yourself be surprised............
