Software Vault: The Diamond Collection

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software Vault: The Diamond Collection / The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO / cdr19 / vplr250.zip / ENGLISH.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-04-06 | 33KB | 695 lines

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ VPLRead by Martin Bergtholdt Ver. 2.0ß │█ │ Documentation -English- Page 1 │█ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ A. Table of Contents: ───────────────────── Topic Page A. Table of Contents 1 B. System Requirements 1 C. General Stuff 2/3 I. What is VPLRead ? 3 a) Message-Reader, Message-Editor, 3 Message-Base b) Ships-Base, Planets-Base, 4 Starbase-Base, Meteors, Minefields c) Scores 4 d) Starchart 4 e) Costmanager 4 f) Shell and Menue/Macro-Ability 4 II. How does VPLRead work ? 4 a) Installation of VPLRead 4/5 b) Start VPLRead 6 c) Controlling VPLRead - the Menues 6-9 III. Using the Message-Reader and Editor 9/10 IV. Using the Ships-Base 10 V. Using the Planets-Base/Starbase-Base 10 VI. Scores and Scoregraph 11 VII. Starchart and Costmanager 11 VIII. All Key-Controls - Short Table 12 IX. Menue/Macro-Ability 12/13 B. System Requirements: ─────────────────────── For using VPLRead optimally, your Computer is supposed to fullfill the following conditions: Processor: AT 286/386/486 with HardDisk RAM : at least 550k Graphic : VGA MS-DOS : 3.0 or later ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ NOTE: If you want to use the english onlinehelp just delete the │ │ file VPLREAD.HLP and rename ENGLISH.HLP into VPLREAD.HLP. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────┐ │ Page 2 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ C. General Stuff: ───────────────── Programname...........: VPLRead Current Version.......: V. 2.0ß Date of Release.......: 08/05/1994 Status................: Shareware Author................: Martin Bergtholdt Program dialect.......: Turbo Pascal 7.0 Turbo Vision 2.0 Documentation.........: Michael Kuehn written on............: 08/05/1994 Bugreports............: Michael Kuehn Claudio Jahn Daniel Beck Thomas Voigt Parts of the program are (c) Borland. This program was written for VGA-Planets version 3.xx. Hitherto it is only tested with Host version 3.13 to 3.15a.It's in question if it runs with earlier or later version too, especially the message-scanner could be impaired if the Host changes its way of encoding the messages etc. The author is not liable for any damage, loss, detriment or defect caused by using VPLRead. We only guaranty that VPLRead will occupy space on your harddrive. ┌───────────────────┐ │ !! SHAREWARE !! │ └───────────────────┘ After mature consideration, the author decided to distribute the pro- gram as shareware. In the users' interest, we dispensed with a re- stricted sharewareversion, that would lack some features. So everybody - even the ones, who don't pay - can use the full program. However, if you like to use VPLRead after a 30-day-trial-period, it would be ok to support the author in his work by paying a fee of DM 10.-/ US$7 or an equivalent amount in your currancy. You remit your money to the account below or send it to the undermentioned adress. Don't send coins! If you send a cheque, add US$10 for handling charge. Since non- payed using can't be controlled, the honoring only depends on your goodwill. Contributions to : Name : Martin Bergtholdt Account# : 711317 BankCode# : 54651240 Bank : Kreissparkasse Bad Duerkheim Germany ┌────────┐ │ Page 3 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Adress : Martin Bergtholdt Bahnhofstraße 11 67159 Friedelsheim /Germany ┌───────────────────┐ │ !! ATTENTION !! │ └───────────────────┘ Though there is now a password-control, this program can deliver more information than programmes supported or written by Tim Wisseman do. In the course of fair play, I like you to inform all the other players of a planets game about you using this tool and perhaps to give them the chance to use it as well. However, the Host can forestall getting this additional information by using suitable tools. In case of having problems with VPLRead or having suggestions how to improve the whole program, you could contact us by the following addresses: IN/USE : Martin_Bergtholdt@lu.maus.de (international) : Maddin@farpoint.ruessel.sub.org (german) FIDO : 2:2468/6700.38 VPL : 70:714/403.9 or IN : Michael_Kuehn@lu.maus.de FIDO : 2:2468/6774.5 GN : 52:4920/1.5 This program is sharware and should be passed on only in the original archive. Altered files are not to be passed on. The author is not liable for any damage, loss, detriment or defect caused by altered files. I. What is VPLRead ? ──────────────────── VPLRead is a tool for VGA-Planets (c) by Tim Wisseman. The current version 2.0ß comprises the follwing features: a) Message-Reader, Message-Editor, Message-Base: ──────────────────────────────────────────────── This part is the "intelligence service" of the program. Incoming messages can be read comfortably and outgoing messages can be created, edited and sent easily. The message-base represents the archives. Messages from earlier turns are saved and can be reread if necessary. ┌────────┐ │ Page 4 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ b) Ships-Base, Planets-Base, Starbase-Base, Meteors, Minefields: ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── These five bases are the "Central Data Bank". Without your help all new information about ships, planets, starbases, meteors and mine- fields are evaluated and sortet for you. c) Scores: ────────── An element, that is not unimportant anylonger, as it shows you both in tabular form and graphically how the main development in the universe is. d) Starchart: ───────────── This is really an essential part of VPLRead. It helps to plan trade routes or to find out the enemies' ships' positions, planets, bases and minefields. Even self-defined borders can be shown. Several buttons make it easy to control the starchart. The newest feature are the stats about planet-resources and a trace of ship-courses up to 15 turns (one ship) or 3 turns of every registered ship to find out routes, the enemies use. e) Costmanager: ─────────────── The central planing board for MCs and minerals, that you need to build new ships. Besides you can get to know about number of crew- members, maximum of armament and hulltype and -size of enemy ships. f) Shell und Menue/Macro-Ability: ───────────────────────────────── VPLRead offers you the basic features of a planets-shell. Here you can combine easily different tools and utilities for VGA-Planets with just one menuesystem. Once you've configured the whole program you can use VPLRead with all integrated tools. II. How does VPLRead work ? ─────────────────────────── a) Installation of VPLRead: ─────────────────────────── Just copy the original VPLRead-archive in your planets path and un- pack it there. There should be the following files: file_id.diz - short program description vplread.doc - german documentation ┌────────┐ │ Page 5 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ english.doc - english documentation vplread.hlp - german helpfile english.hlp - english helpfile vplread.faq - FAQ vplread.exe - program vplread.ovr - overlay file update20.exe - update program update20.doc - update documentation delmsg.exe - kills old messages from base whats.new - What the hell is new here? If you want to use the menue/macro-ability and play with different xyplan.dat files there will be four files installed in your planets path. vplr.tol - Definition of self-integrated tools vplrxy.dat * - Backupcopy of original XYPLAN.DAT vplrra.nm * - " RACE.NM vplrpl.nm * - " PLANET.NM (*) only when newer files are used and originals are deleted. Besides in each of the game paths there will be up to 12 files, that have all information for the different bases, the borders, the vplr[playernumber].bas vplr[playernumber].bor vplr[playernumber].cfg vplr[playernumber].exp vplr[playernumber].his vplr[playernumber].met vplr[playernumber].min vplr[playernumber].msg vplr[playernumber].scr vplr[playernumber].shp vplr[playernumber].pln vplr[playernumber].out messages, scores and general cofiguration. During a planets game you are not to delete these files, though in case of a total pro- gramme crash possibly only deleting every VPLRead file can make the programme run without errors again. But you should know that by deleting files information gets lost. If you have to delete files you'd better make backups. Vplread.exe MUST be in the planets directory, where you can find the other executable and datafiles (planets.exe, sweep.bat, *.dat). ┌────────┐ │ Page 6 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ b) Start VPLRead: ───────────────── If you play your planets game in special game directories, you run VPLRead by typing the following command line in your dos prompt: vplread <gamepath> <password> <gamepath> means the directory where all the playerfiles are to be found. If you really should have problems with "directory stuff" you ought to read the original planets documentation by Tim Wisse- man, there its described in details. If you play your game out of the planets directory, you just type: vplread <password> Then VPLRead will update all bases, of course only if a new RST- file was unpacked before. You can run UNPACK in VPLRead too. You find it in the menuepoint FILE. But if you want to do that, at least one RST-file must be unpacked in the game directory before. But before you can do anything, you are to type in your personal password - if one is used. After correct input you can make use of all commands. c) Controlling VPLRead - the Menues: ──────────────────────────────────── If you start the programme, you first find yourself in the main menue: ≡ FILE MESSAGES VIEW TOOLS OPTIONS PLAYER I will explain the keyboard commands. Of course you can control everything by mouse as well.With Alt-F /-M /-W /-T /-O /-P you come to the respective pulldown-menue (File/Messages/View/Tools/Options/ Player). The Menue ≡ is more or less unimportant. It only constist of the point ABOUT. The onlinehelp can be activated with F1. Inside an activated pull-down-menue you can control with arrowkeys and Return, or just hit the yellow printed letter to choose among the features. If you've already opened several windows, you can task among them directly, without opening them again, by using the F2-key. Hitting it, will activate the windows one after the other. ┌────────┐ │ Page 7 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ≡ : ─── Here you can get to know in one window (ABOUT) interesting and uninteresting stuff about the program. FILE : ────── Beside the command QUIT (Hotkey: Alt-X) it is also possible jump to DOS-Prompt, without leaving the program, experts call it DOS-Shell :-) (Hotkey: Alt-F2). From Version 1.0 on there the program is able to jump to Planets.exe as well, using the pass- word and race you entered starting VPLRead (RUN PLANETS). This function can be activated with Alt-F1. The Menuepoints UNPACK and MAKETURN have the same function like entered in the DOS-Prompt. MESSAGES : ────────── This is one essential part of the program. But before using it you have to make a choice once more, between OUTGOING and MESSAGE-BASE. OUTGOING (Hotkey: F3) allows you to create, edit or delete messages to one, several or each race of the universe. MESSAGE-BASE (Hotkey: F4) is the archive, you can read incoming mails as well as reread messages of earlier turns. Both, outgoing and incoming mails are saved in this Base. VIEW : ────── In this menu you have several data-banks, which offer a great variety of information. The SHIPS-Base (Hotkey: F5) contains a list of own and enemy ships, at which the ID#, race, hulltype, and name of the ship is given. You can select one of them and get nearer details about technical data (armament, freight capacity, enginetype, etc.), position in space, velocity and heading (VIEW DETAIL). Additionally it's possible to show only the ships of one race. Also a new invention is the button SORTED BY HULL/ID#, which allows you to get a list sorted by hull or id# (numerical order). The PLANETS-Base (Hotkey: F6) works similar, though there is a special part of it, the Starbase-Base. If you activate VIEW DETAIL with a planet, you come to another window, in which you get to know about minerals (mined/in ground) colonists, natives, taxes, temperature, etc. - and if there's a starbase on this planet, another button (BASE) leads you to a window with information about it. The point METEORS (Hotkey: Shift-F8) allows you to get data about meteors, which are sorted out of incoming subspace messages. This data-bank replaces handwriten notes about minerals and the planet the meteor fell on. SCORES (Hotkey: F7) / SCOREGRAPH (Hotkey: F8) ┌────────┐ │ Page 8 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ allows you to see the "normal" or a graphical score. By activating the point MINEFIELDS (Hotkey: Shift-F7) you can see the list of all scanned minefields and edit, delete or create new ones. TOOLS: ────── Including COSTMANAGER and STARCHART, the TOOLS menue is necessary for planing and analyzing situations. The COSTMANAGER helps calculating costs building new ships or gives information about enemy ships, their armament etc. The STARCHART (Hotkey: F10) shows planets (own and enemy's), if wanted ships with heading, minefields, borders, traces of ships and statistics of planets. If you have some self-defined tools (OPTIONS, SETUP UTILITIES) they are shown in this pulldownmenue. The maximum are 15 more tools, at which the first ten can be activated with ALT-1 to Alt-0. OPTIONS : ───────── In many planets games it's normal to have a Lord, Commander or General signed the messages. For that we invented a special macro called signatur (Hotkey: Alt-F7). If you activate this option you can edit the signatur. How to use. it in the Message-Editor is to be read in the following passages. (If no signatur is edited "Created with VPLRead" is default.) The second menuepoint is CONFIGURATION (Hotkey: Alt-F5). Here you define the period of holding messages (in turns, 0=unlimited). If you define no scanrange (ask your host what is the current one), default is 200 LJ. Additinally you can activate STICKY MOUSE, for people with nervous fingers ;-) or change the colour of Planets. exe (CHANGE COLOUR).The button ADD MESSAGES should be deaktivated because activated it allows VPLRead to write all incoming mails in the Message-Base, even the sensor sweep messages etc. So if you activate this button, your base will be big soon. Really important is the posibility to define one xyplan.dat for each game, as well as race.nm and planet.nm. It also possible to give whole paths. Additionally, you can specify two commands (batches too), that should be done before unpack (DECOMPRESS) or after maketurn (COMPRESS) is executed. You are also able to re- place original UNPACK and MAKETURN by VPLUnpack or else. You can create you own menue, for that just activate SETUP UTILI- TIES and define your own tools, that should be run under VPLRead. Enter the menuepoint in the pulldownmenue under MENUENAME, the simple DOS-command under NAME, and the rest of the DOS-command (paths, parameters like -x-r c:games\planets) or some of our pre- defined macros under PARAMETER (see table with %letter). ┌────────┐ │ Page 9 │█ └────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you want to have the yellow hotkeys just set the selected letter in between two '~', like S~i~m or ~Y~apt. Then you can activate Sim and Yapt in the pulldownmenue by pressing i and y. %d : directory (the game path is passed) %n : playernumber (as parameter) %nt : playernumber (simulated as hit key) %r : return (simulated as hit key) %p : passwort (as parameter) %pt : passwort (simulated as hit key(s), without return) %c : the originaln XYPLAN.DAT (by Tim Wisseman) is replaced before starting by the xyplan.dat defined in CONFIGURA- TION and copied back after the using of the tool. The parameters for planets.exe would be: name parameter planets.exe %c%d%nt%pt%r | | | | | | | | | at the end: return | | | passwort siumlated as hit key(s) | | playernumber simulated as hit key | gamepath change XYPLAN.DAT From Version 1.26 on, it is possible to define own borders bet- ween the races. For that you choose under OPTIONS, SETUP BORDERS (Hotkey: Alt-F9) the race you want to have a border with, then you input the ID# of the frontier-planets. The ID#s are separated by comma. Activating the STARCHART (Hotkey: F10) you select BORDERS and see the lines shown in the universe. PLAYER : ──────── If you play more than one race in one game you can change the active race here. III. Using the Message-Reader and Editor: ────────────────────────────────────────- In the menue MESSAGES, OUTGOING you are able to create, edit, delete and save messages to one, several or all (universal message) races. First of all, you have to select one or more races (or universal) you want to write to. It is possible to write the same message to three of the eleven races, but type only once: just choose all races to write to at the beginning. If you've finished editing the mails, you have the choice to save the message (SAVE), deleting it (DELETE), creating a new one (CREATE) or jump between the already written ones (PREVIOUS& NEXT). With ESC you get to the mainmenue again. Don't forget to save after all editing and creating, or your messages will not be sent. ┌─────────┐ │ Page 10 │█ └─────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Here I want to show you the SIGNATURE once more. Just define it with OPTIONS, SIGNATUR and paste it in the written message with Shift-Ins. But remember that it is pasted where the cursor is, and that the whole line is overwritten, so watch out where to have he cursor before pres- sing Shift-Ins, In the menue MESSAGE-BASE all incoming and outgoing messages are saved so that you can reread them whnever you want (see also OPTIONS, CONFI- GURATION, HOLD MESSAGES). PREVIOUS and NEXT or arrowkeys to jump bet- ween the mails, PRINT to give them on your printer. A normal printer will get 6 messages on one sheet of paper (both sides). Additionally VPLRead offers a list, a short table of all incoming messages (LIST). From there you can also select mails and read them. The button SEARCH allows you to search a simple chain of letters in all the messages. TAG marks a message, also possible in LIST with space. If you have marked one or more messages, you can edit them by activating MORE: DELETE kills all marked mails, EXTRACT copies them all in one file, PRINT is clear, and UNTAG unmarks all marked messages. If you want to unmark only one message, use LIST, space. Another button (NEW ONLY) sorts the messages, so that only the mails of the current turn are shown in list and base. If you want to reread an old message you have to - if it was active - deactivate it. IV. Using the Ships-Base: ────────────────────────- The SHIPS-Base is a data-bank that collects information about all ships (own and enemy ships) in scanrange. All this is sorted and saved in a special file. So you can get to know about name of ships, arma- ment, ID#, heading, velocity, position in space, freight capacity, mass and so on. First you get to the VIEW menue, then activate SHIPS to have a list of all scanned ships. Choose one and get further infor- mation by activating VIEW DETAIL. Additionally it's possible to sort the ships by race, hull or ID#. V. Using the Planets-Base/Starbase-Base: ──────────────────────────────────────── The PLANETS-Base is used similar to the SHIPS-Base. You choose VIEW, then PLANETS. Now you've got a list with own and enemy planets. Select one planet and activate VIEW DETAIL to get more information. If there is a starbase, another button (BASE) gives futher data. It's possible to sort the planets by races. ┌─────────┐ │ Page 11 │█ └─────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ VI. Scores bzw. Scoregraph: ─────────────────────────── The part of the program, that shows the situation among the other races. As a table (as in Planets.exe) you are able to see older scores as well, or as a chart, it always shows, whether you're a good leader or a bad one (time for revolution ;-). In case the host uses another score (not the original by TIM) these menues can't be used. VII. Starchart und Costmanager: ─────────────────────────────── The COSTMANAGER (Hotkey: F9) calculates the cost of minerales and MCs needed to build a special ship. Controlling is easy: TAB and Return, arrow keys or yellow letters. The sum is shown in the lower right corner. The starchart was improved since Version 1.0 constantly. 11 buttons help you to get the information sorted and clearly. First of all there is the button ZOOM/SELECT, which allows (ZOOM) to zoom in and out the starchart (+/- or left/right mousebutton). If you use a mouse with 3 buttons you can scroll with each zoomfactor by pressing the middle one. When the button ZOOM/SELECT was turned to SELECT you can get to know Information about ships and planets (right mousebutton = ships, left button = planets). You can change ZOOM/SELECT by pressing space, holding both mousebuttons or klicking on it. If you select one object, ships or planet, all available information is shown in the lower right corner. The button SHIPS (S) shows all ships of the current turn, ALL SHIPS (A) shows all ships scanned up to the current turn (for that both buttons must be activated). MINES (M) and BORDERS (B) print the scanned minefields and self-defined borders into the universe. Additinally, P.NAMES (N) and SH ID (I) show the names of planets and ID#s of ships (senseless in non-zoomed chart). FIND (F) searches for planets by their ID#. The button DISTANCE (D) can be used to messure routes or minefields. For that you aktivate the button, then tag the first then the second point and the distance will be shown in LJs. Also there is a small board that shows the position in space (X/Y).The button TRACE allows to get up to 15 marked positions of one ship (you enter the ID#) pressing R, and up to 3 marked positions of all active ships by pressing r. But remember, this feature too is only useful in zoomed starchart. Finally there is STATS, that shows the resources of a planet graphically: With T you choose the characteristics (minerals, supplies, colonists, natives, MCs), with t you get diagramms in the stachart, here again, it's useful to zoom before. Capital letters corresponds to right mousebutton, small ones to left button. ┌─────────┐ │ Page 12 │█ └─────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ VIII. All Key-Controls - Short Table: ───────────────────────────────────── Alt - F : menuepoint FILE Alt - M : menuepoint MESSAGES Alt - W : menuepoint VIEW Alt - T : menuepoint TOOLS Alt - O : menuepoint OPTIONS Alt - X : exit Program Alt - F1 : Jump to Planets.exe Alt - F2 : DOS-Shell Alt - F3 : Close window Alt - F5 : Configuration Alt - F7 : Signatur (edit) Alt - F8 : Setup Utilities Alt - F9 : Setup Borders Alt - nr.: Self-defined tools F1 : Onlinehelp F2 : Tasking among opened windows F3 : Open edit-mode (Messages) F4 : Open Message-Base F5 : Open Ships-Base F6 : Open Planets-Base F7 : Scores as table F8 : Scores as chart F9 : Costmanager F10 : Starchart Shift - F7 : Minefields Shift - F8 : Meteors Ctrl - F1 : Unpack Ctrl - F2 : Maketurn Esc, Alt-F3 : Close window Tab, Pfeile : Choose menupoint Enter : Activate menuepoint Yellow letters choose and activate a menuepoint. IX. Menue-/Makro-Ability: ───────────────────────── The ability to have an own defined menue is a great advanage. Just choose OPTIONS, SETUP UTILITIES and have up to 15 other programmes and routins work under VPLRead. Enter the name under MENUENAME that should appear later in the pulldownmenue, under NAME the simple DOS-command, and under parameters the rest of the DOS-command or some of the macros ┌─────────┐ │ Page 13 │█ └─────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ predefined by the author (list see Online-help or OPTIONS). Jumping between DOS, Planets.exe, self-defined tools and VPLRead offers the greatest possibilities with playing incredible VGA-PLanets (c) by TIM WISSEMAN.