Monster Media 1994 #1

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Text File | 1993-11-17 | 19KB | 413 lines

PR_SHIP v1.1 ============================================================================= GENERAL INFO ============================================================================= PR_SHIP is an editor designed to change a number of parameters within the Privateer(TM) .SAV files. Operation is menu-based with hot-keys available. Parameters that may be edited are ship type, shields, engines, number of missiles or torpedoes, type of already installed cannons, friend/foe, credits, location, targetting system, ECM system, and plotline mission completion. A module to edit ship parameters of all 18 ships in the game is included, and facilitates editing of acceleration, speed, maneuverability, armor thickness, shields and weapons loadouts. The Privateer(TM) .SAV files are variable in length, and composed of numbers of records dependent upon installed equipment, unfulfilled missions, etc. This version has not been well-tested on files that contain mission text. This includes missions from both Guilds and the mission computer. This DOES NOT include the plotline missions; these may be edited freely. (If you have a guild/computer mission loaded, do not edit name, callsign, friend/foe status, and disregard this infomration, as well as kill totals.) ============================================================================= KNOWN PROBLEMS ============================================================================= The Privateer(TM) executable file is extremely intolerant of unexpected data; this may cause a lockup, system crash, or at best termination of the program and return to DOS. 1. Try not to edit ship type when type of equipment installed is not available in the desired new model. For example, changing your Tarsus into an Orion to buy an aft turret will lock the system when you switch back to a Tarsus and take off. What may and may not be done in this mode must be determined by experimentation. 2. My understanding of the .SAV files is far from complete; Jesus Saves; Jesus also Backs Up. So should you. Often. If there is a problem with this editor, or it doesn't do what was expected, please e-mail me with the problem and a copy of the offending .SAV file so I can work out a fix as soon as possible. 3. Editing Engines. This is the most problematical edit in the entire file. For example, level 5 engines were installed on a Tarsus. When checking at the Ship Dealer, the engine was indeed in there, however it required 50,000cr of repairs. This has only been observed with the Tarsus, and is due to this ship having a shorter engine damage field than the other three. This version does not correct this problem. 4. Editing number of missiles. After you do so, and load Privateer, take off immediately. Going into the ship dealer sometimes brings the total back down to the norm allowed. This will also occur once you land at a base. Maximum number of missiles is 255. 5. Credits. Must be a number no greater than 2,147,483,647. (I trust this amount will be suitable for all needs. <g>) Credits are represented by a signed long integer in Privateer(TM). Above that number, credits becomes a negative value due to the high bit becoming a 1, and thus indicating a negative number. 6. Be forewarned: This software misused can seriously deplete the level of enjoyment derived from this game. Might I suggest it be used as a guild/pirate/whatever skunkworks to obtain what is not available through normal channels, and as such deduct the suggested amounts of payment from your account. 7. Editing global ship parameters via the Ships menu is risky without a backup of the file being edited (OBJECTS.TRE). ============================================================================ NAVIGATING THROUGH THE PROGRAM ============================================================================= The program opens to the "About" screen, which may be closed by striking any key. MAIN WINDOW: ALT+F Open File Menu ALT+S Open Ships Menu ALT+M Open Missions Menu ALT+X Exit Immediately ALT+E Open Edit Menu ALT+H Open Help Menu Any currently open file is displayed on the bottom bar. FILE MENU: The UP and DOWN arrows may be used to select a function, ENTER to execute it. Once the File Menu is open, hot keys are available: Open (O) Opens File Selection Window Save (S) Saves File Save As (A) Opens Save File Window Exit (X) Exits to DOS File Selection UP and DOWN arrows to select, PGUP and PGDN to see the next six file names, ENTER to open selected file. Note that a maximum of 18 files will appear on the menu. If the number of files is greater than this, and the desired file is not listed, press TAB to enter a filename. You must enter the full file name. Save As You will be prompted to enter a filename. You must enter the full filename including the extension. Exit Self-Explanatory. EDIT MENU View: (V) Opens the View Window. Ship Type (S) Opens Ship Editing Window Weaponry (W) Opens Weaponry Editing Window Engines/Shields (E) Opens Engine/Shield Editing Window Credits (C) Opens Credits Editing Window Status (T) Opens Status Editing Window Ship Type: UP and DOWN arrows to select new type, ENTER to execute. ESC to return to Main Window. View Window: Summary of current ship parameters. ESC to return to Main Window. Most is self-explanatory. Friend/ Foe (lower right) is graduated as (N)eutral, (F)riendly, or (H)ostile. Numbers to the right of each entry are kills for that category. Total kills is the bottom entry on the right side. (Kills may not be edited.) Weaponry: This opens to a sub-menu by category: Launchers, Cannons, ECM system and Targetting system. Access is by UP and DOWN arrows, and then ENTER. Hot keys are first letters of each category. To edit Cannons use the up and down arrows to select which cannon is to be edited, and then go through the choices with the tab key. Positions may not be edited. This program can only change preexisting cannons. To edit launchers, select launchers. The edit window defaults to editing the launchers themselves. (To edit number and type of missiles, hit right arrow. Left arrow will get you back to the launcher edit.) Select a launcher with the up and down arrow keys, use TAB to scroll through the available possibilities. Tractor Beams are in the launcher section of the .SAV file. An installed tractor beam may be changed to a missile launcher. Note that turret missile launchers will not fire from the turret, however they will fire forward when firing missiles from the cockpit. (A volley of three or four missiles at a time ain't bad!) Note that turret-mounted torpedo launchers do not fire at all. To edit projectile type, select which is to be edited with the up and down arrows, then scroll through the available choices with the TAB key. To edit number of projectiles, first select which type with the up and down arrow keys, then press PLUS (+) or MINUS (-) to change the total. Maximum is 255. When editing projectiles, be wary you do not select a projectile you don't have a launcher for. Privateer will crash under these circumstances. Editing missiles is straightforward. Torpedoes are not. There is a seperate torpedo field for each launcher installed, whereas missiles seem to be treated as "communal property." Be sure not to edit away a torpedo field without also removing the launcher. If you change missile launchers or tractor beams to torpedo launchers, make sure you have enough different types of projectiles to edit them into the required number of torpedo fields. (Or better, sell your missiles before doing the edit, then just buy bunch of torps.) NOTES ON STELTEK CANNONS: There are three types. Steltek/D is the type installed on the drone. Steltek/U is what you get at the derelict before the Stelteks attach the power booster. Steltek is the fully charged variety, which seems to be superior. Engines/Shields: Defaults to Engine editing mode. Press + or - to change engines. Pressing ENTER will log the change. Engine or shield editing modes may be accessed with the UP and DOWN arrow keys. ECM System: Select with up and down arrows, ENTER to execute the change. ECM system 4 will provide 100% protection from guided missiles by preventing a lock from being established. This will still show up in the Ship Repair Area as ECM System 3. Targetting: The lowest model of each brand is initially shown. Select the brand you wish with the up and down arrow keys, then TAB to scroll through the available choices. Enter logs the change. Credits: TAB to enter new value, ESC to return to Main Window. Status Window: Edit name, callsign, location, guild memberships, friend/foe status. Friend/Foe status of the Retros and the Steltek Drone (The Green Easter Egg of Doom) may be edited as well as the more "normal" parameters. If you choose to edit these parameters, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE with them while in flight. The only available choice will be "This attitude not possible". Sending that as a message will crash Privateer. Hot keys available in this sub-menu are the first letters of each category. Name/Call SIgn: To edit name or callsign, select the desired choice with the Up and DOWN arrow keys, and press tab to open a data entry window. Location: To edit current location, the + and - keys scroll through the possibilities. Press ENTER to log the change. Guilds: To edit guild affiliations, select the desired field with the UP and DOWN arrow keys. TAB will toggle YES/NO. Friend/Foe To edit Friend/Foe status, select the item with the up and down arrows, then toggle through the choices with the TAB key. ENTER registers the change. SHIPS MENU CAUTION! This edits the OBJECTS.TRE file in Privateer. Backing up this file is strongly urged! Edit brings up a selection box. The TAB key will scroll through 18 ship choices. ENTER will select, and bring up a parameters screen. The editing screen is essentially broken down into two parts. The left side is weapons loadouts of cannons, launchers and projectiles. It's handy to know what the actual loadouts of other ships are, even if you don't do any editing, as the documentation that came with the game is not always correct. (Editing here does not affect player ships.) The right side of the edit screen contains four windows, from top to bottom. The first one is Speed, split into Maximum Speed, Afterburner Speed and Acceleration. The second window contains the Flight Characteristics of the ship: roll, pitch and yaw. Third window is armor thickness, broken down into Left, Right, Fore and Aft. These values are global, affecting all ships in the game, whether player or game controlled. Last one is for Shield Strength. These seem to range between 5 and 11 normally, and may be edited within a range of 1-11. (This edit affects only game-controlled ships.) The TAB key will move the editing highlight from window to window. Use the up and down arrow keys to select which parameter is to be edited, and + and - make the change. Pressing ENTER is not necessary. Guns may not be removed entirely, but may be changed into less (or more <g>) powerful models. Types of launchers or projectiles may not be changed, but the number of projectiles can. (So, if you want to remove missile capacity from a particularly difficult enemy, simply edit all the missile quantities to zero.) In making changes to flight characteristics, note that these changes are global. If you give yourself very high values, hope that you don't meet up with someone flying the same model ship! (Hitting something going 1000k/s is difficult even if you can match speed with it.) Also, maneuverability (Roll, Pitch and Yaw) set too high becomes difficult to control. NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE to objects.tre until Save from the Ships Menu is selected. MISSIONS MENU (plotline missions only) Selecting Edit brings up the Missions editing window. This will display the current mission in the .SAV file, if any, and its current status. TAB will scroll through all of the missions, however status will no longer be displayed until a selection is made. Press ESC to abort without making any changes. Once a mission is selected by pressing ENTER, that mission will be marked as completed, and mission status will again be displayed. A description of the currently displayed mission appears in the box under the editing window. If jumping to a previous mission, all missions originally completed after that one will be erased. Selecting "None" removes all mission records, and starts you up at the beginning, should you want to play the missions over with the same character. (Select "None" first before proceeding if you've either failed a mission, or have completed all of them. See notes below on recovering from failed missions.) If you want to jump to a specific mission, complete the one before it. You must still speak to the fixer for the mission that has just been marked as completed, then either accept the next mission from that fixer, or travel/edit your way to the next location to speak to the next fixer. Note that the normal progression of the game inserts a time delay between the end of mission 5D, and meeting the fixer for mission 7A. (There is no series 6) Selecting Mission 7A as complete sets up the file for immediately meeting Sandra Goodin at any mining base, and changes location to Vishnu Mining Base, Rikel System, but does not complete the mission for you. (Since all you've got to do is fly to Perry, and the conversation with Ms. Goodin enhances the plotline and persona!) The dour-looking woman at the bar is Sandy. Just go on in and say hi. <g> The correct location for the mission selected is automatically provided. The exception to this is Mission 5D; the editor leaves you at the first point of landing in the mission, as a player action/decision is required here. You must either edit/fly your way to Rygannon after this. Note that special items that would be gotten from a fixer at mission start are not provided by this program when marking a mission as complete. (Most notably, the maps in series 5.) To obtain these, speak to the fixer about the mission, accept the mission, save the game, then edit the file.) While this editor can mark as complete the first mission, even if you haven't talked to the Fixer/Accepted the mission, this is not desirable as there is a special item involved. FAILED MISSIONS: Once you have spoken to the Fixer and have been told you failed, the game closes out all missions. To recover from this, select "None" to clear the failure, then proceed as per normal mission editing procedures as outlined above. If you have NOT spoken to the Fixer, then simply hit ENTER to change the status to complete. HELP MENU Help (H) On-line Help text. About (A) Opens "About" Window. Help: Accesses several screens of on-line help. Screens contain summaries of all menus, sub-menus and editing functions. All hot keys are listed in the on-line help facility. About: Opens a brief descriptive window containing version number of this software. ============================================================================= REVISION HISTORY ============================================================================= v0.9 10-17-93 Original Version, alpha and beta testing, not released for public use. v1.0 11-12-93 v1.1 11-16-93 Added global weapons loadout editing for all game- controlled ships, added number of kills (total and by category) to the View Window, added mission text descriptions, added limited on-line help, fixed Friend/Foe Edit Window display bug, fixed keyboard data entry window spillover bug, code profiled and optimized to speed up execution and reduce download time. Future upgrades will be issued as more information on Privateer(tm) and the .SAV files becomes available. Version 2.0, release date undetermined, will likely contain a mouse interface. Privateer(TM) and everything it involves is a registered trademark of Origin Systems. This software is supplied with no guarantee of suitability for any purpose whatsoever, nor does the author assume responsibility or liability for the consequences of, nor damages arising from, the use or misuse of this software. This software may be distributed freely as shareware, providing no fee or charge is made for either this software, the magnetic media it is supplied upon, or its distribution. If you have any comments, suggestions, or difficulties with this program, I may be reached via CIS e-mail. Support Your Local Programmer! I would like to continue updating and upgrading this program, and create new ones as more games come along. If you would like to make a make a $5-10 DONATION, please make checks payable to Tina E. Verras, 115 Beach 129th St., Belle Harbor, N.Y., 11694.