Frostbyte's 1980s DOS Shareware Collection/floppyshareware.zip/floppyshareware/APOG/ECPLAY40.ZIP/ECPLAY.DOC

Text File | 1993-06-18 | 9.3 KB | 217 lines

May 15, 1993

  VGA and a Microsoft compatable mouse are required to run ECPLAY.

  If you are like me, you want to just get into the program and try it out,
then read the directions later.  Well, I encourage this.  You will find
ECPLAY very easy to use.

  The following files should be included with this program.  If any are
missing, please call the File Exchange BBS for the latest version.

  ECPLAY.EXE
  ECPLAY.DOC    Player docs
  COLORS.CFG    planet colors
  EMPIRE.TXT    sample empire report
  PLANET.TXT    sample planet data base
  REPORT.TXT    sample messages

  When you first start Esterian Conquest on your favorite BBS, you need to
capture screen output to a file on disk.  Some comm programs simply
take a picture of the current screen.  This will not work.  You need to
be able to open a file that will record all the output from the screen.
It does not matter if you play in ANSI or text mode. Sample .txt files
are included in this archive.

  You need to create the following files using screen capture:

  Report.txt     listing of all your messages.
  Empire.txt     Detailed empire report.
  Planet.txt     Total planet database.

  When you first start EC, wait untill you see the message "You have undeleted
reports".  Open the Report.txt file and list the messages non-stop.  When
you see "(Press return)" at the bottom of the screen, close the file.  You
will then need to capture a Detailed empire report.  Name this file
Empire.txt.  As before, do a non-stop listing of this information.  Close
the file when it is finished being displayed. From the main command menu,
press T for a Total planet database.  Open the Planet.txt file and do a
non-stop listing of all planets in the galaxy.   When the report is finished,
close the file.  You do not need to edit out anything from these reports.
The program will skip the "More" prompt in the middle of a report.  These
files must be in the same directory as the ECPLAY.EXE program.

  If you find out something about some other planets in another empire,
usally through an alliance, you can edit your planet.txt file to
reflect that information.

 To start the program, type ECPLAY.  ECPLAY will first look for a mouse.
If a Microsoft compatable mouse has been found, the program will then check
to see that all the required .txt files are present.  If all goes well, then
you will be shown a grid with all the planets in the galaxy.  All other
empires will be displayed in different colors.  If you do not know anything
about a planet, a ? will be displayed.  Depending how many planets there
are in the game, the grid will auto-size to fill the screen.

  From this screen, you have several choices as to what to do.
Position the mouse over the button you want and press either mouse button.


  I EXIT:
      exits the program.


  II GENERAL:

      A Read a report.
    You select a sector, and the closest sector to the cursor that
    has reports will be selected.  All of your reports that have
    information about that sector will be displayed one at a time.
    Click on NEXT to see the next report or DONE when finished.
    You may continue selecting sectors with reports.  When you are
    finished reviewing reports, move the mouse to the top of the
    screen.

      B Show all reports.
    All sectors that have a report will be highlighted on the grid.

      C Read all reports.
    You will be shown your reports, one after the other.  Click on NEXT
    to see the next report, or DONE to stop reviewing reports.

      D Empire profile.
    You will be shown the profile of your empire.  Click either mouse
    button when finished.

      E Other empires.
    You will be shown info about all other empires in the game.  Click
    either mouse button when finished.

      F Set empire colors.
    You can set the color of the planets that appear on the grid.
    First select a planet you wish to edit by putting the mouse on
    the button with the empire number on it and clicking either mouse
    button.   An enlarged version of the current planet will appear
    at the bottom of the editing box. Next, select a drawing color
    you want by putting the mouse on any color on the color palette,
    then click either mouse button. The selected drawing color will
    fill the small box below the palette.  To change a color of the
    planet, position the mouse on the area of the large planet and
    click the mouse button.  The planet's color will now be changed.
    If you make a mistake, you can click on reset and the last saved
    set of colors will be restored.

    Save.
      Click on this button to save the current set of colors.

    Reset.
      Click on this button to read in the last set of saved colors.

      G Set other colors.
    You will be able to set other colors used in ECPLAY. Click on the
    color you want to use, then click on the display you want to
    change.  Save and Reset work the same as Set empire colors.

  III PLANET:

      A Info on a planet.
    Select a planet and information will then be displayed at the
    top of the screen.  Move the mouse into the grid and select
    the next planet you whish to review.  When you are finished
    reviewing planets, put the mouse cursor at the top of the screen
    to exit Info mode.

      B Show max production.
    Select the production level you wish to be displayed on the grid.
    The right mouse button will darken out all planets that do not
    match.  The left mouse button will highlight the planets that
    match and redraw all other planets. Click on Done when finished.

      C List your planets
    A listing of your planets, one at a time, will be shown.  Click
    on next to see the next, click on done when finished.


    IV FLEET:

      A Show fleets/ships.
    All sectors that have fleets will be highlighted.  You may then
    select a type of ship and all sectors that have that type of ship
    in them will be highlighted.  If you wish to locate a fleet, click
    on Locate a fleet and you will be able to locate a fleet based on
    it's number.

      B Review fleets.
    Select a sector and information about all fleets in that sector will
    be displayed at the top of the screen.  If there is more than 1 fleet
    in that sector, then click on the NEXT button to see the next fleet.
    Move the cursor to the top of the screen to exit Info mode.

      C Show destination.
    All sectors with fleets will be highlighted, and all destinations
    will be shown by a line drawn from the sector to the destination.
    If multiple fleets are in a sector, and they all have different
    destinations, then multiple lines will be drawn.  You may then
    select a type of mission, and all fleets with that mission will
    be shown.  You may clear the screen by clicking on the Reset button.
    Click on Done when finished.

      D Find/List fleets.
    You will be shown a listing of all your fleets.  Click on
    Pg Up or Pg Down to scroll through all of your fleets.  You may
    change the sorting of the fleets by clicking on the ID, Location,
    Destination, Mission, or Range buttons.  The list will be re-sorted
    and displayed.  If you select Range, the grid will come back up,
    select the sector with the mouse,  and the fleet list will
    be displayed sorted by distance from that sector.  The closest
    fleet will be first. The coordnates of the selected sector will
    be displayed in the Range button.

    To find a fleet that is listed, move the cursor down, and a box
    will appear.  Move the box up or down and click either mouse button
    to select.  The grid will appear and your selected fleet will be
    highlighted along with it's mission and destination.

      E Show starbases.
    All sectors that have your starbases in them will be highlighted.

      F Review starbase.
    Select a sector and information about all starbases in that sector
    will be displayed.  Move the mouse to the top of the screen to
    exit Info mode.

      G Show destination.
    If you have ordered a starbase to move, the destination will be
    shown.


     V MOUSE:
       This sets the mouse sensitivity.


    VI RESET:
       This will clear the screen, and redraw the screen with only the
       grid dots and planets.  Any menues at the top of the screen will
       remain.


  When selecting a sector, the sector closest to the mouse that matches your
inquiry will be highlighted as being selected.  This applies to getting info
about a fleet, planet, starbase, or any other area that requires you to
select a sector.  Either mouse button will work.

  Call the File Exchange (818 890-5678) with any questions or comments.
I usually work on this program every weekend (sometimes every night).
Call often to check for a newer version than the one you are currently using.
If you are calling to report a bug, please upload your .txt files and a
description of the problem you are having.  The clearer the description,
the quicker I can resolve it.   Most of the time the problem is that
your comm package adds some kind of header to the .txt file.  Edit this
addition out completely and try it again.

  Many thanks to Guy Nohrenberg of the Tin Shack BBS at [phone]
for all his help in letting me capture all of his information from many
of his current EC games.  Without this data, debugging could never happen.