Centuries ago, when the great galactic expansion began, settlers fanned out across the galaxy in search of places to strike their claim. They were in search of a new world, in search of a new beginning. At first it was a boom, much like the old west frontier on Earth. Great trading lanes were established. But, much like those early frontiers on Earth, lawlessness and piracy was the order of the day. An evil empire grew and threatened even the Earth itself.
Finally, this empire was defeated. The peace that followed actually yielded little development. The great trading lanes of the past were scarcely traveled. The dreams of many a traveler were shattered and hopes of a new future frustrated.
The year is now 2494. Many years have past since the fall of the evil empire that once threatened Earth and this part of the Galaxy. Peace has existed now for hundreds of years, but now piracy once again threatens the great trade lanes of the past. Complacency and new technology have slowly eroded the Federation's dominance. With each passing day the Earth can support fewer and fewer inhabitants. Even with constant reprocessing of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, toxicity levels increase to dangerous levels and resources are nearly depleted.
Some of the colonies are prospering while others are failing. Alien races have developed and new civilizations have been born. They have selected their own paths and have made their own friends and foes. There is a new mysterious enemy, the Draconia. They emerge from their dimension wielding devastating weapons of destruction and disappear as quickly as they appeared.
Legend has it that there will be an armageddon, a final battle between good and evil. But alien prophecy adds to this tale. That this apocalyptic event will not be the end of all that we know, but rather a new beginning. A time when adversaries must put aside their differences and stand together as one against a common enemy, an unspeakably evil enemy that knows no compatriotism, no compassion and no surrender. Could this time be upon us?
Realizing that history does indeed repeat itself, the Federation has seen the decline in the civilization of Earth and the deterioration of the colonial expansion programs of the 22nd Century. The Federation is sponsoring a new program to encourage development of the colonies and to reassert the Federation as the dominate power in the region. An elite group of individuals has been selected from the training academies to become independent merchants. The Federation has prepared a vessel, crew and equipment for this endeavor. You are one such selected.
New in this version:
o Added command line switch for DorinfoX.def identification.
o Fixed turns calculation for games with base turns over 109% to avoid negative turns on high turn ships.
o Fixed "Invalid Selection" loop for players that have been destroyed and are back in the game. Happened after having been on a planet.
o Replaced the "dark" blue status line for turns and energy with a brighter blue background display easier to read color combination.
o Added "*" indicators for unexplored sectors to display in any color configuration for ease of identification even on monochrome monitors.
o Changed color on shipnames to be reflect Alien race and Federation shiptypes. Also, removed the blinking on player listings.
o Corrected BUILD problem of creating sectors with no way out.
o Provided OTSFIX00.EXE to fix your game created with v1.00 BUILD. This will re-link sectors with double links, but will not remove the 1-ways.
o Disabled the Ctrl-Break key.
o Added <N>fo (Display Play Information) to Planet Main Command Line.
o Corrected 'B'ank access on planets to level 3.
o Expanded MSG.OUT file from 500 to 2500 messages. 100TO101.EXE converts. This should handle the "Message Bass Full" problem...
o Eliminated 'Attack with 1 fighter or 1 Ion Cannon for big points' problem.
o Corrected read of DOOR.SYS to pick up the Node Number from drop file.
o Included new equipment ansi screen (EQUIP12.ANS) containing prices.
o Team Executive Officer can now boot members off the team.
