The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/s/sre0990a.zip/UNPACK.EXE/DOCS/SYSOP.DOC

Text File | 1993-01-08 | 17KB | 317 lines

                       ┌────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┐
───────────────────────┤                        │                         │
  ─────────────────────┤   SOLAR REALMS ELITE   │   Sysop Documentation   │
    ───────────────────┤                        │                         │
      ─────────────────┼────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┤
        ───────────────┤                                                  │
          ─────────────┤ * Installation instructions                      │
            ───────────┤                                                  │
              ─────────┤ * Special configuration considerations           │
                ───────┤                                                  │
                  ─────┤ * Sysop options                                  │
                    ───┤                                                  │
                      ─┤ * Configuration information                      │
                       │                                                  │
───────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──
  INTRODUCTION
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Copyright 1992 by Amit J Patel

Written by Amit Patel at the Solar Realms BBS, [phone] [1:106/900]
Canadian Distribution and Registration managed by Hardy Rosenke at
      Home HARDware (!) BBS, [phone] [1:153/923]

This game is an IBM version of Space Empire Elite (S.E.E.), an Atari ST
online game.  Space Empire, S.E.E.'s ancestor, was written by Jon Radoff.
Then S.E.E. was written by Jurgen Van Den Handle, and the newer versions of
S.E.E. were updated and maintained by Carlis Darby and David Pence of
HyperSpace Software. David Pence now supports S.E.E. for the Atari ST
computers.  Carlis Darby worked on an IBM version of S.E.E.  SRE was
originally a clone of S.E.E., written from scratch on the IBM without the
source code to S.E.E., and from there it has evolved differently than
S.E.E. Although S.E.E. is (and probably always will be) superior to SRE, we
wrote SRE to give IBM users a chance to play this game.

SRE is a game in which players build an empire and at the same time build a
military to defend against other empires.  Up to 25 players can build
empires in each Galaxy.  The Galactic Coordinator ("It"), controlled by
computer, is the ruler of the Galaxy.  It offers protection for the empires
to build up without fear of being destroyed by larger empires, and It sells
soldiers, fighters, defense stations, heavy cruisers, carriers, generals, a
command ship, planets, covert agents, lottery tickets, and food to each
empire.  In return, the Galactic Coordinator collects taxes from each
empire; It uses most of the taxes to distribute Galactic funding daily so
that each empire may have spending money outside of its own profits.  Large
empires usually make more money than the funding, but smaller empires make
a significant amount of money from funding.  Empires can attack each other
to capture planets for themselves, or use covert operations to cause
internal disorder in opponent empires.  They can also attack 9 pirate
teams, which are computer-controlled.  There is also great potential in
peaceful relations between empires:  there are 6 treaty types to encourage
either military or peaceful alliances.  Also, empires can trade with each
other if one empire wishes to rid himself of an item that another empire
has.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  INSTALLATION
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Be aware that SRE requires approximately 280k of conventional memory to run.

Installation of SRE should be fairly simple unless we haven't added support
for your particular type of BBS.  If not, you may wish to call our board to
see if there is a utility that will make the necessary door conversions to
set up SRE on your system.

IMPORTANT:  This version is NOT compatible with versions older than 0.990.
            If you are running one of those, your game will be wiped out!
            I suggest setting up a new option on your BBS for this new
            version, and keeping the old one as well.

  1.  Run "INSTALL SRE" to set up the doorfile information and create a
      batch file.  We have tested the game with DOOR.SYS and DORINFO1.DEF;
      I do not yet have support for the 52-line DOOR.SYS.  I have
      added several others, but they are not fully tested.  If one
      does not work, try another.  For example, Spitfire has 4
      formats; one may work!  There isn't any harm in installing for a
      compatible BBS format; for example, if you run TAG, and you wish
      to set up for DORINFO1.DEF instead of DOOR.SYS, you can run the
      RBBS setup.

  2.  Install the door to run the batch file (SRE.BAT) from the BBS.
      (See your BBS manual if you do not know how to do this.  The
      installer may have some clues also.)

    - If you have Wildcat 3.0 or WWIV, the game may have trouble
      running locally.  You may want to ask a remote user to try the
      game before you throw it out.  Also, if it works remotely, then
      to run locally, use a second copy of the batch file that runs
      "SRE /LOCAL" instead of "SRE" to force local mode on.

    - If you have WWIV, there is a program available on our BBS
      (WW4SR21.ARJ) that helps you set up SRE with WWIV.  (Try it only
      if you can't get SRE to run with our INSTALL program.)

    - If you have Genesis Deluxe, there is a program called GENPC that
      will replace SRDOOR.  SRDOOR attempts to convert Genesis Deluxe
      door info to DOORFILE.SR; GENPC will do this also, but the
      author of GENPC knows exactly how Genesis works, so GENPC works
      better than SRDOOR.  Also, I have asked Carter Downer to send me
      the door format for Genesis Deluxe, so SRE will soon support
      Genesis Deluxe.

    - If you have PC-Board 14.x, there is a program called P2SR that
      will replace SRDOOR.  You can set up for PC-Board 12, and then
      replace the line in your batch file with "SRDOOR" with "P2SR".

    - If you have FOREM-PC or Maximus and you are unable to install the
      game, we have files on our board with detailed instructions on
      how to set up the game.

  3.  RESET the game with "SRE RESET".       *** VERY IMPORTANT ***
      (Note:  SRE.EXE is the executable, and RESET is the parameter.)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  SPECIAL CONFIGURATIONS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

If you are running a multinode system, please be aware that SRE is not
designed to run multi-node.  It will create a semaphore file, INUSE.SR,
and if it is found when SRE is run again, it will exit so that a second
user cannot play.

If you are running multiple nodes with different speed modems, you may
have trouble with SRE's locked baud rate setup.  The installation program
writes into RESOURCE.DAT:

                LockBaudRate                    19200

which may need to be different for each node.  What you can do is create
a RESOURCE.1 and RESOURCE.2 (as many as needed) with that one LockBaudRate
line in each.  The rest of the resources should be in RESOURCE.DAT.  Then
edit your batch file to run

                SRE -n1         and             SRE -n2

on nodes 1 and 2.  SRE will read RESOURCE.DAT, and then RESOURCE.n where
n is the node number, so you can have different setups on each node.  If
your BBS passes the node number as a command line parameter, you can use

                SRE -n%1

or something similar.


─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  SYSOP OPTIONS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

SRE has several features that makes it easier for the sysop to run the game:

   1.  SRDOOR is an *external*, not internal, door converter.  If your BBS
       doesn't want to cooperate with SRE, you can do several things to get
       your doorfile converted to DOORFILE.SR.  (They are listed in the
       documentation for SRDOOR.)  For example, Genesis Deluxe sysops can use
       a program called "GENPC" to convert from Genesis format to SRE format
       without using SRDOOR.  Searchlight and Maximus BBS software do not
       need a door converter at all.

   2.  F1 will bring up a help window on the sysop keys that are available.
       F2 brings up a status window that allows you to spy on the player.
       F5 returns the user to the BBS.  F7 and F8 decrease/increase the amount
       of time the user has left online.  F10 activates chat mode; it is
       deactivated with 'ESC'.  The chat has color support (^P followed by
       a digit 0-9 changes color), and when you exit, it will restore the
       line the user was on before you entered chat.  You can also shell
       to DOS by pressing Alt-J.

   3.  Auto-deletion of players occurs after 10 days of inactivity.  This
       kills players who aren't playing anymore, so you don't worry about the
       game becoming too full.  This can be controlled from Resource.DAT.

   4.  "SRE SYSOP" allows you to delete players manually, change their empire
       name, or change the user name (in case the user has changed handles on
       the BBS).

   5.  Help on function keys that you can use is available by pressing F1.
       (Even while a player is playing.)

   6.  The sysop can easily modify many configuration options by editing
       Resource.DAT.  (See Docs/Resource.DOC for details)

   7.  Running "SRE HELP" will show you the command-line options.

   8.  You can lock certain users out of the game by adding their names
       to Text/Lockout.LST.  Just put one username per line, and whenever
       that user tries to play, it will display a message and send them
       back to the BBS.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  CONFIGURATION
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

You can set various parameters when you RESET the game; there are more that
can be set in a configuration file called Resource.DAT.  To see a list of
Resource.DAT options, please see Docs/Resource.DOC.

You can add your own text into SRE:  The file Text/Topics.HLP is a place
to put help topics, bulletins, and advisor hints.  To see what the options
are for adding text there, read the end of Text/SRTopics.HLP.

There are many ANSI/text screens that you can add into SRE.  These files
are shown at various places in the game:

Screens/Title                   Before entering the game
Screens/Return                  Before returning to the BBS
Screens/NewPlayer               Shown to players the first time they enter
Screens/GameFull                When there is no space for another empire
Screens/Lockout                 Shown to users whose names are in Lockout.LST
Screens/WinWar                  Win a conventional attack
Screens/LoseWar                 Lose a conventional attack
Screens/TwoTimer                Find a double spy
Screens/CivilWar                Civil war occurs
Screens/Guerilla                Attacker sees this
Screens/NukeWar                 Shown if nuclear attack is successful
Screens/ChemWar                 Shown if chemical attack is successful
Screens/RaidWar                 Successful pirate raid
Screens/Collapse                Player lost all his planets
Screens/Abandoned               Entire population left the empire
Screens/TimeUp                  User's time has run out
Screens/Revolt                  Planets revolt
Screens/Thieves                 Pirates steal money
Screens/Planets                 Planets are lost
Screens/HighTax                 Violence due to high taxes
Screens/FoodLost                Food is lost to pirates
Screens/Nuclear                 Player is offered a nuclear weapon
Screens/Chemical                Player is offered a chemical bomb

You can create files with .TXT extensions for non-ANSI users, and .ANS
extensions for ANSI users.  If there is a .TXT file but not an .ANS file,
everyone will see the .TXT file.  If there is an .ANS file but not a .TXT
file, non-ANSI users will see nothing.  If neither file exists, nothing
will be shown.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  HOW IT WORKS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Your BBS creates a door file containing user data.  SRDOOR interprets that
door file.  Since there are many different types of BBS door files, SRDOOR
needs to know how to interpret the file.  SRDOOR has a setup file called
SETUP.SR that contains this information.  Then SRDOOR writes the
information to a file called DOORFILE.SR.

Then SRE runs.  SRE reads from DOORFILE.SR.  Most door games read the BBS
door file directly.  Why do we have a separate program?  One thing is that
if someone has a BBS that SRE doesn't support, they can write a new program
to replace SRDOOR.  So far, I've heard of WW4SR, GENPC, STDOOR, P2SR, and
SFDORFIL, all of which interpret the doorfile and convert it to
DOORFILE.SR. Also, if you want to play without a BBS, you can create a
DOORFILE.SR and run SRE, without having to go through a BBS.

I hope that if you have trouble with SRE, you can tell us at which step
the program stops working.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  DISCLAIMERS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

I wrote this game for fun, and I assume no responsibility for damages
caused by running this program.  I have tried to make sure that there are
no major bugs in the program, but inevitably a few will pop up.  The best
way to report bugs is by sending me snailmail.  The best way to suggest new
features or get technical support is to post to the SRGAMES fidonet echo.

If you want some legal mumbo jumbo:

The Solar Realm disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether
express or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.  Neither The Solar
Realm nor the authors of this program shall be liable for any indirect,
consequential, or incidental damages arising out of the use or inability to
use such software, even if The Solar Realm has been advised of the
possibility of such damages or claims.  In no event shall The Solar Realm's
liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the registration
fee for this software, regardless of the form of the claim.  The person or
persons using this software bear all risks as to the quality and
performance of this program.

It is your responsibility to determine if this program will work reliably
on your computer system and your software environment.  This program is
available in an unregistered form for the purpose of evaluation; by
registering, you acknowledge that it works to your satisfaction.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  CONTACTING ME
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

If you have any more questions/comments/problems, you can contact the
author of SRE by snailmail:

    Amit J. Patel
    4851 Cairnsean
    Houston, TX 77084-2541

Please do not send mail one year after the release date of SRE.  You can
check the release date by running SRE; before the title screen, it displays
the date of release.  This is so that you won't send to a non-existent
person!  (Just in case I move away...)

If you are on the Internet, you may email me at [e-mail].
This account will be open until MARCH 1994, so don't email after that!

You can also call SunStriker's BBS, The Solar Realm, at [phone].
There is no validation required (full access on first call), so you can
download SRE if you would like to.  The 'N' key in the main menu allows you
to leave some comments to me.  Be warned:  the board is very busy!  If you
want to save time while logging on, you can log on under an 'anonymous'
user called GUEST.  It will not create a user for you (saving the hassle of
the new-user questionaire), but you will be able to access the files
quickly.

You could send FidoNet mail to The Solar Realm:  1:106/900.  File-requests
of "BRE", "SRH", "SRE", "AC6", "LEA", "PC", and "SCE" are also available.

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