The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/emp48.zip/README

Text File | 1991-10-08 | 12KB | 256 lines

10/06/91

Emperors and Empresses,

This is version 1.48 of GS Empire.  This version has some minor bug fixes
and cleanup. Note: games created with versions prior to 1.38 will not
work correctly.  You will need to recreate your world with EMPCRE.

For those of you who are new to GS Empire, please read the *.DOC files,
especially the STRATEGY.DOC file.  For those of you familiar with GS Empire
on a Un*x system, read the DELTA.DOC for the differences you can expect.  I
am not a tech writer, so please bear with me.  If you find that something
is not covered well (or at all) in the docs, please let me know.

GS Empire has no system type restrictions.  All it requires is ANSI.SYS to be
installed and 512K of memory.  It will work on a monochrome screen,
although you will miss out on all the pretty colors.  It has run on
PC/XT/AT and 386 systems, clones and IBMs, with Monochrome, CGA, EGA, and
VGA screens.  Although, rumor has it that Hercules/Mono-graphics type cards
don't always work.

Instructions:

Copy all the files from the floppy to a directory on your hard disk.  From
this directory run UNPACKIT.BAT.  This will unzip the executables and make
the appropriate directories.  The DATA directory is used by the game to store
the game world data.  The INFO directory holds the on-line help and doc files.
These files are just text, so feel free to print them out.  You only need
to run UNPACKIT.BAT once.

To make a world, run empcre.exe.   Empcre has several line arguments;
nn    A number that empcre will use to seed the random generator.  If
    this number is the same then the world will always be the same.
-cream    destroys (creams it) the current world and makes a new one.
-t    turns on trace flag. Displays map of world.
-d    turns on debug flag. Tells you everything it's doing.
-s=xx    Puts world in file 'xx'.  A debug tool for me.
-Mxx    Percentage of Mountains to create.
-Lxx    Percentage of Land (wilderness) to create.
-Sxx    Percentage of Water to create.
  The above three commands must add to 100 or the world will not be created.

empcre -cream

   This will create a new world, creaming out the old one, with the default
   settings of 8% Mountains, 37% Wilderness, and 55% Sea.

You will probably only use -cream.

To play the game, run EMPIRE.EXE.  GS Empire has several line arguments;
-bnn  Sets the BTU limit to nn. Default 255. Max 512 (10 - 512)
-gnn  Sets the game turnlen to nn seconds per person. Default 300 (1 - 3600)
-unn  Sets internal update tick to nn seconds. Default 5 (1 - 3600)
-wnn  Sets Warp speed to nn.  Work gets done fast at high warp. (1 - 100)
-pnn  Sets ship price mulitplier.  Default 10 (1 - 1000)

Read the doc so you know what to expect.  On-line help is available with
'?'.  I'll try to make the introduction here more complete.  Comments are
welcome.  Sorry, but it is a one keyboard game right now.  I have played a
game at work with some co-workers.  We played an enjoyable game on a Novelle
LAN by taking turns (one person plays for a half hour in the morning, then I
play for a half hour at lunch and the other person plays in the afternoon).
It worked out OK considering we had a lot of work to do.  We use an honor
system.

EMPRINT is an undocumented utility to printout the various world info for
off-line study.  It just outputs the info to the screen, so it can be
redirected to a file for more permanent storage.  To redirect output:

    EMPRINT > foo

You be prompted for country number and password, then the map and census
is output to the file 'foo'.  Use your favorite editor from there.

If you find this game to be enjoyable a small contribution would be
appreciated ($15 - $20).  It is a very addictive game so I'm sure you will
get your moneys worth.  If you have already contributed please believe me,
I appreciate it.

PKUNZIP is a separate program that I do not support.  If you use it please
support it.  Send them money if you like it and continue to use it.

And yes, I am working on a network version.  No, I am not releasing the
source code.  I am also working on some global commands.

All comments and contributions:

Make checks payable to:
    Gordon R. Storga
    PO Box 18213
    San Jose, CA  95158
    408/264-6105 evenings


Release Notes:
version 1.48--------------------------------------------------------
*     Cleaned up loan code.

*     Removed extraneous debug code that took up valuable memory.

version 1.47--------------------------------------------------------
*    Made it so that when you scroll off the current screen it doesn't
erase what you've already seen.  Saves all that radar cost.

version 1.46--------------------------------------------------------
*    Corrected a problem in creating odd size worlds.  Since this only
occurred at compile time no one in the field would have noticed.

*    Corrected the default values of the world map.  They weren't
accurate enough.  Again no one would have noticed.

version 1.45--------------------------------------------------------
*    Corrected some of the hard to find 'item mismatches' that occur after
battle.  Hopefully they will not happen again.

version 1.44--------------------------------------------------------
*    Made a correction to the food consumpion formula.  It now works
correctly.  This means food is now a bigger factor than before.  Please
read the new FOOD.DOC file for particulars.

*    Added a basic ROUTE command.  The game should not be played in
this mode, but you can look around in it.  See appropriate help file.

*    Made various corrections to the help files.  Thanks again Gary.

*    Corrected a problem in Dissolve where sanctuaries were not being set to wilderness.

*    Added @ and # to the Help screen options.  They bring up the sector type and shiptype doc files on screen.

*    Added a Deity command: ^L   This allows you to look at the actual
sector types on the map when viewing other countries.  It is a toggle and
requires you to cause the screen to redraw (move off the edge).

*    Fixed the screen movement so that when navigating or moving items
the screen will adjust when you are one sector from the edge.  This will
prevent the old 'moved off the edge of the screen into a mountain' syndrome.

version 1.43--------------------------------------------------------
*    Ship radar is not explained real well in current help screens.
It is a function of tech factor, size of ship being looked at, radar range
of ship doing the looking, and weather.  I'll add some formula to the help
screen one of these days.

*    I now prevent you from Dissolving the Deity.

*    Changed Update command.  You can now update just the current
screen, or the entire realm.

*    Plague!!  I have gotten plague working really well.  You can now
spread plague in any one of several ways:  flying planes from an
infected sector  to  another will  spread  the desease (if  the pilots
survive the landing).   Also,  in this  game  ships can  spread plague
(although  it  never spontaneously  generates  on  ships).  Successful
Attacks,  Assaults,  Landings, Unloading, Loading, Delivering, Moving,
Granting,  Collecting, Purchasing, Tending, or Boarding can all spread
plague.  To see if a sector has plague use the Sector Info command.

*    Added help files for ship types and sector types.  Use '?' to see
the help screen.  Then use '@' or '#' for respective help files.

*    Corrected a long standing bug.  It appears I wasn't ever closing
the News file after adding a news item.  Consequently you could run out of
file handles real quick.  The error would appear as; not being able to
read telegrams, not being able to read the news, not being able to read
the logfile, not being able to use DOS access, and not being able to read
the help files.  You'll notice that the top right corner of the map screen
now shows something like Files:8.  This is debug code that enables me to
track the files left open.  If this number ever goes higher than whatever
it is to start with (8 - 10) then we have a problem.

*    Changed Over-lay Ships command to Toggle Ship display. Since ships
are always displayed normally, you can now toggle this option. (Thanks Frank)

*     installed some internal integrity checks on the News file.

*    Upgraded all the help files to reflect past and present changes.

version 1.42--------------------------------------------------------

*    Installed a landing loop for planes landing on Carriers.
Previously, if you tried to land on a Fleet where you had more than one
Carrier you only had one shot at choosing each Carrier.  If you didn't
choose one by the time I went throught the ships once then your planes hit
the drink.  Now I just start the loop over. (Thanks Gary)

*    Pressing 'v' or 'l' will allow you to look down from your
bombers.

version 1.41--------------------------------------------------------
*    Changed program to allow ships to defend against other ships moving
into your ocean area.

*    Fixed bug where Carriers were erased when you flew planes from
them.

*    Added Diety powers to change values of each sector.  You must be
the Diety and use the 'j' command (not documented).

*    Fixed bug where ships did not fire on planes correctly.  The odds
were being figured wrong.

version 1.40--------------------------------------------------------
*    Version 1.39 was not released due to link error on my part.

*    Fixed defend code where some forts didn't defend themselves when
under attack.

*    Added a feature where Nation Report now displays the other
country numbers by their color, as you would see them by radar.

*    Ships are now displayed all the time.  The 'o' command will
probably be rerouted to something else later.  CNTL-O still needed to see
mines.

*    Fixed a bug in displaying mines.  They used to disappear after the
first turn you dropped them (they were still there you just couldn't see
them till you ran into them; Thanks Gary).

*    Fixed a long standing bug where you could take over an unowned
sector by moving something besides a person into it.  It now requires a
person or you won't get the sector.

*    When a person is eliminated I now try to mask out the news
references to them.

*    When passing through a sector owned by someone else pressing INS
will tell you who it belongs to and what the sector type is.

version 1.38--------------------------------------------------------
*     modified EXCAVATE to excavate wilderness to sea sectors.  You can now
build moats!  See new EXCAVATE.HLP file.

*     DOC and HLP files are now up to date.

*    Ships now cost more (default of 10 times more than before.  This
cost multiplier can be controlled by using -pxx when starting the EMPIRE
program where xx is the multiplier you want to use.

*    Fixed a bug in LOANS where if you offered a loan to someone and
went negative in money BEFORE they accepted they too went negative.

*    Implimented a logfile for tracking games turns.  At the end of
each persons turn a file in the DATA directory is updated with their
country name and the current time.  This is helpful right now when playing
on a rotating turn basis.

*    In addition to the logfile I added a byte to the nation file that
tracks the number of turns each player has played in the game to date.
Previously "Rounds" were only tracked during the current session.  Now
rounds reflect how many turns each player has taken to date on an
individual basis.

*     Added arguments to EMPCRE.  You can now specify the percentages of
Land, Water and Mountains when creating a world.