EnigmA Amiga Run 1996 March/EnigmA AMIGA RUN 05 (1996)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1996-03][Skylink CD IV].iso/earcd/games1/sphere29.lha/SOIDATA/help.txt

Text File | 1996-02-03 | 94KB | 1,693 lines

Section # 1 Title Window
    After the program loads, you will see a title picture
with a small window across the top. The text display reads
"USE THE MENU TO CHOOSE STARTING OPTION". There are neither
gadgets nor variables to control on this window. The project
menu will offer you these options:  "Version and credits",
"start New game", "Restore saved game", "modify Galaxy's
design", and "Quit program"; each of these menu selections
is followed by a keyboard shortcut (see the sections dealing
with these menu entries: "Credits", "New Game", "Restore
Saved Game", "Design Galaxy", and "Quit Program".)
Section # 2 Version and Credits
    "Version and credits" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> +
v), displays the author's name, the copyright date, and the
version number. Selection of the close window gadget (a box
with a dot, in the window's top left corner), will close
this window.
Section # 3 Design Galaxy
    "modify Galaxy's design" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + g), opens a window providing control of
general features, and allows you to adjust the framework of
the galaxy numerically (if you choose to modify the default
settings, you must do so before starting a new game.) The
"NUMBER OF STARS" in the galaxy may be adjusted, the maximum
is 999 and there must be at least one star per player. Star
systems will randomly be created with from zero to the number
displayed in the "MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PLANETS PER STAR" planets
(with six being the limit.) The "MINIMUM DISTANCE BETWEEN
STARS" gadget affects the galactic density, "MINIMUM DISTANCE
BETWEEN OPPONENTS" regulates the approximate amount of time
between initial player contacts. The "MINIMUM PLANETS IN HOME
SYSTEM" gadget can be used to insure large home planetary
systems (minimum is 1.) "MAXIMUM DETECTION RANGE" sets the
best case distance at which a target can be detected. Three
gadgets, "MAXIMUM X COORDINATES", "MAXIMUM Y COORDINATES",
and "MAXIMUM Z COORDINATES" define the galaxy bounds, and
are limited from zero to 999, and by memory. The default X
and Y maximums keep the map window from drawing stars in
it's borders. "AUTOMATICALLY SAVE EVERY # MINUTES IS TURNED
OFF" comprises two gadgets. The string gadget expects a
number in minutes between notifying the current player that
the save timer has expired, the bounds are 1 and 10080 (the
time delay and on/off state may be changed most any time--
defaults: 15 minutes and OFF.) Three gadgets turn details on
or off--"DEPRECIATION", "POLITICAL EFFECTS", and "SOCIAL
EFFECTS". The gadget labeled "EDIT INITIAL RESOURCES" takes
you to a new window modifying resource bounds on planets.
The "RESTORE DEFAULT SETTING!" resets all non-resource
settings to their original state. Close the window when you
are satisfied with the galaxy's design. After play has
started, this information is available for display and
inspection by pressing the <Ctrl> + `g' key combination
simultaneously during a player's phase, or by menu selection
under "STATISTICS".
Section # 4 New Game
    "start New game" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + n),
starts the process of defining the scope of the game, gives
access to the handicapping and map editing features, and may
lead to the beginning of the defined game. The first data
required will be the number of players, and their status
(human or computer.) The player data window has two rows of
gadgets, you may select any combination of players--at least
one must be human. Select the close window gadget when
through, which brings up the verification requester. An
affirmative response will bring up the enter player names
window, which has string gadgets for each player's name.
Enter the names of all human players (duplicate names are
not an error condition but may lead to confusion.) You may
enter computer player names of your choice, though the
computer will randomly select from a short list of historical
names if you make no entry (computer names may not duplicate
any other names!) Closing the window, when you finish editing
the names, brings up the verify player names window; this
allows you to check for mistakes or re-edit the random
computer names. Your acceptance of the names brings up the
password requester for each human player--each human MUST
have a password. After entering all passwords, if the game will
be moderated via a BBS, you will have the chance to enter your
BBS handle. When all players have entered a password (and possibly
a handle) you will see the verification requester allowing you
your first chance to edit the galactic map. A negative response,
or termination of the map editor, will open the general handicap
window. If desired select each player in turn, handicapping them
as desired, by using the menu items or gadgets, or use the menu
item to load a handicap file for any or all players. When
you close the player handicap selection window the game begins.
Section # 5 Restore Saved Game
    "Restore saved game" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + r), brings up the file requester for your
specification of the file name of the game to be restored.
Play will be resumed showing the phase window currently
active when the game was saved. When run from the CLI, a
single parameter following the program name will be taken as
the name of a file (optionally with complete path)
containing a saved game to be restored.
Section # 6 Depreciation Effect
    The depreciation effect can be turned on or off only
before game play begins. When turned on, each build phase
includes the depreciation of all industries on all occupied
planets. The rate is adjustable for each industry of each
player, but must always remain below one and may not go
below zero. For example:  if a player's planetary computer
industry is fifty, and the player's computer depreciation
is ten percent (.1), the new number of computer industries
is forty-five, 50 - (50 * .1) = 45. The various rates of
depreciation are set in the handicap window.
Section # 7 Political Effects
    The political effect can be turned on or off only before
game play begins. Politics, if activated, affect the food
production (not consumption), population growth, and
industrial output of each planet during the build phase.
Each planet has it's own optimum political style, which
changes slowly over many turns.
Section # 8 Social Effects
    The social effect can be on or off only before game play
begins. The social atmosphere of each planet can affect it's
food production (not consumption), population growth, and
industrial output. A quality social climate must be found
balanced among ten different measurements, each of which
depict two extreme answers to hypothetical questions as
posed to the planet's society. Random social targets are
chosen originally for each planet, but these change over
time.
Section # 9 Edit Initial Resource Window
    The initial resource ranges window has three kinds of
 gadgets, plus the close window gadget. The first is a cycle
gadget, which cycles the display through the various classes
of stars (there are 21--three sizes:  dwarf, giant, and super
giant; and seven letters:  O, B, A, F, G, K, and M.) Next
come six gadgets representing planetary position, or orbital
distance, from the star. Finally come sixteen pairs of
gadgets defining the range (0 minimum to 65535 maximum)
between which a random number will be selected representing
the amount of the specific resource which will be created
given the stellar class and the position of each planet.
Entering the same two numbers for minimum and maximum will
force the use of that specific quantity--zero minimum and
zero maximum are acceptable. This allows for the creation of
more or less logical galaxies--a stellar class may share
basic resource attributes across all same class stars, and
planetary orbital position can influence resource makeup
even more specifically. The similarity of a colony planet to
the player's home planet (stellar class and position)
affects the ease of colonization and the colony's growth.
The menu allows for the saving and loading of specific
ranges of resources, as well as the whole galaxy. Savings
keeps either the currently displayed sixteen ranges, or the
whole galaxy of ranges; loading a range has six potential
targets, while loading a galaxy fills all ranges. You may
chose to load a set of ranges into just this stellar
class--either for the currently displayed planetary position
(the currently displayed position's gadget is the one which
is "ghosted" and may not be selected), or into all six
positions of this class. Similarly you may affect all three
sizes of this stellar class with the same ranges--either
this planetary position or all. You may alter all stellar
classes, this position, or all. You may save a galactic
design for further work or use, then load it back when you
wish to re-use that design.
Section # 10 Quit Program
    "Quit program" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + q),
will bring up the verification requester, a positive
response will terminate the game--all unsaved play will be
lost. This option is not available during any player's
phase--the player must end their phase or relinquish control
to quit the game.
Section # 11 Verification Requester
    The verification requester presents one or more lines of
information, representing the possible result of your most
recent action. There will be a specific question at the
bottom of the window--answer by selecting either the "YES"
or "NO" gadget as appropriate, or you may press the `y' (for
yes) or `n' (for no) keys. Occasionally, the computer must
get input from a player other than the one currently playing
their phase. When this occurs the verification requester
will cover the entire screen so that no confidential
information may be viewed by the responding player. This
only occurs if one player is trying to load or unload cargo
from an opponent's planet. If you are playing this game by
exchanging disks after each player takes their turn, a
communications method must be devised and trust must be
complete if trade between players is contemplated.
Section # 12 Edit Galactic Map
    The edit map data widow has no menus and nine or ten
gadgets. This editor allows customization of the galaxy. The
first line of text tells if this is someone's home star and
if so, who's. The "EDIT NAME:" gadget allows editing of the
star's name. The "NUMBER OF PLANETS:" gadget allows entry of
the stars existing planets (restricted by the previously set
variables `maximum planets per star' and `minimum planets
for home'.) If this is a player's home star, a "POSITION OF
HOME PLANET:" gadget displays the position of the player's
home planet and allows it to be changed. The "Star's Class"
cycle gadget allows you to change the star's class (the
planetary resources also change to reflect the new class
resource ranges.) The X, Y, and Z maximum coordinate
variables are given for referral, and three integer gadgets
allow the star's coordinates to be precisely fixed. The
"VIEW STAR:" gadget opens a specifically named star for
editing, while the "PREVIOUS STAR" and "NEXT STAR" gadget
step through the star list in either direction. Close the
window to terminate the edit session.
Section # 13 General Handicap
    The general handicap window has a "PROJECT" menu,
with player gadgets as well. Selecting a player gadget
opens the player's handicapping window. The "PROJECT" menu
has three selections, "Load all player handicaps from one file",
"load one player's handicap from a file", and
"edit the galactic Map data". Loading all handicaps from one
file brings up the file requester allowing specification of
a previously saved handicap to be used for all players identically.
After giving all players the same handicap, you may go into any
player's handicap and modify it. Close this window ONLY WHEN
COMPLETELY FINISHED with all handicapping!
Section # 14 Handicapping Players
    Player handicaps are player specific--two individual
players may or may not have the same handicap. The player
handicap window has either two or three menus (depending
upon which aspect is being handicapped), the first two are
constant, the third is only available while any one of the
first four items of the second menu are selected. The first
menu "HANDICAP FILES" has two options--"load a handicap
file", and "save this handicap file"; both bring up the file
requester asking for a file name. The save file will be a
complete player handicap file which can be used by any
single player via this window's `load handicap' command, or
by all players using the general handicap `load all
handicap' command. As soon as construction may begin,
player's may revisit their handicap window--inspecting the
entries, but may change only a few items on the last (other
single factors) aspect menu item's display.
    The second menu "ASPECT TO HANDICAP" lists fourteen
different aspects. The first four relate the cost (or
return) of a given operation (in resources consumed or
generated) and each adds a new menu to the window. This
third menu allows you to pick which specific industry or
accessory is being handicapped. All sixteen resources are
represented by floating point gadgets and may be positive or
negative.
    For example:  the first aspect listed is "planetary
industrial expansion"--the growth of new businesses; it has
a third menu "INDUSTRY TO ADJUST" which offers twelve
possibilities. Selecting one of these mutually exclusive
items updates the resource displays allowing you to modify
them to suit yourself. Let's imagine that "School" was
selected, and that these entries only have been made in the
resource gadgets--TITANIUM = 2.5, IRON = .06, KRYPTON = -1,
leaving all others at 0. Now each time a school is
constructed by this player the resources on the planet upon
which the school is built are changed: titanium is REDUCED
by 2.5 units per school built, iron is REDUCED by .06 units
per school built, and krypton is INCREASED (note the
negative entry) by 1 unit per school built. These entries
may be positive, negative, very large, or very small and
zero is quite acceptable--you must be sure to use reasonable
amounts or the game play may be ridiculous!
    Another example:  the second aspect to adjust is
"building starships" and has a third menu of "SHIP'S
ACCESSORY TO ADJUST". Imagine selecting the "Missile"
accessory, then entering these figures:  URANIUM = 3.2,
EMPLOYEES = 2.1, MONEY = 4, all the rest are at 0. Now, each
time you build a ship's missile the planet at which the ship
is docked will lose resources--3.2 uranium resource units,
2.1 employee units, and 4 credits (money.)
    The "manufacturing drones" aspect has "DRONE ACCESSORY
TO ADJUST" as it's third menu, proceed just like the
starship menu. The "planetary resource production" aspect
has a third menu listing all twelve industries and relates
the number of resources produced or consumed in the
operation of any given industry in the growth phase. No
other aspects have third menus. The "planetary industry
depreciation" is only effective when depreciation is turned
on. The "planetary resource spoilage" is always active, but
setting all resource factors to zero effectively eliminates
it from consideration.
    The "player combat factors" weight each player's combat
strength (offensively and defensively) against all other
players. The "unit combat factors" weight each type of
offensive weapon against each type of object (ship's lasers
against ship, drone's shield against planet's lasers, etc.)
    The "cargo weights" set the unit weight of each kind of
cargo a starship may carry. The "ship weights" and "drone
weights" set the weight of the vessel's accessories. Cargo,
ship, and drone weights are used in calculating the minimum
weight of a vessel which (along with fuel and power)
directly affects the vessel's travel range.
    The "home planet's starting industries" and "home
planet's starting resources" set the initial level for these
items on the player's home planet (changing the stellar
class will change the home resources.)
    The "other single factors" aspect is a mixture of
separate factors, some of which will be available later for
change. You may enter your choice of home planet names,
"STARTING POPULATION" sets home planet beginning population,
"SPEED FACTOR" weights overall vessel speed, "FUEL FACTOR"
rates average fuel economy, "SCRAP FACTOR" adjusts the
resource return obtained when industries are torn down,
"LUCK" affects most calculations of growth and combat,
"DETECTION FACTOR" controls the distance at which combat can
occur, "STARTING CREDIT" sets the players beginning Galactic
Credit, "HOME'S HABITAT BARRIER" sets the home planet's
barrier, "BIRTH RATE" sets the overall rate at which this
player's population will expand, the "HOME STAR'S CLASS"
cycle gadget sets the player's home planet's star's class
(changing the home planet resources), and the "WORK RATE"
sets the overall number of employees generated by a planet's
population for any of this player's planets. The "WARNING
MESSAGE DISPLAY TIME" controls the amount of time each
message (from the computer to the player) will be
displayed--a length of zero will cause the message to remain
until the message window is closed; the "warning message
file" allows for optional storage of messages in a named
file. The other file name gadgets may contain the names of
files (which you have previously created) which contain the
lists of names you wish to use in naming your objects.
Section # 15 Name Requester
    The name requester has a string gadget, a "USE COMPUTER
GENERATED NAME" gadget, a close window gadget and no menus.
Some unique name must be entered in the string gadget; you
may re-use the name of a vessel, task force, shipclass, or
droneclass if it is no longer in existence. If you try to
close the window without entering a name a warning will
occur. The text in the string gadget will become the
object's name (unless already in use) when the window
closes. A carriage return while the string gadget is active
will try to close the window. Selection of the "USE COMPUTER
GENERATED NAME" gadget will generate the next available
unique name (alphabetically) and try to close the window (it
may not succeed if the name is already in use.) Player names
are limited to 43 characters, stars, planets, and vessels to
15 characters, and class names to 10 characters.
Section # 17 Which Note
    On those occasions where your vessel and class notes
conflict, you will be asked to choose how to resolve the
conflict with a large requester--selection of any gadget
will resolve the issue. One string gadget labeled "Your UNIT
has this note:" will display the unit's note; a string
gadget labeled "Your UNIT CLASS has this note:" will display
the class note; each may be freely edited--without changing
the actual note of the unit or class. Four gadgets are lined
up at the bottom of the requester labeled:  "USE UNIT'S
NOTE", "USE CLASS'S NOTE", "USE BOTH--UNIT'S FIRST", and
"USE BOTH--CLASSES FIRST"; you may use no note (have the
appropriate string gadget empty), either note (edited or
not), or both notes (edited or not) in either order.
Section # 18 Players' Phase Window
    This window presents gadgets representing the name of
each player, and tells the phase of play for this turn.
There are five phases: building of industries, growth
calculation, movement, offense, and defense. The menus
"PROJECT", "STATISTICS", and "START PLAYER'S PHASE" are
available for selection. The project menu contains seven
options which allow major changes affecting all players:
"adjust Colors" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + c),
adjusts the screen colors displayed when no one player's
colors are available; "start New Game" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + n), begins the gaming process all over (all
unsaved play will be lost); "Restore saved game" (keyboard
shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + r), allows the choice of loading a
save file from storage; "  save Automatically" (keyboard
shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + a), sets the save timer to the
currently entered delay period; "save as What file"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + w), brings up the file
requester so that you may specify the destination drawer and
name of the saved game file; "save File:  no file name
entered" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + f), will remain
ghosted until the game has been saved once, thereafter it
will read "save File:  RAM:first_game" (assuming you last
saved a game to RAM: called first_game) and will resave the
game under the same name with no prompts; "Quit game"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + q), asks if your sure and
if so exits the game--all unsaved play will be lost. The
statistics menu has two options:  "show Victorious player"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + v), displays the relative
ranking of each player with 1000000 being the score of the
best; "show Galaxy's design" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + g), gives access to the automatic save game
timer and the delay (in minutes) between saves, and shows
the original design specifications for informational
purposes (during a player's phase the key combination
<Ctrl> + g will display this window).
Section # 19 Build Phase
    Upon entering the build phase the player's map is displayed.
During this phase you may build and destroy industries,
build or scrap starships and drones, negotiate diplomatic
treaties, adjust planetary political and social values, load
cargo on ships, move resources between a starship and any
planet within the stellar system occupied by the starship,
and give a movement order to any of your starships, drones
or task forces.
Section # 20 Movement Orders
    Each unit (task force, starship, or drone) may receive
one of the following movement orders:  "ATTENTION", "SENTRY
until turn ___", "EXPLORE", "GO TO STAR: ___",
"GO TO LOCATION: X = ___ Y = ___ Z = ___",
"PATROL TO STAR: from here to ___",
"PATROL TO LOCATION: from here to X = ___ Y = ___ Z = ___";
starships and drones can "JOIN TASK FORCE: ___", and "LEAVE
TASK FORCE"; starships can also "LOAD CARGO", and "UNLOAD
CARGO" while in a star system with planets. An order may be
cancelled any time during the build phase. The order
"ATTENTION" causes no vessel movement, and a unit's display
to be viewed during every build phase--if it's related "view
automatically" menu item is selected. "SENTRY until turn
___" sets a timer for the unit--it becomes inactive and even
if it's related "view automatically" menu item is selected
you will not see it's display until the given turn or if
combat threatens it. "EXPLORE" is used to send the unit to
the nearest star which you have never visited, and to which
no other unit of yours has orders to move to. This is handy
for easily exploring the galaxy. "GO TO STAR: ___" sends the
unit to the specified star. "GO TO LOCATION: X = ___ Y = ___
Z = ___" sends the unit to the specified location. "PATROL
TO STAR: from here to ___" causes a recurring patrol--from
the unit's current location to the given star, back and
forth. "PATROL TO LOCATION: from here to X = ___ Y = ___ Z =
___" causes a recurring patrol--from the unit's current
location to the given location. Patrolling, as with any
order, consumes fuel (even SENTRY and ATTENTION, both of
which use one fuel per turn), a calculation is made at each
end of the patrol which insures adequate fuel to reach the
patrol's next turn-around. "JOIN TASK FORCE: ___" will
create a new task force if no task force name is used.
"LEAVE TASK FORCE" will remove a vessel from it's task
force. "LOAD CARGO" and "UNLOAD CARGO" allow a ship within a
planetary system to take on and discharge cargo (resources.)
Section # 27 Galactic Map
    Each player sees a personalized display of the galactic
map. The player chooses how much map data to display--which
stars, which vessels, the point of view from which the
galaxy is drawn, the view direction, and the view
magnification. The coordinates of the stars never vary, but
the star's color, name labels and label offsets are
controlled by the player.
    Imagine, the physical bounds of the galaxy as a giant
shoe box--as you look at your monitor you see the small end
of that shoebox, wider across the top, extending into the
monitor away from you as the longest length of the shoebox.
A star's X coordinate is a value across the screen with left
being zero, it's Y coordinate is down the screen with top
being zero, it's Z coordinate is into the monitor with
closest to you being zero. The map displayed is a picture of
one part (of two) of the galaxy (the view direction controls
which part you are seeing), every star or vessel in that
part of the galaxy may be displayed, as the peripheral view
is complete. The display is calculated based upon the
player's desired point of view, view direction, and view
magnification.
    The player's point of view is based upon the player's
current star or last selected unit; view direction is set by
menu selection (Z fore, Z aft, X fore, X aft, Y fore, and Y
aft); magnification (0-9) is set by menu or keyboard
shortcuts. The mathematical point of view, is the center of
the monitor screen looking in the view direction. Each icon
on the map is a gadget which can be selected with a single
or double click, causing the map to be redrawn. A single or
double click centers the player's point of view on the
object; a double click opens the display window for the
object as well. Stars and vessels are portrayed with ten
sizes of icons--the larger the icon the closer the object.
Very distant objects may be invisible and have no gadget,
increasing the magnification will bring these objects onto
the map, but the nearest objects will disappear. The X/Y/Z
axis orientation changes your perspective view on the
screen, effectively allowing you to look from the top or
side of the galaxy, the map display will be drawn with the
selected axis running from you through the center of the
screen and out the back of the monitor. Until you are very
comfortable with the map, try leaving the view axis set to
"Z" all the time, manipulating only the fore/aft control!
    The map window has four menus:  "PROJECT", "OTHER
DISPLAYS", "DISPLAY CONTROLS", and "ACTIONS". The display
controls menu has these selections:  "VIEW ORIENTATION" has
sub-menus, "X axis" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + x),
"Y axis" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + y), "Z axis"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + z), which control the
axis for the direction of view (if the Z axis is checked,
the point of view will be the center of the X-Y plane, if
the X axis is checked, the point of view will be the center
of the Y-Z plane); the "FORE  toggle fore/aft View"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + v), sets which direction
to look from the plane set by the selected axis (if FORE is
selected only those objects with coordinates on the selected
axis larger than those of the current point of view will be
shown); "do Label objects" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA>
+ l), enables or suppresses the labeling (by name) of all
mapped objects; "DISPLAY SELECTED STAR TYPES:" has six
sub-menus:  "all stars charted" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + *), "my own stars charted", "known hostile
stars charted", "known neutral stars charted", "known allied
stars charted", and "known special stars charted"; each
controls the display of a star depending upon what your
stated attitude is toward it (see section "Star Display".)
"my own Task forces charted" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + t), controls the display of your task forces
(you cannot see other player's task forces, though you will
see the individual ships and drones in those task forces.
"DISPLAY SELECTED SHIP TYPES:" has five sub-menus:  "all
ships charted" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + s), "my
own ships charted", "known hostile ships charted", "known
neutral ships charted", and "known allied ships charted";
each controls the display of a ship depending upon what your
negotiated attitude is toward it's owner (see section
"Negotiate Diplomacy".) "DISPLAY SELECTED DRONE TYPES:" has
five sub-menus just like the ship types. "LEVEL OF MAP
MAGNIFICATION:" has ten sub-menus which control successively
higher levels of magnification--0 (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + 0) is no magnification, 9 (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + 9) is the highest magnification. "ADJUST
LABEL OFFSETS:" has four sub-menus: "current star", "current
task force", "current ship", and "current drone" (see
section "Current Object"), each of which brings up a
requester which allows you to change the offsets for the
object's name label (see section "Adjusting Label Offsets".)
These menus all allow multiple selection.
Section # 29 Adjusting Label Offsets
    The map label offsets window is draggable, and has two
gadgets controlling placement of an object's name on the
map:  the "X offset:" gadget adjusts the name on the
screen's horizontal axis, the "Y offset:" gadget adjusts it
on the screen's vertical axis. You may use positive or
negative numbers; positive moves the X offset right and the
Y offset down, negative moves the X offset left and the Y
offset up. These are personal preferences and do not affect
the display on other player's maps.
Section # 31 Setting Drawing Pens
    The select drawing pens for attributes window has no
menus, but has many gadgets. Each player is allowed to
specify which drawing pen is used when the computer displays
information about any given industry, resource, attitude, or
vessel accessory. If you open the select drawing pens for
attributes window and look down in the lower right-hand
corner you will see sixteen small gadgets (labeled "COLOR
PENS") displaying the sixteen screen colors. The gadgets are
organized like this:
                     0  4   8   12
                     1  5   9   13
                     2  6   10  14
                     3  7   11  15
so the sixth is the second row from the left and the second
column down and is pen number 5. The selected gadget will
change shape becoming round instead of square, and the text
at the lower right-hand corner of the window will change to
reflect the selected pen number (drawing the text in that
pen's color.) Now when you select a gadget representing an
industry, resource, attitude, or vessel accessory, that
gadget's text will change to the selected pen color and each
time the computer presents you with information regarding
that item it will be displayed in the color of the register
chosen. If a player's handicap and the galactic
configuration allow, the player may use register zero (black
or background color) for any unnecessary industry, resource,
or vessel accessory thereby hiding all printed reference to
that item.
    Two additional gadgets reside at the lower center of the
window:  the "WARNING MESSAGE DISPLAY TIME (IN SECONDS)" and
"EXAMINE HANDICAP/CHANGE DEFAULT NAME FILES". The warning
message display may be set to zero, which opens a message
window which remains until closed, or to any number of
seconds (up to 65535) for message display before
automatically closing the message window. The handicap
gadget opens the handicap window, giving a display of all
the handicap variables as set before the game started (only
the file names and message delay are accessible for change.)
Changing any file name will automatically start reading the
file at it's beginning, any duplicate entries which are
still in use will be skipped over by the name routine.
Section # 34 Negotiate Diplomacy
    The diplomatic negotiation window has no menus and
presents three diplomatic attitude gadgets for each
opponent: "NEUTRAL", "ALLIED", and "HOSTILE"; initially all
players are neutral toward each other. The pen with which a
player's name is printed shows what attitude that player has
toward you (if you have chosen pen seven to display
hostility, and a player has chosen to be hostile toward you,
that player's name will be printed with pen seven.) You
state your attitude toward each player by choosing the
appropriate gadget next to that player's name (the chosen
gadget will look different from the two unchosen
gadgets--the background fill will be different.) These
diplomatic positions are advisory only--you may change them
at any time and you may choose to help defend an enemy or
attack an ally (any attack on another player's unit will
automatically cause your position to become hostile toward
the attacked player.)
Section # 36 Star Display
    The stellar report window shares the "PROJECT",
"OTHER DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS" menus with all other
object display windows. Near the top center you see
a line with one of these three statements:
"DATA IS CURRENT", "DATA IS NOT CURRENT", and
"UNEXPLORED TERRITORY". The first two possibilities
tell you if your information is accurate now or not;
information is only current if you have an observer
present in the star system--an inhabitant,
ship, or drone; non-current data is accurate as of the
last time you had something with which to perform
reconnaissance in the star system. Sixteen gadgets
labeled "SELECT COLOR WITH WHICH TO DRAW STAR ON MAP:".
Those colors defined as MINE, SPECIAL, NEUTRAL, ALLIED,
and HOSTILE are labeled with the first letter of each
respectively (M for MINE, H for HOSTILE, etc.)
Selecting any of these gadgets will cause the star's
icon to be displayed on your map in the chosen color.
This allows a quick visual look at the map for
interesting stars. There is a string gadget labeled
"OPEN PLANETARY REPORT FOR:" which allows entry of
a planet's name. If the entered name corresponds
to one of the planets for which you have
reconnaissance, that planetary display will be immediately
opened if you press carriage return while the gadget is
selected, otherwise it will be displayed after closing this
stellar display widow. Across the center of the window is a
line of gadgets representing planets; the first and last are
the "previous" and "next" gadgets, which allow you to jump
directly to your current planet's previous or next planet on
your planet list. There is a gadget for each of the star's
planets, they are labeled "first", "second", "third",
"fourth", "fifth", and "sixth"; each corresponds to each
planet's orbital position. There is a string gadget labeled
"MY NOTE FOR THIS STAR:" in which you may enter up to 200
characters. Another string gadget is labeled "MY PERSONAL
NAME FOR THIS STAR:" it allows you to give the star a
nickname used for your displays (though not in the scrolling
list view window.) A string gadget labeled "OPEN STELLAR
REPORT FOR:" allows you to enter a name. If it is a valid
star name (or one of your personal star nicknames) that star
will be displayed immediately if you press carriage return
while the gadget is selected, otherwise it will be displayed
after closing this star display widow. At the bottom center
of the window is a cluster of five gadgets dealing with your
ordered list of stars: "remove star from list", "GO TO
PREVIOUS STAR", "GO TO NEXT STAR", "PREVIOUS STAR:" and
"NEXT STAR:". Your ordered star list may contain any or all
of the stars in the galaxy, you need not have reconnaissance
at the star; this is the list which will be displayed if you
check "  automatically view all stars" at the "ACTIONS"
menu. Your home planet's star  may never be removed from
your list. Entry of a valid star name in the "PREVIOUS
STAR:" gadget will cause the named star to be the currently
displayed star's previous star; selection of the "GO TO
PREVIOUS STAR" gadget will immediately display that previous
star. "NEXT STAR:"/"GO TO NEXT STAR" work the same. The
"remove star from list" gadget will remove the currently
displayed star from your ordered star list if possible. You
need not have a colony or vessel in the star system for it
to be on your list.
Section # 37 Planet Display
    The planet window shares the "PROJECT", "OTHER DISPLAYS",
and "ACTIONS" menus with an additional menu
"PLANET CONTROLS". The control menu has seven items:
"ADJUST POLITICAL POWER:", "adjust planet's social Values"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + v),
"adjust planet's growth Order" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + o), "Build starships" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + b), "Manufacture drones" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + m), "SHIPPING:", and "Inspect resources"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + i), some of which may be
ghosted. Your current star will become this planet's star.
If this star system has ships, drones, or task forces, and
the respective current object is not in this system, your
current ship, drone, or task force will be changed to one in
this system. The political ideology of any inhabited planet
may be changed by it's owner. Using the social values menu
item opens a window for planetary social adjustment. The
adjust growth order menu opens a window which allows you to
regulate the order in which planetary growth occurs on this
planet. Changes are made on the set planet growth order
window which has no menu and twelve gadgets. Enter a number
between one and twelve (inclusive) ranking each industry's
priority (one being first, twelve being last); each planet
has it's own individual build order. Only those offensive
and defensive industries which have had resources for their
maintenance during the growth phase will be available during
the following combat phases. The "build starships" menu item
or gadget allows the creation of new starships and
shipclasses using the "DESIGN" gadget, or the repair of old
starships using the "REFURBISH" gadget. The "manufacture
drones" menu item or gadget work the same. The shipping menu
item has two sub-items:  "Load or unload current ship"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + l), and "load or Unload
ships" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + u.) The "Load or
unload current ship" sub-item opens the cargo window for the
current ship, "load or Unload ships" opens a scrolling list
view of local ships to load and unload. The "Inspect
resources" menu item opens a window which displays the
planet's resources. The planet resources window is
draggable, shares the planet window menu, has no gadgets,
and may remain open while you are manipulating the menus and
gadgets of the planet display window; it will be updated
each time you make a change which affects resources.
    The planetary display window provides some important
information about the planet--the title contains the
planet's name, it's sun's name, it's orbital position,
environment and environmental modification, and population
(a planet's population is not the same as it's employee
resource--though they are mathematically related.) The owner
is displayed, whether the planet has been modified is shown
(if an industry gadget is selected whether it has been
modified is also shown), the owner's galactic credit is
listed, and the number of vessels in the star system (yours,
then all other players' combined.)
    There are many gadgets on this window. At the top left
is a group of twelve integer gadgets, two arrow gadgets, and
a slider used to adjust this planet's industries. Each
integer gadget shows the number of industries of that kind
on the planet, selecting one causes the arrows and slider to
become un-ghosted. When an industry's integer gadget is
selected you may change the value it contains, either up or
down; you may do so by editing the gadget's entry, moving
the slider, using the arrows, or using the mouse to select
the slider box either above or below the slider knob. Four
large gadgets duplicate frequently used menu items:  "SOCIAL
VALUES" opens the social adjustment window, "NEGOTIATE
DIPLOMACY" opens the diplomatic negotiation window, "BUILD
STARSHIPS" opens the starship construction requester, and
"MANUFACTURE DRONES" opens the drone construction requester.
Below them is a string gadget labeled "OPEN PLANETARY REPORT
FOR:" which allows entry of a planet's name. If the entered
name corresponds to one of the planets for which you have
reconnaissance, that planetary display will be immediately
opened if you press carriage return while the gadget is
selected, otherwise it will be displayed after closing this
planet display widow. Gadgets represent planets; the first
and last are the "previous" and "next" gadgets and a gadget
for each of the star's planets. There is a string gadget
labeled "MY NOTE FOR THIS PLANET:" where you may enter a
note of up to 200 characters. At the bottom of the window
are three gadgets controlling your ordered planetary list:
"PREVIOUS PLANET:", "remove planet from list", and "NEXT
PLANET". Your ordered planetary list always includes your
home planet, and may also include any other planet you have
visited.Entry of a valid planet name in the "PREVIOUS
PLANET:" gadget will cause that planet to be the currently
displayed planet's previous planet--un-ghosting the
"previous" gadget if needed; selection of the "previous"
gadget will immediately display that previous planet. The
"NEXT PLANET:"/"next" gadgets work the same. The "remove
planet from list" gadget will remove the currently displayed
planet from your planet list except your home planet.
Section # 39 Adjusting Social Values
    The adjust planet's social values window presents ten
gadgets and no menus. Each gadget represents a hypothetical
question which might be asked of the members of a planet's
society, displaying two opposite ends of a response spectrum
for that question. Your social attitudes as demonstrated by
your answers to these ten questions are reflected (on the
average) by the population of this planet. Use the sliders
for each gadget to show social values you wish the people on
this planet to exhibit.
Section # 41 Starship Construction
    The only way to leave this window is by using the
"close window gadget" in the top lefthand corner--this
causes your requested ship building to occur (or no building
if the build number is left at 0.) The starship construction
window has two menus:  "AVAILABILITY TYPE" and "SHIPCLASS".
The availability menu has sixteen mutually exclusive items:
"Titanium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + t),
"Krypton" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + k),
"Uranium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + u),
"Silver" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + s),
"Nitrogen" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + n),
"Vanadium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + v),
"Hydrogen" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + h),
"Argon" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + a),
"Gold" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + g),
"Iron" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + i),
"Oil" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + o),
"Jewels" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + j),
"Wood" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + w),
"Food" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + f),
"Employees" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + e), and
"Money" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + m) which are used
in conjunction with the last three lines of text at the
bottom of the window.
    The shipclass menu has three items:  "  Become a
shipclass", "Load a shipclass", and "Pick ship to define a
shipclass". When you check the first item, the ship you
design (whether you build any or not) becomes a shipclass.
The next item allows you to pick a design to use as a
template for this building session--you may immediately
alter the specific accessories to suit your needs. The third
item allows you to choose a specific ship to use as a
template for this building session.
    Near the top of the window is a string gadget labeled
"STARSHIP NAME (or CLASS stub):", you may enter a name for
your ship here, if you are creating a class this will be a
prefix or stub to which the computer will add the serial
number of the ship. Initially, a starship inherits it's tech
level from the planet at which it is created. Weight is
automatically adjusted upward (as needed--by the computer)
to accommodate the other accessories which you request and
is calculated based upon the vessel weight factors entered
in your handicap data. You may increase the weight of a
vessel beyond that needed. If you press the carriage return
key while an integer gadget is selected your resource change
due to the entry will be calculated and the display will be
redrawn reflecting that change. If you over do it, the entry
will be reduced to a level for which there are adequate
resources. The more power the faster a vessel goes. All
vessels consume fuel all the time. Bombs, missiles, lasers,
and shields are combat specific, their weight and
effectiveness is regulated by your handicap data. The third
line shows the potential range (in the same units as the
galaxy display--one pixel = one unit), speed (units/turn),
and fuel per turn (FPT) when the ship is moving (using the
throttle setting in the throttle gadget.)
    Below the accessory gadgets are four string gadgets.
Two, labeled "PREVIOUS STARSHIP:" and "NEXT STARSHIP:", give
you control over the placement of this ship (or series of
ships) on your ordered list of ships. If, for instance, you
enter the name of one of your existing ship in the
"previous" gadget, the new ship(s) will be added to your
ship list immediately following the old ship, likewise, if
you enter the name of an old ship in the "next" gadget, the
new ship(s) will be added to your ship list immediately
before the old ship. The gadget labeled "TASK FORCE:" can be
used in two ways. If you enter the name of a task force
already existing in the star system in which ship
construction is occurring, the new ship(s) will be
automatically joined to that task force. If the entered name
is not in use, a task force will be created with that name
and the new ship(s) will be joined to that task force;
otherwise you will be notified that the entered name is
already in use. A string gadget is available for attaching a
note.
    Below the note gadget is an integer gadget labeled
"BUILD". You must enter a number (1 - 65535) in this gadget
if you wish to build any ships with this design. If you are
only designing a shipclass, this number may be zero; if you
build more than one ship, a shipclass will automatically be
created (unless a shipclass was used in the design of these
ships--then the new ships will belong to the original
shipclass.) No actual changes to your resources or quantity
of ships will occur until you close this window.
Section # 42 Refurbish Starship
    The window for refurbishing starships is almost
identical to the starship construction window (see just
previous text.) The menus are identical and are used in
exactly the same manner. Two new integer gadgets replace the
fixed display of tech level and hits. Tech level may be
increased only up to the tech level of the planet at which
the vessel is being refurbished.
Section # 44 Starship Display
    The starship display window allows you to inspect a
starship and it's cargo, give it orders and notes, and
adjust the ship list. The window has four menus, three are
the commonly shared "PROJECT", "OTHER DISPLAYS", and
"ACTIONS". The other is labeled "SELECT CARGO TO VIEW" and
has sixteen items:  "TITANIUM", "KRYPTON", "URANIUM",
"SILVER", "NITROGEN", "VANADIUM", "HYDROGEN", "ARGON",
"GOLD", "IRON", "OIL", "JEWELS", "WOOD", "FOOD",
"COLONISTS", and "MONEY". This menu supports multiple
selection. You may select up to as many cargo items for
display as will fit in the window before ending a single
menu session; de-selection may be mixed freely with
selection; all sixteen cargo items can not be displayed on
the window at once. If a ship is in a star system with
planets, the planet at which the ship is docked may be
changed. You may do so by selecting one of the planet
gadgets labeled "CHANGE PLANETARY DOCKING TO:", which will
immediately change the planetary dock; this may occur many
times during one turn. There is another docking string
gadget labeled "OR ENTER A PLANET NAME:" which accepts entry
of any valid planet name known to you; if the entered planet
is in the same star system as the ship the ship will be
immediately re-docked; otherwise the ship will be ordered to
proceed to the star system of the entered planet, upon
arrival the ship automatically docks at the chosen docking
planet.
    The "previous" and "next" string gadgets control the
starship's placement on your ordered list of ships.
Acceptable entries here will activate their respective
gadgets below. The task force string gadget allows creation
of a task force if none by that name exits, and causes the
vessel to join the named task force if it is in the same
star system. You may edit this ship's name, and have a note
of up to 200 characters. The view ship string gadget accepts
the name of any of your ships and immediately displays the
named ship if you press carriage return while the gadget is
selected, otherwise it will be displayed after closing this
ship display widow.
    The last two lines on the window deal with the ship's
orders. The extreme leftmost lower gadget is a cycle gadget
which allows you to move through the available orders. Just
above the current order is the throttle gadget. A vessel's
speed, range and fuel consumption are affected by it's
throttle setting, a throttle setting of 1.0 is the fastest,
uses the most fuel, and yields the most limited range. A
very small entry (like 0.001) will cause a vessel to move
very slowly, use little fuel, and have it's most range.
You may change a ship's throttle value at any time without
affecting it's orders (though you might change the turn on
which the vessel will arrive.)
Section # 45 Load/Unload Cargo
    The movement of cargo between ships and planets is
accomplished with the load/unload cargo window. The window
has four menus, three are the commonly shared "PROJECT",
"OTHER DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS". The other is labeled
"SELECT CARGO TO VIEW" and has sixteen items:  "TITANIUM",
"KRYPTON", "URANIUM", "SILVER", "NITROGEN", "VANADIUM",
"HYDROGEN", "ARGON", "GOLD", "IRON", "OIL", "JEWELS",
"WOOD", "FOOD", "COLONISTS", and "MONEY". This menu supports
multiple selection.The planet at which the ship is docked
may be changed, do so by selecting one of the planet gadgets
labeled "CHANGE PLANETARY DOCKING TO:", which will
immediately change the planetary dock. There is another
docking string gadget labeled "OR ENTER A PLANET NAME:"
which accepts entry of any valid planet name known to you;
the ship will be immediately re-docked if the entered planet
is in the same star system as the ship; otherwise the ship
will be ordered to proceed to the star system of the entered
planet.
    You may select as many cargo items for display as will
fit on the window before ending a single menu session;
de-selection may be mixed freely with selection; all sixteen
cargo items will not fit in the window at once. The
availability of colonists as cargo is regulated by the
number of employees who have not worked this turn.
Additionally, a set of three gadgets will appear for each
selection. These two arrow and one integer gadget control
the movement of cargo to and from the ship. At the very
bottom of the window are two gadgets:  a cycle gadget and
the order gadget; use the cycle gadget to display either
load or unload as you choose, then highlight the gadget (the
gadget is un-highlighted if it asks a question and
highlighted if the order ends in `!) to affirm the order--it
will be executed when you close the window. In entering an
amount of cargo to load (unload) you may use either it's
respective arrow gadgets (the up arrow raises the integer
gadget contents, the down arrow lowers it), it's integer
gadget, or both, to achieve the proper value in the integer
gadget. Any entry exceeding the available cargo will be
reduced to that available amount. If you select a cargo
type, then enter an amount in it's gadget, then de-select
that cargo type the gadget will disappear, but the amount
entered will be remembered. If (and only if) you have a
cargo type selected when you close the window, any
de-selected cargo types with non-zero entries will be
included in your load/unload order--if no cargo type is
selected and displayed no cargo movement will occur.
Section # 46 Shipclass Display
    The shipclass display window allows you to examine your
shipclasses and shows the number of existing members of the
class in the title. The window has three commonly shared
menus "PROJECT", "OTHER DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS" (see
sections "Project Menu", "Other Displays Menu", and "Actions
Menu"), and a "MODIFY" menu with a single item "Pick ship to
copy" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + p.) Picking a ship
to copy will fill all shipclass variables with the
respective values from the ship. A string gadget labeled
"SHIPCLASS NAME:" allows editing of the name, a string
gadget for a note is just below it. Seven integer gadgets
follow labeled with the various accessories pertaining to
shipclasses. You may modify any of these gadgets--any new
ships designed upon this class or refurbished to this class
specification will use the values shown in these gadgets. At
the very bottom is a gadget labeled "DELETE THIS SHIPCLASS"
it's selection will do just that, closing the window as
well. Deleting an unneeded class will save a little memory.
Section # 47 Drone Construction
    The only way to leave this window is by using the "close
window gadget" in the top lefthand corner--this manufactures
your requested drone(s) (or no manufacturing if the
manufacture number is left at 0.) The drone design window
has two menus:  "AVAILABILITY TYPE" and "DRONECLASS". The
availability menu has sixteen mutually exclusive items:
"Titanium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + t),
"Krypton" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + k),
"Uranium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + u),
"Silver" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + s),
"Nitrogen" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + n),
"Vanadium" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + v),
"Hydrogen" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + h),
"Argon" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + a),
"Gold" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + g),
"Iron" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + i),
"Oil" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + o),
"Jewels" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + j),
"Wood" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + w),
"Food" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + f),
"Employees" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + e), and
"Money" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + m) which are used
in conjunction with the last three lines of text at the
bottom of the window.
    The droneclass menu has three items:  "  Become a
droneclass", "Load a droneclass", and "Pick drone to define
a droneclass". When you check the first item, the drone you
design (whether you manufacture any or not) becomes a
droneclass. The next item allows you to pick a design to use
as a template for this manufacturing session--you may alter
the specific accessories to suit your needs. The third item
allows you to choose a specific drone to use as a template
for this manufacturing session.
    Near the top of the window is a string gadget labeled
"DRONE NAME (or CLASS stub):", you may enter a name for your
drone here, if you are creating a class this will be a
prefix or stub to which the computer will add the serial
number of the drone. A drone inherits it's tech level from
the planet at which it is created. Weight is automatically
adjusted upward (as needed--by the computer) to accommodate
the other accessories which you request and is calculated
based upon the vessel weight factors entered in your
handicap data. You may increase the weight of a vessel
beyond that needed to handle the current accessories. If you
press the carriage return key while any integer gadget is
selected your resource change will be calculated and the
display will be redrawn reflecting that change. Power is
analogous to the number of engines a vessel has--the more
power the farther and faster a vessel goes. All vessels
consume fuel all the time. Lasers, and shields are combat
specific, their weight and effectiveness is regulated by
your handicap data. The third line shows the potential range
(in the same units as the galaxy display--one pixel = one
unit), speed (units/turn), and fuel per turn (FPT) when the
ship is moving (using the throttle setting in the throttle
gadget.)
    Below the accessory gadgets are four string gadgets.
Two, labeled "PREVIOUS DRONE:" and "NEXT DRONE:", give you
control over the initial placement of this drone (or series
of drones) on your list of drones. If you enter the name of
one of your existing drone in the "previous" gadget, the new
drone(s) will be added to your drone list immediately
following the old drone; likewise, if you enter the name of
an old drone in the "next" gadget, the new drone(s) will be
added to your drone list immediately before the old drone.
The gadget labeled "TASK FORCE:" can be used in two ways. If
you enter the name of a task force already existing in the
star system in which drone construction is occurring, the
new drone(s) will be automatically joined to that task
force. If the entered name is not in use, a task force will
be created with that name and the new drone(s) will be
joined to that task force; otherwise you will be notified
that the entered name is already in use. A string gadget is
available for attaching a note.
    Below the note gadget is an integer gadget labeled
"MANUFACTURE". You must enter a number (1 - 65535) in this
gadget if you wish to manufacture any drones. If you are
only designing a droneclass, this number may be zero; if you
manufacture more than one drone, a droneclass will
automatically be created
Section # 48 Refurbish Drone
    The window for refurbishing (repairing) drones is almost
identical to the drone construction window (see just previous
text.) The menus are identical and are used in exactly the
same manner. Two new integer gadgets replace the fixed
display of tech level and hits. Tech level may be increased
only up to the tech level of the planet at which the vessel
is being refurbished.
Section # 50 Drone Display
    The drone display window allows you to inspect a drone,
give it orders and notes, and adjust the drone list. The
window has three commonly shared menus "PROJECT", "OTHER
DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS". In the middle of the window is a
group of six string gadgets labeled:  "PREVIOUS DRONE:",
"TASK FORCE:", "EDIT NAME:", "NEXT DRONE:", "PERSONAL NOTE
FOR THIS DRONE:", and "VIEW SHIP:". Two other gadgets
labeled "PREVIOUS DRONE" and "NEXT DRONE" may be ghosted if
appropriate. The "previous" and "next" string gadgets
control the drone's placement on your ordered list of
drones. Acceptable entries here will activate their
respective gadgets below. The task force string gadget
allows creation of a task force if none by that name exits,
and causes the vessel to join a task force located in the
same star system. You may edit this drone's name, and have a
note of up to 200 characters. The view drone string gadget
accepts entry of the name of any of your drones and
immediately displays that drone if you press carriage return
while the gadget is selected, otherwise it will be displayed
after closing this drone display widow.
    The last two lines on the window deal with the drone's
orders--the top line shows the order, and the bottom line
has gadgets to give new orders to the drone. The extreme
leftmost lower gadget is a cycle gadget which allows you to
move through the available orders. Just above the current
order is the throttle gadget; it may be changed while a
vessel is moving, but the change may be reflected in a
changed arrival turn. A vessel's speed, range and fuel
consumption are affected by it's throttle setting, a
throttle setting of 1.0 is the fastest, uses the most fuel,
and yields the most limited range. A very small entry
(like 0.001) will cause a vessel to move very slowly, use
little fuel, and have it's most range. You may change a
drone's throttle value at any time without affecting it's
orders (though you might change the turn on which the vessel
will arrive.)
Section # 51 Droneclass Display
    The droneclass display window allows you to examine your
droneclasses and shows the number of existing members of the
class in the title. The window has three commonly shared
menus "PROJECT", "OTHER DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS", and a
"MODIFY" menu with a single item "Pick drone to copy"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + p.) Picking a drone to
copy will fill all droneclass variables with the respective
values from the drone.  A string gadget labeled "DRONECLASS
NAME:" allows editing of the name, a string gadget for a
note is just below it. Five integer gadgets follow labeled
with the various accessories pertaining to droneclasses. You
may modify any of these gadgets--any new drones designed
upon this class or refurbished to this class specification
will use the values shown in these gadgets. At the very
bottom is a gadget labeled "DELETE THIS DRONECLASS" it's
selection will do just that, closing the window as well.
Section # 52 Task Force Creation
    Task forces may be created in two fashions; you may use
the actions menu item to create a task force to join, or you
may enter a name which does not exist in the task force
gadget of any ship or drone. Either action opens a window
with no menus which allows you to define the task force. A
string naming gadget is the top line while the second line
contains a cycle gadget which cycles between a set of three
deep space location integer gadgets and a string star
gadget. "previous" and "next" string gadgets are available
to control initial placement of this new task force on your
ordered task force list. The centrally located "GATHER
VESSELS" gadget (if it is selected when the window is
closed) causes the task force display window for this task
force to open immediately. At the bottom is a "CANCEL"
gadget which will cancel creation of this task force. The
task force will be created as specified when you close the
window.
Section # 53 Task Force Display
    The task force display window allows you to inspect your task
forces, give them orders, and add or remove vessels from
them; it's title shows the task force's location. The window
has four menus, three are the commonly shared "PROJECT",
"OTHER DISPLAYS", and "ACTIONS", the other is labeled "TASK
FORCE CONTROLS" and has eleven items:  "join all Local
vessels with this task force" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT
AMIGA> + l), "Select local vessels to join this task force"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + s), "select ships to
reMove from this task force" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT
AMIGA> + m), "select drones to Quit this task force"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + q), "separate this task
force into single Vessels" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA>
+ v), "select local task forces to Break into single
vessels" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + b), "disassemble
all local task forces Into single vessels" (keyboard
shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + i), "Organize all local task forces
as this task force" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + o),
"select local task forces to join this Particular task
force" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + p), "Delete this
unused task force" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT AMIGA> + d),
and "delete all Unused local task forces" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT AMIGA> + u.) The menu item "join all Local vessels
with this task force" causes all local starships and drones
to join that task force. "Select local vessels to join this
task force" opens a scrolling list view of vessels available
to join this task force, you may select as many as you like.
The "select ships to reMove from this task force" item
produces a scrolling list view of starships attached to this
task force--all selected will be removed from the task
force. Using "select drones to Quit this task force"
produces a scrolling list view of drones attached to this
task force--all selected will be removed. Choosing "separate
this task force into single Vessels" removes all vessels.
"select local task forces to Break into single vessels"
opens a scrolling list view of all local (in the same
location) task forces as this task force--all chosen will be
broken up into individual unattached vessels. The menu item
"disassemble all local task forces Into single vessels"
causes all local task forces to be broken up. Selecting
"Organize all local task forces as this task force" combines
the vessels of all local task forces to be joined with this
task force--it has no effect on unattached vessels. Using
"select local task forces to join this Particular task
force" produces a scrolling list view of all other local
task forces--those chosen will have all their vessels joined
with this task force. When un-ghosted "Delete this unused
task force" will cause the memory set aside for this task
force to be released for system use--the task force must
contain NO vessels. If "delete all Unused local task forces"
is selected ALL local un-used task forces will have their
memory released. Removing a task force allows that name to
be reused.
    An "EDIT NAME:" gadget allowing name changes is at the
top righthand corner of the window. In the middle of the
window is a group of four string gadgets labeled:  "PREVIOUS
TF:", "VIEW TF:", "NEXT TF:", and "PERSONAL NOTE FOR THIS
TASK FORCE:". Two other gadgets labeled "PREVIOUS TASK
FORCE" and "NEXT TASK FORCE" may be ghosted if appropriate.
The "previous" and "next" string gadgets control the task
force's placement on your ordered list of task forces.
Acceptable entries here will activate their respective
gadgets below. The view task force string gadget accepts
entry of the name of any of your task forces and immediately
displays that task force if you press carriage return while
the gadget is selected, otherwise it will be displayed after
closing this task force display widow. You may have a note
of up to 200 characters.
    The last two lines on the window deal with the task
force's orders--the top line shows the order, and the bottom
line has gadgets to give new orders to the task force. The
extreme leftmost lower gadget is a cycle gadget which allows
you to move through the available orders. Just above these
order lines is an integer gadget labeled "THROTTLE:", it must
contain a number between zero and one, inclusive. A task
force's speed, and range are affected by it's throttle
setting, a throttle setting of 1.0 is the fastest, uses the
most fuel, and yields the most limited range.A very small
entry (like 0.001) will cause a task force to move very
slowly and have the most range. In effect, when you adjust
a task force's throttle setting, you are adjusting the
throttle of the slowest vessel in the task force. If you
give a task force orders to move somewhere, the throttle
for each vessel in the task force is set so that all vessels
move at the same relative speed.
Section # 56 File Requester
    The file requester window has one menu--"adjust Color",
may be sized and dragged, and has a custom zoom gadget in
the righthand corner of the title bar. Selection of the zoom
gadget toggles the window between very small and it's size
just before zooming. The file requester has three
jobs--saving, loading and finding; if you select the
"CANCEL" or close window gadget the window will close and no
action will occur. During LOAD or FIND operations, if you
enter a non-valid file name then select the "LOAD" or "FIND"
gadget, you will be warned and no action will occur. When
attempting a SAVE operation the file name entered (possibly
with a full path) will be tested when you select the "SAVE"
gadget--if a file of that name already exists a verification
requester will ask if you wish to overwrite the old file
with the new data, otherwise the file will be saved (unless
a disk error occurs.)
    The file requester contains one gadget which changes
it's label depending upon the use for which the file name is
intended--that gadget is located in the lower lefthand
corner of the window and may be labeled "SAVE", "LOAD", or
"FIND". When the gadget is labeled "SAVE" your supplied file
name will be used to store the game in progress; when it is
labeled "LOAD" your supplied file name will be used to
restore a previously saved game; when it is labeled "FIND"
your supplied file name will be entered in the string gadget
from which the requester was opened. Two arrow gadgets and a
slider gadget occupy the righthand border of the window--if
there are more file names available than those shown, these
are used to scroll through the complete list; the size and
placement of the slider knob are directly proportional to
the number of files available, and the current place in the
file list. If all files are displayed the slider knob will
occupy the entire height of it's gadget; if the display is
at one end of the file list or the other selecting that
arrow gadget will flash the screen.
    The rest of the gadgets on the window allow you to
directly control which files are displayed. The gadget in
the top lefthand corner is labeled "PARENT"--a directory's
parent directory is the disk if the directory is not a
sub-directory, or the directory of which it is a
sub-directory. The "PARENT" gadget will cause files in the
parent directory or disk to be listed in place of those
currently shown. Just to the right of the "PARENT" gadget is
a string gadget which displays the full path name of the
current directory's parent--you may have a very long string
here, scroll through it as needed. If you edit this name or
enter a new name, then press carriage return, the requester
will display files in the newly entered directory. The
second line on the window has a string gadget labeled
"current directory = " which displays the name of the
current directory--if you edit this name or enter a new
name, then press carriage return, the requester will display
the files of the newly entered directory (you may enter a
directory name with a full path--including volume but no
file name.)
    The third line of the file requester has three gadgets
pertaining to sub-directories. The first, labeled
"SUB-DIRECTORIES" is either on or off (if off the text on
the fourth line will be "files ONLY:" or "Directory is
empty!", if on it might be "files and sub-directories:",
"sub-directories ONLY:", or "Directory is empty!"); it
controls whether the display will include entries for
sub-directories of the current directory. The second gadget
on the third line is a cycle gadget; it's selection changes
the display of the third gadget on this line. The third
gadget is labeled with the name of a sub-directory of the
current directory, it's selection will result in the labeled
sub-directory becoming the current directory with it's files
shown. The second and third gadget will be ghosted if no
sub-directories are in the current directory. The state of
the "SUB-DIRECTORIES" gadget is remembered for each player
so the file requester always opens in the same state within
which it last closed for the player.
    The fourth line has only one gadget labeled "FILES"
which is either on or off (if off the text on the fourth
line will be "sub-directories ONLY:" or "Directory is
empty!", if on it might be "files and sub-directories:",
"files ONLY:", or "Directory is empty!"); it controls
whether the display will include entries of files in the
current directory. Next to the gadget is a text display
which describes what is being shown. The "SUB-DIRECTORIES"
and "FILES" gadgets are used to make file selection and
sub-directory navigation easier in directories with many
entries. If both gadgets are off, or there are no entries in
a directory, the text will always read "Directory is
empty!".
    Below the "FILES" gadget are up to nine file name
gadgets (depending upon the file requester window's height),
each gadget contains the name of a file (truncated to fit
the width of the window--truncation is shown by three
periods following the file name.) If you size the window too
small to display even a single file, the "FILES" and
"Current File = " gadgets will occupy the same line, and
there will be some intentional overwriting of the text which
describes what is being shown. Selecting a file name gadget
causes that gadget to be highlighted, and the non-truncated
file name to appear in the string gadget labeled "Current
File = " located just below the last file name gadget (this
may be a string to long to display--scroll through it as
needed.) You may always type an entry into the "Current File
= " gadget, even though the file name is not visible on one
of the nine file name gadgets.
    Below the "Current File = " gadget is a line containing
two sets of three gadgets; the first set deals with devices,
the second with assignments. The gadget labeled "DEVICES" is
selectable and will change the file list to show all devices
and volumes. Just right of the "DEVICES" gadget is a cycle
gadget; it's selection changes the display of the third
gadget on this line. The label of this third gadget changes
and the selection of this gadget causes the labeled device
or volume to become the current directory, updating the
displayed list. To the right of this first set of three
gadgets are an additional set of three gadgets the first of
which is labeled "ASSIGNS". The "ASSIGNS" gadget is
selectable and will change the file list to show all
directory which have had an assignment made to them. Just to
the right of the "ASSIGNS" gadget is a cycle gadget; it's
selection changes the display of the last gadget on this
line. The label of this last gadget changes and the
selection of this gadget causes the labeled assigned
directory to become the current directory, updating the
displayed list.
    Below the "DEVICE" gadget are two sets of two gadgets
dealing with inclusion and exclusion. The first gadget,
"INCLUDE", may be on or off. When turned on, the string
gadget just to it's right is considered when displaying file
names. That gadget contains a pattern which will act as a
standard AmigaDos® file name filter, if the file matches the
pattern supplied in the gadget the file WILL be displayed.
The third gadget, "EXCLUDE", may be on or off. When turned
on, the string gadget just to it's right is considered when
displaying file names. That gadget contains a pattern which
will act as a standard AmigaDos® file name filter, if the
file matches the pattern supplied in the gadget the file
WILL NOT be displayed. These two sets of gadgets will help
reduce the task of finding the files you want. If both are
on, and a file matches both patterns, it will be included.
Typing a pattern in either string gadget then pressing
return (a carriage return) will activate the selection
gadget and redraw the display.
    Centered at the very bottom of the window are two
gadgets labeled "Sort method:"; the first is a cycle gadget
and it's selection changes the display of the next gadget
among these possibilities:  "DATE", "ALPHA", "NUMERIC", and
"SIZE". Selecting this next gadget will cause the file list
to be shuffled and redisplayed using the method requested.
"DATE" will cause the oldest file to be listed first, the
newest last; "ALPHA" will alphabetize all file names--those
beginning with numbers will be after all those starting with
letters; "NUMERIC" will alphabetize all file names--those
beginning with numbers will come before all those starting
with letters; "SIZE" will arrange the files in ascending
order smallest first, largest last.
    At the righthand lower corner is a gadget labeled
"CANCEL"; it's selection (or that of the close window
gadget) will result in the failure of the file requester to
return a file name. At the lefthand lower corner is a gadget
which will have one of these three labels:  "SAVE", "LOAD",
or "FIND" depending upon the use to which the file requester
is being put. Selecting this gadget will result in the
closure of the file requester window, and the use of the
supplied file name to fulfill the required action. If "SAVE"
is chosen, and a file exists with the same name as that
supplied, the verification requester will ask if you wish to
overwrite the file--if you say no the file requester will
not close allowing you to enter a new file name. If "LOAD"
or "FIND" is chosen, and there is no file corresponding to
the file name supplied, an error message will be displayed.
    Each player has their own separate color palette for the
file requester. To set the colors the way you want them, go
to a directory with more than one file, turn the
"SUB-DIRECTORIES" gadget off, and select any name file
gadget; now, use the menu to open the color palette tool.
You will be able to adjust the colors for gadgets which are
on (register 5) or off (register 4) and the background color
for file name gadgets which are selected (register 9) or
unselected (register 7.) Other colors may also be changed to
suit you.
Section # 62 Scrolling List View
    The scrolling list view window presents the contents of a list
from which you may select no items, one item only, or any
number of items. The window title will identify the list;
there will be a one line instruction letting you know how
many items may be selected, and the use to which the
selection(s) will be put. This window is draggable, has no
menus and closing the window allows your selection to be
used. If the list is smaller than 19 items, the window will
be just tall enough to display the number of items on the
list, otherwise the window will open full height and contain
two arrow gadgets and a slider gadget. The arrows will
scroll the item names up and down, the slider will allow
bigger changes in the list display. The size and location of
the slider knob are directly proportional to the number of
items and displayed location on the list.
Section # 65 Insertion Requester
    The list insertion requester describes the possible
outcomes of your request for a complex change to an object's
position on it's list. First a sample list, and a list
depicting double linkage are graphed. Next comes a statement
which describes your request using simple numbers as the
names of the objects involved. Below that is a graph of the
new linkage, and graph of a segment which is remove from the
list (the outcome of your complex instruction.) At the
bottom are two gadgets labeled "SELECT A SEGMENT INSERTION
METHOD:" the leftmost gadget is a cycle gadget which changes
the display of the other gadget. Each time you select the
cycle gadget another possibility for inserting the segment
is presented graphically below the gadgets. If you select an
unselected display gadget, that insertion method becomes
selected. Only one display will be selected, and the segment
will be inserted according to the selected method when the
window is closed. There are eight different possible
displays of segment insertion available:  "IGNORE BOTH",
"IGNORE PREVIOUS", "IGNORE NEXT", "INSERT SEGMENT AT LIST'S
HEAD", "INSERT SEGMENT AT LIST'S TAIL", "INSERT SEGMENT
BEFORE:" (with a string gadget added to accept the name of a
valid object), and "INSERT SEGMENT AFTER:" (with a string
gadget.)
Section # 67 Targeting Window
    The targeting window is available only during the offensive
combat phase. On planets only those offensive and defensive
industries which have had adequate resources for their
maintenance during the growth phase will be available during
the following combat phases. The display also gives
information about the targeted unit, this text will be
printed in the color you select representing your diplomatic
attitude toward the object's owner. If you commit weapons
against an object owned by someone with whom you have not
specified hostile relations a verification requester will
appear confirming this treacherous act! If you attack
someone with whom you are not hostile, your diplomatic
status will become hostile toward them and they will have a
chance to re-think their combat decisions even though they
may have ended their attack phase before you. Closing the
window or moving forward or backward on the target list
causes any entry in the commit weapons gadget(s) to be used
to determine your unit's attack against the displayed unit.
An object's targeted attacks will only be carried out if the
object's combat order is "ENGAGE". Lasers may be fired once
each combat phase, and automatically recharge before the
next combat phase. Bombs and missiles are expended when
fired and must be replaced at one of your colonies.
Section # 68 Combat Orders
    Combat orders are "ENGAGE", "WITHDRAW", and "HIDE"; they
are only available during the offensive phase of combat and
no movement orders are available during combat. During your
offensive turn you may examine any of your objects; using
the "ACTIONS" menu's sub-items "create new target list" and
"lock Killer weapons on target" (under the "TARGETING" item)
you control exactly which weapons to deploy against which
targets. Any time before ending your offensive combat turn
you may give combat orders to any or all of your space-based
combatants; these orders will be used in determining the
outcome of any battles. By default, all combatants will have
the "ENGAGE" order unless you change that order. Planets may
not withdraw or hide, and automatically may engage all
targeted enemies within range.
    If a unit is ordered to "ENGAGE" and you have given it
no targets, the unit will stay around--a sitting duck with
no offensive say in the battle. If your opponent has
targeted that unit, it will receive incoming fire, depending
upon it's shields and luck to survive the battle, but firing
no weapons against the foe. If a unit is ordered to "ENGAGE"
and has targets, the unit will stick around, firing those
weapons which you specified in the targeting session. It
will receive any incoming fire, counting on shields and luck
to survive. If the unit does not have orders to "ENGAGE",
and has targeted weapons, they will not fire.
    The order "WITHDRAW" causes a unit to move out of range
of it's attacker, if possible, before hostilities commence.
This maneuver is governed by chance, and if effective
protects the unit from harm, otherwise the incoming weapons
fire will be reduced to half it's normal strength. The
outcome of each unit-to-unit conflict is tested separately
for the success of withdrawal.
    Successful hiding is also governed by chance, if your
unit does hide you will be spared harm--if not you will
receive the full force of incoming fire protected only by
shields and luck. Hiding is good against all foes--once you
are hidden no attacker will fire on you during this combat
phase. Unfortunately, your unit may not get hidden until
part way through the battle--as each foe shoots at your unit
it will try to hide, if it hides successfully, no shots from
this or any subsequent foes will hit it.
Section # 70 Resource Shortage Warning
    During the build phase, this window's text describes the
resource which caused your last command to fail. You may
have had a partial success.
During the growth phase, this describes the first (and only
the first) resource which caused the inability of the stated
industry to be fully productive. ThesE messages will be
posted to your message file, if you have one.
Section # 71 Find Text Editor
    This window has eight lines of instructions followed by
two string gadgets labeled "Text editor name:", and
"Parameter string:". Enter the file name (with full path) of
your preferred text file display program in the lefthand
gadget. You must enter the correct instructions for your
editor in the righthand gadget. Two special characters are
available for use in this gadget. © (<ALT> + e), when placed
in the gadget string, will be expanded as soidata:help.txt
in your editor instructions. ¶ (<ALT> + p), when placed in
the gadget string, will be expanded as the line number of
the file at which the context sensitive help begins for the
help requested.
Section # 72 Find Palette Tool
    This window requests that you enter the name of your
favorite screen palette adjusting tool, you must include the
full name and path of the tool. One palette tool provided
with your operating system works great. Look in either your
sys:tools drawer or Extras:tools drawer for a file called
Colors or Palette.
Section # 73 Unified Reports
    Requesting a Unified report for an object type will cause
the generation of an ASCII text file listing specified
information about all those objects of that type which are
on your object list. If you choose to create a new file and
a file of that name already exists, the old file will be
LOST WITHOUT WARNING. This is the intended use of this file,
and you will be prompted once at the beginning if you try to
create your first report using the name of an existing file.
The "ALL REPORTS" gadget is either on or off, and always
starts out off. If you select either the "CREATE NEW FILE"
or "ADD DATA AT END OF OLD FILE" gadgets, the report for the
object you requested will be generated and stored under the
file name listed in the upper string gadget. If the "ALL
REPORTS" gadget was turned on (selected) at the time you
selected either file gadget, reports for all seven object
types will be made at once.
    After the directions are two string gadgets, one labeled
"FIELD DELIMITER:" on the left and the other labeled
"MAXIMUM LINE LENGTH" on the right. The maximum line value
if set to zero, will cause all fields to be "packed", they
will not have any trailing spaces normally used to fill
any extra field width for formatted output. This is especially
designed for use with spreadsheets and databases. If a
positive number is present (default is 80) the data line will
be broken at exactly the character position corresponding
to the "MAXIMUM LINE LENGTH" entry (if it is not a space
the character will be lost.) This will help those with smaller
width displays. The field delimiter is a string of up
to five printable characters which you wish placed between
data items on your report. Pressing a carriage return while
this gadget is selected will cause the example to be redrawn
using your supplied delimiter string. No delimiter string
will be added to the final item on a line. The following
cycle gadget allows you a choice of three possible line
terminators: no line terminator (one long stream of data
suitable for spreadsheets or databases--use a single comma
with no spaces), one carriage return (causing a line
feed--char '0A' between objects), and two carriage returns
(giving a blank line between objects.) The gadget labeled
"MODIFY FIELDS REPORTED" will open a window allowing you to
customize your report.
Section # 74 Modifying Record Fields
    This will open a window with one menu with seven items:
"CHANGE STAR FIELDS" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + *),
"CHANGE PLANET FIELDS" (keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + p),
"CHANGE TASK FORCE FIELDS" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + t), "CHANGE SHIP FIELDS" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + s), "CHANGE DRONE FIELDS" (keyboard shortcut
<RIGHT-AMIGA> + d), "CHANGE SHIPCLASS FIELDS" (keyboard
shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + b), and "CHANGE DRONECLASS FIELDS"
(keyboard shortcut <RIGHT-AMIGA> + m), gadgets will be
created in pairs based upon the selected object type, each
pair will consist of an on/off gadget and a string gadget
large enough to hold the biggest possible field for each
object type's variables. If you are interested in a field's
data, turn the gadget on (selected) and the field will be
reported. To the right of each on/off gadget is an integer
gadget which allows you to specify how many characters to
print (exactly--left justified) for the given field. On the
top line is a centered label describing which object type is
being displayed, to the left is a simulated gadget showing
an ON gadget labeled "PRINT FIELD" to the right is a
simulated gadget labeled "DO NOT PRINT FIELD". To edit the
fields, choose the appropriate menu item or keyboard shortcut
for the object type you wish to change. For instance, at the
star display the third item down on the left is "CLASS"; if
you want the star's class mentioned in your report, make sure
that item is ON, if you wish to devote fifteen characters to
this text put a 15 in it's accompanying integer gadget. Make
sure that you have an editor, database, or spreadsheet capable
of dealing with the longest line you create.
Section # 75 Find Unified Report Destination
    This window requests that you enter the name of your
unified report destination, you must include the full name
and path. As usual, the gadget which needs a file name will
open up the file requester in FIND mode if you click outside
the gadget then select the gadget while holding down either
<ALT> key.
Section # 76 Get Distance Between Locations
    This window is draggable, has no menus, and has two lines
of three gadgets; each line consists of a cycle gadget, a
string gadget, then another cycle gadget. On each line of
gadgets, the leftmost cycle gadget controls which list of
items will be available in it's respective string gadget,
will give you the option of entering raw coordinate
locations, or will give you the option of getting an entry
off the map (if opened on the map window.) Both gadget lines
are identical, and either may be set to any list, both may
be set to the same list. The rightmost cycle gadgets will
run through the selected list for that line. The bottom line
displays the distance between the displayed objects or
locations. For reference, each object's location is displayed
next to it's string gadget. These string gadgets may be
selected while pressing either <Alt> key which invokes the
select name from list requester as usual.
Section # 77 Cargo Warning
    If you attempt to load more cargo than the ship can carry,
the ship's weight will automatically be increased to
accommodate the cargo being loaded. This will result in a
reduction of resources on the planet at which you are docked
(from which you are loading cargo.) If insufficient resources
exist for the weight to be increased enough to load all the
cargo, a warning will appear. You will be offered the choice
of three methods of resolving the problem:  cancel, retry, or
cut. If you choose cancel no cargo will be loaded and no
weight will be added to your ship. If you choose retry you
will be returned to the load cargo window to modify the load
as you see fit. If you choose cut, you must insert a number in
the integer gadget. This amount will be deducted from all
resources being loaded (up to the amount you have chosen) and
the weight calculations will be re-computed. If all is well,
the cargo will be loaded and the ship's weight will increase
as needed, otherwise you will be forced to cut, cancel or retry
again.
Section # 78 Computer Artificial Intelligence Library
    If there will be any computer players, a window will open
asking that you supply the name and full path of an artificial
intelligence library for each computer player. The computer
players do not need to use the same library, but they may.
soidata:soicompai.library is currently the only available
option, and is the default entry--simply close the window to
use this library. Registered users will have additional
libraries made available to them as they are created.
Section # 82 Save Automatically
     When viewing the window which allows modification to
the galactic design one is offered the chance to set 2
auto-save features--time between saves and if the feature
is in use. If one turns auto-save on a requester appears
(when game play is underway) asking for the file name
(including full path) under which to save automatically.
Next a requester appears asking if you wish to use the
"auto-incrementing" feature. If you choose not to, the
game will be saved using the same name over and over
again, thus overwriting the old file each time. On the
other hand, if you turn auto-incrementation on the file
name you entered will be treated like a stub and a number
will be added to the stub each time the file is saved.
These numbers can build up rapidly, so a cut-off is in
place which one sets via the INCREMENT COUNT gadget.
Thereafter, when you reach the count you will be notified
and asked to select a new save file name so that you have
some control over the amount of space used for file
storage.
Section # 83 Map Viewer Requester
     When the MAP VIEW ORIENTATION CONTROL window opens one
is presented with eight gadgets. The first four are labeled
"VIEWER LOCATION:" next is "DISTANCE:", then two labeled
"DIRECTION OF VIEW:", and finally one called "WIDTH OF VIEW".
     The "from get distance requester" gadget opens the get
distance requester and if one selects one of it's "send"
gadgets, one's current point of view will be at the location
of the "sent" item. One may also enter values directly into
the "X:", "Y:", or "Z:" gadgets.
     The distance gadget controls how far one may see in the
given direction. Items on the map are drawn proportionately
based on this figure and that object's distance from the current
view location.
     The horizontal and vertical direction of view is controlled
numerically via the two gadgets so labeled. These allow one to
fine-tune one's view point target. The width of one's view is
controlled by the final gadget, and it must remain between 6° and
 178° (inclusive.)
Section # 84 Map Font Requester
     The "SELECT THE FONTS TO USE ON YOUR MAP" window gives one
control over which fonts, font styles and font sizes each map
icon is labeled with (when labeled.) Below the direction lines
are ten gadgets going down the window, each gadget has an example
of the map icons it controls, as well as a text sample in the
user's text choice. Selecting any of these gadgets will bring up
a standard font requester--if a font is chosen, the text will be
refreshed to depict the new choice.