Multimedia Magazine 7/Multimedia-No7-11-1995.iso/APPLICAT/EDUCATE/VPADDONS/VPUT250.ZIP/VPUTIL.DOC

Text File | 1994-11-13 | 51KB | 1,024 lines

VPUTIL - VGA Planets support utility.      (c) 1993-94  Sysma Automatisering



Disclaimer of Warranties
========================

The program is delivered to you as is. Although copyrighted,
Sysma Automatisering shall not be liable for any damage whatsoever arising
out of your use of this program, either in it's original form or any altered
form, even if you have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Although distributed freely, this is copyrighted material. You are hereby
granted the rights to use and/or modify the program for your personal use.
You may (re)distribute this program or your own modifications, PROVIDED you
distribute the complete set of original files with your own modified ones
and you distribute them without charging any money or any other form of
compensation.


History
=======

12/11/94   Version 2.50   Added support for VPHOST's new message transponder.
15/10/94   Version 2.40   Fixed a bug with ship to enemy ship cargo transfer.
                          Whenever only one enemy ship was available, the
                          cargo was beamed into thin air.
                          Added spec viewers for engines, beam weapons and
                          torpedoes.
                          Added 16 bits DPMI version, named VPUTILX.EXE
20/06/94   Version 2.36   Supplies from Bovinoids are now added to the
                          Projected Resources.
                          Gravity Wells are now taken into account when ETA's
                          are to be determined.
                          Fuel usage has now a separate line for the usage
                          of the next turn only.
18/05/94   Version 2.35   Added a link with VCR.EXE, so that battles can be
                          watched from within VPUTIL.
                          VPUTIL will now try to open the result file, if the
                          normal player data files are not found.
                          VPUTIL now searches the startup directory for the
                          global data files, if they cannot be found in either
                          the game or the current directory.
                          Fixed the bug that with transporting clans to an
                          enemy vessel the system would not accept any clans.
30/04/94   Version 2.31   Added a list of ships to the planet detailed screen
                          of all your ships currently on route to that planet.
                          Added a projected resource screen to the planet
                          screen to show accumulated resource totals within
                          the next 10 turns.
28/04/94   Version 2.30   Changed fuel usage printout of the engines from
                          real burn to relative percentages.
                          Added a report mode to the hull reports, to show
                          which players have hulls in their respective lists.
                          Changed native tax rates to show 0 MC, regardless
                          of the tax rate for Amorphous natives.
                          Ship defense statistics now report correctly the
                          number of mines that can be swept, instead of the
                          rate of just one engine.
                          Ship defense statistics now also report the number
                          of mine units a ship can lay, if any.
                          Ships can now choose other ships as waypoint.
                          Added the same scoring screen as PLANETS.EXE uses,
                          to report known amounts of the various players.
17/02/94   Version 2.20   Allowed Colonists to beam to enemy vessels. (It turned
                          out that PLANETS also allows this, strangly enough).
                          Added view/edit/usage of HCONFIG.HST.
                          Added a turn file decompiler.
                          Extended the ship defense statistics with the
                          actual mine sweep rates, using HCONFIG data.
                          Fixed a few presentation glitches.
24/01/94   Version 2.10   Added a FAST turn file compile command.
                          Fixed a few presentation glitches.
18/01/94   Version 2.00   Finally completed the beta-test program. This is
                          the official GA release. Improved some detailed
                          screens slightly, improved the speed of several
                          parts, and reduced the size of the code.
                          Implemented transfer of cargo to foreign ships.
                          Removed the bug that with the F6 function while in a
                          ship screen and selecting an enemy ship would lock
                          up the system.
                          Added a battle specification browser.
18/12/93   Version 1.99h  Fixed a few minor bugs and a serious one concerning
                          transporting cargo to/from other ships. Under some
                          rare conditions this could lead to random cargo
                          values.
                          Added the feature that VPUTIL looks for global data
                          files (ie. race.nm, etc.) in your specified path and
                          only if it does not find a complete set, it looks in
                          the current directory. This enables you to play
                          several games with different universes more easily.
05/11/93   Version 1.99g  Corrected the error of specifying the wrong ship
                          when entering an intercept mission. Added beaming
                          cargo down on the surface of a foreign planet (or
                          jettison cargo into deep space).
                          Finally figured out the last details concerning data
                          encryption. This made it possible to write a new,
                          FAST unpack routine, which is embedded in this
                          program as of now. Running PLANETS itself is now
                          reduced to only once for every game directory you
                          use, instead of once every turn.
                          Added password protection of the data files.
15/09/93   Version 1.99f  Finally added selction of waypoints, and completed
                          the implementation of the Intercept and Tow missions.
                          Added the cargo transported between own planets and
                          ships, and enabled the selection of ships at the
                          same location with the F6 key.
24/08/93   Version 1.99e  Added a read only flag, which prevents changes to be
                          written back. This option is implemented, because
                          several players use Windows or OS/2 to run this
                          program and PLANETS concurrently. When both
                          programs write back data, this can cause problems.
                          Usage of this flag should prevent this.
05/08/93   Version 1.99d  The setting of the warp factor has now taken into
                          account the damage of a ship. The mining rate of
                          the mining survey has been corrected for the
                          Lizard player. Buying a torpedo had a serious bug.
                          Payment was as if a fighter was bought. This has
                          been corrected. The amount of tax collected by the
                          Federation is now reported correctly.
03/08/93   Version 1.99c  A few minor bugs, mostly related to presentation of
                          information in the reports, have been fixed.
31/07/93   Version 1.99b  Memory allocation and read/write logic changed again.
                          Allocation is now based upon single records and
                          therefore no limitation exists anymore.
                          An interactive interface has been added which can
                          replace almost any action inside PLANETS. Since this
                          system can access AND update any ship or planet data,
                          the show commands have been removed. The commands
                          to raise tech levels have also been removed, for
                          the same reason.
                          Note that this version, although stable, is still in
                          beta testing. It is neither complete, nor tested
                          thorough enough to be guaranteed to work under all
                          circumstances. It is therefore advisable to make a
                          backup of your result and/or data files before using
                          this program.
16/04/93   Version 1.6    Totally revamped the read/write logic and memory
                          structures. Now only more than 400 bases can cause
                          a memory allocation error. Since this is an
                          impossible situation anyway, the program should work
                          fine under all circumstances.
                          Added the feature of reading the data directly from
                          the result file, ie. before unpack has been used.
15/04/93   Version 1.5    Finally tracked down the implementation of the
                          checksum generating system. This eliminates the
                          possibility of not being able to write back changed
                          data files.
14/04/93   Version 1.3    Corrected the bug that whenever tech level increase
                          was specified at or below the current level, the
                          current level got reset to tech level 0.
                          Corrected the bug that whenever changing a tech level
                          without specifying the planet Id, the first planet
                          instead of the planet with the base was taken. This
                          would then result in corrupted data files.
                          Also adjusted the close range scanner reports to
                          eliminate ships oribiting planets you do not own.
                          Added the planetary information report.
12/04/93   Version 1.2    Corrected the galaxy enenmy ship scan for VGA Planets
                          version 2.x data files bug, and added some more
                          reports.
11/04/93   Version 1.1    Fixed some minor bugs, added reports of the
                          various data in the game and added extra detailed
                          information displays. Removed the 'Change planetary
                          friendly codes' command, as it turned out that this
                          command effectively canceled out the race advantage
                          of the Bird Man.
10/04/93   Version 1.0    First public release of the program. Further
                          enhancements are already planned, but we are
                          awaiting feedback and bug reports of this version
                          first.


Introduction
============

This utility is designed to support and enhance the client part of the game
VGA Planets versions 3.0 only (ie. Planets.Exe). VGA Planets is a strategic
space war/economy simulation game for up to eleven players. The unique feature
of the game is that it plays the turns off-line. This means that there is a
game server (or Host) somewhere where the entire game universe exists. The
game server executes the commands the players provide each game turn and
provides the results, tailored to every player.

Each player gets the results meant for him and uses the game client program
(Planets.Exe) to view the results of the previous set of commands and to issue
new ones. Because each player gets only results from the host concerning his
own ships and planets, it is not possible to see enemy ships or planets when
the game rules don't permit this.

Build into the game is an E-mail facility, which enables the possibility to
send messages to other players. This E-mail facility is also used by the
automated host program to report information back to you regarding the previous
issued commands. You can use this E-mail facility just as you like. A good
purpose would be to perform diplomacy with it. Messages you send to a player X
don't arrive by player Y if you so choose.

At certain planets there are starbases in orbit. These starbases are very
important, as they act as your space ship factory and as a space ship
repair/refit location. At every starbase a set of four technology levels are
maintained. The levels are for space ship hulls (ie. the frame to build a
space ship), transwarp drive engines, beam weapons and photon torpedoes. The
higher a techonoly level, the more powerfull the parts concerned become.


Purpose
=======

For every version of VGA Planets there exist both a shareware copy and a
registered equivalent. The shareware version limits all technology levels to
level 6, whereas the registered version allows technology levels upto level 10,
plus several other nice additional features.

The main purpose of this program is to provide players with additional
features not found in PLANETS itself, while maintaining the same features of
both the shareware and the registered version of Planets itself. The
autodetection logic build into the program will prevent shareware players from
accessing registered user features.

Features supported by VPUTIL can be divided into three categories:

1. The report generator. This part provides the players with different reports
   covering all data available to the player.
2. Check and correct facilities.
3. An interactive, menu driven user interface, enabling easier access to the
   most important commands also available within PLANETS.
   The keywords here are consistancy in operation, full undo facility, extra
   viewers and convenient shortcut keys.

As of version 1.99g, VPUTIL comes with autodetection of registered players.
Whenever VPUTIL is run on data previously accessed by a registered PLANETS
copy, it will enable the same features registered PLANETS users enjoy, such
as tech levels upto 10 on all starbases. If, however, the game data was last
accessed by the shareware PLANETS copy, access to all extended features is
prohibited. There is no hidden or secret command line option or keystroke
sequence to trigger the registered features on a shareware game.

VPUTIL can be used as a complete replacement of the PLANETS program, except
for writing messages to other players. Note that, when you stop using PLANETS
and you are a registered user, VPUTIL writes a shareware signature to your
player data files if you used UNPACK to unpack your result files. However,
using the unpack command of VPUTIL (or the stand alone VPUNPACK program)
will eliminate this problem.

Normally, UNPACK writes just the data files and the PLANETS program takes care
of creating the essential encrypted data plus the signature. This is also the
reason why you cannot use MAKETURN immediately after UNPACK. The UNPACK program
does in fact eliminate any encrypted data plus the signature, left over from
the last turn. The unpack routine of both VPUNPACK and VPUTIL, on the other
hand, update this information when found and always write the data back. If
no data from a previous turn is found, a shareware signature is assumed.


DPMI protected mode version
============================

Usage of the protected mode version is identical to the real mode VPUTIL
command, described in the next sections. However, there are several additional
points to keep in mind.

VPUTILX is the 16 bits DPMI version, and requires at least a 286 machine
with 2 MB of RAM installed. It calls and uses RTM.EXE as it's DPMI service
provider. RTM detects and uses an already present DPMI server (such as HIMEM
or QEMM), but if a server is not yet installed, it installs it's own server
DPMI16BI.OVL, which must be locateable in the current directory, or via the
PATH.


The message transponder
=======================

As of version 2.00 of VPHOST, a message transponder is included. The purpose
of this transponder is to send any binary information from the host to the
players, or vice versa. Typically this transponder is used to pass information
from the host the the players that is not normally included in the result
file format currently in use.

Players may receive data via the transponder in any of three ways. The host
may have instructed VPHOST to send information manually, the player itself
may have requested information, or VPHOST may have initiated the transponder
itself based upon some internal processing condition.

The transponder sends the information in specially formatted messages, which
are not readable directly. The unpack result file routine of VPUTIL (version
2.50 upwards) and VPUNPACK (version 2.20 upwards) are capable of both
recognizing this special format and processing the messages. This means that
you normally would never see these messages, except for the results they
produce on your game data.

However, there may be occasions that you DO see these messages. If this
happens, one of two things may have gone wrong. The first one is that you
used an older version of either VPUNPACK or VPUTIL. At the bottom of each
transponder message is the lowest version needed for either program that is
capable of processing that particular message. Check it against your current
versions and upgrade to the listed versions if yours are out of date.

If, on the other hand, your current versions are up to date, the message
could not be processed for integrity reasons. Some transponder messages need
access to VGA PLANETS's global data files for modifications. The transponder
processor refuses to process any of these messages when the global data
files are not in the same directory as your game data itself. When it is
present in your game directory, the processor automatically assumes that
these are copies of the originals and that it is safe to make changes.

Note that currently it is recommended to have your global data files copied
in your game directory, since different games may use different global
data files, ie. different ship specs, different star charts, etc. VPUTIL and
VPUNPACK automatically recognize and use global data files whenever they
are found in the game directory. However, ALL of the global data files need
to be present in order to enable this feature.

The transponder is activated by sending special formatted messages to
yourself. The first line of the message contains the command, which is
always preceded by the keyword 'Request: '. Note that the colon and space
are mandatory, and that there should not be any spaces between the keyword and
the colon. After the keyword the command may be specified. Any parameters
should be placed on the next line(s).

When the first line of the message is not in this format, the transponder
ignores it and simply sends the message back unaltered.

The following commands are currently supported:
RaceNames         All the race names currently stored at the host in the
                  RACE.NM file. Your RACE.NM file will be updated.
TurnLog           Send the turn file activity log that is maintained by VPHOST.
                  This command will produce the Players.Log file in your game
                  directorty, containing the information in readable ASCII.
Configuration     Send the host configuration files HCONFIG.HST and
                  VPCONFIG.HST. These files will be created/overwritten in
                  your game directory.
NewName           Define a new name for your race. The second line must
                  contain the full imperial name (30 chars max), the third
                  line must contain the plural name (20 chars max) and the
                  fourth line must contain the adjective form (12 chars max).

Any of these requests may be send by using the send request menu from
within the interactive user interface's main menu. Each of the menu options
creates the correct request message. The NewName request takes the race
name that is currently stored in your RACE.NM file, so alter the entries
first by using the Host configuration menu, before sending this request with
the request menu.


Memory requirements
===================

VPUTIL by itself requires about 250 Kb of memory to run. However, data files
are also needed for all commands to execute. The global data files account
for about 23 Kb of memory. The player data, of course, vary greatly in size,
depending on the number of assets a player owns, and how many messages are
send. As a rule of thumb, the memory needed to store the player data is
roughly twice the size of the result file.

So, for a typical mid game result file of about 40 Kb, the total amount of
memory needed to run VPUTIL properly would be 225 + 23 + 80 = 328 Kb of
free DOS memory. Typically, machines running MS DOS 5.0 or higher can have
500 to 600 Kb of free memory, depending on the number of device drivers and
other resident programs. This should cause no problems. If you run into
memory problems, kill some resident programs, or try to load less device
drivers.

If you want to watch your battles from within VPUTIL (possible as of version
2.35), you need another 120 Kb of memory. This is because VPUTIL spawns the
VCR program as a child process, instead of an overlay process. Again, with
a normal configured system running MS DOS 5.0 or higher this should not cause
any problems, since the requirements for a typical result file would raise to
about 448 Kb.

Note that the above does not apply completely to the protected mode version
of VPUTIL. The program and all of it's data will by default load in the
available extended memory, leaving only the DPMI server/service provider in
low (ie. 640 KB) memory. Only when not enough extended memory is available,
(parts of) VPUTIL and it's data are loaded low.


Commands
========

In this section the available commands of VPUTIL will be covered. The general
command line syntax is to issue one command and zero or more appropriate flags.
A quick overview of the commands and flags follows below.

The commands are:                    The flags are:

mm  Interactive Main Menu            -wPath  Specify work dir for player data
rh  Report space ship hulls          -p??    Specify player Id
re  Report space ship engines        -tm??   Specify minimal Tech Level
rw  Report space ship beam weapons   -t??    Specify (maximal) Tech Level
rt  Report space ship torpedoes      -sc     Show Cost/Cargo/Colonists
ra  Report deep space scan           -sl     Show Location
rc  Report close range scan          -sw     Show Waypoints
rs  Report own space ships           -sr     Show resources
rp  Report all planets               -sn     Show natives
rb  Report fought battles            -so     Show hulls in one list
cw  Check waypoints of space ships   -r??    Specify nearby range
cp  Compile player turn files        -rf     Access result file directly.
un  Unpack player result files       -ro     Read Only access
uc  Uncompile player turn files      -rt     Decompile turn file directly
sb  Watch all the battles            -pw???  Specify password

There are five flags vaild for every command, so they will be listed here. All
other flags and the meaning will be covered with the commands on which they
act.

   -wPath
   ------

   Specifies the directory 'Path' in which the player data files can be found.
   VPUTIL will also look for the global data files in this specified directory.
   If it finds a complete set there, it will use them. Otherwise the current
   directory is assumed to contain these global data files. The latter is
   consistent with the behaviour of both PLANETS and HOST. The first
   possibility is an extention to allow games with different universes to
   be played and kept apart simultaniously.
   If neither the specified directory nor the current directory contain a
   complete set of global data files, the startup directory (ie. the
   directory containing VPUTIL) is searched for these files.

   -p??
   ----

   Specifies the player number (ranging from 1 to 11) on which to perform the
   specified command. This flag may be omitted if there are only data files of
   one player in the specified directory.

   -pw???
   ------

   Specify the current password for the requested player's data files, if
   these have been protected by a password. Failing to specify the correct
   password results in a fatal error and immediately aborts the requested
   command. Note that in order for this option to operate, a password may
   not contain any spaces, since spaces are considered separators between
   commands and options on the command line.

   -rf
   --

   Use the player result file (Player??.Rst) as the source of all player data
   instead of the normal data files generated by UNPACK. Using this option
   implies read-only access, since this data is used by MAKETURN to determine
   the data you have changed in order to generate the commands in the turn
   file send to the host. Tampering with this result file therefore would
   imply that incorrect commands would be send to the host.
   If only a player result file is present for the specified player, this
   option may be omitted, as the system will automatically use this result
   file.

   -ro
   ---

   This flag, when specified, blocks any changes you make to be written to
   the data files.

   -rt
   ---

   This flag, when specifies, overrules the current state of your game data
   and instead falls back to the state of the last turn file created. This
   is, of course, only possible whenever you have a turn file created for
   your current turn. It may be used with or without the -rf flag.
   The effect of this flag is to allow you access to the game data as the
   uncompile command would give you, without actually performing a real
   uncompile action.
   Note that using this flag also implies read only access, just as with
   the -rf flag.


Command cw
==========

This command checks the waypoints of all your space ships which have been given
movement orders. Due to the implementation of the way the movement commands
are given with the mouse, it happens frequently that the waypoint, originally
set to a planet, moves slightly off due to an unintended mouse movement.

This command checks all your space ships to see if they have movement orders
and if the specified waypoint is within a radius of n light years of a planet.
If both conditions are true, the waypoint is adjusted to point to that planet.
If a space ship is within the radius, but has no movement orders (ie. the
warp factor is 0), it is left alone.

   -r??
   ----

   Specifies the range around a planet which triggers the waypoint adjustment.
   Any of your ships within the given range around a planet will be given a
   waypoint to that planet. If a ship falls within range of more than one
   planet, the nearest planet will be used. If not specified, the range
   defaults to 5 light years.

Command rh
==========

This command generates a report of all the possible space ship hulls a race
can build. The report comes in two parts, hull capabilities and hull costs.

   -t??
   ----

   Specifies upto which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omitted, technology level 10 is assumed.

   -tm??
   -----

   Specifies from which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omiiied, technology level 1 is assumed. If both
   this flag and the previous one are specified, a subrange of technology
   levels can be created. If in this case the value for this flag is larger
   than the value for the previous one, this flag is treated as if it was
   not specified.

   -sc
   ---

   Generate a report with the building cost of the space ship hulls, instead
   of the hull specifications.

   -so
   ---

   Generate a report showing which races have a hull in their arsenal. This
   switch overrules the -sc switch if both are specified.

   -sl
   ---

   Generate the report as one continuous list, instead of compiling a list
   on a per race basis. This switch can be used together with the -so or -sc
   switch.

Command re
==========

This command generates a report of all the possible space ship engines every
race can mount on a space ship hull. The report shows both the cost and the
fuel usage factors for every possible warp factor.

   -t??
   ----

   Specifies upto which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omitted, technology level 10 is assumed.

   -tm??
   -----

   Specifies from which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omiiied, technology level 1 is assumed. If both
   this flag and the previous one are specified, a subrange of technology
   levels can be created. If in this case the value for this flag is larger
   than the value for the previous one, this flag is treated as if it was
   not specified.

Command rw
==========

This command generates a report of all the possible beam weapons every race
can mount on a space ship hull. The report shows both the cost and the beam
weapon effectiveness for both kill (crew) power and space hull destructive
(explosive) power.

   -t??
   ----

   Specifies upto which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omitted, technology level 10 is assumed.

   -tm??
   -----

   Specifies from which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omiiied, technology level 1 is assumed. If both
   this flag and the previous one are specified, a subrange of technology
   levels can be created. If in this case the value for this flag is larger
   than the value for the previous one, this flag is treated as if it was
   not specified.

Command rt
==========

This command generates a report of all the possible torpedo launchers every
race can mount on a space ship hull. The report shows both the cost and the
torpedo effectiveness for both kill (crew) power and space hull destructive
(explosive) power. The last cost value is the cost to build one torpedo to
be launched with the launcher. No cost for raw materials is given, since these
values are 1 Duranium, 1 Tritanium and 1 Molybdenum for all possible torpedoes.

   -t??
   ----

   Specifies upto which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omitted, technology level 10 is assumed.

   -tm??
   -----

   Specifies from which technology level the space ship hulls should be
   included in the report. If omiiied, technology level 1 is assumed. If both
   this flag and the previous one are specified, a subrange of technology
   levels can be created. If in this case the value for this flag is larger
   than the value for the previous one, this flag is treated as if it was
   not specified.

Command ra
==========

This command generates a report of the known information about all the space
ships that are visible in the galaxy star chart (as red dots).

Command rp
==========

This command generates a report of all your own planets plus the planets which
are within your scanning range. The report comes in four parts, the planet's
core resources, the native population, the planet's colonists and the planet's
surface resources.

   -sr
   ---

   Show the resources in the planet's core, instead of the resources on the
   planet's surface.

   -sc
   ---

   Show the colonist information + building structures, instead of the
   resources on the planet's surface. This flag overrules the sr flag when
   both are specified.

   -sn
   ---

   Show the native population information, instead of the resources on the
   planet's surface. This flag overrules both the sr and the sc flag when any
   combination of these flags is specified.

Command rc
==========

This command generates a report of the results of the close range subspace
scans that were performed by your starbases and space ships. The report comes
in two parts, the space ship class and direction information and the space
ship locations. Note that enemy ships are still hidden from your scans whenever
they are orbiting planets you don't own, but are within your scan range.

   -sl
   ---

   Show the locations of the space ships, instead of the space ship class and
   bearing information.

Command rs
==========

This command generates a report of the status of your own space ships. The
report comes in four parts, the space ship's class and status, the space ship's
locations, the space ship's cargo and the space ship's waypoint settings.

   -sl
   ---

   Show the locations of your space ships, instead of the ship's class and
   status.

   -sw
   ---

   Show the waypoint settings of your space ships, instead of the ship's class
   and status. This flag overrules the sl flag when both are specified.

   -sc
   ---

   Show the cargo bay contents of your space ships, instead of the ship's
   class and status. This flag overrules both the sl and the sw flag when any
   combination of these flags is specified.

Command un
==========

This command unpacks player result files, in the directory spefified. This
command executes up to 20 times as fast as the original UNPACK utility, and it
does NOT delete the original result (.RST) file upon completion. If no player
is specified, all result files will be unpacked.

This command will put the shareware signature in the encrypted data, if you
unpack to a directory which has no signature yet. A signature is automatically
created whenever you leave PLANETS. Changing anything or not is not relevant
in this case.

This is nothing to worry about when you are a registered user, since it is
allowed to switch between registered and shareware versions of PLANETS,
provided you did not change anything with PLANETS or any other tool to your
unpacked data. So if you are a registered user, simply start with your
registered copy and all will be fine.

Note that changing anything to your player data, no matter which tool or
utility you use, will commit you for the current turn to the PLANETS version
with the same signature. So if you unpack to a blank directory and run VPUTIL
with the mm command directly, you are committed (for the current turn) to the
shareware version of PLANETS. However, if a signature was already present
during unpacking, it will be retained and all essential data, needed for the
MAKETURN utility will be updated as well.

Note, however, that this is a special feature of this command and not a standard
feature of the original UNPACK utility. The UNPACK utility does not update
some of the essential encrypted data, needed by MAKETURN to function properly.
If you use the standard UNPACK utility, you MUST run PLANETS before running
MAKETURN, since only PLANETS in the standard VGA Planets 3.0 package will
create this data. Note also that VPUTIL is capable of creating this data upon
termination, but only with a shareware signature.

Command cp
==========

This command compiles player turn files, and as such is a replacement for the
standard MAKETURN program. This command can compile the turn files upto 20
times faster than the MAKETURN program, depending om the hardware you use.
Just as with the unpack command, this command achieves it's performance by
processing the data files in memory, instead of using heavy disk access.
If no player Id is specified, all players are assumed.

Just as with MAKETURN, when you play different races with the same registered
PLANETS program, this command will place the necessary data in the turn file
so the host will accept them as coming from one machine. This prevents the
Tim Continuum from striking.

Command uc
==========

This command rolls back any changes made to the universe data since the last
time a turn file was compiled. It uses the same technique for this as the
host does. The universe is reset to the same state as was stored in the
result file, and then all commands stored in the turn file are executed.
Provided there was no error, this produces the same universe state as was
present at the time the turn file was compiled. The result file does not
have to be present in order for this command to function.

Command sb
==========

This command will call up the VCR program with all of your battles fed to
it. You are able to watch the battles in exactly the same way as you would
have, had you requested your battles from within PLANETS itself. After you
terminate the VCR program, you are returned directly to the command shell.

Command mm
==========

This command enables the interactive system of VPUTIL. On screen appears a
main menu from which you can choose an action. Selecting an action can be
achieved using the arrow keys. Selecting an action is done with the ENTER key.
With the ESCAPE key you will return to the command prompt of DOS.

General notes for using this system. You don't have to sell supply units
manually before buying new objects. This system handles this automatically. If
max. values apply to certain fields, these values are shown on the right of the
field in green. It is not possible to build more than the max. allowed value.
You can undo all build commands simply by lowering the value again. Undo is
possible upto the value as was stored in the result file. In numeric fields
you can enter a desired value directly.

When you want to browse through ships, planets or VCRs, and there is more than
one available to choose from, a list is shown instead of the window with the
detailed information. Simply pressing the ENTER key on a selected ship, planet
or VCR brings you to that object. From then on you will be browsing in the
detailed information. Pressing the END or ESCAPE key returns you to the list.
In the list view all function keys which are available in the detailed windows
are still operating. When using one of them, the action is performed on the
currently selected ship or planet.

When entering a new value in a field, the value is accepted whenever one of
the specified special keys (except the ESCAPE key) is pressed. The ENTER
key acts as an ARROW DOWN key by advancing to the next field, if possible.
Fields which hold one value out of a set (such as orders) can be activated
with the ENTER key. A menu with items to choose from will be presented. A
new value is entered by selecting the correct item and pressing the ENTER key.
Pressing the ESCAPE key leaves the original value unchanged.

   -r???
   -----

   Specify the range to target which is considered nearby. Any distance
   shorter or equal to the specified range is nearby. For any other distance
   the position will be marked as Deep Space. This option is only relevant
   to your own and enemy space ships. If not specified, the range defaults
   to 5 light years.

General key assignments within the interactive system:

ENTER       Select an action and executes it.
ESCAPE      Abort current action and return to the previous level.
ARROW KEYS  Move around within current level and highlight a selection.
END         End current action and return to the previous level.
PAGEUP      Go to the previous page of information.
PAGEDOWN    Go to the next page of information.

Key assignments within the Planet Detailed Screen:

F2          Show scoring information.
F3          Show detailed scoring information of current planet.
F4          Show detailed scoring information of current starbase.
F5          Show the configuration menu. From this menu browsers for the
            various HCONFIG settings may be called. When in a browser,
            the PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN keys allow direct access to the other
            browsers.
SHIFT F5    Show the global specifications menu. From this menu browsers
            for the hull specs, beam weapon specs, engine specs and
            torpedo specs may be called. When in a browser, the PAGEUP and
            PAGEDOWN keys allow direct access to the other browsers.
F6          Show a list of space ships in orbit of the planet.
Shift F6    Show a list of ships that are actively on route to this planet.
F7          Show a mining survey.
Shift F7    Show a projected resource screen, showing how much resources will
            be present over the given number of turns. Cargo of ships that are
            on route is added at the time of arrival, calculated from their ETA.
F8          Show the defense strength of the current planet/starbase.
F9          If a starbase is present, manage it's inventory and build new
            ships. Otherwise, build or cancel building a starbase.
F10         Show a menu with the above commands.
+           Increment the value of current field (if possible).
-           Decrement the value of current field (if possible).
Alt M       Build max. possible mines.
Alt F       Build max. possible factories.
Alt D       Build max. possible defense posts.
Alt R       Randomize the friendly code.
Alt C       Sell all supplies and convert them to MC's.
Alt S       Undo selling of supplies.
m           Build one mine (same as in PLANETS).
f           Build one factory (same as in PLANETS).
d           Build one defense post (same as in PLANETS).
TAB         Moves to the first field of the next section.
Shift TAB   Moves to the first field of the previous section.

Key assignments within the Space Ship Detailed Screen:

F2          Show scoring information.
F3          Show detailed scoring information of current space ship.
F5          Show the configuration menu.
SHIFT F5    Show the global specifications menu.
F6          Show a list of space ships at the same location.
F7          Show a window with the possible capabilities of the hull.
F8          Show the defense strength of the current space ship.
F9          Manage the ship's cargo bay.
F10         Show a menu with the above commands.
Alt R       Randomize the friendly code.
Alt U       Unload all cargo from a Trans 1 or Trans 2 field.
Alt M       Load all cargo to a Trans 1 or Trans 2 field.
+           Increment the value of current field (if possible).
-           Decrement the value of current field (if possible).
TAB         Moves to the first field of the next section.
Shift TAB   Moves to the first field of the previous section.

Note: To beam cargo to an enemy ship, use the column under Trans 2. When more
      than one enemy ship is present at the same location, you must first
      select an enemy ship by moving the highlight bar to the 'Transporter 2'
      field and press ENTER. Once a ship has been selected, the Trans 2
      column will be enabled.

Key assignments within the Space Ship Transport Cargo Screen:

Alt M       Load selected item to max. allowed value.
Alt U       Unload selected item to min. allowed value.
+           Increment the value of current field (if possible).
-           Decrement the value of current field (if possible).

Note: To change the transport target to another ship (or back to the planet),
      move the highlight bar to the transport target field and press ENTER.

Key assignments within the Enemy Ship Detailed Screen:

F2          Show scoring information.
F5          Show the configuration menu.
SHIFT F5    Show the global specifications menu.
F6          Show a list of space ships at the same location.
F7          Show a window with the possible capabilities of the hull.
F10         Show a menu with the above commands.

Key assignments within the Starbase Inventory Screen:

F7          Show a window with the specs of the selected item. When engines,
            beam weapons or torpedoes are current, a list containing specs for
            all available items is shown.
SHIFT F7    Call up the hull specs browser. Just as when this browser is
            called from the main menu, the current race is selected, but
            with the PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN keys other races may be called up.
TAB         Toggle between the inventory list and the inventory pages.
SHIFT TAB   Same as TAB key.
INSERT      Add the selected component to the space ship to be created. When
            another element of the same page was already selected, it will
            be disassembled, before the new part is put in place. In case of
            a previous selected hull, the entire ship is dismanteled. This
            command adds the max allowed for the selected parts. If this is
            too many, you may remove single elements with the DELETE key. If
            there are not enough parts in stock, they will be build.
DELETE      Delete a component from the space ship to be created.
+           Add a component to the starbase stock.
-           Remove a component from the starbase stock.
PAGEUP      Advance to the previous components page.
PAGEDOWN    Advance to the next components page.

Key assignments within the Battle Specifications Screen:

F7          Show a window with the possible capabilities of the hull. This
            action is not available in list modus.
F8          Watch the selected battle played with VCR.
SHIFT F8    Watch all the battles played with VCR.
PAGEUP      Advance to the previous battle.
PAGEDOWN    Advance to the next battle.

Included configuration editor
-----------------------------

The editor consists of five screens, with each screen convering a particular
set of options.

Screen 1:   Ratio editor for each race. It handles the ground combat attack
            and defense factors, and the mining and tax rates.
Screen 2:   Race advantages editor. Configure which racial abilities are
            enabled or disabled.
Screen 3:   Generic options. Edit options not bound to one particular race.
Screen 4:   Enter racial names for each race.
Screen 5:   Editor for VPHOST's extra features. If actions with equivalents
            in the original HOST program are disabled, the original HOST
            program will perform those actions. Otherwise, VPHOST will take
            over those operations.

General notes you should be aware of:
------------------------------------

When using the cargo transporter, it is possible that the system allows for
less cargo or fuel than is theoretically possible. This is caused by the
second beam transporter (ie. the transporter to enemy ships). Because the
system does not know if the host can actually perform this beam command,
cargo present in this transporter is still considered part of the cargo of
your ship, thus taking up space. This is to prevent loading cargo ABOVE the
specified limits.

The battle browser may occasionally report the wrong ship as the ship used.
This is because the host transmits a Picture Id instead of a Hull Id. When
more than one ship use the same picture, this may lead to confusion. VPUTIL,
however, does it's best to determine which ship was actually used in battle,
matching the current mass, mounted beam weapons, torpedo launchers and
fighter bays as closely as possible with the stored hull specifications.

If a HCONFIG.HST file is found in the game data directory, some fields are
used to determine the actual tax income, mining rate and fuel usage (for
cloaked ships only). When no such file is found, or the file contains less
fields than the most recent HOST version uses, internal defaults are used
instead. These defaults are the same as for the most recent HOST version.

With the host 3.1x versions, a configuration table is used for each player
to determine the actual tax and mining ratios, instead of the per race
build in fixed ratios the host 3.00x versions used. VPUTIL provides access
to the HCONFIG.HST file (ie. the HOST 3.1x configuration file) to retrieve
these values in order to calculate the various ratios correctly. It also
implies that in your local HCONFIG.HST file the same values must be stored
as your game host uses. The same holds true for the cloaked fuel usage rate,
also a new HOST 3.1x feature. This value is now taken into account when
the fuel usage is calculated. This means that even a stationary ship can
now have a fuel usage !

Differences between shareware and registered mode:
-------------------------------------------------

Registered players can transfer fighters in deep space between any of their
carriers, if they are located at the same location, just as with PLANETS
itself. VPUTIL allows this feature for torpedo ships as well. Note that in
order to use this new feature, the torpedo launchers of the ships must be of
the same type. Shareware players may not transfer fighters or torpedoes
directly ships.

When selecting a waypoint for one of your ships, the system prompts for a
max. range first. The max. possible range is 750 for registered users, 200
for shareware players. However, if the HOST program is NOT patched, it is
not capable to handle waypoint displacements of more than 200 light years
in either x or y direction. In this case, you can use this feature only to
determine fuel usage over a longer distance.

Registered players are allowed to fix a foreign ship at one of your own
starbases. Note that this only applies for damage repairs, not refitting with
either fighters or torpedoes. Shareware players may only fix ships they own
by themselves.

Registered players are allowed to raise all tech levels to level 10. Raising
tech levels is limited to level 6 for shareware players.

Registered players can see the actual state value for happyness states for
both their colonists and the natives. Shareware players can only view the
state category.


Comments
========

When you have comments or find bugs, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Also, if you have ideas on how to expand the program or have suggestions for
new commands or options, please contact us.



Our email address is:

FIDO:      'Jan Peter Dijkstra' at 2:283/323.0 or 2:283/323.12
INTERNET:  [e-mail]
           [e-mail]


We can also be contacted by mail. Our mail address is:

Sysma Automatisering
tav. J.P. Dijkstra
Fazantstraat 169
7523 DP  Enschede
The Netherlands

Phone: [phone]
Fax:   [phone]