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MISSIONS.DOC
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2004-04-15
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153 lines
"Wot? Ye said ye wanna wot?"
"Missions? In TradeWars? You're outta yer bleedin mind!"
"The only way you can do that is with..."
T R A D E W A R S 2 0 0 2
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Yet another Trade Wars 2002 utility for SysOps
written by Brandon Bannerman
≡ Release Version 0.81 ≡
3:17 PM PST, Wed 04/15/92
─Oh, no... not again!─
Yes, I'm at it again. My creativity is running overdrive lately it seems;
no facet of TradeWars is safe from my meddling. :)
Actually, this program is rather benign as far as editing goes, compared
to some of my others like ShipEdit and TW Hex. This program is the
culmination of months of research, and a lot of my own personal dreams of
seeing things in TradeWars like this. Without further ado, on to the dox!
(Like you guys ever read them :P)
─Okay, I give up--what is TW Missions?─
Does anyone remember a space trading game for the IBM PC, Amiga, Apple,
and conceivable every other computer system called Elite? If not, then
I'll make this quick; in Elite every now and then you'd come across a
mission, given to you arbitrarily by the denizens of various ports, by
emergency beacons, and sometimes by the GalPolice themselves. Often when
playing TradeWars, I'd wished that things were more like Elite in that
respect; being sent on a mission gallavanting across the cosmos by the
Federation or some other force adds a lot of depth and realism to a game.
However, until recently I was at a loss as to how to implement this into
the game. *Sooo*... here I am now, I finally completed this sucker and
now it's up to *you*, the SysOp, to have fun with it!
─How does it work?─
MISSIONS.EXE is the runtime program used to create, check, and update the
missions. It should be put in the batch file you use to run TradeWars,
right after the TW2002.EXE program exits. Every time the program runs,
there is a 25% chance it will assign a mission, either to a player chosen
at random or an open invitation to the universe by way of TWOPENG.DAT, the
daily log. It will send a message to the player, detailing what sort of
mission they are to perform, how long they have to complete it, and the
criteria for such. The following illustrates the current random choices:
Mission Type :
Search and Destroy
Ferrengi -- the player(s) must find and destroy this Ferrengi ship
before the elapsed mission length.
Alien -- same as above, but with an alien.
Fighters -- Rogue Mercenary fighters are gathering in a sector, and
the player(s) are charged with ousting them before they
grow too powerful.
Port -- Feature not available just yet. (later)
Planet -- Ditto.
Rescue
Port -- a port is under seige by terrorist factions. The player
must save this port or it will be destroyed.
Planet -- same as above, but this time a Federation colony is being
attacked by Space Pirates.
The Rescue missions are only available in the REGISTERED version of this
program. See the appropriate section. (I'm still working on the routines
for the port and planet destruction)
There is room for 50 missions in the MISSIONS.DAT file--although I don't
expect a normal game would ever accumulate that many. The program takes
about 5 seconds to run on my XT, plus an average of 5-8 seconds for
every active mission. You usually won't have very many missions, so this
shouldn't be a problem--especially seeing how mine *is* an XT. There is
no way to edit the MISSIONS.DAT file directly, and I really don't advice
trying; you could *really* screw up the entire game.
It is *imperative* that you leave the last Planet record open! TW
Missions uses this for its "scrap" planet, and if a player's planet is
there is will be lost.
─So what happens next?─
If a player successfully completes the mission in the specified time
limit (5 days in a unregistered version, a random number up to 31 in the
registered version), he will be awarded an experience point and alignment
bonus. If TW Missions is registered, he will also receive a credit bounty
for his efforts, usually just enough to cover the cost of the fighters
plus a little more. He will be sent a thank-you note from the Federation,
and the mission will be terminated.
However, if the player should fail to complete the mission in time, he
will LOSE half the experience point value that he would've gained, he
will be sent a very insulting and acid note from the Federation, and the
mission will be terminated.
It's all very straightforward; but it might be a good idea to *not* warn
your players that they might be receiving missions--let them pass it off
as a joke by someone with high access the first time, they'll learn to
pay a little more attention to their environment. :)
─That's ALL? No lengthy dox?─
No lengthy docs are needed. There are no key commands or commandline
parameters to remember, no complicated syntax or anything like that. Just
put MISSIONS.EXE in your TW2002.BAT file, right afer the run of the
TW2002.EXE program. TW Missions will take everything from there; you
don't need to maint it or do any input at all. All that is necessary is
that MISSIONS.EXE be run in the TW2002 directory, with the MISSIONS.DAT
file in the same directory.
─Version History─
Hah, hah. Very funnny; first release.
v0.50 to v0.80
Beta test versions; not released.
v0.81 -- 04/15/92
Initial public release. Knockem dead! :)
─Registration─
Sorry, but I've put far more work into this program than any of my others
combined, and I think the fun it can put in your TW2002 game is *well*
worth a registration. In the unregistered version, the following are in
effect:
- Only Search-And-Destroy missions will be given──no rescue missions.
- Players will not receive credit bounties for their efforts, although they
will still receive experience and alignment.
- An annoying message will be sent to a player whenever they complete or fail
a mission, telling them to encourage you to register.
- All missions will have a set length of Five days.
Registration is $10 US funds, check, cash, or money order. I can be contacted
at the following addresses, handles, and BBSes for questions, comments, and
registration:
Brandon Bannerman
13811 Macadam Rd. S.
Tukwila, WA 98168
(Phone number[s] coming when we finish moving)
Lord Dakkath, if you see me that's me (I don't know of anyone else
using that handle)
Prodigy BVTP25B
Contest!! There is now a contest for users of my programs. Find the
secret joke... if you can. The first person to send me email anywhere
with a full explanation of My Secret Joke will receive a free
registration of either Genesis or TW Missions, and maybe a little surprise :)
Thanks, and support the shareware concept!