Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/366.lha/CosmicConquest_v1.035/cosmic.doc

Text File | 1990-04-08 | 25.6 KB | 536 lines

                             Cosmic Conquest
                               Doc V1.0009

              A interstellar multiplayer game of War and Peace

PUBLIC DOMAIN NOTICE

This program was placed in the public domain.  It may be freely copied
for  non-profit  by  anyone as long as the original archive or all the
unmodified  files  from  the archive are distributed in one directory.
Anybody  may  modify  this for his personal use, but please don't give
other  people  modified copies.  On the other hand I'd be delighted to
have your modifications sent to me and to incorporate them in the main
program  .   This  program is strictly public domain and not shareware
and  as  I  don't depend on living on my programs and I wrote this for
fun, I wish you to play it at no higher price.

BEFORE START

Make a "games" subdirectory in the same directory you placed the game.
In this new directory all saved games are stored (Not necessary if you
extracted the zoo archive using the x// option.).

HOW TO PLAY

The  aim of Cosmic Conquest is to be the sole remaining ruler over the
complete  star  cluster of 16 stars.  Cosmic Conquest is always played
with  four players which can be any combination of different human and
computer  players.  After selecting "Start a new game" enter the names
of  the  four  players.   To specify a computer player use as name,the
name  of  the  computer algorithm and add some string to make the name
unique.   There  are  four  supported  computer algorithms.  These are
Klingon,  Romulan,  Berserker  and  Alien.   Acceptable  names are for
example:  "romulan A" "Klingonian" "BerSERker Fred" Currently only the
klingon  player  is  working  intelligently,the  others are in V1 only
stumps.   To  specify  a  player  who  is  non-active already from the
beginning  use  the  name  "dead".  All other names are interpreted as
names  of  human  players.   After  having  entered the names the game
starts and the players take turns at entering their commands.

DISPLAYS

A) Main map (Always displayed)

This  map  is  automagicaly  displayed in the large window on the left
hand  side of the screen.  Superimposed on a dot pattern all stars are
displayed   as   capital  letters.   Stars  are  color  coded.   Stars
completely controlled by one player are displayed in his color.  Stars
on  which  several  players  control  planets are displayed in orange.
Unknown  or uninhabited stars are displayed in white.  Stars displayed
in  inverse  are  stars which already have been explored by you but on
which  currently  there  is  no  information.   Beware  !  Information
displayed about these stars may be out of date and no longer accurate.
On this screen also all taskforces known to you are displayed as minor
letters  in  the  color  of  their  empire.  Only taskforces in normal
space(not  in hyperspace) are displayed.  Sometimes several taskforces
will  be  at  one star and the display will become muddled.  To obtain
exact  information  simply  examine the starsummary for this star.  To
obtain a starsummary on an star click on it.  To obtain information on
a  taskforce click on it.  If there are several taskforces at the star
then a starsummary is displayed and you can select your taskforce from
there.   To obtain a general overview about all stars simply press the
left mouse button somewhere on the background pattern.

B) Status Display (hit 'z' for status display)

The  status  is displayed in middle window on the right.  To obtain it
simply  press the right mouse button anywhere.  It gives your name and
your techlevel.  This level starts at 100 and increases with research.
What  types  of  ships  are available to you depends on the techlevel.
The  pop-stat  show  the  number of millions of creatures of your race
alive.This  includes  colonies  enslaved by other races.  The ind-stat
gives  your  total industrial capacity.  It is the sum of the industry
of  all planets you rule.  Below,the names of all other races and your
attitude towards them (first) and their attitude towards you (second).
This can be War, Peace or Alliance.

C) Starsummary ('s' on the keyboard and hit return when asked
                for planet)

The  starsummary  is  displayed  in the middle of the 3 windows on the
right  hand  side.   In  the  top  line the letter of the star and its
coordinates are displayed.  In the four lines below information on the
up  to 8 planets (numbered from 0 to 7) of the star is displayed.  The
color of these entries is coded according to the color of the ruler of
the  planet.   A  planet  displayed in inverse represents one on which
valuable  ore  may be mined.The first 3-digit figure gives the maximum
population  of  the  planet  in  millions.   The  second one gives the
current  population  in millions.  If the planet is enslaved this stat
is displayed in the color of the original ruler.  The third one is the
current  industrial  level of the planet.  It describes what amount of
ships  or  things may be build in a certain time on this planet.  This
stat  may  never  go  above  population  number.  The final letter (or
blank)  is  an abbreviation for the type of product being built on the
planet.   Blank means nothing.  Minor letters stand for different ship
types.   M  stands for Mining, R for Researching, I for Investing.  To
obtain  further  information  on  a planet simply click on it.  In the
four  lines  below  all  taskforces at this star are displayed for the
four  players.   Taskforces  displayed in inverse are taskforces which
haven't  yet  arrived at the star ,but of which you know that they are
headed  there.   To  obtain  data on a taskforce click on it here.  To
obtain  an  overview  over  all  taskforces of one player click on the
appropriate  "Tf"  sign.   In  the  last  line the seven nearest stars
together with their distances are displayed in order of proximity.  To
obtain the summary of a star click on it or type 's' on the keyboard.

D) Staroverview ( 's' on the keyboard and return when prompted
                  for star)

The  staroverview  is  displayed in the middle of the 3 windows on the
right  hand  side.  All stars are color coded as in the main map.  For
each  star  the  sum of all its planets, population maxima, population
and industry is displayed.  Click on anywhere on the starfield or type
's'  on  the keyboard and hit return when asked for the star to obtain
the staroverview.

E) Taskforcesummary ( 't' on the keyboard and return when asked for a
                      specific taskforce)

The  taskforcesummary is displayed in the lower right hand window.  In
the headline of the display the letter of the taskforce, its star, its
empty  capacity  ,  its  speed  and  its  range  is displayed.  If the
taskforce  has  arrived  at  a  star  only  the letter of this star is
displayed.  If it is in hyperspace, the name of the star it is heading
at,  and  the number of years it will still take it to arrive there is
displayed.   The  first stat gives the sum of the sizes of the storage
holds  of  all  ships  (including  carried  ships).  Carried Ships are
disassembled.   That means that f.e.  a glitter which has a size of 20
and  a  capacity  of  19 in practice only occupies one unit of storage
space when carried.  Note also that size of the EMPTY storage holds in
this taskforce is only displayed for your own taskforces.  For foreign
taskforces (of which you don't know the interior) the maximum possible
empty  space  is  calculated and displayed.  The speed is the speed of
the  slowest  ship  in  the  taskforce ,that is not carried by another
ship.   The  range is the range of the ship with the smallest range in
the  taskforce,  that  is not being carried.  These two stats give the
maximum  distance  between  stars  that  a  taskforce  may  hyperspace
non-stop  and the distance it covers in each year.  In the body of the
display  the  names  of all shiptypes in the taskforce appear.  If you
have  information  about the interior of the ships (i.e.  it is one of
your  taskforces) 2 figures are displayed at the end of the line.  The
first  gives  the  number of free ships of this type in the taskforce,
the  second the number of carried ships of this kind in the taskforce.
On  the  other hand if it is a foreign taskforce you will only see the
number  of  visible  ships  of  each kind.  To obtain a shipsummary, a
summary  of the technical stats of one kind of ship, click on the name
of  the  shiptype.   To obtain an overview about all the taskforces of
the  player  (of which you know) in that this kind of ship is known to
be, click on the number of ships.

F) Taskforceoverview ('t' on the keyboard and return when asked for a
                      specific taskforce)

This  is  displayed  in  the  lower  right  hand  window.   All  known
taskforces  are  displayed  including the star they are heading at (or
are  at)  and  the number of years it will still take the taskforce to
arrive  there.   To  obtain a taskforce summary click on the taskforce
you wish to obtain information on.

G) Shipoverview ('f' (=Fleet) )

This  is  similar to taskforceoverview , but instead of displaying the
star  each  taskforce is heading at, the number of all free(first) and
carried(second)  ships  of one shiptype of each known taskforce of one
player   is   displayed.    If   you  don't  know  what  is  inside  a
taskforce(i.e.  it's not one of your taskforces) then only the visible
ships  are  displayed  To  obtain  a  taskforce  summary  click on the
taskforce you wish to obtain information on.

H) Planetsummary (hit 's')

Planetsummary  is  displayed  in  the lower right hand window.  In the
headline  star  and  planet  are  displayed.   In  the second line the
population  maximum  for  the  planet,  its current population and its
industrial  level  are  shown.  The name of its displayed in the third
line product.  In the next line the cost of the product( the number of
industrial points needed to build it, e.g.  , to mine one point of ore
has a cost of 15.  A planet with an industry of 60 produces 4 oreunits
a  year.   A light cruiser costs 100,thus a planet with an industry of
40  needs  2.5  years  to produce one.) is shown.  The number of years
needed  to  produce one unit as well as the estimated time at that the
next   unit  will  be  available  is  displayed.   To  obtain  further
information on the ship click on its name.

I) Shipsummary (hit 'f' and return when asked for player)

Shipsummaries  are  displayed  in the lower right side window.  In the
headline  the  name  of the shiptype is displayed.  In the second line
the  size  of  the  ship  as well as its capacity is displayed.  These
stats  are  important  for  how  many ships of a type another ship can
carry inside its storage holds.  The hyperspeed stat gives the maximum
speed of any taskforce in that such a ship is and is not carried.  The
hyperrange  gives  the range of a taskforce in that such a ship is and
is  not carried.  If either or both of these attributes is 0 then this
shiptype  has  no hyperdrive and can't move by itself from one star to
another  but must be carried by another ship.The attack stat gives the
strength of the builtin weaponry of this shiptype.  No of attack gives
the number of attacks of this strength such a ship may make each turn.
Speed  determines  when such a ship makes its attack in a battle.  The
lower  it  is  the  better.  Shields gives the power of the protective
devices  of  the  ship.   A  shield  will  block an attack of the same
strength  50  %  of  the time.  Techcost gives the price in industrial
points  it  costs to build one such ship.  Techlevel gives the minimum
techlevel a race has to have to be able to build such a ship.  If both
of  these  attributes  are  displayed  in  inverse  the  ship  is  not
available.   Below  these attributes several special abilities of some
ships may be displayed:

Starkill  = This ship is equipped with a special device which can make
suns  go  supernovae.   All  planets  and  all  taskforces present are
destroyed.    BEWARE   !!!    Very  dangerous  !   Only  for  absolute
emergencies.

One-Shot  =  This  is  a unmanned ship which is destroyed in its first
attack.  For example:  Torpedoes.

CataStart  =  Ships  with  this attribute can be ejected via catapults
very  quickly  in  a  fight, if they are carried aboard ships with the
catapult  equipment.   This  allows  attacking taskforces to have some
carried ships attack immediately in the first turn of battle.

Not  build  =  Ships  of  this type cannot be build using normal build
commands.  For example:  Oreunits and Popunits.

Catapult  =  Ships  with  this  ability  can  catapult  ships with the
CataStart attribute.

J) Help ('?' on the keyboard)

The  help  screen  is  displayed if you at any time click in the upper
right hand command window.  It shows all commands and their one letter
abbreviations.

All displays are always immediately updated to represent any change.If
in  any display the sign oo(infinite) appears this represents a figure
which  is  out  of  bounds.   It  is certainly larger than the maximum
integer to be displayed in the given number on characters (for Example
if  any  figure  greater  than  99  is  going  to  be displayed in a 2
character field it is displayed as oo.).

COMMANDS

Commands  are  entered  in  the command window in the upper right hand
corner.   In  contrast to display functions which are completely mouse
driven  all commands are entered at the keyboard.  First enter the one
letter  code for each command ,then you are queried for all parameters
of  the  command  in  this  window.   In most cases, in which you have
several  different  options you can scroll through them with the <-key
and  the  >-key.   Press  return  to  select.   You  can also enter an
identifying  letter  for  each option immediately.  When queried for a
number  the  maximum  amount  is  displayed in brackets.  Press 0-9 to
select  this  small quantity to select other numbers use the <-key and
the  >-key.   To  select maximum press >-key and shift simultaneously.
To   select  the  minimum  (usually  0)  press  the  <-key  and  shift
simultaneously.

G = Go on (Capital 'G' to prevent accidental end of turns)

This  command  ends  your  turn  and allows the next player to get his
turn.

h = Hyperspace

This  command  allows you to send taskforces from one star to another.
You are queried first for the task and then for the destination.  This
command  will  automatically  carry ships with insufficient range.  If
this  isn't possible you will get an error message.  It also optimizes
for speed.(Carries slower ships in faster if possible.)

e = Emigrate

If you rule a planet and the population is of your race, you can order
some of your loyal subjects into large containers, where cold sleep is
induced.   Into  each  of  these  containers  fit 1 million creatures.
These containers are then fired into space.  They are called popunits.
To  colonize  a  planet  simply  land (with the l command) popunits on
planets  and  your  subjects  will  awake  and  start to build another
outpost  for your empire.  When the population on a planet has reached
its maximum, surplus population is automatically sent into popunits.

k = Kill

This  is  not  a  very  philantrophic(  or  philcreaturic) command but
sometimes  necessary.   It  allows  you  to kill the population of any
planet  you  control  if  the population happens to be of another race
(when  you  have conquered and enslaved the population).  If you don't
specify  the  planet  (i.e.you  hit  return)  and there is a ship with
starkiller present, you destroy all planets and all taskforces there !
Be careful !!

j = Join taskforces

With  this  command  you can join up to 30 taskforces.  End input with
return.   All taskforces have to be at the same star.  If possible all
taskforces are joined to one.

l = Land taskforce

With this command you can colonize other planets or supply planets you
already  own  with  more population.  As many popunits as there are in
the  taskforce  and  fit  on  the planet land.  This will increase the
population  level  by this amount.  Then as many oreunits as there are
in  the  taskforce  land  and increase the industry level.  (Providing
that  wouldn't  raise  the  industry  level higher than the population
level).

n = New taskforce

This command allows you split an existing taskforce into two.  You are
prompted  for  the  number of ships of each type in the new taskforce.
All carried ships in both taskforces are unloaded.

d = Diplomatic declaration

This  commands  sets your attitude towards the other players.  You can
declare  WAR and this probably causes the other side to declare WAR on
you  as  well as soon as it is its turn.  If you have declared war and
your  taskforces meet they will fight.  You can make a PEACE offer and
hope  that the other side will declare PEACE on you as well or you can
offer  an ALLIANCE.  This ALLIANCE will be fulfilled by your side only
until the other side declares ALLIANCE as well.

p = Possess planet

If  you  defeat  another  player and conquer one of his stars you will
probably  wish  to use this command.  It allows you to take control of
any  planet,  if  all the enemy taskforces have fled or were defeated.
The  population of the planet will be enslaved.  It will always inform
your  opponent  of  the  current state on this star.  You will also be
unable  to  raise  popunits  from such a planet.  Thus you may wish to
kill(= k) this population.  On the other hand, if you possess a planet
of  a  culture with a higher techlevel your techlevel will increase as
well.

b = Build ship

This useful command allows you to set the production on any planet you
rule over.  You have several options:

Any  kind  of ship that your techlevel allows you to build.To get this
option  enter  the letter of this ship or select it the <,> and RETURN
keys.

RESEARCHING.   This  allows  you  to  increase  your techlevel.  Use a
capital 'R' or select it with the <,> and RETURN keys.

INVESTING.   This  option  allows you to increase the industry on this
planet  ,but  it  is rather slow, thus use oreunits whenever possible.
Use a capital 'I' or select it with the <,> and RETURN keys.

MINING.   This  is  only  possible  on  a planet on that ore is found.
These planets are displayed in inverse in the Starsummary.  When using
this option your planet outputs oreunits.  Use a capital 'M' or select
it with the <,> and RETURN keys.

c=Carry ships

This  command allows you to specify the number and type of ships being
carried in a taskforce.  As the ships are taken apart before carrying,
large  ships  can  be spread among many smaller ships.  Also note that
the empty space inside the storage holds of large ships is used.  This
means  4  glitter  with a size of 20 and a capacity of 19 each, can be
stored  inside  one single transporter with a capacity of 4.  Carrying
ships  can  have different reasons.  Some ships don't have hyperdrives
or  only drives with insufficient range.  This means that they have to
be  carried  by longer range ships on far distances.  Others are quite
slow  and  fast  taskforces can be speeded up by faster ships carrying
the slower ones.  Note also that ships stored inside other ships can't
be  destroyed  in  battle,  even if their carriers are blown up.  They
will  be  unloaded  and  undamaged  next  year.   This may be a way to
protect  valuable  but  easily  destroyed  ships like space cannons or
Q-bombs inside larger ships with better armor.

HINTS

The following hints may help you to play a better game against Klingon
or another human player.

1.   When  the  cluster  is  generated  you  always  get one populated
mineable  planet  type 60 and one empty planet type 40.  There will be
another  star  within  a  range  of  4 units.  There won't be an enemy
nearer  than  8  units,thus  you  needn't  be  too  frightened  at the
beginning.

2.   Use cheap scouts to explore and on sentry duty to yet uncolonized
stars.   Have  sentries  on all stars within 6 or 8 units of your main
industrialized stars.  They won't stop an attacking enemy but you will
get  advance  warning  to  prepare to defend.  Having one of your main
stars  surprised  by  3  light cruisers, conquered, and all population
killed when you bring in your taskforces is NOT the way to win.

3.   How  fast  your population grows depends on the distance from the
sun.   Planet 3 is rather ideal.  Planets farther in are progressively
to hot to have a large birth rate and planets farther out are becoming
colder  and  colder.   Build up your population in the middle planets.
Planets 0 and 7 will never increase their population but always remain
constant or even decrease.

4.  Use glitter!  Glitter is very cheap and easily destroyed but has a
large  size and many shots will be drawn away from your more important
ships.   As  its  capacity  is  only one less than its size, it can be
transported  effectively  at  the  cost  of  one unit .  Use clearers!
These  ships  have  a quite good speed ,thus they will fire early in a
battle.   They  have  many  attacks  but  each of them is pretty weak.
Their  attacks  can  practically  only  penetrate ships without armor.
They  are  the  ideal  counterweapon against glitter, as they clear it
away ,before the other ships fire might be distracted.

5.  Never use invest, if you have got ore available.

6.  The most important ship to build, after having conquered all stars
in  the  close  neighborhood,  is  the Trans II.  It is available at a
techlevel  of 210 and allows you to expand across the gaps between the
stars.

7.  Never stop building a ship that is almost finished.  You will lose
all efforts you put into it.

8.   When  a planet has an industry level less than 5 and a population
larger  than  its  industry  level, the industry level is automagicaly
increased by 1 each turn.  This means that you can start a colony with
popunits only, then wait for the industry to reach 5 and continue your
growth  with  the  "Investing" command.  While this isn't very fast or
efficient, it is a possibility.  When you have a shortage of ore units
it might be useful not to land them immediately on a new planet but to
wait 5 years until you have received all the "bonus" techlevels.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The  game  is  compiled using Manx Aztec C V3.6a.  Lattice and earlier
versions  of  Manx  shouldn't work.  It can be completely rebuilt with
the  supplied  makefile.   The  resulting executable might be slightly
shorter  as  a secret debug mode has been removed from the source.  To
add  more  computer  players feel free to modify the files "romulan.c"
and  "alien.c".   To  see  how  a  simple  computer player is written,
examine  the  "klingon.c"  file.   If  you  write  a clever or unusual
computer player I'd be obliged, if you sent it to me for incorporation
in  future  versions  of  "Cosmic  Conquest".  To add more ship types,
modify the ships.h file.  If you invent good ones send them to me.

The files:

main.c - startup code

defs.h - general defines for the game

ships.h - description of ship types

conquest.c  -  main  part  of the program for computation of moves and
battles

human.c - input/output routines for the human player

klingon.c - klingon player

romulan.c - romulan player (not completed)

berserker.c - berserker player (not completed)

alien.c - alien player (not completed)

cosmic.doc - this text

makefile - a makefile (you wouldn't have guessed that,would you ?)

rev.o - external module containing the revision number

increv - program to update rev.o

Sorry,  there  are  very  few comments in the source.  But the code is
obvious, isn't it ?!?

DESIGN LIMITS

Most  of  these  limits can be changed by changing the defs.h file and
recompiling the game but old saved positions can't any longer be used.

1. There  can  never  be  more than 250 free ships of one type and 250
   carried  ships  of  one  type  in  one taskforce.  Additional ships
   are ignored.

2. There can never be more than 26 taskforces ( Some support for up to
   52 taskforces is included.)

3. There are only 16 stars.

4. All other data are  short integers.  This means  values up to 32000
   should be ok.

THANKS AND APOLOGIES

Thanks  to  Bob  Shimbo  for  the  original amiga port.  Although this
source  is  completely independent, your program obviously inspired me
very much.

Thanks   to   Charlie  Heath  for  writing  the  editor  without  that
programming  on  the amiga would be a nightmare(...well,almost).  BTW,
ARP  is  the best thing that happened to the amiga since the invention
of the coprocessor.

Thanks to Manx for writing one of the most buggy professional compiler
I've  seen  to date (except of course the earlier versions of Manx C).
The  assembler  keeps  crashing  the  machine  without  any reason and
generating  illegal  address  gurus in the executable.  (And don't ask
about the sdb !!!).

Note  to Chris Gray:  Received your "Empire" yesterday and noted a few
similarities.   Any  resemblance  is  purely  coincidental.(Good  game
anyway.   But please add support for the second terminal (I've got one
,I have to use it) and pleeeeeease debug it thoroughly.  It just keeps
guruing.)

Thanx  to  Bryan Ford for the very useful as well as small increv.  It
is  included  in  this  zoo-archive as is is needed to reconstruct the
executable.

If  you  have  got ideas or code for enhancements of the program, send
them  to  me on a disk.  You will receive the newest version of Cosmic
Conquest.  Maybe your enhancements will already be incorporated in the
version you receive.  If you only wish to have the newest version send
a  disk  to  me  as well, but please include the postage for the reply
mail.

Sorry  you can't reach me via any network but that's a problem here in
Germany.  You can reach me via the german smail at this address:

            Carl Edman
            Pasteurstrasse 7
            D-8033 Martinsried
            Federal Republic of Germany

                   Have fun,

                      Carl Edman