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CD Direkt: Spezial 1
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CDD_SPIELE_.ISO
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wingames
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stars_
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readme.txt
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1995-06-05
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18KB
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384 lines
=====================================================
What's Stars! all about?
-----------------------------------------------------
Stars! is the only full-blown interstellar strategy game for Microsoft
Windows that's fast-paced and simple to play while allowing you to carry out
complex and clever strategies. You'll build starships, discover and colonize
new planets, research new technologies, manage the essential elements of
world economies, defend your empire and (no guarantees here) destroy all
your enemies. One or more people can play, on a single machine, across a
network, over modems, email or computer bulletin boards. Complex computer
players are available for both single and multi player games.
A tutorial and an extensive help file will get you up to speed in no time.
To begin the tutorial, start Stars!, press the New Game button and select
Begin Tutorial.
=====================================================
Stars! Highlights
-----------------------------------------------------
- 6 Different interlocking research categories with about 16 Tech
Levels each!
- Up to 16 players!
- 27 fully configurable unique ship hulls to build custom ships!
- Extended orders for ship movement allowing automation of menial
tasks!
- 4 Different levels of Computer players!
- 22 different race advantages/disadvantages to tune a race!
- Customizable races!
- Configurable battle plans!
=====================================================
How do I setup Stars!?
-----------------------------------------------------
Place STARS!.EXE and STARS!.HLP in the same directory. Run STARS!.EXE
for both single and multi-player games. Create a Program Manage icon
for STARS!.EXE and you're ready to go.
The file COMMDLG.DLL has been provided in case you do not already have
one installed in your \windows\system directory. If you do not have
COMMDLG.DLL installed, you may experience problems trying to open and
save Stars! games. Copy this file to your \windows\system directory
to rectify these problems.
=====================================================
What are the system requirements for running Stars!?
-----------------------------------------------------
Operating Systems Supported:
Microsoft Windows 3.1, 3.11, and 3.11 WFW
Microsoft Windows NT
Microsoft Windows 95
Memory requirements:
4MB RAM
8MB is preferred
Disk space requirement:
4MB for program and help files
Video display:
Color displays only
800x600x256 or better is strongly recommended
640 by 480 is playable but cramped
16 color mode decreases bitmap clarity
=====================================================
How do I order the full version of Stars?
-----------------------------------------------------
Read ORDER.TXT for ordering information, or check out the Help menu
inside of Stars!
=====================================================
What is shareware software all about?
-----------------------------------------------------
This version of Stars! is Shareware. You can evaluate this product for up
to 30 days without obligation; however, if you plan to continue using it
after 30 days, you must register.
Millions of computer users have found shareware to be the safest and most
risk-free way to buy software. Independent shareware authors, like
Ultimate Software, allow computer users to try out a program before buying
it. Computer users can obtain a shareware copy of Stars! (or other
shareware programs) for no-charge from a BBS or a friend, or for a small
charge from a shareware disk vendor, retail store or flea market. If you
find a shareware program to be useful and plan to continue using it after an
evaluation period, then you are required to register it with the program's
author. This will entitle you to receive the latest full-featured version
of Stars!
=====================================================
What's new for Version 1.10?
-----------------------------------------------------
So what's this upgrade all about?
---------------------------------
After Stars! initial release we've been flooded with feedback from users
telling us what they liked about Stars! and what they didn't. Many of
the requests were for things we've already planned to do in future
versions, but a small core of requests came up repeatedly and we felt
that we needed to address them before the next major release.
Does that mean you've found a bunch of bugs?
--------------------------------------------
Suprisingly, no. This update does fix a few minor bugs, but that isn't
the main purpose of the update.
So why are you releasing this upgrade?
--------------------------------------
It turns out that we had a few more things to learn about how BBS/PBM
games are conducted. People told us that the games of this genre
typically generate only 1 turn per day, or 3 turns per week. Further,
many bulletin boards don't run under Windows, so additional support was
needed to automate turn generation during scheduled maintenance
downtime. We also received numerous requests that the Shareware version
be allowed to generate turns for registered players without crippling
their technology. This would allow BBS operators to operate full BBS
games without having to make an investment in a registered version.
This release was designed to meet these needs.
What are the new BBS features?
------------------------------
* The advanced game wizard now has an "Accelerated BBS Play" checkbox.
Selecting this option will significantly speed game play and give people
more things to do from the start.
* New command line flags were added to allow Stars! to generate turns
for multiple games as part of a DOS batch file that starts Windows up,
does the processing, then terminates Windows.
* Both the shareware and registered EXE may be used to host games
regardless of whether individual players are registered or not.
Advanced game setup options and custom race creation must still be done
by players with registered copies.
* The shareware version defaults to Moderate for the starting distance
between players.
Is there anything else in this upgrade?
---------------------------------------
Stars! is a work in progress. We are always making changes. With 1.1,
you get the features weÆd already coded and tested after releasing 1.0,
along with the new features we implemented based on your requests.
WeÆre including these in this release because, well, thereÆs no reason
not to.
So what are the other features we'll get with Version 1.10?
-----------------------------------------------------------
* VCR improvements. WeÆve added additional fleet information. Attacks
now have some animation to help make attack sequences easier to
understand.
* Scanner mode improvements. You can turn modes like radar coverage,
fleet view and planet names on and off independently of each other. A
new mode that displays planets based on population has been added.
* Cloaking has been reworked. Cloaks may now be used to help cloak
uncloaked ships in the same fleet.
* Various item costs and abilities have been tweaked to improve game
play. For example, the mineral costs of some of the lower tech beam
weapons has decreased slightly.
* The host mode dialog now displays more information about player status
for network games.
Did you fix any bugs in this release?
-------------------------------------
We fixed all 8 reproducable bugs that people have reported to us. None
of these were major, or caused a crash or data corruption. There have
been other bugs reported that appear to be problems with specific
display drivers. We appreciate any and all bug reports and investigate
them all.
How do we send you bug reports, suggestions, and feedback?
----------------------------------------------------------
You can mail them to Star Crossed Software, or you can email them to
Jeff_McBride@msn.com. Remember that msn is a beta product and often
there are delays and mail can be lost. This