Readme File
Originally written (in HP-2000 BASIC) by William K. Char, Perry Lee, and Dan Gee Rewritten in C by Dave Pare (sdcsvax!sdamos!mr-frog) and Christopher Williams (ucbvax!ucbmerlin!williams) Corrected, Completed, and Enhanced by Jeff Okamoto (ucbvax!okamoto) Peter Yee (ucbvax!yee) Matt Dillon (ucbvax!dillon) Dave Sharnoff (ucbvax!ucbcory!muir) and Joel Duisman (ucbvax!duisman) T R E K 7 3 A Star Trek(R) Battle Simulation Trek73 is a computer-simulated battle based on the famous Star Trek television series and the game Star Fleet Battles. Via computer terminal, you can clash with enemy battle cruisers, such as Klingon D-7's and Romulan Sparrowhawks, and use the same stra- tegies that Captain Kirk has used. Like Kirk, you control a Federation vessel similar to the Enterprise; a computer program directs the enemy. Victory can fall into several categories: Decisive Victory -- You completely destroy or cripple the attacking force. Tactical Victory -- You out-maneuver the enemy using high- speed escapes, corbomite bluffs, `play dead' tactics; or the enemy surrenders. Moral Victory -- You surrender or self-destruct and destroy each other. All distances are measured in megameters, one million meters (abbreviated `M'). Speed is expressed in `warp factors'. Each warp factor equals 100M per second. All angles are expressed in common degrees from zero to 360, measured counter-clockwise from the x-axis, similar to reading a protractor. Only two dimensions are used. Play is as follows: 1. You issue one of a number of commands (fire phasers, change course, launch antimatter pods, surrender, etc.) by typing the appropriate code number into the keyboard; 2. The enemy, under programmed instructions, issues a simi- lar command; 3. Both your commands are executed (phasers are fired, probes are launched, damages are assessed, courses changed, etc.) while the vessels move through space; 4. Unless certain end-game conditions are met (you destroy the enemy, the enemy destroys you, your out-maneuver the enemy, you both destroy each other, or one party surrenders) the above steps are repeated. __________________________ Star Trek is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures. Although technically incorrect, it does save the player from having to compute cube roots. This saves the player from having to work out problems in spherical geometry. - 1 - STAR TREK Appendix 1 displays certain weapon and shield angles. Appendix 2 depicts the Enterprise's power circuits. Appendix 3 lists certain weapon and vessel specifications. Appendix 4 lists initial deployment of resources. CODE COMMAND ==== ======= 1 Fire Phasers 2 Fire Photon Torpedos 3 Lock Phasers Onto Target 4 Lock Tubes Onto Target 5 Manually Rotate Phasers 6 Manually Rotate Tubes 7 *Phaser Status 8 *Tube Status 9 Load/Unload Torpedo Tubes 10 Launch Antimatter Probe 11 Probe Control (Detonate, Direct, Lock) 12 *Position Report 13 *Position Display 14 Pursue An Enemy Vessel 15 Run From An Enemy Vessel 16 Manually Change Course And Speed 17 *Damage Report 18 Scan Enemy (Damage Report Of Enemy) 19 Alter Power Distribution 20 Alter Torpedo And Phaser Firing Parameters 21 Jettison Engineering 22 Detonate Engineering 23 Attempt Defenseless Ruse 24 Attempt Corbomite Bluff(s) 25 Surrender 26 Ask Enemy to Surrender 27 Initiate Self-Destruct Sequence 28 Abort Self-Destruct 29 Survivors Report 30 *Reprints Above List *Does Not Use A Turn - 2 - STAR TREK Detailed Descriptions of Each Command What follows is a detailed description of each command. Each command is referred to by a number from 1 to 30. After the name of the command is given, a synopsis of the arguments the command requires is given, if any. These arguments can be entered on the command line, separated by a space, if you wish. For instance, to fire phasers 1 through 4 with a spread of 15, you could type '1 1234 15' on the command line. 1. Fire Phasers. [Phasers] [Spread] Phasers are pure energy units which emit a beam similar to lasers, but of a pulsating nature which can be `phased' to inter- fere with the wave pattern of any molecular form. Phasers get their power from phaser banks, which in turn, derive their power from the ship's engines. Each phaser bank is capable of holding a charge of 10 units. When firing, these banks discharge, simi- lar to batteries, to spread their destructive power through space. After discharging, these banks are then recharged by the engines. Each phaser can be set to automatically track a target or can be manually rotated. Unless engineering is jettisoned (code 21), phasers only fire from 0-125 and 235-360 degrees, relative to the ship's course. In other words, each vessel has a 110 degree blind side in back of it in which phasers cannot fire. If phasers fired into this blind side, they would destroy the ship's engineering section. The Captain also designates a wide or narrow phaser beam: a wide beam to disrupt many targets; a narrow beam to inflict max- imum damage on a single target. The maximum spread of phasers is 45 degrees, the minimum is 10 degrees. The total beam width is twice the designated spread. The firing percentage of each bank is preset to 100. In other words, the bank fully discharges when firing. This can be changed, however, using code 22. The maximum range of phasers is 1000M; the maximum hit fac- tor is 45 with a ten degree spread, 10 with a forty-five degree spread. Phaser hit factors are calculated by the following for- mula: hit = (bankunits)(firing%)sqrt(1-range/1000)(45/spread) Phasers fire in .2-second intervals starting with bank one. Phasers inflict heavy damage and casualties, but do not destroy shields as much as antimatter explosions do. A phaser is unable to fire if damaged, if firing into your blind side, or if completely discharged. 2. Fire Photon Torpedos. [Tubes] - 3 - STAR TREK The Enterprise is equipped with six torpedo tubes, which, as phasers, can be set to automatically track a target or be manu- ally rotated. Unless engineering is jettisoned, tubes only fire from 0-135 and 225-360 degrees. Each tube fires all its antimatter pods, which are temporarily held suspended in a magno-photon force field. Photon torpedos can be fired directly at an enemy, laid out as a mine field, or scattered in an attacker's path as depth charges. Tubes must be loaded (code 9) prior to firing. Each tube will be automatically loaded with 10 units or whatever remains in the engines, whichever is less. Normally, torpedos are launched at warp 12 in .2-second intervals, beginning with tube one. Pho- ton torpedos have a proximity fuse of 200M. All of these values can be changed by using code 22. Torpedos must be launched with care since the antimatter pods which are fired can never be recovered. It is suggested that you not fire more than four torpedos at any one time, since a certain number of them do miss, or are destroyed by the enemy firing phasers at them. It is also suggested that you fire them at distant targets, beyond 1100M, to avoid the explosion radii of your own weapons. Hit factors resulting from antimatter explo- sions are calculated as follows: hit = 5(#podscontained)sqrt(1-range/(55(#podscontained))) The maximum hit factor of an antimatter device is five times the number of pods contained (in the case of torpedos, 50); its explosion radius is 50 time the number of pods contained (in the case of torpedos, 500). Antimatter explosions heavily weaken shields but do not damage equipment as much as phasers do. This formula also applies to vessels, engineering sections, and antimatter probe explosions. Tubes are unable to fire if damaged, if firing into your blind side, or if unloaded. 3. Lock Phasers. [Phasers] [Target Name] Phasers locked on an enemy vessel will automatically aim towards it. Although phasers may track a vessel which is in the firing blind side, they will not fire unless engineering is jet- tisoned. To fire at vessels behind, simply change course at least 50 degrees. Once a phaser is locked, it is not disengaged until the target is destroyed (in which case it is then rotated to zero degrees relative), relocked, manually over-ridden, or damaged. 4. Lock Tubes. [Tubes] [Target Name] Tubes lock and unlock in the same manner that phasers do. 5. Manually Rotate Phasers. - 4 - STAR TREK [Phasers] [Bearing] Manually rotating phasers disengages any previous locks and positions them as directed, relative to your course. For exam- ple, if your course is 30, and phasers are rotated 45 degrees, they will hit a target bearing 75 degrees. Rotating phasers into you blind side is permissible, however, they will not fire. 6. Manually Rotate Tubes. [Tubes] [Bearing] Manually rotating tubes is similar to rotating phasers. 7. Phaser Status. Phaser status reports the control (locks and damages), deployment, levels, firing percentages (normally 100), and charge/discharge rates (normally +10) of all phasers. 8. Tube Status. Tube status reports the control, deployment, tube levels, launch speeds (normally 12), proximity delays (normally 200), and the time delays (normally 10). 9. Load/Unload Tubes. [l | u] [Tubes] Tubes are loaded with 10 charged antimatter pods until your fuel runs out. Tubes can also be unloaded if the need arises. 10. Launch Antimatter Probe. [Pods] [Time] [Proximity] [Target | [Course]] Probes are slow-moving devices equipped with internal gui- dance systems which allow them to chase an enemy vessel. Probes consist of at least ten antimatter pods which are launched from an undamaged probe launcher at warp three. As with torpedos, probes are set with time and proximity fuses, and use the same hit factor formula as do torpedos. 11. Probe Control. [y | [n [Probe] [y | [n [Target | [ Course]]]]]] Probe control allows you to detonate or redirect probes which may have missed. 12. Position Report. Position reports are vital since valuable information on courses, bearings and ranges are given to aid the formation of good strategy. This order does not use a turn. 13. Position Display. [Radius of scan] Position displays, similar to radar scans, show objects which surround your vessel. The Enterprise is indicated by a `+', jettisoned engineering sections by a `#', probes by a `*', torpedos by a `:', and enemy vessels by the first letter of their names. 14. Pursue An Enemy Vessel. - 5 - STAR TREK [Target Name] [Warp Factor] This order instructs the ship's navigation to face an enemy vessel whenever possible. 15. Run From An Enemy Vessel. [Target Name] [Warp Factor] This order, just the opposite of order #14, instructs the navigation to keep the stern of the Enterprise towards an enemy vessel whenever possible. 16. Manually Change Course and Speed. [Course] [Warp Factor] This order instructs navigation to maintain a fixed course and speed. The following information applies to the above three orders: Your maximum rotation rate when turning is: degrees per sec = 5 * (12 - desired warp) Accordingly, you can turn 55 degrees at warp one, 50 at warp two, ..., up to 15 degrees at warp nine. In other words, the faster your speed, the less maneuverable you are. You are also less maneuverable if you lose your warp drive. Your maximum speed is warp nine, the enemy's is warp eleven. 17. Damage Report. This report informs you of certain equipment status. A mal- functioning computer (very rare) make orders 3 (lock phasers), 4 (lock torpedos), 14 (pursue), 15 (run), 27 (initiate self- destruct), and 28 (abort self-destruct) impossible to execute. You will be required to manually rotate phasers and torpedos, and manually change course and speed. Damaged sensors (rare) makes orders 13 (position report) and 18 (scan) impossible. A damaged probe launcher (sometimes) prevents you from launching probes. A disabled warp drive (common) slows your speed and maneuverabil- ity. See order #20 about jettisoned engineering section. When your crew of 450 dies, your vessel is as good as dead. There are 350 men aboard each enemy vessel. Shield percentage is calculated by its energy drain times its operating efficiency. Efficiency starts at 100 and declines with each hit. No damages of any kind are incurred when a shield absorbs its first hit, no matter how great the hit. Shield one is 1.5 times as strong as the other three shields. `Efficiency' indicates the number of energy units being burned per warp-second. This number is initially one (.75 for enemy) and increases per hit. `Regeneration' indicates the number of energy units being gained per second. Initially set at 10, this number decreases per hit. `Fuel capacity' indicates the number of matter-antimatter - 6 - STAR TREK pods a vessel has aboard. This number rapidly decreases with each torpedo or probe fired. `Fuel' indicates the number of matter-antimatter pods which are filled with energy. This number rapidly decreases when main- taining high warp speeds or firing phasers. 18. Scan Enemy (Damage Report of Enemy). [Ship Name] An enemy damage report is essentially the same as the Enterprise's. 19. Alter Power Distribution. [Shld 1 drain [* | ... Sh 4]] [Phsr 1 drain [* | ... Ph 4]] The synopsis of this command can be confusing. The first set of numbers gives the drains for each shield. All four shield drains can be specified, but if a star is used immediately after a shield drain (eg, 19 0.5 1*), then the remaining shields will all be given a drain equal to the number preceding the '*'. (Thus, in the above example, shield 1's drain is 0.5, whereas shields 2, 3, and 4 have a drain of 1). The same applies to the phaser drains. The power circuits of all vessels are illustrated in appen- dix 2. Dilithium crystals produce energy much like generators. This power is then used to maintain warp speeds, recharge antimatter pods in the engine reserve, recharge phaser banks, or maintain shield power. Your initial regeneration is ten, how- ever, shields normally drain four units and engines burn one unit per each warp-second. Shields can be thought of as electro-magnets. The more energy put into them, the stringer their force field becomes. Therefore, a shield's overall percentage is calculated by the following formula: shield percentage = (energy in)(effective %) Notice that dropping power to a shield has the same effect as having it hit. Notice also that if your regeneration drops below four, you may have to discharge your phaser banks to main- tain full shield power. Phaser banks, similar to batteries, not only discharge (when firing), but also recharge. Initially, they are set to recharge fully in one second (+10) so that you can continually use them. However, they can discharge fully (-10) in one second to provide extra power to shields, warp engines, or engine reserve. Under most conditions, you need not concern yourself with power distribution unless some special need arises. Distribu- tion, for the most part, is automatic. Regeneration is calcu- lated first; that power is placed in reserve, along with any discharged phaser units. Shield drain is calculated next, then - 7 - STAR TREK phaser and engine drains. Be concerned with wasting power by indiscriminately firing phasers and torpedos, maintaining speeds over warp three, or dumping scores of units onto antimatter probes. Huge power losses cannot be made up in battle. 20. Jettison Engineering. Although this order was never executed in the television series, it is quite possible, according to its producer. Jettis- oning engineering has serious consequences, but it may be your only course of action. One would jettison engineering if being pursed by vessels, probes or torpedos, or as a suicidal gesture. The following things happen when engineering is jettisoned: A: You lose all your fuel and reserve capacity; B: you lose your regeneration; C: you lose your warp drive; D: your lose your probe launcher; E: you lose your shields until you designate phasers to discharge; F: the engineering section itself decelerates to a stop; G: a ten second time delay on it is set; H: hopefully, when it does explode, you are far from its effects; I: your phasers and torpedos are now free to fire in any direc- tion. 21. Detonate Engineering. [nothing | [y | n]] This order, issued after the previous one, manually detonates your engineering section. It may also be issued without the previous order, in which case you will be asked to confirm your (crazy) order. 22. Alter Torpedo And Phaser Firing Parameters. [[y [Launch Speed] [Time Delay] [Proximity Fuse]] | n] [[y [Firing Percentage]] | n] This option allows you to change the launch speeds, time and proximity delays of all torpedos. At the beginning of play, tor- pedos are launched at warp twelve, have ten second time fuses, and 200M proximity fuses. Any vessel or engineering section which comes within the proximity range will cause the torpedo to explode. Phaser firing percentages can also be altered. A phaser bank need not fire its full charge. 23. Defenseless Ruse. [e | p] Another name for this tactic is `playing dead'. When issued, your shields are dropped to zero, and power is diverted to your engines or phaser banks. Hopefully, the enemy will believe you dead and come too close or break off their attack. You should then be able to fire or run in the opposite direction. - 8 - STAR TREK 24. Attempt Corbomite Bluff(s). There were two corbomite bluffs in the television series; one was against a midget operating a huge space vessel the other was against Romulan attackers. Both have been incorporated into this game. Whichever bluff issued is selected randomly. 25. Surrender, If Possible. This order sends a message to the enemy, saying that you wish to surrender. The enemy will then decide whether or not take you alive. You will have difficulty surrendering to Romu- lans, who have never accepted one. 26. Ask Enemy To Surrender. This order ends a message to the enemy demanding that they surrender. Please bear in mind that Romulans are the most suici- dal. 27. Initiate Self-Destruct. This order activates a twenty-second self-destruct sequence. Because final destruct does not occur until ten turns after ini- tialization, it is best to start it early, if at all. When you do explode, you hope that you explosive force will also destroy your attackers. 28. Abort Self-Destruct. This order, issued after the previous one, halts the des- truct sequence. Self-destruct cannot be aborted withing five seconds to detonation. 29. Survivors Report This order prints out the number of survivors on board all the ships. This order does not use a turn. 30. Reprint Above List. This option, which does not use a turn, lists code numbers and associated descriptions of each. 31 And Up. Future options, currently being designed in Trek74, will include Dr. Daystrom's paranoid, M5 multi-tronics computer which will take over while you relax; or battle someone else who is on another terminal; or battle in teams; or have a free-for-all against nine other starships. - 9 - STAR TREK Options In TREK73, all the names are taken from the series Star Trek. Through the use of options, the names can be changed to whatever you want. To use the options, you must add the variable TREK73OPTS to your environment. A sample would be (using the C-shell): setenv TREK73OPTS 'name=Jerk, ship=Boobyprize, terse' The option string is a list of comma-separated options. Options are designated as either boolean or string options. Boolean options are turned on by typing their name and turned off by prepending 'no' to them. String options are set equal to the string which follows the "=". There follows a list of all the options, what type it is, and an explanation of what they mean. The default for the option is in square brackets following the option. terse BOOLEAN [noterse]This option, when set, turns off the information regarding the ship's purpose in the area. It thus reduces the amount of drek on the screen. If you are on a slow terminal, this is a nice option to have set. shipname STRING [Enterprise]This option names your ship. name STRINGThis option names the captain of the ship. If this option is not set, then the program will ask for a name. The captain is the one who must make all the decisions of strategy and tactics for the ship. sex STRINGThis option gives the captain a gender. If this option is not set, the program will ask for it's value. If you respond with something that starts with other than "m" or "f", beware! science STRING [Spock]This option names the science officer, who is responsible for checking the parameters of the captain's commands. It is also this officer's duty to report damage to the ship as well as scan for enemy damage. engineer STRING [Scott]This option names the chief engineer of the ship. It is this officer's duty to report on the status of the ship, especially its energy supply and distribution of the same. The officer also controls the launching of anti-matter probes. helmsman STRING [Sulu]This option names the ship's helmsman. This officer's duty is to control the speed of the ship and also controls the firing of the ship's weapons. - 10 - STAR TREK nav STRING [Chekov]This option names the ship's navigator, who is responsible for the navigation of the ship. This officer makes changes to the ship's course as directed by the cap- tain. This officer also controls any anti-matter probes after they have been launched. com STRING [Uhura]This option names the ship's communications officer. It is the duty of this officer to handle all com- munications between the ship and the rest of the universe. ships STRINGThis option, if set, tells the program how many ships you wish to fight. If it is not set, then the program will ask. enemy STRING [random]If this option is set, it tells the program which race you wish to fight. The available races are: Klingon, Romulan, Kzinti, Gorn, Orion, Hydran, Lyran, or Tholian. If the option is not set, the race you will fight is chosen at random. foename STRING [random]If this option is set, it specifies the name of the commander of the enemy ship(s). If this option is not specified, the name is chosen at random. silly BOOLEAN [nosilly]If this option is set, an additional race is added to the list of possible races to fight. This race is the Monty Pythons. Note that if you wish to always fight the Monty Python's, you merely have to set the enemy option above. - 11 - STAR TREK Simple Strategy If you are a beginner, a simple strategy to follow is A: fight only one attacker; B: pursue him (code 14) at warp factor one; C: lock on all phasers (code 3); D: continuously take posi- tion reports (code 12) and watch his range; E: when he gets within 1000M, fire all phasers (code 1) and keep on firing when he is in range; F: When the enemy is out of range, take damage reports and scans of the enemy (codes 17 and 18). After a few trial games using the above strategy, you will want to become as efficient as the enemy at firing photon tor- pedos. Finally, when you master launching antimatter probes, you can designate more that one attacker. Trek73's History Trek73 was programmed on a Hewlett-Packard 2000C system by William K. Char, Perry Lee, and Dan Gee. In January, 1973, Mr. Char started with a few ideas and five months later, in May, introduced $SPACE, his first version. Space had only 14 commands and comprised one 10K program. Response was so great that new ideas flooded in and in June, work on Trek73 was begun. Over 70 recordings of past shows were reviewed to reconstruct dialogue and vessels. On October 8, 1973, Trek73 was introduced. In 1984, Dave Pare at Univeristy of California at San Diego and Chris Williams at the University of California at Berkeley independently translated the BASIC code into C to run under BSD UNIX. In April 1985, Jeff Okamoto and Peter Yee, both at the University of California at Berkeley combined the two versions into one, fixing bugs and adding new commands. The user-settable options were also added. Ideas and bug reports should be sent to: ARPA: okamoto@BERKELEY and yee@BERKELEY UUCP: ..!ucbvax!okamoto and ..!ucbvax!yee __________________________ UNIX is a registered trademark of Bell Laboratories. - 12 - STAR TREK APPENDIX 1 Secondary Hull Primary Hull (engineering) ------- :-----------------------------------------\ | .5 | . . . . :: N C C - 1 7 0 1 |} |0 / 1|---< . . . . . ::________________________________________/ | | . . . . warp engines ^ | .5 | . . . . +++ |0 / 1|---< . . . . . ===== | fuel | | . . . . |+| + OOOOO reserve | .5 | . . . . |+| ---------> +++ ---> OOOOO --- +++ ---> |0 / 1|---< . . . . . ------- + ***** | | . . . . | | ***** shield | .5 | . . . . ------- | \ control |0 / 1|---< . . . . . dilithium * \ ------- . . . . crystal *** +++ shields generator * \phaser control | -------- : : : | |-10/10|-OOOO>. . : : : | : : <***: <[=====| <---+ |-10/10|-**OO>. . : : : : probe launcher | |-10/10|-****> V |-10/10|-****> =*******= -------- phaser banks photon =*****=== torpedo =**====== tubes =======****** ========= ******* ========= ******** + Energy unit O Matter-anti-matter pod * Filled matter-anti-matter pod ---+++---> Energy transfer ---***---> Pod transfer - 13 - STAR TREK APPENDIX 2 Shield 2 | 135 90 \\,,,,,,,,''-``,,,,,,,, ,,''\ .Phaser.Firing An``,, 45 ,' \ \125 gles`,/ ,' \. . Torpedo. . `, :------------------------\ \135_-----_ Fir . , :________________________/ _- 1 -_ ing . ` | || / 0 \ Angles . | Shield | ,_^^_____/| _ 7 | . . | Shield -180| [ { (o) 1 } . . |0- 3 | `-vv-----\| - C | . . | 1 | || \ C / . . | :-----------------------\ -_ N _- . . , :_______________________/ -_____- . . ' `, /225. . . . . . . ,' `, / . ,' \ ``,/ /235. . . . . . . . ,,'' 315 /`````````,,_,,'''''''' 225 270 | Shield 4 - 14 - STAR TREK APPENDIX 3 Weapon And Vessel Specifications Enemy exceptions are enclosed within [brackets] Phasers Number of banks 4 Max range 1000 megameters Max spread 90 degrees (45+45) Min spread 20 degrees (10+10) Max hit with 45 degree spread 10 Max hit with 10 degree spread 45 Loss of shield 1 per hit hit/4.5 Loss of shields 2-3-4 per hit hit/3 Firing angles with engineering 0-125, 235-360 degrees Max charge per bank 10 units Min charge or discharge time 1 sec Tubes Number of tubes 6 Max range 12,000 megameters max launch speed warp 12 Max time delay 10 seconds Max proximity delay 500M Max explosion radius 500M Max number of pods launched 10 Max hit factor 50 Loss of shield 1 per hit hit/3 Loss of shields 2-3-4 per hit hit/2 Firing angles with engineering 0-135, 225-360 degrees Probes Number of probe launchers 1 Max range 3000M Max launch speed 2 Max time delay 15 sec Max proximity delay any Max explosion radius 50 times number of pods Max pods launched fuel available Max hit factor 10 times number of pods Loss of shields per hit same as torpedos Firing angles with engineering all Vessels Max turning rate 50 degrees Max speed warp 99 [11] Min units burned per warp-second 1 [.75] Crew 450 d[350] APPENDIX 4 Initial Settings - 15 - STAR TREK Enemy exceptions are enclosed within [brackets] Crew 450 [350] Speed 1000 megameters Course 0 [0-360] degrees Engine Efficiency 1 [.75] Fuel Level 150 Fuel Capacity 200 Regeneration Rate per Second 10 Helm Lock None [Federation Vessel] Phaser Deployment 90, 0, 0, 270 Phaser Bank Levels 4 x 10 units Phaser Charge/Discharge Rates 4 x 10 units Shield Drain 4 x 1 units Shield Percentage 4 x 100 Torpedo Deployment 120, 60, 0, 0, 300, 240 Tube Levels 6 x Zero Total Charged Pods Available 190 - 16 -