
                           STAR - DREK

                   Brief Playing Instructions


This document is broken up into three sections: the display,  the
commands and the object.  "The Display" describes what you see on
the screen while playing.  "The Commands" describes the  commands
that  you can give to control your ship.  "The Object" gives some
vague idea of how to proceed.



THE DISPLAY

The display consists  of  several  numeric  instruments  and  the
bridge monitor.  The arrangement is something like:


   Mission Vect     +-------------------------+     Energy      E. Time
     3,  2, 98      !         ?               !      999          2
                    !            .     .      !
   Base Vect        !       .         .       !     V Range     Sensors
   120,-17,358      !            !        .   !       98          127
                    !         .  !            !
   Velocity         ! .    - - - ? - - -      !     Speed       Condition
     0,  0, 5.2     !          * !            !      5.2          GREEN
                    !  .         ! *       $$$!
   Rotation         !     .              $$$$$!     Shields @ 33%
     0,  0,  0      ! .                 $$$$$$!     C.C.C. @ 66%
                    !                   $$$$O$!     13 A.T.U. remain
                    +-------------------------+




The Bridge Monitor

The Bridge Monitor, enclosed in  a  box  in  the  middle  of  the
display,  shows the view out the front of your ship.  You can see
other ships, stars, StarBase,  torpedos,  etc  displayed  on  the
screen using the following characters.
*   *  torpedo
O   $  StarBase
K   :  Klingon Battleship
R   #  Romulan Cruiser
V   X  Vallician Warship
=   @  Rigellian Space Fortress
N   +  Nubian Freighter
?      Any ship at a distance
The first character identifies the center of the object  (and  is
all you see until you get close); the second character is used to
fill out the body of the object, (e.g. StarBase  in  the  diagram
above).





The instruments

Mission Vector -- This is the position of something out in  space
that  needs  looking  into.   The form is x rotation, y rotation,
distance.  In our example there is something just slighly off the
ship's  axis,  (the x rotation and y rotation are near zero), and
98 GDUs away,  (Galactic  Distance  Units).   The  rotations  are
expressed  in  GAUs, (Galactic Angular Units); 256 GAUs are equal
to 90 degrees.

Base Vector -- This is the position of StarBase relative  to  us.
Once  again the form is x rotation, y rotation, distance.  In our
example, StarBase is 120 GAUs up, (positive x rotation),  and  17
GAUs  to  the  left,  (negative  y  rotation), from the way we're
pointing.  It's 358 GDU away.  You'll notice that StarBase,  'O',
is visible in the top part of the bridge monitor.

Velocity Vector -- This is how the ship is moving, (translating),
through  space  relative to the ship's current heading.  Its form
is x-rot, y-rot, speed.   In  our  example  the  ship  is  moving
straight  forward  (i.e. the x rotation and the y rotation of our
velocity vector are zero).  Our speed is 5.2  GDU/GTU,  (Galactic
Distance Units per Galactic Time Unit).

Rotation Vector -- This is how the ship is  rotating  around  its
own center of mass.  Its form is x-rot, y-rot, z-rot (notice that
all the other vectors ignore z rotations since they are so infre-
quently  used).   In our example the ship is not rotating at all.
If the figures were 16, 0, 0 then we would be rotating up  (posi-
tive x rotation) at a rate of 16 GAU/GTU which would take 64 GTUs
to rotate all the way around, (1024 GAU =  360  degrees  =  2  pi
radians, etc).

Energy -- This figure is the amount of  energy  available  to  be
used   by   various  systems,  (anti-matter  generator,  shields,
phasers, etc).  The maximum energy that can be accumulated is 999
units.   The  pile  and  dilithium  crystal  generate 50 units of
energy per GTU (if they're both undamaged).  Of  this,  15  units
are  used  to  run  life-support systems, the electronics for the
atomic pile, and other essential automatic systems, and 15  units
are  usually used to run the bridge monitor, weapons systems, and
other semi-manual instruments.  Thus  energy  is  replenished  at
about  20  units  per GTU.  When the ship is under autopilot con-
trol, (see command "a"), the bridge instruments are shut down and
don't  draw any energy, at these times energy is replenished at a
rate of 35 units per GTU.

Elapsed Time -- This is the number of  minutes  (real-time)  that
you  have  been on your mission.  The correspondence between GTUs
and elapsed time minutes is approximately 60 to 1.

Visual Range -- This is the distance to the object closest to the
center (cross-hairs) of the bridge monitor.  In our example it is
the distance to the unidentified ship that is  lined  up  in  the
crosshairs.

Sensors  --  The  sensors  are  a  sophisticated  form  of  radio
receivers  that  pick up the radiation from ship engines all over
the galaxy.  As you approach another ship or  ships  the  sensors
climb  in an inverse square manner, which is to say that one ship
100 GDU away will give a higher reading than two  ships  200  GDU
away.

Speed -- This instrument gives the "forward" speed of your  ship,
i.e.  the  component of your velocity that lies along the axis of
the ship.  This is very handy for figuring out quickly which  way
you're moving.

Condition -- This indicator has three states: GREEN,  YELLOW  and
RED.   Its  setting  depends  on the value of the sensors and the
amount of accumulated energy you have available.  In general Con-
dition  GREEN  means that it is quite safe for you to go to sleep
for a while.  Condition YELLOW means that danger is near and Con-
dition  RED  means  you  had better know what you're doing and be
implementing some plan of action.

A few indicators only appear temporarily:

Shields @ 50% -- This indicates that your protective shields have
been energized to 1/2 their maximum value.  Full, (100%), shields
will withstand almost any known weapon except tractor beams since
they  can  grab  the shields as easily as they can grab the ship.
Each time your shields are hit by a  weapon  they  are  partially
used up and may need to be reset.

C.C.C. @  33%  --  This  indicates  that  the  Course-Correction-
Computer  has  been  activated to (using the impulse engines) get
rid of any sideways motion.  A setting of 33% will neutralize 1/3
of your drift per GTU.

12 A.T.U. remain -- This indicates that you are  under  Autopilot
control  and  12 more GTUs of Autopilot control remain before the
ship is returned to manual control.





THE COMMANDS

The following are the commands  recognized  by  Star_Drek.   Note
that  the  form  "##x" means a number followed by "x", e.g. "3x",
"6.5w", or "-23y".  Also note that you will not see  what  you're
typing  as  you  type  it; however, it will be displayed when the
program acts upon it.  (Further, note that since  the  individual
command  characters  can  be  changed  by  modifying "com_map" in
"st_glb.c" and/or defines in  "st_def.h"  your  installation  may
have done so and forgotten to change this document...)


[DEL]       Send out emergency distress call, (used  rarely  when
            you are either crippled or in a hurry to quit).

r           Print permanent damage report.  Permanent damages are
            damages that Scotty cannot repair.

##f         Forward thrust  (backward  if  ##  is  negative)  The
            impulse  engines are capable of delivering 5 units of
            thrust per GTU.  If you ask for "8f" you will immedi-
            ately  get  5 units of thrust, the message "3.0 units
            of burn left" will be printed, and then you will  get
            3 more units of thrust.

##c         Activate course-correction-computer to ##%

*           Fire photon torpedo Photon torpedoes,(made  by  anti-
            matter  generator),  can  only last for 20 time units
            before disintegrating.  They are launched at a  speed
            of  5 relative to your velocity; therefore, if you're
            not moving, they  will  go  100  GDU  before  falling
            apart.

##p         Fire phaser, ## is power "p" is  equivalent  to  "0p"
            which  is the "mild stun" setting.  Since phasers are
            not a very tight beam they require much  more  energy
            when used at large distances.

##x         Begin x rotation; if ##  is  zero,  stop  x  rotation
            Rotations  are  additive except for the stop rotation
            commands.

[up]        Same as 13x, (this is the up-arrow key).

[down]      Same as -13x, (this is the down-arrow key).

##y         Begin y rotation; if ## is zero, stop y rotation

[left]      Same as -13y, (this is the left-arrow key).

[right]     Same as 13y, (the right-arrow key).

##z         Begin z rotation; if ## is zero, stop z rotation

##a         Start ## GTUs of autopilot

d           Dock at StarBase.  You must be close enough to  Star-
            Base  and moving very slowly.  NOTE: This is the only
            honorable way to end a mission.

##w         Warp jump.  ## is warp "factor"  and  determines  the
            distance  jumped.   This  is  an  instantaneous  jump
            through four-space, rather than the improbable  velo-
            city "warp drive" that the "Startrek" TV show uses.

##t         Activate tractor-pressor.  The  tractor-pressor  pro-
            vides  an  unbreakable  force-field link between your
            ship and the object  onto  which  the  trac-press  is
            locked.   This  link  only  lasts for an instant, but
            during that  instant  your  velocity  and  the  other
            object's  velocity  become  the  same.   If the other
            object's mass is the same as  yours  then  the  final
            velocity  is  the average of the original velocities,
            (i.e. momentum is conserved).

##s         Set shields  to  ##%.   No  known  enemy  weapon  can
            penetrate  100%  shields  at  a distance of 15 GDU or
            greater, however high shield settings tend  to  drain
            quite a bit of energy.

i           Execute inertial stop, (stop  motion  and  rotation).
            This  costs  three  times as much energy as using the
            "##f" command to come to a stop but is much more con-
            venient.

q           Request salvage operation by  StarBase  on  a  Nubian
            freighter  that is within 5 GDU of StarBase.  This is
            the only officially sanctioned method of disposing of
            Nubian freighters.

$           Print current mission  "score"  This  includes  #  of
            enemy ships shot up, # of salvages, etc.

!           Generate a sub-shell.  Suspends the  action  in  Star
            Drek  while  you  run  other  programs. When you type
            control-D to the sub-shell you will be back  in  Star
            Drek where you left off.

^           Re-draw the display The same idea as the [REFRSH] key
            in the editor.

[BACKSPACE] Ignore partially-typed command.  This is  useful  for
            correcting  mistakes.   Note  that  this  command  is
            "wired-into" the helm program.

<file>      Read commands from specified file.  e.g. "<foo>" will
            read  commands from the file "foo".  When end of file
            is encountered control will return to  the  keyboard.
            Note that "<>" does not nest; i.e. the file "foo" may
            not contain another "<>" command although it may con-
            tain  maneuver  definitions, etc.  Also remember that
            [LINE FEED] is the same code as [down] on many termi-
            nals...

Maneuvers  --  The   following   commands   allow   creation   of
"maneuvers":

;           Enter "line mode" and  wait  until  a  full  line  of
            command(s)  is  typed  before acting.  A full line is
            indicated by either the [RETURN] key  or  a  maneuver
            definition, ('=').

[RETURN]    Terminate "line mode"  and  carry  out  the  commands
            typed since the last e.g. ";99s3w" will execute "99s"
            and "3w" when [RETURN] is struck.

:            Wait  one  time  unit  before  doing  the  following
            command(s).   e.g.  ";512x:x<return>"  will  turn the
            ship end-for-end.

#=          Terminate line mode and store maneuver  #  for  later
            use.   e.g. ";10p*3=" will define maneuver 3 as being
            "10p" followed by "*"

#l          List the commands in maneuver #.

#m          Execute maneuver #.

#,          Execute maneuver #, (convenient because it is on many
            numeric pads).



THE OBJECT

Your mission is to check out the various ships whose  coordinates
are given in your mission vector and dispose of them properly.

"Properly" means  blast  them  to  smithereens  in  the  case  of
Klingons,  Romulans,  Vallicians  and Rigellians.  In the case of
Nubian Freighters, the "proper" thing to do is to  drag  them  to
StarBase  with  your  tractor-pressor  and then request a salvage
operation, (you can salvage any ship that's close enough to Star-
Base).

Each different type of ship  has  different  characteristics  and
vulnerabilities;  e.g.  the Vallicians understand photon torpedos
well and consequently use very powerful  ones  and  are  good  at
withstanding  torpedo attacks; on the other hand, they don't have
very good phasers and are relatively vulnerable to them.

As you gain experience you will learn how to deal with each  dif-
ferent race.

HINT: The Rigellian Space Fortress was inspired by  a  very  suc-
cessful  science  fiction  movie  of  the  late 70s, (that had no
Rigellians in it).




In general a reasonable plan is:

(1)         Rotate yourself to point toward you  mission  vector.
            If  your mission vector is 36, 13, 256 you might do a
            12x for 3 time units, (hitting "x" to  stop  x  rota-
            tion),  then  do  a 13y for 1 time unit, leaving your
            mission vector as 0, 0, 256 or so.

(2)         Warp to within 100-200 units.  A warp  factor  of  0,
            ("0w" or "w"), will move you about 55 distance units;
            a warp factor of 3, "3w", will  move  you  about  100
            units.

(3)         Sneak up to visible range, (or  until  attacked),  to
            determine  species.   "5f" will start you moving for-
            ward at a speed of 5.

(4)         Either blast it or drag it home.

(5)         If any other ships remain either go back to step  (1)
            or on to step (6).

(6)         Return to StarBase and dock.  Accept  the  cheers  of
            the crowd.

Of course, things don't always go according to plan...


Please let me know what areas of Star-Drek need further  explana-
tion...  and GOOD LUCK!

                                                        psl 11/79
