1 MULTI-TREK ---------- THIS GAME WAS WRITTEN AS A TOOL TO TEST THE USE OF SHARED GLOBAL AREAS WITH TIME-SHARED PROGRAMS. THE GAME CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS, THE SHARED GLOBAL AREA, THE DRIVER TASK (MTREK) WHICH CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE, AND THE PLAYER TASK WHICH INTERFACES WITH THE PLAYERS. THE SOURCE CODE FOR THE GAME IS INTENDED TO BE PUBLIC SO THAT ENHANCEMENTS CAN BE ADDED BY ANY INTERESTED PARTY. THOSE MAKING ADDITIONS SHOULD ADD THEIR NAMES TO THOSE LISTED AS CONTRIBUTERS AT THE START OF THE DRIVER PROGRAM. REMEMBER ALL GAME PLAYING SHOULD BE CONFINED TO OFF HOURS. ALSO DON'T GET SO EXCITED THAT YOU DAMAGE THE TERMINAL'S KEYBOARD. IF WE DON'T ABUSE OUR GAME PLAYING PRIVILEDGES WE SHOULDN'T LOSE THIS COMPANY BENEFIT. (NOTE: DEVELOPMENT OF THIS GAME WAS ALSO AN OFF-HOURS EFFORT). NOTE: MTREK WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED UNDER IAS BUT IS WRITTEN ALMOST ENTIRELY IN FORTRAN AND SHOULD BE READILY CONVERTABLE TO RSX-11M OR, FOR THAT MATTER, TO ANY SYSTEM THAT SUPPORTS SHARED GLOBAL AREAS AND A MIX OF TIME-SHARED AND REAL-TIME TASKS OR SOME SIMILAR EQUIVALENT. 1 PLAYING MULTI-TREK ------------------ THE GAME IS VERY SIMILIAR TO THE TRADITIONAL STAR-TREK GAME WITH THE FOLLOWING EXCEPTIONS. FIRST, THE GAME INVOLVES SEVERAL PLAYERS (1-8), EACH OF WHOM HAS HIS OWN TERMINAL AND STARSHIP. SECOND, THE GAME RUNS IN REAL TIME AS FAR AS THE PLAYERS ARE CONCERNED. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU ARE GOING WARP 8 YOU WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE REGARDLESS OF YOUR ACTIVITY AT THE TERMINAL (UNLESS YOU ARE DESTROYED, HIT SOMETHING, RUN OUT OF ENERGY, OR CHANGE YOUR WARP SPEED). THIRD, AT THE PRESENT TIME THERE ARE NO KLINGONS OR ROMULANS TO SHOOT DOWN, INSTEAD YOU SHOOT (OR AT LEAST ATTEMPT TO SHOOT) THE OTHER PLAYERS. THE UNIVERSE CONSISTS OF A 100 BY 100 MATRIX WHICH WRAPS AROUND ITSELF. THEREFORE IF YOU MOVE OFF ONE END OF THE UNIVERSE YOU APPEAR ON THE OTHER END (THIS IS TRUE OF PHASERS AND TORPEDOES ALSO). THE UNIVERSE IS MADE UP OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS; "." EMPTY SPACE "*" STAR "B" STAR-BASE (RAM IT TO DOCK AND THEREBY REFUEL) "H" HYPERSPACE POINT (DECRIBED BELOW) "R" RANDOM HYPERSPACE POINT (ALSO DESCIBED BELOW) "+" TORPEDO "#" DANGEROUS OBJECT (WILL PURSUE NEAREST PLAYER AT WARP 5) "@" ANTI-MATTER POD "1"-"8" PLAYERS SHIPS 1 HYPERSPACE PORTS ---------------- WHEN A HYPERSPACE PORT IS HIT BY A SHIP THE SHIP IS TELEPORTED TO A NEW LOCATION IN THE UNIVERSE. THE "H" TYPE OF HYPERSPACE PORT CAN BE USED TO GO TO A SET LOCATION WHEREAS THE "R" TYPE OF PORT PRODUCES A RANDOM JUMP. THE "H" PORTS ARE LOCATED AT FIXED LOCATIONS, THESE ARE AS FOLLOWS; PORT NUMBER X CO-ORD Y CO-ORD ----------- -------- -------- 1 20 75 2 50 70 3 80 75 4 20 25 5 50 30 6 80 25  THIS NETWORK OF PORTS LOOKS LIKE THIS 1 3 2 5 4 6 BY USING THE "H" COMMAND A PLAYER CAN SET THE PORT NUMBER HE WISHES TO APPEAR BESIDE THE NEXT TIME HE GOES INTO HYPERSPACE THRU AN "H" TYPE PORT. FOR EXAMPLE IF A PLAYER USED THE "H" COMMAND TO SET HIS HYPERSPACE SETTING TO 4, THE NEXT TIME HE RAN INTO AN "H" CHARACTER HE WOULD APPEAR NEAR CO-ORDINATES 20,25. 1 SCORING ------- THE CURRENT SCORES OF ALL PLAYERS ARE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN. THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS RESULT IN SCORE CHANGES. DESTROYING AN ENEMY VESSEL +2000 TORPEDO HIT ON ENEMY VESSEL +500 PHASER HIT ON ENEMY VESSEL +(BETWEEN 70 AND 200 DEPENDING ON DISTANCE) TORPEDO HIT ON BASE -200 GETTING DESTROYED -1000 ENERGY CONSUMPTION ------------------ SHOOTING PHASERS -50 WARP -.5 * WARP SPEED PER TIME INTERVAL SEND MESSAGE -10 COLLIDE WITH STAR -200 COLLIDE WITH SHIP -100 ENERGY LOSS DUE TO WEAPON HIT IS A FUNCTION OF SHIELD STRENGTH AND WEAPON ENERGY. CALCULATIONS -------------- THE FOLLOWING FORMULA ARE USED. A. PHASER HIT ENERGY ENERGY=900./(4. + DISTANCE) B. TORPEDO HIT ENERGY ENERGY=500. C. SHIELD PROTECTION SHIELD ABSORBTION FACTOR=SHIELD ENERGY/1000. (WITH A MAXIMUM VALUE OF 1) SHIELD DIRECTION FACTOR= (.5 + ABS(SHIPS DIRECTION - WEAPONS DIRECTION)/360.) SHIELD FACTOR=SHIELD DIRECTION FACTOR * SHIELD ABSORBTION FACTOR SHIELD ENERGY=SHIELD ENERGY - SHIELD ABSORBTION FACTOR * ENERGY OF HIT. ENERGY OF SHIP=ENERGY OF SHIP - (1.2 - SHIELD ABSORBTION FACTOR) * ENERGY OF HIT * 8. ANTI-MATTER CAUSES BOTH DAMAGE TO THE SCAN, AND RESULTS IN AN ENERGY HIT. BOTH OF THESE EFFECTS ARE ENERGY DEPENDENT. 1 STARTING THE GAME ----------------- SEVERAL CRT TERMINALS ARE REQUIRED TO PLAY THE GAME. THE DRIVER PROGRAM, MTREK, RUNS IN REAL-TIME AND CAN BE STARTED FROM ANY TERMINAL. EACH PLAYER RUNS THE TIME-SHARED PLAYER TASK FROM THEIR TERMINAL. EACH PLAYER'S STATUS AND POSITION AS WELL AS THE SCORES OF ALL PLAYERS WILL BE DISPLAYED AND CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED AT EACH PLAYER'S TERMINAL. THE UPDATE RATE IS TWICE PER SECOND, BUT THE SOURCE CODE IS COMMENTED ON WHERE TO CHANGE IT SHOULD YOU WISH TO DO SO. FIRST INSTALL THE SHARED GLOBAL AREA; PDS>INS/COMMON/ACCESS:RW LEDFOR NEXT INSTALL AND START THE DRIVER PROGRAM; PDS>INSTALL MTREK PDS>RUN/REALTIME/NOPROMPT MTREK MTREK WILL FIRST ASK IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE THE PREVIOUS GAME. IF NOT, IT WILL ASK A SERIES OF SET UP QUESTIONS (DEFAULTS ARE INVOLKED BY ) 1. A STAR DENSITY BETWEEN 2 AND 3 IS GOOD (DEFAULT = 2.5) 2. ABOUT 20 TO 25 STAR-BASES IS OK (DEFAULT = 20.) 3. USUALLY 5-10 RANDOM JUMP POINTS (DEFAULT = 10.) 4. ANY RANDOM INTEGER BETWEEN -32K AND +32K (DEFAULT = 0) 5. A CLOAKING ENERGY DRAIN OF 20 TO 40 (DEFAULT = 25.) 6. BLACK HOLE SPEED OF 2. TO 5. (DEFAULT = 5.) PLAYER INITIATION ----------------- TO START PLAYING WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE DRIVER PROGRAM HAS PRINTED "MTREK INITIATED" THEN EACH PLAYER MAY ISSUE THE FOLLOWING COMMAND AT HIS TERMINAL. PDS>RUN PLAYER A LIST OF UNOCCUPIED SHIPS WILL BE DISPLAYED, SO CHOOSE AN UNOCCUPIED SHIP AND YOU ARE READY TO PLAY. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR TWO OR MORE PLAYERS TO CONTROL THE SAME SHIP IF DESIRED, E.G., ONE PLAYER CAN CONTROL NAVIGATION AND THE OTHER WEAPONS. PLAYERS MAY ENTER AND LEAVE THE GAME AT ANY TIME. 1 ROBOT SHIPS ----------- IN ADDITION TO PLAYING AGAINST HUMAN OPPONENTS YOU CAN TURN THE UNUSED SHIPS OVER TO COMPUTER CONTROL. THIS IS DONE BY STARTING THE PLAYEM PROGRAM. YOU CAN CHOOSE THE SHIPS TO BE CONTROLLED AND THE CAPABILITY OF THE SHIPS' ROBOT SKIPPERS. EACH RUNNING PLAYEM PROGRAM CAN CONTROL SEVERAL SHIPS WHICH WILL ACT AS A TEAM. IF MORE THAN ONE PLAYEM PROGRAM IS STARTED THEN THEIR SHIPS WILL FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER. ROBOT SHIPS ARE STARTED WITH THE COMMAND; PDS> RUN PLAYEM A LIST OF UNOCCUPIED SHIPS WILL BE DISPLAYED. ENTER THE NUMBER(S) OF THE SHIP(S) TO BE UNDER ROBOT CONTROL. WHEN THE ROBOT "TEAM" HAS BEEN SELECTED, ENTER AND THE PLAYEM PROGRAM WILL ASK SEVERAL QUESTIONS TO SET UP THE ABILITY OF THE ROBOT SKIPPERS (AS WITH PLAYER, DEFAULTS ARE INVOLKED BY ). 1. MAXIMUM SPEED OF ROBOT SHIPS (DEFAULT = WARP 8) 2. ROBOT REACTION TIME (DEFAULT = 1.5) 3. AMOUNT OF PHASER FIRE (DEFAULT = 5) 4. DEGREE OF ACCURACY (DEFAULT = 0 DEGREES) 1 PLAYER COMMANDS --------------- ALL COMMANDS CONSIST OF ONE CHARACTER, AND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HELP, RESET AND THE CLOAKING COMMANDS, REQUIRE A NUMERIC ARGUMENT. THIS ARGUMENT CAN BE INPUT WITH THE COMMAND CHARACTER, SEPARATED BY A SINGLE SPACE. IF NOT, THE PROGRAM WILL PROMPT FOR THE ARGUMENT. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS THE TEXT OF THE MESSAGE COMMAND, WHICH MUST BE INPUT ON A SEPARATE LINE. HELP PRINTS A SUMMARY OF ALL COMMANDS. SHIELDS "S" RAISE OR LOWER SHIELDS. YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR A REAL NUMBER (+ OR -). 1000 UNITS IS THE MOST THAT WILL DO ANY GOOD. BUT YOU MAY WANT A LITTLE RESERVE. RESET "R" CLEARS THE SCREEN AND REDRAWS THE ENTIRE DISPLAY TORPEDOES "T" FIRE TORPEDOES. YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR DIRECTION, YOUR SHIP'S DIRECTION IS THE DEFAULT. TORPEDOES MOVE AT WARP 10. PHASERS "P" FIRE PHASERS. YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR DIRECTION, YOUR SHIP'S DIRECTION IS THE DEFAULT. PHASERS ARE INSTANTANEOUS, HAVE A RANGE OF 10 SQUARES, AND SHOOT A BAND 3 SQUARES WIDE. THEY WILL NOT DESTROY TORPEDOES. LOCATE "L" LONG RANGE SCAN FOR ANOTHER PLAYER (ENTER SHIP NUMBER OF OTHER PLAYER). MESSAGE "M" SEND MESSAGE TO ANOTHER PLAYER ON SUBSPACE RADIO. WARP "W" SET WARP SPEED 0. THRU 8. (0. IS THE DEFAULT) COURSE "C" SET COURSE 0. THRU 12. (CLOCK FACE). THIS DOES NOT EFFECT YOUR WARP SPEED. ALL DIRECTIONS ARE TO BE SPECIFIED IN "CLOCK FACE" NUMBERS. FOR EXAMPLE 0. IS UP 9. IS LEFT 3. IS RIGHT 6. IS DOWN 7.5 IS TOWARD THE LOWER LEFT CORNER, ETC.  QUIT "Q" QUIT HYPERSPACE "H" SET HYPERSPACE JUMP POINT 1 THRU 6 1 CLOAK ON "F" FADE AWAY. THE CLOAKING DEVICE IS A CONTINUOUS ENERGY DRAIN WHEN ACTIVATED. CLOAK OFF "A" APPEAR. SEEKING TORPEDO LAUNCH "K" YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR THE SHIP NUMBER TO HOME IN ON SEEKING TORPEDOES CAN BE SHOT DOWN WITH PHASERS (AT LEAST SOMETIMES) ANTI-MATTER LAUNCH "Z" YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR A DIRECTION. PODS MOVE AT WARP 5. ANTI-MATTER FREEZE "N" STOP MOVEMENT OF ANTI-MATTER DEVICE (WILL BECOME A STATIC MINE) ANTI-MATTER DETONATE "X" DETONATE ANTI MATTER POD. THIS EXPLOSION DESTROYS AN ENTIRE AREA, EXCEPT FOR BASES AND HYPERSPACE POINTS. THE PATTERN OF THE EXPLOSION IS AS BELOW. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X GOOD LUCK, AND DON'T GET DISCOURAGED AS THE GAME REQUIRES A LITTLE PRACTICE. 1 TERMINATING THE GAME -------------------- IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE LAST MTREK PLAYERS CLEAN UP THE SYSTEM BEFORE THEY LEAVE. THIS IS DONE BY ISSUING THE FOLLOWING SET OF COMMANDS. 1) TERMINATE EACH PLAYER PROGRAM BY ENTERING THE "Q" COMMAND 2) IF YOU ARE RUNNING ANY PLAYEM PROGRAMS ABORT EACH ONE AS FOLLOWS: C PDS> ABORT 3) TERMINATE THE MTREK DRIVER PROGRAM PDS> ABORT/REAL MTREK 4) REMOVE MTREK AND THE SHARED GLOBAL AREA PDS> REMOVE MTREK PDS> REMOVE/COMMON LEDFOR NOW MOP UP THE BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS; LOGOUT; AND GO HOME.