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D U E L I N G S T A R S H I P S (tm) Version A.00.00 (C) Copyright 1984 Vince J. D'Angelo and Robert W. Dea All Rights Reserved Dueling Starships (tm) Table of Contents GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................... 3 STARTING THE GAME .......................................... 4 SPLIT SCREEN INSTALLATION .................................. 5 SCREEN LAYOUT .............................................. 6 KEYBOARD LAYOUT ............................................ 10 BASIC COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS ................................. 12 INITIAL SETTINGS AND SPECIFICATIONS ........................ 24 LIST OF COMMANDS ........................................... 26 Dueling Starships (tm) GENERAL INFORMATION DISCLAIMER The Authors shall in no event be liable for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability to use these programs or documentation. Authors are not responsible for errors or defects in the programs or documentation, even if Authors have been notified of same. Users will use these programs at their own risk. PERMISSION TO COPY The Authors grant permission for clubs and other non-profit organizations to copy these programs and documentation subject to the following conditions: 1. No price is to be charged for either the software or documentation. However a distribution charge not to exceed $6 total may be imposed for covering the cost of the diskette. 2. The software and documentation are not modified in anyway, and both are always distributed together. 3. Club members are encouraged to send donations to the Authors. 1 Dueling Starships (tm) DONATIONS If you find this game to be of value, your donation to the Authors will be greatly appreciated. (Suggested donation is $15) DO NOT SEND CASH. Checks should be made payable to: Robert W. Dea and Vince J. D'Angelo and mailed to: Robert W. Dea and Vince J. D'Angelo Dueling Starships P.O. Box 968 Fremont, CA 94537 Users are encouraged to copy and share this game. In situations where a copy cannot be made from other users, a user may request a copy from the Authors for a fee of $6 (check made payable to Robert W. Dea and Vince J. D'Angelo). 2 INTRODUCTION Dueling Starships is a two-player real-time battle between opposing starships. The computer screen and keyboard are split in half allowing the captains of both starships to play simultaneously. The object of the game is to destroy the enemy starship. The rest of this document describes how to start-up the game, installation of the split screen barrier and provides brief descriptions of the basic command set to give beginners enough information to start playing. Files on the Diskette 1. DSS.DOC Documentation describing how to play this game. 2. DSS.EXE The Dueling Starship game. 3 STARTING THE GAME To start the game: 1. Carefully insert the game program diskette into drive A: with the label edge entering last. 2. Type "DSS" to run the program. 3. The program will prompt with the following question: Configure Ships? Respond with a "NO" (CR). This will cause both starships to be configured identical using default values. 4. At this point, the game's split screen will be displayed. The split screen barrier should now be installed. Follow the instructions describing the split screen barrier. 6. You are now ready to play the game. 4 SPLIT SCREEN INSTALLATION Cut Out "A" (BACK) +--------------------- (Tape Along This Line) ------------------------+ | | | 1. Use this pattern and cut out on cardboard. | | 2. Cut slit along area marked "A". | | 3. Tape to top of CRT. | | A | | A | | A | +-----------------------------------A---------------------------------+ (FRONT) Cut Out "B" (TOP) +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | <- (TOWARD SCREEN) (TOWARD USER) -> | | | BBBBBBBBBB | | | +---+ | | 1. Use this pattern and cut out on cardboard. | | 2. Slide area "B" into slit "A" in cutout "A". | | 3. You have now installed the split screen divider. | | | +---+ | | | | | | | | | | . | . Adjust Length To Fit Your CRT | . | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +--- | | (BOTTOM) | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ 5 SCREEN LAYOUT The screens for both the left and right players are identical. +----------------------+----------------+ | | 23:37:49 | <-- STAR TIME | | | | | SHIP PL = 100 | <-- SHIP POWER | | SHLD F-1 = 100 | <-+ | | SHLD L-2 = 100 | | DEFLECTOR | $ | SHLD B-3 = 100 | | SHIELDS | | SHLD R-4 = 100 | <-+ | | DIL CRYST= 10 | <-- DILITHIUM CRYSTALS | % | RESERVE = 50 | <-- RESERVE POWER SUPPLY | | CLOAK OFF | <-- CLOAKING DEVICE STATUS | | RADIUS 75000 | <-- VIEWING SCREEN RADIUS | | COND GREEN | <-- ALERT STATUS +----------------------+ | | PHASERS TORPEDOES PROBES PODS | <-- WEAPON STATUS | 100 100 25 5 | +---------------------------------------+ | BEARING RANGE HEADING WARP | | % 212.3 62000 24.0 16.0 | <-- NAVIGATION | $ - - 220.0 7.0 | WINDOW +---------------------------------------+ | | <-- STATUS | | WINDOW +---------------------------------------+ |YOUR ORDERS, CAPTAIN: | <-- COMMAND | | WINDOW | | | | | | +---------------------------------------+ | | <-- ERROR MESSAGE +---------------------------------------+ WINDOW Figure 1-1 In the upper left is a picture showing the positions of objects in space (such as location of the enemy, anti-matter probes, etc.). All objects are shown relative to your own ship. In other words, YOUR SHIP IS ALWAYS AT THE CENTER OF THE PICTURE (represented by a "$"). Objects are mapped onto 6 the picture by their bearing and range relative to your ship. An object's bearing is its angle from 0 to 360 degrees plotted in two-dimensional space. An object's range is its distance. The viewing screen has a user specifiable radius. If the radius is set at 75000 Km (Kilometers), for example, then an object (in Figure 1-2 denoted by a "%") bearing 45 degrees at a range of 50000 Km would be displayed as follows: 90 +-----------------------+ | | | % | | | | | 180 | $ | 0 | | | | | | | | +-----------------------+ 270 Figure 1-2 Notice that degrees are incremented counter-clockwise from the x-axis. Bearing zero degrees is to the middle right, 90 degrees is to the middle top, 45 degrees is to the upper right corner, etc. Positions of objects on the viewing screen are constantly being updated. If objects (or your ship) were moving, you would see the locations of the objects change over time. The remainder of the screen is broken up into several windows. The first window lies immediately to the right of 7 the viewing screen. This window is displayed in normal video and shows your ship's status. At the very top of the window is the current time. Below it is displayed the ship's main power level, and the power levels of the four shields surrounding the ship. Next is shown the number of dilithium crystals remaining in the dilithium crystal power generator, and the amount of power in the reserve power supply. The status of the ship's cloaking device is then displayed, followed by the current viewing screen radius, and the condition alert status. Below the viewing screen window is the weapon status window shown in inverse video. This window displays: power in phaser banks, power in photon torpedo banks, number of anti- matter probes, and number of ion pods remaining. Below the weapon status window is the navigation window (shown in normal video). The bearing, range, heading, and warp of the enemy and your own ship are shown. The enemy's ship is designated by a "%", and your ship is shown as a "$". These same characters are also used on the viewing screen. The next window on the screen is the status window which is shown in inverse video. Messages regarding enemy action are displayed in this area. For example, if the enemy fired phasers and hit your ship, all pertinent information regarding the attack would be shown here. The last window on each player's screen is the command area. 8 This area is in normal video, the first line of which is the main command prompt ("YOUR ORDERS, CAPTAIN:"). The remaining lines beneath are used for additional prompts and data entry. The final line on each screen (shown in inverse video) is the error/information line. If erroneous information is entered to a prompt, a suitable error will be displayed here. This line is also used by some of the commands for the relaying of general information. 9 KEYBOARD LAYOUT The "SPACE BAR" toggles the sound on and off (default on). Left Player Keyboard +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | F1 | | F2 | |Esc | | ! | | @ | | | | | | | | 1 | | 2 | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +------+ +----+ | F3 | | F4 | | |<-- | | Q | | | | | | -->| | | | +----+ +----+ +------+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +--------+ +----+ | F5 | | F6 | | Ctrl | | A | | | | | | | | | +----+ +----+ +--------+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | F7 | | F8 | | | | | | | Z | | | | | | | | \ | | | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +---------+ | F9 | | F10| | Alt | | | | | | | +----+ +----+ +---------+ Key definitions: <F1> = 1, <F2> = 2 <F3> = 3, <F4> = 4 <F5> = 5, <F6> = 6 <F7> = 7, <F8> = 8 <F9> = 9, <F10> = 0 +----+ |Esc | = Backspace | | +----+ +------+ +----+ | |<-- | = Carriage Return | Q | = Decimal Point "." | -->| | | | +------+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | | = Minus Sign "-" | Z | = Cancel Key | \ | | | (Cancel current command) +----+ +----+ 10 Right Player Keyboard +--------+ +-------+ | <-- | | Num | | | | Lock | +--------+ +-------+ +-----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | | 7 | | 8 | | 9 | | - | | | | | | | | | | | | <--|| +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | +-----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | |PrtSc| | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | + | | * | | | | | | | | | +-----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ | | +------------+ +-----------+ | | | 0 | | . | | | | Ins | | Del | | | +------------+ +-----------+ +----+ Key definitions: <1> = 1, <2> = 2 <3> = 3, <4> = 4 <5> = 5, <6> = 6 <7> = 7, <8> = 8 <9> = 9, <0> = 0 +--------+ | <-- | = Back Space | | +--------+ +-----+ +----------+ | | | . | = Decimal Point "." | | | Del | | <-- | = Carriage Return +----------+ | | | | | | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ | - | = Minus Sign "-" |PrtSc| = Cancel Key | | | * | (Cancel current command) +-----+ +-----+ 11 BASIC COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS Help (command # 0) The help command is executed by pressing the return key in response to the main command prompt. Pressing the return key without entering data implies a zero response. The ten basic commands and their respective numbers are then displayed in the command area of the screen. 1:FIRE WEAPON 4:PWR->SHIP 7:NAVIGATION 2:LOCK WEAPON 5:PWR<-SHIP 8:SCAN ENEMY 3:CLOAK 6:CRYSTALS 9:SET SCREEN 10:SURRENDER Fire Weapon (command #1) Each starship has four weapons: 1. PHASERS -- Pulsating energy beams which cause moderate damage to the shields, and moderate damage to the ship if the shield is gone. Phasers derive their power from the ship's phaser banks which can hold a maximum of 100 units of power. The firing range for this weapon is 6000 to 25000 Km (i.e. the enemy must be between 6000 and 25000 Km away in order to fire). Phasers are also limited by a firing angle. The starship being fired at must be between 0 to 75 and 285 to 360 degrees relative to your ship's heading (in other words, phasers will fire only if the enemy is in front of your ship: See Figure 2-1 ). When phasers fire, the phaser banks discharge according to the intensity specified when they 12 were locked (see the Lock Weapon command). . . . SHIELD # 2 (LEFT) . . F XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . I XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . R | X . 75 degree I SHIELD # 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XXXX N (BACK) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X>-- SHIELD # 1 G XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XXXX (FORWARD) | X . A XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX .285 defree N XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . G . L SHIELD # 4 (RIGHT) . E . . . Figure 2-1 2. PHOTON TORPEDOES -- Bundles of energy which cause minor damage to the shields, and heavy damage to the ship if the shield is gone. Photon Torpedoes derive their power from the ship's photon torpedo banks which can hold a maximum of 100 units of power. The firing range for this weapon is 8000 to 35000 Km. Photon Torpedoes are also limited to the same firing angle as phasers (see Figure 2-1 ). When the torpedoes are fired, the photon torpedo banks discharge according to the intensity specified 13 when they were locked (see the Lock Weapon command). 3. ANTI-MATTER PROBES -- Masses of anti-matter which cause heavy damage to the shields, and minor damage to the ship if the shield is gone. When a probe is launched, anti-matter is loaded into it from the ship's probe supply. Each starship automatically regenerates one probe unit every minute. The probe launcher can fire in any direction. Anti-matter probes have a maximum lifespan of 30 seconds in space. If they do not reach their target within that length of time, they dissipate and become harmless. A probe will automatically detonate if a starship enters its proximity radius. This radius is 4000 Km. If a starship comes within 4000 Km of the probe, the probe will automatically blow up. When launching a probe, you will be prompted for direction and speed of the probe. Direction is any angle from 0 to 360 degrees (absolute space angles as shown in Figure 1-2), and speed is any warp from 0 to 40. Since probes last for a maximum of 30 seconds, the farthest a probe can travel at warp 40 is 40,000 Km (speed will be discussed under the Navigation command). Probes are designated by a "*" on the ship's viewing screen. 4. ION PODS -- Space mines which cause moderate damage to the shields, and moderate to heavy damage to the ship if the shield is gone. Each starship is allocated 5 ion 14 pods. Ion pods derive their power from your ship. You may divert up to 100 units from your ship's main power level into each pod. The pod is then transported out into space to a location selected by you. The pod will remain at that location until you decide to detonate it by using this command. (For details on transporting the pod into space, see the Lock Weapon command). Pods have an explosion radius equivalent to 160 times the amount of power in the pod. A pod filled with 100 units of power, for example, would have an explosion radius of 16,000 Km. The closer an object is to the center of the explosion, the more damage is caused. Pods are capable of causing damage to a starship, and destroying oncoming anti-matter probes. An important feature of ion pods is their built-in cloaking device. An ion pod is invisible except to the mother ship which ejected it. NOTE: None of the firing commands are operational when the ship's cloaking device is in use (see the CLOAK command). Lock Weapon (Command #2) Before any weapon can be used, it must first be locked. Locking establishes an intensity to be used when the weapon is fired, except for ion pods, which are ejected. Once your 15 phasers, photon torpedoes, and anti-matter probes are locked, the intensity you specified remains in effect until you decide to change it. There are four locking commands: 1. PHASERS -- Locks phasers onto the enemy and establishes the intensity of the beam. A maximum of 50 units may be specified. Your phaser banks will discharge by this amount each time you fire the weapon. 2. PHOTON TORPEDOES -- Locks photon torpedoes onto the enemy and establishes their intensity. A maximum of 50 units may be specified. Your photon torpedo banks will discharge by this amount each time you fire the weapon. 3. ANTI-MATTER PROBES -- Locks probe launcher onto the enemy and establishes the number of anti-matter units to be loaded for each shot. A maximum of 10 units may be specified. Your anti-matter probe supply will decrease by this amount each time you launch a probe. 4. ION PODS -- Transports an ion pod into space and establishes the amount of power to be diverted into it. When ejecting a pod with this command, you will be prompted for an ejection angle, an ejection range, and for pod power. The ejection angle is any angle from 0 to 360 degrees measured in absolute space angles (refer to Figure 1-2). The ejection range is any distance from 0 to 60,000 Km away from the ship. Pod power is any amount up to 100 units of your ship power. Once ejected, the pod will sit at that location in space 16 until you manually detonate it with the FIRE command. When detonated, the pod will have an explosion radius equal to 160 times the amount of power in the pod. Care should be taken not to accidentally blow yourself up with one of your own pods. When a pod is ejected, it will be assigned a number from 1 to 5. All five of your ship's ion pods can be in space at one time. Pods are designated on the ship's viewing screen by their respective number. For example, ion pod #1 will be shown as a "1" on the screen. Cloak (Command #3) Each starship is equipped with a cloaking device. Activating this device makes the starship invisible. This command is used as a toggle to activate / deactivate this device. Issuing the command once, causes the device to turn on. Issuing the command a second time, causes the device to turn off. In order to activate the device, a starship must have a minimum of 125 units of power in the ship's main power level. If the main power level should fall below 100 units at any time, the cloaking device will automatically turn itself off. There are two main drawbacks to using the cloaking device: 1. A starship cannot fire its weapons when invisible. 2. The cloaking device consumes a lot of power (25 units per minute deducted from the main power level). These disadvantages can easily outweigh the advantages of 17 being invisible if the cloaking device remains on for an extended period of time. Power to Ship (Command #4) The Power to Ship and Power from Ship commands allow the captain of a starship to transfer energy from one part of the ship to another. Before these commands can be discussed in detail, the power structure and power flow within a starship must first be explained. The power source of each starship are its dilithium crystals. These reside in the dilithium crystal power generator. The generator generates one unit of power per minute per crystal. In other words, if your starship has 10 dilithium crystals, the power generator will provide your ship with 10 units of power per minute. This power is placed in the reserve power supply (see Figure 2-2). The reserve power supply can be tapped to channel power into the ship's main power level. From there, power can be diverted into the shields, phaser and torpedo banks, and can be used in ejecting ion pods. Power can also be diverted back into the main power level from the shields and weapon banks if needed. Power cannot, however, be put back into the reserve power supply from the main power level. If a starship is badly lacking in power (after a heavy attack, for example), and there is little or no power in 18 the reserve power supply, instant power can be generated by disintegrating some of the dilithium crystals (see the Crystals command). ################# ################# # # # # Engines Ion Pods | | | | #### Reserve Main 1:4 ## ----------- Power -------- Power --------- Shields #### \ Supply / Level \ / | Dilithium Crystal \ / |----- Phaser Banks Power Generator \ / | \ / |_____ Torpedo Banks Disintegrating Crystals Figure 2-2 The Power to Ship command has seven parts: 1. Diverts power from shield #1 to the main power level. Power is expressed in shield units. A four-to-one ratio exists between a shield power unit and a power unit for any other part of the ship. Four shield units equal one ship unit. (In other words, diverting four units from the shield to the ship boost the ship by one unit.) 2. Diverts power from shield #2 to the main power level. 3. Diverts power from shield #3 to the main power level. 4. Diverts power from shield #4 to the main power level. NOTE: Withdrawing power from a shield lowers the efficiency of the shield. 5. Diverts power from the phaser banks to the main power 19 level. This is a one-to-one ratio. 6. Diverts power from the photon torpedo banks to the main power level. This is a one-to-one ratio. 7. Taps the reserve power supply and channels the power into the main power level. This is a one-to-one ratio. NOTE: The ship's main power level can hold a maximum of 200 units. Power from Ship (command #5) This command is the opposite of the Power to Ship command and has six parts: 1. Diverts power from the ship's main power level to shield #1 on a one-to-four ratio. Power is expressed in shield units. Boosting the shield four units will drain one unit from the main power level. 2. Diverts power from the main power level to shield #2. 3. Diverts power from the main power level to shield #3. 4. Diverts power from the main power level to shield #4. NOTE: Boosting a shield raises its efficiency. A shield can hold a maximum of 125 units. 5. Diverts power from the main power level to the phaser banks. This is a one-to-one ratio. The phaser banks can hold a maximum of 100 units. 6. Diverts power from the main power level to the photon torpedo banks. This is a one-to-one ratio. The photon torpedo banks can hold a maximum of 100 units. 20 Crystals (Command #6) This command disintegrates dilithium crystals. This option should only be exercised when it is absolutely necessary. Disintegrating crystals creates instant power, but decreases the rate at which the reserve power supply builds up. Each crystal disintegrated generates 50 units of power which is channeled directly into the ship's main power level (bypassing the reserve power supply). For every crystal eliminated, one unit of power is reduced in the reserve power regeneration rate per minute. Dilithium crystals are the power source for each starship. Burning up crystals needlessly could have disastrous effects later on. Navigation (Command #7) Changes course (heading) and speed. Heading is expressed as any angle from 0 to 360 degrees measured in absolute space angles. Speed is any warp from -20 to 20. A negative speed indicates moving in reverse (useful if firing at the enemy while retreating). Each warp equals the velocity of 2,000 Km per minute. These speeds were adopted to make the game easier to play. Traveling at the maximum speed of warp 20 (or -20) would result in your starship moving 40,000 Km each minute. When changing speed, your starship will automatically accelerate / decelerate to the new speed from the present 21 one. The rate at which your starship can accelerate is determined by your ship's main power level. The higher the power level, the faster your ship can accelerate. A power level of zero would result in no acceleration. When traveling at speeds greater than warp 10 (or -10), power will be drained from the reserve power supply to help your engines maintain speed. If the reserve supply is emptied, your ship will automatically reduce speed to warp 10 (or -10). Scan Enemy (Command #8) Sensor scan of the enemy starship. Causes the status of the enemy to be displayed on your screen (replacing the values for your ship). All values are displayed except for power in phaser and photon torpedo banks, and number of anti- matter probe units remaining. The sensor scan remains in effect until you issue another command. If the enemy starship is invisible, it cannot be scanned. Set Screen (Command #9) Changes the ship's viewing screen radius. The current screen radius is always displayed on the screen. This radius will need to be adjusted according to the distance of the enemy starship and any other objects in space, in order to see everything, or you can adjust it to focus in on your immediate area. Surrender (Command #10) Allows you to surrender your ship to the enemy. Your enemy 22 has the option to accept your surrender or to continue playing the game. 23 INITIAL SETTINGS AND SPECIFICATIONS All weapons are initially unlocked. Headings and speeds of each ship are set to zero. Default # of dilithium crystals: 10 Default # of anti-matter units: 25 regeneration: 1 per minute # of ion pods: 5 regeneration: none Default reserve power level: 50 regeneration: 1 unit/minute/crystal Ship power level: 100 max. possible: 200 Phaser banks: 100 max. possible: 100 Photon torpedo banks: 100 max. possible: 100 All four shields: 100 max. possible: 125 PHASERS range: 6,000 - 25,000 Km firing angle: 0 - 75, 285 - 360 intensity: 0 - 50 shield damage: moderate ship damage: moderate PHOTON TORPEDOES range: 8,000 - 35,000 Km firing angle: 0 - 75, 285 - 360 intensity: 0 - 50 shield damage: minor ship damage: heavy 24 ANTI-MATTER PROBES range: 40,000 Km max. at warp 40 maximum lifespan: 30 seconds proximity radius: 4,000 Km firing angle: ALL intensity: 0 - 10 shield damage: heavy ship damage: minor speed: warp 0 - 40 ION PODS ejection range: 0 - 60,000 Km firing angle: ALL intensity: 0 - 100 shield damage: moderate ship damage: moderate to heavy (damage depends on distance from pod to target, and pod's strength) explosion radius: 160 times pod's strength Note: Initial settings for dilithium crystals, anti-matter units, and reserve power supply are configurable. Figures shown are default values. 25 LIST OF COMMANDS 0 Help 1 Fire Weapons - 1 Phasers range (6,000 - 25,000) - 2 Photon Torpedoes range (8,000 - 35,000) - 3 Probes angle (0 - 360), warp (0 - 40) - 4 Pod pod # (1 - 5) 2 Lock Weapons - 1 Phasers (0 - 50) - 2 Photon Torpedoes (0 - 50) - 3 Probes (0 - 10) - 4 Pod angle (0 - 360) range (0 - 60,000) power (1 - 100) 3 Cloak 4 Power to Ship - 1 Shield #1 to ship, - 2 Shield #2 to ship - 3 Shield #3 to ship, - 4 Shield #4 to ship - 5 Phaser banks to ship - 6 Torpedo banks to ship - 7 Reserve power supply to ship 5 Power from Ship - 1 Ship to shield #1, - 2 Ship to shield #2 - 3 Ship to shield #3. - 4 Ship to shield #4 - 5 Ship to phaser banks - 6 Ship to torpedo banks 6 Crystal 50 units / crystal 7 Navigation angle (0 - 360), warp (-20 to 20) 8 Scan Enemy 9 Set Screen (1,000 - 300,000) 10 Surrender 26