Multi-Trek - A multi-player real-time space battle game
Version 3.0
Chuck L. Peterson
clp@ssyx.ucsc.edu
April 22, 1989
Multi-Trek Users Guide
Introduction
1 Introduction
Multi-Trek is a multi-player space battle game which uses the shared
memory facilities of UNIX to permit interaction between players. Each
player controls a spaceship, the statistics and scanners of which are
continuously displayed on the screen. The player's mission is to cruise
around the galaxy inflicting the most amount of damage possible without
being killed himself. There may be as many as 26 simultaneous players.
1.1 Getting Started
When 'mtrek' is started, you are prompted for a ship name. If the name
you enter is being used by another ship currently in the game, you will
be notified and asked to pick another. When your ship name has been
accepted, you are given the class selection screen. At this point, type
the letter associated with the class whose statistics you want to look
at. Type when the statistics of the class you want are being
displayed. After you are done selecting a name and class for your ship,
the Multi-Trek playing screen is drawn and play begins.
If the ship name you enter matches the name of a saved game, you are
requesting the use of that ship. If there is a "Ship Password" associated
with the ship when it was saved, you are required to know this to recover
the ship. Anyone can recover a saved ship not assigned a password. If you
have entered the proper password (assuming there is one), you bypass the
ship selection screen and enter the game itself. Your ship will be in the
same condition that it was when it was saved.
2 Documentation Conventions
This is a description of some of the conventions used in this
document. The notation of {ship} and {obj} is used in the specification
of commands which require a ship or object letter. The 26 lower-case
letters correspond to different player's ships. So if you want to scan
ship 'e', the command 'o{ship}' indicates you must type "oe". Objects are
specified with either a lower-case or upper-case letter. So if you would
like to scan a rapidly approaching plasma torpedo with object letter 'B',
the command 'O{obj}' means that you would type "OB". The {ship} and {obj}
letters are obtained from the tactical display, which is described in
Section 3.2. Many of the commands in 'mtrek' are control characters.
These are indicated with a '^' preceding a letter. For example; the
command to redraw the screen is '^r', which you give by typing the 'r'
key while holding down the 'ctrl' key. There are also commands which
begin with the ESC character. To print your score, you give the command
'ESC s' by typing the 'escape' key (and releasing it), then typing 's'.
All 'items' in the Multi-Trek universe which are not spaceships are
given the term 'objects' in this document. Examples of objects are plasma
torpedoes, mines, drones, buoys, starbases, planets, and nebulas.
Displays
3 Displays
Most of the data collected by your monitoring devices is printed in
one of 3 displays. These take up most of the screen. The leftmost box is
your ship monitor display, the box in the center of the screen is the
tactical display, and on the right side of the screen is the scanner
display. The scanner display is left blank unless something is being
scanned.
3.1 Ship Monitor
The statistics of your spaceship are printed here. This always
displays the current status of your ship, and is updated as your ship
changes. For example, when you increase your speed by repeatedly pressing
the 'w' key, you will immediately see the " Warp: " value being updated
to reflect your new speed.
3.2 Tactical Display
In the tactical display, the bearings and distances to the visible
ships and objects in your scanning range are printed. The angle printed
in the 'bearing' field is the heading you would have to take to put
your ship on an intercept course. Each ship has a 'visibility' index
associated with it which determines how far this ship must be into
another's scanning range before it can be detected. The large ships tend
to have higher visibility indices. Tactical display entries for ships are
printed starting at the top as those for objects are printed starting at
the bottom.
Ships displayed in the tactical display have the format:
letter name bearing distance
And objects are displayed as:
letter) name bearing distance
An entry is deleted from the tactical display when it refers to something
which is no longer visible or has left your scanning range. The letter
printed in a tactical display entry is used with commands where a ship or
object specification is required. For example: 'm{ship}' sends a message
to a ship and 'ESC c{ship}' prints the class of a ship.
When another player's ship is scanning you, a '*' appears in front of
the ship letter.
When there are quite a few ships and objects in the area, the tactical
display requires excessive terminal output to maintain. This output can
exceed 2400 baud and provide a major inconvenience for users on slow
terminals. It is possible to limit output by setting several different
variables: The variables 'bearing_dly', 'dist_dly', and 'xyz_dly' are
used set to the number of ticks between the printing of bearings,
distances, and coordinates respectively. When 'bearing_dly=0', no
bearings are displayed at all. To inhibit the printing of some trivial
information in the scanner, turn off the 'verbose' variable.
Another aid for relieving clutter in the tactical display is the
'range' variable. This is set to a distance such that only objects within
this radius will be seen. Setting this to a value beyond your ship's
scanning range will have no effect; this can only used for decreasing
one's scanning range. For example, ':set range=3000' will cause all
entries for objects in the tactical display to be within 3000 units.
Defaults for terminals less than 9600 baud:
'dist_dly' distances are updated once a second
'xyz_dly' coordinates are updated every few seconds
'bearing_dly' set to 0 so these are not displayed at all
'verbose' turned off so scanner output is shorter
3.3 Scanner Display
The scanner display is the area between the tactical display and the
right side of the screen. This displays the statistics of either a
specific ship, visible in the tactical display, or those of an object. To
display the stats of a ship, the command 'o{ship}' is used; where {ship}
is the ship's letter. When the ship moves out of scanning range or
cloaks, the ship is deleted from both the tactical display and the
scanner. One can print the stats of an object whether it is in scanning
range or not. To do this, enter the command 'O{obj}'; where {obj} is the
letter 'a'-'z' or 'A'-'Z' corresponding to the desired object.
Navigation
4 Navigation
The navigation of a spaceship involves adjusting warp speed, deciding
when to engage the transwarp mechanism, and deciding on a course to take.
The easiest and most common way to set the ship heading is by
'intercepting' other ships and objects. This sets your heading on a
direct intercept course. The only time that you need to resort to manual
navigation is when avoiding things like plasma torpedoes or when
implementing a complicated attack strategy.
4.1 Manipulating Speed
The following 3 commands are used to quickly modify the current warp
speed:
w increases warp by 0.2
W decreases warp by 0.2
^w sets warp to 0.0
One may also immediately set one's warp to a specific value by using
the '@{num}' command where {num} is any decimal fractional number your
ship can travel at. Negative warp is defined to mean that your ship is
traveling backwards. This is especially useful in avoiding many of the
various hazards your ship will encounter. Just set your heading to be on
an intercept course with the thing to be avoided, then set your warp to a
negative value.
Warp speed is based on the model where the units travelled per second
at warp 1 is c*3*k where c is the speed of light, and k is some constant.
Warp 2 is c*3*3 * k, Warp 3 is c*3*3*3 * k, warp 4 is c*3*3*3*3 * k,
etc... One can see that the time it takes for a certain space trip will
be greatly reduced by a small increase in warp speed.
Associated with each ship are speeds at which the ship can safely
travel. The command 'ESC w' gives the turning, cruising, and emergency
warp speeds. Damage to the ship structure will occur when turning at a
speed exceeding ones 'turning warp'.
For each warp 1.0 you exceed your cruising warp by, you lose 1 warp
energy per second.
For each warp .2 you exceed your emergency warp by, you acquire 1
point of structural damage per second.
4.2 Transwarp
For spaceships so equipped, transwarp can be engaged with the 'x'
command. This greatly increases the speed the ship moves, and lasts
about 10 seconds. This effectively increases ones warp speed to between
20 and 30. Thus, engaging transwarp at higher warp speeds results in a
transwarp that covers a greater distance in less time. Transwarp
requires a speed of at least warp 3, and damage will occur if it is
engaged while travelling slower than warp 4. It also uses up 30 units of
warp energy. Some of the ship classes are equipped with a 'tracking'
transwarp. If you have tracking transwarp, and begin transwarping while
intercepting something, the tracking will disengage the transwarp at the
exact moment needed to place you as close as possible to what was
intercepted. Transwarping without tracking is a blind space-shot, and
often places your ship far away... from everything.
The Excelsior class spaceship does not start out with transwarp
capability. This is installed automatically the first time you orbit
Earth.
4.3 Intercepting
An intercept course can be made to something currently being scanned
by typing 'i'. This command toggles the intercept mode on and off. With
intercept mode on, a new heading is computed every second which puts your
ship on an intercept course with that being intercepted. Once the ship
is intercepting one ship or object, you can scan something else without
interrupting the intercept process. To have your ship intercept the new
thing being scanned, give the 'i' command twice; once to turn off the
previous intercepting, then again to turn on intercepting of what is now
being scanned.
Other ships can also be intercepted without having to scan them. This
is done by using the '^i{ship}' command where {ship} is letter
appropriate for the ship you want to scan.
The interception of specific coordinates is done with the 'I' command.
After you type 'I', enter the destination coordinates at the appropriate
"X:", "Y:" and "Z:" prompts. Automatic intercepting will not be turned
on when you are exceeding your turn warp. Instead, your ship's heading
will change once to point in the direction of the desired object, giving
you the damage associated with the sharpness of turn. If intercepting is
turned on when one requests that his turning warp be exceeded, it will be
turned off.
4.4 Manual Heading Manipulation
If you wish to manually change your heading, there are 4 commands to
do this:
l Changes heading 1 degree clockwise
h Changes heading 1 degree counter-clockwise
j Changes heading 1 degree down
k Changes heading 1 degree up
The upper case versions of these commands are used to change your
heading in increments of 5 instead of 1. If your ship is intercepting
something, the heading is re-computed every second. Because of this, it
doesn't make sense to use these commands while in intercept mode.
Combat
5 Combat
This section discusses how to lock weapons, the cloaking device, and
how to fire the various weapons found in the game. Also covered is the
use of the shields, damage control, and the resources needed to use
these. Each ship is equipped with a type of phaser and a type of
torpedo.
The phaser types are:
phaser, expanding sphere inducer, teleporter, disruptor, agonizer
The torpedo types are:
photon, plasma, obliterator, plasma bolt
Some ships have several mines and drones at their disposal as well.
The use and effectiveness of each of these is described below.
A few ships are equipped with multiple phaser or torpedo weapons.
However, only one of each of these may be engaged at a time. The
selection of a specific phaser weapon is done with the command
':set ph={type}' where {type} is one of: phaser, esi, teleporter,
disruptor, agonizer. A torpedo weapon is selected with the command
':set tp={type}' where {type} is one of: photon, plasma, obliterator,
bolt.
5.1 Locking Weapons
Ships can lock weapons on a visible ship or object within maximum
torpedo range. When this is done, a "*** Weapons Locked ***" indicator
appears below the scanner. To lock weapons on what is displayed in the
scanner, give the '^L' command. Locking on a ship within range, but not
displayed on the scanner is done with the command 'ESC ^L{ship}'. Even
though a cloaked ship can lock weapons on nearby ships, phaser and
torpedos cannot be fired while cloaked, but mines and drones can be.
The way locking condition affects the various weapons is discussed in
each of the sections below.
5.2 Phaser
This typically works from point-blank to around 500 units away
depending on class of ship. The phaser gives the most damage at 0 units
away and no damage at the maximum range. The damage given by the phaser
is inversely proportional to the distance from the target. Firing phasers
at a target more than the maximum distance away will miss. Phasers will
always hit a target within phaser range, but may do negligible damage.
The phasers are charged by allocating 5 units of energy at a time with
the 'P' command. These are fired using the 'p' command. Firing at
strength 20 is 4 times as strong as with strength 5. When these are
fired, the energy allocation goes to 0, but it takes 1 second per 2
energy units to cool off. The cooling off process is a combination of a
decreasing temperature and the deallocation of the huge amount of energy.
For example, when firing a 50 strength phaser beam, it takes 25 seconds
to fully cool and for the power to be available again; but after 10
seconds, another strength 20 phaser beam can be fired. If you change
your mind, you can unload the energy you allocated with 'P', with the
'^p' command. Firing phasers without weapons being locked causes them to
be fired wide. This gives half the normal damage, but to everyone within
phaser range; including ships which are cloaked.
5.3 Expanding Sphere Inducer
When fired, the ES Inducer gives damage to all ships in phaser range,
cloaked or not. The amount of damage depends on how close the enemy
ships are to you, and how many of them are in range. Locking weapons
does not affect the ES Inducer in any way. The closer the ship is to
you, the higher the damage. Damage given to individual ships is
drastically reduced with more ships in phaser range.
5.4 Teleporter
The Freighter \s-2DY\s0-600 is equipped with a Teleporter Phaser
weapon. The usual phaser commands are used to control this weapon.
Hitting an enemy ship with this causes it to be displaced a distance
roughly proportional to the strength of the blast. Weapons must be
locked on a ship in phaser range to use the Teleporter Phaser.
5.5 Disruptor
This functions much the same way as the standard phaser except that
the damage it gives is constant throughout phaser range. If weapons are
not locked, firing wide results in all ships in phaser range receiving
damage, but with an amount much less than if weapons were locked.
5.6 Agonizer
This is an odd phaser weapon used by the Romulans. There can be a
single charge of 40 units in the Agonizer. The agonizer system converts
a plasma torpedo into a plasma stream which has the look and feel of a
phaser weapon. This uses up a plasma torpedo; and after fired, the usual
plasma cooling delay of 3 seconds goes into effect. When fired while
weapons are locked on a ship in phaser range, this will give 400 damage
units. If weapons are not locked, firing wide results in all ships in
phaser range receiving 200 damage units.
5.7 Photon Torpedo
This weapon has a range which is from about 500 units to about 1000
units depending on class of ship. A ship can load only as many as it has
torpedo tubes. Loading a torpedo tube takes up 10 units of energy, and
is done using the 'T' command, and can be unloaded if you change your
mind with a '^t'. All the loaded tubes must be fired at the same time
with 't'. These do not have the cooling delay associated with the phaser
or disruptor, but may have a minor synchronization delay of 2 to 3
seconds. Photon torpedoes have zero effect at their minimum range, and
do maximum damage at their maximum range. Photon torpedoes miss if fired
at something closer than their minimum range, farther away than their
maximum range, or if weapons are not locked. In a way similar to the
phaser, the photon torpedo's damage is inversely proportional to the
distance from the target to maximum torpedo range.
5.8 Plasma Torpedo
Some ships use plasma torpedoes instead of photon torpedoes. There is
1 torpedo tube in plasma equipped ships. Loading a plasma torpedo uses
85 energy units. The energy used to load a plasma torpedo is immediately
available on firing or unloading. If weapons are locked, this is fired
in the direction of what is locked on to. If weapons are not locked,
this is fired straight ahead. Unlike the other phaser and torpedo
weapons, this does not hit instantly. The plasma torpedo is a device
which travels from warp 9 to warp 10; and shows up in the tactical
display. It gives massive damage if it hits the target, but it is
possible to avoid. This is loaded, unloaded, and fired with 'T', '^t',
and 't' respectively. The plasma torpedo lasts 20 seconds, and each of
its last 5 seconds, it loses 10% of its strength. Plasma will give 1500
damage units at full strength. This will hit any other ship which comes
within 200 units of it; friendly or not.
The plasma torpedo on the Romulan Warrior has adjustable speed. To set
the plasma speed for warp 10, use the command ':tpspeed=10'. Valid speeds
are from warp 5 to warp 12. Less damage is done at the faster speeds.
5.9 Obliterator
Several obliterator torpedos can be loaded and fired at the same time,
with each one drawing 10 power units. These only hit a target when
weapons are locked on a ship within torpedo range. (100 * num_torps)
damage units are given to a ship when hit with this weapon. The Klingon
D-11 replenishes obliterator torpedos automatically without requiring a
trip to a starbase.
5.10 Plasma Bolt
Only one plasma bolt torpedo can be loaded at a time, and one of these
requires 85 power units to load. These only hit a target when weapons
are locked on a ship within torpedo range. 750 damage units are given to
a ship when hit with this weapon.
5.11 Mine
Most ships are equipped with a few mines. These are released with the
'M' command and take no energy to do so. One must wait 10 seconds after
releasing a mine until he can release another. Mines explode when any
ship comes within 100 units of it. If one's speed is negative, the mine
is put 150 units in front of the ship. Otherwise, it is put 150 units
behind the ship. A mine gives 900 points of damage.
5.12 Drone
Drones are fired when weapons are locked on a ship or object. The
drone follows the target until it either is less than 100 units away from
the target in which case it explodes giving the ship damage, or it's
activation time runs out. A drone gives 400 points of damage. This will
only hit what the weapons were locked on to when it was fired. A drone
is released with the 'd' command and takes no power, but one must wait
about 10 seconds until another can be released.
5.13 Buoy
Buoys are used to detect the positions of other ships. A buoy is
released with the 'b' command. Another ship triggers the buoy by coming
within 2000 units. This causes a message to be relayed to the buoy's
creator giving the location and name of the spotted ship. One must wait
a long time after a buoy is released before another can be released.
5.14 Cloaking
Only a few ships are equipped with cloaking. The cloaking device
sucks power on every ship so equipped. There is a limit on the time you
can have the cloaking device engaged which varies from ship to ship. The
cloaking device will burn out if you do not turn it off before this time
runs out. A trip to Romulus is required to fix a burned out cloaking
device and for the Constitution II-A class ships to initially install
one. This device is turned on with 'z', and off with 'Z'. Examining the
time remaining in the device is done with the 'ESC z' command.
5.15 Ramming
You can also damage other ships by ramming them. Using the 'r'
command causes yourself as well as all other ships within 0 units away to
receive from 20 to 25 damage.
5.16 Shields
The shields are an important part of the combat systems aboard your
ship. The shield value printed on the screen is a percentage value
representing the strength of your shields with full shields being 100.
All attacks except for ramming hit the shields first. If the shields are
still partially up after the hit has lowered them, no damage has occurred
to your ship. But if your shields have been taken all the way down, or
are down to begin with, the hit will get through and damage various
parts of your ship with a strength depending on how much the shields
absorbed. The command 's' makes the shields raise 1% per second. You can
stabilize the shields at the current level with the '^s' command. With
the 'S' command you decrease the shields by 10% and stabilize them. The
shields use up 1 energy unit for every 5% they are up.
5.17 Damage Control
Damage to your ship is repaired by allocating energy units to damage
control. In general, the more you put in damage control, the quicker
your Warp Energy, Impulse Energy, and Damage get fixed. When your Damage
number exceeds 100, you lose life support. When your life support
reaches 0, your crew dies and the game is over. Life support can only be
fixed at odd-numbered starbases. Damage control is allocated in units of
5. To increase damage control use 'c'; to decrease use 'C'; to set to
zero use '^c'.
5.18 Auto-Destruct
When your ship gets wounded beyond repair, you may choose to engage
your ship's auto-destruct mechanism. This is done using the 'D' command.
If you have assigned a password to your ship, you will have to type that
in now for verification. You can abort the auto-destruct sequence with
'D' while there are more than 5 seconds remaining until detonation.
Detonation also occurs when a ship accumulates more than 200 damage
points. The amount of damage an exploding ship gives to nearby ships
is dependent on the amount of antimatter on board the exploding ship, and
the distance to the other ships.
Ship Systems
6 Ship Systems
This section describes the relation between Warp Energy, Impulse
Energy, and Anti-Matter. Also covered here is information about the Ship
Password, Docking and Orbiting.
6.1 The Matter/Anti-Matter Annihilation Chamber
There are two sources of energy aboard all ships; 'impulse energy' and
'warp energy'. The total amount of energy one can use is the sum of
these two amounts. Impulse energy is used first, and there is no
noticeable side effect from using it. Warp energy is used by allocating
the use of more energy than you have impulse energy.
Warp energy is generated by the annihilation of matter and anti-matter
by having tiny amounts of one coming in contact with the other. This
process is controlled with strong magnetic fields. The energy released
by this reaction is focused with 'dilithium crystals'. The acquisition
of more 'dilithium crystals' causes better utilization of the
annihilation process; which translates into more warp energy being
available. These crystals are obtained by orbiting the planets Rigel
XII, Wrigley, or Vulcan. Anti-matter is used up at a rate of 1 unit for
every 10 units of warp energy being used per second. More anti-matter is
picked up from one's home planet.
6.2 Ship Password
The 'ship password' has two uses in Multi-Trek. The first is for
saved game verification, and the second is for engaging the auto-destruct
mechanism. To assign a password to your ship, use the 'ESC P' command.
The current password can be seen by using the 'ESC p' command.
6.3 Docking
When a ship is a distance of less than 2 away from a starbase and at a
speed of 0, docking is performed with the '^d' command. Warning: If you
do not dock with the starbase now, your ship will crash into the starbase
causing damage to both.
Typically, odd numbered starbases repair life support and even
numbered starbases replenish torpedos. One may save his game only when
docked at a starbase. If there is a password assigned to a ship when it
is saved, the user must type it when retrieved. If not, anyone from any
account can resume that game by requesting the ship name. See the
section on the "ship password" above.
6.4 Orbiting
When a ship is a distance of less than 2 away from a planet and at a
speed of 0, the orbiting process is performed with the '^o' command.
Warning: If you do not orbit the planet now, your ship will accumulate
structural damage from the friction generated by the decaying orbit. A
ship receives anti-matter when orbiting its home planet, and it receives
'dilithium crystals' when orbiting Rigel XII, Wrigley, or Vulcan.
Scoring
7.0 Scoring
Ships saved at a starbase are eligible for the high score list. The 6
categories a ship is rated on are:
Time Total time spent in the game.
Avg Time Average duration between game saves.
Breaks A secret cheating index.
DmgRcvd Total amount of damage received.
Damage Total amount of damage inflicted.
Conflicts Total number of ships engaged.
A maximum for each category is found by looking at all high scores.
For each category in the ship's score, a percentage of the maximum value
for that category is found. The Brk percentage is subtracted from 100.
The "Pct" field in the high score entry is the average of these 6
percentages; and scores are sorted with this. The ship's class letter
and name follow the "Pct" field.
The Unix Interface
8.0 The Unix Interface
You can assign the \s-2SHIP\s0 environment variable to specify both
the ship's name and class you want to use. The desired class is
specified by giving the full name for the class or by giving the letter
associated with it in the class selection screen. The environment
variable is of the form "'name:class'". Either of these fields can be
left out, indicating that want to choose that field each time you play.
8.1 Setting the \s-2SHIP\s0 environment variable
This is how you set environment variables in the Csh:
% setenv SHIP "Enterprise:Constitution II-A"
This is how you set environment variables in the Bourne shell:
$ SHIP="Enterprise:Constitution II-A"
$ export SHIP
8.2 Command Line Arguments
You can now use the -name and -class options to override either, or
both of the fields in your $SHIP for setting your ship's name and class.
For Example, to make a Romulan ship named Rocinante:
% mtrek -name Rocinante -class "Romulan Bird of Prey"
or
% mtrek -name Rocinante -class e
8.3 Keyboard Mapping
There is a command in mtrek which allows you to map certain keys to
mtrek command strings. Mapping a character is done with the '(' command,
and unmapping is done with ')'. The '(' command prompts you for a
character, then for the string you want that character to generate.
Control characters may be in this string by specifying them with the
corresponding 3 digit octal escape. For example, the escape character is
\033.
8.4 .mtrekrc
Each time you play, mtrek looks for your initial keyboard mappings in
the file '.mtrekrc' in your home directory. Each line in this file
contains a keyboard mapping definition. A line is of the form:
{char}={string}
For example, my .mtrekrc looks like this:
[=@-14\r
]=@14\r
{=CCCC
}=cccc
+=m*At this stardate, I am transferring command to "The Battle Bridge".\r
-=m*<< Subspace Beacon >>\r
^=\033S
Multi-Trek Technical Manual
Command Summary
Weapons:
^l locks weapons
u unlocks weapons
T loads torpedoes
t fires torpedoes strongest:max weakest:min
^t unloads torpedoes
P loads phaser
p fires phaser strongest:min weakest:max
^p unloads phaser
d releases a drone
M drops a mine behind you if warp > 0; in front of you
if warp < 0
r rams all ships a distance of 0 away
b releases a movement detection buoy
D enables/disables auto-destruct sequence
Navigation:
h changes heading c-clockwise 1 degree
H changes heading c-clockwise 5 degrees
l changes heading clockwise 1 degree
L changes heading clockwise 5 degrees
j decreases pitch down 1 degree
J decreases pitch down 5 degrees
k decreases pitch up 1 degree
K decreases pitch up 5 degrees
w increases warp by 0.1
W decreases warp by 0.1
^w changes to warp 0.0
ESC w prints cruising and max speeds
x engages transwarp drive if warp >= 3; damage occurs
if warp < 4
i intercepts ship being scanned
I intercepts coordinates you enter
^i{ship} intercepts {ship} if in range
^o orbits a planet when distance < .2 units
^d docks at starbase when distance < .2 units
z turns cloaking device on
Z turns cloaking device off
ESC z prints remaining time left in cloaking device
@{num} sets warp to value typed in
Scanner:
o{ship} displays {ship} on scanner
o. displays closest ship on scanner
O{obj} displays {obj} on scanner
O{digit} displays "Starbase {digit}" on scanner
O. displays closest object on scanner
Miscellaneous:
c increases damage control
C decreases damage control
^c sets damage control to zero
s raises shields one percent/second
S lowers shields by 10% and stabilizes
^s stabilizes shields
X turns off sensor probe
^x clears old messages
^e makes energy available
m{ship} sends a subspace message to {ship}
m. sends a subspace message to closest ship
m* sends a subspace message to all ships
R{ship} ignores messages from {ship}
ESC R prints ships whose messages you currently ignore
ESC S saves game if docked at a starbase
ESC s prints your score
ESC M prints heading of where last message came from
ESC ^m changes heading to direction of last message
ESC m prints number of mines left
ESC d prints number of drones left
ESC b prints time until another buoy is ready
ESC p prints types of phasers available
ESC t prints number of torpedos left and torpedo types
available
ESC T prints number of torpedo tubes
ESC r prints weapon ranges
ESC l{ship} intercepts coordinates of where {ship} last seen
ESC L{ship} prints coordinates of where {ship} last seen
ESC ^l{ship} locks weapons on {ship}
ESC # prints your ship's slot letter
ESC c{ship} prints name and class of {ship}
ESC ^r{ship} prints name, score, and rank of {ship}
ESC ^s prints current scanning range
ESC P enables you to enter a new ship password
ESC ^p prints current ship password
ESC g prints name of galaxy you are in (for use with auto-
destruct & retrieval of saved game)
(c{string} maps character 'c' into {string} (from then on, the
command 'c', will be repaced with string)
)c unmaps character 'c' ('c' is given its original
meaning)
Q quits game (verify with (y)es or (n)o )
^h gets some simple help
^r redraws screen
Set Variables:
range Shortens the distance at which objects must be
before they are printed in the tactical display.
Example: ':set range=3000'
ph selects a type of phaser
Example: ':set ph=phaser' or ':set ph=teleporter'
tp selects a type of torpedo
Example: ':set tp=photon' or ':set tp=bolt'
report sets minimum damage to other ships reported
Example: ':set report=50'
beep beeps on command errors
Example: ':set beep' or ':set nobeep'
bearing_dly prints bearings in tactical display
Example: ':set bearing' or ':set nobearing'
dist_dly Sets number of ticks between distance updates.
Example: ':set dst_dly=10'
xyz_dly Sets number of ticks between coordinate updates.
Example: ':set xyz_dly=10'
bearing_dly Sets number of ticks between bearing updates.
Bearings are not printed if this is zero.
Example: ':set bearing_dly=10'
verbose Prints more information in scanner.
Example: ':set verbose' or ':set noverbose'