Giga Games 1/Giga Games.iso/net/faq/netrek.faq

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From: [e-mail] (Tom Holub)
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek,news.answers
Subject: rec.games.netrek FAQ List
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 21 Dec 92 01:02:34 GMT
Expires: 1 Feb 1993 01:02:10 GMT
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Archive-Name: games/netrek/faq
Last-Updated: 18 Dec 1992
Changes: Minor.


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 1. What is Netrek?

 2. It sounds interesting; how do I get started?

 3. What's the difference between Xtrek and Netrek?

 4. I've seen a game called Nettrek for the Macintosh; is that the same
    thing as Netrek?

 5. Can I play Netrek on my Mac/IBM PC/Amiga?

 6. I would like to start a new server; what kind of hardware will I need?

 7. I'm trying to start a new server, and I'm having problems.  Where can I
    get help?

 8. I compiled the client source, but every time I try to connect to a server
    it kicks me out or tells me to get a 'blessed' binary.  What gives?

 9. The game runs fine, but when the Netrek window comes up, I can't type
    anything into it.  How can I fix this?

10. OK, the game runs fine and I found a server and logged in, but there
    doesn't seem to be anyone else around.  How can I find a game with
    people in it?

11. OK, now I'm in a game with other people.  What do I do?

12. When I'm playing the game, people keep sending messages to me.  How can
    I talk back to them?

13. I would like to change what some of the keys do; for example, I'd
    like 't' instead of 'T' to activate my tractor beam.  Is there a way
    to change this?

14. How does the rating/promotion system work?

15. I keep dying.  How can I get better at the game?

16. What is 't-mode'?

17. What does DI stand for, anyway?

18. Some of the servers and clients are called 'UDP'; what does that mean?

19. Some of the servers and clients are called 'RSA'; what does that mean?

20. I keep reading about the INL; what is it?

21. Where can I get the most recent copy of this FAQ list?

22. My GPA has fallen 25% since I started playing Netrek last semester.
    How do you find time to do your homework and still make Admiral?


NOTE: If you are using rn or trn, you can use ^G to browse through
the answers.


Subject: 1. What is Netrek?

 Netrek is a 16-player graphical real-time battle simulation with a
Star Trek theme.  The game is divided into two teams of 8 (or less), who
dogfight each other and attempt to conquer each other's planets.  There
are several different types of ships, from fast, fragile scouts up to
big, slow battleships; this allows a great deal of variance in play
styles.

 Netrek is set up as a client/server combination; if you want to play,
you'll need the client binary for your machine (most are X-based).


Subject: 2. It sounds interesting; how do I get started?

 First, you need to get a client binary for your machine; read the
Netrek FTP List (which is usually posted along with this FAQ
list) to find an FTP site.  The client should run on anything that
runs X Windows, although the slower your machine is, the harder it's
going to be to play.  Slow networks are even harder to play with.

If you don't know how to use FTP, ask your local guru about it.

If you don't have access to FTP, you can use the mail server at
decwrl.dec.com.  Mail [e-mail] with 'help' in the body
(nothing else) and you'll get an automatic reply with instructions.

Once you have the binary, rename it to something logical like 'netrek'
and run it with 'netrek -h <hostname> -p <port>'.  Read the Netrek Server
List to find a server near you; the nearer, the better.

If you get a 'netrek: Permission denied' message, try 'chmod 755 netrek'.
After the game is over, try 'man chmod', it's too important to not
know about.


Subject: 3. What's the difference between Xtrek and Netrek?

 Xtrek is a precursor to Netrek.  It has many of the same elements,
but it doesn't work as well because it isn't set up as a client-server
combination.

Unfortunately, Netrek is often called Xtrek.  This causes much confusion.
This newsgroup really is dedicated to Netrek, but feel free to talk about
Xtrek if you want; many people here play both.


Subject: 4. I've seen a game called Nettrek for the Macintosh; is that the
     same thing as Netrek?

 No.  Nettrek is in the same family as Netrek (it's unclear which was
created first), but it's not the same game.  It runs over Appletalk
and doesn't have a whole lot of complexity.  If you're interested in it,
the original version can be found in most net archive sites that support
Mac games.  The most recent version is a commercial program called
"Nettrek 3.0 - The Real Version," and is published by Premiere Technology,
Inc.


Subject: 5. Can I play Netrek on my Mac/IBM PC/Amiga?

 Probably not.  If you aren't connected directly to the net via
ethernet card or SLIP, you can't.  If you ARE connected via ethernet but
aren't running X windows, you have a chance--there are ports for
the Mac and the Amiga in the works, but nothing has yet been released.
If you're running Unix and X windows, you should be able to compile
the source and it should work, emphasis on the 'should.'


Subject: 6. I would like to start a new server; what kind of hardware will
        I need?

 The server should run on anything that has Sys V shared memory and a good
amount of CPU power.  Good net connections are essential if you want
lots of players.

Read the Netrek FTP list to find out where you can get the server
source.

Please get the permission of your sysadmins before setting up a server.
Netrek doesn't need any additional bad publicity.


Subject: 7. I'm trying to start a new server, and I'm having problems.  Where
        can I get help?

 Read the Netrek FTP list to find out where the server-secrets files are
stored (currently at gs69.sp.cs.cmu.edu).

 There is also a server maintainer's mailing list, [e-mail].
If you want to be put on the list, mail a short message to
[e-mail] and include the amount of C experience
you have, how much you know about netrek code, and anything else
that might be interesting.


Subject: 8. I compiled the client source, but every time I try to connect to
        a server it kicks me out or tells me to get a 'blessed' binary.
        What gives?

 It's possible to modify the client source to do lots of tedious tasks
(like aiming, dodging, that sort of thing) for you.  Since this gives
you a big advantage over a mere human, netrek has a way of knowing whether
you have a client that was compiled by the netrek Gods or by you.  If
you compiled it, netrek will assume it's a cyborg, and will kick you out
if it's not cyborg hours.  Check the Netrek Server List for cyborg
hours of the servers; sometimes they're legal, sometimes they aren't.

 There are several different messages you can get when your binary
isn't what the server is expecting:

1: "User binary failed to verify."

The server is expecting a standard blessed client; read the netrek FTP
list to find out where you can get one.

2: "No customized binaries.  Please use a blessed one."

You have an RSA client, but the key for your client isn't on the list.
Mail the server god if you think your key should be included.

3: "You need a spiffy new RSA client for this server!"

You have a standard blessed client (or an unblessed client) but the
server accepts only RSA clients; read the netrek FTP list to find out
where you can get one.

   If you are interested in playing a cyborg, get the source
from one of the FTP sites and start hacking, or download one of the
public cyborgs.  It's probably not a good idea for new players to
use cyborgs; cyborg players get called lots of nasty names, and
they tend not to learn how to play the game (since their client is
doing most of the work).  There is a mailing list for borg authors,
mail [e-mail] to get on it.


Subject: 9. The game runs fine, but when the Netrek window comes up, I can't
     type anything into it.  How can I fix this?

This is a problem under a few window managers (OpenWindows and ovlwm, for
example); it's netrek's fault, but you can fix is by adding the line
"<window manager name>.FocusLenience: True" to your .Xdefaults file.
Log out and log back in and it should work.


Subject: 10. OK, the game runs fine and I found a server and logged in, but
         there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.  How can I find
         a game with people in it?

Andy McFadden has written a nice little utility called Metaserver II
(based on METASERVER, written by ERic Mehlhaff) that will tell you
where there are active games.  telnet charon.amdahl.com 3520-3524 gives
information in a number of formats.


Subject: 11. OK, now I'm in a game with other people.  What do I do?

The first thing you should do is bring up your message window (by
hitting '?') and your player list (by hitting 'L').  Pressing a number
key chooses your warp speed.  The left mouse button fires torpedos at
your cursor, the middle mouse button fires phasers at your cursor, and
the right mouse button turns your ship towards your cursor.  Hitting
'h' will bring up a help window with a list of basic commands.


Subject: 12. When I'm playing the game, people keep sending messages to me.
         How can I talk back to them?

On the bottom right-hand side of your main window you'll see two
long boxes.  The top one is where messages like "Not enough fuel for
phaser" come up just before you die.  The bottom one is the one you
use to talk to people.  Move your cursor down there and type a character
to choose who to send the message to: 'A' for ALL, the capitalized
team letter for the team (i.e., 'F' for Federation), or the player
number for a message to a single player (i.e., 'c' to send to Rc).
Type your message and hit enter when you're done.  Don't do this in
combat.


Subject: 13. I would like to change what some of the keys do; for example, I'd
         like 't' instead of 'T' to activate my tractor beam.  Is there
         a way to change this?

There are two ways: first, do a shift-O.  This brings up the options
window.  Near the bottom there is a box for 'New keymap entries'.
Move your cursor to this box and type your new keymap entries.  The
format is <newchar><oldchar>, so 'tT' will remap tractor beam to 't'.

Netrek also recognizes a .xtrekrc file; a 'keymap:' line in there
will allow you to map as many as you want.  Format is the same
as above.

If you forget where you mapped a key, remapping it to itself ('ee', for
example) will reset that keymap.


Subject: 14. How does the rating/promotion system work?

 Do a shift-I on yourself; you'll see four ratings there, one for planets,
one for bombing, one for offense, and one for defense.  The planet,
bombing, and offense ratings are measured in DI/hour; for each planet
you take, army you bomb, and player you kill you get a certain amount
of DI (which varies depending on the server)--the average amount per
hour is your rating.  Your rating is equal to (your DI/your hours)/
(total DI/total hours); therefore, if you have a bombing rating of
2.0, you bomb twice as many armies as the average person on the server.
This is true for all ratings.  All ratings are updated only in t-mode.

 Now do a shift-U.  Listed there are the thresholds for each rank.
Your overall rating is your planets+bombing+offense.  To make a rank,
you need to have the DI required for that rank, and your ratings need
to be above the rating required for that rank (i.e., to make Admiral,
you need 320 DI and your ratings need to be above 8.0).  You can also
make a ranking by having ratings good enough for a level and *twice*
the DI you would need for the next level (So you can make Admiral
with ratings of 7.0 and 640 DI).  This equation is recursive once, so you
can also make it with 6.0 ratings and 1280 DI (which would take about
200 hours!).  You can't make it with 5.0 ratings and 2560 DI; not
only would you flunk out first, the server wouldn't promote you anyway.

 On most servers, your defense also needs to be above .8 to advance
past Lt. Commander.

Note that suggestions on how to improve the rating system occur
about twice a week in rec.games.netrek, and the general consensus
is that it isn't worth the hassle.


Subject: 15. I keep dying.  How can I get better at the game?

 The best way is probably to talk with someone who knows how to play.
There is also an archive of hints and suggestions on how to play
better; read the Netrek FTP List to find out where it is
located.


Subject: 16. What is 't-mode'?

 T-mode is short for 'tournament mode.'  To keep some integrity in the
database, ratings are calculated only when there are a certain number
of people in the game (actually, when there are a certain number of
people on two separate teams.  On many servers, you need 4 players
on 2 different teams; 4 teams of 2 players won't do it).  When
the game goes into t-mode, there will be a 't' flag in your list
of flags, and there will be a message like "Dan Quayle declares self
as Galactic Emperor and chaos breaks out!"  When the game drops out
of t-mode (because someone quit), the 't' flag will disappear and
there'll be a "Dan Quayle is locked up and order returns to the galaxy"
message.

 It's generally considered rude to bomb or take planets out of t-mode.
Some servers punish people for trying.


Subject: 17. What does DI stand for, anyway?

Destruction Inflicted.


Subject: 18. Some of the servers and clients are called 'UDP'; what does
         that mean?

UDP is a network protocol that is much more lenient than TCP (which is
what netrek was originally based on).  If you don't have a local server,
using a UDP client on a UDP server could reduce your lag considerably.
Read the Netrek FTP List to find out where you can get a UDP client.
(Many thanks to Andy McFadden, Netrek Guru, for writing the UDP
protocol).

It also stands for Undertow Directional Pull; mail [e-mail]
for details.


Subject: 19. Some of the servers and clients are called 'RSA'; what does
         that mean?

RSA is a new way for servers to make sure that players are not using
cyborg clients.  The RSA package generates a header file containing
a public and a private encyrption key.  These keys are compiled into
the client; the private key encrypts the data and the public key
decrypts it.  The main advantage of RSA over the old reserved.c
method is that the server gods need know only the public key; the
RSA package can be kept in a few select hands.  Also, if someone
breaks the protection on a certain private key, that key can be
turned off by the server god, and that client will no longer work.


Subject: 20. I keep reading about the INL; what is it?

The INL is the Intercollegiate (or International) Netrek League, a
collection of teams from different organizations around the country
who periodically beat up on each other.  The fall season is over;
directions for applying for the spring league will be posted sometime
in January.  Mail [e-mail] if you have any questions about
the INL.


Subject: 21. Where can I get the most recent copy of this FAQ list?

 You can either look in the back messages of rec.games.netrek, or
ftp it from one of the archive sites; read the Netrek Server/FTP
list to find out where it is stored.  It's also in the Usenet archive
at pit-manager.mit.edu.  telnet charon.amdahl.com 3524 gives the server
information from the server list.


Subject: 22. My GPA has fallen 25% since I started playing Netrek last
         semester.  How do you find time to do your homework and
         still make Admiral?

Sorry, nobody's found an answer to this one yet.  Just remember that
(GPA+kill ratio) is constant.