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TACTICAL v5.38 The Starfleet Battles Simulator Documentation Documentation by Paul Broman Thanks for acquiring Tactical, the Starfleet Battles Simulator! I hope you enjoy the game. Tactical is based on the Original Star Trek TV Series and on the Star Trek Movies. Star Trek is a Trademark of Paramount Pictures. This game also uses starship data from FASA's Star Trek the RPG. HARDARE REQUIRMENTS =================== In order to play Tactical, you need to have at least 640k RAM, at least 600k of free space (it can be on multiple drives), MS-DOS 2.0 or more recent, and Color ANSI Text in 80x25 mode. FILES YOU SHOULD HAVE ===================== To use Tactical, you should have the following files. If you do not have them, then the game will not run properly. Inform the person or BBS from which you acquired Tactical about the missing files. Here are the files you should have: TACTICAL.EXE - Run this file to play the game GAMEPLAY.EXE - File used by game. DO NOT RUN! AI.EXE - File used by game. DO NOT RUN! CHAINS.EXE - File used by game. DO NOT RUN! FLEET.EXE - File used by game. DO NOT RUN! TURN.EXE - File used by game. DO NOT RUN! TACTICAL.DOC - This Documentation HISTORY.TAC - The History of Tactical (text file) SHIPS.DAT - Data on all ship classes FEDSHIPS.TXT - Listing of Federation ships ROMSHIPS.TXT - Listing of Romulan ships KLISHIPS.TXT - Listing of Klingon ships GORSHIPS.TXT - Listing of Gorn ships ORISHIPS.TXT - Listing of Orion Pirate ships INDSHIPS.TXT - Listing of Free Trader ships SHIPS.SHL - Shillouettes of all the Starships GAMEANSI.COM - ANSI file used by game PLACE.COM - ANSI file used by game TITLE.COM - ANSI file used by game BEGIN.COM - ANSI file used by game ENDGAME.COM - ANSI file used by game VTITLE.EXE - VGA screen used by game FIRST USING TACTICAL ==================== To use Tactical, unzip all the files to the directory or drive where Tactical is to be run from. If you wish to not have all the files in one place, or you cannot have them all on the same drive due to space restrictions, you may break the files up and put them on several drives. You must have all the datafiles (Files with .COM, .TXT, .DAT, or .SHL extensions) in the same place, wherever that place is, and you must have CONFIG.EXE and TACTICAL.EXE in the same place, wherever that is. After placing all the files, run TACTICAL.EXE to load the game. THE CONFIGURATION SYSTEM ======================== After running Tactical for the first time, you will be sent to the configuration system. In the configuration system you will tell Tactical where all the game files are located on your system. The screen will show what you have currently told Tactical in reguards to the locations of the files. To tell the computer where a file is, or to change what you have already told Tactical, select the number of the file whos locations you wish to tell Tactical. For instance, by selecting '1' you are altering what you have told Tactical about the location of the Configuration program (CONFIG.EXE). If all of the game files are going to be together in the same directory, you can edit the location of all the files with the S>et command. Also, you must specify your graphics capability (in this version, most of the game is still ANSI, but in future versions it will have special EGA displays.) After you have answered all the questions, hit 'Q' to exit the configuration program. THE MAIN MENU ============= After you complete the configuration (if you were running Tactical for the first time) or if you were running the game after having already completed the configuration, you come to the main menu. From the Main Menu you can start gameplay, place ships/planets onto the map, select the nationalities of the fleets, reload a saved game, use the class editor (if you are registered), edit the configuration, read the documentation, or exit to DOS. The first thing you should do, unless you already know how to play, is to read the documentation. To select something, turn NUMLOCK on and use the arrow keys to move the cursor to to the item you wish to select and hit enter. READING THE DOCUMENTATION ========================= Since you are reading this, you must have discovered a way to read the documentation. There are two ways to read this documentation. Either have a word processor read TACTICAL.DOC, or use the Read Documentation prompt at the main menu of the game. After you select Read Documentation at the main menu, you will be asked whether you want to read the instructions (this file) or the history of Tactical (HISTORY.TAC). While reading, you will be told how to cycle through the pages. OPTIONS MENU ============ The purpose of the Options Menu is to select the player's nation- alities, whether they are a computer or human player, and to select the captain for the mission game (coming soon). You should select the Options Menu as the first thing you do when starting a new game unless you plan to load a saved game. Currently, you can make a player control Federation, Klingon, Romulans, Gorns, Orions or Free Traders. You can also be a Ferengi if you are registered. To enter the Options Menu, select it from the main menu. Then you use the up and down arrow keys to change which fleet player 1 will be a part of. Hit right arrow to move to the next window (player 2's nationality) and you can hit left arrow there to move back to editing player 1's nationality. Or, you can hit right arrow again to go to the next window where you can edit the human/computer for each player. In both the player 1 and player 2 windows, the up and down arrow keys edit the nationality. (hitting enter is not required to select something in these windows). In the human/ computer editing window, hit the up and down arrow keys to move from player 1 to player 2, and hit left and right arrow keys to change whether the player is human or computer. Hit Q when done editing all this infor- mation to exit the options menu (Q exits from any window.) SETTING UP THE GALAXY ===================== The purpose of the Setting up the Galaxy is to allow you to setup the game map, and it lets you add ships, planets, and stars to the battle map. To set up the galaxy, select Set up the Galaxy from the main menu. You will then be taken to the place command screen. On the righthand side of the screen is the map showing the battle area. On the left is a status screen which tells you how many ships are currently in each fleet, their total WDF (offensive power) rating, and the odds of each fleet winning the battle as based on their WDF rating. Also, the nationalities of the fleets are shown in the window. At the bottom of the screen is a lightbar with with several commands on it. Those commands are: o Place Starships - Place a Starship on the map o Place Planets - Place a Planet on the map o Place Stars - Place a Star on the map o Delete - Remove a Ship, Planet, or Star from the map o Ships/Planets - List all the ships, planets, and stars on the map o Quit - Return the the Main Menu To select something on the lightbar, turn NUMLOCK on and use the numberic keypad or arrow keys to move the selector across the lightbar and hit [ENTER] when you are over the command you wish to select. To use Place Starships, select it off the lightbar. Then Tactical will ask you whether this ship will belong to Player 1 or Player 2. After you decide who the ship will belong to, you will be asked whether you want to place a ship from the original or next generation Star Trek (to use next generation ships you must be registered). After choosing one, you will be shown a list of ship classes for the nationality of the player. You can also make your own classes if you register. Select the class you wish to have this ship from by entering that class' number, or type 'I' and then the ship number to get info on that class. The information you get will show you various information about the class, which is very similar to what the scan command tells you in actual gameplay (refer to the Scan command for more information.) There are many diffrent groups the classes fall under, these are: o Battleships - Extremely powerful ships made for combat o Command Ships - Moderately powerful ships which coordinate battles o Cruisers - Powerful ships designed for exploration and combat o Destoryers - Moderately powerful ships designed for combat o Escorts - Moderately powerful ships designed to protect weak ships o Frigates - Powerful ships designed for combat, most have a troop complement o Scouts - Weak ships designed for exploration o Couriers - Very weak ships designed for combat and reconnaissance o Privateers - Ships of varying power made for combat o Passenger Liners - Very weak ships which transport people o Freighters - Very weak ships which transport goods o Explorers - Very weak ships made for exploration o Repair Tenders, - Weak ships which can repair other ships Repair Facilities o Blockade Runners - Moderately powerful ships designed for combat o Defense Outpost - Extremely powerful stations designed to protect planets or regions of space, they are immobile o Assault Ships - Weak ships which carry vast numbers of troops o Spacedocks - Powerful Outposts which can repair other ships o Hospital Ships, - Weak ships which can heal the wounded Hospital Outposts crew and troops of other ships o Starbases - Extremely powerful bases mounted on planets o Surveillance Outposts - Weak outposts which listen to radio communications o Penal Outposts - Moderately powerful outposts which are large prisons o Research Outposts - Weak outposts which perform scientific research o Drydocks - Weak outposts which construct starships After you select the class you wish that ship to be, you will be asked what you wish to name that ship. You can name a ship anything you wish. Then, you will be asked what identification code you wish that ship to have, it can be anything, like NCC-1701, NX-2000, etc. You will also be asked where you wish the ship to be on the map, this can be any location from 1X - 1Y to 100,000X - 100,000Y. Bear in mind that the map is huge, it takes about 38 turns at warp 10 to get from one side of the map to the other. Also, do not place a ship within 2,000 kilometers of a star or 500 kilometers of a planet or else it will be too close and might burn up. If you place the ship within 2,000 kilometers of a planet, Tactical will ask you if you wish for that ship to be orbiting that planet it is close to when the game starts. If the ship is not within 2,000 kilometers of any planet, you will be asked what heading you wish for that ship to face at the beginning of the game. If you place a starbase, which are mounted on planets, you will be asked which planet you wish to mount the starbase on (it must be, of course, your planet). Then, the starship is placed, and will appear on the map as the first three letters of the ship's name (except starbases, which are not shown). For instance, an 'Ent' on the map would denote the location of the Enterprise. To place a planet, select Place Planets from the lightbar. Then you will be asked which player this planet will belong to, or if it will be an 'unowned' planet. Then you will be asked for the location of the planet. Placing a planet is done exactly the same way you would place a starship, and the same restrictions apply (I.E. Don't place one within 500 kilometers of a starship or another planet, or within 2,000 kilometers of a star.) After you tell Tactical where you wish to place the planet, you will be asked what class you wish the planet to be. Planet classes are as follows: CLASS DESCRIPTION ===== ================================================================ A Gas Giant, Radiating Heat B Gas Giant, Not Radiating Heat C Metal Surface, Dense poisonous atmosphere, very hot D Metal Surface, Young, with Liquid Atmosphere E Metal Surface, Dense poisonous atmosphere, large molten core F Metal Surface, Thin poisonous atmosphere G Ferrosilicate Surface, Thin poison atmosphere H Rocky surface, poison atmosphere, seismic activty I Rocky surface, no atmosphere J Rocky surface, very thin atmosphere *K Rocky surface, thin oxygen atmosphere, sparse water *L Rocky surface, earthlike atmosphere, water *M Rocky surface, earthlike atmosphere, abundant water N Liquid surface (usually water), earthlike atmosphere NOTE: Classes with an '*' next to them are the only inhabitable types. After choosing which class you want, you will be asked what kind of climate the planet will have. After answering this, and, if the planet is class K, L, or M (inhabitable), and it is unowned you will asked what the dominant lifeform of the planet will be. Then, you will be asked what you want to name the planet (it can be anything), then you will be asked what the population will be of the dominant lifeform is (or the number of colonists if the planet is owned). You answer in millions, where 1 would denote 1,000,000 100 would be 100,000,000 etc. After answering this, if the planet is owned you will then be asked how many troops will be on the planet to protect it from invasion. You will then be asked what color you wish the planet to be from a list of possible colors. Select the color you wish the planet to be. Then the planet will be created. Planets appear as little 'o's which are colored according to the color you selected it to be. To place a star, select Place Stars from the lightbar. Then you will be asked where the star is to be placed, (do not place it within 2,000 kilometers of a ship, planet, or other star), and then you will be asked what the star's name will be (it can be anything), and you will be asked what class the star will be. Star classes are as follows: CLASS DESCRIPTION ===== ================================================================ O Blue Supergiant B Blue Dwarf A White Dwarf F Blue Standard G Yellow (all types) K Red Standard M Red Supergiant After selecting the class you want, the star will be created. Stars appear as an ANSI symbol which looks a bit like an asterick in the color of the star class you selected. To use the Delete command, select Delete from the lightbar. You will then be asked whether you wish to delete a starship, planet, or star. After you make your choice, you will be shown a list of planets, stars, or starships, depending on what you are trying to delete. Select the number of the planet, star, or ship you wish to delete, and it will be deleted. To use the Ships/Planets command, select Ships/Planets from the lightbar. Then you will be shown a list of Player 1's ships, then Player 2's ships, then the planets, and then the stars. Then you will be returned the the lightbar. To use the Quit command, select Quit from the lightbar. You will then be returned to the main menu. PLAYING THE GAME ================ After setting up the board, you should be ready to start the gameplay. To do this, select Begin Game from the main menu. After some disk access, a screen will be displayed which will show the odds of each player player winning, their total WDF ratings, and how many ships each player has. Hit [ENTER] to proceed to gameplay. You will the be taken to the main gameplay screen. On the right is the map and at the bottom is the lightbar, as in the place command, but the lefthand display is different. On the lefthand display, the ship status window, there are many small displays inside of it. These windows are the Shield, Weapon, and Engine windows. The Shield window shows a shillouette of the ship you are currently controlling, and it shows the eight shield arcs around it. All ships have eight weapon arcs and eight shield arcs (Forward, Port/Forward, Port, Port/Aft, Aft, Starboard/Aft, Starboard, and Starboard/Forward.) Each shield arc has it's own generator, so it's possible for each shield arc to have a different strength (except in starbases, which have only one shield arc). Each shield arc will be displayed in one of 7 colors denoting the general strength of the shield arc. The colors are (from the most powerful to the least powerful), dark green, light green, yellow, light red, dark red, blinking red, and black (down, or inoperative). The shield window can help you determine at a glance what arcs of your ship need protection. The weapons window shows how many weapons are in each firing arc, and the destructive power of those weapons. Like shields, all arcs have their own weapons. The way to read the weapons display is to line up the arc (like, P: means port, FP: means Forward/Port, etc.) and see the numbers to the right of the arc. The lefthand row of numbers shows the beam weapon arcs. The righthand shows the Torpedo/Plasma weapon arcs. The numbers at the bottom of the rows show the destructive power of that particular weapon type. All weapons of one type, no matter which arc they are in, all have the same destructive power. It is, however, possible for the beam weapon and the torpedo/plasma weapon to have a different damage potential. The different possible weapons are: Phasers - Beam Weapons used by the Federation, Romulans, Orions, and Free Traders. They are intense laser beams. Torpedoes - These are cases of antimatter, a substance which explodes violently when it comes in contact with any substance. They detonate when they get within 2,000 kilometers of any ship. Torpedos are used by all the fleets. Plasma - Plasma weapons are extremely powerful bolts of plasma fired at an enemy ship. Their intense heat can vaporize the enemy hulls. However, their range is very limited and they cool down (lose power) as they travel. Plasma is used by the Klingons and Romulans. Disruptors - Disruptors are beam weapons which seperate atoms into their component particles, thus disintegrating the enemy ship's hull. Disruptors are only used by the Klingons. Blasters - Blasters are intense lasers, very similar to phasers. They are only used by the Gorns. The engine display screen shows the current warp speed and requested warp speed of the ship you are currently controlling. Other peices of information shown on the display are the ship's heading, shown to the right of the word 'Head:', and heading is also shown by a little yellow circle which is on the border of the map screen. When the yellow circle is at the top middle, for instance, you are traveling at a heading of 0. At the bottom of the map is the word 'Range:' which shows the current range of the map display. Also, by the word 'Turn:', the current turn number is shown. The commands on the lightbar of the gameplay system are as follows: o End Turn - End your turn (pass play to your opponent) o Trans - Transport troops onto a ship or planet o Fire - Fire weapons at an enemy ship o Scan - Scan (get information on) any ship o Cloak - If you have a cloaking device you can use this command to cloak or de-cloak your ship. (Cloaking devices make you invisible to the enemy.) o Dest - Self-Destruct your ship. Destructing you ship will destroy your ship, but it will damage any nearby ships as well. o Move - This command lets you change your heading or your warp velocity, and it also lets you pursue and elude other ships, and it lets you orbit planets. o Shields - This command lets you drop or raise your shields. o Select - This command allows you to change the ship you are currently controlling. (So you can control another ship in your fleet.) o Range - Change the range of the map o Ships - List all the ships, planets, and stars on the map o Quit - This command allows you to save the game or exit back to the main menu. Lightbar commands can be selected by turning NUMLOCK on and using the numberical keypad or arrow keys to select something off the lightbar. On the map, all the ships, planets, and stars within the current range setting will be displayed. Stars appear as ANSI symbols which look like an asterick. Planets are shown as 'o's and Starships are shown, like in the place command, as the first three letters of the starship's name. (Like Ent for Enterprise.) Starbases are not displayed. The color of those three letters for ship identification depend on who they belong to. Ship Name colors are as follows: o White - The ship you are currently controlling o Light Green - One of your unmoved ships, but not the one you are currently controlling o Dark Green - One of your ships which you have already moved this turn o Grey - One of your ships, but it's cloaked, and you're not currently controlling it o Red - An enemy ship o Blinking Red - A ship which is self-destructing THE LIGHTBAR COMMANDS: The End Turn command (End on the lightbar) allows you to end your turn. When you are done moving all your ships you use this command to pass play to your opponent. After you pass play to your opponent, all the ships on the map are moved, all the torpedos and plasma move, and self-destructs and repair times count down. Also, automatic dockings (see move command, pursue a ship) take place during turn changes. If an automatic docking takes place you will be asked the same questions as in manual dock (see move command, manual dock). If you opponent is the computer, then the computer will perform his moves and pass play back to you. Otherwise play passes to your human opponent. The Transport command (Trans on the Lightbar) allows you to Transport troops onto a ship or planet. After selecting this command you will be asked whether you wish to transport troops onto a ship or planet. After you answer that question you will be given a list of planets or ships (depends on whether you are transporting to a planet or ship). You then select which ship to invade by number, or select which planet to invade by number. You must be within 5,000 kilometers of what you wish to transport troops onto and your shields must be down (and your opponent's shield in the arc which faces your ship must be down as well if you are trying to transport onto another ship) to transport troops. (NOTE: If you are going to transport troops or invade a planet with a starbase, the starbase's shields must be down before the invasion can take place.) If you transport troops onto a ship or planet which you own then you will be asked how many troops you wish to transfer to that planet or ship. If the ship or planet you are transporting troops onto does not belong to you then you will be asked how many troops you wish to invade the planet with. Then the invasion will take place. All invasions are fights to the death, and troops attack until they are wiped out or they win. In order to take over a planet all defending troops must be eliminated. To take a ship, all defending troops and crew must be eliminated. One crewmember has only half as much power as a soldier, and all defending units have a 33% advantage. If you take over a planet or ship, all surviving troops will return to your ship. (NOTE: If you take over a planet which has a starbase, you will have control of the starbase). If you take over a ship, you must send a portion of your ship's crew to control the ship which you took over. Ships you take over are now yours and you can control them in battle. The more crew you send to man the captured ship the better, as if all the crew on a ship is killed then the ship is destroyed. Transporting troops takes up a turn. The Fire command (Fire on the lightbar) allows you to fire your weapons at an enemy ship. After you select this command you will be asked which weapon you wish to fire. (Like whether you wish to fire phasers or torpedoes for instance.) Weapons vary from ship class to ship class so you may have a diffrent selection option. Refer above for weapon data. Different weapons have different ranges (from 1,000 to 25,000 kilometers) so when you are asked which ship you wish to fire at, keep this in mind. To find the exact range of your weapons, use the scan command and scan your ship. Now, you will be asked which ship you want to fire at. If the ship you wish to fire at is out of weapons range, or there are no weapons capable of firing in the direction that ship is in relation to your heading (check the lefthand display to see which weapons fire in which directions), then you will not be allowed to fire at that ship. If the ship you wish to fire at is within range and you do have weapons capable of firing in the direction that ship is in relation to your heading, then the weapon will be fired. If you fired torpedos or plasma, then the torpedoes or plasma will be launched. They do not hit immediately, so the enemy does have a chance to evade them. Torpedoes (shown as a red dot on the display) travel at Warp 12, and plasma travels at Warp 9. If the torpedoes or plasma hit their target (or any ship for that matter, they detonate when they get within 2,000 kilometers of any ship) you will be informed during the turn change. If you fired phasers, blasters, or disruptors, they hit immediately and you will be told how many beams hit and what kind of damage was inflicted (you will only be given very general information, to get more accurate information, use the scan command.) The chances of a beam hitting a ship is better the closer you are to the enemy ship. Firing your weapons does take up a turn, and each fired weapon must reload (2 turns phaser, 4 torpedo/ plasma). Firing your weapons (if you are a cloaked ship which can fire) will also reveal your current location to the enemy. Special note about torpedoes: Torpedoes can now be fired off in directions without a lockon in order to try to hit cloaked ships. When firing, you will be asked if you wish to fire manually, Fire at a last known location (see next paragraph) or fire locked (see above). If you are going to fire manually, enter the heading you wish to fire the weapon in. If not, enter the ship name to fire at. Also, torpedoes can be "dispursed", that is, you can select a dispersion factor, and the torpedoes will all be fired on slightly diffrent courses to hit over a wider range and have a better chance of hitting. You will be asked what dispersion factor you wish to use when firing torpedoes or plasma. (select 0 dispersion to fire all torpedoes on one heading.) Dispersion is available during all types of torpedo firing. Last Known firing for torpedoes refers to firing torpedoes at the last known location of a cloaked ship. When a cloaked ship uncloaks or is spotted, or when a cloaked ship which can fire fires a weapon, it's location is revealed. You can then fire torpedoes twoards that location. Information may not be accurate in the last known firing system, if the cloaked ship has moved since the last time it revealed it's location, the torpedoes will hit dead space. The Scan command (Scan on the lightbar) allows you to scan, or get information on, any ship or planet on the map. After selecting this command you will be asked whether you wish to scan a ship or a planet. If you decide to scan a ship, you will be asked which ship you want to scan. (it can be yours or your opponents.) Likewise, is you decide to scan a planet, you will be asked which planet you want to scan. If you select to scan a ship, you will be given all the information about the ship you wish to scan. Here is what you will find on each page: Page 1: Superstructure Points (If superstructure drops to 0 that ship is destroyed) Crew Complement (If crew drops to 0 that ship is dead) Troop Complement Total Power Available (If total power drops to 0 that ship's life support will fail) Power Generated by Warp Power Generated by Impulse Distance you are away Power Required to use cloak (if any, and if cloak is damaged it will say so here) Page 2: Maximum Safe Cruising Speed Maximum Emergency Speed Manuverability Current Warp Velocity Requested Warp Velocity Current Heading Requested Heading Transport Status (operational or inoperative) Page 3: Beam Weapon Data (firing arcs, power, range) Torpedo/Plasma Weapon Data (firing arcs, power, range) Page 4: Shield Data (all arcs), and whether shields are up or down If you selected to scan a planet, you would be given all the information about the planet you wish to scan. Here is what you will find on each page: Page 1: Class of Planet Atmosphere of Planet Climate of Planet Lifeforms on Planet Population of Planet Troops Defending Planet whether the planet has a starbase Page 2: All ships in orbit around the planet Using the Scan command does not take up a turn. The Cloak Command (Cloak on the Lightbar) allows ships which have cloaking devices to cloak or de-cloak. When a ship is cloaked it is invisible to the enemy, and the ship cannot be fired upon, scanned, or be invaded by the enemy. However, you cannot fire while cloaked, unless you are a special cloaked ship which can fire. Cloaking is not a certain method to avoid detection, it is possible for the cloaking device to fail and for you to be exposed (there is a 1 in 50 chance of this happening every turn.) Also, firing (if you can while cloaked) will reveal your current location and you could be fired upon if you stay in the same place from which you fired your weapons. In addition, it usually takes vast amounts of power to use the cloaking device (power requirement varies from class to class, use the scan command to find out how much is needed in your class.) If you select Cloak off the lightbar and you are not cloaked when you select to cloak, then you will be asked if you wish to cloak. If you are already cloaked when you use this command then you will will be asked if you wish to uncloak. Cloaking or de-cloaking does take up a turn. The Self-Destruct command (Dest on the lightbar) allows ships to self-destruct, or blow themselves up in a violent explosion hoping to do damage to nearby ships. Ships within 1,000 kilometers of the destructing ship are almost certainly dead, and only very powerful ships can withstand the blast at 2,000 kilometers. All ships within the blast radius are affected, even your own ships, so use the destruct with caution. After you select this command, you will be asked if you really want to self-destruct. If you do, the destruct will begin. 5 turns later, your ship will explode. Enemy ships will have that long to try to escape. If you are already counting down to a destruct and you select this command, you will be asked if you wish to abort the self-destruct. Either self-destructing or aborting a self-destruct takes up a turn. The move command (Move on the lightbar) allows you to change your heading, change your warp velocity, pursue a ship, orbit a planet, manually dock, or undock. After selecting the move command, you will be taken to a submenu with those 7 options on it. After selecting one, you will be brought to the prompts for each command. Changing your Heading: If you wish to 'manually' change your heading, select Change your Heading from the move command menu. After selecting this command you will be asked what heading you wish to change to. Your heading does not change immediately, however, the ship comes onto course gradually each turn. The rate at which you come onto course is determined by your manuverability. Changing your heading does not take up a turn. Pursuing another Ship: If you wish to pursue (more directly twoards) another ship, select pursue a ship from the move command menu. After selecting this command you will be asked which ship you want to pursue. After selecting the ship, your couse will be automatically set to pursue the ship, and your course will be automatically changed each turn to keep you on course with the other ship no matter whether it changes direction or speed. Like manual heading changes your ship comes onto course gradually. Also if you selected to pursue a repair tender, spacedock, hospital ship or outpost, or any ship which you are capable of docking up to, you will be asked if you wish to dock up with that ship on arrival. Like manually changing your heading, pursuing a ship does not take up a turn. NOTE: If you choose to pursue a ship which is cloaked, and there is information reguarding the last known location of that cloaked ship, you can pursue the last known location of the ship. If the ship has moved since it last revealed it's position, then you will be chasing dead space. Eluding another Ship: If you wish to elude (move directly away from) another ship, select elude a ship from the move command menu. You will then select the ship you wish to elude, like the pursue command, and also like the pursue command your course will automatically be adjusted so you will always remain travelling directly away from the enemy ship. Also liker pursuing a ship, your ship comes onto course gradually, and eluding a ship does not take up a turn. NOTE: Like pursuits, If you choose to elude a ship which is cloaked, and there is information reguarding the last known location of that cloaked ship, you can pursue the last known location of the ship. If the ship has moved since it last revealed it's position, then you will be evading dead space. Changing Warp Velocity: If you wish to change your warp velocity, select change warp speed from the move command menu. You will then be shown your ship's maximum safe cruising speed and maximum emergency velocity, and you will be asked what you want your ship's new velocity to be. (Note about emergency speed: if you make your ship move at maximum velocity, or any velocity above cruising speed, your ship may take stress damage.) After selecting your new velocity, the ship will gradually increase velocity until it reaches the desired velocity (unless that new velocity is slower than the current ship's velocity, then the new velocity will be attained next turn.) Unlike heading changes, changing your velocity does take up a turn. Orbiting a Planet: If you wish to orbit a planet, select orbit a planet from the move command menu. You will then be asked which planet you want to orbit. After selecting the planet you wish to orbit, you will either begin the orbit (if you are within 2,000 kilometers of the planet) or you will have your course set twoards the planet if you are too far away to begin an orbit. (Once you get within 2,000 kilometers of the planet the orbit will automatically begin.) Orbiting a planet does not take up a turn. Manual Docks: If you wish to dock up with a ship which you can dock up to, select Manual Dock from the command menu. You must be within 2,000 kilometers to dock with a ship. If you are not within that distance, select pursue a ship, pursue the dock you wish to dock up to, and say yes when they ask you if you wish to dock up on arrival. If you are within that distance, you will be docked. Once docked, (like in an automatic dock) you will be asked if you wish to be repaired (at spacedocks & repair tenders) or you just want to stay inside for the protection. Manual docks do take up a turn, and while docked, you cannot fire any weapons. Undock: If you are docked and you wish to exit the dock, select Undock from the move command menu. You will then exit the dock you are in. Undocking does take up a turn. The Shields command (Shields on the lightbar) allows you to raise or lower your shields. Lowering your shields is necessary in order to transport troops onto another ship. If your shields are up when you select this command, then your shields will be lowered. If your shields are down when you select this command, your shields will go back up. The shield command cannot raise any shields which have been lowered by enemy attacks. Raising or lowering shields does take up a turn. The Select command (Select on the lightbar) allows you to select a new ship to control. Using this command you can control all the ships in your fleet. For instance, let's say you completed the Enterprise's turn for turn 12. Now you want to control the Excelsior, which is also in your fleet. You use the select command to select the ship you wish to control. After selecting the command, you will be asked which ship you want to control. After you select the ship you wish to control, you will be returned to the lightbar, but you will now be in control of the other ship. Selecting a ship does not take up a turn. The Range command (Range on the lightbar) allows you to change the range of the map display. You may notice that the map display may become cluttered and you may just want to see a certain area in more detail. Using the range command, you can zoom in on the area around the ship you are currently controlling. For instance, when range is set to 10,000 only ships which are 10,000 kilometers away or less are shown on the map. If it's set to 5,000, only ships 5,000 kilometers away or less are shown on the map. Changing the map range does not take up a turn. The Ships command (Ships on the lightbar) gives you a list of all the starships, planets, and stars on the game map. In addition, it will show the destinations of all the ships in the game. To see this list, select this from the lightbar. You will then be shown the list and be returned to the lightbar. The Quit command (Quit on the lightbar) allows you to either save the game or quit back to the main menu. When you select this command you will be asked whether you want to quit or save the game. If you select to quit, you will be returned to the main menu. If you select to save the game, you will be asked what filename (without an extension) you wish the game to be saved as. After entering this filename, the game will be saved and you will be returned to the lightbar. OTHER COMMANDS AT THE MAIN MENU =============================== Other commands at the main menu include Loading a Saved Game, Using the Class Editor, and Quit. Here is what each does: Loading a Saved Game allows you to load a previously saved game from disk. Enter the filename of the saved game (without extension) after selecting Load a Saved Game from the main menu. After the game is loaded, you will be returned to the main menu. Select Begin the Simulation from the main menu in order to resume play where you left off. Using the Class Editor/Designer allows you to make your own ship classes, or create your own. However, you must be registered to use this option. If you wish to make your own ship classes and test them in combat, send $25 to the address below: Paul Broman PO Box 26190 Jacksonville, FL 32226 And then you will recieve the class editor as well as the Next Generation ships and the latest beta test version of Tactical. The Quit command at the main menu returns you to DOS. When you select it, you are returned to DOS. THE FUTURE OF TACTICAL ====================== Here are some new features of Tactical which will be in future versions of Tactical: o Enhanced Planets - In a future version, planets will be much more complicated and will have lots of extra features like terrain, and more realistic battles, and more! Look for it! o Mission Games - In a future version, you will be able to command starships on missions, which will add to your rank on the list of starship commanders in a future version! o Power Distribution - In a future version, you will have to delegate power to your ship's systems, thus making a loss of power a serious problem! o Modem Play - In a future version, you will be able to play against opponents over the modem (if you have one.) O EGA Graphics - Coming very soon, EGA graphics will be used for realistic displays, miniature ships on battle displays, explosions, and more! CREDITS ======= I'd like to thank the following people for their contribution to Tactical. Paul Broman (myself)............Concept and Programming Stephen Lobrano.................Beta Tester, Ideas Benjamin Adams..................Beta Tester, Ideas, Technical Support Jason Dittmer...................Beta Tester, Ideas Andrew Palmer...................Beta Tester Paul Lim........................Beta Tester Timothy O'Brien.................Beta Tester Eddie Brown.....................Beta Tester Charles McCoy...................Beta Tester James Abbot.....................Beta Tester Paul Taylor.....................Beta Tester Scott Christen..................Beta Tester Richard Peterson................Beta Tester ENJOY! REGISTERING =========== Registering Tactical will entitle you to the Class Editor/Designer. Using the Class Editor/Designer allows you to make your own ship classes, or create your own. However, you must be registered to use this option. If you wish to make your own ship classes and test them in combat, send $25 to the address below: Paul Broman PO Box 26190 Jacksonville, FL 32226 And then you will recieve the class editor as well as the Next Generation ships and the latest beta test version of Tactical. For the latest version of Tactical, call ShadowRift BBS: (904) 696-9238 or (904) 696-9322