We sincerely hope you have as much fun playing and expanding-on the program as we here at Imergy and Simon & Schuster Interactive did developing it. Feel free to explore and experiment. If you are looking for some helpful tips, read on...
A Quick Tour of the Screens ====================================
Every screen in Starship Creator has a Menu Strip and a Control Panel.
On the Menu Strip you'll see 9 buttons. (To see them all, just roll your mouse over the Menu Strip area.)
1. CLASS *Start here* to choose a Class of vessel to create. You may also start here if you need to select a ship from your Fleet to repair or re-fit. (PLEASE NOTE: The Structure, Assembly, Naming, Systems, and Crew screens will be empty if you havent chosen a ship to work on.)
2. STRUCTURE To change the hull, nacelle, and saucer configurations of your ship: DRAG the available sections from the frames ONTO the image of the ship.
3. ASSEMBLY Inspect your ship in an interactive 3D view.
4. NAMING Christen your ship with a name and add it to your fleet.
5. SYSTEMS Install engines, weapons, crew facilities, and so on by clicking on the menu choices and icons. Fine-tune their attributes. (HINT: The parts available here are restricted at Beginner level, and to a lesser extent at Intermediate level. Also not all parts are available on all Classes, since Starfleet specifies certain Classes as specialized for particular mission types.)
6. CREW Recruit a command staff. Click CREW COMPLEMENT on this screen to apportion the skill set of your ship's crew. (HINT: Starfleet restricts the most experienced bridge officers to their current rank, and in some cases their "era".)
7. FLEET Oversee your Fleet's status. Assign one of your ships to a Mission.
8. MISSION Click RUN MISSION to start the assigned mission. Watch as events unfold. Occasionally, as Admiral, you will need to reply to messages from your ship. (HINT: If you prefer to run the mission in a stealthy little window, click STEALTH. The chosen mission will start from the beginning. See more info on this below in "To Launch a Mission".)
9. OPTIONS This is where the program starts. Log-in and choose an experience level. The preferences buttons in the Control Panel indicate what will happen if you click on them. For example, to activate the help prompts click HELP ON.
The Control Panel can be opened and closed by clicking the triangle on the "T- bar" frame. The buttons in the Control Panel are mostly specific to the activities on each screen. You will always see... PROCEED ... takes you to the next logical screen BACK ... returns to whatever screen you were looking at previously
For more assitance while using the program, go to OPTIONS, open the Control Panel, and turn HELP ON. The status text area (in the bar next to the screen name) will describe the function of important areas of the screen as you roll over them.
For additional HINTS about writing your own missions, see the WRITING file.
What the Experience Levels Mean ================================
On the OPTIONS screen you can select one of 3 levels at which to run the program. Certain aspects of the program are different at each level.
BEGINNER When you select a new vessel class to create a ship for your Fleet, it automatically comes equipped with a group of Systems, "ready to fly". The Missions you have available to choose from tend to be shorter and simpler. The Status window on the Mission screen automatically pops open when damage occurs during a mission.
INTERMEDIATE When you select a new vessel class to create a ship for your Fleet, it automatically comes equipped with the group of fundamental Systems which are required to fly. However, you must add officers (at least a Captain and Chief Engineer) and adjust your Crew Complement before the ship becomes spaceworthy. Ships with only fundamental systems can go out on Missions, but may be missing certain parts which a given Mission may require. (You might want to add additional Systems and Crew!) The Missions you have available to choose from at Intermediate tend to be somewhat longer and more complex than Beginner-level Missions.)
ADVANCED Newly-chosen ships are entirely empty, and wont be ready to fly until the required systems and crew are installed. Missions are the most complex.
The Control Panel is normally open at Beginner level, but it will remember if you've opened it or closed it at any level.
Follow these steps if you'd like help getting started...
TO CREATE A SHIP________________________________________
1. OPTIONS
a) Login as a new user or pick the existing name.
b) Click a Level, for example: Beginner.
c) Click PROCEED (if the the Control Panel is closed, open it with the arrow), or roll over the menu strip at the bottom of the screen and click SELECTION...
2. DESIGN: CLASS SELECTION
a) Drag the slider under the gallery of ships until you see a class you like.
b) Click on one of the ships. You have now selected a Class to work on.
c) Click PROCEED, or roll over the menu strip at the top of the screen and click STRUCTURE. (HINT: This ship is now in your Fleet as "Ship In Progress". All the work you do on this ship from now on will be automatically recorded. If you want to erase this ship from your Fleet, you can do that on the FLEET screen.)
3. DESIGN: STRUCTURE
a) Change the part styles available using the little arrows in each of the three frames.
b) *Drag* parts from the frames onto the large image of the ship.
c) When you have a shape you like, click PROCEED, or roll over the menu strip at the top of the screen and click ASSEMBLY.
4. DESIGN: STRUCTURE INSPECTION
a) In a moment, a 3D model of your chosen design will appear.
b) To see the model with its surface applied, click CREATE SHIP.
c) It can be rotated if you click and drag on the image.
d) You can also zoom in and out on the model:
Windows: right-mouse drag up and down
Mac: hold down the CONTROL key and drag up and down
e) Click PROCEED, or NAMING in the menu strip.
4. DESIGN: STRUCTURE: NAMING
a) Type a name of 12 characters or less. Note: "U.S.S." is added automatically. You don't need to type it.
b) Click NAME SHIP. You can change your mind and try another one if you want.
c) Click CONFIRM NAME AND STRUCTURE. This ship with your name applied is updated in your Fleet.
d) Click PROCEED, or SYSTEMS in the menu strip.
5. DESIGN: SYSTEMS
a) Select a Primary System from the left popup, then an individual Subsystem from the right popup.
b) One click on a system icon allows you to access the "Info" and "Install" buttons for that system.
c) Click the "Install" button inside the part frame to add the part to your ship. (HINT: While working on your ship, the SHIP INFO button in the control panel presents a window with a list of systems you've added.) (ANOTHER HINT: This and all other windows in the program are draggable and thus can be moved to any position you find useful.)
6. CREW This area presents two screens.
a) Assign specific command officers using the selection buttons.
b) Click CREW COMPLEMENT to adjust the percentage of your total crew population assigned the various disciplines. (HINT: The actual number of crewmembers is determined by what kind of Living Quarters you have chosen. "Living Quarters" is found in the Support systems group on the Systems screen.)
TO LAUNCH A MISSION________________________________________
1. FLEET
a) Click on a ship and click SELECT. (HINT: If it is on a mission in progress, you may RECALL it to Starbase. Recalling is not required unless the ship is badly damaged.)
b) Click on a mission name. Click MISSION PROFILE to read about it. (Is your chosen ship suitable for this mission?)
c) Double-click on the mission name, or click PROCEED to advance to the Mission screen.
2. MISSION
a) Click RUN MISSION.
b) The default simulation speed is slightly faster than "Real Time". You may open the Control Panel and change the speed directly.
c) When a Mission is over, you may be awarded some additional cRedits. You will also get a Ship Performance evaluation which should help you in refitting or designing new ships.
d) Damaged systems are repaired by your engineering crew over time. "Damaged" crewmembers are "repaired" by your Chief Medical Officer and associated Support staff. If systems deemed critical to the function of your ship are damaged at the end of a mission, you will have to RECALL your ship to starbase to repair them before the ship can run another mission.
(HINT: You can run a Mission in STEALTH mode. Clicking that button in the Control Panel causes the main program to quit and open the Watcher. Your chosen mission runs from the beginning in a much smaller, draggable window.) Results of missions run in either mode are saved to your user profile.
TO REFIT or FINISH or REPAIR A SHIP________________________
1. Make sure you are logged-in as the appropriate User.
2. On the CLASS SELECTION screen choose Fleet (rather than Class) from the Control Panel. Or, on the FLEET screen click on a ship and click SELECT.
3. Go to SYSTEMS or STRUCTURE or CREW to revise its parts. Repairs can be made in SYSTEMS by selecting the part and clicking REPAIR in the part frame.
To Print Your Ship Designs... Open the "Ship Info" window (possible on the SYSTEMS screen from a Control Panel button, and both the CLASS screen and the FLEET screen as the INFO button inside the frame which appears when you click on the ship).
In the "Ship Info" window you will see the PRINT button. Click it and wait a moment for your computer's print dialog to appear. The output is standard 8-1/2 x 11, color or black and white, and includes a full listing of your installed systems and crew, and the top and side views of your ship as you have created it. (If you do not have a printer already working with your computer then this obviously isn't going to work!)
Creating Your Own Crew Members==================================
Step 1. Create a Crew Member Portrait
In any image editing program create or capture a bitmap image no larger than 220 pixels wide by 225 pixels tall at 72 dpi. If your application supports it, save or export the image as a PICT file. If the program doesn't save-as PICT, export as another common file format and use the Quicktime(r) 3.0 ImageViewer program (installed with Quicktime 3.0) to convert it to a PICT file.
Step 2. Create a Crew Member Biography
You will find a template file in the IMPORT folder in the "ShipMain" folder titled "temp_bio.txt" This should help you begin to correctly describe your crewmember. Please refer to that document now.
There are three simple steps to creating your crewmember's biography. (NOTE: You must follow the format of this file exactly, or the import will not work. We suggest cutting and pasting with a copy of the temp_bio file.)
A. On the first line, you will see a series of numbers which refer to the specific characteristics listed below. Rank your crew member's strengths and abilities by assigning a number from 1 to 10 for each characteristic. Ten being the best and one being the worst. (Keep the numbers in the same order as the traits they refer to below.)
They are as follows: [COMMAND, ENGINEERING, TACTICAL, SCIENCES, MEDICAL, COUNSELOR, OPERATIONS, COMMUNICATIONS], CHARISMA, AUTHORITY
-- If this line is incorrectly formatted or placed, the file will not import correctly. -
A correctly formatted line will look like:
[5,8,1,10,6,3,9,2],2,8
B. Simply fill in the rest as follows, keeping the content to one line.
Name: Rank: Born: Place of Birth: Assignment: Last Ship: Academy Class: Biographical Details:
-- The program requires each line have the category and colon (i.e. "Name:"). If not, then the file will not import correctly. -
For Biographical Details, you may describe your character's background in several paragraphs.
Ready to Import!
We recommend that your photo and bio text be put in the Import folder that is in the same folder as the main application (ShipMain). This is not mandatory however as a dialog box will prompt for the file's location. Once imported, the files are not needed by the program, but it may be desirable to keep them as a backup.
Importing and Exporting Ships===================================
To share your designs, or swap them among the various Admirals in your Log-in collection, simply use the IMPORT and EXPORT buttons on the FLEET screen, to save the description file and images of any one of your ships. (This file is in a special format which only the Starship Creator program will be able to read.)
Exporting: Your Starship is exported to the Export folder that is in the same folder as the main application. The file is named the same as the ships registry number.
Importing: We suggest your file be put in the Import folder that is in the same folder as the main application (ShipMain). This is not mandatory however as a dialog box will prompt for the file's location. Once imported, the file is not needed by the program, but it may be desirable to keep it as a backup.
