UPDATES TO INSTRUCTIONS OF STARTREK FOR DEC. 1980 VERSION --------------------------------------------------------------------- A. CHANGES IN PREVIOUS INSTRUCTIONS -------------------------------- 1. Your ship will NOT automatically dock when you enter a sector adjacent to a Starbase. The program will instead ask you if you wish to dock. 2. Default Mission Rank is maximum allowed for player, rather than random. See information on Service Record and Promotions. 3. Self-Destruction also requires the player's password to be entered besides the previous confirmation. 4. The Target Calculator will compute the bearing & distance from your current position to Sector 5, 5 of the target quadrant if only a Quadrant target is specified. It currently calculates them to your same Sector location in the target quadrant. Since moving with the calculated settings sometimes misses the target by one sector, if you started in a corner, then you might end up in the wrong Quadrant with fatal results. This modification should be installed by 15 Dec. 1980. 5. All shields being penetrated by an enemy hit does not necessarily mean that your ship is destroyed. Your ship can survive small hits without total destruction (hits < 100 units). If the hit exceeds your total shield strength by more than 25 units, then severe damage (to more than 1 system) and casualties will result. 6. Each prisoner delivered to Starbase increases the player's efficiency rating by a factor of 0.0005 (+0.05%) instead of 0.001 (0.1%). B. NEW FEATURES ------------ 1. Service Record - the program keeps a record for each player of the game, starting them out with easy games (Rank 1) and promoting to the next higher Rank when deserved. Each player has their own password kept on file to permit validation of identity. A fuller explanation of the Service Record, Ranks and Promotion criteria can be obtained from the data file: [100,100]STARTREK.SFA 2. Auto Mine Retrieval Sequencer - this is an option of the MINE Command, and permits the retrieval of mines previously laid in the Quadrant. It asks you how many mines are to be retrieved ("ALL" or number), and will then automatically control the Tractor Beam & Transporters in turn to draw in & bring aboard the number of mines specified. Since then enemy can shoot during this command (possibly several times), take care in using this while in Condition RED. 3. Automatic Backup - for non-AMES players, an automatic game backup is provided. This is necessary because of the tendancy of terminals connected by 300 baud telephone lines to lose the carrier signal and the game. The game can be resumed by answering "Y" to the quiry wanting to resume a previously saved game. Use the name of of "BACKUP.###" to resume the game, where ### is the 3-digit mission sequence number of the lost game. 4. Maximum Strength Shields Configuration - this is a new option in Shield Control, which is the same as Battle Entry Configuration, except that the power is distributed evenly amongst the shields, instead of doubling the front shield at expense of the rear one. 5. Towed Vessel Delivery - you no longer have to dock with a Starbase in order to deliver a vessel in tow. If you move adjacent to a base, and refuse the chance to dock, you will be asked if you want to deliver towed vessel. Prisoner transfer is also done. 6. Maneuvering Engines - if you want to just turn the ship, or dock from a sector adjacent to base, your ship will use maneuvering engines rather than impulse engines. Maneuvering engines can never be damaged. 7. The following should be added to the GENERAL NOTES of the instructions. Part c) is a new feature: 5. Intruders -------- There are 3 sources of intruders (which can be either Romulan or Klingon): a) Agents that have hidden aboard during docking b) Escaped prisoners - anytme you have prisoners aboard, one may escape. c) Agents beamed aboard (for Ranks >3) - if an enemy vessel is within 2 sectors of your ship, and your defensive shield facing it is down, then it may beam an agent aboard to wreak havoc. Romulan ships that are invisible are almost certain to do this. 8. Link from Target Calculator to Navigation Control - if the Target Calculator of the Ship's Computer is used, then you are given the option of having the calculated bearing and distance used as the Navigation Setting. If answered affirmatively, then the values will be transfered directly to Navigation Control, and the ship moved (assuming the calculated values were valid). 9. Maximum Security Deck - this is an option of Ship's Internal Security, and permits you to designate one deck to have maximum security at the expense of the other decks. If you outguess the intruder and he goes onto such a deck, then it is very likely that he'll be caught, or at least will not be able to sabotage. This option is suggested for use to protect a deck with vulnerable important systems (eg. Primary Life Support) which is close to the intruder's last position. If there are any other changes between the current version (Dec) of STARTREK and the older instructions (STARTREK.INS), please let me know, because I may have overlooked some. Leave a message for me using: MAIL SORENSEN.