

     MULTI-TREK is a game similar to traditional Star-trek  games
except  that it involves several players (currently up to 8), who
play against each other rather than against  imaginary  Klingons,
Romulans  or whatever.  The MULTI-TREK universe consists of a 100
by 100 matrix, of which an approximate 20 by 20  matrix  of  each
player's  immediate area is displayed and continuously updated at
their terminal.  MULTI-TREK was originally submitted to  the  New
Orleans  collection,  then  to the 1979 San Diego collection with
the addition of robot ships.  This version has  been  recoded  in
RATFOR  and  has  significant enhancements and improvements, most
notably the addition of energy nets, an improved screen  display,
much  better  input-output  (any  terminal  with clear screen and
cursor positioning may be used at speeds from 1200 baud  on  up),
use  of  default  ship and direction with most commands ("L" sets
the default direction), more competitive scoring,  smarter  robot
ships,  and  fewer  bugs.  Complete instructions for starting and
playing MULTI-TREK are in the file MTREK.DOC.

     The game consists of a driver task (MTREKD), a  player  task
(MTREK)  for  each  terminal, and a shared global common area for
inter-task communication.  MULTI-TREK was written  for  IAS  3.0,
however,  it should run under any system with shared global areas
and  rudimentary  task  switching  or  time-sharing.    Real-time
systems  without time-sharing may have to play with priorities to
insure that the driver task gets sufficient CPU time and that all
players get an equal amount of time.

     MULTI-TREK was written  with  a  structured  Fortran  called
RATFOR.  This UIC contains all of the Fortran produced by RATFOR,
as well as the  RATFOR  source  (file  type  .RAT).   The  RATFOR
compiler is also included on the distribution tape.

     MTREK will work properly with any terminal with clear screen
and  cursor  positioning.   The  source  code  is set up to drive
ADM3-A's or VT100's.  if you are using different  terminals,  you
should   modify   the   file  "TERMINAL.RAT"  (you  could  modify
"TERMINAL.FTN") to drive your terminal.  Modification  should  be
straight-forward as the code is commented on where to change it.

To build MTREK, do

@BUILD

Send comments, problems, etc.  to:

       William Wood
       Intstitute For Cancer Research
       7701 Burholme Ave.
       Philadelphia, PA. 19111
       (215) 728 2760



