EGA Trek - Manual
EGA Trek - Manual
º º
º EGA TREK º
º Version 3.1 September 1, 1994 º
º º
º Nels Anderson º
º 585 Edmands Road º
º Framingham, MA 01701 º
º U.S.A. º
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A space combat game similar to EGATrek was one of the first computer
games ever written. The first versions were written for mini and
mainframe computers back in the early 1970's. There have probably been
more versions of this game written than any other as there is probably
at least one version around for every type of computer ever made. This
game is definitely a classic.
The version you now have is related to the other versions in its basic
game play, but fully takes advantage of the high resolution of the EGA
or VGA display. I originally discovered the game around 1974 running
on a DEC System 10 mini and was soon hooked. I've since written
several other versions of the game for computers including the
Timex-Sinclair ZX81, Apple ][, Prime 50-series minis and MS-DOS
machines, all using BASIC of one sort or another. EGATrek is based on
these earlier efforts, though it has been translated to Turbo Pascal.
This game requires an MS-DOS computer with an EGA or VGA capable card
and monitor. If you're still running an older display adapter that
doesn't support EGA or VGA I'm afraid you're out of luck running this
particular game. I suspect you can find a version that supports your
system though.
SHAREWARE
Under the Shareware system you may freely try out this program, but if
you continue to use it you are expected to register with the author and
pay the $15 registration fee. In return for your registration you'll
receive the latest version of the game, with the shareware reminders
removed, and if possible another game to try out. There is also a
"deluxe" version available which includes a binder, printed manual and
quick reference card. The "deluxe" version is $22. Please note that the
actual software is identical in both versions.
When you register, please let me know what version you have and I'd
also be interested in knowing where you got it from. Please, make sure
to put your name and address on the letter! It's amazing how many
people don't do this. Or, you can use the instant registration form in
the file "orderfrm.txt". Just copy the file to your printer.
If you live outside the U.S., the best way to register appears to be by
using postal money orders. I've received these from quite a few
countries. In general, foreign checks are not accepted by U.S. banks
(Canadian checks are an exception, but please allow for the difference
in U.S. and Canadian dollars). EuroCheques, for example, are not
acceptable to the bank. You can also charge your registration to VISA
or MasterCard.
If you have any suggestions or discover any problems with the program
you can reach me via the )(evious BBS system (300-28800 bps, HST/v.32,
8N1) at 508-788-6951. Leave a C)omment to the sysop to reach me.
)(evious is the official support BBS for all my software and the latest
versions are always available for downloading there. )(evious is also
a member of RelayNet so if you use a local BBS that is also on RelayNet
you can mail me by sending a routed message to node XEVIOUS. The
Shareware conference is the preferred place to do this.
CHANGES IN V3.1:
CHANGES IN V3.0:
CHANGES IN V2.31:
CHANGES IN V2.3:
CHANGES IN V2.2:
o Replays allowed
o Expanded help screens
o Added rank names to rank numbers in hall of fame, etc.
o Long range scanner/galaxy chart now operates automatically
o New repair status chart on screen at all times
o Bug fixes
CHANGES IN V2.1:
CHANGES IN V2.0:
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º EGATREK QUICK START º
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If you're already familiar with this type of game and just need enough
information to get started, here it is...
You will first be asked if you want a briefing or not. Your choice...
The "command level" you select determines the difficulty of the game.
Unless you've never played this type of game before skip level 1 and
possibly level 2.
Once the game starts up, use F1 to view the command list as needed.
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º BRIEFING º
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As humans ventured into deep space it was inevitable that other races
of intelligent beings would be discovered. While many races are
friendly and some have even become allies several hostile and violent
races have been discovered. The two most notable hostile races are
known as the Mongols and the Vandals. Though these are not their real
names (the words they use for their names being impossible for the
human tongue to pronounce) these terms have been assigned as standard
terminology based on the convention of using the names of appropriately
violent early human cultures.
The Vandal Empire has joined the hostilities in some areas but should
be avoided if possible. They will generally only be found near their
own territory. Their actions in response to your contact are
unpredictable.
The ship is provided with two types of scanners. The short range
scanners show you everything in your current quadrant. Because of
their importance they continue scanning at all times and the display is
always available and up to date. The most important thing you will see
is, of course, Mongol ships of which there are several types. Standard
Mongol battleships will display in light blue, command ships in red,
scout ships in purple and supply ships in green.
Your long range scanners show what is in adjacent quadrants and thus
are very useful for planning your movements. The ships computer keeps a
record of all past scans and this galaxy chart is shown at all times
unless the computer is damaged. Damage to the scanners will affect
their performance of course. A small amount of damage will prevent them
from seeing smaller objects (including, unfortunately, enemy ships) but
they may still be able to see stars. If damage becomes too severe they
will fail to work at all.
The long range display is numerical; the three digit number for each
quadrant represents the number of Mongols, type of friendly star base,
and number of stars (respectively) that the scanners have found.
Quadrants containing Mongols are highlighted in red. Bases are
highlighted in orange and the number indicates base type (1 is a
StarBase, 2 a research station and 3 a supply depot). Quadrants with
supernovas cause the scanners to overload and display all 9's.
You also receive information through the main viewer. This display
alternates between a view from outside the ship and a graphical display
of some ship function. When looking outside the ship the viewer always
looks in the direction of whatever enemy ship is closest to your ship.
The view includes an identification of the object and its relative
distance and direction from the ship. Directions are based on 0
degrees being directly to the right as seen on scanner displays.
Your ship has two major weapons available, energy torpedoes (EnTorps)
and lasers. Torpedoes are very effective at close range, with a single
torpedo being capable of destroying a standard Mongol ship. However,
you are limited in the number of torpedoes you can carry and they can
only be replenished at a StarBase or supply station. At longer
distances they are less effective and their accuracy is also thrown off
when fired with your shields raised.
Lasers are your general purpose weapon. The damage lasers do is highly
influenced by distance to the target. There are two gauges that
monitor laser performance. You should watch the laser temperature
gauge when firing to prevent overheating. The laser effectiveness
gauge shows how well the lasers are working. Laser effectiveness goes
down due to excess heat and due to damage from enemy fire.
The ship is capable of repulsing enemy fire through the use of its
shields. When the shields are raised and at 100% energy no enemy fire
will penetrate them; the only effect will be that energy will drain
from the shields. It is thus to your advantage to have shields raised
when in direct battle. Once enemy fire starts to penetrate the shields
main energy is lost and ships systems may be damaged. Raising the
shields draws a small amount of energy from the main energy banks so
you do not want to raise the shields needlessly. Lowering shields
causes no energy change. Because the shields affect the performance of
other ships systems their correct usage is very important to the
success of your mission.
The Lexington was originally used for exploration and is well suited
for this purpose. Obviously, with the Union under attack there is no
time for normal exploration at the present. However, there are planets
in the galaxy that may contain the energium used to power the ship and
it is worth exploring these planets for emergency energium supplies.
Note, though, that regulations prohibit the use of raw energium except
in extreme emergencies; your shields must be under 50% and main energy
under 20%.
During warfare many of the ships systems may be damaged. The effects
of damage on your mission can vary greatly depending on what systems
are affected:
Impulse Engines: Impulse engines are much simpler than warp engines;
they either work or they don't. When they are at less than 50% they
simply stop functioning.
EnTorp Tubes: Like impulse engines, torpedo tubes either work or they
don't. At 100% there are three functional tubes, 67-99% only two tubes
work and 34-66% only one.
Short Range Scanners: Short range scanners lose resolution when they
are damaged. Above 90% they are fully functional, but below 90% they
are unable to detect anything smaller than a star. Below 50% they do
not function at all.
Long Range Scanners: Long range scanners also lose resolution when
damaged. When less than 100% repaired they can no longer detect enemy
ships. Below 50% they are not functional.
Life Support: Life support systems must be 100% to generate food and
oxygen needed to sustain life. Without a functioning life support
system the ship can last only two days on reserves.
When your mission ends, one way or another, you'll receive a detailed
evaluation of your performance from headquarters. If you get one of
the top two scores for your command level, your name will be entered in
the hall of fame. If you wish to delete the hall of fame simply delete
the file trek.scr.
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º COMMANDS º
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To start the game, enter "egatrek" from the DOS prompt. If you do not
want sound during the game, enter "egatrek -n"; note that the space
before the dash is required.
A#:
DOCK:
You will need to visit StarBases often to refuel your ship as well as
to make repairs. When you are in a sector directly adjacent to a
StarBase, issue this command. You can also dock at Research Stations
and Supply Bases, but they cannot provide everything that a StarBase
can. When docked at a StarBase its shields will protect your ship from
enemy lasers.
ENERGY:
Energy is used by a number of different systems aboard the ship and you
can use this command to move energy between systems as needed. It will
also show you the exact energy levels of all systems.
FIX:
In addition, you will be asked if you want to spend time just making
repairs. In space, repairs will take place no faster than normal. If
docked at a StarBase you can use their facilities to speed repairs.
HAIL:
Use this command to hail a StarBase. If none is close by, it will take
some time to receive a reply.
HELP:
Use this command to get a list of all available commands and their
abbreviations. You will also be shown a summary of scanner information.
Finally, you will be able view the complete game instructions (the file
you are reading now), information about shareware or you can print an
order form. Remember that hitting the F1 key will get you help.
INFO:
This command allows you to get information about the enemy ships in the
present quadrant from the computer. The display will show the ship
type, location, distance and heading from you, and the condition of its
shields.
LAND:
To use this command, you must first successfully use the ORBIT command.
MAX:
This command diverts the maximum possible amount of power to the ship's
main shields. You can do the same thing with the E)nergy command by
transferring power to the shields until they are at 2500. This command
is a quick way to make sure that your shields are at full strength.
MOVE:
If you prefer, you can enter the move coordinates without anything
separating them. For example, 6,2,3,5 is equivalent to 6235 and 3,5 is
equivalent to 35. When using the long form, you can use whatever is
most convenient for separators between the numbers.
MSGS:
Often during a heated battle messages will come for you so fast that
it's possible to miss some of them. You can use this command to review
the most recent messages that have appeared. The newest messages will
be displayed at first and you can use the up arrow and down arrow keys
to scroll through the messages. Hit the ESC key when done.
ORBIT:
Use this command to enter a standard orbit around a planet. This will
allow the planet to be scanned for the presence of energium crystals
and other things. Once in orbit, you can use the LAND command to visit
the planet surface.
LASERS:
Use this command to fire the laser banks. The laser control officer
will request instructions on firing at each enemy vessel in the
quadrant.
QUIT:
Use this command to quit the game. You can also save a game before you
quit; see the SAVE command.
RAY:
This command fires the experimental death ray. This is a very powerful
weapon that will destroy every enemy ship in the whole quadrant...if it
works. If it doesn't work, there's no telling what may happen, since
the technology is not yet completely understood.
REPAIR:
SAVE:
You can save your game so that you can come back and continue it later.
After saving, the game continues until you give the quit command. You
can only restore a saved game when first starting up; you will be asked
if you want to restore a saved game right after you are asked if you
want a briefing. You select the name of the file that is to contain
the saved game information. Any valid MS-DOS file name can be used;
just hit <Enter> to use the default name "egatrek.sav".
SELF:
SHUP:
This command raises the shields. Engineering will acknowledge when the
shields are up, and the image of your ship on the short range scanner
will change to yellow. You can also use the up arrow key to issue this
command.
SHDN:
This command lowers the shields. Engineering will acknowledge, and the
image of the ship on the short range scanner will return to white. You
can also use the down arrow key for this command.
SND:
Use this command at any time during the game to toggle sound on and
off. A message will flash briefly on the screen acknowledging the
command.
TORPEDO:
You have three torpedo tubes available. The torpedo control officer
will request instructions on the number of torpedoes to fire and the
sectors to fire them at.
USE:
Any miscellaneous objects that you find during the game, such as
energium crystals mined from planets, can be used with this command.
WARP:
Use this command to inform engineering of the warp speed you require
from the engines when moving between quadrants. Invalid warp speeds
will be ignored.
If you wish, you can include the warp factor on the command line. For
example, enter w5.2 to set the warp factor to 5.2.
BOSS:
Argh! The boss is coming, and he's going to catch you playing games
again. Hit Shift-F1 and you shell to MS-DOS. You can now do simple
MS-DOS commands, but be careful that you do not run anything that
changes the screen mode as when you return to EGATrek you must still be
in graphics mode to be able to continue the game. Simple commands like
DIR should work fine. When you're ready to return to the game, type
'EXIT'. (If you *are* the boss, you didn't see this command; it's
hidden by a cloaking device.)
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º
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Some of the more commonly used commands have been bound to the function
keys. Use the following chart as a reference:
ÚÄF1ÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄF2ÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ ³ ³
³ Help ³ Lasers ³
³ ³ ³
³ ³ ³
ÃÄF3ÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄF4ÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ ³ ³
³ Fire ³ Move ³
³ Torpedo ³ Ship ³
³ ³ ³
ÃÄF5ÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄF6ÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ ³ ³
³ Max ³ Fix ³
³ Energy ³ Systems ³
³ ³ ³
ÃÄF7ÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄF8ÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ ³ ³
³ Xfer ³ Repair ³
³ Energy ³ Status ³
³ ³ ³
ÃÄF9ÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄF10ÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ ³ ³
³ Set ³ Dock ³
³ Speed ³ ³
³ ³ ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
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º REGISTRATION º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
The registration price for EGATrek is $15 (plus $2 shipping), for which
you'll receive by return mail a copy of the latest version with the
registration reminders removed, and possibly another Shareware game to
try out.
Orders from outside the U.S. should be in U.S. funds. Using a credit
card is probably the easiest way to do this, but postal money orders,
cash or bank drafts drawn on U.S. banks are acceptable. Eurocheques
will not be accepted even if drafted in U.S. funds.
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º LEGAL STUFF º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
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º ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP
member, but does not provide technical support for members' products.
Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI
49442, USA or send a CompuServe message via email to ASP Ombudsman
70007,3536.
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ"
º LIVE LONG AND PROSPER! º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ