THIS IS VERSION 1.3 OF WORLD GENERATOR, A SOLAR SYSTEM GENERATION PROGRAM FOR SCIENCE FICTION ROLE PLAYING GAMES. ---------------------------------------------------------- World Generator is NOT a game in itself; it is an aid for referees of science fiction role playing games such as Traveller, 2300 AD, Space Opera, etc. It is used to generate solar systems and planets in three-dimensional space sectors, with data on lifeforms, atmosphere, geology, etc. System requirements are 512k and a CGA display; EGA and VGA work but high-resolution graphics are not supported in this version. World Generator is generally called WORLDGEN throughout this file and other documentation on this disk. USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE ----------------------- If I have not sold you this program directly, you have probably acquired it through a user group or from another user. If you like it, PLEASE consider registering your copy; registered users will get the source code (for Turbo Pascal 5.00), and will be sent the next major revision (V 2.00) of the program without charge. See WORLDGEN.DOC for a registration form. Because this program may require customisation to work with your preferred game system, and because there is justified alarm about software viruses and other `dangerous' programs, I originally included ALL source code with the program disk. When I stopped including source code I had evidence that at least 100+ copies have been distributed or downloaded from one bulletin board alone. No user had sent me a registration fee, other than those who ordered the program from me directly in response to magazine advertising. I now omit source code and have just enough registered users to keep me interested in the program, though it'll never be profitable. VERSIONS -------- Files produced by versions 1.00 and 1.01 are NOT compatible with this release; they can be converted using the utility WG_CONV.COM Files produced by versions 1.02 onward can be loaded without modification. Files produced by ALL earlier versions will give different results under version 1.2 onwards; See WORLDGEN.DOC for details. DOCUMENTATION ------------- Documentation is in the file WORLDGEN.DOC; it is split into pages which should be suitable for paper of 66 lines or more. To print it, just set your printer to your preferred paper size then COPY WORLDGEN.DOC LPT1: (or whatever). PLEASE read this file; it's in ASCII form and should be compatible with most printers and word processors. HELP FILES ---------- This version of World Generator includes 75 help files, *.WGH, which replace the big file WORLDGEN.HLP of version 1.2, and separate files for PC-Outline and Sidekick used in earlier versions. To use it, just press "H" whenever it is shown as an option on menus. I'm not happy about including so many tiny files, but this version works properly, and earlier versions didn't. To keep things tidy, install batch files create a subdirectory and copy all the help files across. See INSTALL.BAT for details. BRIEF START-UP INSTRUCTIONS --------------------------- The following files are needed to run this program; WORLDGEN.EXE TITLES.TXT WGINS1.TXT to WGINS6.TXT (used for tutorial and rolling demonstration) *.WGH (help files) in WGHELP subdirectory All other files are documentation, sample files, etc. If you want to copy graphics to your printer, load the appropriate PC-DOS/MS-DOS utility before running WORLDGEN. Use the .BAT files to install the program on your working disk. Put your work disk in any drive, then switch to that drive (eg drive A, B). At the DOS prompt type WORLDGEN to start the program. If you load this program without reading the full instructions, I strongly advise running the tutorial section before doing anything else! HARD DISK OPERATION ------------------- WORLDGEN only looks for instructions and other files on its own disk, and in its own directory, unless you modify it. It does NOT modify directories, delete files, format, or do anything else that might make it unsuitable for use on a hard disk. FILES ON THIS DISK ------------------ WORLDGEN.EXE The main program WORLDGEN.PAS * Turbo Pascal source code WG1.PAS * Turbo Pascal 4/5 unit code WG1.TPU * Turbo Pascal 5 unit WG2.INC to WG6.INC * Include files for WORLDGEN.PAS WORLDGEN.DOC Documentation (please note that this file was written for version 1.2; it has been revised to show some of the changes in 1.3, but there may be some minor omissions) TITLES.TXT The opening screen SAMPLE.SEC A sample space sector SAMPLE.DOC file describing sector UNNAMED.SEC & .DOC Another sector WGINS1.TXT to WGINS6.TXT Used by tutorial *.WGH On-line help files (75 in this version!) WG_CONV.COM Conversion utility; only needed if you have sector files from earlier versions. READ.ME This one! INSTALL.BAT Explains how installation works ONEDRIVE.BAT Installation for single floppy systems TWODRIVE.BAT Dual drive and hard disk installation * Supplied to registered users ONLY Marcus L. Rowland - August 1989 To ensure continuity here are notes on all versions since the documentation was last thoroughly edited. UPDATE JANUARY 1989 ------------------- Version 1.21 fixes two minor bugs in version 1.2; 1: A null file name is no longer translated as UNNAMED; this corrects a problem that could occur if files were loaded or saved after the HELP option was used. 2: The PLANETARIUM option had an unusually stupid error which meant that positions didn't change with time. This has now been fixed. There are now a few registered users, though not enough to encourage me to devote much time to developing version 2. I now hope to launch version 2 in mid-1989 if all goes well. UPDATE MARCH 1989 ----------------- It had to happen! The bug-fix in V 1.21 caused another bug, which made the program crash if the HELP or INFORMATION routines were used and the file WG.HLP wasn't present. This bug is fixed on the enclosed version 1.22, hopefully without causing any more problems. Please note that this version has been compiled using Turbo Pascal 5; if you want to recompile it using Turbo Pascal 4, you MUST re-compile the file WG1.PAS to make a TP4 unit. UPDATE AUGUST 1989 - Version 1.3 -------------------------------- Due to contractual obligations (I've been writing a role-playing module and doing other work which actually makes a profit!) I've been able to do almost no work on World Generator since March. My best guess is now late 1990 for version 2; I suspect that I'll write it using Microsoft Quick Pascal, which I'm told does have EGA/VGA turtle graphics. Urgent priorities for version 2 are EGA/VGA support, improved data presentation, and better mapping and help facilities. The development machine is now a Commodore PC60, 80386 CPU with VGA. Disk formats available are now 360K 5¬", 720K 3«, and 1.2 mb 5¬". This machine doesn't have an 80387 yet; since the speed change obtained by using an 8087 or 80287 was barely noticeable in version 1.22, I'm omitting the co-processor version from future releases. This version has licked all the Help bugs, unfortunately by using 75 help files instead of one! This puts the total files on the disk up to 90, which is uncomfortably close to the DOS limit of 110 in the root directory of a floppy. Accordingly the disk now includes an installation .BAT program which creates a help subdirectory and copies files across. UPDATE OCTOBER 1989 - VERSION 1.3 revisited ------------------------------------------- Some minor revisions to the documentation and this READ.ME file, otherwise no changes.