BEGIN BEGIN BEGIN A Tactical Starship A Tactical Starship A Tactical Starship Simulation Simulation Simulation Version 1.65 Copyright (c) 1984-1989 CLOCKWORK SOFTWARE PO Box 610338 San Jose, CA 95161 Begin - A Tactical Starship Simulation Copyright (c) Clockwork Software, 1984-1989 All rights reserved by the authors. This program may be freely copied for private use provided this message is always displayed. It may be distributed on public access computer bulletin boards. It may not be distributed for resale. Begin is supplied as a user supported package. Private individuals are encouraged to copy and share this package with others. If you enjoy using this program your contributions help support the shareware concept which allows you to try the software first without obligation. For a $10 contribution you will receive the Advanced Simulations Manual for the current version. This manual covers many commands, hints, and internal details of Begin which are not included in this Basic Simulations Manual. For a $15 contribution you will receive the Advanced Simulations Manual as well as a diskette containing the most recent release of the program. Please send any comments/problems to Clockwork Software even if you do not wish to make a contribution. If you want a response also include a self addressed stamped envelope. Clockwork Software The Micro Foundry BBS P.O. Box 610338 (408) 258-3484 San Jose, CA 95161 1200/2400 24 Hours You distribution disk/file should contain the following files: Begin.arc - Contains all the following files Begin.exe - A Tactical Starship Simulation Begin.man - The Basic Simulations Manual Whats.new - New features in version 1.65 BeginAd.txt - Long BBS ad for Begin BeginAd2.txt - Short BBS ad for Begin Unlike the previous release of Begin, this version supports software and hardware floating point in one program. If you have a math co-processor, Begin will automatically detect it's presence and use hardware floating point. You may override this auto-check and force software floating point by setting the environment variable 87=N at the DOS command prompt. If you are running on an 8088 PC we recommend a co-processor as it will increase the speed of play equivalent to that of a 12Mhz 80286 without a co-processor. Tom Nelson, Mike Higgins Authors of Begin Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation I. INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION Begin is actually a simulation of a simulator that tests your ability to command a fleet starship. For the first time, you will actually have the feeling that you are commanding a real starship, against real enemy captains. Unlike almost all other space games of this type, Begin does not employ the unrealistic "quadrant-sectors" or the "Mass Hoard of aliens" approach. Instead, all ships are created equal with intelligent enemy strategy being used to defeat the unsuspecting human player. For the novice player even a one-on-one scenario is quite a challenge. Begin also features four different nations, Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Orion, with the human player becoming the nation of their choice. The program also provides for numerous ship classes of varying design for each of the different nation. There are not any artificial "difficulty levels" in Begin. Instead if a player wishes for an easier scenario, they may command a fleet of up to seventeen ships against a smaller enemy force. For a more difficult scenario, one-on-nine is a more likely challenge. The object of Begin is (as usual) to destroy the enemy fleet before they destroy you. You will receive an evaluation of your performance at the end of the action. Your enemy is tough and experienced. He will do his utmost to destroy you with whatever fleet you give him. Enjoy this new level of sophistication in computer entertainment. II. OVERVIEW II. OVERVIEW II. OVERVIEW Begin is actually made up of five separate parts that happen in sequence, introduction, setup, command input, strategy, and movement. A more detailed explanation of each of these can be found in a later section. The first part, introduction, will happen only once. It will first prompt you for your name. Your name will be used as the prompt for all command input. Next you will be asked which nation you wish to ally yourself with, and the nation of your opponent. The second part, setup, will also happen only once. Two status displays will be drawn, one of the ally fleet and one of the enemy fleet. At this point you will enter commands to - 1 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation configure the number and class of ships in each of the fleets. Once you are satisfied with the configurations, you may start the simulation. Once the tactical displays have been drawn the program will be waiting for command input. You may enter commands for controlling your ships' weapon systems, defenses, status displays or for directing your ally ships. Input will allow you as much time as you need to decide your command. You may enter an entire command on one line or allow Begin to prompt you for each part. After the entire command has been entered, the strategy of all enemy and ally ships is determined. These ships follow the same rules for commands that you must follow. After all ships have determined their strategy, the real time movement is performed. Real time moves all objects according to the Begin laws of physics. Every item will be moved in sequence, ten times, to simulate simultaneous movement. Your crew will report most of the enemy and ally ships actions during this time, such as who is firing torpedoes and who has been hit. At the end of this cycle, before you are again asked for command input, the tactical displays will be updated. One time through the above sequence is call a cycle, and is the basic unit of time in Begin. All time is measured in cycles but may sometimes be referred to as seconds, such as three seconds to self destruct. III. SETUP III. SETUP III. SETUP After you have entered your name and the ally and enemy nations, you will need to configure the ally and enemy fleets. The setup screen contains two fleet status displays. The top display shows the make-up of the ally fleet and the bottom display is that of the enemy. Also displayed is the total number of ships allowed along with the number of ships you have not yet allocated to either fleet. A dash before a ship class name in the fleet displays indicate you have not selected any ships of that class. At this point you may enter ally and enemy configuration commands. With these commands you will specify the number and class of ships in each of the corresponding fleets (Refer to the Configure command in the Command Summary section). A single fleet may contain up to the total number of allowed ships minus one. If you need more details on each ship class before you configure the fleets, the library computer is available. If you have more than one class of ship in the ally fleet you must specify the ship class of your flagship. The flagship is the type of ship you will be commanding your fleet from. The - 2 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation enemy does not need a specified flagship. Once you are satisfied with the make-up of each fleet you must enter the command "Begin" to start the simulation. IV. SHIPS IV. SHIPS IV. SHIPS All ships are controlled by a fixed number of attributes. These attributes control the ships speed, acceleration, turn rate, weaponry, shield strength etc. This section briefly explains how these attributes function. DISPLAYS DISPLAYS DISPLAYS The tactical displays are shown on the right side of the screen. The upper display is the position display. It shows the actual positions of all ships relative to your flagship. You may set the magnification of this display to allow for a finer resolution. The lower display is the ships' Systems Status display. It shows the condition of five ship systems. They are the Phaser Banks, Torpedo Tubes, Probe Launchers, Warp Drives, and Shields. Within the System Status display a period is used to indicate a system is discharged or turned off. If this symbol is blinking it tells you that the system has been damaged and is non-functional. The dash, equal and triple equal symbols are used by the Bank and Tube systems to indicated the last three cycles of their charge time. The small 'o' symbol is used by the Tube and Launcher systems to indicated a loaded and ready condition. The Warp Drives and Shields use the three shaded solid block symbols to indicated the state of these systems. For the Warp drive they indicated temperature, for the Shields they indicated strength. A blink block tells you a system is about to fail. Display related commands are: Scan, Range. HELM HELM HELM The helm controls the direction and velocity of the ship. The ship will not always respond instantly to helm commands. Response depends on the size of the ship you are commanding and the current helm settings. Generally, the larger the ship or the faster the current speed, the slower the ship will respond to course and speed changes. The exception to this is that all ships respond instantly if the current speed and the requested speed are both warp one or less. For specified ship class attributes, - 3 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation consult your ships' library computer. Helm related commands are: Helm, Pursue, Elude, Report. WEAPONRY WEAPONRY WEAPONRY Available to you are a three different weapon systems that vary from ship class to ship class. Most ships have all three although of few of the smaller ships do not. These weapons are Phasers, Torpedoes and Probes. All phasers banks and torpedo tubes may be locked on a specified ship or turned to a specified relative angle off the current heading (mark). The target or course of a probe is specified at launch time since probes are "smart" in that they may pursue a specified target or course and may be controlled after they leave the ship. Phasers are short range weapons that hit their target instantaneously. The closer you are to the target, the better the hit. Torpedoes travel at a specific velocity determined by the class of torpedo your ship carries although it is generally very fast. If the tube is locked on a target, the tube will "lead" the target to compensate for the target's course and velocity. Most classes of torpedo cannot change course once they are fired. Probes are very slow in comparison to torpedoes. The advantage of a probe is the ability to pursue a target, and it's relatively large warhead. Probes may also be controlled after they are launched. They may be set to a specific heading or re-locked on to a target. Consult your ships library computer for specifics on these weapons. Weaponry related commands are: Fire, Lock, Turn, Status, Torp, Phaser, Probe SHIELDS SHIELDS SHIELDS Shields protect the ship from being damaged by enemy (or ally) weapons. A shield will weaken in proportion to the magnitude of the hit on that shield. This type of damage is actually only temporary and the shield will regenerate slowly over time. If the hit is larger than the shield can absorb, then the ship will sustain damaged. The amount of damage will depend on the strength of the hit. Any of the ships systems may be damaged including the shields maximum strength. This damage is permanent and may only reduce the effectiveness of the system as in the case of reactors, engines or shields, or may totally destroy the system as with - 4 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation phaser banks or torpedo tubes. Shield related commands are: Raise, Lower, Status, Shields STATUS STATUS STATUS All commands will result in the ending of your "turn" except for commands that only display status. The status command will display the current state of the entire ship, phaser banks, torpedo tubes, probe launchers, shields or active probes. This also includes scanning enemy or ally vessels and ally reports. Status related commands are: Report, Status, Banks, Tubes, Launchers COMPUTER COMPUTER COMPUTER All ships are equipped with a library computer. The library computer will display information on any ship class, torpedo class or probe. Computer related commands are: Library, Computer, Help DAMAGE CONTROL DAMAGE CONTROL DAMAGE CONTROL All ships have a damage control crew which automatically makes repairs to any disabled ship system. The efficiency of damage control is related to the number of crew remaining. Once a system has been fully repaired you will receive a message informing you that repairs have been completed. The condition of your damage control is displayed on the damage report. Damage related commands are: Damage V. ENEMIES & ALLIES V. ENEMIES & ALLIES V. ENEMIES & ALLIES All ally and enemy ships are given a "personality" when they are created. This consists of a number of attributes that control their bravery, aggression, fanaticism and loyalty, and is based on the race of that enemy or ally. ALLIES ALLIES ALLIES During play, your ally ships will engage the enemy at will although you are allowed to give them a few general orders. These include who to attack, what course to follow, hold fire, etc. They will almost always follow these orders unless they are not very loyal or the order is very unreasonable. In any case, they - 5 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation will give a response to that order. It is important to remember the orders you issued or you may render an ally useless. For example if you order an ally to follow a course, he will follow that order until you cancel it. If your ship sustains heavy damage (or even if it doesn't) you are allowed to trade ships with one of your allies. Ally related commands are: Tell, Order, Fleet, Beam, Transport VI. COMMAND SUMMARY VI. COMMAND SUMMARY VI. COMMAND SUMMARY The following is a brief list of commands available to the starship commander. For a complete and more detailed list consult the Advanced Simulations Manual. In a number of cases there is more than one form of the same command. For example, "tubes" is the same command as "status tubes". Only the so indicated commands are valid during setup. Each command description gives the general form of the command and a description of command operation. The description for each command is followed by one or more examples. Optional parts of the commands are enclosed in square brackets ( [optional] ). CONFIGURE: { Setup only } CONFIGURE: { Setup only } CONFIGURE: { Setup only } [Configure] Ally [Flagship] [] [Configure] Enemy [] The configure command is used during setup to select the enemy and ally fleets. You may configure up to the total number of allowed ships minus one in a single fleet. You may only have up to nine of any one ship class however. You must specify an ally flagship if the ally fleet is made up of more than one ship class. This may be done with this command or by using the Flagship command. Examples: Config Ally 3 Frigates Flagship Ally 5 Destroyers 3 Interceptors Enemy 6 Dreadnoughts FLAGSHIP: { Setup only } FLAGSHIP: { Setup only } FLAGSHIP: { Setup only } Flagship The flagship command allows you to specify a flagship class after you have finished configuring the fleets. You must specify a flagship if there is more than one ship class in the ally - 6 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation fleet. Examples: Flagship Destroyer BEGIN: { Setup only } BEGIN: { Setup only } BEGIN: { Setup only } Begin This command informs the program that you are finished configuring the enemy and ally fleets and are ready to start the simulation. Examples: Begin HELM: HELM: HELM: Helm [Course] [Warp] The helm command controls the direction and velocity of your ship. The course is a heading between -360 degrees and +360 degrees. All vessels will take time to come to the new heading although it may sometimes seem immediate. The amount of time will depend on the size of your ship and the ship's current speed. The larger ships turning slower than smaller ships and fast speeds requiring more time than slower speed. All ships will seem to turn instantly at warp one or less. When turning, the ship will always turn in the direction that is the smallest distance to the new heading. The warp is the velocity you wish to maintain. The ship's velocity, like it's heading may require a certain amount of time to achieve. Examples: helm course 60 warp 6 helm 225 3 PURSUE: PURSUE: PURSUE: ELUDE: ELUDE: ELUDE: Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of these commands. CHART: CHART: CHART: chart [] Every cycle the chart from your ship will be automatically displayed. If the chart moves off the top of the screen, entering "chart" will redisplay the current chart. - 7 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation WARP COURSE BEARING RANGE MARK CLASS Caspan: 4.0 305. Manual Helm Asp: 3.0 125. 305. 15035 0. FR The chart displays the names of all ships with the flagship being the first ship. The current warp factor and course of each ship is displayed as is the range of each ship from the charted ship. The Bearing column show the bearing of each ship from the charted ship. The bearing is the course the charted ship must follow to head directly at a specific ship. The Mark column contains the degrees off the heading of the charted ship to a specific ally or enemy ship, for example, a mark of zero indicates the charted ship is heading directly toward a ship. The Class column indicates the class of each of the charted ships. Examples: chart Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of the on this command. REPORT: REPORT: REPORT: report The report command displays various information about your ship. You may also request a report from an ally ship with the "order" command. SHIP NAME: Ketoi CLASS: Destroyer SURVIVORS: 200 CONDITION: 100% Functional NAVCOM: Manual Helm COURSE: 270. desired 229. current WARP: 6.0 desired 4.5 current Examples: report STATUS DAMAGE: STATUS DAMAGE: STATUS DAMAGE: SCAN SHIP SCAN SHIP SCAN SHIP [Status] Damage Scan The damage status will display the overall condition of your ship where as the scan ship command will show the same information about an enemy or ally ship. - 8 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation SHIP NAME: Viper CLASS: Frigate SURVIVORS: 18 REACTORS: 100% 5% XX BATTERIES: 75 75 68 XX BANKS: XX XX ch .. XX TUBES: ld XX LAUNCHERS: XX .. SHIELDS: XX 70% 1% 18% XX XX WARP: XX WARP TEMP: |9m LIMIT: 40m WARP POWER: 0 OTHER POWER: 262 RESIDUAL POWER: -6 The above scan reveals that the Klingon Frigate, Viper is heavily damaged. All "XX" markers show the systems that are completely non-functional. The Viper still has two working phasers, one is charged and one is discharged. One torpedo tube is still functional and is currently loaded and one probe launcher is undamaged but unloaded. Three of the six shields are completely destroyed, one is in good shape and two are very weak. The warp drive has been destroyed with it's temperature falling to zero. With the warp drive eliminated, there is not any warp power. The reactors are providing 262 units of power but the ship still used -6 units of battery power last cycle to keep the remaining shields up. Examples: damage status damage scan viper RANGE: RANGE: RANGE: DISPLAY: DISPLAY: DISPLAY: SCAN RANGE: SCAN RANGE: SCAN RANGE: range display scan Any of these commands will set the position display range. The position display is always in the upper right corner of the screen. The display show the location of all ships by placing the first two letters of the ships name on the display along with any active torpedoes or probes. The range specified will control the magnification of the position display and only objects within this range will be displayed. - 9 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation Within the position display, the "<>" in the center indicates the location of your ship. On the monochrome monitor, all enemy object will be displayed "intensified" and all ally objects "normal". On the color monitor, all enemy objects will be "bright red" and all ally objects will be "Yellow". Examples: range 15000 display 15000 scan 15000 FIRE PHASERS: FIRE PHASERS: FIRE PHASERS: [Fire] Phasers [SPREAD] Fire [ALL] Phasers [SPREAD] [Fire] Phasers [SPREAD] This command is used to fire one or more of your ship's phasers. Phasers will hit the target instantaneously but weaken with distance. The spread is the width of the phaser shot. The wider the area, the weaker the hit but you may damage more objects. The spread may be from 10 to 45 degrees and the list is which banks are to fire. Examples: fire phasers 1 2 3 spread 10 fire all phasers 45 phaser all 45 LOCK BANKS: LOCK BANKS: LOCK BANKS: Lock Banks [ON] Lock All Banks [ON] Lock Banks [ON] When you fire your ship's phasers, they must be pointing at the target if you expect to hit anything. The "lock banks" command allows you to keep one or all of the phaser banks pointed at a specified target at all times. Examples: lock banks on zantha lock all banks on agena lock banks 1 2 and 3 on bismark STATUS BANKS: STATUS BANKS: STATUS BANKS: [Status] Banks This command will display the current state of the phaser banks. Since the phasers automatically recharge over time after firing, you may wish to know how long until they are full charged. - 10 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation BANK STATUS: Bank Level Control Mark Status Target 1 100% locked 57 charged Bluefin 2 33% locked 57 drained Bluefin 3 67% manual 180 drained ... 4 .. damaged ... ..... .. 5 .. damaged ... ..... .. The above tube status display is from a Klingon Frigate which has five phaser banks. The first two banks are locked on the Orion ship, Bluefin that is currently at mark 57 degrees. The first bank is fully charged and ready for firing once the Bluefin is in phaser range. Bank two is currently drained and will not be ready for a number of cycles as indicated by the charge level. The third bank is set to a fixed mark of 180 degrees which means it is always turned toward the rear of the ship. The last two tubes have both been damaged and will not be of any further use. Examples: status banks banks FIRE TORPEDOES: FIRE TORPEDOES: FIRE TORPEDOES: [Fire] Torpedoes Fire [ALL] Torpedoes This is the command to use to fire the torpedoes. Torpedoes travel at a specific velocity and will not hit a target unless the torpedo comes within it's proximity of a ship. Locking the torpedo tubes on a ship does not guarantee hitting it. Also refer to the "load tubes" command. Examples: fire torpedo 1 2 3 fire all torpedoes torp all LOCK TUBES: LOCK TUBES: LOCK TUBES: Lock [All] Tubes [ON] Lock Tubes [ON] Like the phaser banks, the torpedo tubes must point at the target you are trying to hit. The "lock tubes" command allows you to "lock" one or all tubes on a specified target. Examples: lock tubes on eagle lock tubes 4 5 6 7 on talon lock all tubes on bluefin - 11 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation TURN TUBES: TURN TUBES: TURN TUBES: TURN BANKS: TURN BANKS: TURN BANKS: Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of these commands. STATUS TUBES: STATUS TUBES: STATUS TUBES: [Status] Tubes This command will display the current state of the torpedo tubes. The torpedo tubes, like the phasers, will be automatically reloaded after firing, although they must be charged before the torpedo may be loaded. TUBES STATUS: Tube Level Control Mark Content Prox Target 1 0% locked 95 mkvii 500 Eagle 2 100% locked 95 empty .. Eagle 3 33% manual 135 empty .. ... 4 ... damaged ... ..... .. ... The above tube status display is from a Federation Destroyer which has four torpedo tubes. The first two tubes are locked on the Romulan ship, Eagle that is currently at mark 95 degrees. The first tube contains a "mkvii" class torpedo with it's proximity fuse set to 500. Tube two is currently empty but the level indicates it will be loaded during the next cycle. The third tube is set to a fixed mark of 135 degrees and will not be ready to fire for a number of cycles since the charge level is now only 33 percent. Tube number four has been damaged and is of no further use. Unlike the phaser banks which are ready once they reach a level of 100 percent, the torpedo tubes are not ready until the following cycle. Examples: status tubes tubes LOAD TUBES: LOAD TUBES: LOAD TUBES: Load [All] Tubes [Proximity] Load Tubes [Proximity] Initially the torpedo tubes are not enabled for loading. This command starts the loading process or allows you to changes the proximity of the torpedoes loaded after issuing this order. The proximity is the distance the torpedo must be from a ship before it will detonate. The minimum and maximum proximity depends on the class of torpedo. - 12 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation Examples: load tubes prox 500 load tubes 1 2 3 350 load all tubes prox 425 UNLOAD TUBES: UNLOAD TUBES: UNLOAD TUBES: Unload All Tubes Unload Tubes This order will remove the current torpedoes, if any, from the tubes and allow new torpedoes to be loaded. This would allow a new proximity torpedo to be loaded without firing the current torpedoes although you would still have to wait for the tubes to be charged. Examples: unload tubes 1 2 3 unload all tubes DISABLE TUBES: DISABLE TUBES: DISABLE TUBES: DISABLE BANKS: DISABLE BANKS: DISABLE BANKS: Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of these commands. ENABLE TUBES: ENABLE TUBES: ENABLE TUBES: ENABLE BANKS: ENABLE BANKS: ENABLE BANKS: Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of these commands. FIRE PROBES: FIRE PROBES: FIRE PROBES: [Fire] Probes [AT] [Fire] Probes [Course] Fire [All] Probes [AT] Fire [All] Probes [Course] Once the probe launchers have been loaded, this command is how you launch your probes. Unlike torpedoes, the probes target or course is set when launched. Probes may also be controlled after they have been launched using the "lock" and "turn" commands, or prematurely exploded using the "destruct" command. Examples: fire probes 1 2 course 180 probe all at agena probe all course 180 - 13 - Begin A Tactical Starship Simulation TURN PROBES: TURN PROBES: TURN PROBES: LOCK PROBES: LOCK PROBES: LOCK PROBES: Please refer to the Advanced Simulations Manual for a detailed description of these commands. LOAD PROBES: LOAD PROBES: LOAD PROBES: LOAD LAUNCHERS: LOAD LAUNCHERS: LOAD LAUNCHERS: Load Launchers [Proximity] [Time]