Star Trek: The Klingon War (Version 04.04.93)
By: James S. Sellers
GEnie Address: J.SELLERS2
4 April 1993
Star Trek: The Klingon War (ST:TKW) is a Star Trek battle simulation.
As Captain of the USS Enterprise, a battlecruiser class starship,
your mission is to utilize all your starship and starbase assets to
destroy an Klingon invasion fleet. You command a top rated crew that
will carry out your orders in controlling weapons, shields, sensors,
displays, warp and impulse drives, probes, and navigation.
Currently the Federation is at war with the Klingon Empire. The war does
not go well for the Federation. Many Federation Starships have been
lost. The Federation has fewer ships but they are well armed and
protected with tritanium hull armor and defensive force shields. The
Klingon force consists of smaller and quicker attack vessels with a
greater firing range. Odds are normally 3 to 1 against you in each
battle.
STARBASE:
Protect your Starbase. You can only do so much self repair and your Main
Power Banks will not last forever. Watch for Klingons in quadrant 1.
Do not let these invaders get to your Starbase.
DOCKING AT STARBASE:
Visits to the Starbase should be made when you need battle damage
repaired, power banks recharged or photon torpedoes reloaded. While
repairs are being made time is greatly sped up.
WEAPONS SYSTEMS:
The Enterprise is equipped with two weapons systems; Phasers and Photon
Torpedoes.
Phasers:
There are three banks of phaser weapons. Each phaser bank will fire 1
phaser shot per firing sequence. In order to use the phaser weapon
you must first "ARM PHASERS" from the main screen or go to the weapons
screen and individually power up each phaser bank. There may be
occasions when you would want to conserve power by not firing or
recharging all phaser banks. Phasers will destroy any target if you
can hit it enough. Phaser energy output can be controlled. Higher
energy output will cause more damage but will also drain the phaser bank
quicker. Photon torpedoes will do more damage per hit.
Photon Torpedo:
Photon torpedoes create a matter/anti-matter explosion. Anything not
protected by force shields or special armor plating will be destroyed.
The Enterprise loadout is 100 photon torpedoes. During battle some
of them may be damaged and rendered unusable. Photon torpedoes are
reloaded at the Starbase. Both weapon systems can be damaged beyond your
crew's ability to repair. The weapons guidance system consist of tar-
geting and magnification controls. You must TARGET THE ENEMY VESSEL
BEFORE FIRING or else you will just fire the weapon off into empty
space. The magnification control makes targeting easier.
SENSORS:
The ship is equipped with sensing devices that are linked in with the
main computer. The sensors can determine specific energy levels and
damage inflicted on enemy ships. This information is displayed on
your main view screen as long as the sensors are operational and
activated.
Active Sensors:
Active Sensors are used for detecting cloaked Klingon warships. The
Active Sensing devices are mounted along the perimeter of the saucer
section. When in use they emit a strong sensor beam that is continuously
analyzed for anomalies in nearby space. Once a anomaly is detected, a
concentrated active sensor scan is directed into that area. The main
computer projects an overlay of the scanned area onto the weapons
officer's display screen. The overlay is used for targeting.
Passive Sensors:
Passive sensors do not emit sensing beams. They are collectors. The
information collected is processed through the main computer and
displayed when requested.
SHIELDS:
Also identified as deflectors. Shields are an energy barrier that absorb
and deflect hostile energy and objects away from your ship. Shields will
gradually wear down and more energy will get through them to cause
damage. Make sure your shields are fully charged before going into
battle and while in battle recharge them as necessary. If your shields
become too damaged they will not be able to recharge. If your shields go
down in mid battle you should consider evasion tactics immediately.
The current shield power level is displayed in the center of the shields
activation switch.
PROBES:
Probes are used to collect intelligence about the presence of Klingon
warships. Launch a probe into each system you patrol. Information
collected by the probes will be displayed on your Tactical Scanner
screen. With the use of probes, you can assess Klingon strengths and
weaknesses and plan your battle strategy.
TACTICAL SCANNER:
Displays sector, quadrants, your location, starbase, probe placement, and
Klingon ships the probes have detected. The Tactical Scanner displays
two screens. The first is an overview of the entire sector. The second
is a quadrant view that shows specific locations of probes, systems,
Klingon ships, and your location.
NAVIGATION:
The Navigator's position is used to move from one star system to another.
The destination system is selected by pointing and clicking with the
mouse. Known information about the system will be displayed at the top of
the screen.
You must also select the warp speed. If you do not have enough energy to
maintain the warp field at the desired warp speed to your destination,
you will not be able to engage the warp engines.
While in transit from one system to another real time is greatly sped up.
Warp engines are very vulnerable to battle damage so keep an eye on warp
drive availability (43% and greater). You may find a need to be somewhere
else fast and no means of getting there until your crew can fix the warp
drive. It doesn't take a graduate from Starfleet Academy to see that this
could be disastrous during a battle.
HELM:
The helm is used to move short distances to the starbase and for
maneuvering during battle. To select a course of travel you must first
click on "TRACKING". This will cause the helmsman's screen to display the
Enterprise and Klingon ships as points. The starbase will be displayed
as a small gray square if its in your current star system and if you are
close enough to it. From where the points are plotted you can tell the
speed and direction of travel of your ship and any Klingon ships that are
in tracking range.
The "AUTO" control is used for automatic piloting and will set a direct
course to the Starbase. "AUTO" can be used in "VIEW" and "TRACKING"
modes. Clicking on "VIEW" will turn off the "TRACKING" screen and a
normal view screen will take its place. Your ship will continue on its
present course. If your ship has suffered battle damage the AUTO will
require monitoring to ensure docking.
Within the "TRACKING" screen is a gray frame. To travel beyond your
current tracking screen you must position the red + outside the frame.
When the + is positioned within the frame, the Enterprise will travel to
that point and stop. The Enterprise will move until it reaches the + or
runs out of impulse energy. The impulse engines are recharged from the
Helm position from energy stored in the main power banks.
MAIN COMPUTER SCREEN:
The Main Computer Screen is used to access most functions of the ship.
Status report, arm weapon systems, scanners, sensors, shields, engineer-
ing, damage report, launch probe, auxillary power and communications can
all be accessed from the main computer screen.
RECHARGE:
The main screen's "RECHARGE" button is used for recharging the Phasers (if
they are activated) and the Shields.
AUXILIARY POWER:
During the course of the simulation you may want to move your available
power to other systems. Such as from Phasers to Warp or perhaps Warp to
Shields. This switch will draw selected power back into the main
power banks for later redistribution. Be careful when you use this, you
wouldn't want to drain the shields when you are under attack... unless
you are diverting the shield energy to the warp drive to make your escape.
LOG (F5 key):
Shows status of Captain's war career and current mission statistics. You
access this screen with the F5 function key.
REVIEW ORDERS (F6 key):
For another look at your orders depress the F6 function key. The orders
will be displayed until another keypress is made or mouse button is
clicked on.
SIMULATION CONTROLS:
Before the simulation begins you have several game options to consider:
Start New Game
Restore a Saved Game
Quit
Unit History
If New Game is selected you must decide on the game parameters.
TRAINING: Use this feature to learn how the starship's systems and
controls work. You cannot be destroyed while in training mode.
Maximum Klingons: Enables you to select a reduced or maximum amount of
enemy warships. The minimum is 10 and the maximum is 30 Klingon vessels.
Simulation Level: Here you have 3 options, Ensign, Lieutenant, and Captain.
Ensign is the easy level for beginners. The Klingon ships do not fire as
much at this level. When you've mastered all the game controls move up in
level for more competitive play.
KEYBOARD CONTROLS USED DURING THE GAME:
A - Abort Game. Aborts game in progress and allows you to start over.
Q - Quits and goes to Desktop.
R - Restore a Saved Game.
S - Save current game. All current game variables will be saved in a file
called GAME.00?. Information is saved and the game continues.
SPACEBAR - Toggles Pause on and off.
Function Key Commands:
F1 - Main Computer
F2 - Weapons
F3 - Navigation
F4 - Helm
F5 - Log
F6 - Review Orders
SIMULATION NOTES:
Controls: Controls are selected by POINTING AND HOLDING DOWN the left
mouse button until your command is accepted. The right button will
de-select. The keyboard commands are listed above and can be used while
the simulation is in progress.
Monitor: Adjust your brightness for the darkest background and then your
contrast. The game will look much better.
Mouse: If you are having trouble selecting options with your mouse it
may just need a good cleaning (button switches and rollers) mine did.
Battle Sequence: At present, the Klingon ships can do 5 things; fire
disrupters, fire plasma charge, cloak (or uncloak), change course, or do
nothing. While the Klingon is firing or cloaking you cannot use your
controls for that brief period. While the Klingon ship is cloaked it
cannot fire at you, but another Klingon ship may uncloak and resume the
battle while the other ship(s) recharge weapons and shields. For
programming reasons, only 1 Klingon ship will be able to fire at a time.
The Klingon's actions are decided by shield strength, weapons charge,
hull damage, and random numbers. Some ships may seem very hard to kill
and others easy. All can be dangerous if you take too many hits and
your shields go down.
To make the game harder to win, I made the Klingon ships faster and gave
them a longer firing range than the Enterprise. The Enterprise has a max
firing range of 50 and the Klingons max is 50 + random(20). So be
careful when you are closing in for a kill. A Klingon may have you in
firing range well before you have him.
DISCLAIMER:
I've been writing and running this program for months on my ST with no
ill effects. If your system decides to fry while loading or playing
ST:TKW I will not be held responsible.
FREEWARE:
This game is freeware. Feel free to upload it anywhere. Just leave it
as is.
If you want a latest version you'll have to send me $10.00 to cover the
cost of me buying a new disk, disk mailer envelope, postage, and misc.
If you have a modem send me enough cash to cover the phone call (or
$10.00 if the phone cost is less than $10) and I'll upload it to you
at 2400 baud. Don't forget to include your name and phone number.
(Although the game is freeware I won't move for less than ten bucks.)
;)
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Version Notes:
12.07.92 : Second release after a rewrite. Changed Klingon ship
graphics.
12.18.92 : Switched to a later version of GFA Basic (3.5E). Playtester
(R. Gregory) reports less lockups for TOS 1.4. Thanks for the help Rob.
Added Phaser Power Output select and another magnification level.
02.26.93 : Changed graphics. Made larger view screen. Revised aux
power. Killed a bunch of bugs.
03.14.93 : Cleaned up some graphics and currently experiencing a
writers block about what to do next...
04.04.93 : Put in levels of play and trainer mode. Changed scoring
system. Aggressive play is rewarded. Level and probes are used as
score multipliers.
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Programmer's Notes:
Yes, I know some things are not very realistic and "they didn't do that
in the TV show...", I've changed a few things for entertainment value
alone.
This game still isn't completely finished. I still have a few more ideas
that I want to put in (separate missions, more graphics, different
ships, better animation...) and there are a few bugs running around in
there that I'll have to fix.
Remember one thing while playing - you and the Klingons TAKE TURNS.
You can't do anything until its your turn. So don't get frustrated if
your commands are not instantly accepted and acted upon.
Programming is my hobby. You are not under any obligation to send me
shareware money. You can play this game for as long as you want in a
completely guilt free manner.
I want to hear from you. Write me your comments good or bad and let me
know about any BUGS you find. I only know how to play this game "the
right way", I probably haven't tried some weird stuff that you may have.
I'm always working on improving my programs so if you have a good idea
for this game let me know about it.
Mail Address:
James Sellers
332 32nd St.
San Pedro, Ca 90731
Comments and suggestions can be sent through GEnie mail to J.SELLERS2 or
regular mail to the address above. For quick response include your phone
#. The better suggestions may be included in the next update.
Have fun and keep your shields up!