ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º StarQuest v3.60 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Copyright 1995 BBS Consultants, Inc. 919-403-9473 voice SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT The enclosed software program is licensed by BBS Consultants, Inc. to customers for their use only on the terms set forth below. Using the enclosed program indicates your acceptance of these terms. BBS Consultants, Inc. hereby grants you a non-exclusive license to use the enclosed software subject to the terms and restrictions set forth in this Software License Agreement. This software is copyrighted, with all rights reserved. You may not copy or otherwise reproduce any part of the software, except that you may load the software into a computer as an essential step in executing the software on the computer. The original and any back-up copies of the software are to be used only in connection with a single computer. Only one copy of the program may be used at any one time. You may physically transfer the software from one computer to another, provided that the software is used in connection with only one computer at a time and that only one copy of the software is in use at any one time. You may not transfer the software electronically from one computer to another over a network. You may not distribute copies of the software to others. YOU MAY NOT USE, COPY, MODIFY, TRANSFER, SUBLICENSE, RENT, LEASE, CONVEY, TRANSLATE, CONVERT TO ANY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE OR FORMAT OR DECOMPILE OR DISASSEMBLE THE SOFTWARE OR ANY COPY, MODIFICATION OR MERGED PORTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS LICENSE. DISCLAIMER: You use this program at YOUR OWN RISK. The author and/or copyright owner and/or reseller assume absolutely no responsibility for damages either direct or indirect that result from the purchaser either using or failing to use this software in any manner. In no case shall the liability of BBS Consultants, Inc. exceed the license fee paid for the right to use this software or one hundred dollars ($100.00), whichever is greater. PACKING LIST: ============ REGISTER.TXT Please fill it out and mail it in. STARQUES.TPG The program. STAREDIT.TPG Program to edit the configuration. SQ36DOCS.TXT This file. SQLOGO.ANS Opening screen. SQ360HIST.TXT History File. STARINST.TXT Instructions for users (and SysOp). STARUSER.DBF Table of users \ STARUSER.NDX Index for Staruser Table > Created by Starquest.tpg LOCATION.NDX Index for Staruser Table / SQ360.KEY Your key. Without it Starquest will only run from the local console. STARQUEST.TXT Sort file shown to users when they enter the program. Could be previous winners list or the pizza meeting schedule. Edit it, or delete it, as you choose. STARBYE.TXT File displayed to users when the exit StarQuest. Change it to whatever you want or delete it completly. STARCOMM.DBF Table of inter-user communications. SETLMENT.DBF Table of settlements users create. STARBACK.DBF Backup database. STARLINE.DBF Holds info about whether or not a user has read his messages. STARLOG.DBF Log file STARMSGS.DBF Inter-user messages. STARQUES.DBF Table of planets, ports, production, and Starbases. TOPTEN.TXT List of Top Ten players. SQPROMO.TXT Puff piece about how wonderful Star Quest v3.6 is. QUICK INSTALLATION: ================== StarQuest v3.6 is very simple to install. You really only need to create to menu entries. One for players and one for the sysop. For users: ========= Entry: <1>..Play StarQuest multi-user star trader PRIV=0 Key=1 Type=200 Opt Data=[d:][/path/]starques /q For the SysOp: ============= Entry: tarEdit PRIV=255 Key=S Type=200 Opt Data=[d:][/path/]staredit /q That it, log on start playing. OPTIONS: ======= If all you do is set up the basic default game, you're missing most of the potential of making Star Quest v3.6 a hit on your bbs. First, there are two OptData switches. Using: Opt Data=[d:]/path/]starques /q && -S will display the current scores. You could use the text file TOPTEN.TXT just as easily with an Type=1 entry. There is a suttle difference. TOPTEN.TXT is updated each time a user exits the StarQuest whereas calling starques with the -S option displays current scores. TOPTEN.TXT is obsolete and you should rely upon it being there in future upgrades. The second OptData switch is -U. Using: Opt Data=[d:][/path/]starques /q && -U 500 will restrict players to sectors 1 through 500. The default universe size is 125 sectors. This should be a good starting point for most sysops. As the game grows in popularity, you may wish to expand the number of sectors by adding the -U switch. One mistake a lot of SysOps make is thinking that the bigger the universe, the better. This is simply not true. What you want is a universe big enough that users don't bump into each other with every move, yet small enough that they do bump into each other freqently. You'll have to watch game activity closely to get a feel for what the right size is for YOUR users. A good starting point might be 5 to 10 sectors for each active player. If you have 50 active players, a universe of 250 to 500 sectors is probably about right. Orginally, StarQuest was limited to 500 sectors and game was more popular than when the universe size was increased to 2000. Another use of the -U Opt Data would be to create a "bunny" universe of maybe only 25 sectors to allow non-registered players a feel for the game. Since everyone starts in sector 1, the resources of the inter planets quickly become depleated and they won't have much chance at a high score. They'll probably also fall victim to other players quite easily. If they join, they can travel beyond "The Great Barrier" themselves. You may also wish to create a message area for players of Star Quest to leave each other messages. With a little effort, you should be able to arrange meeting times for people to play head-to-head. SYSOP FUNCTIONS: =============== Star Quest does not automatically reset. You must to that manually. Resetting once a month is the most traditional but some SysOp perfer to reset when the high score reaches a certain point. I can't tell you what point that should be. If one or two players get scores such that newer players have no change, the game loses its appeal to the novices. Novices provide subscribtions and you want to keep them interested. The following options are available to you in StarEdit: Add Sectors Make Global StarBase Change User Database Pirates Database System Database Team Database Sector Database Delete Log File List user data to STARQUES.TXT Restart Game With the Add Sectors option, you can make the Universe as big as you desire. Larger does not equal better and you will probably never want to add sectors. Certainly not unless you have well over 500 active players. Make Global StarBase Change allows you to chance such things as: Price for Energy Price of deep sp. fight. Price of Def. Fighters Price for Fleet Repairs Price for Cargoships Stellar Warp Device Kloaking Device Not much reason to change the prices but you have the option. Under the Sector Database option, you can change the price at any Starbase. (You can also change the price of commodities and even the type of planet.) One of the nice things you can do to customize the game is to change the names of the planets and/or Starbases. Add some local flavor by use nearby town or street names. If you have a "theme" bbs, change the names to reflect that theme. Instead of the planet Zorcon 7, change it to "Rocky's House". Player's can name any settlements they create but you could "sell" them vanity names of Starbases and planets. Or, perhaps, name a Starbase after last months high scorer. You can also edit users, teams, list user data, reset the game, or reindex the database. That's about it except that if you think you know Star Quest from an earlier version, you should read the file PROMO.TXT. Star Quest started out a very playable and enjoyable game that build memberships for many TBBS SysOps. In version 3.0 - 3.5 it lost the player interaction that make it one of the best ways to enhance your system. Hopefully, that feeling has been recaptured. Please let us know and thanks for purchasing Star Quest v3.6! MAINTENANCE =========== Not much. Reset the game from time to time. Monthly is probably a good quideline. If you get a "record out of range" error message, delete the two files ending in .NDX and let the program rebuild them. SUPPORT ======= If you purchased the game through GW Associates, call there first. If Pete doesn't know the answer, you can message me in the GWSOFT conference. If you purchased the game direct, contact me at BBS Consultants, Inc. either by voice or e-mail.