Space Trek - Lost?

[+adamantyr]

Hi all,

 

I have an interesting challenge for those of us who have been in the 99'er community for a long time... say back into the 90's.

 

Way back in the 90's, I had a game in TI Extended BASIC called "Space Trek". It was essentially a larger more robust version of TI Trek, loosely based on a Trek game I had seen in a magazine for the TRS-80 Color Computer.

 

The display window was in the center of the screen, with two rails of output on the left and right. Unlike TI-Trek, the enemies could cloak and move around a little, and even fire a torpedo. You also had a computer that could give you exact torpedo courses and phaser energy amounts. (Which kind of broke the game, to be honest... it made it WAY too easy.) It required 32k expansion and used up most of the memory.

 

Anyway, I have a copy of this game in my archives, but it is my 2.0 version, where I made radical redesigns to the display and graphics and made it disk-based for games. I would really like to find my original 1.0 version, I'm kicking myself I didn't keep a copy around...

 

I DID upload it, though, to a TI BBS back in the 90's. I don't remember which one it was, though. Has anyone seen a game like this in any of the BBS archives?

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

I'm trying to log on to Hidden Reef right now, but apparently someone else had the same idea. =) It's a single-channel BBS so if someone else is on, I'm S-O-L...

[Opry99er]

On heatwave, the closest one I can find is one called STARTRKARC, which is EA5 executable... I'm guessing that's not it... I'm still looking

[Opry99er]

On the Reef, there's a file called "TITREK"... It indicates that it is programmed in a BASIC syntax, so it's definitely not the cartridge version.....

[Opry99er]

Those are the only ones I could find....

 

were you a member of a User Group back then? If so, perhaps we could scour the UG files in order to find it... If it was uploaded to a BBS, perhaps it was downloaded by someone creating a compendium/collection?

 

Have you checked the TIGAMEBASE by Ox?

[+adamantyr]

I've checked the TI Game Base, it's not there. I need to probably go through the user group archives by hand...

 

On the plus side, I did find a PDF scan of the original Color Computer magazine (May 1983) that had the CoCo version! Which is what my TI version kind of looked like. Ah, old computer magazines are so fun to read... waxing nostalgic here...

 

http://archive.org/details/color-computer-magazine-1983-05

 

Adamantyr

[+adamantyr]

No need to look around on BBS'es... I'm working on converting Space Trek to the TI-99/4a directly. The game has some surprising substantial differences from TI-Trek in implementation that should be interesting to play. (Uses ratio course calculations instead of trigonometry, actually runs in real-time, etc.)

 

Adamantyr

[JamesD]

If you intend to port a Trek game, you might check out some of the MC-10 ports.

TREKIII7.TXT is based on one of the best versions I've seen.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/TRS80MC10Club/files/G-Soft/

[+adamantyr]

If you intend to port a Trek game, you might check out some of the MC-10 ports.

TREKIII7.TXT is based on one of the best versions I've seen.

http://tech.groups.y...b/files/G-Soft/

 

Wow, that is a very interesting Trek game indeed... with a 3-dimensional galaxy (8x8x3) and a mission to catalog planets as WELL as destroy enemy warships. Mind you, that is some crazy BASIC design... he stores almost all the data in one giant linear array?

 

I also see the group has a listing for the Quest game from Aardvark software, awesome! I was thinking if I could just find ANY version of that, I could re-create it on the TI. (Preferably in Extended BASIC...)

 

I'm keen on converting Space Trek first right now, which is proving a challenge... I've found a few bugs, and had to make some adjustments but it should be a faithful version of the original game. (Which is WAY harder than TI-Trek, by early judging...)

 

Adamantyr

[JamesD]

Wow, that is a very interesting Trek game indeed... with a 3-dimensional galaxy (8x8x3) and a mission to catalog planets as WELL as destroy enemy warships. Mind you, that is some crazy BASIC design... he stores almost all the data in one giant linear array?

 

I also see the group has a listing for the Quest game from Aardvark software, awesome! I was thinking if I could just find ANY version of that, I could re-create it on the TI. (Preferably in Extended BASIC...)

 

I'm keen on converting Space Trek first right now, which is proving a challenge... I've found a few bugs, and had to make some adjustments but it should be a faithful version of the original game. (Which is WAY harder than TI-Trek, by early judging...)

 

Adamantyr

LOL, yeah, it is way more difficult than other versions. This was actually one of the first Trek games I got to play. Someone altered the code and renamed it 'BRADSTAR'. To this day I wonder if the version I got to play was better.

 

You can find info about several versions on the web. STAR TREK III.3,III.4, and III.5 for various machines. The MC-10 version is recent and the shorter line length of the MC-10 and graphics limitations may have caused some bugs to be introduced.

 

The original version was for the TRS-80 Model I which you can view and play here:

http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/level1/entry6_preview.html

 

Instruction for the Atari version (Distributed by Adventure International):

http://retrobits.net/atari/aitrek.shtml

 

Pictures of Tandy CoCo version (which was supposedly the best version):

http://www.lcurtisboyle.com/nitros9/startrek3.html

Edited June 1, 2013 by JamesD

[JamesD]

You could also try to duplicate the VCS version of Star Trek called Stellar Track.

[+adamantyr]

Nice ideas. I definitely want to finish Space Trek though. I'm nearly done too.

 

I'll say this, the game is VERY different from TI-Trek in structure and in gameplay. Some notes:

• Time actually counts down in real-time as well as by actions, which means quick responses are important.
  
• There's no "warp" in that you can jump quadrants, instead you have to move sector by sector and cross the quadrant boundaries to move... essentially warp factor is just the number of squares to move
  
• Instead of using trigonomic functions for courses, the game uses the cardinal and diagonal vectors and then just divides the change by a decimal. Surpisingly, this works incredibly well and is a lot faster!
  
• Movement is fairly cheap in power, unless shields are raised. Even then, you're not burning a lot of power moving around, 30 units per sector if shields are at 500.
  
• Phasers are INCREDIBLY inefficient to use. Klingon ships have around 200 units of power, but you essentially divide the amount of power expended by distance, which means unless you're right next to them you're expending a LOT of power. Plus a ludicrious random factor is added, adjusting the actual power amount by 0.2 to 1.2. Example math: Klingon 3 sectors away, you fire 300 units of power, which is doubled and then divided by distance. 300 x 2 / 3 = 200, multiplied by 0.2-1.2, assume average of .7, equals 140 units of damage.
  
• All your ship components have the potential to take damage at random, or get upgraded at random as well. Every stardate repairs one unit per system. Movement issues (running into a star) causes a lot of system damage.
  
• Interestingly enough, ONE hit on an unshielded Enterprise ends the game. Brutal.
  
• I've already found some bugs in the code, like a mis-placed variable in the course calculator option. It also appears that there was a plan to make phasers auto-fire if the computer was functioning, but the code just puts a "manual" message if the computer is disabled
  

I've resisted making changes to the game's algorithms, trying to reproduce the exact gameplay of the original. But I have had to make a few changes:

• Quadrants are 16x16 sectors instead of 8x8. I've adjusted the movement cost to keep this balanced to the original
  
• The original game used numeric data arrays to store all quadrant and sector data, and actually didn't NEED a visual display. This is cool, but TI Extended BASIC would be a lot less efficient at this, so I've made it so the active display tracks sector movement, and if you go to Long-Range-Scan it effectively pauses the action
  
• I've renamed a few of the systems to shorter names to fit the smaller screen size. Plus a bit more "Star Trek" in sound, like "Shield Coils", "Impulse Drive", etc.
  
• Okay, the Star Trek geek in me just couldn't handle the warp drive setup, so I added an Impulse drive (which mirrors the original's warp drive) and a REAL warp drive that will take you directly to another quadrant. I replaced the original short range scan command option with this. Power consumption will be higher than impulse, and it can break and be unavailable.
  
• I may change the game so that if shields are brought down, the game doesn't end, but the shields are severely damaged. Also, the game doesn't automatically end if you are shot at with shields down, but it will cause major damage to systems and POTENTIALLY blow the ship up
  

Adamantyr

Edited June 7, 2013 by adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

 

 

You should sell this on eBay in cassette form only.... $9.99 per tape. I'd buy it. =)

[+adamantyr]

You should sell this on eBay in cassette form only.... $9.99 per tape. I'd buy it. =)

 

Eh, it's going to require 32k expansion, so disks only.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Ahhh.... well screw it then... I don't want to play this crap.

[Opry99er]

Okay... I changed my mind... I want to play this crap. =) You should still sell it on eBay...

[jgerrie]

FYI. A working version of Space Trek by Jake Commander for the TRS-80 MC-10 (and VMC-10 Emulator) can be found at:

 

http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jgames.html

 

and

 

https://github.com/jggames/trs80mc10/tree/master/quicktype/Arcade/SpaceGames

 

Thanks all for the discussion of an interesting game and for the links to the program listing.

 

Edited November 11, 2014 by jgerrie

[+adamantyr]

FYI. A working version of Space Trek by Jake Commander for the TRS-80 MC-10 (and VMC-10 Emulator) can be found at:

 

http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jgames.html

 

and

 

https://github.com/jggames/trs80mc10/tree/master/quicktype/Arcade/SpaceGames

 

Thanks all for the discussion of an interesting game and for the links to the program listing.

 

 

Very cool! It is a very well done game... I do need to put up my TI version soon... I keep starting projects and not finishing them, argh!

 

Adamantyr

[Iwantgames:)]

This looks like a game I'd play on my TI

[jgerrie]

The TI has 32 Columns like the MC-10 and an extra 8 lines to play with, so should convert well. Found what I think are a few bugs in the code. I'll try to compile a list and post'em in case they might be helpful.

[S1500]

Was this the one where firing a torpedo took ages to show the animation, and the Klingons laugh at you for missing?

[jgerrie]

The Klingon's make no comments in this version. Animations run pretty fast on my MC-10. Here's a vid:

http://youtu.be/2kW70qVA7SA?list=UUUtXDjPX3EbKaByo5MeFlYg

Here are a few comments about my version of the code modified for the MC-10 (on Github). The comments refer to the code snippet just above them. My MC-10 version has removed all ELSE commands and changed all PLAY commands to simpler SOUND commands. Also all STRING$ commands have been replaced by literal strings, since graphic characters can be input directly from the MC-10's keyboard.

1 C1=1:C2=32

2 IFMID$(M$,C2,1)<>""ANDMID$(M$,C2,1)<>" "THENC2=C2-1:GOTO2

3 PRINTMID$(M$,C1,C2-C1):C1=C2+1:C2=C1+31:IFC1<=LEN(M$)THEN2

4 RETURN

The above is my 32 character word wrap routine. I use it for all printed messages instead of inserting spaces in them. It's also more flexible when it comes to messages that change length, such as when you have STR$() numeric data concatenated with a string.

420 GOSUB1650:H=H+1:IFH<150THEN390

If you need to fiddle to adjust the speed of the game because of differences in your machine from the original Coco version (I'm pretty sure the TI is probably faster), change the 150 value above to something higher if your machine is slower or something lower if your machine is faster. This is the countdown for the "pings" of the view screen, as in the original Star Trek show.

580 GOSUB650:FORH=1TON:GOSUB660:ONZGOTO590,595,594

590 NEXTH:IFF=0THEN640

591 H=H-1:GOTO620

594 TM=H:H=N:NEXTH:H=TM:GOTO680

595 TM=H:H=N:NEXTH:H=TM

The ON/GOTO in line 580 is in the middle of a FOR/NEXT loop. As far as I can tell the jumps to 595 and 594 originally simply jumped out of the FOR/NEXT loop never to return. I just hate not closing nex loops on principle, and they can occassionally cause problems if they occur too often, so I added a temp variable and lines 595 and 594 to gracefully exit the loop before proceeding on to the original GOTO lines.

920 FORI=1TO3:IFC=K(I,1)ANDD=K(I,2)THENK(I,3)=-1:X=C:Y=D:R=320:GOSUB1560:I=3

930 NEXT:GOTO970

There was a rare problem where a photon torpedo hit would seem to register twice (two explosions in a row). I think this may have been a result of not gracefully exiting the for next loop as soon as the "hit" Klingon is found (why keep searching the other locations). So I added I=3 after the torpedo is found to hit one of the possible 3 Klingons that can be in any Quadrant.

950 GOSUB1580:PRINT@320,;:M$="WELL DONE! STARBASE DESTROYED!":GOSUB1:B=B-1:BT=BT-1:M2=4:X=C:Y=D:GOSUB1550

951 PRINT@352,;:M$="THE EXPLOSION HAS THROWN YOU OFF COURSE":GOSUB1:GOSUB1350:PRINT@320,;:C=RND(:W=RND(8)/2:GOTO560

I changed the word "DAMAGE" to explosion. Seemed to make more sense. Also added a pause (GOSUB1350) and a PRINT@ statement after the message, since occassionally more messages might occur that fill the screen beyond the 16 line limit of the MC-10.

1090 PRINT@320,"LAST BATTLE-CRUISER DESTROYED!":GOSUB1700:PRINT"THE ";U$;" IS SAVED!!":GOSUB1700:SOUND75,5:SOUND80,5

1091 PRINT"YOUR EFFICIENCY RATING ="INT(K7/(T-T0)*1000):END

Added a call to line 1700 for a little moise when you win. Seems anti-climatic otherwise. Line 1700 in the original listing seemed to be an orphan anyway, so I tweaked it for a more congratulatory sound.

1100 CD=0:AF=0

1110 A=0:GOSUB380:PRINT@217,"OPT? ";

1120 GOSUB390:IFA>6THEN1120

1130 IFA$=CHR$(13)THENONA+1GOTO330,1290,1150,1160,1170,1280,1140:GOTO1120

1131 PRINT@249,B$(A*2+17);:PRINT@281,B$(A*2+18);:GOTO1120

1140 A=0:AF=0:FORJ=1TO8:FORI=1TO8:CC=INT(Z(I,J)/100)=INT((Z(I,J)-CC*100)/10)

1141 POKE16424+A+(I-1)*2,CC+112:POKE16425+A+(I-1)*2,Z(I,J)-CC*100-O*10+112-64*O:NEXT:A=A+32:NEXT:O=0:GOTO1110

1150 O=0:AF=0:FORA=40TO266STEP32:PRINT@A,Y$;:NEXT:PRINT@41,"STATUS REPORT:";:PRINT@106,"KLINGONS ="KT;

1151 PRINT@138,"STARDATES="INT(T0+TT-T);:PRINT@170,"STARBASES="BT;:GOTO1110

1160 IFK=0THENGOSUB1620:GOTO1110

1161 AF=1:CC=U:A=V:FORF=1TO3:IFK(F,3)<0THEN1270

1162 TM=F:F=3:NEXT:F=TM:W=K(F,1)=K(F,2):GOTO1180

1170 AF=0:PRINT@384,"ENTER START AND END CO-ORDINATES":PRINT@320,;:INPUT"(X,Y,X,Y)";CC,A,W,X

When in the computer OPT mode, if you select TORPEDO DATA and then select any other options beside GUIDED TORPEDO, you garble the variables used to store your TORPEDO firing info. So I added the AF (autofire) variable switch to all the Computer options to turn off the autofire option if you don't select it right after selecting the TORPEDO DATA option. Now GUIDED TORPEDO will only work if you select it right after selecting the TORPEDO DATA opt.

1281 IFAF=0THEN1300

This line is the one added to the TORPEDO subroutine to prevent firing (and possible infinte loop) unless the AF variable is set to 1.

1360 FORZZ=H*.25+1TO1STEP-1:POKE49151,64:SOUND255,1:NEXT:RETURN

The above poke just switches the screen of the MC-10 to orange from regular green to give a flickering screen effect when you are hit.

1520 T=T+.5:PRINT@64,INT(T);:GOSUB1500:IFT>T0+TTTHEN1060

This is the stardate countdown. It used to read T=T+1, but since the Coco is slower than an MC-10 I had to have it count more slowly (by .5s) or the game expected you to play at to high a speed to be fair.

1550 GOSUB1580:S(X,Y)=0:G(L,M)=K*100+B*10+S:RETURN

1560 K=K-1:IFK<0THENK=0:SOUND100,20

1561 GOSUB1550:GOSUB1420:PRINT@R,"KLINGON AT"STR$(INT(X))","RIGHT$(STR$(INT(Y)),2)" DESTROYED";

I added the check in 1560 above to prevent the problem mentioned above of double explosions from torpedo hits on some Klingons. If the hit registered twice the K variable could go to a negative number which really messed up the modification of the 3 digit number (i.e. 100s, 10s, 1s) calculated in 1550 used to store each Quadrant's info G(Klingons, Starbases, Stars).

1640 ZZ=PEEK(17025):PRINTLEFT$(BL$,16895-(PEEK(17024)*256+PEEK(17025)));:POKE17025,ZZ:RETURN

The peeks in this routine above (17024) and 17025 are simply the way for the MC-10 to determine the screen location of the current cursor loation (0-511). It is used to print blanks of a particular length from that location to the 2nd last position of the screen (i.e. to clear the message area but not print in the bottom right corner so as to cause a linefeed for the entire screen).

1700 FORX=50TO70STEP5:SOUNDX,1:NEXT:RETURN

This line was an orphan in my listing of the program. So I modified it and use it in the win routine to provide a little sound.

[+adamantyr]

 

The Klingon's make no comments in this version. Animations run pretty fast on my MC-10. Here's a vid:

http://youtu.be/2kW70qVA7SA?list=UUUtXDjPX3EbKaByo5MeFlYg

Here are a few comments about my version of the code modified for the MC-10 (on Github). The comments refer to the code snippet just above them. My MC-10 version has removed all ELSE commands and changed all PLAY commands to simpler SOUND commands. Also all STRING$ commands have been replaced by literal strings, since graphic characters can be input directly from the MC-10's keyboard.

1 C1=1:C2=32

2 IFMID$(M$,C2,1)<>""ANDMID$(M$,C2,1)<>" "THENC2=C2-1:GOTO2

3 PRINTMID$(M$,C1,C2-C1):C1=C2+1:C2=C1+31:IFC1<=LEN(M$)THEN2

4 RETURN

The above is my 32 character word wrap routine. I use it for all printed messages instead of inserting spaces in them. It's also more flexible when it comes to messages that change length, such as when you have STR$() numeric data concatenated with a string.

420 GOSUB1650:H=H+1:IFH<150THEN390

If you need to fiddle to adjust the speed of the game because of differences in your machine from the original Coco version (I'm pretty sure the TI is probably faster), change the 150 value above to something higher if your machine is slower or something lower if your machine is faster. This is the countdown for the "pings" of the view screen, as in the original Star Trek show.

580 GOSUB650:FORH=1TON:GOSUB660:ONZGOTO590,595,594

590 NEXTH:IFF=0THEN640

591 H=H-1:GOTO620

594 TM=H:H=N:NEXTH:H=TM:GOTO680

595 TM=H:H=N:NEXTH:H=TM

The ON/GOTO in line 580 is in the middle of a FOR/NEXT loop. As far as I can tell the jumps to 595 and 594 originally simply jumped out of the FOR/NEXT loop never to return. I just hate not closing nex loops on principle, and they can occassionally cause problems if they occur too often, so I added a temp variable and lines 595 and 594 to gracefully exit the loop before proceeding on to the original GOTO lines.

920 FORI=1TO3:IFC=K(I,1)ANDD=K(I,2)THENK(I,3)=-1:X=C:Y=D:R=320:GOSUB1560:I=3

930 NEXT:GOTO970

There was a rare problem where a photon torpedo hit would seem to register twice (two explosions in a row). I think this may have been a result of not gracefully exiting the for next loop as soon as the "hit" Klingon is found (why keep searching the other locations). So I added I=3 after the torpedo is found to hit one of the possible 3 Klingons that can be in any Quadrant.

950 GOSUB1580:PRINT@320,;:M$="WELL DONE! STARBASE DESTROYED!":GOSUB1:B=B-1:BT=BT-1:M2=4:X=C:Y=D:GOSUB1550

951 PRINT@352,;:M$="THE EXPLOSION HAS THROWN YOU OFF COURSE":GOSUB1:GOSUB1350:PRINT@320,;:C=RND( :W=RND(8)/2:GOTO560

I changed the word "DAMAGE" to explosion. Seemed to make more sense. Also added a pause (GOSUB1350) and a PRINT@ statement after the message, since occassionally more messages might occur that fill the screen beyond the 16 line limit of the MC-10.

1090 PRINT@320,"LAST BATTLE-CRUISER DESTROYED!":GOSUB1700:PRINT"THE ";U$;" IS SAVED!!":GOSUB1700:SOUND75,5:SOUND80,5

1091 PRINT"YOUR EFFICIENCY RATING ="INT(K7/(T-T0)*1000):END

Added a call to line 1700 for a little moise when you win. Seems anti-climatic otherwise. Line 1700 in the original listing seemed to be an orphan anyway, so I tweaked it for a more congratulatory sound.

1100 CD=0:AF=0

1110 A=0:GOSUB380:PRINT@217,"OPT? ";

1120 GOSUB390:IFA>6THEN1120

1130 IFA$=CHR$(13)THENONA+1GOTO330,1290,1150,1160,1170,1280,1140:GOTO1120

1131 PRINT@249,B$(A*2+17);:PRINT@281,B$(A*2+18);:GOTO1120

1140 A=0:AF=0:FORJ=1TO8:FORI=1TO8:CC=INT(Z(I,J)/100) =INT((Z(I,J)-CC*100)/10)

1141 POKE16424+A+(I-1)*2,CC+112:POKE16425+A+(I-1)*2,Z(I,J)-CC*100-O*10+112-64*O:NEXT:A=A+32:NEXT:O=0:GOTO1110

1150 O=0:AF=0:FORA=40TO266STEP32:PRINT@A,Y$;:NEXT:PRINT@41,"STATUS REPORT:";:PRINT@106,"KLINGONS ="KT;

1151 PRINT@138,"STARDATES="INT(T0+TT-T);:PRINT@170,"STARBASES="BT;:GOTO1110

1160 IFK=0THENGOSUB1620:GOTO1110

1161 AF=1:CC=U:A=V:FORF=1TO3:IFK(F,3)<0THEN1270

1162 TM=F:F=3:NEXT:F=TM:W=K(F,1) =K(F,2):GOTO1180

1170 AF=0:PRINT@384,"ENTER START AND END CO-ORDINATES":PRINT@320,;:INPUT"(X,Y,X,Y)";CC,A,W,X

When in the computer OPT mode, if you select TORPEDO DATA and then select any other options beside GUIDED TORPEDO, you garble the variables used to store your TORPEDO firing info. So I added the AF (autofire) variable switch to all the Computer options to turn off the autofire option if you don't select it right after selecting the TORPEDO DATA option. Now GUIDED TORPEDO will only work if you select it right after selecting the TORPEDO DATA opt.

1281 IFAF=0THEN1300

This line is the one added to the TORPEDO subroutine to prevent firing (and possible infinte loop) unless the AF variable is set to 1.

1360 FORZZ=H*.25+1TO1STEP-1:POKE49151,64:SOUND255,1:NEXT:RETURN

The above poke just switches the screen of the MC-10 to orange from regular green to give a flickering screen effect when you are hit.

1520 T=T+.5:PRINT@64,INT(T);:GOSUB1500:IFT>T0+TTTHEN1060

This is the stardate countdown. It used to read T=T+1, but since the Coco is slower than an MC-10 I had to have it count more slowly (by .5s) or the game expected you to play at to high a speed to be fair.

1550 GOSUB1580:S(X,Y)=0:G(L,M)=K*100+B*10+S:RETURN

1560 K=K-1:IFK<0THENK=0:SOUND100,20

1561 GOSUB1550:GOSUB1420:PRINT@R,"KLINGON AT"STR$(INT(X))","RIGHT$(STR$(INT(Y)),2)" DESTROYED";

I added the check in 1560 above to prevent the problem mentioned above of double explosions from torpedo hits on some Klingons. If the hit registered twice the K variable could go to a negative number which really messed up the modification of the 3 digit number (i.e. 100s, 10s, 1s) calculated in 1550 used to store each Quadrant's info G(Klingons, Starbases, Stars).

1640 ZZ=PEEK(17025):PRINTLEFT$(BL$,16895-(PEEK(17024)*256+PEEK(17025)));:POKE17025,ZZ:RETURN

The peeks in this routine above (17024) and 17025 are simply the way for the MC-10 to determine the screen location of the current cursor loation (0-511). It is used to print blanks of a particular length from that location to the 2nd last position of the screen (i.e. to clear the message area but not print in the bottom right corner so as to cause a linefeed for the entire screen).

1700 FORX=50TO70STEP5:SOUNDX,1:NEXT:RETURN

This line was an orphan in my listing of the program. So I modified it and use it in the win routine to provide a little sound.

 

 

Excellent work! I really like the video, I've never seen the game running... my brother and I typed it in when we were kids, but we predictably made syntax errors that caused it not to run, and we never bothered to really try and fix it. Plus it was originally written for regular TRS-80 BASIC, not Extended Color Basic, which required some updates that were published in a later issue.

 

I like the scrolling color characters on the bottom... that is something I don't presently have in the TI version.

 

The TI version is a little different in implentation in places. One aspect it lacks which I do like in the original version is that your local scanner can go out and you're effectively blind in a quadrant until it's repaired. This is difficult to do on the TI because I'd have to really design the game so that the tactical map can be stored "off screen" and displayed quickly... and the TI does not have integers, only numerics, which take 8 bytes all the time.

 

I just tested my code and there's a few bugs to hunt down... two Klingons just knocked the shields down from 300 to nothing, seems excessive!

 

Adamantyr

[jgerrie]

 

I just tested my code and there's a few bugs to hunt down... two Klingons just knocked the shields down from 300 to nothing, seems excessive!

 

Adamantyr

 

Yes there are always tweaks and modifications that cry out for implementation...

 

1285 C=CC:IFRND(10)>9THENC=C+.5:IFC>=9THENC=1

For example, I changed the GUIDED torpedo routine to misfire on a 1 in 10 chance, just to moderate this lazy option. There has to be some disadvantages for relying on computers for everything!

[+adamantyr]

 

 

Yes there are always tweaks and modifications that cry out for implementation...

 

1285 C=CC:IFRND(10)>9THENC=C+.5:IFC>=9THENC=1

For example, I changed the GUIDED torpedo routine to misfire on a 1 in 10 chance, just to moderate this lazy option. There has to be some disadvantages for relying on computers for everything!

 

 

Not bad, I like that! With my warp drive, I added in a "flux" that deposits you in a random location...

 

Did you notice how insane the phaser power calcualtions are in the game? I couldn't believe how awful it is... you literally DON'T want to use phasers ever unless you are right next to a Klingon. The power wastage is otherwise nuts. I'm debating altering that...

 

Adamantyr