Space Trek: TI-99/4a version

[+adamantyr]

That's not a tweak, that's a whole major feature! Also would require a tractor beam, state tracking, etc.

 

The better approach to make the time less of a stress factor was to alter how time depletes. I noticed in my code re-write I hadn't added any time burn on warp drive, so I've put that in. I also increased time depletion for computer tasks over manual, so I'll need to play a game through and see how time burns down. I also want to make sure higher levels are still winnable even with less time alloted.

One other change I'm making is lowering the power of Klingons. The original game had 8x8 size quadrants, which meant more often than not, you were maybe 1-3 spaces away from them. This made phasers a much more viable option, since the amount of power applied to each Klingon is effectively divided by distance. In a 16x16 quadrant though, the average distance is closer to 8-10 spaces, which leads to the "use phasers, find a starbase to refuel" tactic which is kind of lame...

 

I thought about adjusting the original formula, but I have to admit the math does work... And I'll just have the Klingons power go up by level instead, so at level 5, they are the same strength as the original Coco game. I also limited the number of Klingons per quadrant to 5 instead of 9. This decreases processing time in various areas, and I don't think it will make the harder levels too "easy", not at all...

Edited November 24, 2014 by adamantyr

[+adamantyr]

Heads up, this is now available on the TI Game Shelf!

[Opry99er]

Fascinating thread!! I totally missed this one.

 

I'll be DLing soon and giving it a go!

[Opry99er]

Cooool....

 

Would like to see a TNG version with the Borg.

[JamesD]

FWIW, I think the CoCo version is based somewhat on Time Trek for the TRS-80 Model I/III

[+adamantyr]

FWIW, I think the CoCo version is based somewhat on Time Trek for the TRS-80 Model I/III

 

Ah, very interesting! I downloaded the manual and I believe you're right. Space Trek has a number of noticeable improvements.

 

Funny enough, I just did a small revision to the game to make it so that Klingons will attack star bases and destroy them if they happen to be in or enter a quadrant with one. I don't think the code is up on Game Shelf yet; I asked Vorticon to help me test it out.

[Opry99er]

Gave it a bit of a playthrough tonight. Excellent little game, Adam! I can see myself getting stuck on this one until I complete a game. For now, I've destroyed a couple Klingons, gotten hit pretty badly and have completed some repairs.

 

Now I can't exit from the Computer Terminal for some reason....

[Opry99er]

[+adamantyr]

Just enter 0 and it should take you back to the command screen.

[Opry99er]

Yea, figured it out. Played for 30 minutes or so last night. Killed 2 of 25 Klingons the first time (and ended up getting killed), 9 the second time (ran out of star dates)... Using scanners and warp drive took a little getting used to...

 

I like the targeting engine for torpedos. First game I tried to line myself up directly in line to fire a shot. Got beat up pretty badly. Once I figured out the floating point targeting, it was game on.

[Opry99er]

Woo hoo!! 18 of 25 Klingons bested, ran out of star dates...

[+adamantyr]

Hmm... you seem to be running out of time a lot! Two questions... are you waiting a LONG time between commands, or are you using the warp drive frequently?

 

Currently, using the warp drive always burns a star date, no matter what distance you go. I know this so in my play-testing I often use impulse if I'm close to a quadrant edge to move. That's why it's good to have someone ELSE playtest for you, who isn't fully aware of the mechanics.

 

I was considering changing it so that warp would just burn normal clock time instead... That may solve the time-consumption problem you're having.

[Opry99er]

I didnt really leave my computer on longer than a minute or so without a move. mostly they were one after the other.

 

On warp... It seems as though using the warp drive SHOULDN'T cost more time, which is the benefit of warp.

 

 

My $.02

 

Great game, dude.

[JamesD]

So, any question as to why such a simple game lead to the development of Star Raiders?

I loved Star Trek III.4 on the TRS-80 Model I

[+adamantyr]

Updated with my latest version, 2.1! You can get the ZIP file on the first post.

[+adamantyr]

Found one small bug myself in playing; torpedoes don't hit targets directly adjacent. This was because it didn't start checking for a hit until after it had moved once.

 

Please let me know if you find any other bugs!

[+adamantyr]

Ugh, found a more serious bug; damage over time threw a SYNTAX ERROR because an array reference wasn't updated. Ever wish you had intellisense in Extended BASIC?

 

I also found that because warp drive was advancing the star date, a magnetic storm occurring at the same time froze the game because the display wasn't updated.

 

I'll be updating to version 2.2 shortly, as these are serious enough to break the gameplay.

Edited May 20, 2016 by adamantyr

[+adamantyr]

Version 2.2 is uploaded! It was mostly tweaks to the display and syntax error corrections. I also remove star date advancement when the warp drive is used. Now you can easily get ahead of the clock if you're efficient.

 

Magnetic storms will slow you WAY down though, so it all balances out. A brief story...

 

I just moved into a quadrant with three klingons when a storm struck. AND at the same time my phasers went offline. I thought I had the positions of the klingons already sussed out but to my surprise my torpedo shots kept hitting nothing! So I finally moved my ship up away from the noise to wait out the storm... only to have my impulse drive fail but phasers restored. So I then took some guesses on locations and managed to destroy a single klingon with manual targeting. Then the storm ended but before I could do anything the star date clock rolled over and the remaining two klingons attacked, one shooting a torpedo at my unshielded ship... I was spared the indignity of an exploding Enterprise by a SYNTAX ERROR caused by a revision to the explosion subcommand that hadn't been updated.

[+adamantyr]

The problem with active development... you always find new things to tweak!

 

I am working on a version 2.4 now. As I was playing, I realized that Guided Torpedo is just way too powerful... every quadrant I was in, it was just foolish to use anything else.

 

So now how it will work is:

- The Enterprise has two torpedo tubes. It can only fire two torpedoes per "round", manual or guided. If you have suffered some damage one tube may be all that is available

- Manual torpedoes cycle through available tubes so you get as many as two launches per round.

- Guided torpedoes will only fire as many as there are active tubes

 

I'm also removing all time increments except for when it is waiting for the player to take action. So the actions you take have NO bearing on the clock. The sole exception to this is when you dock at a star base; this now forces a star date advancement as it takes that long for the Enterprise to restock and get repairs. That also means "camping" at a Starbase isn't a viable strategy.

[+adamantyr]

Okay, Version 2.4 is up for download!

 

One additional change to what I listed above... You no longer move adjacent to Star Bases to dock with them, you move into them via impulse drive. This removes a lot of extra time-consuming checks for the Star Base around you.

 

Star Bases also no longer offers protection against attacks either, since Klingons now explicitly target Star Bases if they are present anyway.

[+adamantyr]

I think I can call this game "done", other than bug fixes.

 

A few more additions I forgot to mention... there is now a "self-destruct" option on the computer terminal, if you're in a situation where you're unable to win. The best example of this is if you run out of power; you technically don't lose the game but your ship is effectively dead in space and eventually time will expire or Klingons will warp into quadrant and destroy you.

[RickyDean]

I think I can call this game "done", other than bug fixes.

 

A few more additions I forgot to mention... there is now a "self-destruct" option on the computer terminal, if you're in a situation where you're unable to win. The best example of this is if you run out of power; you technically don't lose the game but your ship is effectively dead in space and eventually time will expire or Klingons will warp into quadrant and destroy you.

Kobayashi Maru

[+adamantyr]

Kobayashi Maru indeed!

 

I'm working on 2.5, which is all bug fixes... nothing too bad, the main one is that there was no detection for when the last Klingon is destroyed. So it literally would force you to wait out the clock to end the game.

 

Would be nice to hear if people are discovering new errors? Obviously no one is playing it to the end or I'd have heard about that bug already.

[+Ksarul]

I almost never get enough free time to try to play it to the end--I'm happy enough when I get enough time to blast a few Klingons before life tears me away again. . .I do have a lot of fun with it though, which is a good thing in and of itself.

[+Vorticon]

So here are some issues:

• You have to enter the starbase square to dock, not move adjacent to it, which is not logical captain
• The magnetic storms are too frequent and last too long! I actually abandoned the game after the second storm because it was getting boring since I was simply impulsing blindly around.
• Sometimes the guided warp does not work even if the target quadrant is valid. This is intermittent.
• This is not a bug but a request - could we replace the numeric orders with meaningful letters? W for warp, C for computer, I for impulse, P for phasers, T for torpedoes etc... Trying to remember all the numeric codes is a real pain.

I guess you now have enough to chew on