basic Manual
VGA Planets(tm) Version 3
PLANETS.EXE Version 3.00
HOST.EXE version 3.14
(0.00)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PLANETS1.DOC
(0.01) ABOUT VERSION NUMBERS
(0.02) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(0.03) REGISTRATION
(1.00) INTRODUCTION TO VGA PLANETS
(1.01) THE SCENARIO
(1.02) HELP!
(1.03) GAME MAIL PACKETS
(1.04) THE HOST.EXE PROGRAM
(1.05) BBS HOST SYSOP
(1.06) INDEPENDENT HOST
(1.07) PLANETS ON ONE COMPUTER
(1.08) PLANETS ON MANY COMPUTERS IN THE SAME BUILDING
(1.09) PLAYING PLANETS FROM THE HOST DIR IN A MULTICOMPUTER GAME
(1.10) PATHS
(1.11) Xmodem and Ymodem
(1.12) Windows
(1.13) Program Crashes
(2.0) PLANETARY ECONOMY
(2.1) MINERALS
(2.2) MINERAL MINES
(2.3) FACTORIES
(2.4) DEFENSE POSTS
(2.5) SUPPLIES
(2.6) TAXES AND POPULATIONS
(2.7) METEOR IMPACTS
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PLANETS2.DOC
(3.00) STARSHIPS
(3.01) TECH LEVELS
(3.02) NEW SHIPS
(3.03) WEAPON BANKS AND FIGHTER BAYS
(3.04) FIGHTERS
(3.05) WEAPON KILLING/DESTRUCTIVE POWER
(3.06) STARSHIP FIX / RECYCLE
(3.07) FUEL
(3.08) CARGO
(3.09) PRIMARY ENEMY
(3.10) SHIP MISSIONS
(3.11) STARSHIP NAVIGATION
(3.12) FUEL
(3.13) REPAIRS IN SPACE
(3.14) COLONIZE MISSION
(3.15) ALCHEMY SHIPS
(3.16) MINE FIELDS
(3.17) ORDER OF COMBAT
(3.18) COMBAT LAWS/RULES
(4.0) STARBASES
(4.1) DEFENSE AND FIGHTERS
(4.2) A BASE'S ROLE IN SHIP BUILDING AND ARMING
(4.3) STARBASE ORDERS
(4.4) PLANETARY / STARSHIP FRIENDLY CODE
(4.5) STARBASE SCANNER
(4.6) STARBASE FIX COMMAND
(5.0) THE STARCHART
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PLANET3.DOC
(6.0) VICTORY CONDITIONS
(6.1) LIST OF STARSHIP TYPES
(6.2) A REVIEW OF THE RACE FLEETS
(6.3) PERSONALIZED RACE NAMES
(6.4) RACE.NM AND THE HOST
(6.5) RACE.NM AND THE REMOTE PLAYER
(6.6) RACE.NM AND THE LOCAL GAME
(6.7) RACE.NM AND BBS SYSOPS
(7.0) STARTING THE GAME
(7.1) STARTING IF YOU ARE NOT HOSTING THE GAME
(7.2) THE GAME FILES ( A BRIEF LIST )
(7.3) LIST OF PLAYER FILES
(7.4) LIST OF ALL THE HOST FILES
(8.0) SUPPORT
(8.1) REGISTRATION
(9.0) NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 3
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PLANET4.DOC
(10.0) RACE ADVANTAGES
(10.01) PLAYER 1 ( The Solar Federation )
(10.02) PLAYER 2 ( The Lizards )
(10.03) PLAYER 3 ( The Bird Men )
(10.04) PLAYER 4 ( The Fascists )
(10.05) PLAYER 5 ( The Privateers )
(10.06) PLAYER 6 ( The Cyborgs )
(10.07) PLAYER 7 ( The Crystal People )
(10.08) PLAYER 8 ( The Evil Empire )
(10.09) PLAYER 9 ( The Robots )
(10.10) PLAYER 10 ( The Rebels )
(10.11) PLAYER 11 ( The Colonies )
(10.12) A QUICK OVERVIEW
(11.0) NATIVE RACE ADVANTAGES
(11.1) HUMANOID
(11.2) BOVINOID
(11.3) REPTILIAN
(11.4) AVIAN
(11.5) AMORPHOUS
(11.6) INSECTOID
(11.7) AMPHIBIAN
(11.8) GHIPSOLDAL
(11.9) SILICONOID
(12.0) NATIVE GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS AND TAXES
(12.1) COLLECTING TAXES FROM NATIVES
(12.2) COLLECTING TAXES FROM COLONISTS
(12.3) TAKING OVER PLANETS WITH COLONISTS
(13.0) DEFENSE AND ATTACKS
(13.1) PLANETARY DEFENSE
(13.2) GROUND WAR
(13.3) SHIP TO SHIP MATH
(13.4) SHIP DAMAGE EFFECTING WEAPONS AND ENGINES
(14.0) SHIP WEAPON AND ENGINE STATS
(15.0) MOUSE DRIVER SCALING FACTORS
(16.0) HCONFIG.EXE
(16.1) CONFIGURE STARSHIP RECYCLE RATE
(16.2) CONFIGURE METEOR IMPACT ODDS
(16.3) CONFIGURE MINE FIELDS
(16.4) CONFIGURE ALCHEMY SHIPS
(17.0) ERROR MESSAGES
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PLANET5.DOC
Appendix A:
Ship hull spec list.
Covers: Federation, Lizards, BirdMen, Fascist and Privateer.
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PLANET6.DOC
Appendix A:
Ship hull spec list.
Covers: Cyborg, Crystalline, Evil Empire, Robots, Colonies and Rebels.
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PLANET7.DOC
Appendix B:
HINTS AND TIPS FROM THE INTERNET
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(0.01) ABOUT VERSION NUMBERS
(0.02) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The game can be played on any IBM compatible with VGA graphics and a 286 or faster CPU with a hard drive.
(0.03) REGISTRATION
Please register the game. This will allow me to continue eating, paying the bills and PROGRAMING. Thanks!
Registered players may play in the same game as unregistered players. Registered players will have a slight tech advantage. If a player decides to register the game they can switch over to the registered version of the game and have easier access to tech levels 7 through 10. The shareware (unregistered) version of the game also allows access to all tech levels, but it takes more work to do so.
Players that give registered copies of the game away will be attacked in the game by the Tim Continuum.
(1.00) INTRODUCTION TO VGA PLANETS
VGA Planets is a graphical multiplayer play by turn war game that simulates combat in space between galactic empires. The game emphasizes mining, colonization and the construction of starships. The players compete against each other economically and militarily on a galactic scale.
Although there is an economic component to the game, it is mainly a tactical and strategic wargame. Although the player with the best economy usually has the best potential to win, it's not the purpose of the game -- and the scoring system reflects this.
The game system allows players to construct their own starships by selecting various components and placing them on a given hull type. This game can handle from two to 11 players. The game is designed to be a BBS or Net game. This game can also be played on one computer alone. The game can be played on any BBS that supports file transfers, with or without the sysop's help. Many people are playing VGA Planets over the NET using Email and UUENCODE.
To begin the game, you are given a planet, a starbase, and two ships. You have to manage your planet's population and resources wisely. You can create more ships and expand your domain through colonization or conquest of neighboring planets. Of course, the other players are attempting to do the same thing.
The game can also be set up so that players start with just freighters and no homeworlds.
VGA Planets can be compared to an 11-player chess game in which all players move all their pieces simultaneously, one turn at a time.
(1.01) THE SCENARIO
Ten years ago a small fleet of freighters left your home world in a quest to find new worlds to colonize. Half way through your journey you lost all contact with fleet command. You then begin to fear the worst, a full scale galactic war may have broken out and your small fleet may be the last of your race.
You left home with four very special ships that were equipped with tech 17 Bussard Ramscoops which gather low grade matter from the interstellar medium and converts it to antimatter fuel. The tech 17 Bussard Ramscoop Fuel Ships served you well until you lost the last one a year ago when the final cobalt-lanthanide-boronite fractionator coil (CLBF coil) burnt out, your fleet was then forced to make the rest of the journey burning low grade neutronic fuel. Your fleet finally arrived at your goal, the small Echo open star cluster on the outer tip of third major arm of the Milky Way. This open cluster contains 500 planets that are all named after the stars from your home star sectors.
The last fuel base you passed is over 7000 light years away and you are unable to build new CLBF coils. In fact, the only know source of CLBF coils is small super high tech research station ran by a group of Andromedians near the galactic core 30000 light years away. The coils are shipped to all the major homeworlds by Endoane traders. A shipment of supplies which included 20 new CLBF coils was following one year behind your fleet until it was lost to an unknown band of pirates. The highest tech level ever achieved by your race has been tech 10, so it is really very unlikely that you will ever be able to build any CLBF coils on your own. Unless you reestablish contact with your homeworld or a supply shipment shows up you can regard this as a one way mission.
Upon arrival at the first world you came to all your starships were landed on the planet's surface to be converted into raw materials for the building of mines, factories and one low tech starbase. A small local system freighter and a small capital ship were built when your starbase was completed.
You soon learn that you are not alone. Moving across your starcharts are enemy races that have followed you to this star cluster. You must now put every effort into building the most powerful fleet of war ships possible before you are attacked. Your best hope is to send small freighters in every direction to drop off colonists and supplies so that they can grow in numbers on new planets and extract the minerals that your starbase needs to build more ships.
You need to act fast because your enemies will most likely be trying to expand also. Pay close attention to the starchart, because you can see your enemy's ships as they travel between planets. Good luck . . .
(1.02) HELP!
In the game you can press <H> on most screens to see a help screen that explains this part of the game to you.
(1.03) GAME MAIL PACKETS
Players upload their turn (TRN) files to the host BBS or Email account. The host runs the actual calculations involved, and produces a result (RST) files that are sent back to the players. The players run the local program to view their situation and set up their orders for the next turn.
Players then run an UNPACK program that decodes and expands the game result file (RST) into several data files. Then the main program PLANETS is run to play the game. When you are playing the game you can order your starships around, build new starships, receive messages and do many other fascinating activities.
When a player has completed their game turn they exit the PLANETS program and run a program MAKETURN that packs the new data into a TRN file that is sent back to the host computer. After the TRN files from all the players are gathered into one directory by the person hosting the game the program HOST is ran to decode all the TRN files at once. New RST files are generate by the HOST program. These new RST files are then sent back to all the players.
NOTE: If any players miss out on a turn the game will continue just fine. Their ships and planets will continue performing their last order. Ships will continue the same coarse and speed and planets will continue to mine minerals and produce supplies. A missed turn can't be made up! The host cannot use old TRN files. They are meaningless to the host.
(1.04) THE HOST.EXE PROGRAM
All the TRN files of the players from all the players who are taking part in the current turn must be in the game data directory when you run HOST.
You can only run HOST once per game turn.
Running HOST outside the directory that contains the game universe data files DOES NOTHING!
TRN files from other games are rejected by HOST and erased.
ONLY RUN HOST ONCE PER TURN.
You may wish to make a backup directory to store all the current RST files after you run HOST, just in case someone loses their RST file.
Don't let anyone talk you into running HOST before the players have turned in their current TRN files.
HOST needs all the TRN files all the players who are going to be in on the current game turn, because all the action and interaction between players TAKES PLACE AT ONCE, when HOST is run.
When a person misses a game turn, they MUST get a fresh RST file from the host computer. Or they will end up making a stale TRN file.
(1.05) BBS HOST SYSOP
If the host crashes while running it will log the error to the error log file and exit to dos.
The game administrator has the option when first starting the game to give each race their own password, so that even if a player downloads another player's RST file that player will be unable to open it without the real player's password.
Players can change their password during their turn, but the change does not take effect until the next turn. Players can also turn off the password check by changing the password to "NOPASSWORD".
(1.06) INDEPENDENT HOST
An independent host is a BBS user ( or a Net user ) that is hosting a VGA Planets game on their own computer. The independent host uses the BBS only for a means of transferring the RST and TRN files to and from all the players in the game. One easy way of moving the files around is to attach the files to Email.
Once a day the person acting as the independent host downloads all the TRN files sent to him from all the players in the game. The files are moved into the planets data directory and HOST is run. The result files (RST) are then mailed back to all the players.
The independent host should be sure to tell all the players what time the TRN files have to be in by, when then next turn will take place and when they can log back onto the BBS to pick up their new RST file.
(1.07) PLANETS ON ONE COMPUTER
A group of people can set up a game on one computer and take turns playing out their turn. After everyone has had their chance to play out their turn the game administrator will then exit the PLANETS program, run MAKETURN, HOST and finally UNPACK. All this will perform the math and file data file building for the next turn. Players can then again take turns playing out their turn.
All the files remain in one directory on the computer. You may use the TURN.BAT file to run all the above files in the correct order and return to the planets game automatically.
(1.08) PLANETS ON MANY COMPUTERS IN THE SAME BUILDING
(1.09) PLAYING PLANETS FROM THE HOST DIR IN A MULTICOMPUTER GAME
(1.10) PATHS
(2.0) PLANETARY ECONOMY
The planetary economy is based on mining, factory production, taxes and population.
(2.1) MINERALS
There are 4 types of minerals:
Neutronium is the super dense mineral used for fuel on starships. It is far too unstable for use in building ship components.
Duranium is a very strong mineral used to build the frame work of starship components and the armor skin of starbases and fighters.
Tritanium is a mineral that can withstand very high pressures and temperatures. It is used widely in starship construction.
Molybdenum is used mainly in high power energy wave guides. It is important for weapon construction and engine construction. High tech components tend to use greater amounts of molybdenum then lower tech components.
All unexplored planets will have some minerals sitting on the planet's surface along with minerals buried in the planet's core that can be mined.
(2.2) MINERAL MINES
Mines extract minerals from the planet's core as long as one of the four minerals are present. If no minerals are present, mines are completely useless. The cost of building a mine is 4 megacredits and a supply unit. The maximum number of mines that can be constructed on a planet is limited by the size of your colonist population.
Mines only remove minerals from the ground, they DO NOT produce minerals out of thin air, they will stop giving you minerals when the planet runs out of minerals. When a planet runs out of minerals all the mines on the surface become useless junk that cannot be recycled. Mines are permanent scars on the planet's surface and will add to the planet population's discontent.
Starships and colonists can take a mining survey of the planet that will show you a graph of the amounts of minerals remaining unmined in the planets core and a listing of the amounts of ore that have been mined so far and are ready for use.
The survey will also tell you the number of mines present on the planet. The rate that your mines can extract ore out of the ground depends on the concentration of the ore. There are five grades of mineral concentration.
1. very scattered ( ten mines can extract a KT per turn )
2. scattered
3. dispersed ( three mines can extract a KT per turn )
4. concentrated
5. large masses ( one mine can extract a KT per turn )
The amount of minerals in a planet is rated at five different grades.
1. none ( 0 KT )
2. very rare ( 0 to 99 KT )
3. rare ( 100 to 599 KT )
4. common ( 600 to 1199 KT )
5. very common ( 1200 to 4999 KT )
6. abundant ( 5000+ KT )
Most planets can be mined clean in just a few turns, but planets with abundant minerals will produce minerals for a very long time.
If you build a great number of mineral mines the population on the planet will unhappy and you will be forced to drop the tax rate to keep them happy or else face the risk of riots and war. Mineral mines and factories risk showing up on enemy sensors unless the planet has a planetside defense of more than 100.
(2.3) FACTORIES
Factories produce one supply unit each turn. The cost of building a factory is 3 megacredits and one supply unit. The maximum number of factories that you can build on a planet is limited by the size of your colonist population.
When a planet becomes over populated (at somewhere around 11,000,000 on your homeworld) the colonists will be forced to eat and use supplies to keep from starving. Some planets can reach a state of over population at around 1,000,000 colonists if they have an arctic or desert climate. If you
notice that your supply production has stopped or slowed then you are having an over population problem.
There are a few desert and arctic planets were the climate is so bad that 1 clan is considered over populated.
(2.4) DEFENSE POSTS
Defense posts protect the planet from attacking starships. Cost of building a defense post is 10 megacredits and one supply unit. The maximum number of defense posts you can build on a planet is limited by the size of your colonist population.
Defense posts will screen the planet's industrial activity from long range sensor sweeps by enemy ships. The odds of detection are (100 - NUMBER OF DEFENSE POSTS )%.
The number of fighters that a planet can launch to defend the planet from enemy ship attacks equals SQR( NUMBER OF DEFENSE POSTS ).
Fighters from a planet are regenerated after each attack.
(2.5) SUPPLIES
The supplies produced by your factories can be carried by starship to new planets to be used to build new factories, mines and defense posts. You can also sale supply units for one megacredit each.
Alchemy ships can use supplies to make minerals and fuel.
(2.6) TAXES AND POPULATIONS
By taxing the colonist and native populations you can generate megacredits for building mines, factories, defense posts, a starbase and starship components.
The populations will become upset with you if the tax rate is too high or if there is over population. They may become upset if there are too many mines, factories, or defense posts due to environmentalist movements begins within the population. Over several turns the populations of a planet may become very unhappy. If they ever become too unhappy they will start a riot or even a civil war. If this happens they will kill each other and destroy your mines, factories and defense posts.
If a riot starts the tax rate will be instantly set to 0% to prevent a civil war.
A high tax rate slows the birth rate. You can use this factor to prevent over population. Keep in mind that a population with a tax rate of 0 will cause the population to expand at the maximum rate.
A planet's climate will also affect the maximum population and the birth rate. Temperate warm planets provide the best possible conditions for all lifeforms. Desert and arctic planets are the worst possible conditions for life. If the population is ever greater than the population that the planet's climate can sustain, the colonists will consume supplies to survive. If the climate is too harsh you may have to make regular freighter runs of supplies to the planet to keep the colonists alive.
(2.7) METEOR IMPACTS
The Host person can set the odds of ONE very large meteor crashing into a planet by using the HCONFIG program.
When a meteor strikes a planet, massive amounts of new minerals and fuel ore will be buried deep in to planet's core. That planet will then become a mineral rich world and a very good place to build mineral mines.
Many bad things happen to a planet that is hit by a meteor. A great number of the population will be killed. Many mines, factories, and defense outposts will be destroyed and the planet may be plunged into a civil war.
Your starbase and all ships in orbit will be safe from the effects of the meteor.
When a meteor hits the resulting explosion is so large that all the races will know which planet was hit (everyone will receive a message). This could trigger a "mineral rush" to get to that planet first and setup a colony there first. The impacted planet should have enough minerals buried in it to build a starbase and many new ships. That makes the planet impacted a real prize.
(3.00) STARSHIPS
Starships are built at starbases out of three basic minerals, Tritanium, Duranium and Molybdenum. The starships travel at very high speeds between planets performing various missions. The funds needed to build starships is taken directly out of the planetary economy. Starships can be used to transport cargo money and colonists. They can also battle enemy ships.
(3.01) TECH LEVELS
There are four different tech levels at every starbase. These four tech levels are, starship hulls, starship engines, starship beam weapons and starship torpedoes. The tech levels range from 1 to 6 in the evaluation version of this game and 1 to 10 in the expanded registered version. You must spend megacredits for each leap in tech level you take. The cost of each jump in tech levels increases as you move up in tech levels.
Your choice of starship components increases as you increase your tech level. The cost of high-tech starship components is far more then the basic low tech version of the same components.
Every starbase's tech levels are independent of all other starbases. When you build a new starbase all four tech levels normally start at level 1. Four of the native races give a tech level 10 bonus for building a starbase. (SEE 11.00)
(3.02) NEW SHIPS
The most important part of a starship is the hull. At hull tech level one you have a choice of only about 3 different types of hulls. At higher tech levels you may have as many as 20 different types of hulls, depending on the race you are playing.
The hull is the spaceframe that all other starship components are mounted on to form a ship. Hulls require anywhere from one to as many as ten engines depending on the type. As a rule smaller ships have only one or two engines. The amount of damage that a ship can withstand depends on the ship's mass. The more massive the ship the greater number of hits the ship can take and the more powerful the ship's shields will be.
Some hulls come with fighter bays. These ships can carry and launch fighters.
Some ships have areas that you can mount torpedo launchers. Starships that have torpedo launchers can carry and fire torpedoes at enemy ships. There are 10 different types of torpedoes and torpedo launchers.
Most ships can have beam weapons. These are the main weapons used on starships. There are 10 different types. Beam weapons are very useful at destroying enemy fighters as well as firing directly at the enemy ship.
From the starbase's starship building screen you are given a chance to pick the components that you wish to put together to form a ship. If you lack a part you can call a sub screen that allows you to build a new part, such as an engine, a weapon or even a starship hull. After you have selected all the parts to put together to form a new ship your plan is submitted to the starbase. Your new ship will be completed the following turn.
(3.03) WEAPON BANKS AND FIGHTER BAYS
There are different types of weapons systems that a ship may have. The main weapon system is a beam type weapon ( lasers, phasers, etc. ). A beam type weapon draws its power from the ship's engines, so as long as an engine is working the weapon will have energy to fire.
The auxiliary weapon systems can be torpedo launch tubes or fighter launch bays.
A fighter takes up one kiloton in the cargo hold. In combat the fighter is moved from the cargo hold into the fighter launch bay to be fuel and armed. A ship with many fighter launch bays can get more fighters into combat sooner. Fighter bays are designed into the hull and unlike torpedo launchers cannot be added. Some races ( such as the federation ) have very few, hull designs that include fighter bays. A starbase has room for up to 60 fighters
to be used in defense or to be transferred to a ship with fighter bays.
The torpedo launch tube aims and arms standard torpedoes. Torpedoes take up one kiloton of cargo space each. In combat the torpedo is moved from the cargo hold into the launch tube.
(3.04) FIGHTERS
For use on starbases as a long range defense against attacking enemy starships. Starships with fighter launch bays can carry fighters to attack enemy ships at ranges far greater then torpedoes or beam weapons. A starbase can hold up to 60 fighters. Some larger carriers can hold over 200 fighters. All fighters fire very powerful, tightly focused energy beams that do a good job of wearing down an opponent's shields and can punch holes in vital parts of enemy ships. Fighters are very good at defeating very large and heavily armored ships. In some cases a fighter can do more damage then even the best torpedo and if the fighter survives, it can be used again.
Fighters can be destroyed by enemy fighters that can gain a weapons lock as the fighters passes within close range of each other as they close in on the enemy ship.
An enemy ship can fire a beam weapon at a fighter to destroy it. Very few ships, however, can defeat a large scale fighter attack with beam weapons along.
(3.05) WEAPON KILLING/DESTRUCTIVE POWER
The damage done to an enemy target is measured in two different ways, killing power and destructive power.
Killing power is a measure of how deadly the weapon is to the crew of an enemy ship. If a crew is killed off the ship is rendered helpless and is easily captured.
The destructive power is a measure of how much damage can be done to the superstructure, engines and weapon systems of an enemy ship.
The greater the mass of the HULL of a ship the greater the ship's resistance to the destructive power of enemy weapons. More massive ships also have more powerful shields then less massive ships.
(3.06) STARSHIP FIX / RECYCLE
After a starship has returned from a mission or has just been constructed you can use the starbase to fix the ship. The fix command will repair all the damage done to the ship in one game turn. The star base fix mission will not upgrade the tech level of any parts of the starship. When you fix a ship you have the chance to load torpedoes or fighters onto the starship if it can handle them.
Use the transporters to beam fuel and cargo onto and off the ship. New ships begin the game with no fuel, unless the starbase primary mission is set to refuel.
Player one (The Solar Federation) is the only race that can upgrade the tech levels of an old starship. Their ships can set their mission to "Super Refit". (See 10.0 RACE ADVANTAGES)
The Starbase can also recycle old ships. When a ship is recycled, using the recycle command, all the ship's weapons and engines are removed and placed into storage. The hull is converted into minerals and stored on the planets surface.
(3.07) FUEL
All starships use neutronium for fuel. Neutronium is a superdense material found at the core of many planets. It is also known as "neutronic" fuel. Fuel is millions of times denser then common elements such as lead or gold. The fuel must be stored in a very powerful inertial damping field to prevent damage to the starship's superstructure. The amount of fuel that a starship can carry is limited by the strength of the inertial damping field only and not the cargo room available on the ship.
Starships without fuel cannot attack enemy ships. Enemy ships are not allowed to attack ships that are out of fuel, due to the treaty of Nimbus 7. The treaty states "No ship may attack or destroy a ship that is out of fuel. Such ships are helpless and unable to protect themselves. Destroying helpless ships would be a tragic and senseless loss of life."
Starships without fuel cannot cloak.
(3.08) CARGO
The cargo that a ship may carry includes supplies, colonists, tritanium, duranium and molybdenum. If a ship has one or more torpedo launchers the ship may carry torpedoes. If the ship has one or more fighter bays the ship may carry fighters.
You can have the ship unload cargo onto a world that you currently do not own. After one or more colonist clans are unloaded onto a planet that planet then becomes yours the following turn, unless there are enemy colonists already on the planet, in which case a planetside war will take place. Bad climates or amorphous natives may also kill off colonists.
Cargo can in an emergency be jettison into deep space to make the ship lighter so the ship can travel faster or to prevent an enemy from seizing the cargo if the ship is in danger of being captured.
Ships can transfer cargo from and to any other ship located at the same location in space. The command is designed mainly for fuel tankers so they can transfer fuel to ships that are in need of fuel.
(3.09) PRIMARY ENEMY
You can set the primary enemy of each ship. This is a standing order to attack any ship that belongs to the primary enemy race that is located in the same position in space.
A matching friendly code will override the primary enemy setting as well as the kill mission.
Cloaked ships may not attack. The cloaking mission overrides the primary enemy setting.
(3.10) SHIP MISSIONS
Each ship can perform one of eight various missions that include exploration, lay mines, mine sweep, kill, sensor sweep, colonize, tow and intercept. Some ships can cloak.
The exploration mission orders the ship to spy on planets to see if any enemy colonists are living there and if they have a starbase.
The lay mine mission reprograms the all torpedoes onboard a starship to become deep space mines and lays them in a circle around your current position ( if the Host has enabled the mine field option ). (SEE MINE FIELDS 3.16)
The mine sweep mission has the ship fire its beam weapons set on wide. The more beam weapon and the higher tech the weapons the greater the number of mines that can be destroyed per turn. The mine sweep mission will not destroy mines that belong to you, but it will give you the location and size of the nearest mine field that you own. (SEE MINE FIELDS 3.16)
The Sensor Sweep Mission scans planets within 400 light years for any readings that might suggest enemy activities. The percentage odds that an enemy planet will show up on a scan are:
SQR( Mineral_Mines + Factories ) * 0.2 - SQR( Planetary_Defence )
For every enemy planet within 400 light years.
Any planets with 100 defence outposts cannot be picked up on Sensor Sweeps.
The kill mission orders the ship to attack all ships of any race other then your own that are located in the same position in space as your ship. Ships with the kill mission will always fight first in a battle were there are ships attacking under order of primary enemy. A matching friendly code will override the kill mission, as well as the primary enemy setting
The colonize mission orders the ship to disassemble the starship when it reaches an unowned planet and to use the ships parts to make supplies for the colonists after unloading any colonists, cargo and fuel on the ship to the planet's surface. Most of the time it is best not to use the colonize mission. It is usually better to beam the colonists down to an unowned planet using the <C> ship command. That way you can reuse the same ship again.
(SEE COLONIZE MISSION 3.14)
The tow mission orders the ship to lock a tractor beam on a ship that is at the same position in space. The amount of fuel the towing ship will burn is proportional to the sum of the masses of both ships. If the ship that is the target of the tractor beam has a warp factor greater then the ship using the tractor beam the target ship will break free of the tractor beam if the waypoint setting of the ship trying to break free is set to a range that will take more then 1 month to travel to. If both ships are using tractor beams on each other, the ship with the higher warp factor will tow the ship with the lower warp factor.
The intercept mission orders the ship to intercept ships by ID number. You can use list and view commands to find the ship ID number of the ship you wish to intercept. Your ship will follow the intercept target ship until your ship runs out of fuel, the target ship disappears behind a planet or cloaks. The intercept mission does not order the ship to attack the ship it is intercepting. It will attack the ship if the "Primary Enemy" is set to the race of the ship that it is intercepting. You may intercept your own ships, if you wish.
Most races have an extra mission that is all their own. Ships must have fuel to do the extra mission.
No matter which mission a ship is on when it enters a battle, the ship will do it's very best to win the fight. Mission in no way affects the way in which a ship will fight.
These are the ships that have a cloaking device.
Reptile Class Destroyer
Lizard Class Cruiser
Saurian Class Light Cruiser
White Falcon Class Cruiser
Swift Heart Class Scout
Fearless Wing Cruiser
Dark Wing Class Battleship
Resolute Class Battlecruiser
Bright Heart Class Destroyer
Deth Specula Class Frigate
BR4 Gun Boat
BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat
Red Wind Class Carrier
Meteor Class Blockade Runner
D3 Thorn Class Destroyer
Dwarfstar Class Transport
D7 Coldpain Class Cruiser
Cloaked ships cannot attack or be attacked.
Ships without fuel cannot cloak.
(3.11) STARSHIP NAVIGATION
Your starship can be in orbit around a planet or in deep space between the planets. Your ships that are traveling through deep space will show up are green dots on all your maps and charts. Your ship will also show up as a red dot on all enemy charts in the same way enemy ships will show up on your maps as red dots. The navigation map shows planets as white dots. Any planets that you own will have blue circles around them. If you have any ships in orbit around any planets they will show up as green circles. Cloaked enemy ships are invisible.
The WAYPOINT is a point in space that you are setting a course to travel to. The waypoint shows up on the navigation map as a green circle with a green line running to your current location. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to set a new waypoint. If you set your waypoint on an object such as a planet or a starship the green circle will turn yellow and the name of the new waypoint will appear under the navigation map.
Starships with more then 89% damage ( except Lizard ships ) are unable to move.
Distance is the number of light years to your current waypoint.
The number of light years a ship will travel in a turn increases as a square of your warp factor.
Speed Distance traveled in a game turn
Warp factor 11 light year
Warp factor 24 light years
Warp factor 39 light years
Warp factor 4 16 light years
Warp factor 5 25 light years
Warp factor 6 36 light years
Warp factor 7 49 light years
Warp factor 8 64 light years
Warp factor 9 81 light years
Your E.T.A. is your estimated time of arrival at your waypoint in months (game turns). E.T.A. is based on your speed and distance.
There are three ships in the game that have GRAVITONIC ACCELERATORS
These are the Meteor Class Blockade Runner, the BR4 Gun Boat and the BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat. These three ships travel at a rate of twice that of a normal ship. At warp factor 9 these ships will travel 162 light years in one turn.
Please note ships are moved when the Host runs HOST.EXE. The commands that you are inputting into the ship display screens in PLANET.EXE are just that, commands. If the ship is able it will do it's best to carry out your orders.
Under HOST 3.13 there are also 3 Hyperdrive ships.
PL21 PROBE (Empire)
B200 CLASS PROBE (Cyborg)
FALCON CLASS ESCORT (Rebel)
To use the hyperdrive set the ship's waypoint to a point farther then 20 light years and set the friendly code to "HYP". The ship will jump about 350 lightyears and burn 50 units of fuel. The ship will come out of hyperspace at speed zero and with no waypoint set. Ships in hyperspace avoid all minefields. The hyperdrive can not be used to excape a tow. This will not work if the ship is on an intercept mission.
(3.12) FUEL
The amount of fuel needed to reach your current waypoint is dependent on the ship's mass, warp factor and the type of engine that the ship has. Tech one engines (stardrive 1's) are very poor engines and waste large amounts of fuel at speeds above warp factor one. Tech six engines are very fuel efficient at speeds up to warp factor 6. At speeds above warp 6 the engine begins to waste large amounts of fuel. The engine construction screen will show you a graph of the fuel efficiency curve of each engine type that you have both the engine tech level and materials to construct.
It is a very good idea to invest the best engine technology possible. With high tech engines your ships can travel very fast and use very little neutronium fuel. Engines may be the most important factor in expanding your empire faster then your enemies.
The weight of your ship is the sum mass of all parts that make up your ship. Mass includes the hull, engines, weapons, cargo and fuel. The amount of fuel your ship needs to burn to move increases proportionately to your ship's mass.
The max weight is the maximum mass your ship may have when it has a full load of cargo and a full fuel tank.
(3.13) REPAIRS IN SPACE
Starships can repair damage in space using supplies. Five supply units will repair 1% of ship damage. To repair a ship just load the damaged ship with supplies and the ship will be repaired next turn.
(3.14) COLONIZE MISSION
A NEW feature of version 3.0 is the starship recycle rate. The Host person can set the recycle rate to any thing from 0% to 100%. Default setting is 75%. The Host person can set the recycle rate using HCONFIG.
This is the percentage of the minerals that are recovered from a starship that colonizes a planet. The minerals that were used to build the hull and weapon systems are transformed back into minerals and laid out on the planet's surface. Money spent to build a ship cannot be recovered. Fighters are recycled.
(3.15) ALCHEMY SHIPS
The Host person may allow alchemy ships to perform their alchemy function or you may disable the function and the ships will behave as standard freighters. HCONFIG will configure the HOST to allow or not allow alchemy ships.
There are two classes of alchemy ships, the Neutronic Refinery Ship and the Merlin Class Alchemy Ship.
The NEUTRONIC REFINERY SHIP can convert minerals plus supplies to neutronic fuel (neutronium).
Here are three alchemy reactions that a refinery ship can use:
1 * ( duranium ) + 1 * ( supply unit ) ---> 1 * ( neutronium )
1 * ( molybdenum ) + 1 * ( supply unit ) ---> 1 * ( neutronium )
1 * ( tritanium ) + 1 * ( supply unit ) ---> 1 * ( neutronium )
The neutronic refinery ship will automatically perform the refinery function if all three of the following conditions are met. The ship will continue to refine fuel until one or more of the conditions are no longer met.
(A) There is at least one KT of duranium or molybdenum or tritanium on board the ship.
(B) There is at least one KT of supplies on board the ship.
(C) There is at least room for one KT of fuel in the fuel tank.
The neutronic refinery ship is a tech 9 ship with 10 engines and 1050 KT of cargo room. Fuel tank will hold 800 KT of fuel. The hull is very massive, 712 KT. The ship is armed with 6 beam weapons. This ship can produce up to 525 KT of fuel per turn. The ship hull costs 970 magacredits to build.
To refine fuel, first unload fuel or transfer fuel to other ships. Load the ship with half supplies and half minerals (any type or mix of). Now you just wait until next turn and the fuel will be produced and stored in the refinery ship's fuel tank.
The MERLIN CLASS ALCHEMY SHIP can convert supply units into minerals.
Here is the chemical reaction:
9 * ( supply unit )----+---> 1 * ( duranium )
+---> 1 * ( tritanium )
+---> 1 * ( molybdenum )
9 KT units of supplies yield 1 KT of duranium and 1 KT tritanium and 1 KT molybdenum.
The ship will continue to convert the supplies to minerals as long as the following condition is met:
(A) There is at least 9 KT of supplies on board.
The Merlin Class Alchemy Ship is a tech 10 ship with 10 engines and 2700 KT of cargo room. The fuel tank can hold 450 KT of fuel. The ship's hull has a mass of 920 KT, which makes it one of the largest ships in any fleet. The ship is armed with 8 beam weapons and costs 840 magacredits to build. The ship can produce a maximum of 900 KT of minerals per turn ( 300 KT duranium, 300 KT tritanium and 300 KT molybdenum ).
To transform minerals, just load the ship with supplies and wait till next turn. The supplies will be turned into minerals automatically.
The alchemy fuction of a Merlin Class ship can be disabled with a friendly code of "NAL" ( No ALchemy )
(3.16) MINE FIELDS
The Host person may choose to have mine fields or choose not to have them. The Host person can use the HCONFIG program to turn the mine fields off and on.
A mine field is a small area of space that is peppered with warheads that track and launch themselves at passing enemy ships that are unlucky enough to trigger one of them.
Mine fields are formed when a starship with torpedoes chooses the mission "Lay Mines". All the ships torpedoes are taken apart by the ships chief engineer and reprogrammed to serve as deep space mines. High tech torpedoes are divided into several smaller units that can cover a greater area of space.
If a ship lays mines inside an established mine field, the new mines will become part of the existing mine field if the mine field belongs to the ship's race.
The number of mine field units = number of mines * ( tech level )^2
The radius of a mine field = SQR( number of mine field units )
An enemy ship has a 1% chance of hitting a mine for every light year traveled. It is very likely that a ship that travels through the above example mine field (all 120 light years of it) will hit a mine, but there is still a slim chance that the ship won't.
The amount of damage done to a ship depends on the mass of the ship's hull. Cargo and fuel masses will not help to save the ship.
Damage% = 10000 / ( the hull mass )
A ship with a hull mass under 100 KT will be destroyed by a single mine. Most battle ships are over 500 KT so they can take 5 or more mine hits before being destroyed.
A ship that is under tow (being towed) cannot be hit by a mine. Web mines are much smaller then normal mines, but are much more difficult to travel through. There is a 5% chance of hitting a web mine for every light year that you travel through. A web mine does 10% of the damage of a normal mine but causes your ship to become stuck in the web and your ship will be forced to stop moving. Next turn you may set a new waypoint and warp out of the web mine field and hope you don't hit another web mine.
Web Mines Damage% = 1000 / ( the hull mass )
Web Mine fields drain fuel from all enemy ships within the field at a rate of 25 KT per turn, per field.
Starships with beam weapons that are inside one or more enemy mine fields can destroy the mines using the "Mine Sweep" mission. The ship will fire its beam weapons at random and at a wide setting to blanket an area of space with energy that will knock out the mine field. The mine field will shrink in size as the outer mine units move inward so that the same level of protection is constant throughout the mine field.
Starships must have fuel to mine sweep or lay mines.
The number of mine field units that are destroyed per turn by a ship doing a mine sweep depends on the number of beams weapons and their tech level.
number of units destroyed = ( number of beam banks ) * ( beam tech )^2
One mine field unit is destroyed per turn through natural causes.
(3.17) ORDER OF COMBAT
They will now fight in an order that depends on three things the mission, the primary enemy and the friendly code. The friendly code can give an attack value from 1 to 999. To use attack values your friendly code must begin with a number value. The attack values will NOT affect the way in
which a ships fights, it only effects the battle order. Your enemy's attack values will NOT effect your battle order. An attack value of 1 is the lowest possible attack value.
Here are examples of attack values base on some friendly codes where "x" is any non-number character.
Friendly code Attack values
xxx 1000
1xx 1
10x 10
01x 1
999 999
123 123
18x 18
x23 1000
xx2 1000
x1x 1000
The ship with a "KILL" mission the lowest attack value will attack first. If two of your ships have the same attack value then the ship with the lowest ID number will attack first. The ship with a "PRIMARY ENEMY" set and the lowest attack value will attack after all the "KILL" mission ships are done.
Ships with their mission set to "KILL" will fight as a first group. Ships with a mission other then "KILL" and the primary enemy set will fight as a second group. All other ships will be protected by the "KILL" and primary enemy ships until those ships are destroyed or captured.
Ships that are not on a kill mission and don't have a primary enemy set will defend themselves in an order based on the friendly code attack values.
(3.18) COMBAT LAWS/RULES
1. Amount of damage done to a ship decreases as the mass of the ships hull increases.
2. Fighters are launched first.
Torpedoes are armed second.
Beam weapons fire last.
3. Ship shield strength is carried over from the last battle during the same turn.
4. Beam weapon banks with more then 60% energy will fire at enemy fighters.
5. When a ship's crew is dead the ship is captured if it is fighting an enemy ship. Planets can not capture ships. The ship will continue to fight the planet until it explodes.
6. Fighters tend to do more damage to larger ships then torpedoes.
7. Torpedoes and beam weapons tend to do more damage to smaller ships then fighters.
8. Ships with the same friendly code WILL NOT FIGHT. (With the exception of NTP) A ship may disable it's torpedo systems by using the friendly code "NTP". ( No TorPedoes ) If two ships that are enemies use the "NTP" friendly code they will still fight. This is also a special case where matching friendly codes does not count.
Matching friendly codes overrides the kill mission and primary enemy settings.
9. Ships without fuel cannot attack enemy ships.
10. Ships without fuel cannot be attacked by enemy ships.
11. The more massive a ship the stronger the shields are.
12. The planetary friendly code of "ATT" will cause a planet to attack any enemy ship in orbit that has fuel.
13. The planetary friendly code of "NUK" will cause a planet to attack all ships in orbit, even ones without fuel.
(4.0) STARBASES
Starbases perform many important functions. They can construct one new starship per turn if they are ordered to do so and they add to the planets defenses by being a fighter base and defense platform.
(4.1) DEFENSE AND FIGHTERS
You may add to the starbase's defense strength through the use of duranium and megacredits. The higher the defense strength of a base, the better able the base is to adsorb damage from attacking enemy ships.
You may build and store up to 60 fighters in a starbase and you may put fighters on board any starship equipped with fighter bays. The fighters onboard a starbase will be used to defend the base and planet against attacks from enemy starships.
If a planet comes under attack the fighters on a starbase and the fighters on the planet's surface are launched against the attacking ship. Defense posts on the planet's surface and the defense weapons on the starbase will be fired against the attacking ship. The higher the defense strength of both the
planet and the starbase, the greater number and power of the planetary beam weapons.
The defense_factor = 100 + starbase_defense + planet_defense
You can compare this defense factor with starship defense factors, which are equal to the empty hall mass of the ship.
Defense factor is the resistance to enemy fire, in both shield strength and damage resistance after the shields are down.
The number of beam weapons that a planet/starbase has equals the square root of one third the defense factor.
number_of_beams = SQR( defense_factor / 3 )
The tech level of the beam weapons is the square root of one half the defense factor or the beam tech level of the starbase, which ever is higher.
tech_of_beams = SQR( defense_factor / 2 )
(4.2) A BASE'S ROLE IN SHIP BUILDING AND ARMING
Each starbase has four independent tech levels. The four areas of technology are starship hulls, starship engines, starship beam weapon and torpedo launcher construction.
The starbase can fix one damaged ship per turn that is in orbit around the same planet as the starbase. Starbases may also recycle one ship per turn. When a ship is recycled the engines and weapons are placed in storage and the hull is converted to minerals.
Starbases can build both torpedoes and fighters. The starbase can load torpedoes and fighters onto ships that are equipped to handle them by using the "fix" starbase command. When you build torpedoes remember to build only the torpedo type that matches the launcher types that you are using on your ships, otherwise the torpedoes will remain in storage.
Starbases can construct one starship per turn from starship components in storage. You can also construct and store new starship components such as hulls, engines and weapons for use at a later time.
(4.3) STARBASE ORDERS
You can give a starbase a primary mission order.
The primary base order instructs the base to take one of five automatic actions.
1. Refuel: The base will load neutronium onto any ship at the bases location that is of your race or has the same friendly code as the planet.
2. Max defense: The base will automatically build up starbase defense strength to max.
3. Load Torpedoes: The base will automatically load torpedoes of the proper type onto all ships that have torpedo launchers at the base location that is of your race or have the same friendly code as the planet.
4. Unload Freighters: The base will automatically unload all cargo from ships at the base location that are of your race or have the same friendly code as the planet.
5. Repair Base: The base will repair damage done to the base by enemy ships.
6. Force a Surrender: This will force any enemy starship at the starbase's location to surrender to the starbase's race if the friendly code of the enemy ship and the planet match. The base will also force a surrender of ships that have no fuel. Lack of fuel overrides friendly codes that don't match.
(4.4) PLANETARY / STARSHIP FRIENDLY CODE
The friendly code is used when your ship is in orbit around an 'enemy' planet with a matching planetary friendly code and a starbase that has it's primary mission orders set to refuel, load torpedoes or unload all freighter cargo.
Ships with the same friendly codes will NOT attack each other.
Ships with the same friendly code as the planet will NOT attack the planet. ( Except for the friendly codes "NUK" and "ATT" )
A starbase with the primary mission orders set to refuel acts as an automatic refueling station to all ships that stop there that have the same friendly code as the planet. This is so different races can share fuel and torpedoes in the event they form an alliance against a common enemy.
A planet side transporter cannot transport cargo to an "enemy" ship. A ship's transporter can transfer cargo to an "enemy" ship.
Starships may choose a "gather" mission. If the friendly code of the ship and the planet match or you own the planet the ship will search the surface of the planet for a mineral and beam the mineral back aboard the ship until the ship is out of cargo room. You may gather (beam up) neutronium, duranium, tritanium, molybdenum and supplies. Ships will lock onto and beam up only one mineral type per turn.
The gather missions are meant mainly for trading. A freighter can fly up to an enemy planet with the same friendly code and drop off a full load of one type of mineral and pick up a full load of another in a single turn.
(4.5) STARBASE SCANNER
The starbase scanner is the same as the planetary scanner. You can move the scanner beam around with the arrow keys or a mouse. You can use the beam to view or list enemy and friendly ships traveling through open space or in orbit around any of your planets. The circle at the end of the beam is green, but when you move the beam locks onto a planet or ship it turns yellow. Enemy ships show up as red dots and friendly ships show up as green dots. Planets with blue rings are ones that you own. Planets with green rings have one of your ships in orbit around them. Enemy ships can hide behind planets that you do not own and do not have a ship orbiting.
SCAN RANGE:
The range that you can see enemy ships is now limited by a scan range that the host can configure. Ships beyond the scan range in open space can NOT be seen. An enemy ship in orbit around a planet that you do not own and do not have a ship in orbit around can not be seen.
After locking onto a planet that you own you may hit the <X> key to jump to the other planet.
(4.6) STARBASE FIX COMMAND
Will repair all damage to the one starship. The repairs will be finished next turn. If the ship has torpedo launchers or fighter bays and cargo room, you may load torpedoes or fighters onto the ship. You may load torpedoes and fighters onto as many ships per turn as you wish, but you may only repair the damage of one ship per turn. Refit will NOT upgrade the engine or weapon systems of a starship.
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(5.0) THE STARCHART
The planets always have the same names and positions in space, only their stats are different in every game.
The starchart map shows planets as white dots, your ships as green dot and enemy ships as red dots. Any planets that you own will have blue circles around them. If you have any ships in orbit around any planets they will show up as green circles.
Use the arrow keys or the mouse to move around the starchart. When you move the red cross in the middle of the screen on top of a planet or a starship, a pair of arrows from the sides of the screen will indicate a lock on that object. The name of the object will appear in the iformation box.
If you press the left mouse button you will lock onto the nearest planet. If you are very near a ship in deep space the right button will lock onto that ship.
When the object you have locked onto is one of your ship's you may press the <F1> button to switch to that ship's control screen.
If the object is a planet that you own you may press the <F5> to see a mineral / native life survey or you may press the <F2> button to switch to the planetary control screen.
If you have a ship in orbit around an enemy or uncontrolled planet you also use the <F5> button to see the mining survey.
The <S>earch command allows you to search for any planet by ID number (1-500). After giving an ID number from 1 to 500 the starchart will lock onto that planet.
(6.0) VICTORY CONDITIONS
It is best if everyone playing the game agrees on what the exact victory conditions are before starting the game.
You could play a game so that when a player emerges as the most powerful and no other player has any hope of winning the players can call the game.
You can play a timed game. Set a date when the game will end. The player with the highest score at that date is declared The winner.
The score is based on the number of planets, ships and bases you own. Here is a break down of the points for each item owned.
Freighters : 1 point each
Planets : 10 points each
Capital Ships : 10 points each
Starbases : 120 points each
You may also have the REF.EXE program decide the winner.
( SEE REF.DOC ) for info on the referee program REF.EXE.
(6.1) LIST OF STARSHIP TYPES
( * stolen ship design from another race )
Solar Federation ships:
Tech Level: 1 Outrider Class Scout
Tech Level: 2 Nocturne Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 3 Bohemian Class Survey Ship
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 4 Eros Class Research Vessel
Tech Level: 5 Vendetta Class Frigate
Tech Level: 6 Nebula Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 Banshee Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 7 Brynhild Class Escort
Tech Level: 8 Loki Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 8 Arkham Class Frigate
Tech Level: 8 Missouri Class Battleship
Tech Level: 9 Thor Class Frigate
Tech Level: 9 Diplomacy Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 9 Kittyhawk Class Carrier
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Nova Class Super-Dreadnought
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Lizard ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 1 Serpent Class Escort
* Tech Level: 1 Outrider Class Scout
Tech Level: 3 Reptile Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 4 Lizard Class Cruiser
* Tech Level: 4 Eros Class Research Vessel
* Tech Level: 5 Vendetta Class Frigate
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 7 Saurian Class Light Cruiser
* Tech Level: 8 Loki Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 9 Madonnzila Class Carrier
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 T-Rex Class Battleship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Bird Men ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 1 Swift Heart Class Scout
Tech Level: 3 White Falcon Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 3 Bright Heart Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
* Tech Level: 4 Small Transport
Tech Level: 5 Fearless Wing Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 White Wind Class Carrier
Tech Level: 6 Deth Specula Class Frigate
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 7 Resolute Class Battlecruiser
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Dark Wing Class Battleship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Fascist ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 2 D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 2 Little Pest Class Escort
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 4 D7 Coldpain Class Cruiser
* Tech Level: 4 Small Transport
Tech Level: 5 Ill Wind Battlecruiser
Tech Level: 5 D3 Thorn Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 6 D19b Nefarious Class Destroyer
* Tech Level: 6 Whitewind Class Carrier
* Tech Level: 6 Deth Specula Class Frigate
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 8 Saber Class Frigate
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Victorious Class Battleship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Privateer ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
* Tech Level: 1 Outrider Class Scout
Tech Level: 1 BR4 Gunship
* Tech Level: 2 D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser
* Tech Level: 2 Little Pest Class Escort
Tech Level: 3 Dwarfstar Class Transport
Tech Level: 3 BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
* Tech Level: 4 Small Transport
Tech Level: 5 Meteor Class Blockade Runner
Tech Level: 5 Skyfire Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 5 Lady Royale Class Cruiser
* Tech Level: 5 D3 Thorn Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 8 Red Wind Class Carrier
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Bloodfang Class Carrier
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Cyborg ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 1 B200 Class Probe
Tech Level: 1 Watcher Class Scout
Tech Level: 2 B41 Explorer
* Tech Level: 2 Iron Slave Class Baseship
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 5 B222 Destroyer
Tech Level: 5 Quietus Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 Firecloud Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 9 Biocide Class Carrier
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Annihilation Class Battleship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Crystalline ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 2 Opal Class Torpedo Boat
Tech Level: 3 Ruby Class Light Cruiser
Tech Level: 3 Topez Class Gunboat
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 4 Small Transport
Tech Level: 5 Sky Garnet Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 6 Emerald Class Battlecruiser
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 8 Onyx Class Frigate
Tech Level: 9 Diamond Flame Class Battleship
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Crystal Thunder Class Carrier
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
The Evil Empire's Ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 1 RU25 Gunboat
Tech Level: 1 Mig Class Scout
Tech Level: 1 PL21 Probe
Tech Level: 2 H-Ross Class LT Carrier
Tech Level: 3 Moscow Class Star Escort
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 4 Super Star Frigate
Tech Level: 5 Super Star Carrier
Tech Level: 6 Super Star Destroyer
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 9 Super Star Cruiser
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Gorbie Class Battlecarrier
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Robot ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 2 Cat's Paw Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 2 Iron Slave Class Baseship
Tech Level: 3 Q Tanker
Tech Level: 3 Pawn Class Baseship
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 4 Cybernaut Class Baseship
Tech Level: 6 Instrumentality Class Baseship
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 9 Automa Class Baseship
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Golem Class Baseship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
Rebel ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
* Tech Level: 1 Cygnus Class Destroyer
* Tech Level: 1 Taurus Class Scout
Tech Level: 2 Falcon Class Escort
Tech Level: 3 Rebel Deep Space Scout
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 4 Gaurdian Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 4 Armored Transport
Tech Level: 5 Sage Class Frigate
* Tech Level: 5 Sagittarius Class Transport
Tech Level: 6 Tranquillity Class Cruiser
Tech Level: 6 Patriot Class Light Carrier
* Tech Level: 6 Gemini Class Transport
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 9 Iron Lady Class Frigate
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Rush Class Heavy Carrier
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
The Colonies of Man Ships:
Tech Level: 1 Small Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 1 Taurus Class Scout
Tech Level: 1 Cygnus Class Destroyer
Tech Level: 2 Little Joe Class Escort
Tech Level: 3 Medium Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 3 Neutronic Fuel Carrier
Tech Level: 4 Cobol Class Research Cruiser
Tech Level: 4 Aries Class Transport
Tech Level: 5 Sagittarius Class Transport
Tech Level: 6 Gemini Class Transport
Tech Level: 6 Scorpius Class Light Carrier
* Tech Level: 6 Tranquillity Class Cruiser
* Tech Level: 6 Patriot Class Light Carrier
Tech Level: 6 Large Deep Space Freighter
Tech Level: 9 Refinery Ship
* Tech Level: 9 Iron Lady Class Frigate
Tech Level: 10 Merlin Class Alchemy Ship
Tech Level: 10 Virgo Class Battlestar
Tech Level: 10 Super Transport Freighter
(6.2) A REVIEW OF THE RACE FLEETS
The Solar Federation Of Planets:
The Feds fleet is made up of many medium size ships that are designed to serve a variety of missions. They have only one ship that can serve as a fighter carrier. The Feds do not like to use fighters except as a last ditch measure when starbases or planets fall under attack. The weapon they most
favor is the torpedo. For some unknown reason they like to paint their warships bright white and put external lighting systems on them. This tends to make them easier targets in a fight, but it also has the effect of scaring the daylights out of enemies. After all anyone who would light up their ships so brightly has to be unafraid of all enemies and have a very powerful ship or they are just completely stupid. The Federation has two terraforming ships:
Bohemian Class Survey Ship:
Will make planets warmer until climate type 50 is reached.
Eros Class Research Vessel:
Will make a planet cooler until climate type 50 is reached.
The Lizards:
The Lizards are a very small alliance of large boulder throwing humanoid lizard men with large nasty teeth. There are only a few starships types that they build.
They have the plans to one Fed research vessel that the like to use for scouting out minerals and cooling hot planets.
Eros Class Research Vessel:
Will make a planet cooler until climate type 50 is reached.
The smaller Lizard ships tend to be solidly built with large cargo holds and medium firepower.
All starships with a Lizard crew can withstand 150% damage before exploding.
The Bird Men:
The Bird Men share several ship designs with the Fascists. Bird Men like to paint their ships to look like giant birds so that they can make low passes over planets and really scare the pants off the native population before landing and jumping out in their armored bird suits to take over the planet.
Bird Men ships tend to be solidly armored and pack heavy firepower. They have a tech 6 carrier that can hold up to 80 fighters that can be very dangerous. The Bird Men battleship is even larger then the Lizard battleship and has more firepower.
Fascists:
The Fascist weapon of choice is the beam weapon. Their ships do better then most when they are attacked by fighters, because of the higher them average number of beam weapons that can be used to destroy the incoming fighters. The tech level 5 Fascist Battlecruiser as much beam weapon firepower as a battleship ( 10 banks! ). Many Fascist ships are of Bird Men design. Three of their ships can cloak.
Privateers:
The Privateers tend to use very small ships. They have a few ship designs that they stole from the Fascists. Their favorite activity is stealing unescorted freighters. Privateers make very good use of mineral resources because of the small size of their ships, but in a toe to toe war they don't stand much of chance.
The Privateers are the only race that can build ships that have gravitonic accelerators. The three ships that have the gravitonic accelerators are the Meteor Class Blockade Runner, the BR4 Gun Boat and the BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat. These three ships travel at a rate of twice that of a normal ship. At warp factor 9 these ships will travel 162 light years in one turn. These ships can also cloak. The major drawback of these ships is their very small size and cargo room. They are also unable to survive even a single impact with a space mine.
The Cyborg:
The Cyborg are a half humanoid and half machine race. The Cyborgs have many small scout ships and probes. These come in very handy in finding their enemy's home world. The Cyborg battleship is the size of two Bird Men battleships.ll damaged Cyborg ships can stop and repair themselves at a rate of 10% per turn.
The Cyborg are able to assimilate natives into colonists. The assimilation rate can be configured by the host from 0% to 100%
Crystal People:
Crystal People are a silicon based life forms about 3 foot tall, with no limbs and a metallic color. They have two large glowing eyes in the middle of their polyhedron form. Larger Crystalline ships are very powerful and tend to favor beam type weapons. They have several small ship types that are useful in exploring planets and capturing freighters.
Their main weapon of choice is the dreaded web mine field. They use these fields to trap enemy vessels, drain them of fuel and then tow the victim home after it is out of fuel to force it to surrender.
They own a ship that will turn all planets into deserts.
Onyx Class Frigate:
Will make any planet turn into a hot boiling pool of rock and desert (temp 100).
The Evil Empire:
The Evil Empire depends heavily on fighters for attacking enemies. They have only one ship type that can launch torpedoes. Most of the Empire's ships are very large and expensive. The Empire's battle carrier is the largest and most heavily armored fighter carrier in the universe it has 10 beam weapon banks, which is most impressive for a carrier.
Robots:
The Robots are a race of that has survived the death of their makers. It is thought that the makers of the Robots were a race similar to the Lizards only smaller and weaker. The Robots base most their ship designs around the basestar fighter carriers. Robots have only one ship type that can launch torpedoes. Even the Robot's fuel tanker can launch fighters. The favorite ship in the Robotic fleet is the tech 6 Instrumentality class baseship. It is the size of a battleship and can carry up to 80 fighters. The largest basestar can carry more fighters then any other ship ( 300 fighters ).
Rebels:
The Rebels are a group of warriors who depend on their fighters to provide a low cost offensive power. Their ships follow no standard design. They are mostly converted freighters and armored transports. The ships may not be pretty but they get the job done. Rebel ships have only a few weapon banks at best.
They have many small friendly robots on board all their fighter carriers that build fighters when ever they can find 2 tritanium, 3 molybdenum and 5 supply units laying around, whatever the ship's mission.
THE COLONIES OF MAN:
The Colonies of Man are very similar to the rebels and share many of the same ship designs. The flag ship of their fleet is one of the most powerful ships in the universe. This mighty ship is the tech 10 Virgo class battlestar that can hold up to 40 more fighters then the Evil Empire's battlecarrier
and is only about half the size. Even with all those fighters it still has room for beam weapon banks.
(6.3) PERSONALIZED RACE NAMES
You can change the names of the game's races to fit your personal tastes.
When you run NAMERACE, the data file RACE.NM is loaded to allow you to edit all the race names and save them to the hard drive.
Each race has three name forms:
The Long Name Form (up to 30 characters)
Example: The Lizard Alliance of Planets
Usage: We Are "The Lizard Alliance of Planets!"
The Plural Name Form (up to 20 characters)
Example: The Lizards
Usage: Captain! Incoming message from "The Lizards!"
The Adjective Form (up to 12 characters)
Example: Lizard
Usage: Scanners show that object to be a "Lizard" ship!
(6.4) RACE.NM AND THE HOST
The HOST.EXE program reads the data file RACE.NM to figure out what to call the 11 different races when sending messages. The race names that are used in the messages are completely dependent on the RACE.NM data file in the Host game data directory and NOT on the RACE.NM data files in any remote player's directory. Only the person Hosting the game has the power to change the race names that appear in the messages.
(6.5) RACE.NM AND THE REMOTE PLAYER
You may change the names of the races on your machine, but it will only affect your local game. Outgoing messages only pass player numbers and not player names in the message header.
EXAMPLE: "Bob" who is player number 2 is being really mean to you, so you rename his race to be "Bob's Boneheads!". Your local game will from then on refer to ships belonging to Bob to be "Bonehead!" ships. When you send a message, the message will read "TO: Bob's Boneheads!", but when Bob gets the message next turn the Host will have changed the header to read what ever the Host RACE.NM file is set to, such as "TO: The Lizards"
(6.6) RACE.NM AND THE LOCAL GAME
( games that are being played on one computer in one directory )
Whatever you set the names to be, that will be the name used everywhere.
(6.7) RACE.NM AND BBS SYSOPS
When you start up a game you can ask all the players what name they would like to use for their race. You can then run NAMERACE.EXE to input all the race names.
The HOST.EXE program will then use the player's name choices when sending messages to the players.
If you change the RACE.NM file you should post the RACE.NM file so that the players can download the race names being used by the Host if they wish.
Players who download and use the Host's RACE.NM data file will avoid confusion when reading their messages.
Leaving RACE.NM in its default form may be the best way to avoid confusion, but I'll leave all this up to you to sort out.
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(7.0) STARTING THE GAME
If you are hosting the game you must run MASTER.EXE to build the game universe master data files, choose the races you wish to be in the game and assign a game password to each player. Only run MASTER.EXE when you want to start a new game. Running it after you have started a game will erase the game currently being played.
After you have run the MASTER.EXE program, you must run HOST.EXE to generate the first set of RST files that are then sent out to each player in the game so they can play out their first game turn.
The whole game resides on the host computer, in the HST files ( these are the universe master data files ). The HOST.EXE program allows the TRN files from the players to interact with the universe master data files and other player files.
(7.1) STARTING IF YOU ARE NOT HOSTING THE GAME
All you have to do is install the game in on your computer. Then you transfer your RST file from the computer that is hosting the game by way of BBS, Email, Net or Floppy and run the UNPACK.EXE program to uncode the RST file into data files so you can then run PLANETS.EXE to play the game. After you are done playing run MAKETURN.EXE to compress your new game moves into a TRN file that you then send back to the host computer.
(7.2) THE GAME FILES ( A BRIEF LIST )
The host computer only needs the following host files
MASTER.EXE
HOST.EXE
RACE.NM
NAMERACE.EXE
PLANET.NM
*.DAT
*.HST
*.MOF
The players need the following player files on their machine
PLANETS.EXE
VCR.EXE
UNPACK.EXE
MAKETURN.EXE
RESOURCE.PLN
NAMERACE.EXE
RACE.NM
PLANET.NM
*.DAT
*.MOF
If you are ONLY hosting the game on a machine, such as a BBS
you can erase following files to save disk space; PLANETS.EXE,
VCR.EXE, UNPACK.EXE MAKETURN.EXE and RESOURCE.PLN.
The following files are sent from the host machine to the
players machines.
PLAYER1.RST ( player 1 the Federation )
PLAYER2.RST ( player 2 the Lizards )
PLAYER3.RST ( player 3 the Bird Men )
PLAYER4.RST ( player 4 the Fascists )
PLAYER5.RST ( player 5 the Privateers )
PLAYER6.RST ( player 6 the Cyborg )
PLAYER7.RST ( player 7 the Crystal People )
PLAYER8.RST ( player 8 the Evil Empire )
PLAYER9.RST ( player 9 the Robots )
PLAYER10.RST ( player 10 the Rebels )
PLAYER11.RST ( player 11 the Colonies of Man )
The following files are sent from the player machines to the
Host machine.
PLAYER1.TRN ( player 1 the Solar Federation )
PLAYER2.TRN ( player 2 the Lizards )
PLAYER3.TRN ( player 3 the Bird Men )
PLAYER4.TRN ( player 4 the Fascists )
PLAYER5.TRN ( player 5 the Privateers )
PLAYER6.TRN ( player 6 the Cyborg )
PLAYER7.TRN ( player 7 the Crystal People )
PLAYER8.TRN ( player 8 the Evil Empire )
PLAYER9.TRN ( player 9 the Robots )
PLAYER10.TRN ( player 10 the Rebels )
PLAYER11.TRN ( player 11 the Colonies of Man )
(7.3) LIST OF PLAYER FILES
UNPACK.EXE : This is a program that decodes RST file from the host program. This program takes information encoded into the RST file and splits it up into several data files used by PLANETS.EXE. You must run UNPACK.EXE before you run PLANETS.EXE.
PLANETS.EXE : The main game program used by everyone playing the game. It consists of many screens of controls, pictures, graphics and information.
MAKETURN.EXE : This program is run after you are finished with your game turn and exited PLANETS.EXE. This program reads the game data files and looks for any changes. It then encodes the new data into a TRN file that you send back to the host computer.
*.DAT : These files that contain all the player's game data.
*.DIS : Data files that are formed by UNPACK.EXE these contain all the new information from the host.
TECH.MOF : The game's font file.
VCR.EXE : A sub program used by PLANETS.EXE to show ship combat. It cannot be run outside PLANETS.EXE and can only be run from PLANETS.EXE after ship combat has taken place.
RESOURCE.PLN : All the graphics used in the game.
SWEEP.BAT : A batch file that erases nonvital data files, use this batch file to clean up your player directory after you have uploaded your TRN file to the Host.
ONLY run SWEEP.BAT <<<BEFORE>>> you run UNPACK.EXE
or <<<AFTER>>> you run MAKETURN.EXE
RACE.NM : A data file of all the different race names.
PLANET.NM : A data file of all the planet names.
NAMERACE.EXE : A program used to change the names of the different races to fit your personal tastes.
(7.4) LIST OF ALL THE HOST FILES
MASTER.EXE : The program that forms all the host's data files. It is only run once at the beginning of the game to start the game. This is where you can activate which races you will have in the game and assign each their own password.
HOST.EXE : This is the program that takes all the TRN files from all the players and forms RST files to be sent back to all the players. This program is run once per turn to end the old turn and begin a new one.
*.DAT : These files contain data important to the game.
*.HST : The host data files. This is the universe. This is all the data on every ship, planet and base.
TECH.MOF : The game's font file.
TURN.BAT : A batch file for use when you are playing on a single computer. After ALL the players are done playing out their turns, exit planets and type in TURN. The batch file will run the MAKETURN, HOST, UNPACK and return you to the main program PLANETS. All the players can then play out their new turns.
RACE.NM : A data file of all the different race names.
PLANET.NM : A data file of all the planet names.
NAMERACE.EXE : A program used to change the names of the different races to fit your personal tastes.
CPLAYER.EXE : The computer controled player ( SEE CPLAYER.DOC )
REF.EXE : The Referee program ( SEE REF.DOC )
RCONFIG.EXE : The Referee configure program, ( SEE REF.DOC )
HCONFIG.EXE : The host configure program ( SEE HOST314.DOC )
(8.0) SUPPORT
Write me:
Tim Wisseman
PO BOX 204
NORTH FORK
CA. 93643
INTERNET EMAIL: cocomax@gorn.echo.com
SUPPORT BBS ( The Tim Continuum (209) 877-4921 )
(8.1) REGISTRATION
The Shareware version of this program is for you to try out for a limited period of time. If you find that you like the game please register it. The fee is only $15.
Everyone who becomes a registered user will be sent a special expanded version that only registered users are allowed to have.
The expanded registered version has the following features
1. you can buy tech levels 7 through 10
2. the bonus utilty program SHIPS.EXE
3. you can use secret friendly codes for special missions.
The expanded registered version is completely compatible with the evaluation version. ( You can switch to the registered version in the middle of a game without messing up your game. )
If you have a printer, you can print up the file ORDERFRM.DOC send it in.
I have made a set of four 8 1/2" X 11" starcharts that show the position, names and ID numbers of all the planets in the game. If you would like a set of starcharts send $3 and I'll sent you a set postpaid. If you want more then one set of starcharts send $1 for each additional set. You don't have to be a registered user to order the starcharts.
(9.0) NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 3
1. Each race has their own special advantages
2. Cloaking ships
3. Sticky mouse
4. Host can send messages from the outside game
5. 99% cheat proof (unlike version 2.x)
6. Deep space mine fields
7. Mine sweeping mission
8. Meteors that crash into planets from time to time
9. Ships to ship transports are instant (own race)
10. Ships can surrender to enemy starbases
11. Ships can grab minerals from "enemy" planets
12. Fighters can be transported from ship to ship
13. Alchemy ships can convert supplies to minerals
14. Refinery ships can convert minerals to fuel
15. War ships now protect freighters from attack
16. Host configure program
17. Recycle ships that colonize planets
18. Refit will now replenish ships crew
19. Sensor sweep will find enemy planets
20. High planetary defense will hide colonists from
enemy sensor sweeps
21. All native races have an advantage
22. Damaged ships must travel slower
23. Host produces a score file "SCORE.LOG"
24. New "X" command for ships and planets
25. Rioting populations will not pay taxes
26. All ships now have a vault to carry credits
27. The amount of credits that can be collected from
a native population depends on the number of
colonists on the planet
28. Damaged ships have less firepower
29. Fighters now cost 100 MC each
30. Ships without fuel cannot attack
31. Ships without fuel can be forced to surrender to
enemy starbases
(10.0) RACE ADVANTAGES
A version 3.0 feature is each race has their own advantages over other races.
(10.01) PLAYER 1 ( The Solar Federation )
The Solar Federation is very good at making friends with the natives that they contact. Their members are more productive then the average. They collect twice the megacredits per turn per tax rate percentage point from both the natives and The colonists.
The Solar Federation has a set of strict laws that are enforced by the universal environmental protection agency (UEPA). In order to follow all the laws the Solar Federation can only mine at half the normal rate.
The Solar Federation is the only race that can upgrade the tech levels of old starships. If a Federation ship sets their mission to "Super Refit" and is at a Federation starbase for one turn. The chief engineer will remove the engines, beam weapons and torpedo launchers and replace the parts with the highest tech level parts available from the starbase's parts inventory. If a higher tech part is not available the chief engineer will not swap parts. Old parts taken off the ship will be placed in storage.
The Federation has two terraforming ships:
Bohemian Class Survey Shi