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This page contains answers to common questions, along with some tips and tricks that I
have found useful and presented here as questions.
Please select a category for the question:
General
- How can I help?
- Can I help test your software?
Star Trek for Windows 9x / Solar System Designer
- Why did you write Star Trek?
- When will the next version be released?
- Why do some of the aliens in Star Trek keep repeating themselves?
- Help! How can I kill a BadGuy?
- What are your plans for future releases?
- Will Star Trek run on Windows XP/2000/NT?
- Why won't the computer raise my shields or remember my Library
Options?
- Why can't I change the number of colors in the SRS tab of the Options
Window?
- How may I get the registered version right away without ordering online?
- If I have the CD-ROM version, can I upgrade?
- I upgrade my machine from time to time. Do I have to contact you for a
new license code each time?
- I have trouble getting the most out of the Solar System
Designer, will
you provide a tutorial?
- How do I use the Galactic Record?
- Can I change the fonts in the game?
- How do you make treaties with other worlds?
Royal Escort
- How can I edit a scenario?
- I see some scenarios have walls, but how can I add them to
my own scenario?
Diamond Figures
- Can I add my own card backs?
I am a college student writing software in my "spare" time.
I do this because I enjoy programming a lot more than, say, watching TV.
I especially enjoy programming when people enjoy the software I write.
The best way to 1) show that you like the software, and 2) help me keep
updating and writing software is to register the software. The Products
page has links to buy each of my software titles.
Yes, just fill out a beta tester application.
As each piece of software is ready for testing, I randomly choose from the
qualified beta testers. The information submitted on the form is not used
or sold in any way other than to choose beta testers for Andy3ware software.
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(May 26, 1998) I wrote Star Trek originally on my ADAM™. I was looking in a book
of public domain BASIC programs , and found Super Star Trek. I looked at the long program
listing, and decided it was too long, so I tried writing my own. Well, even on the
ADAM™ my code was larger than the book's. It just kept evolving in different ways.
Eventually I tried my hand at some graphics. The SRS screen was displayed on a 40 x 40
graphics screen! I think I did alright for 9 years old.
When I got a little older, I was allowed to program on my dad's Amiga™. I printed
my code out on my daisy-wheel printer and started typing. I never did finish those phasers
. . ., oh well, I don't use the Amiga™ much any more. That is the first time I got to
use different windows to display information. I used 5 windows that covered the screen and
couldn't be moved. I put a lot of graphics and color into the program, and everything was
kept neat by the operating system.
While I was programming happily on the Amiga™, my dad had gotten a PC. I used a
program that would write in PC format to put it on a 360K floppy so I didn't have to
retype it all again. I used QBasic®, so I couldn't use any window boxes like I did on the
Amiga™. I wrote some routines to make some lines act like the windows, but it wasn't
the same. I kept the design anyway, but redesigned the SRS display so the aspect ratio was
better. That was also when I converted from 640 x 200 to 640 x 480. That was tough. I also
had to make do with just 16 colors that I couldn't change, instead of 8 colors that could
be any color in 65536 colors. When I was done fixing things and adding features, it was
135K in plain text. That is over 100 pages of code! I started running into out of memory
messages when I tried to add the solar systems (this is the version where I decided to add
them), so I took the ability to enter solar systems out.
My first summer in college at SIUE, I decided to take my first computer course, CS 402,
C++ programming. Don't get the wrong idea, I didn't convert Star Trek into C++, but that
course showed me how fun computer courses were. The next semester, one of the two computer
courses I took was CS 320, Software Development. It taught me Visual Basic® 3.0. Ah ha!
Windows®! It had been a long time since I had programmed with windows on the Amiga™,
but I started converting. I pasted code in every once and a while from the QBasic®
version, and eventually finished converting. I changed from a few unmoving windows to a
lot of movable windows. I kept adding things until I bought Visual Basic® 4.0. Then I
could put Star Trek in 32-bit Windows® 95 code. I redesigned the Options window, the
Library Options window, and added support for different colors, because of the popularity
of themes, and got those planets in true-color! The 3D effects in Star Trek for Windows®
95 use the same colors as the current theme. It also has an option to quiet the frequent
message boxes, because many themes attach sounds to the message types, which can get very
annoying.
Well, that's the story. It is a long story, but a true one. I have been working on Star
Trek for 12 years, and I still add to it. I added too many upgrades, so the Klingon
starbase was easily destroyed, so I added the BadGuy, etc. I hope you enjoy Star Trek as
much as I enjoyed writing it.
September 9, 1998 Update:
Well, version 1.2 is out, using Visual Basic® 5.0 and is compatible with Windows® 98.
Now there are new retrofits to fight against the BadGuy, hmmm, I know what that means,
something harder has to come in. At the present moment, I plan for it to be computer
controlled starships similar in capability to the Enterprise. You'll be able to choose
from these ships as well, but can you fly them as well as the computer?
December 5, 1998 Update:
Hey, I'm back again, here comes version 1.21. It's a minor upgrade, but fixes many of
the problems people were having and introduces Asteroid Belts! Visit Earth or Vulcan and
see an asteroid belt in the proper location. Or, if you like destroying planets, pick a
medium or large size planet and blast away! It is looking like version 2.0 of Star Trek
will be a complete rewrite from scratch to employ multiple ship types, beam down
adventures, artifacts, ship-to-ship communication, boarding parties, and a 3D galaxy! I
can't wait to play it!
June 14, 2004 Update:
Okay, this is part of a big website update that I have been working on for
some time. The best new thing is that Star Trek version 1.3 is out! This is a
dramatic upgrade in the planet department. Mini-adventures have never been so
realistic, since the game now comes with an Auto-Mapper! Also, the planets
(even asteroids) now have very realistic looking pictures and, as always, no
two are alike!
That is a good question. I am working toward my Doctorate in Computer
Science at Washington University in St. Louis,
which takes most of my time. I only get to work on Star Trek every so often,
so release dates are always difficult to predict.
Some of the aliens in Star Trek repeat themselves because the Artificial Intelligence
(AI) for them is not developed enough yet. When the next version of the Planet Pack comes
out, there will be a significant improvement in the AI, as well as the realism of the
solar system setups. The Solar System Designer allows you to create and modify the solar systems and the
messages which you get in the game. I really want to see what people can make with it.
OK, you've registered the game, and now you want to get on the high score list, or you
just want to get back at the BadGuys for killing you so many times. Well, I really can't
give away any secrets, but sometimes war veterans can. Have you checked to see if anyone
in the BadGuy High Score Posting has given any hints? I will
tell you, it is possible to kill a BadGuy ship, and I myself once killed two in one game,
but I don't believe in posting myself to the high score list. Good Luck!
September 9, 1998 Update:
Now, there are new retrofits to fight the BadGuy. You can get more power from
your engines, keep the BadGuy away with your shields, increase the damage and
effectiveness of your phasers, detonate torpedoes on command, and even repair systems that
the BadGuy takes out!
Please post your suggestions to the Suggestions page, and I'd
like to let you know that I want this program to continue to improve and enhance until I
have a complete world in which you can do things that weren't programmed into the machine.
Take on a mission that I never thought of, discover a new way to link the phasers to the
deflector dish and open a rupture in space-time, or whatever your imagination can
come up with. I'll supply the physics, you supply the adventure.
Yes. Some versions prior to 1.3 could not determine the Registration Code
for an NT based machine, and needed the NT
patch. Versions 1.3 and later run just fine in all NT based
operating systems, including Windows XP and Windows 2000.
The Library Options are not saved when you play with the "General" options.
To save your Library Options, Game Options, and Window Positions under your name,
start a game using any name. Then click the "Options" button on the Command Bar.
On the General tab, the bottom check box (Save Configuration by Name) should be checked.
Click Yes to the "Are you sure?" message, then click OK.
The quality setting only allows the selection of the ship pictures that are available.
Right now, only the 16 color version is available. As more become available
these options will be enabled.
In addition to online ordering, I also provide offline orders through Register Now!
Please use the Buy Now or Add to Cart links, and then select the payment
method from the list on the Checkout page. It has options like mailing a
check and faxing in your order.
The CD-ROM version may seem fixed, but in fact, it is just as upgradeable as the
downloaded version. The Language Packs, Solar System Packs, and even future ship and
planet packs all will work with the CD-ROM version. Simply apply them to the special
folder C:\STCD which the CD places on your hard drive.
Star Trek and Solar System Designer version upgrades will be handled a little differently.
When an upgrade is released, you will have the option of returning the Star Trek CD
to get the latest version of all files including all
add-on packs. The new files will be written to your CD and shipped back to you immediately.
That is of course one solution, but a better one would be to obtain the new CD-ROM as it will work on any machine that meets the minimum
system requirements.
Yes, I have an extensive step-by-step tutorial. I include it as
part of the CD-ROM, and may soon be available in the download version.
The galactic record was designed by the original creators of the public domain Star
Trek game. Each quadrant is assigned a three digit number. The first number is the number
of Klingons in the quadrant, the second is the starbase number, if any, and the third
number is the number of stars. The highlighted areas are the quadrants that you know are
correct because you just scanned them. With version 1.2 and later, a CTRL+click
will move you to that quadrant, or pressing the panel next to the Target Calculator button
in the Library Computer window will "lock" the click-to-move feature in place.
Also, when you use the control key or the panel, clicking the same sector twice in the
Short Range Scan Window will take you to that sector. Clicking once in the SRS window, and
then clicking in the Galactic Record window will move you to that quadrant and sector.
Yes, it is possible to use a different font for the game. From your Star Trek\Language
folder, locate the file for your language. (For English-speaking users, it is
USENGLSH.TXT) Double-click the file. The first few lines read:
[Language]
Font=Arial
SFont=Times New Roman
Changing these two lines to the name of your custom font, will change the font in Star
Trek. Use "Font" for the main font for the game. "SFont" is for places
where a serif font is used.
The font setup doesn't seem to work well for fixed-width fonts. Try to use a
proportional font wherever possible.
Treaties are formed when your starship encounters a planet which can make a treaty. The
default planet messages do not contain any treaties. Therefore, to make a treaty, you will
need to download a Solar System Pack which can form a treaty.
Currently, only one solar system supports treaties. I expect there to be several
more from people making their own systems with Solar System Designer. This program
allows users to make their own systems, which may have treaties.
To edit a scenario, choose Game -> New. In the New Game
window, right-click the scenario you want to edit. A menu pops up with
Play, Edit, Copy, Rename, and Delete. Choose Edit to bring up the custom
scenario window with that scenario loaded into it. Pressing Save &
Close will save any changes on top of the scenario. To change a scenario
without losing the original, use the Copy option first. Games with the
Created by Andy3ware logo cannot be edited, renamed, or deleted, but may be
copied.
To add walls, or to place units outside the area near their castle, just
click the Advanced button on the Custom Game window, just below the
starting position board. The window that comes up will allow you to add walls
for the current player by right-clicking a cell and selecting Wall from the
list. Units which are available for the game will also appear in the
right-click menu. Make sure that the check box on the Advanced button is
checked, or that one of the options for the game has Toggle Advanced as its
action, otherwise the custom unit placement will not take effect.
Of course! Just add a bitmap (BMP) picture to the folder where you installed the game,
and name it DeckXXX.bmp where XXX is anything you
want. The picture should be 71x96 pixels, but will be stretched to fit the cards otherwise.
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