.\"static char sccsid[] = "@(#)xtrek_ship.man 3.1"; .TH XTREK_SHIP 6 "08 Mar 1989" .SH NAME xtrek_ship - Ship customization for xtrek(6) .SH SYNOPSIS .B xtrek.ship: [ acdefgmprstvwxACDEFGMPRSTVWX ] ... .SH DESCRIPTION .IR Xtrek (6) is a multi-player game of galactic warfare based on the Star Trek universe. .PP The following describes the customization of ships allowed by specifying the .B ship default in your .I \&.Xdefaults file. Customization is done by decreasing your ship's abilities in one area, in order to increase them in another area. The effect of one Unit of Customization (UoC) is described below for each ability. .PP The .B ship default specifies your ship customization as a list of upper- and lower-case letters. Upper-case letters add one UoC to the associated abilities, while lower-case letters subtract one UoC from the associated abilities. .PP Starting .IR xtrek (6) with a ``-n name'' option will force it to use the .I name default instead of the .B ship default. This can be useful for keeping several ship descriptions available, selecting the desired ship when starting .IR xtrek . .PP Reasonable limits are made on the modifications allowed. One general limitation is that the number of upper-case letters cannot exceed the number of lower-case letters. Each ability will also have limitations listed. .SH ABILITIES .PP The various ship types start out with differing capabilities. Here is a table of the defaults: .nf Ability Federation Romulan Klingon Orion Army Transport 10 14 10 6 Cloaking Cost 30 20 30 30 Heat Dissipation 2, 5 6, 3 2, 5 1, 7 Engine Efficiency 20 25 20 15 Fuel Capacity 10000 20000 10000 7500 Fuel Generation 12 10 12 14 Maneuverability 2 1 2 4 Phaser Size 2500 3125 2500 2000 Repair Rate 100 150 100 100 Shield Strength 100 125 100 100 Torpedo Size 450 900 450 250 Torpedo Velocity 12 18 12 18 Warp Engines 9 7 9 11 Ship Size 100 100 100 100 .fi .PP Here are the abilities, and their associated letters. The effect of subtracting a UoC is listed in parenthesis. .TP 5 .IB "Army Transport" \ a/A The default ship can carry a maximum number of armies as listed in the table. Each UoC increases (decreases) the maximum capacity of the ship by 4 armies. You cannot decrease this by more than 2 UoC. .TP 5 .IB "Cloaking Cost" \ C Cloaking costs start at the base value listed in the table above. Each UoC lowers (raises) the cost for your ship by 10 fuel units, within an allowable range of 0-30 fuel units. This cost is then multiplied by your current speed and then subtracted from your fuel. It costs more to be cloaked if you are travelling faster. NOTE: There is no 'c' option. .TP 5 .IB "Heat Dissipation" \ d/D The table above lists two numbers, the first represents weapon heat dissipation and the second engine heat dissipation. Each UoC raises (lowers) your ship's heat dissipation by 1 heat unit, with a minimum heat dissipation of 0 heat units. Both values are affected equally for each UoC. .TP 5 .IB "Engine Efficiency" \ e/E In regards to engines, you use fuel at the following rate: .nf amount = warpcost * speed if (shields are up) amount = amount * 2 amount = amount + warpcost * number of armies on board .fi Starting with the "Engine Efficiency" value in the table above, the resulting warpcost is calculated as follows: .nf warpcost = ee / (5 + UoC) .fi This translates into the following fuel costs (shown for Federation and Klingon ships): .nf UoC Allocation Starting "EE" Warp Cost -4 20 20 -3 20 10 -2 20 6 -1 20 5 0 20 4 1 20 3 2 20 2 3 20 2 4 20 2 5 20 2 6 20 1 .fi .TP 5 .IB "Fuel Capacity" \ f/F Un-changed ships have fuel capacities as shown in the beginning table. Each UoC raises (lowers) your ship's capacity by 2,500 fuel units. .TP 5 .IB "Fuel Generation" \ g/G Ships generate fuel as listed in the beginning table. Each UoC raises (lowers) the fuel generation rate by 2, with a minimum rate of 0 fuel units. .TP 5 .IB "Maneuverability" \ m/M This affects how quickly your ship can change directions while moving. Each UoC allows your ship to maneuver as well as a normal ship traveling one warp factor slower (faster). At the minimum setting (-5 UoC), warp 1 behaves like warp 6 normally does and navagation requires nearly stopping before turning. The beginning table numbers merely reflect that Federation and Klingon ships outmaneuver Romulan ships by a factor of 2:1. And Orion ships outmaneuver Romulan ships by a factor of 4:1. .TP 5 .IB "Phaser Size" \ p/P Normal phasers have 4 times the value listed in the beginning table for a "size". Each UoC increases (decreases) this by another unit. For base Federation and Klingon ships, this results in a size of 10000 units, for Romulans a size of 12500, and Orions get an 8000. The damage inflicted by phasers is the square root of the Phaser Size. The minimum damage is 0 (you've scuttled your phasers). Phaser range, fuel required, and weapons heating are proportional to the damage inflicted by the phasers. The following chart correlates damage to the number of UoC allocated to Phaser Size, for Federation and Klingon ships: .nf Point Blank UoC Allocation Phaser Damage Required 0 -4 50 -3 70 -2 86 -1 100 0 111 1 122 2 132 3 141 4 158 6 173 8 200 12 223 16 .fi .TP 5 .IB "Repair Rate" \ r/R Ships base repair rate is listed in the beginning table. Each UoC increases (decreases) this by 50 damage units, with a minimum repair rate of 0 damage units. .TP 5 .IB "Shield Strength" \ s/S Shield strength of normal ships is listed in the beginning table. Each UoC increases (decreases) this by 25 damage units, with a minimum strength of 0 (no shields at all--not recommended). .TP 5 .IB "Torpedo Size" \ t/T Normal photon torpedoes have 2 times the value listed in the beginning table for a "size". Each UoC increases (decreases) this by another unit. For base Federation and Klingon ships, this results in a size of 900 units, for Romulans a size of 1800, and Orions get a 500. The damage inflicted by torpedoes is the square root of the Torpedo Size. The minimum damage is 0 (you've scuttled your torpedoes). The fuel required and weapons heating are proportional to Torpedo Size. The following chart correlates damage to the number of UoC allocated to Torpedo Size, for Federation and Klingon ships: .nf Point Blank UoC Allocation Torpedo Damage Required 0 -2 21 -1 30 0 36 1 42 2 47 3 51 4 60 6 67 8 79 12 90 16 .fi .TP 5 .IB "Torpedo Velocity" \ v/V Normal photon torpedoes travel at a warp factor as listed in the beginning table. Each UoC increases (decreases) the torpedo velocity by 6 warp factors, with a minimum torpedo velocity of warp 0 (your torpedo launchers simply drop them in space as mines). The range of torpedoes, fuel required to fire them, and heat generated by them are proportional to their velocity and damage they cause. .TP 5 .IB "Warp Engines" \ w/W The beginning table lists the maximum warp factor for each ship type. Each UoC increases (decreases) the maximum by two warp factors, with a minimum limit of warp 1. .TP 5 .IB "Ship Size" \ x/X The beginning table show how many damage units each type of default ship can withstand. Each UoC increases (decreases) the strength of the ship by 15 damage units, with a minimum Ship Size withstanding 25 damage units. .SH NOTE It may be helpful to some to think of ship customization in the following manner. You are given a ship hull, and are allocated a base number of UoC with which to convert this hull into a viable starship. The default ship configuration allocates these UoC to create a general purpose ship. Obviously, some systems (eg, Heat Dissipation, Fuel Generation) must have some UoC allocated to them, while others are less essential (eg, Army Transport). .SH EXAMPLES .TP 8 .B xtrek.ship: mmmPPP This ship has -3 UoC for Maneuverability, and +3 UoC Phaser Size. .TP 8 .B xtrek.ship: agwCCC This ship has -1 UoC each for Army Transport, Fuel Generation, and Warp Engines, but with +3 UoC Cloaking Cost, he is not an easy target. .TP 8 .B xtrek.torper: appppwDGGVTT This ship has -1 UoC Army Transport, -4 UoC Phaser Size, and -1 UoC Warp Speed. But with +1 UoC Heat Dissipation, +2 UoC Fuel Generation, +1 UoC Torpedo Velocity and +2 UoC Torpedo Size, they'll keep you dodging photon torpedoes. .TP 8 .B xtrek.ship: aattvvEEMMPP This ship has -2 UoC for Army Transport, -2 UoC Torpedo Size, and -2 UoC Torpedo Velocity. However, this ship has +2 UoC Engine Efficiency, +2 UoC Maneuverability, and +2 UoC for Phaser Size. It's a good fighter. .SH "SEE ALSO" xtrek(6) .SH DIAGNOSTICS If a specified ship customization is invalid, xtrek will silently ignore the customization and you'll get the default ship type. .SH BUGS The customization parameters need to be balanced. Letters other than those understood are silently ignored.