TK-WARS IV
       Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992 by Bird of Prey Software, Inc.
           Copyright (C) 1993 by Concentric Research Corporation
                           All Rights Reserved.

                                USER GUIDE
                             Document revision
                                    1.5


1.  INTRODUCTION
================

TK-Wars is a multi-player starship combat game, designed in the grand trad-
ition  of  many  years  of  Trek  games.  It features real-time action with
either two or three opposing fleets in up to seven different galaxies  with
as many as twenty-six players in each galaxy.

Each player in TK-Wars becomes a starship pilot, serving in  the  fleet  of
one of the three great powers:  the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the
Romulan Empire.  The object is  to  travel  through  space,  capturing  new
planets   and  building  bases,  and  destroying  enemy  bases  and  ships.
Meanwhile, of course, players in the same fleet will work  to  assist;  and
players in enemy fleets will try to destroy your own.

Players may find  themselves  under  attack  from  enemy  ports  and  enemy
planets,  harassed  by powerful alien devices, and hampered or destroyed by
natural phenonena.  Players are armed with only photon  torpedos,  phasers,
sublight  radio,  and "the will to survive."  Luckily, they may may dock at
friendly planets and bases for supplies and repairs.


OVERVIEW
--------

Each individual game occurs within a single galaxy.  A  galaxy  is  a  two-
dimensional  grid  and consists of a fixed number of sectors.  Depending on
the galaxy type selected during initialization, the number  of  sectors  in
the  galaxy may range from 30x30 to 99x99.  The galaxy is hard-edged and no
one can travel beyond the galactic borders.  A scan of a small  part  of  a
galaxy looks like this:


                 60  62  64  66  68  70
              21 . . . . . . . . . . .  21
              20 . . . . . . . . @ . *  20  @  Neutral planet
              19 . . . . . . . . . . .  19  *  Star
              18 . . . . . . . . . . .  18
              17 . . . . . . . . . . .  17
              16 . . . . . K . . . . .  16  K  Empire Ship
              15 . . . . . . . . . . .  15
              14 . . . . . . . . . . .  14
              13 . . . . . . . . . . .  13
              12 . . . . . . . . . . .  12
              11 . . . . . . . . . . .  11
                60  62  64  66  68  70


Galaxies are filled with stars,  ships,  planets,  starbases,  and  strange
astronomical phemonena, such as black holes and magnetic storms.  You pilot
your ship through these hazards, trying along with your  fleet  to  destroy
the enemy fleets and take absolute control of the galaxy.


2.  PLAYING TK-WARS
===================

TK-Wars is avaiable from the CRIS Main  Menu  option  "Multiplayer  Games",
under  the  option  "Space  Games".   You  can  also reach it from anywhere
(except the Internet area) by typing "/GO  TKWARS",  which  will  take  you
directly  to the game.  Once at the TK-Wars menu, the option "Play TK-Wars"
will bring you into the game.

After you have gone through the launch sequence, you will be presented with
a  list  of galaxies from which to choose.  This list indicates which games
are currently in progress, who is winning, and whether or not you can enter
any  of  the games.  There are seven standard galaxies, and an eighth which
you can make your own "private" galaxy for running closed games.

You choose a galaxy by entering that galaxy's number at the prompt.


HOW TO START A GAME
-------------------

     -   Select a galaxy to enter.

     -   If it is not initialized, initialize it by selecting a galaxy con-
         figuration  from the config menu. Option 1 (random) or 3 (standard
         non-void) are good  beginner  galaxies.   For  a  standard  galaxy
         setup, just answer "Y" when asked.

     -   Choose a fleet to join.

     -   If asked, select a ship class.   (new  players  automatically  fly
         Trainers)

     -   Choose an available ship to fly.

     -   Start killing everything and everyone!


PREGAME
-------

After you have chosen a galaxy, you will be given the option of going  into
"pregame" mode instead of going directly into the galaxy.  In pregame mode,
you are able to watch the galaxy,  read  the  help  files,  and  listen  to
activity without actually being involved.  The pregame area is a good place
to watch how TK-Wars operates and familiarize yourself with the game before
you actually start playing.  You can go from the pregame area into the game
itself at any time, or not at all, as you prefer.


COORDINATES
-----------

All of the action in the game takes place in one  of  the  eight  galaxies.
Each area of the galaxy (a dot, space, or symbol) is referred to as a "sec-
tor".  Each sector is referenced as a number pair,  or  "coordinate  pair".
The first number given is the vertical sector; the second is the horizontal
sector. For example, in the following scan, a  neutral  planet  appears  at
sector  20-68, a star at sector 20-70, and the Empire Star Ship "K" at sec-
tor 16-65.


                 60  62  64  66  68  70
              21 . . . . . . . . . . .  21
              20 . . . . . . . . @ . *  20  @  Neutral planet
              19 . . . . . . . . . . .  19  *  Star
              18 . . . . . . . . . . .  18
              17 . . . . . . . . . . .  17
              16 . . . . . K . . . . .  16  K  Empire Ship
              15 . . . . . . . . . . .  15
              14 . . . . . . . . . . .  14
              13 . . . . . . . . . . .  13
              12 . . . . . . . . . . .  12
              11 . . . . . . . . . . .  11
                60  62  64  66  68  70





3.  SHIP DESIGN
===============

This section deals with the design  and  construction  of  starships,  both
yours  and those of your enemies.  Ship design is fairly flexible, allowing
you to build a ship to your own specifications.

Starships appear as single letters as follows:

        Federation ships:   E F I L N O P R S U V Y
        Empire ships:       B C D G H J K M Q T W Z
        Romulan ships:      A X

Each starship has warp drive, impulse engines, phaser banks, photon torpedo
tubes,  scanning  equipment,  shields, energy transfer booms, energy cells,
matter/anti-matter pods, transporter beams, and a radio.

Some ship types are equipped with tractor  beams,  extra-vehicular  docking
bays, and mine-laying arms.



SHIP FEATURES
-------------

Each ship class has a slightly different internal  energy,  shield  energy,
hull  thickness,  warp  speed,  life support capacity, and subsystem damage
threshold.  Some ship classes are able to pick up and deploy  photon  mines
while  others  are  equipped  with  photon torpedo bays and holds.  A brief
description of major ship features is given below.


DAMAGE         A ship will "die" (be destroyed) when its  hull  is  damaged
               too  severely.   Hull damage can only be repaired by docking
               at a friendly planet or base.  Over time, your  ship's  hull
               may  regenerate,  but  this process could take up to several
               minutes of real time.

ENERGY         A ship will also be destroyed when it runs out  of  internal
               energy.   Energy  may  be  transferred  from ship shields to
               extend life and range.  Energy may also be transferred  from
               friendly  ships or obtained by docking at friendly ports, or
               by docking with friendly ships equipped with docking rigs.

ENGINES        Ships are equipped with warp  drives  and  impulse  engines.
               Different ship classes have varying warp ranges.  Using warp
               engines at high speeds consumes vast amounts of energy.

               Impulse engines, while rather  slow,  use  hardly  any  ship
               energy  and  are  useful  when energy levels are dangerously
               low.

SHIELDS        Shields protect your ship from attack and will absorb photon
               torpedo  and  phaser  blasts  before they can penetrate your
               hull.  Shields are slowly drained by the energy they deflect
               until  they  reach  0%,  drop, and become useless.  Internal
               ship energy may be transferred to your  shields  to  provide
               more  hull  protection.   Performing  operations  with  your
               shields down generally consumes far less energy  then  doing
               so with them up.

WEAPONS        Ships can fire photon torpedos, fire phasers, or drop photon
               mines.

               Phasers are pure energy weapons and  are  effective  against
               enemy  ship  shields.  Phaser blasts require a great deal of
               energy.

               Photon torpedos, which are matter/anti-matter explosion dev-
               ices,  are effective against ship hulls.  Torpedo blasts may
               also displace objects that they hit -- something to note  as
               it  is  often to the attacker's advantage to "push" a docked
               enemy ship away from its port.  Torpedoes  consume  no  ship
               energy; however, torpedo bays have a limited number of ready
               photon torps and once your torpedo bays are empty, your must
               dock  at  a  friendly  planet  or base to obtain more.  Some
               ships are equipped with torpedo holds which can  reload  the
               torpedo bays in space; however, this takes a few seconds and
               is not always reliable.

               Miner class starships can deploy and recover  photon  mines.
               Photon  mines are simaliar in effect to photon torpedoes but
               rather then fired at a target, they are "DROPPED" at a  sec-
               tor  and  wait  for a enemy (or friendly!) ship to move into
               them.  Photon mines may be destroyed by firing  photon  tor-
               pedoes into them.


SHIP SUBSYSTEMS
---------------

All ships contain subsystems or devices which control the operation of ship
features  and abilities.  Subsystems are located throughout the ship's hull
and may be protected by subsystem unit armor and may have increased ability
to withstand damage; both unit armor and ability can be set in DRYDOCK.

These are the various ship subsystems and devices:

AM  The ANTI-MATTER PODS store ship's anti-matter, which  is  used  in  the
    warp  drive.   If the device is damaged, a matter/anti-matter explosion
    may occur inside your hull and cause severe damage.  Functioning  anti-
    matter pods may also deliberately be rigged for self-destruction.

AR  The AUTO-REPAIR HARDWARE will automatically  repair  the  ship's  hull,
    other  subsystems,  and will replentish energy reserves.  If it is dam-
    aged, your ship can neither repair nor regenerate while in flight.

CO  The ship's MAIN COMPUTER is used for tracking enemy ships and  targets.
    If  damaged  the COMPUTED and CLOSEST arguments to various commands may
    not work, because the computer will be unable to calculate them.

DB  The DOCKING BOOM is vital for docking with other ships and  ports.   If
    the  unit  is  damaged your ship may not be able to perform or complete
    docking operations, and it may be unable to  perform  energy  transfers
    with ports or other ships.

EC  The ENERGY CELLS hold ship energy reserves.  If the cells  are  damaged
    various  amounts of hard (solid or liquid) and soft (energy) fuel types
    may leak into outer space.  Energy transfer to  other  ships  and  from
    friendly ports may not be possible if the ENERGY CELLS are damaged.

HO  The TORPEDO HOLDS are used to store extra photon  torpedoes  which  are
    reloaded into the torpedo bays for firing.  If the holds are damaged it
    may take an extraordinary amount of time to perform the transfer.

ID  The INTRUDER DEFENSES device is used to  prevent  spies  from  entering
    your  ship;  it  can determine if unauthorized transmissions are taking
    place; and is vital in tracking down spies once they've  snuck  aboard.
    Once  a  spy  is found, defense systems may destroy the spy, or place a
    holding beam around him or her until security can make an arrest.   The
    ID  device  is  very  sensitive  and  the smallest amount of damage can
    render it useless.  Obviously, spies tend to seek out the ID device  in
    order to destroy it.

IM  The IMPULSE ENGINES are a secondary source of ship motion; if  damaged,
    impulse  distance  is  reduced.   Impulse engines require substantially
    less energy than the warp engines, but they are much slower.

LS  The LIFE SUPPORT subsystems are vital to preserving a normal life  sup-
    port  environment  on your ship.  If damaged, life support may fail and
    your entire crew will die!  Priority should always  be  given  to  life
    support repairs.

NC  The NAVIGATIONAL COMPUTER is vital for computing the absolute  location
    of  objects  within the galaxy.  It references known star locations and
    patterns. If the device is damaged, or if the stars which  are  guiding
    your  ship are destroyed, you may not be able to see absolute locations
    and instead must rely on relative locations.

PH  The PHASER BANK CONTROL manages the firing of the  ship's  main  phaser
    banks;  if  damaged, phasers simply can not be fired.  The phaser banks
    can be damaged from excessive use, so they should be  allowed  to  cool
    down between phaser blasts.

RA  The INTERSTELLAR RADIO device must be working properly in order to send
    and  receive  radio messages from other players or to hear attack warn-
    ings from friendly ports.

SE  The SENSORS are used for scanning and listing nearby objects.   If  the
    sensor  array  is  damaged,  your ship's scan range will be reduced and
    your ship will effectively be blinded.

SH  The SHIELD CONTROL DEVICE maintains shield integrity.  If the device is
    damaged  your  shields  may  drop  when hit by photon torpedoes, phaser
    blasts -- or may even drop without warning.

ST  The STABILIZERS are used to hold your ship at its current location.  If
    the  device  is  damaged,  your ship may not be able to fight the solar
    winds from nearby stars and will be moved about nearby sectors.

TO  The TORPEDO TUBES must be functioning properly in order  for  torpedoes
    to  be  fired  reliably.   Damaged torpedo tubes may misfire torpedoes;
    misfired torpedoes seldom follow their proper  course  and  often  gain
    energy  and momentum causing them to fly farther and hit objects harder
    -- this is sometimes an advantage.  It is important to allow your  tor-
    pedo tubes to cool down between vollies.

TP  The main TRANSPORTER BEAM is used to transport energy, supplies, spies,
    and other objects to other ships.  If it is damaged, transportation may
    not be reliable and the DNA of transported lifeforms could  be  altered
    catastrophically.

TR  The primary TRACTOR BEAM is used to tractor crippled friendly ships  to
    port and must be functioning in order to be used.

WA  The WARP ENGINES, the primary source of  propulsion  on  any  starship,
    must  be functioning properly in order to achieve maximum warp capabil-
    ity.  Warp engine damage occurs when your ship attempts to stretch  the
    warp envelope.


SHIP CLASSES AND COMMAND RANKS
------------------------------

There are a variety of starships available in the  fleets.   The  class  of
starship  that  you  can command depends upon your rank.  As you advance in
rank, faster, stronger ships become available to you.  Beginners start  out
at  the rank of "Cadet" and as such are only permitted to fly Trainer class
Fighter starships.  Trainer class ships have more energy and shileds than a
normal Fighter, but have only half of the weapon strength.

Players move up through the  ranks  by  earning  "game  points"  and  "kill
points".   Game  points  are given for normal game play, such as conquering
planets and building bases.  Kill points are given for each individual ship
you  destroy, and in addition, you receive a kill point whenever your fleet
wins a complete game.

As you earn more points of both types, you will move up the  ranks,  begin-
ning as a lowly Cadet.  The ranks are as follows:

                     Rank                   Game     Kills
                Abr. Full Title             Points   & Won

                CD - Cadet ............          0      0
                EN - Ensign ...........     10,000      0
                LJ - Jr. Lieutenant ...     20,000      0
                LT - Lieutenant .......     40,000      2
                LC - Lt. Commander ....     80,000      4
                CO - Commander ........    100,000      8
                CP - Captain ..........    200,000     16
                CM - Commodore ........    400,000     24
                RA - Rear Admiral .....    800,000     32
                VA - Vice Admiral .....  1,000,000     48
                AD - Admiral ..........  2,000,000     64
                FA - Fleet Admiral ....  4,000,000    128
                PC - Coun. President ..  8,000,000    256
                SU - Sultan ........... 90,000,000    500


Notice that you can advance as far as the rank of Junior Lieutenant  before
you must either destroy a ship or win a game.

The table below lists all ship classes with the minimum  rank  required  to
fly each ship class:


                Starship             Minimum Rank
                Class Name           Required

                TN - Trainer ....... Cadet
                SC - Scout ......... Ensign
                ES - Escort ........ Jr. Lieutenant
                FT - Fighter ....... Lieutenant
                CR - Cruiser ....... Lt. Commander
                MN - Miner ......... Commander
                FR - Frigate ....... Captain
                WS - Warp Shuttle .. Commodore
                FG - Flagship ...... Rear Admiral
                DE - Destroyer ..... Vice Admiral
                MO - Monitor ....... Admiral
                AS - Assualt Ship .. Fleet Admiral
                BB - Battle Ship ... Coun. President
                GS - Gun Star ...... Sultan
                DS - Dark Star ..... Sultan (playtest only)


Cadets and Ensigns only score one half the points of higher ranks since the
Trainer  class  starships  are rather strong.  A Trainer class starship can
only be flown by the Cadets. The Dark Star class can only be flown  by  the
Game Operator (in playtest mode).

Note that for each rank a new ship type is available.


SHIP CONFIGURATIONS
-------------------

Ship configurations vary with each ship class.  These are the defaults  for
several main attributes of each ship class:

           Ship Class           Energy  Shields  Damage  Warp

           TN - Trainer .......  6,000    5,000   4,000    12
           SC - Scout .........  5,000    4,000   3,000    15
           ES - Escort ........  7,000    3,000   5,000    12
           FT - Fighter .......  5,000    3,000   4,000    10
           CR - Cruiser .......  6,000    3,500   3,000    12
           MN - Miner .........  6,000    4,000   4,000     8
           FR - Frigate .......  7,000    3,000   5,000    10
           WS - Warp Shuttle ..  8,000    5,000   3,000    16
           FG - Flagship ......  7,000    5,000   5,000     7
           DE - Destroyer .....  7,000    4,000   4,000    10
           MO - Monitor .......  9,000    7,000   7,000     5
           AS - Assualt Ship ..  6,000    3,000   4,000    10
           BB - Battle Ship ...  6,000    5,500   4,500     8
           GS - Gun Star ......  6,500    5,000   5,500    10
           DS - Dark Star ..... 60,000   60,000  60,000    99

Ship configurations may also be customized in DRYDOCK.  In DRYDOCK, you may
save  up  to  four  ship  designs, or configurations, per ship class.  Each
design may be altered to your liking; however, you may only raise the value
of  some  features  by  reducing  the  values of other features.  See "HELP
DRYDOCK" for more information about using DRYDOCK and individual features.
These are the features which can be customized for each ship design:

     energy         the ship's maximum internal energy
     shields        the ship's maximum shield energy
     damage         maximum damage the ship's hull can withstand
     warp           the ship's maximum warp speed
     waenreduce     warp energy reduction factor
     torptubes?     whether the ship has torpedo bays
     #torps         the number of torpedoes in the bays
     torpholds?     whether the ship has torpedo holds
     #toinholds     the number of torpedoes in the holds
     toenergy       the energy contained in each torpedo
     phasers?       whether the ship has phaser banks
     phenergy       maximum energy in ship's phaser blasts
     mines?         whether the ship is able to deploy photon mines
     #mines         number of mines onboard ship
     udamage        amount of damage a subsystem unit can withstand
     uarmor         amount of armor a subsystem unit has
     uability       ability level of a subsystem unit
     ecells         the number of energy cells the ship has
     lsdays         number of days the ship can sustain life support
     autofix        amount of energy for automatic system repair
     autoxfer       amount of energy to transfer when the ship is low
     sensor-rng     the ship's maximum sensor range (in sectors)



4.  GALACTIC OBJECTS
====================

The galaxies in the TK-Wars universe are filled with a  wide  diversity  of
objects, both natural and constructed.  It is essential for a good starship
pilot to understand the variety of  phenomena  to  be  encountered  in  the
exploration of the galaxy.

On the grid map, each place is called  a  "sector."   No  two  objects  may
occupy the same sector at the same time.

Object symbols:


                $$       Friendly base
                //       Enemy base (first enemy fleet)
                %%       Enemy base (second enemy fleet)

                @        Neutral planet
                ++       Friendly planet
                --       Enemy planet (first enemy fleet)
                ==       Enemy planet (second enemy fleet)

                *        Star
                o        Pulsar

                |        Great Barrier
                <space>  The Void

                x        Star gates
                #        Photon mine

                ^        Super hole
                <space>  Black hole



A detailed description of each object is as follows:

BARRIERS       The Great Barrier is an impenatrable and uncrossable area of
               space; it may, in places, be destroyed by photon torpedoes.

BASES          Each fleet has one or more starbases,  at  which  ships  may
               dock,  perform  repairs, change configuration, and so forth.
               Bases are constructed on planets by building  on  them  (see
               "Building  Planets"  for  details).   By  default,  only  10
               friendly bases may exist at any one time.

               Enemy bases are very possessive  and  aggressive.  They  may
               attack  you  from  as  far as 5 sectors away, and can attack
               with great force.  Enemy bases cannot be  captured  --  only
               destroyed.

               Neutral bases can neither be captured nor  destroyed;  these
               diplomatic  stations  exist  as  refueling points and may be
               docked at by any ship regardless of side;  however,  neutral
               bases refuse to refuel or repair weapon systems.

               Some galaxies may have HEADQUARTERS (HQ) BASES; these  bases
               are  incredibly powerful and have a fantastic weapons range.
               All care should be taken to avoid their area of influence.

               Some starbases may move in orbital  patterns,  regularly  or
               irregularly,  while  others  will  simply hang motionless in
               space.

BLACK HOLES    Black holes are regions  in  space  which  contain  gigantic
               amounts  of  matter compressed into extremely small regions.
               Their gravitational fields are so strong that not even light
               can  escape from them (hence the name).  If your ship strays
               beyond the event horizon of a black hole, it will  instantly
               be crushed by the singularity and utterly destroyed.

MAG. STORMS    Magnetic storms  are  high-powered  energy  disturbances  in
               space.  Ships entering them may find their engines, shields,
               weapons, and communications  systems  damaged  or  weakened.
               Magnetic  storms  are always moving and should constantly be
               tracked.

PLANETS        Ships may dock at friendly planets, but they  are  consider-
               ably  slower  than  bases  in  performing repairs and energy
               transfers.  Providing that your side  has  not  reached  its
               base  quota,  friendly  planets  may be turned into bases by
               placing 4-6 builds upon them.  The default  number  required
               is 5.

               Enemy planets may be captured but are harder to  capture  if
               more  builds have been placed upon them.  Enemy planets have
               a weapons range equal to the number of  builds  placed  upon
               them (but not less then 2 sectors).

               Neutral planets cannot be docked at until they are captured.
               Neutral planets also attack but tend not to have very strong
               offensive nor defensive weapons.

               At times, planets may move in  either  regular  (stable)  or
               irregular  (unstable)  orbits.   Building bases upon planets
               can both stabilize and destabilize them.

PULSARS        Pulsars are fixed stars that "pulse" or quasar  at  a  fixed
               rate.   Their  energy  wave  is  incredibly powerful and may
               spread for a large distance.

STAR GATES     Star Gates were constructed by the ancient Organian  civili-
               zation  and  were  used  as  their principal method of space
               travel.  Many ancient Star Gates still operate  and  may  be
               used  by starships to travel beyond the limits of warp tech-
               nology.

STARS          Stars are the engines of  life.   Planets  tend  to  cluster
               around stars.  Stars often explode when photon torpedoes are
               detonated deep inside their cores.  When a star explodes, it
               may  go  nova, pulsar, or quasar and the vast energy wave it
               releases can destroy any nearby objects.  Ship's shields are
               usually  useless  against  a  star's  energy  wave.   It  is
               inadvisable to bring your starship too close to a star.

SUPER HOLES    Super holes are spectacular  astronomical  phenomena,  which
               twist  the  fabric  of  space-time.   They warp space within
               their boundaries  so  that  far-distant  points  touch,  and
               therefore  it  is  sometimes possible to travel into a super
               hole at one place in the galaxy, emerging instantly at  some
               far distant super hole.  However, the possible gravitational
               side effects of such a dangerous trip should always be  con-
               sidered  first.   It  is  not known whether super holes were
               constructed  by  some  long-vanished  race,  or  are  simply
               incredible  natural  formations.   In modern parlance, super
               holes are also known as "wormholes."

THE VOID       The Great Void is a region of the galaxy in which an ancient
               race  distorted the very fabric of the universe.  Because of
               the powerful fields  and  distortions,  it  can  neither  be
               penetrated nor crossed.  However, it is rumored that Romulan
               cloaking devices have the ability to protect a ship  against
               these fields.

WRECKS         Starship wrecks should  be  avoided  as  their  matter/anti-
               matter cores may still be intact but nearly ready to mix and
               annihilate adjacent sectors.



5.  COMMANDS
============

Commands may be abbreviated down to uniqeness, generally to two letters  or
less.   For  example,  "W" can be used for the "WARP" command because there
are no other commands that start with "W".

Commands may be entered one per line or multiple commands may be entered on
one line by separating them with a slash (/) character. For example:

        WA 5 5/WA 5 5/LI 15/LI CL PO

Typing "HELP <command>" will provide more details on any specified command.
The  HELP  command will match to completeness, so for example, typing "HELP
D" will provide help on all commands and topics starting with a "D".



COMMAND SUMMARY
---------------

Here is a brief summary of game commands and their effects:


Communications
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   RADIO     Turn radio on or off
   TELL      Send a radio message
   TJ        Send message to another job
   TM        Enter talk/radio mode
   /EX       Exit talk/radio mode


Informational
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   LIST      List objects in the galaxy
   BASES     List bases
   PLANETS   List planets
   TARGETS   List targets

   SUMMARY   Show ship, planet, and base summaries
   TYPE      Display I/O and galaxy settings

   POINTS    Display points for all sides or ships

   SCAN      Scan visible range
   SRSCAN    Short range scan

   JOBS      Show all jobs on-line
   TIME      Display time of day and ship age
   USERS     List users in galaxy



Input
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   SET       Set input, output, dual mode,
             team name, etc

   ALIASES   Display or alias a command
   DEALIAS   De-alias or clear an alias/command

   BG        Manage background tasks
   EXEC      Read commands from an exec file
   ECHO      Echo a line of text
   SIGNAL    Send control terminal a signal



Miscellaneous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   DECLARE   Declare war with other side

   EXIT      Quit or exit the galaxy
   OFF       Resign commission of your ship and log off
   QUIT      Resign commission of your ship



Planet Management
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   BUILD     Build a planet
   CAPTURE   Capture a planet


Pregame Only
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ACTIVATE  Enter the game from pregame mode



Records
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   CHRONICS  Display historical chronicles
   HONOR     Display the honor roll

   HELP      Display list of commands
   NEWS      Read the news
   VERSION   Display recent changes to galaxy



Ship Control
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   DAMAGE    Display internal subsystem damage
   DDOCK     Dry dock and configure your ship
   DOCK      Repair and refuel your ship
   ENERGY    Transfer energy to another ship
   REPAIR    Repair subsystem damage
   SD        Self destruct!
   SHIELDS   Shields up, down, or transfer energy
   STATUS    Show ship status



Ship Motion
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   DROP      Move and drop a mine
   IMPULSE   Move using impulse engines
   MOVE      Move using warp engines
   WARP      Move using warp engines (same as MOVE)



Weapons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   PHASERS   Fire phasers
   TORPEDO   Fire photon torpedoes




KEYWORDS AND ARGUMENTS
----------------------

A number of commands which involve maneuvering and combat can take a series
of  additional  keywords  or  arguments.   These  arguments usually involve
invoking the Main Computer to make a calculation about the  objects  around
your ship, saving you the time and energy.

Various commands (MOVE, WARP, DROP, IMPULSE, BUILD, CAPTURE,  PHASER,  TOR-
PEDO,  LIST)  allow your computer to compute the location of nearby objects
using the COMPUTED, OPPOSITE, or CLOSEST keywords.

The COMPUTED and OPPOSITE keywords work with  the  WARP,  MOVE,  DROP,  and
IMPULSE  commands,  and  are are used in conjunction with a ship name.  For
example, during a battle it is desirable to move right  next  to  an  enemy
ship before an attack; to do so, use the command:

     WARP COMPUTED <shipname>
     or
     WA C <shipname>

If you wish to flee from a ship during a battle, the OPPOSITE keyword  will
do so; for example:

     WARP OPPOSITE <shipname>
     or
     WARP O <shipname>

The CLOSEST argument allows you to move to the nearest planet, base,  port,
ship,  star,  black  hole,  etc.   The  CLOSEST argument also allows you to
specified the side of the object, in relative terms or absolute terms, such
as enemy, friendly, neutral, Federation, Empire, or Romulan.

The CLOSEST argument  works  slightly  different  with  different  commands
because  the  command  conditions  may  differ.  For example, "WARP CLOSEST
PLANET" will, by default, try to move you to the closest  friendly  planet;
while  the  command "TORP CLO PLA" (that is, "TORPEDO CLOSEST PLANET") will
try to fire torpedoes at the closest enemy planet (it is assumed  that  you
don't want to fire torpedoes at friendly planets!).

These are the valid keywords associated with the CLOSEST argument:

Syntax:

     <command> CLOSEST <side> <object>

Objects:

     BASE, BH, PLANET, PORT, SHIP, STAR

Sides:

     EMPIRE, ENEMY, FEDERATION, FRIENDLY, NEUTRAL, ROMULAN

Notice that, as with other command words,  the  keyword  "CLOSEST"  may  be
abbreviated.   The  shortest acceptable abbreviation for "CLOSEST" is "CL",
which is what the examples will show.  Examples:

     WA CL EN BA   -  move/warp to closest enemy base
     WA CL NE PL   -  move/warp to closest neutral planet
     TO CL EM SH   -  fire torps at closest empire ship
     CA CL NE PL   -  capture closest neutral planet
     BU CL PL      -  build the closest planet

The defaults associated with the CLOSEST argument vary from command to com-
mand.   This  is  because  some  commands  automatically imply that you are
referring to one side or another (such as BUILD or PHASER).  Here  are  the
defaults:

       COMMAND          OBJECT DEFAULT          SIDE DEFAULT

       BUILD CL         planet under 5 build    friendly
       BUILD CL PLA     planet under 5 build    friendly
       BUILD CL PORT    planet (any build)      friendly

       CAPTURE CL       planet                  neutral or enemy
       CAPTURE CL PLA   planet                  neutral or enemy
       CAPTURE CL PORT  planet                  enemy

       PHASER CL        ship, base, planet      enemy
       PHASER CL PORT   base, planet            enemy

       TORPEDO CL       ship, base, planet      enemy
       TRPEDOO CL PORT  base, planet            enemy

       WARP CL          ship, base, planet      any
       WARP CL PORT     base, planet            friendly

The MOVE, IMPULSE, and DROP commands use the same defaults as the WARP com-
mand.


GLOBAL COMMANDS
---------------

There are a small number of global commands, which can be accessed  at  any
time and interface directly with the CRIS system.  They are:

;JOBS  - display other jobs online.
;OFF   - logout.
;MOTD  - display the message of the day.



6.  GAME ACTIONS
================

This section describes the major activities that take place in TK-Wars.


BUILDING PLANETS
----------------

Once a planet has been captured (see "Capturing  Planets"  below)  you  can
build  upon  it.   Building  involves  adding  troops,  defensive  systems,
weaponry, and so forth.  This makes it harder for the enemy to capture  the
planet,  and  gives the planet a greater attack range with stronger weapons
systems.  This is called "placing a build" upon  a  planet.   You  must  be
adjacent to a planet to place a build on it.

To build a fortress on a planet, use the "BUILD" command  followed  by  the
coordinate  of  the planet.  Only captured, friendly planets (owned by your
side) may be built upon.  Depending upon the  configuration  of  your  game
galaxy,  between  4 and 6 "builds" may be placed on a planet.  If more than
the maximum number are placed there, the planet will be  converted  into  a
friendly starbase.  Note again, however, that there is a limit (usually 10)
to the number of starbases your fleet can have at any one time.


CAPTURING PLANETS
-----------------

Only neutral and enemy planets may be captured; enemy bases  must  be  des-
troyed.   Planets  must  be  captured  before you can DOCK at or BUILD them
(discussed below).

To capture a planet, use the "CAPTURE" command followed by  the  coordinate
of  the  planet.  You must be adjacent to the planet and enemy planets with
builds placed upon them must be captured multiple times, or you must  knock
down their build levels with phasers and torpedoes.

Examples:

     CA CL NE PL ("CAPTURE CLOSEST NEUTRAL PLANET")
     CA CL ENEMY PL ("CAPTURE CLOSEST ENEMY PLANET")
     CA R 1 1 ("CAPTURE (object at) RELATIVE 1 1")


DOCKING
-------

A starship may only dock at a friendly port, and in some cases, a  friendly
ship that is equipped with an external docking ring.

Your ship must be adjacent to a friendly port in order to  use  the  "DOCK"
command.  Docking replenishes all energy reserves, repairs hull and subsys-
tem damage, and reload weapon systems.  While docked your ship will consume
half  the  energy to do repairs or fire phasers, and will have access to an
unlimited number of torpedoes.



ENERGY TRANSFER
---------------

Your ship requires large amounts of energy to survive and function.  Energy
is stored in energy cells for general use, and in shield control for use by
the main shields.  Firing phasers, using warp engines,  capturing  planets,
building  planets,  using the radio, scanners, etc., all require energy and
such energy is drawn from the internal reserves.

Energy is transferred with the "SHIELDS" command using the special argument
"TRANSFER".   Either  a  positive or negative number can be given; positive
means, transfer energy from the ship's cells to the shields, while a  nega-
tive amount transfers energy from the shields to internal ship cells.

For example, to transfer energy from shields to ship:

     SH TR -1000

To transfer energy from ship to shields:

     SH TR 1000

Energy may also be transferred to and from other friendly ships  using  the
"ENERGY TRANSFER" command.


FIRING WEAPONS
--------------

Use the "PHASER" and "TORPEDO" commands to fire weapons at enemy ships  and
enemy ports.

Phasers are the weapon of choice for attacking ships when their shields are
at  full strength.  Phasers will draw large amounts of energy from an enemy
ship's shields.  Phasers are more effective at close ranges and decrease in
effectiveness  geometrically  over  space.   Phaser  banks will overheat if
fired too rapidly.

Torpedoes will normally "bounce off" ships with full  shields,  but  are  a
useful  weapon  for  finishing off crippled ships.  Torpedoes are effective
within your weapons range, but tend to go off course after 7-8 sectors  and
are often misfired if fired too rapidly.

To use either weapon system, issue the command following by the  number  of
the  blast (amount of phaser power or number of torpedoes) and a coordinate
or input coordinate keyword.

Examples:

     TORP C J      ... fire (default 3) torps at J's computed location.
     TORP CL EN BA ... fire torps at closest enemy base.
     TO 1 CL STAR  ... fire 1 torp at the closest star.
     PH 500 CL EN  ... fire 500 units of phasers at closest enemy.


LOOKING AROUND
--------------

When the game begins, you will not know the positions  of  any  neutral  or
enemy  planets,  bases,  or ships.  You will need to SCAN the galaxy as you
travel about, using your sensors, in order to find these things.  Once they
have  been  located  by any member of your fleet, that data is available to
all ships in your fleet.

In order to scan around you, "SCAN" (or "SC")  followed  by  a  directional
argument  (UP,  DOWN,  LEFT,  or  RIGHT).  Optionally, you may also specify
WARNING, which indicate the range of any enemy ports by  an  "!"  over  the
sectors  around  them.  This is a reminder that if you enter that area, you
will be subject to enemy attack, either by phaser  or  photon  torpedo  (or
both).

You may also specify LONG or SHORT scan display.  A LONG display will  take
two  spaces  for each sector, in order to give more detailed information; a
SHORT scan will use only one.

The "LIST" command gives detailed data on all objects known to your  fleet.
You may enter any number of arguments to the LIST command, separated by "&"
or "AND".  A simple number will list all objects within that number of sec-
tors.   You  may  also  use  the  CLOSEST argument together with all of the
objects it understands.

For example, to list everything (known)  within  15  sectors  AND  friendly
ships AND the closest friendly port, you might enter:

     LI 15 & FR SH & CL FR PO
     LI 15 AND FRIENDLY SHIPS AND CLOSEST FRIENDLY PORT

If enemy bases or enemy ships are within your sensor range, you  will  also
be given their current shield percentages when you request a LIST.

The "USERS LONG" command can be used to show you who is flying which  ship,
their  rank,  baud  rate,  flight  time, and number of kills in the current
ship.

The "JOBS" command can show you who is on-line and which galaxy  each  user
is in.


MOVING A STARSHIP
-----------------

The "WARP" and "MOVE" commands both move a starship using warp drive.   The
"IMPULSE" command moves a starship using the impulse engines.

Follow the command with a set of destination coordinates.  The  destination
must  be  within  your  ship's warp and sensor range.  This is generally 10
sectors, but varies from ship to ship.  If necessary, preceed  the  coordi-
nate with an optional absolute or relative specifier or input keyword.

In the following sample SCAN, "W" is at sector 15-28, "E" is at 12-31,  and
a friendly base is at 13-26.


                        23  25  27  29  31  33
                      20 . . . . . . . . * . .  20
                      19 . . * . . . . . . . .  19
                      18 . . . . . . . . . * .  18
                      17 . . . . . . . @ . . *  17
                      16 . . . . . . . . . . .  16
                      15 . * . . . W . . . . .  15
                      14 . . . . . . . . . . .  14
                      13 . . . $$. . . . . . *  13
                      12 . . * . . . . . E . .  12
                      11 . . . . . . . . . . .  11
                      10 . . . . . . . . * . .  10
                        23  25  27  29  31  33


"W" can move to the base with any of the following commands:

Using the CLOSEST argument:

     MO CL FR BA   (move to closest friendly base)
     MO CL BA      (move to closest base)
     MO CL PO      (move to closest port)

Specifying coordinates:

     MO R -1 -1    (move rel. down 1, right 1)
     MO A 14 27    (move abs to sector 14-27)

If input coords are already set to RELATIVE, then:

     MO -1 -1

If input coords are already set to ABSOLUTE, then:

     MO 14 27

Ship "W" can move to the enemy ship "E" with the following commands:

     MO C E        (move computed to E)
     MO CL EN      (move to closest enemy)
     MO CL EN SH   (move to closest enemy ship)
     MO R -2 2     (move relative down 2, left 2)
     MO A 13 30    (move absolute to sector 13-30)


REPAIRING A STARSHIP
--------------------

If a subsystem becomes damaged during an attack, use the  "REPAIR"  command
followed  by  an  optional  amount of energy to use during the repair and a
list of subsystem names to repair.  Example:

     REPAIR 500 LS DB

The above example will repair LIFE SUPPORT and the DOCKING  BAY  using  500
units of energy.

Note that the "REPAIR" command does not repair damage to  the  hull.   This
may  only  be done while docking.  Docking also speeds repairs to all other
systems.


SENDING RADIO MESSAGES
----------------------

Use your ship's radio to send messages to other ships or groups  of  ships.
To  do  so,  use the "TELL" command followed by a ship name, series of ship
names, or side names.  For example:

     TELL ALL;THE GREAT KYLL IS HERE AND TONIGHT I HAVE BAD BREATH!
     TELL FR;Hello friendly ships! Let's work together and get KAHN[ed]!
     TELL N S;I shall kill both of you, N & S.

Use the "RADIO OFF" command to turn your radio off. If you wish to "gag"  a
ship  (that is, not to receive messages from that ship), use the "RADIO GAG
<ship or side>" command.  See "HELP RADIO" for details.


SPACE VIRUSES
-------------

Several dangerous strains of virus float constantly about  in  the  galaxy.
Your  ship is normally immune, and can only catch the virus by capturing or
building upon infected planets.  Once your ship  is  infected  you  can  no
longer  dock  at uninfected friendly bases -- as a matter of fact, friendly
bases may even open fire on you if you even attempt to dock  at  them!   If
infected,  you  will  spread  the  infection to any planet you make contact
with.

A space virus will infect your ship for as long  as  three  minutes,  while
your medical team searches for a cure.  It is sometimes possible to cure an
infected planet of the virus by phasering it, if it has no builds upon  it.
Infected  friendly  planets will show up as "[infected]" when the LIST com-
mand is used.


SPYING
------

All fleets have the ability to send out spies  to  infiltrate  enemy  star-
ships.   Spies  may be placed on enemy ships by attempting to DOCK at them.
If you successfully place a spy on an enemy ship, your spy will attempt  to
do  as  much  damage  as possible to the enemy ship's subsystems until cap-
tured.  They will also attempt to keep you informed  of  the  enemy  ship's
location.

Spies may also sneak aboard your ship from captured enemy planets.  Once  a
spy  is  on  your  ship the spy may tell its fleet your location, or worse:
sabotage your own ship's subsystems!

See "HELP SPIES" for more details on spies and spying.


USING SHIELDS
-------------

Generally, commands use one-half the amount of energy if you are docked and
most  commands  use one-half the amount of energy if your shields are down:
most notably, movement using your warp engines  will  consume  considerably
less energy if you travel with your shields down.

To raise and lower your shields, use the commands:

        SHIELDS UP
        SHIELDS DOWN

For information on how to transfer energy between shields  and  the  ship's
main energy cells, see "Energy Transfers" above.



7.  GAME CONTROL
================

This section deals with input and output options for playing  TK-Wars.   It
also discusses some of the advanced file features available, such as alias-
ing and scripting.


INPUT
-----

Input is given to the game at the command-line prompt.  Aside  from  normal
text, there are a variety of additional commands, explained below.


ESCAPE AND CONTROL COMMANDS
---------------------------

Input is given to the game at a command-line prompt.  In addition to normal
text  commands,  the ESCAPE key acts as a "repeat" key, and if entered on a
line by itself it will repeat the  previous  command.   When  you  hit  the
ESCAPE key, a "$" or "^[" will be echoed on your terminal.

The slash (/) character acts as a command separator  so  multiple  commands
may be typed on the same command line.

There are also several control-character commands:

  Control-C aborts the current command stack.
  Control-O disables output and throws it away (useful  for  slow  baud  rate
            connections).
  Control-P acts as a screen redraw in DUAL-MODE.
  Control-Q start and stop output (may not work on all terminals).
  Control-S start output (resume after Control-Q)
  Control-U deletes the entire current input line.
  Control-V redraws the current input line.
  Control-W deletes the current word of the current input line.


$ VARS
------

There are several internal variables available, which may be used in  radio
messages.  These variables are:

     $HERE - Your current coordinates in the galaxy (e.g., "1-57").
     $AT   - Your coordinates as an argument pair (e.g., "1 57").
     $NAME - Your name
     $SHIP - The name of your starship.

When they are combined with aliases, these internal variables can be  quite
useful.  For example, the command

     ALIAS GOTCHA TELL ALL;The Great $NAME just killed

followed by the command:

     GOTCHA Zeppo!

will produce,

     TELL ALL;The Great <insert your name here> just killed Zeppo!



COORDINATES
-----------

Input coordinates to various commands may be specified in absolute or rela-
tive  terms  by  indicating either ABS or REL before any input numbers.  If
the ABS or REL keywords are not specified, then your current INPUT  setting
is used.

For example, setting input to relative via  the  "SET  INPUT  REL"  command
implies that the command:

     WARP 5 5

means that 5,5 are relative coordinates (5 sectors up (north) and 5 sectors
left (or east)). This is equivalent to typing:

     WARP R 5 5 (or WARP REL 5 5)

However, if your input setting is set to absolute, via the "SET INPUT  ABS"
command, then the command:

     WARP 6 9

means that  you  desire  to  move  to  absolute  coordinate  6-9.  This  is
equivalent to typing:

     WARP A 6 9 (or WARP ABS 6 9)

Regardless of your input setting, using the keywords REL and ABS guarantees
the desired effect.  For example:

     WARP R 5 5
     WARP A 45 26

will move, in the first example, relative 5,5 sectors  and  in  the  second
example, to absolute location 45-26.

The default is to use relative input coordinates, as most commanders prefer
moving  in  relative  terms.   It  is important to note that there are many
times when you wish to move to an absolute location -- for  instance,  when
your ship is under attack and you wish always to remain at a fixed location
during the attack (such as a sector next to a friendly base!).


TALK MODE
---------

In talk mode, everything you type is automatically transmitted as  a  radio
message.   The  command "TM" enters talk mode, and you leave talk mode with
the "/EX" command.  As an optional argument to "TM",  "ENEMY",  "FRIENDLY",
"ALL",  and  "ME"  will specify to whom the transmissions should be sent --
only the enemy ships, only friendly ships, all ships, or your own starship.

Optionally, a list of ships may be given with  "TM",  in  which  case  only
those  ships  listed  will  see your transmissions.  See "HELP TM" for more
information on talk mode.

This is an ancient tactic of the "Great Stanley Kubrick" who would sit in a
corner, talk to you about life, love, and the universe, then attack you out
of the blue.


OUTPUT
------

Most of the output messages you receive will be in  combat,  in  which  one
object has hit another.  In those cases, the output is of this form:



   <object> <loc> <shields> <action> <object> <loc> <shields> <;unit dam>

   { ------- source object ------- } { --------- target object -------- }



The amount of plaintext English or detail varies according to  your  output
setting.   Use  the  "SET  OUTPUT"  command  to choice between LONG, MEDIUM
(default), or SHORT output.  For example:

SET OUTPUT SHORT   W  3-26 +100  223P  E  1-29  -2, +3  +98; SH57

SET OUTPUT MED     W  3-26 +100%  223P hit on E  1-29  -2, +3 +98%; SH57

SET OUTPUT LONG    WOLF  3-26 +100%  makes 223 unit phaser hit
                   on ENTERPRISE 1-29  -2, +3  +98%  Shields damaged 57 units.

All of the above lines indicate the same  thing:   That  the  starship  "W"
(Wolf)  at  absolute  location 3-26, with shields of +100%, made a 223 unit
phaser hit (that is, a phaser hit doing 223 units of hull  damage)  on  the
"E" (Enterprise) at location 1-29, or -2,3 relative away from the observer.
The Enterprise had 98% shields (after the hit)  and  the  hit  damaged  its
shields by 57 units.


COORDINATES
-----------

Generally, you will not need to change your OUTPUT COORDINATE setting; how-
ever, this section describes how to do so for advanced players.

Output coordinates may be customized so they are displayed in  absolute  or
relative  numbers  or both.  The default is to display BOTH sets of coordi-
nates when displaying objects  and  messages.  Some  commanders  choose  to
display  only  ABSOLUTE coordinates and users of front-ends may also prefer
ABSOLUTE coordinates.

Use the "SET OCSET" command to  change  output  coordinate  settings  among
ABSOLUTE, RELATIVE, or BOTH.  For example:

     SET OCSET ABS     ... E  1-29  +98
     SET OCSET REL     ... E  -2, +3  +98
     SET OCSET BOTH    ... E  1-29  -2, +3  +98

All of the above display the "E" (Enterprise) at absolute location 1-29, or
relative -2,3 sectors away from the observer.


FLEET DISPLAY SYMBOLS
---------------------

Object symbols in SCANS, LISTS, and MESSAGES are by default in  a  relative
format.   That  is,  regardless of the side you have joined, friendly bases
always appear as "$$" and friendly planets always as "++".  Enemy ports, in
relative symbol mode, always appear as:

                   // ... for primary enemy bases,
                   -- ... for primary enemy planets,

                   %% ... for secondary enemy bases, and
                   == ... for secondary enemy planets.

When "SYMBOL" types are set to RELATIVE, your primary and secondary enemies
are:

  Your                     Primary                 Secondary
  Side       Base Planet   Enemy     Base Planet   Enemy     Base Planet
  ======================   =====================   =====================
  Federation  $$    ++     Empire     //    --     Romulan    %%    ==
  Empire      $$    ++     Federation //    --     Romulan    %%    ==
  Romulan     $$    ++     Federation //    --     Empire     %%    ==

By using the "SET SYMBOL ABS" command, object symbols in SCANS, LISTS,  and
MESSAGES  appear  constant,  or  absolute, regardless of the side you join;
this setting may be useful for those  die-hard  players  who  never  change
sides.

When the "SYMBOL" types are set to ABSOLUTE, the sides appear as follows:

                      Fleet      Base   Planet
                      ========================
                      Federation  <>      +@
                      Empire      ()      -@
                      Romulan     {}      =@


CURSOR-POSITIONED OUTPUT (FULL-SCREEN MODE)
-------------------------------------------

If you are using a vt100, visual55, tek4404, vt125, gte100,  vt220,  vt102,
vs100t,  z29,  wyse75, wyse85, or vt200 terminal, you may play TK-WARS in a
half split-screen mode by using the 'SET DUAL ON' command.  Once  in  DUAL-
MODE, the upper half of your screen will contain the SCAN, STATUS, and MES-
SAGE windows; the lower portion of the screen will contain normalized  game
I/O messages.


DUAL-MODE causes your screen to appear as follows:

                      ______________________________
                      |          |     STATUS      |
                      |   SCAN   |     WINDOW      |
                      |  WINDOW  |-----------------|
                      |          |     MESSAGE     |
                      |          |     WINDOW      |
                      |----------|-----------------|
                      |        TEXT/SCROLL         |
                      |          WINDOW            |
                      |____________________________|


See "HELP DUAL" for information about DUAL-MODE  and  the  various  related
options.


COLORED OUTPUT
--------------

If you are using an IBM-PC or color  VT-100  terminal  that  supports  ANSI
color-code  escape  sequences,  you  may see the game in color by using the
command "SET ANSI ON".  You can change your normal text color with the "SET
TEXT <color>" command.

In ANSI-COLOR mode, enemy and friendly objects  appear  as  unique  colors;
alerts  and  important  messages  are also highlighted in different colors.
See "HELP ANSI" for details on setting your ANSI mode.


ALIASES
-------

A command alias is a way to invoke a command with a shorter string, or  one
that  you  find easier to use or to remember.  In essence, when you make an
alias, you tell TK-Wars, "Rather than typing your  command,  here  is  what
I'll  type  instead."   Aliases are all stored in separate files, which you
can load by typing "ALIAS X" where "X" is the file  number.   For  example,
"ALIAS  5"  will  load  your fifth alias file.  Each user may have up to 99
separate alias files; each alias file may have up to 30 aliases in it.

When you first begin the game, a default alias  file,  file  number  1,  is
loaded  automatically.  You can see the aliases currently available by typ-
ing "ALIAS" with no argument.

Aliases are of the form "<ALIAS-WORD> <EXPANSION>", where ALIAS-WORD  is  a
single word of no more than 30 characters, and EXPANSION is a string (words
and spaces) no more than 150 characters long.  Slashes (/) cannot  be  used
in aliases.

Aliases are very useful in setting up default  command  strings  or  attack
macros. For example:

     ALIAS DO DOCK ST D E S

will alias the word "DO" to expand as:

     DOCK ST D E S

See "HELP ALIAS" for more information.


EXEC FILES
----------

In many cases it is useful to be able to execute the same set  of  commands
over  and  over  again.   An "exec" file will allow you to do this.  In the
exec file, you specify a series of ordinary commands, and when  it  is  run
the exec file will execute those commands one at a time.
As with aliases, there can be up to 99 different exec files, all  of  which
are  numbered  (1  through  99).   The exec files may be of unlimited size.
Exec file number 1 is always run when you first enter the galaxy.
TK-Wars has special facilities for editing  and  manipulating  exec  files.
See "HELP EXEC" for more information.


BACKGROUND TASKS
----------------

Often in TK-Wars you will want to execute some command  or  commands  on  a
regular  basis.  It can become tedious to type these commands over and over
again, even if they have been aliased for convenience.

The purpose of background tasks is to  execute  commands  automatically  at
specified  time  intervals.   There are three background tasks available at
present (user-defined background  tasks  are  not  available  at  present):
STAT,  SUMMARY,  and  DATE.   The first two operate identically to the user
commands; the third gives the local date and time.

It is possible to have multiple background tasks executing  simultaneously,
with  different time intervals for each one.  For more information on back-
ground tasks, see "HELP BG" (BG for background).

NOTE:  If you are operating in DUAL-MODE, the output of a task will  appear
in the MESSAGE BOX, no matter which task is executing.



8.  CONFIGURING GALAXIES
========================

There are many different types of galaxy configurations with which to  ini-
tialize  your  game.   Here  is a brief summary of the configurable options
which may be asked for during setup:

     o    galaxy size
     o    galaxy reservations (teams or password)
     o    time limit
     o    endgame type
     o    match type
     o    status of the war (declared or not)
     o    whether the romulans can play
     o    the existence of pulsars, black holes, super holes
     o    the existence of neutral bases and HQ bases
     o    the existence of space viruses
     o    the existence of moving ports and regenerating ports

The following options are also set independently for each galaxy, but these
are alterable in the galaxy's configuration file.

     o    the maximum number of bases, HQ bases, NE bases,  and  ships  per
          side
     o    the maximum number of builds possible on a planet
     o    whether scoring is allowed
     o    initial number of bases, planets, stars, and other phenomena
     o    regeneration type
     o    location of initial ports and objects (from a map file)
     o    whether the barrier can be struck with photon torpedoes
     o    endgame
     o    match type
     o    time limit

If you have an idea for a galaxy configuration, you are encouraged to map a
galaxy map and to post it in the TK-Wars forum.

Here are additional details on some of these features:

DECLARED WAR   In pre-planned games, it is often useful to begin  the  game
               in a state of truce, so that each side has time to do scout-
               ing without the fear of sudden attack from another fleet.  A
               galaxy  may be configured so that war must be declared by at
               least one player on every active side before weapons systems
               can be used or planets can be captured.

ENDGAMES       The endgame condition may be set for  any  galaxy.   Endgame
               conditions  include: ending the war when all the headquarter
               bases are destroyed, when all neutral planets are destroyed,
               or  when all enemy ports are destroyed.  See "HELP ENDGAMES"
               for more details.

MATCHES        The type of match is used to determine, at the  end  of  the
               game,  who  won  the  war.  Types include winning based upon
               number of ports left (this type is called  "WULFHEAD"),  the
               side  with  the least number of ships used ("SLUGFEST"), the
               side with the largest total number of points ("TOTAL"),  and
               the side with the largest number of points, ports, and kills
               ("PERSEUS").  See "HELP MATCHES" for details  on  this  set-
               ting.

MOVING PORTS   Some galaxy configurations contain moving ports.  At  times,
               planets and bases may move in a random or fixed orbit.  Cap-
               turing and building planets may stablize  or  destabilize  a
               planet's orbit.

TIMED-GALS     A galaxy may  be  configured  to  "expire"  in  30  or  more
               minutes.  This feature is useful in pre-planned matches.

REGEN-GALS     Some galaxy configurations contain  ports  that  regenerate.
               This  feature  is  useful in a SLUGFEST match and may extend
               the life of a galaxy endlessly.  Each time a  port  is  des-
               troyed  a  new  port  will  appear  in roughly 30 seconds to
               replace it.




9.  TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
======================

As a beginner, it will probably be easiest for you to  understand  what  is
happening  in the game if you get LONG output, rather than SHORT or MEDIUM.
You can "SET OUTPUT LONG" when you  begin.   This  provides  no  additional
information, but it is more legible than the terse formats.

Don't forget about the slash (/) key, which will allow you to enter  multi-
ple  commands on a single input line, with a slash in between each command.
Also, remember that the ESCAPE key will repeat your previous command, which
can be very useful, particularly in combat situations.

Feel free to use your radio (via the "TELL" command) to ask  other  players
for  help.  People are usually happy to be asked and happy to respond.  TK-
Wars is a very complex game, and it takes a certain  amount  of  experience
and  play to become familiar with all of its potential.  However, even as a
new player, you can enjoy the experience.  Remember when  you  are  playing
with  other  people that they are here to enjoy themselves as well (and try
not to get too violent with those photon torpedoes).