SpaceWar: The Next Generation version 1.32 Copyright 1993 H.Jones,Derivative Design Syndicate "One of our games is both the same" This is a modernised, colourful version of the classic (some say the first) computer game, SpaceWar! for the Atari ST. It should work on any ST, and it has been tested on two TOS 1.62 STe's, a TOS 1.4 STFM and whatever else the folks on irc who tested it had [cheers guys! :) ]. It works fine on a Hard Disk, as it was developed on one. Needs a COLOUR screen and two joysticks. It will run from Medium res okay, and restores res/palette/keyclick on exit. A Roboshift, MoJo or other Mouse/Joystick switchbox is also very handy! [new for v1.1: reverse gravity, and bouncy walls. It also handles TTs slightly more gracefully, I hope.] [new for v1.2: shield restart delay, shield length reduced, new menu layout, and a rather lame starfield] [new for v1.3: Cookie Jar checks. DMA sound support. Triple buffer asynchronous graphics (thanks Mee!), and other miscellaneous optimizations] [bugfixes in v1.31: Retro and explosions near edge of screen no longer break the particle system. Now, when a non-shielded ship hits a shielded one, the scores _do_ change. *blush*] The on-line hacker Jargon File, version 2.9.9, 01 APR 1992 has this to say about Spacewar: ":SPACEWAR: n. A space-combat simulation game, inspired by E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" books, in which two spaceships duel around a central sun, shooting torpedoes at each other and jumping through hyperspace. This game was first implemented on the PDP-1 at MIT in 1960--61. SPACEWAR aficionados formed the core of the early hacker culture at MIT. Nine years later, a descendant of the game motivated Ken Thompson to build, in his spare time on a scavenged PDP-7, the operating system that became {{UNIX}}. Less than nine years after that, SPACEWAR was commercialized as one of the first video games; descendants are still {feep}ing in video arcades everywhere. " From this it is obvious that this game is an integral part of computing history. It is also a fun two-player game. This version features a range of gadgets for the ships, not just hyperspace, variable gravity, lightsource shaded ships, a gravitating particle system, real inverse-square gravity (rather than some lesser non-newtonian gravity),sampled sound and a Duel mode. How To Play: As it says above, Spacewar involves two spaceships orbitting a lonely star. They each have a supply of torpedoes (photon ones, if you're a trekkie), and basic rotate/thrust controls … la Asteroids. The ships are controlled by joysticks in ports 0 and 1 (under the keyboard on STFM/E's). The 'stick in the mouse port is for the red player, t'other is for blue. At the main menu it is the blue player that can move the cursor to select game options, or the cursor keys and space-bar can be used. See later for a full discussion of the options here. Selecting 'Normal' on the right of the menu starts a standard no-tricks game. The game consists of 15 rounds (shown in the bottom centre of the screen), each lasting until a ship dies. The score works as follows: if a ship is shot, the opponent scores a point; if a ship hits the sun, they lose a point and the opponent gains one; if the ships collide, no-one scores. After one of the ships dies, the game runs on for a while. This is to make sure that the killer didn't just get lucky, and really *is* in control of their craft. If not, then any damage (hitting shots/sun) counts as usual. At the end of 15 rounds, if the game is a draw then 3 more rounds are played. This goes on until a winner is found. There is no draw in SpaceWar. When the game is running, the space-bar will pause it. Also, when the game is running (not paused), Undo will get you back to the menu, ending your game. The ship controls (nearly forgot!) are left/right to rotate the ship, and forward to thrust. Fire fires. This used to be called an 'action' or 'red' button on some computers/software. I guess this reflects the war-like nature of computer games. Pulling back on the stick triggers a Mystic Special Feature - see below for more info. The Menu Options: The Menu lets you setup the way the SpaceWar universe works. Firstly, in the middle column, you can set how strong the gravity is. None is rather boring. Strong is very hard to manuevre in. For a bit of silliness, the gravity can be reversed, so that you are repelled from the sun. Best used in combination with Bounce. Recoil, in the bottom-left, sets whether the ships recoil on firing a shot. Off for SpaceWar Classic, on for a bit of a twist. Bounce, makes the edges of the screen solid, and bouncy, instead of wrapping as they normally do. A bit silly really, but good for a few goes. The Features column (left) sets what happens when the Joystick is pulled back. For SpaceWar Classic, this should be Hyper (as in Hyperspace). From the top these are: None: Does Nothing (what did you expect?) Flip: Turns the ship through 180 degrees instantly. This is a handy for some nifty swerves, and for firing on a pursuer. Hyper(space):Drops the ship into another dimension briefly. It reappears somewhere else, a split-second later. This may dump you in the sun, or the other ship or a torpedo. It is also worth knowing that your original speed and direction are retained. If you are moving fast, Hyperspace can be *very* dangerous!. Use with caution. Shield: Casts a glassy shield around the ship. This repels torpedoes. If you hit the other ship with it's shields down, then you kill it! If you both have shields on, then you emerge unharmed. The shields offer NO protection against the sun. You also lose control of the craft while the shield is on. Obviously, thrusters and guns can't operate from inside an impermeable shell. The shield has a limited lifetime. There is also a delay after the shield has been used, before it can be used again, during which time the shield is recharged. Use with caution. Retro: Gives an instant backwards blast of thrust. Handy for fast escapes and avoiding the sun. Could also blast you into the other ship/sun/torpedoes etc. Not altogether a safe option. As you can see, all the gadgets have a plus *and* a minus side. The more powerful the gadget, the easier it is to be burned by it. In 'Normal play', both ships have the same feature, decided by the menu selection. In 'Duel play', a special screen appears before the game itself begins, allowing each player to choose a feature, *without the other player knowing what it is*. The tactical non-use of your 'secret weapon' until strictly necessary is an interesting addition to the game. Also, pressing Undo on the Menu screen will quit back to the GEM desktop - or whoever's desktop you use (Neo,Kaos,GEMINI(yay!) or whatever). Special Thanks and Without Whom: Bob Mellish for Playtesting, Stars, and a friendly HD! Adam Turnbull for playtesting and suggestions. HiSoft (Devpac ST - The Best - Looking forward to v3.0) JayBee and Roy (CrackArt - Nice one - No Brushes/Brush Size ?!?) Dave Staugas and Chaos, Inc. (NeoChrome/NeoMaster)-why didn't Atari take the Master on board? GFA Data-Media (GFA-BASIC - ta ST Format !) Tangerine Dream and The Orb for calming sounds. The Prodigy, Skinny Puppy, Slayer and Motown for exhilarating sounds. Warren Long, for using up so much of my valuable programming time with *his* Spacewar last year. The PDP-1 Hackers for a Classic Game Idea. Axe of Superior for Pack-Ice. It has saved me at least 100k of graphic and table space in this game. Don't know what to do next, possibly a multi-player Elite-clone, or Multi-paradroid (One of the best games ever, Paradroid 85/90). I am very much in favour of two/multi player games, with MIDI links etc. I think the best opponent in a game is usually another person. This gives a lot of games a real competitive/malicious edge, and improves them no end. Expect more DDS multi-player games. If you haven't yet, try and find at least 4 of your closest friends, and play MidiMazeII. This really shows the potential of such things. It was 16-player MidiMaze on the Atari stand of the '87 PCW show that turned me onto multi-player stuff.Brill. Any suggestions for either welcome. Howdy to Penguin and his mate Guy (who may well read this). And to Xyvark, Mee, Knightman, AH, D_Gently, Hackbear, Haq, Goemon, Gunstick, _zork_ and all on #atari. This game is not shareware. It is *free*. No charge should be made for it other than for the copying and media it is stored on. I have heard bad things about German PD libraries but leave this game to travel the four winds and the great tendrils of the Internet unchallenged. Although this isn't shareware, if it gives you some enjoyment, I'd be interested to hear from you anyway. Send me some interesting software and I'll return your disk with something else on it. Probably half-done bits, other PD/Shareware stuff or... MolSys !!! Bob Mellish and Howard Jones (mostly Bob) are also the developers of MolSys ST. Probably the best Molecular Modelling system for the ST. At the moment it is shareware with a œ10 registation fee to get you full source (for personal use only) and the printed manual (when I've finished it). The program is highly intuitive, interactive and nice-looking. It will allow very fast building and manipulation/measurement on a large variety of organic molecules. This has been sent to various PD libraries in the past. SouthWest did always have a current version(0.75), but they've been badgered into packing up now by a rather strange and localized copyright raid. Write to us (with a disk) for a copy. Mono Only (for now). Not nearly so good with an emulator. I (HJ) am currently porting it to the PC where I have half of both a DOS/VGA and MS Windows 3 version. I'm looking at doing an OSF/Motif one too. Write now for more info! [STOP PRESS: v1.0 of MolSys is now under development. This should support all ST,TT,F030 graphics modes, and those offered by external graphics boards. It should also be a good deal faster, due to rewritten graphics routines, and support for 68030 and FPUs where available. Lastly, it *should* work under MultiTOS, when it finally arrives. Naturally, there are also some new features to the actual modelling side, too. MS 1.0 should be ready in around Jan/Feb 93] - 28/12/92 Howard Jones, 16/1/93 12 Fountains Garth, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 7RH, United Kingdom [this is my home address, so during college time replies may take longer] Email: ha.jones@ic.ac.uk [internet] IRC: you'll find me on #atari most days :) I'm 'howie' there. [EMail/IRC until July 93 :( ]