Starfleet 2068

STARFLEET 2068 is an all BASIC, low-resolution graphics, shoot ’em up space wars game for the Timex Sinclair 2068.

Scenerio: In the late 1990s, NASA finally perfected the first WARP DRIVE engine. Earth Federation, a joint US-Canada-European space agency quickly arose to control deep space exploration. Over the first several decades, 9 major STAR BASES were constructed; 1 at the edge of our solar system, and 8 others nearly equidistant from this home base. The year is now 2068 AD. After nearly 70 years of exploration, it was beginning to look like we were alone in the galaxy…until THEY appeared. They made no effort to answer our communications, gave no sign of peaceful intent–and as far as we know, might be purely mechanical (computerized) devices. They simply came, destroying everything in their paths. They caught us by surprise. After 70 years of uninterrupted peace in space, Earth Federation had only 1 armed Star Ship left in space active service–the STRATA-GEM. The ship was hastily fueled, its crew briefed, and as the aliens were about to attack Star Bases 1 and 8, the STRATA-GEM was launched to meet the attackers. YOU are the CAPTAIN. Battle Stations are sounding. Good Luck!

Armaments: The Strata-Gem has Electro-Magnet “shields” to repel the enemy weapons. Full strength is 10. If they go to zero, good bye!

Weapons: You have Photon Torpedos (for longer range shots) and Phasor weapons.(for closer range shots). The number of each depends on the level of difficulty.

Sensors: Sensor range is 3 parsecs, at full strength, but will vary on shield strength (ship damage).

Engines: You have WARP Speed capability (Warp 1 to 3). You have 20 units of fuel. (Note: the faster you go, the more fuel you use!!) WARP 1 moves you 1 parsec (row and/or column) per move, WARP 2 moves you 2 rows and/or columns per move, etc. If you run out of fuel, good bye!

Docking: You must DOCK to refuel, repair, restock armament, etc. The Star Base will not lower its shields (necessary for you to dock) if there are enemy ships in the quadrant.

Surprises: Yes, there are a few. If a Base refuses to lower its shields, try-try again. You may have just been a “Bad Captain” and need to pay penance! There are 6 levels of difficulty!

STARFLEET 2068 has 2 screens, the navigation screen and the weapons/tactical screen. The navigation screen shows you a map of the galaxy: stars, bases, your ship, the enemy ships. The weapon/tactical screen shows you a “close-up” view around your ship, also the range of your sensors (a circle). Anything inside this circle is “fair game” for your weapons.

On the Navigation screen, “HELM AT YOUR CONTROL” will flash, telling you that it is your turn to make a move. Use the joystick to command your ship to make a move. You can change the WARP SPEED by pressing numbers 1 to 3. Press “D” to DOCK, press “W” to go to the WEAPONS screen.

NOTE: to DOCK, you must “fly” your ship into the STAR BASE User Defined Graphic you wish to dock with. Then on the next turn you command “D” (dock). DON’T try to fly thru stars or other ships! Press “0” (zero) for no move, as in station keeping.

On the Weapons screen, you will see the map “closeup”. Here you will see that Docking really places you just beside a STAR BASE. “WORKING!” will flash when you first go to this screen. The program is calculating the range, distance, position of everything for this new display. When the screen is completed, you will see your ship (center of the circle) with a User Defined Graphic flashing on it. This is your weapons “cross-hairs” for aiming at a specific target. Use your joystick to position this on the target of your choice. When ready, press fire. At any point prior to pressing fire, you can select your weapon: press “T” for torpedo, “P” for phaser weapon. If you shoot at yourself, this is a signal to abort the shot. Press “N” to go to the Navigation screen.

The program abounds with REM statements. These are quite helpful for programming/debugging purposes, but if you remove these from your “working” copy, you will increase the program speed by at least 25%.