[rocl] / README

RIGHT ON COMMAND-LINE
  Elite tools for the discerning player

1. Installation

        You need a C compiler and a working Tcl/Tk installation.  (The
        elite-editor program needs Tk; the rest of the tools don't.)
        The Makefile works on my Debian GNU/Linux box, but I'm not
        making any promises about anyone else's.  I've successfully
        built earlier versions of everything under Cygwin, against
        ActiveState's Tcl 8.4, but I've forgotten the Holy Runes.  I do
        have the `.def' file I used to build the DLL, though, for
        whatever that's worth.  (If you want to hack the Makefile to
        work under Windows, I'll take a patch.)

        The theory is that you should edit the Makefile for your system
        and say `make'; then, as some suitably privileged person, say
        `make install' and stand well back.  Everything should then be
        installed.

        In practice:

          * If you can't build `pkgIndex.tcl', run `tclsh' and say

              % pkg_mkIndex -verbose -direct . elite.so elite.tcl

            to it.  (Use `elite.dll' if you're on Windows.)  Say

              % set tcl_pkgPath

            to see a list of suitable places for putting the kit.  Pick
            one.  The directory `/usr/local/lib' appears in my
            installation, so that's what I use.

          * Make a subdirectory in the place you chose, and copy
            `elite.so', `elite.tcl' and `pkgIndex.tcl' into it.  All
            should now be hunky-dory.

          * Run (say) `elite-describe lave' to check that things are set
            up properly.


2. The command-line tools

        A `galaxy-spec' is

          * a number, between 1 and 8, for one of the standard eight
            galaxies; 

          * a `galaxy seed' of 12 hex digits (a 48-bit value), for any
            arbitrary galaxy; or

          * a string `SEED:N' where SEED is a galaxy seed and N is a
            number between 1 and 8, for the Nth galaxy in some custom
            universe.

        A `planet-spec' is interpreted relative to some parent galaxy.
        It may be

          * a number N, for the Nth planet in the galaxy (planets are
            numbered pseudorandomly -- this is not often a helpful
            option);

          * a `planet seed' of 12 hex digits (a 48-bit value), for any
            arbitrary planet;

          * a pair of numbers `X,Y', for the planet nearest the point X
            decilightyears rightwards and T decilightyears down from the
            top left of the galaxy;

          * a glob pattern (a string containing `*' and `?' wildcards,
            matching any substring or any single character,
            respectively), for the first planet whose name matches the
            pattern; or

          * a string `GAL:P', where GAL is a galaxy-spec and P is a
            planet-spec, for the planet P in galaxy GAL.


  elite-describe [-g GAL] PLANET ...

        For each PLANET, print the planet data for that PLANET.  The
        PLANETs are interpreted relative to GAL, or standard galaxy 1 if
        GAL is not specified.


  elite-map [-qv] [-g GALAXY] [-d DIST] [-w WD,HT] [-a ASP] [PLANET]

        Prints a map of (part of) a galaxy to the terminal.

        If PLANET is specified (which it usually is), a map of the area
        around PLANET in GALAXY (default standard galaxy 1) is printed,
        showing other planets within DIST lightyears (default 7) of
        PLANET.

        If PLANET is not specified, the entire galaxy is printed.  This
        is usually unhelpful.

        Planets are shown as numbers or letters.  The home PLANET is
        shown as a `*'.  Below the map is printed a key describing the
        planets in a strict left-to-right top-to-bottom order.

        The size of the map may be controlled by the -w option -- set WD
        to the maximum allowable width, and HT to the maximum allowable
        height (in columns and rows, respectively).  The map will be
        scaled so as to fit.  The -a option sets the aspect ratio of
        your characters, height to width (the default is about 2, and
        seems right for viewing in an xterm with the standard fixed
        font).


  elite-path [-g GALAXY] [-w WEIGHT] PLANET PLANET ...

        Computes a route through a GALAXY (default is standard galaxy
        1), starting at the first PLANET listed, via the second, via the
        third, etc., and ending at the last.  For each planet you're
        meant to stop at on the way, a summary line is printed giving
        the planet's name, position, government type, economy type and
        tech level.

        You can affect how elite-path selects its routes using the `-w'
        option.  The default is to minimize the number of hops.  Other
        possibilities are:

        hops            Minimize number of hops.  This is the default.

        safety          Maximize stability of the planets in the route,
                        to attempt to improve safety.  Useful during the
                        early stages of the game.

        encounters      The opposite of `safety' -- minimizes stability
                        of planets in the route.  Useful if you want to
                        maximize kills.

        trading         Maximize the difference in economy type between
                        successive planets in the route.  This should
                        give you an opportunity to make a good profit as
                        you go.

        fuel            Minimize absolute distance.  For those on a
                        tight budget.


  elite-reach [-d DIST] [GALAXY ...]

        For each GALAXY (default is the 8 standard ones), print summary
        information for each planet, with blank lines separating
        disconnected groups of planets, i.e., groups where a ship
        capable of travelling DIST lightyears (default 7) can't get from
        one to the other.


  elite-find [-g GALAXY] [EXPR]

        Without EXPR, simply prints summary information for each planet
        in GALAXY (default standard 1).

        If EXPR is specified, it must be a Tcl expression (as for the
        `expr' command).  Information is printed for each planet for
        which EXPR returns nonzero.  The EXPR may use the following
        variables:

        name            The planet name, with initial capital letter.

        x, y            X and Y coordinates, from top left, in
                        decilightyears.

        economy         From 0 (rich industrial) to 7 (poor
                        agricultural).

        government      From 0 (anarchy) to 7 (corporate state).

        techlevel       From 1 to 15.

        radius          In kilometres.

        productivity    In millions of credits.

        population      In hundreds of millions.

        inhabitants     A Tcl list of words describing the inhabitants.

        description     As a Tcl list of words.


  elite-pairs [-g GALAXY] [-d DIST] AEXPR BEXPR

        Prints the names of pairs of planets A and B in GALAXY (default
        standard 1), no further than DIST (default 7) lightyears apart,
        such that AEXPR returns nonzero for planet A and BEXPR returns
        nonzero for planet B.

        The expressions AEXPR and BEXPR may use the same variables as
        for elite-find.  In addition, BEXPR may use

        d               The distance between planets A and B.

        a               An array containing the information about planet
                        A.  The indices have the same names and meanings
                        as the variables described above.


3. The graphical editor

  elite-editor [GALAXY | FILE]

        Starts the RIGHT ON COMMAND-LINE Commander Editor and Map.  This
        is a Tk program -- you'll need that installed to run it.

        I'll not go into excruciating detail about how to work the
        program.  It's fairly simple, really.

        The map view lets you colour-code planets according to
        techlevel, government or economy.  The colours ought to be as
        follows:

        Colour          Government      Economy         Techlevel

        Red             Anarchy         Poor agri       1
        Orange          Feudal          Average agri    2 or 3
        Yellow          Multi-gov       Rich agri       4 or 5
        Green           Dictatorship    Mainly agri     6 or 7
        Blue            Communist       Mainly indust   8 or 9
        Magenta         Confederacy     Poor indust     10 or 11
        Violet          Democracy       Average indust  12 or 13
        White           Corporate       Rich indust     14 or 15

        The connectivity map shows how you can get around the galaxy
        using hops of up to 7 light years.

        Planet names are unhelpful except at small scales.  The
        placement algorithm could do with a lot of work.

        Clicking on the map with button 1 (usually the left one) sets
        the destination world, marked with an orange cross.  Clicking
        with button 3 (usually the right one) sets the home world,
        marked with a red cross, and with a green hyperspace-range
        circle around it.  (The circle doesn't actually correspond
        exactly with hyperspace reachability, because there are rounding
        errors in the distance computation.  ROCL correctly emulates the
        rounding errors from the original game.)

        Double-clicking opens a window showing information about a
        planet.  Two info windows can be open at any time, one for the
        home world and one for the destination.

        The bar along the bottom of the map window shows the names of
        the home and destination worlds, and the distance between them.
        You can type new names (or any old planet spec) into either to
        select different planets.  The change will take place when you
        press return or when the input focus moves.

        The `Compute path' lets you do the same kinds of computations as
        the elite-path tool.  It plots a route from the home to the
        destination.  The path is shown in orange on the map.

        The commander editor should be self-explanatory, but maybe a few
        pointers might be helpful.

        The entry fields for items with pop-up menus are disabled when
        the menus show values other than `Custom', so you must first
        choose `Custom' from the menu if you want a fancy value.

        The `Show galaxy map' button opens a map which will be tied to
        the commander window.  When you select a home world (button 3),
        this will set the world where the commander will start.  Note
        that the market prices (in the `Cargo' window) update
        automatically as you move about the universe.  It is quite
        possible to travel about entirely new universes by turning off
        the `Standard galaxy' button and typing some hex number into the
        `Galaxy seed' box.  All of the ROCL tools work in these custom
        universes.  Note that your docked planet is recorded as an x, y
        coordinate pair, so Elite can't tell which of two coincident
        planets you're docked at (yes, there are such pairs).  ROCL
        won't cope with this at the moment.

        Lasers are a bit odd.  Bit 7 is a `rapid-fire' bit.  It doesn't
        affect the strength of the laser, but means that there's no
        delay between shots.  The low 7 bits control the strength, but
        without the rapid-fire bit, powerful lasers will tend to fire
        more slowly than weak ones.  Some comparisons in the program are
        for exact laser power: you can't damage the Constrictor or
        Cougar ships unless you have military (or 0x17 slow-firing)
        lasers; and you can't fragment asteroids unless you have mining
        or 0xb2 rapid-fire lasers.  (The 0xb2's pack a serious punch.  I
        recommend them as an upgrade for commanders who don't wish to
        cheat completely.)

$Id: README,v 1.2 2003/02/25 00:25:38 mdw Exp $
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