
                               Galaxy 5 
                      Copyright (c) 1996 Thomas J. Smith

     
                            Whats New in Galaxy 5?
     

                                                         v1.01 Wide Beta
     
       Made enemy fights a little more smoother. Galaxy 5 now makes a
        copy of the ENEMIES.DAT file in the TEMP subdirectory dedicating
        this copy to the current node. This way, the ENEMIES.DAT file
        does not have to be accessed every time a player looks for
        something to kill in the warfields. The dedicated copy can
        remain open until the player leaves the warfields. This copy is
        also erased after the player leaves the game.

       Corrected an error on my part in the G5_STRUC.PAS file
        (structures to data files used in the game). I changed something
        in the structure of the G5_MATES.DAT file after I created the
        G5_STRUC.PAS file, and forgot to make the change in the
        G5_STRUC.PAS file. To see what it should look like, refer to the
        G5_STRUC.PAS file.
     


                                                         v1.02 Wide Beta
     
       Corrected problem with ~K?~ codes not displaying the proper
        information (highest player kills and who holds title). By
        default, these codes are used in the P_KILL.* display files.
        These display files are shown at the "Kill Other Players" menu.
        On the line that says, "Player is the meanest murderer in the
        galaxy with 23 kills!." Sometimes the wrong player would be
        displayed here as having the highest number of player kills.

       Fixed problem with users with only a first name (as read from
        the BBS drop file) not being able to use Xports.
     


                                                         v1.03 Wide Beta
     
       Fixed problem with a lockup when trying to use one of the cheat
        codes (I'm not saying where ;> ).

       Corrected typo in the 5th planet name. The "raw" name was
        correct, but the fancy name read the same as the 3rd planet
        (Bantini). This has been corrected.

       Fixed it so that players can not flirt with same person (other
        player) more than once a day.

       Raised skill points needed to advance to next rank for all
        ranks. Players were advancing much too quickly!

       Tweaked the warfield fights a little so that it moves a little
        faster (and still working on speeding things up).

       Changed default colors of the fourth planet (Gorn) from dark and
        light blue to brown and yellow. The dark blue was just too dark!

       Fixed problem with the game not decreasing the amount of
        medicines a player had on hand after drinking one in a player
        fight.

       Fixed problem with sentences that were too long in the news
        files not wrapping correctly.

       When players enter their own string of text to say in the news
        after killing another player, or getting killed, changed it so
        that if they choose no to the "Is This Ok?" prompt, it takes
        them back to entering their text again, instead of just asking
        for their feeling again.

       Because of the above fix, the amount of text a player can enter
        when saying something themselves, has been increased to 70
        characters instead of 45.

       Added a few more feelings to the pick list when asked how you
        feel after a kill or getting killed.

       Added an option when fighting enemies in the warfields that lets
        you fight your enemy to the death. Choosing this option will
        automatically keep attacking the enemy until you or the enemy is
        dead, so use it with caution! ;>

       Fixed problem with ~K#~ (highest number of player kills by the
        person holding this record), displaying a number other than 0
        when no one holds the record for highest number of player kills.

       Fixed problem in the Help Menu when selecting to download a help
        file, if RIPTERM.DAT did not exist (text file containing full
        path and file name of archived RIPterm), it would say downloads
        were not allowed. The RIPTERM.DAT file is completely unrelated
        to downloading help files, and only applies to downloading
        RIPterm. The game was treating it otherwise. This has been fixed.

       Included a HELP.TXT file that explains the setup of doors,
        fossil drivers, locked baud rates, etc. It is primarily for
        beginning SysOps, who are still unfamiliar with door setup.
     --------------------------------------------------------------------


      Changes In G5 Editor v1.03 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       Added the price editor. It allows you to set the prices of
        weapons, armour, and space crafts (registered versions only).
        Unregistered users can still evaluate this feature, but it will
        not save changes.

       Fixed problem when editing a "pick file," and it would ask you
        if you want to save your changes, if you chose yes, it would not
        save the changes. This has been fixed.

       Fixed problem with adding a new player, and the record number
        not getting set to the proper number.

       Fixed cosmetic glitch in the planet editor. The help line near
        the bottom of the editing box for the light and dark color code
        fields were switched. The dark color code fields help line read,
        "This is the light color code for this planet." And the dark
        color code fields help line read that it was the light color
        code for this planet.
     --------------------------------------------------------------------


      Changes In G5 Setup v1.03 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       Added an option that will allow you to enter all of the required
        registration info, and either print it to your printer, or save
        it to a file on disk.

       Changed the "Create Fresh Data Files" option so that you can now
        choose which file you want to recreate, or you can choose all.
        The command line parameter for this option has also changed in
        order to support this new feature (type G5SETUP /? on the
        command line for info).

       Fixed a cosmetic glitch with the "F2 Pick" & "SPACEBAR Toggle"
        options not being highlighted when editing the "COM Port #"
        field under "Node Setup." Use of F2 and SPACEBAR for choosing
        your COM port in this field is supported (always has been).
     


                                                         v1.04 Wide Beta
     
       Fixed problem with invalid G5 codes being used locking up the
        game.

       Got some ANSI's from da MudShark! More coming soon! ;>

       Fixed glitch where if you flirted with someone at an inn, asking
        them up to your room and they rejected you, the game telling the
        player his/her skill was increased by 1,000, and it wasn't (and
        still isn't).

       Fixed it so that players cannot ask a mate at the inns up to a
        room if the game is being run clean.

       Added a "Searching For Dupes..." message when a new player
        enters the game, and it searches for duplicate handles. This is
        just so the caller doesn't think it locked up or something while
        it is searching.

       "Pre-Play Menu" now shows who to give credit to for registering
        Galaxy 5 for you (if anyone). This is an optional feature to
        registered users. The name to be shown is set up in G5 Setup.

       Fixed bug with taking "Inn Mate" up to a room, and it displaying
        your amount of money in pocket instead of the name of the inn
        mate.

       Added support for 3rd party authors who do not use Turbo Pascal
        to write Xports for the game. Refer to the text files located
        inside the G5_STRUC.ZIP archive for full information.

       Fixed problem with level 15 warriors being confronted by a
        warrior droid without a name, and being progressed to level 16
        (which isn't even supposed to exist BTW).

       Prices of rooms at the inns are now configurable by the SysOp
        via a new file located in the DATA subdirectory, INNCOSTS.DAT.
        There are 15 prices in this file, one for each player rank.

       There is a random feature that can happen to players at the bank
        once in a while, but there was something in the code that
        stopped it from ever coming up. I fixed that little problem...

       Added feature where if a player who does not have a hyper bike
        kills another player who does, he/she can take the bike from the
        player he/she killed (if they choose to do so).

       Fixed problem with when getting married to someone at on of the
        inns, it showing that you walked up the stairs with him/her.

       Added a new random event in the warfields. Its a deep, dark,
        black hole in the ground...you'll see! ;>

       Made "Warrior Droid" fights a little more challenging.

       Added a routine when maintenance is ran that checks the MAIL
        subdirectory for any mail that exists to a deleted account. Even
        though when deleting a player via the game, or the G5 Editor,
        this is done automatically, this was added as an added
        precaution. ;>

       Still working on a problem with EMS memory not being released
        after Galaxy 5 exits. I got the amount not being released
        reduced some, but it will still sometimes not give it all back.

       Added error checking for proper path names of output scores
        bulletins.

       Added a timer that shows on local screen when/if an output
        scores bulletin is locked by Galaxy 5 on another node. It will
        wait 10 seconds, then "unlock" the output file if it doesn't
        unlock after the countdown and write it (the output file).

       Added a percentage status when the game runs maintenence. Shows
        all the way up to 100% how much it has finished for each
        maintenence routine.

       Added macro support. Its not very fancy, but it works! ;> Refer
        to GALAXY5.DOC for info on how to use them.

       If a player used a power move against a warrior droid, it wasn't
        decreasing their amount of power moves left. This has been
        fixed.

       Replaced all internal "Light Black (or dark gray)" colors with
        light blue. The light black color doesn't show up on some comm.
        terminals. The light black color was color code ~08~.

       Galaxy 5 used to write one blank line after displaying any
        display file. This has been changed. If you are upgrading, and
        if you choose NOT to install the new ANSI & ASCII screens, then
        you will more than likely have to edit your own to add one blank
        line at the end of each file if you want a blank line to be
        written between the display and the menu prompt.

       Fixed problem with "Local Node 1" logons not being able to use
        Xports. G5 was passing the com port of your node 1 config file
        to the Xport when being run in local mode, when it should have
        been passing 0 when the game is being played locally.

       Added the ? option at the bank to redisplay the menu. It should
        have been there from day one, however it wasn't. ;>

       Fixed problem with the game not increasing your lays by one if
        an inn mate agreed to sleep with you.
     --------------------------------------------------------------------


      Changes In G5 Setup v1.04 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       "Reset Game" option now writes new INNTALK*.DAT files, and
        erases any files that may exist in the TEMP subdirectory.

       "Setup Galaxy 5" option is broken up into 4 different categories
        for easier setup.

       Fixed bug under "Node Setup" with setting DORINFO*.DEF systems
        to DORINFO.DEF and not letting you enter DORINFO1.DEF,
        DORINFO2.DEF, etc. The program was always setting it to
        DORINFO.DEF. This has been fixed.

       Added new field in "Miscellaneous" under "Setup Galaxy 5" for
        entering the name of whoever registered the game for you if
        anyone, or you can put your own name here, or leave it blank.
        Whatever name is entered here is the name that will be shown at
        the pre-play menu as "Thanks to John Doe for registering
        Galaxy 5!" (registered versions only).

       SysOps welcome message text file no longer has to reside in your
        home Galaxy 5 directory. G5 Setup now accepts a full path and
        file name for your welcome message text file.

       Added a field that allows you to turn off loading the overlay
        file into EMS.

       Added options to allow or disallow selling and/or buying of
        energy coins at the bank, and an option to set the cost of the
        coins.
     --------------------------------------------------------------------


      Changes In G5 Editor v1.04 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       Added "Room Prices" editor under "Prices" on the main menu. This
        allows you to change the prices of what a room costs at the inns
        for each player ranking.

       Fixed the prices editors so that they only accept numbers (since
        that is all that is allowed anyhow).

       Added a "Saved" box that pops up when F10 is pressed after
        editing something to let you know your info was saved
        (registered versions only).
     --------------------------------------------------------------------


      Changes In INSTALL.EXE v1.04 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       Now does a more thorough search for an existing Galaxy 5
        directory before asking you what directory you want to install
        it to (does NOT scan your hard drive, just looks for a few
        possible directories).

       INSTALL will automatically convert your configuration data file
        for you (if you are upgrading), if it is missing the fields that
        were added in v1.04 Wide Beta.

       Implemented better upgrade options. Now lets you choose which
        parts you want to upgrade.

       Added an internal check for the G5.ZIP file. If it doesn't
        exist, then INSTALL can not (and will not) continue.
     


                                                         v1.05 Wide Beta
     
       Increased the possible amount of looks you can get in a random
        event that awards look points.
     


      Changes in G5 Editor v1.05 Wide Beta
     --------------------------------------------------------------------
       Fixed a BIG time mistake on my part. G5 Editor wouldn't even
        start up in v1.04, gave a run-time error 103. This has been
        fixed. Sorry people! :(
     
