BATTLESTAR(6)                  BSD Games Manual
BATTLESTAR(6)

NNAAMMEE
     bbaattttlleessttaarr — a tropical adventure
     game

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
     bbaattttlleessttaarr [--rr]
     [_s_a_v_e_d_-_f_i_l_e]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
     bbaattttlleessttaarr is an adventure game
     in the classic style.  However, it's slightly less of
     a puzzle and more a game of exploration.  There are
     a few magical words in the game, but on the whole,
     simple English should suffice to make one's desires
     understandable to the parser.

TTHHEE SSEETTTTIINNGG
     In the days before the darkness came, when battlestars
     ruled the heav‐ ens...

           Three He made and gave them to His daughters,
           Beautiful nymphs, the goddesses of the waters.
           One to bring good luck and simple feats of wonder,
           Two to wash the lands and churn the waves asunder,
           Three to rule the world and purge the skies with
           thunder.

     In those times great wizards were known and their powers
     were beyond belief.  They could take any object from
     thin air, and, uttering the word ‘su’ could disappear.

     In those times men were known for their lust for gold and
     desire to wear fine weapons.  Swords and coats of mail
     were fashioned that could with‐ stand a laser blast.

     But when the darkness fell, the rightful reigns were
     toppled.  Swords and helms and heads of state went rolling
     across the grass.  The entire fleet of battlestars was
     reduced to a single ship.

SSAAMMPPLLEE CCOOMMMMAANNDDSS
           take    ---     take an object drop    ---     drop
           an object

           wear    ---     wear an object you are holding
           draw    ---     carry an object you are wearing

           put on  ---     take an object and wear it take
           off --     draw an object and drop it

           throw  <object> <direction>

           !       <shell esc>

IIMMPPLLIIEEDD OOBBJJEECCTTSS
           >-: take watermelon watermelon: Taken.  >-: eat
           watermelon: Eaten.  >-: take knife and sword and
           apple, drop all knife: Taken.  broadsword: Taken.
           apple: Taken.  knife: Dropped.  broadsword: Dropped.
           apple: Dropped.  >-: get knife: Taken.

     Notice that the "shadow" of the next word stays around if
     you want to take advantage of it.  That is, saying "take
     knife" and then "drop" will drop the knife you just took.

SSCCOORREE && IINNVVEENN
     The two commands “score” and “inven” will print
     out your current status in the game.

SSAAVVIINNGG AA GGAAMMEE
     The command “save” will save your game in a file
     called _._B_s_t_a_r in your home directory
     by default.  You can recover a saved game by using the
     --rr option when you start up the game, or by giving
     the name of the saved file as an argument.  Save files
     will be saved to and restored from your home directory
     unless a path is specified - i.e., “battlestar -r
     savedgame” will look for _s_a_v_e_d_g_a_m_e in
     your home directory, but “battlestar -r ./savedgame”
     will look in the current directory.  “battlestar -r”
     will look for the default file, _._B_s_t_a_r in
     your home directory.

DDIIRREECCTTIIOONNSS
     The compass directions N, S, E, and W can be used if
     you have a compass.  If you don't have a compass, you'll
     have to say R, L, A, or B, which stand for Right, Left,
     Ahead, and Back.  Directions printed in room descriptions
     are always printed in R, L, A, and B relative directions.

HHIISSTTOORRYY
     I wrote Battlestar in 1979 in order to experiment with
     the niceties of the C Language.  Most interesting things
     that happen in the game are hardwired into the code,
     so don't send me any hate mail about it!  Instead,
     enjoy art for art's sake!

AAUUTTHHOORR
     David Riggle

IINNSSPPIIRRAATTIIOONN &&
AASSSSIISSTTAANNCCEE
     Chris Guthrie Peter Da Silva Kevin Brown Edward Wang
     Ken Arnold & Company

BBUUGGSS
     Countless.

FFAANN MMAAIILL
     Send to edward%ucbarpa@berkeley.arpa,
     chris%ucbcory@berkeley.arpa, rig‐ gle.pa@xerox.arpa.

BSD                            September 7, 2000
BSD
