PCC2 Quick Documentation

This is a (really) brief overview over all functions of PCC2 and PlayVCR, until we have a help function. It is current as of PCC2 Beta 4.

Invocation

PCC2

Arguments can be options, a player number, or directories. Not counting options, The following possibilities exist:

You do not have to unpack your RST before playing. If you don't, PCC2 will read the RST directly, and produce a TRN directly. If you do unpack your turn, PCC2 will behave like a classic VGA Planets™ client and just modify .dat files; you will then have to run Maketurn separately.

To play registered, place a fizz.bin file created by your registered client in the game directory, just like you do with PCC 1.x.

pcc-v2 accepts all the common options.

PlayVCR

There are four ways to invoke PlayVCR.

In addition to the options -sim and -dir, PlayVCR accepts the common options.

Common Options

The following options are accepted by the graphical programs pcc-v2 and playvcr:

PCC2 Screens

Game Selector

Select a directory on the left. Available races will be shown on the right. Change directory using the Change directory button (or Enter while cursor is on directory list), play game using Open game button (or Enter while cursor is on race list). Use Tab to switch between fields.

Race Screen

Unit selector

Control Screen

All control screens support similar keys.

Ship Screen

The following keys are supported in addition to Control Screen keys.

Planet Screen

The following keys are supported in addition to Control Screen keys.

Base Screen

The following keys are supported in addition to Control Screen keys.

Starchart

Read Messages

Write Messages

Choose races to send message to, or U to send a universal message (to everyone). You'll be placed in the message editor.

Scores

PCC2 records current and past scores in a file score.cc. It records the standard score as well as all additional scores it receives from PHost through util.dat. At the time of this writing, those are minefield limits and counts.

Battle Simulator

Battle Simulator Planet Editor

Battle Simulator Options

Battle Simulator Result

The simulator result screen displays simulation results. The "Totals" tab has results grouped by class and probability (e.g. "2 Feds surviving: 10x, 1 Borg surviving: 2x"). The "Details" tab has information about each unit.

VCR

Choose fight using arrows, press Enter to play it. During playback, use the following keys:

Friendly Code

As a little help, PCC2 knows special friendly codes and offers you them on a list. Note that the list also contains a friendly code ???, which is not special to host. However, the simulator treats it as an exception to the "same fcode, no fight" rule, so you don't have to come up with individual fcodes for completely made-up fights.

Navigation Chart

Cargo Transfer

After choosing the target (if applicable), the Cargo Transfer window displays the unit you started with on the left, and the target on the right.

Buildings

Taxes

If the planet has natives, use Tab to switch between natives and colonists. Use + and - to choose tax rates.

Sell Supplies

The "Sell Supplies" dialog will ask you how many supplies you want to sell. It will sell the supplies when you confirm with Enter. You can also enter the number of supplies you want to keep and confirm with A.

Auto Build

For each planet, you can define a target count and speed for each structure type. When ordered to perform automatic building, PCC2 will sort those values by speed, highest first. It will then try to build as many structures as the speed says, stopping only when the goal has been reached or rules don't allow building more. It will then proceed with the second structure, etc. If all structures have been processed, the cycle starts again, until nothing more can be built. As a special exception, PCC2 will make sure there's at least one factory, even if you ordered it to build mines first.

By default, goals are 1000 (meaning "infinite"), and speeds are 5 for mines, 10 for factories, and 3 for defense posts. This means that auto build will try to build 10 factories, then 5 mines, then 3 defense posts. If you have lots of money, this means that PCC2 will build twice as many factories as mines. If you have little money, this means PCC2 will first build up factories before starting with mines.

To disable auto build for one structure, set its goals and/or speeds to zero.

Building Ships

The ship building dialog has four tabs. Choose the hull type on the first tab, further components on the other three tabs. You can choose components you don't yet have the right tech for, PCC2 will then include the tech level cost in the bill displayed below, and automatically upgrade tech as appropriate. For beams and torpedoes, you can choose how many components to put into your ship using + and -.

Drawing

PCC2 can draw four kinds of items into the starchart:

If you want to draw a marker, PCC2 will prompt you for shape and color, and draw that marker into the starchart. For the other types, you'll be dropped back in the starchart, and a new shape starting here will be begun.

Distance Meter

Prefix Argument

At some places, PCC2 accepts a prefix argument which modifies the following keystroke. Normally, this is used to set the amount you wish to build, move, etc.

To use a prefix argument, just start by typing a number. A yellow popup will appear. Keep typing, and confirm by pressing the key whose function you wanted to perform. For example, to build 15 factories on the Buildings screen, you'd type 15+.

PlayVCR Screens

File Selector

Select a directory on the left. Available VCR files will be shown on the right. Change directory using the Change directory button (or Enter while cursor is on directory list). Play VCRs using View VCRs button (or Enter while cursor is on race list). Use Tab to switch between fields.

VCR Selector

Choose fight using arrows, press Enter to play it. Press F to get back to file selector.

Actual playback works identical to PCC2.

[ PCC2 | PCC 1.x | My VGA Planets Page ]
Stefan Reuther
Last modified: Sat May 30 19:28:49 CEST 2009