
                  DOCUMENTATION FILE FOR PREASY VER 1.1 


PREASY is a utility written for Privateer by Origin.  This version of PREASY
cripples enemy and alien vehicles in terms of speed, maneuverability, and 
weaponry. It gives YOUR ship a MAJOR performance upgrade in terms of speed, 
acceleration, and maneuverability.  PREASY modifies the Privateer data file
OBJECTS.TRE, which contains the parameters for all game vehicles. Through these
modifications, your combat sequences are made EASIER.

This routine will selectively cripple enemy vehicle SHIELDS, MISSILES, GUNS, MAX
SPEEDS, ACCELERATION, and MANEUVERABILITY.  You can also choose to SIGNIFICANTLY
IMPROVE the performance of YOUR vehicle class by giving yourself IMPROVED MAX 
SPEEDS (SET SPEED and AFTERBURNER SPEED), ACCELERATION, and MANEUVERABILITY.  
The following list summarizes the enemy-class vehicle disables and YOUR class 
vehicle improvements:

ENEMY SHIP CRIPPLING ACTIONS:
	SHIELDS  --  Level 1 only.
	MISSILES --  None Fired.
	GUNS     --  All reduced to LASER fire power.
	GUIDANCE --  User-defined reduction in max speeds, acceleration, and
		     maneuverability.

YOUR SHIP IMPROVEMENTS:	
       MAX SET SPEED -- Maximum of 3000 k/s.
   AFTERBURNER SPEED -- Maximum of 6000 k/s.
        ACCELERATION -- Maximum of 7500 k/s^2.
     MANEUVERABILITY -- User-definable through a wide range of sensitivities.

You can tailor the disabling or improvement levels you want by selecting the 
vehicle components via the command line switches.  Alternatively, you can throw
the "all" switch to disable everything on all enemy ships (including aliens) 
plus improve YOUR ship at the same time.

As previously stated, this program works by altering the OBJECTS.TRE file.  I
put quite a few checks in PREASY to ensure that only the ORIGINAL version of
the file is altered.  Future versions of Privateer will require a new PREASY
if Origin changes the contents of OBJECTS.TRE.   Once the changes are made
to the file, there is no turning back.  PLEASE BACKUP OBJECTS.TRE BEFORE YOU
RUN PREASY.  Copy it to any backup name.  PREASY will make only one alteration
on the file; if you disable missiles, and then later want to disable guns 
too,  you'll have to restore your original OBJECTS.TRE and then run PREASY on
it again.  PREASY will try to stop you if it detects alterations in the original
file.  You can force the edits to be done, but you may end up with a corrupted
OBJECTS.TRE file.  NOTE:  The version of OBJECTS.TRE that PREASY was written
for has a time/date stamp of:  9/9/93 7:09pm, 3850988 bytes.  

PREASY WILL NOT HARM YOUR SAV files.  If you wish to edit your SAV files (and 
therefore your ship), use PREDIT.  It lets you selectively alter numerous ship 
parameters including shields (up to level 11), engines, start locations, cash 
credits, etc.  I wrote PREDIT specifically for SAV file editing.  
 
PREASY is a good "trainer" program for Privateer, and its also great when you 
want to explore the star bases and not worry so much about being killed quickly.
(Its great for those pilots like me who don't live very long in most missions.) 




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                          INSTALLATION 
Installation is easy.  Just copy PREASY.EXE, and this text file (if desired) 
to your Privateer directory (\privater, usually). Run PREASY by typing the
filename, "preasy", followed by the command line switches you want.  Note
that YOU CAN ENTER SEVERAL SWITCHES TOGETHER.  The following summarizes the
command line switches:

	all	=   alter ALL game vehicle components (User-defined)
	missile	=   alter ALL game vehicle MISSILES (None fired)
	gun	=   alter ALL game vehicle GUNS (LASERS only)
	shield	=   alter ALL game vehicle SHIELDS (Level 1 only)
	alien	=   alter ALL ALIEN vehicles (Missiles, guns, shields, speed, 
		      and maneuverability)
	slow	=   lower game vehicle speed and maneuverability  (User-defined)
	fast	=   alter YOUR VEHICLE CLASS for better speed, acceleration,
		      and maneuverability (User-defined)

For example, if you enter "preasy missile", no enemy vehicles will shoot 
missiles. "preasy shield" will reduce all enemy shield levels to Level 1.  
"preasy gun missile" will cripple all guns and missiles.  If you just want 
to make that nasty alien "pod" a little tamer, enter "preasy alien".  

When any command line switch invokes the "slowing" routines (all, alien, slow),
you will be presented with a selection menu for setting the amount of enemy 
vehicle speed and maneuverability reduction.  In this way, you can slow down 
enemy vehicles a little or a lot (you can make the ships crawl if you want).  
Any selection that invokes the "fast" routines (all, fast) will present you with
a selection menu for entering speed and maneuver parameters for YOUR class
of vehicle.  

Note that the SPEED INCREASES ARE REAL, i.e., you can cruise at 3000 kps, but 
you've had it if you hit an asteroid!  The fast speeds are great for out-running
the alien "pod".  (The author enjoys testing Centurions cruising at speeds of 
3000 kps, and then leaving the bad guys "in the dust" by hitting the afterburner
for a jump to 6000 kps using an acceleration of 7500 k/s^2.)





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                           ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all those who sent comments or suggestions for improvement
on version 1.0 of PREASY.  I would like to send a special "thanks" to Ben
Roberto, CompuServe ID 71203,1514.  Ben found a "gold mine" of ship parameter 
data in the objects.tre file that I hadn't yet discovered, and then he passed it
along to me. I have incorporated this data into version 1.1 of PREASY.  (Ben
discovered the GUIDSHIP records which contain all game vehicle guidance info
including vehicle acceleration, set speed, afterburner speed, and XYZ-axis
rotation rates.)




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                             FINAL COMMENTS 
PREASY was not written to allow one to cheat his/her way through Privateer. 
It is intended as a tool to allow your progression through Privateer in a 
shorter-than-normal time span while still giving you LOTS of enjoyment and 
fun with experimentation.  Please use it with this attitude in mind.  

If you have any questions or comments concerning this program, or YOU WISH TO 
MAKE A DONATION of $5 (please make any checks payable to WAYNE SIKES), please 
contact me at:

Wayne Sikes
435 Sego Lily
Bosque Farms, NM  87068

CompuServe:    70733,1562
Phone:  (505)-869-3522

Feel free to distribute copies of this program. The only thing I ask is 
that you DO NOT MODIFY this text file or the PREASY.EXE program.  When 
distributing, PLEASE ALWAYS INCLUDE A COPY OF THIS TEXT FILE ALONG WITH 
THE EXECUTABLE.  If you include this program in any retail or wholesale 
software packages, compilations, libraries, archives, etc. please contact 
me.  As with all my analysis and engineering software, this program is 
copywritten by K & W Computer Works.

Thank you for using PREASY and enjoy Privateer!


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