Creating a Universe from the Command Line
From Stars!wiki
For experienced hosts only
Use the following command to create a new game/universe without using Stars! setup dialogs:
stars!.exe -a game.def
game.def has the following format, with arguments appearing in the order and groupings listed:
Game Name Universe Size (0-4) Density (0-3) Starting Distance (0-3) [Random Seed, any #] Maximum Minerals (0/1) Slow Tech (0/1) BBS Play (0/1) .... (other check boxes) Number of Players (1-16) Pathnames to race files, or AI descriptions VC # of planets (0/1) Percent of planets (20-100) VC Tech (0/1) Level (8-26) Fields (2-6) VC Score (0/1) Score (1000-20000) VC Exceeds nearest (0/1) (Percent (20-300) VC Production (0/1) Capacity (10-500) VC Capital Ships (0/1) Number (10-300) VC Turns (0/1) Years (30-900) VC Must Meet (0-7) Minimum Years (30-500) New universe file name
- Random Seed
- The optional Random Seed number forces the universe to be created exactly the same each time, if you use the same Seed number.
- By keeping the same random seed and changing to order of players .r files, you can alter the players postions
- IT and PP mess with both of these properties
AI Descriptions
The AI description takes the form, "# N M", where N is the ID number of the AI and M is the skill level of the AI.
Race ids:
0=Random, 1=Robotoids 2=Turndrones 3=Automitrons 4=Rototills 5=Cybertrons 6=Mcinti
Skill levels:
0=Random 1=Easy 2=Standard 3=Tough 4=Expert
For example, # 1 4 specifies an expert Robotoid AI.
Example game.def file
("Save target as..." to download)
Tour of Duty 3 2 2 13424531 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 4 c:\stars\play\game.r1 c:\stars\play\game.r2 c:\stars\play\game.r3 # 2 1 1 60 1 26 4 0 1 150 0 1 100 0 2 150 c:\stars\play\game.xy
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