commit 9bf5a3eef0f373b120b1aaf7ee4dcad0f895f131
parent dc9753a56250bf240c861d1cd4709ae656647898
Author: Luxferre <lux@ferre>
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2024 11:36:52 +0200
Bumped version to 1.5.8 and added readme
Diffstat:
| A | README | | | 123 | +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
| M | awlite.awk | | | 16 | ++++++++-------- |
2 files changed, 131 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/README b/README
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+awlite: POSIX AWK port of Text Elite
+------------------------------------
+This is a simple port of Text Elite game engine (version 1.5 written in C
+by Ian Bell) to POSIX AWK. It can run on any system that supports current AWK
+language standard. Compared to the original TE 1.5, this port also introduces
+numerous fixes, optimizations and further gameplay improvements.
+
+== Running the game ==
+
+The overall command for running awlite looks like this:
+
+LC_ALL=C awk -f awlite.awk [-v NO_ALIEN_ITEMS=1] [-v CENSORED=1] [-v CHEAT=1]
+
+You can replace "awk" with "nawk", "busybox awk", "gawk --posix",
+"mawk -W posix" etc depending on which AWK implementation you have.
+Note that LC_ALL=C environment variable setting is **required** for all
+implementations to work correctly and identically, although in practice
+nawk and busybox awk might not need it.
+
+Optionally, you can also supply these flags to change some game aspects:
+
+* -v NO_ALIEN_ITEMS=1 forces "Alien Items" goods unavailability in the game;
+* -v CENSORED=1 replaces "Slaves", "Narcotics" and "Liquors" goods names;
+* -v CHEAT=1 enables "cash" and "sneak" commands in the REPL.
+
+Of course, awlite is fully scriptable, e.g. you can append < script.txt to the
+basic game launch command.
+
+== In-game commands ==
+
+As you launch a fresh game, you start on the planet Lave of Galaxy 1,
+on a ship with 20t of cargo space, with 100 credits of cash.
+From now on, the following commands are available (case-insensitive):
+
+* buy (product) (amount): buy specified amount of specified product
+* sell (product) (amount): sell specified amount of specified product
+* fuel (amount): buy (amount) lightyears of fuel
+* jump (planetname): fly to planetname, deducing fuel accordingly
+* galhyp: hyperspace jump to the next galaxy, deducing 5000 credits
+ (8 galaxies total, you will jump from galaxy 8 back to galaxy 1)
+* info [planetname]: print info on planetname, or current system if omitted
+ (the planet must be in the same galaxy as you)
+* mkt: show local planetary system market prices
+* local: list planetary systems within 7 lightyears (your max fuel capacity)
+* hold: expand your cargo bay to 35t for 400 credits (one-time upgrade only)
+* help: display an in-game command help screen
+* rand: toggle between the AWK's native PRNG (default) and a custom one
+* quit: quit the game
+
+The following commands are only available in cheat mode (-v CHEAT=1):
+
+* cash (number): add (number) to your cash balance
+* sneak (planetname): fly to planetname without spending fuel
+
+All commands except "hold", "cash" and "sneak" can be abbreviated by their
+first letter. In addition, trade goods names can be abbreviated too (by several
+first letters). E.g. "b fo 5" is the same as "buy Food 5", and "q" is "quit".
+
+Fuel price is fixed at 0.2 CR/LY, you can hold 7LY of fuel at most.
+
+== Gameplay differences from the original TE 1.5 C version ==
+
+As of the current version, 1.5.8:
+
+* multiple typos corrected in text strings
+* the "cash" and "sneak" commands are only available to the REPL if running with -v CHEAT=1
+* galaxy jumps are no longer free and cost 5000 credits each (like in classic Elite and Oolite)
+* cargo hold expansion also is non-free (400 credits) and can only be done once from 20t to 35t (like in classic Elite)
+* alien items are available by default, can be overridden with -v NO_ALIEN_ITEMS=1
+* economy names are no longer shortened
+* the "politically correct" goods names are turned on with -v CENSORED=1
+* the following goods have been renamed: "Robot Slaves" to "Robots", "Liquor/Wines" to "Liquors", "Gem-Strones" to "Gem-stones"
+* market and local info tables are better aligned
+
+To be continued. This list is expected to grow in the future.
+
+== FAQ ==
+
+- Is this a one-to-one port of Bell's Text Elite?
+
+No. Although the original C source code was used as a base, porting was done
+by looking at *several* existing ports to understand the logic and basically
+rewriting everything in AWK from scratch. Besides the "Goat Soup" description
+code strings and trade goods data, no copy-pasting was done whatsoever, and on
+top of that, all data had to be converted to use octal and decimal notations
+instead of hexadecimal as POSIX AWK does not support hex literals.
+
+- Why do awlite versions start from 1.5.1 then?
+
+Because awlite is versioned in terms of functionality. The direct one-to-one
+port would have the same 1.5 version, and every slight improvement adds a new
+subversion, i.e. bumps the version number by 0.0.1. Stable subversions tend to
+have even numbers, testing subversions tend to have odd numbers. Also, every
+new command set implementation bumps the version number by 0.1, indicating that it's no longer fully command-to-command compatible with the previous one.
+
+- How large is awlite?
+
+As of now, the entire game is contained in a single file with a little under
+500 SLOC of POSIX AWK code. Future functionality might increase the codebase
+size, but one of the goals is to keep it under 1000 SLOC no matter what.
+
+- Why did you keep the cheating commands present in the original?
+
+To preserve backward compatibilty with some trading scripts written for the
+original Text Elite versions. Once it is proven the scripts won't work
+correctly anyway, the cheat mode will be removed from awlite.
+
+- Why don't the scripts give the same results as for the original TE.EXE?
+
+Even though the internal PRNG is the same, some operations might be compiled
+differently. TBH no existing TE ports fully replicate these operations either.
+
+- If Ian Bell ever releases Text Elite 1.6, will the changes be applied here?
+
+Depends on the changes, but this is very unlikely to happen as the most recent
+update to the original C code of Text Elite was in 2015.
+
+== Credits ==
+
+Original high-level algorithms from Text Elite 1.5 by Ian Bell, 1999, 2015.
+
+Porting, corrections, improvements and optimizations by Luxferre, 2024.
+
diff --git a/awlite.awk b/awlite.awk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-# awlite: POSIX AWK port of Text Elite 1.5
-# Version 1.5.2
-# Original C version by Ian Bell, 1999, 2015
+# awlite: POSIX AWK port of Text Elite
+# Version 1.5.8
+# Original high-level algorithms from Text Elite 1.5 by Ian Bell, 1999, 2015
# Porting, corrections, improvements and optimizations by Luxferre, 2024
#
# Tested on: nawk/one-true-awk, busybox awk, gawk --posix, mawk -W posix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
# - multiple typos corrected in text strings
# - the "cash" and "sneak" commands are only available to the REPL if running with -v CHEAT=1
# - galaxy jumps are no longer free and cost 5000 credits each (like in classic Elite and Oolite)
-# - cargo hold expansion also is non-free (400 credits) and can only be done once from 20t to 35t
+# - cargo hold expansion also is non-free (400 credits) and can only be done once from 20t to 35t (like in classic Elite)
# - alien items are available by default, can be overridden with -v NO_ALIEN_ITEMS=1
# - economy names are no longer shortened
# - the "politically correct" goods names are turned on with -v CENSORED=1
@@ -509,8 +509,8 @@ function dohelp() {
printf("\nGalhyp (jumps to next galaxy)")
printf("\nInfo planetname (prints info on system)")
printf("\nMkt (shows market prices)")
- printf("\nLocal (lists systems within 7 light years)")
- if(CHEAT) printf("\nCash number (alters cash - cheating!)")
+ printf("\nLocal (lists systems within 7 lightyears)")
+ if(CHEAT) printf("\nCash number (alters cash)")
printf("\nHold (expand cargo bay to %dt)", game["cargoexpsize"])
printf("\nQuit or ^D (exit)")
printf("\nHelp (display this text)")
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@ BEGIN {
split("", globalseeds) # init galaxy seeds
buildgalaxy(player["galaxynum"], globalseeds) # build the current galaxy
genmarket(0, economies[player["currentplanet"]]) # build local market
- printf("\nWelcome to awlite 1.5.2 (based on Text Elite 1.5)\n")
+ printf("\nWelcome to awlite 1.5.8 (based on Text Elite 1.5)\n")
dohelp()
# start the REPL
printf("\n\nCash: %.1f> ", player["cash"]/10)
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@ BEGIN {
else if(action == "s" || action == "sell") dosell(paramstr)
else if(action == "j" || action == "jump") dojump(paramstr)
else if(action == "f" || action == "fuel") dofuel(paramstr)
- else if(action == "ho" || action == "hold") dohold(game["cargoexpsize"])
+ else if(action == "hold") dohold(game["cargoexpsize"])
else if(CHEAT && action == "cash") docash(paramstr)
else if(CHEAT && action == "sneak") dosneak(paramstr)
else printf("Unknown command")
