ReadMe for Star System Generator 1.0 by Leo LaDell

This program allows you to name and generate details for star systems, including stellar data, planetary data, and details for moons. It was originally designed for use with the Star Trek Role Playing Game by Decipher, Inc., but it may be useful for other applications as well.

Version 1.0 has a few known issues as follows.

1. The program sometimes crashes with floating point or other errors. Usually you can simply click Ok to clear the error message and try again, and it will work fine. Most of the time, it works without crashing. The program was written in Turbo Delphi, and I have not yet determined how to find which line of code corresponds to a given access error. Advice appreciated.

2. Sometimes a planet or moon's atmosphere totals will not reach 100%. For example, a type J planet may appear with 60% Hydrogen and nothing else. This will be fixed in a future release.

3. You will sometimes see duplicate entries for a given element in an atmosphere. For example, a planet may have 50% nitrogen, then 10% oxygen, then 4% nitrogen. In a future release, these will be totaled properly, but for now you simple add the percentages of the duplicate entries.

4. Resource types and quantities will appear in the next release.

5. The initial screen uses a font called Agency. I realise that if you do not have this font, Windows will make a rather unattractive substitution, and the font isn't free, as far as I know. I cannot change the font yet, as this form no longer appears in my Delphi programming interface (advice?), so I cannot adjust its properties. All screens after the first use the free font Swiss 911 Ultra Compressed BT, available at http://www.lcarscom.net/LCARS%20Fonts.zip.

Using the program:

At the initial screen, you can use the Engage! button to generate a random name for your star system. You can keep this name and click the Accept button, or you can edit the random name or type in a new one of your own.

Once you click Accept, you will be show the system geometry. You have a few checkbox options, and then you can choose Cancel to return to the initial screen or Continue to generate planets and moons. Once you generate planets and moons, you can choose to save or print the info, or cancel to go back to the previous screen. To quit the program, close all screens.

Bug reports and feedback can come to leo.ladell@gmail.com.
