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IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2 - PLANETARY CONSTRUCTIONMAKING CHANGES TO YOUR PLANETYou can keep on making changes to your planet and sending the files in so they can be linked to the game, as often as you like - although if you send in a new set of files too frequently, they will be given lower priority that those from new planet-owners! There is a command that will help you to keep track of whether new files you have submitted have been linked into the game: 'VERSION'. This displays the file version number of your planet map. The file version number also shows on the status bar of the Workbench map editor, and it increases by 1 every time you save the map. If you feel cramped for space and wish you could expand your planet further than the 50 locations available to Founders, you can buy an expansion in your allowance. Two slithy toves gets you an extra 30 locations, bringing the total for your system to 80. Email feedback@ibgames.com if you want to take advantage of this increased space. Promotion to Engineer automatically gives you the extra 30, and at that level you can purchase 30 more to give you a total of 110. Higher ranks can increase the number further. As well as submitting updated planet files to be put into the game, you can make instant changes by redecorating the location you are in. You can change the location name with the command 'CHANGE NAME new_name' - for example, 'change name Big Bertha's Bar and Grill'. You can change the description of the room with 'CHANGE DESC new_description' - for example 'change desc This long and winding road winds along for a long way, linking the Fool's Hill to the east, to Strawberry Fields which is south.' The 'CHANGE DESC' command has some restrictions. You are limited to the number of characters the game will accept for any input, so you won't be able to use all the 1,000 characters that the Workbench location editor allows for a description. You will also be unable to split the text up into paragraphs - the whole description will be one paragraph. And you won't be able to put any spaces at the start of the descriptions, to indent the text. You can decide whether these changes should be permanent or whether they should disappear at reset. Normally, the changes are just temporary and when the game resets, the planet files will be loaded in as they were before. So you could redecorate a room for a party or other special event, safe in the knowledge that the decor will revert to the its normal state once the festivities are over. However, if you want your change to stick around, then use the command 'SAVE MAP' and the current version of your planet will be saved to disk, and will load back in at reset. Note that the command only affects the map you are on, so if you have made changes to both ground and space locations, you will need to use the command twice, once on the ground and once in space. This will not affect the file version number for the map. You can use this to correct any typos you spot in your locations - fixing the mistakes right away, rather than having to wait for new files to be put into the game. You will also have to make the change to the files on your computer, so the names and descriptions all match. Those who can't use the Workbench can also use this to customize the planet to a certain extent. You can't change any of the movements, or add new locations, but you can change the names and descriptions.
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