Welcome to the QBR 2.14 tutorial

This tutorial will explain the workings of QuickBattle Replacement (QBR) from how to start the game to creating and saving your own QuickBattleGame configurations


Tutorial
Troubleshooting Help

Getting Started

*** If you chose to install the optional main menu mod, you can skip this section ***
-------------- just start the game normally and the menu will appear as below --------------

The first thing to do is get the game to run in "TestMode". If you chose to install the optional main menu mod, you can skip this section. You can do this by using the supplied shortcut in the Bridge Commander Start Menu group, or by creating your own shortcut.

If you want to create a shortcut manually, locate the "stbc.exe: file in your game directory (typically the path is C:\Program Files\Activision\Bridge Commander. Right click on this file and choose "Send to" and then choose "Desktop(create shortcut)". Then right click on the newly created shortcut (on your desktop) and change the text in the "Target" box to read:

"C:Program Files\Activision\Bridge Commander\stbc.exe" -TestMode


There must be ONE space at the end, a dash, then TestMode with a capital T and M in the word TestMode. You can also rename the shortcut by right clicking on it and selecting "rename".

Start the game from the supplied shortcut (located in the Bridge Commander Start Menu Folder or on the desktop) or with the one you may have just created.

The game will load normally and when the main menu appears, the quickbattle button will be replaced by "Missions" if you have opted to install the supplied MainMenu.py, or "Test Only" if you have not.
Also notice that the regular old Quick Battle button is here as an option as well as jumps to the single player missions. You can go to regular quick battle from here without incedent - it will work as it always has. You can also go to any Single Player Mission.

But, right now to start the QBR game:
see fig 1:

Click on the missions(test only) button, click Custom Missions, and select "QuickBattleGame". DO NOT select Autoload, Ships, or Carriers.

The game will then load, then you will find yourself on the bridge of an Sovereign class ship.

see fig 2:

The QuickBattleGame has now loaded in the default configuration. There has to be a default configuration in order for it to load. If you look around, you will find yourself floating in the Tevron II system with a friendly ship, the USS Constipation and a Federation Starbase. Have your Helm Officer hail the Constipation - click "hail" and watch the Constipation dock. You can issue orders to friendly ships through the hail command. Since there aren't any enemy ships in the system, right now you can only order them to dock (by just hailing them) or to protect you. Next, hail the Starbase and watch yourself dock. You can dock whenever you need repair or resupply. You can also order friendlies to dock for the same reason...

After you get tired of ordering the Constipation around and bugging the poor starbase commander, head off to Artrus system.You will arrive at Outpost 7. You cannot dock at outpost 7. The Constipation will follow you automatically (albeit kind off slowly - it's hard to get good help these days...)

Set a course for Artrus I. There you will find two Cardassian ships, the Bubblegum & the Rogue. Now it's battle time, wipe them out. Remember you can order the Constipation around and warp back to Tevron II to repair if need be. Remember to go to Red Alert as each game starts you at green alert.

Advanced Features:

 *** Fleet Hail:
Access the fleet hail option under your helm menu. You can order the whole fleet to attack your target, or to resume their old orders.

*** Emergency Transport:
Access this from your engineer's console. You can transfer your crew to a freindly ship if your ship has had it or if you want to abandon your ship for some reason. Your crew will be transported to the friendly ship and leave yours floating in space. You will have limited control over your guest ship (just be glad your still alive). From the guest ship, you can transfer to another or back to your derelict ship. You must be within transporter range (ca. 50 km) for this to work.

*** Shuttle Launching:
The shuttle launching framework will now work in QBR - special thanks to Poddy for this.

Making Your Own Missions:

Now let us create our own new game configuration. Go to your first officer and click configure.

fig 3:

The QBR editing screen will open. Here you will see the default configuration. Click on the selected ships pane on the right and notice how each ship is configured.

OK - now it's time to create our own mission.

Click on each ship in the "selected ships" menu and hit delete each time until no ships appear there.

fig 4:

Then, select the yellow "Systems" button at the top of the menu. on the left are the systems you have installed, on the right are there selected systems to be in the game. Click each of the three systems on the right to remove them from the list.

Select two systems from the left hand menu. We'll use Beol 1 and Biranu 1. Click on them and add them to the selected regions list.Now go back to the ships screen by clicking the yellow Ships button at the top bar. Notice that now in the center box, Beol 1 and Biranu 1 are listed as the only two systems.


Now it's time to select some ships to be in the game. On the left hand ships pane, select an Akira, a Galaxy, and a Vorcha. Notice how they appear in the right hand pane with a yellow button. Now we must set each ship up with a configuration.


Select the Akira 1 button on the right hand pane.

  • click in the text box at the top to change the name of the ship - let's use the "USS Buttkicker"

  • below that are the x, y, & z coordinates. You can enter these or leave them blank for random placement

  • below that is the custom AI text box. You can enter the filename for a custom AI script here (for advanced users)

  • the next two buttons are "Starbase" & "Warp". If you configuring a starbase, enable the Starbase button, but since we are doing the Akira, leave this blank. We do want to enable the Warp button. This will allow the ship to move between systems. If you do not enable this button, the ship will be contained in the system it starts in

  • next down on the list is the Systems Box. This is very important. You must have each ship assigned to a starting system or the game will not load. For the Akira, we'll use Beol 1.

  • next down is the AI & Group boxes. Choose the AI level of the USS Buttkicker, and designate it "friendly"

  • PRESS THE UPDATE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM

    • The yellow "akira 1" button will now change to a blue button with the "USS Buttkicker" name on it. This ship is now configured for the game.You must hit the update button each time you change anything on this screen to save it to the configuration.

    Select the Galaxy 1 button on the right hand pane.

  • Click in the text box and change the name. I'll use "USS Enterprise"

  • enter the x,y,z coordinates or leave them blank to have the ship start at 0,0,0

  • Enable the Warp button

  • Designate this ship to also start in the Beol 1 system in the system box

  • In the Group menu, select "PLAYER"

  • PRESS THE UPDATE BUTTON

    • The yellow "galaxy 1" button will now turn grey and display "Player". This will be the ship you will control.

    Select the Vorcha 1 button on the right hand pane.

  • Click in the text box and change the name. I'll use "IKV Bloody Mary"

  • enter x,y,z, coordiantes or leave them blank for random placement

  • make sure the warp button is off, so he'll stay put where he is

  • have this ship start in the Biranu 1 system

  • In the Group Menu, select "enemy"

  • PRESS THE UPDATE BUTTON

    • The yellow "vorcha 1" button on the right will turn red and display "IKV Bloody Mary"

    Since we are flying a Galaxy class ship, select the Galaxy bridge from the bridge menu at the bottom left. All bridges installed to the game will available here.


    Now it is time for the moment of truth - Press the red "Start" button at the top. If you entered everything correctly the game will start. If not, the game will freeze and leave you with the starfleet cursor. If this happens, don't panic. Press the ESC key to return to the QBR editing screen an recheck your parameters. Play the configuration to see how the information you entered will work in the game.

    Now lets say for the sake of argument, that this is the coolest configuration you ever have or will make. Go back to the QBR editing screen (1st officer "configure command)

    You will see the current configuration displayed. Click on the yellow "File" buton at the top of the menu.
    In the filename text box change the text to read "Kill the Vorcha". Then click the "save" button.
    Your new configuration will now be saved in the right hand load setup menu. Here you will find all the saved configurations.
    Click on any button in the right hand pane and click "Load". Go back to the Ships screen and you will see this configuration loaded.


    You can experiment with different setups at will and your are only limited by the number of ships, systems, and bridges you have installed. Remember, for the game to run, you MUST have at least one player ship, one enemy ship, and one system selected. Each ship must be asssigned to a system and a group.


    Good Luck and Happy Hunting !!!

    TROUBLESHOOTING HELP:

    "I installed QBR, and when the main menu appears, there is no 'Missions' or 'Test Only' Button!"

    The game isn't starting in TestMode. Either you installed QBR to a different directory or there is something wrong with the shortcut. Try checking the path of your shortcut. Make sure it points to the game directory where you installed QBR.

    "When the main menu appears, there is a 'Missions' or 'Test Only' button, but there is no 'Custom Missions' button at the bottom"

    The game IS starting in TestMode, but QBR is not installed to that game directory.

    "Some or all the ships or systems or bridges I have installed don't show up in the QBR Editing screen or the game hangs when I press the 'QuickBattleGame' button!!!"

    Quit the game and restart. Check the Mutators Tab to make sure all the buttons are lit.

    "I set up a QBR game, and when I press the Start button, the hard drive spins for a few seconds and the game hangs."

    Something is wrong with the configuration. Press the ESC key to return to the editing screen and recheck each ship to see that it has a starting system and is assigned to a group (friendly,enemy,neutral,or player).

    "I select a ship, set up it's configuration, and go to configure the next ship, and the ship I did didn't stay configured"

    You forgot to press the Update button. Each time you change a ship's configuration, you have to click the Update button.

    For any other issues you may encounter, or any questions regarding QBR, you may email me at Redbeard@stny.rr.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can.