SSDPRINT version 7.0

Make your own SSDs!

This is the program I wrote to make SSDs quickly.
This program is freeware and may be freely distributed and modified.
(Note to people already using SSDPRINT: Version 7.0 is a big improvement over previous versions, it has many new commands and runs faster. It can read .SSD files from SSDPRINT 4.0 and later. If you are using 3.X or earlier, let me know and I'll send you a conversion program and instructions.)
This is not exactly the program I use; my version has a bunch of experimental (and often buggy) features, many of which I trimmed for stability.

Requirements, Installation and Executing SSDPRINT 7.0

You need the following:

Windows 3.X/NT/95/98 computer (it may or may not run under Windows 2000, we'll see).
Hard drive space isn't that big of a deal, 5 megs should be plenty to get started.

A way of unzipping a .ZIP file.

If desired: a program that converts .BMP files to .GIF (consider LView or Paint Shop Pro).
I personally prefer .GIF over .BMP because the files are so much smaller.

If desired: QBASIC if you plan to modify the code (or if the .EXE file doesn't run for you).

OK, first of all, make yourself a new directory on your harddrive to shove a LOT (hundreds) of small files into.
(Previous versions of SSDPRINT required it to be "C:/SFB" or "C:/SSDPRINT", this is no longer the case, you can use anything.)

You might want to go ahead and print these instructions, this is why:
SSDPRINT runs much faster if you run it full screen (it's miserably slow on my Pentium 200 when running in a small window).
Also, you'll probably be referencing this a lot and won't want to keep switching back and forth.

OK, download this and unzip into your new directory:

SSDPRINT 7.0 with Weapons and Turn Mode Tables
( 189K zipped, 426K unzipped )

Now the moment of truth: Try to run SSD.EXE.

If you see a white screen with a bunch of light blue lines and no strange error message, you're fine and can continue on to "Commands" below.
If you see an error message, you're one of the unlucky people who must run SSDPRINT through QBASIC.
Don't despair, it's not hard, do the following:

Unzip QBASIC above into your new directory.
If you already have QBASIC, copy it to your new directory or else QBASIC will have problems running SSDPRINT.
Run QB.EXE, select "File", select "Open Program", select "SSD.BAS" (you may have to click "OK").
Select "Run", select "Start".
If you still get an error and it won't run, there's something bizarre going on.
Send me an email with a description of your system and the error message and we'll see what we can do.

Commands and Features (Simple)

Before I start listing commands, I should mention a few things:

The numbers that run on the left side and across the top are for reference only.
They are sometimes useful if you've drawn an SSD on graph paper first.

For keys that don't require a text entry, if you press and hold the key down, the command repeats.

If you exit the program without saving, your work was saved anyway as DEFAULT.SSD.
If your computer crashed or if you ended the process using Process Manager, this isn't the case.
Don't despair, though, because ANOTHER copy of your work is saved every 100 keystrokes as AUTOSAVE.SSD.

These are only the simple commands; the absolute minimum you need for an SSD.
In a later section below I give more advanced commands which make certain tasks easier.

Key(s): Function:

Arrow keys and Keypad
(1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9) Moves you around 1/2 a square at a time in SSDPRINT.
The ugly red square moving around is your cursor. :)
Shifting a keypad key (or if you have numlock on) makes you move around fast.
If you get close to the edge, the editor scrolls.
Maximum dimensions is X-location 158 Y-location 119 (80 squares by 60 squares).
If you want bigger, make multiple SSDs and combine them later.

[ESC] or [S] Quit and Save.
A filename is requested at the bottom.
If you press [ESC] or [ENTER] without typing anything, the program exits (and your work is saved as DEFAULT.SSD).
Keep to filenames of 8 characters long or less with no extension: SSDPRINT will assign it an .SSD extension.
You can use a path if you wish (such as "C:/sfb/old_ssd/fed-exce").
At this point you've saved a file with your filename and an .SSD extension.
A black screen appears, and if you wish to have a .BMP of the ship as well, press [Y].
This unfortunately takes about 2 minutes (it may take longer or shorter depending on the speed of your machine), so you only want to do this when your ship is completely finished.

[spacebar] Put a Box at current location, then move 1 square to the right.
It moves to the right so you can hold the spacebar down and make a lot of boxes if you want.
[Enter] Put Text centered at the current location.
Just type normally and you'll see red text appear.
If you make a mistake, press [backspace].
If you want to move the text a little left or right so it fits better, press [left arrow] or [right arrow].
When you're done, press [Enter].
If you want a degree sign, hold down the [Alt] key, type 127 on the keypad, then release [Alt].
If you want a half (1/2) sign, hold down the [Alt] key, type 126 on the keypad, then release [Alt].
[L] Lines.
The first time you hit [L], the location is stored in memory.
You can move around and do other things normally.
If you hit [L] again, a line is formed from the first location to the second.
Lines of zero length are printed as a dot.
[C] Circles.
The first time you hit [C], the location is stored in memory (in a different location than [L]).
You can move around and do other things normally.
If you hit [C] again, a circle is formed with the center at the first location and the edge at the second location.
Circles of zero radius are ignored.
See advanced commands below for partial circles.
[Backspace] or [Del] Erases everything at the current location.
If there is a box and/or text there, the item(s) is removed.
If you are at the endpoint of a line, the line is removed.
If you are at the center of a circle, the circle is removed.
[O] or [I] Open or Insert file.
This is used to retrieve the information stored in an .SSD file.
You are prompted for a filename; type it without the .SSD extension.
Both [O] and [I] load the file on top of what you're working on; your old work is not "erased" in any way.
[O] puts the file in it's normal position (upper left corner at position 0,0).
[I] inserts the file with it's upper left corner at the current cursor position.
[I] is incredibly useful as it allows you to insert special tables (try using [I] and type PH-1 as the filename to insert a Phaser-1 table).
I have included a lot of weapon and turn mode tables to get you started (see below after commands).
Leave the filename blank and press [Enter] or [ESC] if you pressed this key by mistake and don't want to load a file.
If the file is not found (or you mistyped it), nothing is loaded and you can proceed normally.
Be careful with these commands; as you may "intersect" two .SSDs so one is on top of another (which is a big mess!).
To help with this, the program autosaves whenever you press [O] or [I] (as AUTOSAVE.SSD), that way if you made a mistake you can quit SSDPRINT, run it again, and open AUTOSAVE and try again.
I have included two sample ships: FED-CHAN and KLI-B22 so you can load them and see a completed ship.

Key(s):	Function:
Arrow keys and Keypad (1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9)	Moves you around 1/2 a square at a time in SSDPRINT. The ugly red square moving around is your cursor. :) Shifting a keypad key (or if you have numlock on) makes you move around fast. If you get close to the edge, the editor scrolls. Maximum dimensions is X-location 158 Y-location 119 (80 squares by 60 squares). If you want bigger, make multiple SSDs and combine them later.
[ESC] or [S]	Quit and Save. A filename is requested at the bottom. If you press [ESC] or [ENTER] without typing anything, the program exits (and your work is saved as DEFAULT.SSD). Keep to filenames of 8 characters long or less with no extension: SSDPRINT will assign it an .SSD extension. You can use a path if you wish (such as "C:/sfb/old_ssd/fed-exce"). At this point you've saved a file with your filename and an .SSD extension. A black screen appears, and if you wish to have a .BMP of the ship as well, press [Y]. This unfortunately takes about 2 minutes (it may take longer or shorter depending on the speed of your machine), so you only want to do this when your ship is completely finished.
[spacebar]	Put a Box at current location, then move 1 square to the right. It moves to the right so you can hold the spacebar down and make a lot of boxes if you want.
[Enter]	Put Text centered at the current location. Just type normally and you'll see red text appear. If you make a mistake, press [backspace]. If you want to move the text a little left or right so it fits better, press [left arrow] or [right arrow]. When you're done, press [Enter]. If you want a degree sign, hold down the [Alt] key, type 127 on the keypad, then release [Alt]. If you want a half (1/2) sign, hold down the [Alt] key, type 126 on the keypad, then release [Alt].
[L]	Lines. The first time you hit [L], the location is stored in memory. You can move around and do other things normally. If you hit [L] again, a line is formed from the first location to the second. Lines of zero length are printed as a dot.
[C]	Circles. The first time you hit [C], the location is stored in memory (in a different location than [L]). You can move around and do other things normally. If you hit [C] again, a circle is formed with the center at the first location and the edge at the second location. Circles of zero radius are ignored. See advanced commands below for partial circles.
[Backspace] or [Del]	Erases everything at the current location. If there is a box and/or text there, the item(s) is removed. If you are at the endpoint of a line, the line is removed. If you are at the center of a circle, the circle is removed.
[O] or [I]	Open or Insert file. This is used to retrieve the information stored in an .SSD file. You are prompted for a filename; type it without the .SSD extension. Both [O] and [I] load the file on top of what you're working on; your old work is not "erased" in any way. [O] puts the file in it's normal position (upper left corner at position 0,0). [I] inserts the file with it's upper left corner at the current cursor position. [I] is incredibly useful as it allows you to insert special tables (try using [I] and type PH-1 as the filename to insert a Phaser-1 table). I have included a lot of weapon and turn mode tables to get you started (see below after commands). Leave the filename blank and press [Enter] or [ESC] if you pressed this key by mistake and don't want to load a file. If the file is not found (or you mistyped it), nothing is loaded and you can proceed normally. Be careful with these commands; as you may "intersect" two .SSDs so one is on top of another (which is a big mess!). To help with this, the program autosaves whenever you press [O] or [I] (as AUTOSAVE.SSD), that way if you made a mistake you can quit SSDPRINT, run it again, and open AUTOSAVE and try again. I have included two sample ships: FED-CHAN and KLI-B22 so you can load them and see a completed ship.

Remember there are a LOT more commands listed in "Advanced Commands" below; the above is just to get started.

As I mentioned before, I have included a bunch of .SSD files with SSDPRINT.
These can be inserted into your SSD using the [I] command.
These are:

SHIPDATA = Ship data table (blank) - just fill it in.
PH-1, PH-2, PH-3, PHTN, etc. = Lots of weapon tables.
Some of them have tech levels at the end, e.g. "PHTN2X" is 2X Photon table, "PHTN3X" is 3X Photon table.
DRN-B, DRN-C, ADD-12, etc. = Ammunition for drones.
Note that some of them (such as DRN-G) are impossible to manually type in as they have small lines for reloads (smaller than can be normally entered in SSDPRINT).
TURNA, TURNB, TURNC, etc. = Turn Mode table A, B, C, etc.
TURNNA, TURNNB, TURNNC, etc. = Next Gen Turn Mode table A, B, C, etc.
SHTL, SHTL2X, SHTL3X = Shuttlecraft header (0X, 2X, 3X)
SHT, SHT2X, SHT3X = A single shuttle for the shuttle chart (simply move down 1 square and insert).
Experiment with the .SSD files I give, to see what they do.
Click here for a simple list of all the SSD files for reference.

You can of course make your own tables. Just make the table as it's own SSD, and save it (don't bother to make a .BMP version). Now you can use that table in all of your ships with the [I] command.

Sizing and Finishing your work

OK, now that you've saved your .SSD and waited for the .BMP to be created, you are ready to finish your work.
Load the .BMP in MS Paint or Paint Shop Pro.
What you get is a 1280x960 bitmap, which is on the large size for an SSD.
There are several sizes of SSDs you can make, as follows:

SSD Size SSDPRINT Max Dimensions .BMP Max Dimensions

Large Landscape 158x118 1280x960

Medium Landscape 138x104 1120x840
Small Landscape 118x88 960x720
Medium Portrait (like my old style SSDs) 118x118 960x1280

SSD Size	SSDPRINT Max Dimensions	.BMP Max Dimensions
Large Landscape	158x118	1280x960
Medium Landscape	138x104	1120x840
Small Landscape	118x88	960x720
Medium Portrait (like my old style SSDs)	118x118	960x1280

Thus, when I make a "Medium sized Landscape" SSD, I limit myself to X-position 138 and Y-position 104 in SSDPRINT.
You then crop the BMP by selecting (in Paint, not sure what it is in Paint Shop Pro) "Image", "Attributes", then type in the appropriate numbers above (1120x840 for medium size).
You can of course move things around, add a big title to your SSD, and fix/enhance the appearance of things.
Save your file, then convert to .GIF if desired.

Commands and Features (Advanced)

Probably the best advice I can give for this commands is for you to try them out!
These commands save an incredible amount of work over the basic commands above.

Most commands that require data entry can be escaped from by pressing the [Esc] key.

Previous versions of SSDPRINT used [`] (backwards apostrophe) for "Mega box mode" and [-] for "Mass delete".
Those keys have been moved to [!] and [\] respectively (sorry, but I had to adjust too!). :)

Key(s): Function:

[!] Switch box type.
When you start, SSDPRINT uses Normal boxes.
Pressing [!] switches the SSD to Mega boxes.
Pressing [!] again switches to Super boxes.
Pressing [!] again switches back to Normal boxes.
For now, all boxes must be the same type, and Micro/Planet/God/Infini boxes are not yet supported.
[`] (backwards apostrophe) Moves entire SSD half a square up.
This is useful if you type in the main SSD (without weapons tables) first, then you can move it around to center it properly.
[~] (tilde) Moves entire SSD half a square down.
[Tab] Moves entire SSD half a square left.
[Shift]+[Tab] Moves entire SSD half a square right.
[greater than sign] or [.] Text going right.
Sometimes you don't want text to be centered; instead you want to type and keep going to the right of the current location.
You can use [left arrow] and [right arrow] for fine positioning (just like the normal text mode).
[less than sign] or [,] Text going left.
Just like the command above, but going left of current position.
[B] Text and Box in same spot.
This command places a box at current position and then enters text entry mode.
This is useful for boxes with labels in them.
[M] Multiple Boxes.
If you're typing in a large grouping of boxes, it's annoying to hit [spacebar] a lot of times.
Type [M], then enter two numbers seperated by a comma.
An array of boxes is created with width equal to the first number and height equal to the second number.
Thus if you typed "10,3" an array boxes 10 wide and 3 high would be created (total 30 boxes).
The boxes are centered (left to right) on the current position and go down.
[B] This repeats the last text you entered, and puts a box there as well.
This is good for large arrays of SPECSEN and such.
[T] Repeat last text.
This simply repeats the last text you typed at the new location.
This has some limited uses.
[+] or [=] This takes the last text you entered, increases it by 1, then creates a new box.
Thus, if your last text was "3" in a box, pressing [+] will put a new box with "4" in it.
Incredibly useful for phaser and torpedo arrays, and can be repeated to create a string of increasing boxes.
The program goes to "10" after "9" and "AA" after "Z".
[-] or [_] This takes the last text you entered, decreases it by 1, then creates a new box.
Thus, if your last text was "3" in a box, pressing [-] will put a new box with "2" in it.
This is especially nice for EXCDAM.
[\] Mass delete.
Enter two numbers in the form X,Y (if you just enter one number Y gets set to 1).
A block of the SSD X boxes wide by Y boxes high is deleted.
The block is centered left to right at your position and goes down.
This is a dangerous command, so the program autosaves before anything is deleted (it's saved as MASSDEL.SSD).
That way if you screw up you can quit, restart, and reload your SSD. (type [O] then MASSDEL)
[5] Highlights the grid lines which are at the edge of SSD sizes (for example, X-position 138 is nice to highlight for Medium sized SSDs).
Also highlights the center of circles so they can be deleted easier (sometimes it's hard to find the center of a big circle you entered).
Pressing [5] again removes the highlighting.
[V] Cut bottom of last circle.
The last circle you entered is cut so it's not shown below the current Y-position.
This is useful for Fed saucers and such.
If the [V] key is pressed and you're above the top of the circle or below the bottom of the circle, the circle is returned to it's original (non-cut) state.
[F] Cut top of last circle.
The last circle you entered is cut so it's not shown above the current Y-position.
Same as [V] except you're chopping the top of the circle off.
[*] Mass Crew Units entry.
Type five numbers in the following format:
A/B,C,D,E
Where A is number of Crew Units, B is minimum Crew, C is Boarding Parties, D is Deck Crews, and E is Passengers.
The program inserts a bunch of boxes and labels for that crew quanity starting at position 0,0 (upper left corner - the normal position for crew records).
Thus if you typed "40/4,12,0,0" you'd get 40 crew units (with an asterick at 4) and 12 boarding parties.
If you omit the minimum crew (and just entered "40,12,0,0"), no asterick is placed.
A few very minor bugs with this command: (I should fix these!)
- Be at position 0,0 (upper left) when you do this command. It frequently works even if you're not, but sometimes it messes up.
- You do need to type the 0's at the end if you have no deck crews or passengers.
- If one of the numbers is over 100, the results are strange (weird labeling and sometimes even overlapping).
- If minimum crew is divisible by 10 (e.g. you typed "40/10,0,0"), the "10" and the "*" appear at the same spot, which is ugly.

Key(s):	Function:
[!]	Switch box type. When you start, SSDPRINT uses Normal boxes. Pressing [!] switches the SSD to Mega boxes. Pressing [!] again switches to Super boxes. Pressing [!] again switches back to Normal boxes. For now, all boxes must be the same type, and Micro/Planet/God/Infini boxes are not yet supported.
[`] (backwards apostrophe)	Moves entire SSD half a square up. This is useful if you type in the main SSD (without weapons tables) first, then you can move it around to center it properly.
[~] (tilde)	Moves entire SSD half a square down.
[Tab]	Moves entire SSD half a square left.
[Shift]+[Tab]	Moves entire SSD half a square right.
[greater than sign] or [.]	Text going right. Sometimes you don't want text to be centered; instead you want to type and keep going to the right of the current location. You can use [left arrow] and [right arrow] for fine positioning (just like the normal text mode).
[less than sign] or [,]	Text going left. Just like the command above, but going left of current position.
[B]	Text and Box in same spot. This command places a box at current position and then enters text entry mode. This is useful for boxes with labels in them.
[M]	Multiple Boxes. If you're typing in a large grouping of boxes, it's annoying to hit [spacebar] a lot of times. Type [M], then enter two numbers seperated by a comma. An array of boxes is created with width equal to the first number and height equal to the second number. Thus if you typed "10,3" an array boxes 10 wide and 3 high would be created (total 30 boxes). The boxes are centered (left to right) on the current position and go down.
[B]	This repeats the last text you entered, and puts a box there as well. This is good for large arrays of SPECSEN and such.
[T]	Repeat last text. This simply repeats the last text you typed at the new location. This has some limited uses.
[+] or [=]	This takes the last text you entered, increases it by 1, then creates a new box. Thus, if your last text was "3" in a box, pressing [+] will put a new box with "4" in it. Incredibly useful for phaser and torpedo arrays, and can be repeated to create a string of increasing boxes. The program goes to "10" after "9" and "AA" after "Z".
[-] or [_]	This takes the last text you entered, decreases it by 1, then creates a new box. Thus, if your last text was "3" in a box, pressing [-] will put a new box with "2" in it. This is especially nice for EXCDAM.
[\]	Mass delete. Enter two numbers in the form X,Y (if you just enter one number Y gets set to 1). A block of the SSD X boxes wide by Y boxes high is deleted. The block is centered left to right at your position and goes down. This is a dangerous command, so the program autosaves before anything is deleted (it's saved as MASSDEL.SSD). That way if you screw up you can quit, restart, and reload your SSD. (type [O] then MASSDEL)
[5]	Highlights the grid lines which are at the edge of SSD sizes (for example, X-position 138 is nice to highlight for Medium sized SSDs). Also highlights the center of circles so they can be deleted easier (sometimes it's hard to find the center of a big circle you entered). Pressing [5] again removes the highlighting.
[V]	Cut bottom of last circle. The last circle you entered is cut so it's not shown below the current Y-position. This is useful for Fed saucers and such. If the [V] key is pressed and you're above the top of the circle or below the bottom of the circle, the circle is returned to it's original (non-cut) state.
[F]	Cut top of last circle. The last circle you entered is cut so it's not shown above the current Y-position. Same as [V] except you're chopping the top of the circle off.
[*]	Mass Crew Units entry. Type five numbers in the following format: A/B,C,D,E Where A is number of Crew Units, B is minimum Crew, C is Boarding Parties, D is Deck Crews, and E is Passengers. The program inserts a bunch of boxes and labels for that crew quanity starting at position 0,0 (upper left corner - the normal position for crew records). Thus if you typed "40/4,12,0,0" you'd get 40 crew units (with an asterick at 4) and 12 boarding parties. If you omit the minimum crew (and just entered "40,12,0,0"), no asterick is placed. A few very minor bugs with this command: (I should fix these!) - Be at position 0,0 (upper left) when you do this command. It frequently works even if you're not, but sometimes it messes up. - You do need to type the 0's at the end if you have no deck crews or passengers. - If one of the numbers is over 100, the results are strange (weird labeling and sometimes even overlapping). - If minimum crew is divisible by 10 (e.g. you typed "40/10,0,0"), the "10" and the "*" appear at the same spot, which is ugly.

*Whew*, I think that's all of them, but I may have missed one or two.
My experimental version has many more commands (such as ellipses, filling in regions with a shade, getting a file directory, and so on), but these are fairly buggy and I want to work on them.
Besides, many of these commands can be done manually in Paint and aren't absolutely necessary.

Faking bold-face text in SSDPRINT: This isn't perfect (or pretty), but it works.
Press [Enter] and enter your text you want bold-face, and press [Enter] (entering the text).
Go back to where you just were (1 box left), press [ENTER] again, enter the text again, but this time hit [right arrow] once before pressing [Enter].
You get something resembling bold-face, but it's a bit ugly.

A lot of my SSD files!

This is a large grouping of my .SSD files. It's not all of them (mostly because I didn't hunt them all down), but it's quite a few (900 or so).
Note that not everyone wants these files! You probably don't want to bother unless you plan to make variants of my SSDs. You'll want to have about 15 megs hard drive space for them.

SSD files archive number 1
( 3441K zipped, 12183K unzipped )

Click here for a simple list of all the .SSD files included.

Warning: A minority (perhaps 10%) of these .SSD files will not open at all under SSDPRINT 7.0 the way I gave the program to you. You will need to edit SSDPRINT in QBASIC, changing lines 2-5 to be larger arrays (try doubling the array sizes in the DIM statements). You will need to run this modified version SSDPRINT from QBASIC, as it will not compile into an .EXE file.

Final Notes

First of all, I never intended this program for widespread use. I wrote it for myself so I could type in SSDs quickly. For this reason, bugs may occur, and you might lose some work once in a rare while. I've added error trapping and autosaving, but things may still go wrong. Send me an email (dsm131@psu.edu) and report bugs (or ideas!) and I'll probably be able to fix/implement them. The program code is not too hard to follow if you know QBASIC; I tried to avoid machine language calls, POKEs, and other nasty stuff. The SSD files themselves are also in a fairly obvious text format, and you can edit them manually in a text editor if you need to.

I also have SSDPRINT version 2.0: a 286 version of this program which runs under a VERY MINIMAL setting (you don't even need EGA). It uses the text screen for editing, and even though you can't see EXACTLY how the SSD will turn out, the resultant .BMP is very good. Every "Old Style" SSD (all of my SSDs until the end of 1997 including the bulk of the Next Generation designs) was done on my poor 286 before I got a Pentium. If you want the 286 version, I can send it to you with an instruction set similar to this one. The even older SSDPRINT 1.0 was written in 1984 (I was 12 years old!) for the Radio Shack Color Computer 2. :)

Drop me an email if you like.

Click here to go to my normal SFB page.