Gameplay
The player began the game by entering their own name (or, if they preferred, "Kirk") as the name of the ship's captain. Spock would then declare that a Klingon, Romulan or Tholian vessel had appeared on the Enterprise's sensors, and announce its position.
The game described the action by printing a script displaying the characters' dialogue in traditional dramatic format. Daglow was a writing major studying playwriting with professor Steven Young, but prior games (including a horse racing game where players guessed the winner) had already used the idea of printing out the dialogue of a fictional character to narrate the action.
On each turn, Sulu or Chekov updated the enemy's position and Uhura asked for the player's orders, and a number (initially from 1 to 10, later from 1 to as high as 19) could be entered to tell the crew of the Enterprise what to do. Options included moving closer or farther away from the enemy vessel, and firing phasers or photon torpedoes. The different weapons each had optimal ranges.
After each player turn the results were announced by Spock, and the enemy then moved, fired, or tried another option. Damage to shields, weapons and engines was reported, as well as the rising count of Enterprise casualties. Badly damaged vessels on either side could try to flee the sector and trigger a pursuit.
If players chose to surrender a crippled ship or the computer enemy did so, either the enemy commander or Kirk would commend the surrendering captain for saving his crew and transmit the directive, "Prepare for our boarding party!"
Read more about this topic: Star Trek (script Game)