HOWTO Start playing VGAP

This document was written specifically for some friends of mine who were newbies.  There are different ways to do this stuff.  This is the method i suggest to start.
1. Obtain VGAPlanets Shareware from Tim or elsewhere.
2. Get VPA (VGA Planets Assistant) from their web page.
3. If needed, grab the latest host version (we're using 3.22.027) [german link]

4. Unzip the VGAPlanets zipfile you downloaded.
5. Run "install", and install VGAPlanets to your new favourite directory.
6. Unzip the VPA zipfile to the same directory.

You are now ready to play.
7. In your VGAP directory, make a sub directory.  [I will call it "MyGame"]  (note)
8. When you receive your player*.rst file from your host, put it in your VGAP directory.
9. Put a copy of your player*.rst file in MyGame. (note)
10. From a dos shell, run the command "unpack MyGame" in the VGAP directory.
11. In the same directory [VGAP dir], type "vpa X MyGame"...where X is your player number.    (ie. Feds = player 1, Borg = player 6, etc)
You are now playing VGA Planets via the VPA software.
    Press F1 for help.
    Press Alt-X to save and quit.
    Press Ctrl-Alt-X to quit without saving.
12. When done your turn, hit Alt-X to exit VPA, saving your moves.
13. From the VGAP dir, type "maketurn MyGame".
14. Email the player*.trn file to your host.  [Me, in this case]
That's it!  Wait for the turns to be processed.
When you receive your new player*.rst file, go back to step #8.


Notes:
  1. VGA Planets is a DOS game.  This means that the directory name cannot be longer than the standard 8.3 DOS filename format.  For instance, "MyGame" is acceptable, but "MyGameDir" is not acceptable - the former is 6 characters, the latter is 9 characters, and won't be understood by the game.
  2. If you screw up something major, you can exit, and go back to step #9.  That's why you made a copy.
  3. If you want to simulate more complex stuff than you can with VPA, use the host program you downloaded (optional step #3) as the host program instead of the one that came with the shareware.