DP Tool Club 15/CD_ASCQ_15_070894.iso/vrac/l_dv30.zip/SYSOP.DOC

Text File | 1994-06-10 | 10KB | 190 lines

         L I F E  &  D E A T H !   Ver 3.0 - SysOp Documentation

                       A product of ZoneWare (TM)

                        Written by Russ DuQuaine
                                   of
                         The Forbidden Zone BBS
                             [phone]
                        FidoNet Node # 1:154/423

Hi!!
        For starters, I would like to thank you for trying out my online
game, Life & Death! (And double thanks if you've already registered it!!)

        What is Life & Death! you ask? It's a game where your users are the
doctor. But not just ANY doctor. They are the doctor that gets called when
it's a "Life and Death" situation! The concept is simple. Your users are
taken to a room where they are shown a patient's chart. Their job is to read
the chart and then make a diagnosis to save the patient's life. They are
shown a menu with 12 choices/procedures they can use in their diagnosis. For
each case, only 3 of the available choices are "correct" choices. The other
9 are improper choices and take their patients one step closer to death!

        The concept is simple, but don't let that fool you! Saving a patient
is no simple task. It takes cunning and intelligence. The unregisterd version
of this game gives your users 20 cases to solve/diagnose. For you registered
sysops, your users will have a full 125 cases to solve. Trust me, 125 cases
should last your users a good long time!

        Before I get to the actual setup of the game, (which is simpler than
you would ever imagine!!), I need to get the boring stuff out of the way.

                           ** DISCLAIMER **

        You have 60 days in which to evaluate this game. After that, I would
appreciate it, (i.e. you must <grin>) either dispose of the game or register
it.) This game is distributed as is and has no warranty, either express or
implied. You use it at your own risk. The author of this game will NOT be
held liable for any damage caused to your system or it's files due to use, or
misuse of this software.

        If you would like to distribute this game, by all means do! But,
it must be distributed in it's entirity. DO NOT delete/replace/edit any of
the files included in this archeive. And, of course, you are only allowed to
distribute this game free of charge. Distribution is limited to the
UNREGISTERD VERSION ONLY! Do not distibute a registered version should you
obtain one.

        I do of course support what I write. If you have any problems with
the game, or would like to get the latest version, you can do so by either
calling my BBS at the number above, or reaching me via NetMail. (Also see
my FidoNet address above.)

                          ** REGISTERING **

        Registering is simple, AND inexpensive! A mere $15 will do the
trick! (See the file REGISTER.DOC for more info. on what registration
includes, and how to complete registration.)

                          ** GAME SETUP **

        If this is your first version of Life & Death!, read on... if not
then you can skip to the section called UPGRADING.

        You need to have the file BRUN45.EXE either in the game's directory
or somewhere in your path statement. I have NOT included it with this
archieve. If you don't have it, you can find it on most local bbs's. If you
already have a copy somewhere on your path, you should be fine. The file
DOES NOT need to be in the games directory. Be sure you have BRUN45.EXE
somewhere that the game can find it though, or you will get an error and the
game will abort!!!

        This game directly supports these BBS formats:

                PCBoard - (PCBOARD.SYS)
                Wildcat! (Systems prior to v3.0) - (CALLINFO.BBS)
                Wildcat! 3.x - (USERINFO.DAT)
                GT Power Systems - (GTUSER.BBS)
                RA/QBBS/RBBS - (DORINFO#.DEF)
                Spitfire - (SFDOORS.DAT)
                TriBBS - (TRIBBS.SYS)
                Other - (SOME systems that use DOOR.SYS. Not ALL though!)

       ** Due to the way SpitFire handles a user's time in a door via the
SFDOORS.DAT file, I would recommend SpitFire SysOps use the DOOR.SYS file
that SpitFire creates instead of the SFDOORS.DAT. The game appears to run
much better this way and will not cause problems with the user's time
remaining online.

       ** Also, due to lack of use and some problems, the game no longer
supports the WWIV - CHAIN.TXT file. Those sysops will have to use a
conversion utility such as DoorMaster to convert to an above format.

        If you have some other off brand of BBS software, simply get the
latest copy of DoorMaster or some other door file conversion software and
convert to one of the formats above.

        To get the game up and running, simply create a directory to hold
the game's files. Copy ALL the files from this archieve into that directory.
DO NOT delete or edit ANY of these files. All are necessary and need to
remain as they are for the game to work properly. You will get unpredictable
results at best if this rule is not followed.

        You will then need to modify the included configuration file. Take
the file LIFE.CNF into your favorite text editor and modify according to the
VERY simple directions found in the file. It is very self explanatory. With
this file, you are able to configure how much time your users get per day,
how many points they gain when they save a patient, how many they lose when
they kill a patient and how many patients they can kill in one day. (Among
other setup parameters.) I find that the default file, (asside from BBS name,
your name, door file path, etc.) is set up pretty well. I would suggest using
my setup at first and altering it to your taste later. Do as you wish though.
The last nine of the LIFE.CNF file is for a registration number should you
obtain one. (See REGISTER.DOC for information...) It should be left AS IS
for sysops not registering the game.

        Once you modify this file, you're almost there! The next step is to
create a batch file to load the game. A simple .BAT file would look something
like this:
                        @echo off
                        cd\doors\life
                        life life.cnf
                        cd\ra

        You MUST include the life.cnf on the command line or you will get a
"File Missing" message from the door and it will exit! Then you can just call
this batch file from your bbs software as normal. (See your particular BBS's
documentation for an explanation on how to do this if you don't know how.)

     ** NOTE ** I have included an optional command line parameter for
fossil driver support. If your system uses a fossil driver and you would
like to take advantage of this in the game, simply add a /FD at the end
of the line which calls the game. (i.e.)

                        life life.cnf /FD

        Almost there! All that's left now is to run the games reset program
for the first time to initialize the game. Go to the game's directory and type
in L&DRESET and press enter. This will only take several seconds to run. It
MUST be ran the first time BEFORE someone plays the game! Otherwise you will
get a similar message as above, "File Missing", and the game will exit. This
utility only "needs" to be ran once, but can be used anytime to reset the
current game.

To maintain the game, include L&DMAINT in your nightly event. This NEEDS to
be ran once a day, preferably at midnight, to give your users their daily turns.
If this is not ran, your users will be told they have had their turns for the
day and will be exited from the game! (The game is set up to allow users to play
ONCE a day.)

        That's about it. Other than that, the game takes care of itself. The
game creates and maintains it's own high score file, as well as a status file
which allows your users to see the current SAVED/KILLED stats. All files that
the game creates itself MUST remain in the game's directory!!

        Again.... the game DOES NOT reset itself at the end of the month. If
you would like to reset the game at any time, run the program L&DRESET from the
game's directory.

                         *** UPGRADING ***

        If you are upgrading from a previous version to 3.0, you WILL lose
your current game!! I appologize for the inconvenience, but it was quite
necessary to incorporate all of the new features. (See WHATSNEW.V30)

        First of all, if you are a previously registered user of either
version 1.0 or 2.0, DO NOT set this game up until you recieve your
registration number!! You will not be able to access any of the registered
options without this number. (By all means, if you would like to set it
up in a seperate dir. to see the new features, be my guest!) (See both
REGISTER.DOC and UPGRADE.DOC for information on registration numbers.)

        To upgrade is quite simple. Seeing as you are about to lose your
current game anyway, your best bet is to make a backup copy of the game (Or
at bare minimum, save your current LIFE.CNF file.) and then delete ALL of
the files in the games directory. Then you can copy all of the files from
this archieve into your games directory and proceed with your setup. (Please
see the instructions above for setting up the game. Be sure to pay attention
to the fact that the LIFE.CNF file now contains a "nineth" line for regis-
tration numbers.)

=============================================================================

        Well, I hope you and your users enjoy this game as much as I did
bringing it to you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact
me at my BBS number or FidoNet address listed above. And be sure to keep your
eyes peeled for the next version of this game and other new games I hope to
be releasing soon!