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Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 1 Cosmic Conquest Sysop Documents: July 12, 1989 (c) 1989 by Craig Fuqua and Scott Robertson, Stillwater, OK Many of Cosmic Conquest's (CC) features were designed for the sysop's convenience: file names that group together on your directory, allowance for up to 10 games running at the same time, a status line at the bottom of the screen (on most STs), on-line sysop functions and a GEM-based editor for the sysop to use. Because CC is designed to run on BBSs, you can copy it without problem to your hard disk; however, your program disk contains a registration file, CC_REGIS.DAT, that must be placed with the game in order for it to run. Make sure you don't change or delete this file. Remember Cosmic Conquest is a copyrighted game, which means you cannot make copies for use by other people. The authors spent a year planning and writing this game, including nearly a half-year of beta-testing on the late MASH BBS, so please don't spoil this sale by piracy. 'Nuff said. Definitions In the following text, "multiple games" means you've used the editor to create a CC.CNF file with at least one pathname. (In that case, one game constitutes "multiple games.") References to "the BBS directory" or "BBS folder" mean the pathname to which the system is set as it runs. This is important because the CC.CNF file (or all game files if you don't have a CC.CNF file) must be in the BBS directory. If you run the BBS from a directory named "BBS", then this is probably the BBS directory. However, if the BBS software changes the directory as it runs, the new directory becomes the BBS directory. For example, if you're running Express! the BBS directory might normally be "BBSEXPRS" but if you have a .HLP file with the command CD 'DOORS' or you execute that command from your sysop menu, then the game will look to \BBSXPRS\DOORS for the .CNF file (or game files as noted above). The Files On your disk, you will find these files: CC*89.TOS -- the game. Check the date in the filename to find out which version you have; for example, CC071189 is the version from July 11, 1989. Feel free to rename it COSMIC.TOS on your hard drive, but make sure you keep your original name someplace so you know what version you Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 2 have without having to run the game to check the date. CC_EDIT.PRG -- the editor CC_EDIT.RSC -- resource file for the editor CC_REGIS.DAT -- registration file CC.MAP -- a sample "playing field" (you can use the editor to make your own). The .MAP file contains planet, moon and player information CC.NEO -- a picture by Scott Robertson CC.DOC -- how to play the game CC_HELP.DOC -- a summary of commands with brief notes CC_SYSOP.DOC -- this! After the EDITOR documents below, we'll go through a sample session to set up the game on your BBS. ********** IMPORTANT NOTES ********** Keep backups of your .MAP files before gameplay starts because the program changes them as it goes along, which means they're not reusable. See the notes on the function keys before thinking about hitting F10. ************************************* The game creates CC_MAP.BAK, CC_CMD.DAT, CC_CMD.BAK, CC_MAIL.DAT, CC_MAIL.NDX, CC_MAIL.BAK and CC_NDX.BAK as it runs. You can create a CC.CNF file from the editor to point to the folders for multiple games and adjust the starting values of the computer-controlled "planet-slayers." If it exists, CC.CNF is the only file that must reside in the BBS directory. The game allows ASCII bulletin files, which you create and call CC_BULL#.DOC (CC_BULL1.DOC through CC_BULL9.DOC). A sample bulletin may be on your disk. Make sure each line ends with a carriage return or the game will lock. Also, if you get an ASCII file over the modem, make sure it doesn't have any padding at the end (such as Control-Zs). ARChiving before transmitting and de-ARChiving afterward solves this problem. The bulletins are unique to each game if you're running multiple games, so you need to copy any bulletins you want displayed in all games to each game folder. In addition to the program, CC_REGIS.DAT and CC.MAP are needed to start a game; CC.CNF, CC.DOC and CC_HELP.DOC are recommended; CC_BULL#.DOC files are optional. If you're only running one game, make sure these files are in the BBS directory. If you're running multiple games, place CC.MAP in each folder (see the note about "multiple games" above). The game will create the mail and index files by itself. Individual CC.CNFs can also be placed in these folders; any pathnames inside them will be ignored. Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 3 If the game is having trouble finding CC.CNF (or the game files if there is no .CNF), then find out what your BBS directory is. If you run BBS.PRG from E:\BBSXPRS, then place the file(s) inside that directory unless you execute a CD (change directory) that makes the BBS point elsewhere. CC*89.TOS (the game program) See CC.DOC for play instructions. There are several things special to the local version, though, which we'll look at here. On most STs, the game will display a status line in inverse characters at the bottom of the screen. It shows the functions available from the function keys, the board and game names of the current player and occasional messages on the internal workings of the program. If the program crashes, make a note of any message on the screen as well as in the status line and let us know. If your machine doesn't show the status line, you will still have access to the function keys but won't see the messages. F1: Chat -- Announces the start of Chat mode and tells the sysop to hit ESCape to exit. It should lock out any attempt to Chat from inside Chat mode, but you shouldn't mess with it. Also, Chat is not available at points in the game that would be hard to return the user to, most notably when he's entering a message. The main menu is the most convenient place for a Chat. F4: Kill -- Tells the user to wait a moment, then shows the sysop several menus. After each action, it prints a "." to the player to let him know the game isn't locked up. Don't rush through this, but don't dilly-dally either because you may cause the player to time out. This function allows you to select a player to delete, then calls the Purge routine used during daily maintenance. You cannot kill the computer players or the current player -- if you could, who would he be when you returned the game to him? When the purged player calls back, he will be treated as a new player. Use the blacklisting feature from the editor to keep someone from playing. F8: Log -- This is a toggle. If your printer is on, this will copy all output to it. Pressing it again turns the log off. We've found no way to detect when a printer is off-line, which means that if you hit F8 then take your printer off-line, the game will lock up. If your printer has a habit of going off-line, don't use F8 and then walk away. We only left this function in because the sysop must be present to hit F8 (unless he has a cat who tends to walk on the keyboard -- but that's his problem). The game checks to see if the printer is on before attempting to output to it, but you may have problems if you turn it off in the middle of a line. Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 4 Simply hit F8 again to toggle the log off. F10: End -- Quits the game without saving the map, which erases some (not all) of the player's activities, such as taking over planets or moons with 0-day flights. This should be used only in an emergency, like when your drive is on fire or you must have the board back immediately. THE GAME ASSUMES THERE'S AN URGENT NEED TO END AND DOES NOT CONFIRM IT WITH YOU. You hit the key, the game ends. If you have 5 seconds, it is much better to type "QY" at the main prompt -- you don't have to be the player signed on to the game to issue commands. Miscellaneous notes on COSMIC.TOS: When a planet slayer selects a new target during daily maintenance, it displays this target to the sysop. If you don't want this advantage, then don't watch during maintenance. The mail base limits itself to a maximum of 100 letters and does not pre-allocate disk storage to do this. The maximum size should be about 150K (four header lines and 15 max. message lines per), so make sure your drive can handle this. Purging of the first 25 letters and any deleted mail takes place when the message index is nearly full when a player logs on. Cosmic Conquest has an error-handling routine that simply catches an error, prints a message to the screen and modem and exits without saving. If your BBS was written in GFA BASIC, the computer may still lock up during an error because both programs will be trying to use the same error-handling system. Restoring Backup Files While the game has undergone extensive beta-testing, we can't claim with 100 percent certainty an error won't occur that requires the restoration of back-up files. Restoring the play files: 1). Make copies of CC.MAP, CC_MAP.BAK, CC_CMD.DAT, CC_CMD.BAK and CC_RPT.DAT onto a floppy. We may need these files in the case of a serious bug and these files will allow us to re-create the error, so keep these copies safe. 2). From the game directory, delete CC.MAP and CC_CMD.DAT. 3). Rename CC_MAP.BAK as CC.MAP, and CC_CMD.BAK as CC_CMD.DAT. This puts everything back to the way it was before maintenance ran. 4). Run the game to see if the error recurs, make notes if it does. If the error doesn't happen again, sacrifice a RAM to the computer god and write us a postcard at the address below noting the conditions of the original error. Include your BBS phone number in case we want to check things out. If the error occurs each time the game is run, take the game down and send us your notes immediately. Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 5 5). Write a note to your users explaining the situation. If the game is still up, leave an Etherspace message saying the game is a day behind and that they will receive reports from the first run of maintenance that are incorrect -- attacks will appear to have happened twice. If the game is down, put a note in the BBS saying the game is disabled. Try not to include abusive discriptions of the implementors. Restoring mail files: In more than a year's worth of play in Space Colony and Cosmic Conquest, there has been no problem with the mail files, so we think the software is fairly safe. But there always remains the threat of an egregious hardware glitch that screws up the data or index. In most games, there won't be mail backup files because they're only backed-up when the base reaches letter 90 or so and a purge of deleted mail is carried out. In this case, just delete the CC_MAIL.DAT and CC_MAIL.NDX files and apologize to the players, remembering to send us a note if you think the problem was software-generated. If the .BAK files exist, kill the old mail .DAT and .NDX files then rename the appropriate backups -- you MUST kill and rename BOTH sets of files or face another crash. Pray the error doesn't happen again, and be ready with pen and paper if it does. If you delete the mail files, add a bulletin to the game explaining the players' last-message-read pointers will be in error. CC_EDIT.PRG CC_EDIT.PRG runs in bother medium and high resolution and requires the CC_EDIT.RSC file be present in the same folder -- unless you run it from the BBS, in which case it must be in the BBS folder. If it the editor can't find its .RSC, you will still be able to edit a map but configuration and player editing functions will be disabled. Notes: CC_EDIT uses the fileselector box for saving and loading files. It's compatible with the TOS and Universal Item Selector II selectors, but may not work with other alternate selectors. UIS II is nice because it retains the default file name as you move through directories. Atari's TOS fileselector has a bug that makes things a little difficult: if you point it to a pathname longer than 30 characters, it will only show the last few characters of that path until you reset the computer! When placing files deep into your hard drive, you may need to keep track of where you are by memory. While we've made every effort to anticipate mistakes, we still advise you to read the instructions carefully and not test the limits of the program by giving it bad data, messing with the files and so on. As shown on the editor, the map is scrunched horizontally to speed up the scrolling process. From inside the game, the Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 6 map will be expanded to twice its width to make it appear more square to the players. When expanded in the game, the map also numbers the planets. Use the menu to select a function, de-select with the right mouse button. The menus won't pull down while a function is selected. Also, the Scroll and Page buttons at the lower right can't be accessed. CC.NEO is displayed (if present) while the editor loads in CC_EDIT.RSC. "Functions" Menu: New Sun -- This is used to create new suns on the map and to re-select a sun previously created. When starting a new solar system, click on this function then point to the spot on the map for the new sun. It becomes the "current sun," as noted on the right side of the screen. When re-selecting an existing sun as the current sun, click this then the sun's letter. New Planet -- Creates new planets. Because of the horizontal scrunch, the planets are identified with the same letter as the sun but in the game, they're shown with their numbers. When you create a planet, the editor shows you its orbit. Each dot represents one day's travel for the planet. A planet's orbit can overlap the orbit of a planet in another system. The only limit to the radius of an orbit is the edge of the map. The planets are numbered from inside out, so don't worry about the order in which you create them. Move Sun -- Relocate a solar system. Select the sun to move through the New Sun function, make sure the new spot has room for the system, click on Move Sun and then point to the target location. If you move it to the same location as another sun, one of them will be hidden. If any of the planets align, the ones on bottom will be hidden, also. Hmmm... (We haven't tested this, so we don't know what will happen during gameplay.) Delete Sun -- Removes an entire solar system, re-letters the rest then redraws the map. Delete Planet -- If you don't like the looks of a planet, nuke it. If its orbit overlapped another, the map will look like it wiped out the overlapping parts, but don't worry. Use the Move Sun function to redraw the affected solar systems in place if you can't stand looking at the holes. It's not necessary, because the dots aren't saved. Edit Planet -- Choose this, then a planet. A box will show you the information about the planet, and then about its moons. Use the mouse to select the field you want to edit. If you use the moon editing functions to add moons, they'll start with random values unless you edit them. Clear Map -- Erases the map in memory. Re-set Map -- Re-randomizes all planet and moon productions, sets ownership to Player 0 and eliminates all stockpiles. This should only be used on a game that is no longer in progress. View Map -- A graphic representation of the entire map, Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 7 exited at the touch of a key when it's finished drawing. You can't edit the map from this screen. Load Map -- Can you say self-explanatory? Sure you can! Save Map -- If you're using multiple games, make sure you save the map in the proper folder. Also, be sure you have a map in memory or you will wipe out any existing map. Save a backup of a newly-created in another folder or on a floppy because the game will overwrite the map as the game continues. Note that you must use the name CC.MAP if you intend for the game to access this file. The GEM fileselector has a habit of "losing" the default filename when you change directories, so remember to re-type it if that happens. Player Editor -- The first screen shows the board and game names of 10 players at a time including the computer-controlled players, which can't be edited here. The planet-slayers can be configured elsewhere. Use the Page +/- buttons if you have more than 10 users. Select a user by clicking on his board name and then the "Edit" button, or by double-clicking on his board name. The next screen shows the player information you can edit. The Blacklist buttons let you give normal access, cut the per-session time in half or prevent a user from playing the game. Cancel leaves the data unchanged. "Set Params" (Parameters) Menu: This contains two pairs of functions with a check-mark indicating which method of creating planet and moon data is in effect. It defaults to random generation, and you will probably want to leave it that way. Some people may want to get into detailed map-creation, with productions equal in each quadrant to help prevent bad starting areas for new players, or they may want to make all planets equal in value. "Config." Menu: These are editors for other aspects of the game: the players, planet-slayers and multiple games. Slayer Config. -- This allows changes to the names of the computer-controlled players and the start-up values of the planet-slayers. The planet-slayers are identified on the map by <>s around their initials, which means you can't give them the same first initial. If you try, the editor will leave one of them unchanged. We recommend leaving their names with upper- and lower-case letters so they're easily identified by the players. To save the changes to the names, you have to save CC.MAP (make sure the proper map is on-screen -- if you don't have a map in memory and you use Save Map, it will wipe out the existing map!). The other fields are the stockpile and production information the planet-slayers start the game with. CHANGES TO THIS INFORMATION IN MID-GAME WON'T AFFECT THE SLAYERS. You may want to tailor the strengths of the slayers to games in separate folders, like putting weak slayers in a "beginning" level game. Multiple Games -- You're limited to 10 games, and this Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 8 screen shows you the right-most 30 characters of the pathnames to them. Use the Add button to add one, use the Edit button (or double-click) to change an existing one. You can start all your games at once, but we recommend adding a new one every so often for players who just joined your BBS or got killed out of another game. To delete a path (and, thus, a game), select it then hit the "Delete" button. In the deletion process, you can ask the editor to kill any existing game files -- except for DOC files -- which you would want to do when the game is over. The fields at the right show the names you call the different galaxies. These will be displayed with the galaxy numbers when the user is asked to select which game to play. Load Config. -- See note on Load Map above. Save Config. -- CC.CNF contains the pathnames and the slayer start-up information. Place a CC.CNF file into the same folder as the game. If it has pathnames in it, you can optionally place .CNF files in the other games to make the slayers different strengths, otherwise the game will use the slayer data from the first .CNF. You can delete the paths from the .CNFs in the other folders. Setting Up Make a back-up floppy of your original game disk for your protection. Decide how many games you want to start with, which we'll assume is one in this example session. We recommend you go to the GEM desktop and create a folder for each game, but you can use existing folders if you'd rather. The game files must reside on the same drive as the BBS. In any case, pick out the directory that will store Galaxy No. 1. Copy CC.MAP, CC.DOC, CC_HELP.DOC, CC_BULL1.DOC and CC_REGIS.DAT from your floppy to this directory. Copy CC*89.TOS to your doors directory or to this one. Make a note of its full pathname so you can tell the BBS where to find it. Feel free to rename this copy as COSMIC.TOS or CC.TOS if this will be easier to use. Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 9 Directory listings for games in progress might look like this: \BBS \BBS\DOORS \BBS\DOORS\CC1 \BBS\DOORS\CC2 *DOORS *CC1 CC_REGIS.DAT CC.MAP BBS.PRG *CC2 CC_BULL1.DOC CC_MAP.BAK CC.CNF COSMIC.TOS CC_BULL2.DOC CC.CNF CC_EDIT.PRG CC.DOC CC_CMD.DAT CC_EDIT.RSC CC.MAP CC_CMD.BAK CC.NEO CC_MAP.BAK CC_RPT.DAT CC.CNF CC_MAIL.DAT CC_CMD.DAT CC_MAIL.BAK CC_CMD.BAK CC_MAIL.NDX CC_RPT.DAT CC_MAIL.BAK CC_MAIL.DAT CC_MAIL.BAK CC_MAIL.NDX CC_NDX.BAK CC_LESSN.DOC CC_HELP.DOC The CC.CNF inside the \BBS directory would contain these paths in its multiple games configuration: \BBS\DOORS\CC1 and \BBS\DOORS\CC2. CC.CNF could be inside DOORS if the BBS program changes the working directory to it. CC_EDIT.PRG and CC_EDIT.RSC are shown in the DOORS folder, but they could actually be anywhere as long as they're together. At this point, you should run the EDIT program so we can set up the multiple games and get familiar with the features of the editor. From the editor, select Load Map from the Functions menu. Use the fileselector box to find your game folder, point to CC.MAP and hit OK to load it. The screen will clear and messages will keep you posted on the loading and uncompressing process. Next the editor will "plot" the map, which means it's building the display you'll see when the main screen returns. Use the Scroll and Page buttons at the lower right to move through the map. If you'd like to see the full map on one screen, select View Map from the Functions menu. It's finished drawing when the "hit a key" prompt appears at the side. Pull down the Config. menu again and select Multiple Games. Push the Add button and use the fileselector to point to your game folder (it should still be in this folder from when you loaded the map) and hit OK when done. You'll be returned to Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 10 the Multiple Games screen, where you'll see the pathname is in the top slot. You'll notice the GEM cursor is positioned on the top line at the right. Type a name for the new galaxy, such as Foundation or Primus or Joe's Galaxy. If you plan to start with more than one game, repeat the process starting with Add. Got to the Config. menu again and select Slayer Config. An alert box will ask if you'd like to load a .CNF file or create a new one, and you should select the create box. Next you'll see a box showing the names of the three computer players and the startup values of the planet slayers, players 1-2. Player 0 represents the original "occupants" of all planets. If you'd like, you can change these names and values. Please keep the computer player names with lower-case letters so your players can recognize them in the list. If you enter values outside the ranges listed, the editor will correct them to the nearest one. Hitting ESCape at each of the prompts below the names will set these fields to the lowest values. Now pull the Config. menu down again and select Save Config. PUT THE CC.CNF FILE IN THE BBS DIRECTORY, which we defined above. This file contains the number of games, the pathnames to them, and the startup values for the planet slayers. Next, go back to the Functions menu and choose Save Map. Use this to overwrite the CC.MAP file we loaded earlier from the game directory. This file contains the planet, sun and moon information and player names -- such as the player 0-3 names you may have changed a minute ago. If you've designated more than one game, go back through the processes for configuring the slayers then save CC.CNF and CC.MAP files in the folders for those games. We recommend making the slayers have different strengths in different games. If you like, you can go to the Multiple Games editor and delete the pathnames for the .CNFs you give to the individual games -- as long as you make sure you don't save this CC.CNF file on the BBS directory and tell it not to delete the data files. It doesn't affect anything to leave the paths in the game folders, so if you're unsure, don't bother. When done, pull down the Functions menu and Quit. Your next step is to follow your BBS's directions on setting up a doors program. Specific BBSs Now let's look at some BBS software-specific matters. Owners of FoReM and Express! BBSs will be happy to know the game successfully pulls the player's name from the system. Owners of other BBSs that allow doors have other options: setting up Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 11 a special file, passing the name in a special format on the TOS command line -- or sitting back and relying on the game to ask the user for his name each time he plays. The first file the system looks for when trying to pick up a name is CC_PLAYR.DAT, which your BBS must create each time the game runs. (Note there's no "E" in "PLAYR".) It should contain the user's board name followed by a return character (ASCII 13). If your BBS has some sort of programming language, you should be able to create the file to pass along the user's name. Code for this might look like: IF FEXIST("CC_PLAYR.DAT") KILL "CC_PLAYR.DAT" END IF OPEN "O",#1,"CC_PLAYR.DAT" PRINT #1;NAME$ CLOSE #1 If you don't know what the TOS command line is and your BBS documents don't mention it, skip these next two paragraphs. If the game doesn't find this file, it will then look on the TOS command line for an Express! format name: the person's board name followed by a space; if the name contains a space, it must be converted to an ASCII 160 -- don't ask us why. If the game finds other characters in the name with an ASCII value greater than 126, it will assume there's garbage on the command line and disregard it. To be safe, the game will ask the user to confirm the name pulled from the command line if it doesn't find that name in its user list. If you don't have Express!, FoReM or a BBS with a script language, then don't worry. The game will ask the user for his board name each time he plays. We suggest that you use the editor frequently to make sure someone isn't giving false board names. You can blacklist them via the editor or delete them from inside the game. See the appropriate sections below. Your Express! DOORS.HLP file should contain a line like this to run Cosmic Conquest: TOS 'E:\BBSXPRS\DOORS\CC.TOS' An example FoReM FDOORS.DAT file would look like this: Cosmic Conquest 10 C:\FOREM\DOORS\CC_WELCOM.TXT Cosmic Conquest Sysop Docs Page 12 C:\FOREM\DOORS\CC\CC070789.TOS C:\FOREM\DOORS\CC\CC070789.TOS C:\FOREM\DOORS\CC_EXIT.TXT Notice we didn't use the AUX: or LOCAL parameters in lines 4 and 5; this is because the game handles remote and local I/O. Also remember lines 3 and 6 point to optional text files to be displayed before and after the game runs. You can replace those lines with carriage returns. If you a BBS system that doesn't pass the user name, the game will ask for the user's name each time it runs. ------------------------------------------------ Report errors or suggestions to: Craig Fuqua 653-D W. Bennett Dr. Stillwater, OK 74075 In an emergency, call me at (405) 743-3649. If you hear of an update to the program, mail your original disk to that address with $1. Credit Department: Our inspiration for this game came from Chuck Turman's version of Planet Busters, called Planet Bashers, that runs on BBS Pequod here in Stillwater (405-377-6375 while his hard drive lasts). Chuck, Dave "Hawkeye Pierce" Davis and Todd "Thrasher System" Hagen patiently endured and participated in a few of our brain-storming sessions and provided the encouragement we needed to continue writing when we got to the boring parts of the code. Now, Charles Onstott III is preparing Symposium BBS in Stillwater and continuing the beta-testing of Cosmic Conquest, while Craig "Sherlock Holmes" Young is running the game on Baker Street BBS in Kent, Wash., and has been a great help with his objective observations on the game. Thank him for getting us to write a section on how to set up the game. Big thanks to all the folks involved, but especially to Hawkeye for risking his BBS on us. And we only locked it up three times in six months!