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Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1
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Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso
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egadraw.exe
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STRUDLE.DOC
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1990-06-15
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9KB
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156 lines
S h a r e G a m e s
Christopher G. Gunn
3174 Hawthorn Street
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 283-0472
Strudle is not for sale through retail facilities. It is distributed as
shareware on an "I trust you" basis and is not in any form to be considered
public domain or free. Considerable effort went into creating the program and
I'm retaining full protection under the copyright laws. However, I also want
you to be able to share my games with your friends. So, please feel free to
hand on as many copies as you would like, as long as you include the original
BAT file and all of the document files.
If you are going to use Strudle for your personal enjoyment, whether you got
it from a distributor or a friend, please mail a check or money order to me at
the above address. The registration fee for Strudle is $30. I depend on your
registering to continue devoting full time to making fun to use programs that
don't require you to adapt to the program. I'd also like your comments and
suggestions. In exchange, I'll add your name to the list of those eligible
for updates, contests, and 24-hour technical support. If you wish, you may
use the registration form by typing PRINT STRUDLE.REG at the DOS prompt.
Strudle is designed for full color with high resolution EGA or VGA graphics
and will run on most PC's and work alikes. The built in mouse support will
work automatically with almost any mouse.
Strudle is not exactly a game. It is a drawing program designed to be as fun
and simple as possible. Strudle was actually built for my granddaughter as a
crayola version of my art quality drawing program "ARTPICT". I have a whole
collection of her drawings. There are only a few 'grown up' keys such as
<S>ave and <L>oad, so drawings can be enjoyed over and over. Everything else
takes place on the number pad. Even the 'Number Lock' key doesn't do anything
in case it gets poked accidentally.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Pressing the <M>ore key will rotate the prompt line through the options. One
of the options will allow you to adjust the sound if it is scratchy or you
prefer drawing quietly. If you have any problems, please let me know.
You can <S>ave up to ten different drawing files by pressing one of the
regular number keys when asked for a file number. Each drawing file holds up
to 5,000 changes. A change may be a single key, or a series of the same key.
For example, moving the cursor from one side of the screen to the other with
the left arrow key is stored as one change. A sample file, which uses about
1,000 changes is included on the Strudle disk as STRUDLE5.DWG. You can watch
it being drawn by selecting <L>oad and pressing five <5> when asked for a file
number. There are nine other drawings of various sizes you can <L>oad and
watch being drawn. All of the drawings are designed to reduce the "I can't do
it" effect. When finished, they are ready to color and more details can be
added to them. Drawing <0> is a fun castle with a moat.
While a drawing is in progress you can <S>ave it, and then continue adding to
it. This way you can undo something that doesn't work right, like painting a
lot bigger area than intended. You can reload a file, watch it being redrawn,
and continue from where you saved it. You can also save a file and add more
to it later. To stop redrawing a file, press the <Esc> key. This is another
way to undo a whoops by stopping the drawing just before the mistake. You can
then save that part of the picture and continue drawing from there.
Painting, by pressing the <0/Ins> key on the keypad, requires a little care.
If the area to be painted is not completely outlined, a much larger area may
acquire the current color. In worst cases, it can be the entire screen. If
you position the little cursor circle carefully, you can also repaint a line.
The program does try to establish if it's safe by checking upward for the
first color change and then checking the other three directions for the same
color. If the outline color is just above the cursor circle and the outline
does not have any gaps in it, you can color any area. The drawing files
demonstrate some of what can be done with paint.
To save drawings and make room for more, create another \STASH subdirectory
and copy the files to it. Later, the files can be copied back into the
\STRUDLE directory to watch them being drawn again and add more to them. For
large collections, you can use the current date as the name and create as many
subdirectories as you want. For example, to create a new subdirectory, at the
DOS prompt type MKDIR C:\STRUDLE\STASH#2 and press <Enter>. ShareGame #6A has
20 additional, ready to color, drawings for Strudle and batch files you can
use to copy drawing files to and from the \STRUDLE directory.
If you want to contribute to the Strudle collection, I'd be delighted. For
each set of ten drawings, I'll send you a free disk full of drawings and
include a file in the \STASH# directory giving you full credit. Please try to
limit the drawings so they average about 12K in size.
Drawings may also be protected from being erased or overwritten by setting the
file to Read-Only. For example, typing ATTRIB +R C:\STRUDLE\STRUDLE0.DWG and
pressing <Enter> would set the STRUDLE0.DWG file to Read-Only. Thereafter,
DOS will not allow the file to be deleted and Strudle will not save another
drawing to that file. Typing ATTRIB -R C:\STRUDLE\STASH\*.DWG will remove the
Read-Only status from all of the files in the \STRUDLE\STASH directory.
INSTALLATION:
You can copy the Strudle program files into any directory on hard disk or
another floppy. The only real requirement is that all of the files associated
with Strudle, except for its BAT file and spare drawing files, must be in the
same directory. You may activate Strudle directly or with a BAT file.
The Strudle distribution disk is set up to run in the A drive. However, there
is only room for about 20 drawing files. If you prefer to install Strudle on
your hard drive, the batch file STRUXFER.BAT will create the appropriate
directories and copy all of the Strudle files from the A drive to drive C.
The disk includes two copies of the demonstration files. The first set named
STRUDLE0.DWG thru STRUDLE9.DWG are in the \STRUDLE directory. A second set is
provided in the \STRUDLE\STASH directory with names describing the drawings.
The batch file called COLORME1.BAT will copy and rename the files in the
\STASH directory to the active drawing area in the \STRUDLE directory.
Two sets are provided so you can save new drawings without worrying about the
original demonstration files. Press the <Esc> key and answer the two prompts
with <Y>es to clear the screen and start a new drawing.
Please be sure you've copied any new drawings you want
to save in the \STRUDLE directory to another directory
before using the COLORME1.BAT file.
The batch files STRUXFER.BAT and COLORME1.BAT can be copied and modified to
transfer files to or from other directories.
At this point you are probably wondering why Strudle
does not transfer the files itself. It's so a few
accidental key presses won't overwrite drawings you've
carefully saved. Strudle will also insist on a <Y>es
before saving a file on top of an existing file.
The default sound setting can be changed with a word processor. To make the
sounds simple beeps change the second number in the STRUDLE.DAT file from a
two (2) to a one (1). Change it to a zero (0) to turn the sounds off.
If you are considering using Strudle for educational or development analysis,
please let me know. Because when drawings are loaded, they are redrawn, key
for key, as if you were watching them actually being drawn, Strudle has some
interesting possibilities. The education of our children is very important to
me and I will modify the program to suit the application.
Happy drawing, and let me know if you enjoy Strudle. Your support for my
programs is sincerely appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
P.S. You can disable this message by removing the 'BROWSE' entry from your
personalized BAT file. Please retain the original BAT file if you are
going to pass Strudle along.
[ Press <Esc> to continue ]