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Fantasy Land
RELEASE 1.50
Release Notes
UPGRADING TO 1.50:
If you are running version 1.4x all you need to do is unpack the
the distribution archive, overwriting existing files. That's it!
If you are running version 1.2x or 1.3x, perform the steps outlined in
release note number 1.40.5 below.
If you are running version 1.x... well for one thing, "Where have you
been!?" You will need to go through data conversion as outlined in
release note number 1.3.1.1 (below) and then follow the procedure
outlined in release note number 1.40.5.
1.50.1 - Updated FANTFIG.EXE to version 1.2 which fixed a cosmetic
bug and also corrected an input glitch.
1.50.2 - Made some changes to the async engine routines which should
improve setup and operation.
1.50.3 - Fantasy Land now supports the use of a user terminal
interface called FantTerm. However, at the time of this
release, FantTerm is as yet unavailable. FantTerm enhances
Fantasy Land by providing the ability to display graphics
interchange format (GIF) files and play digital voice (VOC)
files for the SoundBlaster.
To accomplish this, Fantasy Land uses RCE (Remote Command
Execution) instructions. The specifications for RCE will
be released at a later date. This release version of
Fantasy Land was pushed out to accomodate users with non-
standard irq settings where Fantasy Land was having some
problems (see 1.50.6).
1.50.4 - Fixed two bugs: When Fantasy Land was setup to retain
players at the end of a tournament, robot players were
stripped of their defensive items and no new defensive
items were assigned. Robot players now retain their
defensive items. Also, players were reset to area number
1 but were not being placed in the area file. For the
latter bug, players are no longer moved from the last area
they were in (to prevent overcrowding area 1).
1.50.5 - Fixed a bug where players were allowed to enter a BEEP
(control-g) character in their alias. Control-G is now
filtered out properly along with the other control
characters. A work around was to put a control-g on a
line by itself in the FANTASY.BUM file.
1.50.6 - Fixed a bug where non-standard IRQ's were not working
properly. Hopefully this has been corrected once and for
all.
End of release notes for 1.50
=============================================================================
RELEASE 1.42
(Release Notes)
1.42.1 - Fixed a bug (hopefully for good) with FANTFIG.EXE where
it was not recognizing some registration codes as they
were entered by currently registered systems. If you
experience problems getting Fantasy Land to recognize
the code entered, please leave me a message on the
Odyssey BBS support system listed in FANTASY.DOC.
1.42.2 - Included in the distribution archive is a new utility
written by Dennis Ayala called PLAYERED. This utility is
contained in the FLPED11.ZIP archive which is embedded in
the Fantasy Land distribution archive. THANK YOU Dennis
for writing such a nice utility to compliment the game!
PLAYERED is a very nice full-screen player editor for
use with Fantasy Land and supports the current release
version.
End of release notes for 1.42
=============================================================================
RELEASE 1.41
(Release Notes)
1.41.1 - UPGRADING TO FANTASY LAND 1.41
-- From 1.40:
■ Delete your Fantasy Land configuration files and run the
new version of FANTFIG.EXE (version 1.1). Re-enter your
system and game setups.
-- From 1.3x:
■ If you are running any version prior to 1.40, please
see release note number 1.40.5 below.
1.41.2 - Added Communications Drive setting in the System Setup area
of FANTFIG.EXE. FANTFIG.EXE has been updated to version 1.1.
The Communications Drive is for use on Multi-Line setups and
can be used to enable the use of a RAM disk for Multi-Line
activity communications. See FANTASY.DOC for more
information.
1.41.3 - Updated REVIVE.EXE. REVIVE now expects one command line
parameter and that is any valid configuration file name.
REVIVE reads the Communications Drive setting to determine
if someone is currently playing the game.
1.41.4 - Updated WHOSON.EXE. WHOSON now expects one command line
parameter and that is any valid configuration file name.
WHOSON reads the Communications Drive setting to monitor
current player activity.
End of release notes for 1.41
=============================================================================
The higher the release note number, the newer the release note.
RELEASE 1.40
(Release Notes)
1.40.5 - UPGRADING TO FANTASY LAND 1.4x :
■ Back up your Fantasy Land directory (just in case).
■ If you no longer have your registration form containing
your registration number, use a file lister to view the
FANTASY.KEY file and write down your registration number.
■ Unzip the new Fantasy Land archive into your Fantasy Land
directory, overwriting all files (this will not affect any
game currently in progress).
■ Execute the FANTFIG.EXE program, specifying the configura-
tion filename on the command line. For example, if you
are running a single line system, you might enter the
command line: FANTFIG.EXE FANTASY.CFG. Or, if you are
running a multi-line system, you may want to name your
configuration files so that they correspond to the line
numbers in use. For example:
FANTFIG.EXE FANT1.CFG
FANTFIG.EXE FANT2.CFG
Basically, one configuration file is needed for each line
or node in use. Then, when executing Fantasy Land, you
specify the configuration filename on the command line
(i.e. FANTASY.EXE FANTASY.CFG).
Go through the setup menu items changing options and values
as they pertain to your system (see FANTASY.DOC for more
information).
■ Edit the batch file that calls Fantasy Land. You will
need to remove all old command line parameters and replace
them with the configuration filename(s).
This completes the upgrade procedure. Run the program to
ensure that it is operating properly.
1.40.4 - Someone reported that a player got "stuck" while being
encountered by another player and that running REVIVE.EXE
did not fix this user.
It was found that the REVIVE.EXE utility does indeed fix
this problem, but it may not work if:
o Any player is currently in the game
o No players are in the game but the file FANTASY.USE
exists. If FANTASY.USE does exist and no players are
in the game, delete the FANTASY.USE file.
o The FILES= setting in the system CONFIG.SYS file is
not cranked up high enough (different setups use
different settings but this should be at least 30 for
single line systems shelling to run Fantasy Land).
1.40.3 - ALL REGISTERED USERS: MAJOR changes have been made to the
registration routines. Fantasy Land no longer creates and
maintains its own key file.
Previously, Fantasy Land grabbed the System and SysOp names
from either the DORINFO1.DEF file or from the command line.
Now, you must specify your System and SysOp names within the
FANTFIG.EXE configuration utility along with your program
registration number that you received when you registered.
To migrate your registration, run the FANTFIG.EXE program
(see FANTASY.DOC for details) and enter the System, SysOp,
Registration Number, and the optional name of the user who
may have adopted (registered) the door for you. Once this
is done, you can delete FANTASY.KEY since it is no longer
maintained by the program.
1.40.2 - Fantasy Land now allows the use of non-standard interrupt
request lines (IRQs) through the use of the FANTFIG.EXE
configuration utility. Also, communications port base
addresses may be altered. This is to accomodate those
few systems out there that have a need to use non-standard
communications ports.
NOTE 1: This option is only available to systems that use
the ASYNC ENGINE as the communications interface. See
your FOSSIL driver documentation if you need to use
non-standard settings with your FOSSIL driver.
NOTE 2: When changing either the IRQ line or base address of
communications ports COM3 or COM4, PS2 mode detection
is not used (turned off).
1.40.1 - COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED and have
been replaced by a configuration utility program called
FANTFIG.EXE.
The only command line parameters that Fantasy Land expects
are:
o The configuration filename to use (required).
o The /S parameter which instructs Fantasy Land to
restart the game and initialize all data files.
WARNING: Using the /S parameter initializes area
data files but DELETES ALL PLAYERS regard-
less of the Retain Users setting in
FANTFIG.EXE.
PLEASE SEE FANTASY.DOC for details on FANTFIG.EXE.
End of release notes for 1.40
=============================================================================
P R O G R A M R E V I S I O N H I S T O R Y
RELEASE 1.32
(Release Notes)
1.3.2.5 - My family and I just moved into a house and have been
spending the last three weeks doing never-ending chores.
The computer room is now setup and I will be working on
some major rewrites on portions of the Fantasy Land code.
1.3.2.4 - Added a timeout value of 3 minutes for players being
encountered. If you are playing on a multinode system, and
another player has an encounter with you, they will be
given three minutes to complete the encounter. This is
ample time and should kludge some reported problems until
I change my methods a little more down the road.
1.3.2.3 - Added command line parameter /U. When used, Fantasy Land
does not prompt new players for an alias to use. Instead,
it uses the player's current BBS login name.
1.3.2.2 - Added command line parameter /E. When used, Fantasy Land
will not erase the player data file when the game is reset
at the end of each monthly tournament. It will instead,
reset all current player records and get the game ready for
another month without deleting the current players. By
default, Fantasy Land deletes the player data file when
starting a new monthly tournament.
1.3.2.1 - The Fantasy Land version numbers indicate major or minor
upgrades from previous versions. All minor upgrades are
provided to the general public immediately as an open beta
test since it is assumed that bugs are being removed rather
than installed <duck>.
Release Number: 1.32
| ||
| ||
Major release-----------| ||
with organized ||
beta test. ||
||
Major release-------------||
revision with |
optional organized |
beta test. |
|
Minor release revision.----|
Open beta test
available immediately.
I will request assistance from those who have indicated their
willingness and availability to test and who have specific
problems which I cannot duplicate.
End of release notes for 1.32
=============================================================================
RELEASE 1.31
(Release Notes)
1.3.1.1 -
FANTUPD.EXE has again been included but is ONLY FOR USE ON SYSTEMS
RUNNING VERSION 1.00. If you have already upgraded to 1.20 or 1.30
you DO NOT need to run this program. It is being included only to
provide those still running 1.00 with a means to upgrade.
╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│ UPGRADING FROM 1.00 to 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.4x format: │
│ │
│ 1) Back up the data files: FANTASY.DAT and FANTASY.ARE (just in case). │
│ │
│ 2) Unpack the Fantasy Land archive into your Fantasy Land directory, │
│ overwriting all files. │
│ │
│ 3) From your Fantasy Land directory, run the FANTUPD.EXE program. │
│ │
│ 4) Delete the FANTUPD.EXE program. │
│ │
│ 5) Create one or more configuration profiles using FANTFIG.EXE (see │
│ documentation (FANTASY.DOC) for details). │
│ │
│ At this point, you should test the game. If you have problems, you │
│ can restore the FANTASY.DAT and FANTASY.ARE files that you had backed │
│ up previously. │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
What's new in release 1.31: (newest first):
■ This is a maintenance release only and fixes a bug where players
were scoring kazillions of points for entering a garbaged message
to another player.
End of release notes for 1.31
=============================================================================
RELEASE 1.30
(Release Notes)
No conversion programs are included or required. FANTUPD.EXE which
was included in the 1.20 release package is not included with this
version. If you are running a version prior to 1.20 you will need
to obtain a copy of 1.20 in order to convert to the most current
data format. If you have questions, feel free to contact me on one
of the support systems listed in FANTASY.DOC.
What's new in release 1.30 (newest first):
1.3.13 - Added effect number 4 - Teleporter. When this effect is used,
players are charged 50 points for usage and can teleport to
any area they select.
1.3.12 - Maximum number of areas supported has been increased to 200.
1.3.11 - Fixed a bug in AREAS.EXE that did not always initialize a
new Fantasy Land properly.
1.3.10 - Implemented some disaster recovery routines for multinode
operation.
1.3.9 - The AREAS.EXE utility now lists the effect number for each
area.
1.3.8 - Fantasy Land now supports a maximum of 252 items. This is
up from 196 for an additional 56 items. The number of items
to be maintained is automatically selected by AREAS.EXE when
creating a new Fantasy Land. If you are using one of the
default area configurations included, then you must manually
adjust this number and restart the game for it to take effect.
1.3.7 - Fixed a bug where if a user disconnected while in stand-by
mode, Fantasy Land would not recognize that the user had
left until stand by was finished.
1.3.6 - Worked on improving file locking routines. Especially
focussed on optimizing Fantasy Land's routines for checking
other user activities.
1.3.5 - Added command line parameter /Z. This is used to specify a
locked baud rate. Use this parameter only if: a) You are
using the /F (no FOSSIL) option and b) Users are getting
garbage or disconnected when they run the door. By default,
Fantasy Land uses the caller's baudrate to communicate with but
if you have a locked DTE rate and do not use a FOSSIL driver,
you can over-ride this.
Example: FANTASY /F /Z38400
For now, Fantasy Land accepts a max locked DTE rate of 38400.
If for any reason, you need to lock DTE at a higher rate, just
let me know.
1.3.4 - Added the "69" encounter option. To date, there are no
supporting ANSI graphics to go with this encounter.
Encounter .SEX files included for the new "69" encounter:
69MF.SEX 69FM.SEX
69FF.SEX 69MM.SEX
As always, additional sets are supported if they exist and
can be numbered 1 thru 9 for a total of 10 sets including the
included defaults above.
1.3.3 - The WHOSON utility now gives up clock ticks to DesqView while
monitoring in a separate DV window.
1.3.2 - The command line parameter /* (snoop mode off) did not work.
This has been fixed. When this option is used, SysOps at the
local terminal will still see robot processing information and
all other local messages. However, anything echoed to the
remote will not be echoed to the local screen.
1.3.1 - The asynchronous communications routines have been fixed.
Fantasy Land now supports baud rates of up to 115K baud.
SysOps who do not use a FOSSIL driver should not have any
problems. If you do, please contact me with specific details
about the problem you are having.
End of release notes for 1.30
=============================================================================
RELEASE 1.20
* * A T T E N T I O N * *
If you are running version 1.0, or a beta version prior to 1.1.7, you
will need to use the conversion program FANTUPD.EXE which is included
in this archive. See "What's new in version 1.20" below.
Also, if your system produces a DOOR.SYS drop file, you will need
to use the /O and /B command line parameters to call FL. These are
used to provide the System and SysOp names to FL as specified on
your program registration form.
Example: FANTASY /BMy_BBS /OJohn_Doe
See FANTASY.DOC (command line parameters) for more information.
I would like to say THANK YOU to the all the beta testers who put
Fantasy Land to the test. Tony Mannino, Bob Norvik, Peter Kling, Greg
Jansen, Paul Andre and Jim Biggs were the official beta testers for
this release. THANKS GANG! Great job!
What's new in version 1.20:
■ DATA CONVERSION REQUIRED: If you are running version 1.0 or a beta version
prior to 1.1.7, you will need to perform the following conversion:
First of all, back up FANTASY.DAT and FANTASY.ARE. Next, run FANTUPD.EXE.
Once run, I would suggest deleting FANTUPD.EXE.
■ At the time of this release, the communications interrupt handler is still
very unstable. I am at the point where I am throwing my hands up in the
air so I will have to do some more research. For the time being, it is
recommended that even if your BBS does not use a FOSSIL driver, you load
one anyway. It will not interfere with your systems direct communications
routines and can even be unloaded on the fly.
NOTE: When not using a FOSSIL driver, FL will use the new interrupt
handler. *BUT* the interrupt handler will only accept a max
baud rate of 9600 baud. If your DORINFO1.DEF or DOOR.SYS file
specifies a baud rate higher than 9600, 9600 will be the set
baud rate.
For those not familiar with what a FOSSIL driver is, it is a
communications driver that replaces the BIOS interrupt 14h
routines. FOSSIL drivers insure compatibility on several
machine types and makes my life a whole lot easier.
■ Found and fixed the bug where the history file wasn't being trimmed
down. The problem only occurred on systems that defined their fantasy
land name as anything other than "Fantasy Land".
■ Worked on some file access bugs that were causing runtime 5, 162 and 163
errors.
■ If you are running Fantasy Land in multinode mode, you will need to add
the command line parameter /L to enable multinode operation. If you are
running in the 60-day trial period, multinode operation is not available.
■ Added support for up to 10... count 'em... 10 encounter text and graphics
file sets (including the default set)!
■ Added WHOSON.EXE utility. This can be run in a separate DOS partition
and displays players currently in the game. Updates about every 5
seconds.
■ Added text file FLSTRUCT.DOC which explains the data file structures used
in Fantasy Land. This is for all you third party programmers out there.
M U L T I - N O D E O P E R A T I O N T U N E - U P ! !
Well, it's here. Fantasy Land now has better built-in multinode functions.
Check it out...
■ Fantasy Land now keeps track of how many and which players are currently
in the game.
■ Robots are no longer "processed" if there is more than one player currently
in the game. This will avoid robots disappearing before the eyes of
players and possibly corrupting the area data file.
■ The game is no longer restarted at the end of the month if there is
already a player in the game. The game will be restarted as soon as a
player enters the game when no other player is currently playing.
■ Players may now encounter one another in the game. If you are in an area
and attempt to leave the area while you're being encountered, FL will
tell you that you are being encountered and will place you in stand-by
mode until the encounter is finished or stopped. If you were defeated
during the encounter, your turn is over for the day and you are returned
to the main menu. If the SysOp has make-up days enabled, the player can
then elect to make up an unplayed day.
■ Multinode operation is now only available in REGISTERED mode. If someone
is in the game and another player enters, the second player will receive
a message that the game is currently in use on another node. All other
functions are available during the 60-day trial period. Sorry folks, but
after over 1000 file requests and only a handful of registrations, I had
no choice.
■ The REVIVE.EXE utility can now be run in multinode batch files. If
REVIVE detects that someone is playing the game, it will not process the
data file, otherwise it will.
■ Added command line parameter /P. This parameter is used to specify the
number of points it costs players to view the map. The default is zero
points (no charge).
eg: FANTASY /P50
Charges players 50 points each time they view the map.
■ Added an option in the C>hange Setup routine that allows players to
disable/enable ANSI pictures that are displayed after encounters.
■ Players are now warned when they have less than 3 minutes remaining
in the game.
■ Added command line parameter /* which, when specified, will instruct
FL to run with Snoop mode OFF unless in local mode.
■ Added Sysop-command ALT-D which, when pressed and in remote mode, will
toggle the current Snoop mode. Snoop is always on in local mode
operation.
■ When a player is being encountered, and another player attempts to begin
an encounter with that player, a message will be displayed informing the
second player to try again in a minute or two.
■ Updated utilities REVIVE.EXE, REMOVE.EXE and LISTDATA.EXE to new data
structure format.
■ The REMOVE.EXE utility will now also delete messages "from" the player
being removed.
■ When a new player enters the game, he will be given a last chance to
bail out without creating a character after all player data has been
collected.
■ Added command line parameter /n. NOTE: This parameter is different
than /N. The lower case /n specifies 'no shapshot' mode. When this
parameter is used, snapshots will not be used during game play. However,
snapshot files must still reside in the Fantasy Land directory even when
this option is used.
■ Added command line parameter /M. This parameter specifies the number of
make-up days allowed per day. Fantasy Land now allows the SysOp to
allow players to make up days that they did not get to logon and play
for the month. Valid values are 1-10. This parameter does not function
when the game is in continuous play mode.
■ Included SEXSTACY.ZIP. This is an archive which contains a 100-area
Fantasy Land and an ASCII text file map. Thank you Greg Jansen!
■ During program operation, function keys 1 through 5 provide various
information displays on the status bar.
■ The SysOp may now eject a player back to the BBS via the ALT-E key.
This key is activated after a player has fully logged into Fantasy Land.
■ Fixed a bug where FL was allowing players to enter names with trailing
spaces. This lead to problems when other players tried encountering
them. This should cure the "invalid player number" problem experienced
on some systems.
■ Added command line parameter /C (continuous play mode). When specified,
Fantasy Land will run in continuous mode. That is to say that the game
will not reset at the end of the month. Instead, it will run
continuously.
■ Fixed a bug where if the path to DORINFO1.DEF or DOOR.SYS was not
specified, it did not always properly default to the current directory.
■ Recompiled using JPDoor 3.10.
■ Changed naming conventions for messages. Previously, there was a slim
chance of a duplicate message name being assigned during multinode
operation.
■ Added command line parameter /O. This allows you to specify on the
command line, the name of the System Operator. This is specified in the
same manner as the System Name and is intended for those who use a DOOR.SYS
dropfile. I neglected to check if DOOR.SYS contained the SysOp name and
guess what... it doesn't!
■ Players may now reply to messages that they receive at the beginning of
the game. But, replies are not worth any bonus points.
■ Fixed a bug in AREAS.EXE which did not allow an exit to area 100 to be
entered. Thanks to Greg Jansen and his 100 area FL for finding this.
■ Updated the AREAS.EXE utility to allow the SysOp to define the maximum
number of items maintained. This value is selected during program
initialization but you can now increase or decrease the number of items.
However, if you change this value, the change will not be reflected
until the game is manually restarted or until a new month begins.
■ You can delete your FANTOPEN.ANS and FANTOPEN.ASC opening screens. They
have been replaced by FANT1.ANS/.ASC and FANT2.ANS/.ASC. FL will randomly
select one to display when the player logs on.
■ Added ANSI graphics encounter picture files. Thank you to all who worked
on these. Players may abort display by pressing S while the graphic is
being displayed. Most graphics were provided by Bob Norvik.
■ Fixed a bug (hopefully) where; when a user's time limit was exceeded
under just the right circumstances, the player was not saved in the area
data file. The Match-Me computer would say the player was in area number
'x' but the player was nowhere to be found. This would be fixed the next
time that player came into the game.
■ Added ANSI animation support. Here's how it works:
The selected .SEX file is displayed as always. Then, FL looks for an
ANSI file. If the .SEX file displayed was INTMF.SEX, then FL looks for
INTMF.ANS. If the player has ANSI enabled, it is displayed immediately
after the .SEX file is displayed. If INTMF1.SEX was selected, then FL
will look for INTMF1.ANS. If that file is not found, then FL looks for
the default of INTMF.ANS. If found and player's ANSI is set to on, then
it is displayed. Otherwise, it is bypassed. This should allow you to
develop some ANSI animation screens.
■ Corrected some typos that were pointed out.
■ AREAS.EXE now allows the SysOp to define a maximum number of turns per
day of up to 200 instead of 100.
■ Larger areas now support more items. Total number of items supported is
up to 196 from 140, for an additional 56 items.
End of release notes for 1.20
=============================================================================