The Arsenal Files 8

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Text File | 1996-10-04 | 18KB | 391 lines

Shut The Box Deluxe Version 4.26c Copyright (C) 1996 John Parlin All rights reserved Release Date: 10-04-1996 ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │░░░░░░ LICENSING INFORMATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ This program is not Freeware. This is SHAREWARE which means it is user- supported software. If you use this program for more than 30 days, you are required to register or remove it from your system. The registration fee is a mere $10.00 and is not a lot to ask. The concept works only with your support. If you find that you can use this program, then a registration fee of $10.00 U.S. funds will help defray the development cost and encourage the authorship of other programs that might be useful to you. A Registration Form for this purpose is included with the distribution archive and is called SHUTREG.DOC. ShutBox is Copyrighted by John Parlin and all rights are reserved. You may copy this program and documentation for backup purposes. You also may copy and share UNMODIFIED copies of the program package, providing that the copyright notice is reproduced and included on all copies. You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the product along with other products without expressed written permission from John Parlin, nor may you modify or remove the Copyright Notice from the program or the documentation. Those who register this program within one year of its release by the author, will receive a registration key. The key will be delivered either by personal upload or postal service. Allow up to 6 weeks for delivery for locations outside the continental U.S. Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. If you have any, you should contact the author in the Fidonet DOORWARE echomail conference or at the address listed below: John Parlin 7043 Fremont Avenue North Brooklyn Center, MN 55430-1138 If you're reporting a bug, please give as much detail as possible about the problem you are experiencing so that it can be duplicated and fixed. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │░░░░░░ INTRODUCTION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Shut The Box has been around since the 18th century and was thought to have been invented by fishermen in the Channel Islands. It has remained a popular game in the British Isles and has also been glorified in the TV game show High Rollers. Its simplicity coupled with a beat-the-odds type of play, make Shut The Box, a fun, fast-paced game. THE OBJECTIVE: Players try to get the highest monthly score possible, by shutting numbered doors or "tiles" which match rolled dice. At the beginning of play, tiles numbered 1 thru 12 are displayed on the screen in an "up" position (see Figure 1). ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10│ 11│ 12│ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Figure 1 Tiles 1 through 9 constitute the regular "9-tile box" while tiles 10 through 12 make up the "Deluxe Box" (see figure 2). ┌───────Regular, 9-Tile Box───────┐ ┌─Deluxe──┐ ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10│ 11│ 12│ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Figure 2 The player begins by rolling two die and then closes a combination tiles whose numbers total that of the dice. The player's turn ends when a number is rolled which cannot be matched by any total of the remaining tiles left up (open) or, when all tiles have been closed. For example: A player's first roll is a six and a two, totalling eight. The player may shut either the tile numbered eight, or the six and two, or the five and three, or any other combination that totals the rolled value of eight. In our example, the player chooses to shut (pull down) the two and the six, leaving the board as you see in Figure 3. ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ 1 │ │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10│ 11│ 12│ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ 2 │ │ │ │ 6 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Figure 3 When the player is finished selecting tiles (and the Tile Total is equal to the total of the dice), the player presses <ENTER>. The tiles that were pulled down will then change color and be considered out of play or "closed". Upon game completion, all tiles are reopened and the player may select to play another game providing that he has not reached the maximum number of daily turns allowed by the System Operator. At the end of each month, the player with the highest score is declared the winner. The top-three scoring players are recorded and displayed to players throughout the following month. SCORING: Whenever tiles are shut, or pulled-down, and "entered", the player's score is incremented by the total of the tiles which were closed. At the end of each game, players receive a bonus of 10 multiplied by the number of tiles that were closed. If a player closes all tiles in the regular 9-tile box, a bonus of 500 points is added to the player's score and the player is awarded a free turn. If all tiles are closed, the player is awarded for shutting both the 9-tile and deluxe boxes and is awarded the same PLUS an additional 1,000 points for shutting the deluxe box. GAME CONTROLS: Primary Command Set: The primary command keys used to control Shut The Box, are the number keys 4, 6, 8, 2, and <ENTER>. Move the block cursor using the numeric key pad with the NUM LOCK key turned on. The block cursor can be moved right and left. To close a tile (pull it down), use the 2 key. To open a tile (deselect it), use the 8 key. (u) 8 (l) 4 6 (r) 2 (d) Alternate Command Set: The alternate command keys used to control Shut The Box, are the keys A, D, W, X and <ENTER>. Move the block cursor using the keys A and D. The block cursor can be moved right and left. To close a tile (pull it down), use the X key. To open a tile (deselect it), use the W key. (u) W (l) A D (r) X (d) When you are satisfied with the tiles you have pulled down, press <ENTER> to "enter" the tiles and remove them from play. Players dialed in using a RIPscrip terminal program may find that clicking the number boxes and text commands is much faster and simpler than using the keyboard at all. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │░░░░░░ INSTALLATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are running an earlier version than 4.0, please read SHUTBOX.NEW for instructions on how to procede. Shut The Box runs great with most any BBS that can create a DORINFO1.DEF or DOOR.SYS drop file. A FOSSIL driver is also required for communications input/output. All file I/O uses record locking and this door will run fine on two nodes simultaneously. All you need to do is pass some command line parameters to the program. These are: /S - This parameter is for use on systems that use a DOOR.SYS drop file rather than a DORINFO1.DEF drop file. This specifies the BBS system name. Use underscores in place of spaces. This parameter is needed on DOOR.SYS systems because DOOR.SYS does not contain the name of the BBS which is needed for registration information. e.g. SHUTBOX /SThe_O-Zone_BBS /O - This parameter is for use on systems that use a DOOR.SYS drop file rather than a DORINFO1.DEF drop file. This specifies the BBS System Operator's name which is not contained in DOOR.SYS. This parameter is needed on DOOR.SYS systems. e.g. SHUTBOX /OJohn_Doe /H - This parameter specifies that the FOSSIL driver is not to be initialized. Use this parameter if you are getting a FOSSIL driver error (i.e. FrontDoor not able to detect FOSSIL). /A - If this parameter is used, it specifies that scoring and sorting will be done on the player's monthly average score rather than the total monthly score. If ommitted, scoring and sorting is done on player's total monthly score. NOTE: If used, you may find that players who only play a few times will win the monthly tournament versus those who play on a regular basis. /Tn - This is the maximum number of games a player may play per day. This should be a number between 1 and 99. If it's not in this range, it will default to 5. /Mn - This is the maximum number of make up days allowed per day. Players may not be able to call in and play every day. So, to enable players to keep up and be competitive, the Sysop can allow players to have 'n' make up days per day. This should be a value between 1 and 5. If it's not in this range, it will default to 3. Example: If I allow 3 make up days per day, and 5 games per day, a player can: - Call in on the 5th and play his 5 games for that day. - Use a up to 3 make up days and play 5 games for each make up day that he uses. /Pn - This is the path to DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS. This is where Shut The Box will look for the drop file. If a trailing backslash is not specified, one will be added. /D - This parameter specifies that a RemoteAccess or GAP (PCBoard) DOOR.SYS drop file should be used instead of a DORINFOx.DEF drop file. This file should reside in the directory path specified by the /P parameter. This parameter is optional. /J - This parameter should only be used game messages fly by too quickly. Some screaming PC processors such as pentiums may need to set use this parameter if their users complain that game messages fly by too quickly to be read. Examples: SHUTBOX.EXE /t7 /m2 /pC:\RA\ 7 games per day. 2 make up days per day. DORINFO1.DEF can be found in C:\RA\ directory. SHUTBOX.EXE /m5 /p\RA\ 5 games per day (default). 5 make up days per day. DORINFO1.DEF can be found in \RA\ directory. SHUTBOX.EXE /pC:\RA\ /D /SCity_Terminal_BBS 5 games per day (default). 3 make up days per game (default). DOOR.SYS can be found in C:\RA\ directory. Use DOOR.SYS instead of DORINFO1.DEF. No need to worry about the format. Shut The Box will automatically determine if a RemoteAccess or PCBoard DOOR.SYS is being used. The BBS System Name is City Terminal BBS. NOTE: If you are running this program under PCBoard, you may have to load a FOSSIL driver from a batch file before the game is run, and unload it when the game is finished and before control is returned to the BBS. Are command line parameters difficult to comprehend or use? You can use a configuration profile as an alternative to using command line parameters. To use a configuration profile, create a valid DOS ASCII text file. In it, define the settings using the following syntax: setting=<your setting> Valid settings are: PATH This is the path to DORINFO1.DEF or DOOR.SYS. BBSNAME The name of the BBS (used to validate registration code). SYSOPNAME The name of the Sysop (used to validate registration code). MAXTURNS A number between 1 and 99 that is the maximum number of turns a player may take per day. MAKEUPDAYS A number between 1 and 5 that is the maximum number of make-up days a player may use per day. DOORSYS A YES or NO setting that determines whether DOOR.SYS is used. If set to NO, then DORINFO1.DEF is used. AVGSORT A YES or NO setting that determines whether the score card is sorted by average or total scores. If set to NO, then standard tournament scoring is used. SLOWDELAY A YES or NO setting that determines whether the system clock should be used in delay routines. When program messages scream by too quickly because you're running a boss pentium or other fast processor, set this to YES. If program pauses are sufficient, leave it set to NO. Here's an example of a configuration file. Let's call it STBNODE1.CFG. The contents of the file are: PATH=C:\BBS\NODE1 BBSNAME=CITY TERMINAL SYSOPNAME=JOHN DOE MAXTURNS=5 MAKEUPDAYS=2 DOORSYS=NO AVGSORT=NO SLOWDELAY=NO When executing Shut The Box, include the filename of the configuration file instead of the command line parameters. Shut The Box will run using the settings from the file. For example, to run Shut The Box using the configuration profile STBNODE1.CFG (above), just use the command line: SHUTBOX.EXE STBNODE1.CFG Shut The Box can be run in the BBS system directory or in a directory of its own. If you use a separate subdirectory, you will need to use a batch file. SHUTBOX.BAT: CD \BBS\SHUTBOX SHUTBOX /t7 /m3 /pC:\RA\ (or SHUTBOX <config file name>) CD \BBS Running Shut The Box on a mutli-node system may require a batch file similar to this one: CD \BBS\SHUTBOX IF %1==2 GOTO LINE2 SHUTBOX /t7 /m3 /pC:\BBS\NODE1\ GOTO STOP :LINE2 SHUTBOX /t7 /m3 /pC:\BBS\NODE2\ :STOP In the above example, it is assumed that the node number is being passed into the batch file on the command-line. Inside the batch file, it is then referred to as %1. It is beyond the scope of this document to get into batch file programming. See your DOS manual for more information. That's all there is to installing the Shut The Box door. There is no setup program needed. Manually Restarting the Game: The game may be restarted at any time by deleting the file SHUTBOX.DTE. The main program executable will do the rest. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │░░░░░░ SUPPORT FILES ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The following is a list of files related to the operation of this program. It is noted whether or not the file is absolutely required in order for the program to run. Filename Required Description ------------ -------- ------------------------------------------------- SHUTREG.DOC No Program registration form. SHUTBOX.NEW No Program revision history. Be sure to read! SHUTBOX.EXE Yes The main progam executable. SHUTBOX.ANS Yes The game board graphic. SHUTOPEN.ANS Yes The Shut The Box intro graphic (color graphics). SHUTOPEN.RIP Yes The Shut The Box intro graphic (RIP graphics). STBHELP1 thru STBHELP4.RIP Yes The program help/instructions in RipScript. SHUTBOX.HLP Yes Help file. SHUTBOX.DOC No This documentation. SHUTBOX.DTE No This is a date file. This is used to determine when the end of month has been reached. SHUTBOX.HSC No This file contains the last month's high scorer statistics. SHUTBOX.DAT No This is the player data file. If it does not exist, it will be created. SHUTBOX.LOG No This file is created if Shut The Box encounters an error during operations. If this file exists, it is intended for your viewing pleasure.