Amiga Elysian Archive/AmigaElysianArchive.iso/comm/h_s14.lha/Hack&Slash.doc

Text File | 1993-02-24 | 8KB | 171 lines

                                Hack & Slash
                                by Rob Hurst
                                Mark Montminy
                               & Lonnie Watson

Installation:

   Hack & Slash should be placed in it's own directory.  I'd suggest locating
   it in your main doors directory, but it's fully up to you.  No assigns
   are necessary (more doors should be so kind), it will find it's files
   according to the path it was launched from.

   (door programmers, read argv[0] and put an end to this assign nonsense!)

   Extract the archive with it's full path, and all files will be placed where
   they belong for proper execution of the game.

Launching Hack & Slash:

   Depending on your BBS system, this will be different.  Most BBS' will be
   running in standard i/o mode.  Do whatever magic is required of your BBS
   system to start the game as a standard CLI program.  H&S expects a CTRL-C
   break signal upon carrier loss or timeout, and will exit cleanly.
   The command line should be:

   drive:doorpath/hack&slashpath/hack&slash <options> user_id

   Note the user_id.  This IS needed.  It may be the user's name, handle,
   phone number, user number, or anything else UNIQUE to each user.  The game
   uses it's own "handles" and simply uses this as a means to identify the
   user playing.  It will read everything after the options as the user_id,
   so the name need not be enclosed in "", or any other such nonsense.

   Options:

      -c Disables "back to back" plays.  A user must wait till another user
         plays (or midnight is crossed) before playing again.  It helps keep
         the game fair.  Without it, users can play as many turns as they have,
         in a row.
         Default is off, back to back plays are allowed.

      -x Run in Xenolink mode.  This forces H&S to run as a XenolinkDoor under
         Xenolink since CLIdoor just had too many problems.  Standard Xenolink
         syntax applies.  Note that this MUST be followed immediately with a
         ~20 in order to work, ie -x~20.
         The entry I use is:

            XenolinkDoor "^30000^1Hack&Slash/Hack&Slash -x~20 ~100"

   Hack & Slash should only be played by one node at a time.  A locking
   mechanism has been used ensure that only one copy is in use at a time.

   When Hack&Slash starts up, it will take the base directory name, and create
   an ENV variable with that name.  It will check for the existance of this
   ENV before running.  If found, it means another copy is in use.  A message
   will be displayed and the door will exit.  It it's not found, it is
   created and the game starts.

   Note that you CAN have more than one H&S game going at once as long as
   they each have thier own complete set of data files and executable in
   seperate directories.

   Make sure YOU are the 1st person to play each and every game.  The 1st
   player is the "sysop" of the game and has the ability to edit and delete
   other players.  The "sysop" menu is activated via the @ key from the main
   menu.

   There is a directory with some sample startup scripts in it for launching
   H&S under some of the various BBS packages out there.  I'd like to thank
   the following for thier contributions to this effort:

      Roger Clarke - for his TransAmiga startup script
      Bill Seymour - for his BBX scripts
      Alan Bland   - for answering my stupid questions all the time :)
                     (and providing THE best FSE yet, Emacs!)
      Bill Williford - for letting me use him as a 1.3/68000 guinea pig
      The beta testers - for helping me test, what else!


   BBS' known to be able to run H&S:

      Dialog Pro, BBX, TransAmiga, Starnet, Xenolink, Falcon, Excelsior,
      Nikom

      Note to CNet owners: Why H&S doesn't work I don't know.  I'll gladly
      make it work, if someone will provide me with code on how to do raw
      i/o with CNet.

Monsters and Such:

   Picture file handling has changed since version 1.2.  Due to there being
   100 monsters, I decided to break up the pictures into seperate dirs.
   Currently in use is:

   Pics/Dungeon/
      <MonsterName>.(ANS|TXT) - Monsters found in the dungeon
      Cleric.(ANS|TXT) - Cleric found in the dungeon
      Dungeon(N|W|E).(ANS|TXT) - Dungeon room pics
   Pics/Arena/
      <MonsterName>.(ANS|TXT) - Monsters found in the arena
      Summoned Demon.(ANS|TXT) - Demon found in the arena
   Pics/Player/
      <Class Name>.(ANS|TXT) - pictures for players based on class
   Pics/User/
      <PlayerHandle>.(ANS|TXT) - picture for an individual user
                                 (overrides PlayerPic)

   The <>should be replace with the name of the monster as seen in config.
   ArenaMonsters are found in the arena (amazing eh?) and DungeonMonsters
   (you guessed it) are found in the dungeon.  The PlayerPic is shown whenever
   you do battle with another user in the arena.

   To be added still are the SeaMonsters and User Ships in the Naval section.

About Hack & Slash:

   Hack & Slash started life (in door form) as XenoRPG for Xenolink BBS.
   XenoRPG was ported from Rob Hurst's RPGBBS program, which was a re-write
   by Rob, of an AppleII BBS called TProBBS.  Rob was nice enough to port
   this game to a Xenolink Door, and has turned the source over to me to
   maintain.  Any changes I make, will be minor at best.  I don't want to
   make major mods to the game, as it will make future merges of new
   features Rob adds much harder.

   When I decided to switch from Xenolink, naturally XenoRPG had to come
   with me (my users would have revolted).  The name didn't fit a "generic"
   door, so it was renamed to Hack & Slash, after Rob's BBS.  Since Rob had
   made so many changes to RPGBBS, we felt it was time for a re-port.  Several
   hours, a few gurus, and a few Cokes later, Hack & Slash loaded.  Rob then
   graciously handed the code back to me to continue massaging it for door
   usage.

Docs?:

   You're reading them!  Docs are sparse, mainly because I hate writing them.
   The game has online documentation for rules of play.  It's suggested
   that you read them.  Any other documentation is sparse at best.  Docs
   should be available for the config utility by the time you read this, and
   the original RPGBBS docs are included for further reading enjoyment.

Registration:

   H&S is being released as Shareware.  As such, you are required to send in
   a registration fee of $20.

   Registration gets you a key which allows you to procede beyind level 15
   up to level 99 (bet you were thinking it was real easy to become Immortal).
   It is after level 15 that magic starts to kick in, and things get harder.
   The game is gaining immense popularity, and is well worth the $20 fee.
   Registration also unlocks the config utility that allows you to edit the
   various data files used by the game.  Just about EVERY attribute of the
   game can be edited with config.  A future version will include a GUI
   config tool.

   To register, fill out the included form and return it to the address on
   the form.  Payment methods, as well as methods for obtaining the key are
   listed on the form.

   **NOTE**
   Do NOT spend the extra money for FedEx/Overnight mail!!!  This requires
   that I go to the post office to pick it up.  Since my PO hours are from
   8-4 and I leave for work at 7 and get home at 6, I can't get there 'till
   the weekend!  Meaning, you wasted your money!

Note to XenoRPG owners:

   If you're a registered owner of XenoRPG, there is a utility included called
   X2H.  Read the included docs for usage.  This will convert your XenoRPG.reg
   file to a Hack&Slash.License file for you.