Aminet 2/Aminet AMIGA CDROM (1994)(Walnut Creek)[Feb 1994][W.O. 44790-1].iso/Aminet/comm/bbs/TIS107.lha/TIS.doc

Text File | 1993-02-12 | 27KB | 438 lines

                          The Immortal Struggle v1.07
          Created, programmed and copyright (C)1993 by Chris Rea [UL]
     A multiplayer online game for BBX, DLG-Pro, FalconCBCS, and Xenolink
                            Release Date: 12-Feb-93


                        What is The Immortal Struggle?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     The  Immortal  Struggle  is  a  fantastic  multiplayer online game of epic
proportions.   While  simple  in  concept  and operation, The Immortal Struggle
allows  for  a  vast variety of play strategy and plan execution.  The two most
important  elements  when  playing  The  Immortal  Struggle  are  intellect and
strategy.   If  your  users  are  tired  of  ANSI-oriented online games with no
underlying playability or those playable without need of intellect or strategy,
look  no  further.   The  Immortal  Struggle doesn't need fancy ANSI to impress
people;  the  playability of the game is by far the most dominant factor.  ANSI
colour is supported, but certainly not necessary to fully enjoy T.I.S.

     The  Immortal Struggle is loosely based upon a great online game which was
called  The Endless Quest, programmed under (but never officially released for)
MS-DOS.   The  Endless  Quest,  in turn, was loosely based upon Pyroto Mountain
BBS,  another  MS-DOS BBS/game system.  Therefore, it is entirely possible that
you  see  a  resemblance  between Pyroto and T.I.S., though there are many very
fundamental  differences.   If  you  are  not  familiar  with  either  of these
programs,  do  not worry.  They are merely mentioned in passing, to give credit
where credit is due for certain underlying concepts.

     The  game  is a simple one.  Each player is an Entity, striving to achieve
Omniscience.   There  are three Mountains in an existence called the Continuum.
Each  entity  takes  a  place  on one of these three mountains, and attempts to
reach  the  apex,  or  a  Level  of  Understanding  of  800.   There  are  many
incantations which an entity can use to help him progress to this goal, as well
as  many  incantations  which  he  can  use  to  hinder the progress of others.
Further,  the  entities  on a mountain can co-operate to hinder the progress of
the other mountains...  You can see where this gets interesting.

     You  can  find  out more about game play and concepts from within the game
itself.   The  Immortal  Struggle  features  COMPLETE  online documentation for
players;  there  are  six basic instructions files that can be accessed via the
"INSTRUCTIONS"   incantation,   as  well  as  specific  explanations  for  each
incantation, available with the "EXPLAIN" incantation.


                                 What You Need
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     To  run  this  version  of  The  Immortal  Struggle,  you need one of BBX,
DLG-Pro,  FalconCBCS, or Xenolink (version Z4 or later) BBS programs.  (At time
of  release,  Xenolink  did  not directly support passing user variables on the
command  line  with  its CLIDoor menu command; it is said, however, that the Z4
release will include this ability.  If you are a Xenolink sysop and wish to run
The  Immortal Struggle, be sure you get this version when it becomes available.
You  will  have  to  figure out the appropriate command line for Xenolink; only
specific  instructions for setting it up with BBX, DLG-Pro, and FalconCBCS will
be included here.)

     You  will  also  need  an  Amiga  running Release 2 or later of the system
software.   The  Immortal Struggle depends highly on a lot of the new functions
made  available  with  the  advent of Release 2.  Sorry, but if you do not have
Release  2  or later, you will not be able to run The Immortal Struggle.  There
will  NOT,  repeat,  NOT  be  a  Release  1.3  or lower version of The Immortal
Struggle.   (It  is  against my morals to support an older operating system for
sake of compatibility when the new one is oh so much easier to program.  :-)

     A  hard  drive  is  highly  recommended.   The  Immortal Struggle accesses
datafiles  on  a  regular  basis (namely the question file).  I do not think it
would be too bearable on a floppy system.  This should not be much of a problem
considering  that the vast majority of bulletin board systems have hard drives,
and large ones at that.

     The  Immortal Struggle consumes about 170k of FAST memory while being run.
Again,  this  should  not be a problem since most bulletin board systems have a
lot of RAM.  Regardless, 170k of memory is bearable, especially considering The
Immortal Struggle is a more complex and involved online game than most others.


                            Setting It Up With BBX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Installing   T.I.S.   for  use  with  BBX  is  very  simple.   Unlike  the
DLG-Pro/Falcon/Xenolink  version,  the  BBX  version  requires that you put the
files  in a specific directory.  Create the directory "BBX:Extras/TIS" and copy
the "TISBBX" and "TIS_Questions.dat" files there.  Copy the "TIS.descr" file to
"BBX:Extras".   Your Extras menu should automatically find this file and set up
T.I.S.   for you.  If you do not use the Extras menu setup, you can call T.I.S.
from  one of your regular menus by using the "BBXMenu 108" function.  Check out
your BBX documentation on how to do this.


                       Setting It Up With DLG-Pro/Falcon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     First,  after  unpacking  the  T.I.S.  distribution archive, copy both the
"TISDFX"  and  "TIS_Questions.dat"  file  to  a  directory of your choice.  The
datafiles  that  will  be  created will be located in the same directory as the
program.  You do not need a logical assignment for T.I.S.  to locate its files;
the Release 2 function GetProgramDir() is used to alleviate this need.

     T.I.S.   has  been  thoroughly  tested with a 10K size stack.  Please make
sure  that  you have this size stack from where you are running T.I.S.; you may
or   may   not  run  into  problems  with  something  lower.   Check  out  your
documentation for the AmigaDOS Stack command for further details.  :-)

     All  of  the  command  line  arguments are optional, except for the user's
name.   This  must  always  be  present.   The template for general setup is as
follows:

   TISDFX <User Name> [<Posts> [<Uploads> [<Screen Height> [<ANSI Type>]]]]

     Note  the  use  of  square  brackets.   If  you  are going to use the ANSI
keyword, you must also have all of the other command line options present.  The
ANSI  keyword  is  "MONO"  for  no  colour,  and anything else (or nothing) for
colour.  It is suggested that you use all options supported.

     If  you  have  FalconCBCS,  set up the following menu command somewhere in
your Menus.bbs file:

 NORMAL I CON A "TISDFX \"«FULLNAME»\" «MSGS» «TOTALUP» «HEIGHT» «ANSI»«»«MONO»

     The  "I"  after  "NORMAL"  may  be any letter you want; this is the actual
command  letter  the user will type to enter the game.  It is also wise to edit
the menu help file of which ever menu you are putting the game in.  (Please see
your FalconCBCS documentation on how to do this.)

     If  you  would like to get T.I.S.  working with DLG-Pro, please follow the
instructions given in the file "TIS_DLG.doc", which is also in the distribution
archive.  Note that this ARexx method is used instead of directly adding T.I.S.
to DLG because, as of this writing, DLG had a bug which would confuse any calls
to  the Release 2 function GetProgramDir().  If you add T.I.S.  directly to DLG
as  a  menu  item,  T.I.S.   will always think that it was called from the DLG:
directory.  Using the simple ARexx script included to launch T.I.S.  alleviates
this  problem.  (If you do not wish to use the ARexx script, you MAY add T.I.S.
directly  as  a  menu  item,  however you must ensure that you place all of the
files  in  DLG:.  I suggest you use the ARexx script so you may place the files
wherever  you  choose.   You  have  ARexx  anyways, since The Immortal Struggle
requires Release 2 to operate.  Release 2 includes ARexx.  :-)

     Please  ensure  that the quotes around the first argument are not missing,
or  that the user's name does not contain any spaces.  (For example, the Falcon
example  above  ensures  that the name has quotes surrounding it, while the DLG
setup  in  the  TIS_DLG.doc file passes a user name with underscores instead of
spaces.)  T.I.S.   must receive the user's name as one argument.  Also, you may
need  to supply your BBS program with the path to the "TISDFX" program if it is
not  searched for in the regular path.  In the case of the Falcon setup, modify
the  menu  entry  above.   For  DLG,  a simple modification to the ARexx launch
script will suffice.

     As  a  side note, you do not necessarily have to use the «MSGS», «TOTALUP»
(or,  for  DLG-Pro,  %MSGENTER  and %FILESUP) arguments.  These are used by the
game   to   give  the  user  a  "bonus"  if  their  activity  (messages-posted,
files-uploaded)  since  the last time they played has increased.  If you do not
want these arguments passed, but would still like to pass a screen height etc.,
simply insert a zero in their place.

     If  no  screen  height is specified, T.I.S.  will assume a screen 24 lines
high.  (The screen height is merely used for More?  prompting at various places
in  the game.) The screen height may be no less than 10 lines high, and no more
than 255 lines high.

     The  ANSI  argument  ("MONO" being turn off colours, anything else meaning
leave  them on) only affects new players.  It is used to determine what mode to
initially  use  (colours,  yes  or  no)  when  a  new  player  enters the game.
Otherwise,  this  argument is ignored and whatever the player was last using in
the  game  will  be used instead.  Players are freely able to modify their ANSI
status with the "ANSI" incantation available within the game.  This information
will be saved in the player's data structure.

     Note  that  it  is entirely possible to execute The Immortal Struggle from
your  standard,  run-of-the-mill  Shell window.  The Immortal Struggle modifies
the  input and output streams of the current I/O handle to RAW mode, instead of
the  traditional  (buffered)  CON mode.  It is reset to the original state when
the  door  exits, either by break signal or the usual method.  Note that if you
run  it  in  a  Shell  window,  you  must  be  using  a font and/or window-size
combination that will let you see 80 columns of characters.

     That  should  be  it  for  setup.   You  will want to try the game out for
yourself  to  make  sure  that  the  files are being located properly.  Use the
"CLIMB"  command  and  make  sure  that  the  TIS_Questions.dat  file  is being
accessed.    If   it   does  not  present  you  with  a  question,  either  the
TIS_Questions.dat  file  is  not  located in the same directory as the "TISDFX"
program,  or  something  else  went wrong.  (Certain methods of execution don't
work.   Starting  T.I.S.   from  a DLG menu script using the "EXE" command, for
example,  will  not properly report to AmigaDOS which directory the program was
called  from.   Please  see  the  "TIS_DLG.doc"  file on how to properly set up
T.I.S.  with DLG so that this problem does not occur.)

                                   Execution
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     When a user enters the game, a few things are checked.  First, the program
will check things like operating system revision, number of arguments passed on
the  command  line,  and  so  forth.   Next,  it will check if there is already
another  copy of The Immortal Struggle currently running.  If this is the case,
the  user  will  be  told  that the game is currently in use, and to please try
again  in  a few minutes.  If this is not the case, the user may enter the game
as  usual.   This  method is required since on a multiline system only one node
may be playing The Immortal Struggle at any one time.

     If  the  user  has not played within the last 28800 seconds (eight hours),
they  are  allowed to entry into the game.  A player's Sense (with which he may
cast  incantations)  regenerates  as time passes.  If the player has a positive
amount  of Sense, they are permitted to enter the game and are presented with a
list  of  things  that  happened since they last played, etc.  The game command
line  comes  up  and  the user is free to continue as usual.  Those in doubt at
this  point should try the "HELP" and "INSTRUCTIONS" incantations.  (Type these
directly.   The  Immortal  Struggle  uses  complete  word commands, not cryptic
single letter hotkeys that other online games are fond of.)


                       Information On Data Files Created
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     T.I.S.  will create a number of data files, named the following:

     TIS_Global.dat           - high message pointers, mountain information
     TIS_Players.dat          - individual player data structures
     TIS_Suggestions.dat      - questions suggested by players
     TIS_Log.dat              - journal of past game events
     Messages/#?              - player private/public mountain/global messages

     The  only  files  you  should  ever  feel  the  need  to mess with are the
TIS_Suggestions.dat and the TIS_Log.dat files.

     The  TIS_Suggestions.dat file is a file of questions suggested by players.
These  questions will be of the same format as the TIS_Questions.dat file.  You
should  peruse  this  file  every  few days if there are new questions.  With a
capable   text   editor,  move  the  questions  over  from  this  file  to  the
TIS_Questions.dat  file,  if  they  are acceptable.  (The whole reason for this
method, and not directly adding the questions to the TIS_Questions.dat file, is
to  weed  out  stupid or inaccurate questions.  Nobody is perfect.) The name of
the player who suggested the question will appear immediately after the answer.
This also may be moved over to the questions file, however it is not necessary.
(The  name  is there only for your reference; the game ignores everything after
the question and answer lines.)

     If  you would like to add your own questions to the TIS_Questions.dat file
(in  fact,  it  is HIGHLY suggested that you do so!), again, use a capable text
editor.   Follow  the  format used in the file.  This format is a line of "---"
separating  each question.  After this line, the question appears, one a single
line  only,  up  to  76  characters  in  length.   The question may contain any
printable  characters.   On  the next line appears the answer.  The answer must
not exceed 39 characters in length, and may only contain UPPERCASE alphabetical
characters.   It  is  suggested  that  numerical answers be short; they must be
written.  It is also suggested that names be of the form FIRSTNAME LASTNAME, to
avoid  any  ambiguity  when the question is posed.  Similarly, do not use words
like  "THE" or "A" prepended to an answer.  Try and phrase the question in such
a way that such words are not needed when answering.

     You can use the "SQ" (sort question) utility included with this release of
The  Immortal  Struggle  to  both  sort  your question data file and verify the
format  of  the  questions.  Please read the "SQ.doc" file for more information
about this utility.

     Next, you may feel that the TIS_Log.dat file needs trimming after the game
has  been  running  for a long time.  T.I.S.  has no problem with the large log
file; it accesses it from end to beginning (in reverse chronological order.) If
you  feel  that you need to trim the log file (if your hard drive space is at a
premium  in  other  words), then, once again, load up your capable text editor.
Delete  a  number  of lines from the BEGINNING to another line in the file.  Do
NOT  delete  from  the  end backwards.  Do not, under any circumstances, edit a
line  of  the  file  so  that  it is less than or greater than 80 characters in
length.   T.I.S.   depends  on each line being exactly 80 lines in length.  (If
you  have  alot  of  hard  drive  space and are not worried about a few hundred
kilobytes  of game log file, leave it alone.  Players are meant to look at this
log  file  often  to  get an idea of what transpired since they last played the
game.)

     Deleting  old  messages from the Messages directory CAN be done, but it is
not a good idea.  The message reader in T.I.S.  will stop reading messages when
it  can't find a message file.  Basically this means that if you want to delete
any messages from the "Messages/" directory, it is best to delete the old ones,
leaving  a  single  contiguous  block  of messages from the last one you didn't
delete up to the current message.

     Lastly, there is also a program called "LPL" (list player levels) included
with  this  release  of The Immortal Struggle.  This utility was written at the
request  of  my DLG-Pro beta-tester, who is currently running a T.I.S.  contest
on  his  system.   This  utility is so you can determine a "winner" after a set
period  of time instead of having to wait until the game is complete (which may
take  a  LONG  time!) Please read the "LPL.doc" file for more information about
this utility.


                      Licensing/Registration Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     (This  information  also  appears in the INSTRUCTIONS/LICENSING section of
the  "TIS"  program.   The only difference is that the following information is
flush-justified, and contains my mailing address for registration purposes.)

     The  Immortal  Struggle is copyright (C)1993 by Chris Rea.  All rights are
indeed  reserved.   You may run The Immortal Struggle (hereafter referred to as
T.I.S.)  on  your  bulletin board system provided that the following conditions
are met:

     A)  If  you  are running a pay-for-access system that grants non-pay users
less than than 40 minutes a day online time, or no access at all, you MUST send
in  the  registration  fee  after  fifteen days of online usage of T.I.S.; I am
hoping that your users will harass you if you overstep this limit.  (T.I.S.  is
not crippleware; I would not make it so.)

     B)  Whether  or  not  part  A applies to you, if you are running it in the
greater Toronto (416) area code, you must get written permission from me to run
T.I.S.    on   your  public  system.   If  you  register  your  copy  you  will
automatically have my permission.  (If part A applies to you, you must register
after fifteen days anyways.)

     C)  If  your  system  is non-pay and is not located in the greater Toronto
area,  (in other words, neither parts A nor B apply to you) then you may freely
run  T.I.S.   on  your bulletin board.  You may still want to register, both to
get  the  benefits  of  the  registered  version  and  to get guilt off of your
conscience :-)

     When  you  run  T.I.S.,  you  automatically agree to the above conditions.
Violation of any of the conditions is a crime.  Please don't be a criminal :-)

     The registered version of T.I.S.  will feature configurability; there will
both  be  a  "registered"  executable  and  a  sysop's  configuring and editing
utility.  There will also be a sizeable question file (with questions different
from  those  distributed  with the unregistered version) distributed with these
programs.   The  distribution  of  these will be limited only to those who have
registered  the  program.   (Hopefully  enough  sysops will register to warrant
creating this registered version.)

     No   guarantees   are  made,  either  expressed  or  implied,  as  to  the
functionality  of  The  Immortal  Struggle.   If  you  must,  or would like to,
register  T.I.S.,  please send a cheque or postal money order for the amount of
either CDN$20 or US$16 to:

     Chris W. Rea
     3058 Council Ring Road
     Mississauga, Ontario
     L5L 1N8 (CANADA)

     Don't  forget  to  include a return address, and, if available, the number
for  your  bulletin board system.  (If your system is in North America, I would
not  mind  calling  it  to upload your registered version, provided you have at
least a 9600bps v.32 modem.)


                                  Final Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Please  read  the CREDITS section of the INSTRUCTIONS from within the game
itself.  Thanks, once again, to all those mentioned in the CREDITS section, and
all  whom I may have forgotten.  (Forgive me.  :-) Encourage your users to read
all of the instruction files available within the game, etc.  The game is truly
fantastic and deserves more attention than other online games available.

     Regarding  other  BBS  programs,  *NO*  The  Immortal Struggle will NOT be
converted  to  work  with  them.   If  you  are an AmiExpress, Paragon/StarNet,
Atredes/Skyline,  C-Net,  etc.   sysop,  sorry but you will either have to find
your  own  way  to  kludge  The  Immortal Struggle to work with your system, or
upgrade  to  a  better  bulletin  board program that has a non-proprietary door
protocol.   (When  I say proprietary, I mean that in order for the door to have
access  to  things  like  the  user's  name it must get them using specific BBS
functions and structures.)

     (I  seriously recommend BBX, which will surely revolutionize the Amiga BBS
market  when it is released.  Highly configurable, powerful, and user-friendly.
Completely  Release  2/ARexx compliant, since it requires both to operate.  You
want  configurability?   Don't go looking for proprietary menu script languages
that other BBS programs use.  BBX offers the extreme flexibility of ARexx.  No,
not  just  as  an  easy way to make doors.  ARexx is used for the actual menus.
The possibilities are limitless!)

     If you would like to contact me, for bug reports, suggestions, etc., I may
be  reached  either by the address given above (hopefully for registrations) or
with the BBS number and network addresses listed below.

   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   .-          -.  Christopher William Rea (U. of T. Computer Sci. Student)
   |  |  | |    |  Sysop/IntuitionBase BBX [phone]  (Toronto, Canada)
   |  |__| |__  |  UUCP: [e-mail]    FIDO: Chris Rea @ 1:167/104.0
   `-          -'  "I open my mouth and some idiot speaks..." -Midnight Oil
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   12-Feb-93
                                    Cheers!


                  Appendix A: Release History (Newest First)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12-Feb-93 / v1.07
-----------------
     Second  release.   This  can  be  considered a "major" release because now
there is a BBX-specific version of The Immortal Struggle included as well.  The
BBX-specific  executable  is  called  "TISBBX"  to  differentiate  between  the
DLG-Pro/FalconCBCS/Xenolink  version,  which  is  now called "TISDFX".  The BBX
version  of  T.I.S.   has  a NODE utilities command, which also shows up in the
other  version  but disabled.  The ANSI command in the BBX version is disabled,
since  BBX  offers superior ANSI colour mapping control.  The BBX version takes
advantage of which ever text editor the user has configured his account to use,
instead of using the original less capable T.I.S.  message editor.

     Also  new  and included in this release are two programs, "SQ", a question
file  sorter  and  validation  utility,  and  "LPL", a program to list players'
levels  to  determine a contest winner.  Please see the documentation for these
programs for more information.

     Lastly,  there have been a few minor modifications to T.I.S.  itself.  The
player  data  and  mountain data are no longer written as often; superior break
condition  handling  has  reduced  the need for writing these files as often as
they  were written before.  The executable has also become slightly smaller and
more  optimal  as  a result of the work to convert T.I.S.  to take advantage of
BBX.   A  small  display  bug or two fixed and a couple of other trivial things
also changed.

02-Jan-93 / v1.00
-----------------
     Initial  release  of  The  Immortal Struggle.  DLG-Pro/FalconCBCS/Xenolink
version  only  was  released.  No bugs were reported, which is good, and I also
got a few registrations, which is also good.  But I'd like to see more.  :-)


                  Appendix B: The Immortal Coffee (A Recipe)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     The  Immortal  Coffee  is a highly interesting beverage with which you can
gain  higher  wisdom.   To  create  The  Immortal  Coffee,  you must follow the
following instructions.

     You  must  procure  some water, a fairly large quantity of instant coffee,
some  highly  sweet  brown  sugar,  some Bailey's Irish Cream, some Kahlua, and
possibly some egg-nog.  (If it is the proper season for such an item.)

     Initially,  boil some water.  Pour this water in a cup.  When I say cup, I
mean  a  large cup.  In fact, I really mean a very large cup.  Within this cup,
you  must add a double dose of instant coffee.  Disregard anything it might say
on  the container's label.  When I say double dose I mean double what one would
usually  find  enough  to make one quite wired indeed.  Next, add one shot (one
fluid  ounce)  of Kahlua to this large cup of boiling water and instant coffee.
After  this  ingredient,  add  two  shots  (two fluid ounces) of Bailey's Irish
Cream,  and then possibly some egg-nog (again, if it is in season.) Lastly, add
plenty of brown sugar.

     The  Immortal  Coffee  is,  indeed,  quite  Immortal.  This combination of
sugar,  caffeine, and ethanol will indubitably keep you awake for a long period
of  time.   Thus  the reason why this is The Immortal Coffee.  (Did I forget to
mention it tastes wicked?) Enjoy, and fleuh.

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