Beijing Paradise BBS Backup

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Beijing Paradise BBS Backup / PARADISE.ISO / software / BBSDOORW / ASNPC110.ZIP / ASNSYSOP.INS < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-01-12 | 12.4 KB | 321 lines

ASSASSIN (C) Copyright 1995 by Kevin MacFarland MasterTech Software ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SYSOP INSTRUCTIONS This file contains all the information that is needed to setup and run Assassin PC on a Bulletin Board System(BBS) or as a standalone game. NOTE: If you are upgrading from version 1.08, run TO109.EXE to update your data files. If you are upgrading from a version prior to Assassin 1.08, Version 1.10 will require a complete re-initialization of your game. Read the instructions below for Setup, Initializtion, and Registration information. *** If you will be running Assassin on a Multi-Node BBS, please set the file attributes of ASNPC.EXE and ASNUTIL.EXE to READ-ONLY. This MUST be done or a sharing violation can occur. See the Q and A section later in this file. System Requirements... The minimum requirements needed to run Assassin and its utility are fairly simple. * IBM PC or compatable with at least 512K of memory. * MS-DOS version 3.1 or later Multitasker Support... Assassin directly supports Desqview and Windows multitaskers. Command Line Parameters... Assassin supports a large number of command-line parameters. These are used to tell Assassin the user and system information it requires. /Local -- Ignore Dropfiles, Local Login /Drop=filepath -- Full Path and Filename of Drop file This take priority over drop file types in the ASNPC109.SET file (See Below) /Node=# -- BBS Node number for dropfiles other than 30+ line DOOR.SYS, Spitfire SFDOORS.DAT and TriBBS TRIBBS.SYS. /User=username -- Full User Name /Port=# -- Comm Port Number (0 = LOCAL) /Baud=# -- Baud Rate (0 = LOCAL) /Base=### -- Hex Base Address of Comm Port if Serial Port Comm Type is selected /IRQ=# -- IRQ line of COMM Port /Time=# -- Number of minutes left /Help or /? -- Help Screen NOTE: One of the most important things here is the Dropfile. If you do not give a full filepath on the command line to the type of drop file you select (See Setup Menu), Assassin will search through the Assassin Data directory and your computer's ENVIRON path (As set by the DOS SET PATH= command) for the Drop file. Local Sysop Keys... These keys will allow you, the sysop, to directly affect the operation of Assassin and the User that is currently playing it. ALT-Q Exit Assassin. This will close all game files, remove the ALT-X Inuse flag, and returns the user to the BBS. Alt-L Exit Assassin with Fake Line Noise. Alt-H Hang Up on User. Same as above, but drops carrier on the user so they are logged off the BBS. Alt-C Built-in Chat Mode. Self explanitory. Either the Alt-C or ESCAPE key can be pressed to exit chat mode. Alt-S Status Bar Display. Pressing this will toggle the display of the status bar on the local screen. Alt-D Jump or Drop to DOS Alt-J Running The Utility... The actual utility functions are broken down by menus. The options on each menu are fairly self explanatory. Main Menu Commands S) "Setup Menu" This will give you a menu that lists the parameters you need to set up for ASSASSIN. R) "Registration Info" This will ask for your for the serial number and the passkey that we provide when you register. I) "Initialize Files" This will create the game files: ASNGUILD.DAT (Guild Data File) ASNPLYR.DAT (Player Data File) ASNNEWS.LOG (List of all news) MESSAGE.IDX (Index of Assassin Message Base) MESSAGE.DAT (Data for Assassin Message Base) and a few others. Use this after you have Set the parameters with the "S" option above. P) "Player Editor" This will allow you modify information in the player data file such as Endurance, Turns left, and Activity. Please though, use it in discretion only. (You are NOT suppose to be a divine being controlling the lives of the players, their actions and the computer should be the ruling forces in this game.) M) "Message Base Editor" This will allow you to view and edit every message in the Assassin Message database. L) "Location Info Editor" This option will let you change the names of the guilds to suit your tastes, or to remove an offending name that a user gives to a guild. You can also set Guild Initiation and Delay fees in this menu. If the game is registered, you can even change the name of the city. C) "Color Editor" This editor will let you set four of the colors used in Assassin and ASNUTIL. You can set Menu Text Color, Menu Selection Colors (hilited selection characters), and the color of text used by Local and Remote users in the Chat Mode. A) "Add More Players" This will increase the maximum number of players (up to 50 total) in case you under estimate the interest of the game. This will not modify the game in any other way. Q) "Quit" This of course will return you to DOS or wherever you called ASNUTIL from. SETUP Menu (The commands are in order of appearance, however you don't necessarily have to do it in this order.) D) Type of BBS Drop File This option allows you to set the type of dropfile that Assassin reads from your BBS. A dropfile is a file created by a BBS to pass System and User information to an external program, such as Assassin. The currently available Drop File types Assassin recognizes are: 0: "No Dropfile - Use Command Line parameters" 1: "DORINFO#.DEF" 2: "Wildcat or Generic DOOR.SYS (31-53 line version)" 3: "Remote Access DOOR.SYS(6 line version for RA version before 2.00)" 4: "Wildcat CALLINFO.BBS" 5: "Genesis CALLINFO.BBS" 6: "WWIV CHAIN.TXT" 7: "Spitfire SFDOORS.DAT" 8: "TriBBS TRIBBS.SYS" C) Type of Comm Handler This option allows you to set the type of Modem Communication used by Assassin. The available types are FOSSIL driver, DigiBoard multi- serial port card, or Serial Interrupt via the Comm Port. NOTE: Serial Interrupt for COM1 - COM4 have default values. If you use Non-standard Base addresses or IRQs or above COM4, run Assassin with the correct command line parameters. The selections available in this option are: 0: Auto Detect (Checks for Fossil, then DigiBoard, then Serial) 1: Serial Interrupt 2: FOSSIL Driver 3: DigiBoard F) Assassin File Path This is where the program will put Player files, Guild data, message bases and a few other files. This is also the place where the instruction files and, if registered, your registration key must be placed. This is a DIRECTORY, not a filename. N) News Path and Name If you want this file to be readable from a Text section, you can set the FILENAME into that directory. This IS a full FILENAME, not just a directory or folder. Reason why we emphasize FOLDERS and FILENAMEs is to help you make it work the first time. S) Score Path and Name If you want to show a short screen with player names and ranks, in a text section, fill in the info just like the news (Different name of course). If you don't want this option, type 'NONE' as the FILENAME. G) Guilds This is a number between 5 and 15. Unless you really need to conserve memory, you should set this at a minimum of 10. You will NOT be able to change this once the database files are initialized. P) Players This is the number of players you will allow to play Assassin. It can range from 10-50. If you don't wish to use a lot of memory, it is safe to start at 10 since you can always A)dd players later. E) Maximum Endurance for New Players This will allow you to set the amount of damage your characters can take before they are killed when you first begin. Its value can range from 50-250. (100 is recommended) M) Initial Money for New Players This will allow you to set the amount of money each player starts out with. Its value can range from 50-1000. (100 is recommended) K) Skill Point to Training Sessions This will allow you to set the number of skill points that are used for each training session. Its value can range from 5-15. (10 is recommended) T) Daily Turns This is a number from 10-50. Turns are removed for certain things i.e. an assassination will expend approximately two turns. 10 allows very little progress, 50 allows a lot of progress, some times too much progress. A good number to set it at is 20 or 25. B) Backlog of News and Messages Backlog for news and messages can be individually set. This holds all old news for a certain amount of days. It also affects messages, specifically public messages in the Pub and the Guilds. I would say no longer than a week should be stored. A) Message Anonymity Setting this to TRUE will allow your users to leave anonymous messages in the Pub, Inn, or Guild. H) Handles or Assumed Names Setting this to TRUE will allow users to play with assumed names in the game. Setting it to FALSE will force users to play under their BBS name or handle. On OTHER type boards, the name they sign the register with is the name they will use. I) Inactivity of players This will allow you to set the number of days of inactivity before your players are auto-deleted. This applies to both the living and the dead. With this option, both days can be set individually. Once you exit the set-up, if you have modified any of the above options, ASNUTIL will ask you if you wish to save the SET file. If you want to save the changes, enter Yes. Otherwise, the options will return to the current SET file settings (or defaults if no options have been set). After the FILES ( and Assassin directory if necessary ) have been created, place the files ASSASSIN.IN1 to .IN4 into the Assassin Data directory you specified in the setup screen. This will enable your players to read the instructions on how to play ASSASSIN before the game starts. FOR REGISTERED SYSOPS: Rename the ASN???.KEY file to ASSASSIN.KEY and place it in the same directory as the Assaassin File Path you entered above in the Setup menu to make your registration valid. You must still enter the serial number and passkey into the Registration section of the utility and save this new SET file. Now ASSASSIN is ready to be played by you and your users. Questions and Answers... Q: I run Assassin on a multi-node BBS. When another user trys to run Assassin while it is being played, I get a sharing violation error. A: If you are going to be running Assassin on a multi-line or multi-node BBS, set the file attributes of ASNPC.EXE and ASNUTIL.EXE to READ-ONLY. This can be done using the DOS ATTRIB function as follows: ATTRIB +R ASN*.EXE This will take care of a Sharing Violation Error generated by DOS's SHARE.EXE. This error is caused when a BBS shells out to a door game and SHARE locks the file with DENY READ/WRITE access which allows only one copy of a game to be run. With the READ-ONLY file attribute set, SHARE will lock the file only with DENY WRITE, allowing the game to be run many times. Q: Assassin says that it can't find a data file. A: Run the utility before you play the game, set the game options("S"), and initialize the files ("I"). Q: Assassin or the Utility says "Assassin is currently in use by another player", and I know that this is not true. A. Just go into the Assassin Data directory and remove the file ASNINUSE.FLG, which is a one byte semaphore file. If you have a repeated problem with this, please put "DEL ASNINUSE.FLG" in the batch file that runs Assassin and report the circumstances to me. Q: Assassin works fine locally, but my remote users don't see a thing. A: Check the Status of the Fossil driver, or install one if you don't have one running already. PLEASE also read README.1ST ( For important information for this release ) UPDATE.TXT ( For a list of new features and fixes ) README.NOW ( For general info regarding ASSASSIN ) DISCLAIMER... I (Kevin MacFarland) do not assume any responsiblity for any damage to equipment or loss of data that may occur to your system. You are free to distribute this archive as long as none of the files are changed or omitted, and you can not charge for distribution of this archive except for reasonably incurred media and transmission costs.