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- CONFIGURATION FILES
-
- Many players of Hack Lite will be content to play a single character.
- Others, however, may want to define several different characters which
- might play independently. One situation where this is convenient is a
- shared family computer, where each family member might define his or her
- own unique character. Another situation would be that of a Hack fanatic
- (er, enthusiast) who wants to experiment with many different kinds of
- characters.
-
- To support these modes of play, Hack Lite supports multiple configuration
- files, each of which defines a set of game preferences. The master
- configuration is HACKLITE.CNF, which is created by HackInstall when the
- game is installed. (It is created in ENV:/ENVARC: if these paths are
- defined on your system, and otherwise in S:.) Other .CNF files can be
- created in the Hack Lite game directory by the HackConfig program, or
- manually. The way in which a configuration file is chosen and used
- depends on whether you play from the CLI or from Workbench.
-
- PLAYING FROM THE CLI
-
- If you play from the CLI, the default configuration file is used unless
- you use the -u argument when you start the game. For instance, if you
- start up the game with the command "hacklite2 -uMordred", Hack Lite looks
- first for a file named Mordred.CNF. If Mordred.CNF does not exist, then
- the standard configuration is used. Note that you can use other arguments
- to override the configuration. For instance "hacklite2 -uMordred -I" will
- start up an immortal-mode game, even if the Mordred character is not
- normally immortal. (See Hack.man for more information on Hack Lite
- command line arguments.)
-
- The search for a configuration is actually a little more complicated than
- stated in the last paragraph. The full search for a .CNF file is as
- follows:
-
- 1. Look in the current directory for playername.CNF, and then for
- HACKLITE.CNF.
- 2. Look in ENV:/S: for playername.CNF, and then for HACKLITE.CNF
- 3. Look in the Hack game directory for playername.CNF, and then for
- HACKLITE.CNF.
-
- PLAYING FROM WORKBENCH
-
- Hack Lite is even more flexible when you invoke it from a Workbench icon.
- It makes use of the icon "tool types" to take the place of command-line
- arguments for common startup requirements. The meaningful tool types are
- as follows:
-
- CONFIG=filename - specifies the name of a configuration file to be used
- for this game. If there is no CONFIG tool type, the configuration
- file is found as described below.
-
- NAME=playername - specifies the player name. If there is no NAME tool
- type, the player name is taken from the icon name. If there is no
- CONFIG tool type, the configuration file name is assumed to be
- playername.CNF.
-
- CLASS=letter - specifies the character class, e.g., CLASS=K to play a
- knight. If there is no CLASS tool type, the class is read from the
- configuration file.
-
- (There is also a SAVE= tool type. This tool type is set by the game when
- it creates icons representing saved games, and should not be set by you.)
-
- Once the configuration file name has been determined, the search for the
- configuration file takes place as described above for the CLI. The
- "current directory" here is the directory containing the icon.
-
- USING HACKCONFIG TO DEFINE CONFIGURATIONS
-
- When you invoke HackConfig, it always reads the master configuration file.
- You can use the "Load Config" button to read some other configuration file
- instead. The "Update Player" button is used to store back the
- configuration you most recently loaded, with any changes you've requested.
- (If you haven't loaded any other configurations, HACKLITE.CNF is
- rewritten.) The "Add Player" button is used after you've changed the
- player name to create a new configuration. Note that if you select
- "Update Player" when the player name does not already have a
- configuration, or select "Add Player" for a player name that does have a
- configuration, HackConfig will "do the right thing". In particular, it
- will not create a configuration where the file name and the player name
- specified in the file differ, such as a Mordred.CNF specifying a player
- name of Lancelot.
-
- Additional controls are provided by the HackConfig menus. The "Save
- Config", "Save As" and "Save as Default" menu selections allow you more
- control over where a configuration file is stored. You should avoid "Save
- As" unless you know what you're doing! Note that "Save As Default" is
- most useful if you want to change the name of your default character,
- since "Update Player" does not let you change the player name.
-
- If you play from Workbench, you may also wish to use the "Add Icon"
- control. You would use "Add Icon" when you want to add an icon for an
- existing player. For instance, suppose your character Mordred is defined
- in the configuration file as a Knight. Every time you click on the
- Mordred icon, you will play as a Knight. Now you decide you would
- sometimes like to play Mordred as a Wizard. If you set Mordred's
- character class to Wizard and select "Update Player", the Mordred.CNF file
- will be rewritten to show that Mordred is a Wizard by default. If you
- wanted instead to sometimes play Mordred as a Wizard, but keep the default
- of Knight, you would select "Add Icon" instead. A new Mordred-W icon will
- be created to let you play Mordred as a Wizard, and MORDRED.CNF will not
- be changed.
-
- SAVE FILE CONSIDERATIONS
-
- One of the unique features of Hack is the use of "bones files", which
- allow a player to encounter the ghost of another player (or of himself) as
- he explores the dungeon. When several players use the same computer, you
- may need to be careful to allow the "bones" of any player to be accessed
- by the others. The considerations depend on which of the four
- configurations you selected when you installed the game.
-
- Full Hard Disk: No problem! The "bones files" are all stored in the
- common "Saved Games" directory.
-
- Minimal Hard Disk: No problem! The "bones files" are stored on your hard
- disk. Each player can have his own save disk, or they can all share.
-
- Two Floppy Setup: The "bones files" are all stored on the save disk that
- was created at install time. For this reason, if possible, all players
- should share the same save disk. If this is not possible, a player who
- uses another save disk will sometimes be required to swap in the "bones"
- disk. Note that Hack Lite save files are fairly small. A single floppy
- can comfortably hold at least 4 save files for games with many levels,
- and more for typical games.
-
- One Floppy Setup: The "bones files" are stored in the common "Saved
- Games" directory on the floppy. So you will have no problem accessing
- them, but you may find yourself cramped for space on this disk. Note
- that you could play with an additional save disk, if you selected
- "Requestor for Saved Games" when you installed. Even if you use a
- separate save disk, it is still possible to run out of space during a
- game which generates many levels.
-