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1995-03-08
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SHIP OF THE LINE Version 1.11 -- Program & Design by Robert A. Dalton
Copyright (C) 1994
DISCLAIMER
The author has taken every precaution to insure that no harm
or damage will occur on computer systems operating this package.
Nevertheless, the author shall NOT be held liable for whatever
may happen on your computer system or to any computer systems
which connects to your own as a result of operating this package.
The user assumes full responsibility for the correct operation of
this software package, whether harm or damage results from software
error, hardware malfunction, or operator error. NO warranties are
offered, expressly stated or implied, including without limitation
or restriction any warranties of operation for a particular purpose
and/or merchantability. If you do not agree with this then do NOT
use this program.
LICENSE AGREEMENT
The game program, support files, and documentation are
copyrighted products of Bob Dalton. Bob Dalton reserves all rights
to these products. This is protected by the United States of America
(USA) and International Copyright Laws. In no way shall the
components of the game software package be reproduced
or modified in any form or method without prior expressly written
permission from Bob Dalton.
Tampering with or altering the contents or integrity of the game
software package is prohibited. No fee may be charged by any
agency other than Bob Dalton beyond the cost of distributing
unregistered copies without prior expressly written permission from
Bob Dalton.
A major portion of this software was written by Scott Baker and
Steven Lorenz. Mr. Baker's Doordriver kit and the changes made
by Mr Lorenz have been used for the communications and interrupt
handling and this part of the software remains copyrighted by them.
This game is distributed under the Shareware concept. You are
allowed to operate this game for a trial period of thirty (30)
days. After this trial period, you must register the game
or discontinue its usage. Again if you do not agree with this
then do NOT use this game.
INTRODUCTION:
------------
Ship of the Line (SOTL) is half wargame and half card game and can be
played in a single user log on session on most BBS's. It takes place in
the Atlantic Ocean between 1778 and 1805. The goal is simple: Utilizing
cards drawn from a play deck attempt to sink or capture all the COMPUTER
opponents fleet while attempting to keep that fate from happening to yours.
Easy? Think again!
REQUIREMENTS:
------------
At this point in time the only requirements are FILES=10 (or more) in your
config.sys file and ANSI.SYS. SHARE must also be loaded IF you intend to
use the game in a multi-node environment OR under DesqView. The game is
RIP aware but NOT a RIP Game at this time. A FOSSIL is NOT required to run
the game, although one will be supported if it exists. Automatic time
slicing support is provided to most common multi-taskers as well.
Files Included
--------------
Below is a listing of all files for the this Game. If you are
missing ANY of these files (except for the DOC and FRM files), the game
will NOT function. Feel free to give out copies of the ENTIRE archive
package of this game but please make sure all the files below are in that
package:
SAILSHIP.ANS - ANSI Opening Screen for Ship of the Line
SAMPLE1.BAT - A sample BAT file which runs the game program from the
game directory.
SAMPLE2.BAT - A sample BAT file which runs the game program from any
node directory.
SAMPLE3.BAT - A sample BAT file identical to the one I use on my Single
node WildCat Support BBS.
SOTL1.CTL - Un-edited and heavily commented sample of a CTL
Control file for setting up SOTL and
hereafter referred to in the game documentation as
GAME.CTL. If you decide to use it, be sure to
rename it to SOTL.CTL first!
SAMPLE.CTL - A copy of the SOTL.CTL file which I use on my BBS to
run the game (WildCat 4.01S System, 386 33Mhz
Computer, Single Node, 8Mb RAM, DesqView 2.63/
QEMM 7.04, BNU Fossil locking port #1 at 19200 and
using FrontDoor 2.02 and a US Robotics DS Modem,
ANSI.sys loaded and SHARE loaded). I have left
the comments in so you can understand what I
am doing.
KEY.DAT - Dummy Key for Ship of the Line (Good forever!)
FILE_ID.DIZ - Ascii Description File for BBS Sysops on Ship of the Line
B4UASK.DOC - Checklist for resolving setup/game play problems
HISTORY.DOC - Ship of the Line Version History information file
SYSOP.DOC - This text file you are reading
UPGRADE.DOC - If you are upgrading - read this first!
DDSETUP.EXE - SOTL CTL configuration program.
SOTL.EXE - Ship of the Line Main Program and hereafter referred to in
the game documentaion as GAME.EXE.
REGISTER.FRM - Preprinted registration form and mailer
BUGRPT.FRM - Preprinted bug report/suggestion/comment form and mailer
CATALOG.TXT - A catalog with descriptions of all door games available
from me.
DSITES.TXT - List of sites where my games are distributed.
INSTRUCT.TXT - Game Player Instructions for Ship of the Line
SOTL.ZIP - Compressed copy of the above instructions to make
available on your BBS for download by players of the game.
Files created by the game when first played:
SOTLSCOR.DAT - Ascii Top Six List Scoreboard and hereafter referred to
in the game documentaion as *SCORE.DAT.
SCORE.DAT - Data file to store player scores between plays
Files created by the game when errors are encountered:
ERROR.LOG - Log of system errors which happen during game play.
Installation
------------
--> NOTE: The word "game" is used in place of the program name for
both the executable file (example GAME.EXE), and the CTL
file (Example GAME.CTL) in the documentation from this
point on. GAMEDIR is used in place of the program directory
in the documentation from this point on.
1. Create a directory for the game (example: "WC30\DOORS\GAMEDIR")
2. Make sure that ALL files listed above from the game package
are moved into that directory.
3. Type "DDSETUP.EXE" and hit the enter key. The first thing it
will ask you is what the name of the CTL file is. Type in
"SOTL.CTL" and then proceed to the other settings. After
you are done the SOTL.CTL file should be correctly configured.
Two versions of a fully commented CTL file are provided for
manual configuration. One is identified by the game title
(example: GAME.CTL) and this is the UN-EDITED version and the
other is identified as SAMPLE.CTL is what a CTL file should look
like AFTER it is edited. If all else fails - try the one I use
on MY support BBS (Sample.CTL). If you have fossil drivers be
sure to uncomment the 'fossil' option. If you have a modem set
to a non-std IRQ be sure to use the PORT# option for that com
port. A CTL file generated by DDSETUP.EXE will have NO comments
and look quite different from my samples, but they WILL work
just as well, never fear.
Where to put this file?
Put this file wherever you are running the game executable file from.
If you are running multi-node you could put a copy in each node
directory and run from there. If you change directory to the GAME
directory put the file here. See the example SAMPLE#.bat files.
4. Edit the Key.DAT file. Line #1 should be the sysops name, Line
#2 should be the name of the using BBS, do NOT change or edit
line #3.
5. To insure proper multi-node use DOS SHARE must be loaded prior to
the game and prior to DESQview.
6. In order to run the game program online the following parameters may
be used.
"/Bxxxxx" This tells GAME.EXE to lock its baud rate at
xxxxx. In order to get the most efficiency out of a high speed
error correcting modem (9600 baud or above), you may lock the baud
rate to a speed higher than what the caller is actually using.
By locking the baud to say 38,400, the modem can compress text data
that is being sent and achieve a baud rate much higher than the
actual transmission rate.
This will lock the baud rate at the same value for all nodes that
use this command line. If you perfer a more selective way to lock
baud use 'LOCKBAUD' command in the GAME.CTL file.
"/Cx" (where x is 1..4) This specifies a comport number.
Some bbs software does not create door information files (dropfiles)
that contain the comport number. If your bbs does have a comport
listed in the dropfile then there is no need for this parameter.
The default is comport 0, local mode.
"/E" - Expanded Memory Specification If your machine has over one
megabyte of memory, then you may have some available. GAME.EXE can
utilize EMS to improve game performance and reduce conventional
memory requirements.
This command will tell GAME.EXE to use EMS memory to hold its
overlay buffer. Otherwise disc area may be used to hold this buffer.
This needs a memory manager and when enabled and is compatible with
DESQview.
"/L" This tells GAME.EXE to load up in LOCAL mode.
This is good for testing or when a sysop just wants to "try out" the
door without messing with his BBS setup. The "/L" mode will ask the
user for his name and run the door in local mode.
"/Nx" (where x is 1..9) This specifies a "node number".
Some bbs software support multinode environments in which you must
know the node number of the drop file to use. For example, RBBS-PC
uses DORINFOx.DEF. If you specified "/N2" then GAME.EXE would use
DORINFO2.DEF.
"/Mx" (where x is up to 2 filename acceptable characters)
Used to specify one of Multiple control files. If you have created
more than one GAME.CTL file (GAME1.CTL, GAME2.CTL, etc.) for each
node or network PC then you can select the one you want by using
the /M parm.
Example: "/M2" will force GAME.EXE to use GAME2.ctl.
"/Pyyy" This specifies the path to the drop files.
For example, "/PC:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE1" would tell GAME.EXE to
look for the drop file in C:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE1. If this is left
out the program assumes the drop file is local.
"/V" This command will tell GAME.EXE not to show any display
on the local screen. Only a colored screen and a message will be
displayed. The cursor will not move as it will be turned off.
Saves a little processing on multi-tasking systems.
"/W" This flags the program that a network is present even
though no multitaskers are detected. This is useful if the door is
run on a network such as Novell that doesn't use multitaskers.
COMMON ERRORS
003 File path not found. Check to make sure the game
directory is correctly named as GAMEDIR.
201 Files not found. Check to make sure that all required
games files are in the GAMEDIR directory.
7. Install the door into your BBS software (see your BBS
software documentation for more information). A batch file is
normally used to do this. To run the program just have your
batch file change to the GAMEDIR directory and run GAME.EXE -
Thats all there is to it! Three different batch files sample
are included to help you run the game. These are included with
the game for editing and your use. Remember when writing the
batch routines for my games you must ensure that the game is
run from it's home directory AND that the game knows where to
find the drop file. Satisfy these two requirements and you
should have no problems running the game as long as the other
setup criteria has been met. For dorinfo systems try using the
following:
Sample Batch File
-----------------
COPY DORINFOx.DEF \RBBS\DOORS\GAMEDIR\*.*
CD \RBBS\DOORS\GAMEDIR
GAME x <-=- NODE number !!DO NOT USE "x"!!
del dorinfox.def
CD \WC30
--> Please note that you replace the "x" with the appropriate
node number. Ex: Dorinfo1.def ; Dorinfo2.def ; etc...
8. If you would like a score bulletin just have the game batch file
copy the *SCORE.DAT file to wherever you have your bulletins.
Example:
Copy C:\WC30\DOORS\GAMEDIR\*SCORE.DAT C:\WC30\BULL\BULL11.BBS
Please note that NO *SCORE.DAT or SCORE.DAT files will be generated
UNTIL a player completes a game and has better then a zero (0) score.
If the first player quits BEFORE finishing the game neither of the
files will be created.
9. Surprise! There is NO daily maintenance to be performed.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE UNREGISTERED GAME
-------------------------------------
Until the game is registered the following restrictions are in effect:
a. Players can only have one game choice option at the beginning (usually
means they can choose only one side or one map depending on the game).
b. There will be a slight delay experienced by players at the beginning of
the game.
c. Registering the game disables the above.
d. Once you are registered any future updates can be obtained free
through my BBS and my upgrades are ALWAYS easy to implement!
e. I am always improving my games - so check my BBS for a more current
version.
WHAT TO DO IF THERE ARE PROBLEMS
--------------------------------
Every effort is made to ensure that the game runs correctly before it leaves
my BBS as Shareware. If you are experiencing problems please do the
following BEFORE calling me:
1. Read ALL the SYSOP.DOC to ensure you have setup the program
and have met all the program requirements.
2. Use the B4UASK.DOC as a checklist to ensure that you have
not done anything wrong.
Multinode use
-------------
This game supports multinode use and provides automatic multi-tasker
support (time slice releasing) for a wide variety of multi-taskers.
Common Problems (Locked Bauds, High Speed modems, etc)
------------------------------------------------------
1. The game does NOT require a fossil driver to run.
2. If you are running a high speed modem (9600 baud or above),
then I suggest you run your bbs/mailer/doors at a locked baud
rate. On high speed error correcting modems, locking the baud
rate will have a noticeable increase on the speed of text that
is sent. It's beyond the scope of this document to discuss
configuring your BBS and mailer for a locked baud rate; you may
wish to consult those docs for information on that. Here are a
few things to keep in mind when setting up GAME with a locked
baud rate:
a. When using a locked baud rate, I highly recommend
using a FOSSIL driver. This game will work at high
speeds without one though. BNU is a good fossil driver
which can even be loaded and unloaded before and after
you run this game.
b. If you are using a fossil, then make sure to tell the
fossil that the port is locked. For BNU, to lock com1:
at 38,400, you would use something like "L0=38400" on
BNU's command line.
c. If you lock the baud for one program, it must be
locked for everything. You can't lock the baud for just
this game, but not your BBS/mailer.
d. You may need to use the /B switch on the game.exe
Command line to specify the locked baud rate. For
19,200 this would be "/B19200" and for 38,400 this
would be "/B38400". Please note there is no space
between the "/B" and the baud rate.
3. What follows is some information on possible strange
situations that may occur:
a. Low speed users can play the game, but high speed
users get garbage.
- If you are not using the DORINFOx.DEF or
DOOR.SYS drop file then you may wish to find a
converter program to convert whatever drop file
your BBS produces to the DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS
format and tell game.exe to use that.
Several converter programs are readily available
on most BBS systems. CallDoor is a good one if you
can find it. I have it on my BBS for download if
you need it.
b. The game hangs up when a user enters the game.
- Sounds like the game is getting the wrong baud
rate somehow. Try switching over to the DOOR.SYS
drop file method if possible.
c. Text and screens are getting cut off.
- If you are running with a locked baud, then this
could be caused by some sort of FLOW CONTROL
problem. Try using a fossil if you aren't already.
d. If you're using something other than the DOOR.SYS
drop file, then I always suggest trying to use
DOOR.SYS if possible. It is the most reliable method
and has had the most testing. If that is not possible
try DORINFOx.DEF as an alternative.
e. A door locks up node 1. This can happen with fossils
or the internal communications routines because it
uses the default comport of 1 when NONE is found in
the dropfile or game.ctl file. To correct this make
sure the right port is shown in the dropfile OR
game.ctl file.
f. ANSI is reflected correctly on the local screen but
the user is getting garbage. Assuming the user has
ANSI installed then most likely the problem is at
your end. First make sure you have configured the
game.ctl file to show the correct locked port rate.
Second make sure the dropfile is passing the locked
port rate INSTEAD of the actual conncet rate. If it
is not passing the locked port rate then you may
need to use a different dropfile format OR use a
dropfile converter program to change the line to
show the locked port rate INSTEAD of the actual
connect rate.
"Corrupted" data files
----------------------
It is possible that something could happen to your game data file.
A power outage, game crash, or other event could damage the data
files. If you get one of these messages, then the best thing to do is
eliminate the SCORE.DAT and *SCORE.DAT files and start the game again to
create a new one.
CREDITS:
--------
This relatively small section is just to recognize the GOOD people
who have made this door a possibility.
Scott Baker -=*=- The author of the door driver package which
made this game possible. Great job Scott!!
Steven Lorenz -=*=- The author of the enhanced add on package
to Scott Bakers DoorDriver. Thanks to his
allowing me to use his modifications I
was able to delete the fossil requirement
and add many new communication and other
enhancements to my games. Thanks Steve!
DESQview is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
Doordriver kit is proprietary software by Scott Baker.
Ripscript & Ripterm are registered trademarks of TeleGrafix Communications.
Where to reach me
-----------------
I can usually be reached at my BBS system, which should be
listed in the section entitled "registration" which is below.
I also habitually monitor ALL door related echos in the FIDO
Net System.
Registration
------------
If you or your users enjoy this game, then please register it.
Information on price and how to register is shown on the
enclosed REGISTER.FRM. Registration will disable the delay,
allow additional options and entitle you to life time support
through my BBS. BBS Support includes unlimited free updates
and upgrades (not like some door game authors who charge for
major upgrades/updates!) through my BBS and access to the game
support conference on my BBS. To register this game just print
out the registration form (REGISTER.FRM) file included with the
game and send it with your check or money order to:
Robert A. Dalton
203 Old Farm Road
Harrison, AR 72601
HOW TO REACH ME BY MODEM
---------------------------
The TANSTAFL BBS (USA)
(501) 741-5699 (USR Dual- 2400 to 14400 baud)
Fidonet 1:391/3010
Reminder: You will be mailed a LETTER with your registration
code. Just allow an appropriate amount of time (a week or two)
after dropping your check in the mail for it to arrive to me
and the code to be sent by mail back to you. If you need it
sooner log onto my BBS, leave me a message telling me you
mailed the registration and when I receive your check or money
order I will post a private message on the BBS giving you the
key code. If you do it this way please allow at least a week
from the time you mail it to the time you call and get your
code. If you go the BBS route you will ALSO receive a key code
by mail. If you live in NORTH AMERICA I can also send your key
via Netmail for an additional $1.00, if you would like, through
the FIDO system (only). REMINDER: No disks are sent, if you need
the most current version you must call OR freq my BBS for it.
Bug Reports/Comments/Suggestions
--------------------------------
I have made every attempt to make sure the game is free of bugs,
BUT the possibility always exists that one may have been missed
by me or the playtesters. If you find a bug, or have a
suggestion or comment to make which would make future versions
better please print out the BUGRPT.FRM and mailer, fill it out,
and send it to me. I read ALL of them and those people that
lead me to find a bug or generate a better game will receive
credit in the game documentation. PLEASE DO NOT NOTIFY ME OF
PROBLEMS AND EXPECT ME TO FIX THEM IF YOU HAVE FAILED TO
PROVIDE ME WITH THE BUGRPT.FRM AND OTHER INFORMATION I REQUIRE
AS STATED IN THE B4UASK.DOC.
FIDO INFORMATION
----------------
My BBS supports file "freq"ing at 9600 baud or above. Just
call 1:391/3010. I also carry a door library of over 350 of
the all time best door games which I try to keep current.
For a list of these doors just freq "DOORS". I am always adding
new things to my games so most likely there will be a later
version of the program available on my BBS then the one you
have. For a current version of the game just freq the magic
name shown in the catalog document which is in the game package.
For a list of ALL my files just freq "TANSTAFL.ZIP". If you
are a door game/program writer why not send me a copy of your
game/program? If you have a more current version of a door
then I have, please consider sending me a copy as a token of
your appreciation for the service I offer at NO cost to you.
Thanks!