Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/games/gscape.zip/SCAPE2.EXE/arc/GSCAPE2.DOC

Text File | 1989-03-22 | 42KB | 915 lines

                             GAMESCAPE ver 2.0
                     Copyright 8-2-88,1989 Dennis Drew.

    Welcome to Gamescape, the program that lets you write your own
adventure games AND distribute them for fun or profit!

                             IMPORTANT NOTICE!
    This program is SHAREWARE, which means that it is not free and not
public domain.  It is LICENSED, not sold.
    I encourage you to copy it and give it to your friends.  Test it out
yourself.  Write a small test adventure and see how it works.  No charge.
    But if you decide this is a good program, and if you wish to use it to
develop further adventure games, you will need to register by sending in
the registration agreement with a check for $59.  I think that's very
inexpensive for a program such as this one, and this method of marketing
allows you to test out the program before you put your hard-earned dollars
into it.  Plus, REGISTRATION GETS A 1-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO GSCAPE NEWSZINE!
    If you create an adventure game with this package and distribute it IN
ANY MANNER, whether that manner is giving it to a friend, loaning it to
someone, sending it out public domain, selling it, or distributing it in
any other conceivable way, you MUST be a paid and registered user.  In
addition, I politely request you send us a copy of that game so I can see
the excellent examples of work being done out there with our program and
have my head swell 3 times its size.  Another advantage to sending us a
copy is that I might put it on one of our distribution diskettes (only with
your permission, of course!) and help you send it across the earthly globe
(seriously.  I have registered users in Austrailia even!).  Instant fame!
    I also provide telephone support to registered users.  I will provide
ABSOLUTELY NO support to non-registered users.
    As stated, this program is licensed, not sold.  When you use this
program, you automatically agree to the terms of our license.  If you do
not agree with the licensing requirements, do not use the package.
    Any adventure game designed with this package and distributed WITHOUT
the author being a registered user, AUTOMATICALLY by the stipulations of
our license becomes my property (nya ah ah!).  This may sound harsh, but
consider that I've put in a LOT of time and effort into making this thing
actually WORK.  If you distribute adventure games without being a
registered user, well, that's not really being fair to us poor, overworked
programmers, is it?  Besides, the only way I'm going to be encouraged to
write more of these incredibly interesting and unique programs is to get
paid for the ones I've already written.
    If you want to retain the ownership of your hard work, then please
REGISTER.  The price is cheap and the program good.  Then too, I hear that
the cost of food is going up and I'm especially fond of eating,
particularly during the months of January through December.
    If you register I'll send you a catalog of our OTHER nifty programs
(and I've got some real kickers-- just ask other users!), and if an upgrade
to this program has taken place, I'll let you know about that too.
Upgrades are announced to registered users only; I never post them on BBSs.
    Have fun.  Create.  Go where no man has gone before.  Die fiendishly
cruel deaths, then bounce back and after hours and hours finally solve the
sucker!

       Dennis Drew   PO Box 101     Joplin, MO  64802  [phone]

                         ADVANTAGES OF REGISTRATION

    1. It lets you use GAMESCAPE legally to develop programs.
    2. It allows your GAMESCAPE developed programs to remain your property.
    3. It allows you to distribute your programs.
    4. It gains you telephone support.
    5. It provides you with a possible market for your finished product
         through our "Best Collection" disks (upon your agreement).
    6. It gets you a catalog of our other programs.
    7. It notifies you of GAMESCAPE UPDATES
    8. IT GETS YOU A 1-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO GSCAPE NEWSZINE!!!
    9. We will be encouraged to write more of these nifty programs.

                    WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T REGISTER?
    1. If you develop a game, you can't legally distribute it in any form--
         not even to give to friends.
    2. Any games you develop instantly become our property.
    3. You will have NO telephone support whatsoever.
    4. Your games will not be eligible for our "Collection" disks.
    5. You will not receive our catalogs.
    6. You will not be notified of updates.
    7. You will not receive a subscription to GSCAPE NEWSZINE.
    8. We will starve and never produce another nifty program again.

    All this considered, isn't registration a good idea?


                    GAMESCAPE USER LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
                      AND USER REGISTRATION AGREEMENT

ARTICLE 1. ACCEPTANCE.
    In registering for the program GAMESCAPE, the user agrees to abide by
all articles and restrictions of this license. It is the responsibility of
the purchaser to note the items of this license, and decide upon
agreeability of its terms prior to the registration of the program.

ARTICLE 2. LICENSING.
    This program is licensed, not sold. As such, the user/ purchaser has
the right to use the program on a day-to-day basis, but recognizes the
ownership of the program and all materials as belonging to the author.

ARTICLE 3. COPYING
    This program is USER SUPPORTED.  You are encouraged to copy this
program and give it to your friends and acquaintences.  You may use this
program freely and distribute it as you wish.  However, the following
restrictions do apply:
    1. You may not charge a fee for this program, other than for the cost
of duplication.
    2. You may not alter the program or supporting items in any manner.
    3. You may distribute items created using this program ONLY if you are
a paid and registered user.
    4. Any games distributed for use with this package by non-registered
users AUTOMATICALLY become the property of the GAMESCAPE author.
    5. The GSCAPE2.EXE program may be distributed freely with your adventure
games, IF YOU ARE A PAID, REGISTERED USER. You may charge a fee for your
programs if you desire, or send them out public domain, or SHAREWARE
method, or give them to friends.  That is the purpose of GAMESCAPE.
    6. When distributing copies of GAMESCAPE, all files and documentation
must be included in the distribution.  This does not apply to distributing
the GSCAPE2.EXE program for use with your created adventure games. In such a
case, only the GSCAPE2.EXE program need be included.

ARTICLE 4. WARRANTY AND LIABILITY.
     It is the responsibility of the purchaser to decide upon usability and
application of this program to his/her particular needs. Every effort has
been made to insure the accuracy and reliability of this program. However,
since the success of this program relies a great deal upon individual use
and dedication to the use thereof, and the fact that this program is user
copiable (thus limiting our control over what the end-user receives), we
will not be held responsible for any results obtained from the direct or
indirect use of this program.

ARTICLE 5. TERMINATION.
     If the user/purchaser breaks any article of this agreement, all items
pertaining to GAMESCAPE shall be returned to the publisher, and all
adventure games created thereby become the property of Dennis Drew. This
will not exclude any additional punitive damages incurred according to
national and civil laws.

ARTICLE 6. CUSTOMER SUPPORT.
     We are eager to support our customers. Technical assistance is
available to REGISTERED USERS ONLY by calling [phone] Monday through
Friday during the hours of 9am to 5pm.

ARTICLE 7. BINDING
    The user is bound by the rules of this licensing agreement, regardless
of actual registration.  If the user does not agree with these terms or
chooses not to register, then he/she is not granted the license to use the
GAMESCAPE system.

ARTICLE 8.  TRANSFER OF LICENSE
    This license is not transferable.  Any user who allows another user
access to his registration number immediately voids his own registration
rights and will be considered in breach of license.

                        GAMESCAPE USER REGISTRATION
     If your diskette is damaged in any way, return it to us along with
$10.00 to cover cost of replacement. We will rush you a new diskette.  But
better yet, take advantage of the non-protected nature and make a bunch of
backups!
     It is recognized that the purchaser is already bound by the terms of
the LICENSING AGREEMENT enclosed with this package. This registration form
serves two purposes:
     1. To emphasize agreement with the terms of the license.
     2. To allow us to provide you with timely updates and
     information.

                         Thank you for registering!


                        GAMESCAPE REGISTRATION FORM
                           (please print clearly)

NAME: _______________________________Serial #:__________________

COMPANY NAME: __________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________

CITY: ______________________ STATE: _______ ZIP: _______________

PHONE: (_____)_______-_______  PURCHASE DATE: _____/_____/______


I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the GAMESCAPE licensing
agreement. I request to have my name added to your mailing list for future
updates and information.


___________________________________________ ___________________
signed                                      date

                 enclose your check for $59.00 and mail to:
                Dennis Drew   PO Box 101   Joplin, MO  64802
                      (outside U.S. add $5 shipping)



                               Announcing!!!

                              GSCAPE NEWSZINE

    This is the definitive quarterly newsletter for GAMESCAPE hobbyists. A
subscription brings you a printed newsletter telling you about tricks and
tips for making GAMESCAPE do the unusual and unexpected!  You might even
receive a disk or two showing you examples of these nifty ideas and
adventure programs created by other registered users (or you might not,
depending on what's in that particular issue and if I've had my coffee that
morning).  Or you might not get any printed stuff, and just a disk.  Who
knows what the GAMESCAPE universe will offer?  Whichever, I think you'll be
pleased by the interesting stuff you'll find, and the incredible ideas that
creative GAMESCAPE users can employ to make their games more interesting.
    It's a nice, relaxed, fun-zine that you'll get a kick out of.  Kinda a
non-profit thing.

                            GAMESCAPE REASONINGS
                -or why I wrote the thing in the first place

    I've always enjoyed adventure games.  Good ones anyway.  And I've seen
several adventure generators come out on the market.  Three notable ones
(which I shan't mention the names of because I like staying safe) I will
describe here:
    Package #1 was pretty good. It created a stand-alone adventure game,
which means that you'd use the package to design the game, then it would
compile the thing and create a fully-running adventure which didn't need
the original compiler to operate.  I even produced an adventure game called
MAROONED AGAIN that I distributed via shareware and made some bucks on.
    But there were a couple of small things missing like the ability to
create and store random numbers.  The program was only available for the
IBM and Commodore 64, which limited distribution of adventures created with
the thing.  Then the REALLY irritating thing happened: the company that
wrote the program went out of business and the diskette was protected!!!
(I'd like to find the @#$% author and strangle the jerk).  Irritatinger and
irritatinger, as Alice would say.
    Package #2 was interesting; it had a moving graphics and text
interface. But documentation was limited and poorly written (inexcusable
from the Enormously Advanced company that produced it).  Further, the
package did NOT allow stand-alone adventures, and didn't even make
provision for a driver that could be distributed with the program.  It went
back to the store the next day.
    Package #3 was a public domain version that had potential, but the user
interface and documentation was some of the worst I'd ever seen (why can't
people write instruction manuals that make sense to the average user?).
Although I'm a professional programmer, I didn't feel like having cobwebs
grow around me as I slogged through the manual, so I chucked that one.

    So, bottom line, the current entries in the market were about as
useful as last week's newspaper.  This strange light bulb suddenly appeared
over my head (I had always thought that only happened on cartoons) and I
sat down and started a new project: GAMESCAPE.

                             WHAT IS GAMESCAPE?
    Gamescape is first of all not an adventure compiler, nor is it a
generator.  It is rather, an adventure ENGINE.
    What is an ENGINE?  Well, it makes things go, right?  That's what
Gamescape does.  It takes and adventure you create, and makes it go.  Let's
compare the three types here:
    An adventure COMPILER takes an adventure database and turns it into a
finished game.  That's the kind described in type #1 above.  It's nice, and
if the compiler's a good one, this is the best way.  But it does have
memory limitations and game limitations because there's only so much room
you have to work in one program.  Most compilers are limited to 64K of
space, which means you are severely limited as to the amount of text you
can put in your adventure.  In addition, most compilers have their own
built-in "creator" function which you use to actually write the database,
and they are always a bear to use.
    An adventure GENERATOR will allow you to enter information into its
internal database, and then allows you to play the game.  That's not so
nice, because it does not allow stand-alone or distributable adventures to
be written.  That's described as type #2 above.
    An adventure ENGINE however, allows you to write an adventure database,
and then execute it by feeding it into a distributable ENGINE program that
proceeds to make the game work.  This allows the game to be distributed.
There is also no memory limitation, as the engine pulls its information
from disk.  While the disk access takes a tiny bit longer than a totally
memory-resident system, it DOES allow you to write adventure games limited
only by the size of your diskette!  Plus, a single engine will run an
unlimited number of adventure games just by entering the engine name and
game name, ie:  GSCAPE2 STARMAN

                          THE GAMESCAPE INTERFACE
                      -- or how to make the thing work
    First of all you need a word processor or line editor.  The word
processor MUST be able to output TRUE ASCII text (that is, if you create a
file named GAME and then enter TYPE GAME, you can actually read it).
PCWRITE is one such processor.  So is WORDSTAR and other such programs if
used with the FIXWS program you'll find floating around BBSs.  FIXWS works
so well, we have included a copy here; if it's missing, you'll either have
to find it elsewhere or use a word processor that works in straight ASCII.
    If you don't have one of these, you'll probably want to get one.  If
you want to do it the hard way however, the standard DOS program EDLIN will
serve the purpose.  If you don't know how to use EDLIN, then look through
those dozens of books you have that explain exactly how it works, and learn
it.  You only have to learn 6 commands:
                End/save  Quit  Insert  List  Delete and ^Z.
Realize however that EDLIN only works with files 64K in length, so it MAY
limit you (although I doubt it.  Not many adventure games use up that much
room).

    The actual adventure database is created using your editor.  You enter
the information using a set of guidelines we will present here in this
instruction manual.  It's easy to do and very logical.  Create your
database file using a file extension of .ADV (ie GAME.ADV).
    Once you've written the actual adventure, you use the GSCAPE2.EXE
program to COMPILE it.  The compiling simply turns it into a form that
GAMESCAPE can read later when the game is actually played. GSCAPE2.EXE will
automatically know to compile the file rather than play it, because it
checks for the extension of .ADV!  So to get the system to compile, you
enter the simple command:

                            GSCAPE2 filename.ADV

    The compiling function creates a five new files with the same name as
your original database, but with the extension of .GS#.  Then you execute
the finished game by typing in:

                              GSCAPE2 filename

    Everything is automatic from there on.  Don't expect your adventure to
work 100% correct the first time; as with any other computer project,
you'll make mistakes.  But I've put a couple of things in the program to
help you locate those errors, so you should do OK.
    Of course, when you distribute your adventure, you have to include the
GSCAPE2.EXE program with it, because that's what makes the thing work.  No
problem there; GAMESCAPE was designed with that in mind.  Just read the
licensing agreement and register, and you're all set.  But distribute it
without registering, and your hard work automatically becomes OUR property.
I won't even mention the nasty curse that someone put on the thing
especially for people who use it to distribute games without being
registered.  The details are much to grisly to describe.

                         TRY OUT THE SAMPLE GAME!!!
    We have included TWO sample adventure games called EASY.ADV and
SAMPLE.ADV.  Try the EASY adventure first.
    Begin by compiling  the adventure.  Enter:

                              GSCAPE2 EASY.ADV

    Then once the adventure is compiled, play it by entering:
                                GSCAPE2 EASY
or by choosing Y when the game asks "Do you wish to play EASY?".
    When you have finished, do the same with SAMPLE.ADV.  This will give
you a feel for how GAMESCAPE works, and will show you how a DATA file
interfaces with the GAMESCAPE program.  Go ahead and do this now before
reading any further.  SAMPLE is a relatively easy adventure game.  It may
take you several tries before you conquer it, but it only has 5 rooms and
will take from 15 minutes to an hour to play, depending on your gameing
experience.

                       HOW TO WRITE AN ADVENTURE GAME
    STEP 1.  Start with a THEME, a plot that tells what your game is going
to do.  For example, with my unexpectedly-popular game MAROONED AGAIN the
theme was:

    You have crash-landed on an alien planet.  But all is not lost; you
have found an alien ship.  The crew apparently died from some strange
disease.  The ship is still in good condition, but it was not built for
human anatomy to withstand a blast-off.
    Fortunately, you have super-strong clones aboard your ship, but they
were damaged in the crash.  They now only recognize 1 or 2 words at a time.
Your goal:  send them aboard the alien ship, find the components required
to get it to blast off, and send them for help.

    See how that works?  You need a theme of your own, something to tie the
entire game together.

    STEP 2.  Then once the theme is down, start writing down individual
things you'd like to have happen in the game.  For example, you may find a
key that's required to open a door located elsewhere.  Or you may have to
fight a robot in one room.  Don't get too complex.  Take my word for it;
adventure games get complex all on their own as you start writing the
actual code.

    STEP 3.  Draw a map.  Set up rooms and corridors, or open land areas,
etc., keeping in mind the things in step 2 so you can incorporate them into
your map.  Use a BIG sheet of paper and make the rooms LARGE, because
you're going to be scribbling in details later.  The key to proper
adventure game writing is ADVANCED planning.  You should have the entire
game designed before you begin writing one line of code!

    STEP 4.  Number the rooms.  Room #1 is ALWAYS the starting location of
the adventure.

    STEP 5.  Go through the rooms one by one and make a list of the OBJECTS
in the rooms, and the WORDS that will be required to play the adventure.
This will only be a partial list; as you test the adventure you'll probably
find more objects and words that you'll need, but this will give you a good
start.  Try to be as thorough as possible.


    STEP 6.  MAKE SURE THE GAME IS LOGICAL!  One of the worst problems with
many adventure games is that the things the author requires you to do
don't make any sense.  I remember one game I played where I found an
Egyptian statue that would kill me every time I got near it.  I could find
no way around this.  When I started asking around and tore the game apart,
I finally discovered that a RUBY found earlier in the game was actually the
HEART of the statue and had to be thrown into a lava pit.  But there were
no clues that this should be done, no hints.  Totally illogical.  Pure
slop.  So ask yourself as you write the game: If I were playing the game,
would this be a logical thing to do, something that I might actually think
of doing?  If the answer is NO, eliminate that thing and do it some other
way.

    STEP 7.  Once you're convinced the game is logical, begin writing the
code.  There is a file called STARTER.ADV that should be the heart of every
adventure you write.  It includes what is considered STANDARD adventure
code, as well as a few REQUIRED adventure things already inserted in there
for you.  You can alter it any way you wish; it's just a guideline to use.
Of course, do not alter the STARTER.ADV itself; copy it to another file.
Example:   COPY STARTER.ADV MYGAME.ADV
    Then use the MYGAME.ADV file to write your adventure!

    STEP 8.  Writing the game and testing it yourself is called the ALPHA
stage.  BETA TEST stage is the IMPORTANT one.  Call in a friend (not two,
because you'll want to BETA TEST this on several individuals) who enjoys
playing adventure games, and let him have at it.  Grab a pencil and
notebook and sit by him the whole time.  Don't give any hints; figuring out
the adventure is part of the testing.  Give hints and you'll ruin the
spontenaity such testing requires.
    As you note errors in the game (and you will) write down the
circumstances and errors that result.  Take legible, detailed notes.  But
don't alter the game right then unless it is unplayable due to that error.
Let your friend finish playing, all the while writing down alterations.
Also, make notes of things you wish to ADD to the game; you'll find lots of
things to include that you didn't think of before.
    Once your friend has finished playing (this may take many, many hours,
depending on the complexity of the game) then make the changes to your
game, and call over another friend.  Go through the same process again.  Do
this two, three, four, or five times if necessary, until the game is
playable.  Don't try to cover EVERY possible situation that might occur;
just make sure that the things you DO allow in your game, work properly.
    After this is done, you are now to GAMMA PRODUCTION stage, which means
that your game is ready to distribute. You may still find bugs in your code
as the months go by, but for the most part everything will be fine.

                        THE GAMESCAPE DATA COMMANDS

    Following is a kind of REFERENCE MANUAL to show you what the GAMESCAPE
commands are like.  To get a good idea of how these work, look at the
SAMPLE.ADV game included with GAMESCAPE.

    BEFORE you do this however, MAKE SURE YOU PLAY THE SAMPLE GAME (see
prior instructions) to get the feel of how it works.

                                  SEGMENTS
    GAMESCAPE uses three main code functions:  SEGMENTS     IFs      DOs.
A segment is MAIN command, an instruction to GSCAPE regarding how to handle
game play.  This is a list of segments used in the data file.  Segments
always begin with a >.


>COMND        Command.  Tells GAMESCAPE what to do when the player enters
              a move.  (see command syntax section)

>LOCAT             Location: unlimited allowed, each up to 12 lines of text
X                  Number of the location (ie room number)
NSEWUDNeSeNwSw     Directions which exit the location (max 20 characters)
LINE 1+            Description of the location
<                  End of descriptive text

>MESSG             Message: unlimited allowed, each up to 20 lines
X                  Number of the message
LINE 1+            The message itself
<                  End of message

>OBJEC             Object: 300 allowed.
X                  Number of object
Y                  Starting location of object (see special locations)
LAMP               Description.  20 characters maximum-- NO SPACES!

>REMAR             Remark
LINE 1+            Remark lines--ignored by computer
<                  End of remark

>WORDS             Verbs and nouns: 300 allowed, each with 4 equalities
WORD               The word itself--NO SPACES!
EQUAL 1+           Words which are to be considered equal (ie LOOK SEE)
<                  End of this word.

    Information on WORDS:   Adventure commands take the form of a VERB and
NOUN.  Examples:   LOOK    GET ROPE      SEARCH ROOM    N  S  E  W  U  D
                   HELP    GO WINDOW     KILL MONSTER   etc etc
    GAMESCAPE allows you to have up to 300 words in your game.  But that's
a total of 1,200 words, because each word can have 4 equalities.  An
equality is a word that is recognized as meaning exactly the same.  So for
example, a word list may be:
    >WORDS
    GET
    TAKE                And any of these words means "GET" an item!
    STEAL
    PICKUP
    <

<             Segment end.  This indicates the END of something.  For
              WORDS segments, it indicates that all word equalities have
              been listed.  When used with a COMND segment, it ends the
              steps GAMESCAPE takes when a users enters an action and
              prompts the user for his next move.  This is used with some
              commands, and not used with others.  See SAMPLE.ADV for
              examples.

>DONE!        END OF ENTIRE DATA FILE



                             SPECIAL LOCATIONS
These are locations that are recognized by GAMESCAPE as having special
meaning:
    301: LIMBO (FOR OBJECTS NOT IN USE AT THE CURRENT TIME)
    302: THE ADVENTURER
    303: CURRENT LOCATION

    Special FLAG:  101-- number of moves taken

Note: FLAGS can also be used to denote such things, and more.  See the
FLAGS section later on in this manual.


COMMAND REFERENCE:
    A COMMAND is basically an IF/DO list that tells the computer:
IF a condition (or several conditions) prove to be true, then DO one or
more things as a result!

This list shows the FORMAT of the >COMND construct.  The best way to learn
how these work is to see the file SAMPLE.ADV for further examples.  But be
sure to PLAY the SAMPLE adventure before delving in to it, or you will
spoil your fun!

             The SYNTAX of a >COMND structure is as shown here:

SYNTAX      REQUIRED/OPTIONAL    DESCRIPTION
WORD1              R          Verb.  * means ANY word in the WORDS list
WORD2              O          Noun.  * means ANY word in the WORDS list
IF                 O          Check to see if something is TRUE
CONDITIONS         O          Conditions of IF section
DO                 R          Beginning of DO section
ACTIONS            R          Steps to perform
<                  O          Indicates END of command sequence
                              This is used ONLY if no further steps are
                              to be taken as a result of the current
                              move.
Each of the above (and their qualifiers) is a command "line".  You may have
a maximum of 3200 lines in your COMND section.

   Important:  You may have SEVERAL >COMND sets that will work on any given
move.  You are not limited to one set per move.  For example, you may have
many * * (all verbs all nouns) sequences that work EVERY time a move is
made (to do such things as count turns, check for specific conditions,
etc).  A single turn may actually trigger several >COMND sets.  The list of
>COMND steps is only halted when a >COMND set is fully performed, and it
is followed by the < terminator symbol.

                               IF REFERENCE:
                  These are the "IF" conditions available.

AT            IF ADVENTURER AT LOCATION X
X

NOTAT         IF ADVENTURER NOT AT LOCATION X
X

AT>           IF ADVENTURER'S CURRENT LOCATION IS > X
X

AT<           IF ADVENTURER'S CURRENT LOCATION IS < X
X

EXIST         IF OBJECT X IS PRESENT AT LOCATION Y
X
Y

GONE          IF OBJECT X IS NOT PRESENT AT LOCATION Y
X
Y

PRESENT       IF OBJECT X IS PRESENT AT CURRENT LOCATION OR ON ADVENTURER
X

NOTEXIST      IF OBJECT X IS NOT PRESENT AT CURRENT LOCATION OR ON ADVENTURER
X

FLAG=         IF FLAG X = THE ACTUAL VALUE Y      Up to 100 flags
X                                                 may be used!!!
Y

FLAG<>        IF FLAG X <> THE ACTUAL VALUE Y
X
Y

FLAG>         IF FLAG X > THE ACTUAL VALUE Y
X
Y

FLAG<         IF FLAG X < THE ACTUAL VALUE Y
X
Y

FFLAG=        IF FLAG X = FLAG Y
X
Y

FFLAG<>       IF FLAG X <> FLAG Y
X
Y

FFLAG>        IF FLAG X > FLAG Y
X
Y

FFLAG<        IF FLAG X < FLAG Y
X
Y

RAND          IF A RANDOM NUMBER FROM 1 TO X = Y
X
Y

                                DO REFERENCE:
                    These are the "DO" actions available
                            SINGLE WORD ACTIONS
CLS           CLEAR SCREEN
DROP          DROPS WHATEVER OBJECT HAS BEEN SPECIFIED IN THE NOUN
DUMP          DROP ALL OBJECTS CARRIED BY ADVENTURER INTO CURRENT LOCATION
END           END ADVENTURE
INVEN         SHOW INVENTORY CARRIED BY ADVENTURER
LOAD          LOAD PREVIOUSLY SAVED GAME
PRESSKEY      PRINT "PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE" AND WAIT
QUIT          ASK "DO YOU WISH TO QUIT ADVENTURE?" AND PROMPTS FOR ANSWER
SAVE          SAVE CURRENT GAME
SHOW          DESCRIBE CURRENT LOCATION (USUALLY INVOKED BY LOOK)
              AND ALL OBJECTS AT THIS LOCATION
<             DISPLAYS "MOVE #: AND WAITS FOR NEXT PLAYER MOVE

                             QUALIFIER ACTIONS
FLAGSET       SET FLAG X TO REAL VALUE Y
X                            As previously noted, you may
Y                            use up to 100 flags!

FLAGADD       INCREMENT FLAG X BY REAL VALUE Y
X
Y

FFLAGADD      INCREMENT FLAG X BY AMOUNT IN FLAG Y
X
Y

FFLAGDEC      DECREMENT FLAG X BY AMOUNT IN FLAG Y
X
Y

GOTO          GO TO LOCATION X
X

LINK          AUTO-LOAD ADDITIONAL GAME MODULES FOR LARGER GAMES
NAME          MODULE NAMES  (SEE LINK INFO FOLLOWING LATER)

OBJ           PUTS OBJECT X IN LOCATION Y (USED TO CREATE OR DROP ITEMS!)
X
Y

PAUSE         WAIT X SECONDS
X

PRINT         DISPLAY MESSAGE X
X

RANDSET       CREATE A RANDOM NUMBER FROM 1 TO X AND STORE IN FLAG Y
X
Y

SHOWF         DISPLAY VALUE IN FLAG X
X

SOUND         GENERATE A TONE OF X FREQUENCY FOR Y DURATION
X                  (see the section on SOUND)
Y             Allows MULTIPLE X,Y's, the last 2 being 0 0.
                                   FLAGS
    A "flag" is a "variable", an item that can have several different
values.  For example, imagine in your game that someone has to open the
refrigerator in order to be able to get some food.  The logic would be
this:

    If the person says OPEN FRIDGE
    And the refrigerator is not open
    Open the fridge
    Set the fridge flag.  We will say the fridge flag is flag #2.

    The actual code would be:

    >COMND
    OPEN
    FRIDGE
    IF
    FLAG=
    2
    0
    DO
    FLAGSET
    2
    1
    <

    We have here arbitrarily decided that the flag for the refrigerator
opened or closed is to be flag #2 (and we write it down and KEEP it!).  If
flag #2=0, the door is closed.  If flag #2=1 then the door is opened.
    Flags can be used to indicate MANY different things.  There is
virtually no limit.  You can use flags to keep score, to mark things
accomplished/not accomplished, to track adventurer characteristics such as
STRENGTH, STAMINA, WISDOM, ETC.  In fact, with some ingenuity, GAMESCAPE
can be used to write more than adventure games.  You could actually create
an entire ROLE-PLAYING environment!  GAMESCAPE has many flag commands to
allow you complete versatility in flag use.
    You may have up to 100 flags.

SPECIAL FLAG RECOGNIZED BY GAMESCAPE:  101 -- number of moves taken!.

                                   SOUND
    You can generate sounds and even music by using the SOUND command.
SOUND uses the standard BASIC freq,duration mode.  Standard notes,
frequencies, and durations are listed here:

              dur                      dur
1/64 note     .5        1/4 note       8
1/32 note     1         1/2 note       16
1/16 note     2         whole note     32
1/8  note     4

                             NOTES/FREQUENCIES
              MIDDLE C
C   65        130       261       523       1046    C
C#  69        138       277       555       1110    C#
D   73        146       293       587       1174    D
D#  78        155       311       623       1246    D#
E   82        164       329       659       1318    E
F   87        174       349       698       1396    F
F#  93        185       370       740       1482    F#
G   98        196       392       783       1568    G
G#  104       208       416       831       1664    G#
A   110       22O       440       880       1760    A
A#  117       233       466       933       1864    A#
B   123       246       493       987       1975    B
                      REST:  32767

The SOUND command can have multiple notes, and MUST end with a 0 0.
As an example, here is the "CHARGE" tune:

SOUND
130
2
174
2
220
2
261
4
220
2
261
8
0
0
                             LINKING GAME FILES
    Every computer program has its limitations, and GAMESCAPE's came about
with compiler limitations.  GAMESCAPE was written using QUICKBASIC for the
IBM, and ACBASIC for the AMIGA.  Why, oh why do we have these nifty 16 and
32-bit computers and the compiler companies are still producing @#$@#%
8-bit compilers with the accompanying memory limitations?
    However, all is not lost.  GAMESCAPE allows you to build games limited
only by disk space with the use of the LINK command.  LINK simply auto-
loads another game without the user having to specify the game name.  Once
the game begins, you can move whatever objects have to be moved by
including a entries similar to the following:

    >LOCAT
    1
    You have completed the first level.  Welcome to the second level!
    To begin, go south.
    <
    >COMND
    S
    *
    IF
    AT
    1
    DO                       YOU CAN MOVE OBJECTS TO A LOCATION OR
    OBJ                      TO THE ADVENTURER AS YOU WISH.  THIS ALLOWS
    5   (obj number)         YOU TO EITHER KEEP THE SAME OBJECTS, OR
    302   (location)         PROVIDE COMPLETELY NEW ONES!
    GOTO
    2
    SHOW
    <

    LINK is a marvelously simple solution to a problem of size limitations.
Be aware of memory limitations; no module should be larger than 15 or 20
rooms max... you can only have 3,200 >COMND lines and believe me, those
lines get eaten up fast as you add things to your game.  The LINK command
allows you to limit your modules in size and set up larger games by
including multiple modules.

                    MISCELLANEOUS ADVENTURE WRITING TIPS
* You must not use the < character in your messages or room descriptions.
    This is a special character which means "end of item".

* Your adventure source file must ALWAYS end with the the following >COMND
line:

    >COMND
    *
    *
    DO
    <
    >DONE!

    This line handles entry of words that are recognized, but not fitting
any >COMND requirements.  Failure to add this sequence will cause an error
to occur at runtime and the game to stop.  If you wish, you may include a
message such as:

>MESSG 1
I don't understand that.  It sounds illogical.
<

and then use the >COMND line:

    >COMND
    *
    *
    DO
    PRINT
    1                              (where 1 is the message number)
    <
    >DONE!


* You may COMMENT your >COMND lines by simply adding comments out to the
side. However, you may NOT use a comma, colon, quote, or semicolon in your
comment.  I recommend that you comment your game file HEAVILY.  For
example:

>COMND
GET                         WARNING!!!! IN COMMENTS.....
BOOK
IF                          REMEMBER, THAT COMMAS (LIKE THAT ONE!)
EXIST                       "AND QUOTES" (LIKE THOSE TWO!)
1                           AND SEMIOLONS; (LIKE THAT ONE!)
DO                          AND COLONS:  (LIKE THAT ONE!)
OBJ
3                           ARE NOT ALLOWED!!!!!!!
302
<

*    SOMETHING TO WATCH FOR:  Make sure that one item of code doesn't
eliminate another, more important one.  This is hard to explain, and even
harder to illustrate.  The easiest way I can describe it is this:  let's
imagine you wish to place a "move counter" in the code that checks to see
if the player has made a certain number of moves.  It would look something
like this:

    >MESSG
    1
    You've taken too many moves!  You lose!
    <
    >COMND
    *
    *
    IF
    FLAG=
    101                           flag 101 is the game movement
    200                           counter automatically updated
    PRINT                         by GAMESCAPE.  If it = 200, then
    1                             print the too many moves message.
    END
    <

    Would you place this counter at the BEGINNING or END of the game file?
If you place it at the end, it will never work because the player will
usually do something that will cause the computer to never reach the end of
the file.  Movement counters must be placed at the VERY BEGINNING of a
file, along with any other thing you wish to be performed every time a move
is made.
    This may be difficult to understand, but the first time you have this
problem occur and spend hours trying to figure out what is wrong, you'll
quickly learn what I mean.  heh heh

*   Remember that SHOW clears the screen.  So if you wish to take the
adventurer to a new room, SHOW them what's there, and print some messages,
you must do so in that order.  Because if you print the messages first,
SHOW will clear the screen, thus wiping out the messages you just printed.


                       End of GAMESCAPE instructions



Be sure to register...  then you can write and distribute your own
adventure games!  Resgistration also gets you telephone support (none is
given to non-registered users).  Plus, we constantly upgrade GAMESCAPE (and
ALWAYS retain backward compatibility!), so registering will bring you the
latest version, as well as a subscription to GSCAPE NEWSZINE!  Only
$59.00.
                                 GAMESCAPE
       Dennis Drew     PO Box 101   Joplin, MO  64802   [phone]

                            CHANGES TO GAMESCAPE

    Ver 1.1: Changes to our shareware policy-- the subscription to GSCAPE
NEWSZINE is now included with registration rather than being a separate
charge! Also a couple of minor instruction manual corrections (minimal
update... couple of text files.)
    Ver 2.0: GAMESCAPE now encodes your games so that they cannot be easily
deciphered by the players.  It remains, of course, backware-compatible with
prior versions.  Even if the user is real sharp and manages to decode the
game, it will not be easy to decipher as a "game shorthand" is used
internally by the program.  There are now six *.GS? files rather than five.
The sixth gives the version number.  This file is created automatically at
compilation.  If during a PLAY session it is found missing, GAMESCAPE will
default to uncoded reading.
                               end of manual