Saving Status

DoomsDay 2000 provides commands which will save the current state of the game (SAVE, and SAVE A COPY AS, from the FILE menubar option) without exiting play.  Saving status may take anywhere from seconds to minutes depending on how much memory you have allocated to the game (see MEMORY REQUIREMENTS in the System Requirements section) and how far you have progressed into the game world.  SAVE  copies your game status back to your original character file.  SAVE A COPY AS copies your game status to a new file and location that you specify.

Experience has shown that these commands are primarily used to drop back in game–time to avoid something nasty or awkward that suddenly happened during the game.  In other words, the game state is saved, some risky action is attempted, and if the outcome proves to be undesirable then current play is aborted and the previously saved game state is then restored to try some other alternative.  In a sense this is a mild form of cheating, but what the heck, sometimes it's the only way for some folks to ever get through a tough game – and DoomsDay 2000 can indeed be a tough game!  So ... whenever you use either of the SAVE commands DoomsDay 2000 will levy penalty points based on the current level of your character – a couple of points for low level characters and lots of points for high level characters.  This does not hinder play, but certainly becomes meaningful for people shooting for top score in the scoreboard.  The number of times a save is performed for a particular character is shown in the scoreboard entry for that character as
"[n saves]", and identifies the count of those special saves.

Exception:  there is NO penalty for saving skill Level 1 characters.

Scoring

Your score is the total of your Experience Points, Bonus Points, and Penalty Points.  It is a measure of your success in playing DoomsDay 2000.

Experience Points:

Experience points are accumulated as you accomplish certain tasks and slay those nasty things that are out to get you before you get them.  The skill Level (effectiveness) of your character goes up as you achieve specific quantities of experience points.

Bonus Points:

Bonus points are awarded in various instances where you do something special.  They do not contribute to the effectiveness of your character, and instead are for scoring purposes.  The activities which yield bonus points are left to the player to discover.

Penalty Points:

Penalty points are levied when you do something incorrectly or do something you really shouldn't have.  They do not contribute to the effectiveness of your character, and instead are for scoring purposes.  Penalty points are also acquired when using SAVE commands; refer to the Saving Status section for further details.  The activities which yield penalty points are left to the player to discover.

A scoreboard facility maintains entries for the top 20 game scores.  The scoreboard is updated when your characters win, lose, or temporarily exit the game.  Scores are retained in the file Scoreboard, and can be displayed when a game is concluded.  Use the SHOW SCOREBOARD command to view this information.

About the Windows

Various windows will be created when the game begins.  Each window provides either a specific type of information, or provides a special way to interact with the game.  These windows can be repositioned as desired, some can be resized, and others can be hidden away until recalled for later use.

DoomsDay 2000 has many of the standard Macintosh window and control features such as zoom boxes, resizing boxes, and slide bars for lists.  It is assumed that you are already familiar with how to use them, so for further information on these topics you are encouraged to refer to the appropriate Macintosh user manuals.

CHARACTER:

This window displays the attributes of your character (such as Strength and Hit Points), identifies the region of the gameboard map that is currently being explored, and shows other specialized information that is provided during play.

The location of the CHARACTER window can be modified:  click–and–hold on the window title area, next move the window to the desired location, and then release the mouse button.

Refer to the Character Attributes section for details on the information contained in this window.

STATUS:

The STATUS window provides information concerning your character's state of health, currently wielded weapon (W), and the weapon held in reserve (R).

The location of the STATUS window can be modified:  click–and–hold on the window title, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.  The window can also be resized to enlarge or reduce the information area: click–and–hold on its lower right hand corner, reposition the window's corner, then release the mouse button.  Lastly, the window can be hidden, or made visible, as desired via the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–h from the keyboard.

If this window is sufficiently long in the vertical direction, pictorial icons of the wielded (W) and reserved (R) weapons are displayed at its base.  Also included is a health indicator that transitions between green and red on color displays, and between white and black on monochrome displays.  You can click on the health indicator as an alternate way to rest and heal when your character is injured.

GAMEBOARD MAP:

This window displays the current playing area in the form of a gameboard map.  The display includes a pictograph of your character to show his/her location in the game, together with pictographs for terrain features and objects and enemies that you encounter.

The map has a long, narrow, rectangular shape.  Unless enlarged, only a portion of the map is displayed at any given time.  As your character moves about the gameboard, the map will automatically scroll as needed to keep your character in view.  One or more scroll bars are provided when the map is not fully revealed to allow you to scroll the map as desired to see other portions at will; map scrolling can also be done by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard.  Refer to the section on Using the Mouse for details on special mouse specific features involving the map display.

A set of grid lines can be optionally displayed on the gameboard to help in understanding distances; use Command–g to toggle the lines, or select GRID LINES from the SPECIAL menubar item.  Each square of the grid represents one unit of distance that can be traversed.

The location of the GAMEBOARD MAP window can be modified: click–and–hold on the window title bar, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.  The window can also be resized to enlarge or reduce the information area: click–and–hold on its lower right hand corner, reposition the window's corner, then release the mouse button.

ZOOM MAP:

This window is effectively the same as the GAMEBOARD MAP.  It provides the same information, and can be interacted with in exactly the same ways.  However the displayed detail is miniaturized so that the entire map can be fully viewed on small screen monitors.

Due to the reduction in visible detail, this window is typically used to obtain an overall sense of location and an understanding of areas yet to be explored, rather than used for active play as per the regular GAMEBOARD MAP.  It also provides a convenient means of moving great distances across the map when the terrain to be covered is not fully visible in the GAMEBOARD MAP display:  reveal the ZOOM window and then click on the desired destination; refer to the Using the Mouse section for further details on this special movement feature.  The location of the ZOOM window can be modified:  click–and–hold on the window title, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.

This window is not initially revealed by default, but can be made visible by means of the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–z from the keyboard.

INVENTORY:

This window provides a list of the equipment you are carrying and wearing.  It identifies when items are wielded, reserved, worn, open, or activated.  The ordering of the items can be rearranged at will.  Refer to the Inventory Management section for details on the ways to interact with the items in your inventory.

Inventory items can optionally be shown with an alphabetic prefix.  This provides a means of referring to specific items when issuing keyboard based commands.  This option is enabled or disabled by means of a preference available from the PREFERENCES window.

The location of the INVENTORY window can be modified: click–and–hold on the window title, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.  The window can also be resized to enlarge or reduce the information area: click–and–hold on its lower right hand corner, reposition the window's corner, then release the mouse button.

This window is visible by default, but can be hidden by means of the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–i from the keyboard..i.menus:Inventory Window;

COMMANDS:

This scrollable window provides access to the complete set of commands for simplifying mouse oriented play.  It is typically used only on large screen monitors.  This window is hidden by default, but can be revealed by means of the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–c from the keyboard.

The location of the COMMANDS window can be modified: click–and–hold on the window title, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.  The window can also be resized to enlarge or reduce the information area: click–and–hold on its lower right hand corner, reposition the window's corner, then release the mouse button.

BUTTONS:

This window provides a collection of buttons for commands that are most frequently used, including compass directions for movement, thus simplifying interactions for mouse oriented play.  It is hidden by default, but can be made visible by means of the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–b.

The location of the BUTTON window can be modified:  click–and–hold on the narrow highlighted area at the top of the window, next move the window to the desired location, and then release the button.

MESSAGES:

This scrollable window presents you with information on activities that are taking place in the game.  Refer to it often.  It also provides prompting text when a multi–stage command is in progress to identify what is currently being requested of you.  Bolded or blue text is used to highlight prompts.

The location of the MESSAGES window can be modified: click–and–hold on the window title, move the window to the desired location, then release the mouse button.  The window can also be resized to enlarge or reduce the information area: click–and–hold on its lower right hand corner, reposition the window's corner, then release the mouse button.

HELP WINDOW:

The help window is revealed in response to your request from the HELP menubar item or by pressing the HELP and "?" keyboard keys.  Its content is dependent on the subject matter selected.  Interaction consists of paging through the provided text by clicking the NEXT and PREV (previous) buttons, or the CANCEL button, as desired.  From the keyboard, press 'n' for NEXT, and 'p' for PREV.

Pop up help on the available commands can be obtained by Option–clicking on the game display.

PREFERENCES:

This window provides a means of selecting various game options, and then saving them for later use as a revised set of defaults for future games.  The available options include setting the difficulty level of the game, changing the name of your character, enabling and disabling sounds, defining the style of play to be used (mouse or keyboard), and reviewing the mission statement.

Setting preferences without clicking SAVE PREFERENCES establishes the behavior for the current game only.  Saving the preferences additionally establishes those changes as defaults for future games.  Refer to the section on Tailoring for further details.

This window is hidden by default, but can be revealed by means of the SPECIAL menubar item or by issuing Command–p from the keyboard..i.menus:Preferences Window;

The location of the PREFERENCES window can be modified:  click–and–hold on the window title area, next move the window to the desired location, and then release the mouse button.