Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine version 1.0. Program and design by Sean P. Price of Rude Dog Software. Copyright 1994 by Sean P. Price. All rights reserved. Final compile date: September 29, 1994 The Dragon's Claw Configuration File Editor v.1.1 Program and design by Sean P. Price and Rhy E. Thornton of Rude Dog Software. Copyright 1994 by Sean P. Price. All rights reserved. Final compile date: September 29, 1994 This program was written and compiled using Turbo Pascal v.7.0 and uses the JSDoor Communications and On-line Door Driver unit. JSDoor Communications and On-line Door Driver (c)1994 John Stephenson, All Rights Reserved. The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine. Designed and created by Sean P. Price of Rude Dog Software. Copyright 1994 by Sean P. Price. All rights reserved. Introduction: The Dragon's Claw is the first scenario to designed for the Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine. It is an interactive on-line adventure game set in an imaginary mid-evil land filled with monsters, ruins, towns, magical items, and of course treasure. The game uses ANSI graphics extensively to give a more aesthetic look and feel to the game. Instead of being told which directions are traversable, the player can easily see it on the maps. The Dragon's Claw contains hundreds of monsters to fight, each with it's own successful hit descriptions. The game's various towns are loaded with a variety of shops, temples, inns, and optionally whore houses. Dungeons are multi-level and contain traps, secret doors, treasure, and relics. There is much more to The Dragon's Claw. Read the player's -1- documentation, and of course play to discover the rest. Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine was programmed using the JSDoor Communications Unit. The JSDoor Communications Unit is OS/2, Desqview, and Windows aware. This will help ensure that this game will run smoothly under these multi-tasking environments. Disclaimer: Rude Dog Software and the employees/programmers in conjunction with and/or affiliated with Rude Dog Software can not be held responsible for the condition of any software not received directly from Rude Dog Software through postal/parcel means. Nor can said persons be held responsible for any damage caused to media or hardware as a direct or indirect result of the use or mis-use of any of our products. Rude Dog Software would like it to be known, however, that all of our products are thoroughly tested before being released to the general public. Rude Dog Software reserves the right to change any disclaimer, documentation, licensing information or registration procedures and costs at any time for any reason with no prior warning or notice. General Licensing Agreement: The holder of the unregistered Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine packages is allowed a limited usage period of 30 (thirty) days, wherein he or she may test said packages. After the thirty day period, the holder of the unregistered copy of the Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine packages must register the software to be allowed further use of said packages. A registered copy of Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine may be obtained by filling out the Rude Dog Software registration form and sending both that form and $20.00 US, in the form of a check or money order, to Rude Dog Software. A registered copy of The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog -2- On-Line Adventure Engine may be obtained by filling out the Rude Dog Software registration form and sending both that form and $5.00 US, in the form of a check or money order, to Rude Dog Software. Registered copies of Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine are non-transferable. The registering party may not under any circumstances sell, give away, or give copies of the registered versions of, or registration keys for, Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine or The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine. Rude Dog Software reserves the right to revoke registration privileges either temporarily or permanently if the conditions of the registration are not properly met by the holder of the registered Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine packages. Registered copy holders of Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine will be entitled to upgrades for a minimal processing and materials fee of $5.00 US per upgrade, or by downloading the latest version from the Rude Dog Software support BBS. Printing This Manual: This manual if formatted to be printed on nearly any printer. Just type PRINT SYSOP.TXT from the DOS prompt. Requirements: You must have BBS software capable of generating a DOOR.SYS, DORINFOx.DEF, PCBOARD.SYS, or CHAIN.TXT drop file. If your BBS software doesn't support one of the above drop file types, you will need one of the shareware drop file conversion utilities. You must have at least 250K of free conventional memory. This game uses a lot of large arrays for the maps, etc. If you plan to play locally, you must have a monitor capable of displaying color ANSI graphics. You must have a fossil driver installed. -3- If you are using a high speed modem with QuickBBS or any other BBS software that doesn't place the locked baud rate in it's drop file, you'll need to use the LOCK command line switch. For more information read the section about command line switches. If you are running OS/2, I suggest that you use Ray Gwynn's SIO and VSIO serial I/O drivers. These are replacements for OS/2's built in serial I/O drivers. They offer some very nice features not found in OS/2's built in routines. Installation: 1. Create a directory for the game. E.g. "C:\MAX\DOORS\DRAGON" 2. Extract the files from the self extracting archive DRAGONxx.EXE into the above directory. Make certain to use -d switch because DRAGONxx.EXE contains subdirectories. E.g. "DRAGONxx.EXE -d C:\MAX\DOORS\DRAGON" 3. Run RUDE_CFG.EXE and edit the file GAME.CFG to suit your setup. The configuration editor will display help for each option. 4. From within the configuration editor choose the option for initializing the user file. 5. Follow your BBS software's documentation on installing doors to create an entry for The Dragon's Claw. Usually you setup your BBS software to run a batch file that changes to the game's directory, runs the game, then changes back to the BBS directory. If you have non-standard com-ports or IRQs, or are running QuickBBS on a high speed modem, you will need to add the appropriate command line switches. Read the section on command line switches for a complete list. Below is an example of a basic batch file: C: CD \MAX\DOORS\DRAGON RUDEOLAE.EXE C: CD \MAX 6. Run the game locally from within your BBS to make certain that you have everything setup correctly. 7. Setup a batch file to run the game's maintenance utility. This -4- batch file should be executed during your nightly event. Below is an example of such a batch file: C: CD \MAX\DOORS\DRAGON MAINT.EXE C: CD \MAX Command Line Switches: Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine offers support for non-standard com-ports, IRQs, locked baud rates, and alternative configuration files, through the use of command line switches. All command line switches are optional and override the settings read from the drop file. Each command must be separated by a space. Below is a complete list of these switches and their functions. IRQ: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to access the com-port through the specified IRQ. Valid values for are 1 through 15. E.g. 'IRQ3' would cause the com-port to be accessed through IRQ 3. LOCK: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to lock the com-port at the specified baud rate. Any baud rate is considered a valid value. Although it is usually only used for high speed modems. E.g. 'LOCK38400' would lock your com-port at 38400 baud. You usually don't need this because most BBS systems provide this information in the drop file. However, QuickBBS' DORINFO1.DEF file doesn't properly pass this information. If you use QuickBBS and a high speed modem, you'll need to use this command line switch. ADDR<$address>: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to access the com-port through the address given. Addresses must be in hexadecimal and must be preceded by a $. E.g. 'ADDR$02f8' would cause Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to access the com-port using the hexadecimal address 02f8. CFG:: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to use the configuration file specified in -5- . E.g. 'CFG:GAME1.CFG' would cause Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to use the configuration file GAME1.CFG instead of the default file GAME.CFG. NODE: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine what node this session is running on. It is used to read the proper DORINFOx.DEF file on multi-node systems using the DORINFOx.DEF dropfile type. LOCAL: This switch tells Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine to run in Local mode. Multi-Node Use: Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine should work fine on a multi-node system as long as SHARE.EXE is installed. It hasn't been thoroughly tested yet though. Installing your Registration Keys: If you have registered Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and/or The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine, you will receive a file called KEYS.ZIP. This file contains your registration key(s). The key for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine will be named using the first letter of your first name, followed by the first seven letters of your last name, followed by ".KEY." For example a registration key for Sean Price would be SPRICE.KEY. The key for The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine will be named using the first letter of your first name, followed by the first five letters of your last name, followed by "_S.KEY." For example a registration key for Sean Price would be SPRICE_S.KEY. To use the keys, place them in any directory that you want. You can even rename them if you wish. Next, edit your GAME.CFG file so that the option for GKEY points to the directory and filename of your key for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine, and option SKEY points to the directory and filename of your key for The Dragon's Claw scenario. For example, if you have your Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine key named SPRICE.KEY in a directory called DRAGON on drive C, your GKEY -6- option in GAME.CFG should be GKEY C:\DRAGON\SPRICE.KEY. Restrictions On The Un-Registered Game: 1. Players are restricted to 15 minutes per day. 2. The Inn's aren't available. 3. Whore House isn't available. 4. Ten second game delay at start and end of game play. Contacting The Author: I can be reached by voice at (619)377-3611 from about 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. * NO COLLECT CALLS * Please let the phone ring at least eight times. It sometimes takes me awhile to get to the phone. I can be reached by modem on Sanctuary from The Law BBS - (619)377-3611 - 9:30 PM to 6:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. The BBS will be going full time again in the near future. I can also be reached through Fido-Net at 1:205/46, and InterNet at sean_price@microlinkbbs.com. The latest version of Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine can be FREQ'ed at 1:205/46 using the magic name DRAGON. Finally, I can be reached by ground mail at the following address: Rude Dog Software c/o Sean P. Price P.O. Box 1364 Inyokern, CA 93527-1364 Registration: For full details on registering Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine, please refer to the file REGISTER.FRM. -7- Limited Time Offer: If you send in your registration (post marked) prior to January 1, 1995, you will receive both Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine and The Dragon's Claw scenario for Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine for only $20.00 US dollars. For full details, please refer to the file REGISTER.TXT. Bug Reports, Comments, and Suggestions: I have made every effort to ensure that Rude Dog On-Line Adventure Engine is bug. However, no program is ever bug free. There's an old programmers axiom that states: "Any bug free program is obsolete." If however, you do find any bugs, please report them to me at one of the places described in the section of this document entitled: Contacting The Author. Please give as much detail as you can about the circumstances, your setup, etc. as you can. This will greatly help me in finding and killing the offending insect. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to send them to me. I will read them ALL, and seriously consider valid suggestions. Suggestions from users are an important tool in programming. They offer the programmer some insight as to what users want from in a product, allowing the programmer to improve the product in future releases. I cannot guaranty that I will respond to ALL of the comments and suggestions, but I will make an effort. Future Plans: 1. Even more monsters. 2. Possible negotiation with monsters of similar alignment. 3. A bank. 4. A casino. 5. More ANSI pictures of monsters. Non-Association Disclaimer: All products mentioned are copyrighted and/or trademarked by their respective creators. I am only affiliated with Rude Dog Software. I in no way endorse any other company's products, nor am I affiliated with any other company. -8- Final Notes: I have spent countless hours developing this product. I am releasing it as shareware to give you, the user, a chance to thoroughly test the software before you pay for it. I hope that you will like the product and register it. Your registration guarantees future support and improvement of this product. As stated above, I have spent countless hours in the development of this product. Being a quadraplegic, all my work is done using a mouth stick. As you can imagine, this is not a very efficient method of typing. This document took about seven hours straight. As a full time student, I also have to try to fit in programming time around school and homework. This is my first large scale program written in Pascal, and my first release of a DOS program. I am however a veteran programmer and have released many products for other platforms, ranging from simple utilities to a complete BBS package. Well, I guess that's enough rambling. Please register this product if you use it. Thank you, Sean P. Price Rude Dog Software -9-