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1991-11-07
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┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MOTOR CITY SOFTWARE │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Trivia Masters Door │ │
│ │ Copyrighted 1991 │ │
│ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │
│ │ │\ │ │ │
│ │ │ \ │ │ │
│ │ │ \ │ │ │
│ │ │ \ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ o│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ \ │──────┘ │ │
│ │ \ │ │ │
│ └───────────────\ │────────────────────┘ │
│ The Ultimate \│ in Door Writing . │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘
MCTrivia - Version 1.0
Copyright 1991 by Motor City Software
All Rights Reserved
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ LICENSING INFORMATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
This program is not Freeware. This is SHAREWARE which means it is user-
supported software. If you use this program for more than 30 days, you are
required to register or remove it from your system. The registration fee
is a mere $10.00 and is not a lot to ask.
The concept works only with your support. If you find that you can use
this program, then a registration fee of $10.00 U.S. funds will help defray
the development cost and encourage the authorship of other programs that
might be useful to you. A Registration Form for this purpose is included
with the distribution archive and is called REGISTER.??? where ??? is a
country with a registration site.
MCTrivia is Copyrighted 1991 by Motor City Software and all rights are
reserved. You may copy this program and documentation for backup purposes.
You also may copy and share UNMODIFIED copies of the program package,
providing that the copyright notice is reproduced and included on all
copies.
You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the product
along with other products without expressed written permission from Motor
City Software, nor may you modify or remove the Copyright Notice from the
program or the documentation.
Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. If you have any, you
should contact one of the Motor City Software Support Systems listed below.
Sysop Name Location Phone Net Address
---------- -------- ----- -----------
Rod Hancock Oshawa, Ont. Can. (416) 579-6318 1:229/418
Jeff Wilson Bowmanville Ont Can. (416) 623-5148 1:229/414
Peter Kling Albany NY USA (518) 437-1267 1:267/169
Denis Bennet Faversham Kent UK +44-795-538359 2:440/11
Peter Janssens Venray Netherlands +31-4780-12428 2:512/1
Terry Harvey Burwood NSW Australia +61-2-7453500 3:712/704
We also have a VOICE support line. If you have any problems which require
immediate help, feel free to call us.
Motor City Software
Oshawa Ontario Canada
(416) 579-3256 (9am - 5pm) VOICE ONLY
If you're reporting a bug, please give as much detail as possible about the
problem you are experiencing so that it can be duplicated and fixed.
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ INTRODUCTION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
MCTrivia is an online Trivia Question and Answer type Game for QuickBBS
and RemoteAccess BBS which utilizes full record locking. Therefore you may
have more than one user playing the game at the same time.
It allows users to gamble their time remaining while online if
configured to do so. Otherwise it runs as a straight forward Trivia game.
The program is pretty straight forward and and easy to install. It does
not require ANSI graphics to be turned ON by the user. If a caller runs
MCTrivia and does not have graphics turned on, the program will switch
into the non-graphics mode.
MCTrivia allows the BBS Sysop to configure the game to allow time
betting or not as well as the maximum number of minutes a user may
accumulate while in the game. Once a user has reached a maximum number
of accumulative minutes, the user is not allowed to access the game until
the next day.
If MCTrivia has been configured to allow Time Betting then the player
may turn this feature off and on at his/her discretion. This will allow
a player who wants to play just for points to do so.
MCTrivia has a default answer timeout of 45 seconds which means that
the player has 45 seconds to answer the question before the game gives
an "Incorrect" response.
Sysops may configure the game to allow questions to be skipped.
A word of warning on this is that a player can go through the database
and answer only the questions he/she knows. If the time betting is
active, it would be very easy for one to win the maximum amount of time
allowed.
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ INSTALLATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
MCTrivia is easy to install. With a RemoteAccess or QuickBBS setup,
A type 7 menu entry may be used, as follows:
Optional Data : *C /C MCTrivia.Bat
This calls a batch file MCTRIVIA.BAT which looks like this:
cd \doors\mctrivia
mctrivia 1
cd \bbs
Within your batch file, you will execute MCTrivia. Do this by entering
the command line:
MCTRIVIA 1
This will bring the door up as an online game. Please follow the
instructions in the MCTRIV1.CFG file. The ''1'' can be replace by the
node number that you are setting the door up for. For example,
MCTRIV2.CFG file would be set up for Node 2 and called from your batch
file like:
MCTRIVIA 2
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ CONFIGURATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
C:\DOORS\MCTRIVIA\
C:\DOORS\RATS\
1
Y
Y
10
200
45
General
Music
Television
Star Trek
Movies
Sports
History
Geography
This is the configuration file for MCTrivia. The first 6 lines are read.
All lines after that are ignored and should be considered comments.
Line 1 : Path to DORINFOx.DEF/EXITINFO.BBS. (i.e. \RA\)
MCTrivia may be run without an EXITINFO.BBS but the time
betting feature will be disabled.
Line 2 : Path to RATS.EXE. This is where the external time bank support
file will be appended/created. Leave blank if you don't want to
use the Time Bank support.
Line 3 : This is the 'node' or 'line' number in use. IMPORTANT: If this
is a '1' then MCTrivia will look for DORINFO1.DEF. If this is
a '2' then MCTrivia will look for DORINFO2.DEF, etc..
Line 4 : If this is set to "Y" then the players will be allowed to
skip question. If "N" they will not.
Line 5 : Set to "Y" or "N". This is where 'Y' the door will operate on a
"Bet time on your Answer" or 'N' as a plain Trivia door.
Line 6 : This is the maximum number of minutes that can be bet on any one
question. Only if line 5 is set to "Y".
Line 7 : Maximum winnings. This is a value between 1 and 32000. If not in
this range, the default of 100 will be used. This is the maximum
number of minutes that a player can come back to the BBS with.
Anything over this amount will be automatically deposited in the
user's RATS bank account (or chopped off it RATS is not being used).
If you're not using RATS, set this value high if you want to avoid
chopping the user's time off.
Only if line 2 is a valid path and line 4 is set to "Y".
Line 8 : This is the Answer timeout in seconds. If a player has not input
his full answer by the time this reaches 0 then he is penialized
with a wrong answer. The default is 45 seconds.
Line 9 : These are the Question Area display list. All 8 lines MUST be
to alocated even if some are left blank. The entries will be
Line 16: displayed in the Area Choice Menus to the first blank line found
above or to the 8th entry ( line 16 ).
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
MCTRIVIA MAINT 45
This is used to compress the player data base. There must be no
one playing the game on any node when you run the maintenance.
In the example, any player that has not entered the door within
45 days will be deleted.
This has no effect on the Question & Answer database.
MCTRIVIA EXPORT Myfile.txt
This allows you to export the Question & Answer base for editing with
you favourite text editor. May be ran while someone is playing the game.
MCTRIVIA IMPORT Myfile.txt
This allows you to import the Question & Answer base after editing it
with you favourite text editor. There must be NO ONE PLAYING THE GAME when
you import your text Q & A file or undesireable results may occur. The
MCTRIVIA.DAT file will have the new questions added to the end of it so
you have to delete it if you are starting new oe editing the whole file.
The file has to be a formatted text file as follows :
1 Which company makes the best BBS game doors?
MOTOR CITY SOFTWARE Jeff Wilson
Line 1 Column 1 : This is the area that the question should be
placed into. ( 1 digit only! )
Line 1 Column 3 to 77 : This is the Question that is displayed.
Line 2 Column 1 to 35 : This is the Answer that Your input answer is
compared to. ( UPPERCASE ONLY! )
Line 2 Column 36 to 70 : This is the entered by field. The name of the
player who wrote the question goes here. If
this is not filled in, MCTrivia will use
"MCTrivia".
For an example, use EXPORT to export the Q & A base to a text file
and look at it..
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ SUPPORT FILES ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
The MCTrivia archive comes with a few files needed by the program.
You can run MCTrivia from any directory.
The files that come with the archive are:
MCTRIVIA.EXE This is the door program
MCTMENU.ANS This is the graphic main menu
MCTMENU.ASC This is the non graphic main menu
MCTRIVIA.DOC This document
MCTRIVIA.HLP This is the players help file
NOTE: - You can edit or change the contents of MCTMENU.ANS, MCTMENU.ASC
These files are only bound by the keys available for use by the
program.
- In the MCTRIVIA.HLP file you see some control codes for color.
You can edit these within this format :
Control-K [ ForeGround, Backround
The foreground and background colors must be a Hexadecimal digit
from 1 to F. Backround colors above 7 cause the foreground to
flash.
Foreground Background -> Flashing Foreground
────────── ────────── ───────────────────
0 - Black 0 - Black N
1 - Blue 1 - Blue N
2 - Green 2 - Green N
3 - Cyan 3 - Cyan N
4 - Red 4 - Red N
5 - Magneta 5 - Magneta N
6 - Brown 6 - Brown N
7 - Light Grey 7 - Light Grey N
8 - Dark Grey 8 - Black Y
9 - Light Blue 9 - Blue Y
A - Light Green A - Green Y
B - Light Cyan B - Cyan Y
C - Light Red C - Red Y
D - Light Magneta D - Magneta Y
E - Yellow E - Brown Y
F - White F - Light Grey Y
In addition to these files, MCTrivia will also create files it needs to
operate. They are :
MCTUSERS.DAT - The Players data file.
THEBANK.EXT - External time bank utility file. This
file is created and is read by
RATS (Remote Access TimeBank System)
Do not delete this file. RATS will
delete it each time it has read it.
MCTERROR.LOG - Reference to any run time errors that
might occur.
MCTEXIT.LOG - Reference to any unusual game exits
that might occurr. Helpful in debugging
problems.
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ MORE ON TIME BANKING ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
When RATS is run and locates THEBANK.EXT, it will read it through to
the end of the file updating or adding user accounts as needed. The format
of THEBANK.EXT is: User Name:Time
For example, if JOHN DOE wins 80 minutes and MCTrivia deposits 20
minutes into his account, the following line will be appended
to THEBANK.EXT:
JOHN DOE:20
A user's name can appear in this file more than once. The Bank will
handle it properly. For more details, see RATS 1.01 or later.
╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│░░░░░░ NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ MCTrivia v1.0 ░░░│
╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
MCTrivia has built in carrier detect and inactivity timer routines.
When tested on COM1 thru COM4, carrier detect and inactivity timers both
worked flawlessly.
That's as far in as I'm going to go technically with this program.
Once you load it up, you will see that it is self-explainatory.
But there are a few limitations that I would like to mention.
MCTrivia will not run in Time betting mode unless it finds EXITINFO.BBS
and DORINFO1.DEF in the directory specified in the config file. If it
finds just the DORINFO1.DEF, it will run as a non betting door.
MCTrivia will not allow a user with less than 3 minutes access to the
program.
When a player enters the game, their time remaining is recorded. They
are issued a grand total based on their time remaining.
The field "Total Time" in the "Your Scores" reflects the amount of time
available for gambling purposes. It does not affect the time the player
has within the program. If a player has 10 minutes left when he enters
the program, he can play for 10 minutes regardless of how much time he
wins. The reason for this is if a system event is pending in 10 minutes
and the user enters the program, then the program must return the user to
the BBS in time for that event to run. If the user has won time, he can
call back after the system event has run and the time should still be
available provided it was not truncated by the BBS (this may be the case
if no time banking support is used).
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or problems with this
program, feel free to contact one of the support systems listed above.
Thank You,
Jeff Wilson,
Motor City Software