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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ │ Thabean Knights Ver 1.4 Quest Writing Documentation ║ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Quests are the substance of the Thabean Knights. Like all good story-telling, the way a Quest is written will determine the player's enthusiasm for it. It is suggested that you not deviate too far from the setting of the Thabean Knights to insure continuity for the players. FORMAT: ====== The quest files are designed to give you (and your "Knights") the power to control the game. Creating good quest files will keep the game interesting and a challenge. The format of the quest files: (Quest 1) -TITLE -AUTHOR :START . . :FINISH (Quest 2) -TITLE -AUTHOR :START . . :FINISH KEYS: ===== Each player's Knight has 100 "Keys" dedicated to the quests. Each Key is numbered from 1 to 100 (Key1, Key2, ..., Key100), and stores a value from 0 to 255. The player's Keys may be set, compared, incremented and decremented within the quest. The Keys are saved from quest to quest, however, all the Keys are reset when the player completes a level's quests. - 1 - COMMANDS: ======== The commands of the Quest###.RAW text files form a simple language of words. At times they can get cryptic (during long quests) so you will probably want to use a lot of comment lines (the ";" at the beginning of the line indicates a comment). COMMAND PARAMETERS -Answer [Number] -Ask [ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789] * -Author [Author of Quest] -Clear -Color [Fore] [Back] [Blink] -EndAns [Number] -Exit -Exper [+/-] [Amount] * :Finish -Foe [Number Flee Move Attack Close] -Gold [+/-] [Amount] -Gosub [Label Number] -Goto [Label Number], [Start] or [Finish] -HP [+/-] [Amount] -IF [(KEY# or GOLD) =,<,> Number] -IFElse -IFEnd -Key [## +/- ##] :Label [Number] -Pause [Milliseconds] -Poison [+/-] [Amt] -Return -RiteC [Text] -RiteN [Text] -RiteW [Text] -RndFoe -RndMon -RndKey [Key Min Max] -Set [Key Number Or STR, DEX, CON, WIS, CHA] * :Start * -Title [Title of Quest] -Turns [Number] -Wait * Indicates required commands necessary for each quest. NOTES: Any blank lines (not beginning with a command) are ommitted. None of the commands are Case Sensitive (upper or lowercase). The "-" and ":" command switches are necessary for each line. The brackets "[" and "]" should not be typed. They are shown here for emphasis only. - 2 - COMMANDS EXPLAINED: ================== -Answer [Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Begins the results for the index to the character returned from -Ask. In the -ASK example, -ANSWER 1 would be used if the player pressed "A". -Ask [ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Waits for a specific key from the list after -Ask. Example: -ASK ABC123 Stop and wait for the player to press "A","B","C","1","2", or "3". Each letter is assigned a number in the order of appearance ("A"=1, "B"=2, etc) for calls from -ANSWER and -ENDANS. -Author [Author of Quest] -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Author is automatically centered and displayed just after the title. There is no delay after the Author. This allows you to set your own -Pause time at the top of the quest or display a description of the quest and then -Wait. -AUTHOR should be the line following the -TITLE line. -Clear -------------------------------------------------------------------- Clear the Screen in the current color. - 3 - -Color [Fore] [Back] [Blink] -------------------------------------------------------------------- FOREGROUND BACKGROUND BLINK 0 - Black 8 - Dark Grey 0 - Black 0 - OFF 1 - Blue 9 - Light Blue 1 - Blue 1 - ON 2 - Green 10 - Light Green 2 - Green 3 - Cyan 11 - Light Cyan 3 - Cyan 4 - Red 12 - Light Red 4 - Red 5 - Magenta 13 - Light Magenta 5 - Magenta 6 - Brown 14 - Yellow 6 - Brown 7 - Grey 15 - White 7 - Grey All color changes remain until the next call to -COLOR. If Blink is ommitted, only the Foreground and Background will change. The Blink will remain as it was the last time it was changed. Another way to change colors in the text is by using color the control codes. They are far easier to understand when reading portions of the quest with a lot of color changes. The color control codes are created by typing the ASCII 11 character (most easily created by holding down the ALT key while typing 11 on the number pad.) Most text editors support the ALT Key - Number Pad combinations. This creates the "male" symbol (the arrow out of the circle). Then type the "[" bracket and then the ForeGround and Background colors from the chart below. FOREGROUND BACKGROUND ( Blink ON ) ( Blink OFF ) 0 - Black 8 - Dark Grey 0 - Black 8 - Black 1 - Blue 9 - Light Blue 1 - Blue 9 - Blue 2 - Green A - Light Green 2 - Green A - Green 3 - Cyan B - Light Cyan 3 - Cyan B - Cyan 4 - Red C - Light Red 4 - Red C - Red 5 - Magenta D - Light Magenta 5 - Magenta D - Magenta 6 - Brown E - Yellow 6 - Brown E - Brown 7 - Grey F - White 7 - Grey F - Grey Examples: (Substitute the ALT-11 Key press for the "&" symbol) &[E0 Hello - Would display Hello in yellow on black &[E8 Hello - display Hellow in blinking yellow on black &[F0 H&[E0ello - Would display Hellow with the "H" in white and "ello" in yellow. Any color changes remain until the next change. - 4 - -EndAns [Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ends the results for the index to the character returned from -Ask. In the -ASK example, -ENDANS 1 would be end the results portion if the player pressed "A". -Exit -------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit the Quest without giving the player credit for completing it. Use this instead of -GOTO FINISH when you wish to have the player exit without finishing the quest. -Exper [+/-] [Amount] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Used to alter the player's experience points. Example: -Exper + 10 would add 10 to the player's experience -Exper - 2 would subtract 2 from the player's exper. :Finish -------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Quest Label. This MUST be the last line of the Quest. -Foe [Number Flee Move Attack Close] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Place the player's Knight in battle with a predetermined foe. * NUMBER - A list of foes is available from your sysop in file format. If you wish to have your sysop create a new foe for the quest, see the "FOE" section at the end of this document. FLEE - If you include the FLEE parameter, the player and the foe will both have the flee option available during battle. Otherwise it will be a fight to the death. MOVE - If you include the MOVE parameter, the player and the foe will be able to move. Use this when the encounter occurs in an open area (open enough to allow movement). ATTACK - If you include the ATTACKED parameter, the foe will get the first attack. Use this when you wish the player to be surprised by the foe. CLOSE - If you include the CLOSE parameter, the foe will be close to the Knight when the battle begins. Otherwise, the starting distance will be randomly set. - 5 - -Foe [Number Flee Move Attack Close] (CONTINUED) -------------------------------------------------------------------- * - IMPORTANT! The Number must correspond to an existing foe. See the "FOE" section at the end of this document. Make sure that the Level of the Foe corresponds to the level of the quest you are creating. It is important to remember that during battle, the Knights will have access to all of their statistics and can use/ready/ and wear their equipment. -Gold [+/-] [Amount] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Used to add/subtract gold from the player. Examples: -Gold - 10 would subtract 10 from the player's gold -Gold + 100 would add 100 to the player's gold -Gosub [Label Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jumps to Label Number (1-100) until -Return is called. Up to 100 Gosubs may be "nested" within loops. This allows for greater flexiblity and space saving when you wish to call a frequently used portion of the quest (like viewing a map) without losing the player's current place in the Quest. -Goto [Label Number], [Start] or [Finish] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jump to :Label Number (1-100), :Start, or :Finish of Quest. Unlike -GOSUB, -Goto will not keep track of the player's current position in the quest. This is effective when moving from area to area or moving around areas when the player is not equiped to undergo specific areas. -HP [+/-] [Amount] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Used to add/subtract points from the player's hit points. Examples: -HP - 10 would subtract 10 from the player's Hit Points -HP + 10 would add 10 to the player's Hit Points - 6 - -IF [(KEY# or GOLD) =<> KEY# or Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin the TRUE of the IF Statement. If the If statement is true then the quest will continue until -IFElse is encountered. Example: -If Key1 < 100 Is Key1 less than 100? -GOTO 1 Yes, goto Label 1 -IFELSE End True, Start False -GOTO Finish No, goto the end of the Quest -IFEND End -IF GOLD > 50 Is Player's Gold greater than 50? -GOLD - 50 Yes, Reduce the GOLD by 50 -IFEND End -IF Key10 < Key20 Is Key10 less than Key20? Note that the -IFElse statement (false portion to the IF) is not necessary for the IF statement to work correctly. Up to 100 IF statements may be "nested" within each other. This allows for multiple comparisons in order for certain results. IMPORTANT! Each -IF statement MUST have a corresponding -IFEND statement! -IFElse -------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin the FALSE of the IF Statement. If the If statement is false then the quest will continue until -IFEND is encountered. -IFEnd -------------------------------------------------------------------- End the Current True or False of the -IF statement. :Label [Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Label Number (1-100) for -Goto/-Gosub. :Label 1 would start the block number 1. -Key [## +/- ##] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Add or Subtract amount to or from Key ##. Example: -Key 2 + 10 would add 10 to the value of Key2 -Key 2 - 1 would subtract 1 from the value of Key2 - 7 - -Pause [Milliseconds] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pause for a number of milliseconds. -PAUSE 1000 would delay the quest for 1 second. -Poison [+/-] [Amt] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Increases or Decreases the Player's Level of Poison. Amt ranges from 1 to 10 Example: -Poison + 5 would poison the player if the player was not poisoned. The level of poisoning would increase by 5. -Return -------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to last -Gosub position in the Quest. -RiteC [Text] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Display Text centered, No Carriage Return. This will print the text to the center of the screen and leave the cursor in the space just after the last character. -RiteJ [Text] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Display Text centered, With Carriage Return. This will print the text to the center of the screen and Jump the cursor to the beginning of the next line. -RiteN [Text] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Display Text, No Carriage Return. This will print the text to the screen and leave the cursor in the space just after the last character. -RiteW [Text] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Display Text, With Carriage Return. This will print the text to the screen and jump to the beginning of the next line. -RndFoe -------------------------------------------------------------------- Causes the Player to be forced into battle with a foe randomly selected from the database of foes. The selected foe will be humanoid (one that may be found within the Tavern) and may be of a level greater than the player's Knight. If no foes are found within the level ranges of the Knight, the battle will be skipped entirely. - 8 - -RndMon -------------------------------------------------------------------- Causes the Player to be forced into battle with a foe randomly selected from the database of foes. The selected foe will NOT be humanoid (one that may be found within the Tavern) and may be of a level greater than the player's Knight. If no foes are found within the level ranges of the Knight, the battle will be skipped entirely. -RndKey [Key# Min Max] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sets a Key (1-100) to a random amount between Min and Max. The size limits to Min and Max are from 0 to 255. Example: -RNDKEY Key65 200 250 Key65 will result in a number between 199 and 251. -Set [Key# Number Or STR, DEX, CON, WIS, CHA] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sets a Key (1-100) to a specific number from 0 to 255 STR = Player Strength DEX = Player Dexterity CON = Player Constitution/Endurance WIS = Player Wisdom CHA = Player Charisma Example: -SET Key25 50 The value of Key25 is set to 50. -SET Key20 CHA The value of Key20 is set to the player's charisma points. Note: Setting a key to a player's attribute is useful when determining how the player will do in a situation. The attribute also includes any magical "plus" currently active on that attribute. :Start -------------------------------------------------------------------- Beginning of Quest Label. This MUST be the first line of the Quest. The exceptions to this are the -TITLE and -AUTHOR lines which may be just before :START. -Title [Title of Quest] -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Title is automatically centered and displayed at the very beginning of the quest. -TITLE should be the first line of your quest (just before or after the :START Label) - 9 - -Turns [Number] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Turns required to continue. This will subtract [Number] from the players daily turns remaining. If the number is larger than the turns remaining then the player will be informed of the lack of character turns and the quest will be exited. Example: -TURNS 10 If the player has more than 10 turns remaining, the turns will be reduced by 10 and the player will be allowed to continue. Otherwise, the player will be released from the quest and returned to the Courtyard. -Wait -------------------------------------------------------------------- Wait until ENTER/RETURN is pressed. The prompt is: ". . Press Thy RETURN/ENTER to continue . ." The prompt is automatically centered and displayed in the current colors set by the -COLOR statement. ; Comment line, not used in Quest -------------------------------------------------------------------- Use the ";" switch at the beginning of a line to keep it from being used in the quest. Using the ";" lines will help you to keep track of thoughts and ideas when working on the quest file. FOES: ==== Each Foe has the following characteristics: FOE: ITEM RANGE DESCRIPTION -------------------------------------------------------- NAME 35 Chars Name of the Foe LEVEL 1-250 Level of the Foe WEAPON1 1-250 First weapon Index Number WEAPON2 1-250 Second weapon Index Number ARMOUR1 1-250 First armour Index Number ARMOUR2 1-250 Second weapon Index Number TREASURE 0-9999 Maximum Amount of Treasure Carried HIT PNTS 1-9999 Number of Foe's Hit Points POISON YES/NO Is the Foe Poisonous? MAGIC YES/NO Is the Foe Magical? KEEP WEP YES/NO Allow Knight to keep weapons? KEEP ARM YES/NO Allow Knight to keep armour? TAVERN YES/NO Allow Knight in Tavern? - 10 - WEP: ITEM RANGE DESCRIPTION -------------------------------------------------------- NAME 35 Chars Name of the Weapon LEVEL 1-250 Minimum level for purchasing. TWOHANDED YES/NO Is the weapon Two-Handed? MAGIC YES/NO Is the weapon Magical? DISTANT YES/NO Is it a long range weapon? AMOUNT 1-9999 Maximum Amount of Damage Caused MAXUSE 1-250 Maximum Times it can be used. ARM: ITEM RANGE DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------- NAME 35 Chars Name of the Armour LEVEL 1-250 Minimum level for purchasing. SHIELD YES/NO Is the armour a Shield? MAGIC YES/NO Is the armour Magical? AMOUNT 1-9999 Maximum Amount of Damage Caused MAXUSE 1-250 Maximum Times it can be used. Each item has an index number used to reference it. This makes it very simple to use the same weapons and armour for different foes within the game. Same for the Knights. When creating a new foe for use within quests, please provide as much of the above information as possible for your Sysop. When too little information is provided and your Sysop has to guess, you may find that the Foe is not really what you had in mind for that particular battle. - 11 -