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1993-06-30
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========================= by: Searchlight Software 516-751-2966 Voice
RIPsweeper 1.0 PO Box 640 516-689-2566 BBS
========================= Stony Brook, NY 11790 800-780-LITE Sales
Introduction
------------
Welcome to RIPsweeper. Unlike ordinary door games that run in Text or ANSI
mode, RIPsweeper uses the full screen graphics capabilities of RIP to
display a GUI environment, complete with mouse support. You've never seen
anything like it online! (RIPsweeper contains an advanced ANSI interface
for your non-RIP callers, too).
RIPersi is a classic board game that pits you against the computer. Like
most door programs, RIPsweeper works on virtually any BBS software that
supports doors, and can read a DOOR.SYS file, PCBOARD.SYS file, or command
line parameters to get the information it needs.
What are RIP Graphics?
----------------------
RIP graphics, a brand new terminal protocol developed by TeleGrafix Inc.,
is what lets RIPsweeper do its graphics magic. Nearly all the BBS vendors
are rushing to release new versions of their bulletin board software that
supports RIP graphics. Searchlight BBS 3.0 was released in March 1993 and
new versions of Wildcat!(tm) and PCBoard(tm) have been annouced for Summer
1993 availability.
In order to use RIPsweeper in its full graphics GUI mode, your callers need
to call your BBS with a RIP graphics compatible terminal program such as
the freeware program RIPterm. New versions of QmodemPro(tm) and Telix(tm)
have been annouced for Summer 1993 release.
RIP graphics will undoubtedly be coming to your town before you know it
and, regardless of what BBS software you are using, Searchlight's RIP
graphics products can give your callers a taste of that future today. If
you'd like to learn more about RIP graphics -- including how you can get
more RIP graphics features throughout your BBS -- please contact us at the
numbers listed above.
About Searchlight
-----------------
Searchlight Software is the world's leading developer of RIP Graphics host
products. In addition to RIPsweeper, we offer a RIP Games Pak disk with
three more games for $29, and a complete professional BBS software package
with integrated RIP graphics support. Please check the enclosed files
ORDER.FRM and SLINFO.DOC for more information about other BBS products we
offer.
==============================
Running with Searchlight BBS
==============================
Setting up RIPsweeper with Searchlight BBS is as easy as can be. Copy the
file RIPSWEEP.EXE to any directory on your BBS computer. In this example,
we'll assume that you are placing RIPSWEEP.EXE in the C:\RIPGAMES directory.
Next, run Searchlight's CONFIG program and enter Searchlight's Menu Editor.
Press <ENTER> on the menu to which you'd like to add RIPsweeper, press <F1> to
edit the commands on the menu, and press <F1> again to add a new command.
The new command we are adding will be of type 'DOOR'.
Fill out the command screen as follows:
1. Command Name .................. RIPsweeper
2. Command Key ................... R
3. Description ................... Classic board game with RIP graphics
4. Minimum Access Level .......... 0
5. Maximum Access Level .......... 255
6. Require Security Attrib .......
7. Exclude Security Attrib .......
8. Require Preference Attrib .....
9. Exclude Preference Attrib .....
10. Help Levels ................... All
11. Door Command .................. c:\ripgames\ripsweep.exe
12. Directory Path ................ .
13. Communications Support ........ Standard
14. Abort Method .................. None
15. Write Protection .............. No
16. Parameter File................. None
17. Pause After Door .............. No
Modify the access levels and attributes to suit your system. Substitute the
path in line 11 with the directory where you copied the RIPSWEEP.EXE file.
Line 12 should be set to a period only, since RIPsweeper should be executed
from your BBS home directory.
============================================
BBSs That Support DOORS.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS
============================================
RIPsweeper will operate with any BBS that can create a DOOR.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS
drop file. There are utility programs available that can create one of
these files for BBS systems that do not directly support them.
In the following paragraphs, we'll use the term 'drop file' to represent
either a DOOR.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS file. RIPsweeper can use these files
interchangably and will load whichever one it finds first.
Copy the file RIPSWEEP.EXE to any directory on your BBS machine. For this
example, we'll assume that RIPSWEEP.EXE is located in the C:\RIPGAMES
directory. By default, RIPsweeper expects to be executed in the directory
that contains the current node's drop file. For most BBS systems, this
means that you can run RIPsweeper from a batch file with a single command:
C:\RIPGAMES\RIPSWEEP
RIPsweeper will check the current directory for the drop file. If you cannot
execute RIPsweeper from the directory that contains the drop file, you can
pass the path to the drop file using the '-p' parameter on the command line.
For example, if your drop file is located in the C:\BBS\WORK1 directory, use
the following command line:
RIPSWEEP -pC:\BBS\WORK1
RIPsweeper will work with FOSSIL drivers and DigiBoards. Simply add a '-f' or
'-d' parameter to your command line to engage FOSSIL or DigiBoard support.
For example, with Wildcat! IM systems use the command:
RIPSWEEP -d
If RIPsweeper is not able to correctly determine the FOSSIL port or DigiBoard
channel from the drop file, you can pass that on the command line as well.
For example, to run RIPsweeper on FOSSIL port 0, use the following command:
RIPSWEEP -f0
If you need to override any of the information that RIPsweeper reads from the
drop file, you can use the command line parameters listed in the next
section.
===============================
Running from the command line
===============================
If your BBS does not support PCBOARD.SYS or DOOR.SYS drop files, you can use
command line parameters to pass all the information RIPsweeper needs to know.
USER NAME = current user's full name (Required)
-cPORT = Standard COM port, ex: -c2 (for COM2:)
-sSPEED = Communication speed, ex: -s19200
-tTIME = User's time remaining in minutes, ex: -t15
-dPORT = Digiboard support with port number, ex: -d2
-fPORT = FOSSIL support with port number, ex: -f2
-bADDR = Non-standard hex base addr, ex: -b2A0
-iIRQ = Non-standard IRQ, ex: -i5 (for IRQ5)
-l = Enable hardware flow control
-o = Disable output buffering
-n = No carrier checking
Sample command lines:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIPSWEEP Jim Barry -c2 -s2400 -t30
User's name is Jim Barry. Use standard COM2: running at 2400 bps. User has
30 minutes remaining.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIPSWEEP Bryant Gumble -d2 -s19200
User's name is Bryant Gumble. Use DigBoard channel 2 locked at 19200 bps
(RIPsweeper does not need to know the callers actual connect rate). No time
remaining specified.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIPSWEEP ToughGuy -b2A0 -i5 -s38400 -s20
Users name is ToughGuy. Use com port at base address 2A0, IRQ 5 locked at
38400. Time remaining is 20 minutes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIPSWEEP Brian Wilson
User name is Brian Wilson. Run locally using no serial communications.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
================
Using The Game
================
RIPsweeper is designed to operate best in RIP Graphics mode -- to see the RIP
graphics features, you need to run it from a RIP compatible graphics
terminal such as RIPterm. Although you can run RIPsweeper and use your mouse
in local mode, you won't see the RIP graphics interface unless you run from
RIPterm.
RIPsweeper also provides a colorful text based ANSI interface. The ANSI
interface is used if the caller does not have RIP graphics, or if you run
RIPsweeper locally. In ANSI mode, press the highlighted letters associated
with each command name to execute the commands.
To play the game, start by selecting a skill level from the skill level
dialog box.
You are presented with a mine field and your objective is to locate all the
mines as quickly as possible. Uncover the squares on the game board that do
not contain mines, and mark the squares that do. The trick is determining
which squares are which.
To uncover a square, point to the square with your mouse or cursor and
click the mouse button or press <ENTER>. To mark or unmark a square, point
to the square and press <SPACE>.
If you uncover a square that contains a number, N, then there are N mines
in the surrounding eight squares. If it's blank, there are no mines in the
surrounding squares and they are uncovered for you.
Mark squares that you know contain a mine. If you uncover a square that
contains a mine, the game is over.
You can also "clear around" an uncovered number square whose mine has
already been marked. For example, a square labeled 1 may be touching a
marked square. All the other squares around the 1 must not contain mines.
To clear around the 1 square, point to it and click the mouse button. All
the unmarked squares around the 1 will be uncovered.
At any time, you can quit, start a new game, or view the high score list by
pressing the appropriate buttons on-screen.
========================= by: Searchlight Software 516-751-2966 Voice
RIPsweeper 1.0 PO Box 640 516-689-2566 BBS
========================= Stony Brook, NY 11790 800-780-LITE Sales
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Telix is a trademark of deltaComm Development
Wildcat! and QmodemPro are trademarks of Mustang Software, Inc.
PCBoard is a trademark of Clark Development Company, Inc.