Programmer 7500

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Programmer 7500 / MAX_PROGRAMMERS.iso / CLIPPER / MISC / CREATE2M.ZIP / CREATE.DOC next >

Wrap

Text File | 1987-04-18 | 19.4 KB | 707 lines

┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ Create An Adventure II │ │ Documentation │ │ │ │ (c) Copyright 1987 │ │ By Carey Nash │ │ │ │ │ │ SysOp of The Programmer's Forum │ │ [818] 701-1021 │ │ 300/1200/2400 Baud │ │ 24 hours/7 Days │ └────┬──────────────────────────┬──┘ ├──────────────────────────┤ │ Current Version : M │ │ Release Date : 4/18/87│ └──────────────────────────┘ 1 Table of Contents ───────────────── Page Description ──── ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1 Table of Contents 2 What is Create An Adventure II 3 Setting up Create An Adventure II 4 Setting up Create An Adventure II 5 Problems with Create An Adventure II 6 Problems with Create An Adventure II 7 Special features of Create An Adventure II 8 Using the SysOp functions 9 Using Create An Adventure II on a Multi-Node System 10 How to register 11 How to register 12 Registration form 2 What is Create An Adventure II? Create An Adventure is a DOOR program written for PCBoard BBS software. Once a user exits from PCBoard, and into CreateII, he may play any number of adventures. Each adventure is similar to the "Choose your own adventure concept" in which the user chooses the best choice, or the one which he likes best. The program will then take the person to the next scenario, explaining what happened to him in the process, and in turn, give him two more choices. However, once a user has reached a point in the adventure where no one else has visited; he may "create" the next part of that adventure, and then supply two choices. In this way, the adventure(s) can continually grow bigger and bigger in a binary-tree format. Figure #1 * ─── Scenario #1 / \ Scenario #2 ─── * * ─── Scenario #3 / \ / \ Scenario #5 ─── * * * * ─── Scenario #4 / \ /\/\ /\ In this way, Create An Adventure II grows bigger and bigger, and in turn, more fun. After many people have played, people will be able to travel further and further down the binary tree, until they have to enter a scenario. Users tend to like Create An Adventure II because they feel that they are the authors, and that it is them that create the story. Not only does this make the user feel included, but it also adds diversity of scenarios to the adventure, as many people may play any adventure. 3 Setting Up Create An Adventure II Create An Adventure II couldn't be easier to set up. You will probably find it extremely easy to do. Here's how it's done... Create An Adventure II files go in various subdirectories. The following are a list of needed subdirectories. Figure #2 Setup Type #1 PCB │ ┌────────────┬────────────┴─────────┬────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Main Gen Doors Other xxx.ttt aaa.ccc tradewars.exe xxx.xxx bbb.arc ──> Create2l.exe xxx.yyy hhh.ans blackjac.exe xxx.xxx etc.sav arcview.com │ CData ──> Create.Hlp ──> Create.Wel Figure #3 Setup Type #2 PCB │ ┌────────────┬────────────┴─────────┬────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Main Gen Doors Other xxx.ttt aaa.ccc tradewars.exe xxx.xxx bbb.arc ──> Create2l.exe xxx.yyy hhh.ans blackjac.exe xxx.xxx etc.sav arcview.com ──> Create.Hlp ──> Create.Wel All files which are needed only need one or two subdirectories. All of this information is entered while setting the program up. But first, a description of the files which YOU, the SysOp have to worry about. Create2l.exe - This is version L of Create An Adventure II. Place this file in your DOORS subdirectory. This file is to remain there, and you have to do nothing to it. Create.Hlp - This is a help file for new users who are just entering the realm of Create An Adventure II. 4 Setting up Create An Adventure II It should be placed in either your DOORS directory, or where ever you specify all CreateII DATA is to be saved. For instance, you could apt to store it in C:/DOORS/CDATA or wherever you choose. Create.Wel - This file is used for a welcome, if you do not like the one which CreateII normally uses. This file must be all coded in ascii, and have no ANSI codes within. However, you can use drawing characters, or whatever you like. Figure #4 Example of Create.Wel ┌──── ┌──┐ ┌─── ┌──┐ ──┬── ┌── │ │ │ ├── ├──┤ │ │ │ │┌─┘ │ │ │ │ ├─ └──── │└─┐ └─── │ └─ └─ └── │ This file must also be placed either in your DOORS directory, or wherever you specify all DATA should be located. Now, it's time to set CreateII up! Go into your doors directory and type... C:\DOORS>Create2m Setup [Return] Immediately, CreateII will provide you with instructions which explain how to set up CreateII. All you have to do is follow the instructions, and enter in all required data. Some of the items include pathnames of where data is to be stored, and colors to use for people with ANSI, as well as time limits, and other nescessary functions. [Note: If you are planning to run CreateII on a multi-node system, refer to Page #9] From here on, you may set up CreateII to your liking. If for any reason, you don't like how you set it up, you can re-set it up again at any time by just typing... C:\DOORS>Create2m Setup 5 Problems With Create An Adventure II If you are having any problems with CreateII, please try the following remedies and then if all else fails, call our support board, and page the SysOp, or leave a comment. Question: It keeps on loading up, then exiting to DOS just as it does. Answer : Check out how you configured it, you probably forgot a backslash after a path name, or maybe you specified the wrong Comm port. Question: The program will not display anything to the local console. Answer : This is because you had your PCBoard screen off [By using F9] If you want to turn the screen back on, just type Alt-S. Question: A user entered something irrelevant, or nasty as one of the scenarios. I don't want it to remain there! Help! Answer : Whoh, don't worry, the Scenario Editor has a built in delete function, plus you can edit each scenario to your liking. Question: I don't like how the help file looks, but I'm afraid to alter it. Answer : You can edit the help file with any text editor. Question: I want to add a few more adventures to the list, how? Answer : Just go into setup mode and change the number of adventures. Question: How can I play Create An Adventure II? Answer : Just type "Create2l Local" and you can play locally. Question: What happens if a user hangs up in Create An Adventure II? 6 Problems With Create An Adventure II Answer : The program will recycle, and return to PCBoard, and log that the user dropped carrier. Question: What if my users try to stay in CreateII longer then their alloted time Answer : Create an adventure II will warn them that their time ia almost up and when the limit has been exceeded, the user is dumped back to PCBoard, and the exceeded time limit is logged to your caller file. 7 Special Features of Create An Adventure II * Create An Adventure II allows up to 9 nodes using it at the same time. * CreateII will log all important activity within the door to the caller file. * CreateII does not need CTTY as previous doors did. * CreateII does not need Watchdog, or PCBtrap as other doors may. * CreateII can have an unlimited amount of scenarios in each adventure, and up to 99 adventures. * CreateII will allow users to backtrack using the new [P] function if they made a choice in judgement. * CreateII allows the user to add scenarios when the user reaches the end of the current adventure, making it grow. * CreateII makes use of 4 macros [1] *NAME* - Places current user's name wherever *NAME* is found [2] *DEAD* - This is placed in the choices section [A],[B] and the adventure will end, explaining to the user that he died. [3] *INPUT* - This can be used to get user's input, while they are playing the game. For instance. "So, matey, what be your name?"*INPUT* Using this example, CreateII would display the message "So matey, what be your name?" and then wait for him/her to enter something. What they typed can then be regurgitated by using the following macro. [4] *TEMP* - This prints out what was typed in during the last *INPUT* macro. So, if "Carey Nash" was typed for our previous example, we could do something like... "So, you say your name is *TEMP*" which would look like... "So, you say your name is Carey Nash" for the user! * CreateII has a built in usage-analyzer * CreateII has a built in scenario-editor * CreateII has a built in SysOp-local mode * CreateII has built in setup features * CreateII gives the user the ability to quit and save his game, and then to restore and play later. * CreateII uses efficient random access files for adventures, providing zippy editing, deleting, and playing of CreateII * CreateII provides a catalog feature to show current games * CreateII shows the number of scenarios in each adventure while performing a catalog * CreateII is virtually crash proof, and no matter what happens, will always return to PCBoard. * CreateII provides the SysOp with a feature to view who is currently using CreateII. By pressing [Home], the SysOp will receive invalualbe information. * CreateII is easy to set-up, and reset-up due to use of "Default" commands. * CreateII is self sufficient and does really not need any maintenance * CreateII will provide an alarm when a user enters it if the alarm bell is toggled on * CreateII will allow users to edit, redo, and list scenarios before saving them * CreateII will use your own ASCII welcome instead of it's own for a more personalized door * CreateII creates all needed files, so YOU don't have to. 8 Using SysOp Functions There are numerous SysOp functions already built into Create An Adventure II. These are all built into the smae program, and can be activated by different command line arguments. Here they are!!! C:\DOORS>Create2m SysOp - This brings up a menu which supplies all of the SysOp functions at once. You can then move the arrow down to the selection you want, and then tap return. This will then execute the function. C:\DOORS>Create2m Local - This argument places the SysOp in local mode, so he may play the game as any other individual might. He can perform all functions just as if he is a user calling from remote. C:\DOORS>Create2m Analyze - This argument is used to bring up the Usage analyzer. This analyzer reads information from files which CreateII creates, and generates an accurate, and informative report on usage. This report may be done to the console, or also to a file of your choice [So you can place the report in bulletins] C:\DOORS>Create2m Setup - This argument allows you to set up CreateII. All you have to do is follow the instructions, and CreateII will basically set up itself! C:\DOORS>Create2m Edit - This argument activated the CreateII Scenario Editor. This is a message-like editor which will take care of all nescessary editing, viewing, and deleting after the scenario has been entered. When the editor first loads, it will ask you for which adventure you would like to edit. Just type in the adventure number, and whallah, CreateII will display the first scenario in that adventure, and display a list of commands. These commands include... [J]ump - Jump to any other scenario # [N]ext - Next scenario [P]revious - Previous scenario [E]dit - Edit a line of one of the scenarios [R]edo - Redo a whole scenario [D]elete - Delete a scenario [X]it - Quit the scenario editor Using the scenario editor, you can get rid of unwanted text, and change scenarios which were ruined by line noise, etc. 9 Using Create An Adventure II On a Multi Node System Contrary to popular belief, CreateII will function properly in a multi node system if it is set up correctly! This chapter will explain the setup for a multi node system. There are a few steps which are nescessary to set up CreateII for a multi node system, they are... [1] Setting CreateII up Setting CreateII up for a multi node system is very similar to setting up CreateII regularly! All you have to do is add a number to the command line. For instance, if I wanted to set up CreateII for node1, I would type... C:\DOORS>Create2m Setup 1 Or, if I wanted to set up CreateII for node 4, I would type... C:\DOORS>Create2m Setup 4 That's all there is to it, almost.. The only other thing you have to do is place your batch files in your PCBoard directories. Assuming that you have 2 or more PCBoard directories... Figure #5 ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ PCB1 PCB2 Create Create cd\doors cd\doors Create2m 1 Create2m 2 cd\pcb1 cd\pcb2 board board [2] Running CreateII Assuming that you have 2 PCBoard subdirectories, you just have a different file specified in each DOORS.DAT so that the one for node one calls "Create2m 1" and the one for node 2 calls "Create2m 2". This way, if node 1 uses Comm port #1, and port 2 uses Comm port #2 no conflict will result. 10 How To Register Your Copy Of Create An Adventure II User Supported Software : User supported software is a way of delivering quality software to the user at a responsible cost, while allowing the user to make sure the software meets his needs. The user is able to try out the software before he pays for it, insuring that it meets his requirements and lives up to his expectations. The copying of the program is encouraged, and even though CreateII can only be used by SysOps of PCBoard Premium Bulletin Board Software, it can be distributed by regular means. Under the user supported software concept, a user may receive a copy of a program from any bulletin board system which has a copy available for downloading. Usually, the program will be in ARChive format, which means all files relating to the program are compressed and made into a single file. Registration for CreateII is manditory, after a period of time to ensure that the program suits your needs (usually no more than 2 weeks). Registration is the user's way of supporting the author's work. If the program does NOT suit a users needs, he should discontinue it's use. Above all, whether or not you register, copy this program and distribute it to others for their non-commercial use. It is in this way that User Supported Software will succeed! Registration : If you decide to use this program, cast your vote for User Supported Software by registering your use of the program. CreateII is still expanding, improvements and additions will continue, but to keep on making improvements, I need your support. Registered users will receive notices of new major revisions of CreateII. As well, registered users gain preferred access to all the support I can give, through mail and telephone. To register, send $20.00 in the form of a check or money order to the following address: Carey Nash Programmer's Forum c/o J. D. Transcriptions 527 N. Azusa Avenue Suite 119 Covina, Ca 91722 Along with your check or money order, please include 11 How To Register Your Copy Of Create An Adventure II the following questionnaire on the following page... 12 Create An Adventure II Registration Sheet Full name _____________________________ Home Phone [___] ___ - ____ Data Phone [___] ___ - ____ Board's name _____________________________ Address _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Notes _______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________