home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Share Gallery 1
/
share_gal_1.zip
/
share_gal_1
/
GA
/
GA245.ZIP
/
BUILDER.EXE
/
DCWORLD.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-04-07
|
57KB
|
1,560 lines
D C - W O R L D
WORLD BUILDER'S USER'S GUIDE
Version 1.30 - Apr 1991
copyright (c) 1989 - 1991
DC Software
6705 Laramie Dr.
Plano, Texas 75023
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.0 The Graphics System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.0 Creating an Adventure Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1 Setting things up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2 Before you start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.4 The DCWORLD screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.5 The Data Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.6 The FIRST world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
World's TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
World's NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
World's SIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
World's LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
World's EDGE DOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.7 Landscaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.8 Doors to other worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.9 Furnishing a world.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.10 Testing your game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.11 Types of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.12 Creating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.13 Creating Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Character Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Character Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Character Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A P P E N D I X
Landscape Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Object Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Character Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Character Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Adventure's Introductory Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.0 Introduction
1.1 General Information
The DC Software Graphics Adventure Game Builder is a tool that
will allow you to create graphics adventure games with a minimum
effort and time.
You can create scenarios (worlds, cities, castles, dungeons,
etc), and populate them with monsters, merchants, and all kinds
of beings as well as a wide variety of objects like weapons,
armor, shields, amulets, potions, treasures, vehicles, etc.
Each adventure can consist of up to 1000 settings, each of them
having over up to 500 objects and monsters.
The adventures created can be run on any graphics device
available, be it CGA, EGA, VGA or even TANDY color graphics.
The ShareWare version comes with CGA support only, but the
registered version will automatically run at the highest
resolution and use the maximum number of colors available for
some impressive graphics.
This is the only graphics adventure game builder available to
the public, either commercially or under the ShareWare or Public
Domain distribution systems (as far as I know).
1.2 Hardware Requirements
The system will run on any IBM-PC compatible computer with 384K
or more of memory. A very large world, with a large number of
objects and running on high resolution VGA may require 512K or
even 640K, but I have yet to run into this problem.
While it's easy to run the system from a diskette, a hard disk
is recommended. Speed is never a problem. The program will
perform quite well on an old 4.77MHz PC.
2.0 The Graphics System
The adventures created with this system will take from 100KB
to 200KB of disk space and can easily fit in a 360KB diskette.
The graphics files, however, take up a lot more space. The
ShareWare version of the system comes with support for CGA low
resolution only, and takes up very little additional space, but
some of the higher resolutions that come with the registered
version will require a hard disk or high capacity diskette
drive.
----------------- GRAPHICS HARDWARE SUPPORT ----------------
Resolution Description Colors Code Disk Space
---------- ---------------------- ------ ---- -----------
320 x 200 CGA low resolution 4 -CLO + 80KB
640 x 200 CGA high resolution 2 -CHI + 165KB
320 x 200 MCGA low resolution 16 -MGA + 110KB
640 x 200 EGA low resolution 16 -ELO + 230KB
320 x 200 VGA low resolution 256 -VLO + 140KB
640 x 480 VGA high resolution 16 -VHI + 530KB
320 x 200 TANDY's low resolution 16 -TDY + 110KB
You can run both DCWORLD and DCPLAY with under 384K of RAM free,
leaving plenty of space for any TSR's or device drivers you need
on your computer. There is only a 64K difference in the amount
of memory required for a CGA low resolution system and the what
is needed by VGA high resolution. Of course, if you create very
large worlds, you may need a bit more memory.
When running a program, you may specify the graphics resolution
you want to use by typing in the graphics code from the table
above. If you don't specify any resolution, the game will try
for the resolution with the most number of colors and highest
pixel resolution. If the graphics blocks for that resolution
are not found, the program will print a message and stop.
Example: DCWORLD -VLO
The above example will run DCWORLD with VGA 320x200 256-color
graphics.
Page 2 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
3.0 Creating an Adventure Game
3.1 Setting things up
Every different adventure game will require it's own directory
on your hard disk. (Or a separate diskette, if you don't have a
hard disk).
To create and change to a new directory, type:
MD \newgame
CD \newgame
Copy the following files to the directory or diskette where you
want to create the game:
DCWORLD.EXE - The world builder.
DCPLAY.EXE - The adventure game player.
DCFONTS.7x5 - Contains the graphics font.
DCBLOCKS.xxx - Graphics Landscaping Blocks.
DCOBJECT.xxx Graphics Objects and Characters.
Copy only the DCBLOCKS and DCOBJECT files for the graphics
resolution that you want to use to develop the adventure. The
xxx in the name is the same as the CODE in the table on the
previous section.
NOTE: If you have the ShareWare distribution archive DCGAMES.ZIP,
you can extract the needed files using PKUNZIP(tm) from PKWare.
The DCWORLD.EXE program is contained in BUILDER.ZIP (inside the
DCGAMES.ZIP), and DCPLAY.EXE is in PLAYER.ZIP. The GRAPHICS.ZIP
archive co contains the CGA Low Resolution graphics blocks and the
EXAMPLE.ZIP file contains an example adventure game.
3.2 Before you start
Before you start, write down (or just think about) the purpose
of the game you want to create. It might be to defeat a
villain, rescue some princess, maybe find some object. Or how
about all of the above?
Whatever the main goal of the adventure, you will have the
opportunity to build smaller "mini-adventures" into the larger
game. Dungeons to be explored, quests to be solved, foes to
be defeated. Their main purpose will be to give the adventurer
something interesting to do while gaining experience, gathering
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 3
a team, collecting information and tools needed to reach the
main goal.
I strongly recommend that you try playing the example adventure
game that comes with the system. It's a very small adventure,
but it will show most of the available features. Then it will
be easier for you to create your own, because you will know what
the end product will look like (more or less).
You should try to have the following ready before you start:
o A rough (very rough) sketch of the main world map. Mark all
main locations, like castles, cities, dungeons, etc. You'll
be refining this sketch as you go.
o A rough idea about the purpose of the game. You should
have some basic story line. Don't get bogged down. You
don't have to have the whole story down pat before you start
building the adventure. Go ahead and "design as you go..".
o A printed copy of the documentation. This is an absolute
requirement. You won't get very far with out it. If you
register your copy, you will get a printed copy of the
documentation.
o The most complicated part is keeping track of the names. Did
I call that place "Joe's Pub" or was it "Joe's Cafe"? A good
pencil and paper are indispensable tools.
Page 4 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
3.3 Getting Started
To begin creating the adventure, type:
DCWORLD [-mode] <enter>
The 'mode' is one of CLO, CHI, TDY, ELO, EHI, VLO or VHI. Note
that the ShareWare version of the software only supports the CLO
(CGA low resolution) graphics mode.
3.4 The DCWORLD screen
The screen should look like this:
+----------------------------------------+------+
! Current Landscape Block ! -- !
! ----------------------->! |xx| !
! ! -- !
! ! !
! A VIEW of the world you are building ! !
! ! !
! -- ! !
! | |<-- Graphics Cursor ! !
! -- ! !
! ! !
+----------------------------------------+------+
! !
! The TEXT area. !
! !
+-----------------------------------------------+
The world VIEW area shows a 24 blocks wide by 11 blocks high
"window" into the world. The window in the playing program is
18 by 11, so that is the smallest world size, but you can make
them as big as your memory will allow.
NOTE: Changing the size of a world will destroy it's contents,
so make sure you make it big enough the first time!.
The Current Landscape Block is the graphics block that would be
inserted at the current Graphics Cursor position. Pressing "+"
and "-" will change the current landscape block. A complete
list of all graphics blocks and their density can be found in
the appendix.
The TEXT area shows the current's world size, name and index
number. Worlds are numbered 0 through 999, with world 0 being
the world where you start your adventure. It also shows the
list of valid commands.
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 5
3.5 The Data Screens
Some of the commands will clear the graphics screen and allow
you to enter data on a text window. After you finish entering
the data, the graphics screen will be restored.
As a general rule, you can use the arrow keys to move from one
field to another in a text window. Use the "+" and "-" keys to
increase or decrease any number, or to select from a fixed set
of choices. When you are asked for a NAME, you can type up to
15 characters.
3.6 The FIRST world
Worlds are numbered from 0 to 999. The first world (# 0) is
where the adventure begins, and should be either the OUTDOORS
(planet surface) or the home of the adventurer. For this
example, it will be the OUTDOORS. This type of world should
normally be quite large (at least 100 by 60), most of it being
water (oceans) with at least one large continent and lot's of
islands.
When you first run DCWORLD, it will create the first world with
a size of 18 by 11 and fill it with grass. The first thing to
do is to change the world's size and give it a name!
Press F2 to modify the world's Name, Type, Size, etc. When
you are finished, press F10 to return to the world's graphics
view. Note that the screen used to modify a world's general
information also shows all currently defined doors for that
world. A world can have up to 16 doors to other worlds.
The following items can be specified for each world:
World's TYPE
The type of the world affects how the game is played. The
following types of worlds can be created:
o OUTDOORS
This is a true WORLD. If you travel long enough in
any direction, you will return to your original point of
departure. World # 0 is normally the only OUTDOORS world.
Random monsters appear in the wilds and while traveling in
the ocean.
Page 6 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
o BIG CITY and/or SMALL TOWN
Walking to the edge of this world will take you OUT of it
through the EDGE door. This is normally the door that you
entered from. See the discussion of EDGE door below.
No random monsters appear inside a city or town. Right now
there is no difference between a SMALL TOWN and a BIG CITY.
In the future, there might be some.
Also, taking money found in cities and towns will eventually
(i.e. in a future release) put the local police on your tail.
o DUNGEON
This is an underground cavern. Random monsters are
different. Lot's of skeletons, rats, snakes and some dragons
too. If you reach the edge of the dungeon, you will "wrap"
in the same way that you do OUTSIDE. To prevent this
from happening, make sure the EDGE of the dungeon is not
reachable!
Of course, you may WANT the wrap around effect, but it's up
to you.
o HIDEOUT
Currently no different than a CITY or TOWN. However, it may
later have special features that distinguish it from a normal
place.
This is a good place to put "specialty" stores. No random
monsters will appear. Walking of the edge is the same as for
CITIES and TOWNS.
o HOUSES and CASTLES
No random monsters will appear in a HOUSE or CASTLE. Walking
of the edge is the same as for CITIES, TOWNS and HIDEOUTS.
There are no other special features.
In houses and castles you are allowed to take anything that's
loose. To prevent an object from being taken, make it very
heavy and the player will be unable to carry it!
o ARENA
A special kind of world. Every time you enter, you will
encounter a monster. This is a good place to get experience.
The monsters do not have any treasure because they are
previously "caught" and brought to the arena.
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 7
o END GAME
When a character enters this world, he/she has won the game!
World's NAME
You can type a name (up to 15 characters, including spaces) for
every world. The message "Welcome to xxx" is displayed every
time you enter a world.
World's SIZE
You can use the +/- key to change the horizontal and vertical (X
and Y) size of the world. A large world is about 100 squares on
wide and about 60 squares high. The smallest world allowable is
18 by 11 which is the size of the player's VIEW window.
World's LEVEL
The world's level is the level that the party leader (the
player) must have before being is allowed to enter a world. You
may want to restrict access to a world until an adventurer has
gained enough experience to be able to survive it.
When the adventurer's level is lower that the required one, a
message is printed saying something like "You'd better not...
It looks dangerous.."
World's EDGE DOOR
The EDGE DOOR is a door to be taken when you "walk of the edge"
of a world. It is meaningless in an OUTDOORS type of world,
because you "wrap" around the edge of the world. For other
worlds, like CITIES, etc, walking of the edge should return you
to the world you came from (the OUTDOORS for example).
3.7 Landscaping
The single graphics block on the upper, right corner of the
graphics screen shows the current landscaping block. Press the
+ and - keys to scroll through all landscape blocks.
For the OUTDOORS world, press the + key until you are looking at
the WATER graphics block. Then press the F9 key to "flood" the
world with water.
Page 8 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
Now press the - key until you get to the "grass" block.
You may use the arrow keys to move around, pressing INSert to
add a grassy block to the new world. You can create islands and
continents. Pressing the SPACE key will set a DRAW mode, where
moving will automatically insert the current graphics block.
Pressing SPACE again set's the mode to MOVE, which means you can
move the cursor without changing the graphics screen.
Practice a bit by creating a world with some islands, trees,
shrubs, and some castles, houses and villages here and there.
3.8 Doors to other worlds
A world may have up to 16 doors leading to other worlds (or to
other places in the same world). Doors are numbered 0 through
15 and are usually placed (opened) right over the graphics of
a city, town, castle, cave entrance, or a ladder or other item
that looks like it might lead to a different setting.
Move the cursor over to the place where the adventure begins.
This is usually right over a castle, house or village. At this
point, press O to open a door. The program will ask you for
some information. You should open door 0, leading to door 0 in
world 1.
What this means, is that if the adventurer moves over to this
spot, and presses E (for ENTER), he will enter world 1 through
door 0 in that world (wherever that door happens to be on world
1). Remember that when the adventure starts for the first time,
the adventurer will be positioned at door 0 in world 0.
Since we created a door to another world, let's create that
other world.. Place the cursor over the door and press E (for
ENTER).
You are now looking at world 1. Again, it starts out as a
small world, but can be changed to any size. This particular
world is the adventurer's home (in this example). You may leave
the world at it's minimum size, and just create some walls,
furniture and miscellaneous objects. Then move the cursor over
by a spot just outside the house's door, and create door 0 at
that spot. Press O, to open door 0, to door 0 in world 0 (where
we just came from). Now press E to enter the door, and you
should be transferred to the original world at the spot where
the other door was opened.
Remember that each world can have up to 16 doors, and each door
lead go to any world (including the same one you are in), and
any door in that world.
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 9
If for some reason you want the adventure to start with the
player at some spot where there is no 'world' to go to, just
open door 0, to door 0 in world 0. Entering this door will lead
back to the same place!
WARNING: If the destination door is not defined in the
destination world, the adventurer will be transferred to the
UPPER/LEFT corner (coordinates 0,0) in the destination world.
3.9 Furnishing a world..
Furniture, walls, windows and other items are provided as part
of the general landscaping graphics blocks. They are used to
create cities, houses, bars, etc. Look at the sample adventure
for some ideas.
3.10 Testing your game
At any time you may want to run the player program (DCPLAY.EXE)
to test what you have created so far. The original files are
never modified by the game player, so there is no risk involved,
nor do you have to make a separate copy of the game to test
with.
At any time, if you want to remove the playing copy (or copies)
of the game, just delete files SAV*.* in the game's directory,
AS WELL AS THE FILE PARTY.DTA!!! (This file contains the chara-
cter you created when you started to play).
3.11 Types of Magic
There are two types of magic. Type 1 is a "personal" kind
of magic. It has an immediate effect on the user. Effects
are CURE, HEAL, POISON, RESTORE, Increase STRENGTH, DEXTERITY,
SPEED, AIM, Armor Class, Hit Points, IQ or POWER.
The increase in attributes may be temporary (will last until the
next time the player sleeps or camp's out). The effect can also
be permanent.
Type 2 magic has an "external" effect. Known effects are
DUPLICATE OBJECT, EXIT FROM UNDERGROUND CAVERNS, RESURRECT,
EAVESDROP, LOCATE DOORS, KILL MONSTER, CONFUSE MONSTER, SCARE
MONSTER, DAMAGE MONSTER, PARALYZE MONSTER, RECHARGE MAGICAL ITEM,
FLOAT OBJECT, ANALYZE OBJECT and VIEW. Some spells can only be
cast during battles (and viceversa)
Page 10 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
3.12 Creating objects
There are many types of objects, and each of them has unique
attributes and characteristics that differentiates it from other
objects of the same type.
All objects have a NAME (up to 15 characters), a VALUE (what
you would BUY it for), a WEIGHT (character's have a limit to the
weight they can carry), and a TYPE (for example, some items may
have a magical effect, and the TYPE would be the type of effect
they have!).
Please note that the VALUE field is specified in SILVER PIECES,
and that 10 silver pieces (sp) make 1 gold piece (gp). Thus, if
something is worth 3 gold pieces, then it should have a value of
30 sp.
The following weights have special meaning:
Weight Message printed when the player tries to get it.
------ -------------------------------------------------
999 The <object> is much to heavy.
998 The <object> can't be moved.
997 Why would you want to take the <object> with you?
In addition to the above, an object can have special attributes.
For example, a WEAPON has 'Number of Hands Needed', 'Range',
'Damage' and 'Ammunition'.
Objects are differentiated by the combined effect of their
attributes. The following two objects are both weapons, but
very different:
Field Object 1 Object 2
------------- ------------------ -------------------
Name: Knife Laser Gun
Weight: 1 lb. 2 lb.
Value: 1 silver pieces. 2000 gold pieces.
Type: EDGED MISSILE
Hands Needed: 1 1
Range: 1 square 15 squares
Damage: 1 HP. 30 HP.
Ammunition: n/a (Ruby PAK).
The following are the graphic blocks available to represent
the different objects, and their special characteristics. When
creating an object, you can always press the F2 key to get a
list of pre-defined objects. You can use the predefined object,
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 11
or modify it to fit your special needs. In any case, it's
usually a good way to start.
o FOOD
A single unit of food will last for 255 steps. Some food can
have a special effect (type 1 magic). You specify the # of
Units affected, as well as whether the effect is temporary or
permanent.
o WEAPONS
Weapons can be BLUNT, EDGED, MISSILE or MAGICAL. You specify
the number of hands needed (1 or 2), the range (in squares),
the damage done (in HP units) and the type of ammunition
needed (if any).
See the player's guide for restrictions on the type of
weapons that can be used by the different character classes.
o AMMUNITION
A weapon may need some kind of ammunition. The Ammo Code
for the weapon should match the Ammo Type. The count is the
number of rounds available. The ammunition may have poison,
or do extra damage above the normal damage caused by the
weapon. For example, poison arrows, or explosive bullets, as
opposed to normal arrows or bullets.
o ARMOR
Armor can increase a character's "Armor Class". The higher
this number, the better protected you will be against hits.
Some characters can't use armor, while others have a limit on
the weight of the armor they can use.
See the player's guide for restrictions on the type of armor
that can be used by the different character classes.
o SHIELDS
A shield works just like armor, but it requires a free hand.
Some characters can't use shields at all.
See the player's guide for restrictions on the type of
shields that can be used by the different character classes.
o AMULETS and RINGS
Magical amulets and rings can be worn by anyone. They have
a limited number of charges (uses), and their effect (Type 1
Magic), which can be temporary or permanent.
Page 12 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
o POTIONS
Magical potions can have type 1 magical effects. They can be
used only once, and may have temporary or permanent effect.
o SCROLLS
Magical scrolls can be invoked only once. They have type 2
magical effects.
o STAFFS
A magical staff requires a free hand to wield, but can cast a
type 2 spell. They have a limited number of charges.
o CHESTS
A chest can contain gold (it's value). If the value is 0,
then the chest will contain a random number of gold pieces
that is related to the player's current hit points. Chests
can be locked, and the locks can be trapped. The traps can
be poison or bombs.
If Lock Code of a chest is non-zero, then the chest is
locked, and must be opened using a key with a matching
Key Code. The lock can also be broken, but you run the risk
of setting off a trap (if any).
o KEYS
A key can open a locked chest or door. The Key Code should
match the Lock Code in the chest. Doors always use a
Key Code of 0.
o GEMS
A Gem can be invoked for type 1 magical effect. It's effect
may be temporary or permanent. A gem has a limited number of
charges (uses).
o BOOKS
A book has a block of text (up to 16 lines) associated with it.
The text is displayed when a character "looks" at the book.
o GOLD SACKS
A gold sack will contain an amount of gold.
o TORCHES and LANTERNS
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 13
Torches and Lanterns are meant to be used in dark places.
Since light and darkness is not currently implemented, there
is no real need for torches and lanterns. In the future,
there will be, so plan to make these available (say by a
local merchant in some small town).
o ROPE and HOOKS
Needed for climbing. (Not currently implemented)
o MIRRORS
The graphics block for this item is 'kinda-cute', but I have
yet to find a use for it. Suggestions are welcome.
o SIGNS
Signs have a block of text associated with them (16 lines). A
sign can hang from a wall or stand on the floor. The text is
displayed when the player looks at it.
o VEHICLES
Some vehicles allow you to travel faster and easier. Horses,
Camels and Cars allow you to ride over small rivers with no
problem. Skiffs and Rafts will help in rivers and low water.
Sea worthy ships are available, as well as flying carpets and
air planes.
There are vehicle graphics for SPACE SHUTTLES, SPACE SHIPS
and UFO but they are not currently in use.
Page 14 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
3.13 Creating Characters
You can populate your worlds with all kinds of characters. Each
character created has it's own unique characteristics, which
vary depending on the character's type, class and statistics.
To create a character, you press 'C'.
Character Types
When you define a character, you get to choose the TYPE of
character. This identifies the graphics block that represents
the character during play.
Character Types are roughly grouped into three sets, but you
should note that the TYPE defines only the graphics block used
to represent the character in the game. The CLASS (covered
later) defines how the character reacts and interacts with the
player. Thus, you can have a Troll be the local bartender
instead of a monster. Just remember that anything you do should
make sense to the players, or they will quickly loose interest
in the game.
o Main character types
Human, Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, Archer, Fighter.
The adventurer can choose to be one of these. These graphic
blocks all carry weapons, and are intended (but not forced)
to be adventurers, guards, etc.
o Civilians
Civilian, Lord, King, Thief, Lady, Queen, Farmer, little
girl, little boy, doctor, musician, beggar.
These character graphic blocks are intended to populate the
scenarios. It doesn't make sense to have a beggar be an
adventurer and join your party.
Again, no restrictions are placed on the adventure builder.
o Monsters
Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Skeletons, Gouls, Zombies, Giants,
Golems, Fire Dragon, Ice Dragon, Deamons, Spiders, Snakes,
Rats, Small Bats, Giant Bats, Lizard Men, Lizard Men,
Ghosts, Evil Heads, Fire Element, Ice Element, Earth Element,
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 15
Darkness, Swamp worm, Sea Serpents, Hydra, Man o'War, Water
Sprites, Water Dragon, Water Element, Electric Storm,
Pirate's Ship.
These character graphic blocks are intended for monsters. In
some cases, you may want to use them for something else.
For instance, the sample adventure game that comes with this
system has a SNAKE that is a 'civilian' type. This snake
will give you a clue if you ask the right question. The
guards to the bad guy's castle are DEAMONS.
If you want to get real fancy, (for example), you might
have a ghost town, where all regular civilians are skeletons,
gouls, zombies or ghosts.
Character Classes
While a character's TYPE defines how it looks, it's CLASS
defines how it reacts and interacts with the player.
Character classes are Adventurer, Civilian, Monster, Merchant,
Healer, Teller, Quester, Trainer, Beggar, Guard, Off-Duty Guard
and Prisoner.
o Civilian
Civilians have a block of text, where the first 8 characters
in each line are a "keyword". During conversation, when the
player "mentions" the keyword, the civilian will respond with
the text on the rest of the line. You can "lead" the player
in a conversation by bringing up new "keywords" in your reply
lines.
Each civilian will also respond to the topic NAME by giving
it's actual name.
There are 3 predefined greetings and 3 predefined defaults.
One will be selected randomly when needed.
IF the FIRST line has a topic of HELLO, then that line is the
character's greeting (displayed when you first start talking.
It's a good opportunity to give the initial clue to lead the
conversation into any direction you want.
IF the SECOND line has a topic of DEFAULT, then rest of it is
added to the three predefined 'remarks' used when the player
mentions a topic that the character knows nothing about.
Example:
"Hello Greetings, stranger. Are you here for the festival?"
Page 16 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
"FestivalIt's been cancelled.. Because of the King.. "
"King Well, we can't celebrate with the King missing! "
"Missing Ask the Mayor.. He's in Joe's Pub.. "
o Adventurer
An adventurer is very similar to a civilian, except that it
will join the players party if asked to. If the adventurer
is over 3 levels higher than the player's character, it will
refuse to join the party until they gain more experience. By
the same token, if the main player is over 6 levels higher
than the character, it will decline to join.
The adventurer's GOLD and FOOD gets added to the group when
it joins, but the adventurer will take it's share of the
party's gold when it leaves the party.
There is a limit of 6 characters in a party. When a
character leaves the party, it's current statistics get saved
(in case it joins again). The system can save up to 16
different characters (besides the ones in the party).
o Monster
A MONSTER class character will attack upon sight. Monsters
never surrender and always fight to the dead. In dungeons
and outdoors, random monsters are generated to loosely match
the size and experience of the party.
Note that a monster's TYPE doesn't have to be one of the
monster types above. An ELF TYPE can represent a monster,
the same way an ORC could be an adventurer and join the
party.
The $$$$ amount is the amount of gold carried by the
monster's leader.
The COUNT is the number of monsters in the encounter. You
can specify a different character TYPE for the followers.
Each follower will carry about 1/2 the GOLD that the leader
carries, and will have about 1/2 the statistics.
o Merchant
A merchant buys and sells items. Used items are bought at
1/2 price.
Their inventory is in their backpack. (see the section
on character statistics), and they never run out of any
particular item.
o Bartender
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 17
A bartender will sell beer. If a player drinks two beers,
and then tips the bartender, it will get one HINT (selected
at random out of the global pool of hints). If a player
drinks more than two beers, it becomes drunk, and may even
get intoxicated, requiring the attentions of a Healer.
The $$$$ amount indicates the cost of 1 beer. A normal tip
is about 10 percent of the cost of 1 beer.
o Healer
A healer will (for a price) cure poisoning, heal wounds,
resurrect the dead and remove cursed items.
The $$$$ amount indicates the approximate charge for it's
services. The actual prices are random.
o Teller
A teller will (for a $$$$ amount) print it's related TEXT.
No keywords are needed, for no conversation takes place. If
the player pays the teller's fee, the exact contents of it's
four text lines are printed. Empty lines are not printed.
o Quester
A quester will ask the player to find and bring an item or
person. The names of the items or persons to be found are
the names of the items in the quester's backpack. The value
of each item in the backpack is the reward to be given to the
party when the item or person is delivered.
When a person is supposed to be the object of a quest,
it should be able to JOIN the party when found. When the
quest is finished, the person will automatically leave the
party and become a simple civilian (see the Needs Rescue or
Prisoner below).
The four lines of text have special meaning for a quester.
Line 1 is the "greeting" asking "do you want a quest?".
Line 2 is the quest line. Place the characters '%s'
somewhere in the line to display the name of the item that is
being requested. You may also display the amount the quester
will pay for the item. Place the characters '%ld' somewhere
AFTER the '%s' in the line.
Line 3 is the "Well done" line. It get's displayed when the
player brings the item or person requested to the quester.
Place the characters '%ld' somewhere in the line to display
the amount of GOLD being paid for the item (i.e. the reward).
Page 18 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
Line 4 is the "Sorry, I have no more quests" message.
The following is the "standard" questor's text:
"Are you in need of a quest? "
"Bring me a %s. I'll pay %ld in gold.. "
"Excellent.. Here is $%ld for your troubles.."
"Sorry. I have no more quests for you. "
o Beggar
A beggar is a special character type. It will ask for some
money. If you give it some, it might give you a clue.
If you don't, it will try to steal some. Line 1 is the
"greeting", and lines 2 through 16 are the possible comments
that the beggar may make if given a tip. Only one of these
lines would be printed.
Example:
"Can you spare some change for a hungry person? "
"The Lords of the court might have quests for you! "
"I really appreciate it. May your quest be successful."
"Ah.. I shall remember your generosity.. Thank you! "
o Trainer
A trainer can increase a player's Strength, Dexterity, Aim or
I.Q.
This is an EXPENSIVE way of increasing one's attributes. The
normal way is to adventure and gain experience. This may be
needed to correct an imbalance in a character's statistics.
The $$$$ amount is an approximate amount to be charged. Cost
varies from time to time, as well as type of training.
o Guard
A player can not walk past a Guard. Talking to the guard,
a player can either leave, fight (very dangerous), attempt
to bribe the guard, or give a password that the guard will
accept and let the player through.
The $$$$ amount is the amount of gold that the guard will
take as a bribe. A zero amount indicates that the guard
cannot be bribed.
Line 1 is the greeting, line 2 is printed when you decide to
leave, line 3 is printed when the guard accepts a bribe, and
line 4 contains the password (first eight characters) and the
text to be printed if the right password is given (rest of
the line).
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 19
The following is the default text for a guard.
"Halt! State your business or leave immediately! "
"And don't come back! "
"I guess we can arrange something.. "
"Secret You may pass.. "
o Guard(off duty)
An off-duty guard will ignore the player. Any guard
accepting a bribe or being given the right password will
immediately go 'off-duty', and ignore the player.
o Needs Rescue (or prisoner)
A prisoner is a special kind of civilian. It will join you
when asked, regardless of your current experience level. (An
adventurer won't join you if there is a very large difference
in experience between itself and the player's group.
Another difference is that when the player leaves the group,
it's type changes to 'Civilian' and the TEXT block is
incremented by one, thus changing the conversation that could
be had with this person.
Thus, if the player's quest is to rescue someone, this person
will be of type "Needs Rescue", with a block of text (Say #9)
like:
"Hello Am I glad to see you.. Will you help me? "
"Default I need a weapon and help getting out of here!"
"Help I'm a prisoner here.. We must escape.. "
"Join Thanks.. My uncle will reward you.. "
When the rescued person leaves the party (either through
the Vacate command or by finishing a quest), it's type will
change to civilian and the text block will be incremented to
#10, which should contain something like:
"Hello Hello! Did I thank you for rescuing me? "
"Default It's sure good to be free.. You were saying.."
"Join Sorry, I've had my fill of adventure.. "
"Money Didn't my uncle give you a reward? Hmmm.. "
Character Statistics
Any individual character that you define, has a "statistics"
record. The statistics record specifies the character's
attributes (Level, Experience, Hit Points, Dexterity, etc) as
well as the items being worn (armor, weapons, shields, rings,
amulets, etc) and the items being carried (the backpack).
Page 20 DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
Many characters can share common statistics, or you can define
a statistics record for a specific character. Many statistic
records are predefined in the system.
Statistics record 0 is the 'starting' statistics for the
player's character. The default for this record is a Level 1
player, carrying a Knife and 100 gold pieces.
Statistics records 1 through 15 are used to store the characters
that leave the player's party. They are inaccessible from
the world builder. Records 16 through 32 are contain generic
statistics that can be used to rapidly build up your population.
You can add your own statistics records (from position 33 through
255). You would normally add a record for each unique individual
that can join the party, for specialty merchants whose backpacks
contain unique items to be purshased by the adventurers, and for
questers, whose packs contain the item's or person's being quested.
The following is a list of all predefined Statistics Records:
Record Description
------ --------------------------------------------------
0 The INITIAL stats and items for the player.
1 (to 15) used to save players that leave the party.
16 An entry level person. Usually a civilian.
17 A mid-level fighter.
18 An experienced fighter.
19 A professional guard. Very tough.
20 A small monster.
21 A medium monster.
22 A big monster.
23 A Pirate's Ship (See NOTE below).
24 Merchant's Wares: Normal Weapons
25 Merchant's Wares: Magical Weapons
26 Merchant's Wares: Normal Armor
27 Merchant's Wares: Magical Armor
28 Merchant's Wares: Normal Food Stuffs
29 Merchant's Wares: Exotic (Magical) Food
30 Merchant's Wares: Magic Potions
31 Merchant's Wares: Magic Rings
32 Merchant's Wares: Magic Staffs
A pirate ship's statistics is special in that the backpack
contains a full SHIP, to be left when the pirates are killed!
Whenever a monster dies, the contents of it's backpack remain,
as well as some random items like gold, rings, amulets, potions
and staffs.
You may modify the pre-defined statistics if you want to. Once
the adventure is created, they become an integral part of it.
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page 21
A P P E N D I X
Landscape Blocks
The following is a complete list of pre-defined landscaping
blocks.
GRASS BRICK WALL DOOR
SWAMP WINDOW ON BRICK WALL LOCKED DOOR
SAND BRICK FIREPLACE HIDDEN DOOR (brick)
GRAVEL DOOR
LADDER (up) LOCKED DOOR
SHRUB LADDER (down) HIDDEN DOOR (stone)
SMALL TREE
LARGE TREE TABLE (left) COUNTER TOP (left)
FOREST TABLE (center) COUNTER TOP (center)
FOREST2 TABLE (right) COUNTER TOP (right)
CACTUS COUNTER TOP (top)
MOUNTAIN STONE WALL COUNTER TOP (center)
MOUNTAIN WINDOW ON STONE WALL COUNTER TOP (bottom)
CAVE IN MOUNTAIN STONE FIREPLACE
CAVE IN GRASS BEER KEG (left)
BLUE ROCKS TORCH (left) BEER KEG (right)
WHITE ROCKS TORCH (right)
WATER FOUNTAIN VEGETABLE GARDEN
DEEP WATER CHAIR FENCE (HORIZONTAL)
SHALLOW WATER CHAIR FENCE (VERTICAL)
RIVER WATER CHAIR
HORIZONTAL BRIDGE CHAIR
VERTICAL BRIDGE FLOOR TILES
HUT FLOOR TILES
LARGE HOUSE FLOOR TILES
SMALL HOUSE PLANT (in POT)
SMALL VILLAGE FULL LENGTH MIRROR
SMALL TOWN CHEST (left)
LARGE TOWN CHEST (right)
CASTLE (left) BED (left)
CASTLE (center) BED (right)
CASTLE (right) SMALL TABLE
SMALL CASTLE 1
SMALL CASTLE 2
Note that a hidden door looks like a wall. When it is found,
it will change to a locked door. When the door is unlocked, it
will change to an unlocked door. Characters can walk through
unlocked doors.
Object Blocks
The following objects have been predefined and have graphics
blocks to represent them. This list is easily extendible.
See "Creating Objects" for a more complete description of each
type of object and it's properties.
BLOCK TYPE SPECIAL PROPERTIES
---------- -----------------------------------------------
FOOD Type 1 Magical Effect
WEAPON # of hands, range, damage and Ammo Type
AMMO Ammo Code and Extra Damage or Poisoning.
ARMOR armor class, can be cursed
SHIELD armor class, # of hands, can be cursed
AMULET Type 1 Magic, # of charges, units and duration.
RING Type 1 Magic, # of charges, units and duration.
POTION Type 1 Magic, units and duration
SCROLL Type 2 Magic, range
STAFF Type 2 Magic, # of charges and range.
CHEST Lock Type, Trapped? Damage or Poison.
KEYS Key Type (Matches Lock Type)
GEMS Type 1 Magic, # of charges, units, duration
BOOK Text
GOLDSACK no special attributes
TORCH no special attributes
LANTERN no special attributes
ROPE no special attributes
HOOKS no special attributes
MIRROR no special attributes
SIGN1 Text
SIGN2 Text
SIGN3 Text
VEHICLES Horse, Camel, Car, Magic Carpet, Helicopter,
Airplane, Raft, Skiff, Sail Boat, Small Ship,
Large Ship. The Space Shuttle, Space Ship, and
U.F.O. types are not implemented.
Note that DURATION is either 0 (Temporary) or 1 (Permanent).
Also, a cursed armor or shield will remove all Armor Class
points. The item cannot be removed except by a healer or the
Remove Cursed Item spell.
Page ii DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
Character Blocks
These blocks represent the "type" of a creature. That is, the
graphics block that will be used to represent that creature.
The "class" of the creature is an entire different matter. (See
next section)
REGULARS MONSTERS MORE MONSTERS
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
HUMAN ORCS GHOSTS
ELF GOBLINS EVIL HEADS
DWARF TROLLS FIRE ELEMENT
WIZARD SKELETONS ICE ELEMENT
ARCHER GOULS EARTH ELEMENT
FIGHTER ZOMBIES EVIL DARKNESS
CIVILIAN GIANTS SWAMP WORM
LORD GOLEMS
KING FIRE DRAGONS SEA MONSTERS
THIEF ICE DRAGONS ----------------
LADY DAEMONS SEA SERPENTS
QUEEN SPIDER HYDRA
FARMER SNAKES MAN O'WAR
GIRL RATS WATER SPRITES
BOY SMALL BATS WATER DRAGON
DOCTOR GIANT BATS WATER ELEMENT
MUSICIAN LIZARD MEN ELECTRIC STORM
BEGGAR DRAGON MEN PIRATE'S SHIP
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page iii
Character Classes
Any of the above character type's can assume any of the
following character classes. Thus it is possible to have a
"swamp worm" be the local bartender. (Although it might look
mighty funny!)
CHARACTER CLASS DESCRIPTION
---------------- -----------------------------------------
ADVENTURER This is someone who might Join the party!
MONSTER Usually monsters, but can by any type.
MERCHANT Will Buy and/or Sell any item.
BARTENDER Sells drinks and rumors (for a good tip)
HEALER Cures, Heals, Resurrects and remove curses
CIVILIAN Regular folk. Might talk to you.
TELLER Will read your fortune. Very limited.
QUESTOR Will give you quests and pay well!
BEGGAR Begs for money. Good source of rumors.
TRAINER Expensive way of increasing attributes.
GUARD You can fight, bribe or give the password.
OFF DUTY GUARD A guard that won't try to stop you!
PRISONER A civilian that need's to be rescued!
Page iv DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder
Adventure's Introductory Text
The introduction to the adventure is one of the most important
"mood" setting tools you can have. Using any text editor, you
can create a file (called WORLD.TXT) that explains the premisses
for the adventure!.
Use up to 80 characters per line. The text will be displayed in
pages, with the user being asked to press <SPACE> before each of
the pages scrolls of the screen. If you put the word PAGE at
the beginning of a line, the display will stop a this point and
ask for the <SPACE>.
Example:
Welcome to the xyz adventure game. You are about to start on a
journey that will...
.
.
PAGE <- This makes the text display pause
.
.
More lines of text
.
.
DCWORLD - World and Adventure Builder Page v
