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- .TOPIC:
- Doors Configuration
-
- VBBS 6.12 Documentation -- 2-K-1
-
-
- ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
- ║ CHAPTER TWO ANNEX K A. DOORS CONFIGURATION ║
- ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- VBBS will run almost all modern doors and online games
- created for use on BBSes, either straight from the command line
- or through the use of an external door converter, such as DOORWAY
- or DoorMaster. Doors can be called from function blocks or from
- scripts, as well as this internal doors configuration.
- VBBS shrinks out of memory for all external programs, re-
- serving only a small amount of RAM for its "hooks" that allow
- the user to return to the BBS. VBBS creates the CHAIN.TXT,
- DOOR.SYS, and DORINFOx.DEF "drop files" which contain user infor-
- mation for use by the door program; most doors will accept at
- least ONE of these formats. It should be noted, however, that
- some games, particularly WWIV- and PCBoard-specific games, re-
- quire the use of a door converter because of their use of DOS
- interrupts and their methods of handling ANSI graphics.
-
- When you choose item [A] from the VCONFIG Main Menu, you
- will see a scrolling-window screen listing the door programs you
- have installed, along with the SL needed to access them. Moving
- the highlight bar and pressing [Enter] selects that program's
- configuration entry.
- When configuring a door program in VCONFIG, you will be
- prompted for the following information:
-
- 1) Program Name
- ════════════
- The name of the door program, as it will be presented to
- the user. Try to keep it short; long names will be trun-
- cated (not good if you like to include version numbers).
-
- 2) Command Line
- ════════════
- The name of the batch file or command line to execute the
- door program, along with any command-line parameters that
- need to be passed to the door. Again, full pathnames are
- recommended.
-
- 3) Security Lvl
- ════════════
- The MSL (remember *that* abbreviation?) needed to access
- the program.
-
- 4) Access Flag
- ═══════════
- If set, allows only those users with matching access flags
- to access the program. Access flags are set in the user
- editor; for more information, see "The User Editor".
-
- ╔═╗ Access flags can be useful in "beta-testing" door programs
- ╚═╝ to see if you've installed them correctly. Before announ-
- cing you've got a new online game, give a couple of your
- trusted users access to the game using access flags and
-
- VBBS 6.12 Documentation -- 2-K-2
-
-
- get them to try to crash the game, tweaking your game set-
- up as necessary. Once all the glitches are fixed, THEN
- drop the access flag requirement and announce your new on-
- liner; this can spare you some grief from vexed hard-core
- gamers (the kind of feedback you LEAST want to hear).
-
- 5) Single User
- ═══════════
- Indicates whether the game is playable on single nodes or
- multi-nodally. Single-line installations should leave
- this set to YES.
-
- 6) Credit Cost
- ═══════════
- Allows sysops running a credit system to charge credits
- for door program access. This is configurable for each
- individual game.
-
- ╔═╗ Setting up a credit cost for games can either be a great
- ╚═╝ boost for your message-base traffic, or it can be a night-
- mare. If you use this feature, make sure you don't set
- your credit costs so high that it takes an inordinate
- number of posts or uploads to earn enough credits to play
- the games.
-
- D) Delete This Entry
- ═════════════════
- Self-explanatory.
-
-
- ╔═╗ Getting door programs to run correctly, especially upon
- ╚═╝ exiting and re-entering the BBS, is probably the most
- difficult task a sysop faces. Door games are rapidly
- becoming more complex, and as they do so, their indivi-
- dual requirements and quirks are doing likewise.
-
- In installing door programs, patience IS a virtue; many
- times, installation involves a good deal of trial and er-
- ror. The importance of reading the door program's docu-
- mentation, especially with regard to installation, can
- not be overstressed.
-
- In addition, Appendix J contains sample batch files and
- command lines for some of the more popular online games.
-
- ╔═╗ Some door converters (not included with VBBS) will allow
- ╚═╝ the sysop to configure a remote sysop drop-to-DOS; this
- is a chancy business at best, and caution is advised.
-
- ▒▒ For installation of games under OS/2, please refer to
- Appendix D for information.
-
-