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1993-04-07
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H I G H S E A S A R M A D A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 1.5
Copyright (c) Steve Sharpe 1992,1993
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Any BBS capable of producing the following DOOR.SYS drop files:
* Original "GAP standard" DOOR.SYS (31 line version)
- for example, Spitfire BBSs use this one!
* New (currently 52 line) version DOOR.SYS promoted by Raymond Clements
- for example, PCBoard BBSs use this one!
2. High Seas Armada requires ANSI graphics!
Note: If you use door management programs that control the amount of time a
user can spend in a door (like Wildfire, etc.), ensure the door that High Seas
Armada is placed in is set for more than 30 minutes of access time. This is
extremely important since High Seas Armada saves critical game information at
the end of each play session.
SYSTEM OPTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
High Seas Armada supports the use of FOSSIL drivers and non-standard port
addresses. Refer to the INSTALLATION instructions for more information.
FILES CONTAINED IN HSA15.ZIP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HSA15.EXE <-- The main program
HSA1.MAP <-- Section 1 of the kingdom map
HSA2.MAP <-- Section 2 of the kingdom map
HSA3.MAP <-- Section 3 of the kingdom map
HSA4.MAP <-- Section 4 of the kingdom map
HSA.DOC <-- The file you are reading!
HSACONFG.EXE <-- The multi-purpose door configuration program
DOORWARE.DOC <-- Gamekeeper Doorware list
REVISION.DOC <-- Revision notes
FILES CREATED BY HSACONFG.EXE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GAME.CFG <-- Game configuration file
SCORE.FIL <-- Score data for internal use by HSA15.EXE
PLAYER_?.DAT <-- Player data files where ? represents the kingdom
number
HIDDEN.DAT <-- Treasure and trap data file
LEDGER.DAT <-- File containing number of coins given to each king
STATUS.DAT <-- Miscellaneous game status file
SHIPS.DAT <-- Galleon data file
BULLETIN.TXT <-- Armada Activity Log text (This file is not updated in
unregistered versions)
OVERVIEW
~~~~~~~~
Number of Players: 1-8
High Seas Armada is a scavenger hunt door where players search for buried
treasure (gold coins). These coins can be found throughout the land and on
the islands that are located in the Mystic Ocean. Players work for the king
of their kingdom in an effort to return as many gold coins to their king as
possible. The player who returns the most gold coins, after the last one is
discovered, is the winner. Pirates, from years gone by, have placed traps to
protect these buried treasures. These traps can injure your crew which reduces
the amount of gold they can carry! Port cities are located at strategic points
and offer services (for a fee) to heal injuries, repair damaged galleons, etc.
In order to get to the islands, you must sail a galleon that has been provided
to you by your king. Winds on the Mystic Ocean change periodically which
affect the way your galleon reacts to steering commands! If you crash your
galleon, you will die. This doesn't help you king achieve his goals! You will
receive 1000 additional coins each day. These coins are deposited to an
account the king has set up for you. You'll need them to pay for services
in the port cities. In return for your loyalty, the king will give you 20%
of the coins you return to him!
GAME OPTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Map display
~~~~~~~~~~~
Your present position is always reflected at the center of the map display,
located in the lower left corner of the screen. Exact North/South and East/
West coordinates are provided for reference. A map key defines the various
symbols that appear on the map.
Navigating the Mystic Ocean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You begin the game on board your galleon which is moored to your home port.
The galleon is equipped with a large main sail, an anchor, and a 3 position
rudder. To set sail, first raise the anchor. Then position the rudder in
the direction you want the bow to turn. Finally, raise the sail and enjoy
the ride! Watch the heading. In calm winds, the heading will change by 45
degrees with left or right rudder. Straighten the rudder when you wish to
maintain a particular heading. Speed is a function of winds and cannot be
manually changed. Watch out for coral reefs. If you hit them, your galleon
will be damaged! Periodically, the winds will shift. If you encounter a
head or tail wind, steering remains the same but your speed will decrease or
increase, respectively. However, if you encounter a crosswind, normal
steering will be impossible. You will have to keep the rudder turned left or
right just to sail straight! Turns can only be made with the wind, not into
it. If you get into a tight situation, you may have to stop the galleon
until the winds change! To stop the galleon, just lower the sail!
GAME NOTE: Occasionally, particularly after traveling on land or an island,
there will be a short delay before the galleon begins to move when the sails
are raised. This is normal. Be patient! You will see the speed increase
before too long.
Moving about on land
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the numeric keypad (ensure the NUM LOCK key is on) or the number keys to
move on land or islands. Be careful, though. You don't know how to swim!
Port cities offer services for the needy adventurer if you have enough money
in your account.
Digging
~~~~~~~
You have to dig on land and on islands to discover buried gold coins. Keep
track of where you have dug! There's a lot of ground to cover and you won't
want to waste time digging in unproductive places. You may not be able to
carry all the coins you find at one time. A healthy crew can carry 4000
coins and an undamaged galleon can hold 8000 coins.
Boarding enemy galleons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can board enemy galleons to steal the coins in their hold, subject to the
coin carrying limitations described above. In order for your crew to board
the other vessel, you must position your own galleon so that the enemy is
directly north or south of your galleon. Anytime you encounter another
galleon, you should board it and steal coins to prevent the enemy from
increasing their wealth! Of course, they'll be looking to do the same thing
to you! Try to spend the night in a protected harbor that is difficult for
others to access.
Read ledger
~~~~~~~~~~~
The ledger tells you the balance of gold coins returned to each king as of
the time the previous player exited the game.
Medical doctor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit the doctor to heal crew member injuries.
Galleon repairs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit the local shipbuilder to have galleon damage repaired.
The soothsayer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The soothsayer has magical powers. You can visit her to learn where buried
treasure can be found, but it can be expensive. She requires you to pay her
25% of the amount of gold you find and she expects to take it out of your
kingdom account at the time of discovery! If you can't meet her terms,
she'll place a curse on your crew members that can severely hamper your
treasure-finding efforts! It is said a cure for the curse exists somewhere!
DEATH!
~~~~~~
If you get killed, you will lose any gold you are carrying. Your king takes
1/2 the gold in your account to train "a new adventurer!" The next time you
log on, you will begin play at your kingdom port.
Screen Redraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A screen redraw feature can be activated while traveling on foot or when your
galleon is not moving. Use this feature if telephone line noise causes
erroneous characters to be displayed.
INSTALLATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: Beginning with High Seas Armada 1.3, a different version of the
STATUS.DAT file is used. If you have a previous version of High Seas Armada
installed, you must delete the following files from your High Seas Armada
directory before proceeding (games in progress will be reset!):
GAME.CFG
STATUS.DAT
The old HSA??.EXE file (i.e. HSA10.EXE or HSA11.EXE)
The old EVENT??.EXE file (i.e. EVENT10.EXE or EVENT11.EXE)
High Seas Armada is easy to install. Simply follow these steps:
1. 'Unzip' the file HSA15.ZIP into the directory of your choice. All
files must remain in the same directory.
2. Run HSACONFG SETUP from the High Seas Armada directory (refer to
HSACONFG.EXE USE later in this documentation) and enter setup data. Game data
files will be created. High Seas Armada will be set to the automatic sign-up
mode.
3. Create or edit the batch file your BBS will use to activate the door.
The main door program name is HSA15.EXE. For example, if you are running
a Spitfire BBS, you would edit SF.BAT to look similar to the following:
:DOOR_A
REM Place Door A Commands Here
CD\SF\DOORS\HSA <-- Change to the High Seas Armada directory
HSA15 GAME.CFG <-- The main program with file argument
CD\SF <-- Change back to the Spitfire directory
GOTO LOOP
4. Create or edit the BBS file that controls event execution. Include the
command HSACONFG EVENT in the event batch file (refer to HSACONFG.EXE USE
later in this documentation). HSACONFG EVENT, the event function, must be run
once each day for proper door operation. The best time to run the event is
just after midnight because the activity log is stamped with the date. This
allows the log to represent the correct day. Don't forget to activate the
event from within your BBS program!
Installation Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NON-STANDARD PORT USE: You may specify the use of non-standard communications
ports with the PORT command. The syntax for the PORT command is PORT:03E8:5,
where 03E8 represents a different base address and 5 indicates the IRQ. For
example, the main program line in the example above would be changed to
HSA15 GAME.CFG PORT:03E8:5 to reflect the use of a non-standard comm port.
FOSSIL DRIVER USE: You may specify the use of a FOSSIL driver with the PORT
command added to the main program command line. The syntax for the PORT
command is PORT:F:P, where F instructs the door to use a FOSSIL driver and P
identifies the port. For example, the main program line in the example above
would be changed to HSA15 GAME.CFG PORT:F:1 if the SysOp wished to specify
a FOSSIL driver on port 1.
NOTE: The PORT command must be the third command in the main program command
line, if used. If not used, the door defaults to the use of the 4 standard
communications ports (1-4) by reading the BBS file.
HSACONFG.EXE USE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HSACONFG.EXE is a multi-purpose program designed to facilitate the
installation of High Seas Armada, modify program options, and maintain the
game through a daily BBS event. The program is activated using a command line
argument to specify the function you wish the program to perform. The command
line arguments are SETUP and EVENT. HSACONFG.EXE must be located in the same
directory as the other High Seas Armada files.
The SETUP function
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Command: HSACONFG SETUP
Use: Initial door setup; Modify door options; Manual game start & reset
To run the setup function, execute the command from the High Seas Armada
directory. You will be asked to enter the following information:
DOOR.SYS PATH/FILENAME: Enter the complete path and filename for the
door.sys drop file. (Example: c:\sf\door.sys)
BBS NAME: Self-explanatory (see registration note below).
SYSOP NAME: Self-explanatory (see registration note below).
REGISTRATION NUMBER: If the door is unregistered, enter 12 zeros. The
data block should be completely filled. When you register the door, the
author will provide you with a unique registration number. The
registration number may not necessarily fill the entire data block.
DOOR.SYS VERSION: Enter 1 if the DOOR.SYS drop file your BBS uses is the
original 31 line GAP standard (for example, Spitfire BBSs use this one).
Enter 2 if the DOOR.SYS drop file your BBS uses is the newer 52 line
version (for example, PCBoard BBSs use this one).
Registration Note: The BBS and SysOp names must be entered exactly as they
appeared on the door registration form. Letter case is important! An error
in either of these blocks will prevent the door from running, even if you
possess a valid registration number.
The entries above can be changed at any time, however, there should be no
reason to change anything but the registration number after initial door
configuration.
OPERATING MODE - {0} Sign-up or {1} Play: Enter 0 to put the door in
the sign-up mode. Each new game must begin in this mode. An error will
occur if you attempt to set the operating mode to play during initial
door configuration or when 0 players have signed up.
Enter 1 to put the door in the play mode. This option is only necessary
when you wish to manually start a game with less players than the
NUMBER OF PLAYERS option is currently set for. When you manually start
a game, the number of players is automatically set to the number already
signed up. The NUMBER OF PLAYERS option has no effect! IMPORTANT: If
you manually start a game, you must run HSACONFG EVENT one time,
manually, to set player accounts to 2000 gold coins, otherwise their
starting account balances will be 1000.
Once the game is underway (in play mode), the game can be manually reset
by setting the operating mode to 0. All game data files will be reset
and player information will be lost! Make sure this is what you want to
do!
ELAPSED DAYS WITHOUT PLAY BEFORE RESET: This option is used to set the
number of days the event function will wait before completely resetting
the door due to inactivity on the part of all players. Use a number from
1 to 99. This option prevents the door from remaining in play mode
indefinitely. It can be changed at any time.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Enter a number from 1 to 8. This entry is used by
the event function to automatically begin the game after a certain
number of players has signed up. You can manually begin a game by
following the procedures outlined in OPERATING MODE above or by lowering
the number in this block to equal the number of players currently
signed up (after initial game configuration). Do not change this entry
after a game has begun or the door will automatically reset the data
files and enter the signup mode for a new game!
The EVENT function
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Command: HSACONFG EVENT
Use: Perform daily game maintenance;
To run the event function, enter the command as part of your BBS event batch
file and set the event to run daily. The best time to run the event is just
after midnight since the Armada activity log is stamped with the date and is
supposed to reflect all game activity for that day.
Sample Spitfire BBS event batch file (within SF.BAT)
:EVENT_F
REM Place Event F Commands Here
CD\SF\DOORS\HSA
HSACONFG EVENT
CD\SF
GOTO LOOP
The event function will automatically start the game after the number of
players, reflected in the setup function, have signed up. It will also
deposit gold coins to each player's account, generate/update the Armada
activity log, calculate the winner after the last coin is returned to a king,
and reset the game after a winner is identified or a certain number of days
has passed since any player has played the game.
OPERATION
~~~~~~~~~
The game will allow a minimum of 1 player and a maximum of 8 players to play.
The door begins in a sign-up mode. This mode continues until the number of
players, identified while using the setup function, have signed-up. At that
time, the next execution of the event function, HSACONFG EVENT, will
automatically begin the game. If you wish to start the game manually, run
HSACONFG SETUP and change the OPERATING MODE from 0 to 1 (assuming there is
at least 1 player signed up). The game will then be ready for play.
The door takes care of itself during game play, depositing coins to player
accounts, tracking player movements, and monitoring recovered treasures. The
game ends when the event function runs after the last gold coin has been
returned to a king. The winner is determined and the game is automatically
reset for a new game with different treasure and trap locations!
The event function also monitors how often each player participates in the
game. If no game activity takes place over a period of days specified in the
setup function, the door is reset to allow new players to sign-up. This
monitoring period can be changed by the SysOp at any time by running
HSACONFG SETUP. This feature allows High Seas Armada to operate virtually
transparent to the SysOp!
To manually reset the game at any time (which shouldn't be necessary), run
HSACONFG SETUP and change the OPERATING MODE from 1 to 0. You will be asked
to confirm whether the game should be reset. If you answer yes, all data files
will be reset and the sign-up mode will be activated.
REGISTERED VERSIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Registered versions of High Seas Armada offer the following features:
* Armada activity log is displayed before each game session
- Identifies amount of coins remaining to be found
- Tracks the last few days of all player key movements/status
* High score screen
- Displays most gold ever given to a king
- Displays previous game winner
* Unregistered screen displays are removed and replaced with the name
of your BBS
For registered users: The SCORE.FIL is not affected during reset operations
so that it can continue to track high scores.
REGISTRATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The registration fee for High Seas Armada is $10. The unregistered door
displays "EVALUATION COPY" upon entry and exit. Please register or remove the
door within 90 days of first use. As a BBS SysOp, I understand how costly it
can be to register BBS software. I have purposely kept the cost of registering
High Seas Armada to a minimum with that thought in mind. I believe the fee is
quite reasonable, based on the many long hours of programming required. Upon
receipt of the registration fee, you will be provided with a unique
registration number. Once you insert the registration number into the GAME.CFG
file, the opening and closing "EVALUATION COPY" messages will be replaced with
the following messages:
[OPENING MESSAGE]
Your BBS name
presents
[CLOSING MESSAGE]
Thanks for playing
High Seas Armada
on
Your BBS name
COMMENTS/BUG REPORTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm interested in all user comments and bug reports. Please send your comments
to:
Steve Sharpe
1835 Stonetree Dr.
Mountain Home, ID 83647
Warranty
------------
This program has been thoroughly tested on a Spitfire 3.3 BBS,
however, it should perform equally well on any BBS that can
produce a BBS drop file listed in this documentation.
I make no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including
without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or
fitness for a particular purpose. I shall not be held liable for
any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential
arising from a failure of this program to operate in the manner
desired by the user. I shall not be held liable for any damage to
data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by the
use of this program.
In no event will I be held liable for any damages, including (but
not limited to) any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental
or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to
use this program, or for any claim by any other party.
This warranty is governed by the laws of the State of Idaho.
REGISTRATION FORM
-----------------
High Seas Armada Return to: Steve Sharpe
Version 1.5 Attn: Door Registration
Registration Cost: $10 1835 Stonetree Dr.
Mountain Home, ID 83647
Name ______________________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Voice Phone _____________________ Data Phone ______________________
Enter the information below exactly as it appears in HSACONFG SETUP:
BBS Name______________________________________________
SysOp Name____________________________________________
Orders outside the USA add $2.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . _________
Please find enclosed a check or money order for USA $_________
payable to Steve Sharpe. This shows my support of Shareware products
and the Shareware concept. It also shows my encouragement to help further
the development of BBS doors.
I understand that High Seas Armada is provided as-is and no warranties of
any kind, expressed or otherwise, are included and that I am using it at my
own risk.
Signed: _________________________________________ Date: _________