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1992-04-23
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▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀
Inter-Stellar Annihilation v0.04
Copyright (c) 1991,1992 by James Hargrave and Eddie Karsai.
╔════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Disclaimer ░▒▓█║
╚════════════════════╝
James Hargrave and Eddie Karsai make no warranties, expressed or
implied, as to the quality or performance of this program.
James Hargrave and Eddie Karsai will not be held liable for any
direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting
from the use of this program. Your use of the program
constitutes your agreement to this disclaimer and your release
of James Hargrave and Eddie Karsai from any form of liability or
litigation.
╔══════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Up-grade ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════╝
To upgrade from previous versions of ISA simply copy the *.EXE
and *.OVR file(s) over the old ones. Remember you can
optionally add some new lines to your config.
NOTE: If you are running a multi-BBS system and the other BBS's
are not running v0.03 or v0.04 then the spys sent to them
will not get processed until they upgrade. You may want
to post a notice warning players about this. (You could
use the file Logon.a?? to post the message).
╔════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Set Up ░▒▓█║
╚════════════════╝
DORINFO1.DEF - Setup
────────────────────
Make a directory for the game and run it with a type 7 or 15
exit. Make it run a batch file similar to this:
copy dorinfo1.def c:\ra\doors\isa
cd\bbs\doors\isa
isa
cd\bbs
exit
- or -
cd\bbs\doors\isa
isa c:\bbs\
exit
DOOR.SYS - Setup
────────────────
Make the file BBSNAME.DAT in the ISA directory. The file is one
line, and the line is your BBS name. If this file is not found
ISA will look for DORINFOx.DEF instead of DOOR.SYS.
copy door.sys c:\bbs\doors\isa
cd\bbs\doors\isa
isa
cd\bbs
exit
- or -
cd\bbs\doors\isa
isa c:\bbs\
exit
╔══════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ ISASETUP.EXE ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════════╝
A utility called ISASETUP.EXE is provided to make installation
easier. If you have any problems with this program you can
setup ISA manually (Read the sections: ISA.CFG and Multi-BBS for
help with manual installation). To auto-setup ISA run ISASETUP
then select Install/Edit ISA.CFG, the program will then prompt
you to answer several simple questions. If ISA.CFG already
exists the information will be loaded as the default. When you
tell the program to save, it will write the file ISA.CFG to the
current directory. If you did not run ISASETUP.EXE in the ISA
directory then you will have to copy ISA.CFG to the ISA
directory.
Multi-BBS setup: If you select "Add a BBS to your NODES.CTL" you
will be prompted to answer several questions and the answers
will be recorded in your NODES.CTL (if it does not exist it will
be created). As well, if a <user code>.REP file is found in your
ISA directory it will ask you if you wish to attach it to the
system you have just configured. If you select "Yes" the
program will attach the file along with a message telling the
SysOp that you have configured their BBS to be hooked up to your
ISA game and will tell them to do the same. If you are not
prompted, or answer "No" to the prompting of sending a .REP file
you must manually send a copy of this file to the BBS you are
configuring. The BBS that you have configured must also
configure your system so be sure to tell them what your three
character code is to allow them to add you to their NODES.CTL
file. If you do not have a <user code>.REP file in your ISA
directory run ISA and it should create one for you.
╔═════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ ISA.CFG ░▒▓█║
╚═════════════════╝
You must have a file called ISA.CFG in the ISA directory. The
file is plain ascii and can be edited with any text editor. The
structure of the file is:
1 0000000 <--Registration code
2 25:4604/171 <-- Your Net/Node address (blank line if none)
3 C:\BBS\DOORS\ISA\ <-- path to game
4 C:\FD\NETMAIL\ <-- path to your netmail directory
5 C:\FD\FILES\ <-- path to FD files directory
6 JIM <-- Your code (see multi BBS section in the docs)
7 No <-- No or Yes, check for dupe users (see multi BBS)
8 5 <-- Number of turns each users has per day
9 10 <- Optional: number of Spy Operations, default:10
10 10 <- Optional: number of turns of protection, default:10
11 1 <- Optional: The level of "special effects", default:1
Where: 1 = All special effects
2 = One of the special effects
3 = No special effects
12 YES <- Optional: YES or NO, if the casino can be used or not
13 0 <- Optional: Prompt user for graphics type.
0 = No prompting all info is read from DORINFOx.DEF
Where: 0 = Ascii
1 = Ansi
2 = Avatar
3 = Ansi and Avatar
1 = Ask user if they would like Ansi
2 = Ask user if they would like Avatar
3 = Ask user if they would like Ansi and Avatar
14 NO <- Optional: YES or NO, if the system requires multi-node
aware support (See Multi-Node Aware, later in the
Docs).
15 YES <- Optional: YES or NO, if you would like ISA to use the
fossil buffer. If the buffer is filled the
local side display will be faster then the
remote side, so if you would like to see
exactly what the user sees set this to NO,
however it may slow the game down,
especially on multitasking systems.
(Previous versions of ISA automatically set
this to NO, this option has been added to
increase display speed).
16 1 <- Optional: This is the interest rate calculated on the
users money in their bank account. Interest
is calculated every turn.
17 10000 Optional: This is the maximum time the user can spend
in ISA. If it is not specified the users
maximum time is used. If the user has less
time than specified, their time gets lowered.
The amount of time the user has played per
day is not remembered by ISA, so a user can
reenter the game after they run out of time
and still have some time left.
╔═══════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Multi BBS ░▒▓█║
╚═══════════════════╝
This is the main feature of the game. The idea for it is not
original there are several games that are playable multi BBS.
Basically what the game will do is this: Using a Fido compatible
mailer (such as Front Door) it will send various file attaches
to other BBS's which you have configured. These BBS's will then
process the files and send back the information to your BBS. You
may see a bunch of files in your incoming files directory (eg.
c:\fd\files\) these will be moved by ISA on it's next run (or
you can run ISA /F described later in the docs). ISA once you
have it running, ISA should require no further attention. This
multi BBS feature allows users to send attacks and messages to
other users that are on a different BBS's and will hopefully
make the game a lot more active.
The following is a description of what you must do to configure
the game multi BBS. If you do not want the game setup multi BBS
then leave lines 2,4,5 and 6 of your ISA.CFG blank, and set line
7 to No.
To configure ISA for multiple BBS's, each system that is going
to be connected to your system as well as your own system must
come up with an unique three character code. Something like
"Dog" or "Bif" or "(#X" is perfectly fine. Your code must go on
line 6 of your ISA.CFG. You must also configure all the
directories in your ISA.CFG as explained in the above section.
You must also create a file called Nodes.Ctl the structure is as
follows (remember ISASetup can edit the NODES.CTL file for you
if you find it easier):
<Net/Node Address of BBS>
<Name of BBS>
<BBS Code>
<Path for BBS>
<Net mail Status>
<Net/Node Address of the Next BBS>
<Name of BBS>
etc.
eg
25:4604/171
The Shadow Lands
JIM {This is NOT your code it is that BBS's code}
c:\bbs\doors\isa\shadow\
C
25:4604/139
The Castle BBS
BIF
c:\bbs\shadow\isa\castle
H
etc.
Where:
Line 1: Is the Address of the BBS you wish to configure on your
network. It must be in the form of ?:?/? and must be in
your current node list. Points are NOT supported.
Line 2: The BBS Name is self explanatory.
Line 3: The BBS's code, this is the code that BBS has in it's
ISA.CFG file it must be three characters and only three
characters. Get this code from the BBS that you are
configuring, and you must give your code to that BBS so
they can configure you. Both of you must have each others
systems configured or it will not work.
Line 4: A directory that will be used for incoming and out going
files for that BBS. You must create this directory and
have a different one for every BBS you have configured in
your network.
Line 5: C,I,N, or H. This stands for Crash, Immediate, Normal or
Hold. Most systems will want to set this status to Crash,
it is the only way the game is very effectively running in
a multi BBS set up. However you can set it to hold or
normal if you need to for some reason (eg one of the BBS's
is a private system).
Line 6: This would be the address of the next BBS you wish to have
configured in your network.
Etc.
Note: The Duplicate check option in the config does the following
if set to Yes. When a user logs onto your BBS it will scan
all the known users of the network. If it finds that the
user is already playing on another BBS, it will not allow
them to play. If they manage to join one game on one BBS and
then log onto another BBS in the network and join that game
before an updated file gets through, their newest Empire will
be deleted.
You must then obtain a <user code>.REP file from the other BBS, and
must file attach your <user code>.REP to the other BBS (this can be
automatically done with ISASetup). You will find the <user code>.REP
file in your ISA game directory after the first run. Multinode
operations will not work until both BBS have received a copy of each
other's <user code>.REP file. You may have to file attach this to
the other BBS manually if ISASetup does not attach a copy for you.
Once it is set up ISA will automatically make the file attaches to
the other BBS with updated <user code>.REP files as needed.
It is also a good idea to agree on your set-up with the other BBS's
you're playing with. For instance if one BBS has 30 plays per day
and the other(s) have 5 then the game is going to be unbalanced, so
you might want to agree on the amount of turns per day given on all
the BBS's involved in the game.
╔════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Parameters ░▒▓█║
╚════════════════════╝
It is highly recommended that you run ISA /M in your nightly
maintance. As well I would recommend you run ISA /P <Number of
Days> eg. ISA /P 10 this will delete users that have not played
in last 10 days. Also if you do not want your files directory
filled up ISA files you may run ISA /F which will move all the
files for you. You may want to add this to your batch file when
you exit after receiving net mail. You may also run ISA <Path to
dorinfo1.def> (eg. ISA c:\BBS\) if you do not want to copy
dorinfo1.def to the isa directory. If you want ISA to read in
DORINFOx.DEF run you may run ISA <Node Number>. If you want to
run ISA in local mode you can either specify the path to a local
dorinfo file OR run ISA /local
Command Function
-------------------------------------------
ISA /M Nightly Maintance
ISA /F Move files from Inbound Files Directory
ISA /P <Days> Pack user base
ISA <Path> Runs ISA with DORINFO1.DEF or DOOR.SYS
in the specified directory.
(eg. ISA C:\BBS\)
ISA <Node Num> Runs ISA with DORINFOx.DEF in the
current directory.
(eg. ISA 2)
ISA <Path> <Node Num> Runs ISA with DORINFOx.DEF in the
specified directory.
(eg. ISA C:\BBS\NODE2\ 2)
ISA /Local Runs ISA in Local mode.
╔══════════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Multi-Node Aware ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════════════╝
Note: If your system is NOT multi-line you should set line 14 of
your ISA.CFG to NO and you will not need to read the
following section.
I.S.A. is NOT a multi-line program, not more than one user may
play the game at a time. However if you specify YES on the 14th
line of your ISA.CFG ISA will check if it is inuse already and
will only let one user in at a time. You may create a custom
file called INUSE.TXT which will be display to a user if they
try to access the game when someone else is playing. If this
file is not found ISA will display a default message.
╔══════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ ISASCORE.EXE ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════════╝
ISASCORE is a separate program used to create ASCII,ANSI and
AVATAR text files of the ISA score board. These files can then
be displayed on your BBS. The command line to run ISASCORE is:
ISASCORE <Name of Ascii file> <Name of Ansi file> <Name of Avatar file>
If you run ISASCORE with no parameters you can view the score
board on the screen. If you omit the name of the Avatar file
only and ANSI and ASCII one will be created. If you omit both
the Avatar and ANSI file name only an ASCII file will be
created.
╔════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Pauses ░▒▓█║
╚════════════════╝
ISA has several "special effect" pauses, you can configure them
to a limited degree with the ISA.CFG file (line 11) however if
you have had some experience with the game before you can
configure them even more. If you set line 11 to 1 and then
create a text file called PAUSE.CFG, you can configure the
pauses much better. To configure the file PAUSE.CFG place the
number(s) of the pause(s) you wish to be randomly displayed on
seperate lines. Only the pauses you put in the PAUSE.CFG file
will be used.
Pause Table:
------------
1) Pause \ (Fast spinning)
2) Pause ║║║║║║║║║║║║ etc.
3) Pause -------->------------ Pause
4) Pause <----
5) Pause -=> Hit any Key <=- (Changes Case)
6) Pause -=> Paused <=- (Moves left to right)
7) Pause Press Any key to Continue] (Pac Man)
8) Paused \ (Slow Spin)
A sample PAUSE.CFG would be:
8
7
1
7
This would mean that ISA would randomly choose pause 1,7 or 8, but
because there are more 7's then anything else there is a greater
chance that the Pac Man pause will be displayed. If you don't want
the hassle of detailed configuration of your pauses simply do not
create a file PAUSE.CFG.
╔═════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Other files ░▒▓█║
╚═════════════════════╝
Other OPTIONAL SysOp configurable files are:
LOGON.ASC/ANS/AVT - This is a file displayed after the programing
credits that can be used to make announcements
about the game and such.
COMMENTS.SPY - This is a plain ASCII file containing 5 lines.
Each of these lines contains a description of
what happened to a players spy if their covert
operation failed. One of these comment will be
chosen randomly every time a failed spy
operation occurs. A sample file might look
like this:
Your spy was captured and tortured
Your spy was publicly executed
Your spy was put to a painful death
Your spy was caught and is not M.I.A.
Your spy was killed by the enemy
╔══════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Features ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════╝
■ ISA will monitor carrier and return to the BBS if it is lost.
■ ISA will monitor the users time left and return them to the
BBS when it is up.
■ ISA will monitor inactivity and return to the BBS after a user
has been found inactive too long. (ie went to have a coffee
<grin>)
■ ISA supports ANSI, AVATAR and ASCII graphics.
■ Detects if the local monitor is mono and will not use color
graphics locally if it is.
■ ISA has the following SysOp Keys:
[F1-F4] = Alternate Status Bars
[Alt-C] = Chat with User (Split Screen if the
user has ANSI or AVATAR see the
following section on chat mode
information)
[Alt-X] = Return user to the BBS
[Alt-H] = Hang up on the User
[Alt-N] = Non-Split screen chat.
[Up Arrow] = Increase users time by 1 min.
[Down Arrow] = Decrease users time by 1 min.
[Alt-J] = Jump to DOS.
■ Fully functioning ultra fast Ansi and Avatar split screen SysOp
chat.
■ ISA Detects DESQview and will give up time slices to the other
window while it is polling the keyboard.
■ ISA will detect EMS memory and swap the overlay to it if
there is enough memory, other wise it is swaped to disk.
■ Multi-Node aware.
╔══════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Chat Mode(s) ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════════╝
ABOUT CHAT
----------
The chat module is written by Peter Lam. It is a split-screen chat
with many features. You will undoubtedly find that this is one of
the best chats you have ever used in a door. A few features
include:
■ Full Color (You can change color during chat for emphasis, etc.)
■ KeyWord Macros (You can activate macros by typing a word)
■ Sysop Macros (Configurable Alt+0 - Alt+9)
TYPING IN CHAT
--------------
When typing in chat, you may type normally. When you approach the
right margin, the word you are typing will wrap around. Backspace
does a destructive backspace and you may backspace onto the
previous line. Chat accepts extended ascii characters.
SYSOP/USER FEATURES
-------------------
The following features may be used by, BOTH, the SysOp and the
user:
^ = CTRL = CONTROL
When you see CTRL+Character or ^Character it means to HOLD down
CONTROL and push the character while you are still holding down
CONTROL. Any characters or numbers following the controll
character are pushed with CONTROL RELEASED.
■ CTRL+Y = Clears the Current Line
■ CTRL+V = Gives the user help
■ CTRL+W = Clears the Current Window
■ CTRL+R = Redraws the Screen (USER ONLY)
■ CTRL+K + Number + Number = Changes Color of Foreground.
eg. ^K01 <--- Change Foreground to Blue
^K13 <--- Change Foreground to Light Magenta
+-----------+------------------+
| Color Num | Changes color to |
+-----------+------------------+
| 00 | Black |
| 01 | Blue |
| 02 | Green |
| 03 | Cyan |
| 04 | Red |
| 05 | Magenta |
| 06 | Brown |
| 07 | LightGray |
| 08 | DarkGray |
| 09 | Light Blue |
| 10 | Light Green |
| 11 | Light Cyan |
| 12 | Light Red |
| 13 | Light Magenta |
| 14 | Yellow |
| 15 | White |
+-----------+------------------+
■ CTRL+K + CTRL+K = Changes Foreground back to default Color
eg. ^K15 ^K^K <--- Changes Foreground to white then to default
■ CTRL+F = Toggle Funny Mode. Randomly changes foreground as you
type.
■ KeyWord Macros. You type a keyword and it will activate a macro.
SYSOP FEATURES
--------------
The following features can be used by only the SysOp:
■ ALT+(0-9) = AltKey Macros.
■ CTRL+L = Toggle Lock User Keyboard. If you lock the User's
keyboard he/she will be unable to type. BE SURE TO REMEMBER IF YOU
HAVE LOCKED THE USER'S KEYBOARD because the user cannot remind you,
since he/she cannot type.
■ CTRL+S = Switch to User's Window. If this is pressed while you
are in the SysOp Window, you will be switched to the User's window.
If this is pressed in the User window, you will be switched into
the Sysop's Window.
■ CTRL+Q = Clear User's Window
MACROS
------
There are two types of macros available in chat, Alt-1 to Alt-0,
these are for SysOp use only and are configurable in the file
MACROS.TXT and key word macros, these are for both the user and
they sysop. The keyword macros are configurable in the file
KEYWORDS.TXT, an example of a keyword macro would be if the keyword
SBBS was typed then the chat program will backspace out the SBBS
and write in SuperBBS. See the MACROS.TXT and KEYWORDS.TXT for
further instruction on how to use them.
NOTE: If you do not wish to use split screen chat with an Ansi or
Avatar user you many use Alt-N for non-split screen chat.
╔═════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ User Editor ░▒▓█║
╚═════════════════════╝
The ISA user editor works both locally and remotely and is
contained in the sub-archive ISAEDIT.ARJ. It is written by Timothy
Lang of Modem Crisis BBS (Fido: 1:153/924). If you have any
questions or comments about it please address them to him. The
documentation for ISAEDIT is to be found in the archive along with
the EXE.
╔═════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Credits ░▒▓█║
╚═════════════════╝
There are several games very similar to ISA, I recommend you try them
out if you have not already. I would like to give credit to Amit Patel
and Mehul Patel for their work on Solar Realms Elite and Mehul Patel for
Alpha Colony VI. Although ISA is a similar game the reason I wrote it
was to test the response and the difficulty of a multi-BBS game. Not
very many games are suited for multi-BBS play as it takes a while for
files to travel back and forth between the BBS's.
I would also like to credit Jason Ewert for a program called Dark*Storm,
this game is also very similar to ISA.
However I would like to give the most credit to the authors of SEE, an
online game I have for my Atari ST. I think Amit and Patel summed up
what I would like to say better then I will ever be able to:
The following is an excerpt from the documentation for Solar Realms
Elite by Amit Patel and Mehul Patel of the Solar Realms BBS:
"This game is an IBM version of Space Empire Elite (S.E.E.), an Atari ST
online game. Space Empire, S.E.E.'s ancestor, was written by Jon
Radoff. Then S.E.E. was written by Jurgen Van Den Handle, and the newer
versions of S.E.E. are updated and maintained by Carlis Darby and David
Pence of HyperSpace Software. They now support S.E.E. for the Atari ST
computers. SRE was originally a clone of S.E.E., written from scratch
on the IBM without the source code to S.E.E., and from there it has
evolved differently than S.E.E. Although S.E.E. is (and probably always
will be) superior to SRE, we wrote SRE to give IBM users a chance to
play this game." -- SRE v0.980 Documentation.
╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Copyright Acknowledgements ░▒▓█║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
Front Door is Copyright by 1986-1991 Advanced Engineering sarl.
SuperBBS is Copyright 1990-1992 by Risto Virkkala and Aki Antman.
DESQview is Copyright 1985-1991 by Quarterdeck Office Systems.
╔══════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Registration ░▒▓█║
╚══════════════════════╝
There is no obligation on your part to register ISA, however
registered users will receive the following benefits:
1- The annoying UNREGISTERED notice and will be removed
and replaced by a notice something like:
Registered to : [<Your Name>]
SysOp of : [<Your BBS name>]
2- Your users will be able to access the ISA Bank.
3- Your users will be able to access the casino and you
will be able to configure their access to it.
4- Full Editing with the User Editor.
5- All registered users of ISA will be able to run gamma
versions of the game when they are available.
Registration cost is:
$10.00 Canadian for Canadian Orders
$10.00 U.S. for Forgein Orders.
Please make all cheques and money orders payable to: James
Hargrave. The address to send these is below. Please include a
completed copy of the file REGISTER.TXT.
╔═══════════════════════════╗
║█▓▒░ Closing Statement ░▒▓█║
╚═══════════════════════════╝
ISA is Copyright (c) 1991,1992 by James Hargrave and Eddie Karsai.
ISA was written with Turbo Pascal by Borland International.
Programed by: James Hargrave And Eddie Karsai.
With lots of help from: Peter Lam,
and Gordon Lau.
Documentation help from: Hardy Rosenke and Mark Shepard.
Casino by: Gordon Lau and fixed up by James Hargrave.
Pauses and Split Screen Chat by: Peter Lam.
User Editor by: Timothy Lang.
Config/Install Utility and Score Board Exporter by: James Hargrave.
Ansi Welcome Screens by: Brent Akester, Lance Leger and Dion Loy.
Thanks to beta test help from: Morgan Muir, Hardy Rosenke, Tim
Lang, Gordon Lau, Peter Lam,
Eric Yung, Dan Kane and Jeff
Bailey.
The latest version of ISA may be FREQ'ed from:
The Shadow Lands
2400 bps N,8,1
FidoNet: 1:153/769
SIGnet: 25:4604/171
TransNet: 132:732/9
ERSII: 77:888/1
CRAS-Net: 125:200/505
InterSports: 102:582/4
Magic Name: ISA
(A list of additional distribution sites is listed in the CATALOG.TXT file)
If you wish to contact me:
T H E S H A D O W L A N D S B B S
(604)261-6144
Vancouver, BC Canada
SysOp: James Hargrave
24 Hrs., 365 Days a Year
300-2400 Bps, n,8,1
FidoNet: 1:153/769
SIGnet: 25:4604/171
TransNet: 132:732/9
ERSII: 77:888/1
ShadNET: 13:100/3
MyNet: 51:1604/103
CRAS-Net: 125:200/505
InterSports: 102:582/4
TradeNet: 16:200/3
or
The Shadow Lands BBS
c/o James Hargrave
5589 Balaclava St.
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6N 1K9
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