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▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ Inter-Stellar Annihilation Version 0.991 Copyright (C) 1991,1992,1993 by Minds Edge Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved. ╔═════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Licensing Agreement ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════════════╝ "ISA" refers to the software and documentation contained in Inter-Stellar Annihilation distribution archive released by Minds Edge Productions Inc. Inter-Stellar Annihilation is not a Public Domain or Free piece of software. It is Copyright (C) 1991,1992,1993 by Minds Edge Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved. Distribution and use is subject to the following conditions: 1. Please try to distribute only the original authenticated ZIP format file. 2. You are encouraged to distribute ISA provided that no fee is charged for its distribution. Written permission must be obtained before including ISA with any "bundled" software package that is marketed and distributed for profit, such as those for sale by vendors, individuals or companies. Pay Bulletin Board Systems may however charge their regular fee provided that no additional charge for ISA is levied. A copying fee of $3.00 or less per diskette may be charged by a non-profit user-group. 3. No part of ISA may be modified, altered or reverse engineered. 4. ISA may not be used in any unlawful or illegal manner. 5. Minds Edge Productions Inc. is not obligated to provide future versions of or support for, ISA. This software and accompanying materials are distributed "as is" without warranty, expressed or implied; including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Minds Edge Productions Inc. or anyone involved with the creation and production of this product be held liable for any damages, including, but not limited to, any lost profits, savings, data or other incidental, indirect, special, or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this software, or for any claim by any other party, even if Minds Edge Productions Inc. or any of Minds Edge Productions Inc. agents have been advised of the possibility of such damages. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software. ╔════════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Copyright Acknowledgements ░▒▓█║ ╚════════════════════════════════════╝ This document mentions several other products. All copyrights, trademarks and reserved rights held by these products are acknowledged. All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners. ╔═══════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Up-grade from 0.05x, 0.98 ░▒▓█║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝ To upgrade from version 0.05x of ISA copy the *.EXE and *.OVR file(s) over the old ones, it's that simple <g>. There are several new features you might wish to implement, run ISASetup to edit your configuration and add new features. v0.99 uses a new user structure, so be sure to install the new version of ISAEdit if you plan to use the Editor. ╔═════════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Up-grade from 0.04 or older ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝ To upgrade from previous versions of ISA copy the *.EXE and *.OVR file(s) over the old ones. To finish the conversion run the program 004TO005.EXE. ISA will not run correctly if you do not run the conversion utility. Remember you can optionally add some new lines to your config. As well as many new optional features you can setup. v0.99 uses a new user structure, so be sure to install the new version of ISAEdit if you plan to use the Editor. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Files Included In the Origional Archive ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ISA.DOC - This file - ISA Sysop Documentation PLAYER.DOC - Player Documentation WHATSNEW.099 - History of changes to the game SAMPLE.ZIP - Sample Configuration files ISA.EXE, ISA.OVR - ISA's main Executable 004TO005.EXE - Upgrade file from v0.04 to v0.05x or higher of ISA DISASTER.EXE - Utility to create Disasters ISACLEAN.EXE - Utility to delete sent files ISASCORE.EXE - Utility to create score board ISASETUP.EXE - Setup Utiltiy (NEW) ISAPACK.EXE - ISA File Packer/Unpacker (NEW) ISAUSER.EXE - Local User Editor CATALOG.TXT - List of other software written by Minds Edge Productions Inc. and a list of Support/Distribution Sites. ISA1,ISA2,(.ANS/AVT) ISA3,ISA4 - Ansi/Avatar title screens ISABAR.DAT - Bar Tender's data file LIST.BBS - List of BBS's looking for people to link up with REGISTER.TXT - Registration form REG-NZ.TXT - New Zealand Registration Form ISAEDIT.ZIP - Remote User Editor (Written by Tim Lang) ISANET5.ZIP - Information about ISAnet (By David Schepper) ISAROUTE.ZIP - Additional Documentation about ISA's Routing (By Jeff Bolton) ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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 your system to their NODES.CTL file. If you do not have a <user code>.REP file in your ISA directory run ISA and it will create one for you. Routing: ISA Setup will also help you to establish the routing of files. It is recommended you get the game set up and working without routing at first and implement it later. However if you do wish to set up routing it can easily be done from within ISASetup. For help manually setting up routing please read the files included in the sub-archive ISAROUTE.ZIP and the routing section lower down in the documentation. Multi-Node Setup: This is where you can configure ISA to run in a multi-line environment. As of this version of ISA the game will run with more then one user in the door at a time. ISA provides all the needed file locking and share checking. For information on a manual setup of the multi-node system please read the section that follows. Drop File: This is just a little option to help people who use DOOR.SYS it should be self explanatory, you choose either DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS, however if you do have any problems the documentation for a manual setup does follow. Registration Information: From here you can fill out and print or send to disk a complete or blank registration form. As well there is some information about registering. There are several other information screens available to you from within ISA Setup but they are all self explanatory. ╔════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Drop Files ░▒▓█║ ╚════════════════════╝ DORINFOx.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:\bbs\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 ╔═════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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 or ISASetup. 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 Directory 4) C:\MAILER\NETMAIL\ - Path to your netmail directory *.MSG files 5) C:\MAILER\FILES\ - Path to Inbound files directory 6) JIM - Your three letter 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) 3 - Optional: The level of "special effects" 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 or DOOR.SYS 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, this is different from ISA's Multi Node feature). 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. 18) Path to routed Files Directory - Optional: This is the directory that ISA will use to store it's files when routing is implemented. *.(I) files are stored here and Pass Through files. If this directory is not configured The ISA Game Path is used instead. That would be the same as line 3 of the configuration file. (Routing is explained later in the documentation). 19) Yes - Optional: INTL Kludge Toggle. If this option is Yes the INTL kludge will be inserted in all netmail messages. If it is set to No, then the INTL Kludge will only be used when the destination and origin addresses are in different zones. 20) Yes - Optional: Direct Flag Toggle. This option should be set to YES unless you are familiar with file routing. * NOTE: If the Direct flag is turned off, you can route files via your mailer, instead of using ISA's built in file routing. However, this method is not recommended for one simple reason: you do NOT have control over the files that get routed through your system. This means that somebody could take advantage of a file routing setup by sending a large file through your system to a long distance location leaving you with the phone bill. If you use the built in routing to ISA, ISA will make sure to only forward files that belong to the game to avoid such a situation. 21) Other - Optional: Mailer Type. This line should read one of the following: Binkley, FrontDoor, D'Bridge or Other. 22) Yes - Optional: Local Attacks. Set this to No if you want to disable local attacks. Yes allows local attacks. You may want to set this to encourage users to attack remote systems. 23) 200 - Optional: Maximum amount of planets a user can buy in one turn. 24) 50000000 - Optional: Score that is needed before a user is declared immortal. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ REGISTER.KEY ░▒▓█║ ╚══════════════════════╝ This is an optional file but it is recommended that you set this up to avoid problems with your registration code. The file is only two lines long and you must create it. The format is as follows: <Sysop Name> <BBS Name> The Sysop Name and BBS Name must be exactly the way you want them registered. They are NOT case sensitive, they simply must be spelled correctly. ╔═══════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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 FTN compatible mailer it will send various file attaches to other BBS's which you have configured. These BBS's will then process the files and send information back to your BBS. You may see a bunch of files in your incoming files directory (eg. c:\mailer\files\) these will be moved by ISA on it's next run (or you can run ISA /F as described later in the documentation). Once you have ISA running, it should require no further attention. This multi-BBS feature allows users to send attacks and messages to other users that are on different BBS's and will hopefully make the game a lot more exciting and interactive. NOTE: 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. You cannot use characters such as ".", "*", "?" in your code since your three letter code is used to assign a file name for interbbs packets. Any valid filename character is permitted. If you cannot create a file with a particular character then do not use that character in your three letter code. You may not use the three letter code 'PKT' since it is used by ISAPack. 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 multiple 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 join the game on your BBS. 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. Multi-Node 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. ╔═════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Routing ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════╝ ISA now supports file routing. To implement this feature you must create a ROUTE.CFG file in the ISA Game Directory (ISASetup can create and modify this file for you). The format is as follows: *<Your AKA to use when the message is written> %<The Destination of the mail> #<Mail Status, C,H,I,N for Crash, Hold, Immediate and Normal> ?<Destinations that get routed through the above destination> ?<This gets repeated as much as needed> The entire portion above can be repeated as many times as needed to configure more than one BBS to route through. You can use ISASetup to create the ROUTE.CFG file and setup your routing. This may be the easiest way to get started. If you are setting up routing it is HIGHLY recommended that you read the files included in the sub-archive ISAROUTE.ZIP. There are three text files written by Jeff Bolton that explain in detail the setup of routing from within ISA. NOTE: If a file is routed and the destination or pass through destination is not configured in the ROUTE.CFG file the file will NOT be forwarded and it will be used by ISA on your BBS. This can cause attacks intended for another BBS to end up on your BBS attacking the wrong person. Do not set up your ROUTE.CFG to forward files until you have checked with your uplink and they are ready to forward the file on to the next destination. ╔════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Parameters ░▒▓█║ ╚════════════════════╝ It is highly recommended that you run ISA /M in your nightly maintenance. 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 DORINFOx.DEF> (eg. ISA C:\BBS\) if you do not want to copy DORINFOx.DEF to the isa directory. If you want ISA to read in DORINFOx.DEF run you may run ISA -N<Node Number>. If you want to run ISA in local mode you can either specify the path to a local DORINFOx.DEF file OR run ISA /Local Command Function ------------------------------------------- ISA /M Nightly Maintenance ISA /F Move files from Inbound Files Directory ISA /P <Days> Pack user base ISA <Path> Runs ISA with DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS in the specified directory. (eg. ISA C:\BBS\) ISA /N<Node> Runs ISA with DORINFOx.DEF in the current directory. (eg. ISA /N3) ISA <Path> /N<Node> Runs ISA with DORINFOx.DEF in the specified directory. (eg. ISA C:\BBS\NODE2\ /N2) ISA /Local Runs ISA in Local mode. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Multi-Node and 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. ISA can now be run in two Multi Node configurations. Multi Node Aware ──────────────── 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. If ISA is reporting that it is inuse when it really is not inuse, delete the file INUSE.FLG from the ISA directory. Multi Node ────────── If you specify NO on the 14th line of your ISA.CFG then ISA will not check to see if it is already inuse. To make ISA run multi-node one more change needs to be done. The file MNODE.CTL needs to be created in the ISA Game Directory. This file can be created using ISASetup, or it can be done manually. The format of the file is as follows: <path to ISA Game Directory> <path to your BBS's main directory> <BBS Type> Line 1 is self explanatory and should be the same as line 3 in your ISA.CFG file. Line 2 is the path to your BBS Directory, ie: C:\BBS\ Line 3 is your BBS type, it must be one of the following: SBBS, RA, QBBS or Other. The MNODE.CTL file will be created by ISASetup if you select Multi-Node configuration. The last thing you need to do is run ISA with the /N parameter. Specify the node number you are on using the /N parameter, ie: for node 2 use /N2. Once that is done ISA should work Multi-Node. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ DISASTER.EXE ░▒▓█║ ╚══════════════════════╝ Disaster is a utility for SysOps to cause disasters to strike players either randomly, or if you like you can select the user to affect. This utility was made because as users would get too powerful and the balance in the game would become shifted. Disaster lets the SysOp select a disaster and have it strike any player they choose. Disaster can also be used in your nightly maintenance to spice up the game by randomly picking users and causing random disasters. The command line is as follows: DISASTER <percent chance of a disaster> The command line is optional. If the command line is included a disaster will be randomly picked and attack a random player. If the command line is not included the SysOp can manually select the type of disaster and the victim. The command line option is intended for use in a batch file. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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. ISASCORE supports a multi-node setup, meaning it can be run while another user is online without worrying about crashing the game or causing any share violations. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ ISACLEAN.EXE ░▒▓█║ ╚══════════════════════╝ ISA Clean is a separate program that is used to clean up ISA's out-bound files IF your mailer does not support the Kill/Sent flag with file attaches. Simply run it from the main ISA directory and it will clean up the files. It is recommended that you run this in your nightly event if your mailer does not delete files with the Kill/Sent flag. It doesn't hurt to run ISAClean if your mailer deletes sent files, ISAClean will simply have nothing to clean up! So if your not sure about your mailer just run it and see what happens. ISAClean also uses standard I/O so if you wish to log what it is doing you can simply redirect the output to a textfile, ie: ISACLEAN >>ISACLEAN.LOG ╔═════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ ISAPACK.EXE ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════╝ ISAPack is a utilty used to pack outbound ISA files into one compressed file. You do not need to use this utility in order to play the game, however if you prefer sending one file instead of many files to other systems this utility will pack outbound ISA files into one outbound file for you. The command line is: ISAPACK <options> Options: /P - Pack outbound files /U - Unpack inbound files When packing outbound files ISAPack scans the netmail folder for attached outbound files and adds them to the packed file going to the same destination. It determines the priority of the mail by reading the ROUTE.CFG if available, if not then the NODES.CTL file. If ISAPack is not run often enough and you have a system configured to Crash mail you may have a problem: the packets that ISA creates may be sent off before the ISAPack is run and therefore the packer is not as effective as it could be. To fix this problem you should select Hold proirity in your ROUTE.CFG and NODES.CTL for all your outbound nodes that you pack files for and then create the file ISAPACK.CFG. If found, ISAPACK.CFG will be used to determine which systems to send packed files to (it will not send files to systems not listed) and their priority. In this way you can selectivly pack files only for certain destinations. ISAPACK.CFG is an ascii text file made up as follows: <Destination Address>,<Priority> Each line is another entry. You may use as many lines as needed. Destination address is in the form Zone:Net/Node and is followed by a comma and then the Priority. Priority flags are N,C,H,I for Normal, Crash, Hold and Immediate. When should you run ISAPack /P? Well the best times are immediatly after ISA /M (ISA's maintenance) since it always creates outbound files. You will also want to make sure you run ISAPack before any mail events to ensure that you have your outgoing ISA files packed. You probably do no want to run ISAPack every time someone exits the game since it will slow things down considerably. If ISA is used a lot on your BBS you may want to run it everytime a user logs off the system. Make sure you run it at least once a day. To unpack files simply run ISAPack /U and it will all be taken care of for you. You do not need to configure anything for this. You may want to put this command in your nightly maintenance in case people start sending you packed ISA files. ISAPack also uses standard I/O so if you wish to log what it is doing you can simply redirect the output to a textfile, ie: ISAPACK <options> >>ISAPACK.LOG ╔════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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 separate 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 ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════╝ 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 NOEMS - Simply create this file in your main ISA directory if you do not want ISA to swap its overlay to EMS memory even if it is detected. BIOS - Simply create this file in your main ISA directory if would like ISA to use BIOS writes when performing screen I/O. NOTRANS - Create this file in your main ISA directory if you do not want ISA to allow money transfers from the bank. This is a list of optional Ascii, Ansi and Avatar text files that ISA can display in various parts of the game. The files are completely optional. The valid extensions for the files are: .ASC = Ascii, .ANS = Ansi, .AVT = Avatar ie: TXTFILE.ASC, TXTFILE.ANS, TXTFILE.AVT, etc.. ISA will pick the appropriate file to display to the user depending on their graphics setting (or lack of). The files must be located in the main ISA directory. LOGON - This is a file displayed after the programing credits that can be used to make announcements about the game and such. INHERIT - This file gets displayed if the user is fortunate enough to get an inheritance from one of his/her relatives. This file should not clear the screen since the user would miss the notice saying who gave them the planets and how many the got. COLLAPSE - This file is displayed when an empire collapses. QUAKE - This file is displayed when an empire is hit by a large earthquake. The file should not clear the screen because the user will miss the damage report -- how many planets they lost. LOTTO? - This file gets displayed when a user wins the lotto, or doesn't. The ? is replaced by the number of matching digits they need for that file to be displayed, ie: 0 matches would be LOTTO0, 3 matches would be LOTTO3, etc. UNREST - This file gets displayed if there is unrest among your people. SUICIDE - This file gets displayed if a user decides to destroy their empire. UNDER1 - which is displayed when the user finds the underground and is prompted for their password. UNDER2 - which is displayed when the user enters the underground. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Minds Edge Productions Support Echo ░▒▓█║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The Minds Edge Productions Support echo is being coordinated by Hardy Rosenke (1:153/923). Please contact Hardy if you would like to join the echo conference. He will tell you who your closest feed is. All of Hardy's AKA's are listed in the CATALOG.TXT. You do not have to belong to a specific network to join the conference and if you like you may gate the echo to other networks if you ask for permission. ╔═══════════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ ISA dedicated network ░▒▓█║ ╚═══════════════════════════════╝ Included with this release is a subarchive ISANET5.ZIP. It contains information about ISAnet, a network dedicated to playing the game ISA. For more information on the network please refer to archive file. ╔══════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Features ░▒▓█║ ╚══════════════════╝ ■ ISA is Multi-BBS, Multi-User and Multi-Node! ■ Multi Node operations support file routing and gateing. ■ 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 colour 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-G] = Fake line noise. [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<tm> 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 swapped to disk. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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 Colour (You can change colour 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 control 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 Colour of Foreground. eg. ^K01 <--- Change Foreground to Blue ^K13 <--- Change Foreground to Light Magenta +-----------+------------------+ | Colour Num | Changes colour 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 Colour 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: ■ CTRL+N+(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, Ctrl-N-1 to Ctrl-N-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.ZIP. 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 can be found in the archive along with the EXE. NOTE: ISAEDIT is NOT multi-node aware. Do NOT attempt to run it while a user is playing ISA. ╔═════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ 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. ╔══════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Registration ░▒▓█║ ╚══════════════════════╝ There is no obligation on your part to register ISA, however registered users will receive the following benefits: 1- The annoying UNREGISTERED notice 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- Your users will be able to access the ISA Bar. 5- Full Editing with the User Editor. 6- All registered users of ISA will be able to run Gamma versions of the game when they are available. Registration cost is: $15.00 Canadian per copy for Canadian orders (BC residents add 6% sales tax). $15.00 US per copy for orders outside of Canada. Please make all cheques and money orders payable to: Minds Edge Productions Inc. The address to send registrations to is listed below. Please include a completed copy of the file REGISTER.TXT. NEW ZEALAND registrations: Please read REG-NZ.TXT for New Zealand registration information and costs. ╔═══════════════════════════╗ ║█▓▒░ Closing Statement ░▒▓█║ ╚═══════════════════════════╝ ISA was written in Turbo Pascal v6.0 by Borland International. We would like to thank the following people for their contributions to ISA: Documentation: Hardy Rosenke and Jeff Bolton. Casino: Gordon Lau. Pauses and Split Screen Chat: Peter Lam. Remote User Editor: Timothy Lang. Ansi Welcome Screens by: Brent Akester, Lance Leger and Dion Loy. Special thanks to the following people for all their help (in no particular order): Morgan Muir, Hardy Rosenke, Tim Lang, Gordon Lau, Peter Lam, Eric Yung, Dan Kane, Jeff Bailey, Tana Worcester, Ryan Murray, Patrick Ryan, Bart Simpson, Russell Mennie, Jeff Bolton, Gary Joneson, Dave Munhollon, Jason Dever, Steve Joselson, Rick Malkin, Dale McIsaac, Paul Bonifacio, Cal Gardner, Nick Hart and anyone else I may have forgot to mention. 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 DoorNet: 75:8010/301 SuperNet: 43:1386/102 CRAS-Net: 125:200/505 InterSports: 102:582/4 Magic Name: ISA (A list of additional distribution sites is in the CATALOG.TXT file) If you wish to contact us: 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 or Minds Edge Productions Inc. P.O. Box 211 3456 Dunbar Street Vancouver, BC V6S 2C2 Canada <End of File>