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1990-06-29
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MAD LIBS
for RBBS-PC
Based on the party game by Roger Price and Leonard Stern
Mad Libs copyright 1965, 1982 by Price/Stern/Sloan Publishers
Los Angeles, California
Mad Libs is a registered trademark of Price/Stern/Sloan, Inc.
Program and documentation copyright 1989, 1990 by Michael Walsh
Walsh MicroSystems, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Released into the public domain for use with RBBS-PC
as a door game
Mad Libs Documentation Page 2
INTRODUCTION
Mad Libs was originally intended as a party game. It envolves a
short story, and there are blanks that are filled in with parts
of speech, words, numbers, colors, etc. and the resulting story
is read back to the group. Invariably, the stories tend to be
quite funny, as the words that get filled in are rarely the ones
intended in the first place.
In this implementation, the user is asked for the words to fill
into the story, but the user has no idea what the story is about,
nor what the final result may be like. Only when all of the
missing words are asked for and given is the story printed out.
Playing Mad Libs is really very easy, and the stranger and wilder
the words given, the funnier the resulting story is. Stories are
chosen randomly by the game, and the user may play as many times
as he or she likes. The user's time is checked each time a story
is completed, and if a user has been in Mad Libs for more than
the alloted time (based on the DORINFO?.DEF file or 30 minutes,
whichever is less) the user is returned to the BBS.
Mad Libs Documentation Page 3
INSTALLATION
Installation is very easy and completely straightforward.
1. Create a subdirectory for the MAD LIBS program and files.
2. Unpack the files to that subdirectory.
3. Create the batch file to drive the program.
4. Update your DOORS.DEF file to include MAD LIBS.
5. Update your MENU5 files to include the MAD LIBS option.
The batch file that drives the door is easy to make. First, you
want to change to the directory you created for MAD LIBS, and
then invoke the MAD LIBS program with a complete path to your
DORINFO?.DEF file. If the directory you created was named
\RBBS\MADLIBS, your main RBBS directory was called \RBBS, and you
were running a single RBBS node, then the batch file would look
like this:
CD \RBBS\MADLIBS
MADLIBS \RBBS\DORINFO1.DEF
CD \RBBS
RBBS
All of the necessary information for the program to run is
included in the DORINFO?.DEF file. For multiple nodes, check the
RBBS documentation for hints on the DOORS.DEF file and using
parameters in batch files.
RUNNING MAD LIBS
In operation, MAD LIBS displays a status line on the 25th line
of the screen. The format of the status line is:
<USER NAME> F10=CHAT TIME ON: xx min INPUT TIMER: x:xx
The TIME ON number is the number of minutes the user has been
in MAD LIBS.
The INPUT TIMER is displayed when MAD LIBS is waiting for input.
It is reset by any keypress either locally or by the remote user.
If the INPUT TIMER reaches 3 minutes, a SLEEP DISCONNECT occurs
sending the user back to the BBS.
Pressing the F10 key will cause MAD LIBS to enter CHAT mode, in
the same way as RBBS. To exit CHAT, press ESC.
When running locally, the word LOCAL appears instead of F10=CHAT
in the status line.
Mad Libs now saves stories created by the user to disk so that
the SysOp can review them. The file is created in the current
directory, and is called USERLIBS.TXT. This file is not shared
in the current version, so multi-node operation is probably not
a very good idea. A future release will correct this problem.
Mad Libs Documentation Page 4
MAKING YOUR OWN STORIES
There are 19 stories included in this release of MAD LIBS.
Making your own is also quite easy, and you can look at the
stories included to get an idea how this is done. Stories are
just flat ASCII text files with the key words (words to be asked
for) taken out and replaced by a prompt within braces. An
example of this follows. Given the sentence:
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain.
^ ^ ^ To be replaced
A Noun A Verb A Noun
The resulting replacements would look like this:
The {A Noun} in Spain {A Verb} mainly in the {A Noun}.
^ ^ ^ Prompts
The characters appearing between the braces become the prompt for
the word to be entered by the user. Given the above example, the
user would be prompted as follows:
Please enter A Noun.
<user enters a noun>
Please enter A Verb.
<user enters a verb>
Please enter A Noun.
and so on. If you have two blanks (words) in a row that are the
same part of speech, then you may want to make the prompts
clearer by saying Another Noun, i.e.:
The {A Noun} in Spain falls mainly in the {Another Noun}.
Since the words are asked for in the order that they appear in
the story, this would result in prompts that look like this:
Please enter A Noun.
<user enters a noun>
Please enter Another Noun.
and so on. This is clearer than two identical prompts that might
make the user feel that the game rejected his previous word for
some reason. Take a look at the examples provided to get a
better idea of how this is done.
IMPORTANT: The MAD LIBS program will perform word-wrap
automatically, so don't worry about how long a line is! Only
press [ENTER] when you are finishing a paragraph, and then press
[ENTER] twice. I use WordStar to edit these files, since
WordStar doesn't care how long a line is in non-document mode.
Lines will be wrapped by MAD LIBS. Any other program that does
not force word-wrap should be fine, including EDLIN, the SideKick
editor, etc.
Mad Libs Documentation Page 5
SUPPORT POLICY
Walsh MicroSystems will provide support to SysOps that use MAD
LIBS. To obtain support, call the Walsh MicroSystems RBBS system
at (215) 677-2966 and leave a comment to the SysOp. Please
include the version number and a complete description of the
problem/question. Replies will be by mail on the BBS. Walsh
MicroSystems is PC-Persuitable via the /PAPHI/ node.
UPDATES TO MAD LIBS
Updates to the MAD LIBS program will be released periodically.
Walsh MicroSystems encourages the SysOps using MAD LIBS to
suggest improvements and changes to make it a better program for
the users. Feel free to leave comments to the SysOp at the
number shown above.
Revision History:
----------------------------------------------------------------
V1.10 Original Release 11/15/1989
V1.11 Bug Fix 12/19/1989 MSW
Fixed CHAT bug. Door would hang in CHAT.
V1.20 Released 12/20/1989 MSW
Increased to 250 stories (from 50)
Added Carrier Monitoring
WatchCat or WatchDog is not needed
but can be run. No files are updated.
V1.30 Internal upgrade, not released
V1.40 Released 6/29/1990 MSW
Fixed input routines to reject cursor controls
for backspacing (requires backspace instead)
Added save feature for SysOp to review stories
generated by users (USERLIBS.TXT)