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1992-10-29
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The Main Complex
The SHC Editor's BBS's
Catacombs of the Bear Cult
Proudly present
OPERATION OVERKILL II CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT GAME
By Donna Murrell, Paul Fusco and Dustin Nulf
PURPOSE OF THIS FILE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This document is intended to help Sysops set up a Challenge Tournament
game of Operation Overkill II, v998, written by Dustin Nulf and
Tom Hazel, between 2 BBS's. It is assumed that you have an advanced
knowledge of your BBS software, front end mailers, and batch file
operation and setup. For the purpose of this discussion I will use my
software names as an example but with proper modification, this setup
will apply to most systems. Do not feel that this set up is the only
way to accomplish this task. Feel free to modify it any way it works
for you and by all means, if you find any shortcuts, I can be reached
via Fido NetMail 1:202/1103 or Donna at 1:387/617. Both Donna and I
also monitor the FidoNet Echos - OOII and OKILLERS and you'll find
Dustin Moderating the Okillers Echo or Fido address 1:124/6304
SOFTWARE AND UTILITIES REQUIRED:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. BBS software <ie. WILDCAT, QuickBBS, RA>
2. Operation Overkill II game <v998>
3. Front end mailer software <ie. FrontDoor>
4. Packing/unpacking software <ie. Pkzip 110>
5. Utility for auto generating NetMail file transfer <ie. XROBOT>
6. Flag file <any ASCII text file of 1 or more bytes>
This file should reside in the OOII game directory.
OVERVIEW:
~~~~~~~~~
The Operation Overkill II <OOII> Challenge Tournament is a game of OOII
played between two or more different BBS's. Each board would set up an
identical game to the others. Using the same maps and proper OOSETUP
options. Only the OOSETUP options unique to an individual board will
differ, such as the name of the bbs, video screen output etc. The game
begins on one board and is played for an agreed amount of time then the
*.OO files are packed and sent to the next board. The next board in
turn keeps and plays the game for the same amount of time and passes
the *.OO files to the next board in turn or back to the original board.
This process is continued until the game is won. <one round following
the death of OVERKILL as per OOIIRULES>.
The amount of time the game spends on one board for the current
Challenge tournament will be 1 day. This can be a popular game so it's
important to allow enough time for your users to get a chance in the
game. More than that we felt they would get bored while the game was at
the opposing BBS site.
GROUND RULES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will also find a complete list of the Challenge Tournament rules in
the file OOIIRULE.DOC included in this archive.
Running MAINTOO:
OOII998 requires the running of MAINTOO before each user logs into the
game therefore should not be a concern to the sysops of a Challenge
game. However the sysop should insure that MAINTOO is properly inserted
into the door batch file to make sure maintenance is run as instructed
in the OOII Sysop doc.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
SETTING UP THE GAME: <Using Wildcat 3.xx and FrontDoor 2.02>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See below for example using QuickBBS/RA and FrontDoor 2.02.
It is assumed that you already have a fully operational BBS system and
front end mailer, so the first step is going to be setting up the game.
Since both sysops will have control of the game and editor, trust is a
given. It's advisable to play with a board you know and are confident
with. Tournament games will be scheduled by the tournament Director.
NOTE: You will see here the words "flag file" used often by names like
WAIT.DOC, SEND.DOC, etc. The flag file is nothing more than a file
containing nothing much <mine just contains HELLO>. It's only purpose
is to be named one thing then another in order to tell the system what
to do. The batch file responds to the name of this file by sending,
receiving, or just doing nothing but changing the flag files name.
1. If you're not familiar with OOII as a door game, I'll leave it up to
you to unpack game and docs and go over the setup on your own. This
Challenge game is not intended for a board installing OOII for the
first time. We suggest you run a few games on your board to become
familiar with set up and play and generate some interest in users.
Assuming you're familiar with the setup, the first thing to do is
install the door game as you would any other OOII game on your system.
Set up directories and put the game files there.
2. Run OOSETUP.EXE (Ver .998) and set the options for each particular
system. See the config options below or in the OOIIRULES file. All
options other than system options <name of BBS, Bulletins, etc.> should
be set EXACTLY THE SAME ON BOTH BOARDS.
The following is a copy of the OOCONFIG.DAT as per OOIIRULE. This file
is created and can be edited with OOSETUP.EXE. It is an ascii file so
it can also be edited with any text editor. Refer to the OOII
documentation for detailed explanations of each option. Here, we will
discuss options for the Challenge game only. Values indicated are at
the correct levels for a Challenge Tournament Game.
{ System Configuration: }
{
THE MAIN COMPLEX { Name of the BBS System }
00000000000 { Registration Code }
QUICKBBS { BBS System }
D:\QBBS\ { Path to BBS Data Files }
D:\DOORS\OOIITOUR\TOUR.ANS { Path to ANSI Top Ten Bulletin }
D:\DOORS\OOIITOUR\TOUR.ASC { Path to ASCII Top Ten Bulletin }
NONE { Pause String for Bulletins }
NO { Multi-Node? }
DIRECT { Video mode BIOS/DIRECT }
FOSSIL { Comm Support FOSSIL/NORMAL }
38 { Fight Delay }
{
{ Game Information: }
{
TOUR BLIZE { Complex Name }
BLIZE { Map Files }
50 { Minutes Per Play }
1 { Game Plays per Day }
1440 { Minutes Between Calls }
10:00 { Starting Chat Hour }
22:00 { Ending Chat Hour }
4 { Player Level for Hydrite Kidnapping }
21 { Days Until Inactive Player Deleted }
20 { Oracle Threshold Point }
150 { Frontier Log Length }
{
{ Player Information: }
{
5 { Bases per Player }
10 { Game Plays in Gaming Room }
75 { Hunger Moves }
59 { Total Stats New Players }
5000 { Crystals For New Players }
NIL { LR Weapon For New Players }
NIL { HTH Weapon For New Players }
NIL { Armor For New Players }
Video screen output, Fossil driver, multi-node, BBS name, and
registration should be set up on both boards exactly like they would be
if the board was playing an in-house game. Use the option information
that works on your system. USE YOUR OWN REGISTRATION. It is illegal
for two boards to use the same code nor is it necessary. The game will
run fine with different information entered in these options. This
type of game is designed for registered boards so if you're running a
non-registered version, REGISTER IT!!!
Hours between calls, minutes per player, and combat action delay,
weapons, armor, and amount of crystals to start the game are
all options that should be agreed upon by all sysops. There are as
many different boards as there are sysops and not all boards allow the
same amount of time for users to log on every day. We find on most
game boards that 1-2 hours with 30 to 60 minutes in doors is average.
We suggest between 6 and 12 hours between calls, 60 minutes maximum per
player, and combat action delay set at 35-40. These options should be
identical on all boards. Challenge Tournament games should be
configured exactly as shown in OOIIRULES.DOC.
Name of complex building and file name of maps are both options that
should be agreed upon. These options should be identical on both
boards.
The top 10 listings are very important in a game of this nature. See
the discussion on Bulletins below for more detail on the listing.
3. Run MAINTOO on all boards. The board that is going to have the
first turn should run MAINTOO and begin the game at the specific
starting time. Just as you would any other game of OOII. The other
boards should run MAINTOO and at that point delete all the *.OO and
FAME.DAT files in their game directory. The *.OO and FAME.DAT files are
the data files for the game. If all the OOSETUP options are set
correctly and the same maps are being used on each board, these files
will be passed from one board to the other and there should be no
interruptions or problems with running the game on the other boards.
4. Play OOII for 1 day. The first board plays for it's full turn of
days then the *.OO files should be packed and sent via net mail to the
next board. The next board in turn unpacks the files and puts them in
the OOII directory and opens play. Each board in turn repeats the
process for its alloted amount of time. See OOIIRULE.ZIP for more
information on the game rules.
TRANSFERRING THE FILES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now the tricky part begins. Once a boards turn is completed it's time
to pass the files on to the next board. This should be done as quickly
as possible so all players will get as fair a chance as possible. This
can be done manually or automatically. If you're an ambitious Sysop
and don't mind spending a few minutes packing and shipping it's pretty
basic. But if you're lazy like me <hence the name MACROman> you'll
want to automate this process. If you have a tendency to fall asleep
on the sofa playing Nintendo then you BETTER automate the process. The
purpose of this section is to help you automate the process but a
working knowledge of manual operation will certainly aid your setup.
Especially if your system is not identical to mine.
Manual operation:
Once your board has finished it's turn the *.OO and FAME.DAT files
should be packed up and shipped to the next board. Using PKZip the
command would be:
pkzip <path and name of zip file> *.OO.
pkzip <path and name of zip file> FAME.DAT
Mine would read:
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP *.OO
PKZIP OO_FILES FAME.DAT.
This file should be placed where you make your netmail file transfers.
Refer to your mailer documentation. Once the file is packed, go into
your front end mailer and generate a netmail message to send the file
to the next BBS and ship it. That's all there is to it. The receiving
BBS should now unpack the file and put all the *.OO files in the OOII
tournament game directory. The game is now ready to play on the next
board. Delete the game files after they're packed.
*** NOTE *** Not all BBS softwares are alike in the handling of
missing door files. It's a good idea to turn off the door when it not
on your board. This will eliminate any un-necessary crashes because
the BBS can not find the door batch or the game files. On a system
that runs doors from a batch file, rename the batch file and in most
cases that will be sufficient.
Automated operation:
If you're a sysop with lots of time on your hands, the manual operation
is the way to go. But since these files are better transferred late at
night and very early in the morning, most of us don't have time to wait
around and pack, ship and receive files. After all, what good are
computers and software if we have to sit there and do all the work.
This section is to help you automate your system to handle all the non-
play time tasks. Now sit back, get a soda and read this a couple
times. I'll give examples of WILDCAT, FRONTDOOR set up but it should
be easy enough for you to modify this configuration to your own system.
Just like any other off-line maintenance <ie. MAINTOO> the automation
of this task is accomplished by two timed, forced nightly events. This
example will use errorlevels and batch files. Most BBS software
require an errorlevel to run an external maintenance so that's where
we'll start.
The following batch file lines are the lines I have included in my
RUNBBS.BAT file which runs my entire system. Only the lines having to
do with the OOII set up will be presented and discussed here. Each
label will be discussed in detail at the end of the batch file example.
This example is set up for a two day turn on each board.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
:BACK_2_FD
CTTY CON
SET WCPORTID=1
C:
CD \FD
CLS
FD
IF ERRORLEVEL 100 GOTO MAINT
IF ERRORLEVEL 99 GOTO MAINT2
IF ERRORLEVEL 95 GOTO 2_THE_CAT
IF ERRORLEVEL 85 GOTO LOCAL_FD_2_CAT
GOTO OFF_OR_DOWN
:MAINT
IF EXIST D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\SEND.DOC GOTO ZIP ;tournament
GOTO BACK_2_FD
:MAINT2
IF EXIST C:\FD\FILE\OO_FILES.ZIP GOTO UNZIP
GOTO BACK_2_FD
:UNZIP
C:
CD \FD\FILE
PKUNZIP OO_FILES.ZIP D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR -o
COPY OO_FILES.ZIP D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\INCOMING.ZIP
DEL OO_FILES.ZIP
CD \WILDCAT3
REN DOOR6.OUT DOOR6.BAT
CD \WILDCAT3\DISPLAY
COPY HELLO3.IN HELLO3.BBS
D:
CD \WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR
COPY FRONTIER.OO C:\WILDCAT3\BULL\BULL39.BBS
REN WAIT.DOC SEND.DOC ;for 1 day rotation, used in tournament
GOTO BACK_2_FD
:ZIP
D:
CD \WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP *.OO
DEL *.OO
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP FAME.DAT
DEL FAME.DAT
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP TOP10.*
DEL TOP10.*
REN SEND.DOC WAIT.DOC
C:
CD \WILDCAT3
REN DOOR6.BAT DOOR6.OUT
CD \WILDCAT3\DISPLAY
COPY HELLO3.OUT HELLO3.BBS
CD \FD
XR SEND D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\OO_FILES.ZIP 1:387/617
GOTO BACK_2_FD
:OFF_OR_DOWN
ECHO ATM0H1 > COM1
C:
CD C:\
CLS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Label block 1 - :BACK_2_FD
The first 7 lines of this block are the lines that bring up the system
and return to the BBS any time the BBS is exited or swapped out for any
reason. Refer to your BBS/Mailer documentation for further
explanation.
:BACK_2_FD
CTTY CON
SET WCPORTID=1
C:
CD \FD
CLS
FD
The next 5 lines direct the system where to go whenever an errorlevel
exit is detected. Errorlevels 99 and 100 are my nightly events. These
labels <MAINT and MAINT2> are the keys to the automation of the OOII
tournament game file transfers. Refer to the dos manual for errorlevel
operation.
IF ERRORLEVEL 100 GOTO MAINT
IF ERRORLEVEL 99 GOTO MAINT2
IF ERRORLEVEL 95 GOTO 2_THE_CAT
IF ERRORLEVEL 85 GOTO LOCAL_FD_2_CAT
GOTO OFF_OR_DOWN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Label block 2 - :MAINT This is not as confusing as it sounds!
:MAINT
IF EXIST D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\SEND.DOC GOTO ZIP ;tournament
GOTO BACK_2_FD
This block runs every night on my system at 12:59 am PST just prior to
ZONE MAIL HOUR, the end time for a cities turn. These lines are active
only when the game is ON MY SYSTEM. The flag file, WAIT.DOC and
SEND.DOC are all the same file and renamed by this batch file depending
on whether the game is to be sent or not. They are necessary to count
days from receiving to shipping and tell the system what days are
sending days, what days are "no action" days or what days it just sits
there and waits till the game comes to the board. This file is a simple
ASCII file <mine just says "HELLO"> to tell the system which day it is
and what action is to be taken. The name of this file is the ONLY
important thing about it. Automatic receiving or sending the
OO_FILES.ZIP file depends on the name of the flag file. When the proper
name condition of the flag file is met the proper action is taken. When
the game is NOT on my board and in a dormant condition, this file is
named WAIT.DOC.
When the SEND.DOC file is recognized by the second IF EXIST line, it
tells the system that with this event the *.OO and FAME.DAT files should
be packed for shipment <OO_FILES.ZIP> and all the *.OO and FAME.DAT
files in the OOII directory deleted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Label block 3 - :MAINT2
This block runs every night on my system at 2:01 am PST at the end of
Zone Mail Hour, the beginning of a cities turn. It checks the FrontDoor
file directory to see if the OO_FILES.ZIP file has been received from
the next BBS. If it finds it there, it passes control to the label
:UNZIP <explained later>. I also run this batch file at 4:00 am PST
just in case the game file is shipped to me late.
:MAINT2
IF EXIST C:\FD\FILE\OO_FILES.ZIP GOTO UNZIP
GOTO BACK_2_FD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Label block 4 - :UNZIP
Confused yet??? Well here's where the fun begins. If you're not
confused, refill that soda and get a pencil. Now you may need to draw
some lines back up the page to refer from here... Ready???
This block is the action take by the system when the condition of
:MAINT2 is met. This means that the OO_FILES.ZIP has been received by
your board and :MAINT2 has found it. Control of the batch file is now
passed here to :UNZIP.
The first 4 lines find and unpack the received OO_FILES.ZIP to the
proper game directory. The -o switch will make sure the files are
overwritten incase they were not deleted. This will keep your system
from locking up waiting for a yes or no answer to overwrite.
:UNZIP
C:
CD \FD\FILE
PKUNZIP OO_FILES.ZIP D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR -o
This line just copies the OO_FILES.ZIP to somewhere else on my hard
drive so I'll have a backup if anything happens. <why should anything
happen ... grin>
COPY OO_FILES.ZIP D:WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\INCOMING.ZIP
This one just deletes the file so it won't be recognized again.
DEL OO_FILES.ZIP
The next 2 lines are the switch that turn the door on and off. If
Wildcat can't find DOOR6.BAT it will tell the user on-line that the
door option for this game is not available. This line turns it on.
CD \WILDCAT3
REN DOOR6.OUT DOOR6.BAT
The next 2 lines activate a log on screen to the on-line user telling
them immediately whether or not the game is available.
CD \WILDCAT3\DISPLAY
COPY HELLO3.IN HELLO3.BBS
The next 3 lines copy the Frontier log to a bulletin so it can be read
easily by on-line users before they play the game. This will tell them
what went on while the game was in another city or board for 1 or 2
days.
D:
CD \WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR
COPY FRONTIER.OO C:\WILDCAT3\BULL\BULL39.BBS
Finally the flag file will need renamed to let the system know what
action to take with the running of the NEXT nightly maintenance event.
In this case, the file has just been received so the flag is renamed
SEND.DOC to let the system know that the game will be sent back to the
other BBS in the next nightly event.
REN WAIT.DOC SEND.DOC ;for 1 day rotation game, tournament
GOTO BACK_2_FD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Label block 5 - :ZIP
When the condition of the flag file is SEND.DOC and met by the :MAINT
label, control is passed to this block. This block packs the *.OO
files, the FAME.DAT file, deletes them, turns off the door switch, and
activates the log in message that the game is no longer available.
The next lines, pack all the game files <*.OO> and FAME.DAT into the
OO_FILES.ZIP then deletes the *.OO and FAME.DAT files from the game
directory. It's a good idea to keep a copy of OO_FILES.ZIP in case
there's a problem with file transfers or whatever. <What could go
wrong???>. Two files called TOP10.ASC and TOP10.ANS can be generated by
OOII. These files are also helpful when sent to an opposing board so
that players can have quick access the scores. These files can be
copied to or from a bulletin generated by OOII to a name agreed upon
before the game starts.
*** NOTE *** Deleting the *.OO and FAME.DAT files before the game
returns to your board is IMPORTANT. If these files are found by PKZIP
when it unpacks the OO_FILES.ZIP, it will ask you if you want to
overwrite the existing file. You may think you're going to wake up and
play the game and find your computer sitting in PKZIP at a dos prompt
waiting for a Y or N answer. This could have a negative effect on the
idea of AUTOMATING this system. DELETE THE *.OO AND FAME.DAT FILES
BEFORE THE GAME RETURNS TO YOUR BOARD.
:ZIP
D:
CD \WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP *.OO
DEL *.OO
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP FAME.DAT
DEL FAME.DAT
PKZIP OO_FILES.ZIP TOP10.*
DEL TOP10.*
This line renames the flag file to WAIT.DOC and tells the system that
nothing is to be done until the return of OO_FILES.ZIP. Now none of
the conditions of :MAINT and :MAINT2 will be met until the OO_FILES.ZIP
returns to this board
REN SEND.DOC WAIT.DOC
The next 3 lines turn OFF the door batch file. This will echo a
message to any on-line user that chooses this game door that it's not
available today.
C:
CD \WILDCAT3
REN DOOR6.BAT DOOR6.OUT
These lines activate a log in message to on-line users that the game is
not on this board and not available.
CD \WILDCAT3\DISPLAY
COPY HELLO3.OUT HELLO3.BBS
For the next part of this batch file, you may need an additional
utility. These lines automatically generate a NetMail file attached
message to the board that the game is going to next. This example is
using XROBOT and will generate the message and file attachment
automatically. Refer to the documentation of the utility you're using
for the proper command line options. If you do NOT have a utility, the
NetMail message will need to be manually entered. This is critical
because failure to generate the NetMail message will cause the file
OO_FILES.ZIP not to be passed on time and will cause delays in the
game.
CD \FD
XR SEND D:\WILDCAT\DOOR\OOIITOUR\OO_FILES.ZIP 1:387/617
GOTO BACK_2_FD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Timing:
Timing refers to the actual transfer of the OO_FILES.ZIP file. It
should be noted the times for the :MAINT and :MAINT2 labels allow 2
hours between the time :MAINT finishes and :MAINT2 runs. The transfer
should take place in this time space with plenty of time for it to
finish before :MAINT2 needs to run. If :MAINT2 runs and the
OO_FILES.ZIP file has not yet been received, the file will sit there
until the next days maintenance and a complete day will be lost. This
is not much of a problem if the Challenge game is being played locally
but if there's a time zone change, special considerations will need to
be made. Be sure all sysops involved plan the transfers of this file
carefully so this file is always sent/received between the running of
the :MAINT and :MAINT2 events.
*** NOTE *** If any or all the boards this game is being played on
are busy boards, a second or even third event can be set up to re-run
:MAINT2. This will insure that if the file gets transferred late, the
game will still be recognized and set up to give players maximum amount
of time to play.
That's all there is to the automation. I know that's a lot but lets
try to put it all in perspective.
EXAMPLE:
~~~~~~~~
Ok, you're the board initiating the play of the game. Assuming your
board and mine have set everything up properly this is what will
happen.
Day 1: <after maintenance events have been run>
You have all the OOII game files and the *.OO data files and
FAME.DAT in your directory and your flag file is set to SEND.DOC.
Your door is on and you play the game all day.
On my end I have a directory with the all the game files except
the *.OO files and FAME.DAT and my flag file is set to WAIT.DOC.
My door is off.
Day 2:
Your first nightly event :MAINT has recognized the condition of
the flag file as SEND.DOC and packs the files, ships the files, and
turns off the door switch. The flag file is renamed WAIT.DOC and
puts the system in dormant condition until the return of the
OO_FILES.ZIP to your board. You can no longer play the game. The
:MAINT2 event has not found its condition so no action is taken.
Now it's my turn <if I've received the file between my :MAINT and
:MAINT2 nightly events>... My first nightly event :MAINT, finds
no conditions met so no action is taken. Then the file is
received from your system. My second nightly event :MAINT2 has
recognized the condition of the presence of the OO_FILES.ZIP and
unpacks the file, routes the game files to the proper directory,
turns the door on and saves the file. The flag file is renamed to
SEND.DOC. Now we play through day 2.
*** Note *** Make sure you have previously deleted the *.OO files and
FAME.DAT or your UNPACK will hang there waiting for YOU to answer Yes/No
to overwriting the existing *.OO files).
Day 3:
On your :MAINT event run, nothing will happen because no
conditions have been met.
On my end, the SEND.DOC condition has been recognized by my first
nightly event :MAINT and the files are packed and shipped back to
you. The flag file is renamed WAIT.DOC and the system is dormant
again. The :MAINT2 event will find no conditions met and no
action is taken.
Now on your end, the running of your second nightly event :MAINT2,
OO_FILES.ZIP has been recognized and the files are unpacked and
routed to your proper directory, the switch is turned on, the flag
file renamed and you're back in play mode and we're back to Day 1.
*** NOTE *** This setup is for a challenge game of 1 day on each
board. The number of days is determined by the number of name changes
of the flag file. The flag file must change names 1 more time than the
number of days you wish to have the game on each board. If it's a 1
day game, the flag file will need 2 re-namings. If it's 3 day turns,
the flag file will need 4 re-namings. This file is nothing more than a
means to count down the days from receiving the game to sending it
back. Remember, each name change will need a separate :LABEL in the
batch file. Each :LABEL will need to rename the flag file to the next
day's :LABEL.
SEND.DOC = 1 day to shipping
WAIT.DOC = game shipped and waiting.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
SETTING UP THE GAME: <Using QuickBBS and FrontDoor 2.02>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, One more time in a NutShell Overview, This is as concise
as it gets:
1. Contact with challenging BBS needs to have been made and
Rules of play setup. These are a few of the things that
need to be taken care of by the Sysops involved.
Maps to use.
How many players per side.
Name of transfer file that will be sent back and forth, etc.
Weapons and crystals for players.
2. If you have a MONSTER.DAT file that is different from the opposing
side, then that file should be either used on both boards or
deleted for the original.
3. A FrontEnd mailer is NECESSARY for automation of the shipment of
files to both BBS's involved in the game. This is to insure that
timing and ease of transfer is timely. (timing in this game is
essential).
4. SETUP: I use FrontDoor 2.02 therefore, that is the setup process
I will be explaining.
Set Errorlevels in your batch file to load the board for shipping
or receiving of files. I will be explaining the 2 stages it goes
through in order to get from day one of the game, to # 2 when
shipment of files will go to the other board.
Example:
If Errorlevel 175 Goto Maint
If Errorlevel 173 Goto UNPACK_OO ;received files from OTHER BBS
If Errorlevel 172 Goto PACK_OO
If ErrorLevel 171 Goto ChkMaint
Identify these errorlevels something like:
; Zip files for shipment "to" remote BBS and generating
; the message in XRobot in order to ship the files to
; the remote location. As you can see what we have done is
; to rename ONE file, two different times. On the night
; the files are to be shipped, the file will be called SEND.DOC
; in order to tell your "If Exist" statement that it's the
; night to go and zip up the files in the Overkill directory.
;
:PACK_OO
C:
CD \Doors\OOII
PKZIP C:\FD\FILE\OO_FILES.ZIP *.OO
PKZIP C:\FD\FILE\OO_FILES.ZIP FAME.DAT
DEL *.OO
DEL FAME.DAT
REN SEND.DOC TEMP.DOC
cd\qbbs\messages
SetFlag A8 OFF ALL
cd\qbbs\txt
copy arcade1.ans arcade.ans
copy arcade1.asc arcade.asc
cd \fd\file
copy OO_FILES.zip \fd\file\temp
DEL OO_FILES.zip
cd\FD
CALL Robot.bat
GOTO Loop
; The SetFlag function of QuickBBS is a utility I find handy
; and is to disable user entry into that Door during the time the
; files reside at the other location.
;
; Unzip files from shipment "from" remote BBS
:UNPACK_OO
C:
CD \FD\FILE
PKUNZIP OO_FILES.ZIP C:\Doors\OOII -o
copy OO_FILES.ZIP \fd\file\temp
DEL OO_FILES.ZIP
C:
CD \Doors\OOII
REN TEMP.DOC SEND.DOC
cd\qbbs\messages
SetFlag A8 ON ALL
cd\qbbs\txt
copy arcade2.ans arcade.ans
copy arcade2.asc arcade.asc
cd\fd
GOTO Loop
; The SetFlag in this position turns on the A8 Flag on ALL
; users to enable entry to that door now that the files
; have returned to your location.
; The -o after the PKUNZIP is a tool to auto-overwrite anything
; that may not have been deleted from the previous shipment.
; It simply protects your BBS from Hanging there asking if you
; wish to overwrite or not while your sleeping!
;
; Below is the definition of the "If Exist" statements we
; found to work.
; This is what happens each night during your regular maintenance.
; The "If Exist" statements go into the directory
; looking for one of the *.doc files (that says only something like
; "hello"), and renames the file for the next nights activity.
; when it finds that statement in the Errorlevels, it then
; goes to that set "Errorlevel" during maintenance.
:Maint
cd\fd
night.bat ; just normal night maintenance
If Exist \doors\OOII\send.doc Goto PACK_OO
If Exist \fd\file\OO_FILES.ZIP Goto UnPACK_OO
goto Loop
Explanation of these 2 named files: (I hope)
Send.Doc= This next night event will go to Pack_OO Errorlevel "IF" all
is going properly so far. This mean that your TEMP.DOC was
renamed correctly to yes.doc during your night event and it's
your night to Ship the files. The Errorlevel finds Send.Doc,
Zips up the files in the designated directory and prepares
for XRobot to ship them. It then Deletes the *.oo files so
that when the shipment comes back into your bbs from Remote,
it can unzip them in to the directory. It is then renamed to
Temp.doc.
Temp.doc= Does nothing but wait for the shipment of OO_FILES.zip from
the remote BBS. When the OO_Files.zip is found by your
system it goes to the UNPACK_OO statement Errorlevel you
defined. Unzips it into the game directory, deletes the
zip file, and renames the temp.doc to SEND.DOC and starts
the Loop over again.
As you can see, a number of things take place all at the same time, and
that your timing and the remote BBS's timing are essential in the file
transfers and what happens at BOTH ends of the game.
Since Paul explained the XRobot to you already I won't go into that one
again! ( He does this so well, Doesn't he? )
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
SETTING UP THE GAME: <Using RA and FrontDoor 2.02> Dustin Nulf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the File Dustin Nulf Uses for running the game with RA.
:SHIP_OO
atsend M0H1 2 'take modem offhook
cd\ooiitour
pkzip \fd\file\temp\cbcvsmc.zip *.oo fame.dat top10.*
del *.oo
del fame.dat
del top10.*
rename yes.doc temp.doc
cd\ra
rename tourney.bat ooiihold.bat 'disable tourney door
rename alphahold.bat ooiidoor.bat 'enable alpha-test door
cd\ra\txtfiles
copy outtown.ans status.ans 'game is now "outoftown"
copy outtown.asc status.asc
cd\fd\xrobot
XR SEND \fd\file\temp\cbcvsmc.zip 1:387/617 /T SEND.TXT
XR POLL 1:387/617 'varies with other node
cd\fd
goto LOOP
:UNSHIP_OO
atsend M0H1 2 'take modem offhook
cd\fd\file
pkunzip cbcvsmc.zip \ooiitour -o 'unzip, overwriting
del cbcvsmc.zip
cd\ooiitour
rename temp.doc yes.doc
copy top10.* \ra\txtfiles
copy frontier.oo \ra\txtfiles
cd\ra
rename ooiihold.bat tourney.bat 'renable tourney door
rename ooiidoor.bat alphahold.bat 'disable alpha-test door
cd\ra\txtfiles
copy intown.ans status.ans 'game is now "intown"
copy intown.asc status.asc
cd\fd
goto LOOP
:CHECKUNSHIP
atsend M0H1 2
if exist \fd\file\cbcvsmc.zip goto UNSHIP_OO
cd\fd
goto LOOP
:MAINT
atsend M0H1 2
cd\ooiitour
if exist yes.doc goto SHIP_OO
if exist \fd\file\cbcvsmc.zip goto UNSHIP_OO
cd\fd
goto LOOP
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
SOME OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tournament Game Rules:
If you are playing by Team Score and Overall Points, the game played
between The Catacombs of the Bear Cult and The Main Complex was decided
not by the death of Overkill, but by Overall Team Scores. Once
Overkill was defeated, The game files were shipped back and forth once
more and then the final turn was the BBS that DIDN'T start the game.
Then Overall Team Score was the Decisive Factor. This was a great way
in the New Ver. to have everyone involved in Making the "Team Play"
Successful. Every Player was then in on the Final Score. Even the
Lowest and Newest Players had a ball helping out the Team Scores. Refer
to OOIIRULE.DOC for information on Official Tournament rules.
Bulletins:
Being the dedicated game type boards that we are, we appreciate
the ability to be able to log on, look at the others that have logged
on and played certain games, what happened in the games, who's turn it
is etc, without having to log into the games themselves. For this
reason we make max use of bulletin generators and the dos copy command.
In a game like this, players are going to want to keep a constant eye on
what's happening. Even if they're out of time in the game or out of
turns they will be logging on to check stats. By making use of the
bulletin generator in OOII and copying the frontier log <FRONTIER.OO> to
a bulletin, I find that users that want to check stats can get on, get
the information, and get off again as quickly as possible. This frees
up the board for more time for other users to log on and play. We
suggest using the OOII top 10 generator to create stats bulletins and
copying the FRONTIER.OO file to a bulletin each time a user logs out of
the game. You can also use a file viewer option, if you have one, to
view the frontier log from outside the game.
Log on screens and door menus:
Ok, now that you're a pro at the OOII Challenge Game, here's one other
suggestion that will bring out your creative talents. I have 2 log on
screens that tell the users when they first get on the board whether or
not the game is up and available or on the other board and not
available, HELLO3.IN and HELLO3.OUT. These are arranged so that when
the label :ZIP is run, the HELLO3.OUT screen is activated and the users
know right away the game is not available. Like wise for HELLO3.IN
when the label :UNZIP is run. I have the same setup for the DOORS
MENU, DOORS.IN and DOORS.OUT. Activating this type of a file will
depend on what file names your BBS displays and from where. To
activate them, put them in your display directory by names not
recognizable to your BBS software, and add COPY commands in your :ZIP
and :UNZIP labels to copy the appropriate file to the proper name to
display the file.
Another use for the Frontier.oo file that the game generates, is to
pass it from the PLAYING BBS to the NON-PLAYING BBS while shipping
the mail. This enables the BBS that is patiently waiting for the games
return to see what damage the PLAYING BBS is in the process of doing to
them. <evil grin> And next is the explanation of the MAIL!
CONCLUSION:
~~~~~~~~~~~
You are now ready to enter the most challenging, and fun game you've
ever played on a BBS. We hope you enjoy the OPERATION OVERKILL II
CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT GAME.
THANKS TO:
~~~~~~~~~~
Dustin Nulf and Tom Hazel for producing the best BBS Door game
available.
All the people, sysops and users that inspired the concept of the OOII
Challenge game.
All the players of the National OOII Challenge Games who helped prove
the workability of this concept. And for their patience when any
problems arose.
Personal Notes:
(Paul Says) And a special thanks to Donna Murrell and Mark Stroud who
pushed me into this game and spent mega dollars in long distance
helping set up this game and instructing less qualified players.
(Donna Says) My thanks go out to Paul Fusco who agreed to set this up
with me in the first place and spending long hours mulling over the
setup and MULTIPLE NetMail shippings to get it the way we wanted it to
be played.
Questions, comments, suggestions, escape plans or complaints should be
routed to:
Donna Murrell Paul Fusco Dustin Nulf
The Main Complex BBS The SHC Editor's BBS Catacombs of the Bear Cult
512-658-8009 619-563-1598 214-907-1209
Fido 1:387/617 Fido 1:202/1103 Fido 1:124/6304
Monitoring both OOII FidoNet echos, OOII and OKILLERS.
DISCLAIMER
Now that the two of us have been forced to READ DOC FILES, we have
learned more about mailers and their command line setup than EITHER ONE
OF US EVER WANTED TO KNOW !! <grin>
What we have explained here as a joint effort, does not mean that it
is a sure thing and will work with your bbs setup. This is simply
a couple examples of what the three of us did in order to have a good
time with the Overkill game, and let both sides enjoy the company and
competition with another BBS. We have both made some new and good
friends out of this.
Good luck to all of you. Hope to see you soon in YOUR OWN competition
games.
***** No spitting on the wastelands.*****
Paul Fusco
SHC Editor's, San Diego, CA
Donna Murrell
The Main Complex, Universal City, TX
Dustin Nulf
Catacombs of the Bear Cult, Richardson, TX