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1993-03-31
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POWER STONES
Version 1.00
By Radical Wave and Steven H. Lin
Copyright 1993 by Steven H. Lin
All Rights Reserved
GENERAL OPERATIONS MANUAL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Registration
3.0 Requirements
4.0 Installation
5.0 Setup
6.0 Operations
7.0 Product Support
8.0 Credits & Acknowledgements
9.0 Registration Form
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 INTRODUCTION
POWER STONES is a simple game from [The Deviant's Palace] that basically
depends on the players' abilities to maneuver "stones" on a 10 x 10 gameboard
in order to surround their opponents' stones with two of their own, thus
performing a "capture" and removing the captured stone from play.
1.1 Warning -
If you have never used a program from [The Deviant's Palace], then
you may be in for a massive shock. Please, if you suffer from an
angina pectoris condition, keep your supply of amyl nitrate or
nitroglycerin within easy reach. If you are using stronger
medications, like calcium channel blocking agents (most notably
verapamil) or ß-adrenoceptor blocking agents (AKA "beta blockers"),
you may want to have some experienced medical personnel nearby to
monitor your health condition as you set up Power Stones. If you are
a potential candidate for cardiac tamponade, please obtain medical
permission from your vascular surgeon or attending surgeon con-
cerning the possible risks of setting up Power Stones on your system.
Use Power Stones at your own risk.
If you suffer from psychological problems or disabilities, Power
Stones is not guaranteed to not injury your psyche. Use Power Stones
at your own risk.
1.2 License Agreement -
The author of Power Stones has taken every precaution to insure that
no harm or damage will occur on computer systems operating the Power
Stones package. Nevertheless, the author of Power Stones shall NOT be
held liable for whatever may happen on your computer system or to any
computer systems which connect to your own as a result of operating
the Power Stones package. The user assumes full responsibility for the
correct operation of this software package, whether harm or damage
results from software error, hardware malfunction, or operator error.
NO warranties are offered, expressly stated or implied, including
without limitation or restriction any warranties of operation for a
particular purpose and/or merchantability.
The Power Stones main program, setup program, maintenance program,
player ranking program, and documentation are copyrighted products of
Steven H. Lin. Steven H. Lin reserves all rights to these products.
This is protected by the United States of America (USA) and
International Copyright Laws. In no way shall the components of the
Power Stones software package be reproduced or modified in any form or
method without prior expressly written permission from Steven H. Lin.
Steven H. Lin grants an unlimited license for the purpose of
distributing unregistered copies of the Power Stones software package
to the public when such unregistered copies are released from [The
Deviant's Palace]. Tampering with or altering the contents or
integrity of the Power Stones software package is prohibited. No fee
may be charged by any agency other than Steven H. Lin and DevPal
MetroNet Communications beyond cost of distributing unregistered
copies without prior expressly written permission from Steven H. Lin.
Power Stones is distributed under the Shareware concept. You are
allowed to operate Power Stones for a trial period of thirty (30)
days. After this trial period, you must register Power Stones or
discontinue its usage. Continued operation of Power Stones past the
above stated trial period requires full registration payment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 REGISTRATION
Registration of Power Stones is mandatory if you wish to continue using Power
Stones past the thirty-day trial period. The unregistered demo mode of Power
Stones is fully functional, but it has a few pauses which give the sysop and
users time to reflect on the benefits of the Shareware concept.
The registration fee for Power Stones 1.xx (versions 1.00 to 1.99) is:
$12.00 US
Issue a check or money order to STEVEN H. LIN.
Send the registration form and the check or money order to:
Steven H. Lin
DevPal MetroNet Communications
1251 NE 108th Street, #621
Miami, Florida 33161
United States of America
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.0 REQUIREMENTS
3.1 General System Requirements -
The following are the requirements for using Power Stones:
An MS-DOS computer
A modem
A BBS program or telecommunications host package which
can generate one of the following DOOR information files:
CALLINFO.BBS
DOOR.SYS
DORINFO?.DEF
PCBOARD.SYS
An ANSI driver (IMPORTANT! Power Stones is an ANSI DOOR, so
if a user does not use ANSI, then do not allow him/her
into Power Stones!)
At least 350Kb of hard disk space
3.2 Environments -
Power Stones will work under the following environments (although
it is certainly not limited to only the following):
Artisoft LANtastic 3.3 - 5.0
Compaq MS-DOS 3.31
Digital Research DR-DOS 5.0 - 6.0
IBM PC-DOS 3.2 - 5.0
Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3 - 6.0
Quarterdeck DesqView 2.31 - 2.4
3.3 Memory Managers -
Power Stones appears well-behaved when operating under memory
management programs, such as HIMEM, QEMM-386, and NetRoom. This is
primarily because Power Stones does not perform any unusual operations
in high memory areas (ie. extended memory, expanded memory). It is
also strongly advised that Power Stones NOT be loaded into any high
memory areas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.0 INSTALLATION
This is fairly simple: make a directory somewhere for the placement of Power
Stones. Then unZIP the archive into that directory. Then type the following
at your DOS command prompt:
INSTALL
This will activate a simple batch file which will go through the motions to
install Power Stones on your system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.0 SETUP
Setup involved several steps:
Running the Power Stones setup program (StoSetup) to initialize the
needed data files.
Setting up your BBS to handle Power Stones.
Putting the Power Stones maintenance program (StoMaint) into a daily
maintenance batch file.
Optionally, including the Power Stones player ranking program
(StonRank) into the same daily maintenance batch file that has
StoMaint OR the routine used by your BBS to handle the DOOR,
immediately after running the DOOR.
5.1 The Power Stones Setup Program -
In your Power Stones directory, there is a program called
STOSETUP.EXE. To run it, type the following at your DOS command
prompt:
STOSETUP
You will be given a screen display announcing the program, then you
will asked to hit <ENTER>, whereupon you will be presented with the
main StoSetup menu.
Power Stones has only seven options at the main menu of its setup
program, and they are arranged as follows:
Power Stones Setup -
──────────────────
[A] Change maximum # of players.
[B] Change maximum # of cycles before player auto-deletion.
[C] Change maximum # of cycles before game auto-deletion.
[D] Change maximum # of active games allowed.
[E] Change maximum # of game STARTS per cycle.
[F] Change maximum # of game ACCEPTANCES per cycle.
[Q]UIT StoSetup.
(>
At the prompt (the "(>" symbol below the options), you may enter
the option you wish.
5.1.1 Change maximum number of players -
This lets you specify the maximum number of players allowed in
the game.
5.1.2 Change maximum number of cycles before player auto-delettion -
This allows you to set a "expiration cycling rate" for players
in Power Stones. Every time the Power Stones Daily Maintenance
Butler (StoMaint) is run, a special counter is incremented by
one for every player record. Once that counter's value
surpasses the expirating cycling rate that you specify with
this option, the player record will be deleted.
This feature is different from "daily rates" which depend
upon your system clock. Because some systems may choose to
allow maintenance runs more than once a day, the expiration
cycling will need to keep pace.
5.1.3 Change maximum number of cycles before game auto-deletion -
This allows you to set a "expiration cycling rate" for active
games in Power Stones. It is analogous to the option described
above in Section 5.1.2, except that instead of watching over
players, it watches over actual games, to insure that you do
not keep stale games on your system.
5.1.4 Change maximum number of active games allowed -
If you wish to limit how many games are allowed to be stored
on your system, then use this option to put down the maximum
number of games you want to allow. This prevents players from
making too many games if they do not play avidly or only play
a few games every time they access Power Stones.
5.1.5 Change maximum number of game STARTS per cycle -
Each time StoMaint is run, the value in every player's record
which dictates how many times he/she can initiate a new game
is reset to this value.
If you do not want your players to go overboard in creating
lots of games, many of which you suspect will never be
accepted by other players, then set this value to a low
number.
5.1.6 Change maximum number of game ACCEPTANCES per cycle -
Each time StoMaint is run, the value in every player's record
which dictates how many times he/she can accept a game started
by another player is reset to this value.
If you do not want your players to go overboard in accepting
every game that other players initiate, thus depriving other
players of the opportunity to join the fun, then set this
value to a low number.
5.2 Setting up your BBS batch file for playing Power Stones -
This is a crucial step, because if this is improperly set up, your
system will not function well with Power Stones. However, luckily,
this is an easy step, too.
Include the following paradigm in the DOOR batch file that you use to
access your BBS's:
CD <Power Stones directory>
Stones <path and filename of DOOR info file>
CD <BBS directory>
The "CD" command is used to switch the system focus into the Power
Stones directory, so that the next line can work to activate Power
Stones.
The second line, incidentally, will require a DOOR information
file... one of the following:
CALLINFO.BBS - Wildcat!
DOOR.SYS - lots o' BBS's
DORINFO?.DEF - RBBS, QuickBBS, RA, SuperBBS, EzyCom, etc.
PCBOARD.SYS - PCBoard 12.x, PCBoard 14.x, MBBS
or
GENERIC.SYS
Do not forget to include the PATH to the DOOR information file!
Usually, the DOOR information file will reside in the directory
where the main BBS files are, or where you have specified a node
directory (if you are running a multi-node system). Please check
with your BBS manual and/or your own setup information for your
BBS to confirm this.
5.2.1 GENERIC.SYS -
This is a special text file used by Power Stones in lieu
of the other methods mentioned above. It contains three
lines:
line 1 - <sysop name>
line 2 - comm port
line 3 - time allowed (in minutes) in Power Stones
A sample GENERIC.SYS might read:
Steve
COM2:
60
The following is a sample BBS batch file portion which uses
the GENERIC.SYS file:
CD \ZBBS\POWER STONES
Stones GENERIC.SYS
CD \ZBBS
5.2.2 Setting up your batch file -
Okay, okay, it's true: not everybody has a separate batch
file for every DOOR. In fact, some people throw all of their
DOOR batch routines into one gigantic batch file.
Basically, whatever works well for you should be the
technique which you employ for running Power Stones. Some
BBS programs, like PCBoard, are not very conducive to having
one large batch file for handling everything; on the other
hand, BBS programs like QuickBBS and RemoteAccess are very
well suited to such a method (in fact, even preferred to be
in such a setup).
5.3 Non-standard communications port support for Power Stones -
Section 5.2 explains how to set up Power Stones using a vanilla setup,
which works perfectly for most people. However, for the exceptions
who, for some strange reason, need (or want) to use a non-standard
serial communications port to handle the interface between the modem
and the computer, here is the paradigm to do so:
Stones <DOOR info file> PORT:<port address>:<port number>
The <DOOR info file> parameter is for the complete path and filename
of the DOOR info file desired for use. The <port address> is the
actual base memory address for the serial port. The <port number> is
the integer of the serial port which you wish to use for the DOOR.
For instance:
Stones c:\door\stones\dorinfo1.def PORT:03F8:5
This means that Power Stones is using the DORINFO1.DEF file for
getting pertinent information from the BBS, and the non-standard comm
port is accessed at memory location 03F8, and the comm port is known
as COM5:.
Check the documentation for the non-standard serial port you intend
to use for the correct way to install that serial port on your
system.
5.4 FOSSIL support for Power Stones -
Section 5.2 explains how to set up Power Stones using a vanilla setup,
which works perfectly for most people. However, for the exceptions
who, for some strange reason, need (or want) to use a third-party
FOSSIL driver to handle their communications mess instead of Power
Stones' internal comm routines, here is the paradigm to do so:
Stones <DOOR info file> PORT:F:<port number>
The <DOOR info file> parameter is for the complete path and filename
of the DOOR info file desired for use. The <port number> is the
integer of the serial port which you wish to use for the DOOR.
For instance:
Stones c:\door\stones\door.sys PORT:F:2
This means that Power Stones is using the DOOR.SYS file for getting
pertinent information from the BBS, and the FOSSIL driver is active
on COM2:.
Check the documentation for the FOSSIL driver you intend to use for
the correct way to install that FOSSIL driver on your system.
5.5 DigiBoard support for Power Stones -
Section 5.2 explains how to set up Power Stones using a vanilla setup,
which works perfectly for most people. However, for the exceptions
who, for some strange reason, need (or want) to use a DigiBoard to
handle the interface between the modem and the computer, here is the
paradigm to do so:
Stones <DOOR info file> PORT:D:<port number>
The <DOOR info file> parameter is for the complete path and filename
of the DOOR info file desired for use. The <port address> is the
actual base memory address for the serial port. The <port number> is
the integer of the serial port which you wish to use for the DOOR.
For instance:
Stones c:\door\stones\pcboard.sys PORT:D:7
This means that Power Stones is using the PCBOARD.SYS file for getting per-
tinent information from the BBS, and the DigiBoard channel being
used for Power Stones is #7.
Check the DigiBoard documentation for the correct way to install
it and to use it on your system.
5.6 Setting up your batch file for performing Power Stones maintenance -
Another important step is to run the StoMaint program regularly
(suggested: at least once a day) to allow users the opportunity
to have their turns reset on a periodic basis and to have some
"housecleaning" (ie. old users deleted) done. Just place the
command to invoke StoMaint (just the program name, without any
command line parameters) in your daily maintenance batch file or
routine.
5.7 Setting up player ranking for Power Stones -
The StonRank program is not a necessary part of Power Stones
operations. It is an optional item included for the competition-
minded sysops to maintain a set of four text files which detail the
performance of users in the Power Stones environment.
StonRank produces four text files, as follows:
SCORE1 - ASCII Scoreboard of Top 10 Game Winners
SCORE1G - ANSI Scoreboard of Top 10 Game Winners
SCORE2 - ASCII Scoreboard of Top 10 Total Point Winners
SCORE2G - ANSI Scoreboard of Top 10 Total Point Winners
You may, of course, rename these files to whatever you wish after
they are produced; they are not used internally in the Power Stones
DOOR at all and are produced solely for your (and your users')
benefit.
You may include StonRank in the same daily/periodic batch file that
you use to operate StoMaint; or you may put StonRank in the same
batch file or routine that you use to run the Power Stones DOOR, to
be run immediately after the player leaves the DOOR.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.0 OPERATIONS
Now you should be ready to try out Power Stones for the first time. Either
have a user call in, or try it yourself. If you want to try it from the DOS
command prompt (instead of using another modem or phone line to call into
your BBS to test the game locally), make a dummy DOOR info file (such as
GENERIC.SYS, as mentioned in section 5.2.1) and slip in "COM0:" to represent
the comm port. That will make Power Stones recognize that you are a local
user. The batch file used to run Power Stones does not have to be modified;
just type this at your DOS command prompt:
Stones GENERIC.SYS
6.1 Sysop Controls -
It would not be fair if the user was the only one able to do things
while he/she is online... the sysop should have some features
available to himself/herself, also. There are function keys which
will give the sysop some abilities while there is a user in Power
Stones. They are:
F5 - shell to DOS
F8 - exit Power Stones
F9 - screen ON/OFF
F10 - chat with the user
There are some other keys available to PCBoard sysops. To see them,
hit Alt-H while in Power Stones. They will appear in the status
bar at the bottom of your screen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.0 PRODUCT SUPPORT
Radical Wave is happy to announce that support services for all of its
products will provided by one of DevOnline's most celebrated software
authors and sysops:
Address: Steven H. Lin, Ph.D., M.S.
DevPal MetroNet Communications
1251 NE 108th St., #621
Miami, FL 33161
BBS: [The Deviant's Palace] of Miami
Shining Glass Darkly VBBS Partition
305/899-1841
2400-14.4k HST/v.32bis
24 hours except ZMH
Voice: 305/899-0957
ExecNet: slinc@devpal*miami*fl*us
FN NetMail: FN 1:135/105.0
SB 13:200/6.0
DN 55:55/1.0
DR 75:75/1.0, 75:7305/1.0
FN EchoMail: AOTD - DevOnline Products echo [DN/DR/FN]
DEV_SYSOP - DevNet Systems Operations echo [DN/FN]
DEV_TPA - Third Party Apps Developers echo [DN/FN]
D_ADVENT - Adventure DOORs echo [DR]
D_SYSOP - DoorNet Sysops echo [DR]
DOORGAMES - DOOR Games Discussions echo [FN]
DOORWARE - DOORware echo [FN/RN]
PCBNET - PCBoard Sysops echo [FN]
Internet: slinc@f135.n105.z1.fidonet.org
Onyx: lord_mercenary@dpm.devpal.mil
RIME: COMMUNICATIONS - general computer communications
DOORs - DOORs for BBS's
U'NI-net/US: DOOR-UTIL - DOORs and utilities for BBS's
Voice support is given freely and is the preferred method of communication
by the author. Please take advantage of this remarkable avenue of support.
To further expand accessibility, there are now official DevOnline
distribution sites available to provide you with the latest unregistered
versions of DevOnline products:
DevOnCA (Western US) : Amber
sysop: Wayne Bell (Random) loc: Los Angeles, CA
#: 310/208-6689 baud: 300-14.4k HST/v.32bis
ice: WWIV
addr: WN @1
PCP: CALAN
DevOnCO (Mountain US) : The Hornet's Nest
sysop: Kevin Higgins loc: Fort Carson, CO
#: 719/579-0593 baud: 2400-14.4k HST
ice: TAG
addr: FN 1:128/74.0, DR 75:7719/1.0
PCP: n/a
DevOnFL (Southeastern US) : [The Deviant's Palace] of Miami
sysop: Steve Lin loc: Miami, FL
#: 305/899-1841 baud: 2400-14.4k HST/v.32bis
ice: Maximus-CBCS, PCBoard, QuickBBS, RemoteAccess, TAG,
WWIV, Virtual BBS, Waffle/DOS
addr: FN 1:135/105.0, SB 13:200/6.0, DN 55:55/1.0,
DR 75:75/1.0, Exec @devpal*miami*fl*us,
Onyx @dpm.devpal.mil, RIME DEVPAL, UNI DEVPAL
PCP: FLMIA
DevOnMD (Mid-Atlantic US) : The Running Board
sysop: Bonnie Anthony loc: Bethesda, MD
n1 #: 301/229-5342 baud: 300-14.4k HST/v.32bis
n2 #: 301/229-5623 baud: 300-14.4k HST/v.32bis
ice: PCBoard
addr: RIME RUNNINGA
PCP: DCWAS
DevOnNJ (Northeastern US) : APFL-The BBS
sysop: Tom Kane loc: Tenafly, NJ
#: 201/567-6994 baud: 300-14.4k HST/9600 v.32
ice: Telegard
addr: FN 1:2604/306.0, DR 75:150/0.0
PCP: NJNEW
DevOnWI (Northern US) : Exec-PC
sysop: Bob Mahoney loc: Milwaukee, WI
#: 414/789-4210 baud: 300-16.8k HST/14.4k v.32b
#: 414/789-4352
#: 414/789-4337
#: 414/789-4360
ice: Network BBS
addr: n/a
PCP: WIMIL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.0 CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All products mentioned in this text that are not produced by members of
DevPal MetroNet Communications, Inc. are trademarks of their respective
copyright holders and/or authors.
8.1 Radical Wave -
Radical Wave is the codename designation for the three-person team of
online game designers who were fortunate enough to meet at the 1993
DevPal Spring Gala Conference. Special thanks to Dr. Lin, who was
savvy enough to see the potential in us and to extend a hand of
friendship and help when no other DOOR author would even talk to us.
Power Stones (and a couple of our other now-developing projects)
would not be a reality without Dr. Lin's support.
I'd also like to thank my wife Sheron for putting up with my
nonsense and getting along with all of the DevPal people who kept
dropping over to our home, especially Dr. Stewart and his twins.
Thanks, Sheron, for taking the pressure off of me for baby-making
enough to get Power Stones produced. :-)
- Stephen A. Wrightson, Ph.D.
I'm just glad to see Power Stones done!
- Atashi Otomo
I would like to say, "Thank you!" to my girlfriend Lisa and my little
girl Bridget for standing by me and giving me the moral support to
get my life back together.
- David Cornus
8.2 Steven H. Lin -
This program is dedicated to all the folks who make DevPal such a
great place to be! And especially Radical Wave, the newest addition
to the our extended DevPal family!
- Steven H. Lin, Ph.D., M.S.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
POWER STONES
Registration Form 7B - Version 1.00k
DevOnline Product STON-AA
Sysop Name _________________________________________________________________
BBS Name ___________________________________________________________________
BBS Phone Number ___________________________________________________________
BBS City, State ____________________________________________________________
Sysop's Address ____________________________________________________________
(no P.O. Boxes) ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Sysop's Voice Phone Number(s) ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Any Mail Network Addresses _________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Indicate which registration option(s) you'd like by CIRCLING the correct
number(s) below:
#1 - Registration [$12.00 US]
#2 - Consideration for beta test site [FREE]
#3 - USPS mail delivery of disk (see below) [$5.00 US/$10.00 US]
Check one: ___ 5.25" OR ___ 3.5" Mail delivery
is OPTIONAL
Total cost: ___________________________
Your System Hardware (be specific!)_________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Your BBS Software (be specific!)____________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Registered Key Delivery: _____ via File Attach (a la FidoNet/DoorNet)
_____ I prefer maximum security... Hold my copy on
DevPalMiami so I can d/l it myself. Name the
POWER STONES reg. key file _________________
and encrypt it with the password ___________
and put the file on hold for me in the
Shining Glass Darkly VBBS partition!
_____ Send my copy to me by mail. I understand
that I will pay US $5.00 for S&H if I am in
the U.S. and US $10.00 for S&H if I am out-
side the U.S.
Signature ___________________________________ Birthdate ____________________