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Text File | 1996-01-20 | 19.9 KB | 485 lines

_____________________________________________________________________ WCS Keno v2.0 Written by Rob Williams WCS Software _____________________________________________________________________ Copyright Notice ---------------- This door game is distributed under the SHAREWARE concept. This concept gives you the chance to "try before you buy", and see if it meets your needs. I've decided to break away from the standard "30 day trial period" that many door authors are using and instead go to a much simpler and more realistic policy. This is simply; Try it on your BBS. If you like it and your users like it, then register it. If it's not good enough to register, then delete it. While I'd like you to register my doors as soon as possible, I'm also realistic enough to know that different boards have different requirements and interests, and sometimes it takes longer befor a game catches on, or a sysop can get to the Doors on his list to register. And frankly, I'd rather you ran it for awhile and register, than try it for a short period of time and delete it. Nobody wins that way...I lose out on a registration and your users lose out on the chance of having the registered door to play. The above "extended trial" statement was copied with permission from Mike Jordan of M&S Doors. As a shareware program, WCS Keno may be freely distributed. Shareware distributors may distribute copies of WCS Keno on disk for a modest disk duplication charge not to exceed $4 per disk. Warranty -------- WCS Keno is distributed on as as is basis. In no event will Rob Williams or WCS Software be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use of or inability to use this program, even if Rob Williams, WCS Software, or an authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Rob Williams and WCS Software will not be liable for any such claim by any other party. Features of WCS Keno -------------------- WCS Oil is fully InterBBS capable, with very little attention needed from the sysop. Automatic messaging to/from the game hub in Fido standard *.MSG format messages with file attachments. Assembly language serial input/output routines for maximum speed. Fully supports high speed modems: 16550 FIFO buffering and locked serial ports. Built in ANSI terminal emulator. No need to have ANSI.SYS loaded in memory. DesqView, Windows, and OS/2 aware. Supports all of the most popular door data file formats: TriBBS, PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), Spitfire, WildCat!, RBBS, and WWIV. ANSI and ASCII Bulletins of high scorers. Automatic maintenance with no intervention from the Sysop. Supports play ahead and make up days when registered. This is completely sysop configurable. WCS Keno is Multinode Aware! Files used in the Program ------------------------- WCSKENO.EXE - The main WCS Keno program REGISTER.FRM - Information on registration SAMPLE.CFG - Sample configuration file SAMPLE.BAT - Sample batch file to run WCS Keno HISCORE.DAT - Created when the program runs-contains hi score info KENOUSER.DAT - Created when the program runs-contains user info WCSKENO.KEY - Key file for registered versions WCSKENO.USE - Created when the game is running, will be deleted when the user exits normally. (only in single user/non-registered versions) ************************************************************************* ** IMPORTANT - The game will not run if this file (WCSKENO.USE) exists ** ************************************************************************* WCSKENO.HLP - Help file for the game. When the Instructions option is selected, this file is displayed. You may edit this file if you wish. It is a plain ASCII text file. WCSKENO.HIS - History of the product. Shows what enhancements were made in what version. WCSINFO.TXT - A text file explaining more about WCS Software and showing all currently available WCS Software programs. READ.ME - A brief text file explaining how to get up and running quickly. NOBEEP - If this file exists in the game directory, the game not make noises when you play it (either remotely or locally) Good for those sysops who play games locally late at night <grin>. INTERBBS.DOC - A document explaining how to set up WCS Oil to run in an InterBBS League. ************************************************************************* *** IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO READ THIS FILE FULLY BEFORE ATTEMPTING *** *** TO RUN WCS OIL IN AN INTERBBS LEAGUE. *** *** YOU SHOULD ALSO BE WELL VERSED IN FIDO TERMINOLOGY. *** ************************************************************************* DBRIDGE.HLP - Help file for people running D'Bridge mailers. Also helpful as a fallback if you have problems getting the score files automatically processed. (for InterBBS use) WCSDOORS.FAQ - Frequently asked questions about WCS Software Doors. If you are having a problem with either WCSOil or the InterBBS portion, read this file first for help. Setting up WCS Keno ------------------- WCS Keno is run by entering a command similar to the following: WCSKENO WCSKENO.CFG The configuration file can have any name you choose, but it must reside in the same directory as the door. The configuration file is an ASCII text file with the following format: Line 1: Door data file type. Line 2: Path to the door data file(s). Line 3: BBS name. Line 4: Sysop's name. Line 5: Locked baud rate. Line 6: ASCII High Score Bulletin Name Line 7: ANSI High Score Bulletin Name Line 8: Name and path of sysop feedback file Line 9: Number of Games per day * Line 10: Number of extra days allowed for make up days * Line 11: Day to start playing make up days-31 to disable Line 12: Write log files (explained below) * Line 13: Line to display a message (donated by, etc) Line 14: InterBBS Play (Y or N) Lines with a "*" to the left indicate features only present in the registered version of the program. *** The lines must be present, even if the door is not registered. *** As illustrated above, the door's data file type is specified in line 1 and can be PCB for PCBoard, GAP for GAP (DOOR.SYS), SF for Spitfire, RBBS for RBBS, WC for WildCat!, TRIBBS for TriBBS, or WWIV for WWIV. The locked baud rate is specified in line 5. If you don't lock your serial port, you must specify 0 for the locked baud rate. The following is a sample door configuration file: ************************************************************************ ** IMPORTANT - If you are running WC 4.x, use the GAP drop file ** ************************************************************************ WC <== BBS Type C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1 <== Drop file location WCS Software BBS <== BBS Name Rob Williams <== Sysop Name 0 <== Locked baud rate C:\WC30\BULL\BULL10.BBS <== ASCII bulletin C:\WC30\BULL\BULL10.SCR <== ANSI bulletin C:\WC30\COMMENTS.DRS <== Comment to Syop file 10 <== # of questions per day 2 <== Extra days allowed for make up days 10 <== Day to start make up days A <== Write a log file (See Below) By WCS Software <== Donated by line Y <== InterBBS Play ************************************************************************ ** IMPORTANT - Even if the game is not registered, the last two ** ** lines must exist, or the game will not run. You will get an error ** ** when the game starts up. ** ************************************************************************ On line 11, the valid options for a log file are: - P for Play log ONLY (WCSKENO.nodenumber) - N for No logs - C for Comments log ONLY - A for ALL Logs (play log and comment log) WCS Keno can be run locally without a door data file (handy for the sysop to use the door without logging on to the BBS) by specifying /L after the configuration file parameter in the DOS command line. WCS Keno will request you to enter your name before running the door. To play the game in Multiuser mode, you must have a registered multinode copy,and DOS SHARE must be loaded. If these two things are not done, the game will display a message if you try to run multinode. Nonstandard IRQs can be used by specifying the IRQ number after the "config" parameter in the command line used to run the door as follows: WCSKENO WCSKENO.CFG 4 Setting up WCS Keno for Multinode Play -------------------------------------- In order to set WCS Keno up for multinode play, you need to create a .cfg file for each node that will be using the game. The .cfg files will be similar, except that lines 2 and possibly 5 will be different. Line 2 is the location of the door drop file. This needs to be unique for each node that runs the game. Line 5 is the locked baud rate for the node. If you have nodes that are locked at different rates, then this line may be different for different nodes. For example, the configuration file for node 1 (WCSKENO.CF1) might look like this: GAP H:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE1 <=== Notice this is the node 1 directory Williams Computer Services BBS Rob Williams 19200 [etc]..... And the configuration file for node 2 (WCSKENO.CF2) might look like this: GAP H:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE2 <=== Notice this is the node 2 directory Williams Computer Services BBS Rob Williams 19200 [etc]..... You will also need to set an environment variable to tell the program what node it is currently running on. Since I run Wildcat, I call this variable WCNODEID. In my .BAT file that calls the BBS, I set the WCNODEID to whatever node is running. You can use wahtever name you wish, it just needs to be a unique node ID. Next, in the batch file that calls WCS Keno, you would change the sample.bat that is included with this archive to look like this: CD\WCSKENO WCSKENO WCSKENO.CF%WCNODEID% What this will do, is when the game is started, it will look for the WCNODEID (or whatever you called it), and append that to WCSKENO.CF. So when the game runs, and you run it from node 1 say, it will use .cfg file WCSKENO.CF1. Hopefully, I have not totally confused you on how to set the door up for mult-node use. If you have questions on environment variables, refer to your DOS manual. ************************************************************************** ** Running this game on more than a single node requires a Multi-Node ** ** Key. When running in Evaluation mode, only one (1) Node will be able** ** to access the door at a time. ** ************************************************************************** Playing the Game ---------------- WCS Keno is very simple to play. When you enter the door, you come to a menu of four options. They are: P)lay WCS Keno - Starts the game H)igh scores - Shows the high score bulletin I)nstructions - Displays this file Q)uit - Exits the game Available Keys -------------- After choosing the "P" option from the main menu, you are brought to the main Keno screen. From this screen there are four options: [R]edraw Screen - Redraws the screen if you get line noise, etc. Hi[G]h scores - Shows the high score bulletin [I]nstructions - Displays this file [Q]uit - Exits the game [C]omputer pick numbers After choosing [P]lay, you will be asked to choose your spots. You use the 8,6,4 and 2 keys to move the highlight around to the desired number. When a number is highlighted, you press enter or the space bar to select it. The number will turn a different color. Continue choosing numbers like this, or you can choose [C] to let the computer choose your numbers. After 8 numbers have been picked, you will see the computer picks hi-lited, your picks hi-lited in a different color, and the ones you matched in a third color. The object is to match as many different colors as possible. You continue on playing games until you run out of games to play for today, or you choose [Q]uit. Then you will be asked if you want to view the high scores. Then you will be returned to the BBS. Scoring ------- Scoring is very simple. The more money you accumulate, the higher your score. The scores are reset once a month. When you go into the door, you will see an opening screen, it will wait for you to press a key, then show you the main menu. From here, there are four options. P will take you to the playing screen, H will show you the high score list, I will show you a help file for playing the game, and Q will return you to the BBS. The first time a player plays the game each month, the system will automatically reset the player statistics. This process should not take more than a few seconds, and is automatic, so no intervention from the Sysop is necessary. Make-Up Days Explanation ------------------------ The make up days feature warrants a little more explanation here. When the game is registered, after you have played your game for today, it will check to see if make up days has been enabled (start day < 31). If today is greater than the start day, and the total number of days you have played is not greater than what was specified in the .cfg file, it will ask you if you want to play a make up day. It will then show a calendar of days for the current month. Days that you have played will show up in red with an x, playable days will show up in green with an o. Choose a valid date (one with an o, within the current month), and you will start another days game. If you changed your mind and do not want to play a make up day, enter 99, and you will be asked if you want to view the high scores, then be returned to the BBS. Special Keys ------------ While WCS Keno is running, the sysop can press certain special keys to perform a variety of functions. The following is a list of the functions that the special keys perform: Key(s) Function HOME Toggles between the user status window and a help display that lists the special keys. F6 Takes 5 minutes away from the caller. NOTE: This will NOT be returned to BBS. F7 Gives 5 minutes to the caller. NOTE: This will NOT be returned to the BBS. F9 Quit the door and return the caller to the BBS. F10 Enter chat mode. Pressing the ESC key exits the chat mode. Alt+D Drop to DOS. Support ------- If you have problems, I will try and help as best I can, whether you are registered or not. Registered users will get priority over non- registered users, though. You may get help with problems by calling Williams Computer Services BBS at (503) 631-8439, or by writing to the author at the following addresses: FIDO : 1:105/278 Internet : rob@wcs.org US Mail: Rob Williams 18370 S. Henrici Road Oregon City, OR 97045 Registering WCS Keno ------------------------- Registration of WCS Keno is only $10.00 for single node or $15.00 for Multi-Node. Please use the form in the file REGISTER.FRM. When you register, you will receive a registration key that will turn your version into a registered version. Registered users will have access to the special area of the support BBS for additional questions, and also be able to add new questions, edit questions and users, print questions and users, and import and export questions. ***** ALL UPDATES ARE FREE FOR THE LIFE OF THE PROGRAM ***** Acknowledgements ---------------- Thanks go to the following people/companies (Listed in no particular order): - Mustang Software for creating Wildcat! - Randy Hunt and Mark Goodwin for creating RMDoor which was used to create this game. - Mike Jordan for his help with some of the routines, and for the idea of the make up days, and also help in testing, and his help in helping me get started in door programming. - Andy Stewart for his programming help, and also for help in creating the main play screen, and for also writing some of the InterBBS routines. These are available with the DDPlus door kit, and are FREEWARE! - Gayle Davis and all the people that have contributed to the SWAG archives. I have used various snippets from those archives, as well as them giving me good ideas on how to proceed next. Thank you. - A Big thank you to all my beta testers: Norman Scott at 1:375/8 Walter Cade at 1:398/2 Mike Jordan at 1:105/314 Andy Stewart There are probably more people that I have forgotten, but these have been the most instrumental in the writing of this program.