Experimental BBS Explossion 3/Experimental BBS Explossion III.iso/games/gscape.zip/INSTRUCT.DOC

Text File | 1993-01-08 | 43KB | 989 lines

                           GAMESCAPE ver C.4
     Copyright 1988-93 Dennis Drew.  Copyright strictly enforced.

              NOW FEATURING INSTANT ON-LINE REGISTRATION!

     Basic Gamescape instructions follow this registration page.


Documentation file.  Please read this.  Use PGUP/PGDN to move through
the file.  When finished, press ESC to continue with the GSCAPE program.
To print out this file, press P and then use PGDN to move through the
entire file.  It will be printed as you scroll.

                           REGISTRATION FORM
                        (please print clearly)

NAME: __________________________________________________________

COMPANY NAME: __________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________

CITY: ______________________ STATE: _______ ZIP: _______________

PHONE: (_____)_______-_______  PURCHASE DATE: _____/_____/______

I acquired this program from:___________________________________

              On a scale of 1-10, I rate this program a:

                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9   10



I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the licensing agreement. I
request to have my name added to your mailing list for future updates
and information.


___________________________________________ ___________________
signed                                      date

            Please send:  ___ 5.25" disks    ___ 3.5" disks

       enclose your check for $95 (we pay shipping) and mail to:
              Dennis Drew  PO Box 101   Joplin, MO  64802
                       VISA/MASTERCARD accepted

Please pay by international money order or a check drawn on a U.S.
bank.  Due to difficulty in processing, no foreign checks, please.

                         ALL USERS!!! IMPORTANT!!!
    The following two lines (with the minimum configurations shown) must
be in your CONFIG.SYS file on your DOS BOOT disk.

                            FILES=20
                            BUFFERS=20

    If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file on your DOS BOOT disk, or if it
does not contain at least the above specs, then you must update your
CONFIG.SYS file so that it does.   To do this, switch to your main
boot drive (usually either A: or C:) and then enter the following
lines EXACTLY:

    COPY CONFIG.SYS + CON CONFIG.SYS (press enter)
    FILES=20 (press enter)
    BUFFERS=20 (press enter)
    (press F6 key)
    (press ENTER)
    (reboot your computer)

    If you are unsure about how to do this, contact your computer dealer.
This computer file is a STANDARD requirement of most modern computer
programs and should be present on every computer system.
         ====================================================
                               GAMESCAPE
                   Now with Hi-Res Color Graphics !

GAMESCAPE is the incredible program that allows you to design and
distribute your own adventure games !

                                 NOTE:
    This mini-manual is designed to give you an idea of the
possibilities of GameScape.  The full manual along with extended
program commands is included with the registered version.

                          WHAT IS GAMESCAPE?
    GAMESCAPE is the fantastic program that allows you to design and
distribute your own adventure games.  GAMESCAPE is a powerful
"adventure engine" that allows you to describe locations and rooms,
objects, recognizable words, messages, and occurrences that happen
within the game.  You can also include sound, music, and any of the
standard IBM special graphics characters (terrific for mapping).
Registered users can create high-resolution color graphics to go with
their games!
    Gamescape encodes information so your game secrets cannot be
easily deciphered by end users, and allows games to be "linked" so
that your adventures can be of any length.  It provides you the
ability to design incredibly detailed and LARGE adventure games with
far greater ease than using a raw programming langauge.   Once the
game is finished, registered users are allowed to distribute the games
with NO ROYALTY FEE-- the initial registration is all that's required.

    Imagine writing your own adventure games!  Have your family play
them, give them to your friends, hand them out at computer clubs, or
even sell them and make a few bucks!
    Gamescape is the incredible adventure game design system that lets
you do all this.  Using simple commands which are thoroughly explained
by an easy-to-understand manual, you can do just about anything you
would want to do in adventure gaming:
    * Define rooms, objects, monsters, and actions
    * Draw maps, monsters and other objects
    * Play music, sound alarms, beep warnings
    * NEW !  High resolution color graphics ability !

    Gamescape also allows you to do things that no other adventure
system allows.  Your games can be of unlimited size and cover multiple
disks!  Full random features allow you to perform different actions,
depending on a "throw of the die".  Rather than hundreds of pages of
instructions and loads of complex commands, Gamescape has a short,
consise, uncomplicated manual and just a few short but very powerful
and versatile commands.  There is virtually no limitation to the
things you can do with Gamescape!
    Purchasing this package and registering as an official user gives
you the right to distribute your adventure games without paying any
kind of a royalty fee.
    So join the world of adventure gaming today.  Gamescape is raw,
unbridled power, in an easy-to-use package.

            ==============================================
                   INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING GAMESCAPE

    Gamescape is an adventure game development system.  As such it is
a "programming environment" that provides great power and time-saving
methods of producing adventure games.
    To see how Gamescape works, enter the following command after
installation:      GSCAPE SAMPLE

    This is the game compiler that will turn the SAMPLE.ADV file into
an adventure game.  Once the game is compiled, you may then play it by
exiting Gamescape and entering the command:     SCAPERUN SAMPLE

    This will allow you to play the sample adventure game. By
examining the TEST.ADV and SAMPLE.ADV files, you may get an idea of
how the Gamescape development system works.
    Included with this program is GSEDIT.EXE, the powerful Gamescape
editor.  We've also included a basic, 2-room adventure called EASY
which may be used with the EDITOR to see how Gamescape handles game
editing.  To do this, enter:    GSEDIT EASY


                            GAMESCAPE FILES
    Once the GS system is "unarced", the following files are present:
NOTE: "Registered only" programs are included on this disk solely for
the purpose of instant online registration.  When you register on the
telephone, these files will be opened up to you immediately.  They
require registration for legal use.

GSCAPE.EXE        Main GS "compiler", turns your adventure into
                  machine readable code.
GSEDIT.EXE        The new GS editor, guides you through editing your
                  games-- helps prevent grammar errors.
GSGRAPH.EXE       High resolution graphics development program.
                  Requires CGA/EGA/VGA.  (registered version only)
SCAPERUN.EXE      "Run-time module", must be distributed with your
                  compiled adventure code in order for the code to
                  work.
MOUSECUR.COM      Nice mouse driver to use with GSGRAPH.
                  (registered version only)
PALETTE.DAT       Standard palette color file (alterable to suit your
                  taste in colors)
TABCONVT.EXE      Converts tabs to spaces in your adventure files.
FIXWS.COM         Converts WordStar and other non-ASCII files to
                  straight ASCII.
EASY.ADV          An easy to understand, simple adventure game example.
EASY.*            Support files to be used with GSEDIT.EXE
TEST.ADV          A sample adventure game that tests most GS functions.
STARTER.FIL       Startup file that should be used as a basic model for
                  all of your adventure games.
SAMPLE.ADV        Small, fully-developed sample adventure game.
SAMPLE.IN?        "Include" files for SAMPLE.ADV.
1.GR0 thru 5.GR6  Graphics files for SAMPLE.ADV

    If these files are not present, please contact us immediately with
the name and phone/address of the distributor who supplied the game to
you, and we'll make them rue their existence on earth (as well as
correct the situation).

                          WHAT IS GAMESCAPE?
    Gamescape is an adventure engine.  This means that it makes your
adventure go, by providing the "fuel".
    An adventure engine allows you to write an adventure game, and
then execute it by feeding it into a distributable "run-time" program
that proceeds to make the game work.  This allows the game to be
distributed.  Gamescape has no memory limitation, for it pulls its
information from disk.  While the disk access takes a tiny bit longer
than a totally memory resident system, it does allow you to write
adventure games limited only by the size of your imagination
(Gamescape allows linking of multiple disks and/or multiple game
modules on a hard disk).

                      GAMESCAPE AND YOUR COMPUTER
    As with any development system, the faster your computer, the
better.  Gamescape is powerful.  It allows you to develop games of
almost unlimited size and versatility.  This of course takes
microprocessor, RAM and disk access time.  While Gamescape works
properly on a "PC/XT" type machine (8088 microprocessor), it works
much better on faster computers.
    8088 systems will work, but will be somewhat slow, especially
those that are floppy-based.  This is not a fault of Gamescape, but of
the slow disk and memory access times of those machines.  Of course,
using Gamescape is still much faster than trying to write an adventure
game with a standard language compiler.  Then too, there is the
benefit that your games are no longer limited in size; you can design
adventure games limited only by the size of your disk.  Gamescape
really smokes on a 12mhz 286 with a 28ms hard disk drive; that's the
minimal type of system we recommend for best results from your game
development environment.
    But even 8088 disk users will derive value from Gamescape.  Just
remember that if you have a slow computer, access will be slow.  Be
patient.  Realize that the first MS-DOS 8088 based computers were
produced over 12 years ago.  While they're by no means dinosaurs, the
industry has come a long way since then.  If you plan to write and
distribute adventure games, you might want to move up to a faster
machine.

       THE GAMESCAPE INTERFACE -- or how to make the thing work

    NORMAL USE.  To use Gamescape, you should start out with the
GSEDIT program and examine the EASY module.  Check it out and study
how the logic works.  Then when you have developed your basic skills,
you can move up to the more advanced functions using the registered
version of Gamescape and a text editor.
    Once you've written the actual adventure, you use the GSCAPE.EXE
program to compile it.  Compilation turns your adventure into a form
that Gamescape can read later when the game is actually played. If no
extension is present, Gamescape automatically adds the .ADV extension.
So to get the system to compile, you enter the command: GSCAPE
filename  (you supply the filename)
    The compiling function creates six new files with the same name as
your original database, but with the extensions of .GS1 through .GS6.
    Then you execute the finished game by typing in: SCAPERUN filename
    Everything is automatic from there on.  Don't expect your
adventure to work 100% correct the first time; as with any other
computer project, you'll make mistakes.  But I've put a couple of
things in the programs to help you locate those errors, so you should
do OK.
    Of course, when you distribute your adventure, you have to include
the SCAPERUN.EXE program with it, because that's what makes the thing
work.  No problem there; Gamescape was designed with that in mind.
Just read the licensing agreement and you're all set.  Remember that
registered users do have extra goodies that they can add to their
games.  You will find that I'm very friendly with registered users.
I'll answer questions.  I'll answer letters.  Invite me to a party,
and I'll probably show up (you pay the travel expenses, o' course!).

                       TRY OUT THE SAMPLE GAME!
    I've included three sample adventure games called EASY.ADV,
SAMPLE.ADV, and TEST.ADV.  Try the EASY adventure first.  Then try
SAMPLE and finally TEST.  SAMPLE contains graphics, and demonstrates
how graphics appear in the Gamescape environment.
    This will give you a feel for how Gamescape works, and will show
you how an adventure data file interfaces with the Gamescape program.
Go ahead and do this now before reading any further.  SAMPLE is a
relatively easy adventure game.  It may take you several tries before
you conquer it, but it only has 5 rooms and will take from 15 minutes
to an hour to play, depending on your gaming experience.  Once you've
played it, and read this manual, examine the files thoroughly to see
how Gamescape works.

                    HOW TO WRITE AN ADVENTURE GAME
    There are 8 basic steps involved in writing an adventure game.
These are my concept and you can choose to follow them, alter them for
your own use, or ignore them as you wish.  But I've found they work
for me and I feel that if you skip (or skimp on) any one of them, it
will detract from your game.

    STEP 1.  Start with a theme, a plot that tells what your game is
going to do.  For example, with my popular game MAROONED AGAIN the
theme was:

    You have crash-landed on an alien planet.  But all is not lost;
you have found an alien ship.  The crew apparently died from some
strange disease.  The ship is still in good condition, but it was not
built for human anatomy to withstand a blast-off.
    Fortunately, you have super-strong clones aboard your ship, but
they were damaged in the crash.  They now only recognize 1 or 2 words
at a time.  Your goal:  send them aboard the alien ship, find the
components required to get it to blast off, and send them for help.

    See how that works?  You need a theme of your own, something to
tie the entire game together.

    STEP 2.  Once the theme is established, start writing down
individual things you'd like to have happen in the game.  For example,
you may find a key that's required to open a door located elsewhere.
Or you may have to fight a robot to gain access to a room.  Don't get
too complex.  Take my word for it; adventure games get complex all on
their own as you start writing the actual code.

    STEP 3.  Draw a map.  Set up rooms and corridors, or open land
areas, etc., keeping in mind the things in step 2 so you can
incorporate them into your map.  Use a big sheet of paper and make the
rooms large (2" square is a good size) because you're going to be
scribbling in details later.  The key to proper adventure game writing
is advanced planning.  You should have the entire game designed before
you begin writing one line of code!

    STEP 4.  Number the rooms.  Room #1 is always the starting
location of the adventure.

    STEP 5.  Go through the rooms one by one and make a list of the
OBJECTS in the rooms, and the WORDS that will be required to play the
adventure.  This will only be a partial list; as you test the
adventure you'll probably find more objects and words that you'll
need.  Try to be as thorough as possible.

    STEP 6.  Make sure the game is logical.  One of the worst problems
with many adventure games is that the things the author requires you
to do don't make any sense.  I remember one game I played where I
found an Egyptian statue that would kill me every time I got near it.
I could find no way around this.  When I started asking around and
tore the game apart, I finally discovered that a ruby found earlier in
the game (which the game stated was a treasure) was actually the heart
of the statue, and had to be thrown into a lava pit.  There were no
clues that this should be done, no hints.  Totally illogical.  I hate
an adventure game that requires the player to be stupid and do
ignorant and dumb things in order to make the game work (there is a
difference of course, between stupid things and sneaky things).  So
ask yourself as you write the game: If I were playing the game, would
this be a logical thing to do, something that I might actually think
of doing?  If the answer is "no", eliminate that thing and do it some
other way.

    STEP 7.  Once you're convinced the game is logical, begin writing
the code.  There is a file called STARTER.FIL that should be the heart
of every adventure you write.  It includes standard adventure
functions, as well as a few required adventure functions that you'll
need for each game.  You can alter it any way you wish; it's just a
guideline to use.
    Of course, do not alter  STARTER.FIL itself; copy it to another
file:     COPY STARTER.FIL MYGAME.ADV
    Then use the MYGAME.ADV file to write your adventure.
    NOTE: If you are using the GSEDIT editor, there is no need for the
STARTER.FIL file.

    STEP 8.  Writing the game and testing it yourself is called the
alpha stage.  Beta test stage is the important one.  Call in a friend
who enjoys playing adventure games (not two, because you'll want to
beta test this on several individuals) and let him have at it.  Grab a
pencil and notebook and sit by him the whole time.  Don't give any
hints; figuring out the adventure is part of the testing.  Give hints
and you'll ruin the spontenaity such testing requires.  Resign
yourself to the fact that you will most likely need several sessions
to test a game propery.  This is the research & development stage; R&D
takes time.  Anything worth doing...
    As you note errors in the game (and you will) write down the
circumstances and errors that result.  Take legible, detailed notes.
But don't alter the game right then unless it is unplayable due to
that error.  Let your friend finish playing, all the while writing
down alterations.  Also, make notes of things you wish to add to the
game; you'll find lots of things to include that you didn't think of
before.
    Once your friend has finished playing (this may take many, many
hours, or even several sessions, depending on the complexity of the
game) then make the changes to your game, and call over another
friend.  Go through the same process again.  Do this two, three, four,
or five times if necessary, until the game is playable.  Don't try to
cover every possible situation that might occur; just make sure that
the things you do allow in your game, work properly.
    After this is done, you are now to gamma production stage, which
means that your game is ready to distribute. You may still find minor
bugs in your code as the months go by, but none of them should
seriously affect game play and for the most part everything will be
fine.
                     ============================
                       A BRIEF GAMESCAPE TUTORAL
    This brief tutoral is designed to help you experience how a game
is written by using Gamescape.  In order to write your own, full-
featured game, you will need the registered version and the Gamescape
manual.  Understand please, that game writing is never easy; if it
was, EVERYONE would be doing it.  But by using Gamescape as a tool,
you can greatly increase your game skills and reduce game writing
time.
    The game we are going to write is called MYGAME.  It is a very,
very simple game similar to our EASY game we have already included in
here.  Let's use our 8-step method to produce the game.  Please follow
these instructions step-by-step to get the hang of the thing.

    1. THEME.  Go in the kitchen and drink the milk.  (A simple theme,
I know, but it will serve the purpose).

    2. DETAILS.  Start out in the main room.  Go east to the kitchen.
Open the refrigerator.  Get the milk.  Drink the milk.  Game ends.

    3. MAP    █████████████       █████████████
              █           █████████           █
              █ MAIN ROOM            KITCHEN  █
              █           █████████           █
              █████████████       █████████████

    4. NUMBER ROOMS:     1         2

    5. OBJECTS & WORDS:
         OBJECTS
         Main room:  none
         Kitchen:  refrigerator, milk

         WORDS
         REFRIGERATOR/ICEBOX
         GET/TAKE
         OPEN
         MILK
         QUIT/END
         LOOK
         SEARCH/EXAMINE
         EAST (to move from main room to kitchen)
         WEST (to move from kitchen to main room)
         DRINK (the milk)

    6. MAKE THE GAME LOGICAL.  It's milk we're drinking, not poison.

    7. WRITE THE CODE.  In order to do this, you will need to use the
GSEDIT program (to start with.  Advanced users usually write their
code via a word processor).  Enter the following commands exactly as
shown.
   NOTE:  For purposes of this tutoral, the symbol < will mean ENTER.
Items in [brackets] are game comments and are not to be entered
into the computer.

[From DOS:]   GSEDIT<
[At title screen:]   C [or] M [color or mono monitor]
[At shareware screen:]   Y [to accept terms]
[At info screen:]  <  [remember that < means ENTER in this tutoral]

[First, let's tell the system what the name of the game is going to be:]
[At main menu:] E [Enter game name]
MYGAME<
Y [new game]

[Now let's describe the locations.  There are two rooms.]
L [locations]
< [location number, defaults to next location]

Welcome to my game.  This is a little test to see how easy it is to<
write a Gamescape adventure.  To see this work, go east.<

[press ESC]
E< [specify exits.  East is the only exit]
F6 [save this room]
L [locations]
< [defaults to location #2]

Well, it looks like you made it here.  This is the kitchen.<
Feel free to look around.<

[press ESC]
W< [exits west]
F6 [save room]

[We have two objects to describe, a refrigerator and milk.]
[At main menu:]  O [objects]
< [defaults to object #1]
REFRIGERATOR<
2< [starting location is room 2, the kitchen]
F6 [save the object]
O [objects]
< [defaults to object #2]
MILK<
301<    [note that location 301 is in limbo.  In other words, this]
        [object is not visible at the beginning of the game.]
F6 [save object]

[Now we have to tell Gamescape which words to recognize.]

[At the main menu:]  W [words]
< [defaults to word #1]
REFRIGERATOR<   [this is the main word]
ICEBOX<   [this is an acceptable synonym]
<   [no 3rd equivalent]
<   [no 4th equivalent]
F6  [save the word]
W [words]
< [defaults to word #2]
     [now enter the rest of these words in this same manner:]
GET          OPEN     MILK    QUIT     WEST      EAST
TAKE                          Q        W         E
                              END

LOOK      SEARCH       DRINK
          EXAMINE      QUAFF
          EXAM

[Now we have to enter our messages, which basically are responses to
player actions:]

[At main menu:]   M  [messages]
< [defaults to message #1]

[What if the player tries to GET the REFRIGERATOR?  We stop him.]
Ugh!  That thing is far too heavy to lift!<

ESC [press escape key]
F6  [save message]
[Now repeat these steps with messages #2-6:]

[#2:]You manage to open the refrigerator.<
[#3:]You drink the milk and feel much better.<
     Now you will have the energy to write more adventure games!<
[#4:]Sorry.  This is an extremely simple game.  Much too simple for that.<
[#5:]You don't seem to be holding any milk.<
[#6:]You have the milk!<

[Now we will tell Gamescape what commands it is to accept from the
player (and what commands not to accept!)
From the main menu:]  C (commands)
[The command structure has three parts:  Command, If's, Do's.
Basically, these mean that when a COMMAND is received, IF certain
conditions exist, then DO the following things.)
First, let's allow the player to look at whatever room he's in.
From the COMMAND menu:]  C (Command)
LOOK< [the verb (first word) which will trigger this command]
< [pressing ENTER at a VERB or NOUN accepts ANY word, indicated by * ]
D [do]
A [show the room. Note that the screen blinks, but nothing else
happens.  This is because the command has been automatically
recognized and entered.  No further action is required on your part.
This is quite common in this section; so long as the screen blinks,
the system has recognized your instruction.]
B [terminate further actions]
F1 [exit the DO menu]

[Now press T to go to the top of the commands.  See what has been
created?  This is the basic command structure.  You can press F2 to go
backward through the list, or ENTER to go forward.  Be careful about
what you insert or erase in your commands.  If an error occurs when
you try to compile or play the game, go back to your COMMANDS list and
see if something looks out of place.  Now press E to go to the end of
commands, and continue on.]

[Allow the player to quit the game if he wants to.]
C [Command]
QUIT< [verb]
< [noun]
D [DO menu]
8 [QUIT]
B [terminate further actions]
F1 [exit the DO menu]

[Now let's allow the player to move from room to room.]
C [command]
EAST< [verb]
< [noun]
I [IF menu]
1 [AT]
1< [location 1]
F1 [exit IF menu]
D [DO menu]
G [GOTO]
2< [location 2]
A [SHOW the room]
B [terminate further actions]
F1 [exit DO menu]

C [command]
WEST< [verb]
< [noun]
I [IF menu]
1 [AT]
2< [location 2]
F1 [exit IF menu]
D [DO menu]
G [GOTO]
1< [location 1]
A [SHOW]
B [terminate further actions]
F1 [exit DO menu]

[Stop the player from getting the refrigerator.]
C [command]
GET< [verb]
REFRIGERATOR< [noun]
I [IF menu]
1 [AT]
2< [location 2]
F1 [exit IF menu]
D [DO menu]
K [PRINT]
1< [message 1]
B [terminate further actions]
F1 [exit DO menu]
[Note that this command will prevent the person from picking up the
refrigerator.  But in addition, the IF AT 2 logic will prevent the
game from even recognizing the existence of the refrigerator if the
person is at location #1.]

[Allow the player to open the refrigerator]
C [command]
OPEN<
REFRIGERATOR<
I [IF]
1 [AT]
2<
F1 [exit IF menu]
D [DO]
I [move object]
2< [object #2, the milk]
2< [move to location #2, the kitchen]
K [PRINT]
2< [message #2]
B [terminate further actions
F1

[Allow the player to examine the refrigerator.  The SHOW command will
display that the milk is present.]
C
SEARCH<
REFRIGERATOR<
I [IF]
1 [AT]
2<
F1
D [DO]
A [SHOW]
B [terminate]
F1

[Allow the player to get the milk... if he has searched the
refrigerator.]
C
GET<
MILK<
I [IF]
4 [EXIST]
2< [the milk]
2< [at location 2]
F1
D [DO]
I [move object]
2< [the milk]
302< [the player]
K [PRINT]
6< [message #6]
B
F1

[If the player has the milk, allow him to drink it]
C
DRINK<
MILK<
I [IF]
4 [EXIST]
2< [the milk]
302< [on the player]
F1
D [DO]
K [PRINT]
3< [message #3, which wins the game]
4 [END the game]
B
F1

[If the player doesn't have the milk and tries to drink it...]
C
DRINK<
MILK<
D [DO]
K [PRINT]
5 [message #5]
B
F1
F1 [exit COMMANDS menu]

[At main menu:] T [translate to Gamescape syntax]
F6 [go]
[At main menu:] Q [quit]
< [conclude the program]

[Now we need to take the translated game and compile it into
executable Gamescape code:]
[At DOS:] GSCAPE MYGAME<
C/M [color or mono monitor]
Y [accept terms]
< [press ENTER at description screen]
Y [do you wish to compile?]
Y [do you wish to display the source code?]
C [drive name.  Enter A or B if using floppy disk.]
[Compilation is performed]
< [following compilation, press ENTER]
Q [quit at main menu]
< [conclude program]

[Now we can play the game. From DOS:] SCAPERUN MYGAME<
C/M [color or mono monitor?]
< [if you are not a registered user, the non-reg notice will display]
[Now play!  Enjoy your hard-won efforts!  If an error occurs, read
the DEBUGGING CODE section.]

                          DEVELOPING GRAPHICS
    The graphics development system (GSGRAPH) is available to
registered users.  Once you register, you will be able to incorporate
high-resolution graphics in your adventure games.  Gamescape is the
most advanced and most powerful game development system in the world.
Registration brings you not only a full instruction manual and
advanced capabilities, it also allows you to distribute your developed
adventure games without a royalty fee.   Please register today!

           =================================================
     IMPORTANT NOTICE ON NON-REGISTERED GAME DISTRIBUTION LICENSE:

    You may distribute your GAMESCAPE adventures without being a
registered user, under the following license requirements:
    1. You may not charge for your game in any form, not even a
diskette duplication fee.  It is illegal to commercially distribute a
game without express, written permission from the author.  What this
means in short is that you may give copies to your friends, send them
to penpals, and enter them in GAMESCAPE contests, but you may not
market them in any fashion, regardless of profit or non-profit motive,
without express written permission from the author.  You may not
distribute your game through shareware channels or across BBSs.
    2. You may not use advanced GAMESCAPE features.  Advanced features
are those found in the REGISTERED version, and include:
    LINKing modules
    Hires GRAPHICS (although you may use block graphics as is standard
    with the shareware version)
    3. You may not present the game as registered.  You may not use a
registered version of GAMESCAPE to produce your game (you must use the
shareware version).
    4. The SCAPERUN.EXE program must be included (of course, or the
game won't work).
    Non-compliance with any of these requirements will, by terms of
our license, void your ownership of your work (in other words, games
distributed against our license requirements become our property).
This is not so much for our benefit as it is to protect those who DO
pay for registration; they deserve the rewards of their payment.

                   SPECIAL REGISTERED USER NOTICE!!!
    The REGISTERED version of Gamescape now contains HI-RES GRAPHICS
ABILITY!!!  Yes, you can create your own B&W or color pictures and add
them to your games.  This feature is available on the registered
version only as our way of saying "Thank you for registering!"
    If you're a registered user, CONGRATULATIONS!  You can just about
do what you want.  That's what you paid for.  You can use our advanced
functions including high-res graphics.  You can charge bucks for your
work.  You can distribute through shareware.  You don't have to pay
royalties of any kind.  You can give your games away or sell them, and
pursue any marketing method you wish.  You are fully licensed.  About
the only thing we require is standard, forseeable stuff, such as:
    1. You must include the SCAPERUN.EXE program when you distribute
your game (naturally; it's the run-time module).
    2. You may not alter or misrepresent the GAMESCAPE system in any
manner, or present your games in a manner contrary or harmful to our
concepts and purposes of GAMESCAPE.  That's all; pretty simple stuff.

    The bottom line:  if you're an unregistered user, feel free to
give your games to friends and to enter GAMESCAPE contests.  Enjoy
yourself; we want you to have fun using this excellent program.  But
remember that there's a lot more available to you if you register!


======================================================================


                    VERY IMPORTANT!  DEBUGGING CODE
    Gamescape is a very complex project, and I would be foolish to
imagine that some obscure bug doesn't exist somewhere.  If you find a
legitimate bug, I will appreciate you letting me know.  However,
please do so under the following guidelines:

    #1 AND MOST IMPORTANT:  Remember that Gamescape is a programming
environment, and it has been used to generate very complex adventure
games.  It is therefore reasonable to assume that most (if not all) of
the bugs have been discovered.  Whenever you find what you think is a
bug, realize that it is most likely in your game code, and not a
problem with Gamescape.
    Before you report a bug, go over your code with a fine tooth comb.
Whether or not we charge you for examining your code depends on
whether the bug is caused by Gamescape, or by user coding errors. If
we have to spend time hunting for a bug that we find to be user
programming code errors, we will have to bill the user for that time.
This may seem unfair, but A) we will help the user discover the
mistake and thus have rendered a programming service and B) we deserve
to be reimbursed for time/wage/computer expense involved in finding
user coding errors.  Even in such a case, our rates are reasonable,
and can be avoided completely if you make sure that a bug report is an
actual bug.
    Note that billing will only be done if we feel that significant
time was wasted.  We're not going to worry about minor work... that's
just part of doing business and supporting you as a registered user of
Gamescape.
    #2:  An error message does not mean a Gamescape bug.  It likely is
pointing out a problem with your code.  Check out the error; you may
find it means something like "printer not on" or "disk full" or
something like that.  Or, it may mean you've left out a part of an
IF/DO line which causes Gamescape to return an error such as "Out of
string space" or "Bad record number" or "Illegal function call" (that
happens more than adventure programmers like to admit). Such things
are programmer errors, and are not likely to be a fault of Gamescape.
    #3:  If you do find what you feel to be a legitimate bug, write us
a letter fully documenting the info.  A phone call is allowed as well,
but the phone is mainly for answering questions, not in trying to
trace down a supposed bug.  If you can send us a disk with your source
code, that will be appreciated as well (source codes will be kept
extremely private and secured... we will not release or distribute
them under any circumstance.  They will be used solely for the purpose
of documenting the bug).
    #4:  We will not consider any bug report from an unregistered
user.  No exceptions.  Sorry, but that's what registration means:
support.  If you are unregistered then you are not aware of updates,
changes, techniques, etc.  We will not waste time with an unregistered
user, no matter how legitimate you think your problem may be. Bottom
line:  if you want the support, then please register.
    #5:  If you do find a legitimate bug, we will send you one of our
nifty adventures free of charge, as well as give you credit for the
bug find in future documentation!

    Thanks for your attention to these matters.


                         GAMESCAPE ERROR CODES
    Gamescape is written using Microsoft QuickBASIC 3.0 and uses most
standard BASIC error codes.  I am listing them here for your
convenience in tracking down your game code errors.  Please note that
an error that pops up does not likely mean Gamescape has a bug; if you
have not yet read the section on debugging code, do so now.  It is
extremely important.

1   NEXT WITHOUT FOR
2   SYNTAX
3   RETURN WITHOUT GOSUB
4   OUT OF DATA
5   ILLEGAL FUNCTION CALL
6   OVERFLOW
7   OUT OF MEMORY
8   UNDEFINED LINE NUMBER
9   SUBSCRIPT OUT OF RANGE
10  DUPLICATE DEFINITION
11  DIVISION BY ZERO
12  ILLEGAL DIRECT
13  TYPE MISMATCH
14  OUT OF STRING SPACE
15  STRING TOO LONG
16  STRING FORMULA TOO COMPLEX
17  CAN'T CONTINUE
18  UNDEFINED USER FUNCTION
19  NO RESUME
20  RESUME WITHOUT ERROR
22  MISSING OPERAND
23  LINE BUFFER OVERFLOW
24  DEVICE TIMEOUT
25  DEVICE FAULT
26  FOR WITHOUT NEXT
27  OUT OF PAPER
29  WHILE WITHOUT WEND
30  WEND WITHOUT WHILE
50  FIELD OVERFLOW
51  INTERNAL ERROR
52  BAD FILE NUMBER
53  FILE NOT FOUND
54  BAD FILE MODE
55  FILE ALREADY OPEN
57  DEVICE I/O ERROR
58  FILE ALREADY EXISTS
61  DISK FULL
62  INPUT PAST END
63  BAD RECORD NUMBER
64  BAD FILE NAME
66  DIRECT STATEMENT IN FILE
67  TOO MANY FILES
68  DEVICE UNAVAILABLE
69  COMMUNICATION BUFFER OVERFLOW
70  DISK WRITE PROTECT
71  DISK NOT READY
72  DISK MEDIA ERROR
73  ADVANCED FEATURE
74  RENAME ACROSS DISKS
75  PATH/FILE ACCESS ERROR
76  PATH NOT FOUND   (you probably didn't install CONFIG.SYS properly)


    Please register for Gamescape.  Not only does registration provide
you with expanded abilities and privileges,  registrations encourage
us to update the program and add even more power, so that your games
can be more impressive than ever before.  The more registrations we
receive, the more eager we are to provide regular updates to the
program.  Thank you for registering !


    The remainder of this manual is contained in the registered
version.  To get started writing your own adventure games, please use
the GSEDIT program.  Realize however, that the registered manual
provides you with a great deal of information that is required for
professional game development.

                   THANK YOU FOR EXAMINING GAMESCAPE


                            end of manual

                Gamescape is written and published by:

      Drew Software    PO Box 101   Joplin, MO  64802   [phone]

======================================================================
                      Please read the following:

           IMPORTANT:   HOW TO OBTAIN THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL
    Our programs are very easy to use.  You do not need an instruction
manual to operate them.  However, the manual allows you to gain
greater benefit from this program.  To get the manual, you must
REGISTER with us.  We depend on your registration fee to continue
operation.  Registration brings you:
    1. Instruction manual.
    2. Call-in telephone support.
    3. Places you on our mailing list for notification of future
updates.
    4. Usually brings you a more advanced version of the program.

    We will support you if you register; absolutely no support will be
given to non-registered users.

                USER REGISTRATION AND LICENSE AGREEMENT

ARTICLE 1. ACCEPTANCE.
    In registering for our programs, the user agrees to abide by all
articles and restrictions of this license. It is the responsibility of
the purchaser to note the items of this license, and decide upon
agreeability of its terms prior to the registration of the program.

ARTICLE 2. LICENSING.
    This program is licensed, not sold. As such, the user/
purchaser has the right to use the program on a day-to-day basis,
but recognizes the ownership of the program and all materials as
belonging to Dennis Drew.

ARTICLE 3. COPYING AND MULTI-USER.
    This program is USER SUPPORTED.  You are encouraged to copy
the SHAREWARE diskette and give it to your friends and acquaintences.
You may use this program freely and distribute it as you wish.
However, the following restrictions do apply:
    1. You may not charge a fee for this program, other than for
the cost of duplication.
    2. You may not alter the program or supporting items in any
manner, may not add to or remove items from the disk.
    3. You may not copy or reproduce in any way the instruction manual
that is available for this program. The instruction manual is provided
to REGISTERED USERS ONLY.  Copying of this manual in any form is
strictly forbidden.  If several copies of the manual are required,
then a discount is provided on request.
    4. Shareware companies must obtain a distribution license from the
author.

ARTICLE 4. WARRANTY AND LIABILITY.
     It is the responsibility of the purchaser to decide upon
usability and application of this program to his/her particular
needs. Every effort has been made to insure the accuracy and
reliability of this program. However, since the success of this
program relies a great deal upon individual use and dedication to
the use thereof, and the fact that this program is user copiable
(thus limiting our control over what the end-user receives),
We will not be held responsible for any results obtained from the
direct or indirect use of this program nor does this program
comply to the laws of merchantability of any state.

ARTICLE 5. TERMINATION.
     If the user/purchaser breaks any article of this agreement,
all items pertaining to the program shall be returned to the
publisher. This will not exclude any additional punitive damages
incurred according to national and civil laws.

ARTICLE 6. CUSTOMER SUPPORT.
     We are eager to support our customers. Technical
assistance is available to REGISTERED USERS ONLY by calling
[phone] Monday through Friday during the hours of 9am to
5pm.
     If your diskette is damaged in any way, return it to us along
with $10.00 to cover cost of replacement. We will rush you a new
diskette.
     It is recognized that the purchaser is already bound by the terms
of the LICENSING AGREEMENT enclosed with this package. This
registration form serves two purposes:
     1. To emphasize agreement with the terms of the license.
     2. To allow us to provide you with timely updates and information.


                    Thank you for registering!