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OPERATIONS MANUAL
THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE
COPYRIGHT DOUGLAS P. WEBB 1993. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, Monster Manual, Fiend Folio,
Monster Manual II, Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook,
Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Spelljammer and
Dragon Magazine are Trademarks of TSR, Inc.
IBM, PC/AT, PS/2 are registered trademarks of International
Business Machines Corporation.
ADDCHAR is Copyright of Micheal Hermann 1992,1993.
2
Warranty and Disclaimer of Warranty
THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
FURTHER, DOUGLAS P. WEBB DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE
OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY,
CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE
OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS ARE
DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT DOUGLAS P. WEBB OR HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS,
OR EMPLOYEES, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR
CORRECTION. THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY
DOUGLAS P. WEBB, ON THIS DOUGLAS P. WEBB PRODUCT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN
INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY DOUGLAS P. WEBB, HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS,
AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE
SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR
ADVICE. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
NEITHER DOUGLAS P. WEBB NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE
CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES
FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS
INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH
PRODUCT EVEN IF DOUGLAS P. WEBB HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
BY USING THE FREEWARE VERSION OF THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE
BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY
IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND
SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE
LIMITED WARRANTY.
3
Index
Limited Warranty & Disclaimer .............................. 3
Contacting the Author & Technical Support .................. 5
1 Introduction ......................................... 6
2 Installation & the Setup Program ..................... 7
2.2.1 Installing the Tome on a Hard Disk ................... 7
2.2.2 Installing the Tome on a 2 Floppy System ............. 7
2.2.3 Adding Programs to the External Programs Menu ........ 8
2.2.4 Printer Configuration ................................ 9
3 The Top Level (Main) Menu for the Tome ............... 10
3.1 The Spell Menu ....................................... 10
3.1.1 List Searching ....................................... 11
3.1.2 Keyword Searching .................................... 12
3.2 The Monster Menu ..................................... 13
3.2.2 Terrain Based Monster Searches ....................... 15
3.2.3 Random Monster Determination ......................... 17
3.3 The Magic Item Menu .................................. 18
3.3.3 Random Magic Item Determination ...................... 21
3.4 The Various Topic Menu ............................... 22
3.5 The Utilities Menu ................................... 22
3.5.1 The Sword Builder .................................... 23
3.5.2 The Hoard Generator .................................. 23
3.5.3 The NPC Maker 1st Ed. ................................ 23
3.5.4 The NPC Maker 2nd Ed. (ADDCHAR) ...................... 25
3.5.5 Auto Spell ........................................... 25
3.6 External Programs .................................... 27
3.7 Keyboard Macros ...................................... 27
3.8 Electronic Dice ...................................... 29
4 Last Word ............................................ 30
Appendix A - Writing Your Own Printer Driver ............... 31
Appendix B - Changing the Default Backup key ............... 35
4
Contacting the Author & Technical Support
Don't expect too much, this is freeware, and I'm a busy graduate
student, but any suggestions, bug reports, etc. would be
appreciated, and will handled as quickly as possible.
Internet: dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca (until at least May/93)
Write me (until at least June '93):
Douglas Webb
228 Murray St.
Montreal, Quebec
CANADA
H3C 2C7
5
1 Introduction
The Tome of Vast Knowledge is designed to help Dungeon
Masters (DM's), and/or players keep track of the large amounts
of rules, spells and monsters that are an integral part of the
Advance Dungeons & Dragon (AD&D) game. The number of essential
books has increased greatly over the last 10-12 years and the
number of articles, modules and accessories that have been
published is almost beyond counting. This program should help
you find what you are looking for, and make it easy and fast.
This product is not a substitute for the various official
AD&D reference books, it is rather a complementary tool. You
will find that large amounts of material which are available in
the various official books are reproduced here, but none of the
illustrations or diagrams, and few of the tables are reproduced
here, so you will want to use this with your other books,
rather than instead of them.
This version of the Tome was designed as an accessory for 1st
edition AD&D, however much of the information contained herein is
compatible with the 2nd edition AD&D system.
6
2 Installation & the Setup Program
2.1 System Requirements:
The Tome of Vast Knowledge requires that you run it on
an IBM PC/XT/AT,PS/2 or 100% compatible with 512K of memory,
an MDA/CGA/EGA/VGA/Hercules Monochrome or 100% compatible
video card, and one floppy disk drive and a hard disk drive,
and DOS version 2.11 or later. It is recommended that the
Tome be used with 640K of memory.
2.2 Installing the Tome of Vast Knowledge
The first thing you should do is backup the Tome. This
can easily be done using the DISKCOPY program that comes with
DOS.
The Tome will be unable to run properly and may work
improperly if the following line does not appear in your
CONFIG.SYS file:
Files=20
(For more information on the CONFIG.SYS file consult your
DOS manual.)
2.2.1 Installing the Tome on a Hard Disk
Once you have backed up your copy of the Tome you can
install the Tome by copying all files that come with the Tome
(these are listed in the FILES.DOC file) into their own
directory on your hard disk.
2.2.2 Installing the Tome on a 2 Floppy System
It is theoretically possible to run the Tome on a computer
with 2 floppy disks. On the program disk must appear:
All the .EXE, .INI, .PRD, .DAT, .IDX, .KDX, .KDT, both the
SPELTITL files and the .TXT files that VADDCHAR depends on.
The .PAK files which contain the actual database texts can
be placed on Data floppies in any arrangement deemed to be
convenient. The Tome will prompt for the appropriate Data disk
when it is required.
7
Once you have successfully installed the Tome, you can
run it by using DOS to go to the directory it is installed
in and type 'VAST', then press the <Enter> key.
NOTE: This program will run faster if more memory is
available to it. It is recommended that you have as few
memory resident programs, like keyboard enhancers, loaded as
is possible to allow the Tome to run as fast as it was
designed to.
2.2.3 Adding Programs to the External Programs Menu
The Tome has the facility to run user designated
programs from a menu, see section 3.6 for more information.
You must add programs to this menu using the installation/
setup program. The setup program can be accessed from the
External Programs menu (see section 3.6). If you wish to add
a program (or batch file) to this menu so you must know the
PATH to the program, which must be supplied when it is added
to the menu. Parameters which are to be passed to the program
should appear after the PATH. (For example: Suppose you have a
program called 'NOTEBOOK.EXE' in another directory that you
want to run from time to time. If NOTEBOOK accepts the
filename to be edited as a command line parameter you can
place the command line parameter after the program name. In
this case you should use a PATH of
C:\NOTE\NOTEBOOK.EXE ADD.TXT
NOTE: You should designate the program's file extension (EXE
or COM), as this will allow the external program to be loaded
faster, and use less memory.
You can rerun the Tome's setup program to add or delete
external programs from this menu at any time.
You can run a DOS batch file as an external program (assuming
the COMMAND.COM file is in the root directory on the C: drive)
by using a PATH as follows:
C:\COMMAND.COM /C BATNAME
(where you should replace BATNAME with the name and path to
your batch file). It should be noted that there may be no more
than 9 external programs installed at any one time. (Information
on what a PATH is can be found in your DOS manual.)
8
2.2.4 Printer Configuration
The Setup program, which can be accessed from the
External Programs menu (see section 3.6), has the facility
to change the currently selected printer.
When running the Tome, it will undoubtedly become
necessary to print out information from time to time. The
Tome has accompanying it printer drivers for many of the
most commonly used printers. However, if you want to take
advantage of this capability you must run the printer
configuration utility which is part if the installation
program. You will be asked what port your printer is
attached to (sorry serial printers are not supported at this
time), and then you will be presented with a scrollable list
of printers which are supported. Move the highlight bar
(with the arrow keys) until the printer which is closest to
yours is highlighted, then press <Enter>.
NOTE: I have written printer drivers for as many
printers as I could get my hands on, but there are
undoubtedly more than a few which cannot emulate any of the
commonly available printers that I have tried to support.
Appendix A of this manual describes what is involved in
writing a printer driver (not for the faint of heart). If
you are having trouble doing so mail me the appropriate
sections from your printer manual I will try and write a
driver in my copious free time. Conversely, if you write a
nice driver for a heretofore unsupported printer, please
send me a copy (with your name prominently embedded) so
others may benefit.
9
3 The Top level Menu
When first encountering the Tome of Vast Knowledge you
will be greeted by the Main Menu, as pictured below.
Insert TOME1.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
From this menu you must select the area of information you
wish to explore. If you are interested in perusing the
texts of any of the many types of spells, you should type
'S'. If you want to examine the specifics about any of the
monsters in the Net Monstrous Compenium or other monster
database you should type 'M'. If you want to take a look at
the descriptions of any of the many magic items, you should
type 'I'. If you want to look at any of the other
miscellaneous texts collected, including a collection of
new character classes/kits, or a list of optional rules every
dungeon master should know about, you should type 'V'. A small
collection of utilities have been assembled and these can be
accessed by typing 'U'. If you want to run an external
program, or need to shell out to DOS you must type 'E'. You
can quit the program from this menu by typing 'Q'.
You will notice that here, as well as in many other
locations in this program, you can get help by pressing the
<F1> key. The help screen presented will tend to describe
your current options, and how to accomplish them. To return
from a help screen to where you were before you called it
up, press the <F10> key.
3.1 The Spell Menu
If you press 'S' on the main menu you will be presented
with this second tier menu. From here you have two options.
You can browse through complete lists of spells, or you can
search for specific types of spells by keyword, by pressing
'S' and 'K' respectively.
You can return to the program's main menu by pressing
<F10>, or you can get help by pressing <F1>. You will find
that just about anywhere in this program you can press <F10>
and return to the previous menu.
NOTE: The spells listed in this section are not
official, and Dungeon Masters are encouraged to disallow the
use of any spell that you think will unbalance your campaign,
remember you are the final arbiter of what is allowed in your
campaign.
10
3.1.1 List Search
If you select 'S' from the spell menu, you will be
presented with a list of the various type of spells that are
available to browse: Net Wizard, Net Priest, and possibly others,
as illustrated below.
Insert TOME2.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
You can use the up and down arrow keys to move the scroll
bar onto the type of spell you are interested in and then
press the <Enter> key. You will then be presented with a
scrollable list of all spells of that type. Pressing the
<Home> and <End> keys will move the cursor to the first and
last entries in the list, respectively. (You can press the
first letter of each of these as a shortcut, 'W' for example
will pop up a list of all net Wizard spells.)
If you are, for example, searching through the list of
wizard spells, as pictured below, you will notice that
there are several options available to you:
Insert TOME3.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
previous menu. You can use the up and down arrow keys to
move the scroll bar over the list of spells. In addition
you can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll the list
faster (15 items at a time). As previously, pressing the
<Home> key returns the scroll bar to the top item in the
list, and the <End> key places the scrollbar on the last
spell in the list (in this case Zephyr). In addition you
can speed your way through the list by pressing the first
letter of a known spell you are interested in and then
scrolling using the arrow keys once you are close to the
desired spell. For example, suppose you were interested in
examining the Sonic Barrier spell, you could, when browsing
the list of net wizard spells, press 'S' which will advance
the scrollbar to the first spell starting with 'S', and you
can then quickly scroll down to Sonic Barrier with the arrow
keys. Futhermore, by pressing <F9> you access a shortcut
option which will allow you to speed your way directly to
the spell of your choice. As in our previous example, you
want to examine Sonic Barrier, press <F9> and a window will
pop up asking you what spell you want, you then type in as
much of the spell name as you want (usually enough to allow
unambiguous spell determination). In this case type 'SONIC
BA' to avoid confusion with Sonic Blast), then press <Enter>.
The scroll bar will be advanced to the first spell
11
that matches completely with your input. With a little
practice you'll discover what method best allows you to find
your favorite spells rapidly.
Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the spell you
are interested in, you can then press <Enter>, this will
cause the complete text of that spell to be presented to you
on screen.
3.1.1.1 Browsing a spell
Suppose you had scrolled down to Sonic Barrier as in the
previous example and pressed <Enter>. You would now find
the first 21 lines of the spell presented on the screen.
You can use the up and down arrows or the <PgUp> and <PgDn>
keys to scroll through the text. You will notice that in
many spells important words and phrases are in bold face to
draw your attention. In some spells you will see that there
are words that are green (or underlined on monochrome
monitors), these are hotlinks.
Usually these hotlinks are names of other spells that
you are referred to for further information. You can use
the <Tab> key to move the cursor to the first hotlink. If
there is more than one hotlink, repeated pressing of the
<Tab> key will move the cursor to the 2nd, 3rd and so on,
and finally back to the first hotlink. Once the cursor is
on the hotlink you can press the <F2> key and the text
associated with that hotlink will be called up on screen
immediately. You can continue on in this fashion to a depth
of 5 calls, or until you run out of memory. For example,
while browsing Pobithaker's Protection call the hotlink to
Pobithaker's Placer, from there call the link to Pobithaker's
Tracer, you are now 3 levels deep. You can return to the
previous spell, or ultimately, the spell menu you were
browsing by pressing <F10>.
3.1.2 KeyWord Search
If you pressed 'K' from the spell menu you will find
yourself in the keyword search menu, as illustrated below.
From here you can search for a specific type of spell.
Suppose the 9th level wizard Non-Player Character (NPC)
you are preparing to challenge your party with needs a few
good offensive combat spells to round out his arsenal, you
could use this menu to find out what his options are.
12
Insert TOME4.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
First, you should move the highlight bar onto 'Caster-
Type' using the left and right arrows, then press <Enter>
(or as a shortcut type 'C'). You will then be presented
with a scrollable list of the types of spells there are.
Using the arrow keys move the scrollbar onto 'net Wizard'
(if it isn't already on it) and press <Enter>. You should
notice that 'net Wizard' just appeared in the window in the
upper left-hand corner of the screen, this is to help you
keep track of what you have selected. You can remove a
single spell type from this search window the same way you
entered it in the first place. Move the highlight bar onto
the name of the spell type you wish to remove and press
<Enter>. Once you have all the spell types you want to
search through, press <F10> to return to the keyword search
menu.
Now select the level of spells which you are interested
in by moving the highlight bar onto 'Level' using the left
and right arrow keys then press <Enter> (or type 'L' as a
shortcut). Continuing with the example of a 9th-level
wizard, 1st-5th level spells should be considered, because
9th level wizards can cast 1st-5th level spells, so add '1',
'2', '3', '4' and '5' to the 'Level' search criteria window.
Press <F10> when you are finished to return to the keyword
search menu.
Finally the keywords describing the types of spells you
are interested in should be added. Move the highlight bar
onto 'Keywords' using the arrow keys then presss <Enter> (or
type 'K' as a shortcut). Then, as described above add the
keywords desired, in this case 'Offensive, Active' and
'Offensive, Passive', and when you have done this press
<F10> to return to the keyword search menu. (You will find
most of the keywords self explanatory, but in some cases you
may have to experiment to see what type of spell you get
using different search criteria.) NOTE: There is any option
to use 'Any Keyword', which return all spells matching
caster types and levels selected.
NOTE: When in the keyword search menu you can press
<F3> to clear a single search window. For example, if the
highlight bar is on 'Levels' and you then press <F3> the
window indicating which levels should be considered for the
search will be cleared. <F4> Clears all three windows.
13
To perform the search, you can then move the highlight
bar over to the 'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as
a shortcut). If any of the 3 search criteria windows is
empty this operation will be unsuccessful. You must specify
what you are looking for in terms of level, caster type and
keyword. Once a search has been done, you will be presented
with a scrollable list of all spells that match at least one
criterion for each of caster type, level and keyword. In
the above example, any net Wizard spells which are of level
1-5 and are fundamentally combat-offensive in nature would
appear. You can then use the up and down arrows and the
<PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll through this list.
Pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
spell which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
before.
3.2 The Monster Menu
If you type 'M' in the main menu you will be presented
with this second tier menu. From here you have three
options. You can browse through complete lists of monsters
(section 3.2.1), you can search for specific types of monsters
by terrain (section 3.2.2), or you can generate random
encounters (Section 3.2.3), by typing 'S', 'K' and 'R'
respectively.
You can return to the program's main menu by pressing
<F10>, or get help by pressing <F1>.
3.2.1 List Search
If you select 'S' from the monster menu, you will be
presented with a list of all commonly known monsters. As
you are searching through the list of monsters, you will
notice that there are several options available to you:
As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
previous menu. You can use the up and down arrow keys to move
the scroll bar over the list of monsters. In addition you
can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll the list faster
(about 15 items at a time). Pressing the <Home> key returns
the scroll bar to the top item in the list, and the <End>
key places the scrollbar on the last monster in the list.
In addition, you can speed your way through the list by
pressing the first letter of the monster you are interested
14
in, which will advance the list to the first monster which
matches the letter pressed, and then scrolling using the
arrow keys once you are close to the desired monster. For
example, suppose I was interested in examining the Dragon
Fisher I could, when browsing the list of monsters, press
'D' which will advance the scrollbar to the first monster
starting with 'D', you can then quickly scroll down to
Dragon Fisher with the arrow keys. Futhermore, by pressing
<F9> you access a shortcut option which will allow you to
speed your way directly to the monster of your choice. As
in our previous example, you want to examine Dragon Fisher,
press <F9> and a window will pop up asking you what monster
you want, you then type in as much of the monster name as
you want (usually enough to allow unambiguous monster
determination). In this case type 'DRAGON F' (to avoid
confusion with Dragons of various types), then press
<Enter>. The scroll bar will be advanced to the first
monster that matches completely with your input.
Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the monster
you are interested in, you can then press <Enter>. This
will cause the complete text of that monster to be presented
to you on screen. You can then browse the text in the
fashion described in section 3.1.1.1.
3.2.2 Terrain Search
If you pressed 'K' from the monster menu you will find
yourself in the keyword search menu very similar to that
described in section 3.1.2. From here you can search for
monsters, based on the terrain which they inhabit. Suppose
that you are preparing to challenge your party with some
monsters, but you would like the monsters to be appropriate
to the terrain they will be crossing. You can use this menu
to find out what the appropriate monsters are.
In this case the monster search automatically
encompasses all available monsters, these will be listed in
the monster-type window in the upper left hand corner of the
screen.
You must select the level of monsters that will be
appropriate, say 3rd level. Then select the keywords
describing the terrains you are interested in, for example,
Temperate Desert and Temperate Plains. You will find most
of the terrains self explanatory. Some of these keywords
are descriptors, that is they describe what the monsters
are, not where they are found. 'Undead' encompasses all
15
creatures which have most or all of the general
characteristics of undead. 'Constructs' are monsters that
can be built, and will therefore likely only be found where
they have been placed by powerful NPC's. NOTE: There is any
option to use 'Any Terrain', which return all monsters
matching the levels selected.
SPECIAL NOTE: You will notice that 'Underdark'
describes creatures which will, as often as not, be found
only underground. If you want all monsters that can be
found underground in a certain terrain, it is a good idea to
select the terrains above ground in the area of the
caves/tunnels, as well as 'Underdark'. For example, suppose
you wanted to populate a cavern in a topical mountain, you
would select 'Tropical, Wilderness Mountains' AND
'Underdark, Land'. You might discover some creatures which
are incompatible with underground existence, but this will
mostly be obvious. It should be noted that some monsters
(eg. dragons) can progress through various levels, ie.,
young dragons may only be 3rd or 4th levels, while ancient
dragons may be 7th or 8th level.
You can, when in the terrain search menu, press <F3> to
clear a single search window. For example, if the highlight
bar is on 'Levels' and you then press <F3> the window
indicating which levels should be considered for the search
will be cleared. <F4> Clears both windows.
You can then move the highlight bar over to the
'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as a shortcut).
If any of the 2 alterable search windows are empty this
operation will be unsuccessful, you must specify what you
are looking for in terms of level, and terrain. Once all
this has been done, a search will present you with a
scrollable list all monsters that match your search
criteria. You can then use the up and down arrows and the
<PgUp> and <PgDn> key to scroll through this list.
Pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
spell which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
before.
16
3.2.3 The Random Search Menu
If you press 'R' from the monster menu you will arrive
at this random monster search menu. Here you must specify
what type of monsters you are interested in, both in terms
of level, and in terms of the terrain they inhabit. You can
then have the program randomly select the specific monster
that, for example, might be part of an encounter in that
terrain.
There are two types of immediate random monster
searches: weighted, and unweighted. A weighted search will
have monsters that are 'Common' more likely to be
encountered than those that are 'Uncommon', which are more
likely to appear than those that are 'Rare', and those that
are 'Very rare' and 'Unique' will appear the most
infrequently of all. Unweighted search allows all types of
monsters which match the search criteria an equal chance of
being selected.
If either of these two options is employed, (by moving
the highlight bar with the left and right arrow keys to
highlight the desired search and then pressing <Enter>, or
by typing 'W' or 'U' respectively,) a single monster from
all those that match the search criteria you have specified
will be selected, and presented with complete text, on
screen. You can then browse the text in the fashion
described in section 3.1.1.1.
If the 'RE-Table' option is selected, you will be
presented with a whole new menu (pictured below) which
allows you to build a random encounter table for the
terrains and level of monsters you are interested in.
Insert TOME5.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
Note: A table is impossible to build if there are not
at least 19 monsters which match the search criteria you
have selected, and you will be unable to proceed to this
menu.
Random encounter tables are useful if you want to
prepare wandering monsters for your campaign, and have the
monsters match the terrain in which the campaign is
occurring. A random encounter is a list of 19 monsters. To
determine which monster is encountered you roll a 12-sided
dice and an 8-sided dice and sum the two rolls, then index
the result to the table.
Note: If a unique being appears in your encounter table
and it is encountered, you may wish to scratch it off the
table so that it is not encountered more than once, repeated
random encounters with a unique creature are very unlikely.
17
You have several options in this menu. Most likely you
will want to build a random encounter table, press 'B'. If
you don't like the table at all try again. (The variation
in the table will depend on how many matching monsters there
are.)
If you are unfamiliar with the specifics of a monster
or two in the table and you want to examine them, press 'E'
and you will then be able to scroll through the list.
Pressing <Enter> when the highlight bar is on a monster will
allow you to view the entire description of that monster.
Press <F10> when you are finished examining monsters.
If one (or more of the monsters) does not fit what you
had in mind, press 'R'. You will then be able to scroll
through the list of monsters, pressing <Enter> will replace
the currently highlighted monster with a new, randomly
determined monster that matches the search criteria.
Pressing <F10> will return you to the RE-Table menu.
You have the option of printing this table if you have
any supported printer attached to your computer. (See
section 2.2.2 for further details on printer configuration).
There is a brief reiteration of the information found
herein which can be viewed by selecting the 'How to use this
table' option.
3.3 The Magic Item Menu
If you press 'I' from the top level you will be
presented with this second tier menu. From here you have
three options. You can browse through complete lists of
magic items (section 3.3.1), you can search for specific
types of magic items by keyword (section 3.3.2), or you can
determine random magic items (as may be found in treasure
troves)(Section 3.3.3) by typing 'S', 'K' and 'R'
respectively. You can return to the program's main menu by
pressing <F10>, or get help by pressing <F1>.
NOTE: The magic items in the databases acompanying the
Tome are not official, and their experience point value
(where given) and gold piece value are also not official.
The DM is encouraged to change these as he or she see's fit
and to disallow the use of any magic items that you feel will
unbalance your campaign.
18
3.3.1 List Search
If you type 'S' in the magic item menu, you will be
presented with a list of the various types of magic items
that are available to browse: Potions & Oils, Scrolls,
Rings, Wands, Rods & Staves, Miscellaneous Magic items,
Armor & Shields, Swords, and Miscellaneous Weapons. You can
use the up and down arrow keys, and the <PgUp>, <PgDn>,
<Home> and <End> keys to move the scroll bar onto the type
of magic item you are interested in, then press the <Enter>
key. You will then be presented with a scrollable list of
all magic items of that type. (You can press the first
capitalized letter of each of these as a shortcut, 'P' for
example will pop up a list of all potions.)
If you are, for example, searching through the list of
miscellaneous magic items, you will notice that there are
several options available to you:
As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
previous menu. You can use the up and down arrow keys to
move the scroll bar over the list of magic items. In
addition you can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll
the list faster (about 15 items at a time). Pressing the
<Home> key returns the scroll bar to the top item in the
list, and the <End> key places the scrollbar on the last
spell in the list. In addition you can speed your way
through the list by pressing the first letter of the magic
item you are interested in and then scrolling using the
arrow keys once you are close. For example, suppose I was
interested in examining Cloak of Thespis I could, when
browsing the list of miscellaneous magic items, press 'C'
which will advance the scrollbar to the first item starting
with 'C', and I can then quickly scroll down to Cloak of
Thespis with the arrow keys. Futhermore, by pressing <F9>
you access a shortcut option which will allow you to speed
your way directly to the magic item of your choice. As in
our previous example, you want to examine Cloak of Thespis,
press <F9> and a window will pop up asking you what magic
item you want, you then type in as much of the magic item
name as you want (usually enough to allow unambiguous magic
item determination). In this case type 'CLOAK OF TH' (to
avoid confusion with other types of cloaks), then press
<Enter>. The scroll bar will be advanced to the first magic
item that matches completely with your input.
Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the item you
are interested in, you can then press <Enter>, this will
cause the complete text of that item to be presented to you
on screen. You can then browse the text as described in
section 3.1.1.1.
19
3.3.2 Keyword Search
If you pressed 'K' from the magic item menu, you will
find yourself in the keyword search menu. From here you can
search for a specific type of magic item. Suppose the 9th
level wizard Non-Player Character (NPC) you are preparing
to challenge your party with needs an interesting staff
with which to confound the party. You should use this
menu to find out what his options are. You move the
highlight bar onto 'Item-Type' using the left and right
arrows, then press <Enter> (or as a shortcut type 'I').
You will then be presented with a scrollable list of
the types of magic items there are. Using the arrow keys
highlight 'Wands, Rods & Staves' and press <Enter>. You
should notice that 'Wands, Rods & Staves' just appeared in
the window in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, this
is to help you keep track of what you have selected.
Removing a single magic item type from this search window is
the same as entering it, move the highlight bar onto the
name of the spell type you wish to remove and press <Enter>.
Once you have all the magic item types you want to search
through press <F10> to return to the keyword search menu.
Now select the level of magic item, in the case of a
9th-level magic-user you might want to look for something in
the 3rd-5th level range, and the keywords describing the
types of magic items you are interested in, in this case,
for example, 'Offensive, Combat'. (You will find most of
the keywords self explanatory, but in some cases you may
have to experiment to see what type of magic item you get
using different search criteria.) NOTE: There is an option
to use 'Any Keyword', which returns all magic items matching
item types and levels selected.
NOTE: Level designations given to the various magic
items are not official, and are based on subjective criteria,
1st level magic being the weakest and 8th level magic being
reserved for use in very special occasions by VERY powerful
characters. These level designations are simply designed as
a guideline for dungeon masters who are trying to decide how
to equip NPC's and place magic in treasure hoards.
Furthermore, the levels do not necesarily correspond with the
level of character that should be wielding the magic item
(otherwise 8th level characters would be wielding vorpal
weapons).
20
You can press <F3> to clear a single search window.
For example, if the highlight bar is on 'Levels' and you
then press <F3> the window indicating which levels should be
considered for the search will be cleared. <F4> Clears all
three windows.
You can then move the highlight bar over to the
'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as a shortcut).
If any of the 3 search windows is empty this operation
will be unsuccessful, you must specify what you are looking
for in terms of level, item type and keyword. Once all this
has been done, a search will present you with a scrollable
list all magic items that match your search criteria. In
the above example, any rods, wands or staves which are of
level 3-5 and are fundamentally combat-offensive in nature
would appear. You can then use the up and down arrows and
the <PgUp> and <PgDn> key to scroll through this list and
pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
magic item which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
before.
3.3.3 The Random Magic Item Menu
If you type 'R' from the magic item menu, you will
arrive at the this random magic item search menu. Here you
must specify what type of magic items you are interested in,
both in terms of level, and in terms of keywords describing
the type of item you are interested in. You can then have
the program randomly select the specific magic item that,
for example, might be part of a treasure hoard.
There are two types of immediate random magic item
searches: weighted, and unweighted. A weighted search will
have less powerful magic items encountered more often than
more powerful magic items. You would probably expect to
find a lot of +1 swords before you stumble upon a +5 holy
avenger, unless it has a specific reason for being there.
Unweighted search allows all types of magic items which
match the search criteria an equal chance of being selected.
If either of these to options is employed, (by moving
the highlight bar with the left and right arrow keys to
highlight the desired search and then pressing <Enter>, or
by typing 'W' or 'U' respectively,) a single magic item from
all those that match the search criteria you have specified
will be selected, and presented with complete text, on
screen. You can then browse the text in the fashion
described in section 3.1.1.1.
21
3.4 The Various Topics Menu
If you select the various topics menu by typing 'V' at
the main menu you will be presented with a scrollable list
of the databases which do not fit into the categories spell,
monster or magic item.
There is a database containing several new 'Classes and
kits'. These texts tend to offer unusual and interesting
new roleplaying opportunities, and are by and large well
thought out.
There is a database which contains often sought after
rules, descriptions of topics that are inadequately covered
in the official AD&D references. You will find a (growing)
selection of articles which will allow a DM to add spice
and three dimensionality to his or her campaign.
There is also a database listing non weapon
proficiencies which do not appear in the official Ad&D rules,
but which could add a little more realism to an adventure.
You can access these databases by highlighting the
desired one using the up and down arrow keys and then
pressing <Enter> (or pressing the first capital letter as a
shortcut). You will then be presented with a complete list
of the associated topics, these can be viewed as described
in section 3.1.1 and 3.1.1.1.
3.5 The Utilities Menu
If you type 'U' in the main menu you will find yourself
in the utilities menu. You will find yourself presented with
a scrollable list of the various handy tools which have been
collected here for easy access. The tool desired can be
selected by highlighting it using the arrow keys and then
pressing <Enter>. (Or as a shortcut, you press the first
capitalized letter in the option you desire.)
22
3.5.1 The Sword Builder
The sword builder is designed to take the drudgery out
of determining if a sword has special attributes in terms of
intelligence, speaking ability and so on. The rules
describing how this should be done (page 166-167 of the 1st
Ed. DMG) have been automated. You press <F5> to determine
if a sword has special abilities. If you want to weight this
process slightly towards more intelligent and more powerful
swords press <F6>. If the sword you have generated is perfect
in every way except that the alignment doesn't fit, you can
change it by pressing <F7> and then selecting the alignment
you want. (By highlighting the alignment of your choice,
and then pressing <Enter>.) If you have any supported
printer connected to your computer you can print out your
sword by pressing <F3>. (See section 2.2.2 for further
details on printer configuration).
3.5.2 The Hoard Generator
The Hoard Generator is designed to simplify the
generation of monster hoards. Pressing <F5> will present you
with a list of the 26 available treasure types and the number
of occurances of each treasure type in the hoard, using the
left and right arrows highlight the treasure type desired
then press the '+' key to increment the number of occurances
of this treasure type in the hoard. Press the '-' to decrement
the number of occurances. When the correct treasure types have
been selected, press <F10> and the hoard will automatically
be generated and the results presented on screen. Pressing <F6>
allows you to select the Treasure Table desired. The default
is to use the 1st Edition treasure table printed at the back of
the Monster Manual, but the 2nd Edition and Dark Sun treasure
tables are also supported.
Pressing <F4> will run the Gemologist. NOTE: if the Gemologist
is used to determine the value of a number of gems equal to the
number in the current hoard (this is the default) then the total
value will be returned to the Hoard generator.
If you have any supported printer connected to your
computer you can print out this information by pressing <F3>.
(See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
configuration).
23
3.5.2.1 The Gemologist
The Gemologist simplifies the process of determining
the value of gems found in treasure hoards. Pressing <F5>
will present you with a list of the type of gems that exist
(as per 1st Ed. DMG p 25). After selecting the type of gems
you want you will be asked how many you want. Type in a
number between 1 and 500, then press <Enter>. Then indicate
what type of gemstones are desired (an automatic random
selection is possible). The results are presented and
tabulated, on screen. If more than 40 gems are selected then
only the total value of all the gems will be displayed. If you
have any supported printer connected to your computer you can
print out this information by pressing <F3>. (See section
2.2.2 for further details on printer configuration).
3.5.3 The NPC Maker 1st Ed.
The NPC maker simplifies what can otherwise be the
arduous process of creating a non-player character. This tool
is like those above specifically developed to create NPC's
which conform to 1st Ed. rules.
Pressing <F5> will present you with a list of the
supported non-player character types. Use the arrows keys
to move the highlight bar to the NPC type you want to
create, the press <Enter>. You will then be ask whether you
want to create the character manually, or automatically
(actually even a manually created character is mostly
automatic, except you are prompted for character race,
alignment, and a few other pertinent specifics. When
finished the results will be presented on-screen.
Pressing <F6> will allow you to customize the
characters attributes (Strength, Intelligence, etc.) after
the character has been generated.
If you have any supported printer connected to your
computer you can print out this information by pressing
<F3>. (See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
configuration).
24
3.5.4 NPC Maker 2nd Ed. (ADDCHAR)
The ADDCHAR program is both very powerful, and there is
context sensitive help along the way, however some nuances of
the programs use and extending the datafiles on which this
program depends may be somewhat complex. Micheal Hermann the
creator of this program has written a comprehensive manual for
it (look for the file ADDCHAR.DOC). So you are referred there
for a complete description of the operation of the ADDCHAR
program.
3.5.5 Auto Spell
Auto Spell allows you to (almost) instantly create a
spell list for a non-player character automatically. It also
allows you to create/edit/save spellbooks for any spellcaster
that uses them.
From the main menu in Auto Spell pressing 'A' will
allow you to automatically generate a spell list for an NPC
character. Spell list generation is described in section
3.5.5.1 Other options are available for creating/editing/
browsing and printing spellbooks. These spellbooks can, of
course be saved on disk for later examination/modification.
Pressing 'N' from Auto Spell's main menu will allow the
creation of a new spellbook (this cleans up from any previous
spellbooks that might be open, and prepares for the creation
of a new one.) You will be given the choice of either
creating the spellbook manually or automatically. If you
elect to create it manually you will be asked for a name/
title for the spellbook and returned to Auto Spell's main
menu. If you select automatic spellbook generation you will
be asked to select a list of databases from which the spells
should be pulled, as well as the level and type of
spellcaster. Then Autospell will build the spellbook
automatically. (NOTE: this is a very computationally
intensive process, and in the worst case (a slow computer
and a spell caster with many spells) this may take 5 minutes
or even longer, so do not reboot.) You will be returned
to Auto Spell's main menu when the spellbook has been
generated.
Pressing 'E' from Auto Spell's main allows you to edit
the contents of the current spellbook adding/deleting spells.
Furthermore, the complete text of each spell can be browsed
so that it's easier to decide whether a spell is appropriate
for the spellcaster whose book you are editing. NOTE: No
spellbook may conatin more than 300 spells.
25
Pressing 'B' from Auto Spell's main allows you to browse
the contents of the current spellbook, including the option
of examining the complete text for each spell.
Pressing 'P' from Auto Spell's main allows you to print
the contents of the current spellbook. There are 3 choices
here. You can print just the list of spells, the complete
text of each and every spell, or you can export the
spellbook into LATEX format (a powerful document processing
program available on most UNIX platforms.)
Pressing 'S' from Auto Spell's main allows you to save
the current spellbook to a disk file.
Pressing 'L' from Auto Spell's main allows you to load
a spellbook from a disk file.
3.5.5.1 Automatic Spell List Generation
Pressing <F5> will present you with a menu of the types
of spellcasters for whom spells are available. Select the
spell caster type desired by moving the highlight bar with
the arrow key until the desired cast type is highlighted then
press enter. You will then be asked for the caster's level
(and in the case of clerics the caster's wisdom), then Auto
Spell will create a spell list. (NOTE: this is a very
computationally intensive process, and in the worst case (a
slow computer and a spell caster with many spells) this may
take a minute or even longer, so do not reboot.) The spell
list generated will be displayed on-screen when the process
is finished.
Pressing <F6> will allow you to influence the method by
which Auto Spell selects spells. Normally, Auto Spell
selects one offensive spell and one defensive spell at each
spell level, then the remaining spells are selected
randomly from a list of all available spells at that level.
With this option you can list the spell type(s) which you want
to dominate the spell list. A menu containing all spell types
will appear, this menu can be scrolled using the arrow keys,
pressing the <Enter> key will cause the highlighted keyword
to be added to the list, selecting the same keyword again
will remove that keyword from the list. The list remains in
effect until it is changed, or until you leave Auto Spell.
Once you've created a spell list, pressing <F4> will
present you with a scrolling menu which will allow you to
browse the complete text of every spell in the list.
26
If you have any supported printer connected to your
computer you can print out this information by pressing
<F3>. (See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
configuration).
3.6 External Programs
This menu presents you with a list of the external
programs you can run from within the Tome (this includes the
ability to shell out to DOS). By default there are two
options available: 1) Shell out to DOS; 2)Run the Tome's
Setup Program. Using the setup program you can add programs
to this list. This could for example, allow you to access a
notepad program you use to jot down information and ideas as
you need to, without the need to exit the Tome.
If you shell to DOS you can return to the Tome by
typing 'EXIT' and pressing <Enter> at the DOS prompt.
3.7 Macros
Built into the Tome is a macro recorder. What the
macro recorder does is record keystrokes, and then save them
so that they can be played back at the touch of a key. For
example, I can create a macro which quickly moves me to a
search for clerical spells by pressing <CTRL-F2>, for
example, or almost anything else.
3.7.1 The Macro Menu
The macro menu allows you to view a list of the
existing macros, add new macros, delete unused, or unwanted
macros, and disable macros if you so desire. You can call up
the macro menu (pictured below) by pressing <ALT-M> (the
<ALT> key and the 'M' key at the same time).
Insert TOME6.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
27
3.7.2 How to build a Macro
To build a macro you must first call up the macro menu
then select type 'A' to add a macro, you will then be asked
to select a key which will run the macro you wish to record.
Press the key combination you want to activate your macro.
(Legal macro keys are the <ALT> pressed at the same time as
the <F1>..<F10> keys, ie., you can have up to 10 user
defined macros.) You will then be asked to select a
name/description for the macro. Type in the name you want,
then press <Enter>. The macro menu will now disappear and
you can start typing the macro you want recorded. You will
hear a click each time you press a key to remind you that
the macro recorder is operating. NOTE: Macros must be 40
keystrokes or less. This should be fine for all but the
most unusual circumstances. When you have finished typing
the macro you want recorded you again press <ALT-M> and a
window will pop up asking you whether you want to keep the
macro or not. After you have made a useful macro you will
want to save it to disk, this can be accomplished from the
macro menu by typing 'S'. NOTE: You will only be able to
save the macros if the disk the Tome is running on is NOT
write protected.
NOTE: When the macro menu is popped up you cannot activate
any of the macros, and you cannot pop up the Electronic Dice
(described in the next section).
28
3.8 Electronic Dice
Most aspects of AD&D will sooner or later require a
dice roll. To avoid forcing you to use your dice at the
computer, an electronic dice utility has been provided which
allows easy, fast dice rolling. To call up the electronic
dice, simple press <ALT-D> (the <ALT> key and the 'D' key at
the same time), and the electronic dice menu will appear (as
pictured below).
Insert TOME7.EPS picture here if you have printed it.
You will be presented with a choice as to the type of
die you want to roll, type the number corresponding to the
type of die you want to roll. You will then be asked how
many, type in the number you desire, then press <Enter>.
Alternately, if you wish a single die of any type you can
simply press <Enter> (instead of a number corresponding to a
die type) and you will be presented with one die of each
type, or you can press the spacebar and the last die roll
selection will be rerolled. eg. you just rolled 6d6 and you
want to do it again - press the spacebar. You can pop down
the electronic dice and return to your program any time by
pressing <F10>.
29
4 Last Word
Hopefully the Tome of Vast Knowledge will make
searching for obscure and arcane AD&D titbits a pleasure,
and adding spice to your campaign less of a chore. In
short, may your adventures always amaze your friends, and
keep them on their toes.
30
Appendix A
Making a Printer Driver for the Tome
Several of the tools in this program make use of the
printer. To do this effectively, the TOME needs to know how
to handle your specific printer properly. This involves
knowing the control codes your printer uses.
There are about seven Printer Definition (PRD) files
that come with the Tome. The nice thing about these files
is that they are stored as (mostly) readable ASCII files,
and you can read or edit them to suit your needs. This
means that, if there is no PRD file for your printer, you
can make one.
When you install the Tome for the first time, the PRD
file selected as the default is called EPSONMX.PRD. This
PRD will work with many dot matrix printers, but will not
make use of many more advanced printers features. To change
the PRD file to one matching your own printer, choose the
Printer Setup option in the installation program. You will
then see a sub-menu of all the printers defined in the
PRINTERS.DAT file.
Select the printer driver that most closely matches
your printer. Once selected, data files will be updated and
the new printer data will be loaded next time the Tome is
run. You will then be able to use any of the Tome printing
functions.
There are many printers which are not listed in the
PRINTERS.DAT file, and a somewhat smaller number which are
not able to emulate any of the printers listed there. You
can either use the EPSONMX.PRD file and hope for the best,
or you can create your own printer driver. To create your
own, simply make a copy of the PRD file for the printer
which is most similar to your own printer (if in doubt use
the EPSONMX.PRD file). Place the copy in a file with a name
that resembles your printer, it MUST have a .PRD extension.
For example, if you had an IBM Laser printer, you could make
a copy of the LASERJET.PRD file and call it IBMLASER.PRD.
31
Once the copy is made, all that remains is to edit the
file. Tome PRD files are ASCII files that can be edited
using any ASCII word processor that supports embedding ASCII
codes. If you edit the file using a word processing program
that has its own format (such as Word for Windows, Wordstar,
etc.), you must make sure to save the file as ASCII only.
Load the PRD file to edit into your word processor and
take a look at it. You'll see some comments describing each
portion of the file. Notice that many lines of text are
preceded by a pound sign '#'. A line with a pound sign as
the first character is a comment, and is ignored by the
Tome. The comments are used to explain what's going on
inside on of these files.
Refer to the comments if you are having trouble
understanding the PRD file.
At the top of the file is an optional header that is
merely informative for anyone viewing the PRD file. You
should change this header to indicate the name of the
printer the new driver is designed to support. Add other
comments where you see fit.
Now notice that there are a few lines that are not
comments. These consist of a header in square brackets
(eg., [BOLD]), followed by one or more lines of printer
commands. These are the actual printer information lines.
The info required by the Tome includes codes to make your
printer:
1. Define any variables which might need to be used by the
printer driver (the postscript driver is a fair example of
how this can be used.). [DEFINES]
2. Setup the printer (which usually entails turning on Near
Letter Quality mode, and possibly resetting the printer.
[PREAMBLE]
3. Clean up after printing (which might entail resetting the
printer). [POSTAMBLE]
4. Turn Bold print on. [BOLD]
5. Turn Bold print off (and Normal printing back on).
[NORMAL]
6. Any information the printer should receive before every
line. (You might want to indent a couple of spaces.)
[PRELINE]
32
7. Any information the printer should receive after every
line. [POSTLINE]
8. How to eject a page. [FORMFEED]
9. Whether any normal text characters need to be filtered/
modified before they can be printed out. [REPLACE]
10. How may lines of text can appear on a page. [LINES/PAGE]
Codes for printers are usually ESCAPE sequences, that
is, numerical values of ASCII characters, preceded by the
ESC character. For example, the code to make an Epson FX
printer change to Emphasized (Bold) mode is the ESC
character, followed by the 'G', and the character. The
appropriate lines in the printer definition file would look
like this:
[BOLD]
G
This is exactly how you enter the codes in your PRD
file. Find out the sequence of characters needed for the
specific code you want, and then convert them to their ASCII
values. You can find an ASCII chart in any DOS manual, or
your printer manual.
There are two exceptions to this rule.
1) The [REPLACE] header is followed by a list of regular
printable ASCII characters and the string which should be
used to replace it in the printer output. For example,
postscript output treats '(' and ')' as special (because
they may indicate the beginning or end of a postscript
statment so the must be replaced with '\(' and '\)'
respectively. (Look at POSTSCR.PRD for an example.)
2) The [LINES/PAGE] header must be followed by line with
the decimal value indicating the number of lines of text
your printer can put on a single page. For example if you
printer puts 66 line of the page (as many dot matrix
printers do) the following line should appear in you PRD
file:
[LINES/PAGE]
66
33
NOTE: If your printer does not support one of these
features, or you if is irrelevant for your printer (as many
of these fields are for dat matrix printers), you can
disable it by not putting any values after the code, such as
[BOLD]
In which case the default action will issued at the
appropriate point when printing out information. In every
case except [POSTLINE] (what to do after a line of text) the
default is do nothing, in the [POSTLINE] case the default is
to issue a carriage return/linefeed.
Once you have created your own PRD file, the Tome
program needs to be informed of its existence. To do this
add 2 (or more) lines to the PRINTERS.DAT file. The
PRINTERS.DAT file is a plain ASCII file the format for each
printer entry is:
0 DRIVER.PRD
1 Name of printer supported
1 (optionally) other printer supported with the same driver.
So add your driver to the PRINTERS.DAT file, then
select the printer supported by the new PRD file from the
Tome's installation/setup program and you'll be all set.
If this process eludes you, and you want the Tome to
take advantage of your printer's capabilities, send me a
copy of the pages of your printer manual that detail the
printer codes for the features mentioned above, and I'll do
the best I can to write a PRD file for you.
34
Appendix B
Changing the Default Backup key
By default every menu (except the main menu), every
list box, and every utility can be backed out of by pressing
the <F10> key. This may distress some individuals whose
keyboard layout places the <F10> in a hard to reach local.
The Tome reads the backup key from the VAST.INI file.
Under the heading [BACKKEY] in the VAST.INI file there will
be an integer. The Tome uses this value as the keystroke
which will allow escape from every menu, utility, etc.
By default this integer value is 196 decimal which
corresponds to the secondary scan code returned by the BIOS
when the <F10> is pressed + 128. This number may be replaced
by a number corresponding to the secondary scan code returned
by the BIOS when another function key is pressed + 128
(although this is NOT recommended) or the number corresponding
to the secondary scan code returned by the BIOS when an
ALT-key combination is pressed + 128 or the value returned by
the BIOS when a CTRL-key combination is pressed or the #27
which is the value returned by the BIOS when the <ESC> key is
pressed.
The recommended method for changing the backup key used
by the TOME is to run the SETUP program and select the option
to modify the backup key by pressing 'B', then selecting the
keystroke you desire.
A list of suggested backup keys are:
F10 (The default).
ALT-Z
CTRL-A
ESC
35
NOTES: The backup key for the help screens cannot be changed
from the default (F10).
While the keystroke actually used as the backup key
can be changed, the program will still display
messages insisting that the backup key is F10. This
cannot currently be changed.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this program.
Douglas P. Webb
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