Welcome to the Land Of Devastation external configuration utility and sysop editor. This program allows you to set various configuration variables within LOD as well as edit current players, maps, terrain, etc.
Menus may be selected by using Alt-Z where Z is the first letter of the menu you wish to select. For example, ALT-C would select the Utilities
Menu. The
menu is access by pressing Alt-Space. a
This utility uses the TAB and SHIFT-TAB keys extensively to move back and forth through fields. l
Alt-X may be used to exit the LOD Configuration Utility. Further help is available on the following menus: )
Info - LOD/Editor utility information
Utilities - Various utility programs
Editors - Editors for players, terrain, map, etc
Setup - Various configuration parameters
Messages - Message read/write
Window - Window options
Options - Editor Options
Press ESC to put this help screen away.
(Info) menu
(Alt-Spacebar)
The Info menu appears on the far left of the menu bar and is represented by the
symbol. (
When you pull down the
menu, you see
About
PARENT: Root
About
When you choose the About command from the
(System) menu, a dialog box appears, showing copyright and version information. G
To close the box, press Esc, Space, or Enter, or click the OK button.
PARENT:
Menu
Utilities Menu
The utilities menu includes a variety of little utility features that may assist you in operating your copy of LOD. They include rankings viewers, log file viewers, etc. 7
Here is a listing of the available utility functions: 2
Rankings
ViewLog
Advancement
Objects
PARENT: Root
Display Current Rankings
This utility will display the current player rankings. The Rankings will be immediately calculated, sorted, and displayed. Each user will be listed as well as his scores in six categories:
Worth: This is how much money the player is worth. It includes the value of the equipment he is carrying, bases he owns, money, etc. G
Level: This is the characters level. Levels are based on expericence.
Exper: The players experience varies with how much combat the player has been involved in and what special quests he has completed.
Brave: Bravery is calculated based on how often the player fights in a combat situation versus how often he runs and surrenders. X
Accur: Accurracy is how often the player hits compared to how often the player misses. .
Total: The average of the above five scores.
PARENT: Utilities
Menu
View Log File
The ViewLog utility will display the current log file if it is available. (Note: If nobody has played, then the log file will either be unavailable or empty)
PARENT: Utilities
Menu
Advancement
The advancement table displays a table of the various experience requirements for each level in LOD. These values are calculated based on the values defined under Setup:Exper. m
This utility is useful for viewing what effects changes to the Setup:Exper variables will have on the game.
PARENT: Utilities
Menu
Object Listing
The object listing will list the positions of all of the objects that are laying about on the wastelands. This utility is primarily used by me for debugging program errors, but some of you may find it useful as well.
PARENT: Utilities
Menu
Editors Menu
The editors menu includes editors for editing players, terrain, maps, etc. 6
Here is a listing of the available editor functions: '
Users
Map
Devices
Terrain
PARENT: Root
User Editor
The User Editor is the primary tool for editing players in LOD. You may edit almost every aspect of a players character.
The format of the user edit screen is a bit nonstandard and may be slightly confusing. The screen is divided into four sections: y
-------------
: : 3 :
: :---:
: 1 : :
: : :
:-------: 4 :
: 2 : :
-------------
Section #1 is the editing window. In here, the user's parameters are displayed. You may tab up and down and change what you wish.
Section #2 contains three buttons which will allow you to browse through the userbase. <Next> goes to the next user, <Previous> to the previous user, and <Done> will exit the editor. Z
Section #3 displays the user's number and name. It is purely for informational purposes.
Section #4 contains several buttons which will select what data you wish to edit. Whenver you push a button in this area, the editing screen in section #1 will change to show the appropriate data. c
By using the buttons in section #4, you are able to select any one of the following data screens: "
<Personal> Personal information
Real
Alias
Alive
<Attribs> Player attributes and characteristics
Strength
Dexterity
Agility
Maximum
Current
Level
Expericent
<Finances> Player financial parameters
Normal
Account
Game
Account
Loan
Money
<Combat> Combat related parameters
Hits
Misses
Total
Combat
Kills
Times
Fleed
Times
Surrendered
<Prefs> Preferences
Forced
color
Colored
Enhanced
Expert
Combat
<Misc> Miscellanious
X-Coordinate
Y-Coordinate
Z-Coordinate
Last
Message
Hunger
<Quests> Special Quests
Quest
Toggles
<Equip> Equipment display
Equipment
listing
PARENT: Editor
Menu !
Real Name
This is the user's real name. It is supplied by the bbs software and should not need to be modified.
PARENT: User
Editor
Alias
This is the user's alias which he chooses when he creates his character. If possible, then this variable should not be altered as it can be confusing to other players.
PARENT: User
Editor
Alive
A "Y" in this parameter specifies that the user is alive. If an "N" is present, then the user has died.
If you wish to manually ressurect a user, then you may go ahead and place a "Y" in this position. However, all of the user's equipment will have already been dropped to the wasteland and the users stats will have dropped by 25%. (You may manually increase them if you wish)
PARENT: User
Editor
Attributes
There are three basic attributes in LOD which control a player's skills and abilities. These are STRENGTH, DEXTERITY, and AGILITY. By default, the player is allocated 21 points in each one of these fields. When the player goes up a level, he is able to allocate additional points. You may alter these as you wish without any adverse effects. ;
Below is a short description of what each attribute does: }
STRENGTH: Increases damage in close combat.
AGILITY: Running away, avioding hits.
DEXTERITY: Ability to hit with weapon.
PARENT: User
Editor
Hit Points
Hit Points (also referred to as Health) specify how much damage the user can take before dying. The "Current Hit Points" is the counter of how many hit points the user has at the moment. When it reaches zero, the user dies.
"Maximum hit points" specifies the maximum amount of hit points that the "Current hit points" variable can attain. The user regenerates his hit points using medical kits. G
The user may increase his "maximum hit points" when he rises a level.
PARENT: User
Editor
Level/Experience
A user generates experience by fighting monster and accomplishing certain special quests. One the user attains a certain amount of experience, he will "go up a level" and be allowed to upgrade his attributes as he wishes.
The "experience" variable is simply a raw count of how much experience the user has. This experience is gained during combat and by accomplishing special quests.
The "level" variable is semi-dependent upon the experience variable. Once the user gets enough experience, he rises one or more levels and this variable is incremented accordingly.
The amount of experience required for each level is determined by the values set up in the Setup:Exper menu. The current experience table may be viewed in the Utitlies:Exper menu.
PARENT: User
Editor
Normal Account
The normal account is one of the many bank accounts in LOD. A user may place money in this account and earn 10% (by default) additional each day.
PARENT: User
Editor
Game Account
The game account is one of the many bank accounts in LOD. A user may place money in this account and earn 20% (by default) additional each day. However, this added gain is not without risks. Other players may "challenge" the user to a game for up to half of what is in this account. If the challenger wins, he gets the money. If not, then the player gets the additional money.
PARENT: User
Editor
Loan
Users may take out a loan up to a certain percentage of their worth. Each night, additional interest will be added on to this loan until the user pays up. V
This value is the current outstanding balance on the loan and it will go up nightly.
Currently, there is no penalty for not paying your loan off. The only thing it hurts is that the user may not be able to take out a loan at another time when he really needs the money.
PARENT: User
Editor
Money on Hand
This variable stores how much money the user currently is carrying on his person.
PARENT: User
Editor
Hits/Misses
A running statistic is kept on how many times the user HITS a monster compared to how many times a user MISSES a monster. These two variables are then used to compute the user's accuracy in the rankings display.
PARENT: User
Editor
Bravery Statistics
A group of statistical variables are kept on how well the user does in combat. Since these directly effect the "bravery" reading in the rankings display, I have dubbed them the bravery statistics: S
Total Combat: This is how many times the user has enterred combat with a monster. R
Kills: This is how many times the user has succeeded in killing hostile monster. d
Times Fleed: This is how many times the user has successfully "ran away" from a monster in combat. \
Times Surrendered: This is how many times the user has surrendered to a monster in combat. l
The sum of (kills+flees+surrenders) should be less than or equal to the total number of combat encounters.
PARENT: User
Editor
Force ANSI color
If the FORCE-ANSI preference is turned on, then ANSI color codes will be enabled for the use no matter what the bbs says his capabilities are. This is useful if a player has ANSI shut off within the BBS, but wishes the added benefits of ANSI during LOD game play.
PARENT: User
Editor
Colored Map
If colored map is enabled, then the wastelands map will be displayed to the user in color. This color does slow down the display for users with slow modems, so the option is given to shut off color for those who wish it. F
NOTE #1: Colored Map only pertains to users who are not using GTERM.
NOTE #2: For a colored map display, the user must either have ANSI capability by default or have the FORCE ANSI option toggled on.
PARENT: User
Editor
Enhanced ANSI Map Display
For ANSI users, the enhanced ansi map display looks much nicer than the normal map display. However, this display may operate a bit slower than the normal one. So the option is provided to "degrade" the map display down to the lower method if the user wishes. L
NOTE #1: Enhanced ANSI map only pertains to users who are not using GTERM.
NOTE #2: For an enhanced map display, the user must either have ANSI capability by default or have the FORCE ANSI option toggled on.
PARENT: User
Editor
Expert Toggle
If expert is toggled ON, then all of the menu displays in LOD will be turned off. This is useful for users who know the game well and do not wish to see the menus over and over again. `
At any time, the user may display a menu by hitting "?", even if his Expert mode is turned on.
PARENT: User
Editor
Combat Mode
The combat mode is used to determine how the user will fight in close combat. There are three choices:
Statistical: The user fights solely by his statistics. If he has a high dexterity, he'll hit a lot. If he has a low dexterity, then he'll miss a lot.
Alpha-Key: The user's ability is based on how fast he can hit a certain key on the keyboard. This is in effect, a "typing tutor". G
Reflex-Action: The user's reflexes control whether or not he can hit.
PARENT: User
Editor
Coordinates
The location of a user is determined by three coordinates: Z,X,Y. The X and Y coordinates are usually the user's X,Y position on the main map (this is when Z=1). There are two exceptions: <
Z=0: The user is in a city; the number is determined by X. <
Z=255: The user is in a base; base number determined by X. W
Right now, there is only one real map level (Z=1), but that may change in the future.
You should not alter the user's coordinates as you may place him in the middle of an unpassable mountain or something similar that he could get "stuck" in.
PARENT: User
Editor
Last Message Pointer
The last message pointer indicates the number of the last message that the user has read in the LOD message base. You should not need to alter it.
PARENT: User
Editor
Hunger Points
Hunger points are used internally by LOD to determine how hungry a user is. You should not need to alter them.
PARENT: User
Editor
Special Quests
There are several "special quests" in LOD which the user can complete for added experience. You should not need to modify these.
PARENT: User
Editor
Equip Listing
The equipment listing will show what weapons, armor, etc, the user is currently using. This information is provided solely for informational purposes and may not be edited.
PARENT: User
Editor
Map Editor
The Map Editor is designed to allow you to edit LOD's playing map. Currently, the map is arranged into a 125x125 grid of terrain cells. Each one of these cells is a terrain type which has the characteristics specified in the terrain editor below. h
The Map Editor is mainly obvious and very user friendly. Because of that, we will not discuss it here.
PARENT: Editor
Menu
Device Editor
The Device Editor will allow you to edit any of the devices that players may use inside LOD. These included weapons, armor, medical kits, etc. The device editor. K
NAME: The name of the device; Should not be longer than 15 chars
USES: Number of uses LEFT on the device. Usually the same as MAXUSE
MAXUSE: Maximum number of uses the device has.
DEV USE: If "Y", then decrement the USES variable each time the
device is used.
VAR1: General purpose variable #1; varies from device to device.
VAR2: General purpose variable #2; varies from device to device.
APPLICAT: Code corresponding to what the device does.
USABLE: "Y" if the device can be used with the U command.
STORE: Code corresponding to store at which device will be sold.
COST: Price of device when sold at store.
ANSI: 8 character string corresponding to attached ansi picture.
EGA: Attached EGA graphics picture.
See Also:
Listing of APPLICAT codes:
Listing of STORE codes:
Listing of VARx parameters:
PARENT: Editor
Menu
APPLICAT codes
The following codes are used in the "Application" field of the device editor:
0 Radio 9 AML/medline 14 Death Badge 23 Rom Disk
1 Medic Kit 10 Rope 15 Warper 24 <Internal>
2 SR Weapon 11 Rations 16 Communicat 25 B-Teleporter
3 LR Weapon 12 Scanner 17 B-React 26 Recharger
4 Armor 13 Stealth 18 B-Comm 27 Pylon Key
5 <reserved> 14 G-Blaster 19 B-Defense
6 B.A.D. 15 Unusable Armr 20 B-Moat
7 LRScan 16 Grenade 21 B-Weapon
8 Ammunition 17 Cyclops Eye 22 Laptop
PARENT: Device
Editor
Store codes
The following codes are used in the "Store" field of the device editor:
0 No Store 9 B-Weapon
1 SR Weapons 10 Computer
2 Armor 11 LR Weapons
3 Supply 12 <internal>
4 Ammo 13 <internal>
5 B-React 14 GSRZ Hort.
6 B-Comm 15 B-Teleporter
7 B-Def
8 B-Moat
PARENT: Device
Editor
VARx Params
Here are some of the definitions for the VAR1/VAR2 parameters for
some of the various device types.
Weapons: The VAR1 parameter is divided into three fields corresponding
to the ammo type, minimum, and maximum damage. For example,
consider the following:
NAME: Rad-Axe
.
.
VAR1: 32030
.
.
The three fields are 3, 20, and 30. "3" is the ammo type;
20 is the minimum damage done and 30 is the maximum damage
done.
For weapons not requiring ammo, use a "0" for the ammo type.
Always use two digit numbers (i.e. for a 4-6 damage weapon
requiring power packs, use 030406, NOT 0346)
Ammo: The VAR1 parameter is the ammo type and the VAR2 parameter
is the number of shots. For example,
NAME: Power Pack
VAR1: 3
VAR2: 35
This is for a power pack - ammo type 3; 35 shots.
Armor: The USELEFT parameter is the amount of damage the armor can
abosrb; The VAR2 is the percentage chance of the armor
deflecting a hit. (i.e. VAR2=0 means the armor deflects
nothing; VAR2=100 means the armor deflects everything)
The VAR1 parameter holds some specialty flags. These flags
are bitmapped. Right now, the flags are as follows:
Bit 1: If set, then armor is rechargable.
PARENT: Device
Editor
Terrain Editor
There are 30 basic terrain types which the LOD world is based upon. You may alter any of these 30 types as you wish. -
NAME: The name of the terrain type
DANGER: Percentage chance of finding monster there.
SYMBOL: 2 character symbol for ansi/ascii maps
COLOR: Numeric color code for ascii/ansi
PASSABLE: "Y" if you can walk through it. "N" if you can't.
PARENT: Editor
Menu
Setup Menu
The setup menu contains options for altering parameters which effect game play. Things such as the cost of bases, new player starting equipment, etc., are included in this section 4
Here is a listing of the available setup submenus: R
New
Player
Fort
Options
Combat
Modes
Finances
Misc
Advancement
PARENT: Root
New Player Options
The new player options specify what equipment and what attributes will be allocated to new players when they first enter the game. (Note: This also applies to players who elect to create a new character after theirs has died)
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Fortress Options
This section specifies various attributes of the "fortresses" in LOD. Forts are player-constructed bases which can house players, store items, etc.
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Combat Mode Options
LOD includes multiple combat modes which the players may select. Each mode has some advantages and disadvantages. This section allows you to disable any of the modes if you do not like them or alter the timing of the action modes.
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Financial Options
This section includes a variety of options which apply to the financial aspects of LOD such as the bank interest, loan payments, etc.
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Misc Options
Whatever setup options that don't fit anywhere else get stuck here...
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Advancement Options
These options control how much experience is required for a player to attain a new level.
PARENT: Setup
Menu
Window
(Alt-W)
The Window menu contains commands to close, move and perform other window-management commands.
Most of the windows in this program have all the standard window elements, including scroll bars, a close box, and zoom icons. >
For more about windows and their elements, refer to windows. :
Window-management commands
Size/Move Zoom
Tile Cascade
Next Previous
Close
PARENT: Root
Window
Size/Move
(Ctrl-F5)
Choose this command to change the size or position of the active window.
Size
If you press Shift while you use the arrow keys, you can change the size of the active window. Once you've adjusted its size or position, press Enter. Q
If a window has a Resize corner, you can drag that corner to resize the window.
Move
When you choose Window
Size/Move, the active window moves in response to the arrow keys. Once you've moved the window to where you want it, press Enter. F
You can also move a window by dragging its title bar with the mouse.
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Zoom
(F5)
Choose Zoom to resize the active window to the maximum size. If the window is already zoomed, you can choose this command to restore it to its previous size. {
You can also double-click anywhere on the window's title bar (except where an icon appears) to zoom or unzoom the window.
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Tile
Choose Window
Tile to tile all file viewers on the desktop. L
Tiled Windows
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Cascade
Choose Window
Cascade to stack all file viewers on the desktop. A
Cascaded Windows
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Next
Choose Next to cycle forwards through the windows on the desktop.
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Previous
Choose Previous to cycle backwards through the windows on the desktop.
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Window
Close
(Alt-F3)
Choose Close to close the active window. O
You can also click the Close box in the upper right corner to close a window.
PARENT: Windows
Menu
Message Menu
The Message Menu contains various services for reading and writing messages in the LOD message base. The following commands are available: f
Read
Messages: Read in the LOD message base
Write
Message: Write a message in the LOD message base
PARENT: Root
Read Messages
The read message command will allow you to browse through the message base and read whatever messages you wish. There are three command buttons: NEXT, PREVIOUS, and DONE. These are pretty self-explanatory. The up/down arrows will allow you to scroll up and down within a particular message if it is longer than one screen.
PARENT: Message
Menu
Write Message
This feature is not completed yet, but should be soon. When finished, it will allow you to enter a message into the LOD Message Base.
PARENT: Message
Menu
Options Menu
The options menu includes a few things to tailor the LOD external editor to your preferences. Things such as screen size, color, etc, can be modified.
(.txt)