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1996-03-26
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C A S T L E S I E G E
Sysop Documentation
Version 1.25
Copyright (c) 1993-96 by W & W Communications
Written by Peter R. Woodmansee
Distributed by
W & W Communications
The Holodeck BBS
(408) 261-1313
Castle Siege Page i
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.0 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1 Limitations in the Evaluation Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.0 Installing and Executing Castle Siege . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1 Option: -Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 Option: -DropFile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3 Option: -Fossil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.4 Option: -ComPort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.5 Option: -Initialize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.6 Option: -Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.0 Ram Disk Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.0 Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.0 Sysop Message File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.0 Sysop Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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1.0 Introduction
════════════════
Welcome to Castle Siege .
Castle Siege is a game of adventure and conquest. The object of the
game is to conquer the Castle. In order to do this you must defeat
the Giant Cyclops who is guarding the entrance to the Castle. Each
player must not only find the location of the Castle but also build
his forces up to a point where he stands a chance of surviving the
encounter with the Cyclops.
Beware... Enemy warriors as well as other players also are roaming the
rooms. Encounters with them will be many and often. Treasures such
as gems and gold can be found laying around as well as buried beneath
the ground. Enemy warriors also carry various items. Some of these
include gems, gold, food, magic potions, and magic scrolls.
All of this is COMPLETELY MULTINODE-REALTIME-INTERACTIVE. This way
(on a multinode bbs) you can actually battle with others online at
the same time... or help each other in a battle against a tough group
of enemy warriors.
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2.0 Registration
════════════════
Castle Siege is distributed as an Evaluation Copy. Please read and
return the registration form in REGISTER.DOC. Also be sure that you
have a recent version of the registration form. Each form is dated
at the top with an expiration date. This date is there mainly to
make sure you have a recent version of the software. If your form is
out of date you should call The Holodeck BBS (408) 248-0869 and get
the most recent form as well as checking for a more recent version
of this door. All of our doorware products can be downloaded by
going to our FILE MENU and selecting the "W" option. A complete
list will be presented to you. You can also FREQ any of our files
at 1:143/129. FREQ 'FILES' for a complete list of our doorware
products.
When you register, you will be given a small file to put into
your Castle Siege directory. It will be named CASTLE.COD.
This file will enable the various features that did not work in the
Evaluation Copy.
Make sure you keep a copy of the file in a safe place, since it will
be used with future versions as well.
2.1 Limitations in the Evaluation Copy
──────────────────────────────────────
The Evaluation Copy of this game has some limitations. These
limitations are to encourage the registration of the game. If you
and your users enjoy the game, you should register it.
1) Unregistered copies will use the DEFAULT values in the CASTLE.CFG
file. Once you register the game you will be able to modify these
values in order to customize Castle Siege for your bbs.
2) Unregistered copies will not display the sysop.msg file.
(this file is described in section 5.0)
3) Unregistered copies will only allow players to advance to
an experience level of 8.
If you and your users enjoy playing Castle Siege please consider
showing your support by registering your copy. Once registered,
you will be able to customize the game by modifying your config file.
No re-initialization will be necessary unless you decide to increase
the MAX_PLAYERS variable.
Thanks in advance for your support!
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3.0 Installing and Executing Castle Siege
═══════════════════════════════════════════
To install Castle Siege on your system, use the INSTALL program
supplied with the package. If you have an authorization file,
copy it into the Castle Siege directory. Once you have installed
Castle Siege via our installation program just type:
CASTLE -INITIALIZE
from the castle subdirectory. This will build all of the subdirectories
and files needed for the game to run. Initializing the game is only
required one time, but you can do it as often as you like. Each time
you initialize the game all users are deleted and scores are reset.
If you are using a RAM DISK, note that -initialize will initialize
your MASTER files (the ones on your hard drive, NOT the ram disk)
That's all there is to it!
LOCAL MODE:
-----------
You can now execute the game in local mode by typing:
CASTLE
at the DOS prompt. To run it with your BBS, you will need to have a
batch file do the following (this batch file is automatically created
for you by the install program):
A. Change to the Castle Siege directory.
B. Execute the game. The format for this is:
CASTLE <options>
Where <options> is one or more of the options listed below.
Each option starts with a dash (-) and is followed by one or
more characters specifying which option you want (case does not
matter). If an option takes a parameter, follow the option
name with an equal sign (=) and then the parameters for
that option. No spaces are allowed to separate the option from
its parameters! For example:
CASTLE -Node=1 <--- CORRECT FORMAT
is allowed, however,
CASTLE -Node = 1 <--- BAD FORMAT
is not.
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3.1 Option: -Node
─────────────────
This option is REQUIRED if you want to run Castle Siege with a BBS.
It takes the node number as its parameter. If the BBS only has one
node, use 1. Example:
-Node=1
3.2 Option: -DropFile
─────────────────────
This option is REQUIRED if you want to run Castle Siege with a BBS.
It takes the path to the information file your BBS creates for doors
as its parameter. The following BBS types are supported:
Generic DOOR.SYS --> any BBS which generates DOOR.SYS
GAP --> generates DOOR.SYS
PCBoard --> generates PCBOARD.SYS
Quick BBS / RBBS --> generates DORINFOx.DEF
Spitfire (door menu) --> generates SFDOORS.DAT
Spitfire (file menu) --> generates SFFILE.DAT
Spitfire (main menu) --> generates SFMAIN.DAT
Spitfire (message menu) --> generates SFMESS.DAT
Wildcat! 2.x or lower --> generates CALLINFO.BBS
Wildcat! 3.x --> generates DOOR.SYS
WWIV --> generates CHAIN.TXT
Example:
-DropFile=C:\SF\NODE1\SFDOORS.DAT
If you are running a BBS type not specifically supported here and
you have the format of the door file it produces, feel free to
contact us and share your information -- we will most likely add
that BBS type for future versions.
3.3 Option: -Fossil
───────────────────
This option has no parameters. If you include it on the command
line, Castle Siege will attempt to use a FOSSIL driver rather than
its own internal comm handlers for communications. If no FOSSIL
driver is loaded, an error will be generated and Castle Siege will
exit. Currently supported FOSSIL drivers are X00 & BNU. Example:
-Fossil
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3.4 Option: -ComPort
────────────────────
This option allows you to specify the exact COM port configuration
for Castle Siege to use. Two items are required as parameters for
this option, separated by a comma: the base address of the COM port
(in hex, prefixed with 0x) and the IRQ number to use. Example:
-ComPort=0x3F8,4
3.5 Option: -Initialize
───────────────────────
This option has no parameters. It initializes the game.
For Castle Siege it will build all of the subdirectories
and files needed for the game to run. Initializing the game is only
required one time, but you can do it as often as you like. Each time
you initialize the game all users are deleted and scores are reset.
3.6 Option: -Reset
──────────────────
Don't get this command confused with -INITIALIZE. -Initialize will
complete reinitialize the game (start it from scratch), while -RESET
will merely reset the INUSE and INGAME flags in the player records.
If you ever have a player enter the game and have the Castle Siege tell
them that they are already in the game, you will need to use this option.
This could be the result of a power failure or system crash while a user
is in the game.
CASTLE -RESET
tells Castle Siege to reset all of the 'inuse' and 'ingame' flags.
If you are using the RAM DISK option the -reset will reset the
players.dat file in your ram disk, not the hard drive.
ONLY USE THIS OPTION WHEN NO ONE IS IN THE GAME.
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4.0 Ram Disk Support
════════════════════
Castle Siege now supports the use of a Ram Disk (as of version 1.25).
In the config file, CASTLE.CFG, there is a parameter labeled DATAFILES.
All of the MAPS along with the EMEMY.DAT, PLAYERS.DAT and TALKING.DAT
can exist in a ramdisk for quicker disk access during the game.
LEAVE THIS OPTION BLANK (i.e. DATAFILES = ) IF YOU DON'T PLAN ON USING
A RAM DISK.
As an example, lets say you have a ramdisk set up as drive F with
a subdirectory called Castle for the games files.
In the CASTLE.CFG file you would have:
DATAFILES = F:\CASTLE
You would also want to create a MAPS subdirectory from within the Castle
subdirectory. This is where all of the maps will reside.
You will most likely want to have a batch file set up to copy all of
the maps from your harddrive (lets assume for this example that you
originally set up a Castle subdirectory on your C drive. (C:\CASTLE)
Your batch file would look something like:
Copy c:\castle\maps\*.* f:\castle\maps
Copy c:\castle\players.dat f:\castle
Copy c:\castle\enemy.dat f:\castle
(you don't need to copy talking.dat over, as it will be created each time)
Now whenever a player is in the game (assuming you have the
DATAFILES = F:\CASTLE in your castle.cfg) the game will read/write
to and from the files on your ramdisk. This should significantly
increase the games overall speed, especially on systems which have
slow hard drives or are running in a multitasking environment.
-------------
!!!WARNING!!!
-------------
If you turn your computer off, or if your system crashes and you lose
your ramdisk, ALL data WILL be lost. I suggest coping the ramdisk
files back over to your hard drive at least once per day to ensure
minimal loss if you should lose your ramdrive.
Also note that during a CASTLE -INITIALIZE your ramdisk files will
not be used. Only the files on your hard drive will actually be
initialized. It is up to you, after initializing a game, to copy
the appropriate files over to the ramdisk.
If you do a CASTLE -RESET, the players.dat file on your ram disk will
be the one reset. A reset does not restart a game, it merely resets
some flags in the player records. See -Reset for more info.
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5.0 Configuration File
══════════════════════
The Castle Siege configuration file should be located in the same
directory as Castle Siege and is used to control various aspects
of the game. It should be named CASTLE.CFG and a sample has been included
in this packet of files. Inside the file, lines which start with a
pound sign (#) are considered comments. Each configuration line is
made up of a keyword, an equal sign, and a value to assign to the
keyword. Please refer to the CASTLE.CFG file for descriptions of
each keyword.
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6.0 Sysop Message File
══════════════════════
Registered versions of Castle Siege support a Sysop Message File.
A Sysop Message File is an ASCII file that will be displayed to the
players just prior to the Castle Siege main menu. The file must be
named 'SYSOP.MSG'. If the file exists in the Castle Siege subdirectory,
it will be displayed to the players. There is no limit to the length
of the Sysop.msg file.
If 'Sysop.msg' does not exist or if you are running a non-registered
version of Castle Siege, nothing will be displayed.
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7.0 Sysop Controls
══════════════════
The Sysop has the following set of functions available:
(local keyboard only)
ALT-C or F10 Initiate CHAT mode.
ALT-J or ALT-D Jump to DOS.
Up Arrow Increase user's remaining time by five minutes.
Down Arrow Decrease user's remaining time by five minutes.
Left Arrow Decrease user's remaining time by one minute.
Right Arrow Increase user's remaining time by one minute.
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