THIS FILE LAST MODIFIED: 15 JULY, 1991. Welcome to the anonymous ftp site suphys.physics.su.OZ.AU (129.78.129.1). This directory (/home/pub)/rpg/helper contains the following files: README this file! rpg.pas Macintosh Turbo Pascal source code for the Macintosh application RPG, plain ascii, rpg.r Macintosh Turbo Pascal resource file for the same, ascii, rpg compiled Macintosh code of the same, binary format, README.Z.uu compressed, uuencoded version of this file, rpg.pas.Z.uu compressed, uuencoded version of rpg.pas, rpg.r.Z.uu compressed, uuencoded version of rpg.r, rpg.uu uuencoded version of rpg. Also, thanks to Dave Janes: rpgthink.p Macintosh THINK Pascal source code, ascii, rpgthink.pi Macintosh THINK Pascal resource file, binary, rpgthink.pi.rsrc Macintosh THINK Pascal resource file, binary, rpgthink compiled Macintosh code of the same, binary, rpgthink.p.Z.uu compressed, uuencoded version of rpgthink.p, rpgthink.pi.uu uuencoded version of rpgthink.pi, rpgthink.pi.rsrc.uu uuencoded version of rpgthink.pi.rsrc, rpgthink.uu uuencoded version of rpgthink. If you intend transferring any binary format files, make sure to to set binary file transfer mode in ftp. The default (ascii) mode will work for all of the other files, including the uuencoded versions. When converted to plain ascii, the source and resource files can be transferred to a Macintosh via ftp with a utility such as NCSAs Telnet for the Macintosh. When transferring any of the binary files, make sure the transfer mode is set to binary, and that the Macintosh is receiving in MacBinary mode. This transfer has been checked, and does indeed work. The "pi" in the THINK resource file names was actually the greek letter in the Mac files Dave sent me. Presumably these will have to be changed when transferred to a Mac. Option-p generates the "pi" character, I believe. WHAT IS RPG? The Macintosh application RPG is a helper program for Dungeon Masters running AD&D(version1) games. Although the current version (0.5) is still far from completion, there are enough useful features already available to allow its productive use as a game tool. RPG was/is still being developed by David Mar. David Mar Phone: +61 2 692 2727 PO Box 65 (home): +61 2 726 8416 Fairfield NSW 2165 Fax: +61 2 660 2903 Australia e-mail: mar@astrop.physics.su.OZ.AU The THINK Pascal conversion was done by Dave Janes. He can be contacted at 71611.2743@compuserve.com Future versions of RPG will be made available as they are developed, and announcements will be made on the USENET newsgroup rec.games.frp whenever this happens. Permission is granted by the author to freely distribute both the source and compiled code, so long as no charge is levied and the accreditation remains intact. Permission is also granted for anyone to modify the code for their own personal use, and to distribute the modified code, so long as any modified code which is distributed retains the original accreditation, and notification is sent to the author at any of the addresses listed above. All comments on the program may be directed to any of the above addresses, and are most welcome, especially suggestions for future improvements. WHAT USE IS RPG TO ME? If you have access to Borland's Turbo Pascal for the Macintosh, then you are in a prime position to both compile the source code and to modify it for your own purposes. Thanks to Dave Janes, THINK Pascal owners are now in a similar, happy situation. Other Pascals for the Macintosh may be able to compile the code with slight modifications (but don't quote me on that!). If you have a Macintosh, but no Pascal compiler, you can still run the compiled version of RPG as a standard application. No doubt you will wish to be able to modify it, and you may be able to do so by suggesting new features to me for inclusion in later versions. Turbo Pascal for IBM PCs may be able to use the style of the program as a basis for a Microsoft Windows version. My experience with this environment is limited, and so I make no promises. If you do not have a Macintosh (and hence cannot run the binary compiled version), nor a PC with Turbo and Windows, I am afraid that the code may only be of passing interest to you. You might get a few ideas out of it, but can forget most of the stuff which is concerned with handling menus, windows, disk files, etc. RPG VERSION 0.5 DOCUMENTATION RPG behaves as a standard Mac application. It is compatible with System 6.07 and runs under Multifinder. I cannot vouch for its performance under System 7, as it has not been tested with it yet. (If anybody can try it under System 7, would you please tell me the result?) The THINK version runs under System 7, and even has colour (thanks again, Dave). Here follows a run-down of the menu items: APPLE MENU: About RPG... Brings up the "About" box, with standard information/accreditation. Desk Accesories RPG supports all of your familiar desk accessories. FILE MENU: New Character... Brings up a dialog box which allows you to enter character statistics in an AD&D(v1) format. Fairly straightforward. Open Character... Brings up a file selection box, which allows you to load a saved character from disk. Close Character... Closes the currently selected and displayed character, erasing him or her from memory. Save Character Currently unimplemented. Save Character As... Brings up a box which allows saving of the currently selected and displayed character to disk. Modify Character... Brings up a box which allows modifications to be made to the currently selected and displayed character. Quit Quits RPG. EDIT MENU This menu contains the standard edit commands, for use with desk accessories. They perform no function in RPG. DICE MENU d4/d6/d8/d10/d12/d20/d100 Rolls dice of the selected type. Twenty are rolled, and are displayed in the dice window, individually and with cumulative totals. Other... Brings up a box which allows entry of any other die type. Then rolls dice of that many "sides" as above. TIME MENU Dungeon Turn Adds 10 minutes to the clock/calendar displayed in the time window. Combat Round Adds 1 minute to the clock. End Combat Rounds the clock time up to the nearest ten minute interval. New Day Adds one day to the clock, and sets the time equal to 08:00. Add Time... Brings up a box which allows adding of any time period to the clock. Set Time... Brings up a box which allows the clock to be set to any time. Set Terrain... Brings up a box which allows the current terrain type, latitude, and altitude to be set. For use with future implementation of a weather generating algorithm. {Notes on time: The date displayed in the time window is in the World of Greyhawk calendar, in the Australian/British format of day/month/year. Each of the week long festivals is denoted by a two letter abbreviation of the festival name. Also, the phases of the two Greyhawk moons are shown in the window. Any suggestions as to how I could make this more generic without piles of extra code would be appreciated.} CAST MENU All items are for future implementation, and do not work at present. UTIL MENU Secret Doors Makes a secret door check for each character in memory and reports the results in the information window. Hear Noise Unimplemented. Saving Throw Unimplemented. Treasure Brings up a box which allows rolling of random treasures as per the table in the AD&D(v1) Monster Manual. CHARACTER MENU No Character Clears the currently selected and displayed character, but retains the character in memory. This menu also changes to include the names of all characters currently stored in memory. Selecting a name will make that character the currently selected and displayed character. Notes on characters: character storage is such that all legal combinations of race and class/multiclass in AD&D(v1) are allowed. Many illegal combinations are also allowed. Two values are given for armour class. I use them for with and without shield, but you can use them for whatever you want. Saving throws are automatically calculated as per class and level, and displayed in the character window with all of the other information. The actual numbers are in some cases slightly different to those given in the Dungeon Master's Guide. In particular, they vary more smoothly with level than the DMG figures, but the correspondance is close. KNOWN BUGS Sometimes, if you enter a character with many blank fields that require a numerical value, RPG will crash and hang the computer. This is solved by using the trusty reset button. This is the only bug in the current version that I know about. If you always make sure that your inputs are reasonable, you should have no problems. Another effect you will notice is that the dice, information and treasure windows will not redraw the text they held when they are temporarily obscured by a dialog box or another window. This is to be regarded as a feature, and not a bug. I will fix it one day, once I have implemented everything else I want to include in the program. Any other bugs you find, please report to me. FINALLY I hope you get at least some productive use out of either the compiled program or its source code. I thank you for your interest and support. Please send me any comments or questions that you may have. David Mar. 9 July, 1991.