CONFIGURATION FILES

Many players of Hack Lite will be content to play a single character.
Others, however, may want to define several different characters which
might play independently.  One situation where this is convenient is a
shared family computer, where each family member might define his or her
own unique character.  Another situation would be that of a Hack fanatic
(er, enthusiast) who wants to experiment with many different kinds of
characters.

To support these modes of play, Hack Lite supports multiple configuration
files, each of which defines a set of game preferences.  The master
configuration is HACKLITE.CNF, which is created by HackInstall when the
game is installed.  (It is created in ENV:/ENVARC: if these paths are
defined on your system, and otherwise in S:.)  Other .CNF files can be
created in the Hack Lite game directory by the HackConfig program, or
manually.  The way in which a configuration file is chosen and used
depends on whether you play from the CLI or from Workbench.

PLAYING FROM THE CLI

If you play from the CLI, the default configuration file is used unless
you use the -u argument when you start the game.  For instance, if you
start up the game with the command "hacklite2 -uMordred", Hack Lite looks
first for a file named Mordred.CNF.  If Mordred.CNF does not exist, then
the standard configuration is used.  Note that you can use other arguments
to override the configuration.	For instance "hacklite2 -uMordred -I" will
start up an immortal-mode game, even if the Mordred character is not
normally immortal.  (See Hack.man for more information on Hack Lite
command line arguments.)

The search for a configuration is actually a little more complicated than
stated in the last paragraph.  The full search for a .CNF file is as
follows:

1.  Look in the current directory for playername.CNF, and then for
    HACKLITE.CNF.
2.  Look in ENV:/S: for playername.CNF, and then for HACKLITE.CNF
3.  Look in the Hack game directory for playername.CNF, and then for
    HACKLITE.CNF.

PLAYING FROM WORKBENCH

Hack Lite is even more flexible when you invoke it from a Workbench icon.
It makes use of the icon "tool types" to take the place of command-line
arguments for common startup requirements.  The meaningful tool types are
as follows:

CONFIG=filename - specifies the name of a configuration file to be used
    for this game.  If there is no CONFIG tool type, the configuration
    file is found as described below.

NAME=playername - specifies the player name.  If there is no NAME tool
    type, the player name is taken from the icon name.	If there is no
    CONFIG tool type, the configuration file name is assumed to be
    playername.CNF.

CLASS=letter - specifies the character class, e.g., CLASS=K to play a
    knight.  If there is no CLASS tool type, the class is read from the
    configuration file.

(There is also a SAVE= tool type.  This tool type is set by the game when
it creates icons representing saved games, and should not be set by you.)

Once the configuration file name has been determined, the search for the
configuration file takes place as described above for the CLI.	The
"current directory" here is the directory containing the icon.

USING HACKCONFIG TO DEFINE CONFIGURATIONS

When you invoke HackConfig, it always reads the master configuration file.
You can use the "Load Config" button to read some other configuration file
instead.  The "Update Player" button is used to store back the
configuration you most recently loaded, with any changes you've requested.
(If you haven't loaded any other configurations, HACKLITE.CNF is
rewritten.)  The "Add Player" button is used after you've changed the
player name to create a new configuration.  Note that if you select
"Update Player" when the player name does not already have a
configuration, or select "Add Player" for a player name that does have a
configuration, HackConfig will "do the right thing". In particular, it
will not create a configuration where the file name and the player name
specified in the file differ, such as a Mordred.CNF specifying a player
name of Lancelot.

Additional controls are provided by the HackConfig menus.  The "Save
Config", "Save As" and "Save as Default" menu selections allow you more
control over where a configuration file is stored.  You should avoid "Save
As" unless you know what you're doing!  Note that "Save As Default" is
most useful if you want to change the name of your default character,
since "Update Player" does not let you change the player name.

If you play from Workbench, you may also wish to use the "Add Icon"
control. You would use "Add Icon" when you want to add an icon for an
existing player. For instance, suppose your character Mordred is defined
in the configuration file as a Knight.	Every time you click on the
Mordred icon, you will play as a Knight.  Now you decide you would
sometimes like to play Mordred as a Wizard.  If you set Mordred's
character class to Wizard and select "Update Player", the Mordred.CNF file
will be rewritten to show that Mordred is a Wizard by default.	If you
wanted instead to sometimes play Mordred as a Wizard, but keep the default
of Knight, you would select "Add Icon" instead. A new Mordred-W icon will
be created to let you play Mordred as a Wizard, and MORDRED.CNF will not
be changed.

SAVE FILE CONSIDERATIONS

One of the unique features of Hack is the use of "bones files", which
allow a player to encounter the ghost of another player (or of himself) as
he explores the dungeon.  When several players use the same computer, you
may need to be careful to allow the "bones" of any player to be accessed
by the others.	The considerations depend on which of the four
configurations you selected when you installed the game.

Full Hard Disk:  No problem!  The "bones files" are all stored in the
    common "Saved Games" directory.

Minimal Hard Disk:  No problem!  The "bones files" are stored on your hard
    disk.  Each player can have his own save disk, or they can all share.

Two Floppy Setup:  The "bones files" are all stored on the save disk that
    was created at install time.  For this reason, if possible, all players
    should share the same save disk.  If this is not possible, a player who
    uses another save disk will sometimes be required to swap in the "bones"
    disk.  Note that Hack Lite save files are fairly small.  A single floppy
    can comfortably hold at least 4 save files for games with many levels,
    and more for typical games.

One Floppy Setup:  The "bones files" are stored in the common "Saved
    Games" directory on the floppy.  So you will have no problem accessing
    them, but you may find yourself cramped for space on this disk.  Note
    that you could play with an additional save disk, if you selected
    "Requestor for Saved Games" when you installed.  Even if you use a
    separate save disk, it is still possible to run out of space during a
    game which generates many levels.