* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a i s C r z E h t !!!!! y g * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Original AmigaBASIC author unknown. (Many, many thanks). Converted to a Metro Door by Peter Deane Version 1.0c Release 4 (5 June 1991) (c) 1991 by Peter Deane * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Standalone Version: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This release is a standalone version of the Crazy 8s door for Metro BBS. It's in AC-BASIC (compiled) so don't expect it to run under WB 2.0, okay? I have since swapped to GFA BASIC - more speed, no worries on an A3000. But this was written before I saw the light. To run this, just keep the icon and the exe in the same directory. Either run the program from the icon, or simply CD to the directory it's in and run it from the CLI. The door will create a small file called '8s.scores'. I'll leave it to you to figure out what that is (standard ascii file, BTW). I thought I'd send this out to just get a little more publicity for Metro BBS. Besides, it's an addictive game when you get into it! Was real popular on the BBS when I first put it on. Now, however, we can run all the Paragon doors, and there's been a proliferation of Metro doors, too, and it's not as frequently invoked. In fact, I have over 60 doors running on the system now, which would give even an IBM-based BBS something to worry about. Being able to run Metro AND Paragon format doors is one of Metro's strongest points. Oh, BTW, the 6.6 version of Metro that's kicking around the place hasn't got a patch on the current registered version of Metro (8.0b) I wish Percy would release a new PD version, cos 6.6 is just NO INDICATION of how good Metro actually is. (Like it's been opening its own screen since V 6.8, and that's not half of it. It's now in GFA-BASIC, making it about 4 times faster). Fido is coming soon - I spoke to Percy a few days ago, and he expects it to be done by around Christmas. At the end of these docs, I'll include the list of doors I've done so far for Metro. These are just MY doors, there are many others besides. Please ignore references to Registration of THIS program. It only applies to the DOOR itself. The standalone version is PUBLIC DOMAIN. And also remember that there will inevitably be differences in the door and the standalone version. You'll need a copy of graphics.bmap in either the current directory or your system libs: directory before this prog will run. Original door docs follow... Copyright Status: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The copyright as a Metro Door is held by me. This package may be re-distributed electronically, provided a profit is not made by such distribution. If a profit is made, then the proceeds MUST be forwarded to me. You are free to run this door on your system for a period of 30 days free of charge. If you don't like it, it must be removed from your BBS after that time. If you are still running it after 30 days, you must send me $5 to the address below to register the program. See the file 'Readme' for the importance and benefits of registering the door. If you are running this after 30 days, and have not paid the registration fee, you are in breach of copyright. (Percy is exempt! He wrote the Door-routines - well, what's left of them anyway). I am still yet to receive any shareware donations from the USA. Are you guys using my doors or what? (I am told you are...) I was very tempted to release a cut-down version of Peeping Tom as an unregistered release. Please don't force me to take this approach with future doors... Contact Me: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Postal: Peter Deane PO Box 13 Waratah NSW 2298 AUSTRALIA Call Inquestor BBS: 011-61-49-67-6808 from the USA (or (049) 67-6808 within Aust) 1200/2400 baud. 24 Hours. Note that due to the excessive cost, and the fact that it costs ME money to help you, I can no longer afford to call Percy's BBS any more. If you want to contact me, call my BBS (if it's been reconnected - phone has been cut off at the moment due to an upaid $580 bill mainly chalked up calling USA), or send me a letter. Any questions from users of this door who have not paid the shareware fee will be cheerfully ignored. To set this up: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Doorfiles1 or Doorfiles2 or (...) create a blank directory called DoorX. (X=a spare number in accordance with the Metro Docs). Copy all the files from this archive into this directory, and then rename the file 'Door60' to 'DoorX'. You will need to also have a copy of the file '8s.scores' in this directory. Then add a command to BBSFILES/DoorCmdsY so the users can get to it. Okay, if you DO have any probs, see the Metro Docs... Note well: This door, like all my other doors needs several libraries to run. DO NOT put this up as a BBS command until you have the libraries in place. See the accompanying file 'libraries.readme' for much greater detail. Files: ~~~~~~ 8s.bas 8s.doc 8s.scores door60 dos.bmap <--- this isn't actually required, but it's here, anyway graphics.bmap libraries.readme readme All you need for this to run is a copy of the Door and '8s.scores' in your door directory. That's it. No menus, or any other files are required - they are now internal to the program. The Game: ~~~~~~~~~ For instructions as to how to play the game, run the door and use the nstructions option. As an interesting feature, the original program made use of the narrator.device. So I left it in: for LOCAL logins only. Naturally, you need the translator.library and the narrator.device on your boot disk if you want to take advantage of this. (Hard drive users yawn...)! Don't forget to turn the sound up! Changes in this version are many. First and foremost, there is local ANSI graphics. An 8 colour Hi-Res/non-interlace screen is opened (for 48k of chip ram), and the Sysop can see all the pretty stuff only remote callers have been getting with my doors before. Because I can see what the output really looks like, I made a few changes to the choices of colour from the original. Also, some of the output has been tidied up, and it's been made SLIGHTLY more user friendly. Again, credit must go to Craig Jackson, whose 'Wall Door' inspired the methods I use for getting local ANSI. The game now has a Top Scores Table (actually, the LOWER the score, the better), so this will hopefully increase the popularity of this door. Players can now compare their results with others'. The way this works is best explained in the instructions within the door. It is now also possible to Quit from a game without having to play it out to the end. Simply enter 'Z' as the card to play, and you'll be asked to confirm your request to quit the game. If you should quit while halfway through a Competition game where the high scores are at stake, your current score will NOT be added to the High Scores Chart. By the way, the window is opened up 2 pixels down from the top, so you can get to the push-to-back gadget without fumbling for ScreenX or a similar program, if you don't want the door at the front when working on your Amiga. In release 1.0B, some screen clearing between turns and at the end is attempted. I originally had this in in the very first version I got running, but took it out. Well, it's back now, so I hope this works okay. I also fixed up the time decrement bit so the after-midnight caller doesn't get 1570 minutes left at the witching hour! With the old system if a user was in the door at 11:59pm and had 5 minutes left, at 12:00, he'd have about 1600 minutes left! :-) If you wish to tell the difference between 1.0A and 1.0B, have a look at the dates on the high scores. The format of the date is now like 01-Jan-91 (Fido format). Version 1.0c didn't do all that much. A couple of small changes when I noticed that the version number was wrong in the output. Changed two of the colours and eliminated 1 unnecessary line. Menus: ~~~~~~ The menus make use of the IBM font, and you, too can get it running on your Amiga globally, replacing the horrible old Topaz font that comes standard. What I do is have two fonts directories containing the IBM font set up. The first one is called IBM and in it is the file '8' which is the font itself. I leave this one well alone for the other programs to use. The other font directory is the same, but has a different name. Let's say it's called 'PCFont'. To get the Amiga to use this everywhere (including with Metro) you need to simply make use of the 'FF' command that comes on the workbench 1.3 (+) release. In your startup-sequence, simply issue the command: FF PCfont.font It should then say that the Topaz font has been replaced, and warn you that the font X or Y dimensions do not match. I don't know why it does this, but I have been using it since the first GFA Metro version came out, and have never had problems from any application at all. I am now looking at a nice smooth, round font in the editor. Heaps better than topaz ever was! If you should ever need to access the Topaz font, it will be now accesible as PCfont. Basically, all FF does is to swap the two types around. (And this is why you need two IBM font directories and fonts. Some programs DO ask for the IBM.font, and if you only had 1 copy, they'd then be using what they call ibm.font, but what the SYSTEM calls topaz!!) Known Bugs: ~~~~~~~~~~~ If a player plays an Ace, and the next player draws a card, the NEXT player will be skipped, too! I can't track down where in the original program this is handled, so it's still in. Not a major problem, actually! An interesting variation. (Yep, still in, in version 1.0. Fast to become a 'House Rule' I think. The original code is such spaghetti, I can't see where it is....). Source: ~~~~~~~ I have supplied the full source code to the door in AmigaBASIC. You are warned to never, under any circumstances, attempt to modify this code. Doing so will cause severe headaches, many sleepless nights, psychoses, severe personality defects, and strain. It may also cause damage to computer equipment - smashed monitor glass and malfunctioning keys being the most common occurences. I disclaim all responsibility for any adverse affects received by attempting to modify this code. In other words, it's a BIG MESS. I have never inflicted such unstructured rubbish upon anyone before, and will attempt to never do so again. This is mainly due to the fact that I did not actually write the playing sections of code, and simply modified an existing AmigaBASIC game. It apparently started life as an 8-bit game, was modified to run under AmigaBASIC as a stand-alone game, was modified to give version 0.5 of the door a few months ago, and has now been modified yet again to give this version. Accordingly, it's not going to get any better. However, rest assured there are no major bugs, it compiles without error, and runs beautifully on my system. I am only including the source so you can see how NOT to write a door!! Conclusion: ~~~~~~~~~~~ In all, there's not much else I can say about the door in the docs. It's real easy to setup, looks great, and has a high scores chart. Get to it and make your mark on the high scores table while it's still easy!! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Registering My Programs ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Registration: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Registration entitles you to free updates and bug fixes for the life of the program (in much the same way as Metro BBS is). Note that this includes the updates, but NOT the cost of getting them. You may either download them from my system or get me to send you a disk. Eventually, I usually end up sending a major new release to a BBS in the USA. THis costs a fortune, and I only do it once. So if you see some of my new stuff around on a US BBS, get it, and SPREAD IT! IMPORTANT: The registered version of some programs will be personally configured to run on your system only. Accordingly, when you register, you MUST let me know the sysop name you use as per your Metro.Config. You must include it EXACTLY as it appears in the configuration, otherwise the version I send will simply revert to the unregistered version's operation, or with some programs, simply not work at all. Other Contacts: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FidoMail can be sent to my point address 3:622/490.3 (That's directly to me, by the way, so if you want a cheap way of contacting me, call a Fido BBS near you and leave me some netmail. Please include a return Fido address as this often does NOT get added to the origin line of a Netmail letter). You can call Inquestor BBS on (049) 67-6808 from Australia, or 011-61-49-676808 from the USA. The system is up 24 hours and accepts 1200 and 2400 baud calls. If you need help with any door, then please leave me a message here. To save your phone charges you may like to prepare a textfile, and then either ASCII send it to the message editor, or just upload it for me (maybe even LHARCED or something to save even more!) If ASCII sending at my BBS editor, please ensure that there are NO blank lines in your message. Put a '-' or '.' or something on the start of blank line, or just make sure it's a single paragraph! Keep the line length below about 70 characters to be on the safe side. The editor I'm running is NOT the same as that on Percy's version of the BBS. Programs Available: (06-Nov-91) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------- ------- ---------- --------- --------- ------- ------ Program Version Language ANSI(Y/N) Supported Fee Status ------------- ------- ---------- --------- --------- ------- ------ Doors: ~~~~~~ The Shrink 0.2 AC-BASIC NO NO NIL Free Nim 0.9 AC-BASIC NO NO NIL Free Corral 2.0 AC-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share Peeping Tom 3.7 AC-BASIC NO YES $10.00 Share AmyInfo 1.5 AC-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share Crazy 8s 1.0c AC-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share Door News 2.0 AC-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share Prize Door 2.0 GFA-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share LogStats 3.3 GFA-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share PDBank 1.2 GFA-BASIC YES YES $5.00 Share Never V2 (*) 1.95 GFA-BASIC YES YES NIL Free BBBase 1.2 GFA-BASIC YES YES NIL Eval BBBase (Reg'd) 1.4 GFA-BASIC YES YES $10.00 Reg'd InqMailDoor 0.8 GFA-BASIC YES YES $10.00 Share Polling Door 0.5 GFA-BASIC YES Unreleased as yet Blockout 0.5 GFA-BASIC YES Unreleased as yet Metro Utilities: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FileList 1.0 AC-BASIC N/A YES NIL Free Muddles 2.3 GFA-BASIC YES YES $10.00 Share MMM 1.0 GFA-BASIC N/A YES NIL Free InqMailAmiga 1.1 GFA-BASIC YES YES $donation Share General Programs: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STREP 0.1 GFA-BASIC N/A YES NIL Free (Sound Tracker Mod player) ERRLIST 1.0 GFA-BASIC N/A YES NIL Free (Lists error descriptions for GFA-BASIC) HEX 0.5 GFA-BASIC N/A YES NIL Free (Simple Hex<=>Decimal converter for CLI or WB) Notes: ~~~~~~ (*) Original by Percy Broadnax - modified by Peter Deane I intend to convert Peeping Tom and AmyInfo into GFA as time permits. I much prefer to run GFA doors - they are so much more reliable! Door News will be replaced by a new text reader which will be along the lines of Mark Turner's InfoDesk. The new text reader will also include support for power-packed text files to save you HEAPS of room on your drives, and provide minimal delay as the uncrunching is being performed. Multiple Registrations: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because I have released so many programs for Metro you may prefer to register more than one of my programs at one time. In this case the flat charge for postage is $5. This includes 1 disk and postage of it to anywhere in the world. So for a start, the minimum registration fee is $5. To that, add the following charge depending on how many programs you are registering. I will simply keep a flat fee for everything to keep it simple. Number of programs Price per program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 $5.00 2-6 $4.00 7 or more $3.50 So if you wanted to register Door News, AmyInfo, Peeping Tom and BBBase, that's 4 programs. 4 x $4 makes $16, plus the $5 for postage and disk and you come to $21. Not a bad price, eh? On the disk I send you I will include the latest available version of all the freeware programs I am distributing as well as the programs you order. It's NOT expensive to do the right thing and register your programs, so please give it a try, so I can release later doors without the rotten crippleware stuff I'll be adding for a while. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++