If you want to be notified of current developments concerning the WarGame Processor, please drop me a note at S.Emerson@GEnie.com! I'd be real interested to know who's using this, whether you're registered or not, and I can put you intouch with other prospective opponents! To install the WarGame Processor, simply de-arc the archive to the same directory. If you're the suspicious type, like me, and always de-arc into RAM: (highly recommended), then simply copy all of these files to your original WGP directory. If you are a registered user, be careful that the file named "keyfile" is in the same directory as the WarGame Processor program. This update will recognize you as a registered user by that keyfile. There is a known problem with the WB3.1 ROM which causes the screen to be unreadable. If you can find a way to boot from a WB 2.0 ROM image this should fix it. Sorry, AGA cannot mode promote at this time. WGP does not work on 3.1 systems. I am currently at work rewriting to address these problems. This archive has no WGP game modules enclosed. They are packaged separately. You will probably find some modules in the same place you got this file. A search using "WGP" as a search criteria will doubtless turn up something. If you receive this file with an enclosed "keyfile" you are in possession of stolen property. Documentation for this software is available through the "Help" pulldown menus. You may freely distribute this archive as long as all enclosed files are included. Licensed copies may be purchased from Better Concepts, Inc.. See the "About" in the project menu. Unlicensed copies have a limited playback capability. The file Reqtools.library is required for this program, and is included in the package. You may wish to move it to your libs: directory, but this is not necessary. And now for a legal disclaimer. . . THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS." THE AUTHOR AND DARK UNICORN PRODUCTIONS ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES INCURRED THROUGH USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. After installation, you should have the following files in the directory you installed in: WGP.info WGP Chits Chits.info Chits.readme Chits.readme.info DesignersNotes DesignersNotes.info editor version notes editor version notes.info Game_Processor Game_Processor.info Reqtools.library WGP version notes WGP version notes.info WGPeditor WGPeditor.info data gp0 gp1 edata default.abk hex.scr map.scr ob.scr std.scr unit.scr help combat.asc feedback.asc hex.asc hint.asc map.asc menus.asc movement.asc ob.asc playback.asc unit.asc iff ASL_template.tpi blank.hexes.tpi unit.template.tpb Modules Savedgames If for some reason you want to install to floppies, the files should be broken up like this (If you have a HD drive, you can put them all on one disk): Floppy #1: Game_Processor Game_Processor.info WGP version notes.asc data gp0 gp1 help combat.asc feedback.asc menus.asc movement.asc playback.asc Modules Savedgames Floppy #2: editor version notes WGPeditor WGPeditor.info edata default.abk hex.scr map.scr ob.scr std.scr unit.scr help hex.asc hint.asc map.asc ob.asc unit.asc iff ASL_template.tpi blank.hexes.tpi unit.template.tpb In April 1992, I bought a copy of Avalon Hill's Third Reich for the Amiga. Boy, was I disappointed! There were no user interface "standards" used in the program, no sliders or menus, and the four color palette was pathetic on a 4096 color machine! It was a very sloppy piece of software, but with all its shortcomings, it would have still been useful -- except that the only place you couldn't save a game was between user turns! I decided that I could do better, if I knew how. At the time I had been using Amigas for two years, and was still a "user." I cast about for the better part of a year looking for a language that I could understand, when I bought a copy of Innovatronics' CanDo 2.0. I was ecstatic at the ease with which things came together in this system, and in the space of a couple of months had designed a play By Mail engine for the old Avalon Hill classic "D-Day." I wasn't going to make the same mistake AH had by attempting a prototype on a very complicated game. My D-Day module was tailored specifically for that game. It used 12 quarter screen "plates" for the map, and really stretched the graphic limits of CanDo beyond what the designer's intended, I think. I was very proud of this and sent a copy to AH. I was hoping to get into a partnership with them where I would put together modules of each of their games for them. AH liked the idea, but they only had a vanilla A500 with a meg of RAM: and, sadly, my program needed a minimum of 2.5 Megs (CanDo is not real big on memory management). I went back to the drawing board and did everything I could to crunch the program down to size, but the only was to do so was to emasculate the program. This dilemma was solved by Innovatronics, when they announced an insane policy that any commercial product developed with CanDo would owe royalties to Innovatronics (good-bye, CanDo, from the serious Amiga community). So my ideas went back into hibernation when a friend turned me on to Amos. After an initial surge of development, I ran into some conceptual snags, and lost interest in the program for long periods of time, or was wrapped up in other programming endeavors. It was mid-1994 before I had re-completed my original D-Day module, this time in a program that would run in under a meg. I contacted Jim Rose at AH to see if I could re-light some interest. My first approach to AH in 1993 had a very warm reception, and they were willing to listen to what I had to offer and were eager to see it, so I wasn't uneasy about going back to them, this time with a product that worked. I was very taken aback, when I got a very abrupt reception, and Mr. Rose was -- almost -- out and out rude to me. After a very short conversation in which I had very little to say, I hung up and wasn't too keen on calling back. So I said to heck with it. I would design my own games and market them. I couldn't use this software with someone else's game and get any money out of it without dealing with copy- rights, etc., but by golly, I could do my own game! I embarked on a project called "France-44" I redesigned the map using the CIA world data base, and wrote a large amount of code to enforce movement, supply, Zones of control, and other game functions. Then I hit a conceptual snag (again) and the program went back in hibernation in late '94. But this was a monkey on my back, because I was so close to having a really usable program! Then in early March of '95, I was monitoring the Aide de Camp topic on-line, when someone made a comment like "when will it be out for Amiga?" Something clicked in my head, and I quickly went back and reviewed everything I knew about AdC (which wasn't much). I finally got ahold of a press release that listed the major features, and realized that most of this code already existed in one form or another on my machine! I went to work immediately, and in the space of a week had roughed out all the major functions of the editor. Then I went back with a chainsaw to my original code and started throwing things out and reworking the player to accept a more dynamic definition of a game, and concentrated on the PBM interface. The result was bearing edible fruit within 3 months. A recurring question has been "when will you install an AI opponent?" The answer is: never. AI technology has not progressed far enough to make it worthwhile developing an opponent which would interest a human player. This is based on several precepts. I would not develop an AI that "cheated" nor an AI which relied on handicapping the human player to be challenging. I dislike games which do this, and refuse to do it myself. I have publicly offered a $100 wager to any takers that at least 80% of experienced players will beat AH's PC3R (if it ever ships) the first time they play. To date, I have no takers. I have played several computer games via modem/null-modem, after which I found computer opponents to be boring and not worth my while. With this experience behind me, I decided that my resources would better spend developing a user-friendly play-by-mail system. A painless PBM capability would obviate the need for an AI which could only be a far second-best to a human opponent in the best of circumstances. Another request has been modem capability. This is a feature which many will ask for and few will use more than once. I once played a Perfect General "tournament" by modem. It was quite fun, but even though this game is very interactive as games go, for the non-phasing player it was only slightly more interesting than watching paint peel. If you consider that a full-blown turn of Third Reich or World in Flames could take more than an hour for one player to decide what he's going to do and do it, it wouldn't take long before the non-moving player would say "Hey, why don't you call me back when you've finished, eh? I'm going to go play with the kid's mama while you move!" The sort of games that will lend themselves well to this system are the kind where you want to spend a day or so considering strategy, hand your opponent a copy of "War and Peace" and tell him to get lost for awhile. Since the initial release of the WarGame Processor, I have received some feedback and comments, as well as some considerable experiance in designing modules, all of which has gone into the revisions I have incorporated in this latest version. The WGP is hex based but can easily be adapted to games like "Breakout: Normandy!" Take a look at the Victory in the Pacific module if you want to see how area-style games can be dealt with. I'm also working closely with one of my beta testers in Canada and a local ASL group to develop ASL compatibility with WGP. The key to this thorney problem is to use oversize hexes on the WGP map, with the displayed hexes encompassing seven WGP hexes. Then the individual tasks, levels, or stacks in an ASL hex can be represented by different places within the shown hex. Sean Emerson Somewhere East of the Mississippi (for now) August 95 To install the WarGame Processor, simply de-arc the archive to the same directory. There is a known problem with WB3.1. This may be fixed by using the program RELOKICK V1.4, which will allow you to soft boot from an earlier ROM image. This archive has no WGP game modules enclosed. They are packaged separately. You will probably find some modules in the same place you got this file. A search using "WGP" as a search criteria will doubtless turn up something. If you receive this file with an enclosed "keyfile" you are in possession of stolen property. Documentation for this software is available through the "Help" pulldown menus. You may freely distribute this archive as long as all enclosed files are included. Licensed copies may be purchased from Better Concepts, Inc.. See the "About" in the project menu. Unlicensed copies have a limited playback capability. The file Reqtools.library is required for this program, and is included in the package. You may wish to move it to your libs: directory, but this is not necessary. And now for a legal disclaimer. . . THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS." THE AUTHOR AND DARK UNICORN PRODUCTIONS ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES INCURRED THROUGH USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. After installation, you should have the following files in the directory you installed in: WGP.info WGP DesignersNotes DesignersNotes.info editor version notes editor version notes.info Game_Processor Game_Processor.info Reqtools.library WGP version notes WGP version notes.info WGPeditor WGPeditor.info data gp0 gp1 edata default.abk hex.scr map.scr ob.scr std.scr unit.scr help combat.asc feedback.asc hex.asc hint.asc map.asc menus.asc movement.asc ob.asc playback.asc unit.asc iff ASL_template.tpi blank.hexes.tpi unit.template.tpb Modules Savedgames If for some reason you want to install to floppies, the files should be broken up like this (If you have a HD drive, you can put them all on one disk): Floppy #1: Game_Processor Game_Processor.info WGP version notes.asc data gp0 gp1 help combat.asc feedback.asc menus.asc movement.asc playback.asc Modules Savedgames Floppy #2: editor version notes WGPeditor WGPeditor.info edata default.abk hex.scr map.scr ob.scr std.scr unit.scr help hex.asc hint.asc map.asc ob.asc unit.asc iff ASL_template.tpi blank.hexes.tpi unit.template.tpb Game processor Editor History April 7th 1995 - limited release of V1.0 April 9th 1995 Fixed bug in OB editor where the unit clicked on placed the unit below it in the editor line. Fixed bug where value 1 could not be edited. Fixed a bug where the overview visible screen box would resize if a new unit template was cut. Added snooze mouse icon during a lengthy save operation. Made sure the "name Hex" button stayed visibly pressed after save function. Added an autoclear function for the hex names. It's cumbersome enough to enter each coordinate individually without having to delete what's already there. Put this under the old "image" menu and renamed the menu "functions" Fixed bug during the draw overview function to prevent color zero from appearing on the miniature map. Mini maps look much cleaner now. April 14th 1995 Rewrote the hexname loading routine. Hexnames now load twice as fast as before. Set the maximum number of units to 10,000 April 15 1995 Added some activity on the screen during the hexname load, so it doesn't look like the program hung up. Fixed a potential but unverified (with the editor anyway) bug that reset the zones during a save option, making the upper left two hexes unaccessible. Fixed a bug with the cancel button in the unit template cutter. Fixed a problem where the unit IFF template routine would create a file named ".TBP" if aborted from the file requester. april 22,1995 Fixed bug which prevented scrolling above 200 images in the main map maker. Early May: Scrapped whole hex handling logic and reconstructed it to allow for 400 images, with the first 125 devoted to strictly the overlay. This involved revising the way the player program worked as well, and an updater to bring V1.0 modules up to speed. Added four more future growth variable spaces in the header of the savedgame file. Added Author name record to savedgame file, updated opening screen to show same. Fixed bug that sometimes scrapped the last unit if you had an exact multiple of 6 hexes/units. Added automatic coordinate writing capability and the ability to erase the default coordinates en masse. May 18: Released the V1.1 beta module. May 22, 1995: Fixed bug which wouldn't show the last unit image in the order of battle editor if there was an odd number of unit images. Fixed bug with the graphics clipper where if the front image of a unit was pushed to a lower number, the flipside image was ignored. 5/31/95: Released V1.2 beta 6/4/95: Modified Order of battle editor to provide default tally options for the 6 user definable values. This was to support the new logic in the player. 6/5/95: Built in fades through the screen selections 6/6/95: Fixed a bug in the startup if you're entering a new game and choose to re-enter. The author's name would come up as a default on the game name the second time around. Rewrote the mouse double click test and fixed that annoying delay when you're laying hexes before you can lay the next one. By golly, we can pave some terrain now! 6/9/95: Added user-guidance requesters when expected files are not located. 6/10/95: Increased the maximum size of the unit names to 11. This actually compressed the module save files a bit. An updater program is required for beta testers to upgrade to the new save file format. . . but at leats it's not as intrusive as when the overlay/underlay was redone. 6/11/95: Released V1.3 demo 6/15/95: Cleansed potential do-loop failure by eliminating all do-loops. Added a "load" function to the project menu which allows loading of any module with the same height/width/unit parameters. This will allow modules to be modified under a new ID number. Fixed potential window-text size problems. Added lead-in disclaimer Limited release of update to beta tester who wished to use the "load" menu option to modify a module. Discovered and fixed a bug where a double-click on a hex after a reload, or if that hex had never had terrain painted in it would cause a crash. 6/26/95: Deleted an unnecessary path assignment in the save logic to make it easier to use with a floppy drive. Added intuition window with instructions to get back to WGPE 6/27/95: Did a lot of maintenance touch-up on windowing functions, added version tracker. Fixed string problem with values which whacked first letter in tally column. 7/1/95: stomped a bug in the loading logic that would sometimes cause an extra unit to be added near the top of the list. Fixed a problem with the "load" menu where it was trying to close a window that hadn't been opened if you cancelled the action. 7/3/95: Changed palette initialization to maintain last selected colors. Changed unit list initialization to hold last position. Changed number stamp in unit image editor for finer control. Fixed bug with unit name lengths after adding units. 7/5/95: V1.4 Public release (YAY!) 7/6/95: Fixed bug with the hex editor that would not initialize the selected palette indicator correctly when the screen was loaded. Rewrote the unit editor so that the last unit you were working on sytays the selected unit if you leave the screen and come back. 7/7/95: Added a copy and paste function when naming hexes, to make area games easier. 7/8/95: Fixed a bug where the underlay managed to get into overlay images if you exceeded the underlay range in the hex editor and returned to the map editor. This could cause a crash if you tried to reload it like this. 7/10/95: Fixed problem with color zero on images in the unit image editor, so color zero overwrites previous image. 7/10/95 V1.5 Editor release 8/3/95: Added error checking when loading module graphics to ensure sufficient chip ram is free. Alert user if not. 8/4/95: Rewrote the hex pasting function to allow a continuous laying of hexes as long as the shift key is held down. This allows you to lay broad swatches of a terrain feature without having to click on each individual hex. 8/5/95: made sure that if a module is selected from a different directory than the standard module directory that the save function will default back to that directory. Corrected bug that failed to erase the final hex image when the create overview function was selected, causing the image to show through if the active hex had any clear areas on it. Added logic to check for valid data before executing a double-click image removal to head off a possible illegal value and subsequent crash. Fixed name hexes button so that it does not activate if you pull off the button before releasing the mouse button. Game processor History: May 18 1995: V1.0 beta release 5/19 Experienced a crash from the compiled version well into a game of Third Reich. Was not able to duplicate. Suspect a possible attempt to access a bob that wasn't defined. Installed a verification logic of the mouse bob before the image is accessed. 5/20/95: Fixed bug in movement/combat selection that allowed return to movement before post-combat movement was finished. Improved unit handling. You can now select individual units out of a hex even if you're already carrying one or more units. This will make moving units around a LOT more intuitive. Added hotkeys for commonly used functions Fixed a bug caused when define dice was performed, where the upper left five hexes could no longer be selected. 5/21/95: Installed most of the ASCII move recording logic, revised some of the unit handling routines for better efficiency and to function with the move record. Work went slowly because my heart really wasn't in it, but the product is good. Discovered a bug with the comment function: It doesn't error check to make sure you don't use too many lines. Fixed a bug caused between the new hotkeys and the comment function conflicting. 5/22/95: Experienced the same sort of crash as on 5/19 while trying to pick up a unit. Was finally able to duplicate and nail it down. Not sure it was the same as on 5/19 because this seemed related to the multiple unit pickup logic, which wasn't in the compiled version. Firmed up the logic right after a unit is plucked out of a stack to keep the same stack on the roster. 5/26/95: Fixed a couple of bugs in the comment window that would cause a crash if you were editing on the last line. Added a redraw after turning all units face-up or face-down. Made it so you cannot turn over all units if you are carrying a unit, ghosted the menu options when a unit is carried. Fixed a bug when "quit" is selected from the menu. 5/27/95: Finished integrating the flip function when reading playback files to an ASCII text file. Began work on playback Fixed bug with Replay button where the buttondown appeared in the wrong place. Realized just how obnoxious that window border I used is to people with no flicker-fixer. Replaced it throughout with a solid border. 5/28/95: Did the bulk of the playback logic 5/29/95: Changed the initial default position of all units to the upper left hex on the map. With the improved unit selection handling, this is an easier way to deal with initial setup. 5/30/95: Threw out the concept of Start/stop move. Hex by hex movement logic made this mode so nearly redundant as to not be worth maintaining. The only drawback is if someone examines the contents of a hex with a handfull of units, it will appear on the replay. But then, I think I would like to know if someone's been pawing through my stacks ;) . Reworked a good part of the logic for movement in the replay (my first AMAL program!). The units now visibly move across the screen. _I_ think it looks pretty sexy. 5/31/95: V1.1 beta release 6/2/95: Fixed a bug where the "Save" menu option thought the combat mode was the movement mode and vice versa. Work is slow because I'm still suffering from last night's bachelor party. 6/3/95: Firmed up replay option some more 6/4/95: Installed Value display logic, and integrated it in with the editor. Did a mighty bug-stomp in the replay code. I do believe this bit's ready to ship. Discovered and fixed a fatal bug which centers a unit on the screen if it's too close to the right or bottom edge of the board, and another which refused to show the far lafthand row of hexes. 6/5/95: Did the screen fade between the logo and the main screen. This also palette locks. 6/7/95: Installed save positions menu option. Redid the doubleclick logic to eliminate a wait period on single clicks. Rewrote the load and save logic to integrate the playback with the savedgame file. Replays are now possible from a freshly loaded game! The savedgame files went up by 10 bytes, so V1.1 files will no longer work. I wrote an updater program to make them so they will. Added a conditional test before the centering logic which will not center a units that is more than five hexes from the visible screen edge already. This caused a bug to pop up in the replay when a comment window is closed. Fixed that, too. 6/9/95: Added user-guidance requesters when expected files are not located. Spent the rest of the day stomping bugs in the playback integration. 6/10/95: Increased the maximum size of the unit names to 11. Rewrote the module load routine to accomodate this. 6/11/95: V1.2 demo release. 6/17/95: Cleansed potential Do-loop problem by eliminating all do-loops. Incorporated keyfile logic. Added Version variable, cleaned up and consolidated excessive string verbiage 6/18/95: completed registration routine Cleaned up strings throughout. released V1.3 to beta testers After the release, found a bug in the playback that caused the comment boxes to take forever to appear. A garbage collection utility got put in as part of the loop to read the playback. 6/21/95: rewrote the unlicensed playback and ASCII move routine to allow players to record/view 50 moves of any game then give a licenseware notice. 6/26/95: added a intuition text window telling users how to get back to WGP. 7/5/95: Fixed bug in the project menu that wasn't drawing the prompts option correctly after it was selected. V1.4 Public release! (YAY!) 8/2/95: Added instruction on how to obtain a licensed copy of the program to the "register" part of the menu. Fixed distance computation for the playback logic to make long moves more snappy. Added "reqtools.library" to the archive, which is necessary. Fixed bug that could cause a lockup during replay if a unit was picked up but not moved to a new hex. Cleaned up logic with the replay when moving units near the map edges. The map does not update when not necessary now. Added a check before loading module images to make sure sufficient chip ram exists and alerting the user if it does not. 8/7/95: added code so that the directory for saved games will be retained as the directory the user select