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Text File | 1994-10-25 | 19.5 KB | 474 lines

_____________________________________________________________________ Plain Jane Trivia v1.5 Written by Rob Williams WCS Software _____________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents ----------------- Copyright Notice................................................... 1 Warranty........................................................... 1 Features of Plain Jane Trivia...................................... 2 Files used in the program.......................................... 3 Setting up Plain Jane Trivia....................................... 4 Setting up Plain Jane Trivia for Multinode Play.................... 4 Playing the game................................................... 5 Make-Up Days Explanation........................................... 6 Special Keys....................................................... 7 Support............................................................ 8 Registering Plain Jane Trivia...................................... 8 Acknowledgements................................................... 9 Copyright Notice ---------------- This door game is distributed under the SHAREWARE concept. This concept gives you the chance to "try before you buy", and see if it meets your needs. I've decided to break away from the standard "30 day trial period" that many door authors are using and instead go to a much simpler and more realistic policy. This is simply; Try it on your BBS. If you like it and your users like it, then register it. If it's not good enough to register, then delete it. While I'd like you to register my doors as soon as possible, I'm also realistic enough to know that different boards have different requirements and interests, and sometimes it takes longer befor a game catches on, or a sysop can get to the Doors on his list to register. And frankly, I'd rather you ran it for awhile and register, than try it for a short period of time and delete it. Nobody wins that way...I lose out on a registration and your users lose out on the chance of having the registered door to play. The above "extended trial" statement was copied with permission from Mike Jordan of M&S Doors. Once registered, you will also be allowed to use other functions in the TRIVEDIT program. Registration is good for any future versions of the product. As a shareware program, Plain Jane Trivia may be freely distributed. Shareware distributors may distribute copies of Plain Jane Trivia on disk for a modest disk duplication charge not to exceed $4 per disk. Warranty -------- Plain Jane Trivia is distributed on as as is basis. In no event will Rob Williams or WCS Software be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use of or inability to use this program, even if Rob Williams, WCS Software, or an authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Rob Williams and WCS Software will not be liable for any such claim by any other party. Features of Plain Jane Trivia ----------------------------- Assembly language serial input/output routines for maximum speed. Fully supports high speed modems: 16550 FIFO buffering and locked serial ports. Built in ANSI terminal emulator. No need to have ANSI.SYS loaded in memory. DesqView, Windows, and OS/2 aware. Supports all of the most popular door data file formats: TriBBS, PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), Spitfire, WildCat!, RBBS, and WWIV. ANSI and ASCII Bulletins of high scorers. Automatic monthly maintenance with no intervention from the Sysop. Ability to enter, edit, print, import and export questions from the database. (some features in registered version only) Supports play ahead and make up days when registered. This is completely sysop configurable. Now Plain Jane Trivia is Multinode Aware! Files used in the Program ------------------------- TRIVIA.EXE - The main trivia program TRIVEDIT.EXE - The user/question maintenance program REGISTER.FRM - Information on registration QUESTION.DAT - Question database SAMPLE.CFG - Sample configuration file SAMPLE.BAT - Sample batch file to run PJT HISCORE.DAT - Created when the program runs-contains hi score info USER.DAT - Created when the program runs-contains user info TRIVIA.KEY - Key file for registered versions TRIVIA.USE - Created when the game is running, will be deleted when the user exits normally. ************************************************************************ ** IMPORTANT - The game will not run if this file (TRIVIA.USE) exists ** ************************************************************************ TRIVIA.HLP - Help file for the game. When the Instructions option is selected, this file is displayed. You may edit this file if you wish. It is a plain ASCII text file. TRIVIA.HIS - History of the product. Shows what enhancements were made in what version. WCSINFO.TXT - A text file explaining more about WCS Software and showing all currently available WCS Software programs. READ.ME - A brief text file explaining how to get up and running quickly. Setting up Plain Jane Trivia ---------------------------- Plain Jane Trivia is run by entering a command similar to the following: TRIVIA TRIVIA.CFG The configuration file can have any name you choose, but it must reside in the same directory as the door. The configuration file is an ASCII text file with the following format: Line 1: Door data file type. Line 2: Path to the door data file(s). Line 3: BBS name. Line 4: Sysop's name. Line 5: Locked baud rate. Line 6: ASCII High Score Bulletin Name Line 7: ANSI High Score Bulletin Name Line 8: Number of Questions per day (a number between 5 and 30) * Line 9: Number of extra days allowed for make up days * Line 10: Day to start playing make up days-31 to disable Line 11: Write log file (YES or NO) * Line 12: Line to display a message (donated by, etc) Lines with a "*" to the left indicate features only present in the registered version of the program. *** The lines must be present, even if the door is not registered. *** As illustrated above, the door's data file type is specified in line 1 and can be PCB for PCBoard, GAP for GAP (DOOR.SYS), SF for Spitfire, RBBS for RBBS, WC for WildCat!, TRIBBS for TriBBS, or WWIV for WWIV. The locked baud rate is specified in line 5. If you don't lock your serial port, you must specify 0 for the locked baud rate. The following is a sample door configuration file: WC <== BBS Type C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1 <== Drop file location WCS Software BBS <== BBS Name Rob Williams <== Sysop Name 0 <== Locked baud rate C:\WC30\BULL\BULL10.BBS <== ASCII bulletin C:\WC30\BULL\BULL10.SCR <== ANSI bulletin 10 <== # of questions per day 2 <== Extra days allowed for make up days 10 <== Day to start make up days YES <== Write a log file (TRIVIA.nodenumber) By WCS Software <== Donated by line ************************************************************************ ** IMPORTANT - Even if the game is not registered, the last three ** ** lines must exist, or the game will not run. You will get an error ** ** when the game starts up. ** ************************************************************************ Plain Jane Trivia can be run locally without a door data file (handy for the sysop to use the door without logging on to the BBS) by specifying /L after the configuration file parameter in the DOS command line. PJT will request you to enter your name before running the door. To play the game in Multiuser mode, you must have a registered multinode copy,and DOS SHARE must be loaded. If these two things are not done, the game will display a message if you try to run multinode. Nonstandard IRQs can be used by specifying the IRQ number after the "config" parameter in the command line used to run the door as follows: TRIVIA TRIVIA.CFG 4 Setting up Plain Jane Trivia for Multinode Play ----------------------------------------------- In order to set Trivia up for multinode play, you need to create a .cfg file for each node that will be using the game. The .cfg files will be similar, except that lines 2 and possibly 5 will be different. Line 2 is the location of the door drop file. This needs to be unique for each node that runs the game. Line 5 is the locked baud rate for the node. If you have nodes that are locked at different rates, then this line may be different for different nodes. For example, the configuration file for node 1 (TRIVIA.CF1) might look like this: GAP H:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE1 <=== Notice this is the node 1 directory Williams Computer Services BBS Rob Williams 19200 [etc]..... And the configuration file for node 2 (TRIVIA.CF2) might look like this: GAP H:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE2 <=== Notice this is the node 2 directory Williams Computer Services BBS Rob Williams 19200 [etc]..... You will also need to set an environment variable to tell the program what node it is currently running on. Since I run Wildcat, I call this variable WCNODEID. In my .BAT file that calls the BBS, I set the WCNODEID to whatever node is running. You can use wahtever name you wish, it just needs to be a unique node ID. Next, in the batch file that calls PJT, you would change the sample.bat that is included with this archive to look like this: CD\TRIVIA TRIVIA TRIVIA.CF%WCNODEID% What this will do, is when the game is started, it will look for the WCNODEID (or whatever you called it), and append that to TRIVIA.CF. So when the game runs, and you run it from node 1 say, it will use .cfg file TRIVIA.CF1. Hopefully, I have not totally confused you on how to set the door up for mult-node use. If you have questions on environment variables, refer to your DOS manual. ************************************************************************** ** Running this game on more than a single node requires a Multi-Node ** ** Key. When running in Evaluation mode, only one (1) Node will be able** ** to access the door at a time. ** ************************************************************************** Playing the Game ---------------- Plain Jane Trivia was named that for a reason. It is VERY simple to play. When you go into the door, you will see an opening screen, wait for you to press a key, then show you the main menu. From here, there are four options. P will take you to the playing screen, H will show you the high score list, I will show you a help file for playing the game, and Q will return you to the BBS. When the play option is chosen, it will take you into the playing screen. There are three menu options that can be chosen at any time. R for redraw the screen, H for viewing the high score bulletin, and Q to quit the current game. After quitting, if the game is registered, and it is past the extra day set up in the .cfg file, and you have not played too many games (as set in the .cfg file), you will be asked if you want to play make-up days. (how is that for a run-on sentence?) If you answer no, you will be asked if you want to view the high scores. If you answer no to this, you will be returned back to the BBS. When a question appears, all you need to do is press the answer you think is correct, and it will tell you if you were right or not, and then display another question. When you have answered the maximum number of questions (as determined in the trivia.cfg file), if make up days are enabled and you have not played too many times today, you will then be asked if you want to play make up days. If you say yes, you will see a screen showing what days are available for you to play. Choose a day and press enter, or choose 99 to exit. After finishing playing, you will be asked if you wish to view the high scores. After viewing the high scores, you will then see a screen while it is writing the bulletin, and then be returned to the BBS. Pretty simple! The first time a player plays the game each month, the system will automatically reset the player and question statistics. The player statistics are the number of questions attempted, and the number of correct guesses. The question statistics are the number of times that question has been asked, and the number of correct answers. The high score table will also be reset, and the last months hi scorer and all time hi scorer will be recomputed. This process should not take more than a few seconds, and is automatic, so no intervention from the Sysop is necessary. Make-Up Days Explanation ------------------------ The make up days feature warrants a little more explanation here. When the game is registered, after you have played your game for today, it will check to see if make up days has been enabled (start day < 31). If today is greater than the start day, and the total number of days you have played is not greater than what was specified in the .cfg file, it will ask you if you want to play a make up day. It will then show a calendar of days for the current month. Days that you have played will show up in red with an x, playable days will show up in green with an o. Choose a valid date (one with an o, within the current month), and you will start another days game. If you changed your mind and do not want to play a make up day, enter 99, and you will be asked if you want to view the high scores, then be returned to the BBS. Special Keys ------------ While PJT is running, the sysop can press certain special keys to perform a variety of functions. The following is a list of the functions that the special keys perform: Key(s) Function HOME Toggles between the user status window and a help display that lists the special keys. F6 Takes 5 minutes away from the caller. NOTE: This will NOT be returned to BBS. F7 Gives 5 minutes to the caller. NOTE: This will NOT be returned to the BBS. F9 Quit the door and return the caller to the BBS. F10 Enter chat mode. Pressing the ESC key exits the chat mode. Alt+D Drop to DOS. Support ------- If you have problems, I will try and help as best I can, whether you are registered or not. Registered users will get priority over non- registered users, though. You may get help with problems by calling Williams Computer Services BBS at (503) 631-8439, or by writing to the author at the following addresses: FIDO : 1:105/278 US Mail: Rob Williams 18370 S. Henrici Road Oregon City, OR 97045 Registering Plain Jane Trivia ----------------------------- Registration of Plain Jane Trivia is only $15.00 for single node or $20.00 for Multi-Node. Please use the form in the file REGISTER.FRM. When you register, you will receive a registration key that will turn your version into a registered version. Registered users will have access to the special area of the support BBS for additional questions, and also be able to add new questions, edit questions and users, print questions and users, and import and export questions. Things to Come -------------- - Additional questions - Any user requested features ***** ALL UPDATES ARE FREE FOR THE LIFE OF THE PROGRAM ***** Acknowledgements ---------------- Thanks go to the following people/companies (Listed in no particular order): - Mustang Software for creating Wildcat! - Randy Hunt and Mark Goodwin for creating RMDoor which was used to create this game. - Mike Jordan for his help with some of the routines, and for the idea of the make up days, and also help in testing, and his help in helping me get started in door programming. - Marcus and Ronda Eikenberry for their help in testing and finding a few stubborn bugs. - Bob Ainsbury for creating the Turbo Technojock Toolkit, and not crippling it. This toolkit was also used for the TRIVEDIT program. - Gayle Davis and all the people that have contributed to the SWAG archives. I have used various snippets from those archives, as well as them giving me good ideas on how to proceed next. Thank you. There are probably more people that I have forgotten, but these have been the most instrumental in the writing of this program.