Virtual Reality Zone/VRZONE.ISO/mac/PC/3DWORLDS/bdream/FLATDOCS.TXT

Text File | 1993-08-14 | 6KB | 125 lines

BDREAM.RUN
a fLAtDiSk FreeWare Interactive VR Dream (or FDFIVRD to you acronym fans!)

Created (ahem) by old FLATRich hisself, using the totally cool DOMARK Virtual
Reality Studio from jolly ol' England.

Also included:

˘ a FREE  batch file to run the thing. (You can modify it any way you want.)

˘ a FREE copy of Domark's RUNVGA.EXE to run the thing. (Don't rename this file.)

˘ a FREE .GIF file containing a Diagram To Help You Figure Out How To mouse
  around. (I wouldn't have had to use the .GIF file idea if all of you used
  GEOS or Windows, 'cause then I could have just pasted the diagram in right
  about here, dig?). Not needed to run the FDFIVRD.

˘ a FREE as usual rambling .TXT file (this one), for those who like to read
  (included with all fLAtDiSk SoftWorks products, 'cause I was born a Ramblin'
  Man..). Also not needed to run.

To run this program, make sure:
1.) you have a PC
2.) your PC is plugged in, and you have a mouse and a monitor
3.) your monitor has a 256 color 320x200 mode (MCGA or VGA are fine.)
4.) your little amplified speakers (if you have 'em) are on
5.) your subconscious desire to experience a gentle nightmare is on
6.) the files named DREAM.BAT, RUNVGA.EXE and the file BDREAM.RUN are in yer
    path
5.) you have an AdLib compatible soundcard or internal speaker or not
4.) you like to get lost in cyberspace
3.) you know how to type DREAM.BAT and then press ENTER
2.) you choose mouse or joystick or keyboard from the startup menu will appear
1.) you know how to quit back to DOS - BY PRESSING SHIFT AND THEN ESC, ok?
0.) oh, I haven't tested this with a joy, by the way, 'cause I don't have one
    for my PC..

PROGRAM(MING) NOTES
If you can call it programming, it's more like being inside a program, looking
out..If you don't hear any sound through your PC speaker, don't panic. Sound
isn't really essential, just cool as hell, eh? It works without a card on some
PCs, but not all, and you have to preset the Studio while your creating, so I
set for a card. I have a Stereo-FX by ATI which makes me compatible with AdLib
or Sound Blaster, and I didn't exactly pull it out in case all you have is
that dink internal thing. Get serious! You could try buying a card. Or maybe
some Q-Tips.

The (ahem) programmer would like to thank an AOL person named VirtualGem for
putting the .STU, .PAL, and .NAM files in his ZIPped file called GEM1.ZIP,
which I found on this service. They were very helpful in understanding how
some things worked, as I had been in Gem's space for weeks before buying VR
Studio, and Domark is rather stuffy about their tutorial: they put it on a
video, which you can't exactly watch while you're working, guys!  Also because
Gem's was the coolest use of Domark VR on AOL at the time.
You may note, however, that I didn't include my own uncompiled files here -
mainly because I didn't want anybody stealing my truck! Call it paranoia, if
you like, but I live in Hollywood. I also plan to use it again, you see..

Runner up for cool VR on this service is Charles Carr for his VR file,
3DHOUSE.ZIP, even though it only uses keyboard for some unfathomable reason.
Charles gives us a tour of his newly-built house, including the bathroom. No
people in there though. No magic either - unlike Gem's - but very REAL. And
that's the point, isn't it - or is it?

There are keyboard equivalents to all the mouse stuff, (but let's get
sophisticated and try to use a mouse, ok?). Oh, hell, here they are,
according to Domark. Don't blame me if you slam into things trying it this
way:

KEYBOARD "SHORTCUTS" (like you'll ever remember them!)

ARROW KEYS - move the cross hairs up, down, right, left
SPACE - fires into the cross hairs
O - move forward
K - move backward
H - move left
J - move right
R - move up (or fly up, when you're in the FDFIVRD "space" sequence)
F - move down (or fly down, etc.)
Q - turn around to the left (NOT the same as move left - you'll see)
W - turn around to the right (etc.)
P - look up
L - look down
I - snap back suddenly to an untilted position (risking whiplash, eh?)
U - U turn (like, about face with above rude abruptness)
ESC - by itself, it resets to the beginning of THE DREAM..

There are more, but you don't need them in the FDFIVRD.
Why didn't Domark just use keys that corresponded to their actions? (Like D
for down, yuh know.) Hey, what do I care? Use a mouse, that's what the good
lord made 'em for. Scientific labs use them - for all kinds of unholy things.
You can too.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

It isn't one. You don't kill anyone or get eaten. You move around, as if in a
dream. Hence the filename, get it? Verrry intellectual.. Yeah, right. Like
life isn't all a game, off times badly played..

There are entrances and exits to each dream sequence. Some are easy as hell
to find, others are not. (Sweat in yer dreams, don't yuh?) Mostly you just go
forward, or Collide, into these doorways to your (my) innermost quagmires,
sometimes you have to shoot them. (They give you the gun, so you use it, ok.
But this is not Naked Lunch. This is a NON-VIOLENT program!!!!)

You can shoot other stuff, and sometimes something will happen, but this
ain't no Nintendo either. It would be wise to try shooting when you reach the
Heechee game room (cf., Frederick Pohl's Gateway series) or you'll never get
out again. (he, he!)

There are a few barriers which no player can see - or pass. (Like that dream
where a cat is pissing on your keyboard, but there's nothing you can do to
stop it.)

Bla, bla.. sorry, but it had to be two pages anyway, so I didn't want to
waste your paper on EMPTY SPACE.

My friend Dave Gibson just got a Sony Electric Book that can display the
entire works of Conan Doyle (and more, he sez) from a 3 inch CD. Maybe real
books will make a comeback. Then I could make some money..

Have fun. I did.

:o)FLATRich