* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * |_o_o|\\ Copyright (c) 1987 Edmund Burnette, The Software Distillery. * * |. o.| || All Rights Reserved. * * | . | || Dave Baker Edmund Burnette Stan Chow Jay Denebeim * * | o | || Gordon Keener John Mannering Jack Rouse John Toebes * * | . |// Mary Ellen Toebes Doug Walker * * ====== BBS:(919)-471-6436 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ATTENTION: AMIGA LARN is freely redistributable for non-commercial uses, if this file accompanies it. Please pass this file on with any redistribution you do. Any distribution without this file is a COPYRIGHT VIOLATION. Welcome to AMIGA LARN version 12.0B! AMIGA LARN is brought to you through the efforts of The Software Distillery, a group committed to producing quality software for the Amiga at large. Inquiries and flames should be directed via US Snail to: Edmund B. Burnette 210 Willoughby Lane Cary, North Caroline 27511 or John A. Toebes, VIII The Software Distillery 235 Trillingham Lane Cary, North Carolina 27511 or on USENET ...mcnc!rti-sel!sas!burnette (I check my mail once a year whether I need to or not) ...mcnc!rti-sel!sas!toebes The latest version of Larn and our other projects are available for downloading from the Software Distillery bulletin board at (919)-471-6436. They can also be obtained from us directly at the above addresses. Send US$6 for a disk containing the latest Larn, or any of our other disks. (Overseas include US$1 extra for postage). Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a list of available disks. Many Thanks to Shirley Galbrecht - Graphic Artist SAS Institute Inc. Box 8000 SAS Circle Cary, North Carolina 27511 For her work on the graphics chacters. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ABOUT LARN +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is a version of the public domain program LARN (copyright 1986 by Noah Morgan) implemented under AMIGADOS with the LATTICE C 3.10 compiler (from SAS Institute Inc.). Larn is freely redistributable. You may upload it to public bulletin boards, or give it to users groups, and individuals you feel would enjoy it. Under no condition may you charge for Larn without explicit permission of the Software Distillery. If you do enjoy the program and would like to support further development (and receive information on the latest updates) send a contribution to Edmund and his crew at the above address. We welcome suggestions for improvements and upgrades. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INSTALLING LARN +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Make a backup of this disk before doing anything. You can use the Icon Editor 'HackIconII' to change any of the colors or characters used by the graphics version of Larn. The characters for monsters and objects are kept in the files '.monsters' and '.objects' respectively. See the files 'HackIconII.doc', '.monsters.doc', and '.objects.doc' for more information. HackIconII was written by Doug Walker. There is also a configuration file '.larnopts' that you will want to edit to set your default options and player name. See the online help in larn (the HELP key) for more information. To install Larn on a hard disk, make a directory called DH0:LARN and copy the files from the disk into it. Then enter the CLI command assign Larn: dh0:Larn You can then execute Larn normally. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ COMMON PROBLEMS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If Larn comes up with a totally black screen that stays black, check the Workbench screen behind the Larn screen. There may be a requester back there begging for your attention. Larn is a memory- and stack- intensive program. You need at least a 512K machine to run it. If you invoke it from the CLI, YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 10K OF STACK. You can ensure this with the CLI STACK command: stack 10000 If you invoke Larn from Workbench, you don't have to worry about the stack size since it is preset to 10000. Besides stack space, Larn uses a lot of dynamically allocated memory. If Larn keeps crashing unexpectedly, especially near the beginning of the game, chances are you are running out of memory. Try running it with no background tasks and as few as possible open windows. If you execute it from Workbench, close all CLI windows before executing Larn so it can shut down the Workbench while running. Also, Version 1.2 of the ROM Kernel seems to take more memory that Version 1.1, so try 1.1 if you are having trouble with 1.2. You should not have to use this method, but if all else fails... If you are still running out of memory, reboot your machine and hit control-D as soon as you see the first AmigaDos window appear. Execute the stack command above, change directories to Larn:, and resize the window to as small as possible. Then type the Larn command: stack 10000 cd Larn: Larn If you get a requester asking for you to insert the volume 'LARN' in any drive when you go to run your copied version of Larn, then you need to rename the copied disk to LARN using either the CLI relabel command or the rename option from workbench. A common (VERY common) mistake is to delete the 'copy of' text from in front of the name leaving the space in front of LARN (Workbench likes to put 'copy of ' in front of any disk copied). Make sure you delete the leading space also. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PLAYING LARN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you've played Larn under UN*X or some other environment, you won't have any trouble with this version. Many of the commands are the same. Even if you haven't, however, you can use the menus in AMIGA LARN. Just hold down the right menu button and select the command. After you get to know the commands, you will be able to use the keyboard commands. The keyboard command equivalent for each menu selection is listed next to the selection. Three commands you will want to know are HELP, '/', and ALT-click. Pressing the HELP or '?' key gets you into the online help system. The '/' command displays all graphics characters used in the game. Finally, to identify a particular graphics character on the screen, point the mouse at a character, hold the ALT key, and click on the monster or object you want identified. Before you play, you might want to print out the file '.larn.help'. This is the file displayed with the HELP key. You can use all the standard 'vi' style keys to move your player character around in Larn. This is the way I prefer to play the game because it keeps my fingers in the same place I need them for entering commands and answering prompts. For your convenience, however, you can also use the arrow and keypad keys. In addition, you can control your character three ways with the mouse. First, if you just click the mouse anywhere in the playing area, the character will try to move in that direction. Second, you can click on your character and drag it wherever you want. This is called 'mouse tracking'. Third, to make your character stay where it he is, just click on the character and release. This is equivilent to the '.' command. All this is explained in the online help. NOTE: For your safety, Larn will not allow you to move over known traps and pits with the mouse. Also, if a monster takes a swipe at you while you are under mouse tracking, the tracking will be dropped. In case you're interested, when you are moving the player character with the mouse, Larn tries to move into one of the three cells next to the current player position that are closest to the mouse. It tries them in order of increasing distance. If all three are blocked, it gives up and does not move the player (a cell is considered blocked if there is a wall or a visible trap there). There is a special case if the player is right next to the mouse position but for some reason it can't move to that spot (for example, if the mouse was over a wall or pit). If that happens, Larn gives up immediately. Otherwise, it would probably thrash back and forth between adjacent squares and waste lots of time. This is because when mouse tracking is on, Larn tries constantly to keep the player directly under the mouse. If the mouse for some reason gets ahead of the player, Larn will move the player multiple times to let him catch up. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 12.0B Changes +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bug Fixes Bugs? What bugs? Additional Features A clikable READ.ME file (this here document). Amiga Features Nicer icons for starting the game from the Workbench (peel-away style created using ZapIcon and SetAlternate). Larn now closes the Workbench to free up extra memory. Close all non-Workbench windows (like your CLI) to get the full effect. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WIZARD Mode ! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wizard mode under Larn allows you to play with almost complete invulnerability. It is there to allow you to learn some of the finer points of Larn (and to help the me debug the program!). To get into wizard mode, you must first make sure you are using the player name of "Wizard" in your .larnopts file: name: "Wizard" This is not enough since you can play a perfectly normal game using this player name. You must get into Larn and type the '_' command. Larn will prompt for a password which happens to be 'amiga' (no quotes or carriage return). This mode gives you a +25 lance of death, a +50 ring of protection, 25 levels of experience, and one of everthing in the game. It is useful for learning the game or for working off frustration (much better than kicking the stairs). Once you are in, there is no way out of wizard mode! One caveat: wizard mode will not allow you to save high scores (that would be cheating, wouldn't it?) +++++++++++++++++++++ Help for the Beginning Programmer ++++++++++++++++++++ If you are struggling with the Amiga and with learning how to program or simply use your Amiga, there are two excellent sources of information: Amazing Computing - generally available from your local Amiga dealer. It is a 'slick' cover magazine with advertising and fairly high level coverage of basic Amiga operations. It has been extremely informative and covers may advanced programming topics with farily indepth articles. Available from your local dealer The Amigan - PO Box 411, Hatteras NC 27511 - $24 for 6 issues/year subtitled 'Apprentice and Journeyman', the Amigan is aimed at both the beginning programmer and advanced hacker. The editor, Dick Barnes has a very readable style, making for easy and informative reading. The journal comes on 3 hole punched paper ready for building an ongoing reference manual for the Amiga. The articles tend to focus on solutions to problems and approaches to take. No advertising is taken so all reviews are fair and hard-hitting. Unlike other 'help' newsletters that tend to be fly-by-night, the Amigan is informative and committed to providing useful tips to make your life easier and more productive. A must for the serious Amiga Programmer. +++++++++++++++++++++ Other Public Domain Software ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Fred Fish 345 Scottsdale Rd Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 Offers (now 50) disks of PD software for $6 each. These are well organized and a MUST for any user group. ++++++++++++++++++++++ From the Software Distillery +++++++++++++++++++++++ Other programs from the Software Distillery may be obtaining by calling our Bulletin board. Many of these programs were used in the development of Larn. At present we offer the following: * C-Kermit (by Jack Rouse) - A telecommunications program that implements the full Kermit protocol with many features such as remote commands and batch file transfers. * An advanced UN*X MAKE program with default rules and macro expansions. * POPCLI - a screen saver program and 'hot-key' extension for bringing up a new cli at the touch of a key. * ICONEXEC - a program for making AmigaDOS programs run from workbench without any changes. * SETALTERNATE a program for setting the alternate (selected) image on an icon to other than inverse. * BLINK - an Amiga Linker that is FULLY ALINK compatible and up to 4 times faster. It supports many advanced linking features as well as an excellent map facility. A must for the serious programmer. * TSIZE - a utility to list the amount of disk space taken up by tree structured directories on a disk. VERY useful when trying to clean up on a disk (What *IS* taking so much space?!), especially for hard disks. * WBRUN - A program for running workbench programs from CLI without having to load workbench. * MEMWATCH - A background utility to watch for ramdom memory trashing. * HACK, another UN*X game ported to the Amiga by John Toebes. A classic every Amigan should have.