Dangimere RPG Contents ------------------------------------ I. System Requirements II. About III. How to get started IV. Keyboard Commands V. General Information VI. Cavets I. System Requirements ---------------------- Dangimere will run for sure on a 1 Meg ST. I had some people test it on their STe's, Mega's and Falcons with no noticable problems. To get the full effect of the game, it is best to hook up your audio output to a stereo because there are many digitized sound samples. Also a hard drive is strongly recommended but if you wish you can run it from a floppy. II. About --------- Dangimere is a RPG that I have been writing for around 6 years. It all started back in High School with a text based adventure game I wrote in BASIC (gasp!). Soon I ported it to Pascal and finally, years later, to C. About the time I started College at The University of North Texas, I decided to incorporate graphics into the game. At first it was quite primitive, just plain ole vector graphics and a VERY small world to move in ( only a 4x4 grid). For about a year I didn't do anymore coding on it. School demanded all my available time and concentration. Then, in May of 1991 I decided to transfer to Texas A&M University. While at A&M I wrote animation routines, the main movement and Graphics Engine, a TSR digitized sample player and other odds and ends. At this point in the development cycle, I had graphic templates for just about every view the user saw. Needless to say this took up A LOT of memory and disk space (around 700k). While taking my Operation Systems course I decided to implement Virtual Memory/Paging so that 512k users could play the game. This project worked perfectly and for a while I was satisfied. Then, in the summer of 1993, while taking a Computer Graphics course I had a flurry of ideas. One of the most signifigant ideas led me to totally rewrite the Movement/Graphics Engine so that ANY scene could be built from just 6 primitives. This had quite an impact because instead of needing 700k of Graphic files, I just needed about 45k...which is a HUGE improvement. Currently, I am taking Software Engineering....I can look back on the development of the game and easly see that it was a bottom up design, traceability is shot to hell and maintenance on this beast would be any programmers Worst Nightmare.....but heay, I learned a lot and it was a hell of a lot of fun. III. How to get started ----------------------- You can run Dangimere from a floppy or a harddrive. I recommend running it from your harddrive. Just create a directory and place ALL the files in this archive in that directory. o Installation on a hard drive: . Place ALL files in this archive in any directory you wish on your hard drive. . You have two options for fonts: 1) Using the Game's Font . Copy the file called GOTH_I8.FNT to the BOOT drive (eg c:\) . Copy the file AMCGDOS.PRG in the AUTO folder . Edit the file ASSIGN.SYS so that the FIRST line, which reads: path = a:\ Change this to : path = c:\ . Copy the file ASSIGN.SYS (the one you just edited) to the BOOT drive(eg c:\) . And when you run the program and you're prompted with the question: 'Use the G)ames font or the C)urrent Font. Pick the (G)ames font. 2) Using the Current Font . If you wish, you can use such programs a FONTRIXX to load up your own font . I have included the fontrixx font file gothic.fn8 for your use . PROCEDURE: . Delete the file AMCGDOS.PRG from the AUTO folder . Copy the file FONTRIXX.ACC to your boot drive (ie: c:\) . Edit the file FONT.DEF so that the path A:\gothic.fn8 is changed to the path that you have all the dangimere files located. ( ie: c:\dangimere\gothis.fn8 ) . Copy the file FONT.DEF to the BOOT drive (ie: c:\) . When you load the game, you will be prompted with: Do you wish to use the (C)urrent font or the (G)ames font. Pick 'C' for Current font . You're all set! Just click on RUN_ME.PRG o Installation on floppy . Just unLzh the files dan_disk1.lzh and dan_disk2.lxh each to a seperate floppy disk and you're all set. **** NOTE: It is STRONGLY recommended that you run this game from your hard drive. If you run it from a floppy, you should DISABLE the digitized sounds. To do this, load up the game and press G then select 'Turn Sound OFF' When you are ready to play, double click on RUN_ME.PRG When the intro screens appear, press RETURN to continue. Finally you will be at the Lochsheian Portal. A) Loschean Portal ------------------ This is where you ROLL a character, SAVE a character ENTER the city or get INFO. You only have one character. Whenever you choose to Enter the City, that character will be loaded up. So if you already have a character DO NOT roll and save another one unless you want to delete the old character!! IV. Keyboard Commands --------------------- o Up arrow ---- Move Forward o Left arrow ---- Turn Left o Right arrow ---- Turn Right o P ---- Pauses the Game. o I ---- User Information - Gold, Experience, Active Spells and Special Items o G ---- Game Options - Save Game, Turn sound on/off, etc. o U ---- User Items - Such as : Potions, keys, torches... o T ---- Check the Time ( you must own a timepiece ) o F1 key ---- Switch weapons. V. General Information ---------------------- As you explore the City, beware of what you believe and who you befriend. The Seasons will come and go, rain will fall, the sun will rise and set. Be brave, for you must gather information that will enable you to return home.... VI. Cavets ---------- Dangimere is just the first module in a series of related RPGs. The Dungeon is already in the works and the Forest is being designed at this moment. I have written the Graphics Engine such that it will be quite easy to create new RPGs. One note: When playing the game and you get a text message in the text window. Press any key when you are done reading it, and the game will continue. Also, the game runs in REAL TIME, that is, while you are just sitting there doing nothing, time is passing.... Thanks to all the beta testers, especially Rick Schokman, for their invaluable comments. I could make this better but other projects are hanging over my head, and I'm REALLY sick of this game :) Please send comments, suggestions, World Cup tickets, bugs, $$ to: Jeffrey M. Bilger 1501 Harvey Rd. #799 College Station, Tx. 77840 or email me at: jmb8302@cs.tamu.edu Also, the source code is available for $25 (U.S.) It's not too pretty but I'm cleaning it up right now.. { lint HATES it!!! :( } Merry Christmas - Jeff Bilger Wednesday , December 27, 1993 9:31 pm.