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Hello and welcome to version 5.2.2 of Moria, the dungeon game of the century.
This readme file will tell you what you need to know to run and play the game.
First of all, this archive should contain the following files :
DOC folder with :
FEATURES.NEW differences between version 4.87 and 5.2
MORIA.TXT Moria manual
SPOILERS info about spells and wands
FILES folder with :
NEWS startup screen
SCORES skeleton scores file
********.HLP help files
MISC folder with :
ENVIRON.PRG environment-setting program (see below)
ENVIRON.DAT sample environment
MORIA.TOS the game itself
README.TXT this file
INSTALLATION
Moria will run on any Atari ST with 512 K or more in medium and high-res mode.
High resolution is advised. On ST's with small memories, you may have memory
problems if you have too many accessories - you may need to remove some. Moria
does not make use of larger screens or full-page monitors.
Installation is simple : copy the game to any disk or folder and make sure
that the FILES folder with contents is in the same folder as the game itself.
Floppy users : to make things reasonably speedy, put both MORIA.TOS and the
folder FILES in the root directory (A:\).
Next, you may want to set the environment as explained below. This is not
really needed, you can run the game now. No more installation is required.
To get the best output speed, you may want to use a 'software blitter' program,
such as Turbo ST or Quick ST. These will help output speed on nearly all of your
programs.
STARTING TO PLAY THE GAME
Moria is a complicated game. To fully understand it you will need to read the
manual and play the game for many hours. However, starting to play the game is
very easy. Just run the program MORIA.TOS and follow the directions it gives.
You will have to answer several questions; for a first game, any answer will do.
Soon you will see a map of the town level. There are two commands you can try
out right now : ? and /. Typing ? will give you a help screen; typing / and any
character explains just what that character stands for. An example : typing /
and then @ will tell you that the @ character means you, the player. Just trying
out some things will make the game a lot clearer to you. Just don't forget to
read the manual at some time, however - you will need the information.
ENVIRONMENT
Moria makes use of so-called environment variables. These can be set from a
shell or with an environment-setting program. An environment variable has a
name in capitals and a string value. Moria makes use of four environment
variables : MORIA_SAV, NAME, USER and SHELL.
MORIA_SAV gives the name of the save file; default is MORIA.SAV
NAME gives your name; typing when Moria asks you your name results
in this value being filled in.
USER is used if NAME is not specified; if USER is not given either, typing
will result in your name being X.
SHELL gives the name of your command-line shell. Typing ! when playing the
game results in a shell escape.
The MISC folder contains an environment-setting program and a demo
environment. Put the program ENVIRON.PRG in your AUTO folder (make sure it's
the last program there) and put ENVIRON.DAT in the root directory of the same
disk. Edit the ENVIRON.DAT file as you like, but don't delete the first line,
as that will give you many problems. As set up, the name is set to Conan, the
save file to A:\CONAN.SAV and the shell to D:\SHELL.PRG.
COPYRIGHT
Moria is a public domain program. This means you are allowed to copy and
distribute it as you like, as long as you don't remove the copyright notices.
Source code (in C) is available from the makers (see the startup screen), from
me (address below) and from many others.
This version of Moria is based on the Moria 5.2.2 code and the curses library
from : Rene van't Veen
Debussystraat 27
1817 GL Alkmaar
The Netherlands whom I do not personally know. Thanks, Rene.
Many slight (and some major) modifications have been made.
MISCELLANEOUS
For the Moria afficionados : this is not the plain Moria. The game has been
changed in the following ways :
The wall symbol has been changed.
The HOURS file and hours enforcement have been removed. (As anyone can set the
time on an ST, it was useless anyway.)
When selling in stores, only the objects that the store will buy are visible
in your inventory. Also, when selling in stores, when there is no need to
bargain, the final offer will be shown and can be selected with return.
The source code is that from December 10, 1990 and was compiled with Turbo-C.
PROBLEMS
The manual and help-files are incorrect in that typing % or CTRL-C when
selecting class does not get you back to race selection.
FINALLY
All the good parts of this game have been done by the authors, specifically
Robert A Koeneke and Jim Wilson. I am responsible for all remaining bugs.
Please send your bug reports and comments to the makers or to me. Jim Wilson's
e-mail address (Internet) is wilson@ernie.berkeley.edu; my e-mail address is
schuller@dutiad.tudelft.nl (this is a shared account : please mention Moria);
my real-world address is below. Please don't forget to mention the date of the
binary when you write me : I need that. As I will be supporting future versions
of Moria, you can contact both the makers and me for the latest version.
If you want me to send you the latest version binary or the source code of
Moria, please send me a disk and return postage. A warning, though : source
code is one megabyte, decompression and compilation requires a hard disk.
This binary version is from March 18th, 1991. New versions should come out
every few months or so. Most important changes from the last versions :
(from January 28th, 1991) : CTRL-C and CTRL-Z now work correctly. Store selling
has been improved to show only sellable objects in your inventory. Dungeon map
is about .2 seconds faster at .8 seconds (still too slow). Teleport traps in
tunnels now light up correctly after you hit them. Doing strange things while
buying or selling in the stores no longer messes up the display. Store final
offer showing improved. Bug on long score files removed.
(from December 31st, 1990) : output speed has been improved dramatically,
thanks to an improved and optimized curses library.
My address is : E-mail (Internet) :
HPP Biersma schuller@dutiad.tudelft.nl
Tollensstraat 138 [shared account : please
2513 GE Den Haag mention Moria or my name]
Holland (Europe).
Greetings and enjoy the game !
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