
                            adv770-1.87-dos.zip

This package contains an MS DOS build of my 770 points version of Adventure.
The game, generally known as Adv770, and the associated files may be freely
distributed and archived.

If you do find any bugs, however small, please consult the Adv770 bug list
http://www.mipmip.org/adv770/bugs.shtml and if appropriate, report the bug to
me on mla@mipmip.org.

Game versions with the same major version number (version 1.x at present) are
upward compatible in that they can restore games saved by an earlier version,
unless the bugs list states otherwise. This means that it is quite safe to
upgrade to later bug-fixed versions. Should an unavoidable incompatibility
arise at some future time, it will be signalled by the game major version
changing from 1 to 2.

For more Adv770 or A-code information, please visit my web-site:

                         http://mipmip.org/

Hope you enjoy the game!

                                       Mike Arnautov
                                        9 Apr 2008


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Package contents:

README.txt         This file
adv770.exe         Game executable (DOS)
adv770.dat         Game data file
FAQ.txt            Adv770 FAQ (a FAQ -- not a walkthrough!)
REFLIST.txt        List of known references contained in Adv770

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Command line options

NB: the following does not apply to Windows Glk-instrumented 
executables, because winglk does not support invocation command line
arguments. 

An A-code game executable can take a number of command line arguments, of
which the first three (-j, -b and -s) do not apply to Glk-instrumented
executables (even Unix/Linux ones).

 -j                  inverts the default wrap/justify setting of the game.
                     In wrap mode, text is simply broken into lines
                     according to the screen width (see the -s keyword).
                     With justification turned on, each line is right-
                     justified. All of this pre-suppose a fixed font
                     being in use. For variable font devices, which tend
                     to do their own wrapping, the default screen width
                     should be set to zero, meaning "infinite", and the
                     margin should be specified as zero too.

 -b                  inverts the default setting for blank lines around
                     the '?' prompt line. In old-style A-code, which does 
                     not distinguish between replies to queries and general
                     commands, this only affects presence/absence of
                     a blank line after the prompt line, and never before it.

 -p                  pause on exit.
                     Requests that after printing the final exit message
                     the game prompts the player for a <CR>, before exiting.
                     This feature is intended for players who wich to
                     play console version of the game, in a window which
                     closes as soon as the game exits.

 -s <W>x<H>[-<M>]    sets screen size (width in fixed font characters, height
                     in lines, and margin in fixed font blanks).
                     The default screen dimension is 80x24-1, the margin
                     being set to 1 character. The -s keyword allows a
                     different screen size (and optionally margin) to be 
                     specified. Screen width of zero means "infinite" width.
                     Note that the line length cannot be set to less than
                     16 characters and the minimal number of lines per
                     screen is 5.

 -o [<baudrate>]     set the output speed as specified by the <baudrate>
                     argument. Meaningful only in the "dumb" console mode and
                     only if C sources compiled without the NO_SLOW symbol.
                     Baud rate is specified in bits per second, and taking
                     into the account control and parity bits, the output
                     speed in characters per second is simply the baud rate
                     divided by 10. The game coerces the specified baud
                     rate to the nearest lower standard value (one of
                     110, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600), except
                     that anything below 110 (the speed of a teletype) is
                     also treated as 110. The default value is 300 - the
                     speed of a DECwriter. Note, however, that under DOS
                     and Windows any baud rate above 600 results in no
                     slowdown at all.

 -d <dbsdir>         specifies dbs directory.
                     By default, the game database is assumed to live in
                     the same directory as the executable. The -d keyword
                     allows a separate location to be specified. The
                     program will attempt to work out the separator
                     which should follow the directory name, but if in doubt
                     as to the appropriate one for the given platform,
                     the dbs name will be simply concatenated with the
                     supplied pathname -- hence if it doesn't work, try
                     adding the trailing separator to the pathname.

 [-r] <dumpfile>     restore game from dump.
                     The -r keyword is optional in that any command line
                     argument which is not a keyword and is not associated
                     without a preceding keyword, will be taken as the name
                     of the dumpfile to restore on invocation. The game
                     must actively support this feature, otherwise the
                     kernel will exit with an error message.

 -c <cominfile>      replay game from a log.
                     This is a debugging tool, which allows a game to be
                     replayed from a log file (see below). If the logfile
                     contains more than one session log, only the first
                     session will be replayed.

-l <logfile>         log the game (non-Glk executables)
                     Specifies the file into which a session log is to
                     be written. The log is human-readable, but has some
                     additional features allowing it to be used subsequently
                     for replaying the session. If the nominated logfile
                     already exists, it gets appended to. If no logile is
                     specified the name of the game is used, suffixed with
                     .log. [NB: this will only work if the log was
                     created by exactly the same version of the game.

 -log <logfile>      log the game (Glk executables)
                     As -l above (because the Glk interface quietly removes
                     "-l <logfile>" from the command line).

 -u {on|off|forbid}  set the initial state of undo-history collection
                     The "forbid" state implies "off" and disallows the
                     undo history. being subsequently switched on from
                     within the game. The default state is "on" for games
                     which define the verb UNDO, and "forbid" otherwise.

 -h                  print command line usage summary.

The functionality of the -s, -u and -j keywords is also provided via kernel
hooks (see procedure special() in the kernel module adv00.c), so that the
game may, at author's discretion, offer the player commands for toggling
the justification switch, switching change history on and off, and altering
screen size and margin. 

Any unrecognised or suppressed keywords are quietly ignored.


=============================================================================

                                            Mike Arnautov
                                            mla@britishlibrary.net
                                            13 Mar 2008
