Article View: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Article #31ADMIN: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games - Frequently Asked Questions - Read before posting
From: war... Chris Warren
Date: Wed, 13 May 1992 18:00
Date: Wed, 13 May 1992 18:00
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45638 bytes
Hi all! Here's the new FAQ for comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.
Could you please review it and give me comments. It's
basically similar to the r.g.m FAQ. I added
some ideas for posting guidelines and a description of
the new group. Someday, I'll update the hints section
to include U7, and UW. (Or could people mail me
answers to some of the most common spoilers about those games?
thanx)
Lemme know what you think
Cheers
Chris
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-------------------------- comp.sys.ibm.pc.games -------------------------
----------------------------- FAQ in 4 Parts -----------------------------
------------------------ Ver 1.0 - Rev date 5/7/92 ----------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
Part 1: General Questions
The folowing questions are covered in part 1. You can search for the
coresponding number with your editor if you want to skip to that question
1: What is comp.sys.ibm.pc.games?
2: What should I be aware of when posting to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games?
3: What are all these other game groups?
4: What is a Spoiler?
5: How should I post a spoiler?
6: How do I FTP?
7: Where can I download public domain games.
8: Where can I get hints/solutions to games?
9: Which sound board should I buy?
10: Where to get the Sound Site Newsletter?
11: Where can I get music players/music files/music editors/songs/etc.
for my pc's music card?
12: What is the difference between the Sound Blaster and the
Sound Blaster Pro?
13: My 386/33 and Sound Blaster seem incompatible. I get garbled music
when playing Ultima6/SSI games/etc. What's wrong?
14: Where can I get Infocom games? Can somebody mail me a copy
(since they're out of business anyway (Is that legal?) What
happened to them anyway?
15: Where can I Buy/Get support for games.
Part 2: Glossary
Did you ever wonder about the meaning of IMHO, CoAB, LSL5, or any of
the other acronyms that fly fast and furious in this group, look here
for info.
Part 3: FAQ -- Game Bugs
Compilation of the most common spoiler/bug problems. They are arranged
by game and are by no means comprehensive but they should help people
who get stuck in areas of poor game design or just plain difficulty.
Part 4: FAQ -- Game Spoilers
Compilation of the most common spoiler/bug problems. They are arranged
by game and are by no means comprehensive but they should help people
who get stuck in areas of poor game design or just plain difficulty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrivia/Soapbox:
Hello, here is your friendly neighborhood FAQ [person, sacrafical lamb,
lemming, ??? :]
Welcome to the new group!
There are still a few questions I need answers for.
Please email me additions, corrections, or whatever and I will incorporate
them in the next version.
This FAQ will be posted every two weeks or so. For the time being,
this will crossposted to rec.games.misc for purposes of smoothing
the transition to the new group.
Cheers
Chris Warren (editor without cause)
------------------------ Part 1: General Questions -----------------------
1: What is comp.sys.ibm.pc.games?
A: This group arose out of rec.games.misc. For some time, that group
had been dominated by discussions of MSDOS games. This has proved
confusing to new people, and tended to starve out non MSDOS,
non computer oriented traffic.
The charter of this group is to provide a forum for the discussion
of games for the IBM PC or compatible machines. This is not just
limited to MS-DOS, but extends to OS/2, Windows and anything else
which can run on an IBM PC compatible.
For example (not comprehensive):
o Discussion of upcoming games
o Discussion of software companies
o Discussion of current and past games
o Requests for help
o Hints and spoilers
o Personal sales and trading of games. Not for commercial sales
or piracy. Any risk assumed is your own.
o Discussion of locations of new demos and ftp sites
Certain games have their own newsgroup. These include the
games: Corewar,Empire, Hack, Moria, and Rogue. See question
three for more details. Questions pertaining to one of those games should
be posted to that group, and possibly here if it is of general
enough interest.
Also certain games that come out on the PC tend to migrate to other
platforms, so this group can serve as a resource for people
with questions about those games as well.
2: What should I be aware of when posting to this comp.sys.ibm.pc.games?
When you post an article there a few things you can do to make life
easier for others.
a) Subject Headers: Note the following is voluntary. It is being
suggested because it will make everyone's life easier if people
use it. However if you don't use it, the net.police are not
going to haul you away (or flame you away:)
Use an all caps prefix followed by a colon to indicate
the type of message. This allows others to quicky find your
article if it pertains to a particular topic. Here is a list of common
prefixs. [feel free to suggest others or changes]
HELP: Message asking for help in a game.
Replies to these messages can often contain SPOILERS.
SPOILER: A message which gives something away about a game and
doesn't fall under HELP:
BUG: Message about a bug in a game, how to get arround a
particular bug, how to get patches to fix bugs, etc.
TECHHELP: Message asking for help in getting a game to run on your
machine.
UPCOMING: Message talking about an upcomming game
REVIEW: Message reviewing a particular game
4SALE: Posting for personal sales or trading of games or
game wanted. Not for commercial sales or piracy.
Any risk assumed is your own.
ADMIN: Administrative and group info type stuff.
The FAQ falls under this category
MISC: Misceleneous topic
FLAME: Message whose primary purpose is to vent one's spleen.
If you don't use a heading, then at least please use an indication of
the game that you are talking about in the subject line. In any event,
subject line should be indicative of the contents of the message.
b) Understand about SPOILERS. See question 4.
c) While it is OK to talk about removing copy protection for legitimate
owners of games. It is NOT cool to talk about how to pirate software,
or to post requests for pirated copies of software.
There sometimes can be a fine line between these two so care should be
taken with respect to these areas. It is all to easy to start
a flame war...
3: What are all these other game groups?
A: bit.listserv.games-l -- This newsgroup is mostly for MS-DOS games,
but since many people on bitnet have access
to only bit.listserv.games-l you'll see all
kinds of posts from Amiga questions to
Nintendo questions.
comp.sys.amiga.games -- Amiga specific games
comp.sys.mac.games -- Macintosh specific games
rec.arts.int-fiction -- Covers interactive fiction (generalized
term that includes adventure games) from
the standpoint of developing int-fiction
as a new literary genre. For implementors
of int-fiction more than players.
rec.games.corewar -- Group for Core War, CRobots and other
games that involve programming.
rec.games.design -- General game design issues. Currently
focuses on non computer based roleplaying
games. Could be of interest to designers of
CRPGs (Computer Role Playing Games)
rec.games.frp -- Covers mostly non computer RPGs
rec.games.mud -- Multi-User Dungeon
rec.games.mud.lp Cool multiplayer Zork type games
that you can hook onto over the internet.
You text adventure type should check this,
if you like the idea of playing in a zork
game with other people where you can
help build the universe!
rec.games.pbm -- Discussion of play-by-mail games.
rec.games.pinball -- Discussion of pinball, both for players
of coin-op pinball games and pinball
collectors.
rec.games.programmer -- Discussion of the implementation and
programming of computer games of all types.
rec.games.rpg -- Unofficial newsgroup that is a visceral clone
of rec.game.frp and a source of major
irritation [read flamewars] for all involved.
be a net.person.good and use rec.games.frp :)
[follow up this topic on alt.flame]
rec.games.vectrex -- Discussion of the discontinued Vectrex
vector graphics home game system.
rec.games.video -- Discussion of dedicated home video game systems
(i.e. Nintendo, Genesis) and the dedicated
video game market in general. Computer games
are occasionally discussed, especially those
for older computers (i.e. Commodore 64,
Atari 8-bit, Apple II).
rec.games.video.arcade -- A group for discussion of arcade games
(in arcades). They discuss old classics
as well as current games.
[ PLEASE add to this list and/or the above descriptions ]
4: What is a Spoiler?
A: Anything that gives away information about a game, which could hurt
a player's enjoyment of a game. It comes from "Spoil the Surprise."
In this context it usually refers to the solution to a puzzle, or
a description of the ending animation sequence for a game.
Most people get really *pissed* if you post a spoiler with out a
SPOILER WARNING.
Example of a Spoiler [made up by Bryon Daly]
This comes from *no* game (yet:)
Hey guys:
In Kazoos Of Doom, I just used the +3 Accordion Of Boredom to kill the
guard and solve the riddle. Now I'm stuck on how to get down to the next
level...
5: How should I post a spoiler?
A: At minimum you should include the word SPOILER in your
subject line and a line in your message that indicates that
a Spoiler follows. One way to do this is as follows:
[SPOILER ALERT]
^L (control-L)
24 carriage returns
<text of spoiler>
[END SPOILER ALERT]
Spoilers should definitely include a form-feed character (control-L)
to avoid 'giving away' the secrets. Use of multiple CR's to support readers
in window oriented environments like the Mac is recommended in addition to
the control-L. Some people argue with justification that newsreaders that
don't support control-L as a pause are broken, and some people argue that
control-L doesn't make sense in a window environment, but spoilers should
definitely have a ^L included to follow usenet conventions - and support
workstation readers who may have large screens.
Details of inserting a cntl-L / form-feed depend very much on one's
system and/or editor - the following advice may not work for everyone or
even a majority of people.
On some UNIX systems (maybe others), you have to type the "escape" key
to enter a control. The escape key is _not_ the esc. You type
^V then ^L, and the ^L will be entered into the text. Otherwise,
just a ^L will clear the screen.
6: How do I FTP?
A: [Thanks to John Gordon and Stephen M. Smith for most of what follows]
[We are assuming that you are on a UNIX machine. If you are using
something else, you are on you own. Sorry :( ]
Directions
1) From your system prompt, type "ftp <host-name>", where
<host-name> is the name of the host machine that you are trying to get to.
Example: "ftp cica.cica.indiana.edu". Note: In some cases you may not be
able to use the name, you will have to use the IP address number. This
number is 4 numbers separated by dots, i.e. "135.56.9.2". If you have to
do it this way, you would type "ftp 135.56.9.2". Presumably you can
obtain the IP number from the same place you got the host-name.
Or use the /usr/etc/nslookup command to find the IP number from a machine
name.
2) When you connect to the host, you will have to enter a login
and probably a password. Most sites support what is called "Anonymous FTP",
this means that you enter "anonymous" as your login and then enter your
real login as you password, i.e. "joe@comp.node.whatever". Some sites
accept "ftp" as an anonymous login rather than "anonymous". I have heard
that sysadmins rarely check what you entered for your password, but it is
courteous to be truthful. NOTE: Most sites don't want you using anonymous
FTP during prime-time, which is usually 7am-6pm *local* time.
Note: Local time can often be hard to determine just from a site's name.
You can use the command "telnet <site> daytime" or, failing that,
"telnet <site> 13", will give the system time at <site>.
3) After you have successfully logged on, you can use "cd" and
"ls", among other commands, to get where you want in the directory tree.
4) Once you are in the correct directory and know what files
you want, you can use "get" to copy single files, i.e. "get file1.c",
or "mget" to copy multiple files, i.e. "mget *.zip". NOTE: If the
files you are copying are not plain-text files, i.e. compressed files,
binary data files, etc. you will want to set the transfer mode to binary.
You can do this by entering "type binary". "binary" or "tenex" may also
work.
5) If you get stuck, you can type "help" or "?" and get a list
of FTP commands that you can use. "man ftp" from your system prompt
will also be helpful.
6) If any of the files you copied have a .Z, .shar, and/or
.tar extensions, you will have to play around with the files a bit
before you can use them. Check out the man pages for the commands
"uncompress" (for .Z files), "shar" (for .shar files), and "tar"
(for .tar files).
7) Software obtained this way will probably not have viruses,
but you never know. Be careful out there. Note: I say that "it will
probably not have viruses" because there is simply more "clean"
software out there than there is "dirty" software, not because FTP
is somehow inherently safer.
Note: [thanks fl...@guardian.cs.psu.edu]
About ftping, what "binary" means is that the remote system is
compatible with your system, and ftp will send an exact image of the
file (Type I stands for Image). If, for example, both systems are
Unix systems, then you can always use binary mode, even for retrieving
text files. Binary mode will be a little faster, because the systems
will not have to convert back and forth between local ascii and
network ascii.
Type tenex (L 8) is used to talk to DEC-10s and DEC-20s and other
machines with 9-bit bytes. Machines with 8-bit bytes (which is nearly
everyone else) need to specify the "L 8" type to send binary files to
and from those machines.
Of the ftp sites you list, I think WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL is the only
host that needs type tenex.
Example FTP session with Anotations
> ftp wuarchive.wustl.edu
Connected to wuarchive.wustl.edu.
220 wuarchive.wustl.edu FTP server (Version 6.11 Fri Aug 16 07:53:21 CDT 1991)
Name (wuarchive.wustl.edu:myname): anonymous [enter "anonymous" or "ftp"
for sign-on name]
331 Guest login ok, send e-mail address as password.
Password: ["guest" usually works, otherwise put in your
real email address for the password]
230-Welcome, archive user! This is an experimental FTP server. If you
230-have any unusual problems, please report them via e-mail to
230-...@wuarchive.wustl.edu. If you do have problems, please try using a
230-dash (-) as the first character of your password -- this will turn off
230-the continuation messages that may be confusing your ftp client.
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/demos [change to the appropriate directory
with the "cd" command, and make sure
your directory dividers are "/" not "\"]
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls ["list" the contents of the directory;
for a full description use "dir" or "ls -l"]
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list.
hover.zip
lemmings.zip
vectdemo.zip
swotl.unp.txt.Z
226 Transfer complete.
56 bytes received in 0.03 seconds (1.8 Kbytes/s)
ftp> binary [for any file OTHER than a text file, change
to binary transfer by entering "binary"; some
sites use the word(s) "tenex" or "type L 8"
instead of "binary"; to change back to make a
text (ASCII) transfer enter the word "ascii"]
200 Type set to I.
ftp> get hover.zip [enter "get (filename)" to transfer the file
to your site from the remote site]
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for hover.zip (424060 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: hover.zip remote: hover.zip
424060 bytes received in 38 seconds (11 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit [enter "quit" or "bye" to leave the ftp session]
221 Goodbye.
> [you are returned to your system prompt]
7: Where can I download public domain games.
A: here are someplaces. [please post more]
risc.ua.edu 130.160.4.7 pub/games/pc PC games[?]
sumex-aim.stanford.edu 36.44.0.6 ??? Mac Software
mac.archive.umich.edu 141.211.164.153 ??? Mac Software
msdos.archive.umich.edu 141.211.164.153 ??? Dos Software
Note: Last two are the same machine. Can be accessed by archive.umich.edu
ftp.ulowell.edu 129.63.1.1 msdos\Games Apogee games, some
demos, misc
stuff
grape.ecs.clarkson.edu 128.153.28.12 everywhere MSDOS games
Note: The stuff at this archive
is rather jumbled up,
and games can be found
in many directories
Here is a place to get demos for games:
wuarchive.wustl.edu /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/demos.
ftp.ulowell.edu 129.63.1.1 /pub
/msdos/Games/Demo
Here are some random ftp sites that may have games
aisun1.ai.uga.edu language processing, msdos
iraun1.ira.uka.de ham-radio, msdos, internet
mdaali.cancer.utexas.edu software, msdos, mac
msdos.archive.umich.edu 03/01/91 anonymous/od...@pilot.njin.net
novell.macc.wisc.edu msdos)
procyon.cis.ksu.edu unix-pc, pd modula2, msdos,
quiche.cs.mcgill.ca 132.206.51.1 sites, msdos, bible, Hubble
rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de msdos, unix, mathematics
schizo.samsung.com networking sw, msdos, gifs,
sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au modula 3, msdos, aus.aarnet
vaxb.acs.unt.edu msdos, amiga, midi, network
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 comp.sources.x, msdos,
cc.sfu.ca 128.189.32.250 msdos, mac
csc2.anu.edu.au 130.56.4.25 sun-fixes, RFCs, NCSA, msdos,
doc.cso.uiuc.edu 128.174.33.105 msdos (pcsig), mac
f.ms.uky.edu 128.163.128.6 mac, msdos, unix-pc
garbo.uwasa.fi 128.214.12.37 msdos, win3, ts-progs, unix,
grape.ecs.clarkson.edu 128.153.28.129 Opus BBS, msdos, graphics,
iesd.auc.dk 130.225.48.4 amiga, mac, msdos, myth
mars.ee.msstate.edu 130.18.64.3 msdos, amiga, mac, atari,
meap.uta.edu 129.107.2.20 msdos engineering/science sw
msdos.archive.umich.edu 141.211.165.34 msdos, mac
mtsg.ubc.ca 137.82.27.1 msdos, unix, amiga, os2
nic.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 GNU, X11, networking, msdos,
orc.olivetti.com 129.189.192.20 msdos fax netinfo rfc
peace.waikato.ac.nz 130.217.64.62 anu-news gnu msdos mac ncsa
plains.nodak.edu 134.129.111.64 apple, msdos, mac, amiga,
shasta.scl.cwru.edu 129.22.32.7 smail/pc, msdos, gif, packet
sparky2.esd.mun.ca 134.153.11.101 NewPet and QuikPlot msdos
sumex.edu ??? Mac Software
um.cc.umich.edu 35.1.1.43 msdos, mac, apple, atari
vega.hut.fi 130.233.200.42 msdos, mac, Kermit, fusion
vmtecmex.cem.itesm.mx 132.254.1.4 amiga, msdos, gif
vuwcom.vuw.ac.nz 130.195.2.10 kermit, mac, msdos, vms
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil 192.88.110.20 msdos, unix, cpm, mac (tenex)
NOTE: A simply massive ftplist can be downloaded from the Document Site:
typhoon.Berkeley.EDU(128.32.184.254) in pub/Library
This place has a lot of other documents also.
8: Where can I get hints/solutions to games?
A: See Part 3 of the FAQ for Frequently Asked Hints/Bugs or use ftp,
see below.
Here are ftp sites [please post more]
risc.ua.edu 130.160.4.7 -- pub/games/solutions
This is in the US, and it largely
duplicates nic.funet.fi
nic.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 -- pub/misc/games.solutions
This is in Finland, and it largely
duplicates risc.ua.edu
NOTE: when ftp'ing to nic.funet.fi
you MUST enter your email address as
the password in order to be able to
access the appropriate subdirectories!
There are no walkthroughs on the Internet for the following games.
[Thanks to Carl Hommel for this info]
Ultima 4
Bards Tale II
Eye of the Beholder (postscript maps available from someplace in Oz)
Might & Magic I, III (hint books cost $12)
The SSI "Gold Box" games (hint books cost $15)
Pool of Radiance
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Secret of the Silver Blades
Pool of Darkness
Wizardry I - V
An EotB walkthrough is the *most* frequently asked walkthrough question.
Earn eternal fame by being the first to write/upload one!
the following solutions had been uploaded to risc.ua.edu...
directory /pub/games/solutions
most of them were written by me...
sol.elvira - Elvira
sol.elvira2 - Elvira II
sol.eob2 - Eye of the Beholder II
sol.geisha - Geisha (not done by me)
sol.iceman - Codename : ICEMAN
sol.kol - Knights of Legend
sol.lostinla - Les Manley II - Lost in L.A.
sol.martianmemorandam - Martian Memorandum
sol.mm3 - Might & Magic III
sol.monkey - Secret of Monkey Island
sol.monkey2 - Secret of Monkey Island II
sol.uukrul - The Dark Heart of Uukrul
sol.willy - The Adventures of Willy Beamish
sol.wizardry6 - Bane of the Cosmic Forge (not done by me)
sol.zyca - Legend of the Zyca
9: Which sound board should I buy?
A: Read the sound site newsletter, which will tell you everything you
ever wanted to know about sound*
(* but were afraid to ask:)
10: Where to get the Sound Site Newsletter?
A: The Sound Site Newsletter is posted monthly or bimonthly to
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games, comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc, and comp.sys.mac.misc
under the subject heading "Sound Newsletter #?". If possible,
obtain a copy from one of those newsgroups.
The editor for the newsletter is David Komatsu; he may be reached at one
of the following three email addresses: so...@ccb.ucsf.edu,
da...@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu, and kom...@aludra.usc.edu. For back
issues of the Sound Site Newsletter, obtain the latest copy and follow
the directions given in it.
11: Where can I get music players/music files/music editors/songs/etc. for
my pc's music card?
A: Read the Sound Site Newsletter.
12: What is the difference between the Sound Blaster and the Sound Blaster
Pro?
A: [??? will this be in the Sound Site Newsletter?]
13: My 386/33 and Sound Blaster seem incompatible. I get garbled music
when playing Ultima6/SSI games/etc. What's wrong?
A: On some fast machines there are timing problems with certain game's
software. Try turning off the cache or lowering the CPU speed.
14: Where can I get Infocom games? Can somebody mail me a copy (since they're
out of business anyway (Is that legal?) What happened to them anyway?
A: The Lost Treasures of Infocom is now available at Electronic Boutiques
and other fine stores everywhere. $59.95 list, EB price is $54.95.
20 Infocom games included - all the Zork series, HHGTTG, etc.
Whatta deal - less than $3.00 a game!
[The following author says he's not an infocom expert, so there may be]
[some mistakes]
Infocom went out of business and was purchased by Activision. It currently
titles a line of non-text games (Battletech, etc). The widespread opinion
of the net holds that copying of the games is still illegal/immoral, but
there is good news: the latest word is that Activision is planning to
release a bundle containing almost all the infocom games very soon.
[Nathan Torkington writes]
Infocom were bought by Mediagenic, and are now simply a label under
which games are released. The most recent Infocom releases are
graphical adventures, but Mediagenic have plans to release the classic
Infocom text adventure games around Christmas.
UK readers will be happy to learn that the games are available from
Virgin Mastertronic (a budget software house in the US). I'll include
a copy of my personal FAQ on how to get the games from Mastertronic.
I have just a read a rumour that Mediagenic are bankrupt, but this is
still *very* strongly a rumour. I will let you know should I hear
more (I'm sure you're just *fascinated* :-). Should Mediagenic go
under, I will spend mucho $$$ and ring them and find out what plans
are in action for the Infocom label.
Further to my post of a while back, Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy" adventure game is being reissued by Virgin
Mastertronic. Their advertisement in the Aug/Dept 1991 "XS NRG"
magazine (hey, it's not mine! - I wouldn't buy something with that
tacky a title) shows the covers to
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Zork I
PlanetFall
Wishbringer
Leather Goddesses of Phobos
Zork II
Zork III
Enchanter
Sorcerer
Deadline
and the text reads:
Ten good reasons to use your imagination
Classic infocom interactive fiction is back -- at an
irresistible price.
Available on PC, Amiga & ST : #9.99 (# == British pound)
INFOCOM from Mastertronic
For further information please contact:
Customer Services
Virgin Mastertronic Ltd
16 Portland Road
London W11 2LA
Tel: 071 - 727 8070
I hope this helps. Remember that if you write to them asking how to
order the game, it would be a good idea to let them know how much you
enjoy interactive fiction (text adventures). That way they may
(re?)release more ..
15: Where can I buy/get support for games?
A: "Where to get..."
Electronic Boutique has a toll-free order line. (800) 800-0032.
[AmEx/MasterCard/VISA, personal check, Money Order].
CompuAdd has a toll-free order line. (800) 627-1967.
[Discover/MasterCard/VISA, certified check, Money Order].
Egghead has toll-free order line. (800) 347 5400.
[I assume major credit cards. Check? Money Order?]
"Game Maker Support"
A number of game companies have BBS systems that their customers
can call to leave technical support questions, get updated game
versions, find out product information, etc. The ones I've
signed on to in the last month are:
Accolade (408) 296-8800
Microprose (301) 785-1841
Origin (512) 328-8402
Sierra (209) 683-4463 (*)
(*) Hints for most of their games available online!
Other useful BBS numbers:
DAK (are we talking deals???) (818) 715-7153
Logitech (mice, etc) (415) 795-0408
Thanks sg...@netcom.netcom.com (Steve Gilbert) for this info
-------------------------- Part 2: Glossary -------------------------------
Note: Any time I use series in a description, it means that the word is
usually followed by a number (sometimes a roman numeral)
i.e. KQ5 or KQ V is King's Quest 5, the fifth installment of Kings Quest.
Adlib Adlib -- A brand of Sound Card
AD&D Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons -- See rec.games.frp
AG Adlib Gold -- Fancer version of Adlib that competes
better with Sound Blaster
BotCF Bane of the Cosmic Forge
(Wizardry VI) -- Part of the Wizardy series by Sir Tech
BT Bards Tale -- A fantasy roleplaying series
from Electronic Arts
BTW By The Way -- Expression used by net.people
CGA Color Graphics Adapter -- Old style graphics adapter from IBM.
This was used for ancient games
[I think it was 320x200 with 4 colors]
CoAB Curse of the Azure Bonds -- Computer based AD&D game from SSI
EGA Extended Graphics Adapter -- Previous generation of graphics adapter,
used for most of older games.
(includes a 320x200 16 color mode,
which was the old standard for games)
EOB,EoB Eye Of the Beholder -- mouse based AD&D game from SSI
FAQ Frequently Asked ?s -- Self-explanatory
FTP File Transfer Protocol -- Tool used to transfer files between
two machines (usually UNIX machines)
IMHO In My Humble (or Honest)
Opinion -- Expression used by net.people
IMNSHO In My Not So
Humble/Honest Opinion -- Expression used by net.people
LSL Leisure Suit Larry -- Siera Online adventure game series
M&M Might and Magic -- A fantasy roleplaying series by
New World Computing
KQ King's Quest -- Siera Online adventure game series
PBM Play By Mail -- Game (often RPG) that is played by mail
PBEM,PBeM Play by Email -- Game (often PRG) that is played by EMail
PC Personal Computer -- Usually implies "IBM-PC compatible"
POD,PoD Pools of Darkness -- Computer based AD&D game from SSI
POR,PoR Pool of Radiance -- Computer based AD&D game from SSI
RTM Read The Manual -- Phrases used by people who don't have
RTFM Read The F_CKIN Manual the time/patience/desire to help those
who have a question. This editor
personally dislikes this because it
sends the message Read the Manual
Stupid. Some things are not always
clear to others and they have as much
a right to ask their questions as we
have to ask ours.
SB Sound Blaster -- A brand of Sound Card
SQ Space Quest -- Siera Online adventure game series
SSI Strategic Simulations Inc -- A game company that makes the AD&D
computer games, among others.
SSB Secret of the Silver
Blades -- Computer based AD&D game from SSI
U Ultima -- A fantasy roleplaying series by Origin
VGA Video Graphics Array -- Current graphics adpater "du jour"
of the game companies. It is required
for newer games that use 256 colors at
320x200
SVGA Super VGA -- higher resolution 256 color modes that
come on 3rd party graphics cards
(includes 640x480,800x600,and 1024x768)
see comp.sys.ibm.cp.hardware for more
info
WC Wing Commander -- Popular space flight simulator series
from Origin
Wiz Wizardy -- A fantasy roleplaying series by
Sir Tech
[Please post additions and corrections]
---------------------------- Part 3: Game Bugs ----------------------------
This section cover some common game bug situations. It contains no Spoilers
other than where a bug in the game prevents the player from finding out the
info.
Might and Magic III
Sierra Games (General)
Leisure Suit Larry 5
Monkey Island
Ultima 6
Spellcasting 101
Eye of the Beholder
Wing Commander 1
Wing Commander I,II cheat
Might and Magic III
Q: Why does brother Zeta never talk to me, even though I have visted
brother Delta, who told me to go see him.
A: This is a bug in the game. Zeta is supposed to tell you that you
can find the shell on day 99. Also Zeta is the last of the brothers.
Q: What is the magic number that lord might wants in the Arachnoid
Caverent?
A: [I don't remember the #. Someone please post]
There is a bug in the game, that makes it [nearly] impossible to compute
the number based on the clues, and besides, it's tedious. If you wait
til later (nothing really depends on this quest), you will come across
the answer elsewhere.
Sierra Games (General)
Q: I have several games from Sierra (and the associated company Dynamix),
e.g. King's Quest V, Stellar 7, etc. When I install these programs
with sound set to sound blaster (I have a version 2.0 sound
blaster--not pro) my system hangs. If I set them to adlib board then
they seem to work fine but I guess I am potentially missing out on any
digitised sound effects. I had the same problem with Martian Memorandum
but its manual gave instructions on how to change the interrupt from 3
(used on older sound blaster boards) to 7 (used on newer boards --
and what mine uses as reported by TEST-SBC). This change fixed
things up perfectly. [What can I do?]
A: I had the same problem with both Martian Memorandum and the Sierra games.
I solved the problem with Martian Merorandum the same way as you. As
for the Sierra games, when I talked to their tech support they indicated
that there was no difference between Addlib mode and SB mode (I'm not
sure about Dynamix however.) So I don't think you're missing much.
Leisure Suit Larry 5
Q: What happened to Leisure Suit Larry 4?
A: According to a newsletter(or game mag) I read somewhere, after
completing LSL3, the author swore he would never do a part 4.
So as a man of the highest moral caliber *grin*, he kept his word
and did part 5 instead.
Another answer is: it appears in the game Space Quest IV, so they had
to roll the release number when they built LSL 5.
Monkey Island
Q: I can't get this game to run with Soundblaster (in Adlib mode) on my
fast (33MHZ 486) machine.
A: try running in 8MHZ mode. There is a bug that makes their Adlib driver
fail on the fast machine.
Ultima 6
Q: I'm trying to install Ultima 6 for the Soundblaster. How do I do it?
A: Choose Adlib and use all its default values. It will work fine.
Q: What if I did the above and the music still doesn't sound right?
A: Then you are in the same situation as the editor was. He called Origin
and they told him to get the CMS chipset. He did this and played the
game in CMS mode.
Spellcasting 101
Q: I have Spellcasting 101, for my IBM but I have a SoundBlaster Pro sound card.
The packaging with S101 says that the game only uses the adlib sound card
but only when you have run SOUND.COM.
A: When you installed S101, it put the file SB_SOUND.COM in your S101
directory. This is the program to run before starting S101.
[thanks to Sam Fineberg for this info]
Thanks to Andrew Robinson I found sound.com included in an ad-lib demo
called dpdemo. This is available on nic.funet.fi among other places in
the directory /pub/msdos/sound/adlib. The file is called dpdemo.lzh.
Included in this archive is the original ad-lib sound.com driver.
This worked perfectly with my SoundBlaster.
Please take note of case as most of these machines are case sensitive.
I found that for this file to work, the Soundblaster board has to be set to
the default address (0220H).
Eye of the Beholder
Q: Where can I obtain maps for the different levels?
A: They are available as .gif files at wuarchive.wustl.edu in
/pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS. The file names are level-01.gif through
level-12.gif.
brolga.cc.uq.oz.au (130.102.128.5), in directory /pub/eob.
This site is in Australia.
The EOB maps were removed from wuarchive.wustl.edu.
But someone just (12/18/91) posted the following note in
bit.listserv.games-l:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I've just uploaded the maps for Eye of the Beholder 1 to the ftp
site wuarchive.wustl.edu in the directory MSDOS_UPLOADS under
the filename eobmaps.zip.
(path \pub\MSDOS_UPLOADS)
The twelve maps have been PKzipped into one file. Just do a binary
ftp get on the file eobmaps.zip. When PKunzipped, it will explode into
the twelve separate maps.
If you have any trouble with this file and blame it on the original
at the ftp site, please let me know so I can check and see if I did
something wrong.
Wing Commander 1
Q: Where can I get the wc.exe with the joystick fix?
A: wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS. It's called wc1joyfx.zip
Wing Commander I,II
Q: What is the alt-del cheat in Wing Commander I [thanks Bill Poitras]
A: The alt-del cheat is part of a mode that origin put in the Wing Commander
games. you start the game wc Origin
sm2 Origin
wc2 Origin
And when you hit Alt-Del, the targetted ship explodes. Lock is not
neccessary. If you hit Alt-Ins, then all the enemy fighters blow up, but
not capital ships. If you start the executable up with -k Origin, then
your ship is invicible!!!
---------------------------- Part 4: Game Spoilers ----------------------------
[SPOILER ALERT]
This section contains common spoiler/bug/cheat questions for certain games.
Games covered are:
Might and Magic III
Lemmings
[We may want to break this off into a separate FAQ -- SPOILERS]
[SPOILER ALERT]
This section is for commonly asked questions about particular games, that
haven't or will never make it to the hint/solutions area. Feel
free to post or email me updates and addtions to this list. Also let me
know when walkthroughs become available so I can delete them from here.
We should try keep these to 2-4 questions per game.
Might and Magic III
Q: What goes up and down but never moves?
A: STAIRS
Q: What turns everything around but does not move?
A: MIRROR
Lemmings
Q: How do I get a lemming to turn round?
A: [thanks Adrian Hurt]
Make the lemming dig vertically, until the top of his head is level with
the floor from which he started digging. Then make him build. The pit
which he has just dug should be small enough that he can get out of it
without being a climber, but large enough that he doesn't keep building
over the side - the ladder will hit the side, then he will stop building
and turn round.
Q: How do I complete Tricky Level 23?
A: [thanks Adrian Hurt]
Use both bashers to get through the big barrier in the middle - two bashers
work faster than one. Once some lemmings are in the pit on the right of the
barrier, make one a climber. Just before this lemming gets to the exit,
turn him round as described above. Then make him a miner, so he digs a
diagonal tunnel into the pit, up which the other lemmings can go to the
exit.
[Others?]
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<67041@apple.Apple.COM>Path:
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Path: mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!decwrl!decwrl!nsc!voder!apple!warren From: war...@Apple.COM (Chris Warren) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games,rec.games.misc Subject: ADMIN: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games - Frequently Asked Questions - Read before posting Keywords: questions,hints,faq,info Message-ID: <67041@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 13 May 92 18:00:18 GMT Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 995 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit