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                                   COLORS
                             SYSOP INSTRUCTIONS

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   There is a lot of behind the scenes options sysops can do in COLORS.
This file talks briefly about each.  Whenever I mention "sysop" in this file,
I'll really be talking about the game coordinator: the person who looks after
the game if anything goes wrong or whatever (not that anything ever will!).

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                            INITIAL CONFIGURATION
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   In the CDATA directory is a file called CCONFIG.DAT.  If this file does
not exist (like when the game is first installed), the first time you run
COLORS, it will prompt you to create the default config file because it can
not find any current one.  Create it so you can get into the game.

   Next we want to edit the Config options.  In particular, you'll want to
change the minimum SysOp access in the game to something higher than 10,
and you'll want to change the SysOp password to something other than "TAMMY".
Every copy of COLORS installs set up like this, so everyone knows the password
and with an access level of 10, everyone will be able to get in and mess with
the game.

   To edit Config options, choose [C]onfig from the first main multi-game menu.
You'll be prompted for the SysOp password, so type "TAMMY".  The Config menu
will appear.

   From here you can change a variety of options, but in particular, you want
to change the [P]assword and minimum [A]ccess level for SysOp (coordinator)
access.  Make the password whatever string you like, but it is not case-
sensitive.  Set the minimum access level to any integer value ( < 32767 ).
Set this up so that few people have access to the SysOp options.  If too many
people have access, it ruins the game as people will give themselves super
gangs and stomp all over the other innocent player gangs of lesser access.

   That's it for the essential configuration you should do.  The other Config
options have been set and tested to make the game thoroughly playable and fun
for everyone.  Still, feel free to change anything you like.


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                                SYSOP OPTIONS
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   To get to the SysOp/Coordinator options menu, from the standard in-game
menu prompt, simply hit [!].  If you have enough access on the BBS you'll be
prompted to enter the SysOp/Coordinator password.  If you don't have enough
access, hitting [!] won't do anything.  This way only a few people of a
certain access level can get in.

   There are four different sysop screens available:
1. Main Sysop Menu,  2. Map Edit Screen,  and  3. Gang Edit Screen.


1. MAIN SYSOP MENU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   The Main SysOp menu is the entry point to all of the SysOp options for a
game.  It can be accessed by pressing [!] from the main game menu.  Let's
look at the following as a sample Main SysOp menu...


COORDINATOR EDIT MENU:

 ACTIVE GANGS...

   [A]CRYPTS            T#:22    LT:94-Apr-06    TB:45
   [B]The Hounds        T#:20    LT:94-Apr-06    TB:38
   [C]HanznFranz        T#:2     LT:94-Mar-30    TB:1
   [D]blood3            T#:29    LT:94-Apr-05    TB:48
   [E]Mad Mac           T#:28    LT:94-Apr-06    TB:73
   [F]The Wattles       T#:2     LT:94-Mar-25    TB:4
   [H]Murellies         T#:5     LT:94-Mar-14    TB:10
   [I]Puddin' Pie       T#:4     LT:94-Apr-06    TB:6
   [K]Baby Stompers     T#:6     LT:94-Apr-06    TB:8

This copy of COLORS (v2.0) is Registered to...
   John Devlin  of  The Devil's Den  at  (604)589-3317

Edit gang ([S]ave, [?]Map, [~]DropOut, [X]Exit) : _


   Notice gang [G] is dead already, so they're no longer visible in the list.
You can still edit gange G though by hitting [G].  You can reactivate them or
do whatever you like (be careful about reactivating them though, make sure you
give the gang a block also!).  You'll see a few other options here also...


[S]ave is used to save the current gang info in case you've changed anything.

[?]Map allows you to view and edit the entire map, including the city name.

[~]DropOut is really not very useful for normal games.  It was used more as
    a testing feature during the development of COLORS.  It will kick you out
    of the game immediately from that sysop menu without saving a thing and
    without a confirmation prompt.

[X]Exit will just exit back out of this menu.


   There are also a few stats visible on this screen.  Let's look at "The
Hounds" line as an example:

   [B]The Hounds        T#:20    LT:94-Apr-06    TB:38

   'B' is the letter corresponding to "The Hounds" gang.  Pressing [B] will
take you to the Gang Editting menu and show "The Hounds" gang in detail.
"T#" is the total number of game turns the player has played in the game.
"LT" is the date of the last turn a player made.  "TB" is the total number
of blocks a gang controls on the map.  Use this info as a quick reference to
see if anyone has given up and needs to be killed out of the game or just out
of general curiousity.



2. MAP EDIT
~~~~~~~~~~~
   The Map Edit screen allows editting of the city-map data.  It can be
accessed by pressing [?] from the Main SysOp Menu.  Let's look at the
following as a sample Map Edit screen...


MAP EDIT

[?]Display Full City Map
[A]lter a block
[N]ame of the City

Choose ([X]Exit) : _


[?]Display Full City Map:  Displays the map and prompts for a block to edit.

[A]lter a block:  Prompts for a block to edit without displaying the map.

[N]ame of the City:  Allows you to change the name of the city.


   There is another internal, more detailed menu shown after a block to edit
is given providing a way to quickly edit the characteristics of a block.
This menu was mostly used for testing and debugging.  It gives you complete
customization control over the enture city.  Let's look at the following as a
sample internal Map Edit screen...


ALTERING BLOCK: A1

[B]lock Type   : Low Class
[G]ang Owner   : [0] - The Hounds
[S]tat Level   : 30
[D]isplay Flag : 0
[R]ecent Take  : 0

Alter how? (B, G, S, D, R, [X]Exit) :


[B]lock Type:  This option allows you to change the block type.
    Types available are:  [H]igh, [M]iddle, [L]ow, [G]hetto, [C]ommercial,
    [S]chool, [A]irport, and [P]olice.

[G]ang Owner:  This option allows you to change who controls the city.  Enter
    the number of the gang to control it.

[S]tat Level:  This option allows you to change the condition level of the
    block.  As fighting continues to occurr in a block, the stat level drops.
    If it drops to 0, the block changes to a less valuable block.

[D]isplay Flag:  This boolean (yes/no) flag determines if the current gang
    playing can see the block because it was scouted out.

[R]ecent Take:  This boolean flag indicates if the block was aquired this same
    day.  If so, blocks touching it can not be taken over yet.



3. GANG EDIT
~~~~~~~~~~~~
   The Gang Edit screen allows editting of a particular gang.  It can be
accessed by pressing letter assocaited with the gang from the Main SysOp Menu.
There is a multitude of different edit options available on this screen.
They are all intuitive and need no further explaination here.


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                            GENERAL CONFIGURATION
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The SysOp Config options ([C] from the SysOp menu) menu is pretty self-
explanatory, but I'll beat you over the head with all the details...

[P]assword:  This string is used by SysOps to get into the SysOp options.
             You have 11 alpha-numeric characters available.  Case does not
             make any difference.  The default password is "TAMMY".

[A]ccess:  Enter the minimum access level people must have to even have access
           to all of these SysOp options.  This value is a long integer.  The
           default access level is 10.

[D]ays Protected:  This is to set the number of days a gang has in protection
                   before other gangs are allowed to attack them.
                   The maximum is 99 and the default number is 5.

[K]ill Game-Over:  This is to set the number of days a game will exist after
                   it is finished so that the other players can see who won.
                   The maximum is 99 and the default number is 2.

[M]ap Style:  Toggle between v2 and v1 style maps.  v2 style displays almost
              all of the city map and also displays ally views.  v1 is much
              more conservative and displays only your own blocks and those
              surrounding them.

[R]eturn:  After making changes, you would normally return to the sysop menu
           with this option and your changes will be saved.

[X]Exit:   If you accidentily screwed something up and don't want to save
           your changes, you can return to the sysop menu without saving your
           changes via this option.  The old config info will thus be
           preserved.

[@]Defaults:  Accessing this option will reset all of the config options to
              their defaults (as mentioned throughout above).  These defaults
              were tested for more than a year and have been found to be very
              playable.  Thus they are recommended, but really it's up to you
              in the end.  NOTE: This will also reset the SysOp Access level
              to 10 and the SysOp Password to "TAMMY".  Be sure to change
              these so no one can mess with your game.


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                              MISCELLANEOUS
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BULLETINS

   In the CDATA directory, there is a text file called CBULLETS.TXT.
If you'd like to add a bulletin for all players to see as they enter the game,
create the bulletin as a text file, and enter the file's path and name in this
CBULLETS.TXT.  See the instructions in CBULLETS.TXT for more detailed
instructions, but it's pretty darn simple.


MULTI-NODE

   Hooking up COLORS on a multi-node BBS is very easy.  Unfortunately, only
one user can play in a particular game/city at a time.  COLORS will take care
of ensuring this.  Simply hook up both nodes to run the same game in the same
directory.  COLORS will take care of the rest!


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                                    MORE
                                    ~~~~

   That about covers the in-game SysOp functions.  There's a lot of other
information of possible interest in other files you may want to take a look
at...

README! .TXT - A file just telling you what's all in the COLORS.ZIP file.
INSTALL .TXT - Some information about setting COLORS up on your BBS.
CREATION.TXT - Instruction on adding and customizing your COLORS world.
REGISTER.TXT - Registration information!  Read this one for sure.


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                                  QUESTIONS
                                  ~~~~~~~~~

   If you have any questions about these SysOp functions, or anything at all
really, just drop me a note.  I can be reached most easily by writing email to
"bkyle@sfu.ca".

Good luck!
 - Brent "Cowboy" Kyle, creator of The HUNT, ex-sysop of Trauma Hounds BBS.


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