Description

DarkFire 2000 v2.41_______________________________07/01/89

                  DarkFire 2000 v2.41

        "Where GBBS 'Pro' leaves off, we begin"

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Welcome to DarkFire 2000 v2.41!! This software was, at one time, commercially available for sixty or more dollars (depending on the version). However, due to a new endeavor, it was decided to release it as Freeware, in order to familiarize people with DF/Productions. The programs contained herein do work. There are still bugs, but ones that simply need time to get worked out (the message bases are the most problematic area, but there is a new PSE message base in 2.41. Be sure to test your system fully before putting it up). We will not be offering major support for this software, becuase we are involved in another project (see below), but will attempt to do our best to help you out. You can reach us by writing to us at the following addresses:

America Online: ChrisMIPS

GEnie : C.MAYTAG

USMail : Eric Mukogawa

DF/Productions

POB 997

Summerland, CA

93067

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And now a word about another product! The Galaxy BBS system was created after DF2000 by our head programmer, Eric Mukogawa. Galaxy is a well-tested, fully functional BBS. It has all of your favorite features from DarkFire, but updated and expanded. Galaxy has built-in networking ability, to network with the Galaxy Network, with the Hub being in Santa Barbara, CA. Also included is a Role-Playing Game (RPG) system. The ProTERM special support has been improved in Galaxy, and all bugs have been removed! In order to purchase Galaxy, send twenty-five dollars (25.00) to the above Post Office Box, check payable to Eric Mukogawa. You'll be entitled to free updates and support. For those of you who do not yet own GBBS Pro, we offer a GBBS Pro/Galaxy package for 100.00 dollars. This is 25.00 less than GBBS alone, so you're getting the best possible deal!

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** PLEASE NOTE: THIS SOFTWARE IS FOR THE USE OF REGISTERED OWNERS OF GBBS "PRO", FROM L&L PRODUCTIONS! BECAUSE OF IT'S USE OF THE ACOS COMPILER, WE DO NOT CONDONE, ENCOURAGE, ALLOW OR APPROVE OF UNAUTHORIZED USE OF ANY L&L SOFTWARE, OR ANY OTHER ILLEGALLY OBTAINED SOFTWARE.

*** 2nd NOTE: We do not make any claims as to the performance, condition, ability or usefulness of this product. We are not responsible for any use, misuse, loss of time or damage caused by the programs hereby collectively named 'DarkFire', 'DF', 'DarkFire 2000', or 'DF2000'. We make no claims as to the suitability of this software for any particular purpose.

This set of programs was designed to fulfill the need for a truly flexible, up-to-date and easy to use bulletin board program for the Apple II series of computers. The software is written in ACOS, and uses the ACOS compiler that came with your copy of GBBS "Pro". While GBBS was a useful system, many people needed much more than what it offers - and began to write their own GBBS "Pro" modifications using ACOS.

DarkFire 2000 began a long time ago as that very thing - a heavily modified version of GBBS "Pro". However, it became apparent at a certain point that it would simply be easier to take what had been learned modifying GBBS, and create a whole new BBS package, rather than use a modified GBBS 'Pro'. And so, what you are using is just that - a completely new, original, and well designed set of ACOS source code segments that will make your BBS what you always hoped it could be.

This file is organized into a number of segments, each dealing with a different area of the new software. You will also notice in this folder the following files, all of wich you should read:

1) DF.DOCS - This file

2) FILE.DESC - Descriptions of the files on your DarkFire disk,

as well as files that DarkFire will create.

3) DF.INSTALL - How to use the GBBS configure program to tell DarkFire

where things are, what drivespecs to use, and how to

use the DF.CONFIG.S program to set up your new BBS.

4) ALT.SEGS - This file talks about some alternate segments, in the ALT

directory, which you may want to use in your system.

5) PROSCRN.TXT- This file will explain what PROSCREEN is and how to

use it.

You should, before proceeding, MAKE A BACKUP DISK OF YOUR DARKFIRE ORIGINAL!! It is very easy to make a backup, and a real pain to lose your only copy of something. Next, read this file, to give you an idea of what DarkFire can and cannot do. Last, print out the file DF.INSTALL, and proceed to follow the instructions therein.

Next, we would like to thank the following people (with apologies to anyone whom I have missed, forgotten, etc) for their help in seeing this project through to completion:

Paul Stone - Misty Francis - Galadriel - Chris Maytag - Peter Spiess

Mike Kennedy - Lance Taylor-Warren - Parik Rao - the Dungeon

Master (for Blackspring) and all the unknown ACOS programmers without

whom none of this may have ever happened, wether they know it or not.

It is my hope that DarkFire will continue to satisfy both your expectations and your hopes. Please stay in touch via the addresses listed above. We'll all be glad to hear from you!

Sincerely, Eric Mukogawa

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DarkFire 2000 Overview

o Message Bases o RPG launcher/system

o User utilities o Gameroom

o DFMail system o Extended SysOp Utilities

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The following sections will describe the features of the above systems, and will attempt to give you a feel for how things work in DarkFire 2000. For an in-depth look at what they do and how they do it, simply set up the system and run it. For a truly in depth look at the system, look at the ACOS source code itself - this will give you the best idea of what happens, and how.

You should be aware that the terminology is somewhat different than that of GBBS "Pro". The Main Level is now called The Gateway level - so don't get confused when we talk about 'The Gateway' - or other parts of the system.

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o Message Bases

The DarkFire 2000 Message Bases are modeled after the one you are familiar with from GBBS. There are, however, a number of new features that are different that you should look at. First of all, is the use of ProTERM special emulation. ProTERM special is a terminal emulation rather similar to ANSI or VT-100, without the color. It is based on the DataMedia 1500 emulation, with the addition of sound and MouseText. MouseText is a set of special characters - the filled and unfilled apples, for instance. ProTERM special emulation (PSE or PTS from now on) also allows you to move the cursor around on the screen, without the normal limitations involved in telecommunications.

In order to take advantage of PSE, DarkFire uses a PSE editor, which allows the remote user to use both his up-and-dowm arrow keys, as well as use formatting commands, such as ctrl-C, which will center a line of text in a message, when entering messages. Also, PSE will be used (and was, in previous versions of DarkFire) in the Message headers, to create nice looking headers for the message bases. Of course, the normal editor is still available for non-PSE users, and PSE use can be turned on and off by the user, via the User Utilities menu, accessible from the Gateway level.

You may have as many as seventy bases active at one time - although the authors recommend no more than fifty. You may configure each base independantly to have from 1 to 512 messages, and it is feasible to have more than 512 messages per base. This allows for as many as 25,600 messages on your system - dependant, of course, on Hard Drive (permanent storage) limitations. Also, each base can have it's own board manager, a user appointed to keep things orderly on that base (however, the bases tend to take care of themselves). Board Managers and Sysops have two tools available to them for this purpose - [M]ove message and [K]ill message. Using the [M]ove message command (from within the bases), you can move a message from, say, the Main Board to the For Sale Board, if the message advertises something for sale. This helps keep things where they should be. The [K]ill command helps when one of your less-than-perfect users decides to post some rather obnoxious messages. Simply get rid of them.

A [Q]uickscan feature is available from the main menu, allowing users to automatically read all new messages since their last call. They may also go through the bases manually, by [J]umping directly to the desired base. Also, each user can select which bases he/she wishes to scan during a quickscan - some users may not wish to scan the IBM board, for instance, if they use only Apple computers. Most other commands are self-explanatory, except the [T]race command, which allows you to trace a topic back through all the messages to follow the thread of conversation.

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o RPG Launcher

DarkFire 2000 comes with it's own RPG (Role Playing Game) launcher, as well as the most flexible RPG system ever devised for telecommunications. You may have, using different directories, as many as 54 (maybe more!) Role Playing Games active at the same time. The RPG launcher menu is available from the Gateway level, and from there you may select which (if any) RPG games you will play. There are complete installation instructions in the folder /DARKFIRE/GAMES/RPG, along with the RPG segment itself (no, it should not be in the A: drive).

Recognizing that adventurers do not always travel in one group, it is possible to designate each member of a party as a member of group 1 or group 2. The members of group 1 would not be able to read messages to group 2, and vice-versa. The RPG system uses it's own message base, completely separate from the main boards' message bases. One can also send mail via the RPG segment. Also, as always, both the PSE and normal editors are available in the RPG segment.

What happens with the RPG segment is up to you, but we suggest asking your users if anyone would like to run a game - non-sysop users can be designated as the Game Master. Sysops all have access to the games without being a player, in order to keep an eye on things. Some ideas include using Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games, available from TSR, Inc., and perhaps, for more experienced RPG players, writing their own adventure game.

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o User Utilities

The User Utilities section allows your users to change a number of important attributes of their account, without asking the sysop to do it for them. Users may change their password from this level, but may not change their name or security levels - this is due to security reasons. Users may also change their video width, backspace mode, Nulls sent at Linefeed, whether page pause mode is on or off (page pause waits for a keypress when displaying more than 23 lines of data), as well as their phone number, and whether other users can see their phone number in the userlist.

Also selectable from this menu are whether PSE is active or not, and how you want the screen to clear - normal, downward scrolling, or a new, upward wipe. All of these options were designed to make it easier for both you and your users to keep things the way they should be.

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o Gameroom

The Gameroom was designed as a place to link to your online games from. Simply add the game to the folder /DARKFIRE/GAMES/MODULE, and 'link' to the game from the Gameroom. For specifics on which file the Gameroom is, look in the file FILE.DESC. We suggest that you 'store' your variables before linking to a game, and then 'restore' them upon return - this helps avoid variable conflicts, as DarkFire does use quite a few variables.

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o DFMail System

DFMail was originally modeled after EasyMail, but has since undergone major revisions. Along with the standard [S]end and [R]ead mail functions, DFMail has a few new twists. First, all users can have a 'mailbox notice', a message displayed to anyone sending them mail. A sysops' notice might say, for instance, "Don't bug me, I get too much mail as it is!", or something along those lines. One may also, of course, delete or edit his or her own mailbox notice, as well as view other people's notices.

A true bulk mailing feature has been added, with the ability to send the same letter to as many as 200 people at once. This is useful for user groups, and other associations of people who need the same information in a private forum.

As with all areas of DarkFire, both the PSE and normal editors are available, so your non-ProTERM users will still have use of the mail system. The mail system also handles feedback, mail written to sysops from users. However, it is also possible to send mail to sysops as regualr mail.

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o Extended SysOp Utilities

DarkFire has the best collection of SysOp utilities of any Apple BBS program on the market that we know of. The ability to edit, view, and copy files has been added, along with the ability to issue ProDOS commands directly from the SysOp segment. Utilities for editing user accounts include editing all account attributes, adding new users manually, deleting individual users, validating users, and editing a users time left while he or she is online. You may also set the system.news pointers back, so that all users will see a new SYSTEM.NEWS file you put up. Additional features include userlists, RPG Installer, and the ability to directly link to a segment from the sysop segment.

The most important, however, seems to be the Sub-Base editor. This allows you to create, edit, and delete message boards without taking down the board and using the config.sys program that came with GBBS "Pro". Here at DF Productions, we have done our best to see that your job, as a SysOp, remains as simple and enjoyable as possible. We hope you enjoy DarkFire as much as we do.

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GBBS "Pro", ACOS (C)1986-1988 L&L Productions - All rights reserved

ProTERM, ProTERM Special are (C)1988 by ProTech Software, Inc.

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System Requirements

GBBS Pro 1.3