moria.readme
Amiga Moria 1.1
1.0 Introduction
Moria is a dungeon adventure game in the manner of Rogue, Hack, Larn,
etc., but not descended from Rogue. Moria is to VMS systems (VAX), as Rogue
is to UNIX. It is a game similar to the above games in that it involves
wizards, warriors, scroll, potions, magic. In order to win the game the
player must perform certain tasks. In this case he/she must destroy the
Balrog that lurks in the lowest levels of the dungeons below your village.
Moria, however is much bigger and more detailed than the other D&D type
games, and requires considerable dedication, and determination to triumph
over the forces of evil. For a much more detailed description of Moria see
the Moria documentation file (MORIA.DOC).
2.0 Moria Amiga Requirements
In order to play Moria, you must first configure your system properly.
Because Moria is so big and so complex, it can only be played on Amigas with
at LEAST 1 MEG of memory (two drive are nice, but not really necessary,
especially if you're into burning your arms with cigarettes, playing leap-
frog with Unicorns, multiple disks swaps, and other such pains).
If you are going to play from CLI, which is what we recommend, it is
wise to set your stack to at least 50,000. If you have two or more drives
"CD" (by typing CD and the drive name) to the one that Moria is on, making
certain that there is enough space to save your character (about 80000
bytes) once your done. That is, assuming it lives (don't expect the first
few characters to live vary long).
If you only have one drive, don't worry about the last step, just put
the Moria in your internal drive and be prepared for multiple disk swaps.
Now type the drive name, colon, Moria (eg 'df0:Moria'). Make sure, by the
way, that your system disk, the one you booted from, has the
MathIEEEdoubbas.library file in the libs directory or else Moria won't boot.
If you insist on using workbench, the game does supply an icon but it
doesn't (yet) supply character file icons for saved games. In order to run
Moria, simply double clicking on the Moria icon and wait for the initial
start-up display.
Once Moria has initialized (after starting from either CLI or workbench)
you can either create a new character, or play an older one. If you are
creating a new character, type an 'n' on the keyboard, or select item from
the menu. If you want to continue playing a previously save character, type
an 'o' command on the keyboard, or select the corresponding menu item, then
type name of the name of the file that was used when last saved the game
(simply barbaric isn't it).
3.0 Hints for the new Moria player
1) Start with a half-troll fighter. They have the best short-term
life expectancy. They can be used to acquire a 'feel' for the game.
2) Purchase as much armor as possible. Stay away from the magically
enhanced armor at the start of the game. (It does not provide as
good a cost to performance ratio. Upgrade those items later when
every gold piece is not so vital.)
3) Buy armor for as many parts of the body as is available in the
store: head, hands, arm (shield), body, feet, and around the body
(cloak).
4) Buy a few (as money permits) cure light wounds potions. They can
save your life if you don't have the time to heal naturally.
5) Buy a shovel (or pick). These items help provide more gold during
the early levels. Later, items found in the dungeon can be sold to
the stores for lots of gold.
6) If you still have gold left buy a weapon. Cost is a reasonable
indication of the capability of the weapon. If your character has
a relatively low strength, then be carefull not to buy a heavy
weapon. He/she won't be able to hit anything with it.
7) Get a few spikes, they may come in handy if a nasty insists on
getting close to you.
8) Stay on the first level until you are a level three (or four)
character.
9) If you want to backup your character (which is a good idea since
you never know when the Angel of Death will pay a visit), you
can but you will have to do a diskcopy (don't want to make it to
easy to beat the game). Don't try to copy your character, MORIA
will think that someone has touched the file and your character
is then as good as dead.
10) Don't save your character to RAM:, this is asking for trouble.
For one thing if the system dies so does your character, and
as mentioned above, you can't copy a character file. If you
insist on using RAM:, use MORIA to move your character file
from RAM: to a normal disk.
4.0 History & Comments
This is our first official release, with many modification planned (if
there is sufficient interest in this game). The Amiga version of Moria is
relatively new, and has had limited play testing. If you should happen to
come across any problems, please let us know, and we will make every effort
possible to rid the game of any nasty varmints. Also, if you have any
changes, or enhancements, that you would like to see in a future release,
let us know about it and we will see what we can do about including them.
The following list shows some of the possible enhancements that we are
considering. If you have a preference for any of them, please let us know
ASAP.
1) Hack-like (god view) graphics for town and dungeon.
2) Character's point of view graphics.
3) Multi-player and/or multi-character versions.
4) Futher game complexity (more spells,...)
5) A monster dictionary, potion list, spell list, object list,...
6) Special order store for custom made items.
7) Catalog store, where you can special order items that the
stores don't have in stock.
7) Sound (various klanks, klunks, grunts and moans).
8) An all new SF based adventure game.
This version of Moria is based on the excellent BSD UNIX C port by James
E. Wilson of UC Berkeley, which in turn is based on the original 4.8 VMS
Pascal sources written by Robert Koeneke, Jimmey Todd, Gary McAdoo and
others at the University of Oklahoma.
Send correspondence to:
Richard Henderson
2537 Hazelwood Ave.
Kettering, Ohio
45419
Or send a message to Bryan Henderson, or Richard Henderson, on any of the
following bulletin boards:
Pixel Palace CA/CAUG Deep Thought
1-513-868-7675 1-216-581-2284 1-919-471-6436
-904-
readme.contest
**************************************
* P I C T U R E C O N T E S T *
**************************************
Due to the long hours spent working on the program for Moria, we have had
no time (or talent) to create pictures for the game. Thus, we have decided
to create what no other public domain game has ever had before. A Moria
art contest!
The game needs three pictures to improve it's playability. One picture for
the introduction to the game (while the game is loading and loading and
loading), one picture for when you die, and one picture for the very unlikely
chance that someone might win. Three prizes will be awarded. One prize for
each of the above categories (intro, death, winning). The prizes will be
$25.00 and your name in the credits for the game. (Total prize money is $75).
How it Works:
1. You read the rules (This step is optional but highly recommended).
2. You draw (or digitize) a picture of your own creation.
3. You send us a disk(s) with a COPY of your picture(s) on it (stored in
IFF form (not pasted to the side)) by September 1st. A self-addressed
stamped envelope (SASE) sent along with your picture disk will ensure
the return of your disk(s).
4. We judge the art and decide which is best (by September 10th).
5. If you win, we mail you $25.00 and your disk(s) back with Moria 3.0
on it.
6. If you lose, and have sent a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE)
with your picture disk, we mail you your disk(s) with Moria 3.0 on it.
7. If you lose, and did NOT send a SASE, we keep the disk(s).
Rules:
1. All pictures must be original, (we don't want to be sued for putting
it in Moria), material. Digitized pictures are fine IF, they are from
original materials (NO Frazetta rip offs).
2. All pictures must be on a 3.5" disk in IFF format (Deluxe Paint, Photon
Paint, DigaPaint, AegisImages, IntroCad, ...).
3. Pictures will be released as part of the public domain game "Moria"
(Version 3.0).
4. If no pictures are received for a given category (Intro, Death,
Winning) then no prize will be awarded for that category. (Who would we
give it to?)
5. We reserve the right to replace any or all pictures in version of Moria
released after December 1, 1988. (We may want to run another contest).
6. Enter as often as you like.
Judges:
1. Richard Henderson
2. Chip Flemming
3. Bryan Henderson
These judges were picked because they created and payed for the contest.
Criteria:
1. Appropriateness for one of the three pictures in Moria (Intro, Death,
or Winning). (Hint: A picture of your favorite car is probably not
going to fit in the Moria motif.)
2. Artistic content as viewed by the judges. We're going to pick the
pictures that look the best.
3. If you are a single female, a picture of yourself and a telephone
number may influence Bryan or Chip.
4. Bribes will be accepted.
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This is your chance to gain fame and fortune (and help improve one of your
favorite games). Send your best original art work to:
Richard Henderson
2537 Hazelwood Ave.
Kettering, Ohio
45419
Enter as often as you like.
