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                 Version 1.20


 OOSETUP.DOC is the manual for using the Operation: Overkill configuration
 program, OOSETUP.EXE.



   [  LOADING OOSETUP.EXE  ]
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Prior to loading up OOSETUP, you must first be in your Overkill
 directory.  To load up OOSETUP, simply type in "OOSETUP".

 After typing in "OOSETUP" to load the configuration program, OOSETUP will
 check for its configuration file, OOCONFIG.DAT.  If you are running
 OOSETUP for the first time, a configuration file called OOCONFIG.DAT will
 be created in your current directory.  This OOCONFIG.DAT file is a
 standard ascii text file that will store the setup configuration from
 OOSETUP.  You can edit this file manually with a text editor, or you may
 use OOSETUP, preferably, to edit your Overkill settings.

 Next, OOSETUP checks to see if all the required and optional files are
 present and in their correct directories.  If OOSETUP should find any
 required files that are missing or not in the current directories, a
 screen will show you which files are missing.  OOSETUP will exit if it
 finds missing required files.  Check the disk 1 and disk 2 packages to
 make sure all of files have been unarchived correctly and into your
 Overkill directory.

 If all the required files are valid and found, OOSETUP proceeds to the
 Main Configuration menu.



    [  MENU/OPTION SELECTING  ]
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 To select a menu, use the arrow keys or the keypad to move the
 highlighted cursor up and down through the lists.  If you want more
 information or help on the highlighted option, press the F1 function key.
 A help box will explain what the configuration option is you've specified
 (see the section of MENU HELP below).  If you want to edit this option,
 press <ENTER>.  A new menu will then display on your screen.  To exit
 from a menu, simply press <ESCape>.

 To select an option (from inside a menu), use the arrow keys or keypad to
 move the highlighted cursor up and down the lists.  If you want more
 information or help regarding the highlighted option, press the F1
 function key.  A help box will explain what the configuration option is
 you've specified (see the section of MENU HELP below).  If you want to
 edit the highlighted option, press <ENTER>.  An option window will then
 pop up on your screen and prompt you for the new setting of that
 specified option.  If you don't want to change the current setting of the
 option you are editing, press <ESCape>.  If you are satisfied with the
 new settings you have edited, press <ENTER>.  The option window will then
 disappear and the menu will be available again to select another option.

 To quit OOSETUP, press <ESCape> from the Main Configuration menu.
 OOSETUP will then ask you if you want to quit, so press 'Y'es.  OOSETUP
 then asks you if you want to save any changes made.  If you do want to
 save your changes, press 'Y'es, or 'N'o appropriately.  If you save your
 changes, the new settings will be saved to the configuration file,
 OOCONFIG.DAT, and OOSETUP will proceed to check for any missing data
 files.  If you select 'N'o to saving any changes, OOCONFIG.DAT will not
 be updated, and OOSETUP will not check for any missing files.

 OOSETUP then exits cleanly and returns you to standard DOS
 command prompt.



   [  MENUS HELP  ]
      ~~~~~~~~~~

   To get help on any of the menus or selections in OOSETUP, press F1.
   The below "help" text messages are displayed when pressing F1 on
   the main menu or on an option within a menu.


I. Main Configuration Menu

     The SYSTEM INFORMATION section is where various options pertaining to
     your hardware and bulletin board are set.  These options can be seen
     by selecting this option and more help relating to each option will
     be displayed there.

     The GAME INFORMATION section is where the information regarding
     various comparison checks and names can be set.  These options can be
     seen more clearly by selecting this option but generally will control
     the restrictions that are imposed upon players during game play.

     The PLAYER INFORMATION section is where the information regarding
     starting values for new players and comparisons that effect each
     individual player are found.


II. System Information Menu

     The BBS NAME is the name of your BBS system.  This can be just about
     anything, as long as it is 70 characters or less.

     The OOII REGISTRATION CODE is the number that you are given when you
     register your copy of Operation: Overkill.  This number is less than
     20 in length.  If you have not registered your copy of Overkill, then
     "NONE" should appear in this selection.

     The OOII 1.0 Update Code is the number that you are given when you
     register or update the 1.00/1.10 version of Overkill.  This code is a
     string of numbers less than 20 in length.  If you have not registered
     or updated your copy of Operation: Overkill to version 1.00/1.10,
     "NONE" should appear in this selection.

     The BBS TYPE is the type of bulletin board software that you use.
     The current supported configurations are listed when this option is
     selected and if you find that your software is not in this list,
     please contact the author to find out what is necessary to get your
     system in the supported list.

     PATH TO BBS refers to the location where Operation: Overkill should
     look to find the files relating to your BBS system.  These files
     contain information regarding Com Port, Baud Rate, Time Remaining and
     various other important information needed by the game.  The maximum
     length of this path is 70 characters.
      Ŀ
        Examples: PCBoard system   => \PCB\                     
                  RBBS system      => D:\BBS\RBBS\              
                                                                
        (NOTE: The actual BBS dropfile to read is not listed!)  
      

     Operation: Overkill has the ability to create an ANSI bulletin of the
     Top-10 Players (TOP10.ANS) and the Frontier Log (FRONTIER.ANS).  If
     you want these bulletins to be created, enter the path name for the
     files to be created in, or enter "NONE" to disable this feature.

     Operation: Overkill also has the ability to create an ASCII bulletin
     of a Top-10 Players (TOP10.ASC) and a Frontier Log (FRONTIER.ASC).
     If you want these bulletins to be created, enter the path name for
     these files to be created in, or enter "NONE" to disable this
     feature.

     Different bulletin board packages use different character sets to
     signify a PAUSE during the display of bulletins or text files.  To
     this regard, the string to be used for pausing can be selected here.
     This string will be added into the TOPTEN bulletins between each of
     the sections.  If you do not want any pause then enter "NONE" for the
     PAUSE STRING.  The maximum length of this string is 20.  You may need
     to edit OOCONFIG.DAT manually with a text editor if the pause string
     for your BBS software is an extended character (for example, Remote
     Access's pause string is CTRL-A).

     Several BBS systems can run multiple copies of Overkill at the same
     time.  This is generally done by use of a network system or multi-
     tasking software.  If your system has more than one node that can
     access Operation: Overkill at the same time, you should answer YES to
     this option, otherwise, you should answer NO.  By answering YES, you
     will be preventing multiple copies of OOII from accessing the data
     files at one time and will prevent the game from corrupting the data
     files.  MULTI-NODE AWARE OPERATION does not mean that more than one
     player can play at once, but rather, it means that the game will need
     to watch for multiple players trying to play at the same time.

     Those who use multi-tasking software may need to switch to BIOS video
     output.  This tells the computer to direct all output through BIOS
     first.  BIOS video can prevent "bleed-through" from one window to the
     next in a multi-tasking environment, but at the same time, it may
     slow down the overall speed of the game.  If you do see "bleed-
     through" in your multi-tasking windows, you should set this option to
     BIOS, otherwise DIRECT video is generally best for quicker screen
     writes.

     Operation: Overkill uses two types of communications routines.  One
     is normal communications output which directs output directly through
     the com ports.  The other is the FOSSIL routines.  If your system
     uses a FOSSIL driver (such as X00, OPUSCOMM, or BNU) then it is
     necessary for you to use this option.  Also, if your system can
     maintain a sustained locked baud rate 9600 or higher, then the use of
     a FOSSIL is highly recommended.

     Since different machines run at different speeds, the COMBAT DELAY
     needs setting for your machine.  The higher this value is set, the
     slower the "Action Combat" will run.  A combat fight delay of 35-50
     is the normal/average speed.  If you find that the combat is still
     too fast, you may increase this value up to as high as 32000, if need
     be.  After testing the game out in local mode, you can load up
     OOSETUP again and adjust this combat delay speed.

     PATH TO OOII DATA FILES refers to the location where Operation:
     Overkill looks to find its game data files, such as USERFILE.OO,
     ITEMS.OO, BASES.OO, SQUADRON.OO, FRONTIER.OO, etc.  The data files
     can be in the same directory as the main Overkill files or can be
     assigned to a subdirectory (see below for more information on
     setting up multiple games and using alternate configuration files).

     PATH TO OOII TEXT FILES refers to the location where Overkill looks
     to find its game text files, such as ASSIST.ASC, LOGON.ASC/ANS,
     INVNTORY.ASC, DISEASES.ASC, etc.(*.ANS/ASC files).  Like the data
     files, the text files can be located in the same directory as the
     main Overkill files, or they can be assigned to a subdirectory
     (see below for more information on setting up multiple games and
     using alternate configuration files).  The maximum length of this
     path is 70 characters.
                Ŀ
                   Examples: \OOII\           
                             D:\DOORS\OOII\   
                

    PATH TO NEWS.ASC TEXT FILE is the directory that the game's NEWS.ASC
    file is located.  This NEWS.ASC is a news bulletin that is displayed
    when a user logs into the game.  This option has been added so that
    Sysops can use separate NEWS.ASC files if running multiple games.

    PATH TO BANNED.DAT DATA FILE refers to the location where Operation:
    Overkill looks to find the file BANNED.DAT.  This file contains the
    real names of players who can be "banned" (or prevented) from playing
    the game.  This file can be edited with any standard text editor.


III. Game Information Menu

     The COMPLEX NAME is the name used for the Main Complex (building) in
     the game.  This name can be just about anything as long as it is 20
     characters or less.

     The NAME OF THE MAP FILE is the name of the file that is to be used
     for the terrain in the game.  This file must be in its appropriate
     directory (the data file directory, if one is specified).  The
     default map file is VIDLAND.MAP (beginner map).  Other map files
     are included in the package and must be unarchived in order to be used.

     The NUMBER OF MINUTES PER PLAY is the total number minutes a player
     is allowed to play each time they enter the game.  This can be
     anywhere between 5 minutes to 120 minutes.  This parameter is listed
     in minutes.

     The TIMES PER DAY TO PLAY refers to the number of times a player is
     allowed to enter the game each day.  This can range between 1 and 99
     times per day.

     The MINUTES TO WAIT BETWEEN CALLS refers to the number of minutes
     that a player must wait before they are allowed to reenter the game.
     The range must be between 0 and 1000000 (minutes), and the default
     is usually 4 hours for a fair game.

     A new field of TOTAL MINUTES PER DAY has been added to allow Sysops
     to configure how many much time a user gets in the game per day.
     This can be used effectively if Sysop wishes to set Minutes to Wait
     Between Calls to 0 and Times Per Day to Play to a high number.  This
     way, the player can log into the game, rummage around for 10 or 15
     minutes, log out, and then call back at a later time and finish up
     his remaining time.

     During the game, a player can PAGE the Sysop by using the "!" key.
     This is restricted between the START CHAT TIME and the ENDING CHAT
     TIME and is listed by military time.  The one restriction is that the
     starting time MUST be before the ending time.  This restriction
     prevents odd chat hours, like 22:00-12:00, but most people will not
     use these type of chat hours.

     During the game, the enemies of the Human race (Hydrites) may attempt
     to kidnap players and take them as prisoners of war.  To prevent new
     players from being kidnapped, the Sysop can set the minimum level
     that a player can be kidnapped.  The default value is level 4, but
     this can changed to any value between 0 and 10, depending on the
     expertise of the players or difficulty of the game the Sysop wants to
     enhance.

     In order to keep the records clean of players that have decided to
     try the game and then later for some reason decide not to play
     anymore (for shame!), Overkill does a cleanup of old players.  If a
     player has not entered the game for this many days, their record will
     be deleted from the game so that new players can use this space.  The
     DELETION DAYS can range between 1 and 365 days but is generally set
     to 21 days (three weeks).

     During the game, an entity can be encountered (called the Oracle).
     The Oracle generally assists lower level players, increases
     attributes, and/or gives words of wisdom to the players.  To prevent
     excessive use of the Oracle ("Oracle Hunting") to pump up players
     stats, a threshold value for the maximum number of times per day that
     the Oracle can be found is instated.  This value is best set at 10
     but may be changed between 1 and 99 by the Sysop.

     During the game, things that happen to the players in the game are
     recorded into the Frontier Log.  This log is viewable by all players
     but can grow to large lengths if not maintained.  This is FRONTIER
     LOG MAXIMUM is the number of lines that the Frontier Log can grow
     before being truncated.  150 lines is the default log length.

     This is the current status of the game in this directory and will
     show FIRST INSTALL if no data files are found.  If the game is IN
     PROGRESS, it will be shown as such but can be changed to the option
     of RESET GAME.  If changed, RESET GAME can be converted back, but if
     left as RESET GAME, all data files will be re-initialized, and the
     game will be reset upon exit of OOSETUP.

     During the game, the enemies of the Human race (Hydrites), may
     attempt to attack the Complex (where most players are camped).  The
     AVERAGE PLAYER LEVEL determines whether the Complex is attacked or
     not.  If the average player level is equal to or above this minimum
     value, the Complex will be attacked by the Hydrites.  The default
     value for this field is 4.  The lower this value is set, the sooner
     the Hydrites will begin to attack the Complex.





IV. Player Information Menu

     Each player can build a base in the wastelands (much like the main
     Complex).  However, there is a limit of 40 bases at any one time in
     the game.  Therefore, it is best to limit the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF BASES
     that a single player can build during the game.  This prevents one
     player from monopolizing all the of bases and leaves some openings
     for other players to create bases without exceeding the 40 limit.

     In the main Complex of the game, there is a Gaming Room where players
     can join in on competitive games with other players.  Generally, most
     players do not spend excessive amounts of time here, but players can
     abuse the use of the Games Room to get wealthy.  Therefore, a limit
     is generally set at 10 games but can be changed to any value between
     0 and 100 games.  This is a "per play" value and not a "per day"
     value.

     During game play, a player that travels around the wastelands has a
     certain amount of "moves", or turns, until he/she is hungry.  TURNS
     UNTIL HUNGRY is generally set to 75 but can be changed to any value
     between 10 and 255 moves.

     When players first create their characters, their total statistics
     (Strength + Dexterity + Health) will be a variation of the STARTING
     STATISTICS TOTAL.  During game testing, this value has been set to
     56, which allows players to start with stats of about 19 for each
     attribute.  The Sysop may decide to have games with less powerful or
     more powerful starting characters.  The starting statistics total can
     be range from 3 to 128.  A value of 3 would give players a STR of 1,
     DEX of 1, HEALTH of 1, which is extremely low.

     Each new player in the game generally gets about 2000 water crystals
     to spend.  The Sysop may wish for players to have more starting
     equipment, thus giving them more starting crystals to spend.  The
     default amount gives players enough crystals for the basic supplies.
     This value can be changed to any value between 1 and 1000000.

     Generally, each player will start the game with no long range weapon.
     However, this can be changed to any one of the weapons that can be
     purchased from the Supply Room, if the Sysop so desires.  Special
     weapons MUST be earned and can not be given to starting players
     through OOSETUP.  Each weapon that requires ammo will receive 50
     rounds initially; more ammo must be purchased.

     Generally, each player will start the game with no hand-to-hand
     weapon.  Similar to the long range weapon, this can be changed to any
     one of the weapons that can be purchased from the Supply Room.
     Again, special weapons MUST be earned and can not be given to
     starting players with OOSETUP.  Each weapon that requires ammo will
     receive 50 rounds initially; more ammo must be purchased.

     Like the weapons, each player will start the game without any armor.
     This setting can be changed to any of types of armor that can be
     purchased from the Supply Room.



   [  MULTIPLE DIRECTORIES/CONFIGURATION FILES  ]


   (Please note that this section is also found in the OOII.DOC manual)


  One complaint in the last version was that every time a new, individual
  game was to be set up, the ENTIRE package had to be copied over into
  a new directory.  So if a Sysop wanted to have five different Overkill
  games running (each game based on difficulty), the entire package had
  to be copied into five separate directories (without extreme batch file
  tooling), which took up an large amount of space!

  With the 1.00 version, Overkill breaks this barrier and allows for the
  "sharing" of the main files.  To do this, you can specify where you want
  to store the data files and where to store the text files Overkill uses.
  This can be customized with OOSETUP by changing the desired directories
  for the "data" and the "text" storage.

                       OVERKILL
                                DATA
                                TEXT

  As an example for a one game setup, the main directory will be the basic
  "C:\OVERKILL\".  Now, say that you wanted to split up the data and the
  text files into different directories.  So, make two new directories:
  one in "C:\OVERKILL\DATA\" and one in "C:\OVERKILL\TEXT\".  Next, you
  will have to copy all the ansi files (*.ANS) and ascii files (*.ASC) to
  the text directory, "C:\OVERKILL\TEXT\".  Then, when you execute OOSETUP,
  change the "data" path and "text" path to these newly created directories
  in Menu 1.  When OOSETUP exits, it will then create the data files in
  the "C:\OVERKILL\DATA\" path.  Finally, load up OOSETUP one last time,
  and it should tell you what files are missing or out of place.  If any
  appear on your screen, simply exit OOSETUP and copy the files from the
  main Overkill directory to their correct directories.

  For a multi-game setup, the process is similar.  It's difficulty (or
  ease) depends on how complex you want to make your set up!  For example,
  you can create two games that branch off from the main "C:\OVERKILL\"
  directory, as so:
                       OVERKILL
                                GAME1
                                GAME2

  Since most Sysops do not edit the text files of the game to their own
  likings, we can leave the "text" directory in "C:\OVERKILL\", while
  selecting the "data" to the different "C:\OVERKILL\GAME1\" and
  "C:\OVERKILL\GAME2\" directories.

  Now, the question is how will Overkill know which configuration file
  to read in if OOCONFIG.DAT is stored in "C:\OVERKILL\"?  There are
  several ways one could do this, but the easy way is to add a parameter
  to your door batch file (which will be the name of the desired
  configuration file).

  If you want to load up Overkill using GAME1's configuration, you can
  create a new configuration file called GAME1.DAT, instead of the standard
  OOCONFIG.DAT file.  To create a configuration file of GAME1.DAT, simply
  type in: "OOSETUP GAME1.DAT".  To create a configuration file for GAME2,
  you would enter "OOSETUP GAME2.DAT".  In your batch files to load up
  each game, you specify which configuration file you wish to use by
  putting it after each program name.  For example, GAME1's batch file
  could look as so:

     cd\overkill
     ooinfo GAME1.DAT 10 \bbs\ 1
     maintoo GAME1.DAT
     ooii GAME1.DAT
     cd\bbs

  ...or similarly for GAME2:

     cd\overkill
     ooinfo GAME2.DAT 10 \bbs\ 1
     maintoo GAME2.DAT
     ooii GAME2.DAT
     cd\bbs

  With this multi-game setup, Overkill only uses its programs from the
  main "C:\OVERKILL\" directory and doesn't need to be copied over into
  new directories each time you want to add a new game.  Here are the
  basic steps again to add a new game:

  1) Create a new subdirectory, like "C:\OVERKILL\GAME1".
  2) Load OOSETUP with the desired configuration file name, such
     as "OOSETUP GAME1.DAT"
  3) Change the "data" path to the new directory that you added in
     step 1.  This is done in OOSETUP from the System Information menu.
  4) When you exit and save OOSETUP, the new data files will be created.
  5) When creating your batch file to load up this new game, remember to
     add the name of the configuration file that you want Overkill to
     use (ie: MAINTOO GAME1.DAT, OOII GAME1.DAT, etc.)
  6) Load up OOSETUP one last time to see if any files are out of place,
     and if they are, copy the files from your main Overkill directory
     to the directory where the files are required.

