


               
                                      
                                    
                            
                         
                              
                           
                   VERSION 1.2
                     
                                                     
                     A role-playing door of DRUG ABUSE for most BBS systems
                                      Copyright 1996 by DIRT CHEAP SOFTWARE
                                               Written in C by Bruce Bowman
                                                                           
                                                   Released August 30, 2000
                                                                           
                               INTRODUCTION
                               ============                                                                          

  DISCLAIMERS and LEGAL 
  
 BUZZ WAS WRITTEN FOR FUN ONLY. MANY OF THE ACTIVITIES NOTED IN THIS GAME
 ARE ILLEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE.  NOTHING IN THIS PROGRAM
 MAY BE CONSTRUED AS ENCOURAGEMENT TO INDULGE IN THE DESCRIBED BEHAVIORS.
 THIS PROGRAM IS *ADULT* ENTERTAINMENT AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE
 UNDER THE AGE OF 18. 

 ANY PERSON USING THIS DOOR IN ANY MANNER ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
 MAINTAINING ACCESS CONTROL TO THE GAME.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE
 AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM OR DIRT CHEAP SOFTWARE BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE SHOULD
 ANY USER OF THIS SOFTWARE FAIL TO EXERT APPROPRIATE ACCESS CONTROL.  USE
 OF THIS PROGRAM IMPLIES AGREEMENT WITH THIS STIPULATION -- IF YOU CANNOT
 ABIDE BY THIS, PLEASE REMOVE THIS GAME FROM YOUR SYSTEM!
 
 The author of this program promises only that Buzz will take up space on
 your hard drive.  I make no claims for  its suitability for a particular
 purpose,  and guarantee nothing whatsoever regarding potential damage to
 your own computer or hard-acquired files. If the unthinkable happens and
 some terrible fate should befall you through a direct or indirect result
 of using Buzz, you will have my utmost sympathy -- but that's all. 
                                                     
 This software is COPYRIGHTED: You're subject to the associated penalties
 of law if you attempt to reverse-engineer it, hack the key routines,  or
 otherwise steal the benefits of my sweat equity.     

                                                                         
                               QUICK START                               
                               ===========                               
                                                                         
See the file QUICK_ST.ART for fast instructions on how to test and set up  
Buzz.                                                            
                                                                         
                                OVERVIEW                               
                                ========                                 
                                                                         
I originally wrote a lot of this program in college as a means to teach 
myself BASIC way back in 1980. Since I started writing door programs in C,
I decided at one point to port this program over as a door. I also received
a lot of encouragement from friends, many of whom actually did some of this
stuff in those days. The program you have before you is the result of this
effort, and at only $10 is a bargain in shareware.

You might want to know that in the past 15 years most of us have cleaned up 
our acts substantially!

Buzz offers the following sysop features (and more I've probably overlooked 
in these docs):

-  As you would expect, Buzz monitors carrier detect functions, to
   automatically recover when a user drops carrier.                    
                                                                       
-  Includes a fully-adjustable inactivity timeout monitor. A warning is
   sent 5 seconds before the caller is ejected (no monitor in local mode).

-  Share-aware file i/o for use in multi-node BBS systems. You must have 
   DOS's SHARE.EXE (or equivalent) loaded for multi-node use.             

-  Supports most popular BBS door information files, such as DORINFO1.DEF,
   EXITINFO.BBS, CHAIN.TXT, DOOR.SYS, etc.  

-  Full-screen chat, simple configuration, "multiple personality" system, 
   session logging, paging hours, supports CUSTOM DROP FILE FORMATS, and 
   MORE!

-  Displays and updates a QuickBBS-style status line, with information 
   available to the sysop such as user name, location, baud rate, time left, 
   function keys, ANSI and AVATAR settings, and so on.
   
-  Keeps track of a user "wants-chat" indicator, just like the one in
   RemoteAccess, QuickBBS and other BBS systems. Allows for sysop page from
   the door, and integrated chat mode.

-  Provides the sysop with all the standard function keys for adjusting user 
   time, hanging up on or even locking out the user -- and sysop shell to DOS.

-  Full support for locked baud-rates of up to 115200 baud, using the FOSSIL
   driver for maximum compatibility with any system. If a FOSSIL is not
   available, Buzz will use its own communications routines. Auto-detect
   of local operation.

-  Buzz is also DesqView and Windows aware. It will automatically check 
   for the presence of a multitasker, and if available, will perform all of 
   its screen output through the appropriate function calls.


                          COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS
                          =======================

All configuration is done via the configuration file. See the BUZZ1.CFG
file for an example and instructions on how to edit the paths and other
parameters for your own use. If running multi-node, you'll normally want 
to create a separate config file for each node running the door.

Call the program with the following syntax. The <cfgfile> parameter is
required.
                                                                          

BUZZ <cfgfile | LOCAL> 
           
Where:

<cfgfile> REQUIRED: Name of the config file. Include the path, if necessary.
          The config file name will normally vary depending on the node 
          using the door. I usually set things up so the node number is 
          passed on the menu item command line, something like this:
          
                C:\BBS\DOORS\BUZZ.EXE C:\BBS\DOORS\BUZZ*N.CFG

Examples:
--------

   BUZZ BUZZ1.CFG
   
         Bring up the door with the node 1 config file. Note that this command
         assumes that you have already changed to the directory containing the
         executable and config files; so it's probably only suitable for use 
         in a batch file for node 1. 
                  
   C:\BBS\DOORS\BUZZ.EXE C:\BBS\DOORS\BUZZ*N.CFG
   
         This example uses the *N BBS 'metacharacter' to automatically provide
         the correct node number to the door. This allows you to set up a 
         single menu item that will run the program for all nodes. Once
         edited with your own directory paths, the example above should work 
         for QuickBBS, RemoteAccess, and clones. Note that some BBS software
         will not allow you to omit the .EXE extension.
    
   C:\BBS\DOORS\BUZZ.EXE 
   
         ERROR. Config file name or LOCAL is REQUIRED.
                                       
   BUZZ LOCAL            (Local mode)
   
         Runs Buzz with sysop defaults. This mode does not require a
         configuration file or any door information (drop) files. It's
         mainly used to play with the door a little to see if you like it
         prior to setting it up. You MUST be in the Buzz directory to use
         this option!
                  

                              SYSOP FUNCTIONS
                              ===============
                              
Status Line - By default, the status line is ON. To turn it off, press F10.
The status line lists the name of the user currently on-line, his location, 
and baud rate (0 if the door is operating in local mode). You may also find
out how much time the user has left, check for indicators as to whether the 
user has ANSI and/or AVATAR modes on, etc.  If the user wishes to Chat with 
the sysop (ie: they have paged the sysop, but haven't received a response), 
a [Want-Chat] indicator will flash on the status line. 

The appearance of the status line varies with the "personality" setting 
chosen in the config file. The following is for the "Remote Access" style, 
but the other styles are similar.

[F1]..[F10] - The Function keys [F1] thru [F10] allows the sysop access to 
              various types of information on the status line, or to turn 
              the status line off. These keys are as follows:

              [F1] -  Display basic door and user information
              [F2] -  Display phone numbers and important dates
              [F3] -  Display security flags and up/download info
              [F4] -  Display system information and current time
              [F5] -  Display message info and user's settings
              [F6] -  Display chat reason and sysop's comment
              [F9] -  Display help information for sysop
              [F10] - Toggle the status line on/off                               
              
The following other function keys are also available to the sysop:

[UP]/[DOWN] - Use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the amount of 
              time the caller has left in the door.

[Alt]-[C] -   Allows the sysop to break into chat with the caller at any 
              time. [Alt]-[C] again, or [ESC] will end chat mode. (Notice 
              that the Want-Chat indicator will also be turned off, if it 
              was flashing). If your door is running under Apex, Remote
              Access or QuickBBS, paging from within the door will also
              cause the Want-Chat indicator to stay lit when the user 
              returns to the BBS.

[Alt]-[J] -   Allows the sysop to shell to DOS, if enough memory is 
              available. Simply type EXIT to return to the door.

[Alt]-[H] -   Hang up on the user. Drops carrier and returns to the BBS.

[Alt]-[L] -   This key locks the user out of the BBS. It first hangs up 
              on the user, and then sets their security level to 0, to 
              prevent them from ever logging on again. This feature may 
              require use of the EXITINFO.BBS file, depending on what 
              system the door is running under.

[Alt]-[K] -   The "User Keyboard-Off" key allows the sysop to temporarily 
              prevent the user from typing anything on their keyboard. 
              This has no effect on the local keyboard, but causes the
              door to ignore any keystrokes from remote.

[Alt]-[N] -   The "Sysop Next" key, this function reserves the system for 
              use by the sysop after the user logs off, if the door is 
              running under an Apex or RA 1.00 or later system.

[Alt]-[D] -   "Drop to BBS" key. This function allows the sysop to exit 
              the door and return the user to the BBS, without hanging up.

                                                      
                               USING THE DOOR
                               ==============
                               
The door is menu-driven, and most of the functions are self-explanatory. A 
brief overview will be given here. The sysop is free to extract these docs
and provide them to users AS LONG AS IT IS NOT ALTERED IN ANY WAY.

Most importantly, please note that in most situations you can enter a
question mark (?) to get command help. Use this occasionally until you get
comfortable with the game.

The idea is to take a lot of drugs and get very high while burning as few
brain cells as possible. Depending on the level of difficulty you start out
with, you are given a number of brain cells and each level of high requires
a certain number of miles. Your current stash is located in the top-left
corner of the display and is updated continuously. Your current buzz and
brain cells left are indicated by bar graphs across the screen just below.

If at any time your brain cells fall to zero, you lose. If you achieve a
level of high, you have the option to stop or proceed to the next level.
There is a certain amount of risk involved with proceeding because there
are situations where you can lose your entire buzz and have to start all
over from scratch. If you stop, and your rating is high enough, your name
will be added to the "Hall of Burnouts" for that level. Your rating depends
on the level of difficulty, how much stash you started with, your buzz at
the time you stopped, and how many brain cells you burned to get there.

Each time through the loop, you are given an opportunity to eat drugs from
your stash. Depending on what you eat, how many, and your current state of
mind, things can happen to you based on the situation (and some random
chance). The game then tests how cumulatively messed up you are from eating 
drugs, and if you get too blasted some more bad things can happen to you.

After that, there is some chance of a dope deal coming your way, which you 
can accept or reject. Then there is a chance that a random incident will
happen -- perhaps a friend will offer you some drug (or sex) that isn't in 
your stash. Of course, there can be good or bad consequences to accepting. 
There is also the possibility that the party may be raided, you may find
God and quit altogether, or whatever. I don't want to ruin all the 
surprises!

If your drug stash falls lower than a level set by your sysop, you will be
given an opportunity to get a job, resort to crime (to get more drugs and 
keep your buzz going), or just visit the bar (if you're old enough).

Hints:

  1) It is best to take some kind of drug every time it asks you if you
     want to "Indulge in Drugs." If you don't, you'll start to come down
     and will lose a substantial amount of your buzz.
     
  2) Don't hoard lots of money. You can't get high with it, so it serves
     little purpose except to buy something else. Actually, if you have too 
     much money sometimes the game will not allow criminal activity to
     replenish your stash, or even let you go to the bar. This makes crime 
     a more attractive alternative than getting a job.
     
  3) The game maintains overindulgence counters for up/down state, general 
     disorientation, and psychedelic lucidity (these are hidden from you and
     should not be mistaken for your actual miles of high). If you eat more 
     downers than you should and get into trouble, it's best to snort some 
     cocaine to counteract this on your next turn. You get the idea. To give 
     you a hint, the game will display something to show you when you're 
     getting a little too screwed up:
     
           Too downed out  -- ** Spilled the bong **
           Too hyped up    -- ** WIRED **
           Too freaked out -- ** Far out, man **
           Too disoriented -- ** The room is spinning **
     
     These counters are lowered a little each time around. Some familiarity
     with drugs, and the likelihood of a given drug being what the dealer 
     claims it is, will help you avoid problems.
                        
  4) If you start to run out of drugs, take them in smaller amounts. This 
     way you'll get more turns before actually running out (and more
     chances to blunder into a dope deal). If you have a lot, take them in 
     as large amounts as you can without triggering an overindulgence 
     routine. Trial and error will tell you a lot.
         
  5) Each time through the loop, there is a chance that someone will break
     into your place and steal a couple of items you have. If you save one
     beer and one pound of ether (or something), perhaps these will be 
     stolen instead of the 100 lines (or whatever) you have. In other 
     words, don't be too quick to eat the last one.
   
The best thing, though, is just to play the game. Half the fun is to take 
more than you really should just to see what will happen!

     
                              REGISTRATION
                              ============
                              
To Other Shareware Authors:

I will happily exchange registrations to any of my products, if what you 
have interests me at all.  Netmail me with the specifics if interested.
The key consists of a small file that resides in the same directory as
your game file.

(Not responsible for lost or misrouted mail!).

Benefits of Registration
------------------------
1) The door will not allow configuration of low drug level, overdose level,
   cool dealer percentage, or escape from prison odds unless registered. 
   You can go ahead and enter the extra parameters in the config file, but
   they will be ignored. The defaults are pretty reasonable, though.

2) You cannot disable paging or set paging hours unless registered.

3) The door will display -= UNREGISTERED =- when returning to the BBS
   until you register, and a delay screen on starting up.

4) You will receive preferential support from the author.

5) You will have peace of mind, knowing that you are supporting shareware.

The key routine could probably be cracked eventually by someone with a hex 
editor and a lot of time on their hands. More elaborate protection schemes 
than mine have suffered this fate. However, I'm not asking much money for 
this -- so save yourself some effort and cough up the cash.

How do you register?  Send $10 (US) cash, check or money order, payable to
Bruce Bowman, to the following address:

                       DIRT CHEAP SOFTWARE
                       c/o Bruce Bowman
                       8364 S. State Road 39
                       Clayton, IN  46118

Allow 2 weeks for personal checks to clear. I'm told it's not a good idea 
to send cash via the mail, but I've never had problems with it. If you 
decide to do so, and the money gets ripped off, I will feel sorry for you 
but I won't waive your registration fee over it.

Accompany this with the form on the following page...or otherwise provide 
this information.  Registrations without this information WILL be ignored
(I will make a feeble attempt to contact you, and eventually tear up your
check).

It is also a very good idea to send a copy of your BBS drop file with your
registration. Since the door reads data from your drop file to determine
if the key will work, it is very important that both the sysop name and
the BBS name be provided EXACTLY as present in your drop files. If you
cannot guarantee this, you should send me your drop files.

On occasion I have attempted to long-distance netmail certain individuals 
keys, only to get bad connects. I simply cannot afford this. If your BBS is 
only online during certain hours, let me know. If I get two bad connects 
trying to netmail a key, I will give up and put it on hold for you and 
notify you of this fact via routed netmail or (better) internet mail.

NOTE:
Registered keyholders receive FREE UPGRADES when they become available.
You will have to check in though, since I don't plan to notify everyone of
an upgrade individually.

                            BUZZ REGISTRATION 
                               Version 1.2
                              
IMPORTANT!  The BBS name and SYSOP name must match your door   IMPORTANT!
IMPORTANT! drop file EXACTLY, or your key won't work. Consider IMPORTANT! 
IMPORTANT!     sending us a copy of your BBS drop file(s)!     IMPORTANT!                    

*SYSOP NAME: __________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

*BBS NAME: ____________________________________________________________

BBS Phone: ____________________________________________________________

BBS Software/Version: _________________________________________________

NETWORK: _______________________________________ (FidoNet, etc, if any)

NETWORK NODE OR EMAIL ADDRESS: ___________________ (if above completed)

AMOUNT ENCLOSED: ______________________      NOTE: Registration is $10!
                                                                    
HOW DO YOU WANT TO PICK UP THE KEY?

[ ] ... Email it to me as an Internet file attach

[ ] ... Here's $2.00 EXTRA...Upload it to me as well as the latest version  
        Acount Information as follows (BE SURE TO SET ME UP BEFORE I CALL!)

        Account Name:  Bruce Bowman
        
        Password: ____________________________________
        
        Miscellaneous Info: ________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________________

[ ] ... Send on disk to the address above (very slow!) Please add $5 to 
        cover disk, mailing costs, and my hassle.  
        Please ship my key and latest copy via  [ ] - 5.25"   [ ] - 3.5"
                                                                    
[ ] ... YES!! I WANT THE SPECIAL DEAL! Send me latest version of KaBoom!
        and its key for only $7 more!!

COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS/BUGS: ____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________@o.tw  

                            TECHNICAL SUPPORT
                            ----------------- 

TECHNICAL SUPPORT IS PROVIDED ONLY THROUGH EMAIL OR MY WEB PAGE! 

I have had people ask me to call them long-distance on my dime -- I simply 
don't make enough money on Buzz to justify this. There seems to be a
perception amongst the sysop community that door authors are getting rich
selling their doors, but the truth is that most sysops never register their
doors. To provide some perspective, I've spent hundreds of hours
programming this door, and have yet to make 50 cents/hour on it.

To obtain support, you must contact my web page or send me email.

                   WEB:      http://dcs.taciturn.net/
                   INTERNET: beb@lilly.com or
                             ikc1@juno.com

If you are having problems with your key, you MUST give me a copy of your 
door drop files, or I won't be able to help you.
                             

                             FREQUENT COMMENTS
                             =================

Q: The door can't find my key even though I've registered. Help!
A: Run the door from the directory containing the hall of game file and 
   key, or place the correct path in the config file under "DoorDir." The 
   executable can be anywhere on your path. Make sure Buzz knows where your
   drop files are from the "BBSDir" parameter. If your key is named 
   something else, be sure to rename it to BUZZ.KEY. Finally, try putting 
   your system name and sysop name in the configuration file.
   
   If it still does not recognize your key, you either did not provide the 
   correct BBS and sysop names on your registration form, or your system is
   misconfigured so this information is not appearing in your drop files. 
   Upload a copy of your drop files to the support BBS or via email to one 
   of the listed addresses.
   
Q: When I call the door, the status line quickly flashes on and comes back
   to the DOS prompt.
A: You are probably giving Buzz a nonexistent config file name. Make sure 
   you use the correct metacharacter in your menu, and that you haven't 
   misspelled anything.

Q: The game prints [2;4m brackets and other junk characters all over.
A: The door requires ANSI graphics capability. Exit the door and rectify 
   the situation.
  
Q: The file BUZZ.HOF exists, but I occasionally still get a message from the
   door saying "Error opening BUZZ.HOF!"
A: The door will try 20 times to open the Hall of Fame file over a 10-second
   interval. If this fails, Buzz gives up with an error.    
   You may be running out of file handles. Increase the number of FILES in 
   your CONFIG.SYS. 
   It is also possible that one task in a multi-tasking environment opened
   the file, and then crashed without closing it. If so, you will probably
   have to reboot to clear the error.
   This may also rarely happen during intensive disk activity in a multi-
   tasking environment (for example, when copying files to/from floppies). 
   Use a copy utility (like DVCOPY) that will properly release time slices 
   to your door.
   You *do* have DOS's SHARE.EXE loaded, don't you?
                                                           

PRODUCT HISTORY
---------------
10/80  Wrote the first version of Buzz in BASIC at college.
         
9/95   First release of Buzz as a door.  

10/95  Released version 1.1.  This version fixes a bug in the police fight
       and the maximum stash routine. It also cleans up some situations
       where the buzz display wasn't being updated in a timely fashion.

08/00  Version 1.2. A BUNCH of bug fixes. Also added the split-screen chat,
       a NOLOGOFF option to the config file and removed the inactivity
       timeout during LOCAL mode. Added a lot of ANSI graphics, new
       incidents, and many other enhancements. A much better program now.


                            FUTURE OF BUZZ
                            ==============

I plan to add a mechanism by which other software authors can do add-on
modules for Buzz in the near future. When this happens, BUZZ will probably 
increase a little in price. Register now while it is still cheap!

I would welcome other ideas on how Buzz can be improved.
