RIP Puzzle: FREE door game with RIP graphics!
First of its kind online game with windows,
dialogs, buttons and online mouse support.
Runs under any BBS program. Uses DOOR.SYS,
PCBOARD.SYS, or command line. Supports
standard and nonstandard com ports, FOSSIL
drivers and DigiBoards. Multitasker aware and
multiuser compatible. Simple installation.
FREE program brought to you by the makers of
Searchlight BBS, leaders in RIP technology.

========================= by: Searchlight Software 516-751-2966 Voice
RIP Puzzle 1.0 PO Box 640 516-689-2566 BBS
========================= Stony Brook, NY 11790 800-780-LITE Sales


Introduction
------------
Welcome to RIP Puzzle, the world's first RIP graphics door game. Unlike
ordinary door games that run in Text or ANSI mode, RIP Puzzle uses the full
screen graphics capabilities of RIP to display a GUI environment, complete
with mouse support. You've never seen anything like it online!

RIP Puzzle itself is a simple sliding puzzle game that your callers can run
to test their skill (and compete for high scores in several categories and
skill levels). Like most door programs, RIP Puzzle works on virtually any
BBS software that supports doors, and can read a DOOR.SYS file, PCBOARD.SYS
file, or command line parameters to get the information it needs. Best of
all, RIP Puzzle is freeware!


What are RIP Graphics?
----------------------

RIP graphics, a brand new terminal protocol developed by TeleGrafix Inc.,
is what lets RIP Puzzle do its graphics magic. Nearly all the BBS vendors
are rushing to release new versions of their bulletin board software that
supports RIP graphics. Searchlight BBS 3.0 was released in March 1993 and
new versions of Wildcat!(tm) and PCBoard(tm) have been annouced for Summer
1993 availability.

In order to use RIP Puzzle in its full graphics GUI mode, your callers need
to call your BBS with a RIP graphics compatible terminal program such as
the freeware program RIPterm. New versions of QmodemPro(tm) and Telix(tm)
have been annouced for Summer 1993 release.

RIP graphics will undoubtedly be coming to your town before you know it
and, regardless of what BBS software you are using, Searchlight's RIP
graphics products can give your callers a taste of that future today. If
you'd like to learn more about RIP graphics -- including how you can get
more RIP graphics features throughout your BBS -- please contact us at the
numbers listed above.


About Searchlight
-----------------
Searchlight Software is the world's leading developer of RIP Graphics host
products. In addition to RIP door games like RIP Puzzle, we offer a RIP
Games Pak disk with three more games for $29, and a complete professional
BBS software package with integrated RIP graphics support. Please check the
enclosed files ORDER.FRM and SLINFO.DOC for more information about other
BBS products we offer.


==============================
Running with Searchlight BBS
==============================

Setting up RIP Puzzle with Searchlight BBS is as easy as can be. Copy the
file RIPUZ.EXE to any directory on your BBS computer. In this example,
we'll assume that you are placing RIPUZ.EXE in the C:\RIPGAMES directory.

Next, run Searchlight's CONFIG program and enter Searchlight's Menu Editor.
Press on the menu that you'd like to add RIP Puzzle to, press
to edit the commands on the menu, and press again to add a new command.
The new command we are adding will be of type 'DOOR'.

Fill out the command screen as follows:

1. Command Name .................. Puzzle
2. Command Key ................... P
3. Description ................... Online game with RIP graphics!
4. Minimum Access Level .......... 0
5. Maximum Access Level .......... 255
6. Require Security Attrib .......
7. Exclude Security Attrib .......
8. Require Preference Attrib .....
9. Exclude Preference Attrib .....
10. Help Levels ................... All
11. Door Command .................. c:\ripgames\ripuz.exe
12. Directory Path ................ .
13. Communications Support ........ Standard
14. Abort Method .................. None
15. Write Protection .............. No
16. Parameter File................. None
17. Pause After Door .............. No

Modify the access levels and attributes to suit your system. Substitute the
path in line 11 with the directory where you copied the RIPUZ.EXE file.
Line 12 should be set to a period only, since RIP Puzzle should be executed
from your BBS home directory.


============================================
BBSs That Support DOORS.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS
============================================

RIP Puzzle will operate with any BBS that can create a DOOR.SYS or
PCBOARD.SYS drop file. There are utility programs available that can create
one of these files for BBS systems that do not directly support them.

In the following paragraphs, we'll use the term 'drop file' to represent
either a DOOR.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS file. RIP Puzzle can use these files
interchangably and will load whichever one it finds first.

Copy the file RIPUZ.EXE to any directory on your BBS machine. For this
example, we'll assume that RIPUZ.EXE is located in the C:\RIPGAMES
directory. By default, RIP Puzzle expects to be executed in the directory
that contains the current node's drop file. For most BBS systems, this
means that you can run RIP Puzzle from a batch file with a single command:

C:\RIPGAMES\RIPUZ

RIP Puzzle will check the current directory for the drop file. If you
cannot execute RIP Puzzle from the directory that contains the drop file,
you can pass the path to the drop file using the '-p' parameter on the
command line. For example, if your drop file is located in the C:\BBS\WORK1
directory, use the following command line:

RIPUZ -pC:\BBS\WORK1

RIP Puzzle will work with FOSSIL drivers and DigiBoards. Simply add a '-f'
or '-d' parameter to your command line to engage FOSSIL or DigiBoard
support. For example, with Wildcat! IM systems use the command:

RIPUZ -d

If RIP Puzzle is not able to correctly determine the correct FOSSIL port or
DigiBoard channel from the drop file, you can pass that on the command line
as well. For example, to run RIP Puzzle on FOSSIL port 0, use the following
command line:

RIPUZ -f0

If you need to override any of the information that RIP Puzzle reads from
the drop file, you can use the command line parameters listed in the next
section.


===============================
Running from the command line
===============================

If your BBS does not support PCBOARD.SYS or DOOR.SYS drop files, you can use
command line parameters to pass all the information RIP Puzzle needs to
know.

USER NAME = current user's full name (Required)
-cPORT = Standard COM port, ex: -c2 (for COM2:)
-sSPEED = Communication speed, ex: -s19200
-tTIME = User's time remaining in minutes, ex: -t15
-dPORT = Digiboard support with port number, ex: -d2
-fPORT = FOSSIL support with port number, ex: -f2
-bADDR = Non-standard hex base addr, ex: -b2A0
-iIRQ = Non-standard IRQ, ex: -i5 (for IRQ5)
-l = Enable hardware flow control
-o = Disable output buffering


Sample command lines:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

RIPUZ Jim Barry -c2 -s2400 -t30

User's name is Jim Barry. Use standard COM2: running at 2400 bps. User has
30 minutes remaining.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

RIPUZ Bryant Gumble -d2 -s19200

User's name is Bryant Gumble. Use DigBoard channel 2 locked at 19200 bps
(RIP Puzzle does not need to know the callers actual connect rate). No time
remaining specified.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

RIPUZ ToughGuy -b2A0 -i5 -s38400 -s20

Users name is ToughGuy. Use com port at base address 2A0, IRQ 5 locked at
38400. Time remaining is 20 minutes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

RIPUZ Brian Wilson

User name is Brian Wilson. Run locally using no serial communications.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------



================
Using The Game
================

RIP Puzzle is designed to operate best in RIP Graphics mode -- to see the
RIP graphics features, you need to run it from a RIP compatible graphics
terminal such as RIPterm. Although you can run RIP Puzzle in local mode,
you won't see the RIP graphics interface unless you run from RIPterm.

Except on Searchlight BBS, using RIPterm remotely requires a RIP graphics
terminal. Puzzle detects RIPterm's presence automatically, and will display
a helpful message if you try to run it without RIP graphics enabled.

To play the game, start by selecting a skill level from the skill level
pick list. Then use your mouse to re-arrange the squares in the puzzle into
the proper alphanumerical order (on 6x6 games, place the letters before the
numbers). Simply "Click" your mouse on any piece that's next to the empty
square, and the piece will move into place.

Completing the game with the lowest number of moves awards you the high
score for that skill level.

At any time, you can quit, start a new game, or view the high score list by
pressing the appropriate buttons on-screen.


========================= by: Searchlight Software 516-751-2966 Voice
RIP Puzzle 1.0 PO Box 640 516-689-2566 BBS
========================= Stony Brook, NY 11790 800-780-LITE Sales

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Telix is a trademark of deltaComm Development
Wildcat! and QmodemPro are trademarks of Mustang Software, Inc.
PCBoard is a trademark of Clark Development Company, Inc.