Category : A Collection of Games for DOS and Windows
Archive   : MRBS1-6D.ZIP
Filename : MORABIS.DOC

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T A N G E R I N E(r) S O F T W A R E

and

MICHAEL STEVEN HOENIE


p r o u d l y p r e s e n t s




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MORABIS I: "The Dungeons of Morabis"


R E L E A S E D "F R E E W A R E"

Copyrighted (c) 1990-1991 by TANGERINE(r) Software.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Written, Designed & Programmed by Michael S. Hoenie

Updated Saturday February 2, 1990



1.0 Morabis software disclaimer and "FREEWARE" definition.

You may not reproduce this code for profit or direct sales.

You may not modify the code and redistribute it to other users.

This code is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, included but not limited to the implied warranty
of merchantability and fitness for a specific purpose.

The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the coding is with
you. Should the code prove defective, you assume the entire cost of all
necessary servicing, repair or correction.

In no event will the author be liable to you for any damages, including
any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use this code.

This version is termed "FREEWARE".

You may not engage in nor permit third parties to engage in any of the
following:

1. Making any kind of alteration to the software or the files
that are contained within the MRBS1-6D.ZIP zip file.
2. Attempt to disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer the
software or the files it generates in any way.
3. Granting sub-licenses, lease or other rights in the software
to others.

Morabis is distributed as "FREEWARE." This means that Morabis is
distributed freely to whomever wants to use it, without charge for an
indefinate trial period.

1.1 Software tool credits and copyright notices.

If anyone is wondering why this first release is version 1.6d, it is
because of the lengthy beta testing that went on. Beta testing started
January 1990 and continued until September 1990. Since there was a
possible chance that any version below 1.6b could leak out, I wanted to
keep the version count current. If you find a version of Morabis that is
less than 1.6d, then you are missing out on the full effect of the game.
Contact our Morabis Support Conference to down-load the latest version.

The Rat Trap Bulletion Board System. PCBoard v14.5 (801) 561-5025.
Conference #7, "GAMES" (INTELEC "GAMES" Conference) 2400 or 1200 baud.

"Morabis" is pronounced "More-A-Biss". Hoenie is pronounced "Hay-Knee".

Morabis was ZIPPED using PKZIP/PKUNZIP Create/Update Utility Version 1.1
03-15-90 Copr. 1989-1990 PKWARE Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reg. U.S. Pat.
and Tm. Off.

Morabis was compiled using Borlands Turbo Pascal version 4.0, copyright
Borland International.

Morabis was programmed using QEDIT v2.1, February 1990 - copyrighted (c)
1985-1990 by SemWare - all rights reserved.

Morabis is copyrighted under the copyright laws of the United States of
America. Morabis and it's contents, including the file "PREMAP.LCK",
"MORSETUP.EXE", and "MORABIS.DOC" are copyrighted (c) 1990-1991 by
TANGERINE(r) Software.

TANGERINE(r) Software is a registered trademark under the laws of the
United States of America, (r) 1990-1991.


1.2 ZIP file format and contents.

The MRBS1-6D.ZIP zip file, was zipped using PKZIP.EXE by PKWARE INC. The
ZIP contents should include the following files and the following sizes.
If the sizes are different than the files described here, you may have a
trojan copy. However, I cannot guarantee that even this documentation
will be correct.

PKZIP (R) FAST! Create/Update Utility Version 1.1 03-15-90
Copr. 1989-1990 PKWARE Inc. All Rights Reserved. PKZIP/h for help
PKZIP Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.

Searching ZIP: MRBS1-6D.ZIP -

--------------------------------------
MORABIS I: "The Dungeons of Morabis"
--------------------------------------

Length Method Size Ratio Date Time CRC-32 Attr Name
------ ------ ----- ----- ---- ---- ------ ---- ----
23545 Implode 9800 59% 02-02-91 09:26 7542cac5 --w MORABIS.DOC
172448 Implode 68395 61% 02-02-91 09:08 9fb689b6 --w MORABIS.EXE
15 Stored 15 0% 09-10-90 12:34 59b2ba6b --w M.BAT
163325 Implode 33587 80% 02-02-91 09:05 438b15e9 --w PREMAP.LCK
16864 Implode 9611 44% 02-02-91 09:08 40243f5c --w MORSETUP.EXE
2261 Implode 1038 55% 02-02-91 09:26 6e1f6025 --w BUGLIST.TXT
------ ------ --- -------
378458 122446 68% 6

I would recommend PKZIP from PKWARE as your file compression utility.
You can probably find the latest version floating around on your
favorite bulletin board system. Please notice the excellent compression
above.


1.3 Hardware specifications.

In order to effectively play Morabis, your system must either match or
better the following system configuration.

(a) 360k bytes of free memory.

Morabis will require at least 360k of memory to run. It may however use
more or less as needed.

(b) 870,000 bytes of free hard disk space (1 megabyte recommended).

Morabis will fit nicely on a 1.2 megabyte floppy disk. There will be a
total of 82 files totalling 846,342 bytes when completely compiled.

Warning: As new objects are spawned and new monster records added,
Morabis will increasingly use more disk space. 1 megabyte of
disk space is recommended on a hard disk, or 1.2 megabyte
floppy. In the seven months of play testing Morabis, I
personally have never seen it exceed 1 megabyte.

(c) A CGA+ graphics monitor and adapter (not required).

Some EGA and VGA monitors will not display color $8. This color may be
displayed as $0 instead. Consult your EGA/VGA hardware manual in order
to preset this color.

Playing on a Monochrome monitor will cause 80 column mode and of course,
no color to be present. Game play shouldn't be hampered.


(d) MicroSoft DOS version 3.2 or higher.

Though Morabis will probably run on 2.11, it is recommended that you use
a version of DOS greater than or equal to 3.2. Morabis has been play
tested on DOS 4.1 without any problems.

It is also noted that Morabis will run normally on an 8mhz machine.
Morabis functions best on a 80286 12mhz or greater. I have never played,
nor tested Morabis on a 4.77mhz machine, and my best guess is that the
speed would be way too slow.


1.4 Morsetup - initalizing and playing a game of Morabis.

Morabis should be stored in it's own directory, or on a blank floppy, as
to keep all of it's files together.

Create a directory (example) "c:\usr\morabis" on your hard disk. Move
the MRBS1-6D.ZIP file into your Morabis directory.

The "MRBS1-6D.ZIP" file is a ZIP archive. Simply execute the archive by
typing "PKUNZIP MRBS1-6B.ZIP" and press the ENTER key. Morabis will
extract and be ready to run.

Before playing Morabis, you must first dig and stock your dungeon. To do
so, you must run MORSETUP. Morsetup is a function built into Morabis to
dig and stock a 25 level dungeon. From your Morabis directory prompt,
type in the following to set up a new dungeon:

C:\USR\MORABIS>morsetup

Morsetup will complete the following tasks:

(a) Dig a 25 level dungeon and stock it with monsters/objects.
(b) Initialize the player field and all fire/ranged routines.
(c) Initialize pre-level information.

Note: Execution of "MORSETUP" must be run before you play Morabis.

Warning: By running Morsetup, you will delete any previous dungeon you
were playing. Morsetup will re-write and re-stock the entire
dungeon.

After Morsetup is complete, type "morabis" and you will begin playing.

1.5 Morabis command line parameters.

Here is a list of command line variables. (LOWER CASE ONLY)

/v = Show version of Morabis and compilation date without running the game.
/t = Avoid the Morabis welcome screen and begin playing.


Note: You may also use "morabis /t" and "morabis /t /t".

2.0 The history of Morabis.

Morabis is a dungeons and dragons type game. It was programmed using
borlands turbo pascal version 4.0. Morabis itself is a module using an
external compiler to create the dungeons. I have worked on morabis for
over 21 months, the compiler taking little over 7.

Those of you who are interested in creating your own dungeons should
contact me via. message on the Rat Trap BBS. (reference to board given
in this documentation).

The compiler MC(r) Morabis Compiler allows a "dungeon master" to create
just about anything he/she wishes. It is built on the external-object
type programming. It does not use the "OOP" system by borland, but of my
own creation. MC(r) allows a DM to create up to 50 80x80 maps with up to
255 different characters per map (including colors, names, objects,
monsters, types).

More information - leave me a message, I'm always looking for good DM's
to create modules for Morabis. Please note! Morabis v2.0a was programmed
COMPLETELY in MC(r) code - one file called "DUNGEON.DAT" that was
compiled.

* morabis 2.0 coming in may!


2.1 Your player character in Morabis.

In Morabis, your player is equipped with the following statistics and
items.

(NA) Name. When you boot up Morabis for the first time, you will be
asked to select a player name. If you press or ,
the name "Alma" will be defaulted for you.

Your character is equipped with the following statistics and a
description of each is provided below.

Vitality rnd(4)+7, Strength rnd(4)+8, Level 1, and Dexterity rnd(4)+6

(BTH) Base-To-Hit. This is your players base-hit. Your BTH is 7. This is
the least amount of damage your player will do when striking a
monster.

(ST) Strength. This is the raw strength within your player body. It
governs the amount of weight you can carry, and the amount of
damage you can do. The maximum weight you can carry is 12*ST, or
twelve times your strength. You will also be able to inflict
DAMAGE+random(strength) to monsters.

(DX) Dexterity. A high dexterity is a must for dodging blows, avoiding
traps, searching for hidden objects, and a melee of other
abilities.

(VI) Vitality. This is your reserve of hit points. This may be reached
and depleted through extended combat, a lucky blow by a monster,
running out of food, or the effects of poison. If you are taking
damage here, it would be best to take drastic means to save
yourself.

Your player starts out with a hand axe, 150 rations of food, a cloth sling,
and some cloth armor.

2.2 Morabis object definitions.

Rings. Many different types of magic rings can be found. Rings only need
to be worn to have effect. Be warned that some rings may be cursed and
cannot be taken off. Only two rings can be worn and after time, the ring
will loose it's usefullness.

Potions. All sorts of potions exist in Morabis. Potions do not require
any special conditions to quaff. They may be found and quaffed on the
spot. Beware of noxious brews.

Food. This you will need in order to survive. If you run out of food,
you can always resort to eating dead monsters, though this is not a
healthy practice and could lead to starvation.

Scrolls. These are found on occasion and will help or hinder your quest.
You should carry several "identify" scrolls around with you whenever
possible.

Fountains. Throughout the dungeons there are fountains. These flowing
waters may be either helpful, or detrimental. Fountains will go dry
after so many uses and they cannot be identified.

Weapons. There are many weapons found in Morabis from simple daggers to
mighty battle axes. There are also an array of slings, bows and arrows.
There are even tales of mighty weapons and armors hidden within the
depths.

Armor. The deeper you descend, the better armor you will find. Beware of
cursed armor with factors of +1 to +7. Use identify scrolls to determine
if armor is cursed before wearing it.

Wands. These are rare but useful. They cannot be used against any boss
monster, but will aid in your quest down at lower depths.

Traps. You'll begin to find traps after level 3. A high dexterity is a
must in avoiding these pesky nusiences.

Keys. In the depths there are locked doors. Only specific keys will open
these doors, so keep three or four on hand.

Doors. Doors can be walked through without opening them. If the door is
locked you will need a specific key. Hidden doors and secret doors are
everywhere. Use the (s)earch command to find these.

Lava. This is very dangerous stuff. Avoid it at all posibilities for it
can cause instant death.

Pits. Pits exist in the lower depths. Your player cannot walk on pits
and no damage occours.

Amulet. The Amulet of Sae'Gore. The royal artifact. This must be found
before you can leave the dungeons.

Gold. Numerous quantities can be found.

Staircases. These allow your player to move up and down through the
levels. You may proceed all the way to level 25 and back up any time you
wish.

Fireballs. Some monsters, including dragons, throw fireballs. These do
massive damage, quick dodging can save a players life.

Coldblasts. Cold blasts do light damage but can cause the player to be
frozen in place for up to 3 turns.

Stones. Stones cause minor damage, simply avoid.

Dustblasts. Dust devils and the like throw these nasty whirlwinds. They
cause minor damage but create confusion. Avoid especially when around
lava.

Gasblasts. Gas does minor damage and causes blindness and some
confusion.

2.3 Morabis monster definitions.

Morabis is packed with an assortment of magical beasts. Here is a list
of all monsters that Lord Devenon stocked his dungeons with.

(A) Azbair. These monsters are not powerful, but can rust your armor. They
tend to have lower levels and higher hit points.
(B) Buzzbee. These monsters float through the air and sting you at will.
(b) Bat. Pesky creatures alone but can do great damage in numbers.
(C) Cathmaug. A creature similar to a Jalnath.
(D) Dragon. Beware of their fireblasts.
(d) Dust Fiend. Beware of their whirlwinds of dust.
(f) Fire Lark. Not high on the monster scale but beware of their fire.
(G) Gobnor. These rude monsters not only throw stones at you, but at close
range will steal items from you.
(g) Ghost. A high dexterity is a must for seeing these monsters. Though they
are not powerful monsters, they have a high reserve of hit points.
(H) Hellbeast. Powerful monsters that roam the depths after level 20. They are
numerous and throw handfuls of fireballs.
(h) Hobnorblin. Not as mean as their brothers and are more of a pest.
(I) Int. Another lower life form.
(i) Ice Warf. These ruthless monsters throw coldblasts and then attack you
while you're frozen in place.
(j) Jalnath. A scavenger - they sometimes eat the food they guard.
(k) Kesthorn. Not a fierce monster but at lower levels they throw rocks at
you.
(M) Melrath. Beware that the Melrath can paralyze you.
(O) Omnorf. Another pesky monster. Beware of the stones they throw.
(o) Ooze. These monsters like to team up with Ice Warfs, Dust Fiends,
and Fire Larks. That way they can freeze, confuse, fry, and beat the
heck out of you at the same time. Beware that on lower levels,
Ooze's throw gasblasts.
(p) Pixie. These flying monsters are more of a pest than monster. Beware that
some Pixie's may throw coldblasts.
(Q) Quarn. A dungeon game wouldn't be a dungeon game without them.
(R) Rethor. These monsters do little damage, but can rust your weapons out of
existance.
(r) Rat. There are numerous vermin in the depths. Some of these rabid
scavengers can poison you.
(S) Snake. These are poisonous. Avoid completely!
(s) Spider. More vermin.
(T) Thagen. Similar to a Thasnash - beware of their stones.
(t) Theif. Beware of these scavengers for they will steal from you.
(U) Urikaith. Large hairy beasts that lurk in the depths.
(V) Vrikiat. Beware of these dark creatures, they can drain your strength.
(W) Wraglor. Towering monsters of the depths. Due to their mass in the
dungeons and their mystic power, you'll not be able to see around
them. They inflict an incredible amount of damage and good armor is
recommended.
(w) Wyler beast. A smaller less fierce dragon, but beware, fire is fire.
(Y) Yenalor. A large hairy beast - beware, some throw boulders.
(z) Zombie. More of a nuisience than monster.
(Z) Zelwan. These are the most powerful monsters. Not much is known except
rumors, since of course, no one has lived to report their findings.

3.0 Morabis command summary.

Morabis contains one key commands, usually categorized (a-z) and (A-Z).
This section describes all key commands.

Movement. Your keypad will move your player in a North, South, East, and
West direction.

7....(home)....North-West
8....(up)...........North
9....(PgUp)....North-East
4....(left)..........West
5...............No-Action
6....(right).........East
1....(end).....South-West
2....(down).........South
3....(PgDn)....South-East

(a) Attack.

You may attack in one of four directions. North, South, East, and West.
You cannot however attack diagonal and neither can monsters. If you are
not carrying a weapon, you will attack with your bare hands.

Normal Weapons: Select the direction you wish to attack. Your player
will attack in the direction selected.

Ranged Weapons: You must first have selected the ranged weapon and the
arrows that will be used (note: slings do not require arrows). When you
press (a) for attack, a cross-hair will appear over your player. Move
this to the desired position with your arrow keys. Once moved to the
desired location, press ENTER or SPACE BAR to fire. You will fire one
round (arrow/stone) at the cross-hair location.

Note: If your player has not moved during a ranged weapon attack, the
cross hair will appear at the last designated attack position.
Move once and the cross-hair will start at your player position.
Ranged weapons (including wands) may only be fired once every two
rounds.

Also note that a higher dexterity is needed to insure accuracy when
using ranged weapons. Strength is a must for distance. Also remember
that only specific arrows will work with specific ranged weapons.

(c) Call Object. You may rename any object you find or leave particular
messages on objects lying around.

(d) Drop. You may drop your objects almost anywhere. You may only drop
one object per square. Move your player to several "empty" squares
to drop several objects. Remember that any object you are wearing
that is cursed cannot be dropped.

(e) Enter. Use this command to enter stairwells.

(E) Eat. When your player gets hungry, use this command to eat any
edible food you are carrying. Beware of poisoned food. (e) Enter.

To enter a staircase you must be directly on top of it. If you are
on an "UP" staircase, you will proceed to the next level UP in the
dungeon. If you are on a "DOWN" staircase, you will descend to the
next level below you.

(g) Get. You must be directly on top of the object in order to take it.
You may only carry a maximum of 12 times your weight, and you may
only carry 26 objects.

To drink from a fountain you must be directly on top of it.

(i) Inventory. Inventory will display to you all objects that you carry.
Use your cursor keys to move up and down through your list of
objects. Once you have highlighted a desired item (such as a weapon
or armor) press your SPACE BAR to toggle that item. Press HOME for
top of inventory, END for bottom. Press ESC to exit, or select
desired item by pressing the letter that corresponds to it (ie,
A-Z).

Toggle Armor. To "wear" and "un-ware" armor, highlight desired armor
to be worn and press the SPACE BAR. Note that cursed armor cannot be
taken off.

Toggle Weapon. To "use" and "un-use" weapons, highlight desired
weapon to be used and press the SPACE BAR.

Toggle Ring. To "put on" and "take off" rings, highlight desired
ring to be worn and press 1 for right hand, 2 for left hand. Note
that cursed rings cannot be taken off.

(l) Look. By giving a direction, you may look at any object or monster
in Morabis.

(q) Quaff potion. You may pick up and quaff any potion you find in the
dungeons. Be warned that potions can be either beneficial or
detrimental.

(Q) Quit. This will save your game in it's present state and return you
to your operating system. When you play again, you will start
exactly where you left off.

(s) Search. Search allows you to look for hidden doors and objects. The
ability to search will become greater the higher your dexterity
becomes. Beware of monsters hiding behind hidden walls and doors.

(S) Save game. This will save your game in its present state. It is wise
to save your game every so often to avoid having to start over.

*(t) Transact. You may transact with any monster in the dungeons using
this command. Some may talk with you, others may simply ignore you.

(v) Volume (ON/OFF). Press this once to turn volume off, press it again
to turn volume on. Morabis will boot up with volume defaulted to ON.

(z) Zap with wand. This will allow you to zap in one of four directions.
This option only works if you are carrying a wand.

* = reserved for morabis version 2.0a - coming soon!


4.0 Your quest in Morabis.

Your quest in Morabis is to find the Amulet of Sae'Gore and escape with
your life. Every five levels of the dungeon you will fight a "boss
monster". After you have found the amulet, return to the surface and
leave the dungeons.

5.0 Author feedback - getting ahold of me.

Please do not attempt to contact me by voice. However, I will respond to
letters, or you may leave messages via BBS.

US-MAIL: Post Office Box 17631, Salt Lake City Utah, 84117-0631
BBS: The Rat Trap, GAMES conference, (801) 561-5025. 2400bps.

The GAMES conference on "TRT" is nationally echoed through INTELEC.

NET/MAIL : INTELEC (TM) KNOXVILLE CONSORTIUM BBS, DATA-COMP BBS.

I do hope that all of you will appreciate and enjoy Morabis.


(*
*
* End of Documentation.
*
*)


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