TerraBattles RPG Chapter I Demo v0.5.5a by Ryo-Ohki Software  (7.19.98)
  -TBRPG Town Engine v0.3.7b
  -TBRPG World Engine v0.5.5b
  -TBRPG Battle Engine 0.4.0b
  -TBRPG MapEdit v1.1.1
  -TBRPG Intro v0.1.0 

Thank you for downloading this demo.

This software is freeware, and may be distributed as long as no profit is
made and nothing is modified or abused.  Ryo-Ohki Software, SHN News, and
TerraBattles RPG are the copyrights of Jason McClaskey, however.

You may, however, lift the code from this game, if you can understand it.
Certain parts are original, so just add to your credits, this wasn't made
by you, and it was done by others.  Modify it, then you can say that you
tweaked it from someone else's code.

NOTE:  All files must be in the C:\WINDOWS\QBASIC\PROTORPG\0.1\
directory, or else YOU can change the 50 times that calls for that CHDIR
is given.  Take the first route!

NOTE:  With PKUNZIP, use this at the prompt: PKUNZIP -d RPGDEMO1.ZIP
With WinZip, it should unzip with subdirectories.  In both cases, just move
the Windows\Qbasic\Protorpg\0.1\ main directory into the C: drive.  If the
drive letter is different, go into the program, and run the Search/Change
and set it to change "C:\WINDOWS\QBASIC\PROTORPG\0.1\" to "*:\WINDOWS\QBASIC\
PROTORPG\0.1\" where * is the new drive letter.  Do this to all .BAS files.

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Object of this software:

  It's a game!  What else is the object?  Okay, this is a DEMO version, which
is to say, we're in need of feedback, and want you to see what we're doing.
This demo has the Town and World engines ready, with the Talk Module ready.
Text only works for most towns, so be careful.  Intro Module has also been
included, and allows Setup in it, and features .GIF image loading!
  Also, MapEdit was included, so that you can edit the maps yourself, if you
want.  Remember, the exit point on MapPage 2 MUST be there.  You start there
when the Town engine starts.

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Some just plain old monologue...

  If you haven't noticed, this RPG is incomplete (hey, it's a DEMO!), and the
parts sometimes crash (well, not really).  Basically, we say, this is our very
first RPG for QBasic, and it incorporates GIFs, tiles, sprites, and a very
VAST array of Arrary's.  This numbers so much memory, that QB can't compile
the stupid thing...
  Anyway, just keep looking, and you'll find the final version, sometime.

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Controls:

  In the Town Engine:
  ===================

  Arrow Keys - Moves character around the map

  Enter      - Open the menu

    TALK     - Talk to the person in the direction you are facing
    SEARCH   - Search in the direction the charcter is facing
    DOOR     - Open the door which the character is facing
    FILES    - Exit the demo (later will be the game save/load menu)
    STATUS   - Shows the current status of your character
    SPELLS   - Bring up the spells menu (not programmed)
    ITEMS    - Bring up the items menu (not programmed)
    EXIT     - Exit the menu (also done with ESC)

  Also, certain road tiles (normally at the outside wall) will take you out
  of the city.

  In the World Engine:
  ====================

  Arrow Keys - Moves character around the map

  Enter      - Open the menu

    SEARCH   - Search in the direction the charcter is facing
    FILES    - Exit the demo (later will be the game save/load menu)
    STATUS   - Shows the current status of your character
    SPELLS   - Bring up the spells menu (not programmed)
    ITEMS    - Bring up the items menu (not programmed)
    EXIT     - Exit the menu (also done with ESC)

  Also, the village/castle/dungeon tiles take you into them. Note: Random
  encounters being worked on.

  In the Battle Engine:
  =====================

  Arrow Keys - Moves menu selection (up/down programmed only)

  Enter      - Select menu option

    Main Menu
    ---------
    ATTACK   - Search in the direction the charcter is facing
    SPELLS   - Bring up the spells menu (not programmed)
    ITEMS    - Bring up the items menu (not programmed)
    RUN      - Run away from current battle (currently at 100% success)
    EXIT     - Exit the Engine

  Currently, not all features are programmed.  This is a BETA version of the
  battle engine, and is not yet completed nor fully tested.

  In the MapEdit program:
  =======================

  Number Key - 1-9 move cursor to edges/corners quickly

  Arrow Keys - Moves cursor around the map

  ESC        - Exit the engine without saving

  Enter      - Edit the tile.

    Arrows   - Up/Down to select tile type, Enter to confirm.

  PgUp/PgDn  - Move up or down one full map.

  S          - Save the current map as a new file

  Q          - Save the current file

  O          - Open a new map
             
  A          - About the program (not programmed)

  C          - Copys the current tile into memory

  P          - Pastes the clipboard tile over the current tile

  0,0        - In upper right corner, displays current X,Y position

  Page #     - In upper right corner, displays current map page

  Tile name  - Lower left corner, displays current tile type under cursor

  Sorry if it seems crude, and sometimes crashes when used in obscure ways,
  (think I got that fixed, though) but I didn't want commercial-quality,
  just something to fix the maps much more quickly than changing the numbers
  in .MAP files.  Of course, now it looks better, in v1.1.1.
  This one is faster, more reliable, and quicker.

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Version History

  v0.5.5a
    Second demo. Bug fixes, sprite updates, GIF refinement. Added the new
    Battle Engine (v0.4.0b), which has some bugs, but works.

  v0.5.5
    Second demo.  Optimizations, GIFs added, more sprites.  Now added the
    mouse (menu) cursors. Also, now have two hero sprite libraries.

  v0.5.1
    Interim between first and second demos.  Now with 75% 256-color tiles in
    World Engine, and 33% in Town Engine.  Maps completed for five towns,
    and dialog for two.  Still working on Zipping problems.

  v0.4.8b
    First real demo, with some 256-color tiles, and Liacia completed.  Find
    out about Zipping problems.

  v0.3.7
    World Engine complete, can now travel from town to town.  Town Engine
    working, with Dialog fixed, Anime ready, and more tiles/sprites.

  v0.3.0
    Started using 256-color sprites, and added Dialog Engine.

  v0.2.5
    Still completely 16-color tiles, with one town, and dedicated Town
    Engine.  World Engine working, partially.

  v0.1.2
    Menu system, arrays, and now using JSprite 3.0 for graphics.

  v0.0.5
    Working code, still no progress on graphics.

  v0.0.1
    Basically, the hiatus during the development of World and Town engines.

  v0.0.0
    Original sketch, just a testing of code styles.


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System Requirements:

  Minimum:
    386 30mHz @
    DOS 5.0 @
    QBasic v1.1
    2 Mb RAM
    515kb free disk space

  Suggested: %
    486 DX/4 100mHz 
    Win95
    QuickBasic v4.5
    8 Mb RAM
    600kb free disk space

  Maximum: +
    pII 300mHz
    QBasic 1.1
    64 Mb RAM
    1Mb free disk space

  [@] Not sure if this is good, but it should work, if slowly.
  [%] My system, and works quickly, if not too fast though.
  [+] My current beta tester.
  
  NOTE: On slower machines, or in QBasic, run SETUP.BAS, to alter delays.
  This program was created in QuickBasic, and runs quicker.  IS tested in
  QBasic, and has proven it works well, but slower.
                                               
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Files & Things

  TITLE1.GIF   - The first chapter intro screen
  INTRO*.GIF   - Then GIFs for the introduction
  BATTLE*.GIF  - The backgrounds for the Battle engine
  BATTLE1.BAS  - The Battle engine (v0.4.0b)
 -RPGI01.BAS   - Beta of the main module for beginning adventures. Includes
                 SETUP code, and GIF loading. (v0.1.0)
 -*.TLK        - The speech files
 -*.SPX        - Sprites and their masks
 -*.SPR        - Sprites
 -*.MSK        - Sprite masks
 -*.RYO        - Anime images
 -TERRARPG.INI - Holds info for the program to run
 +*.MAP        - The map information (see below for exception)
 -WORLD1.MAP   - World map info. Unalterable with MapEdit!
 -TOWN1.BAS    - The Town engine (v0.3.7b)
 -WORLD1.BAS   - The World engine (v0.5.5b)
  README.TXT   - This file
  MAPEDIT.BAS  - A cheap program to edit the map, and save it for use with
                 the town engine (v1.1.1)
 -TILES1.DAT   - Holds the data for ALL Town tiles.
 -TILES2.DAT   - Holds the data for ALL World tiles.
 -MOUSECUR.DAT - Holds the data for ALL menu cursors.
 -TILETYP2.DAT - Descriptions for the tiles in MapEditor. 

  [-] These files are critical to execution, so any modification may cause
  them to crash.  In this event, any damages incurred are not our
  responsibility.  You have been warned! (Nothing should happen, though...)
  [+] To modify this file, it is recommended you use MapEdit, (because it's
  why we included it).  It will save it in the correct format, and is a more
  easy way to edit the map files.

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Comments

  This is the second nearly full demo, with all World and Town code finished.
Talk Module is complete, as is Anime Module.  Item, Equip, Shop, and Spells
Modules are incomplete, so are not added yet.  Intro Module added.  Also,
the first release of the Battle Engine is ready, but only has one enemy.
  Dialog, sprites, story ideas, comments, or other are very needed, and
would be appreciated!  Am in need of beta testers, too!  See further on for
other details.

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Questions & Answers:

 Q: Is ROM drinking an ...
 A: Wrong game!!!

 Q: I talked to someone, but the program crashed!
 A: While all towns have maps, only three have full dialog support.
 
 Q: What are those weird tiles doing there?
 A: We haven't finished the people, etc. tiles yet, so we're
    just winging it with some others in the meantime.

 Q: Why is this person's face empty?
 A: Only two people, the king and Ryoshi Montjar, have faces at the moment.

 Q: Why is that villager facing the other direction?
 A: So far, we only have sprite support for one direction for all NPCs.

 Q: Who asked these questions?
 A: I did. Although they are relevant to the RPG... Heh.
 
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Credits for TerraBattles RPG:

  Microsoft, for creating QuickBasic and QBasic.

  Competent programmers, whose example I followed (ie, using a brain!).

  Lead Programmer
    Jason McClaskey

  Level Design
    Jason McClaskey

  Graphic Design
    Virgil Hobbs
    (Some elements temporarily borrowed from other types of RPGs)

  Battle Engine
    Jason McClaskey (inspired by both FFIII and DWIV)

  Sprite Editor
    JSprite 3.0 - By Tsugumo
    (This game really couldn't have been done without JSprite!)
      
  Graphics Engine
    Compiled from original ideas and resources from the Net

  Speech Engine
    Jason McClaskey (inspired by the .ETX language)

  Anything else I forgot
    Ryo-Ohki-chan (our mascot)

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Ryo-Ohki Software projects...

o TerraBattles RPGPack - A five-part RPG set in the world of the Tamar 
  kingdom and the Kaeson Dynasty.

o Happy Birthday Yoshi! - A revision of the KCCK Designs text RPG.

o DragonLance: Choices - A Choose-your-own-adventure game based upon the
  fanfic by Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong.  Second in the CYOA QBasic Series.

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Some other Ryo-Ohki Software products...

o WolfNet 3.0.1b - A QuickBasic-based OS, styled like Win95, for running
  other ROS software in a closed environment.

o Kunou's Amazing Adventures - A CYOA game based upon the fanfic by John
  Biles.  The first in the CYOA QBasic Series.

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Calling...

  Ryo-Ohki Software is searching for programmers, graphic designers, artists,
idea people, or the like for the month of July and beginning of August, to
work on TerraBattles RPG.
  If you contribute, you'll make it into the Credits file, and everyone who
makes a big impact on the game (like graphics, or coding engines), will be
displayed on the in-game Credits!  Just talk to us, we're here!

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How to reach us...

  To reach SHN News or Ryo-Ohki Software, you have three options.

  E-Mail:    af776@acorn.net
             af776@hotmail.com
  Web Site:  http://www2.acorn.net/~af776/index.html

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Some of our game ideas/code/graphics sources and inspirations...

  Tsugumo: An interesting and talented QBasic programmer (TheGame!)
    http://tsugumo.detour.net
  The Anime Turnpike: A good source for any anime/manga stuff.
    http://www.anipike.com/
  QuickBasic RPGS: A site with many RPGs in QBasic/QuickBasic.
    http://rcip.com/artwork/
  RPG Haven: A place for reviews and coverage of console RPGs.
    http://rpg.hypermart.net
  Kate Monzo: Person who has helped with the storyline, among other things.
    http://www2.acorn.net/~af708/
  Zachery Blake: My first (and only!) beta-tester.
    http://www2.acorn.net/~ab640/
