EarthNap

A fLAtDiSk(tm) FreeWare Virtual Reality Dream
(5th in the series - see BDREAM.ZIP, FURTHER.ZIP, PURPLE.ZIP, NOUPDOWN.ZIP, in any order.)

System requirements: AT or better, with minimum VGA/MCGA 256-color card/monitor. A sound card (AdLib, SB, SBPro, ATI all ok), rodent, and/or joystick are optional but recommended.

Tools Used This Time Department:

Programmed using the Domark Virtual Reality Studio, by Rich La Bonte, (aka. FLATRich on America OnLine, the user-friendly network). 

The fLAtDiSk(tm) User Interface was created in PCPaintbrush V+ and converted to Domark's required .LBM format using VPIC.

The revised FLATFACE.GIF, FLATKEYS.GIF, and the FLATTALE.GIF graphic docs were created with John Wagner's IMPROCES 4.0 and ZSoft's PCPaintbrush V+. The FLATTALE scenario text was set in geoWrite and then grabbed into a .PCX, converted to .GIF in ZSoft, then annotated in IMPROCES, and finally palette-shifted in VPIC. 

PLUG: Most of the art in the graphic docs was done in IMPROCES, which is a work of genius, shareware, available online, and probably the best paint program you'll ever find in your life for $25. The check IS in the mail, John.

EarthNap is FreeWare by fLAtDiSk SoftWorks, circa 1992. Abuse at will. We still continue to make no reparations to any eye strained individuals addicted to VR or computers who can't get enough of a good thing. (cf., Lawnmower Man, Brainstorm, Monkey Island, etc.)
RUNVGA.EXE is (C)1991 Domark. You can use it, but All Rights Reserved.

What Should Be Included For This ZIP To Be Legit Department:

 EARTHNAP.BAT (32 bytes), a free batch file to help run this Dream. Modify as you like.
 EARTHNAP.RUN (101,158 bytes), the fLAtDiSk(tm) FreeWare program file.
 RUNVGA.EXE (38,566 bytes), the Domark semi-free runner file. Do not rename this file - required to run the program. This same file will run the other four fLAtDiSk(tm) Dreams, (or any .RUN file created with the Domark Studio by anybody else, for that matter).
 FLATFACE.GIF (9,745 bytes), a free graphic file (320X200 - 256 colors) to help explain how to mouse around inside The Dream. Revised to make it prettier. View with VPIC or whatever. Not required to run The Dream.
 FLATKEYS.GIF (26,390 bytes), still another free and also revised graphic file (320X200 - 256 colors) to assist those rodentless users who want to brave Domark's incomprehensible keyboard alternatives. Not required to run The Dream either.
 FLATTALE.GIF (19,384 bytes), this Dream's Special free graphic file (640X480 - 16 colors), which is the actual scenario of EarthNap, cleverly included to create an artificial sense of What Is Going On Here. Not necessarily the only possible storyline for this Dream or required to run it.
 FLATDOCS.TXT (5,705 bytes), this file, of course. Some of the hint stuff that follows was in the Dream #4 package text file (in case you missed it), and the rest is just more ramblin' on my part..

To run it, type EARTHNAP and press ENTER.
To run without the batch file, type RUNVGA EARTHNAP.RUN and press ENTER.

To Quit back to whatever shell or OS you use, press SHIFT and ESC together.

Test launched successfully from GeoWorks Pro and Windows 3.1 (from File Manager) by double clicking on EARTHNAP.BAT.

MORE CRYPTIC NOTES FROM THE INNER EYE:

Thanks to the 764 persons of indeterminate sex who had downloaded the other Dreams the last time I looked, and a Special fLAtDiSk Puffed Up Ego thank you to PCMikeW of the AOL Graphics area for the September "Pgr Top Pick Award" I got for whichever one it was for. After all the years of working near-empty bars, it's nice to play a full house again..

If anyone wants versions of The Dreams that run with the PC's own lousy internal speaker, let me know. If enough people request, I will recompile the programs and upload a separate version of each to AOL. In the meantime, Domark only gives us an either/or choice as to sound drivers, so you will need an AdLib-compatible (see above) card for sound.

The FLATTALE.GIF will give you a description of EarthNap, but you won't get it until you run the program. You should know what to look for by now. If you are a first-timer, check out the graphic doc files and just plunge in there and try things.

HELPFUL HINTS RERUN:

 Collide to pass through obvious portals. Shoot at anything that you are curious about with the left rodent button: some things are actually portals.

 To restart at any time - or if you get stuck - click on the furthest little unmarked GUI button to the left, or press ESC. There are no dead ends, however, and you can sometimes go back the way you came.

 You will probably have to hold down the SHIFT and ESC keys for a while when you QUIT back to DOS (or whichever shell). It takes a second or so for the interrupt to be recognized. You should NOT have to press your computer's reset button to get out.

 Fly around and explore the vastness when you get the chance. If the controls seem to go nuts or the view becomes unpleasantly distorted, use the big button to righten yerself: you are probably upside down or something (relatively).

 When you move around in there, the left mouse button is normal speed and the right is double speed. Domark designed the Studio for XTs originally, so if you have trouble slowing down enough to get through something, stick to the left button. I program and test on both a 16MHZ 286 and "50MHZ" 386 - everything works ok on both.

DEDICATION:

To Candice Bergen, who once said: "There are moments when I perceive us as being on the brink of another dark age, a media blitzkrieg of mindlessness."

Lighten up, Candy, and..

Have FUN.

:o)FLATRich