










                       High Voltage! Software Presents:
                              Forces of Darkness
                     (C) Copyright 1995 by Michael Russo
                            All Rights Reserved







DISTRIBUTION
------------

You are encouraged to distribute this file to other BBS's as long as no
specific fee is charged for this door.  Also, no alterations may be
made to the original archive without the permission of Michael Russo.


TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-----------------

Technical support is available through High Voltage! BBS throughout the
life of HVBBS.  High Voltage! BBS support can be revoked if
the user doesn't abide by the general user requirements as outlined on
High Voltage! BBS. High Voltage! BBS is a public board and you will have
access to E-Mail on your first call.  Access to updates should also be
granted on your first call.  HVBBS can be reached at 916-758-8837 or
916-758-8887.


WHAT IS FOD?
------------

  Forces of Darkness is the ultimate space role playing game door.  Being a
sysop for quite a while, I am aware of which types of doors are popular.
Role playing games continue to dominate.  Also, the daily time requirement
for playing this door was purposely left low.  Your users should be able to
play this door on a daily basis and have plenty of time left for other BBS
activities.  In order to keep this door as quick as possible, graphics as
very limited.  Most, but not all, of this door is without fancy drawings.
This keeps the pace moving quickly, as I have found that to be popular on
my BBS.  This is NOT, I repeat NOT another space trading game.  This game is,
so far as I know, one of a kind in the space games world.  This is a true
role playing game.

WHY REGISTER?
-------------

  First of all, I put a lot of work into this door and I think that it is
well worth the registration fee.  Registering the game not only makes you
feel very good about yourself (it really does, try it!!), but it also
keeps me encouraged to continue support and new releases of FOD.  Now,
if all that wasn't a good enough reason, then you should register because
the unregistered version only allows players to get to level 6.  After that,
the Borg will prevent them from advancing further.  Once they reach level six
they can continue to play as long as they want, but they will not earn any
experience points.

ONLINE REGISTERING
------------------

  If you don't want to wait to register FOD by mail, you can call
High Voltage! BBS and register with your VISA/MC/AMEX/OPTIMA or JBC card.
If you choose this method registrations are usually ready within 48 HRS.


GETTING STARTED
---------------

  The first thing you need to do is create a directory where you will
store your FOD files.  Next you should unzip the FOD archive in
that directory.  You should have the following files in that directory:

                 FOD.EXE        -   Main Program
                 FODSETUP.EXE   -   Sets Up Your .CTL File For You
                 FOD.CTL        -   Your Configuration File
                 SYSOP.DOC      -   You Are Reading It Now
                 REGISTER.DOC   -   Info On Registering Nexus
                 HELP.TXT       -   Used By fodsetup.  Ignore this.

  There should also be a bunch of .DAT files.

Once all files are accounted for, edit the file FOD.CTL to suit the needs
of your system.  This file contains instructions within it, so there is
no need for explaination here.  You can either edit this file with a text
editor, or you can use FODSETUP.EXE do edit the file.  If you use the setup
program, when it prompts you for the name of the ctl file, type in FOD.CTL.




Here is a list of command line options and what they do:

       /Pyyy   :  Tells FOD the path to your door drop file.  For instance
                  where DOOR.SYS or PCBOARD.DAT is located.
       /Nx     :  Tells FOD what node it is running on.
       /Cx     :  Specifies a com port where x is 1 - 4.
       /L      :  Tells FOD to run in local mode.
       /E      :  Expanded memory specification for increased performance on
                  systems with over 1 MEG of memory.
       /Bxxxxx :  Tells comm routines to lock the baud rate at XXXXX speed.
       /Mx     :  If you want to use more that one config file, you MUST use
                  this switch to call the door.  For instance if you used
                  /M2 it would tell FOD to use FOD2.CTL instead of FOD.CTL. 
       /V      :  Tells the system to turn off local display while caller
                  is in the door.  This can speed things up a bit.
       /W      :  Flags network present even if one was not detected.  This
                  can be useful with some LAN systems.

  That is really all there is too it.  Set up your system to run FORCE.BAT
and modify your door menu to include FOD.  

MULTI-NODE
----------

  FOD is not currently a multi-node door.  It can be run from any node
on your BBS, but only one caller can access it at one time.  I plan to
look into multi-node capabilities soon, but for now set your BBS to allow
only one caller at a time.  

  If you need to specify a non-standard IRQ, you can do so in FOD.CTL
using the PORT line.  The file explains all about that inside.

  If you are running a multi-line system, I recommend you make use of
an environmental variable to specify your path to the drop file.  For 
instance you can put something like SET WCNODEID = 2 in your batch
file that starts node 2 of your BBS.  Then you can do something like this
in your FOD batch file..

      FOD /PC:\WILDCAT\WCWORK\NODE%WCNODEID% /N%WCNODEID%

and the system will sub the number 2 in place of %WCNODEID%.

MAINTENANCE
-----------

  FOD will automatically run maintenance with the first caller every day.
You need do nothing.

RIP GRAPHICS
------------

  I am a big fan of RIP graphics, and am learning to use them rather well.
There are a lot of RIP doors out there that stink, and if I am to add RIP
to my doors I want the RIP to be quality.  As a result, I have been waiting 
for RIP 2.0 before I attempted to add RIP graphics to this door.  Since I
believe RIP 2.0 is out, or alomost out, look for RIP in the near future.

REGISTERING
-----------

  If you choose to register, make out a check payable to MICHAEL RUSSO
for $15.00 and send it to the address below.  Of course you can send more
if you can, but I wanted to keep the registration price affordable for
those sysops, like myself, who are finding their hobby expensive!  :)
Make sure you also print out REGISTER.FRM and mail it as well.  Or, you
can call my BBS and register with your credit card.

                              Michael Russo
                              1959 Lake Blvd. #135
                              Davis, CA 95616

I can be reached either at my BBS, High Voltage!, 916-758-8837, or on the
Internet... use my MSI account Michael.Russo@Mustang.Com.  I can also
be reached on WildNET in the doors conference.

SPECIAL THANKS
--------------

Special thanks to the following:

Randall Barker (He did the trivia for me.)
Patt O'Brien
Scott Baker (DoorDriver)
Steve Lorenz (Doordriver Plus, Fodsetup)




