All About the WHCS.SHK file Author: Saint John M. Morrison Status - a Copyrighted FreeWare WHERE IN HELL IS CARMEN SANTIAGO? Documentation (c) 1990, St. John M. Morrison ---INTRODUCTION--- You are a famous crimebuster hot on the trail of that world-renowned thief, Carmen Santiago, and her latest gang. The rumours that she had died in a bizarre accident don't deter you; after all, it might just be misdirection. So you track her to the Dark Woods of I/O Error, where you encounter three hideous beasts and lose your way in the night. Virgil, a Greek poet, meets you in your frenzy and tells you that the only way out is through Hell itself. "Alas," he continues, "the geography of Hell has changed since last I guided a mortal through it, and you will need assistance besides mine to get through the frozen caves of Cocytus to Paradise." "Who might this assistance come from?" you wonder aloud. "Why, from the latest arrival to the Inferno," your guide informs you. "Carmen Santiago." Oh well. You've tracked Carmen around the world; through Europe, America, and the reaches of Time. Surely the afterlife won't be much harder! In WHERE IN HELL IS CARMEN SANTIAGO?, you will need to use your detective skills and knowledge of facts from Canticle One of Dante's Commedia: "Inferno". Her gang members are here, too, and they bear the punishment that they earned in their lives. Besides that, they bear information on their fellows, as well as useful items to help you in your quest. By talking to them and interpreting their dossiers, you'll figure out where the others are and what items they most desire. Beware! You have only a limited amount of time to find Carmen-- and if you try to find her in the wrong area, you'll be damned for eternity! ---STARTING THE GAME--- This packed file contains the documentation file (which you're reading right now), a commentary, and two archived 5.25" disks OR one archived 3.5" disk. Unpack the disks (using ShrinkIt) onto the appropriate device. Then turn your Apple off and on again, or hit OPEN APPLE-CONTROL-RESET to reboot. The disk will automatically start up. WHERE IN HELL IS CARMEN SANTIAGO? will work on any Apple ][ that's capable of running ProDOS. For easiest play, you should have two disk drives attached; disk 1 should be in drive 1, and disk 2 in drive 2. However, it will work with only one disk drive, swapping disks every so often. (The program will tell you when.) If you prefer, you can copy all of the files from the 5.25" disks onto a 3.5" ProDOS disk, a RAMdisk, or a hard disk. This will cut down on disk swapping a great deal. All you need to do is copy the contents of disk 1 onto the desired device (or a subdirectory on it), then copy the contents of directory WIHICS.SCR from disk 2 into the WIHICS.SCR subdirectory on your destination disk. (You may be told that some files already exist; these don't need to be copied.) Finally, set the PREFIX to the disk or directory that has the file STARTUP, and RUN that program. (When using a hard drive, you probably already have PRODOS and BASIC.SYSTEM, so you don't need to copy those. And you can rename STARTUP to whatever you want-- WIHICS.START is a good choice.) Please note: The programs and data for the 3.5" version and the 5.25" version are identical. I just packed them differently to ease installation, and to give n extra to the 3.5" users. Some people may have non-standard setups. To make a self-booting disk that works with your equipment, you may have to reprogram STARTUP. This might be necessary if you have a special disk setup, or if you have a speedup card other than the supported ones. The program automatically recognizes a Zip Chip (or similar devices), //c+, and //gs, and slows them down to standard speed so that the music doesn't sound all funny. You can modify lines 1000 through 1090 to suit your needs. //gs users: You would do well to set your control panel to MONOCHROME. There is very little colour in the game, and it will probably work out better. Do this before starting so that you don't disturb other settings. ---HOW TO PLAY--- Throughout the game, "magic menus" are used, similar to AppleWorks. These will appear to be lines of text, one of which is black text on white instead of being white on black. The inverse line, or "selection", can be moved with the arrow keys. Hitting [RETURN] will perform whatever function is highlighted at the time. The first magic menu you will see is the scenario selection. There are several games, all more or less different. Carmen is in a different circle of Hell for each scenario. Your job is to interview the gang members, decipher what they tell you about Carmen's life, and decide which sin she is guilty of. That's where you'll find her. You'll also need to give her the item that she remembers from her time among the living, which is similarly hinted at. Remember, all these factors change from scenario to scenario. But back to the menus. After selecting one, you'll see the names of all her gang members. By hitting the arrow keys to highlight one, then pressing [RETURN], you can get a dossier on the individual, complete with their life story, the circumstances surrounding their deaths, a quote, and a little picture. Select the "Start game" line to actually start playing. When on a magic menu, [ESC] usually takes you back one step, assuming that the program can figure out where "back one step" is. For example, hitting [ESC] while on the "Start game or read dossier" menu will take you back to scenario selection. You go through the Gate of Hell, past the Vestibule, and into Limbo, where the Virtuous Pagans dwell. From here you have a limited amount of time, measured in turns. The number of turns you have left is always displayed in the upper right. A menu of commands is to the right; a picture of the scene is to the left; and the bottom of the screen displays various pieces of information. When you enter a place, it will give you the description of the area as well as a picture of your surroundings. The following commands take one turn to complete: Moving up (toward Limbo) Moving down (toward Satan) Searching for items Calling a name Asking a question Bribing a shade Using an item All other commands take no time at all. You may save a game at any time, and restore it from the "choose a scenario" menu, but you can have only one saved game available per disk. A map of Hell is available, too, and it doesn't take any time to look at it. Hit arrow keys to move the pointer, and [ESC] to get back to the game. Searching for items is one of the ways you'll find them, but I advise against searching indiscriminately. It takes up valuable time. Instead, bribe a shade (with an item they want) and ask them about ITEMS or about another shade. Sometimes they'll tell you where you might find something, and sometimes they may give you an item straightaway. Talking to shades: There are dead gang members strewn throughout the Inferno, and of course Carmen. To find one, you "call a name". You will get a list of the gang members, and may select one. If you call the wrong name for a circle, or if there's simply nobody there, you'll just waste a turn... most of the time! On the other hand, if the shade you want IS present, he or she (or they) will respond. They may not answer any questions, though, until you give them an item that they remember from their time among the living. (Virgil may reproach you for showing pity to the damned souls, but feel free to ignore him. He's only a poet. It's not like he was a PROGRAMMER or anything important.) For each item, you may ask three questions; but be warned! They are universally oracular (meaning confusing) and in certain cases the shades will lie! (This IS Hell, after all! It will be stated in the scenario description whether the shades are allowed to lie.) Be forewarned that there are red herrings. Finally, there are obstacles to cross. Items will be useful here too. The "use item" command can get you across if simple movement will not. Of course, whether or not it's successful, it'll take you one turn, so use carefully. ---WINNING THE GAME (AND BEYOND)--- You win if you reach Paradise before the timer runs out. Otherwise, you lose. That's about all there is to it. A copy of Inferno is necessary to get anywhere in the game. I recommend the John Ciardi translation of 1954 as being particularly accessable; it's fun to read and it explains a lot about the meaning behind the verse. However, it should be remembered that all you're "learning" in this game (if anything!) is the names and circumstances of the Infernal regions. The reasoning behind the structure of Hell is there for the reading, if only you put a little effort into it. Dante's poem is a classic, and one that everyone should read and then discuss with others. This way, you'll find out neat things that others saw but that you missed. If you're in high school, why not ask your English teacher if you can devote some class time to reading and discussing the book? Your classmates will thank you. ---SO WHAT'S THIS ABOUT SHAREWARE?--- Shareware is the simple and painless way to distribute software. Here's how it works: You copy this file (and the program disk) and give it to friends, as many as you want, wherever you want. You upload the packed file on every bulletin board system that you come across. You also unpack it and play it a few times. If you agree that it's worth something, you send me five bucks. If not, you delete the disk and no one's angry. I hereby give permission to copy the file "CARM.HELL.SHK" to any computer system, including large and small bulletin board systems via modem. The following stipulations apply: (1) The packed file must be complete and you may not edit the programs before distributing them (on your own personal copy it's OK); and (2) Absolutely no fee may be charged for obtaining this program. The only money involved is the $5 to me if you like it. If you DON'T like it, please send me a letter or postcard explaining why you didn't like it. This (together with the fees!) will encourage me to release more and better software that's a lot like this-- or nothing like it at all. Please don't send cash through the mail; use a check or money order instead. My address is St. John M. Morrison PO Box 42864 Philadelphia PA 19104-2864 or you can call my bulletin board system, the "Bobdo" BBS, at (215) 386-0350. Use 8n1 data word, 300-2400 BAUD, and hit RETURN after the signal. Finally, I'm occasionally found on America Online under the name St John2. ---THE SCENARIOS--- Included with the master disks: #1: Classic Inferno This is a straightforward scenario. No shades lie and the clues are obvious. The people are all drawn from Inferno, and are therefore fourteenth-century Italians (for the most part). In HellPak #1 (or included in the 3.5" version): #2: Pit of the Programs Various characters from educational software come to life-- or its opposite-- in this scenario. Shades will not lie. Coming in future HellPaks: #3: Deathstyles of the Rich And Famous Revenge on those people that SHOULD be in Hell. Shades are somewhat devious in this one; they'll answer with the honesty they were known for in life. #4: Life In Hell. Really. Matt Groening's tragic characters meet Dante's tragic characters. See which circle becomes the Hell of the Irredeemably Perky. When a new scenario is released (via the usual channels), you'll get instructions for adding it to your disk. ---LET THE AUTHOR RAMBLE FOR A WHILE--- It was an evening full of assembling machine-language programs, leafing through books and magazines for code fragments, and just generally SLacking Off. I saw advertisements for the queen of all educational games, the Broderbund "Carmen Sandiego" series. "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego," I muttered to myself. "Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego. Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego. Where in time is Carmen Sandiego." And then I continued in the same vein, "Where in the hell IS Carmen Sandiego?" My roommate says that he saw an actual light bulb appear over my head. Since high school, I've been a fan of the Commedia; the immortal phrase just seemed to be so perfectly self-sustaining that it grew out of the cheap three-minute gag computer-animation I had initially imagined, into an actual game. We bandied people and sins about, and came up with most of the gang of rogues described in "Deathstyles of the Rich & Famous". (Note that most of the names have been changed to pretect the innocent-- namely *me*.) Other characters from educational software were thrown in because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Let me just state that I've never actually played a Carmen game. (At the moment, I'm saving up to buy AppleWorks.) However, each one has been reviewed in every computer magazine in the known universe, so it was easy to come up with a look-alike. I sure hope that Broderbund won't take offense at this! Remember, guys, that if the games weren't instantly recognizable-- in a class by themselves, as it were-- the whole point of the parody would have been lost. And though suffused with my own brand of humour, this is actually educational software, designed to teach facts about a particular area while playing a game, just like the Real Thing. It's more of a loving parody than anything. So please don't sue me. Thankew. By the way, in case anyone's interested: The machine-language segments for this program were assembled using Merlin Pro; the Dore illustrations were digitized in two ways-- first, using the Micro D-Cam (available from MicroMint) and second, using a "dedicated graphics preprocessor" (labelled "Macintosh") with an Apple Scanner, and converted using "Apple File Exchange" and a neat-o freeware program, "MacDown" by Jason Harper; the Benguiat font in the startup screen is from Fontrix; the sound is from "Sound Master" by Jim Richardson, presented in the September 1988 issue of _Nibble_; and various BASIC techniques are thanks to the staff at A2-Central magazine. ---Saint John M. Morrison 1 Jan 90 - 22 Feb 90 COPYRIGHTS: Apple and ProDOS are copyrights of Apple Computer, Inc. Carmen Sandiego is a copyright of Broderbund. Merlin Pro is a copyright of Glen Bredon and Roger Wagner Publications. Fontrix is a copyright of Data Transforms. The program "Where In Hell Is Carmen Santiago" is a copyright of the author. Extreme thanks to my mother, for all the music she dug up for me. Without her, the only song you'd get is the Mr. Ed theme. Thanks also to Ace Pest Control and Siona, two BBS veterans who also helped with the music. -END OF FILE-