Newsgroups: rec.games.moria Path: moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!batcomputer!cornell!uw-beaver!news.u.washington.edu!stein.u.washington.edu!cloister From: cloister@stein.u.washington.edu (cloister bell) Subject: monthly BOSS FAQ list posting. Message-ID: <1992Dec1.202250.26654@u.washington.edu> Summary: same old FAQ list, folks. Keywords: BOSS FAQ Sender: news@u.washington.edu (USENET News System) Organization: University of Washington Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 20:22:50 GMT Lines: 290 Monthly BOSS F.A.Q. List This FAQ covers BOSS version 2.0, released March 1, 1992. Changes and New features are documented at the end of this document. Just what *is* BOSS anyway? If you've played moria in any of its incarnations (why else would you be reading rec.games moria?), then BOSS will seem inherently familiar to you. BOSS is what you get when you take moria, modernize it (magic becomes science, monsters become more realistic beasts, items get updated, etc.), add a lot of new features (different dungeon types, monsters, lots of new items, multiple towns, etc.) and give it a twisted sense of humor. There's a lot of in jokes in BOSS that make it much more fun to play, especially for people who are already sci-fi/comedy fans. BOSS is also easier than moria. You're all familiar with people posting to rec.games.moria things like "I *finally* won!!!" and "five years and only one winner so far." The idea behind BOSS is to make it the sort of game you can win in a weekend, instead of in a few weeks. I know BOSS is less serious than moria, hopefully it's as much or more fun. If you're the person responsible for your site, you will find BOSS much more customizable than moria. We have taken much of the data out of the program and put it into separate data files. This has the effect of making the executable smaller (a definite plus), and the benefit that you can change monsters, items, class and skill names, and other things without re-compiling the code. For instance, you could rename the Green Daisyan Lieutenant to the name of your system administrator, or you could change the Soldier skill "Alter Position" to "Dodge". You can have lots of fun making BOSS more familar to the local culture wherever you are. What's the object of the game? Like moria, the object is to become a powerful character who defeats the mega-monster at the end of the game. In BOSS, that monster is the Boss, a mean, rotten, disgusting and vile mafia figure who's out to control the world. To do this you must travel far in search of his hide-out deep under the sewers of New York City, battle terrible alien creatures, and survive against almost impossible odds along the way. Where can I get a copy of BOSS? BOSS is available for anonymous FTP from ftp.cis.ksu.edu in the pub/Games/Moria directory. We have placed a compressed .tar file there as well as the uncompressed files themselves. If you get the .tar.Z file, make sure you're in binary mode when you transfer. For those who do not have anonymous FTP access, RLG or I would be happy to e-mail you the source code. Drop us a line (our addresses are listed at the bottom) and let us know. The current version is brand new, having been released on March 1, 1992. This version contains much that is new. Many of the changes are on the administrative level, and so the player will not see evidence of them. But they have been made so that upkeep on the code is easier. But even from the players' perspective there are a few new features, to say the least. What platforms does BOSS currently run on? Currently BOSS runs only on Digital Equipment Corporation VAX mainframes running VMS. RLG and I are finishing up some things on the VMS version that we've meant to do for a long time, after which we will rebuild it in C which will make it much more portable. We hope someday to have BOSS available not only for Unix and VMS, but also for p.c's, mac's, amigas, etc. Our goal is to have BOSS as widely distributable as umoria is now. There is, even, some progress on this front. The unix/C port is underway even as you read this. All the features are there (almost) and it compiles, we just need to de-bug the heck out of it now. What do I need in order to install BOSS? Several things. First, working knowledge of VMS file management, and the ability to follow directions. Second, access to a VAX-VMS mainframe. Third, about 6500 free blocks of disk space (for source files and temporary space in order to compile). If you have any difficulties installing BOSS, feel free to send RLG or me mail. What's the deal with the different races? There are three races in BOSS, humans, Jarwangians, and Daysians. The Jarwangians are the 'nice guy' aliens, a peaceful and technologically advanced race. They make some neat items. The Daysians are the 'bad guy' aliens. They are also an advanced race, but they are warlike. Daysians make some of the best combat gear in the game. There's a bit of that demented humor in the name 'Daysian'. See if you can find it. The BOSS employs many Daysians to protect him, and to kill you. He also employs a variety of low-life human types for this also. Is there a time limit on the game? Yes. The long announced time limit on the game has really been implemented. Yes way, Ted, your character can really get munched if s/he doesn't win in time. But the time limit is pretty long, so you'd have to be dogging it to get caught. Why are there different towns, and how are they different? Rather than having one extremely deep dungeon as in moria, BOSS has several shallower dungeons, one per town. Each town's dungeon is 500 meters deep, except for the last one, which is 2500 meters deep. Each town's dungeon takes up where the last town left off, with a couple of levels of overlap. The net result is about the same start-to-finish difficulty as in moria. You cannot find the BOSS until you get to the bottom of the last dungeon. The game follows a cross-country trek, from Seattle to the Big Apple. On a new-features note, RLG is currently working on a scheme for each town having its own distinct monster list. Should be interesting when it happens. How do the busses work, and is it possible to get back to a previous town? To catch a bus you must have 1) completed the current town's dungeon, 2) have paid off your loan, if any, and 3) kill the town's local Mob Boss. Then you may go to the hotel and climb aboard. And of course there isn't any way to get back to previous towns. This isn't like moria, where if you get in over your head you can retreat a few levels. You're dealing with the mafia here, and they aren't terribly forgiving when it comes to cocky low level adventurers. Are there monsters that give negative experience? Yes. They're only on the town level, though. Don't kill things in town, it's not nice. (Well, except for the gang members, and dirty harry, etc...) The idea here is to be saving the good townspeople from the vile, evil, repulsive and disgusting BOSS, not killing them on the way. If there are any others, then congratulations, you've found a bug. Send me or RLG mail about it. What are the qualifications for various part time jobs in the hotel? What jobs you can get are based on your level. There are plans to make these based on one or more applicable character stats, but that hasn't been done yet. How does Danny Dollar do business? Does he cheat? Sometimes it seems like he doesn't pay as much interest as he should. Danny dollar doesn't cheat. He's honest, but stingy as heck. The interest rate is per week. RLG and I figured that with the time-scale of the game, it didn't make sense to have it any less often than that. The interest rates he charges on loans and gives on deposits are based on your credit rating, which is a function of your loan. If you get behind on your payments, he'll charge you more on your loan, and give you less on your account. Eventually, he'll just take money from your account. If you have a loan, it's a good idea to pay some of it off every time you see him. There's a special routine for real deadbeats that you really don't want to see. Keep those loans under control. How does potion mixing work? Potion mixing is a random thing, modified by your intelligence. Mixed potions will either evaporate, blow up (ouch!), or become something else. If they do mix sucessfully, you'll get something that's on average more powerful than you started with, but can be either good or bad... What's with disease? There isn't any of that in moria. Disease is the only really new thing that monsters can do to you. Some monsters can inflict you with disease when they hit you. If this happens, you'll get a message like "the gives you a social disease!" or something. Disease doesn't have any immediate bad effect, but does cause certain potions to be ineffective. You get healed at the medical clinic in the office building. Cost of a cure is proportional to how many times you've been diseased. What do the special flags on armor and weapons mean? Not all of them are listed in the help files. True enough. To be fair, here they are: Armors: (Resist): Resists everything. Acid, fire, cold, lightning. (RA) : Resists acid. (RF) : Resists fire. (RC) : Resists cold. (RL) : Resists lightning. (RG) : Resists gas. (P) : Protection. Extra armor class value. (CR) : Combat ready. Is much less cumbersome than regular armor. (W) : Weightless. Neat, huh? (Qwethleg) : Unique items. You have to figure these out for yourself. (Fi-Yoh) : Don't ask me where RLG came up with these names. (Jarth) : (?????) : Weapons: (DF) : Defender. (FB) : Frost-brand (FT) : Flame-tongue. (HA) : Holy avenger. (KA) : Kill alien. (KC) : Kill creature. (KM) : Kill monster. (KR) : Kill robot. (KS) : Kill scum. (DST) : Destroyer. Does +20 damage. (Slicer): Does double the normal weapon damage. (Razor) : Does four times normal weapon damage. What's the deal with strange items like the Acme Personal Force Field, and the 45 Caliber Silver Bullet? Those are 'objets du jour'. RLG and I got in the habit of taking one or two of the junk items in the item list (like moria's broken stick), and every day or so changing them into something random, bizarre, and hopefully funny. These items usually have some interesting powers, that are worth checking out. The ones in particular that are in the game are the ones that just happened to be there when we released the game. Expect them to change. In fact, one of the changes we made to the code for this release makes it easy for local BOSS wizards to add and change items. How is the score calculated? Your score when you die or win is calculated as follows: score = (experience / your exp. multiplier) + (100*deepest dungeon level you attained) + (bonuses for killing the BOSS) + (bonus for finishing fast). The experience multiplier varies with class and race, and balances out how hard each class is to get to 42nd level. If the mainframe goes down, or the game crashes, how can I restore my character file? If you saved your character at any time prior to this, then you are in luck. The save file will normally be 'corrupted' and not usable again, but a special function available only to your local Boss administrator can 'un-corrupt' it. Here's what you need to do to restore a corrupted save file: 1. Send the save file to your local Boss administrator. Type: SEND/FILE/VMSDUMP filename username-of-admin 2. The admin will restore the file and send it back to you. All you need to do is RECEIVE the file and go back to playing Boss. Here's what the Boss administrator needs to do: 1. RECEIVE the save file. 2. Make sure your username is in the file WIZARD.DAT This file should be located in the [.BOSS.DAT] directory. 2. While in the Boss directory type @startup to enter the game. 3. After all the intro stuff is skimmed through, and the town map appears, type control-p to turn 'wizard' mode on. 4. Then type control-v 5. Enter the name of the save file and hit return. 6. This should repair the save file. If not, possible errors include: a. You misspelled the save file name. b. The file was not sent with the /VMSDUMP qualifier. c. Something went wrong with the fabric of the space/time continuum. 7. Next, type control-y to exit the game. 8. Then send the file back to the user. Type: SEND/FILE/VMSDUMP filename username (At this point I often forget who sent the file, so it's a good idea to rename the file to the same name as the user who sent it right after you first receive it. In fact, when you get into the receive utility, you have the option of changing the name when you save it.) 9. Be happy! But if you start to get too many restore save file requests from the same person, be suspicious of cheating. Changes and New features from version 1.0 to version 2.0 Visible to player: Finally added the time limit on the game. New monsters and items. Local Mob Bosses added for each town. New rules on catching the bus (see bus section). Corpses added. Currently they're useless. Monster multiplication algorithm changed; monsters now swarm in packs. Kill Robot (KR) and Resist Gas (RG) items have been added to the game. Character stats and character generation completely changed. Stats are now a GURPS(tm)-like system, with players able to allocate creation points however they like when creating their character. Monsters have intelligence now, and some are now able to dodge your blows. Save files are compatible from the previous release. Upon first playing the old save file with the new version, your character will be converted to the new stat system. This conversion process is really complicated and you may not like what happens to your charcter, but you have the option. Help files updated (well, maybe not all the way, but some). Transparent changes (stuff only a Bosswiz would care about): All the items, monsters, and other data have been moved into separate data files. You may now change the monsters and items without re-compiling the program. The random quotes have been pulled out into a file, and may be easily customized for your site. Code has been somewhat re-organized. Things are now where they ought to be, where they sometimes weren't before. Fixed some bugs, including the money/charisma bug. Probably some other stuff we can't remember right now. Thank you for reading this list, or at least skimming to the end. Thanks also to all those out there who have gotten BOSS for their systems. We had fun writing it, and it's nice to know that it wasn't for nothing. (signed) Robert Gulledge, A.K.A. raoul@u.washington.edu Jason Black, A.K.A. cloister@u.washington.edu -- +-------------------------------------------------+---------------------------+ |tactical nuclear sdi stealth nsafood signature. | cloister@u.washington.edu | +-------------------------------------------------+---------------------------+