





                                      KINGDOMS

                            SYSTEM OPERATOR DOCUMENTATION


                                    Version 2.18



                  Programming & Design : Dave Chapman : The Web BBS

                     Copyright c 1993, 94, 95, 96 - Dave Chapman
                                 All Rights Reserved




















                                  3:712/523@FidoNet
                                61:9600/350@WorldNet
                                69:1171/200@AdultNet
                                169:3005/2@BattleNet
                                 151:6121/823@EzyNet
                           InterNet - dave.chapman@ibm.net

                              - Kingdoms Support Page -
                     http://www.magna.com.au/~davec/kingdom.htm


            KINGDOMS v2.18                 System Operator Documentation
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                                  TABLE OF CONTENTS




          SECTION 1 - KINGDOMS LICENSING INFORMATION                      5

           1.1. Software License Agreement                                5

           1.2. Definitions                                               5

           1.3. Terms                                                     5

           1.4. Limited Warranty                                          6

           1.5. Technical Support                                         6

           1.6. Problem Reporting                                         7

           1.7. Upgrades                                                  7


          SECTION 2 - GAME OVERVIEW                                       8


          SECTION 3 - KINGDOMS FILES                                      9

           3.1 Executable Files                                           9
            3.1.1. KINGDOM.EXE                                            9
            3.1.2. KM.EXE                                                 9
            3.1.3. KNETIN.EXE                                             9
            3.1.4. KNETOUT.EXE                                            9
            3.1.5. KMNT.EXE                                              10

           3.2 Data Files                                                10
            3.2.1. KIDX.DAT                                              10
            3.2.2. KGAME.DAT                                             10
            3.2.3. K*.KDI                                                10

           3.3. Generated Files                                          11
            3.3.1. KMSGHEAD.DAT & KMSGTXT.DAT                            11
            3.3.2. KUSR.DAT                                              11
            3.3.3. KCFG.DAT                                              11
            3.3.4. KTRANSIT.DAT                                          11
            3.3.5. KSCORE?.KDI                                           11
            3.3.6. K?.LOG                                                12


          SECTION 4 -REQUIRED SOFTWARE/KINGDOMS ENVIRONMENT              13


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          SECTION 5 - INSTALLATION                                       15

           5.1. Overview                                                 15

           5.2 Installation Step 1 - The Basics                          15
            5.2.1. Unpack the Archive                                    15
            5.2.2. Setting up your Configuration File                    15

           5.3 Installation Step 2 - Network Configuration               16
            5.3.1. The KIDX.DAT File                                     16
            5.3.2. Network Setup                                         16

           5.4. Installation Step 3 - Getting it Running                 17
            5.4.1. Logging on Locally                                    17
            5.4.2. Starting Kingdoms                                     18
            5.4.3.  Maintenance, Network Tasks                           19

           5.5. Installation Step 4 - Multiline Configuration            20


          SECTION 6 - MAINTENANCE OPTIONS                                23

           6.1. Game Reset                                               23

           6.2. Override Reset                                           23

           6.3. Delay Processing                                         23

           6.4. Same-Day Run Override                                    24

           6.5. Create ACS/ANS Files                                     24

           6.6. Create Scoreboards                                       24


          SECTION 7 - REGISTRATION                                       26


          SECTION 8 - CONTACT INFORMATION                                26


          SECTION 9 - FAQ                                                28

           9.1. Where do I specify my locked port?                       28

           9.2. Kingdoms thinks someone is online when there isn't.      28

           9.3. Kingdoms thinks Maintenance is running when it isn't.    28

           9.4. I have an Index file, but the Manager is telling me I
           don't!                                                        28

           9.5. Realms on my Index are numbered differently to my uplink!28
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          APPENDIX A : ERROR CODES                                       29


          APPENDIX B : QUICKSTART INSTALLATION                           31


          APPENDIX C : UPGRADING FROM PRIOR RELEASES                     32














































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          Section 1 - Kingdoms Licensing Information

          This Software is Licensed, not sold. The Software in this package
          is licensed according to the terms of the following agreement:


          1.1. Software License Agreement

          IMPORTANT: Please read this license agreement before using this
          software. By using this software you acknowledge your agreement
          to the terms of this license.

          If you do not wish to follow the terms of this license agreement,
          you must remove this software from your system.  The only portion
          of the Software that you may retain is the distribution archive
          itself which may be used solely for distribution purposes.


          1.2. Definitions

                   ``
          The term          ''
                    Software   as used in this agreement means the full
          system and all utility computer programs contained in the
          distribution archive, together with any updates subsequently
          supplied by DM BBS Services.

                   ``
          The term  Related Materials   means all the printed materi
                                     ''                             als
          provided in this package or later supplied by Dave Chapman for
          use with the Software.

               Author
              ``
          The           as used in this document is Dave Chapman who owns
                     ''
          and holds copyright to the Kingdoms software.


          1.3. Terms

          You are granted a limited license to use this software for a
          sixty-day trial period.  After expiration of the trial period,
          you must either register with the Author or remove the Software
          from your system. The registration fee is $30.00 (thirty)
          Australian dollars. A Registration Form is included in the
          distribution archive and is called KREG.TXT.  Once registered,
          you will receive a license to use the Software on your system for
          an unlimited period of time. Additional payments may be required
          for major game upgrades in future at the discretion of the
          Author. Group registration discounts are available as described
          in the Registration document, KREG.TXT.

          Kingdoms is Copyright 1993-96 by Dave Chapman. All rights are
          reserved.  You may copy the Software and documentation for backup
          purposes.  You also may copy and share unmodified copies of the
          distribution archive, providing that the copyright notice is

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          reproduced and included on all copies and no fee is charged for
          distributing the distribution archive.

          You may not sell this software for a fee and/or distribute this
          software along with other products without expressed written
          permission from the Author, nor may you modify or remove the
          Copyright Notice from the program or the documentation.

          Those who register this program, will receive a registration
          number. This number will be delivered either by Internet mail,
          personal upload, or postal service. Allow up to 6 weeks for
          delivery for locations outside Australia. For locations within
          the Australia, allow 2-6 weeks for delivery. All registrations
          are processed in a timely manner and usually only take a few days
          to deliver.  However, when unforseen circumstances arise,
          registration turnaround times may be delayed.

          The Author reserves to right to revoke software licenses in lieu
          of any violation of the terms of this license agreement.




          1.4. Limited Warranty

          THIS PRODUCT IS PROVIDED  AS IS
                                   ``       WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
                                         ''
          THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM
          IS ASSUMED BY YOU. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR
          MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF, RESULTS OF,
          MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OF THE PRODUCT.
          SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (AND NOT THE AUTHOR)
          ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR
          CORRECTION.  FURTHER, THE AUTHOR DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR
          MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF, OR THE RESULTS OF
          THE USE OF THE PROGRAM IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY,
          RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE; AND YOU RELY ON THE
          PROGRAM AND RESULTS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE AUTHOR WILL NOT
          BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SYSTEM
          DAMAGE, SERVICE, REPAIR, CORRECTION, LOSS OF PROFIT, LOST
          SAVINGS, OR ANY OTHER INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR SPECIAL
          DAMAGES OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OR
          INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT.




          1.5. Technical Support

          Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. If you have
          any, you should contact Dave Chapman at one of the addresses
          listed below:

          Primary Support Site:    : The Web BBS
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          System Operator:         : Dave Chapman
          Mailer/BBS Software:          : Front Door/EzyCom
          Line 1              : (02)  528-5941 to  28800, Continuous  Mail,
          FREQ
          Line 2              : (02) 528-2235 to 14400, BBS - 24 hours
          Line 3              : (02) 528-4250 to 9600, BBS - 24 hours

          Sysops can FREQ magic name `KINGDOMS' anytime for the latest
          version on line 1.

          I can be contacted on the Battlenet Kingdoms echo by name or by
          Internet mail to dave.chapman@ibm.net.

          Kingdoms is also available from the Australian & US
          Beta/Registration sites and Internet FTP site listed in Section 8
          - Contact Information, in this document.



          1.6. Problem Reporting

          If you're reporting a bug, please give as much detail as possible
          about the problem you are experiencing (including the version
          you're running) so that it can be duplicated and fixed. Please
          include the error report that will be provided in KERR.LOG.



          1.7. Upgrades

          Program updates consist of minor and major revisions.  All minor
          updates are available for download and usage free of charge to
          registered Sysops.  Major updates may require a small upgrade fee
          based on the complexity of the update.

          The program version number indicates whether this a major or a
          minor upgrade.  For example, release revisions 1.10, 1.43, 1.90
          etc would indicate minor program revisions and no upgrade fee
          would be charged to those who are currently registered 1.00
          users. A release revision of 2.00 would indicate a major program
          revision and may require a small upgrade fee.












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          Section 2 - Game Overview

          Kingdoms is a multi user online game with InterBBS capability. It
          will run under all BBS systems that support the standard
          DORINFO1.DEF, DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS drop file formats, or for
          which these file can be generated.

          Other games have purported to be InterBBS, but they merely offer
          the user the ability to play on one BBS and send forays to others
          which must return to their home BBS. This is really just an
          extension of a local BBS game and does not offer true Inter-BBS
          functionality. Kingdoms does. :-)

          Under Kingdoms, players have a `Home' BBS, which is the one they
          logon to most frequently. On that BBS, they own a Castle which
          can be fortified in a number of ways, they can attack other
          players either on the local BBS or on another, send messages
          between them, etc. As far as Inter-BBS goes it's all good fun,
          there is nothing really new here.

          What is new, and what makes Kingdoms truly unique is that players
          in Kingdoms can purchase castles on other BBS's in their net.
          They can hire an `Agent' to run the castle for them, fortify that
          castle, store gold in it, send attacks from it and much more, all
          by remote command from their Home BBS. If they have created a
          remote castle, they can also directly logon to the remote and
          they will be recognised as a `Visiting Lord' (or Lady!), owner of
          the castle there and operate it directly.

          The possibilities for strategic play, multiple alliances and
          subterfuge here are enormous. It is not the purpose of this
          document to discuss the game itself in depth, so if you would
          like to know more, please read the Player documentation.

          I hope you and your users enjoy the game!
















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          Section 3 - Kingdoms Files

          The following files should be in your Kingdoms Archive and are
          required to operate Kingdoms on your BBS. If any are missing, the
          latest version and archive can be FREQ'd from the Web BBS at the
          addresses provided in the Support section of this documentation.


          3.1 Executable Files

          3.1.1. KINGDOM.EXE

          This program is the one that is executed when shelling from a BBS
          or in local mode by using the /L command line parameter.



          3.1.2. KM.EXE

          This is the Kingdoms Manager. When you've unpacked your Kingdoms
          archive, this should be the first program you run. A full
          description of KM.EXE is provided in the accompanying document,
          KM.DOC.



          3.1.3. KNETIN.EXE

          KNetIn processes Kingdom inbound files from other Realms on your
          Kingdoms Net. These inbounds could be messages, gold or monster
          transfer, Castle fortifications or a number of other Kingdom
          transit data. It will search for files named KNET*.* and process
          them from your inbound files directory as defined in KM.EXE.
          Please note that you should NEVER edit this file. Information in
          it is check summed and very strange things can happen to your
          inbound processing if the file data does not correspond to the
          file and record checksums.



          3.1.4. KNETOUT.EXE

          KNetOut processes the file KTransit.Dat. KTransit is the file
          which holds outbound information and data, some generated by
          Kingdoms itself, most generated by InterBBS activities of the
          players on your BBS. Please note that you should NEVER edit this
          file. Information in it is check summed and very strange things
          can happen to your outbound Transit file data does not correspond
          to the file and record checksums.


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          3.1.5. KMNT.EXE

          KMNT is the Kingdoms Maintenance program. It should be run once
          daily. I suggest you put it in your nightly maintenance. It
          updates the player records, brings dead players back to life,
          packs the news files to manageable lengths and does other
          assorted housekeeping. It is also the means by which you can
          regularly poll other Kingdom nodes for net statistic information.
          It will not, unless you specifically request it, run more than
          once per day. Further information about KMNT is provided in the
          Kingdoms Installation section.




       3.2 Data Files


          3.2.1. KIDX.DAT

          Your distribution archive may or may not contain this file.
          KIDX.DAT is the `Nodelist' for a Kingdoms network. Generally, the
          file should be obtained from the Kingdoms coordinator for a
          Kingdoms net in which you are to participate. As it is specific
          to a network of BBS's, it generally won't be found in the
          archive.

          If your BBS is not listed in this file, Kingdoms InterBBS
          functions will not operate.



          3.2.2. KGAME.DAT

          This file contains much of the static data used by Kingdoms such
          as Armor, Weapons and Monster information. It MUST reside in your
          game directory, as defined in the Manager and you should NEVER
          edit this file. Records in it are checksummed and the game will
          not operate properly (or not at all) if the file is tampered
          with.


          3.2.3. K*.KDI

          Kingdoms uses the special type of display file, the ones with the
          .KDI extension, for display. This is a more convenient and more
          efficient way of managing display information that by using ANSI
          files within Kingdoms. KDI files include things such as the
          opening screens, menus for fast display in this format and news
          files for display within the game. If you wish, you can also
          generate ANSI and ASCII versions of some of these files during
          Maintenance so you can display them on your BBS itself. See the
          section in this document on Maintenance Options.
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          3.3. Generated Files

          The following files will not be in the Kingdoms archive, but are
          created and modified by Kingdoms as appropriate as people play
          the game. You should never attempt to modify any of these files
          yourself as the game will not function if checksums on the files
          do not match file data. ALL .DAT FILES SHOULD BE BACKED UP ON A
          REGULAR BASIS.



          3.3.1. KMSGHEAD.DAT & KMSGTXT.DAT

          These are the Kingdoms message base files. They hold the Kingdoms
          indexed message headers information and the associated message
          text respectively.


          3.3.2. KUSR.DAT

          This is your Kingdoms Player file. It holds all information
          pertaining to the users playing Kingdoms on your BBS.


          3.3.3. KCFG.DAT

          This file your Kingdoms Configuration file. There will only ever
          be one of these per system (unless a Sysop is running multiple
          Kingdoms network games on the one BBS) and it is maintained by
          KM.EXE. When Kingdoms starts, it must start up in the SAME
          directory that this file resides in.


          3.3.4. KTRANSIT.DAT

          This file holds information that is in transit (going to and
          from) between Kingdom Realms. It is processed and maintained
          primarily by KNETOUT and KNETIN. New data (eg, a Recon requested)
          is added to this file by the Kingdoms Realms options in
          KINGDOM.EXE so it can be tossed (exported) to the destination
          node by KNETOUT.


          3.3.5. KSCORE?.KDI

          These files are the scoreboard files for Kingdoms. There are
          KSCOREL.KDI and a KSCORER.KDI files, which are the Local and
          Realm (InterBBS) score files respectively. The Local score file
          is calculated dynamically while the user is online and is
          therefore always up-to-date. The Realms score file is generated
          by KMNT when it runs, using data from the current Recon files to
          pick up the scores from remote Realms. For this reason, it will
          only be as up-to-date as of a) when Maintenance was last run and
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          b) depending on the currency of existing recons. As mentioned
          previously, KMNT can create ANSI and ASCII versions of these
          files should you want/require them.


          3.3.6. K?.LOG

          Kingdoms produces several log files which should be obvious by
          name. All logs, should you want to see any, are written to the
          Game directory, as defined in the Manager. The logs generated
          include :

          KDOM.LOG - Kingdoms Player's log ... who's gone in and out of the
          game.
          KNET.LOG - Net processors logs, Knetout and Knetin update this.
          KERR.LOG - Any errors the game encounters are recorded here.
          Hopefully empty :-)
          KMNT.LOG - Maintenance log
          KCOORD.LOG - Only appears on the Coordinator node - see
          KCOORD.DOC.

































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          Section 4 - Required Software/Kingdoms Environment

          Kingdoms is designed to run under any Bulletin Board system that
          supports the standard DORINFO1.DEF, DORINFOx.DEF and DOOR.SYS
          drop file formats. Ezycom, Remote Access and Wildcat all support
          one or more of these formats and doubtless many others do as
          well. If your BBS software does not, several utilities are
          available on many boards to convert one type of drop file (eg,
          DOORMASTER) to these standards.

          As discussed, Kingdoms have InterBBS capability. To operate these
          functions you must be a member of a network (which one, eg Fido,
          PodsNet, SigNet etc) does not matter to Kingdoms, only that you
          have a three dimensional address (points are not supported) and
          that you call someone (or they call you) who also has any 3D
          address.

          Kingdoms uses the .MSG format of mailer messages to manage its
          file routing. Kingdoms will run with FrontDoor or another mailer
          program that supports .MSG format netmail messages without
          difficulty. The Blinkey/Squish mailer format is also supported
          through the /S parameter on KNETOUT. If someone wants to send me
          a sample of another format, I'll look at putting it into Kingdoms
          depending on demand.

          Kingdoms requires a fossil communications driver to be resident
          in order to operate. It does NOT have it's own internal comms
          routines as I don't see why they're necessary, considering all
          BBS software I've seen requires a Fossil driver resident anyway.
          It has been tested and works well with both X00 by Ray Gwinn and
          BNU by David Nugent.

          Kingdoms requires MS-DOS or an MS-DOS environment/window. At
          startup, it will detect DOS, DesqView, Taskview, Windows (3.x)
          and/or OS/2. According to what it finds, it will automatically
          time slice away when Kingdoms is idle to give more processor time
          to other tasks that might be busy.

          Kingdoms has been tested on MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 4.1, MS-DOS 5.0,
          MS-DOS 6.2 and DR-DOS 6.0. It has also been tested running under
          Desqview on a stand alone PC, on a net server running Novell
          Netware Lite and on a Client machine in a Netware Lite
          environment multi tasking with DesqView. It works well under both
          Windows 3.1 and `95. It has been tested on both MCA and EISA
          based machines.

          Kingdoms does not have a significant memory requirement (approx
          400K runtime memory), but it is recommended you swap your BBS out
          (using the *M parm in EzyCom, RA and QBBS) before calling the
          game to give it as much as possible and avoid possible memory
          shortages while running.
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          Kingdoms supports multi-line operation. That is, users may play
          Kingdoms on more than one line concurrently. Up to and including
          99 separate lines (logged on players) active are supported at any
          one time.

















































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          Section 5 - Installation


          5.1. Overview

          Kingdoms can, in its simplest form, run as a local game on a
          single line BBS. Likewise, it can run in a complex multi-line,
          networked environment. Installation is, naturally enough, more
          time consuming for the latter, but you will still find it pretty
          easy if you follow the instructions below!

          Please DON'T think, if you've installed heaps of games before,
          that you don't need to read this documentation. Frankly, you'll
          probably miss something important if you don't at least read
          through them first, OK? RTFM! For those who REALLY want to get
          moving, and who won't listen to advice <g>, Appendix B of this
          document gives a quick start procedure for getting the game up
          and running.

          The procedure described in this section describes installation
          for a BBS setting up a new game of Kingdoms. Instructions for
          upgrading Kingdoms from a previous version are supplied in
          Appendix C : Upgrading Kingdoms.


          5.2 Installation Step 1 - The Basics

          Whatever environment you're installing Kingdoms in, you'll need
          to start with these steps.



          5.2.1. Unpack the Archive

          Unpack the distribution archive into a directory the game will
          run from. For this document, we assume Kingdoms is unpacked in
          C:\KINGDOMS.



          5.2.2. Setting up your Configuration File

          From C:\KINGDOMS, run KM.EXE, the Kingdoms Manager. This is where
          most of your Kingdoms setup will take place. Modify the defaults
          provided to whatever matches your system. At the bottom of your
          screen, a one line description of the field you're on will be
          displayed. If you need more information, please refer to the
          relevant section of the Kingdoms Manager documentation, KM.DOC.
              T choose the Network options in KM.EXE yet. The next section
          DON''
          covers that. Just set up the `Paths' and `Other' sections in
          KM.EXE. If you are not part of a network, or you are going to be
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          the Coordinator for a Kingdoms network, leave the Self Correction
          Frequency in `Other' set to zero.

          If you're not participating in a Kingdoms network, you're
          finished this part of the setup. All that remains is to set up
          your menu commands and batch file to call Kingdoms from the BBS.
          If this is the case, press Esc now and save the configuration
          you've set up at this point. Before you head out, use the `Verify
          Paths' option to make sure the paths you've entered are correct.
          If any are missing or incorrect, create them now using the normal
          DOS MakeDir (MD) command or go back into Edit Paths to correct
          any you mistyped.

          When done, exit the Manager by pressing Esc and, if you're not in
          a Kingdoms network, skip straight to section 5.4, Getting it
          Running, now. Multiline setup is addressed in this section (5.4)
          also. If you are setting yourself up as part of a Network,
          continue on to section 5.3, Network Configuration.








          5.3 Installation Step 2 - Network Configuration

          5.3.1. The KIDX.DAT File

          To be a part of a network, you must have a valid Kingdoms
          KIDX.DAT file in your Kingdoms directory. This file holds
          information on all the BBS's in your Kingdoms net, including your
          own. The latest version should always be available from your net
          coordinator.

          Kingdoms won't let you into the Network/Routing configuration
          section, and you cannot therefore define your network address as
          that's where you define it, until it can find a KIDX.DAT file to
          use.

          5.3.2. Network Setup

          5.3.2.1. Defining your Node.

          Go into the Manager again and select the Network->Your Routing
          options.

          If this is the first time you've used this option, ie, your
          network address is not yet defined, a list of all the nodes in
          the Index will pop up and you'll be asked to identify which node
          YOU are in the nodelist. Using the up/down arrow keys, place the
          highlight bar over your node and press enter. If your node is NOT
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          listed, then press Esc to get out of there and get an updated
          KIDX.DAT file from your Coordinator that has you listed.

          Having identified your node on the Index, Kingdoms will
          intelligently evaluate the network links contained in the Index
          file itself and configure all your routing for you. There is
          nothing more you need to do. If you wish, re-enter N>etwork Y>our
          Routing and you can see what Kingdoms has done for you. Unless
          there is a major problem, such as one of your links going down
          for an extended period or offline alltogether, you should NEVER
          change the default routing Kingdoms has set up for you. The links
          specified are based on information supplied by your network
          Coordinator when s/he created the Index originally and changing
          your local node could seriously disrupt network traffic flow if
          you get it wrong. A far better course of action if something like
          this does happen, is for you to contact your Coordinator and
          inform him/her of the problem. The Coordinator can then issue
          commands from his/her Realm to alter the links appropriately
          network wide and bring everyone up-to-date with the new network
          flow. A LOT of effort has been put into the network intelligence
          in Kingdoms and I can say with a fair degree of confidence that
          it is considerably smarter and considerably more robust than any
          other InterBBS game you will have tried. Though the facilities
          are provided to change the defaults if you need to therefore,
          please don't do so without consulting your Coordinator!

          5.3.2.2. Selecting Mail Flags & Type.

          As above, there should rarely, if ever, be a need for you to
          modify your routing definitions. You may, however, wish to
          activate (or deactivate) various mail flags on nodes you directly
          communicate with. Outbound packets can have their associated .MSG
          files set to HOLD (or not), to CRASH (or not), or you may wish to
          use compression on mail going to these nodes. These options can
          be configured using the Preferences option in the Network menu.
          If you've been running a BBS for a while, you probably already
          know what these things mean, but if not, a more detailed
          explanation of each option is provided in section 3.2 -
          Preferences - of the Sysop documentation, KSYSOP.DOC.



          5.4. Installation Step 3 - Getting it Running


          At this point, you should have your configuration completed,
          including any Network setup you require. This last step involves
          getting Kingdoms up and running on your BBS, including setting it
          up to handle Multiline operation.

          5.4.1. Logging on Locally


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          Log yourself onto Kingdoms locally using ``
                                                    KINGDOM /L'',  to
          check everything is working as it should be. If not, make sure
          all the directories you defined in KM.EXE exist. Misspelling
          directories are the most common cause of problems in this area.
          For a local logon, Kingdoms does not require a DORINFO or
          DOOR.SYS file. It will use the information provided in the
          Manager to log you onto the game.

          When Kingdoms detects a local logon, it will ask for a (real)
          name to logon as. This facility is provided so you can logon as
          one of your players to help out if problems occur. If you press
          Enter on the first name without entering anything, you'll be
          logged on as the User name you defined as the Sysop in the
          Kingdoms Manager.



          5.4.2. Starting Kingdoms

          Depending on your preference, you can run Kingdoms directly from
          your BBS or by shelling to a batch file.

          5.4.2.1. Using a Batch File

          This is the recommended means of running Kingdoms. If you call
          KINGDOM.EXE directly from a menu command, you'll have more to
          maintain.

          Create a batch file that can be called from your BBS which
          changes to C:\KINGDOMS, places  your door file into (if it is not
          already) the directory you defined in KM.EXE, and executes
          KINGDOM.EXE. A sample batch file is :

          CD\KINGDOMS         ` Change to the Kingdoms directory
          KINGDOM             ` Run Kingdoms
          CD\EZY              ` Change back to the BBS directory
                
          EXIT                ` and go back to the BBS.

          This is a very simple example of a batch file that will start a
          single line Kingdoms game. If you're a multiline setup, the next
          section has a sample setup for you to use.

          5.4.2.2. Calling Kingdoms directly

          If you prefer not to use batch files, then you can call
          KINGDOM.EXE straight from your BBS but KCFG.DAT must exist in the
          directory you're in when you shell out to Kingdoms in this case.
          If KINGDOM.EXE can't find your configuration file when it loads,
          it will terminate with an appropriate message.

          5.4.2.3. Menu commands


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          A type 7 (Ezycom, RA, QBBS etc) menu command which will execute
          Kingdoms will look like :

       C:\COMMAND.COM /C C:\KINGDOMS\KINGDOM.EXE *M

          Create a menu command from a menu on your BBS to call the batch
          file which starts Kingdoms. Alternatively you can execute
          Kingdoms straight from the BBS command line, but keep in mind the
          configuration file must be found as described in 5.4.2.2.
          Kingdoms operates fine from a type 7 (Ezycom/RA/QBBS) command,
          but you should specify the *M command line switch (or equivalent)
          to swap the BBS out when Kingdoms runs to give it plenty of
          breathing space.

          5.4.3.  Maintenance, Network Tasks

          5.4.3.1. Batch Commands

          Add the Kingdoms maintenance program (KMNT.EXE) to your BBS
          nightly maintenance. If you're in a net, also add the in and
          outbound mail processors KNETIN and KNETOUT respectively to your
          BBS maintenance. If adding all three (ie, you're in a net), then
          run them in the order KMNT, KNETIN then KNETOUT.

          Your batch file commands for nightly maintenance will, when
          you're in a Kingdoms Net, look like :

          ...
       REM : Kingdoms Nightly Maintenance
       CD\KINGDOMS
       KMNT
       KNETIN
       KNETOUT
       REM : More Maintenance Tasks ...
          ...

          You should always run these utilities while in the main Kingdoms
          directory where KCFG.DAT is located.



          5.4.3.2. Maintenance Options - KMNT.EXE

          KMNT will only run once per day and carries out numerous,
          essential operations like reset user daily stats, resurrect dead
          characters, trim the log and news files, pack the user and
          message bases, poll other nodes for transit times, generate recon
          requests for nodes with outdated recons.

          Normally when KMNT runs, the messages about what it's doing fly
          by so fast you don't get time to read them. If you wish to slow
          them down so you can make sure it's working as it should, KMNT
          will accept the /Dn (delay) command line parameter. Using this
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          parameter will make Kingdoms pause for `n' seconds after each
          section of the Maintenance completes. For example, `KMNT /D10'
          will run KMNT and after all major operations, KMNT will pause for
          10 (ten) seconds. You can delay it for anything from 1 to 240
          seconds between each operation. While paused, you can press a key
          and it will immediately continue processing rather than waiting
          the allotted time. The default is no delay between operations.

          As already noted, KMNT should only run once per day. It will, in
          fact, halt processing if this is attempted. It is possible
          however, that you want to force it to run more than once. For
          example, you may want to test or force a network poll. To
          accommodate this, KMNT will also accept the /O parameter. If KMNT
          runs with /O provided, it will ignore the once-per-day-run limit
          and process maintenance regardless. While running KMNT with the
          override active (ie, for the second (or more) time in one day
          will process most options again such as resurrecting players and
          resetting their fight couts, it will NOT process incremental
          amounts to the advantage of players on the Realm. For example,
          KMNT /O will bypass the processing that gives players interest on
          vault balances.

          An abbreviated list of parameters KMNT will accept can be
          displayed at any time by doing `KMNT /?' at the command prompt.

          KMNT also accepts the /S parameter. If this is present, KMNT will
          start (several times a day if desired) and ONLY create the
          scoreboard files. Once done it will terminate and no other
          processing (ie, no other maintenance) will take place. This
          facility has been provided so it can be run after the inbound and
          outbound processors finish to bring local scoreboards up to date
          with, for example, incoming Recon information. /A with /S will
          also produce ASC/ANS versions of these files.


          You are now set up to run Kingdoms on a single line BBS, with or
          without a Kingdoms network depending on what you've done so far.
          The following section discusses the setup for Multi-Line BBS's
          and the additional steps you need to take to get it running in
          these environments.


          5.5. Installation Step 4 - Multiline Configuration

          Kingdoms fully supports multiple line, concurrent users. In this
          environment a user may also display from within Kingdoms who else
          is in Kingdoms and, generally, what they're doing. Through the
          Courier Guild, players may also chat one-on-one in real time
          while in the game.

          Kingdoms will accept the `/Nn' parameter at startup. Should it be
          present, Kingdoms will operate as node `n'. A maximum of 99
          concurrent nodes are supported. For example, `KINGDOM /N3' will
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          start Kingdoms with the player playing on node 3. If /Nn is not
          present, Kingdoms will assume single line (Node 1) operation.

          Kingdoms uses the same configuration file for multiline operation
          as it does for single line. Unlike a LOT of doors there is no
          need to create a config file in the Manager for each line
          Kingdoms will run on. Obviously however, you need to tell
          Kingdoms where it can find the drop file (DORINFO?.DEF or
          DOOR.SYS) for each line. This is done by use of the /D parameter
          when you load KINGDOM.EXE rather than having to create and look
          after numerous configuration files. Using /D simply overrides the
          BBS path you defined in the Manager, allowing Kingdoms to pick up
          the drop file from a separate place for each line that's running.

          The /D parameter is followed by the path and file name of the
          appropriate drop file. Usually the /Nn parameter just discussed
          will accompany the /D parameter. For example, if you start
          Kingdoms with `KINGDOM /N2 /Dc:\ezy\line2\dorinfo1.def', then the
          DORINFO1.DEF file in \ezy\line2 will be used for this session
          rather than whatever is specified in the Kingdoms configuration
          file. If /D\path\filename is not present, it will default to
          using a DORINFO1.DEF file in the path specified in the Manager.
          Should the /D parm be used without the /N parm, a warning will be
          issued to the Sysop when Kingdoms starts, but it will honor the
          /D override and keep operating, assuming that Kingdoms is running
          node 1. The same procedure applies if you're using DOOR.SYS -
          just use that with the /D parameter instead of DORINFO?.DEF.
          Please note you do NOT need to tell the Manager what type of drop
          file you're using as you do in many other BBS games. Once again,
          Kingdoms is that bit smarter and will work it out for itself
          based on the name of the dropfile supplied. :-)

          Assuming you're using a batch file to run Kingdoms, your commands
          to run Kingdoms will look something like ...

          MENU Command : c:\command.com /c c:\batch\kingdom.bat *N *M

          The *M under Ezycom and similar packages will swap the BBS out of
          memory while the game runs. This is highly recommended! The *N
          will pass the current node number to the batch file as variable 1
          (Check your DOS manual) which is very simple ...


               KINGDOM.BAT
               -----------
          CD\KINGDOMS
          KINGDOM /N%1 /DC:\RA\LINE%1\DORINFO%1.DEF
          CD\RA\LINE%1
          EXIT
               -----------

          Neither the order nor the case of parameters provided, as with
          all Kingdoms parameters, is significant. Parameters must be
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          separated by at least one space. Data associated to a parameter,
          eg the /D and the C:\... above, must immediately follow each
          other, no spaces between. Depending on your BBS software, you
          don't always need the 3rd line to return you to the BBS directory
          after someone exits Kingdoms. You also don't generally need the
          EXIT anymore either, but it doesn't hurt to have both there.

          That's it! For whatever your system setup, you are now ready to
          play the latest and best Inter-BBS game around! Enjoy!












































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          Section 6 - Maintenance Options


          In addition to the Maintenance functions described above in the
          installation procedures, KMNT can do a few other things. Runtime
          paramaters that KMNT will accept include :


          6.1. Game Reset

          KMNT will accept the /RESET parameter (KMNT /RESET). Rather than
          performing normal maintenance functions, this will force a
          complete game reset, removing all players and resetting all data
          files. You are given some chances to back out of this should you
          not be sure, as a reset cannot be reversed, except by restoring
          all data files to their state before the reset was issued.


          6.2. Override Reset

          If you're in a network game, you are probably aware that the
          Network Coordinator can issue a network wide reset command, which
          will automatically reset all nodes in the network. There MAY be a
          reason you do not want to be included in this, in which case you
          can force Maintenance to ignore the Coordinator Reset instruction
          by adding the /NORESET parameter to Maintenance when it runs.
          Note if you do this however, that a few things :

          A message will be sent to your Network Coordinator informing
          him/her of your override. If you don't have a good reason for
          doing it (and it should have been agreed with the Coordinator in
          the first place for you to do so), the Coordinator has the
          ability to simply remove your node from the network until you do
          so, or to physically delete your node if he/she is annoyed
          enough. In short, don't use this unless the Coordinator is aware
          you're going to, and he/she agrees.

          The Reset will NOT be cancelled, just overridden for that run.
          Unless the Coordinator issues a directive to the network to
          cancel any pending resets (which he/she can do), then Maintenance
          will continue indefinately to try to honor the reset request. You
          would have to leave your /NORESET in place permanently if you
          don't want your node getting reset.


          6.3. Delay Processing

          Maintenance performs it's tasks in blocks, informing you on
          screen of progress. Often the status information flies by quickly
          however, and you don't get a chance to read it. If you want to
          slow it down a little, you can add the /Dxx parameter to KMNT
          when it runs. Doing this will make KMNT pause for xx (1 to 240)
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          seconds between processing each block (eg, user maintenance, then
          news file packing, then scoreboard generation, etc) so you have
          time to read what's on the screen. In my nightly maintenance I
          have /D5 in place permanently so if I happen to be around at 3am
          when it runs, I can see what's going on. It means maintenance
          takes about 30 seconds extra to run (there being 6 logical
          processing blocks to a run) but for the few times I want to see
          it, who cares about the extra few seconds taken the rest of the
          time at 3am? :-)

          If you do happen to be watching it and want it to not wait for
          the full duration of a Delay, just hit a key and the next block
          will be processed immediately.






          6.4. Same-Day Run Override

          Normally, Maintenance will only run once a day. If you attempt to
          run it more than once, it will terminate immediately with a
          message to that effect. Should you need to for some reason, you
          can run Maintenance with the /O parameter, which will override
          this and continue processing normally for that day.




          6.5. Create ACS/ANS Files

          The News and Scoreboard files created and displayed within the
          game are .KDI files, which is a special file format created for
          the game to speed up processing and, in particular, reduce the
          overhead involved with interpreting and displaying ANSI files in
          color on the local screen when a player views them. This is all
          very nice, but it means these files can't be displayed outside
          the game, such as on a BBS menu as you may wish to do. If you run
          KMNT with the /A parameter, an extra processing block will be
          enabled which will create ASC and ANS versions of your existing
          news (Knewst & Knewsy) and scoreboard (kscore?) files. The files
          will be created in the directories you have defined as your ASC
          and ANS paths in the Manager.




          6.6. Create Scoreboards

          Running KMNT with the /S parameter will invoke ONLY the
          processing to create the .KDI scoreboard (local and remote)
          files. NO other maintenance processing will take place if you run
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          KMNT with this option and, unlike a normal maintenance run, KMNT
          can be run with /S as many times a day as desired. This option is
          available to allow the Sysop (if desired) to do a `scoreboard
          run' of KMNT after inbound and/or outbound processing. This will
          bring the remote scoreboards up-to-date after any score changes
          that may have resulted from inbound or outbound traffic
          processing.

          The /A paramater may also be used in conjunction with the /S
          parameter. No other parameters will be recognised or processed if
          /S is provided. Using /A as well will also generate .ASC and .ANS
          versions of the new score files if desired.









































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          Section 7 - Registration



          When you register, you will receive a registration number that
          will remove the `Level 10' restriction in Kingdoms. Kingdoms is
          not crippled in any way except to, in unregistered versions,
          restrict a player from gaining a level greater than level 10.

          See the accompanying file KREG.DOC (or the text version,
          KREG.TXT)  for more information on Registration.


          Section 8 - Contact Information


          You can contact me and/or pick up the latest version of Kingdoms
          by the following means :

       THE WEB BBS

       Line 1 : 61-2-9528-5941 - 28800, 24hrs Mail, FREQ `KINGDOMS'
       Line 2 : 61-2-9528-2235 - 14400
       Line 3 : 61-2-9528-4250 - 9600

       Kingdoms is a `Free File' download if logged onto the Web directly.

       BETA & REGISTRATION SITES

          KINGDOMS is available for FREQ at the following sites :

          Way Out West, Willmont, NSW, Australia       61-2-9628-8888
          Restless (NRFTW) BBS, Glossodia, NSW, Australia   61-45-76-6185
          ZZap BBS, Eleebana, NSW, Australia           61-49-42-8176
          Blue Marlin, Castlereagh, NSW, Australia          61-47-76-1211
          The RUNWAY BBS, Stanmore, NSW, Austraia 61-2-9550-9335
          The Dead Zone, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA         1-513-521-0705

       INTERNET

          The latest version of Kingdoms, Online Registration forms and
          info and more can be found on the Kingdoms home page on the Net
          at http://www.magna.com.au/~davec/kingdom.htm. This is the
          primary support page/site for Kingdoms worldwide.

          The latest version of Kingdoms is also available via FTP on the
          Internet at ftp://ftp.ros.com.au/pub/bbs_doors.

          I can also be contacted as dave.chapman@ibm.net, or
          davec@magna.com.au.


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          Section 9 - FAQ

          This section of the documentation will be updated with new
          releases to include any Frequently Asked Questions that come up
          regularly from Sysops.


          9.1. Where do I specify my locked port?

          You don't. Kingdoms requires a fossil driver which you should
          have already defined as locked if you want it that way. It uses
          that quite happily without further specification/definition.


          9.2. Kingdoms thinks someone is online when there isn't.


          In the Manager, File menu, select the `User on Flag' option. This
          will scan your user file and turn off any `online' flags which
          are `on'.


          9.3. Kingdoms thinks Maintenance is running when it isn't.

          In the Manager, File menu, select the `Maint Flag' option. This
          will turn off the flag that indicates to Kingdoms that
          maintenance is running.


          9.4. I have an Index file, but the Manager is telling me I don't!

          When you get an Index file from your Coordinator, it is probably
          called KIDX.nn, where `nn' is the Network ID for your Kingdoms
          game. You need to rename it KIDX.DAT, and it needs to be in your
          Game directory (as defined in the Manager) for Kingdoms to find
          it. While you're there, make sure also that your NetId in the
          F>ile, O>ther section of the Manager is set to the correct NetId!


          9.5. Realms on my Index are numbered differently to my uplink!

          This doesn't matter! Kingdoms ALWAYS does Index searches based on
          actual address information contained in the Index. It never
          searches by physical Index record number. Thus, you can have
          nodes 1:2/3, 2:3/4 and 3:4/5 numbered (physically as they appear
          in an Index Dump) records 1, 2 a 3 and other nodes can have them
          numbered 3, 2 and 1 physically and it will make no difference
          whatsoever to Kingdoms.




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          Appendix A : Error Codes


          The following codes are some of those you may get reported in
          KERR.LOG. The ones provided are those you can generally do
          something about. If you get an error that isn't covered here,
          please contact the Author immediately with ALL POSSIBLE DETAIL of
          the problem including, of course, the KERR.LOG message!


          Error Code Description     Explanation/Possible Solutions
              7      Out of memory   Are you using *M to swap the BBS out
                                     before running Kingdoms? Give it more
                                     memory in which to run.
              24     Device Timeout  An I/O device (probably your COM port)
                                     is not responding.
              25     Device Fault    A device has returned a hardware fault
                                     condition.
              27     Out Of Paper    I hope you never get this, cos Kingdoms
                                     isn't supposed to print anything :-)
              53     File Not Found  Do you have your paths defined
                                     correctly? Do you have your .KDI files
                                     from the distribution archive in the
                                     Game directory defined in the Manager?
                                     Can Kingdoms find DORINFO#.DEF or
                                     DOOR.SYS? Are you in the Kingdoms
                                     directory when you try to execute
                                     Kingdoms? Have you renamed or deleted
                                     anything accidentally?
              57     Device I/O      Possible interrupt conflict on your
                     error           system or hardware error.
              61     Disk Full       I hope you notice this BEFORE Kingdoms
                                     picks it up! :)
              64     Bad File Name   Possible Kingdoms error, but check the
                                     options in error 53 before reporting!
              67     Too many files  Kingdoms has tried to open or save a
                                     file and the DOS 255 file-directory
                                     maximum has been exceeded. Clean up
                                     your hard drive ...
              70     Permission      Your drive is write protected or a file
                     Denied          is locked that Kingdoms is trying to
                                     access. Rebooting will often fix the
                                     latter as this may happen if network
                                     software becomes unstable. Please
                                     report it if you can't solve it or if
                                     it persists as it may be a Kingdoms
                                     problem. If you're running a
                                     multitasker, check your other tasks!
              72     Disk Media      Drive hardware has detected a physical
                     error           error on your disk media. I STRONGLY
                                     suggest you backup your system if you
                                     get this one!
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            75/76    Path/File       Possible Kingdoms error, but check the
                     access errors   options in error 53 before reporting!



















































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          Appendix B : QuickStart Installation

          I suggest you read Section 5, the Installation documentation in
          full before you install the game, but for those feeling brave,
          here's a quickstart setup!



          Unpack the archive into a separate directory.

          If you're in a Kingdoms network, get an Index file (KIDX.nn,
          where nn is your NetId) off your Network Coordinator. Place it in
          your game directory and rename it KIDX.DAT.

          Run KM, the Kingdoms Manager. Define your Paths and Other
          information under the File menu. Make sure your NetId is correct
          if you're playing in a Network, othewise leave it blank.

          If you're in a network, go into Network>Your Routing and select
          your node on the Index to let Kingdoms know who you are. It will
          automatically configure the correct routing definitions for all
          other nodes in your network.

          Run Kingdoms locally to check all is well using KINGDOM /L

          Set up a batch file to call Kingdoms from your BBS. Swap the BBS
          out of memory (normally using *M) when you call Kingdoms.

          If you're running multiline, start Kingdoms with two parameters.
          1 ... /Nx, where x is the node number and 2 ...
          /Ddrive:path/dorfile, where drive:path/dorfile is the full path
          and filename to your dorinfo?.def or door.sys file for the
          respective node.

          Add KMNT, the Kingdoms maintenance program, to your nightly batch
          file. If you're in a network, add KNETIN and KNETOUT also. Run
          them in the order KNETIN, then KNETOUT, then KMNT.

          That's it! If you have any problems, read the documentation
          fully!












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          Appendix C : Upgrading from Prior Releases


          Kingdoms 2.18 is the first public release of Kingdoms after
          version 2.17. To upgrade from 2.16 or 2.17 is a copy-over
          upgrade. No game reset is required. To upgrade from 2.15 or prior
          releases, you must run the 215to216.exe utility provided in the
          distribution archive as 2.16 and onwards use new (expanded) file
          formats compared to previous versions. This utility will reformat
          your files for you automatically.

          To Upgrade from 2.16 or 2.17 :

       1. Backup your existing Kingdoms game.

       2. Unpack the Kingdoms 2.18 archive into your Kingdoms directory.
          Overwrite all existing files when prompted. You HAVE backed them
          up, right??? :-)

       3. From the game directory, start the Manager, KM.EXE. A version
          update note will be issued. Respond <Y>es to commit to the
          upgrade.

       4. Your upgrade is complete. Start Kingdoms as per normal with
          KINGDOM /L and ensure everything is operating normally. New
          features and fixes in 2.18 can be seen within the game from the
          M>isc menu, or in the whatsnew.218 text document in the
          distribution archive.

         








                           - End of Sysop Documentation -












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