Getting started
The Graphic Adventure Creator, like a machine code assembler, is not something you can just load in and use straight away - it can take months to learn properly but the basics can be learnt very quickly.
In this brief two page guide I plan to write a small two location 'adventure' which should help you get to grips with the basics but to write a good adventure you will need the booklet (see later).
So, let's get down to business - you've loaded in GAC and what do all those menus mean?!?!
The first thing you must do is load in the quickstart file (explained below) - to do this type T on the menu for load adventure and then type T for tape followed by the filename QS.ADV. The quickstart file will now be loaded and you'll return to the main menu.
So, you've got the quickstart file, but as yet you haven't got any locations - type R on the menu.
Now, due to space limitations, the adventure we write will be VERY simple - as previously mentioned it will have just two location and one object:-
You are now in the "Rooms" subsection and the program will be asking you for a room number. Type 1 and then type in the room description - You are in a large bank vault.
You will then be prompted for connections - ie where can I go from this room? In our example type:- EAST 2
Which means if you type EAST (or E) you will go to room 2.
You will then be asked for a picture number - for now just press return (or though later you should play with the Graphics menu - it's good fun!)
Now we need to enter a room 2 that people can go east into!
So:-
Which Room number? 2
You are in a bank.
Connections are... WEST 1
To quit back to the main menu hit escape twice.Now you're back at the main menu you can test what you've done so far - so press ENTER/RETURN to go into the adventure...
And you'll find yourself standing in a large bank fault! Granted you can't do much apart from walk between the bank and the vault but it's a start!
Finally for our example adventure, let's add an object - press O from the main menu (if you're still in the game press escape twice to return to the menu).
We'll number our object 1 and give it the description 'a bar of gold' (the input routine should be familiar to you now - it's the same as room entry), you want the bar to start in room 1 (the bank vault). Set the weight as zero as we're not imposing carrying limits in this example.Now go back to the main menu and enter the game again - you should also be able to see a bar of gold now in the vault but you won't be able to do anything with it as we haven't written that in the code yet!
First we'll have to set up 'gold' as a noun - go to the nouns menu and type 1 gold - this means that noun 1 is gold... But what if someone typed 'get bar'? So add 1 bar as well (and add ingot as well if you want to show off!).
So, we've now set up the object as a noun but we haven't set up the get and drop routines - to do this we need to go into Low priority conditions. Our first input should be line 8 (lines 1 to 7 are used by Quickstart), type:-
IF (VERB 7 AND NOUN 1 AND HERE 1) GET 1 OKAY END
Whoa! What did all that mean? Well, if you look in the verbs menu you'll see that verb 7 is get (or take), noun 1 you've just set up and HERE 1 checks to see if object 1 (bar of gold) is here - ie in the location!So, if you typed 'get bar' (or some variation) and the bar is here then GET 1 (gets object 1), print 'okay' (OKAY) and then END (END is like a full stop in English - it tells the computer that you've finished the routine - clever huh?
Ok, so we've written a get gold routine - now we need to write a similar drop routine on line 9 of the low priority conditions -
IF (VERB 8 AND NOUN 1 AND CARR 1) DROP 1 OKAY END
CARR just checks to see if an object's being carried.
Let's also make it so you can type 'examine gold' in line 10 -
IF (VERB 16 AND NOUN 1 AND AVAI 1) MESS 1 END
Verb 16 is examine, AVAI returns true if object is available for use (is HERE or CARR) and MESS 1 prints message 1 on the screen...
But we haven't defined message 1 yet I hear you cry! Whoops, let's go and do that now... Press ESC twice to get back to the main menu and select messages, then choose message one and type 'It looks like it could be worth thousands!'.
Now select save adventure from the main menu and save on a blank tape/disc as a datafile.
Go back to the main menu and (drumroll) enter the adventure - you should be able to carry the gold around, drop it and examine it! Now the adventure purists reading this probably won't be very impressed - but it's a start! Tune in next month for more...
What is QS.ADV?
QS.ADV is a quickstart file which saves you some typing - it has many system messages (such as "You are carrying" and "What now?..."), many useful verbs (examine, north, south, east, west, look etc.) and several of the common low priority conditions associated with them. This is to allow you get into writing your adventure without having to write the basics each time.
Click HERE to find out what the menus mean.
You can download GAC_Part1.zip by clicking on the filename. It contains a datafile containing part 1 and a runnable version of part 1. Just type in RUN"PART1" in BASIC.