Original Adventure (or Colossal Cave)
Ported to Linux by James M. Hartley Jr.(linuxjim@programmer.net)
Code Copyright (c) 2001 by James M. Hartley and JGameSmiths
Licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL), see "COPYING" file
I have no clue who owns the game design, it seems to be more or less defacto public
domain by this time. The copyright and license applies to that portion of the work
which I did, and which is not subject to any prior restrictions.

Introduction

This is a port of the Original Adventure game by Crowther and Woods to Linux. I have 
tried to preserve the "look and feel" of the original, so all the messages, etc., are
in upper case (you do NOT have to type in upper case, though). I have added a few new
messages, but I have tried to keep them in the spirit of the original. Some of the stuff, 
like the "Cave Hours", are just a nuisance for the average user, but may be wanted by the 
purist who wants to see what the original really looked like. For this reason, I have
made it possible to build a "simplified" version (the default), and a "original" version.

One firm point in this port, there are NO CHANGES to the database file. Any new messages 
are in the code, a few original messages are ignored, but I made no changes to the 
"advent.dat" file. Also, I have included the Fortran code and the "advent.readme" file, 
as they was when I got them, for anyone interested in looking at them.

Playing the game

This is a text adventure (sometimes referred to as "interactive fiction") which takes
simple one- or two-word commands. Just make sure the "adventure.dat" file is in the 
current directory and the compiled "advent" file is somewhere in your path, and type 
"advent" to start (well, you might have to type "./advent"). If you have never played
one of these before, just take all the help the program offers you. It will cost you
points, but you ARE NOT going to win the first game anyway.

Note that the game will create a file called "advpoof.dat" in your current directory the
first time you play it. Don't worry about it, it has some settings, but if you lose it
it will recreate it again from the default values.

"Magic Mode"

It is possible to change some of the program settings, but this is mostly of interest to
those running in "original" mode. You must know at least the magic word, which is set to
"linux" by default (yes, I know that wasn't the original magic word, I don't care!), and 
in "original" mode you must pass a more complex series of challenges. In the simple version,
the only thing that can be changed is the Message of the Day. To invoke this, when starting
the game, say "no" to instructions, then on the FIRST TURN enter the command "magic mode".
The "original" mode challenge here seems a little simpler than what I have seen elsewhere,
but it's what was in the Fortran code I had.

The challange sequence is
?>ARE YOU A WIZARD?
yes
?>PROVE IT! SAY THE MAGIC WORD!
linux     (or whatever you might have changed it to)
?>THAT IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS.  DO YOU KNOW WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS?
no        (do not answer yes!)
FOOBA     (a random 5-letter string)
xxxxx     (your reply, see below)

If you do this right, it will let you in and you can change things like hours, or even
the magic word itself. To generate the reply, you need the sequence "1 1 1 1 4", the 
magic number (default "1 1 1 1 1", but can be changed), and the current 24-hour time to 
the nearest 10 minutes. Write the time BACKWARDS, so 12:46 becomes "0 4 2 1 0", and add the
three sets of numbers. This example gives "2 6 4 3 5", read as letters it's "b f d c e".

As I said, some versions had an even more complex scheme. The enclosed document called
"wizard.how", which I got from some other variation of Adventure, describes one such.
If you want to be really authentic and implement this, well, you have the source code, 
have fun. I didn't feel like it.

Saving and Restoring

The game can be saved (SAVE command) and restarted later (enter "advent -r"). To be
authentic, there should be an enforced delay to prevent the player from saving before
trying anything potentially deadly and then restarting immediately when he gets killed.
In the simple (default) mode, this delay is ignored. In "original" mode, the delay is 
supposed to be at least 45 minutes (for ordinary mortals, 15 minutes for Wizards), and
if you go into "magic mode" and try to change it it will enforce that value. However,
the source code has it set to 3 minutes (1 for Wizards) - personally, I never liked that
delay anyway, so it's set very short.

Compiling the Game

If you are willing to go with the "simplfied" mode, just put everything in a directory
and type "make". Then put the resulting "advent" executable and the "advent.dat" files
anywhere convenient. To create the "original" version, type "make MAGIC=-DORIGINAL".
Note that if you are switching from one mode to the other, you need to do "make clean"
between them. 

Now, if anyone is thinking, "That's simple, could I change it a little and compile for
some other system?", BE CAREFUL. It will probably run on *BSD systems with no trouble.
But be warned, the code is enchanted. If you try to compile and run it on ... Gasp! ...
Shudder! ... Windows ... it will curse your computer and you will get endless Blue 
Screens of Death ... oh, wait, that happens anyway, doesn't it? Well, anyway, if I 
catch anyone trying to run this on Windows I will come over there and take the program
away from them!
