Clues for the clueless

Some of this is insulting, but here it is. Partly because I hate pages that don't tell you what it is and partly because we are all newbies at most things, here is a short glossary as to what's what.

AP, X-AP, Code ##

The guts of a scenario are dictated by APs (action points), X-APs (extra action-points) and codes. You may hear these things discussed on the Divinity Guild (or not) and there is great debates as to which codes are working and what is the best way to codes some kind of event.

Beta Tester

The privileged/poor soul who gets to test a program before it is released, i.e. while it still doesn't work right. There is the advantage of seeing it first, and the disadvantage of seeing it blow up in your face.

Bomb

Closely related to freezes and crashes, a technical bomb is when a little bomb actually appears on a Mac with the annoying button 'Restart' and no other options. When this happens, pack up and go home.

Bugs and Reporting

Bugs are mistakes and mistakes are meant to be fixed and programmers want to hear about them. There are things that can't be tested because there are so many different things that can happen in a program, and you may be the only one to encounter those particular set of circumstances. Or it may be something glaringly obvious the author should have fixed. Either way, let the author know in as detailed a away as possible what happened. Coordinates are good, but statements like 'It crashed when I killed the monster' don't help.

Coordinates

All of Realmz has X,Y coordinates and they can be very helpful for getting around. Be careful though, because there are sometimes many different areas, each with their own set of identical coordinates. Sometimes there are none at all.

Crash

See bomb and freeze. The mildest of all screwups, a crash means the program quits for some unknown reason. Sometimes it doesn't even know and tells you. A system crash is much worse, and will usually result in a freeze or a bomb. If you program crashes at the same exact spot in a scenario, it's a bug. If it doesn't, it's you, meaning your machine.

Divinity

The program that makes it all happen. This program lets you create scenarios for Realmz. It may not be pretty, but it gets the job done.

Divinity Guild

A mailing list of Divinity users, some would call developers though there is debate as to the amount of developing going on. A good source for easy questions, but if you have a question about something that has never been tried before, you're probably on your own. The email address for it is on the main page. Just send a message to it and it will get you started.

Divine Right

An older companion to Divinity, before Realmz could play third party scenarios. It is being phased out, I think, but until Realmz has a special 'debugging' mode that let's you do special things, it will exist.

Fantasoft

The company that does it all. Tim Philips and others put it all together. If you have a weird bug or question, just drop him a line. He'll get back to you in a day or two.

Freeze

The worst thing that can happen. Your cursor gets stuck and so do you. The only thing to do is force restart.

Hints

I would guess most authors don't mind being asked for hints. I certainly don't. Ask away. I had a hint book a while back, but it got trashed I think. Lost in the great upheaval between updates of my scenarios.

MUD, MOO, MUSH etc.

They stand for multi-user <something> and are a kind of online RPG. Online in a sense that you have to connect to it. Realmz will most likely never be one of these and if it were, it would be hard to imagine. A good MUD to start out on, if you're interested, is Ancient Anguish (see ancientanguish.org)

PC Concerns

Supposedly, Realmz will be out on PC soon, and if you are one of the unfortunate owners of a PC and need a special file format or something, let me know. I will try to accommodate. The Mac-only status of Realmz was nice and so was the denial of the presence of Bill Gates. Oh well.

Prometheus

That's me. A titan of old, I am more than human and not quite a god. That's the status of a lot of scenario authors, not able or willing to write complete programs on our own, yet yearning to do something greater than tromp around Bywater.

Realmz

The best RPG for Macintosh I have seen to date. With extensive borrowing from Dungeons and Dragons initially, it has blossomed into a unique, expandable universe full of nice artwork and fiendish beasts. Part of its charm is the quirky, sometimes unpredictable interface and ability to work on most Macs.

Scenario

A single piece of story, sometimes a large quest, sometimes many small ones and sometimes just wandering around. They vary in all areas - size, quality, story, puzzle difficulty etc. As of now, all Fantasoft scenarios except the City of Bywater cost $13. About as much as a pizza and a couple bottles of soda. Realmz itself costs $20. Make that two pizzas.

Third Party Scenario

a scenario not part of the 'official' Fantasoft scenarios. These vary widely in quality, some not even being really finished or in various states of disarray. It may be advisable to make copies of your favorite characters before voyaging into one of these unknown Realmz, just in case.

Registering

I'm not going to get into the why register argument, except to say that this is a good game. If there were a commercial version of Realmz, which there isn't, it would cost at least $50 and would not have grown to the state it is at now. There is a loyal following of players, and while it is nice to get stuff for free, so much work goes into all this that some money is needed. As for my scenarios, they're free, but I ask for registration because I want feedback.

Registration Code

The code given to you, sometimes for a fee, to unlock a particular program or scenario.

Registration Name

The name your program is registered under and appears when you start the program. It can also be found under the apple menu in the 'About <program>' box.

RPG (Role Playing Game)

A throwback to old dungeons and dragons games where people were supposed to act like their characters. Now it just means any game set in a fantasy or sci-fi setting where you have hit points and such. Like adventure games, but adventure games usually lack the personal statistics and equipment. Examples - Adventure game, Zork, King's Quest; RPG, Fallout, Realmz. Warcraft is considered more of a live action strategy, as most RPGs are turn-based.

Serial Number

The number next to the words 'Serial Number' in the about box in the apple menu.

Spoiler

A direct explanation on how to solve a puzzle in a game. Usually frowned upon, but I will give out spoilers readily to folks who are genuinely frustrated. If you can't find the key, guy, exit or whatever, things rapidly get less and less fun.

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