(This is the "Dungeon Designs" column from the March 1991 issue of the Eamon Adventurer's Guild newsletter. Copyright 1991 Eamon Adventurer's Guild, 7625 Hawkhaven Dr., Clemmons, NC 27012-9408. You may reproduce this freely as long as this credit remains attached to the article.) Back to the Basics: Rooms and Doors by Tom Zuchowski There are only two basic types of information in the room data: exits and light. Light has two values: (1) if the room is naturally lit, and (0) if the room is dark. A normal Eamon adventure has 6 directions of travel: North, South, East, West, Up, and Down. When editing room data, you must supply an exit number for each of these directions: A (0) means that there is no exit in that direction. A (-99) signifies an exit to the Main Hall. Custom programming can be accomplished by using negative numbers; however, you must supply the programming for such special connections. The last means of exiting a room is through a Door artifact. The exit number in the room data should equal the artifact number of the door plus 500. For example, if the door's artifact number is 21, then the exit number is 521. This tells the programming to consult Artifact #21 for more information about the exit. And what about the door itself? First, you must decide if it is a normal door or if it is a secret door. If normal, you simply use the Room number for the door's location and answer "0" to the HIDDEN question. If it is a secret door, add 200 to the room's number for the location, and answer "1" to the HIDDEN question. But if it is hidden, then you must remember to mention it somehow in the room description, so the player will have a name to EXAMINE to make it appear in the room. Be careful with the KEY question in the door menu. It presently defaults to 99, which means that you will need artifact #99 to use as a key to open it. If you have fewer than 99 artifacts, the program will crash. The KEY number should be set to the artifact number of the key that opens the door. If the door is unlocked, set KEY to zero. Be sure to set the door's weight to 999. The MAIN PGM recognizes 999 as an impossible weight and responds "DON'T BE ABSURD" if the player tries to GET the door. If you don't do this, some bozo with a super-character will pick up the door and carry it off, which does not open the passageway but does ruin the adventure. Set the door's strength to whatever you want it to be. This number is reduced by the damage hits inflicted when the player ATTACKs the door; when it reaches zero, the door shatters. If it is a flimsy door, set this number to something small, like 10. If it is armored, set the number very high, like 999. Let's do an example of a door. Let's say that the door is artifact #5 and is a secret north exit from Room 3. The room beyond the door is Room 7. The door armored and locked, and its key is artifact #6, and is found in Room #2. This example underlines all typed input: ROOM-2 ART.-4 EFF.-0 MONS.-0 YOUR CHOICES ARE-- 1. ADD NEW ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER 2. (etc.) ENTER KEY OF YOUR CHOICE (1-7) 1 DO YOU WANT TO ADD A ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER (HIT KEY, RAEM) R ENTER ROOM NAME: END OF A N/S TUNNEL ROOM DESCRIPTION: YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE TUNNEL. IT IS BLOCKED BY A LARGE FLAT PANEL. FOR EACH DIRECTION ENTER THE ROOM # THAT THIS ROOM CONNECTS TO: MOVE N ...505 (door - artifact #5) MOVE S ...(etc.) ROOM-3 ART.-4 EFF.-0 MONS.-0 YOUR CHOICES ARE-- 1. ADD NEW ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER 2. (etc.) ENTER KEY OF YOUR CHOICE (1-7) 1 DO YOU WANT TO ADD A ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER (HIT KEY, RAEM) A ENTER ARTIFACT NAME: PANEL ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION: YOU DISCOVER THAT THE PANEL IS REALLY A STEEL DOOR! TYPE : 8 (door/gate) VALUE : 50 (doesn't matter) WEIGHT : 999 (immovable object) ROOM : 203 (hidden in Room #3) ROOM BEYOND : 7 (connects to Room #7) KEY# : 6 (Artifact #6) STRENGTH : 999 (can't be broken down) HIDDEN? : 1 (secret door; 0 if not hidden) ROOM-3 ART.-5 EFF.-0 MONS.-0 YOUR CHOICES ARE-- 1. ADD NEW ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER 2. (etc.) ENTER KEY OF YOUR CHOICE (1-7) 1 DO YOU WANT TO ADD A ROOM, ARTIFACT, EFFECT, OR MONSTER (HIT KEY, RAEM) A ENTER ARTIFACT NAME: STEEL KEY ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION: YOU HAVE FOUND A SMALL STEEL KEY. TYPE : 9 (key) VALUE : 1 (not worth much) WEIGHT : 1 (doesn't weigh much) ROOM : 2 (found in Room #2) USER #5 : (doesn't matter) USER #6 : (doesn't matter) USER #7 : (doesn't matter) USER #8 : (doesn't matter) That's how it's done. Be sure to print out the manual. It has all this information and more in it, and you will find it a valuable reference. The above example is not a complete printout of everything that you will see on the screen. There are quite a few on-screen menus during data input that list the allowable inputs, so that you don't have to memorize such things as the artifact type of a door. In fact, the menus almost cover such information better than the manual does. The USER prompts seen with some types of artifact data input, such as the key above, are not used by the standard MAIN PGM programming. They are made available for the purpose of adding extra data for special programming. If you have not added any such extra programming, simply enter zero at each prompt (or hit Escape to retain the default value shown on the screen) and ignore them.