Some answers to common questions about MACWESLEYAN/PC-
UNIVERSITY, or at least to questions that the author felt 
like answering:

HOW DO I GET STARTED, ANYWAY?

If you're on a Mac, you just double-click on the icon; for PC users,
you have to type the byzantine command "TRX PCU". 

WILL I ENJOY THE GAME MORE IF I'VE BEEN TO WESLEYAN?

No, no, absolutely not ... well, maybe. You might miss a few 
of the inside jokes otherwise -- but what's a text adventure 
without inside jokes? After all, it's more fun to play SAVE 
PRINCETON if you went to Princeton, or MODERNISM if you're 
familiar with Beckett, or ZORK if you know the feeling of 
being eaten by a grue. But MACWESLEYAN/PC-U can be fun even 
if you don't know where Wesleyan University is (Middletown, 
Connecticut -- halfway between somewhere and somewhere else), 
or haven't gone to college, or haven't heard of Connecticut -
- although it would help if you were familiar with the notion 
of "cold."

WHY THE TWO NAMES?

Because I designed it for the Mac first, and didn't want to 
change the name, but still needed a title for the PC version.

IS THERE ANY CONNECTION WITH THAT AWFUL MOVIE?

None, except that both the game and the movie are (loosely) 
based on Wesleyan University.

DO I OWE YOU ANY MONEY?

That depends -- who are you? But anyway, no, you don't owe me 
money for 
MACWESLEYAN/PC-U -- it's freeware, and you can do with it as 
you please.

SO HOW DO I PLAY?

Surely you've played a text adventure before -- either one of 
the Infocom classics like ZORK or one of the shareware games 
that followed. If not, read the file INSTRUCT.TXT that came 
with the game.

HOW DID YOU WRITE THIS GAME?

Very slowly. (Note the copyright dates.) Actually, the game 
was mostly written in 1989, but wasn't successfully 
programmed until I mastered TADS: The Adventure Development 
System, several years later. 

SO YOU WROTE IT ALL BY YOURSELF?

Write it, yes. Got it to work, no. I had a lot of help from 
my beta-testers, Trevor Barrie, Wendy Roth, Ned Crigler, and 
Brian Lane; from Mike Roberts, the ever-helpful creator of 
TADS, who wrote a whole new version of the parser just for 
this game; James Reese, who helped exterminate some 
particularly tenacious bugs; and particularly Eileen Mullin, 
who play-tested this game way above and beyond the call of 
duty.
        Give them some of the credit, but I take all the blame.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY OTHER GAMES?

I'm currently at work on LOST NEW YORK, a shareware time-
travel text adventure. Send me e-mail if you want to be 
notified when it's ready for distribution.

I COULD WRITE A BETTER ADVENTURE THAN THIS! CAN I GET AHOLD 
OF THIS TADS THING, TOO?

Sure. E-mail support@hinrg.starconn.com for an order form.

CAN I GET HINTS?

No.

PLEASE?

No.

C'MON, JUST ONE?

Well, alright: Don't waste time with the kangaroos. It won't 
help.

WHO CAN I CONTACT WITH COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS?

Send e-mail to neild@echonyc.com.

WILL I GET A RESPONSE?

That depends on whether it's a comment or a complaint.