RISC OS port of

<Nick Vrenna> <Abuse> <Ant>

Sometime around July '97, Crack dot Com, a PC game software house, released the source code to 
Abuse into the public domain. By chance I came across it and decided to try and compile it under 
RISC OS, and this is the result. 
Download

I've split the distribution into two ZIP archives, one containing the RISC OS files and the other the 
original Abuse shareware data set:-

      * abuse-a.zip (240K) - contains !Run, !Runimage v0.05a, etc.
      * abuse-b.zip (1537K) - contains the Abuse shareware data set

These archives are also available from Argonet's FTP site (although those on my site are likely to be 
more up todate):-

      * abuse-a.zip as above but !Runimage v0.01 (but should be v0.05 soon)
      * abuse-b.zip

If any changes are made to the code or bugs fixed, then unless otherwise stated, only abuse-a.zip need 
be downloaded again. See the history section to see if it's worth it. 
Requirements

      * Risc PC
      Currently, the game is only likely to run on a Risc PC, a StrongARM will obviously give 
      better performance, but I believe it runs reasonably well on an ARM610. The game runs in a 
      320 x 200 pixel 8 bit or 32 bit mode. A mode definition file is supplied for anyone who 
      doesn't already have such a mode on their system.
      * !X-files
      The abuse-b.zip archive contains an X-files directory which in turn contains the data set for 
      Abuse, so a copy of !X-files is required. This is available from Hensa, package e127.
      * About 8Megs hard disc space
      * Toolbox modules

Installation

To install Abuse, dearchive the contents of both ZIP files to the same place on your hard drive so that 
they merge together. Ensure that you have a 320 x 200 mode defined in the file

ADFS::IDEDisc4.$.!Boot.Resources.Configure.Monitors.Acorn.AKF??

for which ever monitor you are using. If not then paste the one supplied into it (you may have to reset 
the machine to force the new mode to be loaded).
An alternative mode definition is given below (and I'll also add it to abuse-a.zip) which vertically 
stretches the display to overcome the letterbox effect. Thanks to Thilo Wendland for sending me this 
MDF.


 # 320 x 200
 # Non-letterboxed mode
 startmode
 mode_name:320 x 200
 x_res:320
 y_res:200
 pixel_rate:12587
 h_timings:42,14,12,320,12,0
 v_timings:2,50,0,200,0,30
 sync_pol:2
 endmode

Running the game

Double-click the game's icon in the filer window to load it to the icon bar. The game can be started 
immediately by clicking Select on the icon bar icon at which point the standard level will be loaded. 
The start up window will open showing the name of the file loading together with sliders roughly 
indicating progress. You can return to the desktop during play by pressing F12 or from the Abuse main 
menu by selecting the quit option at the bottom right of the screen (don't worry you won't loose your 
current game). To go back to the game as you left it, click Select on the icon bar icon.

Game keys


    Up arrow - main character jump
  Left arrow - main character left
 Right arrow - main character right
       Mouse - move sight
      Select - fire
      Adjust - special power
           P - pause
      Return - unpause
         1-7 - choose weapon
  R-Ctrl/Ins - cycle through available weapons
Home/Page Up - as above
          F1 - display keys
      Escape - return to the Abuse main menu with the option of
               returning to the game or desktop
         F12 - return to desktop (not when paused)

WIMP front end

The main menu Clicking Menu on the icon bar icon displays this menu -

<menu>

The options window

Selecting Options from the main menu displays the following window -

<option window>

There are currently three video modes supported, these are:-

      * 320x200x256(P)
      * 320x200x256
      * 320x200x16M

The P in brackets, as also shown in the above window, stands for programmable to distinguish it from 
a normal 256 colour mode. The programmable mode is the default and recommended, it and the 16M 
colour mode both give the correct colour palette.
Enabling the Load alternative file option will unshade the other buttons in the alternative file box. The 
filename typed into the writable field is interpreted when the game starts up according to which radio 
button in the alternative file box is selected. The command line options that these replace are shown in 
brackets.
Dragging a LISP or SPEC file to the window will automatically insert the filename into the writable 
field, select the Load alternative file option and attempt to set the correct radio button. The criteria for 
this file identification are as follows:-

      * If the file has a .lsp (or /lsp) extension then set the -lsf button.
      * If the file has a .spe (or /spe) extension then set the -f button.
      * If the file cannot be identified from the above then set the -f option if the first four bytes of 
      the file contain the letters SPEC.
      * If the file can still not be identified then default to the -lsf button and assume that the correct 
      button will be set manually.

The file will never be identified as using the -a option as this is expected to be the name of a single 
directory that resides in AbuseData.AddOn rather than a full pathname. For example, assuming a 
directory called carcass exists in AbuseData.AddOn and the files carcass/lsp and carchar/lsp are 
present within this directory, then typing carcass into the writable field and selecting the -a option will 
load this add on when the game starts up.

The Editor option will start the game in editor mode. Note that attempts to use the Spec file option 
with the editor will be ignored as level files should be loaded from the editor itself.

Selecting the reset item from the main menu allows all level data loaded, if any, to be discarded ready 
to start again. The reset option should be used before selecting a new alternative file from the options 
window or before enabling/disabling the editor, however, the game does not need to be reset to toggle 
the sound or change display mode.

All options can be applied and saved to disc by clicking on the Save button in which case they will be 
reloaded when !Abuse is next run. Using the Set button, will apply the options without saving them to 
disc . 
Command line options

      * -vmode
      The functionality of this option is now part of the options window and is no longer 
      supported.
      * -no_fastload
      Every time Abuse starts up, it creates a file called fastload in !Scrap which it uses during the 
      game. This file should be deleted by Abuse on a clean exit. If Abuse exits by any means 
      other than the main menu then this file will not be deleted automatically. At over 2Megs it's 
      quite a large file, so manual deletion is advisable.
      I added this option to disable the use of the fastload file. This should cut the disc space 
      required by over 2Megs, but may affect level loading speeds.
      * -nodelay
      Switch off frame delay so that the game runs as fast as the computer will allow.
      * -nolight
      Disable lighting effects.
      * -lisp
      Start up in the builtin LISP interpreter.

Some of these options will be moved to the options window in a future version. 
Additional notes

I chose to use an x-file directory to store the game data because there are directories in the distribution 
which contain more than 77 entries. It was also necessary to retain the DOS file extensions on the file 
names.

Saved games are written by Abuse into the X-file directory.

Filenames can be either of the DOS or RISC OS type:-
DOS - / as directory separator, full stop as filename extension separator
RISC OS - full stop as directory separator, / as filename extension separator i.e. a standard RISC OS 
filename.

Although the music files are included, the music does not work as I couldn't find any information on 
the file format :-(. In the next version I might add support for standard General Midi file play back 
although the user may have to supply their own music files.

Despite the fact that the network code for multi-player games still exists in the game, it is not 
functional and should not be used.

The purchasing information displayed on exiting Abuse is left over from the DOS version and does not 
relate to this RISC OS port.

Thanks to Samuel Kock for confirming that the registered data set does work with my port. 
History

      * v0.01
      Initial release.
      * v0.02
      Fixed slight problem with RISC OS directory names that contain '/'. These were being parsed 
      as directory separators.
      * v0.03
      Previously, Abuse's memory manager allocated a memory pool of a maximum of about 
      3MB, no matter how big the wimp slot was. This prevented some large add on levels from 
      being used. The size of the memory pool allocation is now linked to the current wimp slot 
      that Abuse is running in.
      * v0.04
      Fixed load level menu option.
      Keyboard auto repeat is acceptable now, I think, but not exactly WIMP standard.
      Changed weapon cycle keys to what they should have been. The source code uses the word 
      INSERT so I assumed it meant the one above DELETE. It should have been keypad 0. I 
      guess I should have looked at the help screen closer :-)
      * v0.05
      Added a 256 colour programmable display mode to the choice of modes. In a simple test, 
      this proved to be slighly faster than the 32 bit mode, plus the fact that colour translation isn't 
      required as it was before.
      Added WIMP front end and game reset.
      * v0.05a
      Fixed edit option in options window.

Known problems in v0.05a

Hopefully to be fixed in the next version:-

      * Dots occasionally appear at bottom of screen. This is an error message concerning a missing 
      file. The file isn't actually missing, some SPEC files refer to a corresponding .cpf (cache 
      profile) file using a DOS rooted filename i.e. c:/.../... which is then added to the !Abuse path.
      * When moving up the directory structure in the editor's file selection windows, you can't 
      move back down (presumably, DOS would automatically return the special directory .. to 
      allow this).
      * When a filename is selected in the editor's file selection window, they are rooted and too 
      long to see the leaf name.
      * Due to the addition of the WIMP front end, some text messages are lost. These are not 
      usually important but may be in some circumstances. A future version may address this 
      problem.
      * If Deskspace (and possibly other similar utilities) is being used then on returning to the 
      desktop from the game the pointer jumps up to the next screen despite attempts by myself to 
      reset it to the centre of the current screen. I've no idea why this is, it's annoying but not 
      serious.

Copyright

Here is the copyright notice that accompanies the source code:-

      Crack dot Com is hereby releasing the source code to Abuse to the 
      public domain.
      
      Ownership:
      The following are statements of Crack dot Com's ownership. These items 
      are NOT being submitted to the public domain.
      
            * Crack dot Com retains ownership of the Abuse trademark.
            * Crack dot Com retains ownership of the Crack dot Com trademark.
            * Crack dot Com retains ownership of the Abuse "retail" data set.
            * Crack dot Com retains ownership of the Abuse "registered" data set.
      
      The "retail" and "registered" data sets are defined as the levels, sound 
      effects, music, artwork and other data which are NOT common to the 
      "shareware" release of the game.
      
      Licenses and Third Party Owners:
      Crack licensed the DOS Abuse rights to Electronic Arts and the Mac 
      Abuse rights to Bungie. Crack is therefore NOT releasing the full data 
      set to the public domain to protect EA's and Bungie's investments in the 
      product.
      
      Sound effects found in the shareware release of Abuse are the copyright 
      of Bobby Prince and are not being submitted to the public domain.
      
      Disclaimer of Warranty:
      As with most public domain software, no warranty is made or implied by 
      Crack dot Com or Jonathan Clark.
      
      Examples of What you CAN Do:
      
            * Make another game and sell it commercially using the Abuse source code.
            * Use pieces of the source code or shareware data (excluding the WAV's- you must 
            speak to Bobby Prince) however you see fit.
            * Learn how to make a better game.
            * Port Abuse to any system you like.
      
To clarify:-

      * The game data supplied is that of Abuse shareware version 2.00
      * The sound effects are copyright Bobby Prince and are NOT public domain

Abuse links

For additional levels, graphics and documentation try the following links:-
Team FireStorm
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/carpenter/42/index.html
Crack Dot Com
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/abuse/
<Nick Vrenna> <Ant>

Problems??? - Send me an Email -

leenoar@argonet.co.uk
Lee Noar

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