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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Abuse FAQ v1.1.0 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Maintained by Mike Perry <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> mj-perry@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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Construction Note:
------------------
The construction of this FAQ is currently in progress. If you find any
glaring errors or information that is incorrect, please mail me at the
address at the top of the FAQ.
Introduction:
-------------
This FAQ contains answers to (f)requently (a)sked (q)uestions about the
computer game Abuse. In actuality most of the questions are not actual
questions that have been presented to me but are questions that, if I were
totally new to the game, would want to have answers to. I have
tried to provide answers to questions that would be asked by newcomers,
intermediate and advanced players alike.
If you feel that there is a question or feature of the game that has not been
properly addressed, please e-mail me so that I can review your question for
possible inclusion into the FAQ. If you already have the answers (or a good
description of the feature you want to have included) please mail those also.
Include your name and e-mail address so that I can give you proper credit.
If you happen to create a document pertaining to Abuse let me know and I will
add it to a list of supplementary documentation in the FAQ. And now prepare
to be abused.
What's New:
-----------
The newest edition to the FAQ is a section full of "why cant I..." questions
which cover a gamut of problems that the average user will get stuck on if
they haven't read the docs or haven't been keeping up to date with bug
fixes and tutorials. I've also listed my own system as a potential FTP
site for Abuse and Satan Paint to cut down on search time. My FTP site
is dedicated to Abuse so you won't have any trouble finding the good stuff.
Other tidbits have changed but I can't list all of the minor changes here.
Overview of Contents:
---------------------
Construction Note
Introduction
What's New
Overview of Contents
I. What is Abuse?
A. General Information
B. What is the Plot?
C. Who Wrote Abuse?
D. What Kind of Game is Abuse?
E. Was Abuse Written Entirely in Lisp?
F. How Long Did it Take to Develop Abuse?
II. Can You Tell Me a Little Bit More About Crack Dot Com?
III. Who and What Are the Main Characters/Objects in the Game?
A. Weapons and Ammo
B. Power-Ups
C. Health Boosters
D. Nick Vrenna
E. Enemies
F. Tricks, Traps, Harmful Objects and Other Interactive Objects
G. Scenery
IV. What are the Main Components That Comprise a Level?
V. Why Can't I...
VI. Which Dialect of Lisp Does the Lisp Interpreter Implement?
VII. What Constructs are Missing From the Lisp Interpreter?
VIII. What Add-Ons are Available for Abuse?
VIIII. Where Can I Learn More About Level Editing and Game Alteration?
X. What Channels Exist on IRC for Discussing Abuse?
XI. What Newsgroups Exist for Discussing Abuse?
XII. What Mailing Lists Exist for Discussing Abuse?
XIII. Where Can I Get Abuse?
XIIII. Where Can I Get Satan Paint?
XV. FAQ Change History
XVI. Credits
Copyright Recognition
Disclaimer
I. What is Abuse?
------------------
A. General Information
Abuse is the first game to be released by the budding new computer
game company Crack Dot Com. Abuse is an action game that pits you --
assuming the role of Nick Vrenna, resistance fighter -- against ruthless
alien killers, called ants, that have taken control over humanity. The game
an engine that allows modification to the stock game through such means
as a built-in lisp interpreter, external game-object lisp code, a windowing
system, multiplayer support through IPX or TCP/IP protocols and network
file support.
B. What is the Plot?
Here is the plot from the finger info at help@crack.com:
The Ants were fearless, efficient killers. The Unified Underground's
only opening was that the Ant defense systems were designed by engineers
too arrogant to consider the threat of an individual. It was enough to
justify the covert Abuse Missions.
On August 31, 2021, eight bytes were zeroed in a computer, and Nick
Vrenna's identity was erased. A suit of armor cradling a smoking auto
rifle stood in shadows appreciating the stench coming from the first
retired Ant of the day. The armored soul feared the effort would end up
as pathetic as the Terran Surrender Terms, but humanity had nothing
else.
C. Who Wrote Abuse?
Abuse is engineered by the game company Crack Dot Com. The programmer behind
the game is Jonathan Clark. The artwork was created by Doung Dai Nguyen and
Murray Macmillan. Rounding up the cast is Bobby Prince (sound effects) who
also designed the music and sound effects for Doom, and Dave Taylor
(funding and beating), programmer at iD software -- creators of Doom and the
upcoming Quake.
D. What Kind of Game is Abuse?
Abuse is an 2D side-scrolling shoot-em up action/puzzle game. Although the
game borrows features from many genres of games it best fits under the
platform category. The Abuse game engine boasts many features with a
built-in Lisp interpreter (for modification and extension of the game world)
most likely being the most promising and exciting feature.
Here are the features of the game engine that are listed in the finger
information at help@crack.com:
This is THE game to see.
- Beautiful shaped, point-source lighting
- Engine has built-in Lisp Interpreter. You can
add code into the game, or create a whole new
game which is instantly ported to many platforms,
has lighting, sound, mouse/joystick, network,
hi-rez and window support. You will be able to
licence copies of the engine to sell as your own.
* - Multi-player. IPX and TCPIP
* - Server/client. Start your game as a server and people can
join in/leave later, automatically downloading the current
level and state of game.
* - Built in Network File System abilities.
When you start up net games, just connect to the server and
access files like they were on your computer. Connect to
a "pacman" server and automatically download art, sfx, and
lisp code. Game compiles and starts running.
- Color matching system ensures you will see perfect graphics
even if your moniter is miscalibrated.
- Animation rendered with in-house vector animation CAD (VCAD).
- Explosions and special effects rendered with in-house PART (particle
animation rendering tool).
- Artwork is editable by users with Satan Paint (free with CDROM
version). (beta available now at npc.ece.utexas.edu:/pub/satan_paint)
- Weapons, weapons, weapons.
- Hi-rez support with VESA drivers
- Ports for DOS, Linux Console, Linux X11; *(348,486,Pentium Linux)
SGI has graciously given us a Indgo II to port abuse
other ports to be announced.
* Not in initial release (we didn't have time to finish & test it as well,
as it should be). Look for a patch shortly after release.
E. Was Abuse Written Entirely in Lisp?
This has the unfortunate possibilty of becoming a well spread misconception.
While the external entity code that you will write for modifications and
additions (or total reconstruction) of the game will be in Lisp, the game
engine was written in C++. There is also a small amount of 80x86 assembly
in the DOS version.
Here is the wc (word count) output on the source code.
Lisp code: 5374 16377 142220 total
C++ code: 67904 185889 1717174 total
Asm code: (negligible)
Approximately seven percent of the game engine and Abuse combined is
Lisp code. The rest is C++. There 5044 lines of Lisp code distributed in
the 0.3.2 version of the Linux version, so you are seeing _all_ of the Lisp
code (the difference is likely due to some lisp net Abuse code that hasn't
been finished yet).
F. How Long Did it Take to Develop Abuse?
After the game engine was completed the development of Abuse took approximately
four months.
II. Can You Tell Me a Little Bit More About Crack Dot Com?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Crack Dot Com is a budding new computer game company owned by programmers
Dave Taylor (of iD software) and Jonathan Clark.
Abuse will be Crack Dot Com's first published game but it is was not the first
game that they worked on.
III. Who and What are the Main Characters and Objects in the Game?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Weapons and Ammo
Laser Rifle
The laser rifle is the most basic weapon in the game. It shoots red
laser pulses (ala Star Wars) in the direction in which you point the rifle.
You can use the laser rifle even without the proper ammunition because if
you couldn't shoot, as JC puts it, that would suck. Having ammunition for
the laser rifle is still a crucial item to have as a loaded laser rifle
fires considerably faster than an unloaded laser rifle. The laser rifle
does not care whether the rifle ammo count is 1 or 1000 -- it will still
fire at the same rate.
Grenade Launcher
This weapon launches grenades in a realistic parabolic arc. Realistic that
is if you ignore the fact that the game world would have to be a vacuum in
order for the trajectory of the grenade to be that perfect. You will
probably be too busy watching the pretty explosions inflict your opponents
with massive damage to notice anyway.
Guided Missle Launcher
The guided missle launcher is Abuse's version of the second most popular
weapon in Doom (the shotgun is almost unarguably the favorite weapon of
Doomaholics everywhere). The highly manueverable missles that this weapon
launches will follow your opponent to the ends of the Earth. That is, if
you don't overshoot.
Firebomb Rifle
You might have a hard time distinguishing this weapon from a flamethrower.
However, this weapon is projectile based an produces a trail of flaming
particles that follow each other like the cars of a train. Since the
weapon is particle based, the projectiles _are_ affected by gravity and
you do not have to fire straight at an opponent in order to hit them.
Plasma Gun
Another weapon found in Doom, this plasma gun produces a burst of plasma
that looks more like the maximum energy burst that you can shoot in the
game R-Type. This weapon is available only in the commercial release of
Abuse.
Death Frizbee
This weapon is available only in the commercial release of Abuse. Maybe
someone will design some Tron modifications to Abuse.
Laser Saber
You've always wanted one and now you have it. The Star Wars weapon is
a reality in Abuse. This weapon is available only in the commercial
release of Abuse.
Death Ray
Expectation is what sometimes makes the unknown or unseen even more
alluring than the known fact. This weapon fits this mold pretty well...
its not even written yet! The death ray is available only in the
commercial release of Abuse.
B. Power-Ups
Fast Power-Up
When you run over this power-up you gain robotic legs that allow you
to run twice as fast as normal, jump higher and climb ladders much more
quickly than normal.
Fly Power-Up
This power-up gives you the the ability to fly. It is only available in
the commercial release of Abuse.
Health Power-Up
This power-up ups the players health maximum from 100 to 200. It is
available only in the commercial release of Abuse.
Sneaky Power-Up
This power-up allows the player to become partially invisible. It is
available only in the commercial release of Abuse.
Visor Power-Up
I swear that I caught mention of this somewhere. I would guess that it
turns off lighting effects or provides the user with a high beam headlight.
This power up will be available only in a future release for owners of the
commercial release if at all (It was not in the advanced copy that I
was sent but then again neither was the death ray which was mentioned at
the end of the DOS shareware version! :)
C. Health Boosters
Health boosters increase your characters health as the name would imply. They
take the form of miniature hearts and when you move over them your health is
raised by a variable number of points depending on the difficulty level.
D. Nick Vrenna
This is your character. Its Nick's job to exterminate the Ants and free
humanity from certain slaughter.
E. Enemies
Ants
The ant is the enemy that you will meet most frequently. Much more deadly
than the insect variety, these ants will _REALLY_ spoil your picnic.
Straight out of _Alien_ these creatures will gnash, claw and shoot their
way to a chance to dine on your tender flesh. Ants are somewhat
intelligent predators in that they will use their ability to walk on
ceilings in order to avoid your attempts to destroy them. Beware: ants
often travel in packs.
There are seven varieties of ants in the commercial release of Abuse and
four varieties in the shareware release. Each type of ant is a different
color and fires one of the eight (or four) weapons provided in the game.
Juggernauts
These giant robots have in their possesion an unlimited number of grenades
and they aren't exactly conservative with their supply. Some models of this
robot are immobile while later models will walk towards your character in
order to get a better shot. Juggernauts are quite tough and can take a lot
of direct hits before they shatter to pieces but unfortunately you usually
aren't given a choice to run away.
Flyers
These agile robots have the ability of flight. Flyers never stand still
so they are often difficult to target however a steady stream of laser
pulses or guided missles usually do the trick
F. Tricks, Traps, Harmful Objects and Other Interactive Objects
Bombs
Bombs are explosive devices which can kill a player if they are within
the blast radius.
Blocks
Blocks are destroyable objects which impede the players movement.
Boulders
Boulders are gigantic spiked metal spheres. They are affected by gravity
and will fall when if in the air. When they hit the ground they will
bounce.
A boulder will cause damage to a player when it collides with them.
Boulders can also damage aliens and other objects that can be hurt.
When a boulder is dealt enough damage it will break up into smaller
boulders which will then explode on contact with the floor.
Concussion Mines
These small mines will cause damage to the player upon contact. They can
be found in the air as well as on the ground. Sometimes they even move.
Doors
Doors block entrances to rooms. Two varieties of doors exist: sensor
activated doors and switch activated doors.
Force Fields
Force fields are walls of energy which prevent the user from moving
through them. Force fields may be as high as one screen.
Hidden Tiles
Secret areas are hidden behind these tiles. Hidden tiles look like
ordinary tiles except that they will break up when dealt enough damage.
When the tiles have been destroyed completely they will explode and cause
damage to any near-by aliens.
Ladders
Use these to climb up and down to different levels.
Lava
Lava tiles will do constant damage to a player while they are in contact
with the lava.
Shock Pulses
These objects intermittently shoot out pulses of electricity which deal
a healthy amount of damage to the player.
Spray Guns
Spray guns are turret-like guns which will rotate in a left-right-left
fashion shooting out sprays of shots. Spray guns may fire any type of
weapon.
Tunnel Robots
This large robot can chase a player down a hall, forcing the player to
either destroy it or to die a horrible death within the robot's spinning
blades.
Track Guns
Track guns are similar to spray guns except that track guns will track
the motion of a player.
Trap Doors
Trap doors on the floor can be activated by sensors and switches. Watch
where you chose to take a breather when playing net Abuse.
Doors
Abuse contains both switch activated and sensor activated doors.
Springs
Springs provide a player with an upward boost when they player comes in
contact with one.
Switches
These state changing devices will hopefully activate something beneficial
to your player like a trap door with more ammo. If you aren't so lucky
you might unleash a pack of ants.
Abuse contains both select-activated switches and shot-activated switches.
Platforms
Platforms are moving tiles that can lift and move you to different floors
and sections of a level.
Pushers
Pushers are objects that will give your player a push in the direction of
the arrows on the pusher. Pushers have varying strengths so it may or
not be a futile attempt to avoid going with the flow.
G. Scenery and Graphics
Foreground
The foreground scenery is made up of the floor, ceiling, wall textures and
other graphics components that your character interacts with. Foreground is
created using combinations of tiles that you choose from a foreground
palette. When you place an object in the screen it is placed in the
foreground as well although it can be moved and manipulated as a seperate
entity.
Abuse comes with a large palette of predefined foreground tiles that include
floor tiles, walls, ceilings, ramps, cavern textures, forest textures,
ladders, pipes and more
Background
The game engine that Abuse is based on allows for two levels of parallax
scrolling. Using the background palette one can make a background which
can be set to scroll at a defined rate in order to add the feeling of
depth to the level.
Abuse has background tiles that can be used to construct a city skyscape,
forest backgrounds and cavern backgrounds.
IV. What are the Main Components That Comprise a Complete Level?
------------------------------------------------------------------
A. What are Objects?
The two main components of any level are (disregarding foreground and
background graphics) objects and links.
Objects
Every entity in the game that interacts with the player is an object
an object. All objects have corresponding Lisp source files that
determines how they behave. The Lisp code can be arbitrarily complex.
Objects are not always required to have links. In general, if an object
contains has no links (that is, if no links _originate_ from that object)
then that object will start off in the active state.
B. What are Links?
Links
Links provide the means to let objects modify each other. Links also
act as the graphical method of specifying the parameters for the Lisp
code of the linking object.
Every link requres two objects. The link is originated at the object that
is to do processing (thinking). It is then attached to another object which
will act as the stimulus that determines whether or not the originating
object is active or it will act as a parameter for some type of object
manipulation.
Links are stored in a list inside the level format such that an object may
have multiple links and the order of the links is important. Facilities
exist in the editor for deleting the first or last link beloning to an
object. If the first link from an object is deleted then the remaining
links shift up by one. That is, if an object has three links and the first
is deleted then the old second link becomes the new first link and the
old third link becomes the new second link.
C. What Predefined Objects Come with Abuse?
Ammunition
These objects increase the ammunition count of the weapons. All ammunition is
invisible, untouchable and unaffected by gravity until activated.
DFRIS_ICON10, DFRIS_ICON4
Adds ten or four to the death frizbee count.
FBOMB_ICON5, FBOMB_ICON1
Adds five or one to the fire bomb rifle count.
GRENADE_ICON10, GRENADE_ICON2
Adds ten or two to the grenade launcher count.
LSABER_ICON50, LASER_ICON10
Adds fifty or ten to the laser saber count.
MBULLET_ICON10, MBULLET_ICON5
Adds ten or five to the laser rifle count.
PLASMA_ICON50, PLASMA_ICON10
Adds fifty or ten to the plasma gun count.
ROCKET_ICON5, ROCKET_ICON2
Adds five or two to the guided missle count.
Enemies
All of these objects are entities that are bent on destroying the player.
ANT_CRACK
This crack will spit out a variable number of ants when it is activated.
The ant type may be changed so that the ants may fire one of eight weapons.
ANT_ROOF
This is an ant whose normal state is an invulnerable cocoon. It will
activate when the player comes within range underneath it.
BOSS_ANT
Truely abusive. All I can say for now is that you better have plenty of
ammunition to spare on this one. The BOSS_ANT is available only in the
commercial release.
FLYER
This is a flying robot that can fire any of the eight weapon types.
GREEN_FLYER
A green flying robot that can fire any of the eight weapon types.
HIDDEN_ANT
This ant is like an ANT_ROOF except that it is invisible in its normal state.
JUGGER
A giant robot which tosses grenades at a definable angle and can walk or
stay immobile.
WHO
This is another flying robot with the same attributes as the FLYER.
Lighting objects
Besides the light source objects that are used to create the point source
lighting, two special objects may be used to allow any object to act as a
light source and to dynamically change the shape of a light.
LIGHTHOLD
The LIGHTHOLD object glues a light source to another object.
SWITCH_DIMMER
The SWITCH_DIMMER causes a light source to shrink or grow when the dimmer
is activated.
Sensors
The SENSOR object is a switch which turns on when the player enters the ON
box of the sensor and will turn off when the player leaves the OFF box.
The DEATH_SENSOR object is a switch which turns on when all of the objects
linked to it are destroyed or deleted.
Switches
SWITCH
This is a switch object that can be turned off and on.
SWITCH_ONCE
This is a switch that can be toggled only once.
SWITCH_DELAY
This is a switch that, once toggled, will revert back to its default
state after a user definable delay.
Logic Gates
Logic gates can be used to create sophisticated triggering devices for
objects. They work in the same way that real logic gates work.
The available gates are:
GATE_AND : will be in the ON state when all of its links are ON
GATE_DELAY : reflects the state of its link with a definable delay
GATE_NOT : outputs the opposite state of its link (ie NOT ON <=> OFF)
GATE_OR : will be in the ON state when any of its links are on
GATE_PULSE : when on will switch between on and off states w/ delay
GATE_XOR : will be in the ON state when an odd number of links are ON
Respawners
Respawners are used to place objects at locations at specified times.
There are two types of respawners, the death respawner and the object
respawner.
The DEATH_RESPAWNER lets you spawn an object at another objects place
when it dies. The first link to the death respawner is the object that
is to be spawned. Any number of links may be added after the first and
will cause the spawning object to appear when all of the secondary link
objects are dead or destroyed. If the first link to the death respawner
dies then the second link becomes the new first link.
The RESPAWNER is a simplified death respawner that takes only one link
which is the object to be respawned. The respawner will respawn an object
after a specified amount of time provided that the object has been deleted
since the first time it has been respawned. The RESPAWNER is primarily
used in network games where ammunition and health is used up rapidly.
** NOTE: The respawner currently only works with HEALTH objects and
should not be used until the network patch is released **
Generic Object Manipulators
The OBJECT_MOVER moves an object to a specified endpoint at a user
defined speed. The object movers may be linked together (ie, using
another OBJECT_MOVER as an endpoint) in order to move an object in
an arbitarily shaped path.
The OBJ_HOLDER object allows any object to hold another. A third link
to the OBJ_HOLDER can act as a switch to control when this behavior
will take place.
The SWITCH_MOVER object will move an object to the current position
of a second object when the state of the second object is in the ON
state. Once the movement of the first object is executed the switch
mover is deleted.
Force Fields
When these objects are activated they will prohibit a player from
crossing them. They can be up to one screen in height. They are
useful for forcing a player to move in a certain direction.
Doors and Trap Doors
The SWITCH_DOOR object is a switch activated door that is closed when
its link is inactive and open when its link is active.
The TRAP_DOOR2 and TRAP_DOOR3 objects are placed on the floor and behave
in the same way as the SWITCH_DOOR object.
Platforms and Steps
The SMART_PLAT_BIG, SMART_PLAT_RED, and SMART_PLAT_SMALL objects are
platforms which can be used as elevators or moving floors.
The STEP is a platform-like object which has no features other than the
ability to be walked upon.
Teleporters
The TELE2 object will transport the player to the position of the object
that it is linked to.
The TP_DOOR object will transport the player to another TP_DOOR that is
linked to it.
Markers and Indicators
Markers
MARKER objects serve no purpose other than to hold links for other
objects that require links. Markers can also be used to mark features
of a level for editing purposes without requiring a visual cue that will
be visible when the level is played.
Indicators
The INDICATOR object changes color from red (when its link is active)
to green (when its link is inactive). This object is used to give
the player a visual clue as to the state of an object.
The POINTER object is a golden arrow that is used for guiding the
player's attention to some feature of a level.
Start, Restart Position and Next Level Objects
The START object determines where the user will start when the level is
started.
The RESTART_POSITION object is a player-activated save game position.
Currently the number of health points that a player has is not stored
when the position is saved.
The NEXT_LEVEL object takes the player to the next level when activated.
The NEXT_LEVEL_TOP object is the top part of the next level transporter.
Each of the next level objects should be linked to each other for future
expansion. In other words the NEXT_LEVEL object should originate a link
to the NEXT_LEVEL_TOP object and vice versa.
Training Messages
TRAIN_MSG objects can display a message on the screen when activated.
The messages are defined externally in a .lsp file.
V. Why Can't I...
------------------
A. Distinguish between all of the small tiles in the foreground and background
windows?
In revisions 0.33 and earlier the default tile/window width for the foreground
and background palettes is one half tile. You can increase the size of the
tiles in the palette by pressing "+" while the mouse cursor is over the
palette window. If you make the window larger than one tile wide the editor
will place multiple tiles in each row. You can similarly decrease the tile
size by pressing "-" while the mouse cursor is over the palette window.
In revisions 0.34 and greater the foreground and background palettes default
to one tile wide so you will not experience this situation.
B. Get the RESPAWNER object to respawn objects correctly?
The mention of the RESPAWNER object's existence was inadvertantly left in
the documentation when it was not fully implemented. The RESPAWNER object
currently only works with HEALTH objects and does not seem to work with
ammunition and other objects.
The RESPAWNER should not be used until the network patch is released.
C. Save my levels in the level editor?
You probably have Linux Abuse v0.32 or DOS Abuse v0.33. These versions are
known to have a bug in the level backup code that prevents a new level from
being saved. You can easily patch your program in the following manner.
1. Go to the lisp directory
2. Edit the file startup.lsp
3. Comment out (using a ;) or remove the line that reads
(setq keep_backups T). This should be the first or
second line in startup.lsp.
After this quick patch you will now be able to save new levels from the
editor.
This bug has been fixed and the level backup feature now works correctly
in revisions 0.34 and greater.
VI. Which Dialect of Lisp Does the Lisp Interpreter Implement?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Common Lisp is the dialect of Lisp that is understood by the built-in
Lisp interpreter.
VII. Which Constructs are Not Supported by the Lisp Interpreter?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Structures and Objects are the two main Lisp constructs that are not
implemented by the built-in Lisp interpreter.
VIII. What Add-Ons are Available for Abuse?
-------------------------------------------
These levels are available for dcc from sciib0t on the irc #abuse channel.
Just type "!ls" to get a listing of files and "!get " to have
sciib0t send a file via dcc.
Multiplayer Levels
Because the net code has not been released to the public yet there are
probably few people that are working on multiplayer levels at this time.
Shareware modifications
Title: P-gore05
Author: Peldor
Desc: Patch to change the visual gore level observed when an ant
explodes.
Commercial Add-Ons and Level Compilations
Currently no commercial products involving Abuse are available however Crack
Dot Com is releasing a CD-ROM in November chock full of new levels, add-ons
and new game games based on the Abuse game engine. Add-on authors can even
get their levels and add-ons included on the CD and will earn royalties
based on the quality of their product. Check out www.crack.com for more
details.
VIIII. Where Can I Learn More About Level Editing?
-------------------------------------------------
A. General Level Editing Information and Guidelines
Duong Nyugen's documentation of the built-in level editor is the best place to
start if you are totally new to the editor. It is not a tutorial, regardless
of the title (Tutorial Number One), but it does document the features of the
built-in editor and lists all of the objects available an describes their
purpose and usage thoroughly.
The author of Abuse has put out a small example distributed as example.zip
which shows how to create a small lisp file so that the main startup.lsp
file does not need patching when you add new graphics and wish to start
your homebrew level as the first level. You can obtain this file from
my FTP site or from www.crack.com.
B. Level Editor Documentation
Currently the only documentation on the supplied level editor is the abuse.doc
file that comes with the beta version of Abuse. You can read the most recent
version of abuse.doc on Crack Dot Com's home page which can be found by
aiming at www.crack.com.
C. Lisp documentation and tutorials
Guy Steele's definitive description of the Common Lisp language, _Common Lisp
the Language_, second edition, can be accessed through the World Wide Web.
The address is www.supelec.fr/docs/cltl/cltl2.html. From this web page
you can access the online html version of the book as well as obtain a .tgz
archive of a postscript or html version.
Please note that CLtL2 will probably be of the most benefit if you already
know a high level language other than BASIC such as C++ or Pascal.
A brief tutorial that covers some of the basics of the language is available
as the tutorial packaged with the Linux version of CLisp ( possibly
obtainable elsewhere ).
A Lisp FAQ and other messages pertaining to Lisp can be found on the Lisp
newsgroup comp.lang.lisp.
X. What Channels Exist on IRC for Discussing Abuse?
--------------------------------------------------------
#Abuse, the official Abuse discussion channel, will be the main IRC channel
for discussing the game. You will probably be able to strike up a
conversation about Abuse on #doom as well. Dave Taylor (of iD Software and
Crack Dot Com) makes appearances quasi-frequently on #doom and has been
frequenting #abuse virtually every day along with Jonathan Clark.
XI. What Newsgroups Exist for Discussing Abuse?
-----------------------------------------------
Currently there are none but comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action often has
posts concerning Abuse although they are mostly messages asking when the
game will be released. Eventually we hope to establish rec.games.abuse
as the main Abuse newsgroup.
XII. What Mailing Lists Exist for Discussing Abuse?
---------------------------------------------------
There are no mailing lists as of yet. Firehawk of #abuse is looking into
starting one, however.
XIII. Where Can I Get Abuse?
----------------------------
Fingering help@crack.com will provide you with a list of the latest binary
revisions and their respective FTP sites. If you can't remember the FTP
sites or cannot find the files you are looking for you can get Abuse and
Satan Paint from my FTP site at par0511.urh.uiuc.edu.
I will carry the latest versions of Abuse and Satan Paint for the various
platforms as well as this FAQ, documentation, tutorials and the best of the
best modifications and levels to please the masses but please do not
consider my system as a primary FTP site for these files. Try to find the
files elsewhere before consulting my site.
Please be aware that my site may not always be up.
As for the commercial release of Abuse you can get information on ordering
from Crack Dot Com by fingering abuse@crack.com or by checking out Crack Dot
Com's web page at www.crack.com. The game will also be carried in stores but
most likely won't include the t-shirt that comes with the orders from Crack
Dot Com.
XIIII. Where Can I Get Satan Paint
----------------------------------
The latest version of Satan Paint (v1.4) is available from the following
FTP site:
par0511.urh.uiuc.edu (my site)
The DOS version is available there but the Linux and SGI releases are not.
Satan Paint has vanished on ftp.island.net so I would be very grateful if
someone could transfer it to the incoming directory on my site.
Again, please use my site only after all else fails.
XV. FAQ Change History
--------------------------
Version 1.1.0: Added death ray to weapons list. Added my ftp site to
the list of sites to obtain Abuse (which is now summarized
neatly in the phrase "finger help@crack.com." Added
"Why Can't I..." and "What's New?" sections.
Version 1.0.0: Finished object descriptions. Added information on where to
download the shareware release of Abuse and where to get
Satan Paint.
Version 0.2.0: Added credits section. Fixed minor errors. Finished
descriptions of scenery components and tricks/traps/objects.
Version 0.1.1: Fixed misspellings of Crack Dot Com employees. Added
FAQ Change History list. Updated revision number (which
was labeled incorrectly in the header).
Version 0.1.0: First public release of incomplete FAQ. Sections involving
level entities and objects incomplete. Made available
on August 31st, 1995, the DOS Beta release date.
XVI. Credits
-------------
Thanks go to:
-- Jonathan Clark, author of Abuse, for providing me with detailed
information on the exact amount of Lisp code in the game in respect
to the size of all of the code in the game and information and for
stopping by #abuse on the eve of the DOS shareware release and answering
a barrage of questions from Hank Leukart and myself. Thanks again for the
free copy (and the advance copy too :)
-- Duong Nguyen, Abuse artist, for providing the editor tutorial from which
the object descriptions in the FAQ were based.
-- Dave Taylor, John Romero and Shawn Green, again, for stopping by #abuse
on the day of the DOS shareware release which generated a lot of activity
in the channel.
-- The crew at Crack Dot Com for giving us such a great looking game that
plays so smoothly.
Copyright Recognition
---------------------
_Abuse_ is a registered trademark of Crack Dot Com.
_Doom_ and _Quake_ are registered trademarks of iD Software.
_Star Wars_ is a registered trademark of Lucasfilms.
_Tron_ is a registered trademark of the Walt Disney Company.
This FAQ is the intellectual property of the author, Mike Perry.
I cannot keep anyone from copying this FAQ and editing it for
redistribution nor can I lay claim to any of the underlying
information on this page other than its wording. There is no
copyright on this FAQ registered with the copyright office however
I have placed a copyright notice at the bottom of the FAQ for dating
purposes.
You are free to distribute this FAQ in any form as long as the contents
are not changed in any way (realistically speaking... I am not going to
butcher you if you correct a spelling error or two). Please make sure
to distribute only the most recent revision of the FAQ. The most recent
revision will always be available from my FTP site (in the pub/abuse
directory ) mentioned earlier in the FAQ.
Disclaimer
----------
The information and ideas conveyed in this FAQ are not guaranteed to be fact.
The author of the FAQ dismisses all responsibilty for any financial loss and
for any physical or emotional damages caused by any placement of faith upon
the ideas and answers contained this document. It is up to the reader to decide
what he or she contends is fact. Should the support of any product, software
package or add-on mentioned in this document cease or if an upcoming software
release becomes vaporware, the author must not be held responsible for that
outcome.
--- Abuse FAQ v1.1.0 Copyright (C) September 11th, 1995 Mike Perry ---
--- mj-perry@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (Riff on #abuse and #doom) ---
