The Dungeon of Dunjin version 4.50

This version runs under MS/PC-DOS and Windows 95/98/NT.

Copyright (c) 1992, 2001 by Magnus Olsson (mol@pobox.com)
All rights reserved. See release notes and software license below.

==== Contents ====

dunjin.com     - main program file
dunjin.001-103 - data files needed by the program
dunjin.hlp     - on-line help file
dunconf.com    - configuration program, used to change colours,
                 directories and other defaults.
dunjin.cnf     - configuration data
dundoc.txt     - this file
	      
==== Release notes ====

This is a re-release of my game "The Dungeons of Dunjin", originally
released as shareware in 1992 (but most parts of it were written much
earlier, starting in 1986). This release is freeware (see below for
details). I'm releasing the game as freeware mainly because the
interactive fiction scene has changed a lot since 1992; today, much
more sophisticated games are given away for free. Besides, I haven't
had any registrations for several years :-).

Dunjin (pronounced like "dungeon") is short for "The Dungeons of
Dunjin" - a text adventure game in the tradition of the classic ADVENT
and Zork games.  (The user interface should be familiar to anyone who
has played Zork or another Infocom game).  Like in these games, the
program provides you with a "simulated universe" - a small world with
its own laws and logic, which you can move about in and manipulate in
various ways.

The age of Dunjin is apparent in several ways: to start with, it's
an old-school adventure game with the emphasis on exploration and
puzzle solving, rather than plot or character development. The parser
and world modelling are also not quite up to today's standard; an
example that may confuse modern players is that "open cupboard" won't
tell you what's inside - you will have to "look in cupboard"
instead. Still, I think this game is worthy of a better fate than
being forgotten, and I'm making this re-relase in the hope of
rekindling some interest in the game.

==== Changes ====

Very little has changed since the last shareware version. The only
thing the user is likely to notice is that the copyright notice
doesn't ask you to register anymore.

In fact, you can still use save files from version 4.35 with this
version. (Try doing *that* in Inform!)

==== Introduction ====

In your quest for the Holy Grail you have found an obscure reference
to the forgotten kingdom of Dunjin.  You've never heard of this
kingdom before - however, you _have_ heard of a famous tourist
attraction, the Dungeons of Dunjin.

At the start of the game, you will find yourself in a forest, looking
for the entrance to the Dungeon of Dunjin.  Your objective is to enter
and explore the Dungeon, ultimately to find the Holy Grail.  Many
obstacles will be in your way, and you'll have to face many dangers,
all of which you'll have to overcome with your wit alone (and possibly
some information and objects you'll pick up on your way).

==== Software license ====

This program is freeware (earlier releases used to be shareware, but
as of March 20, 2001, they, too, are free. There will be no refunds of
registration fees payed before that date, however.)

It is *not* in the public domain, but you may install it on your
computer, play it, make copies, and distribute those copies for
free, as long as it is distributed together with the documentation
file dundoc.txt.

You may *not* distribute modified versions of the game. You may charge
a nominal fee for distributing copies, to cover distribution costs.

Any other use of this program requires the written permission of the
author.

==== How to play ====

Like in other adventure games, you play by giving commands in (an
approximation of) natural English to the program. Typical commands
could be "take the sword", "examine it", "go north", "look inside the
box". The program will describe your immediate surroundings, and the
consequences of your actions.

Scattered throughout the dungeon are various objects which you may
pick up and carry with you.  Some of these are worthless, while others
are valuable treasures and others have no intrinsic value but may
prove useful as tools.  One of the problems facing you is to find out
which of the objects actually are useful, and how to use them.

You may also meet people, animals, monsters and supernatural beings
inside the dungeon.  Some of these are friendly while others are
dangerous enemies.

The object of the game is to find the Holy Grail (don't worry if
you've never seen one before - you'll know it when you find it) and
bring it to the adventure office.  On your way, you'll face many
dangers - the grail is not only hidden, but also well guarded.

You will get points for overcoming the various obstacles.  In
addition, you will get a 10 point bonus for each treasure you bring to
the office and hand over to the clerk (you'll have to find out for
yourself how to do this).

The maximum score is 350.  Don't despair if your score seems to be
stuck far below that value - the game is large!

To simplify things somewhat, some keys have been programmed with
commonly used commands.

         F1 will do the same thing as typing 'look'
         F2 = 'inventory',
         F8 = 'save',
         F9 = 'load' and
         F10 = 'files' (lists save files)

==== Q & A ====

(Taken from the 1992 docs, with some comments added nine years later).

Q: Why is it called Dunjin? Does it mean anything?

A:  No, Dunjin doesn't mean anything in particular. It's 
a pormanteau word formed from "dungeon" + "djinn".  

Q: In what language is Dunjin written?

A: Turbo Pascal 3.0, with some assembler routines thrown in for
speed. [ Comment/2001: The assembler routines are hardly necessary on
today's hardware; on the original 4.77 MHz 8088, they made a lot of
difference. ]


Q: Why on earth did you use that bagbiting language, and not C
(or Basic, Ada, Lisp, Fortran, Modula,...)? And if you had to use
Pascal, why not use a newer version?

A: Because when I started to write the program, TP 3.0 was the
only compiler available to me. The alternative would have been to
write it in GWBasic (yecch!).  The program quickly grew so
compiler-dependent that converting to a newer and better version
would have meant rewriting a largish amount of code, which I was
too lazy to do.

This doesn't mean that I wouldn't use a different language if I
were to start from the beginning today - in fact, I'd definitely
use an object-oriented language, probably C++. 

[ Comment/2001: Today, I'd definitely use TADS or Inform. But see the
next question. And, no, Turbo Pascal does not bite bags; it was a very
nice language for its time. ]

Q: Why not use a special adventure-writing language, like Advsys?

A: None of the adventure writing packages I've examined are powerful
enought for writing a large game.  Advsys is quite nice, but still a
toy. [ Comment/2001: Remember that this was written in 1992!  Today, I
definitely recommend the special-purpose languages Inform and TADS. ]


Q: How can I get a copy of the source to play around with?

A: [ Original A deleted; Comment/2001: I'm planning to release the
source code during 2001. Until then: be patient. ]


Q: How long did it take to write Dunjin?

A: I first got inspired in 1984, when I found the source code of
ADVENT on the ND-100 where I was doing some coursework at the time
(unfortunately, the machine was too small to compile and run it).  I
thought a lot about writing my own adventure game, but didn't have
access to any big enough machine (I wrote an extremely small one in
10K on my Acorn Atom). 

I started writing Dunjin in early 1986, when I had bought a PC
compatible.  Most of the game was outlined a year later (version 2.1).
Several friends playtested it and suggested lots of changes and
additions.  I got to the point of publishing then (thought it was only
a matter of polishing off a few details), but didn't have the energy.

Dunjin was then lying dormant on a floppy for quite some time.  Every
now and then I would work a little on it, add a few features, remove a
few bugs, and so on.

Then catastrophe struck: I accidentally deleted the clear text of the
database - only the encoded version was left.  Only several months
later did I dare do anything about it. It proved surprisingly easy to
reconstruct everything by decoding the data file.

In early 1990, version 3.0 was finished. I began toying with the idea
of publishing it on Usenet, but first I needed to iron out all the
bugs.  This was done (I thought) in March 1991, when I asked some
people to do a final, short beta test - or so I thought.

It quickly turned out that the program had _lots_ of misfeatures,
warts and outright bugs.  The entire parser was rewritten from scratch
in version 4.0.  Lots of new problems were added, and old ones
rewritten. Eight months, and several thousand lines of code, later,
it's finally (?) finished.


Q: Will there be any more adventure games from the same author?

A: Well, possibly. I've started thinking about another one,
tentatively called WOMBAT (for Waste Of Money, Brains And Time),
but I'm not quite certain when and how I'll find the time to
write it.

[ Comment/2001: Again, this was written in 1992. Quite a lot has
happened since then - see http://www.pobox.com/~mol/if.html ]


Q: And, finally, who on Earth is Tom A. Crona? Am I supposed to
know this guy?

A: Tom A.  Crona is sort of an internal joke - sort of a signature
used by me as a teenage hacker.  The name is an anagram of "Acorn
Atom" - a British, 6502 based hobby computer from the early eighties,
which it was my pleasure to own in high school.

==== Acknowledgements ====

I'd  like to thank the following people:

Fredrik Kilander, 
Gran Sandberg, 
Jerry Andrews, 
Saari Anssi,
Staffan Skogvall 

for their invaluable contributions to Dunjin.  Without their
criticism, suggestions and bug reports, Dunjin would have been a
rather different (and much less interesting) game.

The following test players have also provided valuable com-
ments: Anders Robertsson, Ashwin Hirschi, Duke McMullan,
Gudmundir B. Josepsson, Sigurgeir Jnsson and Sixten Borg.
Thanks to all of you!

Thanks also to Peter Forsberg for providing the first inspiration
by making his ADVENT sources world readable on the old CAESAR
system.

==== Disclaimer ====

Dunjin is believed to be a correct and well-behaved program.  It has
been tested and found to work on several different computers, running
different DOS versions.

THIS PROGRAM IS DELIVERED AS IS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED.  THE AUTHOR DOES NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY
WHATSOEVER FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANY INTENTIONAL OR
UNINTENTIONAL USE OR MISUSE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

All characters and events depicted in this game are entirely
fictional.  Any similarities with real people, places, names or events
are entirely unintentional and coincidental.

No special measures have been taken to make this game politically,
religiously or philosophically "correct".  Small children and very
sensitive and/or neurotic adults may conceivably take offense to some
of its features.  However, the game was written with the sole purpose
of entertainment, and not to be offensive.  The world depicted is a
fairy tale world, and does not necessarily reflect the author's views
of the real world.  Actions and events happening in the game are _not_
meant to set any kind of example for actions in the real world.

No animals were injured during the production of this game.

HAPPY ADVENTURING!
