SHORT-DESCRIPTION:

    TURBO PASCAL SOURCE CODE for the ...

    Adventure Game Toolkit (or AGT) -- Version 1.7

    Create and play your own text adventure games with this easy-to-use,
    award-winning package.  AGT games can be big (200 locations, 100's of
    objects, people, creatures), sophisticated (500 or more word vocabulary,
    full-sentence parser), and very professional (numerous reviewers have
    likened AGT games to those from INFOCOM).  Comes with a sample game,
    Colossal Cave, and extensive documentation.  384K memory needed.
    ASP member.  AGT is now "freeware."

    KEYWORDS: ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT AGT TEXT ASP FREEWARE SOURCE PASCAL


OVERVIEW OF THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT:

The ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) lets you design/write your own high-quality
text adventure games.  Once created, these adventure games can be shared with
others -- even if they do not have a copy of the AGT themselves.

AGT has a number of features that make it a very comprehensive adventure game
creation product.  Some of these key features are:

   *     "Look and feel" of Infocom adventure games with similar screen layout
         and standard vocabulary and routines.

   *     Large standard vocabulary with potential to define many more words
         unique to your gam.  Typical games can have a vocabulary of 500 words
         or more.

   *     Sophisticated parser that can understand (1) complex input commands
         including pronouns (IT, HIM, HER, THEM, MY and ITS), and (2) compound
         commands separated by AND or THEN or punctuation symbols, and (3)
         commands addressed to characters within the game.  Here are a few
         examples of commands AGT can handle with ease:

              GET THE FLASH LIGHT AND THEN SWITCH IT ON
              PUT ON THE CLOAK, THEN EXAMINE IT; READ ITS LABEL
              PLACE THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE TREE
              ENTER THE HOUSE; GET ALL; EXIT; SOUTH; SOUTH THEN DOWN
              SULU, SET A COURSE FOR ALPHA 14
              SCOTTY, BEAM DOWN A TRICORDER AND THE QWERTY MODULE
              DROP THE FOOD, THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH
                   THE BRASS KEY AND THEN LEAVE

   *     Function and cursor keys predefined to input frequently used commands
         and move directions.

   *     SCRIPT and UNSCRIPT commands to echo game output to printer.

   *     Versions for IBM, Macintosh, Atari ST and Amiga.  Games created on
         one of these computers can be played on all of the others without
         modifications to the game.


WHAT THE REVIEWERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT

     "Using the Adventure Game Toolkit, anyone with an ounce of
     imagination can create a text adventure game ... similar in layout
     and sophistication to those made by Infocom and other commercial
     developers." -- Donald B. Trivette (PC Magazine)

     "The Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) acts as a compiler which allows
     for creating remarkably complex and sophisticated games in a fairly
     simple way .... AGT's parser reminds me of Infocom's." -- Scorpia
     (Computer Gaming World)

     "If you have ever wondered what it is like to create your own
     adventure games, but didn't have the programming knowledge to do it,
     this product is for you .... The process is easy ... and you'll have
     hours of fun doing it." -- Resul DeMaria (Public Domain Software &
     Shareware)

     "The Adventure Game Toolkit from Softworks ... provides all the
     tools you need to build your own text based adventure games .... The
     Adventure Game Toolkit is an extremely powerful development
     package." -- Bob Napp (Big Blue Disk)

     Recently, the Adventure Game Toolkit was awarded the "Golden Chalice"
     Award by the Adventure And Strategy Club (of England).


HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR AGT 

IBM: The games created by the Adventure Game Toolkit requires a computer with
at least 384K of memory, MS-DOS 2.1, and at least one disk drive.  It is
possible to use any kind of monitor and AGT will automatically adjust its
output to best suit the monitor.


FILES

AGT is composed of a Compiler and a Run-time program.  These two programs are
used to compile and run AGT adventure game source files.

In this ZIP, the AGT Compiler Turbo Pascal source consists of:

    COMPILE.PAS -- the AGT Compiler Main program file
    *.PA3 -- various Include files

In this ZIP, the AGT Run-time Turbo Pascal source consists of:

    RUN.PAS -- the AGT Run-time Main program file
    RUNPART1.PAS -- an AGT Run-time Unit file
    RUNPART2.PAS -- an AGT Run-time Unit file
    RUNPART3.PAS -- an AGT Run-time Unit file
    *.PA4 -- various Include files

Note: These programs can be compile successfully with any versio of Borland
and/or Turbo Pascal after version 3 (i.e., version 4 and above).

In this ZIP, a sample AGT adventure game has been included to allow you to
test out the compiled COMPILE.EXE and RUN.EXE programs.  This AGT adventure
is the original ADVENTURE game by Willie Crowther and Don Woods -- most often
called the "Adventure In Colossal Cave."  The AGT source files to this game
are named CAVE with various extensions.

To compile this game, give the command COMPILE CAVE at the DOS prompt.  To run
or play this game, give the command RUN CAVE at the DOS prompt.

To learn more about how to write Adventure Games using AGT, you can read the
AGT manual in the file AGT-DOC.TXT.

Other AGT games and their source files may be found in the GAMERS forum on
CompuServe (Just "Browse" with the keyword "AGT") or downloaded from Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood BBS in Lexington, KY at (606) 271-0558.  This BBS has
the largest collection of Adventure related files in the US.


THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT IS NOW "FREEWARE"

AGT is now "freeware."  This means that the authors, David Malmberg and Mark
Welch, still retain the copyright to AGT and all of its related files, such
as the documentations and sample games.  However, you or any other user may
use the AGT system to develop and distribute your own games without paying any
royalty to the AGT authors.

So enjoy!!

