Newbie to the Forum......

[Zip]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum and want to say hello.

I first played Dungeon Master back in 1989 on the Atari ST and it has stuck with me all these years. I recently found a download to the game, one created by George Gilbert. I've been playing it the last few weeks and it felt great to be back in the dungeon fighting the mummies and rockpiles once more

After doing that i decided to check out the editing facility that came with the game. I loaded it up and was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the thing. Unfortunately i am pretty much a dunce when it comes to computers and i cannot seem to transfer my changes into the actual game itself! I've read the editing notes but, after having trialed and errored a few things, i am still unable to play my changes.

So basically i'm looking for some help from my fellow Dungeon Masters Any advice would be greatly received and appreciated and in the meantime i'll be reading up on what looks to be a very interesting forum.

[Ameena]

If you mean you want to make changes to the DM dungeon, you'll want to load it into the editor, make your changes, save it (preferably under a different name so it won't override the original file), and then add the appropriate line into the Config file. Errrm...I think it tells you what to type in the help document that comes with it, but it's something like...

COMPILE (Tab) Modules/filename

But it's been ages since i did it.
Anyway, once you've added in the "Compile" line (remember it's a Tab before the other info, not loads of spaces), when you load RTC after that it will put together that dungeon file and create a ".rtc" version of it (rather than the ".txt" version which is what you edit). Then it will come with any errors it's detected (if any) and park you in front of the dungeon doors, ready to start (regardless of what errors came up). It will do this every time you load RTC until you remove the "Compile" line you added into the Confg file.
That's as best as I remember it, anyway. I'm sure someone will pop along with more accurate instructions - I'm going to bed soon and am also in danger of having something mostly-grey-but-with-some-red-and-a-bit-of-white and feathery launching himself (literally) across the room at me.
Oh yeah, welcome to the forum btw - we seem to be getting a lot of newcomers lately .

[beowuuf]

Welcome to the forums!

You have the Return to Chaos (RTC) clone. Ameena's advice is probably the one you want, but check out the set of forums as the answer might be there.

Note that the dungeon file and the saved game file are relatively independent. You cannot change the dungeon layout then expect your saved game to have that change I'm afraid.

[ian_scho]

"the Config file" is probably one of those .ini files that you can double click and open in the Notepad application.

Good luck!

[Jan]

Hello and welcome, Zip!

[Ameena]

Ohh yeah, you can't edit your saved game, like Wuffy says - you can only edit the dungeon. You could always edit it to the extent that you start with your chosen party and are at whatever bit in the dungeon you got to and carrying whatever stuff you picked up, but then you'd probably have to try and remember which doors you'd unlocked and stuff as well, so it might take a while.
Also, when the dungeon compiles and creates an ".rtc" version of the file, that is uneditable - you have to edit the ".txt" version and re-save that. If you make a new dungeon yourself and want to share it with other people, it's the ".rtc" you send to them - that way people can't sneak into the file and edit it or look at the maps and stuff .

[Duckman]

Welecome to the forums then!

Use "confing" to command it to compile ye'r dungeon -But make an ensuring copy first just in case! Move ye'r dungeon to "modules" folder and write -without ; in front

Compile modules/*yer dungeon name*.txt

Use a tabulator to make the gap after the "compile" word instead of spacebar. And remove the command after the game has succesfully compiled ye'r work.

[Gambit37]

Zip is going to waste a lot of time looking on his keyboard for a "tabulator"!

[Zip]

Thanks for the great advice guys, took your advice and have been having plenty of fun with the editor

Thanks for the welcome too. I never in my wildest dreams expected there to be a forum about Dungeon Master, let alone one that is still active. It's great to know there are other ardent fans of DM like myself.

Are there any threads on this forum that people recommend?

[Gambit37]

Hi Zip, welcome too! Note that you can also use the word TEST instead of COMPILE, while testing your dungeon -- this is quicker, but it doesn't create the RTC file.

[Trantor]

Hi Zip, welcome to the forums! Just take your time and look around the forum. If you have the time and motivation, check out the Custom Dungeon forums to see what some of us came up with ourselves. Some of those dungeons are just as good (if not better) than the original FTL games.

[Ameena]

Since I don't know what kind of stuff you might specifically like to read on here I can't really recommend any threads to you, but we all like hearing about the previous dungeon capers and catastrophes from old-timers (and even those who have only recently discovered the realms of Lord Chaos) like yourself - there's a thread or two in the DM section of the forum, I think, if you'd like to regale us with any silly little things you never knew about the game, or any spectacularly stupid/funny/embarrassing ways in which you might have got yourself killed in either DM or CSB .