STAC
====

A player for the text adventures made
with STAC, the ST Adventure Creator by
Incentive Software (1988), as a GEM
program. It is a new engine, made from
the runtime of the STAC games, and
plays their .LNK files in a window:
The Artefact, Shymer and the others.

Runs on every Atari with TOS 1.04 or
newer, MagiC or MiNT, in any
resolution of at least 320 x 200, with
1 MB or more. STAC.APP is for 68000 to
68060 machines, STACV4.APP for the
FireBee. STAC.RSC has to be next to
them.

Starting a game
---------------

File > Open... (Control+O) asks for a
game file: the .LNK file of a STAC
game (the one next to its .PRG), or a
.ADV file saved by the creator. A game
file can also be dropped on STAC.APP
or on the text window, or sent by a
desktop that knows VA_START.

A game that has a title picture shows
it first, over the text window: a key
or a click goes on, or ten seconds.
Options > Title picture shows it again
in a window of its own.

The top row of the window is the
status line of the game: the place
and the score.

Type commands in English and press
Return, for example GO NORTH, TAKE
LAMP, INVENTORY. Most games also know
SAVE, LOAD, RAMSAVE and RAMLOAD, and
the short ones the game names at the
start. When a game ends, it starts
again.

Pictures
--------

The pictures are shown in a window of
their own, above the text, or at the
top of the text window (see View
below). The picture window can be
moved and sized; the picture keeps its
shape. Closing it, or Options >
Pictures (Control+P), turns the
pictures off; Control+P turns them on
again.

In true colour the pictures have their
own colours. With 16 colours (ST Low)
they get them while the picture window
is on top; the desktop changes colour
meanwhile and is back to normal as
soon as another window is on top.
Options > Picture colours turns this
off: then the pictures use the
desktop's colours, as they do with 256
colours. In black and white and in ST
Medium they are dithered.

Options > Sound turns the sound
effects of the games on and off.

View
----

Options > View... (Control+E):

- Bold prompt: the prompt of the game
  and the commands you type in bold.
- Game font: the text in the letters
  of the game, from its .PRG or from a
  .FNT file next to the game file. A
  font chosen with Font... turns it
  off. Coloured letters are drawn in
  the text colour.
- In the text window: the picture at
  the top of the text window instead
  of a window of its own; it saves
  room on small screens.
- Reset colours: white text on black
  again.

A colour dropped on the text window
(from a program that knows the Colour
protocol) colours the ground; dropped
on a letter, it colours the text.

Options > Font... (Control+F) calls a
font selector that knows the Font
protocol, such as FONT_PAL or
FONT_SEL. It has to be running, or be
named in the FONTSELECT variable (with
its folder, MagiC and MiNT start it).
A font can also be dropped on the
window from such a program. STAC takes
fonts whose letters all have the same
width, such as the system font,
Courier or Monaco, in any size; other
fonts than the system font need GDOS
or NVDI.

Fullscreen
----------

Options > Fullscreen (Alt+F) shows the
picture at the top of the screen and
the text below it, without menu bar
and windows. Alt+F again brings the
desktop back; so do the menu keys that
open a dialog or the manual, and a
file selector (for SAVE and LOAD).

On an ST or STE in ST Low or ST Medium
the picture is shown in low resolution
with its own 16 colours and the text
in medium resolution, 80 columns. The
text is then in the game font or the
system font.

Controls
--------

Menu keys

  Control+O  open a game
  Control+N  restart the game
  Control+S  save the position
  Control+R  restore a position
  Control+P  pictures on or off
  Control+E  View
  Control+F  Font
  Alt+F      Fullscreen on or off
  Help       this manual
  Control+W  close the manual, View, the
             picture or the title
             window
  Control+Q  quit to the desktop

Typing a command

  Return     send the command
  Backspace  delete to the left
  Delete     delete to the right
  Left       cursor left
  Right      cursor right
  Clr Home   start of the line
  Up, Down   earlier commands
  Esc        clear the line

Reading

  Shift+Up   scroll back a page
  Shift+Down scroll on a page
  Shift+Home back to the end

The sliders and arrows of the window
scroll as well. [More] at the end of
the text: a window full of text has
come; any key shows the next.
