Hello and Welcome to the Bard's Tale Construction Set v1.3! After UNZIPing the NUBTCS.ZIP file, you should have the following files: README.DOC (You're looking at it now) EXE.ZIP SOUNDS.ZIP You need to UNZIP the EXE.ZIP file into your \BTCS directory (it contains files that replace your original BTCS.EXE and BARDGAME.EXE, and so on). You will then need to UNZIP the SOUNDS.ZIP file into your \BTCS\SOUNDS directory (it contains Sound Blaster stuff, mostly). After that, you should look over the rest of this README file, it shows you what has changed since the last version of BTCS. If you have any problems, you can reach Interplay at the usual places (most likely where you got this upgrade). But for safe measure: The Interplay BBS: 714-545-2605, 300-14400 Baud, v.32 and v.42bis, N81 Compuserve: GO GAMEPUB (GO GAMERS for hints) GEnie: SCORPIA's RoundTable (Section 13) America On-Line: We are in the INDUSTRY CONNECTION Customer Support: (Voice) 714-549-2411 (M-F, 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM, PST) Or, finally, : INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS 3710 S. SUSAN #100 SANTA ANA, CA, 92704 ATTN: CUSTOMER SUPPORT Thanks for buying Interplay! -Interplay Productions ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» ºThe Bard's Tale Construction Set Revision Historyº ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³BTCS version 1.1 November 30, 1991³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Files Afected: All Version 1.1 of BTCS features the following improvements: -------------------------------------------------------- 1) The 10 Second delay during treasure screen has been replaced by a "" prompt. 2) Options are displayed at the end of viewmode to provide a way to page through all character info again. 3) The palette is now correct when teleporting from one map to another. 4) Teleport now works with directional controls. 5) Save game no longer un-equipps all items before saving the characters. 6) Scroll speed is adjustable from virtually anywhere in the game. Also, the scroll rate is adjustable to a VERY slow rate to accomadate faster machines and systems with VGA graphics. 7) "Updating Character Info" messages are gone. 8) 7th level spells may now be purchased. 9) Warrior classes were not able to attack when they progressed to level 2. This has been corrected. 10) Item names not repeated when equipping characters. 11) The Quit Game option in the Utilities menu is more intuitive now. 12) Isil Thania scenario has been repaired. 13) Stray animations no longer stay on the screen when no light is on in a dungeon. 14) "Spell Cast" category now makes sense for BOWs and ARROWs. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³BTCS version 1.2 February 24, 1992³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Files affected: BTCS.EXE BARDGAME.EXE SETUP.EXE All sound files Version 1.2 of BTCS features the following improvements: -------------------------------------------------------- 1) BARDGAME will now play a random song while in the guild. 2) The SETUP.EXE had problems with some invalid keystrokes. This has been corrected. 3) The Utilities screen now offers the option to print a list of Items and Monsters, as well as a Map/Special printing option. 4) If the first line of a special is a DRAW PICTURE command, the game will not display the 3D view prior to displaying your picture. 5) BARDGAME can now display custom title pages. A graphic named USRSCR.LBM will automatically be loaded as a titlepage ( if in the BTCS directory ). There is also a hook for a titlepage saved under a different name. To load a graphic with a different name type BARDGAME -T XXXXXX.LBM, where XXXXXX.LBM is the name of the file to be loaded. 6) The game uses a new map file format which will be 10% to 70% smaller than previous versions. The new BTCS program will be able to work with the older map format. 7) There are now two special functions associated with taking gold from a party. The first is a test to determine if gold can be taken ( returning a TRUE or FALSE result ). The other will take a specified amount of gold from the party. 8) Spells can now do dammage which is proportional to the level of the caster ( XdX per level ). 9) If a character in the party is poisoned, the game will no longer print Poison messages after each action. 10) The game will now indicate if a character is Poisoned, Aged, Stoned, etc., when viewing the characters statistics. 11) Two time related functions have been added to the Special Editor. The first will perform a special in a specified number of minutes. A time of 0 minutes will trigger the special immediately. A timed special can only be canceled by leaving the map, or by the second time related function, Cancel Time Special. 12) The special editor now has a GOTO LINE # command. 13) BTCS now features protection flags which will alert the user if data has not been saved when the Quit BTCS option has been selected. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³BTCS version 1.3 May 12, 1992³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Files affected: BTCS.EXE BARDGAME.EXE All *.ADV files Version 1.3 of BTCS features the following improvements: -------------------------------------------------------- 1) The game utilizes a new sound driver. The driver now checks the BLASTER environment variable ( set within your AUTOEXEC batch file ) for IRQ, DMA, and I/O Address settings. 2) When reviewing lists, the game no longer highlights old list selections ( thus highlighting two selections at once ) 3) Through certain key combinations, it was possible to select the message "Select One" while viewing a list. This has been corrected. 4) The GOTO special option previously accepted line numbers from 1 to 32000 ( numbers 21 and over equaling 20 ). The option is now limited to lines 1 through 20. 5) While editing items, negative values ( up to -15 ) may be entered for To Hit and A/C bonus catagories. 6) A new special has been added which allows you to subtract from the counter. 7) There is a new teleport function in the Special Editor called Teleport Relative. E.g.- Teleport 3 squares North and 2 squares east of there the party is standing. 8) Another teleport function has been added which will Teleport and then activate a special at the destination.