+------
| The Quest For Opa Opa!
| Chapter 1 : How I became a great, bergood adventurer.
+------

(C) 2004 Los Monos del Obs
http://www.apeshell.net
obus@apeshell.net

A game by na_th_an & aetherFox
Special thanks to Zadkiel.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.

"Dedicated to all those who still believe in fairy tales."

This readme is designed to be read with any plain-text editor and wordwrap.

+------
| Contents:
+------

1.0 About The Game
    1.1 The Story
    1.2 System Requirements
2.0 Gameplay
    2.1 Installation
    2.2 Interactive Fiction
    2.3 Commands
    2.4 Interface
    2.5 Battles
    2.6 Saving and Loading
    2.7 Quirks
3.0 Credits
    3.1 Contact
    3.2 Thanks
4.0 Legal
    4.1.0 Source Code
        4.1.1 GNU GPL

+------
| 1.0 About The Game
+------

The Quest For Opa Opa (or Opa Opa for short) is a series of games of which this
is the first chapter of.  This game in particular is an Interactive Fiction game 
made for anyone who enjoys puzzles, slapstick humour and just in general an 
enjoyable gaming experience.

This game contains themes and dialogues intended for a mature audience.  If you 
feel you are easily offended, then you should not play this game.

1.1 The Story
-----

Many years ago, in the Land Of Noronstronsky there was a small village called
Wankerville.  Wankerville was a quaint place that originated from two
lumberjacks who got lost.  Fortunately, the lumberjacks were male and female, so
they started a family of their own, and through a fairly disgusting mixture of
inbreeding and incest, Wankerville was formed through the generations.

The lumberjacks who lived in Wankerville were skilled at their task.  Because of
the closeness of their village, everyone shared trade secrets and the village
prospered (relative term...they were lumberjacks after all).

Wankerville unfortunately was situated in the midst of a place far from the
safety of the King's court.  The outskirts of the village were looted and
plundered by dangerous things; all paths to and from Wankerville were too
dangerous to use.

In the past, the King had brave and valiant knights to guard the paths, because
as queer as the village was, Wankerville produced some of the finest oak for the
King's collection of wooden rocking horses.  However, with time, the courage of
the knights faltered, and the fiercity of the dangers around Wankerville
increased.

Just as the balance was becoming critical to the future of Wankerville, you, a
young lad, son of one of the most important lumberjacks from Wankerville,
decides to step up and become a Wandering Knight.  Wandering Knights are brave
and fearless adventurers who roam the lands protecting the weak and punishing
the evil.

Try as you might, you cannot persuade your father to agree with your decision,
and because of the lumberjacks' innate stubbornness, he locks up all of the
family weapons and keeps the key with him.

To become a true Wandering Knight for the court of the King, a true Opa Opa, you
must make your way to the town of Noronstronsky, the far reaches of the northern
lands of Konrad.  All roads and paths are infested with the most dangerous and
darkest things you can imagine, and even a lumberjack is clever enough to gain
experience.  You need to find your way across the forest, find weapons and
skills.  When you are an adept adventurer and warrior, you will be able to cross
the Valleys of Isn, on your way to the King's court, in the capital Konrad.

1.2 System Requirements
-----

The system requirements shown below are approximations.  This game basically 
requires nothing more than 32-bit Microsoft Windows and a sound card to play.

    Pentium class or compatible processor
    Microsoft Windows 98 and above
    Keyboard
    Sound Card
    Speakers
    2.2 MB of disk space
    
The game was tested on Windows XP SP2 machines, with AMD and Intel chipsets.

+------
| 2.0 Gameplay
+------

Opa Opa plays like most IF (Interactive Fiction) games you would have 
encountered.  The gameplay was designed to be simple, with the emphasis on 
humour, story and enjoyment.

2.1 Installation
-----

The compressed archive that you downloaded (OpaOpa.zip or OpaOpa.rar) is a 
complete encapsulation of everything that you will need to play the game.  This 
means that you can decompress the archive (keeping folder structure intact) and 
the game is ready to play.  If need be, you can relocate your folder to another 
place without worrying about anything.

To play the game, simply run the 'OpaOpa.exe' file, and the game will start.

If there is an error, make sure of the following:
   - Ensure that the archive was decompressed keeping folder structure intact.
   - Ensure that the archive is valid - get it from the offical website.

2.2 Interactive Fiction
-----

Interactive Fiction (IF) is just that - fiction that can be manipulated and 
interacted with.  It is basically 'living' the story and doing what you want in 
it.  IF games were and still are very popular, and spawned a huge community, 
with IF dedicated programming languages, newsgroups, cult games...the works.

Nowadays, people are still into IF, but to a much lesser degree.  The goal of 
Los Monos del Obs is to bring back that nostalgia in gaming.

2.3 Commands
-----

At the prompt '>' you can enter commands that control the flow of the game.  You 
can use verbs to move around, verbs to fight or look at things.  For a seasoned 
IF gamer, these commands will be familiar.  For the beginner, the simplicity of 
the engine and the likeness it has to English will make anyone feel right at 
home.

Movement:
The following commands signify moving in their respective directions.  Most of
these commands can be shortened to save typing and to make moving through 
familiar areas quick.
    north, n
    south, s
    east, e
    west, w
    northeast, ne
    nortwest, nw
    southeast, se
    southwest, sw
    up
    down
    enter                          (go inside)
    exit                           (go outside)
    
Object Handling:
The following commands relate to handing, using or observing objects and items 
within the game.  This includes manipulating the inventory, or using an object.
[obj#] is paramters to the commands that can be replaced with objects and items 
in the game.  [npc] is a NPC in the same game room as your character.
    examine, ex [obj]
    get, take [obj]
    drop, leave [obj]
    put [obj1] into [obj2]
    take [obj1] from [obj2]
    open [obj]
    close [obj]
    open [obj1] with [obj2]
    give [obj] to [npc]
    yield, arm [obj]                (use object as a weapon)
    buy [obj]
    turn [obj] on

These commands relate to clothing, armour or other items that are worn.
    put [obj] on
    wear [obj]
    put all on
    wear all
    take [obj] off
    take off [obj]
    take all off
    take off all
    get naked                      (removes all clothes in one go)

Miscellaneous:
The following commands perform miscellaneous functions.  This could relate to 
interacting with a NPC (non-playable character) or acts that are unclassified.
[npc] is a NPC in the same game room as your character.  [msg] is text that you 
want to say to another NPC.
    attack, kill [npc]
    take a bath
    swim
    tell [msg] to [npc]
    talk, speak to [npc]
    ask for [msg] to [npc]
    ask [npc] for [obj]
    sleep                            (take a nap)
    wait                             (let the game time flow)
    save
    load
    exits                            (shows all the exits of the game room)
    bye, end                         (quits the game)
    
The parser supports many more expressions and synonyms, which you will find
easily, and are too awkward to document.

The parser also supports pronouns, so you can (for example) do the following:

    > get box
    > open it

The parser would recognise 'it' as being the box, the last object you told it 
about.  This makes life easy for seasoned IF gamers, who would had seen similar 
features in other games.
    
2.4 Interface
-----

The interface of the game is a simplistic text-based console UI.  Along the top,
the current location and time of day is shown.  Along the bottom, the character
statistics are shown.

You type commands at the blinking '>' prompt.  Depending on your command, the
game will respond.  If there is an error in the way you inputted a command, be
it whether a command exists or it was misinterpreted, then the game will inform
you.

Unlike some other IF games, interactive objects are not highlighted in the text.  
It is up to you to find objects of interest from the text and examine them.  
This was done on purpose to increase the exploration factor of the game, and to 
make it more challenging.

Time is an important factor in the game.  At night, there is greater danger in 
the paths and forest.  If you are in a safe place, 'sleep' will pass the night 
and you will wake at daybreak.  'wait' will make a significant but random amount 
of time pass (30 to 60 minutes), and any other command or simply pressing Enter 
at the prompt will pass 2 minutes of time.

2.5 Battles
-----

Battles are events where you come across NPCs that are dangerous, and will 
either attack you without warning, or will continue to attack you after you 
initiate the battle.

Battles are simple, just follow the on screen prompts till the end of the battle 
and you will fight the enemy.

When you lose all your energy, you will die, and it will be Game Over.  
Therefore, save often, as you might find yourself battling enemies you didn't 
think were so difficult.

2.6 Saving and Loading
-----

To save the current game, simply type 'save' at the prompt.  The game will ask 
you for a filename, and then proceed to save your statistics, inventory and 
current location.

To load a game, type 'load' at the prompt.  The game will as you for a 
previously saved game's filename, and then will proceed to load your statistics, 
inventory and location.

2.7 Quirks
-----

For the sake of documentation, almost all the important commands are listed.  
Some of them may seem strange, and that is a blatant clue to the fact that the 
command has a major role somewhere in the game.

The idea behind the game is to encourage abstract exploration and thinking.  
Look in places you wouldn't normally look.  Read the game room description again 
to make sure you haven't missed any subtle clues.

Last of all, don't be afraid to be adventurous.  No one is looking if you 
stopped to examine a monkey or the dust underneath a dead tree!  Sure, the game 
might insult you a little, but he's only joking.

+------
| 3.0 Credits
+------

This game was created by na_th_an and aetherFox, using various versions of 
freeBASIC (final compile on v0.09b).  It was completed on December 23rd, 2004.

All music in this game is original and composed by na_th_an and aetherFox using 
Adobe Audition 1.5 and Acid Pro 4.

The release was delayed due to complicated reasons involving a large amount of
laziness on the part of the developers.

The game is produced under the name of Los Monos del Obs.
You can find us at http://www.apeshell.net


3.1 Contact
-----

Los Monos del Obs:
http://www.apeshell.net
obus@apeshell.net
"The Cannonball Monkeys," or more accurately, "The Howitzer Monkeys."
Don't ask.

na_th_an:
na_th_an@hotmail.com
http://ojodepez.cjb.net

aetherFox:
avinashvora@gmail.com
http://avinash.qbxl.net

You can find us on QBasicNews (http://www.qbasicnews.com) where we are active
posters under the same names.  Alternatively, leave a message on the forum at
our website.

3.2 Thanks
-----

Nekrophidius - for being our own personal god and one of the coolest guys we 
               know.  Rock on, bro :D
v1ctor - for freeBASIC...it made us do this.
Fling-master - for the excellent web hosting in the start and being a cool guy.
SJ Zero - for the original subdomain, and for being a rockin' guy.
The creators of FMod - only the best music library today.

Our greetings to...
    Clarita
    Rhiannon
    Josiah
    someone42
    Marcade
    Rockuman
    relsoft
    Z!re
    Terry
    Angelo
    wildcard
    Pete
    ...anyone forgotten...

    The guys who visit #badlogic
    The guys who visit QBN

And you...for getting this far in the documentation (not much left) and for 
hopefully enjoying the game.

+------
| 4.0 Legal
+------

THIS GAME IS RELEASED AS OPEN SOURCE BY THE DEVELOPERS UNDER THE GNU GENERAL 
PUBLIC LICENSE.  YOU MAY DISTRIBUTE THE GAME AND ITS ACCOMPANYING FILES IN THE 
ORIGINAL, UNALTERED ZIP OR RAR ARCHIVE AS YOU PLEASE.  YOU MAY NOT USE ANY PART 
OF THE GAME (SOURCE CODE, MUSIC, SCRIPTS) WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE DEVELOPERS 
AND KEEPING IN TRACK WITH THE GPL.

THE DEVELOPERS OF THE GAME ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT BEFALLS YOU 
OR YOUR PROPERTY WHILE YOU ARE IN POSESSION OF THE GAME AND ITS ACCOMPANYING 
FILES.  YOU ARE PLAYING AT YOUR OWN RISK.

THE DEVELOPERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES YOU CAUSE TO ANY PROPERTY 
SURROUNDING YOU OR NOT DUE TO THE FRUSTRATION YOU MAY GET WHILE PLAYING THIS 
GAME.

THE DEVELOPERS KNOW THAT THIS GAME IS FAR FROM PERFECT.  YOU MAY ENCOUNTER BUGS 
OR SMALL ERRORS IN THE GAME THAT WOULD OTHERWISE RUIN THE EXPERIENCE, HOWEVER 
HERE, THEY WERE LEFT IN BECAUSE THE DEVELOPERS ARE NOT BOTHERED WITH PERFECTION.

4.1.0 Source Code
-----

The source code for this game is released under the GNU General Public License.
We released it to promote free software and to support the open software cause, 
but do not expect neat and commented code.  This game is the most heavily 
patched piece of software we have ever seen, and we intend to leave it like it 
is.  If you can learn from it, excellent, just made sure you give us credit
where credit is due.

4.1.1 GNU GPL
-----

Please see the gpl.txt file for further information.

The Quest For Opa Opa!
Chapter 1 : How I became a great, bergood adventurer.
Copyright (C) 2004 - 2005  Los Monos del Obs

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
