dopewars configuration files
A dopewars server, or a
client (in single-player mode) can be heavily configured by the means
of dopewars configuration files. Clients used to connect to multiplayer
servers can also be configured by the same means, but almost all of these
settings will be overridden on connecting to the server (although the server
location settings Port and Server are still useful).
The order of making dopewars settings is as follows:-
- The global configuration file (if present) /etc/dopewars
- The user-specific file (if present) ~/.dopewars
- Options specified on the command line
Each setting in a dopewars configuration file should be on a line by itself;
comments may be added if the first character in the line is a hash (#). An
example configuration file is shown here.
Valid configuration file settings are listed below. The examples given
reproduce the default behaviour; obviously you are free to replace the parts
in italics to customise your own server and client.
General configuration: file and server locations
- Port=7902
- Tells the dopewars client to look for a server on port 7902, and
tells the dopewars server to bind to port 7902 and wait for connections.
This can be overridden with the -p
command line option.
- Server=localhost
- Tells the dopewars client to look for a server at the address
localhost. Dotted quad (e.g. 127.0.0.1) addresses may also be used here.
If this variable is set to one of the three "special" names
(MetaServer), (Prompt), or (Single) (including the
brackets) then the client will not connect to a server but instead
list the servers available at the metaserver, prompt the user to enter a
server name and port, or play in single player mode, respectively.
This option can be overridden with the -o
command line option (but be sure to protect the brackets from the shell
if you use one of the "special" names).
- HiScoreFile=/var/lib/dopewars.sco
- Tells the dopewars server (or the client, if running in single-player
mode, not connected to a server) to use the file /var/lib/dopewars.sco
to store high scores. This can be overridden with the -f
command line option.
- Pager=more
- Sets the pager used to display multi-page output in an interactive server
to more. ("less" is a popular alternative)
- ConfigVerbose=0
- Prints extra feedback information when processing the config. file; this
only takes affect, of course, after the ConfigVerbose variable is set, and
then remains in force until it is set again.
Metaserver configuration
- MetaServer.Active=1
- Tells the dopewars server to report its status to the
metaserver on startup and shutdown. If 1
is replaced by 0 (zero) the server will not report to the metaserver.
This setting, if set to 1, can be overridden by the -S
command line option.
- MetaServer.Name=bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk
- Tells dopewars that the metaserver is located at
bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk. See the metaserver
page for information about connecting to the dopewars metaserver via. a
proxy web server.
- MetaServer.Port=80
- Instructs dopewars that the metaserver can be found on port 80.
This is the standard HTTP port for Web access, but you may need to change
this if you are connecting via. a proxy web server.
- MetaServer.Path=/~ben/cgi-bin/server.pl
- Tells dopewars that the CGI script on the metaserver, for server
registration (server mode) or listing the available servers (client mode) is
/~ben/cgi-bin/server.pl.
- MetaServer.Comment=dopewars
server
- Sets the comment for your server, which appears on the list of servers
maintained by the metaserver, to dopewars server.
Basic configuration: places in the game
- NumLocation=8
- Sets the number of locations in the game to 8. Note that if too
many locations are specified, the client may not be able to display them
all!
- Location[4].Name=Manhattan
- Sets the name of the 4th location in the game to Manhattan.
The index within the square brackets can range from 1 to whatever
NumLocation is set to above, or an error will be reported.
- Location[4].PolicePresence=90
- Sets the police presence in the 4th location to 90%. In
theory this affects how likely it is for the police to catch players at
each location; in practice, it has no effect (code not written yet - sorry!).
- Location[4].MinDrug=4
- Sets the minimum possible number of different drugs that will be on sale
to players in location number 4 to 4.
- Location[4].MaxDrug=10
- Sets the maximum possible number of different drugs that will be on sale
to players in location number 4 to 10. Don't be silly and
try to set this to more than the number of actual drugs.
- LoanShark=1
- Makes the loan shark pop up when players visit location number 1.
To stop the loan shark from appearing at all (making it rather difficult to
pay off debts) set this number to something which is not a valid location,
such as 0 (zero).
- Bank=1
- Makes the bank appear when a player visits location 1 (the Bronx).
- GunShop=2
- Players can visit "Dan's House of Guns" in location number 2 (the
Ghetto).
- RoughPub=2
- Players can visit the rough pub to hire bitches in location number
2.
Basic configuration: drug prices
- NumDrug=12
- Sets there to be 12 different types of drug in the game.
- Drug[6].Name=MDA
- Sets the name of the 6th drug to be MDA.
- Drug[6].MinPrice=1500
- Sets the usual minimum price of the 6th drug (in the absence of
"special events" such as drug busts) to be $1,500.
- Drug[6].MaxPrice=4400
- Sets the usual maximum price of drug number 6 to be $4,400.
- Drug[1].Cheap=1
- Tells dopewars that drug 1 (by default, Acid) can occasionally
be especially cheap (if this is set to 0, zero, this does not happen).
- Drug[1].CheapStr=The market is flooded with cheap
home-made acid!
- Sets the message to display to alert players that drug number 1
is especially cheap.
- Drugs.CheapDivide=4
- Tells dopewars that whenever a drug is "specially" cheap, divide the
normal price distribution (between Drug[x].MinPrice and Drug[x].MaxPrice) by
4.
- Drug[4].Expensive=1
- Tells dopewars that drug 4 (normally Heroin) can occasionally be
particuarly expensive (0, zero, cancels this).
- Drugs.ExpensiveStr1=Cops made a big %s bust! Prices are
outrageous!
- Sets the string that is displayed when any drug is particularly
expensive. This is a standard C-style format string - i.e. the %s is
replaced by the name of the drug which is expensive. This string is
displayed 50% of the time for expensive drugs.
- Drugs.ExpensiveStr2=Addicts are buying %s at ridiculous
prices!
- Sets the string which is used for expensive drugs the other 50% of the
time.
- Drugs.ExpensiveMultiply=4
- Tells dopewars that whenever a drug is "specially" expensive, multiply the
normal price distribution (between Drug[x].MinPrice and Drug[x].MaxPrice) by
4.
Basic configuration: guns
- NumGun=4
- Configures the game to have 4 guns available to players at the
gun shop.
- Gun[3].Name=Ruger
- Sets the name of the 3rd gun to Ruger.
- Gun[3].Price=2900
- Sets the price in the gun shop of the 3rd gun to $2,900.
Guns offered "on the street" (i.e. by random events) will be priced at 10%
of the value set here.
- Gun[3].Space=4
- Tells dopewars that gun number 3 uses 4 spaces in the
inventory - i.e. carrying one of these guns uses the same spaces as 4 drugs.
- Gun[3].Damage=4
- Defines gun number 3 to do up to 4 points of damage - i.e.
a successful hit with one of these guns decreases the target's health by
up to 4 points.
Advanced configuration
- NumTurns=31
- Defines the game to end after 31 "days" or turns. If this is set
to 0 (zero) the game never ends for a player, unless they quit or are killed.
- Sanitized=0
- If set to 1, this "sanitizes" the game by removing all drug references
from the random events. To completely remove drug references, of course, you
must also alter the drug names above.
- DrugSortMethod=1
- Tells the dopewars client how to sort the names of available drugs at
each location for display. The default, 1, sorts them in alphabetical
order by their names. The choices are as follows:-
- 1. Sort in forward alphabetical order by name
- 2. Sort in reverse alphabetical order by name
- 3. Sort in order of current price, cheapest first
- 4. Sort in order of current price, most expensive first
- FightTimeout=5
- If a player in a firefight with another player fails to fire back
within 5 seconds, lets his/her enemy have another shot. If this
is set to 0 (zero) timeouts are disabled, and players may take as long
as they like to fire back.
- MaxClients=20
- Prevents more than 20 clients from connecting to the server at
any one time.
- AITurnPause=5
- Makes computer-controlled client players run from this machine (not
necessarily AI players that connect to a server run on this machine) wait
5 seconds between moving from location to location - i.e. a turn
takes at least 5 seconds.
- StartCash=2000
- Each player will start the game with $2,000 in cash.
- StartDebt=5000
- Each player will start the game with a debt to the loan shark of
$5,000.
- Cops.EscapeProb=70
- Gives each player a 70% chance of escaping successfully from
Officer Hardass or Bob on his own, if the player chooses to run
- Cops.DeputyEscape=2
- Decreases the probability of escaping from the cops by 2% per
deputy accompanying a police officer.
- Cops.HitProb=65
- Sets the probability of a lone policer officer hitting you in a firefight
to 65%.
- Cops.DeputyHit=2
- Increases the probability of the cops hitting you by 2% per deputy
accompanying a police officer.
- Cops.Damage=5
- Sets the maximum damage done to a player in a firefight with the cops
to 5 per cop.
- Cops.Toughness=2
- Sets the difficulty of killing a cop to 2. This works against
the decreased difficulty provided by each extra gun a player has.
- Cops.DropProb=30
- Sets the probability that the cops will discover a player dropping drugs,
and subsequently attack them, to 30%.
- Names.Bitch=bitch
- Sets the word used to describe a single "bitch" in the game. Bitch, gun
and drug names are automatically capitalised where necessary by the dopewars
code.
- Names.Bitches=bitches
- Sets the word used to describe two or more "bitches".
- Names.Gun=gun
- Sets the word used to describe a single "gun" (for example, it could be
replaced by "knife").
- Names.Guns=guns
- Sets the word used to describe two or more "guns".
- Names.Drug=drug
- Sets the word used to describe a single "drug" (for example, it could be
replaced by "candy bar" or something similarly innocuous).
- Names.Drugs=drugs
- Sets the word used to describe two or more "drugs".
- Names.Month=12-
- Sets the text which is displayed on the client's screen to the immediate
left of the current turn (by default, a "turn" is a day, and so this part
is the month, in displaying the date in MM-DD-YYYY format)
- Names.Year=1984-
- Sets the text displayed to the immediate right of the current turn (by
default, the year).
- Names.Officer=Hardass
- Sets the name of the first police officer to attack each player to
Hardass.
- Names.ReserveOfficer=Bob
- Sets the name of the police officer which attacks the players if they
kill the first one to Bob.
- Prices.Spy=20000
- Sets the price to pay a bitch to spy on another player to be
$20,000.
- Prices.Tipoff=10000
- Sets the price to pay a bitch to tip off the cops to another player to be
$10,000.
- Bitch.MinPrice=50000
- Sets the minimum price for a bitch at the Rough Pub to be $50,000.
Note that prices for bitches "on the street" (i.e. those that are offered
by random events) are produced by dividing the normal bitch price
distribution by 10.
- Bitch.MaxPrice=150000
- Sets the maximum price for a bitch to $150,000.
Last update: 11-10-99