| -> !ReadMe

What are the "Start" files ?
----------------------------

The files in this directory provide an easy way
to manually load the joystick control software
and then start a game loading.

They are intended for use when you cannot use
!JS_AddMod to do the same job automatically.
This may be because you cannot make a backup
copy of the games disc or there is not enough
free space on the games disc for !JS_AddMod to
work. They may also work where !JS_AddMod cannot
because of memory limitations.

The files may also be useful to hard disc users.
Because they provide a means of starting a game
loading from the desktop then it is not
necessary to make drive 0 the default for games
which start via shift+break to work.


How to use the "Start" files
----------------------------

Simply put the joystick control software disc
into drive 0, open the "Start" directory and
double click on the file for the game that you
want to play. You will be asked to put the games
disc into disc drive 0 and the game will then
load.

( You may also be asked to choose between several
joystick programs. Make your choice by pressing
the key for the option you want. )


A complication arises with a few games that
reset the computer half way through the loading
( a process known as "rebooting" ). For these
games you will be asked to hold down the shift
key during the loading. If you do this then the
loading will stop half way and you must put the
joystick software disc back into drive 0 and run
the same 'Start' file again.

This may be done by double-clicking in the
desktop or, if you are really unlucky, by typing
*START.XXX at the '*' prompt where XXX is the
name of the 'Start' file.

This may sound complicated right now but it isn't
too difficult after a couple of goes.


What do the "Start" files do ?
------------------------------

The start files may perform several actions,
depending on the nature of the game that is
being started...

1) Exit from the desktop. This is sometimes
   necessary for games to work on a computer with
   just 1Mb of memory.

2) Load the joystick control module using a set
   of options, usually just ~V to switch verbose
   mode off. You may want to change this to VP
   so you will be prompted if the joystick
   interface is not switched on.

3) Choose an appropriate joystick program. You
   may be required to make a choice between several
   joystick programs, eg. space invaders with or
   without rapid firing.

4) Load the joystick program and kill the joystick
   control module. This is done because you won't
   need the features provided by the control module
   while you are playing the game and it uses some
   precious memory which the game may need. The
   joystick will continue to emulate the keyboard
   and mouse after the module has been killed.

5) Start the game loading. This may be done by one
   of several methods. Typically you will be asked
   to put the games disc in drive 0, the disc will
   be "mounted" and the game's !Boot file will be
   run.


Creating your own "Start" files
-------------------------------

To see what's inside a "Start" file load the
!Edit application supplied on applications disc
one and drag the file onto the !Edit icon. You
will probably see something like this :

  | -> TheGame
  If "<Joystick$Dir>"="" Then Set Joystick$Dir <Obey$Dir>.^
  Run <Joystick$Dir>.!Joystick.StartGame BOOT ~V TheGameA TheGameB

To create a file for a new game it's best to copy
another file that loads in the same way. The first
line beginning with a | is simply a comment, you
may remove it if you wish.

The second line sets up a system variable
Joystick$Dir which controls where the the
joystick control module & joystick program are
loaded from. If have kept the joystick software
together (like it is supplied on the original
disc) then you don't need to change this line.
However you may want to change it if you have a
hard disc and want to store the start files
separately from the other joystick software.

The third line runs a program named 'StartGame'
which is kept alongside the joystick control
module inside the !Joystick application
directory. This program does all the actual work
as described above and it is controlled by
the parameters on the third line.

The first parameter controls how the game is
started. It may have the following values :

BOOT - Exit the desktop and run the !Boot file
       on the games disc. Use this for games
       which you start with shift+break but
       which don't reboot themselves.

REBOOT - Same as "BOOT" but use for games that
         reset themselves halfway through the load.

AUTO - Exit the desktop and attempt to start the
       game by guessing it's application name.

USER - Just load the joystick program and leave it
       to the user to start the game, eg. by
       double-clicking in the desktop.

The second parameter contains the parameters
that are use to load the joystick control
module. This will often be "~V" which switches
off verbose mode and loads quietly. You may want
to change it to "VP" which switches on verbose
and prompt modes and prompts for the joystick
interface to be switched on.

The remaining parameters are the names of
program files in the "Object" directory, eg. for
a one or two player version of the game or with
or without rapid firing. If you suply more than
one filename then you will be asked to choose
one of the programs when the 'Start' file is run.

( The names are important because they are used
when "guessing" the name of the application. Try
to keep the name of a joystick program similar
to the name of the game. )

If your game does not need any program files
because it supports the 'Serial Port' or 'Vertical
Twist' joystick interfaces directly then you can
leave out these final parameters. The StartGame
application will then load the joystick control
module and will not kill it again before starting
the game.


Notes
-----

You may copy the start files to another disc but
you must also copy the !Joystick application (
where the joystick control module is hidden )
and the Object directory ( where the actual
joystick programs are kept ) before they can be
used.

For further information on the joystick programs
that are supplied see the !Readme text file in
the 'Source' directory and each of the source
files themselves.

Most of the start files on this disc have been
tested on a 1Mb Archimedes with the default
configuration. Unfortunately the Serial Port
cannot guarantee that they will work with your
games on your Archimedes. This is because
several different versions of a game may exist
and hardware configurations ( eg. amount of
memory ) vary from computer to computer
resulting in many different loading procedures.

If you have problems then try reading the
section on creating your own start files. You
may need to modify a start file to suit your
version of a game, for example if the start
file starts the game via a "reboot" when you
start it from the desktop.
