Beginner's Guide

Setting Options

When you first start the ADRIFT Generator, it will open a blank file; which is perfect since you are just getting started. The first thing you are going to do is select Adventure then Options from the file menu. To make it even simpler, Campbell has added the options icon on the toolbar. It looks like a wrench. So click on that if you like quick access.

As you can see a new window appears with several options. First, there is the Adventure title. By default it is titled Untitled so either delete that from the box or highlight it and type in the name of your first game. In this case, to keep it simple, type in My First Game. Next do the same and replace the text for the Author. Naturally, type in your own name or preferred screen name. I'm Mystery, so I'll use that.

For now, we are going to leave the number of turns a player waits to the value 3, and we are also going to leave the perspective set to second person. These are features that you can play around with when you are more comfortable using ADRIFT. Let's skip down to 'Message when command not understood'. Right now it should say, 'I don't understand what you mean!' or something along those lines. This is the message the player is going to see every time that a command isn't understood by the ADRIFT Runner. You can change this message to something you like better or to something that better suits the game you are creating. At this time I am going to leave that the same.

The next option available to change is the font and size. I am also going to leave that the same. But I should warn you that if you select a font that the player does not have, they will be viewing your game using the default font, or the font they select for the ADRIFT Runner. Also, the size of the font you choose is very important. Not everyone has the same size monitor, so text will appear different for some than it does others. You will want to select a font that is user friendly and widely distributed, and an acceptable font size.

Select the next option to show exits along with room descriptions. This is purely a matter of preference. Some people like to tell the player the exits in their room descriptions, and other don't. I find that it is much easier for a new user to get the hang of things when they have this option enabled.

At this time, we will not be selecting any other options. I would like for you to be familiar with them just in case you decide to give them a try later on.

Enable 8-Point Compass - This will enable you to create rooms that lie in off-cardinal directions. For example, instead of creating rooms to the north, south, east, and west, you can create rooms northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. In, out, up, and down are readily available.

Enable sound in games - This will make a new icon visible throughout the generator. Clicking on the sound icon will give you the option to browse for sound files. You can add sounds to a variety of areas in ADRIFT; such as events, tasks, even objects. You can test it out a little later to see how it works. Be aware that sound files can be very large and inflate the size of your game file considerably.

Enable User status box - This displays any text you want in the status bar at the bottom of the ADRIFT Runner.

Enable Battle System - This option will turn on the battle system. You will then be able to set individual attributes, such as strength, agility, and stamina for the player and non-player characters.

Enable Graphics - Checking this option allows you to add still graphics to you games. You will find a new icon available for rooms, tasks, objects etc.
Disable Score from being displayed - This will disable the score from being displayed in the ADRIFT Runner.

Disable Debugger - This will disable the debugger in the ADRIFT Runner. For more information on the debugger, please look it up in the ADRIFT 4.0 Manual.

Disable Autocomplete - Checking this option will disable the autocomplete in the runner. This can be very useful because autocomplete can easily give away objects in the game that you may have wanted to keep hidden.

Disable Control Panel - The ADRIFT Runner has a nifty control panel that makes getting around in adventures very easy. It can also list certain objects in a room that you may rather keep hidden.

Disable Map - This will leave your players to use their mind instead of having a visual map to lead the way. So if you like to make things a little more on the hard side, disabling this feature could drive your players nuts.

Disable Mouse Clicks in Runner - Checking this feature will keep the player from being able to click on printed text within the runner and having it inserted into the command line.

Now that you are familiar with these options, you can now click the OK button on the options window and we'll get started creating your very first adventure.