                          -= GameMenu4U V1.0 =-
                (A 32-bit WINServer BBS Shareware Utility)
                        Written and distributed by
                               PC Pursuits 
                Support site: The Pursuit of Happiness at
                  http://www.pcpursuits.com/products.htm
                         telnet://pcpursuits.com
                        Dial-up BBS: (301) 695-5260
                               ICQ 1891163

Product Summary:

GameMenu4U is the most flexible and easiest to use Game Menu ever! This powerful
utility offers MANY features to control/limit, while at the same time enabling
easy set-up, and features to empower your users! You can control access to ALL
of your 16 and 32 bit games from one menu or you can run multiple instances of
GameMenu4U so you can control some games and let the others be WIDE OPEN!
Here are features that make GameMenu4U Powerful, Unique, and Appealing:
-Access and Controls for User and SYSOP are ALL from a single menu option
-You can set up separate menus by Security level
-Build menu(s) for a single user or ones that can be accessed by everyone
-Game Descriptions can be up to 58 Characters LONG!
-You can use color codes in your Game Descriptions
-AUTOMATICALLY load ALL your 16 bit Games defined in your Door Menu!
-Add, Change and Delete ANY game from ANY menu from the SAME menu option
-Games are sorted by the number of plays, with the most popular ones on TOP
-Create YOUR Very Own Personal, and Private menu for Testing New games
-All Files for Menus and Counters can be editted with any text Editor
-Access and Change Anyone's Menu whether it is by name or by Security level
-Automatic notification of potentionally bad birthday dates in user records
-Online help for both the User and the SYSOP

The GameMenu4U Menu displays 15 entries at a time with the ability to hot key
to a favorite entry, scroll through the menu using the arrow keys, find games
by searching for a phrase or portion of the game description, and 
to add or delete as allowed. Entries are sorted in descending order by
successful execution of the game (the program keeps track of how many times 
each game was successfully logged onto and tracks that in the data base).
You can set up the program to have a main list of games, then, if desired, 
create a separate menu for each security level on your system.
Each user, if you desire, can also have a personal list of games. 
This allows great flexibility in limiting your users access to certain games 
based on their security level, e.g., maybe more adult oriented games are only 
made available to specific security levels, or paying customers get full access 
to more games while non-paying users get access to a limited set of games. One 
thing I do on my site is grant new users FULL access to everything for 60 days 
under the security profile of "Registered". After 60 days they get automatically 
demoted to Security profile of "User" (user seems like an appropriate title since 
these are the ones that want to use you for free). Their game menu then changes 
to a much shorter list of games and since I assign the User one by Security profile 
then they don't get to have a "Personal" menu. I also drop the amount of 
time that they have available. The ability to allow paying customer and normal 
folks to build a "Personal" menu, enables them to shorten their list of games to 
ones that they want to play and creates a real handy way for them to go to their 
favorite games. Many other features exist for both the SYSOP and the user!

Setup:
------

1.  Create a directory and name it whatever you want. You can put it where ever you
    would like (although it is usually a good idea to place it in a folder under your
    WINServer folder). Unzip the GameMenu4U.zip file into it.
    
2.  Copy the GameMenu4U.wcx file to your Wildcat Directory, e.g. c:\wc5. 

3.  Use wcMenu to create a menu item to run the GameMenu4U.WCX and Add the location 
    of the directory created in step one as a parameter. Give everyone access to it,
    even the new users, as the program can limit them. Depending on the number of games 
    and how you want to setup your menus, you may want to install multiple copies with
    each one being placed in a separate folder and having a separate menu option with
    parameters pointing to the appropriate folder. Unless you have a specific reason 
    why you want multiples, I would recommend first building one and putting ALL of your 
    games on it. This then would be the master from which you build separate ones by 
    Security level (if that is how you want to control it).
    
    NOTE: If using more than one computer, use the actual servername
    and the drive name to avoid conflicts with local drives.

4.  Now, log on locally and enter the GameMenu4U program. A new folder will be
    created inside the GameMenu4U folder you created in Step 1. This will be called
    MENU. A file will also be created called SYSOP.DAT. This will have one
    word in it, SYSOP. You can add names or security levels to this file if
    you want to give more people other than SYSOP access to the sysop
    functions in the program.

    Inside the MENU folder there will be a file called MENU.DAT. This
    contains the list of games, their descriptions, their parameter, and the minimum age 
    allowed to play the game. You can edit this later. The program will it tells you that 
    you have to exit and re-enter it. This is because of the first time configuration.
    Note, all Menu.dat files can be editted using any text editor but I would avoid doing
    this except for exceptions (like where you goofed on a color code on a long description
    and don't want to re-type the whole thing). Bear in mind that there are FOUR lines for 
    EVERY game; do NOT delete blank lines!

Upon re-entering the program, you will see a short list of PC Pursuits games
that are automatically generated by the program. These are not required to be there so you 
can test out the D for Delete option first thing if you do not run these games. I had to
put something in so why not push my own products <VBG>.

Now, that is all there is to creating the required files. There are a
whole bunch of things that you can do now to really take advantage of
this program.

Recommendations and Optional Setup:
----------------------------------
I would recommend adding all of your games to the initial menu.dat. Use this as your template 
to build any other menus you want or need. Note, you can manually copy the file and move it to 
different locations and even edit it but do most of it through the program interface. As you are 
building this initial menu, determine what age restrictions you want (if any) and assign them to
each game. Remember that you can use color codes (like @0C@ for RED on a black background) when 
entering your descriptions. Also, use the fact the the descriptions can be up to 58 characters 
of displayable text (excluding color codes), so you can provide snazzy and informative 
descriptions to entice users and/or give them an idea what the game is really all about. Don't 
worry about the order you enter them in since the program re-orders them based on the number of 
plays of the game (the most played games are at the top). Note, the counts are maintained in 
files with the extention of .tot (e.g. Lord.tot) and these files can be editted to suit your 
needs. 

Also, make sure to check out the Z option since it will important ALL your defined 16 bit games 
in automatically (do not run it more than once since it could mess up your menu with duplicates). 
About the only thing you will need to do with the 16 bit games is set any age restrictions, and 
"pretty up" the descriptions (colors and more detailed descriptions). Test each game after 
adding it to make sure that it works. Once you build your intial menu.dat, I recommend making a 
copy of it and saving it to a different folder in case you need to restore it due to 
accidentally deleting entries and/or descriptions as you go thru the remainder of your setup.

Once you have a "master" default menu.dat, then you can (optionally) begin to build individual 
menus by security level and even by an individual's BBS name (user.info.name). Please bear in 
mind that if you set up a Security based menu than ALL users with that security will not be
allowed to be a Personal menu (which is generally a good thing because the reason you would
want to set one up by security level is to prevent/restrict certain groups of users from
having full access to all of your games). 

Using the M for Change Menu option, you can change to Default, User, or Security. If you select 
S for Security it will display a list of Security levels defined for your BBS. You then select 
the number for a given security level that you want to ADD, CHANGE, or DELETE games. You can only
work on ONE security level at a time, and initially the program loads the main default menu.dat 
from which you can ADD, CHANGE or DELETE games. But if you want to create the same custom menu 
for multiple security you would build it for one, and once you have it the way you want it, then 
select M and the S sub-option again, this time selecting the next security level. This will 
cause the default to be loaded in a new folder for the 2nd security level. But rather than 
customizing it again, you can copy it from the other using Explorer or File Manager.

To further explain this here is an example. Each time you use the M option followed by the S 
sub-option, a sub-folder is created under the game folder under its MENU folder and then a 
separate folder using the Security level name. So if you install GameMenu4U in the folder 
named "GameMenu" off of your WC5 folder and you create a special menu for a Security level 
called "Registered", then the MENU.DAT file for that Security is stored under 
\wc5\gamemenu\menu\registered. So after building the one for Registered, you could then use the 
M and S option to generate one for "Sponsors". This would cause the default menu.dat
to be generated under a new folder called "Sponsors" (\wc5\gamemenu\menu\Sponsors). Now what 
you do is copy the menu.dat from \wc5\gamemenu\menu\registered to \wc5\gamemenu\menu\Sponsors 
using Explorer or File Manager. This prevents you from having to make the same customizations 
on both. But, if you want you can edit ANY menu.dat for ANY Security Level or ANY User that 
has created a Personal Menu simply by using the M option and selecting either S for Security 
or U for User. 

Now this may sound complicated but it really isn't. It depends on how much or how little control
you want to exercise over your game menu. Some people are satisifed with building the main 
default menu.dat and using the age restrictions as necessary. Thus allowing ALL users to have 
access to build their own Personal menu from the default menu.dat (this gets copied to a 
subfolder using the user's name, e.g. \wc5\gamemenu\menu\Bruce Preudhomme).

If you Press P and you will create a personal menu for yourself. This will be an exact 
duplicate of the menu you see now. You can then delete and add games as you see fit. The same is 
true for your users unless you do not want them to have that ability.

Note: If you do NOT want to allow personal menus, you must include a NOPERSONAL
as a second parameter in the WcMenu program. As in:

c:\Wc5\GameMenu4U NOPERSONAL

If this parameter is there, then the user WILL NOT be able to press the P key to make a 
personal menu and this option WILL NOT be displayed. If you want to give some people this 
option and others not, then create a file in the GameMenu4U folder called PERSONAL.DAT and 
list the security levels or user names that you DO NOT want to be able to create personal
menus.

You can also add a DELETE.DAT file in the GameMenu4U folder, you can then add a list of user 
names or user security levels, then those users will NOT be able to delete entries.

If you press F, you will be asked for a phrase to search for. This will search in the 
description part. Case is not important. When you find it, just press Y and you will be 
brought to that line. Then you can just press ENTER to Play that game!

How to register and the benefits of registration:
-------------------------------------------------
There is a 15 second delay exiting the program will be removed, your BBS name will be displayed 
indicating that it is registered, and you will help support the shareware concept and the future
development of feature rich products by PC Pursuits! No features or options are restricted.

The cost is $20 by check or money order. FIRST 100 registered users receive a 
free registration code for SeekingU: a  Who's Online/Page/Remote Sysop Utility. 

Another way to get GameMenu4U, is to register 2 or more of my games (MazeDnD, Ladies of the Night,
They're Off, or In The Navy) at the regular price, and you WILL get GameMenu4U for FREE!

You can register online using credit, or online check for the same price! 
Just go to http://pcpursuits.com/products.htm. You can contact me, Bruce Preudhomme, 
via email at pcpursuits@erols.com for package deals or if you would like ME to contact 
YOU by phone (just email me your phone number and best time to call).

All future upgrades are FREE! We also offer a support message base, support forums accessible 
from the web, and a support mailing list which can be joined from the webgame:

Visit the SUPPORT forums at http://www.pcpursuits.com/support/index.cgi

Sign-up for the SUPPORT Mailing List at http://www.pcpursuits.com/mailinglist.htm

The latest information on other products being developed as well as what is currently available 
all can be accessed from the webgame, mailing list and/or Support Forums on the webgame. Feel 
free to email me at ANY time if you have questions, comments, or need assistance in setting up 
this or any of my products by sending an email to support@pcpursuits.com

Detailed Description of How the Program Works:
----------------------------------------------

The way this works is simple, hard to program, but simple in design.
Lets assume that your Wildcat Folder is C:\WC5 and you placed my program
in a folder called GameMenu4U, then the following would be true:

Name and Location of default menu
C:\WC5\GameMenu4U\Menu\Menu.dat

Name and Location of FULLUSER's menu (Security Level)
C:\WC5\GameMenu4U\Menu\FULLUSER\Main.dat

                                Stats

A file is generated for each game under the gamemenu folder with a TOT extension. This is the
file that keeps track how many times a game has been played. If this reaches a million, it will 
mess up the display, let me know when that happens, because I am obviously missing a pretty 
good game. You can simply delete this file if you want to start it over
again. It will be created automatically.

                          Sysop Commands

     SPACE BAR -    To Add New 16 bit or 32 bit Games/Utilities
     C - Change Any of the Game Entered Options
     D - Delete a Game from the Menu
     E - Edit Just the Description of the Game
     M - Change Menu Type to Edit (Yours, Default, by User, or by Security)
     P - Create YOUR Very Own Personal Game Menu
     R - Enter registration code
     Z - Automatically Load ALL your 16 bit Door games (ONLY run once)

SPACE BAR - To Add New 16 bit or 32 bit Games/Utilities. This option is available to the SYSOP
when editting ANY menu and can be used to ADD games to the Default menu, a Security based menu,
a user's Personal menu, or your OWN Personal Menu! Full detailed instructions are provided based 
on the type of game (16 or 32 bit), and it can be aborted at any time by entering a Q on ANY
input field.

C - Change Any of the Game Entered Options. This allows the SYSOP to change ANY of the fields 
that can be entered for a game. Fields that you don't want to change will be skipped simply by
hitting the ENTER key.

D - Delete game from menu. This function actually is a sysop function and a user function. 
You can press D to delete a game from any of the menus, after changing to that menu. The user 
can ONLY use this function if he or she is in their own personal menu. It simply deletes that 
game, re-writes/re-sorts them to disk and loads them in again.

E - Edit Just the Description of the Game. This option is used to edit the descriptions that 
you have in the menus. Users that have personal menus can alter the descriptions and SysOps 
can also edit ANY menu's descriptions. Please note that you can not have more
than 58 characters but you can use color codes!

M - Change Menu Type to Edit (Yours, Default, by User, or by Security). This option is only 
available for you and the users cannot use it of course. When you press M, the program will 
ask you if you want to change to the Main menu (default), a User menu, or a Security Menu. 
If you pick user, you will be asked for the users name. If the user exists and his/her
menu exists, you will be returned with his/her menu displayed. You can then change whatever 
you want on his/her menu. If you pick security, you will be shown a list of security levels 
to choose from, pick one and you will be returned and have this security menu displayed. 
You can edit it how you see fit. The Name of the User or the Security being editted is display 
at the bottom of screen with the Menu Type and other command options.

P - Create YOUR Very Own Personal Game Menu. This enables you to have your own UNIQUE game menu 
with your favorites and/or with games you want to test but not make available to your user base.

R - Enter registration code

I hope you get to use this function. Until the correct code is in place,
there will some unsightly delays and nag screens. Hey, it is only $20.00
and I do think it is well worth it. 

Z - Automatically Load ALL your 16 bit Door games (ONLY run once)

This is a special mode that allows you to AUTOMATICALLY load all of the 16 bit door games that 
you have defined for your system! You generally should only ever use this option once!


* LEGALITIES:
          
 THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" WITHOUT
 WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY
 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 IN NO EVENT SHALL ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THE CREATION AND PRODUCTION OF THIS
 PRODUCT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING
 OUT OF ANY USE THEREOF OR BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY.

    
* DISTRIBUTION:
 
  You may make this file available for downloading from your BBS or you may
  upload it to any BBS of your choice, provided that you do not make any
  changes to the contents of the archive (ZIP file).

  You are NOT allowed to distribute the registration codes.


