How to play a Warlords II Deluxe e-mail game between DOS and Macintosh players

(Note by Bob Heeter - This page comes from the wizards at SSG)

These instructions apply to the Deluxe version for DOS, and the CD version for the Mac.

Step 1: Making the scenario

If the game is going to use one of scenarios that already exists for both Mac and DOS versions, you can skip to Step 3.

The scenario must start on a DOS computer. Scenarios cannot be transferred from the Mac version to the DOS version.

To transfer the scenario, go into the Warlords II Deluxe installer, and click the Librarian button. From the list on the right, select the scenario, and click the Pack button. In the dialog that comes up, you must turn the Compression option off. Turn Army, City, Shield and Terrain options on or off as needed for the scenario.

When you click OK, a file with the extension .SCZ will be created. Optionally, compress this file with PKZip, to produce a much smaller file to e-mail to the other players. Send this to the other players.

Step 2: Installing the scenario

For the DOS version: If the scenario is a Zip file, unzip it. Copy the .SCZ file into the same directory as Warlords II Deluxe. Run the Installer, and go to the Librarian. Select the .SCZ file, and click the Unpack button. The scenario will be installed, along with any Army, City, Shield and Terrain sets that were included in the .SCZ file.

For the Mac version: If the scenario is a Zip file, use StuffIt Expander (with DropStuff with Expander Enhancer also installed), or ZipIt to unzip it. You can install the .SCZ file with the W2 Scenario Installer application. Make sure this application is in the same directory as your game, and not on the CD. Drag the .SCZ file to the W2 Scenario Installer and select the items you wish to install. Click OK.

Step 3: Starting the game

It doesn't matter if the game is started with the DOS version or the Mac version, but the instructions are slightly different.

For the DOS version: On the Game Setup screen, turn the E-Mail check box on. Set the other options and start the game running. When the first human's turn is about to start, the game will be saved, after asking for a four character name to save the game as. The file will be saved in the EMAIL directory. See pages 60 & 61 of the manual for more information on the save game files.

For the Mac version: On the Game Setup screen, turn on the E-Mail game check box. This only appears on the "More choices" version of the Game Setup screen. Click on the "Setup E-mail..." button. Turn on the "Include MS-DOS players" check box, and give the game a four character name. Click OK, set up the sides and options, and then click "Begin Game" to commence. The game will start, with computer players having their turns as appropriate, until the first human player's turn is due to start. The game will be saved into the "E-Mail Saves" folder, and the game will be closed.

Step 4: E-mail the game between players

Compress and e-mail the game to the next player.

When you receive an e-mail game, uncompress it, and move it to the appropriate directory. This is the E-mail directory for DOS games, and the "E-Mail Saves" folder for Mac games. Then you can load the game normally.

Compressing files

It is recommended that you compress scenarios and save game files before e-mailing them off to the other players. At SSG we compress files using PKZip on our DOS computers, and StuffIt on our Macintoshes. PKZip produces .Zip files and StuffIt produces .Sit files.

You can uncompress .Sit files on a PC using StuffIt Expander for Windows.

You can uncompress .Zip files on a Macintosh using either ZipIt, or StuffIt Expander (if you have also installed DropStuff with Expander Enhancer).

PKZip is available from http://www.pkware.com/.

All the StuffIt and DropStuff products are available from http://www.aladdinsys.com/products/products.html, some being freeware, and others being shareware.

ZipIt is available from http://www.awa.com/softlock/zipit/zipit.html.

Macintosh File Types

You can set you Macintosh up so that .Sav and .Scz files that are transferred from DOS computers are automatically recognised as being Warlords II files. There are two places you need to set this up: the PC Exchange control panel for files copied by floppy, and Internet Config for files transferred by e-mail. These notes do not attempt to instruct you on just how to use these programs. Check the documentation that comes with them. PC Exchange is a part of the Macintosh System Software, and Internet Config is available from http://www.quinn.echidna.id.au/Quinn/Config/

PC Exchange: Set up a type of .SAV, with Warlords II Deluxe as the application, and a file type of 'W2DD', and also a type of .SCZ, with W2 Scenario Installer as the application, and a file type of 'SCZ '.

Internet Config: In the File Mapping's window, add a entry with the following details:

Name: Warlords MS-DOS save game
Extension: .sav
MIME Type: leave this blank
Binary data
File Type: 'D2DD'
File Creator: 'W2D ', Warlords II Deluxe
Turn off Not for Outgoing, Not for Incoming, and Post Process.

and add another entry with:

Name: Warlords II Scenario Package
Extension: .scz
MIME Type: leave this blank
Binary data
File Type: 'SCZ '
File Creator: 'W2DC', W2 Scenario Installer
Turn off Not for Outgoing, Not for Incoming, and Post Process.