Provided by: dmagnetic_0.22-1_amd64 
NAME
dMagnetic — A Magnetic Scrolls Interpreter
INTRODUCTION
You wake up on a sunny August morning with birds singing, and the air fresh and clear. However, your
joints are stiff and you have not woken up in your bedroom as you would have expected. Trying to recall
what happened the night before, you manage to piece together a few brief glimpses to give the following
account...
SYNOPSIS
dMagnetic [-mag MAGFILE.mag] [-gfx GFXFILE.gfx]
dMagnetic [-msdosdir DIRECTORY/] [-vmode high_ansi2]
dMagnetic [-tworsc DIRECTORY/TWO.RSC] [-vmode high_ansi]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vrows ROWS] [-vcols COLUMNS]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode none]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode monochrome]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode low_ansi]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode high_ansi]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode high_ansi2]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode sixel] [-sres 1024x768]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-valign left]
dMagnetic [-vlog LOGFILE] [-vecho]
dMagnetic [-help] [-helpini] [-v] [-bsd]
DESCRIPTION
dMagnetic is an interpreter for classic text adventure games, or interactive fiction, such as "The Pawn"
or "The Guild of Thieves". The following games are being supported:
The Pawn
The Guild of Thieves
Jinxter
Fish!
Myth
Corruption
Wonderland
GAME BINARIES
Currently, binaries in the .mag and .gfx format from the magnetic scrolls memorial at
https://msmemorial.if-legends.org/memorial.php are being supported. Once downloaded, their position has
to be made available to dMagnetic by editing dMagnetic.ini first.
STARTING THE GAME
Once the game(s) have been downloaded, the .mag and .gfx files can be provided via
dMagnetic -mag pawn.mag -gfx pawn.gfx
Alternatively, binaries from the MSDOS version of "The Pawn" or "The Guild of Thieves" can be used. The
directory, in which they are, has to be provided via
dMagnetic -msdosdir DIRECTORY/ -vmode high_ansi
It is recommended to use the [-vmode high_ansi2] option, since this renders the half-tone images slightly
different.
A third option is to use the resource files from "Wonderland" or the magnetic scrolls collection. For
this, the location of the file ending with "TWO.RSC" has to be provided.
dMagnetic -tworsc DIRECTORY/TWO.RSC -vmode high_ansi
dMagnetic -tworsc DIRECTORY/GTWO.RSC -vmode high_ansi
The names of the other resource files is being calculated from that.
It is also possible to edit the dMagnetic.ini file and start a specific game, by using one of
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini pawn
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini guild
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini jinxter
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini corruption
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini fish
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini myth
dMagnetic -ini dMagnetic.ini wonderland
When you see the prompt, the game is ready to accept your commands. For example EXAMINE CLOTHES. Or GO
EAST. Or ASK KRONOS ABOUT THE WRISTBAND.
LEAVING THE GAME
Type in "QUIT". Duh!
SAVING/LOADING PROGRESS
The game can be saved at any type by typing SAVE, and loaded by typing LOAD. Followed by a filename.
SAVE myprogress1.sav
LOAD myprogress1.sav
TEXT ALIGNMENT
Changing the alignment of the output text can be done with the .ini file or the commandline.
dMagnetic -valign left
dMagnetic -valign block
dMagnetic -valign right
GRAPHIC MODES
dMagnetic has been developed with ANSI-consoles in mind. To select a video output that best suits your
needs, please try one of the following
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode none]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode monochrome]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode low_ansi]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode high_ansi]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode high_ansi2]
To change the number of rows/columns to render the images, use
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vcols COLUMNS]
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vrows ROWS]
Sixels are a signalling mode for some terminal emulators (like mlterm, or xterm -ti vt340 , for example),
that offer the possibility of drawing high resolution images. It can be selected with
dMagnetic [-ini ini-file] [GAME] [-vmode sixel] [-sres 1024x768]
where the -sres option offers a way to scale the images. The maximum allowed width is 1024 pixels.
GRAPHICS IN WONDERLAND AND THE MAGNETIC SCROLLS COLLECTION
Before you can see the beautiful graphics in "Wonderland", or from the Magnetic Scrolls Collection, you
have to type in "graphics" to enable them.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
[-bsd]
Shows the license.
[--help]
Shows the detailed help.
[--helpini]
Shows an example for a working dMagnetic.ini file.
[-mag MAGFILE.mag] [-gfx GFXFILE.gfx]
[-msdosdir DIRECTORY/]
[-tworsc DIRECTORY/TWO.RSC]
dMagnetic is a Magnetic Scrolls Interpreter. To actually play the games, their binaries have to be
provided. Either in the .mag and .gfx format from https://msmemorial.if-legends.org/magnetic.php, as the
name of the directory in which the original MS-DOS version can be found, or as the location and the name
of the second resource file TWO.RSC.
[-ini dMagnetic.ini pawn]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini guild]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini jinxter]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini corruption]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini fish]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini pawn]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini myth]
[-ini dMagnetic.ini wonderland]
An alternative way to provide the location of the .mag and .gfx, or the directory name, is through a
dMagnetic.ini file. See helpini or dMagneticini(5) for an example of a working dMagnetic.ini file.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED that the default location for dMagnetic.ini is in the user's home directory. If the
file is located there, "The Pawn", for example, can be started by typing
dMagnetic pawn
[-rmode pseudo] [-rseed SEED]
[-rmode real]
Certain elements of the game rely on chance. For this, the virtual machine within dMagnetic offers two
possibilities: Playing against a "pseudo" random generator, which results in a certain degree of
determinism. On the other hand, playing with "real" random values from the operating system, allows for a
completely new experience.
[-vrows ROWS]
[-vcols COLUMNS]
dMagnetic has been designed with terminal windows as main output in mind. The terminal window has a fixed
number of rows and columns to print out text. Its size is limited, but it is used by dMagnetic to render
the beautiful BEAUTIFUL pictures as well. To restrict the space in which they are rendered (in glorious
ANSI art), those command set the upper limits.
[-vecho]
When trying to run dMagnetic and redirecting the output into a file, the inputs are missing. This option
reprints what was typed in, to allow for a spoilery script.
[-vlog LOGFILE.log]
Sort of a travel journal, this option lets you write the commands that where typed into a file.
[-vmode none]
[-vmode monochrome]
[-vmode low_ansi]
[-vmode high_ansi]
[-vmode high_ansi2]
[-vmode sixel] [-sres 1024x768]
This option allows for selecting a different mode to render the images, should the actual one prove to be
unsuitable for the preferred terminal program.
[-version]
Shows the current version of dMagnetic
BUGS
Report bugs to <dettus@dettus.net>. Make sure to include DMAGNETIC somewhere in the subject.
AUTHOR
Written by Thomas Dettbarn
SEE ALSO
dMagneticini(5)
OpenBSD February 11th, 2020 dMagnetic(1)