The Free Abuse Project
Author: Justin Cassidy

fRaBs frequently asked questions
Main - Updates - Single Player - Deathmatch - Level Editing - FAQ - Credits - Links

`Is fRaBs legal?`

`To the best of my knowledge, yes.`

`When will the next version of fRaBs released?`

`Whenever I have the free time to make a coherent and stable build`
`with enough new features over the existing version.`

`How do I use the level editor?`

`From the DOS command line, type "abuse -edit" (without the quotes).`

`Rather than make a Windows shortcut, I often use the Windows Run`
`menu and make various Abuse command sequences.`

`How do I change the screen resolution?`

`This is another command line tab. "abuse -size xxx yyy"`

`You can go crazy with this. '640 400', '800 600', even '1280 1024'.`
`Note that Abuse's built-in lighting effects only work at the default`
`game resolution, '320 200'.`

`How do I configure sound?`

`As with many old DOS games, there is a file, setup.exe, which has a`
`sound card configuration. Just let it auto-detect your sound card and`
`you should be fine. If the autodetect crashes, then select a sound`
`card manually, with the default settings that it gives you. If that`
`doesn't work then dig up your soundcard manual.`

`Windows has a System Information utility that you can use to find your`
`sound card's settings. It is located in the Start menu, under`
`Accessories/System Tools.`

`Why doesn't fRaBs have working music?`

`I don't know how the HMI file format works, and I assumed the old`
`songs were copy-righted so I removed them from the distribution. I`
`like Abuse without music personally. Make sure that you don't configure`
`music when you run setup.exe. Someday I may compose music for fRaBs...`

`I saw the Pong addon. Can you make other games with the Abuse engine?`

`Yup, you can go crazy with this too. To this date there have been`
`checkers, chess, connect4, and more that have been done with the Abuse`
`engine. I have a few other projects in store, if you check the updates`
`section closely. Abuse has a built-in LISP interpreter, and almost every`
`aspect of the game is customizable somehow.`

`Why isn't there Pong documentation here?`

`I figure that I may add documentation for the addons when they are nice`
`and finished. They will probably be tacked on to the single player and`
`deathmatch pages when it is necessary. There are also text files in each`
`addon directory with some various notes.`

`Can I chat during a Deathmatch game?`

`Yes. Press 'c' and make sure your mouse pointer is inside the little chat`
`window while you are talking. Move the mouse out of the chat window and`
`press 'c' again to close the window.`

`How do I (insert engine function here)?`

`The level editing page has a full list of command-line options. Some`
`work, but some don't. Experiment a little. If you have any problems,`
`my email is ready.`

`What is Satan Paint, and how do I use it?`

`I have no goddamn idea. I hate Satan Paint. It is such a pain in the`
`ass to work with. If I ever get good with that lousy piece of shit, I`
`will write a detailed tutorial.`

`Satan Paint is used to make artwork for Abuse. You can view artwork`
`and animations, which are stored in SPE format files. One SPE file can`
`hold many pictures.`

`What is this Death Ray? Was it in the original version of Abuse?`

`Here's the history of this weapon... Crack Dot Com was going to include`
`it in the full version of Abuse but they scrapped the idea due to lack`
`of time. Fast forward from 1995 to 1997... I found the gun art and`
`unused weapon items in the Abuse source files. I made some LISP that`
`enabled the items and the gun itself, but the gun didn't act differently`
`than the laser rifle. It was pretty nifty, but pretty useless too.`

`Fast forward from 1997 to 2000... a few months ago Profound was working`
`on adding weapon AI to Abuse for his Twisted Minds addon and being the`
`talented guy he is, he turned the unused weapon art and whatnot into a`
`brand new, different weapon. Actually it's more akin to the BFG from`
`Doom than it is to any Death Ray. But the name stuck, and now, 5 years`
`too late, Abuse has it's Death Ray. ;-)`

`How many fRaBs ports are there?`

`You could make fRaBs for any OS that Abuse was ported to. There is`
`Ed Snible's Linux version with better support for X11 and the addition`
`of preliminary TCP/IP support to the Abuse engine. Also, Jonathan Clark`
`is currently making an updated version of Abuse for Windows with some`
`cool new features such as TCP/IP and possibly a JAVA interpreter. It`
`will also presumably add support for high-resolution lighting.`

`I haven't talked to Ed in a long time, so I'm not sure if he still has`
`his Linux version available online.```

`As far as I know, there are three Linux Abuse ports, ports for BeOS,`
`MacOS, DOS, QNX, SGI, Solaris, and even a Windows port.`

`What was Team Firestorm?```

`Ooh, a history question. Team Firestorm was founded by me and a guy from`
`Australia. Eventually lots of people joined, and we made levels and other`
`addons for Abuse for about a year and a half. The Aliens Abuse project`
`was part of Team Firestorm as was an unfinished 20-level replacement for`
`Abuse called 'Death Domain'. fRaBs is kind of a spiritual successor to`
`Death Domain in a way. TF died around mid-1998 when we all got tired of`
`Abuse and just stopped.`

`Can you use the Boss Ants in fRaBs?`

`Good question. The Boss Ants were the final boss in the original`
`registered version of Abuse and I tried implementing them into the`
`editor to no real success. The original boss teleported around and I`
`couldn't reproduce that in the editor without making the game crash. I`
`made a lame version that didn't teleport but it was pretty pointless,`
`and I lost the code. However, there is a guy on the Abuse forum that`
`says he has a working Boss Ant in his forthcoming 'Armageddon' addon.`

`Does fRaBs have any warranties/guarantees/whatnot?`

`Nope. It's free, and it's fun, and if it does something bad to your`
`computer, it probably isn't my fault.`

Justin Cassidy
messiah15@dog.com