WorldsAway Beta Help

This is a recreation of a WorldsAway beta help document dated February 1995, which was written by Maria Alexander at the request of Randy Farmer before the story had been approved and before all of the functionality of the software was fully known. The help file was created using RoboHelp.

Help files back then acted like mini webpages in that there'd be a landing page, with clickable links which would take you to other parts of the help file. To recreate the experience here, I am recreating each section as it was in the master document and I will provide clickable links just like in the original help file.

Main Menu

Welcome to the Island of Kymer! (pronounced <Ky'-mer>)

This help document should tell you everything you need to know to participate in Kymerian life. Just click on one of the following topics:

• Geography of the Dreamscape
• People to See
• Things to Do
• Places to Visit

Throughout this help document you can click on underlined words for more information on that topic.

Geography of the Dreamscape

Like Earth, the Dreamscape has continents, islands, and other land and water masses. Its main body of water is the Sea of Io, who enfolds a number of small, uncharted islands in her cold arms. Among them is the island of Kymer. Surrounded by Io's waves, Kymer is a safe, peaceful place where dreamers gather together, forming friendships and affections that they might have never known due to the limitations of their Earthly geography. Here ordinary men and women indulge their dreams and desires: They shape their society, embark on fantastic adventures, metamorph into other bodies, or just sit in the local café and talk about mundane matters. Whatever their desire is, they can find it on the island of Kymer.

The main city of Kymer is Phantasus. It is the foremost settlement in the Dreamscape.

Phantasus

Phantasus is the major metropolis of Kymer. Here, men and women meet and greet one another from day to day, communicating and interacting with each other just as they do in the waking world. For many, Phantasus is a home away from home, a place where they can feel free to explore not only the city and countryside, but their own role in the community. As a part of this thriving society, you can be whoever you want to be: an entrepreneur, a social organizer, a poet, a lover, an adventurer, a hero, a villain--or just yourself. How you present yourself--and what part you play in the community--is up to you.

Named after Morpheus' brother, Phantasus has many beautiful places to visit.

People to see

Many kinds of people live on the island of Kymer. To find out who they are, just click on one of the following topics:

• Avatars
• Ghosts!
• Oracles
• Acolytes
• Morpheus

Avatars

Since you cannot enter the Dreamscape physically, your avatar represents you in the world. Avatars are unique creatures with their own special anatomy: They are right-handed and can hold one object in that hand at a time. Each avatar body has a pocket, which holds up to eight objects, including a mail folder. Avatars can even alter their appearance by changing heads, gender, accessories, and clothing color.

To manipulate your avatar or interact with an object, use its popup menu.

Popup Menu

All avatars and objects in the Dreamscape have a popup menu, a contextual list of commands that allows you to interact with people and things in various ways. Summon this menu by clicking your mouse cursor on the avatar or object and holding down the mouse button. When the menu appears, just highlight the command you wish to execute and release the mouse button. Double-clicking on any avatar or object will always activate the default command--that is, the first command listed for that menu. The standard commands for your avatar are:

<Your avatar's name>
Get from pocket...
Dematerialize
Gesture>
Status> and 
Tell me about...

The commands followed by the ">" symbol, such as "Gesture>" and "Status>," are cascading menus.

The standard popup menu for another avatar is:

<The other avatar's name>
Walk to
Touch/Tag
Tell me about...

If you are holding an object, the command "Give <object>" will appear on the other avatar's menu (that is, if their hand is empty), where <object> is the name of the item you are carrying. Also, notice that the avatar's name appears in the title bar of the popup menu. This way you can always learn the name of another avatar.