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.

Cascading menus

Cascading menus contain additional commands related to their title. To access the cascading menu, highlight the command and, while still holding down the mouse button, move your cursor slightly to the right in the direction of the arrow ">". A submenu will reveal more commands.

"Give <object>"

This command appears on your fellow avatar's popup menu whenever you are holding something in your hand. The <object> is whatever your avatar is holding. For example, if you are holding a hat, the command "Give hat" will appear on the popup menu of other avatars in the same locale whose hands are empty. (You cannot "give" something to an avatar who is already holding an object!) When you select the command "Give hat," you will walk over to that avatar and hand him or her the hat.

Some exchanges are a little more involved, such as when you want to give your friend some tokens. With tokens in your hand, summon your friend's popup menu and select the command "Put some tokens..." (see "Tokens").

Get from pocket...

This command will open your avatar's pocket, which holds up to eight objects, and allow you to interact with its contents. When you activate this command on your avatar's popup menu, a scrolling dialog box appears showing what's in your avatar's pocket. If you would like to remove something, just click on the desired item and it will appear in your avatar's hand. The dialog box disappears automatically.

Note: You cannot select "Get from pocket..." if you are already holding something in your hand. You must first empty your hand and then select the command.

Status>

The "Status>" cascading menu is located on your avatar. It contains the following commands:

Who's online?

Where am I?

How healthy am I?

What time is it?

Tokens in pocket

Turn ESP off

Turn ESP off

This command lets you shut out any incoming thoughts from other avatars. When ESP is off, the command changes to Turn ESP on; just select this command to turn ESP back on.

Tokens in pocket...

This command sends your avatar a help message telling you how many tokens are in its pocket.

Touch/Tag

Hey! It's not nice to go around poking your fellow avatars--but it's fun until you get caught! By selecting this command, you can touch another avatar. Who knows what icky nasty things you can pass to others...?

Who's online?

"Who's online?" lets you view a list of all avatars currently in the Dreamscape. Selecting this command summmons the ESP/Page dialog box, which allows you to scroll through the list of avatars to find who you are looking for. Dismiss the box by double-clicking on the bar in the upper left-hand corner of the box or by clicking on the "Cancel" button.

Where am I?

"Where am I?" tells you the name of your current locale. It appears in a help message in the discussion box.

How healthy am I?

This command tells you if your avatar is healthy or sick. Most avatars are healthy beings, although they occasionally fall prey to strange viruses...

Discussion box

This is the black box located in the top half of your Reno window. In it appears all the word and thought balloons sent from other avatars in the locale; ESP messages; and help messages from the world, Oracles, and Acolytes. The discussion box is scrollable, allowing you to review words and thoughts exchanged in the locale since you entered.

What time is it?

"What time is it?" gives you the time. The Dreamscape time mirrors our Pacific Standard Time on Earth. (Why? I don't know...it just does.) The time will appear in a help message in the discussion box.

Request balance

"Request balance" summons a help message that tells you how many tokens you have in the bank. This command is located on the popup menu of ATMs.

Ghosts!

Your avatar can at will turn into a ghost, which looks like an eye in a cloud in the upper right-hand corner of your locale. As a ghost, your avatar can follow the activities of others and get a sense of what's going on in the world. Also, your interaction with others changes: You can no longer affect people and things in the world, and neither can people and things affect you. Select the command "Dematerialize" on your avatar's popup menu and you will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the window as a ghost. Your ghost's popup menu appears as follows:

"I'm a Ghost!"

Materialize

Status>

Get ghost count

Page...

Tell me about...

When your avatar is not a ghost, and you see the eye in the clouds in the upper right-hand corner of your locale, click on the ghost to get the following popup menu:

"Ghosts!"

Get ghost count

Tell me about...

Materialize

The command "Materialize" turns your ghost back into an avatar (provided that the locale is not too crowded).