Door Authors Marketing Association
               Authors Intelligence Report #1

Dear Fellow Association Members:

This first in a series of author intelligence reports is
compiled from what I learned in discussions with BBS and
Terminal vendors and also through sessions and seminars while
attending ONE BBSCON is Tampa, Florida from 15-20 August 1995. 
Content, errors and opinions are purely my own and corrections
are welcome.  

Needless to say the world of the Door Author is due to start
changing dramatically in the next 12-24 months. Most of the
major BBS manufacturers such as MSI, PC Board, etc.. are
switching to GUI based client/server platforms or have already
done so.  Here is what I was able to find out from some of the
main players in the BBS world:

  a.  WildCat by MSI:  MSI is planning to release around
Thanksgiving their Client/Server BBS, currently called
ANNIHILATOR, for both the Win95 and WinNT platforms.  The good
news is that ANSI will continue to be supported in that version
but the bad news, for many of you out there, is that RIP will
NOT.  The standard they intend to support in place of RIP will
be HTML, which is widely available and currently used to make
WEB Pages for the Internet.  In a departure from past
conventions all communications between the user and the BBS will
be via a dedicated GUI at the user end reminiscent of the ones
currently used by both CompuServe and AOL.  This author was
pleased to learn that unlike in the past MSI is now making a
major effort to attract and support serious third party
programmers who will design products to work with their new
Annihilator BBS.  At present, third party author support will
only be available for the C++ compiler, Borland Delphi Compiler
or Visual Basic compiler.  MSI indicated that there would be a
charge for their SDK but was unable to say at the time how much
that would be.  

  b.  WorldGroup by Galacticomm:  Their client/server BBS called
WorldGroup is a DOS based system on the server end and can use
any ANSI/RIP/ASCII/WINDOWS terminal or their own proprietary
Windows Client on the user end.  To program for their platform
will require about $1200 of specialized programming tools/SDKs
and either C++ or Visual Basic Pro.  At ONE BBSCON demand was
high for native windows recreational doors for WorldGroup with
very few vendors there to satisfy that demand.
  
  c.  PCBoard, was not present at ONE BBSCON for some unknown
reason, so I am unable to provide reliable information in this
edition on their plans or what we will have to do to program for
them.

  d.  SearchLight has no intention to release a native
Win95/WinNT Client/Server based version of their BBS at present
and will continue to support both RIP and ANSI.

So what does this mean for door programmers in the next year or
so?  Based on my discussions with the many BBS and terminal
programmers who were present at ONE BBSCON I submit for your
review the following points for consideration in making your
plans:
  
  a.  Demand for ANSI and RIP doors is predicted to dramatically
decline in the next 12-24 months as users demand more and better
native windows BBS games for the new platforms.  

  b.  Writing Windows based client/server doors for BBS will
require tools and hardware most of us do not at present own
already (i.e.; New compilers, specialized SDK's, Desk Top
scanners for graphics, etc...) and this will not be cheap in
most cases.  

  c.  Due to the long learning curve, relatively high costs and
extensive time required to write graphical Client/Server BBS
applications, most of us will probably soon be forced to become
single platform (i.e.; Wildcat, PCBoard, WorldGroup, etc..)
programmers. The days when we could write a single door which
would function on 90% of the platforms out there seems to be
coming quickly to an end.
  
  d.  InterNet will most likely meld with BBS's in the near
future.  A new buzz term called "Internet Content Provider" has
now been coined for BBS's and was used extensively at ONE BBSCON
and is instructional for showing you where we are headed.

  e.  Users want reliable well behaved doors and, if at all
possible, a voice support number.

  f.  RIP may not be dead, but it was bleeding heavily at ONE
BBSCON as more and more commercial BBS/Terminal programmers,
such as MSI, quit supporting it or are wondering if they should
continue to do so.

Personal conclusion:  It would appear that we as door authors
are quickly approaching a major fork in the road which will
require us to either make a major commitment in time, money and
resources toward making this a full time business or accept the
fact that our products will gradually slide into oblivion and
become noncompetitive because we do not wish to make that kind
of commitment.  Having just spent over $2500 myself for the
software tools, upgrades and hardware to allow me to program for
the upcoming Annihilator BBS, I can safely say that each of you
will be facing that decision in the next 12-24 months as I have
just had to face it.

If you would like to learn more about the Client/Server BBS and
what is involved from our stand point, I would highly suggest
you consider purchasing, as a minimum, the following audio tapes
of sessions from ONE BBSCON from The Resource Link at
1-800-241-7785.  Each tape is $8.00:

  1.  Tape 695-71 - Intro. to 32 bit Client Server BBS
Technology (Annihilator).

  2.  Tape 695-19 - Project Annihilator Graphical User Interface.

  3.  Tape 695-97 - Project Annihilator 3rd Party Development
Workshop  

In the coming months I will publish further editions of the
author intelligence report as I learn more from continuing
contacts with the people I met at ONE BBSCON and from other
sources.

DAMA is an Association of Professional Door Authors dedicated to
promoting the door product industry and working with BBS and
Terminal Manufacturers to obtain Door support in their products.
 If you consider yourself a serious door programmer you are
welcome to contact me about joining our growing ranks.  As one
of the perks for joining, members receive their own file area on
the DAMA Support BBS as a way of promoting their own products.   

I can be reached at the DAMA Support BBS at (501) 741-5699 or
via netmail at FIDO 1:391/3010 if you have comments or would
like further information.  I also monitor most FIDO door related
echos as well.

Bob Dalton
Director, DAMA
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