The makefile in this cleaned up release of LOW4 is my custom makefile. 
It is quite different, and in my opinion, much better than the standard 
makefile found in the original release of LOW4.

The code alterations needed to make this makefile work for this mud 
have already been done so all you need to do is learn how to use it.
This makefile has some features not found in most codebases so you may 
find it a little odd to use at first.

First of all, simply typing in make and then doing a copyover will not 
install the changes into your mud. You will need to go through one more 
step.

Before we get to the extra step, we must first get past the very first 
compile after you unzip this code. When you do the first compile, you 
will notice one vast difference from the original makefile. There is 
color! The color is tastefully done and highlights the important 
information.

Ok, lets get over the color and on to the next step. Next you'll have to 
copy the merc.exe file to the area directory (cp merc.exe ../area). You 
have to do this because the startup script and copyover code have been 
changed to point there.

Then you just startup the mud after you perform all the other little 
tasks needed, like changing the port number in all the right places.

Now, any time you make changes to the mud you would then compile the mud 
as normal by typing make. Any errors or warnings will show up as bright 
red, so no more squinting at all the white text trying to find the 
errors. This will build the executable file in the src directory while 
the live executable (the one your game is running off of) remains 
unchanged. This is done so that in the case of a crash, if your changes 
resulted in an error, you can just startup the mud using the executable 
that is in running condition.

When your changes result in an error-free compile, you then need to copy 
the new merc.exe to the area directory while leaving the game running. 
This is made simple by a new make command. Simply type "make install" 
and it will automatically rename the live executable to old_merc.exe and 
move the new merc.exe to the area directory.

Once you do that you just do a copyover in the mud and your new merc.exe 
is the live executable due to the changes to the copyover command.

To make this clearer, here's the list of steps to take, assuming your
compile results in no errors.

1. type make
2. wait for compile
3. type make install (no wait should be necessary)
4. switch screens to your mud and type copyover
5. announce your changes in whatever way you use
6. hear the mortals complain about one thing or another
7. slay mortals... wait, sorry, got carried away there, but you get the 
   idea.

When you need to do a clean compile for whatever reason, just type make 
clean then type make. After you do that you'll need to copy merc.exe to 
the area directory, and then type make install. The list of steps for 
this are listed below.

1. type make clean
2. type make
3. wait for compile
4. type cp merc.exe ../area
5. type make install
6. startup the mud

This makefile also has a couple other features that are not in the 
original makefile.

This makefile features wildcards so that when you add or remove files 
from the source, you don't need to edit the makefile.

It also has an option to make clean which just removes the .o files. 

There is another option of make cleanup which removes the extra files 
that aren't needed for a backup. This leaves all files in the area 
directory and leaves the pfiles alone. It removes all the log files and 
.o files and it removes all executables. It also removes any files from 
the backup directory inside the src directory.

I think I've covered everything that needs covering, but if I didn't 
then I'll update this release with updated readme's.

This makefile is released with no restrictions at all. You don't need to 
email me letting me know you are using it, you don't need to make a help 
topic for me giving me credit, there are no other weird requirements 
either.

All I have is a request, I request you release at least a small snippet
of your work on any codebase. A good place to do this is
www.mudbytes.net or www.godwars.net (godwars.net for godwars related
snippets only).

My goal is to get more people to contribute to the mudding community,
which would benefit us all. 

Oh, yeah, the only restriction is that you can't claim this as your 
work. Only Igabod and Tyche can lay any claim to this makefile. Thank 
you Tyche for helping me get everything working correctly.

-Igabod-