Why many software programs are self-evident or contain help sections within the program itself, many others are complicated enough that the use of them is not self-evident. To counter this, piracy groups would transcribe the manual of the program so that anyone who got a copy of the program would know how to use it. In this say, Software-Based Documentation was born. It was shortened in name to "Soft Documentation" and then "Soft Docs", and even "dox" in some cases.
An interesting side-effect of this process, which was pretty tedious by any standard, was that the writer/transcriber would include a lot of interesting side-comments about the program, or the BBS world as they saw it, or any amount of gossip/opinion they could fit in.
This is not the only section with Soft Documentation; there is a very large collection of Apple II-Based Documentation in the Apple II section.
| Filename |
Size |
Description of the Textfile |
| $readme.txt | 8919 | Soft Documentation for Broderbund's License to Kill by The Firm (October 12, 1989) |
| $readme2.txt | 4974 | Soft Documentation for Taito's Operation Wolf by The Firm (September 15, 1989) |
| 688.txt | 156457 | SOFTDOCS: 688 Attack Sub User Manual |
| a-10tank | 61934 | Soft Documentation: A-10 Tank Killer |
| aaargh.txt | 4301 | SOFTDOCS: Aaaarg, by Arthur Dent of M.A.A.D. |
| abdtg.nfo | 3062 | Documentation for the Arrested Bus Drivers Tone Generator |
| adandd.cards | 12772 | Soft Documents: Magic: The AD&D |
| alienleg.asc | 17656 | Soft Documentation: Alien Legacy by Dynamix |
| allnet.txt | 3809 | Documentation for Allnet Hacker v4.0 |
| appendix | 13955 | Documentation for Crack Version 4.1 by Alec Muffett |
| arkanoid.frm | 1278 | Soft Documentation for Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doe by The Firm |
| atrain.txt | 131950 | SOFTDOCS: The A-Train |
| aultrafd.txt | 22367 | Soft Documentation to Archon Ultra, by Lorus |
| autoduel.txt | 13376 | Soft Docs: Autoduel |
| azure.sol | 60274 | SOFTDOCS: Curse of the Azure Bonds |
| bakcht{}.not | 3892 | Betrayal at Kondor Cheat Version 1.0, by Null Set |
| batchess.txt | 13894 | SOFTDOCS: Battle Chess |
| batman.txt | 9175 | SOFTDOCS: Batman, typed by Golden One of the API |
| beast2.txt | 29108 | Soft Documentation: Shadow of the Beast II Docs, by Fizban of G.O.D. |
| beast3.txt | 7304 | Soft Documentation: Shadow of the Beast III |
| bic-sol2.dox | 26490 | SOFTDOCS: Bicycle Solitare v2.01 by Swfte, Documentation by Genesis of HumbleDox (May 29, 1991) |
| bluegrey.txt | 23246 | Soft Documentation for The Blue and the Gray |
| bp.txt | 18615 | Soft Documentation: Balance of the Planet (199) |
| buckroge.txt | 22246 | Soft Documentation: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday |
| cas-trg.txt | 6933 | Soft Documentation: Command Adventures: Starship Version 1.0 Technical Reference Guide |
| caveman.txt | 21078 | SOFTDOCS: Caveman Ugh-Lympics by Azreal |
| centudox.txt | 27350 | Centurion "Defender of Rome" by Electronic Arts Documentation (1990) |
| centurio.txt | 13120 | SOFTDOCS: Centurion by Gironimo of the Something Different BBS |
| champion.txt | 42304 | The Champions of Krynn Adventurer's Journal by Archon |
| chessii.txt | 2944 | BattleChess II Game Codes |
| civi.txt | 161402 | Full Documentation for Civilizations |
| civiguid.txt | 371990 | The Official Guide to Sid Meier's Civilization, typed by Baser Evil of Alliance |
| civildox.nfo | 9349 | DOCUMENTATION: Complete Civilization Documentation from United Software Association and Mokedage/Organism |
| civiliz.dox | 160101 | DOCUMENTATION; Complete Civilization Documentation |
| conr-dox.nfo | 10826 | DOCUMENTATION: Jimmy Connor's Pro Tennis Tour from United Software Association/Fairlight PC |
| control.txt | 3229 | Explanation of the Code-Name ICEMAN Control Panel |
| cruisdox.nfo | 4113 | Cruise for a Corpse: Complete Documentation by Delphine Software |
| cruisref.txt | 13598 | The Humble Guys: Cruise for a Corpse : Reference Manual for the Cimematique System |
| cw.txt | 9200 | DOCUMENTATION: Crime Wave, by Access Software |
| cy3-dox.txt | 2504 | Soft Documentation: Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, by Gopher of POWR |
| d-lair.txt | 2477 | How to Win at the NYCrack of Dragon's Lair |
| darkleg.txt | 6859 | Quick Documentation to Dark Legions by The Beholder |
| darkspyr.txt | 1024 | DOCUMENTATION: Dark Spyre, by T-Bo |
| ddragon.txt | 1406 | Double Dragon Docs, by the Blue Adept |
| deltav.txt | 6336 | Solution to Delta V from Bethesda Softworks |
| diehard.hnt | 3792 | The Security and Inovcations for Die Hard |
| digger2.txt | 1922 | Documentation for Diggers PC v1.49 from Milleniuum Interactive 1993-1994 |
| diggers.txt | 9897 | Soft Documentation for Diggers from Millenium |
| dinoterr.txt | 5554 | Review and Soft Documentation for Dino Park Tycoon |
| dkok.txt | 96768 | Death Knights of Krynn Adventurer's Journal Part I: The Players Manual. typed by Repo Man |
| dmkeys.txt | 6211 | DOOM key commands (December 16, 1993) |
| dragonw | 61861 | DRAGON WARS by Interplay, IBM version (September 1990) |
| ds-colon.nfo | 5820 | Documentation for Colonisation by SlackJaw (September 23, 1994) |
| dsd-canf.dox | 11311 | Documentation for Cannon Fodder by Virgin |
| dsd-canf.nfo | 4207 | Full Documentation for Cannon Fodder by Acid Queen of Dream Syndicate |
| dsge.txt | 7522 | Documentation for DSGE v1.00 by ANdrew Pye |
| dstrike.txt | 54439 | SOFTDOCS: Documentation to Dragonstrike: The Dragon Combat Simulation by The Redman |
| dtrack.hnt | 6336 | Solution to Deathtrack by Activision |
| dtrack.txt | 2707 | The Death Track Protection Document |
| dtrack3.txt | 4722 | Deathtrack Documentation |
| dun2trns.nfo | 7502 | Documentation for Dune II Megatrainer by David Jury (1993) |
| earthsei.dox | 2657 | Quick Docs for MetalTech: Earth Siege (October 31, 1994) |
| ecstatic.txt | 9378 | Documentation Transcription of Ecstatica |
| elite2.txt | 2745 | Quick Documentation for Elite 2 |
| enchant.txt | 19804 | Documentation for Curse of Enchantia by Scooter of Skid Row |
| epic-thg.dox | 69755 | The Humble Guys HumbleDox: Epic: The Complete Game Manual |
| epic.txt | 6777 | Soft Documentation for Flight Simulator "Epic" |
| f-15docs.txt | 1638 | SOFTDOCS: F-15 Strike Eagle, by The Blue Adept |
| f15ii.txt | 2373 | The Underground Council: F-15 II (August 15, 1989) Member List and Docs |
| falcon2.txt | 13704 | Softdocs: Falcon Missions Disk II: Operation Firefight typed by Renegade |
| falfun.txt | 5562 | Some Strange and Funny Things to Do with Falcon 3 |
| fatal.nfo | 2536 | Documentation for "Fatal Challenge |
| ffbtof.txt | 30942 | SOFTDOCS: Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun by Mindscape |
| fistfast.txt | 1386 | Documentation for Armored Fist by Ars Nova |
| fl-aoe.dox | 14481 | Documentation for Aces of Europe by Fanfan LaTulipe |
| formula1.txt | 61175 | Soft Documentation for Microprose's Formula One Grand Prix |
| gamtools.txt | 20260 | SOFTDOCS: Gametools Version 3.4 by Wong Wing Kin (1994) (Cracks Software Protection) |
| gshipibm.txt | 5470 | DOCS: Gunship, by Microprose |
| gunbelt3.txt | 8525 | Softdocs: Gunbelt III by Lord Blix (August 25, 1987) |
| heimdall.txt | 24754 | SOFTDOCS: Heimdall, by Skid Row and Scooter |
| idd.nfo | 5520 | INC: Civilization Hintbook (July 23, 1992) |
| indymodm.txt | 6115 | Indycar Racing Modem Play |
| indypass.txt | 6410 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Translation Table |
| java-esd.txt | 25834 | Documentation of Empire Soccer from Empire Software |
| legend.nfo | 4577 | LEGEND: Full Amazon Train Documentation (July 28, 1993) |
| legend.txt | 7129 | Battle Bugs Documentation by Neuromage |
| links.txt | 18013 | Soft Documentation: Links Golf by The Skeleton |
| load-us.txt | 2304 | DOCUMENTATION: LOAD-US, by SWFTE Fairware (1984) |
| loom.txt | 6254 | Soft Documentation for Loom by LucasArts |
| lotus3.txt | 24181 | Lotus III: Final Challenge Complete Documentation by Razor Blade |
| maps-pcx.txt | 1201 | DOCUMENTATION: The Colony |
| mastninj.txt | 1917 | Docs to Master Ninja, by Paragon Software Corporation (1987) |
| meanhnt.txt | 5599 | Complete Hints for Mean Streets |
| meanstr.txt | 3295 | Cheats to Mean Streets by The Mizer |
| mega2.txt | 211670 | Soft Documentation: Megatraveller 2, by The Humble Guys/Rygar |
| moonst.txt | 24684 | Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight: Complete Game Manual: Soft Documentation by The Humble Guys |
| mortal.txt | 2790 | Mortal Kombat Reference File for SNES |
| mshelp.txt | 14661 | Soft Documentation for Mean Streets |
| n&b_e2fm.txt | 140104 | Manual for Elite II by Shard 13 (November 13, 1993) |
| nflchal.txt | 1424 | Soft Documentation: NFL Challenge, by the Blue Adept |
| no-aces.txt | 5277 | Aces Over Europe Quick Reference Documentation by Guardian of New Order |
| offshore.txt | 2977 | Soft Documentation for Off Shore Warriors |
| pond3.txt | 13175 | SOFTDOCS: Aquatic Games from Millenium, by Razor Blade |
| popuii.txt | 35163 | SOFTDOCS: Populous by The Jester |
| powermon.txt | 86106 | The Powermonger Amiga Command Summary Card, by RYGAR |
| pp2qdox.txt | 1914 | Prince of Persia 2 Quick Dox by Patch (April 27, 1993) |
| premiere.txt | 5156 | SOFTDOCS: Premiere |
| princeop.txt | 13588 | The Prince of Persia User's Guide |
| ramboapi.txt | 4124 | Rambo III Cheat Version 2.0 Documentation |
| rdr_seed.txt | 30690 | Soft Documentation: Dark Seed: The Complete Game Manual, from Ministry |
| readme.dfe | 3523 | Dark Forces Demo Editor Version 1.71 by Sean Baker |
| readme.txt | 3191 | Cheat for The Elder Scrolls: Arena |
| rebels97.nfo | 14389 | REBELS: 1997 Generic Release Document |
| rly_gold.txt | 11136 | Undocumented Features in RELAY Gold Version 4.0 |
| sensible.txt | 27884 | Full Documentation for Sensible Soccer by Munchie and LOL (November 5, 1992) |
| shdwr.txt | 4005 | Soft Documentation: Shadow Warriors, scribed by Renegade of RAF |
| silentii.txt | 248405 | Documentation: Silent Service II by The Jet |
| simcity.txt | 47545 | SimCity Version 1.0 for Amiga Soft Documentation, by Ponyboy |
| slice-10.txt | 124508 | Slice's Tradewar Manual Version 1.0, by Slice |
| sm1cha.txt | 1040 | Wing Commander Secret Missions 1 Chart |
| sputty.txt | 5385 | Putty: The Game (Documentation) |
| spyvspy3.txt | 1779 | Soft Documentation for Spy vs. Spy III by Epyx (Cracked by Live Wire) |
| sq5coord.txt | 1963 | Space Quest 5 Coordinates, typed by Vaiski (February 2, 1993) |
| stellar.txt | 19021 | Stellar 7 from Dynamix/Sierra released by The Humble Guys (October 1, 1990) |
| stellar7.txt | 27305 | Stellar 7 Documentation |
| storm.txt | 29229 | StormMaster User's Manual |
| striker.txt | 2503 | How to play Striker |
| tdn-bn.txt | 2380 | Quick Documentation to Bloodnet from Microprose (November 6, 1993) |
| termdox.txt | 5052 | The Terminator IBM Reference Card, by Line Noise |
| terrtron.nf1 | 6460 | TERRATRON: Stronghold Complete Docs by Raistlin (July 28, 1993) |
| thawk.txt | 8582 | Docs: Thunderhawk AH073M Keyboard Commands Summary |
| top.nfo | 1702 | TIRED OF PROTECTION: Soft-Ice Additional Files with Full Scanned Documentation |
| tunnels.txt | 1942 | SOFTDOCS: Tunnels of Armageddon by Rifleman |
| tycoon.txt | 10685 | Soft Documentation for Railroad Tycoon, cracked by Public Enemy |
| u72cheat.txt | 4389 | How to activate the ULTIMA 7 PART II cheat system, by David Lummis |
| ultrad3.txt | 10880 | SOFTDOCS: Ultra-Dial: Version 3.0 The Final Frontier by Paul Levy |
| utopia.txt | 86606 | Utopia: Instruction Booklet by Scout |
| warlords.txt | 81321 | Soft Documentation for the Wargame Warlords |
| wccheat.txt | 3485 | Wing Commander Series Cheat |
| wingcom.txt | 7076 | Soft Documentation for Wing Commander by Gopher |
| wizzkid.txt | 11075 | Soft Documentation by Wizkid |
| yeager.txt | 13208 | Soft Documentation for Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, by Humble Guy, 06/24/1991 |
| zeliard.txt | 3287 | Soft Documentation for Zeliard by Sierra, by UG (1990) |
| zool.txt | 11346 | Soft Documentation: Zool, Ninja from the Nth Dimension |
| There are 144 files for a total of 3,697,829 bytes. |