ACK requires you to press F10 to exit some menus, and CTRL + various function keys can change the DOSBox environment ACK runs in (to increase and decrease its speed, for example).  On newer Mac laptops, the function keys are by default mapped to hardware functions, so in that case you will need to hold down Fn + F10 to get ACK to register that you’ve pressed F10.  You will also need to hold down Fn to use DOSBox’s function key controls — for instance, to slow down cpu cycles, you will need to hold down Fn + CTRL + F11.

If you want to use the function keys in ACK and DOSBox without having to hold down Fn, launch OS X System Preferences, go to the Mouse & Keyboard menu, and check the box that reads ‘Use F1-F12 Keys to control software features.’  Note that after doing this, pressing Fn + F1 – F12 will control hardware features, and you can uncheck the box to revert to standard function key behavior at any time.

Also note that FN + down arrow is PageDn, FN + up arrow is PageUp, which is needed to scroll some menus.

The likely culprit is the amount of simulated cycles used by DOSBox (the DOS emulator that ACK runs within). By default, DOSBox runs ACK at 15000 cycles, a speed which handily deals with heavier processes like the ‘limited visibility at night’ option.  But on some older machines, this high cycle rate can cause all of ACK to slow down.  This will most obviously be noticable in choppy sound playback.

You can decrease the cycles used by pressing CTRL + F11 while playing an adventure.  Keep doing this until sound plays normally.  You can also increase cycles with CTRL + F12.  If you want to change ACK’s default cycle rate, you can edit the ‘cycles=’ line in the files dosbox.conf and (PC only) ackmod.conf.

If you’re using ACK on a newer Mac laptop, see the tip about function keys below.

It took me awhile of tootling around with ACK to realize the usefulness of Mosaics. Basically a mosaic is a screen built from the same tile grahics you use for your game’s creatures, objects and terrain, but it is simply a still image. You can call up a mosaic from a macro, for instance to create a cut scene, and have a series of mosaics where only certain parts of the still change image change, to create an animation or narrative effect. Also, you choose to call up a mosaic with any blank spaces in it treated as transparent space (you do this with the TMOSAIC macro command).

That way, for instance, a long message you previously displayed will show through the transparent section, allowing you to combine text and graphics. In the “Configure Adventure” menu, you can choose to have a certain macro run as the game’s Title screen, and that macro can cycle through a series of long message/transparent mosaic combos, like used in the title screen of the game “Caravan” that comes with ACK:

Likewise you can set a macro to play long message/tmosaic combos as the game’s Intro right after the player chooses a character, and at any other time in your game. Such macros will look something like this:

LMSG 6
TMOSAIC 16
WAITKEY
LMSG 7
TMOSAIC 22
WAITKEY
etc…

In the editor, when you give an Object an effect it can can be triggered to carry out, you often choose both an Action (for example Take All These from Area, Let Player Shoot Weapon, Change Player Intelligence, etc.) and a specific setting for that Action (for the examples above, they could be: Dogs, Ship’s Cannon, and +15, respectively). But you don’t have to be this precise with every object you create in the editor before actually building your rooms and regions.

With Custom Spaces and Custom Obstacles (their categories appear with a * after them when you’re scrolling through Object categories), you still specify an Action for the object, but the specific part is left as “(SET LATER)” by default. “SET LATER” means when you place one of the Custom Objects or Obstacles in a room, THEN you set the specific effect for that object. Each time you place a new copy of a Custom Space/Obstacle in a room, you can specify a different specific effect for that copy.

For instance, you could make a “Library Shelf” Custom Space that has passibilty set to NOTHING (the player can never move through it) and that’s triggered by bumping into it and has “Play Long Message” as its Action. Then, each time you place another Library Shelf in a room, you can choose a different long message that particular Library Shelf will display when the player bumps into it.

ACK comes with some pre-made Custom Spaces such a “Give Item” Custom Space, “Take Item” Custom Space, “Rid Room of…” Custom Space, etc. that you’re sure to get lots of milage from.