BOMBS AND BUGS from AWKWARD Software Coding by Stefan Eilert Graphics by Hendrik Dijkstra and Stefan Eilert Logo-animation by Markus Klose Many thanks to: --------------- - Shawn Hargreaves for 'Allegro' (http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/) - DJ Delorie for DJGPP V2 (http://www.delorie.com/) - Charles W Sandmann for CWSDPMI (ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/djgpp/v2misc/) 'Bombs and Bugs' is shareware. You are allowed to copy and distribute the shareware version (it has a 's' in its version-number and the executable is named 'bugssw.exe'). You are not allowed to change anything or use parts in your own prgorams (except CWSDPMI). Of course you are not allowed to distribute the registered version (it has a personal registration with the name of the owner) or apply any changes to it. Hello! ====== Thank you for trying 'Bombs and Bugs'. If you like it please register and encourage us to improve this game and create new ones. If you've already done this: Thank you and have fun! Summary ------- This is a little game for up to four players on one computer. It is about four little bugs who are trying to blast one another to pieces. That sounds not very nice. It isn't nice at all. But it is fun! It is now possible to play againt computer-contolled bugs. But this is still in beta. It is just a bonus to what see how things will look like. Preface for version 2.0 ----------------------- This is the second release of 'Bombs and Bugs' and I'm already ashamed of having released the first version at all. But I never thought I was able to improve this so much. New to this version: - four players with different-looking bugs - improved grahpics (more colors, animations, transparent smoke and shadows) - improved gameplay (no stopping during explosion, better collision detection and now pixel-exact controll over the bugs) As a bonus this version contains a beta of the AI for computer-controlled bugs. It has still many bugs and needs much improving. The next version will (hopefully) contain SVGA and a complete AI but will not be released until October. Shareware Restrictions ---------------------- The shareware has a 15-second 'nag-screen' in the beginning. Also, the playing time is restricted to ten minutes. The remaining time is shown in the upper middle of the screen. The full version has of course no regulations. Hey, how do I play the game? --------------------------- In the beginning every bug is placed at a corner of the screen. The playing field contains solid stones and stones which can be destroyed. When such a block is blown away it sometimes reveals a special in order to boost our little bugs. When an explosion catches a bug he is killed unless he has a special that saves him. When the last two bugs are killed at the same time, it is a draw. The winner is the last bug standing. He gets five points. The player with the most points wins the championship after a certain number of rounds. The bomb placing has some rules: - You cannot step over bombs. This is nice to capture enemies. Bugs which stand on a tile where a bomb is placed can of course still move away. - All bombs are time bombs. The ignition point can be regulated with specials. - When a bomb is caught in a detonation it will explode, too. - Bombs do not kill bugs only, they also destroy specials. You can lose friends by destroying speed-ups... - The time your bug needs to place a new bomb can be shortened with a special. For everybody who knows the video game: There are two important differences: - It is not restricted how many bombs you could place at a time, but how long it takes to place a new one. - An explosion does not only destroy one stone, but every stone within its range. Specials -------- Yellow star: It makes explosions bigger. If you get seven of it, the explosion is as big as the screen. Black bomb: The time your bug need to place a new bomb gets shorter. You start with five seconds, after five specials you can always drop a bomb. Clock with a minus: The 'fuse' gets shorter. At start a bomb needs five seconds to explode, every special makes it one second faster. The minimum is one second. Clock with a plus: The 'fuse' gets longer: This increases the ignition point by one second, the longest time is nine seconds. Shield: The bug can survive one explosion. It can carry up to five shields at once. Grinning face: All specials are gone. Arrow: Speed-up for the bug; only one allowed. (The status of these specials (execpt speed-up) can be watched at the bars on the right side of the screen below the bug-faces in the following order: explosion size, time it takes to place a new bomb, length of fuse and number of shields.) Controls -------- Player one: Controls the orange bug with the keyboard ('w'= up, 'd'= right, 's'= down, 'a'= left, 'g'= drop bomb). Player two: Controls the grey bug also with keyboard (cursor-keys and return/enter). Player three: Controls the green bug with joypad/stick. Player four: Controls the blue bug with a second joypad/stick. Attention: The pads/sticks have to be plugged in at the start of the game, otherwise they will not be detected and the third/fourth bug cannot be used. Menu ---- Following keys are used during the menu: F1-F4: Activate bugs; you must activate at least two or the game will not start. If you select a face with a small 'CPU'-sign in the right upper corner the computer takes controll over this bugs. But remember, this is still beta, so don't expect too much. F4: Number of rounds; five to 25, in steps of five F5: Choose background-graphics; a question mark uses a random graphic for every round. F10: Start game. ESC: Quit game. (Can also be pressed during the game.) Hardware -------- It works on my computer :-). If someone has problems, please contact me with the exact problem-description. It runs under 'Windows 95', but Windows sometimes gets jerky... and since the bombs count in 'real-time' it is very bad when you cannot move your bug for a few seconds... But up to now this was only detected on my computer. Also my soundcard cannot be recognised when just clicking on the executable. I need to run it from a DOS-box. This is perhaps caused from Windows 'starting program'-sound, because the soundcard is in use while 'Bombs and Bugs' tries to detect it. So better run 'Bombs and Bugs' only in true MS-DOS. The game tries to recognise any SoundBlaster-compatible soundcard. If it does not detect yours, contact me with information about your soundcard. Register -------- For 20 German Marks (or 12 American Dollars or 8 English Pounds) in paper money (please no stamps) you can register. You will get the newest version of 'Bombs and Bugs' personally registered with your name via e-mail. When I have the money I will mail you a message about the size of the incoming file (will be around 600KB without logo-animation and 1MB with). If you reply to this I will send the game via e-mail. Use 'reg_eng.txt' for ordering. In work: -------- - SVGA with complete new graphics - complete AI - Many new specials, effects... Have fun, Stefan Eilert and Hendrik Dijkstra (AWKWARD-Software) Any tips, problems, questions or bug reports? Contact us! We will try to help you! Contact --------- AWKWARD-Software Stefan Eilert In den Heidekaempen 44 49088 Osnabrueck Germany World Wide Web -------------- AWKWARD Software: E-Mail: awkward@shareware.de Homepage: http://www.shareware.de/autoren/awkward Stefan Eilert: E-Mail: seilert@rz.uni-osnabrueck.de Homepage: http://hal.cl-ki.uni-osnabrueck.de/~seilert