Games of Daze

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Text File | 1991-06-07 | 13KB | 347 lines

INSTALLATION To install RISE-EGL, type from the DOS command line: COPY A:*.* <new path name> <ENTER> where you substitute for <new path name> either B: or C: or C: followed by some directory name, depending on where you want the files to go. For example, C:>COPY A:*.* C:\FREEWARE\EGL If the distribution disk is not in the A: drive, replace the A: above with the appropriate letter. This should copy the following files: EGL.EXE The program DRAW.EXE The font program RISE-EGL.DOC This file GAMES.EGL The Games Collection file RISE.EGL The Rise & Fall of the Human Race file INTRO.EGL The Intro/instructions/information file DEMO.EGL The Demonstration file DEMO.BAT A text file consisting of only: EGL DEMO FONT.VGA The VGA font file FONT.EGA The EGA font file FONT.CGA The CGA font file FONT.HGA The Hercules font file FONT.NGA The text mode font file Then, to run the program, change the directory to the appropriate directory or change the logged disk drive to the appropriate one, and type: EGL <ENTER> **************************************************************** ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ ████████The information which follows is available inside ██████ ████████the program by pressing <F1> from the main menu. ██████ ████████Although it can be a little slower than reading ██████ ████████a simple text file, it is recommended you do that.██████ ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ **************************************************************** #########"Esprit de E Games Language"############# #### plus "The Rise & Fall of the Human Race"##### ################################################## INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of this product. This product includes two quite large games, the Games Collection, comprising over 20 completely different games and 'The Rise and Fall of the Human Race' (RISE) an arcade / graphic adventure of 25 levels. These were both written in an arcade-game language called 'EGL' (Esprit de E Games Language) which comes included in this product. If you want to create your own games with EGL, you will have to pay only $39 to get the manual and the password (this includes registration). There is more info on creating your own games on the 7th screen, and information about registering on the next screen. THE SHAREWARE CONCEPT: This is a ShareWare product. This means anyone is free to make and distribute as many copies of this program as they like, without paying me (as the programmer / developer) any money. However, the users of this program are required to 'register' if they use it a lot. This means that if you try out this program, and you like it, you should then pay for your copy. (You are reminded of this 3 times during the Games Collection and RISE). On the other hand, if you don't like it, don't use it and don't register. ShareWare is potentially a vastly better method of software distribution than the normal commercial methods. You are free to give your friends copies of this program, in fact if you do, you are doing me a favor. INCENTIVES TO REGISTER: You have several incentives to register: (a) You may find some levels quite difficult, especially further on. Rather than get very frustrated because you can't do them, you can register and ask for the 'Cheat Booklet'. This tells you how to do each level, and if this still doesn't help you, it has a sealed list of passwords and tells you how to skip each level. Note: You don't receive this unless you explicitly request it. All registered users are entitled to it for free. (b) The extremely low registration fees are the only return I receive for months of work and my only reason for producing more products or enhancing this one. (c) You can create your own games if you like, for fun, for prototyping your own games, for education, for gifts, for puzzles and so on. To do this, pay $14 extra and I will send you the EGL manual and master password. More information in section 15. (d) You can get $US150 if you create your own games and win the competition. Details later. REGISTRATION DETAILS: Repeating the instructions on the Main Menu: You must send the equivalent of $25 as a cheque or money order in any of the following currencies: $US, £UK, $Can, $NZ, Fmk (or $AUS25 for Australians) to the address: Tim Cooper 31 Epping Ave EASTWOOD - 2122 AUSTRALIA The $25 will cover the costs of producing this product and also go towards version 2. This is an extremely reasonable price. If you want to create your own games, the price goes up to $39, (or $AUS39 for Australians) and you will receive the EGL programming manual and the password that allows you to run your creations. If you have any queries, write to me at that address, but if you want a reply, enclose a self-addressed envelope with 2 'International Return Mail vouchers' which you can get at any post office in the civilised world. PLAYING THE GAMES If you think you can try to figure out for yourself how to play, by all means go ahead. To move the little man on the screen which represents you, use the cursor keys (the arrow keys). In each level you have a different objective, for example you may be required to catch a star, or defuse some bombs, or collect all the dots '.'. In general, you have to collect all the dots, defuse all the bombs (just by moving into them), and get all the cherries and diamonds that are on the screen. Then you will either go automatically onto the next screen or flashing yellow arrows will suddenly appear which you must reach. You must also avoid capture by the enemies which constantly chase you, and avoid the poison bottles. If you see the digits from 1 upward scattered around the screen, you must visit them all IN ORDER. The dollar, yen and pound symbols just increase your score and it's not compulsary to get them. Some levels have 'gravity', some don't. If there is gravity, you and all the enemies will always fall to the ground. You can usually jump, using the space bar, and you will usually have ladders and ropes which you can climb up. In other levels, you will be able to shoot things. To shoot, you usually need to press the SPACE-BAR or use SHIFT- and the arrow keys to shoot in a particular direction. Some levels are more like puzzles than arcade games, and require a little thought to get through them. (But don't worry, they start off easy.) In most levels, it will be clear enough (if not at first, then after a bit of experimentation) what you have to do. You will be told for each level any particular instructions you need. SPECIAL KEYS There are a few keys with special meaning: SCROLL-LOCK: This turns the sound on and off. PAUSE: This pauses the game. '>' and '<': These speed the game up or slow it down. <F7>: This changes the colours you see. <F8>: This kills your man. Use it if you get stuck somewhere with no other way to kill yourself. <F9>: This starts the whole game from the very beginning. <F10>: This returns you directly to the main menu. Q : These keys are alternatives to the arrow [ ] keys. With these, you can play with two A hands. PASSWORDS There quite a few levels in 'RISE'. Once you have mastered the first few you don't want to have to play them every time in order to reach the harder levels. For this reason there is a password system: Once you have mastered the first few levels, you will be given a password. From then onwards, you can use this password to skip the first few levels, and likewise you will be given many passwords at different stages of the game. To use a password, hit <F5> from the Main Menu and type it in. The way this system works is that once you are told a new password, you can't use it to go straight to that level in a new game. The password will usually take you to a point several levels before. This is so that you need to actually master each level to progress, and can't just get through one hard level by a fluke. If you like, you can type in the password from DOS by putting it in brackets after the word 'EGL'--e.g.: A:>EGL (pass) The password system is very simple once you use it. THE 'DRAW' PROGRAM: This package comes with another program, 'DRAW.EXE', which allows you to redraw all the characters you see. The shapes of all the objects in the games are defined in the FONT files: FONT.VGA, FONT.EGA, FONT.CGA, FONT.HGA (for hercules) and FONT.NGA ('No Graphics Adapter', for text modes); one file for each type of graphics card. You should know what type of card you have, but if not, just experiment. DRAW also allows you to change the palette (the choice of colours used). To use DRAW, type from DOS: A:>DRAW VGA -or- DRAW EGA -or- DRAW CGA -or- DRAW HGA -or- DRAW.NGA -or- DRAW ? for instructions. The program is quite straightforward, and if you just follow the instructions you will have no difficulties. GRAPHICS CARDS EGL automatically senses what video card you have. If you want to override this, (e.g. you have a CGA card and prefer the 16-colour text version to the 4-colour graphics display), or you have unforeseen problems with one graphics mode, (or you're just plain curious) type the following: A:>EGL VGA -or- EGL EGA -or- EGL CGA -or- EGL HGA -or- EGL NGA ...where HGA stands for Hercules Graphics Adapter and NGA means "No Graphics Adapter", i.e. simple text. TIMERS In many levels there will be a timer which ticks down toward zero. If it ever reaches zero, you will die. MATTER TRANSPORTERS Whenever you see the symbol '=', you can move into it and get magically transported to the other matter transporter. PUSHABLE BLOCKS You can push the 'pushable blocks' around the screen. POWER PILLS: You can eat the power pills '+' in order to get temporary extra strength. This allows you to eat the enemies. TIGER GRASS: Sometimes you need extra strength in order to walk through the tiger grass, sometimes you don't. OTHER SYMBOLS: For a list of the other symbols and what they mean, run the INTRO on the program. CREATING YOUR OWN GAMES: It is easy to create your own games. If you look inside the files which end in '.EGL', (with a text editor or the DOS 'TYPE' command), you will see just how simple it is. But you need a password and instructions before you can program your own levels. To do this you must send $39 to the address on the Main Menu. Once you register, you will receive the full EGL manual and the password. Programming a game involves writing a text file with the suitable commands and characters. To do this, you need your own text editor or word processor that creates text files. Every MS-DOS computer comes with a simple text- editor 'EDLIN' and instructions for it, but if you don't like EDLIN you can get a better text- editor from any Shareware software company or computer store. The EGL manual tells you everything you need to know about EGL, but it does not give any instructions about any particular text editor. THE COMPETITION: Once you register, you are eligible to enter the competition. Send any games you create to the same address, and if it is judged the best entry, you will receive $150 and have it released as part of future versions of this product. But you can get full details by pressing <F4> from the main menu. WRITE TO ME If you have suggestions for improvements, or this program does not work properly on your system, or you have questions about registering, or the competition, I would very much like to hear from you. If you need a reply, you should send a self-addressed envelope with two International Return Mail vouchers available from any Post Office in any country (NOTE: you need 2 to cover air-mail). Tim Cooper Esprit de E software 31 Epping Ave EASTWOOD - 2122 Australia GOOD LUCK!