ISV Strong Games/ISV_STRONG_GAMES.iso/arcade/pypes/ReadMe

Text File | 2000-11-27 | 7KB | 145 lines

»»»» Documentation for !Pypes v1.10

Written by Andrew J. Cawte - public domain version

This version of !Pypes is public domain - you can copy and distribute it
freely, via any media, as long as:

 i) You do not sell this program for a profit, or include it on a disc for
    which you are charging (a small charge to cover media and postage is OK).
    I retain the exclusive copyright on this application.

ii) The application is supplied complete and unaltered, including this file.

=============================================================================

Playing the game
----------------

     Pypes is a game of strategy and quick thinking. The screen is divided
into a rectangular grid. One of the squares on this grid contains a handy
little gadget which, once it has been around for a while, starts to produce
a disgusting, thick green gunge, which gets everywhere and generally makes a
mess of things (how nice!). Your job is to contain this gunge for as long as
possible by placing a system of pipes on the grid for the gunge to flow
through.

     This is made more difficult by the fact that the only pipes that you
can place on the grid are the ones you are provided with from a pipe
dispenser, located in the top left hand corner of the screen. You can only
take pipes from the bottom of this dispenser, after which they all shuffle
down ready for you to take the next one.

     A bar at the right hand side of the screen indicates how much time you
have before the nauseating, foul-smelling gunge begins to flow, and you
should aim to have several pipes connected to the device by this time -
although you may continue to place pipes after the flow has started.

     To make matters worse, at the top right hand corner of the screen there
is a distance counter - you must direct the gunge through at least that many
pipe sections, or you will be deemed to have failed, and the game is over.
If you succeed in meeting this target distance, however, you will proceed to
the next level once this one is over.

     The game is controlled entirely with the mouse. The game is started by
double-clicking on the !Pypes icon (in the Filer window), and the game begins
as soon as it has loaded. You will see that one of the grey squares in the
grid has its corners highlighted in green - this green highlight is your
cursor, and it moves with the mouse. Press <SELECT> (the left hand mouse
button) to place a pipe on the highlighted square. When you do, the pipe is
placed there immediately, and the rest of the pipes in the dispenser shuffle
down ready for you to take the next one. You may place a pipe over one which
you have put there already (though not if it is full or partially full of
gunge), but this takes up precious time, and the gunge gets ever closer...

     At the end of each level, any pipes which have been placed on the grid
but remain empty carry a penalty. On the first level, each pipe section
carries a penalty of 50 points, on the second level it's 100, on the third
it's 150 and so on. Just as a little incentive for you to be careful about
where you drop pipes.

     When you have placed all the pipe sections that you can, pressing
<ADJUST> (the right hand mouse button) will speed up the flow of the gunge,
and you score double for all the pipes that the gunge flows through at high
speed. If the gunge crosses over itself (in a junction, '+') then you
receive a bonus of 1000 points.

     On later levels, bonus pipes and solid squares appear. Solid squares
are red, and cannot have pipes placed on them - you have to plumb around
them. Bonus pipes appear on blue squares instead of grey, and you receive a
fat bonus if you use them. They too cannot be changed for other sections.

     Have some good, clean fun!


===========================================================================

NB. This is the NEW version 1.10 (19th Aug 1991). It's faster and more
responsive than the earlier version 1.02, and has some extra graphics to
fill in the gaps on the screen. Clicking <MENU> doesn't rerun the game any
more - instead it temporarily pauses it. Click any mouse button when paused
to restart the game. So that you can't just use it to give yourself extra
time to think, pausing the game also speeds up the flow as if <ADJUST> had
been pressed. (Thoughtful, arent' I!?)

===========================================================================

Don't forget to look out for my other PD software, currently:

!BackGrdII - a sticky backdrop program that doesn't crash all the time!
(unlike one I could mention!) Supports multiple backdrop states for
different purposes, multiple drags to the backdrop from Filer windows,
replacing dull grey background with a sprite, works in any Mode, RISC OS 3
compatible (inc. saving of Desktop state), multiple selections, status
display and others too numerous to mention.

StickyConv - converts the saved state of the PD program !StickyBD into a
backdrop file suitable for use with !BackGrd. A separate utility is
included with !BackGrdII to convert this file to a !BackGrdII compatible
format.

!WordSqure - solves wordsquare puzzles. Just type in the wordsquare (the
boring bit), then just type in each word and the Arc will find it in just a
couple of seconds! (I guarantee, unless the puzzle is VERY easy, it's still
easier to type it into the Arc than solve it by hand. Wordsquares can be
saved to disc for later use, if necessary).

!FileFind - finds files buried in the directory structure of a disc. Other
programs are around that can do this, but can they search in the background
(ie. without tying up the machine), search specified paths only to speed up
search time, work with ANY filing system, perform any action on the files it
finds and do all this without the use of the !System folder? I doubt it.
(This one can, in case you were wondering!)

!SpaceBall - A good, old-fashioned 'knock the bricks out of the wall' game,
brought right up to date for the Archimedes! Features include: Sampled sound
effects (digitised by me especially for this game), scrolling messages,
multiple (different!) walls, indestructible bricks, hard bricks, atmospheric
graphics and double-buffered screens for perfect animation. (Well, I like
it).

!GravWars - A multi-player space game. Up to 100 players can take part at
once in this game of skill and strategy in space! Shoot blazing fireballs at
the other players, and hope that they don't orbit round a planet and hit you
in the back!

!IconClk3d - a digital clock that sits on the icon bar. It uses a
custom-designed 3D font and looks superb.

!DuckHunt - you know !DeskDuck? Well, here's your chance to express your
deepest feelings towards the duck by shooting it! (Features digitized stereo
sound)

You should be able to get all of the above programs from the PD libraries.
If not, send me a disc of PD and an SAE and I'll copy any of those programs
you want onto it and send it back. (Sorry I can't be more helpful than that
- I'm not a PD library and can't afford to send out discs for free!)

Send money, discs and so on to:

         Andrew Cawte,
         64, Blenheim Gardens,
         Denvilles,
         Havant,
         Hants.
         PO9 2PW