GEMini Atari/GEMini_Atari_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1993.iso/zip/portfoli/tetrad.lzh/tetrad.doc

Text File | 1991-08-21 | 6KB | 180 lines

Tetrad7 Documentation:

Tetrad7 is a Tetris-like game
written for the Atari Porfolio that
allows you to choose the keys used
to control the pieces, and also the
direction the pieces fall. (towards
the left or right edge)

If you start Tetrad7 without any
'command line arguments', the game
begins with the pieces falling to
the left end of the screen, and the
following key assignments for moving
the pieces: Left - "W" or "7", Right
- "Z" or "9", Spin - "S" or "8", and
Drop - "A" or the spacebar.  Almost
all the keys on the keyboard can be
reassigned for these four functions,
with the exception of 'Esc', 'Lock',
'/|\' (the 'Atari Key'), 'Fn',
'Ctrl', 'Alt', and the shift keys.

EXAMPLE: If you want to use the 'E',
'D', and 'C' keys for left, spin,
and right, and the '1' key for drop,
you would enter:

    tetrad7 e d c 1

followed by a carriage return.  The
symbols for the keys assigned then
appear on the game display.

Please note that the key order on
the command line is 'left, spin,
right, and drop', that there is a
space between each letter, that
letters can be entered in either
upper- or lower-case, and that all
four keys must be reassigned at the
same time.  To clarify the last
point, if you want to use '2' for
Left, and leave 'S', 'Z' and 'A' as
they are, you would still have to
enter:

    tetrad7 2 s z a

To get Tetrad7 to drop the pieces to
the right end, you add the letter
'r' after the 4 key reassignments.
For example, if you want to use '.',
'L', 'O' and 'D', and have the
pieces fall to the right, you would
enter

    tetrad7 . l o d r

The added 'r' (either upper- or
lower-case) would cause the pieces
to fall to the right.

Some keys, such as the spacebar and
arrow keys, can be assigned by
entering their assigned symbol.
Tetrad7 will list the keys and
symbols if you enter tetrad7 and any
single letter on the command line.
The available keys and their symbols
are:

Backspace : '{' (left curly bracket)
Del Key   : '#'
Enter Key : '!'
Spacebar  : '_' (underbar)
Quote Key : '`' (accent symbol)
Tab Key   : '+'
Up Arrow  : '^'
Down Arrow: '|' (vertical bar)
Left Arrow: '(' (left paren)
Right Arrow: ')'(right paren)

For example, if you want to use the
left and right arrow keys for left
and right, the up key for spin, the
down key for drop, and the pieces
falling to the left end, you would
enter

    tetrad7 ( ^ ) |

Once you have found your ideal
combination of control keys and drop
direction, you can create a batch
file with that command line in it,
so that you won't have to retype the
line every time.

Playing Tetrad7

Tetrad7 is very similar to the game
Tetris in the way it is played.
After starting Tetrad7, you are
prompted for a starting level.
Level 0 is impossibly slow, while
level 9 is equally impossibly fast.
After selecting a level, the screen
will clear to the game area.  At the
'top' (opposite the drop direction)
the score, key assignments, and a
preview box is displayed.  The rest
of the screen consists of a well or
pit into which one of seven types of
four-block figures (tetrads) will
fall.  The game won't actually start
until you press a key, to give you
time to position your fingers.
Pieces fall from the top toward the
bottom of the pit,  The object is to
position the pieces so that they
create solid rows, which will then
disappear.  As you continue to
complete rows, the level of play
will increase, which increases the
value of the falling pieces, as well
as the speed with which they fall.
The game is over when no more pieces
can be dropped from the top because
of being blocked.

At the top of the screen is a
preview box which will display the
next piece that will be dropped.
You can cause the game to pause by
pressing the Esc key.  To resume,
press any other key.  If you wish to
end the game press Esc again.  There
is a rudimentary sound feature.  If
you have the game paused and press
the letter 's', the computer will
beep every time a level is
completed.  If after turning the
sound on you decide you don't want
it, pause the game again and press
's' again to toggle the sound off.

Screen Mode:
For best results, the external
screen mode should be set to
'normal'.  The program will function
correctly in 'static' mode (not
'tracked'), but the end of the game
won't redisplay the DOS prompt.

About Tetrad7

Tetrad7 was written in C for the
Atari Portfolio computer.  The
source code was compiled using the
Datalight Optimum-C compiler, then
compressed using the public domain
utility Lzexe.

Tetrad7 is released to the public
domain for private non-commercial
use and enjoyment.

Tetrad7 (c) 1990 James Casstevens

Atari and Portfolio are trademarks
of Atari Corporation
Tetris is a trademark of Academy
Soft-ELORG.
Lzexe (c) Fabrice Bellard
Optimum-C is a trademark of
Datalight

Thanks to Frank and Natalie for
beta-testing.