Chain Reaction is a turn-based strategy game for 2 to 6 players.
The game is played by placing bombs on to a grid of squares, and the objective of the game is to eliminate all of the other players by removing all of their bombs from the game board.
When a player has no bombs left on the board, he is out of the game.
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of their bombs from the game board.
When a player has no bombs left on the board, he is out of the game.
When it is your turn to play, you may place a bomb in any space on the board that is either empty, or already contains your own bombs. Bombs are placed either by pointing to the square to which you want the bomb added, or by selecting a square using the cursor keys and pressing enter.
Bombs will stack up on a single square until the number of bombs in the square is the same as the number of surrounding squares (not including the diagonals). At this point the square has reached 'critical mass.'
This generally means that squares in the corners of the game board reach critical mass when they contain two bombs, squares along the edge of the board reach critical mass with three bombs, and the remaining squares in the middle of the board reach critical mass with 4 bombs. This may be altered by some of the special game blocks (see the Special blocks section for more information).
As soon as a square reaches critical mass, it will explode and shower the bombs into each of the surrounding squares. The exploding bombs will add to any bombs that are already in these squares, and will also change any existing bombs so that they are owned by the current player. In this way, the bombs on the board can be won or lost.
In addition to the normal empty space squares, there are a number of special blocks that affect how the game is played, as described below.
Obstructor blocks
These blocks act in the same way as the edge of the game board, and reduce the critical mass point of the squares that surround them.
Ice blocks
Bombs that explode into ice will slide right across until they reach an empty square on the other side.
Pits
Pits are big holes in the board that swallow bombs that explode into them without trace.
Mirror blocks
These blocks will bounce back any bombs that hit them in exactly the direction they came from.
Teleporters
Teleporter blocks (which always come in pairs) will transport bombs that enter them to somewhere else on the board. Any bomb entering a teleporter will emerge from the corresponding teleporter, in the same direction that it entered. Of course, if there is more than one pair of teleporters on a level, you will have to work out how the teleports are linked together!
Welcome to Chain Reaction! Chain Reaction is a fun strategy game, for any number of players from two to six. Each of those players can be either human or computer-controlled, and you can even have the computer play against itself if you wish.
The following sections describe the idea behind the game, features and how to play, and offer some hints to improve your strategy.
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When a square explodes it showers its bombs into each of the surrounding squares. Of course, the result of these exploding squares may be that the surrounding squares also reach their critical mass.
When this happens, these squares will also immediately explode. In this way, it is possible for a single bomb being added to the game board to trigger a whole series of explosions. Each of these explosions continues to capture bombs for the player who placed the original bomb.
Place your bombs with care or you may lose them all!
teleports are linked together!
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Here are a few helpful hints to get you on your way.
Where should I start?
Some squares are more useful than others, especially at the beginning of the game. In particular, the corner squares are good squares to own as at any time you can explode the square with just a single extra bomb. Watch the computer players and see the moves they make.
What happen if I go here...
Whilst it may sometimes look like the results of a move are random, it is possibe to see what effects any given move will have... Think about your moves before you make them.
Where do the teleporters go?
If there's more than one pair on the level, you'll just have to experiment and see!
I keep getting warning messages whenever I try to save a level in the level designer...
There are a number of rules you must stick to when designing levels. If you break any of these rules, Chain Reaction will refuse to save. For a list of the rules, see the section on Level Validation.
Registered users may use the level editor to build additional Chain Reaction levels from the different types of game blocks. To access the level editor, select the Level Editor option from the Tools menu in the game. Note that entering the editor will end your current game, so make sure you are finished first.
The editor works a little like a painting program; first you select the type of block you want to add to the level from the 'palette' at the right of the screen, then draw on the main grid to add tiles to the board.
Alternatively you can use the cursor keys to move around the board and set the tiles by pressing the keyboard shortcuts shown beside the palette.
All the blocks are straightforward apart from the teleporter blocks. Each of these that is placed on the board will have a number written inside it. This allows you to pair up the teleporters by giving them corresponding numbers. Use the + and - keys to change the number stored against the teleporter under the cursor.
Levels can be opened and saved just like in any other application; however there are some conditions that each level must meet before it can be saved. These conditions are described in the next section.
You can contact me in any of the following ways:
EMail: adam@neuon.com
Web: http://www.neuon.com
Post:
Adam Dawes
60 Tarnbrook Way
Bracknell
RG12 0GB
England
For other software I have written (for the Psion5, Psion3, Windows and Amiga), my personal home page is:
http://www.electrolyte.demon.co.uk
If you have a question, you are much more likely to get an answer by email than by sending me a letter in the post.
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When you selet to save a level in the Level Editor, some validation checks will be
performed on the level to ensure that it will play properly.
If any of these checks fail, Chain Reaction will stop and tell you the problem. After this has been corrected, try saving the level again.
The validation checks are as follows:
Empty space
There must be at least 6 empty space squares on the level.
Surround
All empty space squares must have at least 2 surrounding empty space squares. Any spaces with none or one surrounding space will fail the validation.
Isolation
All squares must be linked together on the level, with no isolated sections anywhere (the designer will intelligently handle ice and teleporter squares when checking this rule).
Teleporters
All teleporters much match with exactly one other teleporter somewhere on the level.
Ice slide
Bombs must not be able to slide across ice and hit the edge the board or an obstructor block.
Teleport destination
Bombs must be able to emerge from teleporters without hitting the edge the board or an obstructor block.
This software is protected by copyright law and international treaty provisions. You acknowledge that no title to the intellectual property is transferred to you. You further acknowledge that title and full ownership rights to the software will remain the exclusive property of Adam Dawes and NEUON, and you will not acquire any rights to the software except as expressly set forth in this license. You agree that any copies of the software will contain the same proprietary notices which appear on and in this software.
I do not warrant that the software is error-free. I have tested Chain Reaction extensively and have found no problems. There is no liability for consequential damages. In no event shall I be liable to you for any consequential, special, incidental or indirect damages of any kind arising out of the delivery, performance or use of the software, even if I
have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Chain Reaction and its associated files are not public domain. The unregistered version of the program may be distributed freely as long as no unreasonable charge is imposed. The registered version may not be distributed under any circumstances.
Chain Reaction may not be included within any commercial package without express written permission from the author.
Chain Reaction is Copyright
1997-1999, Adam Dawes and NEUON software.
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In addition to the normal empty rectangular game board, Chain reaction comes with over 80 pre-built levels to make the game a bit more varied (though only a selection of these are available in the unregistered version of the game)..
The levels are constructed using various special game blocks, as described in the next section.
If you have registered Chain Reaction, you can build your own levels using the Level Designer. See the appropriate help section for more information on this subject.
Levels that you don't like, or don't use, can be deleted if you wish to gain some memory back on your computer. They are stored in the \system\apps\reaction\levels directory.
Each of the players in Chain Reaction may be controlled either by a human player, or by the computer. Use this menu option to set how each player is to be controlled. Players which are controlled by the computer will have a small microchip icon displayed next to their names when you are playing the game.
Once you have set up how each player is controlled, click the OK button in order to reach the player names screen. In this screen you can enter a name for each of the human participants in the game. You cannot change the names of the computer players; they all have names of their own.
There are various settings that allow you to modify how the game plays. You can change these settings either by selecting the Options button on the level selection screen at the beginning of the game, or using the Preferences function within the game.
The game options are as follows:
Move selection
Allows you to choose how to select a move when using the touch-screen. "Tap to move" will immediately place your bomb in the seleted square. "Tap to select; repeat to move" will place the cursor in the selected square, which you must then tap again to complete the move. The latter option makes it harder to make a mistake on your move.
Player notification
When switched on, Chain Reaction will tell you each time a human player is required to make a move. Use this during multi-player games.
Sound
Changes the volume of the sound effects, or switches them off completely.
If you wish to change the number of players involved in your game of Chain Reaction, you can do this by selecting the Number of players menu option from the Settings menu.
The number of players can be set anywhere from two to six players. Once you have set the number of players, you may with to use the Player settings option to configure them.
The unregistered version of the Chain Reaction supports only two- or three-player games.
The Game Settings menu option allows you to change the way the Critical Mass of the game behaves, and lets you select different game levels to play.
Level to play
Chain Reaction is supplied with over 80 different game levels in the registered version of the game, and eight levels in the unregistered version. Use this option to select one of these games or (once registered) other levels that you have constructed yourself.
Critical mass at
Allows you to modify how many bombs a square must contain before it explodes. Default is "surround" (which means, the number of surrounding squares).
Can also be changed to "surround + 1" or "surround + 2", which mean that the squares can contain either one or two bombs more than they have surrounding squares respectively.
Any bombs over the number of surrounding squares will be left behind in the exploding square.
If this setting is changed when a game is already in progress, you will need to re-start your game. This feature is not available on the unregistered version of the game.
Game Settings
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Chain reaction is shareware. This means that you may download and play the game free of charge, but various features are disabled.
You are free to evaluate the software for a period of 30 days, but after this time you must either register the program (see Registering) or remove it from your computer.
Registration also unlocks all features of this and all future versions of the game. Registration is inexpensive, and will help to further the development of more EPOC32 software.
The following features are only enabled in the registered version of the game:
- Up to six players, any of which can be human or computer controlled.
- Three different "surround" modes which allow you to choose how many bombs must be present in a square before it reaches its critical mass.
- Large selection of game boards features all the different block types.
- Fully featured level designer allowing you to create and save your own Chain Reaction levels.
Registration is simple and inexpensive. To register Chain Reaction, please send
10 (10 UK pounds) cash or cheque (made payable to Adam Dawes), to the following address:
Chain Reaction Registrations
60 Tarnbrook Way
Bracknell
RG12 0GB
England
Alternatively you may register on-line with your credit card no matter what currency you use. The online registration price is $20 (about
12). For information on registering in this way, please see the NEUON web page at
http://www.neuon.com
Please state that you are registering the EPOC32 version of the game, and ensure you include your return address, and (if possible) an email address.
You will receivet a short code which you can use to unlock the program. This will be sent to you by email if you supply an email address, otherwise by post. Email is obviously the better option for both of us!
Thank you for registering Chain reaction.
Introduction
intro introduction about
Game objective
objective players bomb bombs
How to play
5how to play game critical mass explosion bomb square
8shareware register registered disabled feature features
Registering
Courier
Courier
;register registering code unlock disabled feature features
History
history
Contacting the author
!contact author address web email
Copyright and disclaimer
legal copyright
Welcome to Chain Reaction! Chain Reaction is a fun strategy game, for any number of players from two to six. Each of those players can be either human or computer-controlled, and you can even have the computer play against itself if you wish.
The following sections describe the idea behind the game, features and how to play, and offer some hints to improve your strategy.
Chain Reaction is compatible with all current EPOC32 machines: Series 5, 5mx, Revo, GeoFox 1, Osaris, MC218, netBook, Series 7
Introduction
intro introduction about
Game objective
objective players bomb bombs
How to play
5how to play game critical mass explosion bomb square
8shareware register registered disabled feature features
Registering
Courier
Courier
;register registering code unlock disabled feature features
History
history
Contacting the author
!contact author address web email
Copyright and disclaimer
legal copyright
Chain reaction is shareware. This means that you may download and play the game free of charge, but various features are disabled.
You are free to evaluate the software for a period of 30 days, but after this time you must either register the program (see Registering) or remove it from your computer.
Registration also unlocks all features of this and all future versions of the game. Registration is inexpensive, and will help to further the development of more EPOC32 software.
The following features are only enabled in the registered version of the game:
- Up to six players, any of which can be human or computer controlled.
- Three different "surround" modes which allow you to choose how many bombs must be present in a square before it reaches its critical mass.
- Large selection of game boards featuring all the different block types.
- Fully featured level designer allowing you to create and save your own Chain Reaction levels.
Introduction
intro introduction about
Game objective
objective players bomb bombs
How to play
5how to play game critical mass explosion bomb square
8shareware register registered disabled feature features
Registering
Courier
Courier
;register registering code unlock disabled feature features
History
history
Contacting the author
!contact author address web email
Copyright and disclaimer
legal copyright
Registration is simple and inexpensive, and can be done in UK
pounds by post, or in UK Pounds or US Dollars on-line by credit card.
To register Chain Reaction by post, please send
10 (10 UK pounds) cash or cheque (made payable to Adam Dawes), to the following address:
Chain Reaction Registrations (E32)
60 Tarnbrook Way
Bracknell
RG12 0GB
England
Please state that you are registering the EPOC32 version of the game, and ensure you include your return address, and (if possible) an email address.
Alternatively, register Chain Reaction on-line with your credit card. The online registration price is
10 or $20. For information on registering Tile Fall in this way, please see the NEUON web page at
http://www.neuon.com
You will be sent a short code which you can use to unlock the program. This will be sent to you by email if you supply me with an email address, otherwise by snail mail. Email is obviously the better option for both of us!
Thank you for registering Chain Reaction.
Introduction
intro introduction about
Game objective
objective players bomb bombs
How to play
5how to play game critical mass explosion bomb square
8shareware register registered disabled feature features
Registering
Courier
Courier
;register registering code unlock disabled feature features
History
history
Contacting the author
!contact author address web email
Copyright and disclaimer
legal copyright
Version 1.0 (March 1999)
Initial public release
Version 1.1 (June 1999)
Load/Save game feature added for registered users. Currently only one game may be saved at any time; this will be enhanced for a future release.
Relaxed several unregistered restrictions (now up to three players may play at once, and there are more game boards available).
Version 1.2 (November 1999)
Chain Reaction enhanced to support all currently available EPOC32 devices. Smaller graphics will be used on the Revo and Osaris; colour graphics on the netBook and Series 7. Different installation files are available for each of the platforms.
Introduction
intro introduction about
Game objective
objective players bomb bombs
How to play
5how to play game critical mass explosion bomb square
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