Best of Mega Games for DOS/MEGA.iso/packrat/packrat.txt

Text File | 1994-01-15 | 9KB | 190 lines

                                 The Pack Rat
                         (c) 1992 - by Steve Blanding

                              Game Documentation


System Requirements:

The Pack Rat is a 256-color four-way scrolling arcade game.  The heavy use  of
256 color animation in  this game taxes  the limits of  most computers.  As  a
result, this  game  requires  at  least  a  386  micro-processor  with  a  VGA
compatible graphics card.  The game plays best on at least a 25mhz 386.

If the game appears sluggish or jerky then  you may want to use the F8 key  to
shrink the game window.  Just push F8 while the game is playing.  If it  still
plays too slow, push it again.  You  might also try removing the score  window
by pressing F10.  If you want to enlarge the game window, push F9.


How to Play the Game:

In this game, you become The  Pack  Rat,  a  debonair  little  rodent  with  a
predilection for shinny little things.   Your  goal  is  to  collect  as  many
baubles as you can.

As you move through each level, you will face challenges and obstacles as  you
work to collect baubles and find  your mouse hole so  that you can advance  to
the next level.  Each level may have  more than one mouse hole, each of  which
will take you to a different  level, so make sure  you look everywhere or  you
might miss something.

Points are gained by collecting baubles and completing levels.  Every time you
complete a  level you  gain 500  points.  The  various baubles  are scored  as
follows:

     Buttons.............10 points
     Silver Coins........25 points
     Gold Coins..........50 points
     Cookies............100 points
     Cheeses............250 points

You start the game with three  lives and you  gain a new  life for each  10000
points you score.  You loose a life  by falling off the bottom of the  screen,
falling in  water, getting  electrocuted, getting  caught in  traps, or  being
caught by an enemy rat.

You control The Pack Rat  by using the arrow keys  and the CTRL and ALT  keys.
The left and right arrows move The Pack  Rat to the left and right.  The  CTRL
key causes him to jump.  The ALT key can be used to push objects -- just  hold
down the ALT key as you run into the object.

You can look up by  pressing the up arrow and  look down by pressing the  down
arrow.  But be careful when  looking down,  the down  arrow will  occasionally
dislodge a block you are standing  on.  A block may  also be dislodged if  you
jump on it too hard or too many times.

As a general rule, if there is nothing on the other side of a block, it  might
not be very solid.  Only bricks are so solid that they can never be moved.

HINT: Not everything is  what  it  seems.   Some  things  on  the  screen  are
illusionary.  You can walk right through  illusionary bricks and you will  not
be killed by illusionary water.  Illusions often conceal hidden rooms or bonus
points.


Keys used during game play:

F1   - HELP!
F2   - toggle sound on/off
F3   - pause the game
F8   - shrink the game window (do this if the game plays too slowly)
F9   - grow the game window (do this if you want to see more at once)
F10  - hide the score box (use to gain a little more speed or to see behind it)
<-   - move left
->   - move right
up   - look up
down - look down and possibly dislodge the block beneath you
CTRL - jump
ALT  - push
K    - kill The Pack Rat (do this if you get stuck)
ESC  - abort the game


How to Build Your Own Levels:

To build your own levels, you first need to enter the level editor.  The level
editor allows you to edit  levels one level  at a time.   Levels are 64  tiles
wide and 64 tiles high.  They are identified by number and can have any number
from 0 to 9999.  The game always starts play on level 0.

Be warned that if you  save a high level, then  the editor will create a  file
that contains space for that  level plus every level  with a number less  than
that, whether you have created them or not.  Therefore, if you save a level as
level number 100 then  you will have  created a file  containing at least  101
levels!  That would be an extremely large file.

The default levels for The Pack Rat are compressed to save disk space but  any
levels that you create  using the level editor  will not be compressed.   This
can result in some large  files so be sure that  you have plenty of free  disk
space if you set out to design your own levels.

You build a level by  selecting a background  color, placing tiles,  selecting
the Pack Rat's starting position, and saving the level to a file.

Press the B key to edit the background color.  The number at the bottom of the
screen will be highlighted.  Use the  + or - key  to increase or decrease  the
color value or you can  enter the number using  the number keys.  Press  enter
when you are satisfied with your selection.

Press the V key to select the level you wish to edit.  Select the level number
the same way as you selected the background color.

Once you have selected a level number you can use the S key to save your level
in that slot or you can use the L key to load the level that is saved in  that
slot (if one exists).

The F key allows  you to enter  the name of  the file you  want to edit.   The
default name  is  "PACKRAT".   (All  level  files  are  saved  with  the  .LVL
extension.)

To place a tile,  first select  the tile  you want  by pressing  the key  that
appears beneath the tile on the menu and  then use the arrow keys to move  the
cursor to the desired location  and place  the tile  with the  enter key.   To
select from the upper row of tiles use the shift key.  Press the space bar  to
clear your selection (enabling you to erase tiles with the enter key).

When you place a mouse  hole you  will see  a number  in the  upper left  hand
corner of the mouse hole.  This number is the level that will be reached  when
the player goes through this mouse hole.   Put the cursor over the number  and
press the + or - key to change this number.

Press F1 within the level editor for a help menu.

Press Q to leave the level editor and return to the main menu.


About The Pack Rat:

This game was begun in  the fall  of 1991  as a  test-bed for  a new  graphics
engine that I was developing in my  spare time.  Now, more than a year  later,
the game sports a completely  different  graphics  engine  and  the  game  has
steadily evolved in to what you see before you.

Because The Pack Rat was never really intended to be more than a test-bed  for
my graphics engine, some details such as sound card support, joystick support,
and mouse support were left out.  I debated whether I should even release this
project but I finally decided that in spite of its short comings it turned out
to be a rather entertaining  game.  I figured  that I might  as well share  it
with the world and let you enjoy it too.

As it turns out, The  Pack Rat  is not  really a  very good  showcase for  the
graphics engine that runs under  the hood.   The graphics  engine is  actually
capable of performing much more complex animation without serious  degradation
of performance.  I intend to move on  to much more exciting projects now  that
I'm done working on The Pack Rat.


How to Register:

The Pack Rat is being distributed under a concept called shareware.  This is a
copyrighted  program;  however  permission  is  granted  to  freely  copy  and
distribute this program so long as the following conditions are met:

     1. This program must always be distributed with the following files:
          PACKRAT.EXE  -- the code for the game
          PACKRAT.001  -- the default levels (encrypted)
          PACKRAT.TXT  -- this documentation
          REGISTER.FRM -- the registration form
     2. The program and its accompanying files may not be reverse-engineered,
        modified, decompiled, altered or tampered with in any way.

If you have enjoyed this  game, you  are encouraged  to register  it with  the
author by sending $10 along with a completed copy of the registration form  to
the following address:

                            Steve Blanding
                            8501 Willows Rd. #222
                            Redmond, WA 98052

In return for your registration, you will receive the most up to date  version
of this game (which includes the  level  editor)  in  addition  to  any  other
shareware programs the author may have released.


Disclaimer:

This game is an  independent work  that is  not affiliated  with any  software
publishing organization.  The author assumes no responsibility for any damages
that might be caused by the execution of this program.