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Text File | 1995-06-04 | 17KB | 359 lines

Magic Maycabs Version 1.1 By Dan Lester 1994 VERSION 1.1 Version 1.0 of the program, released in April 1994, is much the same as version 1.1, except for a few minor changes to the look and feel of the program. Also, a few fixes relating to only a small number of computer setups were made. If you have version 1.0, please replace it with this version. Please don't forget that version 2 is only available by ordering it from me. GETTING STARTED To run properly, all the game files must be in the same directory on a disk. To copy all the files off a floppy on to your hard disk see the section below. To run the program type MAYCAB and press return, when you are in the game directory. After the introduction, you should be presented with a menu screen. There are several options (described below). To play, press the spacebar. The first level will be set up on your screen and the game will start. You must control the small white car. To move it, use the left and right cursor keys (arrow keys) and CTRL to jump in the air. You can press an arrow key and CTRL at the same time to jump up and to the left or up and to the right. There are many different objects on the screen. You have to collect all the mushrooms to finish, avoiding the monsters. As yet, only I have been able to complete all 30 of the levels in both versions of Magic Maycabs. It is a very difficult game and requires both strategic planning and fast reactions. All of the levels are possible... and difficult! INSTALLING FROM A FLOPPY DISK ONTO YOUR HARD DISK Make a directory on your hard disk (probably C:) by typing MD C:\MAYCAB from the DOS prompt. You will either have a floppy drive named A: or B: (probably). You must find out which yours is called. Let's assume it's A:. Log on to drive A by typing A: then enter. If all the game files (listed later), are in the root directory, (find out by typing DIR and enter), then there is no need to change directory. If there is another directory displayed by the dir command, such as MAYCAB, then type CD\MAYCAB and press enter. To copy to your hard disk, now, type COPY *.* C:\MAYCAB and press enter. To run the program each time type C: if you are not already on drive C. Then type CD\MAYCAB, then MAYCAB. EXTRA GAME KEYS Aswell as the keys to move the car, there are 4 other keys which have a function. Please note that these are only operational during actual game play. Escape - Pressing ESCAPE will abandon the game and take you back to the main menu. The Q Key - Pressing Q will quit the whole program and return to DOS. The S Key - Toggles the sound on and off. The P Key - Pauses the game until you press another key. A USELESS NOTE If you are very interested in this document at present and are enjoying reading it then by all means, carry on. However, if you are slightly bored then you could skip the next sections and jump straight to the MAIN MENU one, returning to The Bricks and The Enemies sections when you have had a fair go at the game. Most of the bricks are fairly self explanatory. If they don't seem that way to you, then, well, you'd better read the next few sections. THE BRICKS There are a number of bricks which may support, destroy or help you. Blank Space - This is just black air which you can move through and fall through. If this is below you, you will fall down. If you fall down far enough, you will die, and will have to start the level again. Red Brick - This block is light red with white 'cement' holding it together. You can stand on this and you will not fall down, but if you land on it after a long fall, you may die. There are three other types of red brick. One is not really there, and acts like the blank space - you fall through it. Monsters can travel on it, though. This is a slightly darker red to the normal brick. The two other types are both half bricks. They are just like normal bricks, but they are only half-width. Monsters can go right across them, as if they were complete. Ice Blocks - These, coloured light blue, are much like the normal bricks, but if you are on one and you start moving in either direction, then you will not stop until you reach the end or you jump up. Thin Ground - This thin red dotted line will break after you have used it once. When you move off it or jump up, it will no longer be able to hold you. Trampoline - If you land on this after a large fall, you will not die. Also, it lets you jump twice as high as usual. It is a grey colour and looks just like a trampoline. Solid Brick - This is a grey brick which acts like normal brick except you can't jump up from under it. This is the only block which you can't jump to the surface of from under it. Timer Reset - The blue block with a stopwatch in, resets your time to its maximum, giving you more time to complete the level. You will read about time later on. Start Brick - This is just like a normal brick, but at the start, if there are any of these in the level, one will be chosen at random to act as the starting block. If there are none of these, you will drop from the top left hand corner. Chequered Flag - If there are any of these on the screen, you must land on one of these after collecting all the mushrooms in order to finish the screen. You also get 50 bonus points if you have to do this. The Chequered Flag is a black and white flag with a red and green border. Transporter - This 'door in a wall' will take you straight to another transporter, allowing you to continue from there. If there are more than two transporters, one will be chosen at random. Only you can use a transporter. Ladder - If you are at the bottom of one of these yellow ladders, you will be rushed to the top of it. Again, only you can use ladders. Snow - This blue arrangement of dots represents snow. If you land on this, it will break your fall after a large drop, stopping you from dying on any bricks that might be below it. You can't jump up through snow very easily. Sticky Floor - You will not be able to jump off this type of brick. It is a thin, white, stringy bridge. ENEMIES There are also many things out there, set to kill you. Monsters - These little green things will move left and right along a platform, and if they touch you, you will die. If they can see you on the same level as them, they will come towards you. Spiders - These little creepy-crawlies move slowly up and down the screen, if they touch you, you will die. Spiders will get in your way, more often than you would think. Homing Monsters - These grey monsters hover about randomly, but if you get close, they will charge towards you. They will knock you down to your death if you touch them. Fungus - This is a still, green plant. If you get tangled up in it, you will die. Spikes - These grey spikes will kill you if you touch their tips. However, you can pass there bases without harm. THE BONUS ITEMS There are also things to collect. Mushrooms - You must collect all of these on the screen to complete the level. They are red and white. Once all of them are collected, you will either have completed the level or will have to land on a chequered flag in order to do so. Golden Mushrooms - These fall down from the sky at random intervals, and if you catch them, you will get 100 points. If you don't then it doesn't matter - you will still be able to complete the screen. TIME You are allocated a certain number of seconds to complete each level. This will range from 50 to 99. You can get more time by landing on top of a time reset block, but if you get down to 0 seconds before you have collected all the mushrooms, you will die. THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN If you fall to the bottom of the screen, where the status bar is, you will die. THE STATUS BAR At the bottom of the screen, your score and the time left are displayed. YOUR SCORE For every mushroom you collect, you will get 20 points. At the end, you will get 10 points for each second remaining at the end of the level, so finishing with a lot of time left is important. You also get 50 points if you have to finish on a chequered flag, and 100 points if you catch a golden mushroom. If you score the highest ever for a particular level, you will be asked to enter your name. Your score will be remember for all time or until you beat it next. You can view the high score for any level from the main menu (see below). If you have just received the program from an experienced player, you may wish to reset all the high scores. To do this, use the /r command line switch (see below). THE MAIN MENU From here, you can carry out various operations to control the way the program behaves. Sound Toggle - If you press S on this screen, the sound will be turned off if it is on, or on if it is off. A message will briefly be displayed telling you the current status. View High Score - Pressing V will show you the name and score of the high scorer for the loaded level, and prompt you to press the spacebar to return to the main menu. Instructions - Pressing I will display the instructions for the game. It is basically a cut-down version of this document. You must press the spacebar to advance to the second page, and then again to return to the main menu. Load Level - Pressing L will ask you to enter a level number you wish to try. The default level, level 1, is encoded into the executable program, and there are 10 others that come with the game. Type the number of the level you wish to load (eg. 6) then press the enter key. More levels are supplied in the next version, if you wish to buy that from me (see below). Quicker than pressing L is to press the first digit of the level first (eg. 2), in the main menu. This will bring up the 'Choose Level' dialog box as if you have just pressed L and then the first digit of the level. Quit Program - Pressing Q will return you to DOS, after quitting the program. Play Game - To play the currently loaded level, press the spacebar. IMPORTANT: THE NEXT VERSION I'm sure you will enjoy Magic Maycabs, but will probably be disappointed that there are only eleven levels to challenge you. If this is the case, then why not order the latest version. This has many great new features. There are loads more levels, loads more monsters and surprises and loads more bricks! There is also a level editor, so you will be able to design your own challenging levels and the chance to play more. For version 2, please send £5.50 (five pounds and fifty pence sterling) to me at the following address: Dan Lester, 57 Moorgreen, Newthorpe, Notts. NG16 2FD. Please also specify that you want Magic Maycabs Version 2. Ordering the next version will give you the chance to upgrade cheaply to any future versions of Magic Maycabs and also details of future software by me. You will be entitled to free suport from then on, if you should need it. When ordering, please state how you obtained your copy of the game, eg. BBS, Shareware Distributor, Magazine, or friend, and the name of the Bulletin Board or Distributor etc. you used, if applicable. I also need to know the disk size required. If you are having trouble with the program, you must contact me at the above address, whichever version you have. Likewise, if you find any bugs or have any improvments to suggest, please contact me. Please note that although this program is free, it is still copyrighted by Dan Lester of the above address. Please also realise that only version 1.1 is free and may be used as much as you like, but the next version, available from me for £5.50 is not. Version 1.0 and 1.1 of the program (this one) is encouraged to be passed to friends, and uploaded to Bulletin Boards. In fact, this is exactly what I would like you to do. Thankyou if you are planning to do this. If you are a shareware distributor, then please add this game to your library, if you would like to. Please make sure that all the files are complete (see List of Files, below), when you distribute the game anywhere. Also, please reset the scores using the /R switch (see below), and make sure that none of the files have been altered. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES When running the program (by typing MAYCAB), you can also add some more details on how you want the game to run. These switches are typed after the program name, with spaces to seperate each one. The Options Are... /S To turn the sound off for the game. /E To force the game to run in EGA mode, if you are sure you have a compatible graphics adapter, but the game refuses to run otherwise. /R To reset all the high scores of all the levels to zero - USE WITH CAUTION! You can also put the number of the game file to load at startup. (Anything from 1 to 11). So, to run with no sound, and to load level 4 straight away, type: MAYCAB 4 /s The case of the switch is not important, and they may be entered in any order. Please note the space between each switch and remember to press enter at the end of the line. WRITING YOUR OWN GAMES If you are a C programmer short of a good games routine library, then please consider purchasing the excellent RUTILS library from RocSoft. The library was used for parts of Magic Maycabs, to simplify the design process and to add background sound and the animation etc. For more information on RUTILS, contact Mr. Rocco Loscalzo, 30 Boynton Drive, Mapperley, Nottingham, NG3 3EP. LIST OF FILES All these files should be included if you pass the game to someone else: MAYCAB.EXE MAYCAB.002 MAYCAB.003 MAYCAB.004 MAYCAB.005 MAYCAB.006 MAYCAB.007 MAYCAB.008 MAYCAB.009 MAYCAB.010 MAYCAB.011 MAYCAB.TXT MAYCAB.SPR MAYCAB.CBX NUMBERS.FNT OCR.FNT DAN.SPR DAN.CBX If you are uploading to a bulletin board, please compress the files into one archive file, and call it MAYCAB.ext, where ext is the default extension of the file compressor used. Please also reset the scores using the /R switch before doing so (see above). CREDITS I would like to thank Ben Lester for designing level 5, and Rocco Loscalzo, who wrote most of the animation and sound routines. (See 'Writing Your Own Games', above). Rocco also designed one of the font files! This program (Magic Maycabs version 1) , together with its documentation, level and data files is copyright 1994 By Dan Lester. The game may be used at no charge, for an unlimited time, and may be copied freely at a minimum charge (only for media and handling, if applicable). The option to upgrade to version 2 for the very small price must be considered. If you find any bugs, or have any improvments to suggest, please contact me, Dan Lester, at my address, given again below. Do not worry if you haven't finished all of the levels when you upgrade to version 2, because all of version one's levels are included with that! I hope you enjoy the game and decide to buy version 2! Thankyou, Dan Lester. 57 Moorgreen, Newthorpe, Notts. NG16 2FD. THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS-IS". NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE AS TO IT OR TO ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON. I WILL PROVIDE NO REMEDY FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM ITS USE, INCLUDING SUCH FROM NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.