Hall of Fame Game Cube 1: DOS

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T H E C O N T I N U I N G A D V E N T U R E S O F ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▓▓▒ ▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓░░░░░░▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▒▓▓░▓▓░▒ ▒▓▓░▒▒░░░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓░▒▒ ▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░▓▓░░░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▓░▒▒▒ ▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓░░░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓░░░▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓░▒▒ ▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓░░▓▓░▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▓▓░▓▓░▒ ▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▒▒▒▓▓░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▓▓░▒░▓▓░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▒▒▓▓░▒░▓▓░ ▒▒░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒░░▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░▒▒▒░▒▒▒▒░░▒▒▒░░░░░░▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░▒▒▒░▒▒▒░░░ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ version 4.43 Copyright (c) 1995 by Edward D. Collins (original concept by Doug Beeferman) ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ INTRODUCTION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Welcome to THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES of CYBERBOX - a game of planning, strategy, and thinking ahead! Your objective is simple: Escape from each of the 15 rooms using as few moves as possible ! Note that The Continuing Adventures of CyberBox is not an "arcade" game. No manual dexterity is required. You are not timed in any way nor is "speed" reflected in the scoring. So slow down! You can afford to relax! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ REQUIREMENTS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ■ An IBM 286 (or better) with approximately 392K of available memory. ■ A VGA graphics card and color monitor. ■ A little bit of patience and a sharp mind! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ PROGRAM FILES ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Files Required ────────────── ■ CA-CYBER.EXE - the executable file ■ VOL-001.DAT - the data file for rooms 1 thru 15 ■ IMAGES01.DAT - the data file for the cursor-images 1 thru 9 ■ CA-CYBER.DOC - this documentation file Other Files Used Or Included ──────────────────────────── ■ CA-CYBER.CFG - the configuration file ■ VOL-001.SCR - the high-score file for rooms 1 thru 15 ■ VOL-001.SOL - the solution file for rooms 1 thru 15 (the above three files will be created by the program if they don't already exist.) ■ CA-CYBER.ICN - a custom icon for those who may wish to launch this program from WINDOWS. ■ FILE_ID.DIZ - the customary description file for BBS's. (Note that the configuration, high-score, and solution files listed above are all "hidden files", i.e. you won't see these with the normal DOS "dir" command.) If you've purchased additional rooms, then your disk or directory will have additional .DAT files (for example, vol-002.dat), additional .SCR files (for example, vol-002.scr), and additional .SOL files (for example, vol-002.sol). Note that each volume of rooms contains its own seperate high-score file! Which simply means that if you are attempting to exit from the rooms in the vol-002.dat file, you will be competing against scores from the vol-002.scr file and not the vol-001.scr file! Also, there are currently two other cursor-image data files available (images02.dat and images03.dat). These will be sent to you free of charge if you purchase the deluxe game. For those of you who may wish to launch this game from WINDOWS, I've included a custom icon for it. When setting up the program's properties, click on "change icon" and then simply point to the file CA-CYBER.ICN wherever it may reside on your hard disk and you'll see my little icon pop up. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ LOADING THE PROGRAM - NON-DELUXE VERSION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ There are no command-line parameters with the non-deluxe version. To run the program from the DOS prompt, simply type ca-cyber Please make sure that the room-volume data file, the cursor-image file, and the documentation file are all located in the directory that the program is launched from. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ LOADING THE PROGRAM - DELUXE VERSION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you've purchased the deluxe version you can, if you wish, specify which room-volume and which cursor-image file that you wish to use, right on the command line. The format is... ca-cyber "room-volume filename" "cursor-image filename" or ca-cyber "cursor-image filename" "room-volume filename" where "room-volume filename" is the name of the data file of the rooms that you wish to load and "cursor-image filename" is the name of the image file of the cursor-images that you wish to use. If you don't specify a room-volume file or a cursor-image file on the command line, the program will automatically load the files that you were using the last time you played. A few examples: To load the second set of 15 rooms (vol-002.dat) using the cursor images from the third set (images03.dat) you could type either... ca-cyber vol-002.dat images03.dat or ca-cyber images03.dat vol-002.dat If you wanted to load this same second set of rooms using the cursor images from the first set (images01.dat) you could type either ca-cyber vol-002.dat images01.dat or ca-cyber images01.dat vol-002.dat As you can see, the actual ORDER of the above two parameters is irrelevant! You may type the image file FIRST and THEN the room-volume file or vice-versa. The program logic is "smart enough" to know which is which. Just be sure to include one or more spaces in between each filename. Here are a few more VALID examples: ■ ca-cyber vol-003.dat images02.dat (note: one space between filenames) ■ ca-cyber images02.dat vol-003.dat (note: several spaces prior to the first filename) ■ ca-cyber vol-003.dat images02.dat (note: several spaces between filenames) ┌─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ - ─┐ Please note that it is now (starting with version 4.0) NOT │ necessary to use the above command-line options to load │ additional files. The program is now able to load other │ room-volume files and/or cursor-image files from right inside │ the program. (See ALT-R and ALT-I below under MENU KEYS.) └─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─┘ With this deluxe version, the program will first read the configuration file before loading the room-volume and cursor-image files. The default data files to load are now whatever files you had loaded when you last exited the program! So basically, if you were working on the rooms in the vol-003.dat file and using the cursor-images from the images02.dat file the last time you were playing the game, you can just type "ca-cyber" and the vol-003.dat file and images02.dat file will now be loaded for you automatically! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ HOW TO PLAY ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You are represented in this game by your choice of several different cursors (a tree, an flag, a snake, a man, etc.). Your objective is simply to get to the EXIT of each room, ideally using as few moves as possible! The exit is always located in the same spot; at the top of the screen in the middle of the room. Once you reach this exit, you will immediately find yourself in the next room. Each volume contains 15 rooms to escape from. Note that each room is a seperate puzzle all its own. You will never have to "pick up an object in one room", for example, to help you exit from another. You can move your cursor in any of four possible directions: ■ up (the UP arrow key or the HOME key) ■ down (the DOWN arrow key or the END key) ■ left (the LEFT arrow key or the DELETE key) ■ right (the RIGHT arrow key or the PAGE DOWN key) (Note that you may also use the numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numeric keypad which will move you down, left, right, and up, respectively. If you DO wish to use this keypad, note that your NUMLOCK key may be either on OR off.) Moving diagonally is not possible. To hinder your attempt to escape, "boxes" have been strategically placed throughout each room. There are several different types of boxes, which are all described below. Every room has a solution! However if you're not careful you may trap yourself and may not be able to get to the exit or may render the exit unaccessable. In either case, you must hit the "R" key to retry this room from the beginning. The good news is that all those moves that you made for this room do not count against you - you are starting this room over from scratch. The bad news is that each "retry" costs you one of your men. You only have 5 attempts in all. Upon exiting the program finishing all 15 rooms hitting lay again after using up your last attempt or choosing to load a different room-volume the program will check to see if your level of progress is good enough for the CyberBox Hall of Fame. If so, you will be asked to enter your name. (You may enter as many as 25 characters.) If you currently don't have the program loaded, do so now! This entire documentation file is available to read from inside the program! The remaining documentation will probably make much more sense to you if you've already seen the game. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ BOX DESCRIPTIONS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SLIDERS ─────── SLIDERS are probably the easiest type of box to understand. They simply slide in the direction of their arrowheads. These boxes can be pushed by you if their is nothing in their path to prevent this from happening. All together, their are 11 different types of SLIDERS. Some SLIDERS can only slide "left", some can only slide "right", some only "left" and "down" etc. SLIDERS can not only be pushed by you, they can also be pushed by PUSHERS. (see PUSHERS, below.) SLIDERS are represented by arrows which point in the direction that they move or "slide." BLOCKERS ──────── Ok, so I was wrong. BLOCKERS have got to be the easiest type of box to understand. BLOCKERS never move at all. Period. They act as a "blocker" or wall, since they cannot be pushed and nothing can ever be pushed into them. You have three choices of how you want the BLOCKERS to be represented. Either a big red "X" (as in the original game), a criss-cross type of a pattern or my personal favorite, a pattern resembling "bricks." ZAPPERS ─────── Since we've just mentioned BLOCKERS, let's next describe ZAPPERS, since these 2 boxes have one thing in common: ZAPPERS also never move at all. Ever. What these boxes do though, is "zap" you forward when you "push" these from behind. There must be an empty space in the front of the ZAPPER to be zapped. You must be careful with ZAPPERS because they act like a one-way street. Once you are zapped forward, you can't retreat the same way. ZAPPERS are represented by a solid purple triangle with a hole in the middle, pointing in the direction that one is "zapped". PULLERS ─────── Unlike SLIDERS, these boxes cannot be "pushed" at all. However they can be "pulled" but only in the direction of their "handles." Like SLIDERS, there are 11 different types of PULLERS. Some which can be pulled just to the right, some just to the left, etc. PULLERS may be annoying because, at times, you may not wish to pull them! For example, let's say that you've just walked up to a PULLER. If you now reverse your direction and walk back the way you came, this PULLER will in effect, follow you! Without realizing it, you are "pulling it!" To quit pulling this box, you will have to either change your direction by 90 degrees, get zapped forward by a ZAPPER, or walk through an open SELECTOR (see SELECTORS, below) The only way EVER for a PULLER to move is for you to pull it. PUSHERS cannot push or pull these boxes nor can any other box be pushed into them. PULLERS are represented simply by a rather funny shaped box (you'll see what I mean) with the rectangular "handle" on the side of the box in which it can be pulled. PUSHERS ─────── These boxes are great. PUSHERS are always exerting a constant force in the direction that they point. These boxes are the only boxes that can move themselves. As soon as a situation exists in which a PUSHER can move, it will do so. There are four different types of PUSHERS: PUSHERS which push up, down, left, and right. PUSHERS are able to push SLIDERS or SELECTORS by never PULLERS (which can only be pulled) nor BLOCKERS or ZAPPERS (which never move at all). Note that PUSHERS can never push "you." (You're too heavy!) So you don't have to ever worry about getting squashed by a PUSHER. PUSHERS are represented by a solid blue triangle, which points in the direction that they exert force and move. SELECTORS ───────── And last but certainly not least are the SELECTORS. These boxes cannot be pushed directly by you. They can only be pushed by other boxes. So if you wish to move a SELECTOR, you will have to either push a SLIDER against it or force a PUSHER to push it. It should be obvious that you can't push SELECTORS because, if you look at them, this type of box does not have a full, solid wall for your cursor to push up against. However, it does have a partial wall at the edges which the SLIDERS and PUSHERS use to push it. There are 2 different types of SELECTORS. The first type is "open" and you can walk right through it. (Pretend you're just small enough to squeeze through!) The second type is represented by an "X" and walking through it is not possible. Note that more than one box can be moved at the same time ONLY IF EVERY OTHER BOX IN THAT SERIES OF BOXES CAN BE LEGALLY MOVED. As Doug said, "Experiment. You'll get the idea." No boxes can ever be pushed through the exit passageway. Note: I mentioned above that an open space must be in front of the ZAPPERS if you wish to be zapped. This isn't entirely accurate. You may also be zapped if an open SELECTOR is in front of the ZAPPER, since an open SELECTOR is a valid box that you can "step in." ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ SCORING ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Your final score is figured this way: Take the number of ROOMS that you successfully completed and multiply that by 5000. Then take the number of ATTEMPTS you had left and multiply that by 25. Add these figures together and then subtract the number of total MOVES that it took you to exit every room. This is your final score. So the formula is simply: rooms completed + attempts remaining - total moves = total x 5000 x 25 for all rooms score Only the moves that it took you to find a solution are counted against you in the scoring! An example will help clarify. Let's say that you solved Room 0001 and Room 0002 and that it took you exactly 200 moves to solve each one. Then you spent all of your remaining men and several hundred moves in your attempt to solve Room 0003 which you never could quite solve. All the moves that it took you on this third room are NOT counted against you. So in this example, your final score would be 9,600 as shown below. 2 rooms completed x 5000 ......... 10,000 0 attempts remaining x 25 ........ 0 400 total moves used ............. - 400 ----- 9,600 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MENU KEYS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ <A>bout CyberBox ──────────────── This screen gives you some general information about the game, which data files are currently loaded, etc. You can, now with version 4.15, read the documentation file from right inside the program. To do so, from within this screen simply hit the <R> key. ox Review ──────────── This screen is really just to help you get going the first couple of times that you play. It is just a quick review of each box, its name and how it moves. <H>igh Scores ───────────── The top 15 high-scores are saved to disk. This menu key allows you to view these scores at any time. nstant Replay ──────────────── Every valid move that you make is saved and recorded in memory. At any time while inside a room, hit this key to see a "replay" of all the moves you've currently made for this room, in the order that you've made them! After hitting this key, the room will be temporarily set back to the way it originally was when you first entered. You will then be prompted to hit any other key to begin the "replay animation." You can then sit back and watch the program replay all the moves that you made for this room! When finished, you will be right back where you were a moment ago, both in terms of the way the room looked and number of moves made! This feature does not "cost" you anything. It does not add nor subtract to the number of moves you've made for this room, nor does it cost you any of your remaining men. The speed at which the cursor moves is set by you, in the Option Screen. For convenience, you can also change the speed while the animation is in progress. The "+" key will speed up the animation while the "-" key will slow it down. For a good chuckle, set the speed on "very fast" and watch the cursor fly! While the animation is in progress, if you wish to pause it completely, simply hit the spacebar. The program will pause until another key is pressed and then the animation will resume. <J>ump Screen ───────────── This option, allows you to "skip" a room if you so desire. If you're having problems with a certain room, you can "jump" to another and come back to this room later. There is a price to pay, however. If you "jump" to another room, it will cost you one of your remaining men. Note that after solving a room, you are immediately presented with the NEXT lowest room number that is yet unsolved. (For example, if you've solved the first three rooms and are having problems exiting the fourth room, you can "jump" to Room 5 and after solving that, you will find yourself next in Room 6, which is the NEXT lowest room that is yet unsolved.) For your convenience, when inside the Jump Screen the rooms that you have already completed will be highlighted. You are not allowed to jump to a room that you've already completed. In addition to the title of each room, note that this jump screen also displays the the number of moves it takes for the current shortest known solution. If you enter this jump screen and decide you do not wish to jump anywhere, (you may simply wish to see the number of moves that it takes to exit) just hit the ESCAPE Key to exit back to the room that you are currently in. <M>enu Toggle ───────────── This toggle will display your choice of... 1) all of these non-ALT menu key options or 2) The four ALT-key combinations currently available ALT-D for the DOS shell ALT-I to load a different cursor-image file ALT-R to load a different room-volume ALT-S to see the solution or 3) the number of men you have remaining the number of moves you've made for the room you're in the number of moves you've made for all rooms combined Please note that ALT-I and ALT-R are only available in the DELUXE version. ALL of these menu key options are available at any time, regardless of which of these three toggles are currently showing! For convenience, the spacebar or ENTER key will also toggle the three menus. Also note that the TAB key will highlight each of these MENU KEY options. Simply hit the ENTER key to execute the option once it is highlighted. The TAB key will highlight the option to the RIGHT of the one that is currently highlighted while SHIFT-TAB will highlight the option to its LEFT. <O>ptions ───────── This screen allows you to set your own game colors, animation speed, blocker appearance, cursor appearance and other game options. These settings are saved to disk in the CA-CYBER.CFG file which is read when the program is first loaded. (This way you do not have to reset your favorite game options each time you play.) All of the options inside the Option Screen should be self-explanatory. <R>etry ─────── You will probably be using this key often! When you find that you've trapped yourself, made the exit unaccessible, or simply wish to start over the room that you are currently in, hit the "R" key. You will find yourself in the same room, the way it looked when you first started. As mentioned above, when you use this key, the number of moves that you used before you "screwed up" is reset to zero - you are starting this room over from scratch. However, each retry costs you one of your men. Because you probably WILL be using this key more than any other, it doesn't make any sense to have a prompt come up each time to confirm that you really DO wish to start over. So don't hit this key unnecessarily! lay Again ──────────── This option takes the place of <R>etry as soon as you have no more men remaining. e<X>it to DOS ───────────── This (along with the ESCAPE key) will exit the program. The customary "Do you really want to quit?" message will appear, in case you hit this key without actually wishing to. ALT-D ───── The key combination ALT-D will temporarily exit the program and shell out to DOS. This can be useful if you are playing this game at work and see or hear your boss approaching! (Or if YOU are the boss and don't want your employees to see YOU playing games!) After shelling, simply type EXIT to re-enter the program. You will find yourself back in the room, the way that you left it just a moment ago. The program currently takes up approximately 392K of available memory. The amount of memory that you will have available after shelling will depend upon your own system. For example, on my system here at home, I currently have 620K available before I load the program. After loading it and then after shelling out to DOS, I notice that I still have 228K free. Before typing EXIT and returning to the game, make sure that you are back in the directory that the program is launched from. (Assuming that you happened to change directories in the first place.) ALT-I ───── If you've purchased the deluxe version, you can load a different cursor-image data file from right inside the program. The key combination ALT-I will prompt you to enter the number of the image file that you wish to load. The only restriction is that this cursor-image data file must be in the current directory. Simply hit ESCAPE if you decide that you do not wish to load another cursor-image file after executing ALT-I. ALT-R ───── If you've purchased the deluxe version, you can load another room-volume from right inside the program. The key combination ALT-R will prompt you to enter the number of the room volume that you wish load. The only restriction is that this room-volume file must be located in the current directory. Before loading a new file, the program will first... ■ Ask you to enter your name for the high-score file, assuming that your last performance was good enough for the CyberBox Hall of Fame. ■ Save this high-score file. ■ Save any of your solutions to all the rooms that you have exited, assuming that you were able to better a previous solution. Simply hit ESCAPE if you decide that you do not wish to load another room-volume file after executing ALT-R. ALT-S ───── Every single time you exit a room, the program logic checks to see if the number of moves you made is lower than the previous known solution for that room! If so, THIS solution immediately becomes "the one to beat." Once a room has been solved, you can "see" the solution again by hitting the key combination ALT-S. The room will be temporarily set back to its starting arrangement, and you will be prompted to hit a key to begin. You will then see your cursor do what is necessary to exit this room. The speed that the cursor moves is set in the Option Screen. However, you can also change it the animation speed simply by hitting the "+" and "-" keys. To pause the animation while it is progress, hit the spacebar just like you would while "nstant replaying." When the animation is finished, you are again prompted to hit a key. The room is THEN set back to what it was before you hit ALT-S. So you can SEE the solution, but you will still have to exit the room yourself! Note that this feature, like the instant replay feature, does not cost you any moves nor any of your remaining men. I included this feature for a couple of reasons. One, because I myself enjoy not only simply EXITING each room but trying to do so IN THE FEWEST MOVES POSSIBLE. Now my efforts are rewarded by recording my "record solutions" for posterity! Two, if anyone is able to BETTER any of MY solutions, you would be able to prove it by simply sending me your solution file. This would sure beat proving it by recording each of your moves by hand. ("I went left - left - up - then right - then up - left - left," etc.) IMPORTANT NOTE! If you decide to purchase additional rooms (remember, the deluxe game is required to load these) I will send you, free of charge, MY solution file to all room volumes!! So if you simply cannot figure out how to exit a particular room, the answer IS available. When you exit the program, the solution file will be re-written if any rooms have new record-lows. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ DIFFERENCES FROM THE ORIGINAL CYBERBOX ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ■ The most noticeable difference is probably the room itself. The original CyberBox game consisted of a room with an area only 15 by 10 in size. I chose to increase this playing area slightly, from 15 by 10 to 19 by 13. To do this I made the boxes slightly smaller and used a little bit more of the video screen. This increase in area, from 150 "square feet" to 247 "square feet", allows for much more intricate and complex room designs! ■ I've introduced a brand new type of box - PULLERS which can only be "pulled". ■ I added a couple of different types of SLIDERS. ■ Your original starting point in each room is not necessarily in the same spot. In the original game you always started at the bottom of the screen directly in the middle of the room. In this game, you could start anywhere! ■ I changed the scoring slightly. (There was a reason for it.) The original game used the following formula to determine ones final score: rooms completed + attempts remaining - total = total x 200 x 50 moves score It is very possible to construct a room that requires more than 200 moves to solve. (Many of my rooms require much more than that!) If I kept the above, original formula, you would GAIN 200 points for completing the room, yet would have 200 or more points SUBTRACTED from your score for the moves that it took you to find the solution. The net result would be a LOWER score after completing this room than what you had before you started it! I didn't feel this was a good thing, so I decided to multiply 5000, not 200, for each room completed. (Originally, I was only multipling 500 for each room, until I created a room which required 500+ moves to solve. So then I increased this number to 1000, until I created a room that required nearly 1300! AAGGHH! Right back to the same problem! So I finally said the heck with it and decided to multiply a full 5000. Now, if anyone can create a room that requires more than 5000 moves to solve, I'd like to see it!!) ■ In the original CyberBox game, if you accidentally walked into a wall or attempted to move a box incorrectly, this was considered a "move" even though your man didn't actually "move" anywhere. I didn't care for this feature only because, to me a move should be "a move." At times I found myself fumbling with the cursor keys and didn't even mean to move my man anywhere in the first place! BOOM! Points deducted! Remember, this is a STRATEGY game, not one of manual dexterity! In "The Continuing Adventures of CyberBox" only if your man MOVES is this considered a move. ■ The original game did not have a "jump screen" or an "instant replay" feature. ■ The original game did not allow you to set your own animation speed, text and background colors, sound pitch, etc. ■ The original game did not save your high scores. ■ The original game did not save your solution to each room. ■ This game allows you to view, at any time, the number of moves that you've currently made for each particular room you're in as well as the total number of moves you've made for all rooms combined. ■ The data for my rooms are read in from a data file and are not hard-coded in the program. This ensures that this program will always have "replay" value. This also means that others can create rooms for ME to solve. I like playing CyberBox too! ■ Upon using up your final attempt, the program does not end and you are not immediately sent back to DOS. You are simply asked if you wish to play again. This way, if you DO wish to play again, you do not have to restart and reload the program into memory each time. ■ The PUSHERS are represented as a SOLID blue triangle. (I think it looks better.) ■ The ZAPPERS are represented as a SOLID purple triangle. (Ditto.) ■ One has a choice on how he or she wishes to have the BLOCKERS and cursor represented. ■ The original program did not allow you to read the documentation file from inside the program. In a nutshell, any enhancement or improvement that I felt was needed, I incorporated! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ CREATING YOUR OWN ROOMS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you purchase the deluxe version (which allows you to load and play additional rooms) I will send you, free of charge, my CyberBox Room Editor program. This is the program that I use to create all of my rooms. That program comes with its own documentation file, so I won't bother describing it here. Note: Creating a half-way decent room it not as easy as you might think! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ BUG REPORTS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you feel that the game can use improvements in any area, or more importantly, if you find any programming bugs, I would appreciate it very much if you would let me know. With a program of this size and complexity, there is always the possibility for a bug or two. I apologize in advance if there ARE any. But I had many different people play and test it on many different types of systems and THEY had no problems so I'm guessing that you won't either. So if you DO find a bug, you can blame my beta-testers!!! <grin> ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ REGISTRATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ None! This game is free. There is no registration fee or "trial period" whatsoever. Keep it for as long as you want. Feel free to make copies for friends, upload it to computer bulletin boards, etc. However, when archiving the game or when giving it away, PLEASE make sure that the following six files... ■ vol-001.dat (the DATa file for the rooms 1 thru 15) ■ images01.dat (the DATa file for the cursor-images 1 thru 9) ■ ca-cyber.doc (this DOCumentation file) ■ ca-cyber.exe (the EXEcutable file) ■ ca-cyber.icn (the ICoN file for WINDOWS users) ■ file_id.diz (the customary description file used by BBS's) ...are all included. The high-score, configuration, and solution files will all be created if they don't already exist and do not need to be archived. Note that this program will only load the room-volume data file "vol-001.dat" (rooms 1 thru 15) and the cursor-image data file "images01.dat". If you wish to attempt to solve additional rooms, or load additional cursor-images, you will have to purchase, from me, the "deluxe" game. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ THE DELUXE GAME ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ╔══╝ ╚══╗ ║ The deluxe game will allow you to... ║ ║ ║ ║ ■ load and play vol-002.dat, vol-003.dat, and vol-004.dat ║ ║ (rooms 16 - 60)! ║ ║ ■ load any and all ADDITIONAL rooms that become available! ║ ║ ■ load different cursor-image data files! ║ ║ ■ avoid the annoying delay screens which appear at the end ║ ║ of the program. ║ ║ ■ allow you to "cheat" (if you so desire) by being able ║ ║ to... ║ ║ ...jump to any room without it costing you ║ ║ any of your remaining men! ║ ║ ..."<R>etry" to your hearts content! ║ ║ (each retry will also not cost you any of ║ ║ your remaining men. ║ ╚══╗ ╔══╝ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Note that the deluxe game and any room volumes other than vol-001.dat are NOT free and may not be distributed, uploaded to computer bulletin boards, or sold in any way. If you enjoy the game, I'd like you to become part of the CyberBox Team! There are many more rooms to escape from! And with the CyberBox Room Editor, many more rooms will be created by others all the time. The cost of the deluxe game is $ 5.00. (Which is about the price to see an average movie nowadays!) This is very inexpensive compared to the cost of many "store bought" or commercial games. Because the data for the rooms are read in from a data file, this game will always have "replay" value, which is not the case with many commercial games. (With many commercial games once you find the solution or "win", the game is no longer fun to play. That's why these rooms are read in from a data file and not hard-coded in the program. There can ALWAYS be more rooms to solve.) Each volume contains 15 rooms and are currently only $ 2.50 each. cost to receive the deluxe game....... $ 5.00 vol-002.dat (rooms 16 thru 30)....... $ 2.50 vol-003.dat (rooms 31 thru 45)....... $ 2.50 vol-004.dat (rooms 46 thru 60)....... $ 2.50 postage and materials (disks)......... $ 2.50 ─────── total................................. $ 15.00 And don't forget, with every order I will also include, free of charge... ■ my CyberBox Room Editor Program ■ any and all other cursor-image files that I create (I currently have two more files. (18 more cursor-images!)) ■ all of MY solution files for the volumes that you order (including my solution file to vol-001.dat) ■ information on how to "cheat" if you so desire Additional rooms, as they become available, will probably cost even less! (Since others will be creating many of them, I won't have to do all the work myself!) Please mail all checks or money orders to the following address: ╔══════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Edward D. Collins ║ ║ 151 East First Street #315 ║ ║ Mesa, Arizona ║ ║ 85201-6769 ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════╝ All disks sent will be 3½ inch in size unless you specify otherwise. And be sure to include your return address!!! Since I just moved to Mesa recently, (mid '93) the above address should be valid for years and years to come. (I don't plan on moving again for quite awhile!) However, if you would feel more comfortable in dropping me a postcard to verify that I'm in still here, by all means do so. Include your return address and I'll drop you a quick reply. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ HOW THIS GAME CAME TO BE ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ When I first played the original CyberBox by Doug Beeferman, I quickly fell in love with it. I thought it was a lot of fun. It was original. It was simple and yet at the same time, challenging, etc. It didn't require fast reflexes, and was the type of game that could appeal to both male & female as well as players of all ages. At the same time, I HATED it because it was over too quickly!!! I easily solved all 17 of Doug's rooms within the first DAY and wished that there were more. Even then, I thought that it wouldn't be too hard to write my OWN CyberBox game (being the master programmer that I am! <grin>) but I was probably working on some other program or project at the time and never followed up on it. Several months later I noticed a note on one of the bulletin boards on PRODIGY, from a member who was looking for some strategy type games. He mentioned that he enjoyed playing CyberBox II. CyberBox II ??? I wasn't even aware that a sequel existed! I quickly made arrangements to get a copy of it. However after receiving it, I was very disapppointed. Granted, the game was well done but the format had changed from the original version and I kinda preferred it the way that it was. So that right there gave me the incentive to write my OWN CyberBox game... and to go back to something closer to the original format. So, the finished product of my endeavors is what you now see before you. I started writing this game during the fall of '92. I worked on it for almost 4 months straight... every single day, night, weekends, etc. Many weekends I found myself working on it all night long. In fact around January of '93 I was so BURNED OUT over this project that I just had to put it up for awhile. Well, that turned out to be a mistake because after putting it away I didn't pick it up again for more than six months! Also, once I finally did pick it up again, it took me a few days just to figure out what some of my coded modules were doing! Granted, I try to write well documented, structured code, but most programmers do tend to get a little "sloppy" in their coding from time to time. Then I moved from Royal Oak, Michigan to my current address here in Mesa, Arizona. Well, that took time (packing, renting and loading my U-Haul Truck, moving, unpacking, etc.) so I was once again forced to put the program on hold for awhile. I picked it up again a few weeks later and once again worked on for it off and on for several months straight. Well, the same thing happened again! I got so burned out over this silly game that I just had to put it away. And again, once I put it up, I didn't pick it up again for almost another 6 months. I finally started working on it again and then finally, as I saw that the program was nearing its completion, I was able to finish it. I've estimated the number of hours that I've spent on this game and there is no point in even mentioning it since no one would believe me anyhow. I still enjoy creating new rooms and I'm currently working on my fifth room-volume now. Eventually I hope to have at least 10 different volumes - 150 rooms to solve! I'm hoping that others, maybe with more imagination than I, can also help to contribute to the "room making process." I had a tough time deciding on what to call this game. Ed's CyberBox? Deluxe CyberBox? MORE CyberBox? A friend suggested the games actual title and although it's a bit long, the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Especially after I wrote the Room Editor Program so that rooms can now be created with ease. So it really will be... ...The CONTINUING Adventures! ────────── ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ WHAT IS A 'CYBERBOX?' ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Is CyberBox the name of the game? Is it the name of your little man? Wait! It's gotta be the name of the boxes that you push and pull, right? Or is it the name of the ROOM that you are trapped in? What the heck is a "CyberBox?" I've decided that it is... all of the above! And more! In a game of logic, planning, and strategy, this may be the only "illogical" thing about it! AAGGHH! Mr. Spock would have a fit if he heard this! (Actually, since Vulcans don't have "fits", maybe he wouldn't!) CyberBox can be used as a noun... "Let's play CyberBox!" or... "I hope CyberBox can make it out of this room safely!" Or as an adjective... "That is one CyberBox of a room!" Or as a verb......... "Ahhh! I've been CyberBoxed!" or......... "Don't CyberBox me!" or... well, you get the idea!! Please note that CyberBox is always spelled as one word, with the letter "B" in "box" capitalized. This is the way that Doug spelled it on his opening screen in HIS CyberBox game and... well, I kinda liked it that way. So now it's official! ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ HINTS AND TIPS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Generally, in each volume of rooms the LOWER the room number the EASIER it should be to solve. Of course, what one might consider easy, another may consider quite difficult, so don't take this too literally. But in general you should find this to be true. Usually when first presented with a room, it's often easier to solve if you mentally work BACKWARD. Figure out what needs to be done around the EXIT and then work your way backward from there. Remember you high score is partly based upon the number of moves that you make so try to exit each room as efficiently (not "quickly") as you can! Note that when travelling across the entire screen, you can hold your cursor keys continiously down if you so desire. This can be faster than making each move one "square" at a time. Don't forget to read the name of each room in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Sometimes the name of the room will actually provide a small clue to help you in your goal of exiting it. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MISCELLANEOUS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You will note that the authors name whose designed each room is displayed vertically on the right hand side of the screen. If you send me a room that YOU yourself design, please let me know how you want YOUR name to be displayed. If it's good enough I'll include it in my next room-volume. Note that all disk access has been kept to a bare minimun! All data files are read just once, when the game is first loaded, and are never opened or read again! Only when you exit the program are all files, if necessary, updated. Thr program now takes up a rather large amount of memory (this wasn't always the case, but with each subsequent version, I added more and more code) but it's still not too bad. Remember, I'm keeping in memory such things as: ■ the data for all 15 rooms ■ the image for all 9 cursor-images ■ the image for all boxes ■ the 15 current high-scores ■ the solution to every room (a possible 5000 keystrokes x 15 rooms!) ■ this entire documentation file If you feel that you do not have enough memory to load and run the program, try removing such things as your mouse driver, any TSR programs that you may be installed (such as DOSKEY, SMARTDRIVE.EXE, etc.) When the program is run for the first time, the configuration file, high-score file and solution files are all initially created. I decided to make these three files "hidden" files. (That is, with an attribute byte of "hidden." You won't see them with the normal DOS "dir" command.) I did this because... these are the three files that do not necessarily need to be included when giving the game away to family or friends or when uploading the game to computer bulletin boards. By making them hidden files, one would be less likely to include them. and... these files are all random-access (non-text) files and they look like gibberish if you attempted to view them. Since they are not meant to be updated or modified by anything but the CyberBox program anyway, I thought it best to simply make them hidden files. You can, if you wish, simply change the attribute byte yourself back to normal but the next time you run the program, it will change the attribute byte right back to a hidden file again anyway. The vol-001.dat file (and other room volumes), the images01.dat file (and other cursor-image files) and the documentation file all have a attribute byte of "read only." These files are normal DOS text files and you can view them if you wish to, but please don't attempt to modify them in any way. So to recap, here is a list of the files used and their attribute byte: FILE ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION ──── ───────── ─────────── ca-cyber.exe normal the executable file ca-cyber.icn normal the icon file (not actually used by the program in any way.) file_id.diz normal the description file (also not used by the program.) ca-cyber.doc read only the documentation file vol-001.dat read only the first room-volume data file images01.dat read only the first cursor-image data file ca-cyber.cfg hidden the configuration file vol-001.scr hidden the high-score file to vol-001.dat vol-001.sol hidden the solution file to vol-001.dat I suppose that this documentation wouldn't be complete if I didn't list the number of moves that it takes ME to solve each of my rooms in the first four volumes. So here they are! I think all of the solutions in the first room volume cannot be bettered but I'm sure that several of the solutions in the other volumes probably can. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ROOM SHORTEST ║ ║ NMBR ROOM NAME (vol-001.dat) KNOWN SOLUTION ║ ║ ──── ──────────────────────── ────────────── ║ ║ 1 Welcome to CyberBox. 141 moves ║ ║ 2 Easy does it. 123 " ║ ║ 3 Don't worry, be happy! 73 " ║ ║ 4 No room for error, here. 117 " ║ ║ 5 Even my G'ma could do this! 97 " ║ ║ 6 71 moves and you're outta here! 71 " ║ ║ 7 Just push 'em out of the way. 217 " ║ ║ 8 Hey you, quit following me! 119 " ║ ║ 9 So close and yet so far... 100 " ║ ║ 10 Clearing a path thru the snow. 116 " ║ ║ 11 Two steps to this one. 258 " ║ ║ 12 Zapperland II. 31 " ║ ║ 13 The Storage Shed. 402 " ║ ║ 14 Those dang Pullers! 301 " ║ ║ 15 But Ma, this looks so easy! 162 " ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ROOM SHORTEST ║ ║ NMBR ROOM NAME (vol-002.dat) KNOWN SOLUTION ║ ║ ──── ──────────────────────── ────────────── ║ ║ 16 Tic-Tac-Toe. 33 moves ║ ║ 17 Piece of cake. 146 " ║ ║ 18 The Lawn Mower. 25 " ║ ║ 19 Give up one and bring back two. 136 " ║ ║ 20 Once, twice, three times a lady. 137 " ║ ║ 21 Do Wa Diddy-Diddy Dum Diddy-Do. 153 " ║ ║ 22 Move it or lose it II. 292 " ║ ║ 23 Don't be fooled! 142 " ║ ║ 24 Mirror image? Not quite! 62 " ║ ║ 25 The Spider. 109 " ║ ║ 26 The Mine Field. 132 " ║ ║ 27 Follow the yellow brick road. 76 " ║ ║ 28 Back and forth. 119 " ║ ║ 29 The Active Hallway. 260 " ║ ║ 30 Simple, but effective. 515 " ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ROOM SHORTEST ║ ║ NMBR ROOM NAME (vol-003.dat) KNOWN SOLUTION ║ ║ ──── ──────────────────────── ────────────── ║ ║ 31 Let's not get zapped! 58 moves ║ ║ 32 Advance and retreat. 108 " ║ ║ 33 It's not as hard as you think! 155 " ║ ║ 34 99 Boxes - 99 Moves. 99 " ║ ║ 35 Slow and steady wins this race. 118 " ║ ║ 36 Either way is fine. 75 " ║ ║ 37 One-Way Street. 60 " ║ ║ 38 Three ZAPS should do the trick! 169 " ║ ║ 39 Five hundred miles away from home. 500 " ║ ║ 40 The Face. 631 " ║ ║ 41 MacGyver could do it! 351 " ║ ║ 42 These boots were made for walkin... 747 " ║ ║ 43 Which SLIDER holds the key? 298 " ║ ║ 44 A temporary setback. 214 " ║ ║ 45 ...and to all a good night. 148 " ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ROOM SHORTEST ║ ║ NMBR ROOM NAME (vol-004.dat) KNOWN SOLUTION ║ ║ ──── ──────────────────────── ────────────── ║ ║ 46 You can retire at 60! 60 moves ║ ║ 47 Eeeny meeny miny moe. 98 " ║ ║ 48 Look before you leap. 162 " ║ ║ 49 The Unfinished Tunnel. 182 " ║ ║ 50 The Three Stooges. 158 " ║ ║ 51 The Staircase. 201 " ║ ║ 52 Around the World. 632 " ║ ║ 53 Temper Tantrum. 420 " ║ ║ 54 Come'on, how hard can it be? 219 " ║ ║ 55 ZAPPERS & PULLERS. 128 " ║ ║ 56 Left, right, left, right. 253 " ║ ║ 57 Clearing a path...II 194 " ║ ║ 58 Make room for those SLIDERS! 307 " ║ ║ 59 The Four Musketeers. 205 " ║ ║ 60 Mission: IMPOSSIBLE. 1337 " ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ This program was written and compiled using Spectra Publishing's PowerBASIC version 3.00c. Doug wrote his program in "C" but I don't know C (yet) so I decided writing it in BASIC was better than COBOL, since COBOL and BASIC are the only two languages that I'm currently proficient in. A friend of mine (a non-programmer) couldn't believe that I could create and write this game without ever looking at the original "source code." Well Craig, believe it. Even if I HAD seen the code, it wouldn't have helped me much anyway since I don't know "C". Nope, the entire code, every line, is all my own. For those of you who are curious, the source code for this program contains more than 5,595 lines of code! To print out the entire listing, at 60 lines per page, requires over 93 pages! When I compiled the program, I generated code to specifically check for the presence of the 80286 (or better) CPU. My PowerBASIC manual says that this is supposed to improve the program's performance. I'm sorry to the few of you remaining who may still have an old 8086/8088 processor since the program won't run (it shouldn't run!) but it would probably run too slowly to be enjoyable anyway. Shoot, I've been writing and testing it on my 486 (with 33 MHz) and when I first saw it on a 286 (with only 12 MHz) I was surprised and disappointed on how slowly it ran (i.e. some of the screen writes). In fact, I decided that I just HAD to go back into the program and re-write the portions of my code that ran too slowly. I can't even IMAGINE what it would look like on an old XT! And since it requires a VGA graphics card and monitor anyway, I don't think I'm keeping too many people from seeing it by compiling it with the "286 code generation." I mean, how many people have a color VGA monitor hooked up to an XT?? On the other hand, I also happened to test this program on a few of our laptops at work. On these particular machines, the screens were being drawn instantly. INSTANTLY! Obviously, I was very pleased with this! I've tested this program on as many different types of systems as I could find and I've experienced no problems. If it doesn't work on YOUR system, I'd be interested in knowing what type of setup you have. (The name of the VGA graphics card & monitor, computer brand, operating system and version number, etc.) ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ THANKS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ I'd like to thank the following people for helping me test the game before I released it into the public domain: Brian Kurth of Gilbert, Arizona Kelly Collins of Santa Ana, California Judy Collins of Placentia, California Bill Collins of Durango, Colorado Lyle Engle of Mesa, Arizona Brent Bowers of Phoenix, Arizona Daen Hendrickson of Apache Junction, Arizona "PJ" Salley of Phoenix, Arizona Jerry Giacinto of Mesa, Arizona Gary Spitzer of Phoenix, Arizona I'd also like like to thank Terry Donn for coming up with the name of this program. A special thanks goes out to William G. Hall of Springfield, Illinois for being the first person to purchase the deluxe game. A hearty "Congratulations" goes out to Ernie Longway of Parker, Colorado who discovered shorter solutions to SEVERAL rooms in the first volume!! Good work, Ernie! And last but certainly not least, I'd also like to give a big "thank you" to Doug Beeferman, who wrote the original CyberBox game. Obviously, if it weren't for him I would never have written this program in the first place. Thanks, Doug! Happy CyberBoxing to you all! And drop me a line! I really would like to hear your comments. Edward D. Collins April 10, 1995 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ REVISIONS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Updates in Version 4.43 ─────────────────────── ■ Corrected a minor programming bug in the Deluxe Version. If a user attempted to load a non-existent room-volume via the ALT-R key combination and then exited the program, the programming logic would update the configuration file with this invalid room-volume name. The next time that the program was loaded, an error message would appear stating that it was attempting to load this file and could not find it. (The configuration file saves the last room-volume that has been played. It was saving a filename BEFORE checking to make sure that it was valid.) This bug has now been fixed. Thanks to Lyle Engle of Mesa, Arizona for discovering this. ■ After exiting the program and returning to DOS, the screen is restored to the way it looked before the program was executed. ■ Added some undocumented features for my own benefit. Updates in Version 4.35 ─────────────────────── ■ Corrected a minor flaw in the way that I was drawing a few of my letters for one of my fonts. ■ Added program logic to verify that the rooms in the vol-xxx.dat data files are in the correct order. (Previously, one could go in and edit these data files and, for example, swap rooms 1 and 2.) I didn't have a problem with anyone doing this (although I'm not sure why anyone would ever WANT to) but the vol-xxx.sol files contain the SOLUTION to these rooms and if one swapped any of the rooms in the data files then one would HAVE to swap these two solutions in the solution file as well (to keep the program from doing strange things). And my solution files, being non-text files, would be extremely difficult (if not impossible) for the average user to manipulate anyway. ■ Since the documentation file is now REQUIRED to run the program, (along with the vol-xxx.dat and imagesxx.dat files) I added a "read-only" attribute byte on this documentation file, to lessen the chance that it will be deleted accidentally. ■ Allowed the user to select any of the menu key options via the TAB and/or the CTRL-arrow keys. ■ Made a minor change to the program logic when the cursor exits a room and actually enters the hallway. (If the cursor-movement sound was active for any pitch, a slight pause occurred before the sound was heard.) Updates in Version 4.23 ─────────────────────── ■ Changed the order of the options of the <M>enu Toggle so that the ALT-key options appears second rather than third. ■ Changed the logic so that if the user is reading the documentation file and then returns to the game, the same page that the user was reading is automatically brought up again if and when the user decides to read the doc file a second time. ■ Allowed the user to change the foreground and background colors while reading my documentation file. Updates in Version 4.15 ─────────────────────── ■ Deluxe version - changed the configuration file so that it would save the last cursor-image data file that you were using as well as the last room-volume data file that you were working on. ■ Changed the program logic so that this configuration file is now read first. The program will now no longer default to loading the vol-001.dat file and images01.dat file. The default now becomes the files you previously had loaded. ■ Deluxe version - added code so that the player can load additional room-volumes and cursor-image files from right inside the program. ■ If the player's efforts are good enough for the CyberBox Hall of Fame, for convenience, the program will now automatically display the last name that was previously entered in this screen. If the player wishes to use this same name, now all he or she has to do is hit ENTER. ■ Allowed the user to read my documentation file from right inside the program. Updates in Version 4.0 ────────────────────── ■ Added the DOS shell. ■ Added the entire solution-file logic. The program now saves your shortest solution to disk. ■ Swapped a couple of rooms in the vol-001.dat file that were a little too difficult to solve for first-time players, with some rooms in my vol-002.dat file. ■ Added logic so that the player can break out of the "victory song" if so desired, by hitting the ESCAPE key. ■ Increased the number of nstant Replay keystrokes saved in memory from 2000 to 5000. Updates in Version 3.0 ────────────────────── ■ Renamed my cursor-image data files to IMAGESxx.DAT (where "x" indicates the file number) instead of CACYBERx.IMG ■ Added the entire nstant Replay logic. ■ Added the "About CyberBox" screen. ■ The program now puts a read-only attribute byte on both the room-volume and cursor-image files. ■ Changed the appearance of one of the BLOCKER options from a sorry looking solid-red block to a neat little criss-cross type pattern. ■ When entering a room for the first time, the NAME of each room is animated from right to left until it is centered in the right hand portion of the screen. ■ Removed my LINE INPUT statement for accepting the user's name in my Hall of Fame screen and replaced it with my own editor. (Which allows for the user to utilize the HOME key, the END key, etc.) Updates in Version 2.0 ────────────────────── ■ The program now puts a hidden attribute byte on the high-score and configuration files. ■ Re-wrote the logic for drawing all boxes. (The screen-writes on slower PC's was a little too slow for my taste. It is now noticeably faster only at the cost of the program now requiring slightly more RAM to load and run.) ■ The ESCAPE key will now bring up the "Do you really want to quit?" message, in addition to the "X" (e<x>it program) key. ■ If the replay animation speed is set on "very fast," the program will now replay the solution WITHOUT the "cursor sound." (Assuming the cursor movement sound was active for any pitch in the first place.) The sound could not keep up with the cursor movement and the result was the cursor running around with one big beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.) ■ Changed all references of "non-registered game" to "non-deluxe game." ■ When entering a room for the first time, your cursor now blinks a few times to make it easier to find. ■ Added the ox Review screen to help out first-time players. Updates in Version 1.14 ─────────────────────── ■ Changed the default text color from white to brown and the default highlight color from bright white to yellow. ■ The program will now only re-write the configuration file if anything has changed since initially loading it. ■ Changed the opening screen to display the message "Hit any key to continue..." at the bottom. ■ Slightly altered the way that the PULLERS are represented. ( Documentation Version 4.43a ) The Continuing Adventures of CyberBox is Copyright (c) 1995 by Edward D. Collins All Rights Reserved ──── end of file ────