Action Ware 18: Pac Mania & Coin-up Hits

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Text File | 1992-03-28 | 15.8 KB | 350 lines

█▄ ▄█ █▀▀▀▀▄ █▄ ▄█ █ █ █▄ █ ▄▀▀▀▀▄ █ █ █▀▀▀▀▀ █▀▀▀▀▄ █ ▀▄ ▄▀ █ █ █ █ ▀▄ ▄▀ █ █ █ █ ▀▄ █ █ █▄▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄ █ █ █ ▀ █ █▀▀█▀ █ ▀ █ █ █ █ ▀▄ █ █ █ █ █ █▀▀█▀ █ █ █ ▀▄ ██ █ █ ▀▄▄▄▄▀ █ ▀█ ▀▄▄▄▄▀ █ █ █▄▄▄▄▄ █ ▀▄ Version 0.0 -- Beta Test Version -- 28 March 1992 (in other words, I NEED RESPONSE FROM THE USERS OF THIS PROGRAM) graphics, and programming by Darren Embry Copyright (C) 1992 by ReaperWare Enterprises ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ R E A D T H I S D O C U M E N T A T I O N B E F O R E U S I N G │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This program is being distributed in the public domain. This means that you are allowed to make copies of this program and pass them around to your friends and upload it to bulletin board systems, as long as none of the files are modified, all of the files are copied, and there are no charges made in the program. THIS SOFTWARE IS ABSOLUTELY FREE, AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER IT WITH THE AUTHOR. If you have any questions, comments, complaints, or suggestions, or you encountered some problems on your particular computer, or you found a bug or two in my program, then please drop me a line at: Darren Embry 2404 Portland Avenue Louisville, Ky. 40212-1038 (enclose an S.A.S.E. for a personal reply) If you know what this is, you can send E-mail to me at the following Bitnet/Internet address: CL262447@ULKYVM.BITNET ...and PLEASE describe your error in detail... This program has 32 boards. The official (non-beta) version will contain 80 fun-packed rounds of excitement. I need creations from the users of this game, though. USE THE BOARD EDITOR! You can send your ideas (you have to draw them on graph paper or something, though) to either address above. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ W H A T F I L E S A R E T H E R E ? │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The distribution diskette (or archive file) should contain ALL of the following files: README .COM A simple program to display instructions for first-time players on how to load up the program and read the documentation. MUNCHER .COM (or .EXE) The program file, which contains board editor and game. MCONFIG .COM (or .EXE) This program allows you to change the configuration (details later) MIMAGES .CGA Bitmap data file for animated sprites and other small images. MINTRO .CGA Bitmap data file for the introductory title screen (the one that says "EmbryWare Enterprises Presents..."). MMENU .CGA Bitmap data file for the main menu screen. MHELP .CGA Bitmap data file for the help screen, which displays brief instructions and what keys you press to play the game. MSCORES .CGA Bitmap data file for the high score screen. This file does not contain the actual data for the high scores, but only the data for a screen displaying the high scores. MSCORES .DAT File that contains the data for each high score in the top ten ranks. MEDITOR .CGA Bitmap data file for the board editor environment screen (displays what keys to use). MEXIT .CGA Bitmap data file for my "shareware" screen that appears before exiting to DOS. MBOARD .??? Files that contain the data for each game board. The (.001 to .032) three-digit number corresponding to the round number is the three-character extension (replaces ???; for example, M-BOARD.024). All board numbers from 1 to 32 inclusive should be included on the distribution disk or archive file. MGAME .CGA Bitmap data file for the game playing environment screen (everything but the game board, the creatures, and the scores, etc.). MUNCHER .DOC The documentation that you are reading right now. If not all of the files are present, then the file or disk you received is NOT an official distribution version of Mr. Muncher. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ C O M P U T E R R E Q U I R E M E N T S │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To run Mr. Muncher, you will need the following: - an IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, PS/2, PS/1 (ha ha ha ha), or compatible computer running PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 2.0 or higher. Please note that this program is painfully slow on PCjr's and older PC's and a microprocessor speed of 8 MHz or greater is recommended. - 128 KB of RAM or greater - a CGA, EGA, MCGA, or VGA graphics card or compatible - general knowledge of DOS so that you can start up the program (duh). ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ H O W T O S T A R T U P T H E P R O G R A M │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Load up DOS on your computer. When you see the A> prompt (or B> or C>, etc.) place the Mr. Muncher Program Disk in the current drive, type "MUNCHER" at the DOS prompt, and press Enter. When the title screen appears, press any key and the main menu will appear. You will learn how to use the main menu in the next section. USING THE MAIN MENU To select an option from the main menu, you can use the up and down cursor arrow keys to select an option. When the "highlight bar" is on your option, pressing the "Enter" key will make the computer perform that option. You may also press the key corresponding to your option in the menu (example: press "I" to see the instructions). Only the main menu options that I feel need explanations will be detailed below. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ P L A Y I N G T H E G A M E │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ When you press "P" (or move the highlight bar and press <Enter>), you have the chance to select the number of players or to cancel and return to the main menu. Press "1" to select one player, "2" to select two players, or <Esc> to return to the main menu. RULES FOR PLAYING MR. MUNCHER is basically a clone of Pac-Man. The object is to eat all the little dots, or FOOD PELLETS, on the board in order to go to the next round, without getting destroyed by GHOSTS wandering about the board in a somewhat random fashion. The "bigger" dots, or ENERGY PELLETS, give you a limited amount of time to eat the ghosts and get points. Beware of blinking ghosts, which are about to change back to their dangerous colors. BONUS THINGIES, which appear from time to time, can give you points or an extra man, also. KEYS TO PLAY THE GAME Movement of Mr. Muncher: cursor arrow keys on numeric keypad Pause: P Toggle sound effects: S Options menu and Help Screen: F1 Exit back to main menu: Esc SCORING Food pellets: 10 points Energy pellets: 100 points Ghosts: 200, 400, and 800 for each ghost, and 1600 thereafter. Bonuses: cherry = 100 points strawberry = 500 points banana = 1000 points extra man = no points, but you do get an extra man. You get an extra man at 10,000 points and every 30,000 points thereafter. OPTIONS MENU When you press the F1 key, you will get a brief help screen describing what keys you can use. There is also an options menu that allows you to change some of the settings for your game. An explanation of each option (if necessary) is given below: Toggle sound: S -- this option simply allows you to turn the sound effects on or off. Set game speed: G -- this option lets you change the speed of your program on your particular computer. The number you type in can be a number between 1 and 32767. 1 makes the game run fast, and 32,767 makes it run slow. The speed depends on the type of the computer you are using, so I wouldn't recommend using 32,767 on a slower 286 or an 8088. Set smoothness: M -- this option allows you to change the "smoothness" of the game animation to a number between 1 and 4. This setting affects the game speed, and it may help to set this number to 3 or 4 when running on an 8088. On a 286, I would recommend setting this value to 1 or 2, and on a 386 or higher, setting this value to 1 still gives fine animation. But it's up to you to experiment and see which values are best for "smoothness" and "game speed." For you graphically knowledgeable, this number is porportional to the number of pixels that each sprite moves. The game will move faster when the smoothness level is increased. Return to game: Esc -- self-explanatory. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ T H E B O A R D E D I T O R │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This option allows you to create new boards if you are bored with the old ones or simply just want to try something new for a change. You can have as many (or as few) ghosts on the board as you want, move the initial position of the player (where it starts when you lose a man or you're on a new board), and tell the computer where to put walls, food and energy pellets, etc. When this option is selected, board number 1 will be loaded up automatically. See that blinking object? That's a cursor. You move it using the cursor control keys. But what's all that crap on the left-hand side of the screen? That's your quick reference. An explanation follows: Move: arrow keys -- The cursor control keys allow you to move the cursor around the board. If you're on one of the edges, it will wrap around to the opposite edge for you. The cursor is used to place or erase items on the board, which will be explained later, in the section entitled, "The Building Blocks Of A Game Board". Scan boards: PgUp,PgDn -- This option allows you to quickly load up the previous or next game board. If the current board has been changed, the computer will ask you if you want to save it first. PgUp loads up the previous board (example: from board 2 to board 1), and PgDn loads up the next game board (example: from board 1 to board 2). If you're on board number 1 and you press PgUp, you will load up board number 100, because you can store 100 game boards on a disk. If you press PgDn and you're on board number 100, it will load up baord number 1. Load board: L -- This option allows you to select what board number you wish to load up. Pressing <Enter> without typing in anything will re-load the current game board. If the current board has been changed, the computer will ask you if you want to save it first. Save board: S -- This option allows you to select what board number you wish to save. Pressing <Enter> without typing in anything will save the current game board. If you select another board number, the computer will display that board and ask you if you wish to replace that board with the one you're saving. If you press "Y" you will overwrite the old board. If you press "N", that board will remain on the screen to be edited. If you press <Esc>, the old board will be re-loaded on the screen to be edited. Clear board: C -- This option allows you to clear the current board number. Just to be safe, you will be asked if you are sure you want to. Exchange: X -- This option allows you to exchange the game boards for two board numbers. Pressing <Esc> when inputting for a board number will go back to the board editor. Pressing <Enter> without typing in anything will assume the current board number. Entering the same number for both board numbers will do nothing. Exit: Esc -- This option allows you to exit the board editor and go back to the main menu. If any changes were made to the board, the computer will ask you if you want to save it. If you press <Esc>, the changes will not be saved and you will go back into the board editor. BOARD EDITING KEYS Player: "1" -- When you press the "1" key, the cursor will be where the player's initial position will be at the start of the game, or after you get killed. If the player is already there, the computer will ask you if you want to move it. Enemy: "2" -- Pressing the "2" key will place a ghost at the cursor position. If there are more than ten (10) ghosts on the board, you will receive an error message. Walls: "3" -- The wall sections are the building blocks for the maze that Mr. Muncher must travel to. Pressing the "3" key will place one of these blocks (wall sections) at the cursor. Wall sections placed next to eachother will be automatically "connected." A screen full of wall sections, for example, will look more like a grid. Food: "4" -- Pressing the "4" key will place a food pellet at the cursor positon. Energy: "5" -- Pressing the "5" key will place an energy pellet at the cursor positon. Eraser: "0" -- Pressing the "0" key will erase whatever is at the cursor. When you press "1","2","4","5", or "0" when the cursor is on a wall section, that wall section will be erased first, and the connections will disappear. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ USING THE MCONFIG.COM CONFIGURATION PROGRAM │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The MCONFIG.COM configuration program is used to set the speed of screen "fades" and tells the computer whether or not to use those neat scrolling tricks. A "fade" is when the contents of the screen are loaded up or blanked out gradually. The program can also change the speed of the scrolling that you can perform on certain monitors and allow you to turn it off. "Scrolling" is when the contents are smoothly scrolled up or down (this entails a few effects) on the screen. THESE SCREEN SCROLLING TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON SOME MONITORS, ESPECIALLY VGA MONITORS, SO PLEASE MAKE SURE TO RUN THIS PROGRAM BEFORE STARTING UP THE GAME. To load up the configuration program, simply type "MCONFIG" at the DOS prompt, and press the Enter key. The MAIN MENU gives you three options: 1. Type in "1" and press Enter to change the speed of or test screen "fades." 2. Type in "2" and press Enter to change the speed of or test screen "scrolling." 3. Type in "9" and press Enter to exit to DOS. When you type in "1" at the main menu, the SCREEN FADE SETUP MENU gives you three options: 1. Type in "1" and press Enter to change the fading speed. This number can be any number from 0 to 32,767. 0 represents the fastest screen fading speed and 32,767 the slowest. 2. Type in "2" and press Enter to test a screen fade at the currently set fading speed, which is displayed on the bottom line of the screen. 3. Type in "9" and press Enter to return to the MAIN MENU. When you type in "2" at the main menu, the SCREEN SCROLLING SETUP MENU gives you three options: 1. Type in "1" and press Enter to change the scrolling speed. This number can be anywhere from 0 to 255, although I recommend between 1 and 8. 1 is the fastest and 8 the slowest. 2. Type in "2" and press Enter to test a screen scrolling at the currently set scrolling speed. This option asks you whether the scrolling alone cleared the screen (screen scrolling is ON) or the contents were scrolled back on and had to be "faded off" (screen scrolling is OFF; fades are used). 3. Type in "9" and press Enter to return to the MAIN MENU. When this menu is up, the screen scrolling speed and status switch (ON/OFF) is displayed at the bottom line of the screen. typed by: Darren Embry Saturday 28 March 1992 7:52 p.m.