Aminet 5/Aminet 5 - March 1995.iso/Aminet/game/shoot/artil20u.lha/artillerus/Artillerus.doc

Text File | 1992-10-03 | 12KB | 348 lines

                 A  R  T  I  L  L  E  R  U  S

COPYRIGHT 1993 MICHAEL WILLIAM BOEH    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED




DISTRIBUTION

This is Shareware.  It may be distributed as long as a reasonable media fee
is charged when included in disk collections.  If you would like a registered
version (plays more than 3 rounds) send 7 US dollars plus 3 dollars shipping
to:

Michael W. Boeh
1231 Creekwood Dr.
Batavia, OH  45103
USA

This game is much more funwhen more rounds are played.




INTRODUCTION

Do you remember the old artillery games on the C-64, Bally's Arcade, and
Apple II's???  Wouldn't it be great if you could play the same game, but
with today's technology?  Well, now you can!  Here is Artillerus.





FEATURES

Up to 8 players.

Dual Playfield Paralell Scrolling on a large super-bitmap.

48 different weapons and defenses (more than any other artillery game to
date).

A choice of 4 different terrain types- or you can have it random.

Three different backround scenes representing different planets.

The side walls can have the projectiles bounce, wrap or do nothing (or
random).

5 different computer controlled robots, varying in intelligence.

A simple elegant user interface that makes aiming and shooting easy.







THE SETUP SCREEN

This is the screen where the parameters of the game are initialized.
First, the individual players, 1-8, are set.  They are as follows:
HUMAN      - You, or a friend.
RANDOBOT   - A really stupid robot, just shoots at random locations.
THINKBOT   - Shoots in the general direction of another robot, but not
             very accurate.  It chooses shields only every so often.
CYBERBOT   - Very accurate.  Chooses target and defense completely at
             random.
NEUROBOT   - Deadly accurate.  Chooses shields and target
             intelligently.  Also, Neurobots will not shoot at each
             other until all other robots are destroyed.


Next, the terrain can be selected:
NATURAL    - The most releastic mountain pattern, simulates rock.
LINES      - This was the only terrain available in the original
             Artillerus.  It basically draws a mountain by connecting
             lines together.  Not very realistic, but effective.
BOXES      - A square mountain, all right angles.  This creates hills
             that can be hard to get a projectile over.
CIRCLES    - A curved terrain that is made up of large circles.  Can
             create some good hiding places too.


Next, the borders can be selected:

BOUNCE      - When the projectile hits the side walls, it bounces back
              in the exact opposite angle that it came from.
WRAP        - The projectile will wrap around to the other side of the
              playfield and continue on it's same flight path.
NONE        - The projectile simply dissappears or detonates when it
              hits the side walls.
RANDOM      - One of the previous three effects, randomly selected
              with each collision.


Next, the scenery can be selected:

EARTH       - Earth
MOON        - MOON
MARS        - MARS



Next, the Number of rounds can be selected.  This is how many individual
games are played in one sitting.  The default is three, 7 or 8 makes a more
fun game though.


When the DONE button is selected, the human players go to the
equipment selection screen.









EQUIPMENT SELECTION

This is where the players buy and sell the equipment for their robots.
The list of equipment is presented on the left side of the screen.  The
scroll arrows, player number, standings (blank on the initial round),
money, and initial defense are on the right.

Equipment List   To purchase a weapon, just click on its name with the
                 left mouse button.  To sell a weapon, just click on
                 it's name with the right button.  You do not get as
                 much as you payed  for a weapon when you sell it.
Scroll Arrows  - Click on these to move through the list of weapons
                 and defenses.
Player Number  - Denoted with a PL then the player number, this just
                 designates who's turn it is to buy equipment.
Money          - This lists how much cash is remaining.
Initial Defense- This selects the defense automatically deployed when
                 the actual game play starts.
Standings      - Shows the score of the game, in order of best to
                 last.

When all the human players have selected their equipment, the actual game
Play starts.



THE CONTROL BAR

This is where the robot is set to shoot at its target (or defend itself).
Starting from the left and moving to the right:

[P] [DEF][D][QD] [WEP] [DAM] [FIRE] [][POW][] [WND] [FUEL] [L][R] [][ANG][]

P     - The player number

DEF   - The current defense

D     - Deploys the current defense

QD    - What percent of the defense is gone

WEP   - The current weapon and its quantity

DAM   - How much of your robot is destroyed

FIRE  - Shoots the current weapon

POW   - Adjust the power of the blast

WND   - Displays the direction and speed of the wind

FUEL  - How much gas is left

L & R - Moves the robot left or right

ANG   - Adjusts the angle of the barrel of the robot



ROBOT MOVEMENT

A robot can be moved from left to right or right to left if:
1. There is enough fuel.
2. No defense is up.
3. It is not trying to move uphill.



THE WEAPONS

SHELL    - A small explosion weapon, unlimited quantity.
MORTAR   - Like shell, but with a slightly larger explosion.
BOMB     - Also like shell, but with a decent explosion.  Great weapon for
           the first few rounds.
SMNUKE   - Very large explosion, if you have the money.
NUKE     - Huge explosion, devestating, but VERY expensive.
MEGANUKE - Gigantic explosion.  If it hits you, you're dead, period.
LATMAN   - Long, wide explosion.  Good for targets on flat surfaces.
CRKJAX   - Several small explosions in the area that it hits.
INTENSE  - One small explosion that does several times the damage of a
           regular explosion.  Good if you can get a direct hit on your
           target.
ROLLER   - When it hits the ground, it rolls in the direction that it was
           fired until it hits dirt, a shield, or a robot.  It then
           explodes.
BOORANG  - When it hits, it hovers slightly off the ground and moves in
           the opposite direction that it was fired.  It can go up and down
           hills and will only stop when it hits a robot, shield, or
           border.  Very effective.
MOLE     - When it hits, it bores straight down into the dirt until it hits
           the bottom of the screen or a robot.  Great for kiling burried
           opponents because it goes through shields.
LATMOLE  - A combination between LATMAN and MOLE.
DIGGERS  - Digs to the bottom like MOLE, but if it hits the bottom, it fans
           out and sends several bombs back towards the surface.  Covers a
           large horizontal area.
GOPHER   - IF this hits dirt, it bores sideways through it until it hits a
           robot.  If it doesn't hit a robot and goes through the mountaun,
           it then turns into a roller.
POGO     - When it hits, it blows up, then goes straigh down again until it
           hits, then blows up again.  It does this 4 times.
BONBALL  - When it hits, it blows up, then bounces back into the air until
           it hits again.  It blows up three times.
MISSILE  - When it is fired, it acts like a normal projectile.  But, if it
           is on its way down, it will go directly down on a robot below
           it.  The explosion is small, but targets are easy to hit.
G-NUKE   - Like Missle, but with a much bigger explosion.
ACCURO   - When you press fire, a message will come on the screen asking
           for a target.  You just enter the target you want to hit via the
           keyboard, and the weapon will fire at the perfect angle and
           power.  Small explosion, bur great for your next shot.
LOCBLST  - When fire is pressed, a large explosion is generated directly
           from the shooting robot.  The shooter is not harmed, but any
           close robots are.
LASER    - When this one hits, a laser beam is fired from above.  A direct
           hit with a laser does 40 points of damage.
LASERS   - Like laser, but with three beams.
LASRAIN  - When this hits, it sends a guided laser towards each robot on
           the screen.  Each hit does 20 points of damage.
DOOMDAY  - Shoots just like laisrain, but then drops a NUKE straight down.
           Awesome weapon.
ECHOBST  - When it hits, it releases sound waves that cause damage.  Does
           not displace any dirt.
SNOWCID  - When it hits, it unleashes deadly acidic snow from above.  Great
           for removing defenses.
HELLFIR  - When it hits, it releases several falling bombs from above.
NAPALM   - WHen it hits, hot napalm liquid flows from the impact point.
           It only flows donhill, of course.
FLOOD    - Like napalm, but with much more liquid and it does not affect
           shields.
MAGNETO  - If it hits close enough to a robot, a magnet appears at the top
           of the screen and sucks up the robot.  It then drops the robot.
           The damage is caused by the fall.
SABO     - With a direct hit, it takes away a random weapon from the robot
           that it hits.
X-THEFT  - When fired, it extends a wire from the shooting robot in the
           direction of the angle.  It then travels an amound specified by
           the power, then goes straight down.  With a direct hit, 20
           damage points are "robbed" from the hit robot and given to the
           shooting robot.
HORBUMP  - Puts a horizontal bumper halfway between the impact point and
           the top of the screen.
VERBUMP  - Puts a vertical bumper halfway between the impact point and
           the top of the screen.
SMWALL   - Builds a vertical wall from the point where it hit.
BGWALL   - Builds a large vertical wall from the point where it hit.
DRTBALL  - Builds a large mound of dirt from the point where it hit.
CRYSTAL  - Builds a tiny wall from where it hit.  But, it grows after each
           turn until the end of the round.
DOZER    - Clears away dirt without damaging the robot.
BLSTOFF  - When fire is pressed, the robot is springed into the air and
           then drifts in the wind until it hits the ground.  The turn is
           not lost with this weapon.
DROPPER  - When fire is pressed, it sinks the robot into the surrounding
           dirt.
HYPRSPC  - When fire is pressed, it zaps the robot to a new, random
           location.



DEFENSES

CLOAK    - When deployed, the robot dissappears from view.  Does not affect
           the normal damage when the robot is hit.
SHIELD   - Lessens damage to a hit robot.
ABSORB   - When the shield is hit, it completely absorbes the projectile.
           The absorb is then lost.
INVERT   - When hit, this defense bounces the projectile in the opposite
           direction that it hit.
JAMMER   - Stops G-NUKE and Missile weapons.




SCORING

You get 1 point for each kill you make, and 1 point for each robot that
dies while you survive.




STRATEGY

1. Don't buy alot at first, the money earns interest.
2. If you are playing with NEUROBOTS, try to destroy them first.  If
   you don't, they'll gang up on you.
3. Use the defensive weapons, they work!
4. Move around alot, make yourself a difficult target.
5. Go for the closest robots first, they are easire to hit.
6. PRACTICE! It helps.




THANKS

These people helped make Artillerus the game that it is today: Ed Erst,
Tom Kirstein, the Chumley and Ring families, Michaelene Werner, Dave Larsen
Brian Vargyas, Will Beethe, all the other people who wrote me with their
suggestions. THANKS!



THE AUTHOR

I just received my bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University in
Theoretical Computer Science.  I am currently seeking employment as a
programmer.  I am proficient at C/C++, Assembler, COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC,
and Visual BASIC.  This program was written using Blitz Basic 2, along with
a little 68k assembler.  What a fantastic compiler!  It should be called
Blitz C, Assembler, and BASIC though because it incorporates the best of
all three languages in one package.  This is the first Amiga program I have
written.  So if you know anyone looking for a good programmer, mention my
name and show them this simulation.



I can be reached at [e-mail]
or by mail at the registration address at the start of this document.



EOF