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-
- ************************************
- * *
- * REVOLVER *
- * *
- * By Aaron M. Fisher © 1994 *
- * *
- ************************************
-
- SHAREWARE
- ~~~~~~~~~
- This game is Shareware. That means if you like it, please send a small fee
- to the author at the address at the end of this document. This way, you
- will be helping to ensure that the author produces more top-quality games
- like Revolver.
-
- RULES OF DISTRIBUTION
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- This game can be copied for just the price of a disk, but it is against the
- shareware principle (and the law) to try and sell it for a profit.
-
- INTRODUCTION
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
- This is an original board game, which (I think) is hopelessly addictive.
- The idea for Revolver came to me after playing around with sliding square
- puzzles. Revolver itself is a variation on the theme, but instead of
- sliding single tiles at a time to get them around the board, you rotate
- four of them at a time, left or right.
-
- THE MAIN OPTIONS SCREEN
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Upon loading, Revolver will display the main options screen which displays
- various options and controls for the game.
-
- DIFFICULTY - There are two difficulty options. Clicking the Easy button
- means that you will have more time to complete each level, whilst Hard
- level gives you less time.
-
- START LEVEL - This gives you a choice as to what level to start playing the
- game on, if you don't want to keep starting from level one all the time.
-
- COMPUTER TAMPERING - This is a unique feature for puzzle games, and when
- selected, can make trying to complete the levels harder still.
- See COMPUTER TAMPERING paragraph for details.
-
- START GAME - Starts a game (obvious really).
-
- QUIT - Exits the program and returns you to Workbench or whatever you ran
- this game from.
-
- FIGURE DISPLAY
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- The figure display is the list of six numbers at the top of the screen and
- are the:
-
- LEVEL - The level you are currently playing on
-
- LIVES - The amount of lives you have left (you start with three)
-
- TIMER - The amount of time you have left to complete the level
-
- BONUS - The points that will be added to your score at the successful
- completion of a level
-
- SCORE - Your current score
-
- HIGHS - The highest score produced since the game was run
-
- THE GAME
- ~~~~~~~~
- Revolver is played on a 10 x 10 grid which consists of tiles and buttons.
- The tiles are the outer borders surrounding the small squares which are the
- buttons.
-
- Each level consists of a random pattern of colours generated by the
- computer. When the game is played, each level's pattern is scrambled by the
- computer a certain number of times as it rotates random squares, depending
- on the level number.
-
- When the level is then given to the player for solving, the tiles represent
- the original pattern, whilst the buttons represent the scrambled pattern.
- The aim of the game is to return the scrambled pattern to its original,
- referring to and trying to match the colours of the tiles and buttons.
-
- When all the tiles and buttons on each square match, then the level is
- complete, and the appropriate score awarded. Failure to do so in the time
- given will lose the player one life.
-
- The game will be over once all three lives have been lost.
-
- ROTATING SQUARES
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Each level is completed by rotating (revolving) groups of four squares at a
- time, just as the computer does when rotating them.
-
- To make a move, to rotate a square, simply place the mouse pointer at the
- centre of the block of four squares that you wish to rotate and press
- either the left or the right mouse button for the desired direction.
- The buttons will then push inwards, rotate, and spring back out again.
-
- SCORING
- ~~~~~~~
- At the start of each level, the bonus is set to an amount directly
- correspondent with the level number. The time given for completion of the
- level is also correspondent with the level number.
-
- As the player makes each move then the bonus depletes by five points. Once
- the bonus reaches zero, it stays there and no bonus will be awarded to the
- player.
-
- At the end of the level, the bonus is added to the score. A time bonus (the
- time remaining) will also be added to the score.
-
- At the end of the game, if the score has exceeded the high score, then it
- will replace it.
-
- TIPS FOR HIGHER SCORES
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- The bonus given only allows slight leeway for mistakes, and it is easy to
- make mistakes when trying to complete the levels, as when trying to move
- the colour square you want to move, you might end up moving a square that
- was in the right place already and you could end up placing that somewhere
- where it will be difficult to restore in it's correct position.
-
- The key to playing Revolver is to see how squares can be affected by your
- moves and thus a good way to prevent mistakes is to think about, predict
- and plan your moves carefully before actually making any, otherwise you
- could end up making mistakes and losing your bonus.
-
- COMPUTER TAMPERING
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- One feature of Revolver is that of computer tampering, which, put simply,
- means that your computer, which sets up the levels in the first place, will
- attempt to thwart your efforts at completing them.
-
- It does this by rotating random squares at random time intervals, between
- five and ten seconds. When the computer makes a move, the squares rotated
- and the direction of rotation are indicated.
-
- Some people may find an interfering computer disrupting their game very
- annoying, so it's a good thing this feature is optional!
-
- FINAL NOTE
- ~~~~~~~~~~
- I hope you enjoy playing Revolver as I did writing it. Happy Puzzling!
-
- CREDITS
- ~~~~~~~
- REVOLVER is © 1994 Aaron M. Fisher
-
- Aaron M. Fisher can be contacted by writing to:-
-
- 27 Elderberry Road,
- Pentrebane,
- CARDIFF
- CF5 3RG
- (Wales, UK)
-
-