Spud A Guide to the Playable demo Copyright Charybdis Limited 1995. Running Spud. =========== The following discussion assumes that your CD is drive d:. Substitute the letter that corresponds to your actual CD drive. 1. Place the Spud CD in the drive. 2. Install Spud. At the Dos C: prompt type in D: and then press RETURN. Next type INSTALL and press RETURN. This may take some time, depending on the speed of your machine. 3. Set up Sound Drivers. After the intallation has finished you should be left with the D: prompt. Type in C: and then press RETURN to change the directory to the C: Drive. You now need to access the SPUDDEMO directory, so type in CD SPUDDEMO Now type in SETSOUND to set up your sound driver. This will show you the SOUND CONFIGURATION OPTIONS menu. Using the 'up' and 'down' arrow keys, highlight 'SELECT AND CONFIGURE DIGITAL AUDIO DRIVER' and then press RETURN. This will show you a list of sound cards. Choose the correct one for your machine, ( the most common is Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible ), then press RETURN. This will take you to a new menu where you should select 'ATTEMPT TO CONFIGURE SOUND UTOMATICALLY' and then press RETURN. The OK prompt should then appear at which point you should press RETURN. The Installation is now complete so select DONE using the 'up' and 'down' arrow keys and then press RETURN. 4. To Run Spud. On screen you should now see C:\SPUDDEMO( so now type SPUD and then press RETURN which will load the game. To play SPUD again only step 4. is necessary. Late one snowy Christmas night.......... Our story starts on the night before Christmas. Spud, our hero, is getting in some much needed target practice with his catapult at the expense of old Mrs Riddens who is putting out the trash next door. Oh how he wishes it was a T22 air rifle with telescopic night sights. As another shot pings off Mrs Ridden's front porch, Spud notices a Small green Gnome scurrying across the lawn below his bedroom window. It stops and "Pssts' at Spud. A small green marble fizzes past it's left ear. The small Gnome, ducking and dodging expertly, tells Spud that his Grandfather is in terrible trouble and that he must go quickly to his Grandfather's house in the next village. He gives Spud a message, quickly written on note paper. Grandfather in trouble! Spud knew no good would come of those mixed Jacuzzi sessions. 1. About 'Spud' =========== We hope that you enjoy playing this demo (see if you can find the party hat!). Look out for the full version of Spud available in November. Now Spud was the kind of kid all parents wish they had adopted instead of having children themselves. Well behaved, honest, kind to animals and a big fan of vegetables and having his face scrubbed clean by his mother's spittle soaked handkerchief when out shopping. Yeh, but that's his public face, away from the glare of the cameras he's just like every other streetwise, smart ass kid who peeps through the keyhole when his big sister is taking a shower. Now the trouble Spud's Grandpappy is in has to do with an evil dude called Doctor Chillblane ( Try and imagine sinister organ music whenever you read that name!). Doc Chillblane aims to conquer the world. As is usual with such sad individuals that threaten our cosy way of life Chillblane has a ludicrous plan to procure world domination. He intends to use the magic toy making machine to create an army of mutated evil toys that wouldn't pass a safety standards test this side of Taiwan. So, freckle faced and wearing the latest fission powered, computerised training shoes, Spud, armed with not much more than a bag full of bunny rabbits and Gnomes, must puzzle his way through three distinct phases of the adventure to save the world! You see, most of us have at least one skeleton in the cupboard but Spud, well Spud was about to discover that he had a whole cemetery full. Spud's family tree had some unique branches to it and his Grandfather, who liked to be called Ep, was one strange Grandpappy. We'll leave it for you to find out his real identity. The adventure starts inside Grandfather Ep's tyrolian styled home, where Spud's ancestry finally catches up with him and lands him in some pretty deep shoeshine! 'Super-Look-Around-O-Vision' ======================= Now, Spud uses a system called 'Super-LookAround-O-Vision' ( no techno-babble here ) with it's full 360( view. So watch out! You can look all around you without clicking anything anywhere. You simply scroll your view using the mouse! The trick here is to get used to looking all around you whenever you enter a new location, or if you've been standing in one position for too long! You never know what might be creeping up behind you! Playing the Game ============= In Spud you play the game's main character - Spud! You have numerous ways of interacting with the world you are in, but they are all controlled through the cursor on screen. Your cursor will usually be in 'default' mode represented by an open hand. If, whilst moving the cursor around, it runs over a 'hot spot' the cursor will change. For instance, if you pass the cursor over an open door, the default icon will change to the 'Move' icon, indicating that the door can be moved through. Clicking the left mouse button will let you pass through the door and into the next location. Of course the door may be locked or jammed shut in some way. In this case the door would need to be opened by using some other object(s). The game icons ============= By clicking the right mouse button you can cycle through all of the icons currently available in the game. These will generally be the 'default' icon, the 'inventory' icon, and an icon representing the object you are currently holding. Lets take a closer look at all the icons available and at what they do: Default (open hand) The default icon appears when you cannot take, drop, move or perform any other special actions. Move ( red arrow) When the Move icon appears clicking the left mouse button will move you in the direction the arrow is pointing. Inventory (red cube) The Inventory is one of the most important features and one you will use often in the game. To get to your 360 ( inventory you simply right click the mouse button until the inventory icon appears and then left click the mouse button to go there. To add an item to your inventory the same procedure is followed. Pick up an item, right click until the inventory icon appears and then left click. You are now inside your inventory. Use (thumbs up) When the Use icon appears it indicates that an object can be manipulated in some way. For example If it were a door then it could be opened; if it were a wall plug it could be dis-connected. Of course some objects will need other items applied to them to get them to operate. You will not always get a 'use' icon appear unless you are holding the correct object. For example; an iron cage may have a lock but only by selecting the correct key from the inventory and passing it over the lock will make the 'use' icon appear and confirm your suspicions. Speak (mouth) This icon appears when the cursor passes over a character that has something to say. Left clicking the mouse button will get him talking. Just because a character stops talking it doesn't mean that he has nothing left to say. Take (hand holding blue ball) The Take icon indicates that an object can be picked up and added to your inventory. Drop (hand releasing blue ball) To place the item you have in the inventory simply click it onto the 'inventory cube' that is on the work bench in the inventory. The item will then reappear in it's own shelf space ready to be used later. Bunnies and Gnomes are put back in their respective boxes in the same way. Other Objects All the objects that can be picked up in the world are represented by their icons once they have been acquired. In this playable demo it is possible to position a Gnome on the work bench in the inventory and construct new and interesting variations by adding other inventory object to it. For instance the Gnome will accept the pneumatic drill. To do this, enter the inventory as described above, and move the cursor over the box of Gnomes - the icon will changes to the hand holding the blue ball. Now left click with the mouse and the Gnome is acquired and the icon changes to that of the Gnome. Move the Gnome icon over the work bench and the cursor changes to a 'thumbs up' icon. Left click the mouse and the full sized Gnome appears on the work bench. Now select the pneumatic drill from the inventory and position it over the Gnome on the work bench. The cursor changes to the 'thumbs up' and a left click of the mouse button combines the Gnome with the drill - hey presto you have a 'digging Gnome'. Very useful for removing rockfalls! The characters in the game =================== There are a whole host of characters in the game and a diversity of locations that they inhabit. All the major characters will talk to you. Often they won't wait to be prompted, they just come right out and say what's on their mind. Sometimes characters will be in conversation with each other as you enter a location and it will be possible to gather important information and clues simply by listening in. If some characters are not so forth coming then simply clicking onto them should attract their attention. But be warned some of these dudes can get heavy if you poke them too often. Enjoy the experience.