Release: v1.666 ============================================================================ Diabolika 2: The Devil's Last Stand (c)2003 Blackeye Software ============================================================================ I. DISTRIBUTION II. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS III. THE STORY IV. THE GAME SCREEN V. BASIC GAMEPLAY VI. KEYBOARD COMMANDS VII. SCORING VIII. HOW TO LOSE IX. BASIC UNITS X. SPECIAL UNITS XI. DEMONS XII. BONUSES XIII. CREDITS XIV. CONTACT ============================================================================ I. DISTRIBUTION Diabolika 2 is freeware, which means you can freely distribute it, so long as you do so with all the files intact and unchanged. If you are a website or magazine and you'd like to feature Diabolika 2 in a review and/or on a CD for wide distribution, there's no need to e-mail me first for permission. I would, however, appreciate it if you sent me a note letting me know about it! And I *always* accept free magazines, so don't be afraid to offer... ============================================================================ II. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS A computer running Windows with somewhat-recent DirectX drivers installed. ============================================================================ III. THE STORY Old Loth rubbed his eyes behind the crooked frames of his glasses and sighed loudly. For over a week he had done nothing but pore over arcane texts, and it was starting to take its toll on his already-decaying physical form. As his young apprentice, you noted enthusiastically that he didn't look a year over a thousand, to which the ancient responded by smiting you across your cheek with a wrinkled old hand. "'Ey, git me another cup of flame toad grog, you rascal," rattled the old man. "Y-Y-Yessir," you quickly complied. Returning from the kitchen with a cup of hot grog sitting shakily on a plate, you found the Old Master staring silently out the window, away from his table for the first time in many days. "Uh, is sumfin' the matt'r, Master?" Old Loth stayed still for what seemed like a long time before answering. "There is a story from the East about a majestic dragon consumed by a swarm of black flies. Each fly, its bite was not even enough to make one of the dragon's scales itch, but their numbers were endless and they were able to penetrate deep into the dragon's body after a time." Loth turned to look into your eyes, and for the first time that you had ever noticed since your apprenticeship had begun, he look worried. "This fair land of ours is being consumed by the forces of Hell. There is not much time left before ever' man, woman, child, bird, and beast is destroyed. And the rivers will run red with the blood of the dead, and the ground will be charred and cracked." "'Ay," you responded sheepishly, "but the King made a speech jes' last week, and he said that we was doing a good job of turning back the Dark Hordes..." Loth shot you a dirty look before turning back to the window. "Those simple warriors - the knights, the mercenaries, the men of cloth with their false hopes - they are like the dragon: over-confident. They do not realize that this evil will never end." "The little ones that they slay so easily now, and in such small numbers - the ones whose heads hang on the walls of every tavern, in every city - they are nothing. They are the children. For each of them that dies, more will arrive, each stronger and crueler than the last. So I have read..." "If we are to stand a chance in the nights to come, my young apprentice, the dark arts, swept from the memories of men by centuries of peace, must be relearned. This war will not be one with iron or steel, but with alchemy and necromancy." As if to prove the old man's point, a large, filmy bubble pushed its way to the surface of the grog and then burst, leaving a small wisp of flame in its wake. Loth turned once again toward you, smiling this time. "Come, there's much you now have to learn." ============================================================================ IV. THE GAME SCREEN The game screen is divided into three main parts: 1) the left sidebar, where menu buttons are located, as well as pertinent game info, 2) the timer, at the top-righthand side of the screen, and 3) the playing board. +----+---------------+ a. The menu buttons ("New Game", "Help", "High | a. | | Scores", "Quit") | | | b. Game info: "Number of Units", "Number of | | | Detonators", "Number of Demons" | | | c. Available Units | b. | e. | d. Score | | | f. Playing field | c. | | | d. | | +----+---------------+ ============================================================================ V. BASIC GAMEPLAY Diabolika is a devious puzzle game where you must fight off a Dark Horde of demons with an array of explosive and magickal devices. Death is around every corner, but if you surive long enough, you may get to have your name etched into the history books! The game is played on a 12x12 board. There are three main phases of the game: Regeneration, Alignment, and Detonation (which occur in that order). The three phases together make up a round of play. REGENERATION "Being torn asunder in thy own bed whilst thou art sleeping" - 'The Number One Fear of the Common Peasant', The Farmer's Almanac, yr. 205, (previously "Getting another hole in thy trousers") In this phase, more demons are summoned from Hell onto the game board. With each round, the number and/or the strength of the demons is increased (see "XI. DEMONS"). There is nothing for you to do in this phase. After this phase is over, the Alignment phase begins. ALIGNMENT "Demon-slaying is much like making love to a woman, in that what happens before the consummation makes the biggest difference." - Juan Perryere, Level 18 Conjurer and Ladies' Man This is where the meat of the game lies. Demons are usually fairly addled right after their transition to Earth, giving the experienced thaumaturgist ample time to set up for his or her next attack. From the left sidebar you can select one of three units by left-clicking on it. Once a unit is selected, you can place it on the board by left-clicking a second time on one of the board's tiles. Or, you can place the unit back in its chamber by left-clicking on the empty chamber. Right-clicking will rotate the unit, if the unit can be rotated. Once a unit is placed on the board, another one takes its place on the left sidebar. Each unit blows up a unique number of tiles around it (see "IX. BASIC UNITS" and "X. SPECIAL UNITS"). The strategy in Diabolika 2 lies in knowing how these units work and placing them in a manner such that you can destroy the most demons per turn through chain reactions. (Although you may find that there are certain times when it is more favorable to spare a demon and let him live for another round.) Units and demons both that do not get destroyed in the current round will stick around for another round, but do not move. You can only place a certain number of units on the board per round, which is displayed in the mouth of the leftmost skull on the left sidebar. Once this number reaches zero, the Alignment phase ends and the Detonation phase begins. DETONATION "N'yah ha ha, me always makes the biggest boom!" - Snarbal Wormgirdle, Level 13 Conjurer (recently deceased) Once all your units are placed on the board, you can detonate them. Do this by placing your cursor over a tile on the board and then left-clicking. A leperous, green hand will indicate to you that you will be detonating. If there was a unit on the tile that you detonated, then it will explode, starting the chain of explosions that ends when nothing is left to blow up. If there was a demon on the tile that you detonated, it will take one damage (see "XI. DEMONS"). You get two detonations each round, as indicated in the mouth of the middle skull on the left sidebar. Once this number reaches zero, the round is over and the next round begins. ============================================================================ VI. KEYBOARD COMMANDS [1],[2], or [3] - Picks either the left, middle, or right unit respectively and makes it your active unit. (As opposed to left-clicking on them in the sidebar.) [Space] - Returns the currently active unit back to the sidebar. (As opposed to left-clicking on the empty slot in the sidebar.) [S] - Toggles sound on/off [M] - Toggles music on/off ============================================================================ VII. SCORING Each unit, demon, and bonus gives a certain number of points when destroyed. This point value is multiplied by the number of the current "link" in the chain of explosions after a detonation (see "V. BASIC GAMEPLAY"). Ex: 1*(value_1) + 2*(value_2) + 3*(value_3) + ... n*(value_n) So things blown up toward the end of the chain will garner more points for you than things blown up at the beginning. ============================================================================ VIII. HOW TO LOSE At the end of the Detonation phase, there are 10 or more demons still left on the board, meaning you are hopelessly outnumbered. For information on the different phases, see (see "V. BASIC GAMEPLAY"). ============================================================================ IX. BASIC UNITS These are the basic units that are available for you to use without collecting any bonuses. EXPLODE PATTERN (o = unit, # = explosion) Direction of Unit Down Left Up Right Name/Description ----------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ..... ..... ..... ..... STRAW GOLEM ..... ..... ..#.. ..... ..o.. .#o.. ..o.. ..o#. A pathetic little homunculus made of straw, they ..#.. ..... ..... ..... carry the current of fire forward, but that is ..... ..... ..... ..... all. ..... ..... ..... ..... HYDRA ..#.. ..... ..#.. ..... ..o.. .#o#. ..o.. .#o#. This twin-headed snake will split its energy in ..#.. ..... ..#.. ..... two directions, depending on which way it's ..... ..... ..... ..... facing. ..... ..... ..... ..... BLUE IMP ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. Imps are poor creatures who are always at the ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. beck and call of some malicious wizard. The ..... ..... ..... ..... wooden cross it holds reveals how it will explode. ..... ..... ..... ..... PURPLE IMP .#.#. .#.#. .#.#. .#.#. ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. Another breed of imp. .#.#. .#.#. .#.#. .#.#. ..... ..... ..... ..... ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. FLAME TOAD ..... ..... ..... ..... #.o.# #.o.# #.o.# #.o.# Found primarily in flaming bogs, the juices ..... ..... ..... ..... secreted by this hopping creature are a favorite ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ingredient of Empire(tm) brand grog. ..... ..... ..... ..... EXPLODER .###. .###. .###. .###. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. A "wizard's bomb", this flask of highly explosive .###. .###. .###. .###. liquid creates a blaze of fire all around it when ..... ..... ..... ..... destroyed. ..... ..... ..... ..... KANNON ..... ..... ..... ..... ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. When the kannon is ignited, it fires an ..... ..... ..... ..... indestructable kannonball that detonates everything ..... ..... ..... ..... in its path. ..... ..... ..... ..... MAGIK MISSILE ..... ..... ..... ..... ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. A magik missle will fly to wherever its target has ..... ..... ..... ..... been placed, and then detonate. If no target is ..... ..... ..... ..... around, it goes straight up and blows a hole in the ozone layer. ..... ..... ..... ..... MISSILE TARGET .###. .###. .###. .###. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. Missile targets are always the next unit chambered .###. .###. .###. .###. after a missile is placed. They will only explode ..... ..... ..... ..... if hit by a missile. ============================================================================ X. SPECIAL UNITS Special units are chambered immediately after a mandrake (see "XII. BONUSES") is consumed by your fire. They are extremely powerful compared to the basic units. EXPLODE PATTERN (o = unit, # = explosion) Direction of Unit Down Left Up Right Name/Description ----------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ..... ..... .###. ..... IRON MAIDEN ..... ##... .###. ...## ..o.. ##o.. ..o.. ..o## The ultimate offensive weapon, the iron maiden .###. ##... ..... ...## unleashes a huge blast of fire in the direction .###. ..... ..... ..... its facing. ..... ..... ..... ..... KULTIST ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. .#o#. Because of the high deathrate of imps, some ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. ..#.. of them make death a religion and join depraved ..... ..... ..... ..... suicide kults. When one of these kultists dies, all kultists on the board are also detonated. You get three kultists per mandrake. ..... ..... ..... ..... FALLEN ANGEL ..... ..... ..... ..... ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. ..o.. Perhaps the only creature more piteous than an imp ..... ..... ..... ..... is the fallen angel, having been tossed from the ..... ..... ..... ..... firmament to live a life of torment in Hell. For the conjurer, however, a fallen angel is a powerful (if unwieldy) unit. Once detonated, it will explode 8 random tiles on the board. ============================================================================ XI. DEMONS These are the foul hellspawn that you will be battling in Diabolika 2. They are cruel creatures who love nothing more than chaos, destruction, and snacking on human flesh. MINOR DEMON (1 hit) These little fiends are easily slain one-by-one (even by a somewhat stodgy peasant with a shovel in hand), but they tend to run in packs, looking for food to eat and livestock to mate with. MAJOR DEMON (2 hits) These brutes are as dumb as they are strong, and as strong as they are big. They foul the air with their venomous breath. ELDER DEMON (3 hits) The leaders of the demon army, they lord upon their underlings from high atop thrones made of human flesh. The few humans who have seen one and survived to tell about it describe a humanoid octopus with a single, unblinking eye, floating high above the ground. ============================================================================ XII. BONUSES Bonuses are generated with demons during the Regeneration phase, but only if there isn't already a bonus on the board at the time. The type of bonus you will receive is random. SACRIFICE With the coming of the demons, strange kults have started popping up in the dark places that lie outside the walls of the cities. Many of these kults have gained favor with Hell, and when they sense that another portal is opening up, they often leave a human being, restrained, for the demons as a sacrifice. A conjurer receives a sizable point reward by destroying these hapless sacrifices. MANDRAKE A plant with a human-shaped root, the mandrake is used as a narcotic and, for the knowing mystic, to summon dark and mysterious things that other wizards do not have access to. Burning a mandrake will give you the use of special units (see "X. SPECIAL UNITS") in the next round. ============================================================================ XIII. CREDITS Programming, Artwork, Sound Effects, Design - Derek Yu Music - David Saulesco (www.saulesco.com) Original Concept - Derek Yu, Jonathan Perry Programmed using - C++ and the Allegro Game Programming Library (http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro) Beta Testing - Andrew Hull, Christopher Wolf, Tryggve Sollid, John Ryan, Mark Ryan (Thanks, guys! Sorry that some of you had to die in the process...) Special Thanks to - Robert "Trebor" Mooradian, as the voice of the "Game Over" mancubus Johan Peitz, for answering my pathetic noob questions about programming and being an all-around nice guy (http://www.freelunchdesign.com) Mom, aka "The Great Devourer of Worlds" ============================================================================ XIV. CONTACT e-mail: blackeyesoftware@hotmail.com website: http://www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoftware