17 Bit Software 4: Phase Four

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Text File | 1993-06-19 | 21.3 KB | 446 lines

ParaDroid_II THE STORY SO FAR ... You've entered a world of the future ... A world where most of the physical and menial tasks of everyday life are performed by automated robots. A world where even wars are fought not by men, but by the mechanized metallic androids created by men. A world in which all hell is about to break loose. While attempting to make contact with an alien race, the main exploration and defense armada of the Galactic Confederation was intercepted by a small probe. This probe emitted extremely high concentrations of radiation, of such magnitude and power our sensors could not identify it. The radiation quickly penetrated and deactivated all defensive shields. Soon after, we lost contact with the entire armada. The last reports indicated that every electrical system had gone crazy -- acting sporadically in an unpredictable manner. These systems, unfortunately, included all the robots as well as all ship guidance systems. The last known position of the armada was in the Omega Quadrant, heading toward an uncharted area of the galaxy. There is only one opportunity left for us to recover our fleet. One outpost lies on the edge of the Omega Quadrant. The last known trajectory of the armada crosses within teleportation distance of the outpost. Over the course of the last week, we at Galactic Central have devised a plan. A new robotic control device has been created by our top scientists - one which should be impervious to all forms of radiation. This device, controlled remotely with a time/space distortion beacon, is equipped with anti-gravity thrusters and a small laser. Although small and extremely defenseless to most modern weapons, its power lies in its ability to override a robot's multi-processor control unit, rendering the robot immobile. Once the robot's brain has been disconnected from its body, the remote control device can tap into the robot's controls and serve as a substitute brain. Your objective will be to control the unit remotely from the outpost. The outpost is equipped with high-emission disruptors that can be used to punch a hole in one of the lesser ship's shields. A burst will be fired off as the armada passes by, and we should be able to teleport one or possibly two control units onto the ship. Once aboard, you are to destroy all resistance so that the ship may be safely boarded by humans and its guidance systems returned to normal. Once a ship is cleared of all robot activity, you will be able to teleport to the next ship in the same manner as with the outpost, only using the ship's disruptors and teleporter instead of the outpost's. In order for humans to be able to safely board and control the ship, you must destroy the central command robot on the bridge of each ship. Good luck. SETTING UP THE GAME ... ParaDroid_II will look for two sub-directories in the directory ParaDroid_II is in - the `snd' and the `CTables' directories. The CTables subdirectory should have six files in it, named `Weapon0.ctb' - `Weapon5.ctb'. The `snd' directory should have the following sound files in it: background.snd bg.saucer0.snd elevatoron.snd bg.body0.snd bg.saucer1.snd elevatorup.snd bg.body1.snd bg.saucer2.snd energizer.snd bg.body2.snd bg.saucer3.snd explosion.snd bg.body3.snd bg.warp1.snd minilaser.snd bg.body4.snd bg.warp2.snd nodeshot.snd bg.body5.snd cleared.ship.snd shutdown.snd bg.bridge.snd collision.snd transfer.init.snd bg.neck1.snd damage.snd transfer.no.snd bg.neck2.snd disruptor.snd transfer.start.snd bg.neck3.snd elevatordown.snd transfer.yes.snd elevatoroff.snd I suppose that if you don't like the sounds, you can replace them, but be ABSOLUTELY SURE that you use IFF sound files - anything else and the game will mose likely guru, or sound very funny. ParaDroid_II uses no libraries, no devices, no multi-tasking, and no strange commands. So it should be very easy to run, and should NOT guru (unless one of the sound files isn't an iff file). You will be able to play the full version of ParaDroid_II if your Amiga has one meg of chip ram or more, and some fast ram. If you have 512K of chip ram and 512K of fast ram, you'll only be able to play ParaDroid_II in one player mode, and the majority of sound effects will not be used (boo-hoo). You will also experience a reduced weapon-collision detection effect - some weapons will look like they grazed an enemy robot, but they will not hit. This reduced detection isn't very noticeable, however, especially when your robot is careening around a corner with a dual plasma discharge right up his motivators. Other than that, gameplay is the same. You're really missing out on the game if you don't have 1 meg of chip ram - without all the sounds, the game's just not the same. To start ParaDroid_II on an Amiga with 512K of chip ram and 512K of fast ram, execute the following script (I have included a copy for your pleasure)... Stack 8192 RunBack ParaDroid_II EndCLI >nil: PLAYING THE GAME ... It's easy to start this game - double click on the icon. If you're going to start it from a command shell, you will need to run ParaDroid_II as a background task, and close the shell when the program prompts you to. ParaDroid_II closes the WorkBench, since it needs all the chip memory it can get. Once all the support files have been loaded, you will be prompted with the main menu. Select one or two players with the joystick in port 2. If you're playing one or two player mode and another person wants to join in, he can grab the joystick in the other port and hit the button. To make things a little tougher, this can only be done three times per player before the game must be re-started from the beginning. If you don't use the icon to start ParaDroid_II, be sure that the stack is set to at least 8192 bytes, or the program WILL crash. Objective: Your objective is simple - destroy everything, except the other player. You can destroy an enemy robot in one of three ways - shoot him or cause him to be shot by an enemy, run into him and beat him up, or transfer into an enemy robot. The higher your score, the better you're doing. Robots: Robots are classified numerically from 007 to 999. The higher the classification, the more powerful the robot. Each robot has a certain weapon recharge rate (even if it isn't armed), a certain armor rating, a certain amount of power, a certain acceleration and maximum speed, and a certain number of node shots. The 007 unit is the control device unit. You start the game with the 007, and remain in control of this unit at all times - it attaches itself to other robots as you control them. Weapons: There are seven different types of weapons. The bigger the weapon looks when it is fired, the more powerful. You get bigger weapons when you transfer into a robot that is equipped with one. You may fire a weapon by pressing the joystick in some direction and hitting the fire button. Once a weapon has been fired, it will take a little time for the weapon to recharge before it can be fired again. Different robots have different recharge rates, so watch for robots with fast rechargers. You can tell when your weapon has recharged by looking at the gauge in the upper left hand corner of your console display. When the gauge is full of green, it's time to fire again. Disruptors are a different kind of weapon. A disruptor appears as a flash on the screen, and sounds pretty weird, kind of like a Romulan disruptor or something. Disruptors damage anything that is in sight of the robot firing the disruptor. There are several robots that are immune to disruptor fire - most upper level robots, and the 409 and 666 class robots. Any robot not immune to disruptor fire stands little to no chance against a robot equipped with one. When hit by a weapon, robots lose power. If you are in control of a robot and his power reaches zero, the 007 unit will abort control of the robot and fly away as the robot dies. Once the 007's power reaches zero, you're dead. Collisions: When your robot and an enemy robot collide, they overlap and begin fist-fighting with one another. Sometimes it's hard to break this up - you'll encounter resistance as you try to break away. As they fight, power is lost in both robots. The bigger robot (the one with the higher Armor rating) will generally win a sustained fight. Transfers: The most complicated and important part of this game is transferring - the process through which your control unit attempts to disconnect the robot's `brain' from his control circuitry and connect itself to it instead. You enter transfer mode by holding down the button WITHOUT moving. Once the Transfer gauge fills up green, you may start moving, while holding the button down. Releasing the button will abort transfer mode. While in transfer mode, touch the enemy robot you want to take over. The grid then appears as a 3-d group of wires leading to twelve boxes in the center. Whoever has more boxes in the center that are his color wins. You control the side closest to you, and the computer controls the other side. Your color is light blue, and the enemy's is dark blue. As soon as you enter transfer mode, let go of the button. The transfer gauge will begin unfilling. During this time, you can switch sides by pushing the joystick up. Once you've got the side you want, hit the button or wait until the transfer gauge unfills. Then, a gong will go off and the battle will begin. You have a certain number of node shots, displayed on the bottom of the screen. Move the joystick right and left across the nodes and wires to a wire that goes directly to a box. Hitting the button connects the node to the wire, and (hopefully) to a box in the middle. Some wires branch, so you can control two boxes with one node shot. Other boxes take two or three nodes connected up to make the box your color. Nodes last only a short time before their power is expended, so if you and the computer connect to the same box, whoever connected to it last will control it. Once the transfer gauge is filled again, transfer mode ends. Whoever controls more boxes in the middle wins. If you each control six, a tie is declared and you try again with a different wire configuration. The more boxes you control, the better. Once you have control of the enemy robot, he will respond to your commands just like the 007 does. However, you may notice a small but consistent power drop. This power drop is caused by the enemy robot's brain - any boxes he still controls by the end of transfer are linked to functions of the robot. The enemy robot brain uses these links to fight against your control, resulting in a gradual power drop. The more boxes the enemy robot controls, the faster the power drop will be. If you control all twelve boxes by the end of transfer mode, the enemy robot's brain has been successfully disconnected completely from its body, and there will be no gradual power drop at all. While in transfer mode, you cannot be damaged by any attacking robot or weapon. This is accomplished by a special feature of the 007 - it taps into the power supply of the robot it controls and uses the power as a high-energy deflector shield. Unfortunately, this high- energy output places a great deal of strain on the robot's power supply, so the power supply is completely burned out by the time the transfer is complete. So the last robot under the 007's control is dead when you transfer to a new robot. When transferring from a 007 to any other robot, the 007 has to use its own power supply to provide the shield. If transfer is successful, the 007 can replenish its own power supply from the newly acquired robot. If transfer fails, the 007's power supply dies. Turbolifts: Turbolifts are used to get from level to level. A turbolift looks like a sealed door with a round unsealing wheel, much like the doors on submarines. To use a turbolift, position your robot on top of the turbolift (you may find it easier to position him a little to the right and down, making sure that the upper left hand corner of your robot is over the turbolift), and hitting the button without moving the joystick. Once on the turbolift, you will see a door colored the same as the level. Pushing the joystick up or down will move to the next level, and the color of the door will change to correspond with the color of the new level. When you reach the level you wish to enter, hit the button. There are many turbolift shafts, so you may have to use several to get around the ship. The layout of the ship itself is left as a bit of a mystery; that's for you to explore and discover for yourself. Energizers: Energizers replenish your power supply. They also diminish your score while they're used. If you have a score of zero, you cannot use an energizer. An energizer looks like a pulsating star-like blob. To use an energizer, simply move the robot you control onto the energizer until your power supply gauge is full or nearly full. If the robot you control is deteriorating and you are on top of an energizer, your score will continuously go down until you move off the energizer, because the power lost from the deterioration is immediately replaced by the energizer. So, when you re-energize, re-fuel your power supply to full and then get off the energizer as soon as possible. Consoles: Consoles can be used to see a map of the level you're on and to obtain specifications on any of the robots, up to the numerical classification of the robot you control. Consoles look like, well, a console, facing one of the four main directions. To connect to a console, move close to the console (make sure the upper left hand corner of your robot is in the same square as the console), and hold the button down while not moving the joystick. Once the transfer gauge reaches one fourth of the way to full, you will have connected to the console. Connecting takes some time because an interface must be attained and a power grid must be connected. While using a console, your robot cannot be damaged - the 007 taps into the power from the ship via the power grid connection, and uses the power boost to energize the high-energy deflector shield normally used during transfer. Once connected, you will see a computer console (an Amiga, of course), with three buttons on the screen. Select one of the buttons by moving the joystick up and down to highlight your selection, then pressing the button. When you are done using the console, select the Quit button. Levels: Each level of the ship contains different classes of robots. Some levels contains low level robots, some contain middle range robots, some contain high level robots, and some can have any robot there is. Once a level has been cleared of all robots, its color will turn to dark grey and no enemy robots will ever be found on that level again. No robots are permitted to use the turbolifts except the 007 and 007-controlled robots, unless directly ordered to; and since they don't take orders anymore, they won't change levels. The one level you MUST clear off as soon as possible is the bridge. You will recognize the bridge by its color - it's crimson red. You will also find the two deadliest robots on this level - the 911 and the 999. The 999 is the central command robot - and he's mean. The 911 is the `personal bodyguard' of the 999, and he will stop at nothing to ensure your destruction. Hints: Transfer often - your score will suffer if you use the energizers a lot. This will also provide you with a lot of practice transferring. And if you can't get the hang of transfer mode right off the bat, don't panic- it takes time. Pretty soon you'll figure out how to pick which side will get the best results (it depends on how many node shots your robot has), and how to beat the computer at the intricacies of transfer mode. Concentrate on increasing the classification of the robot you control to the highest you can possibly get. Controlling the 999 or an 896 is the best strategy if you want to win. Don't be hasty - playing conservatively is a prudent choice. Work your way up gradually - my favorite method is starting with the brown or earwax- yellow level and transferring into a 199 or a 176, then to the light purple level for a 345 or a 369, then to the bright yellow level for a 488, then up one of the shafts near the right end (the rear of the ship) on the top or bottom wall to the medium purple level (it's very long and narrow) for a 500 or 600 class robot, then to the level just below it (the deep purple level) for a 721, then to the orange level just below the bright yellow level for an 817 or a 777, then to the bridge for the 999. If you have a 999 and it's deteriorating fast, find an 896 and take it over. Chances are, with all the node shots the 999 has, you'll get better control of the 896. If you've got a 999 and it's not deteriorating, hold onto it!!! If you have two players, gang up on the big guys. Enemy robots only fire at you when they can see you. If one player concentrates on dodging shots, the other can stay out of sight and nail the enemy from a distance. Don't go onto a level with 700+ robots unless you have a robot of a higher class, or a 409 or a 666. The disruptor fire from the 700 class robots will ALWAYS kill you fast. Try not to mess with the 911; in a dogfight, he'll almost ALWAYS win. A 999 or an 896 are the best weapons against the 911, but even though they have excellent weapons, the 911 has a FAST weapon recharge rate. Best to nail him from a distance. Transfer with a lot of different robots. Each robot has at least one good thing about him. You may prefer a fast weapon recharge to speed, or faster speed over a powerful weapon. DO NOT clear off the lower levels (the ones with 100-300 class robots) until the rest of the ship is cleared. Not only is killing helpless robots easy, it's silly. In the event that you get killed and lose control of a big robot, you'll need to start from scratch and work your way up. Once the levels with the hefty robots are cleared, clean up the ship by removing the small robots with a big one you control. You'll find it's easier, faster, and more entertaining. Nothing quite like running around in a 999 or an 896 picking off little 333's and running over 069's!!! OTHER INFORMATION ... Greetings from the beautiful Rockies in Colorful Colorado!!! This program is for you to play and enjoy. You may copy it, distribute it for a nominal fee (no more than $6), share it with your friends, put it on your hard drive and worship it, or put it in your archives and never look at it again. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do. I will not and cannot be held liable for any damage or loss caused by this program, so be careful with your joysticks. This program may be distributed as long as this documentation file accompanies the executable, and all the support files are included in the distribution intact. If you like this program and would like to see more, feel more than welcome to send me a check or money order. Cash is okay too, but t'isn't a good idea to send cash through the mail. I'm hoping to get a positive response from everyone out there in Amigaland, so I can be sure that programming software for this incredible machine is worthwhile. If you can't afford money, send me a postcard or a letter or an e-mail message and let me know what you think about ParaDroid_II. It would be nice to see just how many Amiga users there are that respond to starving young college students in need of financial and moral support. If I get a decent response and some good suggestions, I'll probably make an update and send it out to anyone who sent me fundage. L-8-R Daze, Marc S. Seter 1275 West 4th Avenue Broomfield, CO 80020 InterNet: marc@longs.lance.colostate.edu PS, last name's pronounced SEH'TUR (lots of good it'll do ya)