17 Bit Software 2: Collection B/17Bit_Collection_B.iso/files/1281.dms/in.adf/MegaBall.DOC

Text File | 1980-01-01 | 5.8 KB | 127 lines

     HI!  Welcome to MEGABALL!  I finally changed the name from BALL
to something at least a little better.  Well, the last version (which
was called BALL) (I think I just said that) was released as public
domain.  But, THIS version (MegaBall) is shareware.  So, if you
send me a small fee (the amount is given in the scrolltext on the
main screen), I will send you a very powerful, easy-to-handle board
editor so you can create your own boards and play them.  Also I will
include with the board editor some boards I made that I consider to
be better than the boards that come with the game itself.  And I will
of course inform users of any new versions if/when they come out. I do
request that people do not spread the board editor.  But, you CAN spread
the game itself, so SPREAD IT ALL AROUND, OK?!  Wait!  I haven't even
told you what it is yet!  It's a clone of Arkanoid, sort of.  BUT, before
you start groaning and moaning about how many cheap-o clones of Arkanoid
there are out there already, let me tell you that this is NOT a cheap-o
version.  Why?  Er...  Um...  Well, YOU play it, and YOU'LL find out for
yourself!

   >>>> NOT YET!!!! <<<<

Before you play this, you MUST know these keys!:

SHIFT-Q : Eventually, you will have a game that gets off to a bad start
          and you want to abort.  So be sure to remember about the
          SHIFT-Q key which aborts your game.  In two-player mode, it
          only aborts the current player's game.

DEL     : This key kills the current life WITHOUT killing all the remaining
          lives like SHIFT-Q.  Why you would need this is beyond me,
          because I think I've fixed that nasty bug where the ball gets
          trapped in a loop (YAY!).  If you think your ball is looping,
          press a mouse button, and let it go through the loop once or
          twice.  If it's really a loop it should break out...
          (**** NEW FEATURE ****)

P or ESC: Pressing either P or the ESC key puts you in PAUSE MODE!  This
          is very useful!!  Press a mouse button to leave PAUSE MODE.

The CHEAT KEYS:  I'm not telling you!!

 >> BEFORE THE GAME: <<

At the Main Title Screen, you may press:
  A mouse button to play a ONE-player game
  The number 2 key to play a TWO-player game
  SHIFT-Q to exit the program.
  The C key to continue previous game.    (**** NEW FEATURE ****)

  >> HOW TO PLAY THE GAME: <<

OK.  You all know how to play an Arkanoid clone, right?  I don't have to
explain that you have a paddle and a ball and you must bounce the ball
into some blocks to score points, right?  And I certainly don't need to
mention that if you let the ball miss the paddle and drop off the screen
you will die, right?  And I also don't need to explain about how little
bonuses can drift down from the blocks and if they touch your paddle they
can do anything from giving you free lives to blowing you up, depending
on the little pictures on the bonuses as they are drifting down, right?
Good.  I was afraid I'd have to put a lengthy explanation here!

  >> MOUSE CONTROLS DURING THE GAME: <<

Let's do this C= style!:
If you move the mouse left, your paddle moves left!
If you move the mouse right, your paddle moves right!!
For pin-out diagrams of the mouse port, check the Technical Reference
Section!!
Long live C= Instruction Manuals!!

By the way, sometimes the ball "sticks" to your paddle.  A small blue
force-field appears to hold the ball in place.  You can press a mouse
button to release it.  Also, if you get Lasers (one of the bonuses),
you use the mouse button to fire them.  You may have Lasers and Catch
at the same time, and in this case, the same press of the mouse button
can both fire the lasers and release the ball.  Both the left and right
mouse buttons have the same effect.   - -
                                      O O
  >> SOUND: <<                         )
                                      \_/
Awesome!  Crank it up!!  :-)

  >> MUSIC <<     (**** NEW FEATURE ****)

There are now FIVE NoiseTracker music modules in the game.  (There used
to be none.)  But, because of the music player I got (copyright info
in the scroll with the rest) all of the songs must load into CHIP RAM.
How lame.  How REALLY lame.  I'd really love to fix this.  But I'm a
little foggy on the details of how to buffer FAST RAM into CHIP RAM for
instrument playing.  So, if you have an older Agnus, you probably won't
be able to get all the songs.  But, if you have one Meg of CHIP, you
should be able to get just about all, and if you have any FAST in addition
to the Meg of CHIP you should get all 5 no problem.  The game will tell
you how many it was able to load.
ALSO:  If you catch the little bonus with the notes on it, music will
       start to play during the game.  This cuts off sound effects,
       which makes it a little bit harder, which means you get one extra
       point per block hit while the music is on.  So it's good to have
       the music on when possible!

  >> GURU ALERT: <<

I really think I fixed this.  But still report any bugs you find...

  >> ADDICTION ALERT: <<   (**** NEW FEATURE ****)  (Not really...)

I didn't put this in the docs for BALL because I thought it was too
egotistical.  But a few users have sent me mail saying that the next
version should definately have a warning.  So here it is:

WARNING:  You might get addicted to this game.

There.  Short, simple, and to the point.  Don't say I didn't warn you...

Various methods of communicating with me:
  With BITNET/InterNet:  [e-mail] or [e-mail]
  By US mail:  Ed Mackey                    Ed Mackey
               P.O. Box 475        <-OR->   Box 123 Lehigh University
               Wayne, PA 19087              Bethlehem, PA 18015
      (Only send mail to the Lehigh address while school is in
       session!  I am class of '93)

  >> MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD: <<

                  Have fun!

                         --Ed.