GameStar Special 2004 August/GSSH0804.iso/Denkspiele/Diabolica2/diabolica2.exe/readme.txt

Text File | 2004-02-27 | 17KB | 435 lines

Release: v1.666
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                     Diabolika 2: The Devil's Last Stand

                          (c)2003 Blackeye Software

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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

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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...

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II. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

A computer running Windows with somewhat-recent DirectX drivers installed.

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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."

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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. |               |
+----+---------------+

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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.

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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

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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.

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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").

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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"

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XIV. CONTACT

e-mail: [e-mail]
website: http://www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoftware