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- BOMBS AND BUGS
- from AWKWARD Software
-
- Coding by Stefan Eilert
- Graphics by Hendrik Dijkstra and Stefan Eilert
- Logo-animation by Markus Klose
-
- Many thanks to:
- ---------------
- - Shawn Hargreaves for 'Allegro'
- (http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/)
- - DJ Delorie for DJGPP V2
- (http://www.delorie.com/)
- - Charles W Sandmann for CWSDPMI
- (ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/djgpp/v2misc/)
-
- 'Bombs and Bugs' is shareware. You are allowed to copy and distribute
- the shareware version (it has a 's' in its version-number and the
- executable is named 'bugssw.exe'). You are not allowed to change anything
- or use parts in your own prgorams (except CWSDPMI).
- Of course you are not allowed to distribute the registered version (it
- has a personal registration with the name of the owner) or apply any
- changes to it.
-
- Hello!
- ======
- Thank you for trying 'Bombs and Bugs'. If you like it please register and
- encourage us to improve this game and create new ones.
- If you've already done this: Thank you and have fun!
-
- Summary
- -------
- This is a little game for up to four players on one computer. It is about
- four little bugs who are trying to blast one another to pieces. That
- sounds not very nice. It isn't nice at all. But it is fun!
- It is now possible to play againt computer-contolled bugs. But this is
- still in beta. It is just a bonus to what see how things will look like.
-
- Preface for version 2.0
- -----------------------
- This is the second release of 'Bombs and Bugs' and I'm already ashamed of
- having released the first version at all. But I never thought I was able
- to improve this so much.
- New to this version:
- - four players with different-looking bugs
- - improved grahpics (more colors, animations, transparent smoke and
- shadows)
- - improved gameplay (no stopping during explosion, better collision
- detection and now pixel-exact controll over the bugs)
- As a bonus this version contains a beta of the AI for computer-controlled
- bugs. It has still many bugs and needs much improving.
- The next version will (hopefully) contain SVGA and a complete AI but will
- not be released until October.
-
- Shareware Restrictions
- ----------------------
- The shareware has a 15-second 'nag-screen' in the beginning. Also, the
- playing time is restricted to ten minutes. The remaining time is shown in
- the upper middle of the screen.
- The full version has of course no regulations.
-
- Hey, how do I play the game?
- ---------------------------
- In the beginning every bug is placed at a corner of the screen. The
- playing field contains solid stones and stones which can be destroyed.
- When such a block is blown away it sometimes reveals a special in order
- to boost our little bugs.
- When an explosion catches a bug he is killed unless he has a special that
- saves him. When the last two bugs are killed at the same time, it is a
- draw. The winner is the last bug standing. He gets five points. The
- player with the most points wins the championship after a certain number
- of rounds.
- The bomb placing has some rules:
- - You cannot step over bombs. This is nice to capture enemies. Bugs which
- stand on a tile where a bomb is placed can of course still move away.
- - All bombs are time bombs. The ignition point can be regulated with
- specials.
- - When a bomb is caught in a detonation it will explode, too.
- - Bombs do not kill bugs only, they also destroy specials. You can lose
- friends by destroying speed-ups...
- - The time your bug needs to place a new bomb can be shortened with a
- special.
- For everybody who knows the video game: There are two important
- differences:
- - It is not restricted how many bombs you could place at a time, but
- how long it takes to place a new one.
- - An explosion does not only destroy one stone, but every stone within
- its range.
-
- Specials
- --------
- Yellow star:
- It makes explosions bigger. If you get seven of it, the explosion is as
- big as the screen.
- Black bomb:
- The time your bug need to place a new bomb gets shorter. You start with
- five seconds, after five specials you can always drop a bomb.
- Clock with a minus:
- The 'fuse' gets shorter. At start a bomb needs five seconds to explode,
- every special makes it one second faster. The minimum is one second.
- Clock with a plus:
- The 'fuse' gets longer: This increases the ignition point by one second,
- the longest time is nine seconds.
- Shield:
- The bug can survive one explosion. It can carry up to five shields at
- once.
- Grinning face:
- All specials are gone.
- Arrow:
- Speed-up for the bug; only one allowed.
-
- (The status of these specials (execpt speed-up) can be watched at the
- bars on the right side of the screen below the bug-faces in the
- following order: explosion size, time it takes to place a new bomb,
- length of fuse and number of shields.)
-
- Controls
- --------
- Player one:
- Controls the orange bug with the keyboard ('w'= up, 'd'= right,
- 's'= down, 'a'= left, 'g'= drop bomb).
- Player two:
- Controls the grey bug also with keyboard (cursor-keys and return/enter).
- Player three:
- Controls the green bug with joypad/stick.
- Player four:
- Controls the blue bug with a second joypad/stick.
- Attention: The pads/sticks have to be plugged in at the start of the
- game, otherwise they will not be detected and the third/fourth bug
- cannot be used.
-
- Menu
- ----
- Following keys are used during the menu:
- F1-F4:
- Activate bugs; you must activate at least two or the game will not
- start. If you select a face with a small 'CPU'-sign in the right upper
- corner the computer takes controll over this bugs. But remember, this
- is still beta, so don't expect too much.
- F4:
- Number of rounds; five to 25, in steps of five
- F5:
- Choose background-graphics; a question mark uses a random graphic for
- every round.
- F10:
- Start game.
- ESC:
- Quit game. (Can also be pressed during the game.)
-
- Hardware
- --------
- It works on my computer :-). If someone has problems, please contact me
- with the exact problem-description.
- It runs under 'Windows 95', but Windows sometimes gets jerky... and since
- the bombs count in 'real-time' it is very bad when you cannot move your
- bug for a few seconds... But up to now this was only detected on my
- computer.
- Also my soundcard cannot be recognised when just clicking on the
- executable. I need to run it from a DOS-box. This is perhaps caused from
- Windows 'starting program'-sound, because the soundcard is in use
- while 'Bombs and Bugs' tries to detect it. So better run 'Bombs and Bugs'
- only in true MS-DOS.
- The game tries to recognise any SoundBlaster-compatible soundcard. If it
- does not detect yours, contact me with information about your soundcard.
-
- Register
- --------
- For 20 German Marks (or 12 American Dollars or 8 English Pounds) in paper
- money (please no stamps) you can register. You will get the newest
- version of 'Bombs and Bugs' personally registered with your name via
- e-mail.
- When I have the money I will mail you a message about the size of the
- incoming file (will be around 600KB without logo-animation and 1MB with).
- If you reply to this I will send the game via e-mail.
- Use 'reg_eng.txt' for ordering.
-
- In work:
- --------
- - SVGA with complete new graphics
- - complete AI
- - Many new specials, effects...
-
- Have fun,
- Stefan Eilert and Hendrik Dijkstra
- (AWKWARD-Software)
-
- Any tips, problems, questions or bug reports?
- Contact us! We will try to help you!
-
- Contact
- ---------
- AWKWARD-Software
- Stefan Eilert
- In den Heidekaempen 44
- 49088 Osnabrueck
- Germany
-
- World Wide Web
- --------------
- AWKWARD Software:
- E-Mail: awkward@shareware.de
- Homepage: http://www.shareware.de/autoren/awkward
-
- Stefan Eilert:
- E-Mail: seilert@rz.uni-osnabrueck.de
- Homepage: http://hal.cl-ki.uni-osnabrueck.de/~seilert