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-
-
-
- MAZEBALL
- Copyright 1991 by Eric G. Henson
- All rights under copyright reserved.
-
- This program may be freely distributed provided it and all
- accompanying files are distributed together and remain
- unchanged.
-
-
-
- The MAZEBALL.EXE program simulates the well known game
- labyrinth with a difference. There are no arrows to direct
- your course through the board. Instead you path is confined
- by a maze.
-
- The game is played by 'tilting' the board with a mouse.
- This causes the ball to roll 'down hill'. By tilting the
- board in various ways you can make the ball roll in any
- direction. The object of the game is to roll the ball all
- the way through the maze. To do this you must avoid the
- holes along the way. Falling in a hole will send the ball
- back to the start. Falling in the final hole completes the
- board. The final hole is denoted as a black circle with a
- red W in the middle. Ordinary holes are a solid black disk.
-
- Your trip through the maze is timed. The ten fastest
- times are recorded in a high score file. The computer also
- keeps track of the number of times the ball falls into the
- holes. This number is not used to determine the rankings.
-
- MAIN MENU SELECTIONS
- The program starts at the main menu selection screen.
- This screen shows the program name and copyright notice. At
- the bottom of the screen are several boxes of menu
- selections. The options listed bellow may be selected by
- pointing and clicking on a box with the left mouse button.
- EDIT
- The edit menu selection only works in the registered
- version of the game.
-
- PLAY
- Select this menu option to play the game. The game
- begins as soon as the screen is drawn.
- There are several things displayed in the box beside
- the playfield. The top one is the time in seconds since the
- game began. This is used to determine the best score. Scores
- are only recorded for completed games. The game is only
- completed when the ball reaches the final hole (a red W in a
- black circle).
- The next box indicates the number of times the ball has
- fallen into a hole. Holes are the solid black disks. Each
- time the ball falls into a hole it is returned to the
- starting position. There is no other penalty for falling in
- a hole.
- The next box down shows the current level. This is for
- future versions.
- The box at the bottom of this display is the tilt
- indicator. This shows how much the board is 'tilted' (the
- board does not actually tilt, the ball however acts as if
- the board is tilted). The center of the box (denoted by the
- markings) indicates the board is level. In this position the
- ball will not begin rolling, if it is already in motion
- though it will continue rolling. This display may be
- deactivated from the setup menu.
-
- REGISTER
- This menu option displays information on registering
- the program and the benefits for those who do.
-
- INSTRUCTION
- Displays the file MAZEHELP.TXT on the screen. The exit
- selection returns to the main menu. The next page selection
- show the next screen page of the document. These selections
- are activated by pointing to them and clicking the left
- mouse button.
-
- SETUP
- This screen allows the player alter various settings of
- the game. The main one of these is the board selection. By
- clicking on one of the listed boards, that board is loaded.
- Its name will then appear in the active board box. The
- active board is the board that will be used in the play
- selection.
- Clicking on the SOUND SELECT box toggles the sound
- effects on and off.
- Clicking on the TILT INDICATOR box toggles the tilt
- indicator on and off. This only affects the moving square in
- the indicator box and not the box itself. This may be
- necessary for some slower XT computers, in order for the
- display to be smooth. It does not affect the speed of the
- game.
-
- QUIT
- Clicking on this selection ends the game.
-
- HIGH SCORE SCREEN
- This screen appears after playing a game. If you have
- successfully completed the game, and your time is one of the
- ten lowest for that board, you may enter your name on the
- high score list. You may type up to 19 characters of any
- sort including spaces. The backspace and delete keys work as
- in any text editor. When you are satisfied with the way your
- entry looks then press the return key. Your name will then
- be entered and can not be edited any more. These score will
- then be saved to the disk so that future players can compete
- against your time.
-
- ERROR MESSAGES
- You should never see an error message in this game. In
- the event you get an error message on the screen don't
- panic. Most errors that can occur in this game are harmless
- and the program will continue to run after you press a key
- (such as the space bar). Most of the error messages
- displayed by this program involve loading or saving a file.
- If for some reason a board file name you try to load does
- not exist you will get a message telling you this. In this
- event the board will simply not be loaded. The error message
- may remain on the screen. It can be cleared by returning to
- the main menu. See the file README.TXT that came with this
- program for a list of files that should have been included
- with this game.
-
- I hope you enjoy the game.
-
-
-