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- *** ROMulus Software's ***
- *** DEFCON 1 v1.2 ***
- *** Documentation File ***
-
-
- Welcome to DEFCON 1, a missile command type game set in the near
- future. Switzerland, long thought to be peaceful and neutral, has
- secretly been stockpiling nuclear weaponry. Due mainly to slumping
- watch and army knife sales, they plan to take over the world starting by
- kicking our western butt (the U.S.)
-
- You are the Senior Defense Controller for Sector 3 of the United
- States, in charge of protecting six cities. To protect your peace
- loving cities you must intercept the ICBM's that are careening towards
- them. The bad news: you have only a limited supply of anti-missile
- bombs to accomplish your goal. The good news: your scientists have
- begun to work feverishly on new defense technologies. These special
- weapons come on-line as you reach further rounds. Unfortunately, they
- cost more to use with regard to your total arsenal.
-
- Bonuses are given at the end of each wave for bombs conserved,
- people saved, and cities remaining.
-
- The Special Weapons are:
-
- Weapon Description
- -------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1. Big Bertha A larger version of the standard bomb.
- 2. The Cluster Cloud A swarm of small explosions.
- 3. The Ring of Fire Eight explosions that form a circular ring.
- 4. Shield A long lasting (though limited range) barrier
- against on-coming missiles.
- 5. The Pinwheel ??? (Top-secret, very speculative)
- 6. ??? ???
-
- There are also six different types of missiles attacking your cities:
-
- 1. The MX-1a:
- Just your standard missile.
- Worth: 100 points.
-
- 2. The MX-Splinter:
- Looks like a MX-1a until it reaches the middle of the screen, where
- it splits into multiple warheads (up to six missiles.)
- Worth: 100 points for each missile destroyed.
-
- 3. The AJ-Sidewinder:
- This one wanders randomly down the screen. There's no way to predict
- where it will land.
- Worth: 300 points
-
- 4. The AJ-Sidewinder+:
- Same as the AJ-Sidewinder, but with multiple warheads like the
- MX-Splinter.
- Worth: 300 points for each missile destroyed
-
- 5. The AJ-Vector94:
- This is the meanest missile in DEFCON 1. It comes onto the screen
- looking like a MX-1a, but soon changes direction at unpredictable
- intervals, making it very difficult to intercept.
- Worth: 500 points
-
- 6. The MX-Assassin:
- The MX-Assassin flies very close the ground, coming from the side of
- the screen and giving you very little time to stop it.
- Worth: 100 points
-
-
- - TECHNICAL STUFF:
-
- The DEFCON 1 - v1.2 must include the following thirteen (13) files:
-
- DEFCON1.EXE
- DEFCON1.DOC
- SCORES.HI
- MXSM.BIT
- MXMED1.BIT
- MXMED2.BIT
- MXLG1.BIT
- MXLG2.BIT
- MUSH1.BIT
- MUSH2.BIT
- DFNN.HEL
- README.BAT
- FILE_ID.DIZ
-
- Note: To reset the high scores, just delete SCORES.HI
-
- You will need a color VGA monitor and a VGA card that can support
- 640x480 16 color graphics in order to run DEFCON 1. You must also have
- a mouse (with two or three buttons) or track ball, and a driver for it.
- DEFCON 1 needs about 200K of conventional RAM. This means that of your
- lower 640K, 200K must be free. You can check to see how much free
- memory your machine has by typing the command: 'MEM' at the DOS prompt.
-
- I apologize for the speed (or lack thereof) when many objects are
- on the screen at once. Turbo C's graphics routines are very slooooow at
- times. That being the case, I recommend that you run DEFCON 1 on a 286
- 12 MHz or faster machine. A memory cache (like SmartDrive or PC kwik
- cache) will probably also help.
-
- I made an effort to make this game run at the same speed on all
- machines, but on extremely fast machines there is still a slight
- difference. You can increase or decrease the speed of the mouse pointer
- by pressing the (+) and (-) keys.
-
- I recommend that you do not run this game under Microsoft Windows
- 3.1 or Windows NT 3.1. I've seen it work, but I've also seen some
- strange results.
-
- DEFCON 1 v1.2 was written entirely using Borland Turbo C v2.0. The
- project required approximately two years of sporadic programming (while
- I was not at school or at work).
-
- Special thanks go to the following:
- Reiner Bohlen -- Beta testing, programming and design.
- High score: 320,026 Wave 14
- Aaron Cortelyou -- Beta testing.
- High score: 336,834 Wave 17
- Toufik Djemil -- Programming.
- Chris Robinson -- Early beta testing.
- Richard Haw -- My boss, for not firing me while I worked on it at
- work.
-
-
- - SHAREWARE PART (a.k.a. the nag):
-
- DEFCON 1 v1.2 is shareware. You are free to give copies
- to your friends and family, neighbors and relatives, even random
- strangers. You may also upload it to any bulletin boards or on-line
- services that you frequent. The only requirement is that no files are
- tampered with or missing.
-
- If you enjoy this game and want to keep it, the registration is
- only $10 (Pleeeeeease...I'm a poor college student.) If 10 bucks is too
- steep, then send $5 and some comments and/or suggestions about the game.
- You don't need to go into great detail (though I'd appreciate it :),
- just some feedback, good and bad. If you are sending funds from outside
- the U.S., don't worry about U.S. dollars, your native currency (as long
- as it is equivalent to 10 U.S. dollars) will work fine. My bank will
- convert it.
-
- Why Register?
-
- Aside from the warm fuzzy you get when you do the Right Thing, I
- will also send you the most recent upgrade to DEFCON 1 and a copy of
- Light Cycles (a TRON-like 2-player game). The source code is also
- available.
-
- In addition, ROMulus Software is working on the next major upgrade:
- DEFCON 1 v2.0. When you register, you help to ensure that it makes it
- to the nets alive.
-
- "What so special about v2.0?", you wonder? It will be the first PC
- missile game in 3D with a SimEarth-like feel!!! No longer will you, the
- player, be trapped in 2D space. Missiles will come at you! You will
- have control over your cities and how they are organized. The better
- you run your cities, the better you can defend them. If this sounds
- like fun to you, register today ($10)! Claim your copy and help support
- our plans. We plan to have version 2.0 completed by the summer/fall of
- '94.
-
-
- - DISCLAIMER:
-
- I've made every attempt to make this game as error and bug free as
- possible. This program should NOT crash your computer. There were no
- major problems testing it on many different PCs. Nevertheless, bugs do
- pop up. If you have problems with DEFCON 1, please notify me at the
- address below and I'll do my best to set them straight.
-
- I take no responsibility for any problems DEFCON 1 v1.2
- may cause on your computer. At the time of release, this game
- was virus-free. However, I cannot guarantee that problems will
- not arise (not even the big guys can do that). This program and its
- accompanying files are NOT in the Public Domain, and cannot be
- sold, for profit or otherwise. DEFCON 1 is in no way affiliated
- with Borland International. All rights are reserved by this author and
- ROMulus Software under all federal, state, and local laws that apply.
-
-
- - BIO
-
- I'm a junior attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-
- Champaign. I'm majoring in Computer Science Engineering. I work for
- USACERL (United States Army - Construction Engineering Research
- Laboratory) as a computer programmer. My hobbies include programming
- (of course), basketball, volleyball, and playing "old video games" i.e.
- Donkey Kong, Tempest, Pac-Man, Defender, Galaxians...etc. Some of my
- favorite music includes:
- R.E.M., De La Soul, Pearl Jam, Public Enemy, Miles Davis, John Coltrane,
- 10,000 Maniacs, Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins among others.
-
- Well, I could type about myself all day but, hey enough about me.
- I would like to hear a little from you the player.
- Please send all questions,
- comments,
- suggestions, and
- registrations to:
- ---------------------------
- | Jon Cortelyou |
- | 3014 N. High Cross Rd. |
- | Urbana, IL 61801-9602 |
- | USA |
- ---------------------------
- This is my permanent address so I will receive your letters.
-
- Even better, save a whole 29 cents and Email me.
- CompuServe: 71044,614
- Internet: cortelyo@neon.cecer.army.mil (Use this one for Internet.)
- cortelyo@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Please only use this one if
- the previous one doesn't
- work.)
- 71044.614@compuserve.com (Ditto.)
-
- I don't know how long I will have my CompuServe account so don't
- be alarmed if it's not around a few months from now (its so
- expensive). My Internet account should be intact indefinitely.
-
- Special note: When the screen is fading in at the beginning of each
- wave, you can hit any key to snap the screen to full color thus skipping
- the fade. I put this feature in because sometimes it just seems too
- long to wait when you just want to start playing. Another feature is
- during times the game is just waiting for you to read something you can
- press a mouse button to move along more quickly. (i.e. At the end of
- each wave.)
-
- Basically, I just hope you'll have as much fun playing DEFCON 1 as I've
- had writing it.
- Have fun!
-
- Jon D. Cortelyou
-
-
- - END OF DOCUMENTATION
-