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-
- The Solar Hockey League - A game by Harm Hanemaayer and John Remyn
- Copyright 1992 Galifir Developments. Version 1.1.
-
-
- A challenging future hockey game, with fast and smooth action, and crisp
- graphics. You can play against a friend, one of the computer teams, or try
- to win the Solar Hockey League itself.
-
- This game is shareware. You are encouraged to freely copy and distribute it,
- provided that no fee is charged beyond normal media duplication and shipping
- costs, and that no changes are made to the distribution archive contents.
-
- If you like this game, you are strongly encouraged to register it. You will
- receive the latest registered version of the game (which has additional
- graphics), along with a number of other (unregistered) games by the authors,
- on diskette.
-
- For further information see the end of this file and the file ORDER.FRM.
-
-
- ---- Hardware Requirements ---------------------------------------------------
-
-
- EGA or VGA compatible card recommended, CGA works also
- 128K of free conventional memory
- DOS v2.0 or greater
-
- Disclaimer:
-
- This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of
- any kind. In no event will the authors be liable to you for any
- damages.
-
-
- ---- Quick Evaluation --------------------------------------------------------
-
- Run hockey.com. In the main menu, press 1 to change your opponent, which
- defaults to a human player. The other names are computer teams. Press 3 to
- start the game. Play using cursor keys to move the player nearest to the disc,
- and ENTER to fire. You play from right to left.
-
-
- ---- Installing & Configuring ------------------------------------------------
-
- Just put all files in the archive (or on the distribution diskette) in a
- directory on hard or floppy disk, which you will probably already have done.
- The files require 65K of free disk space.
-
- Now make that directory the current directory and type: hockey <enter>, and
- the program will run or it won't (which probably means you do not have an EGA
- compatible card).
-
- If you want to change the control keys for both teams, run the configuration
- program config.exe. Note that some keyboards have problems with certain
- combinations of simultaneously pressed keys.
-
-
- ---- The Story ---------------------------------------------------------------
-
- After the latter half of the 21st century, which had North America playing a
- very minor role both politically and economically, there was a worldwide
- (solar-system-wide actually) revival of ancient North American sports in the
- 22nd century, most notably of ice hockey. But in accordance with the true
- spirit of the time, the players in the game were actually robots, controlled
- externally by teams of humans. The sport, originated among American immigrants
- in southwestern South America, proved to be very popular, especially in the
- various human colonies on planets in the solar system. Now you have a chance
- to challenge the teams in the Solar Hockey League.
-
-
- ---- The Main Menu -----------------------------------------------------------
-
- In the main menu, you can choose between several game types. With key 1 on
- your keyboard, you can change team 1. With key 2, you can change team 2. The
- two teams are displayed at the bottom of the screen. The computer teams are
- sorted in order of increasing physical skill. In the actual game, team 1 and
- team 2 will play each other; team 1 plays from left to right. The default keys
- to control a human player are as follows:
-
- Team 2: cursor keys for movement, ENTER - fire
- Team 1: Z - left, X - right, T - up, F - down, Y - fire
-
- These can be changed with the configuration program.
- In league games, the human player will always be team 2.
-
- In the main menu, key 3 will start a single game, with the specified teams.
-
- Key 4 will start a league. You will play against all computer teams, and all
- computer teams will play against each other. After each round, the current
- standings will be displayed. For a win, you get 2 points, for a draw, 1, and 0
- for a defeat. At the league standings screen, pressing ESC will abort the
- current league; you will have to start with round 1 again.
-
- Key 5 will return to the operating system. Key 6 selects the speed of the
- robots for a human player team. This can be SLOW or FAST, which makes a great
- difference (SLOW is much harder against computer players). With key 7, you can
- select the color scheme to be used in the game. If set to random, the color
- scheme will be randomly selected for each game. Key 8 changes the sound level.
- ALL enables all sounds. NO BUZZER will disable the buzzer (it may get a bit
- irritating with some speakers). SILENT will disable all sounds. With key 9,
- you can select the length of a game. A game length of 1000 corresponds with
- about half a minute.
-
-
- ---- The Game ----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- The game itself is quite straightforward. Each team consists of 3 robots: a
- goal-keeper (which is not limited in its movement) and two field players. A
- human player always controls the robot that is nearest to the disc (a disc is
- better suited to robot mechanics than a puck or a ball). Each robot has a
- maximum speed and shooting power, depending on the strength of its team and
- whether it is a goal keeper or a field player. The other robots in your team
- are controlled by the computer, using default defensive and offensive
- positions, depending on whether your team last touched the disc or not.
-
- At the start of a game, and after a goal has been scored or a last-touch
- timeout has occured, the disc is placed in the middle of the playing area and
- fired in a random direction (throw-off).
-
- The scoreboard displays the of number of goals that each team has scored,
- along with the timer count and the maximum speed and shooting power for the
- currently controlled robot of each team.
-
- Your robot takes possession of the disc by moving over it. You are then
- allowed to move the robot with disc around for a limited period, after which
- the disc automatically shoots away. When that period has nearly ended, a
- warning signal is sounded. You can shoot the disc by pressing fire, or waiting
- for the timeout. If you shoot the disc into the other team's goal, you have
- scored.
-
- To prevent one team from stealing time by holding the disc in the possession
- of one robot by repeatedly bouncing the disc off one of the edges, there is a
- last-touch timeout. When a certain period has passed in which the disc has not
- been touched by any other robot, the game is suspended and a throw-off occurs.
- This timeout is also preceded by a warning sound.
-
- You can abandon a game by pressing ESC. If you abandon a league game, the
- score will default to a 0-10 defeat.
-
- Have Fun!
-
-
- ---- Technical Info and History ----------------------------------------------
-
- This game was first written under the imaginative name of 'BALL' in 1989,
- featuring CGA graphics designed for monochrome monitors, delays only suitable
- to slow XT computers and an internal 'random' routine that doesn't work on
- AT's. Despite this, it was included in the 'Best of 1990' selection of the
- Public (Software) Library in Houston, TX. Now, in 1992, the game has been
- upgraded and runs nicely on any modern IBM PC compatible computer, with
- greatly enhanced graphics and presentation (although the graphics are still
- monochrome - but with varying color schemes this actually looks quite nice on
- EGA/VGA color displays). It was written entirely in assembler (some 7000
- lines).
-
-
- --- Ordering Information -----------------------------------------------------
-
- Send cash (bills) in a double envelope or in an envelope with some paper
- (possibly the order form) wrapped around the bills. An international
- money order will probably cost you a fee comparable to the registration
- amount. You can also use American Express Travelers Checks. Please do
- not send coins or other checks. Send the money along with the order
- form, or the information asked in the order form if you don't have easy
- access to a printer, to the address below. Remember to add proper
- postage for delivery to Europe. Mail usually takes a few days to reach
- Europe from North America. We will respond within 3 weeks at least, but
- usually within a few days.
-
- Comments, suggestions and bug reports are always welcome. For these,
- if you have access to Electronic Mail, you can use the following Internet
- address: hhanemaa@cs.ruu.nl
-
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Registration for The Solar Hockey League:
-
- [ ] Normal registration, $10. You will receive a diskette with
- the latest registered version of the game (which has
- additional graphics), and a number of other shareware and
- public domain games by the authors.
-
- [ ] Personal version (your name hardcoded in the game).
-
-
- Diskette format:
-
- [ ] 3.5" DD diskette [ ] 5.25" DD diskette
-
- Your hardware: (optional)
-
- [ ] EGA [ ] VGA
- [ ] SVGA [ ] other: ________________
- chipset: ______________
-
- [ ] 8088/86 [ ] 80186/286/V20/V30
- [ ] 80386 [ ] 80486 speed: ______
-
- How did you obtain this program? (optional) ____________________
-
-
- Name: __________________________________________________________
-
-
- Address: _______________________________________________________
-
- ________________________________________________________________
-
- ________________________________________________________________
- (add ZIPcode if applicable)
- Country: ___________________________
-
-
- Criticism/Comments: ____________________________________________
-
- ________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Mail To:
-
- John Remyn
- Rembrandtlaan 68
- 4907 NP Oosterhout
- The Netherlands
-
-
-
-