*** NOTE *** These documents are only intended for those with an earlier version of Workbench than 2.04 - The full documents can be run by double-clicking the "Experiment.Guide" icon on disk 1. It took ages to code/write; read it NOW if you've got the right Workbench. Oh, and a plea from the compliler of this disk. If you've still got an A500 with Workbench 1.3, UPGRADE NOW. It took ages to get this thing working on that 'orrible old machine, and the space the extra system files took up could have been used in adding more Fun Stuff to the game. The Experiment Documents -------------------------- Background Information ------------------------ The Experiment was written in GRAC 2 (by DTO Software, available from F1 Licenceware priced at £6.99) on an A600 by John Clay. He is 15. The music was composed by me (Antony Dzeryn). Other people involved did not have to use computers, apart from the playtesters, natch. They have A1200's too. DPaint III was used for the graphics, OctaMED V4 and V5.04 are responsible for the music (Technosound Turbo 2 created some of the samples). Lots of paper and a liberal sprinkling of braincells were also employed in the mammoth task of creating the game. Most of the graphics were hand drawn, but some were Vista-generated, and some were digitised and downgraded to 32 colours. AMOS was used to write the intro. It boots up the GRAC player with the AMOS Run "" command, has all the compressed pictures and music compiled into the code and is remarkably well programmed, so the program only needs to be changed VERY slightly if I want to use it again. So be prepared to see lots of it. CREDITS --------- GRAC coding by: John Clay AMOS programming by: Antony Dzeryn Graphics by: John Clay Music by: Antony Dzeryn This little document by: Antony Dzeryn and John Clay Playtesting by: Antony Dzeryn Philip Dzeryn John Clay Edmund Clay Noel Clay Gemma Clay Mark Wilkins Adam Sharps Big Time thanks to: Edmund Clay List Of Features ------------------ * Over 60 rooms in 3 parts contained on 3 disks * Full game introduction * In-game music and sound effects * Advanced character walk and animate routines * Complete interactive space adventure storyline * Scrolling screens (take note, all you 150Mhz Pentium owners who cannot scroll to save your WORTHLESS, INSIGNIFICANT LIVES) * Superfast character size scaling - even on an ageing, dodgy A500 * Multiple choice conversations * No annoying grammatical/spelling errors * Opportunities to shoot aliens The Game ---------- In the game, YOU play the part of Bud Lightning - clean cut, shade wearing, all round nice-guy (except in the game he doesn't wear shades) - as he tries to save a Primitive Tribe from extinction after his base is attacked by Nasty Stingon Types. If you've played Starbase 13, you'll be relieved to know that you are not mad; they ARE the same Nasty Stingon Types. Another connection with Starbase 13 is that Bud is an old academy friend of Yeno Hou's twin brother, Duno Hou. This is not mentioned in the game. Control --------- Control is via the mouse. Click with the left mouse button to make Bud walk to the pointer. Click with the right mouse to use a verb. These perform some sort of action on an object in a room, eg. clicking with the left mouse button on the Examine icon, then the right mouse button on issue 39 of Amiga Power would cause Bud to reply: "Ah, for yon days of yore when the mag was a vertibrate." Perhaps it's psychological that the lack a physical backbone (staples? I ask you) has been made up for by giving tougher reviews. But I digress. The verbs are the icons in the control window at the bottom of the screen. And they are: EXAMINE (an eye) - Click an object in a room, and Bud will walk over to it and describe it to you. TAKE (an upwards-pointing arrow) - Take an object. OPERATE (an arrow pushing a button) - Operate a single object. USE (an arrow pushing a key into a hole) - Use an object on another. The first is usually held in Bud's inventory. It can also be used to give an object to another character. TALK TO (a mouth) - Talk to another character. Various phrases are offered; click on with the left mouse button. Save a game ------------- To save a game, press SHIFT and F1 - F10. The game will be saved at your current position. Pressing F1 - F10 (without SHIFT or CAPS LOCK) will load up the saved game. If running from floppy, you must first format a saved game disk called "saves". Consult the Workbench manual on how to do this. Hard drive installation ------------------------- Boot from your hard drive, then: 1. Copy the Install program to a suitable place on your hard drive. There should be about 2.5 megabytes free. 2. Double-click the Install program you just copied. 3. Wait for the program to install. Remove the Experiment disk(s) when the installer has finished and double-click the "Experiment" icon to play. Letters to the authors ------------------------ For info about GRAC, the graphics or to report bugs, write to: John Clay 44 Finstall Rd Aston Fields Bromsgrove Worcs. B60 2EA For info about the music, AMOS or Blitz programming, or just less-than-sane gibberings, write to: Antony Dzeryn 17 Oakridge Close Church Hill Redditch Worcs. B98 9JU Help with the game can be supplied by either of the above. The first person to write to us and tell us the last line of text in the game will win (allegedly) a Fabulous Prize! Any feedback/constructive criticism would be appreciated. For the best in Licenceware, write to: F1 Software 1 Lower Mill Close Goldthorpe Rotherham South Yorkshire S63 9BY That, as some people say, but others don't, of course, because we shouldn't make sweeping or generalised statements, is that. Probably. Antony Dzeryn Huddo, Noj here. Just a last note before I send off this game and become world famous. NOTE. There, now that`s out of the way I will go, and you can play the game. John Clay 1.8.97