@database DC_ManualV1_1.Guide @rem @rem **** HOLD IT!!... You're not using AmigaGuide! **** @rem @rem This is an AmigaGuide document. Workbench 3.0 (and higher) users @rem should view this document with the SYS:Utilities/MultiView program @rem that came with their systems. Other users should find a copy @rem of AmigaGuide, and use that. @rem @node MAIN "Welcome to DIAMOND CHALLENGE V1.1" @{b}@{fg highlight} #### # ### # # ### # # #### # # # # # ## ## # # ## # # # # # # ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # #### # # # # # ### # # #### ### # # ### # # ##### # # ### ##### # # # # # # # # ## # # # # ##### ##### # # ### # # # # ### ### /| /| # # # # # # # # # ## # # # | | ### # # # # #### #### ##### # # ### ##### _|_ * _|_ @{ub}@{fg text} I don't think you are reading this before starting the game, right ? Fine. And why do you read this after playing the game ? Some hints ? Some cheats ? No !!! That's just a short introduction. After a nice animation the following main menu comes up: @{" START GAME " link START} @{" Lev: DEFAULT " link LEVELS} @{" Mix levels: Off " link MIXED} @{"View hiscore table" link HISCORE} @{" Quit game to DOS " link QUIT} Now some other stuff about the game and so on... @{"-=> Requirements <=-" link REQUIRE} @{"??? Legal stuff ???" link LEGAL} @{"!!! Installation !!!" link INSTALL} @{" Leveleditor! Where? " link EDITOR} That's all. Now have fun with it and contact @{"me" link INFOS} if you found some tricky bugs or real stupid errors. I'm still human and can't check out every possible situation. Thanx. @endnode @node QUIT "Main Menu: Quit" Press fire here to quit back to Workbench (AmigaDOS), if you have enough of it. (I don't hope so!) @endnode @node HISCORE "Main Menu: Hiscore Here you can see the actual hiscore for the currently loaded levels. There are 3 columns: the name of the player, the number of played levels and the game type. ("Mix" when mixed or "Off" for normal.) Press fire to quit back to main menu or wait 5 seconds. @endnode @node MIXED "Main Menu: Mix levels: On/Off" This option makes the game more exciting. The 'Mixed Off' mode is the normal playing mode (from level 1 to 50), but in 'Mixed On' mode all levels are mixed, so you may solve all levels in this direction: 6, 14, 38, 1, 44, 42, 17, 30, 7, 26, 22, 50, 3, ... This also works with your created levels. So you never know which level comes next. If you solve all 50 levels this way you get a great bonus of... guess? ... No. More: 200000 points !!! You want more ? Why ? BTW: It works with warp fields too. It's somehow tricky. I recommend to use the warp field without mixing first. I try to explain it with this @{"example" link LEVELWARPS}. @endnode @node LEVELS "Main Menu: Levels" Here you can load @{"your created levels" link EDITOR}. A @{"file-selector" link FSEL} appears and asks you to select a level-file. If it has to correct format, it will be loaded into memory. The black background flashes green if loading was successful else it flashes red. (Already loaded levles will not be changed.) >>> JUST USE MY EDITOR TO CREATE LEVELS! YOU CAN CRASH YOUR AMIGA! <<< If a hiscore-file exists it will be loaded and also checked for correct hiscore data. Otherwise it will save and use the default hiscore. Otherwise you play the last loaded levels, these are the default levels at the beginning of the game. @endnode @node FSEL "Main Menu: About the file selector" The game with all data and the editor needs about 764K disc space. If you play the game from floppy you have not much room left for your created levels. So I've extended the file selector to look at two locations: *) First it tries the device or assign "DCLevels:" *) else, it uses the local sub-directory "Levels/" Hard disc: I recommend to load/save all levels to the sub-directory "Levels/". Don't use assigns or disc (volumes) with the name "DCLevels" while playing. Floppy: On a 880K floppy you have about 104K free disc space for another 3 level sets. If you want to play other level sets use a DOS formated disc labeled "DCLevels". Insert a new disc just at the title screen. The game just saves new hiscores to disc with the loaded level file on it. CAUTION! Some faulty floppy drives confuses the system. If you have one, after some years of usage, please make sure that the drive correctly recognized the exchange! The game will fail if there is no disc physically in the drive, but the system doesn't recognize this. Unfortunately I could test this! 8-(( @endnode @node START "Main Menu: Start the game" Here you tart to play. At the bottom the score board appears: +-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | S C O R E 00000000 | K E Y S | +-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | D I A M O N D S 000 | T I M E 000 | TOOLS | LIVES | +-------------------------+---------------+-------+-------+ Now more details: @{i}SCORE:@{ui} Shows your actual amount of @{"points" link POINTS}. @{i}DIAMONDS:@{ui} Holds the left amount of diamonds you still have to collect or a 'b' appears to tell you the amount of collected bonus diamonds. @{i}TIME:@{ui} Displays your left time to solve the level in seconds. @{i}KEYS:@{ui} Shows how much red, yellow, green and blue keys you have left to open red, yellow, green and blue doors. @{i}TOOLS:@{ui} displays your selected tools to use with the fire button. There are four possible tools: fire bullet, picks, bombs and maps. Use the to change your active tool. @{i}LIVES:@{ui} displays your left lives. If this number has reached zero, the next failure will quit the game. The following things can kill you: *) out of time *) hit explosion of a bomb *) moving on empty field without activated pick *) collision with baddies Now the game area above shows you which level comes next. Press fire to enter it. A limited display area appears and shows only some surrounding fields. Use the joystick to move through the different @{"fields" link FIELDS}. Your aim is to collect all required diamonds which will appear one exit door. Sometimes you can collect more diamonds. Then a 'B' will be added and shows the amount of collected bonus diamonds. On some levels there exists one or more warp fields. They are active from the start or appear with the exit when all diamonds are collected. You can use them to skip some levels, ex: jump from level 3 to level 12. But beware: There are also some backward jumps! If you use a warp field all bonus points will count less points than using the exit door. From level 7 on (in 'Mix Off' mode) baddies appear and make all levels more tricky or even harder! There are three types: *) @{i}Hat:@{ui} Fast baddy. Don't get too close. Moves randomly. *) @{i}Ghost:@{ui} Slow baddy. Follows the player. So shoot them very soon. *) @{i}Flame:@{ui} Slow baddy. You need many shoots to kill. Moves randomly. You may need the keyboard near the joystick. There are some keys you need during the game: *) P ....... pause game *) ESC ..... quit game to main menu *) DEL ..... give up and restart level *) Space ... change active tool; there are four possible settings: - Shoot bullet: Press fire to shoot at the baddies. Only one bullet is allowed, so be careful. You can't shoot walls, doors, icy curves or baddy homes. - Use a pick: Hold fire button while moving to use a pick and walk over empty fields. - Set bomb: Press fire to set a bomb and explode the 3 by 3 fields around it. You have 5 seconds to leave this area. Baddies will also be killed if they get into the explosion! - View map: draws a small map of the level. Your position will be displayed as red-yellow flashing colour and all existing baddies are displayed as green flashing colour. You have 10 seconds left to get 100 extra points. After that every 2 seconds this extra points will be reduced by 5. So after another 40 seconds you get no extra points. And after that your score will be decreased !!! At the end of each level left tools and time will count as bonus score. You get extra points for everything except maps. You keep them through the whole game. A final report shows you how much bonus points you got. Press fire to go on to the next level. That's all. At the end for the game you can enter your name, if you've reached a new hiscore. Each level set has its own hiscore list. It will be loaded when you load new levels and saved at once. @{b}NOTE:@{ub} Disable the 'write protection' when playing from floppy. Otherwise the game won't save new hiscores! @endnode @node FIELDS "Game: Field Types" Here is only a short list of all field, sorted by the editor. type | describtion -----------------+----------------------------------------------------- wall | you can't go through it or shoot it doors | you need a same cololured key to open a door icy curves | changes your sliding direction ice field | you will slide into the direction you move on them | until you reach a non ice field or will be stopped | by a wall, an icy curve or the edge of the level transporter | press fire to be tranported from one point of the | map to another transporter normal | here you can move anywhere you like keys | collect them to open doors pick | with it you can change an empty field to a normal | field and walk over it bomb | collect a bomb to blow up a 3 by 3 field around the | bomb; you have 5 seconds to leave the explosion area | else you will be killed; you can blow up anything | you like including diamonds, except baddy homes. map | get a new map (figure the colour out) diamonds | you must collect them to make the exit appear change to empty | these fields changes to an empty field when you move | on it; there are three stages empty field | you need a pick to walk over it, else you get killed | (somethimes baddies can change it to normal field) | exit door | will appear when all needed diamonds are collected; | enter it to get to the next level warp fields | just on some levels; may be active from the start | or will appear with the exit when all diamonds are | collected; use them to skip some levels @endnode @node POINTS "Game: Points" Here is a list of all points you can get during the game: *) Collecting keys, picks, bombs or maps ............... 10 *) Collecting diamonds ................................. 50 *) Use a key to open a door ............................ 25 *) Use a pick .......................................... 20 *) Use a bomb .......................................... 25 *) Use a map ........................................... 100 ? *) shoot baddies ....................................... 100 Bonus points when solved level: *) each left second ........................ 20 (warp: 5) *) each left key, pick or bomb ............. 50 (warp: 20) *) each bonus diamond ...................... 250 (warp: 100) And if you've solved all levels: *) final bonus ........................... 10% of your score *) each left map ..................................... 1000 *) each left live .................................... 5000 Ok, now you can count all points on your own, if you think the game counts wrong. 8-)) @endnode @node LEVELWARPS "DANGER! Warping with mixed level..." Let's say there is a warp from level 4 to level 15. Let me call level 4 the source level and level 15 the destination level. Okay. First problem: You don't know when the source level appears. If the source level (here number 4) has been mixed to a position after its original position (let's say 22) then you will warp backwards! This could also used in the other direction, which is very good: the original level 34 with a warp to level 46 has been mixed into position 3. You will actually warp from level 3 to level 46. Second problem: You don't know the destination level and also the following levels. These levels can be harder than the levels after the source level. The next level after the source level may also have a warp to 'higher' levels. Let's add a warp from level 9 to level 28. While playing level 4 appears in first position, level 9 in second position. Let's say in positions 15 to 18 you may have these levels: 42,37,22,47. And in positions 28 to 30 these levels appear: 11,31,8. Would you use the warp from level 4 ? NO, of course not! The levels from position 15 to 18 are much harder and may be skipped with the warp from level 9 which would come next. Summary: Warpes are unpredictable when you mix the levels. In fact it's possible to create a circle. (But counts much points!) @endnode @node REQUIRE "What do I need for this game" I don't know exactly what are the minimum requirements, but if your amiga satisfies the following options the game should work fine: *) Processor: 68030/25Mhz - I don't know about lower types. Try it. *) Memory: 1 MB chip, 512K fast (better is 1 MB fast), 590K disc. *) Workbench/Kickstart: 3.0 - But I think 1.3 should be enough. If the games doesn't work at all, please send @{"me" link INFOS} an e-mail that I can update the requirements to save others lots of work. Thanx. @endnode @node LEGAL "Legal status of this software" This game is copyright 2001. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced or removed by any process without written permission of @{"the programmer" link INFOS}. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE OF ANY DAMAGE DONE TO YOUR SYSTEM OR ANY LOST OR DESTROYED DATA. THIS GAME IS FREEWARE. IF YOU WANT TO USE ANYTHING FROM THIS GAME FOR YOUR OWN CREATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT @{"ME" link INFOS} AND INFORM ME ABOUT IT. I'M HAPPY IF YOU MENTION ME IN YOUR CREATIONS. I think that's it. Play the game or not. Don't blame me if something goes wrong. Did you read the @{"requirements" link REQUIRE} ? @endnode @node INSTALL "Install to HD or Floppy" Hard disc: ~~~~~~~~~~ Only copy all files into your desired drawer. Floppy disc: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ First copy all files in the root directory of a bootable disc and just create "s/startup-sequence" as: DiamChallV1_1 If you wish to start the game from WB add "c/endcli", "c/loadwb" and create "s/startup-sequence" as: loadwb endcli That's it. Contanct @{"me" link INFOS}, if you have problems. @endnode @node EDITOR "How to create your own levels" Hmmm, I don't know what to say about that. I could explain how the levels are saved to disc and you could create your own editor to do the job. Not very realistic, isn't it ? ;-)) Okay, I'm joking. So you probably will use my editor. Don't try to crack my level-files and/or hiscore-files. You will crash your Amiga !!! The editor is giftware, so please send @{"me" link INFOS} something: - postcard from *YOUR* locality (not from you recent holidays!!!) - some money (global currencies: US-dollar, EURO, brit. pounds,...) - music CD's (pop music from the 80's prefered, NO HARD ROCK!) - latest Amiga magazines, science fiction books (german, english) - new AMIGAONE, FLAT TV-SET, FERRARI,... ;-)) Thanks. You may want know how to create levels, so click @{"here" link DC_EditorV1_1.Guide/MAIN}. @endnode @node INFOS "More about the programmer" At first, I had to excuse my poor english. It's not my native language. Here's my address if you want to tell me that you only play my game, want to send me some presents or have found some really tricky errors: @{b} KARGL CHRISTIAN WIENERSTRASSE 58 A-8605 KAPFENBERG AUSTRIA - STYRIA email: karglch@sbox.tu-graz.ac.at (until about 2002/2003) @{ub} There is no telephone number if you search for it, because I never know when I'm at home. And I don't want you to pay lots of money for nothing. @{fg highlight} Are there any music composers out there ? I want to add some addictive tunes to the title and playing screen. Anybody contact me via e-mail if you have/know some music. @{fg text} History: ~~~~~~~~~~ 5. May 2001: Version 1.1 finished - added warp fields - baddies now killed with bomb explosion - added level loading from device "DCLevels:" - minor changes (faster text typing, error messages) 10. Mar 2001: Version 1.0 finished - corrected some minor bugs - added level number and mixed info to hiscore 4. Nov 1999: finally first release to AmiNet 2. Sep 1999: Version 0.9 finished; testing for release to AmiNet Bugs: ~~~~~~~ *) display flickers -> Stop other programms in the background. -> Else: start the game from floppy. -> Else: count the number of visible baddies! Values greater 14-16 aren't my fault: the blitter is too slow! I don't use hardware sprites and won't change it, sorry. 8-(( *) no mouse pointer when loading levels -> On higher AmigaOS versions the AmigaDos window don't appear if no output is generated while startup. So the system may not initialize the mouse pointer correctly. (?) Insert something like "cls" or "echo Loading..." in the top of the startup-sequence to make the AmigaDOS window and the mouse pointer appear. (Never happens if you load the game from WB.) @endnode