@database 682462f8-0 @master blitz2:GAMES/MonsterNOIA/MonsterNOIA.guide @$VER: 1.0 @author "Gregor Rosenauer" @(c) "Gregor Rosenauer" @remark Created with Heddley v1.1 (c) Edd Dumbill 1994 @node "Main" "MonsterNOIA ß - The Documentation" @toc "Overview" @next "INTRO" MMM MM MMM NN NN NN TTTTT EEEEE RRR --N --NN -OOO -I ---A M M M M M N N N N N T T T E R R --NN -N -O --O -I -A A M m M M M N N N N ~ T EEE RRR -N N-N -O --O -I -AA -A MM M M M N NN N N TT EE R R --N -NN -O --O-II -A -A A MM MM MMM NN N NN TTTT EEEEE R RR --NN -N -OOO -II-A --AAA ______________________________________________________________________________ @{"!BETA-RELEASE!" link "BETA-INFO" 0} (c)1993-96 by @{"Gregor Rosenauer" link "Author" 0} alias Rosso alias @{"Noesis ULtd." link "Noesis-Info" 0} ¯ @{"Documentation" link "Overview" 0} ** @{fg highlight}HTML@{fg text}-Documentation also included! If possible, go for it !:) ** @endnode @node "Author" "Information about the Author" @toc "Overview" @next "Noesis-Info" @prev "Main" MONSTER - NOIA ! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Idea, Design, Graphics, Sound, Music - and coding (*) by @{"Gregor Rosenauer" link "Author" 0} (press ^this^ button to test recursion in real life;P ) Well documented @{"SOURCES" link "Source" 0} available! Contact: Snail Mail: Gregor Rosenauer Seidengasse 29 1070 Wien @{b}AUSTRIA@{ub} ->@{i}E-Mail@{ui}: e9425635@stud1.tuwien.ac.at (if at first you don't succeed, ...my mail-quota may be exceeded - please try again then.:) ) @{fg shine}WWW@{fg text}: (*Soon*) http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9425635/ (still in progress...) *NEW* MonsterNOIA Support-Site, with infos on the latest beta at: http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9425635/MonsterNoia/ +I intend to make the latest Beta available for download from this page, but I have to check this out first... Please send me feedback or even a short notice to let me know that you tried out my game, and what you think about it. Suggestions/comments are always welcome and appreciated, if you want please use "MonsterNoia" as subject, that will make things easier for me. (*) I don't want to boast here, but when I wrote this game, there was nobody to help me, so I had to do it all alone;-) IMHO it has become quite nice *despite* that fact:-) @endnode @node "Noesis-Info" "Information about Noesis ULtd." @toc "Overview" @next "Overview" @prev "Author" @{fg highlight}Noesis ULtd.@{fg text} @{fg shadow}---------------@{fg text} the imagination-company owner and only member: @{"Gregor Rosenauer" link "Author" 0} alias Rosso ;-) This is a little company I founded when I wrote this game. Why the heck did I do this? Here are some reasons why: - I thought I needed something for a cool intro:) - I wanted to find a 'label' I could batch on my games/programms, something I could identify with and which I think is essential, something which would express my ideals and aims. It happened that when I was learning Greek, I came across the term "noesis", noun for "no'eo", which means "to recognise", but also "to realise" and "to think", "to think something out", "to imagine something". So I took this term as a symbol for my creations, as I find these words describe elemental things, without those mankind would not be where it is now - ideas and thoughts have always allowed us to surpass ourselves, they have been the requirement of inception, of things which did not exist before, they can change things from one second to the other. You did not expect such poetic excesses in a *games*-documentation, did you? ;-> Well, I don't want to write a boring How-To-Documenta- tion, I want you to know a little about the _background_... However I can promise you that the game is not that sophisticated.;) - because nobody would believe me I did it all alone ;-) @endnode @node "Overview" "Documentation - Overview" @toc "Overview" @next "LEGAL" @prev "Noesis-Info" Please read these points through carefully, they contain important and I dare say well written information, it also took me some time to write the docs, so please take the time - that will make the moment you run the game even more precious;-) @{"INTRODUCTION" link "INTRO" 0} .................. why I decided to write this little game @{"COPYRIGHT & DISTRIBUTION" link "LEGAL" 0} ...... some legal information - since when is information _illegal_ ? ;-P @{"CONTENTS/INSTALLATION" link "HowToInstall" 0} ......... quite easy, really;) @{"REQUIREMENTS" link "Requirements" 0} .................. what you need to get the most out of it @{"THE *PLOT*" link "Game-Description" 0} .................... you should maybe read this one... @{"HOW TO MAKE YOUR *OWN* LEVELS" link "UserLevel-Info" 0}.. here comes the _creative_ part..! :) @{"INFORMATION FOR BETA-TESTERS" link "BETA-INFO" 0} .. for the circle of privileged people who want to test this beast out ;-) @{"WHAT IS BLITZ-BASIC ][ ?" link "BLITZ-Info" 0} ...... it's a kind of magic! @{"INFORMATION ABOUT NEWICONS" link "NI-Info" 0} .... why the MonsterNoia-Icon looks so great! :-) @{"HOW TO REACH THE AUTHOR" link "Author" 0} ....... what? me..?;) (@{"Sources" link "Source" 0} also available!) @{"OTHER PROJECTS" link "Other Projects" 0} ................ other creations I made @{"CLOSING WORDS" link "Extro" 0} ................. Well, thought there had to be some:) @endnode @node "LEGAL" "COPYRIGHT & DISTRIBUTION" @toc "Overview" @next "INTRO" @prev "Overview" LEGAL NOTICE ------------ This game is @{"URL" link "URL-Info" 0}-Ware. If you use it, I would ask you to send me an interesting/*weird* (preferred)/informative URL, be it your homepage or any other interesting place you came across your virutal voyage. If you do not have Internet-access (which would really be a pity;) ), please send me a postcard of your country or a nice letter:), just to show me that someone looks at my nice game :^). This game follows the FreeWare-concept. All rights remain by the author, but it may be freely distributed (only at _cost-price_), under the condition that *all* files (yes, even the nice NewIcon;), remain in the very order I put them together. This means especially _this_ guide. I am not responsible for _any_ direct or indirect consequences this piece of software involves. No programm(especially not those from a strange, bloated, Bill-bugged garage-company with M.S. in the name) is 100% bug-free (and surely not this Beta;-> ), so use at your OWN risk. @endnode @node "INTRO" "INTRODUCTION" @toc "Overview" @next "Game-Description" @prev "LEGAL" THE BACKGROUND The initial idea was to look whether I could write a bigger project, for example a game, in my preferred programming-language, @{"BlitzBasic" link "BLITZ-Info" 0} (in the beginning it was Blitz->I<, which even less people might know now..:) ). I was a bit frustrated when I saw that I had only wrote little programms to test out the many features Blitz has, but when thinking of what useful or "kewl" software I had produced, @{"nothing" link "GAG" 0} came into my mind...:( THE IDEA IS BORN So I said to myself, "let's try" and over the years (yes, I know, it was quite a @{"long period" link "History" 0} of time;) ) when I had time to relax and get creative (mostly in the summer- or christmas-holidays), I took the project another step beyond, and @{"*this*" link "Game-Description" 0} is what came out of it:-) CONCLUSION This is the *first* game I ever wrote, and after all the fun (but also @{"*hard* work" link "History" 0} I had, I promise: it will not be the last..! BTW I decided to make the @{"sources" link "Source" 0} available for a really low fee, see there. However, I have also made some attempts to produce so-called @{"'serious' software" link "Other Projects" 0}, please see there for more information. (all FreeWare:), not yet released ) @endnode @node "Game-Description" "What's the story .....:-)" @toc "Overview" @next "UserLevel-Info" @prev "INTRO" GAME - DESCRIPTION ------------------ OVERVIEW This is one of those strange games where you view the level from the top, but you see everything from the side;-P Your mission is to collect the passwordletters lying around and then search for the exit (the pink one) to get to the next level. As I am not going to make it that easy for you, some cute MONSTERS join your quest with the rather nasty intention to _kill_ you. In principle, this game reduces the infinity of universe to _three_ points of interest: @{"i)   >You<" link "Game-Description" 21} @{"ii)  The Monsters" link "Game-Description" 31} @{"iii) What else is lying around there" link "Game-Description" 42} i) YOU You are a strange 14*14-pixel-sized bloke in Low-Resolution, with blue hair and a green rucksack on the back (wondered what it was? hey, I said you should read the docs *first* - now you know :) ). You cannot shoot the monsters, but you can walk faster than they can and there is also a magic potion to make you invulnerable for a short time (but don't loose your head;-) ). You are also quite strong which enables you to move stones. ii) THE MONSTERS These are rather funny wibbling woosels walking around disturbing you and sometimes chasing you, depending on the monster-type: The green and the yellow ones change their direction only when a wall or stone is in their way; the blue one that looks similar is a bit more interesting: it can change it's direction _any_ time, which makes it quite unpredictable. The blue 'mammoth'-like monster is the most unpleasant one: it is intelligent (well, kind of;-) ) and tries to chase you. iii) WHAT ELSE IS LYING AROUND THERE Passwordletters ....... the most important items lying around and the only way to complete the game(level): They have to be collected before you can enter the exit.If you have collected them in the right order, you get a bonus:) Stones ................ can be moved or be used to block monsters Doors ................ can only be opened with the same-coloured keys - only the *grey* one can be opened with any key Keys ................ necessary to open the doors- just like in real life;-). The grey key enables you to open _any_ door, but be sure that you use it wise, or else you might realise later that you wasted it on a door there was a right-coloured key for:-> Teleports ............. Since StarTrek the fashion of beaming has become quite popular - teleports beam you just the same way, but only from one tele- port to the other. Oneways ............... block the way _back_ Extras ................ there are some useful extras like Protect, Stop, meat (cannot be collected, but lurs the blue Chase-Monster away from you), but beware: there are also extras which have *bad* sight-effects...! (of course I will Not tell you which:-] ) Boni .................. to brush up your Score:) Exit .................. the last point you have to visit to get to the next level (of course you can only enter if you have collected _all_ password-letters which are scattered over the whole level. @endnode @node "UserLevel-Info" "How to create USER-Levels" @toc "Overview" @next "BETA-INFO" @prev "Game-Description" HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN LEVELS - LEVELED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have completed all the levels MonsterNoia has to offer, and you want More, there is the possibility to create your OWN levels - bigger, harder, meaner and more deadly;) than I could have ever done them;-) You can do this quite easily with LevelED (also included), and after using it for a short while, you will have no problems in designing your own levels, because it is really intuitive and easy to use, there is even an Online-Help available. However, there are some important things to keep in mind, only to ensure the level looks/works exactly as you expect it to: (these points are also mentioned in the Online-Help, but they are explained more detailed here) * You have to set at least _one_ monster to justify the games' name ;-) * You cannot set more than 28 monsters, as this will slow down the game too much (on an A500). I know that AGA-systems and systems equipped with turboboards (I have an A1200 68030/50) could easily manage more monsters, but I could not test this out thoroughly and I want the levels to work on any machine. If the number was set too high,the game could even crash, so I took a safe value. (<-- please see also the BETA-NOTE !) * When the level is empty, you can see only marble-items. This is not just because it looks nice;-), but has an *Important* meaning: This item has to be placed everywhere _outside_ the level,that is places you (and the monsters) cannot reach and where no extras should appear. You will not often need this item, only when you delete an old item and you want to leave this place 'empty', you have to place the marble-item to set the 'border' of the level right. * You have to set a password which may only consist of letters from A-Z and may only be up to 5 characters long. * You can then place the letters easily by pressing the corres- ponding key and clicking the mouse on the desired position. * pressing the right mousebutton will replace the corresponding item with a blank one. * you can toggle the toolbar at the buttom by pressing the right mousebutton over it. * navigate simply with the Cursor-keys, when combined with SHIFT, you can browse through the level at steps of 10, when pressing ALT in conjunction with either Cursor-key, you can jump direct- ly to the borders of the level. * to get an overview, just press the "Eye"-button at the top of the screen, you will then see the whole level scaled to the screen-size (sorry, no graphics-cards support yet ;) ) * Ok, that should be sufficient for now, just give it a try, you will find it very easy to create your own levels after trying out the buttons:) * Always keep in mind: someone should be able to actually PLAY the level you created ! ;-)) @endnode @node "BETA-INFO" "INFORMATION FOR BETA-TESTERS" @toc "Overview" @next "BLITZ-Info" @prev "UserLevel-Info" NOTES TO BETA-TESTERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTENTS @{"MOTIVATION" link "BETA-INFO" 15} @{"TODO" link "BETA-INFO" 37} @{"WHAT TO TEST AND WHERE" link "BETA-INFO" 90} @{"CONTRIBUTIONS" link "BETA-INFO" 115} @{"NOTICE" link "BETA-INFO" 128} ** Thanks to all Beta-Testers in advance for your time and trouble ! ** MOTIVATION Finally(!), I have a short break before the last two exams and so I decided to release the beta *now*, sothat you can see the current stage and tell me what you think about it. I will revise some things for the final version, but I did not want to make you wait any longer and I want to know if it works on other systems at all.:) I also want to release the game in the summer, because new challenges are waiting for realisation, new ideas come out of my head, I want to write an AGA-game finally and much more... Sorry that the game is not AGA, but on the one hand I don't really find it necessary to use 256 colours on 14*14-sized items, I also wanted the game to work on ANY Amiga, and on the other hand: AGA was C='s best kept secret at the time MonsterNoia was born... TODO × The gamescreen is 21 points smaller than the screenheight, which is bit of a waste, but I can't get the Slices to work properly, I always get some unprofessional looking glitches when I set the height to maximum... (hope to work this out for the next beta), however the PAL/NTSC-support _should_ work perfectly... (can't try this one out, as Blitz-2, the language this beast is programmed in, cannot be fooled to believe I have an NTSC-Amiga when I switch the mode to NTSC in the Boot-Menu) × In Level 2 the sprite is displayed incorrectly after having beamed to the second teleport. I am aware of this bug and I hope to fix it soon. × There are currently only *3* levels, because I had not the time to create more... I would be very happy if you could help me out with this issue - I am quite creative but I am maybe toooo nice and so the levels are somewhat easy I think.. (their main purpose was actually to _test_ out the game, not to make people addicted to the game;) ). So maybe you could do better/MEANER/deadlier;) levels which I could include in the final version...:) -> see also CONTRIBUTIONS × if you want to test out some tricky things and don't want to take any riscs, you can run the debug-version (MonsterNoia.db). This one is a bit slower and scrolling is more jerky, but you get a nice requester with a runtime-error when something goes wrong - this would be of GREAT help if you report a bug. × This game should run well on Any processor, because it does not use dirty wait-loops but only the vertical raster-beam-position to synchronise the game. You can try different difficulties if you find the game too slow... (Try "Very Hard" (4) to get the hyper-flash! This is more a gag to show how fast the game is:) ) Only thing is the game will run 1/10 sec faster on NTSC-systems, but I think that's tolerable... × The MonsterNoia.db is a debug-version and has runtime-error- checking enabled. This means that it will run not as fast and smooth as the normal version, but if you find a strange bug that crashes the machine, it would be *Very* helpful if you could tell me the runtime-error. × ...that's all I remember ATM, I hope I have not forgotten an im- portant point;) - if I did, you will surely notice...:->> The LevelED should be 100% tiptop-okay now (I HOPE;) ),but if you find any bugs in there, please let me know ... WHAT TO TEST AND WHERE MonsterNOIA has been currently tested on the following configurations: A1200 - virgin - HD (yes, this game is easily HD-installable:) ) - Blizzard1220/4 (28MHz) - Blizzard1230/4 (50MHz) A4000/060 (!) - yeah, it works:=) This game should even run on an old Amiga500/1MB, because I started writing it on that configuration, so it had to;-). However the game has undergone some revisions and enhancements, so I am not 100%sure if it still works under 1.3/1MB, but I would like to know...:> Please test the game (@{"LevelED" link "UserLevel-Info" 0} should be no problem) on as many sys- tems as possible, maybe there are only small revisions required to make the game work on a specific config...I would like to reach as many people as possible:) It is not really important that you check which programms you have running in the background, because the game will _disable_ multi - tasking in the old,dirty, but FAST way and take over the whole Amiga for maximum-power;-) (what's wrong with it? Windows does this ALL the time :-] Bad thing is it doesn't get faster by doing so ;-]] ) CONTRIBUTIONS (LEVELS..!) It would be very *nice* if you could create some nice/nasty/ !HARD!/deadly dangerous levels with the included @{"LevelEditor" link "UserLevel-Info" 0}, because ATM there are only *4* levels:(. (I concentrated on the game itself and only created levels for _testing_ purposes;) ) Of course I would gratefully mention you in the final documen- tation, so here is your chance for Fame :-9 You only have to use LevelED and save the levels normally, with unique numbers. I can simply put them together in the /Levels- drawer, where MonsterNOIA will find them and happily load them in. NOTICE As already mentioned, MonsterNOIA _disables_ multi-tasking when running, so PLEASE check that there is NO disk-access or other important calculation when you run the game, as this can - as you surely know - corrupt your HD,disk or data. Almost every game does so, however I thought I'd write that in sothat you don't forget..;) To minimize chance any problems arise, the game waits 2 secs or so before it takes over the machine, so it should be really safe. Maybe I put in a requester in the final version, like Psygnosis did in their game "Hired Guns"..? @endnode @node "BLITZ-Info" "Information on " @toc "Overview" @next "Extro" @prev "BETA-INFO" INFORMATION ON BLITZBASIC II ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First of all I want to say I get nothing paid for this, and if you are annoyed by this, please skip this section, as I do not intend to annoy people. If however you are curious about the language this game was pro- grammed in, and in general how you can get the most out of your Amiga with justifiable effort, then this section is for *you*, and I hope you will find it interesting and informative to read. For the quick/impatient readers;-) the contents of this page: @{"What Is BlitzBasic ][?" link "BLITZ-Info" 23} @{"The (T)Editor" link "BLITZ-Info" 47} @{"The Language Itself" link "BLITZ-Info" 63} @{"The Debugger" link "BLITZ-Info" 88} @{"Worldwide Support" link "BLITZ-Info" 98} (well, it gets better:) ) @{"The Future" link "BLITZ-Info" 115} WHAT IS BLITZBASIC ][ ? (current version: 2.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BlitzBasic-2 is a powerful language which allows you to unleash the *full* power of your Amiga with a comfort otherwise only in BASIC-languages. However Blitz is _not_ another Basic-language, but has combined many popular features of other languages like PASCAL,C and even Assembler. This means you can use structs (Records) - allowing you to pro- gramm the Amiga-OS in its natural way, as Blitz-Programms are fully OS-compatible. You work in a fully integrated environment which means that you can access the compiler and the debugger from within the editor at the click of a button. There are several aspects that even taken seperately make Blitz superior to other languages which try to pretend the same power, but alltogether make Blitz-2 unique and brilliant,ideal for the beginner _and_ the experienced user alike. The (T)Editor (SuperTED or TED 2.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - mouseable labels: you can specify labels by simply putting a dot at the beginning of the line. These labels then appear in a column on the right margin of the screen and can be easily accessed by the mouse. - Blitz-commands are highlighted during typing - the font can be changed by the user - *ONLINE-Help*, either a short syntax-description (HELP-key) in the titlebar or a full documentation with examples. - quick save-format which also saves diskspace - defined Structures can be easily viewed in a seperate window (called "NewTypes" in Blitz, see below) - it has been thoroughly revised in the past and a severe upgrade should be out soon (featuring _multiple_ documents, ARexx,...) The Language Itself ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - at first it seems a bit strange: standard BASIC-commands (Dim, Print, For, While,...) and then suddenly *structures* (Newtypes), ASM-commands (can be used *within* normal Blitz-code, for example for Interrupts, Copper-programming and the like!), and other heavy stuff - but you soon find out the concept and how !powerful! it is. Once you get used to it, you will never look back again! - beside the normal Basic-commands, which are slightly enhanced over the traditional ones, you have *special commands* for Graphics and Sound (fast Blitting, playing samples, Bitmap-operations, loading and showing pictures, animations,...) - all with FULL AGA-support! - several commands to work _with_ the Amiga-OS (not against or beside it, as in other underdeveloped languages!) to create Windows, Gad- gets, Screens, Menus, Requesters (full gadtools-support) - this means you have an ideal language for *both* games AND serious applications - standard-library-system, which means that you can use every library from within Blitz in the same way as normal Blitz-commands. - there are loads of libraries available (most on Aminet) which make Blitz even more powerful and/or easy to use. - ...just get the demo on Aminet to see what I am talking about! (one demo says more than 1000 words:) ) - you won't believe me anyway, so why not try it out yourself? The Debugger (by Leading Edge Software, now known as "Red When Excited") ~~~~~~~~~~~~ - easy to use, but yet powerful Source-Level-Debugger, which means you can browse through the source while it is executed and see what your programm exactly does. - has saved my Amiga from a crash maybe more than 1,000,000 times ;-) - Variables can be inspected and traced - Structures can be inspected thoroughly - another major update is to be released Support (now gaining vitality again...:-] ) ~~~~~~~ - there is the BUM (Blitz User Magazine), including a newsletter and in most cases serious updates with interesting examples and contributions from Blitz-Users worldwide - there is much support on the WEB, some Blitz-Experts have done a very good job on documenting the Amiga's internal life and how to access it from within Blitz, two out of many addresses are mentioned below: http://sun1.bham.ac.uk/cca93057 http://www.pinsight.com/~josh - there is an own newsgroup for Blitz2-users worldwide: @{"the blitzlist" link "Blitz-Lists" 0} - many PD-games on @{"Aminet" link "Aminet" 0} show you just what you can do with Blitz-2 and often the source is available for deeper investigation... (BTW: MonsterNoia/LevelED-source is also available! _Well_ documented, in English -> see @{">>here<<" link "Source" 0} ) The Future - Blitz-@{fg highlight}3@{fg text} ~~~~~~~~~~ - There are plans to upgrade Blitz to support multiple platforms such as WinDos and the PowerPC, which would be quite a revolutionary move into the right direction and *very* interesting news for professional game- developers worldwide. - These plans are discussed in an own @{"newsgroup" link "Blitz-Lists" 0}, with much participation from Blitz-Experts and Mark Sibly himself, the creator of Blitz. - Remember: this is all still future, but it looks very promising... @endnode @node "Extro" "CLOSING WORDS" @toc "Overview" @next "Other Projects" @prev "BLITZ-Info" @endnode @node "GAG" "NIL" @toc "Overview" @next "Other Projects" @prev "Extro" The big *nothing* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (as you can see, there's not really much to say about "nothing", you shouldn't follow EVERY link;-) -- thanks for the interest, though:) ) @endnode @node "Other Projects" "Other Projects" @toc "Overview" @next "History" @prev "Extro" OTHER PROJECTS AND UPLOADS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Available on @{"Aminet" link "Aminet" 0} are: *2 MED-modules: -JungleWalk, my *first* complete module ever, created with the best tracker around, OctaMED v5 (well 6 is propably even better:) ) -CanyonGlide .. a very nice athmospheric mod, but I think I'll buy another sample-CD, just can't find the instruments I have in mind..:) *a nice set of @{"NewIcons" link "NI-info" 0} (has been included on AminetCD 11:) ) - '2newicons', one for @{"BlitzBasic2" link "BLITZ-Info" 0}, my favorite programming- language for InterPlay, my favorite CD-Player (by Stian André Olsen and Espen Skog - hi, Sti:) ) S00N ON AMINET: * BSE - The BlitzShapesEditor, propably only of interest to BlitzBasic-developers, very useful and handy shapes-editor, will release a preview-version SOON (BTW the acronym is fully intentional:), if you find it too tasteless, let me know;) ) ...version 1.5 to be released in _July_ (version 2.0 will have an easy but POWERful Grab-function!) @endnode @node "History" "Game History" @toc "Overview" @next "URL-Info" @prev "Other Projects" M O N S T E R N O I A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Gregor Rosenauer (c) 1992-96 history developed ............from...March 10th, 1992 to ??? MAIN .................from....July 6th, 1992 to September 7th, 1992 Conversion to Blitz*1*..on December 7th, 1992 Over-Screen-Levels .....on October 18th,1993 In between LONG BREAKS (SCHOOL, A-levels etc.!!!) Revived...in Feburary 1996 (!), with Blitz *2.1* - only NOW: Blitz-internal Inkey$/BitmapInput-Bug solved(!) - Animbrush (Title) extended to 10 Shapes -> really smOOth ! :) - Coplist-Problem solved:) ! Changes: 23.05.1996 (exams!): *fixed userlevels for HD-support (no longer searches 'df0:'!) *Titlebrush now a bit bigger=looks better -Scorebar ->Glitches? May 96: (*) "MultiMonstering when beaming" - now monsters continue moving While you get teleported (*) Used Blitz-Internal FadeOut-command instead of self-made routine (*) Monster-Animations a bit jerky... bug solved (wrong counter)! (*) Titelbrush too small on the gamescreen -> fixed, now there are ugly glitches if the scorebar is at the bottom of the display:( (*) Extras limited to 10 (*) NOW: when you collect a passwordletter, you get score (*) BONUS if all passwordletters are collected in the RIGHT order! (was Albert's idea, thanks!) (*) USER-LEVEL-support revied, now the GAME-Levels are _also_ on disk, reorganised location of the levels on disk: Game-Levels are now in MonsterNoia/Levels/, User-Levels are in MonsterNoia/Levels/User -> this enables also disk-based users to add as MANY user-levels as they want, as long as they are organised in that directory-structure. (without the need of an additional 'Assign') (*) Keys: first the coloured keys are used, only THEN the grey ones (else this could lead to unfair/unsolvable situations..) (/) Press Fire to what..? (Protect?...) <-- CANCELLED, I don't really think it's necessary to have something to do with the fire-button, and I don't want to implement it anymore;-) (*) use WHOLE Screen (->Scorebar displayed wrong/NOT at all?!) --->Glitches?! --->Work-around: Scorebar 21 pixel from buttom of display (*) Chasemonster: gfx-'bug' fixed: transparent colours removed where they should not be..! (->lead to flickering!) (+) monsters sometimes flickering -> sorry, cannot do much about that, this is a speed problem:( (the display-routine is exe- cuted every 1/50sec already!) (*) Fixed Font for optimal optical appearance;) (*) ->LevelEd enhanced: Show-Bug fixed, Qualifiers supported! (SHIFT, ALT) (*) DOCUMENTATION added, also HTML! -> stick onto Homepage (?) NTSC-Mode should work... Beta-Testers?! @endnode @node "URL-Info" "What the heck is an URL?" @toc "Overview" @next "Source" @prev "History" What is an URL ? ---------------- URL = Universal Resource Locator = Internet(WWW)-Address of a web-site. @endnode @node "Source" "How to get the Source" @toc "Overview" @next "Aminet" @prev "URL-Info" SOURE available NOW! ~~~~~ MonsterNoia 54.6K, BlitzBasic2-source, *well* documented and explained, a real pleasure to read (well, Patrick Suesskind's "Parfum" is propably better:) ), and LevelED 31K, same as above, together for a small fee of normal price...$15 or 20 DM or 150 ATS, cash, P&P not included students.......$10 or 15 DM or 100 ATS, -""- -""- Learning by reading and imitating..! A lot of sophisticated algorithms included..;-) @{"Back to Contents" link "Overview" 0} @endnode @node "Aminet" "Information on Aminet" @toc "Overview" @next "Blitz-Lists" @prev "Source" The infinite world of ...AmiNET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From the cover of Aminet-CD 11 (April 1996): "Aminet® is the world's largest collection of freely distributable Amiga® software. Up to 10,000 users access the vast archives daily, and countless programmers publish initially via Aminet®. Only three years after its inception, Aminet® now holds the equivalent of more than 7,500 floppy disks of software." As you can see with MonsterNOIA, Aminet is really *the* online-source for all kind of excellent software ;-) @endnode @node "Blitz-Lists" "Blitz-Newsgroups" @toc "Overview" @next "HowToInstall" @prev "Aminet" The blitzlists: blitz2-list and blitz3-list ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The blitzlists discuss everything related to Blitz, and you can be sure that someone has an answer to your question if it is re- lated to Blitz... The blitz3-list is more for experienced people, and the level is quite technical (concrete discussions about multiple-plattform- support and serious plans, ideas). To subscribe, just send a mail to majordomo@helsinki.fi with the line "subscribe blitz2-list" or "subscribe blitz3-list". The sub- ject is ignored. I hope I remember the names right; just mail me or visit one of the numerous websites if you don't succeed... @endnode @node "HowToInstall" "INSTALLATION" @toc "Overview" @next "Requirements" @prev "Blitz-Lists" INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ No Assigns needed, just move the drawer to the desired destination (for example 'Work:Games/' or similar) and there you go. Also please do not copy the Fonts to FONTS: , MonsterNoia will not find them there. @endnode @node "Requirements" "REQUIREMENTS" @toc "Overview" @next "NI-info" @prev "HowToInstall" This piece of software requires: - 1 MB of memory (not sure, though; when I started on my A500/1MB, 1 MB was enough, but now I have 2+4MB and cannot check this out) - Kickstart 1.3 _should_ be sufficient, even for the LevelED, be- cause I don't use specific 2.04+-functions, but I cannot verify this...(here is where I need your help, fellow Beta-Testers:) ) - erm..an AMIGA might also come in handy... - MonsterNoia/LevelED have @{"NewIcons" link "NI-info" 0}, but you only need NewIcons if you want to be able to display these nice icons, if NewIcons is not installed, you will not even notice, but just see normal WB- icons (also special, nicely drawn icons:) ). - AGA is not needed, but of course speeds up the game,same is true for FAST-mem. @endnode @node "NI-info" "NewIcons Information" @toc "Overview" @prev "BLITZ-Info" INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEWICONS-SYSTEM by Nicola Salmoria ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note: this is not an 'official' info about NewIcons, but more what I would like to tell you about it. If you want specific/technical information please check the documentation of NewIcons. @{"General info" link "NI-info" 14} - important if you don't know NewIcons @{"Features" link "NI-info" 45} - what it can and why you must have it @{"Where you get it" link "NI-info" 69} - have I made you curious? :-> @{"NEWS" link "NI-info" 75} - version 3 around the corner... @{b}GENERAL INFO@{ub} Most important thing first: This is *NOT* another icon- package with cute icons for every possible purpose you could imagine, BUT it is a totally _new_ approach wich is both *powerful* and easy to use - you won't even no- tice that you use NewIcons once it is installed - what you WILL notice however is that your icons look *good* in every colour-resolution because the colour-data is stored _within_ the icon (actually as 'ToolTypes', but you will only see that if you don't have NewIcons in- stalled - yes, that's why some icons have these weird characters and a line which says "Don't change ..." , these are *NewIcons* ). I think this had to be said, because many people don't understand why it is a good idea to use NewIcons, they are detracted by the isometric-styled icons included in the package, but the _Style_ of the icon is TOTALLY pointless - you can of course use ANY style, only the *format* has to be NewIcons, sothat you can take advan- tage of the many features mentioned below. To all MagicWB-freaks out there: Why oh why don't you save your good work as @{i}NewIcons@{ui}?? I don't like the pa- lette of MagicWB and I don't want to be bound to it, so all MagicWB-icons look really *crap* on my WB. If you used the NewIcons-format, they would look just as you intended them to look, rather than being distor- ted and all over pink/blue/green. @{b}FEATURES@{ub} * enables you to use icons with up to 256 colours-icons and remaps them in real-time (no overhead noticable) ->no more distorted and wrong-coloured icons, but al- ways the *original* / best-possible palette. (on AGA- systems, you will always have the original colours!) * you can simply make a brush into a newicon - imagine using digitised pictures as Icons..! * works even on Kick 2.04 * totally _transparent_ - for the user, everything re- mains the same, but gets much more powerful * DefIcons-system: part of the NewIcons-package, allows you to select default-tools and -icons for files with- out icons. Very efficient and FAST, *many* filetypes are recognised. You can for example define viewers for GIF-files,.... which will automagically appear in the 'Execute'-Box when you doubleclick the fake-icon. * Enables you to change the CrossDOS-icon which really looks a bit too 'peeCee' (DOS-look:( ) * Unique icons for RAM-Disk, CD-ROMs etc. included. * FREE-Ware. <- propably the best:) @{b} WHERE YOU GET IT@{ub} I got it from Aminet (also on CD #11), but there should be other (disk-based?) sources, too. Please get in con- tact with the author / newsgroups if you don't find it. @{fg shine}*@{fg highlight}NEWS@{fg shine}*@{fg text} I read there is a version *3* to be out in summer, but I don't know anything more precise... @endnode