THE FROG GAME ------------- PLEASE NOTE THAT this game is written in AMOS Pro, and will open a custom 640 x 512 hi-res screen. The game has not been tested on Amigas enhanced with a graphics card. Users should be aware also that software written in AMOS Pro will not easily multitask with other software they may be running on their Amiga. Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note that the program may be supplied as an archived (frog9909.lha), in which case unarchive the files to a directory of your choice on your hard drive. Otherwise, to install the frog game onto a hard disk, simply copy the frog drawer and all its contents onto the desired partition and directory on the hard disk. No additional libraries, devices, etc are required to run the game. To uninstall the frog game from the hard disk, delete the frog drawer and all of its contents. Purpose of the game ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The purpose of the game, which is played with a joystick, is to guide your frog up the field, eating as much food as possible while at the same time avoiding various dangers such as cars and snakes. There are also mazes to be negotiated and rivers to be crossed, and all the time the screen is scrolling down, forcing the frog to move forward. Points are scored for eating flies (100pts each), spiders (200pts each), and slugs (500pts each). A bonus of up to 5,000pts is also available for completing each level. However, every time the frog moves, the bonus decreases: moving forward costs 1pt, moving sideways costs 5pts and moving backwards costs 25pts. At the end of each level, the remaining bonus is multiplied by the bonusmultiplier, and the result is added to the score. At the start of the game, the bonusmultiplier is set at 1, but this can be increased by eating enough flies, spiders and slugs: eating 150 flies increases the bonusmultiplier by 1, eating 100 spider increases the bonusmultiplier by 3, and eating 50 slugs increases the bonusmultiplier by 5. When the bonusmultiplier reaches 25, an extra life is awarded, and the bonusmultiplier is reset to 5. Killing the frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are a number of ways in which the frog can die. It can: be poisoned by a toadstool, or overdose on too many drugs from poppies and mushrooms, or get eaten by a venus frog trap, a tarantula, or a snake, or get run over by a car on the motorway, or drown in the river. The frog can gain protection against attach from snakes, tarantulas and the effects of drugs, by eating medicinal herbs: antivenom herbs, slime herbs and antidrug herbs. In order to get home, the frog will need to cross a number of motorways and rivers. Crossing the motorway is simple - all the frog needs to do is avoid the traffic rushing along the road. To cross the river, the frog will need to jump onto logs floating up and down the river, or waterlilies, or even islands. The frog starts with 5 lives. When the frog is killed, one life is lost, the bonusmultiplier is reset to 1, the frog loses its larder of flies, spiders and slugs, and the level is restarted. The game ends once all five lives are lost. Hints and tips ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. The wise frog thinks before it moves - sometimes, when the bonusmultiplier is high, the cost of the move is more than the value of the food. 2. The wise frog does not go round headbutting maze walls. Pain costs points. 3. The wise frog doesn't play on the motorways - while sometimes the frog will survive contact with a car, more often than not the frog will end up dead. 4. The wise frog knows that water is poisonous, but - falling off a log will not always end in death, and the frog will be able to jump back onto the log when it returns. 5. The wise frog keeps away from the edges of the field - some food is just out of reach. And riding a log out of the field leads to instant death. Credits & info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The frog game was inspired by "Frogger" and "Pacman", but isnt quite the same... The frog game was written by me, Rik Roots, using AMOS Pro, and compiled using the AMOS Pro Compiler. The program is offered as FREEWARE, and can be freely distributed by whoever, whenever. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE PAID MONEY TO GET THIS PROGRAM, except for the costs of the disk it comes on, and carriage fees. Note that I can take no responsibility for any damage that this program may cause to your system. Caveat Emptor! Development plans ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next version of the frog game will include the following: Better graphics (arguably), including a smoother scrolling routine Better frog movement, possibly animating the frog, including more responsive movement when a large number of snakes are added to a level. Sound effects (hopefully) Background music (though I make no promises on this) Pause and save features Perhaps a two player version? Additional suggestions, and comments, are welcome and can be e-mailed to me at: rikroots@enterprise.net THE FROG LEVEL EDITOR --------------------- To add to the gameplay, a level editor is included in the distribution. The editor is fairly simple to use - select a brush and paint with it. Left mouse key clicks will stamp an icon onto the screen; right mouse clicks will erase the icon. The easiest way to learn how to use the editor is to use it. Levels can be tested as they are being designed, at the press of a button. You should note the difference between bobs and icons. You are restricted to using a maximum of 14 bobs (logs, cars, lily pads, tarantulas, frog traps, snakes) on each level, but you can use as many icons (flies, spiders, slugs, mushrooms, herbs, toadstools, walls, rocks, ponds roads) as you wish on each level. You will notice that the screen will scroll faster the longer the game is played. This is controlled automatically and cannot be preset in the level editor. Be aware that snakes are better at hunting the frog depending on the level being played. Snakes will track the frog 40% of the time on level 1; this rises to 100% of the time on level 60. The differences between vipers and grass snakes are: Grass snakes can move diagonally, and can cross rivers and roads. They cannot move into spaces occupied by other icons Vipers can only move horizontally and vertically, and they cannot cross rivers, roads, rocks or walls. They can however move into spaces occupied by other icons, which they will eat. The more snakes that are added to a level, the slower the frog will respond to joystick. The only other thing to note is the choice of two save options: with, or without, an .iff file. - saving the level with an associated .iff file saves time when loading the level during gameplay, but takes up a lot of disk space - saving the level without an associated .iff file saves disk space, but takes longer to load during gameplay Rik Roots Homerton, London August 1999