================================ | DA | ================================ copyright (c) 1990 Michael Heyda SHAREWARE: (PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE SECTION, JUST THE FIRST TWO LINES ARE BORING) This program is Shareware. In short, that means that if you like this game and play it often you are required to send the author a contribution or delete the game. From past experience with a program I released about a year ago the above statement mean didly squat to anybody - I didn't recieve anything! So, this time I am giving an incentive: if you send me a $7.00 contribution you will recieve Da II. Da II, which I will finish by the fourth quarter of 1990, will have two player modem support for playing Head to Head over the modem, EGA/VGA graphics with special effects in VGA including fades and smoothly falling pieces in both EGA and VGA modes. All this for just $7.00! What a bargain! Not to mention you get the terrible guilty feeling of your mind that you destroyed a programmer's future by not sending your contribution. Thanks for your contribution - I know you'll send one once you see the game! Send the $7.00 contribuion to: Michael Heyda 3332 Foxford Ct. Doraville, Ga. 30340-4442 Be sure to include you name and full mailing address so that I may send you Da II as soon as it is released. Also specify your choice of a 5.25" or 3.5" disk. THE CONCEPT BEHIND DA: Da started from the combination of two ideas. The first was of course Tetris which is put out by Spectrum Holobyte. In Tetris, blocks fall and you rotate them, move them left and right and eventually drop them into the pit. Rows disappear when you completed one all the way across the width of the pit. You lose when the blocks in the pit reach to the top. The second part of Da is Columns which was written by Jay Geertsen and Nathan Meyers. In Columns, blocks three high and one wide fall and you move them left and right. Each part of the block is a different color (3 in all) and you rotate through the colors. When the piece is dropped to the bottom of the pit if three or more of the same color matched up horizontally, vertically, or diagonally those pieces disappeared. Da is a combination of these two games. Using Tetris pieces and colors like Columns Da allows pieces to fall out of the pit by rows or by matching colors. Tetris and Columns both had major limitations which Da does not. First of all the pit size was always the same which gave the game no variety. In Da the put size may be changed from 4 x 4 to 38 x 24. Second, the block in Columns was always the same and Tetris only had seven blocks in all. Da has twenty-six different blocks. Some of these blocks go far beyond standard looking Tetris pieces and make the game extremely challenging. The advanced blocks can be turned on or off using a menu option. Finally, neither Tetris nor Columns allowed for competition between two players. Da is a one or two player game in which the pit size can vary between 4 x 4 to 18 x 23. I hope you enjoy playing this game as much as I enjoyed writting it. STARTING DA: Da is very simple to start. At the command line type "DA" (without the quotes) and press ENTER. If NumLock is not currently on the program will ask you to turn in on it. The high score screen will then appear. If there is no high score file already on disk one will be created. THE SELECTION MENU: Below the high score display will be the selection menu. This menu will allow you to set the options you want. Using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. The left and right arrows (4 and 6 keys) change the option that is currently highlighted in blue. The up and down arrows (8 and 2 keys) move to the next option. The options are as follows: Number of players: This allows you to change the number of players (either one or two) that will play. Default is one. Mode of play: This allows you to change the mode in which Da will be played. Tetris mode does not use multi-color pieces and does not take pieces out by colors. Columns mode uses a 1 x 3 piece and does not take pieces out by row. Da uses multi-color pieces and different shapes and takes pieces out by row and color. Default is Da mode. Block set: There are five different block set and each one includes all of the blocks of its predecessor. The block sets are the Tetris (standard Tetris pieces), Extended, Super, Disconnected and Ridiculous. If Columns mode is used the block set option has no effect. Default is Tetris set. Width of pit: This allows you to change the width of the pit from 4 to 38. If two players are playing and the width is left set higher than 18 the width will be reduced to 18. Default is 10. Depth of pit: This allows you to change the depth of the pit from 4 to 24. If two players are playing and the depth is set at 24 it will be reduced to 23. Default is 20. Starting level: This allows you to change the starting level to 1 through 9. Higher levels give you more points for taking out rows or colors but the pieces also fall faster. Default is 1. Head to Head: This allows you to select the number of rows that must be taken out in order to give the other person a row. It also determines if the spacebar is active. SPACE means that the spacebar causes a universal drop. If SPACE is not next to Head to Head it is not on. Sound: This allows you to turn the sound on and off. This option may also be changed during the game by pressing the "o" key. Default is on. Quit: Selecting Yes and pressing ENTER will exit the game. This option should not be changed until you want to quit Da. After setting all the options to what you want press ENTER and the game will begin. THE KEYS: Player 1: "4": move the piece to the left "6": move the piece to the right "5": rotate the piece "8": rotate the colors "2": drop the piece all the way "3": drop the piece one line Player 2: "a": move the piece to the left "d": move the piece to the right "s": rotate the piece "w": rotate the colors "x": drop the piece all the way "c": drop the piece one line Other keys: "p": pause the game "t": terminate (quit) the game "o": turn sound on/off SPACE: explained in HEAD TO HEAD PLAYING TETRIS MODE: In Tetris mode a piece will begin falling from the top. Move it left or right and rotate it until it is the way you want it and then drop it all the way to the bottom. Another piece will then appear. Manipulate this piece and drop it. Another piece will appear and so on. The objective in Tetris is to fill up a row across the pit. When it is filled it will disappear. The more rows you take out the higher your score. When a block is left touching the top of the pit the game ends. PLAYING COLUMNS MODE: In Columns mode a multi-color 1 x 3 piece fall from the top. Move it left or right and rotate the colors to the way you want them and then drop the piece. When another piece come do the same to it. The objective in Columns is to put three or more colors together horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. When you do those pieces that are together will disappear. The more pieces you take out the higher your score. When a block is left touching the top of the pit the game ends. PLAYING DA MODE: In Da mode a multi-color piece will fall from the top. Move it left or right, rotate the piece and the colors to the way you want them and the drop it all the way to the bottom. If a row is filled up it will disappear. If three or more colors are lined up horizontally, vertically, or diagonally those pieces will disappear. The objective is to take out as many rows or pieces as you can. The more you take out the higher your score. HEAD TO HEAD: Two player mode is the most exciting and challenging way to play any mode. In two player mode the SPACE BAR works as the universal drop key. Once one player has his piece lined up and ready to drop he can reach over and press the SPACE BAR. Doing so will result in both his piece and the other player piece dropping immediatly all the down till it lands. This can mess up the other player by dropping his piece somewhere he doesn't want it. Also, with two players in either Tetris or Da mode dropping the number of rows specified in the Head to Head option will cause the other person to get a row with a least one empty block in it. This system operates on row credits. When a player drops the number of specified rows he gets a row credit and the other player gets a row credit taken away. If the other player has negative row credits a row appears on his side. If he has positive credits no row will appear. To really understand this play the game a few times. AFTER THE GAME: Once a player reaches the top of the screen the game is over. The program will then ask you to enter your name if you have a hi score. It will specify which player when it asks. You may then enter your name (up to 17 characters - the program will truncate anything past 17). You will then be put back to the startup screen with the current options remaining. THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING: Beta-Testers: Theresa Coleman Blake Bilbro Mikka Kangas Matthew Pease Hunter Medney Noreen Heyda