@DATABASE BallMaster.guide @AUTHOR "Damir Arh" @(C) "(C) 1998 by DIGITAL AMIGA DREAM - D.A.D. Kranj, Slovenia" @$VER: BallMaster.guide 1.4 (27.09.98) @NODE main "Contents" @{b}BallMaster V1.1@{ub} 1. @{"Introduction" LINK intro} 2. @{"Main menu" LINK menu} 3. @{"Options" LINK options} 4. @{"Instructions" LINK instructions} 5. @{"Information panel" LINK info} 6. @{"Game elements" LINK elements} 7. @{"Distribution" LINK distribution} 8. @{"Registering" LINK full} 9. @{"Support" LINK support} 10. @{"Feedback" LINK feedback} 11. @{"History" LINK history} 12. @{"Future of the game" LINK future} 13. @{"Credits" LINK credits} (C) 1998 DIGITAL AMIGA DREAM Digital Amiga Dream is a registered trademark of Amiga Computer Club D.A.D. Kranj, Slovenia Amiga računalniški klub D.A.D. Kranj, Slovenija @ENDNODE @NODE intro "Introduction" This is a puzzle game with a simple basic idea and (hopefully) addictive gameplay. You can easily learn how to play it without long manuals and instructions. It is based on an old game, named Logical, which works only on Amigas with 68000 processor and Kickstart 1.3. My game tries to bring the idea of this old game onto today's hardware and also tries to extend the original game with some new ideas. There are two versions of the game (AGA and ECS), each available in their own archive on Aminet. They differ only in quality of graphics so that this guide file is the same. @ENDNODE @NODE menu "Main menu" You can choose among: @{b}START GAME@{ub} - Starts @{"the game" LINK instructions} at the very beginning. @{b}ENTER PASSWORD@{ub} - You can enter password here and continue playing from a later level. (Not available in @{"unregistered" LINK full} version.) @{b}OPTIONS@{ub} - Brings you to the @{"options" LINK options} screen. (Not available in @{"unregistered" LINK full} version.) @{b}ABOUT@{ub} - Shows the @{"credits" LINK credits} screen with info on the game version. @{b}QUIT GAME@{ub} - Quits the game. (What else?) @ENDNODE @NODE options "Options" Following options are available: @{b}Sound on/off@{ub} - Turns sound effects on or off. @{b}Music on/off@{ub} - Turns in-game music on or off. @{b}Profi mode on/off@{ub} - Turns profi mode on or off. @{i}Explanation:@{ui} In profi mode you can fill every wheel only once (after the green light is turned on, a full wheel won't be emptied any more), whereas in normal mode you can fill every wheel as often as you want, but at least once. @ENDNODE @NODE instructions "Instructions" The gameplay is really simple. On the top of the screen there is a tube with a small ball running left and right. This ball leaves the tube as soon as there is an "empty" wheel right below it. You can rotate the wheel using the right mouse button. With the left mouse button you can send the ball out of the whell into a tube. (You can't send it back to the top tube.) The aim of the game is to fill every single wheel with four balls of the same colour. Once you fill a wheel, these balls will disappear and the red light in the middle of the wheel will turn green. As soon as you turn all the lights green, you will proceed to the next level. There is one more important thing - there are two different time limits: - the first one is the time limit for the whole level (diplayed in the @{"information panel" LINK info}) - the second one is the time limit for the ball to leave the top tube (it's displayed as a bar above this tube) You can get additional information about the gameplay in the @{"game elements" LINK elements} section. @ENDNODE @NODE info "Information panel" The information panel is situated at the bottom of the screen. From left to right it contains following information: @{b}TIME@{ub} - time available to finish the level @{b}LEFT@{ub} - number of wheels, you still have to fill to complete the level @{b}ORDER@{ub} - the order of colours you have to fill the wheels with (read it from left to right) @{i}Explanation:@{ui} If the five black holes are filled with balls of different colours, it means that only the wheel filled with balls of the same colour as the leftmost ball in the order panel will be regarded as full (ie. will be emptied). @{b}CODE@{ub} - the combination of colours that is required to fill a wheel (bonus time award is shown as a bar under it) @{i}Explanation:@{ui} If this display is active the wheels with four balls of the same colour will not be regarded as full. First you have to make the combination shown (It means that you have to fill a wheel with the balls in the same colour manner as it's shown here.) and first when you do that, you can proceed with regular game. If you make the combination required fast enough you get additional time to complete the level. @{b}NEXT@{ub} - the next ball to appear in the top tube @ENDNODE @NODE elements "Game elements" In this section you can read about all the elements that are present in the game: @{b}BALLS@{ub} - There are balls of four basic colours in the game: red, yellow, green and blue. Everything else regarding the balls has already been explained in previous sections. @{b}JOKER BALL@{ub} - In some levels a special white ball (joker) appears from time to time. This ball can take place of any ordinary ball. It is regarded as red, yellow, green or blue - whatever is most suitable in current situation. @{b}TUBES@{ub} - The place, where the balls are moving. @{b}WHEEL@{ub} - A place for storing the balls. It was already axplained in previous sections. It rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise. That depends on its sort. @{b}AUTO-WHEEL@{ub} - The same as wheel, only that it rotates by itself and you can't rotate it yourself. @{b}ARROWS@{ub} - They are placed on tubes and specify the way in which the balls can move through the tube. @{b}COLOUR FILTERS@{ub} - They specify balls of which colour can move through the tube. @{b}COLOUR MACHINES@{ub} - They change the colour of balls that move through such tube. @{b}TELEPORT@{ub} - There are always two of them in the level. The ball that enters one of them, appears in the other one and continues to move in the same direction. @ENDNODE @NODE distribution "Distribution" This game is distributed as @{b}Shareware@{ub}. It means that you can freely distribute the game as long as you keep complete and unmodified game archive and you don't make any own profit out of it. You may use the game for a 14 days test period to evaluate it. After that you should either @{"register" LINK full} it or delete it from your disk. The game may be included on CD compilations (Aminet, Fred Fish and the like), the same goes for magazine cover CDs and cover disks, but in this case I would be glad if you let me know about it and maybe even send me a free copy of the magazine. @ENDNODE @NODE full "Registering" As you will soon notice (or probably already have), this version of the game contains only ten levels. To get access to all 100 levels, you have to register. Upon registration you will receive a personal keyfile that allows you to play the whole game and will also enable options and password entering. The keyfile will work with all future updates unless there's going to be a huge upgrade to the game (v2.0) in which case there will be an upgrade offer for all registered users. To register you should send @{i}10 USD@{ui} (@{i}7 GBP @{ui}or @{i}20 DEM@{ui}) in cash (no coins) to my home address together with your full name and e-mail address. I will then send you the keyfile @{b}via e-mail@{ub}. If you send me @{i}15 USD@{ui} (@{i}10 GBP @{ui}or @{i}30 DEM@{ui}) together with your full name and home address, I'll send you the keyfile together with the latest version of the game on a disk @{b}via common mail@{ub}. @ENDNODE @NODE support "Support" The latest version of the game is always available from Aminet: @{b}game/think/BallMasterAGA.lha@{ub} @{b}game/think/BallMasterECS.lha@{ub} The game also has an official support web page, where you can find all the latest info on the game. You can visit it at: @{b}http://www2.arnes.si/~gkrjes12/ballmaster/@{ub} @ENDNODE @NODE feedback "Feedback" You can contact me: @{u}E-mail:@{uu} @{b}damir.arh@guest.arnes.si@{ub} @{u}S-mail:@{uu} @{b}Damir Arh Titova 89 4270 Jesenice Slovenija@{ub} My personal homepage: @{b}http://www2.arnes.si/~gkrjes12/@{ub} @ENDNODE @NODE history "History" @{i}v0.05-v0.1:@{ui} - internal testing versions @{i}v0.2 (05.05.98):@{ui} - first public release @{i}v0.21 (27.05.98):@{ui} - ECS version of the game added - some file renaming @{i}v0.3-v0.8:@{ui} - internal testing versions @{i}v1.0 (08.09.98):@{ui} - first full game release @{i}v1.1 (27.09.98):@{ui} - improved the music - implemented the possibility of playing in-game music and sound effects at the same time - minor change in unregistered version @ENDNODE @NODE future "Future of the game" Future plans for the game are: - highscores - better level graphics - more sets of pictures, levels and sound effects - support for higher screen resolutions - level editor - your own ideas But it all depends on your response and the number of @{"registered" LINK full} users. @ENDNODE @NODE credits "Credits" And the people responsible for existance of this game are: @{i}@{u}Credits:@{uu}@{ui} @{b}DAMIR ARH@{ub} - leader of the project, code, levels and sound effects @{b}UROS BOGATAJ@{ub} - graphics @{b}MARCUS JOHANSSON@{ub} - music @{i}@{u}Thanks go to:@{uu}@{ui} Gregor Kavcic Curt Esser Vinko Arh Peter Elzner Jon Aslund Michael Taylor Simon Kempster Pieter Frenssen @ENDNODE