The Bugbomber Readme files ! ! ! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OK it ain't gonna be nothing special and it's not going to pass any A-Levels or anything but it may help a little :) Please read it as it should help you enjoy the game better by providing help as to what does what as well as the complicated (to some) setup of the program! I've tried to add abit of hUmOuR to this readme so it 'should' make good reading! ;) ----------------------------------------------- To start off with, let's sort out installing it! The file 'mainpart' needs to be where it is assigned in the program 'BugBomber'. Confused? Thought so, but it simply means that 'mainpart' has to be in the Bug: assign which you will have to assign in your user-startup (or startup- sequence) in the s drawer of your hard drive or floppy disk but usually where the For example:- assign Bug: Dh0:Games/BugBomberDemo or wherever you put the game should be fine but make sure you call the assign 'Bug:' otherwise the program will go wrong and you'll get the screen all messed up. Of course, for the more adventurous people out there, you could try changing 'Bug:' in the 'BugBomber' file to 'dh0:' and have the 'mainpart' in the root of dh0:, using NewZap or another ASCII/HEX editor. One more thing though, on loading on the 'better' class of machines i.e. AGA and so on, you will probably need to hold the two mouse buttons down when you reboot or turn on the machine so you get the startup-menu-thing (I have no idea what you call it !!!) and change the display type to Original instead of Advanced, etc. Possibly other settings also depending what machine you have! I have only had a A600 and a CD32 SX-1 before so I couldn't tell you what other settings there are to be had! (Sorry) You could always try a degrader of some sort. There are plenty out there. I can always supply you with one if needs be! Right, I think that's the Installation sorted out. In case you want it again then very simply:- - Put BugBomber and Mainpart wherever you like - Assign Bug: to wherever you put the above files - Reboot using the Original display type thing Bob should be your uncle and you should be able to see the starting screen! ----------------------------------------------- Alrighty then, A quick look at how to play the demo. The game is Dynablaster but more complicated! Don't remember which I played first but that's not relevant. I shall attempt to explain all the moves/features as best I can! First up are the controls (gulp):- Help - Lose one life Esc - Quits the current game F1 (on main menu) - Chooses amount of players You cannot quit the game (and it doesn't multitask either so make sure you've saved any work you were doing as you'll have to reboot after you've finished! Up, Down, Left, Right move the guy you control Up, Down, Left, and yep, you guessed it, Right. Now things get more complicated :) Just holding fire and letting go again will drop a block on the location you are standing. The following are moves activated by holding down the fire button and moving the corresponding way on the joystick/joypad/keyboard (Don't worry, you'll see what I mean when you try it!!!):- Direction | Action | En. Points -------------+-----------------------+----------- Up | Drops a bomb | (1) Right | Drops a thunderbolt | (2) Left | Lays a mine | (2) Down X1 | Lays a energy egg | (4) Down X2 | Lays a painter egg | (5) Down X3 | Lays a cruncher egg | (10) Down X4 | Lays a hunter egg | (15) Down X5 | Lays a tank egg | (20) Right, that should have you nicely confused. If you are wondering what 'Down X3' is meant to mean, it means tapping down three times i.e. - Hold Fire Button down - tap down once...twice...and again - Release fire button - Voila, one cruncher egg Be careful not to push/tap another way while doing the process otherwise you end up doing something else instead! Practice is the key. Getting it right is all important in mastering the game. I'll explain what en. points means later! Right, you have the controls there and what they do but what do the things they do do???? Well... ----------------------------------------------- Objects and general info time!!! First, I think I should point out the icons and display on the side of the screen when you start a game. The game screen is split into two areas (roughly):- The area you control the players and the area that shows your player(s) stats. You have your energy level indicated by the numbers, then the picture of your player so you can identify him (or her case you happen to be female!) and a little status box which will show you what your current action is when you push down on fire and (try to) perform a move. It's a handy way of keeping track on where you are in a complicated move i.e. laying a hunter egg! In this game, you have intelligence. Not you but the players rather {though it helps if you do too :) } and this is indicated next to the status box by a sad/happy face. Now this may be obvious but the happier your face is, the more intelligent you are and in order to become 'intelligent', you need to pick up IQ+ icons which randomly appear around the screen. There are a limited amount that appear so help other players by not collecting IQ's if you already have full IQ (very happy face! There is a limit as to how far it will go!). This is also true with energy icons (EN+) which give you 25 energy points (thus en. points - see above) and are vital in survival. Yes, this is a strategic game. There are lots of ways to go about the game but I am not going to spoil it for you. Only if you ask nicely!! On the controls section, I included the amount of energy each action takes (yes, you don't get it all for free you know!) so you do have to make things count on this game! Of course, it doesn't cost any energy points to walk around! (But be wary that the less energy points you have, the slower you go and vice versa, although there is a point where you can't go any faster otherwise... Terrible things could, and probably, Would happen :) Right, the bomb! The bomb will explode after a certain period of time. This all depends upon how much IQ you have (this is an important feature of the IQ. This affects pretty much everything you do really as I shall go on to explain...) as the more IQ you have, the longer it will take to explode! The bomb damages anything in its path so be careful it doesn't damage you!!! (Getting hit in an explosion will take off 25 Energy points! Be careful when you're lacking on points. Get your friends playing with you to help you out!) A mine will do the same as a bomb but obviously won't explode until a) An enemy walks over it (You or the other players don't set it off! Phew!), or b) It has been left for a certain period of time (dependant on IQ again!) A block is a block. Use it for..... I'll let you work that out. It is probably one of the most useful things except from.... The thunderbolt! The weapon of doom against the enemy. Laying one of these will cause those vertical and horizontal lines to be danger zones for the enemy as if an enemy steps into the 'line of fire', the thunderbolt will shoot off and attempt to hit the enemy (like a homing missile!). But of course, it will only stick to the line it is moving along and explode where the enemy was (otherwise it would be a bit to chaotic) so remember to lay a few along the line! Now for the eggs! Remember that they have to a) hatch which takes time (The good ol' IQ factor comes into play again as to how much time!) b) cost more energy points than a simple bomb, mine, etc. (see earlier), and c) The amount of IQ ALSO affects their PERFORMANCE as to what they do and act i.e. walking into enemy mines, etc. A energy egg isn't really used in this demo except for transferring energy from one player to another (tip for you there!) so don't bother with this that much! A painter egg is very useful in that it 'paints' over ANY EGG it crosses, even the enemies (which simply means it will become your follower and part of your team!) so you can gain a great deal of helpers at not much of a cost. It isn't particularly strong so keep this in mind when you are creating it and thinking statistics! A cruncher egg has the simple use of destroying blocks in it's way! Not really useful unless you're trapped in and need to get out without destroying yourself, etc. Hunter eggs are good as they have strong armour and can withstand alot of damage. They try and home in on enemies with the sole purpose of damaging the enemy by ramming it. This does affect the hunter but usually it will survive depending on the strength of the enemy. Tank eggs are the ultimate fighting machine, or are at least meant to be. Basically, they are a strong force that can shoot thunderbolts at the enemy the same way as the players can. Only snag is that they are only any good if you have ALOT of IQ and also that they cost 20 Energy points to produce. Ouch! Overall worth making though. Could be used as a scout or... --------------------------------------------- Just a few other things to keep in mind lastly. Remember too that only a certain amount of hatched creatures i.e. tanks, enemy droids, etc. can be on screen at one time which means that once that limit is reached, nothing else will hatch (including your own eggs) until something is destroyed i.e. a enemy tank, painter, etc. but the eggs don't stop appearing unfortunately. Be careful of a chain reaction when there are so many eggs on the screen as eggs also explode and can lead to a BIG chain reaction as one will explode on to another one which will explode...etc and so on. As this is only a demo, you only get 4 levels but alot of fun can be had (I've played it for HOURS and HOURS. I couldn't tell you how many. Too many probably!) and the only option is how many players you want (1-4) using F1 key. That's it really on the simple terms I will probably update this doc at some point should I get another few hours spare :) so thanks for reading (if you got this far) and I hope to start a user group soonish. I'll probably call it Isolation so keep your eyes out for me. If anyone wants to contact me about anything I've mentioned, would like to swap games - general Amiga talk or if anyone knows where I can get hold of the game (I have it on the C64 so I presume it came out on the Amiga), here's some info :- Email:- Tarquel@Hotmail.com Tarquel@Jafar.clara.net Use top one as won't be able to look at the other that often! :) Snail Mail:- Nathan J. Harmsworth 7 Maes-Yr-Orsaf Aberllefenni Machynlleth Powys SY20 9RS This is Nathan H. signing off. Keep the Amiga Scene going. We shall be as the Phoenix from the Ashes. We shall return and rise again......I'll stop there. Sorry, but I just couldn't resist! :) Bye all, Nathan James Harmsworth aka Tarquel (or Harms on Freetown.com Good chat site!) P.S. Any BBS users around? Of course there is! Check out my friends at:- Daves Place BBS:- 0161 339 5695 Amiga Web BBS:- 01705 355 111 Message to Dave & Chris:- Thanx for all your help. Speak to you again!