********************************************* * A R C A D E D A R T S (DEMO VERSION) * ********************************************* This is a demo version. The full game featuring 6 different dart games, 16 computer opponents, high-score tables and much more is available from all F1 Licenceware dealers. About Arcade Darts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcade Darts is for anyone who occasionally fancies a game of darts but can't find either a dartboard or someone to play with ! With a selection of different games to play, a range of computer opponents and sampled speech too, it could turn you into a darts master without the need to develop a beer belly ! Installing onto a Hard Disk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have enough memory available you can run Arcade Darts from hard disk. Firstly, create a drawer on your hard disk called Arcade Darts. Then copy all of the files from the disk, into the new drawer, with the exception of... c (dir) Fonts (dir) - However, you must copy the ADScore.font and ADOptions.font and ADScore and ADOptions directories into the fonts directory on your hard disk libs (dir) s (dir) Disk.info system-configuration Finally, if you wish to read the doc file from the hard disk, you will need to edit the path name in the doc .info file. Simply amend it so that it corresponds to wherever your text reader (eg. More) is located on your hard disk. Loading Arcade Darts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcade Darts will run on any Amiga with at least 1 Mb of chip memory (graphics memory) and a PAL display. However, the sampled speech option requires at least 1.5 Mb. If you only have 1 Mb of chip memory you will need to disable any hard disk and external drives, to free enough memory for the game to run properly. To load the game, simply double click on the Arcade Darts icon. Once loaded, there will be a short delay while the program de-crunches. If you have enough chip memory available, the speech samples will be loaded automatically and the speech option will be selected on the options screen. Options Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following options can be accessed with the mouse. START GAME - Starts a game. (See Playing Arcade Darts). GAME - Selects from available games. (See Game Rules). TYPE - Selects from available game types. (See Game Types). OPTIONS1 - Selects from available game options. (If applicable). OPTIONS2 - Selects from available game options. (If applicable). PLAYERS - Alters the number of human players. (See Players). SPEECH - Toggles speech on/off. (Only available with sufficient memory). HIGH-SCORES - Displays high-score table for the currently selected game and game type. (If applicable). Mouse button returns you to the options screen. RULES - Displays rules for the currently selected game. ABOUT - Displays credits and program details, including memory available. Mouse button returns to options screen. QUIT - Exits the game. Playing Arcade Darts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After selecting Start Game from the options screen, a list of players taking part in the game is displayed. Pressing the mouse button will take you onto the game screen. On the right hand side of the game screen is the scoreboard where the players names and scores are displayed. The player whose turn it is currently, is highlighted in white. Below the scoreboard is a small window which indicates where the last dart landed and below this is the Power/Throw indicator. The main display is on the left and it shows the board and player's hand and dart. The player's hand is controlled with the mouse, although the player only has a certain amount of influence over its movement. The hand will drift around the board and it will take some practice to gain any real measure of control. The dart is thrown by pressing and holding down the left mouse button. The length of time the button is held down will determine the strength with which the dart is thrown. This Power is displayed on the indicator below the scoreboard. Once released the Throw bar on the indicator will start to move and a further press on the mouse will determine the release point, and thus the flight of the dart. Too soon and the dart will veer off to the left, too late and it will swerve to the right. Stopping the Throw bar level with the light blue line will give a straight throw. With practice you will be able to compensate for any small lack of accuracy of aiming, by using more or less power, and adjusting the release of the dart, to cause the dart to fly to the left or right. Remember, the sequence for each throw is... Aim - Press and hold - Release - Press The score for each dart is displayed below the scoreboard. Any dart landing off the board, or bouncing out after hitting a wire or another dart will be shown as ****. At any time during play the current game may be quit by pressing Esc. When the game is finished a press of the mouse button will return you to the options screen, unless a challenge game is being played, in which case your current score will be shown before your game continues. If, at the end of a challenge game, a high score/best time has been achieved the player will be asked to input their name and the new table will displayed. The computer will then attempt to save the updated high-scores onto your disk. If your disk is write-protected a requester will appear, allowing you to write-enable the disk and retry, or cancel the save. You are recommended to leave your disk write-enabled to allow this data to be continually updated. During play the board will become marked by the darts just like a real dartboard does. But of course, each time you load the game, you will start with a completely new board again. Game Rules ~~~~~~~~~~ 301/501 ~~~~~~~ This is the standard game played on dartboards everywhere. Each player starts with 301 or 501, depending upon the version being played. They each have a turn at the board and their score is reduced by the total of their three darts. The game is won by the player who finally reduces their score to zero by hitting a double of any number or the bullseye. If the score is reduced to less than zero by the dart or darts a player has thrown then their score reverts to what it was before the current turn, and any darts remaining for this turn are forfeited. When this happens the player is said to have 'Bust'. A variation is that each player must start by hitting a double in addition to finishing on one. None of a player's darts will count until a double is achieved. Mickey Mouse ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This game is also called 'Tactics', and for good reason. For this game only the numbers 10-20 are used along with the bull. Players throw at these numbers. Each hit earns a cross against that number. Doubles count as two hits and trebles as three. The inner bull counts as two hits on the bull with the outer bull counting as only one hit. When three hits have been achieved on a number the player is able to score on it. Any further hits on it resulting in the normal value of the dart counting towards the player's score. However, once both players have acquired three hits on the same number it is wiped off the board and takes no further part in the game. The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner. The game ending when the player with the lower total has no numbers left on which to score. Shove Ha'penny ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the name suggests this game is based upon the old English game of 'Shove Ha'penny'. Each player endeavours to score three hits on each of the numbers 1-9, in any order. Doubles count as two hits and trebles as three. The first player to complete their side of the board by scoring three hits on all of the numbers wins. However, should a player score more than three hits on any number, the extra hits are scored to their opponent. Though they cannot be used to complete the opponents side of the board to win the game. Round the Board ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is another well known dart game which is played far and wide and often used by darts players as a method of practice. Each player starts at 1 and has to hit each number in ascending order, ending with an outer and inner bull. The first player to go 'Round the Board' and hit the outer and inner bull is the winner. Variations have the players needing to score doubles, or trebles of the numbers instead of singles. Killer ~~~~~~ This is a game played by a group of players and as the name suggests the aim is to 'kill' or eliminate all of the other players in the game. Each player starts by throwing with their 'wrong' hand until everyone has hit their own individual number. (In Arcade Darts these numbers are automatically chosen at random). Each player's number is then marked next to their name on the scoreboard. The game proper now commences with players in turn trying to hit the double of their own number. When they do so they become a 'killer' and this is represented by a 'K' next to their name on the scoreboard. Once a player is a 'killer' they may go for any of the other players' doubles. Whenever one of these is hit that player loses a life. If a 'killer' hits their own double then they lose one of their own lives. When a player loses all of their lives they are out of the game. The last player left in the game being the winner. A variation is that 'killers' can only 'kill' 'non-killers' until all players have become 'killers'. This makes for an even more vicious game. Shanghai ~~~~~~~~ This game for a group of players is unusual in that it includes a special shot which is named after the game itself. The game starts with each player throwing for the number 1, scoring normal value for their three darts. They repeat the process for each of the numbers 2,3,4,5,6 & 7. The player with the highest total at the end wins. There is, however, the special shot known as 'Shanghai' which will win the game automatically. It occurs when a player hits a single, double and treble of the current number. When this happens the remaining players still have their throws at the number and if any of them can score a 'Shanghai' too then the game continues as normal. A variation has players automatically being eliminated from the game if they fail to score when throwing at the numbers 3,5 & 7. Game Types ~~~~~~~~~~ There are three game types available in Arcade Darts:- Single Game - One off game for 1 or more human players Challenge - 1 player only game which has the player trying to beat all 16 computer opponents and set a new high-score. Speed Challenge - 1 player game played against the clock in an attempt to set a new best time. The following game types are available for each of the games:- 301/501 - Single Game/Challenge Mickey Mouse - Single Game/Challenge Shove Ha'penny - Single Game/Challenge Round the Board - Single Game/Speed Challenge Killer - Single Game Shanghai - Single Game Players ~~~~~~~ The 16 computer opponents in ranking order are:- 1. Eric Bristow 2. Phil Taylor 3. John Lowe 4. Dennis Priestly 5. Bob Anderson 6. Jocky Wilson 7. Keith Dellor 8. Dave Whitcombe 9. Peter Evison 10. Steve Beaton 11. Cliff Lazarenko 12. Mike Gregory 13. Stefan Lord 14. Richie Burnett 15. Bobby George 16. Leighton Rees Each of the 2 player games can be played with either 1 or 2 human players (according to the game type) and the multi-player games can be played with 1-8 human players. The computer will automatically select any other players needed from the 8 lower ranking computer players. Hints and Tips ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Try to control the hand using small movements of the mouse. As soon as you press the mouse button to make a throw, concentrate on the Power/Throw indicator, and ignore the hand and dart altogether. In challenge games there are bonus points awarded for the margin of victory and the number of darts used. These bonuses can boost your score significantly. Think about the tactics necessary for the game you're playing. For example when playing 301/501 try to leave yourself a good double to finish on. Double 16 is one of the best as hitting a single will leave you double 8, then double 4 and so on. Acknowledgments ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many thanks to Simon Dew for testing the game out. Copyright notice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcade Darts is © Copyright 1996 by Rob Massey All Rights are Reserved Worldwide Also available by the same author ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ASTRONUTTY - A brain-teasing platform/puzzler set in outer-space. Guide Astronutty through all 200 levels and get him home in time for tea ! A must for fans of Pushover/Lemmings. WINNING POST - Horse racing betting simulation for 1-6 players. Consisting of 2 disks (hard disk installable) and featuring sampled speech commentary. Study the form, place your bets and cross your fingers. Will you win a fortune ? ...Or lose your shirt ? BUGGLES - An unusual type of platform game starring Buggles the space flea. Needing dexterity, timing and a fair amount of lateral thinking it has extras to collect, puzzles to solve and 100 levels to escape from.