Crash:Barrier 1.0 ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- Crash:Barrier is a fast-action, arcade style game. It builds on a familiar game concept and adds exciting innovations. The basic premise is a battle for survival in a series of arenas. Players control a small ship that is constantly moving, leaving a trail of wall behind it. The object is to stake out territory and force the other players to crash before you do. Power-ups, different arenas, and obstacles all add to the gameplay. Blast your opponent with a missile! Use the slide maneuver to cut 'em off! Blow them sky high with the bomb! Crash:Barrier delivers gameplay, not fluffy graphics and fast forward inducing full motion video. No cheat codes, no mercy. Can you handle it? Contents ---------- ---------- 1. Getting Started - Installing and Running Crash:Barrier A. Shareware Version B. Registered Version 2. Controls A. Keyboard 1. Keys #1 2. Keys #2 B. Mouse C. Joystick 1. How to use two joysticks 3. Main Menu A. Game Type B. Controls C. Artificial Intelligence Level D. Stage Select - Start on Stage E. Power-ups F. Exit 4. Playing the Game A. Player Number, Position, Color B. Movement C. Speedup D. Power-ups 1. Bomb 2. Brakes 3. Jump 4. Missile 5. Nitro 6. Slide 5. Game Stages A. Power-ups and Obstacles B. Winning the Game 1. Shareware Version 2. Registered Version 6. Known Issues 7. Contact Information A. How to Register B. Website 8. Credits 9. Legal 10. Thanks A. The Shareware Concept B. Independent Development 1. Getting Started - Installing and Running Crash:Barrier --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Crash:Barrier is a DOS program. Please exit Windows, restart in DOS mode, or use a boot disk before installing or running Crash:Barrier. If you would like to run Crash:Barrier in Windows 95/98 (running in Windows 3.x is not advised), please see the Known Issues section of this document. A. Shareware Version -------------------- To install the shareware version: 1. Make a new directory and copy "crashbsw.exe" into it 2. Run "crashbsw.exe" by typing "crashbsw" at the DOS prompt in this new directory 3. Type "install" 3. Pick your digital audio and midi settings 4. Type "crashb" to start the game B. Registered Version --------------------- To install the registered version: 1. Insert the disk in your disk drive 2. Type "A:install" at the DOS prompt 3. The install program will make a new directory and self extract the files 4. Pick your digital audio and midi settings 5. Type "crashb" to start the game 2. Controls ----------- ----------- Crash:Barrier is playable with keyboard, mouse, and joystick A. Keyboard ----------- Use the following keys to control your ship: 1. Keys #1 ---------- up . speedup left (arrows) right / power-up down or (number pad controls) up 8 7 speedup left 4 6 right 9 power-up 2 down 2. Keys #2 ---------- up W Q or V speedup left A S right E or B power-up Z down No matter which controls you select, the keyboard can always be used to pause the game, toggle the music on and off, and exit the current stage: O toggle music P pause game (press any key to resume) ESC exit to the Main Menu B. Mouse -------- Using the mouse can take some getting used to. Move the mouse in the direction you wish to turn until the ship turns. You don't need to move it once it is facing the right way, only when you need to change direction. Button 1 is speedup, Button 2 is power-up. C. Joystick ----------- Leave the joystick centered until you need to turn. Press the direction you wish to turn to. Button 1 is speedup. Button 2 is power-up. 1. How to use two joysticks --------------------------- If your joystick port/soundcard has two joystick ports, you're in business. Most soundcards/ports only have one input. To use two sticks, you will need to buy an adapter cable. Most computer and game stores will sell a 'Y' adapter. Plug both joysticks into one of these before you start the game. 3. Main Menu ------------ ------------ Selections on the Main Menu are made with the arrow keys. Use Up and Down to select the option to change and Left and Right to change the option's value. A. Game Type ------------ Choose Single Match, Arcade Mode(default), or Demo: Single Match is a single round, after which the game returns to the Menu. Arcade Mode is the meat and potatoes of Crash:Barrier. Players surviving a round in Arcade Mode move on to the next round. Try to complete all the stages! Demo will run a demonstration of the game. B. Controls ----------- Choose a control type for each of the ships. Choose from Keyboard 1, Keyboard 2, Joystick 1, Joystick 2, Mouse, or A.I. Droids 1, 2, 3, or 4. Set control type to None if you would not like a ship in that position. Only 1 human player is allowed in the Shareware Version. C. Artificial Intelligence Level -------------------------------- Select the level of computer artificial intelligence. The higher the number, the more often the computer makes a calculated move. Only level 1 A.I. is available in the Shareware Version. D. Stage Select - Start on Stage -------------------------------- Select the stage to begin the game on. Selecting a stage lower than 1 will select Random stages. The Shareware Version contains fewer stages than the Registered Version. Only stages within the Shareware Version are selectable in that version. E. Power-ups ------------ Select Off or On to determine if Power-ups will appear on the Arena floor. Individual Power-ups can be enabled or disabled as you see fit. F. Exit ------- Select Yes and press Enter(Return) to exit the game to DOS. Select No(default) to continue playing Crash:Barrier. 4. Playing the Game ------------------- ------------------- After selecting game options on the Menu, pressing Enter takes you to the Arena. The bell rings and gameplay begins. Your ship will begin moving forward, leaving a trail of wall behind it. The ship cannot be stopped, but its speed and direction can be changed. Try to stake out as much territory as you can and try to force the other players to crash. Power-ups can be picked up from the Arena floor. Use them to gain an edge over the other ships. The last ship to survive wins the round. Use the keyboard to pause the game by pressing: P pause game (press any key to resume) You can toggle the music on and off by pressing: O toggle music Exit the current stage by pressing: ESC exit to the Main Menu A. Player Number, Position, Color --------------------------------- Player 1 (red) starts on the left side or upper left. Player 2 (blue) starts on the right side or lower right. Player 3 (green) starts on the top side or upper right. Player 4 (yellow) starts on the bottom side or lower left. B. Movement ----------- Your ship is constantly moving forward. Try to conquer as much territory as possible. C. Speedup ---------- Press and hold button #1 to accelerate. D. Power-ups ------------ Press button #2 to use a power-up. Power-ups must be picked up from the arena floor. 1. Bomb ------- Press the button to drop the bomb. After a few ticks it will detonate. Make sure you aren't there. Try to make the enemy be there. (ouch) 2. Brakes --------- Press the button to stop in your tracks. (screech) 3. Jump ------- Press the button to jump into the air, over walls, obstacles. You can also move while in the air. (boing) 4. Missile ---------- Press the button to fire this awesome payload. One hit is all it takes to vaporize anything it hits. (kaboom) 5. Nitro -------- Press the button to engage a powerful nitro boost. Use the speedup at the same time for maximum speed. (zoom) 6. Slide -------- Press the button to engage the slide. Then choose a direction. The ship will slide sideways until it reaches a wall or obstacle. Then it will start out in the direction it is facing. You may use the speedup button at the same time. Use this Power-up to seal off a section of the arena. (squeal) 5. Game Stages -------------- -------------- Crash:Barrier contains 100 stages (14 are available in the Shareware Version). Each stage will feature a different combination of walls, power-ups, and obstacles. A. Power-ups and Obstacles -------------------------- Power-ups appear in all stages (unless turned off on the Menu Screen). Obstacles appear in later stages, with increasing frequency. B. Winning the Game ------------------- The Arcade Mode is the main gameplay mode of Crash:Barrier. Winning a round in Arcade Mode will advance the player to the next stage. After completing a number of stages, a level will be completed and a congratulatory message will appear. If you are able to complete all of the levels, you win! 1. Shareware Version -------------------- The Shareware Version contains 14 of the stages from the Registered Version. After completing these, the game will return to the Main Menu. 2. Registered Version --------------------- The Registered Version includes all 100 stages. Completing all of the stages is no easy task. If you are able to accomplish this, the game will pick random levels to challenge you. 6. Known Issues --------------- --------------- Crash:Barrier is a DOS program. Please exit Windows, restart in DOS mode, or use a boot disk before installing or running Crash:Barrier. Crash:Barrier has been tested on a variety of computers. It should run on just about any IBM compatible, from a midrange 386 to a Pentium III (or future models). It will, however, not run in Windows 3.x due to conflicts with the operating system, sound drivers, and keyboard handling code. It has been tested in Windows 95/98, and should run fine except for the music. A different music driver can be substituted to correct this, but it will interfere with the joystick code. See the next section for details. My recommendation is to always run Crash:Barrier from the DOS command line, as this will assure the best compatibility with your computer. If you would like to try running the game with music in Windows 95/98, run winmusic.com. This will copy a new music driver on top of the standard one. Please be advised that this driver is not compatible with the joystick code, so the joystick will not function correctly when using this driver. To return to the original driver, rerun setup.bat to configure the sound drivers again. A word about the joystick code... The joystick code in Crash:Barrier may or may not run at a satisfactory speed, depending on the computer used to run the game. This is due to limitations in the way the joystick interface for the IBM compatible was originally designed. Strange as it may seem, newer computers may experience slower performance when using the joystick than older ones. Any game that uses an analog joystick will suffer a loss of processor cycles. This effect may be amplified when using a newer computer. Without getting too technical, trying the joystick is the easiest and best way to decide if it is right for you. Note : When the joystick is not being used, there will no effect on game performance. Future games will run the joystick through Windows 95/98 and will support digital control. 7. Contact Information ---------------------- ---------------------- If you would like to register Crash:Barrier, have a technical question and need help, or just have a comment, there are several ways to contact the author. A. How to Register ------------------ Why not register Crash:Barrier and receive a disk containing the full version with extra stages and full features? The Registered Version is only $15.00, shipping (continental U.S.) is included. (U.S. funds only. Sorry, but Crash:Barrier is only available in the United States at this time. Please contact the author for information about foreign sales and shipment.) Simply print out order.txt, fill it out (or write your address information on a blank piece of paper) and send it with payment (personal check, cashier's check, or money order) to: Ian Martin 408 Church St. West Union, WV 26456 See my website for online ordering information! Orders are sent out on the next business day after they are received. Your order will be mailed First Class to arrive within a few days. B. Website ---------- See my website for all this: > Latest information on Crash:Barrier > Shareware versions to download > Information on online ordering > Upcoming Windows 95/98 games > Technical questions > E-mail the author > and more... http://www.homestead.com/ianmartinssoftware 8. Credits ---------- ---------- Producer/Director/Programmer Ian D. Martin Support (moral and otherwise) Heather "Hezzie" Martin Code Ian with glasses Music Ian with long hair Art Ian wearing black Sound Ian breaking stuff Level Design Ian and Hez Without the following people, Crash:Barrier would never have been possible: Al Stevens & Stan Trujilo, Andre Lamothe: for sharing their knowledge in an insider's business. Jason Hall: for his ship appearance help. John Ratcliff: for making sound and music possible. Ted Gruber: for Fastgraph. Neosoft: for NeoPaint. Sound Ideas: for sound effects. Mr. Dobbs: for just being there. Mom and Dad: for planting the seed with my first Atari computer. 9. Legal -------- -------- Crash:Barrier (C)Copyright 1999, Ian D. Martin General MIDI patches (c) 1994 The Fat Man and K. Weston Phelan LHA version 2.55b Copyright(c) Haruyasu Yoshizaki, 1988-92 Please see the files license.txt and vendor.txt for additional legal information. 10. Thanks ---------- ---------- Thanks for playing Crash:Barrier. This is a game player's game, made by someone with a genuine love of video games. This is also the first game I have ever released to the public. I hope you enjoy it. A. The Shareware Concept ------------------------ What is Shareware? Shareware is a marketing concept in which a portion of a software package is released free of charge for demonstration purposes. People can download and freely distribute this "Shareware Version" to "try before they buy." The idea is, if they like the software they will pay to register it with the author. Customers who register are rewarded with the latest version of the software or (as is the case with Crash:Barrier) a superior "Registered Version" with more game levels and features not available in the shareware version. It is the shareware concept that allows games like Crash:Barrier to be published. B. Independent Development -------------------------- Crash:Barrier was developed by one individual with a very small budget. It is because of people who support the shareware concept that it is possible for an individual or small company to release a software project. The costs involved in a major commercial retail release are beyond what an independent developer could afford. Thanks to all of the people and organizations that support shareware, independent voices can be heard, and true innovation is possible.