PC-SIG: World of Games/PC-SIG World of Games (CDRM1080710) (1993).iso/2673/EGL_RISE.DOC

Text File | 1991-06-07 | 13KB | 347 lines

INSTALLATION
    To install  RISE-EGL,  type from the  DOS
command line:

COPY A:*.* <new path name>  <ENTER>

where you substitute for <new path name> either
B: or  C:   or C: followed  by  some  directory
name,  depending on where you want the files to
go. For example,

C:>COPY A:*.* C:\FREEWARE\EGL

If the distribution disk is not  in the A: drive,
replace the A: above with the appropriate letter.
This should copy the following files:

EGL.EXE            The program
DRAW.EXE        The font program
RISE-EGL.DOC        This file
GAMES.EGL        The Games Collection file
RISE.EGL        The Rise & Fall of the Human Race file
INTRO.EGL        The Intro/instructions/information file
DEMO.EGL        The Demonstration file
DEMO.BAT        A text file consisting of only:   EGL DEMO
FONT.VGA        The VGA font file
FONT.EGA        The EGA font file
FONT.CGA        The CGA font file
FONT.HGA        The Hercules font file
FONT.NGA        The text mode font file


    Then,  to run  the  program,  change  the
directory to the appropriate  directory or change
the logged disk drive to the appropriate one, and
type:

EGL   <ENTER>

****************************************************************
████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
████████The information which follows is available inside ██████
████████the program by  pressing <F1> from the main menu. ██████
████████Although  it can be a  little slower than reading ██████
████████a simple text file, it is recommended you do that.██████
████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
****************************************************************

#########"Esprit de E Games Language"#############
#### plus "The Rise & Fall of the Human Race"#####
##################################################

INTRODUCTION
    Congratulations on your purchase  of this
product.  This product  includes  two quite large
games, the Games Collection,  comprising over  20
completely different games and 'The Rise and Fall
of the  Human Race'  (RISE)  an  arcade / graphic
adventure of  25 levels.  These were both written
in an arcade-game language called  'EGL'  (Esprit
de E Games Language) which comes included in this
product.   If you want  to create  your own games
with EGL,  you will have to pay only  $39  to get
the  manual  and  the  password   (this  includes
registration).  There  is more  info on  creating
your own games on the 7th screen, and information
about registering on the next screen.

THE SHAREWARE CONCEPT:
    This is a  ShareWare product.  This means
anyone is free  to make  and  distribute  as many
copies of  this  program  as they  like,  without
paying  me  (as the  programmer / developer)  any
money.  However,  the users  of this  program are
required to 'register' if they use it a lot. This
means that  if you try out this program,  and you
like it, you should then pay for your copy.  (You
are  reminded of this  3  times during the  Games
Collection and RISE).  On the other hand,  if you
don't like it, don't use it and don't register.
    ShareWare is  potentially a vastly better
method of  software distribution  than the normal
commercial methods.
    You are free to give your friends  copies
of this program, in fact if you do, you are doing
me a favor.


INCENTIVES TO REGISTER:
       You have several incentives to register:
(a) You may  find  some levels  quite  difficult,
    especially  further on.  Rather than get very
    frustrated because you can't do them, you can
    register  and  ask  for the  'Cheat Booklet'.
    This tells you how to do  each level,  and if
    this still doesn't help you,  it has a sealed
    list of passwords  and  tells you how to skip
    each  level.  Note:  You  don't  receive this
    unless  you   explicitly  request  it.    All
    registered users are entitled to it for free.
(b) The  extremely low registration fees are  the
    only return  I receive for months of work and
    my only reason for producing more products or
    enhancing this one.
(c) You can  create  your own games  if you like,
    for fun, for prototyping your own games,  for
    education, for gifts,  for puzzles and so on.
    To do this,  pay $14  extra  and  I will send
    you the EGL manual and master password.  More
    information in section 15.
(d) You can get $US150 if you create your own
    games and win the competition. Details later.


REGISTRATION DETAILS:
     Repeating the instructions on the Main Menu:

You must send the equivalent of $25 as a cheque
or   money  order  in  any   of  the  following
currencies: $US, £UK, $Can, $NZ, Fmk (or $AUS25
for Australians) to the address:
              Tim Cooper
               31 Epping Ave
             EASTWOOD - 2122
               AUSTRALIA

    The $25 will cover the costs of producing
this product and also go towards version 2.  This
is an extremely reasonable price.  If you want to
create your own games,  the price goes up to $39,
(or $AUS39 for Australians)  and you will receive
the EGL programming manual and the password  that
allows  you  to run  your creations.
       If you have  any queries,  write to  me at
that address, but if you want a reply,  enclose a
self-addressed  envelope  with  2  'International
Return Mail vouchers'  which  you can get  at any
post office in the civilised world.


PLAYING THE GAMES

       If you think you can try to figure out for
yourself how to play, by all means go ahead.

    To move  the  little  man  on  the screen
which represents you,   use the cursor keys  (the
arrow keys).  In each level you have a  different
objective,  for example  you  may be  required to
catch a star,  or defuse  some bombs,  or collect
all the dots '.'. In general, you have to collect
all the  dots,  defuse  all the  bombs  (just  by
moving  into them),  and get all the cherries and
diamonds  that are  on the screen.  Then you will
either go  automatically onto  the next screen or
flashing yellow arrows will suddenly appear which
you must reach.  You must also avoid  capture  by
the enemies which constantly chase you, and avoid
the  poison bottles.  If you see  the digits from
1  upward scattered  around the screen,  you must
visit  them all  IN ORDER.   The dollar,  yen and
pound symbols just increase  your score  and it's
not compulsary to get them.
    Some levels  have 'gravity',  some don't.
If there is gravity, you and all the enemies will
always fall to the ground.  You can usually jump,
using the  space bar,   and you will usually have
ladders and ropes which you can climb up.
    In  other  levels,  you will  be able  to
shoot things. To shoot, you usually need to press
the SPACE-BAR or use SHIFT- and the arrow keys to
shoot in a particular direction.
    Some levels are  more like  puzzles  than
arcade games, and require a little thought to get
through them.  (But don't worry,  they start  off
easy.)
    In most  levels,  it will be clear enough
(if  not  at  first,     then  after   a  bit  of
experimentation)  what you  have to do.  You will
be   told    for   each  level   any   particular
instructions you need.


SPECIAL KEYS
    There are a few keys with special meaning:

SCROLL-LOCK: This turns the sound on and off.
PAUSE:  This pauses the game.
'>' and '<': These speed the game up or slow it
    down.
<F7>:   This changes the colours you see.
<F8>:   This kills your man. Use it if you get
        stuck somewhere with no other way to kill
        yourself.
<F9>:   This starts the whole game from the very
        beginning.
<F10>:  This returns you directly to the main
        menu.

  Q   : These keys are alternatives to the arrow
[   ]   keys. With these, you can play with two
  A     hands.

PASSWORDS
    There quite a few levels in 'RISE'.  Once
you have mastered the first few you don't want to
have to  play them  every time  in order to reach
the  harder levels.  For  this reason  there is a
password system:
    Once  you  have  mastered  the  first few
levels,  you will be given a password.  From then
onwards,  you can use  this password  to skip the
first few levels,  and likewise you will be given
many passwords  at different stages  of the game.
To use a password,  hit  <F5>  from the Main Menu
and type it in.
    The way  this system  works  is that once
you are told a new password,  you can't use it to
go straight  to that  level  in  a new game.  The
password will usually take you to a point several
levels  before.  This  is  so  that  you  need to
actually master each level to progress, and can't
just get through one hard level by a fluke.
    If you like, you can type in the password
from DOS by putting it in brackets after the word
'EGL'--e.g.:   A:>EGL (pass)

    The  password system  is very simple once
you use it.


THE 'DRAW' PROGRAM:
    This package comes with another  program,
'DRAW.EXE',   which allows you  to redraw all the
characters you see. The shapes of all the objects
in the games are defined in the FONT files:
   FONT.VGA,  FONT.EGA,  FONT.CGA,  FONT.HGA (for
   hercules) and FONT.NGA ('No Graphics Adapter',
   for text modes);
one  file for  each type  of  graphics card.  You
should know what type  of  card you have,  but if
not,  just experiment.  DRAW  also allows you  to
change the palette (the choice of colours used).
    To use DRAW, type from DOS:

A:>DRAW VGA  -or-  DRAW EGA   -or-  DRAW CGA
             -or-  DRAW HGA   -or-  DRAW.NGA

            -or-   DRAW ?   for instructions. The
program is quite straightforward, and if you just
follow   the   instructions   you  will  have  no
difficulties.

GRAPHICS CARDS
    EGL  automatically senses what video card
you have. If you want to override this, (e.g. you
have a  CGA card  and prefer  the 16-colour  text
version to the 4-colour graphics display), or you
have unforeseen problems  with one graphics mode,
(or  you're  just  plain  curious)      type  the
following:

  A:>EGL VGA    -or-   EGL EGA   -or-   EGL CGA
-or-    EGL HGA   -or-  EGL NGA

...where HGA stands for Hercules Graphics Adapter
and NGA means "No Graphics Adapter",  i.e. simple
text.

TIMERS
    In many  levels  there  will  be a  timer
which ticks down toward zero.  If it ever reaches
zero, you will die.

MATTER TRANSPORTERS
    Whenever  you see the symbol '=', you can
move into it and get magically transported to the
other matter transporter.

PUSHABLE BLOCKS
    You can push the 'pushable blocks' around
the screen.

POWER PILLS:
    You can eat the power pills '+'  in order
to get temporary extra strength.  This allows you
to eat the enemies.

TIGER GRASS:
    Sometimes  you  need  extra  strength  in
order to walk through the tiger grass,  sometimes
you don't.

OTHER SYMBOLS:
    For a list of the other symbols and what
they mean, run the INTRO on the program.

CREATING YOUR OWN GAMES:
    It is easy to  create your own games.  If
you look  inside the  files which end in  '.EGL',
(with a text editor or the  DOS  'TYPE' command),
you will see just how simple it is.
    But you need a password  and instructions
before  you can  program your  own levels.  To do
this you must send $39 to the address on the Main
Menu.  Once you  register,  you will  receive the
full EGL manual and the password.
    Programming  a game  involves  writing  a
text  file   with  the   suitable  commands   and
characters.  To do this,  you need  your own text
editor or word processor that creates text files.
Every  MS-DOS  computer comes with a simple text-
editor  'EDLIN'  and instructions for it,  but if
you don't like  EDLIN  you can get a better text-
editor  from  any  Shareware software company  or
computer store.
    The EGL manual  tells  you everything you
need to know about EGL,  but it does not give any
instructions about any particular text editor.

THE COMPETITION:
    Once you  register,  you are  eligible to
enter the competition.  Send any games you create
to the same address, and if it is judged the best
entry, you will receive $150 and have it released
as part of future versions  of this product.  But
you can get full details  by pressing  <F4>  from
the main menu.

WRITE TO ME
    If you have suggestions for improvements,
or this  program  does not  work properly on your
system,  or you have questions about registering,
or  the competition,  I would  very much  like to
hear  from you.  If you need a reply,  you should
send   a    self-addressed   envelope   with  two
International Return Mail vouchers available from
any Post Office  in any country  (NOTE:  you need
2 to cover air-mail).
                   Tim Cooper
                     Esprit de E software
                            31 Epping Ave
                          EASTWOOD - 2122
                                Australia

GOOD LUCK!