Amiga Format CD 8/amigaformatcd08.iso/screenplay/commercial/blobzdemohd/blobz.doc

Text File | 1996-11-04 | 10KB | 324 lines

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  See ORDERING.DOC for info on purchasing the full game, which features
             60 levels and an easy-to-use level editor
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BLOBZ - UPDATED DEMO -

This is an updated version of the Blobz demo, and I hope that
all of the bugs that were in the previous Aminet demo have been
fixed.

Please send bug reports and comments by Email to:

   [e-mail]

If you have any suggestions / ideas for 'Blobz II' , which I
will soon be starting work on, then also send them to me at
the above email address.

(Please don't email me to ask for hints/tips/cheats for the game....)

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Important: You need to copy blobz.font into your fonts: drawer, or
assign it to your fonts: drawer for the game to run with the correct font.
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Blobz Instruction Manual (This is for the full game, but
I included it with the demo anyway):


Contents
  1 - Installing the game to a Hard Disk
  2 - Installing the Level Editor
  3 - Playing the Game
  4 - Using the Level Editor


1 - Installing the game to a Hard Disk:

 The game is fully Hard disk installable.

 2Mb of hard disk space is required for full installation, which
 includes the level editor.

 There was no room on the disks for a proper installer, but installation
 is fairly easy as at does not require any modifications to your startup-
 -sequence.

 To install Blobz to a Hard disk.

 1) From Workbench, create a drawer called 'BLOBZ' in the partition of your
    hard disk where you want to install Blobz.

 2) Insert Blobz disk one in the disk drive, and drag 'BLOBZ.EXE' and the
    drawer called 'DISK1' into the drawer you have created on your Hard disk

 3) Copy the contents of the FONTS drawer on Blobz disk one to the FONTS
    drawer on your hard disk (This will be found on the partition of your
    hard disk which contains Workbench - you may have to use Show-All files
    in the icons menu of Workbench)
    If you do not install the Blobz font, then the game will use the default
    system font, which does not look very good.

 4) Insert Blobz Disk 2, and copy the drawer 'DISK2' into the BLOBZ drawer
    which you have created on your hard disk.

 Now Blobz should be installed.

 To run Blobz form a Hard Disk:

 If you have more than 2Mb of RAM, then you can play Blobz simply by clicking
 on its icon in Workbench.

 If you have only 2Mb of RAM (Unexpanded A1200's), then you must do this:

 1) Reset the Amiga (Ctrl + Left Amiga key + Right Amiga key)

 2) Hold down both mouse buttons and wait for the early startup menu.

 3) Select 'Boot with no startup-sequence'

 4) When the CLI window appears, type

    <Name of HD partition>:blobz         <Enter>
    Blobz.exe                            <Enter>

  Where <Name of HD partition> is 'DH1' ,'DH2' or 'DH3' etc, depending
  upon where you installed it.

  If the message 'Please insert Volume ENV:' appears, then click on cancel.

2- Installing the Level Editor

  You will need a copy of LHA, or some other archiver which can decompress
  LHA archives, as the only way that we could fit the editor on the disk
  was to compress it in this way
  (If you do not have a copy of LHA, look in the 'C' drawer on old magazine
  coverdisks, as often they compress software in this way)

  The archived file is on disk 1, called LEVED.LHA

  To extract it with LHA, type

    LHA x LEVED.LHA RAM:

  If you have a Hard drive then copy the decompressed executable file into
  the 'Blobz' drawer which you installed the game to, and you should be
  able to run the level editor from Workbench.

  If you are using floppy disks, you will need a blank, formatted disk to
  copy the level editor on to. You can then load the level editor from
  Workbench, but you will have to remember to insert game disk 2 before
  clicking on 'Start Editing' once the level editor loads.

  IMPORTANT - BEFORE USING THE LEVEL EDITOR FROM FLOPPY DISKS, MAKE
              SURE YOU HAVE MADE A BACKUP OF GAME DISK 2 - AND ONLY
             SAVE YOUR LEVELS ON THE BACKUP

3) Playing the Game.

   If you are not playing off a hard disk, insert disk 1 and reset the
   Amiga. Swap the disks when prompted.

   When the game loads, you should be presented with an options screen
   which allows you to:

   Start Normal Game       - Starts the game
   Start Custom Missions   - Play levels made with the Level Editor
   Enter Level Code        - Continue a previous game
   Music On/Off
   Speech On/Off
   Quit                    - Exit to workbench, if playing from hard disk

   (Select options from this screen with the mouse - the whole game is
    mouse controlled)

   The World Map Screen
   --------------------

   When you select Start Normal Game, you will be shown the World Map.
   Each flashing red square represents a mission, and you must work
   your way through to the exit of each world be completing these missions.
   When you complete a mission, the password on the map screen will update.

   Move around the map screen with either the mouse or the arrow keys
   The right mouse button will quit the current game and return you to
   the options screen.

   The Mission Preview Screen
   --------------------------

   When you select a mission, after a pause to load the mission,the preview
   screen will appear giving information about the mission.

   Click the left mouse button to start, or the right mouse button to go
   back to the map screen.

   The Game
   --------

   The mission preview screen tells you what you have to do for each mission,
   and you control the movement of the Blobz by giving then different skills

   You give the Blobz skills by clicking on the skill icons at the bottom of
   the screen and then clicking on a blob.

   (Yes - I know it's just like another well known game... )

   You can also select skills quickly by using the arrow keys - this can be
   vital in the later missions.

   The Energy bar : The yellow bar in the bottom left corner of the screen
   shows your energy level. You use up energy each time you give a blob a
   skill. The energy gradually recharges (the reacharge rate depends on the
   level). The white marker shows how much energy will be used up when you
   use the currently selected skill. If you don't have enough energy, you
   can't use the skill.

   The mission ends when all blobs are either dead or in the exit, or if the
   time limit runs out.

   You are then shown a mission debreifing screen, and can either replay
   the mission if you have failed it, or return to the map screen.

   The Blobz Skills (from left to right)

 TurnAround           - Turns a blob around
 Jump                 - Makes a blob jump
 Jet-pack              - Just like a large jump
 Extender             - Blob stretches to form a horizontal bridge,then dies
 Chomper              - Blob chomps his way horizontally through objects
 Driller              - Blob drills a hole vertically downwards
 Horizontal Missile   - Fires a missile horizontally
 Vertical Missile     - Fires a missile vertically upwards

 Also there are Pause, Slo-Motion, and Normal Speed buttons in the bottom
 left of the screen.  (Note that in slo-motion mode, the timer does not
 slow down)


4) Using the level editor.

If you managed to install it, then you should have no problems using it,
but here are a few points:

Selecting and placing blocks - this is done with the mouse. Left button
                       places a block, and right button deletes a block.

Load and Save Icons - Only save you levels as custom levels, in the 'CUSTOM'
                      drawer of disk 2. If you save them over the original
                      game levels (i.e. to cheat!) they will not work
                      (unless you know the cheat mode which allows this!)

Entrances / Exits  -  Make sure that the all of entrance / exit blocks are
                      used in the correct places - if you miss one of the
                      blocks, then the entrance / exit may not work. This
                      includes the block that goes directly above an exit
                      (and only seems to contain a couple of pixels)
                      Try loading up the game levels to see how your
                      entrances and exits should look.

Enemies            -  To place an enemy, use the block that looks like a
                      shrunk down radar sprite. You can select the enemy
                      type from the level details screen.
                      Make sure that it is not possible for an enemy to
                      go off the top or bottom of the screen, as this
                      may crash the game.
                      Also, if you don't want the game to slow down, only
                      use a maximum of 2 enemies per level.

Mission details screen:

  Skills - You can select which skills are on ath the start of the level,
           and how much energy (in pixels) they use up. the number beside
           each skill is the amount of energy it uses. Make sure you
           set this for skills you can pick up during a mission, and not
           just the ones that you start off with.

  Number of Blobs - Don't use more than 8 unless you have an accellerated
                    Amiga (less if you use enemies). If you set this above
                    about 25, it will probably crash the game.

  Release rate - Smaller number = Smaller delay between blobs. a setting of
                 25 equals a one-second delay between blobs appearing at the
                 entrance.

  Recharge Rate - Big number = Faster rate of energy recharge. An average
                  setting is about 20 (if skills use about 10-30 pixels)