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1987-04-21
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READ.ME file for Happy Worm
------- ---- --- ----- ----
By Happy Fish, 21/7/90.
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Welcome to the world of Happy Worm!
This arcade game, written in purest
assembly language features:
* Addictive gameplay
* Fast attractive graphics
* Sampled sound effects
* 3 speed levels (slow, medium & fast)
In short, it's an arcade game which
concentrates on GAMEPLAY not merely
flashy graphics.
----------------------------------------
To run Happy Worm, simply double click
on the program WORM.PRG. The game will
run only in lo-res graphics mode.
Once loaded, simply press [SPACE] to
play as instructed.
The basic idea in the game is to guide
your worm through a maze collecting
objects and attempting (!) to avoid
collisions.
Control of Happy Worm is by the two
shift keys - the left shift key rotates
anticlockwise, and the right shift key
rotates clockwise. The worm will run
in a straight line (even if this means
straight into a deadly object) unless
one of these keys is pressed.
You may, however, press either shift
key BEFORE you arrive at the junction
at which you wish to turn, and the worm
will turn only when no wall or door
blocks the direction you wish to turn
to.
To complete a level, simply (?)
collect all the pills on the level
while avoiding crashing into your own
tail or other objects. Each ordinary
white pill makes your worm grow by one
unit, and each 'super pill' (white pill
with red outline) makes the worm grow by
three units.
As well as just completing levels,
there are bonuses to be had in the form
of cream buns. These are purely optional
and you do not need to collect them to
complete a screen. Their positioning
often makes them very difficult to eat
so beware of cream bun greed, as this
can be deadly!
The game is made more interesting by
the provision of other objects which I
have listed below:
DOORS and KEYS : There are two types of
doors, red and green,
and similarly two colours of keys, red
and green also. Collect the red key
to open red doors, and the green key to
open green doors. Doors are, of course,
deadly on contact.
ONE WAY SIGNS : You may only pass
through these arrows if
your worm is going in the direction
indicated by the arrow - otherwise they
are deadly. Once the worm has run
through a sign, it is removed.
BOUNCY THINGS : If you hit a bouncy
thing the worm will,
surprisingly, bounce (i.e. the head
and tail will be reversed).
BONUS WORM : Collecting this gives
you one more life.
----------------------------------------
HINTS AND TIPS
(1) Try running the worm up to a vacant
area of the screen in order to move
your tail from the area which you
want to clear of pills next.
(2) On many screens there is a handy
loop which the worm will run round
simply by holding down one shift key
permanently. This gives you a chance
to survey a screen and plan your
route. Similary, the worm can be
made to bounce back and forth
between two bouncy things without
any control being necessary.
(3) One way signs are quite often on
your side. Think of them more as
'route pointers' (but don't stray
off the route!)
(4) TRY and ignore cream buns if you
are endangering yourself getting
them. Many screens can be tackled
in two ways, i.e. just doing the
screen and doing it with lots of
points. The latter usually involves
a lot more skill.
----------------------------------------
OTHER KEYBOARD CONTROLS
(Press during gameplay but NOT with
either shift key!)
KEY ACTION
Esc Exits game
1 Selects fast speed
2 Selects medium speed
3 Selects slow speed
The default speed is 2 (medium) but
I definitely recommend 3 (slow) for
beginners.
----------------------------------------
FINAL NOTES
Best of luck with playing Happy Worm,
as I have certainly enjoyed play-testing
it. Please ignore the scrolling message
at the bottom of the screen if you have
no idea what it is going on about.
If you have any queries about the game
or would like a copy of the source code
or extra screens or anything at all
really, contact me at the address below:
Richard Reavy,
14 Gloucester Park,
Hillsborough,
County Down,
Northern Ireland,
BT26 6HE.