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BIGMATH.DOC
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1996-01-26
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BIG MATH ATTACK!
DESCRIPTION:
BIG MATH ATTACK! tests your math, spelling, typing and metric
conversions skills in a fun arcade environment. Several skill
levels are available that makes this program suitable for both
children and adults. Top scores are recorded to track one's
progress.
The objective of the game is to protect your city from falling
meteorites. The only defense that you have is to launch
missiles at the descending meteorites before it is too late.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
DOS Version: 3.0 or greater
Video: EGA, VGA or greater
Hard disk: Yes. Even though the program will run on a floppy
disk, a hard disk drive is still a requirement. Although this
may sound contradictory, temporary files are accessed on your
hard drive and if Big Math Attack! does not find a hard disk
C:, the program will not function.
GETTING STARTED:
Insert the BIG MATH ATTACK! diskette into a drive. Set your
working drive to the same drive at which the diskette is
located. Then to load the program simply type: BIGMATH then
press [ENTER]. The program will load automatically. You will
first be greeted with a title screen. After this, enter the
name of the player (maximum 13 characters long).
PLAY OPTIONS:
You can configure the program to suit your preferences by
using the "OPTIONS" sub-menu. From the "OPTIONS" sub-menu you
will can toggle the following options:
FREEZE ON/OFF: Toggle on or off whether the meteorites
descend out of the sky or just pop-up on the screen
and remain motionless (frozen).
SPEED ON/OFF: Toggles the rate of descent of the
falling meteorites. If SPEED is ON, you will notice
that the meteorites begin to fall at a faster and
faster rate the longer you play.
SOUND ON/OFF: Toggle the exploding noises on or off.
X+Y= ON/OFF: This toggle determines whether the
mathematic problems that are presented appear in
"X+Y=" format (side by side), or as "X over Y".
Your "OPTIONS" selections will be saved to disk in a
BIGMATH.CFG configuration file, and will be used next time you
start the program.
Although the user can modify some of the playing options
within the program, there are a few options that must be
activated from the command line when starting the program.
The following are how to use these options...
ERROR TRACKING FILE:
If you wish to keep track of the errors (incorrect answers)
of the user, then start the program -> BIGMATH ERR=ON
What this will do is create an error tracking file. At the
close of the program, an .ERR file will be written to disk.
In this ".ERR" file you will find all the incorrect responses
the user entered, and the questions that were presented. This
is a good way to review what questions gave the user the most
difficulty. The error file will be named after the player's
name and will have the extension ".ERR".
RIGHT TO LEFT INPUT:
When the "X+Y=" toggle is OFF, all mathemathic problems will
descend as:
386
+288
If you have ever balanced your checkbook, or subtracted or
added two large numbers, you have more than likely started
from the right column and added each column of numbers
progressing towards the left. If this is the way that you
wish for the answer to be input by the user (right to left)
then you must start the program: BIGMATH R2L
When the above parameter is used, it will take affect ONLY if
the "X+Y=" option is OFF and an addition or subtraction
problem appears. During multiplication/division exercises,
the right to left input is always ignored.
SLOW IT DOWN!:
Since Big Math Attack! can be used and enjoyed by both
children and adults alike, the "fall rate" of the meteorites
may need to be changed to suit the user. To decrease the rate
at which the letters and numbers fall, use one of the
following command line parameters when you begin the program.
BIGMATH SLOWER
BIGMATH SLOWEST
BIGMATH SLOWX=n
The first two examples above will slow down the rate at which
the meteorites fall from the sky. If using the "SLOWER" and
"SLOWEST" commands are too slow or not slow enough, you can
use the last example to fine tune the rate even more.
"SLOWX=n" can be used where "n" is replaced with a number
between 1.01 and 10 - the higher the number, the slower the
rate of descent. As a guide to the numbering system, "SLOWER"
is equivalent to "SLOWX=2" and "SLOWEST" is equivalent to
"SLOWX=4".
Another command line parameter that can be used is to force a
particular name by using the NAME= parameter at the DOS prompt.
For instance, starting the program at the DOS prompt with this
C:>BIGMATH NAME=FRANKLIN will bypass the "Enter your name"
prompt, and will use "Franklin" as the player's name.
For teachers and parents who wish to restrict your children
from accessing the "Options" selection from the Main Menu, you
can accomplish this by starting the program from the DOS prompt
in the following manner: BIGMATH NOOPTS press [ENTER]
If you would like to restrict the type of problems and skill
level to just one type and level, you can do this at the DOS
command line. For instance, if you want to have your children
work with subtraction problems at skill level 4, then start
the program: BIGMATH SUBTRACT SKILL=4 press [ENTER]. Other
variations on this would be:
BIGMATH ADD SKILL=x For addition
BIGMATH PLUS SKILL=x For addition
BIGMATH MINUS SKILL=x For subtraction
BIGMATH DIVIDE SKILL=x For division
BIGMATH MULTIPLY SKILL=x For multiplication
BIGMATH MATH SKILL=x For all the above
BIGMATH ADD&SUBTRACT SKILL=x For mixed addition & subtraction
...where "x" in SKILL=x is replaced with the skill level
(valid range: 0-9)
You may also start the program for spelling and typing
exercises in the same manner:
BIGMATH SPELL SKILL=x For spelling words
BIGMATH TYPE SKILL=x For typing drills
Another command line option is the use of "BRACKET" which
displays a division bracket in all division problems. For
example, start the program from DOS: BIGMATH BRACKET
SCORE CHART:
The ten top scores for each category are recorded and saved to
disk after each round of play. If your score did not make it
to the "top 10", then the scoreboard will not display. If you
did indeed record a score worthy of honor, the scoreboard will
display your score and save it to disk. PLEASE DO NOT
WRITE-PROTECT your disk (if using a floppy), for the program
needs access to write the "top 10" scores to the disk. If you
receive the BIG MATH ATTACK! disk and find that the names in
the scoreboard are those who you do not know, and do not want
to know, you can wipe the scoreboard clean by deleting the
scoreboard file from the DOS prompt. Delete the file
"BIGMATH.SCR" and next time you use the program, you will no
longer see names that are unfamiliar to you. Since I have no
control over who uses this program before you received it,
silly or uncommon names, or very high unbeatable scores may be
in the scoreboard that you wish to eliminate. Just type
"DEL BIGMATH.SCR" (without quotes) at the DOS prompt and you
will have a new clean scoreboard the next time you use the
program.
SPELLING LISTS:
For parents who would like to add, delete, or modify the
existing spelling lists, Big Math Attack! allows the user