Brotikasten/BROTCD01.iso/atari/armagedd.txt

Text File | 1995-08-20 | 18KB | 163 lines

                              Rules for "Maze of ADGAgon"                 Copyright (c)1990,1991,1992,1993 The AGDA
Group                               Version 1.0, Released 12/27/93            -----------------------------------------------------------
------------            This program is being offered as SHAREWARE.  Please read the "SHAREWARE
REGISTRATION" section for details on how to register this copy.  This      software may be freely
distributed to all electronic bulletin boards      and pay services, as long as the entire, unmodified program
and      documentation is included.  This program may be included in disk      collections of public domain
and shareware offerings, as long as it is      acknowledged as being shareware, and that no fee, outside of
reasonable      charge for media and duplication, be charged.      ------------------------------------------------------
-----------------                  Welcome to "MAZE OF AGDAgon", the first multi-player multi-computer
game developed for the 8-bit Atari Computer.  With this game, and the      GameLink-II connection
(described elsewhere), you and up to 7 other      Atari 8-bit gamers can engage in mortal combat in a 1st
person 3-D      viewable maze.            SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS               - 1 to 8 Atari 8-bit computers
(400/600/800/XL/XE/XEGS), each with           the GTIA chip and at least 48k of RAM.                    - 1 to 8
joysticks (one per player).                    - 1 disk drive (yes, only one required no matter how many players
you might have).                    - The GameLink-II device(s).  Depending on which one you build/buy,
you may also require a serial bus cable per player.  Please refer           to the documentation on the
GameLink-II.                            GAME STARTUP            One Atari 8-bit computer must serve as the
"Host", and will be the one      that initially loads the game software.  This one should have only one      disk
drive connected to its serial bus.  Boot up the Host with your      favorite DOS, then load the
AGDAgon.COM file.  After you can see the      title screen, connect the Host to the GameLink-II serial
bus (you      should disconnect it from the disk drive at this time).  Connect      another Atari 8-bit
computer (powered off, with no other serial      peripherals connected, with monitor turned on) to the
GameLink-II      device.  Turn it on, and it should "boot up" directly, using the Host      as if it were the disk
drive.  You will notice the sound is different.       The usual "beep-beep-beep" of the disk drive loading is
replaced by one      constant, long "beeeeep".  If the "node" has booted properly, it will
1                                                           Maze of AGDAgon V1.0         display a screen that says "Press START
only after all nodes load."  If      the node doesn't boot the first time, be patient.  The boot code will      retry
several times.  If you wish to boot up other computers at this      time, plug them into GameLink-II and
boot them up as you did the first      node.  When all are ready, press START on all the nodes (but not the
Host), which should then switch to the game screen and say "WAIT FOR      MAZE DATABASE".  Then
press START on the Host to send the random maze      and start the game.            Before you press
START on the Host, the highlighted numbers at the      bottom of the screen should indicate which nodes
are active.  If, by      some mistake, the highlighted numbers don't match what you've got set      up, you
can toggle individual numbers by pressing the appropriate keys      (on the Host keyboard).  This tells the
program which nodes are active,      so if you declare some active which are not active, it will waste time
trying to poll the inactive nodes.  The Host can also declare nodes      inactive during game play by holding
down START and pressing the      appropriate number keys.  You could use this to zap players who have
decided to quit before the end.  Don't forget to re-enable their node      numbers at the beginning of the
next game, however.                  AN OVERVIEW OF THE GAME            A maze of 15 x 15 cells is the
playfield.  You see a first-person      perspective view of the maze from your current position and
direction      of travel.  The walls are opaque, and a color scheme is used that helps      you orient yourself
as to your current direction (east-facing walls are      a light orange in color, west-facing walls are dark).
You are able to      see other players and grenades that are in your path.  The grenades are      white
ellipses, and the other players are larger red ellipses with eyes      and a crooked smile.  You are able to
move forward, or turn left or      right by pressing the joystick forward, left, or right respectively.       Your
view will change to indicate your new position.  Turns are shown      with hardware scrolling, helping you
follow the changing direction.            You can select an overhead view by pulling back on the joystick.
You      will hear a "ding" sound.  The overhead view indicates your current      position, and any opponents
in your view.  Also, any cells which you      have traveled are indicated in green, to allow you to keep track
of      where you have been.  Cells that have been in your field of view are      plotted in black.  This helps
you to figure out what paths remain to be      explored.            At the beginning of the game, there are ten
hand grenades placed      randomly throughout the maze.  More grenades will appear randomly
throughout the game as the supply is reduced.  You can carry a maximum      of three grenades at one
time.  You pick up a grenade by passing      through the cell that it is located in.  A tone will sound to
indicate      success.  Do NOT press the joystick button to pick up a grenade - you      will just waste it by
setting it off.  You'll find out that you can      make turns faster the fewer grenades you are carrying.
Grenades don't last forever: some 35 to 45 seconds after you've picked      one up it "decays."  You will
hear a "deedle" tone on your speaker, and                                            2
Maze of AGDAgon V1.0         you'll have one less grenade.  This means you'll have to avoid sitting
around, and actively track down the other players.            To activate a grenade, press your joystick fire
button.  Three seconds      after being activated the grenade will explode (you will hear a      "tick-tock"
count down the seconds).  Any players which are ahead of      you (in other words, in your field of view) will
lose one life, unless      they are able to move out of that hallway before the grenade explodes.       When a
grenade is activated, a four-tone alarm will sound on the      speaker of any players which are in the
explosion zone of the grenade.       If your grenade "kills" another player, you will hear the explosion
sound in your monitor, and your score will increase.  Note that you can      only see, and your grenade can
only fire, up to eight cells directly      ahead.  Also note that you are frozen in place while a grenade is
counting down, so don't fire one if you need to get out of the way of      someone else's grenade.  When two
of you face off, and both fire a      grenade, the one who fired first survives.  In the rare event that both
of you pushed the trigger at exactly the same time, you both will die.            When you lose a life, you will
hear the explosion sound, and the number      of lives left will be decremented.  The screen will also flash
on and      off.  The first 2 times you die, you are reincarnated in a random      position in the maze.  You will
be spinning around as you come back to      life, and nobody can see you while this is happening.  This
allows you      to get