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Creative Computers CD-ROM, Volume 1 (Legendary Design Technologies, Inc.)(1994).iso
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Text File
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1994-11-17
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25KB
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496 lines
This game is shareware. If you like it, please send me $10 or whatever
contribution you can make to:
David Ashley
395 Sierra Madre Villa
Pasadena, CA 91107
USA
Send comments to the above address or to
EMAIL: dash@netcom.com
Feel free to upload it anywhere, but do not modify any of the files.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUICK NOTES:
targis is the executable--run from CLI or click on the icon from workbench.
Your current directory must contain the DATA and LEVELS directories.
CONTROLS: on keypad
dig LEFT move UP dig RIGHT
7 8 9
move LEFT move DOWN move RIGHT
4 5 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HISTORY
I wrote this game back when I was living in Berkeley, circa 1987. It is
similiar to the coin operated version of one of my favorite games. This game
was never ported to the Amiga, so I wrote this. After writing it, I then tried
selling it myself. I sent in new product announcements to Amigaworld--at that
time the game was called PopMan. The graphics were much different (cheesier).
I used sprites for the moving characters. There was no animator. The level
editor was still there, however.
After selling a grand total of 6 or 10 games for $20 each, I was contacted
by some people at a company called Incognito software. We fixed up an
agreement where I would get 20% of the gross, and they'd publish the game.
They had artwork created for the box, and printed up a simple manual (see text
below). I also added various options for the new version (which was called
Targis.) The features included: removing the sprites and replacing them with
blitter objects, adding more bitplanes for more colors, putting in type-in-
the-word protection (which was pretty simple--one of the questions was DO YOU
LIKE TARGIS? to which the answer was obviously YES). It was a better product
all around.
Incognito was run by two incompetent and borderline crooked individuals,
and I never really saw a profit. I think the game sold about 3000 units, but
there were lots of returns. The artwork on the original box looked like a
kid had done it with crayons. They had also botched other games by other
programmers, such as Brian Vodnik's Kingdoms of England (the box was actually
beautiful on this one--they just were crooked about money), and Michael Sinz's
SnakePit. Other games they did were FootMan and Vyper. Another company had
originally published those titles but Incognito took them over. Brian Vodnik
eventually sued Incognito and there was some settlement. He then went on to
create other titles such as Race Across America and Kingdoms of England II.
Michael Sinz eventually released SnakePit, and it appears on a Fred Fish
disk. Following in the same tradition, I am finally releasing Targis (aka
PopMan) to the shareware arena. Maybe I'll make some money at it--probably
not, but at least this great game can be enjoyed by everyone now, and the
world will be a better place...
An interesting note: To create this archive I took one of the original
disks out of one of the copies I had of the game, and I had to crack the game
just like a pirate--I thought that would be easier than digging through all
my disks to find the source. This version is just a slightly modified copy of
the one that Incognito sent out. I took out the protection and modified the
copyright notice that appears on the bottom.
Enjoy this game. Create levels, trade them with friends, draw new graphics-
send me copies of anything interesting.
David Ashley
June 24, 1993
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ORIGINAL MANUAL:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TARGIS GAME INSTRUCTIONS
Targis placed the memo-chip in its reader. His mission, secret until now, was
about to be revealed to him. He had traveled several light-years in his small
robot-piloted ship, its cloaking device keeping his presence secret from the
Snixian Empire and its clone agents as he orbited the planet Valenta in the
Varda system. His hand trembled slightly as he placed the memo-chip in its
slot. What he heard confirmed his suspicions; he knew his task would not be
easy. He also knew that the Earth Defense Directorate would not have sent its
best agent to perform an easy task.
"The Snixian Empire has captured the advanced rocket research base on
Valanta," the memo intoned, "and its agents are packaging parts in stasis pods
for shipment back to their home base on Snix. We are not officially at war
with the Snixii, so we cannot mount a large-scale assault, but we cannot
allow this advanced technology to fall into their possession - that is why we
sent you, Targis." A hidden drawer opened in the center console, triggered by
a signal from the reader, revealing an odd-looking weapon. "You have one
weapon available to you - a digger gun. The structure of the base is made from
a local material known as organoplast, which won't burn, but is toxic when
vaporized. The digger gun melts organoplast, but its molecular memory causes
the bricks to return to their former shape very quickly. The digger gun won't
work on the concrete blocks. Watch for the pseudoplast bricks - they look
real, but you can fall through them. Although the Snixii have bypassed parts
of the base security system, other parts are still operational. The system has
been remotely programmed to aid your mission, but are only partly functional.
The rooms have been isolated to impede the Snixii, but when you gather all
parts in a room, the system will reveal an exit. If YOU get there first, the
clones cannot escape. Watch out for the clones! They have no arms, but their
clawed feet and sharp teeth are deadly! You can land on top of them safely.
They will sometimes keep a stasis pod with them, so if you don't see any more
pods, but no exit appears, you will have to recover the hidden pod. We know of
200 rooms, but there are rumors that a number of new rooms were built by
members of the base team. That is all we know for sure - good luck!"
The robot-ship's planetary navigation system suddenly came to life. The
computer system locked onto the rocket base far below. The small ship headed
into the atmosphere and began its automated descent...
"Targis is a fast-paced action game for the AMIGA computer. It offers 200
pre-defined levels and the ability to design your own levels and characters,
and will provide many months of enjoyable play!
BACKING UP THE DISK
Before you do anything else, MAKE A BACKUP OF THE ORIGINAL DISK and put the
original away for safe keeping. All play and modifications should be done on
a COPY of the original without the write protect tab set, as Targis frequently
writes data to the disk. Throughout this manual "playing disk" will refer
to a COPY of the original disk.
HOW TO USE TARGIS FROM WORKBENCH
Place your playing disk in one of the drives, then click on the "Targis" disk
icon. After the window opens, double-click on the "Targis" icon. If you
wish to use a subdirectory with custom levels from WorkBench, it must have a
drawer icon for "extended selection" to be used. While pressing and holding
either [SHIFT] key, single-click the desired custom-level drawer, then
double-click the "Targis" icon. This will cause Targis to get its levels from
the specified directory.
HOW TO USE THE TARGIS DISK FROM CLI
From CLI ("CLI>" indicates any valid CLI prompt), you must:
CLI> cd targis
CLI> targis -- or -- CLI> run targis
you may want to "run" Targis if you want to play Targis while multitasking;
it keeps the CLI window that it's launched from open for other commands.
The selection of custom levels works from CLI too. An example:
CLI> targis df1:mylevels
The game will come up in DEMO mode, where some of its features will be
demonstrated. On the right side of the screen are gadgets which will cause
Targis to switch to its various modes of operati