Monster Media 1996 #14/Monster Media No. 14 (April 1996) (Monster Media, Inc.).ISO/games/tomhalma.zip/HALMA.DOC

Text File | 1996-01-10 | 8KB | 180 lines

TOMMY'S HALMA (C) COPYRIGHT 1987-1996 BY TOMMY'S TOYS
P. O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CATALOG #TM-061-1A

INSTRUCTIONS:

THIS IS AN OLD GAME PLAYED IN OTHER GALAXIES.  ROUGHLY TRANSLATED THE CORRECT
NAME WOULD BE "SPACE BEANS", BUT IT IS SIMILAR ENOUGH TO THE EARTHLING GAME
KNOWN AS HALMA THAT WE CALLED IT THAT INSTEAD (THE EARTHLING GAME GETS ITS NAME
FROM THE GREEK WORD FOR LEAP -- IT WAS PATENTED IN THE 1880S BUT THE PATENT
EXPIRED, LUCKY FOR US - HA HA!)

THE GAME IS PLAYED ON A 16 X 16 GRID.  IT CAN BE PLAYED WITH 2 OR 4 PLAYERS,
IN THIS TOY IT WILL BE 2 ONLY.  EACH PLAYER STARTS WITH 19 PIECES IN ONE
CORNER OF THE BOARD.  BLACK ALWAYS STARTS.  A TYPICAL GAME IS ABOUT
90-150 ROUNDS.

MODES:
THE COMPUTER CAN PLAY 0, 1, OR BOTH COLORS (I.E., PLAY AGAINST ITSELF).
YOU CAN CHANGE THE MODE BY PRESSING FUNCTION KEY F2.  THE ORDER IN WHICH
THE MODES ARE CYCLED BY PRESSING THIS KEY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

    BLACK       WHITE
    -----       -----
      C           C
      K           C
      C           K
      K           K

POSSIBLE MOVES:

EACH PLAYER GETS TO MOVE ONE PIECE DURING HIS TURN.  THERE ARE 3 KINDS
OF LEGAL MOVES:

         1. "HOP" OR LEAPFROG OVER A PIECE OF EITHER COLOR IN AN ADJOINING
            SQUARE.
            A HOP MAY BE FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER HOP IF POSSIBLE AND IF DESIRED,
            AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER!
            NOTE: THE LEAPFROGGED PIECE IS NOT REMOVED FROM THE BOARD; EACH
            PLAYER KEEPS ALL HIS PIECES THROUGHOUT THE GAME.

         2. "SKIP" OR MOVE ONE SQUARE IN ANY DIRECTION.

         3. "JUMP" TWO SQUARES IN ANY DIRECTION, PROVIDED THE INTERMEDIATE
            SQUARE IS EMPTY. A JUMP MAY NEVER BE CONTINUED IN THE SAME TURN.

THE 3RD KIND OF MOVE IS LEGAL ONLY IN LEVEL 2 PLAY! (ALIEN VARIATION - HA!)

OBJECT OF PLAY:
THE FIRST PLAYER TO MOVE ALL HIS PIECES TO THE OPPOSING CORNER OF THE BOARD
WINS (THE FINAL CONFIGURATION MUST BE LIKE THE STARTING CONFIGURATION, I.E.,
2-3-4-5-5 FROM INNERMOST TO OUTERMOST ROW).

TO ENTER MOVES FROM THE KEYBOARD:
JUST USE THE ARROW KEYS ON THE NUMERIC KEY PAD TO MOVE THE CURSOR UNTIL IT
HILITES THE FROM SQUARE, THEN HIT THE SPACE BAR; THEN USE THE ARROW KEYS TO
HILITE THE TO SQUARE, AND HIT THE SPACE BAR AGAIN.

OR USE THE TAB KEY (WITH AND WITHOUT SHIFT KEY) TO HILITE EACH PIECE IN TURN.

OR ENTER THE FROM SQUARE AND THE TO SQUARE (EACH IS ENTERED ROW FIRST) IN
LETTER COORDINATES FROM THE KEYBOARD.

IF THERE IS A POSSIBLE HOP CONTINUATION THE COMPUTER WILL ASK FOR MORE
INPUT (KEEP HITTING ANY ARROW KEY AND IT WILL CYCLE THRU ALL THE
POSSIBILITIES), BUT YOU CAN HIT THE <ENTER> KEY TO TERMINATE THE MOVE
SPECIFICATION.

IF YOU MADE AN ERROR BEFORE FINISHING, JUST ENTER AN ILLEGAL SQUARE AND THE
MOVE ENTERING PROCESS WILL RESTART.

MOVE BUFFER:
THE MOVES IN THE GAME ARE STORED IN AN INTERNAL MOVE BUFFER WHICH CAN HOLD
UP TO 'MAX' SUBMOVES (SEE BOTTOM LEFT OF SCREEN FOR VALUE OF MAX).

KEYBOARD COMMANDS:
INSTEAD OF ENTERING A MOVE, YOU CAN ENTER THE FOLLOWING COMMANDS:

         .         BACKSTEP (USE THIS ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE HITTING F2 AND
                   IT TAKES OFF AND MAKES A MOVE FOR YOU THAT YOU DON'T WANT)
         /         UNDO BACKSTEP (FORWARD STEP)
         S         SAVE THE GAME ON A FILE, YOU PICK THE NAME OF THE GAME
                   SAVE FILE.  NOTE: DON'T USE THE NAMES HALMA.DOC,
                   HALMA.EXE, OR HALMA.SCR!  A GOOD CHOICE IS HALMA.001,
                   HALMA.002, ETC.
         R         RESTORE THE GAME FROM A FILE
         ESC       RESTART THE GAME AND WIPE OUT MOVE BUFFER CONTENTS

NOTE ON BACKSTEP AND UNDO BACKSTEP:
THE COMPUTER BACKSTEPS TO THE NEXT KEYBOARD PLAYER.  E.G., IF BLACK IS THE
COMPUTER AND WHITE IS THE KEYBOARD, AND A BACKSTEP COMMAND IS ISSUED, THE
COMPUTER BACKSTEPS 2 TIMES.  IF YOU ISSUE A BACKSTEP COMMAND AND THEN REAL
QUICKLY SWITCH INTO THE COMPUTER PLAY-BOTH MODE, THE COMPUTER WILL TAKE OFF
AND BACKSTEP UNTIL IT RUNS OUT OF MOVES OR YOU CHANGE MODES.
FOR FORWARD STEP, THE COMPUTER STOPS AT EACH STEP SO YOU CAN TAKE OVER FROM
THERE AND CHANGE THE OUTCOME.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU CAN USE THE BACKSTEP AND UNDO BACKSTEP COMMANDS TO MAKE
UP FOR ACCIDENTAL MOVES WHEN PRESSING F2.  ALSO, WHEN A GAME ENDS, THE
COMPUTER WILL ASK IF YOU WANT A NEW GAME.  IF YOU HIT N, IT WILL PERMIT YOU
TO BACKSTEP THE OLD GAME, PROVIDED YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE OF THE PLAYERS
IN KEYBOARD MODE (USE F2).  YES, YOU CAN BACKSTEP AND FORWARD STEP BACK INTO
THE WIN POSITION AND GET DOUBLE CREDIT FOR A GAME IF YOU'RE THAT CROOKED (HA
HA)!

NOTE ON SAVE AND RESTORE:
YOU CAN ABORT THESE COMMANDS IN PROGRESS BY HITTING THE ESC KEY.

PUTTING NOTES TO YOURSELF IN SAVED GAME FILES:
ANY LINE WITH A "." OR A "N" IN COLUMN 1 IS IGNORED WHEN THE GAME IS READ IN.
THE FIRST SUCH NOTE LINE MUST COME AFTER THE GAME PARAMETER LINE (THE FIRST
LINE OF THE FILE CONTAINING THE PLAYERS' STARTING CORNERS).

MATCH SCORE FILE:
THE FILE HALMA.SCR IS USED BY THE COMPUTER TO AUTOMATICALLY RECORD THE
NUMBER OF GAMES WON BY WHITE AND BLACK.  TO CLEAR THE MATCH SCORE AND START
FRESH JUST ERASE THIS FILE.  NOTE: DO NOT CONFUSE IT WITH THE GAME SAVE
FILES WHICH YOU MUST NAME YOURSELF.

SOUND EFFECTS TOGGLE: FUNCTION KEY F1 TOGGLES THE SOUND EFFECTS ON AND OFF.

TO QUIT: HIT FUNCTION KEY F7.

BORDER CONTROL (COLOR MONITORS ONLY): HIT FUNCTION KEY F10 TO CHANGE THE
SCREEN BORDER COLOR.

GAME SPEED CONTROL: FUNCTION KEY F3 DECREASES, AND FUNCTION KEY F4 INCREASES
THE SPEED OF THE GAME IN DEMO MODE.  THE DELAY FACTOR (0.1 TO 9.9) IN SECONDS
BETWEEN THE COMPUTER'S MOVES IS DISPLAYED ON THE BOTTOM LINE OF THE SCREEN.

TO DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS: HIT FUNCTION KEY F5.

COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS:
   S    START UP WITH SOUND OFF
   M    FORCE MONO DISPLAY MODE
   C    FORCE COLOR DISPLAY MODE

EXAMPLE: >HALMA MS

----------------------
DID YOU LIKE THIS TOY?
DON'T FORGET TO TRY OUR GOBS OF OTHER NEAT LOW-PRICED TOYS AND GAMES FOR THE
IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES.  OUR NIFTY DEMO DISK, CONTAINING AN ELECTRONIC TOY
CATALOG AND OTHER GOODIES, IS ONLY $2 SHIPPING/HANDLING TO ANY ADDRESS IN THE
U.S., $3 OUTSIDE U.S. (U.S. DOLLARS ONLY; PLEASE SPECIFY 5.25 INCH OR 3.5 INCH
DISKETTE).
IF YOUR PC BORES YOU WRITE US NOW.

AND, IF YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR NEXT GAME, TRY ONE OF THESE:

      CAT. #     TITLE
      ------     -----
      TM-106     TOMMY'S MONOPOLY.  THE NEATEST IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEAT
                 CAPITALIST POWER FANTASY BOARD GAME.  FOR 2-8 PLAYERS, AND
                 THE COMPUTER CAN PLAY.  SHORT AND LONG GAMES, AUTO GAME SAVE
                 & RESTORE, DYNAMICALLY UPDATED BOARD DISPLAY, OPTIONAL TIME
                 LIMIT.  THE ENTIRE BOX CRAMMED INTO A SINGLE PROGRAM: NEVER
                 WORRY ABOUT LOSING THE PIECES AGAIN.

      TM-075     TOMMY'S BACKGAMMON.  NEVER ROLL ALONE AGAIN!  PLAY AGAINST
                 DISEMBODIED ALIEN INTELLIGENCE WITH THIS NEAT PROGRAM.
                 DISPLAYS A BACKGAMMON BOARD AND PLAYS AGAINST YOU.  PLAY
                 STANDARD AND DUTCH VARIANTS.  IT IS ALMOST SUBVERSIVE TO
                 SELL THIS NEAT GAME SO CHEAP.

      TM-039     TOMMY'S YACHT.  THE NEAT DICE GAME HOOKED UP WITH AN
                 EXCLUSIVE ALIEN ALGORITHM THAT IS HARD TO BEAT.  PLAY AGAINST
                 COMPUTER AND UP TO 6 OTHER HUMANS AT THE SAME TIME.  ALSO
                 INCLUDES CRAG AND YAHTZEE, POPULAR VARIANTS.


EACH TOY IS ONLY $6; OR ALL 3 FOR $14.95. POSTPAID IN THE U.S.A. (OUTSIDE
U.S. ADD $1; U.S. DOLLARS ONLY, CHECK DRAWN ON U.S. BANK OR INTERNATIONAL
POSTAL MONEY ORDER PAYABLE IN U.S. DOLLARS).  PLEASE SPECIFY 5.25 INCH OR
3.5 INCH DISKETTES.

HAVE FUN!

       TOMMY'S TOYS, P.O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA