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1985-10-11
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<84/04/24> SOPWITH <84/04/24>
NAME :
SOPWITH
SYNTAX:
sopwith [-r] [-d?]
FUNCTION:
SOPWITH is a video war-game played over the IMAGINET network or
on a stand-alone PC. The object of SOPWITH is to destroy all
enemy targets with a somewhat limited airforce. SOPWITH may be
played in three ways:
Single Player
Single Player against the computer
Multiple Players
SINGLE PLAYER
-------------
Single player SOPWITH should only be used to 'get the feel of
the stick'. The player ( blue airplane ) must destroy all the
enemy ( red ) targets before losing five (5) airplanes.
SINGLE PLAYER AGAINST THE COMPUTER
----------------------------------
This game is of the same flavour as single player SOPWITH with
the additional realism of having someone else ( red airplanes )
out to get you.
MULTIPLE PLAYER
---------------
Multiple user SOPWITH allows 2-4 IMAGINET users to form opposing
air forces with the goal of being the first to destroy all enemy
targets. The airplane which player controls, and the airforce
for which the player flies, are determined by the number of
players and the order in which they attach themselves to the
game.
2 players: first player receives a blue airplane
second player receives a red airplane
3 players: first player receives a blue airplane
second player receives a red airplane along
with a computer controlled plane eager
to bring about the demise of the dreaded
blue enemy
third player receives a blue airplane
4 players: first player receives a blue airplane
second player receives a red airplane
third player receives a blue airplane
fourth player receives a red airplane
In all cases each player attempts to destroy the targets of the
opposing colour while defending friendly targets against enemy
aircraft. Each player is limited to five (5) aircraft.
SCORING:
A player wins if the player or the player's team destroys all
enemy targets before losing five (5) airplanes. The point score
acquired is of no importance in determining whether a player has
won or lost. However, to assist in determining a flier's skill
level, the following points are associated with airplanes and
targets:
50 - airplane
100 - factory, hangar, or tank
200 - fuel depot
In single player games, points are gained if enemy targets and
airplanes are destroyed; points are lost if friendly targets and
airplanes are destroyed. In multiple player SOPWITH, points are
always gained by one side or the other.
KEYBOARD:
The following keys are used during the play of SOPWITH:
ctrl-break - terminates the game for the player by
crashing the player's plane. Scores are
adjusted accordingly.
, - elevator up. The airplane will rise if
right-side-up, drop if up-side-down.
. - roll airplane
/ - elevator down. The airplane will drop if
right-side-up, rise if up-side-down.
x - accelerate airplane
\ - decelerate airplane
b - drop a bomb
space-bar - fire a shot
h - allow the computer to fly you home for
refuelling and rearmament. Computer
control ends if elevator, acceleration,
or roll keys are pressed.
s - turn sound on if off, off if on.
SCREEN:
During play, the screen is divided into two sections, a window
and a status display. The window comprises the upper ninety
percent of the screen and provides a display of the player's
airplane along with a display of other airplanes, targets, and
ground in the immediate vicinity. This window is scrolled left
or right in an attempt to keep a reasonable view in front of
the player's airplane.
The lower ten percent of the screen is used for displaying the
status of the game. From left to right, the status display
consists of:
blue team score
red team score ( multiple player game only )
plane gauge showing the number of airplanes not yet
destroyed. Each airplane is represented
by two (2) vertical dots. The game
begins with the gauge indicating five
airplanes available. The gauge shows
two (2) dots when the player is using
the last airplane available.
fuel gauge relative display of fuel remaining.
bomb gauge relative display of bombs remaining.
shot gauge relative display of the number of gun
rounds remaining.
Note: fuels, bomb, and shots may be
topped up while remaining stationary
at one's home base. A player is at
home after a crash, or after completing
a return to home by using the 'h' key.
world display a miniaturized display of the entire
playing world showing the positions of
all airplanes, targets not yet destroy-
ed, and bombs.
PLAY:
To play SOPWITH, simply key:
sopwith
or:
?:sopwith where ? is the device indicator of the
disk containing the SOPWITH program
file 'sopwith.exe'
SOPWITH will then display the following to determine how the
game is to be played:
Key: S - single player
M - multiple players
C - single player against computer
Respond by keying s, m, or c ( IN LOWER CASE ). In either of
the single player modes, this is all that must be done. The
program will pause for a few seconds for initialization, and
then will display the SOPWITH window and status screen.
If multiple player SOPWITH is selected, there are a few more
steps to be performed. Since SOPWITH allows several games to
be played concurrently, SOPWITH must know which game the player
wishes to start or join. SOPWITH will ask ( demand ):
Key a game number
In order for a game number to be accepted, the following must
all be true:
. the game number is between 0 and 7 inclusive
. the data file 'sopwith?.dta' ( where ? is the game
number keyed ) resides on the player's SOPWITH
disk. The player's SOPWITH disk is by default the
'C' disk, but may be overridden to A,B or D by use
of the '-d?' option of the SOPWITH command line.
. an IMAGINET semaphor file 'semaphor' resides on the
player's SOPWITH disk.
. the game requested is not currently being played, or
the game is waiting for additional players.
If the player is the first player to request this game number,
SOPWITH will display:
Key maximum number of players allowed
A response of 2 through 4 indicates to SOPWITH that it will
wait for 1 to 3 players repectively before allowing play to
begin. SOPWITH will pause for initialization, and then display
the window and status screen. While waiting for additional
players, SOPWITH will remain in a suspended state. Once all the
required players are attached to the game, noticeable screen
refreshes will begin.
If the player is not the first player into the game specified,
( ie. the game is waiting ), SOPWITH will pause for initiali-
zation and then display the window and status screen. If all
the required players are attached to the game, the game begins.
Otherwise, SOPWITH will continue to wait.
RECOVERY:
If for some reason, a player's SOPWITH program fails to end
properly while in multiple player mode, the game number in use
at the time is renderred unusable. In order to reset the game
in question, SOPWITH must be run with the 'reset' option:
sopwith -r [-d?]
Continue through the game number and maximum player prompts as
usual. Keying 'sopwith -r [-d?]' and specifying a game which
is in progress will yield unpredictable results.
INSTALLATION:
The program file 'sopwith.exe' must be available to each player.
For single player games, this is the only installation needed.
For multiple player use, the following files must be available
at the root directory of an IMAGINET disk common to all players:
semaphor - IMAGINET semaphor file
sopwith?.dta - SOPWITH communications files where the
symbol ? corresponds to any valid game
number between 0-7 inclusive.
Sopwith?.dta files may be created by copying existing SOPWITH
dta files, or by using any other output method to allocate one
disk sector under the root directory. In all cases, newly
created SOPWITH dta files should be initialized by using the
'sopwith -r [-d?]' command line described above under RECOVERY.
BUGS:
1) at all times, SOPWITH expects lower case input. Watch out
for the caps-lock key.
2) Computer controlled planes occasionally kamikaze into the
ground. Since the computer flies a player home when the 'h'
key is pressed, 'h' may place a player at the mercy of the
machine.
3) In multiple player mode, SOPWITH does not care if the file
'semaphor' on the player's 'C' disk is actually an IMAGINET
semaphor file. If it is not, the players must take care
to stagger SOPWITH initialization, otherwise, ( you guessed
it ), unpredictable results occur.
4) Explosions sound funny.