SNAKE BATTLE I. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS. -switch on your computer and load the DOS; -insert the game disk in drive A; -copy the game to your hard disk, for example the following way: MKDIR C:\SNAKE COPY A:\*.* C:\SNAKE CD C:\SNAKE -type in "snake /e" for starting English version of the game and press ENTER -when title page displays, strike any key or click mouse button. II. COPY PROTECTION. This game is protected from unauthorized usage by password system. You shall be asked for one particular word from the code table (see part IX) when starting the game. For example: "Type word D3 from the code table". You are allowed 3 attempts. III. PRINCIPLES OF SNAKE BATTLE. The principle of this game is significantly different from these of most of other games. The number of players is practically unlimited. Your task is to prepare your own snake for competitions (i.e. to create and to train it) but in battle itself you can be only a spectator. The snake begins to live its own life: takes part in competitions, behaves according to the strategy you have taught it, wins or loses and - who knows? - may yield you a profit and glory. Besides, you always have the opportunity to improve fighting qualities of your snake (of course, if it is not engaged yet in a large tournament). In one combat up to 4 snakes can take part simultaneously. They attack each other. If snake's head touches enemy's tail it will bite it off, thus shortening the enemy's body by one cell and adding it to its own length. The winner has the maximum length at the end of the battle. Snake's length can be regarded as the amount of won points or dollars. To create a fighting snake - that is: * to choose name for your snake, * to choose its colour, * to make passport for the snake, * to programme its strategy on battle field, * to set a password. Your snake is your property, therefore nobody can change it or pry secrets of its program without knowing your own password. IV. THE MAIN MENU. After starting the game and pressing any key you will see the main menu that looks like a set of icons and screen buttons. EDIT PASSPORT* Put the cursor on the picture and press ENTER or left mouse button and you will enter the regime of filling your snake's passport. BATTLE Put the cursor on the icon and press ENTER or left mouse button to start the competition between chosen snakes (about picking up snakes see below). CHOOSE COLOUR* When you start this regime, you can choose or change the colour of skin of your Snake. MAKE SNAKE'S BRAIN* This is the regime of programming your Snake's behaviour. Screen buttons: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - information about the authors of the game, NEW PASSWORD* - set a new password for a snake, EXIT - interrupt the game and quit to DOS. ! Notice: the asterisked options are available only after entering the password of the snake. V. PICKING UP SNAKES. In the right part of screen there is a pile of cassettes, each of them connects full information about one particular snake. In the four upper cells you put cassettes with snakes that you intend for next round of battle (let's call them "battle-pile"). The top cassette is intended also for work (teaching, editing passport, changing colour) In the lower pile there is the bank of existing snakes. Place arrow pointer on the snake you want to put into competition and press Enter or click mouse button. Then point a position in the "battle-pile" and press Enter once more. If the cell was already filled, the previous snake will return to the bank. To see the next part of the list choose the red arrow. To begin creating a new snake choose the top cell when it is empty and type a new name when twinkling cursor appears. If you enter a name that already exists then the corresponding cassette from the bank will be loaded. VI. OPTIONS OF THE MAIN MENU. A). BATTLE After entering this regime you will see the battle field and passports of snakes enlisted for the current battle. In the top right corner there is the information tableau with names, colours and score number of fighting snakes. If several rounds of battle take place, score number for each snake will be the total through all the rounds have been held without returning to the main menu. Below you can see the time indicator of the current battle. When time is up, the battle will be interrupted. Control panel: PLAY - begin the battle. SLOW - in this regime execution of each game step requires pressing the SPACE bar or clicking mouse button (game step means that all the snakes make one move each). Besides, if the password of the "top cell snake" was input correctly, in the bottom right corner you will see its card being executed at this moment (about cards see the section MAKE SNAKE'S BRAIN). STOP - interrupts battle at any moment. SOUND - toggle sound on and off. MAIN MENU - quit to the main menu at any moment. When the battle is over you can either start it again with the same snakes or return to the main menu. Then the passport of the snake-winner with its new rating will appear over the battle field. To quit BATTLE press ENTER or click mouse button. B).EDIT PASSPORT To enter this regime you need to know the password of the snake in the top cell. If you pick up this item with the top cell empty, you will be asked for a new name. In snake's passport there is information about number of cards used in its program, rating, level of complexity of programming instrument. Rating is proportional to the average length of the snake through all its battles and primarily is equal to 1000. In the passport you can print your own name or pseudonym, motto or any brief information you want. C).CHOOSE SKIN After entering the password you will see a little cage with moving snake. Choose its colour by "Left" and "Right". D).MAKE SNAKE'S BRAIN If this regime is entered for a new snake then you must choose the complexity level of teaching instruments. NOVICE ADVANCED EXPERT Then 9 cards and a control panel will appear. PRINCIPLES OF CREATING A SNAKE-PROGRAM During the battle each snake moves along the cellular field. Before each game step the proper sequence of snakes moves is determined by chance. Then each snake makes a move in its turn. The move means either transportation on one empty cell, or biting off the opponent's tail with transportation to its place. If both is impossible, the snake remains motionless. Snake's behaviour is programmed by means of cards consisting of 7*7 positions, which can be filled with conventional elements described on the control panel. The player can use from 1 to 9 cards. At every moment of time a snake takes a view of a field fragment of 7*7 cells around its head and compares it with the first card of its behaviour (rotating it if necessary). The card is considered coincided with field fragment if while superimposing it under all the elements of the card the same elements of the field are found. If it occurs, the direction of the snake's head on the card will show the direction of its motion on the next step. If not, the fragment will be compared with the second card and so on, until the proper card is found. If there is no corresponding card, the direction of snake's movement will be random. While comparing the card can be rotated in all directions, for example, it can be overturned with picture down. That is why you needn't make cards with symmetrical disposition of elements, because these cards will work exactly the same way. MAIN MENU - by means of this screen button you can quit to the main menu. Regime NOVICE. In the right bottom part of screen you see the indicator of work with cards which can be in one of the following conditions: EDIT CARD INSERT CARD DELETE CARD Switching of regimes is made by pressing ENTER or clicking mouse button while the arrow cursor is placed on the indicator. EDIT CARD - By means of arrow cursor activate the element on the control panel you want to put in a card. Then point the position in the card where you want to place it and press ENTER or click mouse button. To delete the element press ENTER again. INSERT CARD - put the arrow cursor on the card before which you want to insert a new one and press ENTER or click mouse button. DELETE CARD - place the cursor on the card you want to delete and press ENTER or click mouse button. Screen buttons FOR ADVANCED are not used in this regime. Regime ADVANCED. This part is for players who regard the instruments suggested in the regime NOVICE too simple. On the control panel two buttons are added: OR-COLOR and EXCEPT OR-COLOR - when this button with blue indicator is activated, you can change the colour of any element on cards to the colour of indicator. Point the element you want to repaint and press ENTER or click mouse button. To cancel OR-COLOR press the button again. The rules of comparing cards are different from these of regime NOVICE. For executing a card with one or several blue elements it is enough that at least one of such elements would coincide (at the same time all the ordinary elements must coincide). If it occurs in several positions of the card the program will choose one where the coincidence is more complete. EXCEPT - when this button is activated, the element pointed by cursor will be crossed out. This element will coincide if in its place on the field any element except this one is found. The button EXPERT is not used in this regime. Regime EXPERT The regime for elite. On the control panel the button is added with colour indicator: AND-COLOR and one more OR-COLOUR appears (now they are blue and green). The rules of comparing cards: All the elements of the same colour (from AND-COLOUR set) must coincide simultaneously. Then it is considered that this colour group coincides. There is also a possibility added to change the colour of the frame encircling each card entirely. For this put the cursor on the proper indicator, pick up the colour, then put the cursor on the own head of your snake in chosen card and press ENTER. Along with the frame the colour of OWN HEAD will be changed. If the frame colour is the one from AND-COLOUR then the card is compared the same way as in ADVANCED regime. If it is from OR-COLOUR - then the card will coincide when at least one of the colour groups coincides. In this regime you can change the position of OWN HEAD in cards. E).NEW PASSWORD Here you can change the password of your snake. Put the cursor on the screen button, press ENTER or click mouse button and type in new password. The password is changed. VIII. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. -IBM PC XT/AT or compatible; -640*350 EGA, with 256 kb on board and 16 colours; -about 400 Kb of operating memory at run time; -Mouse (optional)