Main

Boom! v1.0e Help...

Basics 	Basic information about the game.

Rules 	Exact rules of the game.

Scoring	How can you get points.

Hints & Tips 	A few tricks.

Interface 	How to control Boom!

Credits


Basics

Boom is a simple game for one or more players. In the game you control a wizard and different actions cause him to gain varying amounts of points. The aim of the game is (surprise, surprise :-) ) to get more points then your enemies.

Totally simplified rules :

1) You can push your own bricks (the ones matching the color of your wizard).

2) You can destroy your enemy's bricks by squashing them with yours.

3) You can destroy your own bricks by laying a bomb next to them.

4) You can kill your enemies by squashing them or with a bomb.

So now stop reading and quickly try everything.

Hmm, still want to read? Well, then try these :

How are points allocated for different actions ?

How do you control the wizards ?

Exact rules of the game and description of different types of the game.


Rules

What is what ?

Bricks :

Your own bricks : Bricks of the same color as your wizard. At the beginning you can pick a color for each player. Your bricks are then of that chosen color. Different players can have the same brick color. In that case all the players with the same color play together against everybody else.

Enemy's bricks : All the bricks that are not your own. (Duhhh!)

Wizards (players) :

Ally : A wizard with the same color bricks as you.

Enemy : A wizard with different color bricks.

Playing Field :

The area where everything happens. Well, where everything should happen. If the players prefer to kick each other under the table, cover each other's eyes or attempt to disturb each other's concentration in any other way, the computer cannot do anything about that. However we advise players to write down a list of allowed moves, hits and equipment in advance.

Pyramids :

Pyramids are evenly placed on the playing field.

Bomb :

Your own bomb: A bomb that you've laid.

Enemy's : One that the enemy laid, what else ?

A bomb has a violet square, which marks how far the flame reaches when the bomb explodes.

Dead body :

Mr. Mushroom :

Mushroom :

What does what ?

After choosing the number of players, their types and the number of games (See New Game), the first round begins. In each round you gain a certain amount of points which add up to a total score. The player with the highest total score after all the rounds are played is the winner.

Movement :

A player can move his wizard as he wishes, and tries to gain as many points as possible. The wizard, can only be moved to places without bricks, pyramids, or bombs. You can move in four basic directions or diagonally. (See Controls)

Pushing objects :

If there is a player's own brick in front of his wizard, the wizard can push it. However there has to be free space in front of the brick, for the brick to move in to. You can also push your brick into another object which you then destroy:

OK I'll destroy a red brick!

I can't push the brick into the pyramid!

I can't go through the bomb!

I can't push this brick into another one of my bricks!

Laying bombs :

A player can lay bombs under himself. When a bomb is laid, a violet square will appear around the bomb. After a while the bomb explodes and destroys everything that is in the square.

Only pyramids and enemy bricks are immune to bomb blasts. If another bomb is within the square it will explode when the first one does. The player can lay as many bombs as he likes, but he cannot lay them on top of one another. A player cannot walk through bombs, but can walk off a laid bomb (useful is someone nice has laid a bomb underneath you!).

Mr. Mushroom :

Mr. Mushroom is a general name for the little black character. You can rename it as your favourite' examiner, head teacher, or piano instructor. Mr. Mushroom walks between the players and lays mushrooms. He chooses a player to pick on - gets closer to that player and lays mushrooms. (This algorithm was modelled directly on the behaviour of those persons mentioned above!)  If a wizard eats the mushroom, points are deducted from his score. Mr. Mushroom can surround a wizard with mushrooms, but won't lay one where a wizard(or mushroom) is standing. (The persons named above don't even conform to those rules!) Mr. Mushroom can be destroyed only with a bomb. (No comment! ;-) )

Destroying the enemy :

As we already know, the enemy can be destroyed by a bomb or by squashing him. A wizard receives points for this achievement only after his dead body disappears. This takes a few seconds, and during this time the remaining wizards must still play. Therefore it doesn't pay to carry out kamikaze attacks in which you and the enemy die. Points are lost for self-destruction, and no points will be awarded for the termination of your enemy. (Sounds like a science fiction movie… :-)) On the other hand, if your ally was to die at the hands of your enemy, you can achieve real satisfaction (and stop your enemy scoring points!) by killing him before your ally disappears.

Bonus round :

Every seventh round does not contain any pyramids. (Great bonus!)

Ending the round:

The game ends when any of the following conditions are met:

1) Only one player remains, or only one group of the same color remains.

2) A player or group has run out of bricks.

In both cases in the bottom right corner a counter appears, signalling the time left before the round ends. In that time the players can grab as many points as they are able, or just sit down in a corner and cry. Then the round ends.

Playing in groups :

When more than one wizard plays with the same color bricks they form an alliance. Together they try to beat every body else, by getting the most combined points. Although the score is individually counted, in the final position table, the position is determined by combined scores.

At the end of each round group statistics can be viewed (See Statistics).

If a wizard (unwittingly or otherwise!) manages to kill his ally, points are deducted as if a suicide had been committed.

Disappearing bricks :

If more than two wizards or two groups play, when a wizard/group is eliminated, all their bricks disappear.


Scoring

Summary of actions and resultant scores:

Action :	Points:

  Destroying your own brick	3

   Destroying enemies brick 	10

   Squashing enemy	100

   Eating a mushroom	-2

   Killing Mr. Mushroom	30

   Suicide	-50

Note 1 : Points will only be deducted if a wizard's current score will still not be less than zero after the points have been taken away. E.g.: If you have one point, and eat a mushroom, no points will be deducted.

Note 2 : Points for destroying your enemy are received only after his dead body disappears.


Interface

What do I have to do to setup a new game?

How do I save/load a game?

How do I pause the game?

What happens at the end of each round?

How do I control my wizard, and how can I change the controls?

How do I get help?

System Requirements?


Control

Controlling your wizard

The program gives you two sets of keys to control your wizard. At the beginning of the game you can choose which set you play with.

To view the current key setting or the choose the keys in each set, use the Controls dialog box. This can be found in the Options menu, or by clicking on the control button:

In the game, horizontal and vertical keys can be combined to walk diagonally, and bombs can be laid while walking.


Hints & Tips

Hmm, we did write six paragraphs here, but then decided that you would have far more fun working them out yourself! It really wouldn't be nice of us to take away all the pleasure of discovering them now, would it?! In the end we decided to be kind and give you two paragraphs, which should make things a little easier.

Suicide

At some point in the game, you may find that you start a round, and are stuck in a corner, or your enemy has an apparently superior position. Here is an example of such a situation:

You are surrounded by your enemies bricks. You cannot do anything while your enemy happily harvesting all the bricks. For your opponent this situation is very advantageous, and an experienced player definitely won't free you from your situation. If he can get closer, he will probably squash you. At the point it is usually best to commit suicide by dropping a bomb on your toes. Although you lose 50 points, you have stopped your enemy possibly gaining a fortune in points. If you have less than 50 points, you won't even lose anything! Therefore if you are stuck at the beginning of a game, commit suicide A.S.A.P. If you are both stuck, then it doesn't matter who dies first. If you are both stuck in the middle of a game, you can either wait each other out, and see who falls asleep first, or sign a peace treaty, or just grow up at commit suicide! If there are more than two players, your bricks will disappear when you die, and your enemies will have less bricks to harvest.

Pushing the bricks, around the corner'

The game allows you to push bricks diagonally, and even around corners:

In this case, the blue wizard can destroy the red brick. All you have to do is move it diagonally down and right. Have a look how this move is used by the computer players.


New game

At the beginning you will see a New Game dialog box appear. Here you can set the type of game you wish to play:

One player / Two player : The keyboard can be used to control one or two players.

Demo : The computer controls all players. The results of each round don't appear.

After choosing the game type, a window will appear where you can :

Add / Remove players : You can tick the wizards who you wish to play.

Set the name and brick color for individual players.

Set number of rounds : Move the lever to the left or right.

Set the keyboard controls : The program offers two sets of keys, and using the button Change you can change which player will use which set. (See Controls)

If you are happy, choose start. (If you are not happy, see a counsellor, or therapist…)

Note: You can also run the game from the menu Game, New Game, or by pressing:


Statistics

At the end of each round, a window with the results appears. Successes that have been achieved by you and your enemies can be seen here.

If you play in groups, by pressing the button Groups, you can also view the group results. (Hmm… There were a lot of groups in that sentence.) Pressing the Players button will take you back to the individual player results.


Saving & Loading

Saving and loading

You can save or load a game at any time.

Saving : From the menu Game choose the command Save and enter the name of the game. Or just press :

Loading : From the menu Game choose the command Load, and select, or type a game name. Or just press:

Note : When you save a game, the current round is lost. The game will re-load at the start of the current round.


Help

To get this help, during the game press F1, or click on this button:, or from menu Help choose Index.


Pausing the game

The toolbar contains two buttons, by pressing these you can pause or continue the game:

Continue the paused game

Pause the game


Credits

Boom! Credits

Game developed by aSc

Jano Gottweis

Juro Gottweis

Translation by NQ3D:

Gareth Coltman

Dushan Leska

Lead Tester :

Palo Marton

Thanks to :

Dano Stefankovic, for his game Pritlac

Copyright  1996 aSc Applied Software Consultants s r.o.

Svoradova 7, Bratislava SR. tel.: +42 7 5311 841 fax.: +42 7 5319 006

e-mail.: asc@internet.sk

http : // www.asc.sk / ascboom.html

Official UK mirror site :  http://www.copycare.com/nq3d/boom.html


System Requirements

System Requirments

Computer players are controlled by resource intensive algorithms, so they need a fast processor. It is probably sensible to run the game without many other applications running. If you do have a slow processor the game can slow down significantly. (and help you - you'll have more time to react :-) )

We suggest a 486DX2 66 or higher, with 8mb's RAM, but if you have Windows 95 or NT running in 256 color VGA, you should have no problems.