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- TOMMY'S BLACKBOX (C) COPYRIGHT 1989 BY TOMMY'S TOYS
- P.O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
- CATALOG #89-122-1A
-
- INSTRUCTIONS:
-
- THIS IS A NEAT GAME OF LOGICAL DEDUCTION, SUITABLE AS AN ENTRANCE EXAM TO
- EXTERMINATOR AND PEST CONTROLLER SCHOOL.
-
- THE BLACK BOX:
- THE GAME IS PLAYED ON AN 8 X 8 GRID, REPRESENTING 64 POSITIONS IN A CLOSED
- TWO-DIMENSIONAL BLACK BOX. THE BOX CONTAINS SOME GORILLA BALLS, LOCATED AT
- RANDOM ON THE GRID. YOUR JOB IS TO DEDUCE THE LOCATION OF THE NASTY GORILLA
- BALLS FROM THE BEHAVIOR OF TT RAYS THAT YOU SHOOT IN FROM THE EDGES OF THE
- BOX.
-
- RAY BEHAVIOR:
- THE BEHAVIOR OF THE RAYS FOLLOWS THESE RULES:
-
- 1. IF A RAY STRIKES A BALL HEAD-ON, IT IS ABSORBED.
- 2. IF IT WOULD PASS BY A BALL ON AN ADJACENT SQUARE, IT TURNS NINETY
- DEGREES SO AS TO AVOID THE BALL, TURNING ON THE SQUARE JUST BEFORE IT
- WOULD COME BESIDE THE BALL -- THAT IS, WHEN IT IS DIAGONALLY ADJACENT
- TO IT.
- 3. A RAY MEETING TWO BALLS WITH ONE EMPTY SQUARE BETWEEN (WHERE ITS PATH
- WOULD PASS BETWEEN THEM) WOULD NOT KNOW WHICH WAY TO TURN, AND WILL BE
- REFLECTED BACK 180 DEGREES. FINALLY, IF THERE IS A BALL ON THE SQUARE
- NEXT TO THE ONE THE RAY IS ENTERING ONTO, SO THAT THE RAY WOULD HAVE TO
- TURN BEFORE ENTERING THE BOX (AN IMPOSSIBILITY), IT IS REFLECTED.
-
- THESE RULES ARE BEST LEARNED BY PLAYING A FEW GAMES.
-
- ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS:
- WHEN YOU LAUNCH A RAY, ITS ENTRY AND EXIT POINT WILL BE MARKED. IF IT WENT
- IN AND WAS ABSORBED, THE ENTRY POINT IS MARKED WITH THE LETTER H (FOR HIT).
- IF IT WENT IN AND WAS REFLECTED (CAME BACK OUT THE SAME PORT), THE ENTRY/EXIT
- IS MARKED WITH AN R. OTHERWISE, THE ENTRY AND EXIT PORTS ARE MARKED WITH THE
- SAME CAPITAL LETTER, BEGINNING WITH AN A FOR THE FIRST PAIR, B FOR THE SECOND
- PAIR, ETC.
-
- SCORING:
- YOUR SCORE STARTS OUT AT 10,000 POINTS.
- YOU SCORE A PENALTY OF ONE POINT FOR EACH PORT USED. THAT IS, A HIT SCORES
- ONE POINT, A REFLECTION SCORES ONE POINT, AND A RAY THAT ENTERS AND THEN
- LEAVES BY ANOTHER PORT SCORES TWO POINTS. WHEN YOU ASK THE COMPUTER TO CHECK
- YOUR SOLUTION, ANY BAD GUESSES (BALLS IN THE WRONG PLACE, OR MISSING BALLS)
- COUNT FIVE POINTS. THE LOWER YOUR SCORE THE BETTER.
-
- PLAYING THE GAME:
- THE FUNCTION KEYS ARE USED TO PLAY THE GAME (SEE ON-SCREEN MENU).
-
- IN GENERAL, USE THE CURSOR CONTROL KEYS ON THE NUMERIC KEY PAD TO POSITION
- THE ARROW OR FLASHING CURSOR AT THE DESIRED ENTRY PORT OR GRID LOCATION.
- THEN PRESS THE SPACE BAR OR THE <ENTER> KEY TO LAUNCH A TT RAY, PLACE A GUESS
- BALL, OR REMOVE A GUESS BALL. IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE FROM THE LAUNCH, PLACE,
- OR REMOVE MODE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING, HIT THE ESC KEY.
-
- OF COURSE YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY MORE GUESS BALLS ON THE SCREEN THAN THERE ARE
- HIDDEN GUESS BALLS IN THE GRID.
-
- YOU CAN CLEAR THE WHOLE FIELD AT ONCE WITH FUNCTION KEY F4.
-
- SOLUTION KEY:
- WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT SOLVED, PRESS F5 AND THE COMPUTER WILL SHOW YOU
- THE RESULT. BAD GUESSES ARE MARKED BY HILITED GORILLA BALLS, GOOD GUESSES BY
- REGULAR WHITE GORILLA BALLS, AND BALLS YOU MISSED BY HIGH-INTENSITY BLINKING
- GORILLA BALLS. IF YOU ARE PLAYING A COLOR VERSION, THE GUESSES ARE IN
- YELLOW BEFORE SCORING, AND TURN GREEN IF THEY ARE CORRECT; WRONG GUESSES ARE
- RED INVERTED GORILLA BALLS AND MISSED BALLS ARE RED BLINKING GORILLA BALLS.
-
- BALL CAPACITY:
- YOU MAY CHOOSE TO HIDE FROM ONE TO NINE GORILLA BALLS: MORE THAN FIVE USUALLY
- RESULTS IN AMBIGUITY, THAT IS, BALLS HIDDEN BEHIND OTHER BALLS SO THAT THEIR
- LOCATION CANNOT BE DEDUCED FROM THE RAYS.
-
- OTHER FUNCTION KEYS:
- -------------------
- F7 QUIT
- F8 DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS
- F9 SOUND TOGGLE
- F10 (COLOR MONITORS ONLY) CHANGE SCREEN BORDER COLOR
-
- TO SKIP THE STARTUP MUSIC: HIT THE <ENTER> KEY TWICE INSTEAD OF ONCE WHEN
- RUNNING THE PROGRAM FROM DOS.
-
- COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS:
- S START UP WITH SOUND OFF
- M FORCE MONO DISPLAY MODE
- C FORCE COLOR DISPLAY MODE
-
- EXAMPLE: >BLACKBOX MS
-
- ----------------------
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- IS ONLY $2 TO ANY U.S. ADDRESS, $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.
-
- GOOD LUCK!
-
-
-