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- R O T A K T I X
-
- AN ARCADE PUZZLE GAME
- FOR IBM AND COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS
-
- (version 1.1)
-
- by
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- Loyd L Towe
-
-
- And
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- Data Wave Software
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- Copyright 1993 Data Wave Software
- All Rights Reserved
-
-
- ******* NOTE: IN THIS SHAREWARE VERSION OF ROTAKTIX, ONLY THE ********
- FIRST 3 LEVELS CAN BE PLAYED, AND NO HIGH SCORES WILL
- BE SAVED TO DISK. YOU MAY PURCHASE THE ADDITIONAL
- LEVELS AND FEATURES AT A VERY REASONABLE COST. PLEASE
- SEE THE ORDER.FRM FILE FOR ORDERING AND PRICE INFO.
-
-
- INTRODUCTION
-
- ROTAKTIX is a game of luck, strategy and concentration. Played on a
- game board that has nine vertical columns, or 'wells'. Each well is
- deep enough to hold 7 game play pieces, or "tokens", hence the game
- board will contain a maximum of 63 tokens. During play, tokens appear
- at the top of the game board in a row of 9. The tokens are rotated
- left or right using the arrow keys until they are in position for
- maximum scoring, and then dropped into play by pressing the spacebar.
- The amount of time you have to decide the best position, and then drop
- the tokens into play is determined by the level you are playing and
- shown as a "count down" timer on the info section of the game board.
- If this timer reaches zero before you have dropped the tokens, it will
- drop the tokens automatically, at their current position. One of the
- most dynamic and challenging aspects of ROTAKTIX is that all 9 tokens
- are dropped at the same time, sometimes blocking or covering up good
- scoring possibilities.
-
- Scoring is based on matching the tokens, by color, in groups of 3,
- either horizontal, vertical or diagonal. These groupings are referred
- to as "runs". When a run is scored, those tokens are removed from the
- game board, and any remaining tokens, fall down to fill in where scored
- tokens have been removed. This falling and filling in can have the
- effect of creating even further runs to be scored, sort of a chain
- reaction.
-
- Each level in ROTAKTIX is played as a series of 3 goal rounds plus a
- bonus round. In the first round, you are required to make a certain
- number of horizontal runs in order to pass that round. Other runs
- still score, but are not counted towards the round's goal. The second
- goal round is vertical runs and the third diagonal. The last round of
- a level is the bonus round, this round has no goal other than to make
- the most runs possible within a time limit set by the level you are
- playing. The time limit gets larger in proportion to the level so you
- have more time to make a larger score. In addition, scoring is based
- on a multiple of the level you are playing, so going to higher rounds
- means a larger score. In the bonus round, the score for the round is
- not added directly in, but is held and accumulated throughout the
- round. At the end of the round, the accumulated score is multiplied by
- the number of runs for that round. Thus, it is most desirable to
- advance to bonus rounds to accumulate truly massive scores.
-
- While going to higher levels is desirable scoring wise, it can be
- undesirable as well, because at each new level an additional token
- color is added to the mix, making gameplay much more difficult. At the
- end of the 10th level of play the number of colors and the goals will
- be reset back to their first level settings and you will have the
- opportunity to play through another series of 10 level/round
- combinations. The score will continue to build and the level count
- will continue to rise all the while.
-
- The game continues in this manner until the entire game board is filled
- with tokens and no more can be dropped into play, or if you manually
- quit the game. Your score will then be compared to the high scores
- saved from previous games and you might be given an opportunity to add
- your name to the list of all time high scores.
-
-
- SCORING
-
- Scoring in ROTAKTIX is calculated using the following formula:
-
- SCORE = # OF TOKENS x 50 POINTS(PER TOKEN) x LEVEL
-
- so for an example, you get 3 runs on a drop, 1 horizontal, 1 vertical
- and 1 diagonal, on level 1:
-
- horizontal = 3 x 50 x 1 = 150
- vertical = 3 x 50 x 1 = 150
- diagonal = 3 x 50 x 1 = 150
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
- for a total of 450
-
- A token can be part of more than one run. It might appear as though
- runs of 4 or 5 like tokens are being scored, but in reality what is
- happening is that 2, 3, 4 or more runs (of 3) that share common tokens
- are being scored.
-
- Wild tokens will appear now and then, and they can match any other
- token to make runs, though they score the same as regular tokens. An
- example of a nice use of wild tokens would be to have 2 reds and 2
- greens separated by an open slot, you drop a wild one in to the open
- slot to make 2 runs, one red and one green.
-
-
- GAME CONTROLS
-
- LEFT ARROW KEY = ROTATE TOKENS LEFT
- RIGHT ARROW KEY = ROTATE TOKENS RIGHT
- SPACEBAR = DROP TOKENS INTO PLAY
- T = TOGGLE SOUND FX ON/OFF
- S = SWAP TOKEN SETS
- G = TOGGLE GOAL DISPLAYS ON/OFF
- ESC = QUIT THE GAME
- F1 = ON-LINE HELP SCREENS
-
- HINTS & TIPS
-
- In the goal rounds, take your time and look for the best scoring
- possibilities. In the bonus rounds, try to go as fast as you can.
- Scoring in the bonus round is based on the number of runs. Be sure not
- to fill up the game board though as doing this at any time during the
- game, will end the game. For maximum score, avoid making the goal for
- as long as possible to score higher at lower levels, again be sure not
- to fill up the game board. Look for multiple runs on a drop. Look for
- chain reaction scoring, i.e.: runs that will be made as a result of
- tokens falling and filling in where scored tokens have been removed.
-
-
-
- INSTALLING ROTAKTIX
-
- While ROTAKTIX does not require hard drive installation, it is highly
- recommended as it will pause for extended periods during gameplay if
- played from floppy. Always use a backup copy of the ROTAKTIX master
- disk if playing from floppy.
-
- To install ROTAKTIX, place the master disk in the appropriate drive,
- connect to that drive and type 'INSTALL' and press return. The
- installation program will ask you the appropriate information.
-
-
- REGISTERING ROTAKTIX
-
- When you purchase the full, deluxe version of ROTAKTIX, it adds the
- unlimited levels and the save high scores to disk feature. You also
- get the handy quick reference manual, demo's of upcomming products,
- technical support, a money saving coupon good for future Data Wave
- products and a free subscription to RIPPLES the Data Wave newsletter
- detailing new and exciting products.
-
- If you have a Compuserve account, you can register ROTAKTIX online.
- Just GO SWREG and search ROTAKTIX in the database. Nothing could be
- easier, and you'll get the deluxe version extra fast!
-
- TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-
- You can get technical support for all Data Wave products via the
- following methods:
-
- E-mail to;
-
- Internet: towel@elcsci.com
- Compuserve: 70614,1721
-
- or US Mail to;
-
- Data Wave Software
- 13500 SW Pacific Hwy. #457
- Portland, Oregon 97223
-
- Unregistered software will only get limited technical support.
-
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-