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Text File | 1995-11-08 | 11.9 KB | 232 lines

TOMMY'S TRIVIA (C) COPYRIGHT 1987-1990 BY TOMMY'S TOYS P. O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CATALOG #87-060-1A INSTRUCTIONS: THIS IS A TRIVIA GAME PROGRAM FOR ASPIRING EARTHLING TRIVIOLOGISTS. THE TRIVIA QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY PREPARED BY ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE AND ARE PRESENTED IN AN ALTERNATE-CHOICE FORMAT. FROM YEARS OF OBSERVING YOUR PLANET WE HAVE CONCLUDED THAT WE SHOULD *NOT* DIVIDE THE TRIVIA INTO CATEGORIES, SINCE THAT WOULD BE UNTRIVIAL, AND BESIDES, BY THE TIME ANYBODY ELSE IN THE GALAXY RECEIVES YOUR TV AND RADIO TRANSMISSIONS, THEY ARE ALL MIXED UP TOGETHER LIKE THIS ANYWAY. NEITHER DO WE GRADE THE QUESTIONS ON DIFFICULTY, BECAUSE IF YOU KNOW IT IT ISN'T DIFFICULT AND IF YOU DON'T IT IS! AND NO, A PH.D IS NOT NECESSARY TO ENJOY THIS GAME BECAUSE YOU'D NEED A HUNDRED OF THEM TO GET ANY ADVANTAGE ON US ALIENS WHO MADE UP THE QUESTIONS, AND MOST EARTHLINGS PLAY FROM SUCH A LOW LEVEL OF IGNORANCE THAT YOU ONLY NEED TO GET ONE OR TWO EXTRA RIGHT ONCE IN AWHILE TO BEAT ANOTHER EARTHLING ANYWAY. THE MORAL OF THIS TOY IS THAT, WHILE TRIVIOLOGY IS THE QUEEN OF SCIENCES (IT IS ON VIRTUALLY EVERY CIVILIZED PLANET WE KNOW OF), YOU EARTHLINGS HAVE A LONG WAYS TO GO TO CATCH UP, HAVING GONE THROUGH THE PRIMITIVE *FLASH CARD* STAGE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO! (NOT TO MENTION NO DECENT TRIVIOLOGY PH.D PROGRAMS IN YOUR MAJOR UNIVERSITIES, NO CHAIRS OF TRIVIOLOGY YET, NOT EVEN A SINGLE TRIVIAL FELLOW IN THE NATIONAL ACADEMY -- TSK, TSK YOU EARTHLINGS ARE BACKWARD, HA HA). THERE ARE 8 WAYS TO PLAY. THE FIRST 4 GAME MODES ARE SOLITAIRE (YOU AGAINST THE HIGH SCORE FILE, WHICH IS KEPT AUTOMATICALLY ON DISK), THE LAST 4 MODES ARE FACEOFF (2 KEYBOARD PLAYERS OR TEAMS OF PLAYERS AGAINST EACH OTHER, NO SAVING OF MATCH DATA ON DISK). 1. TRIVIA IQ. THIS IS HOW THE TRIVIA MACHINES IN SHOPPING MALLS PLAY. YOU START OUT WITH A SCORE OF 16, AND YOU GET A MAXIMUM OF 10 QUESTIONS OR UNTIL YOUR SCORE DROPS TO 0 (HOWEVER, YOU GET 4 PTS. AND AN EXTRA QUESTION IF YOU BET EVERYTHING ON QUESTION 1 AND LOSE). FIRST THE QUESTION IS DISPLAYED, THEN YOU GET TO BET EITHER 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, OR ALL OF YOUR SCORE ON THE QUESTION. THEN AN ANSWER IS DISPLAYED AND YOU GUESS WHETHER THE ANSWER IS THE CORRECT ONE OR NOT: IF YOU GUESSED RIGHT, THE BET IS ADDED TO YOUR SCORE, ELSE IT IS SUBTRACTED. NOTE THAT IF YOUR SCORE IS SO SMALL THAT YOUR BET AMOUNTS TO ZERO, AT LEAST 1 POINT WILL BE BET. AND SURPRISE, BONUS POINTS ARE ADDED FOR SPEEDY ANSWERS. 2. 50 QUESTIONS. YOUR SCORE IS THE NUMBER OF CORRECT GUESSES, TIMES 2. HENCE, MAXIMUM SCORE IS 100. 3. BEAT THE CLOCK. YOUR SCORE IS THE NUMBER OF CORRECT GUESSES IN THE ALLOWED TIME (300 SECONDS), TIMES 2. (NOTE: THE ELAPSED TIME ONLY COUNTS AGAINST YOU BETWEEN THE TIME THE QUESTION IS DISPLAYED AND THE TIME YOU ACTUALLY ANSWER IT -- HENCE THE GAME CAN TAKE WELL OVER 5 MINUTES.) 4. JEOPARDY STYLE. YOU GET 50 QUESTIONS, IN 5 SERIES OF 10, EACH WITH MONEY VALUES OF $10, $20, ..., $100 (TOTAL MONEY VALUE IS 5*$550=$2750). IF YOU GUESS CORRECT, THE AMOUNT IS ADDED TO YOUR SCORE, ELSE IT IS SUBTRACTED. YOU ARE ALSO GIVEN 2 RANDOMLY-SELECTED DOUBLE-OR-NOTHING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIRST 49 QUESTIONS (1 IN THE FIRST 25 QUESTIONS, 1 IN THE NEXT 24 QUESTIONS): YOU MAY WAGER FROM $1 TO YOUR PRESENT WINNINGS; IF YOUR WINNINGS ARE LESS THAN $50, YOU MAY WAGER UP TO $50. QUESTIONS 1-49 ARE NOT MANDATORY TO BET ON UNLESS THEY ARE DOUBLE-OR- NOTHING QUESTIONS: TO SKIP A QUESTION, HIT THE SPACE BAR OR THE <ENTER> KEY OR THE "+" KEY. THE FINAL (50TH) QUESTION IS ALWAYS A MANDATORY DOUBLE-OR-NOTHING, HOWEVER, YOU CAN'T BET UNLESS YOU HAVE AT LEAST $1 IN WINNINGS. 5. DOUBLE DARE. HERE YOU PLAY AGAINST A LIVE PARTNER. THERE ARE 50 QUESTIONS. ON YOUR TURN, YOU MAY GUESS THE ANSWER, OR (DOUBLE) DARE. IF THE LATTER, THE OTHER PLAYER HAS TO ANSWER OR DOUBLE DARE; IF HE IS ALREADY BEING DOUBLE DARED, HE MUST GUESS THE ANSWER. A WRONG GUESS GIVES THE MONEY AND THE NEXT QUESTION TO THE OTHER PLAYER. TO DARE, HIT THE "D" KEY, OR THE "+" KEY. 6. VOLLEYBALL. THE FIRST SERVER IS CHOSEN BY THE COMPUTER. THE PERSON SERVED TO THEN MUST ANSWER A TRIVIA QUESTION. IF THE ANSWER IS CORRECT, SIDE OUT AND THE SERVE SWITCHES; IF THE ANSWER IS INCORRECT, SERVER SCORES 1 POINT AND ANOTHER QUESTION IS ASKED. GAME IS 15 POINTS. THE WINNER MUST BE AT LEAST 2 POINTS AHEAD OF THE LOSER. A MATCH IS BEST 3 OUT OF 5 GAMES. 7. TIC-TAC-TOE (HOLLYWOOD SQUARES STYLE). THE FIRST PLAYER IS CHOSEN AT RANDOM BY THE COMPUTER. HE THEN CHOOSES A SQUARE IN THE TIC-TAC-TOE BOARD (1..9) -- SEE ACTUAL DISPLAY. THE COMPUTER THEN DISPLAYS A TRIVIA QUESTION AND AN ANSWER, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT ONE. IF THE PLAYER CORRECTLY DECIDES WHETHER THE COMPUTER IS TELLING THE TRUTH HE GETS HIS MARKER PUT IN THE SQUARE, ELSE THE OTHER PLAYER GETS HIS MARKER PUT IN THE SQUARE AND IS NOW UP INSTEAD. THE FIRST TO GET TIC-TAC-TOE (3 IN A ROW) WINS THE GAME. IN ADDITION, EACH QUESTION IS WORTH $100. IF ALL THE BOARD SQUARES GET FILLED WITHOUT ANYBODY MAKING TIC-TAC-TOE, THE PLAYER WITH THE MOST SQUARES WINS. NO PLAYER MAY WIN THE GAME WITH TIC-TAC-TOE ON AN OPPONENT'S MISTAKE, HENCE THE SQUARE REMAINS UNTAKEN UNTIL HE WINS IT OUTRIGHT. A MATCH IS BEST 3 OUT OF 5 GAMES. 8. FACT OR RUMOR (RODEO DRIVE STYLE). THE FIRST PLAYER IS CHOSEN BY THE COMPUTER AT RANDOM. THE PLAYER THEN KEEPS THE TURN UNTIL HE MAKES A WRONG GUESS. EACH TRIVIA QUESTION IS DISPLAYED WITH ONE OF THE 2 ANSWERS, THE PLAYER GUESSING WHETHER THE ANSWER IS FACT (THE TRUE ANSWER) OR RUMOR (THE FALSE ANSWER). FOR EACH RIGHT GUESS A PLAYER GETS 2 POINTS. THE FIRST PLAYER TO REACH 100 POINTS WINS THE GAME. A MATCH IS BEST 3 OUT OF 5 GAMES. TO ANSWER A QUESTION: PRESS THE "1" OR "2" KEYS ON THE UPPER ROW OF THE KEYBOARD, OR USE THE "INS" AND "DEL" KEYS ON THE NUMERIC KEY PAD INSTEAD. IN TRIVIA IQ AND TIC-TAC-TOE MODES, YOU CAN HIT "T" AND "F" FOR "1" AND "2", RESPECTIVELY. IN FACT OR RUMOR MODE, YOU CAN HIT "F" AND "R" FOR "1" AND "2", RESPECTIVELY. TO SKIP A QUESTION IN JEOPARDY MODE, HIT THE SPACE BAR, THE <ENTER> KEY, OR THE "+" KEY. TO DARE IN DOUBLE DARE MODE, HIT THE "D" KEY OR THE "+" KEY. DEMO MODE: FUNCTION KEY F2 TOGGLES THE DEMO MODE. IN DEMO MODE, THE COMPUTER RUNS THROUGH THE QUESTIONS BUT DOESN'T ANSWER THEM. NOTE: TO KEEP YOU FROM RAISING THE SCORE BY MENUING THE QUESTIONS, THE GAME IS RESTARTED EVERY TIME F2 IS PRESSED, EXCEPT IN TRIVIA IQ MODE, WHERE THE SCORE IS LEFT UNCHANGED. SOUND EFFECTS TOGGLE: FUNCTION KEY F1 TOGGLES THE SOUND EFFECTS ON AND OFF. TO QUIT: HIT FUNCTION KEY F7 THEN "Y". TO CHANGE THE SCREEN BORDER COLOR (COLOR MONITORS ONLY): HIT FUNCTION KEY F10. FOR MONO MONITORS ONLY: F10 CHANGES THE PSEUDO-COLOR OF THE QUESTION/ANSWER TRIADS. TO DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS: HIT FUNCTION KEY F5. TRIVIA DATA FILES: TOMMY'S TRIVIA OPERATES ON UP TO 100 MODULAR TRIVIA DATA FILES, WHICH MEANS THAT ANY ONE OR MORE OF THEM CAN BE PRESENT AND THE PROGRAM WILL PICK AND CHOOSE QUESTIONS AT ITS WHIM FROM THOSE THAT ARE; THE CURRENT TRIVIA DATA FILE NUMBER (0..99) IN USE IS SHOWN IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN WHILE PLAYING. (NOTE: TOMMY'S TRIVIA IS USUALLY SOLD WITH THE FIRST 2 DATA FILES AS A STANDARD SIZE TOMMY'S TOY; TO GET MORE DATA FILES YOU MUST ORDER TOMMY'S TRIVIA PAK, SEE BELOW.) ALL TRIVIA DATA FILES HAVE THE NAMES "TRIVDAT.n", WHERE n=0... THE PROGRAM KEEPS AUXILIARY FILES "TRIVAUX.n" TO RECORD WHICH QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN USED SO FAR; THE SIZE OF EACH TRIVAUX.n FILE IS 10+2*m, WHERE m=MAXIMUM NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ALLOWED PER TRIVDAT.n FILE; CURRENTLY m=3000 (IF THERE ARE ANY MORE QUESTIONS THAN THAT IN A FILE, THEY ARE IGNORED). DOS PATHS: THE PROGRAM FIRST ASSUMES THAT THE TRIVDAT.n FILES ARE ON THE DEFAULT DOS PATH (THE ONE YOU GET WITH THE PATH COMMAND). IF IT CAN'T FIND ANY TRIVDAT FILES THERE, IT ASKS YOU FOR ANOTHER PATH. YOU CAN THEN ENTER, FOR EXAMPLE, D:\TRIVIA\ OR C:\. UPON EXITING, THE PROGRAM STORES THE TRIVAUX FILES ON THAT PATH, NOT THE DEFAULT PATH; THAT WAY, THE DATA AND ITS USAGE RESIDE ON THE SAME PATH, SO, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN HAVE ONE TRIVDAT.3 FILE ON ONE SUBDIRECTORY AND ANOTHER TRIVDAT.3 ON ANOTHER SUBDIRECTORY, WITH NO CONFLICT. THE HIGH SCORE FILE, HOWEVER, IS HELD ON THE DEFAULT DOS PATH, SINCE IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE THE DATA CAME FROM WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HIGH SCORES. FILE PARAMETER DISPLAY: AT THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE GAME SCREEN THERE ARE SOME NUMBERS DISPLAYED. HERE IS WHAT THEY MEAN: 1. NUMBER OF QUESTIONS IN CURRENT DATA FILE (THE ONE LISTED ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE SCREEN) THAT HAVE NOT BEEN USED UP. INITIALLY, WHEN THERE'S NO TRIVAUX FILE FOR THAT DATA FILE AND THE PROGRAM HASN'T SCANNED THROUGH THE FILE YET TO COUNT THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS, THIS NUMBER IF 3000 (THE MAXIMUM FILE CAPACITY m); WHEN THE PROGRAM HAS REACHED END-OF-FILE ON THAT DATA FILE, IT FINALLY KNOWS THE TRUE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS IN THE FILE AND ADJUSTS ACCORDINGLY -- HENCE THE SECOND TIME IT STARTS THROUGH THIS FILE THE NUMBER OF 'UNUSED' QUESTIONS MAY JUMP DOWN CONSIDERABLY. 2. THE NUMBER OF THE LAST QUESTION USED: A DEMO MODE QUESTION IS NOT USED SO IT DOESN'T COUNT. 3. THE CURRENT QUESTION BEING EXAMINED BY THE PROGRAM: WATCH IT SKIP THROUGH TO WHAT IT WANTS. 4. THE NEXT QUESTION IT PLANS TO GO TO (IT HOPS THROUGH THE DATA FILE IN RANDOM SIZE HOPS SO IF YOU DELETE THE TRIVAUX FILE AND RUN THE PROGRAM AGAIN, THE QUESTIONS WILL COME OUT IN A DIFFERENT ORDER). COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS: S START UP WITH SOUND EFFECTS OFF M FORCE MONO DISPLAY MODE C FORCE COLOR DISPLAY MODE * SKIP THE STARTUP SHOW EXAMPLE: >TRIVIA MS ---------------------- DID YOU LIKE THIS TOY? DON'T FORGET TO TRY OUR GOBS OF OTHER NEAT LOW-PRICED TOYS AND GAMES FOR THE IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES. WE ARE WAITING TO SEND YOU OUR 5.25 INCH (360KB) OR 3.5 INCH (720KB) DEMO DISK, CONTAINING AN ELECTRONIC CATALOG AND OTHER GOODIES, FOR ONLY $2 TO ANY U.S. ADDRESS, $3 OUTSIDE U.S. (U.S. DOLLARS ONLY). AND, IF THE MORE THAN 2400 QUESTIONS IN THIS VERSION WEREN'T ENOUGH FOR YOU, TRY TOMMY'S TRIVIA PAK ------- ------ --- CONTAINING THE LATEST VERSION OF TOMMY'S TRIVIA PLUS AN AWESOME ASTOUNDING DATA BANK OF OVER *15,000 TRIVIA QUESTIONS* ON ALL SUBJECTS IN THE UNIVERSE, PREPARED BY ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE WITH HYPERINTELLIGENCE AND AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL SLANT ON THINGS. ENOUGH TO BOGGLE YOUR MIND, WRING IT OUT LIKE A SPONGE, AND TURN YOU INTO A GENUINE TRIVIA GEEK! JUST $24.95 POSTPAID IN USA (FOREIGN ADD $5) (U.S. DOLLARS ONLY). PLEASE SPECIFY 3.5 INCH OR 5.25 INCH DISKETTES, ALSO DS/HD INSTEAD OF DS/DD IF DESIRED. WE REALLY WENT TO TOWN ON THIS PACK, IT IS THE HONEST-TO-GOSH REALLY TRULY ABSOLUTELY HOTTEST TRIVIA GAME ON PLANET EARTH RIGHT NOW, AND IF YOU ARE AT ALL INTO TRIVIA YOU ARE GOING TO *NEED* THIS TO HELP KEEP UP WITH YOUR EARTHLING FRIENDS, WHO ARE ALREADY PROBABLY GETTING SMARTER THAN YOU AND ARE GOING TO BROW-BEAT YOU TO THE SIZE OF A PEANUT AT THE NEXT PUNK ROCK OR COCKTAIL PARTY (HA HA). P.S. HELP TOMMY! DON'T FORGET TO REPORT ANY BUGS OR DEFECTS IN THE PROGRAM OR TRIVIA DATA AT ONCE: WE OFTEN SEND FREE TOYS AND GAMES TO BUG HUNTERS, SO HURRY AND GET YOURS! JUST LIST THE INFO. IN A POSTCARD OR LETTER AND INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. SEND TO TOMMY'S BUG HUNT C/O TOMMY'S TOYS. ENJOY! TOMMY'S TOYS, P.O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.