This is a beta version of Dome Wars for the Mac. This game similar to Scorched Earth for the PC. However, it is, at its current state much less developed. Current system requirements are a Mac with 823k memory, and System 7. A larger monitor may require more memory. (And running in B&W can make do with less.)
The goal of the game is to be victorious in battle over the other tanks (domes). Each dome is started in a location across the canyon floor. By varying the angle and the power used, attempt to destroy the other tanks on the screen. Points and cash are awarded according to your performance during the play, which can then be used to buy new weapons.
Options
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A few of many possible options have been implemented.
File Menu
New Game - start game with settings in the preference menu
Quit - sort of obvious
Preference Menu
Players/Rounds/Walls - bring up a dialog box allowing you to set these options
solid floors/walls - shots explode on impact
bouncing floors/walls - shots bounce off walls
wrapping walls - shots going off one side of the screen will wrap to other side
trace shots - trace shot paths when fired
Define mountain - set the characteristics of the canyon you play in
press sample to see what sample lands with your choices would look like
Sound - turn sound on and off
Buy Weapons - allow players (& computers) to buy weapons at end of each round
Fast Computers - If only computers are left, computers will play extra speedy
note - if there are only computers left, you can end their play by holding down
the escape key when an explosion occurs. Holding down escape when dismissing
the score dialog box will end the current game.
Order - This submenu chooses how the first player in a round will be chosen. Random
chooses a random tank, Round-Robin cycles through the tank numbers to choose who
goes first. Winners & Losers first let the tank with the highest or lowest
respective score go first.
Help
Controls - Shows the controls used to play the game. If it key is marked with a •,
it means by holding down the command key, the specified value will change at a
much slower rate than normal, allowing precision changes.
Weapons
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Baby Missile - small basic explosion, basically unlimited
Missile - slightly larger explosion
ICBM - slightly larger explsion again
Little Boy - once again, slightly larger explosion
Fat Man - large explosion
Small Roller - rolls down hills until land goes up, or hits tank, small explosion
Roller - same as Small Roller with larger explosion
Large Roller - same as above with even bigger explosion
+10 Health - when used, this will add 10 to your health
Gopher - (Drop Shot Power/10)% of the way to the bottom of the ground (So 500 power drops you half way, and 1000 power drops you all of the way to the floor.)
Death's Head - Different from scorched earth, this is now just a big explosion
Light Shields - protection against enemy shots
Shields - more protection against enemy shots
Energy Wall - the ultimate protection against enemy shots
Dustbuster (II) - cleans out the dirt from the explosion region
Enemy Tank Types (AI)
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Right now there are 4 AI's written. First, is the idiot. This computer just chooses a random direction and a random angle, hoping to hit something by sheer luck. (This isn't always too bad, depending on the walls.) Second, is the straight shot. This computer chooses another tanks situated above him, aims straight and fires. This AI has been greatly improved since the last version. If no dirt is in the way, this tank will almost always hit it's target. If a straight shot tanks is the highest the screen, it will shoot with full power at a random angle. Third is the cyborg. This computer targets the player with the highest score and homes in on them with high accuracy. A slight modification of the cyborg is the lobber. This computer chooses a target, and slowly hones it's shot until it hits. Choosing random will randomly choose between these types of tanks.
Play Notes
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This is just to explain the basic mechanics behind the game. A random player goes first, and the turn rotates through people from then on. A direct shot will always kill, unless shields are activated. A direct shot is considered any shot that lands within a radius of 9 pixels from the center of the tank. This means hitting directly below the tank so that the explosion takes place under the tank may cause a death. You lose one heath for every pixel you fall, and damage is assigned from explosions based on the explosion strength and your distance from the explosion. Rollers may behave unpredictibly when they hit a very skinny peak. Because not every point that the projectile passes through is calculated, it is possible for a shot to pass through a very narrow slit of land without exploding. Do your best to survive the round, you get more points for doing this than for killing tons of tanks.
Other Misc info.
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You can create your own backgrounds to randomly be chosen for the background. Up to 100 backgrounds can be within Dome Wars to randomly choose between. You should be careful that the colors do not conflict with the tank colors. If they do, you can change the tanks colors in the pallette, to make them more distinct from the background.
Keys:
Move turret left: right arrow, 6 (numeric keypad)
Move turret right: left arrow, 4 (numeric keypad)
Move turret slow left/right: Hold down command key
Increase power: Up arrow, 8 (numeric keypad)
Decrease power: Down arrow, 2 (numeric keypad)
Medium increase power: hold down command key
Fast increase power: 9 (numeric keypad)
Fast decrease power: 3 (numeric keypad)
Coming Features
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more sounds
more weapons (and a re-design of the weapon buying & usage screens)
more AI's
networkability
Closing remarks
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This game is shareware. This means if you like this game and decide to keep it, you should send me $10 to register it. This registration will be good for all versions of the game, and, when implemented will allow you to play across a network. I realize most people don't pay this, but, if you want to see further updates (I can't even afford a compiler upgrade to make it Power Mac native) please send something. A special thanks to the THREE people who has registered!
I take no responsibility if this game doesn't work on your system. This is a beta version, run at your own risk. However, do send comments/suggestion/bugs to:
Nathan Sturtevant
84 Yosemite Ct.
Ventura, CA 93003
Internet:
nathanst@soda.csua.berkeley.edu
WWW: (the latest version is always avaliable here)
