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Hero's Heart rev 1.1 November, 1992 Copyright 1992 Everett Kaser All Rights Reserved From the author of SOLITILE, SNARF, and SHERLOCK comes a new game to challenge your mind! Hero's Heart is a puzzle game requiring careful, logical thinking. High resolution color graphics provide a friendly user interface and a large playfield upon which many different types of objects are carefully arranged. You control the movement of the Hero. Each time you move the Hero, all of the other "objects" on the playfield get a chance to move; some will, some won't. Your goal is to pick up all of the Hearts and then reach the Exit. Each level is a stand-alone puzzle. There are 25 different levels in the Shareware game, and an editor is built into the program for you to create new puzzles with which to challenge family and friends. Quick reflexes are not needed (nor will they do you any good). A sharp mind, however, and the ability to see relationships and causes & effects WILL help. REQUIREMENTS: IBM PC compatible computer minimum of 360K available RAM EGA or VGA display adapter Mouse is optional DOS 3.0 or greater HERO is being distributed as Shareware. If you use the game for more than one week or play more than half of the puzzles, you are expected to pay for its use. To register the game, send the registration fee of $15.00 + $2.00 shipping & handling (U.S. funds) to the author. Or if you want a more extensive challenge, purchase HERO GOLD for $20 + $2 shipping & handling (see the order form for a description of HERO GOLD. For your convenience, the file REGISTER.DOC may be printed to obtain a registration form, or a form may be printed at entry to or exit from Hero's Heart. The author may be contacted at: Everett Kaser phone: (503) 928-5259 Hero Weekdays: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Pacific Time 35405 Spruce St Weekends: 8:30am - 9:00pm Albany, OR 97321 VISA and MASTERCARD accepted Compuserve: 70673,1547 internet: 70673.1547@compuserve.com In the United Kingdom, you may register by sending £25.90 to: The Thompson Partnership Phone: +44 (0)889 564601 Church Croft Fax: +44 (0)889 563219 Bramshall, UTTOXETTER Staffordshire ST14 5DE England In Germany, you may register by sending 49 deutschmarks to: CDV Software Phone: 0721-22295 Postfach 2749 0721-22294 W-7500 Karlsruhe 1 Fax: 0721-21314 Germany BTX *CDV# The game package, which MUST include the files listed below, may be freely copied and distributed by individuals not charging any fee for the copying or distributing. All other distribution is governed by the License in Section II. Included files: HERO.EXE HERO.DOC ORDRFORM.DOC VENDOR.DOC HERO --- Table of Contents Section I. ASP Ombudsman and Definition of Shareware II. Disclaimer, License Agreement, and Support III. Installing and Starting the Program IV. Introduction to Hero's Heart V. Playing the Game VI. Game Menu Items VII. Moves and Replays VIII. The SETUP Menu IX. The LEVEL EDITOR X. Hints On Play XI. Bugs and Versions XII. Products Available From Everett Kaser Software I. ASP OMBUDSMAN AND DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to receiving an updated program with a printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permiss- ion before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's com- mercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. II. DISCLAIMER, LICENSE AGREEMENT, AND SUPPORT --- DISCLAIMER --- Users of Hero's Heart must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "HERO'S HEART is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of HERO'S HEART." --- LICENSE --- --- USE AND DISTRIBUTION BY INDIVIDUALS: HERO'S HEART is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using HERO'S HEART and continue to use HERO'S HEART after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment as described on the first page of this document. The applicable registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. You are encouraged to pass a copy of HERO'S HEART along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the HERO'S HEART. Site-Licenses and quantity discounts may be arranged by contacting Everett Kaser Software. --- DISTRIBUTION BY BBS'S AND DISK VENDORS: Anyone distributing HERO'S HEART for any kind of remuneration must first contact Everett Kaser at the address above for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to BBS's and "traditional mail-order shareware distributors" recognized by the ASP as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering Hero's Heart immediately. However, Everett Kaser must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of HERO'S HEART). "Traditional mail-order shareware distributors" are those offering disks of share- ware programs for little more than the normal cost of running such a business (usually no more than $5 per disk), usually from a printed or on-disk catalog. It does NOT include any sales through retail locations. --- DISTRIBUTION BY ALL OTHER MEANS: All other forms of distribution require the express written permission of the copyright holder before distribution may begin. These include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs, racks, bins, and any other forms of "retail sales". If you're interested in distributing HERO'S HEART by one of these (or other) means please contact Everett Kaser Software. We'll be glad to discuss your distribution idea with you. This restriction is to ensure that our software is distributed in fashions which we find acceptable to us and our customers. --- SUPPORT --- Support for products from Everett Kaser Software is available via phone, mail, and Compuserve email for a period not less than one year or the duration of my life, which ever is shorter, and not to exceed your life-time or mine, which ever is shorter. See the first page of this document for phone number, mail address, and Compuserve email address. Updates are available at any time to registered users for a $5 fee to cover costs of labor, materials, shipping, and handling (and to keep me from feeling badly). Bug fixes for major bugs (if any ever occur) will be shipped free to registered users for a period of three months after the date of registration. III. INSTALLING AND STARTING THE PROGRAM It is recommended that you install HERO in its own sub-directory on your hard disk (or on its own floppy disk if you have no hard disk). Do NOT run the program directly from the distribution disk, as disks sometimes fail. Always make a copy and run the program from it! To create a sub-directory for HERO, you might type one of the following commands: MKDIR \HERO or MKDIR \GAMES\HERO or MKDIR \BIN\GAMES\HERO These are only examples, and you'll have to decide upon a sub-directory path that makes sense given the structure of YOUR hard disk. Once the sub-directory has been created, you're ready to install Hero into that sub-directory. If you received the files on a floppy disk, as separate files, you would do something like: COPY A:\*.* C:\HERO or COPY A:\*.* D:\GAMES\HERO or COPY B:\*.* C:\BIN\GAMES\HERO If the program came as an archive file of some sort (.ZIP, .ARC, .LZH, etc), you will need to copy the archive file into the sub-directory that you created (using the COPY command), then type something like: PKUNZIP HERO.ZIP or LHARC x HERO.LZH Once the program is installed, you can change to that sub-directory at any time and run the program, or you can specify the path to the HERO sub-directory in your PATH environment variable (set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file), and then HERO can be run from anywhere on your hard disk without first changing to the HERO sub-directory. (If you do add HERO to your PATH statement, remember that you will have to reboot your computer before the PATH actually gets modified.) The program has no optional arguments and is started by typing HERO The first time the program is run, the user will be prompted for a player name. This name must be from 1 to 8 characters long, and it may only contain valid DOS file name characters as it will be used to create a sub-directory of the HERO directory in which that players configuration/game information will be stored. Also, the first time the program is run, the HELP screens will be displayed. This will ONLY happen the first time the program is run. Thereafter, the HELP may be accessed via the HELP menu. IV. INTRODUCTION TO HERO'S HEART The game consists of a playfield divided up into squares (29 left to right and 21 top to bottom), and a set of objects which can be placed on any of the squares using the puzzle editor. The set of objects consist of: The Hero Only one of these allowed per puzzle Rocks They fall down the screen Red Heart Picked up by walking over them Blue Heart Must be turned red by a Creeper walking over them Red Exit Will turn green when all Hearts have been collected Green Exit You exit the level by walking the Hero out the exit Brick Wall An immovable, impassable barrier Gravel An immovable, impassable barrier Stone An immovable, impassable barrier Pyramid An immovable, impassable barrier (get the idea, yet?) Dirt "Cleaned up" by Hero, blocks all but Creeper Bones Beware the Bones Arrows "Fly" in the direction they're pointing Slopes Slanted right or left, cause some objects to "slide" Balloon Rises up the screen Creeper Walks along objects to its left Worm Walks directly towards the Hero Bridge Extension bridge (what do think a bridge is used for?) Water The Hero doesn't know how to swim Raft (What would YOU use a raft for?) Ice Slippery stuff Dirt Block Pushable dirt, blocks all but Creeper Fire The Hero is NOT made of fire-proof materials Fire Extinguisher Uh.... Ball Likes to get pushed around Each level of the game has been "carefully" constructed to make it difficult (more or less) to immediately exit the level. You must first accomplish some tasks. These tasks range from simply getting to the exit (if the level has no Hearts and starts out with a Green Exit), to picking up all the Red Hearts first, to "encouraging" the Creepers to walk over the Blue Hearts (turning them red). Now, if this all sounds easy, it is a straight-forward goal. The problem is that obstacles have generally been put in your way, and you must figure out a method of accomplishing your goal. The obstacles consist of Rocks falling on the Hero's head, Rocks burying Hearts or the Exit, the Hero getting shot by arrows, and miscellaneous other minor impediments to progress. V. PLAYING THE GAME Playing the game is quite simple. Being successful at it is a little more difficult. The first seven or eight levels are reasonably easy, designed to teach you the fundamentals of how the various objects behave and interract, as well as some of the basic "traps". The next ten or so levels are of "medium" difficulty, although some of them can be QUITE challenging. The last seven or eight are VERY difficult, and they should only be attempted after having solved most of the earlier ones. Part of the fun of the game is figuring out exactly which objects do what and how they interact, so not EVERYTHING will be explained in the documentation. The game may be played either from the keyboard or with a mouse. It seems that the keyboard is generally best for actually playing the game, while the mouse is best for editing or creating new levels. The Hero can move one square in any of eight directions horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as long as it's not blocked by some immovable object. Some objects can be pushed horizontally or vertically, but only if there's not another object directly behind them. The Hero can move diagonally ONLY if one of the two horizontally and vertically adjacent squares is empty. For example, in the diagram below, if the Hero is trying to move diagonally to the square marked with a '7', then EITHER the '4' or the '8' square must be empty. +---+---+---+ | 7 | 8 | 9 | +---+---+---+ | 4 | H | 6 | +---+---+---+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | +---+---+---+ As you move, your motions will affect other objects on the playfield. For example, EACH time you move, any Creepers on the level will also move once, as will any Worms. If you (or anything else) moves within a certain "private" space of a rock, balloon, or arrow the rock will attempt to fall, the balloon will attempt to rise, and the arrow will attempt to fly. The actions of these objects can then set of actions of other objects. One move by The Hero can cause a massive amount of movement by other objects on the playfield, or no movement at all. (Some objects, like Fire and Bones, are "animated"; they "move" all of the time while staying in the same square. This "motion" should not be confused with a Move from one location to another.) --- KEYBOARD --- You control the movement of the Hero with the cursor pad (all eight directions). The SPACE bar is a "wait", not moving the Hero but giving everything else a chance to move (useful for waiting for a Creeper or Worm to get to JUST the right spot before you make a particularly strategic move). All of the menu items that have an underlined letter may be activated by pressing the key corresponding to the underlined letter. Additionally, the ENTER key is an alternative way of RESTART- ING the game. F1, F2, and F3 are for "replaying" some previous moves. (See Section VII on REPLAYS.) --- MOUSE --- With the mouse, you must be much more aware of what's in between the Hero and where you want it to go, as the Hero can get "hung up" on immovable objects, or fall into the water, etc. To move the Hero you simply point at the desired destination and click the left mouse button. The Hero will attempt to move diagonally until it's on the same row or column as the destination, and then it will move vertically or horizontally. It's generally best not to try to move TOO far at once with the mouse. The "mouse move" get's translated into a series of pseudo-keyboard moves. A single click of the mouse can generate 20 to 30 moves on the moves list. VI. GAME MENU ITEMS As a general rule in Hero, any pop-up menu may be escaped from by pressing the ESC key or by clicking the RIGHT BUTTON. Menu options available (and keystroke to activate them if you don't have a mouse) while playing the game are: (N) Next Next and Prev provide the means for you to select (P) Prev which Level in the current Puzzle Set you wish to work on. (L) Level You specify the specific level number that you wish to "jump" to rather than paging through them one at a time with Next or Prev. Also acts as a status box to tell you which Level you're currently on and how many total Levels there are in this puzzle set. Moves Is a status box, not a menu item. It tells you how many moves are currently in the moves list. (H) Help Online Help screens. (R) Restart When (if?) you realize that you've messed up and can (ENTER) no longer solve the level, this re-starts the level from the beginning, so you can try it again. See Section VII about REPLAYS. (S) Setup Enters the player setup menu for selecting the active player, the puzzle set, the background playfield image and enable or disable sound and music. See Section VIII SETUP MENU. (E) Edit Enters the Level Editor. The built-in puzzle set (EKS) cannot be edited. Before editing any levels, you must create or select an alternate puzzle set by entering the Setup menu and specifying the puzzle set. See Section IX The Level Editor. (C) C:> PROMPT This will attempt to "spawn" a copy of COMMAND.COM, without exiting the game. This allows you to get to the DOS COMMAND prompt without terminating your game. Possible reasons that it might not work is if you have insufficient memory to load the COMMAND interpreter on top of Hero, or if the file COMMAND.COM can't be found by Hero on your path. Once you've gone to the DOS prompt this way, you must issue the EXIT command to return to your Hero game. (Q) Quit Quits (exits) the game. [1] F1 Clicking on the '1' Box or pressing F1 replays the next move. See Section VII REPLAYS. [10] F2 Clicking on the '10' Box or pressing F2 replays the next 10 moves. See Section VII REPLAYS. [100] F3 Clicking on the '100' Box or pressing F3 replays the next 100 moves. See Section VII REPLAYS. SPEED Is a status box showing the current speed at which moves will be made. The Speed ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 being the fastest. Sometimes on a fast computer, objects move on the playfield too fast to see and it can be difficult to figure out exactly what happened. By slowing the speed (to 5 or 6 on a 33Mhz 486) things move slow enough to see. The proper speed for YOUR use must be determined by trial and error. (D) DECREASE Decreases the SPEED by 1. (I) INCREASE Increases the SPEED by 1. VII. MOVES and REPLAYS As you play, the game records each of your moves, showing them in a scrolling window in the center of the Menu area. These moves are also stored for you in your player directory in a special file. (The filename for the moves for any particular level are made up of the components "H1MOV" and the puzzle set name (ie, "EKS"), with an extension which is the level number (filled with leading zeroes). For example, if player Kristine were working on level three of puzzle set "ABC", then her moves would be stored in the sub-directory "KRISTINE.DIR" as file "H1MOVABC.003". The "moves list" box in the menu area will have either a red outline within it if you haven't yet solved that level, or a green outline if you have solved that level. If it's green (meaning that you HAVE solved the level), and you then start to replay the level, it will turn red again. It will often require more than one attempt to solve a particular puzzle, sometimes requiring MANY attempts. You may have figured out most of the puzzle and are just stuck towards the end, or you may make an accidental move which messes things up. You can recover from these. When you restart a level you can have the game replay some of your moves by using softkeys F1, F2, and F3, or by clicking on the "1", "10", and "100" boxes beneath the "move list" box. F1 (or "1") will cause the game to remake the single NEXT move (the one highlighted by the cursor). F2 (or "10") will cause the game to remake the next TEN moves. F3 (or "100") will re-execute the next 100 moves. The "Moves:" box above the move list box tells you how many total moves have been recorded for this level. Sometimes, when replaying a level, you realize that you previously made a move that you shouldn't have been made. When replaying a level, you can DELETE moves from the list by pressing the DEL key. You will be prompted to verify that you really want to delete a move. (Success- ive presses of the DEL key will NOT verify.) Sometimes, you'll realize that you really need to make a couple of extra moves in between some previous moves. This can be accomplished by replaying up through the last move before you wish to insert one or more moves. Then press the INS key. Again, you will be prompted to verify that you really want to insert moves. If you respond YES, the game will enter an "insert" mode, where all further moves will be INSERTED into the move list (as opposed to over-writing) until the INS key is pressed again. For the duration of the time that the INSERT mode is active, the border line around the playfield will blink or flicker. VIII. THE SETUP MENU Each player may configure the game to his or her own preferred setup. This setup is then stored in the player's .DIR directory in a .CFG file. The current player's name is stored in the file Hero.CFG. That name is then used to access the .DIR directory and .CFG file for that player. The menu items and keys for the SETUP menu are: (H) HERO allows you to select or add a player. See THE HERO SELECTION MENU below. (B) BACKGROUND Selects one of 16 background patterns for the playfield (P) PUZZLE SET Selects (or creates a new) puzzle set. The name for a puzzle set is limited to three characters. These three characters are added to the ends of H1LEV and H1MOV along with a three digit file extension to generate the filename for each level and the MOVES file for that level for each player. The H1LEV (level) files are stored in the same sub-directory as the HERO program. The H1MOV (moves) files are stored in the sub-directory for the current player. (T) THEME MUSIC toggles the Theme music on and off and enables the selection of the THEME music file. (S) SOUND EFFECTS toggles the sound effects on and off. (E) EXIT LEVEL MUSIC toggles the EXIT LEVEL music on and off and enables the selection of the EXIT LEVEL music file. (E) EXIT exits the Player Setup Menu and returns you to the main Menu and game. (D) DECREASE DECREASE and INCREASE control the setting of the (I) INCREASE default SPEED for the current player. These are stored in a players .CFG file in that players .DIR directory. --- THE HERO SELECTION MENU --- The HERO SELECTION Menu is used to select the player from a list of players that have already been set up. If trying to add a new player, select HERO, then answer 'N' to the question "Select an already exist- ing player?". The HERO SELECTION Menu provides a list of all players. From the keyboard, the Hero may be chosen by using the cursor and PgUp/PgDn keys to highlight the desired item, then pressing the Enter (Return) key. The current PATH is always displayed immediately above the "files" window. With a mouse, player may be selected by pointing at it with the mouse cursor and double-clicking the LEFT BUTTON. (If your double click is not quite quick enough, all that will happen is that the item you pointed to will become highlighted.) With the mouse you can also scroll the window and highlighted item up/down by clicking with the LEFT BUTTON upon the: DOUBLE UP ARROWS --- page up SINGLE UP ARROW --- move highlight bar up/scroll up SINGLE DOWN ARROW --- move highlight bar down/scroll down DOUBLE DOWN ARROW --- page down Other items that are available on the HERO SELECTION Menu are: (L) LOAD ----- Loads the currently highlighted item. (E) EXIT Exits the PLAYER SELECTION Menu (R) RENAME Lets you Rename the currently highlight item. (D) DELETE Lets you Delete the currently highlighted file. IX. THE LEVEL EDITOR The EDIT menu item causes the program to enter the Level Editor. This is where you can create new puzzles to challenge family, friends, strangers, and enemies. NOTE!!! =================================================== NOTE!!!! N ! N The EKS puzzle set levels are stored inside the program ! N for simplicity of distribution, and as a result cannot be ! N edited. In order to create your own levels, you must ! N first enter SETUP, select PUZZLE SET, and enter the name ! N for a new puzzle set (from 1 to 3 characters). This will ! N start a new puzzle set, with a "fake" level 1. You should ! N then enter the Level Editor and select CLEAR to clear the ! N fake level, and prepare it for editing. ! N ! NOTE!!! =================================================== NOTE!!!! If you create any levels that you're particularly proud of, please send me a copy of your puzzle set (either via US mail or Compuserve email). If I receive enough, I'll compile a disk of contributed puzzles. NOTE!!! =================================================== NOTE!!!! N ! N Hero GOLD contains ten additional objects that are not ! N available in Hero's Heart. Levels created in Hero GOLD ! N that use these additional objects will be rejected by ! N Hero's Heart. These ten additional objects are yellow ! N and blue keys, yellow and blue locks, four different ! N directional rollers, teleports, and a white heart. Any ! N levels created in Hero GOLD that do NOT use these ! N additional objects WILL be playable by Hero's Heart. ! N ! NOTE!!! =================================================== NOTE!!!! The menu items and keys for the EDIT menu are: (N) Next Next and Prev provide the means for you to select (P) Prev which Level in the current Puzzle Set you wish to edit. (L) Level You specify the specific level number that you wish to "jump" to rather than paging through them one at a time with Next or Prev. Also acts as a status box to tell you which Level you're currently on and how many total Levels there are in this puzzle set. (A) Author/Title The level creator can enter a string of up to 23 characters. Usually this is used to either give the level a title or to give credit to the creator. (W) neW Clears the Edit Playfield and sets the level number to one higher than the currently highest level number. (Does NOT delete or alter the level being displayed when NEW is activated.) WARNING!!! If you've edited a level and want to keep those changes, you must exit the Editor and save the changes, then re-enter the editor and then do a NEW. (C) Clear Clears the Edit Playfield. Does NOT change the current level number. (X) eXit Exits the Level Editor. If changes have been made to the level, you will be prompted whether to save the changes. Type 'Y' or 'N' or click on the appropriate box with the mouse. WARNING!!!! ============================================= WARNING!!! W ! W Neither NEW nor CLEAR prompt you to verify whether ! W or not your really, Really, REALLY want to to that. ! W It assumes that you're careful, meticulous, thoughtful, ! W kind, generous, obedient... er ... wrong speech. Anyway, ! W the assumption is that you know what you're doing and ! W don't want to be bothered with a bunch of confirmation ! W prompts. This may not be true, in which case you'd ! W best save your work periodically by exiting and ! W re-entering the editor. ! W ! WARNING!!!! ============================================= WARNING!!! Also in the menu area of the Level Editor is the array of objects that may be used in building puzzles. In Hero's Heart there are 30 of these objects, in Hero GOLD there are 40. The objects are: FIELD: This is not an object that you can actually place, but is the default object that is at every location on the playfield. It cannot be deleted or added, and it, therefore, can not be selected in the menu area. Think of it as Background scenery (see BACKGROUND in The Setup Menu.) HERO: This is, well, er.... The Hero. There can only be ONE of these on each level, and it can't be deleted or added, only moved. When HERO is selected as the current object being placed, the normal ADD function is really a MOVE function. (See below for the discussion on ADDING and DELETING objects.) BOULDER: A giant rock that can hang mysteriously in space, only to drop down the playfield when another object moves to close. It sinks in water, slides left/right off of slopes and other boulders (unless there's something beside the slope or other boulder that blocks it), and kills the Hero and worms when it falls on them. The Hero can push boulders left and right. RED HEART: All of these must be picked up by the Hero in order to complete a level. Blocks the motion of all other objects. RED EXIT: Blocks the motion of all objects. The Red Exits will turn into Green Exits when ALL hearts have been collected by the Hero. GREEN EXIT: Blocks the motion of all objects except for the Hero. The Hero must walk onto the Green Exit in order to complete (exit) the level. Generally, a GOOD puzzle will either contain Hearts AND one or more RED exits, or NO hearts and one or more GREEN exits. BRICK WALL: Blocks the motion of all objects. STONEY DIRT: Blocks the motion of all objects. GRANITE: Blocks the motion of all objects. DIRT: Blocks the motion of all objects EXCEPT for the Hero and Creepers. When the Hero steps on DIRT, it disappears. When Creepers step on DIRT, it remains behind. Build connecting bridges for Creepers with rocks, arrows, balloons, etc, which are stopped by DIRT. BONES: Blocks the motion of all objects EXCEPT for the Hero and Worms. Bones are deadly to both of them. ARROWS: There are four different arrows, each pointing in a different direction. Arrows (once triggered) travel as far as they can in the direction in which they're pointing, sliding to the side off of slopes, boulders, and balls. Arrows will kill the Hero and Worms, but the Hero can push Arrows sidewise. Arrows will pop (destroy) balloons. SLOPES: Slopes are stationary objects off of which other objects may slide. They block the motion off all other objects. Balls will reflect at a right-angle off of a slope if no other objects are in the way. BALLOON: Balloons rise up the screen when triggered. They may be pushed left or right by the Hero, and they are popped by Arrows. CREEPER: Creepers walk along objects to their left, except for Dirt and Land Plugs, over which they pass. When a Creeper steps on a Blue Heart, the Blue Heart turns Red and the Creeper disappears. The player must "maneuver" a Creeper to a Blue Heart in order to pick up the Blue Heart. BLUE HEART: Blue Hearts must be turned Red by a Creeper before the Hero can pick them up, which the Hero must do before being able to complete the level. Each Blue Heart on a level must have at least one Creeper that can get to it. WORM: Worms try to move DIRECTLY towards the Hero. Worms kill the Hero when touched. Worms can be killed by causing boulders to drop on them, Arrows to shoot them, pushing Balls or Boulders onto them, or by their walking into Bones. BRIDGE: When the Hero steps onto a Bridge, if there is water on the opposite side of the Bridge from direction in which the Hero came, then the Bridge will extend itself across the water until it encounters another non-Water object. A Bridge may be extended in more than one direction, as long as there's water next to it and the Hero can step onto it from the opposite side. PYRAMID: Blocks the motion of all objects. WATER: The Hero doesn't swim, therefor the Hero will drown when attempting to walk on water. Boulders, Balls, and Fire Extinguishers sink when they pass onto water. Arrows and balloons pass over water unhindered. Land Plugs can be pushed into water to form more land (non-water playfield). Rafts can be pushed into the water and float. See RAFTS for more information. Creepers and Worms avoid water. RAFTS: Rafts can be pushed around on the playfield by the Hero in all four primary directions, but once pushed onto Water, the Hero can't push the Rafts any further. Once a Raft is on water, when the Hero moves onto it, the Raft will carry the Hero across the water until it encounters a non-Water object. Rafts can be made to "turn corners" if they are floated into an L-shaped corner of land. ICE: Objects that move (including the Hero) slide across Ice until they encounter a non-Ice object. LAND PLUG: A Land Plug is dirt that can be pushed about by the Hero and used for various things, including building walls, blocking other moving objects, and pushed into water to form more land that the Hero can walk on. FIRE: Fire kills the Hero, burns up Rafts and Balls that are pushed into it, and (in Hero GOLD) turns White Hearts into Red Hearts. Creepers and Worms avoid it. Fire Extinguishers and Land Plugs that are pushed into it will put it out. FIRE EXTINGUISHER: This will put out a Fire, and can also be pushed around by the Hero and used to block the motion of other objects. BALL: Blocks the motion of other objects, the Hero can push a Ball and it will keep moving in that direction until it encounters another object. Balls will reflect off of slopes at right- angles if not blocked by other objects. --- ADDING and DELETING objects --- Only one object may be positioned at any given location on the playfield. To place an object on the playfield, you must first select it in the Menu area. This is done by pointing at the object in the Menu area with the Mouse and clicking the left mouse button, or by holding down the SHIFT key and using the cursor keys to move the "selection box" to the desired item. The "playfield object" in the top-left corner of the Menu area can NOT be selected. Once an object type has been selected in the Menu area, it can then be placed onto the playfield by pointing at the playfield location with the mouse and clicking the left mouse button, or by using the cursor keys (without the SHIFT key) to position the "playfield location box" at the desired location and then pressing either the INS, ENTER, or SPACE key. Objects can be deleted or removed from the playfield by pointing at them with the mouse and then clicking the right mouse button, or by using the cursor keys (without the SHIFT key) to position the "playfield location box" at the desired location and then pressing the DEL key. --- HINTS ON CREATING LEVELS --- One good way to create challenging levels is to start with a simple idea or concept for a "trap" (something the player will have to figure out how to get into or out of or past). Then, once you've gotten that simple idea created on the playfield, start adding other things AROUND that core idea that the player will have to accomplish or get past BEFORE they get to your core idea. Once you've done this, then carefully add some "misleading" objects to help disguise what has to be done in order to solve the level. You have to be VERY careful when adding these misleading objects, however, as they can inadvertantly provide alternate, simpler solutions to your puzzle, or cause other problems. With practice, you'll learn to "think ahead", and actually be working on these various steps all at the same time (or at least keeping them in mind as you're developing the puzzle). If you're having problems thinking of puzzle ideas, a good way to get started is to purposely limit yourself. Set yourself the challenge of creating the best puzzle you can using ONLY some small number of objects (two to four, besides the Hero and the Exit). This will give you experience with the different objects and help you learn lots of little tricks and ways that the objects can interact. Then you can use more and more objects to make more complex puzzles. --- DISK STORAGE OF LEVELS --- Levels are stored in individual files in the same directory as the Hero game itself. The filename for each level is constructed as "H1LEV" followed by the puzzle set name (ie, "EKS"), and with an extension which is the level number (filled with leading zeroes). For example, level 13 of puzzle set "SAK" would be stored in file H1LEVSAK.013. The levels for puzzle set EKS are stored internally in the program (for simplicity of distribution), and as a result can not be edited. X. HINTS ON PLAY Do you REALLY want to read these? REALLY? *REALLY*? Well, I guess it's up to you! A Rock's "private" space looks like this: +------+------+------+ + x | ROCK | x | +------+------+------+ + x | x | x | +------+------+------+ + x | x | x | +------+------+------+ Anytime that ANYTHING leaves one of the squares marked with an 'x' the ROCK will attempt to fall. That means that you can move INTO one of those squares without triggering the Rock, but as soon as you move it will be triggered to fall. An Arrows private space is similar to the Rock's if you think of the Rock as "pointing down". An arrow's private space is always "in the direction that the arrow is pointing". Arrows are also triggered to move when ANYTHING moves OUT of one of its private space squares. Balloons private space are the same as Rocks and Arrows, except that it's always ABOVE the Balloon (rather than below like the Rocks). Use dirt as something to "hold" rocks, arrows, balloons, and balls in order to build a connection for a Creeper to get from one place to another. Sometimes Rocks, Arrows, and Balloons have to be pushed SIDEWISE before they're triggered in order to keep them from going where they're not supposed to (or to get them to go where they ARE supposed to). Use slopes to guide arrows, rocks, balloons, and balls. Balls will rebound off of slopes, turning 90 degrees (as long as there is space in front of the slope). NOTE: Two Creepers may step onto a Blue Heart at the same time, eliminating both of them but only one Blue Heart. This can be used as part of a puzzle (forcing the player to find a means of stopping them from stepping on it at the same time), but can also cause you problems if that's not what you're trying to do. Bridges can extend in more than one direction, if you can arrange to step onto them from more than one side AND there's water on more than one side. A raft can be pushed all over the playfield, but once it's pushed into water then all you can do is step onto it and float across. Getting a raft into a "corner" of land can allow you to "turn the corner" with the raft. Fire can be extinguished with Dirt Blocks and Fire Extinguishers. Water can be "filled in" by pushing a Dirt Block into the water. XI. BUGS AND VERSIONS ==== INITIAL RELEASE 1.1 ==== No known bugs. XII. PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM EVERETT KASER SOFTWARE Hero's Heart --- Handcrafted puzzles requiring careful thought to solve. Similar to PC Wanderer and Boulderdash. Requires EGA or VGA and 360K of free memory. Hero GOLD --- A more extensive (non-shareware) version of Hero's Heart containing over 80 levels, along with hints and solutions to each level, and includes 10 additional "objects" for use on the playfield. Requires EGA or VGA and 360K of free memory. Kosynka --- is an implementation (by Russian programmer Sergey Ryzhkov of the solitaire card game from Russia. The rules are very similar to standard Klondike solitaire, but this variation uses a double pack of 104 cards, which are played in 9 or 10 columns (as opposed to the 7 columns in Klondike). The reserve stock of cards are turned over one at a time, but you may only go through the stock twice. Very enjoyable. The face cards are lovely, and they have a very "russian" look to them. Everett Kaser Software is representing the Author in the U.S. Requires EGA or VGA. Sherlock --- The computer scrambles the locations of 36 items, then provides you with sufficient clues to determine their exact locations. Challenging game of logic with rich graphics disp- lay. Image editor and four extra sets of images included. Requires EGA or VGA and a Microsoft compatible mouse. Snarf --- Snarf is an arcade style game of mazes, treasures, First-Aid stations, locks and keys, teleports, and of course those nasty, sneaky, sniveling Snarfs. The game currently contains over 50 different levels, and includes a level editor so the user can create new levels. Requires EGA or VGA. Solitile --- A game of solitaire, played with tiles. The object of the game is to remove all of the tiles from the pile, following a small number of rules. Includes layout and tileset editors. Requires EGA or VGA and 380K free memory. Solitile Accessory Disks: Disk #1 --- Contains: 3 tilesets: MAHJONG, BATH, and TOOLS 5 layouts: MAYAMASK, ZIGZAG, PLANE, BIDIR, and PI 9 music files: ENTERTAINER, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING, MUSIC BOX DANCER, ROSES, BLUE DANUBE, LOVE STORY, GODFATHER, A VERY GOOD YEAR 13 GIF files: space walking astronaut, Marylin Monroe, Bulldog, Star Trek Enterprise, cartoon characters, etc. Disk #2 --- Contains: 5 tilesets: STAMPS, BASEBALL, CANDY, WINTILE1, BODY 5 layouts: JAILBRAK,10HIDING,FLATCAT,SPRAYER,SQUARFAC 9 music files: SOUND OF SILENCE, THOSE WERE THE DAYS, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, CABARET, GEORGY GIRL, KING OF THE ROAD, MOON RIVER, RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD, WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE 21 GIF files: space shuttle take-off, King Tut, a cheetah's face, cartoon characters, etc. Disk #3 --- Contains: 10 tilesets: ALPHA, FLOWER, CARS1, COMICS, CARDS, CARDS2, TRAFFIC, TOONS, FLAGS, and COLLAGE. 4 layouts: STARSKY, GRNDCNYN, ENGINE, and CHECK. 5 music files: I'VE GOT A NAME, TIME IN A BOTTLE, FROM A DISTANCE, AMERICAN PIE, NOBODY DOES IT BETTER. 10 .GIF files: RogRABBIT, SHUTTLE, SHIRLEY, POOHBEAR, HOVER- CRAFT, CAPTAIN-OPUS, ROBOT, DONDUCK, INDIAN, PAGODA. MUSIC.COM, a utility that plays .MUS files outside of Solitile. Makes development/testing of .MUS files easier. MUSIC.DOC, documents the format of .MUS files, allowing you to create your new ones or modify others. ST2TO3.EXE, a utility for converting layouts created with previous versions of Solitile, and converts WIN direct- ories from previous versions of Solitile into "solved boards" in your Solitile 3 .PLY file. On previous vers- ions of Solitile, the layouts were stored in the SOLITILE.DAT file. With Solitile 3, they're stored in their individual .LYT files. If you've created layouts with a previous version of Solitile and would like to use them with Solitile 3, this utility will convert them from the SOLITILE.DAT file into .LYT files. ST2TO3.DOC, documents the usuage of ST2TO3. End of Hero.DOC