Assassins - Ultimate CD Games Collection 4/Assassins 4 (1999)(Weird Science).iso/docs/puzzles/block_blank.doc

Text File | 1996-03-10 | 10KB | 291 lines

DV1.0 - GV1.1




                      BLOCK BLANK (C)1996
                    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



        Designed and created by Martin Button 11.March.96


                  Documentation by Martin Button.





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WHAT IS THIS GAME ABOUT?
-======================-

Block Blank is a puzzle game with 4 different levels of play:-

1. Nice and Easy
2. A little Tricky
3. Dam Difficult
4. Well Hard

Each level will have 4 areas which you must complete:-

1. Space
2. Survival
3. Clockwork
4. Imagination

You will need to complete these 4 areas to complete the level.  Each
area will hold 10 different challenging puzzles for you to solve.  There
are 40 puzzles in each level and a total of 160 puzzles in the entire
game (not bad for Shareware, so please register the game.)


GAME PLAY
-=======-

How To Complete A Puzzle

Block Blank is a puzzle game, the puzzles are made up of different
coloured and patterned tiles.  You will need to match these tiles together
in order to complete each puzzle.

However a trained eye is needed to know which tiles will match together
and in which order to match them.    The idea is to match the same
coloured sides together.  If for example you had a tile which had an all
blue top (we will call this tile 'A') and another tile that had an all blue
bottom (tile 'B') then by dropping tile 'B' on top of tile 'A' you would cause
these tiles to match together and disappear off the screen. Once you
have matched all the tiles together and have no more tiles remaining on
the screen the puzzle will be completed.

Matching tiles is best explained by watching the In Game Demo and
Instructions (see below) after reading this documentation.  This way you
will also see the various types of tiles that are available which can't be
documented in a text file.

The order that the tiles are matched is also quite important, You need to
make sure that you will NOT have any tiles left-over that can't be
matched together.  If you do have tile/s remaining then you will have to
use a retry.  This will allow you to restart the stage.  Please read the
USING A RETRY section of this document.


IN GAME DEMO AND INSTRUCTIONS
-===========================-

To see the In game Instructions you will of course need to load the
game.  By staying at the title screen and not pressing the fire button for a
while, the demo should start.


MOVING THE TILES
-==============-

You control the game by plugging a joystick into the joystick port in your
Amiga (the normal joystick port.)

When playing the game you will be presented with a cursor that you can
move Left, Right, Up or Down using the joystick.  To move a tile simply
place the cursor over it, hold down the Fire button and push the joystick
left or right respectively.

You will soon find that the tiles can only be moved left or right.  To
understand why, you must try and imagine that the tiles are stacked on
top of each other and by moving a tile off the edge of another tile will
cause the tile to fall down.  Tiles cannot be moved up because this will
be against the laws of gravity (and Newton will have a hard job
explaining it).  Any tile without something under it will simply fall down.

Undo Move feature

If you move a tile and decide that its a bad move, providing you have not
let your finger off the Fire button you will be able to place the tile back to
where it was.  In other words, tiles will not fall or match together until you
let your finger off the Fire button.  Since tiles will not match together
while the fire button is held down you can use this to slide over tiles that
would normally match.  However, this is provided that you have not
dropped the tile over the edge, you can't stop tiles from dropping!


SPECIAL SLIDING BLOCKS
-====================-

You may notice on some levels tiles with arrows on them.  Depending on
which way the arrows are pointing will depend on the direction you can
move these blocks.  You will be able to move some blocks Up or Down
and others Left or Right.  The idea is to use these blocks to move
various tiles or stacks of tiles in the various directions to help complete
certain puzzles.


USING A RETRY
-===========-

If you get stuck and find yourself in a situation where you can't
possibly complete the puzzle because you may not be able to match the
remaining tile/s.  Then you can use a Retry to start the puzzle again.
However, Retries are limited.  When you start the game you will begin
with 3 Retries.  Every time you use a Retry, the number of Retries
remaining will go down until you have no Retries left, in which case it will
be GAME OVER!  You lose.

However, you can gain an extra Retry after every 5000 points.  Though,
you will need to finish the puzzle to gain the Retry.

To use a Retry press the Spacebar.


MATCHING MULTIPLE TILES TOGETHER
-==============================-

You may realise that when matching tiles it is possible to match more the
just the two at once.  You will get extra points for matching more than
two tiles together.  The scoring goes:

                   2 Tiles        = 100 pts
                   3 Tiles        = 300 pts
                   4 Tiles & more = 500 pts

Be sure when matching multiple tiles together that you can still complete
the puzzle.  You may find however that the only way to complete the
puzzle is to match more than 2 tiles together.  For example if you had
and odd number of tiles on the screen.


TIMER
-===-

You must complete most puzzles within the given time.  The easier
puzzles are normally not timed and you can take as long as you like to
complete them.  However the more difficult levels are timed.  If you fail to
complete a puzzle in time then you will automatically use a Retry.  If you
have no Retries remaining then the game will be over.  (Read the USING
A RETRY section of this document.)


SCORING AND TIME BONUSES
-======================-

The scoring during game play is taken on the number of tiles you
manage to match together at once.  See the MATCHING MULTIPLE
TILES TOGETHER section.  However you are also given a time bonus if
the game is timed.  10 Points are given for each second left on the clock
after the puzzle is completed.  In other words the quicker you do the
puzzle the more points you get.


SAVING YOUR GAME POSITION
-=======================-

After you completed a puzzle you are given the chance to save your
game or to initialise a save game disk.  You cannot save a game until a
save game disk has been created.  To create a save game disk, you will
need at the ready a blank Amiga formatted disk.  Select Initialise Data
Disk from the Puzzle Completed menu.  You will be prompted to insert
your formatted disk.  Initialising a save game disk over a game disk
initialised before within Block Blank will completely ERASE the game
positions previously saved on it.  Ensure your save game disk is write
enabled when initialising or saving game positions onto it.

Once you have an initialised save game disk you will be prompted with
the save game screen.  You can save up to 9 different game positions
on one save game disk.  These game positions can be on different
levels, areas and puzzles.

Choose any position in the list by pushing forward or pulling back on the
Joystick.  Press the Fire button to select a row.  A cursor will appear
allowing you to type your name.  Press Return after entering your name
to save your position.  Selecting a previously saved position will be over
written with your current game position.

If you had already initialised a save game disk you only need to select
the Save Game Position option from the Puzzle Completed menu.  Press
the ESC key at any point to abort the save game procedure and return to
the game.


STARTING A NEW GAME
-=================-

To start a game, press Fire at the title screen.  You will be given the
choice on which level of difficulty to start on.

Level 1 - Nice and Easy
Level 2 - A little Tricky
Level 3 - Dam Difficult
Level 4 - Well Hard

Push the joystick forward or backwards to move the white selector bar
over the various different levels of play and press the Fire button to start.

If you wish to Restore a saved game then move the selector bar over the
RESTORE A SAVED GAME option and press the Fire button.


RESTORING YOUR GAME POSITION
-==========================-

After selecting RESTORE A SAVED GAME from the Start Game menu
you will be prompted to insert your save game disk.  Select the game
position you wish to restore by pushing the joystick forward or backwards
to highlight the appropriate game position you wish to restore and press
the Fire button to start play.

Press the ESC key at any point to abort the restore game procedure and
return to the Start Game menu.


IN GAME QUICK KEY GUIDE
-=====================-

Spacebar = Retry stage
       P = Pause Game
     F10 = Quit Game
       M = Toggle music On/Off


DISTRIBUTION
-==========-

Block Blank is copyright in the sense that the idea is NOT copied by
anyone else without the permission of the author.  However, Block Blank
has been released as Shareware and may be freely copied so long as
the program and related files are not changed and no money is made
from this product.

As a holder of this product you are expected to register this software.
This software is NOT free!  By registering you will be legally entitled to
own the software and will be supported and informed on new products
and changes.

If this software cause damage to your machine or damages your health, I
as the author of this software will not be responsible.  It is not my fault if
your Hard or floppy drive or disk gets corrupted or erased by running my
program, or if you break your joystick, break the computer in frustration,
fart so badly that you stained your pants,  set fire to the dog to release
stress, etc..

All related files must stay in there orginal form in the DMS file.

HOW TO REGISTER
-=============-

Please send a cheque of £5 pounds sterling to:-

Martin Button,

POPLAR CLAYS,
 WINNAL COMMON,
  ALLENSMORE,
   HEREFORD.
   (England)

   HR2 9BS.

Comments etc.. can be sent to the above address or Email me at:-

     [e-mail]