Season's Greetings & Games Unlimited/UGOLD_cd2.iso/brkfree/help.txt

Text File | 1995-02-27 | 17KB | 411 lines

                            BREAKFREE
                         by Software Storm

                       Instructions for Play


OBJECT OF GAME
==============

    The object of the game is to break free from each level by destroying
    all the breakable walls with your fireballs. You have a limited number
    of fireballs with which to break out of all the levels in the game.
    When you lose the last fireball, the game is over.

GAME ELEMENTS
=============

    Walls:

    There are many different types of walls in the game, but they fall
    into four general categories:

        - unbreakable walls.  The ball will bounce off these.
        - breakable walls.  The fireball destroys these.
        - power drain walls.  These walls consume the fireball.
          Usually, power drain walls are behind you.
        - special effect walls.

    Special Effect Walls:

    Some walls have special properties or exhibit special behavior during
    play.  Usually, these walls are marked, but not always.  Some walls
    require multiple hits to be destroyed.

    Objects:

    Some walls release objects when they are destroyed.  Some objects are
    good - try to catch them.  Other objects are bad and should be
    avoided.  You will have to learn which are which as you play.

    Objects also fall into several categories:

        - bonus objects.  You receive a bonus if you catch these.
        - penalty objects.  You are penalized if you catch these.
        - gun (and ammo).  You will be able to shoot if you catch
          this.  If you catch a second gun, it adds to your ammo count.
        - different types of balls.  These have interesting effects
          in the game that you will have to learn by trying them out.

GAME PLAY
=========

    Starting a new game:

    To start a new game, choose "NEW GAME" from the Main Menu.  You will
    be prompted to select from one of three difficulty settings:  Easy,
    Medium, and Hard.  Below are some of the items which vary depending
    on the setting:

       - number of fireballs you start with
       - ball speed
       - number of bullets you receive with a gun

    Playing:

    Launch your fireballs by pressing the space key.  Your fireballs and
    other objects will bounce off the walls in front of you, and return
    towards you.  You need to keep your fireballs in play by bouncing
    them off an invisible paddle directly in front of you.  You must
    constantly predict where each fireball will return, and move yourself
    to intercept it.

    Movement:

    During game play, you can move forward, backward, and from side to
    side. Moving forward and back is especially important for controlling
    where the fireballs will bounce, and thus how long it takes to break
    free from a level.  You can move with either the arrow keys or the
    mouse.

    Key Summary:

        Arrow keys = move up/back/left/right
        +/- keys   = resize the main viewscreen
        Space      = launch more fireballs
        S          = toggle Sound on/off
        W          = Warp to a level
        Ctrl       = fire gun (only if you have a gun)
        Esc        = show the Main Menu
        F1         = show these help screens

    Screen:

    The top of the screen has the main viewscreen, where the game action
    takes place.  Located at the bottom of the screen are several fields
    which indicate your current play status:

        +--------+  +-------------------+ +-----+ +-----+ +--------+
        |  ammo  |  | level name        | |lev.#| |timer| |        |
        |  count |  +-------------------+ +-----+ +-----+ |        |
        |        |  +----------+ +--------------+         |        |
        | weapon |  | SCORE    | | score        |  S S I  | radar  |
        |        |  +----------+ +--------------+         |        |
        |        |  +-----------------------------------+ |        |
        |        |  | fireballs remaining and in play   | |        |
        +--------+  +-----------------------------------+ +--------+

        - ammo count/weapon.  Shows gun (if any) and ammo remaining.
        - level name. This is used for warping.
        - level number.
        - timer.  This shows the time remaining to complete the level.  You
          get bonus points for completing a level before the timer runs out.
        - score.
        - fireballs remaining.  Empty circles are balls currently in play.
        - radar.  This displays an overhead view of the current level.
          Colors in the radar indicate different items:

              dark red  = unbreakable walls
              light red = breakable walls
              dark grey = power drain walls
              yellow    = fireballs in play
              green     = you

    Watch the radar to keep track of the fireball when it goes out of
    view on the main viewscreen!

    Shooting:

    On some levels, guns and ammo can be found.  In order to get a gun
    you must capture it (similar to the other bonus objects).  Once you
    have a gun, use the Ctrl key to shoot.  Be careful, because your
    first inclination is to use the space bar, which will launch
    fireballs instead.

    Use your ammunition wisely.  It can be carried over from level to
    level, and you can save it for hard-to-get walls.

    Pausing:

    If for some reason you get interrupted while playing the game, or
    just need to stop and collect your thoughts, you can pause the game
    by pressing the Esc (escape) key to get to the Main Menu.  From the
    Main Menu you can continue playing exactly where you left off by
    selecting the RESUME GAME option.

    Scoring:

    You get points for every wall that you destroy.  The number of points
    per wall increases with higher levels. Therefore, you can warp past
    some of the beginning levels and still get a high score.

    When you complete a level, you get a bonus for the balls that are
    still in play, and for any time remaining on the timer.

    Warping:

    Every level has a name.  When you get to each level, write down the
    level's name.  Using the name, you can warp to that level any time
    you want.

    Often you will want to start a new game (to establish the difficulty
    setting), then warp directly to a level to keep playing where you
    left off.

    Winning:

    If you can break free from all the levels with your fireballs and
    other items you find along the way, you have escaped and you win the
    game!  Even if you don't finish all the levels, you may get a score
    which is one of the greatest of all time.  If so, at the end of the
    game you will be asked for your name, to go on the high score list.
    You may view the high score list at any time by selecting
    SHOW HIGH SCORES from the Main Menu.

HINTS AND TIPS
==============

  * A good way to control the ball is by is by hitting the edges of the
    paddle.  For example, if you hit the ball on the left side of the
    paddle (the left side of the main viewscreen), the ball will bounce
    more towards the left.

  * You may launch a ball even if you already have one in play.
    Sometimes it is usefull to finish off a level faster by having more
    than one ball in play.  But be warned, it is VERY difficult to keep
    multiple balls in play for a long period of time.  (Hint: you might
    to do this only when you are almost finished with a level.)

  * You get a bonus for each ball still in play at the end of each level.
    Plus, each ball is added to your fireballs remaining.

  * Pay attention to the radar to keep track of where the ball is.  The
    fireball can go behind walls and come out on the other side.
    Sometimes, the ball will change direction when you can't see it.  It
    is generally a good idea to watch the radar whenever the ball goes
    out of view on the main viewscreen.

  * Move forward and back to control where the fireball bounces.  This
    is the key to finishing levels before the time runs out.  Often, as
    you get to the end of a level, there are just one or two hard-to-get
    walls left.  By moving forward and back, you have much more control
    of where the fireball will bounce.  For example, in the case below
    where there is a single block left in the corner, and the ball has
    just bounced off the back wall, then if you stay at the back of the
    level, the ball will bounce off the paddle and miss the block. (see
    below)

        +-------------------+      +-------------------+
        |[]          / \    |      |[]                 |
        |           *   \   |      |   *               |
        |                   |      |  /       /        |
        |                   |      | /       /         |
        |                   |      | \      /          |
        |                   |      |  \    /           |
        |                   |      |   \  /            |
        |                   |      |    \/             |
        |  --               |      |    --             |

    However, if you move up to intercept the ball, you can reflect it
    directly at the remaining block.  (see below)

        +-------------------+      +-------------------+
        |[]          / \    |      |[]                 |
        |           *   \   |      |   *      /        |
        |                   |      |    \    /         |
        |                   |      |     \  /          |
        |                   |      |      \/           |
        |                   |      |      --           |
        |                   |      |                   |
        |                   |      |                   |
        |  __               |      |                   |


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================

    BreakFree requires 540,000 (528K) bytes of free conventional memory.
    BreakFree will detect how much memory you have when it starts.  If it
    detects that you do not have enough, it will ask you if you would
    like to: 1) continue anyway, 2) continue without digital sounds, or
    3) abort loading the game.  Since the levels in BreakFree require
    different amounts of memory, you may be able to play some levels even
    if you don't have the full 540,000 (528K) bytes required by the largest
    level.  If you want to try, select number 1.  The digital sounds in
    BreakFree require about 40,000 (39K) bytes of memory.  If you don't have
    enough free memory, you can select option 2 to run the game without
    digital sounds.  The game will still use the PC speaker sounds.

    BreakFree uses 256-color VGA graphics, and can use a SoundBlaster or
    compatible sound card.  To use a SoundBlaster or compatible sound
    card, you must the BLASTER DOS environment variable set.  When you
    installed your sound card, it should have put a command in your
    AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the interrupt, I/O, and DMA settings for the
    card.  See the troubleshooting section of these instructions for more
    help in configuring your environment so that BreakFree can use your
    sound card.

    Machine Speed:

    We recommend a 20 Mhz 386 system or faster for best results in
    playing BreakFree.  However, there are a few things you can do to
    make the game more playable on a slower machine:

       - resize the viewscreen smaller
       - use the mouse instead of the keyboard for smoother movement
         control

TROUBLESHOOTING
===============

    Error Messages:

    There are only a few error messages which might be displayed during
    the game.  If you are attempting to warp to a level, and you get the
    message "Could not find level", try warping again, checking to make
    sure that you spell the destination level name correctly.  If you get
    the message again, you may have written the level name down wrong.

    If the game suddenly exits, and prints a "Critical Error" message,
    then something has happened from which the game could not recover.
    VERY often, the critical error will be a failure to allocate memory.
    If this happens, then you should try to get more free conventional
    memory, and run the game again.

    How to get more free conventional memory:

    Use the DOS MEM command to see how much free memory you have.  Type
    "MEM" at the DOS command prompt. If you are running MSDOS, there
    should be a line telling you the size of the largest executable
    program that can be run.  If you are running Novell DOS 7.0 or DRDOS,
    this will be listed as "available" conventional memory.  If
    necessary, unload TSRs or use a floppy boot disk to make more memory
    available before playing.

    Sound problems:

    If you have a SoundBlaster or compatible sound card, but the game
    does not play digital sounds (either the game produces no sound at
    all, or only produces sounds through the PC speaker), then you may
    not have your sound card configured properly, or you may not have
    your BLASTER environment variable set.

    Type SET at the DOS command prompt, and you will see a list of DOS
    environment variables.  You should see a line starting with
    "BLASTER=", followed by some settings, like "A220 D1 I7".  These
    settings indicate the I/O port, the DMA channel, and the interrupt
    number for your sound card.  If you do not have an environment
    variable like this, then you will need to set one in order for
    BreakFree to use your sound card.  When your sound card was
    installed, it was configured with an I/O port, a DMA channel and an
    interrupt number (IRQ).  If you know what these options are, you can
    use the DOS SET command to create a DOS environment variable which
    BreakFree can use.

    For example, if your sound card is at I/O port 220 (hex), uses DMA
    channel 1 and interrupt (IRQ) number 7, then you should type

        SET BLASTER=A220 D1 I7

    at the DOS command prompt.  If you place this line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
    file, it will be set every time you start your computer.

     Power Management:

    If you are using Power Management Software, such as POWER.EXE or
    POWER.SYS, then the game may pause between keystrokes.  If a keystroke
    starts the game again, then power management is probably the problem.
    Turn power management off to play BREAKFREE.


ORDERING THE RETAIL VERSION
===========================

    We hope you enjoy playing this shareware version of BreakFree. The
    registered version includes more levels, more effects, and greater
    challenges.

    It also includes an editor for you to make your own levels for you
    and your friends to enjoy.

    To order BreakFree send $14.95, plus $3.00 shipping and handling to:

            Software Storm
            P.O. Box 2029
            Orem, UT  84059

    Please print and fill out the Software Storm order form and send
    it with your order.  The order form is in the file ORDER.FRM, and
    at the end of this HELP.TXT file (see below).

            Thanks!!

                        SOFTWARE STORM ORDER FORM

Name _______________________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________________

City _________________________ State/Province __________ ZIP _______________

Country (if not USA) ____________________ Phone/Fax ________________________


Please send me BreakFree, for $14.95.


Disk size:    [ ] 3.5 inch diskette    [ ] 5.25 inch diskette

Quantity:   _____ X $14.95 = $___________

Shipping and Handling:       $___________
  U.S. orders add $3.
  All others add $5.

Total amount enclosed:       $___________

Please send check or money order, payable to "Software Storm",
with this order form to:

          Software Storm
          P.O. Box  2029
          Orem, UT  84059

Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.

*** Thank you! *************************************************************

We'd like to know more about you:

Is this your first order with Software Storm?  [ ] Yes  [ ] No

Where did you find this game?
   [ ] BBS
   [ ] Information Service (CompuServe, etc.)
   [ ] friend
   [ ] retail store
   [ ] other ______________

Have you purchased any other shareware software?  [ ] Yes  [ ] No

Computer:  [ ] 286  [ ] 386  [ ] 486  [ ] Pentium/586

Processor speed (in MHZ):  [ ] 12  [ ] 16  [ ] 20  [ ] 25
   [ ] 33  [ ] 50  [ ] 66  [ ] 99 or greater (wow!)
                                                                        bf100
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