500 Game Surplus/XSurplus.iso/34/CLONE.TXT

Text File | 1997-04-23 | 26KB | 611 lines

                               C L O N E (TM)


                               Documentation


                             (C) Copyright 1997
                            Antares Productions
                            All Rights Reserved




*** Introduction ***


Welcome
~~~~~~~
You're about to enter the amazing world of Clone and to face tons of puzzles
and enigmas that will challenge your mind for weeks...  Most probably,
you've already played puzzle games with many characters to control, but you
sure haven't had to control ALL of them at the SAME TIME!!!  Playing around
with the little blue clones is as simple as your ABC...  But here, simple
doesn't mean easy!!!  Hehe...

Print Out
~~~~~~~~~
It is strongly suggested to print this document and to keep it near while
playing.  To print it, type the following at the DOS prompt, while in your
Clone directory: "type clone.txt > prn" without the double-quotes, and
press ENTER)

If you're running under Windows and have MS-Word, then you might like to
access the Word version instead, with enhanced page-layout and graphics.

Another document that might be of help to you, especially if you're new with
puzzle games, is goals.doc and goals.txt. (The former is the Word
version, while the later is the text-only equivalent).  This document
describes the goals of every puzzles, with some tips, but without giving
away any solutions! Hehe...

Quick Start
* Type "clone" and ENTER at the DOS prompt.  (If anything goes wrong with
  program startup, refer to the Command-Line Trouble-Shooting Switches
  section further in this document)
* Choose the episode to play and click on Play.
* Once it the main menu, the program prompts you for a name to give your
  hero : type it and press ENTER.
* At the bottom right of the main menu is the Levels panel. To play now,
  just click on the vertical Play button on this panel.


*** This is a Shareware Game ***


Please, help us support the Shareware concept and to come up with other
great games in the future.  Information on how to order is provided in the
next section.

You can order the Full Version at the low price of only US$ 25 for all 6
episodes of the series.

What's in the full version?
* Six episodes including : Mornack's Castles, Frozen Mountains, Ground
  Bowels, Candy Land, Future Destiny, and Kaos Realms, each with amazing
  graphic sets, new creatures, mecanisms, vehicles and objects to interact
  with!
* Over 20 puzzles per episode for a total of 125 puzzles, each with three
  difficulty levels for the whole family to enjoy the game to its full
  value!
* Six thrilling-time-critical-ending-puzzles with a deadly countdown!
* 28 songs - over an hour of original music ranging from soundtrack to
  industrial with digital instruments that make for a gloomy and very
  intriguing atmosphere...
* The Juke Box, which allows you to listen to any of the 28 songs, plus a
  hidden song!
* And a lot more!!!


*** Ordering Information ***


Pricing: All 6 episodes are packed together for only $25.00

Shipping and handling:  $4.00 International, $3.00 U.S.  California
residents must include 8.00% sales tax.  Orders will be returned without the
proper fees.

Toll Free Ordering:  Visa and MasterCard orders may be placed by calling
Laser Point at [phone]. International users may call [phone]
or fax the required information to [phone].  Notice:  As of April 1,
1998 our area code will change from "408" to "831" so please use this new
area code after April 1998.

Electronic Mail Registration:  You may register via electronic mail by
sending the following information to [e-mail] or [e-mail]:

- Name of the product you are registering (Clone)
- Visa or MasterCard Account Number
- Card Type  (Visa or MasterCard)
- Card Expiration Date
- Name of Card Holder
- Address including zip or postal code

Postal Mail Registration:  You may send cash or checks, drawn in U.S. funds
on a U.S. bank, to:

Laser Point
Clone Registration
P.O.Box 2378
Watsonville, CA. 95077


Compuserve:  CompuServe customers may wish to use the CompuServe Shareware
Registry.  GO SWREG and register product ID # 12795


*** Technical Support ***


The Clone Page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on Clone as it becomes available you may like to visit
The Clone Page, our official Web site at: http://www.interlinx.qc.ca/~clone


The Clone Mailing-List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can also suscribe to the Clone mailing list, for notices regarding
updates, patches, tips and tricks, etc.  To suscribe to the mailing list,
send an Email to [e-mail] requesting to be added to the list.


Question and Comments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feel free to Email [e-mail] at the attention of Mathieu.  I will be glad
to answer any of your questions and chat about the game.


The Antares Productions' Site
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may also like to visit the Antares Productions Web site for more info
regarding our other products at: http://www.interlinx.qc.ca/~midk/antares


*** The Game Interface ***


The Main Menu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Options (top left of main menu)
    ~~~~~~~
    * Return To Game lets you return to your current game as it was when you
      left it.
    * Look Intro shows the scrolling text you saw when entering this
      episode.
    * Settings allows to change the music and sound effects volume,
      calibrate joystick, change keys assignment, etc.
    * Help!!! is and online tutorial for an easy introduction to Clone, and
      to how it plays.  The game will be in auto-pilot mode, so you just
      have to read the scrolls and press ENTER to go to the next lesson.
      If you want to try the tutorial by yourself, start it again and press
      TAB.  This will turn-off auto-pilot.
    * Ordering Info gives all the information you need for ordering the
      complete Clone series of 6 episodes.  This document you're reading
      also contains this information, under the Ordering Information
      section.
    * Quit returns you to the menu of the episodes.

    Heroes (top right of main menu)
    ~~~~~~
    This part of the main menu allows you to create new players, or delete
    them. This way, if a friend of yours wants to play, just let him create
    his own player, while leaving yours unchanged.

    Levels (bottom right of main menu)
    ~~~~~~
    This part of the main menu allows you to skip some levels or to retry
    any levels you already completed (ie. You can retry previous levels at
    higher difficulty levels).  To play the selected level now, just click
    on the vertical Play button.  If you want to postpone the currently
    selected level and try the next one right away, use the vertical Skip
    button (maximum of 3 skipped levels allowed).  When you complete a
    level, it will be marked with a little blue bullet in the list : the
    size of the bullet corresponds to the difficulty level, so you can see
    which levels you could try at a higher difficulty level.

    Difficulty Level (bottom left of main menu)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This part of the main menu allows you to set the game to the difficulty
    level that best suits you.  Note that you can change the difficulty
    level at any time.  However, if you're already playing a level and that
    you change the difficulty level meanwhile, the new difficulty won't be
    effective until you restart the puzzle by clicking on the vertical Play
    button from the Levels panel.


The Inventory Bar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The inventory bar is displayed at the bottom of the game screen.  You can
press ENTER to hide or display it at any moment during the game.  It
contains three sections : the objects inventory, the currently active
protections, and finally the energy status.

* Objects Inventory : Everything you found in a level is displayed here. The
  current object is displayed in the golden frame.  To cycle the objects
  through the golden frame, press ALT, and to use the current object, press
  SPACE.

* Protections : The little icons here are lit when you are protected against
  some kinds of trap.  The green potion is against acid, yellow against
  lightnings, red against fire, blue against ice, and the shield is against
  arrows.  For more information about that, refer to the Puzzle Elements
  section, under the Objects and Traps paragraphs.

* Energy : This bar shows how much energy you're left with.  If there's more
  than one clone, then this bar shows all of their energy.


The Keyboard (in game)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Movements
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Cursors          Move around
    CTRL + Cursors   Look in a direction without moving
    CTRL             Stop moving instantly (or almost)

    Screen Scrolling
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    PgUp            Scroll screen up
    PgDn            Scroll screen down
    Scroll Lock     Toggle auto-scrolling-lock on and off (if the ScrollLock
                    led is lit on your keyboard, then it means scrolling is
                    locked and you have to manually scroll the screen)

    Inventory
    ~~~~~~~~~
    ALT     Select object in inventory (current object is in gold frame)
    SPACE   Use current object in inventory
    ENTER   Toggle inventory bar or close a scroll when done reading it

    Miscellaneous
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    A       Abort and retry the current level
    P       Pause game
    ESC     Return to main menu

    Sound Control
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    M       Toggle Music
    F       Toggle sound FX
    S       Toggle Sound (both Music and FX).


*** Command-Line Switches ***

Defaults (for first-time users)
~~~~~~~~
For default configuration, just type "clone" and then ENTER at the DOS
prompt when you're in your Clone directory.

Standard switches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* To get a quick switches reference, use the /? switch.
* To enter an episode directly without going through The Hall, use the /Wn
  switch, where n is the number of the episode from 1 to 6.
* To start Clone without intro screens and ending title, use the /NUDE
  switch.
* To turn all music and sound fx off, or if you want to prevent the program
  from detecting your soundcard, use the /QUIET switch.

Trouble-shooting parameters (if you have any problems getting Clone to run)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* If your screen sometimes displays garbage, try the /VMC=ON switch.  This
  will force the game to run in a more compatible video mode and allow you
  to scroll the display horizontally in order to be able to see the entire
  screen.  In VMC, use HOME and END to scroll screen left or right and
  use INSERT to return to auto-scrolling.

* If your sound card plays music too slowly or weirdly, try the /SNDAUTO=ON
  or /SNDFREQ=4 switches.

* If you can't hear anything at all, make sure the program is detecting your
  sound card correctly (make sure your sound card's name is mentionned on
  the startup screen).  If it's not the case, try the switch corresponding
  to your sound card (/SB for Sound Blaster and compatibles, /GUS for Gravis
  UltraSound, /SS for Ensoniq SoundScape) to force the program to use it.


*** The Clone World ***

The Puzzle Elements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING: The following section contains fun-spoiling informations that
experienced players won't want to read.  It describes most puzzle elements
you'll encounter.  Even though it doesn't contain any actual solutions to
puzzles, reading a puzzle element's behavior might spoil experimentation and
creativeness.

    Miscellaneous Blocks
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Big Blue Jewels (End of Level):
     This jewel is the ultimate goal to reach in order to complete a level.
     Note that if there are more than one clone in the level, all of them
     that are still alive must reach this jewel.

    Locked Doors and Corresponding Keys:
     The silver and golden doors must be opened with the corresponding keys.
     If you have the right key, just press on the door to unlock and open
     it.

    Treasure Chests:
     Those chests sometimes contain many objects.  Press on the chest once
     to open it and grab everything it contains.  Once the chest is open,
     you can move it around like any other blocks.  If you're playing with a
     joystick, the chest will be pushed at the same time it is opened, so it
     may be wise to temporarily use the keyboard when dealing with chests,
     especially when the position of the chest does matter.

    Rocks:
     The rocks are like walls in that they can't be moved.  However, they
     can be destroyed by explosions.  Note that the brightest rocks require
     three explosions in order to disappear completely, while the
     not-so-bright-not-so-dark rock requires two explosions, and the
     darkest rock, only one.

    Explosive-Powder Barrels:
     Those barrels contain very dangerous explosive-powder and will react
     violently to an explosion by producing another explosion.  Beware of
     chain reactions when such barrels are packed in a row!  Note that you
     can push those barrels to make them roll on the ground : They won't
     stop rolling until they hit a wall or obstacle, and will then explode!

    Ice Cubes:
     The ice cubes are similar to other blocks, except that when they are
     pushed, they keep sliding on the ground until they hit something.  Note
     that Ice Cubes will melt if struck by an explosion or a fire ball.

    Vehicles
    ~~~~~~~~
    Rafts:
     With a raft you can travel on water and cross rivers.  Note that as
     long as a raft is still on the ground you can move it around as you
     would with any other blocks.  Once you pushed it into the water, you
     can step onto it and start navigating, but you can't push it back onto
     the ground.

    Golden Rings:
     You can enter a ring sideways and roll in it forward or backward.  Note
     that you can also push it from the outside.

    Mine Carts:
     With a mine cart you can travel on railroads.  Note that as long as a
     mine cart is not on the rails you can move it around, but only in the
     same direction as the cart's wheels.  Once you pushed it onto the
     rails, you can step onto it and start traveling, but you can't push it
     back off-rails.

    Mecanisms
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Buttons and Levers (on the walls):
     You can activate mecanisms by pressing buttons and levers.  Buttons can
     be depressed only once and cannot be poped back, while levers can be
     toggled as many times as you like.

    Trigger Tiles (on the ground):
     Another way to activate mecanisms is to walk over tigger tiles.  Some
     of those will remain depressed, while others will pop-up as soon as you
     walk away.  Such tiles require something heavy to be moved over them
     (yeah, like in Indiana Jones! Hehe...) like a color-crystal, a ring, a
     raft, a treasure chest or anything similar.  Note that most of the
     times, when there are many clones in the level, you have to move all of
     them over the trigger tiles at the same time.  This involves that you
     arrange all the clones in the same pattern as the tiles by using the
     obstacles to offset them correctly.

    Color-Crystals and Color-Crystal-Sockets:
     There are seven kinds of color-crystals, each with a different color.
     In order to activate a mecanism with a color-crystal, you have to move
     it over the crystal-socket of the corresponding color.  Beware: Once
     the color-crystal has been set onto its socket, it is NOT stuck there
     and can be moved away.  Beware not to displace it unvoluntarily!

    Big Blue Numbers:
     This kind of mecanism must be decreased down to zero in order to be
     activated.  Most of the time, you have to activate many buttons,
     levers, trigger tiles or crystal-socket, each of them will decrease the
     big blue number by one unit.

    Objects
    ~~~~~~~
    Scrolls:
     Scrolls contain precious information and riddles.  To read a scroll,
     select it from your inventory with ALT and then press SPACE.  When
     you're done reading the scroll, press ENTER.


    Bombs:
     Bombs are used to destroy rocks and other fragile items.  To use a
     bomb, select it from your inventory with ALT and then press SPACE.
     But you'd better hide away before it explodes!  Hehe...  The explosion
     will cover a 9 tiles area (3 tiles wide per 3 tiles high) so you can
     anticipate where to hide in order to be safe.  Note that you won't
     suffer any damages at all if you are right beside an explosion when it
     occurs.

    Potions of Protection:
     The potions immune you against some traps.  But you must first drink
     them in order to be protected!  To use a potion, select it from your
     inventory with ALT and then press SPACE.  A little icon will light
     up on the menu bar (between the inventory and the energy bar) to
     indicate that the protection is effective.  Note that once a protection
     is effective, it won't expire until you really need it (ie. Being hit
     by the corresponding trap).

    Shields:
     The shields protect you against arrows.  Refer to potions of
     protections (above) for details on how to use them.

    Gems of Vitality (small purple jewels):
     The Gems of Vitality enclose the pure essence of life and are VERY
     rare.  To gain the energy contained by a gem, select it from your
     inventory with ALT and then press SPACE.

    Traps
    ~~~~~
    Acid Pots, Thunder Clouds, Bows, Fire Traps, Ice Traps, and Vacuums:
     Those traps will shoot you whenever you walk in from of them.  To be
     protected, you can either move a block in front of them or use a
     magical protection (potions and shields).  But note that they have
     particular orientations that you must know in order to be able to walk
     around them:

    * The acid pots shoots acid drop upwards.
    * The thunder cloud shoots lightnings downwards.
    * The bow shoots arrows sideways (left OR right, depending on the side
      it's poiting toward).
    * The fire and ice traps shoot fire and ice balls in ALL directions.
    * The vacuum sucks you in from ALL directions.

    Ray Guns:
     The ray guns are particular traps in that there must be two of them
     heading toward each other in order for the trap to be effective.  You
     can be protected from those traps by moving a block in front of AT
     LEAST one of the two guns: this is enough to put the trap temporarily
     out of order.

    Spikes:
     Spikes can be very dangerous hazards, except if you know how to walk
     around them.  The trick is easy: never arrive on a spike from the
     direction of its tip.  Though, you can arrive from any other direction
     and leave in ANY direction at all.

    Movement-Restricting Elements
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Red One-Ways:
     The Red One-Ways prevent you from arriving on the tile from the
     direction of the arrow.  Though, you can arrive from any other
     direction and leave in ANY direction at all.

    Turning One-Ways (one-ways with a tiny curly arrow over them):
     Turning One-Ways are similar to standard Red One-Ways, except that each
     time you step over them, they rotate clockwise 90 degrees.  TIP: It is
     strongly suggested to plan what direction the turning one-ways will be
     heading to before actually moving over them, in order to avoid being
     stuck in a little area or not being able to come back to an important
     location.

    Pipes and Pipe-Intersections:
      Pipes are tunnels that you must follow from one end to the other,
      while pipe-intersections can be entered from ANY direction at all, but
      can only be left in the direction of the two little red arrows.

    Rail-Roads:
     The only way to travel on rails is to use a mine-cart.  Note that you
     can move any block onto the rails and then push it with the mine-cart,
     but make sure you will be able to move the block off the rails (usually
     using a rail-corner).

    Magic
    ~~~~~
    Runes Carved on the Ground:
     Just step over those runes in order to unleash the magic they enclose.

    * The first is the Rune of Cloning, which will clone yourself into more
      little blue beings.
    * The second is the Rune of Uncloning, which will get you back to your
      single form.
    * The last is the Rune of Invincibility, which will morph all clones
      into invincible little devils for some seconds.

    Fire- and Ice-Ball Casting Magical Items:
     Those magical items allow you to cast fire- and ice-balls.  The spell
     is cast in the direction your clone was heading when you arrived on it.

    * A fire-ball will explode when it hits an obstacle.  Note that the
      explosion will be as big as a bomb if the distance of the cast if long
      enough (otherwise, it will only be one tile big).

    * An ice-ball will produce an ice-cube when it hits an obstacle.  Note
      that you can freeze creatures with this spell.


The Creatures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING: The following section contains fun-spoiling informations that
experienced players won't want to read.  It describes most creatures you'll
encounter.  Even though it doesn't contain any actual solutions to puzzles,
reading a creature's behavior might spoil experimentation and creativeness.

    Little Blue Being (also known as "The Hero"):
     Hey!! It's you!!  Note that your orientation DOES matter for a certain
     number of things, like casting magical fire- and ice-balls, and for
     some creatures that you must not look directly into the eyes, like the
     Floating Guardians.

    Gluttons:
     The gluttons are not really offensive, but they're the ones who trigger
     the deadly count-downs in the ending levels of the four last episodes!

    Creatures of "Mornack's Castles"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Dumb Boars:
     Those boars aren't offensive, but they definitely will be more than a
     problem for you : they're always at the wrong place, and at the wrong
     moment.  If one is in your way, move close to it, wait until it goes
     away, and then quickly take his place before another does.

    Floating Guardians:
     Those floating beings will roast you as soon as you look directly into
     their only-eye.  And if one of them notices you, he will stare at you
     until you go away or show him your back (ie. if a guardian is staring
     at you on your right, just look toward your left and he won't bother
     you any longer).  Also, you might be able to move toward them while
     rolling, but I wouldn't take the chance!!!

    Frantic Arachnids:
     Those quickly-moving-spider-like-nine-eyed beings are really
     routine-minded, but a touch of chaos might make them go wild.  Take my
     advice : if such a spider has you in sight, you'd better hide behind a
     wall VERY quickly before it arrives, or you're as good as dead!!!  No
     doubt they're the most deadly creatures in all the Worlds of Clone!
     Hehe...

    Creatures of "Frozen Mountains"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Wall-Kers:
     Wall-Kers, as their name suggests, are living-walls.  Unfortunately,
     they tend to sleep too often!  Puzzles that contain such beings turn
     out to be living labyrints of stone that can entrap you for a while!

    Dragons of Confusion:
     Those dragons are easy to mistake.  One is kind and the other is mad!
     The kind dragon of confusion will only blow you some tiles away if you
     walk under him, while the mad one will burn you with his fire breath!
     Note that the fire breath is only some tiles long.

    Creatures of "Ground Bowels"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Fire-Gargoyles:
     Those gargoyles of the underworld can reduce you to the size of an
     atom!  Their orientation DOES matter, since when they're looking away
     from you, they won't see you...  And if you're brave enough to sneak
     and touch one of them, it will turn into a stone statue...  But beware
     that it doesn't turn toward you until you touch it!  Note that such
     stone statues can be destroyed by explosions.

    Sarcasm Devils:
     Those ever-laughing-devils will try to transform you into another
     devil, but don't become one of theirs!

    Creatures of "Future Destiny"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Living Sparks:
     Living sparks are brainless entities that escaped some energy sources
     and that must follow walls indefinitely.  A little like
     frantic-arachnids, they have very mechanical behaviors, unless some
     chaos make them go wild.  You'd better take advantage of their rhythm
     in order to stay alive!

    Creatures of "Kaos Realms"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Kaos Ghosts:
     Kaos Ghosts are lethal in that they aren't stopped by walls or any
     obstacles.  If one of them touches you, you'll be so afraid you won't
     be able to move for some seconds and you'll lose some energy...

    Claws of the Dark:
     Those gloomy creatures are living inside the walls of the Kaos Realms
     and will try to grab and eat you for lunch!  In order to walk in front
     of a Claw of the Dark, wait till it just disappeared into the wall, and
     then hurry up and move to the next tile.  Don't be brave, just wise and
     patient!  Hehe...


*** Conclusion ***

I've always been told in my French classes that any well-constructed
document had to have a conclusion.  Well...  Here it is!!!  Hehe...

Here at Antares Productions we put all our efforts in making Clone as fun
and as valuable as possible and we spent almost two years developing it.  It
has been a real pleasure to produce this game and we hope you'll love it as
much as we do...  Enough with that...  Have fun!!!

                                                        MidKnight / Antares.