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- !Help for !SokoBas v1.4
-
- PURPOSE :
- ---------
-
- !SokoBas is a desktop version of the ancient PC game Sokoban. The purpose is
- to drive around with the little bulldozer and to push all the yellow boxes
- on the blue crosses.
-
-
- COPYRIGHT MATTERS :
- -------------------
-
- !SokoBas is FREEWARE. This means that you may freely distribute it, as
- long as you include all files unaltered, and don't charge any money for it.
- (This doesn't include disc- and p&p costs for PD-libraries.)
-
-
- HOW TO USE :
- ------------
-
- Doubleclick on the !SokoBas icon and the game will install itself on the
- iconbar. Clicking on this icon will open the main window displaying the
- first level of the game. You can move the little bulldozer around by using
- the arrow keys or by clicking in the window while the mousepointer is over
- it. If the mousepointer is to the right of the bulldozer and you click the
- Select button, the bulldozer will move to the right. If you click beneath
- it, it will move down etc.. Clicking the Menu button while the mousepointer
- is over the window will bring up a menu with the following entries:
- Undo - With this option it's possible to undo your last legal move. Legal
- moves don't include attempts to drive trough a wall, or to push two
- yellow boxes at once. The menu item will be greyed out if there is
- nothing to undo. Important: you can only undo the last move. Hence,
- take care moving around and decide quickly if you want to back up
- one step.
- Instead of using the menu to undo a move, you can also press 'U'.
- Level - If you move the mousepointer to the right over the arrow, a
- writeable icon will appear in which you can enter the number of a
- level you wish to try. Currently there are 90 levels included in the
- game. After finishing a level the game will move on automatically to
- the next. The number in the writeable icon will also change. This
- makes it possible to retry a level from the start by simply clicking
- on the writeable icon.
- Instead of using the menu to retry a level, you can also press 'R'.
- With the keys '<' and '>' you can go back respectively go forward
- one level.
-
-
- WARNING :
- ---------
-
- I don't take ANY responsability for damage or losses caused by using this
- program! This means that you use it entirely at your own risk!
-
-
- THANKS TO :
- -----------
-
- A big thanks must go to Pervect of Topix who wrote some speedy code. He
- wrote the fast SpriteOps which make it possible to obtain smooth redrawing
- of the screen, even on the slowest Archimedeses, like my own A340. He also
- made a little decrunch routine that decrunches the leveldata from memory.
- This makes it possible for Archimedes owners with only one floppy drive to
- load the game and to remove the floppy disc, because all necessary data is
- allready loaded.
- And thanks again to Pervect for rewriting his fast SpriteOps so that they
- work in modes with more than 256 colours too.
-
-
- FUTURE :
- --------
-
- All redraw code is now written in machine code. The next step could be to
- rewrite the entire game in machine code. Furthermore it is possible to make
- animation smoother by moving the objects in little steps, or to add
- soundeffects. Another thing I can think of is a level editor which makes it
- possible to create your own levels. If there is anything you would like to
- see added to the game, or if you have found bugs please contact the author.
-
-
- HISTORY :
- ---------
-
- 0.1 - 0.9 Development versions. Never released.
- 1.0 First release. Uses fast SpriteOps and decrunching.
- 1.1 This version also works on Risc-PC's! Thanks to Pervect for
- finding the little bug. The decrunch routine now decrunches to a
- DIM'ed area of memory instead of to a BASIC array. Reasons are
- less hackish decrunch code and a first step towards rewriting the
- redraw routine in machine code. Logic wanted the keyboardshortcuts
- back that I removed from the program somewhere in the development
- phase. Well here they are! Also thanks for letting me copy your
- !Help file layout. (He was waiting for that one.... :-)
- 1.2 After running into !Sokoban written by Jason Howat and Paul Denize
- somewhere on the Internet I took the liberty of copying the levels
- 51 to 90 from their game. This meant that I had to enlarge the
- playing area from 19x16 to 20x17, and to resize the main sprite and
- window. Off course I also had to change some small parts of the
- program to take into account of the new size. I noticed that there
- were some differences between the two versions on levels 20, 42 and
- 50. Because the version of level 20 I already had is somewhat more
- difficult than that of !Sokoban I kept my old version. The diffe-
- rence on level 42 doesn't really influence gameplay, but I think
- that the new version of level 50 is more playable. (And now maybe
- even solvable :-)
- Added the use of the '<' and '>' keys to skip levels.
- 1.3 All redraw code is now written in machine code. This has halved the
- size of the !RunImage file and gameplay is smoother now.
- 1.4 The game now uses the new fast SpriteOps that work in modes with
- more than 256 colours on the Risc-PC too.
-
-
- CONTACT :
- ---------
-
- E-mail: opmeer@cs.utwente.nl or a.d.opmeer@student.utwente.nl
-
- Snail-mail: Arjan Opmeer
- Calslaan 40-44
- 7522 ME Enschede
- The Netherlands
-