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**** BRIX **** Written by Stuart Bruce **** Main instructions !Brix is a game, but not a game in the shoot-anything-that-moves-and- anything-that-doesn't-and-basically-shoot-everything-until-you-break- the-keyboard sense of the word "game". The Collins Dictionary has this to say on "game": game¹ (noun) pastime; jest; contest for amusement; scheme; animals or birds hunted; their flesh- (adjective) brave; willing-- game'keeper (noun) man employed to breed game, prevent poaching or alternatively: game², gamm'y (adjective) lame Frankly you don't have to be either brave *or* lame to play !Brix, so so much for dictionaries. For those of you out there who really just want to get on with it and play the thing working things out as you go along, you need only read the "Loading the game" section below. If you use your computer a lot, you probably don't even need to read that. Brix was designed to be a hybrid between speed and strategy games. This idea is not to beat world speed records, nor is it to become a successful member of MENSA. It can be played by one or two players. It you have a friend, then play against him/her/it. If you have no friends, play on your own. If you have more than one friend, aren't you lucky. Also included is a complete designer, so you can design sets and levels to perplex, annoy, confuse and baffle your friend(s), or yourself (this will be easier than you think...) The basic game principle is simple. On the screen at one time are two cursors. With two players, player one plays as red, player two as blue. With one player, the one will control both. There are ten different styles of block, conveniently numbered 1-10 and coloured differently (buy a colour monitor if you haven't got one). In the playing grid (for want of a better name) the player(s) must arrange each style of block in a row of three, in any direction (horizontally, vertically, diagonally), by picking up and placing down. A player may only hold one block at once. When this is accomplished, the player who placed the last of the three in place will score a certain number of points: Style Points Background 1 1 Red 2 2 Red 3 3 Blue 4 4 Blue 5 5 Purple 6 6 Purple 7 7 Yellow 8 8 Yellow 9 9 White 10 10 White Foreground colours vary, but, for example, block 2 will have a lighter foreground than block 1, because it scores more points. (NB A complete memory of a above colour scheme is NOT essential. Far from it. It is quite clear without. The scheme is roughly based on brightness- darkest scores least. If you have a black and white monitor, or just not a very good one, and have problems distinguishing get in touch with the address below) In a one-player game, the player will score only half the above points, with halves rounded down (NO points for style 1, only 5 for style 10, etc). "Gravity" is present as usual to cause a slight hindrance in your task by pulling blocks downwards whether you like it or not. There are also walls, which cannot be travelled through, as you would expect. The player(s) start(s) off with four lives, and when these run out the player cannot participate. (Does anyone have any idea why games allow three or four lives when reality allows only one? Theories on a postcard please...) The level is complete when there are no blocks left on the screen, and the player(s) will progress to the next level. A password is provided so it is possible to skip directly to that level again. When all the levels in the set are complete, a final password (the completion password) is given, and a weak congratulations message is given (if you want lots of flashing lights and a fanfare, go out and buy a box of fireworks and a marching band). The 100 most worthy scores will be committed to disc afterwards, with the score, a name (whatever name you like) and also the date and time of the score (according to the internal clock, which should be set correctly). The general objective in the two-player game is to do far better than your opponent and mock them about it for years afterwards. The general objective in the one-player game is to get your name on the high-score table, and so you can go out and tell people how good you are at this game, and attempt to get some friends (do not blame me if this technique fails). Of course, it is not that simple (it never is). As well as brick walls and gravity, there are other problems to your 'quest'. Fortunately there are also aids. These helps and hindrances are listed under "Special blocks" below. We have now established what the game is about. So all you really need to do now is load the game! LOADING THE GAME !Brix should be loaded just by a standard double-clic. If a message saying more memory is required, obviously more memory is required, so quitting other applications or modules is the general idea. The game should work with some memory to spare on a 1Mb machine. When it loads there should appear a message saying "Loading...". After loading is complete, the main menu will appear. For menu selection either mouse or keyboard control can be used, although in some cased only one is allowed. In these instructions, for ease, I will use the phrase "click on ..." when you can also press the appropriate key on the keyboard, which is normally a prominent letter of the option, eg: For "Play" press P For "Options" press O Where there are two options, eg. "Edit screen" and "Edit level", which both begin with E, press S for edit Screen and L for edit Level. For "OK", press <Space> or <Return>. The standard levels, "Labyrinth", load by default when the game is loading. SPECIAL BLOCKS These are: - KEYS and DOORS There are three types of key (green, yellow and grey), and each will open the respective door (green, yellow and grey), which would otherwise be impassable. Doors are grey squares with a picture of the respective key on them. - BOMBS These act how most bombs would act. When dropped they will begin to tick on a short fuse, before exploding with a bang, destroying most things within a certain radius. If a player is too close, they will lose a life. Grey bomb-shaped things! - DOUGH BRICKS There are two types of dough brick, red and blue. Red blocks can be travelled through freely by player one, as well as picked up and placed at will (gravity willing). However, player two cannot pass through it, and so may be blocked by it. The opposite is true of the blue blocks. These can therefore be used to build blockades against the opponent. Grey squares with a yellow/blue centre. - STRONGWALLS These are just ordinary walls, but they refuse to be blown up. Grey squares with a white centre. - BONUSES - APPLES (GREEN AND RED), PEARS AND ORANGES These will score the player who stands on them first a number of points: Green apple: 16 Red apple : 17 Pear : 18 Orange : 19 - TELEPORTS Provided there are only two teleports on a level, these will transport any player who steps in the teleport to the other teleport instantly. Shaded grey circles with white centre. - SHIELDS A player who holds a shield will not die, expect by their own accord (by pressing "Quit"). This includes by bombs, voodoos (see below) or whatever else may kill (in this game, that is). Grey shield-shape with white rim and grey X. - VOODOOS These will automatically take one life from the opponent, before disappearing never to be seen again. Red exclamation mark surrounded by yellow. - INVISIBILITY Makes the player holding the block invisible (isn't that obvious?). This means that the opponent cannot see what the player is up to, but neither can the player themselves. Question mark surrounded by blue and red corners. - POWERHOLES These will send the player who steps upon them randomly to any other point in the grid. Multicoloured +. - GRAVITY ENFORCERS These again come in two types, red and blue. They are shown by downwards-pointing arrows.. If on the screen at the start of a level, the respective player will become subject to gravity, which is probably a major hindrance. Only by reaching the enforcer and picking it up (whereupon it disappears), can the player travel against gravity once more. If a player falls too far, they will lose a life. Downwards arrows in yellow or blue. - LADDERS Useless to a player who can resist gravity, but players restricted can climb/descend these at will. - CHANNELS Shown by yellow arrows on a blue striped background. Those force a player to move in the direction shown. - CROSSES Death to any player who stands upon them. Grey cross shape. - MINES Start ticking like a bomb when stepped upon. Grey circle with yellow centre. - STOP/GO/SWITCHES STOP symbols act as ordinary walls, and GO symbols allow players to pass completely through. Switches (grey with green handles) automatically, when pressed (sat upon and Take/drop is pressed), turn all STOPs to GOs and vice versa. - LIFTS Lifts travel up and down controlled by a player inside them, but lift cables cannot be travelled through. Grey wire is lift cable, green shows the lift. The main menu contains several options. These will be explained in due time, so be patient and never bang your head against a brick wall. HOW TO PLAY First, and quite rightly as this game is a game, how to start to PLAY. Click on "Play". One of two things will happen. Less likely, a message telling you that you have not loaded a set will appear. In this case, see "Loading and saving a set" below. This will happen if a set called "Labyrinth" was not present in the same filing system / directory as !Brix itself (nb not inside !Brix)- "Labyrinth" is loaded automatically if present. More probably, you will be asked which level (1-a number) you would like to start on. Enter your choice and click "OK". If you enter a number above 1, you will be asked for a password, which you are obviously required to get right, or you will be denied access to the level. Otherwise, play will start immediately. Do not be surprised if it looks complicated... it is NOT as complicated as it seems. In fact, it is very easy indeed. Player One is shown by a small cursor-like "thing", in red, orange and yellow. In "Labyrinth", level one, the cursor starts is in the bottom-left corner. Player Two is the same, except in three shades of blue, and on "Labyrinth" level one, situated in the bottom-right corner. The default keys when the game is supplied (they can be redefined later) are: Player: ONE TWO Left Z Keypad 1 Right X Keypad 2 Up F Keypad 6 Down C Keypad 3 Take/Drop G Keypad + Quit Q Page Up If set to a one-player game, the controls for player one are used, plus Swap Control (default V) which alternates the cursor controlled. If mouse control has been selected for either player (see below), then select (left hand button) is used as Take/drop and pressing all three buttons together is used as Quit. The panel or panels at the bottom of the screen will show a players score, what they are holding (with a description in case the picture is not very clear), their name (by default just Player One or Player Two, but these can be changed elsewhere), and how many lives remain (shown as red or blue rectangles) and have gone (shown by grey crosses) When a player presses Take/Drop, any object they are holding will be dropped, and any object they are standing on will be collected. Certain objects will begin to "work" when dropped (such as bombs) so be careful. When a player presses Quit or runs out of lives, their cursor will change into a cross shape and may no longer be controlled in any way. When both players have quit, the game ends. If a high-score has been obtained, players will be asked to enter their name, which is then saved with the set. CHANGING PREFERENCES If a player wants to change: Sound, speed of the game, their name (as shown on the panels during the game and automatically typed when a high-score is scored), their controls (mouse or keyboard, and which keys) or would like to switch between a one and two player game, select "Opts" from the main menu. The top two boxes allow changing of names and controls for each player. "Sound" allows choice of sound (sound effects/off) and volume to be altered. "Players" obviously allows number of players to be changed. "Speed" changes speed between SLOWER, NORMAL and FASTER. Slow speed is for ARM3 owners or restricted/inexperienced players. Faster speeds up the game by not showing uncontrolled movement (ie. when a player steps in a long channel, or a block falls a long way). This only applies to the game itself and not to the menu system. "Save settings" means that next time the game is loaded the above settings will be loaded automatically. VIEWING THE HIGH SCORES Click "High" from the main menu. The top 20 will appear. Use the up and down arrows to move through the top 100, click on any name to reveal the name, score and time of scoring, and click "OK" to exit. LOADING AND SAVING SETS Click "Disc" from the main menu. "Load set" and "Save set" are exactly as they suggest- a filename will be asked for. If loading a set that does not exist, it will be cancelled. If saving a set which already exists, you will be given the option to overwrite or cancel. "New set" creates an entirely new and blank set if you are sure. "Command line" allows you to issue any * command for whatever reason. EDITING LEVELS- See the "Editor" textfile. LEAVING THE GAME Why on earth would you want to leave Brix?! If you must, press "Quit" on the main menu, and you will asked if you are sure. If you are, goodbye! THE !BRIX APPLICATION !Brix is a self-suffienct application that does not need !System and should not affect the desktop in any way. To install !Brix onto a larger disc (1.6Mb, hard disc etc.), simply drag. A larger disc allows more space for sets. FINDING FAULTS I do not know of any prevailing faults with this version of !Brix- it has been tested in as many different circumstances as possible (RISC OS 2/3, ARM 2/3, 1/2/4Meg, etc), but if you do find a fault, please report it to the address below. Enclose an SAE for a reply. AND IN CONCLUSION If have any enquiries, questions, ideas, or comments whatsoever (preferably constructive), I would like to hear them. PLEASE write to the address below. An SAE and/or some good ideas or comments about the game GUARANTEES a reply. Stuart Bruce, 6 Sandown Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire, SK7 4SH NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS: stuart@atomiser.demon.co.uk Enjoy...