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OS/2 Help File | 1994-09-26 | 21.5 KB | 475 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Help for Aquanaut! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Aquanaut! is an OS/2 Presentation Manager aquatic arcade game. Assuming your machine has a sufficiently fast processor, this game plays faster than you could possibly hope for! The pace of the game may be slowed down through the Game Speed setting. Related Information: o Object of the Game o Playing the Game o Registering Aquananut! o Waves o Your Sub o Knowing your enemy o Scoring o Sound Effects o Background Music o Helpful Hints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Start ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing F2 starts the game. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Stop ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing F4 aborts the current game but does not exit the program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. Pause ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing F5 pauses the game. The option is now checked on the menu. Selecting this option a second time resumes the game. If the game window loses focus or is minimized, the game will also be paused. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Exit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing F3 exits the program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. Enemy Bullets ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing Ctrl-B toggles the enemy bullets option. If this item is checked (this is the default) then enemy bullets will be fired at your sub by some of your enemies. If it is not checked, no enemy bullets will be fired. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. Submarines ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu allows the starting number of submarines to be set to either 3 (the default), 4 or 5. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Scatter bombs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu allows the starting number of scatter bombs to be set to either 3 (the default), 5 or 7. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.8. Frame Controls ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or by pressing Ctrl-F toggles between frame controls being shown and frame controls being hidden. Some people may find the frame controls distracting and therefore wish to hide them. Note that once hidden, they can only be redisplayed by pressing Ctrl-F ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.9. Object Size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu, or pressing Ctrl-O brings up a dialog box which allows the size of the screen objects (your sub, all nastie lifeforms, bullets etc) to be changed. This option is really quite silly, since the default size works very well. However, if your eyes are tired after a hard days night then make those nasties truly enormous! Conversely, if you want to get a bit of sharp shooting practice, then scale the targets down. Whatever change you make will be saved and reused the next time that you run the program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.10. High Score Table ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu brings up a dialog box containing a notebook, each page of which contains data about an entry in the high score table. This data includes the score, name, date on which the score was achieved, the number of nasties killed, the hit rate (the percentage of laser shots which killed nasties) and the wave reached. It also lists the configuration parameters which applied to that game. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.11. Sound ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ If MMPM/2 (MultiMedia extensions for OS/2) is installed on your machine this option is available. If this item is checked (this is the default) then sound will be heard. If sound is undesirable, then either disconnect your speakers or click on this item. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.12. Sonar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting this option from the menu allows the sonar update to be modified to one of three modes: Sweep/Fade The sonar sweeps across the screen lighting up objects for a short time before they fade away. This is the default - it almost looks like a REAL sonar! Sweep/Persist The sonar still sweeps but objects do not fade. No Sweep The annoying traversal of the sonar by a nasty looking green line is disabled! If you're finding the game too easy, then set the sonar to Sweep/Fade and then see how you get on! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13. Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ There are several reasons why you should register this game: o You can finally disable the annoying box which pops up every time you play the game. o You will encounter some new monsters and other nice features which are disabled in the unregistered game (wait till you see the mermaid...). These are well worth seeing! o After much debate I decided to allow an unregistered user to save all the settings. This act of generosity deserves reward! o I believe I deserve some reward for some painful hours spent on borrowed computers in borrowed time to get this game ready. You never know, if the response is good enough, I may consider "Aquananut 2!" (where you have to prevent electric eels from picking up anchors from the bottom of the ocean...) or maybe even an original idea or two (surely not!). To register send your registration name together with a check or money order for $10 (US) to: Paul Stanley, 2003 N. Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444. In return you shall receive your ID, my thanks and if you request it some technical information and code snippets of some of the more interesting bits of Presentation Manager programming used to implement Aquanaut! A programmers guide if you will. OS/2 deserves applications, so why not have a go yourself? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14. Mouse ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Your craft may be controlled by moving the mouse. Up and down, left and right move the sub in the appropriate direction. The left button fires your laser, and the right button fires a smart bomb. Click on this option or press CTRL-M to enable the mouse. Note that the keyboard is still used to perform an aquawarp. Note also, that you will not be able to access the menu bar during a game since the mouse pointer is hidden. To show the pointer press CTRL-M to disable the mouse once more. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15. Music ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This option allows music to be enabled or disabled during the game. See Background Music to find out how to change the background tune. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.16. Bubbles ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This option allows bubbles to be turned on or off. The bubbles may be too distracting for some, or take up to much processing time for those people with slower machines. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.17. Game Speed ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This control can be accessed at any time by pressing CTRL-S or from the Options menu item. It has been provided for two reasons: 1. The pace can be altered to suit the processor you are running on 2. If you can't handle the heat... The slider can be moved to very the pace. Once the OK button has been pressed the pace is set and will be used every time the game is run. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.18. Keys Selection ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This dialog can be accessed at any time by pressing CTRL-K or from the Options menu item. It allows the game keys to be defined. Click on the radio button corresponding to the key that you wish to change. Then press the desired key for that function. Once the OK button has been pressed the keys are defined and will be used every time the game is run. The keys providing lateral movement can be defined in two ways. Turn/Thrust This is the default. If defined this way the turn key toggles the direction of the submarine between facing left and right. The thrust key then provides thrust in the direction that the sub is facing. Left/Right Pressing either left or right keys turns the sub if it is not currently pointing in the direction requested, and provides thrust in that direction. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.19. Keys Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The control keys are fully definable through the Keys option found under the Options menu item. The keys, their default values and their usage are as follows: Up (A) Moves the submarine upwards Down (Z) Moves the submarine downwards Turn (Space) Toggles the submarine between left-facing and right-facing Thrust (,) Fires the engines to make the submarine move over the ocean floor Fire (.) Fires a laser bolt Scatter Bomb (/) Fires a scatter bomb, destroying all enemies currently on screen Aquawarp (Shift(L)) Aquawarps the sub to a new location on the sea's bottom. The Keys option also allows the turn/thrust functions to be changed to left/right. Other function keys and CTRL key sequences activate menu bar items. The mouse may also be used to control the sub. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.20. Object of the Game ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ There is no ultimate goal in this game. The object is basically to stay alive as long as possible, amass as high a score as possible and protect the sea's treasures for as long as possible. The game stores the 10 highest scores, which are saved each time the game is run. The object is therefore to have your name entered at the number 1 position! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.21. Playing the Game ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The ocean is under attack from various nasties who are bent on capturing the treasure which poor wretches have lost over the centuries when their ships went under. It is your job as Aquanaut! to protect the treasure, and prevent it from being taken up to the surface of the ocean by scary, ferocious and silly-looking giant Seahorses. You control a strange little submarine, scuttling around beneath the ocean's waves. Scattered over the ocean's bottom are chests, bountiful in all manner of gold and rubies. You guide your sub around the ocean floor hunting down the Seahorses (see Knowing your enemy) and destroying them before they capture your treasure. To make this job easier, the sonar at the top of the screen shows the positions of all nasties and treasure, and is sophisticated enough to display each in a different color! Not only that, it has an authentic 'beep' (if you're lucky enough to possess a sound card)! After a treasure chest has been picked up by a Seahorse, it may still be saved by a carefully aimed shot at the fleeing monster. The chest will then slowly sink to the ocean floor. If this fall is not too far, the treasure chest will survive. If it is further, you still have a chance to save the treasure, by guiding your sub towards it to pick it up. Once held tightly under the metal skin of your craft, you may deposit it on the surface at your leisure. As well as Seahorses there are a variety of other monsters that impede your progress and generally make life quite difficult. Most of these have the sole intention of trying to destroy your sub. There are a couple of sea creatures that are there to help you, but only if you've registered the game! Should all the treasure get captured...now you're doomed! Once this happens the nasties get nastier, and your chances of surviving for long are slim. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.22. Waves ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The nasties come to your ocean in waves. Once you have destroyed all nasties in a wave, then you will receive bonus points for any treasure that remains (see Scoring). After every third wave, more treasure will appear. Each wave of nasties is nastier than the last! The enenmy bullets get more frequent and more accurate, Demonic Seahorses become more demonic, metal objects become harder to kill, and all nasties become more populous. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.23. Your Sub ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Your sub is the best available, and don't you forget it! It coasts effortlessly across the ocean floor and has the ability to turn on a sixpence (or a dime). If your thruster is applied continuously, you will travel at a dangerously fast speed, so monitor the sonar constantly to see what lies ahead of you. You are armed with a powerful laser cannon which can fire multiple beams of searing energy. These beams will kill all nasties on contact, and of course your own treasure too, so be careful where you aim! More devastating still is your barrage of scatter bombs. You have a limited number of these at the start of the game but more can be picked up as the game progresses (see Scoring). These bombs instantly destroy anything close to your sub (suspiciously, anything currently on the screen). However, they do not destroy the treasure due to their frequency of vibration and nasty-molecular size, or something. They do not destroy the U-Boats or Torpedo's, but they do damage them. If you're really in a tight spot, you can aquawarp. to another place of the ocean floor. This may get you out of trouble, but may throw you into more danger. You may be placed right on top of a bunch of monsters, or worse still you may just blow up on re-entry. This is due to a faulty component in your sub which has a tendency to fail about 30% of the time... The only other aid to your survival is the Rubber-Ring. You'll have to work out how to use this yourself... ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.24. Knowing your enemy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The following describes the different nasties that you will encounter: Seahorse These little green guys look pretty harmless to me, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security. At the start of each wave, and periodically throughout a wave, more Seahorses will descend to the ocean floor and hunt out the treasure chests. Once they find some treasure they fancy, they grab it and carry it away to the ocean surface (which is luckily off-screen - didn't fancy animating those waves!). Should they succeed in their mission, they will immediately become possessed and become a... Demonic Seahorse Looking exactly like Seahorses (except that they're red, have horns and a forked tail!), Demonic Seahorses have but one goal in life - to crash into your sub. Haphazardly, they head towards your sub, ducking and diving to make life difficult for you. U-Boat These unimaginative looking craft trudge slowly near the surface of the ocean dropping a trail of depth charges in their wake. If you hit one of these charges it will destroy your craft - so don't do it! The thick shell of the U-Boat requires several well-aimed shots to penetrate it. Jellyfish These slow moving monsters are harmless enough. They do not fire at you and do not move fast enough to collide into you, but when they are hit their gelatinous body splits open and out pop 4 of these guys... Baby Jellyfish Baby Jellyfish move around in groups of 4 in a fast, dangerous formation. They are very small, and hence difficult to shoot down. If they don't collide with your sub, they're likely to hit it with a well-aimed shot. Torpedo Torpedoes only appear when a wave has gone on for some time. They are dropped from some invisible ship or something to try and finish you off. They're extremely fast, and being quite shallow are difficult to hit. At least they're kind enough to stop now and again to give you a chance to home in on them. A scatter bomb may be required to finish off these guys. Like the U-Boats, a torpedo will not be destroyed by a single shot. Mermaid (Registered game only) No details here, sorry! - read the information about the Mermaid that came with your registration. Rubber Ring (Registered game only) No details here, sorry! - read the information about the Rubber Ring that came with your registration. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.25. Scoring ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You will receive the following points for destroying each of the following nasties: Seahorse 100 Demonic Seahorse 150 U-Boat 100 Jellyfish 200 Baby Jellyfish 150 Torpedo 300 Mermaid +/- 1000 Rubber Ring +/- 200 Points are also awarded for the following: Catching a falling treasure chest 250 Returning treasure to the planet 250 Each surviving chest at wave end 100 At every 10000 points you will be awarded with a bonus life and a bonus scatter bomb. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.26. Sound Effects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This game is MMPM/2 enabled, which means that if you've got a suitable sound card, then you're going to hear some whizzy sound effects! If you're not so fortunate then sound can easily be added by the adventurous (and sad) gamester! The most important sound to make is "sssssssswwwwwwooooosssssshhhhh" when Seahorses appear on the screen. Once you have mastered this then the "pppppppwwwwoooooh, pppppppwwwwoooooh, pppppppwwwwoooooh" sound of your laser (and accompanying white noise when it lands squarely on the shoulders of the target nasty) should follow with little problem. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.27. Background Music ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This game is MMPM/2 enabled, which means that if you've got a suitable sound card, then you're going to hear some classy tune or other as the game is played. The music is read from MIDI file AQUANAUT.MID, hence if you don't like the provided tune then rename your own favorite MIDI file AQUANAUT.MID and hey presto! The music may be turned off from the options menu if it's beginning to rattle your nerves! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.28. Helpful Hints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ o Keep moving - enemy bullets are targeted at your sub, so if you're stationary, you're a sitting duck! o At least on the early waves, nasties will not shoot at you if you're close by, so getting in close to Baby Jellyfish is pretty safe! o Save scatter bombs for emergencies, or for when there are many nasties on screen. o Don't scatter bomb Jellyfish - they will disintegrate and release 4 more deadly Baby Jellyfish. Instead, shoot the Jellyfish and immediately follow up with a scatter bomb to kill the Babies. o Increase your score by letting Demonic Seahorses pick up treasure. Then shoot them and rescue the falling treasure - do it right and you're awarded with 500 points. o Cheat tip: if an enemy bullet is heading your way and you can't avoid it, press CTRL-B to turn off bullets! Turn them on again afterwards of course. o If you've registered the game then make the most of the Mermaid and Rubber Ring. You need every help you can get, and these are just the job!