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Amiga CD-Sensation: Golden Games
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Amiga CD-Sensation - Ausgabe 2 - Golden Games (1996)(GTI - Schatztruhe)(DE)[!].iso
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Shoot'em Up
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Fracas
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ReadMe
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1980-03-18
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8KB
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274 lines
Fracas Demo - © Copyright 1994 CASCO.
========================================
Welcome to the demo version of Fracas - my first game on the Amiga. The
controls in the demo are very simple, but I've included these instructions
just in case anyone gets stuck.
LOADING.
---------
To load the game simply double-click on the Fracas_Demo icon. When the
demo has finished loading the main option screen will appear.
MAIN OPTION SCREEN.
--------------------
To select an option, move the joystick up or down until the desired option
is highlighted and then press the fire button. In the demo the available
options are:
TWO PLAYER GAME Human v Human with split screen display. This can be
great fun but I strongly suggest placing some form of
partition down the centre of the screen to prevent
players seeing their opponents view.
COMBAT PRACTICE Human v Computer controlled player. Not quite as good
as two player mode, but one of my main aims in Fracas
has been to get the computer controlled opponents to
behave as much like humans as possible.
FULL VERSION The most important option (only joking). This gives
details of the extra features included in the full
version and on how to obtain a copy.
COMPUTER CONTROL SCREEN.
-------------------------
If you have selected one of the game options you will be presented with
a computer control screen. In the demo the only real choice you have here
is that of which play area to use. Make your selection as before by using
the joystick to highlight the appropriate button and pressing fire. Here
is a description of each button's function.
READY Starts the game. Select this when you have made your
other selections and are ready to start playing.
ZONE Lets you choose a play area. In the demo you are
restricted to three zones - large, medium and small.
Use the up or down arrow buttons to cycle through the
selections until your choice of zone is displayed.
This zone will then be used until you select another.
WALKER NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO.
Used to select your vehicle. In the demo it just
displays your vehicle stats on screen.
LOADHI NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO.
Loads the high score table from disk and displays it.
SAVEHI NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO.
Saves the current high score table to disk.
(UP-ARROW) Cycle backwards through zones/vehicles.
EXIT Returns you to the main option screen.
RESET NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO.
Used to restart a one player game.
(DOWN-ARROW) Cycle forwards through zones/vehicles.
KEYBOARD CONTROLS.
-------------------
In addition to the joystick selected options, there are also a number of
keyboard controls.
ESCAPE KEY Exits from a game to the computer control screen,
from the computer control screen to the main option
screen, and from the main option screen it will exit
Fracas completely.
F1 - F3 Select detail level of vehicles (see below).
F4 - F8 Select detail level of buildings (see below).
F9 Turn background mountain range off (see below).
F10 Turn background mountain range on (see below).
P Pause game.
SPACE BAR Continue game.
X Continued movement ON - PLAYER 1 (see below).
Z Continued movement OFF - PLAYER 1 (see below).
> Continued movement ON - PLAYER 2 (see below).
< Continued movement OFF - PLAYER 2 (see below).
GRAPHIC DETAIL LEVEL.
----------------------
In fracas, I've kept the basic graphic detail level very simple and then
increased it by small amounts. Also, the detail level of the vehicles,
buildings and background can be varied independantly. This should allow
players with less powerful machines to find a detail level/screen update
combination they are happy with. When Fracas first loads, it checks which
type of processor the machine is using and sets the graphic detail level
accordingly. Players can then adjust this if required using the function
keys shown above.
PLAYER CONTROL.
----------------
Player movement is controlled by the joystick. Moving the joystick in a
certain direction will move/turn the player in that direction and pressing
the fire button will fire the current weapon. Because the play area in
Fracas can be quite large, and play involve a lot of walking around, I
have decided that the vehicles should continue to move forwards until the
player pulls back on the joystick. If you would prefer your vehicle to
stop once the joystick is released, then this continued movement can be
disabled. See above for how to switch this control method on/off.
COCKPIT DISPLAY.
-----------------
The cockpit display gives you information about damage status and weapons
systems, and about the location of your opponent(s).
MAIN PANEL.
Your current weapon is displayed at the top of the main panel.
In the centre is a representation of your vehicle which turns red as you
recieve more damage and flashes when your destruction is imminent.
To the left of this is a temperature guage. The temperature increases
each time your lasers are fired. When this guage is in the red you will
be unable to fire your lasers. If it is in the yellow you will be unable
to fire your lasers and move at the same time.
On the right of the main display is a guage showing the amount of charge
on your beam laser, if you have one.
AUXILIARY PANEL.
At the top of the auxiliary panel is an indicator light informing you of
any secondary powerups you may have (only cloak available in demo).
Below this is a warning light which alerts you of any incoming missiles.
(No missiles available in demo).
At the bottom of the auxiliary panel is your radar screen.
WEAPONS SYSTEMS.
-----------------
Only three weapons systems are available in the demo.
PULSE LASER Single shot laser.
Damage points - 2 per shot.
BEAM LASER Charge capability.
Damage points - Up to 9 per shot.
ROCKETS Wire guided, short range.
Damage points - 10 per rocket.
SECONDARY POWERUPS.
--------------------
Only one secondary powerup is available in the demo.
CLOAK Optical cloaking device makes vehicle invisible to
opponent, but not to missiles which are guided by
thermal cameras. Limited lifespan which is reduced
further by firing, or being hit by, weapons.
GAMEPLAY.
----------
The gameplay in Fracas is very simple. Combat takes place in various
zones against human or computer controlled player(s). Extra weapons can
be picked up by walking over the pulsating yellow powerup pods which are
scattered randomly about the play area. In the demo version the powerups
available are limited to a beam laser, rockets, and a cloaking device.
There are more weapon systems in the full version but these three are
enough to give you a flavour of the game. Zones may also contain teleport
stations. These are useful for moving around the zone rapidly, or as a
quick escape route. Weapons can also be fired through teleports, but you
would have to be very lucky to hit anything this way as the destination
is selected randomly as each teleportation takes place.
I spent a lot of time working on the artificial intelligence in Fracas,
trying to get the computer controlled players to act as much like human
opponents as possible. The computer players will hide behind buildings,
creeping round the corner to take pot shots at you; run away when they are
at a disadvantage; try to escape through teleports; sneak up on you when
cloaked; and will sometimes try to take you with them in the explosion
when they're about to die.
=============================================================================
If you have any comments about this game, or have any ideas/suggestions for
future games, please send them to the following address.
Write to: John Smith
61 The Green
CASTLEFORD
West Yorkshire
WF10 3RY.
=============================================================================