LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsd12.dms/lsd12.adf/7/7

Text File | 1989-08-12 | 21KB | 498 lines

                                BAR GAMES

Typed by SENTRY and MICTLANTECUHTLI of SKID ROW.  Edited by PARASITE,


Ah, the tavern.  Since time immemorial, it has served mankind as a place of
solace, camaraderie and entertainment.  Joe the Bartender slides you a beer,
you tell him your troubles, maybe have a pickled egg, a few beer nuts.  Some
buddies show up.  You buy a round.  Next thing you know, you're on the faculty
at M.I.T.

Yeah, bars are amazing sociological phenomena.  They can be quiet or loud,
cozy or cavernous, dark dives or trendy pyrotechnic palaces.

But they all have one thing in common:  Games.  Bar Games.

Let's face it:  Bar Games are what made America great.  If, as the Britons say,
the First Great War was won on the playing fields of Eton... well, then the
Second Great War was won in Harry's Tavern, somewhere between the pool table
and the dart board.

We need it.  We crave it.  Competition.  The thrill of victory, and the agony
of an Air Hockey puck in the teeth.

You know what I'm talking about.  Maybe you've lost a buck or two at Liar's
Dice.  Or lost your innocence to some Pick-up Artist.  (The keenly competitive
mating rituals of your common bar patron can be a sight to see.

CHOOSE YOUR POISON
After successfully identifying the bar glass, use LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys (or
joystick LEFT/RIGHT) to advance through the pages of the BAR GAMES Menu.
Press RETURN (FIRE button) to select items on the menu.

HOW TO ENTER NAME ONTO THE PLAYER ROSTER
Before playing an event, you must enter in the name (up to eight characters)
of each player.

1.  Use the Up/Down arrow keys (Forward/Back on joystick) to
    position the on-screen arrow next to the number of the
    player you want to name or edit, then press RETURN (or
    FIRE button).

2.  Type the name of a player followed by RETURN.  Use the
    BACKSPACE and DELETE keys as needed.

3.  When all names (up to four) have been entered, press the
    RIGHT arrow key (or move the joystick to the right) to
    advance to page three of the BAR GAMES Menu.  From there
    you can select and Single Event to play.  If you wish to
    play a tournament, press the RIGHT arrow key once to
    advance to page 4.

PLAYING A SINGLE EVENT
Each of the events of BAR GAMES can be played individually.

1.  Use the UP/DOWN arrow keys (Forward/Back on joystick) to
    indicate which one of the following events you want to play:

        LIAR'S DICE

        WET'N WILD

        LAST CALL

        AIR HOCKEY

        PICK-UP ARTIST

2.  Press RETURN (Or FIRE button) to play that event.

PLAYING A TOURNAMENT
In the tournament, players face each challenge in succession, starting with
LIAR'S DICE, then WET'N WILD, etc.  Player ONE always plays each event first
(no "honors", where the highest score from the previous event goes first).

1.  Use the LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys (Left/Right on joystick)
    until the Tournament Menu is visible (page 4)

2.  Press RETURN key (FIRE button) to start the tournament.

VIEWING HIGH SCORES
The high scores are shown in the last several pages of the BAR GAMES Menu.
Use the LEFT/RIGHT arrows (Left/Right on joystick) to flip the pages of the
BAR GAMES Menu until the desired high scores are visible.

TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
When you complete a tournament, the Tournament Standings screen lists the
order of finish for the tournament just played.

LEAVE THE BAR
Takes you back to Workbench.

1.  Use the LEFT/RIGHT arrows key until the last page of the
    BAR GAMES Menu is visible (page 12).  At the bottom of
    the page, a "Leave the bar" option appears.

2.  Press RETURN to leave the bar.  Only tournament high
    scores are saved when you leave the bar - but not Single Event scores.

CONTROLS
You can use either the keyboard or joystick to play BAR GAMES.

Additional keyboard controls:

HELP    During a game, takes you to a Help screen;
        Space Bar resumes the game.

ESC     Pauses the game.  Hit any key to resume.

CTRL+Q  During a game, voids the game and returns you
        to the BAR GAMES Menu;  during a tournament,
        voids the game and the entire tournament, and
        returns you to the BAR GAMES Menu.

EVENTS
Rowdy nonstop action is the essence of BAR GAMES.  Of course, in any evening's
festivity, there are those occasional moments when one must answer the call of
nature... or perhaps some other equally urgent imperative.  To PAUSE the game
at any time, press ESC.  To restart, hit any key.

THE GAMES...

LIAR'S DICE
Each player begins this game with 100 chips.  There are ten rounds.  If,
however, your chip total becomes zero at the end of any round, the game is
over.  Each round opens with your first WAGER (in increments of five, from 5
to 500 chips - although, of course, you cannot WAGER more chips than you have.)

To WAGER, use the UP/DOWN arrow keys to increase or decrease your wager in five
chip increments.  To increase or decrease your wager in 50 chip increments, use
the LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys.  Then press RETURN (or FIRE).  The POT is then set
to twice your wager (because your opponent, the "bartender", matches your
wager).  The dice are automatically shaken, thrown.  Your five dice appear on
the bottom left corner of the screen, and the word BID is highlighted.

Now someone must make a BID.  The object is to guess the best possible hand
that combines your dice with those of your computer opponent.  The higher the
number of dice of the same face value, the better the hand.  For example, six
Twos beats five Twos.

But if the number of dice in opposing bids are the same, the higher hand is the
one whose die value (pips of dice - a pip, in this case, is a dot on a die, not
a back up singer to Gladys) is higher.  For example, a bid of six Threes is
higher than six Twos.  Bluffing, and calling bluffs, are important elements of
the game - hence the name, Liar's Dice.

In Round 1, you BID first.  In Rounds 2-10, the first bidder is whomever won
the previous round.  To BID, use the LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys (or joystick) to
highlight:

              o  the NUMBER (1-10) of dice bid,
              o  the DIE,
              o  or the word BID.

When BID is highlighted, you can use the DOWN arrow key (or joystick) to
highlight the word CALL.  If you decide not to CALL, use the UP arrow key (or
joystick) to enter the BID.

When NUMBER is highlighted, use the UP/DOWN arrow keys (or joystick) to
increase/decrease the number of dice (1-10) in your bid.  When the DIE is
highlighted, the UP/DOWN arrow keys will cycle the die to show from 1 to 6
pips.  Once you've got your "number of a kind" ready to bid, highlight
BID and press RETURN (or FIRE).  You opponent will then either bid higher,
or call your bid.

If she bids higher, and you wish to call her bid, highlight CALL and press
RETURN (or FIRE).

* Scoring

YOU WIN if:  You CALL your computer opponent and her bid is higher than the
actual combination of hands; or your opponent CALLS your BID, and the actual
combination of hands is equal to, or greater than your bid.

YOU LOOSE if:  You CALL the computer opponent and her bid is equal to or less
than the actual combination of hands; or Your opponent CALLS your BID, and the
actual combination of hands is less than your BID.

* Things to Keep in Mind

-  To speed up the game, press RETURN or FIRE when the
   computer opponent is "thinking" during her turn to BID.
   She will then instantly make her bid.

-  Aces (dice showing one pip) are "wild" - that is, counted
   as the same die face value as each bid.

-  The pot automatically doubles when a bid of six or more
   of any die face is made.  Don't worry - this happens
   without you wagering more chips.

* Tournament Mode

Player One plays ten rounds, then Player Two plays ten rounds, etc., until all
players have played ten rounds - unless any player's chip total hits zero at
the end of any round.

WET'N WILD
Better known as a Wet T-Shirt Contest, the object of this lubricious enter-
tainment is to dunk as many buckets of water as you can from a catwalk onto a
contestant on a stage below.  You get a maximum of 16 buckets and one minute
per round to get the hardbody below at least 80% wet.  Each time you do, you
move on to a new contestant.

There are 8 possible ROUNDS.  A round is over when all your buckets are empty
OR the time hits zero OR you have gotten a contestant 100% wet.  The GAME is
over when you fail to get any contestant at least 80% wet, or when the timer
hits zero in the final (8th) round.

To MOVE YOUR MAN along the catwalk, use the LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys or the
joystick.  Press SPACE BAR or FIRE button to dump the BUCKET OF WATER that your
MAN is standing above.  Each bucket can be tipped only once per round.

* Contestant Interference

In Rounds 3, 4, 7 and 8, the previous round's contestant will walk out onto the
catwalk and try to kick off your buckets.  Once a bucket is kicked off, it is
lost for the game.  (See Scoring and Extra Buckets below.)  To stop inter-
ference, bump the interlopers with your man - they will immediately retreat.
But they'll be back, so keep on your toes.

* Heads Up

In Rounds 5 and 6, a malicious little man randomly appears through trap doors
above the catwalk.  He will gleefully try to drop BOWLING BALLS, 1-TON WEIGHTS,
BOMBS and BARRELS on your head.  If he hits you, your head will literally
spin... putting you out of commission for precious seconds.

At the bottom of the screen is a bank of 20 LIGHTS.  If you dump a bucket onto
any LIGHT that is on - and you don't hit the contestant below - your man will
get the SHOCK of his life.  (Indeed his hair will stand on end.)  He will also
be frozen in place until the shock is over.

* Scoring and Extra Buckets

You can earn points for each percentage point that you get any contestant wet.
Check the WETNESS GAUGE, a horizontal bar above the contestant's name, to see
how wet you've gotten the contestant.

Direct hit      =      25% Wet
Near hit        =      12% Wet
Marginal hit    =       6% Wet
Miss            =       0% Wet

For every 200 points you score, you earn one EXTRA BUCKET.  These appear only
at the beginning of succeeding rounds, and only replace those buckets kicked
off by earlier contestants.

If you get any contestant 100% wet, you earn 5 BONUS POINTS
for each second remaining in the round, as well as 10 BONUS
POINTS for each unused bucket remaining.  (No bonus points
for unused Extra Buckets.)

* Tournament Mode

The game alternates between players after each round (or contestant).

LAST CALL
You are the bartender.  Your job:  Slide mugs of beer down a long, sleek,
3-tiered bar to thirsty patrons.  Precision throwing is a pure art - too weak,
and the mug slides off the bar short of the mark; too strong, and the mug goes
tumbling over your customer's outstretched hand.

Each of the four rounds consists of a one hour shift, and the rounds take place
on four consecutive "nights" - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Naturally, as you head into the weekend, each night is a lot tougher than the
preceding one.

* Beer Quota

Each shift has a quota of beers that must be served successfully.  The BAR is a
single connected surface, but on the screen it is divided into 3 tiers.  Thus,
if you slide a beer to the far end of the bar, it will move left to right
across each tier in succession from the bottom of the screen to the top.  At
full capacity, your bar seats sixteen patrons - seven on the top tier, seven
in the middle, two on the bottom (closest to the bartender).

Near the bottom of the screen are a DIGITAL CLOCK, a POWER BAR, the number of
BEERS SERVED and your SCORE.

The DIGITAL CLOCK, surprisingly enough, keeps track of the time remaining in
your shift.

The POWER BAR lets you determine how far you want to make a mug slide along the
bartop.  You do this by pressing the Space Bar or FIRE button, which starts the
"mercury" of the POWER BAR moving from left to right.  When the mercury hits
what you think is the appropriate spot on the POWER BAR, hit the Space Bar or
FIRE button again to send the beer down the bar.  The first segment of the
POWER BAR lets you see the mercury begin to travel.  The next three segments
represent the three tiers of the bar.  The fifth and final segment represents
"too far" - that is, past the upper tier of the bar.

* Scoring

You start out the first night with 32 beer mugs.  If you break one, it's gone
for good.  However, you earn additional mugs for every 100 points.  How do you
score points?  Accurately served beers are worth 25 points each.  You also
earn 5 bonus points for each minute left on your shift after you've served your
quota.

All patrons raise their hand to order a beer.  It's important to note the order
in which the patrons raise their hands - because that's the order in which you
must fill their requests.

More patrons will appear on each succeeding night, which means that you will
have to fill more orders in the same amount of time.  After the first night,
patrons are more thirsty as well; each wants two beers (not at the same time)
instead of one.

And, just to make things a bit tougher, on Thursday night the first measuring
line on the POWER BAR disappears, and on Friday the first measuring line re-
appears, and the second line is gone.

* Tournament Mode

The game alternates between players after each shift.  All players serve a
shift on Tuesday, then Wednesday, etc.  A player must meet his nightly quota
in order to advance to the next shift.

AIR HOCKEY
A simple game that requires complex motor skills, always present in any bar
situation.  On screen is a standard air hockey table.  The object is to score
goals by using your PADDLE to knock the PUCK into the slot (goal) on the
opponent's end of the table.

Press the Space Bar or FIRE button to start each new round.  Move your PADDLE
with the arrow keys or the joystick.  You can also press the Space Bar or FIRE
button - the paddle will move forward a bit, then back to its original position
(In addition, you can use the numeric keypad to direct the paddle in three
directions: horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.)  If you score, the PUCK
reappears at the center line, the moves toward your opponent; if your opponent
scores, then vice-versa.  The first to score seven goals wins the round.

* Scoring

You play four opponents - Clyde, Nina, Willard and Barbi - in that order.  Each
new opponent is tougher, and you must beat each of them two out of three rounds
in order to advance.

As you advance, goals are worth more points and the bonus "constant" is higher
(see chart below).  Here's how the bonus structure works, using Barbi as an
opponent:  You get a bonus of 75 points for each goal in the margin of victory
- that is, if you beat Barbi 7 to 4, the margin of victory is 7 - 4 = 3, so you
get 3 x 75 or 255 bonus points.

     NAME            POINTS/GOAL      BONUS CONSTANT
     Clyde               25                25
     Nina                40                40
     Willard             60                60
     Barbi               75                75

* Tournament Mode

The game alternates between players after someone (computer player or human)
wins two out of three rounds.

PICK-UP ARTIST
The bar game to end all bar games - and probably why bars were invented in the
first place.

In our version of this not-so-trivial pursuit, you first espy three lovely
ladies sitting at the bar on a Wednesday night with their backs turned to you.
From one of these three lovelies, you receive a secret message, the upshot of
which is that she wants to meet you and that she is wearing a flower.  Thus you
have...

* The Overiding Objective

Employing your best pick-up lines, find the girl with the flower on Wednesday
night, so that you can take her on a series of three dates.  If you can
satisfy her conversational desires on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as well
- then you receive the big Weekend Reward.

If that sounds easy, you haven't been riding on the dating circuit in a while.

* How it Works if You're Infallible

Once you gather enough gumption to strike up a conversation, there are some
basic conversational guidelines.  No matter which girl you choose to talk to
on the first night (Wednesday), the computer will ask you a series of three
questions, and you have three possible replies to each question.  (See "The
Mechanic" section below to learn how to select girls and replies.)

If you select the correct replies to all three questions - AND she is the one
with the flower - then you can earn the right to take her on a date Thursday,
the next night.

On Thursday, it's just you and her, one on one.  But again, you are asked three
questions, and you have three possible responses to each one.  If you select
the right one each time, you get to take her on another date on Friday night.
Once again, you'll face three more questions, have three more potential replies
and if you're 100 percent right, it's on to Saturday's dream date.

On Saturday, the formula continues.  Three successive questions from her, three
ripe responses for you to choose from for each question, and if you dazzle her
all three times - you win.

* How it Works if You're Human

However, if you don't select the right response to each question, things are
not so simple.  Like love and life, final success in Pick-up Artist takes time
and training.  Let's examine the price of failure.

- The First Night:

As we said, the goal on Wednesday is to find the girl with
the flower.  You fail in this quest if you do not find the
girl with the flower and answer all the questions correctly.

For example, you choose a girl to talk to.  The computer
asks you a question, you select a response, but she rejects
it.  You'll know this immediately by her withering reply,
and she disappears.  Now two girls remain and you must
select one to talk to.  If you select an incorrect response
for this girl, she disappears, leaving you with the last
girl.  If you select a wrong response for her, then your
first night is a blowout.

But remember, the goal on the first night is to find the
girl with the flower.  So even if you select three correct
responses for any girl, if she isn't the one with the
flower, you don't go on your first date.

What do you do if you don't find the flower girl on the
first night?  Like any healthy, red-blooded male, you come
back the next night, and try again with the same three girls
in the same bar with the same questions and responses.  (Be
careful, however, a different girl could be wearing the
flower on the second night.)  If you strike out on the
second night, too, you must return the third night.  and so
on, until you find the girl with the flower.  You only get
four nights (Wednesday through Saturday), however, to find
the flower girl.

- The Other Three Nights

Once you find the flower girl, the following night becomes
your first date.  And the goal now is to answer all
questions correctly to become eligible for another date.  If
you fail to answer all the questions correctly during any
date, then you strike out and are returned the next night to
the bar - to find the flower girl all over again.

Remember, there's only four nights in this game.  So in
order to score the ultimate, you must find the flower girl
on the FIRST NIGHT (Wednesday), then succeed on three
successive dates (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)

* The Mechanics

1.  To select a girl to talk to:

    o  Press Space Bar (or FIRE) to stop the pointing fickle
       finger of fate at either the Left, Middle, or right
       girl.
    o  After the selection, a question will appear and you
       are prompted to press the Space Bar (or FIRE)
       whenever you're ready to select a response.

2.  Press the Space Bar (or FIRE) and three responses are
    revealed - along with the pointing fickle finger of fate

3.  To select one of the three responses:

    o  Press the Space Bar (or FIRE) to stop the pointing
       fickle finger of fate at the desired response.
    o  If she responds positively, then you get a second
       question and three new responses appear.  And so on.

* Scoring

There are two ways to score points in Pick-up Artist.  The first concerns the
on-screen timer, and the second concerns how successful you are at enticing
your date or would-be-date.

- Timer Points:

The timer counts down.  On the first night (or any night in
which you're looking for the flower girl in the bar), you
have 15 seconds in which to select a girl to talk to and 15
seconds to select a response to each question.  On date
nights, you get only 10 seconds to select your responses.
If you don't stop the finger within the given time, the
computer will make a selection for you.

The sooner you press the Space Bar (or FIRE button) to stop
the pointing fickle finger of fate on a selection, the more
points you may get.

- Bonus Points:

You earn Bonus Points each night by successfully answering
all of a girl's questions.  Failure, however, cuts into that
amount because it reduces the number of nights (from four)
you can have in any game.

End.