TOM BOMBEM: Merciless Marauding Malicious Marketers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.deater.net/weave/vmwprod/tb1/tb_asm.html
   
       by Vince Weaver <vince@deater.net>

         version 0.24 -- 19 March 2003
       
       
Background:
~~~~~~~~~~~
You are Tom Bombem, a shy new intern on Moonbase Alpha.
Somewhat against your will it has become your job to
defend Earth!  See the "Story" option in the game
for the rest of the story.

tb_asm comes before "tb1: Invasion of the Inanimate Objects"
chronologically, for those who might care.


Compiling / Running:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Just run "make".  If you have a supported architecture "tb_asm"
       will be created.
      
    If you don't have an ix86 or ppc computer, you can try in the
       "c" subdirectory and do "make" there to run a "C" version of the game
       that should run on and architecture.  The "C" version is not
       as feature-complete.
      
    After compiling just run "./tb_asm"   
      
    tb_asm will run _ONLY_ on Linux.  A DOS/w32 port could be possible
       but I really don't have the time or desire to mess with it.
      
    tb_asm should be run at the text_console [if in X press CTRL-ALT-F1].
       It will run to some extent in an x-term, but w/o sound.
      
      
Keybindings:
~~~~~~~~~~~
  Use arrow keys, or i,j,k,m to manuever and navigate menus.
  ' ' shoots and selects.
  'h' displays help.  's' toggles sound   'p' pauses

Options/Hiscore File:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    tb_asm will create the file "/tmp/tb_asm.hsc" to store the hiscore.
    
    tb_asm will only write the file if it's not there, or if there
       is a file there that is at least 12 bytes long and starts
       with "tb".
       
    Besides the hiscore tb_asm also stores the "sound on/sound off"
       state in this file.
    
Game Play:
~~~~~~~~~~
    Manuever your ship avoiding the falling objects.  Shoot them.
     
    Only 2 missiles can be in the air at the time [this is _not_ a bug.
       it's a limit of your ship's missile guidance system].
	 
    Every 320 points your shields will increase.
     
    There are special bonuses you can earn at the end of each level.
       + No Shields Hit :        going through an entire level without
                                 having an enemy hit your ship
       + All Enemies Destroyed : all enemies were destroyed before
                                 scrolling off the screen.  [Note, 
				 ramming an enemy with your ship
				 _DOES_ count as destroying it.  Just
				 don't let them get by you]
       + Perfect Shot:           Every missile fired hits an enemy.


    At the end each level you fight the boss.  Then the game starts over
       with the enemies moving faster!


About:
~~~~~~
    (see also the FAQ.asm file)
    
    This was done as an exercise to see if I could make a Tom-Bombem
    class game entirely in assembly language.  I've optimized for
    size rather than speed.  And most likely it's not _completely_
    optimized for size yet.
    
    The hope is maybe eventually using this as a stepping-board to
    creating a Game Boy Advance TomBombem game.
    
Author:
~~~~~~~
   Vince Weaver <vince@deater.net>
   http://www.deater.net/weave/
   Special Thanks to KRG
   19 March 2003