mirror of https://github.com/deater/tb1.git
320 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
320 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
what follows is the old dos readme... I'll update it one of these days..
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°°°°°² °°°°°² °² °² °°°°² °°°°°² °² °² °°°°² °°°°°² °² °²
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°² °² °² °°²°°² °² °² °² °² °°²°°² °² °² °² °°²°°²
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°² °² °² °²°²°² °°°°² °² °² °²°²°² °°°°² °°°°² °²°²°²
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°² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °² °²
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°² °°°°°² °² °² °°°°² °°°°°² °² °² °°°°² °°°°°² °² °²
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AND THE INVASION OF THE INANIMATE OBJECTS
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by
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Vince Weaver
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Version 2.4a
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Contents
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--------
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1.0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
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2.0 STARTING THE GAME
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3.0 THE STORY
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4.0 GAME PLAY
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5.0 SAVING/LOADING GAMES
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6.0 TROUBLESHOOTING
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7.0 REGISTERING
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8.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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9.0 CURRENT BUGS (FEATURES)
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10.0 PRAISE/ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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1.0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Bare Minimum:
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286/ 400K RAM/ 500K disk space
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To run at a reasonable speed:
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386 33Mhz or better
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For Digitized Sound:
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XMS RAM, Sound Blaster or Compatible sound card
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(I have been developing this on a 386 33Mhz and it runs
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passibly. It runs so much smoother on a 486. I'll try
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to optimize the code some more...)
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2.0 STARTING THE GAME
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Make sure all the files are in the same directory (list below)
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[if any are missing, you will get a run-time error]
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Run the TBSETUP configuration utility. Pick the appropriate
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options.
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Type TB1 to run the game. See "TROUBLESHOOTING" if you encounter
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any errors.
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To run Tom Bombem off of a CD-ROM:
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Either type "tb1 -cdrom" to start the program in read-only
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mode, or say "y" when prompted if you want read-only mode.
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In this mode there are no saved games and the high score
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list will not change.
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Files Needed:
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TB1.EXE - Main executable
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TBSETUP.EXE - Setup Program
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CONFIG.TB1 - Config File Created by Setup Program
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TBSOUND.EXE - Cool sound tester
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MOON2.TB1 ¿
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REGISTER.TB1 ³
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TBGORG.TB1 ³
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TBCRASH.TB1 ³
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TBSOBJ.TB1 ³
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SHIPS.TB1 Ã Graphics files in PAINTPRO 5.0 format
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TBOMB1.TB1 ³
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TBMA1.TB1 ³
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VIEWSCR.TB1 ³
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TBSHAPES.TB1 ³
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TBCOBJ.TB1 ³
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TBCHIEF.TB1 ³
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TBASHIP.TB1 ³
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TBL2SHIP.TB1 ³
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TBLEV3.TB1 ³
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TBL3INTR.TB1 ³
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TBEERM.TB1 ³
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TBCONSOL.TB1 ³
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TBPIT.TB1 ³
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TBASH.TB1 ³
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TBCOBJ.TB1 ³
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TBTRACT.TB1 Ù
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LEVEL2.TB1 - Level Two Database
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LEVEL4.TB1 - Level Four Database
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FILE_ID.DIZ - Info file for BBS's
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TBFONT.TB1 - Fonts for the game (a standard VGA font)
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HISCORE.TB1 - The High Score List
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TB1.DOC - The file you're reading
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SOUNDS.TB1 - Sound effects
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SGx.TB1 - Where x is a number... these are saved games
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3.0 THE STORY
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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To understand the game, pick the "Story" option off of the
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main menu. This part of the game took a lot of time in
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itself, and is fun to read.
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The "Audio Error!" is not a real error. I just saved myself
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the trouble of recording a voice-track for the game. As many
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friends have said, "That's cheating!" but anyway unless I had
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a lot of time and a CD-ROM, it is not practical.
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Anyway in the story, any key will speed up most scenes, and
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escape will quit the whole thing.
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4.0 GAME PLAY
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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To begin the game, select "NEW GAME" at the main menu.
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A little humorous movie will show; press <esc> to skip.
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The game itself is pretty simplistic as of yet. Basically
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shoot the things coming at you. The arrow keys manuever...
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the manuevering takes a little bit of practice to master.
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Space shoots. You can shoot up to two missiles at once.
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"S" toggles sound. "P" pauses. If the game play is too fast,
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try the "+" and "-" keys to adjust. Sorry, if it runs too
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slow at the onset, then your computer is too slow.
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The first level culminates with a "boss" character. Read the
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story and see what happens. The dialog will clue you into
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what's happening.
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The second level is now totally finished. Be sure to save
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your games whenever you start a new level!
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Levels three and four are currently under development. In
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level three, use the arrow keys to "walk" around. The space
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bar will fire a weapon if you've picked one up. To activate/
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pick up things, walk into them.
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Level four is similar to level two. (Actually they are based
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on the same game engine). They will be finished by version 2.5.
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An undocumented featue: when your score reaches a multiple of
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400 your shields are increased by one.
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Basic Summary of Keyboard Commands:
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ARROWS Manuever
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SPACE Fires
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<ESC> Exits
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P Pauses
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S Toggles sound on/off
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+ Slows down game speed
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- Increases game speed
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F1 Shows help message
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F2 Saves the Game (see "SAVING/LOADING GAMES")
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5.0 SAVING/ LOADING GAMES
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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You can save games. However the only part that is saved is
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how you begin the level. Therefore there is no real purpose
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to saving your game until you reach level two.
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This might seem annoying, but at this point it is the only
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practical way to implement saved games.
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6.0 TROUBLESHOOTING
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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This program usually runs fine on most computers. Occasionally
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it will lock up on my brother for some inexplicable reason.
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If it locks up frequently, try playing without sound blaster
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sounds.
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Possible Problems:
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RUNTIME ERRORS: (Characterized by a "Rumtime Error at 4454:3434"
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message.) Either a genuine bug or else one of
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the ".TB1" graphics files is missing.
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LOCKING UP : If you have a sound blaster, try configuring
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without SOUND, using the "TBSETUP" utility.
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MEMORY ERRORS : If you want soundblaster sound, HIMEM.SYS must
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be loaded. Check DOS documentation.
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SOUND ERRORS : If you have a sound blaster and you are not
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getting sound, be sure your "SET BLASTER"
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command in your autoexec.bat is set properly.
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HARSH GRATING SOUND: This has happened occassionally at a
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certain point on level two. I've tried to
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fix it. If it's annoying, turn the sound
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off.
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MISC ERRORS : Contact me at vmweaver@wam.umd.edu
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7.0 REGISTERING
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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My game is freeware. There is no copy protection. Hopefully
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if you like it you will let me know, by mail or by e-mail.
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A donation is not required, but if you want to you can send
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me one.
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I will be attending college soon (Fall of 1996) so my e-mail
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address, has changed from what it was earlier to:
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vmweaver@wam.umd.edu
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You can get Tom Bombem at its web site,
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http://www.wam.umd.edu/~vmweaver/tb1/
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Also, a college education is expensive, so any donations would
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be a big help.
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Vince Weaver vmweaver@wam.umd.edu
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[real home]
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326 Foster Knoll Dr.
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Joppa, MD 21085-4706
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8.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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I would like to thank many people who helped on this project.
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Ethan Brodsky for his excelent sound blaster routines.
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Get them at http://www.pobox.com/~ebrodsky/smix/smix.html
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There would be no sound blaster sound without them.
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The authors of PCGPE. This program started out as a
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"flying toaster" demonstration from the Asphixia
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VGA tutorials. I gradually replaced most of their code,
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but I still use their putpixel, waitretrace, setmcga and
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settext routines.
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I would also like to thank all my friends who have supported
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me, especially Gus Thompson, because she went to Spain and
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gave me time to work on this. Also Marie Prosser for
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inspiration, and she also went away for three weeks
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allowing me to work on this. Thanks to Nick Attanasio
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who actually plays this game a lot, and whose comments
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have hastened work on level 3.
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FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS:
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I am going to learn how to use Mode X vga programming.
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Supposedly this will speed up the code. Unless you
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have a 386 like me, you probably won't notice.
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I'm also going to try to get some music in the
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background, and of course add more levels.
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Also watch for a SGI gl port and possibly some
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sort of Linux port. The only problem is that
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they'll have to be in C. ( :-( )
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9.0 CURRENT BUGS (FEATURES)
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Level One: No Known Ones
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Level Two: Locks up for no reason near end sometimes?
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Level Three: Many. This level still is under development.
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Sometimes doors will not activate, sometimes
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they send you to the wrong room.
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Laser doesn't work, nor do enemies or
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radioactive flooring. It is possible to
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beat it though.
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Level Four:Not done. Right now is level two with different
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shape table.
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LOOK FOR NEWER RELEASES TO HAVE FEWER BUGS.
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If you find a unique bug, e-mail me describing it.
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10.0 PRAISE/ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF TOM BOMBEM
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___________________________________________________________________
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Supposedly it will be on one of Pacific Hi-Tech's
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"Gamehead" CD's. We'll see.
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A German book company has offered to put it in a CD included
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with a Shareware Games book.
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Now Praise:
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"I just like it when it says 'Ahhh... Mr. Bombem.'"
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----Greg Grabowski, Bel Air, MD
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"It's simplicity reminded me of the early computer
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shooters... Kind of nostalgic... But the nice
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side [is] the very clever cinematic text."
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---->> Delance <<
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"The game is well designed but does not fit
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our current product line."
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----Apogee Software Productions
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Remember: Watch for the newest version of Tom Bombem... and have fun.
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Vince Weaver 14 July 1996 18:12:59 EDT
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