Instructions for "MAZE OF ADGAGON" Limited Demo Copyright (c)1990,1991,1992 The AGDA Group Version 0.15 12/28/92 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This doc file accompanies the demo version of "MAZE OF AGDAGON", the first multi-player multi-computer game developed for the 8-bit Atari Computer. GAME STARTUP The working version of this program is a multi-computer game, where one 8-bit compuer (800/XL/XE/XEGS) must serve as the "Host", and the other (up to eight) players "boot up" from this host. This demo only allows you to see a one-player game, leaving the multi-player feature to your imagination for the moment. So for now, load the program from DOS (with BASIC disabled), and wait for the title screen to appear. Press START to start the game (note you can return to the title screen by pressing RESET). The following rules describe how the game will eventually be played. AN OVERVIEW OF THE GAME A maze of 15 x 15 cells is the playfield. You see a first-person perspective view of the maze from your current position and direction of travel. The walls are opaque, and a color scheme is used that helps you orient yourself as to their current direction (east-facing walls are a light orange in color, west-facing walls are dark). You are able to see other players and grenades that are in your path. The grenades are white ellipses, and the other players are larger red ellipses with eyes and a crooked smile. You are able to move forward, or turn left or right by pressing the joystick forward, left, or right respectively. Your view will change to indicate your new position. Turns are shown with hardware scrolling, helping you follow the changing direction. You can select an overhead view by pulling the joystick towards you ('back'). The overhead view indicates your current relative location, and any opponents that would be visible (but not those blocked by walls, for instance). Also, any cells which have been traveled are indicated in green, to allow you to keep track of where you have been. Cells that have been in your field of view are plotted in black. This helps you figure out what paths remain to be explored. At the beginning of the game, there are a number of hand grenades placed randomly throughout the maze. More grenades will appear randomly throughout the game as the supply is reduced. Each player can carry a maximum of three grenades at one time. A player 'picks up' a grenade by passing through the cell that it is located in. A tone will be sounded to indicate the successful collection of a grenade. To activate a grenade, press the joystick fire button. Three seconds 1 "Maze of Agdagon" Demo Instructions after being activated the grenade will explode (you will hear a "tick-tock" count down the seconds). Any players which are ahead you (in other words, in your view and not blocked by a wall) will lose one life, unless they are able to move out of that hallway before the grenade explodes. When a grenade is activated, a four-tone alarm will sound on the speaker of any players which are in the explosion zone of the grenade. If your grenade "kills" another player, you will hear the explosion sound in your monitor, and your score will increase. Note that you can only see, and your grenade can only fire, up to eight cells directly ahead. Also note that you are frozen in place while a grenade is counting down, so don't fire one if you need to get out of the way of another's. When you lose a life (which you can't in this demo), you will hear the explosion sound, and the number of lives left will be decremented. The screen will also flash on and off. The first 2 times you die, you are reincarnated in a random position in the maze. You will be spinning around as you come back to life, and nobody can see you while this is happening. This allows you to get some orientation to your new position. When you die the third time, the game is over for you. You will be able to monitor the remaining portion of the game from your screen as a "ghost" that nobody else can see (as long as there are other players left in the game). The last person left alive in the maze is the winner. The message "GAME OVER, WINNER:X" will be sent, indicating which node has won (this won't happen in this demo). To allow for contests, there will be a score displayed on your screen at all times, which is calculated in the following manner: 1) 10 points for every grenade you collect. 2) 100 points for every other player you kill. You can restart the demo at any time by pressing RESET, and then START. Each time you play the game, the maze is regenerated - so don't bother memorizing the maze. This demo will let you get accustomed to the player movement. You'll probably figure out real quick that the four randomly-positioned players never move, and never die when you shoot them (although you'll get the 100 points for killing them). But when you play this interactively with other Agdagon players, *they* will look like those red ellipses (and will move around), and you will look like that to them. We've got a working version of the game here at AGDA headquarters, and we're tweeking the details and the rules. So when the game becomes available Real Soon Now, some of the details may be different. Until then, we are looking for creative and constructive criticism on features (to add or subtract) to enhance the game. Please send e-mail to both addresses on either of the following networks: GEnie: JDPOTTER and DATAQUE.1 CIS: 74030,2020 and 71777,3223 2 "Maze of Agdagon" Demo Instructions Credits Program Coordinator: Chuck Steinman Serial I/O Routines: Chuck Steinman and Jeff Potter Graphics Routines: Jeff Potter Sound Routines: Jeff Casbeer Documentation: Chuck Steinman and Jeff Potter ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3