
                                 INFECTION

                       A DIGITAL WIZARDRY Production


                     !!!!! This game is FREEWARE !!!!!


                    For Julia,Becky & Abby - Love Forever.



    About six months ago , I read a  review of a game which  never made  it
onto the streets - This is my attempt at a similar game.



ABOUT INFECTION

    Infection is a board game  similar to  OTHELLO but in the same instance
totally different to OTHELLO.

    It is a game for  2-4  players.  Any of which can be  HUMAN or one of 2
computer levels ( CPU1 & CPU2 ).

    The objective of  the game is  to eliminate  all  opponents,  or in the
event of the  board filling up,  have the greatest number of cells (pieces)
left.

    Each player  is given 1  cell which starts in their relevant corner. It
is from this  single cell that the  player must  infect  the board  and all
opponents.



LOADING

    As you will have probably guessed,  loading is just a case of switching
on your computer and inserting the disk.  The system will the load the disk
into Workbench. Simply Double-click on the icon to load and run.



TITLES

    The title sequence gives you one of three options.

           PLAY  -  Play a game using the current settings
                    ( upon loading for the first time, the default is
                    for 4 HUMAN players on a single game - level 1)

        OPTIONS  -  Call the options screen (see below for more details).

           QUIT  -  Exits the program.


    Click on any of these  will cause the  screen to drop out, simply click
the mouse button to skip this.



PLAYING

    Clicking on  'PLAY'  from the  Title  Screen or  'Go'  from the Options
Screen will bring up the board using  the current  settings. When the board
starts to appear,  it will  splerge in  from the top.  To skip this, simply
click the mouse button to flick the screen in.

    OBJECTIVE

    The  object  of  'INFECTION'  is  to  eliminate  all  opponents  cells.
This is  done  by  moving your  cells  around  the  screen and  'infecting'
neighbouring  cells. ( ie.  Whenever  you  move a  cell to a new  location,
any  neighbours  that  cell  now has will  become  infected  with  your own
colour. These cells then become yours to do with what you will. )

    In the  event of  the  board  filling up  completely, the  player  with
the greatest number of cells is declared the winner.

    THE BOARD

    The  board is a  simple  7x7  grid. On  later  levels,  certain  spaces
are  blocked out with  solid blocks. These cannot be  moved or landed upon.
They can, however, be jumped over.
    In the event of a  player  passing  twice,  all  their  cells will turn
solid and close the board up further.
    You will also notice several  pulsing  squares on the board - These are
called `infection Pads` - See below.

    MOVING

    Movement can be performed in one of two ways :-

    1) Any cell can split to a neighbouring space (ie Leave a cell
       in the original space and occupy the new empty square.)

    2) Any cell can jump 2 spaces into an empty space and leave an
       empty space behind.

    If movement is to be performed by a HUMAN, the pointer will appear. The
info  panel at the  bottom will indicate who is to play. The outside of the
pointer will also change to the relevant colour.

    To move,  simply click on the cell you wish to move - a  revolving ring
will  appear on top. If the  wrong cell has been selected to move, click on
the cell you do wish to move.
    Once you have decided upon which cell to move, click in the empty space
you wish  your  cell  to  occupy.  Movement  can  only  be  to  any  square
immediately  surrounding the cell, or any square 2 spaces away but lying in
a straight line from the cell.
    Selecting  another colour cell, or a empty space not in range will give
you the message 'ILLEGAL SQUARE'.

    If you are unable to move, You must PASS - see below.

    PASSING

    When  you  reach  the  position of  not  being  able  to  move,  or you
think it might be advantageous to stay put for 1 move, you must 'PASS'.
    This is  done  by  pressing  the  'SPACE BAR'.  The  system  will  then
proceed onto the next player.
    If you  make two passes, you are deemed to be out and all of your cells
will  be   changed  to  solid  blocks.  You  will  then  have  to  sit  out
the rest of the game.

    The  single  digit  on  the  info  panel is the  number of  passes  the
player has made.

    INFECTING...

    Whenever  you  move  a cell to an empty square, all  of its  neighbours
will be  infected with your  colour.  ( During  GAME TESTING  this has  led
to some  heated  arguments - Players think they can team up against the CPU
or  another  HUMAN. All this  goes out of the  window because at one point,
somebody is going to have to start infecting other players. )
    If you land on an `Infection Pad`, infecting  is done  differently. All
other cells horizontally and  vertically  from the pad  will infect to your
colour. You can, if you wish, turn these pads off when playing.

    INFO DISPLAYS

    In each of the players corners is a info panel with the following
info:-

    The two digit figure is the number of cells the player currently has.
    The single digit figure is the number of  passes the player has made so
far.


    At the bottom of the screen is a large  silver box. This box is used by
the system to  display all  important  messages (ie. Who is to move, who is
out, the winner, etc...)


    QUITTING

    To  actually  end the  game  early,  simply press 'ESCAPE' to abort the
game. The final score screen will appear and inform you that all scores are
zero. Simply click to go on.


OPTIONS

    The 'Option Screen' will allow you to adjust the settings for a game.

    THE PLAYERS

    You can set each colour to be played by any of the following :-

              HUMAN - Speaks for itself.

              CPU 1 - Player is the lowest computer setting. CPU 1 will
                      go for the highest possible score he can get,
                      regardless of what is lost is subsequent moves.

              CPU 2 - Highest Computer setting. CPU 2 will again go for
                      the greatest cells he can capture, but will take
                      into account what he will lose if he has to jump.
                      If CPU 2 can take all of an opponents cells in 1
                      move, he will do this above anything else.

               OUT  - Player does not play in game.

         PS - This is my first real attempt at AI so its not perfect !


    PLAYING ORDER

    The  playing  order can be  adusted to taste. To swap  positions of two
colours,  simply  click on one  colour.  It will  then be  surrounded  by a
shimmering box. Then click on the second colour to swap.
    Selecting the same colour to swap with will simply cancel the swap.


    LEVEL

    There are  9  preset  boards to play on.  They  increase in  difficulty
with strategic positions  blocked out. To select a new  level,  simply left
click on the board, it will then scroll up to the new board. Right clicking
will change the board down again.
    Whilst scrolling through these boards, you will probably notice a large
question mark.  Playing with this selected will tell the computer to design
a random board for you to play on. BE WARNED !!! - strategies gained on the
fixed boards go completely out of the window with this option. !!!!

    GAME TYPE

    This allows you to set the game to one of the following :-

               ONE OFF  - Play a single game of INFECTION on the
                          selected board.

              CHALLENGE - Challenge needs at least 1 HUMAN player.
                          Play always starts on board 1. Once the board
                          is complete for whatever reason, players then
                          move onto the next board until all boards are
                          complete.
                          If all HUMAN players a removed from a
                          particular board, the game will go on
                          to the next board. This is to save time
                          instead of watching the CPU fight it
                          out.
                          All HUMAN scores are added together &
                          displayed at the end. CPU scores are
                          irrelevent.


    OTHER MENU

    On both options screens, this will bring up the other screen

    SOUND

    Gives you a choice of Sound FX On or, wait for it .... OFF!.

    INFECTION PADS

    Lets you turn the `Infection Pads` on or off, depending on whether or
not you rather play a proper strategic game.

    GO

    This kicks in the game using the current settings.  Trying to leave the
options screen with only 1 player set ( whether HUMAN of CPU )  will not be
allowed.




THE CREDITS

    Design, Coding & Graphics - Gary Dunne.



    If you want to drop me a line, contact me on :-

    Gary Dunne,
    4 Ely Way,
    Luton,
    Beds.
    LU4 9QN



WE HOPE YOU HAVE AS MUCH ENJOYMENT PLAYING INFECTION AS WE HAD PROGRAMMING
AND TESTING THE GAME.






    