
                          ALIEN FISH FINGER
                          (((((( ( ) ))))))
                         (FULL Version 1.31)
                       By David J. Cruickshank
                    Copyright Skull Army Software
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Important please read           
  Introduction                    
  The Story                       
  Playing the Game                
  Achievements page               
  General Tips                    
  History                         
  Known bugs, please read         
  Magazine reviews of my games    


CREDITS:
~~~~~~~~
Coding, Graphics and Design by David J. Cruickshank  
email: RallyX@blueyonder.co.uk
www.youtube.com/DJCruicky
www.JustGiving.com/AlienFishFinger

Ver 1.0 and 1.20 coded with "Blitz Basic II (ver. 1.7)" programming language.
Ver 1.31 coded with "Blitz Basic II (ver. 2.1)"
"Blitz Basic II" was written by Mark Sibly, Acid Soft.

Additional credit to members of the "English Amiga Board" for ideas
and suggestions that I have put in this new version.


Copyright / Legal Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alien Fish Finger 
is Copyright  David J. Cruickshank, Skull Army Software.  This game 
can be freely distributed. It can be downloaded from a BBS, loaded from
a non profit Compact Disc, or given to by a friend. Permission much be 
granted for magazines to put on cover disk unless the magazine is a non
profit making suit.

The Copyright still remains with me the author.  
You are NOT allowed to sell it for a profit.



Alien Fish Finger is now Charity-ware 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This game was Shareware, but I have now decided to release this
full game free of charge to you as a gift from me.  However, if
you would like to thank me for this game there is no better way to 
say thanks by donating some cash to my charity 'Cancer Research'.  
I don't mind how little or how much.  I'm sure they will be pleased 
however amount.  Maybe you wanted to buy my game back in the day
but never had the pocket money to do so, or maybe you're playing my
game for the first time now, here is your chance to say thanks.
I've set up a charity page at:-
www.JustGiving.com/AlienFishFinger
Feel welcome to donate.  Thank you.

David J. Cruickshank 
2011

_________________________________________________________________
Introduction 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alien Fish Finger is a little platform game set on an Alien world 
with you in control of some hero type dude called Frank Finger on a 
mission to save Earth from the deadly clutch of the evil Aliens.
You are armed with an upgradeable weapon, which comes complete with 
a deadly powerful Grenade launcher.


System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minimum:
An Amiga with 1 meg chip RAM.
A500+, A600  etc.

Recommended:
A1200 or above, for extra sound FX

THE STORY
~~~~~~~~~
Death, destruction, pain, misery.  What was once a bright, beautiful 
planet is now blackened by the consent invasion of death making Alien 
bombers.  Planet 'Earth' as it is today. Thousands, if not millions 
of innocent lives wiped out with the consent attacks of the war of 
the Aliens.

There is only one force of resistance who are known as the freedom 
fighters, an Earth based force of defence, now crippled with the 
heavy firepower of the fearsome Alien enemy.  There stands one man, 
just as fearsome and brave, his name;... `Frank Finger`.   One of 
the last of his kind to survive the terror, a fighter for freedom 
and victory.  
He and the others are all sickened of the sight of the aliens near 
winning the war.  They prepare to launch one final attack, the final 
chance of survival.  If they don't succeed the Earth is doomed.  
`Finger` gathers his men.  He stands tall, pauses, and looks at all of 
his comrades, before saying, "They've killed our families, they've 
destroyed our world, OUR HOME!.  Now we take their war to them, 
THEIR WORLD, THEIR HOME!  
NOW WE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!" . . . . . .


PLAYING THE GAME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You play the role of 'Frank Finger'.  You will be given the task 
of completing a series of missions on the alien planet surface.  Your 
only guide is from Head-Quarters, in touch with them by micro-radio.  
They will brief you on your mission and progress.

On successfully completing a mission, return back to your Space-Ship.  
To take off, jump into the cockpit and sit down. The door should 
close, and the Ship should take off.

The status bar, at the top of the screen, display the following 
things:

Energy Meter: 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are given 5 energy squares for each life. Every time you get hit 
by enemy fire or fall to far, you will lose one.  When you have lost 
all 5 you will loose a life.  More energy can be picked up from alien 
dead bodies.

Grenades: 
~~~~~~~~~
On starting a game, you are granted 5 Grenades.  These are used for 
throwing at aliens.  If timed right you can kill multiple aliens with 
one throw.  They can be thrown against certain walls to destroy them. 
Be careful as they can also harm you.  More can be picked up from 
dead alien bodies.

Weapon Gauge: 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon starting a game, you are given a low powered basic weapon.  Each 
time you kill an alien and then pick up his gun, the gauge is 
increased by one notch. When you have successfully collected enough 
guns you will upgrade to the next more powerful weapon.  
To upgrade to the very last weapon in the game (The Trophy Gun), you 
will have to collect almost every single alien gun to stand any chance 
of gaining it.  This includes guns in secret bonus rooms as well.

Spell Extra: 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pick up letters from dead alien bodies, and spell the word EXTRA for 
(you guessed it) an extra man.

Men: 
~~~~
The number of men displayed on the title bar represents the number of 
lives you currently have.  The more men you have the better change 
you have of survival.

Gravity Reducer Device (G.R.D.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Frank Fingers backpack contains a G.R.D.  This device allows Frank to 
jump that little bit higher then normal when you hold jump that little 
bit longer.  This device also allows Frank to change direction in mid air, 
defying all laws of physics.


Controls:
~~~~~~~~~
Joystick: 
  * Use LEFT/RIGHT to move (you guessed it) left or right.
  * UP or 2ND FIRE button (if set in the config options) to jump.
  * DOWN to Duck.
  * DOWN and LEFT/RIGHT to lower gun to the floor.
  * FIRE button to fire Weapon.
  * Hold down FIRE button for half a second to throw a Grenade.
    - Running then throwing grenade, extends its distance (New).
    - DOWN + Grenade rolls grenade at a slow speed. Less bouncing. 
      Used for rolling down stairs or off cliff with enemies below (New).
      Care should be taken not to kill yourself with this one as the range
      is short.
    - DOWN + LEFT/RIGHT + Grenade, same as above, but with greater 
      distance and speed (New).

  Esc key to Quit.
  P key to Pause



-------
Every time you lose a life, your dead body will remain in the game. 
Every time you play a new game of 'AFF' you will see where you 
died. The bodies will also be saved to disk along with your high 
scores and achievements.  These can be cleared with options in the main 
title screen.



NTSC and Widescreen TV`s now supported!!

NTSC screen mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the new screen configuration menu to adjust the top border and height
of the screen.  Move joystick up and down to move screen up and down. 
Move joystick left and right to adjust the height.  The maximum height 
allowed is 256 pixels high.  Position the bar at the bottom of the screen 
so you CAN see the yellow part, but NOT the blue part.  It`s important you 
get these setting correct as the game use`s these variables to scroll the
screen up and down in line with the main character.
Once happy, you can press `S` key to save settings to disk, then joystick 
fire button or Esc key to Exit.

Widescreen TVs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To setup a wide screen TV, basically it`s the same as setting up a NTSC 
screen, but you need to do one step first and that is to configure your 
Widescreen TV to Zoom mode (the mode where the top and bottom of a 4:3 
screen is cut off and not stretched).

Difficulty Settings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Points given on entering a new screen: 
           350 points on Easy 
           500 points on Medium
           750 points on Hard mode
           
Extra Sound FX :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A1200 owners are treated with extra sound effects as standard.  :)
If you have an A500+ or an A600 with MORE then the standard 1 Meg chip memory, 
then while loading the game, hold down the joystick fire button and you too 
can have the full sound FX`s.  
Sorry for this extra step, but I could not find any commands in my programming 
language to tell me how much memory the Amiga the game is running on has.  
Answers on a post card. :p.   


More
~~~~
As said above I`ve added many new sound effects to the game, but there 
can be even more if you so wish to add.  If you were to make these yourself 
then you can also have sounds for each of the Letter pick-ups, and also the 
health pickup too.  File names to use are below.  The files need to be in .iff 
format.   Due to lack of disc space (plus maybe a lack of talent), I thought I 
would leave these for you, the Community, to make. 

AFF-E-FX.iff  
AFF-X-FX.iff
AFF-T-FX.iff
AFF-R-FX.iff
AFF-A-FX.iff
AFF-HealthFX.iff
AFF-DieFX4.iff an extra enemy death sound too.

Just drop the files into the main game folder.  As long as they are spelt 
correctly and the Amiga has more then 1 Meg chip memory the game should load 
and use them.

If you have a sound pack, or a Mod to the original sounds, that you wish to 
release, please distribute these separately to the main game.  Include 
instructions on how to install plus how to un-install, plus a link to my 
charity page would be nice too.

Thank you

      
_________________________________________________________________
ACHIEVEMENTS PAGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got this idea from playing Steam games on the PC.  Basically, you 
receive trophies for completing tasks in the game. Example: get 
trophies each for completing the game in Easy, Medium, and Hard mode. 
Find trophies in the secret hidden areas; get a big trophy for finding 
them all. 
Some trophies should be easy to get but the "Finish the game without 
losing a life" trophy should challenge any `Alien Fish Finger` veteran. 

Just to make things clear:-
The "Finish the Game" achievements, you must start the game from level 1.  
Starting from level 4 will not grant you the trophies.

To earn the "Complete the game with only basic Fire weapons" achievement, 
you must finish the game with the 1st or the 2nd gun upgrade.  Once you 
have upgraded to the 2nd gun upgrade, do not collect any more guns.   
However you CAN use Grenades if you so wish.

Finding trophies in secret rooms after starting from Level 4 is allowed.
Trophies that have been found already in secret rooms will appear grey. 

My tip would be to play game on Easy mode for some of the harder
achievements.

No prize from me for completing them all, but well done if you do.

_________________________________________________________________
General Tips
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some levels require you to complete a mission before you can go on to 
the next, so read each mission briefing carefully before starting.

Take your time when running around. Steep drops can deplete your 
energy, so take your time when running down hills or jumping from 
cliffs.

Use grenades whenever possible as there are plenty to go around.  
Grenades can be bounced of walls, so getting the angle right could 
kill some aliens out of reach of your normal line of fire. By runing 
and then throwing a grenade will extend the distance it can be 
thrown.

Search out the levels for secret rooms. Some are easily found while 
some are not. They contain lots of goodies from energy to extra men.

Try not to miss many guns because as the game gets harder, you will 
need the best weapon for survival.


History

V1.00  1995      * First release, after 14 months in development.

V1.20  1995-1997 * Added many extra sound FX.
             * Changed colour palette on some screens.  
                 * Minor level tweaks
                 * Changed some text here and there.

V1.30  2010-2011 * Unfroze game from cryogenics.  Removed mothballs.
* Changed licence from Shareware to  Charity ware
                 * Added more sound FX (still no music sorry)
                 * Added to the game an Achievements page.
                 * Added 2nd fire button option for jump. Option is 
                   saved to disk so never have to change it again.
                 * Added menu option for Grenade.  Now you can choose
                   whether to throw a Grenade by holding fire button,
                   or throw it by releasing the fire button.  
                   Option also saved to disk.
                    * Added a start from Level 4 option.
                    * Added 4 extra secret hidden areas, 
                      one on Level 1,
                      one on Level 5, 
                      and 
                      two on Level 6. 
                      (who will be the first to find them?).
                    * Added new screen on Level 4.
                    * Added Stencil/Masking to all maps.  This allows 
                      player and enemies to appear behind foreground 
                      objects such as fences and trees.  This has 
                      created a sense of 'depth' to the maps.
                    * New Trigger routine for enemy entrances.  Before 
                      enemies would enter the screen after a set number
                      of seconds.  Now the game has been programmed to 
                      also allow enemies to enter screen if player moves
                      to an invisible trigger zone instead of waiting a
                      set number of time.  The trigger zone can be as 
                      large or as small as I like.  This has gave me 
                      more freedom to place enemies in relation to where 
                      the player is.  A combination of both Trigger and 
                      Time can be used too.  All for better game play.
                    * New weapon - Rock Gun.
                    * Added rain to some of the outside levels.
                    * MORE BLOOD!  ALIEN Fish Finger had blood, but now 
                      it has more.  Added an extra blood routine to 
                      skater blood from shot enemies and player.  Added 
                      Low, Medium and High options in config menu.  
                      Option is also saved to disk.
         * Easy, Medium & Hard modes added.  Option also saved 
           to disk.  Points given on entering a new screen: 
           350 points on Easy 
           500 points on Medium
           750 points on Hard mode
                    * Changed some things with big boss enemies.
                    * Cropping Enemies off the edge of the screen.  If a 
                      player leaves a screen full of enemies then re-enters
                      the same screen, then the game now makes sure no 
                      enemy is within 50 pixels of the player.  
                      This should hopefully reduce player from getting 
                      swamped before even getting a chance to shoot.
                    * Made many many small level tweaks.
                    * Enemy dead bodies now remain on the screen when you
                      walk off that screen then back on.
                    * Now that most people have hard drives, flash drives,
                      or emulators; 200 player dead body positions now get 
                      saved to disk.  Before was only 20.
                    * Fixed bug where bonus items disappear while still 
                      bouncing if player leaves the screen then re-enters.
                    * Destructible objects now crumble and fall to the 
                      ground in small pieces when shot.
                    * The game now remembers more bullet holes (even more
                      if playing on a A1200 or above).   This was done more
                      so for the level 2 UFO Boss.  The bit where you have
                      to shoot through a pile of rocks.  If the player goes
                      for a walk around the map, the shot out holes should
                      still be there saving the player from having to shoot
                      through them again.  
                    * Game remembers grenade holes now too.
                    * Added water droplets dripping from cave Stalactites.
                    * Added Jet engine flames to players Drop Ship.
         * Added NTSC support for our American and Canadian friends. 
           I've combined this with a new screen configuration menu.
           There will now be no problems of the top or bottom of 
           the screen being cut off during game play.  
                    * Widescreen TV's supported.  Use the above options to 
                      configure your widescreen TV.

V1.31 02-07-11     * New achievement. `Mountain Climbing Level 6`.
         * Bug Fix. Plugged a few holes to stop people accessing 
           non-existent screens.
         * Improvement. Before when objects fall off the bottom of
           the screen they are lost (health, Letters and guns for
           example). But now if you walk to the screen below, you
           should now find them waiting for you to collect.
         * Bug fix:  Improved the problem of power-up icons getting
           stuck in places out of reach of player (maybe).
         * New, Esc key can now be used to exit Achievements menu
           and high score page.

         If upgrading from version 1.30 to 1.31 and wish to keep 
         high scores and achievements, copy across files:- 
         AFFDeadBods and AFFHighScores.

            
                    2010-2011 updates were all done using an Amiga emulator 
                    on a PC.  No real Amiga was touched (or harmed) in the 
                    making.  Thanks again to WinUAE and it's makers.
                    
                                             \(^.^)/
                     


Reviews
~~~~~~~~~
Please read magazine reviews of this, and of other games by me:

     +-------------------------------------------------+
                            Title                      
     +-------------------------------------------------+
  Alien Fish Finger                  
  Wired Chaos                        
  HydroZone AND Speed Racer FX       
     +-------------------------------------------------+

Known Bugs

RTG problem
~~~~~~~~~~~
game may have problems running on an Amiga that uses a RTG graphics
card.  Sometimes the game jumps to Workbench screen while loading 
in new level data, but then is unable to return back to the game.  
You can hear the game playing in the background but you are unable 
to see it.  This only happens sometimes, not always.
The solution is to run game on a standard Amiga Workbench or from 
floppy.  If you do use a RTG card and you find yourself looking at 
a workbench screen instead of the game then I'm sorry.


ALIEN FISH FINGER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magazine Quotes: 
"....your missions take you through some weird and wonderful worlds 
in which you explore numerous screens and shoot everything in 
sight...." 
"...the sprites may be tiny, but you can clearly see what's going on, 
right down to the streams of blood flowing from open wounds." 
"...the sprites move with surprising grace in all directions.  Along 
the way you'll come across plenty of aliens and space craft, and it's 
all pretty impressive stuff to be honest."
Amiga Action preview (September 95)

"In  short, AFF is the best PD game I have ever played (and I've 
played a few). 
The difficulty level is set just right so you always find something 
new, the missions are original and it is extremely addictive."  
ShareWorld 7 Disk Magazine.   Overall Score 94% 

This game is also the winner of the 'Amiga Format' magazine best Cover 
CD game, Christmas issue 1996.

WIRED CHAOS
~~~~~~~~~~~
Multi-player light cycles clone with many power-ups and features.
Check out what the magazines said about it...

"Occasionally a PD game comes in that we all play for hours.  Wired 
Chaos is the best version of Light Cycles available. So there!....." 
"...in fact basically, it's just about the best PD game we've come 
across in quite some time.  I beg and implore you to buy the 
shareware version and encourage more top products like this."
Amiga Action (Game of the Month) November 1994 

"....Playability is present in copious amounts, and a good many hours 
could be spent crowded around the keyboard with a bunch of partially 
inebriated companions revelling in the addictive action." 
Amiga Computing (Game of the Month) November 1994 

HYDROZONE
~~~~~~~~~~
Fly through fast, speedy 3D tunnels trying not to crash.
Magazine review quotes of HydroZone:- 
"This shareware effort, from little known Skull Army Software, could 
with a lot of polishing pass for a commercial release. As it stands 
at the moment it is far better than average PD games, the first in 
fact to earn our all-new PD games of the month accolade." 
Amiga Action (Game of the Month) October 1994 



SPEED RACER FX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sequel to HydroZone.  Race against Human or Computer controlled 
players, up to 6 in a league, through super fast 3D tunnels with a 
split screen view.  Plus make your own levels using the supplied 
Tunnel Designer.

This game is the winner of the 'Amiga Formats' magazine best Cover CD 
game, March 1997.


