[7mBoris Ball Guide[0m
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[7mThis is a bat'n'ball game[0m
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This is a bat'n'ball game. I'd expect you to know this by now. After all, you have just spent 3.99 on it, and you MUST have tried it before reading this.

I have strived to make this game as fun as possible to play. I made it after playing [1m[3mMegaball 3[23m[22m, and getting very annoyed with it.

I love hearing from people who play [1m[3mmy games[23m[22m or use [1m[3mmy utilities[23m[22m, so why not e-mail me at bwyatt@paston.co.uk and tell me what you think.

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[7mBoris Ball - Good Bits = Megaball[0m
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I don't like Megaball. I find it annoying. This is only my opinion. I haven't played Megaball 4, but this is what I dislike about Megaball :
 Levels usually end in trying to hit one block and continually failing.
 Lack of multiball.
 The DEATH power-up. Sometimes you HAVE to collect it, just to save the ball. Grrr.
 It would suddenly go very fast.
 Gravity and magnet are rubbish and annoying.
 Rebounds from the bat are wrong, making it hard to aim the ball.
 Had to have an AGA machine to have good graphics.
 Hard to tell what the power-ups were from the graphics, especially on ECS machines..

I hope Boris Ball has improved upon these "features". I don't deny I have copied a lot of the ideas from it, but in all cases I think I have improved on them.

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[7mOh come on, do you really need to know this?[0m
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To start the game, select "Play". To move the bat around, use the mouse - moving it left and right. You can slide the ball around on your bat with the left and right mouse buttons. To release the ball, press both the buttons together. You must destroy all the blocks (apart from the metal ones, coloured yellow) before preceeding to the next level.

During play, you can press the following keys :

[1mHELP[22m will tell you what the falling power-up is/does.

[1mF1-F5[22m will alter the speed of play. F1 puts it to the fastest, whereas F5 is the slowest. Beware though, because every time you do this, you'll loose half of your score. The faster you play it at, the more points you will get for each block you destroy.

[1mTAB[22m will alternate the game between NTSC and PAL mode.

[1mP[22m will pause the game.

[1mESCAPE[22m quits the current game.

Take note : by hitting any block of metal several times, it will all transform into explosive blocks.

If, by the end of your go, you have a high score you will be requested to input your name. The high scores are saved straight away, so leave the disk write enabled (so the black tab covers the hole).

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[7mThose yellowy things that fall from the sky[0m
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When you destroy a block, a power-up may fall down. These power-ups are :

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Gives you an extra life.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Wisks you away to the next level.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Turns all metal blocks to explosive ones.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Dynamite - blows up random blocks on the level.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
[1ming[22m
I guess you can call this 1.0 if you really want a version number.

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[7mWho to blame...[0m
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[1mProgramming[22m  -  Ben Wyatt
[1mGraphics[22m     -  Ben Wyatt
[1mSound FX[22m     -  BBSs and Internet

I (Ben Wyatt) can be contacted by e-mail at bwyatt@paston.co.uk or by snail mail at :

167 Oak Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR3 3AY
UK

If you want to know about some of my other programs, click [1m[3mhere[23m[22m.

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[7mLike Boris Ball? Try these...[0m
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As well as Boris Ball, I have writen these fine games :

[1mKnockout (2)[22m

My most popular game up until now. It's a multiplayer game for 1 to 8 players. The idea is to knock each other off the ever shrinking circular shaped platform. The remaining vehicle can then drive off the bridge.

Quotes :

"Stupidly entertaining"
"The whole thing is really good fun" - Amiga Format 81, PD Selection of the Month

Available from :

Aminet - game/2play/Knockout.lha
All good/bad PD companies

[1mBounce[22m

A fun platform game where you control a continually bouncing ball. Collect jewels, get sucked in pipes, avoid spikes, swim underwater, find secret passages, in 25 levels.

Quotes :

"Surprisingly addictive" - Amiga Power 57

Available from :

Aminet - game/jump/Bounce.lha
All good/bad PD companies
Amiga Power 57 coverdisk

[1mBattle of the Blobs[22m

My first ever Amiga game, and it shows.

Quotes :

"Wow!" - Ben Wyatt

Available from :

Aminet - game/2play/Blobs.lha
All bad PD companies

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[7mNow let's get on with some serious work - Try these fine utilities of mine[0m
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This is my `A' Level Computing project, which is now available in the Public Domain.

[1m3D Pro[22m

This is an advanced stereogram/magic eye picture making package. It has the following special functions, not normally present in Public Domain programs :
 Simple art package to design stereograms.
 An editor, to create patterns, other than the normal random dots.
 Loading / Saving of everything.
 Tutorial and Interactive help to enable you to get the most from the package.
 Many predefined screens and patterns on disk.

Quotes :

"Minutes to learn and minutes to master"
"Simply a great piece of software" - Amiga Format 81

Available from :

Aminet - gfx/3d/3D_Pro.lha
All good/bad PD companies

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[7mThings to look out for[0m
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As well as these [1m[3mgames[23m[22m and [1m[3mutilities[23m[22m, I am busily working on these products :

[1mPACAC[22m

Stands for Point And Click Adventure Creator. This is like GRAC, but easier to use and with more features. GRAC has been very popular, not because it's easy to use and makes great adventures, but because it sounds good. Everyone like to make games with no effort. GRAC was advertised by saying it needed no programming experience. This may be true, but it does require a lot of programming and the commands are illogical, complex and unnecassary. However, I was most impressed by the package and the demo adventure was very good.

I believe PACAC will be a superior package. As an example of it's ease of use, I have included a list of the current command set :

INC v
 Increases variable v by 1.

DEC v
 Decreases variable v by 1.

LET v = n
 Makes variable v equal n.

LET v = RANDOM r
 Sets variable v to a random number between 1 and r.

LET v = CHOICE
 Gives the player the defined options of things to say, and puts the selected choice number in variable v.

CHOICE n,"choice"
 Sets choice string n to "choice".

RENAME OBJECT n TO "name"
 Gives object n the name "name". If no object is specified, then the current object will be renamed.

RENAME AREA n TO "name"
 Gives area n the name "name". If no area is specified, then the current area will be renamed.

RENAME CHARACTER n TO "name"
 Gives character n the name "name".

CHARACTER n WALK TO CHARACTER t
 Makes character n walk to character t.

CHARACTER n WALK TO x,y
 Makes character n walk to x,y on the current screen.

CHARACTER n ENTER FROM e
 Makes character n enter from exit e.

CHARACTER n EXIT BY e
 Makes character n, walk to exit e and exit.

CHARACTER n SAY "message"
 Makes character n stop and say "message".

CHARACTER n FACE LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWN
 Makes character n face in the specified direction.

CHARACTER n ANIMATE f TO l
 Animates character n through images f to l.

CHARACTER n FOLLOW f
 Makes character n follow character f until a CHARACTER n STOP command

CHARACTER n STOP
 Stops character n from what he/she is doing. This includes walking, animating, talking and following.

ANIMATE OFF n
 Cycles through animation n once and then turns the animation off.

ANIMATION ON/OFF n
 Turns animation n on or off.

ANIMATE OFF n
 Cycles through animation sequence n once and then turns it off.

AREA ON/OFF n
 Turns area n on or off.

EXIT ON/OFF n
 Turns exit n on or off.

GAIN OBJECT n
 Add object n to the inventory. If the object is on the current screen, it will be replaced by the background underneath it.

LOSE OBJECT n
 Remove object n from the inventory.

PLACE IMAGE n AT x,y
 Places image n from the screen images at coordinates x,y.  It will be automatically done next time you enter the screen.

PLAY SAMPLE n
 Plays sample n, defined in the editor.  If it's not in memory, it will be loaded in automatically.

PLAY SEQUENCE n
 Plays animated sequence/cut-away n, as defined in the editor.

WAIT n
 Wait for n screen updates.

IF USE
 If the current area/object is used.

IF USE WITH OBJECT n
 If the current area/object is used with object n.

IF USE WITH AREA n
 If the current object is used with area n.

IF USE WITH USELESS
 If the current area/object is used with something that doesn't have a use.

IF LOOK AT
 If the player looks at the current area/object.

IF WALK OVER
 If the player walks over the current area.

IF v = n
 If variable v equals n.

IF v > n
 If variable v is more than n.

If v < n
 If variable v is less than n.

IF CHARACTER n IN ROOM
 If character n is in the current room.

ELSE
 If the above condition is not true.

END IF
 Ends a block of programming after an IF or ELSE statment.

NOTE : A separate script is defined for each object and area in the adventure. In the above list, the current object/area is what is meant by this.

This may seem like a lot of commands, but it makes it very versitile and powerful. There are much fewer commands than in GRAC, but virtually everything GRAC can do, PACAC can, as well as much more.

As an example of the ease of use of these commands, this could be a script for something like a table :

IF LOOK AT
   CHARACTER 0 WALK TO 100,50    100,50 is the position of the table
   CHARACTER 0 FACE RIGHT        Looking in the direction of it
   CHARACTER 0 SAY "Well, it's nothing more than a good, solid table."
END IF

IF USE
   CHARACTER 0 WALK TO 100,50
   CHARACTER 0 FACE RIGHT
   CHARACTER 0 SAY "Hmmm. I'm not sure I can think of a single use for that..."
   CHARACTER 0 SAY "I guess I could use it as fire wood?!"
END IF

IF USE WITH OBJECT 2             Object 2 could be a saw
   CHARACTER 0 WALK TO 100,50
   CHARACTER 0 ANIMATE 1 TO 20   Animate the character sawing the wood
   GAIN OBJECT 4                 Object 4 is the piece of wood from the table
   CHARACTER 0 SAY "I'm not sure what I could use this wood for."
   CHARACTER 0 SAY "There's not a fire place in sight!"
END IF

I've been working on this package for about 3 to 4 years now, and I'm making sure that it is just right. Everything, apart from the scripts, is mouse controlled, and with features such as On-Line help and large tutorials (the tutorial system in [1m[3m3D Pro[23m[22m has proved very popular, enabling first time users to handle the program as if they're an expert), it is VERY easy to use and understand. The end product is unlikely to be commercial. More likely it will be shareware or licenseware. Maybe even PD.

[1mDunablaster[22m

Quite simply the ultimate Dynabbg shine}                    
                    

Adds another ball to the bat to play with.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Makes the balls go through all blocks (including metal ones) without rebounding.

BEWARE : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned off!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Makes the balls stick to the bat when they land on it.

BEWARE : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned off!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Expands the bat to a bigger size.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Shrinks the bat.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Gives you lazers on your bat.

BEWARE : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned off!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Reverses mouse controls (not including button functions)

BUT : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned back to normal!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Magnet - Makes the balls deflect away from the bat.

BUT : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned off!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Makes lots of balls fly out of the bat.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Causes the balls to do more damage when they hit blocks. All the blocks surrounding will be destroyed also.

BEWARE : Get this power-up twice and it will be turned off!

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Restarts the level, but keeps the points gained. I recommend you get it if you have lazers, lots of balls and are on an easy level, as it will cause your score to whizz up.

                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    

Gives you a random power-up from the above.

If you are ever in doubt to what a power-up does, then as it falls down, press the HELP key on your keyboard and a short description will appear in place of the score.

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[7mWanna make you own levels?[0m
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The level editor is very easy to use (in my opinion). You can create up to 100 levels of your own (00-99), or play the 100 levels provided. To place blocks, select one from the ones displayed at the bottom and hold down the left mouse button on the level. To delete blocks, use the right mouse button. The other icons are as follows :

[1mLEVEL
<>[22m

Use to select which level to edit. Pressing the left mouse button will go one level at a time, the right mouse button will go in steps of five and both mouse buttons will go in steps of ten.

[1mCLEAR[22m

Deletes the level, leaving it free to draw your own.

[1mUNDO[22m

Goes back to how the level was before you started editing it.

[1mTEST[22m

Try out your level, but with only one life.

[1mEXIT[22m

Exits the level editor and returns to the main menu.

The LOAD and SAVE icons on the main menu are to load and save sets of levels.

To load a set, select LOAD and type in the name of the set.

To save your set, select SAVE and type in a suitable name, that you can remember.

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[7mA history lesson[0m
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I started writlaster clone. Features include computer controlled characters, fuses on the heads (that cause you to blow up after a short while, when you've been "flamed"), open levels with no solid blocks (so you can create screen fulls of explosions!) and NOT hundreds of pointless power-ups. As with all my games, it is a fun as possible.

This will be PD when (and if) I finish it.

[1mVisual Sounds[22m

This is a program for making music VISUALLY. Graphical icons make up the instruments and the music is constructed with a map editor style program. It is not intended as a rival to programs like OctaMED or Protracker - it is mainly for fun purposes for people (like me) who can't use those complicated Tracker programs.

Again, this will probably be PD when I get round to finishing it.

[1mOther info[22m

This is by no means a fully comprehesive list. I am working on many other projects, many of which will probably never see the light of day, but there you go. :-)

So anyway, now you know what else I'm working on. Feel free to e-mail your comments to me at bwyatt@paston.co.uk.

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