
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ROCKET SCRAMBLER and TERRAIN PROGRAMS
==========================================================
Copyright (c) Richard Barret, Barrett Computing Services Ltd 1995.

ROCKET SCRAMBLER is derived from the many popular arcade games from the
early 1980's.

TERRAIN is a landscape editor for ROCKET SCRAMBLER, allowing you to design
your own landscapes.  

Hardware Support and Requirements:
----------------------------------
Both programs should run on a 286 or higher processor (but see section on 
speed). VGA is required. Neither use expanded or extended memory.

Soundblaster support is provided and should work with any sound card with a
soundblaster/adlib compatible FM chip

The game can use a mouse or joystick if available.


Loading ROCKET SCRAMBLER:
-------------------------
The game can be loaded from a floppy disk or hard drive (I
recommend a hard drive for speed). The following files must be present:
SCRAM.EXE, ENTRY.PCX, SCRAM.PCX, LANDSCAP.LAN, LANDSCAP.ROF.

Type SCRAM at the DOS prompt to start.
The speed of the game can be altered by typing in a number in the range 
0-100, following SCRAM at the DOS prompt. 
e.g. 'SCRAM 0' will cause the game to run very slowly,
     'SCRAM 100' will cause the game to run as fast as your hardware will
		 allow. 
If no speed is specified, it defaults to 50.
Please note that if you are running this on a slow 286, the game may slow 
down a bit where there are a lot of sprites on the screen (e.g. in stage 2 
when the rocks fly across the screen). 
If this is the case, you can speed it up by using TERRAIN to create 
landscapes with less aliens in, or you can get yourself a decent computer!

NOTE: If you do not have much free memory, the game may exit eith a memory
error. If this is the case, you can reduce the memory requirements by forcing 
the game to use a smaller buffer for the landscape data (this means the game
will pause to load in data more often). Do this by typing: 
SCRAM 50 xxxxx 
where xxxxx is a number in the range 00500 to 30000. The smaller the number, 
the smaller the buffer. You must type leading zeros, i.e. type 01000, not 
1000, else it won't work. The default value is 10000, so specifying a number
lower than this will reduce memory requirements.


ROCKET SCRAMBLER Options:
-------------------------
On the ROCKET SCRAMBLER entry panel, you can select number of players, 
sound source and input device using F1, F2 and F3. ENTER will start the
game. 
Pressing ESCAPE will terminate a game if in play, or return you to DOS if on 
the entry panel.
Controls are left, right, up and down (joystick, mouse, cursor keys on
keyboard), fire (button 1 on mosne & joystick, spacebar on keyboard) and
bomb (button 2 on mouse & joystick, ENTER on keyboard).

F4 allows you to change the default landscape. You can create your own 
landscapes using TERRAIN, or use those provided with the game. 

The game will periodically freeze for a second or so to load in more 
landscape. 


Playing ROCKET SCRAMBLER:
-------------------------
You control a plane which is flying accros a mountainous landscape and is 
hampered by rockets which fire from the ground. Also on the ground are fuel 
bases and mysteries. Hitting fuel bases magically increases your fuel. If 
you run out of fuel, you plummet to the ground and die. If you hit a mystery 
you get bonus points.

The landscape is divided into 4 stages:

STAGE 1: Scrolling mountainous landscape with rockets, fuel dumps and 
	 mysteries. The rockets fire.                                 
STAGE 2: Scrolling landscape, but only at bottom of screen, to allow  
	 room for rocks which come hurtling across the screen.        
	 TERRAIN forces the land to be only at the bottom of the      
	 screen in this stage. Rockets don't fire.                    
STAGE 3: Same as stage 1, but the landscape is like an irregular wall, 
	 with turrets which the rockets sit in.
STAGE 4: In this stage, you have to navigate your way through a 
	 treachourous 'Maze'.
	 At the end is the end alien. Shooting or bombing this wins the   
	 game (or rather sends you back to the start to do it all     
	 again!).   


Additional Information on the Landscape Editor Program, TERRAIN
===============================================================

TERRAIN has some features which require additional explanation:
On entry the program forces you to choose a landscape to edit. 
A landscape consists of 2 files - the .LAN file for the land and the .ROF 
file for thr roof (used in stage 4 of the game, see above). 
If one of these files is missing, TERRAIN will give an error message and 
return to DOS.

It is possible to save a landscape to a different name by using F12. 
Also, you can load in a different landscape at any time by pressing F11.

ENTER is used to select the cursor function - MOVE to just move, LAND to draw 
land or ROOF to draw roof. ROOF is only available in stage 4 of a landscape.

F7 and F8 move left and right respectively through the landscape.

F9 and F10 are used to control the movement speed of the cursor.

The SPACEBAR allows you to reposition yourself at any point in the 
landscape.

F1, F2, F3 and F4 are used to add rockets, fuel bases, mysteries and the 
end-alien respectively.
You are only allowed to add aliens if their is enough flat land at the point 
in the landscape that you are trying to add them. 
Note also that you can only have one end-alien, and it must be positioned 
in stage 4.

PF5 will remove any aliens from the landscape in the immediate vicinity of 
the cursor.

PF6 allows you to change the lengths of the stages in the landscape. 
NOTE - when you use this option, if you shorten the overall landscape
length, you will lose data. If you increase the overall length, the 
additional landscape is automatically generated.

When you save a landscape, the program will verify it - this process does 
the following:
1       Checks for any holes or gaps in the landscape, and fills them in if 
	found. 
2       Checks that the land and roof don't overlap in stage 4, and adjusts 
	the landscape if they do.
3       Checks that their is enough flat land for every alien in the 
	landscape, and removes them if their isn't.
4       Adds a 'spike' in the land about a screen before the end of stage 4 
	so that it is impossible for the plane to go any further. i.e. you 
	will certainly die if you miss the end-alien.   

NOTE: The verify processing is quite processor hungry (and I couldn't be 
bothered to optimise it!). If you are using a 286 or slow 386 you may be
waiting for a few minutes, especially if you are creating a particularly
long landscape.


HAVE FUN


Any comments etc.. to:

Richard Barrett,
Barrett Computing Services Ltd,
37 Linnet Walk
Wokingham
Berks  RG41 3HE.
ENGLAND

CompuServe ID: 100131,1624


Please Note:
I wrote this game mainly to teach myself the basics of graphics, sound and 
games programming, and I am aware that there are a few imperfections and 
bugs - eg the scrolling tends to flicker because I haven't synched it with 
the monitor refresh cycle. However, I have sinced moved on to more 
adventurous gaming projects, so I'm not going to remedy any of these faults! 
Well, what do you expect from freeware?


DISCLAIMER:
===========

THESE PROGRAMS ARE PROVIDED "AS-IS".  NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE AS TO THEM OR ANY MEDIUM THEY MAY BE ON. 
NO REMEDY WILL BE PROVIDED FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THEM, INCLUDING SUCH FROM
NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

These programs are provided as "freeware", but the author retains the 
copyright. You may distribute them freely, but not for profit, and this 
document must always accompany them unaltered. 

This program may not be published as a magazine cover disk/CD-ROM or sold
as part of a compilation (e.g. CD-ROM compilation) without the permission 
of the author.

You may not alter any of the programs or accompanying files without the 
authors permission.

Any use of this program for profit is strictly forbidden, unless the author 
has given permission.









     

