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 Ķ                  
                                            (C) Laz 1998                    
                               Released 4th January 1998 

System Requirements:
  -QBasic (Type "qbasic" at a DOS prompt, or "qb /l" if using QB4.5.)
  -DOS compatible mouse driver
  -VGA Monitor
  -Keyboard (kind of screwed without this)
  -Obvious items such as computer, pulse, chair (optional)

The following files should be included with this package:
  ARRIS.BAS
  ARRIS.TXT
  CUP.ARR
  CUPPAL.ARR
  TITLE.ARR
  TITLEPAL.ARR
  CONFIG.ARR

In order for the game to run, all the accompanying files (*.ARR) should be in
the same directory as ARRIS.BAS, and the present working directory should be 
set to this directory (use CHDIR "DirectoryPath" on the Qbasic Immediate 
Line). To run it, load it into QBasic and Run it as with any other QB program, 
with Shift-F5, duh.
Oh, and if you are using QuickBasic 4.5, remember to start it with...
  QB /L
otherwise it won't work.

Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Arris is one of those Snake/Lightcycles games (moreso of the latter, as the 
tails don't shrink), for 2 to 4 players, any of which can be computer
controlled.
Each player takes control of a lightcycle and must steer it to avoid the 
arena's walls and the trails of the cycles.
During the game, various power-ups appear which can be collected for various 
results.

Options Screen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  After running the program, the title screen will appear, followed by the 
options screen. From here, the game's settings can be adjusted, simply by 
selecting the appropriate option with the mouse.

The four coloured boxes nearest the top are the settings for each player.
Each contains two sections - the control, and the name.
By clicking on the control box, the various control methods are selected
one at a time. These are human (the eye), computer (the, ur, computer), and 
nothing (the cross).
A player's name can be changed by clicking on it and typing in the new one.

You can click on the following items here too:
  Speed: Move the red bar to the right to increase the game speed.
  Target: This is the number of points a player must reach in order to win.
          See "Scoring" below.
  Help: This brings up a list of each player's keys and what each power-up 
        does. Press any key to skip to the next screen.
  Start: This starts the game, and saves the current settings as default.
  Exit: This gives you lots of free money and pies, stupid.

The Game
~~~~~~~~
  Once Start is pressed, the arena appears, the doors open and the players 
enter. During the first five seconds (indicated by a large number counting 
down - you can't miss it) players do not leave a path behind them, and cannot 
crash into each other (note they can still crash into the walls of the arena). 
When the countdown ends, the paths are activated and proper play 
begins. Players are out when they collide with walls or paths, and the last 
player left wins the match and gets most points.

Scoring
~~~~~~~
  Once the game ends, a screen apears showing how many points they received 
for the last game, and how many points they have altogether. The number of 
points a player receives is equal to the number of players minus their 
position, e.g. coming third in a four-player game results in 1 point
(4 - 3 = 1). 

Power-Ups
~~~~~~~~~
  During play, after the countdown has ended, various power-ups will appear 
at random intervals. They are collected by simply running into them. Note 
that a power-up will disappear if it is not collected within fifteen seconds.

Their effects are as such:

Individual Speed Up: The player who collected the power-up moves twice as 
                     fast as those without such a power-up, for five seconds.
Invincibility: The player who collected this is able to pass through paths 
               (but not walls) for five seconds, indicated by a flashing 
               path.
Missile: The player who collected this now has a missile at their disposal, 
         as indicated by a white cycle. It is fired by pressing the middle 
         key (see the Help menu), and travels towards the closest opponent. 
         It will explode should it collide with anything solid, i.e. paths. 
         If the explosion hits a player's head, that player dies.
   Note: Missiles are not cumulative (you either have one or none) 
         and are not lost between rounds.
All Speed Up: All players travel twice as fast as usual for five seconds.
Dotted Trails: Players will leave a dotted path behind them, for five seconds. 
               It is possible to pass through these gaps if a player is lucky.
Swap Places: Players will immediately move to another player's place, 
             resuming a new direction. Can be confusing :) 
Clear Trails: All paths will be immediately cleared, leaving an empty arena.
Random Block: A block immediately appears somewhere on the screen, of 
              varying size. This block is, obviously, solid, and cannot be 
              passed through.
Raise Doors: The doors through which the players entered open, and can be 
             entered to reach the opposite side of the screen. However, they 
             will close after ten seconds.
Sub Game: The game is delayed while all players still alive join a sub game. 
          Instructions when the power-up is obtained.
    Note: The sub-game is not Pong, despite what its icon looks like :)
Who Knows?: A random power-up is selected.

Aftermath Screen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Once one person is remaining, the game stops and the results screen appears.
This shows (from top downwards):
  The results for the last game,
  The current overall positions (the flags indicate how close to the target
    each player is),
  Each player's score,
  The distance travelled by each player

The last of these, the distance travelled, only matters if two or more players
end up with an equal score that is equal to or more than the target. In this 
case, whoever has the highest distance wins.

If someone wins, then a big winner's screen appears (woohoo!).

Other Stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~
  Arris is Noteware and Chainware.
  Noteware means that if you like it, I would love to know via e-mail (see
addresses below).
  Chainware means that you must copy this program and send it on to six
people within a week, or else your house will fall down.

  Uhh. I have tried to compile Arris (using the Make EXE feature in QB4.5),
but I seem to get 2 errors - one being a lengthy line, the other being, well, 
who knows? But anyway, an EXE file would be somewhat big, and this way 
everybody gets to see the source code, and how I fade in 256 colour 
full-screen pictures. Tremble, earflings.
  
  Greets to...
     Bob K
     Ben W
     Microhof
     Pyron
     Sp|der (sorry it took so long...)

Laz and Insanity Dreams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  E-Mail...
    Laz:  Laz@earthling.neT
    
  WWW:
    Laz's Big Fat QBasic Page:  http://laz.home.ml.org
    Insanity Dreams:  http://insanitydreams.home.ml.org


                                                                          FIN
