Bug Bomber

OPTIONS MENU & IN-GAME KEYS

Firstly, here is the Options Menu / Title Screen explained: 

F1 - VS Computer / Opponent 

Pressing F1 will swap play modes. 

By The Way, you cannot quit the game (and it doesn't multitask either) so make 
sure you've saved any work you were doing before you start the game as you'll 
have to reboot after you've finished playing! 

The In-Game keys are: 

'Help' - Lose one life
'Esc' -- Quits the current game
'P' ---- Pauses the game (press again to unpause it) 

OPPONENT MODE

In this mode, you will be on your own! You will face all the other players 
playing (including the computer if turned on! See below). This doesn't work by 
levels, but rather by rounds & matches instead. 

This is a great way of playing if you have more than two players as with two 
players, there's no skill or tactics involved as you can only go after one other 
player. The addition of the energy egg makes all the difference in this mode! 

F2 - Change No. Of Players 

This will change the amount of players against each other. 

F3 - F6 

This will change the controls selected for the player associated with each function key: 

F3 = Player 1
F4 = Player 2
F5 = Player 3
F6 = Player 4 

The available controls are: 

Joy One --- Joystick Port
Joy Two --- Mouse Port
Joy Three - 4-Plyr Adaptor Port
Joy Four -- 4 Plyr Adaptor Port
Key Left -- w, z, a, d, LShift
Key Right - Arrow Keys & RShift 

F7 - Few Enemies 

By pressing this key, you can change the amount of enemies that will appear 
every round. The options are: 

Few Enemies --- A few appear
Some Enemies -- Some Appear
Many Enemies -- lots of 'em
Low Random ---- A Small amount of different enemies appears
Medium Random - A Average amount of different enemies appears
High Random --- A Large amount of different enemies appears
No Enemies ---- If you want it 'Just Players' 

F8 - Rounds To Win 

All this means is the first person to get the amount of rounds you set it to 
wins! 

F9 - Computer IQ Level 

Pressing this key will alter the intelligence level of the computer controlled 
opponents from 0 to 7. 

F10 - Not available in Opponent mode! 

COMPUTER MODE

In this mode, you will play (join forces if you have more than one player 
playing!) against the computer where you will be set against level after level 
of computer enemies. 

This is an ideal option for experienced players as you can make the IQ level of 
the computer high and have a real challenge (especially if you are playing 
alone). Also, this is the best option for people playing it alone! 

The rest of the options will look like this: 

F2 - Change No. Of Players 

This will change the controls selected for the player associated with each 
function key: 

F3 = Player 1
F4 = Player 2
F5 = Player 3
F6 = Player 4 

The available controls are: 

Joy One --- Joystick Port
Joy Two --- Mouse Port
Joy Three - 4-Plyr Adaptor Port
Joy Four -- 4 Plyr Adaptor Port
Key Left -- w, z, a, d, LShift
Key Right - Arrow Keys & RShift 

F3 to F6 

This will change the controls selected for the player associated with each 
function key i.e. F3 would change the controls used for Player 1, F5 would 
change the controls for Player 3, etc. 

F9 - Computer IQ Level 

Pressing this key will alter the intelligence level of the computer controlled 
opponents from 0 to 7. 

F10 - Enter Password 

This, although not shown on the screen as an option allows you to enter a 
password in order to continue where you left off last time. Example; if you got 
to level 33, you would be able to continue at level 31 again (providing you 
wrote the password down when it appeared at the end of level 30!). 

INTRODUCTION

The Aim Of The Game is similar to that of "Dynablaster" and "Bomberman"! In that 
you run around the screen, dropping Bombs and attempting to destroy the enemy 
(or each other when there's more than one player!) to advance to the next level. 

But in this case, it's more complicated as there is more to life than Bomb. 

So the rules are simple - Kill, Kill, and Kill really!!! 

By the way, here are the characters names: 

Red Player ---- Punky
Green Player -- Martian
Blue Player --- Jailbird
Yellow Player - Neando 

CONTROLS

Up, Down, Left, Right move the guy you control Up, Down, Left, and yep, you 
guessed it, Right. Now things get more complicated. 

By holding down fire and letting go again will drop a block on the location you 
are standing. 

The following are moves activated by holding down the fire button and moving the 
corresponding way on the joystick/joypad/keyboard. 

I've included the keyboard controls in the table in case you don't know them! 

-- Function - | Key Left | Key Right- | - Action ------ | Points
Tapping Fire |Left Shift|Right Shift | Lays block ---- | 1 

Fire & Up ---- | - W -- | Up Arrow -- | Drops a bomb ------ | 1
Fire & Right - | - D -- | Left Arrow- | Drops a thunderbolt | 2
Fire & Left -- | - A -- | Right Arrow | Lays a mine ------- | 2
Fire & Down x1 | - X -- | Down Arrow- | Lays a energy egg - | 4
Fire & Down x2 | - X x2 |Down Arrow x2| Lays a painter egg- | 5
Fire & Down x3 | - X x3 |Down Arrow x3| Lays a cruncher egg | 10
Fire & Down x4 | - X x4 |Down Arrow x4| Lays a hunter egg - | 15
Fire & Down x5 | - X x5 |Down Arrow x5| Lays a tank egg --- | 20 

Right, that should have you nicely confused. If you are wondering 'x3' is meant 
to mean, it means tapping down three times. Example: 

  1.Hold Fire Button down 
  2.tap down once, twice, and again 
  3.Release fire button 
  4.Voila, one cruncher egg 

Be careful not to push/tap another way while doing the process otherwise you end 
up doing something else instead! Practice is the key. Getting it right is all 
important in mastering the game. 

GENERAL

Remember too that only a certain amount of hatched creatures i.e. tanks, enemy 
droids, etc. can be on screen at one time which means that once that limit is 
reached, nothing else will hatch (including your own eggs) until something is 
destroyed i.e. a enemy tank, painter, etc. but the eggs don't stop appearing 
unfortunately. 

Be careful of a chain reaction when there are so many eggs on the screen as eggs 
also explode and can lead to a BIG chain reaction as one will explode on to 
another one which will explode and so on. 

I think I should point out the icons and display on the side of the screen when 
you start a game. 

The game screen is split into two areas (roughly): 

The area you control the players and the area that shows your player(s) stats. 
You have your energy level indicated by the numbers, then the picture of your 
player so you can identify him (or her case you happen to be female!) and a 
little status box which will show you what your current action is when you push 
down on fire and (try to) perform a move. It's a handy way of keeping track on 
where you are in a complicated move. 

In this game, you have intelligence. Not you, but the players rather (though it 
helps if you do too) and this is indicated next to the status box by a sad/happy 
face. Now this may be obvious but the happier your face is, the more intelligent 
you are and in order to become 'intelligent', you need to pick up IQ+ icons 
which randomly appear around the screen. 

There are a limited amount that appear so help other players by not collecting 
IQ's if you already have full IQ (very happy face! There is a limit as to how 
far it will go!). 

This is also true with energy icons (EN+) which give you 25 energy points and 
are vital in survival. Yes, this is a strategic game. There are lots of ways to 
go about the game but I am not going to spoil it for you. 

On the controls section, I included the amount of energy each action takes (Yes, 
you don't get it all for free you know!) so you do have to make things count on 
this game! Of course, it doesn't cost any energy points to walk around! (But be 
wary that the less energy points you have, the slower you go and vice versa, 
although there is a point where you can't go any faster otherwise. Terrible 
things could, and probably, Would happen. 

Right, the bomb! The bomb will explode after a certain period of time. This all 
depends upon how much IQ you have (This is an important feature of the IQ. This 
affects pretty much everything you do really as I shall go on to explain.) as 
the more IQ you have, the longer it will take to explode! The bomb damages 
anything in its path so be careful it doesn't damage you! 

Getting hit in an explosion will take off 25 Energy points! Be careful when 
you're lacking on points. Get your friends playing with you to help you out! 

A mine will do the same as a bomb but obviously won't explode until: 

     An enemy walks over it (You or the other players don't set it off!) 
     It has been left for a certain period of time (dependant on IQ again!) 

A block is a block. Use it for... I'll let you work that out. It is probably one 
of the most useful things except from... 

The thunderbolt! The weapon of doom against the enemy. Laying one of these will 
cause those vertical and horizontal lines to be danger zones for the enemy as if 
an enemy steps into the 'line of fire', the thunderbolt will shoot off and 
attempt to hit the enemy (like a homing missile!). But of course, it will only 
stick to the line it is moving along and explode where the enemy was (otherwise 
it would be a bit to chaotic) so remember to lay a few along the line! 

Now for the eggs! Remember that they have to: 

     Hatch which takes time (The IQ factor comes into play again as to how much time!) 
     Cost moreenergy points than a simple bomb, mine, etc. 
     The amount of IQ ALSO affects their PERFORMANCE as to what they do. 

A painter egg is very useful in that it 'paints' over ANY EGG it crosses, even 
the enemies (Which simply means it will become your follower and part of your 
team!) so you can gain a great deal of helpers at not much of a cost. It isn't 
particularly strong so keep this in mind when you are creating it and thinking 
statistics! 

A cruncher egg has the simple use of destroying blocks in it's way! Not really 
useful unless you're trapped in and need to get out without destroying yourself. 

Hunter eggs are good as they have strong armour and can withstand alot of 
damage. They try and home in on enemies with the sole purpose of damaging the 
enemy by ramming it. This does affect the hunter but usually it will survive 
depending on the strength of the enemy. 

Tank eggs are the ultimate fighting machine, or are at least meant to be. 
Basically, they are a strong force that can shoot thunderbolts at the enemy the 
same way as the players can. Only snag is that they are only any good if you 
have ALOT of IQ and also that they cost 20 Energy points to produce. 
