GOLD SEEKER version 2.0 February 1992 INTRODUCTION Gold Seeker is an updated version of Lost Treasure (1988). This is a shareware program. Send $10.00 to Dave Henry, 1720 Wickersham Drive, Anchorage AK 99507. THEME The object of Gold Seeker is to recover gold from pirates which has been scattered throughout their dungeons. To do this you must maneuver your gold seeker (yellow) while avoiding the pirates (blue) and other hazards. Pirates will move the gold, you must get it from them. If you are caught by a pirate, you die. To make matters worse they have set explosive charges which them may move. These are also deadly to you. In order to combat the pirates you have several assets. 1. You can out run or out climb them. 2. You can dig a hole through bricks and trap them. They may climb out but if the hole fills in they fall through or die and another comes to replace it. 3. You can block their path by opening or closing trap doors. 4. You can flee by turning off force fields or traping them behind the force fields. 5. By changing the direction of a moving sidewalk you may be able to escape. FILES REQUIRED The program is distributed as SEEKER.LZH. You must use a dearcing program to expand it into its individual files. The files necessary to use the program include SEEKER.PRG, SEEKER.DAT, TITLE.DAT, and 1 or more screen levels such as SCREEN01.GS, SCREEN02.GS, etc. The high scores file, GSSCORE.DAT will be created on your disk if it is not present. The disk much not be write protected. The file you are reading, SEEKER.TXT is also in the LZH file. TITLE SCREEN There 6 options available on the title screen, Play, Create, Modify, Scores, Help, Quit. These may either be accessed using the mouse and the pull down menu, or you may type the first letter of any (P, C, M, S, H, or Q) from the keyboard. Completion of any of these will return you back to this screen. PLAY To play you must have a joy stick plugged into port 1 (the non-mouse port.) Before play begins you have the option of selecting the starting level. This is normally 1. Levels are numbered consecutively starting with 01, for example SCREEN01.GS. After selecting the level from the file selector box the file is loaded. Move the joystick to start the action. After you have collected all the gold (some may be held by the pirates) A green EX will appear showing the exit to the next level. When you reach it the next level in sequence will automatically load. Three keys on the keyboard can be used during play. The spacebar will pause the action. The escape key will return you to the title screen, also showing the score list. The letter D will cause you to die if for some reason you become trapped and want to restart the level. Moving is accomplished by pushing the joystick the direction you wish to move. You have no control when falling or sliding on slides. In order to dig you first must find bricks, then hold down the button and push the joystick in the direction that you want to make a hole. Pirates that chase you may not all behave the same, so watch out! (Pirates 1, 3, and 5 follow one set of chase rules, pirates 2 and 4 follow another.) Any time you come in contact with a pirate or explosive bomb you will die, losing one life, and causing the level to restart. Watch out for hidden chutes which appear as bricks. You will fall through these (apparently in front of) and may not end up where you expect. Small off and on switches are used to control the doors. Doors which begin as horizontal are normally closed and doors that begin as vertical are normally open. Doors which begin in a closed horizontal position will open randomly to the right or left possibly blocking horizontal movement. Doors which are normally open will open the same direction each time. Escape upward or downward using ladders. You can also jump or slide down. When the gold is collected and the EXit appears you may have additional ladders or bricks to help (or hinder?) you. There may be one operational elevator in a puzzle. Any time you or one of the pirates enters it, it will go up, if possible (there must be a cable showing above the elevator), or if not it will descend, if possible. You cannot jump from an elevator while it is moving. Sliding down the elevator cable is the same as falling. You cannot climb back up the cable. It is possible to have the elevator buried in a hole or force field in which case you have to dig it out or turn off the force field. Force fields block passage in a horizontal or vertical direction. Only you can turn them off by pressing your joystick button when you are at force field button. Moving sidewalks will move to the right or left. Each time you or a pirate passes across an up arrow the sidewalks will change direction. They may enable you to move faster and escape but be careful, you may become trapped by them! Your score is increased 1 point for each pirate trapped, 10 points for each gold chest, and 100 points for completing a level. The puzzles included with the program are in general difficult but they have been tested to insure there is a solution. In addition to the ones made for Gold Seeker there are also some that were collected from various sources for the original program, Lost Treasure. CREATE To make a new level you use the joystick in port one. After selecting Create, a blank screen appears with a flashing cursor in the upper right corner. The joystick, spacebar, keys F1, F2, arrow keys, and letter keys 0 through Y are used to design the screen. Method 1 using the joystick and spacebar: Move the joystick to position the cursor where an object is to be placed. Select the object with a letter key. Move the joystick to make more or change to object with a key. The joystick button will cause the cursor to erase screen data. The spacebar will enable the cursor to move over already drawn objects without erasing them. Method 2 using the arrow keys and F1 and F2 keys: Use the keyboard arrow keys to position the cursor where an object is to be placed. Select the object with a letter key. Use the arrow keys to create more of the same object or change it with a key from the list below. The F1 key toggles between draw and skip. The F2 key toggles between erase and skip. So you can switch from erase to draw by pressing either of these keys. Letter keys draw objects as follows: 0. Red brick 1. Brown ladder 2. Red solid block 3. Horizontal bar 4. Horizontal door 5. Red right slope 6. Red left slope 7. Gold Chest 8. Off switch 9. Explosive A. On switch B. Vertical right door C. Vertical left door D. Pirate E. Gold seeker F. Elevator G. Elevator cable H. Force field button I. Force field J. Force field K. Moving sidewalk #1 L. Moving sidewalk #2 M. Flashing sidewalk N. Left arrow O. Right Arrow P. Up arrow Q. Open red block R. Green EXit S. Green Brick T. Green Ladder U. Green solid block V. Green bar W. Green right slope X. Green left slope Y. Green open block Green objects only appear during play after the last gold chest is obtained. All green objects appear in the other normal colors except for the EXit. Some limitation of the program include: 1. You must have one and no more than one gold seeker. 2. You may have from zero to a maximum of five pirates. 3. The maximum numbers of doors (includes both vertical and horizontal) is twenty. (There is no restriction on the numbers of switches.) 4. You must allow at least one open space on the top row to allow for entry of new pirates. 5. The maximum number of force fields is twenty. (There is no restriction on the number of force field buttons.) 6. Only one elevator is operational. If more than one is on the screen when playing a level only the last one drawn will be functional. 7. Sidewalks K and L move in opposite directions. There are symbols included which do not have a function or duplicate other functions. These are force field J (duplicates I but colors different), flashing sidewalk M (serves no real function), left arrow N and right arrow O which don't do anything. It is not advisable to use these when making new screens because if the program is updated in the future they may be changed. When you are satisfied with the screen you have designed press the escape key. When you do this a file selector box appears. All you have to do is to type in the name for your file and select OK. There are some restrictions for naming files. These restrictions make it easy and automatic to play a game. The name must consist of 6 letters, two numbers, and must use the extender .GS. For example SCREEN01.GS. Then subsequent levels would be numbered 02, 03, etc. up to the maximum of 99. Or you can choose a different name such as GOLDSE01.LT, GOLDSE02.LT etc. When playing and the highest number of a name is completed the game will end. To test out the level you have completed use PLAY. Then escape to return to the menu/title screen. MODIFY Modify is used to change a level which has already saved on the disk. First use the selector box to choose the level to be modified. Then modify it in the same was as creating a new level. SCORE The list of high scores and most recent game score is displayed. This list is also shown at the completion of a game and you are given an option to enter your name if a notable score is made. HELP Help gives a brief summary of play instructions. QUIT Quit exits the program and returns you to the desk top. Changes and additions from the original program Lost Treasure: 1. You can now run the program from within a folder. 2. Create screen enhanced to show keys to use for each graphic. 3. Elevator added. 4. Force Fields added 5. Moving sidewalks added. 6. Algorithm for moving of pirates #2 and #4 changed. 7. Number for the "green" graphics changed which means the screens for the original Lost Treasure cannot be used with out modification. 8. Escape key exits from Score screen or title screen. 9. Permission to move or dig in certain areas may have changed. 10. Doors that start out vertical right always open right and doors that start out vertical left always open left. 11. Door switches must be fully crossed to change door positions. Door positions cannot be switched by touching a switch and then reversing direction as in the Lost Treasure version. 12. On and Off door switches both do the same thing and each will always change the door positions. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Seeker is copyright (c) 1991 by David M. Henry