____________ _____ __/ DROMEDARY: \__ __/* __\--| THE PREVIEW! \_) (_____/ o/--| _____ _____ | L______/---L (ooooo) (ooooo) | \_\ooo/____\ooo/__/ | | | | (O) (O) | | | | /___\ /___\ COPYRIGHT INFORMATION This program and related material are: Copyright 1991 Network 23 Software This program may be distributed free of charge so long as both text files are distributed with it and none of the files are altered in any way! No money may be charged for this program. HISTORY:------------------------------------------------------- Zephr Industries was founded in the year 6291, dedicated to the production of Tranships, industrial spacecraft used to transport supplies to Moon and Mars colonies. For many years, Zephr struggled against older, more profitable transportation services until 6548 and the development of the V E/D (Vortex Emanator/Disintegrator) which, for the first time, allowed for travel outside our rapidly shrink- ing solar system. Zephr Industries took the lead in V E/D development and was soon the most massive, profitable corporation on the Three Worlds. But bureaucracy took its toll and Zephr began looking for new ways to regain its dominance. Zephr's re-turning point came in 7401, when the first, true artificial intelligence (AI) software was developed by Network 23 Software, a division of Zephr Labs. Seeing the tremendous potential of AI software integrated in Zephr's newly-designed Colonization Assist Unit, later to be re- named Dromedary, Zephr rushed in and gave the Dromes AI. The Dromedary is a multi-use mechanical construct used in various ways throughout the Three Worlds. It walks on four legs and is supplied with AI. Its most useful purpose is transportation of heavy equipment from site to site and regulation of equipment deemed dangerous or time-consuming for human involvement. Disaster was soon to strike. By 7403, the Three Worlds had expanded to over 45,000 as colonists by the millions set out with Dromes and supplies to conquer the galaxy. Alien races had been discovered and trading/contact with them now constant. Why this incredi- ble migration? Krys. First discovered on Agima in 7389, Krys soon became the rarest of all minerals, fetching as much as $17,000/ounce. Soon after, Krys was discovered on other planets, and even- tually, on every planet colonized thus far. The curious fact still remains that Krys has not been found on any planet in our Sol system. What makes Krys so rare is that, while it exists on seemingly every planet, quantities on each planet are very small. The work required to extract Krys is incredibly time and labor intensive, but Krys fever had struck and everyone wanted in on the action. Disaster struck in 7431. Because of the quick implemen- tation of AI into the Dromedary, they were unstable, too intelligent, and didn't like what was happening to them. The Agima Drome Massacre of 7431 caused such an uproar that Zephr almost went under then and there. Zephr's savior was the legal department Zephr Industries had built up over the past 75 years. Before the Drome Trials could see their day in court, Zephr Industries lawyers, using half-truths, inaccuracies, and research loosely based on fact, introduced the Artificial Intelligence Responsibility Act of 7431, which states that any act performed by a mech- anism equipped with AI is not the responsibility of the creators of that mechanism. Zephr exerted its political influence and got the Act passed. Zephr survived and pro- mised improved Dromes and rebates on Agima colony Dromes. Today, Zephr is the top leader in colonization, expanding its influence across the Milky Way. END HISTORY:--------------------------------------------------- PRE-FLIGHT PRINTOUT FOR: _ZEPHR_COLONIZATION_CRAFT_______ DATE: _01/01/7438_____________________ DESTINATION: _TSIRATA________________________ SYSTEM: _LEIMART-MAS____________________ COLONIZATION RATING: _GOOD_(1)_______________________ EXPLANATION (1): _TSIRATA_is_a_good_prospect,____ _but_an_indigenous_lifeform_____ _on_the_surface_makes_present___ _colonization_impossible._______ ___Earlier_colonization_attempts _have_been_thwarted_by_the______ _skivit,_a_largish_rodent-like__ _creature_which_seems_to_thrive_ _on_hydraulic_cables_and_fluid._ ___Scientists_at_Zephr_believe__ _that_a_reduction_of_the_skivit_ _population_will_make_TSIRATA_a_ _good_prospect_(see_above)_for__ _colonization.__________________ ________________________________ PURPOSE OF TRIP: _Reduction_of_skivit_population. END PRINTOUT--------------------------------------------------- DROMEDARY: THE PREVIEW The Preview is a game for 1-4 players. One player can play against themselves to better a previous score. The goal is to catch the skivits as they open their mountainside doors by running over them. Each skivit is worth $100. REQUIREMENTS FOR PLAY The Preview should run on all ST's and STE's. Testing has not been done on the TT's. If anyone finds out if The Preview runs on a TT, please let me know. One joystick is required. The Preview can be run from a hard drive, just make sure all related files are in the same folder. TO PLAY Double-click on the DROMEPRE.PRG icon and the game will load. When the title screen appears, press the spacebar after a joystick is plugged in the joystick port. CHARACTER SELECTION This is the first screen. All possible character selections are in the upper left section of the screen. The upper right section holds background information on each character, inclu- ding the money each character starts off with. The green box surrounding the center character is controlled by the joystick. As the joystick is moved to other characters, an animated version appears in the center box and their info is displayed. You will see the Humanoid character is for beginners and starts off with an extra $200. The Slimoid character is for expert characters and starts off with $200 less. To choose your character, hold the joystick so the box sur- rounds your choice and press the joystick button. The box will move down to the next window and surround the red color. CHOOSING A COLOR Move the joystick left and right to select a color, pressing the joystick button as before. The color you choose will disappear and a colored box will surround the animated charac- ter. The box now moves to the controller selection window. CHOOSING A CONTROLLER This game will eventually use two or more joysticks, but problems at the last second made this impossible. To simplify things, all players will use the same joystick. The controller selection box is screened out and you will skip this section. WHAT TO DO NOW The box now surrounds the word NEXT. If you have chosen the player and color to your satisfaction and more than one person is playing, choosing NEXT will move the box back to the Character Selection window and the next player can now choose their player and color. If only one person is playing or all players have made their choices, select LOGGED. This will end player selection and the game will continue. If a mistake in selection has been made at any time, select ERROR and the selection screen will reset. Return the joy- stick to the first player and have everyone make their select- tions again. SUMMARY SCREEN After player selections have been made, a summary screen will appear. Characters will be ranked in order of net worth from top to bottom, surrounded by their color. In case of ties, the player who made their player selection first will be placed higher up, but this will not determine the winner. If this is the first summary screen, the information box in the upper right will tell you to choose a game length from the window below. Use the joystick to select a game length. Above the information box is the current turn, indicated by the month. It will read "0" the first time because play hasn't started yet. When everyone has seen their net worth statements, press the joystick button once for each player to continue. THE MAP The largest part of the screen is the map. The settlement is in the center of the map. A river flows north and south. Mountains dot the landscape. When a skivit appears, a yellow light will shine from the mountain. Your goal is to run over the skivit to collect $100 for each one caught. The river and mountains slow you down, avoid them if you can. The top right edge of the screen holds status information: the current turn, the number of skivits caught, the number of times the skivit has appeared, the ratio of shows to catches, and how many catches are needed to be in first place. Below the status information is the O2 Supply bar. The sur- face of Tsirata does not have enough oxygen to support any known race, so O2 suits must be worn. When play begins, a bar in your player color will appear and will shrink as you hunt the skivit. When O2 runs out, the turn is over. The bottom of the screen holds the message bar. At the be- ginning of each turn, one of two things will appear here. There is a chance of a random event happening that will affect the player's monetary status. If a player event does not occur, a message will tell you to press the joystick button to begin. The color of the messages will be that of the player who's turn it is. PLAYING THE GAME When the button is pressed, the player will appear in the center of the map. Because of the map scale, each character will be represented by a small humanoid figure wearing an O2 suit in the color of your choice. Search the mountains for an open door with a yellow light. Each time the skivit opens his door, the light will appear and a tiny sound will go off. Use this sound and light to help you locate the skivit. There is no way to tell how long the door will remain open. When your oxygen runs out, you are instantly teleported back to the settlement and the next player will have a shot at skivit hunting. Computer players will not hunt skivits. They don't have the AI extensions necessary. SUMMARY SCREEN, AGAIN When all players have had their chance hunting skivits, the summary screen appears again, showing the current status based on caught skivits. The turn that just finished is shown at the top right of the screen. Press the joystick button once for each player to continue to the next month. THAT'S IT MAN! GAME OVER! After the last turn, the end summary screen will be displayed, proclaiming the Grand Poohbah of the settlement! If there was a tie, no player will become Grand Poohbah. At the bottom right of the screen, you have two choices to make with your joystick. You can quit the game or play again. At any point during play, you can quickly drop back to the desktop by hitting CONTROL-C. THE WAITING BEGINS... Admittedly, this game is not much to play. You won't be coming back to it again and again, and that's understandable. This is only meant to be a taste of things to come. I thank you for looking at this program, and I would REALLY appreciate your comments. Hopefully, the near future will bring a full-fledged version of Dromedary to your hot little hands with all the perks and enhancements you desire! I am not expecting any money for this small venture, although countless hours have been put into it already. But, if you are so inclined, a $5 donation will be gladly accepted, and will make you eligible for a discount on Dromedary when it is offically released. Please send all comments, ideas, and critisizms (remember the shareware clause for this program (README.1ST file) to me on GEnie (R.MARTIN22 is the address) or write a letter to: Network 23 Software 7 Sarah Avenue Springfield, IL 62703 Again, thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you!!! Additional thanks to my wife Cynthia, who helped with testing and debugging, and Jon (FictionMan) Budil for various input of a helpful nature. Live And Direct, Rod Martin, Network 23 Software