======================================================================
                          Puzzle Bobble Clone
                     Slapped together by oTTo Chan
                      BETA version 829 README.TXT
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DISCLAIMER: By unpacking this archive you agree that this is an 
   unfinished software product and that the authors of any part of 
   this program will NOT be held responsible for any damages done to 
   the computer, the user, your pet or any properties you may possess, 
   be it accidental, implied or through the improper use of the
   software enclosed.  You will also acknowledge that this is a 
   freeware program, and that you have the rights to distribute this 
   program freely in its unmodified form with all of the files 
   included; you are NOT allowed to distribute this software, in parts 
   or in whole, for profit or include any parts of this software on a
   commercial CD compilation without permission from the author of the
   program.  If you do not agree with any of the terms listed above,
   please delete this program NOW.

IN PLAIN ENGLISH: This is a BETA version of a FREEWARE game, it may
   be buggy, so run AT YOUR OWN RISK; in extreme cases, it might 
   actually freeze your computer and you may have to reboot (horror!).
   Give the zip file to your friend, neighbours, aliens that abducted 
   you before, just don't sell it for money (who WOULD pay for this 
   anyway? :) ).  I ain't making a cent out of this and if Taito ain't 
   gunna sue me then you shouldn't bother making my life miserable 
   neither. ^_^;


======================================================================

Table of Contents
-----------------

I. Introduction
   A. What the heck is "Puzzle Bobble"?!
   B. System Requirements
   C. The Final Release
II. Installation
III. Gameplay
   A. Single Player Mode
      1. Basics
      2. Scoring
      3. Cheat
   B. Two Players "Death Match"
      1. Basic Rules
      2. Arenas
IV. Control
   A. Single Player
   B. Two Players
V. Troubleshooting
   A. Known Problems
   B. Performance Issues
      1. Windoze 95
      2. DOS
   C. Other Problems
   D. Technical Support
V. Version Revision
VI. Acknowledgements


======================================================================

I. Introduction
---------------

A. What the heck is "Puzzle Bobble"?!

      Puzzle Bobble is a puzzle/action type arcade game from the folks
   at Taito, who brought us "Bubble Bobble" in the 80's and now put 
   those two playful dinosaurs into this new game.  It is better known
   in North America as "Bust-A-Move" and it has been ported to many 
   console platforms, but no computer version is officially available 
   [yet?].

      For more information on PB/BAM, Carl Chavez <forego19@nwlink.com>
   has compiled an excellent FAQ list; you may download the FAQ at
   http://nwlink.com/~forego19/bb.html.

      The game which you just downloaded, as its name implies, is an
   attempt of a University student to try to recreate the game on 
   computer - for IBM PC and compatibles.  It is by no means superior 
   to the original arcade version and I would be lucky if even half of 
   you thinks this is half-decent, but for those without a Playstation 
   (like me ^_^) or even a SNES version of the game at home, this 
   should be a fun little time-killer.  Considering it's FREE, too. 

B. System Requirements

   The absolute lowest minimum requirements:
      IBM-PC or compatible system with a 80386-SX 25MHZ or better CPU
      450k of available base memory
      VGA compatible video card with at least 256k of video memory
      Running DOS 5.0 or higher

   Recommended:
      IBM-PC or compatible system with a 80486-DX2 66MHZ or better CPU
         (Pentium systems a plus. :) )
      450k of availble base memory
      VESA Local Bus or PCI VGA compatible video card 
      Running DOS 5.0 or higher
         (No Windoze please.)

C. The Final Release

      This beta public release is by no means close to being complete, 
   but most of the basics are there.  The 'official projected release
   date' is 'around September 1996', you may wish to visit the PBClone
   homepage once in a while to check for news updates for the exact
   date and a list of planned additional features or you could email 
   me and add yourself to my mailing list so that I can inform you 
   when the final version is finally here.

   The PBClone homepage: http://www.ecf.toronto.edu/~chanh/bubble.html
   My email address: Otto Chan <chanh@ecf.toronto.edu>


======================================================================

II. Installation
----------------

      The zip file you downloaded (PBC-T829.ZIP) should contain all of
   the following files:

   Filename      Size     Description
   -----------   ------   ----------- 
   README.TXT    xxxxx    This file
   PBC-T829.EXE  36812    Main executable
   ARROWS.CBM    186645   Game data files
   BACK1.PBM     76808
   BLOWUP.RAW    32768
   BORDER.PBM    5212
   BUBBLES.CBM   10640
   LEVELs.DAT    1056
   MIDDLE.PBM    26694
   MONSTER.RAW   8192
   PALETTE.DAT   768   
   VAR6X8.FNT    877

   Simply unzip the zip file into an empty directory, then run 
   PBC-T829.EXE.


======================================================================

III. Gameplay
-------------

   Almost the same as the arcade, what did you expect?

A. Single Player Mode

   1. Basics

      In single player mode, your objective is to clear all the colour
   bubbles in the playfield.  You do so by launching bubbles into the
   playfield from the launcher at the bottom of the screen; when your 
   bubble lands, if a chain of 3 or more bubbles of the same colour as 
   the bubble you launched is made, they will be popped and all the 
   other bubbles around these that are not attached to the top of the 
   playfield anymore will drop out of existence.  When there are no 
   bubbles left in the playfield, you advance to the next level.  But
   when a bubble reaches past the line just above your launcher, you
   lose - and in this beta - simply restarts at that level again.

   NOTE: This beta version only contains 11 single player levels.

      If you take too long to decide where to launch your next bubble,
   the game will tell you to hurry up by beeping at you for 5 times,
   then fire the bubble for you - wherever your launcher may be aimed
   at the moment.

      After you've fired a number of bubbles, the entire playfield 
   will start to fall on you, one row at a time.  You'll know it's 
   coming down on you when the bubbles start to shake slowly, then 
   very quickly.  The number of bubbles you fire before the screen 
   will fall depends on how many different colours of bubbles you
   currently have on the playfield.  Generally, the more colours you
   have, the longer it takes for the screen to drop.

   2. Scoring

      Each popped bubble grants you an additional 10 points, when 
   bubbles are DROPPED, however, refer to the following chart:

   # of Bubbles   Score       # of Bubbles   Score
   ------------  ---------    ------------  ---------
        1         20               10        10240
        2         40               11        20480
        3         80               12        40690
        4         160              13        81920
        5         320              14        163840
        6         640              15        327680
        7         1280             16        655360
        8         2560             17+       1310720
        9         5120

   For example, you popped a chain of 4 blue bubbles, so 4 x 10 = 40
   points; as a result of the popped bubbles 3 more bubbles are 
   dropped, so an additional 80 points is granted, making a total of
   120 points for that move.

   3. Cheat

      A direction tracer 'thingy' is available to you in the arcade on
   the first level you play, or the level you continued at for the
   duration of that one level.  In PBClone, since this IS a beta 
   version, I've decided to let you have the choice of using it or 
   not.  In single player mode, you may toggle the tracer on/off by
   pressing 'H' or the F1 key.  Mind you that this will not work in 2p
   mode and will not be always available in the final version, so 
   don't get too used to using it.

B. Two Players "Death Match"

   1. Basic Rules

      Like in single player mode, you try to clear your playfield as
   much as possible, but your main objective is to 'kill' (I prefer 
   the word 'overwhelm'. :) ) your opponent.  When you pop/drop 
   enough bubbles, penalty bubbles will be added to your opponent's
   "Bubble Stack", then as soon as he/she finishes the next move, the
   panelty bubbles will be released from the 'Stack' to the playfield
   in random locations, in random colours, while you hope that those
   bubbles will ruin your opponent's setup or even kill him/her.

      The exact rules used in this clone may not be identical to the
   ones found in the arcade or other versions, but I believe they're
   "close enough", like the rules in single player mode. :)

      When you POP 4 or more bubbles in a chain, (BubblesPopped - 3)
   bubbles will be added onto your opponent's stack.  And any single
   bubble dropped as a result will add an addtional bubble to the 
   stack.  E.g., player 1 popped 4 bubbles and 2 bubbles are dropped
   because of that, (4 - 3 = 1) bubble is added to the stack, then 
   since 2 bubbles are dropped, 2 more is added to the stack, making
   a total of 3 penalty bubbles in the stack.  As soon as player 2 
   makes/finished the next move, the penalty bubbles will be thrown
   into player 2's playfield, in random locations and random colours.
   In the above example, 3 bubbles of random colours will be thrown
   in.  When the stack has over 10 bubbles (say, 17) stored in it, the
   game will first throw 10 into the playfield, then the remaining 7
   after the vistim makes the next move.

      The stacks and the 'FRAG' status is shown above each player's
   playfield.  You don't really want me to explain what FRAG is, do
   you? :)

   2. Arenas

      In this beta version, the arenas that the players compete in 
   will be 5 full rows of randomly generated numbers.  Bubbles on the 
   left player's playfield will be a mirror image of the right 
   player's and the bubbles fed to the launcher on each side will be 
   identical.


======================================================================

IV. Control
-----------

      Sigh.  No joystick support yet, MAYBE in the final version.  I 
   said MAYBE.  The keys are NOT reconfiguable in this version, but in
   the final version you will have complete control over the keyboard
   layout.

A. Single Player

   Move catapult LEFT           :   Left Arrow 
   Move catapult RIGHT          :   Right Arrow 
   Move catapult towards CENTER :   Up Arrow
   Move Catapult further down
      the current direction     :   Down Arrow
   Fine Tuning 
      (HOLD and move left/right):   Right Shift
   Fire Bubble                  :   Right CTRL
   Direction Tracer Toggle      :   F1 or H
   Quit Game                    :   ESC or Q

B. Two Players

   Quit Game                    :   Still ESC or Q
   Direction Tracer Toggle      :   None, nada, zip

   Left Player - 
   -------------
   Move catapult LEFT           :   C 
   Move catapult RIGHT          :   B 
   Move catapult towards CENTER :   F
   Move Catapult further down
      the current direction     :   V
   Fine Tuning 
      (HOLD and move left/right):   Left Shift
   Fire Bubble                  :   Left CTRL

   Right Player -
   --------------
   Move catapult LEFT           :   Left Arrow 
   Move catapult RIGHT          :   Right Arrow 
   Move catapult towards CENTER :   Up Arrow
   Move Catapult further down
      the current direction     :   Down Arrow
   Fine Tuning 
      (HOLD and move left/right):   Right Shift
   Fire Bubble                  :   Right CTRL


======================================================================

V. Troubleshooting
------------------

A. Known Problems

   Problem : It runs slow as hell under a Windoze DOS Prompt!
   Solution: See Performance:windoze95

   Problem : At the 'Press SPACE to Continue' prompt, if game is left 
             idle for 15 minutes or more at that point, it mysteriously
             freeze my computer as soon as the next level is loaded!
   Solution: No solutions yet. Anybody wanna shed some light on this?

   Problem : In 2p mode, when one side bites the dust and all the 
             bubbles turn grey, the bubbles on the other player's 
             playfield seems to be frozen in time, even the moving 
             ones.
   Solutino: Small 'visual' bugs like these that doesn't directly 
             impede or affect gameplay in anyway are ignored in this
             beta version, these will be fixed in the final version,
             when all the other animations/gfx has been added.

B. Performance Issues

      Before we start - although this game is only running at the
   resolution of 320x240x256, it has to maintain a whooping 60 Frames
   Per Second - in DOS real mode... no DOS extenders... no protected
   mode stuff - as compared to the average 15 to 25 FPS in commercial
   games you find out there.  So while it may seem that it's running 
   far too slower than those commercial games, you should probably 
   understand that I'm not a professional programmer (^_^;) and that
   99% of the game itself is pure C, no ASM optimization, etc - and a
   60 FPS framerate is... a rather HIGH framerate. :)

   1. Windoze 95

      MAJOR slowdown under a DOS Prompt Box, you are advised to 
   Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode (Start | Shut Down | Restart in
   MS-DOS mode).  Or if you absolutely MUST run the game under a DOS
   box, at least make sure Idle Sensitivity is at the lowest setting.

   Rating: Ridiculously slow under a DOS Box, even on my P-133!
           Unplayable under a DOS Box on a 486.

   MS-DOS Mode: See below.

   2. DOS

      Optimal for PBClone, unless you've loaded some considerably 
   weird TSRs (Say, GameWizard? ;) ) there shouldn't be much slowdowns
   unless your hardware isn't up to the recommended requiremets.

   Rating: Ultra smooth on Pentium systems
           Ultra smooth on 486DX2-50 and up
           Varying performances on 486DX33, some can run it at smooth
              60fps no problem; others find it choppy
           Wanna see the game is SLOW motion?  Load it up on a 
              386SX25. :)

   *NOTE: Booting CLEAN may actually improve game performance a bit,
          or at least getting rid of QEMM or EMM386.

C. Other Problems

   Problem : Error message says it can't open the file XXXXXX.XXX
   Solution: Make sure you've unzipped the zip file properly into one
             directory.  If all the files are there, try running a
             disk diagnostic program and see if there's any problem.
             If that doesn't reveal anything, maybe add FILES=20 in 
             your CONFIG.SYS, if that still doesn't fix it, I'll 
             recommend downloading the zip file again and try another
             directory or drive. <G>

   Problem : Error messages says "Insufficient memory in call to..."
   Solution: This beta version needs AT LEAST 450k of base memory
             available, if you're not sure if you have enough, type
             MEM in dos prompt, and look at the line that says 
             "Largest executable program size:" and see how much you
             have.  If you do not have enough base memory, I suggest
             rebooting CLEAN with a bootdisk or bypass any CONFIG.SYS
             and AUTOEXEC.BAT commands at bootup.

   Problem : I CAN'T PASS LEVEL XX!
   Solution: If at first you don't succeed...

D. Technical Support

   Web site: http://www.ecf.toronto.edu/~chanh/bubble.html
      The place to look for news, updates, possible bug fix releases...

   Email address: Otto Chan <chanh@ecf.toronto.edu>
      Ask the guy that wrote this game if all else fails... comments
      are always welcome! :)


======================================================================

V. Version Revision
-------------------

v829 - First 'Public' beta release
     - Added 2p mode
     - More Numerous little bug fixes
     - Added several more levels.  11 in total.

v821 - Graphical launcher
     - Added lots of new graphics and animations
     - Numerous little bug fixes

v814 - Finally gotten 1p game reasonably perfect
     - Used real PB/BAM bubbles with monsters instead of PB2 bubbles
     - First implementation of 'animations' in poping/dropping bubbles
     - Little bug fixes

Earlier versions - not worth mentioning. :)


======================================================================

VI. Acknoledgements
-------------------
   
   Taito - for making the original game and not sueing me yet. 
   Themie Gouthas and others - for XLib v6.0.
   Lee Hamel - for his simple to use keyboard handler.
   X2ftp programming archive - for storing all those useful info.
   Carl Chavez - for his FAQ and answering my questions.
   Acumen Software - a true inspiration ;)
   My Beta Testers - for beta testing and nagging, from day 1. :)
   Guys on rec.games.programmer - for the info and codes posted there!
   And of course, YOU - for trying this out and letting me know what 
                        you think ;)
