BOMBS AND BUGS
from AWKWARD Software
distributed by KCM Media

Coding by Stefan Eilert
Graphics by Hendrik Dijkstra and Stefan Eilert

Many thanks to:
---------------
- Shawn Hargreaves for 'Allegro'
  (http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/)
- DJ Delorie for DJGPP V2
  (http://www.delorie.com/)
- Charles W Sandmann for CWSDPMI
  (ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/djgpp/v2misc/)
- KCM Media
  (http://www.kcm.de/)
- WWW.SHAREWARE.DE
  (Our home and the home of many German shareware authors)

This is the full release version of 'Bombs and Bugs'. You are not allowed
to copy or modifiy any parts of it (special rules apply for CWSDPMI; take
a look at the above website for more information).

Hello!
======
Thank you for purchasing 'Bombs and Bugs'. We hope you like as as much as we
do!

Table of contents
-----------------
1.0 Summary
 1.1 System requirements
2.0 Gameplay
 2.1 Power-Ups
 2.2 Controls
3.0 The startup screen
 3.1 The options screen
4.0 Known problems
5.0 How to contact us
6.0 The end

1.0 Summary
-----------
This is a little game for up to four players on one computer. It is about
four little bugs who are trying to blast one another to pieces. That
sounds not very nice. It isn't nice at all. But it is fun!

1.2 System requirements
-----------------------
The following configuration is needed to play 'Bombs and Bugs':
486 or better
4MB RAM or more
at least 1MB free harddisk space (2MB with logo-animation)
VGA graphics adapter or better
Not needed but recommended:
SoundBlaster compatible soundcard
One or two gamepads/joysticks
A few good friends.

2.0 Gameplay
------------
The playing field contains solid stones and stones which can be destroyed.
When such a block is blown away it sometimes reveals a power-up in order
to boost our little bugs.
When an explosion catches a bug he is killed. All his remaining power-ups
will fly then around the screen and with some luck, land somewhere.
When the last two bugs are killed at the same time, it is a draw. The
winner is the last bug standing. He gets five points. The player with the
most points wins the championship after a certain number of rounds.
The bomb placing has some rules:
- You cannot step over bombs. This is nice to capture enemies. Bugs which
  stand on a tile where a bomb is placed can of course still move away.
- All bombs are time bombs. The ignition point can be regulated with
  power-ups.
- When a bomb is caught in a detonation it will explode, too.
- Bombs do not kill bugs only, they also destroy power-ups. You can lose
  friends by destroying speed-ups...
- The time your bug needs to place a new bomb can be shortened with a
  power-up.
For everybody who knows the video game: There are two important
differences:
- It is not restricted how many bombs you could place at a time, but
  how long it takes to place a new one.
- An explosion does not only destroy one stone, but every stone within
  its range.

2.1 Power-Ups
-------------
Yellow star:
 It makes explosions bigger. If you get seven of it, the explosion is as
 big as the screen.
Black bomb:
 The time your bug need to place a new bomb gets shorter. You start with
 five seconds, after five black bombs you can always drop a bomb.
Clock with a minus:
 The 'fuse' gets shorter. At start a bomb needs five seconds to explode,
 every power-up makes it one second faster. The minimum is one second.
Clock with a plus:
 The 'fuse' gets longer: This increases the ignition point by one second,
 the longest time is nine seconds.
Shield:
 The bug can survive one explosion. It can carry up to five shields at
 once.
Grinning face:
 All power-ups are gone.
Arrow:
 Speed-up for the bug; only one allowed.

(The status of these power-ups (execpt speed-up) can be watched at the
bars on the right side of the screen below the bug-faces in the
following order: explosion size, time it takes to place a new bomb,
length of fuse and number of shields.)

2.2 Controls
------------
Player one:
 Controls the orange bug with the keyboard ('w'= up, 'd'= right,
 's'= down, 'a'= left, 'g'= drop bomb).
Player two:
 Controls the grey bug also with keyboard (cursor-keys and return/enter).
Player three:
 Controls the green bug with gamepad/joystick.
Player four:
 Controls the blue bug with a second gamepad/stick.
Attention: The pads/sticks have to be plugged in at the start of the
 game, otherwise they will not be detected and the third and fourth bug
 cannot be used.

3.0 The startup screen
----------------------
F1-F4:
 Activate bugs; you must activate at least two or the game will not
 start. If you select a face with a small 'CPU'-sign in the right upper
 corner the computer takes controll over this bugs. But remember, this
 is still beta, so don't expect too much.
F5:
 The options screen.
F10:
 Start game.
ESC:
 Quit game. (Can also be pressed during the game.)

3.1 The options screen
----------------------
F1:
 Toggle between classic corner start positions or the new random ones.
F2:
 Choose whether you like debris flying around or not.
F3:
 If this is on, it causes the screen to shake during big explosions.
F5:
 Number of rounds; five to 25, in steps of five
F6:
 Choose background-graphics; a question mark uses a random graphic for
 every round.
F7:
 You can choose between no timelimit or an amount of one to five minutes.
 If the time expires all bugs start laying bombs automaticly to force the
 end of the round.

4.0 Known problems
------------------
It works on my computer :-). If someone has problems, please contact me
with the exact problem-description. If there appear any problems when
running under Windows, please try pure DOS.

Question: When I start 'Bombs and Bugs' with a double-click under Windows95
  the sound does not work.
Answer: Sometimes Windows plays a sound whenever you start a programm.
  If this sound is still running when 'Bombs and Bugs' tries to recognize
  the soundcard, an error message appears. Better start the game off a
  DOS-Box, or run it under pure MS-DOS by quitting Windows.

Question: Sometimes, when I play against the computer-controlled bugs, the
  game slows down.
Answer: This is a bug in the AI. We work on this problem. If the game
  is too slow on your computer, play it against a couple of friends - it's
  much more fun anyway.

Question: Whenever I try to run 'Bombs and Bugs' off a floppy-disk, it
  crashes.
Answer: Well, just copy all files to a directory of your choice on your
  hard-disk, this should solve the problem. Use 'install.bat' for this, or
  copy the files yourself.

5.0 Contact
-----------
Postal address:
AWKWARD-Software
Stefan Eilert
In den Heidekaempen 44
49088 Osnabrueck
Germany

World Wide Web:
E-Mail: awkward@shareware.de
Homepage: http://www.shareware.de/autoren/awkward

6.0 The end
-----------
Any tips, problems, questions or bug reports?
Contact us at the above address/e-mail! We will try to help you!

Have fun,
Stefan Eilert and Hendrik Dijkstra
(AWKWARD-Software)