**********************************Pong Worz***************************V.1.1**** 
***********************************************by Lachie D.(KENTAURI) 2002.***


Table of Contents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 - About The Game
2.0 - Running The Game
   2.1 - Requirements
   2.2 - How To Play
3.0 - The FAQ 
4.0 - Credits
5.0 - Designer rambling 'bout making this game
6.0 - Version update
7.0 - Contact
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.0.About The Game
==================
Pong Worz is another variation of classic pong game.
This pong game introduces many new features into classic pong concept
and offers several game modes.

You have totaly 4 game modes to play including classic pong mode.
In Pong Worz you'll be able to use weapons,control different type of
paddles,play with two balls,pickup powerups and experience other
interesting features like paddles moving with acceleration and inertia.

I hope I brought new ideas in pong game concept that are never seen
before.Overall it's an above averege pong game.

Pong Worz is coded in QBasic using Rellib,a QBasic library by R.E.Lope
which uses a lot of assembler code.

This game is FREEWARE.

2.0.Running The Game
====================
You run this game with PONGWORZ.EXE.
                
2.1.Requirements
================
You need a 386 or higher to run this game.Engine of this game is tested in
all Windows versions(and XP) and nobody reported serious bugs.It's best
that you run this game from MS-DOS.

2.2.How To Play
===============

All options of this game are described in instructions.Please read them
completely.All I can add is some comments on the AI and challenge.

This pong game has specific physics mostly related to ball inertia.
You pass the inertia from the paddle to ball and you must use that
fact while playing the game in order to accelerate the ball or change it's
direction.Sometimes ball will bounce in same pattern over and over if you 
don't do anything to change it.Computer player sure won't try to do 
something about it.

What is tipical for Pong Worz is that it's hard to lose but it's equaly
hard to score a point.

Playing agains another player might be a drag but with two balls it's
possible to win a game even against motivated human opponent.

Also I reccoment that you play tournament mode with moving objects
since it's good for the gameplay and it gives you more chance to beat
the opponent.

Ingame options:

Press M to toggle sound on/off or press TAB to diactivate the speed 
reducer(use it only on 386).


3.0.FAQ
=======
Why can't I play tournament mode with two balls?
------------------------------------------------
Then it's too easy to beat the opponent.Let's say it's a 
tournament rule.

Are there sound blaster sounds in Pong Worz?
--------------------------------------------
Only PC SPEAKER sounds.I tried to make them interesting.
If you ask me I enjoy playing with sound in all modes except in
asterioid blast.There they are annoying.

Game is too difficult and a drag.
---------------------------------
Well I don't think it's only a problem of Pong Worz.It's simply the bad 
side of pong game concept.Pong Worz has a bit tedious physics but here 
you simply have to give more effort if you want to score a point.

Why there is not 4 paddle mode in this game or more than two balls mode?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes,yes I know.There is allways room for more features and modes.I simply
set the boundaries of Pong Worz and coded them.Anyway,I don't think that 
some other features would work in current physics model so I just left it 
how I imagined it originaly.
All in all I think Pong Worz is quite interesting and original pong game.

Why there is not more matches in tournament mode,more ships,weapons?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cause that was not my goal and it is beyond my amount of free time.
Have in mind that this is just a pong game not a large scaled,ship
battle game.Give me some slack here.

Sometimes ball bounces inside the paddle.What's up with that?
-------------------------------------------------------------
Yes,that is a bug.I had problem using sprite collision in this game
so I used classic pixel distances method.Cause of that sometimes when
you hit the ball with the paddle side edge ball enters the paddle and
bounces inside of it.Accutaly I find this to be amusing bug since the
ball allways gets out of the paddle very fast and can have direction 
in both ways.Great for suspension!

4.0.Credits
===========
Game idea,concept and design : Dean Janjic(a.k.a. Lachie Dazdarian)
Programming : Dean Janjic
Graphic : Dean Janjic
Level Design : Dean Janjic
Main Game Font : Chris Chadwick
Original engine : R.E.Lope

5.0.Designer blabing bout making this game
==========================================

After releasing Dark Quest and Run 'Em Over I got soon occupied with my
new project,Ignition.Coding went good and initial tiles came out nice.
I did a lot of improvement in the engine code,made a lot of layers for
explosions and projectiles.My classes were about to start and Ignition
looked so big now.It was a huge job ahead of me and I was not so in the
mood to work on another large project with very limited free time.

I needed something to relax myself.

Thinking about a new small project brought me to pong game idea.
It was something great for me.Sprites and tiles will be an easy job since
almost all 2D pong games have horrible graphic and coding is peace of cake
esspecialy with my new layers which can be used in all kind of games
with explosions and projectiles.

And it is a very gratefull project since there is no many quality
2D pong games to compete with.

Anyway in the next 4 days before the classes and in the next two
weekends after game was completed.I am completely happy with the result 
and I hope I'll get a better feedback and more reviews with this game since 
it is something new and original.Well I hope so.I didn't played all pong
games ever made so I can't be sure.

6.0.Version update(22.10.2002)
==============================
Only bug fixes and nitpicks.I'm sure you didn't expected nothing more 
since I released the game two days ago.
Again I missed few errors in the code and noticed them today.Hopefully
one day I'll release completely bug free game.
Anyway the changes/bug fixes are:
-victory sound is added when you win a match in tournament mode
-added more ammo in asteroid blast
-fixed the bug when the winner of a round gets one more point in
 the total number of points;did not had an influence on the game but
 it messed up the overall impression(in short,I WANNA BE PERFECT!)
-compiled the game outside QB IDE and got better speed on slow 
 PCs like 386
-pointed out in instructions on which side is player 1 and on which
 side is player 2
-corrected some typos in readme file and corrected the date on the end
 of it

7.0.Contact
===========
My email:lachie13@yahoo.com
KENTAURI website:www10.brinkster.com/lachied

Feel free to email me bout anything concerning my games and game design
in general.Comments,bug reports and such are welcomed.You can also use 
KENTAURI forum if you please.


---Lachie Dazdarian, 22.10.2002.









