The End To End All Ends Essay (стр. 1 из 2)

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–== Welcome to the ‘Worminator’ v1.0 ReadMe ==–

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Note: This game, Worminator, is Copyright 2000 by David Layne. All artwork in this game is original and is either Copyright 2000 by Keith Palmer or Copyright 2000 by Jeff Nielson. All graphical content in this game is completely original, and you do not have permission to use any artwork from this game without permission from a member of the Worminator Team. See the end of this document for contact information. The sound used in this game was obtained off sites on the internet (mostly meanrabbit sound archive) and a sound effects CD that I own. I beleive that none of these sounds are copyrighted. If they are, please contact me ASAP and I will remove any copyrighted content immediately. All music in this game was composed by Garret Thomson, who holds the copyright on them. All programming in this game was done by David Layne, and only the Allegro library samples wer used as a base. This was compiled with the free DJGPP compiler, which means that this game was developed completely with free tools, so that we may in turn pass on these savings to you by offering the game totally free.

WARNING, Disclaimer: This software is provided ‘as is’ with no warranty of any kind. No member of the Worminator Team may be held in any way responsible for any damage caused by this program. Use this software at your own risk.

WARNING: You may not sell Worminator or anything created specifically for use with Worminator, nor may you profit directly or indirectly in any way from Worminator without written permission from David Layne (DML1001@aol.com) and Keith Palmer (Superwormy@hotmail.com).

In addition: Worminator is not officially rated by any game rating system, but it is the judgement of the Worminator Team members that this game, Worminator, should probabaly not be played by those under 13 or those opposed to graphic violence. Use your own discression while playing, and please don’t try to hold us resposible if you have a problem with the game. Just don’t play it! That said, however, compared to most computer games avalible today, Worminator’s violence is mild and should not pose a problem to most players.

DO NOT seperate this ReadMe.txt file from the Worminator package, or alter this file in any way!

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–== About Our Company, Electroencephalogram Productions ==–

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The Worminator Team refers to our collective whole as Electroencephalogram Productions. We first chose this name in 1995, and we hope it does not violate anyone’s copyrights or anything like that. If so, please tell us so we can change it, but I dobut that anyone else is freaky enough to pick a name like Electroencphalogram. That said, our logo is a a cool pink brain with spinal cord/nerve endings attatched, which is also featured as a playable character in Worminator. Our logo movies usually feature some kind of brain being destroyed by an electral charge, as in the company logo movie included in Worminator.

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–== Story ==–

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The Story Up Until Now…

The year is 2028, 14 years after the start of the deadliest war in the history of worm kind. Much has changed… In the year 2012; a brilliant American scientist discovered how to make W.O.R.M. (Wormborg Operated Remote Missile) Weaponry, and to work them, the “WormBorgs” cyborg fighting machines. These so called “WormBorgs” were the elite fighting force and the pride of the United Worms of America. Their life-like roles soon became far too life-like. They thought on their own, and acted on their own whims, under their own leader “DirtNet.” No one exactly knows who or what “DirtNet” is, but it soon began to take over. First, it launched the W.O.R.M.s at the Woroviet Union, in the hopes that they would retaliate and initiate a war between the Woroviet Union and the UWA. However, “DirtNet” obviously had a few bugs to work out, and the W.S.S.R was obliterated into millions of radioactive hunks of mud and dirt. Despite the fact that no one liked Wormunism anyway, all of Wormurope retaliated against the UWA. Soon, the world was turned into a nuclear wasteland. Nuke drops became daily ordeals, and the giant bombs turning whole forests into matchsticks was to be expected. As if the sewers weren’t loaded with enough mutated alligators as it was, the hunks of radioactive material combined with the primordial soup of the sewers are said to have created blobs of sewage ooze, powerful enough that they fed off the mutated alligators for lunch. After what was left of Wormurope had realized what tricks had been played on them by “DirtNet,” they began to rally and fight back. For 8 years, the WormBorgs dominated the lands, crushing the rebels… until one faithful day, when the now famous rebel hero emerged. It was Wrom Conner. No longer acting as individual factions, countries or nations, the rebels struck quickly and fiercely under Wrom’s command, using tactics that even the powerful W-1000’s processors’ could not predict. The tide of the war had turned. Over the next 5 years, the rebels devastated the WormBorgs. Using guerilla tactics and reprogrammed WormBorgs to fight for them, the rebels were a resourceful army indeed. Now, in desperation, “DirtNet” has just brought its proto-type WormBorg online, equipped with the latest in armor and weaponry, in one last attempt to regain control…

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–== Features ==–

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-Fast, fluid scrolling

-9 unique weapons, and 8 different weapon types

-Lots of gibs and shrapnel (all cartoonish, though)

-Visible character damage (as you get hurt, the Worminator actually becomes bloody)

-Visible weapons (every weapon actually appears differently on the Worminator. Most platform games have a single weapon graphic that shoots every type of projectile)

-Over 8 fully animated enemies

-Comes with over 6 levels, and a level editor is included so you can make your own

-Keycards, doors, special items, switches, lever, extending bridges, floating platforms, and more!

-Earthquakes rip the ground apart, while snow and rain fall around you

-Great MIDI tunes by Garret Thomson (garret_t@sympatico.ca, www.sirsonic.com)

-Many sound effects (All from internet sites such as ‘Sound America’ and ‘Meanrabbit’. Let me know if there are any copyright problems, and I will deal with them immediately)

-Parallax scrolling, plus four data layers in every map. This makes the engine very flexible

-Game includes a campaign game with special scripted events, as well as an option to load custom maps

-Stereo sound effects (where avalible)

-Limited ’skins’ support; you can play as different characters!

-Built using Allegro + DJGPP. Source code may be made avalible if the demand is there

-If you wish to use the ‘Worminator engine’, contact me and we will discuss it (I would never charge any money for it, so if your interested, drop me an email. You have nothing to loose)

-Totally Freeware!

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–== System Requirements ==–

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Worminator was made with Allegro, and compiled with the DJGPP compiler. This means that Worminator is technically a DOS game, but it works fine under Windows 95 and Windows 98 in almost all cases. Worminator has been known to run reasonably well on Windows NT and Windows 2000 as well, but there may be sound and video problems due to Windows NT/2000’s poor DOS emulation. The recommended system setup to run Worminator is listed below:

-Pentium 133 MHz or higher

-Windows 98 (or 95, and possibly NT and 2000)

-16 megs RAM

-Creative Labs compatable sound card with DOS drivers or emulation

-Most video cards will work fine (if not, try pressing 1 or 2 on startup to change modes)

-Keyboard and Mouse required, but should not be a problem at all

-about 20 megs of hard drive space

If you have a machine like the one described above, they you should be all set. Worminator adapts to your computer’s speed, so it should run perfectly well on much faster computers such as 800 MHz Pentium III systems. Once again, Worminator is not technically supported, so if you have any problems, you are essentially on your own. However, if you encounter major problems, drop me an e-mail at DML1001@aol.com and I may be able to help you out.

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–== Installation ==–

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Worminator comes packed in a zip file. In order to extract the game and play it, you will need a utility that can decompress zip files. I recommend getting winzip at www.winzip.com to extract the zip file. Extract all the files into a clean directory, and then simply run worm.exe to play the game. All options that can be changed such as music volume and sound card settings can be changed by editing the worm.cfg file.

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–== Controls ==–

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You must use the keyboard to move the Worminator around the enviornments in the game. The worminator can perform many actions such as jumping, shooting, and looking up and down. Some of these actions can be performed by a single key press, while others require combinations of two keys. Below, you will find a list of how to perform every action that the Worminator can in the game.

Move left/right – Arrow keys

Jump – Control key

Shoot – Spacebar or Alt

Select weapons – Number keys

Swim around – Arrow keys (Note: to get out of the water, swim up at the surface and press the jump key)

Look up/down – Shift key + Up or Down arrow key. You may only look while standing still or shooting

Enter tunnel – Up arrow key

Drop down ladder/ledge – Down arrow key + Control key

The following are shortcut and special function keys…

Display General Help – F1

Quick Save – F2

Quick Load – F3

Start New Game – F4

Quick Quit Game – F10

Load Custom Map – F12

In addition, pressing the ESC key on your keyboard will pause the game and return you to the main menu screen, where you can save your game or quit if you wish.

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–== Gameplay ==–

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The basic concept of Worminator is very simple; make your way out of the level you are in while getting as many points as possible. Actually accomplishing this is another matter. The levels in Worminator are lined with acid pits, spikes, monsters of all kinds, conveyor belts, crushing columns, and much more! This section gives you some basic background information on the game, and will help you get started if you have never played a sidescroller before.

The status bar – Along the right side of the screen in Worminator, you will find the status bar. This is the place that displays almost all the information you will need to play the game. The red bars going up the left side of the status bar indicate the amount of health that the Worminator has. The more red bars, the better. Once all ten health bars are gone, you are dead and must restart the level or load a saved game. To the right of the health bars is the weapons display are. Here, any guns you currently carry will be highlighted in red, and the current ammo count for the weapon you are currently carrying will be displayed in the little white box. To tell what weapon you have selected, simply look at the Worminator and see what he is holding. The keycard display is just above the weapons area. As you collect keys, little colored lights will fill up the white boxes. The color of the light indicates the color of the keycards you carry. Note that when you walk up to a locked door, it will automatically open if you have the correct color keycard, and then you will loose the used keycard. In order to open another locked door of the same color, seek out another keycard. On the very top of the status bar, there is a picture of the Worminator’s face. As you take damage, the face will appear damaged as well. The final thing that is displayed on the status bar is your current point total. This is loacted at the very bottom of the status bar.

Points – Points are awarded for almost everything in Worminator. Every enemy you kill, every bullet you pick up, and every health kit you grab will give you some points. In addition, there are four other items that award large point values, such as a soda six pack and some doughnuts. Also, in every level, the letters W, O, R, and M are hidden somewhere. Alone, each letter gives you five hundred points, but if you pick up them in the correct order, you will get a special bonus.

Health – As noted previously, you have ten health bars in Worminator, and you will die when they are all used up. Luckly, however, there are often health kits lying around that allow you to recharge some of the Worminator’s health. These health packs will award one, two, five, or ten health bars, depending on the size of the health pack. Watch your health bars carefully, and save health packs for when you really need them.

Weapons – There are nine unique weapons in Worminator. To pick up a weapon, simply walk over it. If you pick up a weapon and have no weapon already selected, that weapon will be readied for use. If not, its icon will light up on the status bar, and it will be added to your inventory. A text message will inform you of the type of weapon you have picked up in the game to avoid confusion. To seleat weapons, simply use the number keys on your keyboard. Pressing one selects no weapon, pressing two selects the minigun, etc… In addition to weapons, there are also ammo packs that provide more ammo for different weapons. These come in two sizes, and they are different for each weapon. For example, the rocket launcher fires rockets while the flame thrower burns gasoline. Note that you can not pick up ammo for a weapon that you do not currently carry.

Enemies – Worminator is loaded with enemies of all sizes. Most can be killed, but a very few can not. Be careful, and be ready to face anything. The majority of enemies fit into one of the following categories; rebel worm enemies, robotic enemies, or mutant enemies.

Death and Dying – When you run out of health, the Worminator will die. At that point, the level will restart and your inventory will be erased. All of the levels are still beatable starting with no weapons or ammo, but they are also much harder and if you are having trouble, I suggest you frecuently save your game. Also, note that there is no ‘lives’ limit in Worminator, so you can keep dying and restarting as many times as you need to.

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–== Enemies ==–

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During the course of its adventures, the Worminator will encounter hundreds of enemies, all belong to a few specific types. Below, you will find descriptions of several different enemies, as well as strategic information on them. However, we have intentionally left some enemies undocumented so that they will surprise you while you are playing. Note that every enemy is unique, and enemies each have different ways of attacking you. Some enemies will shoot at you from a distance, while others are electrified and will damage you if they touch you. Some enemies are immobile, while others can almost outrun the Worminator! Be careful, and be ready for just about anything.

Flying Probes – These little robots fly around on pre-set tracks and shoot at you with their laser guns. They also have an electrified shell which causes damage to the Worminator if they come into contact with him. Therefore, you should try to snipe at probes from a distance and avoid walking along their tracks unless you are sure that you can get out of the way in time. Luclky, these enemies are fairly weak and can be destroyed without too much effort.

Robotic Dogs – You have probabaly seen the laws of life on tv before… you know, the things that they use to pry crashed cars apart with. Well, these dogs have the jaws of death. Get near these robotic K-9 fiends, and they will take a nice bite of wormflesh, costing you a bit of health. Robotic Dogs have moderate armor, so it will take you at least two rockets to bring them down.

Gumdrops – This bizzare mutant creatures have been spawned by all the lingering radiation in the atmosphere. They look like little red dome shaped blobs, and they slither around at an impressive pace. Be careful not to get too near these little beasts, because they are highly toxic and can sap away your health points fairly quickly. Despite the danger, these enemies are also the easiest enemies to kill that you will encounter in the entire game. However, this also means that they are quite common, especially in sewers and other mucky places.

Rebel Worms – These few surviving organic worms were dedicated to fighting against all the Worminators in the great war. Now, you are the only Worminator left, so the rebels are completely commited to your destruction to complete their final victory over the Worminators. There are four seperate types of rebel worms, including laser rebel worms, rocket rebel worms, and two other undisclosed warriors that you will have to observe for yourself.

More, More, More… – There are plenty more creatures to discover in Worminator. Explore and have fun, and remeber that you can always load your game if you run into anything especially nasty