BREAKFREE
by Software Storm
Instructions for Play
OBJECT OF GAME
==============
The object of the game is to break free from each level by destroying
all the breakable walls with your fireballs. You have a limited number
of fireballs with which to break out of all the levels in the game.
When you lose the last fireball, the game is over.
GAME ELEMENTS
=============
Walls:
There are many different types of walls in the game, but they fall
into four general categories:
- unbreakable walls. The ball will bounce off these.
- breakable walls. The fireball destroys these.
- power drain walls. These walls consume the fireball.
Usually, power drain walls are behind you.
- special effect walls.
Special Effect Walls:
Some walls have special properties or exhibit special behavior during
play. Usually, these walls are marked, but not always. Some walls
require multiple hits to be destroyed.
Objects:
Some walls release objects when they are destroyed. Some objects are
good - try to catch them. Other objects are bad and should be
avoided. You will have to learn which are which as you play.
Objects also fall into several categories:
- bonus objects. You receive a bonus if you catch these.
- penalty objects. You are penalized if you catch these.
- gun (and ammo). You will be able to shoot if you catch
this. If you catch a second gun, it adds to your ammo count.
- different types of balls. These have interesting effects
in the game that you will have to learn by trying them out.
GAME PLAY
=========
Starting a new game:
To start a new game, choose "NEW GAME" from the Main Menu. You will
be prompted to select from one of three difficulty settings: Easy,
Medium, and Hard. Below are some of the items which vary depending
on the setting:
- number of fireballs you start with
- ball speed
- number of bullets you receive with a gun
Playing:
Launch your fireballs by pressing the space key. Your fireballs and
other objects will bounce off the walls in front of you, and return
towards you. You need to keep your fireballs in play by bouncing
them off an invisible paddle directly in front of you. You must
constantly predict where each fireball will return, and move yourself
to intercept it.
Movement:
During game play, you can move forward, backward, and from side to
side. Moving forward and back is especially important for controlling
where the fireballs will bounce, and thus how long it takes to break
free from a level. You can move with either the arrow keys or the
mouse.
Key Summary:
Arrow keys = move up/back/left/right
+/- keys = resize the main viewscreen
Space = launch more fireballs
S = toggle Sound on/off
W = Warp to a level
Ctrl = fire gun (only if you have a gun)
Esc = show the Main Menu
F1 = show these help screens
Screen:
The top of the screen has the main viewscreen, where the game action
takes place. Located at the bottom of the screen are several fields
which indicate your current play status:
+--------+ +-------------------+ +-----+ +-----+ +--------+
| ammo | | level name | |lev.#| |timer| | |
| count | +-------------------+ +-----+ +-----+ | |
| | +----------+ +--------------+ | |
| weapon | | SCORE | | score | S S I | radar |
| | +----------+ +--------------+ | |
| | +-----------------------------------+ | |
| | | fireballs remaining and in play | | |
+--------+ +-----------------------------------+ +--------+
- ammo count/weapon. Shows gun (if any) and ammo remaining.
- level name. This is used for warping.
- level number.
- timer. This shows the time remaining to complete the level. You
get bonus points for completing a level before the timer runs out.
- score.
- fireballs remaining. Empty circles are balls currently in play.
- radar. This displays an overhead view of the current level.
Colors in the radar indicate different items:
dark red = unbreakable walls
light red = breakable walls
dark grey = power drain walls
yellow = fireballs in play
green = you
Watch the radar to keep track of the fireball when it goes out of
view on the main viewscreen!
Shooting:
On some levels, guns and ammo can be found. In order to get a gun
you must capture it (similar to the other bonus objects). Once you
have a gun, use the Ctrl key to shoot. Be careful, because your
first inclination is to use the space bar, which will launch
fireballs instead.
Use your ammunition wisely. It can be carried over from level to
level, and you can save it for hard-to-get walls.
Pausing:
If for some reason you get interrupted while playing the game, or
just need to stop and collect your thoughts, you can pause the game
by pressing the Esc (escape) key to get to the Main Menu. From the
Main Menu you can continue playing exactly where you left off by
selecting the RESUME GAME option.
Scoring:
You get points for every wall that you destroy. The number of points
per wall increases with higher levels. Therefore, you can warp past
some of the beginning levels and still get a high score.
When you complete a level, you get a bonus for the balls that are
still in play, and for any time remaining on the timer.
Warping:
Every level has a name. When you get to each level, write down the
level's name. Using the name, you can warp to that level any time
you want.
Often you will want to start a new game (to establish the difficulty
setting), then warp directly to a level to keep playing where you
left off.
Winning:
If you can break free from all the levels with your fireballs and
other items you find along the way, you have escaped and you win the
game! Even if you don't finish all the levels, you may get a score
which is one of the greatest of all time. If so, at the end of the
game you will be asked for your name, to go on the high score list.
You may view the high score list at any time by selecting
SHOW HIGH SCORES from the Main Menu.
HINTS AND TIPS
==============
* A good way to control the ball is by is by hitting the edges of the
paddle. For example, if you hit the ball on the left side of the
paddle (the left side of the main viewscreen), the ball will bounce
more towards the left.
* You may launch a ball even if you already have one in play.
Sometimes it is usefull to finish off a level faster by having more
than one ball in play. But be warned, it is VERY difficult to keep
multiple balls in play for a long period of time. (Hint: you might
to do this only when you are almost finished with a level.)
* You get a bonus for each ball still in play at the end of each level.
Plus, each ball is added to your fireballs remaining.
* Pay attention to the radar to keep track of where the ball is. The
fireball can go behind walls and come out on the other side.
Sometimes, the ball will change direction when you can't see it. It
is generally a good idea to watch the radar whenever the ball goes
out of view on the main viewscreen.
* Move forward and back to control where the fireball bounces. This
is the key to finishing levels before the time runs out. Often, as
you get to the end of a level, there are just one or two hard-to-get
walls left. By moving forward and back, you have much more control
of where the fireball will bounce. For example, in the case below
where there is a single block left in the corner, and the ball has
just bounced off the back wall, then if you stay at the back of the
level, the ball will bounce off the paddle and miss the block. (see
below)
+-------------------+ +-------------------+
|[] / \ | |[] |
| * \ | | * |
| | | / / |
| | | / / |
| | | \ / |
| | | \ / |
| | | \ / |
| | | \/ |
| -- | | -- |
However, if you move up to intercept the ball, you can reflect it
directly at the remaining block. (see below)
+-------------------+ +-------------------+
|[] / \ | |[] |
| * \ | | * / |
| | | \ / |
| | | \ / |
| | | \/ |
| | | -- |
| | | |
| | | |
| __ | | |
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
BreakFree requires 540,000 (528K) bytes of free conventional memory.
BreakFree will detect how much memory you have when it starts. If it
detects that you do not have enough, it will ask you if you would
like to: 1) continue anyway, 2) continue without digital sounds, or
3) abort loading the game. Since the levels in BreakFree require
different amounts of memory, you may be able to play some levels even
if you don't have the full 540,000 (528K) bytes required by the largest
level. If you want to try, select number 1. The digital sounds in
BreakFree require about 40,000 (39K) bytes of memory. If you don't have
enough free memory, you can select option 2 to run the game without
digital sounds. The game will still use the PC speaker sounds.
BreakFree uses 256-color VGA graphics, and can use a SoundBlaster or
compatible sound card. To use a SoundBlaster or compatible sound
card, you must the BLASTER DOS environment variable set. When you
installed your sound card, it should have put a command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the interrupt, I/O, and DMA settings for the
card. See the troubleshooting section of these instructions for more
help in configuring your environment so that BreakFree can use your
sound card.
Machine Speed:
We recommend a 20 Mhz 386 system or faster for best results in
playing BreakFree. However, there are a few things you can do to
make the game more playable on a slower machine:
- resize the viewscreen smaller
- use the mouse instead of the keyboard for smoother movement
control
TROUBLESHOOTING
===============
Error Messages:
There are only a few error messages which might be displayed during
the game. If you are attempting to warp to a level, and you get the
message "Could not find level", try warping again, checking to make
sure that you spell the destination level name correctly. If you get
the message again, you may have written the level name down wrong.
If the game suddenly exits, and prints a "Critical Error" message,
then something has happened from which the game could not recover.
VERY often, the critical error will be a failure to allocate memory.
If this happens, then you should try to get more free conventional
memory, and run the game again.
How to get more free conventional memory:
Use the DOS MEM command to see how much free memory you have. Type
"MEM" at the DOS command prompt. If you are running MSDOS, there
should be a line telling you the size of the largest executable
program that can be run. If you are running Novell DOS 7.0 or DRDOS,
this will be listed as "available" conventional memory. If
necessary, unload TSRs or use a floppy boot disk to make more memory
available before playing.
Sound problems:
If you have a SoundBlaster or compatible sound card, but the game
does not play digital sounds (either the game produces no sound at
all, or only produces sounds through the PC speaker), then you may
not have your sound card configured properly, or you may not have
your BLASTER environment variable set.
Type SET at the DOS command prompt, and you will see a list of DOS
environment variables. You should see a line starting with
"BLASTER=", followed by some settings, like "A220 D1 I7". These
settings indicate the I/O port, the DMA channel, and the interrupt
number for your sound card. If you do not have an environment
variable like this, then you will need to set one in order for
BreakFree to use your sound card. When your sound card was
installed, it was configured with an I/O port, a DMA channel and an
interrupt number (IRQ). If you know what these options are, you can
use the DOS SET command to create a DOS environment variable which
BreakFree can use.
For example, if your sound card is at I/O port 220 (hex), uses DMA
channel 1 and interrupt (IRQ) number 7, then you should type
SET BLASTER=A220 D1 I7
at the DOS command prompt. If you place this line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file, it will be set every time you start your computer.
Power Management:
If you are using Power Management Software, such as POWER.EXE or
POWER.SYS, then the game may pause between keystrokes. If a keystroke
starts the game again, then power management is probably the problem.
Turn power management off to play BREAKFREE.
ORDERING THE RETAIL VERSION
===========================
We hope you enjoy playing this registered version of BreakFree. If
you have obtained this version without paying for it, we ask that
you please do so using the form below. There is a shareware version
of BreakFree that you can play freely. However, this help file should
have accompanied the registered version. Without your support, we
cannot continue to develop great shareware games.
To order BreakFree send $14.95, plus $3.00 shipping and handling to:
Software Storm
P.O. Box 2029
Orem, UT 84059
Please print and fill out the Software Storm order form and send
it with your order. The order form is in the file ORDER.FRM, and
at the end of this HELP.TXT file (see below).
Thanks!!
SOFTWARE STORM ORDER FORM
Name _______________________________________________________________________
Address ____________________________________________________________________
City _________________________ State/Province __________ ZIP _______________
Country (if not USA) ____________________ Phone/Fax ________________________
Please send me BreakFree, for $14.95.
Disk size: [ ] 3.5 inch diskette [ ] 5.25 inch diskette
Quantity: _____ X $14.95 = $___________
Shipping and Handling: $___________
U.S. orders add $3.
All others add $5.
Total amount enclosed: $___________
Please send check or money order, payable to "Software Storm",
with this order form to:
Software Storm
P.O. Box 2029
Orem, UT 84059
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.
*** Thank you! *************************************************************
We'd like to know more about you:
Is this your first order with Software Storm? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Where did you find this game?
[ ] BBS name: ____________________ phone: ______________
[ ] Information Service (CompuServe, etc.) name: ____________________
[ ] friend
[ ] retail store name: ____________________
[ ] other ______________
Have you purchased any other shareware software? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Computer: [ ] 286 [ ] 386 [ ] 486 [ ] Pentium/586
Processor speed (in MHZ): [ ] 12 [ ] 16 [ ] 20 [ ] 25
[ ] 33 [ ] 50 [ ] 66 [ ] 99 or greater (wow!)
bfr10a
============================================================================
To print these help instructions, with the oder form, type:
COPY HELP.TXT PRN:
