The Solar Hockey League - A game by Harm Hanemaayer and John Remyn
Copyright 1992 Galifir Developments. Version 1.1.
A challenging future hockey game, with fast and smooth action, and crisp
graphics. You can play against a friend, one of the computer teams, or try
to win the Solar Hockey League itself.
This game is shareware. You are encouraged to freely copy and distribute it,
provided that no fee is charged beyond normal media duplication and shipping
costs, and that no changes are made to the distribution archive contents.
If you like this game, you are strongly encouraged to register it. You will
receive the latest registered version of the game (which has additional
graphics), along with a number of other (unregistered) games by the authors,
on diskette.
For further information see the end of this file and the file ORDER.FRM.
---- Hardware Requirements ---------------------------------------------------
EGA or VGA compatible card recommended, CGA works also
128K of free conventional memory
DOS v2.0 or greater
Disclaimer:
This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of
any kind. In no event will the authors be liable to you for any
damages.
---- Quick Evaluation --------------------------------------------------------
Run hockey.com. In the main menu, press 1 to change your opponent, which
defaults to a human player. The other names are computer teams. Press 3 to
start the game. Play using cursor keys to move the player nearest to the disc,
and ENTER to fire. You play from right to left.
---- Installing & Configuring ------------------------------------------------
Just put all files in the archive (or on the distribution diskette) in a
directory on hard or floppy disk, which you will probably already have done.
The files require 65K of free disk space.
Now make that directory the current directory and type: hockey <enter>, and
the program will run or it won't (which probably means you do not have an EGA
compatible card).
If you want to change the control keys for both teams, run the configuration
program config.exe. Note that some keyboards have problems with certain
combinations of simultaneously pressed keys.
---- The Story ---------------------------------------------------------------
After the latter half of the 21st century, which had North America playing a
very minor role both politically and economically, there was a worldwide
(solar-system-wide actually) revival of ancient North American sports in the
22nd century, most notably of ice hockey. But in accordance with the true
spirit of the time, the players in the game were actually robots, controlled
externally by teams of humans. The sport, originated among American immigrants
in southwestern South America, proved to be very popular, especially in the
various human colonies on planets in the solar system. Now you have a chance
to challenge the teams in the Solar Hockey League.
---- The Main Menu -----------------------------------------------------------
In the main menu, you can choose between several game types. With key 1 on
your keyboard, you can change team 1. With key 2, you can change team 2. The
two teams are displayed at the bottom of the screen. The computer teams are
sorted in order of increasing physical skill. In the actual game, team 1 and
team 2 will play each other; team 1 plays from left to right. The default keys
to control a human player are as follows:
Team 2: cursor keys for movement, ENTER - fire
Team 1: Z - left, X - right, T - up, F - down, Y - fire
These can be changed with the configuration program.
In league games, the human player will always be team 2.
In the main menu, key 3 will start a single game, with the specified teams.
Key 4 will start a league. You will play against all computer teams, and all
computer teams will play against each other. After each round, the current
standings will be displayed. For a win, you get 2 points, for a draw, 1, and 0
for a defeat. At the league standings screen, pressing ESC will abort the
current league; you will have to start with round 1 again.
Key 5 will return to the operating system. Key 6 selects the speed of the
robots for a human player team. This can be SLOW or FAST, which makes a great
difference (SLOW is much harder against computer players). With key 7, you can
select the color scheme to be used in the game. If set to random, the color
scheme will be randomly selected for each game. Key 8 changes the sound level.
ALL enables all sounds. NO BUZZER will disable the buzzer (it may get a bit
irritating with some speakers). SILENT will disable all sounds. With key 9,
you can select the length of a game. A game length of 1000 corresponds with
about half a minute.
---- The Game ----------------------------------------------------------------
The game itself is quite straightforward. Each team consists of 3 robots: a
goal-keeper (which is not limited in its movement) and two field players. A
human player always controls the robot that is nearest to the disc (a disc is
better suited to robot mechanics than a puck or a ball). Each robot has a
maximum speed and shooting power, depending on the strength of its team and
whether it is a goal keeper or a field player. The other robots in your team
are controlled by the computer, using default defensive and offensive
positions, depending on whether your team last touched the disc or not.
At the start of a game, and after a goal has been scored or a last-touch
timeout has occured, the disc is placed in the middle of the playing area and
fired in a random direction (throw-off).
The scoreboard displays the of number of goals that each team has scored,
along with the timer count and the maximum speed and shooting power for the
currently controlled robot of each team.
Your robot takes possession of the disc by moving over it. You are then
allowed to move the robot with disc around for a limited period, after which
the disc automatically shoots away. When that period has nearly ended, a
warning signal is sounded. You can shoot the disc by pressing fire, or waiting
for the timeout. If you shoot the disc into the other team's goal, you have
scored.
To prevent one team from stealing time by holding the disc in the possession
of one robot by repeatedly bouncing the disc off one of the edges, there is a
last-touch timeout. When a certain period has passed in which the disc has not
been touched by any other robot, the game is suspended and a throw-off occurs.
This timeout is also preceded by a warning sound.
You can abandon a game by pressing ESC. If you abandon a league game, the
score will default to a 0-10 defeat.
Have Fun!
---- Technical Info and History ----------------------------------------------
This game was first written under the imaginative name of 'BALL' in 1989,
featuring CGA graphics designed for monochrome monitors, delays only suitable
to slow XT computers and an internal 'random' routine that doesn't work on
AT's. Despite this, it was included in the 'Best of 1990' selection of the
Public (Software) Library in Houston, TX. Now, in 1992, the game has been
upgraded and runs nicely on any modern IBM PC compatible computer, with
greatly enhanced graphics and presentation (although the graphics are still
monochrome - but with varying color schemes this actually looks quite nice on
EGA/VGA color displays). It was written entirely in assembler (some 7000
lines).
--- Ordering Information -----------------------------------------------------
Send cash (bills) in a double envelope or in an envelope with some paper
(possibly the order form) wrapped around the bills. An international
money order will probably cost you a fee comparable to the registration
amount. You can also use American Express Travelers Checks. Please do
not send coins or other checks. Send the money along with the order
form, or the information asked in the order form if you don't have easy
access to a printer, to the address below. Remember to add proper
postage for delivery to Europe. Mail usually takes a few days to reach
Europe from North America. We will respond within 3 weeks at least, but
usually within a few days.
Comments, suggestions and bug reports are always welcome. For these,
if you have access to Electronic Mail, you can use the following Internet
address: hhanemaa@cs.ruu.nl
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration for The Solar Hockey League:
[ ] Normal registration, $10. You will receive a diskette with
the latest registered version of the game (which has
additional graphics), and a number of other shareware and
public domain games by the authors.
[ ] Personal version (your name hardcoded in the game).
Diskette format:
[ ] 3.5" DD diskette [ ] 5.25" DD diskette
��
Your hardware: (optional)
[ ] EGA [ ] VGA
[ ] SVGA [ ] other: ________________
chipset: ______________
[ ] 8088/86 [ ] 80186/286/V20/V30
[ ] 80386 [ ] 80486 speed: ______
How did you obtain this program? (optional) ____________________
Name: __________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(add ZIPcode if applicable)
Country: ___________________________
Criticism/Comments: ____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Mail To:
John Remyn
Rembrandtlaan 68
4907 NP Oosterhout
The Netherlands
