          TWO ACTION GAMES:  "THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER" & "CRUNCH"                             (in one program)                  Copywrite 1986 by Robert James Douglas    Included are two games "The Best Pong Game-Ever" and "Crunch".  They are two and one person games respectively.  Each game has several options.  Also included are the rules for the games.  The games were written in assembly language on an Atari 800 and are incorporated into one program.  The disk-based program will automatically load and run.    If you enjoy playing the games, I am requesting a contribution of $9.  Thefew game companies that I contacted implied that they were not interested indistributing software for the Atari 8-bit computers as owners of Atari 8-bitcomputers would not pay for software--that there was too much piracy--or elsesaid the 8-bit Atari market was too small.  I don't believe there is any morepiracy among Atari owners than other computer owners.  I feel most people arehonest and are willing to pay a reasonable price for something they enjoy.  Iwould like to write more games for the Atari 8-bit machines and so am appealingto your honesty.  If you enjoy the games then please send in $9 to                             Bob Douglas                            777 Euclid Ave                            Berkeley, Ca. 94708    Too many games that are produced do not hold one's interest after an initialperiod.  At first one may be dazzled by the graphics or the novelty of a game,but quickly one becomes bored.  The problem is that the game itself is notaddictive.  The games I have written are pong type games--the two person gamebeing similar to the original classic pong game.  I believe the original ponggame (like Pac-Man) has addictive qualities.  However, the classic pong game andall other pong games that have been written lacked a key ingredient.  In my twoperson game there is a new element that makes it far and away the best pong gameever written.  In all previous pong games one can only move the paddlesvertically (or else only horizontally).  For a game writer, allowing the paddlesto be moved horizontally, vertically, and diagonally (and at different gamespeeds) involved too many combinations of "ball meets paddle."  It is farsimpler for a game writer to restrict the paddles' movement to one dimension.But movement in two dimensions makes the game far more exciting.  It adds adynamic quality not present in any other pong type game.     The Best Pong Game-Ever has other special features.  A special "zoningsystem" that is "activated" when the ball is near a paddle gives superior"paddle action."  Other features include the ball ricocheting off the top andbottom of the paddles, a "slam," and options for three games speeds, two servingmodes, and six game point limits.    The one person game "Crunch" has a feature not used in any other game--forcertain types of mistakes by the player, the right court wall moves toward theplayer.  Four mistakes and it's (a dramatic) CRUNCH for the player.  This gamecan also be played at three different speeds.                     RULES FOR THE TWO GAMES:                     THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER                                 &                              CRUNCHREQUIREMENTS: At least 32K of RAM; 2 joysticks for THE BEST PONGGAME-EVER, 1 joystick for CRUNCH.The games were written in assembly language on an Atari 800.                USE OF THE KEYBOARD TO MAKE SELECTIONS:    Use the SELECT key to choose between the following:    (1) THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER with the players alternately serving 5consecutive times each, i.e., one player serves 5 times, then the otherserves 5 times, etc.    (2) THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER with the winner of the last serve alwaysserving next.    (3) CRUNCH.    For either game use the OPTION key to choose between GAME SPEEDS ofMODERATE, FAST, and BLITZ.    For THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER, with the selection menu on the screen,use the SPACE BAR to select a GAME LIMIT of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60points.    To start either game, use the START key.  With play in progress youcan freeze the game by pressing and releasing the SPACE BAR.  To resumethe game, again press and release the SPACE BAR.  Anytime you wish torestart the current game just use the START key.  To return to theselection menu press the ESCAPE key.                RULES FOR THE BEST PONG GAME-EVER:    This is a 2 person pong game that uses joysticks.  Unlike other ponggames (where one can move the paddles only vertically or onlyhorizontally), in this game THE PADDLES CAN BE MOVED HORIZONTALLY,VERTICALLY, OR DIAGONALLY.  The result is a game with a dynamic depththat is lacking in previous pong games.  Furthermore, a special "zoningsystem" that is "activated" when the ball is near a paddle gives "paddleaction" superior to other pong games.  Other features include the ballricocheting off the top and bottom of the paddles, a "slam" (see below),and options for game speed, serving mode, and the game point limit--see"Use of the Keyboard", above.    The first player to reach the game limit (displayed at the left inthe information window) is the winner.  You gain 1 point each time theball hits your oppenent's back wall.    If the central portion of a paddle strikes the ball, with the paddlebeing pushed horizontally towards the ball, then a "slam" occurs, i.e.,the ball rebounds faster than otherwise.  Also, and this holds for CRUNCHtoo, the point on the paddle that is struck by the ball determines therebound angle and speed of the ball.  (Rebound angles and speeds alsodepend on which of the 3 game speeds is selected.)    Two dashed, vertical lines indicate boundaries for the horizontalmovement of the 2 paddles.                           RULES FOR CRUNCH:    CRUNCH is a 1 person game where the player tries to obtain thehighest score possible before the game ends.  Points are scored byhitting 3 snakes and 1 frog with the moving ball.  The player hits theball with a paddle--which can be moved horizontally, vertically, ordiagonally.  There are 3 game speeds: MODERATE, FAST, and BLITZ (selectedusing the OPTION key).  CRUNCH ends when the right wall of the playingcourt moves to the left for the 4th time--ramming the player's paddle.Each of the preceeding 3 moves of the right wall shrinks the playingcourt, increasing the level of difficulty of the game.  What causes theright wall to move left is explained below.    A "miss" means the player has missed hitting the ball with thepaddle and the ball has hit the left wall.  Each snake and the frog willsuccessively make a pass [PASS 1] from the bottom of the court to thetop.  If the snake/frog is hit enough times (3 times for a game speed ofmoderate, 2 times for speeds of fast or blitz), and the ball is notmissed, then the snake/frog will make a second pass [PASS 2] in which theplayer is rewarded with (among other things) no penalty for missing theball.    The player starts with a BONUS of 2.  The BONUS decreases by 1 ifthe ball is missed during PASS 1 of any of the 3 snakes [--a more seriouspenalty occurs with the frog].  When BONUS=0, a snake is in PASS 1, andthe ball is missed, then the right wall moves left and BONUS is reset to2.  BONUS increases by 1 (up to a maximum of 9) every time any snake orthe frog reaches PASS 2.    The right wall can move against you for 2 other reasons.  You mustbe especially careful during PASS 1 of the frog!  If you miss the ballwith the frog in PASS 1, or in PASS 1 if you do not hit the frog enoughtimes (3 for a moderate game speed; 2 for fast or blitz), then the rightwall immediately moves and there is no change in bonus.  An immediatemove of the wall is a more serious penalty than a decrease inBONUS...remember that 4 moves of the right wall and the game is over.    To summarize the cases when the right wall will move left: It moves(1) if the ball is missed during PASS 1 when BONUS=0; (2) if the ball ismissed during PASS 1 of the frog (regardless of the value of BONUS); or(3) if in PASS 1 of the frog, the frog is not hit enough times (2 or 3depending on game speed).    Now for the scoring.  During PASS 1 the points for hitting asnake/frog are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 for hits 1 through 5 respectively, and 64for each subsequent hit.  A snake/frog will begin PASS 2 if it reachesthe top of the screen in PASS 1 and it has been hit at least 3 times (2times for higher game speeds).  The rewards for a snake/frog reachingPASS 2 are (1) BONUS increases by 1 (up to a maximum of 9); (2) pointsfor hitting a snake/frog are changed to 8, 16, 32 for hits 1 through 3,and 64 points for each subsequent hit; and (3) it is impossible to lose aBONUS point or to have the right wall move.  If there is a miss duringPASS 2, then PASS 1 for the next snake/frog begins.    To score points the ball must hit a snake/frog at any non-horizontalangle or while the ball is moving horizontally left (after firstrebounding horizontally off the right wall).  If the ball is movinghorizontally to the right when it hits a snake/frog, the ball merelyrebounds off the snake/frog.  Finally, when a snake/frog has been hitenough times (2 or 3 depending on game speed) during PASS 1 to qualifyfor PASS 2, a dot appears in the information window.  With the dot in thewindow, PASS 2 will occur if the ball is not missed during the rest ofPASS 1.    A dashed, vertical line indicates the right-hand boundary forhorizontal movement of the paddle.                  TWO STRATEGY SUGGESTIONS FOR CRUNCH:  (1)  In PASS 1, after hitting a snake or (especially) the frog therequired number of times to qualify for PASS 2, try to position thepaddle so the ball is bouncing horizontally, in repeated fashion, off thepaddle.  Then don't move the paddle.  This "plays it safe" while thesnake/frog finishes PASS 1.  (2)  Try to position the paddle so the ball is bouncing, in a repeatedpattern, between the paddle and the upper right corner of the court.Then don't move the paddle.  When a snake/frog nears this corner, it willbe repeatedly hit and you will "rack up the points" with no possiblity ofmissing the ball.  The same strategy can be applied with respect to thelower right corner of the court, before PASS 2 and after the requirednumber of hits during PASS 1.  Then, when PASS 2 begins, you will "rackup the points".                                                                                                                                                     