"No man can lose what he never had"
***** BOMB DISPOSAL *****
Due to an undeserved and unfair 'review' of this game by ST
Format Magazine (June 92) by a person who obviously is lost
without his joystick and a bunch of aliens to blast, this
READ_ME file is a recent effort to explain in greater detail
how Bomb Disposal can be solved without actually giving away
the solution.
It would best if this text was printed out and read in
conjuction with the programme running or at the very least,
read from within a Text Reader programme as I make references
to the following diagram.
(The numbers are simply references for
text - not the solution of the game)
THE METER
THE GAME BOARD SEQ ||||||||||||||||||||
POS ||||||||||||||||||||
X(1) 123456789..........20
X(2)
X(3) X(4) THE DIODES
X(5) X(6) X(7) X(8) X(9) X(10) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5
X(11) #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
X(12) X(13) X(14) X(15)
#11 #12 #13 #14 #15
X(16) X(17) X(18)
#16 #17 #18 #19 #20
X(19) X(20)
The game is difficult to solve without using pen and paper and
almost impossible relying simply on trial and error.
The object is to place 20 Diodes onto 20 terminals in the correct
sequence. The BOMB has a pre-determined sequence which MUST be
followed if you are to defuse it. This pre-determined sequence is
revealed (bit by bit) as a series of coloured lines pairing two
terminals and appear every time you position a diode.
In addition to this text, the game includes a help file built-in,
albeit more concise than this. The 'Bomb Meter' and sequence
lines/wires should provide enough information to solve the
game (even without this text).
1) In the EASY mode, when a diode is placed on a terminal only one
a set of coloured lines appear (the pre-determined sequence)
This tells you where the next diode should be placed.
Eg.(using the above diagram) if you placed a diode on X(17)
you would see a set of coloured lines linking X(17) to X(18)
or, if you placed a diode on terminal X(1) the lines would link
it to X(5) which is next in sequence. If instead of placing
your next diode on X(5) (where it should have been placed) you
elected to place it on X(19) a new set of lines would appear
linking X(19) to X(16). This pre-determined sequence never
changes. So although it simple to discover the entire sequence
the puzzle is to find where it starts and where it ends.
2) Bomb Meter: SEQ will tell you which part of the sequence you
are on. The length of the white bar is directly linked to
the correct terminals. For example, let's assume that you have
already placed 10 diodes and you elect to place the eleventh
one on X(16) and X(16) in reality is TERMINAL 5, the Bomb
Meter would show a white bar extending approx a quarter
('#'indicates the line ) #####|||||||||||||||
the way along. If it was TERMINAL 10 the line would look
like:
##########||||||||||
which is approx half way. The shorter the bar, the earlier
it is in the sequence. If X(16) was in reality TERMINAL 16
(the correct one) the white bar would be replaced by a red
bar extending the full length. So by estimating the length
of the white bar from (1 to 20) you can tell the sequence.
The best method would simply be to place all the diodes on
any available terminal and note down your estimated length
of the white bar...this will give you the correct sequence.
The lower part of the Bomb meter is the position indicator
and this is linked to the diodes, but first a few words about
the diodes. If you had just loaded the game and clicked the
mouse on #16 the number 1 would appear. Regardless of which
diode you clicked it would always be a 1. This number is in
fact your first mouse click...the 10th mouse click, regardless
of which diode you select will ALWAYS be a 10. Like the
Terminals the diodes have a pre-determined order in which you
must select them. This pre-determined order is linked to
the POS (Position) bar of the Bomb Meter. Eg.if you selected
Diode #15 on your fourth go, the number 4 would appear but if
in reality Diode #15 was infact DIODE 10 the white bar on the
position meter would extend half way
##########||||||||||
This tells you that Diode #15 should have been selected on
your tenth mouse click
If Diode #15 was DIODE 4 (correct sequence) the white
bar on the meter would change into Blue and extend the full
length indicating the correct position (correct Mouse click)
So, like the terminals, picking random diodes and noting the
length of the white POS bar, it is possible to determine the
correct order in which they should be chosen.
The game has a HELP icon, if you select HINT one of two hints
will appear showing either the correct location of TERMINAL 11
and DIODE 11 or the correct location of TERMINAL 14 and DIODE
14...so you must wait until you have placed 10 other diodes
before clicking on DIODE 11 (Eleventh mouse click).
Once you have written down the lengths of the SEQ and POS bars
you should have a fair idea of the correct placements, A blue
and red bar on the Bomb Meter will give a different sound,
This indicates that you have successfully placed the correct
diode on the correct terminal, the coloured lines (wires) will
show you where the next diode should be placed but if you
selected the wrong diode, the SEQ bar would be still be red
(indicating correct sequence) and the length of the white POS
bar would tell you which diode you had used.
The best method of solving this is to draw a diagram like the
one shown then select the HELP icon and note down the correct
placement of DIODE 11 or DIODE 14 (One or the other will be
shown but if you select HINT enough times both positions will
be revealed), select ten other diodes and place them far away
from those you now know...noting down the bar lengths on the
meter, then on the 11th or 14th mouse click place the diode
on its correct terminal. Follow the colored wires/lines to the
next in the sequence and assumming the terminal is still
vacant you can easily trace the correct sequence up to the
end. If the wires lead to an occupied terminal, make a note
to leave it vacant next time...restart the game and try again.
Then it is simply a case of working backwards until you
discover the starting terminal. The terminal sequence is the
easiest to discover...the diode sequence is slightly harder.
In the DIFFICULT or HARD Mode, instead of only one set of
coloured lines/wires appearing, the colours radiate in every
possible direction.
For those of you who may have agreed with the reviewer that
BOMB DISPOSAL has no logic or is impossible, I hope you will
read this carefully then try again, you may surprise even
yourself. For those who have already solved the puzzle....
CONGRATULATIONS ( My apologies about your prize...however
just remember "Ill gotten gains will be ill spent".
~~~~~~~~ END ~~~~~~~
M.Duncan Perth 21/6/92