This documentation file accompanies the program DYsPROSM.PRG
by Team Brindlebeast.
DYsPROSM is the name of a far away planet. God knows where,
and who bloody cares anyway ! We here at Team Brindlebeast don't
believe in all that claptrap about writing a whole story to
justify a little interstellar bloodshed. You'll get the message
if you sit through the intro anyway.
Scott had been kicking this little STOS program around for a
couple of months when Team Brindlebeast were invited to enter a
programming competition. So we've had to throw it together in
rather a hurry which is why the intro is sooooo slooooowwwww. Had
we a little more time we'd have created something much flashier
for you. Same goes for the high score table. It's, well...,
functional, if nothing else !
The game is written in STOS Basic, an rather good
implimentation of basic if we do say so ourselves. Extensions
used include STARS by Lee Upcraft, and MISTY by Billy Allan &
Colin Watt. Sounds were gleaned from the Budgie UK collection and
modified to become another extension by Scott ( though he didn't
write a compiler extension for it, so time came to compile the
game we had to rewrite the sound effects to play from a memory
location rather than from a command ).
Craig supplied the compiler, and enough instructions over the
phone to get a novice to be able to use it. Also he wrote a quite
good intro sequence which we didn't end up using, sorry Craig,
thanks anyway !
The game as it stands consists of 100 waves of aliens. As
you progress through the game the aliens fire more often, and also
come at you faster. There are no bonuses, no power-ups, and no
little groups of pixels to rescue either. This is a straight
kill-em-any-way-you-can sort of game operated entirely by the
joystick and the fire button.
The game speed is controlled by the position of your
spacecraft. The further right you go the faster everything gets,
and the more points you get for each kill. If you stick to the
left hand side of the screen you'll play at the slowest speed, and
earn the lowest points, but you may also get caught out by aliens
which enter the playing arena from behind you.
Lives are indicated by the tiny pictures of your craft in the
top right hand corner of the screen. You get three, and thats
your lot so use em carefully.
The flames at the back of your little spaceship can also be
used to terminate errant aliens, though this is a lot riskier than
a solidly placed missile.
The high score table is held in the file HISCORE.BST so
make sure that this file is on the same disk as the game program
and that the disk is not write protected ( ie cover the little
hole in the disk ).
Make a copy of the original disk !!!
1. Format a standard 720K disk using your usual
formatting process.
2. Copy HISCORE.BST and DYSPROSM.PRG to this new
disk.
3. Make sure the disk is write enabled.
4. Store the original away in a safe place.
If you distribute this disk to your friends, then please keep
this documentation with the other two files, its the only credit
we get. Also if you'd like to write to the Team, then feel free,
we rather like getting mail from ST users, especially ones
interested in programming in STOS.
The code for this game can be made available. Its remarkably
short, and relatively easy to understand. If you provide a self
addressed envelope, a stamp and a couple of dollars or more then
Scott will even fully document the STOS basic code for you.
Another item of interest to STOS programmers is the book
Scott is currently writing, concerning all things STOS. Its full
of those interesting things that the STOS manual left out, STOS
tips, chapters on how your computer operates, and lots, lots more.
A disk full of stuff will accompany the book too ! Register your
interest now and the Team will let you know when its finished so
you can order a copy.
The address to write to is...,
Team Brindlebeast
C/o 8 Virgil Place
Papanui
Christchurch
New Zealand.
Or contact us through LeeSoftware. Thanks for your support.
Team Brindlebeast 28/2/1993.