MANIC MINEFIELD
BY THE INFAMOUS BLOOD!
(C)1994 CHEESE FREAK SOFTWARE
DISTRIBUTION
Please spread this game everywhere. I don't care where it goes, copy it for
your friends, upload it to your favourite BBS, send it to your favourite PD
library in return for free disks. These are the only rules to be followed :
1. You must NOT change any of the files.
2. The original ZIP distribution file should always be used when uploading to
a bbs.
3. All of the below files MUST be included with any distribution :
MFIELD.PRG
SOUND.DAT
MUSIC.DAT
MFIELD.TXT
CHEESE.DAT
DESKTOP.INF
4. No money aside from distribution costs must be made from this program.
5. You don't whinge at me about it.
INTRODUCTION
As if you hadn't guessed already, Manic Minefield is a new game based on an old
concept. The first game of its type (that I know of, anyway) was called
MinedOut and was available on the Spectrum in 1984. The most famous version,
however, and the one that this version is closest to, is Minesweeper for
Windows on the PC. Having spent hours playing this at work when I was supposed
to be earning a living, I thought it would be great to have a version that I
could play on my ST. Just around that time, ST Format put a beefed up version
on their coverdisk, but when this turned out to be for 1meg STEs only I decided
it was time to give the people what they want - twenty grand each. No, I mean a
version of Minesweeper that was faithful to the original and would run on ANY
ST, not just a minority. Manic Minefield was born....
PLAYING THE GAME
The concept is very simple. You are shown a board consisting of a number of
squares. Under some of the squares are mines. It is your job to discover where
the mines are without actually uncovering any in the process, in the fastest
time possible. The game is controlled entirely with the mouse, and different
button combinations have different effects on the square you are pointing to.
LEFT MOUSE BUTTON - This will uncover the square you are aiming at. If there
happens to be a mine beneath it, you're dead - no questions asked!
RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON - Place a marker. You have the same number of these as there
are mines on the board. They are used to mark a place where you think a mine
could be. In case of confusion, you can swap a marker for a ? if you're not
sure about a couple of squares, or you can remove it completely and add it back
to your marker pool by clicking on it with the right mouse button until it
disappears.
When you remove your first square, you will see one of a number of things. If
there is a bomb, you'll die. End of story. Usually, however, you will see a
number. This number represents the number of mines present in the eight squares
that surround the square you clicked. If you click on a square that has no
mines in its adjacent squares, all nine squares will clear, and any further
clear squares will also reveal their contents. In this way you can make large
sections of the board safe in one click.
Using this method, you can determine the positions of the mines. If, for
example, you uncover a square which has a 2 on it and there are only two
surrounding square that haven't been uncovered, the two mines must be under
them. These can then be marked and you have two less problems to worry about.
Continuing in this fashion, it is possible to find all of the mines on the
board.
BOTH MOUSE BUTTONS - This control can be used to speed things up. If you have
an uncovered square with a number on it, and that same number of markers in the
adjacent squares, a click on both mouse buttons will clear all of the remaining
unmarked squares around the centre one. Of course, if you marked the wrong
squares, a mine will be uncovered and you'll be dogmeat! Using this method when
you have marked more or less squares than the shown number will cause the
surrounding squares to flash, warning you that you've made a mistake.
The game is over when you are blown up, when the timer reaches 1000 seconds, or
when it is obvious where all of the mines are hidden.
At this point the mines will be revealed to show you how well you did. A new
game can then be started by left clicking on the yellow face in the bottom left
corner, or you can return to the main menu to select new skill levels, etc. by
clicking on the face with the right button instead.
This might all sound a bit complicated, but believe me it's a lot easier than
it sounds. The best way to get to know the game is to load it up and give it a
go. I promise you'll be hooked!
MENUS
The main menu lets you start a game, view the high scores, exit to GEM, or
change the game options. The options menu allows you to change a number of game
variables. There are four skill levels available - EASY, MEDIUM, HARD, and
CUSTOM. Easy is 8x8 squares with 10 bombs, medium is 16x16 squares with 40
bombs, and hard is 30x16 squares with 99 bombs. Each of these levels has its
own high score table (see below). The custom setting allows you to create your
own size levels as difficult or as easy as you want.
It is also possible to change the backdrop (to one of 20 gorgeous designs),
turn the sound effects on or off (see below), change the screen frequency to
60hz, or reset the high score tables (if it's too hard for you!).
HIGH SCORES
There are three high score tables, one for each of the skill levels (there's no
table for the custom levels, 'cos they're all different so it would be
useless). These will be saved to disk automatically if you leave the disk write
enabled. If you don't want anyone else to see your efforts, write protecting
the disk will automatically bypass the save.
SOUND
Unfortunately sound is only an option if you have an ST with 1meg or more of
memory. It just wouldn't all fit into a half meg machine, I'm sorry. Maybe now
is a good time to buy that upgrade, eh? This is, however, the only difference
on the two machines. 1meg owners will be treated to full sampled sound and
tracker music. Personally, I can't stand the sound effects switched on, but
they're in there because some people seem to like them. You can turn the noises
off from the options menu if they get your back up.
SHAREWARE
Yes folks, I'm afraid this game is Shareware, so it's chequebooks out time!
I've put a lot of effort into this game, and if you like it and play it, I hope
you'll find it in your hearts to send me a fiver as a means of showing your
gratitude. In return, I'll be happy to provide the full source code and all the
little twiddly bits so you can check it out and see how bad I am at coding.
I've been trusting and given you the whole prog (with no functions disabled),
so now it's up to you to repay that trust and do the right thing (and we're not
talking crappo Terry Wogan quiz shows here).
Send all donations to :
Cheese Freak Software
57 Myrtle Avenue
Selby
North Yorkshire
YO8 9BG
ENGLAND
You may also be able to reach me via SKYNET BBS (hpx6.aid.no), my name is
Blood (in case you hadn't noticed). I won't tell you how to log on to SKYNET
'cos it's crowded enough as it is. Let's just say that if you already have an
account you'll know. Sorry, no proper EMAIL address at present, but I may be
able to sort one out in the near future.
I'll answer any letters, and try to answer any questions you may have (if
they're not too hard). Thanks for listening.
MORE ST GAMES
Right guys, you know the score. The ST isn't what it used to be and there are a
number of parties out there who are already giving it the last rites, so here's
what you've got to do. The only people who are going to keep the ST going in
the very near future are the PD, Shareware and Licenceware authors so you've
got to support them! Send them money, send them letters, 'phone them up and
tell them they're great, do anything except let them get fed up with writing ST
software. If you do, the ST will die, and it won't be MY fault.
SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT ST CODERS!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Right, I've had a shedfull of this. Go and play the game while I finish off the
versions list just in case there are bugs....
Blood.
UNBIASED OPINION
I've tried all of the other versions of Minesweeper in the Atari archive at
MSDOS.ARCHIVE.UMICH.EDU and it is my honest opinion that this version is the
best of the lot. But then, I would say that I suppose, wouldn't I?
REVISIONS
Version 1.0, 17th April 1994
Initial Version, everything looks hunky dory.