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A GAME BY RESERVOIR GODS
Tautology is a highly addictive game for the Falcon 030. Well I would say that
wouldn't I, but it happens to be true! Up to two (count them) players can
compete in this battle of wits. The game itself is based on a coin-op that
appeared in the arcades years ago, but in the best Bally/Midway and Williams
style, it hasn't lost its charm.
The aim of the game is to clear all the tiles from a grid. Tiles can be removed
by matching them with a tilt of the same kind or a tile from the same set - but
its not quite as simple as that. To make tiles vanish you must be able to draw a
line across free space from one tile edge to another tile edge whilst only
turning two corners.
This line can go in any direction, but can only make two 90 degree turns - for
example it could go up, left then down or right, up then left. It doesn't have
to turn two corners - it could just go straight, two corners is the maximum.
If the squares are adjacent (not diagonally) they can also be made to disappear.
If we imagine some tiles were laid out like this:
-------------------------
| 6 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
-------------------------
First we can match the 1's as line can be drawn up from the top edge of the
first one, right then down onto the top edge of the second 1. Simply click on
the first one, then the second.
-----------
| |
-------------------------
| 6 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
-------------------------
These two tiles will then disappear.
---- ------- ----
| 6 | | 8 | 5 | | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
-------------------------
Now another tile has become free, a five which we can match with the five on the
top row:
--------
| |
---- | ------- ----
| 6 | | | 8 | 5 | | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
These will disappear.
The 8s can also go as they are adjacent to each other.
-------------------------
---- ----
| 6 | | 9 |
|---| -------|---|
| 9 | | 1 | 7 | 3 |
-------------------------
Now the 9 has become free and we can match it with the nine on the top right.
---- ----
| 6 | |------------| 9 |
|---| | -------|---|
| 9 |--- | 1 | 7 | 3 |
-------------------------
You are now beginning to get the idea.
Apart from the normal tiles there are two sets of associated tiles which can be
matched with each other stopping the clock for a short time.
For example in the Shanghai set we have four different flowers, each of these
can be matched with any other flower from the four.
The second set is seasons, and you can match any season with any other season.
It is a good idea to build up strategies and look ahead a few moves before just
matching the first available pair you see!
PLAYERS
-------
The difference between Tautology and its predecessors is that it has a wealth of
options, one of the most striking being the two player mode. Using the Falcon's
overscan mode it is possible to fit two tile grids on the screen so two people
can try for high scores or even compete against each other.
Player one is controlled by joystick one or joypad 1, whilst player 2 is
controlled by joystick 0 or joypad 2. If you haven't invested in one of Atari's
joypads yet, do so as they're great! (And you can play Llamazap - when it's
released!)
CONFIGURE: TILES
----------------
The tiles are fully configurable, you can choose how many of each tile you want
to appear on the grid. Of course you can't choose where they appear, but you can
make the game easier by selecting a lot of sixers. To configure the tiles,
select CONFIGURE TILES from the main menu and press fire. Then move the
crosshair to the tile whose amount you want to change. By pressing fire you can
toggle between having 0,2,4 or 6 of that particular tile on the grid. As the
grid is 16 by 6, the total tiles must add up to 96.
If you own a power pad, fire button a will add to the tile amount when clicking
on it, button b will subtract from it and button c will clear it to zero.
Also, whilst on this screen you can try pressing the function keys for preset
tile layouts, F1 being the hardest and F10 the easiest.
Press space or click on exit to return to the main menu.
CONFIGURE: GAME
---------------
These options are mainly of use for those of you indulging in two player games.
You can have two different types of two player games:
SEPARATE - Here you are largely oblivious to what the other player is doing. You
are just aiming to complete your grids regardless of how fast your friend is
completing his.
COMPETITIVE - You are racing against a friend to complete a grid. The first to
complete the grid wins the round. Nailbiting stuff.
Tile layout can also be configured here.
DIFFERENT - Player one and player two have different tile layouts.
SAME - The layout of the tiles is exactly the same for player one and player
two, no-one has an advantage or can claim "it's not fair, all I could do on my
board was get check-mated!".
Time can be turned off if you prefer to pit your wits against the tile structure
not the clock. It is usually a good idea to do this in two player mode as the
clock is largely an irrelevance, it is your opponent who dictates the pace.
BEST OF - This defines the number of rounds you play in a two player competitive
match. For example, the best of 3 would mean the first to achieve 2 wins.
TILE SETS
---------
Tautology has two inbuilt tile sets in case you get bored (perish the thought!).
The Shanghai Set was painted by Mr. Blonde and is based on the mah-jong set.
The two sets in this are flowers and seasons
Nice Guy Eddie's set is totally original and very different. The sets in this
are fruit and elements. See rules for further details.
TILE SETS: LOADING
------------------
Tautology has the feature to load extra tile sets - you can even draw your own
sets! It looks for a file on drive A: name 'TFILE.DIR'. This should contain a
list of all the file sets on the disk. You can create this file with a text
editor, but it must be 100% ASCII. Each filename should be separated by a
return, and there can be a maximum of ten on each disk. For example:
NICE_SET.TPI
ROUNDSET.TPI
Tautology will read this file and then ask you which set you want to load.
Press the appropriate function key to load it.
To create a tile set, draw it using HiSoft's True Paint using a screen size of
320 pixels wide. Each tile is 16*16 with a black line on it top and left
borders. The first four tiles should form the first set, the next four the
second set. There should be 43 tiles in all. Save it in True Paint's .TPI
format.
If you do create any tile sets, send them along and I'll send you the latest
version of Tautology plus the latest versions of my other Falcon projects.
INFO: RULES
-----------
Here you get a brief resume of these instructions, it will also display the two
sets from the current series of tiles.
INFO: HISCORES
--------------
The top twenty best scores are saved to disk! Make a name for yourself!
HARDWARE:
---------
Not currently working on VGA screens but will soon (when I get one!).
If you want to get in touch with the RESERVOIR GODS for any reason, write to:
Leon O'Reilly
Cwm Cottage
Abermule
Montgomery
Welshpool
Powys
SY15 6JL
or email CMSLOREI@UK.AC.LIVJM.VAX
Have fun!
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