VALGUS^2 v2.0 (5/20/90)
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STARING OUT
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Make sure that VSQUARED.PRG and VSQML.O are in the same directory.
The program will also create a file called SCORES.VSQ (704 bytes) in
this directory. Make sure you are in low resolution, and double-click
on VSQUARED.PRG. Once the title screen has appeared, press "1" to start
on level one, "2" for level two, and so on. Press "Q" from the title
screen to return to the desktop. Press any key to exit from the high
score list.
GAME PLAY
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Valgus^2 (pronounced "Valgus squared", and henceforth referred to as
VSQ) is naturally the sequel to Valgus, which itself was a public domain
version of Tetris. In VSQ, the seven familiar Valgus pieces as back, but
they are tired of falling straight down the screen! Instead, they will
come at you from all four sides of the 27x27 playing area. In the
middle of this area is a solid 3x3 block. When a piece hits this block
or any other pieces that have fallen before it, it will become locked
into that place, and a new piece will drop from a randomly chosen side.
The object of the game, instead of completing lines across the screen,
is to complete squares around the center block. The first square out
is 5x5, the next is 7x7, and so on. To help you keep track of which
square each position on the screen belongs to, once a piece has fallen,
each of its four constituent blocks will change colors. Thus, at the
beginning of each round, blocks in the 5x5 square will be blue, those
in the 7x7 will be green, then yellow, orange, red, purple, and back to
blue again to restart the cycle. When you complete a square, all the
squares on top of it will move in. Once you complete a certain number
of squares (5 on the first level, 7 on the second, and so on) the round
will end and you will be awarded a bonus. Your bonus is determined by
the number of empty squares around the perimeter and how far you are into
the game. The playfield is then cleared and a new round begins.
SCORING
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As stated above, there is a bonus at the end of each round. In addition
to that, you are awarded points for each piece based on the round number,
how far down you put the piece, and how long it took you to put it there.
But all of this is peanuts. The big points come when you complete squares.
The more squares you complete at once, the more points you get:
Squares Round
Completed 1 2 3 4 5
1 200 250 300 350 400
€ 2 600 750 900 1050 1200
3 1400 1750 2100 2450 2800
4 3000 3750 4500 5250 6000
The scores continue to get higher after round five and after completing
more than four squares.
The list to the right of the play area is the list of high scores for
each round along with your scores for each round in the current game.
If you get the high score for a round, you will be asked to enter your
initials to be saved for eternity (or at least until someone beats you).
Likewise, the overall to twenty scores are saved to disk, and you may
enter your name after the game if you make the list.
CONTROLS
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VSQ can be played with either the keyboard or with the joystick.
SPACE - rotates the piece you are controlling
4 - moves the piece left
6 - moves it right
8 - moves it up
2 - moves it down
0 - moves the piece as far as it will go in the direction it is falling
ENTER - switches control between the two pieces (more on this later)
ESC - pauses the game until a key is pressed
With the joystick, 8-way control is allowed, and the button rotates the
piece.
ROUND 7 AND BEYOND
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First, the good news: round seven is half as fast as round one, and you
only have to complete three squares. Now the bad news: there are now
two pieces falling. The blue square by the side walls of the playing
area indicates that you are controlling the piece falling from that side.
For example, if the blue square is by the top wall, you are controlling
the piece that is falling down. The piece you control is changed by
or .
A COUPLE TIPS
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If you can't use a piece, you can move it so that it will fall on the far
wall. You should be careful, though, because as the rest of the playfield
moves inward, so will any discarded pieces. This can lead to difficulty
later as well as a lower bonus.
In Valgus, the most lines you can complete is four. Since the pieces are
€all the same, how can you get more in VSQ? To find out how, watch the
corners!
THE PLEA
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VSQ represents a lot of work on my part. Version 1 (announced in October
89, shortly after the release of Valgus) was nixed by the play-testers,
so I had to rewrite the whole thing. Finally, after several months,
VSQ is ready for distribution! VSQ may be freely distributed as long as
all the files (VSQUARED.PRG, VSQML.O, and VSQUARED.DOC) are included
and are unchanged. But I do not want to go unrewarded for my efforts!
If you like this game and play it often, please send me a disk of your
favorite public-domain and shareware games and utilities. I just bought
a 50-meg hard drive and I need to fill it up! Send this and all other
contributions (rabbits' feet, baseball cards, etc..) or comments to:
James R. Glenn
8252 The Midway
Annandale VA 22003
Thank you!