Kaboom!

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

KABOOM! for the Atari ST - Port by TjLaZer 2026
================================================================================

Port of Activision's Kaboom! for the Atari 800 (1983).
Original game conceived and designed by Larry Kaplan,
Atari 800 version adapted by Paul Willson.

The original 6502 game logic was translated to 68000 and
checked frame by frame against the original. All three game
modes, the high-score table with initials, the attract-mode
demo and the scrolling credits are included.

FILES
-----
KABOOM.ST   Bootable 720K disk. Runs automatically from the
            AUTO folder; F10 drops you to the desktop.
KABOOM.PRG  Same program, run from the desktop.

REQUIREMENTS
------------
Atari ST/STF/STE/Mega ST with a color monitor
(low resolution). Switches the display to 60 Hz while running.
Tested on a Mega ST 4 and in Steem SSE.

THE GAME
--------
The Mad Bomber drops bombs from the rooftops. Catch them in
your water buckets before they hit the ground.

- 8 waves. Each wave drops more bombs, faster:
  10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, 100, 150 bombs.
- Bombs are worth 1 point in wave 1, up to 8 points in wave 8.
- Miss a bomb and every bomb on screen explodes. You lose a
  bucket and drop back one wave.
- Bonus bucket every 1,000 points (maximum of 3 buckets).
- Press fire to start each wave and to continue after a miss.
- Top scores go into the high-score table, where you enter
  your initials.

GAME MODES (SELECT / F2)
------------------------
1: ONE PLAYER
2: TWO PLAYER     Players take turns.
3: PITCH & CATCH  Player 1 catches, player 2 controls the
                  bomber.

OPTION (F3) cycles each player's controller and bucket size:
  paddle/wide -> joystick/wide -> joystick/narrow ->
  paddle/narrow
The icon next to the score shows the current setting.
Narrow buckets are harder.

CONTROLS
--------
Player 1
  Mouse              Paddle (move left/right)
  Left mouse button  Fire
  Joystick (port 1)  Joystick mode (fire = fire)
  A / D              Move left/right
  Space              Fire

Player 2 (two-player and Pitch & Catch)
  Left/Right arrows  Move
  Return             Fire

Before a one-player game, the controller switches itself:
touch the joystick for joystick mode, move or left-click the
mouse for paddle mode.

Fire starts a new game when none is running, including after
game over (once initials are entered).

FUNCTION KEYS
-------------
F1   START
F2   SELECT (game mode)
F3   OPTION (controller / bucket size)
F4   RESET (high scores are kept)
F5   Less sensitive: mouse in paddle mode,
     slower bucket in joystick mode
F6   More sensitive: mouse in paddle mode,
     faster bucket in joystick mode
F10  Quit to desktop

NOTES
-----
- The game always runs at full 60 Hz speed. The screen
  redraws as often as the ST can manage, so at high waves
  bomb movement can look a little jumpy, but bombs are
  always where the game says they are.
- Mouse sensitivity starts at half speed; joystick speed
  starts at the original Atari speed. Both have 8 steps.

TRIVIA (1)