Pairs v1.5 (PC version) ========================= November 1996 Table of contents 1. Shareware 2. Aim of the game 3. Parameters 4. System requirements 5. Picture2Blocks tool 6. MergeHighscores tool 7. Bugs/Problems 8. History 9. Other projects My address: Tobias Lenz Geitnerweg 21K D 12209 Berlin (Germany) e-mail: lenzmi@zedat.fu-berlin.de --- 1. Shareware Pairs is shareware. This means everybody is allowed to copy Pairs but it is strictly forbidden to manipulate one of the files or to remove a file from the package. You are allowed to include your highscore file. If you want to play Pairs without the shareware limitations, you will have to register. To do so print the file reg_card.txt, complete the entrys and post it to the address given above. (Do not forget the shareware fee: 20,- DM or $15.00 us dollar + $2.00 (or 2,-DM) if you cannot recieve Pairs via email.) You use Pairs on your own risk! If you want to include Pairs shareware in a package (e.g. a Shareware CD) you MUST contact me first. --- 2. Rules The idea is easy: 1. You have to find a pair of blocks. 2. Try (in your mind) to draw a line with 90 degree angles from one block to the other. 3. If this line has zero, one or two angles, both blocks will disappear. If there is no block left, you completed the level and a new one is created. To have a real challenge the available time is reduced by 5 seconds every time you have completed a level. You start with 280 seconds in novice mode and 200 seconds as pro. The "connection line" needs more time for a longer distance, so find the nearest pairs. One (only one!) mouse click is saved while connecting two blocks. The program detects illegal moves itself and does not accept them. With the left mouse button you select a block and with the right one you can deselect it. Use to return to the main menu or press

to pause the game. --- 3. Parameters Usage: Pairs [-pro] [-480] [blocks] -pro to start Pairs in pro mode (200 seconds) -480 to force Pairs to run in 640x480 (if you have problems with 640x400) blocks to load the specified block set (name without path and suffix) Examples: Pairs -pro (runs Pairs in pro mode with default block set) Pairs -PrO FOnt (pro mode + BLOCKS\FONT.PBS as block set) Pairs -480 (640x480 screen) Pairs COAL -PRO (pro mode + BLOCKS\COAL.PBS as block set) --- 4. System requirements Required: 486DX, 4MB RAM, 3.5" 1.44MB floppy, VESA-SVGA gfx board / monitor Recommended: pentium(tm), 8MB RAM, harddisk, VESA2.0 gfx board, SVGA monitor Pairs needs DOS4GW.EXE to run (version 1.97 included). If you do not have a VESA compliant gfx board or VESA1.2 only, you will be able to use UniVBE ((C) by SciTech Software). If you have a slow processor it is recommended to start Pairs from "plain" DOS. --- 5. Picture2Blocks tool Usage: Pic2Blk Example: cd c:\Pairs Pic2Blk a:\my_pic.pcx MyOwnBlk (generates BLOCKS\MYOWNBLK.PBS) picture file name: The name of a picture file in PCX, BMP or PIX format. Remember that the width of the picture must be 640 pixels and it must have 256 colors (only the first 128 are used for the block set). The picture should contain 24 different blocks with a size of 32*32 ordered in this way: (top left corner) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 block set file name: The name of the block set file Pic2Blk shall create without a path or the suffix ".PBS". Pic2Blk will search for a directory called "BLOCKS" in the current directory. Feel free to spread your created block sets. If you email them to me, they will become installed on the DN homepage. Block sets generated on Amiga and PC are compatible. --- 6. MergeHighscores Usage: Merge_Hs Example: Merge_Hs a:\my.hsc b:\friends.hsc c:\Pairs\pairs.hsc score file name 1 and 2: The names of existing highscore files (default is "PAIRS.HSC"). new score file name: The name of the new highscore file MergeHighscores shall create. To use this new merged highscore table, you have to copy it to your Pairs directory an rename it to "PAIRS.HSC". If MergeHighscores detects similar entrys in both highscores, it uses this entry only one time. Merging a highscore to itselfs will create a copy of the highscore. MergeHighscores is usefull for groups of Pairs players. Everybody is playing on his/her computer with an own highscore file. After a period of time there is only one name left in the highscore and it is no longer a challenge. So, copy your highscore file to disk, visit your friends and merge all the highscores together using MergeHighscores and copy it back to your Pairs directory. Amiga and PC highscore files are compatible to each other. --- 7. Bugs Bugs? Where are they? Hit them, bash them, kick them!!! How do you mean "in my program"? - Oh, that kind of bugs! If you really should find a bug in Pairs, feel free to send me a report about what happend under which circumstances. If you email your problem report to me, you will get an anwser within two weeks and maybe a corrected version of Pairs (who knows). --- 8. History v1.0 (May 1996) - v1.31 (July 1996) * Amiga releases v1.4 (November 1996): * First public release on PC (compatible highscores/block sets) v1.5 (November 1996): * New (better) main menu design * Block set preview in menu * Shareware delay shorter For the future: ... --- 9. Projects If you like this game and if you believe in my programming skills, you can download all my Amiga games from Aminet or on the DIGITAL Nightmares homepage http://www.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.de/~miha (PC/Atari/Amiga). The Amiga version of Pairs is also available on the DN homepage (needs Multiscan, DblPAL or DblNTSC screen mode). You can also find the newest Pairs block sets on the DN homepage. Other Amiga games are (all AGA only): AmiCross (game/think) - a logic puzzle game (german) BOOM (game/2play) - BomberMan/DynaBlaster clone You are a graphic artist? You want to create graphics for games? You have some free time? If you can answer this three questions with a loud "YES", then it is time for you to contact me (email prefered). Send some samples of your work in IFF, GIF, JPEG (high quality), PCX or BMP format.