Contents

XLM's Dr. Harrison

XLM's Dr. Harrison is a thrilling action and strategy game. We hope you enjoy it and relax leading Dr. Harrison through the challenging levels of the game. You also get a game editor to comfortably design your own levels.

XLM's Dr. Harrison is a shareware-program. For information about how to register please choose 'How to Order' from the Help menu.

If you don't want any instructions but just want to play immediately, choose 'New' from the Game menu and press the traffic light button to unpause the game.

To get more information first, please click on one of the following topics:

Introduction

The Story

Controlling the Game

Elements of the Game

Displays

Menu Reference:

Game Menu

Highscores Menu

Help Menu

Dialog Reference:

Options

Points

Load Game

Save Game


Introduction

XLM's Dr. Harrison is a shareware-program. For informations about how to register please choose 'How to register' from the Help menu.

The shareware-version of XLM's Dr. Harrison is fully functional but you can only play the first two levels of ten and have to tolerate shareware hints. If you register you can fully enjoy the complete game.

The eight additional levels of the registered version are much bigger and more challenging than the shareware ones.

Please find below some quotes from the media. As this is the first international version of XLM's Dr. Harrison and previous versions were published only in german language we had to translate these quotes.

Between others Dr. Harrison was reviewed by the following computer magazines (all quotes translated from german by us without special authorization):

"PCgo!" 10/95, (version 1.1): "... entertaining mixture of action- and strategy game." "PCgo! Rating: GOOD"

"DOS Trend" 11-12/95, (version 1.2): "The game is eventful, graphically appealing using 3D-effects for the figures and it surely guarantees for a long time to play with it.'"

"In'side Multimedia" 1/96, (version 1.4): "Axel Meierhoefer shows all his talents in this windows game offering rendered figures in TrueColor, a 3D-perspective and a pretty tricky mission."

"In'side Shareware" 4/96, (version 2.3): Rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Fair Play" 1/97, (version 2.4): Rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Story

Dr. Harrison is a scientist just starting his new job in a laboratory for development and testing of robots. Because he still didn't get his safety instructions he doesn't know what to do when suddenly the alarm started and everybody runs out. When he finally decides to follow his colleagues it is too late. Everywhere security barriers are coming up from the ground and he is caught.

Because the central robot control is destroyed, hundreds of robots are now roaming around bringing Dr. Harrison into severe danger. Most robots are just moving around randomly but others even seem to try to catch Dr. Harrison. He has to avoid them or destroy them with bombs.

His only chance to get out is to find the keys to unlock the security barriers. Unfortunately he is in the 10th floor and so it is quite a long way to go.

It is your task to lead Dr. Harrison to the exit of the building without encountering too many robots on the way or running against the walls too often. On the way you should collect the energy units and the bonus points and of course also take bombs as you might need them.


Controlling the Game

Down at the right side is a region with switches.

You can control Dr. Harrison with these switches or with the keyboard. Normally keyboard is the most comfortable way.

If he has to turn around first he will only turn and you have to press again to make him move.

If in the choosen direction there is something to collect, open or - sorry for him: let explode - he will collect, open or not survive it but not move with your first hit but only after you press the key again.

Switch [image] or Cursorkey Arrow Up or key 8 of the numeric keypad:

Dr. Harrison moves up one square.

Switch [image] or Cursorkey Arrow Down or key 2 of the numeric keypad:

Dr. Harrison moves down one square.

Switch [image] or Cursorkey Arrow left or key 4 of the numeric keypad:

Dr. Harrison moves one square to the left.

Switch [image] or Cursorkey Arrow right or key 6 of the numeric keypad:

Dr. Harrison moves one square to the right.

Switch [image] or Space-key:

Dr. Harrison places a bomb to the square in front of him.

This switch lets you pause a game or continue a paused game. After starting the game and at the beginning of each level the game is paused automatically. This is shown by the red traffic light and the word 'PAUSE' in the status line below. You can also toggle pause with the function key F2 or by choosing 'Game/Pause' from the menu.

This switch opens the dialogue window 'Options'. You can also use the function key F3 or choose 'Game/Options' from the menu.

This switch opens the online helpfile. You can also use the function key F1 or choose 'Help/Contents' from the menu.

If you want to get an overview over the level you can move around with keys 7, 9, 1 and 3 of the numeric keypad. This moves the visible part of the level as far as possible if Dr. Harrison shall still to be seen. The best overview can be obtained by the zoom-function. Please use the keys Ins and Del  to activate the zoom.


Elements of the Game

Dr. Harrison is the scientist whom you have to lead safely out of the building by using mouse or keyboard.

Violet robots can be very dangerous for Dr. Harrison but they are not aggressive. They don't hunt him. They only change their direction when they encounter a wall. Just this can be pretty deadly for Dr. Harrison. If he is caught between a violet robot and a wall he will surely die. On the other hand these robots are very easy to destroy as it is no problem to predict their way and put a bomb into their path.

Yellow robots are the least dangerous. They are just moving around continously changing their direction by random. This makes it quite hard to catch them with bombs. Only in narrow corridors, where they cannot turn left or right, they always walk straightforward.

The green robots are the most dangerous. They can locate Dr. Harrison and try to hunt him down. But as they are still machines they only run straightforward towards Dr. Harrison no matter if walls are blocking their way.

Every time Dr. Harrison touches a robot he looses ten energy units. If you let Dr. Harrison run against a wall he looses two energy units.

The security barriers are blocking Dr. Harrison's way at many places. He needs a key of the same color to unlock a barrier.

In every level there are enough keys to unlock the barriers which have to be opened. But there are not always enough keys to open all barriers. So be careful which barriers you open.

If Dr. Harrison collects these hearts he gets new energy. He gets one energy unit for a red heart, two for a yellow one, five for a green one and ten for a blue one.

These diamonds are giving bonus points. A red one means one point, a yellow one two, a green one five and a blue one ten. If a robot explodes on a bomb he produces up to five blue diamonds. You should try to place bombs only in open places where these five diamonds will be produced.

If Dr. Harrison collects this bomb he can later place it somewhere else to destroy a robot. But he has to be careful. Once a bomb is placed by him he cannot walk on it as well or he will die. You should not block your own way with a bomb.

This is a bomb already placed and thus dangerous for both robots and Dr. Harrison himself.

This field is to be found once in every level. Dr. Harrison stands here when the game begins or when he enters a new level.

If Dr. Harrison can reach this field he has survived at least one floor because this is the exit of a floor.

Hurrah! If Dr. Harrison reaches here he has mastered lots of dangerous situations to now finally get out of the laboratory. You sure will be able to enter your name in the highscore list!


Displays

On the right side of the window, directly above the switches to guide Dr. Harrison, there are several displays.

This display shows Dr. Harrison's energy. At the beginning of each level Dr. Harrison has 100 energy units. As he looses energy when touching robots or walls you should collect the energy hearts to keep him alive. If he has no energy left he will die.

This display shows your points. You can increase your points by collecting diamonds.

This display shows how many bombs Dr. Harrison carries. Sometimes he needs lots of bombs to get through a room crowded by masses of robots. It might be better to first look for bombs somewhere before entering such a room.

Here you can see how many keys of the different colors Dr. Harrison carries.

This displays shows the time units Dr. Harrison already needed for the current floor. 100 of these time-units are making up for a minute. The robots can turn or move once within one of these time-units.

More informations are displayed while playing in the status line at the bottom.


Game Menu

The game menu contains the following commands:

•	New: Here you can start a new game. You will begin in the first level (10th floor).

•	Load Game ...: Here you can load a previously saved game to continue playing it.

•	Save Game ...: Here you can save your present game situation to be able to continue with it the other day. You shouldn't only save when you totally want to stop playing but also every now and then, esp. before Dr. Harrison tries to master critical situations.

If you are playing XLM's Dr. Harrison directly from a CDROM or another write-protected media you cannot save a game. Please copy the game to a writeable media first.

•	Pause: Lets you pause the game. At the overall beginning and at the beginning of each level the game will automatically be paused.

•	Options ...: This command invokes the 'Options' window.

•	Exit: With this command you leave the game and enter the world of boredom again. Good bye!


Highscores Menu

The highscore menu contains the following commands:

•	Display Highscores ...: This command lets you see the ten best players. It will be displayed automatically after each game and you will automatically be asked to enter your name if your score is good enough.

•	Erase Highscores: This command empties the highscore list. You will be asked if you are really sure before all highscores will be deleted.


Help Menu

The help menu contains the following commands:

•	Contents: This command opens this helpfile.

•	Help on Help: This gives help on how to use a helpfile.

•	Quick Help ...: This command produces a very short info about the aim of the game and the handling. This info will be displayed with every start of the game unless you switch it off.

•	How to Order: Here you get detailed informations about how to order the full version.

•	Enter Registration Code ...: This command lets you unlock the shareware version by entering your registration code to enjoy the advantages of the full version.

•	Order Form: If you want to order you can use this form to send by mail or email to one of our distributors.

•	About XLM's Dr. Harrison ...: By this you get information about the program.


Options

The 'Options' window can be reached from the menu by choosing 'Game/Options', with the function key F3 or with the switch from the symbol bar. It offers the following options:

•	Scrolling: If you activate this feature the game will calculate the playground first in the background and thus allow scrolling of the map. As this needs lots of memory and speed you should have at least a 486 DX4 and 8 MB of RAM. For maximum speed you should use only the HighColor- but not the TrueColor-mode of your graphics adapter. The screen resolution should best be 640x480 or you should just not enlarge the game window.

•	Animations: If you activate this option you will see how the barriers are moving into the ground after being unlocked by Dr. Harrison.

•	Sound Effects: This option toggles sound effects.

•	Help-Mode: If this option is activated you will be guided through the level by blinking barriers. You should always (and only!) open the blinking barriers. In many levels there are different ways to go. The help mode will only show one possible way. It can only work reliable if you activate it at the very beginning of a level before you have opened any barriers of your own choice. If you already wasted necessary keys on unnecessary barriers the help-mode will not help you anymore.

•	Scrolling Speed: If you did activate the option 'Scrolling' you can here control its speed. As the speed varies with every machine you should best try out yourself several speeds to find the best for your computer.

•	Distance for Scrolling: The value chosen defines how many squares Dr. Harrison has to be away from the border of the visible region before it is scrolled.

•	Digital Display: Please choose one graphic for the digital displays here.

•	Name of the Game-Files: If you designed your own games with the Game Editor you can here enter their names (only the first characters of the filename, without the three-character extension, e.g. MYGAME or GAME22). After the next start of the program the new game will automatically be loaded. This function is only available in the registered version.


Points

This window will be displayed automatically after finishing a level or when finishing the game.

In the top part of the window you will find a comment on your game.

In the middle part you find the points: On top are the points you gained in previous levels. Below you see the bonus points from the current level.

If Dr. Harrison still has more than 100 energy units you are getting one point for each of these units.

Also for each bomb he still carries he is getting ten points.

Also there is a time-limit calculated by the size of every level. If you finished a level faster than the time limits you get extra points for it.

All these points are added to your overall score.


Load Game

This command can be activated by choosing 'Game/Load Game ...' from the menu.

Please click on one of the numbered switches to load a game. If a switch is grayed out there is no game saved under this number until now.

By choosing cancel you can quit this window without loading a game.


Save Game

This command can be activated by choosing 'Game/Save Game ...' from the menu.

Please click on one of the numbered switches to save your present game situation under this number. If there already is a game saved under this switch it will be overwritten by the new game. You can also enter a comment on your game. This comment will be displayed when this game is loaded again.

By choosing Cancel you can quit this window without saving a game.

If you play XLM's Dr. Harrison directly from a write-protected medium like a CDROM you cannot save. You first have to install XLM's Dr. Harrison onto your  harddisk by running the file 'setup.exe'.