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\ O V E R D O S E /::/
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quite possibly the toughest puzzle game around...
...then again, maybe not
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\ (C)opyright 1996 Fantasy Freaks /::/
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Harddisk Installation And Things Like That...
*********************************************
System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, first of all, you need an Amiga. I tried it on various
configurations, ranging from kickstart 1.3 up to 3.1, from
an A500 up to an A1200 and it all worked.
I think it is possible to run Overdose on a machine with
only 512 kb of RAM, but don't shoot me if it doesn't. Oh
yeah, Milco (who did some levels), tried it on his 68060 and
it worked. Boy, am I a good programmer or what.
You also need a brain, so if you haven't got one, you're in
trouble...so be warned!
Harddisk Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To keep life simple, all files needed to run Overdose are
inside a single drawer. So just drag the drawer to you
harddisk partition and you are ready to rock and roll!
Overdose doesn't need any external files to run, so you
could quite easily make a self-booting disk if you want
to...
However, if you wish to use the ICONIFY button, the file
'reqtools.library' needs to be present in your LIBS:
directory. It doesn't come with Overdose, but don't worry,
you probably have this library on one disk or another...
What About Playing ?
********************
All You Need To Know
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Understanding how this game works is easy, finishing
ain't...well, it only has 50 levels...
The screen consists of two windows, some buttons and
information like score and time.
When you move the mousepointer over the large window you
will see an additional cursor which highlights a position in
the window. If you click the mousebutton, the four cells
surrounding the highlighted cell will change. This way you
have to recreate the pattern from the small window. Simple,
eh ?
It's like this, where # is a block, . is an empty cell and *
is the cursor:
before after before after
------ ----- ------ -----
##### ##### of course, it ..... .....
##### ##.## also works the ..... ..#..
##*## #.*.# other way around: ..*.. .#*#.
##### ##.## ..... ..#..
##### ##### ..... .....
On easier levels, the cells will change into an empty cell
or a purple block. On harder levels, the cells will change
into an empty cell, a purple block or a blue block. Finally,
on the toughest levels the cells will also change into a
yellow block. By the way, the cells will always change in
this order, not randomly. This allows you to precisely
calculate what the contents of the cells will be (and
believe me, you will need to!)
This might all sound terribly complicated, but I am sure
once you are playing you get used to it real soon.
Settling The Score
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each level has something called PAR. Somewhere in the
bottom-right corner of the screen you can see its value for
the current level. Par means as much as number of average
moves allowed. The only way to finish a level is to make a
number of moves less than, or equal to par.
You will get 500 points if you complete a level and an extra
100 points for every move below par.
When the number of moves you made to complete a level
exceeds par, you will have to try the level again (nah nah
nah), and you will get no points at all...
You may also score bonus points. The yellow time bar on the
screen slowly (or quickly :) grows. When you finish a level
before the time bar has been filled completely, you will
receive some bonus points.
Beavis And Buttonhead
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So now you know the game works, let's talk about the
buttons. Those of you who know how to count will notice that
there are 5 buttons on the screen. This is what they do
(from left to right):
* ICONFIY
This little button here halts the game and returns
you to WorkBench. Because of the non-multitasking
nature of OverDose, it is not possible to swap
between screens and stuff. But OverDose does not
kill the entire system, so programs like a
module-player or CD-player can still run in the
background. Using this button you can quickly go
to the WorkBench screen and do whatever you like.
A requester appears and pressing the button brings
you back to the game.
* SOUND
Turns those annoying sound effects on or off.
* PAUSE
Pauses the game, so you can go to the toilet or
answer the phone or something. The time stops, of
course.
* RESTART
If you totally mess up, you can always restart a
level.
* EXIT
If you get fed up with playing Overdose, then
press this button to return to the intro (or the
highscores ;).
Other things you might want to know
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are playing Overdose from disk, you could of course
write-protect it, or take it out of the drive when you're
playing. But if you do so, the hiscores won't be saved. Nah
nah.
Who's Responsible For This Anyway ?
***********************************
About Me
~~~~~~~~
The author of this great piece of software is called
Matthijs Hollemans (at least on this planet) and he's very
poor. That's why this game is shareware, look at the intro
for details. He spends all his time coding stupid programs
and therefore has no social life at all. But, who needs
people anyway ?
Don't blame it all on me though, I didn't create all the
levels...
About Them
~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the levels were created by Milco Veljanoski and
Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, who were kind enough to respond to my
desparate call for level-designers (although they probably
just did it for the money ;).
Thanks must also go to Arnold van Bezooijen. Although he
claims to be busy all day with studying and stuff, he even
managed to create some levels (after four months of hard
labour, that is).
I can't take the credit for the game idea, though. The game
was based on a game called "Inverso" from a book called "Het
Groot Grafisch Commodore Boek" by R. Baumann.
Thanks to Rene, my (little) brother, for coming up with the
HALL OF SHAME! Special thanks to my dad, for buying an 28k8
modem :)
Covering My Ass
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are encouraged to distribute this game to as many
people, PD-houses, magazines, etc. you happen to know.
Upload it, eat it, burn it, pay for it ;) In addition, you
may also try to use it yourself, if you have got the guts
;).
I accept no responsability at all for whatever may happen to
whoever, whenever.
Some Final Words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's it. Have fun!