Welcome to COWS! COWS! is a simple (although complex) text adventure type game. It is divided into three sections, with players advancing to the next section by scoring a certain number of points, or, on some occassions, just by dumb luck! TITLE SCREEN - The COWS! title screen contains some useful information. It displays the current HIGH SCORER, as well as what BBS that COWS! is registered to. And, it almost always displays a message of some kind at the bottom. For unregistered users, this area may tell you if you've been lucky enough to receive a FREE fully functional play on that particular turn. It also could give you secret information on how to reach a hidden part of COWS!. MAIN MENU - The Main Menu is fairly self-explanatory. Choose the option you desire by pressing the appropriate key. PART I - In Part I of the COWS! adventure, you are asked to take on a secret mission to destroy the Moovian Cow Base. To get to that point in the game, you must go through a series of scenarios, answering each with a multiple choice answer. Certain answers will gain you more points. Some answers may kill you. Answering some scenarios in the proper way will gain you access to secret parts of the game where you can earn more points. To complete Part I and advance to Part II, you must either have earned 89 points or have purchased the SECRET CODE. If you have the SECRET CODE, you only have one chance to enter it correctly, so be careful. You can't backspace if you make a mistake. PART II - Once you have successfully completed Part I through scoring 89 points or buying the SECRET CODE, you will be presented with a menu allowing you to either play Part II, Exit the game with the score you have already earned, or view more directions on what to expect in Part II. Part II is similiar to Part I in that you are faced with a series of multiple choice scenarios. Again, different answers will net you different point values...or death. The object in Part II is to score at least 180 points in order to advance to Part III of the game. SECRET DEVICE - It is impossible to score anywhere near 180 points unless you use the SECRET DEVICE found in Part II...it will not pop up for several turns, so be patient, and be careful...death lurks around every corner. SECRET DEVICE SCENARIOS - Using the SECRET DEVICE will transport you at random to a number of scenarios. Each time you successfully use the SECRET DEVICE, you get 3 points. Answering the particular scenario you are in correctly will net you more points and return you to the point where you first used the SECRET DEVICE. For unregistered users, using the SECRET DEVICE is a little more dangerous. It will not always work correctly and if it doesn't, it deducts 3 points from your score rather than adding 3 points. Some of the SECRET DEVICE scenarios are very dangerous. Some will net you up to 100 points. A new major addition to the SECRET DEVICE scenario is a mini-adventure in itself...you'll know it when you get there, although maybe not right away. I am being vague about exactly what it is because I consider it one of the best parts of the game. In this particular scenario, there are many twists and turns and random elements. An answer that is right one time may kill you the next. I've done everything I could to make it more than a crapshoot...a little common sense will get you through the adventure, but a little risk taking will gain you a lot more points. This particular scenario - if you find your way through it properly - will take you to different planets. Each time you travel to a new planet you get 3 points and each time you land on a planet you get 3 points. Some planets are killers and some are friendly. No planet will be the same from turn to turn. The only way out of this scenario is to find a certain planet that will pop up in at a different course each time through the scenario. Landing on this planet will get you back into the regular game. You may want to try to find another planet first, however, (pay attention to the text of the game - it will tell you who and what you are looking for). If you land at this planet first, before the other one, you will get a surprise when you eventually do find the final planet. It is not necessary, however, to the completion of this part of the game. Some of the SECRET DEVICE scenarios are original, some are based on popular TV shows and movies of the past and present. Once you are within striking distance (10 points or so) of 180, it would be wise to head for the finish of Part II before your luck runs out...or, if you want to try for a really big score, stick around for awhile and use the SECRET DEVICE. PART III - Once you have finished Part II (assuming you don't blow it in the last few scenarios that finish it)...you will be presented with another menu asking you if you want to continue or exit with your existing score. If you continue, you will start an all new adventure, similiar in structure to the Part I of the game...at least for awhile. If you make it that far, you will wind up in a building and use an elevator to travel from floor to floor. In most cases, you will get points only if you choose to exit the elevator on the floor you arrive on. In some cases, however, exiting the elevator may not be the right thing to do. There is danger involved in leaving the elevator, but it will increase your chances of finishing the game. Once you exit the elevator on a particular floor and successfully complete whatever you must do there, you will not visit that floor again. In order to to leave the building, you must successfully complete one particular scenario and then find the main floor of the building again. It is not necessary to visit every floor to do this. Part III ends the COWS game. It does, however, leave the entire framework of the game to work within, so more exciting adventures could possibly be added in future versions.