                       3D Pulsoid (final release)

                  Developed by Fifth Dimension Company
                  Published by  Ultisoft, Incorporated

Contents:

  Game presentation
  System requirements
  Game rules
  The beginning
  Game menu description
  Bonuses description
  Monsters description
  Level editor description
  Features and hints
  Problems and ways of their removal
  Frequently asked questions and answers
  Contact info
  Our projects
  Comming soon
  Copyrights

                                 * * *

Game Presentation

  You are tired of shots and blood that pours over the monitor ? You are
tired of accelerating a racing car ?  You are sick of Your  games  ?  No
problem !

        Try our game - 3D Pulsoid by Fifth Dimension Company !!!

  3D Pulsoid is an arcanoid game, "destroy all the bricks and go to  the
next  level"  is the primary goal of the game.  32 insidious game levels
make 3D Pulsoid really fascinating !  17 beautiful melodies  will  charm
Your  ear  and  cool  sound  effects  will  impress  You !  Nicely drawn
high-quality graphics will meet everybody's wishes !  Everything will be
Your  enemy  -  unbreakable  invisible bricks and 16 types of monsters !
More than 20 bonuses falling from the sky will help You in the game,  as
well as hinder You !  And You will have to show all Your skills to reach
the last, the 32nd, level! Good luck in playing 3D Pulsoid !


System requirements

  To  correctly play our game You will need at least  Pentium-75, 16 Mb
RAM, quick  videocard  with 1 Mb and Sound Blaster Pro compatible sound
card.  Of course, 3D Pulsoid  will work  without problems on 486 SX2-80
with 8 Mb RAM, but why  deprive  Yourself of  enjoyment of  such a cool
game ?
  The only limitation  is that You should play the game in DOS,  for in
Windows You will not hear sound effects (see Frequently asked questions
and answers).

Game rules

  As You know, the  main  rule  of  the game is to control a racket with
snakes and balls, destroy all the bricks and go to the next level. Funny
monsters will try to prevent You from completing Your mission and change
the trajectory of the movent of the snake or of the ball.  Some  of  the
bonuses help You, but some hinder You (see Bonuses description).

  After the 32nd level the game ends and Your name is placed in the Hall
of Fame.  If You are tired of our standard game levels,  You can  always
create  Your own and play it (see Level editor description and Game menu
description).  You can also  play  with  the  partner,  controlling  two
rackets,  and  that  will  ease  Your  mission  greatly.  Those who like
standard Arkanoid can turn snake into a ball  with  the  special  option
(see Game menu description).

  Levels of  3D Pulsoid are specially constructed - the difficulty rises
from the first level to the last.  It means that on the earliest  levels
You  will  not  encounter  very dangerous monsters such as Mystic and an
Evil Scull (see Monster description).  Yet You will not have such useful
bonuses  as  Laser,  Rocket Launcher (see Bonuses description).  Authors
tried to make this game as much playable as possible,  so we  hope  that
You will appraise our diligence at its true worth !

The beginning

  After unpacking the archive You will see several executive files, text
files and data files. Let's discuss them:

  3dpuls.exe file is the main executable file of our  game,  Just  place
cursor  on  it  and press Enter ( in Windows - double click ).  The game
will start and intro will be shown.

  sndsetup.exe file is made for initializating Your sound system.  Press
[A] button for  automatical  initialization and [M] for manual.  The set
preferencesare these:  Sound Blaster, A220, I7, D1.  You can change them
anytime by executing this file.

  editor.exe file is an executbale file of the Level editor.  Read Level
editor description about Level editor.

  dos4gw.exe file is an important system file.

  slowgame.bat file is an executable file that slows the  speed  of  the
game in one and a half times.

  read_me.eng file is a text file-description of 3D Pulsoid in English.

  read_me.rus file is a text file -description of 3D Pulsoid in Russian.

  usorder.txt, ukorder.txt  and  ausorder.txt files are text order-forms
of the game in USA, UK and Australia.

  3dpuls.cfg file is the configuration  file  of  the  game.  After  its
removal  from  Your  HDD,  the  program  creates  it itself with the set
preferences for default.

  3dpuls.tbl file - there Hall of Fame is kept.  After  the  removal  of
this  file  from  Your HDD,  the program creates it with zero results of
records.

  pulsold.lvl file contains all the old 32 levels of Pulsoid.

  3dpuls.dat and editor.dat files are data files of the game and of  the
level editor.

Game menu description

  After the  finishing  of  the  intro  with the pictures of authors and
bonuses description You will see Game menu. There You will find:

  1) Start Game.  Just press it.  The  game  starts  with  all  the  set
preferences.  You will be asked to enter the registration code, recieved
from Ultisoft, Inc company. The way of its receiving is described in the
order-screen.  If  You  don't have the registration code,  You will play
only 2 levels of all the 32, but after that You will have enter the code
anyway. Please, register the game!

  2) Options. Click here to change the game settings.

  Sound settings.  There You can change the volume of the sound effects,
music and CD-music or turn them off.  Mind You,  music will not play  in
Windows (see Frequently asked questions and answers).

  Racket control  settings.  There the control of the game racket can be
set.  For the first player is mouse,  and keyboard is for the second for
default. If You have a joystick, the control is set to it.

  Game process settings. There You can choose Your "players" - snakes or
balls - Pulsoid or Arcanoid.  There You can also choose the angle of the
bouncing off. For Pulsoid it's fixed - 45 degrees. For Arcanoid it's not
fixed.

  Then You can choose the number of players - one or two.

  With User Levels You can load  Your  levels  for  playing  (see  Level
editor description).  To cancel the game with home-made level You should
enter User Levels and leave it without loading anything.

  3) Exit. After pressing there, You will leave 3D Pulsoid.


Bonuses description

  Cannon (a wooden box with the letter C) is a chaingun. It destroys all
the bricks except unbreakable.  After receiving  the  second  bonus  the
second  muzzle  appears  and  the  power  of  the shooting becomes twice
increased. Ammo is unlimited.

  Life (a bottle of beer with the  letter  L)  adds  one  life.  In  the
beginning You have three lives.

  Exit (a  turbine  with  the  letter  E) is an instant exit to the next
level.

  Nuclear Bomb (a bomb with the letter N) - after  catching  this  bonus
the racket explodes and the amount of lives reduces by one.

  Destroy Monsters (wings and nimbus with the letter D) kills monsters.

  Super Snake  (a  snake  in  the  flask) gives a super-power to all the
snakes for 30 seconds.  Snakes or  balls  destroy  any  brick,  even  an
unbreakable, with one hit.

  Rockets (an iron box with the letter R) gives 10 rockets for shooting.
They destroy 3x3 field of the bricks.  Rockets explode after You release
the fire button.

  Ammo (a  box  filled  with rockets with the letter A) is an ammunition
for the rocket launcher.  There are 10 rockets in the  bonus.  Tank  can
hold no more than 99 rockets.

  Freezer (a snow man with the letter F) freezes all the monsters on the
screen for 30 seconds.

  Upgrade (an adjustable spanner  with  the  letter  U)  increases  tank
twice.

  Quicker (an  oil-can  with  the letter Q) quickens the movement of the
tank in one and a half times.

  Breaker (a ball and chain with the letter B) slowes  the  movement  of
the tank in one aand a half times.

  God Mode  (a pentagram with letters GM) gives "god mod" for 30 seconds
- a green blinking line in the bottom of the screen,  that sends  snakes
or balls back. Yet it doesn't protect from bombs.

  Money (a gold coin with the number 5) gives 5000 points.  You will get
an extra life after every 10000 points.

  Automatic Control (a processor) controls  a  racket  for  You  for  30
seconds.  Yet it follows only one snake.  After catching a bomb the tank
will NOT be destroyed.

  Brick Shield (a  shield)  protects  bricks  from  destruction  for  10
seconds.

  Stop NOW ! (a STOP sign) is the full stop of the tank for 5 seconds.

  Mirror (a mirror with a ghost)  changes  the direction of the movement
of the tank for 5 seconds. A very funny bonus.

  Laser (an accumulator) gives a possibility to shoot laser arrows.  One
shot destroys a row of bricks. There are 5 shoots in accumulator.

  Scull (a  scull  with crossed bones) calls an Evil Scull (see Monsters
description).

  Unknown Bonus (an adjustable question mark)  -  You  can  receive  any
bonus.


Monsters description

  The functions of the monsters are all alike - to change the trajectory
of  the  movement of the snake or ball and to prevent the destruction of
the bricks, yet there is a specially dangerous monster - An Evil Scull -
that shoots new bricks,  if You have a chaingun,  a rocket launcher or a
laser.  If this is done,  remember,  that there are no bonuses  in  such
bricks,  but they can be destroyed with one hit.  There is another,  not
less insidious, monster called Mystic that appears only to call the Evil
Scull.  Take our advice - shoot'im before he causes You troubles.  Other
cute monsters are not dangerous and just move around the field. They are
an Ameoba,  Bats,  a Blueman,  Jaws,  a Clauster,  a Goblin, a Cubism, a
Swinus, an UFO, a Warlord and a Worm.


Level editor description

  Level editor is made for creating Your own levels for 3D Pulsoid game.
An executable file is editor.exe.  Levels are saved  into  blocks,  each
block  has  32  levels.  If You have drawn several levels and during the
play have uploaded a new block then at the end of Your game the  program
will  automatically  include  levels for default into Your levels.  Here
follows the description of the functions of the editor.

  Place bricks.  This is the main part of the editor.  There You can act
as  a  builder  and  place  bricks for Your new level.  All bricks has 6
levels of destruction - from 1 (the brick is destroyed with one hit),  5
(the  brick  is  destroyed with five hits) to undestructable.  With Your
mouse take any brick and place it in the game field.  It's then set to 1
-  it  can  be  destroyed  with  one  hit.  If  You  want  to change its
resistance,  press number buttons from [1] to [5]  and  [U]  button  for
undestructible.

  Eraser cleans level for another work.

  Bricks description

  A transparent  brick  with cross.  It's an invisible brick and it will
not be seen in play.

  A brick with the letter X gives You an additional snake or  ball  when
hit.  Remember  -  You  can  have  no more than 8 snakes or balls on one
level!

  A brick with (+) mark gives You a  part  of  Your  snake's  body  (the
maximum  amount  of  parts  is  32).  The more the snake the better it's
controled and the clearly it's seen on the game screen. If You play with
the ball, this brick does nothing.

  A brick  with  (-) mark takes away one part of Your snake's body,  The
minimum amount of parts is 4.

  A brick with zigzag (lightning) is an accelerator.  Snakes  and  balls
move twice as fast.

  A brick with question mark throws down random bonus.

  Other bricks  are  used  to decorate the background and to make levels
more difficult.  The more bricks You place,  the more time will it  take
You to complete it. The maximum amount of bricks in level is 525.


  Place the monsters (change monsters) - there You can put monsters that
will hinder Your work.  The frame, in which monster has already been set
into the level, enlights red.

  Insert the bonuses (change bonuses).  There You can place bonuses into
Your level (see Bonuses description).  The amount of bonuses must not be
greater than the amount of bricks.  You can choose two types of  placing
bonuses  -  manual  or automatic-random.  If You want to do it Yourself,
then take any bonus and place it into any brick.  The brick will have  C
letter  -  current.  U  letter - used shows that the brick already has a
bonus. For automatic type of bonuses placement just choose the bonus and
its amount in the level. The program will place bonuses randomly.

  Place the snakes.  There You can add snakes to the level.  The maximum
number of snakes is 8, including the working snake, that starts from the
tank in the beginning of the new level.

  Change borders. Choose any of the 6 borders to decorate Your level.

  Load levels  is  used to load game blocks for further editing.  Choose
any block and then any level to edit it.

  Save levels is used to save edited  levels  into  blocks.  Choose  the
block and enter name of Your level.

  Fire Exit icon will allow You to leave the Level editor.


Features and hints

  Press F-10 to temporary stop the game - it's a Pause.

  If You want to play 3D Pulsoid later,  save Your game !  You can do it
by pressing Alt+S. Choose the slot for saving. Remember - level is saved
from the beginning, it means You will get all the bricks again after the
loading even if You have destroyed 90%  of them. In the loaded level the
name of the block, the number of the level, the amount of lives and Your
score is remembered.

  To load  saved  levels use Alt+L.  You will have to choose from one of
the 10 saved levels.  If You're using home-made block  of  levels,  load
program will automatically switch it to the game.

  If You cannot complete the game fairly,  try it unfairly.  Type in the
menu in small letters and without spaces the  word  fifthdimension.  You
will  hear  a  sound  signal,  symbolizing the activating of cheat codes
system. You need only to press F1 - F9 buttons.

  F1 - normal racket.
  F2 - double racket.
  F3 - one-shot chaingun.
  F4 - two-shot chaingun.
  F5 - rocket launcher.
  F6 - laser.
  F7 - an instant exit to the next level.
  F8 - the destruction of the racket.
  F9 - "god mode".

  If You think Your game works too fast and You cannot  follow  it,  use
the slow code.  In the command line type 3dpuls.exe hispeed. Movement of
snakes and bonuses will decrease in one and a half times.  You can  also
do this by executing slowgame.bat file.

  The rocket  explodes  after  You  relaese  the fire-button or near the
upper border of the screen.

  If the snake or the ball can't find the way out  of  the  bricks,  the
tank  will  increase  it's fire power every 30 seconds - firstly it will
have the chaingun,  then double chaingun, then rocket launcher, and then
laser. And finaly if You can't complete a level tank will go to the next
level. It's IMPOSSIBLE not to complete our game.


Problems and ways of their removal

  If you   have   any   problems   with  the  game  -  send  letters  to
support@fd.com.ua

  1. Corrupted 3dpuls.dat file.  - Download full archive  and  overwrite
this file anew .

  2. Windows  has  troubles  while  starting  3D Pulsoid.  - Our game is
written for DOS. If You have this problem - contact tech-support service
of Microsoft.

  3. There is no CD-sound in Windows in our game.  - Play it in DOS. Our
game uses the CD-ROM driver functions. In Windows this can't be done.

  4. The game does not run because of the "3D Pulsoid needs 3.5 megabyte
of RAM " message. - Free or increase your RAM.


Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

  If you have any questions, send letters to our tech-support service to
support@fd.com.ua

  Q. I'm  running  the  game in Windows,  the music is on in sound setup
menu, but I don't hear it.

  A. 3D Pulsoid is written for DOS and Windows does not  have  resources
to use music. Solution is to rebbot in DOS emulation mode.

  Q. The game does not see my joystick. What am I to do ?

  A. The program works only with standart type of joysticks.  So, if You
have a not standart  type  of  joystick,  the  game  can't  notice  Your
manipulator.


Contact information

  Fifth Dimension Company
  PO BOX 1471, Dniepropetrovsk, 320070, Ukraine
  Tel. +380-562-44-00-38
  admin@fd.com.ua
  http://www.fd.com.ua/

  Ultisoft, Inc.
  PO BOX 5015, Central Point, OR 97502, USA
  Int'l +1-541-664-1885
  Fax   +1-541-664-3403
  Orders 1-800-925-3147
  ultisoft@mind.net
  http://www.ultisot.com/

Our projects

  Computer Slang Dictionary (tm). Big part of slang phrases is collected
here using in ex-USSR.  Our creation is unreplacable  for  any  computer
beginner ! (http://www.fd.com.ua/dict/dict.htm)

  Crazy Poker.  Joyful  imitation  of  card machine wit alive card.  Our
first game program. (http://www.fd.com.ua/cpoker/cpok.htm)


Comming Soon

  Crazy Poker 2 :  Return to Paradise. A high-quality second part of the
well known game - a lot of music, a lot of graphics, a lot of jokes.

Copyrights

  Copyights on  the  program  3D  Pulsoid  belong  to  Fifth   Dimension
Company.

  Authors:

        Project Design by Denis Sadoshenko - admin@fd.com.ua
        
        All code works by Crazy BoBka - vovka@fd.com.ua
        
        Art works by Vlad Bogutsky - vlad@fd.com.ua
        
        Music created by Anton Serov - anton@gtk.dp.ua
        
        Translate by Yegor Sadoshenko - yegor@fd.com.ua
        
        Web-design by Maxim Ousatov - bh@fd.com.ua
        
        Moral support by Denis Morozov - lucyfer@fd.com.ua

                WWWelcome to official 3D Pulsoid site !

                       http://www.3dpulsoid.com/

               The game is distributed by Ultisoft, Inc.


                                 * * *

                   3D Pulsoid  (c)  23   ’£γαβ   1998

                  Developed by Fifth Dimension Company
                      Published by Ultisoft, Inc.
                          All rights reserved.