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 .     .                 .    . .      .         .       .    .    
                                                                       
                 a game by Christoph Brzozowski (c)1997     .      
                                                                      
	.     .    .      .           .    .           .    .  .  .    
 .     .                 a SOFTWARE 32 production        .    .    
  

> AGREEMENT:

  The author is not responsible for any damage caused by this product. You
  are using this program at your own risk.

  This program is FREEWARE. This means that you can copy it to everybody who
  would like to have it. Only PD or SHAREWARE vendors are allowed to take a
  little fee which MUST NOT be higher than the expenses like the price for the
  disk. Any other rights with regard to this program are reserved by the
  author. This means that the usage or removal of any data included in this
  program is forbidden. It may only be distributed as it is.
  You are not allowed to make any changes!

  The following files must be distributed:

	   INSTALL.EXE         Installation file
	   PYRO.EXE            PYROMANIA - executable
	   PYRO.DAT            PYROMANIA - data file
      PYRO.ICO            PYROMANIA - icon
	   README.EXE          manual viewer
	   LIESMICH.TXT        german manual
	   README.TXT          english manual

  Any violation of this agreement is unlawful and will be persecuted.

> INTRODUCTION:

  Welcome to PYROMANIA! This game gives you a lot of fun and action,
  assuming you have one or more partners you can play the game with,
  since it is only a multiplayer game. Up to 4 Players can join this game,
  but then the fun and excitment is guaranteed.

  You can describe the goal of this game with only one word: SURVIVE!

  This game is based upon the idea of BOMBERMAN. You control your bomberman
  inside a labyrinth. In the beginning the corridors of this labyrinth are
  barricaded by some blocks. But there is no problem freeing them by using
  some bombs. If you are lucky then sometimes an extra appears, after you
  blowed up the block. There are many extras you can use, but I'll come later
  to this. The goal of the game is to kill all your enemies and to survive.

> SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

  PYROMANIA has the following system requirements:

	   Processor      486DX 33Mhz

	   Memory         4 MB RAM

	   HD             1.2 MB

	   Graphics       VGA-compatible graphic card

	  ...and of course a monitor and a keyboard !

  ...in addition to this, following devices are also supported:

	   Joystick    (you need it for the 4-player mode)

	   Sound Blaster TM and compatibles

  I recommend a faster processor, especially if you use the sound option.
  A 486DX2-66Mhz should be enough at last, but in a time where everyone has
  a PENTIUM TM ther should not be a problem at all :)

  CAUTION: PYROMANIA does not run with a 386,a 286 or a 8086 processor,
		     since it uses special 486 processor commands. There are of course
		     no problems wit PENTIUM TM computers, since they are full
		     compatible with 486s.

  PYROMANIA should run under WIN95. If there are any problems under this
  operating system, try to run it in the exclusive DOS mode (not a dos box).
  I don't know if this game runs under WIN 3.1x since I couldn't test it.
  There should be no problems under MS-DOS at all if your computer can
  fullfill the system requirements.

  Additional Remark: For WINDOWS users I have created the PYRO.ICO file.
                     This is an icon file for PYROMANIA and can be
                     installed for this application.

  You need the following files to run this game:

	  PYRO.EXE             PYROMANIA executable
	  PYRO.DAT             PYROMANIA data file

	  All this files must be in the same directory. It is possible to run this
     game from disk or CD, but in this case you can't save the game con-
     figuration and the game could crash when doing this.

> FEATURES:

   PYROMANIA offers the following features to you:

	   VGA graphics with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels

	   A framerate of 60 FPS (if you have a computer, which is fast enough...)

	   A multiplayermode with up to 4 players simultanously.

	   6 different graphic sets

	   8 channel digital sound (if you have a sound card...)

      monsters with artifical stupidit... eehm... intelligence

	   many extras

> MANUAL:

  To start the game just type in PYRO at the command line. The PYROMANIA logo
  will appear. Then the main menu pops up.
  You can choose the following items:

	 START GAME
	 GAME  OPTIONS
	 SETUP CONTROLS
	 SOUND SETUP
	 SAVE  CONFIG
    HELP
	 EXIT TO DOS

  By using the cursor keys you can change between the menu items, ENTER
  confirms your selection. Pressing ESC exits from a sub menu.
  To change an option use the cursor keys <- and ->. This is valid for
  any other menus.

  Here are the different menu options:

  > GAME OPTIONS <

	 - NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	 - NUMBER OF WINS
	 - ROUND TIME
	 - GRAPHIC SET
	 - MONSTERS
	 - EXTRA OPTIONS
    - RANDOM EXTRAS

	 In this menu you cann set up all options, which influence the game.

	 NUMBER OF PLAYERS

	 Here you can set up the number of players which take part in the game.
    You can select up to 4 players playing simultanously.

	 NUMBER OF WINS

	 Here you can set up the number of rounds you have to survive if you want
	 to win a whole match.

	 ROUND TIME

	 Here you can set up the duration of a match round in minutes.
    When there are only ten seconds left to the end of the round the
    computer begins to beep every second if the sound option is active.

	 GRAPHIC SET

	 Here you can select the graphic set you want to use. Following sets are
    available:

		NORMAL
		TECHNO
		BRICKS
		ARCTIC
		NATURE
		CASTLE
		RANDOM

	 The RANDOM option lets the computer choose a graphic set randomly before
    the beginning of a round.

    MONSTERS

	 Here you can turn the monsters in the arena on or off. An additional
    feature is the REAPPEARING option. This option lets the killed monsters
    reappear after a short period.

    MONSTER IQ

    Here you can set up the intelligence of the monsters. You can choose
    between two levels:

    	  STUPID

        This selection lets the monsters only run randomly and without any
        intelligence through the labyrinth.

        CLEVER

        This selection lets the monsters run towards a player when the
        monster is in the same row with the player.


	 EXTRA OPTIONS

	 Here you can set up the amount of the different extras which appear in
	 the game.

    RANDOM EXTRAS

    This option sets up if random extras should appear on the playfield after
    all bricks have been destroyed.

  > SETUP CONTROLS <

	 - SET PLAYER 1 KEYS
	 - SET PLAYER 2 KEYS
	 - SET PLAYER 3 KEYS
	 - CALIBRATE JOYSTICK
	 - JOYSTICK SENSITIVITY

	 This menu gives you the posibility to set up your control devices.

	 SET PLAYER KEYS

	 In this menu you can set up the key layout for your player. You can
    change the layout of the following keys:

		LEFT
		RIGHT
		UP
		DOWN
		BOMB
		EXTRA

	 To change a key, you have to select the menu item you wish, and press
	 the enter key. After doing this, you must press the key you want to have
    for the action you selected. After you pressed a key it's name should
    appear. The word UNKNOWN means that PYROMANIA does not know the name of
    the key but it was accepted. Nevertheless the control with this key should
    work without any problem. It can also happen that the key you selected is
	 already used by another player. In this case a warning message appears
    and the key is not accepted. You can use any key.

	 CALIBRATE JOYSTICK

	 Here you can calibrate your joystick..
	 After you started the game you have to calibrate your joystick before
	 you begin. It is neccessary if you want the joystick to work properly.

	 The fire buttons have the following layout:

		 button A:    drop bomb
		 button B:    change extra


	 REMARK:  If a joystick is connected to you computer, it is always
             possible to control the last player with it. For example:
             if you have selected 3 players, so you can control player 3
             with the help of the joystick but also with the keyboard.
			    Player 4 can only be controlled with the joystick.

	 JOYSTICK SENSITIVITY

	 Here you can set up the sensitivity of the joystick. 1 represents
	 the lowest sensitivity 10 the highest. I recommend 5 as the best
	 setup.

  > SOUND SETUP <

	 - SOUND
	 - BASE ADDRESS
	 - IRQ NUMBER
    - DMA CHANNEL

	 In this menu you can set up your sound card.

	 SOUND

	 Here you can set up the type of your sound card. OFF means that
	 sound is turned off.

	 SOUND BLASTER

	 This selection should work with every SOUNDBLASTER compatible card
    and of course with the SOUNDBLASTER TM itself.

	 BASE ADDRESS

	 Here you can select the base port address of your sound card.

	 IRQ NUMBER

	 Here you can set up the interrupt channel of your sound card.

    DMA CHANNEL

    Here you can select the DMA channel of your sound card.

	 > common soundcard setups are:

		 base address: 220h  interrupt channel: 7  dma channel: 1

		 or

		 base address: 220h  interrupt channel: 5  dma channel: 1

	 The sound card settings will be activated after you leave the sound setup
	 menu. If PYROMANIA is not able to find a sound card under the address you
	 specified then a warning message pops up.

    You can turn off the background music with the F2-key during the game
    on or off, the sound effects with the F1-key.


  > SAVE CONFIG <

  By selecting this menu item all settings will be saved in the configuration
  file which is called PYRO.CFG. Deleting this file lets PYROMANIA start with
  its default settings.

  > HELP <

  If you select this option a help screen will appear and you will get
  some information about the extra symbols. You can select the symbols
  with the left and right cursor key.

  > EXIT TO DOS <

  Choosing this item leaves PYROMANIA and returns to your OS installed.

  

> THE GAME:

  After you have started the game with the START GAME option, the game screen
  will appear. You will see then a labyrinth and at the bottom there is a
  status bar. It shows the status of every player and the time which remains
  until the round ends.

  Here is a schematic picture of the status bar:

  Ŀ Ŀ          Ŀ Ŀ
  ĿĿ  E ĿĿ  EĴĿĿ  E ĿĿ  E
        XĴ      X   TIME         XĴ      X
  1 2   T       T                T       T
    R   R  05:00     R   R
            A           A                    A           A
              Ĵ            Ĵ            Ĵ            
   WINS  0      WINS  0               WINS  0      WINS  0    
              

  Field 1 shows a portrait of the player.
  If the portrait is shaded, then the player is inactive.
  If the image shows a skull, then the player is dead.

  Field 2 shows the current extra activated. Normally it should be
  a bomb.

  You can change the extras, if you collected some, with the extra key you
  have selected before in the key setup menu.

  The EXTRA field shows you how strong the extra is. If the extra you have
  selected is a bomb then the amount of bombs you can drop at the sam time
  is shown.

  The WINS field shows how many rounds you have won already.

  The top of the screen shows the match arena like I said before.

  Here is a schematic picture of the match area:

	          legend:
	  S ###### # #### S
	   #######                   - Wall  (you can't blow this up)
	  ## #####M### ####
	  #########
	  ##########   ####                 * - Teleporter
	  *### #### *
	    ## ############                 # - Brick (you can blow it up)
	  ##### ###
	  ####M#######M####                 M - Monster
	   ####### 
	  S ############# S                 S - possible player start position
	  

  In the beginning the player is located in one of the four corners.
  The surrounding walls and the separation walls can't be destroyed.

  Any other bricks can be destroyd with the help of bombs. Every brick touched
  by the fire of a bomb will be blown up. After you have blown up such a brick
  somtimes an extra appears which you can collect.

  You can collect the following extras:

	   BOMB      - The bomb increases the amount of bombs a player can drop
                  simultanously by one.

	   FIRE      - The fire extra increases the maximal blast power of a bomb.

	   MEGABOMB  - This bomb blows up every brick which can be reached by the
                  fire ray of the bomb.

	   KICK BOMB - This extra gives you the possibility to kick a bomb which
                  is in front of you away. This extra is unlimited.

	   SHIELD    - The shield extra makes the player invulnerable for a short
				      time. It activates once you have selected it. A green shield
				      appears and surrounds the player.

	   FLASH     - With this extra you can disorder the key layout of your
		            enemy for a short time. By pressing the bomb key the player
		            shoots out a flash. If an enemy is hit by the flash then
                  it's keyboard layout will be disordered. A second hit
                  freezes the player and his bomber can't be moved for a
                  short period of time. Hitting a bomb will force it to
                  explode at once. This extra is limited.

	   FLAME     - With the help of the flame thrower you can kill you
	   			   enemies very quickly. To activate it, just press the bomb
		            key. As long as you hold the bomb key down, a ray of fire
				      will be scatterd by your player. Every enemy touched by
                  the fire ray will die after a period. The range depends on
                  the bomb explosion power. This extra is also limited.


	   PICK UP   - This extra gives you the possibility to pick up the bombs
				      dropped by your enemies. The bomb you want to pick up has
                  to be in front of your player. This extra is limited.

  After you collected an extra it will be added to your extra inventory and
  can be selected by the extra key. After you used up an extra it will be
  deleted from your inventory and you can't use it. You can fill up limited
  extras by collectig them once again.

  On the left and the right border of the match arena two teleporters are
  located. By entering them, you will be transported to the other side of
  the arena.

  If you have selected monsters in the game options menu, then monsters are
  running through the corridors of the arena. You can destroy them by blowing
  them up. Touching a monster is deadly except you the shield extra is
  activated.

  At last the goal of the game is to survive. After you have killed your
  enemies a bell rings after few seconds. So if you survived a round without
  any damage a point will be added to your winning rounds. If you reach the
  amount of winning rounds you have selected before, then the match is won
  and a winner screen appears.

  It can happen that the time runs out or the player who has won, kills
  himself before the bell rings. In this case no player will get any point
  and the match is continued.

> POSSIBLE BUGS:

  Since this program is quite big, it is not possible to exclude every error
  It can happen that PYROMANIA crashes or it is not possible to start it up.
  In the first case it was the my fault. In the second case there can be
  several reasons for the error.

  One possibilty is that one of the files desired by the game is missing or
  corrupted. You should also take care that the files, I named at the very
  beginning, are all located in the same directory.

  Also a wrong sound setup saved in the configuration file can cause a crash
  when you try to start the game. This problem can simply be solved by
  deleting the configuration file which is called PYRO.CFG. PYROMANIA will
  then start with its default settings. Then you can update your settings
  and save them again.

  Also the configuration of your PC can have an effect on the game.
  Not enough memory or not enough capacity HD can be causes for crashes.
  You can try to start the game with different configurations. If you
  can't run the game also you have excluded the possibilities named above
  then the error is a bug and there is no solution for it.

  There are two bugs in this game which are known by me but I can't find
  the reason for them. After a bomb has exploded, sometimes its fire ray is
  not deleted properly. To solve this error just drop another bomb so that
  its fire ray overwrites the old one.

  The other bug is a graphic bug. During the battle game some random pixels
  appear on the screen and I dont know why. This bug has no influence to
  the game and does not cause a crash but it is a little bit annoying. I have
  tested the game on several computers and the bug only appears on my machine.
  I suppose that it deals with some kind of incopatibility of my VGA-card.
  So when the graphic bug also appears on your system then the only advice I can
  give is to buy a new graphic card :).


> THE END:

  Now I would like to introduce myself. My name is Christoph Brzozowski
  an I am 18 years old. I have programmed for about 11 years. I passed the
  typical computer freak career. It began with BASIC on an old ATARI 800 XL.
  After this the C64 came out and some years after I have bought an AMIGA and
  finally I came to the PC. I was always fascinated by computer graphics
  and the development of computer games. Since I've been writing my programs
  in BASIC for a long time I was not able to develop some serious games.
  After I got a PC I began to learn ASSEMBLER. First I used this language to
  program some additional graphic routines for my BASIC programs. But my
  skills improved and then I began to program only in ASSEMBLER.
  PYROMANIA is now the first program I have developed completly in ASSEMBLER
  and the first real game I wrote until now. All my programming experience is
  focused in this product. The development of PYROMANIA took nearly a year.
  The size of the source code is a little bit more than a half MB. It has
  This program was also one of my biggest projects. It spite of the sleepless
  nights and the difficulities during the development of pyromania I still
  had a lot of fun and it is sure that this was not the last game I have
  programmed.

  So I wish you much fun with PYROMANIA

							your CHRISTOPH 'THE PIXELMASTER' BRZOZOWSKI

  P.S.: ... And here come up some greetings.

  I greet:   Adam Seychell  - for the DOS32-extender which is used by
							         PYROMANIA

			 my parents        - they always supported me

			 my friends:

          Carlos Lopez      - The teleporter was a good idea

          Joachim Fenkes    - Without your debuging help this game would
                              probably never run

          David Weiler      - "Your game is still not ready !?"
                              "I just have to..."
                              "You always say this!"

          Tobias Blumtritt  - The sirene makes me crazy...

          Peter Schuh       - Mathematics is a construcion :)

          Alexander Poss    - Booaaahh eeeyyy! Geeiiilll !

			 ...and to everyone who knows me and deserves it to be greeted...


 									         FIN


P.S.S.: fan-mail can be sent to the following e-mail address:

                  > DoJoe@POBoxes.com < 

        please say that the e-mail is for me, since the e-mail
        address is a friend's address.







                             Ŀ
                          a SOFTWARE32 production
                             



























