SkyFall by Reservoir Gods [web]
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SKY-FALL
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A GAME BY RESERVOIR GODS
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RELEASE VERSION 1.0 (15/4/96)
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THE GUEST INTRODUCTION
As we have gone up in the world, and as our name has got better known, we now
have the clout to pull in top show-biz celebrities to help push our games.
This time we are proud to present a top guest author who will be
writing the introduction. Yes, its' TV's Simon Quinlack! (Who he? -Ed)
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Welcome to the wondrous world of Sky-Fall, a multi-player puzzle game for the
Atari Falcon030.
For this game you will need:
* A Falcon 030 with 4 Megabytes of memory
* An RGB monitor, VGA monitor or TV
* A keyboard, joystick or Jaguar powerpad
* Some friends (may be kidnapped)
* A brain (optional)
* A flask of weak lemon drink
Start by double clicking on 'SKY_FALL.TOS'. This is not the most exciting part
of the game. OH NO. You will now cringe as you have to sit through an 'intro'.
Avert your eyes. The menu will now be displayed, from here you can configure the
game to your hearts content. I am the king of configurations and I have over
12,000 written down in this big black book. No you cannot see them as YOU WILL
STEAL THEM. Collect your own configurations you configuration amateur!
You can control the menu cursor with joystick, powerpad or cursor keys and
space. First go to the Game Menu and set the number of players (if you are too
busy with hobbies to have any friends, this must be set to one). You can set the
game type and number of rounds in a multiplayer game. THIS IS NOT INFINITE! YOU
CAN STOP PLAYING!
Next go to the control menu and select the control method for each player. You
can also define the keys if you don't like the default set up. You can define
some very silly keys like left=delete, right=return, cycle=undo, rotate=caps
Lock and down=asterix and then GET YOUR FRIEND TO PLAY WITH THEM. UNTIL HE
CRIES. HAHAHA.
You are now ready to play the game. If you have had to kidnap people and hold
them at gunpoint until they agreed to play with you, you can now loosen their
bandages and place a game controller into their hands.
The aim of the game is really quite simple. EVEN DARREN JONES CAN UNDERSTAND IT
AND EVERYONE KNOWS HE IS THICK. HE IS. You must match shapes connect-4 style
causing them to flash then disappear. Shapes can be matched in lines of 3 or
more, these lines can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. You get more score
for diagonal lines, and the more shapes in the line the greater the score. If
your line's disappearance leads on to other lines forming, your score is
increased even more. IT IS LIKE THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT WITHOUT A BUTTERFLY.
At the end of each level the best player is awarded with a win. WHICH IS ME.
IF ANYONE ELSE WINS I WILL SHOOT THEM. The number of free spaces are totalled
up and added to the score. You may drink your weak lemon drink here, or wait
until someone pauses the game with F1 to go to the toilet.
So that is Sky-Fall a very simple game that even STUPID CRETINS like DARREN
JONES can play. And beat me. BUT I WASN'T TRYING. He always beats me. ITS A
STUPID GAME. I AM NOT PLAYING ANY MORE.
Simon Quinlack.
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THE PROPER INSTRUCTIONS
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Sky-Fall is a puzzle game for the atari Falcon 030. It needs 4mb of memory to
run so it is a good idea to de-install accessories and TSRs before running it.
It has been tested on Speeder Falcons and should run fine on these.
Once loaded you are presented with the menu system. You can control the menu
pointer with cursor keys and space to select, or use the joystick or Jaguar
powerpads.
The game is totally configurable, you can fine tune it so it totally suits you.
The game itself is a cross between traditional puzzlers Tetris and Columns. Like
Columns you must match shapes to remove them. But you can rotate as well as
cycle the falling shape clusters, giving the game an extra dimension.
There are also the ghosts which have a negative effect on your game, or can
adversely affect other players in multiplayer mode. You can protect yourself
against ghosts by collecting the green charms.
At the end of each level the amount of free spaces on the board is calculated
and added to the score. In multiplayer games, the person with the most free
space is likely to win (depending on the game type). If you are playing build up
then you must fill as much as the board as possible.
################################# GAME MENU ###################################
This is the most daunting menu of them all! It contains all the options you will
need to configure the gameplay to your liking.
< NUM PLAYERS >
This allows you to set the number of players from 1-4. One player mode is solo
mode so some of the later options aren't relevant.
For three or four players the screen area has to be increased into interlace
mode on RGB and 480 pixel mode on VGA which means things may be a little slow at
times!
< GAME TYPE >
This option is only relevant in multiplayer modes.
COMPETITIVE:
This is the default setting. It means that in a multi-player game you
are competing against all the other players.
SEPARATE:
This means each player is playing a solo game which has no effect on
the other players.
< GAME MODE >
A very important option that takes you the through the three primary game
styles.
NORMAL:
This is the standard game - similar in styles to Tetris or Columns.
You must create as many matches as possible and try to remove all shapes
that come down.
BUILD-UP:
This is the opposite of the conventional game. Here you try not to
make matches, you must try to fill up the board. Points are deducted for
all unfilled spaces in the board.
REMOVAL:
This is similar to normal except a portion of the board is already
filled before the game starts. There may be matches already waiting in
the pre-prepared board but they aren't triggered until you make your
first match, this way you can latch into them.
< BOARD SIZE >
Sky-Fall has four built in board sizes.
Each board has a highscore table associated with it.
NORMAL:
The standard chimney style board.
WIDE:
A screen length board (1 or 2 player only).
HIGH:
A board screen height, but normal width (1 or 2 player only).
MEGA:
A board as wide and high as the screen (1 player only).
< FALL SPEED >
If you want to remove the arcade element from the game you can turn the fall
speed off, meaning shapes will remain static until you pull them down. This
creates a more puzzle oriented game.
The three types of fall speed are:
NORMAL:
Shapes fall normally, fall speed never increases.
INC:
Fall speed increases every level.
OFF:
Shapes pause at the top, only moving when pulled down.
< ROUNDS >
This is the number of levels you will play in a multiplayer match, the one with
the most wins after the last round, is the champion! Rounds can vary from 1-99.
< LAYOUT >
This option is only relevant to multiplayer games, and determines whether all
the players will receive the same tiles in the same order or not.
SAME:
This means that all players take tiles from the same pool and no-one
has an advantage - it is a level playing field.
DIFFERENT:
This means that players will be allocated a different sequence of
tiles to everyone else. This is more of a lottery, one player may get
a much better deal than another.
< DIFFICULTY >
Determines how hard the game is. Each difficulty level has a highscore table
associated with it. Also other sub menu options are directly related to the
current difficulty level.
EASY:
The lowest setting. A quiet game.
MEDIUM:
A slightly more taxing game.
HARD:
A brain popping game.
< LEVEL MENU >
Takes you into the level configuration sub menu system.
################################## LEVEL MENU ##################################
< START LEVEL >
Determines the starting level.
< GHOST FREQUENCY >
Determines how many ghosts will appear on each level. The higher the number, the
greater the amount of ghosts will appear making a more frantic, effect filled
game.
< CHARM FREQUENCY >
Determines how many anti-ghost charms will appear on each level. The higher the
number, the more charms will appear making a safer gaming environment.
< NEXT LEVEL >
This defines what type of action leads to the next level and has a significant
bearing on gameplay especially in multiplayer mode.
TIME:
This means that the next level will be accessed when the time counter
reaches zero. You basically have a certain amount of time to survive
(not get blocked in) before the next level arrives. This time limit
increases each level.
SHAPES:
Gives you a certain number of shapes to place on the board. Once
all these shape clusters have been place you will go to the next
level. In a multiplayer game, the person who places the shapes first
wins.
SCORE:
This requires you to get a certain amount of score before you can
access the next level. In a multiplayer game the first person to
reach the target score wins.
RACE:
This is a race against the clock! You have a certain number of shapes
to place and time limit to run up against. If you place all shapes
within the time limit you go to the next level, otherwise you are
dead. In a multiplayer game the first person to place all the shapes
wins.
NO INC:
You stay on the same level for ever!
< EDIT TIME MENU >
Takes you into a configuration menu for "Next Level:Time".
< EDIT SHAPES MENU >
Takes you into a configuration menu for "Next Level:Shapes".
< EDIT RACE MENU >
Takes you into a configuration menu for "Next Level:Race".
< EDIT SCORE MENU >
Takes you into a configuration menu for "Next Level:Score".
< SHAPE FREQUENCY MENU >
Takes you into a configuration menu for the shape frequency.
################################ EDIT TIME MENU ################################
< START TIME >
Specifies the amount of time you are given on the very first level.
When this time runs out, you move to the next level.
< INC TIME >
Specifies the amount the value in "Start Time" is increased by after the end of
every level.
############################### EDIT SHAPES MENU ###############################
< START SHAPES >
Specifies the amount of shape clusters that you will have to place on the first
level before progressing to the next level.
< INC SHAPES >
Specifies the amount by which "Start Shapes" increases after ever level.
################################ EDIT RACE MENU ################################
< START SHAPES >
Specifies the amount of shape clusters that you will have to place on the first
level before progressing to the next level.
< INC SHAPES >
Specifies the amount by which "Start Shapes" increases after ever level.
< START TIME >
Specifies the amount of time you have to place the shapes.
< INC TIME >
Specifies the amount by which "Start Time" increases every level.
############################### EDIT SCORE MENU ################################
< START SCORE >
Specifies the amount of score you need to get before progressing to the next
level.
< INC SCORE >
Specifies the amount added to "Start Score" after each level.
############################# SHAPE FREQUENCY MENU ############################
< START SHAPES >
Specifies the number of different shapes that appear on the first level.
The lower the number, the easier the game (more matches can be made), the higher
the number the harder the game.
On build up, the more shapes you have the easier the game is!
< LEVELS BEFORE INC >
Specifies the number of levels you must go through before the number of shapes
increases. This option is valid for normal/removal games only.
< LEVELS BEFORE DEC >
Specifies the number of levels you must go through before the number of shapes
decreases. This options is valid for build up games only.
################################# CONTROL MENU #################################
Here you can set the control methods for each of the players.
Valid controllers are: keyboard, joystick and Jaguar powerpads.
You can also define keys for each player.
Note that function keys cannot be defined as these are used for pause and quit
as well as controlling the sound system.
When define keys asks you to "CONFIRM Y/N" it checks the scancodes of Y and N so
these may be different on foreign keyboards (Germans must press Z for Y!)
################################## GHOST MENU ##################################
Ghosts are an integral part of the game. When you match three or more of them
you trigger an effect which may have catastrophic results! When playing alone
the ghosts will hamper you, but when playing in multiplayer mode the ghost
effect will be sent to another player to slow them down!
In this menu you can choose which ghost effects you wish to play with. If you
don't like a particular effect you can turn it off and it won't appear in the
game.
The following effects can be toggled:
GHOST
Turning this off means that no ghosts will appear.
JAM
Radar Jammer.
JOYSTICK
Control swap.
PADLOCK
Cycle lock.
RED CROSS
Rotate lock
RED CURVED ARROW
Auto-cycle.
STOP SIGN
Pauses action.
SPEED RESTRICTION SIGN
Slow fall of shapes.
CHARM
Turning this off means no charms will appear.
ARROW
Fast fall.
ROCKFALL SIGN
Falling boulder.
RED UP ARROW
Rearrange column.
RED LEFT ARROW
Rearrange row.
MOUNTAIN
Extra row appears at bottom.
DOUBLE LOCK
No cycle or rotate.
CLOSED EYE
Invisible board.
These ghost effects are achieved when you match three or more ghost icons
in any way, eg. vertical, horizontal, diagonal etc. The better the match ie.
the more points you get for it, the longer the effect it creates will last,
unless the effect is not a time-based one, like rockfall.
o Time based effects:
Joystick Reverses controls (regardless of which control method player
is using)
Stop sign Once the current shape player has on screen has been placed,
no more shapes will come down for the duration of the
effect.
Speed Restriction Players shapes come down from the top of the screen at a
Sign constant, slow speed for the duration of the effect.
Padlock Player is unable to cycle through the shapes, although
he/she can still rotate them.
Red Cross Player is unable to rotate through the shapes, although
he/she can still cycled through them.
Padlock and Player is both unable to cycle and rotate each set of
red cross shapes.
Closed eye This effect masks off the shapes which a player has already
placed on his/her board for the duration of the effect.
A pot of jam The radar which displays the next set of shapes becomes
jammed with static for the duration of the effect.
Auto-Cycle The order of the three shapes will constantly change as it
descends and will stop only as it is placed, so that player
can no longer control in which order they land.
Arrow Speed of falling shapes increases for the duration of the
effect
o Independent effects:
Mountain A line of shapes is created underneath the current shapes
placed on a player's board, they remain there until
eliminated in the normal way (ie. matching).
Red Left arrow Any horizontal row on a player's board which contains more
than one shape will be randomly re-arranged.
Red Up arrow Any vertical column on a player's board which contains more
than one shape will be randomly re-arranged.
Falling Rock Sign A rock falls onto player's board which can only be removed
by matching it with two or more other rocks, which also must
have been generated by other rock falls.
If you match three or more charms (which are green stones with a gold ring
through the top), one will appear in the bottom box of your score panel, this
means that you have magical protection from any of the ghost effects and for
the time that you wear the charm you will feel no ill-effects from matching
any ghosts.
In multi-player mode, when a player matches three or more ghosts it is random
to which of the other players that effect will go, if it is a two player game,
the effect will target the other player, who did not match the ghosts, unless
they are wearing a charm or are already suffering from a ghost effect.
If you get a ghost in multiplayer mode and all the other players have charms or
are already affected by ghosts, then the ghost will rebound back on you, so be
careful - you are playing with fire!
If at any time EVERY player is either protected with charms or effected by
ghosts, then any further ghosts matched will simply give points like normal
shapes, their effects will affect no-one.
################################## SOUND MENU ##################################
Here you can toggle the music and internal speaker on and off.
You can also set the current volume level by clicking on the up and down arrows.
There is the option to toggle sound fx, but this is only relevant to the
registered version which is packed with steaming samples.
All these options can be controlled in game:
F2 - Toggle music on/off
F3 - Toggle sound fx on/off
F4 - Toggle internal speaker on/off
F5 - Decrease volume
F6 - Increase volume
##################################### PLAY #####################################
Takes you into the game.
During the game you can press:
F1 - Pause (F1/Fire to unpause)
F2 - Toggle music
F3 - Toggle sound FX
F4 - Toggle speaker
F5 - Volume down
F6 - Volume up
F10- Quit
Also you can press:
Powerpad Pause - Pause game
Powerpad Option - Quit game
o Matching shapes:
To match a certain shape you must make a row of at least three of it, either in
a vertical column, a horizontal column or diagonal. These are the three basic
forms, but there are many variations on this theme, for instance, one shape can
be used to complete a vertical column and at the same time complete a diagonal
line, this is called compound matching and will yield more points.
Different types of lines score different points with diagonal lines being the
most valuable. The order of scoring is:
1. Diagonal lines (difficult to get, high score)
2. Horizontal lines (quite easy to get, medium score)
3. Vertical lines (easy to get, low score)
The game ends if you get blocked up (no more space left to place shapes) or if
the time limit runs out on race mode.
The type of game you are playing depends on the next level setting.
If this has been set to "NO INC" all you have to worry about is not getting
totally blocked in. Just try to place and match as many shapes as possible.
If next level is set to "TIME" then you have a certain time on each level. All
you have to do is survive without getting blocked in for that time period. If
you are playing a multiplayer game, try to gain as much score in that time limit
and also keep the maximum free space.
If next level is set to "SHAPES" you have a certain amount of shape clusters to
place before progressing to the next level. The number you have left to place is
displayed in the "LEFT" box on the highscore panel. Once all shape clusters are
placed you progress to the next level.
In a multiplayer game the first person to place all shape clusters wins.
If next level is set to "SCORE" you must gain a certain amount of score before
progressing to the next level. The amount of score you have left to get is
displayed in the "LEFT" box on the highscore panel.
In multiplayer mode, the first person to get this score wins.
If next level is set to "RACE" you have a certain amount of shapes to place in a
certain time limit. If you place all the shapes you progress to the next level.
If the time runs out you lose the game.
In a multiplayer game the first person to place all the shapes wins.
If your score is good enough, you will be asked to enter your name on the
highscore table. Controlling the rotating selector requires a bit of practice,
don't press fire until you have finished entering your name!
The controls are:
Left - move cursor left
Right - move cursor right
Up/Rotate - rotates letters clockwise
Down - rotates letters anti-clockwise
Fire - finish name entering
REMEMBER! DON'T PRESS FIRE UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED ENTERING YOUR NAME!
##################################### QUIT #####################################
When you leave the game all the current configuration data is saved including
all the menu setups, the currently defined keys and control methods, the sound
status plus 36 different highscore tables!
################################################################################
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<REGISTRATION>
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This is the second version of Sky-Fall, released just after the Symposium '96.
It still may have some bugs - let us know if you find anything wrong.
There will be a new version released especially for the registered user.
Entitled "Sky-Fall+" it will include 8 extra ghost effects and also sound
samples will be included. This version will be available to registered users
of the game from June 1996.
Registration is only five english pounds and for that you will get this brand
spanking new version of Sky-Fall, plus other Reservoir Gods Falcon goodies, news
of all our forthcoming releases and productions hot off the press as soon as
they are released. Please make all cheques/postal orders payable to "Leon
O'Reilly". If you are writing from overseas please use Eurocheques,
International Money Orders or equivalents. Standard cheques cost so much to
clear that they become worthless.
The Falcon unfortunately cannot really support a commercial software scene, but
we are very happy to be part of an alternative shareware scene producing high
quality games for a couple of pounds each. We really believe in the machine and
all the people we meet on the scene. As long as there are still people out there
with Falcons, we will carry on making games. So let us know you are still out
there running Atari software!
If you do register, don't be afraid to write a full letter and ask questions
about future games, or point our bugs or improvements in this game. We are
friendly people and we enjoy chatty letters!
Keep the Falcon strong people!
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CREDITS
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Initial Idea, Code, Design..............................................Mr. Pink
Sprites, Fonts, Borders, Score Panels, Design.............................Ripley
Music, Logos, Fonts..................................................Sparehead 3
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PACKAGES USED
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God-Paint
Devpac 3
Pro-Tracker
Graoumf Tracker
Pack-ICE!
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ADDRESS
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If you wish to contact the Reservoir Gods, or want to register for Sky-Fall or
find out about our other productions please write to:
Leon O'Reilly [ Mr. Pink ]
Cwm Isaf
Abermule
Montgomery
Welshpool
Powys
SY15 6JL
My bank details are as follows:
Midland Bank, 1 Broad Street, Newtown, Powys, SY16 2LX
Account number: 21143808
Swedish people can write to:
Mandus Skon,
Stora Beddigne 387
231 98 Klagstorp
Sweden
Spanish people contact:
Antonio Lillo
P.O. Box 4015
46080 Valencia
Espana
(Spanish version of SkyFall coming soon!!)
When registering please PRINT your address clearly!
Also we are very short of blank disks at the moment, so any that you send will
be gratefully accepted.
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GREETINGS
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We must thank everyone who has supported our past releases, all those who have
written to us with kind words, the positive reviews in the Atari press and all
those who believed in us. Without you there probably wouldn't have been
"SkyFall".
Also a big shout to all providing a positive contribution to the scene - the
demo creators, the games writers, the graphics artists, the musicians the
magazine writers. You know who you are.
Also greeting to the following registered users of Reservoir Gods productions
(in a sort of surname alphabetical way):
M. Baines - UK
Markus Binder - Germany
Bill Brand - UK (Scotland)
John Bulleyment - UK
Geoff Camp - Australia
Laurent Cardona - France
Pierre Chiles - France
Mark Crutch - UK
Jan Daldrup - Germany
Richard Davey - UK
Steve Delaney - UK (Scotland)
David Delattre - France
John Diot - France
Frederic Dogimont - France
Roland Evrard - Belgium
Jerome Farinas - France
Nicholas Flintham - UK
S. Fotinelis - UK
Mike Goodman - UK
Paul M. Green - UK
Thierry Guerin - France
Keith Hasama - USA
Patricia Hinds - USA
Ludovic Hirlimann - France
Chris Holland - UK
Wolf Holtay-Mayer - Germany
Gerhard Janka - Austria
Sylvain Jonas - Belgium
Neil R Jones - UK/Germany
Keneneth V. Kaufman - UK
Andrew Kelly - UK
Philip Konczak - UK (Scotland)
Michelle Laybourn - UK
Antonio Lillo - Spain
Arnaud Linz - France
Geoff Madden - UK
Pascal Nizet - Belgium
Alan Parker - UK
Mark Parry - UK (Isle of Wight)
Iain Paterson - UK (Scotland)
Dirk Paulsberg - Germany
Graham B. Phillips - UK
Rosario Pignatelli - Italy
Stefan Pleb - Germany
John Pruden - UK
Lionel Rey - France
Andreas Rotzoll - Germany
Ludo Sak - Holland
Wolfgang Schmidt - Germany
Matthew Tomlinson - UK
James Troup - UK
David Valery - France
Pieter Van der Meer - Holland
Sami Vuokila - Finland
Zwechform - Germany
And to everyone who registered through Mandus Skon from Sweden.
Apologies to anyone who registered and is not on this list, we did not get your
letter! Please contact us!
Keep it channel atari!
[ back to the prod ]