HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS

 

HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Copyright 1990, David P. Gray, Gray Design Associates

  All Rights Reserved

     Member, Association of Shareware Professionals

-----------------------------[ C O N T E N T S ]-----------------------------

1.      Specification.

2.      System Requirements.

3.      Files Distributed.

4.      Revision History.

5.      Future Versions.

6.      USER GUIDE

6.1     Start-up Procedure.

6.2     How to Play.

6.3     Function Keys.

6.4     Record and Playback.

6.5     Statistics.

7.      Comments to the Author.

8.      Association of Shareware Professionals.

----------------------------[ 1.  SPECIFICATION ]----------------------------

HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS is an exciting and challenging adventure game for all

ages, using a combination of colorful three-dimensional animated graphics and

text.  You control HUGO'S destiny as he tries to rescue his sweetheart,

Penelope, imprisoned somewhere inside the haunted house, and must solve the

various puzzles and challenges encountered during his quest.

The registered version allows you to record and playback games and comes with

a pre-recorded game which automatically runs from start to finish, achieving

the maximum score possible.

----------------------------[ 2.  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ]----------------------

Version 1.0 requires an IBM compatible computer with EGA graphics, at least

360Kb of ram and 850Kb of disk space.

--------------------------[ 3.  FILES DISTRIBUTED ]--------------------------

MANUAL.DOC              :       This file

README.DOC              :       Important Information

HHH.EXE                 :       HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS program

PLAYBACK.DAT            :       Automatic playback file for entire

game (registered version only)

VARIOUS                 :       Various data files for the game

---------------------------[ 4.  REVISION HISTORY ]--------------------------

1.0     01/01/90        :       Baseline version.

1.1     01/03/90        :       Fixed register incompatibility with

VGA cards which caused freeze on

first screen.

1.2     01/14/90        :       Fixed ASP compliance 'bug'

---------------------------[ 5.  FUTURE VERSIONS ]---------------------------

We shall be releasing German and French versions of HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS.

-------------------------[ 6.  U S E R   G U I D E ]-------------------------

-------------------------[ 6.1  START-UP PROCEDURE ]-------------------------

Start HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS by typing HHH.

The registered version allows you to add one or more switches as follows:

HHH -s          Disables the sound

HHH -r          Runs the program in RECORD mode

HHH -p          Runs the program in PLAYBACK mode

To finish the game early, type either QUIT or EXIT at the prompt.

-----------------------------[ 6.2  HOW TO PLAY ]----------------------------

To move HUGO, use either your arrow keys or the numeric keypad.  (Remember to

turn the Num-Lock off).  If using the keypad, diagonal movement is possible.

Use simple english to instruct HUGO to perform an action.  For example "Look

around" or "Look at door" to look at things.  To pick something up try "pick

up the gold" or "get gold" or "take gold".  Many synonyms are allowed but if

HUGO doesn't seem to understand, try re-phrasing your command.

Certain actions carry a bonus score when carried out, as does picking up

useful objects.  When you have successfully completed the game, your score

should match the maximum score shown on the status line at the top of the

screen.

If you have trouble solving some of the puzzles in this game, there is a free

hint booklet available.  This contains a range of hints, from subtle to obvious,

for each room.  To obtain your hint booklet, simply follow the directions

in the readme file to register this program.

Registered users also receive a self-running version of the game (see section on

record and playback).

----------------------------[ 6.3  FUNCTION KEYS ]---------------------------

F1      :       Press once for a reminder of the other function keys.

Press twice for help.

F2      :       TURNS SOUND ON OR OFF.  Note that sound does not play

continuously.  The status of this button is shown in

the status line at the top of the screen.

F3      :       REPEATS LAST COMMAND.  This key is useful to allow you

to repeat a command or edit the last command.

F4      :       SAVES A GAME.  If you have to leave the game early but

wish to save your current position, use this feature by

pressing F4.

You will see a text box appear with eight rows of

dotted lines and an arrow pointing to the first.  These

are empty "slots" which allow you to save up to eight

versions of the game.  Press return and the arrow will

flash by the first slot, prompting you to enter a short

description of your current game, e.g. "In the Kitchen",

press return to save the game and then either continue

or leave the game by typing QUIT or EXIT.

When you return to run the game again, use the F5 button

to restore it.  You may re-use any slot and either

retain the same description or type another.

F5      :       RESTORE A PREVIOUSLY SAVED GAME.  Select a "slot" as

described in function F4.  Note you may not select an

empty slot !  Hit return to restore the game.

F6      :       INVENTORY.  Pressing F6 puts up a text box to show you

what objects you are currently carrying.

F9      :       BOSS BUTTON.  So-named because it instantly removes all

traces of the game from the screen and places you in a

normal DOS environment from which you can perform your

regular work-like commands.  Note, however, that the

game is still lurking unseen in the background and the

amount of memory available to you is reduced by about

280Kb.  Resume your game at the next opportune moment by

typing EXIT.

-------------------------[ 6.4  RECORD AND PLAYBACK ]------------------------

The registered version of the game includes record and playback modes.  This

effectively allows you to construct a self-running version of the game and a

sample playback file is included which runs right through the game from start

to finish, achieving the maximum score possible.

To run this playback file, make sure the supplied PLAYBACK.DAT file is in the

same directory as your registered version of the game and type: HHH -p

This self-running game might be suitable for, say, a child who is too young to

play the game but can watch the game like a story.  To disable the sound during

the playback, type: HHH -p -s

To record your own game, start the program by typing: HHH -r   Note that this

will create a file PLAYBACK.DAT which will overwrite any previous file of that

name, including the one supplied.  If you wish to save a previous PLAYBACK.DAT,

copy it to another directory or rename it.

Some points to watch when recording are

1.      When a text box appears on the screen, it will stay up for a period of

time which depends on how much text there is to read.  When the time is

up, the program beeps to let you know you can continue.  This is because

during playback, there should be no manual intervention.

2.      Don't try to use the Save and Restore features, this would require

manual intervention during playback.

3.      The same goes for the BOSS button.

4.      You may use the F1, F2, F3, F6 buttons during recording.

-----------------------------[ 6.5  STATISTICS ]-----------------------------

HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS was written in Microsoft's QuickC version 2. It consists

of approximately 6000 lines of C code, of which 250 are QuickC in-line assembler

to speed the graphics drawing routines and 2000 are data statements which

comprise the story's database.

------------------------[ 7.  COMMENTS TO THE AUTHOR ]-----------------------

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.  Please direct any comments to author

personally via mail to David P. Gray, Gray Design Associates, P.O. Box 333,

Northboro, MA 01532, U.S.A.

----------------[ 8.  ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS ]---------------

This software is produced by David P. Gray who is a member of the Association

of Shareware Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the shareware

principle works for you.   If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related

problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able

to help.

The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member,

but does not provide technical support for members' products.  Please write to

the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006, USA or send a CompuServe

message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.

----------------------------[ END OF MANUAL.DOC ]----------------------------