SEARCH AND DESTROY Ver 2.01 =========================== Search and Destroy 2.01 is the first revision of my two-grid Windows battleship program. The following files are included in Searc201.zip: Searc201.exe - executable game file Searc201.txt - this readme file If either of these files are missing from the .zip file, please e-mail at my compuserve number listed at the end of this file. GAME DESIGN =========== This program combines my desire to learn C and Windows programming with my love for the game of Battleship. Version 1.0 of Search & Destroy was a one grid version where the player had to sink five randomly placed ships in a certain amount of shots (determined by playing level). While version 1.0 was addicting, it did not use bitmaps to represent the ships and did not contain any logic for the computer to fire back. I added those features in ver 2.0 and the game began to seem more like traditional Battleship. This version (2.01) corrects some screen paint bugs that occured when positioning a ship outside the grid during ship deployment. I have also changed the colors for hits and misses. A hit now looks like a splash and a miss looks something like the red and black of smoke and fire. An artist I'm not, but at least you'll know which squares are hits and misses. There is one bug reported by some players of version 2.0 that I have been unable to recreate (and therefore fix). They report that when they are in the NEW GAME box, clicking OK or pressing ENTER results in a new NEW GAME box. This happens ad infinatum so that they must reboot to exit the game. If this happens to you, one way to exit the box is to hold down the ENTER key and click on one of the ships with the left mouse button. This will allow you to place your ships and continue with the game as normal. If you experience this bug PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE TO ME ON COMPU- SERVE letting me know and be assured that I am doing everything I can to fix this bug. HOW TO PLAY =========== Playing the game is simple. At the beginning of each new game, the screen will consist of the two empty grids, the status of games won and lost, and bitmaps of each ship. You place your ships on the righthand grid and fire into the lefthand grid. To place a ship on the grid, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it to the position you want. If you want to change the direction of the bitmap from vertical to horizontal, or vice versa, click the right mouse button WHILE STILL DRAGGING THE BITMAP. When you release the left button, the ship will snap to the grid. If you overlap ships ships you will get a warning box. You cannot begin firing into the lefthand grid until all your ships are placed in the righthand grid and none of the ships are overlapping. The computer randomly generates the ship positions in the lefthand grid. To fire into the lefthand grid, simply choose a square and click on it with the left mouse button. If you miss, the square will look like a splash. A hit turns the square red and black and if you sink a ship, all the squares occupied by that ship will turn yellow. After each of your shots, the computer will fire into the righthand grid, with the same color coded results. The first one to sink all five ships wins the game. If the computer wins, the locations of the ships you missed are revealed. After each game the games won/lost is updated and you are asked if you want to play another game. If you choose yes, the opening screen resets. If you choose no, the game exits to Windows. If, before the game starts or during a game, you want to reveal the locations of the computer's ships, you can choose REVEAL SHIPS from the GAME menu. Choosing this option forfeits the current game. Choosing NEW GAME from the GAME menu exits the current game and resets games won/lost to 0 each. The LEVEL menu allows you to change the computer's firing pattern beginning the FOLLOWING game. On EASY setting, the computer fires randomly into the grid until it hits a ship. On MEDIUM setting, the computer will start in one corner and fire into every other square in a vertical, horiz- ontal or diagonal pattern until it hits a ship. It will then sink the ship and return to the pattern. On HARD setting, the computer will start from a rondomly chosen square and also follow either a vertical, horizontal or diagonal pattern. However, the computer will adjust the spacing of its shots depending on the ships already sunk. For instance, if the spy is sunk, the computer will begin skipping two squares in its pattern. This is the most efficient search method. In versions 2.0 and 2.01 the MEDIUM and HARD settings are disabled. They will be enabled in version 2.1. Choosing HOW TO PLAY from the HELP menu displays a dialog box with a summary of the game mechanics and menu options. Choosing ABOUT displays an AboutBox with the current version number. SHAREWARE ========= This program is SHAREWARE. If you like the game and play it often please register by sending $10 to: Randy Baron 200 East 89th Street Apt. 25-A New York, NY 10128 Registration entitles you to receive by mail the next version of the game (and maybe a copy of anything else I've written in the meantime). Please include the version number (in the AboutBox) when you register. Whether or not you register, comments, suggestions and criticism are always welcome. I hope you enjoy the game! Randy Baron Compuserve ID 76220,3052 DISCLAIMER ========== This game is provided AS IS. The author makes NO WARRANTIES, either express or implied, as to the fitness of the game, in general or for any particular purpose. Further, the author assumes NO RESPONSIBILITY for any damage resulting from the use of this game.