GAME-MAKER INFORMATION AND SPECIFICATIONS It's as much fun to make a computer game as it is to play one. Game-Maker lets you do both. Previously you had to be a programmer to create a game, and you had to be an expert to make a top quality, fully animated, full color computer game. Game-Maker introduces a set of easy to use computer aided design tools for making arcade and action games. These tools totally eliminate all software development. Another Game-Maker software module runs the games you create without the need to assemble or compile any code. Game-Maker GAMES Game-Maker games display full screen, 256 color VGA graphics with the entire screen displaying part of the game's playing surface. Game-Maker allows for a scene to be many times the size of a screen, and as your character moves, the scene scrolls rapidly and smoothly. Animated objects include 'stationary' parts of the background, traveling objects called monsters, and the main character. A game can consist of just one scene or many scenes. The character, the monsters, the background, and the sounds can be different in each scene. A different song can be played on each level of the game on Sound Blaster Compatible sound cards. Support for other sound cards is also planned. Every drawing of every scene, monster, and character can be your design, or you can use and/or modify those provided with Game-Maker. For that matter, you can modify Game-Maker games designed by others, including adding completely new levels of play. The characters that you design have up to twenty animation sequences, can shoot or not shoot (your option), and can travel at the speed you set. Characters can pick up and put down objects, pop to new worlds, die, and act in almost any way you can draw. Characters move in response to key strokes or joystick commands. Monsters are versatile animated objects that move according to your directions. They can be helpful or harmful. They can be birds and butterflies, alligators and trolls, missiles and bullets, or just about anything. Up to 60 different monster types and up to 200 individual monsters are allowed per scene. After creating a monster, you can assign it straight forward or complex motion. Game-Maker games keep track of character lives, money, hit points, and over 15 other counters. Characters can pick up and drop objects. A key stroke will bring up additional information about the progress of the game and pictures of your character's inventory. Game-Maker TOOLS Game-Maker tools have menus and full color graphical edit screens. For ease of use, all tools are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) graphics based. A mouse is needed, as it provides easy and rapid creation of pictures, scenes, and other gameware. Menu selections can be made with the keyboard, mouse, or joystick. Game-Maker includes an extensive set of artwork that can be used with the tools described below. You can modify the artwork Game-Maker provides or you can design completely original drawings. Map Maker. This tool allows you to create scenes by placing picture blocks on a 'map'. It also allows you to place monsters and objects in the scene. You can view the scene as you build it, scroll around the scene, or zoom out and work with a global view. High level editing tools allow you to quickly fill in large areas of you scenes. Block Designer. Picture blocks are the basic components from which computer games are made. This tool allows you to draw background, monster, and character blocks. As you draw, you can watch how your new drawing fits into sections of scenes. With each block you can associate attributes and powers (see next page). Character Maker, Monster Maker. These two tools create animation from sequences of character drawings and monster drawings. The animated characters and monsters are visible as you create them, permitting interactive editing of your work. Palette Designer. If the palettes (sets of 256 colors) provided with Game-Maker aren't exactly what you need, create new palettes. Image Reader. Import graphics into your game from industry standard format GIF files. Also provided are routines for converting PIC and PCX files to GIF (PCX is supported by Microsoft Windows' Paintbrush). Sound Editor. Graphically construct sounds for use in your games. Each scene can have its own set of 30 sounds plus background music. What-you-HEAR-is-what- you-get with this tool! Integrator. Integrate scenes, monsters, characters, and sounds into a game. Specify opening and closing GIF full screen displays, storyline text files, and a help file. SPECIFICATIONS Hardware Standard VGA (256 color mode). Two button Microsoft compatible mouse. CPU - 286, 386, 486 Memory - 640K Hard Disk, about 3 MB including all supplied games. Joy Stick (Optional) Sound Blaster compatible sound card (optional) Maps (Scenes): Size: 100 by 100 blocks (2000 by 2000 pixels). (A VGA screen is 10 by 16 blocks). The designer can optionally restrict the size of the scene. Scrolling: Infinite in all directions (right side joins left, top joins bottom) or designer can control scrolling area. Colors: 255 colors plus 'clear'. Character can pop through 'doors' to other scenes. Picture Block Attributes: Solid blocks (each side separately set) and traversible blocks. Gravitational Field (any of eight directions). Object blocks can be picked up, put down. Character contact with a block can change over twenty counters such as money, hit points, lives, ammunition. Change a displayed block based on time. Change a displayed block upon contact with the character. Character Attributes: Twenty distinct animation sequences per character (10 frames per sequence) One or two blocks in size Acquires inventory Possesses initial inventory One character visible at a time Each scene can have different characters An object or a counter can enable an animation sequence Counters: Money, lives, hit points, score, five special designer defined counters, fifteen animation sequence counters Reacts with monsters Shoots designer drawn objects Dies if hit points reach zero Makes custom designed sounds Monster Attributes: Movement classes - toward character - away from character - random - traverse a path, each path segment has its own speed. Path can be absolute coordinates or relative to a character Animation (20 frames per monster) One block in size. Can be grouped to form larger monsters Lives until killed / dies at end of path / dies after designated time / never dies Power level attribute Blocked or not blocked by solid background Monster solid or not with respect to the character Automatically birth another monster upon death. A product of: RECREATIONAL SOFTWARE DESIGNS Box 1163, Amherst, NH 03031 ORDER FROM: KD SOFTWARE, Great Falls Avenue, Box 448, Rochester, NH 03867 1-800-533-6772