CHASE DOCUMENTATION April 14-15, 1990. by John Wilson (c) Copyright 1990 by John Wilson. All rights reserved. Introduction: Chase is a simple game in which you avoid your opponents for as long as you possibly can. The action takes place on a 100 column by 40 row screen. It is completely filled in with dirt except for a few squares where you and your opponents start. Around the edge is the perma-border. You are the only person (with one exception, stated below in opponents) who can dig through the dirt. As you dig, you will leave a path in which your opponents can follow. The map will automatically scroll for you when you approach the edge. Opponents: 1) Yourself: You are displayed as a filled in happy face. You start out faster than any other opponent except the Speeder. Once you become fairly efficient at the game, you will find that you tend to cause your own defeat by accidently making errors. 2) Happy Guys: The Happy Guys look just like you, except they are not filled in. They move much slower than you. They have no intelligence, relying only on their numbers (40 of them) to catch you. 3) The Hounds: The 7 Hounds appear on the screen as triangles. They usually do not backtrack on themselves and tend to find you much quicker than the Happy Guys. Also, although they start out slightly slower than you do on straight paths, as the game progresses you will find they will soon be able to out run you. 4) Speeder: The Speeder will instantly be noticeable. This creature is easily able to out race any other object on the board. The main disadvantage this item has is that it is even more stupid than the Happy Guys. It will move almost completely at random. Just hope that it never gets on your trail. 5) The Digger: The Digger is, for the most part, invisible. Occasionally, he may display himself as a solid block. He can not directly harm you, but after 7 touches by Happy Guys, he moves one square directly towards you (digging through a wall if necessary). 6) Teleporter: There is also a strange object that randomly moves around the map. If you touch it the game is over. If a Happy Guy touches it there is a chance that the Happy Guy will be teleported somewhere else on the map. The Teleporter can not teleport a Happy Guy within 7 rows or columns of you nor appear within the same distance. Strategy: I will not give too much away here but will give you a few hints and suggestions. Firstly, when the map is scrolling your opponents miss their turns. Therefore, if you are in a tight spot with someone quickly gaining on you, you might want to consider heading to an area of the map that will cause it to scroll (and thereby gaining some distance on your pursuer). Do not be over concerned with the Teleporter. Since it does not appear within 7 rows or columns of you, you will probably not run into it. At the beginning of the game when there are very few passages, the odds of a Happy Guy being teleported are very small. The Digger can be a concern at the beginning of the game, especially if most of the Happy Guys are trapped in the Digger's area. The Digger can (when there are a good deal of Happy Guys around) move pretty quick. Some people prefer to manipulate the Digger by circling him, but I feel this is not always a good use of your time. To fool your opponents, you should try out various patterns. Dead ends can work very effectively against the Happy Guys, even sending them back in the direction they came from. Rooms seem to work best against the Hounds. There is even a pattern which can frieze the Hounds for awhile. There are also other ideas for passages that I will let you discover that work particularly well against your opponents. The main pressure, and risky time of the game, is at the very beginning. It is vital at this stage to create enough patterns to slow down your opponents. You will find it is at this stage of the game that even us experts have very short games. Final Notes: This game is freeware. Feel free to make copies and spread it around the world. I would appreciate any suggestions and comments on this game, so that in the future there can be a Chase II. Perhaps you want levels with different sizes of maps or perhaps different monsters to chase you. You can mail suggestions for me on CompuServe at user [71660,1327]. Also, as I don't have a colour monitor, what colours do you think would look good? Finally, my highest score is 9190 (not an easy score to beat). gaudeamus igitur... Disk copy provided as a service of Public (Software) Library; P.O.Box 35705 - F; Houston, TX 77235-5705; Orders: 800-2424-PSL; Info: 713-524-6394; FAX #: 713-524-6398; CIS ID: 71355,470. Call or write for a free copy of our monthly newsletter and library listing.