NAME : SOPWITH
SYNTAX: sopwith [-r] [-d?]
FUNCTION:
SOPWITH is a video war-game played over the IMAGINET network or on a stand-alone PC. The object of SOPWITH is to destroy all enemy targets with a somewhat limited airforce. SOPWITH may be played in two ways:
Single Player - Single Player against the computer
SINGLE PLAYER
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Single player SOPWITH should only be used to 'get the feel of the stick'. The
player ( blue airplane ) must destroy all the enemy ( red ) targets before losing
five (5) airplanes.
SINGLE PLAYER AGAINST THE
COMPUTER
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This game is of the same
flavour as single player SOPWITH with
the additional realism of having someone else ( red airplanes ) out to get you.
In all cases each player attempts to destroy the targets of the opposing colour while defending friendly targets against enemy aircraft. Each player is limited to five (5) aircraft.
SCORING:
A player wins if the player or the player's team destroys all enemy targets before losing five (5) airplanes. The point score acquired is of no importance in determining whether a player has won or lost. However, to assist in determining a flier's skill level, the following points are associated with airplanes and targets:
50 - airplane
100 - factory, hangar, or tank
200 - fuel depot
In single player games, points are gained if enemy targets and airplanes are destroyed; points are lost if friendly targets and airplanes are destroyed. In multiple player SOPWITH, points are always gained by one side or the other.
KEYBOARD:
The following keys are used during the play of SOPWITH:
ctrl-break - terminates
the game for the player by crashing the player's plane. Scores are
adjusted accordingly.
, - elevator up. The airplane will rise if right-side-up, drop if up-side-down.
. - roll airplane
/ - elevator down. The airplane will drop if right-side-up, rise if up-side-down.
x - accelerate airplane
\ - decelerate airplane
b - drop a bomb
space-bar - fire a shot
h - allow the computer to fly you home for refuelling and rearmament. Computer control ends if elevator, acceleration, or roll keys are pressed.
s - turn sound on if off, off if on.
SCREEN:
During play, the screen is divided into two sections, a window and a status display. The window comprises the upper ninety percent of the screen and provides a display of the player's airplane along with a display of other airplanes, targets, and ground in the immediate vicinity. This window is scrolled left or right in an attempt to keep a reasonable view in front of the player's airplane.
The lower ten percent of the screen is used for displaying the status of the game. From left to right, the status display consists of:
blue team score
red team score ( multiple player game only )
Plane gauge showing the number of airplanes not yet destroyed. Each airplane is represented by two (2) vertical dots. The game begins with the gauge indicating five airplanes available. The gauge shows two (2) dots when the player is using the last airplane available.
fuel gauge relative display of fuel remaining.
bomb gauge relative display of bombs remaining.
shot gauge relative display of the number of gun
rounds remaining.
Note: fuels, bomb, and shots may be topped up while remaining stationary at one's home base. A player is at home after a crash, or after completing a return to home by using the 'h' key.
world display a miniaturized display of the entire playing world showing the positions of all airplanes, targets not yet destroyed, and bombs.
PLAY:
To play SOPWITH, simply key:
sopwith
or: ?:sopwith where ? is the device indicator of the disk containing the SOPWITH program file 'sopwith.exe'
SOPWITH will then display the following to determine how the game is to be played:
Key: S - single player
M - multiple players
Respond by keying s, or c (against the computer) (IN LOWER CASE).
In either of the single player modes, this is all that must be done. The program will pause for a few seconds for initialization, and then will display the SOPWITH window and status screen.
RECOVERY:
If for some reason, a player's SOPWITH program fails to end properly while in multiple player mode, the game number in use at the time is renderred unusable. In order to reset the game in question, SOPWITH must be run with the 'reset' option:
sopwith -r [-d?]
Continue through the game number and maximum player prompts as usual. Keying 'sopwith -r [-d?]' and specifying a game which is in progress will yield unpredictable results.
INSTALLATION:
The program file 'sopwith.exe' must be available to each player.For single player games, this is the only installation needed. For multiple player use, the following files must be available at the root directory of an IMAGINET disk common to all players:
semaphor - IMAGINET semaphor file
sopwith?.dta - SOPWITH communications files where the
symbol ? corresponds to any valid game number between 0-7 inclusive.
Sopwith?.dta files may be created by copying existing SOPWITH dta files, or by using any other output method to allocate one disk sector under the root directory. In all cases, newly created SOPWITH dta files should be initialized by using the 'sopwith -r [-d?]' command line described above under RECOVERY.
BUGS:
1) at all times, SOPWITH expects lower case input. Watch out for the caps-lock key.
2) Computer controlled planes occasionally kamikaze into the ground. Since the computer flies a player home when the 'h' key is pressed, 'h' may place a player at the mercy of the machine.
3) Explosions sound funny.
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And from our friends at the Generic Software Place comes the following
additional documentation.
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SOPWITH
The Multiplayer option does NOT work. Even so, this is still a fun game and requires a lot of skill. To start the game, you must use LOWER CASE letters or your entry will simply be ingored. The single player option is simply for practice, the real fun begins when you battle the computer. Good Luck!
Command Summary:
s (lower case) = Sound
on/off The sound is initially OFF
x (lower case) = Take off
h (lower case) = Head for home (land plane)
, (comma key) = Rise (UP)
/ (slash key) = Lower (DOWN)
. (period key) = Flip over
<SPACE BAR> = Fire guns
B (lower case) = Drop Bomb
CTRL-NUM LOCK = Freeze
Action on the screen until you press another key.
Press the CTRL key and the NumLock key at the same time.
CTRL-a or END the game and exit to DOS.
CTRL-BREAK Press the CTRL key and the letter "a" or the CTRL key
and the BREAK key at the same time
If you head for home, the
computer takes over the controls until you land.
If you get all the enemy locations, the computer takes control.
The Generic Software Place, P.O. Box 1177, Carmel, IN. 46032 (317) 888-8784
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