1Formido v1.0
2Copyright (C) 2002, 2003 Mika Halttunen
3
4 www.mhgames.cjb.net
5
6Released on 08.02.2003 (dd.mm.yyyy)
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8
9Installation instructions in file INSTALL.
10
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121. LICENSE
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14
15 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
16 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
17 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
18 (at your option) any later version.
19
20 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
21 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
22 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
23 GNU General Public License for more details.
24
25 Read the file 'GPL_license.txt' for more detailed information.
26
27 Basically, you have the right to modify/use the game (and it's source
28code) in any way you like. This includes all kinds of distribution,
29modifications or even new games derived from the source code.
30However, if you distribute any modified/derived work, you must
31give your licensees (ie. players) the same rights as you have.
32This means releasing your work under the GNU GPL.
33
34 As a side note, I'd appreciate if you told me about any modified
35versions/new games based on Formido. You are not legally required
36to do that, but I'd like to try them out =) If you use any Formido's
37code, it would be nice if I was credited.
38And if you plan to put this game to a some sort of CD, please
39let me know. I'd like to know where my game ends up.
40
41
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432. WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS IT THEN?
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45
46 Well, I'm glad you asked. It's a game... (surprise!)
47
48 And yes, I can be more specific. Formido is one of those games,
49where you are loaded with some guns and you go shooting different
50things. 'Things' in this case are big, ugly, -
51not green though - alien insects. The idea is to kill as many of
52those bastards as possible. Eventually they will overcome you,
53but struggle as long as you can. There are some power-ups to aid
54you in your honorable quest. Keep in mind, that those critters
55are rather tough and generally do nasty things when in close range
56of any player-characters.
57
58
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603. DOES IT HAVE ANY 'GAME PLAY'?
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62
63 You should be playing by now, but since you're still here, I
64might as well go on. First of all, the default keys:
65
66 UP ARROW Move forwards
67 DOWN ARROW Move backwards
68 LEFT ARROW Turn left
69 RIGHT ARROW Turn right
70 RIGHT CTRL Shoot
71 RIGHT SHIFT Special
72 P Pause the game
73 F12 Save a screenshot
74
75 The keys can be redefined within the game. Come to think of it,
76Formido is my first game where redefining keys is actually possible
77without altering the source code ;) Oh, and the 'special' key is
78used when you want to throw the power-ups you have collected.
79Speaking of power-ups, here they are:
80
81 MEDIKIT Increase your health
82 BOMB Just throw them and they explode
83 when the fuse burns out.
84 MINE Mines activate when they stop
85 sliding and deactivate after some
86 time. Active mines explode if a critter
87 walks over.
88 MUSHROOM Now this is weird. It gets your character
89 on drugs(!). It gives you full health and
90 the critters do less damage. It affects
91 your vision too.. try 'em out!
92
93
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954. TROUBLES GETS ALWAYS SHOT.. IMMORAL, NO?
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97
98 Formido needs some power to keep up the desired 60 fps rate.
99I would recommend something like Pentium II, 32 MB and fast
100gfx-card.
101
102 Formido supports all the major color-depths available:
1038, 12, 15, 16, 24 and 32 bpp. It defaults to 16 bpp.
104If a color-depth doesn't work, it will be emulated (which
105is really slow). If the game is very slow, you could try
106switching to 15 bpp mode. Open the 'formido.cfg' and change the
107
108 video_mode_color_depth = 16
109to
110 video_mode_color_depth = 15 (or anything forementioned)
111
112Other things that increase the performance:
113
114* Disabling the sound (sound_enabled = 0)
115 - speeds up a lot, especially on slower PCs
116* Reducing the sound frequency (sound_freq = 22050)
117 - might speed up a bit
118 - you can reduce it as much as you want (22050, 11025, ...)
119* Switching to 8 bpp (video_mode_color_depth = 8)
120 - speeds up reasonably, especially on slower PCs
121
122 Note that the game skips frames if your PC can't
123update screen at 60 fps; the game still runs at right speed.
124
125 By the way, it's not advised to run Formido in 24 or 32 bpp modes.
126The graphical benefit is almost invisible, and the speed suffers
127greatly. Stick with 8 or 15/16 bpp for the best speed. Don't even
128bother to try the 12 bpp mode - chances are that your gfx-card won't
129support it (so it's slow as hell).
130
131 The best way to fine tune your config for the best speed, is to
132enable the FPS-counter (show_fps = 1) and check how different
133settings affect the fps.
134
135
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1375. CREDITS AND CONTACTING INFORMATION
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139
140 Credits first:
141
142Game design: Mika Halttunen
143Music: Josh Schroeder
144Programming: Mika Halttunen
145Artwork: Mika Halttunen
146
147 You can contact me by email: lsoft@mbnet.fi
148
149 Game website: www.mhgames.cjb.net
150
151 You can download the sources and the Windows version from the
152website. And naturally, any patches/new versions will be available
153at the game's page.
154
155
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1576. COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT INFORMATION
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159
160 Here are some words considering why I made this game.
161
162 If you have played any Phobia freeware games you might experience
163a sort of "deja vu"-feeling with Formido. I have always admired that
164simple "nonstop-action"-approach taken in the Phobia-series. That's
165one reason: I wanted to create a same kind of game. However, in my
166opinion, Formido does have a slight tactical aspect present in the
167game play. For example, you can throw mines and lure the critters
168to walk over them. Btw, if anyone is interested, Phobia II is my
169favourite (Phobia III is too slow and different overall).
170
171 Another reason I can think of is learning to program with Simple
172DirectMedia Layer (thereafter SDL). I have used Allegro-lib for
173many years, and I wanted to try something different. Allegro is
174very nice high-level game lib, whereas SDL is more low-level.
175SDL does some things better than Allegro, and vice versa. However,
176comparing them is waste of time (they're just so different). I
177like them both though.
178
179 Formido is written in C++. Version 1.0 contains around 7800 lines
180of code (including comments).
181
182 If you're desperately wondering "what the hell does 'Formido' mean?",
183I can tell you that it's latin for 'fear' or 'dread'. Feeling better?
184
185 Here are a few thoughts considering the possible next versions:
186* Two player mode is planned
187* Possible more power-ups (ideas welcome)
188* Bug fixes are sure thing, should any arise
189
190 If I get feedback about the game, I might continue developing
191it, mainly things listed above. Btw, if you can program,
192why don't you go and add some new things yourself; Formido
193is GPL'ed after all. If you contribute something cool to the
194game, I'd love to hear about it! And as always, if you do have
195a brilliant idea considering the game, why don't you drop me
196mail? =)
197
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2007. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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202
203 Formido utilizes following libraries:
204
205* SDL, SDL_Image, SDL_Mixer by Sam Lantinga (+ others)
206 http://www.libsdl.org
207
208
209
210 That would be all, I guess.
211 Enjoy the game!
212
213 - Mika Halttunen
214