README.txt for Bug Squish

by Bill Kendrick
bill@newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bugsquish/

Version 0.0.6

April 20, 2002

DESCRIPTION

"Bug Squish" is an action game not unlike light gun arcade games, but played with a mouse. It's loosely based on a Pangea Software's MacOS game "Blood Suckers," by Brian Greenstone.

STORY

Bugs are trying to suck blood out of your arm! Squish them with with your fly swatter before you run out of blood.

DOCUMENTATION

Important documentation for "Bug Squish" is contained in multiple files. Please see them:

AUTHORS.txt - Credits for who made this game. CHANGES.txt - Changes since the previous versions of "Bug Squish" COPYING.txt - The GNU Public License, which "Bug Squish" is under. INSTALL.txt - Instructions on requirements, compiling and installing.

    README.txt     - (This file.)  Game story, usage, rules and controls.
    TODO.txt       - A wish-list for this version of "Bug Squish"

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

This game requires a lot of mousing. Please play responsibly to ensure you do not damage your wrist! Use the game's Pause function to temporarily stop your game so you may take breaks.

RUNNING THE GAME

Just type "./bugsquish" to get started.

The program accepts some options:

    --disable-sound     - If sound support was compiled in, this will
                          disable it for this session of the game.

    --fullscreen        - Run in fullscreen mode.

    --help              - Display a help message summarizing command-line
                          options, copyright, and game controls.

    --usage             - Display a brief message summarizing command-line
                          options.

TITLE SCREEN

At the title screen, you can begin a game, or quit the program.

SPACE, RETURN or MOUSE-CLICK
Begin a new game

ESCAPE or WINDOW-MANAGER-CLOSE
Quit Bug Squish

At the lower right corner of the title screen, the final score and wave from the last game played are displayed. Also, the high score and wave are displayed.

SCREEN LAYOUT

+--------------------+

    |10         x        |
    |8    O        *     |
    |6    x   *          |
    |4       x        #  |
    |2                 \ |

|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|
|Score Wave|
+--------------------+

Status

On the far left of the screen is a gauge showing how much blood you have left.

Your current score is displayed at the lower left, in a box labelled "Score:".

The level which you're currently on is displayed at the lower right, in a box labelled "Wave:".

Arm

Your arm is shown across the bottom of the screen. The less blood you have, the less healthy (less red) your arm appears.

Bugs

There are a number of different types of bugs. They appear at the top of the screen, and fly down towards your arm. Different types of bugs move in different ways.

Fly Swatter

Your mouse pointer appears as a small fly swatter shaped image.

Squished Bugs

When you kill a bug (by placing the fly swatter (mouse pointer) over it and clicking), it is squished. The squished bug remains on the screen until the next level.

Extras

Occasionally, a floating ball will appear which contains an "Extra." They appear from any side of the screen and fly across and off the edge of the screen. Click it while it's on the screen to get the extra bonus it contains.

PLAYING THE GAME

Blood

You begin with a full gauge of blood. When all of the blood has been sucked out by bugs, the game ends.

Bugs

Bugs appear at the top of the screen and fly down towards your arm, where they land to suck your blood. Some bugs fly downwards very quickly. Different waves of the game introduce different kinds of bugs, which move around in different ways.

Squishing Bugs

Use your mouse to position the fly-swatter-shaped mouse pointer over a bug, then click any mouse button to squish it. The higher on the screen the bug is, the more points you receive.

Being Bitten

When a bug lands on your arm, you hear yourself yell "ouch!", and the bug begins drawing blood. Squish it quickly to lose the least amount of blood!

Extras

"Extra" bonuses occasionally appear on the screen. Click them to get the bonus, if it applies:

Extra Blood

        Click the red "Extra Blood" bonus to get a little extra blood
        added to your blood gauge, if it isn't full.

        When you click it, it will be squished on the screen, and you'll
        hear an "ahh!" sound.  (Note: If your gauge is full, you obviously
        won't get any extra blood.  You'll instead hear a "glug" sound.)

Multiplier
        Click the blue "x 2" bonus to turn on a score multiplier.
        The multiplier is used when you complete a wave, during the
        "Blood Bonus." (See below.)

        When you click it, it will be squished to the screen, and you'll
        hear a "cha-ching" (cash register) sound.  (Note: If you already got
        a multiplier during the current wave, you'll instead hear a "glug"
        sound.)

Blood Bonus

Once you've squished all of the bugs that appear during a wave, you move onto the next wave. Before you begin the next wave, you get bonus points for the blood you have remaining.

A "BONUS" box appears in the middle of the screen, and the blood in the gauge begins emptying. You'll hear "glug-glug-glug..." as the blood drains out.

The amount of score you will receive for the blood is tallied up in the "BONUS" box.

Note: If you squished a Multiplier Extra ("x 2") during the wave, the blood bonus will be doubled.

Once all of the blood is converted into bonus points, the bonus box goes away, and the bonus points are added to your score. You will hear a "cha-ching" (cash register) sound. Now, the next wave begins...

Waves

There are 32 waves in Bug Squish. (Once you beat the 32nd wave, you remain on it for the remainder of your game.)

Successive waves have:

More bugs appear when the wave begins (up to a limit)
Faster moving bugs
More kinds of bugs
More bugs, total (before the wave is completed)

Pause

To pause the game, press the SPACE key. The word "PAUSED" will appear on the screen. To resume, press SPACE again.

Surrendering

To quit your current game, press the ESCAPE key. You'll return to the title screen.

Quitting

To quit the program entirely, you can either press ESCAPE at the title screen, or use your window manager's "Close Window" option (typically an "X"-shaped button on the window's title bar).

SCORING

Squishing Bugs

The number of points you receive for squishing a bug depends on how far down the screen the bug has flown. The higher on the screen the bug is, the more points you will receive.

Blood Bonus

At the end of each wave, bonus points are given based on how much blood you have remaining. If you squished a Multiplier Extra ("x 2") during the wave, you receive double points.

Bonus Blood

Every 10,000 points you receive some bonus blood. (Just as if you clicked an "Extra Blood" extra.) You obviously won't receive any extra blood if your gauge is full.

When you receive Bonus Blood at a 10,000 point mark, you'll hear the "Ahh!" sound.

GAME OVER

When you run out of blood, the game ends. You hear yourself yell "Ugh!", and any bugs remaining on the screen fly away towards the top.

The game returns to the title screen, where you can see your final score and wave number.

THE END

Thanks for trying out Bug Squish. Feel free to share it with your friends!

If you like Bug Squish, please rate and review it at the Linux Game Tome:

http://www.happypenguin.org/show?bug%20squish

Thanks!

Bill Kendrick <bill@newbreedsoftware.com>