keep in mind that these were written in
1986, about a piece
of Amiga software that never shipped commercially
TRICLOPS INVASION 1.6 from Geodesic Publications
-------------------------------------------------
We hope you like this Public Domain version of our game. For Menu
Bar and Mouse Control, read book3 and book4 files. The seven book
files are the text to the manual for ver.1.6. We are working full
time on the new version 2.0 to include : TWO PLAYER MODE: Two
AMIGAs via RS232 null or real modem. GEOCAD: Build your own
vehicles and cities on file. GEOCOMPILER: A fractal, geodesic 3D
structure compiler.
Version 2.0 will be ready to ship by 11/15/86. If your paid order is before 11/15/86 the price is $21 or $27 afterwards.
We plan to develop a 3D user net. The edge linked format we use to store our 3D objects is about as simple as it can be. All of our games will read their 3D objects from files, with open architectures for all data formats. We hope other 3D developers will use open architectures, so that a 3D object from one game can be filtered or directly used by another.
Geodesic Publications
Welcome to Geodesic Publications. We set out with one purpose in mind, to make the fastest real 3D animation system for the Amiga. We'll let the users decide if we made it !!! To do this, we control the graphic chips directly, we do not use any ROM graphic routines. Our vertical blank interrupt server intercepts the copper instruction stream directly, providing flicker free animation with zero Intuition overhead. Our 3D math is the fastest in the land, on the sea, or out beyond the realms of space !
The game uses what we consider a World Class Mouse !!! Show us another mouse that gives you six axes of motion, can turn on off auto fire lock, stop, point you at your enemy, give you a view from your present location, split the screen, or pop up an eight globe world map, all this without menus ! The game is fully mouse controlled, the game also reads the second mouse port, looking for signs of intelligent life ??? Through this port lives the Amiga Sound Analyzer Module available from Visual Aural Animations.
No, this version does not have glossy high tech artwork, or even a well done manual, you see, the 21 dollars paid for this game includes a COUPON to mail in for the UPDATE game. We have high expectations for TRICLOPS INVASION ver. 2.0:
Best of all, the new version of the game with manual will be sent to you free of charge, for Thanksgiving. So, send in those coupons by 11/15 and we will send it to you the moment it is ready. The $21.00 you have paid already entitles you to three disks: the one you have now, and the free update with a backup. You can can think of the game you have received now, version 1.6, as a freebee, given to you in appreciation for having sent in money for Triclops Invasion version 2.0 early!
It is with this mindset, that we include on ver. 1.6 the notice to grant free distribution of it. It's highly possible that your friends do not have this game.
Triclops Invasion version 1.6
The game starts by randomly placing the city on the planet, with your jet on the runway. The object of your mission is to save our last city... from the Triclops who have invaded the solar system. The Triclops' space hull, geodesic satellite, is in outerspace above the city. There are also five animated antagonist, Triclops Walkers, which parachute to Earth, walk to the city, and destroy it. There is only one way to destroy one of these walkers, hit one of their feet. The walker, when far from the city, will fire at you, so you might want to strike the cannon turret (Top) before you go for the feet. The walker is harmless without a turret. If you fly into the turret, you crash. The satellite can be destroyed by explor- ing its center. If you destroy all the Triclops, you have won the game and Saved The World, a score is given on how much of the city, jets, and tanks remains.
Your three jetships have unlimited fuel and torpedos, if you run into a mountain, your ship just stops. You also have two mobile exploding tanks which detonate when they run into a walker. To attack the satellite, the jet must be near the city before going into outerspace. If you try to go deeper into space you will ether be stopped, or get lost in a space warp. If you are in space and you select city viewer, you see the city from inside the space hull. Before activating a tank, try to get a good view of both tank and walker using the jet. The split screen mode gives a bottom screen from your viewer point and a top screen from inside the cockpit, complete with gunner crosshair. One approach to hitting the Triclop's feet:
Get near it; Click menu button about five times to fire. Click select button twice to get new view; Pull down pilot box down to just the top 25% of screen. Hold down select button and zero in on foot with drag.
REMEMBER !!!
You lose if all three jets are destroyed, or if the city is lost. To play the game: click the icon, or type "Triclops".
GOOD LUCK !
This game is not copy protected, and permission is granted to make as many free copies as you wish, you may place this game on a bulletin board. We only ask you not to place this game on any disk which is sold for money.
Menu Bar: Game Quit : Quit the game. Game Info : Show infomation about game. Game Skill : Level 2: Walkers have better accuracy.
Vehicle Jet, Tank1, Tank2 : Select jetship, tank1, or tank2. Vehicle Walker: Turn on/off Triclops Walker.
Viewer Front : Viewer click will now give front view. Viewer Top : Viewer click will now give top view. Viewer City : Gives one view of the city, from space hull. Viewer Lock : Locks viewer, builds landscape each view. Viewer Merge : No buffering, merges each new view to screen. Viewer World : Rebuilds the world map at new fractal level.
Planet Colors : Pop-up color palette control. Planet Fractal : Five levels of planet fractalization.
Sound Off, Low, High : Volume of sound effects. Sound Input : Visual sound modes.
Instrumentation: |--- Menu Bar-----| At the top right hand edge of screen, | No - | the green bar indicates the speed, | Pilot | [] | if red then the speed is backwards. | _ Speed| [] | | |_| - -- | The jet is shown as a blue triangle, as | . | the jet ascends the white tick marks | . Jet | switch to a half scale. If the jet | . Altitude < | ascends above the top tick mark, the | Pilot | jet goes into outer space. A tank is | Box - | shown as a blue box. | . | [] | | . Ground| [] | The next color you see is a red bar | . Level | [] | showing landlevel above sealevel | _ - -- | directly below the selected jet or tank. | |_| Jet 2 # | | Jet 3 # | At the bottom, there are four small | Full Tank 1 # | blue boxes, the top two are the two | Pilot Tank 2 # | jets in reverve. The bottom two are the |-------------------| two tanks.
The pilot box is a blue box on the left of the screen. To operate this box, move the pointer against the left edge of the screen, move up or down the edge while holding down the select or menu button. You will see the screen split in half. The top screen is the view from the cockpit of the jet or tank that you are driving, only enemies appear in this screen. The game is faster with the box ether fully up or fully down.
MOUSE CONTROL
Select Menu
Button Button
DRAGGING: X Y
|
mDU down | up Moves ship Moves ship
| laterally straight
| right or left up or down
|
mUD up | down Turns ship Changes velocity
| to the forward or
| right or left backward
|
mDD down | down Rolls ship Slopes ship
| to the up or down
| right or left
CLICKING:
|
mCU 2 clicks | up View present location.
|
mCD 3 clicks | down Turn on world map.
|
mUC2 up | 2 clicks Stop.
|
mUC3 up | 3 clicks Turn on fire lock mode.
|
mUC4 up | 4 or more
| clicks Point at enemy, fire.
|
mDC down | 2 clicks Turn off fire lock mode.
When the mouse pointer is below the menu bar, both of its buttons are used by the game. To drag, simply hold down one or both buttons and move the mouse. Say, you wish to go into outer space, move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen, then hold down the select button and drag mouse up to the top of screen, release button and repeat this action a few times, as you watch the triangle on the right move up. The choice of drag controls was made carefully to make the ship easy to maneuver. Experiment.
Clicking will work only if the mouse is motionless. The Stop control, mUC2, can be very handy when used with velocity and steering, mUD. Repeated menu clicks makes life easy when trying to hit the Triclops' feet. If you get lost, just pop up the world map, mCD.
Geodesic Publications
This company was formed to explore innovative ideas in the field of geodesic theory, software, space, and architecture.
Triclops Invasion represents one of the first of a new class of computer games, 3D space games. Objects in the game, planets, cities, ships, satellites are true 3D polygonal models. They are cast in completely generalized perspective views. This is a real 3D game, on a real spherical 3D planet, The only thing that's not truely three dimensional, is that it is all inside the computer and not sitting on your table !
Contained in this game is a geometric structure compiler. It can can convert a simple structure into a more complex structure. The manner in which this is done is called the geometric breakdown. For an example, the fractal planet in this game was created from the icosahedron ( solid of twenty triangles ), so the original number of points to store the planet amounted to only twenty ! Those same twenty points are also used to create some of the geodesic satellites. The planet and satellites are the only times the ver. 1.6 game uses the geometric compiler, version 2.0 will actually allow the user to operate the compiler. Also within this game is generalize surface fractalization. The planet is a sphere with five fractal levels, at fractal level 5, the planet is comprised of greater than 100,000 small triangles. Matching the peudo-random seeds across all boundaries insure that the triangles fit together perfectly. Chain matrix math is used for the robotic motion.
Our main interest is the Amiga computer, we also sell an IBM AT version of our game. We think that the 68000 / 20 architecture is the best for the future and look forward to coupled VLSI solutions.
Those who purchase our game will receive information on source code tool kits in 68000 assembly and C in the areas of graphics, fractals, and geodesics.
We are open to consulting on any computer. We develop general structural, topographical systems, adaptable to real life landscapes.
Sincerely Yours,
Geodesic Publications Mark S. Adams P.O.Box 7 President Willow Creek, CA. 95573 (916) 629-2514
INTERESTING THINGS TO DO
First de-activate the Vehcile- Walker check mark.
1. Go to different parts of the globe and view at various fractal levels. High fractalization levels can be interesting very close to the planet. At level one you see real vertexes.
2. At an altitude just above mountain tops, drag mUDY until pitch is high, hi velocity. Get a world view and then a front view, watch the jet loop back into view after a few seconds.
3. Get near the city; jump into space mDUY; point and fire, mUC4; turn off fire lock, mDC4; pull pilot box all the way down, you should see the space hull. Now drive right through the satellite mUDY; stop mUC2, turn around mUDX, View, mCU. You should see the orbiting Space Hull with Earth in back.
4. Explore the Space Hull.
5. From space, fly into the planet, notice that when the jet hits the atmosphere, the instrumentation tick marks turn on and the jet starts to orbit the globe. Lower altitude, mDUY.
6. With jet at low altitude, fly forwards, stop, and turn. Now fire at the screen, move back to find where the torpedos blowup right at the screen. Get another front view, notice the different torpedo sprays while using mDDX ( Roll ). The size of the circle spray is controlled by mDDY ( Slope).
7. The trickiest for last !!! The jet, when planet-side, is laser gyroscope stablized. However, it is possible to balance it upside down! With the jet at low altitude, using mDDX you can balance the jet upside down. Once balanced, the jet is stable to mUD and mDU maneuvers. If you move too far though, the jet tips over, back to normal stability !!!
Triclops Invasion 1.6 : --- Public Domain ---
CLI Options: Triclops [Options]
44 Use four bit planes. 55 Use five bit planes.
))filename RECORD MODE Write a new demo file. To enter a banner while recording, just start typing the banner, the game freezes until a mouse button is pressed. You can cleanup or change the banners later by editing the demo file.
((filename REPLAY MODE Replay a demo file. rr REPEAT Repeat replay demo forever. In replay modes, clicking a mouse button drops you out of the demo and you start playing the game at that point.
Examples: Triclops 44 Play the game
Triclops ))ram:mydemo 44 Play and record.
edit ram:mydemo Fix up the banners
Triclops ((ram:mydemo 55 rr Replay continuously
Startup: The game is slightly faster with only four bit planes. Before the last globe of the world map is generated on the screen, simply place the crosshair pointer over the spot on the world you wish the city to be placed. The selection of one of the eight geodesic satellites is controlled by the x location of the city on the world map. Eight equal strips zones down the world map.