B E A S T The object is to eliminate the invading BEASTS. This is accomplished by squashing the beasts between two blocks. You can "push" the lighter blocks around by moving against/into them. If you move against a long row of blocks, the entire wall (row of blocks) will be pushed (moved). If you push a block against a Beast, and there is a block behind the Beast, then the Beast is "squashed", and destroyed. If a block isn't behind a Beast when you push the block against it, it isn't squashed, and stops you from pushing the blocks. At higher levels of play, different obstacles will face you. A detailed description of these obstacles (or options) and what they do/cause are discussed later. To start play, just type: BEAST. If you know what level of play you would like to start at, type: BEAST L. Where "L" can be any letter. The default letter of play (When no letter is specified) is "E". This is a "Novice" level of play. The following is a brief description of the different levels of playing: A,B,C: Are "EASY" levels. For people not too familiar with arcade style games, or those not at ease using the cursor keys. D,E,F,G: Are "NOVICE" levels. For beginning players of the game. H,I,J,K: Are "HARD" levels. These should be played after completing or winning one of the novice levels. The hard levels introduce new and different beasts, and a longer game. L,M,N,O: Are titled the "UNKNOWN" levels. These are levels which can be defined by the player. And because of this, the actual skill level is not known. The instructions on how to use and define these levels is described later. P,Q,R,S: Are "ADVANCED" levels. More and more beasts of different varieties will be seen at these levels. Try these after becoming fairly good at levels I,J, or K. The beasts also become smarter, so watch out! T,U,V,W: Are "EXPERT" levels. Beasts are more numerous, and quicker. The number of levels to play before winning is also increased greatly. X,Y,Z: Are "PRO" levels. These are also commonly known as the levels for 'crazy' people. If you win at any of these levels, you are then a true "MASTER OF THE BEASTS". B E A S T O P T I O N ' S OPTION EXPLANATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pull Blocks While the space bar is held down, the block behind you will be PULLED along behind you. (Handy for getting blocks off the edges of the playing field.) Speed Game Up As time goes by, the game will speed up, and the Beasts will also speed up. (Watch out, the longer you play, the faster the Beasts move!) Electric Blocks This makes all SOLID blocks electrified. A normal block which is pushed into an electric block is turned into dust, and eliminated. If you touch an electric block, you are also turned into dust (Killed) - so be careful! NOTE: The outer walls will not kill you if you ran into it. Eggs Eggs are dormant for awhile, then they hatch into a crazy type of Beast. This Beast can push blocks just like you can. If you are between two blocks, it could squash you! NOTE: It can also squash other Beasts, or push blocks into Electric blocks. B E A S T H E L P ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following is a brief description of the keys you can use in BEAST: Keys before game begins: (After the game has been executed) = Select level letter and show options for that level. "1" = Select single player game (Only RIGHT player) "2" = Select dual player game. = Show current HIGH Scores with = Reset High Scores in the high score table. = Set Speed of game. = Exit game = IBM 3270 ON/OFF: Uses different KeyBoard routine. = Sound ON/OFF Keys during play: (While the beasts are attacking you) = Move the player (Auto repeat until key is released) left arrow or numeric 4: Move player left down arrow or numeric 2: Move player down 'End' key or numeric 1: Move player diagonal left/down NOTE: holding two keys down simultaneously causes diagonal moving IE: left arrow and up arrow held would cause up/left diagonal. = Pull block while held down (not in 3270 mode). = Escape ... Puts you randomly on the board and: will also subtract 10 points from your score. (If you have 10 points) = Pause game ON/OFF. Stop game until hit again. = Abort game, and allow new level of play to be selected. = Sound ON/OFF = Go to shell. Ctrl-BREAK = Abort game, Clear screen, and go to DOS/shell. Keys during Level Definition: (Defining level L,M,N, or O) = Move cursor to option above current option. = Set current option to YES. (If it is a Yes/No option) = Set current option to No. (If it is a Yes/No option) = Set option to number entered. Some options only allow a single number, others allow 2 digit numbers. If the number is invalid, then it will be ignored. (IE. If you type in 99 for the initials number of beasts, it will be ignored.) = Leave option setting/defining mode. = Move cursor to next option below. (If the cursor is at at the bottom, it will wrap to the top option.) U N K N O W N L E V E L O P T I O N S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Options which can be defined, and what they can be defined to: INITIAL BEASTS: How many beasts are on the board when the game starts. SUPER BEAST RATIO: The ratio of Super beasts to normal beasts. This can be set to 0,1,2,3, or 4 where 0=NONE, 1=1 out of 8, 2=1 out of 4, 3=1 out of 2, and 4=ALL. Selecting 0 would mean that NO super beasts would ever be in this level. Selecting 2 would mean to have every fourth beast be a super beast, or 1/4 of all the beasts would be super beasts. EGGS: How many eggs to start of this game with. Legal numbers are 0 to 20. If 0 is selected, eggs will never appear! Any number above 0 will cause eggs to start, and multiply. PULL BLOCKS: This is a YES/NO option. YES means that when the space bar is held down, the player will pull the block which is behind him. NO means that the player can't pull blocks (Which is harder). AUTO SPEED-UP: This is a YES/NO option. YES means that as time goes by, the game will speed up, and the beasts speed will also speed up. NO means that the games speed will stay fairly constant. EXPLOSIVE BLOCKS: This is a YES/NO option. YES means that all solid blocks are explosive, and will turn anything touching them to dust. NO means that solid blocks are just solid. NOTE: At higher levels of play, it helps to be able to "dust" a few normal blocks against an explosive block when they get in your way. WINNING LEVEL: The last numeric level to be completed before you win the game. legal entries are 1 to 99. HATCHING RATE: The average time it takes an egg to hatch. Legal numbers are 0 to 99. If you enter 30, it takes about 40-50 second for the eggs to hatch, entering a 0 is almost immediate hatching.