                               DOUBLE BOBBLE 2000
                              oooooooooooooooooooo


                           -A GAME BY RESERVOIR GODS-

o The Excuse For A Plot

Dub and Dob were two homeboys who enjoyed life "on the street". There spare time
was spent "hanging  tough"  outside  newsagents  and  2nd  hand  car lots. Their
pastimes included listening to "banging  tunes" on their ghettoblasters, kicking
things, shoplifting and hotwiring cars. They were just like any normal nine year
olds.

Dub and Dob enjoyed spending  time  with  their  girlfriends,  Sub and Sob. They
would skip gaily through the  local  park,  write  poems  to each other and read
aloud from Chaucer and the Financial Times. Their lives were carefree and happy.

All was well until the son  of  a  local German sausage-manufacturer, Darren Von
Blubba, decided Dub and Dob had gone  too  far. Dub had kicked his football into
Darren's garden and Dob had walked  over  his prize rhododendrons without even a
word of apology. Evil thoughts formed in Darren's mind.

The next day Dub and Dob were shocked  by  the story on the front of their local
paper, The Dubshire Advertiser. "Cat Stuck  Up  Tree"  it read. But further down
the page was a story  that  struck  fear  into  their  tiny hearts. "Local Girls
Disappear". Sub and Sob had vanished.  No-one  had  seen them since the previous
night when they went to collect some sausages from the local sausage plant.

Dub and Dob decided they had to try and rescue their girlfriends, climbed aboard
their BMXs, did some "radical" stunts and headed for the sausage emporium.

"I've been expecting you." Darren Von Blubba looked down at the two quaking boys
who had just entered the dark sausage plant.
"Nobody kicks their ball in my  garden  and  gets  away  with it!" and with that
Darren let out a  burst  of  manic  laughter,  obviously  borrowed from an early
adversary of James Bond.

"W-w-where are Sub and Sob?" Stammered Dob.

"You will never see them again!"  laughed  Darren  "and  now it is time for your
prehistoric brains to get bodies to match!"

Darren pulled a shiny lever and a trap door opened below the hapless duo and Dub
and Dob tumbled down  a  chute  towards  the  grinding  machinery of the Sausage
machine.

                                  o o o o o o

Dub opened his eyes and rubbed his aching  head. He couldn't be sure how long he
had been unconscious for. As his  eyes  started  to focus on the surroundings he
could make out he was in  a  room  with  some rather garish wallpaper. There was
scaffolding up the side of the walls and  in  the middle of the room. He heard a
groan and turned to look at his companion.

"Dob! What has happened...." he gasped "you....you're a Dinosaur!"

"Yes Dub, that confounded sausage  machine  has  turned  us into the now extinct
species 'sausagosaurus'. We will have to battle   with Darren Von Blubba and get
him to turn us back into our human forms."

"But we must rescue Sub and Sob first...how do we get out of here?"

"I think we  are  in  the  underground  storerooms  of  the  factory.  There are
literally hundreds of rooms down here that we will have to get through to get to
Darren Von Blubba's office. And there will be his henchmen...."

"Like who, Dob?"

"Like those!" said Dob, pointing to the  roof  of the room from which three evil
looking figures were descending.

"Denzos!" whispered Dob through clenched  teeth  "not  very bright, but let them
get near you and they can be deadly!"

"This is going to be some adventure!" grinned Dub.

And with that they turned to face their advancing adversaries.



o Loading & Installation

Double Bobble can be run off  floppy  disk  or  hard drive. Make sure the floppy
disk is write enabled as it will save the high score table when you quit.

Double Bobble is a game for the  Atari  Falcon030. It requires 4mb of memory and
runs on TVs, RGB & VGA monitors. It  is advised that you de-install all resident
programs before running Double Bobble.

If it doesn't load, run try running from  an ST compatible screen res such as ST
medium, and make sure all TSRs  and  accessories  are deinstalled. Try a control
boot.

If all this fails, use "God-Load", the  loading system from Reservoir Gods which
is included on Maggie 18.

If you have any problems getting Double  Bobble  to run, please write to us with
complete details of your system  -  memory,  TOS  version, any hardware upgrades
(processor upgrades, screen enhancers etc.),  monitor  and give a description of
the problem. We will do our best to remedy it!




o How To Play

Your aim is to battle your way through  100 levels of monsters. To complete each
level you must clear all the  monster  from  it.  This  is achieved by blowing a
bubble at a monster, it will become  trapped  in  this bubble. You then must pop
the bubble to kill the  monster.  If  you  delay  for  too long the monster will
manage to free himself from the bubble and will be in a rage!

Once all monsters are killed, you  will  have  a  short  time to pick up bonuses
before moving onto the next level.




o Lives & Credits

You start the game with 4 lives and 7  credits. Once you lose all your lives you
have the option of restarting by  using  a  credit.  When you restart your score
will be cleared and you will lose  all  your  current extend letters, but you do
get four extra lives. Once all lives and credits are lost the game is over.

Another player can join the action at  any  time  (as  long as there is a credit
left) by pressing fire on the currently defined controller for that player.



o Control Methods

Double Bobble 2000 can be played with a joystick, jaguar powerpad or keyboard.
You have three basic movement directions - up,left and right - as you can't move
down. You can, however, fall off the edge of platforms and let gravity bring you
down to the platform below.

Here is a summary of joystick movements and their functions:

-----------------------------
| MOVEMENT      ACTION      |
|---------------------------|
| UP            Jump        |
| LEFT          Walk Left   |
| RIGHT         Walk Right  |
| UP/LEFT       Jump Left   |
| UP/RIGHT      Jump Right  |
| FIRE          Blow Bubble |
-----------------------------

You can jump on platforms and  on  bubbles.  Jumping  on bubbles requires a good
deal of practice, but once mastered allows you to get further into the game.

You can control the game  on  keyboard,  although  this  is not the best control
method due to a hardware bug in the keyboard chip! Basically, the keyboard won't
recognise it if you hold down more  than two keys simultaneously, this becomes a
problem if you want to jump, move in  a  direction and fire. With two players on
the keyboard, things become even more problematic.

There is a semi-solution.  The  keyboard  will  recognise  the  SHIFT keys being
pressed, no matter how many other keys are held down, so it is best to use these
keys for fire. Also there is a key for "UP-LEFT" and "UP-RIGHT" diagonal jumping
to save you having to press two keys at once.

The default keyboard configuration for Dub and Dob is:

---------------------------------------
|          | PLAYER ONE  | PLAYER TWO |
--------------------------------------|
| UP       | UP ARROW    | CONTROL    |
| LEFT     | LEFT ARROW  | Z          |
| RIGHT    | RIGHT ARROW | X          |
| UP-LEFT  | INSERT      | A          |
| UP-RIGHT | CLR-HOME    | S          |
| FIRE     | RIGHT SHIFT | LEFT SHIFT |
---------------------------------------

You can redefine the keys  if  these  don't  suit  you, but I strongly recommend
using one of the shift keys for fire!

No such problems with the cumbersome Jaguar  powerpads. These work fine, and you
can even use their 'pause' key to pause the game.

Player one is set to use Joystick 2 or Powerpad A.
Player two is set to use Joystick 1 or Powerpad B

Other in-game keys are:

F1   - Pause Game
F10  - Quit Game
UNDO - Sacrifice (see below)




o Sound Menu

Here you can turn off the  music,  samples  or  both.  You  can also turn on the
internal speaker (if, for example, you have  a  VGA monitor with no other output
device). Fortunately you can control the volume  of the output sound, so you can
easily turn down the internal speaker  without  resorting to putting a book over
your Falcon's case.



o Sacrifice

At any point in the game, should things  be going horribly wrong, you can choose
to sacrifice your life to the great  gods (of the Reservoir variety). In return,
you get to restart the level you are on.

So if monster have become  trapped  in  very  awkward  places and you have spent
hours trying to capture them to no avail, you can restart the level. All monster
return to their original  start  positions  and  you  get  a  second bite at the
cherry.

Invoking sacrifice will cause both players to lose a life.

To activate sacrifice, press the 'UNDO' key.




o High Scores

Double Bobble keeps a close  track  of  your  score,  and  during a game it will
retain your top score. If you run out  of  lives and use a credit, your score is
cleared, but the best score you have  achieved  at  the  end of the game will be
checked against the high scores.

The high scores are saved to disk for posterity. It also gives you a good chance
to gloat at your unfortunate friends who can't get past level 13.




o Music

Double Bobble features  4  channel  50khz  stereo  music  plus  2  stereo sample
channels for sound fx. The DSP is  used  to  handle  all the music, a task it is
well suited to.

Sound Effects are stereo placed depending on where they occur on the screen. For
example, if you pick up a bonus  on  the  left  of  the screen you will hear the
effect on the left speaker, whilst actions on the right of the screen will cause
the sound to come from the  right  speaker.  As  you move across the screen, the
samples will move between the speaker giving a true stereo effect.

All music was written by Sparehead 3.

Sampling was done by Sparehead 3, Mr Pink and Ripley using the excellent Graoumf
tracker and Pro-Tracker.

All sound coding was done by Tat of  Digital Chaos. I must thank him for sending
me his routines and for all the support  he  has given me during the creation of
this game.

- Blatant Plug Time -

We are working on our own tracker, currently just in an STFM/STE incarnation but
it will be ported to the Falcon when (if?) finished.



o Graphics

Double Bobble runs in true colour mode,  using  overscan on TV and RGB monitors.
Because of the restriction of VGA monitors,  the  screen area is 320 x 240. This
still allows for a large playing area.

All graphics were created using God-Paint,  probably  the finest true colour art
package in the world (plug! plug!).

The graphics were drawn by  Ripley  and  Sparehead  3  who literally spent hours
moving their sweaty palms over their mice,  only  pausing to moan about the bugs
in God-Paint. Not that there are any. Honest. Well maybe one.




o Secret Levels

There is a hidden section in Double Bobble! It is not immediately obvious how to
get there, and will probably only  be  reached by the more experienced Bobblers.
It is well worth getting to though  -  full  marks to those who get there first,
and to anyone who can decipher the cryptic message in it!

There are also some hidden features  on  some  levels - don't take everything at
face value!



o Points

Points are scored by popping  bubbles,  picking  up  fruit and bonuses, clearing
potion-filled screens, killing the end of  level  of  monster and getting to the
secret room. You get 10 points for popping  each of your own bubbles, and 15 for
popping your comrade's bubbles so sneakily pop them for extra points!




o Fruit

When you pop a monster it will spin into oblivion and be reincarnated as a piece
of very tasty fruit. You can 'chain-pop' monsters, by popping the bubble when it
is touching other bubbles containing monsters. The  more monsters you get in one
chain-pop, the bigger the fruit bonus!



o Power-Ups

Double Bobble features an extensive  range  of  power-ups  and bonuses. It would
spoil the game to detail what individual bonus does, and how you get it. Part of
the fun of Double Bobble is working all this out.

However, I will whet your appetite by giving  you  a few examples of some of the
power-ups you may come across on your adventures.

You will find objects that improve your bubble range and speed, make you faster,
or give you temporary invulnerability. You  can  even  get homing bubbles - once
fire they will lock onto a monster  and  chase  him across the screen until they
capture him!

There are bonuses that boost your score, there are massive bonus fruit that fall
from the ceiling, there are potions that  fill the screen with goodies and there
is even a creature who will help you battle against your foes.

Use the power-ups wisely, they can be a  powerful ally, but don't risk your neck
trying to get a power-up in a dangerous place!




o E X T E N D

You will see the above  letters  floating  around  some  levels. Collect them by
popping them and they will  be  displayed  on  your  side  of the screen. If you
manage to collect all of the letters  of  the word "EXTEND" you will be rewarded
with an extra life and will automatically warp to the next level.

Be prepare for massive arguments in  two  player  mode  about who should get the
extend letters as you both battle for that extra life!




o Fire, Water & Lightning

These are special power up bubbles that  appear  on some levels and greatly help
you with your quest.

Popping a fire bubble will  cause  a  flame  to  fall  from  it. When this makes
contact with the ground it will ignite an area around it and burn for some time,
frying all monsters that touch it.

When you pop a water bubble you unleash  a cascade of water that gushes down the
level, sweeping away all monsters it touches!  Dub  and  Dob can hitch a ride in
the water, but can jump at any  point.  You  can't  be  killed if you are in the
water.

Popping a lightning bubble causes  a  flash  of  lightning  to streak across the
level killing all in its path. Lighting will kill  Dub and Dob so keep an eye on
where your pal is before you pop it!




o Hurry Up

If you hang around on a level for too long you will get a "Hurry Up" and all the
monsters will start to move at  crazed  speeds.  Then the evil Darren Von Blubba
will appear (with his brother  Arran  if  there  are  two players) and chase you
across the screen. He is a  mean  opponent  and  cannot be killed, and will only
disappear if you complete the level or if he kills you.




o Registering

Double Bobble is a shareware game,  and  it  would be greatly appreciated if you
take time to show your support for  the  Falcon games scene by registering. This
was originally going to be  a  commercial  game  until forces beyond our control
made this impractical. The game has take us  almost  a year of hard work, but we
are still keen to work on other Falcon  projects  (we must be mad!). It would be
nice to know that there are people  out  there who see our productions and enjoy
them. Is there anyone out there?

Full registration costs 10 uk pounds. Not  bad really considering the quality of
the game, especially when you  look  at  some  of the commercial offerings about
that cost 3 times as much.


We are not the type of people who  just  pocket the cheques and forget about it.
We believe in offering a service to  those who register. For example, the people
who registered for Tautology II were the first to get this game - they were sent
it the week it was released.

People who register will  receive  "Double  Bobble  -  The Further Adventures" a
complete new adventure for Dub  and  Dob  to  embark  on,  100 new action packed
levels full of new  challenges  and  featuring  some  more  stunning true colour
graphics.

You also receive the "Double Bobble 2000 Map Editor". This is a complete program
that allows you to design your own levels for Double Bobble. The program has its
own WIMP environment - it is  all  mouse  based  so designing your own levels is
only a key click away! You  have  separate  screens to design your level layout,
graphics, sprite positions and airflow.  You  can  even play-test the level from
within the editor!

The Map-Editor also has the provision for  loading new graphics, so you can even
create your own graphics for the  game  and  make  a truly customised version of
Double Bobble. Create your own worlds! Swap them with your friends!

Those paying the full registration  fee  also  get  the latest version of Double
Bobble 2000, plus other Reservoir Gods Falcon productions and the knowledge that
when we release our next game they will be the first to receive it!

If you  can't  afford  the  full  registration,  you  can  opt  for  the  budget
registration scheme. This is only  5  uk  pounds.  For  this  you get the latest
version of Double Bobble, with the facility to load in new levels. You don't get
the extra game disk "The Further Adventures" and you don't get the Double Bobble
Level Creator, but at least you  have supported the Falcon games scene.

So there you have it. If you like this game, please take the time to register.

If registering from overseas, please send cash  if possible. If you have to send
a cheque, send a euro-cheque  or  a  euro-giro  cheque. The problem with cheques
from abroad is that the bank  charges  are  so  high that it isn't worth cashing
them.

The address to write to is:

 Leon O'Reilly (Mr. Pink)
  Cwm Isaf
   Abermule
    Montgomery
     Welshpool
      Powys
       SY15 6JL
        United Kingdom




o Double Bobble - future versions

We hope that this version of  Double  Bobble  runs  smoothly at all times on all
Falcons, but we realise that there  may  still  be bugs lurking somewhere in the
dark recesses of the  game.  I  have  personally  spent  many long hours playing
through the game and eliminating  bugs,  but  there  may still be the occasional
glitch that has escaped my notice. If  you  do  come across anything then let us
know and we will fix it. The will  be newer versions of Double Bobble which will
have any located bugs removed. We have put so much time and effort into creating
this game, we don't want it to  be  marred  by  a stupid bug somewhere along the
line, so we will be stamping out anything we find.




o Double Bobble - The Further Adventures

Yes, this isn't the end of the Double Bobble story. Those of you who opt for the
full registration will get this excellent new game disk. There are currently 100
new levels, but this could end up as being more!

We want to make more data disks for Double Bobble. We are also interested in any
interesting levels you make. So once you  get  your level creators, send in your
levels and we will compile some more data disks for registered users.

We are also planning "Double Bobble -  The Famous Mission", with levels designed
by many 'famous' people on the Falcon demo and coding scene. Yes, you could play
a level designed by  your  coding/musician/graphics  heroes!  We don't know when
this will be finished, but registered users will be notified about it.

As long as the interest is  there,  we  will  keep supporting and improving this
game. If you have any suggestions for improvements to Double Bobble, or spot any
bugs (surely not!) then let us no and we will do our best to change things.

The Falcon is a great computer and  deserves  great games. We hope Double Bobble
will be the first in a long line of these.




o Credits

Code......................Mr. Pink
DSP Module/Sample player..Tat/Digital Chaos
Sprites, Level Design.....Ripley
Music, Graphics...........Sparehead 3




o Packages Used

God-Paint.................For all graphics!
Devpac 3..................For creating the game
BSS Debug.................For tracking down those bugs
Graoumf Tracker...........For sampling the sound effects
PRO-Tracker...............For creating the music
God-Map 1.13..............For designing the levels
Ice Packer................For decreasing the size of the files considerably

- More Blatant Plugging -

One day we will release our packer! Oh  yes! Three years in production and it is
almost ready. (Blame Tim for this one!)




o Thanks & Greets

To everyone who registered for Tautology II.
To all who have pestered me to get this game finished!
Everyone I met at Fried Bits III.
All on IRC channel Atari. I may be back!

CIH for all the good publicity!
Phineas - for support and trying to do things right.
Tat - for the sound routines and the "sick-sample-surgery"
Charles - for the penguins, despite the lack of razors.
Tim - for the packer (although it is a bit late)
DBA - for rescuing us from the headhunters.
Richard K - for encouragement and playtesting.
Daryl - thanks for the sample cable and playtesting!
DHS - for Swedish compliments
TSCC - for having such good taste in music
Pure Bollocks - for the use of the Falcon at fried bits 3
EKO - for making impossibly good demos.
LAZER - for making impossibly large demos.
Lucky of ST - great minds think alike!
Felice - for appreciating fireworks (at the appropriate time).
Vogue - for forgetting his jammy dodgers
Falcon Commando - for his amazing grasp of spelling.
Chris of Passion - for the squared paper
Nitrik - for ringing a bell with his name
Stallion - for organising a great party
Flinny - for being a certified IRC junkie
Avena - for making great demos that run fine on my machine (if no-one elses)
Mick of DNT Crew - for appreciating Ripley's graphics
Ralph Lovesy - for creating such a great footie game
Greg Lovesy - for the (very quiet) music
Carnera - for the sarcasm
Giants - for being dotty about tetris
Dragon - for watching me suffer in my FB3 tag!
Psychosis - for being English AND owning a Falcon!
Richard Davey - for taking _those_ pictures
Mike Goodman - for supporting Tautology II
System Solutions - for the (non)-working hard drive
16/32 systems - for Robinson's Requiem (lost)
Atari World - for revieiwing Tautology 1.5 years late - clumsy!


For further greetings, see the end sequence of the game!
