PCjs Machines

            ----------  Beat the Bomb  ----------

                   Shareware Version 1.00


Program and documentation copyright John M. Gallant, 1993





WELCOME TO BEAT THE BOMB ...

    Here are a few additional topics to supplement the 
instructions contained in the program. 



DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT 

Users of Beat the Bomb must accept this disclaimer of warranty: 
Beat the Bomb is supplied as is.  The author disclaims all 
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, 
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. 
The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or 
consequential, which may result from the use of Beat the Bomb. 
Liability is limited to refund or replacement. 


BACKUP YOUR DISK!

    Make a backup copy of Beat the Bomb before starting. If you 
have a two floppy drive system, place the disk with Beat the 
Bomb and all its files on it into drive a. Place a new formatted 
disk into drive b and type 

    copy a:*.* b:

All commands are ended by pressing the <Enter> key. If drive a 
and b are not the same on your system and the Beat the Bomb disk 
only fits in the b drive then just reverse the above 
instructions. Put the original disk in a safe place and use the 
copy to run Beat the Bomb. 

    To copy Beat the Bomb to a hard drive make a directory on 
the hard drive. Go to the hard drive and type 

        md btb

or any other directory name. Change to that directory with

        cd btb

and copy all of the files on the original disk to the hard disk 
with the command 

        copy a:*.*

(or "copy b:*.*" if the disk containing Beat the Bomb is in 
drive b). 


RUNNING Beat the Bomb

    To start Beat the Bomb go to the drive and directory 
containing the program and type "btbs <Enter>". You may optionally 
start the program in the silent mode with "btbs -s". 

    Once inside the program at the main menu, press h or F1 for 
more instructions. Each menu has its own help message. Be sure to 
read them all. 


USING THE MOUSE

    You will need a mouse to run Beat the Bomb. If you have used 
a mouse before then you will have no trouble with Beat the Bomb. 
If you have never used a mouse before then you are in for some 
fun. Move the mouse around and watch the little arrow go the same 
way you push the mouse. Move the arrow over one of the things 
that looks like a button or keyboard key. Press the left mouse 
button when the arrow is on a button on the screen. This is 
called "clicking on an option". Only the left mouse button is 
used. The things that look like buttons are buttons, click on 
them to select options or to answer questions. 

    In general, each screen or popup message has a button 
in the upper left corner to exit the screen or remove the popup. 
Many popups can be cleared by pressing any key on the keyboard or 
clicking the mouse anywhere. Some popups present you with options 
and you will need to press one of a few specific keys on that 
popup to continue. 

    Many of the options can be selected by typing the first 
letter of the name on the key. Unfortunately, sometimes two names 
will start with the same letter so it is usually easier to use 
the mouse. You MUST use the mouse to answer the problems.


MAIN MENU

    The first screen (after the credits and copyright notice) is 
the main menu. It has a blue pad in the upper left corner with 
keys for several options. The one marked "help" is important. 
Push it and read what it says. Most screens have a "help" button. 
Each message is different and applies to the current screen.

    You cannot answer the problems on the main menu screen. They 
are just there for amusement. If you push a number key to try to 
answer the problems you will get a help message explaining how to 
start the game. 

    From the main menu you can go to the game screen or the setup 
menu. You can also view the best times scored so far by pressing 
the "best" button. Note that there are three score tables, one 
each for 5, 10, and 20 problems per test. The one displayed 
depends on the currently selected number of problems per test. 
This can be changed in the setup menu. We will talk more about 
the setup screen later.


THE GAME

    Type a "1" or click on the "1" button in the main menu to go 
to the addition screen. You should see a blue panel similar to 
the one in the main menu but with a digital clock. To the right 
of the screen is a large keypad with individual keys for numbers 
from 0 through 99. 

    On the blue control pad there is a "help" button. If you push 
the help button it will give you brief instructions for this 
screen. Try it. Also on the blue control pad is a button labeled 
"correct". For now just ignore it. We don't need it yet. In the 
upper left corner is a red "quit" key. This will take you back to 
the main menu. Let's stay here for a while, though. Finally, 
there is a key called "start". Push the "start" button now. 

    You should now see an addition problem with a blue box where 
the answer should go. A set of numbers from 1 to 10 (or 5 or 20) 
appeared somewhere on the left of the screen. These keep track of 
questions answered so far. You should also see some sort of 
graphic (unless it has been disabled in the setup menu). It might 
be a bomb with a burning fuse or two snails. If it is a light 
blue (cyan) rectangle then we will be building a castle. Since 
you have not answered any questions yet the rectangle is empty. 

    Look at the problem and figure out the answer. Now find the 
key on the right of the screen that matches the answer and click 
on it. If you answered correctly you should hear a short beep and 
see a new problem. The gray "1" should now have been replaced 
with a gold star. (Nice work!) If you made a mistake you should 
have heard a short buzz and the gray "1" should have been 
replaced with a red "x". (Too bad.) You will only get one chance 
at each question. At the end of the test you will be able to see 
all of the questions again. The tests are usually timed so you 
will need to go as fast as you can. For now though, we are just 
looking around. 

    Continue with the test. Try to get some answers correct and 
intentionally miss a few. At the end of the test you should see a 
message that tells you how well you did. If you are only working 
5 problems per test you will not see a numerical score. If you 
did well you should see one or more sparklers, otherwise a popup 
to the right of the screen will show your score. In either case 
you can press any key on the keyboard or click the mouse anywhere 
to clear the message.

    The screen should now show all the problems in the test with 
correct answers in blue and wrong answers in red. This is why I 
suggested you give the wrong answer to some questions. Click on 
the light blue "correct" button. The red answers should now be 
corrected and shown in light blue. 


    If you do well on a test you will get a prize. The prizes are 
as follows:

        100%    Gold trophy
         95%    Silver trophy
         90%    Gold medal
         85%    Silver medal
         80%    Bronze medal

Trophies earned are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Trophies are not saved when you exit the program.

    If you had a perfect score and one of the best times you will 
get to enter your name in the "best times" table. Just type in 
your name and press "ok". If you do not want to record your time, 
press the "cancel" key. The computer remembers the last name 
entered. If that is your name, just click on the "ok" button. You 
may also want to read the section "ENTERING NAMES" below for more 
instructions. 


SETUP

    The setup screen can be reached from the main menu by 
clicking on the "setup" key. The setup menu is used to change how 
the program operates. The first time you enter the setup menu 
after starting the program it will take you through a brief 
description of most of the keys. That should be enough to answer 
most of your questions but we will cover a little more here.

    Please notice which way the keys go to enable a feature. The 
help messages give you examples of how the keys look for various 
setups. In general, the keys are "in" and the numbers are light 
green if the function is enabled. Confusion can arise because 
the default setting for the numbers is "all enabled". When you 
press one of the number keys it will then stand out from the 
rest, making it look special. It is special, it is the only one 
that is off. 

    There is a row of numbers from 0 through 9. These allow you 
to select the number facts you want to study. For example, it 
is possible to study just the "7 tables" by pressing all of the 
keys in the row until "7" is the only one in and light green. 

    Let's take another example. Select the numbers 1 through 5. 
Now, one of the numbers in the addition drill will always be a 
number from 1 through 5. The other number can be any number from
0 through 9. 

    You may select 5, 10, or 20 problems per test. Each test 
lasts two minutes so you can view these as "easy", "medium", and 
"hard" if you wish. 

    The "sound" and "timer" on/off keys, as you would expect, 
turn the sound and timer on or off. You can also turn off the 

sound with "F2" from nearly any screen or by starting the program 
with the name of the program followed by "-s". (btbe -s). 

    The problems can be presented vertically or horizontally.
Normally both horizontal and vertical problems are presented and 
the program alternates between the two.

    The "animation" keys allow you to select which animations are 
enabled. These are the graphic images that are active during the 
test. An animation is selected randomly from the set of enabled 
animations. If you only want the castle animation, click on the 
other animations until they are off (a black and white icon on 
the keys). 


TIMED vs UNTIMED

    It is possible to run the program in either a timed or an 
untimed mode. If the problems are being timed, the student has 
two minutes to answer all of the questions. If the timer key is 
set to "off" the clock will not run but the problems may still be 
timed. Two of the animations still force the problems to be 
timed. These are the bomb and the snails. To allow an unlimited 
time to answer the problems, turn off the timer and select the 
castle. You can also disable all of the animations. 

    This is an important feature because some students are 
bothered by timed tests. This program could help these students 
adjust to timed tests. They could become comfortable with the 
program with the timer off and then start gradually to increase 
the number of problems per test with the timer on. Start with a 
less threatening animation such as the snails or frogs, not the 
bomb. 


ANIMATIONS

    There are three animations to choose from. The bomb and 
snails are always timed. The castles are timed only if the timer 
is enabled. 

    The bomb has a long fuse that takes two minutes to burn. If 
the problems are not answered in two minutes the bomb will go 
off, ending the test.

    The snails race against each other. You are the red snail. 
Each time you answer a question (right or wrong) the snail 
advances. The computer is the blue snail. The blue snail takes 
two minutes to finish the race.

    The castles are built a piece at a time as you get correct 
answers. No piece is given if the answer is wrong. The castle 
comes to life if all questions are answered correctly. There are 
at least three different castles for each level.


SAVING AND RECALLING SETUPS

    It is possible to save up to 32 different setup configura-
tions. Each of these can be assigned a name to make it easier to 
remember which setup is which. 

    On the blue keypad in the setup menu are "save" and "load" 
keys. Make some changes in the current setup that you will 
remember. Now press the "save" key. You should see a new menu 
with four rows of eight keys in the center. In the upper left 
corner is a blue keypad with a gray window with a name in it. 
This name matches the name on the key that is pressed. Type in a 
new name and then press one of the keys with no name on it. If 
all of the keys have names you may select one that you no longer 
want. The computer will ask you before overwriting the old setup. 
If you do not want to save the setup you may press the "cancel" 
key. Press one or the other now. If all went well you should 
have been returned to the setup menu. If not, a message should 
have appeared explaining the problem. 

    Load a different setup by pressing "load" on the blue setup- 
menu keypad. The filename menu should now be visible again. 
Either type in the name of the setup that you want to recall or 
press the button with the appropriate name. Again, if all went 
well you should be back at the setup menu. The setup keys should 
now have changed to the setup you selected. Now try to recall the 
setup that you just saved.


ENTERING NAMES

    Occasionally the program will ask you for a name. It may be a 
name for a setup or your name if you scored well in a game. In 
both cases you can simply type in the name with the keyboard. The 
letters will appear in the gray window as you type. You may 
get a warning buzz if you type in too many letters. It will 
probably look like there is plenty of room to keep typing but the 
computer limits the number of characters you may enter. Since the 
characters are different widths you will not always fill all the 
space. Try typing "WWWWiiii". We left space for lots of Ws.

    If you want to change a letter in the center of a word 
already in the gray window, click the mouse to where you want to 
make the change. This should move the typing cursor. The delete, 
back-arrow, home, end, and right and left cursors also work. 


IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE PROGRAM

    I hope you never have any problems but if you do, the program 
will try to print a message to the screen. Here are some 
examples. 


"Could not find an EGA or VGA card"

    This message will be displayed when you try to run the 
program on a computer without the proper display driver card. 
Earlier CGA monitors do not have sufficient resolution for the 
text that accompanies the instructions and are not supported. 
Monochrome systems are also not supported. The program will work 
fine on true EGA and VGA systems. 


"Not enough memory"

    Although the program will work with systems with less than 
512K of memory, most of that memory must be available to the 
program. Some computers have memory set aside for RAM Disks or 
TSR programs. TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs include 
such popup or background programs as Borland's Sidekick. These 
subtract from the memory available to the program. You may have 
to remove one or more of these to run Beat the Bomb. You will 
find them in a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS. If you are 
not familiar with these, seek out a friend who is or read the 
manuals that came with your computer. Another good place to get 
information on AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS is in a book on DOS. 
There are usually several in the library. 


"Could not find file"

    This would most likely be caused by trying to run the program 
from a directory that does not include the "extra" files used by 
Beat the Bomb. These files typically contain graphic images that 
are loaded as needed. It is easiest to go to the drive and 
directory containing a copy of the complete set of programs that 
came on the distribution disk (the one you bought) and run from 
there. 


"Could not read file"

    This is more serious than not finding the file. It says the 
file was found but the computer was not able to read all of the 
information in the file. It is possible that the file has become 
corrupted. In that case just replace the corrupted file with the 
one from your backup disk. (It is just as easy to start over and 
replace all of the files). It is also possible that the disk 
drive is having trouble reading the disk. Remove the disk from 
the drive and tap the disk on the table. Then reinsert the disk 
into the drive and try again. This does not work all the time but 
it is so simple that it is worth a try. 


The program runs but there is a bunch of junk flickering on the 
screen. 

    If this happens, press the F1 key. If the flickering stops 
then you probably have an old EGA driver with less than a full 
compliment of memory. True EGA has memory for two complete 
screens (called "pages"). Beat the Bomb needs both. Although 
many EGA programs will run on these cards, others will not. You 
might check with your hardware dealer about an upgrade. 


Program does not run at all.

    Hmm? Never heard of that happening. Try the disk on another 
IBM compatible. You should at least get a message in text 
identifying the program (before the First Magnitude screen). If 
you do not, then the disk or program has been corrupted or your 
disk drive may have an alignment problem. 


None of the above.

    Even though I tried very hard to make a foolproof program, 
there is still a chance that something could go wrong. When that 
happens I would like to know about it. Be sure to get as much 
information ready before calling as possible. I need such 
information as type of computer, type of display, DOS version, 
TSR's that might be running, a detailed explanation of the 
symptoms. The more complete the information the easier it will be 
to solve the problem. 


TELEPHONE SUPPORT

    If you have read and tried all of the above and still need 
help, you can call the following number (513) 436-0232. It will 
help if you have all of the information ready and you are sitting 
in front of your computer when you call.

------------  BEAT the BOMB -- Version 1.03  -------------------
------------  Timed Addition Drill Program  --------------------

Race against a clock, a bomb, or a snail, or build castles with 
correct answers in this free, timed addition drill program. Many 
options, including the ability to change the number of problems, 
missing factors, etc. Sound, clock, and animation can be turned 
on or off. Setups and high scores are saved. Fast animated 
graphics add to the fun. The Enhanced version ($15 + $3 S&H) 
includes subtraction, multiplication, division, and a combined 
mode. Additional animation is included. 

To run Beat the Bomb go to the drive and directory containing the 
program and type BTBS <Enter>. A mouse, high resolution (640 x 
350) color true EGA or VGA, at least 512k of memory, and DOS 2.1 
or higher are required. We would appreciate any comments or 
suggestions regarding this program. Please send them to: 

                    First Magnitude
                    175 E. Alex-Bell Road
                      Suite 220-316
                    Centerville OH 45459
                    (513) 436-0232

----------------  Beat the Bomb  Version 1.02  ---------------

Short description:
A fun, animated math game with many options 

Long description:
"Beat the Bomb" is an animated math game that uses fast, high 
resolution EGA/VGA color graphics to help students learn their 
addition facts. Students race against a clock, a bomb, or a 
snail, or build castles with correct answers. The simple 
instructions and mouse interface make the program fast and
easy to use. Extensive options allow the game to be tailored
to the student's needs. 
 
Price:
"Shareware" version is free (Freeware). Enhanced version is 
$15(US) + $3 S&H US, $5 S&H foreign. Enhanced version includes 
subtraction, multiplication, division, more graphics, and more 
options. See ORDER.FRM for information on foreign and credit card 
orders. 

Requirements:
Microsoft compatible mouse, true EGA/VGA, 512K, DOS 2.1 or later.

Preferred BBS Name:
BTB103  (or BTBxxx where xxx is the latest revision)

Distribution rights:
As the exclusive copyright holder for "Beat the Bomb", First 
Magnitude authorizes distribution only in accordance with the 
following restrictions. 

All files in the Shareware (Freeware) package must be included 
and unmodified. Only First Magnitude may distribute the Enhanced 
version. 

ASP approved vendors in good standing may distribute shareware 
versions of "Beat the Bomb" in accordance with the regulations of 
the Association of Shareware Professionals via catalogues, 
electronic BBS, shareware racks, or CD-ROMs. Other vendors may 
distribute "Beat the Bomb" by these channels AS LONG AS THEY 
ADHERE TO THE ASP GUIDELINES. 

All other vendors must seek specific permission. Send a copy of 
the shareware explanation from your catalog or packaging to First 
Magnitude at the address below. 

We will try to see that significant revisions are widely 
distributed via the ASP mailing and/or other distribution 
channels. If you do not wish to get the program from one of these 
sources, send $3 to cover postage and handling ($5 foreign) to 
First Magnitude at the address below. 

First Magnitude reserves the right to require vendors to cease 
distribution of any First Magnitude product if these instructions 
are not observed. 

Thank you for distributing our products.

                    First Magnitude
                    175 E. Alex-Bell Road
                      Suite 220-316
                    Centerville OH 45459

Phone: (513) 436-0232
CIS:   76170,2251

 Volume in drive A has no label
 Directory of A:\

BTBS     EXE    131140   4-19-93   1:04a
MANUAL   DOC     18239   4-19-93   1:04a
ANIM     MD1     45839   4-19-93   1:04a
FMLOGO   MT      17031   4-19-93   1:04a
FONTS    MT       3050   4-19-93   1:04a
VENDOR   DOC      2541   4-19-93   1:04a
BTBS     ICO       766   4-19-93   1:04a
FILE_ID  DIZ       461   4-19-93   1:04a
README   DOC      1151   4-19-93   1:04a
ORDER    FRM      3708   4-19-93   1:04a
SHAREW   PRN      4526   4-19-93   1:04a
GO       BAT        36   6-18-93   8:47a
SHOW     EXE      2040   9-12-88  10:48a
       13 file(s)     230528 bytes
                       86016 bytes free