*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*   Game:   Cop Game           Type:    Amstrad CPC Emulator DSK File         *
*   Author: Odiesoft           Webpage: http://www.odiesoft.de                *
*   Size:   1 * 194816 Bytes   Date:    27. January 2003                      *
*   File:   Odiesoft Games - Cop Game (1989).dsk                              *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Title: Cop Game
Year:  1989


I don't remember how I got the idea for this game. In this game you were
supposed to be a cop and had to solve crimes and mysteries, drive around in a
car or a motorcycle and shoot other people.

I thought it would be interesting if you saw the whole action from above, so
that all the people were just a small circles moving around, buildings, trees,
shrubbery, backyards, everything would just be seen from some sort of a birds
eye view.

The game was supposed to have a eight way scrolling using regular CRTC register
12 and 13 scrolling commands. The strees, sidewalks, buildings, etc. were all
composed of two by four bytes squares in order to provide maximum variabilty in
combining the element to form any possible object.

I've created an editor with which you were able to compose buildings and other
large objects. These objects could be placed anywhere on the map of the town. I
thought I could safe a lot of memory by that approach. But then I had to realize
that though the intention was good the practical conversion of that idea would
be rather difficult, since i this way the map was composed of a number of
unequal sized objects intermixed with regular block sized elements.

Creating a smooth and quick scrolling with this approach is virtually
impossible, since the computer has to keep track on which part of what objects
is going to enter the screen and what part of the two by four byte squares has
to be clipped.

This problem was the main reason for abandoning this idea. What's left is a one
screen test where you can move a small dot around a part of the city and the
editor with which you can create blocks of houses, large buildings, parks,
lakes, etc. save these objects to the disc and put them into a single screen
map, wich can be also save to the disc.

One more thing about the single screen demo is of interest. I've used a special
trick to find out where the player was allowed to go and where he wasn't. I used
to have huge problems in other unfinished games to find out where the player
could go and where he couldn't.

Therefore I came up with a good idea for this game to avoid these problems. I
figured that the cop would be moving mainly on the street or the sidewalk. So
when player presses any direction the computer tests whether the next set of
background-bytes in this direction contains any of nine possible combinations of
white, gray and black pixels in a byte (gray-gray, gray-white, white-gray, gray-
black, black-gray, white-black, black-white, white-white or black-black -
remember bytes in Mode 0 always contain two pixels).

If all of the bytes in the pressed directions were among these nine bytes the
character was allowed to move into this direction. I just had to make sure that
all the places where the cop wasn't allowed to go contained at least one pixel
of a different color.

Controls for the game:

Use the cursor keys to move

Controls for the Editor:

L - to load something 
H to load a pre-defined house (0 and 2 are still working)
S to load the screen
Cursor keys to move cursor, space to draw
Q/ A - circle through segments
0 - 9 - select type of segments
Copy - to draw


*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
* This program can be distributed freely and without the need of a written    *
* of a written permission by Odiesoft, as long as it is distributed free of   *
* charge!                                                                     *
*                                                                             *
* If you had to pay for this, you've been ripped off!                         *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

