                           _____________________
                          |                     |
                          |      S T A K A      |
                          |      - - - - -      |
                          |                     |
                          |    by Ian Palmer    |
                          |_____________________|


                         copyright Ian Palmer 1992

                           See !Licence file for
                          full copyright details.

Introduction
------------

Staka is a 3D game of speed and skill which involves arranging falling 3D
shapes in a 4x4 cage. There are 5 different shapes :

                     _ _ _ _                     _ _ _
            Rod :   |_|_|_|_|           Tee :   |_|_|_|
                     _ _                          |_|
            Zed :   |_|_|_                       _ _
                      |_|_|             Box :   |_|_|
                     _                          |_|_|
            Ell :   |_|
                    |_|_
                    |_|_|

Your view of the cage is from the top, looking straight down towards the
bottom. The shapes are placed at the top of the cage by the computer at
random, and you have to move and rotate them such that they form complete
layers. When you complete a layer the blocks blocks on that layer will be
removed, and all the blocks above that layer are lowered.

You move the object within the cage simply by moving the mouse pointer, and
the object will follow it. You can not move objects outside the cage walls.
The objects can be rotated in two planes by pressing the left and right
mouse buttons. Pressing the left mouse button makes the shape rotate
clockwise as you look at it, and pressing the right mouse button makes the
object roll forwards (as you look at it). Pressing the middle mouse button
makes the falling shape drop quickly in the cage.


Instructions
------------

Before starting the game you have a few game modes which you can select.
Simply pressing the middle mouse button to start the game gives you the
normal game, in it's most playable form. Pressing the left mouse button
makes the shapes that fall solid (rather than the normal wire frame). This
makes the falling shape more visible, but does obscure anything below it and
makes the game less responsive (especially with an Arm2). If, however, you
press the right mouse button the wire framing will be made thicker.

If you select either of the above modes whilst holding down the SHIFT key
you will enter the first practice mode. In this mode the falling object will
only fall part of the way into the cage and then stop. You can then arrange
the shape how you want it and then manually drop it into place using the
middle mouse button (each press lowers the object one layer). This mode
allows the user to get to grips with the different shapes, and how to rotate
them, without the pressure of the object falling.

The second practice mode is similar to normal play, only objects fall at
half speed making it easier for you to get to grips with the game. This mode
is entered by holding down the 'Ctrl' key whilst pressing one of the mouse
buttons.

Each object you place in the cage gains you points, as does each layer you
complete. You can gain more points by making the objects 'drop' (middle
mouse button) from great heights. (There is no scoring in the practice
mode).

On the screen there are 5 things to note. In the middle is the cage in which
the objects fall. To the left of this is an area in which you will be told
the number of blocks that are currently in each layer (a number from 1 to
15, nothing is shown for layers with no blocks in it). To the right of the
cage, towards the bottom, is the speed bar. This shows the current speed of
the game (see below). Above this is the level indicator which shows the
current game level (see below). Finally at the top of the screen is the
score indicator showing your current score (or a line of P's if you are in
practice mode).

If at any stage during a game you need to pause it, the phone rings, nature
calls or the dog vomits on the floor (you know the sort of thing), pressing
'P' will place the game in pause mode. During this time the game area is
greyed out so you can't use the time as thinking time. To continue the game
simply press the middle mouse button.

If you want to give up the current game, simply press ESCAPE. To quit the
program press ESCAPE whilst holding down SHIFT.

During the game the objects fall at a greater and greater speed. The current
speed is shown by the speed bar on the right hand side of the screen. When
the bar reaches it's full size you will have completed that level. If at any
time any part of a falling object can not fall down lower than the top layer
the game is over.

Subsequent levels are similar to the first level except that from level 2
the cage starts off with some blocks already place in it to make your life
difficult. For levels 1 to 12 (inclusive) each of the five shapes will enter
the grid with the same orientation, but from level 13 onwards this will not
be the case, thus making life even more difficult.

There are 10 defined initial patterns plus one random initial pattern
(level 12). Thus level 13 has the same initial pattern as level 2.

You can start playing at any level by first starting the game off as
described above. There is now a 5 second period in which there is a count
down (shown in the centre of the cage). During this period pressing a number
or letter will select the starting level. For example pressing '2' starts at
level 2, 'A' starts at level 10, etc.

The game has a high score table which is shown after each game. This holds
the top 10 scores and is a permanent high score table. This means that the
game not be placed on a write protected disc, nor on a read only filing
system. (If the game can not save the high score table you will simply be
warned, but the program will carry on as normal).

There is also a demo mode which will kick into action if the high score
table is left showing for some time. After the demo the high score table
will be re-displayed, and this is followed by showing the different levels'
startup configuration.


Scoring
-------

Each time a shape is placed in the grid your score will be incremented, the
amount it is increased by increases as the game increases in speed. If you
use the middle button to make the shape drop, your score will be increased
even more, and the amount it is increased depends upon how far you make the
shape drop (the faster you operate, the more points you get).

Points are also gained by filling layers in the cage. More points are
given if you complete more than one layer at a time, although you can only
complete (at maximum) four layers in one go.

If you complete a level you will gain a bonus which relates to the number
of layers of the cage that have no part(s) of object(s) in them, so it is
even worth trying with the very last object.

If you are using the first practice mode then you will not score any points
at all (the score shows 'PPPPPP'). In the second practice mode you will,
however, be scored as usual (except a single 'P' will be shown, eg.
'P00123') but you will not be able to enter a high score on the 'high score
table' in this mode).


Further Information
-------------------

This section describes some further information about the game, which might
help you understand why certain things are as they are.

It is worth noting that objects follow the mouse pointer as if they were on
the top layer of the cage. This means that when a falling object is lower
down in the cage you need to move the mouse pointer further than you might,
at first, think.

Another thing to note about objects following the mouse pointer is that the
smallest bounding rectangle (from above) is used, and if any part of that
rectangle covers the square that the pointer points to (at the top layer)
then the object will not be moved.

When rotating objects they may be moved slightly within the cage to avoid
the object being rotated such that it sticks out of the cage. This is much
more preferable to not rotating the object under those circumstances.

When each object enters the cage the mouse pointer is returned to the centre
of the cage. Also the mouse pointer can not be moved outside the cage. 

Mouse buttons will only act once for each press you make. Thus if you hold
down the left mouse button the current object will only be rotated once
(until you release that mouse button and press it again).


Music
-----

F1 - Internal speaker off 
F2 - Internal speaker on 
F3 - Music off
F4 - Music on

