THE SEUCK VAULT
Main | Menus | Tips | Links | Contact
QUICK-START GUIDE
This guide is based on text from the original manual and an LSD text disk.
GETTING STARTED (THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE)
Here`s a quick and dirty guide to help you get a feel for the way SEUCK works, we`re going to walk you through each function to give you an idea of what you need to produce a game. The process is quite simple to follow, and all you need is the SEUCK Data disk. Okay, here we go!
1) To start with the best idea is to load one of the three sample games to tinker with - you can examine all the component parts and see how they bolt together. Also it means you can try out a game or two so you can see what`s really possible. To load a sample game select - LOAD EVERTHING from the LOAD DATA option on the STORAGE menu. When the list of the games comes up click on the file called slap`n`tickle.all, and it will load at once. For the purposes of this quick little demo we won't actually draw anything, merely tinker a little with the examples just to show what`s possible.
2) Select edit sprite from the EDIT SPRITE menu. A sprite is a frame of animation to be used in an object. Each one has a number and the first one you see is number 0. Click the + and - buttons on the Sprite Number indicator to step through the sprites and see how they are drawn. You can make sprites by choosing colours from the palette and painting them into the grid. Press the exit button to go back to the Main Menu.
3) Select Edit Object from the EDIT OBJECT menu. Sprites arecombined to make animated `objects`. The objects are the things that you actually move around the screen. The current object is displayed on screen, as a series of frames of animation or sprites. Under the animating picture window at the bottom right of the screen is a button marked DIRECT or ANIMATE, depending on the mode. DIRECTional animation is related to the motion of the joystick which you should have in PORT 2. if you have a joystick connected then kmove it to test the animation in the small preview window in the bottom right of the screen. (Try different objects by clicking on the + and - buttons to change the object number.) This changes the animation display to show you 18 possible frames of animation. Test the effect by clicking the last frame indicator up to a higher figure. When you`ve seen enough, click it back to DIRECT and click on EXIT.
4) Click on Edit Enemy Bits on the EDIT OBJECT menu. This shows you the strenghth and ammo etc. available to each different enemy object. Don't alter any of the settings, just click on EXIT to get back.
5) The map over which you can play is actually a long strip of square graphics called BLOCKS. Click on Edit Block in the EDIT BACKGROUND menu. Click through the variuos graphic blocks using the Block Number indicator + and - buttons. When you`ve seen all of them, click the EXIT button to escape back to the main menu.
6) Select Edit Map. This shows you the map for the level you`re currently working on, and an unusual cursor. This is the block cursor and to stamp the current block (the number in green) onto the map, you position it and click your mouse pointer on the number.Pressing + and - signs changes the block number so you get a different graphic. The arrows fast forward you to another part of the map. To escape press the right mouse button.
7) Next select the EDIT IFF Sound effects option. Click the + and - buttons, and look at the sound numbers at the top of the screen and you can see all the sound names assigned to each number. IFF samples can be loaded from any source, even ones you`ve made yourself, but to save you the hassle there are 72 high quality samples on the games disk included in this package.
8) Click on the PLAYER LIMITATIONS menu and select Player 1. Now you can see all the attributes for your player, including the area of the screen it can occupy. Notice the players can be switched in or out for choosing to design two or one player games. You have to be careful not to select a NO player game, however.
9) Okay enough noodling around. Test the game! Try it in cheat mode first, just so you can see the whole game without getting waxed yourself. (By all means take a few potshots yourself) See if you can spot all the sprites and blocks you saw in the editing windows, and how they`re put together.
10) Now go back and change a few things willy nilly, Go ahead, enjoy yourself. You can`t break anything by changing any of the settingss and who knows, you might be able to work out how some of the functions work. But set the write protect tabs! In case you try to save it by mistake!