Andy Clifton Presents

*** Mr. Fixit ***
version 0.12

This is manual.txt, the comprehensive documentation for the game.

First of all, I reccommend playing the game, or at least looking at the
online help, before you read any further. The reason being that the online
help has pictures of the various game objects, so you won't be completely in
the dark.

* The Story
You are a delivery van driver for Grommets, Sprockets, and Stenbots, Inc.,
Co., Ltd., etc. One day, while driving a shipment of equipment to the
warehouse, you accidentally drive over a speed bump. At 54 mph. You hear a
crash from the back of the truck, and pull off the road to inspect the damage.
You open the back of the truck and discover that all of the machines you were
carrying have been damaged! Some of the parts on each machine have come loose
and are rattling around in each machine's case. You will have to fix all the
machines before you can complete your delivery!

(If it sounds stupid, don't worry. It doesn't show up in the game at all.)

* Starting The Game
Run mrfixit.exe.

* Command-line Options

    /s
    Run the sound setup utility. [not implemented yet]

    <filename.set>
    Load the indicated level set.


* The Main Menu

    * Play
      Starts the game

    * Password
      Lets you enter a password to skip to a specific level

    * Best Times
      Display the fastest completion times (typically measured in days) for
      the default level set.

    * Options
      Allows you to modify various options, such as sound volume, game speed,
      etc. All the options are covered below.

    * Level Editor
      Starts the level editor.

    * Exit
      Quits the game.


* The Options Screen
Most of these ought to be self-explanatory. I'll cover just the confusing
ones.

    * Allow Extra Tools
      Lets you use more parts than you should be able to in the game.

    * Allow All Tools
      Lets you use *any* part you want in the game.

    * Use Color/Image Background
      Click to bring a up a dialog box allowing you to choose a background
      color or image.

    * Select Level Set
      Allows you to choose the default level set that will be loaded every
      time the game starts.

    * Select Skin
      Select an image to be used for the border in the game.

* The Game
The game itself is fairly simple in concept: each "machine" (level) tries
to get a ball from a starting point to an ending point. The ball travels in
a straight line until it hits something, such as a corner pipe, a mirror, or
whatever. Some of the parts needed to get the ball from start to finish are
missing; you know which parts are missing, but you don't know where they go.
Thus, gameplay consists of placing what parts you have on the level in
strategic locations, running the "machine", and then moving some of your
parts around if it didn't work.

A More Detailed Explanation
The ball can be one of two colors, reb or blue, and one of two sizes, big or
small. The ball's path will only be affected if it hits a part of the same
size and color. A blue mirror has no effect on a red ball. (In addition to
the simple parts, there are white parts, which affect either color, and
double-size parts, which affect either size. There are also white, double-size
parts.) In addition, the ball must be travelling in the right direction;
e.g., a ball must hit a mirror perpendicular to it to be bounced, it will
pass through unaffected if it is travelling parallel.

The Game Screen
The game screen is divided into two main areas, the large level display, and
the small toolbox. The toolbox, in turn, actually consists of the toolbox
(the first column on the left) and the drawer (the second two columns). The
toolbox contains all your parts. Click on one of the tool icons to open up
the drawer containing that kind of part. (E.g., click on the pipe, you get
more pipes.) In addition to the drawer icons, the tool box also contains
three additional tools: the wrench, the play icon, and the help icon. The
wrench is used to remove parts that you have placed on the level; just click
on the wrench, then click on a part you have added. It will be removed, and
placed back in its drawer. The play icon runs the level. (You can also right-
click on the play icon to display the Level Options window, which is explained
below.) The help icon displays the online help.

You can click on a part in the drawer to select it for use. To the right of
each part is the part count (how many of this part you have left for use) and
possibly a modification. (Parts that you started out with, but have used, are
shown with a count of zero. Parts that you don't have access to don't show a
count at all.)

Finally, you can place parts on the level by selecting a part from the drawer,
then clicking on the level layout where you want it to go. You can remove a
part from the level by clicking on the wrench icon, then clicking on the part
on the level that you want to remove. You can rotate parts on the level by
clicking on a part with the right mouse button.

The Parts

    * Corner Pipes
      Makes the ball turn a corner. They come in all three sizes and colors.

    * Straight Mirrors
      Bounce the ball back the way it came. Three sizes, three colors.

    * One-Way Mirrors
      Bounce the ball back the way it came, but only if it hits from the
      right direction (opposite the direction of the arrow). All sizes &
      colors.

    * Angled Mirrors
      Act similar to pipes, except they work in all directions. Three & three.

    * Color Convertors
      Change the ball's color. Three sizes.

    * Size Changers
      Change the ball's size. Three colors.

    * Color/Size Inverter
      "Inverts" the ball's color or size. Works regardless of direction, size,
      or color.

    * Teleporters
      Transport the ball from one location on the level to another. Works
      regardless of direction, size, or color.

    * Keys
      Unlock the exit. If there are any keys on the level the exit will be
      locked. The ball must touch _all_ the keys to unlock it.

    * Spike
      Destroys the ball.

    * Start and Exit.
      Rather obvious, I should think.

(Question: Why aren't there any angled,one-way mirrors?
Answer: Because corner pipes have the same effect. )

The Modifications
Modifications cause a certain type of part to change in some way when the ball
hits it. (Note that the mod will take effect even if the ball is the wrong
color or size, or if it is travelling in the wrong direction. All that matters
is that the ball made contact.) Here's a list of all the modifications.

    * Rotate Left
      Rotates the part 90 degrees left (or counterclockwise or anticlockwise).

    * Rotate Right
      Rotates the part 90 degrees right.

    * Rotate 180
      Rotates the part 180 degrees.

    * Flip Horizontally
      Flips the part horizontally.

    * Flip Vertically
      Flips the part vertically.

    * Spin (only available on pipes and mirrors)
      Rotates the part 45 degrees right. (As explained above, corner pipes
      have the same effect as one-way angled mirrors. Spin 45 treats them as
      such. I.e., a one-way mirror will "spin" into a corner pipe.)

    * Change Color
      Inverts the part's color (red to blue, and blue to red. Not available
      on white parts.).

    * Change Size
      Inverts the part's size (small to big, and big to small. Unavailable on
      double-size parts.)

    * Move Up/Right/Down/Left
      Moves the part in the specified direction, if the space is unoccupied.

    * Vanish
      Makes the part disappear.

    * Swap Up/Right/Down/Left
      Swaps the part with whatever object is in the space to the up/down/left/
      right. E.g., the part moves up, and whatever was above moves down.

    * Rebound
      Moves the part in the direction the ball was travelling when it hit.

Keyboard Shortcuts
There are a few keyboard controls in the available in the editor.

	* <h> Display the online help.

    * <p> Test the level

    * <F1> Bring up the options window (lets you quit the game, or restart the
      level). Also, right click on the Play icon

    * <F2> Bring up the game options window, the same one that you get to by
      selecting "Options" from the main menu.

    * <1...9> (the row of numbers) Select the nth tool in the current drawer.

    * <w> Select the wrench tool.

There are also a few keys available while the level is running.

    * <p> Pause the level. Press <p> again to advance 1 frame. Press any
      other key to resume.

    * <Keypad +>, <-> Speed up/slow down the level.

Any other key or mouse click will stop the level.
    
* Notes
Skins (*.SKN) and backdrops (*.BCK) are nothing more than PCX images. You can
create your own and use them in the game, if you like. For backdrops, you can
either create an image 512x448 pixels (which will be displayed exactly as
you made it), larger (which will be scaled down), or smaller (which will be
tiled). For skins, the dimensions of your image must be powers of 2 (1,2,4,8,
etc.) otherwise parts of your image won't be displayed. Both backdrops and
skins must use the same palette as the game, so load one of the provided
images into Paint Shop Pro or something and extract the palette from it, so
you can convert your own images to it. Don't forget to rename your images as
.BCK for backdrops or .SKN for skins.

