Program:    Bruce Lee - A remake for the PC
Type:       Platform game
Written:    August 2001
By:         Mark Rosten
Using:      Blitz Basic
Version:    1.12 (full release)
Build date: 6th October 2001


Minimum Requirements
--------------------
Windows 9x/Me/XP
DirectX 7.1 (at least)
3.1mb disk space
A sound card (this game will not run with no sound card installed, sorry).

The game should run at a fixed frame rate for older machines, but it might not be
too smooth. This is something I've only been able to test on a Intell Pentium 2 300
Laptop, which ran the game fine. Lower specced machines may struggle.


Game background
---------------
To learn how to use Blitz Basic, rather than create a whole new game from scratch
I needed a game I both loved and was familiar with. A remake was in order...

Thinking back to my humble gaming origins, no game brings back such fond memories
as Bruce Lee on the Commodore 64. I'm not sure what it was about this game that I
loved so much, was it the simplicity of the gameplay? The awesome graphics and
sound? (They weren't that bad when this game was released, believe me.) Or the
simultaneous 2-player mode with the unforgettable Yamo?

Anyway, this game seemed suited to a remake for the PC. I have easy access to the
original game in the format of a Commodore 64 emulator, and having completed it
recently again on the emulated format, the game was fresh in my memory.

The basic premise of the game is this; collect all the lanterns, which gives access
to new openings on the current or other screens, avoid the baddies (Yamo and Ninja),
and eventually kill the Big bad wizard (tm).


How to install
--------------
Simply extra all the files contained in this zip into a new directory. Be sure to
extract them with the original subdirectory structure intact! (All the images
belong in the Images subdirectory, sounds in the Sound subdirectory, and data in
the Data subdirectory).


How to launch the game
----------------------
Once the game has been extracted to your machine, find the extracted contents
(using 'My Computer' or Explorer), and double click on the 'BruceLee' executable.


Game selection screen
---------------------
Pressing F3 toggles between one and two players. Two players take turns controlling
Bruce.
Pressing F5 toggles control of Yamo between CPU control (default) and human control.
Pressing F6 toggles the difficulty setting between easy, normal, and hard.
Pressing F7 starts the game.
Pressing F9 changes to the game controls change screen.
Pressing ESC exits the game.


Controlling Bruce and Yamo
--------------------------
Moving Bruce (and Yamo) around is very easy. 
Bruce can run left/right and jump either up or across (pressing up and left/right). 
Bruce can duck by pressing down to avoid the attacks of the other characters. Yamo cannot.
When climbing, up and down move Bruce/Yamo up and down the climber.
Pressing attack while stationary will make Bruce and Yamo punch.
Pressing attack while running left/right will make Bruce and Yamo perform a flying kick.


Keyboard controls
-----------------
Use F9 from the main menu to configure controls.

The defaults are:
player 1 movement = cursor keys
player 1 attack   = right ctrl
player 2 movement = Q A Z X
player 2 attack   = C
pause game = space
screenshot = . on numeric pad

Display frames per second = F11


Changing the keyboard controls
------------------------------
From the main menu, press F9 - Change Controls.

Highlight the setting you wish to change using either space or cursor keys
(space will cycle through all 12 settings).

Press ENTER, followed by the new key control, to change an entry.
Or Press J to set that player's controls to Joystick. The joystick button can be
changed by pressing Enter against the attack setting and pressing the appropriate
joystick button.

You can also change the joystick port used when joystick controls are selected.
Change the very last option by selecting it and pressing enter. Enter the number of
the joystick port you wish to use (1-9). New for 1.12 - Port zero can now be selected.

A new option (for version 1.12) was added to change the joystick sensitivity level.
The default is 4, the higher the number the less sensitive the joystick reading will be.

The settings are saved on exit of this screen.


Known bugs
----------
None


Known Issues
------------
"a feature of DDRAW.DLL is missing - DirectDrawCreateEx" (or words to that effect).
= This means that you have either got too old a version of DirectX installed (this
game requires at least version 7.1), or that your DirectX installtion is missing a
file, in which case you will need to reinstall DirectX.


Discrepancies Between This And Original Versions
------------------------------------------------
Whilst I have tried to keep the look at feel very close to the original Commodore 64
version, there are a few things that I have left out or not even bothered with in my
version. This is intentional and is by design. I won't catalogue the (very small) list
of these areas, just so you know if you want to email me and say 'Hey this is missing!'.



Feedback
--------
If you find any bugs, or if the game will not run for any reason, or even if you
want to let me know what you think of my little creation, please email me at the
address below or leave a guestbook entry on my website.
You can also leave a comment for this game on the Blitz Coder Showcase. The link is 
below.

Thanks.


Contact:
--------
For bug reports, comments, feedback, etc., email:

brucelee@planetflibble.com

You can also leave a comment (or vote) for this game on the Blitz Coder web site
under the Showcase area. The link is below. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated.


Links:
------
The Bruce Lee remake home - Check here for progress on the game and for new versions
www.planetflibble.com/blitz

Blitz Basic home page - The great software this game was written with
www.blitzbasic.com

Blitz Coder - Good tutorials, active forums, and a Blitz Showcase area (vote for Bruce!)
www.blitzcoder.com


Version History:
----------------
v1.12 - 6th September - Joypad fix release

- Change control options to allow Joypad port zero to be selected
- Added joystick/pad sensitivity setting to control options. Select 1-9. 4 is default.
  (the higher the number, the less sensitive the game is to joystick/pad movement changes)
- Fixed swords and spikes on screen 7. They didn't kill you :) They now do :(
- Fixed screen changes between screens 11 -> 12, and 19 -> 18
- Added extra error trapping to the load of images, sounds, and data. The files must
  exist within the proper subdirectory! Extended error details are displayed for these
  errors.

v1.1 final - 30th September 2001 - Final remake release

Changes since v1.0 demo:
- All original levels are supported. Including the wrap-around to start when the game
is completed by killing the Wizard.
- Various small tweaks and enhancements.
- A few minor bug fixes.
- Joystick port setting added.

v1.0 demo - 9th September 2001 - Initial demo release

Changes since v0.8 beta:
- Levels 8 and 9 added
- 3 difficulty level settings (easy, normal, and hard) (this affects number of lives, 
spawn timings, cpu control movement/attack delays, number of hits required to dispatch
Yamo/Ninja, and path finding intelligence of Yamo)
- Joystick support (change via the Controls screen from the main menu)
- Tweaks to the level design
- New animating scenery and code to change certain scenery animation direction and speed
- Tweaks to the computer control code
- Tweaks to the control of Bruce (including the collision detection routines)
- New sound effects playing code. Thanks goes to Morduun for his original ideas, posted
on the Blitz Coder forums. Cheers mate!
- New sound effects added
- Updated existing sound effects (tidied them up a bit)
- Various bug fixes

v0.8 BETA - 27th August 2001 - Initial BETA release to test compatibility and receive 
other people's feedback.


Thanks:
-------
Thanks go to everyone that took the time to send me feedback or bug reports on this
game. You have all help tremendously and the game is much better for it. Thankyou! Mark.
