SAM DEFENDER
============

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Welcome to SAM DEFENDER.  My tribute to the classic Williams coin-op shoot-em-up!

With the SAM port I've tried to reproduce the Williams classic as accurately as I could.  Hopefully
you will find the SAM version a faithful reproduction of the coin-op original.



NOTES ON EMULATION:
-------------------

If you don't own a real SAM Coup then why not download Simon Owen's excellent SimCoup emulator?
SAM DEFENDER is *fully* compatible with Simon's masterpiece, and I fully support its use.  Simon's
emulator can be found at:  http://www.simcoupe.org

If you can, you should set your monitor to a 50hz refresh - then set SimCoup to full-screen with
scanlines - for that true SAM feeling!  This is what I do, and it's as close to a real SAM as it's
possible to get!



INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE .DSK IMAGE FILE ON A REAL SAM COUP:
---------------------------------------------------------------

The .ZIP contains the .DSK image version of DEFENDER.  This image can be transferred to a real SAM
floppy disk using the SAMDISK utility.  The SAMDISK utility is, once again, by the brilliant Simon
Owen and can be found at:  http://simonowen.com/sam/samdisk

Once the .DSK has been transferred you can place the floppy into your real SAM and press F9 to boot.



NOTES ON EDWIN BLINK'S DALLAS REAL-TIME CLOCK INTERFACE:
--------------------------------------------------------

Dutch SAM hardware wizard Edwin Blink has created an add-on for the SAM to allow it to keep accurate
time using a Dallas Semiconductor's module.  A nice feature of the Dallas module is the non-volatile
RAM it contains!  SAM DEFENDER makes use of this RAM to store its ALL TIME GREATEST high-score table
and also your choice of game keys!  The SimCoup emulator also emulates the Dallas module, make sure
you switch the option on!  However, SimCoup v1.0 doesn't emulate the non-volatile capability of the
module, so its contents will not be preserved across SimCoup reloads.  I think Simon is planning to
emulate the non-volatile nature of the Dallas module in future versions of SimCoup.

The Dallas module comes in several flavours - the older ones only having 64-bytes of RAM.  The later
ones contain 128 (or greater) bytes of RAM.  SAM DEFENDER requires the module to contain >= 78-bytes
to be able to preserve high-scores and keys.  On boot-up, SAM DEFENDER calculates if you have enough
RAM available in your Dallas module.  If you do, your ALL TIME GREATEST scores and your control keys
will be preserved.  If not, the ALL TIME GREATEST scores and control keys will reset to the defaults
the next time you load SAM DEFENDER.  Where and what SAM DEFENDER stores in the Dallas module can be
found below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 14:  ASCII byte 'S'  =  1st byte in the 'signature'
Address 15:  ASCII byte 'D'  =  2nd byte in the 'signature'  ...  Signature is 'SD' for SAM DEFENDER

Address 16 - 39 inclusive:   =  8 slots of 3 ASCII initials.  Bit-7 set on last initial in each slot.

Address 40 - 63 inclusive:   =  8 slots of 24-bit BCD scores - HIGH/MID/LOW.  Same order as initials.

Address 64 - 90 inclusive:   =  Control keys.  3-bytes each, stored:  Keyboard line, port and mask.

Address 91:  Checksum:       =  8-bit CRC for the above data - doesn't include the 2 signature bytes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



GAME CONTROLS:
--------------

Anytime during the front-end/attract screens the following keys apply:

	1  ...  Starts a ONE player game.
	2  ...  Starts a TWO player game.

	K  ...  Allows you to re-define the main game controls.



DEFAULT GAME CONTROLS:
----------------------

	Q  .......  UP
	A  .......  DOWN

	O  .......  THRUST
	P  .......  REVERSE

	K  .......  FIRE LASER

	H  .......  HYPERSPACE (Zap to a random point in the world)

	SPACE  ...  SMARTBOMB  (Kills all enemies on-screen)

	ESC  .....  ABORT GAME

	F9  ......  PAUSE GAME

There's a 25% chance of death on re-entry from hyperspace, so only use it if you have to!

You start the game with 3 lives and 3 smartbombs.  An extra life and smartbomb are awarded every
10,000 points.



GAME OBJECTIVE:
---------------

Basically shoot everything that moves!  Except for the humanoids walking along the planet surface,
it's your job to protect them!

If a Lander captures a humanoid you can release its victim by shooting the Lander.

On shooting the Lander the humanoid begins its fall to the planet surface.  Don't let it fall too
far - or it will die on impact!

You catch falling humanoid's by flying into them.  500 points are given for each catch, a further
500 points are awarded for each humanoid you place back on the planet surface.  Falling humanoids
will survive impact providing they don't fall too far.  A 250 point bonus is awarded for surviving
fallers.  Beware, you can also shoot your humanoids - this isn't generally a good idea!

There are no limits to the amount of humanoids you can carry at a given time.

If all the humanoids die the planet explodes, throwing you out into space.  Don't worry, the planet
and its population regenerate every five waves...  Assuming you survive that long!



FEEDBACK:
---------

I am a subscriber to the SAM USERS mailing list.  You should be able to contact me there.  Details
available here:  http://www.worldofsam.org/node/184



Finally, have fun!
Chris Pile.
