The Platform Game Construction Kit (C)1989 Steven Marshall!
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[1] Loading PCK

The Platform Game Construction Kit (PCK) is a utility program which will allow
the user to create and play Platform type games in the Manic Miner mould.

To main program can be entered in several ways...

To run one of the demonstration games supplied enter PCK <game name>.
For example PCK demo1.pck will load and run the demo game.

To enter the editor part of the program you have to type PCK .This will
put PCK into edit mode,and you will then be able to begin the process of 
creating your own games.


[2] The Editor

When you run the editor you should find that the screen is entirely black 
except for a blue menu line at the top of the screen.Along this menu line are
several titles Version,File,Edit,Test,Options,Help.One of the titles will be
highlighted in pink.You can move the highlighted are over other title by
using the left and right arrow cursor keys.

[3] The Titles

[3.1] Version

Move the highlighted area over Version,and press the RETURN key to select it.
A window will now pop up displaying Version and Copyright messages.This is all
this option does,and it is not used in the game designing process.

[3.2] File

Highlight File and select it,and a window containing several further options
will appear.You will see that one of the options is highlighted.This time the
highlighted area can be moved up and down using the up and down arrow cursor
keys.The options available from this menu are discussed below

[3.2.1] Save Data

This option is used to save your masterpiece.If you select it you will be
prompted for a file name to use.Enter an appropriate filename and all the
information about your game will be saved.

[3.2.2] Load Data

Obviously you want to be able to load the data for your game back in again,
and this is the option to select to do that.Again you will be prompted for
a file name.Enter the name of a previously saved game,and it will be loaded
back in.If the file does not exist,or it is not a PCK saved game file a window
will pop up informing you that there is a problem.

[3.2.3] Change Directory

Once you are within the PCK editor you can change the working directory using
this option.Just enter the new path when prompted to do so.

[3.2.4] List Directory

This option will not list the full directory,only the files with the suffix
.PCK which means they are game files.When loading and saving from the editor
there is no need to add a suffix (the editor won't let you if you try) since
the editor does it automatically.

[3.2.5] New

If you have loaded in a game and you want to get rid of it and start again
then rather than quiting the editor and reloading select New and all the
game data will be re-initialized to its starting state.

[3.2.6] Quit

Once you are fed up and want to go for tea,then to leave the editor select
quit to return to DOS.With both New and Quit you will be prompted to make
sure you really want to do it since the game is not saved before these
commands are executed and it wouldn't be much fun to lose several devious
screens you have just created.

[3.3] Edit

The edit menu is used to edit the major elements of the game such as the
screens and the position of any enemy creatures in the game.

[3.3.1] Title Screen

If you want your game to look good then it needs a title screen to let
people know about your game.This screen does not affect the game,it is just
the screen which will be displayed before the player enters the game proper.

[3.3.2] CurrentScreen

This is probably the main option in the entire editor.It allows you to
design the screens on which your game will be played.The CurrentScreen
has to be selected from the main menu by using the '+' and '-' keys.This
selects the screen which you are currently working on.When editing the screen
the cursor keys can be used to move the cursor around the screen.Pressing
the space bar will print the CurrentObject Show at the bottom of the screen.
The CurrentObject can be selected using the '+' and '-' keys.When designing
screens you have to take into account how far your player can jump,and how
far it is possible to fall without losing a life.Otherwise your screen
could well be impossible to complete.

[3.3.3] Character Colours

This option allows you to select colours for the different game objects.
Use the cursor keys to move around.The '+' and '-' keys will alter the
colours.

[3.3.4] Screen Names

This option allows you to set a descriptive name for each screen which will
be displayed at the top of the screen when playing the game.


[3.3.5] Enemy Positions

Once you have designed your screen you are going to want some sort of moving
hazards in it.This is extremely easy to do with pck.Move the yellow cursor 
around with the cursor keys.Pressing 'S' selects the start of the enemy's path
and pressing 'F' selects the finish.The start and finish points of this path
for the curent enemy will be shown on screen.There is one simple rule when
making paths.An enemy path should never cross over any type of block other
than a blank space,otherwise it causes havoc with colours.Some interesting
effects can be caused by locating the start and finish points so that the path
is not a straight line.This causes the enemy to bounce about inside the block
defined by the start and finish points.The speed of the enemy can be alterered
using the '>' and '<' keys.1 is the fastest and 5 the slowest.
If you want a screen with less than 5 meanies in the only way to do it is to
put meanies on top of each other.Although this does not reduce the number of
meanies,it will appear that there are less.

[3.4] Test

This option will allow you to test either the current screen or the whole
game.The game will start playing from the screen currently selected.


[3.5] Options

This menu will allow you to set the number of screens which must be completed
to finish the game,and the initial number of live the player has.Use the up
and down cursor keys to select,and the left an right cursor keys to alter the
selected value.


[3.6] Help

This pops up a simple key summary,although it is probably more convenient to
cut the key summary from the end of this document and print it out.


[4] Creating games

When you are creating your own games on PCK there are some things to remember.
Every screen must have at least one entrance and exit otherwise the screen is
unplayable.The does not nessecarily have to be anything to collect on a screen
as long as it has an entrance and an exit.
When creating gaps to jump across you must remeber how far it is possible to 
jump.When there is nothing to block the jump this should be 8 characters in 
the horizontal direction,and 4 vertically,although low roof or walls blocking
the jump will alter this.Trial and error was the way I worked it out for the
demo game.


[5] Key Summary

While playing a game: '.' - Walk Right
		      ',' - Walk Left
		      '>' - Jump Right
		      '<' - Jump Left
		      
		      Alt F - Speed up
		      Alt S - Slow down
		      Alt D - Terminate current life
		      Alt Q - Quit game completely

		      Ctl Brk - If in editor mode returns to editor otherwise
			        returns to DOS.


Within Editor : Cursor Left/Right - Move highlight on main menu bar.
		Cursor Up/Down    - Move highlight on sub menus.
		Return/Enter      - Select menu option.
		'+','-'		  - Alter CurrentScreen pointer.
	
Screen/Enemy Editor : Cursor keys - Move cursor.
		      Space       - Place character in screen edit mode.
		      '+','-'     - In screen editor selects character,
				    in enemy editor selects enemy.
		      '>','<'     - Alter enemy speed.

Character Editor : Cursor keys    - Move cursor.
		   '+','-'	  - Change colour.

Title Editor :  Cursor keys       - Move cursor.
	        ASCII chars       - Enter text.

Options : Cursor Up/Down          - Select option
	  '+','-'                 - Change option


[6] Copyright

The Platform Construction Kit (C)1989 Steven Marshall ([email protected])