Worms - The Director's Cut

*** WORMS - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT ***

* LATEST STUFF - 2/9/96

The new version of Amiga Worms, for AGA machines only, will be released in
September/October - a price has yet to be decided on, but there will be an
upgrade offer for owners of the original version.

The aim of this version was to give the Amiga the best possible version of
WORMS 1.  Thanks again to everyone on #Amiga+#Worms+csa.games who's
suggested stuff for it ... 

Here's an (almost) complete list of the extra stuff in it ...


* THE TECHY STUFF ...

Over 300 colours on screen
Super-smooth quarter-pixel scrolling
9 level parallax (including two layers of mountains)
24-bit fades + explosion flashes


* MAD COWS, HOMING PIGEONS, OLD WOMEN ...

A few of these things are still being put it in (last-minute-panic-type
situation) ...  but I should get them all in there ...

> 15+ (count 'em) new weapons

New standard weapons ...

Grenade Launcher
Hand Gun
Petrol Bomb
(Sheep has been promoted to a standard weapon as well)

New special weapons ...

Homing Pigeon
Mad Cows
Holy Hand Grenade
Baseball Bat
Super Sheep
Sheep-on-a-Rope
Sheep Strike
Old Woman

... and the rest =)

> Graffiti Mode 

Lets you paint your own level in the landscape generator - like drawing
freehand in a paint package ...  Worms then turns it into whatever
landscape type you want (Forest/Arctic...) and places objects/bridges on
it.

> DIY Landscapes

Using a template you can create your own types of level (like Mars/Hell...)
You can also set the gravity/friction/sky-colour/water-colour, and which
set of mountains it uses.

> Mountain Sets

You can create your own mountains (both back+front) in a paint package and
then turn them into a mountain set which can be used by Worms for
standard+custom levels.  Both back+front mountains can use their own 16
colours.

> 2-layer levels

Levels can now have background scenery which you can walk infront of.  On
standard levels this means that tunnels+small explosions are not
see-through.  On custom levels you can now have a whole second picture as
the background scenery.

> Cavern Levels

1-in-4 levels are now caverns (this option can be turned off though)

> Weapon Damage Settings

The amount of damage each weapon does (and therefore the size of the crater
it makes) can be changed.  This lets you have weapons like Banana Bomb
enabled + have a game that lasts longer than a minute =)

> Air Moves

Certain moves can now be done in the air.  Worms also have a straight-up
jump and backflip.  This allows you to jump up and kamikaze, or backflip
off a cliff and Ninja Rope the underneath of it.  Ninja Rope can also be
done repeatedly, tarzan-style - very useful in cavern levels - and dynamite
can be dropped when you're swinging.

> Improved Team Entry

Worms now handles unlimited number of teams - they are just stored in a
TWTEAM drawer.  The number of games played/won, cpu setting etc.  are also
stored - so even if a team is hardly ever used, it's stats will still be
remembered, and the team will still be selectable at Game Start.  As a lot
of people like to have more than 4 worms on the go, and the WormList was a
bit confusing for selecting them, you can now have A+B Teams under the same
name.

> Improved sample-sets

Samples are now loaded into fast-ram if you have it - letting you have a
different sample-set for each team.  Worms also handles unlimited amount of
sample-sets, and uses a default set if any sound fx are missing - you don't
need to include standard fx, such as the bazooka, in your set if you don't
want to change them.

> Personalized samples

Each worm can have a specific sample for when they go byebye.  So Jessica
Fletcher can now go down in a blaze of glory to the Murder She Wrote theme
tune ...

> WormCam

The equivilant of "action-tracking" on the PC/PSX version - the screen will
scroll to follow moving worms/mines etc.  You can also go and look at the
position of each worm by pressing "*" on the keypad.  WormCam can be
toggled on/off with the "/" key on the keypad.

> The "very exciting" crate menu

Which items appear in weapon-crates, and how often they appear, can be
adjusted.

> Donor cards

If you would like to help some worm to live after your death you can get
your team to carry a donor card - when the last worm on your team dies, all
your unused weapons are left in a crate ...

> WormPrefs

The game can be configured from a WormPrefs program for Workbench.  This
lets you edit the gravity/friction etc.  of custom+standard levels, create
2-layer level/DIY/mountain files, assign samples to individual worms ...

> Small changes ...

Air Strikes are now directable, Homing Missiles can go
off-screen+underwater, you can swing off-screen when on the rope, pressure
or proximity mines, continue on same level option, medi-kits, wind on/off,
maximum of 250 energy for worms, options can now be saved ...


* CUSTOM LEVELS, BUT MORE SO

If the thought of drawing levels in just 8 colours made you shout at people
you didn't even know, this will calm you down.  You can now use 16 (!) -
the colour restrictions are the same as before ...

colour 0    - transparent
colour 1    - white-ish
colour 2    - pink-ish (204,136,136/12,8,8)
colour 3    - anything (t-shirt colour)
colour 4    - lighter version of 3
colour 5-15 - anything

Levels can be in AGA colours.  8-colour levels can still be loaded, but if
your making an AGA level make sure you put .WRM16 on the end of it so you
don't make the original Worms explode trying to load it.

Also, you can now have background scenery which your worm can walk infront
of.  To do this draw two pictures, both 960x350 in 16 colours and using the
same palette.  The first picture will be the foreground, all the stuff you
can stand on and shoot, and the second will be the background.  In the game
the two pictures are combined on screen, like the first being overlaid on
the second, and as the foreground is blown up, the background is revealed.
WormPrefs will eat both pictures to create a single custom level file.

This means you can produce levels like the inside of a house, with the back
wall drawn as background and the walls + stairs drawn as foreground.  This
will allow your worm to walk into the house and climb up the stairs (cor!).


* THE DIRECTOR'S PATCH

Because of the time the AGA version has taken up, I haven't been able to
get the patch done for the original Worms.  This patch will fix the
infamous cd.device bug, and add some extra stuff to the game.  As soon as
I've got the AGA version out the way, I'll get it finished.  Sorry =(


* NEVER USE CHEAP 70s CONCRETE

And yes, a certain "garden ornament" will probably be making an
appearance...

Keep on worming ...

--

ANDY DAVIDSON
MAD? POSSIBLY

worms@thenet.co.uk

WORMS HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU TODAY BY THE LETTERS A+D, AND BY THE NUMBER 17

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