               MINEFIELDS v1.0 - tile based game for the TI-86
                    By Thomas Bladh (tiberius@swipnet.se)
                homepage: "http://home5.swipnet.se/~w-57658/"


        I am not a guru z80 programmer, i just happen to be interested
        in logic and i can't resist programming anything ;)

        I would like to thank the beta testers: Brett Barwick, 
        Ahmed El-Helw and Marcus Toftedahl. I would also like to thank
        all those dedicated to researching and publishing information 
        about the TI-86 and how to program it. 

ABOUT THE GAME:

        MINEFIELDS is my first z80 asm game. It is a simple 8x8 tile 
        based game. I wanted to make a game that worked, not brag 
        about how i almost made a 8 grayscale first person perspective
        shooter.
                
        The goal of the game is to get through each minefield, to the 
        exit, alive. You start out with 9 lives. Each time you step on
        a mine (die) your score drops by 8 pts. Those nine lives must 
        last 16 minepacked fields. A warning icon will appear in the 
        upper right corner of the screen if you get close to a mine. 
        You get 16 pts for completing a field and 8 pts for each bonus 
        gem you reach.

        A new feature is the "mineview", it is activated by the [CLEAR]
        button. It will cost you 64 pts and last about five seconds. 
        During this time all mines in that field will be visible. If you
        get through all 16 fields you will get 8 points for each life you
        have left as a bonus. Sound is now also included and can be 
        toggled with the [F1] key, a somewhat speaker-like icon in the
        upper-right corner of the menu screen indicates if it's on.

STRATEGY:

        Always return the same way you came if you got to go back. Try to
        memorize paths through the fields. Use the mine warning to figure
        out were the mines are (sometimes this is impossible) or pray that
        this is your lucky day. Use the mineview only when you are in real
        trouble. 

        Some may argue that this game is very hard. It was however not 
        meant to be easy. You will not make it to the end the first time
        you play (maybe if you are really, really lucky). You will have 
        to learn the fields one by one.
        
KEY SUMMARY:

       * ARROWS          Move around the map.
       * [F1]            Toggle sound (you will need a 
                         2.5->3.5mm adapter + a headset
                         or something homemade to enjoy it)
       * [CLEAR]         Activate mineview.
       * [EXIT]          Exit to the menu.
       * [+]/[-]         Adjust contrast.

REVISION HISTORY:

     v1.00     Fixed a bug in the mineview code. Added
               contrast adjustment (+/-).
 
     v0.99     Added sound support, off by default but
               can be toggled with [F1]. Compressed the
               maps with Kirk Meyer's Lite86 utility, 
               and reduced the size of the game by
               about 1000 bytes. Added a compressed 2 bit
               grayscale intro image. Added the highscore
               not implemented in v0.96-0.98. Made a few 
               suggested changes and about a million 
               optimizations. Now you get 8 points for 
               each life you have left at the end of the 
               game. I replaced map 5 (i did'nt like it).

     v0.98     This one is just a small step up from 0.96
               A bug relating to the player sprites was
               fixed plus some small optimizations and
               changes not worth mentioning.

     v0.96     I rewrote the map handling code. A 
               tombstone is now a tombstone and not a
               perpetual deathtrap. The new map code
               support more than one bonus gem on each
               map. The maps were changed to reflect 
               the change in code, a few maps were 
               replaced. The mine warning code was
               rewritten and is now hopefully 100% 
               correct. The mineview feature was added
               and the graphics was changed to, in short,
               make everything look, um, nicer..

     v0.90     This was the first release. It had the 
               basics but the map handling system was
               to say the least, crappy. If you walked 
               into an old tombstone you would die and 
               there could not be more than one bonus 
               gem on each map. The mine warning was 
               not always correct, it would sometimes
               warn you about mines in other maps.

FINALY:

      This program is freeware and can be freely distributed as long as
      you dont sell it for profit (very unlikely). These files should
      be in the package:

         MINEFLD.86P      - TI-86 executeable 
         MINEFLD.TXT      - this textfile
         MINEFLD.GIF      - screenshot
         MFSOURCE.ZIP     - the game source


      MINEFIELDS has been tested on ROM versions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. 

      I am in no way responsible for any damage to you, your calculator 
      or anything else caused by the use or missuse of this program.
	 
      If you have any comments or suggestions feel 
      free to e-mail me at: tiberius@swipnet.se 
   
      Thomas Bladh -  January 2, 1999
