

                       <=  2 5 6   B Y T E   T E T R I S
                       =================================


                           U S E R ' S   M A N U A L
                           =========================


                                 16 March 1995
                                 -------------


BACKGROUND:

The enclosed Tetris variants were entered into a "256 Bytes Or Less Game
Competition", sponsored and judged by Steve (shavelk@agora.rdrop.com). 
Entries had to run on a '386 with VGA adapter.

Due to memory constraints certain features of unrestricted Tetris
versions have been ommited. Most noticeably the score and automatic
acceleration of the falling shapes are missing. I believe these games
are otherwise accurate renditions of the classic puzzle game.


GAMES:

These Tetris variants should be enclosed in the archive:

    tetrc40.com (255 bytes)
        - 40 column COLOR Tetris
        - screen mode set by program
        - fixed speed for falling shapes

    tetrd40.com (256 bytes)
        - 40 column COLOR Tetris (multi-colored shapes)
        - screen mode NOT set by program
        - fixed speed for falling shapes

    tetrv40.com (254 bytes)
        - 40 column COLOR Tetris
        - screen mode NOT set by program
        - command line setable speed for falling shapes

    tetrc80.com (255 bytes)
        - 80 column COLOR Tetris
        - screen mode NOT set by program
        - fixed speed for falling shapes

    tetrm80.com (255 bytes)
        - 80 column MONO Tetris
        - screen mode NOT set by program
        - fixed speed for falling shapes


GAME PRECONDITIONS:

    tetrc40.com:
        - No preconditions. Just run it.

    tetrd40.com:
        - The screen must be in a 40 column color text mode.
          This can be achieved by previously running "mode 40".

          This game is for novelty value only. I prefer tetrc40.com.

    tetrv40.com:
        - The screen must be in a 40 column color text mode.
          This can be achieved by previously running "mode 40".

        - The speed of the falling shapes is set on the command line -
          the more characters on the command line the slower they fall.
          e.g. for fast Tetris use "tetrv40 x"
          e.g. for slow Tetris use "tetrv40 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
          Note that "tetrv40" by itself is impossibly fast.

    tetrc80.com:
        - The screen must be in an 80 column color text mode.
          This can be achieved by "mode co80".

          I highly recommend using a 43 or 50 line mode as opposed to
          the normal 25 lines (to get a sensible aspect ratio).
          This can be done by "mode ,43" or "mode ,50". If you get an
          ANSI.SYS error then you'll have to put up with 25 lines, or
          change your CONFIG.SYS to use the ANSI.SYS device driver.

    tetrm80.com:
        - The screen must be in an 80 column mono text mode.
          This can be achieved by "mode mono".

          This game is for the remaining one or two people in the
          universe who only have a mono video card.


KEYS:

During the games the following keys are available:

    [J]     - move shape left
    [K]     - rotate shape
    [L]     - move shape right
    [SPACE] - move shape down one line

The games terminate when a new shape cannot fit into the bin (i.e. the
fallen shapes stack up to near the top of the bin). Thus to abort the
games hold down the [SPACE] key until the bin fills up.


If you're using COMMAND.COM you'll probably need to run "cls" after the
games before doing anything else at the prompt (don't worry if you can't
see the word "cls" when you type it). 4DOS.COM users may not need to do
this.


COPYING:

The above games may not be sold. They may be (FREELY) distributed only
if this unmodified document and ALL the unmodified games are copied
together (archiving is encouraged).


CREDITS:

This document and the games "tetrc40.com", "tetrd40.com", "tetrv40.com",
"tetrc80.com" and "tetrm80.com" were written by:

Carl Chimes
(email: carl@cs.uq.oz.au or cs322552@student.uq.edu.au)
(IRC: zap)

I would be happy to correspond with other <=256 byte game entrants.
Anyone else have to recycle their opcodes as data?