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| Packin' Plax By xCept (xCeptDB@Gmail.com) >> Caiman Total Pack Contest (2006) =-=-=- 1.1 |
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Packin' Plax is one of those light-hearted coffee-break games designed so that you can jump
straight into the action with virtually no effort or previous experience/knowledge required.
Furthermore, the gameplay is such that no one play will take 'too' long to finish, but with
any luck the gameplay will be addicting enough that you'll keep coming back for more!
This document is NOT required reading by any means. Generally, you'll be fully aware of the
workings of the game within a couple minutes of play. But, this file is provided to serve
as a comprehensive guide if needed (as I include in all my games).
Have fun!
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|_| |_|
|_| T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S |_|
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1........................................................................System Requirements
2.......................................................................Objective & Gameplay
3...................................................................................Controls
4..........................................................................In-Game Interface
5....................................................................Power-ups / Power-downs
6.............................................................................Scoring System
7....................................................................................Credits
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|_| |_|
|_| S Y S T E M R E Q U I R E M E N T S |_|
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Packin' Plax has been designed so that it should run approximately equal (speed-wise) across
a wide range of hardware specifications. This means that people with high-end machines will
be able to take full advantage of an uncapped frame rate (resulting in smoother gameplay),
while those running mid-end machines will still be able to enjoy the game as it was meant to
be although the animations will not be quite as smooth.
I have personally tested Packin' Plax with success on several different platforms ranging
from an Athlon XP 2200 with 192MB of RAM and on-board NVidia Geforce2 MX, to a Pentium 4
2.4GHZ with 512MB RAM and an ATI 9600, to an Athlon XP 64 3600+ with 2GB of RAM and a Radeon
X850 XT.
}}[ MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ]{{
- 1.0GHZ Processor
- 128MB RAM
- 32MB Video Card
- DirectX 9.0C
}}[ RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ]{{
- 2.4GHZ Processor
- 512MB RAM
- 128MB Video Card
- DirectX 9.0C
[ This game may or may not work at specs lower than the ones listed above ]
It is important that you do not have any other hardware-intensive applications actively
running in the background while playing this game or you may run into technical troubles.
Examples of hardware-intensive applications include video rendering, defragging and virus
scanning.
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|_| O B J E C T I V E & G A M E P L A Y |_|
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In short, the objective of the game is to group the various plaques ("Plax") so that three
or more of the same colored plax are connected either horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally. Once this is done, the matching group of plax will automatically be packaged up
and ready for shipment.
Be careful though, if you fill up the entire stacking table before a match is made, or if
you let too many plax fall to the ground because you miss catching them, you'll be fired!
Once you have created a certain number of packages, you will automatically be promoted (the
required number of packages increases each time that you get promoted). After a promotion,
the speed of the conveyor belt will increase and/or the distance between each approaching
plaque will decrease, which means that you'll require faster-and-faster reactions to keep
up. Furthermore, after every several promotions you will see additional plaque color
variations come into play - making it increasingly difficult to create matching plax sets.
You control the loader object that is connected to the edge of the packaging machine. It is
very important that you position the loader underneath each plaque before it slides off the
machine, or else it will drop to the floor and you will receive a warning (indicated by the
lights at the front of the machine). Each time you receive a warning, one light will glow.
If all five lights are visible, game over. After each promotion, you will receive one free
pass which means that you'll get one extra chance to mess up without getting fired.
The loader object is able to stack up to five plax onto itself at any given time.
You will discover early on that this can be a very useful and interesting feature for many
reasons. If more than one plaque is resting on the loader at a given time, the top-most
plaque will be the one that falls to the table upon hitting the 'eject' button - provided a
space is available on the table.
There are five columns on the conveyor belt, and each plax will be randomly placed within
one of these columns. The loader naturally is able to position itself so that it rests
underneath any one of the five columns. The drop table is able to support a maximum of 25
plax at once (5 Rows x 5 Columns). If the table gets completely filled up before you are
able to make a match, you're out!
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|_| C O N T R O L S |_|
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The controls are very straight-forward and are as listed below:
}}[ MENU ]{{
UP / DOWN CURSORS | Navigates between the various menu options
LEFT / RIGHT CURSORS | Adjusts custom settings in the "Options" screen
SPACE / ENTER | Confirms and/or adjusts currently highlighted menu option
ESCAPE | Returns to the previous screen or exits the game completely
}}[ GAMEPLAY ]{{
LEFT / RIGHT CURSORS | Moves "Loader" object left or right along the packing machine
DOWN CURSOR | Speeds up "Conveyor Belt Speed" until the key is released
SPACE | Drops a single plaque from the "Loader" object to the table
P | Pauses and resumes the game
F12 | A global "Panic" button - press it to immediately exit the game!
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|_| |_|
|_| I N - G A M E I N T E R F A C E |_|
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When you start a new game, the camera will pan over to the front of the packaging machine
and will remain there until the game has ended. From this view, you will be able to see the
following:
SCORE | The seven-digit score is displayed at the top of the packaging machine. Each
time you create a package or are promoted, the score will increase in value.
LIVES | Your lives are indicted by the row of lights displayed at the front of the
machine, directly above the loader object. Each time you miss catching a plaque,
you will lose one life and one of the lights will turn on. Once all five lights
are on, it is game over. After each promotion you will receive one free life.
TABLE | The drop table is located in the very front of the camera directly below the
loader object. The table is used to store the plax that you drop from the
loader. You are able to store up to five rows and five columns of plax on the
table at once, but if you fill the entire table up (25 plax) before a match is
made then you lose.
LOADER | The loader object is what you as the player control. You must position the loader
so that it is directly beneath whichever plaque is about to fall off the conveyor
belt. If done successfully, the plaque will fall onto the loader and you can then
transport it to any one of the columns on the table.
PACKS | Located in the top-left of the screen, this statistic illustrates exactly how
many packages you have created since the beginning of the current game.
LEVEL | Located in the top-right of the screen, this statistic illustrates your current
promotional level. Each time an ever-increasing number of packages are produced,
you will be promoted (resulting in faster moving objects, more variations, etc.)
After the game has ended, or when selecting the "Hi-Scores" option from the main menu, the
camera will pan over to the chalkboard which displays the top-ten scores. If a new record
has been set, you will be able to enter your name in the space provided.
When selecting the "Options" menu from the main screen, you will be taken to the corkboard
wall which is where all of the game options can be set.
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|_| |_|
|_| P O W E R - U P S / P O W E R - D O W N S |_|
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Throughout the game, you will discover a handful of bonuses, power-ups and power-downs that
may be collected. As you move up the promotion ladder, the number of such bonuses increase
in distribution. To collect these special objects, simply wait for them to appear and then
move your loader directly underneath the one you wish to grab.
The power-ups only remain on the screen for 2.25 seconds before vanishing - so if you want
what you see you better move quick!
The power-downs have been rigged so that they only appear on the screen for 1.5 seconds at
any given time. However, this doesn't mean they should be any less concerning as they can
cause much harm to you and your business.
[ POSITIVE BONUSES ]
+50 POINTS | One of the most common specials, collect this to bag an easy +50!
+500 POINTS | If you are able to collect this item, you will be rewarded +500 points!
+5000 POINTS | Just like the other bonus items, except this one is much harder to come by!
+1 LIFE | These are very rare. If collected, you will be given a free life if needed.
SLOW BELT | Another rare find, this power-up will slow-down the belt speed by 1/6th.
FARTHER PLAX | If found, this one will slightly increase the distance between each plaque.
[ NEGATIVE BONUSES ]
-50 POINTS | Avoid this special or you'll instantly lose 50 points!
-500 POINTS | Watch out, 500 points could disappear if you come in contact with this item.
-5000 POINTS | You'll want to avoid this hazard for sure, 5000 points is no small change!
-1 LIFE | Just like a plague, touch this thing and you'll lose a life for sure.
FAST BELT | This will increase the over-all plax movement speed by 1/6th its amount.
CLOSER PLAX | If collected, this will will shorten up the distance between each plaque!
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|_| |_|
|_| S C O R I N G S Y S T E M |_|
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In Packin' Plax, you receive points for each successful package created. The point value
is determined by the type of package produced:
3 Plax Column | 50 Points
4 Plax Column | 375 Points
3 Plax Row | 500 Points
4 Plax Row | 750 Points
5 Plax Row | 900 Points
3 Plax Diagonal | 1250 Points
4 Plax Diagonal | 6500 Points
5 Plax Diagonal | 12000 Points
In addition, after each promotion you will receive 100 points for each empty spot remaining
on the table!
After the game has ended, you will be taken to the high-score screen which is where you may
enter your name if you have succeeded any existing score(s).
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|_| |_|
|_| C R E D I T S |_|
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The concept of this game pays homage to, and is indeed heavily influenced by the original
arcade hit, Klax, which was released in 1988 by Dave Akers and Mark Pierce.
All of the content in this game was created by myself exclusively for the Caiman Total Pack
Contest of 2006.
A few of the textures used in several of the models are modified versions of free textures
originally found at either GRSites.com or Image-After.com.
All music and sound effects are from my personal collection of electronic keyboards.
Programming................................................................xCept (Matt Pilz)
Graphics...................................................................xCept (Matt Pilz)
Models.....................................................................xCept (Matt Pilz)
Sounds.....................................................................xCept (Matt Pilz)
Music......................................................................xCept (Matt Pilz)
xCeptDB@Gmail.com
http://www.m3Dr.com
___________________________________________________________________________________________
- [ THIS GAME IS FREEWARE! IF YOU PAID MONEY FOR THIS GAME, YOU HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF!! ] -
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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