Way of the Exploding Fist, The
Описание игры
«Путь взрывающегося кулака» на компьютере ZX Spectrum – это красочная игра-симулятор восточных единоборств. Играя за юного каратиста, игроку предстоит пройти долгий путь оттачивания мастерства в схватках с множеством противников. Целью файтинга The Way of The Exploding Fist является достижение десятого дана. После этого можно полноправно считать мастером боевых искусств.
Главным достоинством игры является великолепная анимация и большое количество разнообразных силовых приемов, среди которых удары ногой и рукой, подкаты, удары в прыжке, удар с разворота «вертушка», а также движений – игровой персонаж может присесть, выполнить сальто вперед или назад. В этой игре нет традиционной полоски энергии, каждый правильно нанесенный удар сопровождается падением противника. При этом на счет игрока засчитывается одно или пол-очка. Целое очко дается за правильно выполненный удар. Пол-очка начисляется, если удар был выполнен вскользь, случайно или не с нужного расстояния. Чтобы победить соперника и заработать очередной дан, необходимо набрать два очка, то есть выполнить безупречно два удара, либо четыре небезупречных. Пропустив два очка, игрок выбывает из соревнований, и игра заканчивается.
Для начала игры нужно нажать «1», чтобы играть против компьютера, или «2», чтобы включить режим двух игроков.
Для выполнения тех или иных ударов необходимо нажимать комбинации клавиш и кнопки «огонь». У первого игрока кнопка «огонь» — «1», а у второго – «пробел». В зависимости от того, какие клавиши в какой момент нажаты, персонаж выполняет соответствующий удар. Кроме ударов в игре можно ставить блоки ударам соперника, для этого необходимо нажимать «назад». Когда игрок явно проигрывает, постановка блоков осуществляется автоматически. В целом, в игре около одиннадцати разнообразных движений. Их комбинации составляют полную свободу действий. Разве что только достаточно всего одного пропущенного удара, чтобы игра закончилась.
Примечательной особенностью игры является наличие красочных фонов, подчеркивающих, что игровой процесс проходит в Китае или Японии. Горы, покрытые снегами, горные речки, тории – ворота перед входом в синтоистский храм, китайские фонарики – все это создает неповторимую атмосферу игры, и делает The Way of The Exploding Fist одной из лучших игр на ZX Spectrum этого жанра.
Описание игры на другом языке
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INTRODUCTION
The Way of the Exploding Fist is a karate simulation game,
and is controlled entirely from the keyboard or joystick.
Although it may take a while to become completely familiar
with the various moves, you should be able to start playing
almost immediately without learning any of the moves.
HOW TO PLAY WITHOUT READING ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS:
Press the key 1 or 2 and the game will start.
Moving your character: Left and right control the left and
right movement of your character.
Using the kicks: All kicks are controlled by pressing the
fire button and pushing the joystick in the appropriate
direction.
Crouching: Pressing the joystick up will allow your
character to leap up while pressing it down makes the
player crouch.
Blocks: The joystick also allows you to block your
opponent's move. This is obtained by backing off your
character while the opponent is using aggressive moves.
You may occasionally find that when you are naturally
backing off, your character goes into a blocking stance.
This is fortunate for you, as the "block" is only activated
if you are in danger of being hit by your opponent.
To release the block, move the joystick to neutral or to
any position other than moving backwards.
"Holding your moves": Most of the moves in the Way of the
Exploding Fist can be withdrawn shortly after beginning to
execute them so that you are able to change your mind and
start another move. This also means that if you do want to
continue with a move you must ensure that you hold the
joystick in the correct position long enough for the move
to be executed.
Practising your moves: The easiest way for you to practise
your moves is to go into 2-player mode and test all your
skills. Your opponent will not make any move against you,
so you should be able to get all the moves perfected.
This should be enough to get you started playing The Way of
the Exploding Fist. The following instructions give you
more detail on the subtleties of this exciting game.
ONE-PLAYER AND TWO-PLAYER MODES:
The Way of the Exploding Fist can be played in either one
player mode or two player mode. In playing in one-player
mode, you will always control the black character.
Various options can be selected before each game:
1: choose one player mode
2: choose two player mode
0: choose joystick mode or choose to redefine control keys.
The computer will start in demonstration mode, with the
computer controlling both characters. This is indicated by
the word DEMO in the top left of the screen. Make your
selection whilst the program is in DEMO mode.
Pressing keys G and H simultaneously will abort the game.
Playing one-player mode: The object is to move up through
Dan levels by defeating successive opponents, each one
slightly better than the previous ones.
You start at novice level your task being to reach 10th Dan.
In each bout, the aim is to score a full two points over
your opponent. The first player to obtain two full points
wins the bout. In the event that neither player wins two
full points within the time period specified, the judge will
determine which player performed better and award the
victory accordingly.
The match finishes when one of your opponents scores two
full points in any one bout.
Playing two-player mode: In this situation, the match does
not terminate as above, but the winner is determined by
whoever scores the most after a set of four bouts.
After the time limit has been reached in each bout, the
judge stops the bout and a new bout is started.
THE SCORING SYSTEM
Points are scored not on which action has been taken but on
how well each move was executed. If your aggressive move
fails to make contact, obviously no points will be awarded.
If your move is perfectly executed, you will obtain one
full point.
In some instances your move will strike an opponent, but the
hit will not be perfect. In these instances, you will only
obtain a half-point.
Your current point total is represented on the screen by the
yin/yang symbols. The black player's points are shown on
the left, while the shaded player's points are shown on the
right. (A half-symbol represents a half point.)
As well as the points for each strike, you will get a score
value for each move successfully executed. The score will
depend on the move chosen, so that a difficult move, such as
a round-house kick, will score more than an easy move, such
as a jab kick. The score value added will be twice as much
if the move was executed perfectly (i.e. a "full-point"
execution) than if it was less than perfect (i.e. a
"half-point" execution).
SUMMARY OF JOYSTICK POSITIONS:
The following joy positions will result in the appropriate
moves. Each move is explained in more detail further on.
DIRECTIONS OF JOYSTICK WITH FIRE BUTTON NOT PRESSED
JUMP
|
FORWARD |
SOMERSAULT | HIGH PUNCH
\ | /
WALK \ | /
BACKWARDS/BLOCK ------- ------- WALK FORWARDS
/ | \
/ | \
BACK | JAB
SOMERSAULT |
|
CROUCH/
LOW PUNCH
DIRECTIONS OF JOYSTICK WITH FIRE BUTTON PRESSED
FLYING
KICK
|
HIGH |
BACK KICK | HIGH KICK
\ | /
ROUNDHOUSE/ \ | /
ABOUT-FACE -------- -------- MID KICK
/ | \
/ | \
BACKWARDS | SHORT JAB KICK
SWEEP |
|
FORWARD
SWEEP
USING THE KEYBOARD
The following keys are used in keyboard mode:
Player 1 Player 2
Q W E Y U I
A D H K
Z X C B N M
Fire: 1 Fire: Space
The operation of these keys is identical to the joystick
controls. To choose between joystick and keyboard mode -
press the zero while in demonstration.
DETAILS ON THE VARIOUS KICKS:
As mentioned above, all kicks are controlled by pressing the
fire button, and pushing the joystick in the appropriate
direction.
The following instructions assume that the character is
facing right. You will find that the descriptions refer to
"left" and "right". When your character faces the other
way, all controls are mirrored - in other words, if you need
to press right to get the midkick when facing right, then
when you are facing left, you need to press the joystick
left to obtain the midkick.
The same applies to the punches and somersaults described in
the following sections.
Eight kicks are available to you - one each for the eight
positions of the joystick:
Flying kick: This is obtained by pressing the fire button
and pressing the joystick up. This is an extremely powerful
kick, and can be successful against a standing opponent who
is not blocking against the move. Other ways to block this
kick are to crouch, or if you are fast enough to respond
with a counter flying kick.
High kick: Press fire button and press joystick in the
diagonal upper right direction.
Mid kick: Press fire button and press joystick right.
Short jab kick: This is obtained by pressing the fire button
and pressing the joystick on the diagonal lower right
direction. The main benefit of this kick is that it is very
fast to execute and can be used in closer combat.
Sweep (f'ward): Press fire button and joystick down. This
low sweep places your character in a crouching position,
then sweeps forward. This can be effective against many
aggressive actions, as it combines offence with defence.
Sweep (b'ward): Press fire button and press joystick in a
lower left diagonal direction. This move is identical to
the forward sweep, but the effect is to sweep behind you.
This can therefore be used if your opponent is behind you.
Roundhouse: Press fire button and joystick left. This move
is the traditional roundhouse kick of karate, but also has
the advantage that it allows you to turn about face. This
kick has two distinct operations: in the first instance (by
keeping the fire button pressed throughout the kick) you
execute the full roundhouse kick. The second mode of
operation is a fast about- face. This is achieved by
starting the roundhouse kick as described above, but
releasing the fire button before the kick is completed.
You will find the full roundhouse kick is a time-consuming
manoeuvre, it can be especially effective in many situations.
Note also that as the roundhouse kick moves you out of the
direct line of your opponent's attacks, some of your
opponent's aggressive moves may not be effective against you
while you are performing this action.
High back kick: Press fire button and press joystick in an
upper left diagonal position. This move is the reverse of
the forward high kick and enables you to attack opponents
that may have slipped past you.
You can of course also turn around to attack opponents that
are behind you (see notes on roundhouse kick above).
PUNCHES
As well as kicks, the Way of the Exploding Fist requires
devotees to be adept at close fighting, using punches. Three
punches are available from joystick control. Note that the
fire button should not be pressed when executing punches.
High punch: This is obtained by pressing the joystick in the
upper right diagonal direction. (Do not press the fire
button.) This is effective against an opponent that is
reasonably close to you.
Jab punch: This is obtained by pressing the joysticks in the
lower right diagonal direction. (Do not press the fire
button.) This is the fastest action you can take, and is
extremely effective in very close fighting. At times your
opponent may use this move, and because it is such a fast
jab, you may not even be aware of what hit you!
Low punch: This is obtained by going into the crouch
position first, then pressing the joystick to the right.
Because of the variety of moves that can be accomplished
from the crouching position, the low punch can often be a
surprise move.
SOMERSAULTS
Somersaults are a very fast way to move out of the reach of
your opponent. There are two somersaults - one forward and
one backward. Note that if you get too close to the edge of
the screen in either direction, you r somersaults may not be
as effective.
Forward somersault: This is obtained by pressing the
joystick in the upper left diagonal direction. (Do not press
the fire button.)
Backward somersault: This is obtained by pressing the
joystick in the lower left diagonal direction. (Do not press
the fire button.)
ADVANCED PLAYERS' TIPS:
Blocks: Note that blocks are not the perfect answer to
aggressive moves from your opponent. There are two blocks the
computer can choose from, a high block and a low block,
depending on the action that is being taken by your opponent.
Holding the joystick in a block move means that you will be
holding the block, and it is possible for your opponent to
start a different aggressive move that is not countered by
your current block.
Note also that the two low sweeps cannot be blocked. If you
are within striking range of a sweep, the only appropriate
actions are a jump (joystick up) or one of the somersaults.
Crouch: The crouch is a move that can be "held" by keeping
the joystick held down. This allows you to execute either a
low punch, or the two sweep actions. If one of the two
sweeps is selected from a crouching position, the time taken
for this is greatly reduced, and the move is therefore much
more effective.
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Gregg Barnett - Game design
Greg Holland - Graphics
Stephen Taylor - Animation and graphics programming
William Tang - Additional programming
(C) Beam Software 1985
Cover Illustration by David Rowe
Cassette duplication by Ablex Audio Video
Production by Cosprint Limited
Published by
Melbourne House
Castle Yard House, Castle Yard,
Richmond TW10 6TF
United Kingdom.
70 Park Street, South Melbourne, 3205. Australia
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Complete Instructions typed in by Paul Thompson, April 2003