Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
===============================
24/8/2001
by Andrew Jenner
This text file contains a subset of the information available on the official
Digger Remastered website, which can be found at "http://www.digger.org". Also
at this site you can find:
The Digger Extras pack, which contains
The level editor
Extra sets of levels
Digger icons
A screensaver
A utility for grabbing the DIGGER.SCO file from an original Digger floppy
The Digger Java applet
The original Windmill software games (they won't work on modern computers):
Digger
Rollo and the Brush brothers
Conquest
Styx
Conquest
Moonbugs
The Exterminator
Floppy Frenzy
Video Trek 88
Attack on Altair
Styx remastered
Source code
Graphics
Other versions of Digger:
Digger for Windows
Digger for FreeBSD/Linux/SDL
Digger for RiscOS
Digger for 32-bit DOS (with joystick support)
Mailing lists:
The Digger Update mailing list, to get informed about the latest versions
The Digger Chat mailing list, if you also want to chat about Digger
Archives
The Digger Hall of Fame
Links to related websites
Stories from Digger fans
The information in this file is correct to the best of my knowledge. If you
find any mistakes please let me know (contact addresses are at the end of this
file).
Contents
--------
Introduction
Controls
Frequently Asked Questions
Command line options
Running on other platforms
What's new?
Original instructions
About me and contact details
Thanks to...
Introduction
------------
Digger was originally created by Windmill software in 1983 and released as a
copy-protected, bootable 5.25" floppy disk for the IBM PC. As it requires a
genuine CGA card, it didn't work on modern PCs.
In 1998, I created Digger Remastered, which runs on all PCs with CGA or better
and plays just like the original. It also has many new features, including:
* Exit button
* Optional VGA graphics
* Recording and playback
* Real time speed control
* Keyboard redefinition
* Gauntlet mode
* Two player simultaneous mode
Controls
--------
The keys you can use during the game are (by default):
* The cursor keys Up, Down, Left and Right (or 2, 4, 6, 8 on the numeric keypad
if Num-lock is off) to move Digger.
* F1 to fire.
* Space to pause.
* F7 to toggle background music.
* F9 to toggle all sound.
* F10 to return to the title screen.
* + to increase the game speed by 5.
* - to decrease the game speed by 5.
* Ctrl-T (cheat) to take over whilst playing back a recorded game.
In two player mode the default keys for the second player are:
* W, A, S and Z to move Digger around.
* Tab to fire.
(Apologies to users of non-QWERTY keyboards - I know this is a terrible choice
for you - you'll just have to redefine the keys.)
On the title screen press:
* Esc or N to toggle one or two player mode.
* F8 to save the last game if you didn't put a name on the command line.
* F10 to exit the program.
The game keys (not the title screen keys) can be redefined by specifying the /K
option on the command line. For more information about this, see "Command line
options", below.
Joysticks are not yet supported in this version of Digger, but joystick support
is planned for a future version - watch this space!
Q: Is this legal?
A: Yes! Recently the original author of Digger, Rob Sleath, contacted me. He no
longer owns the copyright to Digger (or the other games) but he did retain
the right to use the code for development of other products. He considers
Digger Remastered to be another product, and has granted me copyright to
Digger Remastered, which I have chosen to license under the GNU GPL.
Windows 95 and 98
This works fine apart from the fact that the first time you complete a level
after loading the game, Windows interrupts and says:
DIGGER may not run well unless it is run in MS-DOS mode. Would you like to
create a shortcut to this program that will run it in MS-DOS mode?
Press "No", and click on the minimized Digger button on the taskbar.
To stop this from happening, create a shortcut to Digger.exe, right-click the
shortcut, click "Properties", "Program", "Advanced..." and ensure that "Suggest
MS-DOS mode as necessary" is unchecked.
If you do run Digger in MS-DOS mode, there is a bug in Windows which sometimes
causes the computer to only ever boot up to Digger, not to Windows. If this
happens, make sure that you are exiting Digger with F10, not Alt-Ctrl-Del. If
the behaviour continues, follow these steps:
* When the computer says "Starting Windows 95" or "Starting Windows 98"
immediately press F8 (you may have to try a few times to hit it at exactly
the right moment).
* At the menu, choose "Safe mode command prompt only".
* When the "C:\>" prompt appears, type "win /wx" (without the quotes) and press
Enter. The computer should then start normally.
* If it still doesn't work, restart the computer and do the same thing, except
choose "Safe mode" at the menu. When you get into Windows, open Notepad and
edit the files C:\Autoexec.bat and C:\Config.sys. Delete any lines from those
files that mention Digger and save them. Then shut down and restart.
If *that* doesn't work, try the instructions on this web page:
http://www.gateway.com/support/techdocs/software/windows/30792.shtml
If you are running Windows 95 or 98 and the possibility of this happening
scares you, don't run the DOS version at all - run the Windows version instead.
To change the command line options, right-click your Digger shortcut icon,
select "Properties" and there will be a command-line box which you can change
in the same way as the DOS command line. Instead of saying just "DIGGER" it may
say something like "C:\Games\Digger\Digger.exe" (depending on where you
unzipped the Digger files to) but it's the same principle.
Windows ME
This OS is rather odd. It still interrupts when the "level completed" sound
plays, and will even go so far as to change the shortcut to run it in DOS mode,
but, since Microsoft removed DOS mode from ME, the shortcut won't work.
Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't forget to take out the "Suggest MS-DOS mode as
necessary" option from the shortcut properties dialog box, so it seems they've
made only the mistakes which make it as difficult as possible to run Digger for
DOS!
However, it is possible to get Windows ME to avoid suggesting MS-DOS mode by
using a PIF file created on Windows 95 or 98. A PIF file from Windows 98SE
which should do the job is available on the Digger website. You should be able
to modify the path it points to without affecting the "Suggest MS-DOS mode as
necessary" flag. If not, open up your existing PIF file in a binary editor and
change byte 0x1b0 from 0 to 4. Or just have to press "No" when it interrupts
and carry on.
The command line is modified in the same way as for Windows 95 and 98.
OS/2
Digger Remastered can be run under OS/2 in a full-screen DOS session, but the
music may be a little distorted. To fix it, set:
HW_TIMER ON
IDLE_SENSITIVITY 100
INT_DURING_IO ON
SESSION_PRIORITY 32
OS/2 displays the Windows icon with no problems.
Thanks to Mariusz Borkowski for this information.
Last resort
If you're using x86 hardware and can't get Digger to work with the above tips,
you can always make a boot floppy and copying Digger to it, and rebooting using
that whenever you want to play Digger.
What's New?
-----------
4 Sep 2004: Added lots of new information about Windmill,
pictures and the original source code to Digger and Styx to the website.
14 Mar 2002: Maxim Sobolev released a new version of Unix/SDL Digger.
2 Mar 2002: Added Christian Bird's 3D Digger graphics to the website. Added the
original instructions.
14 Nov 2001: Einar Johan is taking over the hall of fame as of today. He has
big plans for it!
2 Sep 2001: Added the graphics editing package to the download page.
24 Aug 2001: Rewrote the WINDIG.TXT file (the documentation for the Windows
version of Digger) and the website.
18 Aug 2001: I thoroughly rewrote the DIGGER.TXT file distributed with the DOS
version, removing redundant information and adding some new things. This file
will no longer be synchronized with the website, at least for the moment.
17 Feb 2001: Video Trek 88 added to downloads.
18 Oct 2000: Two new links added to the sidebar - Styx and Sopwith are the
latest games to get the remastering treatment.
13 Apr 2000: Score saving bug in SDL Digger fixed.
7 Apr 2000: Maxim Sobolev's SDL version released, allowing users of FreeBSD and
GNU/Linux to play Digger natively.
8 Feb 2000: Minor bug in level editor fixed (thanks for Mariusz Borkowski for
finding it).
29 Jul 1999: Marek Futrega's Digger Java Applet added to the website.
18 Jul 1999: Major new version of WinDig: CGA graphics, DLF and DRF files on
the menu. The source code to the changes has not been uploaded yet.
11 Jul 1999: Major website redesign and updates to many versions. New level
editor.
24 May 1999: The source code is now available from the website.
6 May 1999: Minor bugfix release. Protected mode version released.
16 Apr 1999: Minor bugfixes in WinDig.
8 Apr 1999: WinDig now doesn't need DirectX at all. DOS Digger will now record
and playback really huge DRF files correctly.
3 Apr 1999: Update to Windows version: now runs correctly in 256 colour mode
and without DirectDraw 6.
2 Apr 1999: More slight bug fixes in DOS version.
1 Apr 1999: Slight bug fixes in both DOS and Windows versions.
28 Mar 1999: Windows 95 version added, thanks to Tim Draper. SoundBlaster music
now works. Various other tweaks and bug fixes.
30 Jan 1999: Bug fix: Recording two-player simultaneous games with the music
off now works properly. If you have any two-player simultaneous recordings
which you want to keep but which now do not playback, send them to me and I'll
see if I can fix them.
28 Jan 1999: Bug fix: You can't lose all your lives in Gauntlet mode any more.
21 Jan 1999: Bug fix: In old-style two-player mode, player one doesn't get all
the points for bags killing monsters.
18 Jan 1999: Bug fix: Digger doesn't stall if you pause for too long.
15 Jan 1999: Unlimited lives (/U) and start at different level (/I) cheat
switches added to Digger at the request of players.
13 Jan 1999: SoundBlaster cards using IRQ numbers 8 to 15 should now work. Bug
with more than 4 spare lives fixed. Vsynch option restored for those with
serious timing problems.
12 Jan 1999: The SoundBlaster sound should now work on genuine SoundBlaster
sound cards. Thanks to Tomer Gabel for finding the cause of this bug.
Recommended extension for level data files changed from .DAT to .DLF.
9 Jan 1999: Yet another bug fix: You now don't die twice if you die whilst
completing a level.
8 Jan 1999: More bugs in old two player mode and keyboard redefinition fixed.
5 Jan 1999: SoundBlaster sound added, although it may not work properly and
there's no background music yet. Bug fixes: Old two player mode now works, and
some bugs in the keyboard redefinition routines have been fixed.
15 Dec 1998: Bug fix: keyboard redefinition in two player simultaneous mode now
works.
13 Dec 1998: Two player simultaneous mode (/2 option) added.
9 Dec 1998: Digger level editor added. This is a Windows program and should be
pretty self explanatory to use, so there isn't any information about how to use
it here.
7 Dec 1998: Bug fix for Gauntlet mode high score table, added /V and /T command
line options to help with timing problems.
25 Nov 1998: Gauntlet mode added.
20 Nov 1998: Minor bug fixes to do with the high scores, playback and taking
over.
18 Nov 1998: Minor timing bug fixed. Major timing bug caused by fixing minor
timing bug fixed.
14 Nov 1998: Hall of fame revamped.
13 Nov 1998: Keyboard redefinition (/K option) added.
4 Nov 1998: New URL: "http://www.digger.org". Minor bug fix for /O option.
21 Oct 1998: Minor changes so you can playback a recording as a screensaver.
18 Oct 1998: Another minor bug fix: you can't score twice for killing one
monster.
17 Oct 1998: Update to RiscOS version: minor bug fixes and sound added.
16 Oct 1998: RiscOS version added. Minor bug fix to DOS version making the
keyboard work more like it did in the original. Speed control and playback
cheat added.
15 Oct 1998: Major new version! Most of the changes are invisible but will help
with future development. However, there are some major new features, including
a greatly improved recording/playback feature, which you will need if you want
to get on the new Hall of Fame.
13 Oct 1998: Digger chat mailing list added. You can subscribe at
"http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/diggerchat".
22 Sep 1998: Four new sets of levels added in the extra level pack.
8 Sep 1998: Trivia section added in the FAQ list.
7 Aug 1998: If you liked Digger, try Styx, the latest game from Windmill
Software / Andrew Jenner.
28 Jul 1998: DRF compressor program (now obsolete) and DRF files added.
25 Jul 1998: Digger should now run on slower computers.
21 Jul 1998: Minor changes to website and documentation, added counter (see
"http://w116.hitbox.com/Stats?hb=W42904163261" for our statistics.)
20 Jul 1998: Website was redesigned and "What's New?" section was added.
Original Instructions
---------------------
D I G G E R
Copyright (c) 1983 Windmill Software Inc.
Join the search for buried treasures of sparkling gold and shin-
ing emeralds. With chomping front jaws, your motorized Dig-
ger Mobile puts you in the driver's seat. Tunnerl out free form
mazes, outsmart the wide-eyed Nobbins and race to collect
precious gems. Count on your wits - you'll need them!
Digger is written entirely in machine language to take maxi-
mum advantage of your PC's superior graphics and sound
capabilities. True cartoon animation with simultaneous music
and sound effects make Digger come alive. Created originally
for the IBM PC, we naturally include the features you're
looking for:
top 10 scores saved on disk
multi-levels of play
2-player option
game pause
sound on/off
optional joystick support
and much more
Requirements: 64K memory
Color graphics adapter
Joystick or keyboard control
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windmill Software Inc.
2209 Leominster Drive, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7P 3W8
(416) 336-3353
D I G G E R
The Play:
Your aim is to collect precious gold and emeralds buried deep in subterra-
nean levels of an old abandoned mine. With your motorized Digger
Mobile, you tunnel out new shafts, scoop up emeralds and race ahead
while dodging falling bags of gold and avoiding wide-eyed Nobbins hot
on your trail.
Valuable gold nuggets are stashed in heavy bags throughout the mine.
You can push the bags down open shafts to break them open and expose
the glimmering gold inside. This is your chance to scoop up the riches
before the Nobbins beat you to it.
To advance to a more challenging level with more Nobbins, Hobbins
and gems, you must scoop up all the emeralds of destroy all the Nobbins
in the current level.
Eliminating Nobbins:
You'll need skill and quick wits to avoid and destroy the wide-eyed Nob-
bins chasing you through the open shafts. Nobbins often grow impatient
and turn into angry foot-stomping Hobbins who burrow through the
mine to destroy your Digger Mobile.
Nobbins are very delicate creatures. By pushing the heavy bags of gold
down the long shafts, the Nobbins are crushed under the weight of the
bursting bag. Don't forget to scoop up the gold when the bag breaks!
Another defense against Hobbins and Nobbins are the bouncing
fireballs on the roof of your Digger Mobile. Press Function Key F1 to
throw the fireball, but be careful not to waste your shot since it takes time
to regenerate another fireball.
Bonus Round:
After all the Nobbins have entered the abandoned mine, cherries appear
in the upper right corner. Scooping up the cherries starts a special chase
where you pursue the Nobbins and Hobbins for bonus points. Although
your fireballs and falling bags still destroy the frightened creatures, you
only win bonus points by colliding with them.
Loading Digger:
Place your Digger diskette in the left disk drive of your IBM PC and turn
your computer on. When the title page appears on your display, you are
ready to select one or two player game option.
One or Two Player Games:
The title page shows the One Player option. If Two Players want to join
in the fun, press the ESC key to the left of the keyboard. When the title
page shows the correct option, you are ready to select joystick or
keyboard control.
Joystick Control:
Centre your joystick and press button #1. This will start the game using
joystick control.
Use the joystick to maneuvre your Digger Mobile through the mining
site following old mining shafts and tunnelling new paths.
Press button #1 to throw fireballs at the approaching Nobbins and
Hobbins.
Keyboard Control:
To begin the game, press any key. Use the ^, v, < and > arrow keys to
maneuvre your Digger Mobile through the mining site following the old
mining shafts and tunnelling new paths.
Press Function Key F1 to throw fireballs at the approaching Nobbins
and Hobbins.
Scoring:
Your score depends on the amount of emeralds and gold you collect, as
well as the number of Hobbins and Nobbins you destroy. If you collect 8
emeralds in a row, you get 250 bonus points.
Nobbins ................... 250
Hobbins ................... 250
Emeralds .................. 25
Gold Nuggets .............. 500
Bonus points:
8 Emeralds in a row ....... 250
Cherries...................1000
Nobbins.................... 200, 400, 800, 1600
With every 20,000 points, you earn an extra life.
High Scores:
Digger automatically records the top 10 high scores and the players' in-
itials on your Digger diskette. To use this function, you must be sure that
the diskette is in the left disk drive and that it does not have a write protect
tab on it.
Special Functions:
Function Key F7 disables background music. Music may be restored by
pressing the F7 key a second time.
Function Key F9 disables background music and sound effects. These
may be restored by pressing the F9 key a second time.
The game may be suspended at any time by pressing the SPACE BAR.
To resume your game, press any key.
If the Digger picture is not centred on your display, hold down the Ctrl
key while using the < and > arrow keys to reposition the screen.
Thanks to...
------------
Matthias Wermann (matt (at) digger.org) for the very generous donation of the
digger.org domain name and web space. Matthias runs an ISP, the URL of which
is "http://www.emsnet.de".
Avi Ben Zev for setting up the original Digger Chat mailing list and for
getting in touch with Windmill Software.
Jim Leonard (trixter (at) oldskool.org) for all his advice and encouragement.
Windmill Software, for creating the games in the first place.
Finally, thanks to all the Digger fans - without you none of this would be
possible.