JOHNNY THE BEAR KILLER
Documentation and information

Author:                Rich Whitehouse
E-mail:                thefatal@telefragged.com
Homepage:              http://www.telefragged.com/thefatal/
Date:                  January 18, 2000
Filename:              johnnybk.zip

This program is copyright 2000 Rich Whitehouse.
It may only be distributed electronically or otherwise
with the author's e-mail or written permission.
Any distribution of the program itself must include
this file and all other files in the original archive
in completely unmodified forms.
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INSTALLATION:
Extract the contents of johnnybk.zip WITH DIRECTORY STRUCTURE
into the folder of your choice. You should end up with a
folder called "johnnybk" in the folder you extracted to, as
well as a folder called "data" and another folder called
"levels" under the "johnnybk" folder. If you don't have all
of those folders, then you did not extract the files properly.
After you've extracted everything correctly, run the
johnnybk.exe file in the "johnnybk" folder and you'll be
ready to play.
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Basically, you will play as Johnny and try to murder bears
with your sharp hatchets in order to try to get up points.
Of course, the bears will put up a fight, and you'll have
to be quick in order to be able to murder them without them
murdering you first. Or in multiplayer, you can just hack
your friend to death with your hatchets for no reason at all.

You'll need DirectX 5 or later to run the game.

Here's a list of basic features:

-Full DirectDraw support.

-Full use of DirectSound.

-Optional playback of MIDI/MOD/XM/S3M music in-game.

-Peer-to-peer multiplayer capability.

-Ability to customize levels and create your own levels
 from scratch with ease.

-Keeps track of high scores after you've quit.

-Many other pointlessly enjoyable things.

If you want to use the music playback option, just put the
music file in your levels folder and rename it to the same
name as the level you want it to play with automatically.
For example, if you have a file called "johnny.s3m" and
want it to play with bg_1.bmp (the default level), then
copy johnny.s3m into your levels folder and rename it to
bg_1.s3m. Load the game with bg_1 as the level and the
S3M will begin playing automatically.

Also, the game comes with two levels. bg_1, the default level,
and maze1. maze1 is meant primarilly for multiplayer. You can
use it by starting the game with -level levels\maze1.bmp (see
below for more details on command line parameters).

To move Johnny around, use the arrow keys, and to swing your
hatchets, hold down the control key. In addition to the basic
controls, here are some other in-game keys which can be used:

ESC - Exits the game cleanly.

F1 - Toggles the HUD (display of health/score/etc) on and
off. It's on by default.

F2 - Tries to connect to the IP in your ip.ini file for a
multiplayer game.

F3 - Once you're connected to a friend, this will tell you
how many kills he/she has.

F4 - Displays the "About..." dialog.

There are also some command line parameters you can use (e.g.
c:\games\johnnybk\johnnybk.exe -param1 -param2). Here's a
list:

-fullscreen: Runs the game in full screen mode rather than
the default windowed mode.

-level <name>: Loads the specified level. An example would
be "-level levels\bg_1.bmp". Remember to include the .bmp
extension.

-net_disable: Disables all the net code. This will disable
all the multiplayer options.

-nosplash: Skips the splash screen at the beginning of the
game and goes directly into the game itself.

-port: Specifies a port to use for multiplayer mode. The
default port is 23001.

That's about it. If you want to create your own level, then
that's pretty simple as well. First place a 640x480 bitmap
image of your level (standard .bmp file) in your levels
folder. Next, create a file with a .ini extension using
the same name as the .bmp. Take a look at the bg_1.ini file
to see how you're supposed to set it up (basically, just
create clipping rectangles for where players can't go, and
then place the player starts and bears). Start the game
with -level <your level name> on the command line, and
you'll be ready to play in your own level. For example,
if your .bmp file is johnny.bmp, and the .ini is johnny.ini,
and they're both in your levels folder, you'd start with:

johnnybk.exe -level levels\johnny.bmp

That's all you should need to know. So, have fun with
your nice shining new hatchets.



TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
Here are some typical questions and answers. Hopefully
any problems you're having will be solved here.

Q1: The sound isn't loud enough. How do I make it louder?
A1: Open the johnnybk.ini file, and change the "64" to a
    higher number. Don't make it too high, however, as
    that can cause problems with certain systems.

Q2: My friend is running JTBK and so am I, but we can't
    connect to each other. Why?
A2: Make sure you're both using the default port and
    that neither of you used the -port command line
    parameter. Also make sure that you both have each
    other's IPs in your ip.ini files correctly typed (the
    person who's pushing F2 is actually the only one
    that should need their ip.ini to be changed with the
    other person's IP).

Q3: The game hangs or displays a black screen upon being
    loaded. Why?
A3: Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX, and
    that you don't have any other programs open that could
    be causing conflicts or using the wave device.

Q4: I'm having another problem that isn't here, but it's
    causing the game to crash or hang.
A4: Write down absolutely everything about the problem,
    including when it's happening and your best guess as
    to why it could be happening. Then send it along with
    your system specs and any other information you can
    think of to my e-mail address.

Q5: I'm having another problem that isn't too serious, but
    it's really bugging me. Do you take bug reports?
A5: No.

Q6: I think there's something that would make this program
    much better. Can I talk to you about it?
A6: You can e-mail me if you want, just don't expect a
    reply unless you're reporting a serious bug that I can
    recreate.

That should be everything. Remember to obey the above
mentioned guidelines for contacting me.
