NOTE:

If the game does work on Your system please send me a bug report.
See bottom of this document for contact information. 
Include information about your system configuration.


====++++ CLIMBERS +++++====
     \
<<<<<<<<<< OF  >>>>>>>>>>>
     /
====++++FORTUNE++++===

(COF)

=> "Your chance for a better living" (TM)

(c) 2002-2009 by Shades Productions

Version 1.8 (FINAL)


0. Introduction
--------------------

This game came into life when I wanted to get familiar with Visual Studio(TM) and DirectX(TM).
But again I thought that the result was too good to remain unreleased. So here it is.


1. Legal Stuff
------------------

This game comes with no warranty. We take no responsibilty for any damage that might arise out
of the use of this software.
For our American friends : If you can't get the fraggin game to work, putting your cat in the microwave
oven won't help (<INDY> Amerikaner, die kaempfen wie Weiber! </INDY>)
COF is freeware. Distribution for any profit is prohibited. The archive must be kept in its original
form and may not be modified.


2. Requirements & installation
------------------------------

2.1 Requirements
----------------

COF needs DirectX 8.0 or above. At first it might seem, that COF has very low system reqirements, but
that is not true. Its due to the fact that while you play, COF makes logistic calculations which are
then sent to several terroristic organisations around the globe via your Internet connection (dont worry
the amount of data is relatively low). 
Lets just say COF runs fine on my Athlon Duron 700mhz.

2.2 Installation
----------------

Simply unpack the archive into any desired folder and run climbers.exe to start the game.


3. Story
----------


In the near future Goreg Copse, the president of the Unified Confederations discovered that abolishing
all kinds of social institutions would enable him to build more nuclear missiles which he needed to
defend the civilized world. But still the poor part of the population was given a chance to get medical
attention by participating (and surviving) in the public TV show "Climbers of Fortune".
COF became the most popular show shortly after being aired for the first time by NCN (NonCensored Network).
Finally "Euro-COF" was invented by a private TV channel in in Germoney after bribing the apropriate
politicians. (but that's another story......)


4. The Game
----------------

4.1 The scenery
---------------------

You take the part of a "COF Defender" employed by the government. It is your task to defend a wall
against all  "Climbers" who participate in COF hoping for free medical attention. To do this you can pick
up and throw metal balls which are dispensed by two magazines at the top of the wall. If a climber 
reaches the top the wall you have one last chance to slash him with your chainsaw. You can only request the
chainsaw once a level and only if you're not currently holding a ball. If a climber reaches your position
without being killed he'll hack you with his axe (standard equipment for every Climber). Complete a
level by killing all Climbers. With each new level there will be more and faster climbers coming in 
shorter intervals.


4.2 The Goal
----------------

None. There are infinitely many levels. The game is meant to release some steam when you hate your 
job or something. You may try to raise your personal highscore , get to a higher level or compete with 
your friends. If you get as far as level 10 you're pretty good.
My personal record for one-player games is:

Level 13
Score 69000

(You can beat that - can't you?)


Also - you might want to hear all of the 57 SID-tunes (for lamers: that's the Commodore 64's sound chip), 
but you will have work for that:
In the first 6 levels of each game a fixed sequence of tunes is played, from the 7th level and above,
random tunes are played from the remaining set (avoiding repetitions).

4.3 Controls
----------------


COF can be played with either joystick or keyboard. The keyboard mappings are:


joystick1:
ooooooo

UP:         uparrow
DOWN:       downarrow
LEFT:       leftarrow
RIGHT :     rightarrow
BUTTON1: right shift
BUTTON2: right control
BUTTON3: enter


joystick2:
ooooooo

UP:        <not needed>
DOWN:      <not needed>
LEFT:        "d"
RIGHT :      "g"
BUTTON1: left shift
BUTTON2: left control
BUTTON3: left altl


COF can be played with up to 3 players. If you're using keyboard only 2 players are supported. To play with 3 
players requires 3 joysticks.

If you encounter any problems with the joystick control, I recommend disconnecting your joysticks and use
the keyboard.


4.3.1 The Menu
-------------------

After the introduction you will be confronted with the menu. Here you can start and quit the game and select the number of
players.
Use joystick1 (or the appropriate keys) to operate the game menu. Button1 starts/chooses#players/quits


4.3.2 In-game Controls
----------------------

Use LEFT/RIGHT to move along the wall. Move to a loaded magazine to pick up a ball.

BUTTON1: throw ball / slash with chainsaw

BUTTON2: request / drop chainsaw

BUTTON3: "Stahlgewitter" - This is some kind of smartbomb, which drops lots of balls from the ceiling, hopefully crushing
                           all climbers. The number of available SG's is indicated by dots displayed above the respective
                           player. You can obtain additional SG's, by hitting at least 3 climbers with the same ball.


ESC - Quit to menu


4.3.3 Scoring
-------------

Hitting a climber with a ball will be rewarded as follows:

100 for the first climber
200 for the 2nd and 3rd climber hit with the same ball
400 for the 4th and 5th climber hit with the same ball
800 for the 6th and all following climbers hit with the same ball

Slashing a climber with your chainsaw is rewarded with 500 points.

5 Credits 
---------

COF was produced by:


Tilman Mehler : DESIGN, CODE, GFX           ~>  mehler@gmx.de
=================
Sascha Jungnickel : additional GFX
=================
Boris Bauer : debugging help and general assistance
===========


The Music:

COF uses the great NanoSID library by Laurent Ovaert for playnig the SID-tunes:

http://www.sid6581.org/NanoSID/


The in-game  music was borrowed from 20 great C-64 musicians:
 

i)	Thomas Mogensen (Drax)  : BonesIV, Hellfire, A Ska Skide

ii) 	Chris Huelsbeck 	: Danger Freak, Katakism, To be on Top

iii)	Marcus Schneider 	: Babylon, Elite Squad, ?

iv)	Kai Walter (PVCF) 	: Mathematika

v)	Maniacs of Noise 	: Turbo Outrun, Afterburner, CybernoidII, Hawkeye Loader, Kinetix, Noisy Pillars
			    	  Pseidon, Speed Credit Boxing, 

vi)	Neil Baldwin 		: Demon's First, Future Shock

vii)	Ben Danglish		: DeathwishIII

viii)	Gary Biassilo		: T. Renegade

ix)	Daniel Spronk		: Berania

x)	Stefan Palmorani	: Dylan Dog

xi)	C. G. Liebe		: Echo Hawk

xii)	Rob Hubbard		: AceII, IK

xiii)	Johannes Bjergaard	: Thunderforce. ACEII-remake

xiv)	Jonathan Dunn		: 5 Little Ditties, Choroid 5, Darkman, Ocean Loader 4, Platoon, Rambo 3,
				  Robocop

xv)	J. Hippel		: Ultra-ff

xvi)	Jesper Olsen		: Airwolf

xvii)	Bjrn Fogerlberg	: Outrun Cover

xviii)	Barry Leitch		: Double Dragon

xix)	Martin Walker		: Altered Beast

xx)	Mark Cooksey		: Storm Warrior



6 Contact
----------

I'm happy about any feedback I recieve. So feel free to send any comments / suggestions to:

mehler@gmx.de

If the above e-mail address is no longer valid, use a search engine and you will most probably
find me.