Friend Or Foe?

Friend Or Foe? is played on an 8 x 8 grid. But it's not just a game of chance. Two people play, and each person tries to uncover a particular picture. When both players have uncovered six pictures each, the game ends. Sounds simple, but although finding the pictures is the aim, it's the way you find them that matters.

Playing The Game

There are only a few rules:

1. Two people play. You play by moving an invader from square to square. The arrow keys make the invader move in any one of the four directions.
2. A turn lasts until the player has uncovered one of his or her pictures. At that point it becomes the other player's turn, and move starts from the latest uncovered picture.
3. Players take alternate turns, until each of them has found their six pictures. Then the game ends. The winner is the person who has the most points.
4. Each player has 50 points when the game begins. Every time a player uncovers one of ther own pictures they are awarded five bonus points. If you uncover any of your opponent's pictures then you lose five points (and, if he/she remembers its location, you've given away some useful information). If you uncover a demon, your score is reduced by 20.

On the screen there is a scanner which helps you to plan your moves. It surveys in eight different directions but only to a distance of one square. It reports on what it finds. The number of friends (your own pictures) is recorded in the top box (labelled F), the number of enemies (your opponents' pictures) is recorded in the middle box (next to E), and the number of demons (once you've seen one you'll know what to expect) in the bottom box (marked D).

You always look only for your own pictures. The one that you are looking for is shown near the top of the screen on the right. The player whose picture is displayed is the one to move.

Designing Your Own Pictures

There are six pictures built into the program but you can make the game your own by creating your own pictures.

It's very easy to do. When the computer asks if you want to design your own picture just type Y, for yes, followed by RETURN. If you want to edit one of the existing pictures type N, for no, followed by RETURN to the first question and then answer yes to the second question: "Do you want to edit a picture?"

You now need to specify which of the six pictures you wish to edit. The six pictures are as follows:

1. Puppy
2. Henry VIII
3. Owl
4. Windmill
5. Sandman
6. Flag

Whether you are designing your own picture or editing an existing picture, you will now be given instructions on how to design your shape. The keys you need to remember are:

0. Black
1. Red
2. Green
3. Yellow
4. Blue
5. Magenta
6. Cyan
7. White
Return. To finish

Once you're ready to move on, press SPACE and a 16 x 16 grid will be drawn on the screen. A Green outline will indicate where you are. You can move the red outline around the grid, using the arrow keys again. If you want a square to be coloured in, just press the key which produces the colour you want. It's easy to take out something; just re-colour that square with white. When you have finished your picture, press RETURN.

You can play Friend Or Foe? straight away with your new picture in, but if you would like to save that picture so that you can use it another time then the computer will tell you what to do.

You will be asked, firstly, which picture you wish to replace. The program holds six pictures; if your new picture is to be included one of the existing pictures must be lost. You type in a number in the range of 1 to 6, then your picture will be saved under that number. You will have to wait a few seconds while the picture is saved. You can then either create another new picture or go on to save the new version of the program, including your latest picture, permanently on your cassette or disk. If you wish to design another picture you will follow the same procedure that you followed when you created the first picture.

When you have finished creating pictures, you will be asked if you wish to save your new picture(s). If you answer yes (Y) then you will be asked to type in the new name for the program. This name can be up to seven letters long. Once you have typed in the name and pressed RETURN you will be asked to put a new cassette in the recorder, or a new disk in the disk drive.

If you are using a cassette you will be asked to press RECORD and PLAY on the cassette recorder and then press RETURN on the computer keyboard. If you are using a disk then you will just need to press RETURN.

When you save your new picture(s) the whole program is saved; this takes a little while. When everything has been saved, the screen will display the Create program instructions. You can play Friend Or Foe? including your new pictures straight away (you do not need to re-load the program). Next time you return to the computer you can load in the new version of the program; remember to note down what it is called!

The loading instructions which follow in the next section can only be used with the copy of the program which was supplied with the package. If you have designed your own pictures, using the Create program, and saved them on to disk or cassette, you will need to read the following instructions to be able to load the version of the program which contains your pictures.

Tape users:

1. Take the cassette on which you saved your own designs, place it in the recorder, and rewind.
2. Type CHAIN"" and press RETURN
3. Press PLAY on the cassette recorder.
4. When you have selected the pictures you wish to use, place the original program cassette in the cassette recorder with the Friend Or Foe? label uppermost.
5. Press RETURN and Play on the cassette recorder. The program should now load and run automatically.

   Disk users:

   1. Take the disk on which you saved your own designs, place it in the disk drive and close the disk drive door.
   2. Type CHAIN"name" (RETURN), where name is the filename (up to seven letters long) you used when you saved the program.
   3. Select your pictures, replace the disk with the original disk (before pressing RETURN) and now press RETURN. The program will now load.

   Loading

   Tape: CHAIN"" (RETURN)

   The program is in two separate parts. One side contains the program Create; the other side contains Friend Or Foe?

   Create will allow you to design and edit your own pictures, as described earlier, and to select which two of the six pictures you wish to use. When you have made your selection you will be instructed to set the tape to the beginning of Friend Or Foe?

   Disc: Hold SHIFT and tap BREAK.