digger.txt

                        Digger Remastered (Unix version)
                        ================================

                                   13/3/2002

                                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 DOS
    Digger for Windows
    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 Windmill Software
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.
* Alt-Enter to toggle full-screen mode on or off.

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:
* 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!


Frequently asked questions
--------------------------

Q: How does the scoring system work?

A: As follows:

  * Emerald: 25 points.
  * Eight consecutive emeralds (octave): Extra 250 points.
  * Gold: 500 points.
  * Killing a Nobbin or a Hobbin by shooting or hitting with a bag: 250 points.
  * Bonus: 1,000 points.
  * (In bonus mode) Eating a Nobbin or a Hobbin: 200 points for first, 400 for
    2nd, etc. (doubling each time) - still 250 for other methods of killing,
    though.
  * At every multiple of 20,000 points you get an extra life.


Q: What's the most you can score?

A: The maximum possible score on completion of level 1 is 8,650 plus 3,900 for
   every life used. I used to be able to repeatably obtain 8,650. The maximum
   possible score you can have by the end of level 2 is 19,925 if you don't
   die, so it is not possible to start level 3 with more than 2 lives in
   reserve. I have got maximum score on the first two levels a few times.

   I haven't bothered to calculate similar statistics for the other levels, but
   I can if anyone's interested...

   If you meant "What's the most you've ever scored", the answer is 75,975.


Q: What's the most anyone's ever scored?

A: Have a look at the Digger hall of fame on http://www.digger.org/fame.html to
   find the latest top scores. If you can do better than the 10th best person
   in the world, submit a recording of your game to Einar Johan
   (fame@digger.org).


Q: Can you give me some tips to improve my game?

A: The best I can do is suggest that you play back the recorded games in the
   hall of fame (http://www.digger.org/fame.html) - who better to get tips from
   than the world's best Digger players?!


Q: What's the music that plays in the background?

A: The background music for the main part of the game is called "Popcorn", and
   was a hit for the group "Hot Butter" in the 70s. There's more info about it
   at "http://www.popcornsong.com".

   The background music for the bonus is the William Tell Overture by Rossini.

   The music which plays when you die is "Funeral March" by F. Chopin.


Q: What other interesting things do you know about Digger?

A: In my explorations of the code of the game, I have discovered lots of things
   which might be of interest to someone.

   On each new level up to level 10:

   * The monsters arrive more frequently.
   * There are more monsters in total.
   * The number of monsters on screen at once increases.
   * The number of times nobbins have to cross to become hobbins decreases.
   * The monsters move slightly faster on average (their speed is actually
     random).
   * The monsters less frequently stop chasing you (they always chase you on
     level 6 and above).
   * Hobbins stay hobbins for longer.
   * Gold hangs around for less long.
   * Fire takes longer to recharge.
   * Bonus mode lasts for less long.

   Levels above 10 use the same variables as level 10 but different layouts.

   The level plan is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-6-7-8 followed by the sequence 5-6-7-8
   repeated 247 times. If you complete level 8 249 times, all the subsequent
   levels use the layout from level 5.

   Gold (as in a broken bag) disappears very quickly if you dig underneath it.

   Monsters going up change direction when there is a bag falling on them, but
   they do the same thing even if the bag is below them in the same column.

   Player 2 (in two player mode, obviously) doesn't get the extra life until
   after multiples of 20,000. Player 1 (in either mode) gets it *at* multiples
   of 20,000.

   The noise made when you complete a level is polyphonic if no background
   music has been played since the game was started.

   The original game allocated enough resources for 6 monsters, but only 5 are
   on screen at any given time. By changing a single byte in the original
   executable, you could make all 6 appear at the same time.

   When you get a game over and no high score, the screen used to flash between
   its two colour schemes for a while, but the original didn't do this on my
   8086. Apparently it did on some other people's computers, though, so it must
   have been a hardware oddity. It was taking ages to get back to the title
   screen, so I removed it.

   In the original, you couldn't collect more than 4 spare lives. If you got
   60,000 points without dying, you wouldn't get an extra life at that point.
   Some people thought this was unfair, so in Digger Remastered I added an
   option (/U) to allow you to collect as many lives as you like. However,
   care should be exercised using this option if you intend to record a game
   for the hall of fame, since your score will be calculated as if you played
   by the original rules. So you might not have as many lives as you thought
   you did, and your game might finish sooner. A few people have been caught
   out by this.

   There are no more extra lives to be had at or after the 1 million point
   mark. Although this was a bug in the original Digger (a kludge really -
   Windmill software never counted on anyone getting that far) I've kept it on
   in Digger Remastered to give an extra little bit of difficulty to anyone
   that good.


Q: Help me! It runs too fast (or too slow)

A: This version of Digger now uses your computer's internal timing chip for all
   its timing, so it should run at exactly the same speed on all machines (for
   a given speed setting), no matter what how much action is happening on the
   screen. The only exception is that if there is more action on screen than
   your computer can handle, it will run too slowly (as happened with the
   original game on a 4.77MHz machine). You won't notice this effect unless you
   have a very slow computer or are running Digger at an extremely high speed.
   Using the CGA graphics rather than the VGA ones will speed things up in this
   case.

   You can speed up or slow down the game depending on your personal
   preference. To do this, simply specify the speed on the command line. The
   default is 40, higher numbers give slower speeds, lower numbers (1 being the
   lowest) give faster speeds. You can also adjust the speed whilst the game is
   in progress using the + and - keys.

   If you're good at the game you might like to try playing it at a faster
   speed.

   If you use a really slow speed like 500, you may have to hold the keys down
   for longer to get it to do anything.

   Note that the music and sound effects are independent of this speed setting.

   If you are used to playing Digger on a slower computer, you might notice an
   apparent increase in speed as more monsters appear on screen. This is a
   psychological illusion! If you notice this, it means that your subconscious
   has been counting the number of monsters on the screen and adjusting the
   apparent speed to compensate! This effect will disappear after playing the
   new version for a while. However, if there is demand I could put in a
   feature to actually slow down the game more when there is more action on the
   screen.


Q: Can you send me this other game I used to play called...?

A: No. Try http://www.digger.org/links.html - I haven't got time to go
   searching the web for you if you can't be bothered to work out how to do it
   yourself.


Q: I have found a bug in Digger. Can you fix it?

A: First download the latest version from http://www.digger.org and see if your
   bug still happens with that. If it doesn't, I already fixed it. If it does,
   please send me details of the bug, the operating system and version of
   Digger you are using, the command line parameters you gave to Digger and
   (if applicable) a .DRF file which reproduces the bug.


Q: Where can I get the original version of Digger?

A: I don't know. It is impossible to download it from the internet because it
   is hardware, not software (a copy protected floppy disk, as opposed to the
   program on it). If you had that disk you'd still need a 4.77MHz PC with
   genuine CGA graphics and a 5.25" floppy disk drive to run it.

   However, many people played the old Digger without the original disk. It is
   possible to extract the program from its disk, a process known as "ripping".
   If you do this, it still doesn't work because because the game is copy
   protected. It is possible to remove the copy protection (a process called
   "cracking"). After these steps, the game will run but it will run too fast
   unless you have an 4.77MHz PC, and you won't be able to see it unless you
   have CGA. Also, if you were to get a high score, it would try to save it on
   the disk in drive A, possibly wiping out some of the information on any such
   disk.

   The ripped copies of Digger, Styx, Moonbugs, Conquest, Rollo, The
   Exterminator and Floppy Frenzy which you can download at
   http://www.digger.org have been cracked and modified not to save their
   scores. Nothing else has been done to them, however, so you they run too
   fast and the graphics are broken in some of them.

   A more original (although less useful) downloadable version of one of these
   games would be an "image" of the original disk (not a picture but a file
   containing all the data from the disk: boot sector, file allocation tables
   and all.) I don't have any disk images of original Windmill disks, nor do I
   want any - I have no use for them, except to put on the website, and I won't
   do that unless there is sufficient demand for it. However, I intend to soon
   put modified disk images of the Windmill games on the website for use with
   emulators such as MESS (http://mess.emuverse.com).

   If you actually want to play Digger, I suggest you download Digger
   Remastered. It plays and sounds exactly the same as the original did, looks
   the same if you use the /C option, and works on all the same computers as
   well as more modern ones. In fact, if you play them both on a computer or
   emulator on which the original Digger works properly, you would be hard
   pushed to tell them apart (except for slight timing differences).


Q: Why doesn't the unlimited lives option work?

A: It does, it just doesn't do what you think it does. Unlimited lives does not
   mean infinite lives. Unlimited lives means you can collect as many extra
   lives (you get one every 20,000 points by default) as you like, not that you
   can die as much as you like without the game being over. If you don't enable
   the unlimited lives option, you can only collect 4 "spare" lives, as you
   could in the original Digger.

   If you want to live forever, try using the option /G:3599, which will give
   you an hour's play with as many lives as you like, after which time you will
   probably be bored anyway.

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.

   My distributing of the original games is, strictly speaking, not legal.
   According to intellectual property law, a work copyrighted by a company
   continues to be copyrighted for 75 years.

   I have no moral objections to violating Windmill software's copyright by
   re-releasing the game, and I feel you should have no moral objections to
   playing it (unless you're doing it when you should be doing something else).
   Copyright exists to protect intellectual rights, not to prevent people from
   having access to software. I can think of two reasons why Windmill software
   would want to protect their intellectual rights:

   * To ensure that they are recognized as the true authors of Digger.
   * To ensure that they make as much money as possible.

   I have retained the original copyright messages in the game and I take pains
   to ensure that Windmill are credited properly whereever possible so the
   first of these concerns is taken care of. As for the second - Windmill
   hasn't made any money from Digger for a long time, and if they insist I will
   relinquish all rights to Digger to them to do with as they wish. Having
   Digger restored and working on modern computers, they would be in a much
   better position to make money from it than they would if I hadn't remastered
   it.

   In conclusion, therefore, I think that Digger Remastered follows the spirit
   of the law, if not the letter. And since laws, being so rigid, can never be
   perfect, the world works much better this way (as any Digger fan must
   concur.)

   For more information about abandonwarez and the associated legal problems,
   have a look at "http://www.mobygames.com/featured_article/feature=7/".

   Having said all that, I now know that Windmill does know about Digger
   Remastered, and since they have not asked me to stop distributing it, I can
   assume they don't mind.


Command Line Options
--------------------
The command line options are:
  /S:n    = Set speed to n.
  /L:name = Use level file "name".
  /C      = Use CGA graphics - these are faster than VGA but this is only
            really noticeable if you have a slower computer or are playing at
            high speeds.
  /Q      = Quiet mode (no sound at all).
  /M      = Turn background music off.
  /R:name = Record game to file "name".
  /P:name = Playback game file "name" and restart program.
  /E:name = Playback game file "name" and exit program.
  /O      = Go back to the beginning of the command line and start again. Handy
            for playing recorded games as screensavers.
  /K      = Redefine keyboard. To redefine all the redefinable keys, use /KA.
  /G:time = Gauntlet mode.
  /2      = Put two diggers on screen at once.
  /?      = Display this list.
  /V      = Synchronize timing to screen refresh.
  /U      = Allow unlimited lives.
  /I:level= Start on the specified level instead of level 1. You can't go on
            the hall of fame if you use this option.

/S and /L are optional (you can just specify a name and/or number) but are
harmless, and will help to prevent confusion (especially if you have a level
data file called something like "20.DLF").

/Q and /M don't completely disable sound and music, you can still toggle them
with the F9 and F7 keys.

/K lets you choose the keys you want to use to play the game with. Normally,
the program will let you redefine the keys to move Digger around and fire, but
if you override another key (by making the space bar fire, for example) other
keys will be redefined. If you specify the /K option, the program enters
keyboard redefinition mode before the title screen appears. To return all the
keys to their defaults, delete the DIGGER.INI file.

/G starts Gauntlet mode: infinite lives but only finite time. You can specify a
time on the command line, for example "DIGGER /G:60" for one minute play. If
you don't specify a time it defaults to 2 minutes. You can have anything up to
1 hour. Countdown stops when you pause and between levels, but not when you die
(so you get a time penalty of 5 seconds or so (depending on the game speed)
each time you die). Instead of an extra life at 20,000 points you get 15 extra
seconds. When playing back a recorded Gauntlet game be sure to play it back
with the same speed it was recorded, or the timer will be wrong. If you play it
back at a slower speed it will timeout before it's supposed to. High scores in
Gauntlet mode are saved in the same file as the normal scores, but are
separate. This same table is used no matter what Gauntlet time is used.
Gauntlet mode is currently one player only. Thanks to Marek Zgadzaj for this
idea - he played a hacked version of the original Digger to do the same thing.

/2 starts two player simultaneous mode. The first time you do this you will
probably want to use the command line "DIGGER /2 /K" as the default player 1
keys use both sides of the keyboard and you will probably want them to be only
on one side. Two player mode can be used with Gauntlet mode. The scores are
saved separately from the one player modes. The two player simultaneous game
has not quite been finalised yet - the rules may change slightly. Recording
works, but games recorded with this version might not play back with future
versions. When one digger dies the other can continue, and after a while the
digger that died will be reincarnated (if he has any lives left). He will flash
for a short time after being reincarnated. During this time, he is invincible.

/U gives you the ability to save up as many lives as you like. See the FAQ
section for more information about this.

There are two ways to record your game: either give Digger a filename when you
load it, or press F8 once your game is over. The filename used if none is
specified on the command line is composed of your score and the initials you
entered if you got a high score. Bear in mind that any previously saved games
in this file will be overwritten unless you rename or move the file first.

To automatically save your game once it is finished, simply start Digger with a
command such as "DIGGER /R:DIGGER.DRF". Then, the last game you play before
exiting to DOS will be saved to this file (in this case, DIGGER.DRF, although
it can be anything you like). The recommended extension is .DRF (Digger
Recorded File). Again, remember that only the last game played before exiting
is kept.

To playback the file, use either the /P or the /E option: "DIGGER
/P:DIGGER.DRF" or "DIGGER /E:DIGGER.DRF". The only difference is that when the
playback is finished, the /P option restarts the program so you can play
normally, and the /E option exits to the operating system.

If you specify both /P and /R (or /E and /R) on the command line (/R first),
the playback itself is recorded, so some elementary editing of recorded game
files can be done. Not enough to make it look like you've done better than you
have, of course.

To playback a file at a different speed, put the speed on the command line
first. Command line arguments are processed in order. You can even play back
multiple files at different speeds with the same command, such as "DIGGER 20
/P:DATA1.DRF 10 /E:DATA2.DRF" (plays DATA1.DRF at speed 20, then DATA2.DRF at
speed 10, then exits). You can take control of a game that is playing by
pressing Ctrl-T. However, you will not then be able to record that game (that
would be cheating).


Unix-specific information
-------------------------

The Unix version works with FreeBSD (using the console graphics driver) and SDL
(a graphics API which has been ported to many platforms: Gnu/Linux, Win32,
FreeBSD, BeOS, MacOS etc.).

This distribution does not include binaries but there are makefiles for various
platforms. For questions, comments and suggestions on this version, email Maxim
Sobolev.

Building Mini-HOWTO
If your system is already supported by the Digger/SDL (currently FreeBSD, Linux
and Windows with Cygwin toolkit) then do the following:

* Download Digger's source tarball.
* Unpack it.
* Edit Makefile.sdl to uncomment appropriate "ARCH = your OS" and comment all
  others.
* Make sure that you have the SDL library installed, if not then install it.
  The SDL library can be found at http://www.devolution.com/~slouken/SDL/
* Build it using "make -f Makefile.sdl".
* Have fun with Digger.

NOTE: If you are using FreeBSD, then it would be much easier for your to check
official ports collection first, as it is likely that when you are reading this
words Digger's port is already there.

Porting mini-HOWTO
It should be fairly easy to port Digger/SDL to any platform which supported by
the SDL library and has GNU Make, GNU C compiler and libz comression library on
it.

* Edit Makefile.sdl to replace "FooOS" with actual name of your system.
* Define additional flags necessary for compiler to find various include files,
  libraries etc., and fill where appropriate.
* Edit def.h:

*   If your system is a UNIX-like (API's, filesystem layout, memory management
    etc), then replace "YOUR_UNIX_LIKE_ARCH_GOING_HERE" with actual name of
    your OS.
*   If your system has a flat memory model (most modern protected-mode system)
    then add its name to the list of OSes for which FLATFILE should be defined.

*   If your system doesn't have strup() function then add its name to the
    section where "fbsd_sup.h" being included and make sure that you have added
    fbsd_sup.c to the list of object files for your system in the Makefile.sdl.

*   If your system doesn't have stricmp() and strnicmp() string-comparing
    functions, but instead has strcasecmp() and strncasecmp() then add the name
    of your OS to the appropriate section of Makefile.sdl.

* Try to compile Digger. Do not give up if something will go wrong, try to
  resolve the problems instead - it should not be very difficult to sort out.
* If you have succeded please report your progress to Maxim Sobolev or Andrew
  Jenner


What's New?
-----------
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.



About Windmill Software
-----------------------
Windmill software is based in Canada and run by Jo-Anne Kempe. They no longer
publish games, but now specialize in software for property management systems
and custom management information systems (MIS) software. If you would like
more information about Jo-Anne's company and its international capabilities in
housing and building/facility management in custom MIS projects, contact her at
Canada 905 639 4515 or visit the Windmill Software website at
http://www.windmill-software.com

Windmill published at least nine games between 1982 and 1984: "Video Trek 88",
"Floppy Frenzy", "Moonbugs", "The Exterminator", "Styx", "Digger", "Conquest",
"Rollo and the Brush Brothers" and "Attack on Altair". All these are available
from the Digger website.

I wrote to Jo-Anne on a number of occasions but she never replied. However,
there have been a few messages on the Digger Chat mailing list from an employee
of Windmill Software. Edited highlights follow:


> I met Jo-Anne at a tradeshow in Toronto called ORCA which is for
> retirement communities, a market that she currently sells her
> property management software to.
>
> I had Digger on my laptop when I was there so I asked her a few
> questions about it. Apparently she was at a gaming show in the early
> 80s when she had initially demoed digger to an audience. It was in
> its early stages with alot of bugs. Apparently the folk who did Dig-
> Dug stole the concept and beat Windmill to the gaming market.
>
> She said she hadn't seen the game in years and asked if she could
> play it on my laptop. You should have seen this. She completed the
> first 3 levels without even looking at the screen. She said that the
> algorithms are so well known to her since she created them. She could
> play just by the sound and music. Amazing!!! I will be seeing her
> again at an upcoming show so I'll let you know about our next meeting.
> P.S. the main influence for her games... drugs.


> She didn't write all of the games. She did some coding but her
> husband at the time (now ex husband) did most of the real coding. Her
> nephew did most of the music. I think that the Styx concept was
> stolen from Qix but I don't know about the rest of the games.


> We've got original artwork (by Russ Liota) and
> game boxes (Kapanese versions) in the office. Styx, Conquest, Rollo,
> etc... And some advertisements from PC Magazine. Cool stuff.
>
> JA is pleased with your Windows revamp of Digger. She's a bit
> disappointed with the sound but what can you do. She's interested to
> know where you got the other games esp. Video Trek since she doesn't
> even have the source for any of the games anymore.


> She honestly doesn't play digger that much anymore and until she found
> your website she didn't even have the game. We're a real small
> company right now with 7 or 8 people but growing quickly.
> Jo-Anne is busy, you've got no idea. She works like 18 hour days
> trying to get this company into the US market so I can't imagine her
> spending anytime in this chat room. She does love to talk about the
> gaming era though.
>
> Here's my Windmill history of the day: All the games were done in
> their home, created and packaged, the whole process. Apparently
> their two dogs (Chip and Byte) were always laying on all the disks
> before they were packaged so pretty much each copy of their games had
> dog hair in it! JA and her husband had vanity plates on their cars -
> Hobbin and Nobbin!


> Jo-Anne tells me that there was another game. Not sure if it had
> worldwide distribution or not, in fact, she can't remember the name
> of the game. She claims that it was very similar to Q-Bert but way
> cooler. The name of the game started with a "J" and may have had the
> word "jump" in it. I'll keep drilling her to see if she can come up
> with the name.
>
> Also, if you're up for it, Jo-Anne is interested to see if you can
> resurrect some game reviews that Windmill got in PC Magazine back in
> the 80's. They were really good reviews - published by Ziff-Davis.


The game described sounds like "J-Bird", but although that was out at around
the right time (1983), it was published by Orion Software, written by Greg
Kuperberg and "protected under the copyright laws of the United States of
America". Also, the presentation is very different from the other Windmill
games. The mystery deepens:


> After talking to Jo-Anne it seems as though J-Bird was a Windmill
> game. It was written by her nephew, Ray, but that doesn't explain why
> the rights are owned by Greg Kuperberg.


> I'm gonna sent an email to Jo-Anne's nephew Ray to see if he's got
> any more info on J-Bird. Jo-Anne says that if Greg Kuperberg's name is
> on J-Bird, that it's stolen cuz she's never heard of him.
>
> Windmill also did a whole pile of utilities in the early 80's as
> well. One was called Videograph 88 which could take any image off a
> computer screen and send it to printer. It was the best of it's kind
> and it was hand-compiled based on the 8086 macro-assembler.
> Apparently it got a really good write up in PC Magazine issue #2.


What an intriguing mystery! It looks like a case of plagiarism, but the
question is how much of the game was plagiarised? Did Greg Kuperberg just take
the name and concept and make the game from scratch (much like most Tetris
clones are called "Tetris" - I'm guilty of this myself)? Did he patch his name
into Ray's executable (unlikely, since he would also have had to patch in the
Orion Software animation)? Was there some sort of deal between Ray and Greg?
Could Greg Kuperberg be an alias?

Please get in touch if you have:
* Any information which could help to clear up this mystery.
* A copy of any of those PC Magazine reviews.
* Videograph 88.
* Any other software called "Video<something> 88" (as it's probably by
  Windmill).
* Any Windmill Software not mentioned here.


About me and contact details
----------------------------
I graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge, UK in June 2001 with Master of
Sciences and Bachelor of Arts degrees, after studying Physics. I now live in
Washington state, USA and work for Microsoft.

If you have access to email that is the best way to contact me - my address is
andrew@digger.org

You can also visit my personal website at http://www.reenigne.org if you're
interested.

The Unix version is by Maxim Sobolev (sobomax@altavista.net). The Red Hat
GNU/Linux binary was built by Jeroen Nees (nees@cs.kuleuven.ac.be).


Thanks to...
------------
Matthias Wermann (matt@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@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.