BATO INSTRUCTION
Bato game requires IBM PC computer in the following minimum configuration:
If all the moments noted above are taken into account, and there are still problems, please, send an email with the problems listed in it to our e-mail address: support.bato@mdevstudio.com. Attach log files to the letter which one can find in the folder: My Documents/My Games/MD Studio/Bato/Logs.
Game website: http://www.mdevstudio.com/bato
Introduction. Do you like to travel and solve the puzzles? Young master of an ancient Tibetan game is leaving for treasure-hunting in the wild abandoned lands. Go with him, engrossing adventures, interesting tasks and meetings with amazing characters are waiting for you. And finally at the end of the game – a bulk of treasures!
First launching. When you launch Bato game for the first time, you will be immediately suggested to enter your name in the entry field located within welcome dialog. Do it and press the Enter button or OK key for moving to the main menu. After that it’s recommended to set the most convenient settings.
System options. It’s necessary to press the “Options” button in the game’s main menu in order to move to the Options menu. There you will be suggested to select the following:
One can get acquainted with the game’s authors by pressing “Credits” button.
Profile management. It is executed by pressing “It’s not me” button located in the right upper corner of a screen. You’ll see the list of available profiles which one can select by pressing the left mouse button. If you need to make a new profile, you should press “New” button, enter your name and press “Ok”.
Top score table. The game has a high score table which contains the highest logged point value. In order to look at it, you should press “High Score” button in the main menu. Top score table is local for your computer.
Travel screen. It displays the progress of your travel, map of a game world (or diary of academy’s pupil), and well-earned trophies. There is a toolbar at the top of a screen which includes lives remaining, score, “Menu” button, and received blessings. Lower toolbar contains the quality scale, “Play” button and the name of the current mission. Quality scale shows the current playthrough quality of the chapter. In order to get the trophy at the end of the chapter, it’s necessary to have the quality level not less than required. Trophies are displayed on the game map over the place where the playing took place.
Easily press “Play” button and start the game!
Controls. Game controls consists in launching of the varicoloured stones in the specified direction with indicated force. For this one should hover the mouse cursor over the stone of interest (pointer will become yellow), press the left mouse button and drag the arrow so that it should indicate the desired direction of a stone flying. Release the mouse button, and you will see the stone flying in the required direction. The stones can be also launched in two clicks. If you want to cancel the launching, press the right button without releasing of left one. You can also use the blessings of the gods (they are displayed to the right on the upper toolbar). For this you should just click the icon with the help of left mouse button. You can get more detailed information concerning the use of the blessings below. In order to invoke the game menu, one should press “Menu” button or “Escape” key. When the menu appears on a screen, the game stops, so it could be used as a pause.
The aim of the game. Your task is to destroy all variegated stones on the field before magic dust located in the dragon vessels reaches zero. If this happens, so the game won’t be lost until you fail to hit. Level failure leads to the loss of life, and therefore you need to replay the level all over again. If there are no more lives in reserve, the game will be lost; therefore score and rewards will be reset, but you will be able to continue the game from the beginning of the current chapter.
In order to destroy the stone, you should knock it together with unicoloured one. Both of them will start to tremble and burst. If you knock together three or more stones simultaneously, all of them will be destroyed. However, identical stones of other colours colliding randomly with each other won’t burst. You are rewarded for the destroyed stones with additional magic dust in the dragon vessels.
Idols. At the corners the playing field is surrounded by four pedestals where the idols can stand. These characters create additional rules to the game requiring from the player to fulfill certain tasks and rewarding him with their blessings.
Blessings. There are 5 blessings in the game which the player can use at any moment of the game by pressing the corresponding icon in the right upper corner of a screen. Collected blessings move from level to level, that’s why it’s possible not to use them at once.
Bonuses. Some stones are provided in a random way with prizes which help the player in the level playthrough. Some bonuses are activated immediately at the moment of stone’s burst (splinter, triple cost, treasure). Others keep working for some time (powerful strike, sight, imponderability, spirits). The third ones influence the behavior of a stone on which they’re located (hyperactivity, magnet). Bonuses which influence the game now can be found on the lower toolbar.
Combinations. Though mission can be completed by just shooting deliberately two stones per move, more successful strokes are rewarded with additional points and dust.
Trophies and playthrough quality. When you complete the mission successfully, quantity of dust remained in the vessels determines the playthrough quality. Quality of all missions is summarized and displayed on the lower toolbar of travel screen from the left. If you collect more skill than required by the end of the chapter, you will be rewarded with a trophy. In addition to aesthetic pleasure every trophy will bring practical usefulness.
Game modes. When you start the game for the first time, you must play through the “Beginner” level of complexity. After this you will be given an opportunity to pass the “Sprinter” level, and for the third time – the “Sharpshooter” level. Each of the levels implies slightly different manner of playthrough.
· Beginner – first playthrough, simple and well-balanced.
· Sprinter – one needs to think quickly and launch the balls without being afraid of misses.
· Sharpshooter – there is no need to be in a hurry, but it’s necessary to launch balls very accurately and destroy as many balls as possible during one launching.
If you face the difficulties in the process of game playthrough, please, read the following section which tells about the right tactics of playing Bato game.
General moments. Though in theory you can play through the game just colliding deliberately two unicoloured stones per move, it’s difficult to fulfill that on practice. Try to collect as much dust as possible in the dragon vessels by the end of the mission, this will ensure good playthrough quality, and as a result – valuable trophies. Trophies make the further playthrough easier; therefore it’s worth trying now as later you will play hands down.
Keep in mind that as soon as your last life is spent, you will lose not only your points and blessings but also trophies. If you want to get the trophies all over again, you will have to start from the beginning not the chapter, but the whole game. It’s good for you that lives are given for a separate chapter; therefore if you pass one chapter, you may be sure lives will be restored in the beginning of the next one. If there are no lives, but there are available coins (given for the points collected), you can use them, this will permit you to skip the mission not having failed it.
Play on the field. First of all try not to miscue. It means that if there is a choice between simple but cheap stroke and expensive but difficult one, be sure to choose simple one. This will be sufficiently as long as the stones are added singly on the field. By the time when more stones will start to fall thick and fast on the field, you will have learnt to strike three or more items per move. Don’t try to play faster if you aim and hit not masterfully enough for this. In other words, one needs to fulfill combinations and difficult strokes only if it is comfortable and possible to do them surely.
And yet if the effectiveness of your strokes is lower than required on this level, dust will be at an end in the vessels. This will be accompanied by their reddening and the sounds of palpitation. If that happens, you should on no account hasten as there is nowhere to hurry. It’s better to try not to miss your aim by all means; otherwise you will lose the game. In order to come out of this situation, it’s worth using the earlier collected blessings. When the dust starts rising in the vessel, palpitation will cease, and so you will be able to play in a usual mode.
Sometimes one can find treasures on the field – varicoloured precious stones. Those diamonds which were initially positioned on the field remain on it up to an end of the mission, and those stones that appeared on the field as a bonus disappear in a certain period of time. In order to obtain the treasure, one needs to fling a stone at it. You will get additional points for this and that will bring receiving of the coin closer.
Idols and their blessings. All idols operate on the backscratching principle. It means that they lay down conditions, reward for meeting them and sometimes punish for failures.
Idol of time is present almost on every level. Its main function is just to take dust away from the vessels urging the player. If you see during the process of playing that vessels are close to filling, try to fill them thoroughly. For this one can use blessings of other idols. In the case of success idol will stop stealing the dust, and you will be able to complete the level at a comfortable for you speed. But the main thing is that it will reward you with a water glass. This blessing is better to use when there is a great amount of stones on the field, and you see at least several unicoloured ones that will be able to reach each other.
Idol of creation is also present almost everywhere. The aim of the player is to try to clear the field before it throws all the stones out. There is a good tactics for achieving this aim – try to destroy the stones of those colour which is the least of all on the field. The less variety of colours is on the field, the simpler it will be for you to knock the stones together, which means that you will finish your work earlier. If you manage to achieve this, idol will stop throwing stones, and you will receive several (by the number of stones thrown per each move) hands which you will be able to use for moving the stones. It’s very useful for creating long combinations, for removing the stones from hard-to-reach places and destroying of the definite colours.
Idol of fire presents the ball which is good for destroying long rows of the stones. There are two main tactics of treating with this idol: satisfaction and ignoring. “Satisfaction” means that you should strike by all means from the very beginning only those stones which it demands, disregarding others. This will permit you to get quickly the ball and forget about its presence. However there is a probability to get little dust or suddenly to fail the level at all. In contrast to it, “ignoring” doesn’t imply receiving of blessing, and requires hitting of the indicated stone only occasionally for preventing the appearance of cloud.
Idol of skill is the simplest and most undemanding of idols – it rewards only. In order to obtain its blessing, it’s sufficient to hit quite often listed above combinations. One can try to do this deliberately in proper time having concentrated maximum efforts on this, but it’s also possible just to play with a hope that the required skill will come by itself. One can use the obtained lightning as a “sniper” stroke for several stones, and also as a source of moving the stones on the field that stand in the inconvenient position.
Programmers:
Molchanov Vitaliy
Molchanov Sergey
Artists:
Tarasyuk Catherine
Pasternak Igor
Game Design:
Molchanov Vitaliy
Molchanov Sergey
Effects:
Molchanov Sergey
Panchenko Roman
Music and sound:
Osipov Sergey
Special Thanks:
Druchin Vlad
This program used:
Squall Sound Library (C) 2009 Gilyazetdinov Marat
(C) 2009,2010 MD Studio.