Armadillo Army

Armadillo Army

Overview

Armadillo Army is a maze game which uses three mazes with lanes that are wide and bright. The game is designed to cause the student to practice and perfect his lateral eye movements, vertical eye movements, searching skills, timing skills, visual discrimination skills, peripheral detection skills, eccentric viewing skills, and eye-hand coordination. The maze is a two-dimensional overhead view as with Pac-man, but is much larger.

Armadillos are over-running Texville. Only you can save the city.

The main character is Tex, a yellow humanoid with a ten-gallon hat, whose goal it is to gather up goodies in the maze and yet keep away from the dust devil and armadillos which roll at random through the maze. As Tex gathers up goodies, he gets points. When he gets enough points, he accumulates power with which he can zap armadillos and make them disappear.

Key Commands

This document uses the "+" to indicate a series of keys that should be pressed together. The notation Alt+F, for example, means to hold down the Alt key, then while that key is still down, press the F key. Once the F is down, release the F and the Alt. You should not type the +; it is merely used to show that two or more keys should be pressed together.

The Introduction Screen

When the program starts, you see an introduction screen that shows several pieces of information about the game. You also return to this screen when you finish a game and select Play Again.

Player Name

The introduction screen lets you identify yourself. Before playing the game you should enter your name in the edit box. This lets your name show up in the Hall of Fame where the names and high scores of the players with the best scores get recorded and displayed.
Armadillo Army remembers your name, so once you enter it you may use the Play Armadillo Army button immediately to start the program.

Player Selection

The Player Selection control lets you decide how the game should appear and how much speech feedback you desire. There are two choices: Blind and Low Vision. When you select Blind, the game provides audible feedback that lets a blind user play the game. See Additional Sounds for details on how to interpret the additional information. Selecting Low Vision eliminates the additional speech feedback.

Play Button

The Play button starts game play.

Exit Button

The Exit button exits the game.

Hall of Fame

The best ten player's names and scores are stored in the game's Hall of Fame. You see the Hall of Fame on the introduction screen, so be sure and enter your name before you start game play.

Playing the Game

Description

When you press the "Play Armadillo Army" button, the game begins. Armadillos start roaming through the maze. Tex appears in a Free Camping Zone in the center of the maze. Scattered throughout the maze are goodies. The pattern of goodies differs in each level.

Objective

You must clear the playing field of goodies while keeping away from the dust devil and roaming armadillos. Once you clear the goodies away, you move to the next level and a new supply of goodies appears.

How to Play

You use the arrow keys to guide Tex throughout the maze. When you guide Tex to a goody and collect that goody, you gain points. The amount of points you receive depends on the type of goody you collect. Not all goodies earn you points. Some of the goodies protect you from dust devils and armadillos, others give you an extra "Dillo-Out".

It is your job to guide Tex in such a way that he collects all the goodies and avoids being over run by the armadillos or the dust devil. You must collect all the goodies before advancing to the next level.

Game Levels

There are 10 levels of game play within three different mazes. The degree of difficulty becomes greater as levels increase. When Tex completes all the levels, you win the game.

The maze changes after every third or forth level. The first maze has bright orange walls, the second maze has bright blue walls, and the third maze has bright green walls. Tex must pick up all the goodies in the maze at each level. Once he has gathered up all the goodies, he moves to the next level, even if there are armadillos still trolling the maze. When you finish a level, the game proceeds to the next level. If you fail to complete the level, you loose. At this point you can either exit the game or play again by pressing the appropriate button.

Each level introduces new twists and complexity. The number and speed of the roaming armadillos increases, a dust devil appears in the upper levels, and the maze contains more and different types of goodies.

Scoring

Scores are kept on a counter in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Tex starts the first level of the first maze with 90 points, and he earns an extra 90 points each time he graduates to a new level. Armadillo Army gives you various points for each goody Tex collects. The more goodies collected, the more points scored. Each time Tex shoots his laser gun, he uses 10 points. If Tex "Dillos-out" he looses 30 points.

Goodies

/ Ice Cream
When he eats a refreshing Ice Cream, Tex gains 25 points.
/ Jelly Jar
IF Tex picks up a Jelly Jar, he increases his score 25 points.
/ Bucket of Water
Each time Tex drinks a Bucket of water, he adds 20 more points to his score.
/ Diamond Jewel
When Tex collects a Jewel, his score increases by another 15 points.
/ Chili Pepper
Chili peppers are worth 10 points. Each time Tex eats a Chili Pepper, he goes 'LOCO'.

Loco

If Tex eats a chili pepper, he goes loco. While Tex recovers from the chili pepper, he moves in the opposite direction of the arrow keys you press. He can shoot his laser but his aim is off and he can't zap accurately. When he aims to the right, his laser fires left. A ticking sound and a timer to the left of the maze lets you know how long he is loco. Tex may only eat one chili pepper at a time. He must wait until he recovers before he can eat another. If he tries, he just passes over it.

Camping Out

The maze features several FREE CAMPING zones. The free camping zones are designated by a large pink X. Tex may "camp out" and stay safe from the dust devil and armadillos in these zones, but he does not gather any points while in the zones. The camping zones are located at strategic points on the grid, so Tex cannot get trapped in a camping zone by a malicious armadillo that may guard the only way out.

Armadillos

Be aware! Armadillos roam throughout the maze. They enter through the four doors at the sides. They can overtake Tex, that is he "Dillos-out". The number and speed of the armadillos increase as the levels increase, making it more difficult to escape their perils.

Zapping Armadillos

While the roaming armadillos are a nuisance, Tex can do something about them. He may zap them. In order for Tex to zap an armadillo, you must press the Control Key plus the appropriate Arrow Key to shoot. So, to fire at an armadillo to Tex's left, you would press the Ctrl+Left Arrow. Similarly, to zap one above Tex, you press Ctrl+Up Arrow. Each time Tex fires his laser, he looses 10 points, even when he's loco. If he has less than 10 points, his laser will not fire and he can not zap any armadillos. If Tex hits an armadillo, he gains 30 points. Be careful to aim correctly, because it costs 10 points if you hit an armadillo or not.

Dust Devil

A dust devil appears in the upper levels of the game. The dust devil eats goodies and can overtake Tex. The Dust Devil only appears for 2 seconds then disappears for an undetermined length of time. The dust devil cannot remove armadillos or camping zones. Tex can not destroy a dust devil by shooting it. The dust devil must time out.

Dilloing-out

If an armadillo overtakes Tex, he looses 30 points and "Dillos-out". If he has less than 30 points, his score goes back to zero. If he is out of "dillos," the game ends. (Tex starts with two dillos.)

Look

To look in a direction and have the game announce what objects are in that direction, press shift and one of the arrow keys. Pressing Shift+Up Arrow, for example, announces what is above.

Pumpkin

On the 4th level and all levels thereafter, a large orange pumpkin appears in one of the four center squares of the maze. Tex must beat the dust devil and armadillos to the pumpkin. If he does, he gets a free dillo out.

Cactus

Once you reach the 7th level, another goody is introduced. It is a Cactus which has the magical powers to disable the dust devil and the armadillos for 3 seconds. You can monitor the length of time Tex is protected by listening to the ticking sound or watching the timer in the information panel. Tex may only gather one cactus at a time. If he tries to pick up more than one, he just passes over it.