outbrk v019
-------------

outbrk is a breakout clone written for the Sega Dreamcast.
It features:

- 17 included levels, all drawn by yours truly!  As you'll see,
  I'm not much of an artist, so I've also included...
- A level editor!  Draw levels to your heart's content, 
  then save them to VMU.  Trade with your friends, send them
  to me, sell them... the possibilities are endless.
  I created all the included levels with the level editor.

How to play
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The object of the game, as if you don't already know, is to hit bricks with the
familiar ball-and-paddle duo.  Destroy all bricks in a level to advance to the
next.   Once you clear all 17 levels, you win!  Well, sort of.  Winning is
anticlimactic at present.  But, as a consolation, you then get to play random
levels forever!

Controls:  Use the directional pad to move your paddle left and right.  You can
use the analog stick as well for smoother control, although the D-Pad is
probably easier on your hands.  If you hold R (right trigger) while moving,
your speed is doubled---useful indeed.  Press Start to pause and unpause.
B+Start ends your game prematurely and returns to the title screen.   You can
advance to the next level with L+R, but your score is reset and you lose
any extra lives you've picked up.

Color bricks are worth 100 points each; silver 500 and platinum 2,500.
An extra life is awarded every 25,000 points.

I'm open to suggestions on how to improve gameplay (slow it down, 
speed it up, etc.)

How to edit
-----------

In the editor, you'll see the playfield (where your levels appear), the
selector (the thing with the numbers), and the help box (which provides, oddly,
help).  In general, D-Pad moves, A selects, and B cancels or exits.  The
built-in levels appear at startup and can be edited and saved to VMU if
desired.  

Selector: The selector contains a list of available levels and lets you
navigate among them.  Use the D-Pad to maneuver to your desired level (the
playfield updates as you move) and then press A to edit it.  L and R go to the
first and last levels, respectively.  The selector always contains a "phantom"
level, the very last level (which is dimmed).  The phantom level is a
convenience; a new level will be created if you try to edit it.

Editing: When editing a level, you move the rectangular cursor around the
playfield with the D-Pad or the analog stick, then press A to draw a brick, or
X to erase a brick.  Y will revert your level to its original form (when you
started editing).  B will return you to the selector, automatically retaining
any changes you made. 

Special menu: If you press X while navigating amongst your levels, the Special
menu will appear.  Here you can Copy, Move, Swap, Delete, or Clear the
currently selected level, or Insert a blank level at that spot.  Insert,
Delete, and Clear work the moment you select them; Copy, Move, and Swap will
prompt you for a destination.  (Move can be confusing at first, but I find
myself using it a lot.)  The phantom level, being pretend, cannot be operated
upon.  The Special menu also provides a "Delete All" option, which leaves you
with a blank slate.

VMU menu: Here you can Save, Load or change your VMU port.  With Save and Load,
the selector changes to a view of your save slots.

	Save: Using the selector, you can save to any of 99 save slots.  The editor
	remembers the last slot saved to or loaded from, and starts you there by
	default.  "Bright" numbers are available--that is, empty--and dimmed slots
	are occupied.  However, you can save to any slot, and in fact if you've
	been saving to a given slot it -will- appear dimmed.

	Load: Operation is similar to Save except that the bright/dimmed meaning is
	reversed, in a sense.  Bright numbers are available--that is, occupied--
	and dimmed slots are empty.  You cannot load from an empty slot, of course.

	Port: You can't change the port in this release; it has to be Port A1
	(first controller, first port).  If you could, you'd press Left and Right
	to do it.  However, if you press A, the VMU will be rescanned.  This allows
	you to replace the VMU without exiting the editor.

If you want to send me your levels, and you have dc-tool, you can set SAVE_DIR
in the Makefile to something like "/pc/tmp", so you can load off VMU and save
to PC.  Or you can copy the save files with an external program, assuming such
a program exists.

That should be it.  Have fun!

Author
------
Jim Ursetto
jim@3e8.org (http://3e8.org)
