THE SIMPSONS: BART'S HOUSE OF WEIRDNESS DOCS by Konami -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- A LOOK AT "BART'S HOUSE OF WEIRDNESS" by Dr. Marvin Monroe When I was asked if I would be interested in writing an introduction to the manual for this game, my first question was, "How much money?" once satisfied with the answer, I began to struggle with the complex issues raised by the advent of the video game. I believe video games are a popular outlet for the species of homo sapiens in this the latter part of the 20th century, and I welcome the forum presented to me. It's high time we took a scholarly approach to these matters. In general, the use of software for amusement reflects back through time. It is, if you will, on par with the use of Pogo Sticks in the middle of this century, or even further back, the game of "Pull the tail of the jackal" that was popular among young mail children during the reign of Ramses III in ancient Egypt. In fact, studies show that there is a release of tension related to playing video games and their ilk that coincides with the pre-Jungian studies of subliminal dream states as interpreted through non-mandatory living activities. What this means in layman's terms, is that people do it for fun. My own pet theory is that the use of a joystick for entertainment purposes is a regression to the pry-civilized state of humankind when hunter/gatherers relied on clubbed weapons in order to meet the daily challenge of procuring food and of keeping that food away from others. Over the millennia, as the acquisition of such needs decreased in difficulty, the necessity for venting negative impulses through strenuous activities was relieved only at the risk of offending the predominant social mores of the times. To put it simply, it was no longer acceptable to bonk your neighbor over the head with a club if you felt irritated. Man was forced to rely upon increasingly abstract ways of bonking others over the head: the catapult, the poisoned arrow, nuclear weaponry, etc. Now, as we approach a new century, civilized man is once again able to grab a clubbed instrument (e.g. the joystick) and -- thanks to the miracle of software such as this -- "bonk" the head of those he finds irritating. And I might add, there is plenty in this game with which to be irritated. There are space aliens (representing man's alienation from the group as stressed in the individuality-focused society of today), hideous mutant bugs (representing a separation from the natural environment of our ancestors), toxic waste (representing man's fear of the consequences of this own creation, nuclear power), toxic waste (see previous) and brutal security guards (representing brutal security guards). Then there is young Master Simpson. I have worked with Bart on a few occasions and I must tell you... actually, I can't tell you. It would be unethical to reveal what is discussed in our sessions. But I can tell you what I've learned from this game. The focus here is on Bart, as well it should be. Bart needs to feel at the center of events in order to bolster his own emotional sense of self-worth. At the same time, his relationship to his father is one of cautious respect. While openly, Bart may appear to harbor feelings of disdain and shame with regard to Homer, there is no question in my mind that the boy knows a meal-ticket when he sees one. Therefore, it follows that in Bart's desperate search to compensate for the shortcomings of, and at the same time to break free of his ultimate dependency on, his father, what we find is a boy who wants to be regarded as a pillar of the community. He wants to be looked up to as a hero and role model. He wants glory, fame, and status. Yet he doesn't want to work for it. "Bart's House of Weirdness" is a subconscious interpretation of reality as Bart would like it to be. It presents him with the opportunity to project the hero/conqueror role on his own persona, thereby regaling himself to the status of World Savior. In closing, I would like to point out that the elements found in this game are, in most cases, a social commentary of the state of our culture as seen through the eyes of a child of the Nuclear Age. You may wish to ask yourself, "What do the glowing rats in the basement symbolize in my relationship to the environment?" Or you may ask, "Is there a lesson to be learned from Bart's rooftop battles with evil squirrels and angry hornets?" I have no answer to these questions. But if you enjoyed this small dissertation, you may wish to read my other best-selling writings: * OEDIPUS SCHMEDIPUS! A collection of humorous limericks from the psychiatric world * ANALY-SIZE Twelve steps to a harder body through the Freudian workout * WALK A MILE IN MY WEEJUNS An autobiography on an eminent psychiatrist * DYSFUNCTION IS AN ELEVEN-LETTER WORD Thank you Dr. Marvin Monroe, Phd.D. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- PART 1 - INSTALLING AND LOADING Note: Make back-up copies of all disks. Use these if playing from disk. For help, consult your DOS manual. FLOPPY DISK USERS (1.2M & 1.44M versions only) 1. Place Disk 1 into the appropriate floppy drive (A: or B:) of your computer 2. Move to the DOS prompt for the corresponding drive. You do this by typing "a:" or "b:" and pressing the Enter key. 3. From the DOS prompt, type "setup" 4. The Setup Menu has options which allow you to configure the game for your system. Use the arrow keys to move the highlighted option until your Video Mode is highlighted. Press the Spacebar to select that option. 5. Repeat for Sound Mode. HARD DISK USERS 1. Follow the same directions for steps 1-5 above. 2. After selecting the sound and video modes, select "Install to hard drive" from the Setup Menu. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions. Press Enter to finish Setup. (NOTE: Exit the setup screen with the disk still in the drive.) -> You must run Setup for sound and video before installing to hard drive or the proper files will not be saved on your hard drive. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- PART 2 - STARTING THE GAME 1. Go to the directory containing the files for the game. 2. Type "S" THE INTRODUCTION The game opens with an introduction scene. This looks like the TV show, but you probably know that. You'll find out that you can press the Spacebar to skip through the opening introduction. After that, you'll find yourself at the Password screen, then Bart's room. Bart has been grounded by his parents. Bummer, man. THE PASSWORD Never mind. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- PART 3 - PLAYING BART'S HOUSE OF WEIRDNESS Being grounded isn't the worse thing in the world. It's not as bad as, say, having to write "I will not do that thing with my tongue" on the blackboard 500 times. And when you've got an imagination like Bart does, then staying entertained isn't a problem. In fact, Bart has some daydreams that seem pretty real. Sometimes Bart battles space aliens, or dreams that he confronts Itchy and Scratchy! Bart can also stay busy by sneaking out the window on adventures, or go exploring in the attic and basement. When he's done with all that, Bart can begin his greatest mission, saving his hero, Krusty the Clown, from Sideshow Bob! You will guide Bart high and low through Springfield, searching for cool items that will help Bart solve that ultimate adventure. We can't keep a secret, Bart has to get these three items: * cool shoes * cool shades * cool hat When Bart has all the cool items (and has completed all the missions), he can enter Krusty's Jungle Land. BART'S BEDROOM - MOVING AROUND AND PLAYING WITH STUFF Okay, so being grounded isn't great, but there are ways to stay amused. You can play with some cool stuff, like the Talking Krusty the Clown doll, or the headphones on the desk. Really, try it. Just use the joystick (or arrow keys) to move Bart. KEY KEYBOARD COMMANDS: (Ctrl+K) activates the keyboard, (Ctrl+J) activates the joystick, (Ctrl+P) pauses the game. Give it a try. See? Move Bart over by the right side of the desk. Then face the desk and press the fire button on the joystick or Enter). You should see a menu appear on the screen that lets you select a song to play. Move up and down the menus by moving the joystick. If you have a sound card in your computer you're in for a real treat. If you don't have one of those sound cards, we pity you. Back to the bedroom. Try the Sideshow Bob punching bag, Go ahead, walk up to it and take a few swings... LOADING AND SAVING YOUR GAME If you walk back to Bart's dresser, you will notice that one top drawer is open and one is closed. If you stand in front of the open drawer on the left and press the fire button (or Enter) you can load a saved game. If you stand in front of the closed dresser drawer and press the fire button (or Enter), then you can save your game to that point. Note: The only time you can save a game is from Bart's room. GAME UTILITIES If you press the (F10) key on your keyboard, you get the game utilities that allow you to: * Turn the music on/off * turn sound effects on/off * configure a joystick * switch between hard/normal game, or * Quit the game Use the joystick or arrows to scroll between choices. Enter or the fire button to accept choices, and (F10) to leave the menu. To exit without changing anything, press (ESC). LEAVING BART'S ROOM You can go in three directions from Bart's room: * Closet door * Hall door * Window Altogether there are six adventures which Bart can go on, if playing with the Talking Krusty doll gets old. THE STATUS BOX This might be a good time to discuss the stuff on the bottom of the screen. What you see on the top part of your screen is the main window. It's where you see all of the action taking place. The bottom part of the screen is what we'll call the Status Box. It has a few different elements. From left to right they are: Lives Remaining (number in upper left) -- Shows you how many lives you have remaining. You start the game with three. The game ends when you have zero. You can probably figure out the ones in-between. Bart Cool-Item Indicator (small picture of Bart) -- When Bart gets a cool item, it shows up in this picture of Bart. Cool-O-Meter (gauge from Un-cool to Cool) -- This measures Bart's coolness. When everything is going well, Bart's cool. If he gets swatted around by space aliens or bugged by bugs, that's uncool. It works against him by lowering his cool rating. With a zero cool rating, you're toast. On the other hand, Bart can raise his level of coolness by finishing a level, finding donuts, or jumping on mushrooms. Points (top half of status bar to right of Cool-O-Meter) -- You can earn points for doing things like finding coins, defeating aliens, earning cool items, etc. The idea is to get points. LOTS of points. Sure, the object is to rescue Krusty, but anyone can do that. The thing that will really impress your friends is the number of points you can rack up while you rescue Krusty. After all, you're Bart. You're a Simpson. It's not like your life is ever going to amount to anything anyway, so you might as well try to get a lot of points in the game. A whole lotta points. Screen Number -- This little box below the points will display a screen number. It makes it easier for you to map out the route Bart is taking on his adventures. Weapon (top) (to right of points) -- With this weapon Bart shoots something and can destroy it. It may take more than one shot for big targets. The weapon will operate with the post button of your joystick (or Spacebar). You start out with the Burp Gun, but you can also find other weapons. To the right of the weapon picture is a picture of the type of ammo you have. It may be standard Burp Balls, or something else for a different weapon. Weapon (bottom) -- This weapon, if you earn it, will be either the Spray Paint or Water Balloons. To use the current weapon, press both joystick buttons at the same time. (Keyboard users: press Space+Enter.) Number of Shots Left -- Shows the number of shots left. Adventure Objective (far right) -- This will show you what you need to find to complete the adventure. For example, in Bart's Room it says "Have Fun!" That means your objective in Bart's Room is to have fun. Another example is the Space Mutants adventure. There you will see a picture of a cookbook. Your goal, then, is to find the cookbook. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- THE ADVENTURES THE QUEST FOR MAGGIE'S BALL Look high and low through the rooftops and sewers of Springfield. Why? Because Bart is a loving brother who wants to keep his baby sister happy by recovering her missing red ball. It's also a great excuse to get out of mowing the lawn, and possible earn a cool item. "I WANNA GO TO THE MOVIES" There is nothing a kid likes better than checking out a flick on a rainy day. Of course, it isn't raining, but that's no excuse to miss a good movie. All you have to do is help Bart get enough cash-ola to get a ticket. Visiting the Burn's estate and the Shopping Mall should get you the 5 coins you need. Remember: going through the Burn's estate could involve a wild goose chase. GRAVE DANGER IN THE BASEMENT Glowing rats, Ms. Botz the Baby-sitter Bandit, and ferocious earthworms. What more do you want in a computer game? Keep your eye out for a blank space and ask yourself "What would Bart do here?" THE SECRET OF THE ATTIC There's lots of cool stuff in the Simpsons' attic, man. Check out the moose head if you want to lift your spirits, but defeating the spider is the final key. SPACE MUTANT MADNESS Beware! There are more man eating aliens then you can shake a Burp Gun at, and the future of the planet rests in Bart's hands. TOO MUCH T.V. Hey, man, Bart can't really be in the Itchy and Scratchy Show, because it's just TV. But if this is just a dream, why can't Bart wake up? It will take a lot of skill to reach your goal here! ADVENTURES IN KRUSTYLAND Find Krusty. 'Nuff said. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- SPECIAL ITEMS Spray Paint (looks like spray paint) -- Comes in handy for handling big targets and writing messages on walls. Water Balloons (sack w/ string) -- This'll slow down a charging Doberman. Maybe. Burp Gun (looks like gun) -- A kid couldn't take on the world without one! Dart Gun (dart over gun) -- Better range than a Burp Gun, but it's no slingshot. Slingshot (looks like slingshot) -- It is a slingshot Burp Balls (looks like two bullseyes) -- Self explanatory. Super Burp Balls (looks like big bullseye) -- You'll need them to defeat Sideshow Bob. Mutant Gun (looks like 8 arm spiral) -- What other purpose would a Mutant Gun serve than to shoot Mutants? Rocks (look like pile of 6 rocks) -- Great ammo for the slingshot, man! Doughnut -- Grab this handy, nutritious, vitamin-packed snack for a quick pick-me-up between meals. Extra Life (little Bart head) -- Next time someone says "Get a life, wimp" you can reply: "Already did, log-brain." -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- INSTANT REPLAY There aren't many things more enjoyable than taping your favorite episode of a TV show and replaying it on video over and over. Now you can do the same thing with Bart's House of Weirdness! To run the VCR during the game, press the (TAB) key. Here are the Instant Replay controls: (F1) = Cue forward (F2) = Cue backward (F3) = Stop (F4) = Pause (F5) = Fast Forward (F6) = Play (F7) = Rewind (F8) = One frame forward (F9) = One frame backward Shift+S = Save replay to play during introduction (ESC) = Return to game -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- THE SIMPSONS: BART'S HOUSE OF WEIRDNESS Developed for Konami, Inc. by Distinctive Software Inc. Development Producer: Rory Armes Associate Producer: Mark Flitman (Konami) Design: Ken Lam Athena Bax Alan Stewart Rory Armes Anthony Gurr Programming: Ken Lam Alan Stewart Anthony Gurr Art: Athena Bax Sound & Music: Dan Scott Traz Damji Mike Sokyrka Brian Plank Kris Hatlelid Quality Assurance: David Hards Ivan Allan Jeff Parr Beta Testing: Mike Gallo (Konami) Manual Written & Designed by: Kevin O'Donohue (Konami) -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- JOYSTICK CONTROLS There are two types of joystick configurations you can use when you play Bart's House of Weirdness. The regular joystick is better for shooting, and the alternate joystick is better for jumping. If you have trouble with a certain segment of the game, don't have a cow. Just experiment with the two joystick configurations to see if it helps. To switch between configurations, press (F9). BUTTOM BUTTON PUSHED TOP BUTTON PUSHED BOTH BUTTONS PUSHED Jump |jump | jump shoot | shoot| shoot turn | N/A | turn left | up | right up left | up | up right left | | right -----+-----+------ --------+------+--------- -----+-----+------ jump | jump| jump shoot | shoot| shoot walk | N/A | walk left | |right left | | right left | | right -----+-----+------ --------+------+--------- -----+-----+------ duck | duck| duck shoot | shoot| shoot turn | N/A | turn | | down | down | down left | | right REGULAR JOYSTICK CONFIGURATION (BETTER FOR SHOOTING) You can use the keypad or arrow keys to simulate the joystick directions. Enter = Joystick button 1 = fire weapon 1 Space = Joystick button 2 = jump (regular) or weapon 2 (alternate) (CTRL+J) = Joystick on/calibrartion (CTRL+K) = Keyboard on/joystick off (CTRL+P) = Pause game (CTRL+Q) = Quit game (F9) = Regular/alternate joystick BUTTOM BUTTON PUSHED TOP BUTTON PUSHED BOTH BUTTONS PUSHED shoot|shoot| shoot jump | jump | jump jump | jump| jump up | up | up left | | right left | | right -----+-----+------ --------+------+-------- ------+-----+------ shoot|shoot| shoot 2nd weap| 2nd |2nd weap walk | N/A | walk left | | right left |weapon| right left | | right -----+-----+------ --------+------+-------- ------+-----+------ shoot|shoot| shoot duck | duck | duck duck | duck| duck down| down| down | | | | ALTERNATE JOYSTICK CONFIGURATION (BETTER FOR JUMPING) -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- Ugh, well I tell ya, TransAtlantic FAX is NOT very fast, and it sure as hell is a mess and a half to read! -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- /\ /\ /\/ / \// \/ Docs keyed by The Ghost Wind / /\ \ -*- THE DREAM TEAM -*- / /\/\/ \/ -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- SUPPORT THE COMPANIES THAT RELEASE QUALITY SOFTWARE! If you enjoy playing this game, buy the original. X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699 The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674 Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560 "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X