ShapeShifter

Version 10

Contents

Introduction
Getting Started
What's New
Scoring
Bonus Points
Hints
Special Shapes
Multiplayer Games
Miscellaneous Functions
Acknowledgements
Game Links

Introduction

ShapeShifter is a simple and addictive puzzle game. The object is to make as many matches of three or more of the same shape as you can. For each move, you may swap any two adjacent shapes by clicking on them, one at a time. When you create a row or column of three or more of the same shape, those shapes disappear and the ones above them shift down to take their places. You score points based on the number of adjacent matching shapes you get in each move.
In the example below, you can exchange the green and yellow shapes to make a row of 3 adjacent yellow shapes. The yellow shapes will then disappear, causing the green, purple and orange shapes to shift into their places.

Any move that would not create a row or column of at least three matching adjacent shapes is not allowed. If there are no more allowed moves, the game is over.

Getting Started

To play ShapeShifter, you need a Windows computer with BYOND installed. Click here to download it.
Once BYOND is installed on your computer, simply click here to download and run ShapeShifter. That's it!

What's New

Version 10 contains minor bug fixes and stability enhancements.
Version 9 fixes a bug where scores were reported twice when players closed DreamSeeker in the middle of a game. It also adds two new preferences for subscribers:
The ability to turn on or off the opening splash screen at login
The ability to start a game immediately when the board is displayed

Version 8 of ShapeShifter featured many changes and enhancements from previous versions:
New shapes (see Special Shapes): Anchors, Bombs, Blocks, and Transporters.
Better click interface. You can drag shapes to make moves if you prefer that method. The old click interface still works, but now there is no extra click required to select a different shape without making a move.
New "selected" animations for all shapes. Snazzy!
Larger board size to accommodate the new special shapes.
New scoring: scores in this version of ShapeShifter are not comparable to older versions, so the scoring has been completely redone.
A few extra preferences.
New features for game subscribers:
Multiplayer functionality is now available only to subscribers. Anyone may participate in a multiplayer game, but only subscribers may host them.
Pause functionality: pause your game and don't lose precious bonus time! In single player games, pausing also stops bomb timers. In multiplayer games, bombs continue counting unless all players are paused.
Classic mode: for those players who long for the days of yore. Classic mode behaves exactly like older versions of ShapeShifter (but with enhancements like the newer click interface and pause functionality): no special shapes and the same scoring as older versions. High scores for Classic mode are tabulated separately, alongside scores from older versions of ShapeShifter.

Scoring

For each match you get, points are awarded based on the number of shapes in that match:
# Shapes Points (Modern) Points (Classic)

3 1 10

4 2 20

5 5 30

6 20 50

7 50 500

8 200 500

9 1000 500

Additionally, you can get multiple matches in one move. When the matched shapes disappear and shapes above them shift to fill in the gap, some of those shapes may line up to create more matches. You are awarded extra points for the number of matches in a single move:
Match # Points (Modern) Points (Classic)

1 0 0

2 5 10

3 10 20

4 15 30

5 25 50

6 40 70

7 65 100

8 100 150

Any more 100 200

Bonus Points

The bonus meter at the bottom of the window tracks how quickly you make your matches. For every shape cleared off the board through a match, the bonus meter increases. But it also steadily decreases with time. If you can beat the clock and fill the meter all the way, you get bonus points. Each time you fill the bonus meter, you get more points:
# Times Points (Modern) Points (Classic)

1 5 100

2 10 200

3 15 300

4 25 500

5 40 700

6 65 1000

7 100 1500

Any more 100 2000

Hints

If you get really stuck, just click on the Hint button. It'll momentarily flash two shapes which can be exchanged for a valid move. But use your hints wisely! You will lose an increasing number of points for every hint you take. The first hint costs 1 point, the second 2 points, the third 3 points, and so on. In Classic mode, hints cost 10 times those amounts (ie, 10, 20, 30, etc).
You can disable hints entirely in the preferences panel. If you complete an entire game with hints disabled, you get an extra 5% added to your score in the Modern (regular) game. There is no such bonus in Classic mode. Note that hints must be disabled before the game starts, and you may not enable them at any time during the game - doing so will forfeit this bonus!

Special Shapes

Anchor
An anchor is very heavy and therefore very difficult to move. In fact, it can't be swapped with any other shape at all! The only thing you can do with an anchor is make matches below it, causing the anchor to fall down. When it reaches the bottom of the board, the anchor disappears and you get 25 points. Be careful: too many anchors on the board can reduce the possibility of moves, increasing your chance of ending the game!

Bomb
A bomb behaves just like a regular shape, except that it has a timer constantly counting down from 99 to 0. When a bomb's timer reaches 0, it explodes, taking some of its neighboring shapes with it. If another bomb is in close proximity to an exploding bomb, that one may be set off prematurely by the explosion, starting a chain reaction. Bombs are a good way to get rid of excess anchors, but remember that you get no points for exploding shapes.

Block
Blocks are completely immovable shapes. You'll notice that they line the lower and right sides of the board at the start of the game. There are two ways to get rid of a block: explode it with a nearby bomb or cause an anchor to fall on top of it. For the latter case, you get 100 points; as with all exploding shapes, you get no points in the former case. When all initial blocks have been cleared from the board, you get a whopping 1,000 bonus points. From that point forward, blocks may occasionally appear where shapes fall down, just to keep you on your toes!

Transporter
A transporter is a very nice shape to have on the board: you can swap it with any other shape on the board (except for anchors and blocks) as long as that swap results in a match of some kind. Some advanced uses of transporters include moving bombs to new locations and getting rid of shapes below anchors.

Multiplayer Games

This game is traditionally played alone. But we've added the capability to have extra fun by playing against your friends (or strangers!) head to head. In a multiplayer game, the rules are exactly the same: you're just competing with your opponent(s) on every move to get the next match. Whoever gets it first will receive the points. If the bonus clock isn't fast enough for you, some direct competition may be just what you need!
Multiplayer mode is only available to those who subscribe to ShapeShifter. Show your support and subscribe today!
Any time someone else is logged into your game, you will see a stat panel indicating who is logged in and who is playing. You can use the command line at the bottom of the window to chat with your fellow players. Anything you type there will be sent to everyone in the game.
ShapeShifter will automatically allow other people to connect when you start a new game that allows more than one player. If you want your friends to join, you have to tell them your game's URL. Find this out by clicking on the Preferences button.

Miscellaneous Functions

Preferences
You may click the Preferences button at any time to get a dialog allowing you to set various default options for the game. In this dialog, click the Apply button to close it and apply your changes immediately. Or click the Cancel button to close it and discard all changes.
As mentioned above, the Preferences dialog also displays your game's URL, if any, while playing.

say
When multiple players are connected to the same game, each player gets a "say" command in the text input line at the bottom of the screen. Type anything in there and it will be sent to the text output panel for all players to see. Use this to chat with the other players in the game.

Admin Commands
During a multiplayer game, the player hosting that game is giving two commands for dealing with trouble makers who may connect to his or her game. Both commands take effect permanently until you reboot the game or restart BYOND. In both cases, the offending player is not even notified of the action - you may tell her if you wish, or simply let the player figure it out herself.

Boot
This kicks the offending player out of the game and prevents her from joining any more games in the current BYOND session. Use this on trouble makers who are getting on your nerves, or to clear out the game if you wish to let others play instead.

Mute
This silences the offending player so that her "say" messages will no longer be sent to the rest of the world. She will see her own messages, so will likely be unaware of the Mute action, except for the fact that people are now ignoring her. Use this when players get on your nerves by repeatedly "spamming" the game with text or saying nasty things.

Additionally, the player who hosts a multiplayer game may change the maximum number of players allowed in the game at any time. This option is available under the "Other Players" panel.

Acknowledgements

ShapeShifter is Copyright © 2002 Mike Heasley (a.k.a. Air Mapster). All rights reserved.
ShapeShifter has been made possible by The Great BYOND. Download it here.

Game Links

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