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Q99158: Description of Maxwell’s Maniac

Article: Q99158
Product(s): Microsoft Home Games
Version(s): WINDOWS:
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 12-JUN-1999

kbusage

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack, volume 4 
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SUMMARY
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Maxwell's Maniac is a game of balance. The playing area of Maxwell's Maniac is
the inside of a chamber. The object of Maxwell's Maniac is to separate the red
molecules from the blue molecules inside the divided chamber using the
slidergate without blowing up the chamber. At higher game levels you use the
right mouse button to place lead bricks to help channel the molecules where you
want them. Place the bricks carefully because you don't get many.

MORE INFORMATION
================

There are three separate games within Maxwell's Maniac, each with multiple
levels. You can play each at slow or fast speed.

MOVE is the easiest game. The object is to move the red molecules from the blue
side of the chamber to the red side. With each new level, it gets tougher to
keep track of which molecules are passing through the slidergate.

SWAP begins with the red molecules on the blue side and the blue molecules on the
red side of the chamber. Use the slidergate to swap the molecules over to their
proper side.

PAINT is a variation of Swap, except when a molecule passes through to the
correct side of the chamber it loses its color and becomes gray. The object is
to paint all the molecules gray. You've got to be quick, though, because a
painted molecule, escaping back through the slidergate regains its original
color.

You can play all three games with a prize ball molecule by choosing Prize Ball
from the Options menu. This gray ball is an unstable molecule that (for a
limited time) provides bonus points each time it passes through the slidergate.
However once you're out of good time, the prize ball molecule degrades into an
unstable penalty molecule. If you allow an unstable penalty molecule to pass
through the slidergate, it explodes and costs you one of your chambers.

You can also opt for more demanding play in all three games by choosing Intense
Game from the Options menu. Intense Game makes playing Maxwell's Maniac harder,
by introducing up to seven molecules at one time into the chamber. But to reward
your efforts, it places an 18-screen limit on the game. It takes a lot of
intensity to make it through all 18 screens. You can play Intense Game at either
slow or fast speed.

Your score is computed based on two things: The time required to complete the
level and the number of molecules in play. Time is very important. If you don't
complete a level within good time, you are awarded only a nominal 100 points,
regardless of the speed or the level at which you were playing.

If you choose Prize Ball from the Options menu, you are awarded bonus points each
time the prize ball molecule passes through the slidergate. The bonus is doubled
for each consecutive time you can send it through the slidergate without a red
or blue molecule breaking your streak. Remember that a prize ball molecule
becomes a penalty molecule when good time expires.

A Maxwell chamber life is lost each time a gray penalty molecule passes through
the slidergate. Penalty molecules don't exist until expiration of the good time.

Additional query words:

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbGamesSearch kbWinEntPkSearch kbWinEntPk400
Version           : WINDOWS:
Issue type        : kbinfo

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