History

The Flash Protocol by [Tim Stryker] brought yet another advanced feature to [The Major BBS]: Realtime gaming! In short, it turned the BBS into a multi-player gaming network, and allowed users of "Flash Games" to connect, meet in the teleconference, and start playing. The games could be written in ANSI graphics or VGA/hires graphics; the limitation was what the host computer could display.

In order to demonstrate the protocol, [Tim Stryker] ported his old Commodore PET two-player game Flash Attack to the new protocol. In addition, he created a simple realtime chat program called [Flash Chat], which was included in the [Flash Developer's Kit] as an example program.

[Stryker] needed more examples of the technology, so he asked his friends at [Galactic Innovations] to develop something. Enter Flash Maze, which was developed by [Scott Brinker] and [Chris Robert] a few months prior to [Galacticomm]'s acquisition of that company. Flash Maze was the second Flash game ever developed!

Game Information and Gameplay

Flash Maze is a multiplayer battle to the death where the last one remaining is the victor. Each player has a wide arsenal of weapons and devices to help them achieve this goal – may the best man (or woman) win! To move around, use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad (turn NumLock off.)

Weapons

Photons, Zappers, and Drillers are all "aimed" weapons; use the shifted arrow keys on the number keypad (no NumLock) to fire. Hit ENTER to select a weapon (rotates between them). Bombs and Cubes are "dropped" weapons. To drop a Bomb, hit B and move quickly away. To place a Cube, hit C and move away. Remember, limited supply!

A-Mazing Surprises

The Countdown

To keep the pace racing, every so often the maze flashes, and each player loses 2 points of stamina.

Zombie

When you lose all stamina, if more than one other player still has stamina, you become a "zombie". You can not use any weapons or devices, but you can use the "surprises" (energy beacons resurrect).