Created by Ian Firth

Thank you for taking a look at Prairie Dog Hunt for Windows. I think you will find it to be a most entertaining game. If you have ever played that Whack a mole game at an amusement park then you should enjoy WinDog. Basically, prairie dogs pop up out of their holes and you shoot them. Sounds fun doesn't it? But it's much more than that. Below are the general rules on how to play WinDog. Please read them to fully understand the game.

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When you start Prairie Dog Hunt for Windows you are greeted by the intro screen. Not much here, but if you want a taste of the game, just click on the adorable little prairie dog with the crosshairs centered on him. Now it gets serious... Click on the 'GO HUNTING' button to bring up the main gaming screen (depending on the speed of your computer this can take between 5 and 30 seconds... please bear with it, the game has not crashed). Once the main screen has shown up it is time to go hunting.

The game starts with a default prairie dog count of 20 and unlimited ammunition. To change the default settings click on the big button that says 'DOGS' (has 4 little P. Dogs on it) and select a different quantity of rodents. The available choices are A Few (20) - A Bunch (50) or Dog Master (100). Then select the big button that says 'AMMO' (has guns on it). The choices here are Unlimited (1000 loads for each weapon), Limited (10 for pellet gun, 6 for 44 Mag and 4 for shotgun) and Dog Master (6 for pellet gun, 4 for 44 Mag and 2 for shotgun).

Once you have the settings to your liking it's time to go hunting. Simply click on the 'PRAIRIE DOG CALL' button to call out the dogs. Quickly select a weapon from the three choices (Pellet Gun - .44 Magnum - Shotgun) This will give you a black crosshair to aim with. Aim at the prairie dogs as they pop up out of their holes. Click the left mouse button to fire off a round. The Pellet Gun is a bit weak and you must hit the dogs twice to kill them (i.e. double left click). The .44 Magnum will kill them with just one shot, and the Shotgun will kill all the visible dogs on the screen. When you kill a prairie dog, blood will fly and he will scream in agony. Keep killing prairie dogs until they are all gone. Or until you run out of ammunition. Or die of RABIES.... RABIES??? WHAT RABIES???? Be careful, some of the dogs in the lower left corner of the screen are RABID. You will recognize them immediately. If a RABID dog pops up and you don't kill him he will bite you. Watch the RABIES display at the bottom of the screen... 5 bites and you are DEAD.

SCORING in WinDog consists of 10 points for a Pellet Gun kill, 5 for a .44 Mag kill and 1 point for each dog killed with the shotgun. Each miss costs you 1 point. The highest possible score per game would be 1000 (100 dogs killed with pellet gun, no misses). This is the perfect game. But then there is the Dog Master game (100 dogs, Dog Master AMMO setting). This game can only be won with very accurate shooting. No misses with the Pellet Gun or Magnum and at least 2 dogs hit with each of 8 Shotgun shells will yield 100 dead dogs and no remaining ammo. Very tough. Give it a try, there is a Dog Master enrollment screen that will display if you can accomplish it.

The OPTIONS button pauses the game whenever it is selected. The options panel will then appear and allow you to do a few things. You can select HELP to view the Quick Help screen if you need info on playing WinDog. You can select ABOUT to view the about screen and credits. You can select RESTART GAME to restart the game you are currently playing (this option is useful if you are trying for Dog Master status and you know you don't have enough ammo left). You can select STATISTICS to view your stats for the game. Included is your Hit/Miss ratio for each weapon. The statistics continue to increment as long as WinDog is running, so if you want to view stats for just one game, be sure to click RESET STATS before starting a new game. Selecting QUIT will quit WinDog and return you to the Windows environment. Selecting RETURN TO GAME will return you to the game as it was when you selected the OPTIONS button (just like a 'pause' button).

I hope you enjoy WinDog. If you do enjoy it and decide to keep it, please remember to register your copy with me. That way I can send you timely updates and software changes. You will also receive a copy of the game with your name on it on the disk format of your choice. And you will be the first to receive version 2 of Windog which will include side-to-side scrolling terrain, prairie dogs that shoot back and the Dog Master hall of fame Look for WinDog v.2 in the Winter of 1993. Just print out the orderfrm.doc file, fill it out and send to the address shown. Checks or Money Orders are accepted. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.

Please inform me of any bugs or hardware or software conflicts you find while playing WinDog. I would appreciate it. Tips and suggestions to improve game play would also be appreciated. Thank You.