INTRODUCTION Do you like fast action and competition? Whether you play against a friend or your computer, this colorful simulation of Air Hockey offers both. For the Commodore 64 and 128 ( 64 mode). A joystick is required (two joysticks for two-player game). INSTRUCTIONS If you've played Air Hockey, you already know how to play "Face-off." Based on ice hockey, Air Hockey pits two players against each other, each trying to shoot a puck into his opponent's goal while defending his own goal. A center line splits the playfield. Neither player is allowed to cross this line. The object of the game is simple: The first player to score five goals wins. Typing It In Face-off is written in BASIC, although a large portion of the game is in machine language (in the form of DATA statements). Type it in using "The Automatic Proofreader," elsewhere in thin issue. After you've finished entering the program, save a copy on tape or disk. To play the game, load it and type RUN. You'll see a message (READING DATA-PLEASE WAIT) and after a brief pause, you'll see a prompt, 1 OR 2 PLAYERS. Press 1 or 2 (it's not necessary to press RETURN). The one-player game pits you against your computer; the two-player game is for two human opponents and requires two joysticks. Next, you're prompted to select the speed (1-3). Speed 1 is the slowest and 3 is the fastest. (It is suggested that you play your first game at the slowest speed, although speed 2 is probably the one you'll choose after playing a few times.) If you selected a two-player option, the game begins after you've selected a speed. If you chose the one-player option there's one more prompt to answer: Skill Level (1-9). This determines the intelligence of the computer-controlled player. If you choose 1, the computer plays a pretty easy game. At 9, it's very wily. With a speed of 3 and a skill level of 9, the computer is next to impossible to beat. When the game begins, you see a red puck, a cyan player on the left, and a yellow player on the right. The cyan player controls the puck to start. Contact with the puck starts the game. (Notice that the puck gradually slows down if it's not hit.) After each goal scored, the player scored against gets control. (You can knock the puck into your own goal, which awards a point to your opponent.) A total of nine pucks are placed per game. If you wish to change the number of pucks, change the value in line 510. One Player Or Two? When playing against the computer, plug a joystick into port 1. You control the yellow player, on the right. You can move anywhere up to the center line. (At slower speeds, one strategy is to play along the center line, like rushing the net in tennis. This keeps the puck in the computer player's territory most of the time if you can react quickly enough.) Current scores for each player are posted at the top of the screen. After nine pucks are used, the game is ever. You're then prompted to press the fire button to play again, then to press up on the joystick to change play options or down to play with those of the previous game. The two-player game has the same rules. The cyan player, on the left, must use a joystick plugged into port 2.