I felt that the Mac didn't have a Pacman game that was good enough to fit my taste. The old MacMan doesn't work under MultiFinder, and the newer MacChase doesn't have any really good animation. (No little chewing character or nasty-looking enemies.)
MacChase has one thing that is really good: the ability for the user to edit the game layout from inside the game. This feature is also in Bachman, but only in the registered user version. What you have is the complete game for playing the built-in levels and any Bachman scenario files, but the game does not include the editor. Registration is $15 (100 swedish crowns or equivalent). Cash, please - it is very expensive for me to cash in american cheques.
The game mechanics is as a Pacman-style game is supposed to be: you control Bachman in a maze, hunted by nasty enemies while you try to clear the level from all the small markers laying everywere. If an enemy can touch Bachman, the poor Bachman will be eaten, but there are of course power pills ("turners") to enable Bachman to eat the enemies instead.
However, Bachman has some features that you might not expect. The graphics is "pseudo-3D", not as flat as classic Pacman games. There are bonus objects ("overdrives" and "treasure chests"), teleporters, plus Bachman's ability to shoot biscuits at the enemies to delay them (but not to bypass them). Well, you'll notice all that when you play.
Do you wonder why it is named Bachman? If you consider the names of some objects mentioned above, and the music played between levels (hint: "Not Fragile"), you might find it as logical as I do.
Start a new game with "New game" in the "Game" menu.
If you use the keyboard, you control Bachman with the numeric keypad, arrow keys or keys of your choice. You can choose between "normal" control and "try to be smart". Most playtesters find "try to be smart" to be hard to use, but it is good for the expert (me) in some situations (i.e. zig-zag passages).
You can control Bachman with the mouse, but this option is mostly included as a curiosity. I find it much harder than keyboard control.
It is recommended that you set the screen to b/w, 16 or 256 colors and check "fast graphics", especially on machines not faster than an LC. "Fast graphics" will not work on some screens, though.
You can "allow background tasks", but this will not really guarantee that any important tasks (e.g. downloading) runs fast enough or at all. I recommend you to play with "allow background tasks" unchecked.
Bachman versions before 1.1.4 must reside on a non-locked disk to be able to save settings and high scores. It is possible that AutoDoubler™ and similar transparent compression tools can cause problems. Later versions will write settings and scores for the internal levels on a Preference file, but you can still not edit the built-in levels if the application is locked.
On large screens, Bachman may go out of memory, usually while starting up. If that happends, increase the amount of memory set for it in "Get Info" in the Finder.
Changes to version 1.1:
- Fixed a fatal bug in the editor under UniFinder (registered version only).
- Added configurable key settings.
- Made it possible for Bachman to turn around in any position, not only in the centers of each square.
- Holes in walls allowed.
NOTE: External files that uses holes in the outer walls will not work correctly when played using older versions!
Minor updates on 1.1:
1.1.1 and 1.1.2: Fixed bugs which caused problems with external files under System 7.0.
1.1.3: Mostly cosmetic stuff, like the cursors in the editor.
1.1.4: Uses a Preference file in the System folder when necessary. My home address updated. Some cosmetic fixes.
Changes from 1.1.4 to version 1.2:
- Fixed a problem that caused Bachman to crash on some systems (some Powerbooks and 24-bit color cards, I think).
- Better out-of-memory checking.
- Thermometer display when loading.
Changes to version 2.0:
- Color support.
Changes to 2.0.4:
- Bachman now warns you if you run in thousands of colors or more.
- Between-levels screens.
- Gamma fades (just quick ones, so that you won't get bored).
- Multi-channel sound.
Change to 2.0.5:
- More safety margins for better out of memory handling.
- Fades in before emergency exit. (In very rare occasions, the program could run out of memory when faded.)
- Strings in resources so that the game can be translated to other languages. (Now, can someone prove to me that this is really worthwhile?)
Changes to 2.0.6:
- Fixed a bug that made some sounds play even if sound was off.
- The icons were wrong (actally the "bundle" resource), and may not have shown up on the desktop for all users. This has been corrected, though it may not get right until you rebuild the desktop next time.
4. EDITING
The editor is not available in the unregistered version of Bachman. For registered users, the editor is documented in the printed manual.
5. CREDITS
Many thanks to Eva L Ragnemalm, who made many of the nice sounds.
The testing and valuable comments from the playtesters is much appriciated. Most notable playtesters: Folke Söderström for bug hunting, Christer Pettersson for valuable ideas for the editor and Christer Ericsson for the discussions about the graphical design, sound manager coding and more. Many others have suggested improvements and reported bugs. Thanks!
The quite important bug fix to version 1.2 was made with the expert help of Juri Munkki, who also reported it. (Info for programmers: I didn't switch MMUmode, which was no problem on any of the Macs I use myself.) Thanks to Dmitry Boldyrev for verifying the correctness of the bug fix. The bug fix has been verified on a Quadra and a Powerbook 170 and seems to work.
6. REGISTERED VERSION
Bachman is shareware, but I don't put any fixed time limit on it. Pay when you think I deserve it. When you pay, you also get the full version with the level editor. The game will be fun for much longer with the editor, and by paying the fee you also encourage me to make more.
If you send me $15 (or equivalent amount in some other currency, e.g 100 swedish crowns, £10 (UK) etc), you will get the registered version of Bachman plus recent versions of as many of my other games that I can fit on a floppy. This is what I call Shareware Pack #1. It includes the following games:
Bachman (this game)
Slime Invaders (Space Invaders-style, but a lot more silly)
MacSokoban (challenging puzzle game)
Hexmines (Mines on the hex grid)
Bikaka (Tetris on the hex grid)
Classic Daleks (Simple boardgame)
plus some extra items, small games or utilities.
Please send cash (wrapped so you can't tell through the envelope). The fee for cashing US checks and most money orders in Sweden is about $12! Swedes can register by paying 100 SEK on pg. 620831-2014. Shareware authors can contact me for special deals (like: I get your program, you get mine).
Note: If your Mac doesn't support high-density (1.4 meg) diskettes, I need to know.
7. SOURCE CODE
The full source to Bachman is *not* available. However, there is something even better. I have made a toolkit of the libraries I have used for Bachman and Slime Invaders. It is named Sprite Animation Toolkit (SAT), and is available from various Mac archives. The latest version is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.lysator.liu.se.
The book "Tricks of the game programming gurus", from Hayden books, includes a copy of Sprite Animation Toolkit, plus a lot of source-code, and will also teach you all the details of how to make games. I think it is pretty good - I am one of the authors.
8. AUTHOR's ADDRESS
If you have comments, ideas or bug reports, please send it to:
Internet:
ingemar@lysator.liu.se
(If this address fails, either snail-mail or mail my wife at evalu@ida.liu.se.)
Snail mail (for registration or if you don't have Internet access):
Ingemar Ragnemalm
Plöjareg. 73
S-58330 Linköping
Sweden
Don't worry about not having registered yet. If you think it is *almost* worth registering, tell me why it is just "almost" and I might fix it.
POST SCRIPTUM
Just when I was ready to release Bachman 1.0 in april 1992, no less than two other Pacman-games showed up:
• "Pacman" by M. Tsuji, a perfect clone of the original arcade game.
• "MacMan Classic" by John Butler, which is *not* the same game as the old Macman mentioned above. Also a good straight clone, though b/w.
Both these games are pretty good, so the claim that there is no good Pacman game for the Mac is no longer as valid as when I started the project. However, Bachman has several features that makes it very different from the others. I hope you will enjoy it.
