Simply put, Blix is yet another one of those "brick" games. However, Blix, still in its ßeta stage, already features rendered 256 color graphics, multi-channel digitized sound, numerous levels of play, and bonus rounds. Unlike standard brick games, Blix features moving enemies (cubes, spheres, cylinders, and death blocks), bonus stars, the ability to shoot bullets from your paddle, and the ability to block objects with a shield. To make it even more difficult, you must dodge acid drops which fall from the ceiling. The object of the game is to simply destroy the enemies with the ball, while making sure the enemies do not touch your paddle, in the shortest amount of time.
[NOTE: Most of this information is provided within the game's HELP function. If any information here appears to be missing or is confusing, it may be helpful to refer to Blix's online help.]
There are basically three types of enemies: 1)the blue and white shapes, which can be destroyed instantly when hit with the ball or with a shot; 2)the death blocks (red and black squares), which must be hit more than once (maybe twice, three times, or four!) to be destroyed; 3)and the acid drops, which can only be stopped by other objects (NOT with the paddle or shield!).
The three bars at the right-hand side of the screen when the game is in play (if you've played the game, you've seen them) denote how much/many BONUS, SHIELD, and SHOTS you have left. Simply put, the BONUS gauge is like a timer. As it goes down, the number of bonus points you receive at the end of the level decreases. Thus, the quicker you finish a level, the more points you will receive. When you use the paddle's shield (by pressing the mouse button), the SHIELD gauge will decrease accordingly. Shield can be used to block anything but acid drops. Acid drops will destroy your paddle NO MATTER WHAT. When your SHIELD gauge is at empty, the paddle's shield will no longer function. The only way to acquire more shield energy is to catch a bonus star, which will later be described in greater detail. The SHOTS gauge simply shows you how many shots you have left. As with the SHIELD gauge, once you are out of shots the only way to obtain more is to catch a bonus star. By pressing the space bar you can fire a shot. Be aware, however, that if one of your shots bounces off the ceiling and hits your paddle, you will lose some of your shield energy.
A yellow star is NOT an enemy. It will shatter if it comes in contact will the ball or with an acid drop. Try to catch these stars with your PADDLE. These bonus stars will either give you extra shield, extra bonus time, an extra life, 500 extra points, or five extra shots. Because these stars are the only way to replenish you shield and shots supply, pay close attention to them and try not to hit them with the ball.
After each four levels comes a "bonus round." Dodge the acid drops for as long as possible. Don't worry, when you are hit by an acid drop it only stops the bonus round; you do not lose a life. At the end of the bonus round you are awarded points for the number of acid drops you have dodged. Thus, the more acid drops you dodge, the more points you will receive.
If it sounds confusing, simply experimenting with the game may help. If you wish to stop a game in progress, simply press 'q' or 'a'. To pause a game, press 'p'.
Bugs and Limitations:
Currently there are only two bugs that I have noticed in Blix. First, if a screen saver happens to come on while the game is in play, a mixture of screensaver and Blix graphics may appear on the screen. Don't worry, this is only a graphic display error and will not damage either the screen saver or Blix. Second, when the game is in play and you somehow click in the finder, the mouse won't reappear (don't worry, I think I've fixed this bug).
Currently, I have tested Blix on a IIci, Power Mac 8100/80AV, and Performa 630CD. I hope to test it on a wider range of computers in the future. Nonetheless, I have noticed that Blix often requires approximately 1000K of memory on 680X0 machines, and about 1400K on PPC. At this time, I am not sure why there must be a difference, but I hope to discover the reason. If Blix quits during loading, and comes up with the error message "Out of Memory," just allocate more memory to it in the get info box (if you have the memory to spare).
Though the program is able to run in black and white, I would NOT recommend it. Most importantly of all, many of the graphics simply do not show up correctly, making it somewhat difficult to play the game. I highly recommend that you run it in 256 colors, but NOT thousands or millions, as this will only slow the program down. In addition, if you set the monitors to thousands or higher, you will have to uncheck the Fast Animation option in the Options Menu, making the program use ordinary Quickdraw (which is much slower than drawing directly to the screen.)
Version History:
0.9b1- first release
Shareware:
If you like Blix, please take the time to register by sending $5 (consider other shareware games that ask for three or four times as much) to the following address:
Xenix Software
10 Paseo Tercero
Salinas, CA 93908
You'll receive a registration code in the mail which will allow you to register the game in your name. Send any comments or bug reports to the above address or to my e-mail address My2x4@aol.com. I realize that this game could probably be made a lot better than it is, so if you have any ideas for additions to the game, such as wierd bonus levels, types of 'boss enemies', or any other suggestions I would greatly appreciate them. Thanks!
Special Thanks To:
-Ingemar Ragnemalm for his EXTREMELY helpful Sprite Animation Toolkit. Without it I probably would have NEVER been able to produce this game.
-Joe Zobkiw for the Finder 7-like progress bar source code he wrote.
Xenix Software is not responsible for any damage to the user's computer system or data and in no event will Xenix Software, its officers, directors, employees or agents be responsible to the user for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages (including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use the Xenix Software product. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you.
