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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Zentris (tm) version 1.50 The Best 'Tris in the World (tm) Copyright (c) 1991-92 Robert J. Sundling Documentation (April 26, 1992) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Zenithal Software (tm) 200 Rowe Street Stoughton, WI 53589-2352 United States of America - i - Table of Contents Preamble/Foreword/Opening/Prelude/Introduction . . . . 1 A Note on Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Zentris Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 How To Register Zentris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The History of Zentris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Nature of Zentris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Playing Zentris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Keyboard controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pull Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Write Config . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Zentris Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Registration Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Demo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Color/Gray Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Joystick Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Invocation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Quick Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Next Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Level/Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Pull Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Pause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sound on/off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Initials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Demo On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Joystick calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Quit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 - ii - Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 DESQView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Microsoft Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Release History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Best 'Tris in the World? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Alphabetical Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 - iii - Preamble/Foreword/Opening/Prelude/Introduction Copyright 1991,92 Robert J. Sundling. All Rights Reserved. Zentris is a product of Zenithal Software, Ltd. Zentris is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and its treaty provisions for foreign countries. Zentris, Zenithal Software, and The Best 'Tris in the World are trademarks of Robert J. Sundling. DOS, Microsoft, and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. DESQView is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Tetris is a trademark of V/O Electronorgtechnica (Elorg). All other trademarks or service marks belong to their respective companies. Disclaimer of liability: The author makes no warranties, expressed or implied, as to this product, including but not limited to implied warranties of suitability for a particular purpose, or any damages that may result from its use, such as lost profits or damaged equipment, among other possibilities. A Note on Viruses The Zentris program is stored in an encrypted format in an attempt to prevent viruses from modifying its code. A CRC check may be added in the future if it is deemed necessary. Distribution Only the "shareware" (i.e., evaluation) version of Zentris may be distributed. This version can be recognized by the message that it displays when run that says "This is an evalua- tion copy of Zentris" or something to that effect. If the evaluation version of Zentris is to be distributed in an archive file, such as with an extension of .ZIP, .ARC, .LZH, .ARJ, .LBR, etc., or as part of a self-extracting archive, a specific filename convention must be observed. The file MUST be named ZTRISxxx.ZIP (or .LZH, etc.), where "xxx" is the version number. For example, version 1.50 would be "ZTRIS150.ZIP." When Zentris is distributed, all four of the shareware Zentris files must be included: ZENTRIS.DOC, ZENTRIS.EXE, ZENTRIS.OVL, and REGISTER.FRM. Once again, only the evaluation version may be distributed. No files from the registered version of Zentris may ever be distributed, under any circumstances, by any party other than the author. Zentris may *not* be distrib- uted by anyone that would be advertising Zentris as free soft- ware. If Zentris is offered in a Shareware catalog, it must be Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 1 noted that a user is expected to register Zentris with the author if he wishes to use the program. No fee may be charged for the distribution of Zentris unless the author has given his express written consent for you to do this. Zentris Contacts If you wish to purchase a copy of Zentris, would like to distribute Zentris as a Shareware distributor, or have any questions or comments about the program, please contact: Robert J. Sundling Zenithal Software, Ltd. 200 Rowe Street Stoughton, WI 53589-2352, USA Voice: (608) 873-8385, preferably from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Central Standard Time BBS: Bob Sundling at Synergy BBS, (608) 277-0280 Fidonet: Bob Sundling at NineJackNine, 1:121/99 If you represent a software company interested in having Zentris be one of your products, please contact: Peter Kienitz Marketing Manager, Alpha Computers M/S FRS-V 301 Troy Drive Madison, WI 53704-1521, USA Voice: (608) 244-9758 How To Register Zentris If you have not paid for Zentris, you may only use this program for an evaluation period of two weeks. If you continue to use Zentris after this period, you MUST pay for it. In exchange for the $10 fee, you get the following: * A license to legally use Zentris. * The latest version of Zentris on-disk, with no time- delayed registration messages. * Unlimited future upgrades to Zentris, for a cost of only $5 each (to cover the cost of a disk, disk mailer, Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 2 handling, and postage), and notification of any major upgrades to Zentris. * Joystick support, a keyboard redefinition feature, and a feature to save your game configuration (sound, next piece display, etc.) to disk. * Special discounts on other Zenithal Software products. * My eternal thanks and friendship. In addition, if you register Zentris by July 30, 1992, you will be able to purchase Super Zentris (predicted to be available August 1, 1992) for only $10 (retail value: $25). Super Zentris includes: * SuperVGA support (640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768) * Side-by-side two-player modes, as well as modem support * A tournament mode, for finding the BEST Zentris player Right now, before you forget, quick grab an envelope and write a note to: Robert J. Sundling Zenithal Software 200 Rowe Street Stoughton, WI 53589-2352, U.S.A. Be sure to enclose the $10 (US) registration fee, as well as your name and address. Feel free to send more money if you think Zentris is worth more. Please specify a diskette size (5.25" or 3.5"). If no diskette size is specified, Zentris will be shipped on a 360k 5.25" diskette. Make checks or money orders payable to "Robert J. Sundling" (not "Zenithal Software"). Credit cards cannot be accepted at this time. SHIPPING: The $10 includes all applicable shipping costs for areas within the United States and Canada. Overseas purchasers or those from Mexico, Central, or South America, please add $5 to cover the additional shipping costs. The History of Zentris Zentris was inspired by a similar game of falling-blocks, which shall not be mentioned here. Zentris was created because this wondrous concept was to date implemented in a rather poor way, with low-quality graphics or unconventional controls. Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 3 Zentris is an attempt to provide this concept in a wonderful and beautiful way. I believe it has been a success. System Requirements Zentris requires an 80x86 computer running DOS with a VGA, MCGA, or compatible graphics adapter installed. A mouse or joystick is optional but not required. Approximately 384k to 512K of free memory is required, the exact amount varies. The Nature of Zentris Zentris is, quite simply, a game. The object of this game is to arrange falling pieces so that they fill up complete rows which then disappear. After every twenty rows, a new level is reached and the pieces fall faster. Every time a piece stops falling or a row is completed, the player scores points. The exact number of points depends on the speed at which the player drops the pieces--the faster the piece is dropped, the more points the player gets. Playing Zentris Pieces fall at a certain speed for each level. The pieces fall faster on higher levels. The player may move the pieces left and right, may rotate the pieces, or may instantly drop the pieces (effectively speeding up gravity until the piece hits another or the bottom). The following keys are available for manipulating the pieces: [Left] Move the piece to the left [Right] Move the piece to the right [5] or [Space] Rotate the piece [Down], [Enter], [Ins] Drop the piece It is recommended that a player use the numeric keypad when playing with keyboard controls, for all the necessary keys are grouped relatively close together. Additionally, a Microsoft-compatible mouse may be used to play. A two button mouse works best, although if a three-button mouse is fully two-button compatible, it will work as well. A Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 4 Microsoft-compatible trackball may also be used. When playing with a mouse, a player may do the following: Move mouse left Move the piece left Move mouse right Move the piece right Click left button Rotate the piece Click right button Drop the piece Many people find playing with a mouse to be easier than using a keyboard, I myself included. If you have paid for Zentris, your version will have support for a joystick device. The following actions can be used: Move stick left Move the piece left Move stick right Move the piece right Press button Rotate the piece Stick down Drop the piece Pull Down Menus New in Zentris version 1.40 are pull down menus. These menus can be accessed at any time (except when waiting for a registration delay or entering a name for a high score) by pressing the ESC key. When the pull down menus are active, a sculptured menu bar will be displayed across the top of the screen. The options may be selected using the arrow keys or the mouse. Use the ENTER key or the left mouse button to select menu options, and the ESC key or the right mouse button to back out of menus. Alternatively, pressing the first letter of a menu option will select it, providing a suitable shortcut for selecting the menu options. Please note that previously the ESC key had been used for the Quick Shell to DOS function. This feature has been renamed and placed under the "Game" menu as "Shell to DOS", and--if speed is of the essence--it may be quickly accessed by hitting "ESC", then "G", and then "S" (for the menu, then "Game", then "Shell to DOS"). Most of the menu options have equivalent "Quick Keys" (see "Quick Keys", page 8). However, there are several features which may *only* be accessed from the pull down menus. These features are as follows: Registration Form This option allows you to easily print a registration form for mailing. From the Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 5 "Register" menu, simply select "Regis- tration Form". You will then be given the option of printing the registration form to your printer or writing it to a file. Select the appropriate choice and press ENTER. Please note that it is not necessary to use a registration form to register the game, the option is merely provided as a convenience. Write Config In the registered version only, this option allows you to save your game configuration to disk. This saves, for example, whether you have the next piece, stats, level, or clock displays turned on, whether the sound is on or off, and all of the keys that you have redefined. The next time you start Zentris, your new configuration will automatically be loaded. About the Author This option gives a little background on the author of Zentris (me). Although this serves little purpose, I thought some of you might be interested. Zentris Info This option shows the copyright informa- tion for the game. Registration Info This displays the information necessary to register the game, to be written down for later use. Demo This is the most intriguing new feature of Zentris. When Demo mode is selected, Zentris will begin playing the game by itself. Its skill level is relatively average, although on faster computers it has scored in the 24,000 to 25,000 point range. An average score, however, is about 6,000 points. To turn Demo mode on, select "Demo" from the "Game" menu and then select "Yes." To turn it off, follow the same procedure but instead select "No." Color/Gray Scale This feature allows users of laptops that have, for example, "8 gray scales" to have Zentris customize the palette for their display. Select this menu option and then select the number of Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 6 gray scales that correspond to the num- ber that your display can handle. A standard VGA can display 64 gray scales. Joystick Calibration If you have registered Zentris, and have a joystick device, when the game first begins you will be presented with an option to calibrate your joystick. When directed to do so, center your joystick and press ENTER. After this, you will be asked to move your joystick to all four corners. Do so, and press ENTER again. Your joystick is calibrated. You might wonder why joystick calibration is necessary. There are many different models of joysticks available, and there are often subtle differences in different models. Calibration allows Zentris to extract the full potential from your joystick. In addition to calibrating the joystick at startup, you may press [J] at any time during the game to recalibrate your joy- stick if it becomes misaligned. You may also need to do this if you switch your computer out of (or into) "Turbo" mode. Joystick calibration may also be accessed from the pull-down menus (see "Pull Down Menus", page 5). If you wish to not use the joystick, simply press ESC at the calibration screen. You may also turn the joystick on and off during the game by pressing [J]. Invocation Options If your VGA system is not 100% compatible with a standard VGA, simply invoke Zentris with the /f command line parameter. The /f must be in lowercase. For example, instead of typing just "zentris" at your DOS prompt, type: zentris /f This will override the check for VGA/MCGA hardware. Please note that Zentris may not operate correctly with such incompat- ible VGA hardware. If Zentris seems to load but locks up after the introductory screen, invoke Zentris with: zentris /f /a This will use the alternative introduction screen. Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 7 Keyboard Redefinition If you have registered Zentris, you will be able to redefine the keyboard. This allows you to use alternate keys for playing, rather than the standard keyboard layout. To access the keyboard redefinition feature, select "Config" and then "Keyboard" from the pull down menus (see "Pull Down Menus", page 5). To redefine the keyboard, press [ENTER] at the prompt. If you would like to just use the normal keys, press [ESC] instead. The keys you select will be in effect until you exit Zentris or until you change them again. You may save keyboard configuration to disk by selecting "Write Config" from the "Config" menu. Your redefined keys will then automatically be loaded with Zentris. To select keys for a certain action, press them at the appropriate prompts. Zentris allows you to select several different keys for each of the possible actions, so press up to five keys at each prompt. Once you are finished with that action, simply press [ESC]. For example, suppose you wanted the [G] key to move the piece left. When Zentris asks you to press the key(s) for "Piece Left", press [G] and then press [ESC] to go on to the next action. Please note that you would then not be able to use the left arrow key to move the piece to the left, for you would have to use the [G] key instead. If you wished to be able to use either [G] or [LEFT] to move the piece to the left, do the following. Instead of pressing [ESC] right after [G], press the [LEFT] key. Then press [ESC]. That indicates to Zentris that both of those keys should mean "move the piece to the left." This may sound complicated, but it is actually incredibly simple. Most likely, this feature is unnecessary for you, as the default keys are quite playable. Quick Keys While playing the game, the following features may be activated (or inactivated) by pressing the appropriate keys. [N] "Next Piece" display toggle. This display, on the right side of the screen, indicates the type of piece that will be coming next. It is often useful for planning ahead. [S] "Stats" display toggle. This display, on the left side of the screen, indicates the number of pieces of each type the player has re- Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 8 ceived. Although there is little point to such a display, it is a matter of interest for some people. [L] "Level/Lines" display toggle. This display, on the left side of the screen, shows your current level and the number of lines you've completed so far. [Esc] Pull Down Menus. See the section of the manual titled "Pull down menus" (page 5) for more information. The pull down menus pro- vide quick and easy access to all the fea- tures listed in this section. [R] Redraw the display screen. This is often useful if you're using pop-up TSR programs that can leave untidy "droppings". [P] Pause the game. If you have to answer the telephone, or simply want to stop playing for a while, press this key. Any other key resumes play from where you left off. Alter- natively, the game may be paused by simply activating the pull down menus (page 5). [F2] Sound on/off. When sound is off, clicks will be heard instead of beeps. [C] Clock toggle on/off. If you often play Zentris late at night, this feature can be useful for telling you when you need to go to bed. The clock is displayed in the far lower right corner of the screen. [I] Initials. REGISTERED VERSION ONLY. For those of you who have purchased Zentris, pressing this key during the game allows you to place your initials on all of the pieces. Simply type your initials (maximum of about two letters) and press [ENTER]. They will be shown on all of the pieces. It is often preferrable to use uppercase to make them more readable. Please note that the upper- case letter "G" is slightly distorted--unfor- tunately there is no simple way to fix this problem. [D] Demo On/Off. This toggles Zentris's self- play demo mode. Note that while Zentris is playing in demo mode you may break in at any Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 9 time by using the normal game playing keys. [J] Joystick calibration. REGISTERED VERSION ONLY. See the section of this manual titled "Joystick calibration" (page 7). [Q] [X] Quit. This function allows you to quit Zentris and return to your operating system. Answer [Y]es to the "Quit?" query to exit. [F1] [?] [H] Help. Display a help screen summarizing the available keys. Compatibility Zentris is fully compatible with the DESQView operating environment and can operate in background windows and virtual screens. Zentris should be given approximately 512k of memory, it may or may not operate in less. Zentris can operate under Microsoft Windows, although the mouse may not function in the game. Give Zentris about 512k of memory in its PIF file--although it may work in a bit less. Experiment. It is recommended that you play Zentris directly from DOS for an added increase in program speed and response time. However, this is not necessary, especially if you have a fast computer. Watch for Zentris for Windows, perhaps coming sometime in late 1992. Zentris Release History New features in version 1.20: * Extended 8514/A compatibility * New styles for pop up boxes and row erasure * Enhanced joystick support for registered version * /f parameter for incompatible VGA systems * Clock feature * Some previously undocumented keys now listed in the manual * Support for INS key to drop pieces New features in version 1.30: * New background screen design * Keyboard redefinition for registered version Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 10 * Some minor changes to the manual * Support for initials on the pieces New features in version 1.31: * Fixed "high-scores-not-being-saved" bug (thanks, Joel!!) * Cleaned up introduction screen (there you go, Pete) New features in version 1.40: * Pull-down menus! * New self-play mode ("Demo" from "Game" menu) * Moved keyboard redefinition to pull down menus instead of game start up * Moved DOS Shell to "Shell to DOS" from "Game" menu * New Game (restart) feature * About Author and About Zentris information added * Manual updated with the new Version 1.40 features * Different types of gray scales, removed the [G] key for [G]ray Scale and instead put the option in the menus New features in version 1.41: * Fixed inability to select 8-color gray scale option with a mouse * Made the game more responsive when in demo mode * Added [D] key to toggle Demo, instead of just being able to do this from the pull-down menus New features in version 1.50: * From a suggestion by Rick Ibarra, added an option to allow you to write your game configuration to disk. Simply select "Write Config" from the "Config" pull-down menu. (Registered version only.) * I have perhaps fixed a bug with joystick calibration that resulted in an "Oops!" error with some joysticks. The exact cause is still unknown, but a minor change was made in the calibration procedure to hopefully solve this problem. * Changed the names of some commands on the menus so that none of the first letters were duplicated in any pull down menu. * Made a Zentris Installation Program to allow upgrading in the future to be quite a bit simpler, and to avoid confusion in distributing the latest Shareware version along with the Registered version (to give to friends). Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 11 The Best 'Tris in the World? I think so. And so does the nuclear engineer who originally called it that. Every aspect of Zentris puts it above the competition--from the quality of its graphics, to the realistic rotation of the pieces, to its magnificent sound effects. But, if you have any questions or comments, please write, or call me at home between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm Central Standard Time at (608) 873-8385. Sorry, I cannot take orders over the phone. Alphabetical Index /a . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 mouse . . . . . . 4, 5, 10, 11 /f . . . . . . . . . . 7, 10 next piece . . . . . 3, 6, 8 about the author . . . . . 6 pause . . . . . . . . . . . 9 about Zentris . . . . . . . 11 pull down menus . . 5, 7-9, 11 BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 questions . . . . . . . 2, 12 checks . . . . . . . . . . 3 quick keys . . . . . . . 5, 8 clock . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 10 quit . . . . . . . . . . . 10 comments . . . . . . . 2, 12 redraw . . . . . . . . . . 9 demo mode . . . . . . 6, 9, 11 registration . . . 2, 3, 5, 6 DESQView . . . . . . . 1, 10 registration form . . . . 5, 6 drop . . . . . . . . 4, 5, 10 registration info . . . . . 6 exit . . . . . . . . . 8, 10 requirements . . . . . . . 4 Fidonet . . . . . . . . . . 2 rotate . . . . . . . . . 4, 5 gray scale . . . . . . 6, 11 self-play mode . . . . . . 11 incompatible VGA hard- shell to DOS . . . . . 5, 11 ware . . . . . . 7 sound . . . . . 3, 6, 8, 9, 12 initials . . . . . . . 9, 11 stats . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8 invocation options . . . . 7 Super Zentris . . . . . . . 3 joystick . . . 3-5, 7, 10, 11 SuperVGA . . . . . . . . . 3 keyboard redefinition 3-5, 8, trackball . . . . . . . . . 5 10, 11 upgrades . . . . . . . . 2, 3 level . . . . . . . . 4, 6, 9 viruses . . . . . . . . . . 1 money orders . . . . . . . 3 zentris /f . . . . . . . . 7 Zentris Manual (April 26, 1992) Page 12