First, you need Windows 95. Pshaw! Gravity Guy won't run with Windows 3.1.
Next, you need to have a file called "vb40032.dll" in your Windows\System folder. This is the Windows 95 version of the runtime module for Visual Basic 4. Microsoft has produced a file called "vb4run32.exe" which is a self-installing file that contains the runtime module and some other files it needs. Vb4run32.exe can be downloaded from:
WinSite http://www.winsite.com/
Carl & Gary's Visual Basic Home Page http://www.apexsc.com/vb/
Each of these sites has a Search button that you can use to find vb4run32.exe. Also, America Online users can find vb4run32.exe at keyword "Windows Forum".
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How do I install Pshaw! Gravity Guy
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(1) Unzip "psgrav10.zip" into a temporary directory. (Windows\Temp is a good place, or you can create a directory to use.)
(2) If you're reading this file with Notepad and you haven't turned on Word Wrap yet, golly gosh, turn it on! (It's the last item on the Edit menu.) There! Now doesn't that look better?
(3) Click the "Start" button on the taskbar. Select "Run..." from the Start menu. In the little box that pops up, type the full path to the setup program (for example, if you unzipped psgrav10.zip into Windows\Temp, type "c:\windows\temp\setup.exe") and click "OK." (Or, if you prefer, you can just click the "Browse" button and navigate to the setup program.) The setup program will finish the job.
(3.14159) The Setup program will expand the game files into their own folder. It will suggest using a folder called "\Pshaw\Gravity" for these files. Also, some custom control (or "OCX") files will be placed in your \Windows\System folder. After expanding and installing all the files, Setup will create a menu with Pshaw! Gravity Guy, Pshaw! Gravity Guy Help, the Read Me file, and the Order Form on it.
(4) That's it! Once Setup is complete, you may delete the temporary setup files from your computer. To try out Pshaw! Gravity Guy, just click the Start button on the taskbar and select the Pshaw! Gravity Guy menu from the Programs menu.
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What's this "shareware" business, anyway?
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Shareware means that you get to "try before you buy." The basic shareware version of Pshaw! Gravity Guy doesn't cost you anything. Heck, we don't even care if you use it more than thirty days (unlike SOME people!). Oh, all right, if you keep using it for, like, seventeen years or something, it would be nice if you paid for it, but it won't quit working or eat your hard drive in revenge or anything.
BUT, if you like Pshaw! Gravity Guy--and you'd like to have ALL the features turned on--it's really easy (and cheap!) to register.
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What do I get if I register?
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Well, the first thing you get is a letter (or E-Mail, if you prefer) with a registration number and some instructions in it. Then, once you've entered your registration info, you'll UNLOCK THE DOOR to MARVELOUS, COOL, AND GROOVY features of Pshaw! Gravity Guy that you never even dreamed could even exist, even!
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Like what?
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LOAD AND PLAY CUSTOM GAMES--This copy of Pshaw! Gravity Guy comes with two game files that you can use immediately (the DEMO and TUTORIAL games), plus two custom game files ("The Return of Gravity Guy" and "Gravity Guy--The Terror Continues") which are available only to registered users. Once you register, you'll have thirty more brain-twisting puzzles at your fingertips!
DOWNLOAD NEW GAME FILES--From time to time, we'll be making new Pshaw! Gravity Guy game files available for download from our web page (see the Shameless Self-promotion Section for the address). These games are *FREE* to registered users!
PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY GAME EDITOR--After you register, you'll be able to use the game editor feature to create your very own custom game files! If you like puzzles--and if you have a devious, twisty mind--you'll LOVE designing your own games! (Check out Pshaw! Gravity Guy Help for more information about the game editor--it's way cool, if I do say so myself...)
SAVE YOUR PREFERENCES--Your custom settings like sound effects and game speed will be saved whenever you change them and reloaded every time you start Pshaw! Gravity Guy.
MAKE THAT ANNOYING COUNTDOWN GO AWAY--Yes, after you register Pshaw! Gravity Guy, that annoying ten-second countdown at the beginning of the game will be history. Instead, the splash box will contain a "thank you" message and NO COUNTDOWN!
(Plus, once you've registered Pshaw! Gravity Guy, you'll have *UNLIMITED UPGRADIBILITY* !!! If we ever release a new, improved version of Pshaw! Gravity Guy, all you have to do to register is to download the new file! Your old registration number WILL STILL WORK for the new version!)
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I want that stuff! How do I register?
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It's so easy to register Pshaw! Gravity Guy, you could do it in your sleep! (Though it would help if you're either a very light or a very deep sleeper...) Here's what you do:
Use either Notepad or the Pshaw! Gravity Guy menu to load up the file called "order.txt" in your \Pshaw\Gravity folder. Oddly enough, it's an order form. Type in the requested information and print it out (or, if you're a crummy typist, print it out empty and PRINT the info CLEARLY); stick it in an envelope with fifteen measly bucks; and mail it to us. (The address is on the form.) We'll rush you your registration information so that you can get into all that *STUFF WITH THE CAPS AND STARS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!* that's described above!
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Comments and stuff:
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Feel free to pass around the *unregistered* version of Pshaw! Gravity Guy among your friends and relatives. Upload it on your local BBS! Attach copies to your favorite carrier pigeon! Pass it along to the aliens next time you get abducted!
And, we'd like to know how you like Pshaw! Gravity Guy. You can E-Mail your comments or suggestions to pshawpsoft@aol.com.
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Shameless Self-promotion:
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PSHAW! PFISH--It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a fish--no, wait--it's a card game! It's Go Fish! It has pictures! It has word balloons! It's a lot of fun--for kids AND grownups! [PFISH10.ZIP--142 KB]
PSHAW! PUZZLE PACK #1--Three games in one! Pshaw! Pfifteen--a sliding fifteen puzzle that you can solve with decimal, hexadecimal, or binary numbers. Pshaw! Ptowers--the Towers of Hanoi--can you shift the disks (or are they bagels?) from tower 1 to tower 3? Pshaw! PhoneWords--try to decipher common words and phrases converted to telephone buttons. [PSHAW011.ZIP--234 KB]
PSHAW! PSAVERS #1--Pscreen psavers--three of 'em! Pshaw! Pshapes--Lots of shapes, lots of colors! Pshaw! Pribbons--Wrap up your desktop in satiny ribbons! Pshaw! Pcurtain--Hypnotic colors and patterns ripple across your monitor! (Requires Vb40032.dll) [PSAVR132.ZIP--215 KB]
All these files are available from America Online AND from the Official Pshaw! Psoftware Page at:
http://members.aol.com/pshawpsoft/pshaw.htm
See you there!
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THE LEGAL STUFF
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BY COPYING, USING, OR DISTRIBUTING THIS SHAREWARE PROGRAM, YOU INDICATE YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS DOCUMENT.
Non-commercial, free-of-charge distribution of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY is permitted and encouraged without further authorization provided PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY is NOT represented as free or in the public domain.
You may not distribute PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY in a retail environment, or as part of a hardware or software bundle, or on CD-ROM without PRIOR written, signed permission from Paul V. Shaw and Sherry K. Shaw. Permission may be dependent upon compensation or other conditions. We reserve the right to withhold permission.
All descriptions or advertising of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY must include the words "Pshaw! Psoftware" or "Pshaw!". Such descriptions must also include the word "Shareware," or "Try before you buy," or similar words.
This version of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY is marked "Shareware" and, prior to registration, allows play of the built-in "TUTORIAL" and "DEMO" games only. You may not copy or distribute any other version, including any version that includes any functional registration names and/or numbers, or is not marked "Shareware", or allows play of any custom, external Pshaw! Gravity Guy game file, or allows use of the Pshaw! Gravity Guy game editor. Registration information allowing the full use of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY is provided for the sole use of registered users and may NOT be distributed to, or used by, unregistered users.
PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY may not be modified or reverse compiled or reverse engineered in any way.
All of the following files must always be included, without modification, to constitute a legal version of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY for shareware distribution:
Comctl32.oc_ 161 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Comdlg32.oc_ 47 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGDrop.wa_ 2 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGGame.mi_ 3 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGGrav.wa_ 4 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGLevel.mi_ 1 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGPush.wa_ 3 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGSetup.ex_ 68 KB 4/22/97 9:08 AM
GGStep.wa_ 1 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
GGTran.wa_ 6 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Gravdoc.ic_ 1 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Gravity.ex_ 107 KB 4/22/97 9:26 AM
Gravity.hl_ 67 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Mfc40.dl_ 522 KB 8/15/95 12:00 AM
Order.tx_ 1 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Picclp32.oc_ 27 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Readme.txt 12 KB 5/10/97 12:21 PM
Return.gr_ 4 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
setup.exe 58 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
Setup.lst 2 KB 5/10/97 12:11 AM
Spin32.oc_ 29 KB 3/29/97 2:17 PM
St4unst.ex_ 33 KB 3/29/97 2:16 PM
stkit432.dl_ 13 KB 3/29/97 2:16 PM
Terror.gr_ 4 KB 3/30/97 11:49 AM
winmm.dl_ 29 KB 3/29/97 2:16 PM
If at any time we update or modify any of these files, or add any files, this readme.txt file will also be updated by us to reflect current information. Please make a serious effort to distribute only the most recent version of PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY.
PSHAW! GRAVITY GUY IS PROVIDED "AS-IS", AND NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE), EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE AS TO IT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON. WE WILL PROVIDE NO REMEDY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM IT, INCLUDING SUCH FROM NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
