Well, I guess the first thing we have to say is “Thanks.” Thanks for downloading Homer, for spending the required amount of time waiting for your modem to lazily chat with a bulletin board, or just thanks for giving up the Hard Disk space it needs: ~190k(!).
What’s the big idea?
The idea of Homer is that you load him up, stick him somewhere that isn’t often obscured by another window (Oh you lucky 21 inchers you!) and just get on with your work. Then, god willing, Homer will blink, move his eyes around and speak any one of several phrases sampled in for him. Everything from “D’Oh!” to his attempt to seem sexy - “Rrrrrew!”
If you find that you’re getting sick of Homer, or if you want to shut down, just click in his window (eg. make the “Homer” application active) and hit any key.
If you like Homer (as you of course do) but want him to shut up for a while, hit 'P' while his window is active. Then hit 'P' again to start him up again.
We both sincerely hope you enjoy Homer, he took a little while to make and we’re pretty happy with it.
Please do...
We don’t want you to pay a shareware fee for Homer. What we would like you to do is to drop us a line (that’s our version of a shareware fee- please treat it with the same importance. You are OBLIGED to write!). If you happen to be part of that top rate macintosh magazine “MacUser” , or any other Macintosh publication, we would really appreciate it if you could give him a mention in your “off the net” section. Remember, it’s that subscription-renewing time of the year.... But - back to business. Please tell us if you like Homer, or what we’re doing wrong. Reaching us by BBS is rather difficult. There is a user on Khazad Düm called Dalgliesh you can forward your message to, or you can contact another user, called Salter. What would be much more preferable would be writing a letter to us - bless Australia Post!
Please write to the following address:
Slipped Disk Software:
11A Alexandra St.
Hunter’s Hill, NSW
2110
If you are some kind of C nut who gets his or her kicks out of picking holes in programs, please bear in mind that we are aged 16 and 15 respectively, and have therefore had a little less experience than you might have had.
Should (by any incredible twist of fate) this program end up in the great US of A, we would very much like to know. It would be hard to believe that it got that far. Should this document be being read by Mat Groering or anyone to do with The Simpsons, we’d like to take this opportunity to say you have helped to create the most informative, enjoyable and enigmatic television experience since “Blake’s 7”! Most of all, please enjoy the program. That’s what it was written for!
Please don’t...
For obvious reasons, Homer won’t react too well with games. Small games, perhaps. But I wouldn’t try using it while playing Civilization or something like that, unless you want Queen Elizabeth being “Rrrrrrew!”ed at during an important peace meeting.
Stuffing around with the resources inside Homer is really, really weak. If you want some of Homer changed, write your own program. Stealing the sounds is fine by us. Pinching the graphics? Ditto. But not changing the application, please.
Technical info:
HOMER v1.0 was written in THINK C 5.0 without a single line of assembly - HA!
The sounds were recorded using Sample Editor™, and a substantial amount of the program’s work is contained within ResEdit 2.1.1.5.3.141592654 or whatever. Our advice to anyone considering programming in THINK C is:
Forget it. You don’t need the stress!
Colours:
Yes! We at Slipped Disk Software care very much for the folks who still have b&w monitors (but we're sorry about the above title). We don’t believe that this fact should annex them from the enjoyment of computer products. It is for this reason that Homer will work with any colour configuration.
Having colour or b&w does not slow down or speed up image rendering either, so everyone is treated equally.
Systems:
Homer is really not worth the effort for System 6.0x loyalists. You CAN however get it working if you feel confident with ResEdit, by changing the WIND resource to a type which System 6 supports. Unfortunately, of course, without the wonders of MultiTasking, he won’t sit in the background. (Or rather, he will, but he won’t say anything), so don't bother. But you can just marvel at him, if you like.
Possible Bugs:
• HOMER v1.3 is initially given 200k of RAM to play with. At a pinch, you might be able to zonk it down to 150k, but if you do, he mightn’t be able to say some of the longer sounds. -D’Oh! On the other hand, if you are a Quadra user who has more RAM than a cattle muster, give him lots - what the hell, right?
mmmmmm.... RAM...........
• While the mouse button is down, Homer will cease his actions. For that matter, so will most Macintosh applications. Oh well....
• For some reason, Homer might occasionally indulge in a little ‘miming’, and then again, he might decide to show you what a great ‘ventriloquist’ he is. This is usually realted to insufficient memory. We assure you, these are programming devices... not bugs......:-)
Think about the future...
You can’t keep a good dad down. Future versions of Homer will soon be released featuring:
• More graphics
• More sounds
• Mild interactivity
Look out for the next version. Don’t miss out!!!
Dedication:
John Dalgliesh dedicates HOMER v1.4 to Joanne Whalley
Richard Salter dedicates HOMER v1.4 to Julia Sawalha
Homer dedicates HOMER v1.4 to Marge
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