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1995-01-23
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252 lines
SUPER RETRISS PRO (c) Copyright 1993,94 Rogelio Bernal All rights reserved
THIS TEXT FILE HAS TWO PARTS
!!!PLEASE!!! !!!PLEASE!!! !!!PLEASE!!!
I KNOW YOU HATE TO READ DOCS, BUT
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ AT LEAST THE FIRST PART
BEFORE RUNNING THE GAME (60 lines only).
JUST ONCE, OK?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SETUP FIRST!!
Type SETUP to select either PC Speaker or SoundBlaster. If you use
SB, copy ST-VOICE.DRV (from the SB software) to the SR.Pro directory ,or
set the SOUND environment variable as your SB manual explains. If you
use the environment variable, make sure it is configured correctly, or
SR.Pro will likely hang and force you to reboot your computer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 1: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW
══════════════════════════
MEMORY / MEMORY MANAGERS / OPERATING SYSTEMS
────────────────────────────────────────────
Super Retriss Pro needs a lot of base memory. If you are
using a Sound Blaster/Pro card or compatible, and have
less than 610k free (624,640 bytes), the program will
refuse to run (with PC speaker sound, a minimum of 400k
is recommended). In the first case, your best bet is to
load DOS high using HIMEM.SYS or whatever memory manager
you want. I have tested the program under QEMM 7.5,
386MAX, EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS alone with no problems,
although this does not guarantee it will run under any
different configurations of these. I have detected
problems with QEMM 7.04 in a few systems when Sound
Blaster sound is being used. If you are using this
version of QEMM, use Sound Blaster sound and are
experiencing problems, run the program with the /q1
switch (SRP.EXE /q1). Since Super Retriss Pro does not
mess up with extended or expanded memory, this seems more
to be a problem with QEMM 7.04 rather than with Super
Retriss Pro. Chances are that, as far as there is enough
free base memory, everything should run fine.
While memory managers such those mentioned in the
previous paragraph help you free a lot of base memory,
and will not affect the performance of the game, they
also slow down the system a bit, and things like the
scrolling text in the main menu would run slower than if
you just use HIMEM.SYS.
Unfortunately, when using Sound Blaster sound, Super
Retriss Pro is way too hungry for base memory, and in
most cases, users are likely forced to use a memory
manager. The most consistent AUTOEXEC.BAT/CONFIG.SYS
configurations I ran into were:
· Always get rid of all drivers for CD-ROM, scanners, and
other devices not used by the game.
· Load HIMEM.SYS, DOS in high memory, and the MOUSE
driver (also in high memory).
· To the previous configuration, add EMM386 (set to
NOEMS) and SMARTDRV.
· QEMM 7.5 replacing EMM386.
If you cannot figure a valid configuration, try using the
sound selection switches, and probably you will find a
combination that will work (read Chapter 7.2 Sound
selection switches). In the worst case, I hope you can
live with the shameful sound I added for the PC Speaker.
If the program suddenly exits with a "Not enough memory"
message or another (very unlikely but not impossible),
reboot the machine and make sure again there is enough
memory (as specified above). If there WAS enough memory
available, do not worry too much. Just make sure you
ALWAYS reboot the computer after getting any of these
messages, or when the program suddenly exits or go nuts
in the middle of it. All these events are, again,
UNLIKELY, but I've seen it happens a few times.
If you are using the SoundBlaster setup, do not attempt
to run the program under any multitasking environment,
such as Desqview or Windows. With only PC speaker sound
selected, the program has been tested on the following
multitasking systems:
SYSTEM HARDWARE RESULTS
══════════════ ══════════ ══════════════════════════════
Desqview 486/50Mhz Fine
Desqview/X 486/50Mhz Slow but ok
Windows 3.1 486/33Mhz Fine. Slow but faster than expected
OS/2 486/50Mhz Fine
SoftWindows PPC-6100 Very slow, but fine (Amazing!)
If you have DOS 5.0 or higher available, don't do nasty
things, and run the game from there. Nothing can compare
to running the game in DOS native mode (5.0 or higher).
DISK USAGE AND DISK CACHE
─────────────────────────
Super Retriss Pro uses much more data than previous
versions. Most of this data is stored in the file SRP-DATA.000
and it takes up about one megabyte and a half. Since the
program has to manage all this data within the 610k limit,
different portions are loaded from the disk at runtime
whenever they're needed. The sound effects and MOD songs are
also loaded/unloaded as required by the program. While it's
not a big deal of time, the use of a disk cache program will
speed up actions such as going from one menu to another, etc...
The speed of the game is unaffected in any case.
PART 2: WHAT YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW
═════════════════════════════════
MOUSE / NO MOUSE
────────────────
The only thing non-mouse users will be missing is the
Zone Designer. Anything else is fully working, and in
most cases, the mouse is replaced by either the arrow
keys or an option number.
From the Main Menu, you can use the numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6)
to select the options (although you don't see any
numbers in the screen). Same thing goes for the Select
Piece Set menu (1,2 and 3, in this case). In the Options
and Load Zone menus, move with the up/down arrow keys. As
mentioned above, the Zone Designer is the only thing that
doesn't work without a mice.
SOUND BLASTER / PC SPEAKER
──────────────────────────
If you don't have a Sound Blaster or 100% compatible
sound card, you will be missing quite a lot. Not only
because you won't be able to listen to the songs and
digitized sounds effects, but also because my PC speaker
hasn't been working since 1992, and therefore I stopped
supporting this device in my programs since then. In
other words, the sounds for the PC speaker are very
limited, poor, and were added years ago, when the game
was in its prehistoric phase. New features such bombs and
the like are simply soundless if you don't have a Sound
Blaster card.
If you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars in a good
sound card, you can always find a used Sound Blaster Pro
for less than $50 bucks (not to mention an old Sound
Blaster). So go and get a sound card! They're really
cheap and will make your computer happier! Trust me.
On the other hand, the programs seems to be incredibly
stable in a quite reasonable number of systems (see table
30-40 lines above) when the PC Speaker is selected. Is
this the same as saying that the Sound Blaster routines
are the cause of most problems, whenever they occur?
Well... yes, it is. Particularly, the MOD routines have
been found to be, in one way or another, the only reason
of crashing the program. However I cannot complain, as
these are not my routines, but rather Mark J.Cox's, and
I do not have the time to research and write my own set
(I am the one to blame in any case). Cox's routines
nowadays are rather old, but they were great when
released, several years ago. I have to thank him for
releasing the library for free, so now everyone can
listen, and hopefully enjoy these boosting tones in Super
Retriss Pro.
The sound effects are actually plain VOC files, and that
is why the ST-VOICE.DRV driver is required. Sorry folks.
Blame me for being lazy again, but since everyone who
owns a Sound Blaster has this file, and it makes my life
a whole lot easier to use the driver rather than writing
my own routines, I just opted for the most time-saving
option. Besides, I am not trying to show off :-) As
far as you enjoy the game, I am happy.
And last, but not least (or was it the other way?) FM
music is played, one song for each zone. All the songs,
with no exception, were obtained from local Bulletin
Boards (thanks to Tan for getting some for me), and the
Internet via anonymous FTP, all in ROL (Adlib/FM) format.
They all are considered freeware. I have no information
whatsoever of who are the original writers of the songs,
and doubt anybody would. Somehow, these songs play an
important role in the game: they create a certain
atmosphere, keeping the player entertained and adding
some rhythm and variation to the game. Since I have not
written any of these songs (not to mention composing, as
most of them are quite popular), I do not deserve any
credits for them. If I had decided to release this game
as Shareware, I would feel rather uncomfortable by
releasing the game with all those songs, since they are
not mine. Since that is not the case, and I am making no
profit whatsoever from this game, I hope I can be
forgiven.
GAME SPEED
──────────
Previous versions of Super Retriss ran at different
speeds in different computers, and in Super Retriss 3.0 I
included an option to set up the speed of the game, based
on estimations and other obscure procedures.
Super Retriss Pro now uses the internal timer to set up
the pace while playing. It should have been like this
since the beginning, but well... It's ok now!
There are still a few things going on with the speed,
although they don't concern the game speed, but rather
the main menu, depending on whether SoundBlaster sound
was selected.
Since the sound routines for the MOD songs (themes for
the MAIN MENU, SELECT PIECE SET menu, HIGH SCORES
screens...) take up around 30% of the CPU time, I let
the other code run as fast as possible, without checking
on the timer. This results in a faster program, when
executed in faster machines, and affects the text
scroller and the rotating balls. You will get optimum
performance with a 486/33Mhz or faster machine. Less
than a 386/25Mhz could result in a rather annoying
slowness. As mentioned before, the use of a memory
manager such QEMM, 386MAX and so on, will also affect the
speed of these things IN THE MENUS ONLY.
With a PC Speaker configuration (a relief of around 30%
of CPU time), the speed of these events is timed, but
there could be a still noticeable difference in
performance from a 286/10Mhz to a 386/25Mhz or higher.
All these speed dilemmas don't really matter much, as the
game itself always runs at the same timed speed, whether
in a Pentium or a 286. I am only referring to the
scrolling text and rotating balls of the menus. I thought
this info might be of some interest for you. If you don't
know or do not care, just like I said, it doesn't
matter, as the game itself is unaffected.
This is it for now. Enjoy!
_Rogelio Bernal_____________________________________________________________
bernal@wit.edu