Gobbler is a snake-eats-mushroom game, starring a snake named Hedda, a variety of stones, some delicious-looking mushrooms, and, occasionally, some bonus chests. Gobbler plays in color on a color monitor (II family.)
Hedda Gobbler has two problems: she's lost - and she's hungry. You must help Hedda as she tries to find her way home. BE CAREFUL! If Hedda runs into a stone or into the walls (or into herself!), she'll lose a life! She starts with 4 lives. She'll get another life for every 2000 points.
There are 15 levels. On each level, Hedda must eat a certain number of mushrooms before she can leave. Each time she eats a mushroom, your score goes up. You get a bonus for each level you complete, based on the length of Hedda when she reaches the exit, and also on the speed at which you're playing. Try to catch the BONUS chests which appear from time to time. They're worth from 100 to 500 extra points, but they don't stay on the screen very long.
When Hedda has eaten all the mushrooms on any level, the EXIT will appear. You must guide her safely around the stones and into the exit. You may go into the exit from any direction not blocked by a wall or by a stone.
At the top of the screen, you can always see what level you're on, how many lives you have left, how many mushrooms remain on this level, and your score.
How to play:
Begin the game by choosing New Game from the File menu or pressing Command-N.
Press "K" to make Hedda turn to her left and "L" to turn to her right. That's to HER left and right - if she's coming down the screen, her left is your right! If you're left-handed, you may use the Options menu to select the Z-X keys rather than K-L.
Pressing the space bar will pause the game.
You may choose Slow, Normal, or Hyper speeds from the Speed menu. Mushrooms are worth more at higher speeds. So are the end-of-level bonuses. Be warned: the speed increases slightly at each level. You may have to slow down if you want to finish the game!
You can toggle the sound ON or OFF from the Options menu. The sounds are fun, but if it's late at night... Then again, after a while, the sounds could drive you crazy...
Gobbler saves a list of the top 20 scores. You can see this list between games. You may also reset the list to clear all names from it. IMPORTANT NOTE: You must play Gobbler from an unlocked disk if you want to save your high scores - the game can't write to a locked disk!
Here's what's available on each menu:
File
New Game N Starts a new game. Available at any time.
End Game E Ends the current game without saving your score.
Pause (Resume) Space Stops/resumes the action.
Quit Q Leaves the game and returns you to the Finder.
Help H Provides abbreviated instructions on-screen.
Edit
Standard commands are available, but are only used for desk accessories. Gobbler does not support the Clipboard.
Speed
Slow 1 For beginners - or normal people later in the game!
Normal 2 The default setting.
Hyper 3 Your reflexes are better than mine.
Options
Sound On/Off S Toggles sound. Default is ON.
Use K and L press K for left, L for right.
Use Z and X Press Z for left, X for right.
Show High Scores Find out how good you (and your friends) are.
Reset High Scores Resets the list so you won't be embarrassed!
VERSION HISTORY:
1.0 Initial release.
BUGS:
Gobbler has been play-tested on a Mac Plus, SE, II, and IIx, with no major problems reported. Only known bug at this time is when using Multifinder. Program won't quit automatically if you try to restart - you must close Gobbler first and then restart or shut down. (I'll upload a fix as soon as I have one.)
CREDITS:
My thanks to Dylan Weiss, Mitch Davis, and Bill Blakemore for play testing and making useful suggestions.
ONE MORE TIME:
Gobbler is SHAREWARE. If you use it, like it and keep it, please register by sending $10 to:
Les Blatt
21 Suffolk Avenue
Maplewood, NJ 07040
If you send $15, I'll send you a disk with the latest version of Gobbler, along with a copy of the source code (written in THINK Pascal).
Comments and suggestions are welcome (and may be incorporated into later versions and/or other programs). I'm reachable at the above address, or on these services:
