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Inside Mac Games Volume 4 #7
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IMG 38 July 1996.iso
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Demos
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Locus
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demo readme.txt
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1996-03-15
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Welcome to Locus for Power Macintosh.
Locus Mac Demo (c) 1995 Zombie LLC. All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________
System Requirements
Power Macintosh with System 7.5 or higher
8 MB RAM or more
12 MB available hard disk space
Double speed CD ROM or faster
Supports mouse and joystick
13" color monitor
QuickTime 2.0 and Sound Manager 3.1
__________________________________________________
Installation
1. Double click on the Locusdemo.sea icon. This will install about 16 MB of
files to your hard disk inside a folder called Locusdemo.
2. Go inside the Locus folder and double click on the Locus icon to start the game.
Demo Comments
• The demo version preferences are set to maximize performance on
most Power Macs. Some of these may be changed in the Locus
Preferences menu (see below for more on Preferences).
• Other open applications will automatically quit when you double click
the Locus icon.
• The music is set to "off."
• Animations are not included with this demo, so even if you turn them
on, they will still not be available. Video animation is included in the
retail version.
• The demo includes single player mode only--network play is available
in the retail version.
Important: This demo requires QuickTime 2.0 and SoundManager 3.1.
If you do not have these extensions, you can obtain them from Apple.
See Apple's website at http://cgi.info.apple.com.
__________________________________________________
Game Play
Locus takes place in arenas orbiting Earth, circa 2095.
You are one of few who have been selected to play on a Locus team.
The earthbound masses watch you, totally addicted to the game play.
Reflecting the anarchistic character of the sport, arena design
varies wildly according to the whims of the team who calls it
home. Each arena takes different skills to master.
Three teams play at a time in a triad of three games in three
arenas (the arenas being those belonging to each of the teams). If you
can win a majority of games in a triad, your proven skills will
be rewarded (in the full version) by triads in new arenas against
new teams, and by promotion to more advanced teams. In the demo
you are playing, you will be able to play in only one triad as a
member of only one team.
When playing a game, you will try to eliminate the other two
teams by scoring in their goals three times each, while defending your
own goal. If your opponents shoot three balls in your goal your team
is eliminated and the game is lost. A tunnel race, a ball return where
the balls emerge, the arena's power core, a computer-controlled
partner in your team, and gadgets that play with your cycle's
capabilities and dynamics all add variety and challenge to the game.
From your point of view, you can see the front of your cycle and
elements of the heads-up display. The arrow at the front of the
cycle points in the direction of the nearest ball, then points to the
nearest goal once you have a ball. The red bar indicates cycle power.
You get more power after scoring or after driving under a power
beam. The moving arrow to your right (the color of your team) indicates
your current direction and velocity. A target appears around opponent
cycles in your line of fire. And the score bars on the top of the screen show
you who is in play and how well each team is doing.
Network play for up to 3 people on an AppleTalk network is available
in the full version, which is in the stores now!
For a quick intro to the game, press the Info button on the Locus Main Menu.
__________________________________________________
Controls
When playing the game, use the following controls:
Mouse movement controls movement.
'X' key fires laser weapon.
Mouse button toggles magnet, which allows you
to pick up and shoot balls.
Space bar jumps.
Arrow keys control head movement, changing your view.
'c' centers your view.
'.' pauses.
<Tab> toggles a map view, which allows you to view
the arena from above.
<esc> quits the current level, cancels the current game,
and returns you to the user interface.
All controls can be configured from the options menu in the
user interface.
__________________________________________________
Autocenter / Absolute Control
In the Options Menu, you may change the way your mouse controls your
movement by adjusting the slider bars for turning, acceleration, and
autocentering. Autocenter controls the sensitivity of turning. If you
have the autocentering low (slider on the left end of the autocenter bar),
your cycle will tend to stay in a turn, and will have a large reaction to a
small mouse movement. If you turn up the autocentering (slider on the
right end of the bar), your cycle will tend to re-center itself quickly
after making a turn, and will not be so sensitive to small mouse movement.
When you are just learning to play, we suggest turning up the
autocentering of your cycle. You should also turn up autocentering if you
use the keyboard to control your movement.
There is a cheat key for "absolute control," which re-centers the turning
of your cycle every frame, giving the effect of a "tighter suspension" on
your cycle. To toggle absolute control on and off, hit the F8 key.
__________________________________________________
Updates and Patches
Be sure to check out Zombie's website for occasional updates or patches
for Locus Demos and Locus. The Zombie website is at http://www.zombie.com.
__________________________________________________
Locus Preferences
The Locus menubar is active while you are in the user interface screens
(but not during game play). To view the menubar, just move your mouse
cursor to the top of the screen. The Locus Preferences menu is located
under the Edit menu. The following settings may be chosen from the
Locus Preferences Menu:
GAME RESOLUTION These settings affect whether the Locus runs in
the standard Macintosh high resolution, or a lower, pixel doubled resolution.
The game resolution does not change your monitor resolution.
Low Resolution: Choose low resolution if you want to play in 320x200,
pixel-doubled mode (less crisp images, but faster game play).
High Resolution: Choose high resolution if you want to play in the
standard Macintosh resolution (crisper images) and you want the
ability to change the Locus screen size.
MONITOR RESOLUTION If you are running System 7.5.1. or later,
some monitors will allow Locus to change their resolution.
You must restart Locus for these settings to take effect.
Attempt to force to 640x480: If you have a monitor capable of
multiple resolutions and are running System 7.5.1 or higher, Locus
may be able to force your monitor to run at 640x480 resolution.
This will make the game window fill your screen for greater immersion.
Don't change monitor resolution: This leaves your monitor resolution
untouched. The game runs in a 640x480 sized window.
SPEED These settings affect how fast Locus runs on your computer.
Kill finder and other applications: This will automatically force quit
other applications when you start Locus, allowing for the faster game play.
Leave other applications alone: This will not affect other open
applications, which may keep Locus from running at its full potential.
VOLUME You can adjust your system volume from within Locus by
dragging on the volume slider.
About System Extensions
System Extensions provide functionality not normally built into
your system. There are a number of System Extensions that will
impact the speed of your Macintosh and therefore the speed of Locus.
You should disable all Extensions and Control Panels that are not
needed while playing Locus. A number of extensions, including
RAM Doubler, File Sharing Extension, and SpaceSaver, will have
a profound impact on the performance of Locus and should
therfore be disabled prior to playing Locus.
To disable System Extensions and Control Panels, do the following:
(Macintosh System 7.5 or later) Open the folder named "Control Panels"
with the System Folder of your startup disk drive. Double - click
the "Extensions Manager" icon. (You may be able to select
"Control Panels" and then "Extensions Manager" through the Apple
menu.) Each Extension and Control Panel will be listed and can be
toggled on or off by clicking on the name of the extension. A check
mark indicates that the Extension/Control Panel is currently enabled.
After turning off unnecessary Extensions/Control Panels, close the
Extensions Manager window (Macintosh System 7.1 or later). Create
a folder within your System Folder named "Extensions (disabled)" and
one named "Control Panels (disabled)". Drag all your unnecessary
Extensions and Control Panels (respectively) into these folders
from the "Extensions" and "Control Panels" folders. Restart your
Macintosh.
Extensions You Need
We suggest that you disable all Extensions and Control Panels
except QuickTime (for video support), QuickTime PowerPlug,
QuickTime Musical Instruments, Sound, Sound Manager, Memory,
Keyboard, General Controls and any "Tune-Up" extensions currently
supported by Apple® Computer, Inc. A Tune-Up Extension called
"Apple Multimedia Tuner" is available for those running QuickTime 2.1
and Sound Manager 3.1. It fixes a number of problems on various
Macintosh models and is included with Locus. You should also not
disable anything called "Finder Update" or "System Update", or
enabler Extensions, such as "PPC 601 Enabler". You will also
need the Apple CD-ROM extension, since Locus requires you to play
with the CD-ROM in its drive.
Be sure to install Sound Manager 3.1 included with the Locus CD-ROM.
It is the first "native" version of the Sound Manager and dramatically
increases the speed of sound performance. Make sure you are running
this version (or later) for maximum performance.
__________________________________________________
Troubleshooting
IMPORTANT: Before changing your system or software setup we recommend
that you review your system manuals to ensure that your modifications
will not endager any existing information or hardware on your system
or network. Modifying your system or your software setup can be
dangerous and we cannot help you with any resulting problems.
When Locus runs, I get an "Insufficient memory" error or Locus just
doesn't run.
You don't have enough free RAM to run Locus. Try allocating more
memory for Locus by selecting the Locus icon (click on it ONCE), then
select "Get Info" from the File menu while in the Finder. Increase the
number listed as the "Preferred Size".
Locus runs really slow, or locks or "pauses" on a fast system.
Refer to the section above about disabling System Extensions and Control
Panels that are not required in order to run Locus. Turn off all
unnecessary Extensions and Control Panels. You should select
"Kill Finder" in the Locus Preferences Menu. You might also try turning
off the music in the Options Menu.
All PowerPC chips are not created equal. The PowerPC 601, for instance,
is much faster than the 603, and the 603e is much faster than the
603. To increase playing speed, reduce the screen size, or change
to low resolution mode in the Locus Preferences Menu. Make sure
you are running Sound Manager 3.1 or later.
The function keys don't seem to work as advertised.
Some System Extensions (such as QuicKeys from CE Software) will
"remap" the function keys to other uses. Disable these extensions
while playing Locus, or temporarily turn them off.
Music is slower on the Macintosh than it is on the IBM® PC.
QuickTime is used to play the music in Locus, and is not as fast as
the MIDI-compatible sound cards that are common on most IBM PCs.
Thus it has to share the processor time with Locus. You may turn
the music off by pushing the music "off" button in the Options Screen.
Alternatively, some versions of QuickTime may support external
MIDI devices (such as a MIDI keyboard) for music output.
I can't hear any music or sound effects even after changing the
Sound and Music volumes using the Locus Options Menu.
Check your master volume controls in the Sound Control Panel.
The volume controls in Locus change the Locus output to the range
defined by the Macintosh's sound output volume setting.
I've tried everything and still there's no music.
If you still don't hear any music, increase the amount of memory
allocated to Locus (get info in the Finder, adjust Preferred Size
setting). Make sure all unnecessary Extensions and Control Panels
are turned off. Select "Kill Finder" in the Preferences menu.
__________________________________________________
Produced and developed by Zombie Virtual Reality Entertainment.
For technical support or comments,
email drtrouble@zombie.com or call (206) 654-7060, 9-5 PST.
Visit the Zombie homepage at http://www.zombie.com.
Distributed by GT Interactive Software.