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 if you are using a Macintosh with a color monitor.
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 by choosing View High Scores from the Options menu. You may also reset the list to clear all names from it by choosing Reset High Scores.
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 put itself on 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.
1.0.1 Fixed minor bug in mushroom/chest display
1.0.2 Fixed another bug in chest routine
1.0.3 Fixed Multifinder bug
1.1 Fixed another mushroom bug.
System 7 friendly.
Added help balloons for System 7.
Added item to help menu for System 7.
Gobbler now maintains its own Preferences file in the Preferences folder of the System folder, where it remembers its window location, along with sound,speed, and keyboard preferences.
High scores are now maintained in the Preferences file, so that the game may be played from a CD or locked disk without losing score records.
For earlier systems, fully Multifinder compatible - more time made available for other programs running in background.
1.1.1 Fixed bug that could cause crash on 68000 CPU's (Mac Classic/SE/Plus)
Minor code cleanups to exit more gracefully.
BUGS:
Gobbler has been play-tested on a Mac Plus, SE, II, IIx, LC, and Powerbook 170 with no major problems reported. It has been tested with system 4.2, 6.0.x and 7.0.
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 using the form at the end of this document. Just choose "Order Form" from the Table of Contents, or click in the scroll bar at the bottom of this window. For $10, you will be sent a disk with the latest version of Gobbler. If you send $15, I'll enclose a copy of the source code (written in THINK Pascal).
LEGALESE:
SHAREWARE AUTHORS, INC owns the exclusive rights to the sale and distribution of this program on CD-ROM and all other high capacity (over 2MB) media. All other distribution on such media is strictly prohibited. Gobbler may be uploaded to other telecommunications services and not-for-profit bulletin boards unchanged, and with this unchanged document attached. Nonprofit user groups are encouraged to distribute Gobbler (along with this file) on media of 2MB capacity or less. Commercial distributors must contact me about distribution beforehand. Duplication and distribution of this program, except as noted above, is strictly prohibited and is a violation of US Copyright Laws.
REACHING ME:
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:
