MacChase is not freeware. It is shareware with a $0 registration fee.
You may try it out for 10 (ten) days. If, after that time, you like the program and would like to use it, you must register using the form at the end of this documentation.
You are encouraged to distribute this game freely to your friends. Use the order form at the end of this document to register (send no money if you're just registering). Or, simply send a postcard with your name, address, where you obtained MacChase, your Macintosh type and system version to:
Kevin L. Gong
MacChase 2.19 Registration
1302 Navellier St.
El Cerrito, CA 94530-2449
Please take the short time to send in the registration form or at least a postcard. I would really like to know that the program is being used. And the only way to know that is if users let me know.
Becoming a registered user will enable you to send for any of the things listed in the Ordering section.
Also, if you are feeling generous, please send a check for $10 (payable to Kevin Gong) along with your registration sheet. If you do so, you will become a paid registered user, and will enjoy added benefits. Paid registered users will receive notices of any future software I create for the Macintosh, and free MacChase updates.
0.3 CREDITS
MacChase was written in THINK C 5.0.
THINK C 5.0 (1991), Symantec Corporation, 10201 Torre Avenue,
Cupertino, CA 95014, (408) 253-9600
Some sounds were recorded using the MacRecorder system.
The following books were instrumental in the writing of MacChase:
Using the Macintosh TOOLBOX with C, by Jim Takatsuka, Fred Huxham, and David Burnard published by SYBEX Inc.
C Primer Plus, by Mitchell Waite, Stephen Prata, and Donald Martin published by Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc. (this is a great book to learn C from)
Inside Macintosh, by Apple Computer, Inc. published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
Thanks to the following people for testing: Shane Deichman, Ted Wagner, Ulrich Fraus, Zwahlen Etienne, and Hao-Yang Wang.
Thanks to all those who registered as users of older versions of MacChase. I wouldn't have done it without you.
1 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'll be graduating from UC Berkeley with a double major in mathematics/computer science in May 1992. Then, off to graduate school. I've had a Macintosh since 1985, when I used a Macintosh 512K. I've had an SE since 1989.
1.1 WAYS TO REACH ME
I can be reached in a variety of ways for registration, updates, bug reports, etc.
Surface Mail: Kevin Gong
1302 Navellier St.
El Cerrito, CA 94530-2449
USA
Internet Mail: kevin@cse.lbl.gov or
kevin@ux5.lbl.gov or
kevin@ocf.berkeley.edu
BMUG BBS: (510) 849-2684
300-1200-2400-9600 baud
send mail to "Kevin Gong"
2 ORDERING
Orders should be sent using the order form at the end of this document. Please include your name and address. Make checks payable to Kevin L. Gong. Orders should be sent to the following address:
Kevin L. Gong
1302 Navellier St.
El Cerrito, CA 94530-2449
2.1 REGISTRATION $0.00 (free!)
Entitles you to send for documentation and updates.
2.2 PAID REGISTRATION $10.00 donation
Free notification, by mail, of all future upgrades to MacChase, and other Macintosh software I write. Also, you will receive automatic free upgrades mailed to you.
2.3 UPDATE (single-sided disk) $5.00
These, again, are basically free. However, if you don't have access to updates from some service, you can send me for a disk. Just send me a check and your mailing address, and I'll send you the next version as soon as it is finished. I will also include the latest versions of all my other programs.
2.4 UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT (letter only) $2.00
If you send $2.00, I will send a letter containing descriptions of all the latest of my programs. If you let me know, I will wait until a new version of a certain program is finished before I send this letter.
2.5 THINK C SOURCE CODE
I started writing this as my first major Macintosh program, not too soon after I first learned how to program in C. When I was in high school. It's pretty bad-looking code. It's gotten better over the years, but it's still not great code.
So, I've decided that it's really not worth anyone's while to take a look at it. So I'm not going to waste anyone's time (including mine!) by giving it away for any price.
If you're interested in how to program certain features of MacChase, just contact me and I'll see if I can send you some fragment of code or some tips.
3 DISTRIBUTION NOTICE
Please distribute this to all of your Mac friends. And, if there is one near you, send it off onto a BBS.
Help in distributing this program was given by the GAMER project.
4 VERSION INFO
4.1 LIST OF RELEASES
A list of all releases of MacChase:
Version Date Completed Release Date
======= ============== ===========
2.19 10 April 1992 10 April 1992
2.18 6 March 1992 7 March 1992
2.17 18 January 1992 18 January 1992
2.00 3 February 1991 3 February 1991
1.75 18 August 1988 18 August 1988
1.45+ 18 August 1987 18 August 1987
1.45 16 August 1987 18 August 1987
1.37 1 August 1987 2 August 1987
1.36 19 August 1986 25 July 1987
4.2 Changes since last version
• user options (speed, keys) are saved upon quitting
• graphics are linked to screen refresh (so play among different machines
should be generally the same)
• updated documentation
4.3 Future updates
• more neat sounds
• smoother graphics
• additions to game editing interface
• color support (if I ever get a color machine)
• other goodies; some possibilities:
Δ a two-player version
Δ selective eating -- only eat the power dots when you want to
(not just when you pass over it)
Δ larger, scrolling levels
Δ allow player to set traps for monsters
All this and more if you register!
4.4 Suggestions/Bug reports
If you have any changes you would like to see in MacChase, please contact me (see section 1.1). Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
If you have any trouble with MacChase, please notify me immediately. I'm not sure what systems it will work with. Look in the Help menu, under Requirements, to find more about system configurations. Send any bug reports, on either system usage, or general bugs in the program, to the same address as for ordering.
5 NORMAL PLAY
If you simply want to play MacChase, without bothering with any of the niceties of the program, execute the following:
• Make sure MacChase and MC_Original are in the same folder
• Run MacChase
• Read the copyright notice and click the mouse button
• Wait for MacChase to load the MC_Original game
• Begin playing. You can either use the arrow keys, or: i for up, j for left, k for down, and l for right. Eat all the dots on a level to reach the next level. The monsters will eat you unless they are light gray, which they will be when you eat a solid "power" dot. This doesn't last the entire level. A triangle is a speed-up marker. Eat this and you are twice as fast as the monsters. (this lasts the same amount of time as a power dot)
6 APPLE MENU
6.1 About MacChase
Shows the same notice you see at the beginning of the program. This includes some introductory garbage, and some information on registering (please do, and a copyright notice.
6.2 About The Author
Shows some information about the author (who else?).
6.3 (desk accessories)
The program works with most desk accessories, as far as I know Please let me know if you have a desk accessory that does not work with MacChase. I'd want to try to fix that. If I can't, it would still be nice to let users know what doesn't work.
7 MAKING YOUR OWN MacChase GAME
Everything you need to use to make your own game is in the File and Editor menus.
7.1 Getting started making your own game
First select Close Game to close the original game, then select New Game to create your own, new game. Selecting this item will cause the program to prompt you for the name of this file. After entering the file name you want and clicking "Save," you are in the editing mode. Or, press Cancel if that suits you.
7.2 The editing mode
Once you're in the editing mode, there should be 9 square boxes on the right side of the window. The level itself is surrounded by a white square outline. To put something on the level, select the appropriate box, and click in the bordered area to place that object on the level.
The boxes:
Start position
This is the box with the diamond shape in it. This is the starting position of the player (you!)
Reappear position
This is the box with the + in it. This is where monsters reappear after you kill them.
Monster
This is the box with the funny polygon in it. This is where a monster starts. You can place up to 5 monsters on any one level.
Power dot
This is the box with the solid dot in it. You can place up to 5 power dots on any one level. When a player eats a power dot, he can kill the monsters.
Block square
A block makes an entire square inaccessible to both monsters and the player.
Horizontal line
This makes horizontal movement between two squares impossible. The line will appear above the mouse position.
Vertical line
This makes vertical movement between two squares impossible. The line will appear to the left of the mouse position.
Speed-up marker
This is a triangle. You can place 0 or 1 speed-up marker per level. When this is eaten, the player moves twice as fast as the monsters.
Clear
This erases an object (when you make mistakes)
When you try to place an object on a square that is already occupied by a similar object, then that object will disappear. This has the same effect as Clear, but it's more convenient. In other cases, where the square is occupied by a different object, or no object at all, the appropriate object will be placed in the square. The only exception is that the reappear zone or speed-up marker may be placed in the same square as a power dot, a monster, or the player.
7.3 Saving levels
There are two ways of saving the level. Either use the button on the right side of the screen, or select Save Level from the Editor menu.
7.4 Next Level
When you've finished and have saved the level, you may proceed to the next level simply by selecting Next Level (either using the button or menu). You will remain in the edit mode, and you will be given a clear screen to work with.
7.5 Exiting the editing mode
When you've saved everything, you can leave the editing mode by selecting Editor Off. If you have not recently saved the level you have been working on, the program will ask you for confirmation.
7.6 Changing your game
7.6.1 Open Game...
edit an existing game. Selecting this item will cause the program to prompt you for an existing file name. MacChase will then try to open the file as a MacChase level. The program will load the game info and start the game. If you wish to edit right away, abort the game (Game menu) and select Editor On.
7.6.2 Moving to other levels
You can move back and forth between levels by selecting Next Level and Previous Level.
7.6.3 Revert
If you edit a level and then decide that it was better the way it was, you can revert to the last saved version of the level by selecting Revert.
7.7 Playing your games
When you've finished making a game, you can play it by selecting Start Game. The game will play exactly like the original list, whose name is MC_Original, which you can get back to playing by selecting Open Game and selecting that file.
8 GAME MENU
From the Game menu, the following items can be selected:
8.1 Start Game
start playing the current list
8.2 Start at level...
start playing from a certain level (enter the number of the level). Using this feature deprives a score from entering the top twenty.
8.3 Skip Level
skip to the next level. Using this feature deprives a score from entering the top twenty.
8.4 High Scores
lists the top twenty of the current list
8.5 Clear Scores
clear the top twenty of the current list. It will ask you for confirmation before erasing previous scores.
8.6 Abort Game
stops the game (not the program)
8.7 Pause
pauses the game. press any key to continue
8.8 Sound
when this is checked, sound will accompany the game. If it is not checked, no sound will occur.
9 MOVEMENT
It’s hard using the mouse to move, but some people like it, so you can select the Mouse item in the menu to use the mouse instead of the keys. If you move the mouse right, you will move right. You may want to move with very subtle movements, or else you might run out of space.
On the other hand, you can use the keyboard:
Pressing j moves you (the black square) left; k is down; l is right; and i is up. When moving, remember this: pretend you're driving a car. When you want to turn, say, left, turn your blinker on halfway down the block. In the game, that would mean pressing j before you reach the spot where you want to turn. That goes for all directions.
For the picky game player, MacChase provides several movement configurations. The user can select any of the several selections under the movement menu, and those keys will be the movement keys (the first is the default, ikjl). They are listed in order: up, down, left, right.
If you want total control, you can set all the keys using “Other keys...”
In addition, you can always use the arrow keys.
10 OBJECT OF THE GAME
Eat all the dots on a level to reach the next level. Avoid getting eaten by the monsters (funny polygons). If they are light gray, they can’t eat you. This happens when you eat a power dot (solid white dot). When the monsters become medium gray, that means the power dot is wearing off. When it wears off, all the monsters you killed reappear, and return to their original dark gray color.
11 SCORING
10 point Each framed dot
50 points Each power dot 100 points Eating 1st monster
150 points Eating 2nd monster
250 points Eating 3rd monster
400 points Eating 4th monster
600 points Eating 5th monster
bonus you receive an extra man every 10000 points
12 SPEED
You can select any speed from SuperSlow to HyperSpeed. You cannot change the speed during play. I usually play Fast or SuperFast on my SE. If you have a faster machine, you may want to play at a slower speed.
