The main instructions to Deco are available within the program itself, under the Apple menu. This document will serve to fill in a few additional points. Payment information is also included in this file.
"Allow Background Events" under the Options menu:
When this is checked, Deco allows other programs that you might have running in the background to take little bits of time to do whatever it is they do. When it's unchecked, Deco takes all the time for itself (unless the game is paused or not playing). Because Deco isn't a very "demanding" application, this is on (checked) by default. If you find there are slight pauses in Deco's response to your key presses, turning this option off will fix that.
Load Time & Music:
Most of the time it takes Deco to load is actually spent loading the music files. If you don't want background music, you can make Deco load faster by throwing away the music files in the "Deco Data" folder.
Music:
The background music option in Deco requires that you have QuickTime™ 2.0 or later installed. Although the songs will play, they won't sound their best unless you have the "QuickTime™ Musical Instruments" extension installed as well. The "Sound" dialog shows you which song is currently playing in a Deco game. If you don't like a particular song, just find the file with the song's title in the Deco Data folder and throw it away. Deco will function with any number of music files in Deco Data.
Updating:
If you're updating from an earlier version of Deco, you can just drop the program file "Deco" into your old Deco folder. That way you won't lose your old high scores or preferences.
Distribution:
Deco may be freely distributed, provided the usual guidelines for distributing shareware are followed: don't modify it or charge an unreasonable sum for it. All the files included with Deco must be included when you distribute it. Magazines, shareware vendors and others are welcome to include Deco on their CD-ROMs, Disks of the Month, catalogs, BBS's, etc. Moreover, I encourage private individuals to share Deco. (That's why they call it shareware!) I see Deco as being a perfect "office workers game" -- ideal for those occasional breaks in the workday we all need to stay productive and sane. If you work in an office with other Mac-users, PLEASE give everyone there a copy of Deco.
Tip:
And here's a tip for playing Deco in an office environment: If you have the WindowShade Control Panel (available with System 7.5 and later) turned on, double-clicking in the Deco window's title bar will not only collapse the window (hiding the fact that you were playing a game), but also pause a game in progress.
Plug:
I've written several other pieces of highly acclaimed and award-winning Macintosh shareware and freeware. You can read about and download all my programs from my Web site at:
http://users.aol.com/karlbunker/
Requirements:
Deco requires System 7.0 or later and 2200K of free RAM. It will look its best with 256 colors, but also has a 16 color mode.
Payment Information:
Deco is shareware; if you keep it you are required to pay the "user license" fee of $15.00. If you pay for ten or more users at once, the price is $10 per user.
Paying for Deco is easy. Open the "Register Deco" program that accompanies Deco. You can do this either by double-clicking the "Register Deco" icon from the Finder, or by clicking the "Fill Out Order Form" button in the "Please Register" dialog that Deco displays. Enter your name, your e-mail address or postal address, and the number of user licenses you desire. Save or Print or Copy the data from the Register Deco program and send the data and payment to Kagi. Kagi is the company that handles my payment processing; when your payment has been processed you will receive an acknowledgement from Kagi, and a registration code from me (Karl Bunker). The registration code will turn off Deco's "Please Register" reminders, and allow you to see your high scores.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can e-mail or fax the data to Kagi. Their e-mail address is sales@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from the Register Deco program and paste into the body of an e-mail message or you can Save the data to a file and attach that file to an e-mail message. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via e-mail are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an acknowledgement from Kagi and your registration code from Karl Bunker, both via e-mail. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days. If you provide a correct Internet e-mail address you will receive your acknowledgement and registration code via e-mail.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register Deco application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-C2
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
If you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct e-mail address, you will receive your acknowledgement and registration code via e-mail.
If you do not have an e-mail address, please enter your complete postal address; we will need it to send you your registration code for Deco in the mail.
If you want to contact the author of Deco directly use these addresses:
