We would like to extend a special "Thank you" to everyone who registered their copies of Cyclone before it was even released. We appreciate your support, and your patience!
Also, a special thank you to everyone who purchased Space Madness, either directly from us or through other channels, and received it in either a plain white box or just disks in a padded envelope. Without your support, Cyclone would never have been finished, and we would be working (hopefully) in dead-end jobs instead of running our own business.
And finally, thanks in advance to everyone who will register their copy of Cyclone! We put a lot of hard work into Cyclone (more than we ever planned), and every registration we get makes it seem a lot more worthwhile!
- Mike & Jon, High Risk Ventures
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
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Q - Can I upload Cyclone to my local BBS, or give it to my friends?
A - Absolutely, please do! Just make sure you include this file and the software license agreement, and please don't distribute your preferences file! (Shareware distributors should read the software license, and then contact us for written permission.)
Q - Will there be a black-and-white version of Cyclone?
A - There might be one someday, but none is specifically planned at this time. If we do make a B&W version, it will still require a 68020 cpu or better, which means it still won't run on a Plus, SE, or Classic. If we go to all the trouble of making a B&W version, we'll probably support four-color and sixteen-color monitors as well.
Q - Will there be a version of Cyclone that takes advantage of larger monitors?
A - No. If it did expand to fill the whole monitor, we would have to expand the sprites and game space appropriately, just as we shrink the sprites and space to fit on the smaller 512x384 screen. The game is designed for a specific play area - changing the play area would change the game.
Q - Are there any cheat keys for Cyclone?
A - Yes, there's one that makes you invincible, and one that causes a 'yummy shower.'
Q - Why are the default keys so useless?
A - Well, what's useful depends on what keyboard you have. We use extended keyboards, which have the command, option and control keys duplicated on the right side of the main key island. So we use the 'Z' key to rotate left with the left middle finger, the 'X' key to rotate right with the left forefinger, the right command key to thrust with the right forefinger, and the right option key to fire with the right middle finger. This setup is very similar to the layout of the buttons on the original Star Castle game.
Q - I can't get past level one! The rings keep regenerating before I can hit the base!
A - When you destroy the last segment of the outer ring, the other rings expand outward, and a new inner ring is formed. If you don't destroy the entire outer ring, the rings will never regenerate.
Q - Pretty please tell me what the cheat keys are! I've tried everything!
A - Hold the mouse button down while pressing the cheat key.
The 'return' key causes a 'yummy shower.'
The '-' key on the main key island makes you invincible.
The '=' key on the main key island gives you an infinite number of ships.
Q - What does it say when a yummy is destroyed?
A - We don't know. Jon made the sound long ago, and promptly forgot what he said. It's a mystery that never unravels.
See the help screens in the game for answers to other questions you might have (especially the Preferences Help screen). Also read the Version History below. If you can't find the answer to your question on the info screens in the game, please don't hesitate to call or write us! We guarantee a fast response! (If we don't respond, we lost your message, so please try again.)
Contact Information
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US Mail:
High Risk Ventures
PO Box 70690
Eugene, Oregon 97401-9610
Voice:
(800) 927-0771
(503) 746-0771
Fax:
(503) 746-0747
Electronic Mail:
America Online: High Risk
Compuserve: 75110,2673
Internet: highrisk@aol.com
Version History
--------------
• Version 1.2.1 - Released 6/16/94
Fixed an incompatibility with UnderWare that could cause Cyclone to crash as soon as the main title screen appears.
• Version 1.2 - Released 6/9/94
Improved handling of a corrupted preferences file. If the file is corrupted, instead of saying "Can't load a needed resource" and quitting, it will say the prefs file is corrupted, then it will create a new one.
Tries to detect when a screen saver is active, and doesn't draw the spinning ships on the info screens or prefs screen, etc. Unfortunately, it only works with After Dark-compatible screen savers.
Added a sound that plays at the beginning of the loading process.
Now keeps track of the amount of time you have spent actually playing the game, and shows it in the shareware banner on the high score screen if you haven't registered, or on the contact info screen if you have. Also pops up a reminder every now and then if you haven't registered.
Changed the serial number stuff a bit. Now shows your name, registration code and system code on the registration screen if you haven't registered or the contact info screen if you have.
Changed the registration and order form stuff. Updated the Space Madness ad.
Shows system code in error dialogs, so you can give us the system code (which gives us vital information about your system) when reporting problems.
Added the ‘Reduced game speed’ option. If this option is on, the game will run at about half it’s normal speed. You might want to turn this option on for young children, who don’t have the hand-eye coordination it takes to play the game at normal speed.
May have fixed the occasional problem some people were having, where the screen would fade out after a game but not fade back in.
Changed the colors of the loading bar on the splash screen. It should be much more visible now in bright light situations.
Disabled the Quit item in the File menu when on the Preferences screen. It's supposed to be like a dialog - you have to choose Cancel or OK. Also, choosing Quit from the File menu while a game in progress is paused will now just quit the game, not the program. If you want to quit the program immediately, you can still hold the mouse button down and hit the Q key, as always. And if you're just trying to hide the game from your boss or whoever, don't forget you can hold the mouse button down and press the space bar (without pausing the game first) to immediately send the program into the background, but without losing your game in progress.
Pressing the space bar while on the Help screen now does what it should.
Refined the base hum sound routines, and fixed a few minor bugs associated with it.
Spiffied up the splash screen.
Maybe a few other minor bug fixes or cosmetic changes.
• Version 1.1.1 - Released 1/15/94
Fixed a bug that could cause the speed test to crash on 32-bit clean machines
running in 24-bit addressing mode.
• Version 1.1 - Released 12/29/93
Fixed the bug that caused buttons not to work with the mouse on certain multiple monitor systems.
The ship is a little more agile. Some people complained that the ship was like a ‘pregnant cow’ compared to the original Star Castle, so we decided to change our ship to match the acceleration curve of the ship in the original game.
Likewise, some people complained that the mines crossed the screen borders a lot more often than they did in the original Star Castle. This was due to a bug in the tracking code that would sometimes keep the mines from turning around fast enough, and they would end up drifting across the screen boundary before they could get turned around. The bug has been fixed, and the mines behave as they should.
Moved the preferences, high scores and custom sounds to a file in the Preferences folder (in the System folder). If for some reason the preferences file can’t be created inside the System folder, it will be created in the same folder as the application. You can also move the preferences file from the Preferences folder to the folder that holds the application, if you want to keep the prefs file with the program.
You can now run the game from a locked disk (or set the ‘Locked’ switch in the Finder’s ‘Get Info’ window) without any problems. As long as the preferences file is not locked, you will still be able to save prefs and scores.
The problem with AutoDoubler should have been eliminated, because the program no longer makes any changes to itself. Please let us know if the problem still exists.
If you want to redistribute Cyclone, all you have to do is copy the program. Please don’t distribute your preferences file!
The first time the program runs, it tests the speed of your machine’s graphics operations, and sets the ‘Reduced ring quality,’ ‘Reduced animation quality’ and ‘Reduced screen size’ options automatically.
We’ve hopefully decreased the chances of the sound going out (see the Preferences Help screen for information about the sound problems on some machines). For those who understand this stuff: we just increased the delay between Sound Manager calls.
When the sound reset button is hit during the game, and the game is running on a IIsi, the volume change sound will play at full volume for a split second. The IIsi has a particular sound problem that can cause the sound to go out. This problem is different than the problem normally solved by the sound reset key - playing a sound at full volume tends to reset the sound on the IIsi.
You can still use the cheat keys to get phenomenal scores, but those scores will no longer be added to the high score list.
You can now hit the ‘return’ key anytime during the Challenge Level tally to skip to the bonus countdown.
You can now use the 'n', 'p' and 'h' keys to activate the Next, Previous and Help buttons on the Preferences screen, in addition to the arrow keys.
Fixed a bug in the collision detection code that could cause the program to crash if your ship was hit by a mine and the base’s plasma ball at the same time.
Fixed a bug in the registration dialog that could cause invalid serial numbers to be accepted.
Fixed a bug that caused the registration dialog to crash on machines without 32-bit Quickdraw.
