TheZone is a two-dimensional, inertial space arcade. If you like to drive a ship throughout open space, this one is the game for you. Thrust your ship, destroy asteroids, collect all bonuses, blast out space bases (keep an eye open on the red ones) and bang out enemy vessels. Practically everything bounces around because you are moving in a physical space: all objects are solid, and love to collide with each other. Forget about boring battles against stupid asteroids; you'll have to face lots of enemies! You should read entirely the About section before playing, otherwise it will be hard to reach higher levels and survive. We also recommend when you first run TheZone to play in Beginners Mode. Be aware, though, that the game boots up in Professional Mode. You can choose the game mode via the Preferences section.
• Note to users of previous versions
Due to the introduction of the SaveGame feature (described in the About section inside the program), your current keys setup will be reset to the default one (numeric keypad to move, modifier keys to shoot and handle equipment). Please use the Preferences section to reassign your desired keys setup. The default key to save a game situation is Return. The SaveGame feature is available to all users (registered and not).
• System Requirements
TheZone runs on any Mac equipped with at least a 020, and any PowerMac. It needs at least System 7.0, Sound Manager 3.0, a 13" (640x480) or higher monitor in 256 colors mode, a 2.5Mb RAM partition (3Mb on 16" and higher displays).
Recommended configuration: a machine equipped with a fast (25MHz or better) 030/040 or a PPC, System 7.1.x or 7.5.x, Sound Manager 3.1 or later, a 16" 256 colors monitor. The game runs native on both 68K and PPC.
• Compatibility
Please note that while playing TheZone no background task (not even modem or printer activity) is allowed to run. If you have to start a background process, please do it before or after playing TheZone.
There have been no specific reports about conflicts with any extension or control panel.
However, if you experience unexpected slowdowns or weird behaviours, you might wish to reboot without RAMDoubler, and eventually with Virtual Memory turned off. You could also try to boot your machine with no extensions at all (holding down the Shift key at startup), although this is not commonly required.
Nevertheless, we can not assure this program (as any program) is free of bugs. Should you discover any problem, please report it to us via our email address (see below for more information). If possible, use MacsBug (version 6.5.2 or later) to report the problem.
• Shareware Issues
This program is Shareware, which means if you use it, you should send us US$10, in order to access all program features. You can pay in cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard, American Express, NetCash or FirstVirtual. Use the Register program (called Register DAPPSoft, included with the package) to fill out the registration form and send it to the specified address via Email, Snail-mail, or FAX.
Site Licensing:
World-wide license: US$600
Universities or companies site license: US$150
Single-user license: US$10.
When you register, the registration will remain valid for all future versions of TheZone. You will be notified of any product release (only if you provide us with your email address though).
You will be allowed to reach any level (the unregistered version allows you to reach only the tenth level); furthermore, you will obtain a cheat key combo which will give you full ship power at any time (at the expense of not tracking your eventual high score).
You may distribute this program any way you wish, but keep this documentation file with the program. The package must be distributed totally unaltered. If you are going to include this program in a shareware collection, either on CDROM or other media type, you have to obtain our permission first. Feel free to contact us (preferably via email, since we can afford to reply only via email).
We would like to obtain one complimentary copy of any shareware collection containing our product(s), although if you (as a publisher) have been granted permission from us to distribute the package, you are not required to send us a complimentary copy. It'd just be very nice from you.
By now, permission has been granted to distribute TheZone to the following shareware publishers:
- InfoMac, on CDROM (USA)
- Software of the Month Club, MacTech on CDROM (USA)
- UNIVERS MAC, on CDROM (France)
- MacCollection, FMF Media on CDROM (Germany)
- Inside Mac Games, on CDROM (USA)
- NetWorks, on CDROM (Japan)
- Mac Action, on CDROM (UK)
- Mac MAGAZIN, on CDROM (Germany)
- NautilusCD, on CDROM (USA)
- Macworld UK, on CDROM (UK)
• Legal Stuff
Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft hereby disclaim all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft or an agent of their has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft be liable for any damages, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
• Contact Information
If you wish to send us your comments or problem reports, please use our email address:
dappsoft@kagi.com
If you do not receive a reply from us, probably the mail might have bounced around. Please send us your message again. If you still don't receive a response, please try to use this address:
d.accornero@area.it
You can search for game updates and new versions on most info-mac mirrors around the Net; you will always find our archives at:
ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/game/arc/
Visit our Web page at http://members.aol.com/dappsoft/thezone.html (kind courtesy of Sam Charap from AmericaOnLine).
Although we always reply to email, we can not afford to reply via snail mail, because we're just students at the University and not a business company. However, if you have no access to email, this is our street address (please include your FAX number when available if you send us something):
DAPPSoft c/o Dario Accornero
via Bormida 5
00198 Roma
ITALY
Please note, however, that due to overwhelming mailings we are getting about the program, you should always try to contact (and expect reply) via email only.
• Version History
1.4, released Feb 10, 1996
* fifth public release
* fixed a crashing bug on some 68LC040 Macs, that caused the game to freeze unexpectedly under certain conditions
* fixed a minor cosmetic bug with the PPC version on all PowerMacs, where the user was typing his/her name when a high score was reached, but the program wasn't displaying it correctly
* on popular demand, added the SaveGame feature; it is now possible to save a game situation (ten save-slots available) at any time during a wave; there's a new option in the main menu that lets the user to restart playing from any saved situation, instead of just starting a normal game
* the package still contains three apps: 68K, FPU/68K, PPC; you might wish to trash the version(s) you won't use on your machine
* released an update from version 1.3 to version 1.4
1.3, released Jan 28, 1996
* fourth public release
* on popular demand, switched back to a color cursor: the standard arrow seems to have bugs on PCI PowerMacs (thanks to Hansjoerg Gruendler)
* further improved sound output on all Macs, particularly on PowerMacs (thanks to Lance Murray)
* on popular demand, the cheat key combo now disables high score tracking
* released a PPC native application: now the package contains three apps, one 68K, one FPU/68K, one PPC; future releases might contain only two apps, one FAT (68K&PPC) and one FPU/68K
* released an update from version 1.2 to version 1.3
1.2, released Jan 20, 1996
* third public release
* fixed major bugs that prevented the game to run on systems equipped with multiple monitors (thanks to Bruce Goldstein)
* fixed "scrolling stars" bug on some specific video configurations
* improved sound output on stereo equipped Macs
* released an update from version 1.1 to version 1.2
1.1, released Jan 13, 1996
* second public release
* compiled using the wonderful CodeWarrior™ •"Real men do it with CodeWarrior" •
* added a warning in the About section about never touching a mother base, because it might destroy your ship (sorry, folks, we forgot about that!)
* now uses the nice CavemanSoundSystem library by David Hay <hay@cs.colorado.edu> to produce sounds
* removed the color cursor: it caused some problems on PCI PowerMacs
* on popular demand, changed some of the game sounds with fresh ones :-)
* fixed a small bug: when the game was quitting, it left some garbage in the lower part of the screen
* on popular demand, TheZone now maintains the last high score name entered
* fixed major bug on systems equipped with more than one monitor
* now includes a cheat key (for registered users only) that gives full power to the player ship, at the expense of disabling high score tracking
1.0.2, released Jan 2, 1996
* fixed some bugs dealing with sound output, plus a likely uncompatibility with big monitors
* released an update from versions 1.x to version 1.0.2
1.0.1, released Dec 31, 1995
* fixed minor bugs within playing cycle
* fixed hard bug within the licensing scheme: the previous version might trash the Preferences folder (thanks to Matt Harmon and Jon Moon)
* included a FPU version of the program (to be used on 68K Macs only)
1.0, released Dec 30, 1995
* first public release
• Acknowledgements
First of all, thanks to all the people who have already registered the game! Our efforts would be useless without your support!
We wish to thank the following people who made possible developing the game:
Alessandro Calvi, Giuseppe Bianco, Tommaso Tessarolo, Fabio Lombardino, Luca Fiaccavento, Alfonso Sermonti, Marco Greganti, Antoine Rosset, Christian Bauer, IMAGO, Alessandro Levi Montalcini, Marco Piovanelli, Dan Crevier, John C. Daub, Sam Charap, Sam Chang, Hansjoerg Gruendler, Bruce Goldstein, Lance Murray, Matt Harmon, Jon Moon, and all the rest we forgot to mention…
Special thanks to GiMS Pang (you know who you are) for having the patience to develop our base inertial calculations that drive the whole game. Extra special thanks to Sam Charap, for all the Net support he gave us. We'll be forever grateful to ya Sam!
If you read Italian, you might wish to visit our base WWW server in Italy, although you won't find any info about TheZone there yet:
http://www.mix.it/
• About the Authors
Dario Accornero <dappsoft@mix.it>
Peppe Sciacchitano <g.sciacchitano@area.it>
Alessio Saitta <a.saitta@area.it>
Piero Zardo <p.zardo@area.it>
Three of us are students at the University and the other author works with computer graphics.
At the moment of writing, Dario is still revisiting this document (once more). The other authors are a couple hundreds km far away, so… who knows what they're doing?
Each one's job in the team was: Dario developed the code, Peppe created the sprites (using 3D rendering software running on AmigaOS), Alessio and Piero designed the game.
Currently, the Record Man is Alessio (scoring about 850.000), shortly followed by Piero.
That's all, folks!
• The Past and The Future
TheZone was developed mainly on a Mac LC II (030/16MHz), although two other machines were envolved in the development (a 030/25Mhz and a 040/33MHz). All game graphics were created on an Amiga 4000 (040/25MHz). The program is written mainly in C, except for the animation code which is obviously written in 020 assembler (and optimized-C on PPC machines).
Versions 1.1 and later have been developed on a Performa 5300 (603e/100MHz), using the wonderful CodeWarrior™ environment. • "Real men do it with CodeWarrior" •
We plan to add some capabilities, like more powerful weapons, the possibility to allow background tasks, plus other odds. This will be possible if people will keep registering.
Look out for PacMac Deluxe, our new game, coming soon at an info-mac site near you!
That product is due in early-mid spring '96.
Enjoy our product and support shareware!
All registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
