The purpose is to eat all food (those coloured dots, y'know) in a level, trying not to be catched by the guardians: the ghosts. Naturally, all three kinds of pills will make you invincible for a while: just haunt the ghosts when you swallow a pill, and you'll be able to eat those nasty runners! Keep in mind, though, that a single pill lasts no longer than seven seconds…
You can use any number of music files in the game (MOD, MIDI, MED, S3M…): three modules are provided.
Our version of the old classic includes a Level Editor (available to registered users only): it is possible to design any number of custom levels, for an endless play! Plus, if you register, you can access the whole levels set (more than 500 mazes…).
• System Requirements
PacMac Deluxe runs on any MacOS™-compatible machine equipped with a 68020 or a PowerPC™. It needs at least System 7.0, Sound Manager 3.0, a 13" (640x480) or higher monitor in 256 colors mode, a 2.5Mb to 3.5Mb RAM partition, depending upon screen size and number of music files, about 3Mb disk space.
Recommended configuration: a machine equipped with a fast (25MHz or better) 030/040 or a PPC, System 7.5.x, Sound Manager 3.2 or later, a 16" (800x600) 256 colors monitor. The game runs native on both 68K and PPC.
• Compatibility
Currently, we know about a small number of conflicts between PacMac Deluxe and other software:
(1) TypeIt4Me, versions 4.x and later, tends to interfere with the registration dialog. If you decide to register PacMac Deluxe, you should turn TypeIt4Me off while registering. After the registration has been completed, you can turn it back on. This is apparently a bug in the way TypeIt4Me patches the System: we're trying to work around this problem.
(2) Extension Strip and Desktop/Control Strip, versions 1.1.x and later, will sometimes fool the menu bar state in PacMac Deluxe. If you turn Extension Strip and Desktop/Control Strip off while playing, you won't experience menu bar problems. We hope to address this issue as soon as we obtain some decent documentation about global floaters from Apple.
(3) RamDoubler (any version) and Virtual Memory, although they don't interfere with game animation, might both make the game musics sound sluggish. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about this problem, so if you encounter this kind of behaviour you might have to deactivate the above software/features before playing PacMac Deluxe.
Anyway, should you experience unexpected slowdowns or weird behaviours, you might wish to reboot with no extensions at all (holding down the Shift key at startup) when you wish to play.
We can not assure this program (as any program) is free of bugs. Should you discover any specific problem, please report it to us via our email address (see below for more information). Wherever possible, use MacsBug (version 6.5.x or later) to report the problem.
• Shareware Issues
This program is Shareware, which means if you use it, you should send us US$15, in order to access all program features. If you don't use it, please trash it. You can evaluate the program as long as you like: there's no time restriction.
You can pay in cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard, American Express, 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. All instructions about payment handling and methods are given inside the Register DAPPSoft application.
Site Licensing:
Single-user license: US$15.
Universities or companies site license: US$200.
World-wide license: US$800.
When you register, the registration remains valid for all future versions of PacMac Deluxe. You will be notified of any product release (only if you provide us with an email address, though).
You will be allowed to use all of the level files found in the "Levels" folder, and you'll be able to create your own level files using our integrated Level Editor.
You may distribute this program in any way you wish, but you have to 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 (via email, since we can afford to reply only via email).
However, since our past experiences with shareware publishers have been a bit frustrating, we are now asking each shareware publisher to send us a complimentary copy of their media including our software. Otherwise, we won't grant the distribution permission.
• 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 have 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:
(The latter one is a kind courtesy of Sam Charap <SamCo@aol.com> 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 big 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're getting about the program, you should always try to contact (and expect a reply) via email only.
• Version History
1.1, released October 11, 1996
* fixed a number of cosmetic glitches throughout the whole program
* fixed a sound volume bug on some machines: we now recommend using Sound Manager 3.2 or later
* fixed a rather dumb bug in Cycle Musics: now, musics always get cycled correctly
* solved a memory allocation problem where too much RAM was getting lost when changing a music
* added a frame rate control to the Preferences dialog: the previous settings, Normal and Turbo, now default to 30 and 60 frames per second; the overall range goes from 25 fps to 100 fps
* improved the keyboard responsiveness: it's now easier to walk around corners
1.0.2, released May 25, 1996
* fixed some cosmetic bugs during gameplay
* fixed some volume bugs when the global music mode is Random
* fixed a stupid glitch where the game wasn't displaying correctly very high scores (above one million points)
* fixed a nasty typo inside the Register DAPPSoft application (thanx Kee!)
1.0.1, released May 17, 1996
* fixed typos in the docs and in the online About section
* fixed some cosmetic bugs in menus and inside the game
* now, Play Next acts correctly, e.g. it plays a random music if that's the global music mode
1.0, released May 13, 1996
* first public release
• Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Official Testers:
David-Artur "Best Tester on the Net" Daix , Alessandro Levi Montalcini, Hansjoerg Gruendler, Pedro Urbano, Jeff Click, Sam Charap, Alfonso Sermonti, Fabio Lombardino, Luca Fiaccavento and all the rest we forgot to mention...
Thanks for their tech help to these people:
MADLibrary
Antoine Rosset
GammaFade Library
Matt Slot & Matthew Xavier Mora
SWCompileSprite & BlitPixieChunks
Tony Myles
Caveman Sound System
David Hay
Progress & Slider CDEFs
Jim Stout
And naturally thanks to:
Nick King, IMAGO, Stefano Laddaga for having been in Nepal (leaving us his server ;-), Christian Bauer for his great ShapeShifter, all the anonymous MOD authors, Rive Gauche, Frank Zappa for his support while creating levels, Quentin Tarantino, The Ultimate Cracka, and… To All The Girls...
Three (well, four) 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 again, there's great sunshine (we are from Italy, after all… ;-), although -- being October -- it ain't that warm out there…
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 and the levels (some of them were designed by Alessandro too, who is our main Beta Tester).
Currently, the RecordMan of the team is Alessio (scoring around two millions), shortly followed by Alessandro. But there are more RecordMen out there on the Net: we know of an Italian user who made more than two million points!
• The Past and The Future
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 1.0 and later have been (and will be) developed on a Performa 5300 (603e@100MHz), using the wonderful CodeWarrior™ environment. • "Real men do it with CodeWarrior" •
Current version has been compiled under CodeWarrior™ 10.
That's all, folks!
Enjoy our product and support shareware!
All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
