Meteor Storm is a classic style space shoot-em'-up arcade game. It features 2 player simultaneous game play, fast action, stereo sound effects, upbeat background music, and rich, colorful graphics.
System Requirements -----------------------------------------------
- Any 68k or PPC Macintosh with a 14" screen ( 640x480 ) and 256 colors ( 8-bit ). Also supports a 12" monitor
( 512x384 ).
- System 7.5 or higher ( fully compatible with OS 8.0 - 9.0.4 ).
- The PPC version on System 7.5 - 7.6 requres the Appearance Manager.
Meteor Storm 1.4 features a new, more logical approach to copy protection. The first time the game is launched, a new "UserKey" file is created which stores your Macintosh owner name. This means that the UserKey file will work only on computers with a matching owner name. If a UserKey file is transfered to a computer with a different owner name, Meteor Storm will complain of a mismatch and you will not be allowed to play. It is important that you corectly enter your name BEFORE registering, to ensure that the game will function properly on your system. Your Macintosh owner name can be edited via the appropriate control panel:
File Sharing - ( Mac OS 8/9 )
Sharing Setup - ( System 7 )
To register simply follow the instuctions provided in Meteor Storm's shareware notice dialog box, and use the Register application included in the software package. You can also register via the web at Z Sculpt Entertainment's new web site, www.zsculpt.com. After you register you will receive a unique code which will unlock the copy of Meteor Storm on your Macintosh. Use the same code & owner name to unlock future copies when you upgrade on your Mac.
Version History ------------------------------------------------------
1.4, October 2000
• Z Square Entertainment™ has changed it's name to Z Sculpt Entertainment™! Visit as at:
www.zsculpt.com.
• Overhauled the entire application structure yet again.
• Added Appearance Manager support ( PPC only ).
• Added Input Sprocket support ( PPC only ).
• Meteor Storm now sports a super-deluxe, high quality sound/music mixer with
interpolation & echoing effects! To take advantage of it I replaced all the old, fuzzy
musical instruments with freshly recorded 16-bit/44khz quality versions. The sound
effects, however, could only be smoothed and filtered to eliminate noise ( the original
recordings were only 8-bit, sorry ). Oh well, at least they DO sound much better than
they used to!
• Changed the graphical menus on the main screen to reflect the new sound/music mixer
settings.
• Modified our new registration system so that "unlock" codes are linked to Macintosh
Owner Names ( instead of "lock" codes ). This allows the user to use the same unlock
code/owner name combination when re-installing the game or upgrading to a new Mac.
( see above: Registering )
• Updated the Help-Info screens with new information.
• Holding down the option key while starting up Meteor Storm displays the preferences
dialog box.
• The caps-lock key can also be used to pause the game.
• The escape key now works to exit the instructions screens or cancel the level select
option.
• For better performance, "Background Events" are now off by default.
• Meteor Storm now responds to Apple "quit" events.
• The monitor won't go to sleep now in the middle of a game!
• Fixed the "white trails" glitch in graphics "B" mode.
• Re-designed the Z Sculpt introduction screen and "About Meteor Storm…" dialog box.
• Memory requirements have jumped up to 4 megs ( 4096k ) for all those high quality sounds.
1.3, August 1999
• Overhauled the entire application structure to be multi-finder aware. The menubar will
appear when the mouse is moved to the top of the screen, and the user can switch to
the Finder and other running applications. ( An option is also available to process
background events during gameplay. )
• The mouse can be used to make selections on the main screen, game pause screen,
and info screens. ( Clicking the mouse will pause the game too. )
• Added preference settings to automatically set the monitor to the best resolution.
• Implimented stereo sound effects.
• Updated the music driver for better performance and higher quality playback.
( RamDoubler™ compatible! )
• Designed a new registration system to work in partnership with Kagi™.
( see above: Registering )
• Updated the Help-Info screens with new information.
• Removed a quirk that many players had discovered. The level will automatically
advance now after a set number of ships have passed, so players can no longer just
sit and destroy meteors to easily build up a high score. Ha!
• Added an "About Meteor Storm…" dialog box. Woohoo.
• Numerous cosmetic changes. ( i.e, Got rid of that annoying white outline around the
main window. )
• Polished the Z Square ( now Z Sculpt ) logo introduction screen once again.
1.2.1, June 1997
• Fixed the bug that prevented the application from restoring the System's sound
volume on certain Macintosh models. ( i.e., those lacking the old Apple sound chip )
1.2.1, June 1997
• Code is now PowerPC native as well as 68k ( a "FAT" application ).
• Added real background music and options to configure it.
• Replaced the recorded songs for the title screen and Z Square ( now Z Sculpt ) logo screen
with real music pieces as well.
• Created a seperate file system for managing preferences, high scores, and user
registration info.
• Vastly improved the instruction screens by using a variety of fonts and colored
text. Much more readable.
• A team score will now be listed in the high scores with a yellow 'T', only if both
players actually participated in the game ( joined in ).
• The [esc] key can now be used to interrupt the game.
• Started using a new method for registration numbers. The codes now include the
game's signature ( 'METR' ) to distinguish them from codes for future game releases.
• Memory requirements jumped to from 2 megs to 2.5 megs. Oh well.
1.1, October 1996
• Completely new program structure for safer memory operation. The game should
now run safely at just 2 megs of RAM.
• Fixed a bug that caused strange color behavior in certain applications & DA's
after playing the game.
• Fixed a bug that caused the computer to freeze when the user tried to force-quit.
( This is still only to be used in an emergency situation. Force-quiting an
application is dangerous and can lead to unexpected system behavior. )
• Applied better color contrast to the Z Square ( now Z Sculpt ) logo screen. ( big deal, right? )
• The game field will now "stretch" to a 640x480 playing size if the monitor is
large enough to support it. You can still play with the old 512x384 screen by
holding down [shift] while selecting "Start Game" ( it's much harder that way ).
• Unregistered users can now sample the harder waves by using the "level skip"
feature. Just hold down [option] while selecting "Start Game."
• Finally tracked down and fixed a rare bug that sometimes caused the enemies to
leave their shields up forever. Good riddance to that one.
This software is provided "as is," and is therefore to be used at your own risk. Z Sculpt Entertainment makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, regarding the operation of this product. Z Sculpt Entertainment will not be held resposible for any damage to your system resulting from either direct or indirect use of this software.
