Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/GAMETURE/TTOWERS.LZH/TTSHARE.DOC

Text File | 1985-10-21 | 4KB | 93 lines

                    Vinyard Software, Inc.
                    2243 Beacon Lane
                    Falls Church, Va. 22043-1709

    Welcome to the IBM-PC and compatible version of TRIVIAL
TOWERS.  Although you probably picked up this copy through a
bulletin board, a users' group, or a friend, you should note that
TRIVIAL TOWERS is not a public domain program, but is copy-
right (C) 1984 by Vinyard Software, Inc.  You are, however,
encouraged to copy and share these two diskettes with others.  If
after playing the game you find it to be as enjoyable as we think
it is, you are trusted to send a $20 payment to Vinyard Software
at the above address so that we may register you as an official
customer.

User-Supported Software

    You may have heard of user-supported software before.  The
very popular PC-FILE III by Buttonware is an example of how you
can get low-cost software by supporting smaller firms like
Vinyard and Button who have cut their costs and passed the
savings on to the user.  As far as we know, TRIVIAL TOWERS is the
first game to be distributed as a user-supported program.

    User-supported software is written by users like yourself
who believe that:

    --You need to try out software in the privacy of your own
home/office, not while under pressure at a dealer's showroom or
completely in the dark through a mail-order firm,

    --Copying and sharing of programs through word-of-mouth
should be encouraged,

    --Creation of quality software should be supported by the
user community,

    --Users and software companies can and should trust each
other,

    --You don't really need fancy shrink-wrapping for your
disks, and certainly don't want to pay the markups that are
necessary to produce them.

    Anyone may legally obtain an evaluation copy of TRIVIAL
TOWERS from a friend, computer club, or bulletin board.  (Let us
know, by the way, if you obtained your copy in any other way.
We're always looking for innovative ways to distribute our
products.)  After you have evaluated the game on your own
machine, you are trusted to either forward a payment to Vinyard,
or discontinue using the program.  In any case, please send the
program on for others to try.

    Free distribution mechanisms for our software and voluntary
payment for its use eliminates costs for advertising and copy
protection schemes.  Users obtain quality software at greatly
reduced cost, and do not have to worry about annoying protection
methods which foul up your other programs or make the program
cumbersome to use.  You can try out our program at your own pace,
in the comfort of your own home.  Good programs will survive,
based purely on their quality and usefulness, rather than the
advertising budget of their producer.

    Please join us in this experiment.  If you believe in these
ideals, your payment is solicited to help make them work.

What If I Don't Pay?

    Of course, now that you have the program, there's little we
can do to make you pay (Of course, the huge dragon that we've
trained to home in on illicit copies of this program may make us
rephrase this paragraph!).  But there are solid reasons for
sending in your payment:

    --You'll be able to obtain our assistance if you need to
write us with problems or questions.  We simply ignore anyone who
hasn't registered.

    --We will add you to our list of registered supporters.
Whenever a new version comes out, we will automatically send you
a notice giving you the option of buying the new version at a
nominal update charge.

    --We will also let you know whenever new products from
Vinyard come along, and give you first crack at depleting our
inventories.

    --You can go to bed knowing that you did the Right Thing and
helped out fellow little guys.

    So go have fun with TRIVIAL TOWERS, and let us know what you
think by sending a check to Vinyard Software at the above
address.