HeimRoids started as an educational effort on my part, to see how you get a Mac to draw bright colors on the screen and play annoying sounds at the same time. Whee! It has since of course become a cult smash and a public nuisance, netting me hundreds of e-mail messages and almost ten minutes of fame.
After many an e-mail about crashes when running on AV Macs, or indeed anything using Sound Manager 3.0, I've finally gotten around to a few fixes, and wouldn't you know it, I didn't stop at new sound code. See the change history below for a semi-complete list.
REQUIREMENTS: System 6.0.7 or later, 8-bit color, enough memory to give it an 1200K partition, and 32-bit QuickDraw. 32-bit QuickDraw is in the ROMs on machines built after the IIci, and included in System 7 on all machines; if you have a IIcx, IIx or II with System 6 it's an extension you need to add. I've run HemiRoids with VM on, and as long as enough "real" RAM is around to page HemiRoids in completely it should work but no guarantees there.
This has been tested on a variety of Quadras, an LCII, IIci, IIcx, IIfx and IIsi, all the Centris machines, AV Macs, PowerBook Duo 270c and PowerBook 180c, and maybe even a PowerPC or two but I can't talk about that, on-board video and Apple 8- and 24-bit video boards, in 32-bit addressing and 24-bit addressing, Virtual Memory on and off. I haven't had the opportunity to test it with a vast variety of exotic video boards, so if you have problems with something unusual please let me know. If you have a video accelerator, you may have to turn it off to run HemiRoids (or a lot of other games), but wouldn't swear to this.
I'd like to thank all the folks who sent me bug reports so far. If you find anything else, please let me know! Any comments are appreciated, even if it's just to say how much HemiRoids stinks. Come to think of it, I don't appreciate those as much as fawning praise, but still, it's good to get mail, and I am usually in a mood to write a few pages back. Just remember; HemiRoids is free, so be kind to animals.
HemiRoids was nominated for the 1993 MacUser ShareWare award for best shareware entertainment product, but it lost to Maelstrom and Bolo, which is pretty much what I expected, but hey, it was nice to be nominated, especially in the company of such products that were so obviously the result of so much work, and just to make this sentence even longer I'd like to say hi to my mom. Hi.
I'm working on a new game which if things go well will be released commercially some time next year. It's one heck of a lot more fun than HemiRoids, so look for it when it comes out. The current title is PegLeg, and that probably won't change `cause I really like it.
Enjoy,
Sean Ansorge
ansorge@netcom.com
Version 1.1:
12/21/93
* Replaced old sound code (which was incompatible with
Sound Manager 3.0, and hence the AV Macs) with all-new
by-the-rules sound code stolen from another game I'm
working on. The new sound routines favor Sound Manager
3.0, and if it's around you get 3-channel sound. If
not, you only get 1 channel, which isn't as nice.
* Replaced some of the artwork, just `cause I got sick
of looking at it.
* Replaced some of the sounds, just `cause I got sick
of listening to them.
* Added a new whiz-bang visual effect that is sure to
increase your enjoyment of this fine game by orders
of magnitude.
* Debris from space ship explosions now has a lifespan;
after a few seconds is spontaneously dies on its own.
* Considered adding code that would pick an 8-bit monitor
that isn't the main monitor, but got too lazy.
* Added love and devotion, stirred for twenty minutes,
and baked in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for an
hour.
* No, it really didn't take 8 months to make these fixes,
but I do have day job.
Version 1.0.9:
4/4/93:
* Can't leave well enough alone
* Made collision detection code more efficient
* Fixed some drawing bugs
* Huh? Version 1.0.9? I never saw that one! Okay, so
I never posted it, but I did send it to some people.
Version 1.0.8:
3/27/93:
* Changed e-mail address in splash screen text
* Improved debris-generating algorithm; animation should
not jerk when ships blow up now
* Passed the right value to Juri's sound code, so maximum
volume setting is now available.
Version 1.0.7:
2/26/93:
* Added System 6 support (had to change 1 whole line
of code...)
* Added debris for alien explosions
* Made collisions less bouncy
Version 1.0.6:
2/21/93:
* Changed & added sounds
Version 1.0.5:
2/20/93:
* Added stars to background
* Added debris resulting from ship explosion
Version 1.0.4:
2/17/93:
* Fixed the 24-bit addressing incompatibility. Thanks,
Juri!
* Added special screen-flash effect during smart bomb
useage
Version 1.0.3:
2/16/93:
* Checks to make sure hardware is 8-bit color capable
before trying to set screen to 8 bits deep (sorry PowerBook
users)
* Added a flicker effect when ship is thrusting
Version 1.0.2:
2/16/93:
* Enhancement to improve speed on low-end machines;
should now run full 30 fps on LC or IIsi.
* When launched on 68000 machines, provides an alert
informing the user that B&W systems are not supported.
* When launched in 24-bit addressing mode, alerts user
that 32-bit addressing is currently required.
Version 1.0.1:
* 2/10/93: Fixed window-positioning bug that resulted
in the bottom 20 pixels of the playing area being offscreen
on 13" monitors.
Version 1.0:
* February 10, 1993. I finally got enough time to finish
debugging my custom blit routines, so here it is. Have
fun!
LEGAL STUFF:
This program is free software; you can redistribute
it as long as you include this Read Me file and do
not modify it in any way. It is Copyright © 1993
Sean D. Ansorge, and all rights are reserved.
This program is distributed without any warranty, neither express nor implied.
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