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============================================================================= LEGAL INFORMATION: COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICES ============================================================================= Bölz! Copyright 1994 COGnition Development Team All Rights Reserved Limited Distribution Rights Granted (Read VENDOR.DOC) The Bölz! Story Copyright 1994 COGnition Development Team All Rights Reserved Bölz! is being distributed as shareware. It is _not_ free software. Bölz! and the Bölz! logo are registered trademarks of Straffan Production Company, Limited. The images of: Billy Bölz!; Henry The Butler; Billy's Father; The Vacuballopter; The BolBot; The ClobberBot; The BurnBot; The JunkBot; and The COGhead Logo are all registered trademarks of Straffan Production Company, Limited. COGnition Development Team is owned and operated by Straffan Production Company, Limited. ============================================================================= LEGAL INFORMATION: WARRANTY ============================================================================= NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED IS GIVEN AS TO THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THIS SOFTWARE UNDER ANY POSSIBLE CONFIGURATION. YOU USE IT COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND AGREE NOT TO HOLD COGnition Development Team OR ITS PARENT COMPANY Straffan Production Company, LTD., RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, EITHER CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR MISUSE OF THIS COMPUTER SOFTWARE. BY INSTALLING AND OPERATING THIS COMPUTER SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS WARRANTY. ANY AND ALL LEGAL DISPUTES WILL BE SETTLED IN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. CERTAIN STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS TO BE PLACED AGAINST SUCH WARRANTIES AS THIS. YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS NOT MENTIONED IN THIS WARRANTY. ============================================================================= System Requirements for running Bölz!: ============================================================================= - 80486sx processor or faster (486 instructions used) - Keyboard, Joystick or "Game Pad" - 2 megabytes of RAM - Color VGA Graphics - 5 megabytes available hard disk space ============================================================================= Suggested Accessories: ============================================================================= - 80486 33MHz machine or faster - Pentium kicks butt!! - 8 megabytes of RAM is better than two! - Sound Card Sound Blaster, SBPro, SB16 Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum, PAS Plus, PAS 16 Gravis Ultrasound with at least 512k On-board RAM (1024k suggested) - The Gravis PC Gamepad or similarly styled joystick device is highly recommended. The "Game Pad"-style joystick is best suited for games like Bölz! ============================================================================= Forward (Real quick start, please read on. . . .) ============================================================================= Hello! Thank you very much for trying our new game, Bölz! Bölz! makes use of almost every available system resource your computer has to offer, and by doing that, it has some special requirements: 1) Please do not load any TSR's that are not needed. A mouse driver is a good example, as Bölz! does not make use of a mouse. You don't even need to have HIMEM.SYS loaded, as we are using the DOS/4GW protected mode interface by Rational Systems which lets us access all the RAM you have. For example, if you have 8 megabytes of RAM, we can access up to 8 megabytes of RAM. TSR's will slow your computer down, though. EMM386.EXE is the worst system speed offender. Load it ONLY IF YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY NEED IT! You can try creating a clean boot disk which you would then use to start your computer for absolute best performance while playing Bölz! The installation utility will ask you if you want to create one, and so will BSETUP. Simply have a diskette handy and reply "Y" to the question when asked if you want to take advantage of this feature. 2) You can not run Bölz! from a multitasking environment such as Quarterdeck's DesqView or Microsoft Windows, for example. These environments tax your microprocessor way too much to even remotely enjoy Bölz! Bölz! must be run straight from the DOS command line. If you need help doing this, there is a section of this documentation called "Running Bölz!" later in this document. 3) The faster your video card, the faster Bölz! will not run? What? Well, Bölz! has enough overhead time (time spent twidling its thumbs) on a 486 33MHz system to run under quite literally the oldest and slowest ISA VGA cards. A 486sx 25MHz system with only 2 megabytes of RAM, however, will show a definite improvement if your VGA card is newer or "accellerated." Bölz! runs at a smooth 30 frames per second, even on slower 486's IF YOU TURN OFF PARALLAXING SCROLLING! Parallax scrolling requires a screen to be drawn literally twice, so, if you notice your computer grinding to a halt when you can see through certain holes in the floors of the mazes, try using BSETUP.EXE to turn off Parallaxing scrolling. A 486 33MHz - 50MHz is a good starting point at which to turn on Parallaxing. 486 66MHz systems are absolutely perfect, and Pentiums (any) seriously kick butt!! ============================================================================= Getting Started ============================================================================= Bölz! is a fairly simple game to set up. Hopefully, you are reading this file immediately after decompressing the first archive you received. If not, it might be a good idea to go ahead and decompress the ORIGINAL .ZIP files you received into their own directory. "C:\TEMP" is a good idea, as the files will be extracted to a directory which you may specify during installation, and it's a good idea to extract them to a directory which does not contain the compressed volumes (self-extracting archives). Once this is done, you are ready to begin installing Bölz onto your system. The executable file, BINSTALL.EXE will walk you through this process. Type BINSTALL while in the directory into which you have decompressed the ORIGINAL compressed file you downloaded. You will be asked for the drive onto which you want to install the Bölz! files. This drive must be a fixed disk, "hard drive," or removable high- capacity cartridge (Bernoulli, SyQuest, etc.) with at least 5 megabytes free space. Bölz! cannot be run from diskette! Next, you will asked into which subdirectory you would like to install Bölz! You may type up to 80 characters into this field. When you have completed the above two steps, BINSTALL takes over and creates all necessary files and directories to run Bölz! on your system. A permanent directory will always be created on drive C: to store game saves, top scores, etc. This directory should never be required to store more than one megabyte, so don't worry about file space (unless you're _really_ tight for space! =-) If you should delete this directory or tamper with or delete any of the files within, you will need to run BSETUP.EXE again, and will lose any High Score Tables which may have been created. You also run the risk of losing any game saves which you have created during game play. It is good practice to just leave this directory alone once it has been created. Do NOT rename or move any of the files in this directory to another name or location on your computer. Bölz! will not be able to find this highly necessary information, and will reply with an error message during initialization. When BINSTALL completes its task of installing the files, it will automatically call BSETUP.EXE for you. BSETUP is a utility which will let you configure certain specific aspects of game play such as Sound Card, Sound Quality, Color Animation, Parallax Scrolling, etc. You may run BSETUP on your own after the initial installaion to reconfigure these options as many times as you wish. BSETUP relies on having the directory C:\BOLZ available in which to store BOLZ.INF (this directory should have been created by BINSTALL.EXE. If not, BSETUP.EXE will create it). NOTE: YOU MAY INSTALL ALL OF Bölz's FILES TO C:\BOLZ. THIS IS EVEN A SUGGESTED PRACTICE, BUT IS NOT REQUIRED. THIS WILL HELP YOU KEEP ALL OF Bölz!'s FILES TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE! JUST REMEMBER TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVES IN ANOTHER DIRECTORY, OR MOVE THEM TO DISKETTE FOR SAFE KEEPING. Bölz! CAN ONLY BE REDISTRIBUTED IN ITS ENTIRETY AS CONTAINED IN THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVE. THEREFORE, IF YOU WISH TO UPLOAD THIS PROGRAM TO ANOTHER BBS OR FTP SITE, PLEASE USE THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVE(S) YOU RECEIVED. YOU ENJOYED THE EASE OF INSTALLATION AND SETUP -- LET OTHERS DO THE SAME. IF YOUR ARCHIVE APPEARS TO BE INCOMPLETE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US BY ANY METHOD DESCRIBED IN ANY DOCUMENTATION YOU FIND. WE WILL SEND YOU A COMPLETE SHAREWARE VERSION FOR U.S. $5.00, OR WE WILL GIVE YOU A RELIABLE WAY TO RECEIVE THE FILES ELECTRONICALLY (ONE OF OUR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION SITES IN YOUR AREA). You are now ready to begin playing Bölz! We hope that all goes well with the installation, but if not, do not hesitate to call us toll free at 1-800-734-8031 between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (East Coast, USA). ============================================================================= Running Bölz! ============================================================================= First, get into the directory into which you have installed the Bölz! files. We will assume that you have installed to drive C: into the directory of \GAMES\BOLZ. 1) Type "C:" then the [ENTER] key. Do not type the quotation marks. 2) Next, type "CD \GAMES\BOLZ" followed by the [ENTER] key. Again, no quotes! 3) If you have not already run BSETUP.EXE (automatic during Installation), or if you want to reconfigure some options, now's the time to do it! Type "BSETUP" and press the [ENTER] key. Don't type the quotes =-) 4) Now, type "BOLZ" and press [ENTER]. Guess what? Don't type the quotes. After some initial setup (automatic), you will begin to hear some music (sound card owners only). All fatal errors are trapped and handled correctly by the game executables -- your computer shouldn't "lock." After a few screens (shareware/diskette) or animations (CD-ROM), you will be presented with the Title Screen (displaying the word, "Bölz!" against a 3D rendered background). When you are ready to begin, press any key! NOTE: From this point forward, some shorthand has been used to keep this document more readable. Please make a note of the following: [SELECTOR] == [ENTER KEY], [SPACEBAR] or [FIRE BUTTON 1] [MOVEMENT] == [ARROW KEYS], [JOYSTICK DIRECTION] [GO BACK] == [ESCAPE KEY], [FIRE BUTTON 2] The next screen is the Main Menu. It is from here that you can perform all actions of the software. To start a new game, place the cursor (a soccer ball) next to "Start New Game" (it should be there by default since this is your first run). Next, press the [SELECTOR]. Your game will begin shortly! If you want to change the game play options of Bölz!, simply move the soccer ball to "Game Options" and press the [SELECTOR] key. The Game Options menu will appear. Make your selections by moving the Yellow Arrow up and down with [MOVEMENT], then press [SELECTOR]. When you are finished with the Game Options, press [GO BACK] to return to the main Menu. For example, to adjust the Music Volume, Press [SELECTOR] on Game Options from the Main Menu. Move the Yellow Arrow down using [MOVEMENT] until the Yellow Arrow is pointing directly at Music Volume. Now, using the left or right Arrow Keys or left/right joystick movement, adjust the music volume to a suitable level. ============================================================================= Playing the game! ============================================================================= Game Play in Bölz! appears to be simple at first, but you will soon discover the complexity of this game. There are literally hundreds of different hidden rooms, powerups, bonus items, bonkers, etc. in Bölz! You are a ball attempting to rescue your friends from the grip of Billy Bölz. You must wonder through Billy's ultra-large maze playgrounds looking for clues as to how to get through to the next part of the maze and eventually on to the next level. In each maze, there can be up to three different color lazer gates and/or doors. The colors are Red, Green and Blue. There will also be several "Marker Switches" on the floor. You must roll over these switches and turn the off (simply rolling over them turns them off). You will see (Industrial Zone), mostly blue walls which make up the maze. Your ball cannot go through these walls, nor can it jump over them (they're way too high!). Be on the lookout, however, for cracked wall segments! They're secret doors into hidden rooms and warps! You may select to be one of three balls while playing Bölz! The choices are as follows: SoccerBall The SoccerBall is a great average ball. Its acceleration is good, it has a normal top speed and corners well. The SoccerBall's jumping abilities are average. RubberBall The RubberBall is good for beginners and younger children. It has a near instant acceleration to its very low top speed. The RubberBall has the best cornering abilities, but has the best jumping abilities of all the balls. BowlingBall The BowlingBall is for the expert player! This is, by far, the heaviest ball, and it cannot jump very high. Also, because of its weight, its acceleration is slow - but - the top speed on this ball is the highest of all three balls! Now, combine that extra weight and high speed, and you're bound to discover that cornering is less than that of, say, a sports car. Those who master the BowlingBall will enjoy the best maze times and usually get the highest scores! Keep your eyes open for the demonic robot balls. Billy has created these stop you as you roam the mazes (hey, he wants to keep what he's got, and wants to add YOU to his collection!). They exist in six (6) varieties: [All versions of Bölz!] SpikeBall The SpikeBall has four large metallic spikes around it. It is silverish in color, and can be destroyed by jumping on it. Generally, it will either attempt to chase you or run away from you. Judge your jumps carefully, as landing on this ball will cost you health points rather quickly!! PinBall The PinBall is quite unique! It has four razor-sharp pins around it with one pin sticking straight up. These pins animated in and out. Only when its top pin is retracted may you jump on it. Otherwise, you will be pricked by the top pin, causing a loss of health. TankBall The TankBall is vicious. It's electrically charged body is hazardous to touch from any side. It can be jumped on, but beware! It will shoot a glowing blue PlasmaBall at you at random! You cannot jump over or on top of these plasmaballs as they are easily attracted to your ball. [The following are in the Registered Version only] SuperSpike The SuperSpike behaves much like the SpikeBall, but is much more aggressive. Found in most levels after Zone 1, the SuperSpike will charge at you equalling YOUR top speed! This means that either you jump on it or be damaged. . .hint, when you see these -- avoid them! PlasmaBall A much larger variety of what the TankBall uses as a weapon! This large blue ball has arcing lighning bolts around its edges. Needless to say, touching this ball from the side will cause a SEVERE amount of damage to your ball, and it is very aggressive! LightFire The LightFire, or FileBall, is hideous! This is Billy's best creation to date! If it's on the screen, it's chasing you. Your only hope is to time your jump just right to land directly on top of it and disperse its gasses. Best of luck! Don't get discouraged. By the time you encounter these enemies, you'll have quite a good understanding of the way Bölz! works and how to destroy the enemies. And -- guess what? We've given you several powerups to help you along the way. Here's an example of some of them: Mapper The mapper is the small, square area located at bottom-center on the game play screen. It displays an area around you that you would not otherwise be able to see. Use this display to your best advantage to avoid things like dead-ends, etc. Finders For each color of Marker Switch, there is an equal-colored Finder. The Finders, when found and picked up, will allow you to see the marker switches on the Mapper. These are a rare treat as the levels increase, but be on the lookout for them. They appear as small boxes in the maze with either a Red, Green or Blue dot in the center. They will match the color of the game play screen's border (pinkish for The Industrial Zone). COGnition Brand Adhesive Strips Search for these Band-Aid(TM)-like strips everywhere in the maze. Each one boosts your health by 4 points. SuperStrips These adhesive strips have a glowing blue border around them, and are worth 100 health points. You can have, at maximum, 200 health points in the game, so if you already have 175 points, pass these up and save them for when you really need them! SpeedBall The SpeedBall appears as a large pink ball with a large "S" on it. It will double your speed for about 30 seconds, allowing you to cover more maze in a shorter amount of time. Beware, though, that at these high speeds, it's a bit harder to avoid the enemies! SteelBall The SteelBall will encase your ball in a protective steel ball. This will make you invulnerable for about 30 seconds. You may simply roll over any enemy characters you encounter, but beware -- the tank enemies can still shoot you!! There are many, many other items in the game. If you need some quick hints on getting past a certain portion of the game, or would like to discuss game play strategies with a Bölz! expert, please call 1-412-261-#### during our regular business hours! Request "Bölz! Hints and Secrets" from the operator! If you do not want to call us for help, try playing at a lower skill level to start out! From the Main Menu, select Game Options. Next, position the Yellow Arrow directly next to Skill Level. Press [SELECTOR] repeatedly to scroll through the options (Easy (Nice Billy), Normal (Angry Billy) and Hard (Red, Upset, and Flaming Billy!)). Please note -- The "Hard" skill level is slightly less than fair to you as a gamer! Enjoy! ============================================================================= The Story ============================================================================= The basic story of Bölz! is that, one day, an eight-year-old child named Billy Bölz! decided we would like to have all the balls in the world as his own to play with. His father, being a millionaire, could easily afford to buy him all the balls, so Billy went to his father one day. . . . "Dad, uh, I was wondering, ummmmm. . . ." "Yes, son," said his father. "What is it?" "Well," said Billy, "I was wondering, ummm, if I could have some balls to play with?" "Sure son," said his father. "How many would you like?" "Well," replied Billy, "I was thinking of all of them!" "Now Billy," said his dad. "You can't have all of them. What will all the other children play with?" "NO, NO, NO!" interrupted Billy. "I want all of them, all of them, ALL OF THEM!!" "NOW BILLY!" exclaimed Billy's father. "-=-" "Humph!" replied Billy in a rage, stomping off to his room. -= Later That Day =- Henry, Billy's butler, is shown entering Billy's Room carrying his lunch on a tray. "Your lunch, sir." says Henry. "Will there be anything else?" "Will there be anything else?" says Billy, obviously upset with something. "Yes, Henry, there will be! How about all the BALLS IN THE WORLD!!!" We now see Billy standing in front of a large projection screen displaying several images of his designs: "Since my dad won't buy me all the balls in the world, I'll have to take them!" says Billy excitedly! "Now that my Vacuballopter is done, I can send it out to get ALL THE BAAAALLLS!" "Then I will use my BolBot to protect them!" says Billy confidently. "Yes, sir." says Henry without expression. "Humph!" replies Billy, rolling up the projection screen and darting off to his supercomputer. He immediately begins playing with some knobs, and we can hear the sound of a large helicopter-like device starting up outside on the lawn. We watch as the Vacuballopter flies off toward the Chock-Full-O-Fun toy factory, which is where all the balls in the world are made. We see through the cockpit that it has the factory in its sights and is homing in. From inside the factory, we are looking at the roof of the building. Suddenly, a large crash is heard as an unbelievably large vaccuum hose smashes through the roof. Immediately, it begins vaccuuming all the balls out of the factory, storing them inside the Vacuballopter! We watch as the Vacuballopter flies off, heading back to Billy's Mansion! The adventure begins!! [The CD-ROM version of Bölz! has the above script fully animated at 15 frames per second using a combination of hand-drawn and 3D rendered animation techniques. There are also entire clips detailing the history of the ball as Billy's ancestors have attempted to play with the ball throughout history, clips of Billy designing his creations, and much, much more!] ============================================================================= A word or two about shareware ============================================================================= Shareware. It's often a misunderstood word. People have confused this word to be synonymous with public domain or freeware software. In fact, shareware is simply an effective marketing method by which to distribute computer software. Think of shareware as being the ultimate in money back guarantees: If you don't like a particular program, you don't have to pay for it. You do not have to pay to RECEIVE the software initially. Shareware authors just give it to you for evaluation purposes before asking that you pay a registration fee for (actually purchase) their software. This gives you an opportunity to evaluate the software in a pressure-free environment -- your comfortable home!! Run the software - kick the tires. If you enjoy using the software, you should then pay for it by "registering" your copy with its author. The "share" in shareware comes from the author allowing you to make copies of the shareware version and give it to others. The most common and highly popular method of doing this is to upload the shareware version of the software to a local bulletin board service (BBS) or the internet. People from around the world can then download (receive) the copy of the software for free and give it a try for themselves. Then, only if they like the software will they actually have to pay for it, and so on, and so on. NOTE: YOU SHOULD NEVER UPLOAD OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTE ANY COMMERCIAL, RETAIL OR REGISTERED VERSIONS OF ANY SOFTWARE! IT IS ILLEGAL AND CARRIES SOME STIFF PENALTIES -- NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IS A SET OF LARGE FINES AND JAIL TIME! Shareware is growing in popularity and dependability. You can even find shareware on retail shelves in its unregistered form, mostly on CD-ROMs filled with hundreds of shareware programs. The cost of the CD is NOT the cost of the software -- if you like a particular program on the CD, you should purchase the fully registered copy from its author. Shareware is the computer industry's most effective way of saying, "We trust the customers!" By this it is meant that you are trusted to register the software with the authors if you enjoy it and intend to keep using it. Question: So why is the cost of the software usually lower than a retail version of the same or similar software? Does that mean that it's not as good or high quality? Answer: By placing the software directly into your hands for evaluation, the shareware author can avoid having to pay all the necessary distribution fees associated with commercial or retail software. Also, each "stop" the software makes between the author and the retail shelf has to be paid for!! There are delivery charges, profit markups, etc. Shareware is not, in most cases, inferior software by comparison to retail software. In fact, most shareware is actually SUPERIOR to its retail competition -- it has to be, or you wouldn't consider buying it! Finally, Bölz! is marketed as shareware. The version you have received (Zone 1) may be freely copied and distributed (with certain limitations, read VENDOR.DOC for more information). But, if you enjoy playing Bölz!, you must register it with COGnition Development Team as outlined below. When you register, you will receive the full version of Bölz! containing the rest of the Zones of Bölz! (Zones 2, 3 and 4) and much, much more on CD-ROM or diskette (diskette version is different). Please note that COGnition Development Team takes extreme pride in the fact that this version of the game is not "crippled" or otherwise limited in any way. You can save/load your games, experience the wonderful soundtrack, and use/play all features of Zone 1. This allows you to experience every aspect of Bölz! at home - but please encourage the development of more excellent, family-oriented games like Bölz! by registering! The benefits of doing so are phenomenal: ============================================================================= The CD-ROM Version ============================================================================= Price: US $29.95. United States Shipping and Handling paid by COGnition Development Team for a limited time only ** Zone 1 Industrial Zone Zone 2 Jungle Zone Zone 3 City Zone Zone 4 Space, the Final Frontier! Each zone has five 16-channel songs composed by ParadigmPC. This is guaranteed to be some of the best music you've ever heard in a computer video game - ever! MORE enemies and boss enemies Over twenty minutes of hand-drawn and 3D Rendered cinematic animation sequences interspersed throughout the game. A feature digital video movie detailing the making of Bölz! and COGnition Development Team's future plans (playable only under Microsoft Windows, Video for Windows runtime is on the CD!). 10 selections from the soundtrack (songs) on the same CD which you may also use in your audio CD player at home or in your car or anywhere to enjoy the fantastic soundtrack of Bölz! ============================================================================= The Diskette Version (six HD diskettes!) ============================================================================= Price: US $29.95. Shipping and Handling paid by COGnition Development Team for a limited time only ** Zone 1 Industrial Zone Zone 2 Jungle Zone Zone 3 City Zone Zone 4 Space, the Final Frontier! Each zone has between three and five 16-channel songs composed by ParadigmPC. MORE enemies and boss enemies Stills from the animation sequences with text to convey storyline! To order your copy of Bölz!, call today! Visa, Master Card, American Express, Personal Check or Money Orders accepted. All checks must be drawn on a United States of America bank. Do not send cash. Foreign orders welcomed - prompt service GUARANTEED! ** COGnition Development Team, as an incentive to its customers, will pay shipping and handling for any Bölz! package if shipped within the Continental United States. Orders to be shipped outside the Continental United States are subject to normal shipping and handling costs. From inside The United States, please call 1-800-734-8031 to place your order. From outside the continental US, please call +1-412-261-9123 (voice) or order by fax at +1-412-391-7886. Please use the included FAXORDER.DOC file included in this archive for fax orders. Please use MAILORDR.DOC for mail orders (any country). When ordering by phone, please have your credit card handy. ============================================================================= Credits and Acknowledgments ============================================================================= Executive Producer: Kevin Vaughn, Straffan Production Company LTD. Programming: Robert Colbert Graphics Design: Joseph Sells Character Design: John Mirenzi Music Composition: Mike Genato of Paradigm PC Voice Talent: Amy Hartman is: Billy Bölz! and his ancestors The Spanish Queen David Fielding is: Billy's Father, Henry the Butler, Christoper Colombus, Innocent Egyptian Real-World Beta Testers (in alphabetical order by last name) Lance Ambuehl Amit Arora Jim Brown and Family John Butler John Chichilla Jim F. Drax Felton Mike Egenlauf Charles Gaefke Sal Giallanza Carl Hayden Grey Hodge Tyler Hughey Sean Kinsella (Ireland) Arthur McMahon Mario Melendez (Costa Rica) Jayson Notaro Jayson Pappas Rik Pierce (British Colombia) Chris Prendergast Elijah Sarver James Scouten (MegaGames BBS, Texas) John Schmidt (Sysop, Software Creations BBS) Michael Sidoni Kevin Snyder Wade Thrower Robert Ridley Bill Rowley Peter Vanderborght (Belgium) - Special Thanks to all of our "Real-World" Beta Testers. This game wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for your valuable input during those critical stages of development! - Bolz! was developed and compiled using Watcom C version 10.0 "a-level" patch. COGniton Development Team endorses the Watcom line of development tools for 32-bit DOS and Windows development. - DOS/4GW Protected Mode Run-Time System versio 1.97 provided by Rational Systems/Tenberry Systems, Canada. DOS/4GW is a registered trademark of Rational Systems/Tenberry Systems. - The Music in Bolz! was composed by Paradigm Recordings, PC division, using Scream Tracker version 3.01 "beta" from The Future Crew, Finland. Scream Tracker can be downloaded from most bulletin board systems around the world, and is quickly becoming a world standard in computerized music formats. - The Digital Sound and Music Interface used under license from Virtual Visions Software Company, Finland. Programmer: Otto Chrons. Bölz! just wouldn't sound quite so great without it! ============================================================================= Real-World Testing Program? ============================================================================= Part of Bolz!'s success as a video game is due, in part, to our revolutionary "real-world" beta testing program. What is this? Well, we sent an advertisement over the internet and FIDOnet (shareware echo), as well as several local and non-local bulletin board systems. We then sorted through the replies and selected several unique systems and individuals to test Bolz! Sure, we could have contracted several testers to come into our development labs and tinker with the game with video cameras focused on them, but why? Bolz! was to be distributed to the public, not lab rats!! We wanted our testers to be completely at ease, and encouraged them to tear the game apart. What better way than to give them the game and let them test it in their homes? They could play the game and see how it runs on _their_ systems. The feedback was phenomenal, and we thank each of you. Each of you did a great job, and some even managed to find some really nasty bugs that drove Rob up each of his walls here in the office! (he's still recovering, but should be fine any day now =-). All-in-all, COGnition Development Team can only hope that because of this innovative approach to software testing that you, the end user, will have an enjoyable, reliable product which will provide a valuable service to you over time. If you are interested in becoming part of the "real world," drop us an email or letter! We'll gladly evaluate your system configuration and tastes in video games and computer software in general. Who knows? You may have a sneak peek at the next exciting release from COGnition Development Team with an opportunity to earn a free copy of the fully registered version! Get that email or surface letter out today! Don't forget to give us the following information: Your name Phone number Mailing address Number of computer users in your household System configuration: CD-ROM drive [ ] Yes [ ] No RAM ____ megabytes Hard Drive Size ____ megabytes Input Devices [ ] Keyboard [ ] Joystick [ ] "Game Pad" [ ] Mouse [ ] Other Outputdevices [ ] VGA [ ] SVGA [ ] Printer [ ] Laser [ ] Dot Matrix [ ] Bubblejet [ ] Sound Card Brand and Model: _________________________________ Email Address: _______________________________________________________ (Not required, but helps us keep in touch!) Anything else? _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Fill that out and send it to: Email: straffan@aol.com Make the subject of the email "Attn: Real World Testers!" Surface Mail: COGnition Development Team Attn: Real World Testers! P.O. Box 112546 Pittsburgh, PA 15241-2546 USA