Developed using Metrowerks CodeWarrior® (Pascal Language)
Thank you for your interest in this game. I hope you'll enjoy it.
I'm not going to describe all game features here. Just give a look to the built-in help screen before playing for the first time.
Also please take the time to read this “Read Me” file and the “FAQ file” you find in the MacPipes folder. Thank you.
What's the Story? (Morning Glory)
The first public release of this game was numbered 2.0. It sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?
Well, in fact this game has a long story behind its back.
Despite its appeal and gameplay, it is NOT a clone of Pipe Dream from LucasArts Games; it is in fact a rendition of a small Amiga game I saw in the late 80s, called Pipeline. It was so addictive that I decided to port it to my Mac (it was a Macintosh SE, one of those small machines with a black & white built-in screen, do you remember?)
I started programming it in Turbo Pascal in 1988 (I still have that proto-version floating around somewhere on my hard disk). Then the 90s arrived bringing color to the Macs. In early 1994 I produced a color version of MacPipes but never released it to the public. Until today (oh, by the way, the silly name it's because all Macintosh programs in the 80s were called MacThis, MacThat, MacSomething).
I made a great effort to ensure that MacPipes is bug free but I make no warranty whatsoever, either implied or express, as to its correct functioning. When using this software, the user assumes all responsibility for damages caused, directly or indirectly, by its use.
Distribution
You can distribute MacPipes freely, provided that you leave the software and the accompanying documentation unchanged. You can include MacPipes in CD-ROMs and other software collections only by previous agreement.
MacPipes is SHAREWARE, which means that you are allowed to use it on a trial basis for up to 30 days. After this period, if you want to continue using it, you are expected to pay the required shareware fee (see Registration notes).
Note that MacPipes is not “crippleware”: unregistered copies are fully functional.
Registration
The shareware fee for MacPipes is US$5 for a single user license. Site and World-Wide licenses are also available.
Since its first release, I added many new features to MacPipes in response to the vast (and quite unespected) success it had among Macintosh gamers.
I think that it's because of its excellent quality/price ratio that so many people like MacPipes. For this reason, despite the great amount of work I put into it, I decided not to raise the shareware fee: it's still a bargain at 5$.
Nonetheless, if you really like MacPipes and consider yourself devoted to the shareware cause, you can still add that extra bonus ;-). Many thanks in advance.
Registrations for MacPipes are handled by Kagi (<http://www.kagi.com/>). This means that you can pay your shareware fee with credit card (VISA, MasterCard and American Express), NetCash, First Virtual, US checks, foreign checks in US dollars, and cash in a variety of currencies.
To register MacPipes, use the “Register MacPipes” application, included in the package, to generate a registration form to be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to Kagi. Please read the instructions in the “How to Register” file before using the Register program.
Send the form together with your payment to:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392
Berkeley, California, 94709-1405
USA
For credit card payments, send the form via e-mail to <shareware@kagi.com> or by FAX to +1 510 652 6589. Checks should be made out to “Kagi Shareware”.
As an alternative, you can pay your shareware fees over the web using the Kagi Online Order Process system. This service is accessible directly from my home page (see Contact Info).
You can still send your payments directly to me, but I can only accept CASH (US dollars or italian Lira). Anything else must be sent to Kagi.
To pay for MacPipes with cash, print out the registration form using the Register program, put it in an envelope along with the money and send the whole thing to:
Federico Filipponi
c/o Fondazione Ugo Bordoni
via B. Castiglione, 59
00142 Rome
ITALY
After receiving your fee (or a notification from Kagi) I will send to you (preferably via e-mail) a unique registration code for you to enter in the “Enter Code...” dialog.
In general, when you register through Kagi, you'll have to wait for your registration code to come directly from ME (and not from Kagi). Normally, as soon as I receive payment notices from Kagi, I send the codes to the personal e-mail addresses provided by the users.
If you're not equipped with an e-mail address, you'll have to wait a bit more (usually a few weeks). A US$1 bonus for postal coverage is greatly appreciated.
Please note that Kagi is already asking an extra US$1 for postcard receipt. That's only an acknowledgement and does not contain your registration code.
Note: when sending money in an envelope make sure it is not visible from outside: wrap the bill with an opaque paper leaf (here in Italy we are used to say: trusting others is good, not trusting is better!).
Contact info
For any request, suggestion, bug report, etc. you can e-mail me at:
Internet: <fedefil@fub.it> or <fedefil@kagi.com>
Don't forget to visit my home page at the following URL:
<http://www.kagi.com/fedefil/>
I'm the author of the following software:
• MyEyes: color menubar eyes
• MacPipes: an action/puzzle game
• BOOM: an arcade game
• Reanimator: a utility for automatically restarting all processes killed by another process
You can find all my shareware programs in my main archive at:
<ftp://ftp.kagi.com/fedefil/>
As an alternative, you can find them in the archive maintained by Axo_Adi in Italy, whose URL is:
<http://www.venus.it/axoadi/software.html>
You can also find updates to my software on the Info-Mac archives. A list of FTP addresses of mirror sites follows:
If you have trouble in retrieving my programs feel free to e-mail me for help.
Support is given via e-mail only.
Mailing List
I'm maintaining a mailing list to notify people of new releases and updates.
If you want to take advantage of this service you have to explicitly tell me to add your name to the list. Subsequently, you should also inform me of any changes in your e-mail address. This service is for registered users only.
To be added to the mailing list send me an e-mail message with Subject: Factor Mailing List.
In the body of the message put your complete name or the name you used when registering one of my programs.
Credits
The music of the game MacPipes has been composed by George E. Kouba, Jr. and is copyrighted by Wizid Audio Productions. Used by permission.
Wizid Audio Productions provides Macintosh ShareWare authors with custom sounds and music for their creations. You can contact them at the following address:
Wizid Audio Productions
P.O. Box 893
Ramsey, NJ 07446
USA
Internet: gkouba@carroll.com (George E. Kouba, Jr.)
WWW: http://www.wizid.com
Phone: (201)236-2215
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to all those who sent me e-mail and helped me improving MacPipes.
Special thanks to:
Peter N. Lewis, David Mukai, Matt Slot (for writing the fabulous Gamma Fade routines) and Matthew Xavier Mora (for porting them to Pascal), thank you guys!
A special mention goes to Fariborz Amirshahi for his invaluable support, kindness and generosity.
My eternal gratitude to all those who registered their copy of MacPipes (you know who you are).
Version history
2.2.3 (October, 1997)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior® Professional 1.
• Fixed a bug in the monitor depth switching routines, possible cause of crashes.
• Fixed a memory leak that occurred when closing some dialogs.
• In the about dialog it was actually possible to write in URL fields. Fixed.
• Added the ability to register on line by launching your Web browser directly from the game application.
• Now the game application is able to locate the “Register MacPipes” application everywhere on your hard disk.
• The ability to load an old scores file (pre 2.2.2) at any time has been restored. To load an old scores file put it in the game folder and select ”Load Old Scores” from the File menu (WARNING: no confirmation is asked and the operation is not undoable).
• Now the title screen updates much faster after closing dialogs.
• Added two new buttons to the Options screen for direct access to the keys and sound setup dialogs. Previously, these dialogs were only accessible from the menubar, that is normally hidden.
• New Factor logo during loading sequence.
• Updated exchange rates in the Register application.
2.2.2 (April, 1997)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior™ 11.
• Fixed a bug, introduced in version 2.2.1, that caused the “Not Yet” button on the Shareware reminder dialog to remain dimmed instead of becoming available after 4 seconds (PowerPC only).
• The scores are now stored in the preferences file to avoid problems when the game is run from a locked disk, like a CD-ROM. To preserve your current scores, when upgrading from a previous version of MacPipes DO NOT trash the “MacPipes Scores” file (or “MacPipes.scores” in case you have MacPipes 2.0.x). When run for the first time, MacPipes 2.2.2 will read your old scores, store them in the preferences file and eventually delete the obsolete scores file.
• Updated the documentation as usual.
2.2.1 (January, 1997)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior™ 10.
• MacPipes is now FAT, i.e., it contains both 68k and PowerPC code.
• Clicking on the URLs and e-mail addresses in the about dialog automatically launches your Web browser or e-mail application (requires Internet Config 1.1 or later).
• New Factor logo.
• A Factor Software FAQ file has been added to the package. Please read it.
• Updated and re-formatted all the documentation files.
2.2 (July, 1996)
• Added a background music during game play, courtesy of Wizid Audio Productions.
• The sound volume is no longer controlled by the numeric keys 0..7. Separate volume control for sound effects and music is now available: choose “Sound Options...” from the Game menu. Sound Manager 3.0 or later is required.
• The menu bar is now accessed by simply moving the cursor to the top of the screen. The spacebar is no longer used for displaying the menu bar.
• Fixed a bug that caused freezes at higher levels (usually after level 37).
• Minor changes to the title screen and to the about dialog.
• Updated the documentation and the MacPipes FAQ file.
2.1.1 (March, 1996)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior™ 7.
• The infamous “panic” screen has been eliminated (and don't say you want it back).
• Updated the MacPipes FAQ file.
• Added my Home Page URL to the contact info.
2.1 (January, 1996)
• Fixed a bug in the file management routines that caused scores not to be correctly stored in some situations.
• The preferences file and the registration data are now stored in the Preferences folder. The files are named respectively “MacPipes Preferences” and “MacPipes Registration”.
• The high scores table has been improved. It now shows the number of the level at which the scores have been achieved and the difficulty setting for that level using small “smile” faces (see the Options screen for their meaning). In addition, the game will remember the last name entered, so that you won't have to retype it again and again.
• You can now type numbers in the high scores table.
• The scores file is now named “MacPipes Scores” and it's still located in the same folder as the the game application. Having changed the file structure to store additional info, an option for loading the old scores files has been added. Just select ”Load Old Scores” from the File menu (a file named “MacPipes.scores” must be present in the game folder).
• An option for clearing the scores has been added. Select ”Clear Scores...” from the File menu.
• A “Practice” mode has been introduced to let the younger players among you enjoy the game without having to struggle against the time limit (scores achieved in this mode aren't recorded).
• A “Quit” button has been added to the title screen.
• The scrolling message in the title screen now reflects the registration status.
• The current version number is displayed in the top right corner of the title screen.
• The graphic of the pipes stack has been slightly modified to let the player more easily spot the next pipe segment to be placed in the grid.
• The sound routines have been completely overhauled. The effects are now played on three separate channels (i.e. up to three sounds can be played simultaneously).
• A click sound for the various buttons has been added.
• In the Options screen you can now select the difficulty using the mouse. An exit button has been added.
• The key for aborting a game has been changed to ESC (escape). Now when aborting a game, instead of simply returning to the title screen, you pass through the game over sequence, eventually recording the current score.
• Two key equivalents has been added for activating the bomb (default, Option) and for scrolling the stack (default, Shift). These two keys and the key used to start the flow (default, Space) are now user definable. Select “Set Keys...” from the Game menu.
• The text in the Help screen has been modified to reflect this new feature and has been made a little more informative.
• The usual minor bug fixes and code refinements.
• A FAQ file has been added to the package. Please read it.
2.0.2 (October, 1995)
• Fixed a bug in the scoring when computing the level bonus after level 32.
• The game now properly responds to suspend/resume events, restoring the monitor pixel depth and the sound volume when switching to the background.
• The game does not ask you anymore to switch to 256 colors when you start it with the monitor set to another pixel depth; instead, it gently sets the monitor to the required depth, restoring the original one when quitting.
• Screen fades now affect the main screen only (the one with the menubar in it).
• MacPipes is now screensaver savvy (at least of the ones using the 'SAVR' Gestalt attributes).
2.0.1 (September, 1995)
• Fixed a bug in the screen fading routines which prevented the game to work on Macs with double monitor (thanks to Peter N. Lewis for his invaluable help).
• Recompiled with Metrowerks Pascal 1.1 (ready to jump on the PPC platform).
• Sound Manager 3.0 or later is now recommended (if not present, you will not be able to set the sound volume from within the application).
• The high scores table animation effect is now stoppable by clicking the mouse. In addition, the table isn't redrawn all over again after a new entry.
• Screen fades have been made a bit faster.
• Several code refinements, small bug fixes and cosmetic tweaks.
