Developed using Metrowerks CodeWarrior™ (Pascal Language) and the Sprite Animation Toolkit (SAT) by Ingemar Ragnemalm.
Welcome to BOOM!
Thank you for your interest in this game. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Please take the time to read this file as it contains useful information about the game. Thank you.
What's BOOM?
BOOM is an arcade game in the grand tradition, bringing the playability and feel of the glorious 8-bit consoles on the Macintosh.
It can be described as “Bomberman meets Doom”. Actually, I took the basic Bomberman idea and dropped it in a “Super-Deformed Doom” scenario (whatever this means).
If you don't know what Bomberman™ and Doom™ are, definitely you've never played a computer game. This is the right time to start.
BOOM's main features are:
• Smooth sprite based animations in 256 colors
• 8 different soundtracks and multi-channel sound effects
• Simultaneous two players action
• 80 different levels
• 10 different enemy characters varying in intelligence and weaponry
• Mid-game monsters and a final Super Boss
System Requirements
68030/040 or PowerPC;
4.5 MBytes free memory;
Mac OS 7.0.1 or later;
640x480 or larger monitor supporting 256 colors;
Sound Manager 3.0 or later.
Recommended Configuration
Fast (25Mhz or better) 68040 or PowerPC;
Mac OS 7.5.x or later;
Sound Manager 3.2 or later on PPC machines.
The Story
Really you need one? Ok.
It’s happened again. The Earth is facing a new alien threat and who’s called to save our beloved planet? You guessed!
The aliens have the capability of transform themselves in all sort of deadly creatures. Basically, they act like parasites, attacking humans, animals and even machines and turning them into lethal killers.
Your mission is to penetrate 8 alien infested areas, each one divided in 10 sub-zones, eliminate all enemies using your bombs and finally kick the Big Alien Boss back to where he came from.
How to play
To start playing BOOM just double-click its icon and wait for the game to load.
Once in the title screen you can start configuring the game. Menus are accessed by simply moving the cursor to the top of the screen. Choose “Options...” from the Game menu (you can also click on the word OPTIONS directly on the title screen). In the options dialog you can choose between one or two players game, configure the controls for player one and two and set up the sound and music preferences. You can also select the starting level, although with some limitations: you can choose from a reduced set of levels, i.e., level 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71, and you must first reach them during a normal game. In other words, to start playing from level 11 you have to pass level 10 starting from level 1 and so on. This feature is available to REGISTERED USERS only.
Controls in BOOM are very easy: four keys for the movement and an action key for dropping bombs.
The aim of the game is to eliminate all the enemies from each level. To do so you have to carefully use your bombs. Bombs are also used to break your way through the playing field, destroying special blocks.
For further info and tips please take a look at the built-in info screens. Choose “Info...” from the Game menu (or click on the word INFO on the title screen).
You can find additional info about BOOM on my Web page (see ‘Contact info’ section).
Troubleshooting
If BOOM crashes at startup or during game, please try the following things:
1) If you're running BOOM on a PowerPC machine make sure you installed the latest available version of the Sound Manager, currently 3.2.1. In general, you should upgrade to the latest available version of the Mac OS, currently 8.
2) Turn off virtual memory or RamDoubler. On PowerPC machines make sure the modern memory manager is turned on on the ‘Memory’ control panel.
3) Try starting up your machine with the system extensions disabled (hold the shift key down while turning on the computer). If you feel that you have installed a system extension that is causing trouble, try disabling all the non-Mac OS extensions and then enabling them one at a time to find out the conflicting one (use Apple's Extensions Manager or an equivalent utility, like Symbionts, Conflict Catcher or NOW Startup Manager).
4) Finally, try zapping the parameter RAM (PRAM) by holding down command-option-p-r at startup (or use an utility like TechTool).
If you still can't get BOOM to run properly, please contact me (see ‘Contact info’ section).
I made a great effort to ensure that BOOM 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 BOOM freely, provided that you leave the software and the accompanying documentation unchanged. You can include BOOM in CD-ROMs and other software collections only by previous agreement.
BOOM 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).
Registration
The shareware fee for BOOM is US$15 for a single user license. Site and World-Wide licenses are also available.
Registrations for BOOM 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 BOOM, use the “Register BOOM” 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 BOOM 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 maintain 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 sounds and the music of the game BOOM have been created by George E. Kouba, Jr. and are 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
BOOM makes use of the Sprite Animation Toolkit (SAT).
SAT is a library for programmers who want to make arcade games or other programs involving animation. It is distributed as a compiled library, together with numerous example programs.
Many thanks go to all the people who contributed in any way to the making of this game.
Special thanks to my beta-testers:
Dario Accornero (DAPPSoft),
Fariborz Amirshahi,
Kim, Ji-Hyun,
Ingemar Ragnemalm.
A special mention goes to Fariborz for his invaluable support, kindness and generosity.
Version history
1.1 (December, 1997)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior® Professional 1.
• Recompiled with the latest updates of the Sprite Animation Toolkit and the MADLibrary (music drivers).
• 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.
• Now the current level number is shown on the upper right corner of the screen during play.
• Increased the minimum intermission time between levels on fast machines (2 secs).
• Added an energy display for the Alien Boss in the final level.
• 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 BOOM” application everywhere on your hard disk.
• New Factor logo during loading sequence.
• Updated exchange rates in the Register application.
1.0.1 (March, 1997)
• Recompiled with CodeWarrior™ 11.
• Recompiled with the latest versions of the Sprite Animation Toolkit and the MADLibrary (music drivers).
• Fixed a bug in the sound management routines that caused output corruption (noise) on some machines.
• Fixed a bug that caused a player to occasionally get stuck over a block after a collision with the other player.
• Fixed a bug that caused a player to occasionally being teleported over a teleporter already occupied by the other player, resulting in the two players being placed one upon the other.
• Increased the game's memory partition to 4.5 MBytes.
• Added Gravis GamePad sets matching the default key assignment for Player 1 and 2.
• Added “Troubleshooting” section to the Read Me file.
