FAQ is an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. This FAQ is an attempt to provide a comprehensive source of information about the products of Ambrosia Software, Inc., and was created in response to questions that are frequently raised by our customers. We hope you find it useful.
If there are any questions you have about Ambrosia that are not answered in this FAQ, please get in touch with us so we can include them in future revisions.
This document is provided as is, without any expressed or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this document, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
[A] - Here are some very brief capsule descriptions of Ambrosia Software's current product line:
APEIRON (v1.0.2) -- During a port through the looking glass, the mirror shatters and your ethereal energy (you know, the stuff that allows you to get up and go to work on a Monday morning...) is trapped within one of the crystal shards. Immediately, the residents of the mushroom patch sense your presence. Lead by the Pentipede, this motley crew of mushroom patch misfits relentlessly hunt the crystal (you!), intent upon sucking out the trapped energy.
Inside Mac Games sums it up by saying "Apeiron's astounding graphics and sound coupled with its captivating gameplay make it a joy to play and a worthy successor to a classic such as Maelstrom."
Price: $15.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Apeiron.html
AVARA (v1.0.0) -- Are you prepared for battle? Are you ready for Avara? Avara's real-time graphic action will start your heart pounding as you see your opponent gracefully bound across the terrain and quickly swoop in behind you. Using both the mouse and keyboard, you have complete 360 degree control to counter maneuver and quickly target your enemy. Avara's maneuverability is unique, allowing its warriors to freely climb, jump, and run on any of the structures in the battlefield.
Add to this Avara's networkablity, and the game gets even more interesting. Avara allows you to meet and play against people from all around the world, right over the internet. Develop your skills and strategy in the many solo levels, and when you are ready, access the Avara Internet Tracker to locate worthy opponents. With Avara, you are also able to design your own battlefields. The only limiting factor to your gaming experience is your imagination.
Price: $20.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 040 or PowerPC recommended
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Avara.html
BARRACK (v1.0.3) -- Meticulously crafted by Greg Lovette, Barrack is a game that is hard to pigeonhole. It exhibits a precarious balance between action and strategy; thinking and reflex. The feeling you get from playing Barrack is an eccentric harmony between the automatic, mind-numbing pleasure of Tetris and the kind of action found in Maelstrom. The result is that you'll be left with sweat on your brow.
Barrack features stunning artwork, intense action, vibrant 8-channel stereo sound effects, and the addictiveness that comes standard in an Ambrosia game.
Price: $15.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater, 040 or PowerPC recommended
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Barrack.html
BUBBLE TROUBLE (v1.0.1) -- Welcome to Bubble Trouble folks, the latest game from Ambrosia in which cutthroat fishies are playing hardball in a squabble over some very wet turf. Think of it as splatball for insufferably cute seafaring critters (hey, they need their fun too).
Bubble Trouble’s world is filled with lusciously-drawn cartoony critters who give that cranky crab from The Little Mermaid a run for his money. But money isn’t what you’ll be running from: an otherwise peaceful fish bowl has been filled with bubbles that are being tossed around in an enthralling game of “Squish the Fish!”
Price: $15.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater, 040 or PowerPC recommended
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/BT.html
CHIRAL (v1.0.4) -- Chiral is a fusion between the scientific concept of atomic bonding and the addictive game play of Tetris. Players are challenged to form bonds between atoms to create inert molecules before the atoms overflow from a vial. Points are scored by the complexity of the molecular pattern and the speed with which it is assembled. Not to worry, a doctorate in atomic chemistry is not needed.
MacUser awarded this new definition of fun with their Shareware of the Year Award for 1994. MacWeek says "With the release of Chiral, Ambrosia is breaking its creative bonds...With repeated play comes an appreciation of the subtle beauty and elegant sophistication of its design." Inside Mac Games calls Chiral "a uniquely creative action-strategy game that is just as much fun to watch as it is to play."
Price: $15.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Chiral.html
COLORSWITCH PRO (v1.2.1) -- ColorSwitch Pro takes the cue from Apple's vaunted Control Strip, adds many sorely-missed features to the mix, and packages it all up in a tidy, convenient pull-down menu that's always available when you need it.
ColorSwitch Pro allows you to master your Macintosh with a set of convenient controls for adjusting things such as PPP dial-up connections, network settings, speaker volume, monitor resolution and color depth, audio CDs, and more.
Simply pull down ColorSwitch Pro's handy icon-menu, select the setting you'd like to change, and instantly ColorSwitch Pro does your bidding. No more fiddling with a bevy of control panels or sacrificing your desktop space to Control Strip.
ColorSwitch Pro's real power lies in its Shortcuts feature: any combination of settings can be grouped together into a single Shortcut. For instance, you might have a "Game" Shortcut that switches your monitor to 640x480, 256 colors and cranks up the sound volume.
Price: $20.00
Requires: Any Color-Capable Macintosh, System 7 or later
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/CSP.html
ECLIPSE (v3.1.1) -- Flying toasters and exploding rabbits are fun for a while, but perhaps you’re getting a little tired of using a screen saver that takes up huge amounts of disk space, devours memory, slows down your Macintosh, and causes inexplicable crashes?
Introducing Eclipse 3: a lean, mean, 100 percent PowerPC native screen saving machine that works great on 68K Macs as well. To eliminate the problem of Extension conflicts, we designed Eclipse 3 as an application so that it retains the benefits of Extension-based screen savers while avoiding their propensity to cause problems. After all, a screen saver is supposed to save your screen, not crash your machine.
Moreover, Eclipse doesn’t merely dim the screen; it displays the current time floating on the screen, graphics (PICTs, JPEGs and GIFs) and QuickTime movies from a folder full of choices. You can select the graphics and movies to be displayed by dropping them into the Eclipse Graphics folder. In addition, Eclipse offers such conveniences as password protection, and you can customize its extensive feature set any way you like.
Price: $15.00
Requires: Color-Capable Macintosh and System 7 or later
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Eclipse.html
ESCAPE VELOCITY (v1.0.5) -- Escape Velocity spans a number of genres, combining elements of classic “trading” games, arcade space shoot-outs, and strategy simulations. Whether you choose to build a trading empire, aid the Rebellion in a civil war, or strike out on your own as a ruthless pirate, Escape Velocity provides a multitude of options for the game connoisseur. This open-ended gameplay allows each player to chart their own course as they play; there’s no “right” way to play Escape Velocity, as long as you have fun!
Numerous sub-plots fill Escape Velocity’s world; your choices affect the story’s development, guaranteeing that each game will be different from the last. You’ll have the opportunity to infiltrate hostile military bases, ferry emergency supplies to distant star systems, rescue passengers from stranded cruise ships, stop alien invaders, and more. In addition, Escape Velocity sports an open game engine. Future scenario designers will be able to create their own worlds for other players to explore.
Price: $20.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater, 040 or PowerPC recommended
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/EV.html
HARRY THE HANDSOME EXECUTIVE (v1.0.1) -- From the time we enter grade school until our matriculation, we are indoctrinated with a drive to "make it" -- to ascend the corporate ladder, earn a large salary, and produce successful offspring. This game won't help you with any of that. It can, however, train you in the ways of the swivel chair, the most versatile piece of furniture since the ottoman with built-in soda fridge.
Join Harry the Handsome Executive as he scoots and kicks his swivel chair through the halls of ScumCo in this delightful action game developed by Ben Spees. The path to job security is fraught with many perils! Harry must avoid discomfort caused by dart-throwing middle managers, rebellious customer service drones, crazed chemists, and a host of other enemies. All the while, he must maintain corporate favor or risk the feared pink slip.
Price: $20.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater; 040 or PowerPC recommended
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Harry.html
MAELSTROM (v1.4.3) -- This Macintosh classic is what put Ambrosia on the map as the leading Macintosh shareware publisher. Maelstrom has received a four star rating from Macworld, the MacUser 1993 Best Shareware Game award, and the Shareware Industry Award for best game. Maelstrom also took first place in the 1994 Mac Home Journal Reader's Choice Awards.
With detailed color animation, four channels of digital sound, and smooth game play, Maelstrom takes full advantage of the Macintosh's multi-media capabilities. All the game needs is someone with guts and a thirst for glory in the pilot's seat.
Price: $15.00
Requires: Any Color-Capable Macintosh
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Maelstrom.html
MARS RISING (v1.0.1) -- Terran military assets on Mars and in Martian space were attacked in a devastating and overwhelming surprise attack. All but Deimos have been lost. Despite the magnitude of the loss and bewilderment as to how the Martian Defence Force could have seized control of the planet so easily, Terran Command has ordered a stategic retaliatory action against key Martian facilities. You are to strike from Deimos using prototype Vac-Fighters. It's a good thing you're wearing clean underwear.
Price: $20.00
Requires: 256 Color Screen, 13" or Greater; PowerPC Only
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/MR.html
SNAPZ PRO (v1.0.1) -- Snapz Pro allows you to quickly and easily capture any portion of your screen to disk as an editable image file. A single keystroke brings up the Snapz Pro palette, which allows you to capture, trim, crop, scale, and dither any portion of your screen in the blink of an eye. Simply click on a monitor, window, or menu and Snapz Pro will automatically isolate, trim, and crop it -- no more tedious pixel editing to prepare your screen captures for publication.
Snapz Pro trounces existing screen capture programs -- both commercial and shareware -- in terms of its feature set, ease of use, reliability, and its ability to capture the screen at virtually any time. It's also less expensive and well supported; good for you, bad for the competition.
Price: $20.00
Requires: Any Color-Capable Macintosh, System 7 or later
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/SnapzPro.html
SWOOP (v1.0.2) -- Developed by David Wareing, of Adelaide, Australia, Swoop is an arcade classic combining pulse-quickening game play with state of the art computer animation and audio effects. Smooth flowing action, detailed full color graphics, and custom sound effects all provide for exciting game play. The only thing missing is the cash box in which to pump your coins.
Since the dawn of time, good people have always fought the iron glove of oppression. Never before has the fight been so desperate; never before have the stakes been so high. This time the fight is not over politics, religion, or territory. For now, the very survival of the human race hangs in the balance. The Swoopers have come.
Price: $15.00
Requires: 256 color screen, 13" or greater
Web Site: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Products/Swoop.html
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[Q] - How can I obtain Ambrosia's products?
[A] - The latest versions of all our products are always available in the Ambrosia Software forums on the following services:
• America Online: While you are signed on AOL, choose Keyword... from the GO TO menu, type MGM (for our games) or MUT (for our utilities) and hit the return key.
• CompuServe: While you are signed on CompuServe, use GO word AMBROSIA to reach the Mac Vendor D area, where Ambrosia Software, maintains a forum.
• Internet: Visit our web site at http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/ or our ftp site at ftp://ftp.AmbrosiaSW.com/
• Hotline: Visit our Hotline server at hotline://hotline.AmbrosiaSW.com/
Because our focus is distributing software electronically, we do not send our products out on disk. If you do not have access to any of the aforementioned digital watering holes, you can still obtain our products however.
We've made arrangements with the PD/Shareware distributor Arizona Mac Users Group so that they carry the full line of up-to-date Ambrosia products. To order an Ambrosia Software, Inc. product and have it sent to you on disk, please call AMUG at 602.553.8966. You can also fax your order, or any questions about ordering, to 602.553.8771.
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[Q] - How can I get in touch with Ambrosia?
[A] - Please feel free to get in touch with us using any of the following methods:
