• Over the phone with your VISA or Mastercard, toll-free, 24-hours a day: 1-888-313-4699
• On-line with your VISA or Mastercard from our secure ordering page: http://www.dadgum.com
• Through the mail via check, money order, or credit card: use the Order Form document.
• Or paste a completed Order Form into an email and send it to sales@dadgum.com
Another busy day collecting pollen and making honey when–ATTACK! Marauding insects swarm into your hive, and it's up to you to defend it from crazed bees, hornets, spiders, armored beetles, and hoards of other crawling and flying invaders. The survival of the hive is in your hands!
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Bumbler Bee-Luxe requires a Power Macintosh. “Slower” machines like the 6100 will benefit from having 256K of Level 2 cache installed.
PLAYING BUMBLER BEE-LUXE
Basic Controls
Your bee is controlled by four keys. These keys are configurable; the defaults are used here.
Pressing the left command key turns the bee clockwise.
Pressing the left option key turns the bee counter-clockwise.
Shift shoots a stinger; hold down shift for rapid fire.
The control key is speedy bee; it causes your bee to zip forward to get out of a tight spot. After activating the speedy bee, you can't turn or shoot until your bee slows down again.
Practice Mode
To get used to controlling your bee, click the Practice button on the title screen. You can fly around and get the feel of things without being attacked by other insects. Practice mode ends when you have collected all the flowers on the screen by running into them.
If the bee controls seem reversed, it is probably because you are using the command and option keys on the right side of the keyboard instead of the left. If this feels more comfortable, go ahead and change the keys (click the Keys button on the title screen), and make the “turn left” key be command and “turn right” be option.
The Game
Shoot stingers at anything and everything. When an insect is splatted, it drops any pollen it may have been carrying, causing the honeycomb beneath it to fill with honey. At the end of a swarm you get bonus points for each honey-filled comb.
Some honeycomb turn red when they are filled. These contain special honey and you can fly over them with your bee. Doing so triggers a random event. Sometimes you'll get points. Sometimes a swarm of mini-bees will be released and help take out your attackers. Sometimes…well, you'll see. There are a variety of things that can happen, most of which are good.
Over a dozen different types of creatures can invade your hive; click the Specimens button to see them. You'll learn how to deal with the behavior of each as you encounter it in the game. Be prepared for the unexpected! The three colors of daisies and the purple clover are on your side; pick them up for points.
Be sure to take a look at the Options screen. These options are saved when you quit Bumbler Bee-Luxe and are automatically set the next time you play.
MISCELLANEOUS KEYS
esc (escape) aborts the current game and returns you to the title screen.
tab pauses the game.
command-Q quits Bumbler Bee-Luxe.
command-W switches to the Finder; use the application menu at the right end of the menu bar to return to the game.
If you'd like to use Bumbler Bee-Luxe in an entirely mouseless manner, you can start a game by pressing return from the title screen.
PLAYING TIPS
• If the game seems too hard, try switching to a lower difficulty setting.
• Sometimes things aren't as hectic as they seem; you can stop shooting and weave around insects to pick up special honey and daisies.
• When a swarm ends and the honey-filled combs are counted, you can use speedy bee to dive for special honey before it disappears.
• Rather than lifting a finger from one left/right turn key and then pressing the other, keep your finger on the first key while you press the second (the bee responds to the most recently pressed movement key).
• If it looks like you're going to be killed anyway and there's some special honey nearby, go for it. There are two outcomes (one in the demo) that could save you. Or getting bonus points might net you an extra bee.
TROUBLESHOOTING
• If you experience some slight slowdown on busy levels, check to see if your sound output rate is 22KHz (22.050 to be exact). You can check this using the “Sound” or “Monitors & Sound” or “Sound & Displays” control panel––whichever one is installed on your Mac. If the rate is greater than 22KHz, reduce it to 22KHz.
• If you have the Bumbler Bee-Luxe volume set to 9, and you want it to be louder, increase the master volume of your Mac using the control panels mentioned above.
• If you don't have stereo speakers connected to your Mac, be sure that the “Stereo sound” checkbox on the Options screen is unchecked.
• As with most games, virtual memory and RAM Doubler may cause occasional problems, such as the sound breaking up. If you notice something peculiar, try disabling virtual memory (from the “Memory” control panel) or RAM Doubler (see the manual that came with it).
ABOUT DADGUM GAMES
Dadgum Games creates original games that make you glad to own a Mac.
Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome.
How to contact Dadgum Games
email: info@dadgum.com
Web: http://www.dadgum.com
24 hour automated ordering line: 1-888-313-4699
Mailing address:
Dadgum Games
P.O. Box 1154
Issaquah, WA 98027-1154
U.S.A.
CREDITS & THANKS
Beta testing:
Kevin Avila
Jessica Ball
Mark Phaedrus
Richard Rouse III
Michael Sheets
Mandus Soderberg
Kevin Tieskoetter
Bumbler Bee-Luxe was created with the PowerFantasm development system from Lightsoft (http://www.tau.it/lightsoft or lightsoft@zedworld.demon.co.uk).