TheZone is a two-dimensional inertial space arcade. If you like to drive a ship throughout open space, this is the game for you. Thrust your ship, destroy asteroids, collect all bonuses, blast out space bases (keep your eyes open on the red ones) and bang up enemy vessels. Practically everything bounces around because you are moving in a physical space: all objects are solid, and love to collide with each other. Forget about boring battles against stupid asteroids: you'll have to face lots of enemies! You should read entirely the About section before playing, otherwise it will be hard to reach higher levels and survive. We also recommend when you first run TheZone to play in Beginners Mode. Be aware, though, that the game boots up in Professional Mode. You can choose the game mode via the Preferences section.
• System Requirements
TheZone runs on any MacOS®-compatible machine equipped with at least a 68020 or a PowerPC™. It needs System 7.1 or better, Sound Manager 3.0, a 13" (640x480) or bigger monitor in 256 colours mode, a 2.5Mb RAM partition (3Mb on 16" and bigger displays).
Recommended configuration: a machine equipped with a fast (33MHz or better) 040 or a PPC, System 7.5.x or later, Sound Manager 3.2, a 16" 256 colours monitor. The game runs native on both 68K and PPC.
• Compatibility
Please note that while playing TheZone no background task (not even modem or printer activity) is allowed to run. If you have to start a background process, please do it before or after playing TheZone.
There have been no specific reports about conflicts with any extension or control panel so far.
However, if you experience unexpected slowdowns or weird behaviours, you might wish to reboot without RAMDoubler‚Ñ¢, and eventually with Virtual Memory turned off. You could also try to boot your machine with no extensions at all (holding down the Shift key at startup), although this is not commonly required.
Nevertheless, we can not assure this program (as any program) is free of bugs. Should you discover any problem, please report it to us via our email address (see below for more information). If possible, use MacsBug (version 6.5.3 or later) to report the problem.
• Shareware Issues
This program is Shareware, which means that if you use it, you should send us US$10, in order to access all program features. You can evaluate the programme as long as you like. You can pay in cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard, American Express, NetCash or FirstVirtual. Use the Register program (called Register DAPPSoft, included with the package) to fill out the registration form and send it to the specified address via Email, Snail-mail, or FAX.
Site Licensing:
Single-user license: US$10
Universities or companies site license: US$150
World-wide license: US$600
When you register, the registration will remain valid for all future versions of TheZone. You will be notified of any product release (only if you provide us with your email address though).
You will be allowed to reach any level (the unregistered version allows you to reach only the tenth level); furthermore, you will obtain a cheat key combo which will give you full ship power at any time (at the expense of not tracking your eventual high score). The cheat key is available to registered users only.
You may distribute this program any way you wish, but keep this documentation file with the program. The package must be distributed totally unaltered. If you are going to include this program in a shareware collection, either on CDROM or other media type, you have to obtain our permission first; you shall also send us a complimentary copy of your CDROM. Feel free to contact us (preferably via email, since we can afford to reply only via email).
• Legal Stuff
Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft hereby disclaim all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft or an agent of their has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall Dario Accornero and DAPPSoft be liable for any damages, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
• Contact Information
If you wish to send us your comments or problem reports, please use our email address:
info@dappsoft.dreamhost.com
If you do not receive a reply from us, probably the mail might have bounced around. Please send us your message again. If you still don't receive a response, please try to use this address:
dappsoft@kagi.com
Visit our Web page at:
http://dappsoft.dreamhost.com
Although we always reply to email, we can not afford to reply via snail mail, because we're just students at the University and not a business company. However, if you have no access to email, this is our street address (please include your fax number when available if you send us something):
DAPPSoft c/o IMAGO
via Giovanni Conti, 74
00139 Roma
ITALY
Please note, however, that you should always try to contact (and expect a reply) via email only.
• Version History
1.5, released Jul 7, 1998
* sixth public release
* comes with a nice installer, courtesy of MindVision Software
* compatible with MacOS 8.x: the menu bar and the Control Strip are now restored correctly after quitting
* removed the clicking sound from all buttons: it was crashing some Performa and PowerMac models under System 7.6.x
* fixed a bug with the save-slots: if the user selects an empty name for a slot, it gets renamed to "[No Name]"
* the desired game mode (Professionals or Beginners) is now recorded together with other general preferences
* added an option to select between hardware (default) and software scrolling stars, especially useful on PowerBooks
* added an option to switch automatically to 256 colours at application launch
* added an effect to all explosions and collisions
* added a new equipment type: missiles (similar to the HeadQuarters' ones) will destroy any objects they hit
* added a button to zap the current high scores for the selected game mode
1.4, released Feb 10, 1996
* fifth public release
* fixed a crashing bug on some 68LC040 Macs, that caused the game to freeze unexpectedly under certain conditions
* fixed a minor cosmetic bug with the PPC version on all PowerMacs, where the user was typing his/her name when a high score was reached, but the program wasn't displaying it correctly
* on popular demand, added the SaveGame feature; it is now possible to save a game situation (ten save-slots available) at any time during a wave; there's a new option in the main menu that lets the user to restart playing from any saved situation, instead of just starting a normal game
* the package still contains three apps: 68K, FPU/68K, PPC; you might wish to trash the version(s) you won't use on your machine
* released an update from version 1.3 to version 1.4
1.3, released Jan 28, 1996
* fourth public release
* on popular demand, switched back to a color cursor: the standard arrow seems to have bugs on PCI PowerMacs (thanks to Hansjoerg Gruendler)
* further improved sound output on all Macs, particularly on PowerMacs (thanks to Lance Murray)
* on popular demand, the cheat key combo now disables high score tracking
* released a PPC native application: now the package contains three apps, one 68K, one FPU/68K, one PPC; future releases might contain only two apps, one FAT (68K&PPC) and one FPU/68K
* released an update from version 1.2 to version 1.3
1.2, released Jan 20, 1996
* third public release
* fixed major bugs that prevented the game to run on systems equipped with multiple monitors (thanks to Bruce Goldstein)
* fixed "scrolling stars" bug on some specific video configurations
* improved sound output on stereo equipped Macs
* released an update from version 1.1 to version 1.2
1.1, released Jan 13, 1996
* second public release
* compiled using the wonderful CodeWarrior™ •"Real men do it with CodeWarrior" •
* added a warning in the About section about never touching a mother base, because it might destroy your ship (sorry, folks, we forgot about that!)
* now uses the nice CavemanSoundSystem library by David Hay <hay@cs.colorado.edu> to produce sounds
* removed the color cursor: it caused some problems on PCI PowerMacs
* on popular demand, changed some of the game sounds with fresh ones :-)
* fixed a small bug: when the game was quitting, it left some garbage in the lower part of the screen
* on popular demand, TheZone now maintains the last high score name entered
* fixed major bug on systems equipped with more than one monitor
* now includes a cheat key (for registered users only) that gives full power to the player ship, at the expense of disabling high score tracking
1.0.2, released Jan 2, 1996
* fixed some bugs dealing with sound output, plus a likely uncompatibility with big monitors
* released an update from versions 1.x to version 1.0.2
1.0.1, released Dec 31, 1995
* fixed minor bugs within playing cycle
* fixed hard bug within the licensing scheme: the previous version might trash the Preferences folder (thanks to Matt Harmon and Jon Moon)
* included a FPU version of the program (to be used on 68K Macs only)
1.0, released Dec 30, 1995
* first public release
• Acknowledgements
First of all, thanks to all the people who have already registered the game! Our efforts would be useless without your support!
We wish to thank the following people who made possible developing the game:
Alessandro Calvi, Giuseppe Bianco, Tommaso Tessarolo, Fabio Lombardino, Luca Fiaccavento, Alfonso Sermonti, Marco Greganti, Antoine Rosset, Christian Bauer, IMAGO, Alessandro Levi Montalcini, Marco Piovanelli, Dan Crevier, John C. Daub, Sam Charap, Sam Chang, Hansjoerg Gruendler, Bruce Goldstein, Lance Murray, Matt Harmon, Jon Moon, and all the rest we forgot to mention…
Special thanks to GiMS Pang (you know who you are) for having the patience to develop our base inertial calculations that drive the whole game. Extra special thanks to Sam Charap, for all the Net support he gave us. We'll be forever grateful to ya Sam!
The installer for this product was created using Installer VISE Lite from MindVision Software. For more information on Installer VISE Lite, contact:
Each one's job in the team was: Dario developed the code, Peppe created the sprites (using 3D rendering software running on AmigaOS), Alessio and Piero designed the game.
Currently, the Record Man is Alessio (scoring about 850.000), shortly followed by Piero.
That's all, folks!
Enjoy our product and support shareware!
All registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
