********************************************************* DX-Ball v1.09 <Freely distributable> December 19th, 1998 ********************************************************* ========================================================= New as of 12/19/98: - Fixed speed problem with some video cards like the Matrox Mystique - Patched the highscore bug at the end of the game - Updated e-mail and web page addresses ========================================================= ** Special News *************************** DX-Ball 2 is available from: http://www.LongbowDigitalArts.com Go check it out, we could use your support. ******************************************* A DirectX video game for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Special Note: Make sure you have DirectX 2 or greater along with the most current DirectX video card drivers installed on your machine before playing the game. DirectX is Microsoft's new game SDK for the development of high performance Windows games. If you do not have it installed on your computer yet, check the Web for the 5 meg downloadable version. It's the wave of the future; if you don't have it by now, then you'll have it very soon. Author: Michael P. Welch 3D Graphics: Seumas McNally Special Thanks to Sarah Welch for board design. Music and sound effects are from the public domain. Legal Stuff: DX-Ball is copyright (C) 1996-1998 by Michael P. Welch. You may copy and distribute the package through BBS and ftp sites. Only the unmodified "zipped" file may be distributed or copied. You are prohibited from: charging a fee or requesting donations for the package; distributing/including the package in commercial products; modifying the package. The package may be distributed on CD-ROM in the case where ftp sites issue CD-ROMs of their collections. All trademarks/registered names acknowledged. DX-Ball is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. The author shall not be liable for damages of any kind. Use of this software indicates you agree to this. System Requirements: -486 DX2/66 system with 8 megs of RAM (minimum) -Windows 95 or NT 4.0 -DirectX 2 or higher -1.5 megs of hard drive space Game concept: DX-Ball is a 'breakout' game based on the popular Amiga game Megaball by Ed and Al Mackey. It attempts to take the best aspects of Megaball and mixes them with a few fresh ideas. A great deal of effort went into the game's "Amiga" look-and-feel. ( 60 frames per second animation, copper bars, sine scrollers, boing balls, dot flags, snappy game play, etc... ) This game is kid-tested and mother-approved... don't be afraid to show this one to your non-computer buddies. :) Game rules: Use your paddle to keep the ball(s) in the air. Dropping all the balls in play will cause you to lose a paddle. When all the paddles are lost, the game is over. Break all the bricks on the screen to gain points and continue to the next board. Catch blue bonuses for good options, red ones for bad options, and grey ones for mixed blessings. See the title screen of the game for a complete table of bonuses and their function. Use the left mouse button to release the ball from the paddle when in grab mode. When the 'shooting paddle' bonus is caught, click the left mouse button to fire bullets at the bricks. For you Amiga people: I'm that joker who wrote Scorched Tanks for the Amiga. DX-Ball is the first complete PC game I've written. STanks PC was on the way, but I landed a cool job in Chicago. And yes, my wife is doing great! Read the scroller for juicy details about the creation of the game. Question or comments: I'll be fielding e-mail at: mwelch1@stny.lrun.com I can't promise a personal response to everyone's mail. Since I get incredible amounts of e-mail everyday... yes even 2 years after it's initial release... I'm putting the free board editor info along with hints and tips up on my web page: http://home.stny.lrun.com/scorched/ Feel free to send comments, suggestions, and bugs. I wrote this game for the sole purpose of entertaining people. DX-Ball free to the world. I only ask for proof that people enjoy my work. There will be updates to DX-Ball based on the level of interest... so here's your chance to make a difference to a lowly game programmer. FYI - DX-Ball 2 is available from http://www.LongbowDigitalArts.com Seumas McNally has done a wonderful job of updating the original game and ever sale of the board packs helps keep our little group happy and motivated. Problems running DX-Ball: ------------------------- -If the ball jitters a lot during game play, then DX-Ball is in compatibility mode. Check the intro screen for the reason for this mode. Look under VIDEO CARD. -Video Memory is Low: You have only 512k of video memory in your system or another application is using it. -Refresh Rate is Above 60mhz. This app is built to use video cards that are timed to a 60 frames per second screen update. Newer cards can go a lot faster, but the default is 60mhz. If your card is too fast, look under DISPLAY in the CONTROL PANEL for the refresh rate setting. -No Hardware Acelleration: Your current DirectX video card drivers do not support hardware acelleration. Either get newer drivers from the manufacturer (web site) or upgrade your system to a new card. -Video Cards that I personally tested with DX-Ball: S3 Trio32/64 Stealth 3D 2000 (Virge chip) Matrox Tseng ET4000W32P Mach 32 Cirrus Logic CD-GD5430 0 Trident (no hardware) Bali 64 (no hardware)
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