Burble v1.5 - Copyright (c)
MachiSoft 2003
Thanks
for playing Burble v1.5 another great game from MachiSoft.
(Oh,
and that's pronounced
Markysoft - not Mackiesoft
by the way).
Please
pay for this game through Pay Pal at this link.
It's
only US$6.50 - hardly a king's ransom. A registration code will be emailed back
to the email address you submit.
Quick
Tips
* The
unregistered version will now randomly end the game at the end of a level
somewhere between level 5 and 9 (high scores are still recorded).
* To
enter the registration code, click on the ³Register² button on the Credits
screen. The registration code will be sent to you after you pay at this link.
The registration data is kept in a preferences file which means that under OSX
each separate user login will have to enter the same registration code once
(but still only pay once!).
* Read
the Help screen within the game to find out how to play.
* Best
look for the game. I have developed this game on my regular system with a
monitor that has contrast set high and brightness set down a bit. The game
looks much, much better if you turn down your brightness just a little.
* Although
you can use a trackpad on a Powerbook or iBook to play this game, practically,
you'll wear out your finger tips before level 4. A mouse is really the way to
go for this game.
* The
bonus score is simply a product of the number of lives that you have left and
the number of Burbles on screen, at the end of the level.
* If
you have your screen saver activating through the use of "hot
corners" then disable it before playing. (You often can't tell exactly
where your mouse pointer is, so it's easy to accidentally activate the screen saver.
* There
are infinite levels but some lucky sharpshooter managed to get an incredibly
high score with v1.1, so I¹ve made v1.2 and above a little more difficult in
the higher levels.
* Because
of the Burble physics of movement (or whatever), I find that small, precise
mouse movements are often more effective than large sweeping movements. In a
way, the bullets are sort of "thrown", so a little "wind
up" in the opposite direction to the one that you want to shoot can be
effective.
* It's
not supposed to be too easy - keep trying.
* Don't
forget to look behind you.
* Your
Burble reappears wherever the mouse pointer is at the start of each level - ie
normally where you left it at the end of the previous level.
* Sitting
at a computer all day playing this game may be bad for your health. Play
responsibly and go talk to a human being occasionally.
Minimum
Required System Configuration
Due
to the fact that I have access to a limited number of different Macintoshes, I
can't guarantee that this game will play trouble free on your system - and a
number of issues are described below - but I have played an enjoyable game on a
400mhz G3 with only 96MB RAM. As mentioned below, this version of the game
requires a monitor capable of supporting 1024 x 768 resolution with thousands
of colours.
This
game is a Carbon program that will run in "native" mode under MacOS
8.5 through OSX 10.2.x - and probably beyond - with the caveat that earlier
operating systems may need the appropriate Carbonlib (available from Apple's
download sites) installed. Performance, sound and the general user experience
are much better under OSX, essentially because that's where I developed the
game. As always, the more memory your computer has, the happier it will be.
Different
Burble versions for slower computers
* The
initial release of Burble also had a special version available for slower
computers. This version is no longer available.
Issues,
comments and known bugs
* There
are no known bugs at the date of release, and we have tested just as thoroughly
as our resources allow, however I suspect that there must be at least one or
two minor bugs somewhere. (Although TNT Basic is such a concise language that
the code, including comments, is only a couple of thousand lines.)
* Takes
a while loading up - I have optimised the start up as much as possible before
release, however I'll keep at it to reduce the start up time. My regular system
- a 550mhz G4 under OSX 10.2.2 - only takes 12 seconds from the beginning of
the Burble banner screen to the completion of initialisation at the main menu.
I've put in an "Initialising" bar to show progress.
* Music
breaks up under OS 8 & 9 - nothing I can do in the short term. This is a
problem with the TNT Basic Engine used to execute the game. Run under OS X or
grin and bear it
* The
program appears to not start up on some OS 9 systems if the ³Maximum Memory²
setting on the ³Get Info² for the program is set to a value greater than the
largest unused memory block (shown in ³About this Computer² under the ³Apple²
menu). Setting the Maximum value to slightly smaller than the largest unused
block size, or freeing up more memory by exiting other programs or re-starting
your system will fix this issue. I don¹t know why this happens, the operating
system is supposed to take care of this sort of thing.
* Only
1024 * 768 is currently supported. If there is any interest, then I will
produce a version that supports multiple resolutions.
Credits
* Programming & Graphics
Programmed in TNT Basic by Mark Mancq.
Ten lines of code, inspiration to try TNT Basic, and one teensy sprite,
borrowed from Holmes Futrell, author of Raptor ASF, under terms of the uDev
Game License. All other graphics by Mark Mancq, with screen backgrounds
generated with "Helios" from Useless Software Ltd and Adobe
Photoshop.
* Testing
Alpha,
Beta and Production Testing by Naomi Mancq
* Music
Akhnaten
Dance by Philip Glass
* Special
Thanks
To
those mentioned above, to the creators of TNT Basic,
but especially to my wife Sandy and my daughter Naomi.
Version
History
* v1.5 (versions between 1.2 and 1.5 were
not released)
Multiple
concurrent bullets in all levels
New
registration routines
New
High Scores text entry
More
and varied Burbles at lower levels
The
³clone² Burble now spawns more copies
* v1.2
Now
compatible with Quicktime 6.1
Fixed
a minor and infrequent bug that sometimes spawned new burbles with bits of
animation left from previous hits
Changed
the ³new level² thresholds to make
later levels harder to get to
Changed
the score values of some of the different Burble types
Changed
the initial Burble velocity to increase more rapidly in the later levels
Changed
the bonus calculation for later levels
Minor
changes to background graphics
* v1.1
Fixed
bug in hi score update that crashed program L
Revised
Burble ³hunter² movement to make smoother and generally less horrible and make
high scores easier to obtain
Completely
changed the bullet ballistic algorithm to improve aiming
Added
animation to burbles hit by bullet
Optimised
some initialisation code
* v1.0
First
production release
Feedback and Support
* General
email, queries and polite suggestions to: contact@machisoft.com
* Registration
queries to: registration@machisoft.com
* Support
queries to: support@machisoft.com
* Check
for new versions at http://www.machisoft.com
Warranty
and User Agreement
* Warranty
There is no warranty. We do not warrant that this program will work or that you will enjoy it or that it will coexist happily with your other software or that it won¹t crash your system. However, this program is being issued in good faith, with the intent that it be used, so we hope that the good stuff will be true and the bad stuff won¹t. But there are no guarantees, either implied or explicit.
* User
Agreement
You are free to use the software if you have read and understood the Warranty paragraph above. You may copy the software and distribute through any channel as long as this Read Me document always accompanies the software. The software may not be changed in any form, including the substitution of icons and other resources. All rights to the program, embedded graphics and attached Read Me document remain with the author.