This is a quick-n-dirty port to Rhapsody. Expect future versions
which will be more refined!
When you unpack the game, it is possible (and likely) that tar
will change the permissions of the high score file. If you want
multiple users to be able to save their high scores (and not just
the user that installs/unpacked the game), then you need to change
the file permissions to allow this. Run these two commands to do
what is needed:
chmod 777 [path_to_app]/Balling.app/.Ball
chmod 666 [path_to_app]/Balling.app/.Ball/.Ball.score
This game has been built tri-fat under OPENSTEP 4.2. The biggest
change is the port from NEXTSTEP to OPENSTEP, but I did fix a few
minor bugs along the way. I still have a "TO-DO" list of things
to add and fix; most such changes will probably only happen to the
Rhapsody version as I don't plan to make another OPENSTEP release
unless I find a very, very good reason to do so.
The other change is that this version is no longer shareware;
it is freeware. Of course, that also means you get no support.
If you don't like it, don't play it. If you do like it and want
to send me money to show your appreciation, that is certainly
welcome but by no means required. Any money that is sent on
behalf of Balling will be used to support further development
of the game. I'll keep tweaking it anyway, but if people
like it enough to support the development, the tweaks will
happen sooner than later. I'm using this policy with other
games I'll be releasing in the future to determine which are
the most popular--and use that to prioritize the order in which
they get time slices from me. So if you really, really like a
particular game, let me know! :-)
This version is released without source code; this will be the
case for the forseeable future, though I may change that policy
in the future. Right now the source code is such a mess that I
promise you, you do NOT want to see it! The README files for
previous versions are appended below.
This game is (c) 1995-1996 Dimitri Plotnikov and (c) 1998 Don Yacktman.
---
Later,
-Don Yacktman
4279 N. Ivy Lane
Provo, UT, 84604
(801)221-0344
don@misckit.com
don@iserver.com
My home page
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This game has been built Quad-fat under NEXTSTEP 3.3 and several bug
fixes and enhancements have been made to it.
Here is a list of changes I have made to the game so far:
* Now works on ADB keyboards and should work on ALL keyboards
* New main menu options to mirror those on game window
* Fixed bug that caused "Pause/Resume" menu cells to have the
wrong title sometimes
* Which balls come next is now more random (the seeds used to be
the same every time for every level).
* There is now a "paused" graphic when the game is paused
* A rudimentary preferences panel has been added
* There are seven backgrounds to choose from, thanks to
Allan Noordvyk for sending them
in; many of them were "borrowed" from BoinkOut
* The GUI has been cleaned up a little bit
* Highscore file permissions set properly for shared use
* More levels
This app has been tested on Motorola, Intel, HPPA, and Sparc
architectures. It has been tested on machines with and without ADB
keyboards. As far as I know, it works fine. If you do happen to
find any problems, please let me know about them so I can fix them!
I do have a to-do list, and there are some things I didn't get done
for this release. There will be more releases, including an OPENSTEP
compatible release as soon as I can get it out. The to-do list
currently includes these items:
* try to make the response less sluggish
* add a "what's coming next" visual (which can be turned off)
* be more liberal about allowing movement
If you think I should add something to that list, please let me know!
The original README is appended to this document.
---
Later,
-Don Yacktman
don@misckit.com
My home page
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I built this tiny program under NeXTSTEP 3.2 for both m68k and 80x86.
Hopefully it will run on your machine.
The idea of the game is very simple: you are supposed to arrange the
balls so that they make rows or triangles of the same color. If you
succeed the rows and triangles vanish to free room for other balls.
The game ends when there is no more room available.
You can use left and right arrow keys to move the falling balls to the
left or right, the up and down arrows to change the order of the balls
and the space key to drop them.
Command-n starts a new game.
Command-p will pause the game, then any key will resume it. Hiding
the application automatically pauses it.
If first levels are too boring for you, hit Command-2 or Command-3 to
leap directly to the second or third level.
If you want to share the same score table with other people, just
launch the application from the same file Balling.app, located on
a file server in your local area network. The score table is located
inside Balling.app and the application will accurately synchronize
your score table.
Have fun!
The program is shareware: if you enjoy balling, send a check or
money order to:
Dimitri Plotnikov
10910 Harpers Square Ct.
Reston, VA 22091
Thanks,
Dimitri Plotnikov
Home phone: (703) 860-9260