[comp.sys.mac] Solarian II/IIci/Video Card

barr@Apple.COM (Ron Barr) (03/23/90)

I tried Solarian II on my IIci and got the wierd, interesting but unfunctional
graphics instead of a video game. I then added a video card and it appeared
to work OK, but now whenever I exit a challenge round I drop into Macsbug. I
have a feeling this is not an intentional feature. My workaround is to avoid
shooting the challenge round tokens.

I hope the author is reading this...

Ron

Dorman.Bullard@p4.f56.n114.z1.fidonet.org (Dorman Bullard) (03/26/90)

In a message dated 03/23/90, barr@Apple.COM (Ron Barr) writes:

> I tried Solarian II on my IIci and got the wierd, interesting but 
> unfunctional graphics instead of a video game. I then added a video
> card and it appeared to work OK, but now whenever I exit a challenge
> round I drop into Macsbug. I have a feeling this is not an intentional
> feature. My workaround is to avoid shooting the challenge round tokens.

Here's some info from someone close to the author:

"From: s20bbn@gandalf.Berkeley.EDU (Andrei Cogan)
Date: 27 Feb 90 00:47:12 GMT
Organization: Friends and Underpaid Associates of Stick Software
Message-ID: <34532@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
To all of those people out there with comments/problems with Solarian,
I will attempt to clear some of them up. I know these because I am Ben's 
fourth (unofficial) roommate here at Berzerkeley, so all of you that will
call me uninformed, go away 8-). So, here goes:
o  To those of you that are having problems with Solarian not working
           on a IIci, look for the improved version 1.0.1. The reason the
           first one didn't work was because of the physical differences
           between the standard Mac video card (used in the II/x/cx) and
           the built-in graphics card in the IIci. The problem has been fixed
           in version 1.0.1. It should run on all Mac II and up machines now.
o  To those of you who are confronted with the problems of not having
           your high scores recorded, possible problems include:
           -->  Your disk is locked !!!!!!!!
           -->  Starting off at any level other than the first automatically
                invalidates recording the score.
           -->  Hitting Caps Lock with Tab in conjunction to play the game
                in Pause mode obviously invalidates the score (Do you think
                were so stupid as to allow you to cheat in this manner?)
                Note: Caps Lock alone should not do this, but don't quote me...
 
           -->  If you are using AppleShare or any other file-sharing system,
                it is possible that your score may not be recorded. It is even
                possible that you may not be able to register the game.
o  Many people have asked why the sounds in Solarian can't be extracted
           and used in SoundEdit, SoundMaster, etc.  They are in a modified
           format which is not supported.  Sorry, but that's how it goes.  It
           isn't for copy-protection or anything, it was just easier than
           using Apple's format.  Find a developer who knows how to use ResEdit
 
           well and knows the Sound Manager, and get him/her to convert the
           sounds for you.
o  There are two known bugs:
           -->  Keyboards other than the standard US extended AppleTalk
                DeskTop Bus keyboard may not work correctly. In particular,
                you may not be able to snip the scissors when using a
                non-extended keyboard.
           -->  When quitting from the game in MultiFinder, Solarian doesn't
                correctly update the desktop, causing the screen to be a
                most beautiful (heinous...?) colour of Midnight Blacke. This
                is not dangerous in any way (i.e. it does not munch any files,
                cause any damage or crashes, etc.). You can restore the screen
                by using Switcheroo, Monitor CDEV, any screen saver worth its
                salt, etc.
These bugs will be fixed in version 1.0.2., which will be posted
fairly soon. If you don't want to wait for this, either get yourself
a new keyboard 8-) or send Ben a SASE and a blank disk (HD or 800k.

--  
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