Tetris v1.9 (June 94) for DOS. by Moose O'Malley FREE Ware ! This Prototype Tetris program includes various levels of play : - Kids Tetris (easy), - Standard Tetris, - Hard Tetris, and, - Nightmare ! This version of Tetris is FREE Ware, and you can copy, distribute, and use it freely as long as this message remains intact. The program operates in character mode only. i.e. it is not a graphical program, so it will work on any monitor : CGA, EGA, VGA, etc, and will run on any PC (with an Intel CPU from 8088 to Pentium Pro), and with any amount of memory (it only needs a few dozen KB). It runs on my 8086 640 KB CGA laptop, and it runs (at the same speed) on my Pentium 100 / 16 MB / SVGA. It also runs under Windows 3.1, 95, NT, but as a DOS application. This program was written in Turbo Pascal v3 / v5 (DOS). I wrote this version of Tetris in 5 days, after work during the week. The game is still very rough, and it could do with a great deal of polishing / enhancing. If you like this program, please EMail me and let me know. It may encourage me to make some of the changes listed below. Future possible Enhancements : ------------------------------ - Windows version - then again, keeping the program in DOS / ASCII means it will run on the very first PC (with 64 KB of RAM and NO graphics capability), and will also run (at the same speed and with the same functionality) on the very latest Pentium machines. Not many games / programs out there can claim this ! - 2, 3 or 4 players competing (they have their own areas). - 2, 3 or 4 players co-operating (all controlling their own pieces in 1 huge area). - Shape editor to enable you to create your own Tetris pieces. - Seperate High Score tables for each Level of game play. - Add in a 'Lines Removed' counter. - Add in the missing 'T' piece. (How did I miss it out ??) - "Get out of the Mess" - start with predefined levels, with layers of blocks already in position and the player has to get out of the mess and clear the screen. - Game play could also be tweaked then - at the moment all other Tetris games out there (that I have seen) stop when one player ends - so a fast player who drops heaps of pieces and ends the game will have a higher score than the slow careful player who has not made a mistake. The slow player should have the option of continuing on to beat the other players score. - I have also thought of having Arkanoid like power ups - imagine having laser cannons on your falling piece with say 5 shots to shoot out pieces / mistakes below - or a black piece (like the black balls in Arkanoid) that passes through all other pieces and cleans them away. - You could also have morphing pieces that change shape if a player is too slow in dropping them down, wild card pieces, Larva pieces that flow into any given gap, Acid pieces that eat away other pieces, virus pieces that infect and change the shape of any other peices they touch, and heaps of other tricky things. (I have got loads of ideas here !!). - Sound FX - at the moment sound is only beeps and farts through the PC's internal speaker. Great sounds and music, with in-game speech would make the game much better. - Then there is modem, network and internet play ........ This is tricky and will be weeks / months of hard work and it will probably mean moving from DOS to Windows .... - The game also needs a lot of polishing and interface enhancing - it is very rough round the edges. But, the sky really is the limit !! The above really is a lot of work, and it is unlikely that all of the above will be done for the first release, and some may never be done. The new program will probably cost $5 (FIVE dollars) - like all of my other Shareware programs !! If anyone is interested in this program or registering their intentions to buy the program when most of the above features are added, please let me know ! With enough support, I might be able to start work on the project sooner rather than later. If you purchase any of my programs, you will become a treasured Registered Users and receive : - FREE upgrades for life ! - FREE Technical Support via Email. - Access to the latest functionality - only available in Registered versions of the programs. - Friendly and fast customer support via Email. - Notifications by Email when the programs you have registered are upgraded. - Greater say in future changes / enhancements. Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know, and I will do my best to fix it ASAP. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://move.to/moose ____________________________________________________