*** Z-MAX README FILE FOR VERSION 1996.7.27.SHW ***

Note:  Z-Max is shareware.  It is not free.  If you decide
to keep it for more than 21 days, please register by sending
a check or money order for (US) $9.95 payable to "William
Hood" to:
		William Hood
		126 Wadsworth Avenue
		Avon, NY  14414
		     (USA)

Please mark the outside of the envelope "RE: Z-MAX" and be
sure to include your name and address.  Z-Max is being
distributed by Quality Desktop Publishing dba W. Edmund
Hood Writing Services.  William Hood and W. Edmund Hood
Writing services are NOT responsible for lost or misdirected
mail.  All files, images, and C++ source code associated
with "Z-Max" (C) 1996 William-Arthur Hood.
_______________________________________________________________

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT Z-MAX BUT WERE
AFRAID TO ASK:

What is Z-Max?

	Z-Max is a belated Father's-Day present for my dad.
The old copy of his favorite game "Galaxians" ran like
the mouth of a politician with too much caffeine on Dad's
486, and he was searching everywhere for a decent Windows
version without any luck.  Since he had just shelled out
enough to get me a new mother-board, I decided to put my
computer-scientist skills to work and repay him.
	Z-Max should satisfy anyone who is looking for a
decent "Galaxian" style game, a decent windows game, or
both!


How do I play?

	Z-Max does not use the mouse at all.  After starting
the program, you may set the options by pressing [Enter], view
the controls by pressing [F1], or play the game by pressing
the [SPACE] bar.  Move your ship left and right with the
arrow keys.  Press [ESC] to end the game and exit the program.


How do I shoot?

	I was generous.  Gone is the dinky little "ping-thing"
that you are used to having as a weapon.  Z-Max has a total
of ten (yes ten) fire buttons.  You have four weapons, three
of which can shoot diagonally!  [1][2] and [3] are the "normal"
shots.  [1] and [3] shoot diagonally, [2] shoots straight up.
[Q][W] and [E] shoot a Fireball into the air.  Fireballs are
affected by gravity and will not reach the top two rows of the
squadron above.  [A][S] and [D] shoot Wisps.  Wisps are
electrical in nature and have no impact.  When a Wisp hits an
enemy, the enemy is blown to smithereens and the wisp keeps
right on going.  The [UP ARROW] key launches a Comet-Missile.
While these can't go diagonal, they explode into five Fireballs
on impact!  Some will even impact TWICE before being destroyed.
	Wanna see a neat effect?  Drum your fingers on [Q][W]
and [E] really fast just after the game starts.


Help.  The aliens are kicking my butt!

	Press the [SPACE BAR].  Your ship will be surrounded by
a shield for ten cycles of the game.  The number of remaining
shield charges is in the top-right corner.  You get a free
shield charge with every new level, and a free life at 1,000
10,000 100,000 and 1,000,000 points.


It runs a bit too fast on my new Pentium.

	From the title screen, press [ENTER].  This will bring
up the options screen.  Turn the refresh delay setting up.  The
higher the number, the slower the game plays.


It says it won't let me play past level two unless I pay
ten bucks.

	I may have been generous with the weapons, but I'm not
that generous.  After all, I'm a starving college student.  Send
a check for $9.95 to William Hood, 126 Wadsworth Avenue, Avon,
New York  14414.  Be sure to include your address.


How do I uninstall?

	Z-Max makes NO CHANGES WHATSOEVER to your Windows and
system directories.  It doesn't even use an .INI file (but it
does save the options in its working directory).  Remove all
the Z-Max files, and it's directory.  Then just remove the
icon from Program Manager (or whatever you use) and it's gone.


Where did you get the backgrounds?

	I took the pictures myself, scanned them in and messed
with the colors.  They pictures are Canandaigua Lake frozen,
rural Wyoming off I-80, and Taipei, Taiwan.


Can I see the source code?

	Maybe.  Are you an employer?  I'm not going to distribute
the source code publicly, but I can tell you how I did certain
effects.  The animation is double-buffered.  I used LoadBitmap()
to refresh the picture, drew the sprites (which are all icons)
onto the device context it created, then sent the whole picture
to the screen with BitBlt().  All the moving objects were stored
in a template-linked list, modified to only add new objects onto
the beginning.  The code is written such that it plays the game
"in its mind" entirely separate from the rendering process.  The
language used was Borland Turbo C++ on the "compact" memory model.
The compiler was set to optimize for speed and to word-align all
data.


Whoa?  What the ____ are you talking about?

	If you think my computerese is too much for you, better
take a computer-science course.  Be glad I didn't throw any
Mandarin at you.  :)   (Dui-ah.  Wo shuo Zhongwen.)


Where did you learn all this?

	Maybe I'm still bitter that I didn't get my major there,
but I couldn't have done it without CSE-143 at the University
of Washington.  Professor Zahorjan:  Thanks!

--William-Arthur Hood
	http://www.albany.edu/~wh0968	(Accurate until 12/96)
	wh0968@csc.albany.edu