Copyright: YourTris - Copyright Stefan Pettersson


About YourTris

The concept of YourTris is probably something you’ve seen before. ”Oh no, not yet another one of those Tetris clones”, you might think. Well, yes, it’s yet another game similar to the original Tetris, but hopefully the similarities between YourTris and other Tetris clones will end there.

The primary goal of YourTris is to be a Tetris like game which looks, sounds and behaves like you want it to do. If you’re one of those Tetris addicts you’ve probably checked out dussins of other Tetris games and found that either you didn’t like the sound, it was too small, too big or it simply just looked really ugly. With YourTris you will not have this problem, because you may customize both sound, look and behaviour.

This version of YourTris is v1.0 and it was released 25th of July 1998.

YourTris was designed and programmed by Stefan Pettersson (stefpet@kagi.com).


History

Here is the history of development of YourTris. However, since this is the first version there isn’t much here yet.

v1.0 – (25th of July 1998)

 Initial release.


Author

YourTris was programmed by Stefan Pettersson.

Other programs and games by the same author are for example All In One Yahtzee, Global Mines, Hattrick Manager to mention the most important ones.

If you want to contact the author with questions, comments or something else, get in touch with this email adress: stefpet@kagi.com

You may also visit the website at:

http://www.algonet.se/~stefpet/software/


Future

A lot of features are planned to be implemented in the future of YourTris. This depends on your support. If there is no one pays the shareware fee, then there is really no reason to continue the development of YourTris.

However, my goal is to add some or all of the following functions in future versions of YourTris.

-	Different blocksets

-	Blockset editor

-	Key configuration

-	Background image

-	Extended highscorelist

-	Panel graphics (configurable)

And most important: Your suggestions!


Gameplay

If you’re already familiar with the original Tetris concept you might skip this first paragraph. The goal of YourTris is to avoid the gamefield getting filled with pieces. To do this you have to rotate the falling pieces and place them so a whole line is filled. When a line is complete it will disappear and the pieces above will fall down making room for new pieces.

Use the arrow keys left and right to move the pieces horizontally,  use arrow up to rotate and use arrow down to drop a piece one step. Use the spacebar to drop the piece to whole way down.

After a amount of lines is complete your level will increase, the pieces will fall down in a higher speed at a higher level, but you will also get more points at higher level.


Settings

In the settings window you may configure YourTris the way you want it. The different tabs is explained below.

Game

Here you’ll change the size of the gamefield and in what way rotation is done.

In the gamefield section you may change width and height of the gamefield. At lines you change how many lines will be ”scrambled” from start. Try increasing this for a more difficult challenge. Level is which level you should start at.

There is also a default size option, use this to choose from some predefined values. Games played with these values are those recorded in the highscore list.

The next section, rotation, you may change in what way pieces should be rotated.

Sound

With the checkbox you may turn on and off sounds. In the sound configuration section you may choose your own sound files to use with YourTris. Click on a event and enter the name and path to the wave file you want to use in the textbox below. Use the button next to the textbox to browse and select a wave file if you don’t know where it is.

Blocks

Here you may change the look of the blocksets. To change the look you use a ”BlockTheme”. Click the ”Open Theme” button to load a new theme.

Themes are normally located in the folder Themes in the same directory where you installed YourTris. An example theme is provided so you can see how it’s done and do your own themes.

A blocktheme is a collection of graphics for the different blocks in the game. It works like the plus themes in Windows 95. You may do your own themes (see topic: customization) or you can download themes already finished to give YourTris the look you want.

Find themes to download at the support website:

http://www.algonet.se/~stefpet/software/


Customization

The name YourTris isn’t choosen because of nothing. It’s choosen because you really can make it ”Your-Tetris”, you may choose your own sound effects but most important you can use your own (or somebody else) graphics to make YourTris look exactly the way you wanted it too.

Take a look at the support website to download any of the already done themes, the internet URL is:

http://www.algonet.se/~stefpet/software/

If you want to do your own theme, the easiest way is to look at an already done theme and you’ll see how it’s done. An example theme is provided so you can take a look at how it’s done. In the folder Themes (where you installed YourTris) you’ll find the folder Example where the example theme is located.

If you want to construct your own theme you need to do a rectangular bitmap for every block used in the game (that is 7 blocks). You may use a program such as Paint Shop Pro (http://www.jasc.com) or Photoshop to draw the block and then save it as .bmp (windows bitmap). The only restrictions are that the files should have the same size.

Now you need to do a kind of theme-configuration file. Here is an example of such a file:

[BlockGFX]

Block0=block1.bmp

Block1=block2.bmp

Block2=block3.bmp

Block3=block4.bmp

Block4=block5.bmp

Block5=block6.bmp

Block6=block7.bmp

The file specifies which bitmap picture should be used with which block. Use a texteditor like Notepad to create the above file and save it as ”NAME_OF_YOUR_THEME.thm”.

To put it all together you’ll locate the ”Themes” folder in the directory where you installed YourTris. In that directory (../YourTris/Themes/) you create a folder with the same name as your theme. Then you put (in that folder you just created) the theme-configuration file and the seven bitmap files.

To use your theme you start YourTris, choose Settings and the Blocks. Click the ”Open theme…” button and choose your theme.

If you’ve done an own theme, please go to the support webpage and tell the author about it so it can be made available for other YourTris players.


License

YourTris is copyright by Stefan Pettersson.

YourTris is provided ”as-is”. The author has no responsibility for anything that is cause by YourTris or is expected by YourTris.

The distributed version of YourTris is a limited evaluation version. Many features has been disabled and some of the available features has been limited. If you like YourTris and would like the full version, see the How to register section. When your order is received you’ll get a username and a serialcode which you use to unlock your copy of YourTris. This serialcode is personal and MUST NOT be spread under any circumstances.

Distribution

YourTris, the program itself, may be freely copied if no more than a minimal charge is involved. When YourTris is distributed it must be the latest available version and only the original unmodified distribution archive may be distributed. YourTris may be included on a CD-ROM collection or on a coverdisk, however, then the author would like a copy of either the CD-ROM or the magazine as favour.


How to order
How to register

My goal, as the author of YourTris, is to continue to develop YourTris (see topic: Future) and make it better. However, to make it possible to continue the development of YourTris I need your support and feedback.

YourTris is distributed as shareware. Shareware means that you are free to download and evaluate the game, and if you continue to use it you should pay the shareware fee.

Some features of YourTris is not available in the evaluation version, these features will be fully available if you register.

The shareware fee is only $5 US Dollars.

Many hours have been spent developing YourTris and this is your chance to say ”Thanks, I liked it!”. Five dollars is what I ask for, for something that I’ve used most of my sparetime to develop. I don’t think it’s too much too ask, and I think everyone should afford to pay the shareware fee if they like the game.

After you’ve paid the shareware fee you will receive a serialcode which you use to unlock your copy of YourTris. All the limited features will then be available and you will be a registered user. As a registered user you will be able to download all future versions of YourTris for free.

To pay the shareware fee, choose the alternative which is most suitable for you.

In the game, choose the Help menu and then ’How to register…’, now just follow the instructions.

You may pay by check, creditcard, cash and in some other ways. This is the same as running the program register.exe which will be located in the directory where you installed YourTris.

You may also pay online via a secure SSL server at adress: http://order.kagi.com/?3SK

To ensure 100% security all payments are handled by a professional payment service called Kagi. See http://www.kagi.com if you want more information about the payment procedure.

If you are swedish, you may pay via postgiro 136 15 18 – 2 (Stefan Pettersson), 40 SEK. Be sure to write that it’s about YourTris and your e-mail adress.

If you’ve got any questions about your order, then contact Kagi at sales@kagi.com.

If you wonder about how to register or something else, then contact the author at stefpet@kagi.com