(4th in the series - see BDREAM.ZIP, FURTHER.ZIP, PURPLE.ZIP, in any order.)
System requirements: AT or better, with minimum VGA/MCGA 256-color card/monitor. A sound card (AdLib, SB, SBPro, ATI all ok), rodent, and/or joystick are optional but recommended.
How He Dood It, Red:
Programmed using the Domark Virtual Reality Studio, by your humble servant.
The fLAtDiSk(tm) User Interface was created in PCPaintbrush V+ and converted to Domark's required .LBM format using VPIC.
The NOUPDOWN flow chart (FLATFLOW.GIF) was created with Quattro Pro SE's Annotate feature, dumped to a .PCX file and brought into PCPaintbrush V+, where a screen grabbed geoDraw title (which uses GeoWorks Pro fonts with a 3D technique, invented by Susan Lamb) was added.
NOUPDOWN is FreeWare by fLAtDiSk SoftWorks, circa 1992. Abuse at will. We still make no reparations to any eye strained individuals addicted to VR or computers who can't get enough of a good thing. (cf., Lawnmower Man, Brainstorm, etc.)
RUNVGA.EXE is (C)1991 Domark. You can use it, but All Rights Reserved.
There is NO UP or DOWN in space - get it?
What Should Be Included For This ZIP To Be Legit Department:
NOUPDOWN.BAT (32 bytes), a free batch file to help run this Dream. Modify as you like.
NOUPDOWN.RUN (96,166 bytes), the fLAtDiSk(tm) FreeWare program file.
RUNVGA.EXE (38,566 bytes), the Domark semi-free runner file. Do not rename this file - required to run the program. This same file will run the other three fLAtDiSk(tm) Dreams, (or any .RUN file created with the Domark Studio by anybody else, for that matter).
FLATFACE.GIF (14,580 bytes), a free graphic file (320X200 - 256 colors) to help explain how to mouse around inside The Dream. Essentially the same file I always throw in for this purpose. View with VPIC or whatever. Not required to run The Dream.
FLATFLOW.GIF (12,108 bytes), a new free graphic file (640X480 - 16 colors) which is a color version of the actual, genuine flow chart used by the modest author to not get lost when creating this fine product. It won't help you at all, but it is pretty. Not required..
FLATKEYS.GIF (6,931 bytes), still another free graphic file (320X200 - 256 colors) to assist those rodentless users who want to brave Domark's incomprehensible keyboard alternatives. Not required to run either.
FLATDOCS.TXT (5,718 bytes), this file, of course, which continues from here to ramble on forever about things that will make little sense unless you are actually floating around in there while you read it.
To run it, type NOUPDOWN and press ENTER.
To run without the batch file, type RUNVGA NOUPDOWN.RUN and press ENTER.
To Quit back to whatever shell or OS you use, press SHIFT and ESC together.
Test launched successfully from GeoWorks Pro and Windows 3.1 (from File Manager) by double clicking on NOUPDOWN.BAT.
CRYPTIC NOTES FROM THE INNER EYE:
First, for the record, thank you to the 580 souls who had downloaded the other Dreams the last time I looked. (What a schmuck I am not to charge a buck apiece. I could have bought a CD ROM drive..) :o<
If you want versions that run with the PC's own lousy internal speaker, let me know. If enough people request it, I will recompile the programs and upload a separate version of each to AOL. In the meantime, Domark only gives us an either/or choice as to sound drivers, so you will need an AdLib compatible card for sound (see above).
Ok. This one is bizarre, but you should be used to that by now. The ways in and out of things are more and less obvious than before, depending where you are. This time K9 is in and The Doctor is still out. The Windows satire is only that - no disrespect to Gates, Inc. intended (seeing as 3.1 actually works).
You will get lost, but that's the fun part, isn't it? Where no user has gone before, etc.
As in our universe, the continuua are paralleled, but not necessarily contiguous.
Oooh, big words. Lucky I have a defragmented spell checker, eh?
HELPFUL HINTS:
Collide to pass through obvious portals. Shoot at anything that you are curious about with the left rodent button: some things are actually portals. Shoot to activate pseudo-icons.
To restart at any time - or if you get stuck - click on the furthest little unmarked GUI button to the left, or press ESC. There are no dead ends, however, and you can sometimes go back the way you came.
You will probably have to hold down the SHIFT and ESC keys for a while when you QUIT back to DOS (or whichever shell). It takes a second or so for the interrupt to be recognized. You should NOT have to press your computer's reset button to get out.
There is no up or down in space. I kept relativity to a minimum here. Fly around and explore the vastness when you get the chance. If the controls seem to go nuts or the view becomes unpleasantly distorted, use the big button to righten yerself: you are probably upside down or something (relatively).
When you move around in there, the left mouse button is normal speed and the right is double speed. Domark designed the Studio for XTs originally, so if you have trouble slowing down enough to get through something, stick to the left button. I program and test on both a 16MHZ 286 and "50MHZ" 386 - everything works ok on both.
BIGGEST HINT:
Whack K9 where you would whack any dog. It's not cruel - he's mostly titanium alloy anyway, and he rather enjoys the comparison to biologicals.
DEDICATION:
To the Everly Brothers. If you don't know who they are or why, you may be old enough, but you're still not hip enough. All you have to do is..
