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- This file is 'readme.doc'
-
- Please read this file before calling
- 708-257-1224 for tech-support!
- Tech-support is available for REGISTERED
- customers of TwinBlok only.
- ----------------------------------------
- Note: If reading this file from the
- Webfoot readme file viewer, use
-
- Cursor up / down to scroll
- or
- Page Up / Page Down to scroll fast
-
- ESCape, Enter, or Space to exit
- ----------------------------------------
- Copyright 1996
- Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
-
- This program is shareware, or 'try
- before you buy'. It is NOT public
- domain.
- ----------------------------------------
- IMPORTANT! Does TwinBlok fail to load?
-
- If the screens goes blank after you see
- the Webfoot logo screen and TwinBlok
- will not load, either YOU NEED TO LOAD
- THE EMS DRIVER or YOUR SOUNDCARD HAS NOT
- BEEN CONFIGURED CORRECTLY!
-
- The problem is most likely that you do
- not have enough memory. Place this line
- in your CONFIG.SYS file (see the MS-DOS
- manual for more information on EMS
- memory and CONFIG.SYS):
-
- device=c:\dos\emm386.exe RAM
-
- For Windows 95 users: the 'emm386.exe'
- file will most likely be located in the
- directory 'c:\windows\command\' instead!
- If you are running Windows 95, you will
- modify the CONFIG.SYS file by clicking
- the 'Start' button and then selecting
- 'Run'. Type 'sysedit' and click the
- 'Ok' button to modify your CONFIG.SYS
- file.
-
- To setup your soundcard, you must run
- the TwinBlok SETUP program and either
- choose 'No Sound', or choose the correct
- soundcard in your system and choose its
- correct address, DMA, and IRQ numbers.
-
- Please refer to your system's manuals or
- your soundcard's manuals to determine
- the address, DMA, and IRQ numbers.
-
- Failure to setup your soundcard
- correctly may cause TwinBlok to crash!
- ----------------------------------------
- IMPORTANT! You don't hear any sound?
-
- If you tried to choose your soundcard,
- but still hear no sound, check the
- following:
-
- 1. Have you chosen the correct sound-
- card and address, DMA, and IRQ numbers
- in the TwinBlok SETUP program?
- 2. Is your volume turned up, speakers
- plugged in and powered up?
- 3. Do you have a soundcard?
- 4. Are you inside a vacuum?
-
- Chances are, you have a SoundBlaster
- Soundcard, and your address is 220,
- your interrupt is 5, and you're using
- DMA channel 1. So you'd want to place
- the following actual text in your
- AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
-
- BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T1
-
- By adding this line in AUTOEXEC.BAT, it
- will help the TwinBlok SETUP.EXE
- program detect your soundcard. Of
- course, if these settings are wrong,
- SETUP.EXE may detect the wrong card!
- ----------------------------------------
- What's in this file?
-
- I. TwinBlok Ordering Information
- II. TwinBlok Instructions
-
-
- SECTION I
- TwinBlok Ordering Information
-
- ----------------------------------------
- 1. Why Register?
- 2. USA Orders
- 3. Germany/Switzerland/Austria
- 4. Scandinavia (also Finland/Iceland)
- 5. France
- 6. Australia and New Zealand
- 7. All Other Countries Orders
- 8. Other Webfoot Games
- 9. More About Webfoot Technologies
- 10. Legal Stuff
- ----------------------------------------
- 1. Why Register?
-
- Even more great graphics, music, and
- sounds:
-
- 50 total 1-player levels
- 25 total 2-player levels
-
- (For a grand total of 75 levels)
-
- Printed manual with hints, tips,
- and secrets (manual may not be
- available in France)
-
- Complete, easy setup instructions
- and troubleshooting information
-
- Attractive package with high density
- disk
-
- Eligibility for TwinBlok Global High
- Score Hall of Fame
- ----------------------------------------
- 2. USA Orders
-
- Toll Free (ORDERS ONLY!)
- 1-800-4WEBTEC
- (1-800-493-2832)
- Visa MasterCard Discover
- American Express
-
- Price: $29.95
- Add Shipping and Handling: $4.00
-
- Or, send a check, cashiers check, or
- money order to:
-
- Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
- P.O. Box 15
- Lemont, IL 60439
-
- FAX Orders to:
- 708-257-0942
- IMPORTANT: After August 3, 1996 our
- area code changes, so call 630-257-0942
-
- (Your FAX should contain:
- Card number, card holder's name, and
- expiration date.)
-
- Questions and Tech Support
- 708-257-1224
- 630-257-1224 After August 3, 1996!
-
- Or, fill out the form in the
- TwinBlok directory. It's named:
- ORDER.DOC
-
- Contact Webfoot on the Internet:
- Webfoot@msn.com
-
- Visit our web site:
- http://www.WebfootGames.com/
- ----------------------------------------
- 3. Orders in Germany, Austria, and
- Switzerland
-
- Ticsoft
- c/o Juergen Egeling
- Waldstr. 49
- 76133 Karlsruhe
- Germany
- Phone: +49 721 9109 520
- Fax.: +49 721 9109 599
-
- Or from Germany
- Tel.: 0721 9109 520
- FAX.: 0721 9109 599
-
- http://www.ticsoft.de/
-
- Preis DM 39.90
- Vorauskasse: Plus DM 8.05 f.
- Porto und Verpackung
- Nachname Plus DM 14.50
- Europ. Ausland: Nur Vorauskasse
- Euroscheck Plus DM 13.80
- ----------------------------------------
- 4. Scandinavia (Including Finland and
- Iceland)
-
- Twilight Zone Software
- P.O. Box 115
- 1712 GRAALUM
- NORWAY
-
- Price: 159,- NOK
- Plus handling and shipping: 29,- NOK
-
- We accept orders the following ways:
-
- 1. Bankgiro for Norwegian and Swedish
- customers.
- Norway: Account no. 1090.21.09973
- Sweden: Bankgiro no. 5986-6970
-
- 2. VISA card by FAX to +47-69-141190.
- Your fax must contain: card number,
- card holder's name, expiration date,
- authorizing signature of the cardholder
- and the order-form.
-
- 3. VISA card by Mail.
- Send the same as above (2.) to TZS by
- mail.
-
- 4. Money Order or Cashiers check payable
- to Twilight Zone Software in either
- Norwegian kroner (NOK), or local
- currency.
-
- The order-form must always be included!
- ----------------------------------------
- 5. France
-
- Vous pouvez vous procurer la version
- finale de TwinBlok avec ses 75 tableaux
- et de nouveaux graphismes contre un
- chèque de 99 Francs à l'adresse
- suivante:
-
- TLK GAMES
- BP 24
- 81150 Florentin
- France
- Tel: 63-53-26-37
- Fax: 63-53-20-11
-
- ----------------------------------------
- 6. Australia and New Zealand
-
- Spectrum Pacific Publishing
- Level 1
- 30 Carrington St.
- Sydney 2000
- Australia
-
- Phone: (02) 9980 8900; 24-hour
- automated ordering service only
- Fax: (02) 299 6710
-
- Pay by check, money order or credit
- card (MasterCard, Visa, Bankcard)
-
- Price: $34.95 (AUD) plus postage:
- $4.95 for Australian orders,
- $5.95 for New Zealand orders
- ----------------------------------------
- 7. All Other Countries Orders
-
- All other foreign orders can be taken
- by Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
-
- US Dollars only, credit card and money
- orders only ... no checks.
-
- Add Shipping and Handling: $10.00
-
- International Phone:
- 1-708-257-1224
- 1-630-257-1224 after August 3, 1996!
-
- International FAX Orders:
- 1-708-257-0942
- 1-630-257-0942 after August 3, 1996!
-
- (Your fax should contain:
- Card number, card holder's name, and
- expiration date.)
- ----------------------------------------
- 8. Other Webfoot Games
-
- H2O
-
- A mind-teasing original. FORTY levels
- of graphics and mind jarring music.
- Guide falling droplets to a drainpipe
- at the bottom of the screen. You won't
- BELIEVE the smooth scrolling playfield!
- It's not as easy as it looks, either.
- Each level is a new puzzle. H2O runs
- under DOS and requires a standard VGA
- graphics card. Sound card is optional,
- strongly recommended.
- ----------------------------------------
- D.R.O.D.: Deadly Rooms of Death
-
- A real 'killer.' More news in the
- obituary columns. (Evil laugh)
- In order to complete a level, Beethro
- must destroy all of the monsters and
- find the exit. When all nine levels
- have been cleared, Beethro will collect
- enough money from King Dugan to retire
- from the thankless dungeon
- extermination trade and open a
- restaurant. 'I'll call it Beethro's
- Roasted Roach Grill!'
- D.R.O.D. runs under Windows and
- features detailed graphics and an
- awesome MIDI sound track.
- ----------------------------------------
- Interpose
-
- Fulfilling the Webfoot promise of
- incredible graphics and music, Interpose
- is a stunningly fast scrolling action
- game. The action - and that DOES mean
- action! - takes place in space. Shoot
- 3D enemy ships while conserving energy
- and fire-power. Over 18 levels packed
- with great graphics, music, and
- animation.
- ----------------------------------------
- Farocar
-
- A strategy game with 200 mind-bending
- levels. Includes 3 different choices
- of difficulty per level and a full level
- editor.
- ----------------------------------------
- Tronic
-
- Another arcade classic brought to your
- home PC. Multiple levels of great VGA
- graphics, sound effects, and music.
- ----------------------------------------
- Hopy-ONE
-
- In the year 2013, seven of the
- Planetariums decided to initiate a plan
- to eradicate the F.L.V. (Fast Line
- Virus), the deadliest strain of mutating
- virus in the galaxy. The virus caused
- total population decimation on 17
- Astrocolonies. No survivor of the
- dreaded virus was reported. A team of
- researchers assembled to obtain a sample
- of the F.L.V. and devise a vaccine
- against it. Professor Jonathan Silt was
- one of the team members sent to the
- dying colonies. He spent 13 years on an
- intergalactic base, and was infected,
- while learning about the infection of
- F.L.V. The bio-droid, HOPY-ONE, was
- created in a laboratory Silt had set up
- to research the virus. Silt was
- cryogenically frozen in 2026. HOPY-
- ONE's mission was to collect samples of
- the virus to aid in the production of a
- vaccine. The fate of Silt, who waits in
- cryosleep, and the fate of the entire
- universe, rests with HOPY-ONE.
- ----------------------------------------
- Keep an eye out for other Webfoot games
- available through usual shareware
- channels.
- ----------------------------------------
- 9. About Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
-
- If you have a great game you'd like
- published, or if you're an aspiring
- programmer, 3D renderer, artist, or
- musician who would like to work on some
- games, please contact us!
-
- Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
- P.O. Box 15
- Lemont, IL 60439
- 1-708-257-1224 VOICE
- 1-708-257-0942 FAX
-
- IMPORTANT! After August 3, 1996 call
- 1-630-257-1224 VOICE
- 1-630-257-0942 FAX
-
- http://www.WebfootGames.com/
-
- e-mail: Webfoot@msn.com
- ----------------------------------------
- 10. Legal Stuff
-
- Copyright 1996
- Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- ----------------------------------------
-
-
- SECTION II
- TwinBlok Instructions
-
- ---------------------
- Within this file:
-
- Cursor up / down
- to scroll
- or
- Page Up / Page Down
- to scroll fast
-
- ESCape, Enter, or Space
- returns to DOS.
- ----------------------------------------
- System Requirements
-
- - 80386sx or higher
- - 1 Meg of memory
- - VGA graphics card
- - MS-DOS (or DOS shell in Windows)
-
- Optional
-
- - Joystick or mouse
- - SoundBlaster, SB 16, SB Pro, PAS,
- PAS+, PAS 16, Gravis Ultrasound,
- Windows Sound System or Aria sound
- cards
- ----------------------------------------
- The plot...
-
- Why save the universe? Better worry
- about saving your butt! The Time
- Spinners do not look kindly on failure.
- They'll yank your status, terminate your
- entity, and zap you into the netherest
- of the nether regions. Your journey
- begins when Executive Time Spinner
- (ol' T.S., you know) drops you
- ill-prepared and poorly armored into the
- fray, to fight off everything the
- Razerrians ...antiquated holdouts from
- the Snarr Sector... can drop, kick or
- throw at you.
- Blast through their defenses, traverse
- the 50 levels of time blocks they'll
- use to impede your travel. They'll
- tantalize you with pictures from your
- home planet, hurl you through space,
- instead of merely time, and dazzle you
- with nefarious patterns reminiscent of
- the arcades in the Neo-Draconian Sector
- in a celebrated age long past.
- If you need help, attempt the two-player
- screens with someone you like. Or hate.
- It's no cakewalk. Some of the time
- blocks are deceptive. So what if you
- fail? So what, indeed!
- ----------------------------------------
- Before you start
-
- First, run SETUP in the TwinBlok
- directory! Remember, TwinBlok is a DOS
- program.
-
- To get going, run the TwinBlok SETUP
- program. This program assesses your
- system as you have it configured, and
- establishes your preferences for the
- game.
-
- Be sure you configure TwinBlok and your
- computer for maximum enjoyment. If your
- computer is an older one, you can still
- enjoy the game, but you might have to
- experiment a little with changing some
- of the options to lower the load on the
- system.
-
- TwinBlok will take whatever computer
- system you feed it, as far as is
- possible, and configure itself
- accordingly. If you don't get sound, or
- the mouse doesn't work, however,
- there's probably something about your
- computer's memory or other configuration
- that you need to deal with before
- running TwinBlok.
-
- For example, many people have multiple
- I/O cards such as serial ports, parallel
- ports, network boards, joystick ports,
- sound cards, CD-rom controllers, etc.
- All such devices appropriate one or more
- of the computer's 'interrupts' for
- themselves, and read from or write to
- specific locations in memory. If any of
- these conflict, your system will give
- trouble, plain and simple. You might
- not know anything is wrong, however,
- until you try to play music, accept
- input from the joystick and mouse, and
- perform awesome (ahem!) feats of
- graphics at the same time - like
- TwinBlok!
-
- Options
- -------
- TwinBlok automatically turns off (puts
- a giant red 'X' through) any options
- which your computer hardware or its
- configuration doesn't support, in the
- 'Setup' menu from within the game. The
- following discussion will help you
- figure out what is missing or configured
- incorrectly.
-
- To listen to the music, you need to have
- special 'EMS' memory enabled in your
- computer. This is accomplished by
- editing your 'CONFIG.SYS' file - which
- is loaded by the computer on startup.
- There are many ways to add EMS to your
- computer's bootup configuration, but you
- can't add it after the computer is
- booted - it must be done during the
- CONFIG.SYS startup procedure, which is
- the first thing that happens when you
- turn on the computer. So, if you have
- to add EMS to your computer, you must
- reboot before you'll hear the music.
-
- Your CONFIG.SYS file should contain a
- line that looks like this:
-
- device=c:\dos\emm386.exe RAM
-
- The last word 'RAM' is the important
- one. You can add this line by yourself
- on most computers, but some computers
- will hang if there other parameters
- aren't also included.
-
- If you have trouble adding this command,
- you can use a program named MEMMAKER,
- which will automatically add this line,
- along with a bunch of other parameters,
- relocating TSR and device drivers that
- can live in high memory. This way you
- have the required EMS, plus more free
- conventional memory. In short, this is
- the easy way for most computers.
-
- If you are using Qualitas Software or
- Quaterdeck memory managers, the EMM386
- stuff doesn't apply to you. The
- equivalents are 386MAX and QEMM386
- respectively. Both products come with
- an install program, with which you just
- select EMS, or set EMS to 'YES'.
-
- Windows 95(TM)
- --------------
- If you are running Windows 95, you will
- add EMS in a different way. First, you
- modify CONFIG.SYS by first choosing the
- 'Run' option from the Start Menu, and
- typing 'sysedit'. Note that on systems
- running Windows 95, EMS will most
- probably be located in a different
- directory than 'C:\DOS\'. Most likely,
- you will find the new EMM386.EXE in
- 'C:\Windows\Command\'. However, this
- may vary depending on your specific
- computer's setup. Refer to Microsoft's
- Window 95 documentation for additional
- instructions on loading the EMS driver.
-
- Sounds and music
- ----------------
- The following sound cards are supported:
-
- Gravis Ultrasound (TM)
- SoundBlaster (TM)
- SoundBlaster Pro (TM)
- SoundBlaster 16 (TM)
- ProAudio Spectrum (TM)
- ProAudio Spectrum Plus (TM)
- ProAudio Spectrum 16 (TM)
- Windows Sound System (TM)
- Aria sound card (TM)
-
- TwinBlok's incredible music requires, of
- course, a sound card and the previously
- discussed EMS memory. Here are some
- additional pointers for getting the most
- out of some specific sound cards.
-
- If you're using a Pro Audio Spectrum
- family sound card, be sure you have the
- card's driver specified in the
- CONFIG.SYS file. It's best if you can
- set the card's DMA channel to a 16-bit
- DMA (5, 6, 7). The sound will work with
- an 8-bit DMA channel, but it won't sound
- as good. Okay, okay, it'll sound really
- awful. Sixteen-bit sound requires a
- 16-bit DMA channel, so there.
-
- With all sound cards, including Sound
- Blasters, it's better to have
- environment strings defined in the
- AUTOEXEC.BAT. The reason is that on
- some systems, the hardware detection
- process can fail or hang, and when it
- does, you're stuck. The string
- definition should look something like:
-
- BLASTER=AHHH IX DX TX
-
- That one's for the Sound Blaster
- family. Gravis UltraSound would look
- something like:
-
- ULTRASND=XXX,X,X,X,X
-
- (Where the 'X' represents some number
- that belongs in this position.)
-
- Any sound card not mentioned in the
- SETUP program might still work, but the
- users must set it up to emulate Sound
- Blaster or some other card mentioned in
- the SETUP program.
-
- Defaults
- --------
- All this is dreadfully confusing, isn't
- it? Okay, the best thing to try first
- is to take all the defaults. If your
- system is fairly vanilla, then TwinBlok
- will detect everything and present its
- opinions for your approval during the
- setup process. Simple. If it doesn't
- work, then dig into the manuals, using
- this information as a guide for where to
- look. The most common problem is
- multiple cards overlapping use of DMA
- channels and interrupts.
-
- Mouse, Joystick, Keyboard
- -------------------------
- TwinBlok automatically detects most
- mice, joystick, and sound card
- configurations. Just use the Setup menu
- to select from the available options.
- An 'X' means the option is not
- available. If you see a big red 'X'
- over hardware that you really do have
- in your system, check your hardware
- configuration and installation.
-
- If 'mouse' is not listed as an available
- option when you run the program, the
- problem is probably that you should
- load your mouse driver before starting
- TwinBlok. Many computers depend on
- Windows to implement the mouse driver,
- and the driver isn't available to DOS
- applications when run that way. Most
- computers have a directory named 'MOUSE'
- or something similar which contains the
- driver - usually available by typing the
- command:
-
- MOUSE
-
- or something similar ('MMOUSE' on some
- systems). You'll have to refer to your
- system's documentation if you do not
- know where your mouse driver lives.
-
- If you have a joystick plugged into a
- joystick port, TwinBlok will detect it.
- Joystick ports are usually available on
- most sound cards. Some systems will
- have more than one joystick port, and
- these ports may conflict with one
- another, causing problems with TwinBlok
- and other games. Be careful about
- system interrupt and DMA channel
- conflicts!! These are the most common
- problems.
-
- If all else fails, you can always play
- TwinBlok with the keyboard. Use the 'A'
- and 'Z' keys for player 1's controls,
- and if in team-player mode, player 2
- can use the semi-colon and comma keys.
-
- Windows(TM)
- -----------
- TwinBlok will run under Windows(TM) 3.x
- and Windows 95(TM), but you won't get
- sounds and music.
-
- If you'd like to hear sound, you MUST
- shut down Windows 3.x or Windows 95(TM)
- and run TWINBLOK.EXE from DOS!!!
-
- A .PIF file is provided so you can
- simply double-click an icon to start
- TwinBlok from the Windows interface, if
- you prefer. This icon will cause
- Windows(TM) to shut down, re-start your
- system, and run TwinBlok in DOS mode,
- so you'll hear all the great sound
- effects and music. Just look for the
- MS-DOS icon called 'Wintwin' and
- double-click on it.
- ----------------------------------------
- Everything set up? Now for...
-
- TWINBLOK GAME PLAY (Finally!)
-
- The blocks
-
- No use rapping on and on about an old
- favorite game, but the basic plot is:
- BLAST IT! When you hit the blocks, they
- explode, disappear, change your
- launchpad into something more (or less!)
- functional, or alter the 'ball' in some
- beneficial - or nefarious - way.
-
- The worst of these is the dreaded
- smiley. The smileys don't do anything.
- The ball metamorphoses into a cute,
- fluffy, and USELESS tennis-ball-like
- blob, and won't work on any of the
- blocks until it turns back into a blue
- piece.
-
- Some of the blocks put a nasty spin on
- the ball, and there's a magnetic block
- that does exactly what you'd like it NOT
- to do. You can also add spin to the
- ball by striking it on the move - just
- like with table tennis. The longer the
- ball is in play, the faster it moves,
- and the less time you have to hit it.
- Some effects are controlled by a timer,
- and will revert to their previous state
- if you can outlast the time clock.
-
- Strategies
-
- Each level in TwinBlok is a puzzle.
- Every level has been tested (by bleary-
- eyed zombies) for winability. It IS
- possible to complete all the levels.
-
- Before you launch the ball in any level,
- take a look at how the blocks are
- arranged. Sometimes it might be more
- beneficial to concentrate on one area to
- break through into the 'back forty' of
- the level's blocks. Sometimes, it's
- better to blast head-on into the blocks.
-
- Two-player mode
-
- To enjoy TwinBlok with a friend, go to
- the Setup screen and select the inputs
- you wish to use. They do not need to be
- identical.
-
- In Two-player mode, saves (and losses),
- and multiple-ball episodes, are twice as
- much fun, and it's only half as
- difficult to win.
-
- You can also play two-player mode with
- one person! Just select the SAME input
- device for both players in the setup
- menu.
- ----------------------------------------
- The Credits
-
- Programming
- Krister Karlsson
-
- Graphics
- Dana Dominiak
-
- Music and Sound Effects
- Jason Brotherton
-
- Additional Coding
- Pascal Pochol
-
- Additional Art
- Robert J. Dominiak
-
- Music System
- DSMI by Otto Chrons (C) Virtual Visions
-
- Game Design
- Krister Karlsson
-
- Publications Editor
- Jay A. Gross
-
- ANSI Artist
- Jon Shiring
-
-
- Produced and Directed by
- Dana Dominiak
-
-
- Germany/Switzerland/Austria Distribution
- Juergen Egeling Computer
-
- Scandinavian Distribution
- Morten Eriksen, Twilight Zone Software
-
- French Distribution
- Jean-Michel Martin, TLK Games
-
- Australia/New Zealand
- Benjamin Slabak,
- Spectrum Pacific Publishing
-
-
- Marketing
- Brian Smolik
- Mike Speyer
- Martha Hauck
-
- Beta Testers
- Dan Wright
- Erik Hermanssen
- Thierry (Thierryierier) Grenier
-
- Special Thanks To:
-
- Christine Chan
- Jonas Lewinsson
- Debra Osborn
- Pierre Maloka
- Bonnie Smolik
- Brendan Larson
- James A. Stephens
- Susan Dominiak
- Jim Renz
- Erin and Doug Dominiak
- Peep the Bird
- All people who are not politicians
- The Toxic Zombies
- ----------------------------------------
- Try this popular demosite:
- ftp.cdrom.com /demos
-
- Look for the Toxic Zombie's demo
- 'UNDEAD'
- as well as some Twilight Zone demos
- ----------------------------------------
- This program is shareware, or 'try
- before you buy'. It is NOT public
- domain.
-
- TwinBlok(TM) is a trademark of Webfoot
- Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks
- are the properties of their owners.
-
- Copyright 1996
- Webfoot Technologies, Inc.
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- ----------------------------------------
- If using the Webfoot readme viewer,
- Hit ESCape to return to DOS.
-
-