MAZE MASTER (Version 1.01) Copyright © 1992 by The Flatirons Group 1550 Kalmia Ave. Boulder, CO 80304-1817 Member, Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) --------------------------------------------------------------------- TOPICS: ASP Benefits for YOU Introduction Files Installation Un-Installation Quick Start Systems Supported Change History Definition of Shareware Disclaimer - Agreement (IMPORTANT - Please read!) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS (ASP) Maze Master is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536." --------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: Maze Master is a classic maze solving game, with a computer twist. The computer can solve the tough mazes, too! You are the mouse, peeking over the maze to study it, getting down on all four legs to run through it some, then peeking again! Start with the easy mazes, then move all the way to the very tough Monster mazes! Then raise the walls so you can't peek! You get points for solving the maze, and bonus points if you solve it quickly. Score enough and you can make the list of the top 5 all-time players! Traveling and not near your computer? Print out a book of mazes to entertain the kids (and yourself)! BONUS FOR REGISTERED USERS: There are great SOUND EFFECTS for registered users running Windows 3.1, sent to you upon registration. This program is SHAREWARE, and is not FREE! It is a copyrighted program. After a couple of weeks of usage, you are obliged to register the program or remove it from your computer(s). You are encouraged to pass it along to a friend, but you must include this file and the registration form as well. Registration entitles you to certain support and update privaleges detailed in the Help for the program. So PLEASE register the program so I can continue to develop others! --------------------------------------------------------------------- FILES: WinMaze.exe The Maze Master Game WinMaze.hlp The help file for Maze Master (with hints!) WinMaze.frm Simple ASCII registration form with fees ReadMe.txt This file! Vendor.doc A brief description of Maze Master for BBS's and Shareware distributors. BWCC.dll DLL for the great Borland buttons (V 1.02). If you already have BWCC.dll, keep the latest! --------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION: Put the files in your favorite Windows games directory. Follow your Windows instructions for creating an icon for the WinMaze.exe in a program group of your choice. OPTIONAL: Move the BWCC.dll file to your Windows\System directory. If one is already there, keep the newest one! The included copy of BWCC.dll supports both Windows 3.0 and 3.1. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UN-INSTALLATION: While I hope it will never happen, I do believe you should be able to un-install a program. Maze Master does not modify Config.Sys, AutoExec.Bat, Win.Ini, nor System.Ini. It does not create a new Program Group for itself. Besides the files listed above, it will create a private Ini file, WinMaze.Ini, in the \Windows directory. To un-install, simply erase this file and any files named WinMaze.* on your disk. I suggest keeping the latest copy of BWCC.dll, but you could delete it and later download it from CompuServe's BCPPWIN forum if you needed it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICK START (if you are impatient like me): In Maze Master, you are the mouse! You must trace your way from through the maze, starting at the left and leaving the maze on the right. The mouse shape helps you. Normally, the mouse is standing to scan the maze. But when you press the left mouse button, your mouse gets down on all fours at the beginning of the maze. You can rest at any time by releasing the mouse button. Your mouse peeks up to study the maze. Pressing down on the left mouse button again moves you back to all fours at the point you left off. The amount of the maze you can see varies with the size of the walls of the maze. With low walls, you can see the whole maze before you start (but the walls are still too high to climb). With high walls, you can only see the walls in front, to the sides, and in back of you. If you declare yourself a blind mouse, you can only feel the walls around you. And if you dare, make the walls glass! With glass walls, you can't see them, only bump your nose into them! If you get frustrated, let the computer solve the maze by selecting the Solve option under the Maze menu. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SYSTEMS SUPPORTED Maze Master has been tested under Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1 with DOS 4.0 and 5.0. It has run on PS/2 Microchannel machine, Dell ISA machine, and Zeos notebook. It has run on LCD VGA display systems, color VGA display systems, SVGA display systems at up to 1024x768x256, and 8514 256-color display systems. Maze Master requires a 286 or higher processor. A Windows supported sound board is required for the enhanced sound effects available to registered users. If it trips on your system, I would be very interested in knowing the pariculars. Please send a note to CompuServe 70053,3600. Thank you. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CHANGE HISTORY V1.01 - Several new functions and minor updates (but lots of them): 1. I am now a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals, an industry group which focuses on making shareware a viable alternative source of quality, cost effective software. As a registered user of an ASP members products, you have additional rights and guarantees! The appropriate ASP logos and warranty information has been added throughout the program. 2. Sound effects have been added. For Windows 3.0 users, its just speaker beeps. But for Windows 3.1 users who can play .WAV files, Maze Master uses both the default system events for its dialog boxes, AND special extended sound effects using .WAV files sent to registered users (over 500 KB of sounds)! 3. Many message dialogs now have the corresponding sound effect (for Windows 3.1 users) or a simple beep (for Windows 3.0 users). 4. Fewer "nag" screens, both at start-up and completion. After 50 uses of the program, they occur at both start-up and completion as in the prior version. The nag screens remind you how many times you have played an unregistered copy. 5. Better printing! A batch printing option has been added which you can use to print yourself a book of mazes for those long trips. Also, a print abort dialog is presented so you can change your mind. 6. If you choose to print a maze, the maze number is included at the bottom. This allows you to go back to Maze Master and have the computer solve it in the future. 7. Two new buttons have been added to make it easy to jump to the next larger or smaller maze size. These serve as alternatives to pulling down a menu. 8. All walls are shown upon solving a maze, even if some were hidden during solving. You get a chance to really see how tricky it was! 9. Bonus scoring has been simplified! The bonus is not reduced to the base score, which it was before. To compensate, the initial bonus has been cut in half, but it runs out more slowly now as well. 10. In the prior version, the bonus started decreasing as soon as the maze was drawn. Now, if the walls are not visable, the bonus doesn't begin to decrease until the mouse starts through the maze. So, you get to take a deep breath before starting! 11. The minimum size window is fixed: It will accommodate all the buttons in the display area AND an "expert" size maze. 12. If the screen is too small to draw the maze (either because the maze requested is too large, or the user has resized the window), Maze Master will issue a warning and draw the largest standard maze which does fit. 13. New buttons have been added to the Best Scores dialog to allow easy scrolling to the Best Scores of other maze sizes. 14. The option of having the score display above the maze has been eliminated. I never really liked it, and the addition of the new buttons made it impractical in its prior form. 15. The most recent Borland BWCC.DLL (Version 1.02) for the great buttons is included. This BWCC.DLL supports both Windows 3.0 and 3.1, and is smaller than the prior version! 16. The Help file has been compressed to be about 20% smaller using the Windows 3.1 Help Compiler. It is still viewable on Windows 3.0. 17. A registration CREDIT has been added if you do not wish a diskette of the latest version. The latest version will be available from most ASP-approved Shareware Vendors in a timely fashion for you to order or download at your leisure. 18. The registration fee for non-US/non-Canadian users has been increased to $20 (US) to cover overseas postage and handling. V1.00 - First version released. --------------------------------------------------------------------- DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT Users of Maze Master must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "Maze Master is supplied as is. The Flatirons Group disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The Flatirons Group assumes no liability for damages, direct or conse- quential, which may result from the use of Maze Master." Maze Master is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using Maze Master and continue to use Maze Master after a reasonable trial period, you must make a reg- istration payment of $15 ($20 for foreign users) to The Flatirons Group. The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. Commercial users of Maze Master must register and pay for their copies of Maze Master within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by con- tacting The Flatirons Group. Anyone distributing Maze Master for any kind of remuneration must first contact The Flatirons Group at the address below for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering Maze Master immediately. (However The Flatirons Group must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of Maze Master.) You are encouraged to pass a copy of Maze Master along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the Maze Master and support for a year.