05/05/93
Tetris 1.01 program by Jim Garrison:
This Tetris game is a 32 bit OS/2 PM application that I wrote to get
some experience writing OS/2 PM programs. The blocks that make up the
pieces are bitmaps, so they can be scaled to larger or smaller size
easily. I have a lot of ideas for new features (like better sound, more
new shapes, help, etc), and let me know if you have any suggestions.
Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute on a non-profit
basis.
By the way, this information is all in the help for Tetris.
TO START Tetris:
From the shell, type 'Tetris'. You can also type 'Tetris n', where
the n is the new size, in pixels to use for the blocks (16 is the
default, 8 is minimum, and 25 is maximum.) You may also just click
on the Tetris icon (which will of course use 16 pixel square blocks).
TO PLAY Tetris:
The game starts when you move the mouse into the lefthand side of the
window (the playfield) and start the game by clicking the left mouse
button in it. Different shaped pieces will fall down one at a time to
the bottom of the screen, and you can rotate them, move them, or make
them drop by pressing certain keys.
The keys are:
j or 4 = Move piece left
k or 5 = Rotate piece clockwise 90 degrees
l or 6 = Move piece right
Spacebar or 8 = Drop piece to bottom immediately
NOTE: NUM LOCK must be on if you use the number pad keys.
The object of the game is to drop all pieces so that there are no empty
spaces at the bottom. When a solid row is completed, all the pieces
drop down one level and the speed at which the pieces fall increases.
When the pieces reach the top, and no more can drop down, the game is
over. The top 10 scores are stored in the file tetris.score, which is
created if it doesn't exist. When you get a high score, a small window
will pop up, so you can enter your name (or initials and date). To
start a new game at any time, select the New Game menu item. To pause
the game at any time, move the mouse out of the playfield (lefthand
window) and click the left mouse button. To restart a paused game,
just move the mouse into the playfield and click the left mouse button
in it.
OPTIONS you can turn on or off:
Control Panel:
Sound - Makes feeble beeps when a row is cleared.
NextPiece - Shows the next piece that will be dropped.
AutoPlay - The game plays by itself. At the end of the game, it will
pause for 60 seconds, then restart itself again.
Level Menu:
Beginner - Plays an easy game. This is default level.
Advanced - A little more difficult (faster)
Expert - Usually good for a quick game!
Hints:
------
I find that going into the Keyboard configuration program, in the Systems
Setup folder, and setting the Key Repeat Rate to FAST, and setting the
Repeat Delay to SHORT, will make the game much snapier to play. If you're
really good, then slowing down the repeat rate will make the game more
challenging.
Revisions:
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1.0
---
The initial release of Tetris.
1.01
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This release fixes a bug, where the Tetris window is not properly updated
if you use any font other than the default menubar font.
Please let me know if you like this version of Tetris, or if you have
any enhancements or bugs to report.
Have fun,
Jim Garrison
Work phone (8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) (408) 447-6832