Migraine v1.05 - Copyright (c) 2003 MachiSoft

Thanks for playing Migraine ≠ another totally original game from MachiSoft ≠ and welcome to the total migraine experience. Many of us havenπt ever had a migraine, but play this game for long enough and the chances are pretty good that youπll have at least a tension headache.

Those of us who have experienced a migraine will be warmed by the familiarity of the experience that this game brings. The bright lights, the loud sounds, the funny little diamond thingy in the middle of your vision, the shaking hand, the inability to get the aspirin into the glass ≠ itπs all here! Just about the only thing missing is the nausea and vomiting, but maybe weπll add a vomit plug-in for later versions.

... Now for the first of many heartfelt pleas.

Please pay for this game through Pay Pal at this link.

It's only US$5.50 ≠ cheap at twice the price ≠ if you donπt believe me then try sending twice the money ≠ you decide.

Until you register, the game in progress will time out after 6 minutes. Unless you are particularly good, this probably means that you wonπt get to the more challenging levels. On the other hand, especially with a migraine, six minutes can sometimes seem an eternity. High scores are still saved, and all other functions of the game are available. More information on the registration process is given below.

Quick Start

* Read the help screen within the game.

How to Play

* Like many great games, and quite a few less than great ones, the premise and basic game play are very simple. You want to get the aspirin in the glass.

Got that?

Good.

* You do this by building a path from the hand at the top of the screen to the glass at the bottom of the screen by clicking on parts of the screen that are black.

* If you click anywhere that there is colour, including on the path that is already painted, the path disappears and you have to start painting it again. This would be really easy if it werenπt for the colour matrices (patterns) flashing and weaving across the screen.

As you will see, clicking on the black spaces inside the patterns is just about the only way to complete the path (unless, of course, you are very lucky and are in the first few of levels). This means that you end up with a path that has lots of holes in it ≠ well you have to fill them in!

* You release the aspirin by pressing the space bar, at which point the tablet starts to fall along the path towards the glass. However, the aspirin will bounce off the sides and any little lines or holes that you have left in your path.

If the aspirin bounces around for more than around 25 seconds, then it times out, the path disappears and you lose an aspirin (lose a life). If it is obvious that the aspirin isnπt going to get anywhere near the glass, you can suicide the aspirin by pressing the space bar again.

* There is a time based bonus that you can see ticking away on the blue bar to the right of the screen. The level itself doesnπt time out, but the bonus will run out after a couple of minutes. The bonus runs out faster as the levels get higher, but the bonus is also worth more at higher levels (just to add to your chagrin when it runs out yet again).

* If you lose all of the aspirin for a level then the gameπs over.

* You can also kill the game in progress by pressing the Q key (high scores are still saved).

* There are infinite levels but most peopleπs patience, let alone their nervous systems, wonπt last indefinitely.

* It's not supposed to be too easy - keep trying. On the other hand, you may get really lucky and run through a number of levels quickly. Enjoy it while it lasts.

* Seriously (well sort of), sitting at a computer all day playing this game may be bad for your health. Play responsibly and go talk to a human being occasionally. Or talk to yourself if you really have been playing too long.

Oh yes ä

* Read the help screen within the game.

Minimum Required System Configuration

Um, well, letπs say a 550Mhz G3. It really will play on somewhat slower systems, but once you get up around level 14 then it probably needs around this configuration.

This game is a Carbon program that will run in "native" mode under MacOS 8.6 through OSX 10.2.x - and probably beyond - with the caveat that earlier operating systems may need the appropriate Carbonlib (available from Apple's download sites) installed. As noted below, OSX is required for the little ≥unlock program≤, but a ≥Classic≤ version can be downloaded separately from the MachiSoft website (see Registration below).

Performance, sound and the general user experience are better under OSX, essentially because that's where we developed the game. As always, the more memory your computer has, the happier it will be.

And did we mention the great new price ≠ Migraine is now only $US5.50. You can pay using credit cards at this Pay Pal link.

Issues, comments and known bugs

* There are no known bugs at the date of release, and we have tested just as thoroughly as our resources (and headaches) allow. Let us know if you find any bugs through support@machisoft.com

Make sure that you give your registration code when you are reporting a bug. Unregistered users are also welcome to report bugs, but will probably not get a fixed version made directly available to them.

* While the game, as such, has no known bugs, there are a couple of Apple bugs that can entertain from time to time.

1) Occasionally, under OS X, the space key and the Q key will not respond. The only solution is to quit the program, log out and restart the machine.

2) The sounds break up a little under OS 9 and sometimes give a very nice ≥thunk≤ ≠ not much we can do about this, so letπs pretend that itπs just an artifact of your growing headache.

* Donπt come whining to us about the user interface ≠ hey if you want warm and fuzzy then go buy a puppy. This is about migraines, people.

* The program may not start up on some OS 9 systems if the ≥Maximum Memory≤ setting on the ≥Get Info≤ for the program is set to a value greater than the largest unused memory block (shown in ≥About this Computer≤ under the ≥Apple≤ menu). Setting the Maximum value to slightly smaller than the largest unused block size, or freeing up more memory by exiting other programs or re-starting your system will fix this issue. We donπt know why this happens, the operating system is supposed to take care of this sort of thing.

* Only 800 * 600 is currently supported. If there is any interest, then we will produce a version that supports multiple resolutions.

Registration

* Migraine uses a simple little registration process. You pay the money (not much of it at that) through this link (or by linking through from www.machisoft.com). And we email you back a registration code within 48 hours. Normally within 8 hours, but sometimes I get a migraine.

* When you receive your registration code, simply enter it, together with the email address that the code was sent to, into the little Machisoft_Unlock_Migraine program that was included in the archive with the Migraine application. This unlock program will only run under OSX, but a classic version of the unlock is available for you to download from http://www.machisoft.com/registration.

* Please note, this program must remain in the same folder as the Migraine application and must not be renamed, otherwise Migraine wonπt know where to look for your registration details.

The Machisoft_Unlock_Migraine program doesnπt do anything very secret, it simply writes your registration details back to itself so that they are in a format and a place that Migraine can always read them, it doesnπt actually do any real code validation. Consequently, itπs a good idea to make a copy of this program before you run it, in case you make a mistake, because once you have entered a code, the program is not able to be run again.

Credits

* Programming & Graphics

Programmed in TNT Basic by Mark Mancq. All graphics, and much of the sound by Mark Mancq. Two little sound bytes from a song that will remain nameless (although I will happily make available a free Migraine license to each bona fide member of the band in question) and a few other free sounds grabbed from here and there.

* Testing

You expected testing ?

Really ?

* Special Thanks

To my darling wife, who keeps telling me Iπm smart to be able to come up with this stuff. Thanks also to those who have a somewhat different opinion but have wisely kept it to themselves.

Thanks also to the creators of TNT Basic for giving me the tools to create. They, of course, had no idea what I was going to do with those tools, sorry.

* Really extra special thanks

To those of you who pay for this program by going to this link and shelling out a miniscule $US5.50.

Version History

* v1.0 Released 22nd March 2003

Almost released 21^st March, but then I worked out that I had misspelled ≥aspirin≤ throughout the game. Bummer, I should have stuck to paracetamol.

Feedback and Support

Email support issues to support@machisoft.com

Email registration issues to registration@machisoft.com

Email any other questions or suggestions to contact@machisoft.com

Check for new versions and our other games at http://www.machisoft.com

Warranty and User Agreement

* Warranty

There is no warranty. We do not warrant that this program will work or that you will enjoy it or that it will coexist happily with your other software or that it wonπt crash your system. However, this program is being issued in good faith, with the intent that it be used, so we hope that the good stuff will be true and the bad stuff wonπt. But there are no guarantees, either implied or explicit. We especially do not warrant that you will not get a headache, nor do we warrant that you will get one, itπs all up to you. We make absolutely no representations about the appropriate treatment for migraine, this is only a game, and if you start taking things that seriously, then professional help may be appropriate. Unfortunately, we can neither recommend nor endorse any source of said professional help, but maybe the yellow pages is a good place to start.

* User Agreement

You are free to use the software if you have read and understood the Warranty paragraph above. You may copy the software and distribute through any channel as long as this Read Me document always accompanies the software. The software may not be changed in any form, including the substitution of icons and other resources. All rights to the program, embedded graphics and attached Read Me document remain with the author.