                  GLBlocks (C) 1999-2000 Andreas Gustafsson

[Introduction]-----------------------------------------------------------------

GLBlocks is a simple puzzle/tetris-style game, where the object is to make the
falling blocks disappear by placing thems so that four or more of the same
color is next to eachother. GLBlocks uses OpenGL for 3D acceleration.


[Installation notes]-----------------------------------------------------------

Just unzip the game to a directory of your choice, then run GLBLocks.exe.


[Playing the game]-------------------------------------------------------------

Start the game by running GLBlocks.exe. Two different gametypes are available,
swinging and static playfield. With swinging playfield you get yet another
dimension of difficulty, the longer you play, the more the playfield will swing
and rotate, making it harder to see where to place those pieces!
Once the game starts you control the falling pieces of 2 by 2 blocks with the
arrow keys.
Left-arrow to move it left, right-arrow to move it right, up-arrow rotates
the piece, and down-arrow makes it fall faster.
Try placing the pieces so that blocks of the same color end up next to
eachother. Once 4 or more of the same color are next to eachother, they will
disappear, and blocks that are 'hanging in the air' will fall down.
If a 'chain-reaction' is created, more points will be scored.


[System requirements]----------------------------------------------------------

GLBlocks uses OpenGL to draw all graphics, so you will need a rather fast
system to play it, especially if you don't have a 3D accelerator with FULL
OpenGL support. When the playfield starts to get filled, there can be more than
1000 polygons on screen, all rendered with realtime lighting.
Software OpenGL is included in the later versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98.
When you play using the software OpenGL renderer, and a slow computer
(Pentium-class) you should try using the 'Low' detail option (under Audio/Video
options). for best performance. If your system is really slow, you might want
to stick with the 'static playfield' option, since the low framerate will be
less apparent in this game mode. If you are using texturemapping with software
OpenGL make sure to have 'Bilinear filtering' switched off in the options,
since this can cause major slowdowns.
The 'Medium' setting is suited for faster systems (Fast P2 or better), or
slower systems with a decent 3D accelerator.
Finally, the 'High' option is the one to choose if you have a fast system and a
good 3D accelerator (like a TNT/TNT2).
Ofcourse you can always try experimenting with differnt detail settings and
resolutions until you find the one that's best for YOUR system.

Minimum system:
Pentium 166
Windows 95/98 with OpenGL drivers installed.

Recommended system:
Pentium 200MMX or faster.
Windows 95/98
3D accelerator with FULL OpenGL driver.

The game has been tested on the following 3D chipsets:

3Dfx Voodoo 3 (there seem to be some problem when running 1024x768 or higher in
fullscreen mode, try lower resolutions or windowed mode)
Matrox G200
NVidia TNT
NVidia TNT2
NVidia GeForce
S3 Savage 2000


[News/Changes]-----------------------------------------------------------------

1.5 : Added 'Antialias lines' option
      Disabled ALT-TAB when running fullscreen
      Fixed a bug with the fullscreen mode
      Fixed some other minor bugs

1.4 : (Only released to beta testers)
      Completely rewrote the frontend (again..)
      Added a proper highscorelist with several entries and names.
      Gamma correction now in the options.
      Fullscreen mode (still not 100%)
      Background picture.
      Color-cycling effect while paused.
      Fixed bug which made the game REALLY dark on TNT/TNT2 cards

1.3 : (Never released to the public)
      New keyboard input routine for slow computers, making it less likely that
      keystrokes will be missed.
      Some graphics were changed
      Other minor bugfixes

1.2 : Wrote a completely new frontend in Visual C++ to replace the old one
      (which was written in Visual Basic...).
      Added the possibility to use texturemapped blocks (but, since I'm no
      artist, the textures are really ugly!).

1.0 : Initial release.



[Credits]----------------------------------------------------------------------

All coding by Andreas Gustafsson.
Background picture by Joe Parson (jp@pcgeek.net). Other pictures by him can be
found at: www.indestruction.com/maxworld
'Game over'-sound by Kjell Andersson.
The other sound effects and the charset were found on the net.
Special thanks to Martin Rystrand for some coding tips.
Also thanks to all the beta testers : Kjell Andersson, Kristina Johansson and
all the people at 3DFiles messageboard who helped getting the game tested on
many different 3D chipsets.

[Contact info]-----------------------------------------------------------------

Visit the GLBlocks www-page : http://www.lysator.liu.se/~sdw/glblocks/
You can mail me at : sdw@lysator.liu.se


[Legal info]-------------------------------------------------------------------

This program is used at your own risk. The author takes no responsibility for
any damages caused by it.
You are free to distribute this game as long as no fee is charged and no files
are modified/added/removed.
If you want to put this game on a collection CD, magazine coverdisk etc. please
contact me first.

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