Mactris
version 1.0
About
Mactris:
I created this applet back in Fall 1997 as a little project
in learning the Java programming lanugage. Tetris* is possibly
the most addictive game in history. I still recalled the days
that I enjoied playing the the original tetris in my old XT
machines. I played different variations of tetris, among all
of them, Tetris Classics from Spectrum Holobyte is my most flavorate.
It still hangs around in my harddisk after several upgrades
to my computer.
This very first version of Mactris is fully working. However,
it is far from complete, it lacks many features I originally
planned. This game borrows the concept from Tetris Classic and
featuring a Macross-related theme.
Game Instructions:
- rules of the game: I guess since tetris is such a popular
game, everyone should already know the rule of tetris. Hence
I'm not going to explain the game play here. The scoring system
of this game follows the original tetris, in which your score
grows as your level increases. Clearing more than one line at
a time, dropping the block and turning off the "Show Next"
function can help you earn extra points.
- menu screen: After the game finished loading, you'll
find yourself in the menu screen. You can choice the game setting
on this screen. The options are very intuitive and self-explantory.
The characters at the top of the screen are meant to select
between computer or human players, but the AI algorithms is
not yet implemented. As a result, regardless which character
you select, you will in the game. After you are done with the
settings, press "Start" button to start the game.
| Game Controls |
|
left player |
right player |
| move block to left |
a |
4 |
| move block to right |
d |
6 |
| rotate block |
s |
5 |
| reverse rotate block |
w |
8 |
| drop block |
x, space |
2, enter |
| toggle slow drop |
c |
3 |
| toggle show next |
z |
1 |
| increase level |
e |
9 |
- highscores: After both players finished the game, the
highscore screen will display. The highscore record is disabled
for the time being due to security reasons.
Known Problems:
- The game may not work in Netscape 4.0 or above, no known solution.
- In IE, when exit this page, you'll have a Java Null Pointer
error, this won't affect your browser. Just close the warning
dialog box will be fine.
- Regardless of your selection in "sound effect" option,
there is no sound effect. This feature is not yet implemented
- The applet may blank out occasionally. Minimize the browser
and then retore to solve the problem.
- The applet cannot detect key presses when it is out of focus.
Click on the applet to solve this problem.
- Under very rare situation, blocks may disappeared mysteriously
on the right hand side of the well. The disappearing of the
block won't affect game play. This problem is probably due to
a programming bug, it would be fix in future release.
- In very high levels (> 12), frame lost may occur. This
problem is mainly due to hardware limitation of your computer.
The best solution is upgrade your CPU and add more RAM.
Proposed Features in Version 2.0:
- computer players with 3 levels of difficulties.
- background musics and sound effects.
- enhancement on visual effect.
- speciality blocks, such as bomb, shield, laser, cannon, reverse,
etc.
Copyright Informatoin:
Mactris is an open source software. The source code can be found
at this link. Distrubition, and modification
on Mactris is encourage on the basis that it is for non-commercial
purpose.
You are welcome to send comments, queries, suggestions or experiences
about Mactris to chan@horace.org.
.
© Copyright 1997, Horace Chan
*Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1985. For more information
about Tetris, please visit http://www.tetris.com
