This article has a talk page!Take equal parts skateboarding, basketball, and sumo wrestling, stir in a pinch of Rollerball, and serve in a parabolic dish.
Unused Sprites#
Versions 1.2 and up contain graphics for some features that were never implemented.
Sportscasters#
A pair of commentators whose mouths are never closed at the same time. It's unknown how their three frames of animation would have been used, but they work well cycled back and forth.
Crouching Opponent#
As of v1.2, the player character visibly squats to pick up the ball while the mouse button is held down. There are unused corresponding sprites for the computer-controlled character, who also crouches but without it being visually indicated.
Victory(?) Pose#
Your avatar flexing its muscles. There's no equivalent art for the opponent.
Hidden Text#
The sprite sheet in v1.1 contains an odd message: "If you can see this, please ignore. I haven't figured out how to get rid of it." Later versions have a pair of copyright tags in its place.
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v1.1 |
v1.2/1.3 |
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While this may have been load-bearing text at some point in development, none of the available versions behave differently if the messages are replaced with black space.
Revisional Differences#
Version 1.0 was released sometime in 1990, but is presently lost. The extant versions are:
v1.1 |
26 August 1990 (build date in owner resource) |
|---|---|
v1.2 |
31 October 1990 (build date in owner resource) |
v1.2.1 |
1 January 1991 (build date in owner resource) |
v1.3 |
21 May 1991 (Usenet announcement) |
There are no significant changes in v1.2.1. It may have been released just to supplant v1.2, some copies of which had a corrupt DITL resource (although no such copy is known to survive).
Shareware System#
After registering the game, it will periodically lock up a subset of its features until your password is re-entered. In v1.1, this happens every 20 launches. It was extended to 25 launches in v1.2 and 30 launches in v1.3. (The game is now freeware, and john has made the password pararena and key 97003 publicly available.)
Graphics#
Finder Icon#
The game's version number was hidden in the mask of its icon, becoming visible only when highlighted or placed on a non-white background.
v1.1 |
v1.2 |
v1.3 |
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 |
 |
Version 1.3 also introduced a 16×16 icon, consisting of just the ball, for small icon views.
Splash Screen#
Versions 1.2 and up supplement the faerie engraving with a collage of john calhoun's MacPaint art.
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v1.1 |
v1.2/1.3 |
|---|---|
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Character Portraits#
While the gameplay remained black and white, v1.3 added touches of grayscale and color to the interface, such as these opponent icons.
George |
George |
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Mara |
Mara |
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Claire |
Claire |
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Otto |
Otto |
Otto |
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Also, Otto removed his helmet, and became black.
Arena#
Version 1.2 hid the menubar, allowing the scenery to expand upward by 20 pixels. It also added tiles that flash in sequence, from the center out, when that side catches the ball.
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v1.1 |
v1.2/1.3 |
|---|---|
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Meanwhile, the goal indicators displayed at the beginning became speech balloons.
v1.1 |
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v1.2/1.3 |
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Version 1.3 introduced a beacon that stays lit over the goal while that side has possession:
Stars#
In v1.1, the stars twinkle on the title screen but not during gameplay. In v1.2 they never twinkle, and in v1.3 they always twinkle.
Skaters#
The athletes acquire white outlines in v1.2.
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v1.1 |
v1.2/1.3 |
|---|---|
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Ball#
As well as a white outline, v1.2 gives the ball a transparent patch in place of a highlight.
v1.1 |
v1.2 |
v1.3 |
|---|---|---|
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This sort of makes it look like the ball is rolling, until your eye catches on to the illusion and it just looks like it has a hole in it. The highlight was restored in v1.3.
Banner#
The upper-case Chicago lettering on the pennant received the retrofuturist angled mid-strokes of the Star Trek logo.
v1.1 |
v1.2/1.3 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Spaceship#
The sprite mask for the spaceborne bubble car (which is totally not a reference to The Jetsons) omitted a puff of black exhaust, making it invisible:
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v1.1 (unmasked) |
v1.1 (masked) |
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Version 1.2 added a visible puff of white exhaust, and also made the canopy more reflective.
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v1.1 (masked) |
v1.2 (masked) |
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About#
Version 1.2 retouched the skater in the about box.
v1.1 |
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v1.2 |
 |
Sounds#
The only sound that wasn't replaced at some point is the briefest: someone dropping the ball.
Version 1.1 had separate sounds for Earth and Taygete scoring; the Earth sound was also used to begin each period. Later versions used the same crowd noise for every situation.
Start of period/Earth scores (v1.1) |
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Taygete scores (v1.1) |
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Crowd noise (v1.2/1.3) |
The final revision uses separate sounds for incoming and outgoing teleportation.
Beam in or out (1.1, 1.2) |
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|---|---|
Beam in (v1.3) |
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Beam out (v1.3) |
Ball launcher firing (1.1, 1.2) |
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|---|---|
Ball launcher firing (v1.3) |
Versions 1.2 and up have a unique sound for each character catching the ball:
Anyone catches ball (v1.1) |
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|---|---|
Player catches ball (1.2, 1.3) |
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George catches ball (1.2, 1.3) |
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Mara catches ball (1.2, 1.3) |
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Claire catches ball (1.2, 1.3) |
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Otto catches ball (1.2, 1.3) |
Player and opponent collide (1.1) |
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|---|---|
Player and opponent collide (1.2) |
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Player and opponent collide (1.3) |
Collision involving ball or goal wall (1.1, 1.2) |
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|---|---|
Collision involving ball or goal wall (1.3) |
Warning for holding (1.1) |
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Warning for holding (1.2, 1.3) |
Foul (1.1) |
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Foul (1.2, 1.3) |
The announcer first appeared in v1.2.
Announcer (1.2) |
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Announcer (1.3) |
Key Commands#
Some of the shortcut keys changed between versions:
1.1 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
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|---|---|---|---|
Pause |
⌘P |
Caps Lock |
Tab |
End Game |
⌘E |
E |
⌘E |
Screen Redraw#
To counter interference from screensavers and background applications, v1.1 introduced a screen refresh feature: Press R to redraw the background.
A key that flushes the screen, used in debugging this, was left in "because it's sort of fun to watch". Press F to erase the background, which will be filled in as sprites pass over it.
These functions are gone in v1.2 and up, which simply ignore background processes.
Name Entry#
This dialog was completely redesigned:
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1.1, 1.2 |
1.3 |
|---|---|
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Help#
Every section of the instructions was rewritten in v1.3.
Game |
1.1, 1.2 |
The sport, Pararena, has traditionally been THE competitive sport between the athletes of Earth and the central commerce colony of Taygete in the Pleian cluster. The sport is played one-on-one between two players balancing on Grav-Boards®. The players skate around the arena attempting to take control of a large ball and deposit it into their goal. Several versions of this sport exist, but they differ solely in scoring and timing. |
Points |
1.1, 1.2 |
A point is registered when the ball passes into one of the goals. It does not matter which player actually sent the ball in. A point is also registered for a player when her/his opponent receives her/his fourth foul. |
Fouls |
1.1, 1.2 |
When the ball leaves the arena, the player who was last in contact with the ball receives the foul. A player also receives a foul if they hold the ball for an extended period of time. You will hear a "holding" warning informing you that you have only a few seconds left before receiving a foul. After four fouls, a players fouls return to zero. At the end of a period (in some games) fouls return to zero. You do NOT recieve a foul for knocking your opponent out of the arena! |
Transporter |
1.1, 1.2 |
When a player leaves the arena, he/she is dematerialized with the transporter. The transporter is carefully timed and regulated so that neither player has any advantage over the other. There is a delay before re-materialization. The timer (used in some games) never halts during a period, so players are encouraged to remain in the arena at all times. |
Versions |
1.1, 1.2 |
Four of Five - This version is composed of four periods of five minutes in length. The player with the high score at the end of the fourth period wins. Fouls count in the event of a point tie. |
Control |
1.1, 1.2 |
With the mouse you cause your player (in black) to lean in one of eight directions, or to relax (centered). With the cursor visible, this will become clear - however, you may find that the cursor is distracting to leave visible all the time. The mouse button allows your player to pick up and drop the ball. This is a little tricky to learn. If you do not have the ball, hold down the button and collide with ball - you will pick it up. Release the mouse button. Now, with the ball, clicking will cause your player to release the ball. Hold down to grab ball - let up - then click to release ball. |
Goals |
1.1, 1.2 |
There are several ways to get a goal. It is possible to kick the ball in (collide with the ball without picking it up), but this happens more often by mistake than intentionally. You can also, with the ball, circle the arena and try a hook shot. This is a great way to elude your opponent, but is a difficult shot to make. The easiest shot is the slam dunk. With the ball, race back and forth diagonally in line with your goal and release the ball when you physically collide with the goal. |
Tips |
1.1, 1.2 |
Use fouls to your advantage. If your opponent gets the ball, try to knock her/him out of the arena while she/he is still holding the ball. If your opponent gets four fouls, you get a point. Take less chances when you have two or three fouls. If you can get a goal, your fouls are cleared (reset to zero). Some of your opponents (namely Heavy Otto) have twice the mass that you do. Collide carefully with these opponents. They will knock you out of the arena without even trying. Remember that you will get a foul for holding the ball too long - so will your opponent. Use this to your advantage. Keep her/him from getting a good shot until she/he is forced to drop the ball. |
Lastly |
1.1, 1.2 |
Lastly, I would just like to say, this is a very difficult game to play. I think the problem is getting used to the way the mouse button works, and mastering diagonal movement. Nonetheless, I hope you find the game enjoyable. Have fun! |
Other Changes#
Version 1.1#
- Changes in v1.1 were "primarily cosmetic", such as centering the window on large screens and lining the high scores into columns.
- You can now clear the high scores by bringing them up and clicking the upper-leftmost pixel of the starfield background. (In subsequent versions this pixel may be underneath the menubar, but is still clickable.)
Version 1.2#
- An auto-pickup option was added so you don't have to use the mouse button to catch the ball.
- The "visible cursor" option was moved from the Physics dialog to the Options menu, leaving it available in the locked/unregistered version.
- The timer now stops while the game is paused.
- Claire more aggressively blocks a player who has the ball.
- The game no longer freeze-frames for goals, but still does for fouls.
Version 1.3#
- Now there's no freeze-frame for fouls, either.
- The default game type has changed from Four of Five to Delta Five.
- Press ⌘Q to quit in mid-game, after a confirmation prompt.