Glider PRO Becomes Freeware for the Mac

sasha328 writes "Original developer of Glider PRO releases the game as freeware. This has come about from the collapse of Cassady & Greene. I wonder if he'll consider releasing the code for the games." Ah, I used to love this game. It's still good.

Comments

oh well

[Tirel]

For those who have never seen the game before; the purpose of this game is to guide a glider through various rooms in order to collect the 6 magic stars. In order to do so, you must avoid obstacles, such as enemy gliders, bouncing basketballs, jumping goldfish, water drips, and running into walls, shelves, or falling on the floor. The glider moves by trading height for distance. It is controlled by the direction keys (default), or you can define the key control. Floor vents and candles give you the chance to increase your height. The candle causes special problems; if you get too close, you'll catch on fire. Besides collecting the stars, you also collect points. Points are collected by running into clocks (they actually work and tell the correct time), and also by passing through rooms. It was a really good game too (sigh, I miss my mac, had to sell it ;()

Open Source?

[0x0d0a]

Having it freeware is awfully nice, but it'd be even neater if he decided to open source it so that it could be ported to Linux and other operating systems.

John Calhoun (author of Glider PRO) used to use a nude as his logo back in his Soft Dorthy Software days.

Re:Open Source?

[subuni]

Back in the late 80's / early 90's, john calhoun did release the source for his various games. So there is a possibility that he may release the sources for these updated versions, who knows. Somewhere around here on an 800k disk, I have the LightSpeed Pascal source for Glider v2.02.

<cheap plug>And there is an open source clone, written in Java at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jglider/. It's currently playable, although it is lacking some features (enemies -- toasters, fish bowls, helocopters, etc). It certainly needs new graphics as it's using the old black&white images. And the ability to read in existing House files would be great. Someday, I'll get around to fixing/implementing all of that :)</cheap plug>

Re:Open Source?

[tritone]

John Calhoun is one if the first shareware game developers for the Mac. A lot of programmers, including myself, derived inspiration and source code from him. His code for Glypha IV, a Joust-like game, is here.
A carbon port of Glypha III is here.

Re:Open Source?

[dave1212]

John Calhoun (author of Glider PRO) used to use a nude as his logo back in his Soft Dorothy Software days
---

That was in the first Glider. Inspired by thoughts of the boss cat clawing my plane out of the air, I opened it in ResEdit on one of my old machines (a IIci) and grabbed the PICTs.. copy and "Create New Document from Clipboard" in GraphicConverter. Over the LocalTalk network to my Power Mac 7500, then over ethernet to my G4 and the web, here's the pics for your enjoyment.


The info screen,

and here's the loading screen (the girl in the image, quite beautiful, ended up on one of my early bands' tape covers, no worries John, it was never sold): Soft Dorothy Software

Runs under XP Pro!

[jezor]

The older version of Glider 4.0 actually runs fine under Windows XP Pro, notwithstanding the warnings on the site.

Looks like a fun distraction. Now, if someone would port it to PalmOS 5.0... :) {Jonathan}

a fond memory from my monochrome youth

[krog]

can't beat 2-bit nudie splash screens!

Glider+ 3.1.2 ruled my ass, although not quite as hard as Falcon.

Re:a fond memory from my monochrome youth

[Anonymous Coward]

"Glider+ 3.1.2 ruled my ass, although not quite as hard as Falcon."

Hope you used protection.


"a fond memory from my..."

Dude! Have you talked to anyone about this?

Re:wine?

[bobthemonkey13]

You could always set up Basilisk II and run the older Mac version (4.0, listed at the bottom of the page) inside an emulated 68k Mac.

Serial number

[MacGod]

The Application is still the original one, and thus it asks for a serial number. This number is included in a serial number.txt file.

Man, that filename looks familiar.... I'm pretty sure most of my software comes that way!

For all you lawyers reading this, yes that was a joke!

Java Glider

[Pius II.]

Just in case you want information regarding the house file format or the way the Glider is to move (exact pixel values), mail me. I decrypted the house format and built an GliderHouse->XML converter (hey, just 'cause I could :-).
Never had the nerve to actually finish implementing the actual game, what with those 144 types of objects and all.

Re:Crystal Quest

[Halo1]

Long live The Underdogs: Crystal Quest and its follow-up, Crystal Crazy

Worth it just for the original Mac startup sound..

[dpbsmith]

I bought it, ages ago. I always loved the style and the artwork--would you call it Preraphaelite, or maybe just faux Rider-Waite Tarot card style?

I haven't doublechecked to make sure this is in the downloadable freeware version, but one of the lovely things in the original Slumberland house was a room containing a Mac Plus. By directing the glider properly you can turn it on--and you hear the original Mac "department-store chime." That will bring back memories for those who recall how exciting it was to hear that instead of the typical dull square-wave "beep" that was then the norm.

glider isn't everything

[MrFreak]

This is all well and good, but when am I finally going to see a Mac OS X version of Stunt Copter?

(Here;s a link to the Classic version.)

Yay

[luekj]

YAY DUKE NUKEM FOREVER IS FINA......

Oh wait. Nevermind.

I just get jumpier and jumpier these days...