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T h e " O f f i c i a l "
__ , ,
/ () _ ,_ __|__|_ /|_/ _, , _ ,_
>- | |_|/ / | |/ | | |\ / | / \_|/ / |
\__/ \/ |_/ |/|_/|_/|_/ | \_/\/|_/ \/ |_/ |/
() _ |\_|_ _, ,_ _ F A Q
/\ / \_|/ | | | |_/ | / | |/
/(_)\_/ |_/|_/ \/ \/ \/|_/ |/|_/
|) Version 1.3
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Current as of October 22, 1999
(changes and additions since v1.2 are denoted by leading '}' marks)
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Contents:
[1] Introduction
[1.1] A Word From Me
[1.2] About This FAQ
[1.2.1] Obtaining the latest version of the FAQ
} [1.2.2] Revision history
[1.3] What Is Everett Kaser Software?
[1.4] Getting the Latest Information
[2] Historical Information
[2.1] History of Everett Kaser Software
[2.2] History of Specific Games
[2.2.1] Snarf
[2.2.2] Sherlock
[2.2.3] Kosynka
[2.2.4] MESH: Hero's Hearts
[2.2.5] Descartes Enigma
[2.2.6] Floyd's Bumpershoot
} [2.2.7] Honeycomb Hotel
[2.3] The Shipping and Support Process
[2.4] Music
[3] Lists
[3.1] Games
} [3.1.1] What games are currently available from Everett Kaser Software?
[3.1.2] What accessories are available from Everett Kaser Software?
} [3.1.3] Hardware requirements
[3.2] Past Projects
[3.2.1] What Everett Kaser Software games are no longer supported?
[3.2.2] Working titles of Everett Kaser Software games
[4] The Almanac
[4.1] Release Dates
} [4.1.1] Games
[4.1.2] Miscellaneous
[4.2] Cast of Characters
} [4.2.1] Heroes
[4.2.2] Villains
[4.3] Game Credits
} [4.3.1] Game Engines
} [4.3.2] Graphics
} [4.3.3] Sound
[4.3.4] Levels
[4.4] Music
[5] Obtaining the Games
[5.1] The Shareware Games
[5.1.1] The Internet
[5.1.2] Snail Mail
[5.2] The Registered Games
[5.2.1] Ordering information
[6] Playing the Games
[6.1] Hidden Functionality
[6.2] Troubleshooting
[7] Contacting Everett Kaser Software
[7.1] By Phone
[7.2] By Snail Mail
[7.3] Through the Internet
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Legal Information: This FAQ is Copyright (c) 1998-9 by Samuel Stoddard.
No part of this FAQ may be distributed unless it remains intact, with all
credits, and attributions preserved. All trademarks are the property of
their respective owners. The header for the ASCII version of this FAQ was
done with the aid of the "Figlet" software package. I take no responsibility
whatsoever for anything that happens as a result of this FAQ's existence,
except for the good things.
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[1] Introduction
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[1.1] A Word From Me
Who am I? I'm Samuel Stoddard, and I first became interested in Everett Kaser
Software when I happened upon Hero's Heart and Sherlock on the Internet way
back before the Internet was a household term. I don't guarantee that all of
the information in this FAQ is true, but I try to make this as informative
and truthful a document as I humanly can. You can reach me through the
Internet at sam@rinkworks.com.
[1.2] About This FAQ
This FAQ is the official FAQ of Everett Kaser Software. It is copyrighted
(see above) by Samuel Stoddard. While it is authorized and "officialized"
by Everett Kaser Software, it is not the property nor the work of Everett Kaser
Software. However, Everett Kaser has contributed greatly and generously to
its creation and growth, and his efforts are sincerely appreciated.
There is an HTML version of this FAQ, produced by me through my web site
production organization, RinkWorks, whose home page is available at
http://www.rinkworks.com/. It contains exactly the same information
as the text based version but looks prettier and is easier to navigate. It
is available at http://www.rinkworks.com/eks/.
[1.2.1] Obtaining the latest version of the FAQ
- Through the Web - Both the text and web based versions of the FAQ can be
found at http://www.rinkworks.com/eks/.
- Through Email - Write me at sam@rinkworks.com.
[1.2.2] Revision history
The revision history of this FAQ is as follows:
} Version 1.3w - 10/22/99 - HTML equivalent of version 1.3.
} Version 1.3 - 10/22/99 - Information on Honeycomb Hotel; minor updates.
Version 1.2w - 05/05/99 - HTML equivalent of version 1.2.
Version 1.2 - 05/05/99 - Information on Floyd's Bumpershoot; minor updates.
Version 1.1w - 10/28/98 - HTML equivalent of version 1.1.
Version 1.1 - 10/28/98 - Information on Descartes Enigma; minor updates.
Version 1.0w - 06/22/98 - HTML equivalent of version 1.0.
Version 1.0 - 06/22/98 - First public release.
Version 0.2 - 06/18/98 - Sent to Everett Kaser. Not publicly released.
Version 0.1 - 05/19/98 - Sent to Everett Kaser for suggestions and
corrections. Not publicly released.
[1.3] What Is Everett Kaser Software?
Everett Kaser Software is a shareware company that produces mentally
stimulating games for IBM compatible computers. Puzzles and mindbenders
are the company's trademarks. Bucking the current trends of the gaming
industry, the games are the product of a single individual -- Everett
Kaser -- who does everything: the game engine, the graphics, the sounds,
etc, proving that one person can still "do it all" in the gaming industry.
[1.4] Getting the Latest Information
To obtain timely news and updates about Everett Kaser Software, visit the
EKS home page at http://www.kaser.com/. Here you can find out about all the
latest games, new versions, and so forth.
In particular, Everett Kaser keeps a frequently updated journal on his
web site where he records the latest news and chronicles his progress
with games in development. The direct URL for this journal page
is http://www.kaser.com/journal.html.
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[2] Historical Information
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[2.1] History of Everett Kaser Software
Everett Kaser made his debut in the computer field by plunging in with both
feet -- he built his own microcomputer in 1977 based on plans in a previous
issue of Popular Electronics. The model was the "Cosmac Elf," built around
the RCA 1802 CMOS microprocessor. It had 256 bytes of RAM and programmed
with eight toggle switches. To set the value of a byte, you'd set the toggle
switches and hit the 'Enter' button. The machine's video output consisted of
a rectangular array of large squares on the screen which displayed the values
of the 256 bytes.
Why'd he do it? A couple years earlier, he became interested in John Conway's
Game of Life (originally called "cellular automata") which was featured in
Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. Kaser
found this algorithm fascinating and spent his share of time filling pages of
graph paper with calculated generations of the game. Finally he decided he
needed a machine to do the calculations for him. He started to design a
machine constructed of discrete logic gates but realized that any usable array
of cells was going to make it too expensive and impractical. So he built the
Cosmac Elf and programmed his first game, a 32 by 32 version of the game of
Life.
He obtained a position at Hewlett-Packard in 1976. Around 1979, he became
involved in the HP-85 microcomputer and was offered an engineering position
in the Applications Engineering group. The HP-85 was similar in size and
shape to the Apple II. It had a 16 row by 32 column display, a thermal
printer, a DC-100 tape drive for mass storage, and four I/O slots. The basic
machine had 16k of RAM, expandable to 32k, and 32k of ROM containing the
operating system and a BASIC interpreter. You could load one binary program
at a time which were able to add new keywords to the BASIC language.
Kaser wasted no time in writing games. For the HP-85 and its successors,
from roughly 1980 to 1984, he wrote a long series of games, many of which
were published by HP, starting with a ASCII duck shooting game, featuring
asterisks that moved back and forth across the top of the screen that you
had to shoot. Among the other ASCII graphics efforts was "Heebie-Geebies,"
a road race game where you had to dodge an increasing assortment of obstacles
and pick up gas cans.
Later on, he designed graphics-based games such as "RatPack," where you look
down on a mesh of city streets, drive around in a car, and shoot masses of
rats. There was "Mouser," a real-time first-person 3D game (in 1983!) where
you played a mouse that had to move around a randomly generated maze, pick up
cheese balls, and avoid the cat that was hunting you. This game even had
modem, serial port, HP-IB, and GPIO support for two player mode, where you
could also hook up two machines over modem, serial port, HP-IB, or GPIO and
two people could play together in the same maze, seeing who could pick up
the most cheese balls. In another early innovation, the game had an
auto-mapping feature that displayed a bird's-eye view of where you had been.
Kaser bought his first IBM PC in 1985. For $4200, he got a 4.88Mhz 8088,
two floppy drives (no hard drive), and a CGA monitor. A single 360k floppy
had DOS 2.0, a text editor, assembler, and linker. He wrote his own
programmable text editor called "Farkle," and a bunch more games, including
TigerFox, a take-off on Pac Man where you have to chase a fox through a maze
while avoiding a tiger.
1986 marked the start of Kaser's interest in puzzle games when he wrote
an ASCII game for the PC called "Floyd's Bumpershot," named in honor of a
friend who died in a car accident. Another game he wrote around this time
was Qix, a version of the classic arcade game.
In January of 1988, he wrote Snarf, a game where you try to find your way
through a maze without getting overrun by the swarms of snarfs that ran
through it. It was released as freeware, along with its source code, but
did not bear the "Everett Kaser Software" name.
Solitile was the first game to do that. It was written in the first half
of 1989 and released as shareware in July of that year just to see how it
would fare. Although the revenue it generated wasn't enough to live off by
any means, it was more than enough to encourage him to release more shareware,
especially considering he'd written the game for his own pleasure. Shortly
afterward, he decided to rewrite Snarf and release that as shareware, but it
never sold as well. He realized that it was the puzzle aspects of the game
that made Solitile so much fun, and this was what first interested him in
puzzle games. To date, Snarf is the only action game ever produced by
Everett Kaser Software, and there are no plans to produce any more.
Until 1997, Kaser was burning both ends of the candle, so to speak, working
a day job at Hewlett-Packard and raising two kids in addition to trying to get
his shareware business off the ground. At last, he quit his day job on
May 2, 1997, to write games full time.
In October 1998, Everett Kaser Software games became available on CD as
well as on disk.
[2.2] History of Specific Games
[2.2.1] Snarf
Everett Kaser wrote the first version of Snarf in January 1988 during a
week's vacation from his day job at Hewlett-Packard. The initial version
was never quite polished, but it was done enough to play, and he released
the game -- along with its source code -- as freeware on the Internet
and BBS's. Later, in 1990, he decided to rewrite the game from scratch,
having learned much more about writing games since the previous version.
Better care was taken with the final product, and the end result was a lot
cleaner. This was released in October 1990 as shareware.
Unlike the first, this second version of Snarf bore the "Everett Kaser
Software" label. However, Solitile was released under that name the year
before, so while Snarf was written first, it was technically the second
game from Everett Kaser Software.
[2.2.2] Sherlock
After Solitile sold well for Everett Kaser and Snarf didn't, he sat down to
figure out what made Solitile so much fun to play. He decided it was the
puzzle aspects of the game and, as he put it, the "constant but un-frenzied
clicking on different visual aspects of the game."
So he sat down to think of a follow-up game to Solitile that would recapture
that kind of atmosphere. Ideas were sketched down on paper and discarded.
During this process, he remembered the classic "Who Owns the Zebra?" game
that he first saw in high school and, later, from a co-worker in the
mid-eighties. This game became his inspiration; for five months in early
1991, he designed and implemented what would become one of the two most
successful Everett Kaser Software games (the other being Solitile) and his
personal favorite. For the first two thirds of its development, it was
called "Loginx" and was then changed to "Sherlock." The classic "Who Owns
the Zebra?" puzzle is shown in the Sherlock for Windows help file.
[2.2.3] Kosynka
Kosynka is a Russian solitaire game written by Sergey Ryzhkov, with graphics
by Tatjana Ovsjannikova. Everett Kaser is the game's U.S. distributor,
although the game is no longer promoted much. This arrangement came about
when Ryzhkov, who had seen one of Kaser's games, sent him some email with
some questions about the business. They exchanged email for a couple months;
over the course of this, Ryzhkov sent an early version of Kosynka, the game
he was working on. Kaser gave him some feedback. Later on, Kaser was asked
to handle registrations for him here in the United States.
[2.2.4] MESH: Hero's Hearts
In April of 1997, Everett Kaser and I ("I" being the author of this FAQ,
Samuel Stoddard) were conducting a long email conversation about the DOS
version of Hero, new levels, and so forth. In the course of this conversation,
Everett asked me, "So, if you had a 'programmable' version of Hero (where
you could not only edit the levels, but add new objects with new behaviors)
what kinds of objects would you add?" I told him he shouldn't go around
asking such exciting questions like that unless he was prepared to follow
through. ("Oozingly tantalizing" I believe my exact words were.)
At the time, Hero was the third best selling Everett Kaser Software game,
behind a more or less tied Solitile and Sherlock. At that time, he had
finished Windows ports of those two games and was well underway with the
Sherlock sequel, Dinner With Moriarty. A Windows version of Hero was an
idea that had been churning about in the back of his mind for some time,
and one of the earliest ideas he had was to provide with it an "object
editor," so that you could not only construct new levels with the game, but
program new objects with new behaviors. Actually this functionality was
intended for the original DOS version of Hero, but the speed of the computers
of the day (and his programming skills, less advanced at the time) kept him
from implementing it then.
I answered his question, immediately excited by the very prospect of an object
editor (Hero was one of my favorite games, and I had already pretty much
exhausted my level-making ideas with the original set of objects). I came up
with four or five different ideas such as fans and hoses and hearts that fall
like boulders. Everett liked the ideas, and I think -- maybe it's just wishful
thinking on my part -- that our discussion aroused his interest in such a
project and encouraged him to do it sooner.
But our conversation tapered off in the weeks that followed. In December
of that year, I heard from Everett Kaser again, out of the blue. He had an
alpha version of a Windows Hero port he wanted me to try out, complete with
a programmable object editor. I was ecstatic. The original alpha version
was extremely primitive -- not much like the final product in terms of
functionality -- but it was a blast to tinker with. Immediately, I set about
implementing the new objects I had proposed months earlier, and doing so
exposed some bugs and weaknesses in the engine that I mentioned to Everett,
who fixed them. He sent me new alpha versions as he had them ready from then
until the following March, when he posted a beta version to his web site for
more users to test. The complete game was released in April and contained
all the levels from the original DOS Hero game, plus almost all the levels in
all four of the accessory disks, plus a few more. Many of the levels had to
be tweaked from their original incarnation in the DOS game, though; the
engines of the two games are completely different, and as such, they process
the actions of objects in a slightly different order sometimes, which,
consequently, causes certain complex interactions to act differently in one
game than they do in the other. But all but three or four of the original
levels could be ported to MESH: Hero's Hearts in some way.
[2.2.5] Descartes Enigma
Descartes Enigma is an implementation of a puzzle invented by Tetsuya Nishio.
Games Magazine publishes these types of puzzles periodically. The more common
names for them are "Paint By Number," "Nonograms," and "Picross Puzzles."
In each of these puzzles, you are given a grid, which must be properly filled
in with white blocks and shaded blocks. Each row and column has a series of
numbers associated with it that says how many groups of consecutive blocks
there are in it.
In the early stages of development, Descartes Enigma was referred to simply
as "PBN" (for "Paint By Number"). Everett Kaser began the project in
June 1998, and it wasn't until August 4th that its final name was finally
decided upon. On June 26th, Everett used his new (at the time) site journal
section of his web page (http://www.kaser.com/journal.html) to start a contest
where readers could submit title suggestions. Many of the names submitted
by readers were very good, particularly one I submitted ("Grasshoppers
Anonymous"), but none were used. Everett thought of "Descartes Enigma" on
his own, and that's how the game got its name. At one point, Everett mentioned
to me that this was the only game he'd had such trouble naming -- in the past,
the names had generally come to him without much effort.
A beta version of Descartes Enigma was released on the Everett Kaser Software
web site on August 31, 1998, and the completed game was released on
October 22, 1998.
Why that title? Rene Descartes was a scientist and philosopher from the 17th
century who invented the now-named Cartesian coordinate system. He co-invented
analytic geometry with Pierre de Fermat and coined the phrase, "Cogito, ergo
sum," which means, "I think, therefore I am." Descartes' coordinate system
is integral to the puzzles in Descartes Enigma.
The clincher, so Everett says, that affirmed the title in his mind was a line
from the Encyclopedia Brittanica article about him: "At the end of his life,
he left a chest of personal papers -- none of which has survived -- with his
close friend, the Rosicrucian physician Corneille van Hogelande, who handled
his affairs in the Netherlands." This "lost chest of Descartes" inspired
the back story of the game.
[2.2.6] Floyd's Bumpershoot
In 1986, Everett Kaser wrote a game called "Floyd's Bumpershot," named in
honor of a friend who died in a car accident that year. It was a
defining moment for him, for it marked the beginning of his long-standing
interest in puzzle games. The original incarnation of the game is much like
the one Everett Kaser Software sells today: the computer would place about
thirty 45-degree reflectors in a rectangular playing area but not show you
where they were. You'd have to move your gun around the outside edge, shoot
inside, and see how it reflected -- but each time you fired, the bumper would
flip 90 degrees.
In 1998, when research for this FAQ was being done, Everett Kaser told me
about this game and misremembered the name as "Floyd's Bumpershoot." The
error went undetected for some months, when Everett started to consider
rewriting the game for Windows, updating the graphics, adding new features,
and putting it into his Everett Kaser Software product line. When the error
finally was discovered, he liked the new name better and kept it. This new
version of the game was written in the Fall and Winter of 1998, went through
beta testing through most of January 1999, and was released at the month's end.
}[2.2.7] Honeycomb Hotel
}
}Production of Honeycomb Hotel began in May 1999. The initial idea for the
}game was simply some kind of grid-based game that would be played on a
}honeycomb-shaped board. Hence, the working title was "Honeycomb," until the
}following month when "Honeycomb Hotel" was first adopted as the game's title.
}
}The development of Honeycomb Hotel broke new ground for Everett Kaser
}Software. From June 1999 up to the game's release in October 1999, alpha
}versions of the game were released to the members of the Everett Kaser
}Software mailing list for comments and testing. As many as twenty alpha
}releases were dispensed to the mailing list, averaging one per week. As
}such, no beta version was ever released to the web site; by the time the game
}was nearing its final stages, it had already undergone much tweaking and
}perfecting.
[2.3] The Shipping and Support Process
Since Everett Kaser runs his business essentially by himself, he has to do
everything. Besides writing the games, that includes writing documentation,
shipping the games out, and providing technical support. Below are Everett
Kaser's comments about how he goes about that:
"Disk labels are printed on Avery labels designed specifically for
3 1/2" diskettes. I used to use a software package from Avery that made it
pretty easy to set up the text and graphics and print the labels, but it
wasn't as flexible as I wanted. Later I used Microsoft Word, and now, I
just use Microsoft Publisher, which is more flexible but a little more
difficult. Trade-offs. Anyway, I use a disk duplicating software package
that stores floppy images on the hard disk, and I just duplicate 15 or 30
disks at a time right in my PC, stick the labels on, and I'm ready to fill
orders. CDROM duplication is done on an HP CD-Writer Plus drive, with labels
printed using some label printing software that came with the "label
application" kit that I bought. CDROMs are rapidly becoming my primary
distribution media (thankfully, since the Sampler Disks were up to three in
number and about to grow with each new game introduced!).
"Writing 'tech support' (help screens, in my case) is probably my least
favorite aspect of the development, but it's not bad. With Windows online
help, you really don't need a printed manual, especially not for games."
[2.4] Music
The music used in the newer Everett Kaser Software games are in the MIDI
format. For most of the music files in Solitile for Windows and Dinner With
Moriarty, the MIDI files were recorded using Midisoft Studio while Everett's
cousin Loretta Kaser played them on an electronic keyboard. The other music
for Sherlock for Windows was entered into Midisoft Studio by hand, note by
note. For MESH: Hero's Hearts, MESH: Hero Defiant, and Descartes Enigma, the
music was simply copied off a CD of licensed MIDI music.
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[3] Lists
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[3.1] Games
[3.1.1] What games are currently available from Everett Kaser Software?
A list of Everett Kaser Software games follows. The filename given is the
file on the Internet which contains the shareware version of each game.
The price given is the cost of the registered version of the game. The "Ver"
field contains the latest version number of the game. "OS" is either DOS or
Windows. The "Size" field is approximate and refers to the shareware version.
All games are available on both 3 1/2" disks and CDs, so when you order, be
sure to specify which you would like your games to be shipped on.
Name Size Genre Filename Price Ver OS
---- ---- ----- -------- ----- --- --
}Honeycomb Hotel 470k Logic hchotel.zip $19.95 1.0a W
Floyd's Bumpershoot 400k Logic fb.zip $19.95 1.0 W
Descartes Enigma 402k Grid/Logic de.zip $19.95 1.0a W
MESH: Hero Defiant 675k Grid meshhd.zip $19.95 1.1c W
MESH: Hero's Hearts 605k Grid meshhh.zip $19.95 1.1c W
Dinner With Moriarty 550k Logic moriarty.zip $19.95 1.1a W
}Solitile for Windows 450k Tile solwin.zip $19.95 4.5a W
Sherlock for Windows 400k Logic sherwin.zip $19.95 3.4 W
Hero 126k Grid hero.zip $20.00 1.5 D *
Kosynka 63k Card kosynka.zip $15.00 1.1 D
Sherlock 122k Logic sherlock.zip $15.00 2.07 D
Snarf 55k Action snarf.zip $15.00 2.61 D
Solitile 216k Tile solitile.zip $15.00 3.6 D
* - The shareware version of Hero for DOS is called "Hero's Hearts."
The registered version is called "Hero Gold."
[3.1.2] What accessories are available from Everett Kaser Software?
A list of accessories available for Everett Kaser Software games follows.
To use any of these accessories, you must have the registered version of
the game it is for.
Name Price
---- -----
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #3 $ 7.50
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #2 $ 7.50
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #1 $ 7.50
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #4 $ 7.50
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #3 $ 7.50
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #2 $ 7.50
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #1 $ 7.50
Solitile Accessory Disk #4 $ 5.00
Solitile Accessory Disk #3 $ 5.00
Solitile Accessory Disk #2 $ 5.00
Solitile Accessory Disk #1 $ 5.00
[3.1.3] Hardware requirements
Name Hardware Requirements
---- ---------------------
}Honeycomb Hotel 486, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
Floyd's Bumpershoot 486, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
Descartes Enigma 386, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
MESH: Hero Defiant 486, VGA, Windows, 16 megs RAM
MESH: Hero's Hearts 486, VGA, Windows, 16 megs RAM
Dinner With Moriarty 386, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
Solitile for Windows 386, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
Sherlock for Windows 386, VGA, Windows, 8 megs RAM
Hero DOS, EGA, 420k conventional RAM
Kosynka DOS, EGA, 400k conventional RAM, mouse recommended
Sherlock DOS, EGA, 420k conventional RAM, mouse
Snarf DOS, EGA, 400k conventional RAM
Solitile DOS, EGA, 400k conventional RAM, mouse recommended
[3.2] Past Projects
[3.2.1] What Everett Kaser Software games are no longer supported?
Everett Kaser Software no longer actively advertises the following games.
However, Everett Kaser does retain the copyrights on these games, still
supports them, and, in fact, will still register them to users who happen
across them.
Snarf - Action/Puzzle/Maze game
Kosynka - Russian Solitaire game
[3.2.2] Working titles of Everett Kaser Software games
Sometimes, over the course of a game's development, the game's title can
change, once, twice, or more. Here is a list of some of Everett Kaser
Software's games and their former titles.
Official Title Working Title
-------------- -------------
}Honeycomb Hotel Honeycomb *
Floyd's Bumpershoot Floyd's Bumpershot *
Descartes Enigma PBN *
MESH: Hero's Hearts MESH: Hero Gold
Sherlock Loginx
Snarf Beezle
}* - "Honeycomb" was only the working title for "Honeycomb Hotel" in the very
} early stages of the game's development.
- "Floyd's Bumpershot" was the title of an early 1986 ASCII incarnation of
the game. When recalling it, Everett Kaser misremembered the name, then
decided he liked the remembered title better than the real one.
- "PBN," which stands for "Paint By Number," was never intended to be the
final title for the game. Also, the game was jokingly referred to as
"Grasshoppers Anonymous" during part of its development. See the section
on the history of Descartes Enigma for further details.
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[4] The Almanac
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[4.1] Release Dates
[4.1.1] Games
Game Version Date Released
---- ------- -------------
} Honeycomb Hotel 1.0a 10/18/99
} Honeycomb Hotel 1.0 10/17/99 *
} Solitile for Windows 4.5a 05/13/99
Solitile for Windows 4.5 03/17/99
Floyd's Bumpershoot 1.0 01/30/99 *
Floyd's Bumpershoot Beta 3 01/24/99 ~
Floyd's Bumpershoot Beta 2 01/10/99 ~
Floyd's Bumpershoot Beta 1 01/08/99 ~
Descartes Enigma 1.0a 10/26/98
Descartes Enigma 1.0 10/22/98 *
Descartes Enigma Beta 2 09/18/98 ~
Descartes Enigma Beta 1 08/31/98 ~
MESH: Hero Defiant 1.1c 06/09/98 *
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.1c 06/03/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.1b 05/03/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.1a 05/01/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.1 04/21/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.0d 04/21/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.0c 04/20/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.0b 04/09/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.0a 04/08/98
MESH: Hero's Hearts 1.0 04/03/98 *
MESH: Hero's Hearts Beta 1 03/08/98 ~
MESH: Hero's Hearts Alpha 1 12/21/97 ~
Dinner With Moriarty 1.1a 09/23/97
Dinner With Moriarty 1.1 09/15/97
Dinner With Moriarty 1.0a 09/08/97
Dinner With Moriarty 1.0 08/03/97 *
Solitile for Windows 4.4a 09/29/97
Solitile for Windows 4.4 09/15/97
Sherlock for Windows 3.4 09/15/97
Sherlock for Windows 3.3 04/23/97
Solitile for Windows 4.0 02/97 *
Sherlock for Windows 3.2c 10/96
Hero 1.52 09/28/96
Sherlock for Windows 3.2b 03/07/96
Sherlock for Windows 3.2a 03/03/96
Sherlock for Windows 3.2 03/02/96 +
Sherlock for Windows 3.0d 01/23/96
Sherlock 2.07 01/20/96
Sherlock for Windows 3.0c 01/14/96
Sherlock for Windows 3.0b 12/03/95
Sherlock for Windows 3.0a 11/25/95 *
Hero 1.51 06/13/95
Hero 1.50 12/24/94 +
Solitile 3.61 12/24/94
Solitile 3.60 12/11/94
Sherlock 2.06 09/02/94
Sherlock 2.05 03/27/94
Solitile 3.58 03/10/94
Hero 1.31 03/09/94
Sherlock 2.04 03/02/94
Sherlock 2.03 02/28/94
Sherlock 2.02 01/22/94
Sherlock 2.01 01/16/94
Snarf 2.61 12/31/98
Hero 1.3 12/30/93
Sherlock 2.00 07/14/93
Solitile 3.54 07/07/93
Solitile 3.51 02/13/93
Hero 1.2 12/21/92
Hero 1.1 11/21/92 *
Solitile 3.5 07/01/92
Snarf 2.60 06/07/92
Solitile 3.4 06/07/92
Sherlock 1.50 06/06/92
Sherlock 1.42 03/26/92
Sherlock 1.41 03/10/92
Solitile 3.3 03/01/92
Sherlock 1.4 02/29/92
Snarf 2.51 02/23/92
Sherlock 1.3 02/22/92
Kosynka 1.1 1992 *
Solitile 3.1 12/01/91
Sherlock 1.2 11/24/91
Snarf 2.50 10/19/91 +
Solitile 3.0 09/22/91
Solitile 2.8 06/28/91
Sherlock 1.1 05/12/91 *
Snarf 2.03 02/23/91
Snarf 2.02 11/22/90
Snarf 2.01 11/10/90
Snarf 2.00 10/21/90
Solitile 2.7 06/05/90
Solitile 2.5 10/16/89
Solitile 2.0 08-10/89
Solitile 1.4 08/18/89
Solitile 1.3 07/21/89
Solitile 1.0 07/89 *
Snarf 1.0 01/88 *^
* - This indicates the first official release of the game.
+ - There were never versions 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, or 2.4 of Snarf.
There was never a version 1.4 of Hero.
Version 3.1 of Sherlock for Windows was not released to the public.
~ - Alpha versions of games were never released to the public.
Beta versions of games were only released to the Everett Kaser
Software web site.
^ - This version of the game was not released as shareware nor under
the Everett Kaser Software game. Instead, it was released as
freeware, with source code included.
[4.1.2] Miscellaneous
Product Date Released
------- -------------
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #3 03/18/99
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #2 03/18/99
Solitile for Windows Expansion Disk #1 03/18/99
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #4 09/26/97
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #3 09/28/96
Solitile Accessory Disk #4 01/08/95
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #2 12/24/94
Hero Gold Accessory Disk #1 01/01/94
Solitile Accessory Disk #3 12/08/91
Solitile Accessory Disk #2 11/04/91
Solitile Accessory Disk #1 09/28/91
[4.2] Cast of Characters
[4.2.1] Heroes
Game Name
---- ----
}Honeycomb Hotel Harold the Honey Bee
MESH: Hero Defiant Hero/Heroine
MESH: Hero's Hearts Hero/Heroine
Hero Hero
[4.2.2] Villains
Game Name
---- ----
Dinner With Moriarty Moriarty
Snarf The Snarfs
[4.3] Game Credits
[4.3.1] Game Engines
The following people wrote the game engines for Everett Kaser Software games:
Game Credits
---- -------
} Honeycomb Hotel Everett Kaser
Floyd's Bumpershoot Everett Kaser
Descartes Enigma Everett Kaser
MESH: Hero Defiant Everett Kaser
MESH: Hero's Hearts Everett Kaser
Hero Everett Kaser
Kosynka Sergey Ryzhkov
Sherlock Everett Kaser
Snarf Everett Kaser
Solitile Everett Kaser
[4.3.2] Graphics
The following people did the artwork for Everett Kaser Software games:
Game Credits
---- -------
} Honeycomb Hotel Everett Kaser, Leah Forman, Carol Gortat,
} Zonker Harris, Kris Pixton, Barbara De Roes
Floyd's Bumpershoot Everett Kaser
Descartes Enigma Everett Kaser
MESH: Hero Defiant Everett Kaser, Phil Heavin, William T. Pelletier
(and family), Samuel Stoddard
MESH: Hero's Hearts Everett Kaser
Hero Everett Kaser
Kosynka Tatjana Ovsjannikova
Sherlock Everett Kaser
Snarf Everett Kaser
Solitile Everett Kaser
Accessory Disk Credits
-------------- -------
Solitile Accessory #4 Gail Bowdish, Joe Deger, John Finkbohner, Lewis
Hartsfield, Cindi Kievit, David Kievit, Jacki
Marshall, Don McMinds, Michael Miles, Caleb Murdock,
Paul Narbe, Dale Saylor, Glenn Smith, Larry Stephens,
R. A. Todoverto
Solitile Accessory #3 Charles Brabec, Everett Kaser, Dick Koster (and
family), Victor Short
Solitile Accessory #2 William B. Gibson, Mike Fitz-Enz, Debby Fitz-Enz,
Carl Kukielka
Solitile Accessory #1 David Barnes, Everett Kaser
[4.3.3] Sound
The following people created the sounds for Everett Kaser Software games:
Game Credits
---- -------
} Honeycomb Hotel Everett Kaser
Floyd's Bumpershoot Everett Kaser
Descartes Enigma Everett Kaser
MESH: Hero Defiant Everett Kaser
MESH: Hero's Hearts Everett Kaser
Hero Everett Kaser
Sherlock Everett Kaser
Snarf Everett Kaser
Solitile Everett Kaser
[4.3.4] Levels
The following people designed the levels for Everett Kaser Software games:
Game Credits
---- -------
Descartes Enigma Everett Kaser, Zonker Harris
MESH: Hero Defiant Everett Kaser, William T. Pelletier (and family)
MESH: Hero's Hearts Everett Kaser, Fran Anderson, Rich Beckwith, Sydney
Burton, Jim Bush, Brett Bydairk, Lawrence J. Coplin,
Darleen Daniels, William Degelmann, Germain Dube,
Tim Emmerich, Jean-Marc Genevey, John Gibbs, Carol
Gortat, Jan K. Hoag, Megan Kaser, Shane Kaser,
Russell Kennedy, Charles S. Knippenberg, Hein Mank,
Sandy McCauley, Patrick F. McConnville, Annie Oakley,
William T. Pelletier (and family), Bonnie Raymond,
Jim Schuetz, Klass Spaans, Piet-Jan Spaans, Teun
Spaans, Samuel Stoddard, Rob Taylor, Rich Teets,
Albert H. Them, Ed Tily, Glenn Turner
Hero Everett Kaser, Tim Emmerich, Megan Kaser, Shane Kaser
Snarf Everett Kaser
Solitile Everett Kaser
Accessory Disk Credits
-------------- -------
Solitile/Win Exp #3 Clive Morgan
Solitile/Win Exp #2 Clive Morgan
Solitile/Win Exp #1 Clive Morgan
Hero Accessory #4 Fran Anderson, Rich Beckwith, Brett Bydairk, Lawrence
J. Coplin, Darleen Daniels, Jan K. Hoag, Everett
Kaser, Sandy McCauley, William Pelletier (and family),
Samuel Stoddard
Hero Accessory #3 Sydney Burton, Jim Bush, Lawrence J. Coplin, Germain
Dube, John Gibbs, Everett Kaser, Russell Kennedy,
Charles S. Knippenberg, Sandy McCauley, William
Pelletier (and family), Jim Schuetz Klaas Spaans,
Piet-Jan Spaans, Teun Spaans, Albert H. Them, Glenn
Turner
Hero Accessory #2 William Degelmann, Jan K. Hoag, Everett Kaser, Hein
Mank, Sandy McCauley, Patrick F. McConnville, William
Pelletier (and family), Rob Taylor
Hero Accessory #1 Jean-Marc Genevey, Carol Gortat, Jan K. Hoag, Everett
Kaser, Annie Oakley, William Pelletier (and family),
Bonnie Raymond, Rich Teets, Ed Tiley
Solitile Accessory #4 Gail Bowdish, Joe Deger, Diane Hall, Everett Kaser,
Michael Miles, Anne Schultz, Larry Stephens, Rene
Todoverto
Solitile Accessory #3 Everett Kaser
Solitile Accessory #2 Everett Kaser, Mike Steed
Solitile Accessory #1 Len Bruening, Everett Kaser
[4.4] Music
For some Everett Kaser Software games, different musical themes can be chosen.
The following is a list of the music files in these games.
Filename Music
-------- -----
bachbrc3.mid Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3 (1st movement)
bachc147.mid Bach's Cantata #147 (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring)
bachov3 .mid Bach's Overture (Suite) #3 (Air)
bachtfd .mid Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
beetfure.mid Beethoven's Fur Elise
beetmsc .mid Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in C# minor (Adagio sostenuto)
beetsym5.mid Beethoven's Symphony #5 (1st movement)
beetsym9.mid Beethoven's Symphony #9 (2nd movement)
chopminw.mid Chopin's Minute Waltz
chopvalc.mid Chopin's Valse in C# minor
debuclai.mid Debussy's Clair de Lune
haydsond.mid Haydn's Sonata in D (1st movement)
mendwedm.mid Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wedding March)
mourprem.mid Mouret's Premier Suite (Masterpiece Theater Theme)
mozasere.mid Mozart's Serenade "Eine Kleine Nachmusik"
mozasona.mid Mozart's Sonata in A (Rondo-Alla mrka)
mozasonc.mid Mozart's Sonata in C K.545 (Allegro - 1st movement)
musspict.mid Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (Promenade)
ravebole.mid Ravel's Bolero
rosswtov.mid Rossini's William Tell Overture
schumm3f.mid Schubert's Moments Musicaux #3 in F minor
schuscen.mid Schummann's Scenes From Childhood (Traumerei)
straalso.mid Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra
strablue.mid Strauss' The Beautiful Blue Danube
tcha1812.mid Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
tchaflow.mid Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite Waltz of the Flowers
tchaplum.mid Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy
tchareed.mid Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite Dance of the Reed Pipes
viva4sea.mid Vivaldi's The Four Seasons
wagnlohe.mid Wagner's Lohengrin (Bridal Song)
The MESH: Hero music is MOZASONA.MID from the above list.
The Descartes Enigma music is BCHTC150.MID from the above list.
The Sherlock for Windows music, not listed above, is Ecossaise, by Beethoven.
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[5] Obtaining the Games
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[5.1] The Shareware Episodes
[5.1.1] The Internet
You can download the shareware versions of Everett Kaser Software games from
their web page, http://www.kaser.com/.
[5.1.2] Snail Mail
You can order the shareware versions of all Everett Kaser Software games via
snail mail. Send your order, plus $5 shipping and handling, to:
Everett Kaser Software
P.O. Box 403
Albany, OR 97321-0117
[5.2] The Registered Episodes
The registered versions of the software are the complete versions, and, as
they are not shareware, cannot legally exist on public BBS's or FTP sites.
The registered versions of the software must be purchased directly from Everett
Kaser Software. The best way to get the most recent ordering information is
to check the company's web site.
[5.2.1] Ordering information
To obtain the latest ordering information, visit Everett Kaser Software's
web site. The direct URL for the ordering information page is:
http://www.kaser.com/order.html.
To order by mail, send a check or money order written in U.S. dollars on
a U.S. bank, or, alternately, a Visa or Mastercard number and expiration
date, along with your order to:
Everett Kaser Software
P.O. Box 403
Albany, OR 97321-0117
Be sure to specify whether you'd like your games to be shipped on disk or CD,
as Everett Kaser Software's games are available on both.
To order by phone, call (541) 928-5259 between 8am and 8pm Pacific Time.
Have your Visa or Mastercard number and expiration date ready.
To order by email, send your Visa or Mastercard number and expiration date,
along with your order, to everett@kaser.com. Note that unencrypted email is
not a secure medium, and there is a remote but distinct possibility your
credit card information could be trapped by someone on its way. Everett
Kaser Software is not responsible for credit card information in this manner.
Some, but not all, of Everett Kaser Software's games are available for
purchase online. When you buy games online, you will not receive physical
disks or CDs or printed instructions -- you are simply able to download these
electronically. Visit the ordering information page at Everett Kaser
Software's web site -- http://www.kaser.com/order.html -- to order games
online.
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[6] Playing the Games
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[6.1] Hidden Functionality
[MESH: Hero's Hearts]
There is an unsupported, undocumented way of importing Hero levels created
in the DOS version. To do this, follow these instructions:
1. Make a subdirectory in the MESH: Hero's Hearts directory called "DOS".
2. Copy your DOS Hero *.lev and *.mov files into this subdirectory.
3. Run the game.
4. Create a new puzzle set, retaining all of the class definitions.
5. Enter the level editor.
6. Press the "I" key (for "import").
7. Enter the DOS puzzle set name (three characters).
8. Return to the game, and the levels will be saved. The moves will be
imported as the solutions, although note that, due to incompatibilities
between the DOS Hero and MESH: Hero engines, the solutions may not work.
[6.2] Troubleshooting
If you have a problem with an Everett Kaser Software game not starting
correctly, there are a few things you can try before calling for technical
support. First, make sure your system meets the hardware requirements of
the game. If they don't, you probably can't run the game without upgrading
your hardware.
Second, make sure you have the most recent version of the game. Many older
versions of games have bugs that are fixed in the more recent versions.
Third, check both the printed and, if you can get to them, online instructions.
The instructions for the game often include troubleshooting tips.
If you're running an MS-DOS game in Windows 95, or an MS-DOS shell within
Windows 95, that might be the problem. Rather than simply entering an MS-DOS
shell, exit Windows 95 completely and try again. Sometimes an MS-DOS game
will run in Windows 95, but none are guaranteed to do so.
If the game is failing to start due to insufficient memory, and you're using
MS-DOS, you can try removing TSRs, or booting "clean" or "safe." With
MS-DOS 6.0 or greater, you can do this by holding down either the shift key
or F5 while the system is booting. This causes your autoexec.bat and
config.sys files to be bypassed.
If memory is a problem in Windows 95, shut down all other applications that
are running and try again.
If you've tried everything and still can't get an Everett Kaser Software game
to work correctly, contact EKS's technical support service. This is listed
under "Contacting Everett Kaser Software."
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[7] Contacting Everett Kaser Software
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[7.1] By Phone
Everett Kaser Software's phone number is (541) 928-5259 and is open from
8am to 8pm Pacific time. It is closed during major national holidays --
unless of course someone answers the phone, in which case it is open.
[7.2] By Snail Mail
Everett Kaser Software's snail mail address is:
Everett Kaser Software
P.O. Box 403
Albany, OR 97321-0117
[7.3] Through the Internet
Everett Kaser Software's email address is everett@kaser.com.
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