Factor Software - Shareware games for the Mac OS™

MacPipes X Version History

1.2.8 (May 2008)

• Fixed the URL for downloading the game when a new version is available.
• Improved error handling while purchasing the game via the Kagi Registration Module.
• The KRM has been reverted to version 1.0.6 due to unsolved problems with version 1.0.7.
• Updated Help.

1.2.7 (February 2008)

• Improved menubar and Dock handling in full screen mode on Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar or later.
• Fixed an issue with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that caused the game application to not exit full screen mode when displaying Help pages.
• Improved Preferences dialog appearance on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or later (also fixed tab pane drawing problems on 10.5 Leopard).
• Fixed broken functionality of Application menu items "Hide MacPipes X", "Hide Others" and "Show All".
• Updated the Kagi Registration Module (fixed issues with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard).
• Other minor bug fixes.

1.2.6 (November 2007)

• Fixed a cosmetic bug in the level completion sequence.
• Updated the Kagi Registration Module (now compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard).

1.2.5 (August 2006)

• Updated the Kagi Registration Module (fixed a potential crash on Mac OS X 10.3.9).
• New Factor Software logo in both game and documentation.
• Updated Help (also fixed links in the "MacPipes FAQ" page opening in new windows).

1.2.4 (March 2006)

• Fixed a problem with Apple Cinema Displays that caused the erroneous selection of stretched display mode when switching to fullscreen.
• Updated the Kagi Registration Module.
• A few minor code adjustments.

1.2.3 (October 2005)

• Fixed a bug that caused the "invalid registration information" alert to be erroneously shown when trying to access the online scores system two or more times in a row.
• Fixed a bug that caused the "no need to upgrade" alert to lose focus when suspending and resuming the application, after checking for updates at startup, making a forced quit necessary.

1.2.2 (July 2005)

• Worked around a problem that caused the "MacPipes X Help" menu command to fail to launch the Help Viewer on Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
• Updated the Kagi Registration Module.
• Other minor refinements.

1.2.1 (October 2004)

• Fixed a bug that caused alerts to remain inactive when resuming the application from background, making a forced quit necessary (Mac OS X 10.3 only).
• The game now integrates the Kagi Registration Module (KRM). The KRM allows users to securely purchase the game directly from inside the application. When an order is successfully placed via the KRM, the game gets unlocked instantly! This option is available on Mac OS X 10.2 or later only.
• Changed the meaning of the terms "register" and "registration" used in the application interface. Registering now only refers to the operation of unlocking the game with a registration code. All occurrences of "Register Online..." and "Register MacPipes X..." in dialog texts, buttons and menu items have been replaced with "Buy MacPipes X...". "Enter Code..." has been replaced with "Register...".
• Modified text in the Shareware Reminder dialog and in some alerts to reflect the new purchasing and registering options.
• Added an alert that pops up when entering invalid registration info in the Registration dialog. This one and the "Thanks" alert behave like sheets when the Registration dialog is open (Mac OS X only).
• Added help buttons to the Shareware Reminder and Registration dialogs.
• Completely redesigned the Help Book to make it fully compatible with all Help Viewer versions.
• Updated Help and FAQ with all the details on the new purchasing and registering options.
• Other minor refinements.

1.2 (August 2004)

• Now the game correctly loads scores stored in preferences files created by MacPipes for Mac OS 9 (version 2.2.7).
• Added support for Factor Software's online scores system (see the "Online scores" section of the built-in Help for details).
• Added network related options in the preferences dialog for automatic updates and online scores management.
• A few code refinements.
• Updated Help and Factor Software FAQ.

1.1.3 (January 2004)

• Added the ability to check for the presence of updates directly from the game application. Added the "Check for Updates..." command to the application/apple menu (see Help for further info).
• Fixed a few cosmetic bugs in dialogs under Mac OS 10.3 (Panther).
• Improved system cursor handling.
• Updated Help.

1.1.2 (November 2003)

• Changed the "What's New..." Help menu item to "Release Notes...".
• Updated registration information. Factor Software is now using a faster registration system for all its products that lets you unlock your copy within minutes after purchase. Instant delivery! Instant play!
• Updated Help.

1.1.1 (June 2003)

• Fixed a bug that caused the game to refuse to run on Mac OS X if the Classic environment was not installed (the program erroneously checked for the presence of CarbonLib under Mac OS X).

1.1 (May 2003)

• The game application is now built as a Mac OS X bundle (it works as a packaged application in OS 9).
• Menus and alerts have been improved to be more compliant with Mac OS X.
• The "Register Online..." and "Enter Code..." menu commands have been moved to the Application menu (the Apple menu on Classic Mac OS).
• A "Windows" menu has been added, holding the "Full Screen" and "Minimize" commands; it also lists the game's main window.
• The documentation is now available via the "Help" menu (Mac OS X help book format).
• RezLib has been updated to version 1.1.12. This release fixes a bug resulting in the game not going in background when switching to another application in full screen mode.
• Built with the current versions of the MacZoop application framework (2.6GM).
• The game now requires at least Mac OS 9 with CarbonLib 1.5 or later to run.

1.0.2 (November 2002)

• Fixed a bug that caused the game to freeze when entering level 36 or higher.
• The curtain effect used in screen transitions is now much quicker, especially when running the game under Mac OS X 10.2 on Quartz Extreme enabled machines.
• A few adjustments have been made to make the game more responsive to mouse clicks. In particular, the annoying delay that occurred when clicking the mouse to speed up the water flow has been eliminated.
• Improved overall performance by eliminating obsolete code optimizations for unsupported Mac platforms (68k processors) and recompiling with the latest tools and libraries.

1.0.1 (August 2002)

• Fixed a bug that caused some items in the Apple and Application menu to appear in Italian on Mac OS X. This happened bacause the default country code for the application was erroneously set to Italy (4). Now it is set to USA (0).
• The registered user name was not shown immediately in the title screen after entering the registration code. Fixed.
• On Classic Mac OS only all animations are stopped when tracking the menubar to avoid drawing over the menu (this bug does not affect Mac OS X).
• The game now pauses when the main window is collapsed (or 'docked' on Mac OS X).
• The main window position is now saved when quitting and restored when starting the game application.
• A few small bug fixes and code improvements.
• Added a question about "one-way" pipe segments to the FAQ file.

1.0.0 (July 2002)

• The game code has been completely rewritten from scratch in C/C++ (it was originally written in Pascal).
• The game now requires a PowerPC processor and runs on Mac OS 8.6/9.x with CarbonLib and natively on Mac OS X.
• All standard application interface elements have been highly improved.
• The game runs normally in a window, but you can switch to full screen (and back) at any time, even during a game.

MacPipes Classic Version History

2.2.7 (February 1999)

• Updated author's e-mail and Web site URLs in both software and documentation.

2.2.6 (December 1998)

• Fixed a problem with the count-down timer not working on certain machines. It was probably the result of "old fashioned" programming style causing incompatibilities with the latest hardware/system software configurations.

2.2.5 (October 1998)

• Updated author's e-mail, Web site and FTP URLs in both software and documentation.
• The game is now distributed in form of an installer application.

2.2.4 (May 1998)

• Recompiled with CodeWarrior® Professional release 3.
• The standard Edit menu can now be used in dialogs with edit text fields.
• The sound and music icons on the title screen are now correctly redrawn when exiting the "Sound Options..." dialog, in case it is accessed directly from the menubar.
• Improved all dialogs.
• New Factor logo in title screen and About dialog.
• Updated URLs in the About dialog.
• Extended the built-in character set to make easier translating the game in languages other than English.
• Various small bug fixes and code improvements.
• Changed postal address in the documentation.

2.2.3 (October 1997)

• Recompiled with CodeWarrior Professional 1.
• Fixed a bug in the monitor depth switching routines, possible cause of crashes.
• Fixed a memory leak that occurred when closing some dialogs.
• In the about dialog it was actually possible to write in URL fields. Fixed.
• Added the ability to register on line by launching your Web browser directly from the game application.
• Now the game application is able to locate the "Register MacPipes" application everywhere on your hard disk.
• The ability to load an old scores file (pre 2.2.2) at any time has been restored. To load an old scores file put it in the game folder and select "Load Old Scores" from the File menu (WARNING: no confirmation is asked and the operation is not undoable).
• Now the title screen updates much faster after closing dialogs.
• Added two new buttons to the Options screen for direct access to the keys and sound setup dialogs. Previously, these dialogs were only accessible from the menubar, that is normally hidden.
• New Factor logo during loading sequence.
• Updated exchange rates in the Register application.

2.2.2 (April 1997)

• Recompiled with CodeWarrior 11.
• Fixed a bug, introduced in version 2.2.1, that caused the "Not Yet" button on the Shareware reminder dialog to remain dimmed instead of becoming available after 4 seconds (PowerPC only).
• The scores are now stored in the preferences file to avoid problems when the game is run from a locked disk, like a CD-ROM. To preserve your current scores, when upgrading from a previous version of MacPipes DO NOT trash the "MacPipes Scores" file (or "MacPipes.scores" in case you have MacPipes 2.0.x). When run for the first time, MacPipes 2.2.2 will read your old scores, store them in the preferences file and eventually delete the obsolete scores file.
• Updated the documentation as usual.

2.2.1 (January 1997)

• Recompiled with CodeWarrior 10.
• MacPipes is now FAT, i.e., it contains both 68k and PowerPC code.
• Clicking on the URLs and e-mail addresses in the about dialog automatically launches your Web browser or e-mail application (requires Internet Config 1.1 or later).
• New Factor logo.
• A Factor Software FAQ file has been added to the package. Please read it.
• Updated and re-formatted all the documentation files.

2.2 (July 1996)

• Added a background music during game play, courtesy of Wizid Audio productions.
• The sound volume is no longer controlled by the numeric keys 0..7. Separate volume control for sound effects and music is now available: choose "Sound Options..." from the Game menu. Sound Manager 3.0 or later is required.
• The menu bar is now accessed by simply moving the cursor to the top of the screen. The spacebar is no longer used for displaying the menu bar.
• Fixed a bug that caused freezes at higher levels (usually after level 37).
• Minor changes to the title screen and to the about dialog.
• Updated the documentation and the MacPipes FAQ file.

2.1.1 (March 1996)

• Recompiled with CodeWarrior 7.
• The infamous "panic" screen has been eliminated (and don't say you want it back).
• Updated the MacPipes FAQ file.
• Added my Home Page URL to the contact info.

2.1 (January 1996)

• Fixed a bug in the file management routines that caused scores not to be correctly stored in some situations.
• The preferences file and the registration data are now stored in the Preferences folder. The files are named respectively "MacPipes Preferences" and "MacPipes Registration".
• The high scores table has been improved. It now shows the number of the level at which the scores have been achieved and the difficulty setting for that level using small "smile" faces (see the Options screen for their meaning). In addition, the game will remember the last name entered, so that you won't have to retype it again and again.
• You can now type numbers in the high scores table.
• The scores file is now named "MacPipes Scores" and it's still located in the same folder as the the game application. Having changed the file structure to store additional info, an option for loading the old scores files has been added. Just select "Load Old Scores" from the File menu (a file named "MacPipes.scores" must be present in the game folder).
• An option for clearing the scores has been added. Select "Clear Scores..." from the File menu.
• A "Practice" mode has been introduced to let the younger players among you enjoy the game without having to struggle against the time limit (scores achieved in this mode aren't recorded).
• A "Quit" button has been added to the title screen.
• The scrolling message in the title screen now reflects the registration status.
• The current version number is displayed in the top right corner of the title screen.
• The graphic of the pipes stack has been slightly modified to let the player more easily spot the next pipe segment to be placed in the grid.
• The sound routines have been completely overhauled. The effects are now played on three separate channels (i.e. up to three sounds can be played simultaneously).
• A click sound for the various buttons has been added.
• In the Options screen you can now select the difficulty using the mouse. An exit button has been added.
• The key for aborting a game has been changed to ESC (escape). Now when aborting a game, instead of simply returning to the title screen, you pass through the game over sequence, eventually recording the current score.
• Two key equivalents has been added for activating the bomb (default, Option) and for scrolling the stack (default, Shift). These two keys and the key used to start the flow (default, Space) are now user definable. Select "Set Keys..." from the Game menu.
• The text in the Help screen has been modified to reflect this new feature and has been made a little more informative.
• The usual minor bug fixes and code refinements.
• A FAQ file has been added to the package. Please read it.

2.0.2 (October 1995)

• Fixed a bug in the scoring when computing the level bonus after level 32.
• The game now properly responds to suspend/resume events, restoring the monitor pixel depth and the sound volume when switching to the background.
• The game does not ask you anymore to switch to 256 colors when you start it with the monitor set to another pixel depth; instead, it gently sets the monitor to the required depth, restoring the original one when quitting.
• Screen fades now affect the main screen only (the one with the menubar in it).
• MacPipes is now screensaver savvy (at least of the ones using the 'SAVR' Gestalt attributes).

2.0.1 (September 1995)

• Fixed a bug in the screen fading routines which prevented the game to work on Macs with double monitor (thanks to Peter N. Lewis for his invaluable help).
• Recompiled with Metrowerks Pascal 1.1 (ready to jump on the PPC platform).
• Sound Manager 3.0 or later is now recommended (if not present, you will not be able to set the sound volume from within the application).
• The high scores table animation effect is now stoppable by clicking the mouse. In addition, the table isn't redrawn all over again after a new entry.
• Screen fades have been made a bit faster.
• Several code refinements, small bug fixes and cosmetic tweaks.

2.0 (July 1995)

First public release.