==================================================================
This is a mere preamble. For a more specific information
regarding the game, consult:

	INSTALL - installation instructions
	LICENSE - as the name suggests 
	ifrac.6 - game manual ('man ./ifrac.6', or just 'man ifrac'
                         after installation)
==================================================================
The following text was written as a forward to the very first 
release of IFRAC. I decided to keep it intact, and only put
comments to keep it up to date.

CONTENT
=======
The (i)FRAC story.
My other creatures
Drop me a message...


The (i)FRAC story
==================
  FRAC was originally implemented  in 1990 by  Max Shapiro(*)  and
Per Bergland, who  also  called   themselves 'Simsalabim Software'
after (as far as I imagine)  a  magic spell used in Persian  fairy
tales. Other 'Simsalabim' products (for DOS and Mac)are 4D FRAC (!),
a hextris clone called BEETRIS(**) and a logic game INTUITION. I am
going to put shareware versions  of FRAC and BEETRIS to IFRAC site.

  Though I never met the guys(***), my wierd imagination creates a 
distinct vision of two recent migrants, who spent all their savings
on  a  fast and expensive 286 (386?) computer with  a VGA card, and
Turbo-Pascal in anticipation of splendid carrers and prosperity  in
the Dream Country. As I haven't heard from 'Simsalabim' since 1992,
I assume that the magic spell worked:got green cards and eventually
the citizenship, found well paid work  in a prestigeous company and
left their silly stuff abandoned and almost forgotten ... hopefully
not by everyone.

  I was really addicted to the game, until it happened to be rather
fast for my new Pentium MMX. I started thinking  of writing a Linux
version of the game and I finally did!  Unlike  its prototype, this
implementaion  is expected to to run on a  wide  range of computers
due to using a higher timer resolution, as oppossed to  calibration
adopted by the original implementation. It's native mode is 640x480
256 colours, however the X-version works also(with less efficiency)
for True-Colour visuals (depth 16 to 32bpp). With a console version
you can try 16-colour modes(640x480 and original 640x350) that will
work even for an unsupported or badly supported video card!

  Among other enhancements of IFRAC are choosing music tunes,volume
control, using joystick, and the ability to play by itself. 

  Someone  may  like the  picture of threatening big cube appearing
occasionally in the original game with words "Pay your fee, or deal
with me!" This picture will never appear in IFRAC, not only because
of copyright issues,  but also  because IFRAC is free, like most of
other Linux applications. If I ever get  a word  from  the original
developers, I would ask if they still keep the code (****).  It 
could hardly help me (on the contrary, I probably  wouldn't  accept
the challenge, if the  code was available), but rather will satisfy
my curiosity. Source code unavailability prevented from  using same
logic for selecting a block, advancing level, etc. For  that reason
IFRAC is not a port, but rather a clone of  the original game - you
should not compare scores, or draw similar parallels.

  Though IFRAC is a free and open source application(***),it is not
GPL. It should not be a major concern, unless you are going to use
it for something other than playing.

  At it often happens,the IFRAC framework took me only a fortnight,
while most of the time had been spent on introduciton, high scores,
music and other "minor" stuff. Thank  to Sydney Olympics, otherwise
I could work on IFRAC for ages, but now it looks like a resurrected
IFRAC is ready to appear  in a  new quality and for a new audience.
Will it feel confortable with Linux?  Well, I did the best. 

  Let this return of FRAC remind you the good old days of slow CPUs
and high-skilled programmers,when a whole sophisticated application
could easily fit into a 360K  floppy, when  robustness, high effici-
ency and a small size were the major criteria for the quality.


 HAVE FUN!            Abandoned Computer Enthusiast.  15-Sep-2000.

(*) A.k.a. Max Tegmark, both developers are originally from Sweden.

(**) Later called 'BeeBop' for some legal reasons, I definitely
    prefer the original name.

(***) Now I have good relations with both of the developers.
    My imagination was really wierd,  because the real story is
    different from what I expected.                   24-Mar-2001

(****) I've got the full original code written (as I expected) in
    Object Pascal, but the original idea is so different, that
    (not without hesitation) I decided to let ifrac live its
    own live, however some ideas were ported to v. 1.3.0
                                                      24-Mar-2001

(***) Currently ifrac is considered as an FRS ("Freely Redistributable
    Source") application. Its current license is derived from "Artistic".
                                                      04-Dec-2000.
    Now it is not even FRS, because a part of code is unavaliable
                                                      24-Mar-2001


My other creatures.
===================
Take your time to try my other applications:

Intelligent TETRIS:  http://www.alphalink.com.au/~michg/ace/itetris
-------------------

An Linux implementation  of the ethernally young packing game.
Supports  16  and  256 colour modes for libvga, and practically all
colour modes for X11.  Choosing  tunes, ability to play by itself...
Sounds familiar?  I  simply wanted  to  emphasize  the relationship
between the two packing games, or probably I really ran out of fresh
ideas...  Size below 220K (tar.gz) 

Sing Along Disc Player:  http://www.alphalink.com.au/~michg/ace/sadp
----------------------
A CD player (text version - ncurses, X11 version - xforms).
Here are some of its features:  built in mixer,   spectrum analyser,
oscilloscope, OSS and native ALSA support, storing disc information,
multiple preference lists,  CD-TEXT  and  limited  CD-EXTRA support,
built-in  access to CD data bases on the Internet, interactive mini-
window and docking with WindowMaker (X-version).   Practically   all
extensions are optional, even sound card support is not mandatory!

Size below 360K (tar.gz).

For quite a long time I believed it to be the best CD player in  the
world. Though I am more realistic now, I still like it and recommend
it to everyone.


Drop me a message...
====================

  To encourage that I even established a scroller in the introduction
screen. Don't  tell me that nobody is going to read it till the  end.
If you insist on that, I will disable any premature exit,  so that it
will really look like Star Wars seen on a tape recorder with a broken
FF button.

  Your bug reports and any comment are welcomed at xifrac@yahoo.com.au
Please, put 'ifrac' somewhere in the subject, to prevent throwing the
message to Microsoft Outlook (tm) 2000, or another rubbish  bin.  You
can't imagine how much junk mail I get daily. 

  And if you really enjoy the game,send me a postcard from your place
to the following snail mail address:

		Michael Glickman
		Phoneware Communication Systems Pty Ltd
		303-313 Burwood Hwy 
		Burwood East VIC 3151
		AUSTRALIA

----------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE!!! Don't use this address for any other purposes!!!
----------------------------------------------------------
My Linux stuff has absolutely nothing to do with Phoneware.