Tracktor Beam
| Filename | tracktor-beam-11.hqx |
|---|---|
| Size | 1,205.2 KB (1234102 bytes) |
| Downloads | 11 |
This entry catalogs Tracktor Beam v1.2, the bug-fix follow-up to William Thimbleby's 1999 action-puzzle game from UK shareware label Tri-Bar. The premise is unchanged: pilot a small ship that ferries objects between locations using its tractor beam, with the v1.2 update focused on PowerPC stability and packaging.
What it is
Per Tri-Bar's own announcement: "In Tracktor Beam, it's your job to ferry objects from one location to another using your tracktor beam." The Macintosh Garden description is consistent: a small spaceship moves crates between points using the beam.
What changed in v1.2
Tri-Bar shipped v1.2 to fix a v1.1 launch bug that caused the game to fail unless a CD was inserted in the drive. The release notes also list a fully fat binary, InputSprocket support on PowerPC, smaller compressed program size, and the option to play music CDs in place of the bundled soundtrack on PowerPC machines.
Distribution and team
The release was distributed via the Tri-Bar website at tribar.dabsol.co.uk and mirrored to Info-Mac. Lead programmer William Thimbleby was joined by Matthew Dolan, who also developed TheMouse2B, a two-button mouse modifier-key utility for the classic Mac.
Cover-CD note
Tri-Bar specifically asked any cover-CD compilers to bundle v1.2 rather than v1.1 because of the CD-drive bug, a small but telling detail about how late-1990s Mac shareware reached players via magazine discs as well as the network.
This file is part of the MacTrove archive. See the Thank You page for the upstream mirrors we rely on. It is BinHex encoded — use The Unarchiver to decode it.
