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This document describes the Shareware version of the game Mutant Earth v1.0.
It is a 256 colour fast-paced action arcade quality game with 8 channel
real-time sound mixing for the Sound Blaster, optional PC speaker support, 11
original music tracks, quad-parallax scrolling, network multi-player mode and
much, much more!

** DEMO VERSION **
This demo version consists of a single, fully playable level. For evaluation
purposes, the cheat password is: 9oF2. This can be used to fully check out all
playing features by allowing you to boost your health and get extra ammo when
you need it. The cheat mode will NOT help you out of any traps. Sorry!
** DEMO VERSION **

This Shareware version is yours to trial for up to 30 days. If you continue to
use the software after this period you are obliged to register. Registration
entitles you to the latest version of the software, bonus levels, details of a
CHEAT MODE and a 25% discount voucher redeemable against any future RocSoft
product. Details of registration can be found in REGISTER.FRM.

Minimum Requirements
====================

                           486DX or better
                           4Mb RAM
                           Register compatible VGA (256K or more)
                           DOS 3.3 or higher
                           Sound Blaster or compatible (optional)


Sound Card Notes:
=================

Mutant Earth v1.0 automatically detects the presence of a Sound Blaster card.
To ensure the correct use of I/O port, IRQ, etc, it looks for a BLASTER
environment variable. For example, the line

                   SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1      (or similar)

should appear within your AUTOEXEC.BAT where

                   A220    means I/O port address 220Hex
                   I7      means IRQ 7 and
                   D1      means DMA channel 1.

In the event of not being able to detect a Sound Blaster the PC Speaker will be
used.


How To Run
==========

Very simply, run the program MUTANT.EXE. It assumes that it is being run from
the current directory. Please ensure that the files CACHE.HED and CACHE.DAT
are also in the current directory.


Command Line Options
====================

MUTANT.EXE can be invoked with one or more of the following command line
options:

                   i.e.  MUTANT.EXE  <option> ... <option>

The following options are supported:

   /NOSOUND      starts the game with sound effects & background music OFF. By
                 default they are both ON when the game is first started but
                 can be turned off individually from within the OPTIONS menu.

   /SCREENSHOT   disables the "Paused" message when the game is paused. This
                 allows pictures of the game to be taken for adverts, etc.

   /SPK          forces the use of the PC Speaker when a Sound Blaster card is
                 installed.

   /SFX          for interested parties only, this allows each of the sound
                 effects in the game to be played under your control.
                 Interesting but nothing special.

   /JUKEBOX      allows a background music track to be selected for playing
                 during the game. There are 9 background tracks to choose
                 from. Once a track has been chosen it will automatically be
                 played the next time you start the game.

   /JUKE:nn      selects background music track nn for playback during the
                 game. nn must be in the range 1 to 9.

   /FRAMERATE:nn selects the game's frame rate for gameplay. By default, the
                 frame rate is 40 frames per second. This is the minimum.
                 Depending upon your hardware, you might like to play the game
                 at a faster frame rate. To get an idea of what your PC is
                 capable of run MUTANT at the default frame rate of 40fps and
                 examine the profile statistics that are printed when the game
                 terminates. Note: Win95 users may want to run this bit
                 directly from DOS since Win95 will regain control once the
                 program finished. By looking at the actual frame rate
                 achieved and how much spare time, as a percentage, you have
                 left, you should be able to judge the maximum frame rate
                 possible. For example, if you are achieving a 40fps with 50%
                 free time try running the game at up to 80fps.

    /VR          selects the synchronize with the vertical refresh option. By
                 default, no synchronization is performed. If you are
                 experiencing 'shear' during gameplay i.e. the display is
                 being updated in 'slices' try running MUTANT with the /VR
                 switch.

    /CHEAT:psw   invokes cheat mode. Naturally, the password should be
                 supplied for the 'psw' parameter. With cheat mode enabled,
                 you will be able to boost your health and/or give yourself a
                 complete ammo top up while playing the game.

                 To boost health:               Press H
                 To boost weapons:              Press W

For network gameplay, up to 8 players can play against eachother in a
'deathmatch' mode. For this you must all be running a connected IPX network.
This is explained in more detail in NETPLAY.TXT. To invoke network gameplay
use the following command line switches:

    /DEATHMATCH  identifies this PC as a network player.

    /SERVER      identifies this PC as a network server. You should also
                 specify the /DEATHMATCH switch so that the server is also a
                 player. Future versions may offer a dedicated server option
                 so that the server won't necessarily need to be a player
                 also.


Additional Information
======================

If you experience any difficulty in running the game or manage to break it and
cause any memory exceptions please feel free to contact the author. Please try
and give as much information about the fault as possible. In addition, try to
include a copy of the start up screen which show the status of various
options, parameters, settings, etc. In particular, the sound blaster settings.

You can contact the author by one of the following:

E-Mail:         RoccoLoscalzo@compuserve.com

Snail-Mail:     Rocco Loscalzo
                30 Boynton Drive
                Nottingham
                NG3 3EP.
                UK

                ***  Please do not telephone this address  ***


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