
+                        ALIEN BREED                        +
+                        README FILE                        +

      Welcome to the IBM PC version of Alien Breed!

This Readme File contains any information that became available
too late to go into the manual, plus some hints to help you
get the most out of Alien Breed on your PC.

Alien Breed requires 588,000 bytes of free system memory.


SPECIFICATION
Recommended Machine Specs;

100% PC Compatible 386 DX 33, SVGA Graphics Card, Soundblaster
or 100% Compatible, Gamecard (for joysticks). A good joystick.
Expanded memory (XMS) is required to hear soundblaster samples.

The game will run on lesser systems although you will notice a
loss of performance on 286 and 386SX systems.

If you have a fast PC (486DX) then see the information regarding
game speed as you may need to modify this parameter in order for
the game to function properly.
PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS

Graphics.......   256 Colour VGA throughout
Scrolling......   Smooth, 8 Directional
Music..........   PC Beeper, Adlib, Roland and Soundblaster
SoundFX........   Pc Beeper, Adlib, Soundblaster (with XMS ram)
Players........   1 or 2 simultaneously
Levels.........   18
Game Size......   Approx 750 PC Screens of playable game area
Difficulty.....   Medium-tough
Game Saves.....   No, but a re-start code system exists
Language.......   Written in 100% Assembler

TROUBLESHOOTING

In case of problems with Alien Breed on your system, please refer
to these notes. If, after consulting these notes you are still
experiencing difficulties, please drop us a line or call our help
line and have ready as much information about your set-up as
possible (Machine type, Graphics board, Sound-card type etc etc).

Our address and other details are available at the end of this
file.



GAME SPEED
Running Alien Breed on a very powerful system, such as a very 
fast 486 DX, or a machine with a local bus, may cause graphics
problems using the default settings. 

By using the SPEED option in the CONFIG program, this can be 
overcome. 

For most machines you can leave the setting on the default of
SLOW, but if you have a 486DX or such, it would be wise to
move this setting to medium or fast. As all PC`s have different
configurations (speeds/graphics boards) it might take a little
experimentation with the settings.
Game Speed continued...

Use this toggle, along with your Turbo button (if you have one)
to find the optimum running environment for the game on your
PC. Most users will find that the default settings should
suit the majority of machines and will therefore need no further 
alterations.

MEMORY

Alien Breed PC requires about 588,000 bytes of free system
memory in order for it to run.

Memory continued..

If you find that you are short of memory, you may want to run
MEMMAKER if you are running DOS 6.0.  If you have DOS 5.0,
you may want to run both EMM386 and HIMEM and load as many
TSR's and drivers into high memory as possible. Consult your
relevent DOS manual/guide for further information.

A Sound Blaster or 100% SoundBlaster compatible and 192k of XMS 
RAM are required to enjoy the sampled sound effects featured 
within Alien Breed.


SOUND PROBLEMS
Alien Breed will use up to 192k of XMS RAM for Sound Effects 
via Sound Blaster and compatible cards - if there is no XMS
RAM then none will be heard and you are advised to select
ADLIB or PC Beeper soundfx although they are no where as good
as the Soundblaster ones.

If you are using DOS 5.0, you may utilize its ability to load
certain RAM resident programs "high" to free up base memory.
Refer to your Microsoft documentation for further information.

You may also make a boot disk with DOS 5.0 that will set up the
optimal configuration for running this game.
Sound Blaster Sound Cards:

If Alien Breed starts and you hear no sound effects during play,
either you don't have a SoundBlaster compatible card, or your
PORT, DMA or IRQ settings are not set correctly within the INSTALL
program.

If you do have a compatible card, you should still be able to hear 
music. (If you have selected it correctly in the INSTALL program)

If not, check your volume level and your speaker connections
first.

Soundblaster Cards Contd..
Unfortunately, hardware configuration problems are not always 
obvious. Your game may appear to play music and sound effects 
just fine, and then, at some unexpected moment, the sound may 
stop, or the game may "lock up."  This is not the fault of the 
game, but a hardware conflict that didn't occur until the game 
used the hardware in a particular way.       
If you don't know how to resolve a sound card problem, first 
consult the documentation provided with your sound card.  
Often sound card manufacturers provide diagnostic programs with 
their cards. We recommended that Soundblaster cards run on 
IRQ 5 when playing Alien Breed. All good software will allow you 
to specify this in a config program and this game is no exception.
Soundblaster Cards Contd..
If you have further problems with sound and think that your 
sound card may not be 100% compatible, try running SBCOMP.EXE 
a program included on these disks, which fixes any 
incompatibility problems. If this program works fine for you, 
copy it to your hard-disk and include it in your autoexec.bat 
file. (See your DOS manual for further information.)

We hope you will enjoy Alien Breed on the PC,

Have fun !!!
- Everyone at Team17 and at A.V.M. who performed the conversion.
- Watch out for Body Blows Galactic and Superfrog!
Contacting Team17...

Helpline (Open during normal office hours Mon-Fri)
==================================================
Telephone UK 44 (0)924 201846

Snailmail - Team17 Software, Marwood House, Garden St, West Yorks,
            England. WF1 1DX.

Email     - team17@cix.compulink.co.uk
            UK CiX users, join the TEAM17 conference free of charge!

