                  DEXTERITY SOFTWARE presents JUMPSTAR
                  ------------------------------------

This file contains important information about running JumpStar on
your system.

JumpStar requires Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or higher.  It will not
run properly on versions of Windows earlier than 3.1.

JumpStar requires a very fast 386 or better processor to run.
JumpStar will not run on a 286 and will run very poorly on a slow 
386 processor.  For best performance, a 486DX or Pentium is recommended.
For more information, see the section "A NOTE ON SPEED" at the end
of this file.


HOW TO INSTALL JUMPSTAR ONTO YOUR HARD DRIVE
---------------------------------------------
To install JumpStar onto your hard drive, run Microsoft Windows, and
select "File" then "Run..." from the main menu in the Program Manager.  
If you are running Windows 95, select the "Run..." command from the Start 
menu instead.  Enter the full path, and run the program SETUP.EXE.  For 
example, if you are installing from a disk in drive A:, type A:SETUP and
then click the mouse on the OK button or press RETURN.

Follow the on-screen installation instructions to proceed.  You will be
asked to enter the path to the directory on your hard drive where you wish
to install the game files, or to accept the default choice.  The installation
program will copy the files to your hard drive and create a Program
Manager group which will contain the game.  To play JumpStar, simply open
the group, and double click the mouse on the icon of the game.

            
KNOWN LIMITATIONS
-----------------
JumpStar utilizes Microsoft's WinG (G for games) graphics library to
perform fast graphics performance under Windows.  This section
contains known limitations found in WinG that JumpStar is also
subject to.

When you first run a WinG application on your system, WinG will run a
profiler to optimize graphics performance on your system.  This test is
necessary to ensure the best possible graphics performance.  You will
see this test only once, unless you change the current graphics mode.
WinG must run the test again each time you change the graphics
configuration -- it will store the results of these tests so it will not
have to test each graphics mode more than once.  The test will take
a few minutes, depending on the speed of your system.

If you have already used other WinG programs in the past, JumpStar will 
use your existing WinG test results.  You will only see this test if
JumpStar is the first WinG application you have run on your system.

- Noticeable timing differences have been found while running the
  graphics profiler on a computer connected to a network. For accurate
  results, disconnect your computer from the network the first time you
  run JumpStar.  After the profile is complete, you can plug the
  net in again.

- WinG relies on the mmsystem timer drivers to determine display
  performance. If mmsystem.dll and timer.drv are not installed
  correctly, the results of the performance test may be incorrect.
  mmsystem.dll should appear on the drivers= line of the [boot]
  section of system.ini, and timer=timer.drv should appear in the
  [drivers] section of system.ini.


DRIVER-SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
------------------------
WinG depends on Windows display drivers written by independant
hardware manufacturers for much of its speed. Bugs or performance
problems in third-party display drivers may cause problems in WinG.
In many cases, the video card manufacturer has already fixed the bug,
and upgrading your display driver will often clear away problems.

There are some specific "bugs" in display drivers described below.
The list below is not intended to slight the manufacturer of any 
particular card or driver.

Some names in this list are trademarks of the respective
manufacturer.

- Early drivers for Diamond Viper cards included a "Power Palette"
  option that is no longer supported by Diamond. They recommend that
  you upgrade your drivers if you have this option. WinG may be
  slower when power palette is enabled.

- IBM no longer supports the IBM ThinkPad 720c. There are some
  problems using WinG with the ThinkPad 720c display drivers.

- Cirrus drivers before version 1.43 have many known bugs which
  have been fixed in the more recent drivers. Be sure to upgrade your
  drivers if you are still running with this version.

- Some ATI drivers offer a "Crystal Fonts" option. Turning Crystal
  Fonts on in 256-color modes sets up a non-palettized driver that can
  slow WinG significantly.

- The ATI mach8 Radical drivers cause a number of problems in both
  WinG and in Windows with some versions of the ATI chipset. Be
  aware.

- The ATI VGA Wonder drivers (W31-*.drv) will crash during the WinG
  graphics profiler.  Users can run the SVGA256.DRV driver that 
  shipped with Windows.

- Many miro Crystal drivers have problems, so they crash during 
  graphics profiling.

- Early ATI Mach 32 PCI cards have a hardware timing problem and will
  hang while drawing graphics.  ATI will replace these cards for 
  no cost.

- WinG is incompatible with the #9GXE "TurboCopy" mode.  Use the
  #9 control panel to disable TurboCopy (it is off by default).
  
- WinG synchronizes with display hardware when drawing directly 
  to the screen.  The ATI Mach 32 driver does not work properly, 
  so it is possible to see odd display results when using this driver.

- The Orchid mmtllo.drv driver for the Prodesigner IIs has duplicate
  system colors which greatly reduces the WinG drawing speed.  
  A workaround is to use the standard Tseng ET4000 drivers instead 
  of the mmtllo drivers.


A NOTE ON SPEED
---------------
If JumpStar's graphics performance appears slow and choppy on your
system, you can try the following to improve its speed:

- If you are running applications in the background that are
  consuming CPU time, close them before playing JumpStar.  JumpStar
  will perform best if it doesn't have to share CPU time with
  other applications.  If you are running spreadsheet calculations
  in the background, for instance, JumpStar's performance may
  decline, depending on the speed of your system.

- JumpStar performs best at 640x480 resolution in 256-color mode.
  JumpStar will run in higher resolutions and at higher color modes,
  but performance may suffer on slower machines.  Use the Windows
  Setup program to verify that you are running Windows in 640x480
  resolution with 256 colors.

- Some video cards and drivers (those listed above) do not perform
  well with WinG.  You may want to try loading a different graphics
  driver for your system by running the Windows Setup program.

- Try disabling JumpStar's sound effects and/or music.  You can turn
  these on or off through JumpStar's Options menu.  When the music or
  sound effects are turned off, graphics performance will improve
  slightly because JumpStar will automatically use the extra CPU
  time to enhance drawing speed.

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