The Gene Machine
================

Demonstration
=============

(c) Copyright 1996 Divide By Zero
---------------------------------


Minimum Specification:

Computer:IBM PC or 100% Compatible
Operating System: Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 or greater
CPU: 486DX2/66 required minimum
Video Card: VESA-compliant SVGA required
CD-ROM Drive: Double speed required minimum
Memory: 8MB RAM required
Hard Disk Drive: 4MB free uncompressed space required
Sound Card: All major sound cards supported, including Sound Blaster, Sound
Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster 16, AWE 32, Pro Audio Spectrum, Ensoniq Soundscape,
Gravis Ultrasound, Sound Galaxy, Thunderboard, Roland RAP-10, WaveJammer,
Microsoft Windows Sound System, Roland Sound Canvas, Roland MPU-401 interface,
Ad Lib Gold.  Input Device: Microsoft 100% compatible mouse and mouse driver
required. Also supports keyboard and/or joystick.  Windows 95 Compatibility:
Compatible in MS-DOS mode with 16-bit CD-ROM and Mouse drivers installed.

Recommended Specification:

As above but with:
Operating System: Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 or greater
CPU: Pentium 60MHz or faster
CD-ROM Drive: Quad speed or faster
Memory: 12MB RAM or greater


LOADING INSTRUCTIONS:
=====================

INSTALLING THE DEMO IN DOS
==========================

1. Change your current drive to be the drive containing the CD ROM.
   For example, if your CD is in drive D, enter
   D:

2. Change to the GENEDEMO directory by entering CD \GENEDEMO.

3. Type INSTALL and press Return.

4. Please note that the demo requires approximately 4 Mb as storage space on
your hard drive.  You will be asked for the name of the directory to be used
for this purpose.  This directory will be referred to as the "game directory"
and will contain your hardware configuration files, as well as being the
directory from which you will run the game.

5. The installation procedure now continues with the configuration of the game
for sound cards. These options can be changed later by running the SETSOUND
program.



RUNNING THE GAME
================

Ensure your current directory is the game directory and enter GENE.



OPTIONS SETUP
=============

If you wish to change your soundcard options, you can do so at any time by
running SETSOUND from the game directory.


SOUNDCARDS
----------

The Gene Machine uses available soundcards for:

1. An accompanying musical soundtrack
2. Digitised sampled sound and digitised speech.

If you enable either or both of these options, you should select the
appropriate soundcard that you wish the game to use.


OTHER SOUNDCARDS
----------------

The Gene Machine is compatible with a number of standard soundcards, using the
Miles Sound System. If your soundcard is not listed in the INSTALL or SETSOUND
programs, please contact the soundcard manufacturer to find out if a driver is
available.



MEMORY
======

The Gene Machine requires at least 6MB of free RAM. If more is available, then
the game will make use of this to ensure maximum performance.

If less than 6MB of Memory is available, then the game will halt with a
warning message. Ensure that there are no Ram Drives or a large Smartdrive
cache installed on your machine.



ERROR MESSAGES
==============

If the game prematurely exits, one of the following error messages should be
shown.

Unable to open file.
--------------------
1. Check the game is being run from within the directory into which it was
installed (the game directory) and that the game CD-ROM is present in the CD
drive.

2. Ensure that the CONFIG.SYS file contains a high enough setting of
the FILES variable. The CONFIG.SYS file that is present in the root directory
of your hard drive probably contains a line that has the form FILES=xx where
xx is a number. Please ensure that this number is at least 20. If you have a
network or certain other drivers active, you may have to increase this number.

3. It is possible that the required file has been deleted or damaged. Try
re-installing the game.

Unable to install sound driver.
-------------------------------
The game was unable to detect the soundcard as dictated by the soundcard
drivers and the hardware settings chosen in the INSTALL program. Run the
SETSOUND program to change the settings as appropriate.

Unable to set screen mode.
--------------------------
The Gene Machine works with most SVGA cards, but on some more obscure cards
you may need to have a VESA driver loaded into memory before the game will
work. Check your SVGA card documentation for details on how to do this.



PLAYING THE GAME
================

Move the Cursor around the screen using the Mouse. When it is over a character
or item that can be interacted with, the name of that character or item will
appear.

Select the item using the Left mouse button and a number of icons will appear
at the bottom of the screen. Moving the Cursor over an icon will show you what
it does.

If you can only interact with the item in one way, your character will
automatically do that, otherwise you will be able to select what action is
performed.

You can cycle round the options available using the Right mouse button.

You can see what objects you are carrying by moving the Cursor off the bottom
of the screen, or by pressing SPACE. To get out of the inventory, either move
the cursor back up on to the playing area, select the EXIT icon or press SPACE
again.

Clicking on the STATUS icon in the inventory gives you access to the Main
Menu. Here you can change audio and control options.

Mouse Controls:
---------------

Left Mouse Button	- Select item
Right Mouse Button	- Cycle round options available

Key Controls:
-------------

SPACE		- Inventory/Status mode
.		- Move on to next speech paragraph
		  (if you have heard it before)
F1		- Pause/Unpause game
ESC		- Skip cutscenes
ALT-V		- Version Number
ALT-X		- Quit Game
F8		- Quit Game