Blackout 3.0 Information Description and Requirements ---------------------------- Blackout is a game for Microsoft Windows. It is a fun way of learning to use a mouse, since the better your mouse skills are, the higher your scores are likely to be. Blackout should run on any computer with a functioning version of Microsoft Windows version 3.0 or greater. A mouse or other pointing device is required. Certain features of Blackout may only function in Windows version 3.1 or greater, since these features require the multimedia capabilities of Windows 3.1. When running under Windows 3.1 on a computer with the appropriate sound hardware and software drivers, Blackout will allow the player to setup different game sounds, by assigning .WAV files to play when different game events occur, or by assigning different instrument sounds to Blackout's built-in sound effects. Required Files - see below for instructions on VBRUN200.DLL ----------------------------------------------------------- In your Windows system area (usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM): VBRUN200.DLL (NOT supplied with this package) THREED.VBX (Supplied with this package) In a directory of your own choice: BLACKOUT.EXE (Supplied with this package) BLACKOUT.HLP (Supplied with this package) README.TXT (Supplied with this package) Optional Files -------------- In a directory of your own choice: *.WAV files (Supplied with registered version) (You may use .WAV files you already have, as well) This shareware package ---------------------- The files in this package contain only the Blackout program, its help file, this readme file, and the THREED.VBX file which is one of the required files to run Blackout. You will also need a copy of the file VBRUN200.DLL. Because of its size, this file is not included, to save the time and expense of downloading it if you already have it on your system. If you don't have this file, you will need to get it before you can run Blackout. You should be able to find VBRUN200.DLL from the same place you got this package. VBRUN200.DLL is included with the registered version of Blackout, along with some .WAV files suitable for game- playing sounds. Installing and Playing Blackout ------------------------------- To install Blackout, copy the BLACKOUT.EXE and BLACKOUT.HLP files to a directory of your choice. Copy the THREED.VBX file to your Windows system area (usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM). When you copy the THREED.VBX file to your Windows system area, check to make sure you have a copy of the file VBRUN200.DLL (VBRUN100.DLL will not work for Blackout). If you don't have VBRUN200.DLL, you must get a copy before you can run Blackout. Then, from the Windows Program Manager, do the following: 1) Select and open a program group for the Blackout icon (if you have a Games group, pick it). 2) Choose the "New" command from Program Manager's "File" menu. 3) Click on the "Program Item" radio button and then click the "OK" button. 4) Tab to the "Command Line" text-entry area, and enter the full directory path of the BLACKOUT.EXE file. If you placed BLACKOUT.EXE in the directory C:\GAMES, for example, you would enter: C:\GAMES\BLACKOUT.EXE (Be sure to use the directory you actually copied the BLACKOUT.EXE file to, and not just the example above.) 5) Click the "OK" button. 6) You should see the Blackout icon appear in Program Manager. Double-click the icon to start Blackout. 7) For help with game play, just press the F1 key or the "?" button. 8) As a quick start, the object of Blackout is to click on all the target blocks before all the other blocks turn black. If you complete this task, a new level is started with more targets. You can click the "Bonus Blocks" (which look like dice surfaces) for extra points. You can click the "Replay Arrows" (which look like double-arrows moving across your screen) to turn all black blocks back to colored ones. You MUST click the "Boogeyman" if he appears (he looks like a colored-face with two red eyes), before you can continue play. 9) Blackout is completely configurable - you can change game options, the game-grid size, speed and scoring rules, and you can activate and deactivate all the optional playing elements of Blackout. If you have a sound card properly installed and working with Windows, you can also assign your own .WAV files for Blackout to play for its game sounds, instead of using the built-in sound effects. Search the on-line help system for "configuration" to get help with Blackout's game-configuration dialog box. Search the on-line help system for "sound setup" to get help with Blackout's sound-setup dialog box. You can also get help for these dialog boxes by calling them up from the Game menu and pressing F1 for context- sensitive help. Registering Blackout -------------------- Blackout is not free. It is shareware, which means you can try it before you buy it. If you like playing Blackout, please support it by registering. Even if you don't register Blackout, you may freely copy and distribute this Blackout shareware package to others. You may also upload this Blackout shareware package to other computer systems, as long as you distribute the package with ALL FILES INTACT and UNMODIFIED. You can get information about registering Blackout by pressing the Contents button in the Blackout's help system and choosing the "How to Register Blackout" topic. You can print an order form for Blackout by choosing "Print an Order Form" from the help system's contents screen, and following the instructions. Registering Blackout will get you a disk with the current version of Blackout and a few good .WAV files for Blackout's game sounds. You will also receive a registration number that will eliminate Blackout's "pester screen" which is displayed when you start a new game, and when you choose the "Help/About..." menu command in Blackout. Registration also includes information on how to get two extra buttons on the Blackout toolbar which will make game- playing more fun, and information on adding commands to Blackout's initialization file, BLACKVB.INI, to change the appearance of Blackout's game surface and customize Blackout's 3D effects. END OF README.TXT