
Introducing Close Approach v1.1 - 7th February 1999
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As the year 2100 approaches, mankind has never felt more threatened.
Doomsday cults now have the power to make their wish come true - to 
bring about the end of the world. With space travel available to the 
masses, religious extremists are plotting to divert asteroids into 
the path of the Earth.

Pilot your ship and two probes in true 3D space and blast the 
asteroids out of existence before they collide with the Earth. 

The game is available for Pentium class PC's running Windows 95 and
DirectX, Windows 98 and Windows NT4 (SP3). Although not required, a 
3D card will greatly enhance the game and all major 3D cards have 
been tested.


What's new in Close Approach v1.1?
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- Better graphics
  The visual effects for the containment field have been improved, 
  making it look much more dynamic and pulsating in appearance. 
  There is still the option of using the original effects if you 
  are happier with those. The sun and planets are also visible in 
  the background to give you context of where you are in the solar 
  system for each mission.

- Higher resolutions
  You now have the option of running the game fullscreen at the 
  higher resolutions of 800x600 and 1024x768.

- Faster performance on slower PCs
  Enjoy faster performance on slower PCs by using the wireframe 
  graphics option for a touch of arcade nostalgia.

- Improved 3D spatial sound
  Close your eyes and discover which asteroid the enemy fire is 
  coming from.

- Improved 3rd person mouse control
  Control your probe whilst viewing from your ship - its easy with 
  the mouse.

- More challenging pilot options
  Stick with the easy option of having the ship stop automatically 
  after you move, or enjoy the challenge of piloting a ship that 
  will continue to move.

- Fix for Voodoo II and DirectX 6 containment field problem
  The new visual effects for the containment field also solve the 
  visual wireframe problem which was introduced by new versions of 
  the Voodoo II drivers with DirectX 6.  This problem may still be
  present if you select the old style containment field effects.

- Fix for failed DirectX mouse initialisations
  If your system does not have a correctly configured DirectX mouse 
  driver, the game will now continue with just keyboard input.


System Requirements
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Minimum system requirements:
 Pentium PC with 16 Mbytes RAM or more
 64000 color display mode or higher at 640x480 resolution
 Windows 95 and DirectX 3 or higher, or
 Windows 98, or
 Windows NT4 (Service Pack 3) or higher

Recommended system requirements:
 Pentium 100 PC with 16 Mbytes RAM or higher
 64000 color display mode or higher at 640x480 resolution
 Direct3D hardware accelerator card
 Sound card
 Windows 95 and DirectX 5 or higher, or
 Windows 98


Installation
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Run setup.exe. 

To uninstall Close Approach use the Add/Remove
application in the Windows Control Panel.


Help Information
----------------

The game contains comprehensive Help screens.


Legal Notice
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Whilst Abstract Worlds Ltd. have successfully tested this software 
using popular system configurations, it is impossible for us to 
test every conceivable configuration.  Under no circumstances will 
Abstract Worlds Ltd. be liable for any damages or losses arising 
from the use or misuse of this software.  If you use this software, 
you agree to these terms.

This software is the intellectual property of Abstract Worlds Ltd.

Apollo 17 image of Earth (Africa) courtesy NASA, 1972
Galileo image of Earth (South America) courtesy NASA/USGS, 1990.
Image of Mars courtesy USGS.
Hubble telescope image of Jupiter, 1995
 Credit: Reta Beebe, Amy Simon (New Mexico State Univ.), and NASA
Voyager 2 image of Saturn courtesy NASA/JPL, 1981.

All trademarks described herein are the property of their respective 
owners.

Close Approach v1.1
Copyright (C) 1998-1999 Abstract Worlds Ltd.


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Latest information, support and updates available at:
 http://www.abstractworlds.com/closeapproach

Please e-mail any comments, questions or feedback to:
 closeapproach@abstractworlds.com

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