%Rules
------------------------------ FastLife RULES ---------------------------------

The Game of Life:
   1. Life is played on a rectangular grid of cells which are ON or OFF.  
   2. Each cells has eight neighboring cells - i.e. the cells next to it
      horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
   3. Life proceeds in turns called Generations or Lifecycles.
   4. If a cell that is ON has 2 or 3 neighbors that are ON, it will remain ON
      in the next Generation.  If there are less or more, it will be OFF.
   5. If a cell that is OFF has exactly 3 neighbors that are ON, it will be ON
      in the next Generation.  Otherwise it will be OFF.

The FastLife Screen has 4 areas (which may not be visible at all times):
   1. The Life Field - the action takes place here.  Each dot is a cell that
      is ON.  The corners of the Magnify Window and the Magnify Cursor flicker.
   2. The Magnify Window - an enlarged view of part of the Life Field.  The
      Magnify Cursor appears as a small pair of braces surrounding a cell.
   3. The Command Menu - a list of commands that are currently available.
   4. The Message Line - a place where messages appear and text is entered.
%Function
---------------------------- FastLife OPERATIONS ------------------------------

PTR = Mouse Pointer or Magnify Cursor   EITHER = Life Field or Magnify Window
LEFT = Left Mouse Button or INS Key     RIGHT = Right Mouse Button or DEL Key

to Enter a Point:                     
   move PTR to position in Magnify Window, Press LEFT to toggle point on/off

to Select a Command:
   Type first letter of command (in lower case), OR
   move Mouse Pointer to command word in Menu and Press Left Mouse Button

to Select a POSITION:
   move PTR to desired position in EITHER, Press LEFT

to Select an AREA or RANGE:
   move PTR to beginning corner in EITHER, Press LEFT
   move PTR to ending corner, Press LEFT again
   to start over after pressing LEFT once: Press RIGHT
   NOTE - the Magnify Window CAN be moved while an AREA is being selected
        - while waiting for the beginning corner, crosshairs are displayed
        - while waiting for the ending corner, the AREA is outlined/inverted
%Command
----------------------------- FastLife COMMANDS -------------------------------

Go ............. repeat lifecycles until a key is pressed           
Step ........... do one lifecycle
Area ........... perform operation on a rectangular AREA of the life field
   Yank ........ cut (delete) selected AREA into save buffer
   Copy ........ copy selected AREA into save buffer
   Blank ....... clear all cells in selected AREA
Paste Relative . paste save buffer at selected POSITION
      Absolute . paste save buffer at position originally cut from
Undo ........... restore life field to state at last entry, Read or Paste
Read ........... select from a menu of saved life image files
   Relative .... read a file at selected POSITION
   Absolute .... read a file at position originally written from
Write .......... write selected AREA to file (8 chars max in name)
Zoom ........... toggle between full screen magnify and life field
Trace .......... save life image at intervals and recall the saved images
   Toggle ...... turn tracing on/off, get trace interval when turned on
   Back ........ load previous trace to life field (repeat to scan backwards)
   Forward ..... load next trace to life field (repeat to scan images forwards)
   Quit ........ return to main menu
Xtra ........... display additional commands menu (see Xtra help)
Help ........... display help menu
Quit ........... terminate FastLife (with option of saving current image)
%Xtra
------------------------ FastLife ADDITIONAL COMMANDS -------------------------

Clear .......... blank entire life field
Swap ........... switch between primary and secondary life fields
Xpand .......... toggle between narrow field w/ magnify and wide life field 
Rotate ......... turn an AREA by 90 degrees
Plot ........... toggle automatic entry of points when Magnify Cursor is moved:
                 points are set to same state as last manually entered point
Vary ........... move AREA thru RANGE of positions and 'phases'
   USAGE: 1st, enter rectangular AREA to be moved. 2nd, enter RANGE as an area:
      width = left or right movement, height = up or down.  3rd, enter PHASES.
      (Each phase is one life cycle applied only to AREA.)  FastLife will do a
      'Go' command for each position of the AREA and each PHASE.  Type any key
      to pause, then choose commands from Vary menu:  
   Next ........ start next variation 
   Continue .... continue current variation
   Save ........ save original position of current variation
   Quit ........ return to main menu
%Keyboard
------------------------ FastLife KEYBOARD OPERATIONS -------------------------

to Move Magnify Cursor: 
   LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN arrow keys move magnify cursor in a direction 
   Shift-LEFT, Shift-RIGHT, Shift-UP, Shift-DOWN arrow keys move cursor 10
      spaces in corresponding direction
   Shift-'5' moves cursor to middle of Magnify Window

to Move Magnify Window within Life Field:
   DEL = center window around Magnify Cursor
   HOME = 10 positions left,   Shift-HOME = 1 position left
   END  = 10 positions right,  Shift-END  = 1 position right
   PGUP = 10 positions up,     Shift-PGUP = 1 position up
   PGDN = 10 positions down,   Shift-PGDN = 1 position down
   w/ Control = move absolutely to:  
      Control-HOME = top    left,   Control-PGUP  = top    right
      Control-END  = bottom left,   Control-PGDN  = bottom right
                     Control-LEFT = middle
%Shortcut
----------------------------- FastLife SHORTCUTS ------------------------------

- Default responses when a typed line is requested are shown in brackets and
  may be accepted by typing Return or Pressing a mouse button.
- Generally, selecting a menu item with the RIGHT mouse button immediately
  selects the first item from the next menu that would be displayed.  Same
  behavior when a command letter is typed in UPPER case.
- Either mouse button will stop the Go command.
- When entering points with the mouse, hold down the LEFT button and move the
  mouse to turn a line of points on or off.
- Pressing the RIGHT mouse button either in the Magnify Window or the Life
  field centers the Magnify Window at that point.  
- Pressing the LEFT mouse button in the Life Field centers the Magnify Window
  at that point AND immediately invokes the Zoom command.
- Generally, the Escape key will cancel FastLife commands at any point.
- At the Main command menu, pressing the Return key will do the Step command.
- In the Vary command, pressing the Return key or the RIGHT mouse button to
  halt the lifecycles will immediately start the next variation.
- The Insert key will toggle the point at the Magnify cursor on or off even
  when the Magnify Window is not displayed.
%Notice
-------------------------- FastLife - Version 1.00 ----------------------------

           Copyright (c) 1986 by Dan McMullen - All Rights Reserved

      Welcome to FastLife, an implementation of John Conway's game of
      Life for PC compatibles with a Color Graphics Adapter.  Permission
      is granted to distribute this program freely, as long as no fee is
      charged and this notice is not altered.  If you enjoy the program,
      and would like to be informed of updates, send $10 to me at the
      address below and I'll put you on the mailing list.  Source code
      is available to 'registered' users who are interested.
             
      I want your feedback on FastLife, so let me know what you do or 
      don't like.  I'll be making changes in the future based on what I 
      hear from you.
   
                          Dan McMullen
                          2161-1/2 Bohemian Highway
                          Occidental, CA  95465

                                  THANKS!
