Version:  1.00
Date:     18/12/98

Help on Xenocide 1997-98 Skullsoft
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*This game is Shareware*

The Registered Version Xenocide Main Features...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* 4 Levels (Mars, Space, Alien Planet and Coastal, each with 2 stages).
* Each stage has a boss.
* A final end of game boss (In the Ice Wastes).
* Levels maps are large and can scroll left and right (map is 2 screens wide).
* On screen scanner, that shows both on screen and incoming aliens.
* Choice of 4 different ships.
* 8 Different Primary weapons.
* 9 Different Secondary weapons.
* 6 Different Support drones, each can mount various different weapons.
* 2 Super weapons.
* Fully redefinable keys, including 3 pre-defined sets.
* Joystick support.
* In-game Sound and a unique beginning music track.
* Between level saving and loading of games.

The Unregistered version has several of the weapons and saving disabled. It
also has only the first 2 levels (i.e. the first 4 stages).

Xenocide Requires:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* RISC OS 3.1 or above.
* 4MB or more of RAM.
* ARM 250 or above recomended.
* Hard Drive (Approximatly 2.5MB of space required).

Registration  -  Please Read This First
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This game is Shareware, it is *NOT* free software. This means that if you like
it and want to play it for more than the single trial period of two weeks,
you must pay for it or delete it. The cost of registration and how to do it
is shown below. Registration of Xenocide gets you the right to play the game
for as long as you want, it also gets you the full version! The full version
is much larger, and you will get more support if you have any problems.

To register, send us your address, a cheque or postal order in UKP and your
email address if you have one. Our address and how to contact us is given at
the  bottom of this file. There is a file 'Form' that you can fill in and
printout to send to us if you wish.

Registration Costs:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Standard Registration: 8.00 UKP

Registration for registered owners of 'Arya: The Dragon's Quest': 6.00 UKP
(Please include your Arya: The Dragon's Quest registration number.)

[Plug Alert! If you haven't seen 'Arya: The Dragon's Quest', our graphical
text adventure, then there's a demo on our website (see below for URL) and on
some of the recent Acorn User CDROMs.]

If your are ordering from outside the UK, please add 2 UKP to the above
prices to cover additional cartridge and packing charges. We are prepared to
email copies of Xenocide (after receving the registarion fee!) to people who
do not want to pay the additional charges or are not bothered about getting a
version on floppy discs. The full version is approximately 3.5 MB in size
(after Zipping and UUEncoding).

Unfortunately, we can only accept registration fees in UKP. If this is a
problem for you, contact us and we will try to sort something out.

Methods of payment:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cheque or postal order is preferred. You can send cash, (Although a cheque
or postal order would be safer) if you do send cash, send it by registered
mail. If you're sending a cheque or postal order then make it payable to
'Skullsoft'. Registrations should be sent to the address at the bottom of the
file.

Why Register?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Registration is important. It shows that you appreciate our efforts in
writing this game. It will also encourage us to develop more software, and
even improve upon and fix bugs in this game. We have spent a lot of time, over
2 years, developing this game (amongst things like Physics degrees or Jobs
etc.). So we would like to think that it has been worth while. 

Boring bit over...

The Game Itself...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starting Xenocide
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Xenocide is archived in some way then please unpack it, as it have
problems running if so. !Xenocide is simply started by double-clicking on
it's filer icon. The game should then load, a loading screen should display
for a while then the Main Menu should be displayed.

The Main Menu:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The main menu, as with all the in game menus is operated by the mouse. There
are also some keyboard shortcuts that may also be used. They are listed
below, as (Key '#').

Start: Starts the game on level 1 with the correct options. (Key 'S')
Load Game: Allows you to load previously saved games.
Password: Allows you to enter a password to go to a later level. (Key 'P')
Options: Opens a new menu...
 |	
 +-----	Difficulty: Allows the game difficulty to be set.
 +-----	Music: Turns the music on or off.
 +-----	Sound: Turns the sound on or off.
 +-----	Keys: Opens a new menu...
 |	 |    
 |	 +-- Set: Allows you to choose a pre-defined set of keys.
 |	 |        The keys for each set are displayed on the screen.
 |	 +-- Define: Allows you to define your own keys.
 |	 +-- OK: Returns to the options menu.
 |	 
 +-----	Load: Loads last saved options.
 +-----	Save: Saves currently select options.
 +-----	Default: Restores the default settings.
 +-----	OK: Returns to the main menu.

Hiscores: Displays the high score table for the current difficulty setting.
Quit: Double click on this quits game. (Keys 'Ctrl-Escape')

If you wait a few seconds a second screen is shown which shows you a 
screenshot of the first level, and shows you some of the different things on
the level, such as your scanner and damage indicator. It also shows you
things what the credit and hull repair icons look like. 

Controls:
~~~~~~~~~
The game controls are fully definable. They can be changed from the main
menu,  under Options -> Keys. There are several pre-defined sets that you
can use or  you can define your own if you wish. The default controls are as
follows:

Z          - Left
X          - Right
'          - Up
/          - Down
Return     - Fire Weapons
Space      - Activate Shield (If you have one)
Left Shift - Charge Super Weapon (If you have one)
Alt 	   - Launch ram (if you have it).

P          - Pause (any direction/fire key un-pauses).

In addition, the following keys remain the same no matter what key set you
choose and cannot be redefined:

Ctrl+F12   - Return to main menu
Ctrl+Esc   - Quit

The 'Cut' Screens:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each stage has a 'Cut' screen. This has a picture and some plot information
about the level your about to play. On stages 2+ in the registered version,
there is a 'Save Games' icon, clicking on this allows you to save the game
before you enter the level. This retains your weapons and credits up to that
point.

The Shop:
~~~~~~~~~
In the shop you can buy new weapons, ships, power systems, armour/shields and 
many other things to help you in the game. To start with you have a
'Thunderer' class ship, this has reasonable damage capacity and speed, and is
equipped with a level 1 vulcan cannon. You are given an amount of credits to
begin with,  depending on the difficulty setting you have the game set at.
You should use  these to improve your ship by buying equipment from the shop. 

There is a small box at the bottom of the screen that displays a message that
tells you about anything important that the pointer is over. It also displays
error messages (accompanied by a warning siren).

Upgrading Your Ship:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have to balance your ship's weapons against it's capacity and available
power. These are displayed on the far right of the shop screen. You can
upgrade your power source by clicking on the 'Power Systems' button in the
box at the bottom of the screen. To increase your ship's capacity, you need
to buy a bigger ship. New ships can be bought from the 'Ships' menu,
activated by clicking on the 'Ship' button at the bottom of the screen. There
are two ships larger than the Thunderer, the Gyrfalcon and the Archon. These
have superior hull damage ratings, and larger  capacity for mounting weapons,
but are also slower to respond due to their size. The Mirage class ship is
much smaller than the Thunderer and has less hull, but is far more
manoeuverable.

Primary weapons - Your ships main weapon, fired from the ships nose. These
can be upgraded up to level 10.

Secondary weapons - Generally fire at 45 degrees to your ship. These can be
upgraded to level 5.

Support weapons - Various types of 'Gun Droids' these are separate from your
ship, and can fire various different types of weapons. Most can be upgraded
to level 5. These don't require any power (they have their own) or space on
your ship.

Additional Systems - Includes armour, shields, extra lives, and super-weapons.

Power Systems - More powerful and large power systems can be fitted to the
ship. More power means that you will be able to upgrade your weapons further
and fit superior weaponry. Note however that the better the power system, the
larger it is, and this will reduce your ships carrying capacity.

Ships - Different ships, offering varying levels of manoeuverability, damage
and carrying capacity.

Disconnect - Finishes in the shop and starts the game.

Playing The Game
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The aim of the game is to destroy as many aliens as possible, without being
destroyed yourself. You can pick up extra credits and energy recharges in
game. The credits can be spent in the shop at the beginning of each level.
Collisions with aliens can damage you as much as the aliens wepons. The
levels scroll up the screen, eventually you will come to the end of level
boss and the screen will stop scrolling. These big aliens are unique to each
level, and attack you in various ways. 

Problems
~~~~~~~~
If you experience any problems with Xenocide then we can be contacted by the
methods below. We are willing to receive bug reports from anybody, and in
fact if you find a bug we will do our best to fix it. 

Known Problems...

(1) Some programs can mess up the sound system, this can cause problems with
Xenocide. It is probably best to reset the machine if you have been running
any such programs (Old games and sound programs are often a cause of this).
There is also a program called !ResetSnd+ (by Dane Koekoek of Werewolf
software) that can help and should save you having to reset. It should be
available from:

http://www.werewlf.demon.co.uk/

(2) Xenocide has been known to refuse to start when run from an archive. The
easiest solution is to copy Xenocide out of the archive onto your hard disc
and run it from there.

Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~
This program is supplied "as is" and no warranty, express or implied is
given. You use this program entirely at your own risk and in no circumstances 
shall the authors be liable for damage or loss resulting from the use  or
misuse of this program. Note also we are not obliged to fix bugs etc. but
this doesn't mean that this won't happen. Registered owners will get all
minor upgrades free of course.

Contacting Us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have any bug reports, suggestions, pleas for help, registrations  or
constructive criticism, then we can be contacted by the following methods:

EMail: (This is the preferred method for none registration contact)

mailto:skullsoft@eganc.demon.co.uk

Snail Mail: (Good for registrations or if you havent got email access)

(Send an SAE if you want a reply and are *not* registering something.)

Skullsoft
c/o Chris Egan
27 Tollemache Rd
Claughton
Birkenhead
Wirral
L43 8SU

Web: (Check for new versions of Xenocide and new games/apps from us)

http://www.eganc.demon.co.uk/

Upgrades will be available via the web, email or by snailmail. If you want 
an upgrade by snailmail, then please include an SAE and a floppy disc or a
cheque or postal order for 1 payable to Skullsoft. Please also include your
registration details (number should be sufficient) if you are upgrading 
registered software.

                    _____ __         ____           ______ 
                   / ___// /____  __/ / /________  / __/ /_
                   \__ \/ //_/ / / / / / ___/ __ \/ /_/ __/
                  ___/ / ,< / /_/ / / (__  ) /_/ / __/ /_  
                 /____/_/|_|\__,_/_/_/____/\____/_/  \__/ 
                                                                  

    <`>    - Chris Egan     mailto:chris@eganc.demon.co.uk

     )  
    (_ucan  - David Taylor   


