***************************************************** Primordial Life -- Shareware v2.0 Copyright (C) 1995 Jason Spofford ***************************************************** Thanks for trying Primordial Life! If you think you might like watching evolution happen in front of your eyes, this is the screen saver for you! You might also enjoy watching biots battle, or watching interesting shapes emerge.I have spent hours watching the dynamics of cumulative selection. What is Primordial Life? Primordial Life 2.0 is a shareware artificial life screen saver that runs under Windows 95 and Windows NT. Like Primordial Life 1.0, your screen becomes a world in which living biots can survive and multiply. Thousands of biot shapes are possible. The sunlight that shines down upon this world is transformed into energy by biots with green leaves. But the world is not that simple. There are predator biots with red teeth that can feed on green leafed biots. Biots are not without a defense, however. Biots with blue shields can defend against the red menace. Those biots with white lines can inject their genetic code into other biots. While white lined biots may not be able to survive on their own accord, they can still propagate themselves through sexual reproduction and crossover. Each biot contains genetic code that describes how to build it. Over time, the most fit biots gain enough energy to reproduce. When they do, they attempt to copy their genetic code. Unfortunately, crossover and mutations can be introduced which results in children that are somewhat different than their parents. When biots give birth, they may chose to put all their energy into one child, or divide it among as many as eight. In this manner, evolution takes place over many generations. *** Shareware Notice *** Primordial Life is shareware. If you like it, please register. REGISTRATION IS FREE! If you decide to register, send me the identifier code found by pressing the Note! button in the screen saver configuration dialog. If you register, the screen saver will run forever and you will be able to save biots from one screen saver session to the next. If you decide to purchase Primordial Life for $8, you will receive a windowed version of Primordial Life that will let you run Primordial Life in a window too! This Primordial Life game will include features not practical in the screen saver. Upgrades are free. If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me at: Jason Spofford 11040 Crossland Drive Austin, Texas 78726 email: spofford@io.com You can visit my web page at: HTTP://www.io.com/~spofford ***Installation Instructions:*** To install Primordial Life, run "INSTALL.EXE" from either a DOS prompt or via the start menu. "INSTALL.EXE" will also uninstall the screen saver. Note: install.exe expects to find Prim20.scr in its directory. After installing, go to the screen saver dialog and select "Primordial Life 2" Check out the various "Settings." You can also preview those settings. Again ... Thanks for trying Primordial Life!