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                           MANUAL FOR ASSIMILATION
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                      S H A R E W A R E   V E R S I O N


Game Requirements
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Assimilation requires:
        --> VGA graphics card.
        --> 550K (550,000 bytes) of free conventional RAM.
        --> 386 or better.
        --> Mouse.

Supports:
        --> Sound Blaster compatible digitized sound effects.
        --> Win 3.1 and Win 95 tested.  Works Great!


How to Play
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Assimilation is a very simple game to play, but very hard to master.
Your goal is to assimilate the opponent before the opponent does the same to
you.  It is war!  Do not feel sorry for the opponent, he is there to take
you down.  And he will!

There are 3 difficulties of the computer opponent, Micro.  Each difficulty
makes Micro think in a different way.  To assimilate the opponent you must
capture the opponents pieces.  Do this by landing one of your pieces beside
the opponents pieces.  Any pieces within 1 square in any direction will be
assimilated.  To move your piece, select it by using the mouse pointer and
button.  This will optionally show the available moves.  Then select a
destination square for that piece.  If the destination is 1 square away, a
duplicate piece will appear.  If it is 2 squares away, the selected piece
will move, or jump, to the new location.

A note about Micro:  Level 1 is a fast thinker, it takes the most it can.
                     Level 2 will trick you a bit.
                     Level 3 will boggle your mind. (Registered Version Only)

BEWARE OF THE KILLERS!

(Shareware version contains 1 killer).
(Registered version contains 3 killers).

There are 3 different killers (Registered Version Only).
Each will destroy you immediately.

There are 10 boards available in this shareware version.  Starting a new
game will choose a board randomly.  There are 50 boards in the registered
version and a menu to select which boards to play.

Setup
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Before you can start Assimilation, you must change the SETUP in order to
configure your sound card.  To change the sound SETUP:

   Switch to the drive and directory that contains the ASSIMIL8.EXE file.  
        For example:
                C:
                CD \ASSIMIL8

        Type:  SETUP.EXE

   If you wish no sound to be played select no for sound card installed.
   The default sound setup is A220 I5 D1.

** NOTE: The SETUP only needs to be changed the first time you play, or **
**       any time that you want to CHANGE your configuration.           **


Starting The Game
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Starting From MS-DOS
--------------------
Once you have setup your sound card, you're ready to run the game.  Get into
the directory where you have installed Assimilation ( e.g. CD \ASSIMIL8 )
and type ASSIMIL8 or GO.


Not Enough Memory
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Assimilation requires at least 550K of free DOS memory.  When you run the
program, it will check how much memory is available and exit if there is
insufficient memory to play the game.  The message will look something like
this:

        Assimilation requires at least 550k of memory to run.

1.  If you are using a DOS Shell, exit from this shell and run the game
    from DOS only.

2.  If you are in Windows, quit Windows immediately and run Assimilation 
    from DOS only.

3.  If you are completely in DOS and still do not have enough free memory
    to run the game, you must either boot your computer clean or unload some 
    of your TSR's and/or device drivers.

Booting clean using DOS 6.00 or better
--------------------------------------
MS DOS 6.00 has a special built in function that makes it very easy to boot 
your computer clean.  When first booting your computer, MS DOS will 
display the message "Starting MS-DOS...".  When you see this message, hit 
your F5 key.  This will bypass your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS thereby 
allowing your computer to boot without memory managers and TSRs.

Booting clean using a boot disk
-------------------------------
If you have a version of MS DOS below MS DOS 6.00, then you must create a 
special boot disk.  This boot disk will allow your computer to boot without
any memory managers, drivers, or TSRs.  Here is how you create your boot
disk:
        I.   Find a blank disk and place it in your floppy dirve A:
        II.  Type the command:
                FORMAT A: /S
        III. Once the format is complete, you will have a bootable floppy.

Now, to boot clean from a bootable floppy:
        I.   Place the disk in drive A: and reset your computer.
        II.  Patiently wait while your computer boots from the floppy disk. 
             Once it is finished, you must change to your hard disk drive by
             typing the drive letter.  For example, C:
        III. Enter the directory where you installed Assimilation
             ( e.g. CD \ASSIMIL8 ) and type ASSIMIL8 to start the game.


Common Problems and Solutions
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PROB: The sound is not there
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I.   Make sure you have a sound card installed.

II.  Make sure you only use irq's below 10. (Not including 10).


PROB: Sometimes, the game locks up
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This is a sound card related problem.  There are several causes for this:

I.   You are running QEMM with your sound card.  In most cases this will not
     be a problem, however, if the game is locking up because of sound, it
     may be caused by QEMM.  Try playing the game without QEMM. 

II.  One of your TSRs or device drivers is in conflict with Assimilation.
     For best results, try booting your computer clean.  Please refer to the
     section on booting clean.

III. Some sound cards are not 100% sound blaster compatible.  Assimilation 
     is written for a 100% sound blaster compatible sound card.  Select no
     sound card in the sound setup program.  TThis will let the game play
     without sound.


How To Contact The Technic Energy Technical Support Department
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If you have any problems that you cannot resolve using this document, our
technical support department is ready to give you as much help as we 
possibly can.  Here is how to contact technical support:

1.  If you are an Internet user, contact our technical support department 
    by emailing to this address:

                perry.robertson@csrnet-bbs.com

    Please address your question or comment to 'technical support'.


Assimilation -- Design Credits
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Produced By:                 Technic Energy

Distributed By:              Technic Energy

Game Created By:             Perry Robertson

Graphics By:                 Perry Robertson

Programming By:              Perry Robertson

Sound Effects By:            Perry Robertson

Published By:                Technic Energy

Special Thanks To:           Mike Harris,
(Beta Testers)               Matt Dunlop and
                             Cora Derenowski