Alive Software Presents ... A N I M A L Q U E S T Welcome, you are about to experience Nature through very different eyes. ANIMAL QUEST is a Fun Game for any age. First you select what animal you like to become and then you try to cross your habitat collecting as many Energy Tokens as possible by capturing your prey while avoiding your Predators and outsmarting your Competitors. ANIMAL QUEST is a never ending adventure in the fascinating world of Nature. All animals are placed randomly at different screens so that each game is unique and unpredictable, challenging you every time. ANIMAL QUEST is also a realistic simulation of Food Chain Ecology. The rules of the game are based on factual Prey and Predator relationships. A truly Educational game that balances Gaming with Learning. To play the game you must first learn what is your prey and who are your predators. ANIMAL QUEST features three Different groups of animals to choose from: Northern Forest Animals, Ocean Animals and Jungle Animals. Three Difficulty Levels to choose from, each providing increasingly more challenging games, score-keeping, on-line help, easy Icon-based user input and extensive information on each animal and plant. Its Colorful graphics and realistic sound effects will surprise you !!! Requires: IBM PC or compatible, 512K of memory, EGA or VGA graphics. Options : Super VGA support, Mouse support and Sound Card support. The ANIMAL QUEST source code, object code, library images and manuals on paper or on disk, are (C) copyright 1991 by Alive Software, All Rights Reserved. Concept and Game Design by Bill Dedes and Nancy Ayash. INDEX 1.................. DISCLAIMER 2.................. DISTRIBUTION 3.................. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS 4.................. GAME SETUP 5.................. GAME OPERATION 6.................. DOCUMENTATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7.................. SHAREWARE VERSION NOTES 1. DISCLAIMER This program is provided "as is" and it is without warranty of any kind that it will work correctly in any or all situations. No liability shall be assumed for direct or consequential damage caused by the use of this software. The only claim Alive Software makes is that there are no intentional bugs or fatal errors in any original copy of the program that you received directly from Alive Software. Page 1 of 5 2. DISTRIBUTION ANIMAL QUEST is distributed as Shareware: if you like the program and you would like to receive the latest version, additional games, Sound card support and Mouse support, please become a registered user. List or print file ORDER.DOC for more information. 1. ALIVE.DOC ........... Text, other Alive Software programs 2. AQ.DOC ........... Text, Documentation ( This file ) 3. README.DOC ........... Text, Important information 4. ORDER.DOC ........... Text, Order Form 5. AQ.EXE ........... ANIMAL QUEST Program 6. AQ.LST ........... List Of games 7. AQ.GGL ........... Program Graphics and Data 8. SETUPAQ.EXE ........... Setup Program 9. FOREST.GDL ........... Data for Game 1 10. FOREST.GGL ........... Data for Game 1 Distribution of this program is encouraged as long as the following Shareware principles are observed: All of the above mentioned 10 files should be included in the distributed disk and should not be altered in any way. Alive Software authorizes the distribution ONLY of the 10 above mentioned files. Any additional picture files will be distributed only to Registered users Exclusively and Directly by Alive Software. If archiving this program for BBS use or library use, please include all files and use the name: AQUEST1, ( for example: AQUEST1.ZIP) this will provide consistency for future updates. 3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS REQUIRES: IBM PC or compatible with 512K memory, EGA or VGA ( 16 color ) OPTIONAL: * Super VGA Graphics card with 512K Video Ram and monitor able to display in 800x600 resolution: ATI, Genoa, Paradise, Tseng Labs, Video 7 or compatibles are supported. * Microsoft Mouse or compatible. * Sound Effects support for AdLib, Covox, Sound Blaster, Sound Commander, PC speaker and Tandy SL/TL internal sound chip. 4. SETUP Before you start the game you must run SETUPAQ (a) The SETUPAQ program will try to identify your Graphics card and highlight the appropriate option. Select a graphics option. (b) Select the sound board or no sound option. (c) Then select the pointing device option, Mouse or Keyboard. To use the mouse, a mouse driver program must be installed beforehand. (d) Finally select Save Setup. This will create a batch file named QUEST.BAT The purpose of QUEST.BAT is to simply pass the above selected preferences to the program, without you having to do that every time you run the program. Page 2 of 5 5. GAME OPERATION 5.1 GENERAL --------- Keyboard: Use the Up, Down, Left and Right arrow keys to move around --------- and press or to select. Mouse : To select an option just point the mouse cursor on it and --------- click. -------- TO START To start the game just type QUEST and press -------- All of the ANIMAL QUEST files must be present at your current disk drive and directory, otherwise you will get an error. Then you will see the opening screen and hear the music theme. You may press a key or press a mouse button to skip through it next time. Then you select the animal group to use: Forest, Ocean or Jungle animals. Now you are ready to enter the animal Kingdom. ---------- NEW GAME Then you select which animal you like to become from three ---------- Levels of difficulty. 1. Easy Level: These animals are Strong or Fast predators and therefore they have few or no enemies. In this Level just follow, your hunting instincts. This level is recommended for young children or beginners. 2. Medium Level : These animals are mini predators with some enemies and competitors, so it takes more logical thinking to stay alive. 3. Difficult Level : These animals are at the bottom of the Food chain and therefore constantly fighting for survival. Try this Level for a real Challenging game. You are neither strong nor Fast. Your only weapons are your intelligence and your luck. 5.2 CONTROLS :--------------: : QUESTIONMARK : On-line help explaining the game and operation. :-F1-----------: :--------------: Food Chain information about animals and plants. : CHAIN : Select this option and point at any animal on the :-F2-----------: board to learn about its prey and predators. :--------------: Facts about animals, plants or places of the current : ZOOM LENSE : game habitat. Exploring facts about the animals is :-F3-----------: essential for learning and playing the game better. :--------------: : MUSIC NOTES : Toggles the sound ON or OFF, if sound was activated :-F4-----------: to begin with. :--------------: Toggles the Grid ON or OFF. When the Grid is ON the : FENCE : game plays like a board game, so you can focus on the :-F5-----------: logic. When it is OFF the game plays faster, like an arcade game. Grid ON is recommended for beginners. Page 3 of 5 :--------------: : THUNDERBOLT : Breaks the current game and starts a new one. :-F10----------: :--------------: : STOP SIGN : Quits the game and exits to the system. :-ESC----------: 5.3 THE AIM OF THE GAME Become one of your favorite animals and try to survive, capture as many prey animals as you can while avoiding your predators. Every time you capture an animal you get Energy Tokens ( Calories ) . When you are captured by a predator you loose twenty Energy Tokens, so the only penalty is that your final score will not be as high. You move from West to East. When you reach the end of a screen you move to the next one. There is a total of twelve screens to cross. In the last screen your family will be waiting for you and the highest scores are recorded in the Hall Of Fame. SCORING : Your current Score is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The accumulated Energy tokens stack up until you have collected over 60, then you are fully Energized and can move Diagonally as well, thus suprising your prey or escaping your enemies more easily. TIPS : (a) Don't overlook the importance of the "skip a turn" option. Use it whenever you are stuck or when any other move will result in your capture. To "skip a turn", for keyboard use: press , for mouse use: click on your animal itself. (b) If a predator blocks your path, get close enough, so when it follows you, try to lead it away from the path, turn around and escape. If more than one predators are near by, try to distract them one at a time. 5.5 ANIMAL QUEST'S GAME PHILOSOPHY (A) Redeeming value: you Play and Learn facts about basic Ecology. It encourages exploration of Nature and further reading. (B) Positive and Socially responsible: Depicts Conflict but no Violence. You identify with the animal's struggle to survive by selecting any animal you wish, except Man (This would defy the purpose of the game) (C) Extraordinary use of Graphics and Sound to create the illusion of life. (D) Challenges your Logic skills, not your mechanical reflexes. (E) A Game for any age: Select a level according to your capability. 6. DOCUMENTATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS If you have a printer, please print out and read this documentation file AQ.DOC Simply type: COPY AQ.DOC PRN at the DOS prompt. Portions of this program (c) Copyright by Genus Microprogramming, Inc. Bibliography; Western Forests by Stephen Whitney, The world of fish by Franco De Carli, Encyclopedia of The Animal Kingdom by Maurice and Robert Burton, Great Book of the Animal Kingdom by Arch Cape Press. Page 4 of 5 7. SPECIAL NOTES FOR SHAREWARE VERSION ANIMAL QUEST is distributed as Shareware, that is, you can try it before you buy it. Here is a list of benefits you get by ordering the complete ANIMAL QUEST series from Alive Software for ONLY $ 22 ( U.S. Dollars ) * YOU GET THE LATEST ENHANCED version of ANIMAL QUEST which includes: OCEAN ANIMALS: Dive into the unexplored waters of Australia. An --------------- Exotic world of fascinating and unusal marine animals awaits you. Be a playful Blue Dolphin or a Great White Shark, meet the peculiar Clownfish, Seals, Angelfish, Swordfish, Viperfish, Eagle Rays, Anglerfish, Eel, Seahorse, Sea Anemones and many other aquatic creatures. JUNGLE ANIMALS: Lions, Cheetahs, and Leopards rule the Jungle, but watch --------------- out for the poisonous spear of the Pygmy. Elephants, Aardvarks, Gorillas, Termites, Buffalos, Zebras, Hyenas and many more. Experience the sounds and sights of the Tropical Rain Forest. FOREST ANIMALS: The Latest version of the Northern Forest animals, --------------- Enhanced with Sound effects and detailed graphics. * YOU GET MOUSE support for a Microsoft compatible Mouse. * YOU GET DIGITIZED SOUND EFFECTS and drivers, for animals that vocalize: Wolfs howl, Lions roar, the Hunter shoots, Whales sing, Bears, Frogs, Tigers, Rattlesnakes etc, make sounds as they capture prey. Now you can add sound dimension to the visual one. You can hear the animals clearly, either through the IBM PC speaker with no extra hardware, or through one of Sound Card options listed in file README.DOC * YOU GET ZOOM GRAPHICS. Due to the large size of the High-resolution Zoom graphics, this Shareware version does not include all the Zoom graphics shown when the "Magnifying glass Icon" is selected. * Super VGA graphics support comes with all the additional games of this series. We currently support most of the major Super VGA chipsets. See file README.DOC for a complete list of all supported Super VGA cards. * With your order , you will also get more FREE Shareware from Alive Software, our catalog, newsletter, new product announcements and low cost updates. * Registered users Get TECHNICAL support through phone, mail, E-mail or our BBS. If ANIMAL QUEST is supported by many users, we will add more animal habitats to this series in the near future. Such as Swamp animals, Arctic animals, Desert animals, Insects or other ones suggested by you. For Information print or list our catalog, file ALIVE.DOC. It includes detailed descriptions of our programs. For additional information, Write to: ALIVE SOFTWARE, P.O. BOX 4004, SANTA CLARA, CA 95056 U.S.A. Send Prodigy E-mail to the programmer, Bill Dedes, ID # RGCP92A For Information on how to contact us or on how to Order, print or list and fill out our order form ORDER.DOC and mail or fax it to Alive. Thank you for Supporting Shareware. Page 5 of 5