Alive Software Presents ... D I N O S A U R P R E D A T O R S (tm) 1.................. INTRODUCTION 2.................. WARRANTY 3.................. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS 4.................. GAME OPERATION 5.................. SHAREWARE VERSION NOTES 1. INTRODUCTION Welcome, you are about to step back in time and experience nature through a dinosaur's eyes. Dinosaur Predators is a fun game for any age. First you select an animal and then you try to cross your habitat, collecting energy tokens by capturing your prey while avoiding your predators and outsmarting your competitors. Dinosaur Predators is a never ending adventure in the fascinating world of prehistoric Nature. All animals are placed randomly at different screens so that each game is unique and unpredictable. Dinosaur Predators is also a realistic simulation of prehistoric food chain Ecology. The rules of the game are based on factual prey and predator relationships. It is a truly Educational game that balances gaming with learning. To play the game you must first learn who is your prey and who are your predators. It also includes a quiz. Dinosaur Predators features four different groups of animals to choose from: Jurassic dinosaurs, terror in the swamp, Oviraptor the egg-thief and Ice age mammals. Every group is divided in three difficulty levels, each providing increasingly more challenging games. Score-keeping, easy user interface, and extensive information on each animal and plant. The Dinosaur Predators program, graphics, sounds and manuals on paper or on disk, are (C) copyright 1994-96 by Alive Software, All Rights Reserved. Game Design, Programming, Graphics and Sound by Bill Dedes. Dinosaur Predators is distributed as Shareware: if you like the program and you wish to receive the latest version, the additional games, sound effects and graphics, please use ORDER.TXT to order it. Feel free to pass this program around to friends and relatives, as long as all of the files are included in the distributed disk and are not altered in any way. If you are a vendor and plan to distribute this program, please read files LICENSE.TXT and VENDINFO.DIZ 2. WARRANTY THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS-IS", NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE AS TO IT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON. WE WILL PROVIDE NO REMEDY FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM IT, INCLUDING SUCH FROM NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Page 1 of 4 3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS REQUIRES: PC 386 compatible with 512K memory and a VGA or EGA card. OPTIONAL: * Microsoft Mouse or compatible. * Sound Effects support for AdLib, SoundBlaster compatibles or the PC internal speaker. 4. GAME OPERATION 4.1 GENERAL To start the game just type DP and press . You don't have to run SETUPDP.EXE unless you wish to change the game settings. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight, press ENTER to accept a change, press ESC to cancel an entry. * Select a sound device: no sound, PC speaker or SoundBlaster card. * Select a music option: no music, PC music or AdLib/SoundBlaster. * Select a pointing device option, Mouse or Keyboard. * Finally select Save Setup. This will create a configuration file named DP.CFG The purpose of DP.CFG is to simply save the above selected preferences for future executions of the program. From then on simply type DP to start the game. 4.2 OPERATION --------- Keyboard: Use the Up, Down, Left and Right arrow keys to move around --------- and press or to accept selections. --------- Mouse : To select an option just point the mouse cursor on it and --------- click. -------- TO START Once you type DP and press , 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 select Jurassic Dinosaurs. Now you are ready to play. ---------- NEW GAME Then you select a Dinosaur 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 logic and 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. Page 2 of 4 4.3 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 LENS : game habitat. Exploring facts about the animals is :-F3-----------: essential for learning and playing the game. :--------------: : QUIZ : At any time during a game you can take the "Dino-buff" :-F4-----------: quiz and win bonus energy tokens. :--------------: : MUSIC NOTES : Toggles the sound ON or OFF, if sound was activated :-F5-----------: to begin with. :--------------: : THUNDERBOLT : Breaks the current game and starts a new one. :-F10----------: :--------------: : STOP SIGN : Quits the game and exits to the system. :-ESC----------: 4.4 THE AIM OF THE GAME Select your favorite prehistoric animal and try to survive, capture your prey while avoiding your predators. Every time you catch an animal you get energy tokens ( Calories ) . When you are captured by a predator you lose twenty energy tokens, so the only penalty is that your final score will not be as high. You move from Left to Right. When you reach the end of a screen you must 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 score is 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 50, then you are fully "energized" and can move diagonally as well, thus surprising your prey or escaping your enemies more easily. TIPS: 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", when using the keyboard press , when using the mouse click on your animal itself. If a predator blocks your path, get close enough, so when it follows you, 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. Page 3 of 4 4.5 DINOSAUR PREDATORS' GAME PHILOSOPHY * Redeeming value: you play and learn facts about Paleontology. It encourages further reading on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. * Positive and Socially responsible: depicts conflict but no violence. You identify with the animal's struggle to survive by selecting any animal you wish. * Great use of graphics and sound to create the illusion of life. * Challenges your logic skills, not your mechanical reflexes. * A game for any age, select a level according to your capability. 5. SPECIAL NOTES FOR SHAREWARE VERSION Here is a list of benefits you will get by ordering the complete Dinosaur Predators series. * YOU WILL GET THE LATEST ENHANCED version of Dinosaur Predators which includes: TERROR IN THE SWAMP: fight huge crocodiles and vicious Velociraptors that terrorized the prehistoric swamps. Watch early mammals struggle for survival. OVIRAPTOR THE EGG-THIEF: you are a tiny Oviraptor trying to steal eggs from the meanest carnivores. Can you steal the eggs and escape their wrath? ICE AGE MAMMALS: long after dinosaurs were gone, giant mammals ruled the earth. Ice-men fight it out with Saber-tooth tigers, Mammoths and many other prehistoric giants. JURASSIC DINOSAURS Get the latest version of Jurassic dinosaurs. * When you order from Alive Software you will also get more FREE Shareware, our catalog, newsletter, new product announcements and low cost updates. * Registered users Get TECHNICAL support through phone, mail, fax or E-mail. For more information run program ALIVECAT.EXE, our catalog containing detailed descriptions of our programs. For Information on how to contact us or on how to Order, print or list and fill ORDER.TXT form and mail, fax or phone your order today. Page 4 of 4