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		     Sound Barrier Systems Proudly Presents                                 

				 Columns PC
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System Requirements: MS-DOS, 1 Meg Memory, 320x250x256c VGA
       Recommended:  Soundblaster (for maximal enjoyment)

What is it?

Columns PC is an addicting Tetris-Style (tm Spectrum Holobyte) shareware
game in which columns of jewels fall from the top of the screen.  It is 
your mission to line up matching groups of 3 or more jewels together 
either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  When this is accomplished, 
matching jewels will disappear.  The game ends when the pile of objects 
reaches the top of the screen. 

The game will run much quicker if you copy it to your hard drive.
To start the game, first type "SETUP" to run the setup program.
This will create a batch file called "COLUMNS.BAT" on your disk.  Simply
type "COLUMNS" to run the game.

Documentation for the game is included within the program.  

Distribute freely; if you enjoy this program, please send in the $15
shareware fee to the author:

	Kenrick Mock
	2300 Sycamore Ln, #18
	Davis, CA 95616-5511

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This program is designed to run with 1 Mb of memory.
However, if you have a lot of drivers and other items loaded then the
game may not be able to allocate enough memory (symptoms of this will
be random looking graphics as screen pages are unable to be allocated).
The solution is to edit down your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files to
free up more memory, a procedure you are probably quite familiar with!
It is recommended that you have at least 550K of conventional memory
free before running.

For those of you with soundblasters in a standard configuration, there
are .VOC sound effects and three songs which constantly repeat.  If you
get tired of the songs, either use "S" to stop the music/sound, or you
may replace the songs with your favorite .CMF files.  Just copy them over
the songs in the MUSIC folder (you must rename them appropriately to
replace the old songs).

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Common Troubleshooting Questions and Answers:

Q) The game crashes when I try to load it.
A) Most likely you do not have enough memory to run the program.  Make 
   sure there is at least 550K in DOS.  You can check this by typing
   "MEM" at the DOS prompt.  The solution is to free additional memory
   by editing your config.sys or autoexec.bat files.  You may also want
   to try reconfiguring the game without a soundblaster, if you 
   configured with a soundblaster, and try running again.  This will  
   save a significant amount of memory.  If the game runs, then most
   likely there is not enough memory to load in all of the sounds.

   If the above fails, make sure you have the proper hardware.  You
   must have a VGA card capable of 320x200 resolution with 256 colors.
   
Q) Some of the graphic screens look garbled.
A) Most likely you do not have enough memory.  See the answer above.

Q) The soundblaster music/sound isn't working.
A) Currently, the game only supports soundblaster in a standard 
   configuration (IRQ 7, port 220h).  If your card is configured differently,
   it will probably not work.  We hope to fix this problem in the near
   future.

Q) The game runs very slowly.
A) Sorry!  There is no real solution here, except to get a faster
   system.  While the initial graphic screens may scroll slowly, the
   actual game screens should be quite fast.

Q) I have lots of memory but the game won't run when configured
   with the Soundblaster.  It does run when configured without the SB.
A) Make sure your soundblaster is in the "standard" configuration.
   This means the port must be 220h and interrupt 7.  

Q) I want to insert my own music or sound effects.
A) Replace your .CMF or .VOC files over the .CMF or .VOC files in the
   MUSIC or SOUND directories.  You must replace the old files, as the
   game looks for the existing filenames.

Q) The game doesn't work when I copy it to my hard drive.
A) Make sure you copied all of the directories and the files within them.
			    
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				 Credits


	 Written in Borland C++ 3.1 (c) Borland Int'l. Inc.
	 Graphics library - WordUp Graphics Toolkit
			    WordUp Software Productions
			    94 Andover Drive
			    London, Ontario, CANADA

	 Game Screens - James Brookes
	 Design, Programming, other Graphics - Kenrick Mock
	 Music - Taken from public domain CMF files.  I would like to
		 give credit here to the persons who arranged the music.
		 Unfortunately, no credit information was available.

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