				Zarch 0.92

		     (c) Copyright 1998, 1999 Thom van Os

		  http://www.nbn.com/~thom/software.html
		  http://www.nerdnet.nl/~thom/software.html
			  mailto:thom@vanos.com



Zarch is a first attempt at remaking David Braben's classic Archimedes game.
It was probably a little better known as "Virus" on various other platforms
including the Commodore Amiga and similar contemporaries.



Installation:
-------------

With this file you should have the following executables:

    glzarch		for Mesa/OpenGL
    xzarch		for X11
    zarch		for svgalib
    sndsrv		the sound server
    mkobj		generates the world.obj file

and the sound files:

    bullet.raw
    expl.raw
    ground.raw
    thrust.raw
    water.raw


In order for sound to work you can do one of the following:

    - Create a directory /usr/local/lib/zarch and copy all the soundfiles
      and the sound server into it.

    - Always run zarch or xzarch from the directory containing sndsrv and
      the soundfiles.

    - Set environment variable ZARCHDIR to the directory containing sndsrv
      and the soundfiles before running zarch or xzarch.

Due to the nature of svgalib "zarch" either needs a suid-bit with owner root
or can only be executed by user root.

As the objects are now in the datafile world.obj, zarch needs to be able
to find this file, so just put it in the same places as your soundfiles.

To use glzarch with 3Dfx hardware support, glzarch has to be run from
user root with MESA_GLX_FX set to the appropriate value ("fullscreen" or
"window", see Mesa 3Dfx documentation). If glzarch is run by a normal
user or without the MESA_GLX_FX it will run in Mesa's software mode, which
is very very slow.


Game:
-----

Thanks to many emails I received, I have been able to piece together the
original gameplay again. And some people actually also pointed me to a very
good Amiga Emulator (UAE), on which I've been able to play the original game.
So far I've been working more on the engine, so I haven't implemented the
original gameplay yet. Actually I'm thinking of just making my own game out
of it instead of using zarch's original gameplay.

When you start zarch (svgalib version), xzarch (X11 version) or glzarch
(OpenGL/Mesa version), from the title screen you can press 'S' to start a
new game or 'ESC' to quit. In the game you can use the following keys:

	Cursor up:	tilt forward
	Cursor down:	tilt back
	Cursor left:	turn left
	Cursor right:	turn right

	SHIFT:	thrust
	ALT:	fire cannon
	Z:	fire missile

	1:	view player
	2:	first person view
	3:	view closest enemy
	4:	view closest missile
	5:	first person view on closest enemy
	6:	first person view on closest missile

	PGUP:	zoom in
	PGDN:	zoom out

	Q:	quit, back to title screen
	Y:	create enemy fighter
	U:	create enemy saucer


In this version, when you start the game you will be in level 0 with only
1 enemy saucer. The next levels will get substantially harder until you reach
level 10 at which point the game ends. You get 3 ships with each 20 missiles
to fulfill your mission. I wonder how many of you will make it :-)

Known bugs:
-----------

This binary release needs libc5.
No bugs for this version are known at this time.

Future:
-------

This project is far from finished. In the near future I hope to be able
to release a version with good network play, different enemies,
water creatures, animated terrain objects, texture mapping (OpenGL/Mesa),
increased performance for OpenGL/Mesa, different controlable vehicles,
etc. etc. etc.
Also planned is a full source release, when I think it's clean enough.
I might also look into GGI soon.

License:
--------

The archive containing this textfile, the executables and the soundfiles is
freely distributable as long as all copyright notices and credits remain intact.
This software is provided "as is" with no warranty, either expressed or implied
and the author can not be held responsible for any losses of any kind resulting
from the use or mis-use of this software.

So, don't sue me if my software destroys your million-dollar computer,
including all your life's work, sets your house on fire and robs you of all
your worldly possesions.


Acknowledgement:
----------------

I am very grateful for all the feedback and positive comments I have
received so far, you guys help me to keep putting time into this software.
I know it's been a long long time since I promised a new version, but I
had various other things come in between, I hope I can make it up sometime.
Also, I haven't really had the time to work on individual requests, but I will
soon, thanks for your patience :-).

Many Thanks to:

Andrew <santini@globalnet.co.uk>
Bill Segall <bill@dstc.edu.au>
Bj|rn Augustsson <d3august@dtek.chalmers.se>
Brian Eric Bothwell <brbothwe@cs.indiana.edu>
Chris Hyde <chris.hyde@UK.Sun.COM>
Chris Koontz <curious@eni.net>
Ivo van Ling <ivovanli@xs4all.nl>
Jonathan Blogg <jblogg@chelsea9.demon.co.uk>
Jonathan Buzzard <jonathan@issquared.co.uk>
Julie Brandon <julie@merp.demon.co.uk>
Klaas van der Lugt <klaas@usn.nl>
Marcus Grieger <fuzzy@spectrum.uni-bielefeld.de>
Mike Stucka <stucka@bellsouth.net>
Paul J Collins <sneakums@usa.net>
Rothe Ulrich <ifw97174@informatik.fh-muenchen.de>
Simon Brooke <simon@jasmine.org.uk>
Stephen Robert Norris <srn@soprano.com.au>
Steven Cockeram <steve@steveco.demon.co.uk>
Tamminen Eero <t150315@students.cc.tut.fi>
James Dean Palmer <james@tiger-marmalade.com>
Roger Donaldson <rodgerd@ihug.co.nz>


Feedback:
---------

All comments and questions will be appreciated.
Please send email to thom@vanos.com.
