Readme.txt                                                      ver 1.0

Season of the Sakura                                         (C) 1997 JAST USA

________
CONTENTS

I	- Legal Warning
II	- Introduction
III	- Running the Game
IV	- The Game
V	- Extras
VI	- Support (help)
VII	- Warranty
VIII	- How to contact Us
IX	- Pronunciation guide
X	- Credits

** NOTICE **

The hints.txt file on the CD-ROM contains advice on game play and some
hints to areas were you may be stuck.  The hints follow the general flow
of the game and will not divulge too much information.  Please view that 
file if you are having problems within the game itself.


_____________________________
        I.	LEGAL WARNING

The software described in this file is made available under a 
license, and use of the software implies acceptance of the terms
herein. This software is for use with one (1) personal computer
user.  This software product may not be shared or used 
concurrently on a different computer with a network.

This game and the graphics images found within "Season of the
Sakura" are copyright (C) 1997 JAST USA, all rights reserved. 
Unauthorized duplication of this software will result in serious
civil and legal penalties. Unauthorized distribution of graphic
images from this product is punishable by law. Any trademarks belong
to their respective trademark owners.

JAST USA depends on sales of software titles in order to bring more
and better titles to you in the future. Unauthorized duplication of
our software greatly handicaps us and will affect the number and
quality of titles we are able to release in the future. Please
support us by not pirating our software or images.

This game is intended for adults only, ages 18 and over.  Please 
follow your local laws in your area.  JAST USA and the reseller is
not responsible for the sales to individuals. It is your
responsibility to be aware of your state and local laws.  

If you have any questions, please contact us. 


____________________________
        II.	INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing this JAST USA product.  Your support will
help us bring more and new exciting products to the world.  We 
like our games a lot and think you will, too. 

We have done our best to bring this game to you in its original form,
without changing names to make them more "palatable to westerners" or
"writing down" the story in any way. In fact, there is only one major
difference between our games and the original Japanese release: ours are
100% uncensored! While Japanese law requires that any images of genitalia
be "mosaiced" and hidden, we have brought you the original images by
the original character artists!

And for the first time, this version of Season of the Sakura includes
CD-AUDIO tracks which allow you to listen to the music on ANY CD Player, 
at a party, in your car, anywhere!

________________________________
	III.	RUNNING THE GAME


System Requirements:

- MS-DOS 5.0 or higher, or Windows 95
- 486 SX or faster (Pentium suggested. Read CPU list below)
- 8MB of RAM or more is suggested
- CD-ROM drive (you are reading this file, you must have one of these)
- keyboard and mouse

Season of the Sakura now allows you to play the audio directly off the 
CD ROM as an option. If you choose to play the standard MIDI-based music,
you will need a standard Soundblaster or 100% compatible sound card.

In order to play Season of the Sakura while listening to the sound
from the CD, the SAKU_D folder must be copied from the CD ROM's
root directory to your hard disk. Instructions for this follow. If 
you wish to use the MIDI-based version of the game, you can run
it directly from the CD ROM with no installation on your computer's
hard drive.

	WINDOWS 3.1x

Please run this game from MS-DOS.  Running the game in a DOS window can
produce unpredictable results, including possible sound card conflicts.


	MS-DOS (to listen to the audio directly from the CD)

Most people are using MS-DOS 6.2x, but as long as you have MS-DOS 5.0 or
higher you should experience no problems.

It's assumed that you have a properly running system in which your DOS
CD-ROM and mouse drivers are working correctly on your system. You should
have a 16-bit mouse driver for DOS installed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

	Boot your machine.  If you're already in Windows 3.1x, please EXIT
	from Windows.

	Insert the "Season of the Sakura" CD-ROM disc into your CD-ROM
	drive.

	The SAKU_D folder needs to be copied from the CD ROM's root
	directory to your computer's hard disk. The easiest way to do
	this is to use Windows or Windows 95 to copy the folder. To
	copy the files using DOS, please go to your computer's C:
	drive and type:
	
	XCOPY D:\SAKU_D\ \SAKU_D\ /S

	(Note that we have assumed your CD ROM drive to be located at
	D:, but it might be E: or another letter)
	
	Next, enter the SAKU_D directory (CD SAKU_D) and type SAKU-CD to
	start the game.


	MS-DOS (using the MIDI-based sound)

	If you don't mindnot using the MIDI-based sound system, you can run
	the game directly off the CD ROM. 

	Boot your machine.  If you're already in Windows 3.1x, please EXIT
	from Windows.

	Insert the "Season of the Sakura" CD-ROM disc into your CD-ROM
	drive.

	At the C: prompt, change to your CD-ROM drive letter. If your
	CD ROM is set to D:, type D: to go to the CD ROM directory. 
	NOTE: If you get an "invalid drive spefication" error, it means
	you need to verify that you CD ROM driver is on the hard drive
	and is installed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 

	Type "SAKU-CD" to start the game using stereo CD music, or 
	"SAKU-FM" to use the standard MIDI-based sound.


	WINDOWS 95

While Season of the Sakura will work with Windows 95, it sometimes will
not load on the first try, and may require multiple attempts. The
problem is with the instant of loading -- Windows 95's memory allocation
can interfere with the program, causing the program to halt operation. If
this happens, close out the halted game by pressing <ALT> + <ENTER>, then
closing the window normally.  Try again to start. It can take several 
attempts for Windows 95 to allow the program to load normally. 

PIF files contain settings for loading MS-DOS programs within Windows 95.
There are two PIF files on the Season of the Sakura CD: SAKU.PIF, 
and SAKU2.PIF. To start the game, we suggest using SAKU.PIF,
and if you experience problems starting the game (the computer will not
crash, you will just get a black screen with white text), we suggest
trying both PIF files a few times. The two files contain slightly different
settings for the game. 

To play Season of the Sakura using the stereo CD sound directly off the 
CD ROM, you must copy the SAKU_D folder to your computer's hard drive.
To do this:

        First, insert the Season of the Sakura CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.

        1 - Drag the SAKU_D folder from the CD ROM's root directory into
            the SAKURA folder. 
        2 - Open the SAKU_D directory on your hard disk.
        3 - Double click either the SAKU-1.PIF or the SAKU-2.PIF to
            start the game. (They each contain slightly different 
            settings for running an MS-DOS game in Windows.)

        Note: you may make shortcuts of the PIF files and put them on
        your desktop, in your START menu, or wherever you like. 


To play Season of the Sakua using the MIDI-based sound :

        1 - Open the CD-ROM disc icon from within "My Computer".
        2 - Click on one of two Icons labeled SAKU-FM1.PIF or 
            SAKU-FM2.PIF
        3 - The game will start.


If the game will not load in Windows 95, you may of course play the game
in DOS mode. To do this, you must have 16-bit CD ROM and mouse drivers
installed in your DOS system.

        1 - Turn on your PC, Press F8 to stop Win95 from booting.
            Press 6 (DOS MODE) boot option.
            (If you're in Windows 95 already, select "Restart to DOS
            mode" from the START menu.)
        2 - Please see the DOS instructions, above. 

We say again, YOU MUST HAVE THE 16-BIT CD ROM AND MOUSE DRIVERS INSTALLED
IN YOUR AUTOEXEC.BAT TO USE THE DOS SIDE.

Please refer to your manufactures' instructions and supplied drivers if you
don't have these.  If you do not have your drivers anymore, check your CD-ROM
maker's homepage (for example, if have a Sony CD-ROM drive, use www.sony.com.)






________________________
	IV.	THE GAME

Season of the Sakura requires a mouse, but you may use either the mouse or
the keyboard to play the game. 

When you start the game, you will see a menu displaying four options:

New Game		= Start a NEW Game
Continue Game   	= continues from a SAVED game (there are five
		   	  saved game slots)
Character Intro	= See info on all the characters
Game End		= QUIT/STOP/END/YAMETE


MOVEMENT

You control the hand/cursor with the keyboard or mouse.

UP/DOWN	    = ARROW  keys or Numeric-keypad (2) and (8) or Mouse
EXECUTE	    = ENTER  key  or Z key or  LEFT mouse button
CANCEL      = ESCape key  or X key or RIGHT mouse button
TURBO       = Control Key + movement.  Causes game text to 
              scroll by at maximum (non-readable) speed.

Select your choice with the keyboard or mouse. To execute a command,
press one of the execute keys. If you haven't selected the second part
of the command (if it's a two-part command), you can backup with one
of the CANCEL buttons.

To save your game, press one of the CANCEL buttons anywhere you are
viewing a regular list of options. You will be shown a menu allowing you
to save your game or QUIT.

The game screen is made up of 2 sections.

Image Window: 	This is where the graphic images are displayed. 

Text Window:	This is the small black box area at the bottom.
		It contains text.  This is where you will read
		what is being said to you, what you're saying and
		thinking.  Pressing <ENTER> will advance to the
		next frame of text. Commands will also appear in the
		text window. 

Here are some examples of some two-word commands you might see in the game.

(COMMAND) ----->	LOOK ----->	Reiko 
					The Dean
			TALK ----->	Kiyomi
			ASK ----->	Mio
					Aki
			THINK ----->	Ruri
					The Sports Festival
					What to do
					Christmas Party
					Dad

Each command will display one or more pages of text. Repeating the command
brings different results depending on the flow of the game. 

Commands like LOOK, TALK are the verbs. They are followed by objects,
such as RURI, The Tennis Team, and so on.

LOOK 	= look at a person or place
TALK 	= talk to someone about something
ASK 	= ask about someone
THINK 	= think about something
GO   	= go somewhere else


______________________
	V :	EXTRAS

JAST USA makes images available for general distribution. They are
in GIF format and will be marked with a message COPYRIGHT (C) 1996
JAST and therefore NOT in the public domain.  These are the
only images we allow to be traded freely, put onto BBSs, homepages, and ftp
sites, as log as you do not allow minors to have access and the images are
not altered.  We make them available to you so that you can have a chance
to see upcoming titles before they are available and make intelligent 
buying decisions.

For up-to-date information on upcoming JAST USA products, be sure to check out
the official JAST USA homepage at http://www.jastusa.com.


______________________
       VI :    SUPPORT

We do our best to make these games run correctly on standard Intel PCs, but
please read this section for information on debugging potential problems

SOUND COMPATIBILITY:

Season of the Sakura has two versions: one which plays audio directly off the
CD ROM, for full stereo sound, and the "classic" version, which is MIDI-based.
We recommend using the stereo version, but if you have any audio problems, you
can use the MIDI version. The following sound card information is only applicable
if you intend to use the MIDI version.

The Sound code is built into the game itself and designed to run on
Soundblaster PRO or better Creative Labs sound cards.  But if you don't
have a Creative Labs product, you shouldn't experience any problems as
long as your sound card 100% compatible with Soundblaster Pro or better.

It is important to know that a NON-Soundblaster 16-bit sound card, doesn't
have 16-bit audio output during emulation (Creative Labs doesn't license
that).  Also, there is no volume control for the game, so please adjust
your speakers with your hand.

If you have any problems with sound, check your AUTOEXEC.BAT settings file.
Season of the Sakura uses the internal settings of the sound card to play
audio.  This is generally done with the "SET BLASTER" command found on some
sound cards.  Below is an example of one from a Soundblaster 32;

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6

Please refer to your sound card's user manual for further information.

CPU COMPATIBILITY:

As long as you have a 486dx 66 or better CPU that is compatible with the x86
design, this game should run without any problems. We cannot say that ours
will run on every type of chip on the market, since our beta-testers do 
not have access to every possible CPU and configuration.

We do know that the CPUs types listed below work fine.

Intel 486 and Pentium CPUs
Cyrix Cx486 series (66-100MHz)
Cyrix Cx-5x86 and the Cx-6x86 series
AMD 486 DX series
NextGen 100Mhz	


VIDEO CARD COMPATIBILITY:

As long as you have a standard SVGA 512k (1MB suggested) video card/chip,
you shouldn't experience any video problems.

During some "fading" effects, you may see some flickering.  This is normal.


IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS:

If you're experiencing software problems, please send us a detailed
description of the problem, including what OS version you are using, what
brand of computer you have, your CPU and memory configuration, your video 
and sound card makers, and anything else that can help us solve the problem
for you.


________________________
	VII :	WARRANTY

JAST USA warrants to the purchaser, for a period of ninety (90) days from
the time of purchase, that this computer software program will perform as
described in this readme file and the printed instructions.

Limitations

EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE, JAST USA MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
CONCERNING THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT.  ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, ARE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD AS
STATED ABOVE.  JAST USA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM USE OR POSSESSION OF THIS
PRODUCT.

Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty, and/or
exclusions of liability, so the above limitations or exclusion may not apply to you.

You are entitled to use this product for your own private entertainment.
You may not rent or lease the software to others, nor reproduce the software
without prior written permission from JAST USA. You may not use this
software on a network or on more than one computer at the same time.

To make a warranty claim under this limited warranty, please return the
product to the point of purchase, along  proof of purchase, your name, your
return address, and a description of the defect or problem.  

THIS WARRANTY ONLY APPLIES TO USA & CANADA SYSTEMS. JAST USA
IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INCOMPATIBILITIES WITH PC SYSTEMS IN OTHER
COUNTRIES.  IT IS SOLD "AS IS" AND IT IS UP TO THE USER TO DETERMINE
COMPATIBILITY WITH THEIR COMPUTER. 


_________________________________
	VIII :	HOW TO CONTACT US


The most efficient way to contact us is by email at one of our email
addresses

info@jastusa.com	for questions about our products

support@jastusa.com	for technical support or questions

dealers@jastusa.com	for information about becoming a distributor for our products

peter@jastusa.com	for all other email


Contacting Us (by voice mail or fax)

The next best way to get in touch with us is through our voice mail system or
U.S. fax line. We will do our best to respond as soon as we can. Note that faxes
are automatically forwarded to our offices in Japan, so faxes are preferable to
voice mail.

(619) 292-JAST (Voice Mail)
(619) 560-4268 (FAX)


Contacting Us (by mail)

Our mail address in the U.S. is:

	JAST USA
	P. O. Box 126064
	San Diego, CA 92112-6064




___________________________________
	IX :	PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

English and Japanese are two very different languages. If you were to apply
the pronunciation rules of one to the other you would have a lot of chaos.
Below is a short guide to help you know how to pronounce the names in the
game correctly, courtesy of the translator.

Briefly, there are five vowels in Japanese, which are incidentally the same
as in Spanish:

A	as in "fall"
I	as in "free"
U	as in "do"
E	as in "leg"
O	as in "blow"

If you find yourself applying rules like silent 'e' to a name (say, reading
a name like TOMOE as TOMO), or using the short 'a' sound (as in cat or hat), 
or letting 's' fall to a 'z' sound as in the name Risa (it should be REE-sa),
you are not pronouncing the Japanese correctly. Not that this is wrong, but
JAST USA would like to foster interest and understanding between Japan
and America. If you take a few minutes to read this file before mis-learning
the character's names, all of Japan will no doubt thank you.


The Characters :  

SHUJI YAMAGAMI

Your alter ego. SHOO-gee yahmah-gahmee. Remember, there is no short
"A" sound (as in hat or cat) in Japanese, so please don't say Yamagami
so that it rhymes with Granny-Fanny.

REIKO SAWAMURA

The translator's favorite girl. RAY-ko sawa-MOO-ra. 

KIYOMI SHINFUJI

Her name is prounounced kee-YO-mee. 

MIO SUZUKI

Say "Oh, me" backwards.

MEIMI NAKANO

MAY-me. 

SEIA YOSHIDA

Pretend you're Junko Sensei, the school nurse, and SAY-ah. 

AKI HINAGIKU

AH-kee HINA-giku.

RURI SHIROMIZU

Ruri's name is a little difficult to get right, sort of like the elf from Record
of Lodoss War (a well-known fantasy anime series of a decade or so ago). Say it
like ROO-ree, but remember that "R" in Japanese is sort of like a cross between R
and L. Actually, saying "DOO-dee" while thinking about the letters R and L is pretty
close. 

SHOKO NISHINO

SHOW-ko. 

KYOKO KOBAYASHI

KYO-ko. Kobayashi as in Kobayashi-maru. 



(C) 1997 JAST USA.  All Rights Reserved.
All other trademarks are of their respective owners.
 

END OF README.TXT FILE



SAKU_D

PIF

COPYX d:\*.* c:\games\