The Columbus Force Project alpha 0.2
------------------------------------
(c) 2001 Jim Howat

This is not just a pre-release, it's a work-in-progress.
As such, I would appreciate it if you don't distribute this to anyone, please send them to
http://www.columbusforce.com where they can pick up their own copy.

Supported platforms: DOS, Windows 95/98.
The columbus.exe program contains the Windows version - columbus-dos.exe contains the DOS
version. Depending on your graphics card, the DOS version *may* run faster.

External packages used:

The Allegro programming library by Shawn Hargreaves and others.
- http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro
(c) Shawn Hargreaves (probably)

The Level-Editor library created by Henrik Stokseth
- http://hjem.cybercity.no/~nre1842/leditor.html
(c) Henrik Stokseth

Disclaimer:

I take no responsibility for damage that this software may cause, whether to software, hardware
or physical wellbeing. Be aware that this is ALPHA QUALITY software - if you are unsure about
your backup status, please do not run it.

Latest version can always be found at http://www.columbusforce.com, where you can also post
feedback. You can contact me directly at jim.howat@columbusforce.com.

Keys:

As original Exile.

Q - left
W - right
P - up
L - down

No walking yet, I'm afraid. I'm working on it!

ctrl - lie down
tab - turn round

O - aim up
L - aim down
I - aim centre
space - fire

cursors - scroll screen

escape - quit (or click the mouse)

Notes:

There are a few things to tweak in the EXILE.CFG file - change the display resolution and
switch between 8- and 16-bit modes. Also switch on/off transparency and lighting effects,
and change the default size of the viewscreen.

There's high- and low-res versions of all the sprites - since they're almost identical
except for size, I'd recommend you stick to low resolution screen and low-res sprites.

Lighting and transparency are a bit poor in 8-bit, and in VGA modes you may get a bright
pink border around the screen.

If you're really interested in tweaking, try playing with the parameters in game/objects.cfg.
You can even change the background (back.bmp) and add a music file (save a MIDI in the main
directory as MUSIC.MID)....

This README will be expanded in future releases, with a list of features implemented and upcoming.
Right now I don't have the time.....!

Jim.
