QUICK INSTALLATION GUIDE FOR HOVER CARS

As you have already unpacked the files, if they were given in a packed form,
just start the EXEcutable HCS. If you got your version from a friend (ie not
quite 'clean' in the sense that configuration information for the other 
machine is saved) and the program crashes, delete HCS.CFG and restart
the game. Then go to options and make the according changes.



HOW TO REGISTER TO HOVER CARS

For UK Order see in the game ordering info, which basically says:

Send 10 To 

KENNETH BRYANT
8 ORCHARD WAY
DIBDEN PURLIEU
SOUTHAMPTON
HANTS
SO45 4AH
ENGLAND

Tell us what you require and we'll dispatch it to you on a 3.5" disk.
Allow about 28 days for delivery.


For International orders (ie, outside of UK), you'll need to send a Bank Draft
or cash or anything you like, as long as we can exchange it, for the amount of
about 10 (Europe) or 15 everywhere else.

That is about $24   (U.S. Dollars)
	or    25DM  (German Marks)

Or any other equivalent ammount, in any major world currency, will be 
gratefully recieved.	 

If you prfer to send anything else of equivalent worth, then that's fine 
as well, as long as its sensible.


HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

See the instructions in the game itself. If you prefer a printed version and
want to print this file, well, just steer left, right, accelarate, shoot your
guns or either of your assigned weapons. Survive, win.

THE OPTIONS

In the options menu you can switch on the sound. You will be asked what port
your SoundBlaster (or compatible) is on, but if you don't know, you can
choose autodetection. As you may know from other programs, this method is not
100% secure - particularly if your card is not 100% SoundBlaster compatible.
In that case, choose a port or, if that doesn't work either, play without
sound. If game play isn't smooth with sound, switch it off.
Also, you can choose new keys for the players and switch weapons and tokens
on and off. To learn more about the tokens and weapons read the in-game
instructions and play the game :)



Technical data on Hover Cars

(C) 1995 Gerbil Soft

Minimum requirements

- Without digi effects
  Well, we don't use any 286 commands, as far as I can remember, but...
  286, HDD, VGA, 640 KB RAM
  Don't expect animation to be fluid on that, though.

- With digi effects
  386, 4MB RAM (roughly 500KB main, something like 200K EMS)
  100% SoundBlaster Compatible Card
  HDD
  VGA
  Don't expect fluid animation when digi effect is playing

Recommended specs

- Without digi effects
  386-40 or 486SX-25 with 640 KB RAM

- With digi effects
  It works fine on a 486-50 with 4MB. 

SPECIAL KEYS
    When setting up your keys, you can't use these:
        ESC, F1 to F10, Left SHIFT.
    This may seem odd, but those keys are used internally by the game and
are hence reserved (Hint : Some used for cheat modes).
    During the race you have the following keys:
        ESC   - Exit to the main menu. You will be asked whether you want it.
        F1    - Pause.
        F2    - Accelarate time, if retired (see below) or dead.
        F3/F4 - First/ Second player retire
    When you're doing badly, retiring lets you quit from the race. You will 
end up in a fairly bad position for the next race, though. You can only 
accelarate the time if you (in two player mode, both) are either dead or 
retired. If you are in first position with all opponents dead, press F3/F4 
to not go all the laps without opponents. You will win anyway.



Remarks:
We don't use IRQs and DMAs for digi sound, but "direct output". This means 
that while playing an effect, the game will slow down. On very fast computers
you may not even realise this, though. Two channel sound does not slow the 
system down any further, though.

Ctrl-Break works during the menu sections of the game, although it is unwise
to use it, to quit the game, as your system 'might' become unstable (i.e., it
WILL crash any subsequent program you try and run).

Technical help; questions you might ask
 If you have a problem that is not mentioned here, email us at either
 mm194@soton.ac.uk   or
 kb294@soton.ac.uk   (Valid until June 1997 at least)
 We will try to answer any queries as soon as possible.

1) I don't hear any digi-sound
   Well, I assume you have an SB or compatible. And I'm talking COMPATIBLE
   here. No software emulation rubbish, I can't promise that would work, as
   I have tried it only on an SB and a 100% compatible card. We're using
   hardware-ish code, so you may have problems with some cards. If so, you 
   might want to tell us what card you are using.

2) I have 4MB, but the program says I don't have enough EMS. What's wrong?
   Probably your AUTOEXEC.BAT; make sure you have EMM386 or a similar EMS-
   emulator installed (QEMM etc should work as well, but I haven't tried)

3) The game slows down whenever an effect is played.
   I know. The section above this Q&A bit is on sound without IRQ and DMA.
   It explains why it happens. That won't help you much, but even on
   slightly dated machines it should work fine. Anything like a 486-50 will
   do fine. I programmed on such a machine. But it is kind of slow on a
   386-16, admittedly.(Kind of SLOW! It creeps along!)

4) The game crashes, when I then load anything, the system halts.
   Well, the game shouldn't crash, so please let us know in which situation
   it did and whether (and if so, how) the situation can be recreated.
   Once the game crashes, you might as well reset your computer; our timer
   procedures are still active and when you load anything, you're likely to
   overwrite them...

5) The graphics look rubbish.
   Well, make better!

6) The sound is naff.
   Yeah, so?

7) I don't seem to hear any music.
   Buy a couple of CDs and play them during the game. That should solve the
   the problem. Most retailers have a broad variety of sounds, so you should
   not have to complain about crap musics during the game. 
   Er... there is no FM music in this Gerbil Soft game. Sorry.

8) I have reassigned the keys, and I can't steer the car properly.
   Not my fault... Well, an explanation might help.
   The keyboard is unable to detect too many keys at once. And some keys it
   can't recognise with certain others. (It just sends a 'phew, I can't cope
   with this any more' code) Reassign the keys and try until you find a
   setting that suits you AND the keyboard. You may find this tricky in two
   player mode and may actually have to go for a compromise; after all you
   may not have to fire all weapons, accelerate and steer at the same time.
   Make sure you can accelerate and steer though!

9) The game is too difficult
   Try playing on easy level, without tokens and weapons.

10) The game is too boring
    Try playing a two player game with tokens and weapons on hard level

11) The game STILL is boring
    Well, write a better one.

12) I want the full version without paying and registering.
    Well, tough luck.

14) Can I get more tracks? Or a track editor?
    Yes, register. No, register anyway.

15) Are there any hidden cheats, or a players guide?
    No. Someone will write one.

16) Are there any great prize competitions?
    Sure, all over the place. None to do with Hover Cars, though.

17) Phew, the top scores are so good, I can't beat them. But I want my name
    in the HighScore list.
    OH YEAH? Well, practice then. Well, okay, if you REALLY want your name in
    the top scores list, delete the HCS.HGH file. Be warned though: not
    only human players' scores will be listed in the table, but the computer
    players' as well. A bit embarassing if you're no better than the the 
    EASY computer ;)

18) What files can I delete?
    HCS.CFG and HCS.HGH. You should not delete HCS.SND (except you
    don't want sound) and not any of the text files... at least not if you
    want to give copies to someone else, as all files must be copied,
    for some legal reasons...

19) Will there be data disks, what about Hover Cars 2?
    NOOOOO! Neither data disks nor Hover Cars 2.(No plans yet, at least).



DISCLAIMER
I reckon you all know it, but here we go, anyway.
There are no warranties whatsoever when you run this program. 

All names are trademarks of their respective owners. In particular, Pentium
is a trademark of Intel and SoundBlaster is a trademark of Creative Labs.

