                 Tursiops Truncatus Software Presents

                       ---------------------- 
                      ---  Drops of Light  ---
                       ----------------------

                           version 2.0.3

     -------------------------------------------------------------

Requirements:

     486 33MHz processor or faster
     VGA video card and monitor capable of 320x240 resolution in Mode-X
        (SVGA video card and monitor capable of 640x480 resolution
        highly reccomended)
     about 2 MB ram
     A DPMI host -- Windows 9x users don't need to worry about this.  Dos
        users need to get CWSDPMI (a copy is available on my homepage).


Installation:

     If you downloaded this game from the Web, unzip the files of 'drops.zip' 
     into the same directory, if you haven't already.

     If you got this game off of a CD-ROM, you'll need to copy everyting onto
     your hard drive... the game will play off of the CD-ROM, but you will not
     be able to save preferences or edit levels.

     Make sure you have all the following files:

        drops.exe     -- The Game
        dropsdat.dat  -- Data for the game
        readme.txt    -- This file
        version.txt   -- Version history
        spoils.txt    -- Level Passwords for the weak-willed

        drops2.dlv    -- "Dropping Down Further" expansion 
                             levels (med - hard difficulty)
        colorful.dlv  -- "Simple But Pretty" expansion 
                             levels (easy difficulty)
        metamrph.dlv  -- "Chromatic Metamorphoses" expansion 
                             levels (easy - med difficulty)
        pro.dlv       -- Hall of Fame levels
        example.dlv   -- Example Levels for the Editor
        classic.dlv   -- A copy of the "Classic" level set
                         (this copy does *not* support hall of fame)
        roll.dlv      -- "The Honorable Roll of Color" expansion
                             by Zhentao Li, 2000
        ufo.dlv       -- "The Logical Brain Train" expansion
                             by Clemens Saurer, 2001
        leveldoc      -- Directory containing additional docs for
                             expansion levels

     If you are running this game under Windows, set the following
     properties on 'drops.exe':  Under the Screen tab, set Usage to
     "Full-Screen", under the Misc tab, check "Background: Always
     Suspend", and under the Program tab, in the "Working" field,
     enter the directory where you installed Drops of Light.  It's
     also a good idea to disable the screen saver.

     Shortcuts to Drops of Light must also have all these same properties.

     The first time you run the game, it will run the midi setup utility
     to give you the best quality music.  Alternately, if you are familiar
     with Allegro, you can copy your allegro.cfg file into the Drops
     directory.


Command line options:

     -setup
         Normally, setup will only run if Drops cannot find the configuration
         file.  This will force the setup program to run.

     -lowres
         Forces Drops to use low res mode. Drops will first try to start the
         game in high res mode, and if that fails, will use low res mode.
         You shouldn't need to use this option, but try it if the game is
         giving you trouble about video modes.

         Note:  specifying "-lowres" will *not* speed the game up.  In fact,
         it will generally slow it down.  If you are having speed troubles,
         turn animation or music off.

     Level File Name
         Typing the name of a level file (including the .dlv extension) will
         load up that level set.  This also allows for drag-and-dropping
         levels under Windows.


Distribution:

     Drops of Light is freely distributable so long as you observe the
     following conditions:
 
     First, you must distribute it completely unaltered... If you'd like 
     to mess around with the datafile or something like that on your own 
     computer, go ahead, but don't pass any modified versions around.
     If you want to include any custom levels you have made or found, that's 
     perfectly alright.

     Second, you can't charge money for anything that includes Drops of
     Light (unless, of course, I have given you permission to do so).

     And as long as I'm speaking of this baneful legal stuff, I might as
     well make the disclaimer:  "Neither myself, nor anyone else associated
     with the making of this game, are responsible for anything undesirable
     this program might do, directly or indirectly.  Use it completely at
     your own risk."

     There, now the pushy stuff is out of its way, and we can get on with
     things. Give this game to all of your friends... if you don't have any
     friends, just make a few copies for yourself and pretend.


Obligation:  

     If you play this game for more than a day, you are obliged to send me
     a post card (address below).  Not a long, heartfelt letter or anything,
     just "Yo, I played your game." -- yes, e-postcards are fine. Doing so 
     won't give you secret codes or unlock features or anything, I'd just
     like to see how many people are playing my game.


Game Rules:

     This is an exact copy of the rules found within the game, appearing here
     in case you want to print them out or something.

        Object:  Rearrange the photons in the grid to match the Goal grid
     before running out of energy.

       Sounds simple enough, right?

       You can move a photon between any two connected crystals on the grid.
     Moving a photon of any color costs one energy.

       To move a photon, click on it, and then click on its destination.

       If you decide you don't want to move the photon after all, place it
     back in its original crystal or right-click (or shift-click) anywhere,
     and no energy will be deducted.

       These are the three primary photons:  red, green, and blue.  If you
     move primary photons on top of each other, they will blend into a
     compound photon as below:  Remember this from physics class?

            red   + green = yellow
            red   + blue  = magenta
            green + blue  = cyan
            red + green + blue = white

       Compound photons can be split up into their primary photons.  It costs
     one energy to split a secondary photon (cyan, magenta, yellow) and three
     to split a white photon, plus the cost of moving the primary photons
     away from each other.

       To split a photon, right-click on it, and then left-click on adjoining
     crystals to move the primary photons.  To cancel this without energy
     loss, either drop all the primary photons back in the same crystal or
     right-click again before moving anything.

       Pigments are basically photons that cannot be moved.  They come in all
     the colors that photons come in.  You cannot move a photon onto a
     crystal with a pigment that shares a primary color (e.g., you can't move
     a red photon onto a yellow pigment).

       On the goal grid, pigments show up as squares.

       If you make a mistake:  The Undo button will allow you to undo your
     last move, refunding your energy.  You still need to be careful, as this
     will only undo your one most recent move.

       If you make several mistakes:  In this case, your only option is to
     click on the reset button, which will restore the level to its initial
     arragnement.

       Need help in mid-game?  If you're having trouble remembering your
     color physics, or just don't want to think too hard, you can switch into
     peek mode.  You can do this at any level, without penalty.  Peek mode
     will show you the primary components of every crystal on the board
     (photons are circles, pigments are squares), and when you pick up or
     split a photon, it highlihts all of your legal moves.  Pretty handy,
     huh?

       Of course, cool people never need peek mode :)

       One final note:  I have tested these levels quite thorougly, but I
     have inevitably missed the best possible solutions to some of the grids.
     If you complete a grid without using up all your energy, you have done
     the level better than I could, and thus deserve a spot on the Drops Hall
     of Fame, if you're the first person to do so on that grid.

       If this should happen to you, you will receive instructions (and a
     password) on how to claim your spot.  The Hall of Fame is found on the
     Drops home page.

       http://tts.cjb.net/drops/

     Good Luck!  Have Fun!
                                    -- Ky Kimport


The Level Editor:

       The editor was designed to be fairly self-explanatory to anyone who
     has played the game, but if you can't figure it out, this section is for
     you.

       There are five modes to the editor-- crystal edit, photon edit, test,
     goal edit, info edit.  Switch between these modes using the bar on the
     right side of the screen.  'Save' saves a level; 'Revert' restores the
     level to the last time you saved it; 'Close' closes the level and
     returns you to the level list.  'Options' brings up the options screen
     that you get at any other part of the game.

       Crystal Edit mode is where you set the crystal pigments.  Choose the
     color on the left side of the screen (the cursor will change), and then
     click on a crystal to change it.  There are two drawing modes in the
     editor -- overwrite and add.  Overwrite will erase what is already there
     and replace it with something new (putting blue on a green pigment will
     put a blue pigment there).  Add will work like the rules of the game,
     and add the two colors together (putting blue on a green pigment will
     make a cyan pigment).  If you can't "legally" put a pigment somewhere
     in add mode, you'll hear a clang.

       Photon Edit mode works just like Crystal Edit mode, except with
     starting photon positions instead of pigments.  It also has overwrite
     and add modes.  Using 'add' while in Photon Edit mode will also take
     into account the crystal pigments and prevent you from clashing;
     'overwrite' will remove pigment colors if they clash with photon colors.

       Test mode works exactly as if you were playing the game.  It's not
     as pretty (no animations or peek mode), but it's just as functional.
     There are two numbers shown under 'Energy' -- amount used and amount
     allocated.  Undo and Reset work the same way as in gameplay.  An extra
     option, 'Set as Goal,' will set the goal to the current configuration
     and the energy quota to the amount of energy used.

       Goal Edit mode works exactly like Photon Edit mode.  You can also
     manually adjust the energy quota here.  The editor will not stop you
     from making impossible goals, so to prevent that, it's best to use the
     'Set as Goal' feature in Test mode instead of Goal Edit mode.

       Info Edit mode lets you change the level name and password... click
     on 'Change Level Name' and 'Change Password' to do so.


Contacting Me:

     Tursiops Truncatus Software Homepage:
        http://tts.cjb.net/

     Drops of Light homepage:
        http://tts.cjb.net/drops/

     E-mail:
        ky@tursiops.cc
    
     Plain old boring mail:
     (this may change, double-check it on the web site)
        Ky Kimport
        W61 N971 Crescent Dr
        Cedarburg, WI 53012

   
Special Thanks To The Following Entities:

DJ Delorie                 DJGPP C/C++ Compiler (version 2.02)
Shawn Hargreaves           Allegro Game Programming Library (version 3.11)
Grzegorz Adam Hankiewicz   Image Reduction Routines
Matthew Leverton           Windows version, lots of bug fixes
Martijn Versteegh          Futzing with my code a bit
Li Zhentao                 Expansion Levels
Clemens Saurer             Expansion Levels
Robert Höhne               Rhide Development Environment
Micrografx, Inc.           Simply 3D
Jasc, Inc.                 Paint Shop Pro
Jazzware                   Jazz Midi Sequencer
The Allegro Community
Everyone who talked to me about Drops 1.0

Playtesters
  Glen Dimick
  George Foot
  Sigurdur Finnsson
  Ezra Harrington
  Sam Holtzman
  Tim Knowles
  Matt Porubcansky

For more information on DJGPP, visit its homepage at
  http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/

For more information on Allegro, visit its homepage at
  http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/

To find other games written with Allegro, visit the
  Allegro Games Depot at http://www.allegro.cc/
