 
  **********************************************
  *    _____  __  __  ____    _  __  ________  *
  *   / _ _/|/ /|/ /|/ __ \  / |/ /|/_ __ __/| *
  *  / _ < |/ /_/ / / _  _/|/    //__//_//_|/  *
  * /____/|/_____/ /_/|\_\|/_/|_///_______/|   *
  * |____/ |_____|/|_|^\_| |_/|_/ |_______/    *
  *             Version 1.00                   *
  **********************************************
                  * Burn 2 *
          * Designed and Programmed *
              * By Chris DeLeon *
             (Pac-Deli@excite.com)

WHAT IS BURN 2?
Burn 2 is a real-time destructible terrain system in combination 
with the classic arcade game Gravitar... Team deathmatch style!
Two teams of anywhere from one to five battle mercilessly to the
death, with no emphasis on scores or points or style and with
a total disregard for innocent bystanders.  Take the battle into
space for or onto any of the infinite (randomly generated) planets
in the galaxy.  Watch as the inhabitants of the planets try 
pitifully to make you and your enemies take the fight elsewhere,
only to be buried beneath tumbling mountains, cluster bombs, and
stray laser fire.

GETTING STARTED QUICKLY:
Click on the arrows to adjust the number of ships per team.  Click 
on the ships to select the control styles for any human players on 
either team.  Note that besides the directional movements and the 
fire button, there are also "Launch Bomb"/"Remote Detonate Bomb" 
buttons and "Highlight Players" buttons right by your other buttons
(see below for details).  Control schemes include three keyboard 
configurations and up to two joysticks, so that anywhere from 0-5 
humans can play at the same time (0 because the AI can face off 
against itself).  Note that depending on which ship icons you click
on, you can play for either team.  Although the ships look 
different, they perform the same.

Your health is at the top of the screen - a full circle means 100%
shield health, and when there is nothing left of the circle your
ship will explode.

If you're new to the Gravitar/Asteroids style physics, try turning 
off every ship on the other team.  This will give you a chance to 
fly alone and feel for the game mechanics, practice cluster bombing
turrets/civilians, and traveling from planet to planet.

*RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
*********************************
IBM Compatible
Sound Card
Support for 16-Bit Color
DirectX (may run slowly without it)
32 MB of RAM (may run with less)
Two joysticks or (better) four-button gamepads

*GAMEPLAY FEATURES:
*******************

-Fully destructible, randomly generated terrain
-Randomly generated skies
-Dynamic colored lighting effects
-Realistic planetary entry (time of day and location of sun in the 
  sky depend on which part of a planet entered, whereas soil 
  color and gravity are determined by what planet is landed on)
-Two simple but versatile weapons: Automatic Laser Blasters (ALBs)
  and Remote Cluster-Nukes (RCNs)
-Peaceful, innocent inhabitants wandering planet surfaces, complete 
  with their own vulnerable cities, forests, and defense turrets
-Intelligent AI that never resorts to cheating (it interfaces with
  the game through the EXACT same controls as human players)
-An advanced particle system
-A complex scoring system exported to a text file (records.txt) 
  after gameplay, to prevent the numbers from being a distraction.
-Techno soundtrack (NOT by Chris DeLeon - see credits)
-Stereo sound
-16-bit hi-res DirectX accelerated graphics, with the option to 
  play windowed or fullscreen

*CONTROLS: 
**********

-Main Menu Controls: (mouse only)
--------------------
  Use the mouse for the main menu.
  Click on the Arrow Boxes to adjust team sizes, sound volume, 
    and music volume.
  Click on the Red X to quit (or press Escape).
  Click the Green Checkmark to start the match.
  **Click on a ship to toggle its control method (see In-Game 
    Controls)

-In-Game Controls:
------------------
  P = Pause or unpause 
  Esc = Return to the main menu
  F10 = Randomly pick a different music track

-Ship Controls: (Keyboard and/or Joysticks)
---------------
  These are set for each ship from the Main Menu by clicking on 
    the ship icons.
  Mode AI:
    AI = Artificial Intelligence.  This will let the computer 
      play for this ship.
  Mode WASD:
    W = Engine thrust
    A/D = turn
    S = Fires bullets
    X = Drops a bomb (or remotely detonates a live bomb)
    C = Highlights ships and controls
  Mode Directional Arrows:
    UpArrow = Engine thrust
    LeftArrow/RightArrow = turn
    DownArrow = Fires bullets
    KeyPad0 = Drops a bomb (or remotely detonates a live bomb)
    KeyPad1 = Highlights ships and controls
  Mode IJKL:
    I = Engine thrust
    J/L = turn
    K = Fires bullets
    , (<) = Drops a bomb (or remotely detonates a live bomb)
    . (>) = Highlights ships and controls
  Mode JOY1 or JOY2 (Joysticks or gamepads):
    MoveUp/Button#3 = Engine thrust
    MoveLeft/MoveRight = turn
    MoveDown/Button#1 = Fires bullets
    Button#2 = Drops a bomb (or remotely detonates a live bomb)
    Button#4 = Highlights ships and controls

*WEAPON DESCRIPTIONS:
*********************

Both are virtually unlimited, but they are recharged from the 
  ship's central reactor so firing an RCN will temporarily 
  disable a ship's weapons systems.
-Automatic Laser Blasters (ALBs) - A space age version of the
  what amounts to a rapid-fire artillery cannon.  Although the
  energy shells have no physical substance, upon colliding with
  an impenetrable surface an energy blast is released that rocks
  everything within a thirty meter radius.
-Remote Cluster-Nukes (RCNs) - A small nuclear armament with 
  preset ALB charges installed in the warhead.  The RCN is 
  harmless until it arms itself a second or so after release.
  Once armed, it detonates after either coming in contact with
  another object or when the RCN launch switch is pulled a second
  time.  The detonation releases several dozen ALBs and creates
  a ground-shattering shockwave.  Note that bombing a planet's
  lava core with an RCN will create a wave to the surface that
  will temporarily stun every defense turret on the planet.
  When attacking soft, dug-in ground targets, collateral damage
  can be maximized by detonating the RCN moments before impact -
  failure to early detonate will cause most of the blast damage
  to be lost in the crater.  However, if the goal is to destroy a 
  single armored target (such as an enemy ship) then a single 
  armed RCN will cause an enormous amount of hull damage.
  

*GAME SETTINGS:
***************

Open the Burn2.ini file from the game directory (use notepad or
a similar text editor).  If this file does not exist, it will 
be created with default values the next time the game is run.  
Likewise, if the program will not run because the ini file has 
been changed incorrectly, or you wish to restore the defaults,
just delete the burn2.ini file.  By editing this file you have such
options as disabling turrets, removing planets, setting the game to
run in different resolutions or windowed, adjusting the game speed,
playing with vector/line ships instead of bitmaps, etc.

*DISPLAY AND SHIP DAMAGE:
*************************

Each player's Heads Up Display is presented in a color that 
matches their ship's reactor color (the color of their weapon fire
and the center of their ship).  It consists of several measurement
indicators, the most important of which is the THE HEALTH 
INDICATOR.  A ship that has sustained no damage has a full circle
in its HUD square.  A ship that has sustained 25% damage will have
a 3/4 circle, a ship at half health will have a half circle, and
so forth.  Once the shield energy is fully depleted and the circle 
disappears all of the previously absorbed damage is released into
the hull with full force, demolishing the ship and its pilot.
Other information available on the HUD includes:
-A star indicating the ship's absolute position on screen
-A line indicating the ship's current velocity
-A horizontal range finder that indicates how much lateral room
  is available for maneuvering.
-A vertical altitude indicator

*SCORING:
*********

The scores are tallied behind the scenes and saved to the 
"records.txt" file.  This file contains detailed stats about each 
ship, and totals for each team.  The scores file accumulates from 
match to match, but is cleared every time the game is run.

*A NOTE ON THE A.I.:
********************

The Artificial Intelligence is far from unbeatable, but it may be 
a bit difficult for players new to this type of genre.  If you're 
having trouble with one-on-one computer matches, consider 
unbalancing the teams: 2 on 1, 3 on 2, or whatever makes for the 
best matches.  Likewise, if you find that you are naturally the 
Grand Master Champion of Burn 2, and that the AI doesn't provide 
any real challenge, try taking on more than one at a time.  I'm 
good - but not good enough to take on five enemy ships at once.

The A.I. ship mechanics (turn speed, thrust power), shield health, 
reload times, weapon stats, and hull sizes (for scoring hits) are 
identical to the ships controlled by humans.  Their decisions are 
based intelligently on their own speed, heading, locations, 
distance from the ground, and how close they are to other ships.  
They do not take advantage of any lighting fast team communication, 
or otherwise do anything that a human player can't.  Every effort 
has been made in their design to ensure that they look, think, and 
behave just like human players.

*However*: The game supports five human players at once for a 
reason!  Kill your friends, team up on the AI, or just carpet 
bomb planet surfaces together.  Get someone else involved!

*WHAT HAPPENED TO BURN 1?
*************************

Burn 1 was a particle heavy aircraft combat game I programmed in 
1998.  It was my third game ever, and I never completed it because
(A.) I wasn't a good enough programmer to do the AI (and B.) the
gameplay was too rough for any of my friends to get interested in
it.  I've taught myself a lot about game design and programming
since then, and since it's conceptually similar I'm deeming this
the sequel to Burn.

CREDITS:
Graphics, Design, and Programming: 
  Chris DeLeon (Pac-Deli@excite.com)
The sound effects are a combination of my own work along with 
some royalty-free stock sounds dug up in various places.

Most of the MIDI Music is from www.technomidi.com
Adlbtekk 
  By plsmith@lvcm.com in 1999
Another Race
  By the Techno group Eiffel 65 on the Europop album
  Sequenced by Daniel J. Hill (midi@rincewin.demon.co.uk)
Dreamz
  By (unknown artist) found at www.technomidi.com from 1999
Egytech 
  By THeDReaMaSTeR (THeDReaMaSTeR@GeoCities.Com) in 1999
JD Techno 
  By Jonathan Daniel (daniel_jonathan@hotmail.com) 
  http://go.to/d.j.hill
Techrain 
  By Antony (zemel@sisenis.com.latnet.lv) in 1999
Techrap
  By s9510929@babel.ee.up.ac.za in 1999
Vital - Zoetic
  Copyright  1997 by Vital aka Tony (zoetic@mindless.com)

If you created one of the MIDI tracks that I have used in this game
and I was unable to contact you, please accept apology and e-mail
me at Pac-Deli@excite.com if you would like your track removed.  I
did my best to contact the original authors, but most of my contact
references are obscure and out of date so I couldn't count on a 
reply from everyone.  I am not making any money by distributing 
this game, and by including the original title and sequencer for
each freely available MIDI I am giving these authors as much or 
more credit/recognition as they receive when their files are 
downloaded online.
