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SarienDC Documentation

+-------------------------------------------+
| SarienDC v1.1                             |
| Copyright (c) 2002 Ganksoft Entertainment |
+-------------------------------------------+

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Table of Contents
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0.0 Introduction
    0.1 What's New

1.0 Burning Instructions
    1.1 Self-boot Images
    1.2 Individual Files
    1.3 Game Files
    1.4 Additional Information
      
2.0 Controls

3.0 Known Issues

4.0 Contact Information

5.0 Acknowledgements
    5.1 Ganksoft Staff
    5.2 Sarien Team
    5.3 The Rest

6.0 Closing Words

7.0 Legal Info


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0.0 - Introduction
------------------
    Sarien is a Sierra AGI resource interpreter engine that enables you to
play early Sierra On-Line(tm) AGI version 2 and version 3 games, as well as
AGI games written by other people.

    Sarien is covered by the Free Software Foundation's GNU Public License
and is an open source development. Up to date information and anonymous CVS
is available at http://sarien.sourceforge.net/.

    Please note that Ganksoft Entertainment has only created a port of
Sarien to the Dreamcast.  Please see the above link for more information on
the base Sarien project.

----------------
0.1 - What's New
----------------
    - Save game support
        SarienDC will attempt to save games to the very first VMU it finds.
        Every slot for every game will be separate save and will take up 11
        blocks on your VMU.  You save a game in Sarien the same way you would
        originally...off the game's menu or by typing "save" at the game's
        prompt.  Same goes for restoring.  The game saves can be managed using
        the standard Dreamcast file management screen.
    - Mouse support
    - Improved throttling
    - Improved keyboard (no more dropped characters for fast typists)
    - Improved sound
    - Bug fixes to many interpreted games


--------------------------
1.0 - Burning Instructions
--------------------------
    SarienDC can be burned in one of two ways.

---------------------
1.1 - Self-boot Image
---------------------
    Two self-boot images are provided, one for Disc Juggler v3.0 and one for
Nero Burning ROM.  For more information on Disc Juggler, please visit
http://www.padus.com .  For more information on Nero, please visit
http://www.nero.com .
    If your CDR drive is not supported by Disc Juggler or Nero, please read
the section 1.2 for information on making your own program CD.  Please see
section 1.3 for information on burning a separate CD with the Sierra games
to be played.

----------------------
1.2 - Individual Files
----------------------
    The second distribution is all of the individual files that are included
in the Disc Juggler/Nero images, but instead of burning a prepared disc
image, you will need to burn the files as they are layed out in the .zip
file.  This will require you to either make the disc self-boot on your own,
or will require the use of some type of boot disc.

    The layout for this CD is as follows:

    /1ST_READ.BIN
    /GFX
        FONT.GSI
        GANKSOFT.GSI
        INSERT.GSI
        MENU.GSI
        TITLE.GSI
        WAIT.GSI

    Additionally, you can put your games on this CD.  Please see the next
section on how to do this.

    PLEASE NOTE: At this time, Ganksoft will not be providing detailed
instructions on creating your own self-boot Dreamcast CDs.  Please see
section 1.4 for some web sites that contain detailed information on how to
make your own self-boot CDs.

----------------
1.3 - Game Files
----------------
    The games that this interpreter is capable of playing are listed in
the included file, "sarien.cfg".  If it isn't on the list, it doesn't
work.

    If you've burned the self-boot disc image listed in section 1.1, you
will need to create a separate CD filled with your own Game data files.
This CD should be burned in Mode 1 format.
  
    If you are making your own self-boot CD from section 1.2, these files
can be burned onto the same CD eliminating the disc swap.
  
    In either situation, just copy the data files into a subdirectory of any
name under a master subdirectory named "GAMES".  For example, your CD layout
might look like the following:

        /GAMES
            /LSL
                [data files]
            /SQ1
                [data files]
            /SQ2
                [data files]
            /...etc...

    The data files needed for each game are based on the version of the
interpreter that the game uses.

    For a AGI V2 games you only need the following files:
        logdir
        object
        picdir
        snddir
        viewdir
        vol.*
        words.tok

    For an AGI V3 game you need:
        *dir    (eg: bcdir, dmdir, grdir, kq4dir, mhdir)
        *vol.*  (eg: bcvol.*, dmvol.*, etc)
        object
        words.tok

    In the above, "*" means any file which matches.  For example, "vol.*"
would mean the files "vol.0", "vol.1", "vol.2", etc.

    If you don't see any of the above files in the game you are trying to
run, you are using a game that is not supported by this version of Sarien.
Most likely, you're trying to play a VGA re-released of an original game
(the re-release of Leisure Suit Larry 1, for example).

    When you start the program from the self-boot, swap the program CD for
the Game CD when prompted and leave this CD in the drive for
the duration of the program.

----------------------------
1.4 - Additional Information
----------------------------
    You may find useful burning information at the following sites.  These
are not affiliated with Ganksoft in anyway so we cannot be held responsible
for what the pages may contain.
  
    http://www.dcemulation.com/
    http://www.boob.co.uk/
    http://www.dcvision.com/
    http://mc.pp.se/dc/


--------------
2.0 - Controls
--------------

    **** SARIENDC ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY REQUIRES A KEYBOARD!!! ***

    Game Selection
        Up / Down arrow - Move highlight bar by one game
        Page Up / Page Down - Move highlight by bar one page
        Enter - Select game
      
    In-game keys are identical to their interpreted game keys.  Press F1
when in the game to see the game's help menu.


------------------
3.0 - Known Issues
------------------

    - Switching between several games in the same session can cause weird
results.  There is some portion of Sarien that is not being "cleaned up"
properly in a multi-game scenario.


-------------------------
4.0 - Contact Information
-------------------------
    Before sending us email, please be sure you've read this document in its
entirely.  If you still have questions, please check our web site at
http://www.ganksoft.com and look in the "Support" section to see if your
question is already answered.  If all else fails, you may contact us at
[email protected] .


----------------------
5.0 - Acknowledgements
----------------------

--------------------
5.1 - Ganksoft Staff
--------------------
    - Brian Peek
        Lead Programmer
    - Bob Thayer
        Lead Artist
    - David Wallimann
        Lead Musician
    - Mike Kilcullen
        Materials Coordinator
      
-----------------
5.2 - Sarien Team
-----------------
    Please see included AUTHORS file for more information.

--------------
5.3 - The Rest
--------------
    - Dan Potter
        Author of KOS


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6.0 - Closing Words
-------------------
    Please be aware the Ganksoft CAN NOT AND WILL NOT provide ANY
information on obtaining game data files  Also note that we will NOT provide
any information on burn methods NOT listed above.  You should only be using
games that you are legally entitled to have in your posession.


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7.0 - Legal Info
----------------

THIS PROGRAM IS NOT ENDORSED BY, LICENSED BY, WARRANTED BY, OR IN ANY OTHER
WAY CONNECTED WITH SEGA ENTERPRISES.

Sega and Dreamcast are registered trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Mustard Free for her pleasure.