                                 G E T   5 !

COPYRIGHT

     This program is COPYRIGHTED FREEWARE.
     The program code is Copyright (C) 1998-99 by Klaus Tadsen.
     The title melody is Copyright (C) 1998 by Meike Tadsen (9 years).
     All rights are reserved.



THE GAME

     The aim of this game is to place 5 of your `marbles` in a row, horizontal,
     vertical or diagonal.Your opponent is the computer who obviously also 
     tries to place 5 of his pieces in a row and win himself.

     You can move around on the board with your mouse. Select any of the empty
     fields and place one `marble` on it by pushing the left mouse button. 
     After you made your move it`s the computer`s turn, who tries to block you. 
     If you click on an occupied field, you will see the field where the last
     move was made to! 

     When you do well, you receive points and will be placed in the high 
     scoring table. But you can earn even more points by winning not only
     one match, but a series of matches. This will increase your score. 
     But if you loose, the series ends and you have to start over.



THE MENU
     
     Scroll a list of players by clicking with your left mouse button on the
     name or type in a new player.

     Click on `sound`, to switch sound on or off.

     Click on `level` to chose one of three.
     Level 1 is easy, level 3 is strong. The higher the level, the more 
     points you will receive. The default setting is level 1.

     Click on `exit` to end the game from the menu or hit `F4` at any time
     during the game. 

     Clicking on `high score` leads to the high scoring table.
     The alltime-highscore file will only accept one entry / player. 

     The program will keep your favorite settings.


STRATEGY

     The clue is that you have to combine your pieces so that they work
     together. Let`s take an example:

           O                                                    O   
           O         X means a piece of yours, O means          O
           X         an empty field and # is your opponent`s    X
     O O X O X O O   one. If you could reach a situation  O O X X X O O
           X         like this, you might put your              X
           O         next piece right in the middle.            O
           O         Now you have two rows of three             O
                     pieces with open ends. The computer 
                     can only put his piece at one open
                     end.

                                   O
                                   O
                                   X
                               # X X X O
                                   X
                                   X
                                   O

     Now you have the chance to place your piece to the row with the two
     open ends. Now it is a row of four pieces with open ends. This is 
     unbeatable, because if your opponent places his piece at one end, you 
     put yours at the other and reach `5 in a row`.

          O           There are lots of different              X
          X           situations like this.Find them,          X
          X           use them and you will be the             X
      # X X X O                  CHAMP!                    # X X X O
          X           But...you have to watch computer`s       X
          #           moves to block situations like           #
                      this.


CONTEST

     I am running a highscore contest on my web page.

           http://get.to/get5

     I would be pleased if you submit your score ONLINE on my webpage 
     or via email to:

                                        get5.1@email.com

     There is a checksum-test in the score itself to make the contest 
     a little serious. This simply means some numbers are ok, others
     are not... 

     You can download a highscore file with the top ten players from
     the URL above.

INSTALLATION

     This program is made for DOS 3.0 or later.It will also run as
     a full screen DOS application under Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and 98,
     but not NT !!
     You should have a VGA Graphic card and a properly installed
     DOS (!!) mouse driver. The program provides soundblaster support. 

     The zip file contains the following files:

     get5_xx.exe       the run file
     get5_xx.dat       the graphics data
     get5.ico          an icon for installing the game under windows
     readme.txt        this file
     file_id.diz       file description for BBS systems
     vendinfo.diz      vendors info
     get5.hsc          the high score file 

NEW VERSIONS

     Lookout for new versions on the `GET 5!` homepage

           http://get.to/get5


HISTORY

     If I had known, that this little game would become such a success,
     I would have made a history file from the version 1.0 :)
     So, my history starts from version 4.2:
    
     Version 4.3  19,dec,1998
     Improved the visibility (blinking marble) of the `last move`.      
     Now supporting soundblaster soundcards on base address 220h.
     Removed input of old version`s high-score files.

     Version 4.3a  5,jan,1999
     Now supporting `odd` soundcard addresses
     You can abort start-up music by hitting `escape` 
     
     Version 4.3b  15, march, 1999
     Little change in level 1 scoring.

     Version 4.3c  22, march, 1999
     Fixed bug. get 5! was crashing on platforms without soundcard.

     Version 4.3d  20, april, 1999
     More space for names in the 'all-time' highscore table.

     Version 4.4 was never released :o)

     Version 4.5  7, may, 1999
     new scoring algorithm. The old one locked up after a winning series
     of 80 games or so. This means a new contest will start soon on my 
     homepage!!

     Version 4.5a 17, may, 1999
     small change in highscore file format.

     Version 4.5b 18, may, 1999
     minor bugfix

     Version 4.6  22, may, 1999
     improved the game engine and reorganized the levels. 

     Version 4.6a-e  15, june, 1999
     some bugfixes 

     To be continued...:)


WARRANTIES

     No warranties of any type are made for this program, its manual, 
     and the associated graphics files regarding their functionality, 
     usability, or suitability for any purpose.  This software is 
     provided on an "as is" basis. Users of this software bear the entire
     risk for its use.  The author will not be liable for any special, 
     incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss 
     of data or any other reason under any circumstances.  In no event 
     shall the author's liability for any damages ever exceed the price 
     paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of 
     the claim.



COMMENTS

     If you can upload the game to any game related area, ftp-server, BBS...
     ...just do it!!      THANKS

     The typos are no typos....it`s my english :(
     Don`t hesitate to correct me!! 
     Please feel free to email your comments to 

                                                       get5.1@email.com

     Have fun...