XARGON 1: BEYOND REALITY
A new release from Epic MegaGames: Intense
arcade action meets bold exploration. You
play the role of Malvineous on an expedition
through gigantic, action-packed levels in
the style of the award-winning Jill of the
Jungle. Excellent 256-color art, highly
animated enemies, Sound Blaster music/sound,
and more! Requires 386/486, VGA, and nerves
of steel.

=============================================================================
Xargon version 3.0 * Instructions & Troubleshooting Info
=============================================================================


Xargon Requires:
* A 386 or faster IBM-compatible PC
* VGA graphics
* Hard disk

Also supports:
* Sound Blaster, SB Pro, and compatible music cards
* Joystick

To start Xargon:

1. Switch to the drive where the game is installed (C:)
2. Switch to the subdirectory where the game is installed (CD \XARGON)
3. Type XARGON to begin.


=============================================================================
Common problems and solutions
=============================================================================


RUNNING WITH WINDOWS AND OS/2
=============================

This game should work properly without music and sound effects under Windows
and OS/2 on most systems if you're able to free up enough main memory.

Here are some more Windows and OS/2 tips:

1. Under Windows or OS/2, you may not be able to use Sound Blaster
music or sound. This is because the Windows and OS/2 music and sound
drivers often conflict with DOS programs which use music and sound.
In order to play with music and sound, run Xargon from DOS.

2. If you encounter any problems running through Windows or OS/2, exit and
run Xargon through plain DOS instead! This will likely solve any
problems you are encountering.

3. Running Xargon through the "MS-DOS Shell" in Windows (or the
OS/2 Dos box) is NOT the same as running it straight from DOS. For
best results, you need to completely exit from Windows or OS/2 and run
Xargon from the DOS prompt.


RANDOM "LOCKUPS" OR CRASHES
===========================

Problem: In the middle of a Xargon game, my computer freezes or locks up.

Solution: Xargon is probably running into a compatibility problem with some
of your TSR's and memory managers. We've tested Xargon with many
combinations of different DOS versions, memory managers, and other
programs, and some combinations will cause random, intermittent lockups.
To avoid this problem, you'll need to restart your computer without
loading any of your normal TSR's and memory managers. Skip down to the
section titled "RESTARTING YOUR COMPUTER" below for exact instructions.


NOT ENOUGH FREE MEMORY
======================

Problem: When I run Xargon, the game refuses to start and gives
me the message "You need (amount) of free memory to run this program".

Solution: You need to free up more main (conventional) memory before
starting Xargon. Here are some solution tips:

1. If you are trying to run Xargon from Windows, completely exit
Windows and run it from DOS.

2. If you are trying to run Xargon from "DOSSHELL" or any other
menu program, please exit from the menu program. Then, run Xargon
from the DOS prompt. Menu programs often occupy enough memory that
there won't be enough left for the game.

If neither #1 or #2 solves the problem, do the following:

1. From the DOS prompt, type "MEM" and press Enter.

2. You'll see a lot of information about your computer's memory. Look at
the number after the words "Largest Executable Program Size". This is
how much memory you currently have available.

Now you need to free up more main memory. To do this, you'll need to boot
your computer without any TSR's or memory managers loaded. Read on for
instructions.


RESTARTING YOUR COMPUTER WITH NO TSR'S OR MEMORY MANAGERS LOADED
================================================================

1. If you're using DOS 6.0 or later, reboot your computer by pressing
RESET or Ctrl-Alt-Del. Wait for the message "Starting MS-DOS..." to come
up. Now press the [F5] key.

This will cause DOS 6.0 to bypass all of your TSR's, memory managers,
and other programs which normally occupy main memory.

Now change into the Xargon directory and begin the game.

2. If you have a version of DOS earlier than 6.0: You need to create a
"boot disk" to allow you to start your computer without loading all
the TSR's and memory managers that take away main memory. Here's how:

A. Put a blank disk in your A: drive and format it as a DOS disk. (Don't
do this in your B: drive - it won't work!) To do this, type the
following command:

FORMAT A: /S

B. Wait while your computer formats the disk.
C. Label the disk "Boot Disk" and keep it handy. You'll need this
disk whenever you want to start Xargon.

Now, you can reboot your computer and play Xargon:

A. Put the boot disk in your A: drive.
B. Restart your computer, either by pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE, by
hitting your reset button, or by turning it on.
C. Wait while your computer boots from the boot disk.
D. After a little while, your computer will stop and give you the A>
prompt.
E. Now change to your hard disk by typing "C:".
F. Go into the Xargon directory by typing "CD \XARGON".
G. Begin by typing "XARGON".

Note to owners of "Stacker", "Superstor", and other hard disk compression
programs: If your C: drive is compressed and you need a boot disk to
start Xargon, you must install it on a different, non-compressed drive.
See your manual for instructions on doing this. (This only applies to
users of DOS version 5.0 or earlier).

NOTE TO NEW SOUND BLASTER OWNERS
================================

Xargon and many other games will work best if your Sound Blaster-compatible
card is set as follows:

IRQ: Either 5 or 7
ADDRESS: 220
DMA: 1

Xargon may work with other IRQ's, but this is not guaranteed. Some of the
newer sound cards support IRQ's 10 and higher, which may not work with
Xargon.

Xargon will only recognize DMA 1. If your sound card is set to DMA 0, 2,
or 3, Xargon will probably not detect your sound card. The only solution
it to set your card to DMA 1.


NOTE TO PRO AUDIO SPECTRUM OWNERS
=================================

Xargon should work fine with the PAS, PAS+, and PAS-16 sound cards.

Important! To run Xargon on any Pro Audio Spectrum sound card, you
need to have the PAS drivers loaded properly. Xargon will only recognize
your PAS card if the drivers are loaded. See your PAS manual for
instructions on loading the right PAS drivers in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files.


NOTE TO GRAVIS ULTRASOUND OWNERS
================================

After working closely with several versions of the SBOS Sound Blaster
emulation program, we haven't been able to get Xargon to work reliably
on the Gravis Ultrasound board. We appologize for the lack of Ultrasound
support in this game, but we promise to have Gravis support in at least
four new Epic releases in 1994, so stay tuned!


MISC NOTES
==========

Our testers have noted that running Thunderbyte Anti-Virus version 6.08 on
Xargon may falsely indicate that two data files (BOARD_01.XR1 and
BOARD_03.XR1) are infected. We have looked into this in great detail and
verified that Thunderbyte is incorrect.


CONTACTING EPIC'S TECH SUPPORT
==============================

If you need further assistance, please call our tech support department
at 301-983-9771 between 9AM and 5PM Eastern Standard Time, or fax us
at 301-299-3841. You can also contact us online:

COMPUSERVE:
Mail: 70007,1631
Messages & Files: GO EPIC

INTERNET:
Mail: 70007,[email protected]
FTP: ftp.ulowell.edu

THE SHAREWARE SUPPORT BBS (Herts, England):
Contact: Epic MegaGames
2400-14.4K Baud: +44 (0) 442-891-109

Thanks. We hope you enjoy Xargon!

- The entire crew at Epic MegaGames