Xian Cracktro   by Interceptor

Yo, Dr. Detergent here. Don't listen to most of the things they say here about the "distribution diskette!" cuz it's cracked so you need not worry about the way to make the backup etc etc. I left this doc so you can read some info for the game. XIAN Release Notes - Version 3.0 -------------------------------- Note that the distribution diskette must not be write-protected. The files on it can and should be backed up, using the DOS command COPY. Then if you accidentally delete anything from the distribution diskette, just copy back to it in the same way. Hard disks and RAM drives ------------------------- Since printing the manual, we have added a convenience feature for owners of hard disks. You can copy all the XIAN files to your hard disk, make your hard disk the default, and run from your hard disk. You will appreciate this in the early stages, when you use online help a lot - the help info comes up much faster. You need to leave the distribution diskette (the "key disk") in your floppy-disk drive. If you can leave it in drive A:, do so. If it is not possible for you to use drive A: for the key disk, then you must use the DOS "set" command to specify which drive the key disk is in. For example, if your floppy-disk drive is D:, you would type the command set keydrive=D: before running XIAN. Alternatively, include this line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. To summarize: XIAN uses the following rules when looking for the key disk:- If the default drive is a floppy - the distribution disk must be in the default drive. If the default drive is a hard disk or "RAM disk" or "VDISK" then the distribution disk must be in drive A, except as follows. If you cannot use drive A for the distribution diskette (for example, if you bought XIAN on 5-1/4" diskette and you have a PS/2 with an external 5-1/4" drive) you can set the "key drive" to any other drive (for example B:) by typing the following command at the DOS prompt (or including it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file) - set keydrive=b: Notice that there must be no space after the = sign, and no space at the end. When you run XIAN from your hard disk, it will then look for the distribution diskette in drive B. Saving and Reading Positions ---------------------------- If you run XIAN from your hard disk or RAM disk as described in the previous paragraph, then of course when you save a position without explicitly specifying a disk drive, it will go on the default drive. Interrupting XIAN ----------------- Sometimes, you play a move and then realize immediately that it's a mistake. At the higher levels of play, you don't have to wait for XIAN to complete its analysis and play its best move before you can take back your error. Pressing Alt-S (i.e. holding down the Alt key while typing S) will cause XIAN to cut short its thinking. Note that this doesn't cause an immediate response, it works by momentarily changing the playing level to slightly below level 1. Unusual displays ---------------- XIAN adapts automatically to the standard display types (CGA, MCGA, Hercules, EGA, and VGA). However, some not-quite-compatible clones, for example some Zenith models, can defeat its auto-detect method. If you do not get a display of the position, try starting XIAN by: XIAN C (if you have a CGA-compatible display) or XIAN E (if you have an EGA-compatible display) or XIAN H (if you have a Hercules-compatible display). If you have a graphics card that emulates an EGA display on a monochrome card using shades of gray instead of colors, you might prefer the CGA-mode display to the EGA color choices. We suggest you try it (start by XIAN C). Software incompatibilities -------------------------- A few disk-caching software products are incompatible with XIAN. This has been reported with some versions of ASTCACHE and with some shareware "disk-speedup" programs. (ASTCACHE it a trademark of AST Research, Inc.) If you use a disk-caching product and XIAN will not work, disable caching for the floppy-disk drive which will hold the XIAN diskette. And finally ... --------------- We hope you enjoy this classic game. Please tell us what you think needs to be added to XIAN or improved; we do not promise to incorporate your suggestions into the next version, but we will certainly consider each one. All such suggestions become the property of Leong Jacobs Inc. Write to: XIAN Product Manager Leong Jacobs Inc. 2729 Lury Lane Annapolis, MD 21401-7312 or call (301) 266-3660 or (301) 224-2645.