README for Bubble Shooter Deluxe 1.6
-------------------------------------

Bubble Shooter is a great addictive arcade game combining simple rules 
with great wealth of combinations and various strategies. It takes the 
best from Tetris, Lines, Pool adding new and cool features. Version 4
doubles the pleasure, and features two main modes Arcade and Strategy.

The information about new versions, upgrades, etc could be found 
on the Web at http://www.absolutist.com/bubbles/

When you ask for support, please include as many details about your problem 
and as much information on your computer as possible. 

This software is copyright (c) Absolutist.com, Icestone Trustee Ltd, 2001.


GAME RULES

Your goal is to clear all the bubbles from the board, scoring as many points 
as possible. You shoot at them with more bubbles, and when three or more of 
the same color come together, they all explode. Point your mouse to where 
you want the next bubble to go (the arrow at the bottom will indicate that 
direction), and click to fire the shot. 

In Strategy mode, new rows will appear when you miss a certain number of
shots - you may take your aim as long as you want. In Arcade mode, they 
will appear when a certain time has passed, whether you miss or not.

The more bubbles blow up at one shot, the increasingly more points you gain 
(six ones at one shot is better than two three-bubble shots). Besides, those 
bubbles that fell apart from the rest will explode too. It is well worth 
trying to arrange such avalanches, as they will give you ten times more 
points than ordinary bursts.

If your shot fails to detonate any bubbles, you get a foul, and after you
make a few such mistakes, a new line of bubbles appears at the top. The 
number of misfires allowed before bubbles will advance again changes from
five to zero, then to back five and so on.  It is shown in the bottom left 
corner by the number of bubbles; those bubbles lay in small dips - their
number shows how many mistakes will be allowed next time. 
Various skill levels differ by the number of shots that you are allowed to 
fire without success. 

One more important rule: if you shoot out all the bubbles of some color,
say red, no more red bubbles will appear on the board. This would ease
things considerably. However, after that every time you use up your
silver balls, *two* new lines will appear. Two colors out - three lines,
and so forth. New lines will also pop out right after you shoot out a
color.

There can be no draw in this game, either you clean all the bubbles off,
or they move all the way down on you. No compromise. 

Do not forget to send your best result to the online tournament - this is
done from the TOP SCORES window.

Be prepared that this game will keep you busy for quite a while.

Good luck!


INSTALLATION

Bubble Shooter is distributed as a self-installing program or a zip archive 
containing the following files:

bubshoot.exe - self-installing executable file
README.txt   - this file
REGISTER.txt - registration information
LICENSE.txt  - legal information

To install the Bubble Shooter on your PC run the "bubshoot.exe" program and 
follow the instructions. The trial copy of the program will expire in 14 days. 
You can obtain a registration key any time during or after the trial period.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! Try Direct Sound option if the game appers to run
without sound. The speed can also be adjusted through the Options window.


REGISTRATION

If you wish to use the full version of this game, with skill selection
and saving on disk enabled, after the trial period, please register it 
securely at

    http://absolutist.com/bubbles/

Registration cost is US $12.50. Please visit the site above to learn
about currently available discounts.

Upgrade is FREE for the registered users of previous versions.

All major credit cards are accepted, as well as checks and orders.
Other registration methods are possible, including fax and postal.
When your payment is completed, you will receive the registration number
and other information by e-mail. Please be careful when filling your 
address into the registration form.


DISTRIBUTION

Bubble Shooter is a shareware ("try before you buy") game. 

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software, including commercial 
applications. Redistributing the program is only allowed if it is not yet 
registered, except for the following restrictions:
1. The authors and origin of this software must be clearly stated,
   you must not claim that you wrote the original software.
2. This copyright notice may not be removed from or altered in a 
   redistribution package.

Registered copies of Bubble Shooter cannot be further redistributed.


DISCLAIMER

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. 
In no event will the Icestone Trustee Limited or Absolutist.com be held 
liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.

Please refer to LICENSE.TXT for details.


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Copyright (c) Absolutist.com, Icestone Trustee Limited, 2001-2002
