User manual GAMES PC DARWINIA

[. . . ] IA IN RW DA ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE VISIT THE WORLD S DARWINIA. . . VIRTUAL THEME PARK FIRST Darwinia. . . Only 29. 99 2 designer of the PROTOLOGIC 68000 on n ti io att ov na ec nil In ag el Im Int A promotional magazine advert from July 1986, two months before Protologic Entertainment filed for bankruptcy PROTOLOGIC ENTERTAIN MENT DR. SEPULVEDA CONTENTS OVERVIEW PROGRAMS VIRUSES BUGS STRUCTURES TECH SUPPORT CREDITS REFERENCE 4 6 10 11 12 14 15 16 3 Darwinia is a Virtual Themepark, built by Dr Sepulveda out of malfunctioning Protologic 68000s. OVERVIEW 4 Darwinia is populated by a sentient evolving life form called the Darwinians. Unfortunately, the systems of Darwinia have been overrun by an evil red Viral Infection. Your task is to destroy the Viral Infection and save the Darwinians. CAMERA Use the W, S, A, D keys to move the camera. You can move the camera up and down by scrolling your mouse wheel, or by pressing Q and E. [. . . ] Thousands of people are expected at the official public "opening" of the Darwinian theme park later this year, and not all of them wellwishers. Security is going to have to be very tight. Already there has been harsh criticism from various religious groups, and even some faint mumblings from animal rights activists. They fear the poor Darwinians are being exploited by their "god", caged up in a virtual zoo for all to come and ogle at, unprotected by real world laws. And of course there are many who are sceptical that what we are seeing in Darwinia is even customs. It is clear that he sees himself as a benevolent but distant father-figure to them. Sepulveda proudly claims that the Darwinians have a "fundamental respect for each other that is far more caring than anything I have witnessed on this Earth". Darwinia It seems, in his fall, Sepulveda was given quite a reality check or at least an ego check. Once described by an unnamed friend as "unbearably arrogant", Sepulveda, in creating his new world, realised that the key to Darwinia could not be designed purely from his own knowledge or experience. The missing ingredient to stir into the digital primeval soup was a system of evolution, that would eventually equip Darwinia's fledgling inhabitants, the Darwinians, with the intelligence to flourish by their own means. Each assigned a strand of digital DNA or a "Spirit", the Darwinians are imprinted with individual characteristics, as well as the ability to learn through their successes and failures in their virtual world. Upon their death, the Spirit is released and returns to a central repository affectionately called "Heaven" by Sepulveda - situated A new era Love him or hate him, genius or madman, one thing that we all have to agree on is that Sepulveda, with his work in Darwinia, has brought us with a jolt headlong into a new era. An era that is both exciting in the new technologies that it brings, but also sobering and even frightening with the new responsibilities placed upon us. And we all have a responsibility in this; benevolent eccentric or not, Sepulveda has opened he door to a new world, reaching far beyond the realms of the mere computer geek, and will undoubtedly impact all of our futures in many new and unpredictable ways. words by P. Perkins T 9 VIRII A destructive corruption of the native Darwinians, these evil creatures will attack anything that comes within range. They're fairly weak and don't do much damage on their own, but they can be found to have replicated in very large numbers, posing a much greater threat. Virii can replicate rapidly by fertilising Eggs (layed by Spiders and Spore Generators) with the Souls of dead Creatures. VIRUSES CENTIPEDE An early mutation of the basic Virii pattern caused them to expand into three dimensions. These bloated and cumbersome creatures were gifted with the ability to hover above the ground out of danger. They are able to seed entire areas with dormant eggs that will hatch into hundreds of Virii if fertilised by the Souls of dead creatures. Thankfully the Eggs they lay cannot survive large falls, so the Spore Generator must descend to within weapons range in order to seed the ground. ARMY ANT Many of the smaller Bugs that existed were corrupted into these creepy nuisances. Individually the Ants are dumb and weak, but when placed together with hundreds of their kin they can be a serious threat due to their Hive intelligence. The Ants will attack anything in range of their Nest, and will carry Souls back for replication into more Ants. 11 CONTROL TOWER STRUCTURES Almost all buildings in Darwinia can be reprogrammed using nearby Control Towers. Many of the buildings have been corrupted by the Virus and need reprogramming before they can be used. [. . . ] While ethical and philosophical questions certainly remain as to the precise nature of this new world, I have no qualms in saying that I am happy to participate therein. I would advise, as a philosopher, that this is certainly open to examination. However, as a fan of the digital medium, I would recommend that anyone with an interest should purchase a ticket to this most interesting of worlds. 13 TECH SUPPORT PRIMARY SUPPORT PAGE http://www. darwinia. co. uk/support/ PROBLEMS GETTING THE GAME TO RUN Make sure DirectX9 or later is installed. Alternatively you can download it from http://www. microsoft. com/directx/ Make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card: NVIDIA (GeForce range) http://www. nvidia. com ATI (Radeon range) http://www. ati. com Perform a Windows Update (from your Start Menu). [. . . ]