INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Psion Boy!

What kind of game is Psion Boy? It's difficult to describe. I guess you could say it's a cross between The Legend of Zelda and a real-time strategy game such as Warcraft. The best way to find out is to begin playing and draw your own conclusions.
Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic is Psion Boy's method of attack...he has none. The only way he's able to defend himself is by hypnotizing more hostile characters and getting them to do their dirty work for them. This adds a completely new twist to the stale genre of arcade shoot-'em-ups.

Besides those already mentioned, Psion Boy boasts the following features:
o A high-res, scrolling, overhead view with rendered graphics in thousands of colours.
o Sophisticated AI. Sprites talk, patrol, and attack (but only if they see you)
o Optional two-player LAN play.
o A built-in level-editor.
o DrawSprocket(tm) and NetSprocket(tm) support (eventually InputSprocket(tm))
o The ability to raise your own army of genetic clones. How cool is that?

ABOUT THIS VERSION
The most notable new features are full InputSprocket support, a whole bunch of new levels, better mouse control, and many, many improvements to the game engine. The game has also been sped up yet another 30%, making it faster than ever.

The car is a lot more fun to drive around now, and it begins to play a much larger role in the game.

Should you manage to make it to "The Great Outdoors", you'll notice that some animals will drop some genetic samples, such as hair or other body parts. These samples are very useful - be sure to pick them up. Take the samples to the replicator, and you will be able to clone the original source of the genetic sample. If you can't figure out how to use the machine, ask your friendly helper robot to give you a tour.

REQUIREMENTS
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to test the game on anything lower than a 603/200 MHz, so I have no idea how slow it can get right now. The game does, however, run great on any G3.

There are a few things you can do to speed things up a little. Try turning off Virtual Memory and File Sharing, as well as any other applications running in the background. CPU-stealing extensions.
Psion Boy also requires:
* Mac OS 8.0 or higher (Mac OS 9.0 works just fine too)
* Apple Game Sprockets - These can be downloaded from Apple (if you have OS 8.6 or 9, you already have them)
* Access to a hard disk. Psion Boy will not run on a read-only source such as a CD-ROM
* Navigation Services - These can also be downloaded from Apple (if you have OS 8.5 or higher, you already have it)
* QuickTime version 2.1 or higher. Just about any computer would have this already installed.

HOW TO PLAY
Before you can begin playing, you must create a player file. To do this, click on the "New Player" button on the title screen. Type in your player's name and choose your character's type. A "Hearty" character is a good choice for beginners.
To determine the keys, click on the Options button (on the title screen) and click Configure Keys. Psion Boy's learning curve is fairly shallow. However, hypnotizing can get a little confusing.
To get used to hypnotizing, try starting the "Escape from Prison" level. There will be a guard waiting outside your cell (he's bright green). To get out of your cell, you must hypnotize him and have him open the door for you. Do this by pressing the Space key. This will cause a purple ray to appear out of Psion Boy's eyes. Cover the guard with the hypnoray for a few seconds. He will now be under your control (you'll know when a small bar appears underneath him). To take control of him, press either the Shift key, the 2 key (he's teammate #2), or simply click on him. The Shift key will cycle through all sprites under your control.
Now that you are controlling the guard, cause him to walk into the cell door. To switch back to Psion Boy, either press the Shift key again, or press the 1 key (he's teammate #1), or simply click on him. But watch out! You'll soon lose control of the guard, and when he comes to, he won't be very happy!

NOTE WELL:
If you wish to complete the more difficult levels, you will have to learn the controls very well. One very important thing that you may overlook is the "Follow" command. This causes your teammates (including hypnotized sprites) to follow you around and protect you when you press the "F" key. In order for it to work, your teammates must be withing hearing distance of you. The follow command is essential for controlling large groups of teammates (such as, oh, I don't know, a football team...)

KNOWN BUGS
All bugs that I know of have been fixed. Except for multiplayer. Stay away from multiplayer.

ME
If you have any questions or comments, please email me at:
psionboy@home.com

I LOVE mail, so don't hesitate to drop me a message.

WEBPAGE
Visit Psion Boy's web page at homepage.mac.com/dougkavanagh. I don't have anyone doing the web page for me, so unfortunately it does not get updated very often. But it's sure to be updated at least once per release.

Have Fun!

Doug Kavanagh

Original file name: READ ME - converted on Tuesday, 11 April 2000, 19:37