  Welcome to Six Stories, multimedia interactive fiction (IF).
  Version 1.0, September 30, 1999.
  N.K. Guy

  tela@tela.bc.ca


* ABOUT SIX STORIES *

  Six Stories was written using TADS, the Text Adventure Development
  System, and thus requires a recent version of the TADS interpreter
  software. Versions of the software are available for most popular
  operating systems, including DOS, Windows, Macintosh and many forms of
  UNIX.

  For more information on obtaining the correct interpreter for your
  computer, go to:

  http://www.tela.bc.ca/tela/tads/

  or

  ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/programming/tads/executables/

  Unfortunately, Six Stories can't work with really old versions of TADS,
  so it's possible you'll have to get an updated copy if you have an older
  version. I very much recommend getting a copy of TADS 2.5.1 or more
  recent.


* ABOUT THE MULTIMEDIA *

  Six Stories includes graphics and sound in addition to text. However,
  since not everyone has graphics- and sound-enabled software on their
  computer, I did not include all the multimedia support files with the
  game. If you'd like to see the illustrations and hear the sound, please
  go to the Six Stories Web site and download the extra files.
 
  [N.B. Some distributions include the resource files. If you don't have
   them, you can also download them from ftp://ftp.gmd.de.  --Comp Organizer]

  And when I say please, I mean - please do! If you have the ability to
  see the images and hear the sound on your computer, please consider
  downloading those extra files. It really is a much cooler game with
  them.

  http://www.tela.bc.ca/six-stories/

  To access the non-text content you need a multimedia-enhanced version of
  the TADS software. At present these are HTML TADS for Windows 32 (ie:
  Windows 95, 98 and NT) and HyperTADS for Macintosh. Unfortunately you
  need a reasonably fast computer to listen to the audio. (eg: fast Pentium
  for Windows or a PowerMac for Macintosh)

  Note that the optional multimedia file "six.rs0" contains all the
  graphics and the optional file "six.rs1" contains all the sound. The
  files must be in the same folder or directory as the game itself.


* WHY THE IMAGES MAY BE SOMEWHAT DARK *

  On some machines, particularly Windows PCs, you may find the graphics
  somewhat dark. The easiest thing to do is to adjust your monitor's
  brightness and contrast until the images look a bit less murky. This is
  sort of an unavoidable problem as all screens differ in their
  appearance, plus Macs and PCs handle screen brightness (technically,
  gamma) differently.


* GETTING HELP *

  If you're not familiar with IF just type 'help' when you see the >
  symbol on the screen and basic introductory help will be displayed to
  you.

  If you're an experienced IF player, be sure to type 'useful' to see a
  list of useful commands that Six Stories supports - many of which are
  unique to Six Stories.


* ABOUT THE INTERACTIVE FICTION CONTEST *

  Six Stories is my entry to the 1999 IF Contest. For more information:

  http://www.textfire.com/


* COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE *

  (what's the point of all the following blah blah? Well, very simply, I
  spent a lot of time and money developing this thing so that anyone who
  wanted to could enjoy it for free. And it would make me very grumpy if
  someone else managed to make any money off it. That's all.)

  The Six Stories game file and all associated resource files (the work)
  are copyright (c) 1999 N.K. Guy, tela design. This includes all text,
  pictures, sound and machine-readable code. The one exception is that
  code portions derived from the standard TADS game libraries are included
  - these portions are copyright (c) 1989-1999 Michael J.  Roberts and are
  included with kind permission. If the TADS interpreter software is
  included with this game, that software is copyright Michael J. Roberts
  and, under certain circumstances, the porter of the code.

  This work is thus freeware but not in the public domain. You may copy it
  and distribute it and play it as much as you like, but you may not
  modify it or sell it or otherwise charge anyone anything for it. You may
  also not include any text, pictures, sound or code from this work into
  another (ie: derivative) work without prior written permission from the
  author. Though fair use for the purpose of critical review and academic
  study is of course OK.

  Online services, bulletin board systems and archive sites may include
  this work in their online file libraries, but may not charge any fees
  for accessing it other than usual connection fees. You may not include
  this work in any disk/CD/DVD/other storage medium compilation or
  magazine or any other form of mass distribution, nor may you include
  this work with any other product as a free extra, without prior written
  permission from the author. Non-profit user groups may include the work
  on their compilations, but I would appreciate a note to that effect.

  N.K. Guy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this
  work, but refrains from asserting any immoral rights. 'tela design' and
  the circular mioga sigil are unregistered trademarks of tela design. All
  other trademarks mentioned in this work belong to their respective
  holders and are duly acknowledged; a mention of these products and
  manufacturers does not constitute an endorsement on the part of the
  author/tela design, etc.

  This work is supplied for free and therefore the author and tela design
  do not offer any warranties, implicit or otherwise, as to the
  suitability of this software for anything at all in the universe. It
  probably won't cause much harm in your life other than consuming time,
  but if it does, we cannot be held responsible.
