		    WinLife Beta Test 1 -- README.TXT
		    ---------------------------------

		Program, this file and all related material
		Copyright (C) 1995, John Harper

Introduction
------------

This program allows you to play John Conway's "Game of Life". You can create
patterns and watch them grow according to the rules of the game. Thanks to
its powerful editing facilities, you can make changes to complex patterns
without re-entering them, and you can save them to disk so that you can
re-play them later.

This is the first version to be distributed.  While it contains many
features, there are more that are yet to be added.  In addition, there are
no doubt bugs.  The user interface is necessarily something of an
experiment.  Feedback on any of these aspects would be more than welcome:
see below for how to communicate with the author.

Installation from downloaded file
---------------------------------

Create a directory to contain WinLife (C:\WINLIFE is suggested).  Switch to
this directory, and PKUNZIP the .ZIP file into the directory.

If you want, you can install WinLife as an icon in program manager, but this
is not necessary.

Full instructions for using WinLife are included in the Help file.

Installation from floppy
------------------------

To install the game, get a DOS prompt (either running DOS or in a DOS window
under Windows), and type:

	C:> A:INSTALL
	
The software will be copied into the directory C:\LIFE, which will be created
if necessary.

To make the game accessible under Windows, follow the usual installation
procedure for a new program:

	1. Select the Program Manager window where you want Life to appear.
	2. Click New on the Program Manager File menu.
	3. Fill in the resulting Dialog Box. It is suggested that the
	   working directory also be set to C:\LIFE.
	   
Note that the program will only run under Windows 3.1. Hardware requirements
are minimal: any machine that will run Windows will also run Life. For very
large configurations, correspondingly large amounts of memory are required.

To find out how to use the program, start it and then select Getting Started from
its Help menu.

The Game of Life
----------------

The rules of the Game of Life are described in the Help for the program. The
Game was first publicly described in Martin Gardner's column in the Scientific
American for October 1970. This and two other Martin Gardner articles are
reprinted in "Wheels, Life and Other Mathematical Amusements" (Martin
Gardner, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1983). A treasure trove of material on
the game is contained in the newsletter "Lifeline", produced for eleven
issues between March 1971 and September 1973 by Robert T. Wainwright, if
you can get hold of them.

Some configurations, some simple and some more complex, are included with
the program. To try them, select Open from the File menu and select as
you wish. The filenames are as suggestive as possible within eight
characters.

Two libraries are also supplied: SYSLIB.LFL contains the common basic small
patterns.  SPACSHIP.LFL contains all of the spaceships and similar objects
included in the paper by David Bell.

File Formats
------------

WinLife saves games and libraries in its own format, which is designed to
give very quick loading.

Games and libraries can also be read from XLife format.  There seem to be
several variations of this format; WinLife copes with all that I have
encountered so far.

Bugs and Restrictions
---------------------

1. The clipboard only works within a single copy of WinLife.  Its contents
   not shared with other programs. 

2. If you don't like the default colors, you can change them by editing
   the file C:\WINDOWS\WINLIFE.INI. Under the section [Parameters], you
   can define the following:
   
   	  AliveColor		the color of a normal live cell
   	  GridColor		the color of the grid lines
   	  GridHighlightColor	the color of the selection box in a
   	  			grid display
   	  BornColor		the color of a newly born cell
   	  DiedColor		the color of a cell which has just died 
   	  
   The value of each parameter is an RGB combination, thus:
   
   	[Parameters]
   	AliveColor=255 0 0
   	BornColor=0 255 255
   	
   would make live cells red and newly-born cells cyan.
   
Contact Information
-------------------

I would be delighted to hear suggestions, complaints and (with slightly less
delight) bug reports. You can send them:

	by email to		100143.3053@compuserve.com
	
	by fax to		(+33) 93 12 24 70
	
	by phone to		(+33) 93 12 24 70 (yes, it's the
				same number)
				
	by paper mail to	J Harper
				3 Domaine des Lauriers
				213 Chemin de Peyniblou
				06560 Valbonne
				France
				
Bug reports should be accompanied by as much relevant information as possible,
including a Dr Watson report if applicable.

Please note also that the program is copyright material and is not
in the public domain; an unlimited use licence is granted for this test
version to the recipient of the diskette. Ownership is not transferred.

