Diamonds in the Rough by Atropos Studios

To Len Green
who gives so much to the genre, and never asks for anything in return

LICENSING AGREEMENT
This package is a computer game called Diamonds in the Rough (hereinafter "Software") by Atropos Studios (hereinafter "Company"). The use of the Software constitutes your acceptance of the following terms and conditions and your Agreement to abide by them. This is a legal Agreement between you, the end user, and the Company. By using this package you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of the Agreement. You, the end user, are granted a nonexclusive license to use this Software under the terms stated in this Agreement. This license allows you to use this Software in your design environment. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the Software to a human perceivable form. You may not copy or reproduce the Software or the Documentation except to make one (1) archival copy of the Software for your personal backup purposes. You may not transfer this archival copy or permit this archival copy to be transferred to any other person or entity via any public or private means whatsoever, whether for compensation or not, unless this archival copy is part of a one-time permanent transfer of the Software, the Documentation, and all rights to use the Software and the Documentation granted by this Licensing Agreement. Company retains full ownership, title, and all other rights to the copy of the Software contained on your archival media, and all of the terms of this Licensing Agreement apply to this archival copy as if it was the original Company-produced copy of the Program that was furnished to you when you paid the licensing fee. The Company warrants that the Software, when properly installed and used with the Designated Equipment, will perform substantially as described in this documentation.. The Company will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to the loss of data, loss of business profits, business interruption or any other reason arising from the use of this Software. If any provision of this Agreement is found void, invalid or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the balance of this Agreement, which shall remain valid and enforceable in its terms. All characters in this game are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Should you have any question concerning this Agreement, please contact: Atropos Studios http://www.atropos-studios.com

1. REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Requirements: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/VISTA with DirectX 5 or above Pentium IV 1GHz CPU or equivalent DirectX-compatible graphics card with 64MB of RAM or more and supporting 24-bit color 128 MB RAM Screen resolution of at least 800x600 360MBs of free space

Recommended Requirements: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/VISTA with DirectX 5 or above Pentium IV 1.8GHz CPU or equivalent DirectX-compatible graphics card with 128MB of RAM or more and supporting 24-bit color 256 MB RAM Screen resolution of at least 800x600 360MBs of free space DirectX compatible Sound Card

2. SETUP

You can setup the game by running the file winsetup.exe. In most cases, the default setup options do not need to be modified:

The game's resolution is 800x600. Choosing a 400x300 resolution will result in a considerable graphics distortion; you should only do it if you have an old processor and the game is too slow for you to enjoy. Anti-alias scaled sprites also make the graphics look better and are recommended for fast CPUs. The best idea would be to experiment with the settings; if you're happy with the game's speed with the default options, then leave them as they are. Note also that the game is designed to be played in full-screen. CAUTION: The Downgrade 32-bit graphics to 16-bit option should never be selected as it may render the game unplayable.

3. STORY
Diamonds in the Rough is a 3rd person, point & click adventure game. You play the role of a 20 year old American called Jason Hart. Jason is a high school dropout who works as an office boy. All that is about to change in the beginning of our story, when he is approached by a mysterious man who seems to know more about him than Jason does himself. The man claims to represent an organization that recruits people who are believed to have "special abilities". Those abilities could be telepathy, telekinesis, or other extraordinary powers. Jason has had such an ability all his life, fearing to admit it to himself, let alone others. He accepts the job offer for this organization, which is called "Diamonds in the Rough". The story begins as soon as Jason moves to a town in the Midwest, where he will be employed doing this mysterious "work". He will soon start to wonder who he is really working for, and what the purpose of the organization is. Jason begins the game as an average 20 year old, who hadnt given his future much thought before he was approached by Diamonds in the Rough. Until then, he used to live in a small town with his mother. Hes a loner by nature and he doesnt make friends easily. He has a kind of raw intelligence of which, much like his special skills, hes not even aware. Overall, Jason starts off as a simple, innocent young man, but expect him to change dramatically before you see the end of the game. DITR was founded by a woman called Corinne Feller in 1989. Feller passed away a few years later, but others decided to continue her work. Their official purpose is to locate people with paranormal abilities, recruit them, confine them in a secure environment and study them out of scientific interest. Whether that is all they do or not is a question that torments our hero. Diamonds in the Rough is the first product of Atropos Studios. Our goal is to create quality adventure games, keeping in mind the values that made the genre popular during its golden era (late 80s early 90s). We do not believe that the genre has to change in order to evolve; we believe in the modernization rather than in the degeneration of adventure games.

4. PLAYING THE GAME USING THE INTERFACE

Even if you are an experienced adventure game player, we recommend that you read this section thoroughly in order for you to be able to fully understand the interface. As soon as the game begins, you will see a video, the Atropos Studios logo screen and the AGS logo screen. Note that these screens can by bypassed by pressing Escape. You will then be presented with this screen:

Start New Game: Start the game for the first time. Although the introduction can be skipped by pressing ESCAPE, it is absolutely imperative that you watch it at least once. Restore Game: Restore a previously saved game. Credits: The games Credits.

Quit: Exit to Windows.

During the game, the main elements of the Interface are the User Bar, the Game Screen and the Mouse Cursors. The User Bar

The User Bar is situated at the top of the screen and is always visible. You can see the buttons on the left, which stand for: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I: Inventory Bar T: Thoughts Panel L: Restore game S: Save game E: Exit to Windows

Jasons current thought is displayed next to the buttons, while the hotspot your mouse cursor is above is displayed on the right.

The Game Screen

This is where all the action takes place. Inside the Game Screen you can move Jason around, have him pick up objects, talk to other characters and interact with the environment. On some occasions Jason will not be visible. Clicking the left mouse button on something will perform an action, depending on the Cursor youre currently using. Clicking the right mouse button will cycle through the available Cursors. The Walk Cursor

The Walk Cursor can only be selected when Jason is visible in the room. Clicking it on various locations on the screen will make him go there, as long as there is a path. When you position the Walk Cursor above a room's exit, it will change to a

Door Icon, making it easier for you to figure out how to leave a location. Note that all room Exits can be clearly displayed by pressing the TAB key on your keyboard.

The Examine Cursor

When you use the Examine Cursor on something or someone, you will get a description. Click it on Jason if you want to know what time it is.

The Use Cursor

If you want to pick up an object or interact with something on the Game Screen, you need the Use Cursor.

The Talk Cursor

Clicking the Talk Cursor on a character will make Jason go and talk to him / her. On most occasions, you will see a list of available dialogue lines. You can select the line Jason is going to say either by clicking on it or by pressing the key number that corresponds to it. You can skip through a dialog line by either clicking your mouse button or pressing any key.

The Inventory Cursor

This cursor will look like the inventory item youre currently holding. Clicking on the right mouse button will not make it appear unless Jason is holding something. Note that if youre holding the Post-It in the Main Screen, you will be able to scroll through Jasons available thoughts with the mouse wheel.

The Arrow Cursor

The Arrow Cursor is not selectable in the Main Screen. It is automatically displayed in the Main Menu or when you are using an interface. The Inventory Bar

By clicking the I button of the User Bar, the Inventory Bar will be displayed, showing all the items Jason is currently carrying. It will remain on screen until you select an item or move your cursor outside it. Only the Examine Cursor and the Use Cursor may be selected while the Inventory Bar is open. Inventory items can be examined or selected for use in the main screen or on another inventory item. The Post-It is a special inventory item that carries Jasons current thought. You may use it on a hotspot or character as you would with any other item. The Thoughts Panel

By clicking the T button of the User Bar, the Thoughts Panel will be displayed. It will remain on screen until you press T again, or until you move your cursor outside it. Think of it as a second inventory. As you progress in the game, new thoughts are added and old thoughts disappear. When a new Thought is added, you see a light bulb above Jasons head and a sound effect is played. A simple thought is a character's name, for instance. A more complex one can be a situation, like a meeting Jason just had or something he saw. Thoughts can be examined, combined together or used anywhere in the Main Screen, just like all inventory items. A Thought description can change several times in the game. By clicking the Use Cursor on a Thought, it becomes Jasons current thought. You can always see what Jasons current thought is by looking at the User Bar. The PostIt inventory item assumes its color and properties. The Save Game Panel

By clicking the S button of the User Bar, the Save Panel will be displayed. Click on an empty box to add a new save game, or on a filled box to overwrite an old one. A screenshot of your current saved will be placed in the box and you will be prompted to name your savegame. You can have up to 100 savegames in Diamonds in the Rough. The Save Panel also displays your current Score.

The Load Game Panel

By clicking the L button of the User Bar, the Load Panel will be displayed. You can restore a previous savegame by either double clicking on it or selecting it and clicking on OK. The Load Panel also displays your current Score. The Quit Panel

Press the E button when youre ready to quit the game and exit to Windows.

5. SHORTCUT KEYS
Diamonds in the Rough features a number of Shortcut Keys. My advice to you is to learn how to use them as they are the fastest way of selecting game features. Note that the shortcut keys only work in the Main Screen, and not while a Panel or a dialog is displayed.

Escape F8 F9 F12 1-5* W Q A S D TAB

Skip Introduction screens Dialog Caption On/Off Restart Game Save screenshot Set music volume: 1 (softest) 5 (loudest) Select Walk Cursor Select Inventory Cursor Select Examine Cursor Select Use Cursor Select Talk Cursor Display Exits

* The numeral buttons to be pressed are those on the regular keyboard, not those on the
numeric-pad on the right.

6. TROUBLESHOOTING

The game was tested thoroughly by a number of people on different computer environments. Normally, there shouldn't be any bugs or any other flaws in it. Please make sure that your system meets the games minimum requirements. If you think you have found a problem, please contact us at http://www.atroposstudios.com/contact.html describing the situation in as many details as possible.

7. CREDITS
Game concept and design: Alkis Polyrakis Script Programming: Alkis Polyrakis Additional scripting: Nikki Mallon Andrew MacCormack Christian Gaertner Michael Rittenhouse Product Manager: Charoula Laina Graphics: Fox 3D studios: Denis Lis - President Jura Kalinkin - Modeler Regina Timoshenko - Additional Graphics and Postproduction Music and Sound Effects: Nikolas Sideris Sound Engineering: Nikolas Sideris

Financial Consultant: Fotini Kondouli Animation: Mat Recardo Additional Art Design: Luigi Freguglia Font Design: Vagelis Daskalos Voice Acting: Alex Rudy (Jason Hart) Al Connors (William Hungerton) Louise Garceau (Sydelle Williams) Donna Cuddemi (Nadine Conner, Gertrude) Rick Wiseman (Curtis Sloan, Simon Davenport) Joe Cuddemi (Mark) Matt Baker (Henry) Bob Elliott (Cornelius Brown) Jake Cuddemi (Jerry) Bobbie Owens (Claire Stewart) Bruce Martin (Robert Bennett, superintendent)

Scientific Committee: Nikki Mallon Apostolos Terlis Spyros Paraschis Charoula Laina Christos Nikolakakos Mark Williams Vagelis Daskalos Robert Swift Effie Chionidi Nikos Andreou Christos Stamatopoulos English Consultant: Len Green Beta Testing and Ideas: Len Green Panayotis Pantazis Valerie Davis Pantelis Kekatos Charoula Laina Agustin Cordes Effie Chionidi

Jo Jones Nikki Mallon Paul Nardone Dave Fisher Doug Bradley Spiritual Advisor: Bisblifflurayath Assistant Spiritual Advisor: Asxthryafroth Game Engine: Adventure Game Studio by Chris Jones

Copyright 2007 Atropos Studios All rights reserved