Welcome to Tobiah's Quest v1.0!

     PLEASE!!! Read this first!  You need this entire document!

DISCLAIMER - the necessary evil

In no event shall Crossoft Software, or any of its game designers be held
responsible for any damage done to software, hardware, or other related or
non-related items, whether consequential, accidental, or otherwise occurring.
By using the program, the user assumes full responsibility for the game's
results, and whether the results are poor or fair, Crossoft Software and its
game designers shall not be held responsible at any time.  By running the
program TOBIAH.EXE, the user also acknowledges reading and accepting this 
README.1ST file in its entirety, including the disclaimer.

The likenesses of the characters in the game Tobiah's Quest including TOBIAH,
TALMAI, WILTUS, EVILUS, the BOAT SALESMAN, the MOUNTAINEER, and other 
characters are the property of Crossoft Software.  No similarity between the 
names, characters, persons, and countries in this game with those of any 
living or dead person or country is not intended, and any similarity that may 
exist is purely coincidental.

After that harsh beginning (that shouldn't ever have to be applied!) . . .

Here are a few hints to help you get started better -- faster.

First of all, don't get bored with the game before you get anywhere.
The key is:
    Wander till you can't anymore!  You WILL find things as you MOVE and
    TURN in every possible direction.  You will KNOW if you are stranded
    and have to start over or restore.  If you're still stuck, read the
    end of this for some hints.

For smoothest operation, 
    1) Have a disk-caching program installed, such as MS-DOS's
       SMARTDRV, which automatically caches your hard disk, improving
       speed when changing scenes by about 500%.  Disk-caching programs
       work best with machines with at least 1 MB RAM.  Although not 
       necessary, it improves speed and eliminates waiting boredom.

    2) MAKE SURE that your mouse driver program is 100% Microsoft-
       compatible.  Anything not 100% compatible may result in problems
       in program execution, including a bouncing cursor, disappearing
       cursor, or no cursor at all.  If your mouse driver is not 
       Microsoft-compatible, attempt to use the MOUSE.COM program included
       with MS-DOS in its place.

       I CANNOT EMPHASIZE #2 ENOUGH!  CUSTOMERS REPEATEDLY EXPERIENCE ANY
       NUMBER OF ERRORS AND BUGS WHEN THEIR MOUSE DRIVER IS NOT 100% 
       MICROSOFT COMPATIBLE!

    3) Free all TSR's from memory except a mouse driver and a disk-caching 
       program.  This will eliminate any other memory conflicts.

Game Play

  I) The Land

    Tobiah lives on the island of Saridia in the land of Parablus.  The 
    climate there is moderate all year round, making it very suitable for
    livestock tending.  This is Tobiah's job:  maintaining his master Wiltus'
    sheep flock.

 II) The Game

    Most of the control you perform is done with the mouse.  This is done in
    two ways:  1) the Move commands and 2) the Menu.

    The basic movement directions (North, South, East, and West) are used.
    To move in any direction, bring the mouse to the edge of the playing 
    screen.  The directions are relative:  for example, if you are facing 
    south, the left side is East, right is West, bottom is North, and top is
    South.  When you move the mouse cursor to bring up one of these 
    direction listings, click with the left mouse button to move that way.

    The other controls are located in the main menu located at the top of
    the screen.  To open this hidden menu, move the mouse cursor to the very
    top of the screen.  

III) The Menu

    The first choice is FILE.  To choose this click on it with the left mouse
    button.  Then, you have the choice of LOADing, SAVEing, QUITting or 
    RESTARTing your game.  Choose one of these or press the right mouse
    button to leave the menu.

    Choosing LOAD or SAVE will bring up the file activity screen.  You can 
    choose to SAVE or LOAD a game, continue your game with PLAY, or QUIT.

    The second choice is HELP.  This will give you general help for the
    game.  To quit the HELP, click on Exit.

    The other choices include:

    LOOK:  Click on this, and then you may click on any object or area on
    the screen, and you will be told of what is of significance there.

    GET:  This works the same as look, except that whatever you click on,
    you will pick up (or at least try to!)

    MOVE:  This works the same as the general Move command by moving the
    cursor to screen edges

    TURN:  Instead of moving in a certain direction, you can remain in the
    same place you are and only turn to face a different direction.  The 
    direction you are facing will be highlighted.  Many special items
    may be seen when you turn every possible way.

    STATUS:  This opens your Status screen, which displays your current
    life and wisdom levels, shows you where you are on the island map, lists
    the items you have in possession, and lets you change your active item.


 IV) Special things

    You may open the Status screen at almost any time by pressing F4.

    You may open the Save/Load screen at almost any time by pressing F5.

    When fighting an animal or person, pressing F4 will allow you to change
    your active weapon, which is necessary often.

    Conversations come up often.  Make sure you save your game every time you
    make progress in case you make a mistake by being killed or say the wrong
    things to someone, when they may help you in your quest.

    If you meet a dead end, reload an older game and try different statements
    when having conversations.  

    Don't get bored.  Wander everywhere.  Many things will appear as the game
    progresses, many of which were not there before.

    When saving a game, choose File, then Save.  Then, on the four-part menu
    for file options, choose Save.  It will highlight if it is available at
    the present time.  This will open up the saved game directory.  Click in
    any box in the grid.  Clicking in an empty box will allow a new saved 
    game, and clicking on a previously used box will overwrite a game.  Press
    ESC while typing a saved game name to cancel, or if you complete the name,
    press Enter.

Troubleshooting:

    1) If no pictures appear, not enough memory is available.

    2) Problems with the mouse cursor are probably a result of the mouse
       driver.  Use the MOUSE.COM program provided with MS-DOS.
   
    3) Other problems, please write to Crossoft Software, and explain the
       situation, the items collected at that point, and what you tried to
       do when this error occurred.

To order the full program, Tobiah's Quest, send:

    1) A check to Crossoft Software of $30.00 ($27.50, plus $2.50 shipping/
       handling)
    2) Print out the file ORDER.FRM and fill it out
    3) Send the order form to:

        Crossoft Software
        P.O. Box 377
        Portersville, PA 16051-0377



HINTS:

    1) Turn north at the beginning
    2) Another shepherd is in the southwest
    3) Angry men wait atop Longsuffering Mountain
    4) Work on getting transportation from the island, at the only dock
    5) You'll never run out of lynxes
