Owen's FreeGEM Distribution 1.2
Copyright (c) Owen Rudge 2000

13th January 2001

******************************************************************************
* Owen's FreeGEM Distribution 1.2                                            *
*                                                                            *
* Copyright (c) 1987 Digital Research, Inc.                                  *
* Copyright (c) 1999 Caldera Thin Clients, Inc.                              *
* Copyright (c) 1999-2001 FreeGEM Programmers                                *
* Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Owen Rudge                                         *
*                                                                            *
* AUTHORS (except old DRI authors)                                           *
* ================================                                           *
*                                                                            *
* Desktop by Ben A. L. Jemmett                                               *
* AES by John Elliott                                                        *
* VDI by Eathan Clark                                                        *
* Output by Owen Rudge                                                       *
* GDScript by Heinz Rath                                                     *
* Sound Drivers by Heinz Rath                                                *
* GEMP3 and MIDI Player by Owen Rudge                                        *
* Owen's FreeGEM Distribution Setup by Owen Rudge                            *
*                                                                            *
* See the FreeGEM Desktop About dialog for more information.                 *
******************************************************************************

Thank you for downloading my FreeGEM distribution! This contains the latest
system components, video drivers and some applications.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===========================

- DOS 2.0 (or compatible) or higher
- XT PC with an 8086 or better processor
- 256kb free memory (not total, DOS uses some)
- CGA, EGA, VGA, SVGA, Hercules or other supported video card
- About 1.3mb of hard disk space (full install). GEM will run off floppy disks.

For GEMP3:

- 80386 processor or better
- At least 2mb of extended memory

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===============================

- DOS 3.2 or higher
- A 386 or better processor
- 640kb total memory
- VGA or better video card
- Over 2mb of free hard disk space
- A mouse

For GEMP3:

- 80386 processor or better
- At least 4mb of extended memory

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=========================

To install FreeGEM, run the SETUP.EXE file. This will set up your system and
make it ready-to-run.

IMPORTANT: Please see LICENSE.TXT before using this software.

Setup is much quicker if you have disk-caching software such as SMARTDRV on
your computer, or if you run Setup from Windows 9x.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This release contains a choice of video drivers. You can choose your video
driver during Setup.

If you install FreeGEM to a directory other than the root directory (e.g.,
C:\FREEGEM), various window parts will be 'missing'. To solve this, type the
following at the DOS prompt:

SUBST J: C:\FREEGEM

If you already have a drive J, change J to something else. For best results,
make the C:\FREEGEM directory first, then substitute it, and run the SETUP
program and install to J:\. This will ensure the GEM.BAT file points to the
correct place. To remove drive J, type SUBST /D J:

You will probably want to move the sound driver (BDxxxxxx.EXE) from GEM.BAT
to AUTOEXEC.BAT, to stop it loading every time GEM is loaded.

I have added some new features to the Setup program in this release. You can
now choose which features you want to install. For example, if you are
installing onto a 286, you can choose not to install GEMP3. There is also a
nice little progress bar to help tell you how much is left to install.

I have compressed some of these executables with UPX or PKLITE so they take up
less room. I have seen no compatibility problems so far (except for some using
UPX so I replaced them with originals) and it does a good job of saving space.

The source code to GEM is available at various sites on the Internet, such as
the main FreeGEM web site, www.deltasoft.com, or my site,
http://www.owenrudge.co.uk/GEM/.

Heinz Rath's sound drivers for GEM have been provided. These consist of
BDSB.EXE, BDSBPRO.EXE, BDSB16.EXE and BDCS4235.EXE. The GDScript sample,
PLAYWAV.GDS, makes use of these. There is also a small PLAYWAV.APP file
associated with WAV files included.

My GEM MIDI player has been provided. A sample MIDI file, SAMPLE.MID, has been
provided. Simply double-click on it in Desktop to play it. There are still
some problems that need to be sorted out. This player may be removed and a
new one based on GEMP3 may replace it. (I might add MIDI playing to GEMP3).

GEMP3 1.3, my MP3 player, has also been included. This requires a 486 or better
processor, and should play any MP3 file. Please see GEMP3.TXT for more
information.

A newer version of the AES and Desktop have been provided, as well as the latest
release of FreeGEM Output.

There is also a new Login feature that you can use if you wish. This lets you
set up seperate desktops and colour schemes for different users. Setup will
give you an option to configure this if you wish.

Some applications have been provided with this distribution of FreeGEM. These
are:

GDScript - GDS.APP
------------------

A full scripting language for GEM created by Heinz Rath. See the GEM
Development mailing list for more information on GDScript, and the GDS.TXT
file. A sample wave player has been provided. Please note that this does not
include everything included in the proper release, which you can download from
www.geocities.com/heinz_rath/.

Some more demo scripts have been provided with this release.

FreeGEM Doodle - FGDOODLE.APP
-----------------------------
An updated version of a simple drawing program originally provided with the
AMSTRAD PC 1512/1640. This version allows saving and uses 3D windows, as well
as a few FreeGEM-only features (although it will run happily on earlier
versions of GEM).

GEM Draw Plus 2.0 - DRAW.APP
----------------------------
A good drawing program. Please note that the sample images have not been
included. You can download them from GEM World, Deltasoft and various other
web sites. This is updated from GEM Draw which was supplied with the first
version of my distribution.

GEM Tetris - TETRIS.APP
-----------------------
A GEM version of the classic game.

GEMP3 1.3 - GEMP3.APP
---------------------

My MP3 player. Either double-click an MP3 file, or open GEMP3.APP (in the
GEMSYS folder) and open an MP3 file from that.

MIDI Player - MIDI.APP
----------------------

Double-click on a MIDI file to use the MIDI Player. OPL2.COM or MPU.COM
must be loaded prior to starting GEM.

======================================================
CONTACT INFORMATION
======================================================

My GEM web site is at http://www.owenrudge.co.uk/GEM/. You can e-mail me at
gem@orudge.freeuk.com.

Owen Rudge
13th January 2001

http://www.osplus.co.uk/
http://www.owenrudge.com/
http://www.owenrudge.co.uk/
http://www.transporttycoon.uk.tt/