EXILE II: CRYSTAL SOULS
  A fantasy role-playing game from Spiderweb Software

"Shareware Standout" - Computer Player	
1996 Eddy Award for Best Shareware Game - Honorable Mention

This text file contains a full description of Exile II: Crystal Souls and 
some troubleshooting information. If you have trouble installing or 
playing Exile II: Crystal Souls, look below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME:

Now available ... Exile II: Crystal Souls
     A fantasy role-playing epic for Windows 3.1 and 95.

Spiderweb Software presents Exile II: Crystal Souls, the sequel to the 
shareware fantasy role-playing hit Exile: Escape From the Pit!

Exile II: Crystal Souls is a huge, highly detailed shareware fantasy 
role-playing game for Windows 3.1 and 95! Although Exile II is a sequel to 
Exile, it is designed to be completely playable as a stand-alone game, with 
absolutely no experience with Exile required.

Exile II features a simple, elegant interface, a deep, fascinating game 
system, and excellent graphics and sounds. Explore over a hundred 
towns and dungeon levels, meet scads of characters, and fulfill many 
missions, some tiny, some enormous, as you attempt to complete one 
(or all) of several game-winning quests. Complete the game in one way, 
or several!

And, if enough adventures for three full games isn’t enough, Exile II: 
Crystal Souls has an intricate plot, full of twists, turns, and the 
fates of three nations colliding in the subterranean nation you call 
home. It truly promises all the game you could want, and then some!

The story:
	The surface world is ruled by the Empire. That’s what it’s 
called - simply the Empire. What need is there for fancy names when 
there’s only one game in town?

	For many years, the Empire dealt with its misfits, its loudmouths, 
its petty criminals in one way: it teleported them down into Exile, a 
network of enormous caverns and twisty tunnels stretching for hundreds of 
miles under the surface of the Earth. There, the banished humans fought, 
worked, and struggled to survive.

	Then they struck back. With the help of several banished wizards, 
they assassinated the emperor of the Empire. In return, the Empire 
invaded Exile, teleporting down a massive army of well-trained soldiers 
and mages. These troops are now marching through your homeland, destroying 
everyone and everything they find.

	If something isn’t done, you are all doomed. The question is, 
will someone step forward who is smart enough, strong enough, and just 
plain good enough to stop the forces decimating your land? 

Exile II: Crystal Souls is $25 shareware. It requires Windows 3.1 or 95, 
2 MB free RAM, 256 colors, and a 13" monitor. The author is a member of 
the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). Exile II is compatible 
with Windows 95.
Contact: Spiderweb Software, 14 Easton Ave. #202, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
E-mail: SpidWeb@aol.com

- Jeff Vogel
Keeper of Exile
Spiderweb Software

TROUBLESHOOTING:

The information below should solve many of your problems installing
or running Exile II: Crystal Souls...

Question:  Exile II: Crystal Souls refuses to install!
Answer: First, make sure you have ten megabytes of free space on the 
drive you're trying to install too (the game takes up 7, but the 
installer needs a little extra space). Then reboot, make sure no other 
programs are running, and try installing Exile II again. If this 
doesn't work, contact SpidWeb@aol.com.

Question:  Exile II crashes sometimes for no reason!
Answer: Several steps to try, which will eliminate most problems.
1. Select Preferences from the Options menu. Select Fewer Sounds. If 
this doesn't help, turn off sounds. This will fix most problems.
2. Run Exile II with no other programs running.
3. Make sure you have 2.5 megabytes of free RAM.

Question:  I get crashes when targeting a spell or missile, and nothing 
helps!
Answer: Select Preferences from the Options menu. Select No Targeting
Line.

Question:  The Exile II screen is really tiny!
Answer: Go into Windows preferences, and select a monitor mode with a 
different resolution. 640x480 is recommended.

Question: The Exile II screen colors are all bizarre!
Answer:  You need to play Exile II in 256 color mode. Run Exile II, hit F1 
(for help), and read the section on how to get 256 colors on your screen.

Question: When I run Exile II, the colors of all my other running programs 
get strange!
Answer:  This is an unavoidable side effect of the way Windows handles 
color palettes. Exile II requires control of all 256 available colors. If 
the color change makes the other program unusable, don't use it while 
playing Exile II.

Question:  OK. I installed the game. It runs fine. It looks fine. But I
keep starving, if the monsters don't kill me first, and I don't have any 
gold!
Answer:  Read the Hints For Getting Started section near the end of the 
manual (hit F1 to get the manual).

Question: Sometimes, when I switch to another window and
switch back to Exile II, the colors are all strange.
Answer: One of the other programs you're running is messing with Exile
II's color management. Quit everything else you're using (including the
fancy front-end programs some computers come with) and try running Exile
II again.