			     "Stellar Police"
	      Designed by William-Arthur Hood and Erin Flint
		      June 1993 ----> November, 1994
			Released February 28, 1995
William-Arthur Hood:
     Technical design and computer programming; Artwork and Graphics Blocks;
     Character design for:  Humans, Smalls, Obsidiennes, and Mr. Tzac;
     Playfield design for outside the prison; Sound effect design and
     technical sound editing; Music composition & performance.
Erin "Chainsaw" Flint:
     Original "Stellar Police" concept; primary idea contribution; Character
     design for:  Final boss, Wa.S.P.'s; Playfield design for the prison;
     Playtesting and critique; Suggestion of random levels.
				      -MORE-
~
				 SPECIAL THANKS TO

     - Wendy Shih for the Reticulans' Mandarin Chinese & Taiwanese.

     - Mr. Hood for letting us use HIS computer in 1993.

     - Both Mr. & Mrs. Hood for putting up with a guy in the attic at the
	computer all night for the entire summer of '93.

     - Hayes Doster, Nathan Walker, Don McCarthy, I. Rod Rodillon, and
        everyone else who did playtesting and critique.

     - The excellent tech-support staff at CREATIVE LABS, INC. (We strongly
	recommend purchase of their sound cards if you don't have one. Get only 
	a GENUINE Sound Blaster for the EXCELLENT "Stellar Police" soundtrack!)

	    "Sound Blaster" is a trademark of Creative Labs, Inc.
~
     "Stellar Police" is a Role-Play style video game based on a Commodore 64
action game created with BR0DERBUND'S "Arcade Game Construction Kit" in 1989.
The idea had originally been conceived by Erin Flint (who was surprised to find
out just how long making these @stupid/damned/damned\ games takes).
     William-Arthur Hood, who had interested Erin in his long-time hobby of 
creating video games, liked the idea behind the game and independently created
two sequels also using A.G.C.K.

     In May, 1993, Hood made the decision to "follow a little dream" and
committed his summer to producing a video game for marketing through ShareWare.
His original idea of a classic fantasy RPG was scratched when his friend Erin
asked to get involved with the project as well.  After a long-discussion, it
was decided that the new game would be an RPG based on their favorite creation
of the past, "Stellar Police."

     To create the game, Hood rewrote an old utility he had made for the C=64
in a format usable on the PC.  Also used in the creation were Creative Labs's
"Creative Voice Editor II," Gary Maddox's "Blaster Master," and Osborne/McGraw
Hill's "Sound Blaster:  The Official Book."  The language used was Microsoft's
"QuickBasic" compiler.  (That's Right!!  THIS is written in BASIC!  Who cares
what they think, I still say BASIC rules!!)
~
William-Arthur Hood enjoyed creating little board games as a child, and wanted
	to design video games the first time he played one.  Much of his later
	childhood and adolescence was occupied by his hobby of creating simple
	video games in BASIC.  Since starting this hobby at the age of ten, he
	has accumulated over a decade of computer programming experience and is
	pursuing his BS @(Bachelors)/(Bull____?)/(Bullshit?)\ degree in the computer science field.
	He has achieved membership in the Phi-Theta-Kappa Honor Society, and
	was nominated to the National Dean's List in 1993.  His ultimate career
	goal is the production of video games.

Erin Flint became a rather unlikely close friend of Bill's in 1988.  They
	originally got to know each other through some of Erin's crank-calls.
	Erin's comments about his experinces creating a video game?
		"I think the best thing I have learned from all the work we've
		done on this game is that anything is possible if we just
                believe in ourselves."

~
	Both of the Authors of "Stellar Police" are hoping that profits from
this game could be used to start a company, or otherwise break them into the
field of video game design.  As their college education broadens their
knowledge, the potential quality of future video game projects gets better
and better.  Plans are in the works for a classic fantasy Role-Playing game,
or a Stellar Police Sequel, for Windows.

	As manager of the ShareWare project, William-Arthur Hood pledges to do
his best to provide the most prompt registration, service, and support he can.
Due to his status as a college student, some delays in registering or support
contact may occur.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may impose, and
again we will do our best to be prompt.

	It's been two long, hard summers of '93 and '94 getting this game done.
We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
~
Kahoolawe:
	Although not an expert on Hawai`i (I'll confess, I've never been there)
I chose to set this video game on the Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe rather than 
a moon colony as originally planned.  In the process of researching for the
game, I learned of the island's somewhat apalling history.
	Kahoolawe once was the site of several sacred shrines to the native 
Hawaiian people.  It has also been used for cattle grazing, a base for
fishermen and once had been a penal colony, though not as sinister as the one in
this game.
	The Navy has had full control of the island since 1953 and has used it
as a bombing range since then.  Many people have been lobbying to have the
island returned to the State of Hawai`i and restored to it's original condition.
The Navy argues that the island plays an important role in national defense,
and that so many unexploded bombs have been embedded there that it can't be
safely returned to civilian use.  {Source:  Insight Guides Hawaii, (C)1991 APA
Publications, pp.64-65,210}
	Having learned what I have about Kahoolawe, I can't help but sympathize
with the native Hawaiians, the rightful owners of Kahoolawe Island.  Frankly,
I'd be pretty @mad/pissed/pissed\ if a sacred place of MY ancestors got spit on
by being turned into a bullseye.  I would personally urge everyone to support
the restoration of Kahoolawe Island.  Lets all make sure the history of this
game never comes to be.
					 -William-Arthur Hood
~
VIRUS WARNING:

	William-Arthur Hood has worked as a Computer-Lab Aide and Computer
Science Tutor at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY.  In the
course of his job, he has been surprised to learn the extent of the lack of
knowledge about computer viruses.
	Many who are not experienced with the computers hear the term
"Computer Virus" and believe it to be a joke.  COMPUTER VIRUSES ARE NO JOKE!
These destructive programs hide on disks, and in the computer's memory, making
copies of themselves on a clean disk or computer (thus spreading) and then
proceed to DAMAGE or ERASE anything they can.
	Because the trial version of "Stellar Police" is ShareWare, anyone
who received their copy from a friend or a firm which does not check for
viruses should use a VIRUS SCANNER to make sure their copy of the game is
clean.
	It should be noted that "Stellar Police" makes some use of hidden
directories and files, and that some virus scanners may report the presence
of it's directories as possible virus activity.  IF HIDDEN DIRECTORIES AND
FILES ARE THE  O N L Y  THING YOUR VIRUS SCANNER SEES, YOUR COPY IS OK AND
YOU DON'T HAVE A VIRUS.
	The authors are NOT responsible for any virus present, but whoever
created the virus IS.
~
_________________________________W_A_R_N_I_N_G__________________________________
- By purchasing a copy of "Stellar Police," you are actually purchasing ONLY
	A LICENCE TO USE THE GAME.  You are not purchasing ownership of the
	files or program code.  All copies of all files, computer programs,
	sound effects, or artwork associated with "Stellar Police," regardless
	of their source, remain the property of William-Arthur Hood and Erin
	Flint.
- Deliberately altering any "Stellar Police" directories or files through any
	means other than the game violates your user's licence.  Deliberately
	distributing altered versions of the game will be prosecuted as
	plagiarism and/or violation of copyright.
- Theft of registered versions of "Stellar Police" via copying or other means
	will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
- Users of the "SP Sounds" version may distribute ONLY the game (trial version)
	itself.  The sound driver used by the game ("SBSIM") is included with
	purchase of any genuine Sound Blaster card, BUT IT IS NOT INTEGRATED AS
	PART OF THIS GAME.  Please respect the copyright of Creative Labs, Inc.
	This video game program may only make calls to an existing copy of the
	"SBSIM" driver purchased separately.  The registration of anyone
	deliberately copying SBSIM onto any "Stellar Police" distribution disk 
	WILL BE NULLIFIED.  Purchase of a GENUINE "Sound Blaster" card from
	Creative Labs, Inc. (available at most software retailers) will
	include "SBSIM" and boost enjoyment of your computer and this game!
~*
