Contents
--------
1)  System Requirements - What do I need under the hood?
2)  Installation 
3)  Main Menu Screen
4)  Controls 
5)  Direct3D Questions
6)  Troubleshooting - Before you call us, check here. INCLUDES D3D INFO!!!!!
7)  Game Play Tips
8)  Customer Support - Operators are standing by now!
9)  Poems I made out of these refrigerator magnets
10)  Legal Stuff


System Requirements
--------------------
Pentium 90 or better
16 Megs required
SVGA Video Card
100% Sound Blaster compatible Sound Card
17 Megs of Free Hard Disk Space


Installation
------------
Win95
Place MDK into your CDROM drive.  A setup program will automatically start the installation process.
After the setup program has run, there will be an MDK folder on your Start menu.  
Select MDK95 to start the Win95 version, or select the MDK to start the DOS version depending
on which one you chose to install.  If you select the DOS version, you will need to setup 
your sound card.  
You can do this in the 'Options' menu.   

**IF YOU DO NOT HAVE DIRECTX 3.0 OR LATER FROM MICROSOFT, MDK WILL NOT RUN 
UNDER WINDOWS95.
YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE CHOICE TO INSTALL THIS AT THE END OF THE INSTALLATION 
PROCESS.

DOS
From the MDK root directory type "INSTALL".  This will start the installation process.

**YOU WILL NEED TO SET UP YOUR SOUND CARD IN THE OPTIONS MENU IN ORDER FOR 
THE DEMO TO PLAY MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS.
**DIRECT X IS NOT REQUIRED TO RUN MDK IN DOS MODE.

Main Menu Screen
----------------
All menus can be accessed by using the mouse or arrow keys.

NEW GAME
By selecting this you will immediately enter the MDK universe

OPTIONS
HELP
All the default keyboard controls are listed here.  During gameplay, if you need help at 
any time pressing the F1 key will bring up this help menu.

SOUND SETUP - DOS
Select the 'Detect All' to find your particular sound card.   You can manually set the 
sound card's configuration.  If the game locks up or crashes when you test the sound, 
please refer to the troubleshooting section at the end of this guide for some helpful 
hints.  You can change your soundcard settings (IRQ and DMA channels) manually if the 
autodetection process did not find your soundcard.  You should hear sound when you select 
the 'Test' option, if not, your sound card has been improperly set up.

JOYSTICK
MDK can be played using a joystick or joypad.  You must select the 'Enable Joystick' option 
to use a joystick.  You can then arrange the button configuration to your preference.  To 
return to the standard setup, select 'Default Buttons'.  Note: If playing the WIN95 version,
your joystick should be calibrated already by using the WIN95 calibrating software.(IN YOUR
"CONTROL PANEL") MDK does not support 'hat' functions on flightsticks.

KEYBOARD
You can change the function of most keys and customize the controls to your preferences 
by highlighting the action and then pressing the key you would like to assign to this 
function.  To save your preferences, select 'Quit' when you are satisfied with your 
control options.  To return to the default keyboard configuration, select that option.

PERFORMANCE
Selecting this option, MDK will perform a hardware test of your system and compare it 
to some standard systems.  Your system may vary from the benchmark systems due to 
several factors, including type of RAM used (SRAM or standard), video card and video 
RAM available, CD-ROM speed, 32-bit Disk access enabled or disabled, etc.  Do not be 
concerned if your system performs below the benchmark level.  This program is helpful 
to reveal hardware that may limit your experience with MDK.

SKILL
There are 3 settings available, 'Easy', 'Normal', and 'Difficult'.  Select whichever skill 
level is appropriate for your ability. 

DISPLAY
Selects the screen brightness.  This option can also be changed during the game by 
pressing the F11 key at any time.  To increase the frame rate if you are experiencing any 
slowdown in the performance of MDK, you can turn the detail level to 'Low', which 
should help.


Controls (Default)
--------

Arrow keys	- Will move Kurt in that direction.  Also controls aiming in sniper mode.
Space Bar   	- Toggle in/out of Sniper mode
A/Z		- Zoom in/Zoom out in Sniper mode.  In normal mode, it shifts the camera to look 
              		up or down.
Control key	- Fires selected weapon
Alt key		- Jump.  While in mid-air pressing the alt key a second time will activate 
			the ribbon chute.
Enter key	- Will use/activate the selected pickup
0-9		- Select specific pickup item...
[ and ]		- Toggle left and right through different ammunition and pickup items
Shift key	- Selects turbo mode which speeds up Kurt's running and turning speed
Caps Lock	- Keeps turbo mode on
X		- When used with the left and right arrow keys will make Kurt sidestep
, or .		- Sidestep left or right.  Can be used In conjunction with Control Key 
			to make Kurt strafe left / right.
Esc		- Quit game

Function Keys
F1  - brings up the help menu which gives all the keyboard controls
F2/F3 - Save Game / Resume Saved Game
F10 - Quit game. 
F11 - Adjust brightness
F12 - Brings up the Options screen.

Additional Information

BONES AIRSTRIKE - While in sniper mode, the center of the targeting display will 
change to red when aimed at an area that Bones can hit.   If it is not a valid target, Bones
will alert you with a rather rude noise.  Simply press the fire button to call Bones in to 
bomb the area.


Direct3D Questions
----------------
----------------
Q: Does MDK use Direct3D?
A: Depending on which executable you run, yes.

Q: What about my friend's version, they bought the European copy?
A: There should be a patch on the Shiny internet site with the D3D patch.

Q: So why don't all the clear things (like glass) show up with the super cool 3D card
   that I just bought?
A: If the textures don't appear, then go to the Direct3D options screen and change the 
   "Texture upload fail on" item from "Error or no memory change" to "error only".  If 
   textures contain garbage, then change from "Error only" to "Error or no memory change".
   If there are still problems, then check your Direct3D driver version with the card 
   manufacturer.

Q: Any other D3D stuff I should know about?
A: It is possible to change the maximum texture size that will get drawn. This is useful 
   when you have a 3D card with lots of texture RAM.  There are 3 settings:-
   Medium (64x64)
   Large (128x128)
   Xtra Large (256x256)
   The default is Medium for cards that don't support 8 bit palettised textures (such as
   the Rendition Verite) and Large for all other cards. However, on some 2 meg cards, you 
   may have trouble in some scenes with the 256x256 option.  In this case, choose the 
   128x128 option.

Q: Ok, I followed all your instructions and the Direct3D version doesn't work.  It' keeps
   crashing.  What's up?
A: We've been working closely with the 3D chipset manufacturers, and have designed MDK to
   use their latest drivers.  To get the latest video drivers, contact the maker of your
   video card.  They should have the latest video drivers on their web sites.  See the 
   D3D readme file for URL's of the major video card manufacturers.

Trouble Shooting
----------------
Q: Help!  I can't get MDK to run!
A: MDK requires 16 Megs of RAM to run.  If you do not have this, MDK will either not 
   run, or may crash often during gameplay.  It also requires a Pentium grade processor
   to run.

Q: The game is running slowly on my machine, what can I do?
A: MDK will run faster in Win95 or DOS due to your hardware configuration.  Some 
   video cards, for example, work best in DOS or only Win95.  Try playing the game in the 
   other mode to see if there is an increase in performance.  You will not need to reinstall 
   the game, but simply run the other MDK executable (MDK95 for Windows95 or 
   MDK.exe for the DOS executable) to see which gives you the best performance on your 
   machine. Make sure that you have all the latest video drivers for your particular video
   card as well.

Q: The sound doesn't work!
A: That's not a question.

Q: The sound doesn't work on my machine.  Can you help?
A: Sure! First off, we'll assume that you've checked to make sure that the speakers are 
   turned on and plugged in correctly to your PC and you're running a 100% SoundBlaster 
   compatible card.  As a note, not all sound cards are truly 100% compatible, in which case 
   you may not be able to get sound from MDK.
   
   Now, if you're running in Win95, check to make sure that your soundcard is operating 
   correctly.  Remember that in Win95 you can have a correctly operating soundcard but 
   have the sound muted.  Double click on the speaker icon on the task bar to see if the 
   sound is set to 'mute all'.  If you are trying to run the game in DOS, make sure that your 
   sound card and mouse drivers are being loaded for your DOS session.  Consult your 
   sound card instruction manual on loading the DOS drivers.

Q: How do I set up MDK to play with a joystick or mouse?
A: Well, go to the options screen for whichever device you would like to use.  Each menu 
   lets you assign a button to any number of actions. By pressing the button on the 
   joystick, you will see a light in the top column light up.  Use the arrows on the 
   keyboard, or the mouse, to highlight the action you would like assigned to that button 
   in the same vertical column.  Then either left-click or hit the Enter key to assign 
   that button to the action.
   We suggest that you only assign one action to a button when beginning to play MDK.  As 
   you become more experienced, you may wish to assign two or three actions to a button.

Q: Why would I want to assign two actions to one button? Wouldn't that be confusing?
A: Some actions, like 'Zoom In' are only available in sniper mode while other actions like 
   'Jump' can't be used in sniper mode.  One button can be safely assigned to both of these 
   actions.  Notice that the same default key works for 'Zoom In' and 'Look Up'?  As you get
   used to MDK, you can customize the controls to your liking. Assigning a button to two 
   actions like 'Change Weapon' and 'Jump' isn't very practical and is very confusing, which 
   is why we don't do that.

Q: Why doesn't my performance test figure match the default ratings?
A: Or, why doesn't it tell me what I want to hear?
   The performance test basically does what the game does, and measures the framerate 
   (although the number displayed is NOT frame rate).  This depends on many factors, NOT 
   JUST YOUR PROCESSOR SPEED.  The test figures were done on machines with 32Mb of RAM and 
   4MB Matrox Millenium graphics cards.  Factors which can possibly affect your performance 
   figures are: - Video card transfer speed, bank switching, memory speed, cache size, 
   processor speed, processor type...

Q: But still, my performance figure is way off what it should be...
A: We are planning a new version of the performance test that starts with the question "What 
   rating would you like to get?" and then displays this rating on screen with a bit of 
   variance and some nice swirly graphics that make it look like we're doing something 
   impressive.  Basically, the game just reports how well it will run on your system.  A low 
   score does not imply that your system is lousy, so please don't write us to say that the 
   performance test is way off because your other games work great and you just got this 
   system and it's supposed to be the best....

Q: I have a Cyrix x86, why doesn't MDK detect my FPU?
A: The performance section of MDK does not currently detect the Cyrix FPU, since the Cyrix 
   chip does not support the CPUID function.  
   However, the game will still do all of the floating point stuff, since it presumes that, 
   no matter what the state of the FPU bit, if a machine passes the 486 lockout, IT WILL 
   HAVE AN FPU.  

Q: My joystick won't work.  What's the problem?
A: Check to make sure your joystick is set up correctly.  Then check in the MDK 'Joystick' 
   options to make sure the joystick is enabled.  In DOS mode you may need to load your 
   joystick's drivers that came with it prior to running MDK.  Please check their 
   documentation for further help.  Under Windows95 you need to set up your joystick 
   through the Control Panel.  Look at your Windows95 documentation for more information.

Q: I set the sound card settings manually, and now I can't even run MDK. How do I fix this?  
   Do I have to reinstall the game?
A: Ok, calm down.  Go to the directory that you installed MDK in. Now,(assuming your CD 
   drive is the D: drive) at the DOS prompt, type this while still in the MDK directory on 
   your hard drive: d:\mdkzap.
   This should remove the soundcard settings in the MDK configuration file and you should 
   be able to start MDK and try setting up the sound card again. If you're having troubles 
   under Windows95, call Microsoft or consult your Windows95 manual.


Game Play Tips & Techniques
---------------------------

Q: How do I get out of the practice room?
A: See the guy on top of the tower in the distance?  Back away from the red wall a little 
   (behind the depression in the floor is good), go into sniper mode, and blow him away 
   by shooting either their targets or their heads.  Kill the next two guys in the same 
   way.  Now the aliens are behind the glass...Can't hit them? Shoot the skull and 
   crossbones "deathcrate" on the platform slightly below the middle tower top.  Now use 
   the handgrenade that falls in front of you to blow up the red glass wall.  See the 
   mortar on the pillar in front of you?  Jump off the top step and use the parachute to 
   pick this up.  Now change to sniper mode and shoot one of your newfound mortars through 
   the black hole above the middle window...
   There are arrows painted on the building pointing to this.  When one goes through, wait 
   and watch the fireworks...

Q: Why doesn't the Bones Airstrike work in some areas?
A: When you have picked up the Bones airstrike power-up, you must go into sniper 
   mode to use it.  Make sure the airstrike power up is the ammunition selected.  The center 
   of your targeting system will turn white when it is focused in on an area that Bones can 
   bomb.  Bones can't 'Deliver Kindness' in enclosed environments or under overhangs 
   since he's got to fly in to bomb the area.  When you have selected the target, press the 
   weapon fire button.  This tells Bones that you have set your target and it is OK for him 
   to start his bombing run.

Q: I don't know what all the weapons do!  Help!
A: Whenever you pick up an item, the name of the weapon appears.  This should give 
   you some clue as to the item's abilities.   You are receiving the new weapons as soon as 
   the good doctor invents them, so  there's not a lot of advanced documentation on these 
   items.  If you don't know what a weapon does, then find a quiet area and fire one off to 
   test it. 

Q: I'm having trouble aiming quickly enough in sniper mode. Any suggestions?
A: Keep the zoom level very low when finding targets.  Put the crosshairs on the target 
   and then zoom in.  This method is much more effective than zooming in and then trying 
   to acquire the target.

Q: How about a multi-player version?
A: It may happen but our resources are limited, we're still a small group making only a few 
   games each year.  Would you rather see a multi-player version of MDK, or a completely 
   new multi-player game that's even better than MDK? Not that we've been tossing around 
   ideas for one for a while now...

Q: What does MDK stand for?
A: It stands for whatever we say it stands for on any given day. 
   I.e., today it stands for Mother's Day Kisses...(Hi Mom! Sorry I haven't called,
   but I've been busy.)

Q: Where can I get further technical assistance or ask game play questions?
A: See the section entitled MDK Customer Support. 

   Send comments, semi-preciouse gems, bugs, poetry, problems or art to info@shiny.com or 
   Pie@playmatestoys.com (Actually, PIE only wants to hear about any problems you're 
   having. We at Shiny love the other stuff.)

Check out the websites at http://www.playmatestoys.com or http://www.shiny.com

Official strategy guide available from Prima Publishing. To order call 1-800-531-2343. 
Also available at bookstores and multimedia outlets nationwide.


MDK Customer Support IN NORTH AMERICA (That's the USA and Canada, for those who need help)
============================================================
If you purchased your game in the United States or Canada then please note 
the below Customer Service methods:

MAIL
Playmates Interactive Entertainment
611 Anton Blvd, Suite 500
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

email: pie@playmatestoys.com

Telephone: 714-428-2112
Fax: 714-428-2521

MDK Customer Support OUTSIDE of the United States and Canada (Check your local flag for 
details on whether or not this section applies to you.  No stars or Maple leafs, then
this section is for you)
============================================================
If you purchased your game outside of the United States or Canada then please note 
the below Customer Service methods:

Interplay Productions, Ltd.
Harleyford Manor
Harleyford
Henley Road
Marlow
Buckinghamshire
SL7 2DX
ENGLAND                                    

tel: +44 (0) 1628 423723          
fax: +44 (0) 1628 487752

email: Europe@interplay.com


LEGAL STUFF 
========

Earthworm Jim (c)1997 Shiny Entertainment. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  Character 
Created by Douglas TenNapel.   

Music Video: "Non, non, rien n'a change" 
(C) 1996 MERCURY-SHAMAN-LA PROD.
IRSC Number: FRA 0396-0026-0
DIRECTOR: Laurent JENNET
The song is interpreted by BILLYZKICK (Nathalie Cousin)

Buy a bunch of copies of this album, as it's really good and what we've been 
listening to it a lot lately.  

MDK and all related characters/artwork (c) 1997 Shiny Entertainment, 
Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


YET EVEN MORE LEGAL STUFF
========
SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE

	General Product License.  This copy of MDK (the 'Software')  is 
intended solely for your personal noncommercial home entertainment use. 
You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software, 
except as permitted by law.  Playmates Interactive and Shiny 
Entertainment retain all right, title and interest in the Software 
including all intellectual property rights embodied therein and 
derivatives thereof. The Software, including, without limitation, all 
code, data structures, characters, images, sounds, text, screens, game 
play, derivative works and all other elements of the Software may not 
be copied, resold, rented, leased, distributed (electronically or 
otherwise), used on pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis, or 
for any commercial purpose. Any permissions granted herein are provided 
on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by  Playmates Interactive at 
any time.  All rights not expressly granted are reserved. 

	Modem and Network Play.  If the Software contains modem or 
network play, you may play the Software via modem transmission with 
another person or persons directly without transmission through a third 
party service or indirectly through a third party service only if such 
service is an authorized licensee of Playmates.  For the purposes of 
this license, a third party service refers to any third party service 
which provides a connection between two or more users of the Software, 
manages, organizes, or facilitates game play, translates protocols, or 
otherwise provides a service which commercially exploits the Software, 
but does not include a third party service which merely provides a 
telephonic connection (and nothing more) for modem or network play.  
This limited right to transmit the Software expressly excludes any 
transmission of the Software or any data streams thereof on a commercial 
basis, including, without limitation, transmitting the Software by way 
of a commercial service (excepting those specific commercial services 
licensed by Playmates) which translates the protocols or manages or 
organizes game play sessions.  If you would like information about 
obtaining a pay-for-play or commercial license to the Software, please 
call Playmates Interactive in the US at +(714) 428-2100.

	Acceptance of License Terms.  By acquiring and retaining this 
Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions of this limited 
license.  If you do not accept the terms of this limited license, you 
must return the Software together with all packaging, manuals and other 
material contained therein to the store where you acquired the Software 
for a full refund.

Developed by Shiny Entertainment, Inc. and published in North America by 
Playmates Interactive Entertainment, Inc.


Fin