                    The Last Express Interactive Demo
              Windows 95 (ExpressW.exe) & DOS (Express.exe)


Introduction

July 24, 1914.  The great nations of the world are poised on the
brink of war.  Into this tense, volatile mix roars the fabled Orient
Express, the epitome of luxury, power and decadence, crossing Europe
from Paris to Constantinople...

You are Robert Cath, an American fugitive.  You have joined the
train at the request of an old friend, Tyler Whitney.  The demo
begins at 5:30 pm on the second day of the journey, just before
Vienna.  By this point, we are already deep into the story.

The demo is intended to give you a sense of the atmosphere and feel
of the game.  It allows you to explore a small part of the train and
encounter a few characters.  Feel free to explore and soak up the
ambiance.

Within fifteen minutes, one of the passengers will be killed.  Your
goal is to prevent this from happening.


Playing The Last Express Demo

When you launch The Last Express Demo, you will see a screen with a
map depicting the route of the Orient Express on the left, and a
large antique egg on the right.  To start the demo, move the cursor
over the clock face on the egg.  The words "Continue Game" will
appear in the upper left corner of the screen.  Click on the clock
face to play.


Your Inventory

The icon in the upper left corner of the screen acts as a pull down
menu.  To see what items you are carrying, click and hold the mouse
down on the inventory icon.  To examine an item more closely, drag
the cursor to the item you are interested in, and release the button.


Fights

At one point in the demo, you may find yourself under attack.  When
your opponent comes after you with a knife, move the cursor to the
lower half of the screen and click the mouse when you want to dodge.
You can't hit back in this fight.  Just hold out as long as you can;
someone is coming to your rescue...


Egg Clock

As you play, your progress in the game is saved automatically.  The
large egg clock on the main screen keeps track of the time.  If you
want to pause or see what time it is in the game, click on the small
egg icon in the lower right corner of the screen.  This will return
you to the egg clock screen.  To resume play, click on the clock
face.

When you are ready to end your play session, click the Quit button in
the lower left corner of the screen.  The next time you launch The
Last Express Demo, the egg clock will let you pick up your game in
progress exactly where you left off.


Rewinding

When you're at the egg clock, you have the option of rewinding it.
This lets you "turn back the hands of time" to try a different course
of action.  To rewind, click the red jewel on the left side of the
clock.  To fast forward, click the red jewel on the right side of the
clock.  (You can only fast forward up to the point at which you left
the game.  It is not possible to fast forward into the future.)

This feature is especially useful for the full game, which covers the
entire three day journey from Paris to Constantinople.  By contrast,
the demo takes place in the brief space of 30 minutes just before the
train reaches Vienna.


Screen Saver

This demo includes a promotional slide-show for use in stores. If
the game is left unattended on the egg screen for three minutes,
it will automatically start running a slide show of screen-shots
from the game.  You can interrupt this at any time by moving the
mouse; but if the slide show finishes, the save file will be reset
so that a new user can start the interactive demo fresh from the
beginning.


About the Full Version

Smoking Car Productions' "The Last Express" is a 3 CD-ROM product
(Windows 95/DOS/PowerMac).  It has 30-40 hours of gameplay, more than
30 characters, nearly 800 dialogs, over 300 cut-scenes, 35,000 frames
of hand-painted animation, and 3,000 rendered backgrounds.  You can
explore seven train cars, sneak into other passenger's compartments
and search their luggage, climb out compartment windows, and run
along the top of the train.

The Last Express is published by Red Orb Entertainment, a division of
Broderbund Software.  French and German versions are available from
Broderbund Europe.  A Japanese version is available from GameBank
Software.

For more information or to purchase The Last Express, please call
1-800-548-1798 or visit the web site at http://www.lastexpress.com


Hardware Specifics

Windows 95
  The Win95 version of Express does not require DirectX, but will use
  it if you have it.  The biggest advantage of DirectX that our tests
  have found is that it will automatically switch video modes if you
  are not already running in HiColor (16-bit) mode.

DOS
  Sound Blaster Compatible Cards
  Some sound cards may be advertised as being 100% Sound Blaster
  compatible but still may not work with The Last Express. This is 
  because many 16-bit sound cards only emulate 8-bit Sound Blaster 
  cards. 

  The Last Express requires a 100% Sound Blaster 16 compatible 
  card, with the BLASTER Environment String set correctly in your 
  AUTOEXEC.BAT. To make sure your BLASTER String is set correctly, 
  run the diagnose application located in your Sound Blaster 16 
  software directory.

  Sound Blaster IRQ settings above 9 usually do not work correctly
  under DOS, and The Last Express will give you an error if your
  BLASTER Environment String contains an IRQ above 9. The easiest
  way to change your card's IRQ is to change the BLASTER Environment
  String and then run the diagnose application with a /S command-
  line parameter. If you have a good reason to believe your card will
  work with a high IRQ setting (e.g. in a DOS box under Windows 95),
  you can run EXPRESS with a /ForceIRQ command-line parameter to
  force The Last Express to try and run with a high IRQ.  

  Memory
  The Last Express requires 500K free conventional memory and 7100K 
  free XMS memory to run.

  VESA Compatible Video
  The Last Express supports the VESA VBE standard for Super VGA 
  graphics. Many Super VGA graphics cards are VESA VBE compatible at 
  the hardware level, requiring no special action on your part to get 
  the game running correctly.

  If you are having problems running this game with the graphics card 
  in your computer, try the following steps:

  1. If you have the VESA VBE driver that came with your graphics 
  card, then install the driver and try to run the game. Most VESA
  VBE drivers can be installed from a program that you run at the DOS 
  command line. Consult the documentation that came with your
  graphics card or computer system for installation instructions and
  VESA VBE compatibility.
   
  2. If you cannot find a VESA VBE driver for your graphics card, 
  please contact your graphics card or system manufacturer. You will 
  most likely be able to download a driver or have them send you one 
  by mail.
   
  3. If you do not have a VESA VBE driver for your graphics card or 
  your VESA VBE driver does not work with The Last Express, then you 
  may try a 3rd party display driver, such as SciTech's Display
  Doctor.


Copyright

Software Copyright (C) 1997 Smoking Car Productions, Inc. 
The Last Express is a trademark and Broderbund is a registered 
trademark of Broderbund Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Windows
95 and DirectX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation,
Inc.  All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or 
registered trademarks of their respective holders.
