WELCOME TO DR. GASSE'S LABORATORY! Thank you for purchasing the Vivarium Seaman Kit! Please note that this software is designed only for use with a Dreamcast console. Be sure to read this instruction manual thoroughly before you start. This package contains a Seaman habitat and one Seaman egg. To begin with, let's learn a bit more about Seaman, shall we? Historical references to Seaman first appeared in the spoken folklore of ancient Egypt, passed down from generation to generation. Until recentl y, it was assumed that the Seaman creature did not actually exist (similar to the many other mythical creatures of ancient Egypt). However, in 1997, the discovery of a liv e Seaman in the Egyptian city of Old Alexandria disproved this assumption, and Seaman came to be known the world o ver. While the originally disco vered Seaman specimen died shortly after being captured, its remains were quickly rushed to the foremost biological research institute in France where a number of eggs were discovered inside its body. We at Vivarium were then able to assist in this endeavor by covering the research and development costs in return for the sole distribution rights that have enabled us to of fer this product to you. It is well known that as part of its genetic labeling, Seaman passes knowledge on to subsequent human generations orall y. Furthermore, Seaman is said t o have had a strong influence on the progression of ancient civilization, but the details of exactly how this was done are not y et fully understood. A memory card [Visual Memory Unit (VMU) sold separa te ly] is re qu i red to play Seaman. In order to save game data, the VMU to be used must be fo rm a t ted , have at least 64 memo ry blocks of fre e space avai lable and no other VMU applications save d . THE HISTORY OF SEAMAN The man who made the original discovery of Seaman was a F rench scientist by the name of Dr. Jean Paul Gassé (1899 -?). Dr. Gassé was a member of a special team of French biologists dispatched to Egypt by the French government in the 1930's. When he discovered references to a creature dubbed the "omnipotent messenger of the gods" among ruins of the Third Dynasty, he became determined to pursue this line of research and unravel this mystery. In March of 1932, in the city of Alexandria, Dr. Gassé happened to meet up with a local resident who had caught a Seaman while fishing. Dr. Gassé obtained a sample of some of the eggs, which he carried back with him to F rance. When Dr. Gassé returned, he immediately attempted to raise the Seaman eggs in his Parisian laboratory but, unfortunately, in the midst of his experiment Seaman died. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Gassé published a detailed thesis of his work. However, other leading academics of the day dismissed the young scholar's work as a publicity stunt and without the proper evidence (e.g., a living specimen) to support his theories, his work was shunned and no one believed him. Dr. Gassé's hypothesis suggested that Seaman was perhaps responsible for transferring knowledge that proliferated during the Third Dynasty across oceans to other lands. This theor y eventually became the basis for Anthro-bio Archaeology, a highly valued field of study today. Soon after the publication of his thesis, Dr. Gassé was dismissed from his post. He then disappeared for quite some time. Recently, a diary was discovered detailing Dr. Gassé's subsequent work and continued research to unravel the details of Seaman's evolution. For fur ther details, kindly refer to the following website: www.meetseaman.com Dr. Gassé's Research Journal TABLE OF CONTENTS Ancient Egyptian Papyrus Drawing Depicting the Divine Gift of a Living Creature 2 Fossil of a Seaman Discovered by Dr. Gassé at the Nile River BEFORE STARTING A GAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -04 CREATING A SEAMAN HABITAT - - - - - - - - - - - - - -06 MENTAL PREPARATION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -08 LET'S BEGIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10 BASIC CONTROLS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12 HOW TO CONVERSE WITH SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - - -14 HOW TO INTERACT WITH SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - - - -16 OBSERVATION CONTROLS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -17 CARING FOR YOUR SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -18 FEEDING YOUR SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -21 SAYING GOODBYE TO SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - -22 STARTING OVER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -23 LIVING IN HARMONY WITH SEAMAN - - - - - - - - - -24 EXCHANGING FOOD WITH ANOTHER RAISER - - - -25 ADVICE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26 FINAL NOTES AND POINTERS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -28 3 BEFORE STARTING A GAME First Thing's First ­ Reality Check Seaman is a one-player game. Once you begin raising Seaman, you are expected to assume complete responsibility for the care and upbringing of a living, breathing creature. So, before you begin with the initial set-up procedure, you are strongly recommended to double check with yourself that you are mentally prepared to assume this important responsibility. The fir st step you must take in preparation is to set-up the required equipment. At this time, should you experience any tension-related symptoms such as heart palpitations, perspiration, etc., resulting from the sheer weight of the responsibility for rearing a Seaman, you may wish to loosen up a bit by stretching or taking a bit of exercise. Once you are sufficiently relaxed, you are ready to begin (do not turn the power of the Dreamcast ON just yet). Before starting the set-up procedure, be sure to set the internal audio setting of your Dreamcast (stereo or mono) to match that of your TV speakers. This will ensure optimal sound quality for your game. When you are ready to begin, connect the Dreamcast Controller to Control Port A of the Dreamcast and insert the VMU into Expansion Socket 1 of the controller. A VMU application, a storage matrix called " SM2000US._VM," will be created to the VMU. This file is similar to the mini-games and other VMU application files used by other games. Only one VMU application can exist in each VMU. If another VMU application already exists, you will be given the option of overwriting the data. Select "Yes" to do so, however, this will delete the data in question. Select "No" to cancel the set-up and then, either delete the data manually or obtain a dif ferent VMU. Take care not to delete Seaman data when playing another game. Note that both the "SM2000US._VM" and "SM2000US.USR" files are required to continue raising your Seaman. Insert the Microphone As Seaman matures there will come a time when it will begin to converse with you. A microphone has been included in this package for the express purpose of speaking to your Seaman. Whenever you wish to play with your Seaman, always be sure to insert the microphone into Expansion Socket 2 (see diagram) of the Dreamcast Controller. Note that the VMU must be inserted into Expansion Socket 1. The Seaman software will not run if these two devices are not correctly inserted in their proper places. Do not attempt to remove or adjust these items while the Seaman software is running. Doing so may not only adversely effect the software, it may also result in malfunction of the peripheral devices. Expansion Socket 1 Insert the Memory Card The very fir st item you must obtain is a memory card [Visual Memory Unit (VMU) sold separately] used to sa ve and maintain the Seaman and its raising environment, or habitat, data. The VMU to be used must have a minimum of 64 blocks of free memory a vailable. Once the initial habitat set-up is complete, you are required to continue using this same VMU in order to successfully rear the Seaman contained within it. Consider this VMU to be both the Seaman and its habitat, and handle it with appropriate care. 4 The sponge protector attached to the top of the microphone is intended to reduce excess noise that may occur while conversing with Seaman. Ingestion of this sponge by small children may result in injury or death, so always be sure to have a responsible guardian explain this before allowing minors to use this peripheral device. CAUTION! Expansion Socket 1 Memory Card Expansion Socket 2 Microphone 5 CREATING A SEAMAN HABITAT Memory Card File Creation Once you have confirmed that the VMU to which you will create the Seaman habitat is firmly inserted into Expansion Socket 1 and the Microphone into Expansion Socket 2 (refer to the diag ram on p 4), you are just about ready. At this point you are advised to pause, relax and release any tension you may be feeling. Now, insert the Seaman disc into the Dreamcast and turn the power ON. After a few moments, the following message will appear: Once you have successfully selected "Yes", the following message will appear: "Saving data to the memory card... Do not remove the memor y card or turn the po wer off." Once this procedure is complete, the following message will appear: "This memory card does not contain a habitat for Seaman. Would you like to create a new habitat?" Do not despair upon seeing this message. For if you select "Yes," a brand new habitat with all the required data will be downloaded from the disc and installed, or created, to this VMU. If you realize you have mistakenly inserted the wrong VMU, select "No" and replace it with the correct VMU. After selecting "Yes", should the following message appear : "There are not enough blocks of free memory available. 64 blocks are required in order to save game data. The game will not continue." This indicates that this VMU cannot be used to create a Seaman habitat. In this case, you must abort the current procedure and either obtain a new VMU or delete enough data in the VMU (refer to the Dreamcast instruction manual for details) to free up the required 64 blocks. Never attempt to remove the memory card while this message is displayed. Doing so may result in damage to or malfunction of the memory card. Congratulations! This VMU now contains your very own Seaman habitat. Do not forget that you must use this same VMU when accessing this habitat in the future. If you attempt to use another VMU, this data will not be available, as it cannot be read from any other VMU. Furthermore, if you delete the data sa ved to this VMU, you must begin the entire process from step one, so be sure to handle this VMU with the utmost care. In order to prevent you from accidentally losing track of your Seaman, we have made sure that it is not possible to create more than one Seaman habitat to each VMU. Remember, `Only one Seaman habitat per memory card.' "(Month, Date, Year) A new habitat has been created for Seaman. Please enjoy your time with Seaman." CAUTION! 6 Never touch the Analog Thumb Pad or T riggers / while turning the Dreamcast power ON. Doing so may disrupt the controller initialization procedure and result in malfunction. CAUTION! 7 MENTAL PREPARATION The most fundamental requirement for successfully raising Seaman is daily care and maintenance. At the very least, you are kindly requested to attend to various custodial tasks such as providing oxygen, water, food, cleaning, etc., on a daily basis. Just as with a daily exercise program, it is important that you participate each and every day without fail. This concept is a prerequisite for being a guardian to Seaman. Seaman is a game in which you will experience the growth of a living being. You will be witness to the drama of life over an extended period of time. Therefore, do not expect an experience similar to any other games, in which clearly defined e vents happen each time you play. As well, there are no scores to be earned, stages or final game to be cleared, etc. This is not the type of game in which one can spend several hours in one sitting and expect to experience vast amounts of action or change. As with life itself, change only occurs over time and even then, slowly. Change is onl y evident through the accumulation of experience over time. Enjoy communicating with Seaman while you attend to these daily maintenance tasks. Tap on the glass of the aquarium to get its attention, use the microphone to g reet and converse, as well as other methods you will discover in order to express your af fection to it. This is paramount to ensuring the successful growth and development of your Seaman. As Seaman matures and reaches a certain level of development, recognition will increase and it will begin conversing with you. Seaman's development will accelerate when in good humor. The only way to ensure Seaman is kept in good humor is to take adequate care of it daily, without fail, while constantly providing loving affection. Although raising Seaman does require a bit of perseverance, it is a bit like writing in a diar y; something you need to persist in doing on a daily basis. By doing so, you will find yourself experiencing a grand drama, the likes of which ...