=========================================================== ReadMe Final Notes for The Nature Collector - Freshwater Fish version 1.00 June 22,1995 =========================================================== WELCOME! ...to the Nature Collector, Freshwater Fish. We sincerely hope you will like your virtual aquarium adventure. Please reference the manual for information on how to install and use your new game application. This document contains information on the following: Part I: Installation Information Part II: Known Hardware and Software Incompatibilities Part III: Known Bugs and Crashes Part IV: Other Technical Information and Tips We hope you like NC-Freshwater Fish as much as we did creating it. We think you will find this game contains state-of-the-art 3D animation and an exciting virtual aquarium adventure for your whole family! We hope you'll look for future volumes in The Nature Collector series. Sincerely, The Creators of The Nature Collector-Freshwater Fish =========================================================== Here is some last minute information which you might find helpful regarding known incompatibilities and other matters dealing with your new game: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part I: Installation Information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Installation Size options. You can control how much hard disk space your game will require. There are three options: SMALL, DEFAULT and HUGE. Depending on how much disk space you would like to allocate to this application, you should choose one of these three sizes. The more space you allow the application to allocate, the faster the application will run, and the shorter the delays in loading different fish and other animated objects. Here are the sizes which are required for each installation size option: SMALL 4 MB DEFAULT 22 MB HUGE 98 MB 2. Performance Differences between Install sizes. The three different installations change the performance of NCFF: The SMALL installation will give the slowest performance, as only the essential files are being copied to the hard drive The DEFAULT installation will increase performance greatly, as some of the databases are installed to the hard drive. (Accessing the hard drive is faster than accessing the CD- ROM drive.) The HUGE installation will give you the optimal performance. All video playback files are put on the hard drive for the fastest performance. 3. Video resolution 640x480 (standard VGA) recommended.. If you have the choice, run your video at 640x480 resolution (standard VGA). While higher resolutions will work properly, you will not play using a "full screen" and some visual distractions may occur in the background outside the area occupied by the NCFF window. 4. Removing NCFF from your system Currently, there is no convenient way to "de-install" our program. There are several files that you will want to remove if you want to delete The Nature Collector-Freshwater Fish. Deleting the Nature Collector subdirectory (called NCFF by default) and all subdirectories within it will erase the program from your computer's hard drive. 5. Installing on Windows95. At the time this game was published, Windows95 had not yet been released by Microsoft. We have installed this program under various beta versions with generally acceptable results. However, we cannot guarantee that this version of our product will work perfectly with the Windows95 when it is finally released. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part II: Known Hardware and Software Incompatibilities --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Running on Slower Machines You will notice slow performance in certain areas of the program on slower machines (less powerful than 486DX2-66). Most noticeable is an increase in certain loading times. As the fish load into memory, you may notice a rather long delay. Please be patient. This delay happens right before viewing an exhibit, traveling or entering the museum for the first time. As you know, doing sophisticated animation such as those present in The Nature Collector requires impressive calculations (known as floating point operations) that take a while to complete. Be patient on such machines. 7. Midi Sequencer dialog box at beginning of program execution You may encounter an error at the beginning of program execution which reports that there is a "Midi Sequencer" incompatibility. This results when using certain sound cards and Windows has detected a possible problem. Actually, this is a rather common warning in the Windows multimedia world, and you can ignore this error. Check the checkbox which asks Windows not to bother you with this error again in the future. The music files will play fine even though this error is reported. 8. Running with Certain Screen Savers The Starfield Simulation screen saver that comes with Windows has caused our program to sometimes leave artifacts on the screen. This happens for a number of technical reasons relating to video pages and other stuff. Currently the only solution for this problem is to turn off the screen saver...sorry! Our fish are so pretty that you would want them on the screen all the time anyway, right? 9. Reported File Corruption or File Errors If checksum or other file errors are reported to you, there might be something wrong with your CD-ROM or with your CD-ROM drive or hard drive. While it rarely happens, your CD-ROM might have an error. You can run a "checksum" on your CD-ROM to make sure that the files on it are correct. Checksum is our software that checks to make sure that the files are correct. To run checksum, exit windows, go to the CD-ROM drive prompt, and type "checksum". The program will examine the CD-ROM, and tell you if any errors were found. If any errors are found, please call technical support for another copy of the CD-ROM. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part III: Known Bugs and Crashes --------------------------------------------------------------------------- These problems might affect the execution of your program with some rare computers. If you encountered any of these, we provide some way for you to work-around the problem: 10. Missing 3D museum view. With some rare machines, we have noticed that the 3D Museum View did not work. Instead of the 3D Museum View, only a conspicuous gray screen appears. If this happens to you, you can still use the 2D Museum View instead. We're sorry but your machine may be one of the types which cannot handle the memory requirements of our 3D technology. The 3D Museum View is not essential to game play. 11. Overloading your exhibit with too many fish. You can crash the program by overloading an exhibit with too many fish. If you put more than 16 fish in any one exhibit, it just might crash your computer (depending on your exact configuration). Remember that your exhibit's fish tanks are not that big, so don't overload your exhibit with too many fish. Next time, put fewer fish in any one exhibit to avoid this error. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part IV: Other Technical Information and Tips --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where do I start with this game? A: Click on the Guide Book button, and then click on the Missions button in the Guide Book. The five tutorials missions will tell you everything you need to know about running The Nature Collector. (The Tutorials also appear in the manual.) Q: I want to use one of the nice bottoms and plants, but I don't know how to get them. A: Fortunately, through the magic of digital reproduction, we have been able to provide dirt and plants in the Guide Book. Just click on the Guide Book button, then click on plants or bottoms (whichever one you are after), scroll through and find one that you like, then press the collect button. This will add it to your container window on the top of the screen. Q: I just want to watch the pretty fish on the screen, is there any way I can keep the fish from dying? A: Yes there is! Turn off the Simulator (under Options in the Menu Bar) and your fish will live wild and free, with no cares about food, health, temperature, and all the other things that cause fish-stress. However, your score will not increase as long as the simulation is turned off. Q: But wait a minute, where IS the Menu Bar? A: If your place the mouse in the upper left hand corner of the screen, the Menu Bar will pop down. Q: Do you use any "Hot Keys" in the game? A: Yes, Function-key F1 calls the help from any screen, Function-key F8 turns the VMCD on or off in the Travel or Museum screens, Function-key F9 turns the popularity on or off while viewing an aquarium, Key "F" manually feeds the fish in the aquarium and location. Q: Are these real fish? A: Yes, they are! These are actual fish that you can find around the world, and in various freshwater tanks. Zebra Danio's are fairly common, and so are Tetra's. Your local aquarium store will have many of the fish you see here in The Nature Collector, Freshwater Fish. Q: The fish are very difficult to catch sometimes. Any tips? A: Try using different types of nets. The faster fish are easier to catch with the bait and trap than with the dip nets. The electroshock sometimes kills more delicate fish, and the anesthesia is hard to control, but effective if not sprayed at close range. Q: WHOA! This museum is difficult to walk through, any tips? A: The 3D movement depends on the placement of the mouse within the 3D Museum view. If the mouse is placed above the center of the screen and the left button is clicked, you move forward. This likewise works for the left and right of the center of the screen. You walk in reverse by left clicking lower than the center mark. This may take a little practice. If you become completely frustrated, we suggest switching to the 2D view by pressing switch view in the museum screen, or using the arrow keys on your keyboard in 3D view Q: I can't figure out which fish to use in the missions, there are so many! A: All the missions are written out in the Guide Book, so you may peruse them at your leisure. If you can't figure out which fish you need, click on the button marked "Which fish do I need?" This will tell you the answer. =========================================================== The Nature Collector series was created by: AnimaTek International, Inc. 1650 S. Amphlett Blvd., Suite 212 San Mateo CA 94402 USA Technical Support: 1-970-339-7136 ===========================================================