Imagynasium/Imagynasium.ISO/Imagynasium/Readme.txt

Text File | 1999-06-05 | 13KB | 300 lines

Welcome to Imagynasium!

We hope you enjoy playing the game as much as we've enjoyed
making it for you.

       SouthPeak Interactive

***************************************************
Copyright (c) 1996-1999 SouthPeak Interactive LLC,
Cary, NC, USA. All Rights Reserved.
***************************************************

     CONTENTS
--------------------------

I.    System Requirements
II.     Installation
III.     General Game Issues
IV.       DirectX Information
V.      Contact Information


I.   SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
--------------------------
Windows 95/98
Pentium 133 MHz Processor (or better)
16 MB RAM
4X CD-ROM Drive
16-Bit Windows Compatible Sound Card
SVGA Graphics Card (16-Bit, 2 MB VRAM Strongly Recommended)
Microsoft Compatible Mouse or other pointing device
30 MB of Hard Disk Space


II.  INSTALLATION
--------------------------
Upon inserting the Imagynsium CD, the installation program should
autorun in most cases.  If however this does occur, either double-
click on the CD-ROM drive under My Computer or manually run the
setup program located in the root directory of the Imagynasium CD
by double-clicking on the file named "setup".

Follow the directions and prompts during the installation process
to complete the installation of Imagynasium on the computer.

During the installation process Microsoft's DirectX version 6 will
be installed on the computer if you 1) do not have any version of
DirectX installed or 2) have any previous version of DirectX.
DirectX will not be installed if there is a higher version of
DirectX installed. Follow the prompts to update any audio or video
device drivers. This is required to run Imagynasium properly.

To begin playing Imagynasium, select play on the Imagynasium Autorun
dialog box, or go to the SouthPeak Interactive folder located in the
Start Menu under Programs, then select Imagynasium from the
Imagynasium folder.

To uninstall Imagynasium, select the uninstall option either from the
SouthPeak Interactive folder under the Start Menu, or from the
add/remove programs under the control panel.


III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES
--------------------------
What You Can Do :
You collect objects made of pictures, words and sounds and use the
things you collect to create pictures, stories and sound compositions
in three Activity Studios.  Click the button in the upper left corner
of each Activity Studio to find a fun Game.

There's also a great collection of Imagynasium-style activities to print
out and try when you want to do something fun away from the computer.

How to Get Around:
Imagynasium is divided into 3 levels --

1.)  The Main Skyscape Screen
2.)  The Collection Areas (Jingle Jungle, Downtown & Curio Shop) and
        The Tower
3.)  The 3 Studios where the activities and games are located

Move your cursor around the screen until it turns into an arrow, then
click to go somewhere new.  To return to the previous level you were on,
move your cursor to the bottom of your screen until it turns into a
downward pointing arrow, then click.  An upward pointing arrow takes you
forward to a new level.  In the Level 2 areas you can move left and right
by moving your cursor to the far right or left edges of the screen until
it turns into a left or right arrow.

Master Controls:
At any time you can click the F1 key to access Master Controls.  These
controls let you adjust Volume, turn on Pop-Up Help, travel directly to
the Skyscape, or Quit Imagynasium.

Getting Help and More Information:
Anywhere in Imagynasium you can use your F1 key to bring up Master
Controls and turn on Pop-up Help.  When Pop-up Help is on, if you hold
your cursor over a button a little text box will pop on screen to tell
you about that button.

There's an Info Station in the Tower where you can choose from an
assortment of movies that explain useful and interesting things about
Imagynasium.

To get help in the Studio Activities and Games, click on the character
in the bottom left corner of the screen and they will switch you into
Help Mode.  Once in Help Mode, click on anything on the screen to learn
more about it.  Click the "Quit Help" button to leave Help Mode.

Escape Key Skips You Through Movies:
Once you've been someplace before you can skip the travel movie and get
there immediately by pressing the escape key.  In the same way, if you
see one of the artists telling you something you've already heard just
click the escape key and they'll stop.

Unexpected Exits:
If you exit Imagynasium unexpectedly, please re-boot your computer
before you re-enter Imagynasium to avoid problems.

Collecting Objects:
To collect materials for your creations, go to a Collection Area and
glide your cursor across the screen.  When the cursor changes from a
small blue arrow to a yellow star, click to discover a hidden item.
Each collectible item includes a picture and a sound that goes with
the picture, a written word and the sound of a girl and a boy saying
that word.  To switch back and forth between the picture and the word,
double click on the item.

If you want to collect an item to use in a creation, use your mouse
to click and drag it to your carrying tray, the "Collector."  The
brown and yellow handle of the Collector is in the lower left corner
of your screen.  If you click on this handle the Collector will open
and you'll be able to see what's inside of it.  There are 2 shelves
in the Collector -- use the red button to switch between them.  To
close the Collector just click on the brown and yellow handle again.

You can drag items into the Collector when it's open or when it's
closed.  To drag an item into the closed Collector, just click on
the item and hold the mouse down while you drag the item on top of
the Collector handle.  When you see the item shrink to a smaller size,
that means you can let up on your mouse and the object will drop into
the Collector with a small "thunk."




Helpful Hints for the Creative Activity Studios:

Using Tools -
When you're working in a Studio your creation will be located in the
middle of the screen and your tools will be surrounding it.  Generally,
to make a change to something in your creation you will click on the
object you want to change to select it, then click on the tool which
you want to impact your selected object.

If your cursor turns into a hand it means you can click and drag the
object under your cursor to the creation workspace in the middle of
the screen.

Saving and Printing -
If you want to Save what you're working on, or if you want to Open,
Delete or Print one of your saved projects, click the bar at the top
of the screen.  Your cursor will say 'Save/Print' when it's over this
bar.

You can open a project created and saved by any other player (or by the
resident artist), but it will open as a new, untitled project for you.
Any changes you make will need to be saved and titled as one of your
projects.  The original project remains unchanged.

Watching Your Creation -
In the upper right corner of each Activity Studio is a little button
that looks like a stage with wings.  Click on that button to watch your
creation in its formal presentation mode.

You can also go to the Big Screen in the Tower to prepare a presentation
of a number of your creations from different Activity Studios.

Brain Boosters & Project Notes:
If you want some suggestions to help you come up with new ideas when
you're working on your projects, click on the little red can of Brain
Boosters located toward the bottom right corner of the Activity Studio
screens.

There is a Project Notes page available for each of your projects.  This
is a good place to keep track of the Brain Boosters you're using for a
project.  There is space available in your Project Notes to write down
thoughts that you have while you're working on your project, and you can
print your notes too.


IV.   DirectX INFORMATION
--------------------------

-What is DirectX?
Microsoft's DirectX is a set of software components and drivers designed
to create faster hardware performance in Windows based applications. DirectX
is comprised of five components: DirectDraw, DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectSound,
and Direct3D. Along with these components, DirectX includes a set of compatible
drivers for the computer's video and sound cards along with input devices such
as mice, joysticks and game pads.

When installing Imagynasium, the program checks to see whether DirectX is
installed on your system. If the installer does not detect a standard, current set
of DirectX drivers, it installs new ones. However, a handful of video and sound cards
use DirectX drivers which do not conform to Microsoft standards. If Imagynasium fails
to run due to a problem with device drivers, please refer to the following.

-If Imagynasium will not run on you computer due to DirectX problems,
 you may be able to correct the problem by following these steps:

    1.  Update your hardware drivers
        IMPORTANT: If you have never updated your drivers before, you may want to
        consult your system/hardware vendor and get their recommendation. If you
        choose to update the drivers yourself, follow the installation instructions
        provided with the driver very carefully.

        -Notes on obtaining drivers
        Hardware manufacturers post new drivers on their web sites regularly that
        have enhanced performance and stability. Please check with your hardware
        manufacturer for an update as some difficulties may be related to drivers.

    2   Reinstall DirectX
           -Manually Installing DirectX
        1. Close all applications and save your data.
        2. Click on 'Start' and select 'Run'
        3. In the 'Run' box type in d:\PRODUCT NAME\Setup\redist\directx\dxsetup
        (Note: Substitute d:\ for the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.)
        4. Select 'OK', this will begin the DirectX install.

-If you need to restore your display or audio drivers after installing DirectX:

1. Close all applications and save your data.
2. Bring up the control panel and click the Start button. Then click Settings. Then
click Control Panel.
3. Bring up the DirectX Setup applet. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. Click
DirectX Drivers. Click the Add/Remove button.
4. Click the "Restore Audio drivers" button if you want to restore your audio drivers,
or click the "Restore Display drivers" button if you want to restore your display drivers.
You can only restore one driver at a time, not both.
5. Press "OK" to restart your computer.

Note: If DirectX did not install new display or audio drivers (or if you have already
restored them), then pressing the "Restore Audio drivers" or "Restore Display drivers"
button will just result in a dialogue that says "DirectX setup has completed
successfully." You can then press the other button, or exit.



V.    CONTACT INFORMATION
---------------------------
Please visit SouthPeak Interactive's web site at http://www.southpeak.com
to obtain additional information or contact our Technical Support team.

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Telephone: [phone] 855061

    09:00 - 19:00 Eastern Standard Time


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We will be able to help you more quickly if you have the following
information available when you contact us:
- The brand name of  your computer
- The type of CPU and its operating speed
  (e.g. Pentium-166mhz)
- The operating system and version
  (e.g.. Windows 95)
- The amount of RAM in your computer
- The brand name and model of sound card in your computer
- The brand name and model of video card in your computer
- Speed of CD-ROM Drive
- The amount of video memory (VRAM) in your computer