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- /**** GOOGOL REVIEW VERSION 3.6 DOCUMENTATION ****/
-
- Copyright (C) 1993 by: Paul T. Dawson
- P.O. Box 682
- Chincoteague, Virginia 23336 U.S.A.
-
- /**** INTRODUCTION ****/
-
- Thank you for trying my Shareware program, Googol Review. I wrote
- this program to help kids (and parents) have some fun while
- learning math.
-
- Googol Review is a vastly improved version of the old program
- which was part of the original "Googol Math Games". Review now
- includes both number and word problems!
-
- There are hundreds of synonyms used in the word problems, and
- thousands of possible combinations. Some of the vocabulary may be
- too advanced for younger children, which is why the actual
- numbers can be printed in a different color. They can simply skim
- over the words they don't know, and just concentrate on the math.
- The underlying theory is that children will gradually get used to
- the larger words, thereby improving reading skills. Older players
- can try the "Expert" level, with all of the numbers spelled out!
-
- /**** SPECIAL THANKS TO... ****/
-
- Thanks and a tip of the hat to:
-
- Microsoft Fabrice Bellard
- : BASIC P.D.S. V7.1 Compiler : LZEXE
-
- Genus Microprogramming
- : PCX Programmer's Toolkit & GX Text & GX Effects
-
- /**** CONTENTS ****/
-
- Shareware and Registration Information............2
-
- Getting Started...................................3
-
- Running Googol Review.........................4 - 5
-
- Command Line Options..........................5 - 6
-
- Miscellaneous Keys............................6 - 8
-
- Miscellaneous Info................................9
-
- How To Print Graphics Screens....................10
-
- Super Registration Details.......................11
-
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 1
-
-
-
- /**** SHAREWARE AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION ****/
-
- Shareware lets you try software, and then pay the author after
- you decide to use the program. When you register Googol Review
- (for only $10), you will receive the following bonuses:
-
- <> The latest version of Googol Review.
-
- <> One free disk... your choice of:
-
- Googol Math Games (Three classic games)
- Googol Bonus Disk (Six original games)
- Paul's Classroom Math (Math drills)
- Flashcards (EGA Math practice)
- Lugnut City (EGA Fun math game!)
- Wolfie's Music Games (EGA Ten fun music games)
- Googolpede for Win 3.1 (Completely resizable)
-
- <> A sincere thank you!
-
- If your kids try the program once or twice, like it, and continue
- to play the games, then you really should register!
-
- "Super Registration" is just $35, and includes the latest version
- of ALL EIGHT programs listed above. These programs contain about
- twenty games, all for less than the cost of ONE commercial game!
-
- Everything is completely guaranteed! If you are not completely
- satisfied with any of the programs, I will refund your money.
-
- If you have doubts about sending a check to a mysterious Post
- Office Box on an island (really!), please just send a postcard
- first. Ask for more information, and I'll send you an up to date
- listing of all my programs! Thanks.
-
- There should be a separate text file on the disk, called
- "REVIEW.FRM". You can print this out, or if it's missing, just
- print the form from within the game itself. If you have any
- questions or suggestions about the program, please include them
- with your registration form!
-
- All information on the order form, including your name and
- address, is strictly confidential, and not for sale to anyone for
- any reason. I'm in the educational software business, not the
- mailing list business!
-
- --------------------------------------------------
- | In Australia only, you may register by |
- | sending A$15 to the Official Distributor: |
- | |
- | Alphon Edugames |
- | 221 Ridley Road |
- | Bridgeman Downs 4035 AUSTRALIA |
- --------------------------------------------------
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 2
-
-
-
- /**** GETTING STARTED ****/
-
- To run Googol Review V3.6, you need:
-
- <> An IBM or compatible computer.
- <> CGA graphics (or higher).
- <> At least 512K memory, with about 450K free.
-
- The games will NOT run on a Hercules monochrome system with a
- "CGA simulator" program.
-
- If you see the error message "Out of String Space", this means
- that not enough RAM is available. Remove all memory-resident
- programs, including menu programs, and try again!
-
- /**** GETTING STARTED - FLOPPY DISKS ****/
-
- Never run this or any program from the original disk. Make
- backups and run from them! Use DISKCOPY on your DOS disk to copy
- the disk. If you are not familiar with DOS commands, please find
- someone who is, and have them explain it all to you!
-
- Now that you have backups made, put the original disk away in a
- safe place. If all goes well, you will never need it again!
-
- Do not put a write protect tab on the disk! The program needs to
- write name and color information to a data file on the disk.
-
- Put the disk in your active drive - usually drive A, but any
- drive will work. Type REVIEW at the DOS prompt to get started. It
- takes a while (a looooong while) to load, but after that there
- are no delays. Don't take the disk out of the drive until you are
- all finished and back to DOS! The program writes information to
- the disk, so the disk has to be there!
-
- /**** GETTING STARTED - HARD DISKS ****/
-
- Follow these directions to put the Googol Review onto your hard
- disk. If you are not completely familiar with the following
- commands, please find someone who is, to help you!
-
- 1. Your hard disk must have at least 360K free.
- 2. Use MKDIR or MD to make a new subdirectory. (MD REVIEW).
- 3. Use CHDIR or CD to get to the subdirectory. (CD REVIEW).
- 4. Put the Googol Review disk in drive A.
- 5. COPY A:*.* will copy all the files into the subdirectory.
- 6. To play Googol Review, just type: CD\REVIEW
- REVIEW
- 7. Good Luck!
-
- On a hard disk, always use the DOS command "CD" to change to the
- proper subdirectory. Don't use the PATH command, since PATH
- usually only finds COM, EXE, and BAT files.
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 3
-
-
-
- /**** RUNNING GOOGOL REVIEW ****/
-
- Start the program by typing REVIEW at the DOS command line.
-
- After choosing or entering your name, the main menu appears. This
- lets you choose the type of problems to solve. Use the up and
- down arrow keys to choose different types of number and word
- problems. Move left and right to choose which operators (+-x/) to
- use. Press RETURN when the flashing block is in the right place!
-
- There are four types of number problems, and three types of word
- problems:
-
- Number problems - Right To Left
-
- This lets you type in the answers backwards, which
- is actually easier for beginners.
-
- Number Problems - Left To Right
-
- This lets you type the answers the other direction!
-
- Number Problems - 50 For Speed
-
- See how fast you can answer 50 problems! All answers
- are entered left to right. This selection has a timer
- and a high score screen.
-
- Number Problems - 100 For Speed
-
- See how fast you can answer 100 problems! All answers
- are entered left to right. This also has high scores!
-
- Word Problems - Easy
-
- This selection prints the word problems with the
- numbers in a different color, so that it's much
- easier to spot them!
-
- Word Problems - Advanced
-
- All of the numbers are spelled out, so you'll have to
- find them in the paragraph!
-
- Word Problems - Expert
-
- This is the most challenging level. All of the numbers
- are spelled out, and all four types of problems are
- included. You really will have to look at the entire
- paragraph! There is a timer, with 30 problems in each
- round, and a separate high score list.
-
-
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 4
-
-
-
- /**** RUNNING GOOGOL REVIEW - CONTINUED ****/
-
- When your game is over, there will be a "certificate" screen.
- Press any key to return to the main menu.
-
- On the number problems, you may always use the left and right
- arrow keys to move the flashing input box.
-
- If you enter an incorrect answer, the program will tell you if
- it's too high or too low. Press the spacebar to try again.
-
- If you enter three incorrect answers for a problem, the program
- will ask you if you would like to see the explanation. Just press
- "Y" to see the explanation, or "N" to keep trying.
-
- If you need help with any problem, just press "X" anytime for a
- complete explanation. You will have to watch the entire
- explanation. There is no way to stop it once it has started.
-
- /**** COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ****/
-
- There are several different command line options. They can be
- used in any combination.
-
- /CGA Use CGA color menu on EGA or higher system.
-
- /D Use database file.
-
- /N Noise off.
-
- /R Robots off.
-
- /\SUBDIR Specify subdirectory for score and data files.
-
- The /CGA option should not be necessary! The program detects your
- graphics card type, and automatically chooses CGA or EGA color
- menus. But... if you run into any mysterious problems with the
- EGA menu, you can use the /CGA option. Then the program will use
- the "old" color menu.
-
- Type REVIEW /D at the command line for "Database". This will save
- all the information from every game to the file REVIEW.DAT. Then
- you can look at the file later with any file viewing program. If
- this file becomes too large, just delete it from the DOS command
- line, and the program will start a new REVIEW.DAT file.
-
- The /N option starts Review without noise. You can turn the noise
- back on by pressing "S" anytime in the program.
-
- There are now three different "Robots", and if they become
- tiresome, you may type REVIEW /R at the command line to turn them
- completely off.
-
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 5
-
-
-
- /**** COMMAND LINE OPTIONS - CONTINUED ****/
-
- Please note - there is a "secret key" available at the main menu
- only, to view the "Robot in a Windup Car". Just press "ALT-6" to
- see what amateur 3-frame animation looks like!
-
- The subdirectory option is useful on some network systems. It
- lets you specify exactly where the score and data files will be
- located. This option isn't necessary for most users!
-
- The subdirectory option NEEDS accurate input! There must be a
- forward slash, a backslash, and then the directory name. Here are
- some samples:
-
- REVIEW /\MYDIR
- REVIEW /\MATH\REVIEW\MEGAN
-
- All of the command line options may be combined, in any order.
- Spaces aren't important - but don't ever put any spaces in any
- subdirectory names! Here are some more samples:
-
- REVIEW /N /D /\MATH
- REVIEW /CGA/R /\TEMP /N /D
-
- Here are some ILLEGAL samples - these won't work:
-
- REVIEW D N (Missing slashes)
- REVIEW /\ NONO (Spaces in subdir name)
-
- I hope this isn't too confusing. If you are familiar with DOS and
- batch files, you can write a one line BAT file for each user.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - B - "BOSS" BOGUS SPREADSHEET ****/
-
- This is a synthetic spreadsheet screen which is almost always
- available during Googol Review, by pressing the B key. The
- spreadsheet doesn't do anything, but you can move the cursor
- around! Press the spacebar to return to the game. You can NOT get
- into the BOSS subroutine if you are in any other subroutine, such
- as Change Colors, Display High Scores, etc.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - C - COLOR MENUS ****/
-
- Review now has two color menus, one for CGA systems, and one for
- EGA or VGA. The screens are still four colors, but the new EGA
- menu has many more possible combinations!
-
- Press "C" almost anytime to pop up the color menu. The program
- will use the CGA or EGA menu, depending on your graphics card.
-
- The CGA menu has 52 combinations. If this isn't the ultimate CGA
- color menu, let me know! Use the up and down arrow keys to change
- the background color, and the left or right keys for the palette.
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 6
-
-
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - C - COLOR MENUS - CONTINUED ****/
-
- The EGA color menu lets you choose from 43,680 different color
- combinations. That's 16 x 15 x 14 x 13. When you're moving around
- this menu, you will automatically "hop over" any matching colors.
- There are lots of interesting combinations, and quite a few that
- are just barely readable!
-
- Your color selections are saved in the REVIEW.SCO file, so the
- same colors will be used the next time you run Googol Review.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - D - DISPLAY HIGH SCORES ****/
-
- This subroutine is available almost anytime in the games. Just
- press D to display the scores. The list for "Speed-50" will be
- displayed first. Press the spacebar to continue, and the list for
- "Speed-100" will be shown. Finally, the "Word-Expert" list is
- displayed, and then you can return to whatever you were doing.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - G - GOOGOL DEFINITION ****/
-
- A Googol is a number consisting of 1 followed by 100 zeros.
-
- Exactly 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,
- 000,000,000,000,000,000,
- 000,000,000,000,000,000,
- 000,000,000,000,000,000,
- 000,000,000,000,000,000,
- 000,000,000.
-
- Press "G" almost anytime to see this on the screen!
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - H - HELP SCREEN ****/
-
- The new help screen (in V3.6) now lists every available key, and
- lets you choose one immediately. For example, from the help
- screen, you can press "C" to go directly to the "Color Menu", or
- press "R" to go to the "Rename" screen. This means that you just
- have to remember ONE KEY - "H" to get to the help screen, or hit
- the "F1" key, whichever you prefer.
-
- There is a different help screen for the main menu. It displays
- information about the type of game you have selected. Press "I"
- with the cursor in different locations to see all the messages.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 7
-
-
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - L - LEVEL MENU ****/
-
- Press "L" for the Level Menu, to choose the highest number used
- by Review. You still have to choose the type of problems from the
- main menu, but the Level Menu controls the highest number.
-
- Please note - if you choose Level 2, and then choose word
- problems, you will find that the level has been increased to 3.
- This is because the word problems need slightly larger numbers to
- work with.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - Q - QUIT ****/
-
- Press the Q key or the ESC key almost anytime to quit from any of
- the games. You will be asked "Are You Sure?". Press Y to quit, or
- N to go back to what you were doing. Please note that if you quit
- while playing a game, your score will not be saved!
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - R - RENAME YOURSELF ****/
-
- The new "Rename" screen has spaces for ten player names, each up
- to sixteen characters long. Use the arrow keys to move around,
- and press enter when the pointer is next to your name.
-
- To type in a new name, just move the cursor to the right place,
- and start typing - that's all there is to it!
-
- If you would like to delete a name, you can either type over it,
- or press ALT-D to zap it (with a zapping noise, of course).
-
- If you make any changes on this screen, then the list of names
- will be written to the REVIEW.SCO file on the disk.
-
- /**** MISCELLANEOUS KEYS - X - EXPLANATIONS ****/
-
- If you press the X key while in the Review program, you will see
- an explanation of the current problem. You will have to watch
- everything - there is no way to stop it once it has started!
-
-
-
-
-
-
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- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 8
-
-
-
- /**** ERASING THE PLAYER NAME AND SCORE DATA FILE ****/
-
- The ten player names, and the 30 high scores, are all contained
- in a standard DOS file. If you delete this file, the program will
- automatically create a new, empty file. Just type:
-
- DEL REVIEW.SCO
-
- Note - If you try to TYPE the score file, you will see the
- message "Googol Version 3.6 High Score File", then a beep, then
- nothing! All of the information is after a "fake" end of file
- marker, so you can't see anything else. Unlike some games, you
- can't simply type your name and "1,000,000" into the score file.
- In fact, if the program finds anything funny in the file, it will
- create a new, empty score file! So, no cheating!
-
- /**** PRODUCTION HARDWARE ****/
-
- The "Googol Review" program was originally produced on a Tandy
- 1200 system. The original 8088-4.77 was replaced with a SOTA
- 80286-12 card. That machine is still running perfectly!
-
- The venerable Tandy machine is now overshadowed by a new "Snap It
- Together Yourself" generic 386 computer. It's a lot faster!
-
- /**** PRODUCTION SOFTWARE ****/
-
- The Googol Review program was produced with the Microsoft BASIC
- P.D.S. 7.1 compiler, Z-Soft's PC-Paintbrush, the Genus PCX
- Programmer's toolkit, and dozens of utilities too numerous to
- mention! There are about 300,000 bytes of source code, and almost
- 50,000 bytes of graphics files.
-
- The README-3.EXE program was written in Borland's Turbo C.
-
- Special mention goes to the excellent program LZEXE, by Fabrice
- Bellard, of France. Without this amazing file compressor, Googol
- Review simply wouldn't fit on a 360K disk!
-
- /**** GEOGRAPHY NOTE ****/
-
- All of the place names in the word problems are real! All of the
- people, stores, objects, and events are (obviously) not real!
-
-
-
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-
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- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 9
-
-
-
- /**** HOW TO PRINT GRAPHICS SCREENS - PART ONE ****/
-
- Before running Review, or any other graphics program, you have to
- run a program called GRAPHICS.COM. This program should be on your
- original DOS disk, or in your DOS subdirectory. When you run
- GRAPHICS.COM, it doesn't print any messages! It just skips a line
- and gives you the DOS prompt again.
-
- There are a few things that can go wrong, however... If you have
- a laser printer, it probably requires a special driver program.
- This is something that may have come with the printer, or you may
- have to ask the dealer or manufacturer for help.
-
- If you are using DOS 4.01, then a file called GRAPHICS.PRO is
- also required. This is on one of your original DOS disks, but the
- installation process doesn't copy this file! You'll have to find
- those original disks, and copy GRAPHICS.PRO to your working disk.
-
- If you have DOS 5.0 or DOS 6.0, then you'll have to look at the
- manuals, or type HELP GRAPHICS. That will load the help file
- which explains all of the newer GRAPHICS options.
-
- After GRAPHICS is loaded, you should be able to print the
- certificate, or any screen, just by pressing Shift-PrtSc. If all
- else fails, you may want to try booting from an absolutely plain
- boot disk, with no CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Then load
- GRAPHICS, and then run the games. This would avoid any possible
- conflicts with other programs. To make a plain boot disk, just
- FORMAT /S a new disk, and copy COMMAND.COM to it.
-
- On a hard disk system, you can use a batch file like this:
-
- CD\DOS
- GRAPHICS
- CD\REVIEW
- REVIEW
- CD\
-
- /**** HOW TO PRINT GRAPHICS SCREENS - PART TWO ****/
-
- Press "!" almost anytime in the program, and you will see a
- little "Yes / No" box. If you choose Yes, then the screen will be
- saved to a standard PCX file. That is, the screen >under< the
- little box! The file is always named TEMP.PCX. Then you can load
- this file into your favorite paint program, and print it from
- there! Every time that you save the TEMP.PCX file, it will
- overwrite any previous TEMP.PCX file. This should help to avoid
- "hard disk clutter", since there won't be dozens of different PCX
- files (unless you rename them from DOS).
-
- If you are running Review, and you can't remember the secret PCX
- key, just hit "H" or "F1" for the help screen. Then you'll see
- that it's "!", and you can use it right from the help screen.
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 10
-
-
-
- /**** SUPER REGISTRATION DETAILS ****/
-
- When you send in the $35 Super Registration, you will receive
- seven complete DOS programs, and one Windows 3.1 game...
-
- Googol Math Games: Three math games for all ages! CGA & 512K.
-
- Googol Bonus Disk: This is a collection of six games, all of them
- non-shareware and available only from the author. There are four
- math games, and two non-math puzzles just for fun. CGA & 512K.
-
- Googol Review: The very latest version of this program!
-
- Paul's Classroom Math: This is a text mode math drill program,
- intended for classrooms. There is complete recordkeeping for up
- to 60 students. There are no graphics, no noises, and no frills!
-
- Flashcards: This is a simple EGA math practice program, with no
- high scores to worry about. EGA & 512K.
-
- Lugnut City: How about a run-jump-and-shoot maze game, with just
- the right amount of math? Lugnut City has ten mazes to explore,
- and you can even design your own mazes! EGA & 512K.
-
- Wolfie's Music Games: There are ten different games in this
- program, and they all teach music notes and piano keys. There are
- many skill levels, so everyone can compete for high scores!
-
- Googolpede for Windows 3.1: This is a little version just for
- Windows users, and it's completely resizable, even in the middle
- of a game. Lots of extra Windows style features, too!
-
- Please remember, most of these programs require EGA graphics, so
- they will NOT run on older CGA monitors. If you have a VGA or
- SVGA monitor, that's great - everything will work perfectly!
-
- The special price of $35 is based on "7 games times $5", which
- covers all of the regular DOS programs. The Windows 3.1 program
- is included in the package at no extra cost.
-
- /**** CONCLUSION ****/
-
- Thanks very much for reading this far! I have tried to answer all
- of the most common questions about Googol Review in this
- document. If I missed anything, please write and ask!
-
- Paul T. Dawson
- Chincoteague Island, Virginia, U.S.A.
- September 9, 1993
-
- /**** THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! ****/
-
-
-
-
-
- Googol Review V3.6 Documentation - Page 11