Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/games/bertpa30.zip/BPA30.DOC

Text File | 1993-06-03 | 14KB | 292 lines

                       Bert's Prehistoric Animals
              (Including All the Bert's Coloring Programs)
                   A Coloring Program For Introducing
                     Young Children to the Computer

                   Shareware Version 3.0 User's Guide

                              Introduction

   This instruction manual was produced for use with the Bert's
Prehistoric Animals program. Several other Bert's coloring programs are
also available and these instructions are for use with these programs as
well.
    Bert's Prehistoric Animals is an enjoyable coloring program for
children of all ages, but is especially useful for introducing young
children to the computer. Bert's Prehistoric Animals was designed by
educators to be used by young children with a minimum of assistance by
adults. As a coloring program Bert's Prehistoric Animals is superior to
many other children's coloring programs in that it allows the user to
place the various animals, all in four different sizes, on a variety of
backgrounds. This allows children to easily create their own picture
before coloring. The opportunity to create their own picture will allow
children to take pride in their unique creation.
    When first started Bert's Prehistoric Animals displays a title
screen and then the drawing surface with eight buttons on the left.
Children can operate the program with the mouse alone. A window is
provided which allows children to write a short story about their
picture using the keyboard. The fact that they created the picture will
help provide the motivation to write about it. One of the best ways for
children to learn to read is to write, even if their initial attempts
include phonetic spelling which is not always correct. If your child is
not ready to attempt writing his/her story, then another good strategy
is for you to type in your child's story as he/she dictates it to you.
Then have your child read back the story he/she created. This is another
very effective beginning reading strategy. They will love creating a
setting, writing or dictating their own story and printing out a copy.

                              Installation

   Bert's Prehistoric Animals requires an IBM compatible computer with
at least 512K of memory, a VGA display and a Microsoft compatible mouse.
The installation process is quite easy.

    First, make a backup copy of your Bert's Prehistoric Animals program
disk. If necessary consult your PC-DOS/MS-DOS manual for a description
of the Diskcopy command. Save the original program disk in a safe place
and use the copy as the working program disk.

    Second, while it is possible to use Bert's Prehistoric Animals on a
floppy disk system, a hard disk system is a necessity for reasonable
speed and storing a number of pictures your child has created. To in-
stall Bert's Prehistoric Animals on a hard disk use the following steps:

    1. Insert the floppy disk in your computer in drive A
    2. Type A:
    3. Type INSTALL A C

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    Any combination of drive letters can be used, the first is the
source and the second is the destination. For example, INSTALL B D will
install the program from floppy drive B to hard drive D. The
installation will create a directory called BERT3 on your hard drive and
you will need to enter a CD\BERT3 to change to the Bert's Prehistoric
Animals directory before running the program. Once installed just type
BERT to start the program. If your computer gives a series of beeps when
you run Bert's Prehistoric Animals it is probably because it cannot find
the image files it needs to run, and other problems are showing up as
well. All the files for Bert's Prehistoric Animals need to be in the
same directory for the program to operate successfully. You should not
mix the .DOT image files from Bert's Prehistoric Animals with those of
versions previous to 3.0 as they are in a different format.
    Operation of Bert's Prehistoric Animals is quite easy. The eight
buttons are configured to do the following when the left mouse button is
clicked on them.

                           The Command Buttons

    SELECT AN ANIMAL

    When beginning a new picture six small backgrounds are displayed.
The user clicks with the mouse on the selected scene to have it drawn on
the screen full size.
    Next, a group of six animals are displayed. Clicking the mouse on
any one of the animals will select it. If the stop sign is clicked on,
no animal will be selected and you are returned to the drawing surface.
    Clicking the mouse on the box between the stop sign and the green
arrows sets the voice status. Voice can be set to on, off or voice only
- meaning the animal's only say their name through the computer's
internal speaker. The sound quality is somewhat limited due to PC
speaker quality, but the advantage is that no additional hardware is
needed.
    If the down green arrow is selected the next group of animals will
be displayed for possible selection. The up arrow returns to the
previous group of animals.
    The selected animal appears in four different sizes. After the
animal of the desired size is chosen, a rectangle outlining its size
will appear in the upper left. When the left mouse button is held down
on the rectangle it can be dragged into its desired position. When the
left mouse button is released, the animal will be drawn and any
previously drawn lines under it will be erased. This allows you to place
one animal in front of the next. It is best to first place all the
desired animals on the drawing surface before filling with color, as
some colors cannot be drawn over with an animal outline. An additional
feature is that the animal figures can also be drawn in reverse. To
reverse a figure simply hold down the right mouse button as you release
the left one when you position the animal on the drawing surface.

    SELECT A COLOR

    When this button is clicked a group of thirty colors is displayed.
When a color is chosen it fills the crayon in the button. This color
will fill the portion of the picture clicked on. Clicking outside the
color box restores the screen with no action.


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    WRITING A STORY

    Clicking on this button displays a window where a story can be
typed. Along with the normal alphanumeric characters, the backspace and
delete keys will erase characters. In addition the left and right arrow
keys will move the cursor to any position in the window. The complete
window is displayed, which consists of 8 lines of 38 characters.
Pressing the Enter key or filling the entire 8 lines closes the story
window. If you have problems displaying the window because it was
previously filled to overflowing try typing a backspace before opening
the window with a mouse click.

    ERASE

    This selection will erase the current drawing surface as well as the
story area. The user must verify the erase by choosing a happy face for
erase or sad face to cancel the erase.

    SAVE

    The drawing surface and story area can be saved by clicking on this
button and then selecting the save box with the arrow pointing inward.
While simple for adults, this function may need explaining with young
children. Care must be taken because selecting the retrieve box with the
arrow pointing outward will load the stored image and story, erasing the
one currently on the screen. When storing an image the user is prompted
for a name. It should be a simple eight character or less file name with
no extension or path name. When retrieving an image a large window
appears containing the names of the images previously saved. Simply
clicking on a name will retrieve the image. Many drawings can be stored
by giving them different names. Again, this may be confusing for small
children. A suggestion is to use his or her name with numbers for easy
recall, ie. bert1, bert2, bert3, etc. Clicking outside the load/save box
restores the screen with no action.

    PRINT

    The image and story can be printed on several different types of
printers: Epson or IBM dot matrix printers that support either 9 or 24
pin graphics, the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet series of printers and the
Hewlett-Packard PaintJet and DeskJet 500C color printers. Other printer
brands that support these formats will also be compatible. The user need
only click on the type of printer he has to begin printing. Once a
printer has been selected, the program will remember the last printer
selected and assume that it will be used for future printing. Clicking
on the print button will then use this as the default printer. If the
type of printer needs to be changed simply hold the right mouse button
down while clicking the left one on the print button. This will allow
you to choose the printer you desire.

    UNDO

    Clicking on this button erases the last animal that was placed on
the drawing surface. Misplaced animals can be removed with this command
without effecting the image underneath. If the right mouse button is
held down when releasing the left one the last color fill will be

Bert's Prehistoric Animals Version 3.0                      Page 3 of 5
undone. In both cases the undo function will only work on the most
recently placed animal or color fill.

    STOP

    Selecting this button exits the program. A second check on a happy
or sad face must be done to confirm exiting the program. After a support
shareware message is displayed, clicking the mouse will return the user
to DOS.

                      Additional Programs Available

    Bert's Prehistoric Animals has been written in a way that it can
restructure itself depending on the image files that it finds available.
If image files for Bert's African Animals, Bert's Dinosaurs, and Bert's
Prehistoric Animals are found by the program, the user is prompted to
choose which program to run. Each program contains a different set of
topic images which your child will enjoy. The following programs are
currently available and others may be added.

        Bert's African Animals
        Bert's Dinosaurs
        Bert's Whales and Dolphins

    When registering your copy of Bert's Prehistoric Animals these
additional programs are available for a small increase over the
registration price. Registered users may purchase additional programs at
any time.

                              Registration

    You may freely copy and distribute this shareware Version 3.0.
Shareware users who find Bert's Prehistoric Animals useful should
support the author and register their copy. The form found below should
be used for registration. Registered users will receive a copy of
Version 3.1 of Bert's Prehistoric Animals with additional images and a
printed manual.
   The registration fee is $20. ($30. outside the United States.) Please
include $2.00 for shipping and handling. A complete listing of the
program, which is written in the newest version of Borland C++, is also
available for an additional $20.00. Additional programs such as Bert's
Dinosaurs, Bert's African Animals, etc. are available for $5.00 each
when registering your program.

   Checks should be made out to:

            Theron Wierenga, P.O. Box 595, Muskegon, MI 49443










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                            Registration Form
                     Bert's Prehistoric Animals 3.0


    Name____________________________________________________________

    Address_________________________________________________________

    City_______________________________________State_____Zip________

    Disk size desired:       5 1/4 in._______       3 1/2 in._______

    Registration fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 __________
    Registration fee (Outside the USA) . . . . . .  30.00 __________
    Borland C++ program code . . . . . . . . . . .  20.00 __________
    Additional program (                   ) . . .   5.00 __________
    Additional program (                   ) . . .   5.00 __________
    Additional program (                   ) . . .   5.00 __________
    Additional program (                   ) . . .   5.00 __________

    Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        ___2.00___

    Total enclosed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        __________

    Method of payment: Check or MO______ MasterCard______ Visa______

    Account number____________________________ Expir. date__________

    Signature (necessary)___________________________________________

    How did you receive your copy of this program?__________________

    ________________________________________________________________

    Suggested improvements__________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________

         Bert's Prehistoric Animals 3.0 is a software product of

                             Theron Wierenga
                              P.O. Box 595
                           Muskegon, MI 49443










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