Monster Media 1994 #1

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Preschool Pack 2.0 Copyright (c) 1994 KidStuff Software Vicki Watson 6490 Dubois Rd. Delaware, OH 43015-8931 614-548-5043 Compuserve 71043,3706 The colorful graphics, songs, and speech of Preschool Pack will be sure to capture the attention of your preschooler. From the main menu screen, which contains a cat which meows and winks when clicked, to the bee which frowns when a mistake is made in the matching game, you and your preschooler will appreciate the careful design and attention to detail of Preschool Pack. Through six different and entertaining activities your preschooler will learn about counting, number recognition, the alphabet, colors, matching, classifying, and memorizing his name, address, and telephone number. The activities include: "Animal Homes", where animals must be placed in their appropriate homes - either farm, forest, or circus. Most of the animals have an accompanying animation and animal sound! "Balloons", where the user must click on a color block matching the color of a rising balloon before it pops; "Matching", a memory game with an animated bee rewarding the user who locates all matches; "Counting", where the user counts along with the computer as a variety of colorful images, from dinosaurs to dolls, are displayed; and "ABC's" where the user must find all letters which match a displayed letter. "ABC's" uses speech to pronounce each letter as it is selected. In the last activity the child will learn to spell his name, as well as learning his address and phone number. All activities are reinforced with cheerful music and animation sequences. **** Enhancements to Preschool Pack version 2.0 include: - sound card support (Sound Blaster, Adlib, or compatibles) - improved and additional graphics - improved music (sound card version) - left or right mouse buttons supported - Name, address, and phone number activity added - Counting: options to set the count start and/or stop number from 1 to 25 key press will also display objects in counting mode updates the number display during the count option to enter the number which matches the number of images displayed press ENTER or SPACEBAR to display the answer in enter number mode - ABC's: click on the letter in the upper left corner to say the alphabet from a-z (click or press a key to go to the next letter, stop by pressing ESC) A portion of the butterfly will be displayed for each correct letter clicked - Animal homes: Animal sound effects and animations have been added - Matching: A matching game may consist of either 12 or 24 cards Shareware Registration Form - PPK 2.0 All registered users receive over 100 extra pictures for use in PPK, 12 or 24 cards in the matching game, count up to 25 in the number game, 13 additional animal animations and sounds, support via phone or mail, removal of the shareware screens, and notification of and substantial discounts on KidStuff Software. Disk Size: [ ] 3 1/2" [ ] 5 1/4" [ ] Sound Blaster/Adlib Version [ ] PC Speaker Version [ ] $10.00 (Standard Registration, includes the above benefits) [ ] $20.00 (Personalized version, includes the above benefits plus complete personalization for your child in the name, address, and phone number activity. You may include the first names of 1 to 3 children as long as they have the same last name and address.) Fill out the following for personalized versions only. Please indicate proper pronunciations of anything unusual!!! Also show how you would like numbers spoken. For example - 6490 could be either six-four-nine-zero, or sixty four-ninety. Child's First Name: _______________________________________ Last Name: ________________________________________________ Street Address: ___________________________________________ City, State, Zip: _________________________________________ (Shareware versions of the following programs are available. See descriptions of these programs at the end of this file.) [ ] $3.00 "Sounds Like A..." [ ] $3.00 "Ms. Piggy Bank" [ ] $3.00 "Talking Time Tutor" [ ] $3.00 "Masterpiece Menu" [ ] $3.00 "Talking Number Machine" Please send your check or money order (checks must be for U.S. funds on a U.S. bank!) to: KidStuff Software 6490 Dubois Rd. Delaware, OH 43015-8931 Name: _________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Phone: ________________________ I received the shareware disk from: ________________________ Comments or suggestions: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS Preschool Pack requires a 12Mhz or faster PC, 640K RAM, a hard drive, an EGA or VGA color monitor, and a mouse. Two different versions of PPK are available. One works with Sound Blaster, Adlib, or compatible sound cards. The other works with the PC speaker. Neither version is compatible with Microsoft Windows. PPK must be run strictly from DOS. INSTALLATION Insert disk 1 and type A:INSTALL (or B:INSTALL). Once installed, change to the PPK directory and type PPK to run the program. From the main menu screen you may press F10 to set the program options. PRESCHOOL PACK INSTRUCTIONS F10 Program Options (from the main menu screen) Press ENTER or use the arrow keys to move between option fields. Press ESC when you have set all the desired options, to exit the screen. The options are saved to disk. They may be modified at any time. From the options window you may set the following: Speech On (Y/N) - Y to turn speech on, N to turn it off. "Speech" includes the animal sounds as well as voice. Music On (Y/N) - Y to turn music on, N to turn it off. Computer Speed - Slow, Medium, Fast (S/M/F) This option primarily controls the timing of the animations in the program. Set it according to the following guidelines. You may need to adjust these for individual systems. 'S' - 286 computer 'M' - 386 computer 'F' - 486 computer Music Volume (1-15)/Voice Volume (1-15) These options allow you to control the relative volume levels of the voice to the music in the Sound Blaster version of the program. These options will have no effect on some sound cards. They will work on Sound Blaster Pro or similar cards. They will have no effect in the PC speaker version of the program. There is no way to adjust the volume of the PC speaker. Count From ?? to ?? In the counting game you may set a range of numbers to be used, anywhere from 1 to 25. You may only want to work on the numbers 1 to 10, 10 to 20, 1 to 25, etc. [The shareware version allows numbers 1-10.] Enter Numbers? Answer Y/N here to control how the counting game operates. If 'Y' a number of objects will be displayed in the counting game and the user will have to type in the number of objects. If 'N' a number will be displayed and the user will count along with the computer by pressing a key or clicking the mouse. Matching Blocks (12/24) This controls the number of blocks used in the matching game (12 or 24). [The shareware version allows 12.] Boy or Girl (1-6) Enter a number from 1 to 6 to display the pictures of the 3 girls (1-3) and 3 boys (4-6) used in the name, address, and phone number activity. After pressing ENTER the new picture will be displayed. Use the up arrow key to re-enter this field if you would like to look at a different picture. The remaining fields are used in the name, address, phone number activity. Please type in the information for your child. If you have ordered the personalized version of PPK, all of this information will be spoken. If not, the first name will be spelled and the telephone number spoken. All other information will be displayed only. You may enter the first names for up to 3 children. MAIN MENU MOUSE CLICKS - Stop sign: exit PPK and return to DOS. - cat's head: meow and wink. - lower right corner of the screen: mouse runs across the screen. - upper left corner of the screen: doll waves from corner of sack. - 6 activity icons: begin one of the 6 activities. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: COUNTING: Click on 123 for the counting game. The counting game operates in two different modes - counting mode, or enter the number mode. Set the field Enter Numbers? in the program options window to Y/N to set the mode. If this field is set to 'Y', a number of objects will be displayed and the user will have to type in the number of objects. If 'N' a number will be displayed and the user will count along with the computer by pressing a key or clicking the mouse. Counting Mode: A large number will be displayed in the upper left corner, and that number will be spoken. For example the number 7 may appear. You should then click the mouse anywhere on the screen, (or press any key) 7 times. For each click a picture will appear on the screen. The program will count as each item appears. When you have clicked the correct number of times, the bear will dance and a song will play. You may stop the song at any point by clicking the mouse or pressing a key during the song. You may then continue with the next number or click on STOP to end the game. The child should be encouraged to count along with the program as the objects appear. Enter the Number Mode: In this mode a number of objects will be displayed. The user should type in the correct number of objects displayed. Do not press ENTER. If the correct number is typed, the number will be displayed and spoken, and the doll will dance and sing. You may stop the song at any point by clicking the mouse or pressing a key during the song. You may press the ENTER key or SPACEBAR to display the correct answer automatically. There is no song or dance if this "Help" method is used. After a brief pause the next set of objects will be displayed, continue with the next set or click on STOP to end the game. COLORS: Click on the balloons for the color game. You will see two rows of color blocks. A colored balloon will appear on the right side of the screen and begin rising to the top of the screen. Click on the block which is the same color as the balloon. If you click on the correct block, that balloon will appear at the bottom of the screen and a different colored balloon will appear. If you do not click the right color before the balloon reaches the top of the screen, that balloon will pop and a new balloon will appear. Play continues until the display of correct balloons at the bottom of the screen is full. You may click on the rabbit to speed up the balloon or on the turtle to slow down the balloon. Each time you click on the speed icons, the balloon will either speed up or slow down. A song will play when all the balloons are collected. A new game will be set up allowing you to play again, or click the STOP sign to return to the main menu. ALPHABET: Click on ABC for the alphabet game. You will see a letter in the upper left corner, and the name of this letter will be spoken. A grid containing various letters will be displayed on the right. Click on each letter in the grid which matches the letter on the left. As each letter in the grid is clicked on, the name of that letter will be spoken. If a matching letter is clicked it will be high- lighted. As each match is found, part of a butterfly will be displayed. When all matching letters are found, the completed butterfly will fly across the screen as a song is played. Below the letter in the upper left corner, you will see a box with [A a Aa]. Click on this box at any time to change the case of the game. Click on the capital 'A' to change to all upper-case. Click on the lower-case 'a' to change to all lower-case. Click on the upper/lower case 'Aa' to change to a mixture of upper and lower case letters. Click on the area between the Upper/Lower Case Block and the STOP sign to hear the ABC song. Click on the letter in the upper left corner to hear the entire alphabet spoken. Click the mouse or press a key to advance through the letters from A to Z. Press ESC at any time to end the speaking of the alphabet. The ABC game will continue until you click on the STOP sign or press ESC to return to the main menu. MATCHING: Click on the squares to play the matching game. Click on a square to reveal a picture, then click on another to find it's match. The bee will frown when a mistake is made and will smile when a correct match is found. Clicking on the bee will make him fly over the screen. The bee will fly and a song will play when all matches are found. A count of the number of tries used will be displayed under the bee. A new matching game will be set up allowing you to play again, or click the STOP sign to return to the main menu. Set the Matching Blocks field to 12 or 24 in the Program Options window to control the number of blocks used for the Matching game. ANIMAL HOMES: Click on the elephant to play the animal homes game. The next screen will display a barn, a circus tent, and a forest. In the lower, right corner an animal will be displayed. Some of the animals will have a sound effect, and/or animation associated with it. In the Sound Blaster version the sound effects and animations are performed simultaneously. Due to the limitations of the PC speaker, the speaker version performs the animations after the sound effects. Click on the displayed animal to repeat the animation. In the Sound Blaster version, the sound effect will also be repeated. [The shareware version provides one animated animal for each of the homes. The registered version provides 16.] After an animal is displayed, click on the picture that represents the correct home for this animal. The animals may only be placed in the correct homes. When the correct home is clicked, a full screen picture of that home will appear. You may click anywhere to place the animal on the screen. You may click repeatedly to move the animal to different positions on this screen. When the animal is placed where you want it, click STOP to return to the ANIMAL HOMES screen. A new animal will appear and you can repeat the above process. When all animals for a home have been placed, a song will play. When all animals for the farm, circus, and forest have been placed you will be returned to the main menu. You may also return to the main menu before all animals are placed by clicking on the STOP sign, or pressing ESC in the ANIMAL HOMES screen. The animals included are listed below. Animations or Sound effects are indicated by an A or S. FARM CIRCUS FOREST --------------------------------------------------------- Cow [AS] Seal [AS] Deer Pig [AS] Tiger [AS] Skunk Goat [AS] Lion [AS] Snake [AS] Chicken [AS] Monkey [AS] Fox Ducks [AS] Elephant [AS] Owl [AS] Sheep [AS] Horse [S] Raccoon Horse [AS] Goose [AS] NAME, ADDRESS, AND PHONE NUMBER: Be sure you have entered the information related to this activity by pressing F10 for the Program Options window (from the main menu). NAME: Click on the name bubble to hear the child's first name spelled. If you have purchased the personalized version, the child's name will be spoken also. ADDRESS: If you have purchased the personalized version, click on the mailbox to hear the child's first name, last name, and complete address spoken. Click on the dinosaur and he will mail a letter. PHONE: Click on the phone number displayed on the bottom of the phone to hear the phone number spoken. "Dial" the displayed phone number by clicking on the appropriate buttons, or by typing the numbers on the keyboard. If the number dialed matches the number displayed on the phone, the phone will ring and someone will say "Hello". If an error is made while dialing, click on the receiver to get a dial tone and start dialing over again with the first digit of the phone number. TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE: PPK will not run under Microsoft Windows. The speech will not work on a system slower than 12 Mhz. Programs using graphics and sound require large quantities of memory. If you are having trouble with the program, please free up all available memory. If you have any TSR's or memory resident programs loaded, they should be removed from memory. PPK will access expanded memory if available. PPK requires an EGA or VGA monitor/video card. A mouse driver must be loaded via your config.sys or autoexec.bat file before using PPK. See the documentation that came with your mouse. Sound Blaster/Adlib or compatible versions of each of these programs area available to registered users. ========================================================================= S O U N D S L I K E A . . . ========================================================================= "Sounds Like A..." is a unique and entertaining game for children ranging in age from approximately 1 1/2 to 7 years of age. The program uses colorful graphics and a variety of high-quality sounds ranging from a clock "ticking" to a dog "barking". In the first of two games, the child must find the picture which matches a sound. Your child may hear, for example, a cow "mooing". He/she will then click on a square containing the picture of a cow. A game consists of 12 sound/picture pairs. As each picture is matched with the accompanying sound, parts of a larger underlying picture are revealed. The second game is a matching or memory game with a slight twist. The child must match a picture with the appropriate sound. For example, if the child clicks on a block revealing a picture of a donkey, he must find the block which contains the "Hee Haw" sound in order to make a match. *** An enhanced version of Sounds Like A... is available for Sound Blaster or Adlib systems that provides 36 MIDI songs in addition to the sounds of the standard program. Your child will hear a song and match that song to its corresponding picture. There are 12 children's songs, 12 Bible songs, and 12 Christmas songs. Also included in this version is a "tape player" where your child can play any of the sounds or songs in the program. ========================================================================= T A L K I N G T I M E T U T O R ========================================================================= "Talking Time Tutor" will have your child telling time in no time! Your child will hear the time spoken using high quality digitized speech. TTIME provides a variety of different time activities each with three skill levels. Activities include setting the analog clock to match the digital clock, setting the digital clock to match the analog clock, setting the analog clock to the spoken or written time, and setting the analog clock to a future or past time. Additional features are provided to entertain your child as he/she learns. Each of 6 analog clocks has its own animation routine. Pocket Watch Display minute count by fives. Owl Eyes move left to right. Bear Honey bee flies around. Santa Christmas tree with blinking lights. Cat Eyes move up and down. Dinosaur Munches on grass. Cuckoo Clock Cuckoos The colors of the band on the digital wrist watch may be changed. A bear on the screen tells time-related jokes or asks your child questions about time. Isn't it about time you invested in "Talking Time Tutor" for your child? ========================================================================= T A L K I N G N U M B E R M A C H I N E ========================================================================= The inspiration for "Talking Number Machine" (TNUM) came from my daughter Lisa, age 7. From the time she learned to read, she was continually asking me, "Mom, what's this number?". At the time she could not recognize numbers over about 999. After working with the "Talking Number Machine" she is comfortable with numbers up to the trillions. TNUM is designed to help children recognize, say, and write numbers from 1 to 9,999,999,999,999. TNUM uses high quality digitized speech to say the numbers which appear on the screen. Mouse and/or keyboard commands may be used. The program includes the following activities: Number Machine - Click on the Number Machine and the machine will produce an interesting fact containing a large number. The fact will be displayed in a frame, with the number highlighted, along with an accompanying picture. For example - "Americans eat 50,000,000 hot dogs a day." They may then choose to have the computer say the highlighted number, or have the computer display that number in words. The user may also choose to write the number in words by selecting from a list of number words (no typing is required). Help is available to display the next word if the user gets stuck. The registered version of the program contains 175 number facts. Enter any Number - The user may enter (calculator style) any number up to 13 digits. They may then choose to have the computer say that number or have the computer display that number in words. The user may also choose to write the number in words by selecting from a list of number words (no typing is required). Enter the Written Number - The computer will "think" of a large number and display that number in words, for example - nine million two hundred fifty one thousand three hundred seventy two. The user must enter the digits to make that number. Help is available to display the next digit if the user gets stuck. Count By - TNUM can also help your child learn to count (by increments of 1 to 10). If the user selects 2 the program will begin counting by 2's - 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. until you decide to stop. A utility program is included with TNUM which allows you to enter your own number facts for use in the program. ========================================================================= M S . P I G G Y B A N K ========================================================================= Ms. Piggy Bank provides an effective and entertaining way for children ages 6 to 10 to learn about money. Ms. Piggy Bank offers 6 different money activities, all using high quality speech and graphics, with full mouse support. The simplest activity teaches the names and values of coins and bills up to twenty dollars. Your child will quickly learn the value of each coin as they try to maneuver a piggy bank to catch falling coins. Your child will learn, for example, that two quarters are equal to a half dollar in the Money Equivalents activity. In the Total Money activity your child will enter the total of the displayed coins and/or bills on a cash register. The Select Money activity displays a total and your child selects the coins and/or bills which add up to that total. An entertaining board game for 1 or 2 players allows your child to put his newly acquired skills to work, earning money and an opportunity to visit the Toy Store where he can practice making a purchase and counting out the amount of change received. The program is easily configurable for children of various ages and skill levels. ========================================================================= M A S T E R P I E C E M E N U ========================================================================= Masterpiece Menu is a menu program designed specifically for children. Even the youngest children will be able to run their own software using Masterpiece Menu. The painter "paints" each program icon on the easel. Click the easel or press ENTER to run the displayed program. The large, colorful program icons are standard PCX files. Setup is a breeze, simply press F10 to enter your child's program information. You can even set up separate configurations so each child can have his/her own menu. Masterpiece Menu runs in EGA or VGA mode and includes a "screen saver", calendar, and animated clock.