home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Cream of the Crop 11
/
Cream of the Crop 11-1.iso
/
educate
/
smvga10e.zip
/
STORY.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-12-18
|
22KB
|
599 lines
S T O R Y M A K E R + VGA
Version 1.0e
Copyright (c) 1992-1995
All rights reserved
Elson Embry
145 Plaza Drive #471
Vallejo, California 95491-3703
Phone: (707) 647-2258
Internet Email Address: embryev@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------
D O C U M E N T S E C T I O N S
----------------------------------------------------
A - Shareware File Descriptions
B - Program Description
C - Differences Between VGA and EGA Versions
D - Disclaimer/Warranty
E - Hardware Requirements
F - Copyright/Registration/Ordering Information
G - Initializing or Updating the Program
H - Running the Program
I - Data File Descriptions
J - Trademarks and Credits
-------------------------------
A - SHAREWARE FILE DESCRIPTIONS
-------------------------------
Files contained in the current version:
FILE_ID.DIZ - Shareware package description
README.1ST - Pre-installation text file
HISTORY.DOC - Log of program versions
VENDOR.DOC - Vendor information
STORY.DOC - Software information
REGISTER.FRM - Registration form
SMVINIT.EXE - Initialization/update utility
STORY.EXE - Main program
HELP.DAT - Program file
PHONEME.DAT - Program file
PRULES.DAT - Program file
SBINST.DAT - Program file
SCREEN.DAT - Program file
SMR.DAT - Program file
SMFONTS.DAT - Program file
PHONEME.DCT - Program file
KIDS.SBK - Demo storybook
KIDS.SPL - Demo picture library
KIDS.SSL - Demo script file
JUNGLE.TXT - Demo text file
*.CMF - CMF FM files
*.SML - Melody files
*.VOC - Digital sound files
-----------------------
B - PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
-----------------------
Storymaker+ VGA is a multimedia kit for creating
interactive storybooks with sound, music, and text-
to-speech. Storybooks of up to 99 screen pages can
also be compiled into stand-alone, personalized pro-
grams for easy distribution among friends, family,
or for educational and commercial purposes.
The software is designed for the use of elementary-
school-aged children as a creativity and learning
tool for arts,music,reading and writing. Parents who
are interested in participating in the education of
their younger children can also use it as a teaching
tool.
Storymaker+ VGA has separate editor modules for
music,graphics,text and the designing and reading of
storybooks. Children can use the Melody Maker, with
its animated piano, to explore music and sound; the
Scenery and Shape Editors with their special tools,
to explore shapes and colors; the Book Editor with
its varied animation tools, to do creative and log-
ical thinking; the Text Editor even with its simple
features, to do some writing and have some fun; the
Book Reader to share their creations with others.
Other users of the program are computer learning
centers and educational institutions which will find
it useful as a teaching tool for reading, writing or
multimedia introduction. Some unexpected users of
the EGA version are professionals who find the pro-
gram useful as a therapeutic tool especially for
disabled children.
The Screen Keyboard interface, a new feature in Sto-
rymaker+ VGA will also be of special interest to
those who, because of a physical handicap, can ope-
rate a computer only through a device that emulates
a mouse. By pointing and clicking at the interface
keyboard diagram on the screen through the emulator
device, a user may enter text without using the com-
puter keyboard.
Writers of children's books may also be interested
to use the program as a low-cost, simple multimedia
authoring system. Storybooks may be distributed
royalty-free with no further arrangement with the
author.
Online help is available throughout the program. The
help screens may also be saved into a special file
that can be viewed or printed.
--------------------------------------------
C - DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EGA AND VGA VERSIONS
--------------------------------------------
Storymaker+ comes in two versions, the original Sto-
rymaker+ which runs only in the EGA graphics mode,
and Storymaker+ VGA, which runs only in VGA mode.
Although most of the VGA version features came dir-
ectly from the development of the EGA version, the
two versions should be treated as two different pro-
grams. You should not install Storymaker+ VGA in the
same directory as the EGA version - or the other way
around - to ensure that files that are incompatible
with either version do not cause a problem when run-
ning the program. This will also prevent any con-
fusion when updating either version later.
If you want to keep only one version, for example
the VGA version, but want to use files created in
the EGA version that the VGA version will accept, it
is recommended that you copy or move the valid EGA
files into the VGA data directories, rather than
atttempt to install the VGA version in the EGA pro-
gram directory.
As for file compatibility, currently both the EGA
and VGA versions use the same file format for Melody
Maker's SML files and the Text Editor's TXT files
and so any of these files can be used in either
version.
In addition, Storymaker+ VGA's editors will load
graphics from the EGA version's SPL libraries. It
will not however save graphics into an EGA library
file,only into a VGA library file. Also an important
to keep in mind if you have or plan to create VGA
storybooks using graphics directly from EGA library
files: you must keep the EGA library files in the
VGA GRAPHIC directory in order to avoid missing pic-
ture errors as storybook's graphics are loaded only
from the original library files.
Storybooks created in one version can not be read
nor edited in the other version.
-----------------------
D - DISCLAIMER/WARRANTY
-----------------------
Sorry about the following legal stuff:
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS AND
THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED. YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS COMPLETELY
AT YOUR OWN RISK. I ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR ANY DA-
MAGES CAUSED BY THE DIRECT OR INDIRECT USE OF THE
SOFTWARE AND ANY OF ITS FILES. YOUR USE OF THE SOFT-
WARE MEANS THAT YOU AGREE TO ALL OF THESE TERMS.
-------------------------
E - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
-------------------------
IBM or compatible computer, 640K RAM memory, hard
drive, VGA graphics monitor, mouse device. A Sound
Blaster compatible sound card is required for all
sound effects.
------------------------------------------------
F - COPYRIGHT/SHAREWARE AND ORDERING INFORMATION
------------------------------------------------
Storymaker+ VGA is copyrighted by the author. All
rights are reserved.
Storymaker+ VGA is distributed as shareware, a try-
before-you-buy method of marketing software. Payment
of registration fee is required if you want to con-
tinue using the program after trying it. The fee is
to compensate the program's author for the product.
If you find Storymaker+ valuable and like the share-
ware method of testing software, the author needs
your support to continue making improvements and to
write new educational programs.
Any author's income comes only from users register-
ing the program and not from any payment you might
have made for the shareware version as no income
arrangements are made with shareware distributors.
The registration fee is $26 U.S. dollars. There is a
handling/mailing charge of $3.00 ($6.00 for orders
outside the United States,Canada and Mexico). Checks
from foreign countries must be drawn against a U.S.
bank. California residents, please add the applic-
able sales tax.
Please call or write for site licenses, school dis-
counts and quantity discounts.
To order Storymaker+ VGA by mail, please print the
file REGISTER.FRM.
If you are a Compuserve member, to register online
through Compuserve: GO SWREG, then follow the
prompts. Storymaker product ID number is 4782.
By a special arrangement, you can also order by cre-
dit card from Public (software) Library with your
MC, Visa, AmEx or Discover card by calling 800-
242-4775 (from overseas: 713-524-6394), or by FAX
to 713-524-6398, or by CompuServe to 71355,470. Ask
for item# 11139, Storymaker+ VGA version. These num-
bers are for ordering only. The program's author
can not reached at these numbers. To contact the
author about site licensing, quantity discount, pro-
duct shipment status, or for anything other than to
place a credit card order, please call 707-647-2258,
or by Internet email to embryev@aol.com. Or write
to:
Elson Embry
145 Plaza Drive #471
Vallejo, California 94591-3703
Shareware distribution of Storymaker+ VGA to others
is permitted and encouraged as long as all files are
included and no file is altered in any way. BBS's,
vendors or anyone planning to distribute Storymaker+
VGA for a fee, please refer to the file VENDOR.DOC
for distribution requirements and restrictions.
----------------------------------------
G - INITIALIZING OR UPDATING THE PROGRAM
----------------------------------------
IF YOU HAVE AN EGA VERSION OF THE PROGRAM, PLEASE
READ FIRST THE SECTION ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
THE EGA AND VGA VERSIONS BEFORE INSTALLING THE VGA
VERSION.
If you already have an older version of the program,
change the current directory to the Storymaker+ home
directory. If not,then you need to create a separate
directory for the program in your hard disk.
For example:
C:
MD \SMVGA (Creates the directory)
CD \SMVGA (Changes the current directory)
Next, copy all files to the directory, then uncom-
press any archived files.
From example:
COPY A:*.*
Then Use your decompression software if needed.
Next, run the initialization utility SMVINIT.EXE.
From example:
SMVINIT
The utility checks for Storymaker+'s VGA data sub-
directories,creates the subdirectories if necessary,
then transfers all new data files to their director-
ies.
If you are updating an older version, the utility
also makes sure the setup file structure is current
by reinitializing it to its default configuration.
-----------------------
H - RUNNING THE PROGRAM
-----------------------
Storymaker+ VGA is written to run under the DOS ope-
rating system. It is not designed to run under the
Microsoft Windows environment and will likely run
erratically because of Windows use of shared resour-
ces. But if you do need to run it under Windows,
try assigning the program as much control as possi-
ble for best results.
If Storymaker+ is configured for the Sound Blaster
card, the program looks for the Sound Blaster envi-
ronment variable BLASTER. This is normally added to
the AUTOEXEC.BAT in the root directory to specify
the current Sound Blaster hardware configuration.
The command for setting the environment string has
the form:
SET BLASTER=Appp Ii Dd Tt
where:
ppp = Base I/O port
i = IRQ number
d = DMA channel
t = Sound Blaster card version number
Example: SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1
If no environment string is found, Storymaker+ VGA
attempts to auto detect the card using base I/O port
220h and IRQ 7 as default settings. It is preferable
though that the BLASTER environment be used to avoid
port problems that may cause the system to hang up.
If you will be playing CMF files,the CMF file player
SBFMDRV.COM must also be in memory before running
Storymaker+.
Please refer to your Sound Blaster manual for more
instructions on the BLASTER environment strings and
the SBFMDRV.COM driver.
To run Storymaker+, change the directory to its home
directory. The command line format is:
STORY [/UNLOCK] [/READ file] [/BOOK] [/SPV file]
Entries inside the brackets are command switches and
are optional. Filename extensions are not required
in the filenames. The command switches are:
/UNLOCK
Also accepts short form /U. This unlocks all
utilities in the Utility menu. The program does
not allow access to some utilities unless this
command switch is invoked.
/READ file
Space optional.Also accepts short form /R file.
This reads the storybook file <file> automatic-
ally. It skips the main menu and opens the Book
Reader to read a storybook in computer-help-me
mode. The command is to enable a young child to
use the program just to read a story. Repeat
the command to read more than one file in one
session.
/BOOK
Also accepts short form /B.
This bypasses the main menu and allows access
only to the Book Reader. The command is to ena-
ble a young child to read storybooks only while
using the program.
/SPV file
Space optional.
This loads the Voicemaker SPV phoneme sound
file <file> in place of Storymaker+'s phoneme
sounds. A phoneme sound file contains the digi-
tal speech data used by the program to make the
computer talk. An SPV file is created through
Voicemaker, a freeware speech program that also
allows the user to record the phoneme's in his
or her own voice and can be used as a companion
program to Storymaker+.
Voicemaker SPV files must be located in Story-
maker+ home directory before it can be accessed
by Storymaker+.
Below are some examples of running the program:
STORY
Runs the program but does not allow access to
some of the utilities.
STORY /UNLOCK
Runs the program allowing access to all of the
utilities.
STORY /BOOK
Restricts access to the Book Reader. This pre-
vents changing of data files and is intended
for young children using the program.
STORY /READ demo /READ vacation
Reads the storybook file DEMO. Reads the book
file VACATION next. Terminates program when
done.
STORY /READ demo /BOOK
Reads the book file DEMO.Then continues running
the program but allows access only to the Book
Reader.
STORY /SPV RICHARD
Loads Voicemaker's file RICHARD.SPV (recorded
Richard?), and uses it as the text-to-speech
player's voice.
--------------------------
I - DATA FILE DESCRIPTIONS
--------------------------
This section describes Storymaker+ VGA data files.
1 - Picture Library Files
A picture library contains the pictures for the sce-
neries and animation shapes of a Storymaker+ story-
book. A library file is created in either the Sce-
nery Editor or Shape Editor module of the program
and pictures are added to a library by using either
graphics editor. Library files are located in the
program subdirectory GRAPHICS and carry the file
extension SPL.
When saving a picture in a library file, Storymaker+
assigns an index number to it. The index number and
library filename are used when adding the picture in
a storybook. To avoid missing picture errors when
loading storybooks,it is important to understand how
pictures are saved in a storybook file.
When designing a storybook in the Book Editor, the
user selects which picture library to use from the
available library files. If the selected library has
not been used in the storybook,the Book Editor saves
the library name in an indexed list it maintains in
the storybook file. When the user adds a picture to
the story, only the picture's index number and the
library's index number are saved to reference the
picture selected. The picture data, picture name or
or description are not saved.
When the Book Editor or Book Reader reads a page of
the storybook, it uses the library's indexed name in
the library list and then accesses the picture data
itself through the picture's index number in the
library file - it does not check nor use in any way
the picture's name or description, only that the
library exists and the picture's index number valid.
If it can not load a picture, the program beeps to
signal an error and loads a special internal picture
in place of the missing picture.
A picture that has been accidentally deleted from
its library file therefore can not be restored in a
story by simply saving a new picture in the same
library under the same name, since the new picture
will most most likely get a different index number.
It can be restored only by additionally editing the
storybook to delete every occurence of the deleted
picture and then recreating the animation script
under the new picture. Otherwise, a missing picture
error will continue to appear or worse, a wrong pic-
ture will show up in a story if the index number of
the deleted picture has been reassigned to a new
picture.
2 - Melody Files
Melody files are located in the program subdirectory
MELODY and carry the file extension SML. Melodies
are entered in the program module Melody Maker.
The Book Editor adds a melody to a storybook by sav-
ing the melody's filename - actual data are copied
only in the run-time file.
3 - Text Files
A text file adds sound effects to a story when read
by the text-to-speech player.
Text files are located in the program subdirectory
TEXT and carry the file extension TXT. A screenful
of text may be entered in the Text Editor module.
Storymaker+ also accepts larger files from other
editors, although these can not be edited in the
Text Editor; copy the files into the TEXT directory.
The Book Editor adds a text file to a storybook by
saving its filename - actual data are copied only in
the run-time file.
4 - Digitized Sound Files
Digitized sound files add sound effects to a story-
storybook when played by the digital sound player.
Sound files are located in the program subdirectory
SOUNDS and carry the file extension VOC. Sources of
digitized sounds are BBS's and shareware vendors.
You can also record your own with your sound card
and a microphone.
Currently, Storymaker+ will play sounds files saved
under Sound Blaster's 8-bit unpacked VOC format.
Files that do not the Sound Blaster's VOC header
will be played as 8-bit raw data, 8000hz sampling
rate.
Storymaker+ saves a digitized sound file to a story-
book by saving its filename - actual data are copied
only in the run-time file.
5 - FM Music Files
Another type of sound effects that can be added to
a storybook are Sound Blaster CMF music files. CMF
files are FM synthesized music files with up to 11
musical instruments. You need the CMF player utility
SBFMDRV.COM to play these files under Storymaker+.
Storymaker+ as distributed has a few CMF files;among
sources of CMF files are BBS boards and shareware
vendors. Copy the files into Storymaker+ subdirect-
ory FMMUSIC.
The Books Editor adds a CMF music file in a story-
book by saving its filename - actual data are copied
only in the run-time file.
6 - Storybook Data and Run-time Files
Storybooks are created in the Book Editor module and
saved cin the program csubdirectory BOOKS. The files
carry the file extension SBK.
A storybook can also be compiled into a run-time EXE
file which is an executable program that will run by
itself even in a floppy disk.
A run-time file is created by compiling all the data
used in a storybook and Storymaker+ reader program
into a single file. The EXE storybook has its own
screen book cover that can be personalized and other
special options that are not normally available when
reading the book through the main program's Book
Reader.
A very important thing to keep in mind: a run-time
file is not editable - it is for reading books only,
so you should keep the original files if you want to
retain the capability to make changes in the story-
book.
7. Script Files
Script files are object animation files created in
the Book Editor module and are saved in the program
subdirectory SCRIPTS. The files carry the file ext-
ension SSL.
8. PCX Files
PCX files are standard graphics files saved under
the PCX format and carries the file extension PCX.
As the PCX file format is supported by most stand-
ard graphics editor, Storymaker+ VGA includes the
capability to export graphics from the graphics edi-
tor and Book Editor into PCX format for use, edit-
ing or printing in other applications. Exported gra-
phics are saved in Storymaker+ library PCX.
Storymaker+ VGA also has the capability to import
into its graphics editor PCX files created from
other application. You can import PCX files from any
directory in the current drive. You also have the
option of capturing any portion of a PCX in its
actual size or scaled-down size if necessary.
------------------------
J - TRADEMARKS & CREDITS
------------------------
The sample storybook Kids,Kids,Kids including most
of its graphics, the main part of the Storymaker+
VGA's title screen, the run-time BookReader cover
screens, the caption boxes in the Book Editor, and
the better-looking picture icons were provided by
Loraine Wauer. Loraine is the author of Billy Bear
Storybooks,a series of children's storybooks created
through Storymaker+.
The CMF files distributed with the program are pub-
lic domain files.
IBM is registered trademark of the IBM Corporation.
Microsoft and Microsoft Windows are registered
trademark and trademark respectively of Microsoft
Corporation. Sound Blaster is a registered trademark
of Creative Labs,Inc.