Act 3d Silex Screensaver Documentation

©2000 Act 3d interactive

Index  
1. Introduction
2. System Requirements
3. Enabling the screensaver
4. Selecting a display mode
5. Screensaver options
6. Problem solving
6. Uninstalling the saver
7. Contact Information
 
Introduction INDEX
Welcome to the Act 3d Silex screensaver. This screensaver shows the skeleton from the Silex Particle System explorer. Go to the Act 3d web page to download silex. This screensaver offers a variety of settings. You can choose your own lighting, camera, fog and scenery. Have fun with the Silex Screensaver!


System Requirements INDEX
The Silex demo needs the following system specifications:
  • 10Mb of free disk space
  • A Direct3D compatible 3D accelerator
  • About 32Mb of memory
  • DirectX 7.0 or better installed

The Silex demo was tested to work on the following 3D accelerators:

  • NVIDIA RIVA TNT/TNT2/GeForce256
  • 3dfx voodoo II/voodoo III
  • Matrox G200/G400
Enabling the screensaver INDEX
After installing the screensaver move your mouse over the Windows desktop and click the left mouse button. Select 'properties' to bring up the dialog. You may need to select the 'Screen Saver' tab first to get the dialog shown on the left. 

Select the Silex screensaver in the list at the middle left of the dialog. you can now press 'Ok' or 'Apply' to enable the screensaver.

Selecting a display mode INDEX
By clicking the settings button you get the dialog shown on the left.
  • Device: Here you can select the graphics card for the screensaver. This is only useful if you have multiple graphics cards in your computer.
  • Resolution: Here you can select the screen resolution and the color depth of the saver. Some 3d accelerators only support a 16 bit display so you will need to select 16 bit if the screensaver fails to run.
  • Disable GPU: Here you can disable hardware accelerated transformation and lighting. It is advised to keep this option unchecked because disabling HT&L can reduce the performance of the saver.


Screensaver options INDEX
The second tab shows the dialog on the left. You can view your settings by clicking 'Ok' and clicking 'Preview' in the main screensaver dialog.

The options in this dialog configures the graphical appearance of the screensaver.

  • Light 1: This turns the first light on and off. By clicking the colored square on the right you can set the color of this light.
  • Light 2: This setting works the same as for the first light but this are the settings for the second light of course.
  • Torch: Here you can enable the flame that is attached to the skeleton's hand. The settings work exactly the same as the other lights. 
  • Fog: You can turn the fog on or off and you can specify it's color.
  • Background: Here you can select the scenery. There are three types to choose from.
  • Camera: There are four different camera motions available
  • Scene Speed: With this setting you can speed things up or slow down the saver.
Problem Solving INDEX
If the saver fails to run you can try one of the following tips:
  • Whenever an error occurs the saver will generate an 'error.log' in the installation directory.
  • In most cases an error occurs the saver is not able to locate the installation directory. In this case you can reinstall the saver to get it working again.
  • On some 3d accelerators not all resolutions are supported. Try lower resolutions and switch the color depth to 16 bit.
  • With some cards the saver fails to run if you enable HT&L. You can fix this by manually disabling this feature in the screensaver settings dialog.
Uninstalling the screensaver INDEX
  • Click the windows 'Star' button.
  • Select Settings->Control Panel
  • Start the 'Add/Remove programs' icon.
  • Select the 'Act 3d Silex Screensaver' and press 'Remove'
Contact information INDEX
   
Act 3d website: www.act-3d.com
   
Bug report support@act-3d.com
Comments feedback@act-3d.com
Other mail@act-3d.com