The requirements for most Humongous Entertaiment products are shown in the left column. Backyard Baseball has different requirements and these are shown in the right column.
Macintosh CD-ROM
System 7.0 or higher
Minimum 25MHz 68040 or PowerPC
8MB of Ram
640x480, 256 colors
Double-speed CD-ROM drive
Backyard Baseball on Macintosh
System 7.0 or higher
PowerPC
16MB of Ram
640x480, 256 colors
Quad-speed CD-ROM drive
Demo Keyboard Commands
<Spacebar> Pauses the game and opens the pause dialog box. To continue, just click the Play button.
<CMD><Q> Quits the game without any prompts. You can also stop playing by pressing the Spacebar, then clicking the Quit button.
<Esc> Fast-forward through the current cutscene.
<Period> Similar to the <Esc> key, but skips only the current character's line -- not the entire scene.
<F5> Toggles the game between running full-screen or in a window.
<Shift><F7> Increases the size of the game display if your screen resolution is 1280x1024 or higher. If the game display has already been expanded, <Shift><F7> will toggle the display size back to normal.
NOTE: This may cause slow video performance.
<Shift><F8> Increases the size of the game display if your screen resolution is 800x600 or 1024x768. If the game display has already been expanded, <Shift><F8> will toggle the display size back to normal.
NOTE: This may move the position of your desktop icons.
The Controls
Point and click to play with the Humongous Entertainment characters! As you move the mouse around the screen, the pointer changes to reflect the type of action it will perform when clicked.
A clear arrow is the standard pointer in the game. When you see the empty outline, it means the arrow is not pointing at an object or character that can be activated.
Pay attention when you see the pointer turn solid. It means that the object or character you are pointing at can be picked up, used, or activated.
A large arrow indicates the entrance to or exit from a room or activity.
The Demos
Baseball
Backyard Baseball is the electronic version of the game you play with your neighborhood pals. The demo on this CD is non-interactive but gives you a good idea of the fun you'll have when you play the full game.
There are kids from all walks of life in Backyard Baseball. Each kid has unique attributes, playing ability and statistics. You can choose teams or let the computer choose for you. There are several different playing fields - including a sand lot, park field or city street - and you can choose power hitting, breaking pitches and more in the full game!
Be sure to look for the different game elements while the demo runs - the pitching and batting choices, batting stance, scoreboard with player statistics, the playing fields - these help make the full game more realistic while you're having loads of fun.
Screen Viewer and HE Web Site Link
When you choose the Backyard Baseball demo you'll be using the Screen Viewer to run the non-interactive demo. You can access the Humongous Entertainment Web Site from the link on the screen where you start the Screen Viewer if you have an Internet connection and a web browser installed on your computer. Just point and click!
Quitting the Demo
To quit the demo, press the spacebar and click on Quit. You will see a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to stop playing.
Big Thinkers Kindergarten
Big Thinkers software is full of grade-specific activities that boost your child's problem-solving skills in a variety of subject areas. The activities are intended to enhance a traditional school education by increasing thinking skills, and are not simply preparatory to the grade level but complimentary, relying on abilities and knowledge appropriate to each grade level. All activities in the Big Thinkers series are based on US National Curriculum Standards.
The activities take place in and around Ben and Becky Brightly's house. The twins are like neighborhood pals for your children. They present an activity and guide your child through it with gentle nudges and helpful hints. What makes Ben and Becky unique is the way they approach each activity. They're always involved somehow! For instance, in Bird Perch Math Ben and Becky stretch out to help kids learn some math skills.
When your child has successfully completed an activity he or she collects SmartStars( in one of five colors. Stars are awarded for completing activities and puzzles, and sometimes just for trying! The SmartStar colors designate the kind of activity completed, one color per learning category. The categories are: Math, Creative Arts, Language Arts, Thinking Skills and Social Science/Science. Kids keep their collection of SmartStars in the BrainBank( at the bottom of their screen.
Quick Play Information
In Big Thinkers there are six main rooms, but the demo shows only one. Each room has at least one activity but usually has more. When you move the mouse over an area where there is an activity the pointer changes to a star. When you click Ben and Becky will lead you to a new screen for that activity and explain how to play. Listen carefully so you don't miss anything!
What's in the Demo?
The Kindergarten demo shows you the twin's backyard and includes these activities:
Bird Perch Math
Hide 'n Seek
Mealtime Mazes
The Controls
The Activity Difficulty Setting only appears in the menu when an activity has a difficulty option. Not all activities have this feature. When it is available there are three exclamation marks, small for beginners, medium size for medium difficulty and large for hardest
Sometimes, when the level is changed after the activity has begun, the Yes/No heads will appear and ask you if you're sure you want to stop playing and start over at a different level. This is because the work you've done will be lost if you change levels at that point. You can change the level setting back during an activity if the level is too hard. Click on the difficulty setting you want and go earn some SmartStars!
To print, click on the Printer icon.
NOTE: If you have trouble printing make sure you have the latest printer drivers for your printer or call Technical Support.
The Exit is always active and available. Drag your mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen and click on the door if you want to leave the demo.
Click Points
Don't forget to check out the click points you'll always find in a Humongous Entertainment product! Click on everything you see for some more fun.
Quitting the Demo
To quit the demo, press the spacebar and click on Quit. You'll see another dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to quit.
Hide 'n' Seek - This sandbox is one special play spot! It's a geographically laden map for a slight variation on Hide and Seek. Ben will hide somewhere and Becky will give you a clue about where he is. Click on the place where you think Ben is hiding and Becky will tell you if you're wrong and give you another clue or Ben will pop up!
Becky will give you three clues and you can click on her to hear the clues again. There are 30 possible locations and Ben will pick them randomly.
You earn four purple SmartStars for every two correct answers.
To find this activity: Click on the sandbox.
Bird Perch Math - The twins, and the birds in the back yard, are ready to teach you simple arithmetic. Ben and Becky offer the birds a place to perch and will ask you how many birds there are. You click on the number at the bottom of the screen that you think matches. The birds are all a twitter at the thought of being counted!
Two blue SmartStars are awarded for every three correct answers.
To find this activity: Click on the fence behind Ben, near the gate.
Mealtime Mazes - Help Ben get through the maze. Click on the path where you want him to go until you reach the end. Sounds pretty easy but after the first couple there are some obstacles. Sometimes there are piles of food blocking the way, you need to choose an animal to eat the food. But you need to choose the right animal for the type of food so be sure to concentrate!
You earn three green SmartStars for every three mazes completed at the first level.
To find this activity: Click on the trellis to the left of Ben.
Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Conch Shell
Luther's Uncle Blenny has invited Freddi and Luther to attend a fantastic, Mardi Gras-style festival in the tropics, the Founder's Day Festival! With the help of Pelican Sam, Luther and Freddi fly to the exotic locale only to discover that the festival has been indefinitely postponed, and that Luther's uncle has been arrested! Our young heroes learn that the annual festival is kicked off by the trumpet blast from the one-of-a-kind Great Conch Shell, and that Uncle Blenny is suspected of swiping the shell! Egad, what a mess! Freddi and Luther must find the real culprit and recover the Great Conch Shell so Luther's uncle can be cleared of blame, and the Founder's Day Festival can begin!
In the demo you'll explore one of the underwater areas Freddi and Luther travel through as they begin their adventure. You can pick up the purple sea urchin, try to remove the golden pipe from the clam and pull the cork from the floating bottle.
Freddi's inventory is visible in the bubbles on the lower part of the game screen.
Inventory Items, like the one shown at left, are objects which Freddi and Luther have picked up during their adventures. To use an item, just click its picture in the interface. The mouse pointer will change to a small representation of the item. Now, click the pointer on an object in the current scene to use the two items together.
The Quit button provides a quick way to exit the game. Just click, and you will see a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to stop playing.
Don't forget to check out the click points you'll always find in a Humongous Entertainment product! Rocks, flowers and hula dolls will produce amazing things!
Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightening Aren't So Frightening
Pajama Sam is back! This time to help vanquish the scary denizens of the dark and stormy night. The game begins with Sam watching his favorite cartoon, Pajama Man, and putting together a jigsaw puzzle. A huge booming clap of thunder startles Sam so much he flings puzzle pieces everywhere! He decides it's time to become Pajama Sam, intrepid foe of childhood fears, confront the weather makers and make them knock off all that loud scary stuff.
When Sam first arrives at the weather factory he accidentally causes a small disaster in the control room which disables the weather machines, but true to form he vows to put things right! And he just might find all the puzzle pieces he lost too.
In the demo Sam needs to find one of the missing weather machine pieces, the Snowflake Inspector. He'll need to make use of the object in his inventory and one of the characters too!
Sam's inventory will appear on the lower part of the game screen when you drag your mouse pointer down there.
Inventory Items, like the one shown at left, are objects that Sam has picked up during his adventure. To use an item, just click on it in the interface. If it can be used in the current scene, the mouse pointer will change to a small representation of the item. Now, click the pointer on an object or character in the current scene to use the two items together.
To quit the demo, press the spacebar and click on Quit. You'll see another dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to quit.
Don't forget to check out the click points you'll always find in a Humongous Entertainment product! Pipes, lights and signs will produce amazing things!
Putt-Putt Travels Through Time
Putt-Putt's on his way to show Mr. Firebird his history report and new school supplies. He has his Smokey the Fire Engine Lunchbox, a calculator, his history report and of course, his old friend Pep. Mr. Firebird's lab is no longer the Fireworks Factory after the incident where he sent the little purple car to the Moon. Now it's a time workshop. Mr. Firebird is working on a new invention called a Time Portal that allows you to see into the time continuum, kind of like a television set.
Something goes dreadfully wrong while Mr. Firebird is showing the Time Portal to Putt-Putt and all Putt-Putt's things are sucked into it! And then Pep is lost too! Putt-Putt must go find Pep and all his things and return to the present so Mr. Firebird can close the Time Portal in the full game. In the demo all Putt-Putt needs to find is his history report.
Putt-Putt's inventory is visible in the dashboard on the lower right part of the game screen.
Inventory Items, like the one shown at left, are objects that Putt-Putt can pick up during his adventures. To use an item, just click on it. The item will "stick" to your cursor. Now click on an object or character you want to use it on!
For instance, if you are trying to feed some hay to the Triceratops, who might be standing on Putt-Putt's history report, you need to click on the hay in the dashboard and then click on the Triceratops.
There are four worlds that Putt-Putt will encounter on his journey:
The Age of Dinosaurs: Putt-Putt will meet some interesting prehistoric characters here!
Medieval Times: There's a castle here but you need the full game to see inside.
The Old West: A talking horse in the stables and a huge mound of hay!
The Future: Ever wonder what the future might hold? Click on the telescope for some stargazing.
Don't forget to check out the click points you'll always find in a Humongous Entertainment product! Rocks, flowers and clouds will produce amazing things!
To quit the demo, press the spacebar and click on Quit. You'll see another dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to quit.
Or, the Quit button on the dashboard provides a quick way to exit the demo. Just click, and you'll see a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to stop playing.
TROUBLESHOOTING INFORMATION
There are only a couple things we can check on a Macintosh system so we'll list those and if you're still having trouble please contact your computer manufacturer for more assistance.
First check to make sure you meet the requirements for the program. Our games are written to run with System 7.0 or higher. The newer games require an 040/25 MHz (or faster) processor, 8MB RAM and a double speed (or faster) CD ROM drive. Make sure your system meets these requirements.
Check to see what the size of the largest unused block of memory is; there should be as close to 8MB available as possible for our game. Click on the Apple in the upper left hand corner of your screen and then About This Macintosh to see this information.
If this doesn't solve the problem click on the Apple again and then Control Panel and Memory. Check for these settings:
Virtual memory = OFF
32-bit addressing or Modern Memory Management = ON RAM disk = OFF
Disk caching = 256k
Once all this is set, restart the system and try the game again. If the problem was insufficient memory or incorrect memory configuration the game should run without problem.
If not, the last thing to look for is an extension conflict. Click on the Apple, Control Panel and Extensions Manager. Turn OFF all extensions EXCEPT Apple CDROM and Quicktime. Restart the system and play the game. If it now plays without problem you have an extension conflict. To narrow it down to the culprit go back into the Extensions Manager and add back extensions in groups of 3-4, restart the system each time and play the game. Once you encounter the problems you'll simply need to figure out which particular extension (by the same method) it is and then remove that permanently or remember to turn it off before trying to play our games.
It's also possible that something in the preferences folder has become corrupted. You can take care of this by opening the System folder, then opening the Preferences folder. Inside that folder find the Humongous Entertainment folder and drag it to the trash. Restart the system and try the game again.
