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1996-01-01
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Twilight Dream
Version 1.00
March 15,1994
by Jim Signorile
Copyright 1994 James V. Signorile
TWILIGHT DREAM is a 3rd party After Dark (for Windows) screen saver module.
It is released as Shareware.
TWILIT.ZIP is the BBS filename for the compressed file this came from.
TWILIGHT.AD is the After Dark module.
TWILIGHT.MID is an accompanying MIDI music file.
TWILIGHT.WRI is this file you are reading.
Features
- 256 color graphics.
- Original MIDI music soundtrack.
- Special graphics effects.
- Custom modules offer.
Installation
This module requires Berkeley Systems After Dark (for Windows), Version 2.0
or later, screen saver program to run. Once After Dark has been installed
on your system, copy the files TWILIGHT.AD and TWILIGHT.MID to your Afterdrk
directory (or whatever directory you have After Dark installed in). If you
have the Disney Collection, you can put TWILIGHT.MID into the MUSIC sub-
directory. MUSIC is a subdirectory of AFTERDRK and was created during the
Disney Collection installation. (Or you can create a MUSIC subdirectory on
your own and put TWILIGHT.MID into there...but later installing Disney might
cause that directory to be overwritten... just be aware!).
When adding new modules to After Dark, you must rebuild the control panel
for them to show up in the list of screen savers. Rebuild the control panel
by holding down the <Ctrl> key while double-clicking on the After Dark icon,
in either the Program Manager or on the desktop. You can also call up the
control panel and rebuild the control panel from the file manager by holding
down the <CTRL> key and double clicking on the AD.EXE file (in your AFTERDRK
directory). After Dark will display the message "Updating After Dark module
settings.." as it rebuilds the control panel.
Note: Rebuilding the control panel will reset all modules to their original
settings. To keep your module settings, make backup copies of the files
ADMODULE.ADS and AD_PREFS.INI, both located in your Windows directory.
After rebuilding the control panel, copy these backups back into your Windows
directory, replacing the newly created ones.
To see Twilight Dream, open your After Dark Control Panel by double-clicking
on the After Dark icon from the Program Manager or other desktop shell (or
running AD.EXE from the file manager in your AFTERDRK directory). All
installed modules will be listed alphabetically. Select Twilight Dream by
clicking on the name "Twilight Dream" in the scrollable Module List. This
will select twilight.ad as the module to run when After Dark activates. For
more information about Twilight Dream, click on the Info triangle at the
bottom right corner of the Control panel, or press <Alt>-H. Click anywhere
in the Info box to return to the Control Panel.
You can preview Twilight Dream by clicking the Demo button. In this mode you
can experiment with the controls for different effects. Try Effects on
Bounce to see special image effects. Click Stop to end the demo. For on-
line help about how to use After Dark in general, click the "?" button in the
lower right corner, or press the <F1> key.
Twilight Dream uses MIDI sound, therefore a Speaker volume control will
appear if your system supports Multimedia sound. The volume can range from
loud to very soft. Activate After Dark (and therefore Twilight Dream, if
it's currently selected) as described in the After Dark on-line help or
manual.
MIDI Music
Twilight Dream includes a full MIDI music soundtrack of my original
composition "Twilight Dream" (hey, good name for a module...). Twilight
Dream's music is written in General MIDI format.
TO HEAR THIS MIDI MUSIC, YOU MUST BE RUNNING WINDOWS 3.1 OR LATER, AND HAVE A
SOUND CARD CAPABLE OF PLAYING MIDI FILES INSTALLED IN YOUR PC (OR AN
EXTERNAL MIDI SYNTHESIZER CONNECTED TO YOUR PC).
The Sound Blaster Pro, or above, will work just fine.
YOU MUST ALSO HAVE YOUR MIDI MAPPER SET UP CORRECTLY FOR YOUR SOUND CARD OR
EXTERNAL MIDI SYNTHESIZER INTERFACE CARD.
More details on these topics a bit later.
There is a slider in the Twilight Dream After Dark Control Panel that
controls how many times the music plays -- Never, Once, Twice, Thrice or
Always (continuously). The speaker icon arrows raise or lower the volume of
the music. (This is true if your MIDI sound card/interface supports volume
control...not all of them do...for example, if the MIDI mapper ports are set
to SB Pro Stereo FM, volume control will work, but if the ports are set to
SB MIDI Out, sending the MIDI to an external MIDI device, the volume will not
change...you have to adjust the volume on the external device yourself. In
general, internal sound cards will respond to After Dark volume controls,
while external MIDI devices will not).
If for any reason Twilight Dream can't play the MIDI music (no MIDI device
available, MIDI mapper incorrect, MIDI file (twilight.mid) missing,
insufficient memory, etc.), the module will still animate, but the music will
not play. You probably want to hear the music (I hope!) so on to trouble-
shooting some common problems with playing MIDI files.
Troubleshooting MIDI Problems
- If you don't hear music : First, make sure the file twilight.mid is in the
After Dark directory, or in the music subdirectory under it. Then make sure
the music volume is turned up (the speaker icon should have "lines" in front
of it), the music slider isn't set to Never, and the Mute Sound check box (in
the After Dark Control panel Setup... Sound... dialog box) isn't checked.
Also in the Setup... Sound... dialog box be sure you have selected for Output
Device: Multimedia Windows Sound (Windows 3.1). If these controls are set
correctly, and you still don't hear music, read on.
- Test Your Sound Hardware : From the Program Manager Main group, double-
click on Control Panel, then double-click on Sound. Highlight any .WAV file
you have on your disk, and click the Test button. If you don't hear sound
from your external speakers, check your speakers, cables, and sound card to
make sure all the hardware is installed and connected properly. If your
sound card has a volume wheel on it (as on the back of the Sound Blaster), be
sure it is turned up. See the hardware manufacturer's instructions for more
information.
- Test your MIDI Configuration : After making sure your sound hardware is
set up correctly, open the Program Manager Accessories group (or the group
where you have Media Player) and double-click on Media Player. From the
Windows directory, open the file Canyon.mid (a MIDI file that comes with
Windows), and click on the Play button (the button with the triangle pointing
to the right). If you don't hear music, go to the Program Manager Main
group, double-click on Control Panel, and double-click on MIDI Mapper.
Choose a different setting from the Name: pull-down menu, and close the MIDI
Mapper. Go back to the Media Player, and try playing Canyon.mid again.
Keep trying different settings within the MIDI Mapper (closing it each time)
until you find a setting that will play Canyon.mid correctly (it should play,
and play correctly...that is, it should sound nice).
If you try all of the settings and you still can't play Canyon.mid, reinstall
the sound software that came with your sound card.
*****************************************************************************
RECOMMENDATION
If you're using a Sound Blaster Pro or Sound Blaster Pro Basic, you might
want to log onto the Creative Labs Compuserve forum (GO BLASTER), and
download the latest Windows 3.1 drivers for the Sound Blaster Pro. Select
library section 3 (Updates and Fixes), and download the file "SBPWU.EXE"
(it's a self-extracting archive). Create a new subdirectory on your hard
disk, copy sbpwu.exe into it, and run sbpwu.exe to cause the archived files
to be created into your subdirectory. Just follow the instructions in the
included README.TXT file, and your MI