*** Plasma Clouds 1.0 for Windows *** 1.1 About Plasma Clouds 1.2 The Author 2.1 How to Install 2.2 Manual Installation 2.3 Automatic Installation 3.1 Screen Saver Setup 3.2 Changing Color Palettes 4.1 Disclaimer 4.2 Terms of Use 4.3 Registration 4.4 Suggestions and Bug Report 4.5 Next Releases 1.1 About Plasma Clouds If you like colors, if you like clouds, you will like this screen saver. Plasma Clouds draws clouds on the screen in an endless variety of forms and colors. You can never know what the next image will be. This screen saver doesn't show you the pictures you provide, it CREATES them. You have the freedom to choose what kind of clouds you want to see, and have the freedom to let the computer make this choice for you. You can change colors, define how "stormy" your clouds must be, and set up special effects, such as moving clouds and psychedelic colors. Coming back to your computer and seeing the screen saver in action, you will hesitate before touching your mouse or keyboard! Plasma Clouds is FAST. It doesn't take minutes to produce an image, it takes SECONDS: about 3 seconds(!) on a Pentium 70 Mhz, 640x480; 42 seconds on a 386 20 Mhz without math co-processor. Plasma Clouds is CHEAP. Just US$5.00 to get registered is really VERY cheap, especially if you consider what you have in change. 1.2 The Author If you want to contact the author you can write to: Letizia Di Nunno Viale D. Pietri, 22 00122 ROMA - ITALY or, better, send an e-mail message to pier_dario_diodati@ntt.it on the Internet. All your messages are welcome. 2.1 How to Install a) Unpack the zipped file; you will find the following files in your directory: 1) CLOUDS.SCR (Plasma Clouds screen saver) 2) README.TXT (The file you are reading) 3) INSTALL.EXE (Installation program) b) Now you can either manually install the screen saver (see 1.2) or use the installation program (see 1.3). 2.2 Manual Installation Simply copy the file CLOUDS.SCR to your Windows directory. 2.3 Automatic Installation Run Windows, or return to Windows if you are in a DOS shell. Run the installation program INSTALL.EXE through the Program Manager's FILE menu or through the File Manager. Click on the "Continue" button; the program will automatically install the screen saver into your Windows directory. No changes will be done to your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files. 3.1 Screen Saver Setup To enable the screen saver, execute the Control Panel application, usually in the Main group. When Control Panel opens, double-click on the Desktop icon. In the "Screen Saver" section, click on the arrow near the "Name" field. In the list that appears, select "Plasma Clouds". In the "Delay" field, enter the number of minutes of inactivity before the screen saver is executed. Now click on the "Setup" button, and the Plasma Clouds configuration window will be displayed. Setting the options in this screen saver is fairly easy to do and does not require much help. Here is a brief description of each section and option. Registration - This section remainds you that this program is NOT free, and that if you want to use it, you must register your copy. The registration fee is very low, and this should encourage you registering. In this section the "More Info" button opens a window in which is contained a more complete description of the terms of use, and all the ways to contact the author. Seconds on screen - enter in this field the number of seconds the clouds should remain on the screen before a new image is generated. The program doesn't do anything during this time, it is only for you to watch the image. This period of time is more meaningful when the "Psychedelic colors" option is enabled; it is not relevant when the "Moving clouds" option is enabled. Fixed granularity value - this value is taken as the fixed value to establish the granularity of the picture, when it is generated. The lowest value is 0; the highest is 999, but in this case instead of clouds you see the frame of a tissue, and you risk to be hypnotized if you set the Psychedelic option. The value in this fleid is valid only when the "Random granularity" check box is unchecked. For displays with less than 256 colors, the lowest value is 1. Random granularity - if you want the screen saver to change the granularity at each picture, enable this option. If this option is enabled, the value in the "Fixed granularity value" field is ignored. The values chosen vary from 0 to 100, with a higher weight on 1; this means that the most likely value is 1, while the least is 100, and all the intermediate values have intermediate probabilities. Colors section Use options above - these two radio buttons enable the options above each of them. This means that if you click on the left button, you enable the color options on the left, and viceversa. Use random palettes - if you enable this option, when a new image is to be generated, the program can create and use a new random palette, and if the "Use predefined palettes" option is NOT set, a new random palette is created for every new image. Use predefined palettes - this screen saver contains 7 predefined palettes, chosen with some criteria. If you enable this option, the predefined palettes are included in the choice of a new palette, and if the "Use random palettes" option is NOT set, the new palettes are always chosen from the predefined 7. If BOTH options are set, the program can choose at each new picture between a predefined and a random palette. If NONE of these options is set, the program uses the fixed palette (see below). Use fixed palette - this option can be set when you want all the images to be generated with the same palette, chosing one among the predefined 7. Enter the number of the palette in the "Predefined palette" field and enable the radio button below. Special effects - REGISTERED USERS ONLY section If you are not a registered user of Plasma Clouds, these options are disabled, and the "None" button is selected by default. When you register, these options will be enabled. None - The program will use none of the special effects available: moving clouds and psychedelic colors. This button is selected by default and is not changeable if you are not a registered user. Moving clouds - with this option, when an image is on the screen, another is calculated in the background, then the second is attached to the first and gradually substitutes it, giving the sensation of moving clouds. Try using this option with palette #3 (sky at spring). Psychedelic colors (256 and more color displays only) - while the image is on the screen, before it disappears, its colors rapidly spin, giving the psychedelic effect. If you like this effect, increase the amount of time the image remains on the screen. Be very careful using this option, especially with high granularity values: you may be hypnotized! This option works much faster with palette-based display devices. Delay - this scrollbar allows you to set up the delay between two color changes, in milliseconds. Password section It works just like all other screen savers: it allows you to set a password to "lock" your computer while you are away and the screen saver is running. The password is necessary to stop the screen saver, so don't forget it. 3.2 Changing Color Palettes The Plasma Clouds screen saver contains 7 pre-defined palettes. When the screen saver is executed or configured, all the configuration parameters are written to the "control.ini" file, into your Windows directory. All the times subsequent to the first, the configuration parameters are read from this file. The palettes are treated as all other parameters, so they also are written to the file. Every palette is generated by mixing together from 2 to 8 out of 8 main colors, and these main colors are what you can find on the configuration file. If you want to change the palette, simply edit the file and change the colors in the "Palette" entries in the [ScreenSaver.PlasmaClouds] section. You can change, add and delete colors from a palette, but you cannot insert new color names, or specify less than 2 or more than 8 colors for each palette. Neither you can increase or decrease the number of palettes. To restore the original palettes, delete all the "Palette" entries from the configuration file, and then enter the Setup again and exit with "OK". 4.1 Disclaimer THE PROGRAM AND ALL THE RELATED FILES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS". THE AUTHOR DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE PROGRAM OR ITS PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA, RESULTING FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT, AND THAT BY USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF THESE TERMS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, THEN PLEASE DELETE THE PROGRAM AND ALL RELATED FILES FROM YOUR DISKS IMMEDIATELY. 4.2 Terms of Use Plasma Clouds is distributed as a shareware program. It is NOT a public domain program. However, you are encouraged to copy it for trial purposes. The program and all associated files can be freely copied and shared to allow others to try it. You may upload this program and all associated files to any bulletin board system (BBS) or on-line computer service. The program and all its related files must be distributed in unmodified form. You may not remove any files from the distribution archives or diskettes. You may not add any files unless the added files are clearly marked as being an addition to the original archives or diskettes. If this program and its related files are included in a collection of shareware and/or public domain programs, it must be clear to the purchaser of the collection that no license to use this program is granted by the purchase of the collection. This program and all its related files may not be given away with commercial products without an explicit authorization from the Author. You agree not to: a) modify, disassemble, reverse engineer or decompile the program, b) use this program on more than one terminal of a network, on a multi- user computer, on a time-sharing system, on a service bureau, on any system on which the program could be used (other than for trial purposes) by more than one person at a time. 4.3 Registration If you try Plasma Clouds and decide to use it, you must register your copy. If you do not register your copy, you are not authorized to use the program beyond an initial evaluation period of thirty (30) days. By registering, the Author grant you a permanent license to use this copyrighted computer program, in the current version, on a single computer at a time, subject to the terms and conditions of this license. The registration fee for Plasma Clouds is US$5.00 (five). When you register, you will receive your personal registration code and any information on future upgrades to the program. The registration code is strictly personal; it cannot be given away or sold. To register Plasma Clouds, send the registration fee to: Letizia Di Nunno Viale D. Pietri, 22 00122 ROMA - ITALY Requests for "group" or "unlimited" licenses will be accepted and examinated. Ask for more details. REGISTER NOW. If you register now, you will have all future upgrades to this version for FREE, should even the registration fee grow. It doesn't cost too much to support the shareware concept. 4.4 Suggestions and Bug Report If you spot bugs or have comments or suggestions about the program, please write to the he Author. All your suggestions will be accepted and, if possible, included in the subsequent release. In any case you will be noticed (e-mail only) on the acceptance of your suggestion. 4.5 Next Releases It all depends on you to decide how long it will take to me to produce a new release. If you appreciate my hard work and efforts, please register. This will help me to produce new releases faster and better. In my thoughts there is a different management of the palette colors (not only palettes made from 8 main colors); a palette editor in order to avoid editing the "control.ini" file; a few more options, such as infinite time on screen, no screen clearing between two images, inclusion of new colors during the psychedelic effect; other kinds of cloud movements; a 3D version (wow!) and more.