DOCUMENTATION FOR SEASCAPE 2.0 INTRODUCTION Seascape (TM) is a screen saver which displays relatively realistic fish (Indo-Pacific Sergeants and Regal Angelfish) swimming and eating. Produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), Seascape requires Microsoft Windows 3.1 and at least a 386 with 4 Mb of RAM. Following installation, Seascape takes up under half a megabyte of disk space. Seascape works with the Windows built-in screen saver subsystem, so for configuration, viewing the documentation, or exploring other options, access the Control Panel (from Main), choose Desktop, and then choose Setup (with Seascape selected as the current screen saver). SEASCAPE LICENSE AGREEMENT This software product is copyrighted, and all rights are reserved by the author and publisher. Installation and use of Seascape requires that you agree to the following conditions: Trying out Seascape is free, but for continued use registration is required. Registration of a single copy of Seascape permits you to use it on a single computer, except that if you use one PC at work and another at home, or both a desktop PC and a portable PC, you may use Seascape on both (or even all three) with a single registration. You are invited to make unregistered copies of Seascape for your friends. All copies must contain the unaltered complete set of files generated by selecting "Make a Copy" as described below (or, if you prefer, by using "diskcopy" to duplicate your unaltered installation disk). Commercial users of Seascape must register and pay for their copies of Seascape within 120 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site License arrangements may be made by con- tacting Advanced Computer Tektonics. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. DUE TO THE VARIETY OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH SEASCAPE MAY BE USED, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. THE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ALLEGED OR ACTUAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM USE OF THIS PROGRAM. If you agree to these conditions, you are invited to try out Seascape, and, if you find the fish to your liking, to support improvement of Seascape by registering. Following installation, you may read this documentation at any time by selecting "Documentation" from the Seascape Setup dialog box (accessed by choosing Desktop in the Control Panel). (Instructions for using Seascape are displayed at the end of the installation process.) MAXIMIZING IMAGE QUALITY Seascape looks best with a 256 color, relatively high resolution display. The first step in maximizing the quality of the images shown by Seascape is to understand the nature of your current computer display. The two key characteristics are the display resolution and the number of colors displayed. To determine the current display characteristics, double-click on Windows Setup in Main. You will then see a line such as Display: -ProDesigner II Series 1024x768 256 colors which describes the current display driver. "1024x768" means that the pixel resolution is 1024 by 768, or in other words, that your screen image is 1024 dots of color wide and 768 dots high. Other standard resolutions include 640x480 and 800x600. Seascape works well with all these resolutions, but more fish fit on the screen at higher resolutions, which you may find preferable. "256 colors" means that 256 colors can be displayed simultaneously. The other value you are most likely to see here is 16, indicating that only 16 standard system colors will be displayed. Although the Indo-Pacific Sergeant looks nearly the same on a 16 color display as on a 256 color one (since its limited colors map closely to the 16 system colors), the Regal Angelfish looks considerably better on a 256 color display, where its rich golden can be shown accurately rather than being replaced by the plain yellow of a 16 color display. If the description on your Display line does not make your display characteristics clear, you may be able to find this information in your Seascape Registration Form, where it is encoded to help us make sure that Seascape will work as well as possible with Seascape users' displays. Choose Desktop in the Control Panel, choose Setup (with Seascape selected as the screen saver), select "Register or Order...", and then select Registration and Order Form. To the right of your Registration ID, you will see a number like #12561024768107, which encodes what Seascape was able to determine about your system's display characteristics. In the exampe just given, after the first digit you can see the current number of colors displayed (256), followed by the pixel dimensions (1024x768). If you want to experiment with changing your display settings, select Options in the Windows Setup window; then select "Change System Settings...". Click on the down arrow to the right of Display to see a list of display driver options. Be careful: choice of an inappropriate setting has been known to result in a fatal Windows error, so make sure you do not have applications running with unsaved data when you do this. Select a display configuration you would like to try, and click on OK. With luck, a window will appear stating that a driver for the chosen display is already on the system, in which case you can use it by clicking on Current. If the requested driver is not on your system, you may be asked to insert the driver diskette that came with your system, or with your video controller card. (Sometimes system sellers neglect to include these diskettes with the systems they sell; if you do not have a diskette with the necessary driver, you should be able to get one from the provider of your system, or if that fails, from the maker of your display adapter. The latest drivers for major brand display adaptors can ordinarily be downloaded from bulletin boards maintained by the manufacturers.) After installing the new driver, depending on your system characteristics you may be informed that you will have to restart Windows in order for the new display settings to take effect. In choosing a display configuration, bear in mind that more colors and higher resolution place greater demands on your hardware, so performance may be slowed. Also, depending on the quality of your monitor, a high resolution on a small screen may make text difficult to read. On the other hand, the higher the resolution, the more you can fit on your screen, and increasing the effective screen real estate can be highly beneficial. REGISTRATION For continued use of Seascape, registration is required. Your registration fee will help finance improvement of Seascape, and as a registered user you will be entitled to a $10 discount on registration of our next major release. When you're ready to register (or if you just want more details), select "Register or Order..." in Seascape's Setup dialog box (accessed by choosing Desktop in the Control Panel and then clicking on Setup). (If you're a registered user of Seascape 1.x who is upgrading to 2.0, please write "Registered 1.x user" on your order form and deduct $10 from the total due.) We hope you enjoy Seascape, and look forward to improving it with your support. HOW TO MAKE AN UNREGISTERED COPY OF SEASCAPE 1. Insert a blank formatted diskette in a suitable drive. 2. Select "Make a Copy" in the Seascape Setup dialog. (To get to the Seascape Setup dialog, open the Control Panel from Main in Program Manager, double click on Desktop, make sure Seascape is shown as the name of your current Screen Saver, and click on Setup.) 3. When production of the copy is complete, please put a label on the diskette with instructions, such as: SEASCAPE 2.0 In the Windows 3.1 Program Manager: 1. Select "File". 2. Select "Run". 3. Type "A:SeaNstal" (or "B:SeaNstal"). 4. Insert diskette in drive A (or B). 5. Select "OK". You'll be invited to read more before choosing whether to proceed with installation. USING SEASCAPE Since Seascape is integrated with the Microsoft Screen Saver utility, it is accessed by activating the Control Panel (from the Program Manager's "Main" window), choosing "Desktop" to open the Desktop dialog box, and then selecting "Seascape" on the Screen Saver Name list. Features such as changing the Delay (between the end of user activity and start-up of the screen saver) and setting a password are precisely the same for Seascape as for Microsoft- supplied screen savers. To set the Delay, click on the little up and down triangles to the right of "Delay:" in the Desktop dialog box. To try out the currently selected screen saver, click on the "Test" button in the Desktop dialog box. Additional Seascape options, including password setting, are accessed by clicking on "Setup..." in the Desktop dialog box (with "Seascape" showing in the Screen Saver Name field). HOW TO RUN SEASCAPE FROM AN ICON To set up an icon from which you can start Seascape, first click on the program group in which you want the icon to appear (e.g. Games) to make it active. Then in the Program Manager select File, choose New, make sure Program Item is selected, and click on OK. For Description, enter Seascape. For Command Line enter SSCSCAPE.SCR /S. For Working Directory, enter the path of your main Windows directory, e.g. C:\WINDOWS. If you want, enter a Shortcut Key that will allow you to start Seasape from the keyboard (for instance, if you type Z while the cursor is in the Shortcut Key box, you will later be able to start Seascape by typing Z while holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys. Finally, click on OK. (If when you try to use the icon or the shortcut key combination you get a message saying "No application is associated with the specified file", add " scr" to the end of the "Programs=" line in WIN.INI in your main Windows directory, to make it, for instance, "Programs=com exe bat pif scr", and restart Windows, which will now realize that files with ".scr" endings are programs.) HOW TO PRINT THIS DOCUMENTATION This documentation is contained in SEAS_DOC.TXT, located on your installation diskette (if you have one) and, following installation, in the SEASCAPE subdirectory of your Windows startup directory (typically C:\WINDOWS\SEASCAPE). Should you want a hard copy, it can easily be printed with Notepad. (From Program Manager, open Accessories, double click on Notepad, click on File, click on Open, move to the right directory, e.g. C:\WINDOWS\SEASCAPE, select seas_doc.txt, click on File, and click on Print.) HOW TO ORDER SEASCAPE PRODUCTS Single Copy Prices Registration of unregistered copy.............. $15.00 Seascape diskette with registration........... $20.00 "Seascape diskette with registration" means a registered copy of the latest update of Seascape 2.x together with a keyword you'll type in to activate the registration. (If you wish it registered to a name other than your own, as in the case of a gift, please be sure to specify the name to which you would like it registered in your order.) For an order including a diskette, Seascape will be sent on a 3.5" diskette unless 5.25" is requested. If you have a printer, simply fill out and print the Registration and Order Form, accessed by clicking on "Setup..." in the Desktop dialog box (with "Seascape" showing as the Screen Saver Name), then selecting "Register or Order...", and finally selecting "Registration and Order Form". If you don't have a printer, send a note saying what you want, with a check for the proper amount and your return address, to Advanced Computer Tektonics 334 State Street, Suite 106 Los Altos, CA 94022 If you are ordering from outside the United States, please send a check in your local currency for an amount equivalent to the U.S. dollar price, or an international money order, or a check for U.S. dollars payable through a bank in the U.S., or cash. Note that foreign checks for U.S. dollar amounts are generally not acceptable, since they must be sent for international collection at a cost of $55.00 each. INSTALLATION 1. From the Windows 3.1 (or later) program manager menu bar select "File". 2. Select "Run...". 3. If you're installing from a diskette, insert your Seascape diskette into drive A or B. Then enter A:SeaNstal in the Command Line field (or B:SeaNstal if you're using drive B) and select OK. If you're installing after downloading Seascape to your hard disk, you have probably already extracted files, e.g. with PKUNZIP SEAS20.ZIP; if not, do so now. Then enter \SeaNstal in the Command Line field, where is the path of the directory containing your Seascape files (for instance, C:\INBOX\SEASCAPE\SeaNstal if they're in C:\INBOX\SEASCAPE), and select OK. 4. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen. When asked to confirm that you want to install Seascape in your Windows startup directory, select OK unless you are installing on a network. Since this is the directory in which the Control Panel's Screen Saver utility searches for screen savers, it's normally the only proper place to install Seascape. In general, Seascape cannot be expected to work if it is installed anywhere other than a Windows startup directory. Network Installation: If you are installing Seascape on a network, and wish it to end up in a common Windows directory rather than a personal Windows directory, enter NETWORK as the directory into which you want Seascape installed. This will turn off the checking that normally prevents installation into an arbitrary directory. When you are again asked to confirm the destination directory, enter the path of the desired common Windows directory. Note: If you have an earlier version of Seascape, simply follow the instructions above to replace it with this version. If your earlier version was registered, you can activate registration for this version by re-entering your existing registration key. UNINSTALLATION Should you wish to remove Seascape from your computer, go to your windows startup directory (typically C:\WINDOWS) and issue the following commands. del sscscape.scr del seascape\*.* rmdir seascape If you wish, then delete the "[ScreenSaver.Seascape]" section in control.ini (in your windows startup directory, typically C:\WINDOWS). (This section, created by use of the Seascape Setup dialog, stores about 65 bytes of configuration data, such as your preferred number of fish.) SUPPORT AND REFUND POLICY Advanced Computer Tektonics offers free support to registered users for a minimum of one year from the date of registration. Please report any problems to Advanced Computer Tektonics 334 State Street, Suite 106 Los Altos, CA 94022 or, if you prefer, send electronic mail to one of these addresses: From Compuserve: Alan Walworth at 71204,2226 From America Online: 71204.2226@cis From the Internet: 71204.2226@compuserve.com In the event we are unable to resolve a significant problem reported within a year of registration, we will be glad to refund your registration fee. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, AND SUGGESTIONS Your comments are always welcome. If you have suggestions about how we could best improve Seascape, or criticisms, or questions of any kind, please send them to us at the U.S. mail or email addresses just above. SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTOR AND BBS INFORMATION All copies distributed must include the complete set of Seascape files without alteration. (For a list of the files, see below.) Distributors should make clear that Seascape is shareware. Distribution of Seascape in any manner that conceals the fact that Seascape is shareware or discourages users from registering is prohibited. If Seascape is compressed into a single file with a utility such as PKZIP or LHA, the distributed file should have a name which makes it readily recognizable as Seascape and if possible makes clear the version. The preferred name for zipped Seascape 2.0 is SEAS20.ZIP (or for locations such as CompuServe libraries where the version number should not be in the name, SEASCP.ZIP). Provided the above conditions are satisfied, vendors of shareware on diskettes or CD-ROMs, bulletin board operators, user groups, and software archives are permitted to distribute unregistered copies of Seascape 2.0 and to make unregistered Seascape 2.0 available for downloading. Notification to Advanced Computer Tektonics is welcome, but is not required. No other commercial distribution of Seascape is permitted without prior written permission from Advanced Computer Tektonics. (Distribution methods subject to this restriction include rack vending of software not requiring registration, bundling with other products, and all other forms of distribution not covered by the previous paragraph.) ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS OMBUDSMAN This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. CONTENTS OF INSTALLATION DISKETTE Your Seascape installation diskette (or downloaded Seascape) should contain the following files: SEA_READ.ME SEAF0001.DLL SEANSTAL.EXE SEAS_DOC.EXE SEAS_DOC.TXT SEAS_SSL.DLL SEAS_SST.DLL SEAS_STA.RCS SEAS_TNL.RCS SEAS_VJN.RCS SEAS_WWL.RCS SEASCAPE EX_ or SEASCAPE EXE Depending on how you obtained Seascape, you will have either seascape.exe or the compressed version of it, seascape.ex_. If you have the compressed version, it will be expanded automatically during installation. SEASFISH.EXE FILE_ID.DIZ A descripton of Seascape suitable for use on Bulletin Board Systems is provided in a file with the standard name file_id.diz, which enables this description to be automatically presented to users by PCBoard based and compatible BBSes. VENDOR.DOC Information for shareware vendors and bulletin board operators is provided in a file with the standard name vendor.doc. RELEASE NUMBERING AND NEW RELEASE NOTIFICATION Minor ("dot") releases contain incremental improvements that will make little if any difference to most users. In general, upgrading to the latest dot release is worthwhile only in the unlikely event that a problem is encountered with use of an earlier version, and in such cases we will gladly send an update when notified of the problem. Major releases contain significant, obvious improvements; for example, Seascape 2.0 adds Regal Angelfish to the Indo-Pacific Sergeants of earlier releases. As soon as practical after a new major release is ready, we will notify all registered users of versions of the previous major release. RELEASE HISTORY 11/94 Version 2.0 - Regal Angelfish added 09/94 Version 1.9 - network capabilities refined 08/94 Version 1.8 - compression improved 07/94 Version 1.7 - vendor.doc and file_id.diz revised 06/94 Version 1.6 - documentation improved 05/94 Version 1.5 - registration form improved 11/93 Version 1.4 - registration reminder refined 03/93 Version 1.3 - standard files for vendors and BBSes added 01/93 Version 1.2 - minor changes to reflect ASP membership 01/93 Version 1.1 - user interface and documentation improved 11/92 Version 1.0 - initial release