Q121034: MAC Asimov’s Ultimate Robot: README Contents
Article: Q121034
Product(s): Microsoft Home Multimedia Titles
Version(s): 1.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 08-NOV-2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot for the Macintosh, version 1.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot Version 1.0 README File
---------------------------------------------------------
This README file contains information on the following topics:
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR RUNNING ASIMOV'S ULTIMATE ROBOT
- What you need to run Asimov's Ultimate Robot
2. MEMORY USE
- Asimov's Ultimate Robot memory usage.
- How to make it run on low-memory machines
3. PERFORMANCE
- Tips on what to do if Asimov's Ultimate Robot is running slowly
4. COLOR CONFIGURATION
- What makes Asimov's Ultimate Robot look best
5. SOUND PROBLEMS
- Common problems playing sounds and how to fix them
6. PRINTING AND SAVING ROBOTOIDS
- How to print and save the robots in Robotoid Assembly
7. TROUBLESHOOTING
- How to solve problems with certain system configurations.
------------------------------------------------------------
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR RUNNING ASIMOV'S ULTIMATE ROBOT
------------------------------------------------------------
To run Asimov's Ultimate Robot you need:
- a Macintosh II or better with a 13" or larger color
monitor
- System 7.0 or later
- QuickTime 1.6 or later installed in your Extensions
folder
- Palatino font installed in your System file or Fonts
folder
- 5 MB of random-access memory (RAM)
- a CD-ROM drive with a 150 KB/sec. or faster data transfer
rate.
You can run Asimov's Ultimate Robot directly from the CD-ROM. However,
Asimov's Ultimate Robot requires that QuickTime version 1.6 or later
and the Palatino font be installed in your System to perform properly.
If these items are not installed in your system, a warning message will
be displayed when you launch Asimov's Ultimate Robot informing you that
one or both of these components are missing.
To install QuickTime:
- Close any applications that are currently open
- Locate and open the System Support folder on the Asimov
CD-ROM
- Drag the QuickTime extension to the system folder on
your startup disk. You will be asked if you wish to
place QuickTime in the Extensions folder. Click OK.
- Restart your computer.
To install the Palatino font:
- Close any applications that are currently open
- Locate and open the System Support folder on the Asimov
CD-ROM.
- Drag the Palatino font suitcase to the system folder on
your startup disk. You will be asked if you wish to
place the fonts in your system file (System 7) or in
the Fonts folder (System 7.1). Click OK.
Asimov's Ultimate Robot requires at least a 13", 256-color display to
run (640 by 480 total display area). If Asimov's Ultimate Robot is
launched on a smaller monitor, a warning message will be displayed
indicating the product does not support the current screen size.
-------------
2. MEMORY USE
-------------
Asimov's Ultimate Robot should run on any Macintosh with 5 MB (5,120K)
of RAM. However, if 3,072K of memory is not free when you launch the
Asimov's Ultimate Robot, a warning message will be displayed indicating
insufficient memory is available.
Most users with 5MB of RAM will not experience problems, but if your
system software takes up more than about 2,000K you may need to adjust
memory usage to make Asimov's Ultimate Robot run properly. Some general
suggestions follow:
- Run only one application at a time. If other
applications are running, close them before re-launching
Asimov's Ultimate Robot.
- Check the amount of memory being used by your system
software. To do this, return to the Finder, select the
Apple menu at top left of the menu bar, and choose the
first menu item, "About This Macintosh...." The "Largest
Unused Block" needs to be greater than 3000K to run
Asimov's Ultimate Robot. If the only item listed in the
About This Macintosh dialog is System Software, and your
Largest Unused Block is less than 3,072K, you need to
reduce the amount of memory consumed by your system
software. Refer to your Macintosh documentation to do
this, but some general suggestions follow:
- Open the Memory Control Panel and check the Disk
Cache setting. For best performance with Asimov's
Ultimate Robot, set the cache to 32K.
- Large numbers of fonts and sounds consume system
memory. Removing those that you aren't using will
make more memory available.
- Third party system extensions such as screen
savers, fax software, desktop pictures, menu-
modifying utilities and other system enhancements
increase the amount of memory consumed by your
system. Removing some or all of these extensions
will increase the amount of memory available to
applications. Be sure that you save anything you
remove from your System folder in a separate folder
on your disk so that you can replace it later.
If you receive a memory error dialog while launching "Byron Preiss
Catalog," "Screen Saver Viewer," or "Robotoid Assembly" try setting
your monitor to 256 colors using the Monitors Control Panel.
--------------
3. PERFORMANCE
--------------
If Asimov's Ultimate Robot seems to be running slowly or its sounds
seem to be interrupted, there are a number of things which may help.
- If you are running on a Macintosh with low memory you may
have problems check the previous section, MEMORY USE.
- If you are using Virtual Memory, you may find that movies
and other sounds are choppy or interrupted. For best
performance, turn off Virtual Memory by opening the Memory
Control Panel, turning off Virtual Memory, and restarting
your computer.
- For best performance, turn off File Sharing in the Sharing
Setup Control Panel. Although File Sharing itself should
not cause a problem, any network activity may cause
Asimov's Ultimate Robot (as well as other applications) to
run more slowly.
- Asimov's Ultimate Robot is designed to work properly on a
CD-ROM drive with a 150K/sec or faster transfer rate. A
double-speed CD-ROM drive or one with a faster transfer
rate will provide better performance in some sections of
the product, but is not required. If your CD-ROM drive has
a sustained transfer rate of less than 150K/sec it may be
not be able to supply audio and video information to the
Macintosh at the speed required. Contact your CD-ROM
vendor for information on improving the performance of
slower CD-ROM drives.
-----------------------
4. COLOR CONFIGURATION
-----------------------
For the best color and picture clarity, set your monitor to the highest
bit depth possible before running Asimov's Ultimate Robot. When the
program starts, it checks your monitor and displays the images as best
it can using your current settings.
Asimov's Ultimate Robot looks best in millions of colors (24-bit mode),
although it can run in thousands of colors (16-bit mode) or 256 colors
(8-bit mode). To select a video depth, open your Monitors control panel
and choose the highest bit depth (greatest number of colors) available
for optimal picture quality.
Note that using a higher setting than 256 colors may slightly slow down
display. This will be acceptable on faster systems, but may be annoying
on slower ones. Thus, for maximum speed at the expense of some picture
quality, set your monitor to 256 colors.
------------------
5. SOUND PROBLEMS
------------------
If you are using Virtual Memory, you may find that sounds are choppy or
interrupted. For best performance, turn off Virtual Memory by opening
the Memory Control Panel, turning off Virtual Memory, and restarting
your computer.
Sounds may be inaudible if the sound level is turned down. To set the
sound level, open the Sound control panel, and experiment with the
speaker volume setting until you find a comfortable sound level. If you
set the sound level to maximum, you may get some sound distortion just
as you might on a stereo system. With external speakers, be sure they
are connected properly and turned on; you will generally be able to
adjust sound level with the external speaker volume knob as well as
with the Sound control panel.
---------------------------------
6. PRINTING AND SAVING ROBOTOIDS
---------------------------------
The Robots you build in the Robotoid Assembly toolkit can be printed
directly using the Print button. You can also save the robots as PICT
files using the Photo button; they will be of the same quality as a
screen shot made with the standard Apple screen-capture function
Command-Shift-3. These can be printed if you open them with TeachText
(provided on this disc) or a special image-manipulation program such as
Adobe PhotoShop.
Asimov's Ultimate Robot can print good-quality grayscale images if you
have a laser printer, choose the Color/Grayscale option for better
quality. Because the Robots are color images, they do not print very
clearly on many black-and-white printers.
Robot images may be printed in color if you have a color printer.
Depending on the type of printer you have, printing a picture may take
several minutes. Because the pictures can be quite large, you may have
difficulty copying or printing in low-memory conditions. In this case,
close all other applications and then try again.
-------------------
7. TROUBLESHOOTING
-------------------
The speech recognition software in the Macintosh AV models may conflict
with the screen display of Asimov's Ultimate Robot. The speech agent
window will keep trying to come to the very front, obscuring portions
of the Asimov screens. If you have the speech software installed in
your computer, you may wish to turn it off before running Asimov's
Ultimate Robot, particularly if the Asimov's Ultimate Robot display
occupies your entire screen. Speech recognition may be deactivated in
the Speech Setup Control Panel.
Do not change monitor bit-depth settings while the Robotoid Assembly
Toolkit is running, or you may experience unusual behavior. For
example, if you switch to the Finder or another application while in
the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit with the monitor set to 8-bit color, then
hide the Toolkit with the Application menu, change monitor bit depth to
16-bit or 24-bit color, and then choose Asimov Player from the
Application menu, you will see a white screen and blinking cursor. To
restore normal operation you must press Command-Period to exit the Toolkit.
Additional query words: mac 1994multi media multimedia multi-media mmtitles read me
======================================================================
Keywords :
Technology : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbHomeProdSearch _IKkbbogus kbAsimovSearch kbAsimovUltimateRobotMac
Version : :1.0
=============================================================================
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.
Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986-2002.