Microsoft KB Archive/121034

= MAC Asimov's Ultimate Robot: README Contents =

Article ID: 121034

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2005

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 * Microsoft Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot for the Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q121034



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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: KB121034

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