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MAXON MAGIC =========== Table Of Contents ----------------- Introduction Welcome System Requirements Making a Working Copy Registration Card Installation on Hard Disk Installation on Floppy Disk Note The Main Window The Options Global Settings Time Volume Pri Mouse CPU Idle Hotkeys Hotkey Start Qualifiers Keys Note Hotkey Effect Mouse in Corner Module options Loading a Screen Saver Audio and effect switches The Demo Gadget The OK Gadget The Save Gadget The Quit Gadget The Cancel Gadget The Info Gadget The Screen Saver Modules Aquarium Blanctris Clock Crazy Worms Eyes Fireworks Flying Breakfast LFigures Messages Flashes Password Rain Spots Stars WB_Joke Wipe Out Black Screen Plasma The Audio Menu Overview Everyone Can Maintain Order Nothing Is Impossible Actions Keys Program Text Time Audio Sample Format PlayHSN Appendix Technical Support INTRODUCTION ------------ Welcome Thank you for purchasing MaxonMagic, the screen saver and system audio manager for your Amiga. With its combination of useful, amusing screen modules and fun audio samples for system events, MaxonMagic is an ideal addition to any Amiga setup, saving you money and allowing you to personalise the look and sound of your computer. Please read through this manual carefully before attempting to use MaxonMagic - if you experience any problems or incompatibilities you may call on our technical support services as described in the Appendix but it will help us, and you, if you are fully aware of MaxonMagic's capabilities before contacting us. Good luck, and have fun! SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- MaxonMagic needs the following: . Amiga computer (A500-A4000) with 1Mb of RAM or greater. . Keyboard. . Floppy disk drive; 2 drives or a hard drive recommended. . Workbench 1.3 or higher (Some effects require Workbench 2.0 or higher). MAKING A WORKING COPY --------------------- Before using MaxonMagic you should make a backup copy of the distribution disks and put the originals away in a secure place; safe from extremes of temperature , magnetic fields, moisture and children! The disks can be backed up using the Workbench or any backup utility - before making any backup always write- protect the master to prevent accidental erasure. The disks are not copy protected to allow easy backup and to avoid inconvenience; remember though that the software and this manual are protected by international copyright laws and you are only permitted to copy the software for you own personal use. If this sounds officious look at it another way - if you give away copies of MaxonMagic to your friends we will not receive enough revenue from the sale of the package to improve this and other products. We want to help you, please help us in return. REGISTRATION CARD ----------------- Enclosed with this manual is a registration card which you should fill in and return to us in order to register your purchase of MaxonMagic. This will entitle you to a free period of technical support and will enable us to keep you informed of future developments to our software. For details of our technical support services, please refer to the Technical Support Appendix in this manual. You will need to quote your serial number (to be found on the disk label) to obtain technical support and you may find it useful to make a note of it here: INSTALLATION ON HARD DISK ------------------------- After you have booted your Amiga from hard disk, insert your backup of the MaxonMagic program disk into df0: and start the program Install-MM-HD. The installation is done with Commodore's installer program; just follow the instructions that appear. At any time during the installation you can obtain assistance by selecting the help gadget. Once the installation program is running, the first thing you must do is to enter the name of the directory to which MaxonMagic will be copied. Please note that the installer does not create the directory itself! Select the Make new drawer gadget, type in the directory's name (e.g. MMAGIC) and select Proceed. Before the screen-saver effects can be installed you have to tell the installer which Amiga hardware you are working with. If you own an Amiga without a graphics board, select OCS/ ECS/AA, otherwise choose Graphics board. After this is done you can choose which screen- saver modules are to be installed. You can select each screen saver by clicking on its check mark. Then click on Proceed and the selected modules are copied to your hard disk. If you would like to have all effects installed select all. In this case you must decide yourself which effects are suitable for use with your hardware - the use of some of them with certain hardware configurations can lead to bizarre results. Now the rct.library is copied to the LIBS: directory if it isn't already there. Afterwards the command PlayHSN (see Chapter 5) is copied to the C: directory and the samples from the two sample disks are also copied. Finally you can choose if you wish to have MaxonMagic activated automatically after booting your Amiga. If you select yes a command line is inserted in s:user-startup or s:startup-sequence. The installation is now finished. Reboot your Amiga to activate MaxonMagic. The nominated directory should include the following files or directories: MaxonMagic the main program MM_Prefs the preferences file MM_Effects directory with screen-saver modules MM_Sounds directory with samples MM_SModuls directory with FTM-songs. INSTALLATION ON FLOPPY DISK --------------------------- For floppy disk installation it is best to have at least two disk drives. If you just have one drive you will need to copy the parts of MaxonMagic you want to use onto a Workbench disk that you have previously prepared. But even with only one disk drive You can have a complete look at MaxonMagic; just boot from your backup of the first MaxonMagic disk. After you have booted from a Workbench disk, insert the first MaxonMagic disk in your second disk drive. Open its window and start the program Install-MM-disk. Just follow the instructions of the installer. The installation is very similar to the hard disk installation described above. Instead of the directory you have to enter the name of a blank formatted disk to which MaxonMagic will be copied. The samples contained on the sample- disks are not installed, instead a short selection of samples are copied. You can also choose to have MaxonMagic started automatically, in which case the s:user-startup or s:startup-sequence of your Workbench disk is changed. Every time you boot from this disk you will have to insert the installed MaxonMagic disk in your second disk drive. NOTE ---- If you would like to start MaxonMagic from a directory other than the one in which the directories MM_effects and MM_Samples are installed you have to tell MaxonMagic where to find the screen-savers and samples. To do this, simply click on the MaxonMagic icon and select Information from the Workbench Menu Add the path which leads to the directories to the Tool-Types: e.g. PATH = "WORK : MaxonMagic" Don't forget to enter the keyword PATH! If you would like to start MaxonMagic from the CLI or Shell you have to make sure that the directories MM_Effects and MM_Samples are located within the same outer directory. THE MAIN WINDOW --------------- After MaxonMagic has been executed, press the keys Shift-F1 to open the main window of MaxonMagic. This window allows access to all necessary settings and commands. THE OPTIONS ----------- Within the main window, there are three gadgets Global, Hotkey and Modul ; these let you switch between, and gain access to, the different program settings, which are described below. When you click on one of these gadgets, the display beneath them changes appropriately. As their names suggest, Global settings affect all modules, Hotkey lets you choose MaxonMagic's "start" key, and Modul allows customisation of each screen-saver. GLOBAL SETTINGS --------------- TIME This slider lets you adjust the time after which the chosen screen saver will be activated. The display to the left of the slider shows the minutes and seconds after which the selected module will start, if no input (keyboard or mouse) is made within the defined time. Every input activity resets the time counter again. VOLUME With this slider you can adjust the volume of samples or FTM-songs. If set to 0 the sound is turned off while 64 is the maximum volume. PRI Every task within the Amiga's multi-tasking system gets a certain priority which defines how much CPD-time it is allowed. The higher the priority, the more CPU-time the task gets. This slider lets you adjust the priority of MaxonMagic. If you feel MaxonMagic is slowing down other programs too much just set a lower priority. In general, this shouldn't be necessary. MOUSE MaxonMagic has a built-in mouse accelerator. You can set a speedup rate of between 0.25 and 4.00, so you can even slow down the mouse. CPU IDLE If you are working with programs that have a high CPU_usage like raytracers, an active screen blanker which also has a high CPU_usage may be disturbing. This slider lets you adjust at which level of CPU usage the blanker will not be activated. The display shows CPU-time in percent; 40% means that the saver is started if the CPU is working at 60% or less. If a screen- saver isn't installed the screen will still turn black, which takes no CPU-time at all. HOTKEYS ------- Selecting Hotkey will bring up this requester: HOTKEYS START Choose the key combination which opens the main window. Every key has its own name. The default key is set to SHIFT-F1. The following table shows the name of all qualifiers and keys. Qualifiers LSHIFT left Shift RSHIFT right Shift SHIFT either Shift CAPSLOCK CapsLock CONTROL Ctrl LALT left Alt RALT right Alt LCOMMAND left Amiga RCOMMAND right Amiga NUMERICPAD a key of the numeric pad RBUTTON right mouse button MIDBUTTON middle mouse button LBUTTON left mouse button Keys A...Z A to Z 0...9 0 to 9 COMMA Comma SPACE Space BACKSPACE Backspace ENTER Enter (numeric pad) RETURN Return ESC Esc DEL Del UP Cursor up DOWN Cursor down LEFT Cursor left RIGHT Cursor right F1...F10 Function keys HELP Help You can combine any qualifiers you like, but you can only use one key. Be sure not to use the following combination: CONTROL LCOMMAND RCOMMAND!! NOTE Under AmigaDOS 2.O or higher you can also use the program Exchange (found in your Workbench) to activate, de-activate or remove MaxonMagic. Also you can open MaxonMagic with the Tools menu of the workbench. HOTKEY EFFECT In this box you can enter the hotkey which will activate the current screen saver module. Do this as described above. The default is SHIFT- F2: MOUSE IN CORNER Another way of activating a module is to place the mouse pointer in a certain corner of the screen. This cycle gadget lets you choose between the four corners or none. If you move the mouse pointer into the selected corner the module is started after a short time. MODULE OPTIONS -------------- This part of the main window of MaxonMagic (the Module button) brings up the settings for the installed screen-saver module. See a particular module's description for more details of which settings can be found, and altered, here. If a module's settings are accessed via this button, we will show this by the words via Module button in the Settings title. Some settings are available from within the demo mode - via Demo mode indicates this. LOADING A SCREEN SAVER ---------------------- You can select any of the available modules by clicking on its name in the Effects window. The name of the selected module is shown below this window if the module has been loaded correctly. You can also use the cursor keys and Return to choose. AUDIO AND EFFECT SWITCHES ------------------------- In the top right corner of the main window are two switches which allow you to switch the saver and the audio on or off. THE DEMO GADGET --------------- Every screen-saver can be played in demo mode by clicking on this gadget. Some modules offer additional settings in this mode - this will be shown against the Settings title for each saver by the words via Demo Mode. Normally you leave the Demo mode by clicking on the OK button - if there isn't one in a particular demo, just left-mouse click to exit. THE OK GADGET ------------- Clicking on this gadget closes the main window and activates all settings. THE SAVE GADGET --------------- This gadget saves all current settings of the main program and the chosen screen-saver to disk. The settings are stored in a file called MM_Prefs. THE QUIT GADGET --------------- MaxonMagic is de-activated and removed from memory. Its effects will also be turned off. THE CANCEL GADGET ----------------- This gadget closes the main window and leaves MaxonMagic active. The close gadget of the main window has the same function. THE INFO GADGET --------------- The MaxonMagic logo at the top of the window is also a gadget. Click on it to brings up information about the program version, the author and the copyright status of MaxonMagic. THE CLOSE GADGET ---------------- This gadget duplicates the Cancel button. THE SCREEN SAVER MODULES ------------------------ Every screen saver has been programmed as a module which is loaded by the main program. All modules are placed in the directory MM_Effects. The filename of the module itself ends with .mod, the filename of the module's settings ends with .mpf As described already, every saver can also play a sample or FTM-Song when runing. Almost every module has two string gadgets in the module options for selecting a sample or a song. The song is played prior to the sample. The gadgets to the left of the string gadgets open the file requester which lets you select the files easily. Samples are placed in the drawer MM_Samples and should have an extension of snd, FTM Songs in MM_SModules end in ftm. FTM-Songs have been composed with the program Face The Music and are played with up to eight channels. Please note that these songs use substantial CPU-time. We do not recommend the use of these songs on a standard Amiga with a 68000-CPU. NOTE ---- Some modules may not run on your Amiga. If you installed the screen savers with the installer you should already have the right modules for your system. If you have an Amiga with an AA chipset (A1200, A4000) and a multisync monitor you have to be sure that your monitor supports a 15kHz horizontal frequency to use savers like Aquarium and Blanctris. If you are using a graphics board you can only use the savers marked as usable with such boards. Your board must offer a Workbench emulation. Also we cannot guarantee that all marked modules run on your board since there are many different ways to implement a graphics board. Some screen savers may require at least AmigaDOS 2.O. AQUARIUM -------- Control the fish in your aquarium - but watch out for the fishing line. This effect brings up a real aquarium with lots of fish on your screen. From time to time a fishing line appears and catches a fish. The background graphic (stones and plants) is moved every now and then. The demo mode is exited by pressing the left mouse button. Settings via Module button # of Fishes This slider sets the number of fish (1 to 12). Speed Choose one of four swimming speeds Data CPU usage High (dependent on the number of fish), Runs on OCS/ECS/AA BLANCTRIS --------- How good is your computer at Blanctris? Even your Amiga likes playing a relaxing game like Tetris. This effect exists in two versions: Blanctris_ECS is the version for OCS/ECS/AA and offers improved graphics. The demo mode is left by pressing the left mouse button. Blanctris is the non advanced version that also runs with graphic boards. Settings Demo mode or Module button (Blanctris_ECS) Blockset Sets the level of difficulty for the computer (Normal, Medium, Easy). Even the computer does not always play a perfect game, so it may happen that the box is filled with blocks. Speed Sets the speed of the game. DATA CPU usage Medium to high (depending on speed and blocksize). Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. CLOCK ----- Bounce the system time around your screen from this panel. This module displays the system time with an analog or a digital clock. The display can be moved in different ways. Leave the demo by clicking OK. Settings via Demo mode Move Sets the type of movement. You can choose between fixed, jumping, horizontal, vertical and sliding Speed Sets the speed of the clocks movement, from slow to very fast AD Lets you choose between an analog and digital display Data CPU usage Medium Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. CRAZY WORMS ----------- Control how the hungry little worms devour your desktop Little hungry worms are eating away at your Workbench screen until nothing is left. You may have noticed that they have even munched their way into this manual! Settings via Module button Cycle Gadet Sets the number of worms, from 1 to 9, Dim Dims the brightness of the Workbench screen. Small Switches to small worms. Data CPU usage High. Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. EYES ---- Have you ever had the feeling you`re being watched? The screen turns black. Somewhere in the darkness you can see only the eyes of unknown, perhaps crazy, creatures. Settings via module button Eyes This cycle gadget sets the number of eyes display -ed (from 2-3 up to 14-18). Right Cycle Gadget This lets you choose if the effect should open on a LowRes screen or on a Workbench-like screen. On Amigas with graphics boards it must be set to WB. Data CPU usage Medium to low Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. FIREWORKS --------- Create your own firework display from this control panel A real firework display on your Amiga with optional sampled sound. Rockets explode with different colors and effects. Settings via Demo mode Mode Normal - explosions in different colors Glitter - explosions with glittering effects Blend - explosions with fading colors Random - the above three modes at random. # of pixels Number of explosion pixels. Size Overall size of the firework's explosion. Speed Speed of the falling explosion particles Trigger If selected, a named sample is played synchronously with the explosions. Data CPU usage High Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. FLYING BREAKFAST ---------------- Breakfast bites back - but wheres the toasters? You always wanted to see a complete breakfast flying across your computer monitor, didn't you? No problem, this module makes it happen. There is everything belonging to a real breakfast: toast, cups of tea or coffee, eggs, marmalade and of course an alarm clock so you won't miss your breakfast! This module has two setting points, one in the Module options and another in the Demo mode In the former you can only change the number of flying objects (from 0 to 39). In Demo mode you have more choices: In the demo mode you can change the parameters that directly influence the look of the module. At the left hand edge all available display modes are listed. The module can have its own screen resolution (independent from your Workbench resolution). In the middle of the window there are the color controls for all four colours. Above them there is the Use button; click it and your settings will become effective. Next, on the right, there is a kind of preview for the objects; you can toggle between them by clicking on the cycle gadget in the lower right corner. When your settings are to your liking you leave the demo mode by clicking on the OK button Data CPU usage High Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards, Workbench 2.0 or higher LFIGURES -------- This module draws and animates figures (loops) that are randomlv created from lines and curves. The figure's colour is animated as well. After some time has passed, a new figure will be drawn. There are no special controls for this module. You can leave the demo mode by clicking on the OK button in the lower right corner. Data CPU usage High. Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards MESSAGES -------- Leave reminders and messages on the screen. On a sheet of paper you can leave a message on the pinboard. The messages will be stored together with the settings. Even if the module is active, you can type in messages via the keyboard. Some keys have a special meaning as the following table shows: Keyboard reference Return centres the line under the cursor. Cursor Up moves the cursor up one line. Cursor Down moves the cursor down one line Cursor Left moves the cursor one character to the left or to the last column of the line above. Cursor Right moves the cursor one character to the right or to the first column of the following line. BS(Backspace) deletes the character to the left of the cursor. DEL(Delete) deletes the character under the cursor. Settings via Demo mode Buffer The module has five text memories which are independent from one another. With this cycle gadget you can select one of the five texts. Speed This controls the speed of movement of the message sheet. ESC exits the Demo mode. Data CPU usage Medium to low. Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. FLASHES ------- Control the thunderstorms inside your computer A thunderstorm with thunder and lightning lightning flashes with a variable number of branches can be combined with a thunder roar (a chosen sample) and a flashing screen. Settings via Demo mode Strength You can increase the number of lightning branches by moving the slider to the right Flash Select this button to flash the screen every time, in addition to the thunderstorm's lightning. Sample If this button is selected, a loaded sample will not be played in an endless loop but synchronised with the flashes. Data CPU usage Medium to low (depending on the length of each branch). Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. PASSWORD -------- Protect your computer from prying eyes with this control panel. This module is nearly the same as the messages module. So you can type in some short reports. But here the possibility of protecting your computer from unwanted access is added. Once the module has become active it only can be interrupted by typing in the correct password. The input of the password has to be confirmed with Return. All the other keyboard sequences are the same as in the Messages module. Settings via Module button Text No The module has five text memories which are independent from one another. With this cycle gadget you can select one of the five texts. Speed This controls the speed of movement of the sheet of paper Password In this text string gadget you enter the password MaxonMagic is not case sensitive. Data CPU usage Middle to low. Runs on OCS/ECS, AA, graphicboards. RAIN ----- Control the rain inside your computer Rain draws and moves raindrops from different directions. Alternatively you can add random screen flashing combined with thunder roar (sample). The settings for this module are divided into sound and effect settings. Effect Settings via Module button Rain from You can determine the direction from which the raindrops will come. Rain Drops Choose thick (large drops) or thin (slashes). # Rain drops This controls the number of the falling drops. Speed Increase the rain speed (wind speed) by moving the slider to the right Flashes increase the number of flashes by moving the slider to the right. There will be no flash at all when the slider is at the very left side. Sound Settings via Module button Trigger When selected, synchronises a named, loaded sample with the appearance of a flash. Data CPU usage Middle to low. Runs on OCS/ECS/AA SPOTS ----- Put the spotlights on your Amiga from this control panel. Spots darkens your Workbench screen and moves one or more spotlights across the screen. This module runs correctly on a four colour Workbench only Settings via Demo mode # of spots This slider determines the number of the spotlights Size Determines the diameter of each spot. Number and size are not independent from each other. The larger the size of the spots, the less are shown. Brightness Here you can set the brightness or darkness of the surroundings. Speed As the name says, this slider determines the speed of the moving spots. Data CPU usage Medium to high (depending on number and size of spots) Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. STARS ----- A must for all Astronomers - sit back and watch the stars go by. Stars generates an animated starry sky that seems to move to the observer. Alternatively, horizontal moving stars are possible. There are two versions of this module: Stars ECS only runs on OCS/ECS machines Starsruns on AA computers and Amigas with graphic controllers, too. Settings via Demo mode Mode 2D or 3D for different effects. Number Determines the number of stars. Speed This slider controls the speed of the stars. Move Controls the movement of the stars - the effect depends on the mode: 3D Mode left - the stars will rotate counter-clockwise, right - the stars rotate clockwise, none - no rotation. 2D Mode left - the stars move from right to left, right - the stars move from left to right. Data CPU usage Medium to high (depending on no. of stars). Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards. WB_JOKE ------- The game where you have to piece a picture together. The computer divides the screen into 64 sections. Then it starts to move those sections around to make the screen unrecognisable. There are no further settings for this module. Data CPU usage High. Runs on OCS/ECS/ AA, graphic boards WIPE OUT -------- This module makes mischief with the Workbench screen too. It dissolves the screen to nothing. There are no further settings for this module. Data CPU usage High. Runs on OCS/ECS/ AA, graphic boards. BLACKSCREEN ----------- This is a screen blanker module in its simplest form. It does nothing else but to blacken the screen. There are no further settings possible. You leave the demo mode with a click on the OK button in the lower right corner. Data CPU usage None. Runs on OCS/ECS/AA, graphic boards PLASMA ------ A late addition, this screen-saver displays a brain spinning psychedelic, plasma-like effect on your screen. Settings via Module mode Activity Controls the speed of the plasma flow. Data CPU usage Medium. Runs on OCS/ECS/ AA. THE AUDIO MENU -------------- OVERVIEW Did you ever fancy the sound of Big Ben in your sitting-room, striking midnight? Or maybe you miss the sharp, clack clack sound of that old typewriter? Or do you want to hear a little melody when starting your favourite program? No problem, you've got MaxonMagic! In the main MaxonMagic window you click on the gadget labelled Audio. A new window appears: This is the control window where you assign sampled sounds to different events. At the left you choose the event, to which a sound is to be assigned. You can move through the list of events with the scroll bar or the scroll arrows at the right side. On the right side in the control window you see a list of the available samples. To be precise, you will only see files with the extension ".SND" and all drawers of the MM_Sounds directory. Drawers are marked with a leading double arrow. As in the event list you can move through a long list here with a scroll bar or scroll arrows at the right side. To assign a sound to an event first left-click on the event and then right click on the chosen sample. In front of the event's name there will appear either an up-arrow or a check-mark (see below). If you have clicked on a drawer containing some samples instead of on a single sound file, MaxonMagic will randomly play one of these samples when the event occurs. So it can happen when you first press the Return key you will hear a submissive "Your wish is my command". The next time perhaps you may listen to a grumbling "Leave me alone" ... or a phaser disrupter blast. If you are a prolific writer you will soon get mad when hearing over and over again "You pressed my return key again my dear". A single sample can be switched off and on again- with a click on the On button beneath the sample list. The status of a single event can be seen by a symbol in front of the events name; if the sound for the event is turned on, a little bell will appear. Next to the on-and-off-switch on the right you can choose from where a sample shall be loaded when needed. You can switch between Disk and RAM. If you have chosen RAM, all those marked samples will first be loaded into memory when MaxonMagic is started. There they stay all the time until you leave MaxonMagic. A click on the gadget toggles to Disk. This means that the sample will be loaded from disk every time the event occurs. To be able to differentiate between the two options immediately there is a second symbol in front of the event's name - either an up arrow if the sample will be "up"-loaded from disk or a check mark, if it will be played out of memory. If you assign samples to keys or to the events open windouw or close window (i.e. events that occur often) it is better to load the samples into RAM. Rarer events (for example the start of a program) are better loaded from disk (preferably hard disk). If your computer has limited chip RAM you should use this method too. But if you have not got a hard disk and use MaxonMagic from disk, after a while you won't need a sampled groan, when requested to insert the samples disk ten times in two minutes! EVERYONE CAN MAINTAIN ORDER (ONLY A GENIUS RULES CHAOS) ------------------------------------------------------ With your new sound sampler (such as Megalosound!) you have recorded your grandmother's old cupboard door and a frog's song in the late afternoon. The cupboard sound is assigned to the event open window, the frog to the ASL file requestor. Now from your word processing program you want to load a previously written letter. The program uses the ASL file requester. The ASL window opens and greets you with a wonderful "quaaaak" . On the other hand a window was opened. So "squiiiek" or "quaaak"? Yes, that's right. You can decide what will happen; below the event list is a cycle gadget. Next sample waits means, that the first sample will be played completely and then the second (also completely). In our example that means that you will first get a frog's concert and then a door screaming for oil. A mouse click on the gadget leads us to Next sample cancels. In this case the second event cancels the first at its occurrence. So when the window opens you will hear "QuaSquiiiiek" (the frog sharp but painless and then the old oak chest). Oh, you preferred to hear the frog concert (open file requester) than the screaming door (open window)? Another mouse click on the cycle gadget shows Ignore next sample. If there is a second event before the first's sample has finished, the second will not be played at all. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE --------------------- Now you perhaps want to know to which events you can assign samples. Use the five buttons at the lower border of the audio window. According to your choice the event list on the left hand changes. ACTIONS ------- The following table gives all possibilities and when the events will happen: ALERT The alert used when the system crashes. ASLReq A program opens a file or font requester window with the help of the system's asl.library. AutoReq The operating system opens a message window. Close Screen A screen is closed Close Window A window is closed. Disk A disk (also a removable cartridge) is inserted or removed from a disk drive. Left Button Pressing the left mouse button. Open Screen Opening a screen. Open Window Opening a window. Right Button Pressing the right mouse button KEYS ---- All in all you can assign samples to 11 different keys or key areas. The sample sounds when the corresponding key on the keyboard is pressed. Though the samples can be uploaded from disk it is better to move them permanently to RAM. By doing this there won't be disk activity every time you press a key. PROGRAM ------- After clicking on this button you will see an empty event list. MaxonMagic cannot know which are your preferred programs. Click on the symbol to the left of the string gadget below the event list. A file requester will be opened from where you can choose programs. A click on the file requester's Load button forces the program name to appear in the event list. Now a sample can be assigned to this program. TEXT ---- As with the program event you will see an empty list here. Enter any word into the string gadget. After pressing Return this word will be put into the event list. Now, every time this word appears somewhere on screen, the assigned sample will be played. A click on the "N" (for "new") to the left of the string gadget cancels the actual entry and clears the field for another entry. Let's have an example: Assign the word "work" to whatever sample you like. Now, click on a free space of your workbench. The sample is played. Why? Well, take a look at the headline of the workbench screen. There you can read "Amiga Workbench ..." You see, it's enough to enter just a part of a longer word to get the sample played. MaxonMagic is not case sensitive i.e. instead of "work' you also could have typed "WORK" or "wOrK". Now you are able to assign samples to nearly every operating system output. All you need is a little bit of fantasy. The more assignments you do the more varied and personal your computer becomes. It is useful to assign samples to words like "error" or "software failure". The first appears in many programs when an error occurs, the last is included in the system error information. We recommend that you create a directory and assign this directory to the two words. Then you copy matching samples into this drawer, e.g. something like "shields failing, captain" , "I'm afraid, I can't do that" , the Beatles' "Help" or the death melody from "Once upon a time in the west" Keep an eye on the contents of your drawers so that they fit to the assigned events. Only then will the audio part of MaxonMagic really make sense and you will see your computer as a somewhat intelligent life form. Maybe someday not only will your Amiga talk to you but you will talk to it. TIME ---- In the list you can assign a sample to sound on any particular hour. Beyond this there are more entries at the end of the list. There you can choose events that appear every "quarter past" (1/4), every "half past" (1/2), every quarter to (3/4) or every hour. For example you can choose Big Ben every hour, but at 10pm (22:00) your son, who is busy playing the latest monster game, will be advised "It's pillow time, young man". AUDIO SAMPLE FORMAT ------------------- MaxonMagic's .HSN sound files are only compatible with the MaxonMagic program. This does not mean that you are limited only to the supplied samples; MaxonMagic also supports .SND files, standard Amiga IFF sound samples - such as those created by the popular sound sampling package Megalosound. To use an IFF sample with MaxonMagic, simply rename the sample to have a .SND extension and copy it to your MaxonMagic sound drawer The sample will then appear in the list of available samples PLAYHSN ------- As mentioned before, MaxonMagic uses standard IFF samples beneath so called HSN samples. The HSN file format is used by the program CrazySounds which is available for Atari and Windows computers. The advantage of this format is that the samples can be moved between different computer systems without changing the file format. But there is a disadvantage that we will not hold back from you: on the Amiga platform there is no program that understands this file format! But do not panic, we thought about that and will give you a small program called "PlayHSN". With this program you can play all the HSN sounds from our disks. "PlayHSN" is a CLI command and has to be called out of a shell in the following manner: 1> PlayHSN <sample> <sample> is the sample's name with its path (if it is not the current directory). There are many directory tools, using which a button can be assigned to this command. For that please refer to the manual of your preferred directory tool. NOTICE ------ All HSN sounds on our disks have icons Double clicking on them causes "PlayHSN" (as the default tool) to play the relevant sample. APPENDIX - TECHNICAL SUPPORT ---------------------------- MaxonMagic comes with 30 days free technical support, starting from the date of registration; therefore you should send in your registration card quickly. Technical support is available by telephone during our Technical Support Hour by letter or by fax. Should you wish to receive extended technical support, please complete the relevant sections on the registration card, indicating whether you would like to take up the Silver or the Gold service. In addition to your name, address and postcode (very important for UK customers), we need payment details before we can accept vour extended registration. You can pay by credit card (Mastercard, Eurocard, Access, Visa etc), UK debit card (Switch, Connect etc.), Eurocheque, UK cheque or Postal Order. You may have already registered another HiSoft product under our Gold or Silver service; in this case, there is no need to fill out the payment section. Within the US and Canada, you should contact Oregon Research (tel: 503 620 4919) for details of their localised technical support schemes. MEGALOSOUND ----------- Would you like to add your own, personalised sound samples to those provided with the MaxonMagic package? You can, with this wonderful package from Microdeal - imagine a sample of your own voice warning you of a system failure, or the cat's miaow when a window is opened, or a snatch of your favourite rock classic when you run Wordworth! Megalosound is just the right tool for the job; with its easy to-use interface, quality 8-bit stereo sound sampling, directly to hard disk if you want, and full range of stylish and innovative effects, it's the perfect partner to MaxonMagic, Megalosound contains all you need to produce your own sound samples from any sound source (of line strength) and comes complete with a sturdy sound sampling cartridge (including twin phono sockets and volume control), extensive software for full control over the sampling process and an impressive 128- page, wire-bound manual that contains full details of the package together with a tutorial that assumes no prior knowledge. Megalosound outputs standard IFF sound samples which can be used directly with MaxonMagic - just imagine the fun you'll have! Within the UK, Megalosound is priced at only £34.95 plus £2 postage and packing and should be available at your local computer shop. In case of difficulty you can order directly by post with a cheque or by phone with your credit/debit card from: Microdeal, The Old School, Greenfield, Bedford MK45 5DE UK Tel: 0525 713671 Fax: 0525 713671