Explore the World of Software 2: Kids, Adults, Educational

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---------------------------------------- I I I ABC FUN KEYS I I I I Version 2.0 I I I I A Musical Learning Game for the I I IBM Personal Computer I I I ---------------------------------------- February 26, 1987 Courtney E. Krehbiel 199 N. El Camino Real, Suite F175 Encinitas, CA 92024 Copyright (c) 1987 Courtney E. Krehbiel All Rights Reserved COPYRIGHT --------- This program and manual are copyright (C) 1986 by Courtney E. Krehbiel. All rights reserved. Non-registered users, public domain librarys, and computer software clubs are granted a limited license to use this product on a trial basis, and to copy the program for trial use by others subject to the following limitations: The program is distributed in unmodified form, complete with all programs and documentation. No fee, charge or other consideration is requested or accepted other than by C. E. Krehbiel with one exception. Public domain software libraries are entitled to charge a maximum of $6 per distribution diskette to defray their costs of copying and mailing. The program is not distributed in conjunction with any other product without the written permission of the author. If you intend to use ABC FUN KEYS on a regular basis, please register and show your support for the author and his family. Commercial, educational, business or governmental use is prohibited without the express written permission of the author. Registration fees for such uses are extremely reasonable. Please write for details. A registration form is contained in Appendix A at the end of this manual. We appreciate your support. Please register. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 2 ABC FUN KEYS Registration REGISTRATION ------------ User feedback is an integral part of any successful software program. Please share your impression of ABC FUN KEYS by writing us a message when you register. Any comments or suggestions you care to pass along will help us improve the program and enhance the enjoyment of other children who may use it. When registering, PLEASE include the serial number of your program so that we can properly assign commission credit. See following page for details on our commission plan to assist us with program distribution. ABC FUN KEYS is distributed as User-Supported Software. We encourage you to try the program and share it with friends as long as: The program is distributed complete and unchanged, accompanied by the documentation. No fee, charge or compensation is requested or received except by C.E. Krehbiel. ABC FUN KEYS is not distributed in conjunction with any other product. If you use our program on a regular basis, please show your support by registering. You may register by sending a check or money order for at least $10 to: Courtney E. Krehbiel 199 N. El Camino Real, Suite F175 Encinitas, CA 92024 See the following page for a discussion of registration benefits including our commission plan for assistance with program distribution. Appendix A contains a registration form to assist you with registration information. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 3 ABC FUN KEYS Registration REGISTRATION BENEFITS --------------------- $10 Registration Contribution ----------------------------- For the $10 registration, users will receive our thanks and appreciation plus the following benefits: - All registered owners will receive notification of any major updates of ABC FUN KEYS. - All registered owners will also receive the ability to place their name as registered owners in the Initial Window display and the Registration Window display. Most important, you will receive a good conscience and the knowledge that your fairness and honesty are setting a good example for your children. A program of this magnitude requires many many hundreds of hours to write and illustrate. By registering and showing your support, the author and others are motivated to improve existing programs and provide others via the User-Supported Software distribution method. Program disks are not included in the $10 registration fee. $20 Registration Contribution ----------------------------- For a $20 registration, you will receive all the benefits listed above plus the following: - All contributors at this level will receive a floppy disk with the latest program revision and picture files for the number keys 0 through 9. - Your program disk will contain a serial number assigned only to you which can not be changed by other users. You will receive a 20% commission on all registration proceeds generated from your serialized program. This commission plan is to reward you for for your assistance in distributing the program to friends and bulletin board systems and encouraging other users to register. The author maintains a database of registered users, serial numbers, and commission credits. Commission credit is only accrued to registered serial numbers since all contributors receive the ability to upgrade the program with their name. Therefore, PLEASE include the serial number of your disk when registering so commission credit can be properly assigned. Commission payments will be made every six months in June and December or whenever a commission account exceeds $20. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 4 ABC FUN KEYS User Supported Software USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE ----------------------- User-supported software is a means for the computing community to receive quality software while directly supporting software authors. It is based on the ideas that: The value and utility of software is best assessed by the user on his or her own system. Only after using a program can one really determine whether it serves personal applications, needs and tastes. The creation of independent personal computer software can and should be supported by the computing community. Copying of programs should be encouraged, rather than restricted. The ease with which software can be distributed outside traditional commercial channels reflects the strength, rather than the weakness, of electronic information. Under the user supported concept, anyone may request a copy of a user-supported program by sending a blank, formatted disk to the program author together with an addressed, postage-paid return mailer. A copy of the program, along with documentation, will be sent by return mail on the user's disk. The program carries a notice suggesting registration for the program. Registration is voluntary on your part. Regardless of whether you register, you are encouraged to copy and distribute the program for the private, non-commercial use of others. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 5 ABC FUN KEYS Computer System Requirements COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR ABC FUN KEYS --------------------------------------------- In order to run ABC FUN KEYS, you must have at least the following minimum level of equipment: An IBM Personal Computer or compatible with: - 128 K RAM or more - 1 double sided disk drive - PC-DOS Ver. 2.0 or later - Color graphics display card - Monochrome monitor Recommended additions include: - 512 K RAM - RAM disk software - Color monitor By storing the picture and music files on a floppy disk simulated in RAM (RAM disk), the speed and keyboard responsiveness of the program are substantially improved. LISTING OF ABC PROGRAM FILES AND USES ------------------------------------- ABC.EXE -- The main ABC program in executable file format. ABC.DOC -- This users manual. A.SPF thru Z.SPF -- "Scrunched picture files" that will be loaded and displayed by the ABC program. SONG1.SNG thru SONG26.SNG -- Musical song files that will be loaded and played by the ABC program. SCRUNCH.EXE - A program to create the .SPF files from picture files generated with Mouse System's PC Paint program. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 6 ABC FUN KEYS Introduction INTRODUCTION ------------ ABC FUN KEYS is a learning program designed to introduce a child from the ages of 2 to 5 years to the concept of letters, the alphabet, and computer keyboards. The program has been designed around colorful, full screen pictures and familiar nursery rhyme melodies to make learning as enjoyable and stimulating as possible. The program consists of four related learning games and several game options structured around the alphabet. Both the pictures and musical scores have been developed on commercially available editors and can be easily expanded or changed by interested parties. Due to the age of the intended user, it is recommended that an adult supervise the operation of this program. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 7 ABC FUN KEYS Game Descriptions GAME DESCRIPTIONS ----------------- ABC FUN KEYS contains four slightly different learning games. At the beginning of the session, one game can be selected. During the course of play, the selection can be changed without re- starting the program. In the first three game types, a menu of picture files representing the alphabet is presented. The entire alphabet may be selected, or portions may be chosen for special learning emphasis. Letters may be selected in any order, usually alphabetical. Once the game has been started, a letter and picture are displayed on the monitor. The child must press the corresponding letter on the keyboard. When successful, a short musical piece selected at random is played and the colors in the picture flash. This is repeated until all the selected letters have been used whereupon the picture selection begins to repeat. The first three learning games follow the process described above with the following differences: Game One - Normal: The selected letters are displayed in the order selected. The keyboard is always live and incorrect key choices are greeted with a buzz. Game Two - PlusKey: The selected letters are displayed in the order selected. The keyboard is "locked out" until the "+" key on the far right side of the keyboard has been pressed. After this key has been depressed, the keyboard is live until the next picture is displayed. The "+" key "lock out" feature allows an adult supervisor to discreetly moderate the pace of the game and elicit verbal responses from the child. Game Three - Random: The selected letters are displayed in random order until all letters have been used. The keyboard is always live. Game Four - Display: The fourth learning game allows the child to press a key on the keyboard and the computer will respond by displaying a picture of the letter and an associated item. The picture is displayed for the duration of a nursery rhyme melody. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 8 ABC FUN KEYS Starting Play STARTING THE GAME ----------------- 1. Turn on the computer with a copy of your IBM DOS diskette in disk drive A. 2. If the DOS program asks you for the date and time, press the "return" key twice. The date and time are not needed for this program. 3. At this time, the display should contain the DOS prompt... A> 4. Remove the IBM DOS diskette from disk drive A and insert your copy of ABC FUN KEYS into disk drive A. 5. Enter the following command after the DOS prompt... ABC A: and then strike the "return" key. 6. Disk drive A will be activated and the opening windows for ABC FUN KEYS will be displayed. 7. Select any of the game variations by pressing any key until the window for the desired game is displayed. Press the "Esc" key to begin select that game. 8. If game 4 has been selected, it begins immediately and the child is instructed to press a key by a soft beep. 9. If games 1 through 3 have been selected, an alphabetical listing of the available ABC pictures is presented. 10. The letters of the alphabet and corresponding pictures can be highlighted by using the "arrow" keys in the numeric keypad to highlight the desired letter. To select the highlighted letter for game play, press the space bar. 11. Repeat step 10 to select as many pictures as desired. Pictures can be selected in any order. The order of selection is the order in which the pictures will appear for games 1 and 2. 12. Note that if it is desired to select all the pictures in alphabetical order, it is merely necessary to press the "Ctrl" and "A" keys simultaneously. (A for "all") 13. Once all the desired pictures have been selected, press the "Esc" key in the upper left corner of the keyboard to begin the game. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 9 ABC FUN KEYS Game Features GAME FEATURES ------------- 1. It is usually possible to restart the game from the beginning menu selection by pressing "Ctrl" "Home". (Press both keys simultaneously.) This is available whenever the program is waiting for a user keystroke. 2. Press "Ctrl" "End" to end the game and return to the DOS prompt. 3. A "flashcard" mode is available in games 1 through 3. To enter the flashcard mode, press the "Scroll Lock" key in the upper right hand corner of the keyboard. The length of the flashcard duration can be adjusted by pressing the "up arrow" key to speed up the rate and the "down arrow" key to slow down the rate. The flashcard mode can be stopped by pressing the "Scroll Lock" key once again. Note that the flashcard rate is dependent upon the speed of the disk drive and can not be increased beyond a certain point. Use of a ram-disk can significantly improve the performance of the program in this mode. 4. In some instances it may be desirable to eliminate the song which is played with each successful keystroke. This mode can be selected by pressing the "Num Lock" key. While in this mode, songs are inhibited and only a cheerful "Ta-Da" note is played. Operation can be restored to normal by once again pressing the "Num Lock" key. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 10 ABC FUN KEYS Advanced Features USING ABC FUN KEYS WITH A RAM-DISK ---------------------------------- The use of a simulated floppy disk drive in RAM memory (commonly called a RAM Disk) can greatly speed up the rate at which the ABC program retrieves picture and music files. This makes the game's operation seem instantaneous. Due to the size of each picture, it is not possible to make everything memory resident except on fully equipped computers. To speed up the program in this way requires ram-disk software such as AST Research's SuperDrive program which is not included with this program. 512K of RAM is recommended. Using the ram-disk software, create the electronic disk drive. Label the disk drive C:. Copy the picture and music files from the game disk to the electronic disk by issuing the following commands... COPY a:*.spf c: (press "return") COPY a:*.sng c: (press "return") Begin the ABC FUN KEYS game by typing... ABC C: (press "return") Note that using the program command "C:" following the call for the ABC program instructs the program to look for picture and song files on the electronic disk, C:. Picture and song files can be retrieved from any valid disk drive by changing this drive designation. If no drive designation is specified, the program assumes the current disk drive. USING ABC FUN KEYS WITH A HARD DISK ----------------------------------- Using ABC FUN KEYS with a hard disk is similar to the operation of the program with a RAM disk except that complete drive AND path information must be provided at the program entry. For example, suppose the program ABC is located in a subdirectory called "\games" off of the root directory. To avoid cluttering up the games directory with the song and picture files, you may have placed them in the directory "\games\picsong". Your hard disk drive is drive C:. To start the game you would type... CD \GAMES <Return> ABC C:\GAMES\PICSONG <Return> Note that the ABC game must always receive drive information. Any necessary path information to the picture and song files must follow the drive specification. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 11 ABC FUN KEYS Advanced Features OTHER ABC FUN KEY NOTES OF INTEREST ----------------------------------- The picture files are labeled ".spf" which stands for "scrunched picture file". The picture files can be created by using the PC Paint program and mouse from Mouse Systems. Once the picture has been drawn with the PC Paint program, it must be "scrunched" for use with ABC FUN KEYS. The program SCRUNCH.EXE has been included on the game diskette for this purpose. The program is reasonably self prompting. The music files are labeled ".sng" for song file. ABC FUN KEYS can use up to 26 music files on the disk labeled SONG1.SNG through SONG26.SNG. These music files can be changed or created by using the PC MUSICIAN program written by Christopher Wiley. This program is a musical composition program for the IBM Personal Computer and is distributed on a User-Supported Software basis by Christopher Wiley, Box 111, VAMC, Prescott, AZ 86313. A contribution of $20 is suggested for PC MUSICIAN. Any assistance with either musical scores or pictures is gratefully accepted. The author is neither an artist nor composer. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 12 ABC FUN KEYS Appendix A -- Registration Form We have included the following registration form to make sure that you remember to provide us with all the necessary information. Please help us by using this form. THANK YOU! Make check Courtney E. Krehbiel Order Form payable to: 199 N. El Camino Real, Suite F175 Encinitas, CA 92024 ============================================================ Date: ============================================================ Quan Description Unit Extended ------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | ABC FUN KEYS Registration | $10.00 | $ -----| (Registration certificate | | | but does not include disk.) | | | | | | ABC FUN KEYS Super Registration | $20.00 | $ -----| (Current version, manual on | | | disk, number files, and | | | unique serial number for | | | the distribution commission | | | plan.) | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------ Subtotal: $ (CA residents please add 6% sales tax) Tax: $ Total: $ Payment by: ( ) Check ( ) Money Order Name: ................................................ Addr: ................................................ ................................................ City: ................................................ State: .................... Zip Code: ............... ============================================================ * * * * * * * * * * * * IMPORTANT * * * * * * * * * * * * * Serial Number of Your Current Program: S/N ................. ============================================================ Note: The serial number can be found at the top of the information window behind the "Thank You" window. Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 13 ABC FUN KEYS Appendix A -- Registration Form Copyright (c) 1987 C. E. Krehbiel Page 14