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Text File | 1995-06-01 | 21KB | 431 lines

Masterpiece Menu 2.2 Copyright (c) 1994 KidStuff Software 6490 Dubois Rd. Lewis Center, OH 43035 614-548-5043 Compuserve 71043,3706 Masterpiece Menu is a menu program designed specifically for children. Even the youngest children will be able to run their own software using Masterpiece Menu. The painter "paints" each program icon on the easel. Click the easel or press ENTER to run the displayed program. The large, colorful program icons are standard PCX files. Setup is a breeze, simply press F10 to enter your child's program information. You can even set up separate configurations so each child can have his/her own menu. Masterpiece Menu runs in EGA or VGA mode and includes a "screen saver", calendar, and animated clock. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS Masterpiece Menu requires 640K RAM, a hard drive, an EGA or VGA color monitor, a mouse is optional. INSTALLATION Insert disk 1 and type A:INSTALL (or B:INSTALL). Once installed, change to the MMENU directory and type MMENU to run the program. Press Alt Q to quit the program. Shareware Registration Form - MMENU 2.2 All registered users receive icons for many popular children's programs, removal of the initial shareware screen, support via phone or mail, and notification of and substantial discounts on KidStuff Software. [ ] $15.00 Masterpiece Menu Registration [ ] $2.50 shipping & handling for orders outside the U.S. or Canada [ ] Sound Blaster/Adlib Version Disk Size: [ ] 3 1/2" [ ] PC Speaker Version [ ] 5 1/4" (Shareware versions of the following programs are available. See descriptions of these programs at the end of this file.) [ ] $3.00 "Sounds Like A..." [ ] $3.00 "Talking Number Machine" [ ] $3.00 "Preschool Pack" [ ] $3.00 "Ms. Piggy Bank" [ ] $3.00 "Talking Time Tutor" [ ] $3.00 "U.S. Geography" [ ] $3.00 "Kinder-Carton" [ ] $3.00 "My Reading List" Payments may be made by VISA, Master Card, check or money order (checks must be for U.S. funds on a U.S. bank) to: KidStuff Software 6490 Dubois Rd. Lewis Center, OH 43035 Credit Card Information: [ ] VISA [ ] Master Card Credit Card Number: ___________________________ Expiration Date: ______________________________ Signature: ____________________________________ Name: _________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Phone: ________________________ I received the shareware disk from: ________________________ Comments or suggestions: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ MASTERPIECE MENU INSTRUCTIONS RUNNING THE PROGRAM Run the program by typing MMENU. The title icon will be displayed on the easel. Quit the program by typing Alt Q. Press F10 for program setup. SCROLLING THROUGH THE PROGRAMS: Click on the paintbrush or palette to display the next icon on the easel. The painter will "paint" the next icon. You may also use any of the following keys to scroll the programs - Spacebar, Up/Down arrows, Left/Right arrows, and PgUp/PgDn. The PgUp/PgDn keys will scroll in increments of 2, 5, or 10 depending upon the number of programs in the menu. See the section on Program Options for disabling the painting motion if desired. RUNNING A PROGRAM: To run the program displayed on the easel, either click on the easel, or press ENTER. PROGRAM SETUP (F10) In order to add your own programs to the menu system, press F10. You will see a data entry screen. Enter the required information for each program you want to add to the menu. The arrow keys may be used to move between the input fields, ENTER also moves to the next field. Press F2 to get a blank screen in order to add a new program. Program Number: The program number is a 3 digit number which is used to control the order in which the programs will be displayed on the easel. This field is required. The information for a program will not be saved unless something is entered in this field. Numbers should be entered with leading 0's in order to maintain the correct order. Path Name: The path name is the name of the directory in which the program may be found. Please be sure to enter a backward slash (not a forward slash) for directories. Example: C:\PPK Executable Program: Here you will enter the name of the program to be executed. This will have one of the following extensions: .EXE .COM or .BAT If you are not sure of the extension, leave it off. Example: PPK.EXE (just PPK would also work) Icon File: Enter the name of the icon to be displayed for this program. An icon is a picture which represents the program. Icons must be stored in the same directory as the menu program. When an icon file name is entered, the icon will be displayed in the program setup window. If there is no icon available, leave this field blank and enter the program title in the Text Fields described below. See the section on creating icons. [Registered users receive a set of icons for many popular children's programs.] Use Graphics Mode? Enter a Y or N in this field. If the program runs in graphics mode (i.e. has pictures, not just text) enter a Y. Most children's programs run in graphics mode. Text Fields 1-5: The remaining 5 fields are provided to be used for a title, if an icon is not available. If you do not have an icon for the program, enter a descriptive title in any or all of these fields. If an icon is used, anything entered in these fields will be ignored. SETUP COMMANDS The following keys are used in the program setup mode. F2 Add a new program to the menu. Press F2 a second time to add another program, or PgUp/PgDn to move to another program record. F6 Delete the currently displayed program from the menu. There must always be at least one program record. You will not be allowed to delete the last program from the menu. PgDn Display the information for the next program. PgUp Display the information for the previous program. ESC Exit the setup screen, saving all program information. TITLE OR MESSAGE ICONS/TEXT Each program record entered does not have to run a program. The Masterpiece Menu logo displayed when the program begins is an example. You can change this record to one that displays a special icon or message for your child if desired. Change the record to display an icon of your choosing, or delete the icon name and enter any text you would like displayed in the text fields. You can enter as many of these as desired throughout the menu, just leave the Executable Program field blank and fill in either the Icon File or Text fields. If you create an icon which you want displayed as your menu title, be sure to assign it the lowest number in your menu so that it will be displayed first. SCREEN SAVER A screen saver blanks the screen or displays a moving image or an image which changes colors on the screen. The purpose being to prevent an image from "burning into" the monitor if displayed on the screen for too long. Most experts agree that today's monitors do not require "screen savers", i.e. no damage will be done to the monitor even if an image is left on the screen for extended periods of time. Many people still worry about this though. If no activity occurs in the Masterpiece Menu for a period of 15 minutes, the screen will blank and an icon will flash across the screen. The icon used for the screen saver will be the first icon used in your menu. If you do not have any icons in your menu, the title "Masterpiece Menu" will be displayed around the screen. To return to the program, simply press a key or click the mouse. CREATING ICONS The icons used by Masterpiece Menu are .PCX files. Most paint programs are capable of creating these files. The dimensions of the icons are 140x140 pixels. You can create icons by drawing pictures in any paint or graphics program that will save .PCX files. Another way to create icons is to use a screen capture utility to save a screen from the program for which you are creating the icon. Run your screen capture utility first. It will load into memory and remain there allowing you to run other programs. Run the program(s) that you would like to create icons for. When you are at a screen that you would like to use for an icon, press the keys to activate the screen capture. Once you have captured the desired screen(s), load them into your paint program. Cut out a portion of the screen to fit into the 140x140 icon dimensions, or reduce the file to this size. Save the icon in the Masterpiece Menu directory. Later you will enter the name(s) of the icon(s) into the program setup of Masterpiece Menu. [Registered users receive a set of icons for many popular children's programs.] MMENU OPTIONS You may pass 2 optional parameters to the program as described below: Turning off the Painter Animation Normally the painter will "paint" the next icon on the screen by brushing the paintbrush back and forth over the easel. If you have a large number of programs and/or a slow computer, you may not desire this animation. If you pass a /x parameter to the program, the animation is turned off. The command is: mmenu /x Maintaining More than One Menu Configuration Normally Masterpiece Menu will store the information for your programs in the file MMENU.DAT. This will allow up to 100 programs. If you would like to maintain separate menus for different children, you may specify separate configuration files. For example to maintain separate menus for Lisa and Kristy, you would run the program like this: mmenu lisa.dat (for Lisa's menu) or mmenu kristy.dat (for Kristy's menu) Icons and/or programs may be shared by as many menus as desired. The two command line options may also be combined, such as: mmenu /x lisa.dat (run Lisa's menu with no animation) These commands can be put into a batch file. Use a word processor or text editor that will save ASCII (unformatted) text. Create a file with a .bat extension, such as LISA.BAT with a line similar to the above command. Create an equivalent batch file for Kristy, and they can each run their own menu by simply typing their name. If you would like your computer to automatically enter the menu when it is turned on, add a command to call mmenu as the last line in your autoexec.bat file. From the autoexec.bat file you can either call the program using the mmenu command, or by calling a batch file such as lisa.bat described above. PROBLEMS Masterpiece Menu requires an EGA or VGA monitor/video card. Any menuing system uses some memory that would otherwise be available to the programs if they were run strictly from DOS. If you have a problem with a program not running due to insufficient memory, check to see if you can unload any device drivers or memory resident programs (TSR's) that are not required. A mouse driver must be loaded via your config.sys or autoexec.bat file in order to be available in MMENU. If you do not see a mouse cursor in MMENU, see the documentation that came with your mouse for instructions on how to load your mouse driver. MMENU will work with mouse drivers that are fully compatible with the Microsoft mouse driver. Sound Blaster/Adlib or compatible versions of each of these programs area available to registered users. ========================================================================= P R E S C H O O L P A C K ========================================================================= The colorful graphics, songs, and speech of Preschool Pack will be sure to capture the attention of your preschooler. From the main menu screen, which contains a cat which meows and winks when clicked, to the bee which frowns when a mistake is made in the matching game, you and your preschooler will appreciate the careful design and attention to detail of Preschool Pack. Through six different and entertaining activities your preschooler will learn about counting, number recognition, the alphabet, colors, matching, classifying, and memorizing his name, address, and telephone number. The activities include: "Animal Homes", where animals must be placed in their appropriate homes - either farm, forest, or circus. Most of the animals have an accompanying animation and animal sound! "Balloons", where the user must click on a color block matching the color of a rising balloon before it pops; "Matching", a memory game with an animated bee rewarding the user who locates all matches; "Counting", where the user counts along with the computer as a variety of colorful images, from dinosaurs to dolls, are displayed; and "ABC's" where the user must find all letters which match a displayed letter. "ABC's" uses speech to pronounce each letter as it is selected. In the last activity the child will learn to spell his name, as well as learning his address and phone number. All activities are reinforced with cheerful music and animation sequences. ========================================================================= S O U N D S L I K E A . . . ========================================================================= "Sounds Like A..." is a unique and entertaining game for children ranging in age from approximately 1 1/2 to 7 years of age. The program uses colorful graphics and a variety of high-quality sounds ranging from a clock "ticking" to a dog "barking". In the first of two games, the child must find the picture which matches a sound. Your child may hear, for example, a cow "mooing". He/she will then click on a square containing the picture of a cow. A game consists of 12 sound/picture pairs. As each picture is matched with the accompanying sound, parts of a larger underlying picture are revealed. The second game is a matching or memory game with a slight twist. The child must match a picture with the appropriate sound. For example, if the child clicks on a block revealing a picture of a donkey, he must find the block which contains the "Hee Haw" sound in order to make a match. *** An enhanced version of Sounds Like A... is available for Sound Blaster or Adlib systems that provides 36 MIDI songs in addition to the sounds of the standard program. Your child will hear a song and match that song to its corresponding picture. There are 12 children's songs, 12 Bible songs, and 12 Christmas songs. Also included in this version is a "tape player" where your child can play any of the sounds or songs in the program. ========================================================================= T A L K I N G T I M E T U T O R ========================================================================= "Talking Time Tutor" will have your child telling time in no time! Your child will hear the time spoken using high quality digitized speech. TTIME provides a variety of different time activities each with three skill levels. Activities include setting the analog clock to match the digital clock, setting the digital clock to match the analog clock, setting the analog clock to the spoken or written time, and setting the analog clock to a future or past time. Additional features are provided to entertain your child as he/she learns. Each of 6 analog clocks has its own animation routine. Pocket Watch Display minute count by fives. Owl Eyes move left to right. Bear Honey bee flies around. Santa Christmas tree with blinking lights. Cat Eyes move up and down. Dinosaur Munches on grass. Cuckoo Clock Cuckoos The colors of the band on the digital wrist watch may be changed. A bear on the screen tells time-related jokes or asks your child questions about time. Isn't it about time you invested in "Talking Time Tutor" for your child? ========================================================================= T A L K I N G N U M B E R M A C H I N E ========================================================================= The inspiration for "Talking Number Machine" (TNUM) came from my daughter Lisa, age 7. From the time she learned to read, she was continually asking me, "Mom, what's this number?". At the time she could not recognize numbers over about 999. After working with the "Talking Number Machine" she is comfortable with numbers up to the trillions. TNUM is designed to help children recognize, say, and write numbers from 1 to 9,999,999,999,999. TNUM uses high quality digitized speech to say the numbers which appear on the screen. Mouse and/or keyboard commands may be used. The program includes the following activities: Number Machine - Click on the Number Machine and the machine will produce an interesting fact containing a large number. The fact will be displayed in a frame, with the number highlighted, along with an accompanying picture. For example - "Americans eat 50,000,000 hot dogs a day." They may then choose to have the computer say the highlighted number, or have the computer display that number in words. The user may also choose to write the number in words by selecting from a list of number words (no typing is required). Help is available to display the next word if the user gets stuck. The registered version of the program contains 175 number facts. Enter any Number - The user may enter (calculator style) any number up to 13 digits. They may then choose to have the computer say that number or have the computer display that number in words. The user may also choose to write the number in words by selecting from a list of number words (no typing is required). Enter the Written Number - The computer will "think" of a large number and display that number in words, for example - nine million two hundred fifty one thousand three hundred seventy two. The user must enter the digits to make that number. Help is available to display the next digit if the user gets stuck. Count By - TNUM can also help your child learn to count (by increments of 1 to 10). If the user selects 2 the program will begin counting by 2's - 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. until you decide to stop. A utility program is included with TNUM which allows you to enter your own number facts for use in the program. ========================================================================= M S . P I G G Y B A N K ========================================================================= Ms. Piggy Bank provides an effective and entertaining way for children ages 6 to 10 to learn about money. Ms. Piggy Bank offers 6 different money activities, all using high quality speech and graphics, with full mouse support. The simplest activity teaches the names and values of coins and bills up to twenty dollars. Your child will quickly learn the value of each coin as they try to maneuver a piggy bank to catch falling coins. Your child will learn, for example, that two quarters are equal to a half dollar in the Money Equivalents activity. In the Total Money activity your child will enter the total of the displayed coins and/or bills on a cash register. The Select Money activity displays a total and your child selects the coins and/or bills which add up to that total. An entertaining board game for 1 or 2 players allows your child to put his newly acquired skills to work, earning money and an opportunity to visit the Toy Store where he can practice making a purchase and counting out the amount of change received. The program is easily configurable for children of various ages and skill levels.