Software of the Month Club 2000 January

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Text File | 1997-10-22 | 28.8 KB | 657 lines

FLIX Productions Animated Software Documentation __________________________________________________________________ Shareware ("Try Before You Buy") versions of all our software is available on our web site at http://www.eden.com/~flixprod __________________________________________________________________ Winner of: Shareware Industry Award - "Best Educational Software" Ziff-Davis Shareware Award - "Best Puzzle Game" Educational Software Cooperative - "People's Choice Award" Shareware Magazine's Editor's Choice Awards __________________________________________________________________ HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR WINDOWS FLIX PRODUCTIONS ANIMATED SOFTWARE: 486-33 or better recommended. 256 colors or better. Runs in Win 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and Win 95. __________________________________________________________________ "Animated Spelling CD" for Windows and Win 95 has over 700 words (with sound) and nearly 70 animations (over 120 Meg!). The program has two games - a matching game where the child can hear the word and then match it to a word on the screen, and a spelling game where the student hears the word, then spells it. Help is given as needed to help the child spell the word correctly. As each word is completed a piece is added to a picture, after ten correct words the picture becomes animated. Two groups of words are available - beginning (box, boy, bump, bug, etc.) and advanced (because, become, behave, behind, etc.) so the program can be used by a range of age groups. (Please note that the animations come from the DOS program "Animated Beginning Phonics"). __________________________________________________________________ The "Animated Early Learning CD" for Windows and Win 95 has four favorite Flix Productions DOS programs updated for Windows. They have all been converted to 256 color and a ton of additional sound has been added (Animated Money, for instance, went from 4 Meg to 24 Meg). The combined price for these programs in the DOS versions is $45.00 - you can have them all in Windows versions for just $35.00! The programs on the "Animated Early Learning" CD are: Animated Words - a spelling program for children from pre-school through first grade. The child is helped to match the word with it's picture. When the word is correctly matched, pieces are added to a puzzle; after five correct words the puzzle becomes animated. Animated Money - teaches coin recognition and math skills using US and Canadian coins. The coins are scanned in to be highly recognizable. Three types of games are provided: coin recognition and adjustable level matching games (coins to amounts and coins to coins). 10 matches earn a ticket to an animated movie featuring clay animation, etc. Animated Clock - a program for children from pre-school through third grade that teaches time in a variety of ways. This life skill program helps them convert digital time to analog and vice-versa. Various levels and context sensitive help are provided. Animated rewards pop out of the cuckoo clock doors, and 10 correct answers get a full-screen silly animation. Animated VGA Memory Game - A concentration type game. All kinds of animation are used including: clay, stop-motion, morphing, tweening, 3D, cell, and full-motion video. Up to 64 tiles can be used , one or two player mode available. __________________________________________________________________ "Animated Beginning Typing" for Windows and Win 95 is designed for young typists, and teaches proper typing technique for the letter keys. Sound effects and animation are used to make learning to type fun (and funny). Help is given with an animated tutorial, a screen to show proper fingering, and an on-screen keyboard which highlights the correct key when needed. There are three games in the program. "Jumping Letters" is designed for very young students, and can be played at any pace. Each correctly typed letter is rewarded with the letter being removed by an animated "critter" chosen by the pupil. When 10 letters are completed (context- sensitive help insures success), the child gets a silly cartoon. "Letter Drill" allows students to choose between 20 and 120 letters to practice. A report is generated at the end of the practice showing words per minute, errors, and time. The last letter in the sequence is removed in a silly way by a "critter", then the pupil is rewarded with a cartoon. "Flying Letters" is an arcade style game for advanced typists. The speed of the game is determined by the player (and can be changed at any time during the game). A report is generated at the end of the game, and a funny animation is displayed. All three games allow the student to choose a group of letters (such as left hand home keys), or to practice all 26 letters. The animation in the program is achieved using stop-motion animation, as well as other techniques. To Run: Run the setup program, and click on the "Animated Beginning Typing" icon. Help: Hit the F1 function key Quit: Click on the stop sign (or press ESC) Ages: Pre-school and above. Benefits of registration: 1 - A copy of the program is sent to you whcih you can personalize with your child's name (or choose no name for a school, etc.). 2 - 15 additional animated "critters" PRICE: $14.00 __________________________________________________________________ HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR DOS FLIX PRODUCTIONS ANIMATED SOFTWARE: IBM PC/XT/AT, EGA or VGA Display, 640K RAM, Hard Drive (Some programs are VGA only). All DOS programs can be run from Win95 in normal mode, DOS programs with SoundBlaster support need to be run in Standard Mode in Win3.1 (exit Windows, then restart by typing WIN/S) _________________________________________________________________ "The Animated Alphabet" is a fun educational program that uses pictures to represent each letter of the alphabet. When the child chooses the correct letter, the picture turns into an entertaining animated sequence. To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type ALPHABET. Help: Hit the F1 function key Quit: Hit the Escape (Esc) key. Ages: Pre-school through first grade. Benefits of registration: 1 - A copy of "The Animated Alphabet" is sent to you personalized with your child's name. 2 - Another alphabet program called ABCSONG, with new animations is sent to you. This program helps teach keyboard location skills. ABCSONG is only available to those who register "The Animated Alphabet". PRICE: $8.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Shapes" teaches shape and color identification using a colorful menu system designed for children. Each shape that is correctly identified combines with other shapes to create a picture. Upon completion, the picture becomes an entertaining mini-movie. To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type SHAPES. Help: Type H Quit: Type Q Ages: Pre-school through the first grade. Benefits of registration: 1 - A copy of "Animated Shapes" is sent to you personalized with your child's name. 2 - Fifteen new animations for "Animated Shapes" are sent to you, for a total of 25 animations. These are only available to those who register "Animated Shapes". PRICE: $8.00 _________________________________________________________________ "The Animated Mother Goose" is a collection of three animated movies of the classic children's rhymes made with hundreds of drawings. "Two Little Kittens", "To Market, To Market" and "The Man in the Moon" are included along with a "mouse" menu with a built-in mouse. To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type GOOSE. Help and Quit: Are found on the menu screen. Ages: Pre-school and older. The younger ones can have the stories read to them as they unfold on the screen, and older children can practice their reading skills. Benefits of registration: "The Animated Mother Goose" can only be obtained through registration with FLIX Productions. There is not a shareware version available. PRICE: $3.00 __________________________________________________________________ "Animated Math" teaches counting, addition and subtraction with animated rewards every step of the way. Not just a drill, but a tutorial that gives graphic help as needed. The game room can be visited after completing ten questions. Includes MOUSE SUPPORT! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type MATH. Help: Type H Quit: Type Q Ages: Pre-school through the first grade. Benefits of registration: 1 - A copy of "Animated Math" is sent to you personalized with your child's name. 2 - MANY new animations for "Animated Math" are sent to you, (4 more dinosaurs, 3 more color games, 15 more singers for piano, 40 more mini-animations) as well as a new mouse game. These are only available to those who register "Animated Math". PRICE: $10.00 _________________________________________________________________ "The Animated Memory Game" uses animated pictures to test memory skills. By matching hidden pictures in pairs you win the game and get animated rewards. Many options are provided: selecting from 14 different tile patterns, changing the background color, and even a mini-movie theater. Various difficulty levels provide a challenge for all ages - adults can enjoy it too. Includes MOUSE SUPPORT! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type AMEM. Help: Instructions from main menu Quit: Main menu & game screen Ages: All ages Benefits of registration: An additional 30 animations are sent to you by the author. PRICE: $6.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Words" is a spelling program for children from pre-school through first grade. The child is helped to match a word with it's picture. When the word is correctly matched, pieces are added to a puzzle; after five correct words the puzzle becomes animated. 50 words and 10 animated puzzles provide variety. The program is enhanced with the use of nearly 100 digitized sound samples of a human voice. SoundBlaster (and compatibles), the Disney Sound Source, the PC Speaker, and many more are supported. Both keyboard and mouse support are provided! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type AWORDS Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: Pre-school through the first grade. Benefits of registration: An additional 100 word/pictures with 20 new animations for use with "Animated Words". PRICE: $12.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Multiplication and Division" is a program aimed primarily at children from first through third grades. Based on the multiplication table from 1 to 10, it teaches "mental math" in a painless way. Progressive help is given as needed when the student is having difficulty with a particular problem (not just a Wrong! response from the computer). As rewards for successful completion of a sequence of ten problems a game room with several build-and-color-your-own animated games are given. The student can create and select a color scheme for their own dinosaur, car, face or fashion model. Both keyboard and mouse support are provided! Sound board support is not provided. To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type AMULT Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: First through third grade (primarily). Benefits of registration: Over twice as many more animations for the game room! PRICE: $10.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Clock" is a program for children from pre-school through third grade that teaches them to tell time in a variety of ways. This life skill program helps them convert digital time to analog time and vice- versa. Difficulty levels can be selected to provide practice in increments of hours, half-hours, 15 minutes, 5 minutes and one minute. Animated rewards "pop out" of the cuckoo clock's doors for each correct answer, and 10 correct answers are rewarded with a full-screen silly animation. Graphic help is given as needed to help the student learn the skills. Keyboard and mouse support are provided! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type ACLOCK Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: Pre-school through third grade. Benefits of registration: Over twice as many more animations! PRICE: $8.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Money" is a program for teaching coin recognition and math skills. U.S. and Canadian versions of the coins can be chosen. The coins used in the program are photographically scanned in, so they appear very realistic (and recognizable). There are three types of games. First, a money recognition game where the child matches the coin to it's amount, both the front and back of the coins are used. The other two games have levels of difficulty that can be adjusted to the child's needs. One game has the child match a group of coins to it's amount (2 dimes and a nickel matched to 25 cents), the other game matches equivalent groups of coins (2 dimes and a nickel matched to 1 dime, 2 nickels and 5 pennies, for instance). Context sensitive help is available for the boxes with coins in them which shows the cumulative values of each group of coins (but does not add them all up - that is left to the child). When 10 matches are made, the child receives a ticket to a short animated movie. There are 10 different animated movies using techniques like clay- animation, full-motion video, stop-motion, and morphing. Sound effects and music are used throughout the program. Keyboard and mouse support are provided. This program requires VGA and supports a variety of sound devices including SoundBlaster and compatibles, Disney Sound Source, Covox Speech Thing, and the PC speaker (about 20 sound devices are supported). To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type SETUP the first time the program is run, then MONEY Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: Pre-school through third grade. Benefits of registration: 15 more animations, more sound, and user personalization! PRICE: $15.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated VGA Memory Game" This program also features Super VGA support! A concentration-style game that uses animated 256 color tiles. All kinds of animation are used including: clay animation, stop-motion, morphing, tweening, 3D, cell, and full-motion video. In VGA (320x200) mode, 10 or 20 tiles can be used for a game, in Super VGA (640x480) mode up to 64 tiles can be used! A wealth of options are provided including 2 player mode (with score-keeping), changing tile backs, and a mini-movie theater. Silly cartoon sound effects are given for a wrong attempt and a harp is played for correct matches. Keyboard and mouse support are provided. This program requires VGA (Super VGA version needs at least 512K VGA card) and a mouse. Support for SoundBlaster & Clones, PC Speaker & 20 more! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type SETUP the first time the program is run, then AMEMV Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: All ages. Benefits of registration: More animations, more sound, 90 tile SVGA option, and user personalization! PRICE: $10.00 _________________________________________________________________ "Animated Bugs" "Animated Bugs" is a board game for young children that is full of color (256 of them), sound (effects and voices), and of course, animation (there is over 1.5 meg of graphics and sound). The child can choose from five different garden backgrounds. The game play involves two bugs - "Red Bug" and Blue Bug" - that move along a path to the end of the board. The players can be two people, or the child can play against the PC (the computer can even play against itself, which can be fun to watch). Along the way the bugs can encounter squares with A's in them - which give a mini-animation with sound, or a ? symbol which can cause the player to move forward or backward several spaces. The number of ?'s is adjustable to set the level of "trickiness". Movement is determined by a spinner that can be either numbers, colors, or shapes. At the end of the game, one of five different animated movie - rewards are shown. Children can get upset if they don't win, so I made the game such that the bug that is behind at the end says "Wait for me!" and flies to catch up. This program requires VGA. Support for SoundBlaster & Clones, PC Speaker & 20 more! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type SETUP the first time the program is run, then BUGS Help: F1 in the main screen Quit: ESC Ages: 3-8 Benefits of registration: 15 more background pictures, twice as much animation and sound, and user personalization! PRICE: $12.00 ___________________________________________________________________ "Dinosaur Coloring Book" has 25 pictures of dinosaurs which can be colored using any of the 240 colors available --- these are not dithered colors, but use the VGA palette. Features of the program include cycling the colors to give an animated rainbow effect, a "magic paint brush" that will pick the colors for the child, and 10 different dinosaur "roars". "ABC Fun Coloring Book" has 26 animal pictures with their associated letters and spellings. Care was taken to use animals that are different from the usual fare. Each picture has the letter and name of the animal spoken at the child's command. While these programs aren't animated, they do have a lot of sound and colors and are inexpensively priced. Mouse & VGA required. Support for SoundBlaster & Clones, PC Speaker & 20 more! These programs are retail only - there is no shareware version PRICE: $5.00 each ___________________________________________________________________ "Animated Addition and Subtraction" is for children from 1st through 4th grades. It provides exercises in addition and subtraction with and without regrouping. Problems can involve up to 9 digits. More than just a drill program, progressive help is given as needed to instruct the child to solve the problems. Once ten problems are completed, the student gets to visit the game room. There they will find a 256 color build your own rocket game, an animated train game with sound effects, and animated puzzles with silly cartoons. This program requires VGA and a mouse. Support for SoundBlaster & Clones, PC Speaker & 20 more! To Run: Copy all files to your hard drive. Type SETUP the first time the program is run, then ADDSUB Help: Instructions from main screen Quit: Main screen Ages: 1st - 4th grades. Benefits of registration: More animations, more sound, more games, the ability to make your own train tracks, and user personalization! PRICE: $15.00 ___________________________________________________________________ "Animated Beginning Phonics" CD ROM is designed for beginning readers. Over 140 Megs of animation, pictures, and sound are used to instruct children in the upper and lower case letter recognition, short vowel and soft consonant skills (beginning, middle and ending sounds). The comprehensive curriculum takes a child who knows their "ABC's" to the point where they can read the words used at the end of the program. A combination of instruction and drills are used. Context sensitive help is provided when needed. Success is rewarded with games and animation. Games are used in the review sections to encourage the child the do the reviews several times. The animation is full-screen 256 color with sound, using a combination of stop-motion, clay animation, pixillation, morphing and other techniques (and is generally pretty silly). This program requires VGA, a CD ROM drive, and a mouse. Support for SoundBlaster & Clones, PC Speaker & 20 more! This program is retail only - there is no shareware version PRICE: $25.00 ___________________________________________________________________ TO ORDER: WIN: Click on the Order icon. Choose "File" and then "Print" DOS: Please copy the file ORDER.TXT to your printer, or bring it into your favorite word processor. To print ORDER.TXT type: COPY ORDER.TXT PRN or PRINT ORDER.TXT ___________________________________________________________________ From the author: My name is Tom Guthery IV and I am an animator with over twenty years experience in the field of classical animation. I have produced many award winning animated films as well as commercial projects. I would like to give credit to those who helped me: Testing and Evaluation: Tommy Guthery V - age 12, who says he wants to be a professional baseball player. John Guthery - age 9, who is still working on his huge treehouse. Kelly Guthery - age 6, who is way too cute. Educational Consultant: Nancy Guthery - an educator with many years experience, who has now "graduated" to the 2nd grade. My mother. Further Evaluation, Encouragement and Assistance: Debbie Guthery - my wife, who has produced our testing and evaluation team. And also formatted 1000's of disks and stuffed 1000's of envelopes. Tom Guthery III - my father, who was instrumental in getting me started in all this. I thank the many people who have registered my previous works - their support has encouraged me to continue producing high quality animated educational children's software FULLTIME! I especially want to thank God for His many, many, many, blessings! Not the least of which is being able to stay home with my family! __________________________________________________________________ What Is Shareware? You've probably heard the terms "public domain", "freeware", "shareware", and others like them. Your favorite board probably has many programs described by one or more of these words. There's a lot of confusion about and between these terms, but they actually have specific meanings and implications. Once you understand them you will have a much easier time navigating the maze of programs available to you, and understanding what your obligations are, or aren't, with each type of program. Let's start with some basic definitions. "Public domain" has a very specific legal meaning. It means that the creator of a work (in this case, a piece of software) who had legal ownership of that work, has given up ownership and dedicated the work "to the public domain". Once something is in the public domain, anyone can use it in any way they choose, and the author has no control over the use and cannot demand payment for it. If you find a program which the author has explicitly put into the public domain you are free to use it however you see fit, without paying for the right to use it. But use care -- due to the confusion over the meaning of the words, programs are often described by others as being "public domain" when in fact they are shareware or free, copyrighted software. To be sure a program is public domain you should look for an explicit statement from the author to that effect. "Copyrighted" is the opposite of public domain. A copyrighted program is one where the author has asserted his or her legal right to control the program's use and distribution by placing the legally required copyright notices in the program and documentation. The law gives copyright owners broad rights to restrict how their work is distributed, and provides for penalties for those who violate these restrictions. When you find a program which is copyrighted you must use it in accordance with the copyright owner's restrictions on distribution and payment. Usually these are clearly stated in the program documentation. Maintaining a copyright does not necessarily imply charging a fee, so it is perfectly possible and legal to have copyrighted programs which are distributed free of charge. Such programs are sometimes termed "freeware", though this term was in fact trademarked by the late Andrew Flugelman and the legality of its use by others could be questioned. In any case, the fact that a program is free does not mean that it is in the public domain -- though this is a common confusion. "Shareware" is copyrighted software which is distributed by authors through bulletin boards, on-line services, disk vendors, and copies passed among friends. It is commercial software which you are allowed to try out before you pay for it. Shareware authors use a variety of licensing restrictions on their copyrighted works, but most authors who support their software require you to pay a "registration fee" -- the purchase price of the software -- if you continue to use the product after a trial period. Some authors indicate a specific trial period after which you must pay this fee; others leave the time period open and rely on you to judge when you have decided to use the program, and therefore should pay for it. Occasionally a shareware author requires registration but does not require payment -- this is so-called "$0 shareware". The shareware system and the continued availability of quality shareware products depend on your willingness to register and pay for the shareware you use. The registration fees you pay allow authors to support and continue to develop their products. As a software user you benefit from this system because you get to try the software and determine whether it meets your needs before you pay for it. Authors also benefit because we are able to get our products into your hands with little or no expense for advertising and promotion. As a result it is not unusual to find shareware products which rival retail software that costs several times the amount of the shareware registration fee. ASP members' shareware meets additional quality standards beyond ordinary shareware. Our members' programs must be fully functional (not crippled, demonstration, or out of date versions); program documentation must be complete and must clearly state the registration fee and the benefits received when registering; members must provide free mail or telephone support for a minimum of three months after registration; and members must meet other guidelines which help to insure that you as a user receive good value for your money and are dealt with professionally. We also provide an Ombudsman program to assist in resolving disputes between authors and users. For more information on the ASP or to contact the ASP Ombudsman, write to ASP, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA 49442-9427, or FAX 616-788-2765. You can also contact the Ombudsman on CompuServe via an electronic mail message to 70007,3536. __________________________________________________________________ "This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA 49442-9427, Fax 616-788-2765, or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536." __________________________________________________________________ Support Policy: Support is available for all FLIX Productions software for at least one year. You can reach us by: Mail CompuServe (72740,1326) Internet flixprod@eden.com Web Page http://www.eden.com/~flixprod __________________________________________________________________ SCHOOLS: For single campuses, you only need register a single copy, regardless of the number of PC's in use at that campus. Please write or e-mail for details on district licensing. __________________________________________________________________ All DOS programs written with GRASP from Paul Mace Graphic Software. All Windows programs written with GLpro from G-Media. __________________________________________________________________ Tom Guthery IV, 601 Ranch Road, DelValle TX 78617 (10/20/97)