Super Screensavers Collection 2.0/Super Screen Savers Collection.iso/C/Clouds/README.TXT

Text File | 1996-08-28 | 12.9 KB | 318 lines

                    ***  Plasma Clouds 1.0 for Windows  ***




    1.1 About Plasma Clouds
    1.2 The Author

    2.1 How to Install
    2.2 Manual Installation
    2.3 Automatic Installation

    3.1 Screen Saver Setup
    3.2 Changing Color Palettes

    4.1 Disclaimer
    4.2 Terms of Use
    4.3 Registration
    4.4 Suggestions and Bug Report
    4.5 Next Releases





1.1 About Plasma Clouds

If you like colors, if you like clouds, you will like this screen saver.
Plasma Clouds draws clouds on the screen in an endless variety of forms
and colors. You can never know what the next image will be. This screen saver
doesn't show you the pictures you provide, it CREATES them.
You have the freedom to choose what kind of clouds you want to see, and have
the freedom to let the computer make this choice for you.
You can change colors, define how "stormy" your clouds must be, and set up
special effects, such as moving clouds and psychedelic colors.
Coming back to your computer and seeing the screen saver in action, you will
hesitate before touching your mouse or keyboard!

Plasma Clouds is FAST. It doesn't take minutes to produce an image, it
takes SECONDS: about 3 seconds(!) on a Pentium 70 Mhz, 640x480; 42 seconds
on a 386 20 Mhz without math co-processor.

Plasma Clouds is CHEAP. Just US$5.00 to get registered is really VERY cheap,
especially if you consider what you have in change.



1.2 The Author

If you want to contact the author you can write to:

                Letizia Di Nunno
                Viale D. Pietri, 22
                00122 ROMA - ITALY

or, better, send an e-mail message to

                [e-mail]

on the Internet. All your messages are welcome.


2.1 How to Install

a) Unpack the zipped file; you will find the following files in your
   directory:
       1) CLOUDS.SCR    (Plasma Clouds screen saver)
       2) README.TXT    (The file you are reading)
       3) INSTALL.EXE   (Installation program)

b) Now you can either manually install the screen saver (see 1.2) or use
   the installation program (see 1.3).



2.2 Manual Installation

Simply copy the file CLOUDS.SCR to your Windows directory.



2.3 Automatic Installation

Run Windows, or return to Windows if you are in a DOS shell.
Run the installation program INSTALL.EXE through the Program Manager's
FILE menu or through the File Manager. Click on the "Continue" button;
the program will automatically install the screen saver into your
Windows directory.
No changes will be done to your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files.





3.1 Screen Saver Setup

To enable the screen saver, execute the Control Panel application, usually
in the Main group. When Control Panel opens, double-click on the Desktop
icon. In the "Screen Saver" section, click on the arrow near the "Name"
field. In the list that appears, select "Plasma Clouds". In the
"Delay" field, enter the number of minutes of inactivity before the screen
saver is executed.
Now click on the "Setup" button, and the Plasma Clouds configuration window
will be displayed.

Setting the options in this screen saver is fairly easy to do and does
not require much help. Here is a brief description of each section
and option.

Registration - This section remainds you that this program is NOT free,
and that if you want to use it, you must register your copy. The registration
fee is very low, and this should encourage you registering. In this section
the "More Info" button opens a window in which is contained a more complete
description of the terms of use, and all the ways to contact the author.


Seconds on screen - enter in this field the number of seconds the clouds
should remain on the screen before a new image is generated. The program
doesn't do anything during this time, it is only for you to watch the image.
This period of time is more meaningful when the "Psychedelic colors" option
is enabled; it is not relevant when the "Moving clouds" option is enabled.

Fixed granularity value - this value is taken as the fixed value to establish
the granularity of the picture, when it is generated. The lowest value is 0;
the highest is 999, but in this case instead of clouds you see the frame
of a tissue, and you risk to be hypnotized if you set the Psychedelic option.
The value in this fleid is valid only when the "Random granularity" check
box is unchecked. For displays with less than 256 colors, the lowest value
is 1.

Random granularity - if you want the screen saver to change the granularity
at each picture, enable this option. If this option is enabled, the value in
the "Fixed granularity value" field is ignored. The values chosen vary from
0 to 100, with a higher weight on 1; this means that the most likely value
is 1, while the least is 100, and all the intermediate values have
intermediate probabilities.


Colors section
Use options above - these two radio buttons enable the options above each
of them. This means that if you click on the left button, you enable the
color options on the left, and viceversa.

Use random palettes - if you enable this option, when a new image is to be
generated, the program can create and use a new random palette, and if the
"Use predefined palettes" option is NOT set, a new random palette is created
for every new image.

Use predefined palettes - this screen saver contains 7 predefined palettes,
chosen with some criteria. If you enable this option, the predefined palettes
are included in the choice of a new palette, and if the "Use random palettes"
option is NOT set, the new palettes are always chosen from the predefined 7.

If BOTH options are set, the program can choose at each new picture between
a predefined and a random palette. If NONE of these options is set, the
program uses the fixed palette (see below).

Use fixed palette - this option can be set when you want all the images to be
generated with the same palette, chosing one among the predefined 7. Enter the
number of the palette in the "Predefined palette" field and enable the radio
button below.


Special effects - REGISTERED USERS ONLY section
If you are not a registered user of Plasma Clouds, these options are disabled,
and the "None" button is selected by default. When you register, these options
will be enabled.

None - The program will use none of the special effects available: moving
clouds and psychedelic colors. This button is selected by default and is
not changeable if you are not a registered user.

Moving clouds - with this option, when an image is on the screen, another is
calculated in the background, then the second is attached to the first and
gradually substitutes it, giving the sensation of moving clouds. Try using this
option with palette #3 (sky at spring).

Psychedelic colors (256 and more color displays only) - while the image is
on the screen, before it disappears, its colors rapidly spin, giving the
psychedelic effect. If you like this effect, increase the amount of time
the image remains on the screen. Be very careful using this option, especially
with high granularity values: you may be hypnotized! This option works much
faster with palette-based display devices.

Delay - this scrollbar allows you to set up the delay between two color
changes, in milliseconds.


Password section
It works just like all other screen savers: it allows you to set a password
to "lock" your computer while you are away and the screen saver is running.
The password is necessary to stop the screen saver, so don't forget it.



3.2 Changing Color Palettes

The Plasma Clouds screen saver contains 7 pre-defined palettes. When the
screen saver is executed or configured, all the configuration parameters are
written to the "control.ini" file, into your Windows directory. All the times
subsequent to the first, the configuration parameters are read from this file.
The palettes are treated as all other parameters, so they also are written
to the file.
Every palette is generated by mixing together from 2 to 8 out of 8 main colors,
and these main colors are what you can find on the configuration file.
If you want to change the palette, simply edit the file and change the colors
in the "Palette" entries in the [ScreenSaver.PlasmaClouds] section.
You can change, add and delete colors from a palette, but you cannot
insert new color names, or specify less than 2 or more than 8 colors for each
palette. Neither you can increase or decrease the number of palettes.
To restore the original palettes, delete all the "Palette" entries from the
configuration file, and then enter the Setup again and exit with "OK".



4.1 Disclaimer

THE PROGRAM AND ALL THE RELATED FILES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS".
THE AUTHOR DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE,
EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE PROGRAM OR ITS PERFORMANCE
OR QUALITY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN
NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES,
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS OR LOST
DATA, RESULTING FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE
PROGRAM.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT,
AND THAT BY USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

IF THESE TERMS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, THEN PLEASE
DELETE THE PROGRAM AND ALL RELATED FILES FROM YOUR DISKS
IMMEDIATELY.



4.2 Terms of Use

Plasma Clouds is distributed as a shareware program. It is NOT a public
domain program. However, you are encouraged to copy it for trial
purposes.  The program and all associated files can be freely copied and
shared to allow others to try it. You may upload this program and
all associated files to any bulletin board system (BBS) or on-line computer
service. The program and all its related files must be distributed in
unmodified form. You may not remove any files from the distribution archives
or diskettes. You may not add any files unless the added files are clearly
marked as being an addition to the original archives or diskettes.
If this program and its related files are included in a collection of
shareware and/or public domain programs, it must be clear to the purchaser of
the collection that no license to use this program is granted by the purchase
of the collection.
This program and all its related files may not be given away with commercial
products without an explicit authorization from the Author.
You agree not to:
a) modify, disassemble, reverse engineer or decompile the program,
b) use this program on more than one terminal of a network, on a multi-
user computer, on a time-sharing system, on a service bureau, on any
system on which the program could be used (other than for trial
purposes) by more than one person at a time.



4.3 Registration

If you try Plasma Clouds and decide to use it, you must register your copy.
If you do not register your copy, you are not authorized to use the
program beyond an initial evaluation period of thirty (30) days.

By registering, the Author grant you a permanent license to use this
copyrighted computer program, in the current version, on a single computer
at a time, subject to the terms and conditions of this license.

The registration fee for Plasma Clouds is US$5.00 (five). When you register,
you will receive your personal registration code and any information on future
upgrades to the program.
The registration code is strictly personal; it cannot be given away or sold.

To register Plasma Clouds, send the registration fee to:

                Letizia Di Nunno
                Viale D. Pietri, 22
                00122 ROMA - ITALY

Requests for "group" or "unlimited" licenses will be accepted and examinated.
Ask for more details.

REGISTER NOW.
If you register now, you will have all future upgrades to this version for
FREE, should even the registration fee grow.

It doesn't cost too much to support the shareware concept.



4.4 Suggestions and Bug Report

If you spot bugs or have comments or suggestions about the program,
please write to the he Author.
All your suggestions will be accepted and, if possible, included in the
subsequent release. In any case you will be noticed (e-mail only) on the
acceptance of your suggestion.



4.5 Next Releases

It all depends on you to decide how long it will take to me to produce a new
release. If you appreciate my hard work and efforts, please register. This
will help me to produce new releases faster and better.
In my thoughts there is a different management of the palette colors (not
only palettes made from 8 main colors); a palette editor in order to avoid
editing the "control.ini" file; a few more options, such as infinite time
on screen, no screen clearing between two images, inclusion of new colors
during the psychedelic effect; other kinds of cloud movements; a 3D
version (wow!) and more.