My Teacher Is an Alien Read Me File This READ ME file contains important information on the following topics: 1. About My Teacher Is an Alien: - A 100% compatible Windows 95 system. - This product requires DirectX 5.0. - Backup your saved games. - Setting the screen color to 256 colors. 2. My Teacher Is an Alien quick start: - Installing My Teacher Is an Alien. - Playing My Teacher Is an Alien. - Disable autoplay. 3. Problems installing My Teacher Is an Alien: - Examining your hard drive. - Temporarily disabling other applications. - Checking your system hardware. 4. Problems Running My Teacher Is an Alien: - System freeze. - General protection faults. - Out-of-memory errors. - Special software that is not supported. - Windows 95 taskbar overlapping the program screen. - Conflicts with screen savers. - Minimizing Microsoft Office Manager. 5. CD-ROM Issues: - Errors reading from the CD-ROM drive. 6. Video Display Issues: - Basic display requirements. - Problems when not running in 256 color mode. 7. Audio Issues: - Conflicts with other applications. - Audio driver problems. - IBM Aptiva Mwave sound card. - Sounds play, but not very well. - Sound does not play at all. 8. Manufacturer's contact information for video display cards. 9. Manufacturer's contact information for audio cards. **************************************************************** 1. About My Teacher Is an Alien: **************************************************************** - A 100% compatible Windows 95 system. My Teacher Is an Alien is designed to run on a 100% compatible Windows 95 system with DirectX 5.0 (both hardware and software). It is NOT designed to run on any software emulating Windows 95 environment. - This product requires DirectX 5.0. During the installation, the setup program will install DirectX 5.0 on your system. If there is any problem during game play, you may reinstall DirectX 5.0 again by running DXSETUP.EXE in :\REDIST\DIRECTX folder. For latest DirectX update and information, please visit Microsoft DirectX web site: http://www.microsoft.com/directx/default.asp - Backup your saved games. When you uninstall My Teacher Is an Alien, the \teacher\data\savegame folder will be removed with other files. If you want to play your saved games again in the future, you need to backup or move the savegame folder to other locations before uninstalling the game. - Setting the screen color to 256 colors. My Teacher Is an Alien is optimized for 256 colors. It is recommended to set your screen color to 256 colors. To set the screen color: i) Click Windows 95 START button. ii) Select CONTROL PANEL from SETTINGS. iii) Double click DISPLAY icon. iv) Select SETTINGS tab. v) Click the COLOR PALETTE pull down button to select 256 colors. vi) Click OK button to save the new settings. **************************************************************** 2. My Teacher Is an Alien quick start: **************************************************************** - Installing My Teacher Is an Alien. My Teacher Is an Alien supports the Windows 95 autoplay feature. If autoplay is enabled on your computer, the My Teacher Is an Alien installer will automatically launch. If autoplay is not enabled, follow these instructions to install the program: (i) Insert the My Teacher Is an Alien disc into your CD-ROM drive. (ii) Click Start, then select Run from the menu. (iii) Type your CD-ROM drive letter and type :\setup. For example, type d:\setup if your CD-ROM drive letter is D. (iv) Click OK and follow the on-screen instructions for installation. - Playing My Teacher Is an Alien. (i) Click Start, select Programs, then select My Teacher Is an Alien from the menus. (ii) Highlight and click the icon for My Teacher Is an Alien. - Disable autoplay. My Teacher Is an Alien supports Windows 95 autoplay. To disable autoplay press the shift key and hold it down while inserting the My Teacher Is an Alien CD-ROM. **************************************************************** 3. Problems installing My Teacher Is an Alien: **************************************************************** If you encounter any error during installation, please try the following: - Examine your hard drive. i) From System Tools group, Click the Scandisk icon to start. ii) Follow instructions to examine your hard drive. - Temporarily disabling other applications. If you have any TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) applications (e.g. virus shield) or Windows screen saver running in the background, please temporarily disable it. You can enable it again after the installation. If you have other Windows applications running in the background, please close the ones you are not using. - Checking your system hardware. Please check your system hardware and make sure your machine is functioning properly. Any IRQ or DMA device conflict may create system instability, which will prevent software from functioning normally. **************************************************************** 4. Problems Running My Teacher Is an Alien: **************************************************************** - System freeze. There are many causes for system freeze. However, if system freeze occurred during game play, find out if your system hardware is compatible with DirectX 5.0. - General protection faults. General protection faults may occur when the system is experiencing a conflict with particular software or hardware. If this is happening to you, try to close other Windows applications while running My Teacher Is an Alien. - Out-of-memory errors. If you encounter out-of-memory errors, there is probably not enough memory available to run the program. Consider doing the following to improve memory usage. i) Run a virus scanner program to determine if your system is infected by computer viruses. Most computer viruses consume memory space leaving insufficient memory for other applications. ii) Close all unnecessary applications. iii) Check the virtual memory setting. Try to use the Windows recommended virtual memory size; it may help to solve the out-of-memory problem. Refer to Windows Help for details. iv) Adjust the size of any active disk caches to a minimum. - Special software that is not supported. This program does not support special software that assigns custom functions to simulate the left, right, or center mouse button. These functions should not be used while running the program. - Windows 95 taskbar overlapping the program screen. If you find that the Windows 95 taskbar is overlapping the program screen, you can hide the taskbar by doing the following: i) Click the Start button. ii) Choose Settings. iii) Click Taskbar icon. iv) Check the Auto Hide box. v) Click the OK button. To see the taskbar again, move the mouse cursor to the edge of your screen where your taskbar is located. - Conflicts with screen savers. We recommend that you temporarily disable screen savers of any kind while running this program. Some screen savers may have conflicts with the program and cause general protection faults. - Minimizing Microsoft Office Manager. If you have Microsoft Office installed (either the standard or the professional version), you should minimize the Microsoft Office Manager (MOM) toolbar while running this program. The presence of the toolbar can cause colors to be distorted. **************************************************************** 5. CD-ROM Issues: **************************************************************** - Errors reading from the CD-ROM drive. If your system has errors reading from the CD-ROM drive, please do the following checks: i) make sure the disc surface is clean. ii) Examine the surface of the disc for any visible scratches. iii) check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive or contact the company that supplied the drive in order to find out if your CD-ROM drive is functioning properly. **************************************************************** 6. Video Display Issues: **************************************************************** - Basic display requirement. This program requires a video card that supports at least 640 x 480 resolution with 256 colors in Windows 95. - Problems when not running in 256 color mode. My Teacher Is an Alien is optimized for 256 colors. It is recommended to set your screen color to 256 colors. If running this program in 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit color mode, there may be problems with movie playback and graphics, such as skipped frames and palette flashes. To set the screen color: i) Click Windows 95 START button. ii) Select CONTROL PANEL from SETTINGS. iii) Double click DISPLAY icon. iv) Select SETTINGS tab. v) Click the COLOR PALETTE pull down button to select 256 colors. vi) Click OK button to save the new settings. If there is any problem in 256 color mode, consider the following solutions: i) Check that your screen resolution is set at 640 x 480 with 256 colors. Please consult Windows Help on how to change your display resolutions. ii) Update the video card driver. Make sure you are using the most recent video driver release that is compatible with Windows 95 DirectX 5.0 from your video card manufacturer; earlier releases of video drivers may not be optimized for best display performance. Please consult your video card user's manual on how to obtain the latest driver. Most of the video card manufacturers provide BBS, WWW and FTP sites for downloading updated drivers. **************************************************************** 7. Audio Issues: **************************************************************** Please note that this program requires a DirectX 5.0 compatible 16-bit sound card to be installed. - Conflicts with other applications. Audio problems can have many causes. Other applications that play sounds may interrupt sounds in this program. Most sound cards cannot play sounds from two different applications simultaneously. In some cases, playing sounds from two different applications simultaneously can result in a system crash or freeze. However, a few applications that play sounds, such as some screen savers and desktop toys may remove audio capability from all other Windows applications; if this is the case, you may see this program start up without any sound. If you suspect you have such a situation, quit the program and turn off these applications before launching this program. - Audio driver problems. If you experience problems with audio, you may need to update your sound card driver. It is always a good idea to use the most recent DirectX 5.0 compatible driver. Contact the manufacturer of your sound card to find out how to obtain a new driver. - IBM Aptiva Mwave sound card. Earlier releases of Mwave drivers may not be compatible with DirectX 5.0, please check IBM web site for up to date driver release: http://www3.pc.ibm.com/techinfo/6b7e.html - Sounds play, but not very well. Sounds that are distorted or "fuzzy" have several possible causes. The most likely one is simply that your speakers are not of high quality. It is also possible that the software settings on your sound card are causing distortion. For example, if the sound card volume or "WAVE file output" is set to near its maximum, it will produce amplification distortion, just as it would on a stereo system. To find out how to change your sound card settings, check the documentation that came with your sound card. - Sound does not play at all. If you do not hear any sounds, make sure that the volume for your speakers is set to an audible level. If the volume is set to an audible level, you can perform a simple test by using the Windows Media Player to play a .WAV file. If you still hear no sounds at all, something may be wrong with your sound card setup. Check your sound card IRQ and DMA settings, make sure those settings are not in conflict with other hardware devices. Also, check to see that the driver is installed correctly and, if necessary, reinstall it. Refer to the documentation that came with your sound card for more information on installing audio drivers. ***************************************************************** 8. Manufacturer's Contact Information for Video Display Cards: ***************************************************************** ATI Technologies Tech Support: 905-882-2626 BBS: 905-764-9404 Web: www.atitech.com Boca Tech Support: 407-241-8088 BBS: 407-241-1601 Cardinal Tech Support: 717-293-3124 BBS: 717-293-3074 Celerite Graphics, Inc. Tech Support: 510-226-6390 BBS: 510-226-7851 Cirrus Logic Tech Support: 408-435-8808 BBS: 510-440-9080 Web: www.cirrus.com Diamond Multimedia Tech Support: 408-325-7100 BBS: 408-325-7175 Web: www.diamondmm.com Genoa Tech Support: 408-432-8324 BBS: 408-943-1231 Hercules Technology Tech Support: 510-623-6050 BBS: 510-623-7034 510-623-7449 Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. Tech Support: 800-462-8769 BBS: 514-685-6008 Number Nine Computer Corp. Tech Support: 617-674-0009 BBS: 617-862-7502 Oak Technology Tech Support: 408-737-0888 BBS: 408-524-9014 web: www.oaktech.com Orchid Tech Support: 510-683-0323 BBS: 510-683-0327 web: www.orchid.com Paradise Tech Support: 800-832-4778 BBS: 415-968-1834 Sigma Designs Tech Support: 510-770-0100 BBS: 510-770-0111 STB Tech Support: 214-234-8750 BBS: 214-437-9615 Web: www.stb.com Swan Technologies, Inc. Tech Support: 800-468-7926 BBS: 814-237-6143 Trident BBS: 415-691-1016 Web: www.tridentmicro.com ***************************************************************** 9. Manufacturer's contact information for audio cards: ***************************************************************** Creative Labs (Sound Blaster) Technical Support 1523 Cimarron Plaza, Stillwater, OK 74075. USA. Voice: (405) 742-6622. FAX: (405) 742-6633. BBS: (405) 742-6660. Web: www.creaf.com Turtle Beach Technical Support Voice: 914-966-2150 Web: www.tbeach.com ESS No Consumer Support Line ESS does not manufacture cards, only distributes OEM chips. Users with an audio card using an ESS chip should contact the manufacturer of their card. Web: www.esstech.com Crystal Semiconductor Web: www.crystal.com Roland Corporation US 7200 Dominion Circle Los Angeles, CA 90040-3696 USA. (213) 685-5141. Adlib Gold Tech Support: (418) 529-6252 IBM Customer Support US Customer Support: (800) 772-2227 Canada Customer Support: (800) 465-6666 Web: www.ibm.com IBM MWAVE sound card driver download http://www3.pc.ibm.com/techinfo/6b7e.html The Microsoft Corporation (Windows Sound System) Microsoft FastTips, (800) 936-4200 CompuServe, go Microsoft, or go mask (Microsoft Knowledge Base). Microsoft Download Service: (206) 936-6735 8N1 (905) 507-3022 (Canada) Web: www.microsoft.com FTP: ftp.microsoft.com Technical Voice Support: (206) 635-7040 (905) 568-3503 (Canada) Disney Sound Source Disney Software Attn.: Customer Service 500 South Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 91521-6385. Voice: (818) 841-3326 BBS: (818) 567-4027 8N1 Media Vision (Pro Audio Studio 16, Win Sound System, Jazz) Customer Support: Voice: (800) 638-2807 (510) 770-9905 BBS: (510) 770-0968 (2400 Baud, 8N1) (510) 770-0527 (9600+ Baud, 8N1) Web: www.mediavis.com Logitech (SoundMan Wave) Product Support: Voice: (510) 795-8100 BBS: (510) 795-0408 FaxBack: (800) 245-0000. Packard Bell (Sound 144) Customer Service: Voice: Hardware (800) 733-4411 Software (801) 579-0161 (800) 263-0099 (Canada) Fax: (801) 579-0092 (905) 564-1142 (Canada) Auto Phone: (800) 733-4411 BBS: (801) 250-1600 8N1 (905) 542-7359 8N1 (Canada) Mediatrix Peripherals, Inc. (AudioTrix Pro) Voice: (819) 829-TRIX (800) 820-TRIX Fax: (819) 829-5100 BBS: (819) 829-5101 (c) Copyright 1997 Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Brooklyn Multimedia is a trademark of Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. My Teacher Is an Alien (c) 1996 General Licensing Company, Inc.