The Mystery of Veggie Island PC Readme File August 14, 2002 Table of Contents ------------------------------------------- 1. Minimum System Requirements 2. Installation 3. Uninstall Instructions 4. Game Basics 5. Parental Controls 6. Troubleshooting 7. Customer Support 8. End User License And Warranty Agreement 1. Minimum System Requirements: ------------------------------------------- OS: Win 95* / 98 / Me and XP CPU: PII 300 MHz processor RAM: 64 MB Video RAM: 4 MB CD ROM: 8x Hard disk: 60 MB for installation Sound Card: Windows 95/98/Me/XP & DirectX compatible Video Card DirectX compatible capable of 640x480x16, with 2MB vRAM Direct X 8.0a * 2. Installation: ------------------------------------------- You must install the game onto your computer in order to play. 1. Insert the CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. Give your computer a few moments to process the disc. If, after a few moments, an installation screen does not automatically appear on your screen, double-click the My Computer icon on your computer desktop. Double-click your CD-ROM drive icon (usually D:). Then double-click the autorun.exe icon. The installation screen should now appear. 2. Click the Install button. 3. Your computer will guide you through the rest of the installation process. Note that in order to play the game you must have DirectX 8.0 installed on your computer. At the end of the installation process, a dialog box will pop up asking you if you want to install DirectX. If you click No, DirectX won't be installed on your computer and you won't have access to some parts of the game. 4. Once installation is complete, you will be asked to restart your computer. 5. After your computer has been restarted, you should see a Mystery of Veggie Island icon on your desktop. Double-click this icon to begin the game. 3. Uninstall Instructions: ------------------------------------------- 1. From the Start menu, select: Programs/BigIdea/The Mystery of Veggie Island/Uninstall The Mystery of Veggie Island The game files will be removed from your hard drive. NOTE: Once you've uninstalled the game, your saved game sessions will be lost. 4. Game Basics: ------------------------------------------- First, Sign Up as an Official Cub Sprout! When the sign-in screen appears, use the keyboard to enter your name. Then click the wooden arrow to begin a new game. Returning players can continue a game by clicking their name on the "Sprout Members" list. To delete a saved game, first click on a listed name and then click the "Remove This Player" eraser. Getting Around Navigating Veggie Island is simple! When the cursor hand turns into a white direction arrow, click to send Junior in that direction. If you enter an activity, you must either complete that activity or click the red exit arrow to return to the adventure. Pop-up Tools Your tools include the knapsack (and handbook), the maps and the tree menu. Move the hand cursor all the way to the bottom of the screen to access them. Knapsack The knapsack is where you keep some items you find that you might need later on. Access your pop-up tools and click on the knapsack icon to open it. To close, simply click anywhere on screen outside the knapsack. Cub Sprout Handbook The Cub Sprout Handbook holds a lot of useful information, such as the Cub Sprout Pledge and the story of the Sprouts' founder! It also shows which merit badges you've earned (see "Merit Badges" on page 4), and lets you print a special certificate once you've earned all three! Also the printable Scrapbook pages fill in as you progress through the adventure, reminding you of where you've been and what you've done. To access the Handbook, open the knapsack and click on the Handbook picture. Island Map The map of Veggie Island will help you get your bearings. To open it, bring up the pop-up tools and click on the map icon. To close, click on the red back arrow. Treasure Map Some time during the adventure, you'll start finding pieces of a treasure map. Once you begin collecting these, you can see how much of the map you've found by opening the island map and clicking on the rolled up map on the right. This will open the treasure map. To go back to the island map, simply click the screen. Tree Menu Click on the tree in your pop-up tools to access the tree menu. From there you can choose to quit the game, change players, or access the settings menu. Hidden Animations Bonus "mini animations" can be found all over the island! You'll know you've discovered one when the cursor hand highlights in yellow. When that happens, click to play the animation. (And then click again, because you might see something different!) Game Settings From the settings menu, you can adjust the volume of the music and voices, access the parental controls, and check out the registration and other Big Idea Web links. Merit Badges On Veggie Island, you'll play various activities to earn three different badges: Aiming, Climbing and Fire. The Aiming Badge shows a Sprout has learned the skills necessary to hit a target. The Climbing Badge is awarded for showing the ability to safely climb to high places. The Fire Badge demonstrates a Scout's ability to safely strike a flame. (This skill can come be handy in dark places.) You must earn all three badges on Veggie Island, because only experienced Sprouts will be able to solve the mystery! 5. Parental Controls: ------------------------------------------- When playing a fun game like The Mystery of Veggie Island, it's easy to lose track of time! So we invented the "Virtual Egg Timer." If you prefer to regulate the time your child spends playing, this feature might come in handy. Where do I find the Parental Controls? They are located in the Game Settings area, accessible through the sign-in screen or the tree menu. How do I set up the timer? To use the timer for the first time, visit the Parental Controls page and click any button on the timer. You will then be prompted for a password. Use any password that you prefer, but be sure to write it down! You'll need to enter the password a second time for confirmation. Don't lose your password, because you'll need it every time you want to use the timer controls. Once you've entered and confirmed it, use the egg timer's arrow keys to set the desired length of your child's play session. How does the timer work? Once the timer is set to "on," it will automatically activate whenever the game is played. The timer starts running when your child clicks the arrow on the sign-in screen to start playing. When time has expired, the game will automatically save and a "time's up" notice will appear on the screen. Can I add a few extra minutes of play time for my child after the timer has expired? When the "time's up" notice appears, you are able to extend the child's session and add extra play minutes, if you desire. (Of course, you'll need that password!) What if time runs out in the middle of an activity or puzzle? The timer will not stop play in the middle of an activity. It will wait until the activity has been completed or exited to give the "times up" notice. Can the allotted time be divided into more than one session? Yes. If your child plays less than the set time, he or she may return later that day to play the remaining time. What if I have more than one child who plays? The timer will track each player's time individually, so both "Timmy" and "Tammy" will get their allotted time! Once the timer closes the game, when can it be restarted? After time runs out, the child cannot play under the same player name until the next day. (This can be overridden via the password, of course.) How do I disable the timer? Visit the Parental Controls page and click "off" (password required). What if I lose my password? Should this happen, you will need to delete the password file from your computer. The password file can be found in the installation directory of the game (usually C:\Program Files\BigIdea\Mystery of Veggie Island). The file is called PControls.dat. Delete this file. The next time you start the game navigate back to the Parental Controls Screen and you'll be able to enter a new password. 6. Troubleshooting: ------------------------------------------- If you are running Windows 95, and you have trouble installing DirectX, please run D:\DIRECTX\DCOM95.EXE (where D: is the CDROM drive that contains this CD). If the game won't run properly, here are some suggestions: * Make sure there are no scratches or fingerprints on the bottom of the disc. (The bottom is the side without printing on it.) * Close any other applications that are running on your computer. * Check to be sure you have the latest available driver versions for your sound and video cards. * Try installing the game on a friend's computer to determine whether the disc itself is faulty. * If these suggestions don't help, contact our support team by one of the methods listed below. 7. Customer Support: ------------------------------------------- For updates and answers to technical questions... visit: www.valusoft.com e-mail: support@valusoft.com write: ValuSoft Inc. 711 South Pine Street Waconia, MN 55387 8. End User License And Warranty Agreement ------------------------------------------- YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING END USER LICENSE AND WARRANTY AGREEMENT BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM. 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