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In order to run 3D Video applications (with any speed) your computer must have a 3D video card with the ability to run hardware intensive calculations. The speed and memory in the video card will really impact how accurately your 3D scenes will render on-screen.
The video card usually can be programmed to operate in three (or more) modes: HAL, or pure hardware device mode, mixed mode, and software only mode. Mixed mode tries to take advantage of the best features from the hardware and software drivers.
This program uses Direct-X software, and there are diagnostic tools installed by Microsoft which will let you actually see and change your card settings.
Most computers with Direct X 9+ installed will have a Direct X settings button in the Control Panel off the Start menu:
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You usually want to allow Hardware Acceleration. Without Hardware Acceleration, the computer has to literally manage all the drawing instructions on its own, in the place of the video card, which may be far more intensive than some computers have the processor power to handle. This can be a major reason why a newer computer with the latest Direct-X drivers will run 3D applications at a crawl, or not at all.
Note: you will not notice any problems with traditional software applications either, because many word processors, spreadsheets and imaging programs run completely without direct x, and never use the 3D capabilities of your card at all!
The only reason you might need to disable Hardware Acceleration would be if you have an older software program which uses a very old version of Direct X, like 3, and cannot run properly without Hardware Acceleration disabled.
Moving in and out of Game Mode:
Some people have had problems with understanding the difference between
Game Mode and Screen Saver Mode. Basically, a Screen Saver runs after
a short while to simply provide a more entertaining visual. It usually
shuts down when you move the mouse, [alt][ tab] to a running program,
or if power management takes over. It is designed to exit quickly so you
can get back to whatever you were doing on the PC before.
By hitting Ctrl-A together, just once, you leave Screen Saver mode and the program can accept mouse messages just like a game! Hit [F1] to see all the keyboard commands on-screen for sounds and navigation. The Features Page covers all these commands.
Once in Game Mode, mouse messages are accepted to rotate around the character. If your character is moving forward (with the [Up Arrow] key) the mouse rotates your character and camera as you move ahead.
You will need to avoid the mouse and hit [Ctrl - A] only to toggle into Game Mode. Use [Esc] to exit the program altogether, or toggle [Ctrl - A] again to resume automatic Screen Saver mode from where you left off.
If you have not set up your image directories yet, the program will try to load images from wherever it can find your "MyPictures" directory. Otherwise it will load a few of my own travel photos taken from New Mexico. Sounds are not enabled by default, however, I have provided links to a few sites which offer excellent, and free, sound files online.
You can change and add your pictures from the Display Properties: Just right click your desktop, select Properties, then pick the Screen Saver tab. If Animated 3D Museum is selected as your screen svar, you will be able to click Settings and change your sounds and images.
Note: as you add files they are added to the end of the list. Use shift to select multiple files, and then just move them up or down. You can pick just about as many files as you want, several thousand, up to available memory. Really only four images are loaded at a time so all that gets loaded at one time is the list of filenames. If the list is really long, like if you run a stock photo agency with thousands of images, just pick directories not images. The limits are really only Windows interface issues, like how many items you can set into a scrollbar.
Direct
X Surfaces:
Occasionally, some programs that use Direct X
will not release their Direct X surface. This will cause the Screen Saver
(and any other program that use Direct X) to fail to run, but only when
the other program, which is using a Direct X surface, has not released
its surface in order to let ANY other Direct X programs run. Basically
this errant program will have the same negative effect on any games or
other 3D programs you may run. On shutdown our program releases all references
to Direct X and has shown no problems running simultaneously with notable
Direct X applications from major companies like Alias WaveFront Maya,
and Caligari trueSpace.
This program does NOT change your video settings in any way.
Many programs and games that use 3D will change your video settings to a lower resolution, and then return back to the original settings when finished. This is often necessary to support the intensive processing and memory requirements of the game. This program has only one character, and uses only four large textured images for the museum rooms. There should be no need to change your settings at all, and so this program usually has no adverse affect on any other programs that rely on Direct X.
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS: You will need DirectX 8.1 (or
later) and a multi-texture capable 3D video card to use this program.
The executable uses about 31 Meg. of Direct X Managed memory, so it should
run easily on most systems with over 64 Meg. of RAM (and nothing else
intensive running). On some computers with many services running, like
NT, 128 Mb RAM may be necessary, because it is quite hard for the computer
to swap data and process math intensive animation instructions at the
same time. Direct X-9 is available from Microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/directx
If any of the above is not installed, you should receive a detailed message outlining the missing feature. (Programmers Note) I designed the program and animated character on a machine many people still have: a four- year old 500 Mhz Tyan machine with an AGP-2 Bus speed Slot for an NVIDIA 5200 -128 Meg Video Card. The newer video card provides the only way for this older system to run today's 3D Hardware Processed Direct X games.
If you experience jitter, or shake while the program
is running, something is really hitting your (500Mhz) processor for time
slices. Faster computers should not experience any problems. This jitter
is sometimes a program designed to occasionally query the internet for
information, and is often spyware. If you enjoy my program more than the
spyware, I recommend un-installing it, or using a good virus prevention
program that will do that work for you, from McAfee or Symantec. If Direct
X-8+ is installed and you still have problems, it is possible that your
3D Video card from a few years ago is not supporting multiple textures.
Unfortunately, in order to run current games you will need a newer ($+-99)
card. All AGP slot video cards now on the market are relatively inexpensive,
support 3D, and can usually run this screensaver.
Some computers now come with cool flat screen panels, which are great for saving space, but generally they vary greatly in their ability to render 3D scenes without ghosting ar odd unnatural effects. If you plan to run games, or 3D applications, the flat screens may not always work. It pays to visit the hardware review sites first.
Anyway, if you have issues that cannot obviously be resolved by checking your Direct X settings, do not hesitate to email us at the support link below. Two or more year old video cards may have problems playing any of todays games. As a general rule, if todays games won't run on your PC, its highly unlikely this Screen Saver will be any different.
However, if you just bought your PC and nothing works,
it is most likely some simple configuration problem. Be aware of the fact
that some new video cards may not run on an older system. Installing a
PCI card into an older system which has a 2X AGP Video port will not work,
or work very poorly. Many older systems
were not designed to use video with PCI at all. If your motherboard supports
AGP, and your system is two or more years old,
take the PCI card back and exchange it for an AGP card. Most likely all
your problems will be solved.
Newer PCs with Intel Extreme Graphics may provide
the PCI interface for your primary video slot. This RECENT PCI alternative
may provide 8X the speed of older AGP cards.
Make sure to check if you have an extra power cord for the video card. Many new cards will actually need their own separate power and even their own cooler. I shouldn't have to but I need to mention that all electrical devices can be lethal when their "injection" occurs in the wrong place. Always turn the thing off before working on it and make sure you've grounded out all that static electricity from the rug before handling the green stuff !
Happy Gaming !
Bruce MacFarlane
Programmer
Wise Owl Games
3627 Overlook Dr NE
Saint Petersburg, FL 33703
727-214-8328