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 	 	         THE STARY'S SCREEN SAVERS    	   	  
 	 	       	Version 1.0	       	   	  
 	 	            Documentation File        	   	  
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		  Copyright (C) 1997 Wojciech Dzierzanowski
			     All rights reserved.



			      Table of contents

		    1. .......................Introduction
		    2. ................System requirements
		    3. .......................Installation
		    4. ..........................File list
		    5. ............................History
		    6. ........A more detailed description
		    7. ........................Compression
		    8. .......................Legal issues
		    9. ...................Acknowledgements
		   10. ..Questions? Comments? Suggestions?




Ŀ
 1. INTRODUCTION 
ͼ


	The Stary's Screen Savers are FIVE screen saving programs. They're
especially fit for running under the DOS Navigator, but work as regular
MS-DOS executables as well. The package is completely free -- you are allowed
to use and enjoy it at no cost. You may distribute it, share it with your
friends, but you may not sell it. By my special permission, you may even
incorporate any or all of the screen savers into a commercial application.




Ŀ
 2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 
ͼ

	... are practically inconsiderable. Everyone should have no problems
using my screen savers nowadays. They require:

      any 386SX or better PC (486DX or better is recommended)
      conventional memory (which I assume is not less then 512KB)
      a VGA compatible graphics card
      at least 400KB free disk space
      MS DOS 5.0 (or higher version), MS Windows 3.1(1) or
       MS Windows 95 operating system.

NOTE: In order to fully explore my software's potential your system should
      be equipped with math coprocessor (every 486DX or better has it).
      You might also want to consider downloading a shareware version of the
      DOS Navigator.



Ŀ
 3. INSTALLATION 
ͼ

	Since you're apparently reading the `README.TXT' file, I assume
that you've unzipped the ZIP file in a directory on your hard drive.
Installation routine is dependent upon whether you have the DOS Navigator
shell program installed in your system.

    I. If you do:
	  1) locate the directory on your disk in which the DOS Navigator
	     resides; now find the `SSAVERS' subdirectory -- this is where
	     the DOS Navigator looks for screen saving programs
	  2) move all the extracted files to that subdirectory
	  3) in the DOS Navigator, go to the `Options' menu
	  4) from the menu, choose `Configuration', then `Screen savers...'.
	  5) In the `Available savers' box, you'll see the names of my screen
	     savers: `BULGE.SS', `DOTTY.SS', `FLAMES.SS', `FURNACE.SS',
	     `STRFIELD.SS'. For each screen saver you should highlight its
	     name and click the `<--- Add' button.
	  *  And so you've installed The Stary's Screen Savers to work
	     under the DOS Navigator. Congratulations! The DOS Navigator
	     will choose one screen saver at random when it knows it's time.


   II. If you do NOT have the DOS Navigator, or you don't want to use my
       screen savers under the DN, you should:
	  1) chosse a directory you wish to keep the screen savers in
	  2) move all the extracted files to that directory
	  3) type `ss_2_exe'
	     (this will cause `*.SS' files change into `*.EXE' files;
	      if you want to reverse it, type `exe_2_ss')
	  *  Voila! Now you can type `bulge', `dotty', `flames', `furnace' or
	     `strfield' and start saving your screen and enjoying yourself!



Ŀ
 4. FILE LIST 
ͼ

	The package should contain all of the following 15 files:

BULGE.SS	- the "Bulge" screen saver
DOTTY.SS	- the "Dotty" screen saver
FLAMES.SS	- the "Flames" screen saver
FURNACE.SS	- the "Furnace" screen saver
STRFIELD.SS	- the "Starfield" screen saver

EXE_2_SS.BAT	- conversion batch files
SS_2_EXE.BAT

BULGE_WP.000
BULGE_WP.001
BULGE_WP.002	- data files
BULGE_WP.003
TRIG.DAT

CWSDPR0.EXE	- the DPMI server

FILE_ID.DIZ	-
README.TXT	- hmmm...




Ŀ
 5. HISTORY 
ͼ

NOTE: This paragraph outlines the history of my screen savers. Just skip
      it if you're not interested.

	When it dawned on me that to write screen savers is an interesting,
challenging and beneficial thing to do, it was around the beginning of this
year. Interesting because I've never written one. Challenging because I had
lots to learn in the field of graphics oriented programming. Beneficial
because everyone could do with a screen saver. And so I buckled down to it,
really, but school was giving me a hard time, so I was proceeding slowly. I
found it necessary to concoct my own graphics library. Of course, I benefited
from the numerous tutorials and source codes available in the Internet.
(Everyone whose work helped me in any way is mentioned in the
`Acknowledgments' chapter.) When I finally thought I was done (in April
probably), it turned out that I wasn't. I decided to port the stuff I had
from Borland C++ 3.11 to DJGPP. Soon my decision was corroborated as wise --
the screen savers ran actually faster! Then I made some enhancements and in a
couple of months could breathe out in relief. I was ready to publish my
computer programs for the first time! This was the middle of July. The
happless July of 1997. As much as one tenth of the area of Poland went under
water, including vital parts of Wroclaw, my hometown. So the release of my
screen savers was for the last time delayed.

NOTE: The boring paragraph just ended. The rest is riveting.




Ŀ
 6. A MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
ͼ


6.1. Bulge 

	The idea came from... the Cartoon Network. My younger brother used to
be a cartoon junkie, so, inevitably, I too was exposed to regular Cartoon
Network broadcasting. Once I noticed one of the nifty animations they have
between cartoons, during a commercial break. It was a chessboard-like surface
warped by a perfect bulge.

NOTE: ***  YOU can change the appearance of this screen saver. I'll explain.
      ***  At start-up, the program `BULGE.SS' (or `BULGE.EXE') performs a
      ***  search in the directory it is being run from for files named
      ***  `BULGE_WP.*', where * is any extension, and randomly picks one.
      ***  These files are image files that serve for the wallpaper in the
      ***  screen saver. Included are four different wallpaper files. YOU can
      ***  easily add your own wallpapers! Here's how to do it:

   i. The file you want to use as wallpaper MUST be a 256-color regular
      PCX image file.
  ii. The maximum size for the image to fit in the screen is 320x240 pixels.
      Smaller files are tiled on the entire screen.
 iii. Once your image file is ready, move it into the dircetory you keep
      the screen savers in and rename the file to `BULGE_WP.*', where * is
      whatever extension you fancy.
  iv. Your image file is now added to the list of wallpapers to chose from.


6.2. Dotty 

	I like to call it: noble simplicity. What can I say. These colored
dots just give a very realistic impression of the depth in the ideal sphere.
You'll enjoy looking at it with the lights out.


6.3. Flames 

	"My monitor is in flames!", I shouted. My mother gave it a glance.
She was alarmed. Though it's hard to believe it, she nearly fell for the
prank.
	It warms me up when I'm cold. It IS hot. VERY hot.


6.4. Furnace 

	To be honest, I experimented a little on this one. It is the least
planned screen saver of all. I wanted to do a real-time plasma and I wanted
to do texture mapping. These two things somehow came together. Then I gave it
this catching camera angle and a somewhat mysterious name. Looks great,
though.


6.5. Starfield 

	That's enough, I thought. Must every starfield flight simulation look
exactly the same, especially in the era of such breathtaking simulators as
`X-Wing', `TIE-Fighter', and the brand-new `X-Wing vs. TIE-Figher'? So I
added these wild turns and think now it's much more interesting.




Ŀ
 7. COMPRESSION 
ͼ

	If you are short on disk space, you may want to compress the
executables, which should make them almost half as big as they are.
***DO NOT USE PKLITE for this purpose!!!***  The screen savers were compiled
with DJGPP, a 32-bit compiler, and PKLITE cannot handle them properly. Use
DJP instead, a fast free executable file compressor for files produced by
DJGPP, written by Laszlo Molnar (ml1050@hotmail.com). Here's where you can
get it: ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2misc/mlp105b.zip




Ŀ
 8. LEGAL ISSUES 
ͼ

	I can't shake the feeling that all this legal stuff sounds almost the
same in every distribution like mine. Anyway, here it is:


  Copyright (C) 1997 Wojciech Dzierzanowski

  This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
  warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages
  arising from the use of this software.

  Anyone is allowed to use the software for free. You may also redistribute
  the software, as long as you do not modify the package and no money is
  charged for it. Permission is granted to anyone to incorporate the software
  or a part of it into other free applications, provided due credit is given
  to the author (I'd like to know about it, too -- (e-)mail me). Everyone who
  wants to include the software in a commercial product is obliged to contact
  the author and ask for his special permission first.

  All trademarks appearing in any of the files in this distribution are of
  their respective companies.


  Wojciech Dzierzanowski
  _stary_@geocities.com




Ŀ
 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
ͼ

	In this chapter I'd like to give credit and express my gratitude to
everyone whom I feel I owe (as far as the screen savers are concerned :-).

   All the GNU people --
      -- for developing this remarkable FREE C/C++ compiler, the MS-DOS port
      of which was used to compile this software.

   DJ Delorie <dj@delorie.com> and the whole "staff" behind DJGPP --
      -- for porting the GNU compiler into the MS-DOS environment, i.e. for
      all the work they put to create and maintain the marvelous DJGPP (a
      compiler which produces 32-bit protected mode code).
      For further information about DJGPP, go to Delorie's website:
	   http://www.delorie.com/djgpp

   Charles W. Sandmann <sandmann@clio.rice.edu> --
      -- for his DPMI server CWSDPMI (and CWSDPR0).
      Here's where you can get the source code and binary updates of CWSDPMI:
	   ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2misc/csdpmi*s.zip
	   ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2misc/csdpmi*b.zip

   Tha authors of NASM, the Netwide Assembler, which accepts a syntax nearly
    100% compatible with the Intel syntax --
      -- your FREE software spared me a lot of time I would have to spend on
      getting used to the AT&T syntax!
      NASM is available at the following location:
	   ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/nasm*.zip

   All the wise people who post to the comp.os.msdos.djgpp news group,
    including Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il>, the maintainer of the
    DJGPP FAQ --
      -- for enlightenment.

   <avly@castle.net> --
      -- for his documents on assembly and graphics programming in DJGPP.

   Abe Raham <dat94avi@bilbo.mdh.se> and Denthor of Asphyxia --
      -- I learnt the basics of low-level graphics programming from your
      tutorials.

   Kaos (aka Bruno Carlos) of Black Magic --
      -- I learnt the basics of Mode-X from your routines and based some of
      my library routines on your work.

   Martynas Kunigelis --
      -- for his superb in its simplicity, DJGPP-specific keyboard handler,
      which, after minor modifications, had become a part of my library.

   The people responsible for the worldwide Simtel.Net services --
     -- as they themselves put it, "Simtel.Net is an excellent way for
     authors to distribute their programs on the Internet".




Ŀ
 10. QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS? 
ͼ

	Of course, I accept all of these. And more -- donations are welcome,
too. They may have a considerable impact on my efficiency (you know, hardware
limitations are nothing new to me). But hey, I'll be just as happy if you
send me a postcard or e-mail me.

	I'm convinced that an earnest programmer should have a decent logo.
I'm still working on mine. Two wallpapers in the archive feature those big
`S' letters -- these are the two designs I like most, but cannot quite decide
on either one to stick to. Please, tell me what you think of it!



Regards,

Stary, aka Wojciech Dzierzanowski

E-mail: _stary_@geocities.com
S-mail: ul. Horbaczewskiego 19/15
	54-130 Wroclaw
	POLAND
WWW:    http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/1850