CeeBot-Teen – Windows Readme – English

CeeBot-Teen version 1.17 /e
---------------------------

CeeBot is a brand new concept whose aim is to lead you to
programming and have fun at the same time. The language brought
to you is very similar to those used by professional programmers
to develop their products. CeeBot introduces many modern
concepts found in today's most popular environments like C++, C#
or Java.
After teaching you the syntax of CeeBot, progressive exercises
will lead you to use important concepts such as variables, loops,
conditional branching, procedures, classes, objects, etc.

Ceebot-Teen is meant for kids from 12 to 15 years old.


EDU Version
-----------

This multiple user version is designed for classroom use. Once
installed, you don't need the CD to run the program. A switch
can prevent access to the solutions, so pupils aren't tempted
to "cheat" themselves through an exercise.
See the Game tab in the Options.
You can also lock access to the program's options by adding
-nosetup to the command line in the shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\CeeBot-Teen\ceebot-Teen.exe" -nosetup


PERSO Version
-------------

This is a single user version for private use. You have to
insert the CD to run the program. Solutions are always available.


Minimum requirements
--------------------

CeeBot requires an up-to-date and powerful computer. It is
particularly important to have a good 3D graphic adapter for
maximum performance.

- 300 MHz CPU
- 64 Mb RAM
- 3D graphic card with 16 Mb RAM
- 100 Mb free disk space
- Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98 or 95
- DirectX 8
  If necessary, CeeBot will install DirectX 8.

Recommended graphic cards :
- nVidia GeForce 2, 3 or 4
- Matrox G400, G450, G550 or Parhelia

3dfx Voodoo graphic adapters are not officially supported, but
they may work (no guarantee).

Some graphic chips in notebooks will not provide satisfactory
performance.


Exercises
---------

In this section of CeeBot-Teen you can learn how to program the
bots, even if you don't know anything about programming. The
exercises are gathered into chapters, and progressively introduce
the basic concepts of programming in a structured and object-
oriented language. As you finish each exercise, the next one is
brought up.


Free game
---------

Use this area to just have a good time programming or steering
the robots. You can even record the moves and store them in an
auto-program slot.


New player
----------

After installing CeeBot-Teen on a computer, several players can
use it. For each player, CeeBot will keep track of the completed
exercises, the programs written, etc.



Options
-------

Settings of the game, divided in 5 pages.


Options - Device
----------------

- Drivers
These are for the graphics. It's best to choose a HAL driver
(Hardware Abstraction Layer), and avoid "Emulation" or "T&L"
drivers.

- Resolution
The first and the second figure stand for the size of the image
on your screen.
The third figure influences the number of colors used:
16 bits will display 65,000 colors, whereas 32 bits will display
4 million colors. The higher you set these parameters, the more
detailed the scene will be on the screen. However, high parameters
need a lot more processor and graphic power, and the frame-rate
will be lower.
To find the best settings for your computer, we suggest you start
off with 640 x 480 x 16 and climb slowly higher. Most modern
graphic cards support at least 1024 x 768 x 16.
If the display seems to be a little jerky, try a lower quality. 

- Full screen
Normally CeeBot uses the whole screen, whatever resolution you
choose. If you deactivate this flag, CeeBot will be displayed
in a fixed size window of approximately 640 x 480 pixels.

- Apply changes
Hit this key to use the new settings.


Options - Graphics
-------------------

- Shadows
Normally, all objects (bots, buildings, raw material) project a
shadow on the ground. With some older graphic cards, a gray
square appears around the shadow. In this case you can
deactivate the shadows.

- Marks on the ground
Slopes show up better when the marks on the ground are displayed.
The ground can also change colors in places. 

- Dust
Dirt and dust give a more realistic, dirty aspect to the bots and
buildings.

- Sky
If you activate this option, the sky when your outside will be
beautifully cloudy and windy. If your frame-rate is too low,
deactivate this highly time-consuming option.

- Sun beams
Shows realistic sun beams in the sky.

- Planets and stars
On some planets, nearby planets move around in the sky, and
numerous stars appear.

- Fog
This option allows you to deactivate the fog near the ground.

- Dynamic lighting
Dynamic lighting appears if there's an explosion or close to
power stations.

- Particles (0% to 200%)
Particles are used to simulate dust, smoke, fire, explosions,
etc.

- Depth of field (50% to 200%)
This feature determines up to what distance the scenery is
displayed. This distance varies from planet to planet.
A high value (for example 200%) allows you to see very far,
but requires a powerful 3D graphic card.

- Details (0% to 200%)
Sets the visual quality of 3D objects according to their
distance.

- Number of decorative objects (0% to 100%)
Sets the number of purely ornamental objects like plants, trees,
crystals, etc.


Options - Game
--------------

- Access to the solutions
This is only available in the EDU version. If you switch this
option off, the solution found in each exercise will be hidden.

- Scrolling
When the camera is behind a bot, the screen scrolls if the mouse
gets close to the edge of the screen.

- Mouse inversion X
Inverts the scrolling direction when the mouse gets close to the
left or right edge of the screen.

- Mouse inversion Y
Inverts the scrolling direction when the mouse gets close to the
upper or lower edge of the screen in the program editor.

- Quake at explosions
Explosions or unskillful landings will shake the camera.
Deactivate this option if you'd rather keep the camera steady.

- Help balloons
The help balloons appear when the mouse stops on a button or an
object and display a small text that explains the item.

- Reflections on the buttons
The reflections appear when the mouse flies over a button.

- Particles in the interface
Sparks and steam clouds when the mouse moves over the interface.

- Mouse shadow
Displays a good-looking shadow behind the mouse arrow or finger.
When the mouse has a shadow, it is managed by CeeBot, when it
hasn't it is managed by Windows. When CeeBot is not executed in
full screen mode, the mouse can not have a shadow.

- Automatic indent
The automatic indent moves the text in the programming editor
to the right according to the number of braces { and } so it's
easier to read the program and spot the beginning and end of the
different blocks.

- Big indent
The big indent moves the text 4 spaces to the right at every
brace. Otherwise, the indent is 2 spaces.


Options - Controls
------------------

- Left, right, up, down arrow keys.
Move the camera left, right, backwards or forwards.

- Space bar
Changes the view point of the camera.

- + and - (Num pad)
Zooms in or out.

- F1
Displays the instructions for the current mission or exercise on
the SatCom.

- F2
Displays the general help about programming on the SatCom.

- F3
When editing a program, this key displays a help text about the
current instruction.

- F4, F5 et F6
Selects the game's speed. F4 sets the speed to normal (x1).
You can speed up the whole game by pressing F5 (x1.5) or F6 (x2).

- Esc
Interrupts the current mission, and displays a menu in which you
can choose to quit the mission, save it, load a saved game,
restart the mission, or set the options.


Options - Sound
---------------

- Sound effects
The current action generates a sound, i.e. motor, voice and shooting
sounds.

- 3D sound
Some sound cards allow the positioning of a sound in space with
4 loudspeakers, increasing the realism of the sound effects. If
your sound card does not support this possibility, the button is
gray.


Fine tuning
-----------

In order to allow you to find the best settings for your
computer, you can display the current frame-rate. Hit the keys
Ctrl+Break, type "showstat" and press Enter:

    <Ctrl+Break> showstat <Enter>

The frame-rate and some other parameters will then constantly
be displayed in the upper part of the screen, for example:

    32.46 fps T=11558 (640x480x16)

The first number is the frame-rate (fps = "frames per second"),
that is the number of images per second.
The second number indicates the number of triangles displayed in
the scene.
The 3 last numbers in the brackets are the resolution and the
number of bits per pixel.

All the options are saved in the file CeeBot.ini. You can edit
this file in any text editor like Windows' Notepad.


Troubleshooting
---------------

To solve some problems, you can use any text editor like Notepad
to bring changes to the settings stored in CeeBot.ini
Make sure you don't add any extra lines or spaces. Just try
changing existing values. We suggest you keep a copy of the original
CeeBot.ini before you start changing it.
CeeBot must not be running if you want to edit the file.

If the vegetation is displayed badly - or even not at all - maybe
you've set the number of decorative objects to 0 in the options.
To set it back to 100%, use
	[Setup]
	GadgetQuantity=1.00
If the greenery still isn't displayed, try
	[Engine]
	AlphaMode=0
or
	[Engine]
	AlphaMode=2

If there's a gray square beneath the shadows, try
	[Engine]
	WhiteSrcBlend=9
	WhiteDestBlend=6
or
	[Engine]
	WhiteSrcBlend=6
	WhiteDestBlend=3
If it still won't work, you must disable the shadows :
	[Engine]
	WhiteSrcBlend=0
	WhiteDestBlend=0
	[Setup]
	GroundShadow=0

If an object is between the currently selected item and the camera,
it will become transparent. if it is not transparent enough, try
	[Engine]
	StateColor=0
or
	[Engine]
	StateColor=1


Development team
----------------

- Daniel Roux
- Denis Dumoulin
- Otto Kölbl
- Michael Walz
- Didier Gertsch

Beta tester core team
---------------------

- Adrien Roux
- Didier Raboud
- Nicolas Beuchat
- Joël Roux
- Michael Jubin
- Daniel Sauthier
- Nicolas Stubi
- Patrick Thévoz

Developer
---------

EPSITEC SA
Mouette 5
CH-1092 Belmont

[email protected]
www.epsitec.com

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