R O C K E T T ' S N E W S C H O O L (TM) version 1.00 8/27/97 --------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for purchasing Rockett's New School. This ReadMe file contains the latest information, program installation instructions, and troubleshooting tips for Rockett's New School. You can print this file by choosing the Print command from the File menu. SPECIAL TIP -> You can see a cool preview of Rockett's upcoming adventures, right on this CD! Here's how: For Windows 95, in the Start menu, select Programs, select Purple Moon, and select Rockett's New School. Then click on the Next- Rockett's Tricky Decision icon to start the preview. For Windows 3.1, in the Program Manager, double-click on the Purple Moon program group, and double-click on the Rockett's New School group to open it. Then double-click on the Next- Rockett's Tricky Decision icon to start the preview. For Macintosh, from your desktop, double-click on the Purple Moon f folder, and double-click on the Rockett's New School folder to open it. Then double-click on the Next- Rockett's Tricky Decision icon to start the preview. --------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --------------------------------------------------------- o Latest Information & Tips o Windows Information o Getting Started - Windows o Macintosh Information o Getting Started - Macintosh o Your Adventure Begins Here o Customer Support o Warranty o End USer Agreement --------------------------------------------------------- LATEST INFORMATION & TIPS Rockett's New School is designed to be compatible with many computer systems. However, every computer system configuration is unique, and your system may contain hardware or software that conflicts with this program. Most problems can be solved by following the steps listed below: 1. Check your system to make sure that it meets the minimum system requirements listed in this ReadMe, and that you've installed the software correctly. 2. See below, and under Macintosh and Windows Information, for a list of problems and their probable causes and solutions. ** Problems running the software? ** The CD-ROM disk may be dirty. First try cleaning your CD. Use a soft, clean, lint-free cloth dipped in water or a CD-cleaning solution. Gently wipe off fingerprints and dust. Do not use a tissue or rough material, as it may scratch the CD. ** Using the CD ** Always make sure the CD is in the drive before beginning an adventure, and don't remove the CD from the computer while playing. ** Quitting Other Applications ** It is best to shut down other applications before running the Rockett's New School installer or the Rockett's New School application. ** No sound? ** There may be a problem with your speaker set-up. Check the cables to your speakers. Check that your speakers are turned on and that the volume is set high enough. See other suggestions specific to the Macintosh or Windows below. ** Changing the sound level ** To change the sound volume level while playing an adventure, you should use the volume controls in the Rockett's New School application. To access the volume controls, click on the Purple Moon icon in the top right corner of the screen, and then use the row of five buttons along the bottom of the screen. Note: It is recommended that you follow this method for adjusting the sound level while the application is running, and do not use the Microsoft Windows Volume control or the Macintosh Sound control panel. ** Screen resolution and color settings ** Rockett's New School uses 256 color images and we recommend that you set your display driver to 256 color mode. Also, Rockett's New School has been designed to work best with a screen resolution of 640x480 pixels. All screen images are created in this size, and will completely fill the screen at this resolution. This means that running your screen at a higher resolution (such as 1024 x 768 pixels) will result in a smaller image being displayed. (It is NOT possible to maximize the product to fill screens with a resolution higher than 640x480 pixels.) ** Screensavers Interrupting Play ** Rockett's New School works best with screensaver programs turned off. If your screensaver interferes with playback of Rockett's New School, turn the screensaver off. If this is not possible, then set the screensaver delay for the maximum amount of time. ** Saving your Adventures on Windows 3.1 ** To save your Adventure on a computer system running Windows 3.1, you must be sure that you name your saved adventure as follows: - The name of the saved Adventure must be no more than 8 characters long. - The name of the saved Adventure must be one word, and must not contain any spaces. ** Attempting to Save an Adventure to a Full Disk ** If you attempt to save your Adventure on a hard disk with inadequate storage space, you will receive an onscreen message that reads: "Could not save your file. Check that the disk is not full." Click Cancel. To save your adventure, you will need to make additional room on your drive by removing some files. ** Ending an Adventure ** To end an adventure, click on the Purple Moon icon in the top right corner of the screen, and then click on End; you will have a chance to save your adventure before the program quits. --------------------------------------------------------- WINDOWS INFORMATION ** Windows 3.1 Video and Sound Cards ** If you experience graphics or sound distortion during an Adventure, your system may include a video or sound card and/or a Windows 3.1 driver that is non-standard. In most cases, upgrading your system software to Windows 95 is a way to solve any difficulties with non-standard drivers. ** Windows 95 Users with 640x480 screens ** Rockett's New School needs to use all 640x480 pixels on a computer with a low resolution screen. This means that you cannot have the Windows 95 Taskbar on top or you will not be able to see part of the bottom of the screen. To make Rockett's New School float over the Taskbar, follow this procedure: 1. Right-click on the Taskbar to bring up the Taskbar menu. 2. Choose Properties... from the Taskbar menu. This will bring up the Taskbar Properties dialog. 3. Click on the Taskbar Options tab at the top of the dialog. 4. Make sure that the check box, "Always on top" is unchecked. 5. Press OK. ** No sound, or poor quality sound? ** Rockett's New School may conflict with other sound-related applications. Check to see if you have another sound-related program open. Many programs do not free up the sound capabilities after they are loaded. The sound card may not be installed correctly. Consult the sound card's user manual to verify proper installation. Test other sound applications to see if they work correctly. Check to see if you have the latest drivers for your sound card. There may be a sound card software problem. Select the "mixer" program that came with your sound card and ensure that the "wave" volume is up high enough. Rockett's New School may not support your sound card; your sound card is not Windows compatible. Some sound cards need special settings in order to be compatible with Windows. Consult your sound card documentation. There may not be enough RAM available. Quit other applications. Turn on Virtual Memory. Purchase more RAM. Minimum specification machines, for example 486/66mHz PCs, may experience occasionally interrupted sound playback. Upgrading to a faster processor speed or a Pentium processor would improve this. ** Rockett's New School doesn't run? ** There may not be enough RAM available. Quit other applications. Turn on Virtual Memory. Purchase more RAM. ** Rockett's New School runs slowly? ** You may have a slow speed CD-ROM drive. Check that your CD-ROM drive is at least double-speed. Try a faster CD-ROM drive. ** Unclear error message during installation? ** If you receive an error message during installation of the software, without an obvious explanation, check to be sure that your system meets the minimum system requirements, especially that you have the required amount of hard disk space available. --------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED - WINDOWS Windows System Requirements: o IBM-PC or compatible with 486/66 MHz or faster processor o Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 o 8 MB RAM or more (5 MB available) o Hard disk with 10 MB or more of free disk space o Double-speed (2x) or faster CD-ROM drive o SVGA monitor and graphics card (640x480, 256 colors or better) Windows 95 Installation: 1. Insert the Rockett's New School CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. If the AutoPlay feature on your computer is enabled, installation of the program will begin automatically; just follow the onscreen instructions. Otherwise, continue with the steps below. 3. On your desktop, double-click on the icon for My Computer (or your computer's icon). 4. Double-click on the CD icon. 5. Double-click on the SETUP icon and follow the onscreen instructions. 6. When the installation is complete, you may be asked to restart your computer. After doing that, you're ready to start your adventure. Windows 3.1 Installation: 1. Insert the Rockett's New School CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. Open the File menu of Program Manager and choose Run. 3. Type D:\setup.exe (or replace D with the letter for your CD-ROM drive) in the Command Line box. 4. Press Enter to begin the installation process, and follow the onscreen instructions. 5. When the installation is complete, you're ready to start your adventure. How to uninstall the application on Windows 95: 1. In the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs. 2. Select the name of the application you want to remove from the list. 3. Click the Add/Remove button, then click Yes. 4. Important: Restart Windows after uninstalling the software. How to uninstall the application on Windows 3.1: 1. Open the Windows Program Manager. 2. Open the Rockett's New School program group, inside the Purple Moon program group. 3. Double-click on the icon named Uninstall Rockett's New School. 4. Important: Restart Windows after uninstalling the software. Note: Uninstalling the software will not remove your saved adventures. If you want to remove your saved adventures, delete the Adventures folder, located inside the Rockett's New School folder. Starting the Adventure (Windows) 1. For Windows 95, if the AutoPlay feature on your computer is enabled, the adventure begins automatically when you insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. Otherwise, in the Start menu, select Programs, select Purple Moon, and select Rockett's New School. Then click on the Rockett's New School icon to start the adventure. For Windows 3.1, in the Program Manager, double-click on the Purple Moon program group, and double-click on the Rockett's New School group to open it. Then double-click on the Rockett's New School icon to start the adventure. 2. If you've never played before, type in your name on the first screen; if you have played before, choose your name from the list. Then, click on OK, and click on New Adventure on the next screen. Once you've played (and saved) an adventure, you can return to it at any time by clicking on Select Adventure. --------------------------------------------------------- MACINTOSH INFORMATION ** Macintosh 32-bit Addressing ** 32-Bit addressing must be On. This mode is controlled via the Memory Control Panel on MacOS versions 7.5.1 or earlier. From the Apple menu, select Control Panels, then Memory. Under 32-Bit Addressing, click On. You must restart your computer for this change to take effect. If you do not see this option, 32-bit addressing is automatically on. ** Macintosh Memory ** If you are running Rockett's New School with less than 5 MB available RAM, you may experience poor performance or program crashing. If so, turn on Virtual Memory in your computer's Memory Control Panel, even though this may affect sound quality. Select the Memory Control Panel and click the Virtual Memory button On, which will require you to re-boot your system. Another way to make additional RAM available for Rockett's New School is to reduce the size of the System Software. You can do this by disabling System Extensions and Control Panels that are not needed while playing Rockett's New School. Use the Extensions Manager Control Panel to save a custom Rockett's New School extensions set. Whenever you run Rockett's New School, use the Extensions Manager to select the Rockett's New School extensions set and reboot. When you finish using Rockett's New School, reselect the original extensions set and reboot. Rockett's New School requires the following extensions to be enabled: Apple CD-ROM (or other CD-ROM driver), and Sound Manager (recommended). ** Macintosh and RAM Doubler ** You may experience problems with RAM Doubler and the Rockett's New School application. If you do, we suggest that you try uninstalling RAM Doubler. ** No sound? ** Volume may be turned down or muted. Check to make sure Volume is turned up and Mute is turned off in the Sound Control Panel. Your computer system may not have enough memory available. Have a minimum of 5 MB available after running system software (Memory use information is available under the Apple menu on your menu bar in "About This Macintosh"). Quit other open applications. Turn on Virtual Memory. Turn off extensions not required for Rockett's New School. See the discussion of Macintosh Memory under Macintosh Information, above. ** Program crashes? ** Your computer system may have inadequate RAM. If you are running Rockett's New School with less than 5 MB available RAM, you may experience poor performance or program crashing. Turn on Virtual Memory. Turn off extensions not required for Rockett's New School. See the discussion of Macintosh Memory under Macintosh Information, above. Program may not be properly installed. Run the installer again. The CD-ROM extension may be turned off. Turn on the CD-ROM extension in the Extensions Manager Control Panel, and restart the computer. ** Application won't launch, "out of memory" message appears? ** 32-bit addressing may be turned off. Turn on 32-bit addressing. See "Macintosh 32-bit Addressing" above, under General Information. --------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED - MACINTOSH Macintosh System Requirements: o Macintosh 68040/33 MHz or faster processor o System 7.1 or later o 8 MB RAM or more (5 MB available) o Hard disk with 10 MB or more of free disk space Macintosh Installation: 1. Insert the Rockett's New School CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. Double-click on the Install Rockett's New School icon and follow the onscreen instructions. 3. When the installation is complete, you may be asked to restart your computer. After doing that, you're ready to start your adventure. How to uninstall the application on Macintosh: 1. Locate the Rockett's New School folder inside the Purple Moon f folder on your computer's hard drive. 2. Drag the Rockett's New School folder into the Trash, and select Empty Trash from the Special menu. (If you want to keep any of your saved adventures, save the Adventures folder, located inside the Rockett's New School folder). 3. To reinstall Rockett's New School, follow the installation instructions above. Starting the Adventure (Macintosh) 1. Double-click on the Rockett's New School icon, which is in the Rockett's New School folder, inside the Purple Moon f folder on your desktop. 2. If you've never played before, type in your name on the first screen; if you have played before, choose your name from the list. Then, click on OK, and click on New Adventure on the next screen. Once you've played (and saved) an adventure, you can return to it at any time by clicking on Select Adventure. --------------------------------------------------------- YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS HERE Join Rockett on her First Day As the story begins, Rockett is just starting her first day at Whistling Pines Junior High. That means lots of unfamiliar faces and unexpected occurrences! She needs your help deciding how to handle everything. Plus, there are plenty of secrets to uncover behind the scenes. Explore Rockett's backpack, where she keeps her private diary and other personal stuff. Peek into kids' lockers and find clues to who's who and what's really going on by reading notes, letters, and journal entries. You can expect to find lots of surprises and new clues all along the way! Decide What to Do Next Every time you get to a decision point in the story, move your mouse over Rockett's thought bubbles and listen to what she's thinking. Click on any bubble, and you're on your way to the next part of the story. How Rockett deals with every decision is totally up to you! Saving & Selecting Adventures and Special Options Click on the Purple Moon icon in the top right corner to get in and out of your adventure. A menu appears that lets you choose one of these options: o New Adventure starts a new adventure from the beginning. You'll have a chance to save the adventure you're playing before you start a new one. o Select Adventure takes you back to playing an adventure you've already saved. Pick your saved adventure from the list and click on OK. o Save My Place saves your current adventure. Just type in a name for your adventure, and click on OK. o End stops the adventure. You'll be able to save your adventure to continue playing it later. To remove saved player names or adventures: 1. Locate the Rockett's New School folder inside the Purple Moon folder on your computer's hard drive. (This folder will be named Purple Moon on Windows95, PurpleMn on Windows3.1, and Purple Moon f on Macintosh.) 2. Open the Adventures folder inside the Rockett's New School folder, by double-clicking on it. Inside the Adventures folder, you will see a folder for each player that has played Rockett's New School. 3. To remove a player's name from the program, delete the player's folder (deleting a player's folder will erase all of that player's saved adventures). 4. To remove a player's saved adventure, open the player's folder in the Adventures folder, locate the file that you would like to remove, and delete it. --------------------------------------------------------- CUSTOMER SUPPORT If you have any questions, please contact us for assistance. Our technical support specialists can be reached toll-free at the numbers listed below: In the US, call 1-888-MATTEL9 (1-888-628-8359) In Canada, call 1-888-MEDIA11 (1-888)633-4211) In Australia call 1-800-800-812 For a great place to get quick answers to the most commonly asked questions about Rockett's Adventure Maker you can also contact us on the World Wide Web at: http://www.purple-moon.com Comments or questions can also be mailed to: Mattel Consumer Affairs Tech Support GA 0109 333 Continental Blvd. El Segundo, CA 90245 USA Outside of the USA, see a telephone directory for a Mattel listing. --------------------------------------------------------- Warranty and End User License Agreement <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> MATTEL, INC. 90 DAY LIMITED WARRANTY Mattel, Inc. warrants to “You” (the original consumer purchaser) that, under normal use, the “Product” (including the software program and the CD-ROM disk on which the software program is recorded and the other items included in the package) will be free from defects in material and workmanship for ninety (90) days from the date of purchase (Your receipt shall be evidence of the date of purchase). This Limited Warranty does not cover damage resulting from accident, misuse, unauthorized modification, or other conduct or conditions outside the control of Mattel, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates (collectively, “Mattel”). If defective, return all contents of this package (including but not limited to the CD-ROM disk, user guide, and all other components of this package), postage prepaid, along with proof of the date-of-purchase, within the ninety (90) day warranty period, for replacement or refund at Mattel’s election, to Consumer Adjustment Center, 15930 E. Valley Boulevard, City of Industry, California 91744. Immediately upon Your receipt of any refund, Your license to use the Product (including the software program) is terminated. THE FOREGOING LIMITED WARRANTY IS THE SOLE WARRANTY PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE PRODUCT AND IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ALL OF WHICH IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY MATTEL OR ITS SUPPLIERS, DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS LIMITED WARRANTY. This Limited Warranty gives You specific legal rights; You may have other rights which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, or the limitation on how long an implied warranty lasts, so some of the above exclusions or limitations may not apply to You. 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Your license will terminate automatically (which means that all rights licensed to You under this License Agreement terminate) without notice from Mattel if You fail to comply with the terms of this License Agreement. In such event, You must destroy or disable all Your copies of the Program. You agree to comply with all applicable import and export laws and regulations. This License Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. The provisions of this License Agreement are severable; if any provision is held to be invalid or unenforceable, it shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. The parties expressly exclude the application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, as amended, replaced or reenacted from time to time. ----------------------- (P) and © 1998 Purple Moon Media, a Mattel company. El Segundo, CA 90245 U.S.A. MADE IN U.S.A. Manufactured for Mattel. All Rights Reserved. (r) and (tm) designate either registered trademarks or trademarks of Purple Moon Media in the U.S. and/or other countries, except for the following: Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Mac and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM in the United States. (See READ ME file and/or User Guide for additional notices.) All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Your use of the CD-ROM is subject to a License Agreement contained inside. (c) 1997 Purple Moon Media. All rights reserved. Friendship Adventures for Girls, Purple Moon, the Purple Moon logo, Rockett's New School, Rockett's Tricky Decision, Secret Paths and Secret Paths in the Forest are trademarks of Purple Moon Media. All other trademarks are the property of their respective trademark owners. ---------------------------------------------------------