Friday, April 15th - 8:00 pm
Update -
Andrew Floyd
Fun with Colorforms
I finally got a chance to install / back up the Sailor Moon Colorforms CDrom.
The one girl I know had it for some time and claims she can't get
it to work right. Well, there's a zipped demo of the software on the net (I
found 2 pages with links but haven't tried them yet), but the CDrom loaded and
installed on my mom's XP desktop no problem. It's mainly for older Win3.11, but
XP supported it anyway, even with the old 3.11 file selector box. There's
supposed to be a Mac version on the CD as well.
Comparing it to the 3VR software, which looks nice and all, but the
3VR thingy does have its problems...
The Gryphon Colorforms software is solid. Works nice. The pieces you place on
the work area make noises - and fans of the dub should take note - unlike the
3VR CDrom, the Colorforms set actually uses DiC Dub audio clips! The artwork
isn't that great, but it's far from being bad and adequate for most young fans.
It's got 12 backgrounds that are really nice - I wonder what material they were
given to make them, though the images are limited to just 256 colors, they may
come off as not the best conversion job. But they do look nice. Any scene you
create in the workspace can be exported into Windows Bitmap files, then
converted into JPG using whatever (including Paint on XP systems which can save
JPGs).
I extracted the 12 backgrounds and other graphics as BMP then converted to
JPG and used the microphone with sound recorder to extract the sound clips. ^.^
I then made a copy of the software with those bits in one folder.
The 3VR CD appears to be a bit rushed. It uses some anonymous voices in WAV
files, certainly not DiC dub voices. Poor production value in that regard, but
in today's age of CD burners, some enterprising individuals could re-record the
WAVs and make them sound better. (heh) Maybe even improve the AVI video clips,
which look like badly captured VHS footage recorded off local TV. Heck, the AVIs
will play under Media Player, not requiring the 3VR software at all. Though with
the 3VR software running, the Tuxedo Mask clip does have a few problems.
The "Crystal Fighting Arena" runs too fast on XP systems. You just have to
hold down the right mouse button and you can quickly finish that, but the
software all too often exits before I can finish all 5 areas.
Certainly, the 3VR software looks good, but that's about it. Maybe I'm
missing something. Anywho, browse the directories on the CD with My Computer
under XP and you can see the graphics used in the cube puzzles, and some
graphics not used in the software at all! Definitely someone's quality control
people weren't watching what went on the production master.
Some installation notes for both:
If you've installed a game with the latest version of DirectX (like V.10),
and have a full complement of video drivers, the 3VR software will run without
much of any install at all. In fact, the only things I remember XP doing was a
settings box for DirectX (the 3VR software needs a feature turned on for it, I
think), and a requirement for the monitor to be set to 256 colors. Otherwise, it
ran without a problem (other than its own internal bugs).
The Gryphon software installs mainly from a self-extracting executable, and
can be installed on the HD or run from the CD. I remember 2 warning boxes of
stuff the install couldn't access (mainly Win3.11 stuff that XP doesn't need to
support), but I just closed them and the software ran anyway. It does hide the
task bar, but pressing the Windows logo key on the keyboard brings it back, and
re-hides again when you're done with it. Copy the program icon to the desktop
and you're ready to go. It's really slick.
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