ShooltzSaver version 2.3b (c) 1997-2002 Tomasz Sowinski
http://www.shooltz.com
saver@shooltz.com

All images included in the ShooltzSaver.scr file were rendered
by Tomasz Sowinski.

If you haven't seen this program before and don't like readme files:
Just press the right mouse button when ShooltzSaver is active.
------------------------------------------------------

This file, README.TXT, is a companion to the ShooltzSaver.scr file.
It contains the following sections:
0. THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM
1. INSTALLATION AND UNINSTALLATION
2. SHOOLTZSAVER FEATURES
3. MP3 PLAYBACK
4  ENABLING HIGH PERFORMANCE FEATURES ON WINDOWS 2000/XP
5. HISTORY OF CHANGES/WHAT'S NEW
6. REGISTRATION
7. TROUBLESHOOTING
8. DISTRIBUTION STATUS
9. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR




0. THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM
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ShooltzSaver is a shareware Windows screen saver. It runs under 
all Windows versions: 95/98/ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP.



1. INSTALLATION AND UNINSTALLATION
------------------------------------------------------
To install ShooltzSaver screensaver on your computer:
- run the ShSetup.exe file that is distributed with this readme.txt.
- push "Install" button.

Installation program, ShSetup.exe, creates "ShooltzSaver.scr" file. 
By default, this file is created in your Windows directory - this location
is recommended by Microsoft. Since ShooltzSaver does not have any 
additional files (.scr is the only one), you dont't need to install this 
program in separate directory. However, if for some reason you want to 
create "ShooltzSaver.scr" file in other folder, check the "
I want to manually select destination folder" option. 

You can preview and configure ShooltzSaver like other screensavers.
Just right-click on your desktop and select "Properties" from the 
context menu, then choose "Screenaver" tab in "Display Properties" dialog.
You should see ShooltzSaver on the list of available savers.

Please note that you'll need WinAmp ver. 1.7 or later (available for 
downloading at www.winamp.com and from all good shareware sites) 
to play MP3 and M3U files.


To REMOVE ShooltzSaver from your computer:
- go to Control Panel and  invoke "Add/Remove Programs" applet
- Select "ShooltzSaver" from the list.
If list of programs that can be uninstalled does not contain ShooltzSaver,
just delete the "ShooltzSaver.scr" file.  



2. SHOOLTZSAVER FEATURES
------------------------------------------------------
ShooltzSaver is a high performance, multithreaded, three-dimensional,
interactive and extensible screen saver for all Windows versions
(9x, ME, NT 4, 2000, XP).

- displays various ray-traced, animated objects (sprites) floating 
and spinning. Smooth animation and high frame rate are achieved by
using multithreading capabilities of the operating system. 
DirectX is not required.

- it's interactive: pressing the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON will open the control
center window. You can change all the animation parameters there and 
instantly see the results. Your settings can be saved for future use as
schemes.

- reads new sprites (BMP and AVI files) downloaded from my WWW page 
or created by the user (detailed info also available there). Due to size 
constraints, the best sprites couldn't be built into ShooltzSaver and are 
available on the web. If you like this program, you should try to 
download them from http://www.shooltz.com

- displays smoothly scrolling text message

- can temporarily change display mode before executing for better performance

- supports mp3 playback (also wav and midi)



3. MP3 PLAYBACK
------------------------------------------------------
ShooltzSaver can play mp3 files during screensave cycle. However, you need
to have additional (free) software installed to play mp3s. Currently you can choose 
between two methods of mp3 playback:

- Winamp, version 1.7 or later. To download Winamp, visit:
http://www.winamp.com

- Microsoft Windows Media Player, version 6.4 or later. This component can be
already installed on your system - it's a part of default installation of
Windows 98SE, ME 2000 and XP. Also, this program is distributed as a part of Microsoft
Internet Explorer. You can download Media Player from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia

To configure mp3 settings: select 'Sounds' tab in the Control Center window. 
Then, press 'MP3 options...' button. ShooltzSaver defaults to using Winamp;
this program is less processor-intensive, so there's more CPU time for
animation. However, this can change in the future releases of Media Player,
so the best way to select optimal method is comparing performance with mp3
playback enabled using both programs.



4. ENABLING HIGH PERFORMANCE FEATURES ON WINDOWS 2000/XP
--------------------------------------------------------
You can expect 100% average speed boost on majority of Windows 2000/XP systems
(depending on the graphics card driver and saver settings). This improvement 
is achieved by replacing 'old' method of two-pass sprite drawing with new 
TransparentBlt API function available on Windows 2000/XP. Usage of TransparentBlt 
is OFF by default, because some graphic card drivers do not implement it 
natively. In such case performance would be order of magnitude worse. 
To activate TransparentBlt:
	- start start ShooltzSaver in screensave (full-screen) mode
	- right-click to open Control Center window
	- go to 'Performance' tab
	- click on 'Enable TransparentBlt' button
If objects are moving very slow after clicking, your driver doesn't support 
TransparentBlt and you should click 'Disable TransparentBlt' button. However, 
if objects are moving with normal speed, use 'Sprites', 'Animation' or 'Scroll'
tabs to make animation more complex (more sprites, larger animation area, 
increased scroller font). Use 'Performance' tab to check frame rate and average 
idle time. If 'Average idle time' parameter is greater than zero, you can add 
even more objects. 
You can also enable/disable TransparentBlt offline, in the main configuration 
dialog (the one with spinning object in upper-left corner) - just click on the
'Advanced...' button to get access to advanced/troubleshooting options.

Please note that with some drivers TransparentBlt can be very slow for small
sprites and very fast for larger ones. There's no general rule for that.



5. HISTORY OF CHANGES/WHAT'S NEW
------------------------------------------------------
VERSION 2.3b (March 18, 2002)
- new frame rate synchronization algorithm greatly reduces CPU usage
- fixed problem with uninstaller failing on XP


VERSION 2.3a (January 28, 2002)
- on Windows XP ShooltzSaver uses new Windows Visual Styles
- fixed problem with saving mirror options
- fixed problem with registration failures caused by lack of security 
permissions necessary to write to system-wide part of Windows registry


VERSION 2.3 (June 25, 2001)
- new mirroring options available from Control Center window
- improved scheme switching in randomizer
- new built-in sprites and schemes
- fixed problems with screensaver exiting prematurely on some notebooks
- fixed problems with memory leaks


VERSION 2.2 (August 5, 2000)
- additioanl support for MP3 playback using Windows Media Player components
Read 'MP3 PLAYBACK' (above) for details
- fixed bug that caused GPF when drawing plasma backgrounds


VERSION 2.1a (June 20, 2000)
- great performance enhancements on majority of Win2000 and XP systems. 
Read 'ENABLING HIGH PERFORMANCE FEATURES ON WINDOWS 2000/XP' (above) for details.


VERSION 2.1 (March 7, 2000)
- cool plasma cloud backgrounds added, redesigned 'Backgrounds'
tab in Control Center window.
- full install/uninstall support.


VERSION 2.0d (December 13, 1999)
- fixed bug that caused divide by 0 exception in randomizer.
- minor changes increasing foolproof factor.
- tested on Win2000


VERSION 2.0c (November 8, 1999)
- randomizer modified to work with schemes manually 
selected by the user.


VERSION 2.0b (August 3, 1999)
- built-in schemes work correctly with "keep background unchanged".
- minor bugs fixed (checker background settings, deleting 
default scheme, more...)


VERSION 2.0a (June 3, 1999)
- new option in randomizer (keep background unchanged when 
switching schemes).
- better palette handling in 256 color mode
- minor bugs exterminated


VERSION 2.0 (April 26, 1999)
- scroller: display your message using any font/color
- new background styles:
	- desktop settings
	- gradient (many styles and options)
	- checker
- improved built-in sprites and schemes
- fixed minor bugs, especially memory leaks
- minor interface improvements
- new registration name/code system. Users who registered
versions 1.x can obtain FREE UPGRADE to 2.0 by contacting
upgrade@shooltz.com


VERSION 1.6a (January 18, 1999)
- improved performance with additional sprites, especially on NT.
- fixed problem with registration on multi-user NT desktops.


VERSION 1.6 (December 21, 1998)
- MP3, M3U and other formats support - all through WinAmp 1.7 or later!
- added new option in Randomizer, "Do not change sounds". Check this option
if you want changing sprites/backgrounds, but only one sound. This is especially
useful with M3U playlists. Sound file is selected and played when saver starts and
does not change during scheme switches.


VERSION 1.5a (October 19, 1998)
- fixed the bug that caused system locks on some machines after loading
the external sprites (it was the video driver problem, really). 


VERSION 1.5 (September 21, 1998)
- sound playback: you can play MIDI and WAV files in the background, just
use the 'Sound' tab in the Control Center window. ShooltzSaver will support MP3
format soon - MP3 files will be played using WinAmp or Windows Media Player.
- minor interface improvements


VERSION 1.4a (May 15, 1998)
- fixed minor bugs


VERSION 1.4 (May 13, 1998)
- custom backgrounds: you can change the default black background by setting
another color and/or using bitmap. The bitmap can be tiled, centered or displayed
in the screen corners. For best results, use dark background bitmaps 
(for example, corporate logo on black). All bitmap features are available on
the 'Background' tab in the Control Center window. Note that custom backgrounds 
require highcolor or truecolor video modes. With lower color depth such as 8-bit
(256 colors), the quality of sprites and background bitmap displayed at the same 
time would be unacceptable. 
One caveat: using background bitmap can slightly decrease overall performance. 
Some extra processor time is required to restore internal buffer after drawing 
a frame when bitmap backgrounds are enabled.
- improved loading time for large sprite files


VERSION 1.3 (March 17, 1998)
- randomizing features. You can access them by pressing
'Randomizer' button in the configuration dialog. For example, ShooltzSaver 
can now switch schemes at runtime automatically after enabling 
"Switch schemes" option. Also, it can create entirely new orbits for 
schemes selected randomly ('Create new orbits' option) and/or modify 
orbits during scheme activity ('Modify orbits'). Of course, the best way 
to explore these options is by using them. Just remember that all randomizer 
options will be disabled when you open the control center window - from this 
point you have total control over ShooltzSaver and nothing will be changed 
automatically.
- new built-in sprites and schemes
- new phasing modes
- improved performance for large avi files


VERSION 1.2 (January 19, 1998)
- first ShooltzSaver relase available on the Internet



6. REGISTRATION
------------------------------------------------------
To register the program, open the configuration dialog and press the 
'Register' button'. In the registration dialog you can enter your
registration name and ID. 

Registration costs $19.95. It will disable the quiz for unregistered 
users and "Please register" tiles on main screen. Your registration name 
and ID will be sent to you immediately after receiving the payment.
Please enclose your e-mail address (if available) for faster delivery.

Registration options:
- secure online registration. Use one of the URLs below:
	http://www.shooltz.com (follow 'register now' link)
	https://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1253-1
Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are accepted.

- phone (9:30am - 4:30pm PST)
	toll free (United States only):  877-353-7297
	regular:  425-392-2294

- fax
	toll free (United States only):  888-353-7276
	regular:  425-392-0223

- check payable to TOMASZ SOWINSKI. Send these to:
	TOMASZ SOWINSKI
	KOLEJOWA 15
	P.O. BOX 26
	15-950 BIALYSTOK 2
	POLAND

*** PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH ***

If you have questions about registration, send an e-mail message to:
saver@shooltz.com



7. TROUBLESHOOTING
------------------------------------------------------
Q: ShooltzSaver locks up when using external sprites. 
A: Go to configuration dialog box (the one you can open from the 'Display
Properties' window) and click the 'Advanced...' button. Try changing
'Wide-mask method threshold' parameter to 1024 or 512.
This parameter affects the way ShooltzSaver decomposes the sprite bitmap 
(usually 6144 lines high when using the external sprites) into parallel stripes. 
Some video drivers are unable to display very 'high' bitmaps correctly; they 
can even completely lock your system. Using 'Wide-mask method' will change
the 96 x 6144 bitmap (96 x 96, 64 frames) to 384 x 1536 (4 stripes) when threshold 
is set to 2048. All bitmaps higher than this threshold will be decomposed into 
stripes.

Q: Animation is clipped on the right side of the screen
A: Go to 'Advanced options' dialog and un-select 'Use TransparentBlt when available'
option. This causes ShooltzSaver to use slower, but more reliable method to draw
sprites.

Q: After selecting any additional sprite, saver works very slow.
A: Go to 'Advanced options' dialog and select 'Redraw background buffer on sprite change'
option. This should help, especially on NT systems.

Q: I can't open the control window; after right-clicking or pressing the 
trigger key ShooltzSaver exits:
A: This can happen on Windows NT. When default screensaver is activated by 
the system after the timeout period, there's no way to capture the mouse 
or keyboard. If you want to use the control center window, invoke the saver 
using the 'Preview' button on 'Screensaver' tab in 'Display properties' window.

Q: After right-clicking on the ShooltzSaver icon there are no 'Install', 'Test' or
'Configure' options.
A: Just copy the ShooltzSaver.scr file to 'Windows\System' or 'WinNT\System32'
folder. Then use the Control Panel to configure/preview/install the ShooltzSaver.

Q: I have registered ShooltzSaver 1.x. After installing version 2.0 I'm getting
shareware reminders. What's wrong?
A: You haven't yet requested your free upgrade!

Q: I have some other problem with ShooltzSaver.
A: Use e-mail: saver@shooltz.com



8. DISTRIBUTION STATUS
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This program is FREELY DISTRIBUTABLE.



9. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
------------------------------------------------------
Postal mail:
	TOMASZ SOWINSKI
	KOLEJOWA 15
	P.O. BOX 26
	15-950 BIALYSTOK 2
	POLAND
E-mail:	saver@shooltz.com
WWW:	http://www.shooltz.com
