3D Tidal Forces 2.5

Author: 3D Amigos

API: Direct3D

Size: 1.6 mb

Downloaded 3541 times

VRMan and 3DAmigos.com present:

--- VR Tidal Forces 2.5 ---

A 3D screensaver to show off your computer's great capabilities.

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---- DISTRIBUTE FREELY. COPYRIGHT 2000 - FRED CASS ----
---- ----
---- Please come visit the website at: ----
---- http://www.3damigos.com ----
---- ----
---- Please come register this screensaver or buy my ----
---- other screensavers so I can feed my kids! ----
================================================================


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Contents:
Changes from version 2.1
Changes from version 2.0
Installation Instructions
Differences between the demo/free version and TidalForcesXL
Keys
Hints, Things to try
Notes
Wicked3D eyeScream (H3D) support notes
Thanks
So WHAT IS THIS THING??!?
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Changes from version 2.1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Performance tweaks
-DirectX7 support
-Replaced some ugly textures! :)
-Smoother animation for everyone with super fast computers!
-And many other changes not important enough to mention...

Changes from version 2.0:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Worked around a nasty bug in DirectX6 which caused it to slow down?
a little each time you flew through a wormhole
-(XL)Added options for object selection in Wall/Object settings
-(XL)Added options to allow you to adjust the time spent in the wormholes/rooms
-Made cosmetic changes to the dialogs
-Cranked up the object count to 999 MAX!!!!



Installation instructions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(NOTE: Requires Microsoft DirectX 6.0 or higher)

Most likely it's already installed if you are reading this file!

For manual installation:
Simply copy the file 'VRTidalForces.scr' to your windows directory (usually c:\windows)

Right click on the desktop, select properties, then screensaver tab, and select the VRTidalForces.

Choose your graphics card from the left-top box (Devices).?
For secondary 3Dfx cards (Monster3D, Orchid Righteous, etc.) there will
be two options. Choose the second one usually called dd3dfx.

In the second box (Drivers), choose Direct3D HAL. If you?
do not see this option, then your graphics card drivers?
may be installed incorrectly, or perhaps you don't even
have a 3D accelerator card! If you don't have one, go get
one!

Finally, choose your favorite screen resolution.?
640x480 is the recommended choice (the maximum for 4 meg
3Dfx cards). Voodoo2, Banshee and RIVA128/TNT cards can choose a
higher resolution. The screensaver requires 2megs for the
frame buffer and z-buffer, and 2megs for texture memory?
at 640x480. 3Dfx voodoo1 cards will show an option for 800x600, but
there is actually only enough memory for 640x480 with a zbuffer.


Differences between the demo/free version and TidalForcesXL:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TidalForcesXL is the complete registered version, and is available
for online purchase and instant download at my website. The cost is only
$5.95 (US), and you get to download it immediately!

The two screensavers are primarily the same with these exceptions:

TidalForcesXL lets you change the textures and graphics. If you like a?
particular background that's included in TF, just pick it from the list and
it will be the only texture shown. If you have a incredible scanned photo
of your prize winning goldfish :) you can select the image in the advanced?
texture options and it will become your new background. If you like the?
colorful stars the best, you can set them as default. There are many other
texture/graphics related features available in TidalForcesXL, and they allow
you to fully customize the screensaver to your liking.

TidalForcesXL has advanced physics options. You can tweak parameters such as?
Dispersion, Force, Scale, and Dampening for endless possibilities. After you've
found the ones you enjoy the most, you can lock them all (or some) in and?
they will be there the next time the screensaver starts. Also included are?
options that let you adjust the time spent in the wormholes, and in the rooms.

As a registered customer you will receive free updates to TidalForcesXL forever.

No more annoying messages scrolling across the bottom of the screen pleading with
you to part with your $5.95 (the price of a lunch at McDonalds, by the way! :)

You get to feel good inside knowing you're supporting a guy trying to make a?
living and support his family. My 3 boys appreciate it!



Keys: (during screensaver operation)
~~~~~
F1: Show this key listing while the screensaver is running.
1-8: Change camera viewpoint modes...
9: Immediately jump into black hole
0: Select a different object to watch (works with views 1 and 2 primarily)
M: Toggle Midi music on/off
N: Advance to Next song
F: Freeze Gravitrons - Freeze 'em and watch how the objects slingshot!
G: Toggle Gravity - This will turn on/off regular vertical gravity. Watch 'em bounce.
SpaceBar: Randomize everything. Freeze the gravitrons,?
then use this one to move them around.
-/=: Adjust Dispersion - Controls how the objects leave the wormhole.?
Set this to 0 to see the exact path through the gravity field.
[/]: Adjust Force - This will adjust how much force/pull all the gravitrons have.
Setting this to a low number will slow everything down.
;/': Adjust Scale - This affects how far away the gravity reaches.
Lower this one to make the objects slingshot around multiple
gravitrons, or if the gravitrons are frozen in a triangular arrangement,
the objects will pool in the middle!

All of the physics settings will change everytime you run the program, and everytime
it travels through the wormholes. TidalForces XL lets you lock in your?
favorite settings.


Hints, Things to try:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use F to freeze the gravitrons, then use '-' to reduce the dispersion so the objects
stream out in a thin thread. Now you can see exactly how the gravity is pulling
on the objects. In this state you can really see the affects of the other options.
Try reducing the Force ( '[' ) to 0 and cranking up the scale to the maximum. This will
produce a slow flowing display. Now switch to the 'Tracking View' by pressing '1'.?
Next try pressing the spacebar to re-randomize the objects, and you'll zoom through them.


Notes:
~~~~~~
Minimum system recommended is a Pentium 200 with a 3D accelerator card.
Slower systems may take a while to load the screensaver, and will have?
low frame rates.
The defaults that are set by the program are targeted towards a Pentium 2
300 or greater. A Pentium III 500 with a 3Dfx Voodoo3 or RivaTNT
is of course the best system as of today...


Wicked3D eyeScream (H3D) support notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To activate the stereoscopic VR version of TidalForces, simply right click your?
desktop, select properties, select the Wicked3D eyeScream tab. Click the Direct3D?
button, and finally the Stereo tab. Just switch "Default Stereo On" on, and you are
ready to rock!?
I would then recommend going into the Settings for TidalForces and?
Selecting a resolution of 1024x672, and of course make sure you have selected your?
Voodoo2/Banshee card.
Also, you can check off 'Ignore Keys' in the TidalForces settings panel. This will?
allow you to use your pre-configured keys to adjust the stereo settings while the?
screensaver is running. Be sure and line up the two images vertically, or you will
encounter serious eye-strain. This is easy to do if the yellow text is being displayed
at the top and bottom of the screen. Just match up the text until it looks like a?
solid image.
Note: Checking "Enable advanced stereo controls", and entering 1000-2000 for the
"Zero stereo separation distance" gives you a much more intense 3D experience. Objects
will even fly out of your screen!
Enjoy! Don't blame me if you stare at it for hours and your eyes fall out of your?
head! :)


Thanks:
~~~~~~~
Thanks for everyone's support and help. Thanks to all those who have?
purchased and raved about my other screensavers.?
Thanks to Aegis for making rediculous artwork!
Thanks to all my beta testers....?
BMarsh2, StuntBorg, ScottMcD, PitzerA, Gilead and others...
Thanks to Jeff Lawson for letting my use his cool tunes for free!
And thanks especially to my family for putting?
up with my crazy schedule (all night working on screensavers....)
Ultra thanks as always to God! The creator of this incredible universe!

Thanks for your support!
Copyright (c) 1999 by Fred Cass. All Rights Reserved.
website: http://www.3damigos.com

So WHAT IS THIS THING??!?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought you'd never ask!
Well it's simple really. You have mass driving pulsar gravitrons?
creating gravimetric field distortions - thereby opening up rifts?
in the time-space continuum. Now when these gravitrons are activated,
they produce an immense amount of artificial gravity due to their?
incredibly large generated mass (similar to a natural black hole).
Now when objects are caught in the gravitational pull of the gravitron,
they eventually reach what is called the 'event horizon'. This is
the point at which there is no possible way to escape the gravity.
(Which is very convienient when making a screensaver!)
So once the objects are caught in the 'event horizon', they are pulled
into the artificial black hole's subspace singularity. Once within
the singularity, space is basically folded in half they travel
through a worm-hole. The worm-hole comes to an end (most all good?
things come to an end eventually) and the object is spewed out into
a parrallel universe. But it's late, so I really can't get into?
exacly how that happens. Let's suffice it to say that the tachyon
field emissions reach a critical level causing an interdimensional
shift, which the poor objects happen to be caught up in...

If you have any questions, be sure to email me with them at:?
gravimetricfielddistortions@3damigos.com ,?
subspaceSingularity@3damigos.com?
or?
artificialblackholetheory@3damigos.com???
(these addresses actually work! Heh heh)

Thanks again for downloading the screensaver, and for reading this entire file!
Come visit the website for updates and other fun stuff...
http://www.3damigos.com

Click here to download