Don't buy Lion King CD! It will NOT work on a MODERN PC!
Tim Fisher
I am writing this because I am frustrated at what I see as a hyped-up piece of software
that basically should never have been released. My personal experience with
this CD seems to have been repeated on Christmas Day in many households,
judging from the posts I have seen on the Usenet so far. In a nutshell, if you have
a moderm PC with good video and sound cards, it appears that this software will not
install. I personally cannot get it to finish the "video test", which locks up a quarter of
the way through. Apparently once you get through that you may get hosed because it
claims your sound card cannot play 16-bit files, even though it can. One person even
posted that it gets through the install and then claims he doesn't have a CD-ROM drive!
Their readme file announces problems with many major video cards and their drivers. Here
is a partial list:
ATI Mach 32 PCI, ATI VGA Wonder, Cirrus, Orchid, IBM ThinkPad, Diamond Viper.
It does not install with my WD 32-bit PCI either. Their suggested solution is to use the
"svga256.drv supplied with Windows". Well I have news for them, that driver is not
included on my Windows 3.1install disks. They don't even say what resolution the driver
should be or I could probably find a substitute.
In addition, the posts to rec.arts.disney have identified many sound cards that it fails on,
including ALL 8-bit cards. Of course the tiny print on the side of the box says "16-bit sound"
but who would really notice that, or if they did, even know what it means? The fact that so
many people cannot even instal the program is one thing. OK I accept that they may not
have the exact same machines as the software was developed on. But the fact that so
many complain at the slow speed after they miraculously complete the install program is
another clue as to how badly written it is. Even those with a 486DX2-66 and a 2X CD say it
is unacceptably slow. From what I gather the animation is not really that complex. If those
huge Quicktime video clips run well from a 2X CD on a 486, how hard could it be to get
256-color animation cels to run smoothly?
Section II: Disney Software's Technical Support: A joke.
Now, if one has problems installing a piece of software usually there is an 800 number
you can call to get them resolved, right? Well guess what, Disney doesn't have one.
What they offer is a truly bewildering array of TOLL Fax and voice numbers, a TOLL
BBS, an FTP site, a Gopher site, an Email address, file libraries on CI$, AOL, and God
knows where else. OK here's my PERSONAL experience with these methods of
receiving technical support:
Disney Software Facts service:
You are supposed to call voice and then receive a Customer Support Bulletin FAX. OK,
how the hell do you do that? I know how, but the line is always busy. Do YOU know how?
Do you even have a phone plugged into your modem? Do you have your own personal
FAX machine?
Mailing: 10 day response time. Yeah, right. In 10 days I can return the damn thing so my
7-year-old daughter stops crying.
Telephone Support:
Today, Monday, 12/26/94, I call the TOLL number. After about 10 redials I finally get
through. It says that all tech support is busy (sound familiar?). I wait in the cue. I rack
up LD charges. After 5 minutes or so I get kicked onto a message that announces
they are closed for the holidays and will be back Monday 12/26 at 8AM PST. Huh?
It is Monday. It's 10AM PST. I hang up in disgust.
Disney Software BBS:
A TOLL call, 8 likes, 14.4k. Seems like the only place besides the idiotic FAX line to
get a technical support bulletin. OK, I'll bite. I call. It's busy. On Xmas Day. I try all day.
It's still busy. I try again at 7AM Monday. Seems like a safe time, right? Nope, still busy.
I try at 8, 9 and 10AM> Still busy. Beginning to see a pattern here? Either 1) Everyone
who bought a lousy Disney program is on frantically trying to find out how to make it work
or 2) it's down and nobody has bothered to reboot the server.
Online Services:
I can't vouch for the AOL< Genie, CI$, or Prodigy services. However I suspect they contain
exactly the same files as their FTP and Gopher sites. The FTP site has lots of nifty stuff.
Unfortunately there are NO Technical Support Bulletins anywhere that I can see, and there
is not one patch or suggestion, or file for that matter, related to the Lion King Storybook CD.
So much for that route.
Email:
'sy...@disneysoft.com'. Haven't tried that one yet. I don't have much hope of
getting any tech support by now. Did try the guy who posts
all those apologies for their lousy software to rec.arts.disney though. He has yet to
mail me back. I suspect he has been flooded with frantic cries for help. He is
'daved...@aol.com' for those of you who hold out some hope for tech support.
Section III: Other Disney software
I have seen quite a few complaints about other Disney products in rec.arts.disney.
Most notable among them are the Lion King Print Shop, which davedisney (whoever that is)
admitted should be called "Little Print Shop of Horrors" as one post put it. They upgraded
the product to fix its innumerable bugs. Good luck getting the upgrade. Try the FTP site if
you are stuck with this product. The other is the Jungle Book CD(?). I have seen a few
complaints about it. I think that it suffers from the same incompatability problems as the
Lion King CD.
Section IV: My reccomendations
1. For all you poor schmucks who have disappointed children today, I suggest you
take the easy way out and return the CD. It isn't worth the hassle to try to get it to run.
If you're a masochist, then go ahead and try to get tech support, you should enjoy
the experience. For the rest of us, buy something that works. That apparently excludes
Disney CDs.
2. Flood daved...@aol.com with complaints. He claims to be their "Customer Support
Manager". Flame the product on all the CD and game-related forums. Here is my list:
rec.arts.disney,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.games,
alt.cd-rom,alt.cd-rom.reviews,comp.publish.cdrom.software
3. Don't waste any more time on it. Or money. You could wind up exceeding the cost
of the CD in LD charges that way.
4. If you don't like this then don't bother Emailing me. All flames will be politely ignored.
If you have similar problems then tell me about them. I am forwarding every complaint
I find to "davedisney". Have a nice day.
Tim Fisher, President, Pacific Fishery Biologists
Serving the states of ID, WA, OR, CA, AK, and the province of BC
Dedicated to the free exchange of ideas related to fisheries science
tf...@teleport.com
PFB WWW: http://www.teleport.com:80/~tfish/
Brian Knight
>software
>that basically should never have been released. My personal experience with
>this CD seems to have been repeated on Christmas Day in many households,
>judging from the posts I have seen on the Usenet so far. In a nutshell, if you
I totally agree that this was poorly written software (but the animations are
pretty impressive :) and the setup is the most awful thing I've seen in so
long. But, I finally did get it to work. Read on...
>It does not install with my WD 32-bit PCI either. Their suggested solution is
to>use the
>"svga256.drv supplied with Windows". Well I have news for them, that driver is
>not
>included on my Windows 3.1install disks. They don't even say what resolution
>the driver
>should be or I could probably find a substitute.
This is where I encountered my problems, and it took an hour or more to
figure it out. I knew the svga256.drv could be found on the Microsoft
FTP site (ftp.microsoft.com) so I went and got it from there. But, I was
still getting general protection faults, errors in AVI processing, and
sometimes even a memory error (and I have 12 megs of RAM, much
more than required!!!). I with the help of another family member finally
was able to get it to work (and now there are no problems at all) with the
svga256.drv set at 800x600 *SMALL* font. That solved my problems,
and should fix the video card problems. But sorry, I can't help you with
the sound card stuff.
------------------------------------------------------
Sell-it on the WWW! Selling various items ranging
from computer hardware/software to baseball cards to
gourmet coffee to publications. Use your favorite WWW
browser to go to: http://xmission.com/~wwwads/
Steve Lawson
more dime in this product), I did e-mail both sysop and MR. DAVE. If he
was working on Monday he must not have opened his mail because he had at
least two from me as well as one to the sys op. I gave them one day to
respond before I would post, so here it is.
If you happened upon the Lion King Print Studio and have not installed
it--DO NOT-- Not only does it have bugs but the fonts it installes come
up with big time errors and bonk your existing TRUE TYPE font list.
Fortunately, a WINDOWS restart seems to restore your list, but in NO CASE
use the TRUE TYPE fonts which they gave you in another application. ITS
BONKO for your other fonts.
SO, MR DAVE, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO DO ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS. DO WE
TELL OUR 5 and 6 YEAR OLDS WHAT SCHMOS THE FOLKS AT DISNEYSOFT ARE AND
TAKE THE STUFF BACK AND GET SOMETHING THAT WORKS??
Steve Lawson
e-mail: sla...@uiuc.edu
Greg Goodwin
>SO, MR DAVE, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO DO ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS. DO WE
>TELL OUR 5 and 6 YEAR OLDS WHAT SCHMOS THE FOLKS AT DISNEYSOFT ARE AND
>TAKE THE STUFF BACK AND GET SOMETHING THAT WORKS??
I have the Disney Animated StoryBook of the Lion King as well. My
five year-old has a 486SX20 with a Diamond Stealth VRAM card at
640x480x256. She as 5 MEG of RAM and it works fine. Her CDROM is
only single speed but with interrupts and dma it does ok. The
sound card is REVEAL 16 Bit. This system is running Windows 3.1.
Since my CDROM is double speed I tried the package on my computer.
486DX2 66MHZ with 12 MEG of RAM and Wearnes CDROM CDD-110.
Graphics is Cirrus 5422 1024x768x256. The sound card is Media Vision
Basic 16. I could not get Lion King to run on this computer. General
protection fault during install. Oh well. This system is running OS/2
WARP.
Well here is the interesting part. I also have Aladdin by Disney.
And Aladdin by Disney Activity Center CDROM. This package works
great on both systems.
So if you have problems using Lion King and want to make your
young one happy (ie. no tears). Then get Aladdin Activity Center
CDROM. Kristen ('my 5 year old daughter') perfers it to Lion King.
Hope this helps.
GbG
Steven Abrams
(Brian Knight) writes:
> This is where I encountered my problems, and it took an hour or more to
> figure it out. I knew the svga256.drv could be found on the Microsoft
> FTP site (ftp.microsoft.com) so I went and got it from there. But, I was
> still getting general protection faults, errors in AVI processing, and
> sometimes even a memory error (and I have 12 megs of RAM, much
> more than required!!!). I with the help of another family member finally
> was able to get it to work (and now there are no problems at all) with the
> svga256.drv set at 800x600 *SMALL* font. That solved my problems,
> and should fix the video card problems. But sorry, I can't help you with
> the sound card stuff.
So, let me get this straight. I've got myself a $400 video card
capable of displaying almost 17 Million colors at 1280 by 1024
resolution on my $1000+ monitor, and in order to run a stupid DISNEY
program I've got to run at 800x600 with 256 colors?
BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!! Guess what I'm NOT BUYING!!
~~~Steve
--
/*************************************************
*
*Steven Abrams abr...@cs.columbia.edu
*
**************************************************/
INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY = Interactive Network For Organizing,
Retrieving, Manipulating, Accessing, and Transferring Information On
National Systems, Unleashing Practically Every Rebellious Human
Intelligence, Gratifying Hackers, And Yahoos. -- Kevin Kwaku.
Bill Rubin
>
>Section II: Disney Software's Technical Support: A joke.
>
>Now, if one has problems installing a piece of software usually there is an 800 number
>you can call to get them resolved, right? Well guess what, Disney doesn't have one.
>What they offer is a truly bewildering array of TOLL Fax and voice numbers, a TOLL
>BBS, an FTP site, a Gopher site, an Email address, file libraries on CI$, AOL, and God
>knows where else. OK here's my PERSONAL experience with these methods of
>receiving technical support:
I agree with you that their support is poor, but I think you're being
unreasonable in asking for toll-free support numbers. I don't know of
anyone that offers that, although I'd be interested in hearing. Of course,
if they answered their e-mail it would be a moot point. Also, they do have
a separate area on America Online which they DO post to.
-- Bill ru...@watson.ibm.com (with my copy of the storybook still shrink
wrapped trying to decide what to do)
Adam Williamson
--
---
_________________________________________
|Adam Williamson |Maintainer of the |
|ad...@scss.demon.co.uk|Wolfenstein 3D FAQ,|
|"The views expressed |and total computer |
|here do not represent|nut. "Computers |
|those of my pet |forever! Pass me |
|lemming." |those pills! |
Clint Hastings
: Section I: Lion King CD Problems:
: I am writing this because I am frustrated at what I see as a hyped-up piece of software
: that basically should never have been released. My personal experience with
: this CD seems to have been repeated on Christmas Day in many households,
: judging from the posts I have seen on the Usenet so far. In a nutshell, if you have
: a moderm PC with good video and sound cards, it appears that this software will not
: install. I personally cannot get it to finish the "video test", which locks up a quarter of
: Their readme file announces problems with many major video cards and their drivers. Here
: is a partial list:
: ATI Mach 32 PCI, ATI VGA Wonder, Cirrus, Orchid, IBM ThinkPad, Diamond Viper.
: It does not install with my WD 32-bit PCI either. Their suggested solution is to use the
: "svga256.drv supplied with Windows". Well I have news for them, that driver is not
: included on my Windows 3.1install disks. They don't even say what resolution the driver
: should be or I could probably find a substitute.
The "problem" is that they used the new "WinG" routines that will be a
part of most all new Windows software. This is Microsoft's answer to
Windows graphics and animation programming. Humongous Entertainment's
new Farm and Freddi Fish programs also use WinG and suffer from the
same problems. I had to upgrade my Cirrus 5426 video drivers to make
them compatible with WinG, which seems reasonable. However, the programs
updated the screen slowly even with the new drivers.
I can't see why the software publisher couldn't at least include the
latest drivers for all the known problem cards on the CD. There is
usually room for another couple of megabytes. This would be a great
help, especially to those who don't know where to get updated drivers.
(Thank you CICA!)
We got it working, after a few tries of installing, and although it
runs slowly, my son really likes it (and anything else connected
with Lion King). Disney SHOULD offer a money-back guarantee (do they?).
clint
M. Hayman
>>SO, MR DAVE, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO DO ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS. DO WE
>>TELL OUR 5 and 6 YEAR OLDS WHAT SCHMOS THE FOLKS AT DISNEYSOFT ARE AND
>>TAKE THE STUFF BACK AND GET SOMETHING THAT WORKS??
>Well here is the interesting part. I also have Aladdin by Disney.
>And Aladdin by Disney Activity Center CDROM. This package works
>great on both systems.
>So if you have problems using Lion King and want to make your
>young one happy (ie. no tears). Then get Aladdin Activity Center
>CDROM. Kristen ('my 5 year old daughter') perfers it to Lion King.
>Hope this helps.
>GbG
I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend Aladdin Activity Center either. On my
system I have a problem with the QuickTime movies which are evidently used for
instructional purposes between activities. The program installs fine from
CD-ROM, but when I try to run it I get "Application Error - Call to Undefined
Dynalink". After this the program gracefully exits. After trying a number of
remedies, I got rid of the mciqtw.drv Windows QuickTime driver (the one
installed by the CD-ROM install program) from my SYSTEM.INI file and now I can
run the program fine, albeit without any QuickTime video (the program hangs
when a video is supposed to play - just hit the mouse button to skip it and
continue). After installing the program, which basically just installs a
version of Video for Windows and QuickTime for Windows, I was able to run
QuickTime videos and .AVI videos directly from the CD-ROM using Microsoft's
Media Player. The problem comes when the QuickTime videos are attempted to be
run from the Aladdin Activity Center program itself.
I too tried a couple of Disney's "technical support" options listed in
the manual. First, the Internet site was useless. It contained nothing
remotely related to Aladdin. Next I tried the E-Mail route at
sy...@disneysoft.com and have had no reply to date (1 week).
As much as my kids like Disney, I'm afraid I too am inclined to stay away
from their software. You would think that the drivers supplied on the same CD
as the application program would be compatible.
Mark Hayman
Alan Hamilton
[problems with QuickTime for Windows]
The undefined dynalink usually means that you have more than one version of
QTW on your system. The various versions are utterly incompatible with each
other.
Have the file manager do a search for files named QT*.DLL and *.QTC. Hide
them somewhere that's not in your PATH, and reinstall Aladdin.
Note: if you're using Quicktime VR (like the Star Trek CD uses), leave the
files it installed in the QTW directory, and ditch any others, and don't
reinstall Aladdin.
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
Bill Rubin
>
> I too tried a couple of Disney's "technical support" options listed in
>the manual. First, the Internet site was useless. It contained nothing
>remotely related to Aladdin. Next I tried the E-Mail route at
>sy...@disneysoft.com and have had no reply to date (1 week).
In fairness to Disney, I have to say that I sent them email about the
replacement CD for 8 bit sound last Thursday, and I received a response
yesterday (Tuesday) at 5pm. However, the headers on the mail indicated
that it had been sent on Friday, and had been in transit since then. So,
they do seem to be responding to their email quickly, there's just some
delays in it getting sent out.
-- Bill ru...@watson.ibm.com
Shahen Petrosian
>
>CD-ROM, but when I try to run it I get "Application Error - Call to Undefined
>Dynalink". After this the program gracefully exits. After trying a number of
I don't have the Disney products mentioned in the prior posts but
I have come across "Undefined Dynalink" error messages from apps
using QT for windows. Usually the problem is that the application
assumes QT for windows path (from entries in the PATH or QTW.INI)
to be in a place where it can't find certain DLLs.
For example, I had a French tutoring program that used QT for
windows and worked fine until I installed a program that put
it's own QTW path in my PATH environment variable in autoexec.bat.
From that point on the French program would give me the "... undefined
Dynalink" error.
To debug the situation you might have to move some files around.
Call the application's tech support - they should be able to resolve
you problem.
David Timoney
: The "problem" is that they used the new "WinG" routines that will be a
: part of most all new Windows software. This is Microsoft's answer to
: Windows graphics and animation programming. Humongous Entertainment's
: new Farm and Freddi Fish programs also use WinG and suffer from the
: same problems. I had to upgrade my Cirrus 5426 video drivers to make
: them compatible with WinG, which seems reasonable. However, the programs
: updated the screen slowly even with the new drivers.
: I can't see why the software publisher couldn't at least include the
: latest drivers for all the known problem cards on the CD.
Actually, we tried to. Our plan was to offer as many video drivers as
possible. But, since these are commercial games (for profit), we had to
get permission....and no one gave it. :(
Dave
Humongous Entertainment
David Timoney
: I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend Aladdin Activity Center either. On my
: instructional purposes between activities. The program installs fine from
: CD-ROM, but when I try to run it I get "Application Error - Call to Undefined
: Dynalink".
Although I have no direct experience with this, I've heard that the
Dynalink error is related to trying to access some data in a DLL file that
isn't there. A common problem with Quicktime for Windows (QTW) when multiple
versions of QTW exist. Older versions don't have the same info in their
DLL. Sometimes developers put the QTW files in the Windows file, in the root
of the CDROM, or in a QTW directory. You could try cleaning out all the
existing copies of QTW from your hard drive and then re-installing. Or...
find the PLAYER.EXE that the game wants to use (say, on the CDROM) and run
it. Once running, minimize it and from then on (while the minimized QTW
player is running), the game will probably just use that particular
version.
Once again, this is just info I've seen in another network and not directly
related to Lion King or Aladdin - just thought I'd pass it on.
Dave
Humongous Entertainment
Philip R. Obermarck
Is the MAC version just as buggy, or does it run fine? I'm thinking of
getting it as an after xmas present, but this thread makes me wary.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philip R. Obermarck POber...@IntelliCorp.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seung H Kim
>
> So, let me get this straight. I've got myself a $400 video card
> capable of displaying almost 17 Million colors at 1280 by 1024
> resolution on my $1000+ monitor, and in order to run a stupid DISNEY
> program I've got to run at 800x600 with 256 colors?
>
> BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!! Guess what I'm NOT BUYING!!
>
> ~~~Steve
Don't laugh, Steve. If you have bought much kid's software,
you should have known that you have to set it in 640x480 mode.
I don't know why. But the most kid's software I bought
( and which run on windows) runs only on 640x480 /256color
mode. In other modes, it either would not run as soon as it
begins or gave me GPE on the way. Of course, there are exceptions.
About the tech problem, I have the same experience with other
software companies. If you call them, they'll say that you hon'tt
have a *100% completely compatible* hardware..
If you call the hardware company, they'll say that your software
was poorly written. Yes, it is a jokee, isn't it ?
After I have three or four of this same experiences, I decided
that I will never call to get tech support. It is just
waste of money and time.
My suggestion is to buy the software wfrom the store which
accepts returns. Let your kid play hard before the returnable
date passes. If you don't have any trouble you keep it, if you
have troubles, you simply return.
I bought Mario Teaches Typing some time ago (paied $32),
it worked fine until at some point. Then my kid could not
pass thru that point because of strange memory problem.
However much memory I alllocated using various methods
(I could make over 600K free)), the program just bombs.
If I knew this problem at the beginning, I could have
returned ...
I guess that the programmers who write kid's software
should grow up !!! :) :) :)
--
skim
tha...@thargie.xs4all.nl
> standards of quality, would put their name on something that is
> frustrating apparently thousands of households and maybe millions
> of kids this Christmas.
Maybe the game was created by the software engineers at Euro-Disney? ;-)
)
( ( (
) ) )
( ||||||| (
( O O )
____oOO___(_)___OOo____
( )
) *THE END* (
( )
) (
(|||||||||||||||||||||||)
## CrossPoint v3.02 ##
E.R. Sterbenz
I'd like to add my $.02 worth. I got both Lion King and Aladdin
Activity center for my kids for Christmas. I'd like to add that I have
never had any problems with any other kid software either with
installation, compatibility or function, until now! Neither of these
Disney titles will work! Very frustrating. Lion King will not install.
As mentioned previously it say I do not have a 16 bit card. My card is
an Orchid GW32. I called Orchid and they said that they new about the
problem but were confused because they could get it to work on the SW32
and SD16 but not on the GW32 (they are all similar internally) but they
were working on it.
As for Aladdin, it installs ok, but crashes windows and the machine when
I try to run it. I get the following:
Application Error
ACTIVITY caused an illegal instruction
in module KRNL386.EXE at 0001:0F0D.
I tried to call Disney tech support without much luck. It is very
frustrating and in fact unfare to pay for the call get an answer, get
into the menu system and then get a busy signal! Either make it busy or
let them in the queue. Anyway I eventually got to a sub menu where they
post the 800 number for tech support. Why not in the documentation?
Anyway for anyone who wants it it is 800-228-0988. I have still not
been able to contact anyone.
I am very frustrated with both these pieces of software (I consider
myself fairly PC literate), and I am very suprised that Disney, whose
name is associated with high standards of quality, would put their name
on something that is frustrating apparently thousands of households and
maybe millions of kids this Christmas.
Thanks,
E.R. Sterbenz
e...@cbsms1.att.com
Alex Scudiero
writes:
I Too had problems with Disney's software Lion King, there tech support
via the phone is a joke. With a few fake messages and "hang up if line
is busy". NO SH_T , I brought it back and I will never buy Disney
Software Again.
--
MRC...@ixnetcom.com
Jon Whisler
Scudiero) writes:
Same Problem. I spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone with them (faxes, phone
support and BBS's) and received the reply "It's your video card. You
need and updated printer driver. Funny thing. I've never had a problem
with any other CD-ROM game.
One ray of hope: The rep I spoke with at Disney let me know that I am
NOT stuck with the Lion King Animated Story book. He told me to send it
back to them for a full refund. (Or I could exchange it for the Alladin
fun center!!! HEE HEE. What a joke.
_____________________________________________________________________
Patricia Whisler
whi...@ix.netcom.com I hate Barney.
_____________________________________________________________________
Tery Steelman
waiting on my Viper card to be installed. But reading this thread has got
me worried...hhmmm.
As far as support goes, I got replies on my problem (everyones's
problem??) with the LK Print Shop answered pretty fast by going to them on
AOL. Give that a try. BTW< I did get the first patch for the PS but none
of the problems are fixed... maybe in the next patch?
I must agree that so, far, most of my Disney software is a bit
disappointing. Even the Mickey ABC's are giving me a headache!!!
Good luck, everyone!!!!
Tery
FDC Priestess to the Villians
Steve Lawson
> As far as support goes, I got replies on my problem (everyones's
> problem??) with the LK Print Shop answered pretty fast by going to them on
> AOL. Give that a try. BTW< I did get the first patch for the PS but none
> of the problems are fixed... maybe in the next patch?
What was the AOL address you sent mail to? I have mailed everyone listed
in the manual and have not received a response (I mailed them last Sunday
night).
Steve Lawson
e-mail: sla...@uiuc.edu
Steven Abrams
<se...@menudo.uh.edu> writes:
> Don't laugh, Steve. If you have bought much kid's software,
> you should have known that you have to set it in 640x480 mode.
> I don't know why. But the most kid's software I bought
> ( and which run on windows) runs only on 640x480 /256color
> mode. In other modes, it either would not run as soon as it
> begins or gave me GPE on the way. Of course, there are exceptions.
Unfortunately, this is true; My wife teaches 3 and 4 year olds and has
bought lots of kids software. My favorite: The Edmark Living Books
which claim to require "at least" 256 colors but give an error message
when run at 65K colors and higher: "Living Books require a color
palette of at least 256 colors." Ugh.
> My suggestion is to buy the software wfrom the store which
> accepts returns. Let your kid play hard before the returnable
> date passes. If you don't have any trouble you keep it, if you
> have troubles, you simply return.
It's hard to find a store which will accept returns on opened
software. Very hard.
> I guess that the programmers who write kid's software
> should grow up !!! :) :) :)
Which is why my wife and I (perfect combnation: Pre-school teacher +
Computer Science PhD [well, soon enough anyway]) will be teaming up to
start our own company some time soon.
Steven C Cassidy
In article <1994Dec2...@orion.intellicorp.com>,
Philip R. Obermarck <pober...@intellicorp.com> wrote:
>Well, I just need to know--
>
>Is the MAC version just as buggy, or does it run fine? I'm thinking of
>getting it as an after xmas present, but this thread makes me wary.
There is no Mac version.
Caroline Ehrlich
It seems that I missed the disscusion about what's wrong with the new
LK CD. I just bought it last week and tried to install it. It gave an error
about not having 256 color. I looked in the Win Setup for the video and it's set
to VGA. Do I just need to change my video driver? I have SVGA.
Thanks
---
Caroline Ehrlich
Siemens Rolm Communications Inc.
Janet Miller
>Lion King Animated Storybook for MAC is due in February along with Winnie
>The Pooh Animated Storybook.
>Dave Arnspiger
>Disney Interactive
It is likely to be much less problematic as the Mac is known for being
multimedia friendly (witness all the commercials this last December...)
--
_ _
(_)(_) FDC Ostrich Prima-Ballerina
--------- Lead dancer of the Ostrich Corps-de-ballet
/ \ / \ (the one with the pink ribbon)
( (0)\ /(0) ) "Dance of the Hours", Fantasia
\ ----- /
\ \_/ / AKA Janet Miller
\ /
| |
=====()()
| |
Timara Underbakke
>
>> I guess that the programmers who write kid's software
>> should grow up !!! :) :) :)
>
>Which is why my wife and I (perfect combnation: Pre-school teacher +
>Computer Science PhD [well, soon enough anyway]) will be teaming up to
>start our own company some time soon.
>
>~~~Steve
>--
>/*************************************************
> *
> *Steven Abrams abr...@cs.columbia.edu
> *
> **************************************************/
>INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY = Interactive Network For Organizing,
>Retrieving, Manipulating, Accessing, and Transferring Information On
>National Systems, Unleashing Practically Every Rebellious Human
>Intelligence, Gratifying Hackers, And Yahoos. -- Kevin Kwaku.
Steven: contact me if you want an alpha or beta tester. E-mail to
tim...@winternet.com if you want further information from me to consider
the idea! Timara G. Underbakke
[-----------------------------------------]
[ Timara G. Underbakke ]
[ Aramit Technologies ]
[ Roseville, Minnesota, USA ]
[ e-mail: tim...@winternet.com ]
[-----------------------------------------]
Larry Durham
: In article <3dvml1$9...@masala.cc.uh.edu> Seung H Kim
Why would a software product require 256 colors? I'm sure 65000 colors
includes those 256 it uses, and more...
Unknown
>Steven Abrams (abr...@play.cs.columbia.edu) wrote:
>
>: Unfortunately, this is true; My wife teaches 3 and 4 year olds and has
>: bought lots of kids software. My favorite: The Edmark Living Books
>: which claim to require "at least" 256 colors but give an error message
>: when run at 65K colors and higher: "Living Books require a color
>: palette of at least 256 colors." Ugh.
>
>: > I guess that the programmers who write kid's software
>: > should grow up !!! :) :) :)
>
>Why would a software product require 256 colors? I'm sure 65000 colors
>includes those 256 it uses, and more...
>
Got me. I have a product (Alphabet Blocks) from Bright Star
(part of Sierra) that doesn't work in 256 colors or more.
I gives me the "at least 256 colors" and quits. I have learned
my lesson and will not buy software from companies that put out
junk like that.
-- Ray
Russell Frazier
Have there been any problems reported with the Mac version?
--
Kevin Andresen
I guess they'll fix it now.
(Sorry, can't remember details.)
Kevin Andresen
k...@world.std.com
Mark E. Kern
There is a technical reason for this. Color cycling is a powerful
animation techniques that is only available in 256 color mode. Many games
and educational titles make use of this to create undulating colors and
more.This feature is not available in 16bit and 24bit color modes.
Markus
Elisabeth Anne Riba
>The situation is bad enough that it made USA Today last week.
>I guess they'll fix it now.
>(Sorry, can't remember details.)
LION KING'S CD-ROM: Is Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King still
playing dead on your computer? Besieged with complaints about the hot
(200,000 sold) but glitchy CD-ROM, Disney Interactive announced steps
Thursday to help owners: a toll-free line (800-228-0988) for answers to
operating problems; a free replacement CD-ROM, available via the hot line,
for buyers with 8-bit sound cards in their PCs, or older, slower 486-class
PCs; a free floppy disk, also via the hot line, for owners whose PC video
cards have outdated drivers. A tape on the hot line helps callers understand
what's needed.
--
-------------------> Elisabeth Anne Riba * l...@netcom.com <-------------------
There's just one thing that we all crave, from the cradle to the grave:
A state of grace or state of mind, a point in space or point in time,
Some have it all but still have less. What we all need is happiness
Unknown
This may be so, but I have a very good animation product from 7th Level
called Tuneland that works fine in 16 bit color mode.
-Ray
Keith Peterson
> Hi,
> It seems that I missed the disscusion about what's wrong with the new
> LK CD. I just bought it last week and tried to install it. It gave an error
> about not having 256 color. I looked in the Win Setup for the video and it's set
> to VGA. Do I just need to change my video driver? I have SVGA.
The VGA driver in Windows is 640x480 16 color. You need either a
"generic" 640x480 256 color driver, or the specific drivers for your
video card. Contact the place of purchase.
Fell Swoop
>Hi,
> It seems that I missed the disscusion about what's wrong with the new
>LK CD. I just bought it last week and tried to install it. It gave an error
>about not having 256 color. I looked in the Win Setup for the video and it's set
>to VGA. Do I just need to change my video driver? I have SVGA.
The problem is that it's made by Disney. I wish it were not true, but
Disney Software is notorious for wonderful, amazing games that any little
kid would die for that, unfortunately don't seem to have been written to run
on any existing PC. I bought one of the Mickey games for my son, Max (who
adores Mickey), before I had a sound card, and bought one of those Sound
Source things to go with it. The Sound Source constantly freaked out, making
horrid, slowed down noises that scared Max. (Only with Mickey, BTW--with
Windows and stuff like Wolfenstein, it was fine.) When I got a Sound Blaster
a few months later, I figured everything would be okay. Yeah, right. I
should have looked at the special appendix in the manual that said that
Mickey's ABC had problems with THE MOST POPULAR SOUND CARD IN THE UNIVERSE.
(I didn't say it was the best, but they should have made it compatible.) The
Mickey games also require so much memory that you basically have to skip your
autoexec.bat to start them, which is absurd, considering the small amount of
stuff that goes on in them.
This is, BTW, why you can find all the Mickey games in the ten-dollar box at
Costco.
I'm glad I heard about the Lion King problems before I took a chance on this
one. It would have killed me to have Max asking for months why we couldn't
play Lion King, the way he did after I took Mickey off my computer.
P.S. Don't feel bad about not being able to install it. I don't remember the
name of that national computer radio show on Sunday nights, but last week they
had a guy from a game company on, who said he bought Lion King for his son,
and *he* couldn't get the stupid thing installed, and he writes the stuff for
a living. (It made his son cry, BTW. Maybe that could be a new slogan for
Disney Software: "Guaranteed to dash your kids' dreams.")
I love the ideas Disney comes up with. I just think they should close down
this disaster of a software division and make a deal with somebody who knows
what they're doing. I played the Sega Game Gear "Aladdin" and it was really
fun. I shudder to think how it would have been if Disney Software had gotten
its hands on it.
V-X @ Teleport, best dang net access in Oregon! (Vancouver, WA, too!)
Be sure to visit the World Wide Web Jack Chick Archive...
http://www.teleport.com/~vx/jackhome.html
Hi, Canter & Siegel !
"Is good to use detectiveness! To fight hard, and then win!"
--The Flaming Carrot
Fell Swoop
>It is likely to be much less problematic as the Mac is known for being
>multimedia friendly (witness all the commercials this last December...)
See my post about Disney Software.
I have *never* had the kinds of problems with other games that I've had with
Disney product--the Mickey stuff, the animation package, etc. I hope you're
right, I hope the Mac version turns out great--but because it's Disney doing
it, make sure you buy it someplace with a 30-day return policy. You may be
glad you did.
BTW, those Apple ads are a joke. They were obviously written by someone who
had never been near a PC, but had looked up a couple of terms. Again, I've
never had any problems installing multimedia stuff on my PC (and I've
installed a lot), and I'm not sure what that father and son on the "Dinosaur"
commercial are doing in DOS when they're trying to install a Windows
program... : ) I'm sure it's a copyright thing, but all those Apple ads--do
you remember the ones a few years ago about laptops--always show people stuck
in DOS, as though it were the only thing available on a PC.
Claude Nichols
: I bought one of the Mickey games for my son, Max (who
: Source things to go with it. The Sound Source constantly freaked out,
: making horrid, slowed down noises that scared Max.
: When I got a Sound Blaster
: a few months later, I figured everything would be okay. Yeah, right. I
: should have looked at the special appendix in the manual that said that
: Mickey's ABC had problems with THE MOST POPULAR SOUND CARD IN THE UNIVERSE.
I'm no tech-type, but do know we liked Mickeys ABC and 123 when
we had the Sound Source. (hey, it was cheap) But we also had trouble
with the cable coming constantly loose, since it kludges into the
printer port.
We thought we would be upgrading when we, too, got the Sound Blaster,
but it wouldn't work at all. What a pit, now Mickey doesn't talk
at all anymore, and we can only use PC sound which is a bunch of
pitiful blips and beeps.
Needless to say, Mickey games aren't played much anymore in this house.
: I'm glad I heard about the Lion King problems before I took a chance on this
: one.
This is another one I owe to RAD. I almost bought the LKASB, but
was *very* forewarned here. Thanks, guys!
: V-X @ Teleport, best dang net access in Oregon! (Vancouver, WA, too!)
: --The Flaming Carrot
Don't you mean Vancouver, USA 8-}
...home of Burgerville, USA?
--
Janna Nichols...FDC Rolly..."I'm hungry mother, I really am!"
_ _
/ \_-~~~~_/ \
/ ( ) \
/ _( @ @ )- \ It's Official!
\ / ( O ) \ /
V ( \_/ ) V
{uuu}
David Cline
>The problem is that it's made by Disney. I wish it were not true, but
>Disney Software is notorious for wonderful, amazing games that any little
>kid would die for that, unfortunately don't seem to have been written to run
>on any existing PC.
I have to say that I've had few problems with Disney software
(Mickey's 1-2-3, Mickey's ABC's, Mickey's Colors&Shapes, the
Lion King CD). When I did run into a problem after I upgraded
my system, the Disney Software tech support folks sent me new
disks without question. The patches were also available on
their bulletin board. So, it's not all quite as bleak as some
have painted it.
The biggest problem is that all this software runs on *my* PC
and now my daughter has somehow begun to think of it as hers!
--
Dave Cline dcl...@netcom.com
Spring Valley Software
Barry Pickles
evaluate personally, so, the stuff that we've seen and *know* that it's a
good product, we sell with a "No Quibble" money-back guarantee, the rest
we sell with a standard warranty against defective material.
Things like Lion King that basically work, but are so badly written that
customers feel they are being ripped off are a bit more problematical,
since it's hard to return the stock to the supplier on the basis that its
naff. What we then say to the customer, on the stuff where we don't offer
the "No Quibble" guarantee, is that he's expected to know the quality of
the stuff before he buys it, so he'll only get a refund if the software
doesn't work. In the case of Lion King, we have withdrawn this item from
our catalogue.
Interestingly enough, the law has just changed in the UK. Previously, it
was required that goods sold should be of "merchantable quality" - basically,
they should work and do the job that they claim to do. From Jan 1 1995, this
test has changed to one of "acceptable standard", which means a whole new
ballgame and, I suspect, will turn out to be a can of worms. Lion King would
pass under the old test, but whether it would pass the new test is debateable.
Barry
--
*******************************************
* Internet: Ba...@Nexthire.demon.co.uk *
* Fidonet : Barry Pickles at 2:252/150 *
* Tel: +44 (0)161 436 2095 *
* Fax: +44 (0)161 437 2676 *
* <<< PEEL HALL TECHNOLOGIES >>> *
*******************************************
Disneynut6
mac, plugged it in, installed the software and off I went, no problems.
My friend who has a IBM compatible computer bought his modem, brought it
home plugged it in, and it didn't work, and neither did his sound card
which had worked previously. So after 3 days of working on it changing
IRQ's, addresses, software, com ports, talking to tech support, he got
them running. Then a month later he added a CD-ROM drive and it screwed
everything all up again. Vendors try to write the stuff for all the
different IBM's and they all write it their own way. Apple publishes
books of instructions on how they want software written for their
computers and they being the only company (currently) producing macs,
almost all software, including shareware works on macs. Obviously there
are some problems but not as many as I have seen in my course of life.
-Michael
--------------------------------------------------
| "The Purpose of Life is to matter, to count, |
| to stand for something, to have it make some |
| difference that we lived at all." -Rostenwhich |
--------------------------------------------------
brut...@netcom.com
: My friend who has a IBM compatible computer bought his modem, brought it
: home plugged it in, and it didn't work, and neither did his sound card
: which had worked previously. So after 3 days of working on it changing
Because of this, Microsoft and other companies are leading the revolution
to "Plug and Play" technology. No compatibility issues, no hassles, no
Lion King CD rom fiascos. How long it will take to get to the "Plug and
Play" state is anybody's guess...but yes, DOS/Windows based systems are
are a long way from Mac compatibility.
Sherline Lee
Wait till Windows 4.0.
:)
--
Sherline Lee
sher...@nwu.edu ()_()
Northwestern University (_)
ResCon/Disney Nut Jasmine
Huck7
>>>How long it will take to get to the "Plug and
>>>>Play" state is anybody's guess...but yes, DOS/Windows based systems
>>>are are a long way from Mac compatibility.
>Wait till Windows 4.0.
I hate to break the news to you but Windows 4.0...Chicago...Windows
'95...whatever, is a hopeless dog! I've seen it!
You DOS/Windows folks deserve much better! Demand it!!