Magic Story Book

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Screenshots - Magic Story Book

Magic Story Book atari screenshot
Magic Story Book atari screenshot
Magic Story Book atari screenshot
Magic Story Book atari screenshot
Magic Story Book atari screenshot
Magic Story Book atari screenshot

Information - Magic Story Book

GenreMiscellaneousYear1995
LanguageSTOS BASICPublisherST Format
ControlsMouseDistributorFuture Publishing
Players1Developer[n/a]
ResolutionLowLicensed from-
Programmer(s)

Dunn, Richard

CountryUnited Kingdom
Graphic Artist(s)

Dunn, Richard / Dunn, Jayne

SoftwareEnglish
Game design

Dunn, Richard / Dunn, Jayne

Box / InstructionsEnglish
Musician(s)

[n/a]

LicensePD / Freeware / Shareware
Sound FX

[unknown]

Serial
Cover Artist(s)ST TypeST, STe / 0.5MB
MIDIVersion
Dumpdownload atari Magic Story Book Download / MSANumber of Disks1 / Double-Sided
Protection

Additional Comments - Magic Story Book

Other versions with the same title:


Soft Stuff (United Kingdom), ST Format (version [preview]) ().

Instructions - Magic Story Book

***************************************
*                                     *                                     *
*           MAGIC STORYBOOK           *
*   (c) Jayne and Richard Dunn 1992   *
*                                     *                                                              
***************************************

Authors
Jayne and Richard Dunn
26 Bennett Drive
Warwick
CV34 6QJ
ENGLAND

tel 01926 496691  >6pm

15th December 1994


Welcome to MAGIC STORYBOOK, a truly  
unique, interactive package for children 
of all ages!

MAGIC STORYBOOK is not public domain 
software but shareware.

This product is subject to the copyright 
of the authors.

It may only be copied in accordance with 
the instuctions given in the section on 
registration.

It may only be distributed by libraries 
which agree not to tamper in any way 
with the code or document files.

For full terms of usage please read the 
section on registration.

**************************************

MAGIC STORYBOOK though originally 
produced in 1991 is still one of the 
most versatile educational packages 
currently available for the ST.  
Children can use this remarkable 
program:

     -To effortlessly create illustrated 
     stories, cartoons or animated models
     -To bring these stories to life 
     with easy animation
     -To add atmospheric sound effects
     -To save and print out their work  
     The use of this program can be as 
     simple or as complex as children 
     wish it to be: the stories that 
     they produce will be limited only 
     by their progressing abilities and 
     their imaginations.

MAGIC STORYBOOK was received with rave 
reviews on the TV and in the press.

We were asked with our daughter Rebecca  
to appear on Rolf Harris' Cartoon Club 
in September 1992. He was very impressed 
and said:

-"It's terrific! It's great! It's a joy 
for children!"
-"What a magic storybook!"

ST Format magazine gave the program a 
three page colour review (November 1991) 
and its reviewer said:

-"Where MAGIC STORYBOOK really scores is 
that it's got virtually all of these 
facilities (animation, word processor, 
art package and sound editor) in one 
package, and integrates them all in a 
very innovative way........there are so 
many levels and so many aspects in it 
that there isn't really an upper age 
limit. This program will grow and 
develop as your child does - something 
of a rarity these days."

MAGIC STORYBOOK is now available for 
anyone to try in this new updated 
shareware version, specially made for ST 
FORMAT. The only difference between this 
and the full version is that only one 
saved game filename can be made and this 
version will not run on a hard disc.

For help on how to use MAGIC STORYBOOK 
go to the HOW TO USE section of this 
file.

***************************************
*                                     *
*       REGISTRATION AS A MAGIC       *
*           STORYBOOK USER            *
*                                     *                                                               
***************************************

MAGIC STORYBOOK contains all of the 
main program, editor and 3 out of the 5 
of the stories available on the 
original MAGIC STORYBOOK, and is 
available for you to try entirely free 
for 1 month. If after that time you want 
to continue to use the program then 
please register as a user with us.

This will cost you...
*UK users............10 Pounds sterling
*All other users.....12 Pounds sterling


Please only send..
*Postal orders or
*Cheques payable to J.DUNN
drawn on UK banks only or
*International postal orders if you are 
not a UK resident
 
for the correct sum to...

          Jayne and Richard Dunn
          26 Bennett Drive
          Warwick, ENGLAND
          CV34 6QJ

On receipt of your registration fee we 
will register you as a user and send to 
you:

     * A 20000 word illustrated  manual 
     complete with tutorials and 
     parent/teacher helps. This manual 
     was originally written by a teacher 
     and former ST Format educational 
     software reviewer.

     * 2 brand new stories

     * 1 meg hard disc version of 
     MAGIC STORYBOOK
     This version has the MAGIC 
     STORYBOOK program and EDITOR in the 
     same program. It is ideal for users 
     with at least 1 megabyte of RAM. It 
     also is fully Hard Disc 
     installable, making it ideal for 
     schools

     * Sprite to picture convertor. This 
     allows any sprite from any  
     MAGIC STORYBOOK story to be used in 
     your own original stories

     * Back up for MAGIC STORYBOOK 
     users. 
     
             
You will then have essentially the same 
product that was available in the shops 
at 29 Pounds 95p for as little as 
10 Pounds and the cost of this disc. Not 
a bad deal for you, something for us for 
the work that we have put in and an 
incentive to develop MAGIC STORYBOOK in 
the future. We are sure that you will 
consider it the best 10 pounds you have 
ever spent on childrens software.

The best thing to do is just try this 
program and see for yourself how much 
fun it is to use. You and your children 
will be able to experiment with all the 
functions of MAGIC STORYBOOK. 

We hope you enjoy this program and if 
you do, we hope that you will register. 
If you do not want to use it however 
please pass it on to somebody else. IT 
MAY BE COPIED FOR THIS PURPOSE ONLY but 
only provided all the files on this disc 
are kept together (in fact MAGIC 
STORYBOOK won't work if any files are 
altered or left out). It may be exactly 
what they are looking for.


***************************************
*                                     *
*      LET'S SPELL FIRST FIVE         *
*           HUNDRED WORDS             *
*                                     *                                                               
***************************************

The LET'S SPELL series of programs were 
widely acclaimed as the best spelling 
programs on the Atari ST and the Amiga. 
They are now available in Archimedes and 
IBM PC formats and have so far sold over 
10,000 copies in this country alone.

Let's Spell 1st Five Hundred Words 
knocks the socks off the old Let's Spell 
series. Not only does it contain 3 times 
as many words as each of the original 
Let's Spell programs but also has each 
word in English and French. If that is 
not enough it also contains an editor 
which will allow you to include your own 
words in any european language that uses 
ascii characters.

It is only available for the Atari ST 
and will work with a 1/2 meg of memory.
It will NOT run on TOS 2.06!

Would your children or schoolchildren 
benefit from a spelling program that 
had:

     * 500 of the most commonly used 
     words in English and French

     * The facility to change ANY of 
     these words

     * Varying difficulty levels age 4 
     to 40

     * Remedial teaching potential

     * 25 Attractive interactive screens 
     that can be individually altered

     * Multiple teacher control options 
     to customise the spelling task for 
     your children

     * Built in synthesized speech in 
     English and French which also 
     can be altered

     * The facility for you to convert 
     it to ANY European language

Interested?

Then this will cost you...
*UK users............10 Pounds sterling
*All other users.....12 Pounds sterling

Please only send..
*Postal orders or
*Cheques payable to J.DUNN 
drawn on UK banks only or
*International postal orders if you are 
not a UK resident
 
for the correct sum to...

     Jayne and Richard Dunn
     26 Bennett Drive
     Warwick, ENGLAND
     CV34 6QJ


***************************************
*                                     *
*     How to use MAGIC STORYBOOK      *
*          (c) J&R DUNN 1991          *
*                                     *                                                              
***************************************

This is a very brief account of how to 
use MAGIC STORYBOOK. The best thing 
is to try all the control icons and see 
what they do...most are obvious.

Remember if you register you will 
receive a detailed printed and 
illustrated  manual and tutorial.

L click means click the left mouse 
button
R click means click the right mouse 
button

If you cannot see immediately what a 
function does then try clicking with 
both mouse buttons and then move the 
pointer off the menu bar. You can't 
crash the program by clicking on 
anything. If you get to the stage that 
you want to understand how the more 
complex functions operate then you 
probably need to register following 
which you will receive all the goodies 
mentioned earlier and full instructions.

***************
GETTING STARTED
***************

You can put this disc into drive A and 
boot up the computer if you just want to 
see what  MAGIC STORYBOOK can do. If you 
want to do more with it though you will 
need to make up some discs.

Check the contents of the AUTO folder of 
this ST Format disc. 
If it  contains a file called 
MSBK1040.PRG then you have a 1 Meg 
version of MAGIC STORYBOOK. You a need a 
1 Meg ST to run this.
If it  contains 2 files called 
MSBK520.PRG and MSBKEDIT then you have a 
1/2 Meg version of MAGIC STORYBOOK.
If it  contains all 3 of the above files 
then you have both versions of
MAGIC STORYBOOK.

If you have a 1 meg ST always use the 
1 Meg version. 
 

1) If you have a 1 meg version of 
MAGIC STORYBOOK. We suggest that you 
copy this disk and call it the MAGIC 
STORY disc. Go to step 4.

2) If you have the 1/2 meg version of 
MAGIC STORYBOOK. We suggest that you 
that you make 2 copies of this disc. 
Call one the MAGIC STORY disc and the 
other the EDITOR disc.

3) Open the AUTO folder of the EDITOR 
disc and delete the file MSBK.PRG. You 
now have a working disc and an editor 
disc.

4) If you want to save your stories or 
pictures, format 2 blank discs.
Call one the WORKBOOK disc and the other 
the PICTURES disc.

5) Create a folder called WORKBOOK on 
the WORKBOOK disc and then create a 
folder called PICTURES on the PICTURES 
disc.

The WORKBOOK is used for saving your 
stories. The PICTURES disc is used for 
storing Degas PI1 or Neochrome picture 
files. Any part of these files can be 
grabbed into the  MAGIC STORYBOOK 
Editor.


****************************
LOADING MAGIC STORYBOOK
****************************


Place either this disc or the MAGIC 
STORY disk in drive A and switch on 
computer.

At the first menu select a story using 
the mouse. L click to load it.

MAGIC STORYBOOK loads in a story 
and runs a demo of the first page.
L click to stop this.
L click on MENU to go to main menu.

*********************
THE MAIN MENU SCREEN
********************

You will see a message reminding you 
that MAGIC STORYBOOK is Shareware and 
that a limited save is on. This means 
that any work that you want to save will 
always be saved with the filename 
NOREGYET. On registration this message 
disappears and any number of files can 
then be saved with any name at all.
Remember that the registered version can 
also be used on a hard disc.
 
SCENE
This takes you to the picture designer.

STORY
This takes you to the story editor.

SOUND
This takes you to the sound editor.

PLAY 
The play button allows a child to 
play back the story as an animated play. 
This is cartoon making made easy.

EDIT
HAVE YOU REGISTERED YET?
This is only accessible if you have 
have the 1 meg MAGIC STORYBOOK program.

However MAGIC STORYBOOK comes with 
a seperate Editor program.
With this editor:
-sprites can be completely changed or 
just altered -animation movements can be 
edited under direct visual control
-backgrounds can be effortlessly redrawn 
using a built in paint package
-background blocks can be edited 
-artwork from other packages can be 
imported

To use this Editor see the section on 
using the Editor.

Look at the demonstration story for an 
idea of what can be done with the  
MAGIC STORYBOOK EDITOR.


PRINT
Print your story as:
-text only
-it appears on the screen along with the 
picture
-an outline for colouring in
-to disk
You will need an epson compatible 9 pin 
printer with double density graphics 
capability connected and on line.
Printing to disk as a degas pi1 file 
allows users with incompatible printers 
to see their work in print.
-Print a page to disc. You will need a 
PICTURES disc to do this.

LOAD
-load in a new story
-load a demonstration story 
-load a previously saved story.

SAVE
Save your masterpiece to disk.
You will need your WORKBOOK disc for 
this. 
One double sided disk will save about 5 
stories.
Remember your stories can only be saved 
with the name NOREGYET. This is done 
automatically by the programme. The 
registered version removes this 
constraint.


(5+/8+)
L click.. to toggle between age modes.


QUIT
This is not available as an icon but if 
the ESC keyboard key is held down for 2 
seconds while on this screen the 
programme ends.
Also pressing CONTROL/C will quit 
the programme.


All the screens are accessible from this 
main menu screen.
Also you can always get to the picture 
and story screens by clicking on the 
picture and the story page.

Turning pages is done by clicking on the 
left and right page edge. Actually on 
the yellow clasp. This can't be done 
from the main menu screen.


****************
THE SCENE SCREEN
****************


SELECT SPRITE
L click.. on sprite to pick it up.
Position sprite then..
L click again.. to place it on picture.
R click.. to drop it .

MENU, STORY and SOUND
As before.

OOPS
L click.. moves mouse pointer into the 
picture area. Place pointer over the 
Sprite to be removed. It will flash. L 
click again to erase it. To exit move 
pointer away from picture.
R click.. clears all the sprites.

PLAY
L click.. animate picture.
R click.. animate picture with sound 
effects.

UP/DOWN arrows
These alter sprite priority (ie Z axis 
position).
Default is automatic (ie higher sprites 
are behind lower sprites).
R click.. automatic priority
L click.. manual priority.
     L click again and position pointer 
     on sprite to be moved.
          L click.. to move sprite 
          backwards.
          R click.. to move sprite 
          forwards.
Move pointer off picture to exit.

BACK
L click.. turns pointer into background 
block (a tree).
L and R cursor keys will change pointer 
into other background blocks.
L click again.. to paint block onto 
background.
R click.. to exit.
This creates easy backgrounds in 
minutes.


L click.. moves background on one.
R click.. restores default background.
 
VIEW
L click.. selects next pages sprites.
R click.. restores default sprites for 
page.
An easy way to create your own story 
using the existing sprites.
 
The SCENE designer has been created to 
provide the utmost flexibility to the 
creative child. To this end there is no 
limit to where they can position the 
sprites on the page. Variation of this 
can produce some very interesting 
effects. Furthermore the sprites have 
been made to provide growing interest. 
Many sprites only become obvious after 
they are animated.


****************
THE STORY SCREEN
****************


MENU, SCENE and SOUND
As before.

By default the text is already on the 
page.
R click on OOPS will clear it.

All words are colour coded.
Red.. verbs
Blue.. nouns
Green.. adjectives and descriptive 
adverbs
Grey.. prepositions and other words

5+ option
Shows each sentence one by one.
L click.. on word will select that word.
R click.. on word box for new sentence.

8+ option
Shows all the words for that page at 
once.
L click.. on word will select that word.

OOPS
L click.. removes last word
R click.. removes all words

, " ? . !
Click to select punctuation

VIEW
L click.. selects next pages words.
R click.. restores default words for 
that page.
View allows more complex sentence 
construction by selection from a wider 
range of words.

EDIT
L click.. turns on word processor.
R click/ESC key.. turns off word 
processor.
The word processor has simple text wrap 
and allows any story to be written.
Cursor keys, insert, delete and 
backspace keys may be used. CLR/HOME key 
erases page and UNDO restores it.


****************
THE SOUND SCREEN
****************


SELECT SOUND
L click.. on blue sounds to select 
sound.

MENU, SCENE, STORY
These icons have already been explained.
 
OOPS
L click.. wipes the last sound and any 
wait data with it.
R click.. clears the whole sound string.

PLAY
Play sound string

WAIT
L click.. add 5/5th seconds to end of 
sound string.
R click.. add 1/5th second to end of 
sound string.

FORWARD/BACK (the left/right arrow 
icons)
Play NEXT sounds forward or backwards.
Must be set before choosing the sound.

LOOP and SWEEP
Play NEXT sounds as a loop or 
sweep(forward and backwards).
Must be set before choosing the sound.
Must be followed by a wait for this 
effect to be played in.

The sound menu has been designed to be 
as flexible as possible to allow you the 
choice of creating a multitude of 
sounds. On the other hand the basic 
sounds are availble for a very young 
child  to put in place.
Please note that samples are 2bit and 
therefore not of the best quality. If 
enough interest is generated we will be 
making available an 8bit sample version 
for registered users in the future.


****************
USING THE EDITOR
****************

Some shareware libraries may have put a 
program selection menu which is seen on 
booting up this disc. If so to use the 
Editor just select Editor and it will 
load and run.

Otherwise you will have to first make an 
EDITOR disc. Refer to Getting Started 
for how to do this.

To use the Editor you must first save 
out a story to edit. Do this using the 
SAVE option from MAGIC STORYBOOK. 
This will be saved to your WORKBOOK 
disc as a file called NOREGYET.

Now switch off the computer and boot up 
the EDITOR disc. When it has loaded and 
run  load your saved story in. It will 
be called NOREGYET.

You can now alter any aspect of the 
backgrounds, sprites and even movements. 
You can also grab sprites and 
backgrounds created on your favourite 
art package directly into MAGIC 
STORYBOOK. These pictures must be in the 
PICTURES folder of your PICTURES disc.

When you have made your changes goto 
EXIT and then save your new file with a 
different name to the WORKBOOK disc. 
This can then be loaded into MAGIC 
STORYBOOK. See LOAD for further help.

Complete instructions on every aspect of 
the Editor are in the  MAGIC STORYBOOK 
manual. This is available only on 
registration with us as a user.

We hope that you and your children 
enjoy this programme as much as ours 
have. We would welcome any comments you 
have and would be willing to answer any 
queries by registered users only.

Jayne and Richard Dunn
26 Bennett Drive
Warwick,ENGLAND
CV34 6QJ

tel 01926 496691 >6pm

Book / Magazine Reviews - Magic Story Book

 International TOS Software Catalog · Winter, 1992

Magic Story Book Atari review 

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