System requirements

You'll need a computer designed for gaming to run this software. I'd recommend at least a dual core system, with 2 or better 4 Gigabytes of memory. About half a gigabyte of disk-space is needed for this package.

Video card: Now this is very important. You'll need a decent video card that is able to play 3D accelerated games. A video card built into the motherboard of your computer probably won't cut it. Examples of video cards that are OK, are recent cards based on an NVIDIA GeForce chip, or on a ATI Radeon chip.

Sound card: The sound system scales very well from plain stereo towards 7.1 surround. Any recent sound card will do, but the cheap ones tend to generate some jitter and won't give you the best sound possible. A high-end soundblaster card is OK. Or you could try one of the more professional sound cards like the ones from M-Audio.

(For now, your sound card should come with surround drivers for surround to work. I'll fix this later on.)

Installation

Just run the installer. You can choose where to install the program. Best to install someplace where you don't need admin rights to change files. (So don't install in program files folder.)

Configuration

Once you've started the game for the first time, press 'O' and look at the frame rate. You should see a number above 20. If not, go to graphic options (press ESC, choose graphic options) and adjust the configuration. Less detail will turn off fancy stuff like extra lights, plants and a day/night circle but it will improve your frame rate. Turning off Shadows also helps a lot.

Controls

Use the arrow buttons or ASDW to move around. Rotate the view with the mouse, with the right mouse button down. If you multi-task a bit and rotate while pressing the forward button, you probably won't need the other directions.

Jumping can be done with the space bar. You can crouch with the left Control key, but there is no reason to do so. If you get stuck somewhere, use Left CTRL + R to transport yourself to a safe place.

Soundball control

The main goal of this environment is to listen to sounds and manipulate them. Sounds are represented by balls. You can:

• select a ball by clicking on it with the left mouse button;
• drag a selected ball around by holding down the left mouse button when hovering over it, and moving your mouse around;
• pick up and carry a ball by double clicking on it;
• throw a carried ball in a certain direction by double clicking on the terrain while carrying a ball;
• change the pitch and volume of a ball by using the properties window at the bottom;
• have a ball moving along a custom made route by using the Edit button on the right side of the properties window. You will also need to use the start button and the speed slider for this.

All adjustments you make are automatically saved when you exit the program, and loaded when you start it. Should you want to delete the changes you've made, simply delete the file Data/savegame.