Read Me - Scattered Flurries 1.0.2b1 (DirectX)

Notes

Scattered Flurries is a screensaver that displays snow falling gently in the breeze.

This version of Scattered Flurries is a port of the original OpenGL-based Mac OS X screensaver. This version runs under DirectX.

This software is in beta status due to a lack of sufficient testing, particularly for operating systems other than Windows XP SP2 or for multi-monitor configurations.

For updates and other versions of this screensaver, please visit http://www.whiteknightlogic.net/code.php?6.

Cheers,
Martin Thorne
martin.thorne@whiteknightlogic.net
June 15, 2007.

System Requirements

DirectX 9.0c or later
Windows XP Service Pack 2
3D accelerated graphics card recommended

This software has not been tested with any versions of Windows Vista, and is not known to function properly under it.

Installation

Extract the files from this .zip file using the zip extraction program of your choice. You have probably already done this.
Place the ScatteredFlurriesDX.scr file in the directory containing all your other .scr files. This directory varies between versions of Windows, but it's probably something like "Windows\System32\". Alternately, you may move the .scr file somewhere where it won't be deleted, right-click on it, and choose the "Install" option.
Open your "Display Properties" window by right-clicking on your desktop background and selecting "Properties". Click on the "Screen Saver" tab and select "ScatteredFlurriesDX".

Options

Scattered Flurries has a several parameters that can be set to adjust the behavior of the particle system. To change Scattered Flurries's options, open the "Display Properties" window by right-clicking on your desktop background and selecting "Properties". Click on the "Screen Saver" tab, select "ScatteredFlurriesDX" from the list of screen savers, and click on the "Settings" button.

Snowflakes	Adjusts the number of snowflakes onscreen at a time.
Wind	Adjusts the average speed of the wind.
Fractal Wind	Turns on the Fractal Wind setting. Fractal Wind uses a Perlin Noise fractal to create localized variations in the intensity of the wind field. This produces subtly more realistic wind.
Reset	Resets all settings to their default values.

Scattered Flurries is neither computationally nor graphically intensive and should run smoothly on virtually any fairly recent computer. If you are experiencing slowdown or stuttering, try reducing the "Snowflakes" slider or turning off "Fractal Wind".

Development History

1.0.0 (Mac OS X)
- Initial release version.

1.0.1 (Mac OS X)
- Wind model parameters tweaked.

1.0.2 (Mac OS X)
- Improvements to wind model.
- Fixed a memory leak.

1.0.2b1 (Windows DirectX)
- Initial Windows release.

Disclaimer

This software is provided as is. The author accepts no liability for any damage arising in any way whatsoever from the use, reproduction, modification or distribution of this software.