Seahaven Towers ReadMe File

Welcome to Seahaven Towers from the Longwood Wizards Guild. This information corresponds to Seahaven Towers version 2.0.3.

This document describes Seahaven Towers for users of MacOS Classic (MacOS 9.1 or better), MacOS X, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. The software and documentation are provided to you in accordance with your license agreement.

If you have installation problems, check for help online at

http://webstore.longwood.com/winxp/lwse/LwSeFAQs.html

We encourage you to read our End User License Agreement carefully before agreeing to it. We think you'll like our Household License, especially if you have both Mac and Windows computers in your home.

And now, we'd like to anticipate some questions.

SHOULD I TRY BEFORE I BUY?

Yes. We strongly encourage you to try the software on your system to make sure it functions as you expect before you purchase a license.

HOW DO I INSTALL THE PROGRAM?

Just run the Installer and answer the various questions on the screen as they come by.

MacOS 9.1 - 9.2, MacOS X: Seahaven_0203_Installer.app
Windows 2000, Windows XP: Seahaven_0203_Installer.exe

WHAT'S CHANGED FROM VERSION 2.0.2?

Some problems associated with saving files in the version for Windows users is the biggest change in this version, and those issues were sufficiently troublesome that we felt that a timely update was appropriate. A few other small problems, such as how windows are activated on the version for Mac users, have also been fixed.

The release notes for version 2.0.3 are included at the end of this file.

WHAT'S CHANGED FROM THE 1988 VERSION (1.0)?

This product is a lot more sophisticated than the original Seahaven Towers, and a lot of that sophistication is targeted towards our ability to bring you interesting and innovative products on a regular basis, say every six months or so. Several months ago we recognized that it would be very helpful to have the public use the progam - widespread usage helps to uncover any problems and issues. And because the original Seahaven Towers ran only on Mac, the folks who have signed up to try the software early on are mostly Mac users. So we chose to concentrate on the Mac release first and put it in the hands of those folks while continuing to work on the Windows version. Then somebody suggested VersionTracker.com, and we got just the right number of initial users from that approach. The knowledge gained from this approach proved very valuable in making the 2.0.1 version. Originally the 2.0.1 version was to have supported Windows, but there were some thorny issues that we felt could be best addressed with a Mac-only update that came out fairly quickly. So 2.0.2 was the first Windows release and 2.0.3 is the first Windows update release (and of course it's also a minor Mac udpate release).

As the 2.0.3 release was used to fix a few troublesome issues for Windows users, one more update release of Seahaven Towers 2.0 is still planned in which we will attempt to provide greater functionality in the areas of menu management and preferences, making both more flexible per various customer requests. No scheduled date for the 2.0.4 release is available at this time.

After 2.0.4, updates will be considered? when there is a significant advantage to our customers, for example when bugs are discovered that require attention, or when changes to one of the underlying operating systems require changes to our applications.

IS THERE ANY DOCUMENTATION?

Yes. The built-in help system contains a lot of information about the game, and you can reach it by selecting the Help Topics menu item from the Info menu.

WHY DO YOU REQUIRE AUTHENTICATION ON MACOS X?

We install the game so that all users can play it, not just the person who installs it. To do this, Apple recommends that authentication be used. We tried it without authentication and it wouldn't install.

We place the application in the Longwood Wizards Guild folder which is in turn placed in the Applications folder for locally shared applications.

We also install a small number of winnable games in the Longwood Wizards Guild folder which is in turn placed in the Applications Support folder for locally shared applications. (On MacOS 9, the Applications Support folder is kept in the System Folder, which is why Installer VISE has to ask where to put the winnable games cache.)

On MacOS X we do not put anything into the folder called System.

Please note that the best way to make sure the program will run correctly is to use the Installer. The installer will create the required folders with the correct permissions. If you drag folders from one system to another, that may not be true. If this occurs, you will get an alert that tells you that the LwRegistrar file could not be created.

If you wish to enter a registration (for example, by purchasing a license to use the application) or if you wish to upgrade to a newer version, you should be logged in using an account that has administrator privilege. For most Macs with a single user this will just be your main login, but if you have set up accounts with varying privileges you'll have to use one that has administrator privileges for upgrading or entering a registration.

WHERE IS THE LOG FILE?

Our Beta testers didn't want one, but since then at least one user has indicated a very strong preference for having one. What do you think?

ARE THERE ANY KNOWN ISSUES?

Text editing isn't used in very many places, but it has given us some problems. We saw one issue with the 2.0.0gm release but that has now been fixed. With greater exposure a few other bugs will likely show up.

Also, from time to time we've seen some problems with importing text from the system clipboard. This produces a scary error message but doesn't do much else. If you copy the text again from the source it often works just fine the second time.

For the latest news on bugs and other issues, check online at our page for Frequently Asked Questions:

http://webstore.longwood.com/lwse/LwSeFAQs.html

SHOULD I REPORT A BUG?

Yes, please. Our resources are pretty limited so we can't guarantee when a bug will be fixed or if it will be fixed, but we are certainly striving to make our products as good as possible, so we'd like to hear about problems. We were able to fix about 16 issues for the 2.0.1 release and about 10 for the 2.0.2 release, many of them customer reported.

HOW DO I REPORT A BUG?

Please use our online feedback form. Select Contact in the menu above, or just click here.

WHAT SHOULD I INCLUDE WITH THE BUG?

It would be helpful to know:

* which OS you're running;
* what kind of computer you're using; and,
* for users of MacOS 9, how much memory you have.

If a problem shows up as an alert with a cryptic number in parentheses, sending us that number (which pinpoints where the error is) would be very helpful.

WHAT OS VERSIONS DO YOU SUPPORT?

We support users of MacOS 9.1 or better for Classic Mac, and MacOS X. We also support users of Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

This may seem somewhat restrictive, but here's what's going on. For MacOS 9 users we require some of the advanced features of MacOS X, and Apple provides these features by including a system extension called CarbonLib. Systems prior to MacOS 9.1 do not seem to ship with a sufficient version of CarbonLib to support our applications. It's true that 9.0.4 can be upgraded to use the latest CarbonLib, but we're not in a good position to manage that upgrade for our customers, and bad things are pretty much likely to happen if we install our software without the proper version of CarbonLib being available. (CarbonLib is, of course, built in on MacOS X.)

For Windows users, we require some of the advanced features found only on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. We do not support users of Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, or Windows SE/ME.

WHAT ARE THE ARCHIVES FOR?

Archives allow you to share interesting games with friends without sending along all your scores and statistics. They also allow you to easily send along several games at a time. But, the most interesting aspects of archives will be more evident once follow-on products are available.

---

VERSION 2.0.3 RELEASE NOTES

Here are the Release Notes for version 2.0.3gm of Seahaven Towers.

New features in this release

None. This is an update release for users of Windows 2000 and Windows XP and fixes some problems with saving and reopening documents. It is also a very minor update release for users of MacOS. We intentionally kept the changes in this release to a minimum in order to maintain stability.

Bugs fixed in this release

1. For Registered users who use Windows 2000 or Windows XP, documents that were saved in a position that contained empty columns can now reopen such documents (it's somewhat mind-numbing that the author and the Beta testers never encountered this, but that's what happened). This one bug was the main reason for putting out an upgrade at this time.

2. For Registered users who use Windows 2000 or Windows XP, documents can now be stored on drives other than the one containing the operating system. (Customer reported)

3. For Windows users, some glitches in the Save dialog have been repaired. (Customer reported)

4. For Windows users, selection of text is no longer always word aligned. (Customer re