<blockquote>

See Copyright and Usage Notice

Installing WorldsAway

What do I Need to Play in WorldsAway?

To join the WorldsAway community you must have a Macintosh computer running System 7 or later, or a PC (minimum 486) running Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. As shown in the minimum machine table at the beginning of this chapter, your computer must have at least 8MB of memory, 25MB of free disk space, and a 256-color video monitor. A more powerful computer (Power Macintosh or Pentium PC) is a definite plus, but is not required.

Getting started and a few disclaimers

WorldsAway is easy to install and easy to use. You can get the WorldsAway software either from the CD in this book, or by downloading it through a CompuServe account, or directly from the Internet. There are two versions of the WorldsAway software on the CD, one for use through CompuServe, one for use directly through the Internet.

WorldsAway for CompuServe

If you wish to use WorldsAway through CompuServe, and you are not a member of CompuServe, you will have to subscribe to CompuServe first. The easiest way to do this is to call CompuServe directly and order the latest version of the software. You will have to arrange payment terms, probably by giving them your credit card number. CompuServe has operations in many countries. In the United States you can call CompuServe toll free at 800-524-3388. If you have access to the Internet already, you can visit the CompuServe home page at http://www.compuserve.com. You may be able to download the CompuServe Information Manager (CIM) directly from the home page.

If you are using WorldsAway with CompuServe, you will be charged for the hours you spend beyond your free hours per month. Check for CompuServeís monthly free hours and rates. WorldsAway can be addicting, so you may want to consider investing in a flat-rate, unlimited use plan.

WorldsAway for the Internet

If you decide to install the version of WorldsAway that works directly with the Internet, you may be able to use it free of charge for some period of time. More information on the amount of free time will be contained in the software.

More About the Companion CD Software

WorldsAway is constantly evolving, and may have changed since this chapter was written. We placed the very latest version of WorldsAway on your book CD and it may have some differences from what is described here. These differences will not be major, and this chapter will still be a great guide to WorldsAway. If you see new features or changes, you should check for information under the Help menu in WorldsAway.

[Sidebar with help icon:
Keep up-to-date on your favorite worlds; visit your Avatars! book Web site often

As a special service for readers of Avatars! , I have a special home page on the World Wide Web devoted to keeping you up-to-date on your favorite worlds. Find news about software updates, social events held within these virtual worlds, and brand new worlds you might want to try at http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars. Bookmark it!
..end of sidebar]

If you have questions or problems

If you have questions or problems installing or running WorldsAway, consult the, ìWorldsAway and the Dreamscape Frequently Asked Questions,î at the end of this chapter. If this does not help, check the WorldsAway home page at http://www.worldsaway.com, and the WorldsAway known problems page at http://www.worldsaway.com/Worldsaway/mac/known.html for Mac users, andhttp://www.worldsaway.com/Worldsaway/win/known.htmlfor PC users. Note that if CompuServe is connected, you can access the Web through its built-in Web browser.

If you are experiencing problems with CompuServe, and can still access the Internet, I suggest you visit the CompuServe home page at http://www.compuserve.com. If you cannot access the Internet or CompuServe, you might try calling CompuServe for technical support in your country. In the United States, reach CompuServe toll free at 800-524-3388.

Another good source of information on how to use WorldsAway is the on-line help files. Just select the Help menu in WorldsAway and use the table of contents or index to find the topic you are looking for. In addition, the WorldsAway Quickstart Guide, found on the Web at http://www.worldsaway.com/quick/, and the WorldsAway Dreamscape User Guide, found at http://www.worldsaway.com/Worldsaway/userguide/dreamscape/guide.html, are excellent WorldsAway references.

Fujitsu Software Corporation and I appreciate your feedback on Avatars! but donít have the resources to provide technical support. We would be happy to hear about your experiences in the WorldsAway Dreamscape. Contact us through the Avatars! book Web site at http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars.

UNIX and OS/2 versions

At this writing, there are no native versions of WorldsAway for UNIX or OS/2. Check the WorldsAway and Avatars! book Web pages for updates on new versions which might support these platforms. You may also be able to run WorldsAway using a Windows emulation system on non-Windows platforms.

[Start of installation section..

Installing WorldsAway on your computer

If you are a member of CompuServe, and have your CompuServe Information Manager (MacCIM 2.4.2 or greater for Macintosh users, or WinCIM 1.4 or greater for PC users) installed, you are ready to install and enter WorldsAway. If you have a direct connection to the Internet or a dial-up PPP connection, you can use WorldsAway, you can install and enter the Dreamscape without first having to subscribe to CompuServe.

You can obtain your WorldsAway software in one of three ways:

from the book CD
by downloading it through CompuServe or by installing it from your CompuServe 3.0 CD where it is found in the Extras folder
by downloading it from the Internet

Bear with me through the following step-by-step instructions and soon you will be experiencing life as an avatar in the WorldsAway Dreamscape!

Installing WorldsAway from Your Avatars! CD

If you have a CD-ROM drive on your Macintosh or PC, you can install WorldsAway directly from the book CD-ROM. If you donít have a CD-ROM drive, skip right to the following sections, ìDownloading, installing or upgrading WorldsAway through CompuServe,î or ìInstalling or upgrading WorldsAway from the Internet.î In Chapter 20 we provide a step by step example of installing from the CD-ROM. I suggest you refer to this chapter and follow the same steps for WorldsAway. Once the installation program on your CD-ROM has started, you can return to this chapter to the section: ìRunning the Installation.î

Downloading, installing, or upgrading WorldsAway through CompuServe

If you are a CompuServe customer, you can download the WorldsAway software through your account. To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Start CompuServe and connect.

Figure 8.2: wa0b.jpg

Find the Go menu in CompuServe.

2. Select the Services menu and pick Go... as shown in the previous figure.

Figure 8.3: wa0c.jpg

Enter AWAY into the Go dialogue box.

3. A dialogue will be presented to you; enter the word AWAY and click OK.

Figure 8.4: wa0d.jpg

The WorldsAway dialogue; select Download WorldsAway Software.

4. You will see the WorldsAway dialogue box. This is your main gateway into WorldsAway from CompuServe. Select Download WorldsAway Software. This starts the download process. As the file is 14MB or larger, you will have to wait an hour or longer (depending on the speed of your connection to CompuServe). Go and grab a book to read while you are waiting. I recommend a good fantasy like J.R.R. Tolkienís The Hobbit, which will put you into a good frame of mind for the Dreamscape. Neal Stephensonís Snow Crash, is also an excellent primer for cocktail conversations in the Dreamscape. Note that the time spent on CompuServe downloading WorldsAway is free. You will not be charged for this time.

Go next to the section, ìRunning the Installation.î

Installing or upgrading WorldsAway from the Internet

If you have an Internet connection and want the very latest version of WorldsAway, or were informed that you had to upgrade the version found on your Avatars! CD, then you can just download it. If you havenít done this before, donít panic, it is easier than you might think!

Connect to the Internet (dial up with your modem or make sure your Internet connection is active).
Start your Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
At the top of the browser window, you will see a long area often called Location, where you can enter text (the addresses of web pages).
Click in this area, delete the text inside, type in http://www.worldsaway.com, and press Enter.
After a few moments, the home page for WorldsAway should appear. If nothing comes up for a long time, check to see that you are online.
If the WorldsAway page is not available for some reason, try entering the location for the Avatars! home page, which is http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars. This page may contain more up-to-date links for WorldsAway.
Once you are at the WorldsAway home page, follow the instructions for downloading or upgrading the WorldsAway software. You can download versions of WorldsAway for the Macintosh, Windows 95 or Windows 3.1. In addition, you should select between the version for CompuServe (if you are a CompuServe subscriber) or for use directly through the Internet.
At some point, you will be presented with a dialogue box which will allow you to download the WorldsAway installer program to your hard disk; click Save File (Netscape) or Save As (Internet Explorer) to download the file to disk (or you can save it on your desktop if you are running a Macintosh or Windows 95).
You will be prompted next to choose a folder in which to save the downloaded file. Note where you choose to save the file and the name of the file itself (it could be something like wawin.exe, the Windows version of WorldsAway). I put all downloaded files in a folder which I call C:\download on the PC, and Download on the Mac.
Wait patiently; this download is large (about 14MB). It could take well over an hour, depending on the speed of your connection. You can do other work on the computer, but be careful not to interfere with the connection. Try not to do more work on the Internet while the download is progressing, and if you are using the regular telephone line for an Internet connection, donít try to make a telephone call. You may want to turn off any call-waiting feature you might have on your telephone line before starting the download. If someone calls in, this could interrupt your download.
After the download is finished, open the folder into which the file was downloaded and find the file. You are now ready to install WorldsAway, go next to the section, ìRunning the Installation.î

Running the Installation

Do you have a previous version of WorldsAway installed?

Whether you have obtained your WorldsAway software from the book CD, through CompuServe, or from the file you downloaded from the Internet, use this section to guide you through the installation. Note that if you downloaded WorldsAway from CompuServe or the Internet, the installation process may have changed. If this has happened, refer to the instructions on the WorldsAway Web site at http://www.worldsaway.com. The following steps take you through the installation process.

Close other programs before you start the installation. For the Macintosh, pick each running application from the application menu and close it. In Windows 95, you can do this by clicking on the running application icons on the task bar and then closing them. In Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, you can also use Alt+Tab to go to other running applications even when you cannot see the task bar. Simply hold down Alt while pressing Tab and select the icon representing the running application. If you are logged into CompuServe or the Internet, you should be able to leave the connection running while you install WorldsAway.

Figure 8.5: wa0f.jpg

Start the WorldsAway installation (CompuServe version).

If you downloaded WorldsAway, there should be a large file (14MB or more) in your download folder or subdirectory. The file should be named something like wawin.exe on a PC or ìWA (version #) Mac Installî on the Macintosh. Find this file from inside CompuServe, or by using the Find File extension on the Mac or file manager on your desktop for the PC and open or double-click it. As the preceding figure shows, a setup program will run and take you through the WorldsAway installation.

During installation, you will be presented with a license agreement and terms of service. I recommend reading and accepting them (the installation will not proceed if you donít). The following figure shows a dialogue which should appear when your WorldsAway has been successfully installed. Note that the installation may vary for the CompuServe version and the Internet version but both should be simple and not take long.

Figure 8.6: wa0a.jpg

Complete the WorldsAway installation (CompuServe version).

If you need assistance with installation of your CompuServe version, or have any other questions, visit the WorldsAway Community Forum on CompuServe (click on the Community Forum icon in the WorldsAway dialogue where you picked, Download WorldsAway Software, and leave a message for the forum staff in the Help Desk message section. For the Internet version, you can also find assistance and a list of frequently asked questions on the WorldsAway home page at http://www.worldsaway.com.

After completing the installation, locate the folder in which you downloaded the WorldsAway program (in C:\fjwa on a PC, WorldsAway on a Mac). You can create an alias for WorldsAway on your Macintosh desktop or create a shortcut on your Windows 95 desktop. WorldsAway will create an entry in Programs under the Start menu. If you are running Windows 3.1, you can find WorldsAway in its own program group.

I recommend that you do the following file clean up before you start getting absorbed in WorldsAway. After this, you will be ready to get started.

Clean up after installation

If you downloaded or copied the original WorldsAway installation file onto your desktop or into a folder, you can delete it after the installation is complete. You might also keep the original installer around just in case you have to reinstall it, but it is a large file (14MB or more), and it will take up valuable hard disk space.

The readme files and other WorldsAway documentation

There will be files called WorldsAway Readme and WorldsAway User Documentation inside the folder where WorldsAway is installed. If you open these files, you will find general information about this release of WorldsAway.

***