GRAPHOGAME User Guide: 1. User registration 2. Downloading the game using Internet Explorer browser or similar 3. Adding players and access rights to the games 3.1. adding a new player using the Graphogame server 3.2. adding a new player via the game 3.3. Adding access rights to different versions of the game 4. Starting Graphogame and playing
1. User registration You can register as Graphogame User from the following address: www.graphogame.com Before starting to registration process, please, click on the relevant flag on the top left hand corner of the site. In this way, the pages will be presented to you in the language related to the flag. Click on the text Register as new user. To continue registration, please enter in a box provided the code you have received from your scientist in charge (the easiest way is to copy and paste the code). You can register as Graphogame User by accepting the Terms and by providing the information required on the electronic registration form. After you have completed and submitted the form a personal user identification name (User Name) will be emailed to you. On the first page of the registration process is the description of the Service. Click on the text Continue to Terms of Service. If you agree to the Terms presented on the registration pages, please click on the text I have read and understood the above Terms and accept them. All under-aged players need to have a written permission from the guardian to use Graphogame. If you are not the parent/guardian of the player/s, the permission form for the players' guardians will be sent to you by email together with the user account information of Graphogame Service. You can also access the form the registration pages by clicking on the text Permission form. Click on the text continue Next, you will be asked to fill in your contact information (the contact information of Users). The details of the required information are presented to you on the Graphogame site. Please, be check that all the information that you give is correct before clicking on the send - button. Now you have registered as User and your user account information will be sent to your email address.
2. Downloading Graphogame using Internet browser Graphogame will be downloaded to the computer which the player/s use for accessing the game. In order to download the game, you need to log in to the Graphogame Server (www.graphogame.com). Click on the relevant flag in order to change the language used on Server. Please, write your User name and Password that were sent to your email. Click on the text Log in. Click on download game from the panel on the left. The games available to you are listed on this page. Notice that there are separate versions for Linux, Mac OS and Windows operating systems and by clicking on the correct operating system the game versions that work on the particular system will be presented. Notice that the computer needs to have the Java software installed in order to run Graphogame. The latest free version of the Java software can be found from the following address: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp Play-links ( ) start the game's Web Start -version. The Web Start version does not need to be installed, it loads and starts automatically if Java Web Start has been installed on the computer. Web Start -versions of games are updated automatically. Download-links ( ) download the game's installation package. The game must manually be installed from the package. After that the game can be started. These games will not update automatically. The recommended link to be used is the Play-links, so if you have the appropriate version of the Java Web Start program on you computer, please click the text Start the Web Start version next to the Play-links icon ( ). Now, there is a Graphogame icon on your computer s desktop. Please, click on this Icon in order to access the game.
3 Adding players and providing access rights to different versions of the game In order to start plaing Graphogame, information of each player needs to be provided first. If the supervisor (a parent or teacher etc.) would like to try out the game, they should select Test player -button once the game has been opened. For all the real players background information will need to be provided. You can add players to the game either through the game itself or from the Graphogame server page. 3.1. Adding a new player using the Graphogame server After you have logged in to the Graphogame server (from www.graphogame.com) from the list on the left side panel, go to Players and select Add Player. Create a player name (it is best to choose a name that the player will definitely know how to write correctly). No spaces or special characters are allowed. Notice that the player names need to be different for each player. For instance, if you have two players with the same first name, you could use the first letter of the surname after the first name (e.g., John Smith and John Jones -> the player names JohnS and JohnJ ). If there is more than one game available, select the one or the ones that you want your player to use. Please give all the required information about your player/s. After you have given all the information your player is created. Next time you open Graphogame, the player name that you have created will be shown on the list of players. By clicking on the player name, you or the player can select the player character. Notice that once the character has been chosen, every time this player plays the game the very same character has to be selected. 3.2. Adding a new player from the game Click on the Graphogame icon from you computer s desktop and log in to the game. After the game has opened, click on the create player button. This can be found after the opening page (click on the big arrow) on the page where you can choose a character for a player.
You are required to fill in information about each player. Make sure that all the information that you provide is correct. No spaces or special characters are allowed. Notice that the player names need to be different for each player. For instance, if you have two players with the same first name, you could use the first letter of the surname after the first name (e.g., John Smith and John Jones -> the player names JohnS and JohnJ ). After you have given all the information your player is created. The server checks automatically whether the created player is already a Graphogame player. The program tells if there already exists a player name for the player. In such case the player will continue to use the player name that has been previously created and there is no need to give the background information twice for the same player. Finally it is the time to select a player character for the player. The player name that you have just created will be shown on the right side of the page. Select the player name, and then you will get to choose the player character. It is recommended that the character will be chosen together with the player since the player has to use the same character every time s/he plays the game. Now the player can start playing the game. 3.3. Adding access rights to different versions of the game If there is more than one Graphogame version available for the player, there is no need to give the player s background information every time the player starts to play a new game version. The access to a new game version is given from the Graphogame server (www.graphogame.com). After logging in to the server, go to Players and select from there List players. Select and click on the player name that you would like to give rights to access a new game version. At the bottom of the Player details page, under the Add player profile and rights to the game there is a pull-down menu from which you can select the game version that you would like your player to use. Finally, click on the add playing rights button. The player uses the same player name and character when playing under a different user (supervisor) as in the case when the player wants to play the game both at home and at school. It is important that for the same player identical background information is provided by all the users. This enables the player to use the game in different places and under different users as if there would only be one game version (that is, the game will continue from exactly
the same point where the player stopped playing the last time s/he played even if the game has been played using different computers). 4 Starting Graphogame and playing the game The game automatically creates a short cut (the game icon) on the computer s desktop once the game has been downloaded or the game has been started using the web-start option. By double clicking the icon the game will open. If there is no short cut icon on the desktop, the game can be found from the folder where it was downloaded. The game opens with a log in window. Please, write your User name and password and then click on the ok button. Notice that the User name and the password are personal and you are responsible for the correct use of these. Do not give your User name or your password to anyone. If you use Graphogame on a computer that no other User uses Graphogame, then you may tick the box where it says Remember the User name and the password. If, however, there is a possibility that another user would like to use Graphogame from the same computer then do not tick this box. Once you have ticked the box, the User name and password will not be asked when the game is started the next time. Thus, anyone can start the game using your User name and password and get access to your players and their games. Next, the boot menu window will appear. By clicking on the start the game button the game will start. If the game does not work appropriately, you may change the user settings (for example with an older computer with a slower processor, you may try to use the JAVA2D graphics motor). If the game does not get connection to the Graphogame server, this also will be shown from the boot menu window. The connection is required at the first time the game is used, but on the subsequent times the game can be played even without a connection to the Graphgoame server. However, in order to save the game log data on to the Graphogame server, the game has to be connected to our server. Thus, it is recommended that the game is used with a net connection when possible. Once Graphogame starts, a window appears in which the following action options are presented: - Change User - The game settings (e.g. resolution and volume) By clicking on Start the game the player selection window appears. Once a player or players have been created, the player name/s appear at the right side of the window. The player character is selected the first time the player name is selected. The player character is selected only once and it cannot be changed afterwards.
Once the player name and character has been selected, the next time the player starts to play the game, s/he will select her/his own character and write the player name and then the game will start. The basic view of the game is a student s desk. By clicking on the ABC book the player gets to play the next level. The game progresses according to the performance of the player. Therefore it is important that each player plays the game only under their own player name so that they will not get to play the game from the place that is not suitable for their current skill level. By clicking on the picture of the pelican, the player can listen to the instructions.