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John Skinner A Well-Done Program I received a press release from Grolier Electronic Publishing claiming that a new CD program "brings (computer) users one step closer to what Einstein only dreamed of - time travel." Sure! And I have a water ski shop in North Dakota you can get a deal on too. I had to try this How Would You Survive? CD program to see if it was as exciting as the company and their PR firm claim. It sells for $29.95 and is one of the titles from Grolier's new Grolier Kids division. Sales/Information 800-285-4534. To say I was highly impressed is an understatement. When you begin the program you see a multimedia screen choice of a family from ancient Egypt, the Vikings or Aztecs. A child from the family tells you about the multimedia adventure you are about to experience. The claim about time travel is close to the truth. The sound effects, full color graphics, animations, movies, wide angle moving shots of entire villages, sounds and detailed audio explanations draw you in a keep your attention. Considering all that this program has to offer, it is hard to believe that Grolier sells this CD for only $29.95, but don't tell them I told you. Play "Have You Survived?", a game where the correct answers can make you a leader. It's like being there with no risk, I like that. To play, click on a choice from a multiple choice question. Choose the correct answer and you get a cheer. Pick the wrong answer and you see a picture you can go to to find the right answer and then re-choose to get a cheer. To learn how kids lived, games they played or were educated, click on any of several choices to see a still shot or a visit to a colorful theater screen with your choice of several short movies describing the subject you picked. Find out about foods in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs had no cows so all the meat they had to eat came from wild animals such as deer or dogs. Meat was expensive so the common people rarely ate it. At Aztec meals men ate before the women and children. Almost every aspect of these civilizations is shown and described to make you almost feel as if you were there. Comparing aspects of the three civilizations is as easy as a mouse click. The entire program is interactive and is very easy to operate and move around in. How Would You Survive is fun, exciting and full of adventure for children and adults alike. If you have school-age children they will have many hours of fun with this CD and they will learn a lot, but don't tell them, from interacting with their onscreen counterparts from a time past. Good job Grolier! You feel as if you are going back in time to be part of an ancient civilization. As you visit the villages, buildings and people, the associated sounds bring you amazingly close to realism. Many of the screen shots are illustrations of original art created by David Salariya. There are more than 140 informative movies, multimedia maps and much more. The planning and development of this program is well done and the finished product runs error-free on a 486-66 with 8MB memory, 2X CD drive, VGA with 640 x 480 x 256 colors. It runs on Windows 3.xx. Win95 and OS/2 WARP. I am looking forward to future releases of Grolier Kids CD programs.
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