The MeggieSoft Games Speech System support permits  the definition of two voices (host and opponent) which will "speak" to you during play.  The opponent, for example, speaks its scores as it lays down cards and makes other occasional comments.  The host welcomes you and speaks error messages and  prompts.  The texts spoken vary randomly to alleviate repetitive use of the same phrases.

MeggieSoft Games was an early innovator of games that speak to you and our games currently interact with the following three speech systems.  You need only one of these speech systems installed.  However, if you do install more than one system, you can alternate between them via the Preferences settings in the games. 

You can easily check to see if you already have compatible speech capability installed on your system by accessing the Speech Preferences panel in any of of the MeggieSoft Games.

If you do not have any speech system installed, the easiest method of installing the recommended system for your version of Windows is via the Online Update capability (see "What To Download").  If you do this, there is no need to read on.

WinSpeech Speech System	Microsoft Text-To-Speech System Version 4	Microsoft Text-To-Speech System Version 5.1	Mike & Mary Voices (Add-On)	More Voices (Purchase Option)
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP	Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP	Windows 98/ME/NT/2000 (Included in Windows XP/Vista/7)	Windows XP	Add-ons for TTS 5.1
Initially, the MeggieSoft Games provided speech capability solely via WinSpeech, licensed from PC WholeWare.  This technology dates from the mid 1990s, and therefore the voices are somewhat robotic by today's standards.	This version has been superceded by TTS v5.1.  The MeggieSoft Games support TTS v4 for users of Windows 95, and for users who may prefer the voice sounds of this older version.	Version 5.1 of Microsoft's Text-To-Speech (TTS) system,  is part of Windows XP, but may be downloaded and installed by users of the other Windows versions listed above.	The TTS v5.1 speech system, including the voice for Sam, is installed as part of Windows XP. If you wish to install the additional voices for Mike and Mary, you may do so.	A variety of more realistic voices with almost no robotic qualities. These voices require TTS5.1 and are separately purchased from our affiliate NextUp.com.  Please Click Here for further information.
Not recommended unless you merely wish to sample the speech capability with a relatively small download.	Recommended for Windows 95 users.	Recommended for all Windows users except those of Windows 95 (it won't work) and Windows XP (you already have it).	Recommended for Windows XP users.	Recommended for users of the TTS v5.1 speech system who wish to enjoy high-quality voice synthesis.
The recommended method of applying speech systems is via the Online Update capability, invoked through the Admin menu of any of the MeggieSoft Games (version 11.0 or later).  Online update will manage the entire download and installation process for you.  If you do this, there is no need to read on.				The additional voices are not available via the Online Update.
DOWNLOADS
WinSpeech (870 KB) (approximately 5 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	Microsoft TTS v4.0 (8.25 MB) (approximately 42 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	Microsoft TTS v5.1 (9.92 MB) (approximately 50 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	TTS v5.1 Extra Voices for Mike & Mary (3.55 MB) (approximately 18 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	AT&T Natural Voices™ Sample (991KB) (approximately 5 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)
		This is not required for Windows XP users, because the engine and voice for Sam are installed as an integral part of Windows XP.	This applies only to Windows XP users.  Users of other Windows versions will need to download the full TTS v5.1 Speech System, which includes the voices for Mike and Mary	This download is a sample "wav" file which speaks a few MeggieSoft Games phrases using the standard TTS5.1 Mike & Mary voices, and then repeats them using the AT&T Natural Voices™ of Mike & Crystal.
NOTES
Be sure that you specify the same installation filefolder (default is C:\Program Files\MeggieSoft Games)  that you specified when originally installing the games.	If you do not have a speech icon in your system Control Panel to inform you of the speech facilities installed on your system, you may download  and run SPCHCPL.EXE (933KB)  to install it. This is optional, and is not required because the MeggieSoft Games Speech Preferences will provide this information. (approximately 5 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	This install is performed using an msi file.  Windows XP and Windows 2000 support msi files, but if you are using an older version of Windows which does not recognize msi files, you will first need to download and install the Microsoft Windows Installer for either Microsoft Windows NT4.0 (1.74 MB) or  Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me (1.44 MB). (approximately 8 minutes via a 33.6Kb modem)	This install is performed using a Windows XP msi file.  You do not need to download anything else.	Installation is via CD-ROM or download.  For further information, Click Here.