Usage Instructions
Instructions - Running ProbeRB on your PleoRB (do this as often as you like)
ADVICE: Before trying ProbeRB, be sure you have recently played with your PleoRB. PleoRB will report on the last time PleoRB was turned off running the normal personality.
If it has been inactive, play with it normally first (with no SD card). Feed it.
Then press and hold the power button to turn it off like normal. Then try ProbeRB (see following instructions) and it will report on the moods and health of the most recent Pleo interactions.
With your PleoRB:
* Remove the PleoRB battery and carefully insert the micro-SD card inside the battery compartment under your PleoRB. The card will only go in one way. The micro-SD card label should be facing you.
* Insert the battery and press the power on button. The green LED should turn on.
* IMPORTANT: keep Pleo laying on its side.
* Wait until PleoRB wakes up and starts talking to you ("Welcome to ProbeRB version ...). This is the ProbeRB interface. You can press the buttons on the bottom of PleoRB's feet to report things.
* If you press Pleo's head/chin it will speak the instructions.
* If you press Pleo's front left paw (the one with the serial number), it will describe Pleo's health and moods.
* REMEMBER: that's Pleo's left, not your left. Also you need to press the foot pad buttons (not the legs). Keep Pleo on its side or back. It won't move much.
* The health and mood report (front left paw) is one you should use often. If it says "pleo is in bad shape", then you need to improve the health/mood/feed level of your Pleo before. It will say "warning" for the properties that are too low (usually the 'feed level' in my experience). These are the areas for improving your parental skills.
* If you press Pleo's front right paw, it will describe Pleo's growth status. It will tell you the current stage (juvenile, adult etc) as well as guesses at how long it will be until Pleo grows to the next stage.
* If you press Pleo's rear left paw, it will describe Pleo's DNA settings.
* That's all it does. It will only speak the current settings, it does not change them. To fix up a Pleo that's in 'bad shape', you need to play with PleoRB naturally (ie. feed him, fixup injuries etc), or use the ChangeRB cheat program.
When done with ProbeRB, go back to normal:
* When done listening to the ProbeRB reports, simply press the power button (no need to hold it).
* Wait until Pleo shuts down and the green LED turns off.
* Remove the PleoRB battery and carefully remove the micro-SD card.
* You can return the battery and use PleoRB normally.
You can repeat this process again-and-again to check on the progress of your Pleo.
See below for a short-cut that may work for you to avoid excessive micro-SD swapping.
* CAVEAT: in my limited testing, sometimes holding the power button does not work. If that is the case, you can pop out the battery. Any recent learning/mood changes may be lost, but for experimentation this shouldn't be a problem.
* ADVICE: for any serious playing around with properties, make a backup of the "pm_props.bak" file on the micro SD card on your computer. This can be used by the "statsRB" program to give you more details. It is also the heart-and-sole (and DNA) of your PleoRB.
* For regular usage, removing the micro-SD card is recommended.