System Requirements

Anathema is rather tame when it comes to the hardware involved. It has successfully been run on systems featuring a 1.6 GHz CPU with as little as 256 MB of main memory. 20 MB of hard drive space should be more than enough to manage several campaigns of decent size.

While the program does not demand anything special in terms of hardware, there is some software that can help you make to make the most out of it.

Optional Tools

You might want a copy of Adobe Reader to view the documents produced. You can get it free of charge from Adobe. Of course, any other program capable of displaying PDF files will suffice. We recommend against installing Adobe Reader on the Mac, its unnecessary.

For greater enjoyment of the music library features, you will need an audio player capable of handling M3U-Playlists (such as Banshee or iTunes).

Java

Anathema is written in the Java programming language. As of Anathema 5.0.0, we include a bundled Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to allow it to run. Because this environment is included with Anathema, there is no need for you to install Java on your computer. In fact, if you have Java installed only to run a previous version of Anathema, you can now uninstall Java if you wish.

Uninstalling Java

Mac

• Java 6 - Just the Browser Plugin
• Java 6 - Everything - Note that Java 6 is built-in to many macs, and removing it isn't for the feint of heart. Do this at your own peril.
• Java 7

Windows

• All Java Versions

What if I like having Java installed - I don't want use Anathema's bundled JRE

If you don't want to use our JRE, you don't have to. You can always download the Zip release of Anathema, which does not bundle a JRE, and works on any platform. You can also delete the bundled JRE from our Win/Mac releases, and it will fall back on the systemwide JRE you have installed.

Deleting Anathema's bundled JRE:

Mac

• Right click (or ctrl+click) on Anathema, select Show Package Contents.
• Open the Contents folder, then delete the PlugIns folder.
• Right click (or ctrl+click) on the Info.plist file, Open With, Other…
• Select the TextEdit application.
• Look about 30 lines down into the file and delete the following two lines:
  • <key>JVMRuntime</key>
  • <string>jre1.7.0_09</string>
• Save the file

Windows

• Find the location you installed Anathema in (probably C:\Program Files (x86)\Anathema\).
• Delete the jre folder.

You can also simply double click the anathema.jar file in your Anathema install location, and it will launch using the systemwide JRE.

Installing your own copy of Java

The minimum required Java version for Anathema is 1.7.0_09. If you are already using Java, you can find out what version you are running by opening a console window and typing java -version followed by the Enter key. The resulting output should look something like this:

java version "1.7.0_09"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_09-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.5-b02, mixed mode)

The version in this case, 1.7.0_09. The relevant digits in our case are the second one (must be 7) and the last two (must be 09 or greater).

If the version number is lower than 1.7.9_09, or if you do not yet have a copy of the Java Runtime Environment installed, point your web browser to the Java website, where you can always download the latest version for free.

With all of that behind us, let's get to the program itself.