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   Adventure Maker v4.5 Help Document  
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Introduction
   Program Overview
   List of Features
   What's New

Creating software without scripting
   Getting Started Tutorials
   Some Techniques and Tips
   Creating puzzles without scripting

   Creating third person games
   Creating interactive 360-degree panoramas
   Creating software for
PSP
   Creating software for iPhone and iPod touch

Creating software with VBScript
(Full Edition only)

   Introduction to VBScript
   Language Reference
   Objects Reference
   VBScript Techniques and Tips

   Sample Source Code

Pictures, sounds and music
   => Creating Pictures
   Music Maker help
   Creative Painter quick help
   Sounds and Music
   Videos, Icons, Cursors

Plugins (Full Edition only)
   Overview of the Plugins System
   Downloading/Uploading Plugins
   The Plugin Properties window
   About the Flash Plugin

Tips
   User Interface Tips
   Reducing the project size
   End-User System Requirements

Advanced tutorials
(Full Edition only)

   Creating a custom startup menu
   Using ActiveX components (ocx)

Troubleshooting
   Common issues and solutions
   Known bugs and limitations

About us
   Credits
   Website
   Contacting us
   Helping out

"iPhone" and "iPod" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc. "PSP" is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

As of the release date of this version, Adventure Maker is NOT affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple Inc., Sony Corporation, SCEI, or any Apple or Sony subsidiary.

   

 

COMMON ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS


1. I keep getting a "File Corrupt" error message when trying to install Adventure Maker.
2. I get an error about Msdxm.ocx when installing Adventure Maker or a game created with it.
3. The installation is successful, but when I try to launch Adventure Maker, I keep getting an error message.
4. Adventure Maker starts properly, but it crashes during use.
5. The alpha-blending transitions are abnormally slow.
6. I can only see the first frame of my animated GIFs.
7. I can see weird lines all across the dialog boxes of Adventure Maker.
8. I cannot get any of the cross-fading of sounds to work.
9. I get an error message when adding an item to the inventory.
10. When I import a picture, I can notice a significant quality loss.
11. The scroll bars do not work properly. How can I solve the problem?
12. I got the following message: "Failed to load control 'Gif89a' from Gif89.dll." Where can I get the mentioned file?
13. At full screen, I get a black line between the frames (during slide transitions).
14. When a friend plays our game on her computer, all the hotspots have moved slightly.
15. I get this error: "Cannot call this method while the script is executing".
16. Sometimes the LoadGame and SaveGame features don't work very well in panoramic games.
17. I have another problem. What can I do?
18. How can I contact Technical Support?

 

1. I keep getting a "File Corrupt" error message when trying to install Adventure Maker.

This can be either due to our download servers not working properly, or to your anti-virus preventing your browser to properly download the file. To solve the problem, simple re-download the whole Adventure Maker package from different servers, until you get a file that is at least 7MB big. If you have an anti-virus running in background, you may also try to temporarily disable it while downloading the file (for your security, make sure to re-enable it immediately after).

 

2. I get an error about Msdxm.ocx when installing Adventure Maker or a game created with it.

The problem is probably due to the fact that the Windows Media Player is open. Closing the Windows Media Player and all the other open applications should solve the problem. If it doesn't, simply click "ignore" and continue with the installation.

 

3. The installation is successful, but when I try to launch Adventure Maker, I keep getting an error message.

There are several possibilities:

  • If the error message says that a system file is missing or not properly installed:

    Try re-installing Adventure Maker. If the problem is still there, try downloading the very latest version from www.adventuremaker.com and try installing it. You may also try to close all the other open applications before installing Adventure Maker.

    If a file is still missing or not properly installed, try doing the following:
    1. Search (on your hard disk or on the Internet) for the system file that is missing or not properly installed.
    2. Copy it to your Windows/System32 folder (or Windows/System if you are using Windows9x).
    3. Click "Run" from the Start Menu, and enter the following two words in the text field that appears:

    regsvr32.exe FILENAME
    where you must replace FILENAME with the name of the system file that is missing or not properly installed (include the full path). If everything is ok, you should get a message saying that the operation succeede
    d.
     

  • If the program crashes without any error messages, or with an error message that is similar to those of the other programs crashing, or with an "Out of memory" message:

    The problem may be related to the Adventure Maker user interface being too much memory consuming. Such a situation is more likely to happen on the Windows9x operating systems than on Windows2000 or XP.

    To solve it, try rebooting and then closing ALL the open applications and background tasks before launching Adventure Maker again.
     

  • If the program crashes with an error message not covered before:

    The description provided by the error message should allow you to solve the problem.

    If you still cannot find a solution, try what is explained at the point before (try rebooting and closing all the open applications and background tasks).

 

4. Adventure Maker starts properly, but it crashes during use.

Such a problem is more likely to happen on Windows9x than on Windows2000 or XP.

To solve the problem, try the following:

1. Disable the "full-screen mode" of the Adventure Maker user interface (to do so, click "preferences" from the Adventure Maker main menu, and then click "Quit full-screen mode").

2. If the problem is still there, disable the thumbnails (to do so, load a project, then click "Change View Style" from the bottom-right corner of the "Frames Management" window, and then click "List").

3. Reboot your computer, and when it restarts, close all the open applications and background tasks, and then restart Adventure Maker.

 

5. The alpha-blending transitions are abnormally slow.

Reducing the video card hardware acceleration is very likely to solve the problem.

To do so, go to the Control Panel, double-click "System", go to the "Performance" tab, click the "Graphics" button, and then reduce the "Hardware acceleration" setting.

If the problem is still there, try what is explained at the previous question.

 

6. I can only see the first frame of my animated GIFs.

Some programs save the animated-GIFs in a format that is not supported by Adventure Maker. You can solve this problem by using a program that supports the "gif89" format. We recommend you to use the freeware MS GIF Animator, downloadable from the following location:
http://www.adventuremaker.com/more_downloads.htm

You can create your animated-GIFs with another program and then convert them to the "gif89" format with Microsoft GIF Animator.

To convert your animated-GIFs, follow these steps:
1. Run Microsoft GIF Animator;
2. Choose "Optimal Palette" under "Import Color Palette";
3. Choose "Error diffusion" under "Import Dither Method";
4. Click "Open" and open the animated-GIF you want to convert;
5. To remove transparency from each frame (the current version of Adventure Maker does not support animated-GIFs with transparency), click the button "Select All" (on the toolbar), click the "Image" tab and then remove the "Transparency" option;
6. Click "Save As" and save the animation as an animated-GIF.

 

7. I can see weird lines all across the dialog boxes of Adventure Maker.

Some video cards may display weird lines all across the dialog boxes of Adventure Maker. Updating the graphic card drivers usually solves the problem. If it doesn't, you must turn the "Hardware acceleration" to OFF in the Windows settings. To do so, go to the Control Panel, double-click "System", go to the "Performance" tab, click the "Graphics" button, and then switch the "Hardware acceleration" to "None".

 

8. I cannot get any of the cross-fading of sounds to work.

First, make sure that you are not trying to cross-fade a MIDI into a MIDI (most sound-cards cannot play two MIDI files at the same time). Then, if you have a full-screen transition enabled, you must consider the fact that the duration of the audio fade will be the same as the duration of the full-screen transition. Therefore, if your full-screen transition lasts less than one second, it is very likely that the audio fade happen so fast that you miss it. If you want to increase the audio fade duration, you must either increase the duration of the full-screen transition, or you must turn off the full-screen transition.

 

9. I get an error message when adding an item to the inventory.

The error is due to your item being linked to an invalid icon. An "invalid icon" is, for example, an icon created by changing the extension of a bitmap. To solve the problem, open the file with a good Icon Editor, and then resave the file as a standard .ICO file. To apply the changes in Adventure Maker, you must first delete the item and then create a new one.

 

10. When I import a picture, I can notice a significant quality loss.

The quality loss is probably due to the "color depth" of your display that is set too low. For best results, the display color depth must be set to either 24-bits or 32-bits ("True Color"). To check your current display color depth and to increase it if it is too low, you must go to the Control Panel, click "Display", click "Settings", and then change the "Colors" setting.

 

11. The scroll bars do not work properly. How can I solve the problem?

You can easily solve the problem by resizing the window that contains the defective scroll bars.

 

12. I got the following message: "Failed to load control 'Gif89a' from Gif89.dll." Where can I get the mentioned file?

You can download it from this page. Then, you must copy it into the c:/Windows/System32 folder (replace the file that was there).

If copying the file is not enough, unregister the file by executing the following command (click Start -> Run):
regsvr32 -u C:\WINDOWS\system32\gif89.dll

Then copy the downloaded file, and then register it again by executing the following command:
regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\gif89.dll

 

13. At full screen, I get a black line between the frames (during slide transitions).

This sometimes happens when the frame size is the same as the display resolution. This bug is being addressed.

In the meantime, here is a very simple workaround: just slightly reduce the "Frame Size" from the Project Properties. For example, if it was 640x480, change it to 638x478. If it was 800x600, change it to 798x598. You will notice that the black line will disappear.

 

14. When a friend plays our game on her computer, all the hotspots have moved slightly.

The problem is related to the "font size" setting of Windows. Go to the Control Panel, click "Display", go to the "Settings" tab, click "Advanced" and change the "Font Size" to "Normal (96ppp)". If you are using Windows XP, you should also check that the "font size" under the "Advanced" tab of the "Display Properties" is set to "Normal".

 

15. I get this error: "Cannot call this method while the script is executing".

This error usually appear when there is a call to the DoEvent method somewhere in your script, or in a plugin, or in an OCX function that is called by a plugin.

To find out which scripts/functions collide, just check the option "intercept next code execution" from the Debug menu during runtime.

 

16. Sometimes the LoadGame and SaveGame features don't work very well in panoramic games.

To be sure that LoadGame/SaveGame works fine, you should create a "Loading..." frame and then add it to the "Set resume locations" table (click "Set resume locations..." from the Project Menu of Adventure Maker), as demonstrated in the 360-degree sample game included in the Adventure Maker package. Then, go to the "Frame Properties" of that "Loading" frame and add a timer in order to redirect the player to the "[Last visited frame]".

 

17. I have another problem. What can I do?

First have a look at the Known bugs page to see if your problem is not a bug.

If you encounter any display problems, make sure that you have installed the latest drivers of your video card (go to the website of your video card manufacturer and download the latest version of the drivers, which are usually available from the "support" section of the website).

You may also try to disable the video card Hardware Acceleration. To do so, go to the Control Panel, double-click "System", go to the "Performance" tab, click the "Graphics" button, and then switch the "Hardware acceleration" to "None".

Other problems may be due to the size of the memory buffer used by Adventure Maker to display the thumbnails and to load all the controls required by the editor. If you experience any problems related to the lack of memory, or any unexpected problems, it is recommended that you restart Windows and that you close all the other open applications.

Disabling the User Inteface Full-Screen Mode is also very likely to solve the problem. To do so, click "preferences" from the Adventure Maker main menu, and then click "Quit Full-Screen Mode".

To reduce the number of thumbnails loaded in memory, it is recommended that you organize your frames into folders (use the "View Folders" button that are in the toolbar of the window that contains the thumbnails).

Also make sure that you are using the latest version of Adventure Maker. To check for new versions and updates, visit:   http://www.adventuremaker.com

If you still cannot find a solution to your problem, feel free to contact Technical Support (read below).

 

18. How can I contact Technical Support?

To contact Technical Support, go to the following URL:

http://www.adventuremaker.com/contact.htm

You may also be interested by the forums, which you can find at:
http://www.adventuremaker.com/forums.htm