Quick troubleshooting faq. Just to let you know. If this FAQ isn't of any help

QUICK TROUBLESHOOTING FAQ

- Just to let you know...

- Kyodai was created and tested on two different configurations, using both Windows 95 and Windows 98. I didn't experience any problem, and when I did, I corrected the bugs rather quickly. I believe Kyodai to be safe to use. If you ever have problems with it (lock-ups, ...), it is probably due to your own configuration : outdated drivers, installation problems, missing files... From time to time, a letter pops up in my mailbox, telling me "well, I've got an Access Violation there and there", and after a while, the problem disappears after the person in question has reinstalled Windows or his drivers... (Or upgraded his video/sound cards)

- If you find no way to fix your problem...

- Try to install an older version of Kyodai to see if it works, like v1.21 (a freeware and very quick download -- 50kb !). You can find it at http://kyodai.com

- Try to check out my site to see if there's a new version out there. The update history can be found at http://kyodai.com/kyonew.html

- Try to uninstall Kyodai, restart your machine, and reinstall Kyodai. Check your video card and sound card drivers. Try to close every program running in the background. Sometimes, there are unusual things that can help. For example, a user managed to fix stability problems by installing QuickTime 4.05 ! Don't ask me how this could have helped...

- FIRST, THE THING TO TRY WHENEVER YOU EXPERIENCE A PROBLEM WITH KYODAI...

- In your Start Menu, you should have a "Reset Options" shortcut in the Kyodai submenu. Launch it. If you don't have such a shortcut, locate the "kyo*.ini" file in your Kyodai directory (if you have version 14.00, the file is named "Kyo14.00.ini"), and remove it. Then try to launch Kyodai again.

- If this FAQ isn't of any help...

- You can report your bug to me. NOT before you have tried everything in this help file, please ! If you think the problem might be related to DirectX, click on the "Start" button (from the Windows taskbar), then click on "Run", type "dxdiag" and press Enter. You'll load the DirectX diagnostic tool. Then save the information (click on the button at the bottom of the diagnostic tool) and forward this text file to me.

- I liked the look'n'feel of the versions before Kyodai 8.0 ! How can I go back to this...?

- First, disable the "Stretch Tileset" option in the Configuration menu. Choose the "Kyodai" tileset (or your usual favorite old-format tileset, which you just need to copy to your Tilesets directory), and if you're not in 800x600, double-click on the title bar if the window is maximized (it is, by default), and resize it to the good old 800x600. In case you don't manage to resize it correctly, quit Kyodai, edit the Kyo*.ini file and change the WPos and HPos numbers to 800 and 600. Now Kyodai should more or less look like it used to be in version 7.77 and before. As I said, Kyodai is entirely customizable... ;-) (And I like the previous look'n'feel, too ! I like both, actually...)

- MY ANTIVIRUS REPORTS KYODAI HAS A VIRUS...

- I'm regularly performing Antivirus checks on my PC, with several antiviruses. Kyodai is *NOT* infected. But I'm now using an EXE packer (ASPack or UPX, it depends on the mood), and most of the times, the code added by these programs is mistaken for a virus. Don't worry, it is NOT a virus. Just ignore the messages sent by your antivirus, or tell the antivirus authors to make them compatible with ASPack and UPX !! I'm very serious about virus-checking. To say the least. Back in 1991, I even wrote my own full-featured freeware anti-virus for the Atari ST. It was quite popular. The name was Exorcist, for those who remember it... ^^;

- I'm trying to create a tileset for Kyodai, but I can't find ideas for the Seasons and Flowers...

- You don't have to "stick" to seasons and flowers... You can even (and that's the best alternative in this case) make a tile like the others and copy it four times to make a "fake" family... It will then behave like all the other "normal" tiles. Do that for the Seasons and the Flowers (two different tiles copied 4 times, which makes 8 tiles in total).

Performance problems

- The animations are slow on my computer. How can I accelerate them ?

- For optimal speed, make sure you don't have any other program running in the background...

- Make sure you're not in 24-bit mode. Both 2D and 3D modes seem to be affected by this color-depth