I'm just posting here to say that Rocknor's Bad Day demo setup gives me an error saying "Error reading setup initialization file", I tried downloading a number of times, same error. Just saying you guys might want to look at that because a lot of people might have the same problem.

EDIT: I'm running Win 98 SE, 128Ram, 766Mhz, GeForce2 MX 400.

I can't duplicate this error, and no other players have reported problems with the installer. A setup error like this usually means the download was corrupt. Does anyone else here get any problems running the setup program after downloading with this link?

http://www.dexterity.com/download-games.htm?Game=21

When I downloaded the demo this a.m.,I was surprised to find that when I un-zipped it,it went back to download the Installshield Wizard. I have never had one of your games do that before,and I hesitated before continuing--I'm not keen on my PC doing odd things!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

There's now a new version of the Rocknor's Bad Day Installer avaliable on Dexterity.com. The game and everything that comes with it is exactly the same, but we switched the Installer to be more compatible ... check it out and let me know what you think!

The link is here:
http://dexterity.fileburst.com/rocknorsbaddaydemosetup.exe

Regards,

Hanford Lemoore
Designer
Rocknor's Bad Day

Yep, it works now. Great game, the levels are huge. How long did it take you to design them? I seem to be the only one having problems with designing levels :(. Although I guess it depends on the type of game. Keep up the good work!

Originally posted by Mman
Yep, it works now. Great game, the levels are huge. How long did it take you to design them?
Hey thanks! Normally, one level might take from 2 to 5 hours to create, although there was a lot of refinement as they went through user tests. From time to time I would get stuck on one that might be 10 hours of development time. But I also had a lot of unfinished levels that never really went anywhere. I think my ratio was probably 1 unfinished concept for every 2 finished levels.

I seem to be the only one having problems with designing levels :(. Although I guess it depends on the type of game. Keep up the good work!
Level design is a lot harder than it looks. With Rocknor I found if I didn't have a theme, or a gameplan as to what the level was going to be, the design would go nowhere. I couldn'rt really do free-form level design like I thought I would. My general design philosophy is I start with a puzzle idea then try to build around 3 different variations on it into each level, starting out with a simple "reference" puzzle for the gamer then a harder variation, then an even harder one with a "twist" if possible. Of course in the process of creation it may go out the window, but it at least gives me a direction to go in.

~Hanford
Designer
Rocknor's Bad Day

Originally posted by hanford_lemoore


Level design is a lot harder than it looks. With Rocknor I found if I didn't have a theme, or a gameplan as to what the level was going to be, the design would go nowhere.

This is the same problem I'm having. To solve this I pick a name for my level before I start designing it, and the name is based on a theme as you said.

Originally posted by hanford_lemoore


I couldn'rt really do free-form level design like I thought I would. My general design philosophy is I start with a puzzle idea then try to build around 3 different variations on it into each level, starting out with a simple "reference" puzzle for the gamer then a harder variation, then an even harder one with a "twist" if possible. Of course in the process of creation it may go out the window, but it at least gives me a direction to go in.


Thats a great idea. I posted a poll a while back asking what types of levels people like most in puzzle games, and majority said they like fewer elements with greater variation. Building around 3 different variations of one puzzle idea is exactly what I was missing! Thanks for the tip, this way I can probably double the amount of levels I have in the final version.

Hi All,

I can reproduce the error mentioned above.

First, I registered and downloaded the game.
Then, when I execute the installation software, then it *really* seems to need an Internet connection. Since I'm one of the few (?) with a dial-up modem, I was not connected to the Internet when I tried to install the game.

In my situation, connecting to the Internet before installing (and disconnecting thereafter) was the solution.

I don't like this type of setup software. I prefer the ability to be able to do a separate download of an installer when needed.

This is because I can't install the game at all on a computer that has no Internet connection! (At least I could not get it working there.)

If someone else knows what I should download, copy to the other computer and install to make it all work (on the computer with no Internet connection), then please let me know.


Thanks,

Marcel.

Originally posted by mpeijzel
Hi All,
I can reproduce the error mentioned above.


When did you download the file? I ask because in December we replaced the installer with a new one, used by other Dexterity games, and it shouldn't be trying to download additional components when you run the installer.

~Hanford Lemoore
Designer, Rocknor's Bad Day

I cant get this to work at all.
Ive looked at the other messages and my spec seems to be ok but all I can get is a tv which says loading and never goes anywhere.
Clearly Im missing something, any ideas anyone?

Hmmm. First, try rebooting, then closing any "automatic" programs that start up, like Instant Messengers or email programs, then try running the game from the desktop Icon.

If it still doesn't work for you, can you post your PC and OS make and model here? Like, what OS you're running, and how much Ram you have, etc?

Also, when did you download the game?

Thanks,

Hanford
Designer
Rocknor's Bad Day