## Lode Runner Online Technical FAQ |
#### FAQ: The following questions are the ones I most commonly receive. The answers are true to the best of my knowledge. If you have a technical question and solution that you think belongs here please let me know about it so I can share it with the community. Also, please check here to see if your question has already been addressed before sending me e-mail. Much thanks in advance to those who have contributed to this FAQ, I couldn't have done it without you! Questions: 1. The Install doesn't seem to work right. Can you help? 2. How do I run the Installer in "Compatibility Mode"? 3. When I run the Installer I get the message "The parameter is incorrect". When I try clicking on setup without extracting the files, I get the message "Setup couldn't find any language resources. Please contact Sierra technical support." Any ideas? I'm using XP. 4. My friend and I want to play network Lode Runner head-to-head over the Internet. How can we do that? 5. I am having trouble with the Lode Runner On-Line editor. Every time I make several levels in a level group and save it, a message pops up and says "Invalid Lode Runner level group version - unable to load". Help! 6. There's no music in this download. Where can I get the music? 7. Which puzzles did you make? 8. When is the next version of Lode Runner coming out? Answers: 1. The Install doesn't seem to work right. Can you help? The number one question. First - if you're able to launch the Installer, don't allow it to test. Bypass any option that wants to run a system test. The test will not allow you to install. Simply override everything the installer claims and tell it "Yes, I really do want to install, yes I don't care, yes, I know more than you do." Additionally, if you're running XP you have to run the installer in something called "Compatibility Mode" or it won't work. 2. How do I run the Installer in "Compatibility Mode"? From the Microsoft help docs: Right-click the program icon on your desktop or the shortcut on the Start menu for the program you want to run, and then click Properties. Click the Compatibility tab, and change the compatibility settings for your program. Click the option to "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 95" and try running again. Note that once you have Lode Runner installed you might want to set its compatibility settings as well. There's a handy little checkbox to allow you to set the Display setting as "Run in 640x480 screen resolution". This is the intended resolution of Lode Runner Online and since it doesn't automatically change the desktop resolution you should set this option for best effect! 3. When I run the installer I get the message "The parameter is incorrect". When I try clicking on setup without extracting the files, I get the message "Setup couldn't find any language resources. Please contact Sierra technical support." Any ideas? I'm using XP. Once you get the Installer to run (are you sure you set the Compatibility mode properly?), be sure to bypass any tests. It's fine, really. Don't let it test or it will crash. Ignore the fact that it thinks your machine has failed and install anyway. Everything is fine, really. Believe me. LR Online was built to run on 486 machines. If you're running it on any machine made since 1995, you can run this game, no matter what the installer thinks. 4. My friend and I want to play network Lode Runner head-to-head over the Internet. How can we do that? Yes. It is entirely possible to do. Lode Runner Online uses the IPX protocol. This was a very popular protocol during the day, when everyone got together in LAN parties and played multiplayer. Unfortunately, IPX doesn't work over the Internet, so you have to use an intermediate service. First, make sure all machines that are going to play networked have IPX protocol installed. If you're planning on playing on the same LAN, this should be all you need to do. Second, get yourself hooked up with a TCP/IPX translation service. Much thanks to Jeff Grasso for the following step-by-step manual on how to make this work:
| Go to http://www.kali.net and download the Kali II software. Install the program and make yourself a nickname. Go to http://www.kali.net/kregister/kregister.exe and get yourself a serial number for Kali II (Don't worry, Kali is giving away free serial numbers right now so you can use their product and recommend it to others). Load up Kali II and enter the serial number that they send to your email. Now, go to the side bar of the Kali II program and click on the 'Game Resources' folder. Be sure to click the + sign. Go to the sub-folder that says 'My Games'. Right click on 'Add new Game' on the right of Kali II and click on 'Add Custom Game'. For the Game name type in Lode Runner On-line, and fill out the rest. I'm sure you can get that ;). Now, with Lode Runner On-Line added, go to the 'Game Lobbies' folder. Double click on 'Start New Game' and select Lode Runner On-Line. In the Game Settings window select the maximum amount of players to 2. Now hit OK and the Launching window should come up for Lode Runner On-Line. Now have your friend do steps 1-9. After they do that, they should see Lode Runner On-Line in the 'Game Lobbies' folder. Have your friend right click that game and click 'Join Game'. Now both you and your friend should be in the Launching window for Lode Runner On-Line. Have your friend join the game and you launch the game by hitting the 4-way arrow button. Lode Runner On-Line should be running now and at the title screen. Click on the 'Network Play' button (3rd button at title screen). Have yourself host and your friend join. Everything should work fine and the game should begin! If you have any questions, email boxxleman@comcast.net and I'll answer them. |
5. I am having trouble with the Lode Runner On-Line editor. Every time I make several levels in a level group and save it, a message pops up and says "Invalid Lode Runner level group version - unable to load". Help! There seems to be a bug that appears on some modern machines. In order to fix this you'll have to get yourself a Hex Editor and modify a byte in the header of the puzzle file. Here's a picture that shows you which byte to change: The byte found at hex address 0x64 is the one in question. It is the leftmost number in the red rectangle above (set to 04). You want to change it to 04 if it isn't already. This is the Lode Runner puzzle version. Lode Runner Online generates puzzles of version #04. The number on the right side of the rectangle (0x0C in the above image) is the number of puzzles in the puzzle set, in hex. The number in the green box is the copy-protection flag. Setting this to 00 makes the puzzle editable by anyone. Setting it to 01 makes the puzzle "protected" so the common layperson can't break your intricately crafted design. Or at least that's what I remember. If I'm wrong let me know and I'll update the site. :) 6. There's no music in this download. Where can I get the music? The music is only available on the CD version. I still advocate finding a CD version if you can, but I don't know where you can get one these days. Sierra isn't selling them anymore, so it's time to hunt the bargain bins and troll for it on E-Bay. 7. Which puzzles did you make? Not as many as I would've liked to make, sadly. I was too busy actually writing the game to do much puzzle generating, but here's the list: 145, 177 and 179. Also, I made all the secret bonus puzzles, but the first one of those is the first Classic puzzle and the second is the first Championship puzzle, so I really can't take credit for those two. 8. When is the next version of Lode Runner coming out? That's a long story. First, let me point out that I am not involved with anything to do with any new Lode Runner projects that may or may not be coming, so I'm not the best source of information. The short answer is no, there are no major Lode Runner projects currently in the works (that I am aware of). The long answer is yes, Doug Smith (the original creator of Lode Runner) is working hard to secure the rights again so that a new, modern version of Lode Runner can be released to the world. Given the way the wheels of progress turn don't expect anything before about 2006, though... © Todd Daggert, 2002. All Rights Reserved.