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JOE version 2 Support PAGE
It is important to know which version you have installed and install the updates in the correct order. History:
What's new in version 2.3:
Joe CDs purchased after May 31, 2011 should say "v2.3" on the CD's label.
How to tell which version you have:
What's in the Version 2.2 update
Please read the SPECIAL NOTES section below about how to install the Version 2.2 Update.
After you've installed the v2.2 update, you can install the v2.3 update
Downloading an update "zip" file is a Three Step Process:
SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT THE Joe2.2update.zip file
Once you download and install v2.2 updates, you should download and install the version 2.3 update. Then it is recommended you BURN a copy of your Joseph folder on your harddrive to create a new "master" for your archive, or to copy to any other computers where you may have Joseph (legally) installed. The 2.3update file is straight forward. Just download and unzip it into the folder where your Joseph game is installed. Questions? Email neil@sundaysoftware.com or see if I'm online for live help. Problems
and Solutions for Joe 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 Not all these 'problems' below have yet been reported, but our past experience with our customers and our 3d games suggests we should go ahead and predict problems and offer the solutions now. Lotta different machines out there. If you have something to report, send an email to neil@sundaysoftware.com Other
Joe Links... If you are experiencing some sort of problem right at start-up, minimize or drag-out-of-the-way the Joseph start-up menu, and look at the white 'loading' screen behind it. It may have additional technical information, such as, telling you about Direct 3d or giving you a file name. If you want us to look into your system specs and videoram/chip situation, send us the DirectX Diagnostics report from your computer by clicking the Windows START button, and typing "dxdiag" in the RUN field. This will pull up DirectX Diagnostics. Select "save all information" button and save that text file. Email it to us at neil@sundaysoftware.com One of the first things I look at in your DXDIAG file is the DATE of your videodriver. Then I go to your videodriver's website and see if they have upgraded your driver (ie, fixed it). In 90% of all such cases, I find that the customer has an outdated driver. So if you want to, go ahead and look at the Dxdiag.txt report yourself. Write down the name of the video chip and date of its driver, then go to the computer manufacturer's website and go into their driver support area to see if they have released a new video driver. Drivers are easy to install. Problem: I get a "resource stream" error when trying to start Joseph game. Solution: Close the Joseph start-up panel, and RESTART the game again from the Desktop Icon. We don't know why it does this sometimes. In version 2.0 it can happen if your start aborts and a small window is left open. Check your Windows taskbar and close any Joe related window. Note: the Joe 2.3 Update will cure this problem if you're having it. See the download notes above. Problem: I can't see the opening video or videos won't play Solution: Upgrade to Windows Media Player 10 or higher. Problem: The video that is supposed to play on the tent computer seems to start then stop. Solution: Download the updated version of the Tent Video. After downloading, double click the download file and unzip/extract "intro.wmv" into your installed Joseph folder replacing the previous one. Intro.wmv plays a 90 second overview of where the Joseph story fits in biblical history. This video is also included in the v2.3 CD and/or update. Problem: I can't hear the background music and sound files in the Dig Tent, or in Pharaoh's Palace, etc. Solution: If you don't have the version 2.2 CD, then Download the Version 2.2 Update file (see notes above). It contains an application you can execute to install the Ogg Vorbis audio codec to your computer. Problem: The opening video clip with the music ends abruptly. Video clip stops. Solution: If you click the screen or hit any key, it bypasses the video. Don't do that!
Solution: This only affected the very first run of Joe 2.0 CDs. QUICK FIX: RIGHT click the Desktop Icon and select PROPERTIES. Type c:\joseph in the "start in" field and click OK. We don't exactly know why some versions of XP and Vista need this 'start in' line, and others don't. Go figure. Alternately, locate the run.exe file in the Joseph folder, Right click it and select "Send to" and "to desktop as a shortcut." This will give you a new desktop shortcut. Big Fix: Download the v2.2 update. Problem: In opening video, the girl (Robin) looks blotchy and green-screeny. (or other videoclips in the game) Solution: Make sure you have Windows Media Player 10 or higher installed on your computer. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia Problem: Error Msg: "Acknex has to close" Game shuts down. Solution: Acknex is the company name for the A6 game engine. It can close for a lot of reasons, some of which I've listed below. TRY THIS: Click the Joseph start-up icon and select Properties, then Compatibility. Select "run as XP" or "run as Windows Me/98" or "Run as Administator and see if that helps the program/video driver settle down. These are compatibility tweaks built into your operating system which will tell your system to load some compatibility helps and settle down when you try to start this program.
IF you have an older computer (pre 2007) do this: Click your Windows START button, then type dxidag in the Run field. Or, if you have Vista or Windows7, click the START button and type dxdiag in the Search field, then double click dxdiag.exe file name. This will start DirectX Diagnostics. Click the Save Information button, save it to your desktop, and email us that text file. If your church computer doesn't have internet access, copy that file to a disc or usb flash drive and take it to a computer that does have email. Send it to neil@sundaysoftware.com as an attachment. We can't diagnose your "has to close" problem without looking at all the info in that file.
If you have XP, you can adjust the graphic performance of your computer to play nice with a program like Joseph. In some cases, this cures the problem with Acknex. Go into your Control Panel and click DISPLAY, ADVANCED, TROUBLESHOOTING, and slide the slider back a notch from "full." This slows down the 'hand off' process with the processor and videochip to avoid problems in XP. If you have Vista, you have to go into your Graphic Properties and see if your chip's software allows you to make adjustments. Some do, many don't. Problem: I have XP PRO and I get an error message saying: "3D Game Studio / A6 Engine: Joseph.exe The instruction at blah blah blah.... The memory could not be written." This is due to an arcane setting in XP PRO you need to change. You need to add joseph.exe to the list of "exceptions" in Windows Data Execution Prevention (DEP). To get to the settings for DEP: Go to your System Properties in the Control Panel. Select the Advanced tab. Select Performance Settings/ Select Data Execution Prevention tab. Select "Turn on DEP..." Click the Add button to "browse" to the Joseph folder and select joseph.exe to the exception list. Weird huh? Problem: I have a Dell Optiplex computer and joe won't run on it. Solution: The Optiplex videochips are garbage worse than budget chips. Go buy an inexpensive low profile videocard ...one that fits in the Optiplex low profile case. Problem: Opening seems to hang after I click "Play Game" Solution:
Problem: I get the message "Direct3D error: driver failure." (This message is coming from the game engine's test of your videochip/driver. Your videocard or driver is out of date.)
Possible solutions: If your videochip is an S3 or Via, or "ProSavage DDR" and your computer is older than 5 years old... install a newer videocard. Problem: Robin seems to be walking very slow -or her movement is herky jerky, ...and other similar "slow play" or "slow loading" anomalies. Explanation: In certain areas of the underground ruins, gameplay can slow down on some computers because of the complexity of the level which the game engine is attempting to "render" for your viewing pleasure. This rendering frame rate is dramatically affected by the quality of your videocard/chip, processing power, amount of available ram, and amount of videoram. Some areas of the game are more susceptible to herky-jerky frame rate issues than others. Solution A: Press your "page down" key or aim your mouse down a bit. This will improve the herky jerky framerate problem. Why? Because the game doesn't have to render in real time objects in the distance because Robins' gaze is a bit down. Solution B: At start up, select the 800x600 and 16 bit color option. This will adjust the game in a nearly imperceptible way, but will significantly improve the game's 3d rendering process. Solution C: How much RAM do you have there! 512 is a bare minimum. Add more RAM to your computer, and more videoram. 3d games hammer the processing power of every computer. If your computer was made before 2005, it could need such an upgrade. Also... obviously not all computers are created equal. Some were business-budget machines which you're now attempting to play a 3d game on. Even though your computer may 'technically' meet our recommended minimum, there are simply too many variables between computers to guarantee that Joseph will run well on your computer, even though it might run just fine on a similar computer. For example, not all videochips with 16mb of ram are equally as good or as fast. Problem: "Not enough Virtual Memory" "Low Virtual Memory" Solution: This is your computer telling you that it doesn't have enough RAM to properly run the game, so it's trying to simulate "virtual memory" on your harddrive, which all modern computers do. Your older computer doesn't have enough space on the harddrive allotted for enough virtual memory. If your computer isn't THAT old, then a RAM upgrade could easily cure this situation. But if it's that old, ram may not be the only thing it needs. Problem: I can't click on screen to select an answer in Pharaoh's Palace. Solution: You may have inadvertently right-clicked and turned the cursor into a hand rather than a red arrow. Right click to make the red arrow reappear. or.... You may have a certain Dell audio chip/driver that doesn't like our Pharaoh sound file. This was solved in the v2.3 update. Problem: WHY am I getting Pharaoh's second question wrong? I am choosing the second answer and keep getting sent to jail. Solution: The second answer is only partially correct. Joseph did not "buy grains from all the nations" ...he 'sold' grain to all the nations. The third answer is completely correct. Problem: After answering Pharaoh's questions, I seem stuck, can't move. and...Pharaoh continues to talk but I don't hear any sound. Solution: This was reported by three people all of whom had Dell computers with the Intel GMA 3100 graphic chip and the Realtek HD audio chip. We've solved this by re-rendering the sound file that was hanging up and putting the revised sound files in our version 2.3 update available above via download. Problem: Opening screen says "loading 100 %" but game takes another 30 seconds or more to start. Solution:
If you get a "resource stream error" during loading, download our v2.3 update, or exit the game and restart it from the desktop icon. Problem: After zapping the spiders, I don't seem to be able to enter or activate the Hall of Dreams. Solution: You probably missed a spider. Go back. TIP: Don't stand too close to the spiders when trying to zap them. Problem: At the end of the game, I listened to third brother then wanted to go see the study note in that level, but was only given an option to either go to the Dig Tent, or exit the game. Solution: Get the Joe2.2 UPDATE files now and follow the directions at the top of this page. Problem: I walk up to
Dabney but he doesn't do anything. Solution:
In the Dream Hall, for example, after you walk up to him and talk to him at the illustration of Joseph's coat, he tells you to go into the Wheat room. After the Wheat narration you must walk into the blinking circle and then come back out and talk to Dabney. After he tells you to go to the Stars/Moon Room, you will talk to him again about finding the Well room. If you don't go into the dream rooms at his prompting and hit the obvious blinking spots, for example, he will have nothing more to say to you until you follow his instructions. Note: When he's walking to reach a location, he will stop IF you come close to him. Move away and let him continue on to the next "trigger". Problem: I can't grab the airblaster in the Dig Tent. Solution:
Problem: Robin seems is stuck in something. Solution:
Problem: Direct3d Error Message. Nobody has reported this yet, but we know someone will! Solution:
Problem: The Joe graphics/screen seems stretched too wide. Solution:
For example, on my Vista laptop computer, Joe stretches a little too wide. So I go into my Window Control Panel, open up the Intel Graphics controller panel, and select "Maintain Aspect Ratio." Now Joseph looks fine. Doesn't affect other programs like IE or Word. If you need more help than this page offers, contact Neil at neil@sundaysoftware.com.
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We
love Joseph's Story CD and have continued to improve it. Thus, we
have created several versions and updates.
If you'd rather NOT mess with the downloadable upgrades, you can
SEND US your copies of your Joseph 2.x CD plus $5 per CD, and
we'll send you back the latest version of the CD. Include your
address. You do not need to send the jewelcase, just the CD(s). Make
the check payable to "Sunday Software" and send to "Joseph Upgrade,
Attn: Jim" 4368 Brickwood, Hilliard Oh 43026.
If
you're wondering if a volunteer
has already downloaded and installed
and update to your computer, do this: Open the installed
Joseph folder (probably c:\joseph) and read the "version.txt" file.
The version.txt file tells you which version you have updated to.
Problem: Starting game from Desktop Icon
creates dll error messages,
"bencup.mdl" error message, or similar won't
start problem.