==My Little Investigations Demo #1 Patch 1==

Table of Contents
1.1 Changelog
1.2 Known Issues
2.1 Install Guide - Windows
2.2 Install Guide - Mac OSX
2.3 Install Guide - Linux
3.1 Troubleshooting
4.1 Licensing and Legal Disclaimer


1.1 Changelog

Demo 1 Patch 1:

Warning: MOST GAME-BREAKING BUGS ARE NOT PATCHED YET. We're still researching most of them. These things take time, but in the mean time, we might have partial solutions for some. See the "Disable shared contexts" and "Disable PBuffers" launcher options below.

-Twilight's voice has been fixed in the final Rarity encounter.

-Rarity's voice is now somewhat quieter.

-A POSSIBLE fix for the "cannot find data folder" bug has been implemented. Any players affected by this bug should try the new launcher and report their findings.

-Several new launcher options have been added.

  -FPS: Choose between 30/60/120FPS framerate caps (default 60). (Commandline: -fpsX [ex. -fps60])

  -Log Crashes/Errors: Saves a log of the game's status and commandline output in the event of an error, and provides instructions to send this useful error report to the developers. (Enabled by default)

  -Options to increase hardware compatibility:

    -Disable shared contexts: Disables a technique used to speed up loading. May fix certain hardware bugs. (Commandline: -disablesharedcontext)

    -Disable PBuffers: Disables asynchrous loading and certain visual transitions. May fix "invisible evidence" and "crashing evidence" bugs. (Commandline: -disablepbuffer)

-Combining incorrect evidence now presents dialog explaining as much.

-Various typos in the script have been fixed.

-The game's fonts have been changed due to potential legal issues with the previous ones. We tried our best to pick equal or better fonts than before!


1.2 Known Issues

    Mac OSX [Severe] - The game may occasionally crash on newer (64-bit) Macs. This is due to a bug in the 64-bit Java VM, caused by Apple, not us. If you're worried about this happening to you (or if it already has!), see the Mac install instructions below for a solution.

    All Platforms [Severe] - Some computers with integrated graphics won't be able to play the game -- they'll get stuck on the Loading screen forever.

    All Platforms [Severe] - A "cannot find data folder" prompt can sometimes be thrown by the launcher even when the folder does exist. Cause completely unknown. Possible fix implemented in Demo 1 Patch 1.

    All Platforms [Severe] - In rare cases, the Evidence window can cause the game to crash, or just be invisible. Appears to be hardware-related.

    Linux - Some Linux configurations (especially Debian/Ubuntu) are incompatible with the game launcher. If you can't use the launcher and you're sure you have Java installed, see the Linux install guide below for a fix.

    All Platforms - Twilight can occasionally appear behind, in front of, or inside of scenery, in ways that make no logical sense. It's purely cosmetic and we're working on it.

    All Platforms - Evidence and profiles are currently in the same section. We just haven't had time to separate them completely yet.

    All Platforms - A few lines are missing their voice acting, and a few others are too quiet. This is due to some last-minute script changes and re-records.


2.1 Install Guide - Windows

Windows installation is pretty straightforward in most cases -- just extract the .zip file anywhere you want and double-click "Launch_MLI" to start playing. Enjoy!

However, in some cases, Windows won't know how to open that file. If this happens to you, you don't have Java installed. Java is required for My Little Investigations, so download and install it here.


2.2 Install Guide - Mac OSX

Use the Apple Software Updater to make sure that your software (especially Java) is up-to-date before continuing.

Due to a bug in Java for 64-bit Macs, we'll have to switch to 32-bit Java for the game to work reliably. (It runs in 64-bit, but it may crash randomly.) If you know you don't have a 64-bit Mac already, you can skip this part. To do this, go into Utilities, then Java Preferences. You should see a list of all Java versions currently installed on your Mac. Find the most recent 32-bit version in this list and drag it to the top of the list. You can exit this window and the Utilities now.

Now, simply extract the zip file anywhere you want and double-click the "Launch_MLI" file. The game should start up. Enjoy!


2.3 Install Guide - Linux

First of all, if you're using Linux to begin with, you probably don't need me to baby-step you through this, so I'll be brief. OpenJDK is supported. Some distros of Linux don't come with Java installed, so go install a JRE with your package manager of choice.

Extract the .zip file anywhere you want. If you can, try to run the "Launch_MLI.jar" file, but if that doesn't work, set runnable permissions on the "launch_linux.sh" file and run it. The game should start if either of these two options worked. Enjoy!


3.1 Troubleshooting

Issue: The game won't start at all!
Solution: Make sure you followed the install guide for your particular OS and that you have Java installed. Also ensure that you extracted ALL of the files and folders in the .zip archive, not just the launcher! You can't run the game from inside the .zip file.

Issue: The loading screen is taking AGES!
Solution: It can take a while, especially on OSX. If it takes upwards of a minute, however, it's probably because your computer just doesn't have the right video hardware to play the game -- not much we can do about that yet.

Issue: The loading screen is frozen, but I can hear the gameplay working behind it!
Solution: This happens with certain integrated graphics chipsets. We're looking for the cause, but we couldn't fix this one in time for the demo. Sorry to anypony affected by this one.

Issue: The launcher says it "cannot find the data folder", but it's right there!
Solution: Make sure you extracted EVERYTHING inside the .zip file to somewhere else, and that you're running the Launch_MLI.jar file from that new location. If so and it still isn't working, this is a known bug -- try running My_Little_Investigations.jar from inside the data folder instead. If that still doesn't work, we're still trying to fix this -- I'm very sorry we can't help yet!

Issue: The "Evidence" window is invisible / I have no evidence / it crashes my game!
Solution: Try setting "Disable Shared Contexts", "Disable PBuffers", or both in the launcher. Some combination of these may fix the issue. This is another known bug that we haven't been able to fix yet.


4.1 Licensing and Legal Disclaimer

My Little Pony and all related characters, designs, locations, concepts, etc., are copyrighted and owned by Hasbro. We do not claim ownership of any of these properties; this is a fangame released under the Fair Use provisions of United States copyright law.

All unique content (art assets, dialog, voice acting, game engine) is copyrighted by its respective creators.

The My Little Investigations Engine is licensed under the MIT License.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.