Trouble with the loader (again) (1 Viewer)

[ChilledNova]

I recently tried to open SDT and found that the outer edge of the screen was gray, whereas it's usually pink. I also tried opening up a certain format of mod files, and couldn't find them anywhere. I realized that there was a new version of the loader, and hoped that updating would solve my troubles. It didn't. Same problem with the new loader. I've tried deleting and re-downloading everything. Someone help me. I gotta jerk off.

 

[stuntcock]

Someone help me.

Hey, you know how all of the newbie resources tell you to use the standalone Flash Player? Did you notice that sby's Loader pack actually includes a working copy of the Flash Player projector with a "click here to run game" shortcut? And that the most recent file from @Konashion is in the form of a packaged EXE which cannot be opened in a web browser?

Huh. It's almost as if we were trying to explain something about the intended means of running the game.

And you've probably observed a half-dozen people on the Help board suddenly reporting difficulties in running the Loader, due to web browser troubles? And maybe you've seen some news stories about emergency Flash patches, identity theft, and Google's intent to phase-out Flash entirely because of its security vulnerabilities?

Never mind. That stuff is probably unrelated.

---------------------​

Yes, I'm being a dick. But you guys are straining my patience. I can include a big red "DON'T OPEN LOADER.SWF IN YOUR WEB BROWSER" warning at the top of the Loader download page, but I can't cover every possibility. There are lots of users who have already downloaded the files and won't bother returning to that page in order to read a new warning message. There are alternate links for downloading the Loader (example), there are bundles, and there are packages hosted on other websites -- I can't include warnings on all of them. And there are some people who seemingly prefer to run things in their web browser, so they'll just ignore the warning anyways.

We could try to detect the web-browser environment within Loader code (flash.capabilities.playerType) and then push an error message into the user's face each time that the game starts in a web browser. But that's abusive and irresponsible -- there may be someone out there whose platform cannot run the Flash projector, but who is capable of running the game in browser ... and we've just disrupted his gameplay in order to prevent a new user from making a mistake. Anyhow, someone would probably revert the code changes and begin sharing an alternate version of the SWF file (which already happened after modders chose to remove the opening jingle sound).

So help me out here. How would you suggest that we educate users about this issue?

 

[Huitznahua]

So help me out here. How would you suggest that we educate users about this issue?

I made a small edit on the Newbie guide but nothing fancy for now. Maybe properly rewrite this edit like the rest of the tutorial (small paragraphs, a lot of screenshots, ...) would be better.

 

[fleet]

I made a short post and stickied it.
It probably won't help, but maybe instead of repeating the same thing in multiple repsonses we can just post a link to it and say "READ THIS". "DON'T OPEN LOADER.SWF IN YOUR WEB BROWSER"
stuntcock ,
Please feel free to edit the sticky post as you see fit.
Very respectfully,
fleet

 

[ChilledNova]

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

What do I do from there?

 

[stuntcock]

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

What do I do from there?

1. Visit this webpage: Adobe Flash Player - Debug Downloads
2. Download the Flash Player projector (or click this direct link)
   
3. The file itself is a "naked" EXE. Your web browser might treat the file as dangerous and ask for confirmation.
4. Once you've downloaded the file, there's no need to install it.
   • It's a good idea to move it to a semi-permanent location rather than leaving it in your "Downloads" folder
   • If you can't think of a good location, then feel free to just dump the file into your SDT folder
5. Double-click the new EXE file to run it
6. You'll see a blank window
7. Choose File > Open from the main menu, and then browse to your SDT folder and select Loader.swf
   • You can also drag-and-drop the Loader.swf file onto the application window instead of using the File menu
8. Play the game
   • It should load mods correctly and display your prefered background color
9. If you'd like to minimize future difficulties, then you can set the Flash Player as your Default Application for handling SWF files
   • If you've done this, then you'll be able to double-click directly on Loader.swf to launch the game

 

[sby]

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

What do I do from there?

Common SDT & Loader questions answered

check section 'How do I open the game or flash .swf files (specifically loader.swf or superdeepthroat.swf) on my computer?'

 

[ChilledNova]

1. Visit this webpage: Adobe Flash Player - Debug Downloads
2. Download the Flash Player projector (or click this direct link)
   
3. The file itself is a "naked" EXE. Your web browser might treat the file as dangerous and ask for confirmation.
4. Once you've downloaded the file, there's no need to install it.
   • It's a good idea to move it to a semi-permanent location rather than leaving it in your "Downloads" folder
   • If you can't think of a good location, then feel free to just dump the file into your SDT folder
5. Double-click the new EXE file to run it
6. You'll see a blank window
7. Choose File > Open from the main menu, and then browse to your SDT folder and select Loader.swf
   • You can also drag-and-drop the Loader.swf file onto the application window instead of using the File menu
8. Play the game
   • It should load mods correctly and display your prefered background color
9. If you'd like to minimize future difficulties, then you can set the Flash Player as your Default Application for handling SWF files
   • If you've done this, then you'll be able to double-click directly on Loader.swf to launch the game

I worked, thanks. But what's the reason for the new complications?

 

[Faceless]

ChilledNova Did you not check the sticky fleet linked to? A Flash update changed access privileges to the local file system.

 

[ChilledNova]

ChilledNova Did you not check the sticky fleet linked to? A Flash update changed access privileges to the local file system.

No, I didn't.