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| SimSig Product Consistency 10/12/2012 at 22:50 #39069 | |
hobbieelliott
10 posts |
thie Post follows on from the earlier posting in this forum titled "Splash Pictures not being used by some SIMs". The recently released 4 Scittish SIMs (and possibly Wembley Suburban and Lancing) are issued with the "Use Public Folder" parameter set to TRUE. As a consequence, when the application is installed using the default settings, the executable is installed into "c:\Program Files\SimSig" The Splash files and Timetable files are installed into a correspondingly named sub-folder (e.g. "c:\Program Files\SimSig\NEScot". On starting the application, it looks in the "Public Folder" for its subordinate files and doesn't find them. So a default splash is used (seeems to be Foxhall West Junstion) and is it necessary to browse for the timetables. If the user environment is Windows 7 or Windows 8, then it is most likely the case that the directory tree "c:\Program Files\*." is write protected unless the user has administrative privileges. Therefore functions such as Editing a Timetable and Saving it will fail with a protection error. The "Released SIM" needs to be self-consistent. If "Use Public Folders" is set true, then the installation of the subordinate files must be done into "Public Folders". If "Use Public Folders" is set false in the RElease, then the subordinate files need to be installed into "c:\Program Files\SimSig\subfolder" Now that these four Scottish SIMs can only be used if a Licence is bought, Cajon LLC needs to make sure that it doesn't fall foul of the Comsumer Protection legislation. The SIMs need to be of merchantable quality and to be fit for purpose. This problem might well be seen as a contravention of the requirements. Log in to reply |
| SimSig Product Consistency 10/12/2012 at 22:58 #39070 | |
jc92
3690 posts |
" said:thie Post follows on from the earlier posting in this forum titled "Splash Pictures not being used by some SIMs".I have already raised this issue (the public docs issue) in this thread: http://www.SimSig.co.uk/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=13&id=34324&Itemid=0 I will clarify i DO NOT use public documents for any SimSig installation and find it little issue now it is turned off. I have also found peter and geoffs responses to be acceptable, ie SimSig is set up to be compatible with win7 onwards (else someone would complain about that!) geoff and peter have provided you with the correct action to take, which is simple enough (and even provided the answer to this in the wiki) which to me constitutes a good level of technical support. the product is fit for purpose, provided people like myself who do not use public documents can be bothered to tick one radio box. Joe "We don't stop camborne wednesdays" Log in to reply |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 00:52 #39072 | |
postal
5265 posts |
I would guess that this topic may well generate a lot of unnecessary heat before it has played itself out. After all, it is not an intrinsic problem of the sims or the installation process but surely a problem of communication and explanation. Rather than arguing the toss about Windows and its security measures, are there any other options which would try and ensure that the user understands what is going on and takes appropriate control. As one suggestion, could we try and explain the whole Public Documents problem during the set-up. Perhaps an additional screen (or edit of an existing one) during the process that notes that the default is to put the sims into C:\Program Files but that unless the user has administrative rights this may cause problems with TTs, splash screens etc; in that case the Use Public Documents Folder option should be selected or another location like My Document chosen for the installation of the files. I have never put anything SimSig into C:\Program Files and have everything in a SimSig folder in My Documents and this works fine for me. It also has the benefit that I can run a back-up regime to pick everything SimSig in one go. The problem will be trying to draw the line so that people who are not interested in the inner workings of their system can understand the implications while they are installing while not getting too complex with the explanations and options. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Last edited: 11/12/2012 at 00:53 by postal Log in to reply |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 05:58 #39075 | |
northroad
872 posts |
If you are talking about 'Fit for Purpose' then I think you will find that, you, (when entering into the contract to buy) must establish exactly what your requirements are of the product. If you specified that you wanted the splash screens to be available in a particular directory to avoid having to untick the box as has been explained fully, then yes I would agree that you are corect and it wasn't fit for your purpose. Otherwise it canot be described as not being fit for purpose. Merchantable quaility or satisfactory quality is a standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price, description and any other relevant factors. I think the majority would agree that the price is satisfactory compared to other similar products and certainly the description of what is contained in the Sim is very acurately portarayed in the Sim Sig web pages that lured you to buy it. Reasonably it is safe to assume that you would not have just bought this package without first sampling (free) from the other possible downloads exactly what it was that you were buying. So it would follow that you were happy with what was on offer and decided to buy the license for these. I think it further reasonable to assume that you bought, not because of the splash screen, but for what was contained in the Sim. I really do not see that the initial inability to see more than one of a series of splash screens is anything to complain about. P.S Forgetting about the splash screen, how are you enjoying the Sims? Geoff. Log in to reply |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 09:27 #39076 | |
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Jan
906 posts |
One problem is that the "Use Public Folder" setting is a global one, which affects all simulations. The problem therefore is how to properly handle the transition phase, because: - all simulations which haven't been released/refreshed "recently" (if I remember correctly, Wembley Suburban was the first sim to have that feature) are hard-coded to look for their files within the installation folder, and have to continue using the installation directory - all existing users will have the simulation files installed into the program folder, so if you want new simulations to use the Public Documents folder, you have to move any pre-existing files to that directory. Naturally, this causes some confusion if the older simulations continue to expect their files in the installation directory, while the newer ones look for them in the Public Documents folder. A potential solution to that problem could be: 1. As long as there are still old simulations about which don't support the Public Documents folder, the installer will write all files to the installation directory, and, if that option hasn't already been modified by the user, uncheck the "Use Public Folders" option by default. 2. Once all simulations support the "Use Public Folders" option, all simulations are repackaged at the same time with a new installer doing the following: 2.1 If you're doing a fresh install, because you've never installed Simsig on that computer before, the relevant files are copied to the Public Documents folder, and the "Use Public Folder" option will be activated 2.2 If you already have Simsig installed on that computer, and the installer detects that you're not using the "Public Folders" option, it offers to you to move all relevant folders/files to the Public Documents directory and subsequently activate that setting. Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick. Log in to reply |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 10:00 #39077 | |
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postal
5265 posts |
Jan The principle looks fine, but I think you need to be a little less prescriptive. Even at end state, I will not want anything in the Public Documents folder as I do not want SimSig material scattered hither and yon on my hard disk. At present, I keep everything SimSig (executables, TTs, splash screens, saved games, licence manager etc) in various sub-folders within a SimSig folder within My Documents. This works fine for me and enables me to have a simple back-up regime. It also means that (hopefully) I can port the whole lot across to another computer running whatever version of Windows without any problems (system files permitting!). I would welcome the opportunity to continue with that sort of filing system. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply The following user said thank you: TimTamToe |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 17:13 #39097 | |
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Jan
906 posts |
That's why I said the the installer should offer you the option to transfer all files to the Public Documents folder. If you didn't want that, you'd just say "No, thank you" and continue to install your time tables etc. within the installation directory. But come to think of it, you do have a point, as the installer should allow you to place the timetable files etc. within the installation directory even if you've never installed Simsig before on that machine. Having said that, in my opinion, once the transition phase is over (which would probably take a while, as quite a number of simulations need to be refreshed), the Public Documents folder should be the default option for fresh installs, so that people without technical knowledge, who just click Next, Next, Next in the installer will not end up with the timetable files and simulation saves in a place where they might not easily have write access. And anybody who knows what he/she's doing could continue using the old behaviour, or, like you, avoid the problem altogether by installing the simulations in a different place. Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick. Log in to reply The following users said thank you: postal, TimTamToe |
| SimSig Product Consistency 11/12/2012 at 17:26 #39103 | |
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TimTamToe
664 posts |
" said:At present, I keep everything SimSig (executables, TTs, splash screens, saved games, licence manager etc) in various sub-folders within a SimSig folder within My Documents.That's what I do too G Log in to reply |