ClydeSight2.0!

presents...

You've got VR toy problems?--Oh, no!

Clyde is distressed!

Please Note: This page was a FAQs page to help fans who downloaded a Clyde VR toy but had difficulty getting it to work. ClydeSight2.0! stopped offering the toys when Virtus Corporation ceased offering the necessary Virtus Player application to display the files. So this page is for historical purposes only.

UPDATE: Novemeber 2002

Our original approach to Virtual Reality (done in 1996) went bust after Virtus dropped the player necessary to make it work. BUT...

Apple's QuickTime™ also does VR, and we have begun re-introducing Clyde's VR toys using that technology and different modeling programs for better images! All you need is Apple's QuickTime™ -- a proven technology -- to play with the new version of ClydeGalleryVR!

If you've come to this page, you are probably having some difficulty getting Clyde's VR toys to work. Please rest assured, they DO work, and YOU can get them to work for you. You just have to put on your thinking cap and do a bit of sleuthing. Here are the common problems that can occur and what to do about them.


Problem: I got Virtus Player, I got a Clyde toy, but Player can't find the toy to open.

Solution: Well, FIRST, the toy needs to be the expanded file version. It will have the extension .vpy. PLAYER looks for that extension (except on a MAC, but more about that later), so, it is kind of important!

The toys come in compressed format. They MUST be expanded before you can use them. If a toy has been expanded properly, it will have the extension: .vpy. If it hasn't been expanded, the extension will be either .zip or .sit.

In that case, manually use your expansion program to expand the file. Although a MAC doesn't need the extensions, Clyde put them in so you could tell a compressed file (.sit) from an expanded file (.vpy). You need the expanded file for PLAYER.

Player needs to know where the toy is stored. It is best to keep the toys and Player in the same folder/directory (that way, they can find each other and won't be lonely!).

When you use expansion software (such as UNSTUFFIT or PKUNZIP), it can place the expanded files someplace you may not be thinking of. You should direct the software to place the toys and Player in the same folder/directory. Once both the toys and Player are in the same place, launch Player and use the OPEN command from the File menu. Find the Clyde toy and click on Open. Player should then open the file for you.


Problem: I have both Player and a Clyde toy in the same folder, but when I double-click on the Clyde toy, it doesn't launch Player. I get a "application missing" error message.

Solution: This is mostly a Macintosh problem, and the chances are that your desktop file is not working properly. If the icon for the Clyde toy looks like a blank page with a turned down corner, the file has lost its link to Player. You must launch Player and then open the toy from there. That will re-establish the link.

Or, you can re-build your desktop (re-start the computer while holding down the command-option keys and wait until you get the message asking you if you want to re-build your desktop. Click Okay to do it.) The icon should be restored. A proper Player type file icon has a big red V in the middle of it.

Clyde isn't sure what to do when a Windows machine loses the link to a file, but the Player application should be able to open the file from the FILE-->OPEN menu.


Problem: I have both Player and a Clyde toy in the same folder, but Player still can't find the Clyde toy.

Solution: There are a few possible causes for this problem.

• You don't have Player, you have something else. Check the application name. It MUST be Virtus Player.
  
  
• Make sure you have expanded the Clyde toy file. Both the Macinstosh and Windows expanded file versions should have a file name followed by the extension .vpy. If the extension is .sit or .zip, you haven't expanded the file yet.
  
  
• Player looks for a specific file type, with the extension .vpy. On a Macintosh, this isn't a problem because MACs don't depend on extensions. But on a Windows machine, it is essential. Make sure that the file you are trying to open is expanded and has the extension, .vpy.

Problem: I have both Player and a Clyde toy in the same folder. Player opens Clyde toy and then doesn't let me do anything with it.

Solution: Player is a memory hungry application. On older machines with slow processors, it may run slowly or not work at all. On a Macinstosh, give PLAYER as much memory as you can. Use the Get Info box to allocate more memory to it. Make sure you aren't running any other applications at the same time. You don't need the Internet for Player, so be sure and close out ALL Internet software, including browsers (which take a lot of memory) and connection software.

• Are you using the control arrows at the bottom of the Player window? Sometimes, you can't see them. Expand the window and they will appear. Or, go to the HELP feature in Player (under the APPLE menu for a Macintosh, under HELP for Windows). HELP explains the control arrows and how to use a mouse to move around in the Player world.

Problem: Player is WAY SLOW at times. How come?

If you are navigating with the mouse, remember that the farther you click from the cross-hair (target) in the center of the screen, the faster Player will move for you. (This can have its drawbacks, and toss you through a wall or object, so practice with this technique.)

PLAYER is a good program, but it sure has to do a lot of work! There are times when the screen shows you what seems to be a very simple image, but to Player, it is very complex. Player renders ALL the polygons used in an image, but you may not see them.

For example, in "Find the Treats", when you are outside facing the starry background, you can move pretty fast. That's because there is very little for Player to render. But when you turn around and face Clyde House, it slows down dramatically. That's because Clyde House is made up of many rooms, complete with furniture (all of which are composed of polygons, which Player has to calculate). You can't see them because you can't see through the walls. But Player can, and is drawing the entire house over again for every move you make! Once you get into the house, things speed up again. That's because Player has fewer polygons to render inside each room.

You can speed things up a little by making the Player window smaller, or you could get a faster computer. Making the window smaller costs a lot less!

Problem: I crash through walls and things. How can I get better control?

Practice, practice, practice! You just have to keep playing until you get comfortable with the way Player works.

Problem: Help Clyde, I flipped myself upside down! How to I get back to normal?

You can really get disoriented if you are using the special mouse controls. Try this:

Windows: Control-L
Mac: Command-L

This should set you level again.

Problem: When I click on the HOME button at the bottom of the Player window, I wind up, well, I don't even know where!

HOME to Player is the 0,0,0 coordinates in the grid used when the toy was created, not where you actually started when the toy opened up. There are technical reasons why this happens, but Clyde doesn't want to go into the details!

ALL Clyde toys have a Player movie in them. If you start the movie, and then IMMEDIATELY stop it, you should wind up at (or close to) the origin of the toy. If you absolutely get totally lost, close the toy and re-open it.


Problem: When I open a Clyde toy in Player, the credits screen has mixed up colors, but the toy looks fine.

Solution: This only occurs on Windows machines. It doesn't affect the toy. The problem is in the image used in the credits screen. On a Macintosh, this looks fine. Becuase of the color pallet used, Windows reverses all the colors in the credits screen. The colors in the toy are not affected by this.

Thanks for playing in ClydeSight2.0!