How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

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luckyjoker
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How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

Hi!

How can I turn off the time limit please?

My boy (5) wants to play the game but the time limit is our enemy.

The option for the time limit in the settings does not work for us. Do you have a tip for us please?

Thank you.
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Holger
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

Hi luckyjoker, welcome to the forum! :D

If you go to "setup -> game & menu" and set "time limit" to "off", it should be disabled for all levels.

You have to leave the setup menu using "save and exit" (not just "exit") to use this setting also after restarting the game.

Do you still encounter this problem after the above steps? If so, which version of the game do you use (see under "info screen -> version"), and which level number of which level set (shown on the main menu screen) are you (or your son) playing when the problem occurs?
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

Hello!

It's the new version from the download section and it affects all levels (though some crash), but in the example it's the level 35 time limit.

Rocks and Diamonds also has an exception rule entered in Windows 10 Ransomware Protection. I can't explain it any better than that.
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Holger
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

Very strange! The game should give you unlimited time in each level in each level set if you have set "time limit" to "off". (And it really should not crash!)

I assume you are currently playing the default level set "Niko Böhm's Tutorial", right? (But this should not make a difference here.)

Does the game also refuse to use other settings from the setup menu, or is this problem limited to the "time limit" option?
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

It does not save any settings, even if I have completely switched off the ransomware protection.

I remember that this also suddenly happened with Gothic 3, an old PC role-playing game. In the end I gave up and deleted Gothic 3.

I don't know what Niko Böhm's tutorial is, I couldn't find it in the settings either. I really only want Emerald Mine, preferably level 11 from back then. Which is certainly not for my boy.

PS: The game runs as administrator. Otherwise no adjustments.

Translated by Google.
jm28121977
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by jm28121977 »

Hi

When you turn the time limit off, the timer still counts down so it might look like it's not working. However, when the timer gets to zero, play carries on, rather than the main character dying. Is this possibly what's going on?

J
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

Unfortunately, no. It is rather the case that the settings are apparently not saved. If I start the game again, the original settings are right after the installation. No option can be saved I noticed in the meantime.

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Holger
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

I think I forgot one of the most obvious things: Could you please have a look at the error log file of Rocks'n'Diamonds? That is, please do something like this:

1. Start the game and go to the setup menu.
2. Twiddle around with some setting, like setting "time limit" to "off".
3. Leave the setup menu by clicking "save and exit", and quit the game.

Then, open the directory "Documents/Rocks'n'Diamonds" in your home directory and look for the two files "stdout.txt" and "stderr.txt". Check if they contain anything interesting (especially lines in "stderr.txt" that contain the word "error").

Could you find anything unusual there?

Regarding your other notes:
I don't know what Niko Böhm's tutorial is, I couldn't find it in the settings either.
It is not a setting, but a level set. In fact, it is the default level set that is shown in the main menu right after the very first start of the game. If you click on "levelset" in the main menu, you get a tree of all locally available level sets. The default level set "Niko Böhm's Tutorial" is one of them, and it can be found in the sub-folder "Tutorial Level Sets".
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

I can only upload one data. the 2nd data is a 0 Byte-data. Will not accepted from the uploader. But these is empty too. Looks like Rocks and Diamonds can not write inside my Directory.
Attachments
stderr.txt
(114 Bytes) Downloaded 155 times
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Holger
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

That's OK if file "stdout.txt" is empty. And "stderr.txt" only shows one warning about a config cache file being empty.

Did you try to "save and exit" settings from the setup menu before quitting the program and uploading file "stderr.txt"?

Because not being able to write the setup settings to the file "Documents/Rocks'n'Diamonds/setup.conf" should also issue a warning message to that file.
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

I use all time save and exit. Do it often the last months. Try it and lose.
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Holger
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

OK. Apparently that means that some piece of software in your system forbids (some?) applications to write into your home directory. At least it looks like that (as you already had at least one other game with similar problems).

What I could imagine is the following: R'n'D does not write its data to the %APPDATA% (application data) directory, as it should (regarding to "Windows rules"), but into a sub-folder ("Rocks'n'Diamonds") of your "Documents" directory (which is in your home directory). The reason is that the "application data" directory is usually a hidden (invisible) directory, so most people would be unable to access R'n'D related files like self-created levels and level sets, or tape recordings, and would be unable to easily add additional level sets downloaded from the R' n'D web site by simply putting them into the "levels" sub-directory (although R'n'D also supports dropping those zip files directly into the R'n'D program window).

So it could be possible that some overzealous anti-virus software stops Rocks'n'Diamonds from writing into your home directory (or sub-folders of that directory).

Sounds a bit crazy, but seems entirely possible to me.

The solution in such a case is to find and disable (partially, if possible) the "security" software responsible for that (mis)behavior.
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

Yes, that makes sense. Gothic 3 also puts its settings genes in the "My Documents" and only Gothic 3 had these problems.

I'm just a little clueless. It's not the Windows randomware protection, I had already turned it off (as well as stored an exception). The old C't programs Restriktor and Protector don't offer such a function either-otherwise I haven't actually (<--- says it all) configured anything there.

I have now searched all (really all) programs. Nothing. No joke. All. I found things that I thought were deleted years ago. :)

I also gave write permission to anything and everything in the R&D folder and removed the "hide" (I was bothered by the folder there in that location, that's why it was hidden). After unhiding ((but not after unprotecting (not set by me it was standard) the folder)) I was able to change ALL the settings, but not the time limit. Despite turn on, save, exit, restart, turn off, save, exit.

Is there any way that I can move the folder to App-Data and the game will recognize that the folder is at a new path?

Thanks again!
luckyjoker
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by luckyjoker »

It works now. It go down to 0 but you can play. Thank you!

It must have been the hidden folder or the permissions on the data folder. One of the two things prevented Rocks n Diamonds from saving its settings. I assume it was the hidden folder.
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Re: How can I turn off the time limit? Is there a bug?

Post by Holger »

Great to know that it works now on your system, and thanks for letting me know! :D
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