Can't restore my player folder!

[jds]

This is the first time I've posted a question here but I want to say, it's been so much fun playing MTE and learning from the other members of this forum...thanks for all the help!

I had to reformat my hard drive and before I did, I copied my player folder out of the game onto a disc, using the instructions I found here at the forum. But when I installed a fresh copy of MTE and copied my old player folder into the new game, it wants me to choose a new player name! I don't want to loose my hard won badges and points...what did I do wrong? Please help me and thanks in advance for that help,

jds

[Gerda]

I think you copied the backup player folder into the player folder instead of into the Mahjong Towers Eternity folder. (A folder too far). Please check your player folder, whether there is another player folder in. If so, move this player folder in the player folder to the Mahjong Towers Eternity folder.
With this it has to overwrite the existing player folder. You should get warnings, like: file already exists, overwrite yes or no. Choose: yes to all.

I hope this is clear. If not: Delete the player folder and all its contents on the installed game. Copy your backup player folder to the Mahjong Towers Eternity folder.

[jds]

Thank you for the great suggestion but when I checked, it was obvious that I had indeed copied my old player folder into the MTE folder itself, where it is supposed to be. (There was no player folder inside my player folder) Do you know what else could be wrong? I run the Vista operating system, so could the problem be with Vista? Even though I love playing MTE I really don't want to have to start all over again! I want to reach Rarified Pig! Thanks for your time and I look forward to seeing what you tell me to do next.

jds

[Gerda]

With Vista the player folder is not in C:\Program Files\Mahjong Towers Eternity. It is way down under and it is hidden.

Some other game folders are too, like the "player backgrounds" folder and the user made tilesets folder.

With Vista the folder you are looking for is hidden.

You have to make it visible.

I do that with going to my folder, hitting the windows marble in the down left corner.
I see my username at the top right.
From there:

At the top-bar click at "Tools"
Click at “Folder Options”
Click at "View"

Scroll a little down till you find: "Hidden files and folders”
Mark (select) the option (little box): “Show hidden files and folders”
Click at "Apply" and "OK".

Now you are able to see a folder named: AppData
Double-click the folder to go in. Go to the folder called:Local, Next go into the folder: Virtual Store. Next goto: Program Files. This one contains the folder: Mahjong Towers Eternity, which contains the folder:player.

In PC language: C:\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Mahjong Towers Eternity\player.

So you have to copy the backup player folder to: C:\Your Name\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Mahjong Towers Eternity.

Good luck. Please let me know if it worked. And of course also if it did not work.

[jds]

Gerda,

Thank you for enlightening me about Vista's hidden files and folders. I definitely learned something new! Unfortunately, I came across a problem when I was implementing your suggestions. I was able to adjust Vista's settings to show hidden files and folders but when I followed the directory pathway you told me about, I couldn't find Mahjong Towers Eternity listed there.

I went to AppData_Local_Virtual Store_ Program Files, but once I opened the program files folder, only a few of my programs were listed there...and MTE wasn't one of them. Why wouldn't it be there? Is there something wrong with my MTE installation? I can play MTE but it just won't accept my new player. I'm sorry, I'm really confused here. Please help me understand what to do so I can finish implementing your excellent suggestions. Thank you for your time and attention,

jds

[Gerda]

I had bad experiences with having Vista new. No idea where things were at start. In the end I had a game error, telling me I had two players at same time. I really messed up.

I deleted the game. Made sure all folders of MTE were gone.
Ran CCleaner. Always a good idea to do that once in a while. A PC magazine I read, tells it is best program to clean the harddisk from files, your PC has no need for.

CCleaner is free. Download it here:
www.ccleaner.com

I installed the stuff, I thought fabulous Vista did not need. But it didn't harm either:

DirectX:
www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai....&displaylang=en

Flash:
www.macromedia.com/shockwave/down....=ShockwaveFlash

Shockwave:
sdc.shockwave.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?

Java (for online version of MTE):
java.sun.com/webapps/getjava/BrowserRedirect?locale=en&host=www.java.com:80

Ran Ccleaner again. Turned PC of to give a break.
Turned it on again. Went to BigFishGames to install the game again.

The game came up, telling me to enter Name and Location. I quit the game.

Copied my backup player folder into the ....VirtualStore... and overwrote the existing player folder there. Game creates a player folder, even if no player is entered.

If after doing all this, you have no Mahjong Towers Folder with player in the VirtualStore\Program Files, I am baffled. I don't know where you're from. But Vista is Vista I would say.

You can search for a file that is not so common and is in the player folder. pointsmap is such a file.

Hit that marble in the left down corner. At the right you have an command called: search*.
Type the word "pointsmap" in the box at top, little on the right and hit the Enter button.

If you see the word in the results list. Right-click your mouse and choose for: Open File Location*.
At the top bar you see the end of the location. At the left you can hit << to see the entire path. It goes from down up.
Write it down. It is where the player folder is.



* Might be different in English. My PC talks Netherlands language. You are smart enough to find out, what I mean.

[jds]

Gerda,

I'm sorry to be bugging you over and over again but, after exploring all your excellent suggestions, I must confess to being baffled and confused!

Here are the results of my tinkering with what you told me. First, I've used CCleaner for 2 years and love it...and I already have the latest versions of Adobe Shockwave and Flash Player, as well as Microsoft's DirectX installed. I'm located in the USA but I'm assuming Vista is the same old challenge the world over , so I wouldn't think my location would be important to our dialog here. Would you agree?

And when I did the search like you told me to, the only location listed for the "player" (or "pointsmap") folders is this: C:\program files\yahoo! games\mahjong towers eternity. This is exactly where I've been copying my backed up player folder to all this time, without being able to successfully restore my player in the game.

But here's where I decided to become somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes and see if I could solve the mystery myself. I noticed that you bought MTE from Big Fish Games and I know I bought my copy from Yahoo Games instead, so I wondered if maybe, somehow, that difference might be causing my problem. So I downloaded a demo MTE game from Big Fish Games and then looked in the appdata...virtual store...location. MTE still wasn't listed there. I have no idea why!

Well, then I copied my backed up player folder into the location where Big Fish installed my demo copy of MTE...which is found in the following directory pathway: C:\program files\mahjong towers eternity. Guess what? I was able to immediately open the game and find my old player there!! Have you ever come across this problem before? Surely there's someone out there who has bought their MTE game from Yahoo! Games and yet has figured out how to restore their player! I'd hate to think that I can't restore my player just because I bought my game from Yahoo. There has to be a way! It's just beyond me at the moment!

You obviously know alot more about the computer than I do. What are your thoughts on all this? I'm frustrated at the game and confused about what to do here. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

[Gerda]

If you are Sherlock Holmes, I am supposed to be Dr. Watson.-)

You did not waist my time. Perhaps I did waist yours, not going to the center of the problem right away. It is not Vista problem
Yahoo provides customers with a old version of the game. It does not accept a restore of the player folder. Simple as that. I kept trying all evening. It can be done. But that solution I am not willing to offer. It is late in my country, but early tomorrow I will contact Yahoo and BigFishGames about this. I do not know who is responsible. But I am eager to find out.

For as you concerns. I send you a BigFishGames coupon.
Cost me only $6,95 as I am a Gameclub member and perhaps I get it back as I explain what happened. I am not so willing to pay all Yahoo MTE players the game of course. So this an one time offer. I hope the email address in your profile is a good one.
Never post an email address on forum.
With the gift coupon, you can make your game to work. As long as you don't mind where it comes from. It is from BFG anyway to start with. If the game tool bothers you, let me know. I explain how to avoid it. I think the player folder among the others will be transported down to Virtual Store in time. I'd like to hear about that. Please let me know.

[jds]

Gerda,

As far as I'm concerned, you are Sherlock Holmes and I'm your Watson. You know much more than I do about the computer as well as about MTE itself. I'm thrilled, thankful, and humbled that you would send that game coupon to me. You're already doing so much for me and I really appreciate your sweet concern and time spent on my behalf. The very least I can do is give you a karma point, so here it is!

I don't mind getting the game from Big Fish Games at all, however, I would like you to let me know how to avoid that pesky game manager that Big Fish uses. Yahoo doesn't use anything like that. You just open and play your game directly...without having to deal with a game manager window first. This is the exact reason why I bought my MTE game from Yahoo and not from Big Fish in the first place. Thanks for that wisdom as well! I'll let you know what I find out as to whether the Big Fish Games MTE version will show up in the virtual store area.

Since you're already contacting both Big Fish Games and Yahoo Games I'm going to hang on to your game credit coupon until I hear from you what you find out from these two companies. If I can learn how to restore my player in my MTE Yahoo game version, then I'll be happy! I'll be thrilled to use the game coupon but I'm also very willing to return your coupon if they won't give you another credit. Please let me know what you want me to do.

Awaiting your update,

jds

[Gerda]

Please use the coupon to make your game to work. With a Sunday tomorrow and me not feeling so well today, I thought it better to wait till Monday before contacting the firms. And after that it can take weeks before something comes out. And perhaps nothing comes out. Meanwhile you will not be able to play game.
But if you activate the BFG MTE game, you can play game.

Here is how to get rid of the game manager:
Right-click the existing MTE shortcut and delete it.

-Right-click on a free part of your desktop.
-Select: New, select in the next menu on the right: shortcut
-Click the browse button.
-Goto: computer-> boot(C:) -> Program Files -> Mahjong Towers Eternity.
-Select the file: Mahjong Towers Eternity.exe
-Click OK button
-Delete: exe and the dot in between (that is only because I think it looks better. Titles under shortcuts can always altered afterward.)
-Click: Complete. (or something like that.)

[jds]

Gerda,

I hope you are feeling better now. I wanted you to know that everything worked out perfectly and now I'm a very happy MTE player! You are a genius! After getting my game from BFG I restored my player, "got rid of" the BFG manager and now all is well!! God bless you for everything you did to help me. I remain humbled and thankful for your help and gracious gift to me!! ;D ;D

God's blessings and hugs to you,

jds

[Gerda]

Thanks for the blessings and hugs. I never can have enough of them. I am fine now. It was only a day.

Yahoo help-desk is pretty fast on answering. The result is that their Mahjong Towers Eternity is not Vista compatible yet.

Here is an extract of their answers:

The problem is not with the games core programming, but with how it
handles its license through us.

Our engineers are getting them slowly converted but when you have 400+
games to change, it can take some time!

When you download your game, please look at the name of the file. If the
file ends with tm6, congratulations! This game should have no problem
running on Windows Vista!

If your game ends with tm5, we do apologize, but this game has not been
updated.

I think that will be it. Yahoo game players who are about to purchase this game and are on Vista, have to be either patient for the upgrade or (and with that are no longer true Yahoo game players anymore lol) purchase the game elsewhere.

This is one of the reasons, I used to purchase my games directly from the developer of it if possible before BFG came up with the Game Club. And if a game, I really want to have, is not on BFG, I still do. If it is not for the discount of BFG Game Club membership, the price is mostly the same everywhere.

[Gerda]

And of course, if a game or other program is not Vista compatible:
Right click the icon on desktop. Goto properties. Choose the tab: Compatibility and set it back to: Windows XP service pack 2.
And if this does not help: You mark the box: Run this program as Administrator*.

*Free translation into English. You know what I mean as you see it. It is a little down the pop up.

BTW. With Vista I use the right mouse button far more than with XP. A menu pops up. You can choose from their what you need to do.

[pcfrend]

What luck having you already answering my questions. I followed the advise about Vista game player restore process and my old player in now back in its rightful place. I'm a lightning pig so you can imagine how happy I am to have it back.

Now I'd like to ask about Windows 7. I'm wondering if anyone has upgraded to Windows 7 successfully and if there are any cautions we should know about.

On another note - it was so disheartening to see that I need over 23 million points now to get to rarified lightning pig. I took me literally years to get to this point and likely another 5 years to hit rarified lightning status.

I wish there were shortcuts through these millions but I guess not. I have a whole new level of respect for those RLP's out there.

[Spazza]

Dec 10, 2009 19:32:57 GMT pcfrend said:

What luck having you already answering my questions. I followed the advise about Vista game player restore process and my old player in now back in its rightful place. I'm a lightning pig so you can imagine how happy I am to have it back.

Now I'd like to ask about Windows 7. I'm wondering if anyone has upgraded to Windows 7 successfully and if there are any cautions we should know about.

On another note - it was so disheartening to see that I need over 23 million points now to get to rarified lightning pig. I took me literally years to get to this point and likely another 5 years to hit rarified lightning status.

I wish there were shortcuts through these millions but I guess not. I have a whole new level of respect for those RLP's out there.

Hi pcfrend

Yes there are players running the game on Windows 7 & all is going well as far as i'm aware - finding the player folder in Windows 7 is similar to that of Vista so i hear

Congrats on reaching the countdown to Rarified Lightening pig - yes it seems like a road to Eternity

Shortcuts through the millions there are - clik on the get more layouts box beside My Favorites & try a few layouts in the smallest & fastest sections - click on options & play these los in concentration mode

Enjoy!!