This page contains both “game tips” and “tech help” …because sometimes it is “game help” that people really need.
See the updated guide to the game, installation help, and “Exodus cheat sheet” posted in Rotation.org’s software forum.
Technical Issues and Solutions…
Game Window Doesn’t Open at Startup and I Get a Screen Resolution Error
Open your Windows Control Panel and set your Display resolution down to something like1280x600.
There’s this “Divine Games” box left open on the screen after I close out the game
Ignore it and close it out. It’s a small opening file you don’t need to leave open.
“Sticky Keys” Problem when I hold down certain keys
Some versions of Windows come with a feature enabled for those with disabilities called “Sticky Keys”. If you hold down a certain key the system begins repeating it for you. Open your Control Panel and turn off Sticky Keys.
Video on Dabney’s laptop won’t start,
Sometimes you must back Robin up and approach the ‘trigger’ point in front of the laptop or stand again. Back up and approach it STRAIGHT ON. If you try this a couple of times and the video won’t start, it’s possible that you have an older computer that can’t play the type of video we have embedded in the game. Update your Media Player and version of Quicktime from their respective websites (these are free).
Opening Video doesn’t Play…
You should see an opening video narrated by Sir Dabney, ending in the logo.
If you get an error, or the video starts and stop, or the video CHUGS ALONG… Possible Video Solutions include: Turning off all other programs to free up ram and videoram. Opening your Windows Control Panel “Display” settings and setting your screen resolution to 800×600, 16 bit (High) color depth. Make sure you have Windows Media Player 10 or higher installed (free from microsoft.com) to run the videos!!
Why you need the proper edition of Media Player… It’s possible that you don’t have the proper video codec installed on your system. Fortunately, it’s easy to correct. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/mediaplayer and download the latest version of Windows Media Player for XP and Vista. If you have an older system, select Windows Media Player 9 or 10 from the drop down list.
Opening Video and other sounds “too soft”
Open your Windows Master Volume control and click “mixer”. Push all the sliders up to the top. During the game, you can access a special Exodus volume control this way: Press the Windows key on your keyboard, this will reduce the game to an icon. Click your audio icon in the taskbar and then click “mixer”. You should see an Exodus audio slider. Also…You can adjust relative sound volumes by clicking “options” in the Exodus game menu.
If all else fails, make sure you are playing Exodus on a computer with separate desktop speakers that you can crank up. Laptop speakers, and monitor built-in speakers are notoriously under-amplified.
Game encounters an error and must be closed before it even gets started…
Try one of these solutions:
1. RIGHT CLICK the Exodus desktop icon and select “Run as Admin”. They restart the game.
2. RIGHT click the Exodus desktop icon and select Properties/Compatibility and “Run as XP” to get your computer to settle down.
3. Slide the error window to the side using your mouse and look at the A5 Conitec Gamestudio WHITE BOX. It may have an error message there. Write down the exact error message and share it with us.
If you get an “acknex has to close” error in Vista or Windows 7 or 8:
Right click the installed Exodus desktop icon. Select Properties, Compatibility, and select “Run as XP”. This will tell your system to handle the game a little more gently. We also recommend turning off the annoying and intrusive “User Account Controls” (UACs) in Vista. Look for that option under your Windows Control Panel.
You may also try to click “Run as Administrator” option when you select Properties. Every system is a bit different. Try various options.
Game Screen Minimizes or “closes” to the taskbar during play…
Press your SHIFT Key rapidly 5 times. This will prompt the Window’s “sticky keys” feature to open. Select “No”. If this doesn’t help, do one of two things or both: (1) Update your video driver. Window minimizing during game play is a known issue with some video chip drivers. (2) Turn off programs that may be trying to update in the background. Pop up windows often interfere with game processes.
Misc Non Technical Problems:
I can’t find the Helicopter Key
Can’t climb the Tower of Masah
Can’t find the Library
Can’t find the Red Sea Room
You need to read the Game Guide and the following notes…
I can’t find the Air Blaster
In the Goshen Level it’s found down in the dig site with a big exclamation point over it. Use it to blast the spiders, thought it’s not required to complete the level. The spiders are just annoying.
In Pharaoh’s Court it is found behind the plants. You must use it to blast the guard 3 times to freeze him before you proceed.
In the Red Sea Room it is located in the terrain by the platform, but not needed to complete any task. However, in version 1.1 it appears in Robin’s hand when she enters the level.
I can’t find the helicopter key after I climb the boxes.
You have either, 1) climbed the wrong set of planks and boxes (the correct set is at the top of the main staircase where you first appeared at the beginning of the game near Brother Deni); or 2) You haven’t first talked to Deni, gone to the Library, watched the video, and THEN gone to look for the key.
Help in the Monastery Library & Miriam’s Song Game
In both games, Robin must go to the library at the proper time to receive instructions. In the second adventure she must solve the Miriam’s song puzzle in the library in order to open a secret door to the trail to Marah.
Order of Tiles in the Library:
1. Green 2. Yellow 3. Orange 4. Purple 5. Red 6. Pink 7. Blue
This order is also found on the instructions which pop up as you approach the chest in the library.
If you step on a tile out of order, you must go back and step on the RESET tile. Don’t confuse Red and pink. The pink is really pinkish-purple. Once you have completed the tiles in order, go out into the library and look for the newly opened secret entrance to the Marah Trail. It’s easy to accidentally step on the wrong tile while running around. Don’t! Also, for technical reasons, we recommend you don’t stand on the edge of the tile TOO CLOSE to the bookshelves. Stand in the center or away from the bookshelves to activate each tile, otherwise occasionally Robin’s model gets stuck on a shelf. It is recommended that you SAVE YOUR GAME before starting the Song Game.
Stuck in the Library Song Game? Want to bypass it? After stepping onto a colored tile in Miriam’s Library, go find Sir Dabney. He’ll tell you there’s a “switch.” Actually, it’s a book titled “Deni.” Go up to that book (it’s a bit hard to find but it is on a shelf at eye-level along one of the walls), then Save Your Game at this point, THEN press “Enter” and the Secret Passageway to Marah will be automatically opened on another wall. The book trigger can’t open the passageway until you step on a tile.
TECHNICAL GLITCH AND WORKAROUND WITH THE LIBRARY “BYPASS BOOK”
To Bypass the Song Game: After you have stepped on at least one tile, go talk to Dabney. He will activate the “bypass book” for you. It will now glow green when you see it on the outer wall of the library.
IMPORTANT #1: Press “Esc” and save your location PRIOR TO walking up to the book.
IMPORTANT #2: When you walk up to the green glowing book, a message will appear to “press enter.” THE MOMENT you press “enter” you should then also PRESS BACK ARROW to step away from the book. Why? Because it will slide out and (depending on how Robin’s character is standing next to the book) it can CAPTURE Robin and that’s Game over at that point. So SAVE your game prior to pressing Enter!!! in case you get caught and need to load the level again.
Note: we don’t want the kids to bypass the Library. The Deni book switch is really just for teachers. Please note: the Marah level can take up to a minute to load.
I’m Stuck
STUCK? …hopefully you SAVED your game so that you can LOAD your saved spot (prior to where you were getting stuck) and try again. SAVE SAVE SAVE your game locations as you play so you can restart at recent saved location if you get stuck.
To “Save,” press ESC, then SAVE, then click one of the six boxes. At first they will appear as black boxes. You can save up to six locations. When you return to “load” a saved location, it will show you a picture of the locations you saved. Remember what your location looked like! (It’s a good idea to save your location in front of something you will definitely recognize.)
At the beginning of a lesson, show your students how to SAVE their game, and remind them to save often.f the locations saved. You can also save over a previously saved location. After saving a location, you’ll be immediately returned to the game where you left off.
Note: The ‘game save’ location feature creates a screenshot of the location you are saving, without telling you which of the 3 games you are in. So it is recommended that you pay attention to the location where you are saving so that you can visually tell WHICH of the saved game locations you want to load. For example…at the right is a graphic screenshot of the saved-game location as I walked up to the Bypass Book in Miriam’s Library.
To get UNstuck, …sometimes the following things work:
Try jumping away from a spot by pressing your forward arrow key and Home key at the same time.
Try jumping in different directions. Try BACKING AWAY from an object or hidden crack in the 3d.
If you’re stuck in the Dig Tent in the Goshen level, the spiders may be trapping you at your feet. Use your mouse to point your airblaster down at them, or jump over them.
Upon entering the Goshen level immediately go find Dabney and then the airblaster. He walks around but is often found down in the dig. The Air Blaster is down in the dig.
If you are are STUCK ON THE BOOK in the Library, see the note above this one!
Stuck in the Well of Marah?
If you decide to swim in the Marah Well, then just about the only location you can JUMP out from is the far left corner (as seen while standing IN the well and looking at the steps). Home/Forward arrow a couple of times. And try for a bit of a running start. Same idea in the Goshen mudpits and other water hazards. Sometimes Robin just needs to find the right “step” to get out. Secret: If you press forward arrow and jump key at the same time Robin can climb the rocks in the well to get out, but you have to position her over in the vertical crack at the back of the well.
Screen is Stretched Weird
W I D E screen issues…. Many new monitors are wide aspect and not the standard 4:3 ratio. Exodus will stretch to fill the screen causing the width of the game images to be disproportionate to the height. Here’s how you solve that… Press ALT-ENTER and the game will turn into a window. Now you can grab the sides of the windows with your mouse point and resize it to your preferred width and height. NOTE: Some monitors have built in correction for this! My one computer didn’t, but my newer one did.
You can also go into your Windows Display setting and look at your graphic properties “aspect control” option (if your graphic controller has one) and select “fixed” to keep your computer from stretching this program.
How to DELETE or COPY SAVED GAME FILES between computers:
(A special note for the technically inclined)
Windows 7 and 8 does not store your new saved-game files in the Program File (86)/Exodus Adventures folder. RATHER, it puts them in a secure “virtual store” location. As you can see by the graphic below, “virtual store” is a sub-folder of the User/AppData/Local/VirtualStore/Program Files….. directory. You can COPY all the .SAV files from that folder into any other installed version of Exodus Adventures to create the same “saved locations” menu in your lab across your computers. Recommended: After creating the new saved files on one computer, copy these files into the standard installed c:\Program Files(86x)\Exodus Adventures folder on the other computers. This will replace the copy of the saved game that came with the game and installed (which is empty). For your reference:
About the Options Menu:
Press ESC then click OPTIONS. You can adjust the relative sound volumes of the Music and Voices in the game by accessing the OPTIONS menu at the main menu. If you are experiencing BAD audio volumes, look there. Different computers handle sound a bit different, so play with the balances. Set the “View Distance” all the way to the right IF you have a really nice computer. It will make distant graphics appear sooner.
Basic Understanding of the Game’s Layout
The adventures on the CD begin in St. Catherine’s Monastery located in the Sinai Desert. Robin must first meet Deni the Monk and follow his instructions. Read the Game Guide for specific details.
Things must be done in the correct order for the game to unfold, items to appear, doors to unlock, levels to change, and things to work. You cannot skip activities, clues or an area.
In each game there are things which Robin must “trigger” to happen. These triggers can be “things she has accomplished which trigger a door to open or an audio file to play. Or they can be invisible trigger points she touches as you moves around that activate something. In some cases, the trigger might be an object, or a blinking location. In other cases, the trigger might be a mouse click the player needs to make in response to an onscreen prompt, or it may be hitting your spacebar to open a door.
For example, Sir Dabney will turn and talk to her only after she has accomplished a task (which he has previously told her to do) and after completing the task –she has walked back to him and gets close enough to trigger his audio response (which is usually another instruction about what do to next).
For example, in Game 1’s Goshen Village she must approach several laptop computers to activate a videoclip. But the laptop’s “play me” prompt won’t activate if she has something else which Dabney has told her to do first. (This keeps the Bible story unfolding in the correct order).
For example, you can run all over the monastery, even climb on rooftops, but you can’t get into the helicopter any time you want. It will only activate when you have completed the required task as instructed, which makes the helicopter key appear. The monastery is the only game level in which you need to find the key to operate the helicopter. In all other levels, it will operate AFTER you have completed the tasks in that level and receive a message to go back to the helicopter and fly somewhere.
Thus….it is very important for players to listen to the game’s narrated instructions and characters and follow them. They tell Robin what to do next.
The Exodus Game Control Refresher
NAVIGATE Robin using the arrow keys.
HOLD the SHIFT KEY while pressing the arrow keys to make Robin run faster.
TO MAKE ROBIN JUMP -press the ‘home’ key while pressing the forward arrow.
Move your mouse to look down and up or aim the airblaster
Press the mouse button to fire the airblaster.
(All these are mentioned in the guide.)
Some additional notes about flying the Helicopter:
At several points in each game Robin flies her helicopter to move to the next location/level in the game. “Where” to fly to is often advised by Sir Dabney, or shown on the clipboard. Most often she must land on a helipad to advance to the next level. In some cases, however, the helicopter only needs to “bump” into something to trigger a level change. For example, in the Monastery terrain she must fly into the Nile River sign by the trees. At the Burning Bush, she must contact the pylon in the landscape. Each level in the game has outer boundaries which the helicopter cannot cross.
Advice about how to land at a landing point:
Press the forward (down) arrow and End Key simultaneously. This will both pitch the helicopter downward and slow it down. If you contact the ground and stop and are not in the right location for a “level change” to occur, press the Home key to fly back up and move to the correct location.
In Game 1, Moses and Pharaoh, –Robin must visit the Library and complete the task there, THEN find the key to the helicopter by cross the rooftop to the “pink patio” before she can take off. See the map in the game guide.
Game “Boundaries “
Each “level” in the game that Robin walks or flies through has boundaries. She’ll bounce back from them, or scrape up against them.
Trigger Points ~ Getting things to happen…
Some actions, such as the laptop videos or box climbing action, are activated when Robin approaches them. Sometimes you must back Robin up and approach the ‘trigger’ point again directly in front of the laptop. The proximity and angle of approach to the laptop is somewhat critical in order to properly trigger a video event. (just a vagary of the authoring tool). This can also apply to crates which Robin can automatically climb up in the Monastery. It can also apply to JUMPING up onto things or grabbing things, such as the BRANCH at the Well of Marah (pictured right). If she isn’t automatically climbing up a box, use your JUMP key while you press your Forward Arrow key to accomplish the same action.
Order of events affects triggers as well. The helicopter key doesn’t appear by the Pink Patio until Robin has watched the video in the Library. The guard in Goshen Village will not bother Robin until it is time to play the “Collect Straw” game. Then he will make her drop the straw if she gets in his way. Same thing with Sir Dabney and the Monks in Game 2. When approached they sometimes have important things to say. At other times they are silent.
Sunday Software closed its virtual doors in 2019 and donated all of its 18 programs to http://www.rotation.org where you can find the updated teaching guides and extra tech tips. Supporting Members at rotation.org can also download the software for free.
If you need more Exodus Adventures support, you can contact neilmacqueen+softwarehelp@gmail.com
Sunday Software Support Archive 