Mary, Mrs. B, jester, and Merri,

Enjoy! :)

mrlipid , thanks SO much for the information of extending this game's time limit; I followed your instructions with SOME trepidation (because I am a bit computer challenged, lol) and it WORKED!!!
It makes the game so much more enjoyable not to have time restraints..thanks again!
:)

Thanks mrlipid and Jester... duh.. I missed the open in note pad part.. did that and it works great! You folks are the best!!

Also, Dave, some of our computers died and we are able to reinstall game! Thank you Game Giveaway!!!

#58 I have been able to amend this file thanks to mrlipid. You need to open the file with Notepad - it sounds like you are using XML editor or similar - these will be read only. Right-click over the file, choose the option Open With and then use Notepad to carry out the alterations, then choose Save - not Save As - and it should work fine.

Mrs. B.,

What sort of text editor are you using?

Thanks for offering this wonderful game again! We love it and had lost it from the last time due to purchasing a newer computer. But I so want to be able to play this in "Relaxed" mode.. I tried mrlipid's suggestion (#54) and I can find the daytime="1800" but the numbers 1800 are in bold blue and it will not let me change them.. what am I doing wrong! Thank you GOTD for a great game!

I didn't get a chance to comment earlier then decided to wait until I had finished the game at least once. I took a chance on this & downloaded to a flash drive that can run games. It was successful. There was a relaxed mode and some very challenging puzzles on this one. Thanks to white rabbit for suggesting the flash drive on Cairo since it worked on both of these games.

The computer I'm using has Vista but I'm going to try it on my laptop with XP. Desktop didn't have any issue with items under the search list but I'll try to report back when I try it on the smaller screen of the lap top. One odd bit, after day 5 the clock would reset on the next day with a full 90 mins. Nice for relaxed play but if the programmers added something in as an upgrade there might be a gliche.

Entertaining & fun -thanks ggaotd

"Thanks to mrlipid’s great suggestion, and super-clear instructions, I have finally gotten through Day 1! Yay!"

Great! Glad to know I helped. :)

I just finished Mysterious City: Golden Prague.I was able to play on the relaxed mode which gave me enough time to finish each of the chapters.I really like the find the differences games,but the one with only fish in it was really hard.thks.. GGOTD,PS..would love an adventure game without violence.

Thanks to mrlipid's great suggestion, and super-clear instructions, I have finally gotten through Day 1! Yay!

There is another way to get as much time as you need in Golden Prague.

Go to the GoldenPrague folder with an editor like Notepad set to Files of type: All files and open the folder “scripts” and then the folder “game” and then the file “levels.xml”.

You’ll see a line like this:

day1 time=”1800″

Change it to:

day1 time=”18000″

You have now extended the time for the first level of any new game ten times to 300 minutes.

Do this for all the headers and then take your time (and as many hints as you want) playing the game. If it takes you more than 300 minutes to make it past each level, see if “36000″ works as a time.

(Please delete entries 51 and 52)

Too bad I have been out of town this weekend - hopefully it is available again in some time.

I'd also like to point out that level 26 requires you to find an object that isn't on the sihouette list. It's the spanner or, as some folks call it, the wrench.

Dear Watcher, Mary, White Rabbit,

The relaxed mode is something that I accidentally had offered when setting up a new game player. Can't seem to find that option again, and I think that it just popped up randomly. Any idea how I can get that option again?

Thanks for pointing that out Watcher. I'd totally missed the relaxed mode option. That's probably because I used my previous review of this game. I'll update the above later jut in case we are given it again in the future.

It's always nice to see others writing something decent about these games. I don't havethe time to spend hours checking through a game at the moment, so things can be missed.

Thanks Mary :)

To Mike - I'm glad you caught my explanation. There are several sites where you can get free MP3's legally. I'm sure CNet has a music section where you can download single songs and full albums by new and obscure bands, some of which are actualy realy good. It's either CNet or one of the other well known download sites. I've not visited for a few years as I have around 40Gb of music in the MP3 format to listen to.. :)

Thanks for the explanation midori (and Dobramilka) - Thankfully I always change the default settings as I prefer to install my games to a specific games folder (as I do with my utilities).

W.R.

I too love this game, but also need an extended version. I tried adding another player, as #30 Jester mentioned, but it didn't work for me, possibly because I still have the original version offered on GGOTD last year.

Also, I'm glad to see GGOTD back (thanks for the great reviews, Whiterabbit!); I don't mind repeats; and I hope you all don't get discouraged by the naysayers. People with complaints are much more likely to speak up than those with thanks: it's taken me a year and a half!

Interestingly, with my first player, the game gave me the relaxed mode option, which I had played in Cairo. Actually, I hadn't played Cairo in the regular mode. So, I was surprised when no one mentioned it. I recommend people look for ways to activate that, as it gives you 3 times the amount of time as does the regular mode. That, to me, can make it a lot more attractive to people who aren't whizzes at hidden object. As I said in Cairo, this studios games aren't as much about deep integration of the objects into the background, though there's more of that here than in Cairo. They're about hiding the objects in clutter. I didn't realize that this is because a new player or a player restarting because of running out of time, gets a new set of objects, so you need a lot of objects. This approach significantly increases replayability.

As for the vocabulary, we're probably ignoring that the game was likely developed by folks who don't speak English as a first language, so some of that is understandable. Though, as has been said, it hurts the playability in the :30 minute mode. I have a slight preference for Cairo. I like the pseudo Egyptian music better than the slightly generic, but somewhat suspenseful pseudo classical here. It might have been nice if the music would have suggested Bohemia or Moravia more, but I'm not sure how I would have written it, so I can't complain. I think Cairo's a little easier, but that's only a plus for folks like me, since I'm not that good.

If I have a complaint, and I believe it was said during one of the previous giveaways of this, I wish these developers would have added informational content. A little description of the local color. Of course, this might have been originally developed for denizens of Prague who would know all this stuff, but simple captions would have greatly added to the overall effect. And would have added to the attraction for children, too. Same can be said of Cairo. At least for the famous spots.

For 9.99 I'd probably buy, but I'd buy for sure if it had the educational content which it lacks. I didn't have this, so the repeat's a plus. I'll keep it. Thanks GOTD and thanks Whiterabbit. I appreciate your conscientiousness and agree you should remove personal attacks. Letting people get too much into taking shots at each other never really helps.

Thanks wrabbit, I'm still up trying to finish the Cairo game. Not there yet, and a bit tired. Not being 100% fit myself, I'm giving up and downloading Prague anyway - Even though it's virtually the same.
I think I understand the musical advice....
Now all I need is a music collection to replace music in games with.

Maybe I could even play some of my own - I have a keyboard with USB and MP3 and Midi facilities, although I've never explored these.
Food for thought.

Again, I appreciate your help.

Mike.

Re: the game trying to load into last week's giveaway, MotorCross, that name is simply still in the computer's memory of where to install it in that folder, or whatever you've set up as your default for GGAOTD games. So yes, you have to be careful and not overwrite another game, as it'll usually keep doing this. I did it once, and learned my lesson fast!

Hi folks
I have WinXP and I seem to remember that somewhere in the bowels it lets you set whether you want it to remember the last folder you did an installation in. So unless things are different in VISTA please read the instalation screens before clicking OK. (That goes for Gary as well. The way you got the Software Informer installed is because you clicked that you wanted it instead of the button next to it on the Software is Activated screen).
When you first start the game (mine is from last giveaway ) after the clock the next thing that pops up is a "do you want to play in RELAXED mode YES NO". Clicking YES will give you the time to find everything. You can have different personas just by clicking on the bottom "If it's not you click here" you do not have to delete your last name.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for the game.

UPDATE: The first time I tried to install the startup.exe program, NIS 2010's SONAR component viewed it as suspicious merely because it was a very new program and less than 100 Norton users had it on their computer. It put the program into quarantine, so I had to restore it back from there. Then I turned off only the SONAR component for a 15 min time period (from the drop-down menu that pops up when you try to turn SONAR off), installed the startup.exe (as an administrator because I'm running VISTA), and then re-enabled SONAR. I was able to play the game without a problem.

For those of you who may already have Mysterious City-Cairo on your computer, check the Program Files entry under that program. My Prague game loaded itself as a subfolder there.

The game was apparently written by Europeans, so some of the names of the items are not the typical American ones. You have to stretch your mind a bit and think of the multiple meanings of words or what an item actually is or does. "Enamel" is a case in point - to me that is either a paint or objet d'art, not a bottle of nail polish - but then when you think about it, "enamel" is just a shortened version of "nail enamel".

Regarding "Software Informer", you have to check-off the box, so I don't see how someone could be "tricked" into using it. If you don't know what something is, don't check the box. If you've got it installed, you could probably go into the Control Panel of Windows and remove it there.

I've been downloading programs from GAOTD and GGAOTD for years now, and I've never been infected with anything from it. As a Vista user, I always have to remember to install the programs as an Administrator otherwise a lot of times they either don't install properly or don't work properly. Sometimes the programs just won't install on my computer - could be the programming, or could be one of my other programs has taken it dislike. These things happen. We all have different software configurations on our computers and the software manufacturer can't test for all possible permutations.

For those people who always have a problem with software from this site, I would guess that the problem is on your end. You're either not following the instructions to the letter, not installing as an Administrator if you're using Vista, not shutting down other running programs when installing, not having enough hard disk space, using the wrong version of Windows for the program, display driver won't change to the required resolution, etc.

Remember too, that Windows has the Compatability Assistant program which can often help.

It's a fun game but I would advise the developers to try running their game on a few different machines . On a netbook which is no longer an uncommon device (even in old prague!) the game has serious window problems since the playing windows are neither resizable, zoomable or scrollable. It doesn't seem like a big effort to make the window scrollable - spacebar-move seems to work well for many programs.

Well, it's free so I can't complain too much but I can see being quite upset if one actually bought it and found this sort of problem.

thanks.

I

Hi Vickie,

Read comment #28 by DownTheShore; he warned those with Norton to turn it off while installing today’s software.

I’d totally uninstall the software then temporarily turn off Sonar then reinstall the game. Whether it’s too late now that you’ve already alerted Norton I can’t say because I use a different security suite (Kaspersky)



Hi Gary,

Sorry you feel that way. Personally I've never had any problems with any giveaway or game giveaway that I’ve ever downloaded from the giveaway project. I was actually quite pleased to get Software Informer because I no longer use a credit card (since retirement) and therefore was unable to renew my subscription to Version Tracker which I’ve used for several years. Software Informer isn’t exactly the same, but it’s a reasonable replacement. I used to pay around $40 a year for Version Tracker, so to get Informer for free is great. I don’t particularly like these programs running in the background, so always use Anvir to turn the start up off. That way there’s no impact on my computer and if I want to run Software informer I just go to my utilities folder and click on the shortcut.

I’m sure we got a choice whether or not to install Software Informer, so I don’t understand how you were tricked into having it installed???

Anyway, I hope you find alternative free software sites elsewhere where you can download without the worry of malware; though I think they are rather thin on the ground. Most I’ve come across always seem to want to install toolbars and hijack your home page, or when I download software it usually sets off my alarms, lol.

W.R.

Norton 2010 won't let me run the program unless I turn off Sonar. I had to turn off Sonor in order to run the setup program but now it still won't let me run goldenprague.exe without sonor turned off too. I've tried everything, including trying to get help from Norton which is a total dead end. Anyone having the same problem?

#30 (Jester) thanks for the help... I could not get game to recognize the center of the wheel hub or anything else, clicking at least 50 or 60 times in the area within the hint circle around the wheel. Very frustrating, if it works ok for others then maybe it's my screen resolution (1920x1080) or trackball resolution (Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0). After restarting with a new user name, I got up to level 10 and had to stop to do other things!

Thank you! i like these games very very mutch!

After several years of using both giveaway of the day sites, I now feel I can not trust them. I will restore my PC to before I was tricked into installing software informer and be done with them.

Okay, try installing it again making a note of where it's going. :lol:

If you still have problems, clear out your internet cache - (right click on the internet icon and (if using I.E.) select Internet options - the rest is obvious. If using firefox the internet options is found via tools (I think - I've not used firefox much recently)

W.R.

Searched GoldenPrague on entire Hard Drive:nothing. nothing in game folder.

Hi Gary and Joyce,

I've only just installed todays game (didn't need to as I still had it from the first time as it's free standing, so whenever I format my discs I save the files) and noticed that it tried to install into last weeks super motocross. Also it doesn't install a short cut, so if you don't make a note of where it's installed you may very well lose it. If you use the find command and use the search term:

GolderPrague

You'll then probably find your game. You can create a shortcut to the desktop from the games executable within the main folder. The game may very well be within another games folder so i'd cut and paste it to a more appropriate position before you create a desktop icon. :)

W.R.

I am confused today. I have d/l many games successfully from here including this one, but I can't open it. Please help.

I was tricked into installing software informer. I do not see the game.

Hi Mike comment #12, sorry it’s taken until now to reply to your query.

Firstly you need to locate where the music files are located in the game. These are usually in either a data folder or music folder and nearly always come in the OGG format. Most audio converters can convert MP3 to OGG, so it makes it easy to replace music that you find annoying with music more to your own taste.

It’s surprising how music can affect the playability of a game especially if it’s playing your favourite music (though you run the danger of getting bored of the piece if it’s played too often (but then you can always change the music again, lol).

The install path may very well have been whatever game you installed last. It tried to install the game to last weeks super motocross for me, so you may need to use the find command to find the game. If you search for GoldenPrague you should find the games main folder. There’s five music files in the OGG format named level_music1, level_music2, level_music3, level_music4 and menu_music.

When you’ve selected the files from your music collection that you wish to include in game change the names to those I’ve mentioned above then copy them to the Music folder located within the main games folder. (as a precaution please do save the original files into a backup folder)

You can find several free audio converters http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/cat/Audio_Video_Audio_Encoders_Converters/

I hope this helps. Let me know whether you saw this message. If not I’ll post it again next weekend (assuming we get more games)


W.R.

Sorry #29 - meant to say it's the centre of the wheel hub

#29 The Kiwi is a slice of kiwi fruit, I spent ages looking for a bird. Likewise a rook, turns out this is a chess piece, so you do have to think a bit literally. Now I've no idea how I got this to happen, so can anyone please explain if they know. I managed to somehow start a new game player in an extended mode, so instead of 30 mins it became 90 mins. Would like to repeat that if possible! Thumbs up for a game that doesn't involve blowing everything to bits!

I enjoyed the music in this game, very relaxing. I got stuck in the fourth level, could not find a "kiwi". Not sure if they want a fruit or a bird or a person from NZ, but clicking on anything the might be one of those doesn't help. Asking for a hint draws a magical glowing circle around the car's left tire, but nothing clicked within or near that circle works. My guess is the "kiwi" is underneath a hint button or map button or the list of items to find. Impossible to click on. So I restarted. This time I needed to find different objects in two of previous puzzles. The "find the differences" puzzle was the same, took me about 15 seconds this time! But on the fourth puzzle was the SAME list of objects, all of them already "found" except the Kiwi. "None shall pass," as the Black Knight once said. I deleted my user name and created another user name and started over to fix this, but WHY should I have to? The programmers placed the objects in specific locations that don't change. The menus and buttons go in specific places. There is no excuse for this, other than a total disregard for their customers. This COULD have been a very enjoyable game...

UPDATE: For those of you using NIS 2010, temporarily disable the SONAR protection before clicking on the setup.exe file for this program. SONAR tends to view it as suspicious and whisks it off to quarantine.

I still have this from the previous GAOD and it is still working and is an enjoyable game.
Thank you.

This game is great for people that like this type of game. I originally downloaded this the first time it was offered here and have been playing ever since. This is a great repeat for me since the pc i had originally downloaded has since died and i lost a lot of great games i had gotten from ggaotd. Personally i like the sequel a lot better, and unfortunately i missed the chance to re-download that last weekend.That's ok though, i'm going to be purchasing all my favorite games from the respective developers that i had originally gotten for free from this site. Thanks again ggaotd team!

I have the Cario game and I enjoy it! I've downloaded this one and will give it a try also.

Thanks! I have this on my desktop from the previous giveaway, and now I can finally put it on my laptop. Love this game! It's one of the best hidden-object games that I've come across.

love the game, wish there was an untimed version.

I really enjoyed this game before, so am happy to see it again. Sadly, I am probably going to have to replace this hard drive, so I'll be hoping to see it again in the future.

These types of hidden object games are actually fun, even though, as said by several people, objects' names can be frustrating. @Julia--in North America, it's called "nail polish"--just in case you run into that one!
As has been said in GOTD comments, those of you who don't like it, just don't download or install it. Same goes for those who already have it. It's that easy. To bitch about it doesn't make you appear wise in any way. Something is offered for free. Accept it or skip it.

Thank you! I loved yesterdays game and I know I'll love this one too!

I love this Game ! ^^

http://www.wabentaler.de/?id=2cmgg

LOVE IT.
(Missed it 1st time)

For those who enjoy hidden object games, this is a nice game to have. It's aesthetically pleasing, sufficiently challenging and cleverly designed, with pleasant unobtrusive music.

Whiterabbit, much as I appreciate the thought and effort you have put into your helpful and detailed review, I think your comments about badly labelled objects in this game are a touch unfair. A silver cigarette holder isn't too far a leap for 'cigarette', and 'rook' is an alternative name for the castle in chess. I myself struggled with 'enamel', which turned out to be a bottle of nail varnish, but I accept that vocabulary varies across the English-speaking world, and is in fact a key part of the challenge of this type of game.

:-)

For those getting a black screen when trying to start the game (I also had the music play and it froze my computer), I was able to get it to run by right clicking on game exe, select properties, select compatibility, then disable visual themes. I also had the same problem with the Cario game and this fixed the same issue for that one too. I had first tried updating video card driver (NVidia) which did not help. Thanks for the games.