I downloaded the game from Shockwave and it works perfectly from there but I only have 1 hour game time.

.........................Moderator Comment.......................

The game has to be dpownloaded from this site and on the day of the giveaway for you to be able to get the full version Downloading from other sites (unless it's from the free game sites like Gametop, MyPlayCity, FreeGamePick or Jenkat Games) will only give you a demo of the game.

Response from Playrix was that my graphics card did not have enough memory, and it should be getting memory from elsewhere but it wasn't. I think either my driver was corrupted or I was not getting the updated version even though I clicked to update the driver. I was afraid if I tried to look myself online to download it I would get the wrong file. Removing the adaptor and adding it back made it find the right one to download. But don't try this if you don't know what you are doing.

I got the game downloaded and activatied yesterday. When I tried to start the game about 3/4 of the way thru loading it stops, starts then quits and goes back to my windows screen. Tried 3 times to load the game, Windows 7. Can someone help?


…………………..Moderator Comment………………….

Hi Allen, did you try playing the game yesterday? Try installing the latest drivers, make sure you are playing with Admin privilege's and try the various compatibility modes.

----- BLACK SCREEN FIXED -----

Got impatient and tried MyPlayCity.. which was of course black screen too. Now I am not sure what version is on the system.. I guess the MPC.

I had checked my drivers by clicking to update them. That did not work. I uninstalled my graphics card and rebooted. (Don't attempt if you don't know how to do this.) Downloaded driver, installed, and rebooted. Now it works!


.........................Moderator Comment.....................

Glad that you got it working finally. :)

Stephen thanks for your help, and your reviews! Yes I tried the uninstall etc.. not sure if XP was king when I got it previously but its on my XP computer and it works. If I ever find a solution I will let you know. Thanks for the MyPlayCity tip.. first I will see if Playrix answers me. (BTW they want a txt file of your dxdiag info.. maybe if people send that in that have the black screen issue they will figure out what is going on.. well maybe they already know)

#39 Barbara ditto about as soon as I see Playrix I know it is going to be good.

#41 Jim yes its a great game. I had it on my old computer. I left mine on in case I find a solution.


.........................Moderator Comment....................

Yes you may be right. It's often something system specific that causes these problems. It may be a background program that you have running, the lack of an updated driver or several other factors. Hopefully Playrix will respond to your query.

With 30 minutes to go, I have regrettably removed the download. All I get is a black screen and eventually music. I have tried all your suggestions. Nothing worked. It sounds like a really nice game. Thank you anyway.


.........................Moderator comment......................

Hi Jim, sorry you couldn't get it too work. Try the MyPlayCity version.

When I tried to search Dx9, what came up was dx9.0c. After installing that and rebooting was when I got the error.

I also saw a troubleshooter thing when clicking properties on the icon. I tried to use that too but it did not come up with anything.

......................Moderator Comment.....................

Hi Brendag4, yes, 9.0c is the latest version. Maybe try deleting the game, reinstalling DX 9.0c, then reinstall the game. If you continue to have problems change the compatibility to XP. The game was released when XP was still king (I think) :)

Failing the above, I'd try the MyPlayCity version (see my review for download link). So long as you follow the guidelines, that is unchecking any checkboxes during installation (and sometimes when booting up the game), you can avoid the toolbars and home page changes. The games are otherwise safe from malware. you do get redirected to their website when you close the game down, but that is innocuous.

Good luck.


Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

Yes, everybody is right - this game is a keeper! As soon as I see Playrix, I KNOW it's going to be good! I don't play a lot of time management games because most of them seem kind of dumb - you just have to go as fast as you can and not make mistakes, but this one is REALLY good!


........................Moderator Comment.............................

:)

I downloaded Dx9.0c. I figured I was ok since it said Dx8 and I have 11. It looks like 8 is not available from Microsoft anymore. I noticed it says After rebooting I got the message device was lost, D3DERR_DEVICELOST. Tried some different compatibility modes nothing worked. Redownloaded still black screen.

Wrote to Playrix even though I know there is no support.. you never know.

Thanks for trying to help!

Hope the move is going well.


.........................Moderator comment.......................

Did you download DX 9? DX 9 is backwards compatible with DX 8 whereas DX10 and 11 are not, so installing DX 9 may just fix the problem. The error message you've posted [.e. 'device was lost, D3DERR_DEVICELOST' is a Direct X error message.

Is there a Mac version? The Playrix site offers this game for Mac... Thank you :)


..........................Moderator comment.......................

Hi Eric,

If there's no link for the Mac version, P:layrix aren't giving it away. Sorry :(

ps When I try to update my driver for the video card it says it is current.


........................Moderator Comment......................

You said you have Win 7. that means you may not have DX 9 installed. You can get Direct X 9 from Microsoft.


http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/search.aspx?q=directx

I don't see the additional suggestions you mentioned that have been posted.

When I try things like different screen resolutions do I need to reload the game for each attempt? Or will the screen show up automatically if I get the right combination of things set?

I did all of the below except the last line "Try setting your screen resolution temporarily to a different setting and see if that cures the problem. If that doesn't work right click on the games executable and select 'properties', then click on the compatibility mode and select the disable visual themes. This should fix the problem, if not try disabling the display scaling on higher dpi settings and disabling the desktop composition. You can also try compatibility modes for XP, epecially if the game is quite old." Do you mean XP has a compatibility mode or is this a mode for other OSes to choose to be like XP instead of whatever they are? (I have Windows 7)

I have direct x 11.

I do not get NVIDIA or AMD. I get Intel HD Graphics Family.


.......................Moderator Comment....................

Hi Brendag4, I hope you've not been waiting too long for a reply. Been busy with other things. With respect to your graphics card, just go to intels web site. you should find a link to download their graphics drivers. you may need the model number and the operating system details to get the correct drivers.

When changing resolutions you shouldn't have to reload the game.

With respect to choosing a different compatibility, yes, try XP. That is win 7 has a compatibility mode to emulate XP.

:idea:

If you don't get this fixed before the end of the giveaway and you're really keen to play the game, I'd consider getting the game from MyPlayCity. I know the toolbars and home page hijacks can be a problem if you forget to uncheck the check boxes, but these changes are easily reversible. I've linked to the MPC version in my review above.

Sorry I can't be of more help. :(

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for that head's up regarding the third installment. I had no idea they came out with that, I will definitely check it out. If it as good as the first, it is a buy for me.

As for installation, I already have it installed on a Win 7 laptop. I've been waiting all day for my dial-up download on an older Win XP machine with a nice big screen. Everything seemed fine with the download and the installation, but when I try to start it, I get an error code #14001 "The application failed to load because the application configuration is incorrect". I tried re-installing, clean uninstall, install to a different directory, ran in admin, etc. to no avail. I checked the FAQs but didn't see anything regarding this kind of failure. I don't know if it is a corrupt file from the long download or a compatibility issue with Win XP.

It's time for bed, but I thought I would post in case there is anyone who knows how to fix this. If you do, please post. It's too late for me, but there may be someone whose download will finally finish near the end of the giveaway and the answer will help them get the game installed.

Thanks!


...........................Moderator comment..................................

Hi Melika, sorry to hear you've been having problems downloading. If you've got a slow connection, it's probably a glitch that's caused the problem I'd consider using a download manager to download larger files. It may help prevent the errors.

You can get this version from MyPlayCity. Just take care to uncheck the boxes otherwise you'll find toolbars and your home page and even your browser changed. all can be corrected, but it's an annoyance. :)

hi, installed on windows 64. installed fine. but no cursor. so that ends that.


...........................Moderator comment..................................


Check the FAQ's section over in the Games Discussion forums. I've linked to it above somewhere. Try going into compatibility mode and adjusting some of the parameters. also update your direct X and Graphics drivers. I've explained above how to find out which company (eg Nvidia or ATI/ASUS) you need to go to (via Google) to get the appropriate drivers for your graphics card. Which windows version are you using. as pointed out above, if you are running win 7 or above you won't have Direct x 9 installed, so you'll need to install it. you can find it on the Microsoft site. Hope this helps. :)

Hey Wabbit,

Good to hear everything is going good at the new homestead..and old one.

I am not really into TM games but I got this from the last time it was offered. IIRC, the black screen thing had to do with the version of Direct X.

Thanks Playrix and GGOTD for the game even though I didn't download it.

Dear furry one,
I see you have been posting a lot of games in the forum. Need to check them out. I been having at least 2 headches a week so not been doing a lot. Plus I have been on a TV Binge since we got the Roku Box and Netflix. Have really been enjoying OitNB...Should check it out. Kate Mulgrew is the best...Not for kids though.


..........................Moderatopr Comment......................

Hi Delenn,

Ha! I've been doing the same. I've not been able to access my Steam client for over a month now. I know what the problem is, my win 8 has become compromised. Since picking up that malware from that giveaway (sound Frost), things got from bad to worse, then we had a power failure in the house (turned out to be a wire in one of the plug sockets wasn't fastened in, so when plugging in something it moved and shorted out. Anyway, since then I've not been able to access any of my 2000 plus Steam games. I've been trying to reinstall windows as an upgrade onto my old win 7 platform. Didn't want to lose all of my giveaways, but have been having problems reinstalling. It's all been put on hold until we've moved. I still have loads of non steam games, but I've been catching up on watching the half terabyte (500GB) of movies I have recorded on my hard drive instead of playing games. I've just completed watching the latest series of Warehouse 143 and am catching up on the last series of Fringe as well as several other TV serials, plus too many movies to name here.

I hope the head aches settle down. do you know what's causing them?

As for the games I've posted. It was coming up to the fifth anniversary of starting the free games project. I've still not updated the synopsis, but will do soon. (Been promising to do that for ages). Most of the ones I've posted are from Desura, so you'll need the client. They are worth getting. There's an excellent physics based one called Cubic Climber, a running game called Boson X and several others. I've still got more to post, but as we are getting short of time re the house move with loads of stuff still to pack or dump at the local recycling plant I'll probably wait till we're out of this house (between the 16th to 20th September). Thankfully the tenant has given us an extra week to move our stuff out. :)

Scuze the waffle.

I downloaded this game in '12...it's hands down my FAVORITE game. I've yet to find anything else that compares. Thumbs up! I was a tad disappointed that this isn't a different version, but for free, I can't complain. :) Almost a year and a half later, I still play it again and again!


...........................Moderator comment..................................


:D

I love this game-installed great
keep this type coming Playrix I love'm
I bought a similar one before and it was fabulous
Thx Playrix & GAOTD


...........................Moderator comment..................................


:D

Wow looks like a keeper for looks, play and variety of styles. Thanks for comments & WR's fine review, really helps.


.............................Moderator comment........................

:)

Installed, registered, and working fine in Vista. Game reminds me of Farm Frenzy, definitely a keeper. Thanks.


.............................Moderator comment........................

:)

I downloaded this game the last time it was given away here and I've been addicted to it every since. I was hesitant at first since I generally do not like time management games but I'm glad I tried it. I have played the game almost every day (for hours) up until now and I am just now beginning to get tired of it. This is a GREAT game that is easy to learn and lots of fun to play. If you get stuck on a level you can look it up on youtube and find several videos showing how to win (but that's cheating :). After beating all of the levels you can click on the waterfall and go into another "difficult" mode which has less hints. You can then choose a level to play or let the game randomly choose one for you. I would rate it a 9/10. It would be a 10/10 if it included a level editor. I am now looking for a similar game. I've tried many others but the game play just isn't as good. I might have found one with "When in Rome". Would love to see that game here sometime.


.............................Moderator comment........................

Thank you for the feedback Mixx, much appreciated. :)

I downloaded the game and after installing I had only a partial load about 3/4 of the way thru it stops, starts then quits and goes back to my windows screen. Tried 3 times to load the game, Windows 7. Can someone help?


.............................Moderator comment........................

Hi Allen, it sound like a local problem; possibly your provider. Try using a download manager so that download progress isn't lost. Hopefully you'll then be able to get the complete download. also try rebooting your modem and/or router.

This goes in my top 10 games list and was one of the best previous GGOTD ever. When I lost it replacing a hard drive I actually went out and purchased it. The sequel is even better, and same thing -- I went out and purchased that too. If you don't have it, get it. Hope you can dl and install without glitches.

How is the move going, Stephen?


.............................Moderator comment........................

Hi Pea; the move is going well, though slowly. I can't do a lot due to my old injuries, but I'm doing as much as i can. We should be moving in by the 20th September. the builder is doing well and expects to be completed by then. We will still have the granite worktops to have installed. the kitchen units have arrived and are being installed early next week. We're still debating between two different granites called Blue Pearl and Blue in the night. Once we've decided, the granite guy has to create a plan then it takes a week to cut the worktops. (That's costing us over £2000). Also have to choose between a couple of marble tiles for the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and my study and wooden flooring for the main hall and two sitting rooms, plus carpets for the master bedroom and the attic family room (which is where we are going to have our main TV and watch movies together as a family). We don't expect to be completely settled in till Christmas.

I have the collectors edition of this game and enjoyed it so much I bought the second game. I do agree with Melika about the changes to the second game. I too prefer the original Royal Envoy. I was not aware that there was a third installment. I'll have to go check it out.

Royal Envoy is an enjoyable game. It is not repetitive like many time management games. It is a game that can be played more than once.

Playrix has been quite generous to us on this forum so I do try to buy from them when they add to a series.



.............................Moderator comment........................


Thanks for the feedback Chris and an even bigger thank you for supporting the developer. It's because of community members like you that Playrix continues to give games a way here. :)

I have had this game for a long time and absolutely love it! I am a big fan of time management games, and I think this is a great one.

This game is one of the great ones! I had it forever and lost it when i changed computers. Though TM games are one of those that you either like them or hate them, this is one that appeals to many that don't like them.

The graphics are good, the play is stimulating and easy enough to grasp, though challenging when you get to the higher levels. The music and sound effects are good. The characters are good (Pippi LongBoots cracked me up, that and her one eyed parrot). The game play itself is smooth, even for those of us on older systems (I'm on XP SP3). Playrix is a company that puts out some good games and this series is one of their best. I now own all of them again because the first one got me hooked and i had to buy the other two. I actually squealed, aloud, when i found out they had two more. My only suggestion to the developers? Add an endless mode or free mode like other games do. That would be great!

Awesome giveaway!


.............................Moderator comment........................

Thanks for the feedback DAMyst, I agree w.r.t. liking the game despite disliking TM games. TM games have always been a negative for me apart from this one and the farm frenzy games.

Good game - thanks! @ 5 and 12- 124 MB too big for my country!
Game gotd is sometimes generous - I fell aslleep past deadline for actvation, but activated my game 3 hours past activation time once!
A Song for gotd dialup users who miss actvation time - Who Wrote The Book Of Love By White Rabbit Ft The Marcels - http://archive.org/download/TheMarcels-WhoWroteTheBookOfLove/TheMarcels-WhoWroteTheBookOfLove.mp3
And 11 songs for gotd dialup users who miss actvation by one minute after hours of downloading - http://archive.org/download/TheMarcels-01-11/TheMarcels-01-11_vbr_mp3.zip



.............................Moderator comment........................


:)

This is an excellent game! thank you for providing it. I already own this and the second edition and hope to get the new 3rd installment soon. Everything about the game is good-the game play, the music, the sequence. I love the characters and the extreme detail given to the backgrounds. I have also used the screen saver option and it's a delight. my granddaughter will watch it repeat until the final section of the castle is complete and all the workers dance-such fun! thanks again for all the games.


.............................Moderator comment........................


Thanks Barbara. :D

Yes, I looked in the FAQs section and on the forum. There is no one on the forum that says any of the suggestions worked for them. I didn't try all the ideas because I haven't had time yet and since there was no one saying any of them worked.


.............................Moderator comment........................

Hi Brendag4, hopefully something will crop up here over the coming hours. Keep checking back. There have been more suggestions since your last post. :)

#14: "I just get a black screen with music. I tried some of the suggestions and they did not work. I see on the forum others had problems, and no solution was given. I am using Windows 7. I have it from a previous giveaway on XP. It worked on XP."

The only times I've experienced that sort of thing was when I tried to run one of these games in win7's XP Mode VM [Virtual Machine], which doesn't provide the Direct X features these games [or rather the engine they use] rely on. OTOH most work in VirtualBox VMs, hinting that it's a matter of availability -- not graphics horsepower.

Building on that experience, maybe you don't have Direct X 9 installed in win7 [win7 doesn't come with it], or maybe the graphics drivers installed don't support the DX 9 features the game requires?

The DX9 web installer from Microsoft is a small download that'll check 1st to see if what if anything you need, so running it isn't too big a deal. Graphics hardware drivers OTOH can be a bit of a quagmire... Try to never install graphics drivers from Microsoft [Windows] Update. If you have a laptop or your PC uses on-board graphics manufacturer supplied drivers are safest but they might not be current. Generic drivers from the graphics chipset makers [e.g. Intel, AMD, or Nvidia] are up to date, but you should research 1st to make sure just what will work on your hardware. Google to see what others have had success with using your make/model or at least very similar hardware.



.............................Moderator comment........................


Thanks for your useful feedback Mike. :)

Hi Stephen! Been a while since I posted, have had way too much going on. So glad you are settling in your new home and also able to spend time here again - as someone posted above, your reviews give great info even when you claim to NOT have a "full review", and I have often decided about downloads just based on your post.

As for today's game, I got it last time it was offered, and it is not The Collector's Edition, which weighs in at 299MB compared to today's 124MB. As with almost all Playrix games, it is colorful, fun, busy, well-designed, and full of action choices and play value. (Yes, I am a Playrix fan - can you tell?)

Royal Envoy will take you from simple, basic "rebuilding" tasks to the point where you'll be hopping just to keep up with all the actions and choices that come up as your towns come back to life. I don't usually go for time management games, but this is one of the few that doesn't feel so much like that as much as it does a building/adventure game. It's got everything needed for hours of interesting game play, and I highly recommend it! 8.5/10 from me...
John


.............................Moderator comment........................


Thank you for your feedback John, much appreciated. :) We're still two weeks away from moving in. I thought it was next weekend, but I was wrong. in the meantime we've still got 20 years of junk that I've collected over the last 20 years, plus all the stuff I brought with me when we moved here in 1993 to sort out. So far managed to empty the kids old wendy house (which now doubles as a garden shed, and the small loft in the extension. Still got the main loft and the garage to empty. Throwing a lot away, which for me is hard, but it's got to be done. We're moving stuff we've boxed over to the house every chance we get (thankfully we have a proper attic room to store a lot of stuff, plus the two kids rooms until we move in. The res of the house is still a building site. Hopefull we won't have too stressful a day on the actual move date with virtually all of the small stuff moved. We should will only need a medium, sided van as we are leaving a lot of our furniture. (Only taking the dining room suite and our beds plus my oak study desk)

Keep getting the message “Failed to connect. Please try again later”. I have tried three times and I even downloaded from IE. I use alzip to unzip the file and extracted to several folders with no luck. When I start up the setup.exe file I keep getting the same error. I like this game and really want to get it installed. Can someone help? thanks.


.............................Moderator comment........................


Make sure I.E. isn't set to offline. Failing that try rebooting your modem and/or router. Also try unzipping with a different file archiver such a s7-Zip or J-Zip.

I also have the black screen problem - although there is a tiny coloured square in the top left hand corner. I tried changing the compatibility setting to Windows 7 and also changing the screen resolution. Neither seemed to make any difference.


.............................Moderator comment........................


Hi Sieska, Try updating your graphics drivers. To find out type dxdiag in the search field, when the diagnostics pane opens, click on the display tab. You should see what graphics card you have. if it's over a year old it'll either be Nvidia or ATI, newer computers may have ASUS cards (ASUS purchased ATI). There are other graphic card makers, but these are the most common. Type into Google whichever is your make then when on the main page look for the driver section. Then follow the on screen prompts top get the correct driver. I'd also make sure you have the latest version of Direct X

I just get a black screen with music. I tried some of the suggestions and they did not work. I see on the forum others had problems, and no solution was given. I am using Windows 7. I have it from a previous giveaway on XP. It worked on XP. From searching online, this problem has been going on for years.


........................Moderator comment..........................


Hi Brendag4; did you check the FAQ's section? I've linked to it in Maes Pierre's post above.

I downloaded the game and after installing I had only noise but the screen remains black. So I uninstalled it. Help please? I have an acer laptop intel core"17 windows7 nvidia GEFORCE GT 540M CUDA 2GB


............................Moderator comment............................



Check out the FAQ's in the game discussion forums. http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647

Thank you for suggestion. :) But almost developing countries has limited download speed. And the file still need more compressed.


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..

Sorry to hear that 81sby; I hope things improve with time. It's a sad world all of these inequalities. (what I used to know as the North/South divide). I studied these inequalities when doing my first degree and was shocked at some of the revelations (too long a list to mention on this forum).

You can get this free from MyPlayCity. It may be worth downloading it from there especially if you use one of the free download managers available on the internet. Just remember the toolbar and home page hijack problems if you don't uncheck the check boxes.

First I'd like to say "thank you" to you, Stephen. Even when you claim you aren't writing a full review, it's a full review. You do a great job on this site detailing these games and putting as good a face on them as you can.

As for today's game, I already own it. I don't usually enjoy time management games, but as Stephen stated, it isn't a typical boring TM game. I found this game to be infinitely enjoyable with endearing characters. The music wasn't annoying or inappropriate and the visual aspects were pleasing and varied.

You build houses, collect rent, run markets & lumber mills, all to "rebuild" the various island towns. Each island has it's own characteristics like an island of waterfalls, or volcanoes, or something like that. You are very gradually introduced to all of the different aspects of game play. I never felt overwhelmed by the various aspects nor bored. Some later levels can be challenging to complete in the "gold star" time, but I could always complete them in plenty of regular time and I enjoyed having these challenges.

Overall, this game is well worth the time to download and try. I think most people will find it very enjoyable and addictive.

There is a "Royal Envoy 2" put out by the same developer. I tried this game with the intent to purchase and found the game play very much changed and not nearly as enjoyable as the first. I didn't bother buying it. It seemed they threw out some of the best parts of the original game play in favor of something that was probably easier for them to program (although the snowball fight idea was awesome). I mention this as both a warning to those who fall in love with this game (try it first) and as a missive to the developer (don't ruin a good thing), in case they actually read these comments.


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..


Thank you for your kind remarks and a big thank you for your excellent feedback Melika. Have you checked the third version of the game? Maybe they have added back the parts they removed?

You gave this game away some time ago and I really enjoyed it, so much so that I bought the other two titles in this series from Playrix. I went for the collectors editions with the bonus challenges. I hope there will be more.


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..

One of the reasons we keep getting Playrix games is because of community members like you. :D

I have this game and love it, I also have the sequel which is also good.


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..


:D

I have all three parts and love it! One of the games that never really gets boring. Thumbs up and have fun.
Barbara


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..


:D

I played this one through on another site and just loved it. I'm so excited to own a copy. Playrix makes some awesome games--thanks to you both for letting us have it!


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..


:)

I love this game! I have it from previous giveaway and it works fine on my Win XP SP3. I assume this is exactly the same game, it's not updated?


........................Moderator Comment.......................

There's no evidence of a version number in game, but both versions are exactly the same size (I still had the one given away previously, and downloaded and checked todays), so I presume they are the same versions.

Could reduse the file size or split it? 124 MB too big for my country.


...........................Moderator comment.........................

This issue has been suggested many times. I think the giveaway team would have to invest in more servers to cope with the extra downloads, so it's unlikely to happen.


I never knew some countries restricted the download size; or do you mean your internet connection is not broadband? If you use a download manager, it should be possible to download the game before the giveaway ends. Usually download managers enable you to restart downloads if they are interrupted. Once the download starts, even if it ends after the giveaway finishes, you may still be able to install the game as usually, you can still register giveaway6s for an hour or more after the giveaway has ended so long as you have started the download before the end of the giveaway.

I was all ready to download this one when I saw the "Extras" and "Making-of" screenshots, which are Collectors Edition features. Then I saw in Rabbit's review the following: "Pity we didn’t get the collectors edition."

So which is it? I already have the regular edition, from the last time it was given away... Thanks.


..........................Moderator Comment..........................


Hi Delilah, According to the game giveaway features list all of what you mention are supposed to be included, whether those are part of the collectors edition I cannot say at this time as I've never played more than around 7 levels of the standard game and have never purchased the collectors edition, so can't compare them.

I've removed the image that mentions these extra's from my review as I suspect that they are part of the collectors edition, but the title of the giveaway implies we are getting the standard edition, despite the features list listing those extra's..

So this is not the Collector's Edition. Does that mean it will not include the wallpaper, screensavers, etc?


........................Moderator comment.......................

Although the features list posted by the giveaway team shows the extra's being included, the title of the giveaway implies we are not getting the collectors edition. Maybe next time? :)

Thanks so much for this game. After an harddiskcrash one month ago, I've lost all off my favorite games from game give away. Royal Envoy was one of the games.
Thanks again GGAOTD and Playrix.

In Brief:

Todays gamegiveaway is a cross between a city building, strategy and time management game, not to dissimilar to Romopolis a game we got early February this year, but today's is much better in several ways. With hidden levels, tax collectors, pirates and a reasonable selection of building to unlock this game will keep most family members occupied for a good few weekends. :lol:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Royal Envoy:




Installation:


Today’s game downloads to a 124Mb zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation file (the orange colored file with the key symbol), plus there's a setup file with security (setup.gcd) that protects the giveaway from being hacked. This file may cause some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack; if it does it WILL be a false positive.

The game giveaway team check all game giveaways for malware using several well known anti -malware suites. There has never been a game giveaway infected with malware since the project started back in Dec 2006. The installed game is 148 MB in size. and installs to the following path by default:

C:\Program files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\ Royal Envoy\Royal envoy.exe


There are shortcuts installed to both the desktop and Start Menu Programs list (under Playrix Entertainment). You'll also find an uninstaller.




I’ve previously tested the game on Win XP Pro 32 bit, Vista Home Premium 64 bit with no problms and with todays version have tested it with Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit and Win 8 Pro 64 bit with no problems.

Introduction:

Royal envoy was previously given away last year (April 1st 2012) where it received a positive 86% vote out of 456 votes. There were 78 commments from the community which you can read HERE

Take the King's challenge! Save the wonderful land of countless islands from the merciless forces of nature. Construct and upgrade homes and buildings for the island citizens and become the chief city planner of marvelous Islandshire. Think your way to triumph in this challenging and mesmerizing game of pirates, treasure and hot-air balloon adventures! Don’t lose a chance to experience all of the exclusive Collector’s Edition extras: Take a peek at the authentic artwork, learn how the characters were created, enjoy the original soundtracks or get the magnificent wallpapers that will turn your desktop into a magical kingdom!

Reference accessed HERE 1st April 2012

The Game:

At first glance Royal Envoy looks a lot like a city building strategy game. You build houses, erect structures like banks and markets, and collect taxes. But it actually plays much more like a time management game, sending you to different towns where you'll juggle several tasks at once in order to accomplish a set of goals. It's a lengthy and addictive game, that manages to be both complex and approachable.







The game begins after a terrible storm wreaked havoc on a chain of islands known as Islandshire. Houses have been destroyed and the inhabitants of the various islands have nowhere to live. Thankfully, there just so happens to be someone capable of managing the rebuilding process: you. The story is lighthearted and fun, and features a number of likable characters, ranging from a little girl who's actually a pirate to a very helpful representative of the king. You'll be treated to snippets of dialog in between each level and every so often there are fully voiced cut-scenes that further the story along.

The experience consists of over 90 different levels, which are stretched across a number of different islands. You'll start on one end of the map, and make your way to the other, rebuilding towns along the way.When you start each level you'll be given a number of objectives that need to be completed before you can move on to the next stage. These range from building a specific number of houses to saving up a certain amount of money. Each stage is different, which helps keep the game from getting stale.

You'll have access to a number of different buildings, each of which has different characteristics. Houses, for instance, will earn you a steady stream of income via rent, and can be improved to increase this number. Saw mills produce wood, markets are for trading, bridges help you reach inaccessible areas, and so on. The game constantly introduces new buildings and game play twists, so you won't see everything it has to offer until well into your adventure.

In addition to building banks and dwellings, you'll also have to keep a close eye on your town's happiness level. You can increase this by planting gardens and building decorations, but it will go down if you aren't careful with how you place buildings: no one wants their house right next to a noisy marketplace. Overall Royal Envoy gives you quite a few balls to juggle at once, but it does an excellent job of streamlining the process and gradually introducing new elements so that you never feel overwhelmed. And unlike most time management games, you won't have to worry about a time limit. You can complete the objectives at your own pace, though in order to get a gold star you'll have to finish the level in a certain amount of time.

In addition to its great game play, Royal Envoy also sports some wonderful production values. Despite their small stature, the levels are full of detail and personality. There's a good deal of variety to the various building, characters, and locations you'll be looking at, and the animated cut-scenes feature a unique and endearing art style. There's also some great voice acting and a solid, upbeat soundtrack that fits perfectly with the rest of the game.

Royal Envoy manages to do something that few games are able to: it takes a complex game and makes it very approachable. The way the game is set-up makes it perfect for both casual players as well as those willing to fight the clock to get every last gold star. Add to that some solid production values, a fun story, and a lengthy campaign, and there's a lot to like about Royal Envoy.

Reference accessed HERE April 1st 2012












Other Reviews:



You can see some more reviews about Royal Envoy via the following links. Just click on the name of the reviewer - Jayisgames, Touchgen and Gamezebo

Features:


1) .... Unique blend of time management and strategy
2) .... 9 delightful islands to rebuild
3) .... Great variety of homes and buildings to construct
4) .... Over 90 challenging levels with 8 bonus quests
5) .... Captivating storyline with charming and whimsical characters
6) .... Comprehensive guide, making-of, animated screensaver, gorgeous
7) .... wallpapers, original soundtracks




Video and Images:



You can see several videos of game play HERE, HERE (level 1), HERE (level 17) and HERE (level 30).
You can also see around 100 images showing all the tips, tutorial screens and dialogue screens up to around level six or seven HERE







System Requirements:


Operatog system - 2000/XP/Vista & Win 7
C.P.U. - 1.4GHz single core
System RAM - 1GB
Video RAM - 128Mb
Direct X - v8.0 or higher

Conclusion:

Today's game giveaway is a well though out and interesting strategy builder with time management elements. The graphics are excellent, music isn't too distracting and the game play is varied enough to keep most community members entertained for some time. As with most games of this ilk, the difficulty ramps up as you progress. It's not a true Time Management game (TM) in the sense of games like Burger Rush or Jaynes Hotel etc, the TM aspect coming in with respect to attaining Gold Silver or Bronze awards for completing a level. All in all this is a game well worth keeping. Pity we didn't get the collectors edition. ;-)

If you've played the demo previously, you will be able to keep your progress or create a new profile This is an ideal family game with each member being able to create their own game account. :lol:





Scoring:

Game play - 10
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Originality - 7
Replayability - 8

overall score 8 out of 10

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Problems:


If you have any problems installing or getting today's game to work please go HERE for help, there's a list of FAQ's with answers.



If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums in the game discussion section. If you’ve installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time.

Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn’t guaranteed). Though, so long as you have the download, sometimes its still possible to activate an hour or so later.

If you do miss the giveaway, or find it won't work, it’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity has the most with over 600 games to choose from. Today's game IS available from MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE
Please do remember that these free sites have the potential to install toolbars and change your provider. MPC is quite aggressive at the moment. Every time you start a game up, you will need to uncheck the checkboxes if you install the MyPlayCity version.

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More Gamesl>



Up until a few weeks ago I'd stopped posting links to MyPlayCity games because you were required to install toolbars and have your home page hijacked before you could play any of their games. It seems that they have changed their policy yet again and removed that requirement. You will still get the check-boxes so you need to make sure the boxes have been unchecked before installing the game. also they have a very large collection approaching 600 premium quality arcade games ranging from Match 3, Time Management and Hidden Object games, Action and Adventure games to Shooters, Flying, Car, Brain Teasers, Board games, Mahjong, Games for Girls, Card games, Sport, Arcade and several more categories (most can be found in more than one category.), so make sure you do check because they may not have removed all of the negative stuff yet.


Some more good news, if you remember I used to post links to another free site called FreeGamePick, but stopped for the same reason I stopped posting links to MyPlayCity. They have also stopped the practice of forcing you to install toolbars etc. You can get the previous weeks games such as Helic and two of its sister games from FreeGamePick, though it's called Helicopter Wars and the other two are called Sky Battle and Sky Battle: WWII. Helicopter Wars and other previous game giveaways are also available from MyPlayCity.








If today's game doesn't take your fancy then check out the game discussion forums and the free games synopsis. We’ve posted a couple of thousand free games over the last three years, many of which are excellent alternatives to their commercial cousins. I've posted around 15 games over the last week as it's now five years since I started the Free games project (now called Good Games to Grab).



All of the major game distributors such as Steam, Impulse and GOG all have some sales with savings as good as 75% in some cases.


Steam has some excellent games on sale at the moment with between 50% to 75% off Focus Home Interactive's entire catalogue of games, plus the usual on sale items, totaling over 100 games. There are some excellent bundles including the Sherlock Holmes bundle,. Game of Thrones Bundle and the Divinity anthology to name just a few.

Today's 24 hr deal is Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army for only £2.99 (70% off)


You can check out all of the main distributors deals via the Didematic Site


If you are interested in Indie Games check out the Indievania site for great deals (and some freebies to) on obscure and new indie developers who've put there games up for sale. All money goes to the developers. Included on the Indievania site are alpha stage games like Kenshi which are well worth buying at a lower price than the eventual release price. (There's nearly 240 obscure and little known indie games, though some may be familiar like 'Xotic' and 'Inside a Star Filled Sky', both of which are now available on Steam. You could also visit Kickstarter that highlights new projects.


Check out the Game Discussion forums for details of the latest Indie bundles. there's at least four on the go at the moment (Indie Royale/Indie GalaGroupees and Bundle Stars. Most of these bundles cost around $5 or less.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/10915


The latest IndieGameStand deal is Adventures of Shuggy a dungeon filled platformer, with local coop . The game comes with a DRM free download link, a Desura key and a Steam key. If you pay above the average which stands at $1.34 at the moment (08.29 GMT) you also get the sound track. The deal ends Monday morning 5am GMT when a new IGS game will be available. :)

You'll find IGS HERE

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A Request for help:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen