NBOS Software - Support FAQ

This FAQ, or collection of 'Frequently Asked Questions', will be maintained by NBOS to assist you in finding the answers you need. As new FAQ's are added, they will be posted here.

'License File Missing or Incorrect' error

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Nearly 100% of the time this error is the result of a downloaded program update not being placed into the correct directory. Each program has a corresponding license file that comes either on the CD or in the downloaded package. The program issuing this error message is telling you it can't find that license file.

Most updates available on this web site are replacement executables, not installation programs. To install an update that you've downloaded from this site you'll need to replace the currently installed program file with the one that you downloaded. That is, you need to copy the file you downloaded into the directory that the original program was installed.

For example, if you download the 6.01c patch to The Fractal Mapper, you'd need to replace your current Mapper6.exe with the one you downloaded. If you had installed FM6 in the 'c:\program files\nbos\mapper6' directory (the default), you'd need to copy Mapper6.exe into that directory.

Can I publish maps made with The Fractal Mapper?

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You can publish maps (in a book, magazine, pdf, web page, etc) if they are your creative work, and not just a repackaging of the mapper's art or examples. The main thing we're concerned about when it comes to publishing is maintaining the copyrights on our art (mapping symbols). Here's some examples to clarify what's considered acceptable and not:

Examples of what is allowed:

·	Publish a continent map made with The Fractal Mapper, which features a continent, rivers, city markers, and makes use of mapping symbols.
·	Distributing mapping symbols you created (i.e., not just edits of the mapper's symbols)

Examples of what isn't allowed (without our permission):

·	Creating a 'catalog' of The Fractal Mapper's mapping symbols for use by others
·	Converting Fractal Mapper mapping symbols to some other format for use by others in another program

If you have any questions concerning what is and is not appropriate use, please feel free to contact NBOS directly.

The above also applies to images created with Character Sketcher, AstroSynthesis, and Fractal World Explorer.

I lost my registration codes. Can you send those to me?

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Most likely, yes, if you registered the software already or purchased a downloadable version. Just contact technical support and ask. Be sure to include your name. It also never hurts to include the name of the retailer you purchased the program from, and an approximate date. Also, if you're email has changed, be sure to include what your old email address was.

Surface map editing with Fractal Terrains - 'File not found' error

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If you're getting a 'File Not Found' error when editing a surface map with Fractal Terrains, you need a later build of FT. Builds of Fractal Terrains from October 2004 or later can work with AstroSynthesis. See the tech notice on ProFantasy's website.

Zooming, Animation not working (nVidia Ti4600 card)

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We've had several reports from users with nVidia GForce Ti4600 cards that zooming and animations are not always working. The typical symptom of this is that the program appears to function normally, but when you zoom in on the map, the map display stops updating. Also, when you run an animation that brings you close towards a star system, the animation appears to stop.

What you can try doing is disabling the hardware acceleration and see if this gets the program working.

To do this, right click on the Windows desktop and select 'properties'. This opens the Window's display settings window. Click on the 'Settings' tab, and then click the 'advanced' button. This opens another a window that controls monitor and video card settings. Click on the 'troubleshoot' tab. On that tab there should be a slider. Move that all the way to the left. Press ok, and restart Astro.

We havent identified what the exact problem is - if it's with AstroSynthesis, with the nVidia drivers, or some combination of both. On most machines you won't notice much, if any, slow down with hardware acceleration disabled, since most of Astro's processing is done outside of the graphics engine.

Players can't connect

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When your players can't reach your ScreenMonkey program, 9 times out of 10 it's one of the following:

·	A firewall is enabled, and is blocking incoming traffic on the ScreenMonkey port. If you have a software firewall (like Norton or XP's built-in firewall), be sure that the port ScreenMonkey is using (usually 10015) is open. See your firewall's documentation for how to open a port.

A router is being used, but incoming connections on the ScreenMonkey port (usually 10015) are not being forwarded to your computer. If you have a router in place, such as a Linksys broadband router, it will by default block incoming connections like a firewall (it's supposed to). Routers are usually used to share a single internet connection between multiple computers. So, you'd need to tell the router how to handle incoming traffic - which computer to route which types of traffic to. You'll need to tell the router that incoming connections made on port 10015 should be 'routed' to your computer. Follow your router's documentation on how to do this. You'll need to do this even if you only have one computer attached to a router. Most broadband routers will have a web based interface to allow you to do this. You'd connect to your router using a browser.

Some broadband modems act like routers, even if they don't tell you they are doing this. This is more common with DSL modems, but you may see it with cable modems as well. So if your computer is plugged directly into your broadband modem, you may want to check the modem's docs or with your ISP to see if the modem is acting like a router. When a modem does act like a router, you will need to forward the port. (you can usually tell if your modem is acting like a router by looking at your computers ip address. If it starts with '192.168', then you have an internal network address, and the modem is probably acting like a router).

When debugging connection problems, the first thing to do is open a web browser on the same machine that ScreenMonkey is running on, and try connecting to the program. You can do this by either selecting 'File - Launch Player Interface' from the menu in ScreenMonkey, or manually typing in 'http://127.0.0.1:10015' in as a browser address. If you can connect to SM using a browser on the same machine it is running on, ScreenMonkey is up and running correctly, and you probably have something (router, firewall, etc) blocking incoming connections.

If you are still unable to resolve your connection problem, feel free to email NBOS's tech support. Be sure to include detailed information about how you are connecting to the internet, including any routers, firewalls, or other network equipment in use.

The program is locking up

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Getting an 'Autoexec.NT' error message when running FM installer

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If you are getting an error message like this when you try to install FM:

"C\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Chose 'Close' to terminate the application."

Your computer is missing one or more system files that are needed to run the installation program. This is an error from Windows, not from the Fractal Mapper installer. The two main causes of this file getting deleted are current or previous virus/trojan infections, and an error in the Windows XP SP2 update that occurs on some machines.

If you don't have antivirus software installed, we recommend running an up to date virus checker to be sure nothing's messing with your computer's internals. Even if a virus has long since been removed, it may have altered system files and you still have it's effects.

There's a fix described on the microsoft site here
http//support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324767

In addition, if you do a web search for 'autoexec.nt', you may be able to find applications that repair this problem automatically.

The program locks up when using a Custom Tool or Inspiration Pad

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This problem may show itself when you do one of the following:

·	Use a custom tool (one of the tools on the custom tools palette)
·	Run the Inspiration Pad
·	Run a script

Each of these above actions are driven by scripts. What's happening - we believe - is that the MS Script Debugger is failing to load successfully when you run a script. Not everyone has the MS Script Debugger loaded on their machine. But it is becoming more and more common now that the more recent versions of MS Office and other products quietly install it.

A few things you can try to get past the freezing:

1) In Internet Explorer, disable the Script Debugging. Even if you don't use IE as a browser, this is the place where several system-wide scripting settings are controlled. Select Tools -> Options from IE's menu, then click the Advanced tab. Scroll down and check the box that says 'disable script debugging'. Save it, close IE, and try the program again - using the features that were locking up for you. This option works in most, but not all cases. If you happen to have a debugger installed (even if 'secretly' installed by Office or Outlook) and the debugger is crashing when it launches, it could very well display the symptoms you're seeing.

2) If on Windows XP/2000/NT, you can also try to disable the MDM Service if you have it (try option #1 first, though). You only need this if you're using the microsoft script debugger anyways - most people don't. From the start menu, go to Settings -> Control Panel. Click Administrative Tools. And then Services. Scroll down to Machine Debug Manager. If it's not there, then this isn't the problem. Otherwise, stop the service by right clicking on it, and selecting stop. Then, double click on Machine Debug Manager. On the General tab, change it's start-up type to 'disabled'. Then give the program another shot, using the features that were freezing up for you.

3) If you have a development tool installed, such as Visual C++ or Visual Studio .NET, you may have it configured to debug scripts. Follow the directions in your development tool's help files for disabling script debugging.

No text is displayed when I open a map that I didn't create

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What's likely going on is that the text objects do exist, but the text is not being drawn on the map. This is usually because the text objects are set to use a font that you don't have. This is most commonly seen in FM7 (not FM6 or earlier) when you try to open a map that someone else created.

This is easy to get around. To get at the text

·	Place a new text object on the map
·	select it with the Pointer tool
·	select Edit -> Select By Example -> Same Object Type from the menu. This will select all text objects on the map
·	Change the font while they're all selected.

You may need to check that all the layers are set to 'selectable'. Otherwise, if some layers are marked as 'unselectable', the text objets on them can not be selected this way.

How can I make the patterns used in buildings look right?

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The mapper uses a map object's rotation value as the basis for rotating fill patterns. In addition, since buildings made with the building tool have four sides to their roofs, the building has to be drawn in a certain way to make the fill patterns display in the correct direction.

To make a building look right using a pattern fill, draw the building from left to right, and then down. That is, after selecting the building tool, drag the first side of the building from left to right, release the mouse button, and extend the building down. Once you have a building of the desired size, you can set it's rotation to whatever is needed, and the patterns will be rotated appropriately. You can use the snap-to grid functionality to ensure a building is created with 90 degree angles.

Note: the above applies only to the 'stock' fill patterns that are shipped with the mapper. For user created patterns, it is up to the pattern maker to create a pattern in the same format of the stock patterns (i.e., with the outside of the pattern facing down).

Should I keep my entire world in one map, or hyperlink to submaps?

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For continent maps, we generally recommend hyperlinking to detail maps, rather than storing your whole world in one map file. This will speed up performance on very large maps, and make things easier to manage. What's usually recommended is that any detail that can only be seen when zoomed in to greater than 40-100% should be stored in a hyperlinked map.

How can I make a map that's a zoomed in region of another map?

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Select the objects on the first map that you want to display zoomed in the second map. Copy those to the clipboard. Create a new map, and paste those objects into the new map. Now scale the objects so they're the size you're looking for. This will provide a basis for your detail map.

More advanced FM users may want to clone fractal objects before copy/pasting, and remove the unecessary nodes. After pasting into the new map, you can slightly fractalize the cloned objects (FractalFactor of 1 or two), to create more detail.

What is the VRML export all about?

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The Fractal World Explorer can (as of version 1.2a) export it's maps as VRML worlds. VRML, or Virtual Reality Modeling Language, is a language for describing 3d scenes. After creating a VRML world, you can then navigate in 3d around your map. To learn how to view the VRML worlds you've created see How do I view the VRML output.

If you're familiar with VRML, you may wish to tweak the base VRML template used by FWE to suit your tastes. The base world template that FWE uses when generating VRML worlds is fwebase.wrl, which can be found in the FWE directory. You can edit this file to change some aspects of the VRML generation. When editing the file, be sure to keep the special tags in place! They're used by FWE to know where to insert various values.

Hint: 3d worlds often take a while to load into your 3d viewer. The first time you create a VRML world, use the smallest detail setting (25%). This will allow you to judge how long it will take for higher levels of detail to render.

How do I view the VRML output?

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To view the 3d VRML world that can be created using the Export to VRML feature, you'll need a VRML viewer. Typically a VRML viewer is in the form of a web browser plug-in. Versions 4 and later of Microsoft's Internet Explorer ship with a VRML viewer, while Netscape does not ship with one.

In either case, NBOS recommends downloading and installing the Cortona VRML Client from ParallelGraphics, http://www.parallelgraphics.com. While the VRML client that ships with IE is generally very good, we've found that the Cortona VRML Client tends to handle hieght field based VRML worlds more efficiently.

What is the new Contour functionality all about?

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(this is FAQ item is depreciated. Please see the FM7 Tutorial for info on how to use FWE 1.4's new contour system)

As of version 1.3, The Fractal World Explorer can calculate, display, and export topographical contour lines. Contour lines are the elevation lines you see on a topographic map. Each line defines the boundry between elevations - usually some convienient measurement like 100 or 1000 meters. On one side of a contour line, the elevation is higher than it's assigned value. On the other side, the elevation is lower.

FWE refers to four types of contour lines: Minor Contours, Major Contours, Minor Ocean Contours, Major Ocean Contours. Each describes what sort of contour the line represents. Major contour lines are displayed for larger increments of elevation, while Minor contour lines are displayed for smaller elevation increments. The Ocean contours show elevations below sea level.

FWE can both display contour lines on you map and export the contour lines to files of several formats.

To set up contour lines:
1- Select 'Map - Contour Settings' from the main menu.
2 - Type the elevations increments (in meters) at which contour lines are displayed. The default is 250 meters for minor contour lines, and 1000 meters for major contour lines. To disable drawing a certain set of contour lines, set it's interval to 0. For example, if you only want major contour lines drawn when the elevation is below sea level, set the ocean minor contour line value to 0.
3 - Select the colors for each contour line type. These are the colors that are displayed on the map.
4 - If you only want the contours at sea level to be generated, check the Display Coastline Contour Only box. This is especially useful if you want to export the shape of the landmass and not elevations.
4 - Press OK.

To display the contours on your map:
1 - Select one of the rendering methods that includes contours from the render method box on the tool bar. You can select '3d Shaded Relief with Contours' to show contours overlayed a 3d relief map. Or, you can select 'Flat with contours' to display contour information without the relief coloring. If you select one of these options, the contour lines will be displayed each time the full map is redrawn. It takes a moment for FWE to calculate the lines, so FWE will take a bit longer when redrawing the full map.

How do I export contours in a format other programs can read?

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(this is FAQ item is depreciated. Please see the FM7 Tutorial for info on how to use FWE 1.4's new contour system)

Contour lines generated by FWE can be exported to several different vector graphics file formats:

.FMP - The Fractal Mapper's file format
.SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics, a fairly new vector format for web graphics
.DXF - CAD Data Interchage Format

When you tell FWE to export contour lines, it examines the elevations on your maps and generates the actual line segments that the contours create. The line segments are merged when possible to form 'polylines' (lines with more than one vertex). If desired, the polylines can then be 'smoothed' to remove jagged edges.

To export contour lines to a vector graphics file:
1 - Select 'File - Export Contours' from the main menu. A window titled 'Contours' is displayed. It will look very similar to the one that is displayed when you select 'Map - Contour Settings'.
2 - In the top part of the Contour window, configure the contour settings that you would like to use. If you want to export only the coastlines, check the 'Display Coastline Contour Only' box.
3 - On the bottom half of the window, enter the name of the file you wish to create. Selecting the Browse button will display a standard File Save dialog box that you can use to help you select a file name.
4 - Select the level of Curve Smoothing you wish to apply to the generated polylines, if any.
5 - Press Export. The contour lines will be generated and then saved to the file you've selected. This process may take a minute or so. See the notes below for information regarding the different file types.

Notes that apply when exporting contours to an FMP (Fractal Mapper) file: FMP is the default file format that FWE uses when exporting contours. If you select a file with a file extension that does not match any of the other listed output format types (such as '.xyz' or '.contour'), the export file you create will be a Fractal Mapper file (regardless of the file extension). When exporting to an FMP file, each type of contour is assigned to it's own layer within The Fractal Mapper. Minor Ocean Contour lines are assigned to 'User Layer #1', Major Ocean Contours are assigned to 'User Layer #2', Minor Contours are assigned to 'User Layer #3', and Major Contours are assigned to 'User Layer #4'. You can toggle the display of the different types of contours by toggling the display of the layer they are on.

Notes that apply when exporting contours to an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file: No layering information is saved into the SVG file. SVG files are often embedded within web pages, and require an SVG plug-in to view. Adobe offers a free SVG browser plug-in on their web site.

Notes that apply when exporting contours to a DXF (CAD Data Interchange File) file: Color settings are not exported when saving contour lines to a DXF file. All lines are exported as black. Minor Ocean Contour lines are assigned to a layer called 'CONTOUR-OCEAN-MINOR'. Similarly, Major Ocean Contour lines are placed on 'CONTOUR-OCEAN-MINOR', Minor Contours on 'CONTOUR-MINOR', and Major Contours on 'CONTOUR-MAJOR'.

I typed in the wrong reg code/access code and now I can't get into NBOS Online. How can I change it?

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There are 2 ways you can go about changing the registration information that's required by NBOS Online to connect to the map repository.

1 - Download the latest NBOS Online executable from the downloads page. Version 1.01b and later offer a menu option that let you set the codes from within the program.

2 - Edit the mapper.ini file manually to set the codes. To do this:

In the mapper's directory (usually something like 'c:\program files\nbos\mapper5' or 'c:\nbos\mapper5') there's a file called mapper.ini. This file stores all of the mapper's settings between uses. Open this file with notepad or another text editor (but not Word or any other word processing program). Usually, you can just double click the file in Windows Explorer and it will automatically be opened in notepad.

In the mapper.ini file there should be an NBOS Online section that looks like:

   [NBOS Online]
   RegCode=ABC-0000-EFG
   AccessCode=ABCDEF
   ProxyAddress=
   ProxyUser=
   ProxyPassword=
   ProxyHTTPPort=
   ProxyFTPPort=
   PassiveFTP=0

Change the RegCode and AccessCode values to your correct registration and access codes and save the file. The registration code should have been located either on the inside of the jewel case that the mapper came in or in the email notification you recieved if you purchased online. The access code should have been generated and displayed when you registered your software online. If you can't find one or the other, please contact tech support for assistance.

Once the codes have been changed, relaunch NBOS Online. You should now be able to connect. You will also now be able to connect from the mapper (for uploads) since it uses the same file for storing it's settings.

If you continue to have problems connecting to the online map repository, please contact tech support (see the contacts page on the NBOS web site for email addresses) for assistance.

The Set Access Code menu item is missing, but the program is telling me to use it.

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The error message that's telling you to use the Set Access Code menu option is coming from the NBOS Online server program, which assumes you're running the latest version of NBOS Online. If you don't have the menu item, you'll need to download the latest version of the NBOS Online client program. Versions 1.01b and later have this menu item.