Insaniquarium Deluxe Command Line Parameters: The Definitive Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------ Overview -------- Popcap Games' "Insaniquarium Deluxe" supports several command line parameters that do not seem to be well documented anywhere, hence this guide was created. The command line parameters allow for playback and recording of demos which record and save all of your mouse movements and button clicks, as well as all of your keyboard input. They also allow you to manually invoke the game in "Screensaver Mode", as well as providing program version, build, and program crash information. Syntax and Usage ---------------- The syntax to use the command line parameters with Insaniquarium Deluxe is "InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe -parameter1 -parameter2" (minus the quotes), using one or more of the parameters as listed below. Normally you would click on "Start", "Run", and "Browse" within Windows, and then locate the InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe file (typing in the parameters in the "Run" dialog box after InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe). Although, note that you can easily create a new Windows desktop shortcut or a Start Menu shortcut with the added command line parameters to automatically run the game with your selected parameters. List of Command Line Parameters ------------------------------- The following is a detailed list of all of the command line parameters that Insaniquarium Deluxe supports: -crash Simulates a game program crash (complete with debug information), and writes the file "Crash.txt" with that data to your hard drive (including the version and build information of the game). Also prompts you to allow the game to send the crash and debug information directly to Popcap Games via the Internet. -demofile Specifies the filename for the played or recorded demo, and is for use with the "-play" and "-record" command line parameters (see below). The syntax to use this parameter is "-demofile=MyDemo.dmo" (minus the quotes), substituting "MyDemo.dmo" with your demo filename of choice (either a previously recorded demo to play, or a filename to save a new demo that you wish to record). -play Starts the game in windowed mode, and then plays a previously recorded demo file. If no demo filename is specified using the "-demofile" command line parameter (see above), the game expects to find a demo file with the filename of "Popcap.dmo" (see "-record" below) located in your main game directory. -playnum Starts the game in windowed mode, and plays the last sequentially named demo that was previously recorded using the "-recnum" command line parameter (see below). -recnum Records sequentially named demos each time you run the game (see "-playnum" above). The filenames of the saved demos are "Popcap1.dmo", "Popcap2.dmo", "Popcap3.dmo", etc..., with ascending numbers for each saved demo file. -record Records and saves a demo file with the filename of "Popcap.dmo". This parameter can also be used with the command line parameter "-demofile" to specify the filename of the recorded demo (see above). -screensaver Starts the game in "Screensaver Mode". Note that you can also start the Insaniquarium Deluxe screensaver by either running the "Insaniquarium.scr" or "WinFish_Scr.exe" files (located in your main game directory on your hard drive) with no command line parameters. Also note that when using this command line parameter (as well as when invoking the screensaver by running the Insaniquarium.scr file), the game simply calls and directly runs the WinFish_Scr.exe file (which is the actual screensaver module of the game) via the following entry in your Windows Registry: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PopCap\Insaniquarium\ScreenSaver] "Directory"="C:\\Program Files\\Popcap Games\\Insaniquarium Deluxe" "Executable"="C:\\Program Files\\Popcap Games\\Insaniquarium Deluxe\\WinFish_Scr.exe" -version Displays the game program version, build information, and build date, and then exits. Command Line Parameter Troubleshooting -------------------------------------- If the command line parameters do not seem to function properly (or simply do nothing at all), it may be due to the specific version of the game that you have installed (i.e. the Popcap Games, Game House, or jewel case versions). This problem is usually due to the game "wrapper" of your specific version, which is a game launcher (in this case, InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe") that extracts and runs the actual game executable from the InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe file. When initially running the InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe file, the game launcher portion of the file extracts and immediately runs a new file with the filename of "PopcapGame1.exe". Immediately upon exiting the game, the file "PopcapGame1.exe" will be immediately deleted, so under normal circumstances you would never see it on your hard drive. In addition, this file will also have the "Hidden" file attribute set. In order to be displayed in the Windows Explorer or "My Computer", you will need to enable the "Show all files" option within the Windows Explorer or "My Computer" (which then allows "Hidden" and "System" files to be displayed within these file managers). In a nutshell, the problem with the command line parameters is simply that the game launcher (InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe) does not properly pass the command line parameters to the *actual* game executable ("PopcapGame1.exe"). Overcoming this Problem ----------------------- 1 - Enable the "Show all files" option within the Windows Explorer or "My Computer". 2 - Run Insaniquarium Deluxe (InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe). 3 - While the game is running at the main menu screen, simultaneously press the ALT and TAB keys on your keyboard to minimize the running game and return to your Windows desktop. 4 - While the game is minimized, start the Windows Explorer or "My Computer" (or your file manager of choice). 5 - Copy the file "PopcapGame1.exe" in your main game directory on your hard drive to the new filename "PopcapGame.exe" (minus the quotes). 6 - Exit the game. 7 - Remove the "Hidden" attribute of the PopcapGame.exe file that you previously copied (i.e. right-click on the file from the Windows Explorer or "My Computer", and uncheck the "Hidden" checkbox in the "Attributes" section of the "File Properties" window). 8 - Use the new file PopcapGame.exe (instead of InsaniquariumDeluxe.exe) in conjunction with the command line parameters. 9 - Problem solved! ENJOY! ------ Rich „Weeds„ Nagel richnagel@earthlink.net rfnagel@racesimcentral.com richnagel@simpilot.net rfnagel@juno.com http://home.earthlink.net/~richnagel http://www.geocities.com/rfnagel http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/metro/7256 http://www.simpilot.net/~richnagel http://snor.cmoo.com http://snor.cmoo.com/weeds http://www.cmoo.com/~snor http://www.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds