Updates and Support

Spiderweb Software has been in business for 30 years, and we write purely icon-based games. It's a much older style, and it doesn't allow infinite zooming in or out in the way that 3D games do. If your monitor is greater than 2600 pixels wide, the game might appear small on your screen.

We want everyone to have fun with our games, so here are a few tips if your monitor is really big.

When you launch the game and the resolution window comes up, try this:

1. For Starters: Just pick the default. This will look great for the vast majority of users.
2. If the game area is too small, in the resolution picker, pick 2560x1440 resolution, fullscreen (not in window). If 2560x1440 is not available, pick something close. This should look great.
3. If you see black bars to the left and right, go into Settings and set Game Area Size to Whole Window.
4. If You Want To Play In a Window: Start with the resolution at the top of the resolution list. If the Window is too small, either change your monitor to a smaller resolution or use the Zoom In key (On Windows: Windows key + Plus, On Macintosh: Option-Command-Equal).

We’re sorry for the confusion here. It’s not ideal, but sometimes the advance of technology gets ahead of you. Thanks for your patience, and we hope that the games are fun enough to justify it.

Here are some other tips that may help.

1. Note that Geneforge requires the ability to run 64-bit applications. If you can’t run these, you may need to get a refund.
2. Geneforge v1.0 may not be compatible with MSI afterburner and/or RTSS. These system mods might not work with the game on Steam. (They have Steam incompatibilities in general.) Disabling those may fix your problems.
3. Try downloading the demo from our web site and trying it. If our demo works, contact us at suppost@spiderwebsoftware.com and we can get you a full version that will work. (There are several cases of this resolving the MSI afterburner problem.)
4. Be sure to reinstall your graphics card drivers. This fixes a remarkable number of weird issues.

If you still have problems, contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

Steam’s current system can make it difficult to find hint books and other extras. To actually get at the hint book, follow these steps:

1. Right click (Control-click on Mac) "Geneforge 1 - Mutagen" in the games list in your Steam library.
2. Select "Properties."
3. In the "Local Files" tab, select "Browse Local Files."
4. All your goodies are in the "Deluxe Edition" folder. You can drag them to your desktop for easy access.

We’re sorry this is so confusing. Please let us know if you have any other problems. You can contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

If you are using a newer version of 64 bit Windows, it is very important to make sure that you have the latest graphics drivers for your video card. Many video cards are having problems with the new operating system. If the game is crashing or the graphics occasionally look wrong, go and get and install the newest graphics drivers for your card. If this doesn't help, watch for new drivers to be released for your card.

Geneforge uses DirectX and is, graphically, not a very demanding game. However, some systems, due to hardware or video driver problems, have been having trouble running it at an acceptable speed. Other systems have displayed odd or corrupted graphics. Should the game not run correctly for you, follow the steps below:

• If you are using the newest version of Geneforge, you might have a corrupted game file. Uninstall the game, redownload the installer, and reinstall. Don't skip uninstalling!
• Open the Settings window on the title screen. Set Game Area Size to Small and Graphics Extra Details to Don't Draw.
• Download the newest versions of your video card drivers and install them. Do this even if you think you have the newest version. Driver files and settings can sometimes become damaged or corrupted.
• Don't run any other applications at the same times as Geneforge.
• If your system is fairly old or underpowered (particularly if it has 256 MB RAM or less, an Intel GMA graphics processor instead of a video card, or a video card over six years old), the game will probably always run slowly. Using Fast Graphics Mode will help.

Spiderweb Software has been in business for 30 years, and we write purely icon-based games. It's a much older style, and it doesn't allow infinite zooming in or out in the way that 3D games do. If your monitor is greater than 2600 pixels wide, the game might appear small on your screen.

We want everyone to have fun with our games, so here are a few tips if your monitor is really big.

When you launch the game and the resolution window comes up, try this:

1. For Starters: Just pick the default. This will look great for the vast majority of users.
2. If the game area is too small, in the resolution picker, pick 2560x1440 resolution, fullscreen (not in window). If 2560x1440 is not available, pick something close. This should look great.
3. If you see black bars to the left and right, go into Settings and set Game Area Size to Whole Window.
4. If You Want To Play In a Window: Start with the resolution at the top of the resolution list. If the Window is too small, either change your monitor to a smaller resolution or use the Zoom In key (On Windows: Windows key + Plus, On Macintosh: Option-Command-Equal).

We’re sorry for the confusion here. It’s not ideal, but sometimes the advance of technology gets ahead of you. Thanks for your patience, and we hope that the games are fun enough to justify it.

Unfortunately, something has gone wrong with the software Apple uses to authenticate apps. This is resulting in our games sometimes refusing to launch on the newest versions of MacOS. We aren't the only developer whose games are having this problem. We believe Apple will fix it soon. Until then, there is a workaround that should make your game work.

1. After the game refuses to launch, open your Mac System Preferences. (You can reach this from the Apple menu at the top left.)
2. Select “Privacy and Security.”
3. Scroll down in the panel to the right. You should see an error starting “[Game name] was blocked”. Press the “Open Anyway” button.
4. The game should now work.
5. If not, contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com and we’ll get you a working copy.

We apologize for this inconvenience, and we hope this gets you running until the problems with Apple’s authentication are fixed. Thank you for your patience!

Steam’s current system can make it difficult to find hint books and other extras. To actually get at the hint book, follow these steps:

1. Right click (Control-click with one button Mac mouse) "Geneforge 1 - Mutagen" in the games list in your Steam library.
2. Select "Properties."
3. In the "Local Files" tab, select "Browse Local Files."
4. All your goodies are in the "Deluxe Edition" folder. You can drag them to your desktop for easy access.

We’re sorry this is so confusing. Please let us know if you have any other problems. You can contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

If Geneforge won’t launch on your Macintosh and gives an error that there are no available resolutions, download and update to the newest version (v1.02b or greater) from where you downloaded the original game.

If the game will not launch or you launch the game and the graphics don't appear or look wrong, quit the game. Then go into Steam and turn off Steam Overlay. To turn the Steam Overlay off: Go to the Steam Menu in the upper left, select Preferences, UN-check the "Enable the Steam Overlay while in game.” Select Ok to save it. This fixes problems with a number of Macintosh games on Steam.

If you are using a Macbook with a Retina screen and choose a too-large resolution to play the game, the game may be drawn with a large portion of the play area offscreen. That is because the largest resolutions can only be drawn in Retina mode, and games written with OpenGL technology (which is almost all Mac games) don't handle Retina correctly.

One workaround for this is to play the game in Windowed mode. Another is to pick as a resolution the size of your monitor is ordinary (not Retina) pixels. This resolution will be half the size of the largest resolution the game offers. (For example, it will be 1280x800 for 13" MacBooks and 1440x900 for 15" MacBooks.)

If you have already chosen for the game to always open in full screen mode, you can undo this by deleting the settings file. Open a window in the Finder. Type Command-Shift-G and enter "~/Library/Preferences". Throw away the file com.spiderwebsoftware.Geneforge. Launch Geneforge, and the resolution selection window will appear again.

Geneforge's graphics needs are modest, but they might put some strain on older machines. Some steps might be necessary to help it to run better.

To see how quickly Geneforge is running, load a saved game, press Shift-D, enter "fps", and press return. The FPS (frames of animation drawn per second) will appear in the upper left hand corner. That number should be at least in the teens to give a good play experience.

If Geneforge is running slowly, try these steps:

1. Run as few other programs as possible in the background. Quit web browsers and other unneeded applications. This frees up memory and computing power.
   
2. The best way to make Geneforge faster is to reduce the size of the play area. On the Video Mode window that comes up when you launch the game, choose to play in a window and then select a small size for the window. Alternately, run the game, select Game Options on the title screen, and set Game Area Size to Small.
   
3. You can turn down the graphics detail, which can result in speed increases. Run the game, select Game Options on the title screen, and set Graphics Extra Details to Don't Draw.

If you are having weird problems with Geneforge (unable to talk to characters, script errors, unable to leave zones, general bad behavior), your copy of the software might have become corrupted. It is rare, but it does happen. As a first step, try forcing a reboot of your iOS device. This can fix a number of odd problems. To reboot an iPad, hold down the Power and Home buttons at the same time until the device resets. To reboot an iPhone depends on the version you have, please consult Apple support on the specifics.

If this doesn't help, reinstalling the game can fix these problems. To do to, follow these steps:

1. If you want, back up your saved games. To learn how to do this, read the section on transferring saved games. Bear in mind that software corruptions can also damage the saved games. If, after reinstalling, problems continue, try starting a new game.
2. Power up your device and find the Geneforge app icon. Rest your finger on it lightly until it starts to vibrate and an 'X appears. Push the 'X' and choose to delete the application.
3. Run iTunes on your computer. Find Geneforge and delete it. Make sure to choose to move it to the trash.
4. Delete app. Download a fresh copy of Geneforge from the App Store.
5. Use iTunes to copy back in your saved games.

If this does not fix your problems, contact our support.