Order Problems

**GradonSilverton** · Feb 14th, '03, 02:32 PM

Just paid for and downloaded Hero Designer for windows.....
Followed the right Click, Save as instructions but I get a file without a valid extension.... is this a error in the download or were there instructions that are missing? A quick reply is greatly appreciated.

**Monolith** · Feb 14th, '03, 02:39 PM

I believe that if you read the page that shows you paid for the item and gives you the link to download it, you will see a note stating that you must RENAME the item when you save it. Now what it needs to be renamed to I don't remember and cannot help you with that, but if you printed a copy of the link page you will probably see the name there.

**Agent 537** · Feb 14th, '03, 02:47 PM

I did much the same thing. I have sent an email to the company (Ben?), since I seem to be unable to cease my bungling and actually get the program installed properly. When I get a reply, I will post the info here.

**Monolith** · Feb 14th, '03, 02:51 PM

I do not know if Ben is at the con or not tonight. He might not be back right away.

My zip file is called SETUP. Is that what yours is called? If not, it might work if you change the name to SETUP.

**GradonSilverton** · Feb 14th, '03, 02:55 PM

I seem to have succeded by renaming the file Setup.zip and then opening it via a WinZip program (the Win XP buitl in zip program does not work). That lets me extract the files and I'm about to try to install it.... I'll update here if successful.

**GradonSilverton** · Feb 14th, '03, 03:10 PM

I was correct in my instruction in the previous post.....

What I would like to find out is exactly why Hero Games made something as simple as a Web Store Download so excessively complicated?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I should not have to rename a file to a zip format of all things....

Guys, I love your system and products, but please, this needs to change.

The file should be an Executable file that Auto extracts to the correct directory (or a selectable directory) so the program can be installed.....

I own a online company that sells computer products, incluiding software, and consumer electronics and there is absolutly no way I could get away with something like this. My customers would flame me at every opportunity....

I would love to discuss this with anyone in the correct position that reads the post....

As for everything else... keep up the good work and get Fantasy Hero pumped out early!!!

***Simon*** · Feb 14th, '03, 03:11 PM

I've noticed a few things in the download since I last updated my WinXP.

Prior to running Windows Update, the file would (a)download as setup.exe (which is what it is -- a self-extracting zip) and (b)run without unzipping to a temp directory.

Now that I've run Windows Update, Micro$oft seems to have "fixed" this so that (a)the file downloads as "setup" (forcing a rename) and (b) setup.exe won't run on its own....it needs to be unzipped and then have the installer run directly.

As near as I can tell, there's really not much that I can do about this as far as the store goes.....it was working before the update, so the store is doing what it should be.....It's just that Micro$oft in their infinite wisdom has decided to change things.

Here's what I've found that works:

1. Download the file. Name it Setup.exe or Setup.zip

2. Open the file with WinZip (or another zip extractor). Unzip it to a temp directory.

3. Go into the temp directory, go to the Windows folder, and run "setup.exe"

That will get the installer up and running and should take care of things for you.

Sorry 'bout the difficulty on this....I'm going to continue looking into things with Micro$oft and see if I can't find some sort of a workaround for the whole issue that can be handled on my side.

**Monolith** · Feb 14th, '03, 03:13 PM

Well I am glad it worked for you.

I agree that the renaming aspect of this seems to be a big pain in the butt. Way too many people do not read that line on the link before the click it and start saving.

As far as the auto-extracting goes, I named mine properly from the download, and when I clicked the Setup zip it extracted fine for me.

Anyway, I'm glad it's working for you.

**Agent 537** · Feb 14th, '03, 03:15 PM

I think I just plain downloaded incorrectly. I somehow ended up with a file called 'setup.exe' that won't do anything. When I try to execute it, I get an error message '(file location) is not a valid Win32 application.' When I rename the file to setup.zip, nothing seems to come of unzipping it.

I'm sure the error is entirely mine, especially since Monolith pointed out that there were instructions which I entirely missed. I will wait patiently on Ben's reply, since I just seem to be making my own situation worse. Thanks for your attempts to help me, guys.

(edited for formatting mistake)

**GradonSilverton** · Feb 14th, '03, 03:20 PM

Now to defend ya, I reviewed the page several times while trying to get it to work.....

No instructions other than the "Right Click and Save As".

Nothing else about renaiming ect.

MAke sure you are using a Zip utility and not the Prebuilt Windows zip...open WinZip and the Click Open and find the file named setup.zip (which you had to rename) and that should do it...if not, then yes, probably a DL error.

DSIMON : thanks for the info, I can understand when Microsoft changes things and somehow screws up your work. Thanks for the info on that..the only complaint I still have is that there is no where (at least not that I've been able to find) that those instruction are located...nothing in the emails confirming the order, ect. Perhaps those instructions should come out in the Email so people can perhaps fix those problems....again though, thanks for the info. I did manage to get it to work.

**R00kie** · Feb 14th, '03, 11:44 PM

I went through the on-line order process, and after clicking confirm got an order status page, listing absolutely nothing.

I did however get an email ststing the right value of items would be shipped to me, but not mentioning what the items were.

Since all the items I requested were downloads I was rather surprised by this, but assumed I would be contacted shortly with download instructions.

There was also a link in the email so I could check the status of my order, but this leads to order status page mentioned above, which doesn't even list my order.

I'm going to give another 24 hours (48 hours total) before I start complaining, but I've got to say, this ordering system needs a LOT of work still.

Cheers,

Rookie

**Monolith** · Feb 15th, '03, 04:20 AM

Originally posted by R00kie
I'm going to give another 24 hours (48 hours total) before I start complaining, but I've got to say, this ordering system needs a LOT of work still.

Just try to keep a couple of things in mind before you start complaining too much. #1-It's a new system that has only been working a few days. #2-Everyone is at a Con this weekend.

Ben has already said he is working on the download links issue in another thread. So I would say give them until Tuesday before you go ballistic. And if you do decide to go ballistic, try and be professional about it and send DOJ a private email. They do not monitor these boards every second of the day, especially while at a Con, so a private email will probably catch their attention quicker.

***Simon*** · Feb 15th, '03, 04:30 AM

Rookie - I can also help out a little bit here.

There was an (apparent) error in the ordering software which was not putting the purchased items into your account properly. I've got the error fixed (fixed it yesterday afternoon/evening), but this doesn't help you much on the order that you've already placed...

If you can send me the following information, I can get you taken care of:

1. Your user-name

2. The items that you purchased

3. A copy of the confirmation email

Given the above, I'll get things adjusted for you so you can d/l the items in question.

**R00kie** · Feb 15th, '03, 05:39 AM

Originally posted by Monolith
#1-It's a new system that has only been working a few days. #2-Everyone is at a Con this weekend.

Two facts I wasnt aware of.

I will of course try to be reasonable with Hero Games. I currently have a lot of respect for them:- 5th Ed is probably one of the best roleplaying products out and shows a lot of dedication from the Hero team. Quite appart from that Hero seem to treat its customers with far more respect than many other games manuafacturers, so I feel they deserve some return on that.

I've PMed dsimon as he suggested, with the information he requested, but will hold off on any other action until well after the week end.

I'm sure its just a glitch in the ordering system and can be worked out quite quickly.

Cheers,

R00kie.

***Simon*** · Feb 15th, '03, 05:45 AM

Rookie - You should be all set now. I emailed you with instructions, but (essentially) you just need to go to your order status page and you'll be able to download all of the items.

Sorry for the difficulty. As Monolith said, I blame "growing pains". I'm still not entirely sure what was causing the error in the store, but I do know where the error was occurring and have adjusted that part of the code so that it is about as "foolproof" as I can make it. From what I can see, this should eliminate the problem completely for all future orders.