Teachers’ Edition – Support
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
To play Inanimate Alice Teachers’ Edition Suite you need a PC or Mac with an integrated or dedicated graphics card, 2GB or 4GB memory (4GB recommended), a keyboard/mouse and speakers or headphones. Episode 5 is more media-rich than the previous episodes and contains some 3D graphics that may slow down on older systems.
DOWNLOADING
If you have trouble downloading the Teachers’ Edition Suite you can try these links instead –
http://downloads.dreamingmethods.com/inanimatealice/IATeachersEditionSuite.exe (PC)
http://downloads.dreamingmethods.com/inanimatealice/IATeachersEditionSuite.dmg (Mac)
Alternatively we can send you the file/s via WeTransfer or via FTP. Simply contact studio@dreamingmethods.com asking for this to happen.
Note that your virus protection software may wish to examine the downloaded file before you install it. Should you be prompted to do this, simply follow on-screen instructions. If your browser claims that “this is not a commonly downloaded file and could be dangerous”, click the arrow next to the message and select “keep file” (or similar).
INSTALLING
On PC, double click on the EXE to launch the Teachers’ Edition Suite installer wizard. The project requires around 500MB of free drive space to install successfully. You may be prompted to download a newer version of the Suite, if one is available. You will be asked if you wish to allow this app to make changes to your device and show details of the publisher. Press YES to continue.
Follow the wizard’s instructions, pressing NEXT continously. Once installed, the wizard will place icons for each episodeon your computer’s desktop automatically, along with a handy ‘uninstall’ button should you need it in the future.
On Mac, double click the DMG file to install the episodes. You can drag each icon into your Applications folder if you wish.
Note that you MUST have Administrator permissions to install new software onto your device, especially if you are doing so within a school/university setting, Please ask your IT technician if you get stuck.
Note that if you get a “checksum error” message, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (below).
MAC GATEKEEPER ISSUES
Newer Macs have a security system installed by default called Gatekeeper. Inanimate Alice Teachers’ Edition Suite is digitally signed with an Apple ID but sometimes still struggles to “get past” Gatekeeper. You may need to lower your Gatekeeper settings temporarily to accept files from “anywhere” as well as Apple trusted sources. Once you have installed Inanimate Alice, you can reinstate the settings to maximum security again.
For help with Gatekeeper settings, see the following article: https://its.uiowa.edu/support/article/4038
LAUNCHING
By default, each Alice episode will attempt to launch at the native screen resolution of your computer’s set up. Episode 5 however will give you some options in the form of a dialogue window allowing you to change the screen resolution and quality settings. If you are experiencing a slow frame-rate or the project does not launch at all, try adjusting these settings. Note that severely reducing the graphics quality may slightly alter the intended look of the project.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Woah! The Teachers’ Edition Suite crashed! Who do I tell about this?
A. Although it’s been extensively tested, access to the sheer number of possible hardware and software platforms/configurations the Teachers’ Edition Suite might be run on make it difficult to predict every possible problem. So, if the work crashes on you, or you find that something just isn’t working right, please drop an email to studio@dreamingmethods.com saying exactly when the crash happened or what the bug is. Be as detailed as you can. Even send screenshots!
Q. Episode 5 plays a bit slowly
A. If your computer is really old and has simple integrated graphics (see above) it is highly likely to struggle playing Episode 5. Try reducing the screen resolution of the episode on the configuration screen to something like 1280 x 768, or even lower if necessary. The episode will look a bit less beautiful, but may very well run quicker!
Q. I am using a 32-bit computer. Is the Teachers’ Edition Suite 64-bit only?
A. No. The Teachers’ Edition Suite for PC should work on 32-bit or 64-bit machines. Episodes 1-4 are all 32-bit natively. If you are experiencing problems with Episode 5 exclusively, please download this version.
Q. I’m getting an ‘invalid checksum error’ on the Mac. What can I do about this?
A. Follow these instructions
- Open the Disk Utility located in Applications/Utilities
- Go under the Disk Utility menu and select preferences
- Deselect the option to verify checksums
- Try running the downloaded DMG file again
We would recommend turning this feature back on though after the installation is complete. Also, if you notice this happening on other downloaded files it can indicate a problem with your Internet connection.