Smileyville Help

Your DirectX version is out of date (you need at least version 7.0). Download the latest version from Microsoft's web site here.

Again, your DirectX version is out of date (you need at least version 7.0). Download the latest version from Microsoft's web site here.

This message says that your computer can't switch to full-screen to play the game. There is no legitimate reason for this (unless you have another full-screen application running in the background). It is more likely a bug in certain video drivers (in conjunction with DirectX 7.0). Try updating your graphics card driver (check your manufacturer's web site) and/or DirectX version (here). Also, before running the game, shut down any instant messengers, and generally any program that may pop up a window. Check the system tray area (at the bottom right of your screen, next to the clock) and terminate any unnecessary programs.

The game should feel very fast and very smooth when you're playing. If it feels slow or "choppy", or it slows down when there's a lot of action on the screen, then there's room for improvement. The good news is the game offers extensive customization options that you can tweak to get the best out the game on your particular computer.

This guide will help you optimize your graphics performance. First of all, if you've changed anything, set all the menu options to their default values.

So, how do you find out if the game is running slowly in the first place? The engine automatically compensates for most variations in performance, meaning that normally you won't be able to tell whether the game is running "really fast" or simply "adequately fast", unless your system is really slow and you can just plainly see that the game is slow and jerky.

Start off with going to options/graphics/advanced and turning "show fps" on. This shows your current frames-per-second (fps) at the top-right of the screen. The higher your fps is, the faster and smoother the gameplay.

Now play through a game, and keep an eye on your fps. You shouldn't have any problems if this constantly stays above 50. If you are getting less than 35 fps, perform the following steps in sequence. At the end of each step, play a game and check your fps. If you are getting sufficiently high values, then you're done. If it's still too low, try the next step.

Step 1: Go to options/graphics/advanced and turn "v-sync" off. In most cases, your fps reading should jump up as soon as you click on the "apply" button (some graphics cards require you to restart the game for this change to take effect, so reload the game just to be sure).

Step 2: Go to options/graphics and set "detail" to "medium".

Step 3: Go to options/graphics/advanced and turn "bilinear filter" off.

Step 4: Go to options/graphics and set detail to "low".

Step 5: Go to options/sound and set "quality" to "low", and also turn "in-game music" off.

That's it! If the game is still running too slowly, you'll just have to buy a better computer :).