Difference between revisions of "Alex Builds His Farm"

Revision as of 13:34, 23 June 2024

Playmobil
Laura's Happy Adventures	1998
Alex Builds His Farm	1999
Hype: The Time Quest	1999
Rescue from Rock Castle	2004
The Big Treasure Hunt	2005
Playmobil Alarm	2007
Playmobil Constructions	2007
Playmobil Knights	2009
Playmobil Pirates	2009
Playmobil: The Movie VR Adventures	Cancelled

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

Alex Builds His Farm is a singleplayer third-person adventure, building, educational, farming and simulation game in the Playmobil series.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM^{[Note 1]} with unreadable errors.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%WINDIR%\UbiSoft\ubi.ini^{[Note 2]}

To run the game without admin privileges, make sure to place ubi.ini in %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\Windows\UbiSoft\.

To run the game with admin privileges (e.g. in Win XP compatibility mode), make sure that ubi.ini is in %WINDIR%\UbiSoft\}.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\GameData\SaveGame\^{[Note 2]}

Video

Ubisoft Configuration Tool.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		The game can be forced to run in Windowed mode, when using dgVoodoo 2.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Always on in Direct3D. In Glide, use nGlide and set in `nglide_config.exe`, or use dgVoodoo2.
60 FPS		Frame rate is capped at 63 FPS in Glide. Animations are locked at 30 FPS by default, but their framerate can be increased by turning on Use Animation Interpolation inside Advanced Video Settings in `<path-to-game>\UbiAssistant.exe`.
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

Change resolution^[3]

Open ubi.ini.
Under the section [Alex Builds His Farm], add the line ScreenSize.
Insert the preferred resolution (for example, ScreenSize=1280x720, ScreenSize=800x450 or ScreenSize=640x360).

Notes

Large resolutions (e.g. 1920x1080) might crash the game. It is therefore recommended to set a lower resolution (e.g. 1280x720) and use a Direct3D wrapper to scale the resolution. See Direct3D wrapper.

Uncommon resolutions (e.g. 800x450 or 640x360) are automatically changed back to a 4:3 aspect ratio. To fix this, see Direct3D wrapper.

HUD is stretched.

Lower vertical FOV in wider aspect ratios. Increase FOV to compensate, see Field of view (FOV).

Direct3D wrapper

Setup dgVoodoo 2 or DDrawCompat^[4]

dgVoodoo 2

From dgVoodoo2's folder, copy dgVoodoo.conf, dgVoodooCpl.exe, \MS\x86\D3DImm.dll and \MS\x86\DDraw.dll to <path-to-game>\.
Run dgVoodooCpl.exe, right-click anywhere in the window and select "Show all sections of the configuration".
In the DirectX tab under Resolution, set the tdisplay resolution (e.g. 1920x1080).
(Optional) Still in the DirectX tab, uncheck dgVoodoo Watermark.
If an uncommon resolution is set (e.g. 640x360) in ubi.ini, go to the DirectXExt tab under Enumerated resolutions, and enter this resolution into Extras.

DDrawCompat

Copy DDraw.dll as well as DDrawCompat.ini to <path-to-game>.
Open DDrawCompat.ini in a text editor, and uncomment (remove #) the lines to change.
Set ResolutionScale = display(1).
For better Alt+Tab support, set AltTabFix = noactivateapp(1).
If an uncommon resolution is set (e.g. 640x360) in ubi.ini, add this resolution to SupportedResolutions, e.g. SupportedResolutions = native, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 640x360.

Field of view (FOV)

Change Field of View^[5]

Download Change_FOV_Alex.7z from https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1478589#p1478589.
Unzip the archive. Make sure to have Python 3 installed as well as python-lzo (pip install python-lzo).
Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where Change_FOV_Alex.py is, and run (replace <PathToGame> with the path to the game folder):

python Change_FOV_Alex.py "<PathToGame>\Gamedata\World\Levels\fix.sna"

Follow the instructions on screen. The script will ask for the resolution/aspect ratio and adjust the horizontal FOV such that the vertical FOV is the same as in the unpatched game.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration		Mouse isn't supported in-game.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Sound Settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Voices, Sound Effects and Music.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Italian				Alex e la sua fattoria
Dutch				Alex op de Boerderij.^[6]
French				Alex à la ferme.^[6]
German				Alex' Abenteuer auf der Farm.^[6]
Portuguese				Alex Constrói a Sua Quinta.^[7]
Brazilian Portuguese				Alex, O Fazendeiro.^[8]
Spanish				Alex en la granja.^[6]

Issues fixed

Install the game on modern systems

The game cannot be installed on 64-bit computers because it's a 16-bit application.

Use winevdm^{[citation needed]}

Stuck in Ubisoft Logo Loading (Direct3D mode)

Use dgVoodoo 2^[9]

Game runs too fast (Direct3D mode)

Set refresh rate on 60 Hz^[9]

Game crashes on Alt+Tab

Install dgVoodoo 2^[9]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6
Glide	3.10

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 166 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	120 MB
Video card (GPU)	4 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2022-11-19
According to SuicideMachine's findings, the game's executable makes reference of the variable "ScreenSize", which can be altered in the configuration file and successfully changes the resolution.
↑ Verified by User:Lk19123 on 2024-06-22
↑ Alex Builds His Farm & Laura's Happy Adventures Widescreen - Rayman Pirate-Community - last accessed on 2024-06-23
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 MobyGames
↑ MobyGames - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Divertire (archived) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-06-01

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-4] 2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[5] Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2022-11-19
According to SuicideMachine's findings, the game's executable makes reference of the variable "ScreenSize", which can be altered in the configuration file and successfully changes the resolution.

[Lk19123-6] Verified by User:Lk19123 on 2024-06-22

[alex_changefov_rpc-7] Alex Builds His Farm & Laura's Happy Adventures Widescreen - Rayman Pirate-Community - last accessed on 2024-06-23

[MobyGames-8] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 MobyGames

[9] MobyGames - last accessed on May 2023

[10] Divertire (archived) - last accessed on May 2023

[alphayellow-11] 9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-06-01

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 {{Availability/row| Retail | | disc | {{DRM|SafeDisc|2}} with unreadable errors. | | Windows }}
 }}
-{{ii}} This game is not available digitally.
 ==Game data==
@@ Line 51: / Line 50: @@
 {{Game data/config|Windows|{{p|windir}}\UbiSoft\ubi.ini}}
 }}
+{{ii}} To run the game '''without''' admin privileges, make sure to place {{file|ubi.ini}} in {{file|{{p|localappdata}}\VirtualStore\Windows\UbiSoft\}}.
+{{ii}} To run the game '''with''' admin privileges (e.g. in Win XP compatibility mode), make sure that {{file|ubi.ini}} is in {{file|{{p|windir}}\UbiSoft\}}}.
 ===Save game data location===
 {{Game data|
-{{Game data/saves|Windows|{{p|game}}\GameData\SaveGame}}
+{{Game data/saves|Windows|{{p|game}}\GameData\SaveGame\}}
 }}
@@ Line 76: / Line 77: @@
 |fov notes                  = See [[#Field of view (FOV)|Field of view (FOV)]].
 |windowed                   = hackable
-|windowed notes             = The game can be forced to run in Windowed mode, when using [http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo2].
+|windowed notes             = The game can be forced to run in Windowed mode, when using [[dgVoodoo 2]].
 |borderless windowed        = false
 |borderless windowed notes  =
@@ Line 99: / Line 100: @@
 ===[[Glossary:Widescreen resolution|Widescreen resolution]]===
-{{ii}} If you want to run the game '''without''' admin privileges, make sure you place {{file|ubi.ini}} in {{file|{{P|localappdata}}\VirtualStore\Windows\UbiSoft\}}.
+{{Fixbox|description=Change resolution|ref=<ref>{{Refcheck|user=AlphaYellow|date=2022-11-19|comment=According to SuicideMachine's findings, the game's executable makes reference of the variable "ScreenSize", which can be altered in the configuration file and successfully changes the resolution.}}</ref>|fix=
-{{ii}} If you want to run the game '''with''' admin privileges (e.g. in Win XP compatibility mode), make sure that {{file|ubi.ini}} is in {{file|{{P|windir}}\UbiSoft\}}}.
-{{Fixbox|description=Change resolution|ref=<ref>{{Refcheck|user=AlphaYellow|date=2022-11-19|comment=According to SuicideMachine's findings, the game's exe makes reference of the variable "ScreenSize", which can be altered in the config file and successfully changes the resolution.}}</ref>|fix=
 # Open {{file|ubi.ini}}.
 # Under the section <code>[Alex Builds His Farm]</code>, add the line <code>ScreenSize</code>.
@@ Line 114: / Line 113: @@
 ===[[Glossary:Display_wrapper|Direct3D wrapper]]===
-{{Fixbox|description=Setup [[dgVoodoo 2]] or [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/releases/ DDrawCompat]|fix=
+{{Fixbox|description=Setup [[dgVoodoo 2]] or [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/releases/ DDrawCompat]|ref=<ref name="Lk19123">{{Refcheck|user=Lk19123|date=2024-06-22}}</ref>|fix=
-*[[dgVoodoo 2]]<br>
+*[[dgVoodoo 2]]
-** From the dgVoodoo folder, copy {{file|dgVoodoo.conf}}, {{file|dgVoodooCpl.exe}}, {{file|\MS\x86\D3DImm.dll}} and {{file|\MS\x86\DDraw.dll}} to {{folder|{{P|game}}\}}.
+# From dgVoodoo2's folder, copy {{file|dgVoodoo.conf}}, {{file|dgVoodooCpl.exe}}, {{file|\MS\x86\D3DImm.dll}} and {{file|\MS\x86\DDraw.dll}} to {{folder|{{p|game}}\}}.
-** Run {{file|dgVoodooCpl.exe}}, right-click anywhere in the window and select "Show all sections of the configuration".
+# Run {{file|dgVoodooCpl.exe}}, right-click anywhere in the window and select "Show all sections of the configuration".
-** In the "DirectX" tab under "Resolution", set your display resolution (e.g. ''1920x1080'').
+# In the {{key|DirectX}} tab under '''Resolution''', set the tdisplay resolution (e.g. ''1920x1080'').
-** (Optional) Still in the "DirectX" tab, uncheck the "dgVoodoo Watermark".
+# (Optional) Still in the {{key|DirectX}} tab, uncheck '''dgVoodoo Watermark'''.
-** If you set an uncommon resolution (e.g. ''640x360'') in {{file|ubi.ini}}: In the "DirectXExt" tab under "Enumerated resolutions", enter this resolution into "Extras".
+# If an uncommon resolution is set (e.g. ''640x360'') in {{file|ubi.ini}}, go to the {{key|DirectXExt}} tab under '''Enumerated resolutions''', and enter this resolution into '''Extras'''.
-* [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/releases/ DDrawCompat]<br>
+* [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/releases/ DDrawCompat]
-** Copy {{file|DDraw.dll}} as well as [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/blob/master/Tools/DDrawCompat.ini DDrawCompat.ini] to {{folder|{{p|game}}\}}.
+# Copy {{file|DDraw.dll}} as well as [https://github.com/narzoul/DDrawCompat/blob/master/Tools/DDrawCompat.ini DDrawCompat.ini] to {{folder|{{p|game}}}}.
-** Open {{file|DDrawCompat.ini}} in a text editor, and uncomment (remove {{code|#}}) the lines you would like to change.
+# Open {{file|DDrawCompat.ini}} in a text editor, and uncomment (remove {{code|#}}) the lines to change.
-** Set {{code|<nowiki>ResolutionScale = display(1)</nowiki>}}.
+# Set <code>ResolutionScale = display(1)</code>.
-** For better Alt+Tab support you can set {{code|<nowiki>AltTabFix = noactivateapp(1)</nowiki>}}.
+# For better Alt+Tab support, set <code>AltTabFix = noactivateapp(1)</code>.
-** If you set an uncommon resolution (e.g. ''640x360'') in {{file|ubi.ini}}: Add this resolution to {{code|SupportedResolutions}}, e.g. {{code|<nowiki>SupportedResolutions = native, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 640x360</nowiki>}}.
+# If an uncommon resolution is set (e.g. ''640x360'') in {{file|ubi.ini}}, add this resolution to <code>SupportedResolutions</code>, e.g. <code>SupportedResolutions = native, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 640x360</code>.
 }}
 ===[[Glossary:Field of view (FOV)|Field of view (FOV)]]===
-{{Fixbox|description=Change Field of View|ref=<ref>https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1478589#p1478589</ref>|fix=
+{{Fixbox|description=Change Field of View|ref=<ref name="alex_changefov_rpc">{{Refurl|url=https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1478589#p1478589|title=Alex Builds His Farm & Laura's Happy Adventures Widescreen - Rayman Pirate-Community|date=2024-06-23}}</ref>|fix=
-Download {{file|Change_FOV_Alex.7z}} from https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1478589#p1478589. Unzip the archive. Make sure you have [https://www.python.org/downloads// Python 3] installed as well as ''python-lzo'' ({{code|pip install python-lzo}}). Next, open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where {{file|Change_FOV_Alex.py}} is, and run (replace <PathToGame> with the path to your game folder): <br>
+<ol>
-{{code|python Change_FOV_Alex.py "<PathToGame>\Gamedata\World\Levels\fix.sna"}}. <br>
+<li>Download {{file|Change_FOV_Alex.7z}} from https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1478589#p1478589.</li>
-Follow the instructions on screen. The script will ask for the resolution / aspect ratio and adjust the horizontal FOV such that the vertical FOV is the same as in the unpatched game.
+<li>Unzip the archive. Make sure to have [https://www.python.org/downloads// Python 3] installed as well as ''python-lzo'' (<code>pip install python-lzo</code>).</li>
+<li>Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where {{file|Change_FOV_Alex.py}} is, and run (replace <PathToGame> with the path to the game folder):</li>
+<pre>
+python Change_FOV_Alex.py "<PathToGame>\Gamedata\World\Levels\fix.sna"
+</pre>
+<li>Follow the instructions on screen. The script will ask for the resolution/aspect ratio and adjust the horizontal FOV such that the vertical FOV is the same as in the unpatched game.</li>
+</ol>
 }}

Developers

	Ubisoft Montreal
Publishers
	Playmobil Interactive
Engines
	Ubisoft OpenSpace
Release dates
Windows	July 15, 1999
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Adventure, Building, Educational, Farming, Simulation
Vehicles	Industrial
Art styles	Stylized
Series	Playmobil