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My HTML5 Game (Tyranobuilder) not playing, or playing then stopping

A topic by Paper Moon Studios created Feb 13, 2022 Views: 2,100 Replies: 11

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago (2 edits) (+1)

I'm trying to upload a browser game exported from Tyranobuilder as HTML5 to Itch, and for some reason it is not loading on any of my browsers or my mobile device (it's a draft currently). I checked the common pitfalls, and the game itself is only roughly 230MB, so I know it's not too big. I zipped the file, it has the index html file in it correctly, I'm just not sure what else I should try at this point.

The other thing is I have gotten it to work on mobile occassionally, it will load everything and play the game...up until the first branch choice. I have exported this game before (as a windows app) so I feel confident it works, I just don't know why it's not working as an HTML5 game. I feel like I'm missing something obvious.

Any help is so appreciated. I am a novice at this, and I feel like I've tried everything but I know I probably haven't.

Edit: other things I've tried include checking the filenames for special characters (there are none), trying to upload it with Butler (doesn't work), and the first thing I tried was making the game smaller (from 450KB - 230 MB).

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No Time To PlayModerator2 years ago

Well, if you were able to upload it, then it's not from itch.io's server limits. More likely the game itself. And I don't know what kind of mobile devices you're used to, but my phone won't load a lot of webpages. Even some that aren't any problem on the desktop.

Mobile devices are a lot weaker than PCs. Hardware specs are deceiving. And those 230MB of code and assets likely turn into 5 times as much in RAM, as a rule of thumb. That the game has to share with the browser itself, and the operating system.

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago

Yeah if it was only my phone I would understand, but what worries me is desktop. :( I figure it's probably some issue with the game, the problem is I have no idea what issue it could be, since the game runs perfectly fine when exported for windows, etc. Do you have any general things I should check?

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago

My phone is also the only device it will even partially load on, which confuses me. If it can load part of the way on my phone, why would I get a black screen on desktop?

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No Time To PlayModerator2 years ago

Those are both good questions, and I don't know what to say. Never worked with TyranoBuilder either. Are there a lot of files in the exported game? Are there any errors in the browser console? Does it run fine when loaded straight from the HDD?

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago

Not a lot of files! Only 126. By browser console, do you mean like when I double-click the index file? I do get an error when Microsoft Edge pops up that says file not found:./data/system/Config.tjs but that file is there, so I'm not sure what it means. :( And yes it runs fine when I preview it in TyranoBuilder, if that's what you're asking!

I really appreciate all this help, thank you.

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago

So I was looking at the Steam boards to see if anyone else was having this issue, and it looks like it might just be a bug for the 2.0 version and nothing I can do. Dang! Thank you for your help anyway. https://steamcommunity.com/app/345370/discussions/0/3195862975793566083/

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firecat2 years ago

Tyranobuilder is a software scam, nothing it builds works and exports too many errors. You have to download another software like Phonegap but Adoble removed that software: https://blog.phonegap.com/update-for-customers-using-phonegap-and-phonegap-build...

That means it currently is not possible to export in HTML5 or Phone.

mp3 and mp4 are not supported in version 2.0, everything Tyranobuilder says to hel VN is a lie.

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brokenhammergames2 years ago(+1)

As one who has talked with Tyrano's devs and worked with them a lot, the only scam is VN Maker which steals Tyrano's backend and repackages it for a $60 price. Why they always update after Tyrano does. Tyrano's biggest problem is they haven't updated their exporting ability all the way. PC is all that really works decently. Mac OS doesn't work because they haven't updated the software to 64bit outside of the Japanese side. Subsequently iOS builds don't work because the Framework Tyrano made for it is Swift 3 and incompatible with modern Xcode. Android support is there but dated and hasn't updated to produce a build that works without lots of coding to figure out the Play Store's new rules on Apps.

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Paper Moon Studios2 years ago

Sorry for the late response but I appreciate your reply! I had been panicking to be honest because I have sunk definitely dozens, if not hundreds by this point, of hours into my game in Tyranobuilder. I have no doubt that other software is probably better in some ways, but I am a dev with EXTREMELY limited programming knowledge so I really appreciate how easy Tyrano is for that reason.

I agree that PC definitely works best. I was able to export my game as a .apk file for android that runs successfully, but I haven't put it on any kind of app store as it's just the demo out right now. I read about a workaround for Mac as well and I'm hoping to try that soon as I do have access to Mac computers at my university. In the meantime, I hope that they will update the exporting options soon!

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firecat2 years ago(+1)

They will not update the exporting options, this is how it was made when it first launch and people still want a new update to fix it. Also the APK may no longer work either, google new android requirements has APK in API 30 or higher (AKA must be able to run in android 11). Tyranobuilder has not fix this at all.

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brokenhammergames2 years ago(+2)

Not that different from us. Tyrano is really the best software for ease of use and rapid development. We've got an APK on here but not on the app stores yet. Android, the requirements changed and now require a bit of coding to compartmentalize it into a 150MB starting app with up to 2GB limit game files that download later. You simply cannot just upload an APK anymore. iOS, is worse due to requiring a Framework that Tyrano hasn't updated to modern Xcode.

Thankfully, for us, there are some programmer contacts that are looking at the issues. It's just, they have to figure it out from scratch as well. If we get some breakthroughs, would be glad to share them with you and other Tyrano devs for free. 2.0 Tyrano was a huge update. It made our development possible in many ways. But, our patience is also wearing thin since we've started dealing with these export issues. Especially the Mac OS ones which are years behind.

Have had many conversations with JayRab, the Tyrano rep, through Steam. How we know about the VN Maker scam issue. His activity within the Tyrano community has visibly plummeted the last year. Some of the updates they did for Tyrano, were part caused by needs we bugged them with. This was due to our project being the biggest one they've ever seen on Tyrano. Now, I can message and I won't get a reply. His Steam account is active because he plays games on it but ,he doesn't answer anymore.

To me, considering how further the Japanese Tyrano is, that reeks of potential publisher squabbling with the Japan dev team. Something is going on behind the scenes that is just not getting talked about. The 2.0 update was huge but, possibly not enough. That or it didn't stop VN Maker from stealing the backend. Which could be a situation that would lead a publisher to rethink still putting money into development. They need to eventually tell the public. Perhaps we devs need to report them to Steam for false advertising? It's true that the engine simply doesn't do what it advertised anymore.

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