It is fine to upload the files to Facebook - some would say this is more personal than any other site. The key factor in the licencing is that the programs are designed for educational, not-for-profit usage. As long as you aren't charging people to access the games and quizzes it is fine to use them under the standard licences.

Not quite sure why but this post appears to have been hidden until just now. Anyway, the best way to test the SCORM functionality is to download the entirely free:

Fling the Teacher: http://www.contentgenerator.net/forum/inde...amp;showfile=29
Teacher Invaders: http://www.contentgenerator.net/forum/inde...amp;showfile=27

Follow the link above and then click on the 'Download' option.

We are gradually releasing SCORM updates to all the programs, including the rest of the free ones, but the above two provide the ideal opportunity to test it all out.

Hi - you are mostly correct in what you state - but you missed out the 'not for profit' aspect.

The terms of service are all explained on our licences page - see http://www.contentgenerator.net/products/licences.shtml

With the help of Mary Cooch a minor but significant Moodle 2 SCORM bug appears to have been fixed.

As regular ContentGenerator.net users will know the SCORM functionality extends the programs so you can track students' scores. This functionality works in any VLE but we've closely targeted the feature primarily for Moodle. It was thus concerning when the near release version of Moodle 2 produced errors every time a Cgen.net SCORM activity loaded.



We firstly checked to ensure that the SCORM .zip was being produced correctly. This was done using the excellent SCORM Cloud tool at: http://www.scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud/. This was more of a treble check as they are fully SCORM compliant but it was worth making sure.

The issue was thus narrowed down to the existing implentation of Moodle 2. This didn't appear like a major issue - but as it prevented the SCORM activities even loading this was signficant.

I posted a topic about the issue on the Moodle SCORM forum at: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=156224 and then subsequently opened a bug report on their tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-23859

Brilliantly, the issue was reviewed and fixed nearly immediately. It went from reported at 6.55am to fixed by 9.17am Australian time. A real testament to the skill and particpation of the Moodle community.

When no .swf file is generated this is usually because the library file that is required hasn't installed correctly or doesn't have the correct permissions. On Target was actually created on a Windows 7 machine, so I am 100% certain that it works, but if you do run into problems we just need to check the installation and the permissions.

Try the following steps:

1. Run the program again - try generating your game just once more to see what happens.

2. Try installing one of our other programs - even if just the free Teacher Invaders or your customer Grade or No Grade. Try Teacher Invaders again.

3. Look in C:\Windows\System32\ and see if you have a file listed there called SWFGen.dll. If this file is there but you cannot generate, it suggests your might need more permissions on your system. Look at the Security tab and see if you can set this to 'read and execute'.

4. If you try all these without success, try downloading and running this file:
http://www.contentgenerator.net/swfgensetup.exe

Please do report back your progress - a small number of users do report issues with .swfs not being produced, but the above four suggestions have always helped.

Yes - thank you for your purchase - you now have 'customer' access which gives you access to the Penalty Shootout section as well as your free customer download of 'Grade or No Grade'.

You should have been able to download Penalty Shootout immediately with your purchase, but you can redownload it from the Downloads section too.

What excellent news - congratulations - and great to hear the program was useful too. Thank you!

After some quite complex fiddling it isn't looking good. I've been able to get Fling the Teacher working in the way Richard described - see image below:



However, the .swf isn't being produced. Normally when this is an issue, it relates to permissions with the .dll file. Through some complex Terminal work I've been able to get the fine into the Wine 'bottle' and, eventually, set the permissions so anyone can read, write or execute the file - see screenshot below:



The 'execute' permission is key as this means any program has the top level ability to use the library file. However, even with this the .swf file isn't produced.



I will experiment further to see what is possible.

Richard has been able to get the programs working - but the only thing that does it the .swf generation. Clearly the most important part.

With his help it has been clear how revolutionary the CrossOver software actually is - it is like a 'pro' version of Wine, which is what Linux users can use to get programs like Office working. Whereas Wine takes some significant setup and end-user manipulation, it looks like CrossOver is much more user friendly.

Whilst we cannot promise any solutions, this looks like the easiest way to get applications working on a Mac. Time will tell if it will support the complex .dll files that the cgen.net programs need.

As regular ContentGenerator.net users are aware I've been very keen to get the cgen.net applications working on other non-Windows systems. As Mac users ourselves we've found Parallels to be an excellent solution but this does require that you own a licence to a Windows Operating System + own Parallels.

Richard Allaway (author of the excellent http://www.geographyalltheway.com/) contacted me this week, mentioning the tool he uses - CrossOver for Mac - http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

This is an affordable tool that makes use of the Open Source WINE solutions, effectively running Windows Applications on other Operating Systems.

Unfortunately he had tried to get cgen.net programs working and wasn't able to. I'm going to use this topic to track the efforts to get it working. It might not be possible, but we will make every effort.

This is a good additional suggestion as some free hosts severely restrict the options that you have - and that does make sense as hosting and suchlike does cost! There are still many options for hosting files though. In addition, if you're doing this for your school they should be supporting you with hosting and related costs. Does your school have a VLE or alternative online learning tool?

I'm sorry you're continuing to encounter issues with your games. Could you please e-mail me the data .txt file and I'll see what might be going wrong.

You describe above successfully creating your game - once the Flash file (.swf) is working it is all packed together as a single file so cannot lose its data. It does sound that somehow the finished game itself isn't being generated correctly.

The issue you describe in the second message suggests that the game isn't working properly. The script alert (the message that appeared) is saying that the coding has an error. This frequently happens when I am developing games and other Flash work, but it isn't something I've come across with the finished game.

Finally, you mention that your website doesn't allow the format of the game to be uploaded - this is really something you need to take up with the providers of your website. It may be that they are restricting what files you are allowed to upload. The 'http://' section at the end of the generator (not the game - this is a feature of the generator program) is to allow you to enter a website that you want students to go to after they've completed their game. You can use this to get students to move onto the next activity - just add the web address where you want them to go.

The .html code can be used to fit the game into an existing webpage. However, at this stage I would suggest just uploading the .swf file and use this directly.

Do please e-mail the .txt file to me and I'll get it working.

Hi - I have already responded to your request via the support forum, but thanks for posting it here as this is the appropriate place for those who are using the free software.

I'm sorry you've encountered difficulties with the program.

Could you describe in further detail what happened when you lost your questions and answers? It sounds very odd that you've lost the data. When you exit the program you are asked whether you wish to save the question data. If you select yes (or whether you have already saved it) you can save the question data (.txt) file. This allows you to load and save game data in the future.

To create and generate a game, you need to do the following:

1. Enter your questions and answers
2. Save your question data (using the save game data icon) at any time
3. Once you get to 15 questions the 'Generate game' button will appear (on the right-hand side)
4. You then enter your game details e.g. title and other options
5. Press 'Generate' again and a .swf (Flash) and .html (webpage) file will be produced.

It may be that your computer is not setup to view Flash files - but this is nothing to worry about. Just view the .swf file using your browser (such as Internet Explorer).

Finally, you mention you have a website. This should just be a matter of uploading the .swf file directly to your site, just as you would with any other resource.

This is a really good question. You also seem to be aware of many of the answers already. With settings on your webserver you can prevent people 'hotlinking' graphics, files and other resources - and I guess this can include Flash (.swf) files. Yet as you've correctly identified this doesn't stop people actually ripping files from your site and uploading them to other sites.

I fully understand and appreciate the frustration you are experiencing with other ripping off your hard work.

What can you do is limit a .swf file so it only works on a particular site. This is what I suspect your third-party program is doing. When coding a Flash file directly yourself it is possible to add in additional code that prevents anyone else viewing the file online. This isn't something I've ever implemented before.

What I could do is look to introduce an additional feature - if possible - where you enter the url of your website and then the .swf file is restricted to that domain.

It always is a game of cat-and-mouse with such things and in an annoying positive way it shows how people must value your work. Hotlinking (where another site rips your resources by linking to the original files but using your bandwidth) is a common problem but outright theft of your files takes things even further.

Could you message me - i.e. not posting publicly - with the details of the program you are using and I'll see if there is an explanation why this doesn't work. I can then explore what options are available.

There are of course more direct methods too - but you need to find where the files are now being hosted. You can contact the host, the provider of the web hosting and explain how your resources have been stolen. Yet this clearly takes time and investigation - prevention is better.

I'll certainly look into this to see what can be done.

Ok - thanks for this. I have been looking at the Multi-choice interface but I think the issue there is that you cannot pick to show a selection of questions in 'chronological' random order. So in some ways, this does answer my question completely.

I'll look to integrate the multi-choice format.

I've been playing around with some of the final improvements and I'm concerned that the whole thing doesn't get too complex. With the current options that I'm planning the options do seem a bit over the top - the options will include:

1. Pick 10 random questions - in 'chronological' order (i.e. 10 picked from a larger total, but displayed in the correct order - meaning they will show as question 1, 3, 5, 6 etc rather than completely random)
2. Pick 10 random questions - appear in true random order
3. Show all the available questions - but do we need a random order?

All of these are possible, but for En Garde I removed the 'chronological' random order.

Might sound all a bit odd, but these are important issues in terms of how questions are displayed. I feel the most appropriate option might be to include questions at random, but with the option (when you generate the game) to choose a certain amount of questions or the full amount. Do feel free to post any thoughts

The finished release will have the following minor improvements:

Generator program:
1. Main game settings page - clearer background
2. Improved generated .html page
3. Open option with number of questions - you select what you want - all or random selection

Main game:
1. Improved buttons from main options
2. No requirement for 10 questions - see point 3 above

Still not quite sure about the need for a 'quit' button from the game over screen. I'll also look to see if it is worth 'generating' a pre-set list of students for multiplayer, but I suspect not. This could just be stored 'locally' on the user's computer via a Flash cookie though. I'll also look to add some further sound effects from the presenter.

Thanks for all the positive comments about On Target.

I hope to complete the finished version over the next few days and have thus now upped the price to the release price - £24.99. As promised, all those who have purchased the 'early-bird' version will get a free update to the release version.

I will update this topic when the finished generator is available.

Hi - I've messaged with you with a replacement code to use. Hope this helps you get working with the program again.

The advice Carl provides above is exactly right though - I can message existing customers on this forum so I've been able to bypass the support site, but others do need to use it directly.

Thanks for the comments - I'll see what can be done with the movement on the Q & A screen. I actually put them there to add some further distraction, but I do appreciate what you are saying. It might be worth having an option to switch that off from the generator options page.

Thanks very much for your purchase - do report back how you get on and please do show anything you mange to create.

Ah - fair enough then. The only reason I mentioned it is that I don't believe the versions of Fling the Teacher on my sites use any different version from the version the generator produces. It will be good to find out more though. I hope the previous version will be able to help.

Just as I did with Walk the Plank I can release an older version for you - I haven't updated all the games on my various sites to the latest versions but the most recent release was more a few minor tweaks than any major upgrade or changes. If the old version works, the one should too.

I wonder if this is perhaps somehow related to viewing a .swf file locally (i.e. directly on your operating system) rather than via the browser (where there might be a more up to date Flash player).

Anyway, I'll message you the older download so you can try that.

Ok - all the current versions of the programs require at least the Flash 8 player. If you've recently purchased HoopShoot (or haven't used it since purchase) we will refund that. I've messaged you via this forum with a download for Walk the Plank 1.2

Have you explored the option of using an alternative browser? I'm not sure but it might be that you could install Firefox or Safari and that might support a more up to date version of Flash. I just know that Microsoft stopped updating or releasing Internet Explorer for Mac.

Hi - sorry you've run into issues with the Walk the Plank generator. I will see if I can make an older version available. Could you confirm what version of Flash you do have access to on Mac OS9?

I'm not 100% sure but I'm fairly confident that the previous version of Walk the Plank targeted the same version of the Flash player- Flash player 8.

In the meantime I'll try to find an older version for you to use.