The Secret of NIMH
The Adventure Game
(Instructions, Awards & Credits)
This game only works with Internet Explorer 4 or 5 because the Javascript routines require a newer version of Java than that used in earlier browsers. To check which version you have, click on "Help" in your browser window and then "About..." You will be given a version number. If the number starts with a "4" you can play - if not you need to update your browser! YOU CAN ALSO ORDER THESE BROWSERS ON CD-ROM FROM THE ABOVE LINKS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DOWNLOAD THEM.
If you try to play this game on an older browser you may have trouble reading critical cookie values that will make the game unplayable, although the game will appear to work. Similarly, although I did my best to support Netscape, and the game's release was delayed around four months solving each incompatibility issue, it just wasn't possible. Sorry NS users. Netscape only allowed the use of 19 cookies - the standard is supposed to be 20. This game uses them all. The result
was that you would start to mysteriously loose vital items in your inventory, making the game impossible to win. You can still look around the game though, and for a while the game is playable. Almost every Windows user should have Internet Explorer lurking on their system somewhere anyway, as long as they didn't uninstall it!
The main game window opens as a new window in your browser. To expand the window to fill the screen either drag the window across to the top left (recommended, as it fills more of the screen) or double-click on the title bar area as shown in the picture. You
must have a frames-compatible browser with support for automatic page redirection, and have Javascript and cookie use enabled to play this game. One player using the operating system "MS_Canada" couldn't use any links that were variables (ie in the source code l="homepage.htm".... a href +(l) etc. I don't know why that bug happened - it shouldn't have, I can only suspect that the player maybe had Javascript use disabled. If you use this operating system you may also not be able to play the game. No
cookies written by this game will be used for gathering personal
information about you, nor for commercial or tracking purposes,
so don't worry! Explore the game for clues as to what objects you need and what actions you take - don't assume you can safely go anywhere you like though - its a dangerous world out there if you're a mouse! Be
very careful to click onto the link you mean to - if you make a
mistake you cannot always correct it! At the moment if you are killed you have to restart from the very beginning. Once the game is complete I'll try to change that so that you can restart from the last chapter - ie, if you die in chapter 2, you restart at the beginning of chapter 2. Of course, if you didn't pick up a vital object in chapter 1 that won't help very much! It will make the game a little less frustrating though!! The game has a
'continue' feautre, but this is not a 'save game' feature in the normal sense.
This only stores one game position - that being your last position when you
left the game. Not all computer systems / configurations will allow this feature,
so you may find that it doesn't work. Its probably a good idea to play a few moves,
exit the game, (logging off if appropriate to the system you are using) then try the 'continue'
feature - and see if it works! Unfortunately all computers are set up differently these
days, so its difficult making any program work for absolutely everyone in every situation -
especially regarding Internet applications! Use
Internet Explorer for this game if you have it available.
The game will work with Netscape, but it's slower, and the game doesn't look as good.
Bear in mind that as different browsers write their cookie files into different locations you can't swap from one browser to another.
If you are using Netscape
let each page load completely - otherwise it seems to occasionally cancel the Javascript routines on
some of the pages.
Cookies adapted from Cookie Central demos Playtested by Charles Duke and Steve Vanden-Eykel Some
pictures are based on those by Ken Singshow in the NTUS NIMH sequal.
KNOWN BUGS
There are in-built limitaitons within web browsers on the use of cookies, and this game seems to occasionally fall foul of them! The bug can cause the browser to write a second set of cookies with the same domain name (this may happen when you play part of the game off-line) but corrupted values. The browser I'm using (IE4) also caches the corrupted cookie in a file in the cookie directory called "INDEX.DAT", so even when you delete it, the corrupted cookie comes straight back! This bug can be
cleared - sometimes by exiting and restarting all the browser windows, and other times by restarting the computer in MS-DOS mode then changing to the Windows 95 / Cookies directory and deleting all the files - then restart Windows and try again. You will of course have to restart the game from the beginning if you do this. The game attempts a self-cookie check on startup, so if the game starts correctly from the title page you're probably alright.
THE "INVENTORY" PAGE IS VERY SLOW FOR NETSCAPE USERS, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT BROWSER PROCESSES JAVASCRIPT ROUTINES. THE PAGE TAKES AT LEAST 25 SECONDS TO COMPLETELY DISPLAY. THE PAGE DISPLAYS INSTANTLY ON INTERNET EXPLORER.
BACK TO TITLE PAGE
Original
Character, story and artwork copyright belongs to Mrs Brisby Ltd,
and the estate of Robert C O'Brien. This game is
unofficial and non-commercial, and is written purely for fun, and
so that people can enjoy the original story on another level! Use of the Microsoft Internet Explorer / Netscape Navigator logo does not confer any approval or endorsement of this site by the respective organisations and are placed on this page solely to enable users with older or incompatible browsers to download a browser that will enable them to play the game on this site. Any opinions expressed by me as to the merits or disadvantages of either of the browsers is purely my own opinion as to how well they work with my particular game. I am not endorsing or disparaging either. How well a particular browser works on my site could be related to my coding, and not necissarily to the browser itself. - There, I said it guys! Now can I advertise your products for free? :)
(A nice fast modem wouldn't hurt either!)
If you are using Netscape and can see two windows, the lower one of which is black, hold your mouse pointer over the frame line that seperates the two (until the mouse pointer turns into a "+"), then press the left mouse button and while holding down the button, drag the line down to the bottom of the screen.
