Actually, I have found the answer this morning on the BFG boards. And here it is.

"I had the same issue, because I accidentally pressed a key on first start,
when there was an "unpacking resources" window popping up.
Any uninstall/re-install didnt help.
I found that half-unpacked data in
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Namco\Stroke Of Midnight
After removing that directory and reinstalling the game it worked.
Hope this helps"

And it did indeed. The game actually runs now. Had to download resource.pak from an alternative site, but all's well that ends well, right?

Thanks for posting that solution, MrLipid. Good to get to the bottom of this conundrum.

What is it with this "unpacking" system with this game? I have never seen this before, or maybe just never noticed it before.

This is a layman's explanation --but basically it means that when you download the game, some of the files have been compressed, and then the game "unpacks" them after you have downloaded and returns the files to their original (uncompressed) state. This makes the download size of the game smaller than it would have been if the files had not been compressed beforehand.

I have had files unpack on a couple of BF games before; I believe one of them was Buried in Time--by the same developers as Stroke of Midnight.

One more thing. The resource.pak file when unpacked to the resource.dat file takes up the better part of a gig: 933MB. That, coupled with the other game files, brings the total to 950MB.

BFG claims the whole game takes up 374MB.

Wow - no wonder they packed it - This must be the largest casual game download ever??

Or the most surprising. You download 169MB and it turns into 950MB. Sort of like a clown car for files.

I've got 2 minutes of demo time left myself.

Have you been playing or troubleshooting?

Playing. It unpacked just fine.

That's good news. Enjoying it?

mrlipid, I couldn't find it on mine

Couldn't find what, PATSY? resources.dat? resource.pak? Are you running XP or Vista?

Yeah, have to buy it.

I finally had a chance to play it and, since I had a credit handy, bought it.

I'm actually more interested in it for the step it represents away from rooms full of junk and complicated locks. Hidden object games haven't exactly been filled with visceral thrills. Will this be a first step or a dead end? For now, it's a hoot!

Hope you like it and find it fun, MrLipid.
I played the demo and thought it was great. I consider it a great introduction into point and click "old-style" or "pure" adventure games. Loved the graphics and the game play. The only thing I didn't like was the way it went to the title screen for transitions -- thought it could have been done better.

Running xp. couldn't find data pak or resources

Look in the directory where you keep your Big Fish games. It's listed in the Game Manager under the Options tab on the bottom.

Once you find the directory, go to The Stroke of Midnight folder and look inside. If you've reinstalled The Stroke of Midnight, you've probably got a resources.pak in your Stroke of Midnight directory.

Here's where to find resources.dat.

It can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Namco\The Stroke of Midnight in XP.

If resources.dat is still on your system when you try to reinstall, the resources.pak file will not extract anything and nothing will happen. I know. Did it myself many times.

So here is what you need to do to get rid of the old resources.dat.

Uninstall your current copy of The Stroke of Midnight.

In XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Namco\The Stroke of Midnight.

There is only one file in The Stroke of Midnight folder: resources.dat.

DELETE resources.dat. (If this seems too extreme, rename it something like resources.org or resources.old.)

Download and reinstall The Stroke of Midnight. Once it has installed, click Play Now. You should see the green "extracting resources" bar.

If there are no errors while extracting, you should be good to go.

This is not a guarantee that the game will work properly. However, if you have had a failed install, you MUST DELETE resources.dat to have any hope of a successful reinstall.

Just for the heck of it (my 2 cents). I bought this game, after looking at the blog walkthrough. It appeared to be a very long game; however, I found it to be very short. Enjoyable, but way too short.

I have gathered peppermint, camomile & rosehips in Chapter 10 and nothing is happening..
Help
Peeked at the walkthrough and apparently a ghost is supposed to appear & lead me off to the right. Nothing is happening.
Helpity help

JennyP, I haven't played the game, but until someone else comes along who can provide better help, maybe the following is worth a try.

A quick look at the Big Fish forums reveals some other folks having had the same problem. Apparently if you don't collect the ingredients in the right order, the game may not cooperate.

One person said the following:



Let us know how you get on. I'm hoping there's a better solution than this.

Oh dear - I collected the ingredients in that order & nothing happened - does this mean I have to start the game anew ???

I have no idea, unfortunately. Let's wait and see if someone who has actually played the game can offer some insight. If you did everything in that order, then I don't have a clue as to why you are having this problem. Maybe it's something simple?

Has anyone figured out how to make the ghost appear after you've gathered the herbs near the end of the game? I've asked on the GBs
forums, but nobody has an answer.

fil, see the posts above yours. Apparently it;s an issue in the game.

Ana