Mystery Case Files Shadow Lake

I downloaded the game from Big Fish but it will not install. Is the game compatible with Windows 10? I played it on my PC on windows 10 when the game first came out but it will not install on my laptop. What's wrong?

Although Big Fish's website does not say it supports Windows 10, I know people who play the game on that OS. Another site also mentions it being compatible with Windows 10.

I would write to Customer Support about this. Customer Support is working well now - I got a reply within two days (after I replied to their initial email). Hopefully they will be able to help you.

And when you say it won't install, what happens when it is downloading though the Game Manager? Does it get stuck somewhere in the download process?

That is so great to hear about Big Fish Customer Support, Marian!

Penny Lane, do you mean the game won't install or it won't launch?

The first time that I started downloading it stalled and an error sign popped up. But I tried again and it downloaded and started to install. It went all the way through but after it was done it stated that the installation failed. This happened several times. The game icon appeared on my desktop and and the game started but after a few seconds my computer threw up a page that said that something was wrong and started to go through a check up and restart. This happened 3 times so I gave up. So for some reason my laptop is not accepting the game or there is a glitch?

Most likely a glitch. I would uninstall the game and send a message to Big Fish Customer Support.

However, I am concerned about that diskcheck and restart. You may have a failing hard drive, especially if the diskcheck is not repairing bad sectors. You can try running a manual diskcheck and see if that helps.

Open up ‘This PC’ (previously known as ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer’)
Right-click on the drive you want to run the disk check on and select ‘Properties’
Open the ‘Tools’ tab. Under ‘Error checking’ click on the ‘Check’ button
Click on the ‘Scan drive’ button.
The scan will now start. When it is completed you will see a confirmation message with the results.

No errors I will contact Big Fish Thanks for your help.

I forgot to mention that after downloading a sign pops up and asks if I wan t to install Adobe Flash. I clicked yes but it lead me to a page which stated that Adobe Flash has been retired. Is not getting the Adobe Flash causing the problem? Is there an alternative to Adobe Flash?

I would say that is possible.

If this is a Flash issue in some way, Customer Support should be able to help you. I have seen a couple of substitutes for Flash Player available online, but let's wait and see what Big Fish says about it first.

Flash is no longer supported. But, like Marian says, lets see what Big Fish says first.

Hi Penny Lane, you got me curious about this Adobe Flash requirement so I downloaded the MCF Shadow Lake from my History and when it finished installing it , it asked me the same thing "Do you want to install AF", I said yes and No go, just like you, by luck I noticed I had an MCF SL Icon on my desktop and when I double clicked on it, it asked me to Activate it, so I did and then the game worked like a charm. So if you have the Icon on your desktop, give it a try, I believe you have to be logged in your BF Game manager to Activate it.
Good luck

There was an AMAX game recently where some people were saying that the game was asking them for Flash Player as part of the installation. It turns out that it was a bogus message and that the game ran without it. They reported this to Big Fish who have since removed this message. This may be something similar.

Yes I had an icon on my desktop and it opened the game but as I stated above a sign came up that my computer was running a disk check which it did and restarted. There were no errors but every time that I open the game the same thing happens. B F suggested that I uninstall the game manager and download a new one. That didn't help. I also just out of curiosity downloaded another game which downloaded and installed correctly. So the problem seems to be within the game. But you said that yours worked fine so I don't know!

I just downloaded Shadow Lake from my Purchase History to see what would happen and the game installed and ran with no issues.

I t would not download at all from my purchase history. Dire Grove won't either. I have a disk for Dire Grove but the game won't play.

Most people who have Dire Grove have not been able to play it since they got Windows 10. Apparently for reasons unknown it is incompatible with it. Every other MCF game including the earlier ones runs on Windows 10. A lot of people are wishing that BF would do a remastered version of Dire Grove that works on Windows 10.

I would really like to play Dire Grove again Too bad it doesn't work.

I just redownloaded Dire Grove in my little period of getting back into some of my older Big Fish games. I was hoping they had fixed it to run on Windows 10, but no joy. I'd love to play it again too.

Did you get the question about installing flash?

Yes, but I did what Starcom did and all was well.

I replayed Dire Grove on my Windows 7 computer two weeks ago, and it was just as good as ever. I wish they would figure out a workaround for it to run on Windows 10.

Sorry if I'm being dense Marian, but did you say "yes" to install and it didn't work but the desktop icon worked or did you just say "no" to the flash install or ??

I actually have the game on disc but am just curious.

I said no when asked about installing Flash Player and then double-clicked on the Shadow Lake icon on my desktop.

Thanks!

One other suggestion for MCF SL, is to go to the Game Directory and send :
MysteryCaseFiles_ShadowLake_CE.exe to your Desktop and give that a try, with this Icon you can play around with the Compatibility and other important changes to the game startup settings, and maybe issues like what Penny Lane is having will bypass some startup issues. I believe it is either Marian or Jenny that suggested using the .exe file to bypass the BF startup issues a while back.

I'm pretty sure Jenny always created her own .exe icon on the desktop. That's who I remember learning it from.

I give up! I have ordered the disk from amazon.com . I got it fairly cheap so if it doesn't work I won't be out much money. I should get it tomorrow(Sunday). I will let you know if the disk works. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.

I hope that works out for you, Penny Lane. Be sure to let us know!

If it has to do with Flash and you don't have an older computer with Flash on it, I don't think you'll be able to play it. I wasn't able to play the Dream Chronicles (disc) games on Windows 7 after I removed Flash. I was able to play them in Win XP because that computer is never online and Flash was not removed from it.

But that doesn't explain why Marian and Starcom can play it so...

I do hope you can!

Did you try answering "no" to the Flash installation like Marian did?

For those looking for substitutes for Flash Player, there is an article here that lists a variety of choices. It also tells you what web browsers they support.

Hi oldbroad re:
That is because Marian and I are special , seriously the games have or should have the built in Flash within each game, the Flash utility that caused serious problems where the Flash required for Web Browsers and Not the Stand alone flash for games.
That is why the link that Marian provided are Flash replacements for games and for a safer Web. experience, or at least that is what I have read so far.

Thanks for the link Marian. I'll take a look at it a bit later.

Starcom, I believe you hit the nail on the head!

Well, I don't know anything much at all about Flash so I will just take your word for it and also go by what my own experiences are (which I don't have many regarding it yet).

Also, Starcom and Marian, are you going to continue the game and play through to the end? I'm wondering if there will be anything missing somewhere in the game.

Keep in mind that one of the reasons for Flash no longer being supported is because it was so plagued with security concerns. From one of my tech publications:



So, I would be very wary of any of the "substitutions."

So, I dug my disc out and put it in my Windows 7 computer to see what would happen and I was informed that the game is already installed on there, so I found it and opened it up and watched the short video at the beginning. It sure seems like it is working and there was no mention of Flash being required.

In the "performance tips" it states this:

"If using a laptop computer make sure it is not set for lower power usage and plugged into AC for maximum speed. Gameplay is enhanced by using a mouse with laptop."

Don't know if that is helpful in any way.

Yes it is very helpful oldbroad, and it shows or should show that these games have already the necessary Flash components built in to make the game run properly. So why is this game giving some people like yourself so much problems is really puzzling.

As to playing the game through, I will do so and get back to you when I finish the game, might take awhile while I finish off another game.

It seems to be giving only Penny Lane trouble and since she is using a laptop that's why I posted that info.

Yes you are right oldbroad sorry, it is Penny Lane that was having the trouble, I am playing this game on my Windows 10 64 bit Laptop and I don't seem to have any problems so far and yes you are also right about making sure that a laptop be set at high performance and preferably plugged in or if on battery to make sure it is fully charged and that the battery settings is set also at high performance while playing a game.
Thanks again oldbroad and take care.

My laptop is plugged in and fully charged. I will get the disk today from amazon prime so we shall see,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Oldbroad, I have downloaded and played quite a bit of Shadow Lake a couple of times since the Flash issue, with no problems.

I guess I'm just curious why it even mentions Flash during the install.

Waiting to hear from Penny Lane.

As I said before, an AMAX game (it was one of the Puppetshows, I don't remember which one) talked about a Flash install at some point during installation (people thought that meant that the game was no longer playable) and Big Fish said this message was an error and then they fixed the problem. So, this may be the same sort of thing. Some kind of bogus message most likely, but what triggers it I don't know.

I got the disk. Installed it and the flash sign appeared again I clicked on the game icon and it opened up as before but within a few seconds the disk check came up again. I restarted the laptop but the same thing happened. The last time that I played the game on my PC it worked fine. I haven't used my PC since getting my laptop but I will try the game again on it just to see if it works. So it seems that something in my laptop is stopping it.

So, I re-read the thread and sorry if I missed it, but Marian, are you installing on Windows7 or Windows 10? I'm wondering if it's 10 that is blocking it.

I am able to play the game on my windows 10 PC. It plays perfectly. Why it won't play on my laptop is a mystery. All of my other MCF games play ok on my laptop.

Oh I forgot to mention that when I installed the disk it installed into my game manager rather than separately. Could the manager be the problem?

Most of the disc games that I have go into the game manager. I find that annoying but what can you do. Even on my XP computer which is not hooked up to the internet ever, if I install a BF disc it will open the game manager.

I'm glad you will be able to replay the game. Too bad you didn't try the desktop with the download before purchasing the game again on disc though.

Well, I was curious to see if installing a disk would make a difference. Oh well.

Drac, I was installing it on Windows 10. No problems with Windows 7 either.

I am glad you will be able to replay the game, Penny Lane!