Some users of recent Nvidia graphics cards have reported flickering graphics. Our older games use OpenGL, and Nvidia appears to have made a change which keeps OpenGL graphics from displaying correctly. Until they fix their drivers, we do have a few workarounds. You can choose between these three workarounds:

1. Play the game in windowed mode instead of fullscreen. In Settings, you can set the game to ask whether to be in windowed mode or not, at launch.
2. If you have an Intel chip, you can force the game to run using built-in Integrated Graphics instead of the Nvidia graphics card. You should still get good performance.
   To make this change:
   
   1. Open C: / Program Files (x86) / Spiderweb Software / Avadon - The Black Fortress
   2. Right click on Avadon.exe
   3. Select Run with graphics processor - Integrated Graphics
      (From this list, on systems with Nvidia graphics cards, for each executable you can set which graphics card it uses.)
3. Run the DirectX version of the game. The DirectX executable will be in the game folder in C: / Program Files (x86) / Spiderweb Software. If you have any issue finding it, contact us to get a download link to the DirectX version from our own site.

Occasionally, the versions of Avadon being sold on 3rd party sites (like Steam and GamersGate) for Windows do not work correctly. This can be because of a system incompatibility with their software or problems running OpenGL.

Should you purchase the game from Steam/Direct2Drive/GamersGate and find that it does not work correctly, take the following steps.

1. Download the demo from our site and run it. If it works, skip to step 3.
2. Download the DirectX version of the game here. Move it into Program Files/Spiderweb Software/Avadon and run it. If it works, go to step 3.
3. Should our version of the game function, write us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com requesting an Avadon key. Give us the any registration key that was provided to you. We will get you up and running.
4. If you are still having problems, contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

We apologize for the difficulty and inconvenience, and we'll do what we can to get you up and running.

If you are using 64-bit Vista or Windows 7, it is very important to make sure that you have the latest graphics drivers for your video card. Many video cards are having problems with the new operating system. If the game is crashing or the graphics occasionally look wrong, go and get and install the newest graphics drivers for your card. If this doesn't help, watch for new drivers to be released for your card.

Avadon is, graphically, not a very demanding game. However, some systems, due to hardware or video driver problems, have been having trouble running it at an acceptable speed. Other systems have displayed odd or corrupted graphics. Should the game not run correctly for you, follow the steps below:

1. If you are using the newest version of Avadon, you might have a corrupted game file. Uninstall the game, redownload the installer, and reinstall. Don't skip uninstalling!
2. Open the Settings window on the title screen. Set Game Area Size to Small and Graphics Extra Details to Don't Draw.
3. If these steps don't help, try running the DirectX version of Avadon. This can be downloaded here. Move it into Program Files/Spiderweb Software/Avadon and run it.
4. Download the newest versions of your video card drivers and install them. Do this even if you think you have the newest version. Driver files and settings can sometimes become damaged or corrupted.
5. Don't run any other applications at the same times as Avadon.
6. If your system is fairly old or underpowered (particularly if it has 256 MB RAM or less, an Intel GMA graphics processor instead of a video card, or a video card over six years old), the game will probably always run slowly. Using Fast Graphics Mode will help.

There is. It can be downloaded here. Move it into Program Files/Spiderweb Software/Avadon and run it.

If you launch the game and the graphics don't appear or look wrong, quit the game. Then go into Steam and turn off Steam Overlay. This fixes problems with a number of Macintosh games on Steam.

If you are using a Macbook with a Retina screen and choose a too-large resolution to play the game, the game may be drawn with a large portion of the play area offscreen. That is because the largest resolutions can only be drawn in Retina mode, and games written with OpenGL technology (which is almost all Mac games) don't handle Retina correctly.

One workaround for this is to play the game in Windowed mode. Another is to pick as a resolution the size of your monitor is ordinary (not Retina) pixels. This resolution will be half the size of the largest resolution the game offers. (For example, it will be 1280x800 for 13" MacBooks and 1440x900 for 15" MacBooks.)

If you have already chosen for the game to always open in full screen mode, you can undo this by deleting the settings file. Open a window in the Finder. Type Command-Shift-G and enter "~/Library/Preferences". Throw away the file com.spiderwebsoftware.Avadon. Launch Avadon, and the resolution selection window will appear again.

Some of our older games run into trouble with the new security features of the Macintosh OS. Fortunately, there is a very easy workaround:

1. In the Finder, locate the game application in the Applications folder.
2. Press the Control-key, then click the app icon.
3. Choose Open from the shortcut menu.
4. Click Open.

More detailed information can be found here.

Avadon's graphics needs are modest, but they might put some strain on older machines. Fortunately, Avadon has been tested and shown to run properly on even Macintosh G4s. However, some steps might be necessary to help it to run better.

To see how quickly Avadon is running, load a saved game, press Shift-D, enter "fps", and press return. The FPS (frames of animation drawn per second) will appear in the upper left hand corner. That number should be at least in the teens to give a good play experience.

If Avadon is running slowly, try these steps:

1. Run as few other programs as possible in the background. Quit web browsers and other unneeded applications. This frees up memory and computing power.
   
2. The best way to make Avadon faster is to reduce the size of the play area. On the Video Mode window that comes up when you launch the game, choose to play in a window and then select a small size for the window. Alternately, run the game, select Game Options on the title screen, and set Game Area Size to Small.
   
3. You can turn down the graphics detail, which can result in speed increases. Run the game, select Game Options on the title screen, and set Graphics Extra Details to Don't Draw.

If you go upstairs and speak with Redbeard before you get the order from Heart Miranda, it is possible for her to disappear forever. This is fixed in v1.0.1. If you have this problem, upgrade to the newer version, ascend to Redbeard's Chambers, and go back downstairs. Miranda should now be in her office.

There is a corridor in the Jhereth Deeps blocked with water. You can turn a wheel to unblock it.However, in v1.0, if you leave the region and return, the passage will be blocked again.

This problem is fixed in v1.0.1. Upgrade to the newer version, load your saved game, leave the Jhereth Deeps, and return. The passage should be unblocked.

In v1.0 and v1.0.1 of Avadon, if your skill with one of these two spells is 2, it won't do anything. This will be fixed in later versions. As a workaround, put one more point into these skills.

If you play the demo of Avadon and then purchase the version on the Macintosh App Store, your saved games from the demo will not be visible. You can, however, move them so that the App Store version can see them.

To do this, go to the My Documents folder and find the folder called "Spiderweb Software." There is a folder called "Avadon Saved Games" inside. This is where the demo saved games are kept.

Then open your account folder in Users. Open the folder "Library." Open the Folder "Application Support." Open the folder "Spiderweb Software." Copy the "Avadon Saved Games" folder into here. (Note that this will copy over any saved games made by the App Store version.) The App Store Avadon will now see your old saved games.

Newer versions of Avadon use Cocoa, the newest version of the Macintosh code base. On most machines, the newest version should run more quickly. However, some older machines don't seem to handle Cocoa applications as well. In that case, you can try running the initial release of Avadon. It will be slightly more buggy, but it might also run properly. You can download Avadon v1.0 here.

If Avadon v1.0 runs more quickly, you might wish to consider upgrading your operating system. Apple is gradually forcing all developers to switch to the Cocoa code base. If it is not working properly on your machine, your problems may only get worse from here.

If you are in Dhorl Stead, leave town, and can't travel to any other areas, the problem is that nobody has told you where to go to track down the Shadow Beast. Return to Dhorl Stead and talk to people.

There is a bug in Game Center in iOS 6 that causes crashes when logging into a game that runs in landscape mode (like Avadon HD and Avernum HD). If you had a crash when trying to log into Game Center from our game, this is why.

Apple is aware of the issue and a fix is hopefully forthcoming. Until then, as a workaround, run the game without using Game Center, if you are given the option. Alternately, run a different game app, log into Game Center there, and then run our game.

We are sorry for this inconvenience, and we hope that the issue is resolved quickly.

When descending into the Avadon dungeons during the tutorial, a window appears asking you to choose between Sevilin and Nathalie. There is a rare problem where this window reappears when you enter the dungeon, preventing you from playing.

This problem is caused by selecting the stairway down after closing the window where you choose between Nathalie and Sevilin. After closing that window, there is a pause before the game takes you down into the dungeon, and selecting things during that pause causes problems.

This issue will be fixed in the next version of Avadon: The Black Fortress HD. As a workaround, after closing the window in which you choose between Nathalie and Sevilin, don't select anything. Just wait for the next area to load.

If you press the Home button to exit Avadon HD, the next time you run Avadon HD you will continue where you left off. However, if that saved game is corrupted, you might find that the application launches to a black screen and you can't do anything. If this is the case, you will need to manually delete the progress stored the last time you played. First, quit Avadon HD.

To solve this problem, read the section "Can I Transfer Saved Games To and From the iPad." Get iExplorer as described, use it with your iPad, and open the Avadon HD folder.

Enter the Documents folder and delete the files "save20header", "save20data", "save20items", and, if it exists, "save20journal".

Then open the folder Library/Cache and delete the folder Save20.

Now launch Avadon HD. If you still get a black screen, force a restart of your iPad (by holding down the Home and Power button until it resets). Avadon HD should then work normally. If not, contact us.

It is possible for Avadon HD to, from time to time, play very slowly. The reason for this is generally lack of memory. The iPad has less memory than PCs or Macintoshes, and Avadon requires a lot of memory to store its creature and terrain icons.

The problem is that, when you run a different app and then exit it, it tends to keep running invisibly in the background. Thus, after you exit an app, it can still eat up a lot of memory. Quitting these dormant apps will free up memory and enable Avadon HD to run faster.

To quit apps running in the background:

1. Double-press the Home button. You will see a list of running apps at the bottom of the screen.
2. To close an app in the list, hold your finger on the app icon until the 'X' button appears. Press the 'X' button.

If this does not help, try forcing a reboot of your iPad. Hold down the Power and Home buttons at the same time until the device resets. This can fix a number of odd problems.

We're sorry about the inconvenience of this. Low memory can be a frustrating problem, and the process to quit dormant apps is kind of obscure and confusing. Happily, newer iPads have far more memory, so problems of this sort will become less common as time goes on.

Saved games for Avadon HD on the iPad are fully compatible with Avadon for Macintosh or Windows. The tricky part is moving the saved games onto and off of the device. Fortunately, there is a free program called iExplorer that can be used to access your iPad saved games.

Go to Macroplant's web site and download and install iExplorer. (The demo of iExplorer is capable of copying your saved games onto and off of the device.) This is a free app that can move files onto and off of any iPhone or iPad.

When the program is showing the files in your device, open the Avadon HD folder. Enter "Documents/Spiderweb Software" and then the saved games folder. The saved games are in the 7 subfolders. Be sure to pull out all 3-4 files that make up the saved game (data, header, items, and maybe journal).

If you are having weird problems with Avadon (unable to talk to characters, script errors, unable to leave zones, general bad behavior), your copy of the software might have become corrupted. It is rare, but it does happen. As a first step, try forcing a reboot of your iPad. Hold down the Power and Home buttons at the same time until the device resets. This can fix a number of odd problems.

If this doesn't help, reinstalling the game can fix these problems. To do to, follow these steps.

1. If you want, back up your saved games. To learn how to do this, read the section on transferring saved games. Bear in mind that software corruptions can also damage the saved games. If, after reinstalling, problems continue, try starting a new game.
2. Power up your iPad and find the Avadon HD app icon. Rest your finger on it until it starts to vibrate and an 'X appears. Push the 'X' and choose to delete the application.
3. Run iTunes on your computer. Find Avadon HD and delete it. Make sure to choose to move it to the trash.
4. Download a fresh copy of Avadon HD from iTunes.

If this does not fix your problems, contact us.

Upgrade to the newest version of Avadon HD and launch the game. Once the saved game loads, you will be able to toggle the screen rotation in the Settings window.

Upgrade to the newest version of Avadon HD and launch the game. Once the saved game loads, you should be able to proceed normally.

It appears that there is an occasional file or memory corruption that occasionally makes Avadon think that there are errors in the scripts when there are not. We are working to track down this problem. In the meantime, if you find that you cannot talk to characters or use stairways or doors, you can follow these steps to escape the area.

1. Load the saved game where you are trapped..
2. Press the disk button and select enter cheat code.
3. Enter this cheat code, exactly as given:

backtoavadon

4. Return to wherever you got stuck. See if talking, doors, etc. are now functioning. If they do, you should be fine. If they don't work, or if this problem recurs, you may need to delete, redownload, and reinstall Avadon.

(One more thing about script errors. You can turn on the text console in Settings. If you would like to help to troubleshoot this problem, after you leave the damaged area, turn on the text console and watch for error messages. The first error that appears will show exactly what the game thinks is wrong. E-mail us the exact text of the error.)

There is a rare problem where players return to a previously visited zone and find that there are no items there. We are working to identify the cause of this problem. It may be that the game is being interrupted when it tries to create the save file.

While this is unfortunate, it does not appear that the problem prevents players from continuing the game. Future zones, when you enter them, should have items as normal. You can report to us when this happens, and it might help us to identify the bug. In the meantime, you can proceed through the game normally.