FFR Standalone!
Official FFR Standalone Thread!
This guide is designed to help you use a Flash Standalone player to play on the FFR engines. If you're experiencing lag on FFR trying to play in your internet browser, this is your solution!
If you have a general idea what you are doing, here is the quick version with the basics for you to run FFR.
Quick terminology to be sure everything is clear:
R^3 = The newest and most efficient/up-to-date engine for FFR. It is the current build.
Legacy Engine = The original FFR engine
Velocity Engine = The second FFR engine, coded by Velocity, became an interim engine while staff created R^3.
Web Browser = what you're surfing the net in right now (often IE, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc).
Playing FFR in a browser = Playing FFR on the site on it's designated pages (found above).
.SWF = ShockWave File (alternatively Small Web File), this is the extension of the engines themselves located on the website.
Standalone Flash Player = This is NOT something connected with a browser (stand alone). It is a separate file created by Macromedia Flash, one that you download and install (you'll see how below) to run flash applications.
There are four sections to the guide below.
1) You will need to download a Flash Player Standalone, as this is what runs the engine.
2) You will need to find the appropriate .swf link for the engine you wish to run.
3) [Official FFR Only] You will need to log in on Internet Explorer (regardless of the browser you use) for your scores to record.
4) You will need to open the engine link in the standalone to run it.
That being said, here is the breakdown on each. Feel free to skip steps that do not apply to your situation.
STEP ONE
Flash Player Standalone
You will need a Flash Player to run the standalone. The list of current options for Flash Players consists of the links below.
WINDOWS USERS
a) Flash 8
b) Flash 9
c) Flash 10
d) Flash 11
e) Flash 12
f) Flash 13
g) Flash 14
h) Flash 15
i) Flash 16
MAC USERS
a) Flash 9
b) Flash 10
c) Flash 11
d) Flash 12
e) Flash 13
f) Flash 14
g) Flash 15
h) Flash 16
LINUX USERS
a) Flash 9
b) Flash 10
c) Flash 11
d) No Flash 12+ support for Linux as of 12/9/2014
These links will all play the standalone engines, but performance results will vary from person to person. Generally we hear better feedback about Flash 9 when running FFR, due to the engine being written in AS2 as opposed to AS3, but this does not necessarily mean that Flash 9 will run better on your computer. You will have to try each out to really decide which works best.
STEP TWO
.swf Files
You'll want to find the proper link to the engine you wish to run, as you'll be needing the link to load the engine in the standalone. Right click (or open the page) and copy the link to the engine you want to run.
ENGINE LINKS
Official FFR Engines:
R^3 Engine (current main engine -- discussion thread here ... Multiplayer link is the same)
Legacy Engine // Legacy Engine Multiplayer
Velocity Engine // Velocity Engine Multiplayer
R^2 Engine (original Beta engine)
Other Engine Links (Non-official)
Hakulyte's Engine:
Dragonsfury Engine:
This engine (set up by TC_Halogen and psychoangel691) was the engine for a part of the FFR community during the period where FFR was down
Legacy // Velocity // R3 XML
FFRMania Engine:
Created by Tarrik, PrawnSkunk, and foxfire667 this engine hosts entire Stepmania packs! Still a work in progress as far as uploading goes.
Legacy // Velocity // R3 XML
Team Indeed Engines:
The Indeed Engines hosted files specifically for Team Indeed and Dossar's tournaments, although they were taken down. The R^3 xml links are available below:
Team Indeed Engine R^3 xml
Dossar Tournament Engine R^3 xml
Community Engine:
Team Fur Engine:
Team Blaze Engine:
This engine (hosted by Charu & reuben_tate) is the engine for Team Blaze
Legacy // Velocity // R3 XML
Using R3 Engine XML's
Credit to Charu:
STEP THREE
Logging in on Standalone
You'll have to follow this process to log in and have scores record on the official FFR engines.
1) Open Internet Explorer (even if you don't typically use it).
2) Go to Internet Options --> Security Options, and uncheck the box that says Enable Protected Mode (example)
3) Check the "Remember Me" box before logging into FFR on IE.
4) Log in.
5) Re-enable Protected mode (same way you turned it off) if you want.
This can all be viewed in this video tutorial made by rushyrulz
STEP FOUR
Running the Engine
This can be simple for some people, harder for others. It all depends on what security measures you are running, etc.
-To start, open the Flash Standalone Player file that you saved. (example)
-Go to File, then Open
-Paste an engine link from the list of swf links below into the url input box (example)
-Click okay, and the window will open.
*Here is where the process can vary.
ALSO! After you have worked through this and the engine is running, go to File and click Create Projector. This will create an exe file that will automatically do the above steps when you click it. That way, you don't have to repeat this process every time. Save this somewhere you can find it, to play later!
LAG REDUCTION
If the standalone is lagging for you, here are a few options you can try:
Hardware Acceleration:
If you are having issues with R^3 on rates, it's likely because of hardware acceleration (and you're welcome to test this for other lag issues as well)
)Gamebooster:
Download and run Gamebooster, to try to eliminate extra processes that might not really need to be running. This works for some, but not for all.
Themes: GIVE THIS A TRY, IT WORKS BETTER THAN YOU'D THINK
Believe it or not, running the Windows 7, Aero, or Vista theme and appearance on your computer can actually make the game lag for some people (myself included). To help reduce that lag, you might consider changing the theme and layout to Windows Classic for the times you play FFR. (right click on desktop, appearance options, etc.)
Windows Performance Changes for XP and Vista:
1.Go to start.
2.Right click computer.
3.Click properties.
4.Then on the bottom left it will say performance click that.
5.Then Click adjust visual effects.
6.Then click the bubble that says best performance.
Windows Performance Changes for Windows 7:
1. Start.
2. Right click computer.
3. Click properties.
4. On the left sidebar, click 'Advanced system settings'.
5. Click the advanced tab.
6. Under 'Performance', click on the 'Settings' button.
7. Click the radio button that says 'Adjust for best performance'.
8. Click 'Ok'.
Data Storage on the Standalone:
V-Ormix suggested Right clicking on the flash player and going into the settings tab to allow Unlimited Storage (you right click in the flash player screen, like if you accidentally right clicked while playing FFR).
CCleaner:
You can download CCleaner here to try and remove unnecessary processes that are running on your computer.
Program Priority:
You can go to your computer's Task Manager, click the Processes tab, right click the Flash Player, and set priority to 'Real Time' or the Highest Priority
If there are any questions/complaints/comments, post in the thread and I will try to answer them as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Also, special thanks to these folks for originally helping me perfect the thread and get all the information correct:
psychoangel691
TC_Halogen
DossarLX ODI
rushyrulz
.
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