Scidian™ Software - Support - Slick Sweeper FAQ



>> Overview

Here you will find some answers to the most frequently asked questions. Unfortunately this game is very new and we have not yet received many questions. But we will attempt to answer some questions we think you may have. This section of the help file will grow largely with future versions of Slick Sweeper.



Use the links below to jump to a particular question.



>> Why does this game run slow on my machine on the more difficult levels?

On the more difficult levels there are upwards of 200,000 polygons being rendered on the screen. This may not sound like a lot nowadays with graphics cards being able to render billions of polygons per second, however, it is. Due to the nature of the constantly changing cube and blocks, there are computations that must be computed over and over whenever any user input is aquired. Other types of 3D games can change an objects rotation or location and still render the object (which may contain thousands of polygons) all at once. Ths game must render each block as it's own object, thusly slowing performance. We are sorry if the game runs slow and are constantly working to improve performance.



>> I can't figure out how to play, I tried the tutorial but still I'm confused.

This game can be very confusing, especially when you first start. A little knowledge of the original Minesweeper that comes with the Windows operating system is very helpful. Try starting on 'Classic Beginner' difficulty for a little while until you get the hang of how the mines and numbers are connected.



>> How do I zoom in closer to the cube?

To zoom in and out you may use the mouse wheel if present on your mouse or use the plus (+) and minus (-) keys if you do not have a mouse wheel.



>> I keep blowing up the cube but I swear I didn't click anything.

Pay attention to when a block turns red. If you left click and hold the button to start rotating the cube the block you initially clicked will turn red to indicate this is the block you started to click. If you left the left mouse button back up on top of this red block it will initiate a left click and could potentially cause the cube to blow up. If you believe there is a bug in the game please email us at bugs@scidian.com.



>> While I'm playing Slick Sweeper other programs take a long time to open on my computer.

Slick Sweeper takes a lot of computing power to run. It is a complicated 3D application. It is not recommened to have many other programs running while you are playing Slick Sweeper.



>> I am holding the mouse buttons, why won't the cube rotate or move?

Verify that the mouse buttons are not "locked". If there are lock icons in the bottom right hand corner of the screen they ARE locked. To unlock the mouse buttons choose "Unlock ____ Mouse Button Ability" from the options menu.



>> What does "Frames Per Second" mean in the 'Display' menu?

Frames per second is the number of times the screen is drawn per second. The human eye can see about 30 frames per second, so anything less than that will appear to flicker. This option is there so you can try to adjust the settings for better performance.



>> How do I uninstall Slick Sweeper 3D?

An uninstall icon is created in the "Slick Sweeper 3D" folder created in the program menu when you installed Slick Sweeper. If that is missing you may go to "Add / Remove Programs" in the Control Panel. Once there select "Slick Sweeper 3D" and click the "Remove" button.