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« Blogs Index < Game Guides < HATPC Guides
« Livio's Blog

LEAVING ALL OF THIS UP FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSE, BUT REALLY YOU CAN IGNORE ALL OF THIS AND JUST USE FLASHPOINT TO PLAY HATPC. SEE THIS POST IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS


Once again, I'm rewriting an existing guide. Or rather, instead of making a "How to open" guide, I'm making one solely focused on the problems you can face when trying to play Hannah and the Pirate Caves (HATPC). I designed this guide like a flowchart to make it easier and faster to work through.

STEP ONE: Try Again

Just open and close the game window until it finally works. If it still doesn't work after about three tries, move on to the next step.

STEP TWO: DGS Error?

If you get a DGS Error, it is most likely the fault of neopets.com. Although, this theory has never been proven. Wait a few hours or a day, and if you still get the error, move on to step three.

STEP THREE: Which browser are you using?

HATPC is a very old Shockwave game, so it does not work properly in all browsers anymore. We find that HATPC works best in Google Chrome (download: here) and Apple's Safari (download: here). Many users on this site prefer to use Chrome for HATPC. EDIT: Chrome has betrayed us. Use Safari.

If you are currently using a different browser, that may be the reason why you cannot play HATPC. Download either Chrome or Safari, then try opening HATPC from one of those browsers by clicking here. If you still can't play, move on to step four.

Side note: If you do not want to change the browser that you normally use, you may be interested in some added convenience in another of my guides, which teaches you how to create a desktop shortcut that will open HATPC from any browser.

STEP FOUR: Do you have the latest version of Shockwave Player?

http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/
Visit the above link and download the latest version of shockwave. Beware of any offers to download a free toolbar or security scan. I suspect them to be safe, since they are from Adobe, but they are an annoyance.

Try opening HATPC again, by clicking here. If still nothing, go to step five.

STEP FIVE: Try visiting the game files directly

Click here: http://swf.neopets.com/games/g349_v9_99392.dcr

This is known to work in every browser except Internet Explorer  9.

If it still doesn't work, see the next step.

STEP SIX: Try clearing your browser's cache

Your browser saves a cache for many web pages in its attempt to cut back on loading times. Some of our users have found that clearing their cache enables them to play HATPC again.

To clear your cache in Chrome, click on the wrench icon at the top-right corner of the screen. Then click on "Options". An Options window will open up. Click on the tab called "Under the Hood". Right under the "Privacy" heading, click on the button that says "Clear Browsing Data...". Another window will open. In this window, uncheck everything except for "Empty the cache". Under "Clear data from this period:", select "Everything". And finally, click the button "Clear browsing data".

To clear your cache in Safari, click on the gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen, and click on "Reset Safari...". A window will open. uncheck everything except for "Empty the cache". Then hit the "Reset" button.

Try opening HATPC here.

If it still doesn't work, you can also try deleting all other forms of browsing data, and this usually works for most people.

Finally, if it still doesn't work, try clearing it again! Surprisingly this does make a difference quite often.

If even that doesn't work, move onto the next step.

STEP SEVEN: Maybe it's not your fault

There have been times in the past when HATPC wouldn't work for anyone because something would go wrong with neopets.com's game servers. This is similar to the DGS Error problem in Step Two, but neopets is clever, always finding better ways of screwing up HATPC. While in the past, the game used to go down occasionally, it seems very rare these days. However, the possibility is still there. To make sure if something is only happening to you, try asking other Interguild members if they are having any difficulties opening HATPC. If they are having the same problems as you, then it's possible that something's temporarily gone wrong with the game.

STEP EIGHT: Try downloading someone else's cache

We've now moved on to a daring step. We will now attempt to get HATPC to work for you by downloading almost 290 MB 755 KB of my own cache so that HATPC will always work for you. However, this cache is for Google Chrome only, so if you do not have it, download it here. However, Chrome must be closed while you follow these steps.

This method was developed when I noticed that there was something in my cache that allowed HATPC to work for me, and when the cache was cleared, it no longer worked. Luckily, I saved a backup of my cache, and I tried to find out what file was in there that was allowing HATPC to work. However, because I did not know what I was doing, removing things from the cache made it very unstable, as Chrome would sense errors and automatically change things to fix them. Therefore, I was not able to reduce the file size of the overall cache that you must download.  However, so far this method has managed to fix HATPC for two people: jellsprout and Yaya.

Also, I am sorry I cannot provide any support for non-Windows users.

Here are the steps to successfully replace your cache with mine:
  1. If on Windows Vista or Windows 7, go to:
    C:Users[USERNAME]AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

    If on Windows XP, go to:
    Cocuments and Settings[USERNAME]Local SettingsApplication DataGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

    The [USERNAME] represents the name of the user that you are currently logged into on your computer. There will be a folder named after that user name.

    If you are having trouble finding some of these folder, it may be because they are hidden. Click on the Start menu at the very bottom-left corner of the screen and type in "folder options" into the search. Click on the "Folder Options" program that comes up. Click on the "View" tab, then look under the group of options under "Hidden files and folder" and select the option to "Show hidden files and folders". Now try again to find the above folder locations.

  2. Delete the following folders entirely:
    Cache
    Media Cache
    (if you don't want to lose your caches, for whatever reason, you may want to just rename those folders in case you want to keep a backup).

  3. Open this: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0By4BC80t6oOoNzQ5YjZhNzctNWY1NS00M2ZmLWEzNWYtNjk3NGI2Njk3YjY4&hl=en&authkey=CN3A8PAK

  4. Take the two folders inside that zip file and extract them to your "Default" folder, mentioned in the first step. Make sure that the Cache and Media Cache folders within the zip file are placed directly into the Default folder. You do not want them to be inside a new folder (which may be automatically called "ChromeHATPCcache").
Now that you have successfully replaced your cache, try to play HATPC here. If you have any problems with this complicated step, please ask for help in the comments below.

If this doesn't work, try going through this step again, but instead use this cache: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0By4BC80t6oOoNzlkNGIzMjktMWUwZC00YTgyLWJiOTUtNjk5YzMyMjAxYTZh&hl=en
Be aware that this file is nearly 290 MB.

STEP NINE: Ask for help

If you still can't get HATPC to work, just post a comment below. Try explaining in detail what happens when you try to load the game, and I or some other members will try to figure out what's wrong.
[?] Karma: +2
User Comments (290)
« Forum Index < The Hannah and the Pirate Caves Board
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Sefro
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Tuesday, May 31 2011, 3:25 pm EST

Karma: 313
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Chrome has been working just fine for me. I get the occasional Shockwave error but reopening the window usually fixes it. For what it's worth, I haven't downloaded the latest update.
Livio
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Tuesday, May 31 2011, 4:28 pm EST

Age: 31
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I think chrome automatically downloads updates for you. Is there even a way to stop that?
Sefro
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Tuesday, May 31 2011, 6:24 pm EST

Karma: 313
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Yeah, it shows a grey screen when you first start HatPC up and tells you that the plugin is out of date, but you can choose between "Update plugin" and "Run this time".
Livio
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Thursday, June 16 2011, 6:42 pm EST

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'Dando' said:
Hurray, HatPC works again! I cleared my cache once and it wouldn't work. I cleared it again out of frustration and it did. Kinda weird.
does that mean we should add a new Step 6: Try clearing it again? lol or did you end up clearing more info the second time? Maybe it just takes a while for the lack of cache to start affecting shockwave. Or maybe someone at TNT was playing with the "Break HATPC" switch.
canadianstickdeath
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Thursday, June 16 2011, 6:44 pm EST

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Every time it doesn't work, you have to clear it again in order to retry it. The game gets stuck half-loaded in your cache. Or something.
Livio
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Thursday, June 16 2011, 8:17 pm EST

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That's interesting. I added it to the end of step five and I put it in italics to make sure people don't miss it.
Livio
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Sunday, July 10 2011, 3:44 pm EST

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Quote:
STEP ONE: Try Again

Just open and close the game window until it finally works.
I'm just reporting that this really did work for me today. HATPC wouldn't load, so I opened and closed it about 5 times. This was after I had finished updating shockwave on this computer but it didn't work. But the reason HATPC wouldn't load was b/c my antivirus was blocking all of shockwave's files until it could properly scan them.

btw, Silver. I hear you can't play HATPC. try going through this list and tell us where you get stuck and what the screen looks like when it doesn't work.
Yuggy
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Sunday, July 10 2011, 4:28 pm EST
I am a wise goat

Age: 25
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I think she said she just had a broken keyboard, not a problem with HATPC itself?
Livio
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Sunday, July 10 2011, 4:42 pm EST

Age: 31
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Did you know that you can control Hannah using O and P to move left and right, and Q and A to move up and down?
Darvince
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Friday, August 26 2011, 8:05 pm EST
sea level change

Age: 24
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I think I discovered that on my own or something, but I can't remember...


"Time is a circuit, not a line; cybernetics instantiates templexity."

jellsprout
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Saturday, August 27 2011, 5:26 am EST
Lord of Sprout Tower

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I wonder why they didn't just went with WASD, or even just any four keys close together.


Spoiler:
I0wrld3r
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Saturday, September 3 2011, 4:12 pm EST
Nooblet #1

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Okay, I came back to Neopets after a LONG LONG LONG time away from it, and clearing my cache worked for chrome (However firefox would be nice :/)

I, however, have a somewhat different problem. The dang advertisement at the bottom is blocking my air bubble bar, and the bottom row of platforms/spikes.

Is there any easy fix to this, because I want that gold trophy.
Isa
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Saturday, September 3 2011, 4:21 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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Try "our" launcher (it's just Neopets old one). You can find it in the GAMES dropdown menu.
shos
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Saturday, September 3 2011, 4:46 pm EST
~Jack of all trades~

Age: 31
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yes, go to Games, and near hannah and the pirate caves there should be two logos - click the left one and you'll be able to play well


Yaya
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Friday, December 2 2011, 9:16 pm EST

Age: 28
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Hey Livio, I've had a consistent problem with your cache solution; it's temporary for me. This is the 4th I've had to try this since you've released this solution. It works great for a while, then it just goes into utter randomness of whether I'll get shockwave errors. And the randomness has been filled with shockwaves the past 3-4 weeks. So my problem is, to delete my cache, I need administrative permission, which I have since I use my PC's admin account, but it get's me in an infinite loop of telling me I need permission (It say's you need permission to continue, I hit the continue with the shield next to it or whatever it is, and another window comes up telling me I need permission. Repeat). Is this just my computer's utter stupidity, or is there and actual solution to this?

And HATPC doesn't just flat out work on IE anymore, it either freezes on the beginning loading animation or I get a nonresponsive program when the level preview is loading. So chromes really my best bet (I don't really wanna download another browser (safari) just to play a damn game).

In retrospect, I think we're extremely lucky. If TNT hadn't stopped updating the Game Graveyard (last time was 3 years ago ), I'm near-positive they would've trashed HATPC by now, especially with HATKC being released out. But also we're unlucky, cuz all we can do is complain about the game not working.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
Kooler
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Friday, December 2 2011, 9:34 pm EST
find me in your local trashcan

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Try Google Chrome, even though it abandoned us, it works on my computer (and it's a windows vista BTW), or you can try Safari, but I always have problems with it.

EDIT: And this post was - karma'd for what reason, exactly?


go drink some water
jazz
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Friday, December 2 2011, 9:43 pm EST

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Don't complain- it'll make it worse.
Yaya
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Friday, December 2 2011, 10:01 pm EST

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'Kooler' said:
Try Google Chrome
Well, let's use deduction here, Kooler. If HATPC breaks down, one should download Livio's cache, it is a temporary solution for me, so I've downloaded it 4 times now, and the cache is for Google Chrome. So yeah, you guessed it; I use Opera.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
canadianstickdeath
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Friday, December 2 2011, 10:09 pm EST

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Is there a way to set chrome to not remove things from the cache?
Yaya
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Friday, December 2 2011, 10:15 pm EST

Age: 28
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I think Livio say's somewhere he tried remove/keep certain specifics in the cache, but Chrome noticed and made automatic compensations to combat them.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
Thomas
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Friday, December 2 2011, 10:18 pm EST
the clique shall prevail

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Same problem as Yaya. I thought it may have been because Chrome 15 doesn't support HATPC as well as older versions did but I'm not gonna try downloading an older version. HATPC works fine on Safari still though.
Darvince
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Friday, December 2 2011, 11:40 pm EST
sea level change

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Safari doesn't work for me, yet Chrome does, so lol.


"Time is a circuit, not a line; cybernetics instantiates templexity."

soccerboy13542
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Saturday, December 3 2011, 12:34 am EST
~*~Soccer~*~

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my solution should definitely be added here... cuz it worked for me and like three of my friends.


'Livio' said:
You know, I was thinking of getting an internship at Microsoft, but I'm not sure I want their lameness to rub off on me.
Cedric
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Saturday, December 3 2011, 12:07 pm EST

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I use Safari to open HatPC, while I use Firefox for websurfing.
jellsprout
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Saturday, December 3 2011, 12:48 pm EST
Lord of Sprout Tower

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When on Ubuntu, I only use Firefox, so I can't play HatPC. When I'm on Windows, I use Chrome for Flash games and the Interguild, I use Avant for HatPC and FF for everything else.


Spoiler:

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