A large, free collection of Solitaire games in open and cross-platform format. 475 variations out of the box.

FAQ — Updates & Extras — SoliLuxe Manual

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SoliLuxe Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Known Technical Issues

Q: Sometimes I get an error message when starting SoliLuxe, and my game in progress is gone.
This happens when SoliLuxe is shut down improperly and hasn't had opportunity to write all save data to file.

If you can avoid it, NEVER shut down SoliLuxe by ending the Java session — by shutting down the Java process, killing its Terminal window, or (on the Mac) quitting the "Main" application which runs the SoliLuxe program. ALWAYS use the QUIT button in SoliLuxe itself, or the close button in the SoliLixe main window!

(While developing new solitaire games, program-stopping errors happens once in a while. Usually SoliLuxe cleans up and shuts down by itself in those cases. Just have the "Quick start" option in the Settings tab UNTICKED while developing games, and you should be able to restart without any major troubles or headaches.)

Payment and registration

Q: What are the shareware restrictions?
Apart from not being able to use some of the functions available in the Options window, there are none. There are no time restrictions, nor any limitations to the number of games you can play or the types of games.

Q: Are updates free?
For those purchasing a registration code for SoliLuxe 2, all version 2 updates will be free no matter how long version 2 will be around. The minimum time for free version upgrades will be 2 years from purchase, which means you will also get version 3 or even 4 without paying anything if they appear within 2 years. (But most likely, all that will happen is version 2 updates for a very long time.)

Q: I have registered, but the player name still says "Guest" when I play?
The registration name has nothing to do with SoliLuxe player names (except that registering the program enables you to create the players):

1. Open the Options window.
2. Click the "Players" tab and rename the "Guest" player or add yourself as a new SoliLuxe player. (See the in-game help for more info.)
3. If you added a new player, exit SoliLuxe and start it again. A login screen now appears, where you can select your player name.

Q: Can I use my registration code for more than one computer?
Yes. You are allowed to use the same registration code for all your computers plus those of your immediate family.

Q: I have not received my registration code! What's up?
The processing of orders is done manually, and not as a full-time occupation. Normally, an order will be processed within 24 hours upon receipt of payment.

In exceptional circumstances (illness, loss of Internet connection etc.) it might take longer, although this is highly unlikely. If you have not received an email with the registration code within 24 hours, please notify us at "registration@soliluxe.pethu.se" to clarify what has happened.

If — after all this — you still receive nothing in return, the most likely cause is that our emails get caught in a spam filter by your mail system or service provider. Try contacting us using an alternative mail address, and just cite your original e-mail address used when buying the game.

Q: Why don't you raise the price even though the game has increased to many times its original size?
This is not a commercial venture, and you don't actually pay for the contents of the game or the amount of time we spend on developing it as such. The registration fee is more of an encouragement to the developers to keep going.

Another way of looking at it is that the main game is free, but you pay for the extra features and creativity tools — And that part of the package has not changed that much over the last year or so.

Security

Q: Is SoliLuxe safe?
There have been many security alerts related to Java in recent times.

In light of all this commotion, some of you may wonder if it's really safe to use SoliLuxe, which is after all a Java program. Luckily, the short answer is: Yes.

The real danger lies in using Java in connection with a web browser. An accidental "mis-surf" can bring you to a web page which is able to activate some harmful Java code that then infects you computer. To avoid this, you should simply disable Java for your web browser, if you have no particular need for it. This is usually done in the browser's internet settings or specific plug-in handler.

When it comes to running stand-alone Java programs from trusted sources, the danger is no greater than with any manually downloaded program, especially if they use their own private runtime like the SoliLuxe Windows version. The Java runtime comes with the program, and no other program is aware that this runtime even exists: They cannot make use of it to infect you computer even if there IS a security hole in that Java version. So if you trust SoliLuxe and the site you downloaded it from, it doesn't put your computer in any more danger than it already was!

If you use a separately installed Java that is "visible" and available to other programs on your system, then once again it is important that you only install and use software from trusted sources. But this is not just a Java issue: Security holes appear and are patched regularly in operating system code and also in other runtime environments and helper programs like Flash, Adobe Reader, Silverlight and Microsoft .NET . The list, unfortunately, goes on. And on...

Installation

Q: What does installing SoliLuxe do to my system? How do I uninstall it?
Absolutely all files that has to do with SoliLuxe are kept in the main SoliLuxe folder. SoliLuxe does not write any settings to the Windows registry, nor does it spread temp and settings files around all over the place. This is the reason it is extremely portable (and also why you should make sure the person playing always has write privileges on the installation folder).

The Windows easy-install version comes with its own uninstaller, which appears in the Start menu. This uninstaller deletes all original installation files (including itself!), but it leaves all altered settings, history and statistics files intact. If you want to delete these files too, just delete the installation folder manually after running the uninstaller.

For the multi-platform version, just delete the installation folder and all traces of SoliLuxe disappear. If you want to do a fresh install but keep your settings and statistics etc., just delete everything but the /settings subfolder, and install a new copy to the same main folder.

Compatibility: Hardware, operating systems and Java versions

Q: On what equipment can I run SoliLuxe, and how?
Since SoliLuxe is a Java application, it theoretically runs anywhere where you can install a full-featured Java SE 7 runtime environment (JRE).

Unfortunately, mobile equipment like phones and tablets running light-weight operating systems like iOS and Android are out of the equation. Android may be Java-based, but not THAT Java-based! And Apple has stated that full Java support on iOS will not happen. Anyway, the main selling points for SoliLuxe are the huge, detailed graphics and voluminous, "encyclopaedic" approach to Solitaire playing — things that don't translate well to small, mobile formats. So we're pretty much stuck on the traditional, larger, full-featured computers.

The main source of compatibility problems is the audio, which may work differently depending on a combination of audio hardware and operating system. for this reason, SoliLuxe comes with 2 different audio modes that you can switch between on the settings tab in the Options window.

If it works, use the defult "standard" audio mode which is the best. Use the "alternative" audio mode if you use experience persistent sound lags, glitches or unstable program behaviour.

Q: What are the minimum hardware requirements?
A ca. 2009, single-core budget laptop PC (our low-end reference, the Compaq CQ-61) will run the game and music player glitch-free, if the system does not do much else simultaneously. However, and especially if running Windows, a dual-core processor is definitely recommended. Anti-virus programs and other background tasks have a habit of bogging down the computers in an amazingly amazing fashion these days...

(Tip: If you suffer from poor graphics performance and choppy animations, there is no better way to improve smoothness than to reduce the SoliLuxe window size.)

The Options window requires a minimum screen height of 768 pixels to be seen fully, although from version 2.50 it is fully functional even on screens as small as 600 pixels high.

Q: The game is widescreen, so why are there still black borders on either side of my widescreen display?
If there was only one widescreen standard, it wouldn't be computing as we know (and love/hate) it! There are two main widescreen formats: The "computer" format which has an aspect ratio of 16:10, and a "TV" format which is 16:9. SoliLuxe uses the 16:10 ratio. More and more computers have started using 16:9, which is exactly equivalent to a standard widescreen TV. Thus, on a 16:9 screen SoliLuxe will not use the left and right edges fully.

Support

Q: What about support?
The program is sold on an as-is basis regardless of which OS you run it on. We expect you to have tested the unregistered version on your system to your satisfaction before buying!

If the program runs but you find logical errors in games or program behaviour, please let us know at support@soliluxe.pethu.se .

Other

Q: Can I program any solitaire I like in SoliLuxe?
No, not by a long shot. There are myriads of oddball rules for solitaire games, and the only ones currently implemented in the SoliLuxe programming language are the ones actually used in the factory-preset games. (This may change in the future if we receive specific user requests, but no promises!) The flip side of the coin is that there are no inaccessible, hard-coded game rules either — all rules used by the factory solitaires can also be used when programming your own solitaires.

Q: What's that stupid text window that opens "behind" SoliLuxe?
Depending on the OS you are running on — and the method used to start SoliLuxe — a "terminal window" may open in the background. This allows SoliLuxe to print various messages about what it is doing that may come in handy in the event of a crash. If SoliLuxe completely stops responding to input, it can be worthwhile to read the last message that has appeared in the console window: It may point to a missing file, or it may report a system error.

This console window has an additional advantage: If SoliLuxe should stop working completely, you can switch (Windows: alt+Tab) to the console and close it, which will shut down SoliLuxe.

On Windows installations where the game is started with a menu or desktop shortcut, you can easily make the console window "go away": Right-click the shortcut and select "Properties". In the "Run:" drop-down list amongst the properties, select "Minimized". This will make the console window start in minimized mode, while the actual game screens will behave normally.

Q: What's SPRAWL?
The About tab in the Options window contains information about something called a "SPRAWL library".

SPRAWL stands for "SPRite And Windowing Logic", and it is our proprietary Java 2D games engine. It manages all graphics, animations, sounds, window scaling and so on. In fact, SoliLuxe began life as nothing more than a testbed for SPRAWL, but turned out so good it's a pity not to share it with the world.

More SPRAWL-based games are likely to appear over time - watch a space close to this one! - but the SPRAWL engine itself will remain in-house and not for sale.

Q: What's OGG Vorbis?
OGG Vorbis is a compressed audio file format much like MP3. Unlike MP3, OGG Vorbis is a free format (not owned by any company).