Q. What is The Reconstructors?
A. The Reconstructors is a web game where you are on a mission to rediscover lost medicinal knowledge. As you follow clues all over the globe to solve the mystery, you are also given the opportunity to interact with various aspects of the world -- chemistry, pharmacology, neuroscience, medicine, public policy, history, and more.
Q. How long does it take to play?
A. Each episode of The Reconstructors is designed to be played at one sitting of approximately 20 minutes.
Q. Can I stop during an episode and come back to the same place later?
A. No, the program requires you to restart the episode each time you play the game. Fortunately, once you have started going through the adventure, you will know more than you did before, and it won't take you very long at all to get to where you had to stop. Challenge yourself to see how much information you learned the first time or try different answers!
Q. Where can I find the Cool Links page that is at the end of the game?
A. You can jump over to the Cool Links pages right now! Enjoy the many informative and fun sites.
Q. Is the game supposed to take so long to download?
A. Each game file is approximately 1.1 MB in size. If you are connecting to the Internet via modem, it could take several minutes. Hang in there!
Q. The text is too small for me to read. How can I make it bigger?
A. Make your browser as large as possible by maximizing the window (PC) or dragging it to its largest possible size (Mac).
Q. Why does the animation seem to move so slowly?
A. Because the game can be played over the Internet and the graphics are compressed, you won't always see smooth, seamless animation, especially full-screen. The speed of your computer has a big impact on the speed of the animation. If you shrink the size of your window, the graphics animations will run more quickly and smoothly.
Q. What are the recommended system requirements for The Reconstructors?
A. To play the Reconstructors, you must have the Shockwave Flash 5.0 (or higher) installed on your computer. If you need this plug-in, you may download it from Adobe's web site. Follow the simple instructions provided to download and install the plug-in. Once this is done, you are ready to begin your adventure!
Platforms:
Because The Reconstructors uses Flash animation to keep file sizes small, it will run efficiently on the variety of computer platforms found in homes and schools. Our suggested minumum requirements for platforms are:
For best performance, use a computer with at least 128 MB of memory.
Browsers:
Although many web browsers are satisfactory for use with the Reconstructors
web adventures, we have found that the following browsers offer the most
optimal viewing experience:
We have tried to optimize the loading time for files for persons using at least a 56K modem. Each episode incorporates the latest programming techniques available in Macromedia Flash MX™. Each module that makes up the adventure is under 200 KB. We make every attempt to keep the files small for optimal download times. When using a T1 line, cable modem, ISDN, or ADSL, the load time is negligible (10-30 seconds). If using a dial-up modem allow for 2 - 4 minutes to be sure components are completely downloaded.
Q. How do I download and install the Flash plug-in?
A. When you start the game, it will test your browser for the Flash 5.0 plug-in. If it is not detected, you will be provided with a link to Adobe's Flash download page so that you can obtain the latest plug-in. You can also visit Adobe's web site for help getting and installing the plug-in.
Q. What is Flash, and why do you use it?
A. Flash is an Adobe application used to develop animation for use on the Internet. Flash allows for much faster downloads of graphics than is possible with traditional graphics formats.
Q. How do I get in touch with you?
A. Comments or questions? Send us an e-mail, and we will help you out!