Shiny Days is slated to ship in two days, and download codes have been available for three. I’m sure many of you are eagerly awaiting the discs arriving at your doorstep, but the three days that the download edition has been available for has informed us of something: Shiny Days is a hot mess.
The unfortunate truth is that despite all the delays, the game is shipping out to customers laden with show-stopping bugs. Many people are being frustrated by crashes, freezes, saving issues, and more. While we can wait for a patch from JAST, there’s no telling how long that process can take. Instead of waiting for that to happen, let’s figure out together as much as we can about the various bugs Shiny Days faces and their workarounds.
- Problem 1) “Saving my game isn’t working!” JAST actually caught this one right before the codes went out. The game saves data to the install folder. That’s a big no-no these days in game development because the Program Files folders are read-only in modern versions of windows for security reasons. While we can blame 0verflow for releasing a game in 2012 with that oversight, JAST also forgot to configure their own installer to avoid the issue. The solution? Install the game somewhere else that isn’t read-only (I have a “visual novels” folder I made on my C: drive just for VNs because of this) or if you do install it to Program Files, right click the game shortcut and click “Run as Administrator” every time you wish to run it.
- Problem 2) “The game is randomly crashing on me!” Well, there are multiple crash issues! By far the biggest one is the fullscreen crash. For many people (but not everyone), playing the game in fullscreen mode causes crashes at random points. If this is happening to you, simply switch to windowed mode. The exact cause of this problem is still unknown. A JAST forums user has noted that enabling the “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings” compatibility setting (right click the shortcut and click on “Properties” in order to see that) has solved the problem for him, but others haven’t had any success with that. [UPDATE: A possible workaround has been found by a JAST forums user. He found that his crashing ceased when he used alt+enter to go into fullscreen mode as opposed to selecting the option in the system menu. Accessing the save menu causes the crashes to reappear]
- Problem 3) “The game sometimes crashes when I skip or move back through scenes!” This problem existed in School Days as well. As far as I know, there is no known solution to those kinds of crashes, nor are they likely to ever be fixed. The only advice I can give is to save before skipping. The good news is that they’re not too frequent. The game engine seems to allow you to skip several times before it becomes unstable.
- Problem 4) “The game pops up unusual error messages and crashes when I choose a costume for Setsuna!” The errors look like this. There is no definitive solution to this problem that we have found. It seems to also exist in the Japanese version. [UPDATE: This bug seems like it may be related your computer’s system registry. Bou in the comments section below posted a helpful tip for fixing this:
Problem 4 was caused for me because I have the Overflow’s original version of shiny days installed as well. Both Overflow’s version and JAST’s use the same registry keys, but both games require a different value for the same key.
The registry key in question: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareOverflowSHINYDAYSInstallScript
Overflow’s Shiny Days requires value 1.00
JAST’s Shiny Days requires value 1.0
Switching between the two values fixes the problem for me.
It appears that this issue is caused by a registry conflict when installing the Japanese copy of the game first. There could be other causes as well, but the issue is in the registry. You can modify that value, or I’m pretty sure you can delete it as well since my copy of the game didn’t install that key at all. In order to access your registry, launch the “regedit” program. In windows 7 and up, just open the start menu and type in regedit, in lower versions open up the run prompt first (winkey + R). Then browse to the key using the folder-like interface and modify it to 1.0. Alternatively, do a full uninstall of all of your copies of shiny days, wiping the registry clean, and reinstall the JAST version.]
- Problem 5) “My BGM stopped working!” One JAST forums user noticed that their BGM randomly stopped working for them, and deleting the “config.dat” file in the game’s directory before launching each time solved the issue for them.
- Problem 6) “I got the Manami ending and now the game is unplayable!” This is a severely crippling bug that should be avoided at all costs. If you get the Manami ending, then save afterwards, your global save file will become corrupted and you will be unable play any further until you delete your globalflag.dat file, which renders all of your saves inaccessible. So if you get that ending, DO NOT SAVE. If it’s too late for you and you’ve already run into this issue, the globalflag.dat file is in the save folder within the game’s install directory, delete it and you’ll be able to play again… from the beginning. [Update: Patched and fixed! Download the patch here. It will restore any broken saves in addition to fixing the core bug. (Note: It was removed from the JAST support page a few months later, this unofficial mirror is provided by Sanahtlig.)]
Here are some resources that might help you troubleshoot your problems:
- The Fuwanovel Thread. In addition to discussing the game, some technical issues are also being discussed there.
- The JAST forums thread. This thread has a much greater density of people trying to troubleshoot their issues.
- The JAST DevLog. JAST is likely to post workarounds to problems as well as patches here as they continue to sort things out.
This kind of launch is always sad to see. 0verflow’s games have always been criticized for being buggy, and in many ways there’s only so much JAST can do as simple translators. Their response to the problems have not been particularly impressive, however. Things were made even more hectic as their new order processing system had a hiccup, forcing them to manually process all orders by hand upon the game’s launch. Hopefully they manage to step up to the plate and make things right from here on out. While these issues continue to exist, however, I unfortunately have to recommend that people NOT buy Shiny Days.
If you have encountered any problems not listed here, or have discovered solutions to problems that we have not, then please do inform us in the comments or in the forums so we can keep this article as up-to-date as possible.
Update (9/28): Sanahtlig posted in the fuwanovel forums some information translated from the Japanese site’s support pages:
Problem: The installer hangs midway, or the game freezes while playing.
Solution 1: It’s possible security software is interfering with installation and execution of the game. While installing and playing the game, please disable your security software (McAfee, Norton, Trend Micro).
Solution 2: Updating graphics drivers, DirectX, and Windows (via Windows Update) sometimes helps.
I also have my own suggestion for those frustrated by having a small window in windowed mode: Try using Windows’ built in zoom function (Windows 7 and later). Hold the windows key on your keyboard and press the plus key on your keypad to zoom in the screen. Hold the windows key and press minus to zoom back out. You can customize the zoom to your liking via the tool that pops up. Windows does no smoothing when doing this so it’s not an optimal solution, but it may be better than having to squint at a tiny window for hours on end.
Update (9/29): Added a possible workaround for the fullscreen crash. Try entering into fullscreen mode by pressing alt+enter instead of using the options menu. This has worked for some users, more testing will be needed to ascertain whether it’s a universal fix. Tim from JAST has also said that users have experienced better results when using Windows XP compatibility mode, although he was unclear for which issues.
Update (10/03): Still no patch, but progress is being made. JAST has posted their own helpful guide on the blog linked above. Also, Bou in our comments below posted a possible fix involving modifying registry values for all of those suffering from Problem 4, the Setsuna costume error. I also added a link to a 100% globalflag.dat file so people can resume where they left off if they were hit with the Namami ending bug. With these new fixes and workarounds, it seems that most major issues preventing people from playing the game are now either resolved or worked around. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Now we wait for JAST to apply some proper fixes.
Update (10/06): And this post gets progressively longer and longer! The first patch is out, this one fixing the Manami save bug! Grab it here. (Note: It was removed from the JAST support page a few months later, this unofficial mirror is provided by Sanahtlig.)
Thanks Decay
Nice! Thanks!
If shiny day after so many delays is so bugged I fear that Seinarukana, that has actual gameplay, will be even more broken than your average bethesda game…
Problem 4 was caused for me because I have the Overflow’s original version of shiny days installed as well. Both Overflow’s version and JAST’s use the same registry keys, but both games require a different value for the same key.
The registry key in question: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareOverflowSHINYDAYSInstallScript
Overflow’s Shiny Days requires value 1.00
JAST’s Shiny Days requires value 1.0
Switching between the two values fixes the problem for me.
I installed JAST’s version, then the Japanese version. I’m able to proceed past the costume choice in both versions. What DID happen is that when I tried to start the Japanese version just now, Norton Security went on a rampage and deleted a bunch of files from the Japanese directory. I was only able to restore some of them.
JAST has posted an official troubleshooting guide on their tumblr blog with additional updates.
http://follow.jastusa.com/post/130312237491/shiny-days-troubleshooting
Updated the article again. Shoutout to Bou, Sanahtlig, and the peeps on the JAST forums for making some solid contributions.
Just for completion’s sake; I’ve noticed the following things after setting the aforementioned registry key to 1.0:
– Overflow’s version keeps working 100%, even when the registry key is set to 1.0. This reinforces sanahtlig’s idea to install Overflow’s version after JAST’s version, as apparently the registry key is not overridden by either games if the key already exists.
– JAST’s version stops giving the error message(s) when starting a new game, watching scenes and when loading saved data made by JAST’s version.
– I do still get the first of the three error messages (the one which mentions in Japanese that the script’s version is inconsistent) when loading a save file made by Overflow’s version in JAST’s version. I have seen other people say that they have made this work, so I’m not sure what the issue is here.
So as far as I can see, both versions are fully functional when setting the registry key to 1.0. JAST’s version will accept the GlobalFlag.DAT from Overflow’s version, which unlocks previously unlocked scenes and lets you know which route nodes you’ve passed by before. However I can’t load my old saves in JAST’s version. Which I’m ok with, as I didn’t have too many expectations for that to begin with.
i found a solution for shiny days fullscreen with no crashes
first get Borderless Gaming tool eiter from steam to support devs of free from their website
then useing nvidia control panal set resolution to 800*600 start Borderless Gaming then start shiny days in widowed mode.Borderless Gaming will then make it full screen you can then fastforward and skip with no crashes works for schooldays as well
Thank you very much decay-san and contributors minna-san,…you guys are the real mvp,…
my game echos when it starts up
music and the rest of the sound echos
any fix to this?
Right when I pick a uniform at the beginning, it sends me back to the menu. Any way to fix this?
This is also a problem for me. I start a game, choose a uniform, the screen goes white for a moment and then back to the main menu.
I’ve searched for a solution, but so far I can’t find anything about it.
Just figured out that Norton was auto-deleting something even after disabling it while I installed Shiny Days. So I disabled Norton’s auto-protect and installed the game. Then I set the game folder to be excluded from the auto-protect before re-enabling it. Now the game appears to be working.
Could someone help me out, I installed and patched the game a few times now, tried playing with patched and unpatched version but i keep getting an error EXEMODULE window saying SOUNDBASE????? or sometimes GRAPHICBASE????.. What should i do?? just bought it last night and havent even seen the opening screen yet 🙁
Did you check out Sanah’s guide? http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blogs/entry/992-shiny-days-restore-patch-released-installation-guide/
yeah, actually followed that. talked to him in a forum too. I dont know what to do now, tried playing with and without patch. installed directx9 even though i have windows 7 with directx11 but still cant get it to work.
the menu will come up but if I put it on a scene or play the game it puts me back to the menu screen. I installed windows 10 on my computer and that is when the problem began.
Whenever I pick a uniform, the game goes back to the start menu.
I had a problem with the game that it would freeze during certain scene cuts on Windows 10. Solved it by installing windows 7 SP1 on VMware player (virtual os) and playing it on that. Works fine on clean install. You could also probably install win 7 next to win 10.
I Have the problem 6, when i got manami’s ending the game crashed and i can’t play, the worst thing is that your patched is “temporarily Inaccessible” please fix that so i can download the patched to solve my problem
While we are just a fan site and this is not our game, our patch, nor our responsibility, thank you for letting me know about the missing link. Here’s a working mirror for the bugfix patch, provided by Sanahtlig: https://mega.nz/#!WZ0XCR4C!3iIIH_mHP_11ARfK9B0saYPOAxyJaiW9T38igtan8WE
Thank You so much, sorry, i didn’t want to sound rude:( this bugfix is gonna help me a lot, Great work!!!!
the ending are not right. the route changed. some of the ending are unreachable.
https://vndb.org/t6999#1
the Japanese writing is the parts that never display
for example. the route
should be ●Final Episode “How Many Hours by Train?” END but you get “Going Our Separate Ways” instead
same with
should be ●Final Episode “I Have No Room for Memories” END but you get “Going Our Separate Ways” instead
so on that site when you see Japanese writing or kanji the route will not end right
this character is gone as well
and if you look at the file comparsion between the Japanese and English versions it is clearly different.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11I5_ltSQnGdBM3oMJZQU62DGsXZbzeC7AQOrk5MyXDg/edit#gid=1001237948
hope they make patches for them.
thank you for you time
Are you using the restore patch? That character you mentioned, from what I’ve read, is in the English version of the game in the Kotonoha route.
pretty sure I am. I got it from here [Link Removed]
I removed the link since we don’t allow pirate sites to be linked here, but yeah, that should have all the content. Weird. That specific screencap you posted came up in a 4chan thread when I googled it, where they said it was a loli scene (one of Kokoro’s classmates) that was seemingly accidentally left in the initial JAST release, when they were supposed to have removed all scenes involving Kokoro and her classmates. The restoration patch should in theory have kept that scene, but I wonder if something went wrong with their scripting that got rid of it. This whole release was such a mess, it’s hard to tell.
and the messed up that a lot of people of people are having problems with?
also is there away to fallow this chat just in case someone comes up with solution?
I’m not sure if it’s related to the Manami ending bug, but when I got that ending (specifically “Banquet of Mothers”) the game crashed and it won’t even start back up.
Every time I try to start the game I get a windows message saying that:
“SHINYDAYS has stopped working. A problem has caused to program to stop working properly”
I have the patch installed so I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if this is something different.
I have have a problem like problem 5..Except i have no config.dat file and i have no gm.gpk file..How Do I Fix this!
Don’t worry i fixed it myself XD i simply disabled my antivirus and reinstalled it