How To Help To Get Your Venue Validated, By The Testing Team

How to Help Yourself, get your venue validated.

We have been studying the sort of reasons why venues get rejected on the first time of asking, when the testers are validating venues.
It occurs to us that there must be some simple ‘self-checks’ that can be made by creators BEFORE they submit their venue.
This would save an awful amount of testers time, and at the same time, offer the creator a much better chance of a first-time success in the validation process.

The sorts of things we see quite regularly are:
The VEN file has not been scrambled. This is an instant FAIL point, and so easily avoided.
The JR2 file omits key files, or includes files that are not needed.
A typical JR2 file should include, Data Folder/Images Folder/Species or Stocks Folder, and a Pegs folder (which may or may not depending on choice be housed within the Species or Stocks folder.) containing the peg.all files, and finally the VEN file.

If a book has been included with the venue, then the fsb and the fsl file, (if created for the Library) need to be included in the JR2.
If your own species images have been used, have you checked that the pathway is typed correctly in the .all file?
If there are files that you originally included in your venue (images or stk files) and you later on decided NOT to use them, please leave them out of the JR2 file.
It only clutters up pc’s with files that simply are not used.

Has each of your .ALL files got a blank line at the end? Hit RETURN after your last entry to place the cursor on the next blank line.
(If you don’t, the last line of the .ALL file is NOT LOADED to the sim). This will also be a FAIL POINT.

Have you done a dummy run of the JR2 file by installing it to your own PC to check it works?

Have you done your homework on the species used, in relation to the maximum weights you have used? Ensure they do not exceed the current all-time record[/b].

Have all your stock files been checked for ideal/min and max errors? By this we mean the correct format for a TEMP or for that matter ANY line within a stock file should be:
TEMP 12 (ideal) 2.0 (minimum) 22.0 (maximum) 2 (tests) NOTE the difference in the sizes of the values. (This is only an example, and you will have your own values in these places obviously.)

MAX is the largest value, MIN is the smallest, and IDEAL is somewhere in between. It will be a FAIL point if IDEAL is less than MIN or more than MAX.

Finally, is there a natural progression from one stk file to the next one, in terms of weights? I.e. the Maximum of the first file is BELOW the minimum of the next, and so on.

Although copy and pasting from other Stk files is OK, please remember that if there was an error in these, then there will also be one in yours. It is better really to make your own.

Each of these things is relatively simple to check, and as stated, could save you and the testing team much time.

A useful tip is to keep reading any posts on the testers part of this forum, to see why venues are failed. That way, you can avoid similar errors yourselves.

We wish each venue creator all the success in the world, and hope that these tips will make things that much easier for you and for the testers.

The Testing Team

These guidelines were written quite some time ago & things and ideas have changed.
I think ALL 10 points listed here (itemised to make it easier to understand) include a couple that are now refuted & so called, no one knew we tested for them?

ALL these points appear in the original post above & in the same order.
Who hasn't read them lately?

How to Help Yourself, get your venue validated.

We have been studying the sort of reasons why venues get rejected on the first time of asking, when the testers are validating venues.
It occurs to us that there must be some simple ‘self-checks’ that can be made by creators BEFORE they submit their venue.
This would save an awful amount of testers time, and at the same time, offer the creator a much better chance of a first-time success in the validation process.

The sorts of things we see quite regularly are:

1) The VEN file has not been scrambled. This is an instant FAIL point, and so easily avoided.

2) The JR2 file omits key files, or includes files that are not needed.
A typical JR2 file should include, Data Folder/Images Folder/Species or Stocks Folder, and a Pegs folder (which may or may not depending on choice be housed within the Species or Stocks folder.) containing the peg.all files, and finally the VEN file.

3) If a book has been included with the venue, then the fsb and the fsl file, (if created for the Library) need to be included in the JR2.

4) If your own species images have been used, have you checked that the pathway is typed correctly in the .all file?

5) If there are files that you originally included in your venue (images or stk files) and you later on decided NOT to use them, please leave them out of the JR2 file.
It only clutters up pc’s with files that simply are not used.

6) Has each of your .ALL files got a blank line at the end? Hit RETURN after your last entry to place the cursor on the next blank line.
(If you don’t, the last line of the .ALL file is NOT LOADED to the sim). This will also be a FAIL POINT.

7) Have you done a dummy run of the JR2 file by installing it to your own PC to check it works?

8) Have you done your homework on the species used, in relation to the maximum weights you have used? Ensure they do not exceed the current all-time record[/b].

9) Have all your stock files been checked for ideal/min and max errors? By this we mean the correct format for a TEMP or for that matter ANY line within a stock file should be:
TEMP 12 (ideal) 2.0 (minimum) 22.0 (maximum) 2 (tests) NOTE the difference in the sizes of the values. (This is only an example, and you will have your own values in these places obviously.)
MAX is the largest value, MIN is the smallest, and IDEAL is somewhere in between. It will be a FAIL point if IDEAL is less than MIN or more than MAX.

10) Finally, is there a natural progression from one stk file to the next one, in terms of weights? I.e. the Maximum of the first file is BELOW the minimum of the next, and so on.

Although copy and pasting from other Stk files is OK, please remember that if there was an error in these, then there will also be one in yours. It is better really to make your own.

Each of these things is relatively simple to check, and as stated, could save you and the testing team much time.

A useful tip is to keep reading any posts on the testers part of this forum, to see why venues are failed. That way, you can avoid similar errors yourselves.

We wish each venue creator all the success in the world, and hope that these tips will make things that much easier for you and for the testers.

The Testing Team


I have not altered any wording or even corrected any spelling / grammar.

Dave