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Key points
- The game has issues on modern versions of Windows. See Issues fixed.
- Does not scale at all with higher resolutions; Dress Designer is fixed to run at 640x480, and playing it at 800x600 or higher introduces black borders around the screen.
- While the game remains playable, Dress Designer appears to be poorly optimised when it comes to CPU utilisation, as it consumes too much processor time even on a modern systen.
General information
- MobyGames page
- American Girl Playthings (fan site for collectors and AG enthusiasts)
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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Used copies of the game can be found on eBay and other online sellers. |
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Essential improvements
Run the game straight from the hard drive
Instructions[1]
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- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Dress Designer.ini .
- Set
cdpath=Bundles
- Save
Dress Designer.ini .
- Insert the game disc, then copy the Bundles folder on the disc to the installation folder.
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Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Not actually a volume control per se, but background/theme music can be toggled on or off by clicking the Music button. |
Surround sound |
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Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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Issues fixed
The dreaded error message that shows up whenever the player attempts to quit the game or bring up the options menu. See
this GIF for an animated demo of the error.
Install the unofficial AG Dress Designer patch[citation needed]
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Notes
- This fixes the "An error occurred while opening a window" message when the game is played on an NT-based Windows OS, e.g. Windows 7, Vista or 10. Interestingly, the aforementioned error also occurs on operating systems as far back as Windows NT 4.0, an OS released a few years before the game. It can be presumed that the business-oriented nature of NT at the time accounted for why support for it was overlooked,[3][4] only to end up being met with negative reviews on Amazon from irate parents whose children were unable to play the game on their computers.[5][6]
- You can also download the patch here.
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Audio stutters on newer operating systems
Game does not fill the entire screen on higher resolutions
Use Lossless Scaling along with windowed mode.
Notes
- This isn't without its drawbacks, however: clicking on Exit or Print results in the main game window scaling back to its normal size. Also, you'll have to launch the tool and activate it every time you play the game as well.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
DirectDraw |
7.0 |
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Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Cutscenes |
QuickTime |
Earlier runtime versions may cause the audio to stutter; see above fix for details |
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Operating system (OS) |
95 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 166 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
75 MB |
Video card (GPU) |
16-bit colour |
Notes
References