Installation 0.5.3

Minimum Version: v0.5.3 - Jan. 1, 2014

Synekism should be pretty simple to install on a supported version of Windows. Please do contact [mailto:support@synekism.com support@synekism.com] if you're having any trouble.

If you're trying to install it on Linux you might want to also read the linux installation page.

Normal Installation

 * 1) Log in using the user account you wish Synekism to run on Note: this is important as the installer will create special folders in the current user's My Documents folder for such data as save files and mods.
 * 2) Download the latest installer at: http://www.synekism.com/downloads.php
 * 3) Double-click on the installer executable called:
 * 4) Follow the steps for each screen.

Minimum System Requirements

 * Windows XP/Vista/7/8 or Linux with Wine 1.5
 * 1.8 GHz multi-core processor
 * 2 GB of system memory
 * 10 MB of hard disk space*
 * Support for DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 2 and 128 MB of graphics memory

* This is just Synekism's installation footprint. It does not include space for any user generated content such as the city save files.

What Is Installed
We do our best to remove everything we install once you decide to uninstall Synekism. However, due to various limitations, some bits of garbage might be left over. For those keen on keeping a tidy system here is a rather exhaustive list of everything we create and touch when you install Synekism using its installer.

Temp
Temp directory is usually under:  for Windows XP and   for any Windows newer than XP. These files are only used during installation and are removed by the installer after it's done with them.


 * Used during installation to check for minimum graphics hardware requirements. Note: GPU-Z is a freeware tool available here: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
 * Generated by GPU-Z, it contains full system specs (this is not sent anywhere, it's just used to check hardware capabilities). It is later copied to install directory as.
 * If the installer needs to upgrade an existing installation we copy this file from the existing installation directory back to the temp folder so we can nuke the existing installation folder without loosing this file (which was just generated). We then copy the file back and delete this temporary copy.

Program Files
This is under  under a 32-bit OS or   under a 64-bit OS. Of course, it can also be a user-specified location set during one of the installation screens.

Please note that you should not store any files in this folder as it is always completely deleted whenever a newer Synekism version is installed on top.


 * - DirectX HLSL shader compiler needed because Synekism currently ships with raw shader code.
 * - DirectX 9.0c library.
 * - DirectX 10 library.
 * - DirectX 11 library. Synekism does not currently support DirectX 11 but it will.
 * - Low-level Synekism library. Contains custom utility code like Synekism's own vector library and amended STL containers.
 * - One of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable libraries.
 * - Another one of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable libraries.
 * - Main Synekism executable. All shortcuts point to this guy. Run this to launch the game.
 * - Partial system information generated upon install by GPU-Z and used to assist with technical support.
 * - A log of the installation process. Mostly for debugging purposes but also useful to see exactly what the installer did.
 * - The readme file that contains mostly details on the currently installed version of Synekism.
 * - Synekism's uninstaller.

My Documents
This is under  under Windows Vista/7/8 and   under Windows XP.


 * - Contains .ini files used to persist Synekism settings. For more details on this see: Ini Settings.
 * - Default mods folder.
 * - Default save file folder.
 * - Default location for screenshots and renders.

Desktop
This is under  under Windows Vista/7/8 and   under Windows XP.

We only install a shortcut to the main Synekism executable if so indicated on the final screen of the installation.

Please note that regardless of whether or not you choose to install a Desktop icon during installation, Synekism's uninstaller will always delete any shortcut on the Desktop named: Synekism.

Start Menu
The main Synekism start menu folder is under  and   under Windows Vista/7/8. Nothing is currently installed in the Start Menu in Windows XP.


 * - Shortcut to main executable.
 * - Shortcut to uninstaller.

There is also an additional shortcut installed under :


 * - Shortcut to main executable.

Games Explorer
To add Synekism to the Games Explorer in Windows Vista and Windows 7, this folder is created:

and this file is created inside:

Note that Synekism is not a Games for Windows certified game.

Registry
These can be verified by going to: Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > Run, then typing  and pressing OK.

There are two keys that are filled with values:


 * 32-bit OS:
 * 64-bit OS:
 * 64-bit OS:
 * 64-bit OS:

They each contain these values:


 * - Absolute path to the Synekism main executable.
 * - Empty
 * - Brief summary of this page: Synekism.
 * - Absolute path to the Synekism main executable's icon (which is inside the main executable file).
 * - Something in the form of: Synekism #.#.#.#.
 * - Installed Synekism version as a string.
 * - The estimated size of the Synekism installation. This does not include user generated content.
 * - The path to the Synekism installation folder.
 * - Indicates that the uninstaller can only uninstall Synekism completely and cannot modify the installation.
 * - Indicates that the uninstaller can only uninstall Synekism completely and cannot repair the installation.
 * - Idimoris
 * - Absolute path to Synekism's uninstaller.
 * - Link to Synekism's website: http://www.synekism.com.
 * - Absolute path to Synekism's uninstaller.
 * - Link to Synekism's website: http://www.synekism.com.