I've been playing the custom mansions... sort of checking them. I started out just playing but kept finding problems, so went with scrubbing through them fast to look for trouble spots.

This involved using the cheat codes.

The prefs screen doesn't freeze unless I invoke the map or the secrets (no problem with extra lives, keys or money), and then it locks up for anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. I've learned to wait it out, but it's a PITA.

Also: I notice there's no longer a message about "Used Cheats" when the game is completed.  This is only with the Custom Mansions; I haven't done a cheat on the included mansions to see if they come up "clean" too.

mick, by "prefs screen" do you mean the Paused screen -- the one that is visible when you type in cheat codes?

And, are you saying that it freezes after you type in cheat codes "reveal map" or "show secrets"? If so, it's not actually frozen -- it's just going very slow for some reason (there is a lot of processing done behind-the-scenes to reveal the map and show secrets).

What type of computer are you running on, and what OS? Does it have the same issue with really small mansions? What about the built-in ones? (I would imagine that the bigger the mansion, the longer the delay. For instance, Freddy's mansion would likely take longer, since it's HUGE!)

I put in code to optimize this, but it sounds like it's not working on your system for some reason.

Is anyone else experiencing a long pause when entering the "reveal map" or "show secrets" cheat codes? For me it's very fast.

mick, are you playing the mansions as zip files or opening them up?

OK, I'm a little confused. I do know that they have been uploaded two different ways. Essentially, the entire zip is the mansion, or the zipped mansion is one level down, alongside a README file.

However, regardless of the layout, whether the mansion is just uploaded like this:

   Mansion Name.zip   [#1]

Or zipped like this:

   Mansion Name
   + -- Mansion Name.zip [#2]
   + -- README.txt

In both cases the actual mansion archive, whether it's #1 or #2 can be played as a zip file, or unzipped as a directory. Vern's established that there is a bit of lag when playing the mansion as a zip file. I've only really seen this lag when playing the larger mansions, and wasn't specifically looking for it when I used the map screen. I was just trying to understand your specific cases so I could try and repeat what you're seeing. So far, no luck, but I've only just started.

Does it only freeze when you use the cheat codes, then?

Does it matter if you unzip the actually mansion zip file (whether it's case #1 or # 2) and play the unzipped archive?

Incidentally, in the case of where there is a zip in a zip file, it was never intended that you move the top-level directory into the custom mansion directory - just the mansion file, which can then be unzipped as well. Vern has noted that on his machine he sees a distinct difference when playing the game directly from the mansion zip file vs unzipping it, and playing from the expanded directory (this is how all the game mansions mansions are played).

Personally, I've only ever seen a big difference when the mansions are very large. I was just curious if this could be part of the issue you're seeing.

Also, does it seem to matter which cheat code is used?