Who created The Endless Forest?
The Endless Forest was created by Tale of Tales

Questions? Answers.
Design questions
Where's the game?
Please skip this answer if you are familiar with downloading and installing computer applications.
The Endless Forest game is a screensaver. Go to the Download page and verify that your computer is capable of running the game (bottom of the page, under the "Minimum system requirements" header). If so, on that page, click on one of the links that start with the word "Download" to download the game to your computer. Open the downloaded file (called something like TheEndlessForest_xxx_Screensaver.zip) and run the installer in it (called something like TheEndlessForest_xxx_ScreensaverInstaller.exe). This will install The Endless Forest on your computer as a screensaver. To run the game, go to your Display Properties control panel and select The Endless Forest as your screensaver.
Optionally, you can also download and install "The Endless Forest launcher" from the same Download page. This will allow you to start up The Endless Forest by double clicking an icon on your desktop.
Where's the Options screen in the game?
You can get to the Options screen by pressing the Escape key or by clicking on the small square in the lower left hand corner of the screen.
What should I be doing?
Just walking around a bit and looking at other deer is plenty. Don't worry, nobody is grading you on this. Just enjoy what's there. It's not much yet. You have all the time in the world.
What's next? And when?
We are preparing Phase Two of the project as we speak. It will focus on (inter-)activity and communication. Release is planned for Spring 2006. Before that, however, we will be developing something in the Endless Forest for the Artefact festival in Het Stuk in Leuven, Belgium in February 2006. So keep an eye on the forum for news about updates.
Is a net connection required? My internet connection is slow. Can I play?
You do not need an internet connection just to run around. A net connection is required if you want to interact with other players. On a slow connection animations may be jerky.
How can I find other deer?
Make sure you Name Your Deer. Then its pictogram shows up in the edges of the screen. You can find other deer by running in the direction of the pictogram (or a little speck for deer without a name). You can also find other important landmarks (such as the Ename Ruin) in this way.
Why is the deer a stag and not a doe?
Several reasons. One is that we like the look of antlers. And female deer don't have those. Another and more important reason is motivated by our insistance on our position as authors. We choose a male character because it fits the story that we want to tell (Nobody questions the author of a novel about the gender of their protagonist!...). Also, we feel that if we were to give you the choice of playing a stag or a doe, your experience would become about your gender. The Endless Forest is not about being male or female, but about (role)playing a deer. You are a male deer, not a human in a deer skin.
But don't worry: later on there will be many opportunities to make your avatar appear more feminine if you like. He may be male but he doesn't have to be a macho (if it is even possible for an animal to be a macho...).
That glowing thingy above my avatar's head reminds me of something...
It is inspired by the vision that was received by Saint Hubert. He was an 8th century nobleman who converted to Christianity after seeing a crucifix between the antlers of the stag he was hunting. It is part of the “Ename Ruin” project.
Did the idea of the humanoid face on the deer come from Princess Mononoke?
When we asked our concept artist, Lina Kusaite, to design a deer for us, she drew one with a face like that. We know that, like us, she admires Miyazaki's masterpiece. But there are several other occurences of similar creatures in different cultures. Frida Kahlo's self portrait as a hunted stag is one. And Buraq, the horse that carried the profet Muhammed to heaven and back, is often depicted with a human face.
How come the game is free?
We have been able to fund the development of the game so far, thanks to non-commercial support from Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam), Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, Design Vlaanderen, Entropy8Zuper! and Provinciaal Archeologisch Museum Ename. The server is hosted by Mudam in Luxemburg, free of charge to its users.
We don't exclude a future where one would have to pay for The Endless Forest. But we like being able to work in a non-commercial way. So as long as it's possible, we'll try to keep it free.
Technical questions
Will there ever be a Mac version?
Since the technology behind The Endless Forest depends strongly on Microsoft's DirectX, this is unlikely. We regret this situation tremendously. We are Mac fans ourselves. But we cannot let technological limitations stop us from expressing ourselves artistically as best as we can. And for the moment, this requires Windows.
What technology do you use to build the game?
Quest3D is a real-time visual programming environment for Direct3D applications. It makes sophisticated programming accessible to the more artistically-inclined and as such points towards what we consider to be the way of the future for entertainment software. Programmers are creative people beyond a doubt, but they know more about machines than they know about humans.
Some icons from my desktop are flickering through the game image and when I click I see my desktop.
We have seen this error occur on Windows XP Home. It was caused by Windowblinds, an application that changes the look of Windows. The problem was solved by excluding ForestViewer.exe from Windowblinds' per application settings.
Some taskbar icons that regularly update may cause this behaviour as well.
I'm getting error messages about Quest3D!
You probably installed the screensaver and the launcher in the wrong order. The screensaver should be installed first, then the launcher. Otherwise the launcher cannot find the game.
The game crashes after I exit the screensaver!
This error occurred in older versions of the game but has been fixed now. Download the latest version!
I get display errors on on my Radeon Mobility notebook...
This is most likely caused by a bug in your graphics driver. The problem with many Radeon notebooks is that for driver updates you depend on the notebook manufacturers. ATI refuses to support but a few notebook brands. However, thanks to the enginuity of a friendly hacker named Patje, we can install the latest ATI Catalyst drivers on our notebooks anyway. You can download the patch here.
What is an X-Arcade joystick?
This is an old school type joystick that we use for public displays of The Endless Forest (as in Tardis in Ename, e.g.). If you have one, and you want to use it, you should know that we use the default button configuration except for the middle button in the top row, which has been reprogrammed to emulate the V key.
Converting souls
These questions are related to the Ename Ruin project which is over now.
What are the glowing orbs in the ruin?
They are the souls that are left behind by visitors of the Tardis exhibition. The blue ones in the forest are pagan. The white ones around the ruin are christian.
Where are the souls that I should be converting? How many are there?
This is not a shooter game. If you see a soul, feel free to convert it. But if you find yourself chasing after them, please try one of the 99% other games out there that cater to these particular lusts. In fact, we encourage you to leave the pagan souls alone because they turn into pretty idols when they die at the end of the day. If you convert them, we get more graves around the ruin.


If you have other questions, please join us in The Endless Forest Discussion Forum.