I'm not sure why it happens, either, but I'll do some testing next week, too. If you come up with something, Rebecca, please post it (and I'll do the same)!

I definitely will. I can't restart right now though - I just got an awesome event that might allow me to do puzzle 12 If not I'm restarting as my lovely GC just did puzzles 10 & 11 for me

Good luck!!

Yeah, it looks like it wasn't enough time to build up and get puzzle 12 - I got all excited lol. If I'd had someone with the skill already the event would have been perfect - but no one had it so he's only about half of what he needs. I doubt I'd be lucky enough to get ANOTHER random event to build him more...so I'm thinking it's restart time. I'm sad to say goodbye to my current crew!!

Maybe your next group of villagers will be cuter AND smarter!! Sometimes, when I want to start a new game, I'll keep hitting new game until I get a tribe that is exactly what I want!

Sorry, I meant to keep up with this thread, but it kind of slipped my mind. If I'm understanding your situations (which I hope I do-otherwise I'll just look like an idiot), this "mystery" really isn't that hard to solve. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time that a random copy of VS shows up, you have been playing it from either a card or internal memory, right?

(Just to make clear before going on: program=application=(executable) file -&- think of your pda's RAM as your PC's RAM and your card or int. memory as your hard drive (if you know how all of them operate))
Well, if this is the case, then the copy shows up because error occured in your OS, not the game. To explain, when you open VS (or any application) from anywhere other than RAM, your OS copies the file into RAM where it is executed into your device's dynamic heap memory. Then when you exit the program, your OS removes the application from your RAM so that you can use it for whatever you'd like. However, if something happens while you are still in the program (game) such as a crash or freeze or whatever makes the device reset, then the copied file will stay in your RAM while the original file is still safe-and-sound in your card/int. memory.

Now, the way to fix this problem can be much simpiler than that other way. All that you need is (1) you pda and (2) some file explorer program (Filez is a fantastic freeware).

Note: Do NOT use the built-in delete option! This can detect all files that are associated with the program that you want to delete and it will delete them as well. This is so that after you try out a couple dozen trial programs, your RAM won't be filled with useless entrails.

Note II: Filez can also be used to "save" your game. First, go into VS and pause it, then just tap on "VillageSavegame" and COPY it to a safe place (expansion card works well).

Steps:
1. Open Filez (or whatever program that you use)
2. Tap "View and Edit Files"
3. Find the file named "Village Sim" located in "Internal" memory (NOT "Int. Media" for clie users). It should appear purple in Filez v6.6.
4. Tap on it. A check should appear on the left.
5. To be sure that this is the application, tap "Details" in the bottom right. Next to "Type" it should say "appl".
6. If all is well, then tap "Delete" and then "Delete" again to confirm.
7. Exit to your launcher.

If there's any part of this that someone doen't understand or that I messed up on, just let me know and I'll edit it to fit.
HTH
-spaceman

I did that too! My first game I didn't have enough people on food so I decided to start over and I didn't realize it'd generate a whole NEW set of villagers - I thought the set you started with was always the same. When I restarted and saw all the new people I was like "um, yeah, awesome!" And I kept doing new game till I had a group I liked . So far I'm still playing along hoping to get #12 - I'm a die hard I swear. One more random event like last time and I might be able to! We'll see how long I can hold out with restarting - hehe.

Spaceman -

The problem really isn't how to get it back to not being duplicated - the problem is WHY is it duplicating in the first place. Thank you for your suggestion on how to re-save and delete but Barb and I figured out a work around as well - so long as you keep good tabs on your main memory and pause before hot sync you should be able to just reload your savegame after deleting the duplicated application.

And because I wasn't paying attention as to exactly WHEN it duplicated, we can't be sure why/how it did it. That is the real problem. I have never had a crash so that isn't why - the only weird thing I had happen was when switching the sound to off it froze and I had to restart - but because I didn't immediately check to see if it duplicated right after that I can't be sure that is what caused it. I also can't replicate it freezing when switching sound off/on - so figuring out what caused it might be a mystery!

Thanks for the suggestion though!

Applications can't be run from an expansion card, and must be in main memory to be executed. In normal operation, when you run an application that has been installed on an expansion card, Palm OS copies that application to main memory to actually run it. When you exit the game normally, the application is deleted from memory to free up the space.

I spent some time testing this week and verified some interesting things about how applications that are installed to an expansion card are handled in various circumstances. If, while running the application, the device is reset (either intentionally or unintentionally), the application is left in main memory and behaves just like you had installed it there, rather than on the card. It stays in main memory and is not deleted when you exit the game.

I also discovered an interesting "side effect" of this situation. I had previously assigned one of my silkscreen icons to Village Sim when I had it installed in main memory. After I uninstalled it and re-installed it to the SD card, the silkscreen icon was reassigned by Palm OS. However, if I launched Village Sim and reset the Palm, the .prc file was left in main memory and the silkscreen icon was again assigned to Village Sim. Once I deleted the .prc file using FileZ, the silkscreen icon was again no longer assigned to Village Sim and the game could be launched only from the card menu - effective "undoing" the main memory installation of the game. Interesting...