URL must be loaded twice to run quiz

Question

I have a quiz I created in Captivate 3. It works fine, except
that when published and you type the link, it seems to load 100%
but doesn't - only the bottom frame appears of the control player.
If you then go to the same URL another time, the entire quiz loads
and works fine. Waiting for it to load the first time doesn't work.
It isn't the connection speed. I think the need to load the URL
twice is a bug or glitch in the program?
I've tested this on 3 Win XP Pro computers, using IE 6 and
IE7, with cable, DSL and T3 connections, all with the same result.
If the temporary file is left in the browser, the quiz works fine.
It is only the first time the quiz is accessed that 2 loads are
needed. It is as if the quiz is not being cached or loaded properly
the first time.
Any way to work around this?

Answer 1

No need to apologize for using the wrong terminology - so
long as in the end we are talking about the same thing.
Ah yes! We call that bottom element the "playback control".
No surprise in the behavior described, and its appearance only
serves to confirm that the issue is, in fact, a matter of
bandwidth. The reason I say that is because the playback control is
a separate SWF (in your case it is contained in
"TreasureHunt_skin.swf"). It is obviously loading, but the main SWF
is having to cache before playing which - again - indicates the
file size is too large to play until it is cached on your local
machine.
Note: The preloader you see is probably the
"defaultpreloader.SWF" which is scripted to load 60% before play,
not 100% as you said. The reason this is important is that if the
file is over-large, when 60% has loaded, there may still not be
enough of the SWF content downstreamed to play - as you are seeing.
But on the second attempt, the additional 40% is being received,
and the movie begins play.
With that in mind, there are two solutions that I can see.
The
first solution (and the best, in most cases) is to reduce
the size of your project. That means re-creating it at smaller
dimensions (what are the dimensions, by the way?), or
alternatively, to chop the movie into multiple smaller pieces.
Either way, the movie has to be made smaller, if this solution is
to work.
The
second solution is to change the preloader so that the full
movie really is downloaded to the end-user's local machine before
play begins (instead of the 60% download demanded by the default
preloader). To do this, try using the preloader named "
ConnectPreloader.SWF". This preloader is set to download 99%
instead of 60%, and that should solve the problem of having to
access the file twice in order to see it play ...
BUT ... be aware that the "wait-time" will be that much
longer while waiting for the preloader to release the movie to the
viewer.
Best of luck to you, and have a great day, Jimmmie!!
.