Error 7 'Out of Memory' when attempting to start the game: I had a report recently of a person who tried to start The Key and instantly received an 'Out of Memory' error. He eventually discovered that the reason he got the error was because after he installed the game he renamed the folder The Key was in, and that caused trouble because the file COMDLG32.OCX had added some registry entries that pointed to the folder that now didn't exist. If you are getting this problem, you'll have to either (a) rename the directory back to what it used to be, or (b) go into the registry and erase the COMDLG32.OCX entries that point to the folder that doesn't exist anymore. The bottom line is this: when you install The Key, don't rename the folder you placed it in!
Error 380 when trying to load a panel, especially in the Graveyard Rimworld: This error is caused by not having the fonts installed. To get past this problem you need to copy the fonts from the FONTS directory of The Key to your WINDOWS\FONTS directory. Another way to do this is to go into Control Panel / Fonts, and then select File / Install New Font. This will bring up a dialog box; just use it to point to the FONTS directory of the folder where The Key is installed, select the fonts in that directory, and then press OK. It will probably tell you that a few of those fonts are already installed but it should install the others.
Error '999': The game says "MMSYSTEM296 The file cannot be played on the specified MCI device. The file may be corrupt, or not in the correct format." This is usually caused because some drivers on your computer are corrupt. To receive information on how to fix this problem (which usually entails downloading a file from Microsoft), visit this page at Microsoft's website.
Error message after clicking on a panel that asks you to reinstall the game: Your computer does not have one of the necessary fonts installed. The necessary fonts are in the \FONTS directory of the folder where you installed The Key. Just install these fonts (which can be as simple as copying them to your WINDOWS\FONTS directory, where WINDOWS is the name of the folder where you installed your operating system) and it should work. (I have heard some people say that they had to remove the fonts and then reinstall them, so you might want to check that out as well.) Also, after you copy the fonts into the WINDOWS\FONTS directory, be sure to reboot your computer. Windows will recognize the fonts during the boot-up process.
Missing COMDLG32.OCX: You can fix this problem by downloading it by clicking here. To install it, just unzip it and place it in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory and then reboot your computer. I am working on making an install for The Key, so hopefully one day that will be included in the download.
If this fails to fix the problem, you can download a version of The Key that doesn't use that file by clicking here. To install this, replace your current version of the file TheKey.exe with this one. Note that this version does not allow you to save or lload games but you can play the game.
Missing other files/DLLs: You need to download the Visual Basic 6 runtimes. The runtimes can be downloaded from the Microsoft website by clicking here.
I can't figure out what to do in the Underground Labs; something seems to be missing: If you start a new game and work your way up to the Underground Labs in Part III, there will be a trace amount of an unknown fuel in the matter transmitter at the Old Fusion Lab. However, if you load a game created when you only had Part I and II installed, you could find that there is nothing in the matter transmitter at the Old Fusion Lab; the trace element is gone -- and without that trace element you can't beat the game.
That bug has been fixed with the latest Part III bug fix, and if you have a saved game with no element in the matter transmitter there is a way you can put it there. To do this, install the bug fix, load the saved game, and in the Miscellaneous menu select the option to "Fix the Old Fusion Lab bug." That will add the missing element back into the game and you will be able to continue.
Missing Images in the BMP version: If you are running the BMP version and you cannot access either a panel in the Valley of Stars receiver or a panel in the Mossy Rimworld because the program cannot find certain images, then need to download these bug fixes: BMPBugFix for Valley of Stars and FixMrcrp.zip for the Mossy Rimworld.
Bug Fixes: If you have any other problems, try the bug fix before you e-mail us
The bug fix you need depends on how much of The Key you have installed. If you only have Part I, then you need the bug fix labeled "Part I". If you have both Parts I and II, then you need the bug fix labeled "Parts I and II". If you have all three parts installed, then you need the bug fix labeled "Part I, II and III".
The download comes with instructions which you will want to be sure to read.