User Instructions

The instructions and questions here relate to running the simulation. This is done by clicking on the Start Simulation option on the first menu that appears when the Defensive Driving Simulator is started.

Mouse Control:

Clicking down on the mouse will bring up the mouse control guides. The vertical guides divide the screen into the three areas that define which direction to turn the vehicle. The leftmost area is for turning left and the rightmost for turning right. The horizontal guides show how to control acceleration (top) and braking (bottom). By default, the guides will only appear and affect the car while the mouse button is pressed down. Optionally, turnng can be controlled without pressing the mouse button. Press J to toggle this mode on and off.

Keyboard Control:

Troubleshooting/FAQ

Loading the Simulator:

1. I can't load the Defensive Driving Simulator.
   • Please make sure you have the necessary system requirements to run our application.
2. I've checked the system requirements and I still can't run the Defensive Driving Simulator.
   • You may have some configuration issues with your browser. Can you try running the simulator through another browser?
3. I've tried different browsers. I still can't run the Defensive Driving Simulator.
   • Please send us a support request detailing your problem via email.

Starting the Simulator:

1. When I load the simulator, I just see a black screen
   • Verify your video drivers are current. You could visit the manufacturer of your video card and verify your drivers.
2. I get a message on my desktop when I try to load the program, the message is: Title: nVidia OpenGL driver Description: Driver component sizes mis-match. Retry to keep going. Cancel to exit. Options: [Retry] [Cancel]
   • Have you checked to see if your video drivers are current? In the cases we've encountered this error, drivers were obsolete.
3. My video drivers are current, yet the simulator cannot load.
   • Close all other non-essential programs and try re-running our utility. You could have exhausted system resources.
4. I still can't make sense of the program!
   • Please send us a support request detailing your problem via email.

"In the zone":

1. I'm stuck between buildings and I can't move.
   • You may have encountered a gameplay error. This is an unfortunate circumstance. Restart the simulator and try doing the map again.
2. Why does this car always drive and hit me?
   • The simulator is trying to throw hazards at you. The goal is to encourage better decision making ability on the road. That car is just our way of helping you grow.
3. When I move to certain areas of the map, the simulation greatly slows down.
   • Your computer might have a lot to handle at the moment. Have you closed other applications?
4. The simulator crashed.
   • You've probably encountered an error somewhere. Do you remember what you did? Can you send us a support request? Please? We want to solve the issue so that no one else has to experiance the same problem.
5. A window popped up on my screen while I was playing the simulator. It contained a message.
   • Please take note of the message and submit it to our teamvia email.
6. The simulator runs really slow on my computer.
   • How are you running the simulator? Are you running it within a web browser? Running the simulator within a web browser makes for a slightly slower experiance because in addition to the simulator, the browser is doing some additional work. We strongly suggest running the Java Web-Start version if you find your experiance in the browser is impracticle.

Build Instructions
Click here to learn about building your own copy of Defensive Driving Simulator.