I have tried to compile some of the more frequently asked questions here to help you out. If you can't find the answer to your question here, you can still send me e-mail to ask me about it and I'll try to help you out. If your question has to do the specifics of using the Amiga, Macintosh, or Acorn versions of KiSS, you'd probably be better off asking the authors of those programs since I only own a PC computer.

Here are the basics of using KiSS for the new user:

Step #1:Download a KiSS viewer.
There are different KiSS viewing programs for different computers. Most people will want PlayFKiSS for Win95/98. Downloading means "Save this program on your computer". Be sure to remember *where* you saved it.

Step #2:Install KiSS Viewer
To install the viewer, simply run the progam. (That means "find the program and double-click on it". You can also run it by using the "RUN" button on your Start menu.)

Step #3:Download a KiSS doll
Find a doll on the web, click on its "Download" button and save it to your computer. Again, remember where you saved it.

Step #4:Play with the KiSS doll
Start your KiSS viewer (the one you downloaded and installed in steps 1 and 2; it's in START -> Programs -> PlayFKiSS). In the viewer, select FILE -> LOAD (or choose the little yellow folder button on the action bar). This will bring up the "Load" window. Select the KiSS doll that you downloaded in step 3.

Since each KiSS Doll is made up of many seperate files, KiSS dolls are distributed in LZH-compressed archives (sometimes known as LHA). These are similar to other archival formats such as ZIP, ZOO, or ARC.

There are a few programs in the Tools section that allow DOS/Windows users to work with LZH files but, if you just want to play with the dolls, you won't need them.

To use the LZH-compressed KiSS dolls, make sure you have already downloaded and installed an appropriate KiSS viewing program for your computer.

Next, select a doll to download and click on the Download icon. You don't need a browser plug-in; just select Save to Disk and save the LZH file in the directory or folder that you have set aside for your KiSS dolls.

All of the KiSS viewing programs can handle LZH-compressed KiSS dolls so, once you have downloaded a doll, simply start running your KiSS viewing program and load your doll from within the viewer.

Are you using the (very) old AOL web browser? The AOL browser had some very bad bugs in it. They've always been in there. It is unlikely that AOL will ever fix them.

Switch to a different web browser, such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, or Safari. These are free and completely compatible with AOL internet service.

It does not have a virus.

Some of the virus-detecting software is very paranoid. Since it hasn't seen the file-type LZH before and can't make sense out of it, it panics and thinks it might be a virus.

It isn't really possible for a KiSS doll to have a virus. Viruses can only be transmitted through executable files (things that end in EXE or COM or DLL and so on). A KiSS doll file is just data. It could no more carry a virus than could a GIF or JPG file.

It is possible that some other file, such as a program from the Tools area of this site, could carry a virus. We do scan all of those files very carefully to prevent them from carrying viruses and we keep our virus-detection software as updated as possible but something could slip through. You take the same risk as you would with every other website on the planet. But we do make every effort to prevent viruses.

Either your web browser is misconfigured or your internet service provider is using a very out-of-date server which doesn't allow remote server MIME-type definitions. You should contact technical support for your net service provider or for your browser and ask them how to help you configure it correctly.

You also may simply be facing problems with a buggy browser. See if there is an upgrade available for your browser. You might also try switching to another ISP.

In the meantime, you can just rename the file to have the extension LZH (i.e. if the doll was named JUDY.EXE, change it to JUDY.LZH) and any KiSS viewer should be able to handle it fine.

The most likely problem is that you are using a really bad web browser. If you're an America Online subscriber, you're probably using that older browser that can't handle MIME-types. Either get an update to the newest version of your web browser or try a different browser altogether. You'll find that my site is not the only one that will be difficult with a bad browser.

Please note that simply trying to save the screen gibberish as a file won't work because the error that causes that screwed up display also corrupts the doll data.

The most likely reason is that you are trying to view an expansion set without using the base doll.

If you are certain that this is not the case, you may simply have gotten a bad download. Try downloading your doll again.

In some cases, when a KiSS artist decides to update a doll she had released earlier, she will simply make an expansion set instead of releasing a new version of the complete doll.

The expansion set contains any changes or additions the artist has made to her earlier doll. Since the expansion set only contains the changes to the doll but not the doll itself, you must have the original doll to use an expansion set. Think of it as getting an upgrade.

Using expansion sets in WKiSS is something of an undocumented feature. First, load the original base doll. Then, load the expansion set but, when you select the OKAY button for the expansion set, hold down the SHIFT key. Holding the SHIFT key tells WKiSS that you want it to remember all the KiSS doll information that is currently in memory and use it in combination with information from the expansion set.

Using expansion sets in PlayFKiSS is a little easier. First, load the base doll as normal. Then, select FILE -> LOAD EXPANSION and select the expansion set. You can also use the little orange folder button on the tool bar for loading the expansion set.

Each object in KiSS can have a different level of `stickiness'. Some objects can never be moved (like the doll itself). Most objects can always be moved (like shirts and shoes). But some objects will seem to be stuck at first but come off after several tries. This usually only applies to things like underwear where you normally won't want to remove them. This middle stickiness level helps you keep from accidentally removing the underwear or other objects that you usually want to stay in place.

This is why it's a good idea for parents to try out a KiSS doll before letting their kids play with it. Again, let me say that I don't think it's bad for kids to see a naked body since making them think naked bodies are bad can make them feel ashamed of themselves for no good reason. But, then again, I'm not a parent and I might feel differently about that someday. Anyway, if you want to censor your children from cartoony, unrealistic naked bodies, be sure to click on the underwear a few times to see if it moves.

FKiSS is an acronym for French KiSS but has nothing to do with tongues or the French.

FKiSS is an extension to normal KiSS format. Standard KiSS has lots of colors and multi-layered clothing but FKiSS allows flashy stuff like sound and animation. KiSS dolls which have FKiSS extensions carry the FKiSS rating on the Big KiSS Page.

FKiSS is experimental, developed by Yav-san.

FKiSS 2 is a new, even-more-experimental-than-before extension to standard, experimental FKiSS. FKiSS adds variable translucency, if-statements, and new types of movements. For more details about FKiSS 2, see Chad Randall's FKiSS and FKiSS 2 Documents.

Cherry KiSS (aka CKiSS) is a special version of KiSS that uses true-color 24-bit graphics. CKiSS dolls tend to be very large files. Sometimes, the person making the doll didn't really use very many colors but just made it CKiSS because it was easier. Sometimes, they used lots of colors and made a really beautiful doll.

CKiSS is not supported by all KiSS viewers. If you don't know if your viewer supports CKiSS, you can look in the Viewers section. If there's a little icon, it supports CKiSS.

Okay, let's be clear on this: Enhanced Palette is a "bad thing".

It doesn't mean that the palette is enhanced. It means that the KiSS viewing programs needs enhanced support to handle a doll with too many palettes.

Enhanced Palette means that the doll uses the used too many colors at one time. This is very unstable. It will load just fine for some people while causing other people to have their computer crash (just crash, no data loss, reboot and you'll be fine). It's mainly a problem with different video cards rather than which KiSS viewer you use.

Enhanced Palette Support is not available on all KiSS viewers. If you don't know if your viewer supports, you can look in the Viewers section. If there's a icon, it tries to have Enhanced Palette Support.

Yes and no. I thought about giving every artist a free subscription for every doll but, because our resources are limited, that would mean I would have to keep those free subscriptions very short and everyone would get the same small amount. That didn't seem fair to people who put a lot more work into dolls that were more beloved of their fans.

If you send in a KiSS doll that you made, I'll post your doll right away and, after a month, we'll see what people thought about it. If they liked it a lot, I'll give you free subscription time in proportion to how much they liked it. You can learn more about the standards for how much time you will receive in the Doll Submission Guidelines. Keep in mind that template dolls and conversion dolls cannot earn free subscription time.

If your doll doesn't turn out to be very popular, please don't be discouraged. Try to take it as incentive to make your next doll that much better. You might also want to try getting feedback from other KiSS artists in the various KiSS-related forums.

No.

Why not? Because making a KiSS doll takes a lot of time and effort. I can't just scribble one out in a few minutes. It takes me weeks or months to complete a KiSS doll. True, I could make a really simple one in less time but, if it's not worth spending months making, it's not worth my making it. Keep in mind that I maintain the Big KiSS Page, the Anime and Manga Theme Guide, the Desktop Themes, and the Import Games sections of Otaku World. Even if I wanted to take requests, I wouldn't have the time.

Besides, if it's such a great idea for a doll, maybe you should consider trying to make it yourself. Since it's your inspiration, you'll do a better job of it than I would.

That's a complicated question. It's actually pretty easy to make KiSS dolls but it can still take a lot of time and effort to make a really good KiSS doll.

You can find lots of utilities to help you make KiSS dolls in the Tools section of the Big KiSS Page. That's also where you'll find many of the basic file specifications for KiSS.

There are also a large number of tutorials that various KiSS artists have written to help you learn to make KiSS dolls. calezane maintains a list of links and descriptions for those tutorials.

If you can't work things out from those documents, please don't run straight to me with your questions. I'm only one person and, while I know how to make KiSS dolls, my teaching skills aren't so good. You'll probably get better answers from the KiSS-related forums. I read those forums too so, if you post your question there, I or one of the other KiSS artists will try to answer it.

By the way, don't worry about being a super artist or not. Not everyone is a Rumiko Takahashi. Making KiSS dolls is about making art for fun, not for a grade. As long as you had fun making it, others will have fun playing with it and that's what really matters. Plus, my walk-through suggests a few ways to cheat at making the drawings.

Please refer to the Doll Submission Guidelines for that information.

Editor's Choice is my way of saying "This doll deserves special attention." The download counts can only measure how impressive the preview image of a doll is. With so many dolls, it would be impossible for me to work up some kind of numbered rating system and I'd go nuts if I tried to keep it consistent. So I give Editor's Choice ratings to dolls that I think are particularly special.

Some people wonder why one doll will get an Editor's Choice rating while another better-drawn doll won't get it. In getting an Editor's Choice rating, dolls from one artist aren't in competition with dolls from another artist. I don't make that kind of comparison. I give Editor's Choice ratings when I think a doll is really well done for that particular artist. Did this artist show a lot of improvement? The Editor's Choice rating isn't like an academy award; it's more like a gold star from the teacher.

Some of the other things I look for are well-planned design, large wardrobes, creative or unique uses of FKiSS, unique subject matter, and good artwork. These aren't the only things and, even if a doll has some of these factors, other factors can lower the rating.

If you really want to get an Editor's Choice rating, just keep making your dolls better and better and you'll get one eventually. In the meantime, do NOT let your self-worth depend on my silly, subjective opinions.

Editor's Award, on the other hand, is a little different. With Editor's Award, you are in competition with all other dolls. I only give that to the very best dolls. I have to be very picky with Editor's Award or it won't mean anything. I only give Editor's Award to dolls that I think really are a class above all others.

PlayFKiSS 0.83 and up has a known bug related to Saving a CNF and transparency. When you Save, if there are any transparent() commands in the initialize() event of your CNF, PlayFKiSS will crash when it reaches that part of the CNF.

To make matters worse, if transparency has been implemented some other way, such as use the %t notation in the CEL declarations, PlayFKiSS tries to be helpful by adding transparent() commands to initialize() event when you Save so that, the next time you Save, the transparency crash bug will get you.

Fortunately, since this bug is very predictable, it is easy to avoid once you know about it.

Always, always, always, use Save As to save to a new CNF. That way, if it does crash, you will not lose everything you've done in previous sessions. Back-ups are Good. Overwriting your only working copy of your CNF is like walking a tightrope with no net.

If you have transparency in your doll, keep those transparent() commands out of the initialize() event. There a couple of ways to achieve this:

• Put your transparent() in a different event. For example, you could put them in the begin() event or, if it's an FKiSS 3 doll, you could put them in a label() event which you gosub() from the initialize() event.
• Put the transparent() commands in the initialize() section but ONLY do it after you've finished all the other stuff and won't need to use PlayFKiSS to save position data anymore.
• Use the ;%t format to set transparency. Instead of using transparent() commands, you set the transparency in the CEL declaration like this...
  #5 gauze.cel ;%t128 ;I can put more comments out here

Whichever method you use, remember to use Save As to save to a new CNF every time because PlayFKiSS will still try to be helpful and add those transparent() commands to initialize() event when you Save so that, the next time you Save, the transparency crash bug will get you.

You may also want to read this list of PlayFKiSS known bugs if you plan to use PlayFKiSS to create KiSS dolls.

BEFORE putting any images from somebody's KiSS doll on your website, contact that KiSS artist and get their permission. If you can't get that artist to respond or if there is no way to contact them, do not assume that it is alright because until you have direct permission from them, you will be violating their artistic rights. I don't post any dolls on the Big KiSS Page without the artist's permission and you need to get that permission before you post anything from them on your page. I know that you only want to use their artwork because you like it and I'm sure they'd be flattered but they'd also be very upset if someone used their artwork without asking first.

It is stealing. If you like an artist, don't steal from them - ask for their permission before using their artwork.

All images used in KiSS dolls are copyrighted to those KiSS artists. International copyright law says that you don't have to put the word "copyright" on it or even put your name on it. It's just automatically copyrighted no matter what. Webhosts are very helpful in shutting down websites which refuse to remove copyright artwork or do not even acknowledge such requests.

We did carry adult KiSS dolls but it became necessary to remove them.

PayPal believed Otaku World was in violation of their terms of agreement but they refused to tell us which of the terms we were in violation of. We assumed the adult-oriented sections were in violation so we took them down. Otherwise, the Accursed Toys account that handled all subscriptions to Otaku World would have been suspended and that would have force Otaku World off the web.

We don't want to debate the merits -- or lack thereof -- concerning PayPal's prudish terms. In order for Otaku World to stay on the Web, we must use subscriptions and PayPal is currently the largest online payment firm in the world so we can reach the largest audience possible. Although it may be possible to use other, smaller online payment options, many of those have similar restrictions.

I can't anticipate every question so, if I haven't answered your question here, you can always contact me by e-mail.

If you are sending e-mail from your browser, please make certain that you have correctly set your return address or I won't know how to contact you with an answer.

If you are an AOL user, PLEASE make sure that you have set your e-mail to accept mail from non-AOL users or else you won't be able to receive my reply to your message and I will have no way to contact you. (This happens way too often.)

Here is my e-mail address. Please be sure to include what kind of computer you are using, which KiSS viewer you are using, and, if it's a problem with a specific doll, which doll. Try to give a detailed description of your problem since Help! It's not working right! What do I do? won't really help me to determine what might be going wrong.