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Alien Abductions in SPWAW 4.3b

 
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Alien Abductions in SPWAW 4.3b - 10/12/2000 11:29:00 AM   
Scipio Africanus

 

Posts: 76
Joined: 6/21/2000
From: Somerville, Ma, USA
Status: offline 		You heard it here first. A mid '43 Email Desert battle between the Germans and Anzac and WOW the replay works, But... Most of my units simply disappeared on turn 2. Gone. Nothing. This in a 2400 point battle (I used to play 4000 point battles with cheaper units in Ver 2.3 with no problems). It took roughly 9 minutes to find this terminal bug. Here is my suggestion: Re post Version 2.3 with the 4.3 OOBS, that way the game will work again. Right now I have a really good WWII equipment encyclopedia on my hard drive called SPWAW, I seem to remember playing a cool game of that title over the summer. I wonder what happened to it? ------------------ Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

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Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Post #: 1
- 10/12/2000 12:48:00 PM   
Grisha


Posts: 355
Joined: 5/11/2000
From: Seattle
Status: offline 		While I can understand your frustration, there are a few things you may want to bear in mind:[list=1]
  • "beta" usually means that it's really a testing platform with most, but not all, bugs removed. Thus, 4.3beta is by no means a final release, and should be downloaded with that in mind (I didn't d/l it, because I didn't want to have the kind of problems you're presently having).
  • This game is completely free. We don't pay a dime.[/list=a]

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    Best regards,
    Greg Guerrero

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    • Post #: 2
    - 10/12/2000 1:02:00 PM   
    mogami


    Posts: 12789
    Joined: 8/23/2000
    From: You can't get here from there
    Status: offline     		Hi Scipo (guess we know where you like to fight) Perhaps your ANZAC boys hear the drone of the Luftwaffe and git while the gettings good. I use 4.3b and have had no problems on solitary or online line games so far. (have not tried PBEM yet) I even continued old camp game after update (Russian Guard Inf came back after vanishing with 4.1) I have 2 folders with SPWaW one I update as new versions appear other I don't so if anything wierd occurs I am still safe. When you download a beta you play it and report "bugs" they will be there so don't let it get to you. One day in the not too distant future SPWaW will be done and we will all have something great to play (already is best of its kind) They have been working on this project for a long time and I think it reflects highly on Matrix et al. ------------------ I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a differant direction!

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    I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 3
    - 10/12/2000 6:59:00 PM   
    Tankhead

     

    Posts: 1352
    Joined: 6/21/2000
    From: Yukon Territory Canada
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Scipio Africanus: You heard it here first. A mid '43 Email Desert battle between the Germans and Anzac and WOW the replay works, But... Most of my units simply disappeared on turn 2. Gone. Nothing. This in a 2400 point battle (I used to play 4000 point battles with cheaper units in Ver 2.3 with no problems). It took roughly 9 minutes to find this terminal bug. Here is my suggestion: Re post Version 2.3 with the 4.3 OOBS, that way the game will work again. Right now I have a really good WWII equipment encyclopedia on my hard drive called SPWAW, I seem to remember playing a cool game of that title over the summer. I wonder what happened to it?
    Hi Scipio! What kind of puter are you running and video card? Tankhead ------------------ Rick Cloutier [email]rcclout@telusplanet.net[/email] Coordinator: Tankhead's SPWAW Resources http://tankhead.home.icq.com

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    Tankhead


    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 4
    - 10/12/2000 7:09:00 PM   
    Fuerte

     

    Posts: 314
    Joined: 6/14/2000
    From: Helsinki Finland
    Status: offline     		I feel quite the same way as Scipio. 2.3 was very good, PBEM had no major problems (except disappearing units... . In 4.0 something went really wrong, PBEM replay didn't work at all. Now in 4.2 and 4.3b the replay works most of the time, but still not 100%. Also in 4.3b the PBEM file size is somewhat smaller than in 2.3, still no compression, though. I don't think that going back to 2.3 is really an option, but it is true that the PBEM game has not improved at all from version 2.3, quite the contrary. Let's hope that 4.3 final finally fixes all these problems!

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    Post #: 5
    - 10/14/2000 11:28:00 AM   
    Scipio Africanus

     

    Posts: 76
    Joined: 6/21/2000
    From: Somerville, Ma, USA
    Status: offline     		Ok- I just want to clear a thing or two up... Yes 4.3 is beta. 4.2 didn't work either. 4.1 didn't work. 4.0 didn't work. 2.3 worked. My computer is the same one that ran 2.3 without a hitch. PII 350, 128 RAM, Voodoo 3 3000. I've played this game since version 1.0- I'm not some guy who played for 5 minutes and decided the game sucks. On the contrary I think the game is (was)great. Yes it's a beta version (and I can't stick with 4.2 as email does not work in that version)- here's my beta feedback- I have units disappearing in a 45 visibility desert battle- THIS WAS REPORTED FIXED IN AN EARLIER VERSION AND NOW IT IS BROKEN AGAIN. I apologize for the upper case but this needs to be addressed. New versions have added some great new features but they've also broken several things that used to work- email first of all and now desert battles. ------------------ Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

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    Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 6
    - 10/14/2000 9:33:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		Considering that there's more changes and new features in one (free) SPWAW version change than in a sequel to an average retail game, I'm surprised there hasn't been more problems. Sure the major additions in v4.0 created a lot of bugs, but 95% of them were fixed in v4.1. I think it's ridiculous when someone announces the game to be unplayable because of the few remaining bugs. Sure I hope the units disappearing and getting stolen by AI bugs get fixed, but they are pretty rare, and it's not like it's easy to find and fix obscure bugs in ten thousand lines of undocumented code.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 7
    - 10/14/2000 9:44:00 PM   
    Drake

     

    Posts: 178
    Joined: 9/4/2000
    From: Kingston, Canada
    Status: offline     		Got to agree with you their Kharan. Myself I find 4.3B a inprovement over 2.3

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    Post #: 8
    - 10/14/2000 11:02:00 PM   
    Tankhead

     

    Posts: 1352
    Joined: 6/21/2000
    From: Yukon Territory Canada
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Scipio Africanus: Yes 4.3 is beta. 4.2 didn't work either. 4.1 didn't work. 4.0 didn't work. 2.3 worked. My computer is the same one that ran 2.3 without a hitch. PII 350, 128 RAM, Voodoo 3 3000.
    Hi Scipio! I'm taking notes to see where this happens the most. It seems some computer make this bug worst then others and like my puter it only happens once in a while. If I'm playing some one with an older machine it happens more often. We are working on this bug and we should have a fix soon. Tankhead ------------------ Rick Cloutier [email]rcclout@telusplanet.net[/email] Coordinator: Tankhead's SPWAW Resources http://tankhead.home.icq.com

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    Tankhead


    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 9
    - 10/15/2000 8:49:00 PM   
    Fuerte

     

    Posts: 314
    Joined: 6/14/2000
    From: Helsinki Finland
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Kharan: I think it's ridiculous when someone announces the game to be unplayable because of the few remaining bugs.
    It is not at all ridiculous if all you do is PBEM, which does not work.

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    PBEM Helper

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    Post #: 10
    - 10/16/2000 10:30:00 PM   
    Larry Holt

     

    Posts: 1969
    Joined: 3/31/2000
    From: Atlanta, GA 30068
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Scipio Africanus: You heard it here first. A mid '43 Email Desert battle between the Germans and Anzac and WOW the replay works, But... Most of my units simply disappeared on turn 2. Gone. Nothing. ...
    SA, I'm sorry but its not clear to me, are you saying that the units were no longer in the game or that they became unspotted once they had been spotted? Thanks for some clairification. ------------------ An old soldier but not yet a faded one. OK, maybe just a bit faded.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 11
    - 10/16/2000 10:49:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		After two succesful 4.3B PBEM games, I had the disappearing bug too. On the first turns, one platoon just vanished off the map. Still remained in the HQ list, Unit list and IIRC the Next list. [This message has been edited by Kharan (edited October 16, 2000).]

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    Post #: 12
    - 10/16/2000 11:20:00 PM   
    Wild Bill

     

    Posts: 6821
    Joined: 4/7/2000
    From: Smyrna, Ga, 30080
    Status: offline     		Did you try to "click" them back on the map. Go to HQ list, click on first unit that has vanished, then exit, then click somewhere on the map. Let me know if that works...WB ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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    In Arduis Fidelis
    Wild Bill Wilder
    Independent Game Consultant

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 13
    - 10/16/2000 11:54:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Wild Bill: Did you try to "click" them back on the map. Go to HQ list, click on first unit that has vanished, then exit, then click somewhere on the map. Let me know if that works...WB
    Didn't try that, and couldn't reproduce the bug for that purpose. Maybe Scipio and Fuerte could as it seems to happen all the time for them .

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    Post #: 14
    - 10/17/2000 12:23:00 AM   
    Fuerte

     

    Posts: 314
    Joined: 6/14/2000
    From: Helsinki Finland
    Status: offline     		Sorry, but the disapprearing units bug has never happened to me. It happened to my PBEM mate... I can always reproduce the replay problem, though.

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    PBEM Helper

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 15
    - 10/18/2000 2:21:00 PM   
    Scipio Africanus

     

    Posts: 76
    Joined: 6/21/2000
    From: Somerville, Ma, USA
    Status: offline     		I'll agree with Fuerte- I am not making ridiculous statements. Email is unplayable without the replay. The game is obviously unplayable if your units disappear. Everyone else is complaining that "but the Tiger can't be worth 200 points, it's gotta be 204..." or "But the Germans had an experimental clipboard which should be in the OOB..." I'm talking about major bugs that make the game fail EVERY time I play. Whereas previously the game worked well 95% of the time (in version2.3) By disappear I mean 70% are gone without a trace and without explanation. They are not visible to me, my opponent, or the program. They cannot interact with the combat environment in any way. They will appear on the HQ roster and I can hit the "N" button to continue to cycle through the units. If you select an invisible unit you can do nothing with it. No movement, no firing, no rallying. It does not re appear. The Phenomenon does not seem to occur other than in desert battles. The replay appeared to be working properly but the deeper I get into my current game, the shorter and shorter the replay becomes. It's beta, that was feedback. ------------------ Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

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    Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 16
    - 10/18/2000 6:52:00 PM   
    David F. Wall

     

    Posts: 158
    Joined: 5/25/2000
    From: Waltham, MA, USA
    Status: offline     		Let me supply some further feedback. I have always avoided using replay in PBEM games. Firstly because I have a personal quirk that makes not using it add to the fog of war. Second because it's been my experience that every time I tried it, either some of my units disappeared, or some of my opponent's. This is not to suggest that I'm calling the feelings of people whose enjoyment of the game is impinged by these bugs. It's almost as if the disappearing units have retreated off the map. Occasionally in Steel Panthers II you'd have these situations where helicopters would retreat off the map. They'd still be in the roster, but you couldn't do anything with them... ... unless some of your opponent's units also retreated off the map, at which point they'd become targets for your helicopters. I don't know if that offers any useful insight or not....

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 17
    - 10/18/2000 7:00:00 PM   
    Paul Vebber


    Posts: 11430
    Joined: 3/29/2000
    From: Portsmouth RI
    Status: offline     		We are working on the problem, but are having problems finding a cause. We are working on it and intend to fix it. We realize how important to PBEM the replay is.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 18
    - 10/18/2000 8:28:00 PM   
    Windo von Paene

     

    Posts: 174
    Joined: 5/16/2000
    From: Seattle, WA
    Status: offline     		No the "disappearing units" bug , (at least in 2.3), did not just occur with desert battles. What countries have those effected been playing? I had no problems with the Soviets, but when Warhorse and I played, (or tried to play), a Hungary versus Rumania battle, I, (Rumania), began having the problem. Wild Bill - when I had the bug, clicking on the "Go To" button in the roster would bring up the right-click unit information screen, with the interesting difference that it was completely blank, except for the continue button! If you're playing unsecure, save a copy of the files with a different slot number, view the replay in that file, then open the real file and take your turn.

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    Post #: 19
    - 10/19/2000 2:48:00 AM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		We did some testing... On desert battles, all British and Anzac Bedford and Morris trucks disappear on turn 2 after you press VCR. The VCR doesn't have to have anything on it. If you move a said truck before you press VCR, it doesn't disappear. The trucks do not reappear on the following turn. It doesn't matter if a truck is loaded. The actual map doesn't matter, if battle conditions is a desert. You can try this in random battle generator (solitaire, hotseat, PBEM), Britain vs Germany '41. German trucks do not disappear, neither do British Hippo trucks. So it is only some marked units that are swallowed by the Sandworms.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 20
    - 10/19/2000 3:01:00 AM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		With Hungary and Rumania, it doesn't have to be a desert battle, the VCR makes Hungarian Raba Botonds and Raba Afis disappear on non-desert battles as well. Oddly, British Morrises and Bedfords do not disappear on a summer battle. Additional British units that disappear in desert are Rolls Royce AC, 2pdr Portee, Ford GT and AEC Matador. Don't know what ties them together, and why some units disappear only in desert and some only on summer maps. Haven't found any German or Soviet units that have the tendency. [This message has been edited by Kharan (edited October 18, 2000).]

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 21
    - 10/19/2000 10:44:00 AM   
    Fuerte2

     

    Posts: 39
    Joined: 10/18/2000
    Status: offline     		That's exactly what happened with our game. We were playing the Blenheim Blunder, and my PBEM mate lost all his infantry, which was loaded into British trucks.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 22
    - 10/19/2000 9:11:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		Trucks that go AWOL... On summer battles: USMC and Philippines Heavy truck, all Dodges, jeeps, GMC CCKW, Mack Mod NO7. Czech Skoda ST6, Tatra T92, Praha RV. On desert battles: Philippine Dodges, GMC CCKW, Mack Mod NO7. Czech Skoda ST6, Tatra T92, Praha RV. When you assign a waypoint for a disappeared unit, the route comes from upper corner of off the map. Their objective is also set at the upper corner.

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 23
    - 10/19/2000 10:36:00 PM   
    Windo von Paene

     

    Posts: 174
    Joined: 5/16/2000
    From: Seattle, WA
    Status: offline     		With the Rumanians... I too had trucks going AWOL. I however, also had tanks, can't remember the designation off the top of my head, but I beleive they were the "G" models...

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    Post #: 24
    - 10/19/2000 11:10:00 PM   
    Tom Proudfoot


    Posts: 1357
    Joined: 4/25/2000
    From: Alameda, CA
    Status: offline     		Thanks, guys... that helps out a lot. Now off to figure out why these trucks like to go AWOL.... Tom

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 25
    - 10/19/2000 11:26:00 PM   
    BA Evans

     

    Posts: 250
    Joined: 5/25/2000
    From: USA
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by Scipio Africanus: Email is unplayable without the replay.
    How can you say that email games are unplayable when you don't have access to the video replay? In the early versions of SP there was NO video replay and yet many people played the game via email. It was common practice to include a 'turn summary' when you sent your opponent the game files. I think you are getting soft if you HAVE to have a video replay. The replay definately makes things easier, but it is not required to have a good game. BA Evans

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 26
    - 10/19/2000 11:40:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		I don't know about the exact mechanics, but maybe when the VCR puts into memory the current unit coordinates so it can recall them after playing the VCR replay, some units' coordinates are placed off the map? It's pretty mystical that it only happens to certain units and that the terrain set affects this. Be vewwy vewwy quiet, we've hunting wabbits...

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 27
    - 10/19/2000 11:42:00 PM   
    Fuerte

     

    Posts: 314
    Joined: 6/14/2000
    From: Helsinki Finland
    Status: offline     		Are you saying that you still use MS-DOS, not Windows? Or are you soft, too?

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 28
    - 10/20/2000 1:29:00 AM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline
    quote:

    Originally posted by BA Evans: How can you say that email games are unplayable when you don't have access to the video replay?
    Actually most of the time VCR is working in PBEM (not anywhere near 100% though), the difference of opinion here is just how much exaggaration people should use to get issues noticed . Anyway, I'm sure that the programmer guys will find the disappearing bug... I just hope that the troop stealing AI thing would be as (relatively) easy to pin down and reproduce. [This message has been edited by Kharan (edited October 19, 2000).]

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    (in reply to Scipio Africanus)
    Post #: 29
    - 10/20/2000 5:38:00 PM   
    Kharan

     

    Posts: 505
    Joined: 5/9/2000
    Status: offline     		Nice going, Tom!

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    Post #: 30
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