Alien Abductions in SPWAW 4.3b

Scipio Africanus · Post by **Scipio Africanus** » Thu Oct 12, 2000 8:29 am

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

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Thu Oct 12, 2000 9:48 am

While I can understand your frustration, there are a few things you may want to bear in mind:

"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]

mogami · Post by **mogami** » Thu Oct 12, 2000 10:02 am

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!

Tankhead · Post by **Tankhead** » Thu Oct 12, 2000 3:59 pm

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 rcclout@telusplanet.net
Coordinator: Tankhead's SPWAW Resources
http://tankhead.home.icq.com

Fuerte · Post by **Fuerte** » Thu Oct 12, 2000 4:09 pm

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!

Scipio Africanus · Post by **Scipio Africanus** » Sat Oct 14, 2000 8:28 am

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

Kharan · Post by **Kharan** » Sat Oct 14, 2000 6:33 pm

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.

Drake · Post by **Drake** » Sat Oct 14, 2000 6:44 pm

Got to agree with you their Kharan.

Myself I find 4.3B a inprovement over 2.3

Tankhead · Post by **Tankhead** » Sat Oct 14, 2000 8:02 pm

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 rcclout@telusplanet.net
Coordinator: Tankhead's SPWAW Resources
http://tankhead.home.icq.com

Fuerte · Post by **Fuerte** » Sun Oct 15, 2000 5:49 pm

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.

Larry Holt · Post by **Larry Holt** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 7:30 pm

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.

Kharan · Post by **Kharan** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 7:49 pm

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).]

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 8:20 pm

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

Kharan · Post by **Kharan** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 8:54 pm

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

.

Fuerte · Post by **Fuerte** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 9:23 pm

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.

Scipio Africanus · Post by **Scipio Africanus** » Wed Oct 18, 2000 11:21 am

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

David F. Wall · Post by **David F. Wall** » Wed Oct 18, 2000 3:52 pm

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....

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Wed Oct 18, 2000 4:00 pm

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.

Windo von Paene · Post by **Windo von Paene** » Wed Oct 18, 2000 5:28 pm

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.

Kharan · Post by **Kharan** » Wed Oct 18, 2000 11:48 pm

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.