2.5.1 NetPlay Bugs

[paulderynck]

Don and I tried testing the new public beta by continuing our NetPlay game.

We used the last game save from the game we started with version 2.4.3 so perhaps that is what caused us problems today. Unfortunately they involve production planning and production. It is SO39 in our game and Bessarabia was demanded and given. So the Russians should be sending 4 non-oil and 2 oil resources to Germany. When we open the game at this point - this can be replicated by using the US Entry saves we posted here: tm.asp?m=4267835 - we found the USSR was only sending one oil and 4 resources. We seemed able to correct this but when we got to final production Germany lost 4 BPs between the Final Production phase and actually producing units.

[paulderynck]

The first line of the screen above shows the correction of the additional oil going to Germany and everything looked fine at Final Production, but then for production I see this:

[paulderynck]

4 BPs have gone missing! So I used CTRL-P to try and see what happened.

[paulderynck]

Originally the Ploesti Oil was going to production and the Swedish resources were idle. I thought I had fixed all that and it looked fine when I closed Preliminary Production. But it all got magically changed after Final Production somehow.

We even thought the fix for the missing USSR lent oil might have caused this and repeated the whole exercise with Germany saving less oil and trying to max production. Again everything was good upon closing Preliminary Production, but exactly the same result occurred as in the last two pictures above.

I also note that when you try and change an oil from production to save, then when you select it and click on the Save button under Rail/Ship, you only get the list of potential save locations the first time you do that. After the first time, when you select another oil and click on the same Save button, the form is unresponsive. There is an easy workaround, however. Instead of the Save button, click on the Where To button (which normally means sending the resource to a factory to produce it) and you get the list of factory locations. But just cancel out of that and then the Save button will behave properly again! You do have to perform this workaround every time after the first time, though.

[paulderynck]

As stated in post #1, to replicate all the production sequence from the beginning, follow the link in that post and use the two US Entry saves.

To just follow through what is happening between Final Production and actually trying to spend the BPs, use this save from the Break Down Units phase. This is the Axis one and Don will post the Allied one.

[Timian]

Sorry / A little slow . . . Here is the corresponding Allied Save . . . Don.

[gw15]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

Originally the Ploesti Oil was going to production and the Swedish resources were idle. I thought I had fixed all that and it looked fine when I closed Preliminary Production. But it all got magically changed after Final Production somehow.

We even thought the fix for the missing USSR lent oil might have caused this and repeated the whole exercise with Germany saving less oil and trying to max production. Again everything was good upon closing Preliminary Production, but exactly the same result occurred as in the last two pictures above.

I also note that when you try and change an oil from production to save, then when you select it and click on the Save button under Rail/Ship, you only get the list of potential save locations the first time you do that. After the first time, when you select another oil and click on the same Save button, the form is unresponsive. There is an easy workaround, however. Instead of the Save button, click on the Where To button (which normally means sending the resource to a factory to produce it) and you get the list of factory locations. But just cancel out of that and then the Save button will behave properly again! You do have to perform this workaround every time after the first time, though.

The problem you describe also happens in solitaire. I just click back and forth on the save/production/where to buttons until I get the form I want.

[paulderynck]

We tested again today with 2.5.2 and this minor problem with the Save button is fixed!

However we still have the major problem with the BPs disappearing between final production and actually trying to spend the BPs to build units, as described in posts 1, 2 and 3.

We are dead in the water with Netplay testing until this bug can be eradicated.

[davidachamberlain]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

We tested again today with 2.5.2 and this minor problem with the Save button is fixed!

However we still have the major problem with the BPs disappearing between final production and actually trying to spend the BPs to build units, as described in posts 1, 2 and 3.

We are dead in the water with Netplay testing until this bug can be eradicated.

Agreed.

This has not been fixed.

What I need to do to work around this is similar to what Steve mentioned previously, it is necessary to restore the (correct) NP - Scrap Destroyed. As soon as we get to Final Production or Reinforcements and find the BPs are not correct, we try the Allies and then the Axis versions of this file to continue. Steve will need to find a way to make sure that these are not overwritten incorrectly to prevent this from occuring.

Dave

[paulderynck]

Never thought of that! We may give that a try depending on the availability of an official fix.

[davidachamberlain]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

Never thought of that! We may give that a try depending on the availability of an official fix.

We have found the need to do that almost every turn to allow for the correct production. Usually, it is the Allies with the problem, but on occasion, it has been the Axis, so depending on which is wrong, we will restore using that file for both sides.

That type of approach has been our go-to when bad things happen - specifically undo's that do the wrong thing.

We will go back to the previous step, restore and continue by redoing the step and avoiding what caused the problem.

That autosave process that happens at each stage has allowed us to be able to continue our game many times now.

I also use it when playing solitaire, as well, when I totally forgot to do some moves.

Dave

[paulderynck]

Not sure I understand. There were no undos, everything looked fine until it came time to produce. As you can see from Post #3 the production plan for Germany magically changed at the last moment.

So it's NetPlay but both sides restore from the same file without editing it?

Of course a shared Dropbox folder would make that real easy to do. Any chance of a step-by-step for our situation?

Thanx

[davidachamberlain]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

Not sure I understand. There were no undos, everything looked fine until it came time to produce. As you can see from Post #3 the production plan for Germany magically changed at the last moment.

So it's NetPlay but both sides restore from the same file without editing it?

Of course a shared Dropbox folder would make that real easy to do. Any chance of a step-by-step for our situation?

Thanx

Yes, we do restore from the same version of the file (not separate Axis and Allies, since one can have the wrong BPs). At Prodution (Scrap Destroyed autosave created), both Axis and Allied versions "should" be the same, but we have sometimes found that they are not. In that case, we will restore with the same file for both sides.

The undo's are just another reason for the restores - not related to Production. We have encountered situations where an undo is not transmitted to the other side and gets missed. We needed to go back to the earlier autosave and restore it for both sides to get the games back in sync.

In general, both games should be he same at the autosyncs, but sometimes due to undos or parallel activities, such as during Production (mostly here) or Reinforcements (thought we have not noticed a problem there, yet), the updates can be out of sync where the updates from one side overwrite the updates from the other side.

Steb-by-step is simple.

If at/after Final Production, the BPs are not correct for everyone, restore from the NP - Scrap Destroyed for EITHER (use the same file for both) Axis or Allies. Use the one for the side that appears to have everything correct. If the Allies notice a problem, try the Allies autosave file first and if it is still wrong, use the Axis file.

Dave

[paulderynck]

Thanks Dave.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: davidachamberlain

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

We tested again today with 2.5.2 and this minor problem with the Save button is fixed!

However we still have the major problem with the BPs disappearing between final production and actually trying to spend the BPs to build units, as described in posts 1, 2 and 3.

We are dead in the water with Netplay testing until this bug can be eradicated.

Agreed.

This has not been fixed.

What I need to do to work around this is similar to what Steve mentioned previously, it is necessary to restore the (correct) NP - Scrap Destroyed. As soon as we get to Final Production or Reinforcements and find the BPs are not correct, we try the Allies and then the Axis versions of this file to continue. Steve will need to find a way to make sure that these are not overwritten incorrectly to prevent this from occuring.

Dave

Only really kludgy work around - if you have a pilot available - is to Retrain the Pilot and then Undo the build. That gives you a BP without the loss of the pilot.

[davidachamberlain]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
Only really kludgy work around - if you have a pilot available - is to Retrain the Pilot and then Undo the build. That gives you a BP without the loss of the pilot.

Hopefully, you have this problem on your list and have some files to test with when you are ready to fix it.

Let me know if you do not and I can post a couple files from a recent game. This is an ongoing problem that appears to screw up the BPs in just about every game. I can work around it, but not everyone does.

Dave