[Singh]

Guys, seriously. FS Open is buggy. Not just buggy, its unplayably buggy. Now, it's almost impossible for me to run a mission with -jpgtga without it crashing whenever a beam, explosion or shockwave runs, simply because of a CTD. The load times are massive (even experiencing huge hang times before it moves to the load screens) and the memory leak just gets worse with each build. add to that a host of multi problems, I really don't want to suggest this, but perhaps it time to bring it back.....

What am I talking about? Quite simple, really, its:


The Code Freeze.


We need it back, to help us get rid of these bugs, and improve performance of the engine as much as possible. Even running with retail stuff, its sub-par to the real thing, which is NOT what is supposed to be happening here....
Discuss.......

[Inquisitor]

Which version? 3.6? one of the Kazan Multi builds?

[Singh]

Originally posted by Inquisitor
Which version? 3.6? one of the Kazan Multi builds?

I've had various problems with all the builds, may it be 3.6 or others. 3.6 is actually unusable, it just CTDs without much question and rather randomly.

The latest builds dont work well for me either, may it be Kazan's or WMCoolmons (especially Coolmon's. Something there doesn't like multi - halfway through laoding a mission, it'll disconnect my client or i'll disconnect from the server, and its always after downloading/transferring new missions). the last decently working build I have is Bob's 7-10.

[Ransom]

The only problem I'm having at all is the memory leak. Otherwise the game runs almost perfectly.

[Singh]

lucky you then

[Inquisitor]

Is this widespread? Have you reported in Mantis? Etc?

We were supposed to have a dev chat yesterday, we talked about a mini code freeze to clean up some things and pop out a 3.6.1 with the Kaz multi stuff in it, but, nobody showed who we needed to show to discuss that, so we talked about docos instead.

I think the recent news has everyone's head swimming

[Singh]

Originally posted by Inquisitor
Is this widespread? Have you reported in Mantis? Etc?

We were supposed to have a dev chat yesterday, we talked about a mini code freeze to clean up some things and pop out a 3.6.1 with the Kaz multi stuff in it, but, nobody showed who we needed to show to discuss that, so we talked about docos instead.

I think the recent news has everyone's head swimming

Dunno if its widespread, but these problems keep varying wildly with each build, so I have no idea if it should be reported O_o

A 3.6.1 build that's relatively bug-free and without performance issues would be ub3r to say the least. the only reason we aren't and didn't promote 3.6 all over the place was due to its bugginess, which was why we had the code freeze in the first place..............

[Flipside]

I think cross compatability is fast becoming an issue here, the more people we have testing on different systems and reporting bugs in Mantis, the better. Do you have a Debug build at all Singh?

[Singh]

debug....build? O_o

[Bobboau]

I realy want to get my particle restructureing done before another relese, thtere should be enough time with that for someone to fix the memory leak

[Flipside]

Singh, some builds have 2 versions

XXXXX_r.exe - This is a 'release' build and runs as normal.
XXXXX_d.exe - This is a 'debug' build, which runs much much slower but monitors system stats and generates detailed error reports if it crashes.

These error reports often help coders track down and repair problems.


http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/fs2_open_3_6_debug.exe

That's the standard 3.6 debug build, but I think it still does not have the Warp Bug fixed in it.

[Inquisitor]

If it's not widespread, then it's compatibility with your system. If it is widespread, how about someone giving us a heads up.  Grab that debug build and give us as much information as it gives you.

[Tepa]

Inq i think its widespread and i been naggin about it on mantis allrdy
so far missions by names i found that damn crash
STV gauntlet
Trougth the irongate
Rebel intercept both versions
sheesh i cant remember em all havent even tested em all

[Inquisitor]

Same advice then

Help us find it

[Flipside]

I know, it can be annoying sometimes, the coders have done a phenominal job, but they still need everyones help to give you the best they can. You are doing the right thing by reporting them on Mantis, thanks

Mantis is everyones friend, if the coders don't know it's broken, they can't fix it, and the poor guys are far too busy coding to get much time to play the actual game beyond basic testing most of the time

[Goober5000]

I'm pretty sure all the CTDs are due to the memory leak, which we're trying hard to fix.

[silverwolf]

not only is mantis needed to make sure they know. it also help them prioritize and keep track of what they have fixed and what hasn't so they could work effectivly

[Silent Warrior]

... I... have a confession to make. I hardly notice a problem, except a bit low framerate for a five-year-old game. Well, the loading-time is pretty bad as well, but not quite as horrible as LOMAC. Close, quite close, but not quite there yet. And I run with pretty much every commandline I can find.
I don't really notice the memory-leak either, not that I'm an expert in the field, but that might have something to do with me running some RAM Booster-thing in the background. Once RAM goes below a set level, free X amount of memory. Blah.
There was a mission in Renegade Ressurgence that caused a CTD every time (mission 3), but I fired up FRED2 and hacked my way around that (premature mission end, blah - certainly not below my skill; always something I'm good at ), no worries at all.

LUCKY ME!!!!1

[Tolwyn]

Originally posted by Goober5000
I'm pretty sure all the CTDs are due to the memory leak, which we're trying hard to fix.

my guess exactly, take a closer look at stats Sometimes I have only 10 mb free

[Trivial Psychic]

I had a problem yesterday where ships jumping in would result in a series of BSoD's, followed by a full crash.  After taking a closer look at the error message, I went on a hunch and resinstalled my VIA VxD drivers and PRESTO... no more problem.  It wouldn't surprise me to learn that occasional errors are the result of decaying system drivers.

While we're on the subject of bugs, is there any command line to lower the brightness of full nebulae?  I've bee trying to play "Monster In The Mist", but the nebula is so bright that I can't see my own HUD.  I tried the ambient factor controls, but they just lower ship brightness.

Later!