Crashes, Bugs and Troubleshooting

[TheGeoff]

Common Problems:


The game does not start - it immediately says "Illegal Memory Address"
There are several possible solutions to this:

Extract the game from the zip file before running it.
Run the game as an administrator.
Add the game to the Windows DEP exclusion list: http://www.windowsanswers.net/articles/dep-config



The game loads, then crashes with the message "Player nation is not in nations.list file"
The player_nation in gameoptions.ini is invalid. Ensure the country name is spelled correctly and capitalised correctly. The nation you are trying to play may not be in the game yet - check the 'Playable nations" list.


The game loads, then crashes with the message "No suitable starting port found"
The selected player_nation in gameoptions.ini is landlocked or does not have any ports in the game yet, so it is not playable. Please select a different nation.


The game crashes on startup with no error message or the graphics do not display properly
Disable OpenGL by changing "OpenGL_graphics = 1" to "OpenGL_graphics = 0" (without quotation marks) in gameoptions.ini


I use a non-QWERTY keyboard and the controls don't work
There are instructions for changing key bindings in the guide.txt file. If anyone makes a good keybindings.ini for AZERTY, QWERTZ or any other common keyboard types feel free to post it!


The game runs very slowly
There are several ways to increase performance. The following settings are all found in gameoptions.ini:

Lower the number of ships and aircraft in the world.
Change the fire rendering style to 2.
Change the radar model to 1.
Set realistic_UI to 0 (this makes the game a lot uglier and is not recommended)
Enable OpenGL in gameoptions.ini, if it has been disabled.



I have been given a mission which is impossible to complete!

Download this: http://goo.gl/QsUsqE
Put MissionCompleter.exe in your game folder (the same folder as the Sub Commander exe file)
Save your game.
Run the Mission Completer (it should say "Mission complete!")
Load your game. The old mission will have been completely forgotten and you will be quickly given a new one.




Known bugs in current version:

If an unconscious crewman dies while another crewman is attempting to revive him, the crewman who was trying to help will keep trying to revive the body forever. You can stop him by ordering him to abandon his post then ordering him to return to duty.
Sometimes your country will accidentally nuke itself, then declare war on itself. This will turn every friendly ship and port hostile to you, so you're basically screwed... such is life in a nuclear war (I'll fix this soon)



If you have a problem which is not listed here please post it in this thread!

[kakster22]

Hello! First of all,I'm a big fan of the game,and have been spending a lot of time playing it. Some of my favorite moments in games like FTL and Silent Hunter III were damage control,bringing my Ship (Or U-boat) back from the brink of death! Sorry if this is out of place (I couldn't decide if this belonged here or the main thread or FAQ thread :-?) Now on to my question: In the FAQ thread you made a list of playable nations,one of them was North Korea,so I decided to give them a try however the game closed and said "No suitable port found" So I did a little investigating and checked out North Korea and found that the (presumably spawn) city/port isn't landlocked,and I should be able to spawn there. It's not that big of a deal,I can always just play as China and start out a few miles away,but I thought I'd point that out,sorry if this has already been reported or is something you knew of! Also,on a kind of unrelated note,I was wondering if there was a place to post/share custom submarines,as I'd be interested in seeing what people have come up with. Thank you for reading!

[TheGeoff]

Thanks for pointing that out, it's definitely a bug! Pyongyang and Seoul were both marked in the game files as not having nearby seaports, making it impossible to play as North or South Korea. I've now fixed this for the next update.

There isn't anywhere specific to post user made subs yet, I don't think many people have made them unfortunately. If you make any, feel free to post about them in the main thread (or post a new thread).

[kust]

Hi when I start the game the mouse is up in the right corner and don't respond
Im on windows 8

[TheGeoff]

First, make sure "show_cursor" is set to 1 in gameoptions.ini. If you are playing in full screen, try setting the game to windowed to see if the problem persists. If this doesn't work, let me know!

I do a lot of the game programming on a windows 8 laptop so it is definitely not a compatibility issue.

[kust]

Thanks it worked to put it in windowed mode thanks :)

[Thymo]

Found 2 bugs.

Bug 1:
If trying to load a save game when there is none present, the game will crash.

Bug 2:
On the turbine control panel, the knob for the electric motor tends to not turn. Sometimes it gets solved by going to the menu and going back. Bug was present in 0.24 too.

[kust]

Found 1 bug

1. is that fullscreen ain't fullscreen it's just a small window.

[TheGeoff]

Hmm, thanks for the reports guys. Fullscreen works on all of the computers I've tested it on, but if setting "windowed = 0" in gameoptions.ini is not working for you then maybe try disabling OpenGL (by setting "OpenGL_graphics = 0").

I've noted the save bug and will fix it soon. I'll look into the electric motor bug this week too.

[kvn8907]

A few bugs to report in Sub Commander 0.25. I have pictures of them, but it's a pain to upload them to a file sharing web site since this doesn't have image hosting, so I'll hold off unless you request them.

First, I was given an impossible mission. I was tasked to sink a ship in the lake to the northeast of Leningrad (not sure what it's called) which in Sub Commander has no outlet to the sea, and in real life only has a river connecting it to the ocean, which flows right through downtown Leningrad (not a good chance of slinking through undetected).

Second, with this newest version of the game (didn't happen in older ones) every time I quit the game, I get a Windows 7 message saying that the application has crashed. It doesn't prevent the game from running, but is annoying.

Third, starting with version 0.24 or 0.23 I think when I'm at level 1 zoom in the world map, the mission marker disappears even if I'm very close to it. I'm sure that in 0.22 that marker still showed up in level 1 zoom.

Lastly, I'm not sure if this is a glitch or a feature. There was a fire in the torpedo room and one of the torpedoes exploded, and with this newest version of the game, even internal damage causes flooding, so the evacuated torpedo room quickly filled with water. The fire was put out by the fire suppression system even before the flooding, so the room had 0% oxygen. As the room was flooding, I turned off the fire suppression system and opened the vent, and after a few moments, found the oxygen level of every other compartment dropping sharply, and people struggling to breathe, while the oxygen level of the torpedo room, now completely full of water, was stuck at 0%. I closed the vent to the torpedo room, surfaced, and opened the main induction valve, and oxygen level returned to normal elsewhere in the ship, and after the damage was repaired (two sailors with welding torches and SCBA) and the water drained, I opened the vent to the torpedo room again and it successfully replenished the oxygen. Was it a glitch that the inundated torpedo room caused oxygen to be sucked from the rest of the submarine when the vent was opened?

[Aktungbby]

Thymo; kvn8907 & kakster22! First and second posts respectively!:Kaleun_Salute:

[Jimbuna]

Welcome folks :sunny:

[TheGeoff]

A few bugs to report in Sub Commander 0.25. I have pictures of them, but it's a pain to upload them to a file sharing web site since this doesn't have image hosting, so I'll hold off unless you request them.

First, I was given an impossible mission. I was tasked to sink a ship in the lake to the northeast of Leningrad (not sure what it's called) which in Sub Commander has no outlet to the sea, and in real life only has a river connecting it to the ocean, which flows right through downtown Leningrad (not a good chance of slinking through undetected).

Second, with this newest version of the game (didn't happen in older ones) every time I quit the game, I get a Windows 7 message saying that the application has crashed. It doesn't prevent the game from running, but is annoying.

Third, starting with version 0.24 or 0.23 I think when I'm at level 1 zoom in the world map, the mission marker disappears even if I'm very close to it. I'm sure that in 0.22 that marker still showed up in level 1 zoom.

Lastly, I'm not sure if this is a glitch or a feature. There was a fire in the torpedo room and one of the torpedoes exploded, and with this newest version of the game, even internal damage causes flooding, so the evacuated torpedo room quickly filled with water. The fire was put out by the fire suppression system even before the flooding, so the room had 0% oxygen. As the room was flooding, I turned off the fire suppression system and opened the vent, and after a few moments, found the oxygen level of every other compartment dropping sharply, and people struggling to breathe, while the oxygen level of the torpedo room, now completely full of water, was stuck at 0%. I closed the vent to the torpedo room, surfaced, and opened the main induction valve, and oxygen level returned to normal elsewhere in the ship, and after the damage was repaired (two sailors with welding torches and SCBA) and the water drained, I opened the vent to the torpedo room again and it successfully replenished the oxygen. Was it a glitch that the inundated torpedo room caused oxygen to be sucked from the rest of the submarine when the vent was opened?

Thanks for reporting these.

1. Impossible missions are rare but unfortunately still happen sometimes. I'll get to work on a fix for this, hopefully for the next version. If I can't prevent them, I'll at least add an option to refuse a mission so it's not instant game over.

2. I haven't heard about this bug before, I'll check it out. Turning off OpenGL in gameoptions.ini might help, that's the biggest change in V0.25 compatibility-wise.

3. Thanks for pointing this out, I've now fixed it for the next version.

4. Hmm, sounds like there may be a glitch when trying to replenish the oxygen in a completely flooded room. I suspect the vent doesn't add any more oxygen because it sees the room is full of water, but the oxygen which would've flowed into that room is still deducted from the other rooms - I'll check it out.

[kvn8907]

Aye aye.

Tried turning off OpenGL. No more crash message when the game quits. Any idea what was causing that message? Also, will I notice any change in the game with OpenGL off?


Also, two more minor bugs to report.

First, with the default submarine submerged below periscope depth, if a torpedo is fired, a message is displayed saying 'Too deep to launch missiles!' despite the fact that the default sub has no missiles.

Second, when playing the game and pressing Esc, it comes up with Enter to start new game, L to load game, and escape to exit. Despite displaying incorrectly, S still saves and Enter still resumes the game.

[silverware]

First: Sometimes the sub torpedoes don't appear in the correct tubes. They still show as being loaded to the correct tube in the tactical menu, but it's an annoying visual bug.

Second: When you Refit at a port, the tubes are filled up, but not marked as loaded. You then have to reload them manually, where there seems to be two options. Either the crew just touch the torps in the tubes(next reload is normal), or more often, they load a second torp over the first. So there are two shown in the tube.(Next reload they touch them in the tubes).

Third: Fast travel can be used after launching a torpedo. I am calling this a bug, because you can use it to dodge enemy attacks occasionally, as all fast travel does is increment the timer faster and make you move much faster. But I presume that proper fast-travel will come in the future.

Fourth: On subs with multiple routes to a room, the crew will not path there through the fastest, nor safest method. It usually seems random which door they take. Implementing A* or equivalent with a high tendency toward safety would be nice.

[TheGeoff]

Aye aye.

Tried turning off OpenGL. No more crash message when the game quits. Any idea what was causing that message? Also, will I notice any change in the game with OpenGL off?


Also, two more minor bugs to report.

First, with the default submarine submerged below periscope depth, if a torpedo is fired, a message is displayed saying 'Too deep to launch missiles!' despite the fact that the default sub has no missiles.

Second, when playing the game and pressing Esc, it comes up with Enter to start new game, L to load game, and escape to exit. Despite displaying incorrectly, S still saves and Enter still resumes the game.

I don't fully understand a lot of the crashes caused by OpenGL mode so I'm not sure what was causing your specific error. Maybe some process wasn't stopping properly when the game quit or something... unfortunately I don't have much control over the low-level stuff like that so I can't really test it.

OpenGL significantly improves the rendering speed of the game. The default (DirectDraw) graphics service is pretty inefficient, meaning older or low power computers (eg netbooks) often run pretty slowly when there are a lot of fires on the screen or when looking at the world map - OpenGL eliminates this problem, but very rarely results in unusual crashes like yours.

I've noticed the "Too deep to launch missiles" bug and I'll fix it for next time. The game isn't checking properly if you're actually on the missile screen before it gives the warning message.

I'll look into the menu bugs too.

First: Sometimes the sub torpedoes don't appear in the correct tubes. They still show as being loaded to the correct tube in the tactical menu, but it's an annoying visual bug.

Second: When you Refit at a port, the tubes are filled up, but not marked as loaded. You then have to reload them manually, where there seems to be two options. Either the crew just touch the torps in the tubes(next reload is normal), or more often, they load a second torp over the first. So there are two shown in the tube.(Next reload they touch them in the tubes).

Third: Fast travel can be used after launching a torpedo. I am calling this a bug, because you can use it to dodge enemy attacks occasionally, as all fast travel does is increment the timer faster and make you move much faster. But I presume that proper fast-travel will come in the future.

Fourth: On subs with multiple routes to a room, the crew will not path there through the fastest, nor safest method. It usually seems random which door they take. Implementing A* or equivalent with a high tendency toward safety would be nice.

Thanks for reporting.

1. On which submarine(s) is this bug occurring? It's usually caused by an error in the objects.ini file for that particular sub.

2. Thanks for pointing this out, I'll fix it up for the next version. Should be a simple fix by the sounds of things.

3. Yeah, fast travel can basically be used to cheat your way out of a lot of situations currently. It's not real time compression, it just makes you move a lot faster. Currently fast travel is only unavailable if an enemy ship or plane is actively tracking your sub on radar/sonar, but I think I'll change this in the next version - it probably should be unavailable if enemies are nearby at all, regardless whether they have spotted you or not. Eventually I'll implement real time compression hopefully.

4. A* is already used, and the crew should always take the 'safest' path. When evaluating how dangerous a square is they will take into account the depth of water, the proximity and intensity of any fires nearby, and the presence of any objects they would have to climb over/under. They do not take radiation into account because they can't see it. They will not, however, recalculate their route if something changes after they start walking - this should probably be fixed at some point.

Are there any specific examples of poor pathfinding you can remember? The algorithm for evaluating the safety of a square might have some bugs.

[Thymo]

I found this bug a few weeks ago but didn't get to poat it yet.

Bug:
The current objective (white X) cannot be viewed on the map in zoom level 1 but ot can be viewed in any other. Disregard. Bug has been adressed already.

Request:
Can you also change the dutch port. Curently it is Amsterdam but it should be Den Helder which is our naval port, it's north of Amsterdam.

P.S
Is the master arm switch in the tactical control panel going to get any functionality or is it there just as eye candy?

[TheGeoff]

I found this bug a few weeks ago but didn't get to poat it yet.

Bug:
The current objective (white X) cannot be viewed on the map in zoom level 1 but ot can be viewed in any other. Disregard. Bug has been adressed already.

Request:
Can you also change the dutch port. Curently it is Amsterdam but it should be Den Helder which is our naval port, it's north of Amsterdam.

P.S
Is the master arm switch in the tactical control panel going to get any functionality or is it there just as eye candy?

Thanks for the info, I'll add Den Helder soon. The master arm switch is just decoration for now, maybe it'll do something one day though.

[silverware]

1. On which submarine(s) is this bug occurring? It's usually caused by an error in the objects.ini file for that particular sub.

2. Thanks for pointing this out, I'll fix it up for the next version. Should be a simple fix by the sounds of things.

3. Yeah, fast travel can basically be used to cheat your way out of a lot of situations currently. It's not real time compression, it just makes you move a lot faster. Currently fast travel is only unavailable if an enemy ship or plane is actively tracking your sub on radar/sonar, but I think I'll change this in the next version - it probably should be unavailable if enemies are nearby at all, regardless whether they have spotted you or not. Eventually I'll implement real time compression hopefully.

4. A* is already used, and the crew should always take the 'safest' path. When evaluating how dangerous a square is they will take into account the depth of water, the proximity and intensity of any fires nearby, and the presence of any objects they would have to climb over/under. They do not take radiation into account because they can't see it. They will not, however, recalculate their route if something changes after they start walking - this should probably be fixed at some point.

Are there any specific examples of poor pathfinding you can remember? The algorithm for evaluating the safety of a square might have some bugs.

1: I remember this happening on the default sub along with the December, although I haven't played in a few weeks.

4: Specifically the December, with it's many routes, I think one side may have had a tiny level of water in it. (less than enough to show up on the main view)
The crew tended to take the longer route from command to engines over a more direct one.

[hygroovy]

First up, this game is excellent! Thanks for making it, its a gem!

Most of the bugs I've come across have been mentioned already, but I just figured out how to change subs, and on the Typhoon, my crew are unable to find a path to No. 1 Reactor Coolant Pump.

I'll list any more bugs as I find them!

[Aktungbby]

hygroovy & Silverware! :Kaleun_Salute:

[Jimbuna]

Welcome to SubSim :sunny:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Welcome hygroovy & silverware :sunny:

[hygroovy]

Cheers me dears!

[Tango589]

I've just had a strange experience. Playing as the USSR, I was tasked with destroying an enemy ship in a 6 ship battle group. This turned out to be USSR as well. Just to see what would happen, I sunk 4 of the 6 ships, including the target. The remaining ships DC'd me to oblivion, which I expected. I jumped out of the game, used the Mission Completer, restarted back in Odedssa port and was immediately marmalised by a US Task Force right outside the port! Needless to say, that was the end of me. None of the USSR patrol aircraft lent a hand, neither did any fellow whips in the area. What could cause this anomaly in the first place?

[TheGeoff]

I've just had a strange experience. Playing as the USSR, I was tasked with destroying an enemy ship in a 6 ship battle group. This turned out to be USSR as well. Just to see what would happen, I sunk 4 of the 6 ships, including the target. The remaining ships DC'd me to oblivion, which I expected. I jumped out of the game, used the Mission Completer, restarted back in Odedssa port and was immediately marmalised by a US Task Force right outside the port! Needless to say, that was the end of me. None of the USSR patrol aircraft lent a hand, neither did any fellow whips in the area. What could cause this anomaly in the first place?

That's very unusual. There are several checks to ensure you are only given orders to engage ships or groups which are hostile to your nation - I don't know how that mission could have been given. Was the target definitely a USSR ship, and did you get a 'mission complete' message when you sank it? Or could there have been an undetected US submarine nearby which was the actual target? I've never seen anything like that happen in my testing.

Edit: Was a nuclear war in progress? Sometimes nations will declare war on themselves when the nukes start flying, so that could explain why you were ordered to sink your own ships.

The second one is a combination of bad luck and not-yet-implemented features:

While most AI task forces are assigned to strategically important areas, a few will appear at semi-random locations to spread out the action a bit. Sounds like a US taskforce decided by chance to sail right up to Odessa!

Combat between AI units has not actually been added to the game yet. They will maneuver around and try to intimidate each other but they can't yet fire their weapons. This was a compromise I made a while ago, because running the AI routines for thousands of ships firing at each other made the game run extremely slowly. I recently made a breakthrough on this front, however, and combat between AI units will definitely be added in the next version - it's working pretty well so far, though there are still a couple of minor problems to iron out.

[Tango589]

I've found that when I use the Foxtrot class sub, things go a bit screwy when I save and reload. The motor control panel and misc. systems control panel both 'fill in' the missing gaps, so there are suddenly inoperative turbine controls on the motor panel, and there are the missing ventilation section controls added back in, but inoperative, to both panels revert back to 'nuclear sub status'. Also, my crew members can no longer find their way out of their respective sections, despite me opening the doors for them.

I've also found that the mission log changes from whatever your starting choices were, to a USSR sub. For instance I started this mission in a French Foxtrot Class sailing from Marsailles, yet after saving and reloading, the log reckoned I was sailing a nuclear boat for the USSR out of Sevastopol.

I know you didn't design this sub, but would you be able to fix these?

[TheGeoff]

I've found that when I use the Foxtrot class sub, things go a bit screwy when I save and reload. The motor control panel and misc. systems control panel both 'fill in' the missing gaps, so there are suddenly inoperative turbine controls on the motor panel, and there are the missing ventilation section controls added back in, but inoperative, to both panels revert back to 'nuclear sub status'. Also, my crew members can no longer find their way out of their respective sections, despite me opening the doors for them.

I've also found that the mission log changes from whatever your starting choices were, to a USSR sub. For instance I started this mission in a French Foxtrot Class sailing from Marsailles, yet after saving and reloading, the log reckoned I was sailing a nuclear boat for the USSR out of Sevastopol.

I know you didn't design this sub, but would you be able to fix these?

I did make the Foxtrot actually! Thanks for pointing these bugs out, they shouldn't be too hard to fix. I'll probably release a mini update which fixes them soon.

[Tango589]

I did make the Foxtrot actually!
:oops: Whoops, my mistake. BTW, how's the Sub Commander 3D going?

[TheGeoff]

The problems you mentioned have now been fixed, redownload the game to get the update. In the process of fixing them I found and fixed a far more serious bug which could lock you in the menu and prevent you from saving or resuming the game :o So thanks for pointing them out!

The 3D version is coming along well. I put it on hold for a couple of months, but I'm working on it again now - doing the code for the electrical systems at the moment, as well as modifying the multiplayer system to be more practical. Also I have found someone who may be able to do the 3D models for the game, which will hopefully make the development process much faster.

[USS Moose]

Downloaded v 0.27 - refitted the the Triton class sub at Tampa, USA and the torpedoes glitched into the sub... :rotfl2:

[Balcaam]

I want to start of by saying that this is an awesome awesome game. I've even started spreading the word on it. There's on problem I have with the Typhoon-class, however. I think Hygroovy mentioned it, but I'd like to reiterate. Most of the bugs I've come across have been mentioned already, but I just figured out how to change subs, and on the Typhoon, my crew are unable to find a path to No. 1 Reactor Coolant Pump. Personally that's the only bug I've found, so :yeah: Good job.

[Aktungbby]

Balcaam!:Kaleun_Salute:

[Jimbuna]

Welcome to SubSim Balcaam :sunny:

[Balcaam]

Many thanks.

[boajuse]

on Win10 game opens in very tiny window with very small font. I tried setting OpenGl to 0 in option and fullscreen to 1, but wit no effect.

on WinXp game crashes on start.

Is there any way to make bigger screen and run on WinXP?

[ChristopherTarana]

I refitting my Triton class submarine in a friendly Polish port when something odd happened. As soon as the sub was repaired, I was attacked by friendly Polish Ships. I repaired again and as soon as that was done they got me again! At one point on my US patrol I passed a large fleet of US ships on the way to my mission targets. I wonder if there is a way to add an SOS function so we can call for help? :up:

Thanks, Guys

Christopher

[Samwelder]

how good it is to play this game, there are hours and hours of "immersion" inside it!! does anyone know how to solve (if there is a solution) the bug of the inaccessible periscope of foxtrot? I save and exit the game, when I return the periscope and the equipment are inaccessible.