Crashes, Bugs and Troubleshooting

[TheGeoff]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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:
[STRIKE]The current objective (white X) cannot be viewed on the map in zoom level 1 but ot can be viewed in any other.[/STRIKE] 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]

Originally Posted by Thymo

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

Bug:
[STRIKE]The current objective (white X) cannot be viewed on the map in zoom level 1 but ot can be viewed in any other.[/STRIKE] 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]

Originally Posted by TheGeoff

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!

[Jimbuna]

Welcome to SubSim

[ReallyDedPoet]

Welcome hygroovy & silverware

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by TheGeoff

I did make the Foxtrot actually!

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 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.