Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 194
Registered: 01-25-2016
IP: Logged

This appears to be a different crash than what was fixed in 544/550 (no NPCs trying to pathfind in this room).

Steam 5.1.1.539 is reliably (three times) crashing when trying to leave TCB:aGEV:2N1W after earning the achievement. Steam saved the achievement, but DROD did not (nor the demo). Nothing new in drod.err.

I've now done the room three times, and exited DROD after earning challenge but without leaving the room. Leaving still crashes, but the challenge has saved (along with the challenge demo).

Then I tried waiting for the bomb to explode before leaving, and it didn't crash. Then I restored to the checkpoint (two aumtlich left alive) and it's not crashing from there either.

Dragon Fogel
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2434
Registered: 06-21-2014
IP: Logged

I've had crashes on leaving rooms, too, with no obvious cause. This has generally happened when testing Entry Point. When it's happened, I've been able to restore from an earlier checkpoint and have everything work fine.

bbb
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 215
Registered: 10-07-2013
IP: Logged

I have recently noticed this seems to be related to burning fuses. Maybe animation related?

tonyk
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 42
Registered: 10-09-2005
IP: Logged

I have had this recently as well not just in TCB but other rooms in JtRH.

I discovered that disconnecting from Caravel Net fixed the crashing in some persistent cases.

____________________________
Life is hard. DROD, harder.

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[Last edited by tonyk at 01-18-2024 08:00 AM]

tonyk
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 42
Registered: 10-09-2005
IP: Logged

bbb wrote:
I have recently noticed this seems to be related to burning fuses. Maybe animation related?

I noticed this as well on some of my recent crashes. Maybe it will help track down the issue.

____________________________
Life is hard. DROD, harder.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1072
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

For this issue, can people include whether they are using the Steam or non-Steam version of the game. It may be important.

It would also be useful to include information about what room you were leaving when the game crashed, if you were playing a published hold.

(bonus points are available for anyone who provides a sample hold that allows the problem to be consistently reproduced)

____________________________
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tonyk
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 42
Registered: 10-09-2005
IP: Logged

Morning hyperme.

For me it is the Steam version (GatEB).

One room that has given me regular crashes is JtRH L11 5N. The room has a bunch of fuse ends. The crash occurs when moving to the nearby West exit when entering from the South.

I'm on Steam Deck so a sample hold is a bit more of a challenge. I'll see if I can get setup to enable doing that more efficiently.

I'd also be happy to try a non-Steam linux build but I don't see one in my downloads list (latest is 5.1.0.6513) and no patches are listed for linux.

____________________________
Life is hard. DROD, harder.

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[Last edited by tonyk at 01-23-2024 11:17 PM]

bbb
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 215
Registered: 10-07-2013
IP: Logged

I compile DROD myself.

I can verify that the issue is related to burning fuses. If I modify "CGameScreen::ProcessFuseBurningEvents" to return immediately, it doesn't crash. That isn't a solution, because then you can't identify burning fuses anymore, but the game works. Digging deeper leads to the "CSparkEffect" class followed by "CParticleExplosionEffect".

Once I knew what I was looking for in-game, the bug seems to appear in every room with a burning fuse, though sometimes the room switch succeeds, though not consistently.

My guess is that there is a race condition where the fuse burning animation checks that the room is still shown, the room disappears, and then the animation is activated.

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[Last edited by bbb at 01-28-2024 06:18 AM : remove emoticons]

Dragon Fogel
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2434
Registered: 06-21-2014
IP: Logged

I've had crashes occur in rooms without burning fuses.

However, now that I think about it, some of the other rooms where I've had crashes recently had aumtlich in them. Maybe there's an issue with their beams as well?

bbb
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 215
Registered: 10-07-2013
IP: Logged

It wouldn't surprise me, since they have similar animation effects.

Having said that, I just tried a few rooms from Down the Grimmish Hole, and did not run into any crashes.

In any case, there is an issue with burning fuses, which we can try fix. And if it happens again, post in which room.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1072
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

Aumtlich and fuses both use the same underlying game effect to generate the little orange sparks, so if one is broken the other has to be as well.

bbb's research suggests the problem goes a little deeper, however. CParticleExplosionEffect is the base effect for the sparks, along with various other "splatter" effects, such as blood and wall debris. I'm guessing the problem is happening specifically with sparks because those get constantly generated, as opposed to the others which get created in a single burst.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 194
Registered: 01-25-2016
IP: Logged

I don't know if this is related, but for years I've been bothered by an issue where I start a fuse burning, then undo/restore to before the fuse was lit, and the sound keeps playing.

I play with music and voices muted, so fuses are the only continuous sound I hear.

disoriented
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2386
Registered: 08-07-2007
IP: Logged

I've seen this crash happen repeatedly in the "Sinking Feeling" entry of the current contest, but only in rooms with Aumtlich beams.

____________________________
34th Skywatcher

Best to PM me, since I might miss your message on CaravelNet chat.

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[Last edited by disoriented at 02-03-2024 06:57 AM]

bbb
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 215
Registered: 10-07-2013
IP: Logged

I haven't checked deeply, but I think the crashes also appear when there are both aumtlich and fuses, even if the fuses are not burning.

Dragon Fogel
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2434
Registered: 06-21-2014
IP: Logged

Just going to note that I think the crash may involve leaving the room with your sword offscreen. I'm not sure on this, but I just got a crash now while testing Entry Point (the specific room is Crumbling Keep 1N) and when it first happened I left to the north with sword facing northwest, but then I restored, left the room, did it again with my sword facing south and got no crash.

I haven't done extensive testing, though, so I'm not completely sure on this. It is a possible explanation for the inconsistency in triggering the crash, though, as people might easily change sword position without thinking of it as a meaningful change.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1072
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

File: drod_exceptions.zip (1.6 MB)
Downloaded 2 times.
License: Public Domain

Since I can't seem to reproduce this bug, I'm go to try a different approach to find it.

I've attached a version of 5.1.1.550 with some extra error logging enabled, which might catch some extra details. It's otherwise identical to the regular release. (although it has a different name to make it easier to use)

When DROD crashs, it should hopefully add more details in the drod.err file. It might even be useful information.

words for other developers:


____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

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[Last edited by hyperme at 04-25-2024 10:05 AM]