Pre-reporting bugs

[caracal]

You program long enough, you eventually learn that most bugs really aren't. They're PEBKAC: "problem exists between keyboard and chair". However, I've seen these things and cannot understand/explain them, so I figured I'd check to see if I'm just all wet, or if they're known bugs, or should I file a report in the bug-reporting system. All seen using oolite 1.72 (svn version from 17 June) on Ubuntu Linux 7.10.

• Guys, I'm really flattered, but honestly, how many times are you going to reward me for killing the Constrictor? When, y'know, I didn't actually kill it. Haven't even been to Galaxy 2 yet. Especially considering that it happens to commanders who are Harmless, and haven't even begun the Constrictor Hunt mission, as well as happening multiple times to the same commander. (Took me a while to figure out what that yellow ship and the message from His Majesty's Navy meant. I assume that in the real conhunt mission you see it when you're gasping for air, having just been in a pitched battle with a deadly ship, and don't need any further explanation.) It's getting tedious editing the save files to remove the 5000Cr and 256 kills, but I always do.
  
  I have a theory which is based on the fact that (a) I'm running Realistic Shipyards 3.02, which offers the Constrictor as a standard NPC ship, and therefore (b) I was once attacked by one who was in a pack of pirates. I'm wondering if a Constrictor gets spawned as a pirate somewhere in the system, gets killed by cops or hunters while I'm poking around elsewhere, and when I dock some bit of code says oh, the Constrictor has been killed, I should award the player his prize.
  
  If that's the case, then wouldn't a simple renaming of the RS ship fix it? Like stolen-constrictor or something?
• As first reported by s8404755 in this thread, the precision maneuvering toggle (and further, the joystick yaw control) are biffed somehow. This one smells the most like an actual program bug to me.
• Sometimes when I witch out, I get boom and "Press space commander". It's rare, maybe one in every 75-100 jumps, and I never see anything but space dust in the aftermath image. I've wondered if maybe I'm running into the witchpoint beacon--I do come out awfully close to it sometimes. But as I recall, I don't even see the jump-rings display ... just "Witchspace to <system> in 0 seconds ..." and then boom. Maybe I'm instantly killed by a Thargoid, or run into a GenShip, during a misjump? Since I'm a member of the Church of Save Early Save Often, this isn't a big issue for me, but was curious if it's something I'm doing, or something that's known, or what.

My next step is to try them without OXPs installed, but since most are intermittent, it might be a while before I can say anything conclusively. Will report again when I have more data.

[LittleBear]

That sounds likley for the Constrictor bug. The death actions activate the congrats message. If L liked_shiped to the orginal then he'll have inadvertantley created a pirate that when anybody kills it caused the paid for constrictor brief to come up. Solution would be to just do a C&P of the consitrictor in RS and re role it but remove the death actions. Like Ship will copy the death actions causing this bug.

[Commander McLane]

All seen using oolite 1.72 (svn version from 17 June) on Ubuntu Linux 7.10.

Just to prevent another long Q&A's about "where do I get the new version?", it should be very clear: There is no such thing as Oolite 1.72 yet. All released versions with a proper version number are available via BerliOs, and the highest released version as of now is 1.71.2. Then there is the svn-version the developers are still working on (and this is what you have built, in today's (or yesterday's, what do I know?)) form. But for clarity's sake this should never be referred to with a version number. Because it isn't a released version. And it is changed and overhauled on a daily basis, probably more than once a day. So whatever someone else will download and build tomorrow, will not be the same thing as you built today.

Finally, one day, it will be released as a new version, and this will most likely get the version number 1.72. But this 1.72 will be more or less different from what you have now on your computer. Therefore what you have on you computer now is not 1.72. And it shouldn't be called so.

Guys, I'm really flattered, but honestly, how many times are you going to reward me for killing the Constrictor? When, y'know, I didn't actually kill it. Haven't even been to Galaxy 2 yet. Especially considering that it happens to commanders who are Harmless, and haven't even begun the Constrictor Hunt mission, as well as happening multiple times to the same commander. (Took me a while to figure out what that yellow ship and the message from His Majesty's Navy meant. I assume that in the real conhunt mission you see it when you're gasping for air, having just been in a pitched battle with a deadly ship, and don't need any further explanation.) It's getting tedious editing the save files to remove the 5000Cr and 256 kills, but I always do.

I have a theory which is based on the fact that (a) I'm running Realistic Shipyards 3.02, which offers the Constrictor as a standard NPC ship, and therefore (b) I was once attacked by one who was in a pack of pirates. I'm wondering if a Constrictor gets spawned as a pirate somewhere in the system, gets killed by cops or hunters while I'm poking around elsewhere, and when I dock some bit of code says oh, the Constrictor has been killed, I should award the player his prize.

I've never met this bug in any version of Oolite. It would be nice to get reports from other people with RS, whether they have encountered it, too. Try to uninstall RS and see whether it happens again. (Personally I don't think it makes sense to have the Constrictor available, neither as player-ship nor as NPC. The whole story is that the prototype is stolen and the player destroys it. So where should other ships of the same type come from? Especially before the prototype was stolen?)

Sometimes when I witch out, I get boom and "Press space commander". It's rare, maybe one in every 75-100 jumps, and I never see anything but space dust in the aftermath image. I've wondered if maybe I'm running into the witchpoint beacon--I do come out awfully close to it sometimes. But as I recall, I don't even see the jump-rings display ... just "Witchspace to <system> in 0 seconds ..." and then boom. Maybe I'm instantly killed by a Thargoid, or run into a GenShip, during a misjump? Since I'm a member of the Church of Save Early Save Often, this isn't a big issue for me, but was curious if it's something I'm doing, or something that's known, or what.

This sounds like you are running into something big, when you are leaving witchspace. Sometimes it can happen that you are spawned very close to another object (happens more often with the billboards from Your Ad Here, if you happen to have the OXP installed). The jump-rings not being shown and "Press Space", however, may point into another direction. This happens usually if you're spawn inside a planet. Have you by chance any experimental new OXPs installed that create additional planets in a system?

[caracal]

All seen using oolite 1.72 (svn version from 17 June) on Ubuntu Linux 7.10.

But for clarity's sake this should never be referred to with a version number. Because it isn't a released version. And it is changed and overhauled on a daily basis, probably more than once a day. So whatever someone else will download and build tomorrow, will not be the same thing as you built today. ... Therefore what you have on you computer now is not 1.72. And it shouldn't be called so.

Well excuuuuuse me! That's why I identified it as the svn version and gave the date I last updated my working copy. But in all fairness, it does identify itself as "Oolite Version 1.72" in the window title. Maybe for clarity's sake, the version number string should be set to "pre-1.72" or "1.71.x" or something, ne? Oh, and while we're talking versions, the Debian build process still thinks it's supposed to be 1.69, and names the resulting package with that version number. But hey, it's a big app, lots of bits to mind, lots of volunteers to coordinate. I do understand, trust me.

I've never met this bug in any version of Oolite. It would be nice to get reports from other people with RS, whether they have encountered it, too. Try to uninstall RS and see whether it happens again.

Will do.

(Personally I don't think it makes sense to have the Constrictor available, neither as player-ship nor as NPC. The whole story is that the prototype is stolen and the player destroys it. So where should other ships of the same type come from? Especially before the prototype was stolen?)

I agree, especially since one jumped me one day and kicked my sorry ass pretty roundly. In my defense, he did have four or five buddies with him.

This sounds like you are running into something big, when you are leaving witchspace. Sometimes it can happen that you are spawned very close to another object (happens more often with the billboards from Your Ad Here, if you happen to have the OXP installed). The jump-rings not being shown and "Press Space", however, may point into another direction. This happens usually if you're spawn inside a planet. Have you by chance any experimental new OXPs installed that create additional planets in a system?

I do have System Redux, which adds bodies to systems. Me, I'd prefer to have the option to get the textures but not the extra planets and moons. Without editing the OXP's files, which I can do but hate to.

I'm not running any experimental OXPs, or at least any ones that aren't listed on the wiki, except a ship one I'm working on, which I doubt is causing this behavior.

[LittleBear]

Think that occasional studden death on exiting witchspace is just bad luck. I've noticed if two NPC ships are spawned in the same place then they are both destroyed. When you exit witch space you always appear near the w/s beacon, but its random exactly where. If by bad luck an asteroid or another ship just happens to be exactly in the place where you emerge then its game over. I suppose this is a feature rather than a bug though, as materialising in a space occupied by another object would be pretty nasty!

[JensAyton]

[*]Guys, I'm really flattered, but honestly, how many times are you going to reward me for killing the Constrictor?

I’m with LittleBear on this one.

[*]As first reported by s8404755 in this thread, the precision maneuvering toggle (and further, the joystick yaw control) are biffed somehow. This one smells the most like an actual program bug to me.

I can’t really do anything about this, since the frame rate under VMWare is so bad I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was working properly. :-)

[*]Sometimes when I witch out, I get boom and "Press space commander".

This one’s odd. Anything interesting on stderr?
Edit: hmm, thinking about it it probably does make (technical) sense that you don’t get the tube effect if you crash after the jump, so not really all that odd.

Oh, and while we're talking versions, the Debian build process still thinks it's supposed to be 1.69, and names the resulting package with that version number.

I have no idea where to fix that.

Oh, and I tend to refer to the trunk version as 1.72 too, because that’s its version number. You gonna LART me for that, McLane? ;-)

[Commander McLane]

Oh, and I tend to refer to the trunk version as 1.72 too, because that’s its version number. You gonna LART me for that, McLane?

Actually IIRC most of the time you are referring to the trunk version as "trunk". Which I always thought to be the most reasonable thing to do.

[caracal]

[*]Sometimes when I witch out, I get boom and "Press space commander".

This one’s odd. Anything interesting on stderr?
Edit: hmm, thinking about it it probably does make (technical) sense that you don’t get the tube effect if you crash after the jump, so not really all that odd.

I'll try running it so I capture stderr and next time it happens, I'll have a look. But if this is a non-error behavior, that's cool too--as I said, it's rare, and one can expect to explode occasionally when one is travelling multiple light years in the blink of an eye, no? It's a stone wonder that we can do it at all!

Oh, and while we're talking versions, the Debian build process still thinks it's supposed to be 1.69, and names the resulting package with that version number.

I have no idea where to fix that.

I'm no Debian build expert, but I theeeenk it's in the file debian/files where it sets the .deb file's name. It also bitches that it's not being built out of a directory with "1.69" in its name, which might be controlled by the same data, or by something else, dunno. But since the svn version is in /someplace/trunk, it's never going to have that name in it until it's actually released, at which point it'll be in the distro and only the packager will have to build it from source. Thus, Not My Problem.

Oh, and I tend to refer to the trunk version as 1.72 too, because that’s its version number. You gonna LART me for that, McLane?

Having faced enough wrath for one day, never shall that version number pass my lips (or fingers) again until it's part of the standard Debian and/or Ubuntu distribution.

[JensAyton]

l try running it so I capture stderr

Todo: stick the log in a file under Linux.

I'm no Debian build expert, but I theeeenk it's in the file debian/files where it sets the .deb file's name.

That file isn’t in the repo, so I’m going to assume it’s generated from somewhere. I know who to poke about it, though.

[TGHC]

I laughed at LART

[Lestradae]

Damn!

That`s the bugger (from RS 3.02 shipdata.plist):

Code: Select all

<key>death_actions</key>
                <array>
                        <string>set: mission_conhunt CONSTRICTOR_DESTROYED</string>
                </array>

That`s a serious bug in RS 3.02 ... noted to be fixed for the next version.

The only thing that irks me is that the only role you could ever find a NPC Constrictor in would be pirate with a 1% probability - add to that all the other ships the game could add as pirates with Realistic Shipyards, and it`s pretty improbable you meet a Constrictor pirate twice, let alone as many times as caracal suggests ... strange

Caracal, you can bug-fix this if you want to by the following method:

1. Open the shipdata.plist of RS 3.02 with an editor

2. Search for the term "constrictor"

3. In the shipdata entry of the Constrictor, search for

Code: Select all

<key>roles</key>
                <string>constrictor pirate (0.01)</string>

4. Remove the "pirate (0.01)" entry

5. Save the shipdata.plist

6. Press "Shift" while starting up Oolite the next time so that the game recognises the change in the oxp

Good that this serious bug was found, sorry caracal that it had to be you who did the finding

[Cmdr. Maegil]

So it looks like this?

Code: Select all

                <key>name</key>
                <string>Constrictor</string>
                <key>roles</key>
                <string>constrictor</string>
                <key>thrust</key>
                <real>50</real>

[Lestradae]

@Cmdr. Maegil:

Yep, exactly!

[caracal]

The only thing that irks me is that the only role you could ever find a NPC Constrictor in would be pirate with a 1% probability - add to that all the other ships the game could add as pirates with Realistic Shipyards, and it`s pretty improbable you meet a Constrictor pirate twice, let alone as many times as caracal suggests ... strange

I only actually saw one in person one time. The other times I assume it was elsewhere in the system and, given what you've said, was a pirate who got whacked by cops or hunters.

Caracal, you can bug-fix this if you want ...

Thanks. I'm with Cmdr McLane, though ... I think the only time a Constrictor should appear is during the conhunt mission itself. So I'll probably just remove its entry entirely. (Don't tell anyone, but I've edited the shipdata.plist and shipyard.plist in RS several times, mostly to remove custom HUDs.)

6. Press "Shift" while starting up Oolite the next time so that the game recognises the change in the oxp

Just as an aside to all the Linux users, from what I can tell this doesn't work, at least in windowed mode. Might in fullscreen, dunno. In case anybody cares, the equivalent command on Linux is:

Code: Select all

rm ~/GNUstep/Library/Caches/Oolite-cache.plist

Works a treat!

Good that this serious bug was found, sorry caracal that it had to be you who did the finding

Eh, finding bugs is a large part of how I make a living.

[Lestradae]

I think the only time a Constrictor should appear is during the conhunt mission itself. So I'll probably just remove its entry entirely.

The player Constrictor can appear in shipyards only after you have finished the Constrictor mission! That is also the reason why the prototype can be bought after some time - only after the secret got out!

The 1% chance for a Constrictor pirate is a legacy of the illicit unlock oxp (I think) and it`s the only role an NPC Constrictor might appear in except in the mission itself. I think I will take that out, too, in the next RS version (which will be "Oolite Ships Extension V1.0", by the way)

(Don't tell anyone, but I've edited the shipdata.plist and shipyard.plist in RS several times, mostly to remove custom HUDs.)

I think it makes perfect sense to customise the RS experience for your personal tastes, I even gave a "How-To" in an old RS thread how to do that yourself ...

Eh, finding bugs is a large part of how I make a living.

I still hope that there are not so many serious ones still to be found

But if you do: Right on, Commander!



L