ACK bug discussion thread

Chris H.'s Ultima / ACS-style game development system!

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qrleon
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Location: Canada

Post by qrleon »

Hey Chris,

Does the Tutorial intro work for you? I updated to v3.204 with the latest patch, and now it's skipping straight to the new/load menu the moment the intro mosaic animation starts. (the title images before that work fine.) I tried using a backed up version of tutorial without a savegame: same thing happens. Also, some of the old lady's text is blanked out, and some messages that appear when you walk on tiles keep repeating (example: very begining of tutorial. i don't remember if that was the case before).

Biffsnot
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Post by Biffsnot »

qrleon wrote:Hey Chris,

Does the Tutorial intro work for you? I updated to v3.204 with the latest patch, and now it's skipping straight to the new/load menu the moment the intro mosaic animation starts. (the title images before that work fine.) I tried using a backed up version of tutorial without a savegame: same thing happens. Also, some of the old lady's text is blanked out, and some messages that appear when you walk on tiles keep repeating (example: very begining of tutorial. i don't remember if that was the case before).

I second that - same issue is happening with me. I will try a fresh install of the newest version and see if the problem persists in that case.

EDIT: Same thing happens with a fresh install. No change.

Chris H
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Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:07 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Sounds like I broke something in the latest patch :) I'll check it out today.

It's fixed now -- a new patch is up.

GB
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

I can confirm these bugs.

Post by GB »

I played through the tutorial again, I didn't manage to step on any message squares twice until the 2400AD part, the I tried doing it a few times and talking to Max Headroom, I noticed that he started off with the correct intro, so I would think that the I variable is being set correctly, but something in the floor space action isn't reading it correctly.

But the first message the old woman gives in the ACS area is blank, and when you come back from killing the troll she repeats herself. The first message the old man gives is also blank, he gives you the swimming skill and you go on.

I also noticed that it skipped the intro mosaic thing. And you do miss it because its cute.

Chris H
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Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

I would imagine that it broke quite a few things in the tutorial (or any other game that uses macros) -- in adding the new syntax for the IF command, I had introduced a bug into the old syntax. Fixed by 3.205, which is now available for download -- definitely grab it ASAP.

GB
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Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

3.205 long message not displayed from custom obstacle.

Post by GB »

I'm trying to set up some test doors as custom obstacles. I'm going with the theory for now that the most unique things about a locked door are the messages they might give when looked at from adjacent squares, and their structural strength, that the bump can give you the message that they are locked, and that the key will do the unlocking work.

I created such a custom obstacle, placed it, and gave it a long message #2 to play when examined. First I tried typing it just as I placed it, then saved and closed and ran a test. Blank long message. So I tried editing the message in the messages module, My message was there. I expanded it, saved and closed and went back to test again. Blank message.

Is this likely to be related to the bug that caused the old woman's long message not to display in the last patch?

qrleon
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:45 pm
Location: Canada

Post by qrleon »

I can't finish IF statements. The last number (for going to another line) vanishes when I press enter to save the line. Letters are saved, though, as is a letter followed by a 2. (IF A = 0 THEN B2) I haven't tried running one of these macros.

Deleting macro line 1 makes line 0 appear. Deleting line 0 causes garbage to appear on the screen. The garbage vanishes when I press ESC and return to the same macro.

I read in updates.txt that tile 240 no longer has to be blank; ACKMANUAL.pdf page 13 still says it does.

GB
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

Lockpick Macro

Post by GB »

I'm not sure if this is a bug. I'm not getting expected results, and that could be a result of my not understanding syntax or the program overall, but since I'm following the example given in the update text you might want to have a look at this.

super simplified experimental macro
lockpick2

1: GETADJ X Y 0
2: MAPCHK X Y M
3: IF M = 202 THEN
4: MAPSET X Y #18-DOOR
5: STOP

This is simplified for a single door from the example in the update notes.
In my setup 202 is one of several locked doors, and 18 is an unlocked door. I tried a similar macro to try several alternative doors following the example, but it didn't work so I scaled back to this.
I am sure I have the right location for door 202, it is in a rooms type map, and is not stacked.

I note that line 4 changed after I typed it. I typed:
MAPSET X Y 18
it changed this to:
MAPSET X Y #18-DOOR
This leads me to wonder if line 3 should have been automatically changed to:
IF M = #202-DOOR
(I plan to rely on item numbers to tell me if a door is locked, and to rely on user interactions with the door to tell them if it is locked. I don't see the point of having them aware of this from across the room.)

I'm using this macro from a lockpick spell/skill. once it works I can set it to require a lockpick tool.

Chris H
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Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

I'll check out all of the above this weekend.

The custom obstacle / long message problem: Sounds like a bug with it not recognizing that it's a custom obstacle on the "look" command, should be easy to fix.

IF statements: Definitely something (else) I broke in 3.204 while adding the new IF syntax, I'll check that out too.

Deleting macro line 1 -- ew, I'll definitely check that out. Don't think that's anything I just changed, maybe that bug has been there and nobody has run into it yet.

Tile 240 -- I'll fix page 13, it does not need to be blank. :)

Your sample GETADJ macro -- that should work. I'll bet that on a worldmap it would, I didn't do as much testing in room maps. I'll check it out. Where in the room is the door? (Is it along an edge?)

Thanks for checking these things out so thoroughly!

Oh -- the editor changing "18" to "#18-DOOR" on the MAPSET command is just a convenience to make the code a little more readable. It's still stored as (and you still have to enter it as) just "18". Only a couple of commands do that, commands where it's clear that you're referring to an object. Variables never do.

GB
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Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

Post by GB »

Nope, its not an edge space. Region 2 room A column 2 row 4.

If its obvious to the macro editor that 18 refers to a door then why isn't it just as obvious that 202 is a door?

I'll try it on a world map.

Chris H
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Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:07 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Because in "IF M=202 THEN..." you could be using M for anything. Maybe you're doing a slide show with pictures 197 through 202. It doesn't know -- it doesn't look at the surrounding lines to try to figure out what you're doing.

Whereas with MAPSET X Y 18, it knows that 18 is an object number: it has to be, that's what MAPSET takes as a third argument.

Anyway, most of the bugs above (the ones I could duplicate) have been fixed, and I'm in the process of uploading a patch with the following bug fixes:

* Fixed several bugs with the "Drop" command. You can no longer drop things onto opaque spaces to see through them.

* Custom terrain objects were not working properly if triggered by the "look" command in room maps. Fixed.

* The MAPCHK command was not working in room maps. Fixed.

* The macro editor still had a display bug where IF statements didn't display properly. Fixed.

The patch should be available for download in a few minutes, I'll post to the announcement thread when it's up.

GB
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

Post by GB »

Yeah, I'll get the patch as soon as its up, I thought I would report though that the lockpick macro IS working on world maps, and, this is something you didn't address in your last post, my custom object door is displaying the correct message INTERMITTENTLY in the world map.

Or rather, some instances of door 202 are displaying it, others are not.

When they don't display the message they tend not even to say "you see DOOR" instead they say "you see NOTHING."

I noticed similar behavior of doors at the INN in Egypt, when playing Caravan. Looking at some doors would yield the message, "you see NOTHING" and I wondered about it then. It seemed to depend which side of the door you were on. And this was in a world type map, and I'll bet those doors were space objects, and not obstacles or custom obstacles.

Chris H
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Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:07 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Hm -- those intermittent or positional problems might be something else. If they don't go away with the new patch (it's up) let me know and I'll investigate. The only bug I found with "look" was that it wasn't handling custom objects right, and that only in room maps.

If you encounter the bug again -- are you using the "examining near" or "examining far" trigger?

qrleon
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Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:45 pm
Location: Canada

Post by qrleon »

pressing ESC while naming a macro leaves a strange character, as opposed to leaving the original name intact like other naming fields.

GB
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Houston

Post by GB »

About those intermittent or positional things, they didn't go away with the patch.

I am currently using a custom object door which displays a long message triggered by examine near.

I am experiencing two kinds of odd behavior.
Note that the look command normally works by giving you a message like:
You See: Door
IF there is a message set, you are told to press a key for more.
Half the time, and more often in the ROOM map, I press a key and am presented with a BLANK message screen.

Other times, and more often on the world map I am testing. I will Look near a door and get the message:
You See: NOTHING.
This behavior I also noticed when examining standard space object doors in the Inn in Egypt in Caravan, about a week ago. Both when examining near and far.

Also, each time I run the adventure the results are almost always the same and change in the same way. Starting in the Room map I look at a door and get a blank message. I go up to the world map and look at a door to the north of me, get the correct message, go back down to the room and now every door displays the correct message.

I can go back up, look at a door to the south of me and get:
You See: NOTHING.
I can then go around and look at this door from the back and get the correct message.

Chris H
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:07 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Since the behavior follows a consistent pattern, can you zip up that adventure and send it to me? I'd like to duplicate what you're seeing, so I can figure out where the problem is. Thanks!

qrl

Post by qrl »

Hello again! I'm experiencing a bug. On a world map, I pressed GET and then pressed in the direction of an empty space. It placed an obstacle there and my character became immobile, although menu options still worked.

It can be duplicated in Brigands by erasing some tiles on the world map and then selecting GET/pressing in the direction of an empty space. (screenshot)

Chris H
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Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Ooh, funky -- let me check that out. I have to admit I don't test stuff over empty map squares as much as I should.

While I'm here, some other engine bugs I've found recently while playtesting my game:

Monsters that use area-of-effect ranged weapons attack nonsensical targets

Casting a spell gives enemies two moves instead of one (edit: I must be mistaken, I tested this again and coudn't reproduce it)

If you are on a vehicle that gives you a ranged weapon extra attack and you are wielding a melee weapon, the melee weapon becomes ranged

Muting sound (music, at least) causes a horrible slowdown to the game

Map editing commands don't work in enter/exit macros

Chris H
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:07 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by Chris H »

Okay, some of these are fixed in the new 3.243 patch, including the one you just pointed out (get on an empty square). Quite a few bug fixes in fact, check the updates.txt.

qrl

Post by qrl »

I teleported my character (via portal) to an edge tile in a room, and he was able to move off the edge and into the abyss. The portal was supposed to be the entrance/exit of a house. Should teleporting to edges be avoided?

My character teleports through portals in room maps if he stands idle on them for about ten seconds (doesn't happen on world maps).

I'm using pink as transparancy but it's showing up when the player moves onto empty spaces. Just curious if this is intentional. I can just blacken the colour in the master palette.

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