Yitzi's unofficial SMAX patch 2.3d

[Yitzi]

Yitzi, I need to report two repeatable crashes under your patch in an MP game. The first game is tricky to play, the next one is completely unplayable. I'm attaching the saves here and PMing you with the password and detailed description of the situation. Please remember it's MP and don't disclose any sensitive info unless it's painfully obvious to be safe to do so. Apply caution.

You may need more details to give a diagnosis. This stuff is probably irrelevant, but to stay on the safe side:

1. Windows 7, GOG version. I use Iniswap as well, but the crashes take place both with and without it.

2. I installed the GOG version and apply scient's patch. Then I copied the game in full, without another install, to 3 other folders - with kyrub's, your patch for playing and your patch for scenario building. The other versions sometimes worked funny and could crash even in SP games, though very rarely.

3. Yesterday I installed a pirate version of pre-patched SMAC to test out something. Maybe it did something to the register? Now I removed it, but the crashes are still there.

4. When the first save crashed, I installed another GOG version and applied your patch. However, this doesn't seem to change anything, both saves behave in the same way under your patch, whether installed or copied.

5. Both saves work just fine with scient's and kyrub's, so probably the above issues have nothing to do with it.

6. Unfortunately this is MP, so it be will hard for you to go back or forth in-game. You'd need to ask Bodissey and roninscg for their passwords if you want to do so.

Please give some recommendations, whether it's safe if I do at least several turns with scient's while the guys keep using your patch; whether it's better to have multiple copies installed or copied, etc.

Sending you a PM in a moment.

PM recieved, so I'll check it out.

So, this is a really minor graphics issue, but I've noticed that, with your patch, the default base graphics are pushed up one level. That is, normally, there are separate graphics for bases sized 1-3, sized 4-7, sized 8-14, and sized 15 and above, with the HQ being one size larger than it would be for its population. But, on the patch, bases sized 1-3 use the size 4-7 graphics, bases sized 4-7 use the size 8-14 graphics, etc. I haven't tested to see if this loops around at high base sizes; probably not. But I think it should be changed back if you have a chance to do so.

This bug is known, and has been identified and fixed; the fix will be included in the next patch release.

[Yitzi]

Yitzi, I need to report two repeatable crashes under your patch in an MP game. The first game is tricky to play, the next one is completely unplayable. I'm attaching the saves here and PMing you with the password and detailed description of the situation. Please remember it's MP and don't disclose any sensitive info unless it's painfully obvious to be safe to do so. Apply caution.

You may need more details to give a diagnosis. This stuff is probably irrelevant, but to stay on the safe side:

1. Windows 7, GOG version. I use Iniswap as well, but the crashes take place both with and without it.

2. I installed the GOG version and apply scient's patch. Then I copied the game in full, without another install, to 3 other folders - with kyrub's, your patch for playing and your patch for scenario building. The other versions sometimes worked funny and could crash even in SP games, though very rarely.

3. Yesterday I installed a pirate version of pre-patched SMAC to test out something. Maybe it did something to the register? Now I removed it, but the crashes are still there.

4. When the first save crashed, I installed another GOG version and applied your patch. However, this doesn't seem to change anything, both saves behave in the same way under your patch, whether installed or copied.

5. Both saves work just fine with scient's and kyrub's, so probably the above issues have nothing to do with it.

6. Unfortunately this is MP, so it be will hard for you to go back or forth in-game. You'd need to ask Bodissey and roninscg for their passwords if you want to do so.

Please give some recommendations, whether it's safe if I do at least several turns with scient's while the guys keep using your patch; whether it's better to have multiple copies installed or copied, etc.

Sending you a PM in a moment.

Well, I checked it out, and it doesn't seem to crash for me, so I'm not sure what's going on there.  Working with scient's while other people use my patch should be ok, I think (if you haven't changed any settings) until ecodamage or major atrocities/tectonic missiles start (my patch records certain ecodamage-related things differently) or you build nessus mining stations (which have an associated bug that my patch fixes, so that would be an imbalance).

[Kirov]

Thanks for your attention to this issue, although it's actually bad news for me! I checked on my other computer and you're right, no crashes there. But I don't want to need to fire it up for each 'Moar' turn.

Attached are files from the copy with your patch. You mention script.txt in your PM, but surely you meant helpx, as it is the one substituted by your patch? To stay on the safe side, I'm sending both.

Do you have any recommendations as to multiple SMAC copies? Is is better to do multiple installs or just copying the folder will do? Does either result in any problems with the registry?

[Yitzi]

Thanks for your attention to this issue, although it's actually bad news for me! I checked on my other computer and you're right, no crashes there. But I don't want to need to fire it up for each 'Moar' turn.

Attached are files from the copy with your patch. You mention script.txt in your PM, but surely you meant helpx, as it is the one substituted by your patch? To stay on the safe side, I'm sending both.

You are correct.

Do you have any recommendations as to multiple SMAC copies? Is is better to do multiple installs or just copying the folder will do? Does either result in any problems with the registry?

I haven't had any problems.

[Yitzi]

Kirov: You seem to be working off 2.3c or earlier; there is a known crash that was fixed in 2.3d.

[Kirov]

Reapplied and everything works fine.  Thanks, Yitzi.

Do you have a log with all the changes/fixes you've made so far? I can't find it in one place.

[Yitzi]

Reapplied and everything works fine.  Thanks, Yitzi.

Do you have a log with all the changes/fixes you've made so far? I can't find it in one place.

Most of them are recorded on the wiki: Miscellaneous stuff is here, and new variables are here.

[Kirov]

Yitzi, I've just noticed your patch has the same bug as kyrub's, meaning you lose minerals every time you go to the production screen and select something, even if it is the same thing you're already producing. I must say that after playing with this under kyrub's patch, it started to really drive me crazy. How did it work its way into the patches of you two? Can I ask you to do something about it?

[Yitzi]

Yitzi, I've just noticed your patch has the same bug as kyrub's, meaning you lose minerals every time you go to the production screen and select something, even if it is the same thing you're already producing. I must say that after playing with this under kyrub's patch, it started to really drive me crazy. How did it work its way into the patches of you two? Can I ask you to do something about it?

It worked its way into my patch because I started with Kyrub's patch and it was already in Kyrub's patch.  Not sure how it got into Kyrub's patch.

As for whether I can do something about it: Almost definitely.  I'll check it out, and barring highly unexpected circumstances (e.g. I just can't figure it out, or it's supposed to happen for some reason), it should be fixed in 2.4.

EDIT: I just tested it, and can't seem to make the bug happen; when I select the same thing I'm already producing it does not lose any minerals.  Have any more details on exactly what you did?

[Kirov]

It's there in my two copies with your (latest) patch, both in multi- and single-player, although in the latter I only seem to lose 2 minerals (maybe due to early turns).

It takes effect only once per turn per base. I just click on the production screen like God wants us to and if I choose anything at all, it removes some minerals (the first 10 mins from the base foundation are unaffected). The only way out of it is to leave the production screen by hitting 'cancel'.

Can you open the turn I sent you before? Try any base and you should see that.

I'm sure I'm not the only one affected since someone else brought up this issue in Rising Sun TTT, when we use kyrub's patch. For a long time I thought this was kyrub's intention because hand wave something something. Only when I discovered that it affects even the same production that I realized it's a bug. And one of the worst I've run into in this game.

[Yitzi]

Ok, I see what's happening.  If you change production, it (sometimes) applies a retool penalty, but because it's only supposed to apply that penalty once, it stores your production and what you're making at the beginning of the turn (probably modified by hurrying if relevant) separately; whenever you change production, it uses that amount, rather than your current production, as a guide to say how much you should have after the change.  The problem is that Kyrub, for reasons I can only guess at*, made it store that amount before adding production for this turn, so when you change production (even to the same thing) you end up undoing this turn's production.

Fortunately, it should be extremely easy to revert, and that will be included in 2.4.

*My best guess is that it's part of his attempt to fix the stockpile energy bug, which he seems to have done at the cost of creating other bugs.