PRACX v1.10 Release

[hilton]

So I've decided to play SMAX again for a while, and figured I'd try some mods this time around. I've installed Yitzi's patch, but had to disable PRACX because it was causing crashes. I updated it to 1.08, but it made no difference. I have it disabled via the ini file, which has been sufficient to prevent the crashes.

I can play only a handful of turns before the game crashes. Reloading to continue has the same effect - usually (but not always) crashing at the same point. If it doesn't crash, then I can still only go a few turns.

I'd really like to enjoy playing with PRACX, but I obviously can't with the constant crashing. Any advice? Need any information?

PS. I also see quite a few graphical artifacts. Sometimes there are several-pixel-wide vertical lines in the middle of the map which appear to contain pieces of another part of the map. The white box on the mini-map does not seem to update as I move around; only if I center the map. And a few others I can't recall right now.

[DrazharLn]

I'll try and help.

Are you using the GOG version of the game?

What OS?

[hilton]

Yes, GOG version, Windows 7.
I could dig up my old install disks in the garage if GOG's version is the issue. They're buried somewhere, didn't want to go through the hassle.

[DrazharLn]

Don't bother, GOG version is better. The graphics artifacts are interesting. Harpalus reported similar on an AMD card, do you know what your GPU is?

In case this is different from how you installed last time, you should clean install gog version, copy latest yitzi patch over then run the pracx installer.

If graphics artifacts are only in videos, that's fixable with a change to the ini file. If elsewhere, we'll have to do some more debugging.

[hilton]

Playing on a dual-video laptop. There is an nVidia GeForce GT520M on board, however it only kicks in when needed - SMAX runs on the Intel integrated video only. I did try forcing the GPU on when running SMAX, but it made no difference.

FYI, I downloaded a new copy (looks like I wasn't running the latest update - didn't know there was one). Just installed the full 2.0.2.23 version and added Yitzi 3.4 plus PRACX 1.08. Same results, unfortunately - a new game played a few turns but crashed in year 2111. It probably won't do any good, but I've attached the save file - game crashed consistently 5 times after moving the second scout that comes up. Doesn't matter which way I move them. Disable PRACX in the INI file and it continues fine from that point. I didn't notice any obvious artifacts during that run, but I wasn't really looking either.

[DrazharLn]

Save file was a good idea: I can reproduce the bug on my linux machine with Yitzi 3.4+pracx1.07. I'll try on windows and see about bug fixing in a bit.

Graphical glitches were probably caused by not using the latest gog patch.

Error from WINE:

Code: [Select]

wine: Unhandled page fault on read access to 0x02cbffff at address 0x5e076d (thread 004d), starting debugger...

[hilton]

I just ran it one more time to get you the following in case it helps you debug.
From Event Viewer -> Application:

Error / Application Error
Faulting application name: terranx.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x31313931
Faulting module name: terranx.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x31313931
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x001e0547
Faulting process id: 0x1164
Faulting application start time: 0x01d1b243a70102fe
Faulting application path: C:\GOG Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri\terranx.exe
Faulting module path: C:\GOG Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri\terranx.exe
Report Id: f010f947-1e36-11e6-ae1c-02f022330901

Information / Windows Error Rerporting
Fault bucket 1997518084, type 1
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: terranx.exe
P2: 0.0.0.0
P3: 31313931
P4: terranx.exe
P5: 0.0.0.0
P6: 31313931
P7: c0000005
P8: 001e0547
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
C:\Users\acer\AppData\Local\Temp\WER6938.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml

These files may be available here:
C:\Users\acer\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_terranx.exe_46d7918f6c64bd967d65669ebef813a9e7296a_03f99fc2

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: f010f947-1e36-11e6-ae1c-02f022330901
Report Status: 0

I've attached the Report.wer file from the AppCrash_terranx.exe folder mentioned above as well, although it doesn't appear to have too much useful information in it.

[DrazharLn]

This doesn't cause a crash on my windows machine with pracx 1.07 or 8, strangely enough.

The report doesn't say anything useful to me.

Checking again on the linux machine, I get the crash moving the first scout, not the second. Maybe an unrelated bug, though they're both access violations.

Anyway, I can't run a debugger on SMAC in wine, and I'm not sure where the error is, so I'm not sure I can fix this. I'll PM Yitzi and ask him if he can help.

[DrazharLn]

v1.08 as a mod compatible with Ford's mod manager, or you can just extract it into your SMAC directory if you already have a PRACX compatible terranx.exe

[DrazharLn]

I've collected some known issues with PRACX and some future features as guthub issues: https://github.com/DrazharLn/pracx/issues

If there's something you think's missing, comment here or open an issue there.

If you're experiencing some bug you can check it out there, too.

[hilton]

Sorry if these posts should have been in a separate thread. Maybe a mod can move them if need be.

After trying the game in safe mode and finding it DIDN'T crash, I spent some time trying different configurations to see if there is an external conflict. In the end, I narrowed down the crashing issue I've been having.

Believe it or not, it is resolution dependent.

With PRACX enabled, the game ONLY crashes at my laptop's native 16:9 resolution of 1366x768. It works fine at every other resolution from 1024x768 and up, including 1360x768.

(the above posted to github)

I have a short list of glitches and oddities I've noticed playing so far. Is the Github list complete, and do you want everything posted there, or should I post here first for you to review?

[hilton]

My quick list. Some may be Yitzi's domain rather than PRACX, but I'm putting them all here for now!


• Minimap city markers are all messed up. (attached image main.png)
• Minimap view area marker (white rectangle) does not update when scrolling. (attached image main.png - view is near centre of map, while marker is at bottom corner where it was last clicked)
• Mouseover tile info view (PRACX feature) overrides regular view completely - I can no longer look around by keyboard at all. The tile info appears, but disappears the next frame even if the mouse hasn't moved. It'd be nice to have both. (This doesn't happen when a unit is selected, only when in tile info mode (v or shift+rightclick).)
• Lots of artifacts on the main screen at 1280x720 - no idea why. Only saw it at this resolution. (attached image 1280x720 Main Screen.png)
  

Also a request/suggestion if you don't mind...

• The unused resource tile display in the city view is nice, but if possible I think it would look nicer if the unused icons were grey and 50% transparent rather than just grey. Right now they seem to stand out even more than the in-use icons.

[DrazharLn]

Thanks for the reports and suggestions.

Can confirm that on my laptop, the scout crash doesn't occur at 1280x1024.

City markers aren't significantly worse in PRACX than without, for me.

Confirm  view area marker, mouseover view bug

Can't confirm artifacts at 1280x1024. Maybe on another machine.

For unused tiles in city view: I agree transparency would be better, but the SMAC engine only supports drawing pcx files at the moment, and pcx only has a binary notion of transparency. I might get round to teaching SMAC to draw arbitrary pngs (mostly for the increased bit depth), but don't hold your breath

[DrazharLn]

Added this stuff to the github issue tracker.

If I can confirm the resolution dependent hang bug on my windows machine, I'll do my best to debug it and try to push an update soon.

Some of the other issues shouldn't be too hard, either, so next time I feel like working on new features for PRACX I'll have a go at them.

[DrazharLn]

Occurred to me that I should test if SMAC crashes at 1366x768 with DirectDraw=0 (the older way of making SMAC play full screen), and it does.

So the bug is likely to be in the main SMAC code, not in PRACX. I'll still try to debug it.