Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Aces High Bug Reports => Topic started by: bbosen on December 13, 2013, 02:27:35 PM
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For Easycor, HiTech, and Skuzzy:
Aces High V2.31.3 (the current version as of this writing in mid-December 2013) crashes in a repeatable and uniform manner while trying to interpret a great many offline missions. I have experienced this on each of my seven XP machines and also on LINUX with the well-known "Wine" Windows emulator. Some missions don't seem to suffer from this malady, but (in my experience) most of my older ones do.
I can demonstrate this with any of several of my offline missions.
To help localize the problem, I stripped down my well-known "PeabodySimple" mission to the barest minimum, with all media files stripped out. This mission has a pair of P38s take off from an airstrip in ndisles and make a single pass over the nearest enemy airfield, where a pair of A6Ms are patrolling.
The mission source code compiles without error in V2.31.3 of the Mission Editor. It also "runs" to completion in the Mission Editor as expected. But when flown with in the usual way with the V2.31.3 front-end it always crashes at about the time the two sides come within icon range of one another. When it crashes, the current image freezes, and a brief snippet of engine sound repeats over and over again for about 20 or 30 seconds before Windows XP brings up a diagnostic frame complaining that the program is not responding and offering to terminate it. When I accept Windows' termination offer, it is properly terminated as you would expect and I am returned to a fully functional desktop.
You can access the source code and the resultant .res file here:
http://askmisterwizard.com/FlightSimMovies/AcesHigh/Ah2Missions/PeabodySimple/For2313/
The exact same source code compiles and runs without error in old version 2.12.4 (which I use as my primary mission development platform). I've also had fine success with the larger version of the same mission (with a lot of optional media files for mission briefing and dramatic radio banter) on all of these old versions of Aces High:
V2.21.x
V2.26.x
V2.28.x
I am not sure when this problem first emerged, but it must have been in one of the versions between 2.29 and the current one.
I have experimented with some variables to try to isolate their effect on this problem. I have found that the crash occurs at the same point whether I use an older version of ndisles or the current one. Also, the presence or absence of optional media files (.wav, .bmp) makes no difference.
This problem may be difficult to find. In my experience with it, missions typically run for several minutes before the crash. I can't be sure what is triggering it. Some of my missions get well into frenzied combat before they lock up. Others lock up just before or just as opposing sides come within icon range. But it seems that if I "fly" one of these missions in a uniform way, each will lock up at the same point.
I hope this helps. Thanks!
:salute
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I have warp missions that work in the custom arenas on line, but don't work offline on some computers as reported by the users (crash at the warp). I also have an in air spawn mission that appears to work offline (no posts to the contrary), but crashes the program in a custom arena. Skuzzy, see my post in the staged mission forum.
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I have approximately 15 downloads of my infamy mission which contains warps but have only gotten limited feedback with no reports of crashing. I have for sometime now been unable to successfully create any new staged missions for online use, as they all seem to crash online.
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Does my description of "crash" (in the original post) match the crashes you get?
:salute
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I have approximately 15 downloads of my infamy mission which contains warps but have only gotten limited feedback with no reports of crashing. I have for sometime now been unable to successfully create any new staged missions for online use, as they all seem to crash online.
Your infamy mission does NOT crash when I run it offline (tried 2 different machines).
Some of my offline missions crash, while others do not. I can't deduce any pattern yet.
(All of the above refer to Aces High V2.31.3).
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The XP computer I have crashes on my offline warp missions, but my Win 7 computer does not. I did not get enough feedback to know if that is the common denominator for other users. But from your post, apparently it takes more than just running xp to cause the problem.
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Well, ALL of my work on this subject is done on just two environments:
1 of 2: Windows XP, and
2 of 2: PcLinuxOS with WINE version 1.4-1 emulating Windows XP
The pattern of crashes is the same in both environments.
But since some of my missions work for me and some do not, we can't say for sure that XP is the problem.
Also.... My "PeabodySimple" mission crashes, but has no warp segments. There must be a pattern in here somewhere, but I haven't found it yet.
:salute
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Well, ALL of my work on this subject is done on just two environments:
1 of 2: Windows XP, and
2 of 2: PcLinuxOS with WINE version 1.4-1 emulating Windows XP
The pattern of crashes is the same in both environments.
But since some of my missions work for me and some do not, we can't say for sure that XP is the problem.
Also.... My "PeabodySimple" mission crashes, but has no warp segments. There must be a pattern in here somewhere, but I haven't found it yet.
:salute
bbosen, I have run your "PeabodySimple" mission many times offline on my machine with no problems. Running Windows Vista Home Premium.
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bbosen, I have run your "PeabodySimple" mission many times offline on my machine with no problems. Running Windows Vista Home Premium.
thanks for this report.
What version of Aces High are you using?
:salute
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The latest release as of today, 2.31.3. :salute
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The latest release as of today, 2.31.3. :salute
This information could become helpful. Thanks for continuing to provide information. I need to ask another question.
I have never published this mission for version 2.31.3. On my web site, I publish the source code (in the section for V2.12.4) and I publish compiled code for versions 2.21.x, 2.26.3, and 2.28.x
Based on all of that, I am guessing that you are successfully using the version I compiled for old version 2.28.x because that's the "closest match" to your current version of Aces High. Is that correct?
Or did you compile the source code yourself using the Mission Editor for Version 2.31.3?
:salute
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This information could become helpful. Thanks for continuing to provide information. I need to ask another question.
I have never published this mission for version 2.31.3. On my web site, I publish the source code (in the section for V2.12.4) and I publish compiled code for versions 2.21.x, 2.26.3, and 2.28.x
Based on all of that, I am guessing that you are successfully using the version I compiled for old version 2.28.x because that's the "closest match" to your current version of Aces High. Is that correct?
Or did you compile the source code yourself using the Mission Editor for Version 2.31.3?
:salute
It is what I down loaded several months again I guess, I did NOT re-compile it. :aok
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It is what I down loaded several months again I guess, I did NOT re-compile it. :aok
Thanks. That would be the .res file I compiled for AH V2.28.x
I anticipated that this would be your response, so I tested that same .res file (from V2.28.x) with the current version of Aces High (2.31.3), running on my Windows XP machine. It crashed exactly as I have described at the beginning of this thread. However, I remember that version running well under its intended version of Aces High, back in the days of 2.28.x.
Since this combination IS working for you under Windows Vista but is NOT working for me under Windows XP, I conclude that there is some element of version 2.31.3 of the main Aces High flight simulator software that is not well behaved in a Windows XP environment. This seems consistent with an earlier report in this thread by mustng2.
Whatever the problem is, it is not present in ALL of my offline missions. Some of them work under Windows XP and Aces High 2.31.3. I haven't figured out what the difference is between the missions that work and those that don't. For example, my "PacMix" mission works well as published through the last link at the bottom of this page:
http://askmisterwizard.com/FlightSimMovies/AcesHigh/Ah2Missions/PacMix01/Ah2PacMixMissionFullPage.htm
Still seeking input....
:salute
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Does my description of "crash" (in the original post) match the crashes you get?
:salute
I haven't been able to pinpoint the timing of the crashes to any common factor. Perhaps we can all work together to get some things narrowed down.
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I've posted some further analysis here (see reply #38):
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,295719.30.html
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Well, we have lots of info for troubleshooting when the time comes but for now, the mission system is almost unusable.
I think I'll take a break from the game and wait for better days ahead.